One Minute Slaves, the Next Possessors: The Transfer of Wealth

Sermon outline

The Most High God, El Elyon, owns the silver and the gold and has an appointed time to move wealth from the unjust to the just, as He did for Abraham and for Israel, and the believer is positioned for it by honouring Him with the tithe.

1. We walk in the name of the Lord our God

   Micah says all people walk each in the name of his god, but we will walk in the name of the Lord our God. The church is not walking in just any name: it walks in the name above every name, the name of Jesus. He reminds them that he has begun introducing the Hebrew names of God, and that the first was El Shaddai, the strong one who meets every need.

   “You're not just walking in any name. You're walking in a special designated name.”

   • Micah 4:5
   • Philippians 2:9-11
   • James 1:22

2. El Elyon, the Most High God

   When Melchizedek blesses Abram, a second name appears: the Most High God, El Elyon. It describes God as the highest, exalted and supreme one, full of strength and sovereignty, ruling over all things and making everything work to His plan. No other god compares with Him. He answered by fire, made the sun stand still and split the Red Sea, and He is the God of the church as well as of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. He gives more than you ask for.

   Illustration: Pharaoh came after Israel in the name of his gods, not knowing that El Elyon was waiting at the Red Sea with a surprise for him.

   “There's no one on his level.”

   • Genesis 14:18-20
   • 1 Kings 18:38
   • Joshua 10:13
   • Exodus 14:21-28
   • Ephesians 3:20

3. Belonging to El Elyon, possessor of heaven and earth

   He reads the blessing as 'Blessed be Abram, who belongs to El Elyon', as though Abram were married to God and owned by Him, so that God had to see that he was well. He takes 'possessor of heaven and earth' as describing Abram: extremely wealthy and highly favoured. As an act of worship Abram gave the spoils. When you bring the tithe and your offerings you give God the highest place and authority over all you have, and because of the covenant He answers that all He has is yours.

   “I give you the highest place, and I give you authority over all I have.”

   • Genesis 14:19-20

4. The appointed time: brought out with silver and gold

   Before they left Egypt the Israelites were penniless slaves, treading mud and straw into bricks under taskmasters for 430 years. Then came an appointed time, to the very day, and God brought them out with silver and gold and not one feeble among them. He uses the phrase on purpose: at an appointed time slaves can be turned into wealthy people, and the church's appointed time is here and now.

   “When there comes an appointed time, slaves can be turned into wealthy people.”

   • Psalm 105:37
   • Exodus 12:40-41

5. Chosen out of Egypt: stop thinking like Egypt

   Egypt is a type of the world. God chose you out of it and brought you from darkness into His light. He lists what God has made the church: number one, a peculiar treasure to Him, number two, a kingdom of priests, and number three, a holy nation, planned to be holy and blameless. That is your genealogy and your identity, and with it He gave you an inheritance and the anointing of a king.

   “Once you were a nobody, you were a slave. Not anymore.”

   • 1 Peter 2:9-10
   • Revelation 1:6
   • Colossians 1:22
   • Psalm 139:14

6. Heirs and joint heirs: the blessing of Abraham is yours

   Christ redeemed us from the curse so that the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles, and the Spirit bears witness that we are heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ. Everything Christ is entitled to, you are entitled to. If Melchizedek called Abraham the possessor of heaven and earth, he submits that Abraham's seed are possessors too. He tells them to expect unexpected income and debts cleared.

   Illustration: You might owe the bank a lot of money and get a letter saying there is no balance. 'Some of you are saying, Pastor, that is fraud. No, that is God, not fraud.'

   “You're not a beggar.”

   • Galatians 3:13-14
   • Romans 8:16-17

7. The spoils of Egypt: a ton of gold in one offering

   On the way out the Israelites asked the Egyptians for their jewellery of gold, silver and bronze, and they could not help but give it. Later, in the wilderness, the offering for the tabernacle came to 29 talents and 730 shekels of gold, which he gives as about one ton, with nearly four tons of silver and two and a half tons of bronze. And that was only an offering out of what they had. This is the first of the transfers he wants them to look at systematically.

   Illustration: One minute slaves in torn, muddy clothes, undernourished and eking out an existence. The next minute, heavily loaded.

   “One minute they are slaves, the next moment they are possessors.”

   • Exodus 12:35-36
   • Exodus 38:24-29

8. Poverty is a curse, and the gospel is good news to the poor

   Many of God's people think He withholds prosperity to keep them humble. Poverty is not a blessing. It brings bondage and suffering, and financial bondage is a form of slavery. Jesus was anointed to preach good news to the poor, and the good news is that you need not be poor. Teach your children to think this way. He lays down that only tithers and givers are in a position to receive, and tells of members whose debts were supernaturally cleared. Those cut out of a family will for becoming Christians will see God give them far more.

   Illustration: A man in the church told him God supernaturally paid off his car loan of 25,000 rand, and a woman had a debt of 28,000 written off.

   “God has other ways to make you humble. He doesn't have to impoverish you to make you humble.”

   • Luke 4:18

9. The silver and the gold are Mine: eat the wealth of the nations

   In Haggai God shakes the nations, their precious things come in, and He says the silver and the gold are His. If He owns them and we are joint heirs, then we possess all things. The latter glory of the house, which he takes as the church people and not the building, will be greater than the former. Isaiah adds that the priests of the Lord will eat the wealth of the nations: it does not say work for it or grab it. He then prophesies that the bondage of debt is broken and tells the church to get their expecters up.

   Illustration: The Reserve Bank does not own the gold.

   “If God can give you salvation, he can give you some money. If God can heal you in your body, he can heal your finances.”

   • Haggai 2:7-9
   • Isaiah 61:6

10. The transfer of wealth into Abraham's life

    Abram and Lot had so much that the land could not hold them both, and Genesis 13:2 says Abram was very rich in livestock, silver and gold. The first transfer came when God called him out to a land He would show him. The second came in Egypt, when the king heaped sheep, oxen, donkeys, camels and servants on him for Sarai's sake and then had to send him away with all of it. That is your lineage. Wealth is looking to locate somebody, and it can only locate those who believe.

    Illustration: The king thought Sarai was Abram's sister, so he was 'paying lobola in advance'.

    “If Papa Abraham was rich, then you are rich.”

    • Genesis 13:5-11
    • Genesis 13:1-2
    • Genesis 12:16
    • Genesis 12:1
    • Psalm 50:10

11. The wealth of the sinner is laid up for the just

    He asks why Proverbs 13:22 joins two thoughts, and answers that the wealth of the sinner comes into your hands so that you can leave an inheritance to your children's children. You may have struggled, but that will not be your children's story. God told Abraham his seed would come out with great substance afterward. For the church it is now, in this life, as Jesus promised houses and lands to those who left them. It will not come by human strategy or shrewdness but by an anointing. He insists he is not making this up: it is in the Bible, and all God wants is for them to believe it.

    Illustration: One day your grandchildren will grow up and say that granddaddy was good to them and left them houses and lands.

    “The wealth of the sinner that's laid up for the just will come into your hands, and now you will leave an inheritance to your children.”

    • Proverbs 13:22
    • Genesis 15:13-14
    • 2 Corinthians 1:20
    • Mark 10:29-30
    • Joshua 1:3

12. No tithe, no blessing: position yourself for the transfer

    Before Melchizedek blessed him, Abram brought a tenth of the spoils, and only when the tithe is received can the transfer take place. In a long and forceful passage, which he compares to a dose of milk of magnesia, he warns that the one who does not tithe is under a curse and will see wealth go from him to the world. It must be a full tenth with no bargaining, and no empty envelopes. The tithe is holy and the offering is a holy act between you and God. He adds that God also calls for compassion to the poor. Those who set the tithe aside before any bill will hear a 'suddenly'.

    Illustration: Walking back from the dentist the day before, he was stopped by a young man and his mother who had been put out over 200 rand of rent. The Holy Spirit told him to give, and he gave enough for food and more.

    “No tithe, no blessing.”

    • Genesis 14:20
    • Malachi 3:8-11
    • Haggai 1:6
    • Leviticus 27:30
    • Proverbs 3:9
    • 2 Samuel 5:24
    • 2 Corinthians 9:7