|
| |
Proverbs 3:9,10 states, "Honour
the LORD with thy substance, and with the firstfruits of all thine increase: 10
So shall thy barns be filled with plenty, and thy presses shall burst out with
new wine.
I. Introduction. The purpose of this message is not to prove tithing in the
Bible, but to show how God will bless all those that give tithes to him. I want
to encourage each of you to tithe to the Lord, because that is honoring him.
Note the text.
A. I do not preach tithing because the church is short of money, or because
I need money.
1. God will supply all the needs of his church and he will supply all my
needs.
2. Tithing is not about giving to the church, or giving to the preacher.
3. It is about honoring God.
4. It is about not stealing from God.
B. Do you believe the Bible is true?
1. Do you believe the commandments of God is true?
2. Do you believe Proverbs 3:9,10?
3. You might say, I would tithe, but I cannot afford to.
4. The Bible says to you, you cannot afford to not tithe.
5. God will get his part of his honor from you, one way or the other.
C. Who should tithe?
1. Everybody – saved, lost, church members, non-church members.
2. Everybody (at the very least) breaths God’s air and lives on his
earth, and is partaker of his mercy in their rebellion against him.
3. God will bless every person who gives honor to him.
4. Giving honor to God is giving tithes to him.
5. There is no scripture that excludes the lost person from honoring God.
D. How do I give honor to God?
1. The church is the body of Christ.
a. Ephesians 1:22,23 – And hath put all things under his feet, and
gave him to be the head over all things to the church, 23 which is his
body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all.
b. The church is always an assembly, never a universal, visible or
invisible body.
2. It is wrong to give your tithes to the poor, or to benevolent
organizations.
II. Define tithing.
A. The word "tithe" means the tenth part, or 10% of all.
1. Tithing is limited to 10% of a person’s income.
2. Why?
3. There is no limit given by God for praying, worshipping
him, dedication to him.
4. God has limited the material things, but not the spiritual things.
5. Tithing is material, but it speaks of spiritual things.
B. For the person who is not self-employed, tithing means you give 10% of
your salary before any deductions are taken out.
1. Some want to tithe after their deductions are taken from their
paycheck, but that is not tithing on the increase.
2. It is just as logical to tithe after deductions are taken from your
paycheck as it is to tithe after you buy your groceries.
3. For the self-employed person the tithe is given on the increase.
4. What is left over after your business expenses.
5. Some want to tithe after their payroll deductions, then pay a tithe on
the Income Tax refund, if they get an income tax return.
6. That is not what God commanded, and that is refusing to give proper
honor to God.
C. For those that believe they cannot afford to tithe.
1. Tithing is not about give up 10% of your income to God.
2. It is about honoring God with that which he has already given you.
3. Tithing is about not robbing God.
a. Malachi 3:8 – Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye
say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings.
b. When you do not tithe, you are robbing God of his honor, taking that
honor upon yourself, because you believe you are more important than God,
and that God cannot or will not supply your daily necessities.
D. Tithing in the Bible.
1. Genesis 14:20 And blessed be the most high God, which hath
delivered thine enemies into thy hand. And he gave him tithes of all.
2. Tithing is not of the law of Moses, because Abraham tithed before
Moses was born, and before the Ten Commandments was given to Israel.
a. It should be noted that Abraham did not give an offering to God, but
he gave a tithe.
III. Examples of God blessing the person that tithes.
A. A farmer (Gene Birch) once wanted to know how he could tithe since his
income mostly came in once a year. If he tithed on the income from his crop,
everybody would know when he tithed and how much. He didn't want that. So he
decided to calculate how much he should earn by farming, divide that into 52
weeks, and give an offering each week. He would make up the difference at the
time the crop came in. If he didn't make any money farming that year, his
offering would be an offering, not a tithe. That would all be decided at the
end of the year, according to how his finances came out. As it turned out, the
Lord gave him the best crop of his life.
B. Gene was saved at the age of 36 and decided not to farm on Sunday
because that was God’s day, and to tithe. The first year he didn’t farm on
Sunday, it rained every week, clearing so there would be one full day to
harvest - Sunday. Gene didn’t run his combines on Sunday, but got out early
on Monday. It rained about noon on Monday and continued just enough rain so
combining couldn’t continue until Sunday, when the whole process started all
over again. The other farmers tried to pressure him into working on Sunday,
but he wouldn’t. When the season was almost over, Gene didn’t have much of
his crop gathered, but most of the other farmers were finished. All these
farmers got together and harvested his crop for him. His faith paid off!
C. Another time Gene’s crop of soybeans was almost ½ corn. When he took
that load of beans to the elevator, the operator took a sample and declared
about 3% was foreign. Gene went into the office and asked the operator to come
look at his load because it was far more than 3% foreign. The operator looked
at the load, but refused to increase the foreign material, saying he would
trust his sample more than his eye. This is another example of non-religious
people helping a man who was full of faith.
D. Gene Birch died at the age of 38 years - a man full of faith and of
excellent reputation.
IV. Old Testament.
A. Before the law was given to Moses.
1. Genesis 14:20 - Abraham giving tithes to Melchizedek. This was when
the world was some 2000 years old. Abraham was born when the world was
2006 years old.
2. Abraham did not give an offering to the Lord, but tithes.
a. The tithe is what God expects of us.
b. It is not wrong to give an offering (which is everything over and
above the tithe), as that expresses our thankfulness to God for his
abundant blessings.
c. God allowed a "free-will Thank Offering" from Israel as
their expression of thankfulness for his abundant blessings upon them.
3. A very interesting point: where did Abraham get the idea to give a
tenth to the Lord?
a. Abraham gave tithes before the law was given to Moses.
b. The law given to Moses was not new, it was the same law that was
understood by "Christian" people before it was written down.
c. The law given to Moses clarified the law that God had given to
Adam, who had orally passed the law to other generation.
4. Another point: where did Noah get the understanding about clean and
unclean animals before they were explained in the law given to Moses?
Compare Genesis 7:2 with Leviticus 11. The events of Genesis came before
the book of Leviticus was written!
a. The answer is that Noah understood the division God had made
between unclean and clean animals before God wrote it down for Moses.
b. There was nothing new in the law, only a new description given to
men because of the hardness of their heart and the forgetfulness of
their minds.
5. Another point: Melchizedek is a priest forever: How could he be a
priest before the priesthood was established by the law given to Moses?
a. The priesthood was already established by God, but was only
written down by Moses.
b. Melchizedek was a priest typical of the priesthood of Jesus
Christ.
c. Genesis 28:22 - Jacob giving tithes to the Lord.
B. Under the law of Moses.
1. Leviticus 27:30 - All the tenth of the increase belongs to the Lord.
a. God collects interest.
b. Leviticus 27:31 - 20% is collected by God for non-payment of
tithes.
2. Numbers 18:24 - The heave offering of the firstfruits is to go to
the priest.
3. Numbers 18:26-28 - The priest is to tithe of their income.
4. II Chronicles 31:5, 6, 12 - Israel tithing in the days of King
Hezekiah..
5. Nehemiah 10:34-39 - Israel tithing in the days of Nehemiah.
a. In Numbers 18 24-28, tithing is a part of the backsliding people
of Israel getting back to the place where God wants them to be.
b. This shows us that when we backslide (in a state of rebellion), we
will withhold our tithes from God.)
6. Amos 4:4 - Israel offering tithes without worshipping God. (They
gave tithes as a matter of works, not of faith. They did it for
themselves, not for God.)
7. Malachi 3:8,9 - Israel robbed God by not giving tithes.
a. In Amos 4:4 and Malachi 3:8,9 God looks into the offering
to see if we give our tithes and offering like we ought to. He looks at
our heart to see if we love Him and trust Him enough to depend entirely
upon Him for all our lives, and the things of our lives.
8. Mark 12:41-44 - The story of the widow's mite: gives an illustration
of the way God looks into our giving.
V. New Testament.
A. Malachi 3:1-4 - fulfilled in Matthew 21:12 and 23:23.
B. Matthew 21:12 - Jesus cleaned the temple of God of money exchangers.
C. Matthew 23:23 - Jesus condemns the scribes and Pharisees of omitting
the weightier matters of the law while continuing tithing.
D. I Corinthians 9:1-18 - the New Testament fulfillment of Numbers 18:24.
1. Israel gave their tithes to the Levites for their living because
they didn't have any inheritance in Israel.
2. Today, people are to give their tithes to the ministry of Jesus
Christ.
3. Ministers are commissioned by Christ to preach His Word, and spend
their time in prayer and the ministry of the Word.
4. They don’t have time to devote to working to supply for their own
families.
5. The people of Christ should oversee the physical welfare of their
ministers and their families as the ministers oversee their spiritual
welfare.
E. Hebrews 7:1-8 - The New Testament proof of tithing by using Genesis
14:20.
1. Abraham gave tithes of all to Melchizedek, who is a priest of the
most high God.
2. We give our tithes to Christ (through His kind of churches) who is a
priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.
VI. Objections to tithing.
A. I Corinthians 16:2 - Give our offering on the first day of the week.
1. This passage is not speaking about tithing, or giving an offering
for the support of the ministry.
2. It is plainly talking about the collection for the saints.
3. This collection was being taken up by the various churches in
Galatia, for the poor saints in Jerusalem.
B. II Corinthians 9:6-7 - This passage is frequently given, declaring
that a person ought to give willingly, not sparingly, and he ought to be
happy to give, for "…God loveth a cheerful giver."
1. It is declared that it is more important to give of a willing heart
than to give grudgingly, or of necessity.
2. This passage, however, is not talking about tithing.
3. Like I Corinthians 16, this passage is talking about giving an
offering (which is above and beyond the tithe and offering given for the
support of the ministry) for the poor saints in Jerusalem.
C. The only objection I have ever heart against tithing is by a man who
believed that tithing limited the amount he could give.
1. This man gave much more than 10% to the Lord.
2. I think he had more objection to using the word "tithing"
than he did in practicing.
|