UNITY OF THE TITHE OF THE BODY
(week 28/14)
OLUBI AND SARAH JOHNSON
Hebrews 10:5-7 NKJV: Therefore, when He came into the world, He said: “SACRIFICE AND OFFERING YOU DID NOT DESIRE, BUT A BODY YOU HAVE PREPARED FOR ME. (6) IN BURNT OFFERINGS AND SACRIFICES FOR SIN YOU HAD NO PLEASURE. (7) THEN I SAID, ‘BEHOLD, I HAVE COME— IN THE VOLUME OF THE BOOK IT IS WRITTEN OF ME— TO DO YOUR WILL, O GOD.‘ ”
God is presently looking for a body of Christians that will offer themselves to Him as a ‘tithe’ for the rest of the body of Christ through whom He will pioneer the imminent release of the Spirit without measure and the manifestation of His glory in this time of the shaking of the heavens (Lk. 21.25-28). This is similar to what God did when He set apart the tribe of Levi in the OT to serve Him exclusively when the rest of Israel did not want to be close to Him:
Numbers 3:44-45 NKJV: Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying: (45) “Take the Levites instead of all the firstborn among the children of Israel, and the livestock of the Levites instead of their livestock. The Levites shall be Mine: I am the LORD.
The religious ceremonial activities of the many in the church are not pleasing to God and are not effective in the removing and overcoming of the sin nature and its power in their souls, bodies and circumstances. This truth is typified in:
Hebrews 10:11 NKJV: And every priest stands ministering daily and offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins.
God needs the church to give Him a ‘tithe’ of the body of Christ: a first-fruits, the manifestation of the sons of God of (Rom. 8.19), so He can rebuke the devourer for the sake of the rest of body and so cause the church to enjoy the fulness of His blessings:
Malachi 3:10-12 NKJV: Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, That there may be food in My house, And try Me now in this,” Says the LORD of hosts, “If I will not open for you the windows of heaven And pour out for you such blessing That there will not be room enough to receive it. (11) “And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, So that he will not destroy the fruit of your ground, Nor shall the vine fail to bear fruit for you in the field,” Says the LORD of hosts; (12) And all nations will call you blessed, For you will be a delightful land,” Says the LORD of hosts.
How do we as individuals become a part of this ‘Tithe-Levite’ company?
1. Give yourself wholly to the Lord to sanctify your spirit, soul and body:
1 Thessalonians 5:23 KJV: And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
2. Tithe your time: as a daily habit, give God 2.4 hours of concentrated time in prayer and the Word by fourth watch praying.
3. Maintain (Eph. 4.3) and ultimately perfect the unity of the spirit: by washing feet and walking in love so that God can release the power of the spirit without measure through this ‘tithe’ of the body, by them having one mind and one ‘pure’ language of tongues (1 Cor. 14.2; 13.1) ‘speaking the same thing’ fulfilling:
Genesis 11:6 KJV: And the LORD said, Behold, the people is one, and they have all one language; and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do.
1 Corinthians 1:10 KJV: Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.
Zephaniah 3:9 KJV: For then will I turn to the people a pure language, that they may all call upon the name of the LORD, to serve him with one consent.
Psalms 133:1-3 KJV: A Song of degrees of David. Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity! (2) It is like the precious ointment upon the head, that ran down upon the beard, even Aaron’s beard: that went down to the skirts of his garments; (3) As the dew of Hermon, and as the dew that descended upon the mountains of Zion: for there the LORD commanded the blessing, even life for evermore.
