The Seed, The Sower And The Soil – Episode 22 – You Are The Priest
September 30, 2019 | Lifeblog | No Comments

In the last class, we saw in Nehemiah chapter 12 that the priests and singers had fled from the storehouse, and from God’s presence simply because the tithes that were meant for them had stopped, since Eliashib the priest in charge of the storehouse had mischievously converted the storehouse, originally meant for receiving tithes, into a guest chamber for Tobiah, one of the nation’s enemies. So the priests and singers left, apparently to make ends meet elsewhere , since they were full time priests and singers.
Please take note Tobiah and sanballat are key enemies of Nehemiah and the God’s people, the people of Judah as they tried to rebuild the temple, according to Nehemiah chapter 6 verse 1.
So the first lesson for today is that you shouldn’t allow anything take God’s first place in your finances. The tithes stopped coming in the moment Tobiah, an enemy occupied the room meant for tithes. Before you spend money, separate your tithes. When thinking of projects, don’t use money meant for tithes. Don’t allow any enemy in form of any need, use up the space of tithe in your finances. Tithe is not charity and it’s not for hospitality or for blessing someone. It is a duty. Tithe is not a gift, it’s not optional, it’s compulsory.
WE NEED FULL TIME MINISTRY
Again, I’m still staying with the fact that, full time priests and singers fled God’s presence to to make ends meet working on their own farms, because tithes stopped coming. That’s another problem if you ask me. I’m trying not to sound harsh here, but we must not hide the truth. Full time ministry of the gospel of our Lord Jesus is shrinking every day. Ministers dread full-time ministry because of hunger. But we need full-time ministry. We really need it, it makes the Gospel spread faster. Now It seems slow. The harvest is plenty, but the labourers are few. Recently, I got into thinking about how much more would be achieved, how many more souls would be won if all our part-time evangelists were full-time. The point is, not that God is not calling them into full-time ministry, the point is: they have families that must be sustained. Althoughit’s very easy for you to just say “but they should know that if God called them, then he will sustain them”. Remember God does not have to scream Go into full-time ministry into a man’s ears, lack of adequate provision from Church is the main reason why missionary work today receives low turnout.
That’s by the way. Here’s today’s LIFECLASS moment. Please follow me closely. The point is: you are the priest. And today’s topic. You are the priest, the ones sent out of God’s presence. Being unfaithful in your tithes sends you out of God’s presence. It severed your relationship with God, and that’s the devil’s master plan for every believer.
How do I know we are priests? Of course you may refer to Exodus 19:6 and Rev 5:10. I will quote them later.
Let’s take this a step further, two sets of people were sent out-of-service when tithes stopped coming in and subsequently their portions were not given to them (Neh 13:10). They are Priests and Singers. The Priests are a link between the people and their God. They signify fellowship and intercession. And that’s who you are as a believer. The Singers keep the flame of worship burning before God continually. They signify worship – to God. Also that’s who you should be – a worshipper. So when you don’t pay tithe, or you’re unfaithful with it, or you’re not doing it with the right understanding (as explained earlier), then you are depriving yourself and the world around you, of fellowship, intercession and consequently depriving God too of worship. Hence God had to exclaim:
Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings. Mal 3:8
Finally, I’ll show you the ultimate implication of no-tithing, unfaithful tithing or tithing with a wrong understanding. Scripture will still interprete scripture.
6And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of Priests and an holy nation. These are the words which thou shall speak unto the children of Israel. – Ex 19:6
10and has made us unto our God, kings and Priests: and we shall reign on the earth. – Rev 5:10
There you go, you are that priest. Yes, or don’t you know? God says you’re a priest unto Him. So now, you should stop thinking you’re not affected or that it’s only the priests or pastors. May you not be a priest sent out of God’s presence into your own field (Man’s presence) (Neh 13:10) for lack of provision and sustenance; each time there’s no tithing, unfaithful tithing or tithing with a wrong understanding. Pay your tithe!
As Priests unto our God, we are supposed to remain in God’s presence and reign on the earth, not flee away from his presence into our own ways, forsaking God. When you refuse to tithe, you lose fellowship with God. And when you lose fellowship with your Father, you become vulnerable to the devil’s attacks. These attacks come in different forms – fear, anger, sickness, rebellion, and all forms of sin. Folks who don’t tithe do themselves so much harm. They invite the devil’s devourer. And God will fold his arms and watch. He lives them, but they have severed that avenue to have him fight on their behalf, because they have robbed their own avenger, their Father, their Own God. God is certainly not happy with that. He could not hold it.
Will a man rob me?, says the father himself. Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings. Mal 3:8
My dear friend, God is waiting for you to try Him (Mal 3:10) and begin to tithe faithfully, and with the right understanding. Don’t feel bad if you’ve not been doing so in the past. God is not angry with you, He’s here to restore you. That is why you are following this class. Tithing alone could be the solution to most of your problems. It’s like immunization against demonic epidemics, against the wasters of destiny. You tithe could save you from untimely death, as that is one of the vices of the devourer. He’s always out to steal, to kill and to destroy , but your father wants you to have abundant life – free of sorrow – according to John 10 verse 10.
The windows of heaven are waiting to be flung wide open at you to receive that no-more-room blessing that God has for you as result of your obedience to this command.