1. THE KINGDOM AND THE LAW

What we have studied so far is the law as given by God through Moses. But we are no longer under the law. We are liberated from the bondage of law into the glorious freedom of the children of God through grace. Being thus freed, the question is "why should I tithe?. Tithe giving is law. What happens if I don't tithe or release?'' The answer is direct and simple. Your are free. You don't need to tithe, nor do you need to release.

Rom 8:1-2 Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death.

Law contained the approximation or a shadow of a far greater principle. Jesus said. Mat 5:17 "Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them."

All the laws came to their fulfillment in Christ. So also the laws of prosperity. Mosaic laws of tithing , release and Jubilee were but a shadow of the more general principle of Love which I would like to call the Principle of Sowing and Reaping. This is the principle of living in the Kingdom of God. "Jesus went about teaching in their synagogues and preaching the gospel of the Kingdom " (Mat. 4:23 and 9:35) These teachings were embedded in the Sermon on the Mount and were later expanded and expounded by Paul, the architect and builder of the Church.

Let us once again turn to the story of the rich young ruler. This time to Mark.

Mark 10:17 As Jesus started on his way, a man ran up to him and fell on his knees before him. "Good teacher," he asked, "what must I do to inherit eternal life?"

Mark 10:18 "Why do you call me good?" Jesus answered. "No one is good--except God alone.

Mark 10:19 You know the commandments: 'Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony, do not defraud, honor your father and mother.'"

Mark 10:20 "Teacher," he declared, "all these I have kept since I was a boy."

Jesus did not contradict him. Here was a young man who obeyed the Law in its full extent. God gave him wealth and riches according to his promise. By the Old Testament definition here was a righteous man. Jesus knew it. So

Mark 10:21 Jesus looked at him and loved him.

Then Jesus went to prescribe to him the way to enter into freedom, sonship and the Kingdom. You cannot enter into the Kingdom of God by obedience to the law. In fact dogged obedience in legalism will just keep you out of it.

Rom 9:31 but Israel, who pursued a law of righteousness, has not attained it.

Rom 9:32 Why not? Because they pursued it not by faith but as if it were by works.

Even Moses could only see the promised land from far. It required a Joshua to lead Israel into Canaan. You cannot enter the Kingdom of God by doing things.

John 3:3 In reply Jesus declared, "I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again."

John 3:5 Jesus answered, "I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit.

The law is contained in the word. But it requires spirit to bring it to fullness and life. So Jesus explained these Kingdom Principles in the Sermon on the Mount.

Mat 5:20 For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.

Tithing is only the righteousness of the Pharisees.

Mat 23:23 "Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices--mint, dill and cumin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law--justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former.

2. THE PRINCIPLE OF SOWING AND REAPING

The most direct exposition of this principle is found in 2 Corinthians.

Paul is here talking about money and financial help to saints. There is therefore no question of interpreting it as simply connected with spiritual help only. Verse 8 probably is the best definition of Prosperity in Biblical perspective.

*That you may have enough of everything

*and in plenty

so that there is enough and more to provide in abundance for every good work. God’s abundant blessing has a double purpose,

* to provide in abundance everything for his children

* to provide in abundance for every good work.

These are the two sides of the same coin of the Principle of Sowing and Reaping. You sow to reap and reap to sow. So Paul continues:

2 Cor 9:9 As it is written:

"He has scattered abroad his gifts to the poor; his righteousness endures forever."

[You have received, not because you deserve it. But because God is merciful and his righteousness is everlasting]

Before God expects you to sow, he provides you with the seed necessary for the sowing. He gives because he wants to receive back thanksgiving.

If you do not give, you will not receive.

That is a negative statement. Let us be positive.

If you give, you will receive.

This principle is universal and is true in all spheres.

If you want love, give love.

If you want honor and respect, give honor and respect.

Extend this over to finances and to all our daily affairs and we have the core of Jesus’ teachings. In the sermon on the mount Jesus clamped down on the practical application of this principle. Thus in Luke 6: 27 on wards we see Jesus advising thus:

Luke 6:27 Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you,

Luke 6:28 bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.

Luke 6:29 If someone strikes you on one cheek,

turn to him the other also. If someone takes your cloak,

do not stop him from taking your tunic.

Luke 6:31 Do to others as you would have them do to you.

Luke 6:34 And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment,

what credit is that to you? Even 'sinners' lend to 'sinners,' expecting to be repaid in full.

Luke 6:36 Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.

We receive the same measure, of course , pressed down and multiplied. So if you give in thimbles, you receive back in thimbles. If you measure in sacks, you receive a hundredfold in sacks. There is a beautiful story illustrating this idea by the poet Laureate of India Rabindranath Tagore in his collection of short stories, "The King and the Beggar". The gist is as follows. One day a beggar heard that the King was passing through the place where he was standing. As the chariot passed by, the beggar stretched out his begging bowl expecting a coin at least from the great King. But the King stopped his chariot and he stretched out his hand begging the beggar. The beggar was first perplexed. But the King insisted. Finally the beggar took out his begging bowl and took out a pinch of his little rice - three grains of rice- and placed it in the palms of the King. The king withdrew his palm and he stretched it out once more and placed a pinch of rice back into the beggars bowl. Lo! There were three grains of rice in gold. And the King went his way. The beggar looked at the three golden grains and cried. " What a fool I have been, I should have placed by entire bowl of rice in the hands of the King."

3. WHY GIVING FIRST IS NECESSARY

In the logic of sowing and reaping, we need to sow before we expect to reap. Even the vary fact that we live relies heavily on it. If we want to live, we must breathe. If we want to remain alive we need to exhale before we could inhale again. If we insist only of inhaling, we will simply suffocate. If we insist on exhaling only we will still suffocate. Both are part of the process. If we exhale we will inhale fresh air which will invigorate us. We in turn provide for the cycle of distribution and balance of nature. Accumulation is motivated by selfishness and leads to death.

Consider a farmer. He needs to put his most perfect seeds in sowing , if he has to get the best harvest. Better the seed, better will be the harvest. In fact all farmers keep their choicest seeds at the time of harvest for sowing as seeds. Every farming community knows the meaning of eating the seed. It is the last resort. Because without the seed there will be shortage and famine in the future. The money and other resources in your hands are therefore the seeds of the future prosperity. Don’t just eat it in selfishness.

In knowledge all teachers know that teaching a subject is the best way to learn it. By giving what you have you multiplies it. This is also true in the spiritual realm. Your fellowship and spiritual encouragement strengthens your maturity in Christ.

What I am trying to establish is that this principle of sowing and reaping is a universal principle of growth and abundance. Not only in the areas of agriculture, knowledge and spiritual realm but also in the social and financial realm. Every money lender knows that you give first to multiply your money. If you want to keep it in fixed deposits it hardly grows. No wonder Jews were the best money lenders in the world. They had been in this trick for over 3000 years. They knew the principle.

4 THE SEED DECIDES THE CROP

Another important fact is that it is the seed what you sow decides what you receive back.

* The crop is decided by the seed you sow.

Mat 7:17-18 Likewise every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit.

A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit.

This is because, God created the universe with the law that like produces like. This is the law of multiplication. This law is also found in inanimate world. A single crystal will grow into larger crystal surrounding the seed crystal. Beautiful ice crystals form by chains.

Gen 1:12 The land produced vegetation: plants bearing seed according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.

This is God’s way of growth and production.

1 Cor 15:37-38 When you sow, you do not plant the body that will be, but just a seed, perhaps of wheat or of something else. But God gives it a body as he has determined, and to each kind of seed he gives its own body.

* the quality of the harvest is decided by the quality of the seed and also of the after care. A good seed produces good healthy crop. But if it is starved it cannot produce healthy fruit.

* The abundance is decided again not only on the quality of the seed and the aftercare (fertilizers etc.) but also on the soil in which it is sowed.

These thoughts can be directly transferred to our financial realm. In the temple sacrifices God insisted that the sacrifice must be blemishless and perfect (Lev1:3,10) If it is a baked offering - unleavened. Thus it was necessary that Jesus be blemishless and unleavened so that the new creation man be perfect. Don’t we plant wheat seeds if we want wheat and paddy seeds if we want rice?

Gen 47:23 Joseph said to the people, "Now that I have bought you and your land today for Pharaoh, here is seed for you so you can plant the ground.

Gen 47:24 But when the crop comes in, give a fifth of it to Pharaoh. The other four-fifths you may keep as seed for the fields and as food for yourselves and your households and your children."

John 12:25 The man who loves his life will lose it, while the man who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.

But the spiritual world and the material world are tied up together. They are extensions of each other. You sow in the spiritual realm, you will reap in the material realm also.

1 Cor 9:11 If we have sown spiritual seed among you, is it too much if we reap a material harvest from you?

Hosea 10:12 Sow for yourselves righteousness, reap the fruit of unfailing love, and break up your unplowed ground; for it is time to seek the LORD, until he comes and showers righteousness on you.

Hosea 10:13 But you have planted wickedness, you have reaped evil, you have eaten the fruit of deception. Because you have depended on your own strength and on your many warriors,

5. Manifold Return

The harvest is always the multiplication of the sown seed.

Mat 13:23 But the one who received the seed that fell on good soil ............ He produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown." When Jesus was discussing the reluctance of the rich young ruler to leave his possessions he adds,

Luke 18:29-30 "I tell you the truth," Jesus said to them, "no one who has left home or wife or brothers or parents or children for the sake of the kingdom of God will fail to receive many times as much in this age and, in the age to come, eternal life."

Notice that manifold return is in this age - now and here, and also in the years to come to eternal life. The process of multiplication has eternal effect, because it is an ongoing process. But it starts now. Kingdom of God is not then, it starts now and extends to eternity. You don’t need to wait for the next age to receive your blessings. The promise is for our needs here on earth.

This is simply the essential teaching

Luke 6:38

Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over,

will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you."

Want to try?

6. Revelation of this Principle in the Bible.

Bible is the unfolding of the mysteries of God through history. God has always been trying to reveal this principle of sowing reaping in its spirit even in the Old Testament Period. We will indicate a few of this from the Bible.

Abraham was promised that he shall be the father of a multitude of nations and through him all nations shall bless themselves. But in order to receive this blessing, Abraham was asked to sow his seed - his only son. And Abraham willingly offered it. And Abraham reaped manifold in this age. His children occupy over one third of human inhabiting world. He received many more children in the ages to come through Jesus. Jesus was Abraham’s son by lineage. And through Jesus Abraham practically won the world. If god was to give his only begotten son, Abraham had to give Isaac first in faith. Notice the prophetic words of Abraham at this occasion. Gen 22:14 " The LORD Will Provide." And to this day it is said, "On the mountain of the LORD it will be provided." Legend has it that Jesus was crucified on this same mountain where Isaac was offered.

God in giving his son Jesus was employing the same principle. John 3:16 "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son," Because he wanted many sons of glory, he planted his own seed, Jesus on this earth. Jesus was referring to this when he said John 12:24 I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds.

The resurrection is such a miracle - a miracle of multiplication. This is multiplication or transformation of a material body into a more glorified body (refered to by Paul as the Spiritual Body) 1 Cor 15:36-37 How foolish! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies. When you sow, you do not plant the body that will be, but just a Cor 15:42-44 So will it be with the resurrection of the dead. The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable; it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body.

John 6 tells us of the feeding of the five thousand ( this is also found in Mat 14 and Mk 6 and Lk 9) and Mark 8 describes the feeding of the four thousand ( also found in Mt 15). In both these cases Jesus did not create the food out of nothing. He could have done that as God. If we remember that Jesus never did anything that a man cannot do with the power of the Holy Spirit, he was doing this not as God. He was simply showing the principle of sowing and reaping. He simply took the fish and the bread which the little boy offered with gladness of heart and multiplied it.

An Old Testament example is found in 1 Kings 17 8-16 in the story of the widow of Zaraphath in Simon. She was not a Jew but a gentile widow. There was great famine in that land and Prophet Elijah was sent to this woman by God. He requests her , who had "only a handful of meal in a jar and a little oil in a cruse." For their last bread. she replied, "I don't have any bread--only a handful of flour in a jar and a little oil in a jug. I am gathering a few sticks to take home and make a meal for myself and my son, that we may eat it--and die.". But she gave it him. Look what happened? 1 Ki 17:15-16 She went away and did as Elijah had told her. So there was food every day for Elijah and for the woman and her family. For the jar of flour was not used up and the jug of oil did not run dry, in keeping with the word of the LORD spoken by Elijah.

7. SEEDS TO THE SOWER

Isa 55:10 As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater....

God first gives the sower the seed. What you do with the seed decides your entire future. In the Garden of Eden Adam was given this chance. Every person, every nation, kindred and kind are given this chance over and over again. No farmer will mill his seed and eat it. But that is what we often do. God’s promise to Noah was

Gen 8:22 "As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night will never cease."

This was a covenant that will last till the end of the age. But we act as though what is given to us is all that is what we will ever have. So we refuse to plant the seed and destroy it. "I don’t have enough" you might say. Yes that is more reason why you should be sowing. What you have now is the seed. Remember, if you eat your seed, you will go hungry. It is a vicious circle. You can break it now by sowing it now.

When you ask your heavenly father for money, he will sent you someone who need financial help. When you ask for love, he will send someone to you who need love. So be alert. Every demand on you is actually god’s chosen field where you may sow and prosper. Do not miss your soil.

8. HOW AND WHERE TO SOW.

Bible has clear advise on how, where and when to sow. Let us look into these wonderful advises that we may be guided by them.

The preacher here advises:

1. Sow continuously when God provides an occasion and there will be plenty - give. If you want to reap continuously, you need to sow continuously. If you sow once a year, the harvest will be also once a year. If you want it every month, sow every month also.

2. Do not analyze the situation, whether the wind is proper or whether there is clouds or not. If you consider these you will always find an excuse. There will be always some reason not to love and not to help. Jesus advises:

These may look foolish advise. But that is what Jesus taught. These are the principles of the Kingdom of God. Jesus created this world and he knows its laws better than the secular worldly wise.

3. Do not give to just one person, one mission or one church. Make it a portion of seven or eight Sow left and right. The some of them will fall on good soil.

There are indeed four types of soils.

Mat 13:3-8 Then he told them many things in parables, saying: "A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed,

* some fell along the path,

and the birds came and ate it up.

** Some fell on rocky places,

where it did not have much soil.

It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow.

But when the sun came up,

the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root.

*** Other seed fell among thorns,

which grew up and choked the plants.

**** Still other seed fell on good soil,

where it produced a crop--

a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.

This is inevitable in this world. So sow continuously without regard to soil.

However there are certain exceptions in two extreme cases.

A) Mat 7:6 "Do not give dogs what is sacred;

do not throw your pearls to pigs.

If you do, they may trample them under their feet, and then turn and tear you to pieces.

This warning was given by Jesus soon after his exposition of the principle of sowing and reaping. No farmer will sow seeds on the rock. Certainly an amount of discretion is required. You cannot support a heretic cult under any circumstances - especially the one that directly rejects the Lordship of Jesus. You cannot give your support to a Satanic church evidently. That is not sowing. That is sowing the weeds.

B) Never stand surety or guarantee.

The whole book of Proverb is filled with this advise.

Prov 11:15 He who puts up security for another will surely suffer, but whoever refuses to strike hands in pledge is safe.

Prov 22:26 Do not be a man who strikes hands in pledge or puts up security for debts;

Prov 22:27 if you lack the means to pay, your very bed will be snatched from under you.

Prov 6:1 My son, if you have put up security for your neighbor, if you have struck hands in pledge for another,

Prov 6:2 if you have been trapped by what you said, ensnared by the words of your mouth,

Prov 6:3 then do this, my son, to free yourself, since you have fallen into your neighbor's hands: Go and humble yourself; press your plea with your neighbor!

9. ATTITUDES IN SOWING

Though sowing and reaping are universal principles, it is contrary to the fallen nature of man. This principle is based on the eternal principle of Love on which the cosmos is created. But the corruption of love has led to fall which is rooted in self. Hence it is in contradiction to natural man’s logic pattern. God desires that we rejoice in him and in his sufficiency. If this confidence in his faithfulness is in us, the work of giving will be an expression of our faith in our father. It should then be performed in accordance to Paul’s stipulations:

Give willingly

Give according to your means. Don’t borrow and give.

The basic principle is that of love and that requires equality. This is Christian fellowship and encouragement and building up of the church. Through your action the vicious circle of hatred is broken and life may be made tolerable in this sinful world.

2 Cor 8:13-15

Our desire is not that others might be relieved while you are hard pressed,

but that there might be equality.

The present time your plenty will supply what they need,

so that in turn their plenty will supply what you need.

Then there will be equality,

as it is written:

"He who gathered much did not have too much, and he who gathered little did not have too little."

so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.

This can happen only if you have made up how much you want to give away ahead of time. Then you will have always enough to give when the demand arise. You will not feel hurt but will be glad. You will overflow with love and fellowship when you meet the need of another person. If it is going to bring back thirty, a sixty and a hundredfold won’t you run after your brother to sow it? But apparently there is a contradiction here. If you are doing it for a return the basic tenant of love is lost and your sowing is not going to be fruitful. The feeling of joy and love should motivate us to give liberally.

This is not exactly the life in the Kingdom of Heaven, but that is the attitude of the citizens of the Kingdom of Heaven.