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TITHES
**Taken
from the Word Aflame Press Tract #1567220894 "Ten Reasons Why I
Tithe".** All scripture use in this tract or outline is from KJV Bible Special Thanks to Pastor George Szabolcsi for the article
& BibleGateway.com
TEN REASONS WHY I TITHE
While visiting in a neighborhood near our church, I met
man who responded to my introduction by saying, "Oh, you are the preacher
who makes everyone pay ten percent to the church.
"No,
you are not talking about me, "I replied. "There is no way that I can
make people pay ten percent of their wages to the church if they do not
wish. I do not have that authority. The people who pay ten
percent, or tithe, of their income do so because they want to.
Why do people tithe to the church?. The reasons are many. As I
considered my own motivation, I discovered at least ten reasons why I
give ten percent of my income to the church. A study of these reasons
will help us to understand the great blessing of tithing and the biblical
responsibility to tithe.
1
TO HONOR THE CREATOR.
"Render . . . unto God the things that are God's" (Matthew 22:21)
Acquisitiveness is one of the basic drives of mankind.
Children grasp their toys and cry, "Mine!" Some one has noted three
attitudes in the parable of the good Samaritan. The priest and the
Levite had the attitude, "What's mine is mine and I'm going to keep it!"
The thieves had the attitude, "What's yours is mine, and I'm going to get
it!" The Samaritan had the attitude, "What's mine is yours, and you
can have it." "There is another attitude that should permeate our thinking,
even above the commendable attitude of the Samaritan. That is,
"Everything we have belongs to God, and we are stewards of His goods.
God owns the entire world and its substance, The earth is the LORD'S and the
fulness therof" (Psalm 24:1). "Behold, all souls are mine" (Ezekiel
18:4). "The silver is mine, and the gold is mine" (Haggai 2:8).
It is God how gives people the power to obtain wealth (Psalm 75:6-7;
Ecclesiastes 5:19). We are not to glory in what God has given us, but
to glory in Him (Jeremiah 9:23-24)
Why should I
begrudge God ten percent when everything actually belongs to Him? If
it were not for Him, there would be no land , no seed, no strength, no
income, and no life. How generous He is to tell us, "The tithe ... is
LORD'!" (Levitcus27:30)
2
TO ACKNOWLEDGE MY HERITAGE.
"And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs
according to the promise" (Galatians 3:29)
Abraham was the first tithe payer of record (Genesis
14:20). Abraham's grandson, Jacob, paid tithes (Genesis
28:22). Scripture says that Levi, Abraham's descendant and the
father of the tribe from which the priesthood came, paid tithes in
Abraham (Hebrews
7:9). My heritage of paying a tithe precedes the law of Moses.
As a child of Abraham and heir of the promise of Abraham, I acknowledge
my family relationship by paying tithes.
Jesus said to
the Jews, "If ye were Abraham's children, ye would do the works of Abraham"
(John
8:39). It would be strange to claim to be a child of Abraham and
yet to neglect one Abraham's most fundamental and noteworthy acts. I
pay my tithes as a spiritual descendant of Abraham, the father of the
faithful.
3
TO FULFILL THE COVENANT.
"For if that which is done away was glorious, much more that which
remaineth is glorious" (II Corinthians 3:11)
In every comparison of the law of Moses and the new
covenant that came by Jesus Christ, the new covenant stands supreme.
The characteristic word in the Book of Hebrews is better, and everything is
better about the new covenant. If the law demanded tithes, than how
much more should we who are under the "perfect law of liberty" give our
tithe willingly. (See
James 1:25.) If the law is written in the fleshly tables of our
hearts and we follow God's commands not from outward rules but because of
our new nature, then how quickly and how easily we should give the tenth
that belongs to the LORD! (See
II Corinthians 3:3-6.)
Some people say," Oh, we do
not pay tithes, because tithing was under the law." If that is a
sufficient reason of not paying tithes then we could also mistreat our
parents for the law said, "Honour thy father and they mother." (Exodus
20:12). In actuality, we honor our father and mother and we give
our tithes because the principles of the law are written in our hearts by
the Spirit of God. We give willingly and liberally because the Spirit
motivates us to give what God has said is HIS.
4
TO SHOW MY LOVE.
"Many waters cannot quench love, neither can the floods drown it: if
a man would give all the substance of his house for love, it would utterly
be contemned." (Solomon 8:7)
Love is the strongest motivation in the world.
I have seen bumper stickers that say, "If you love Jesus, honk your horn!"
Anyone can honk his horn. But David said, "Neither will I offer . . .
unto the LORD my God of that which doth cost me nothing" (II
Samuel 24:24). Someone should print a sticker that says, "If you
love Jesus, pay your tithes!
For someone who genuinely
loves the Lord, the tithe is only the beginning of his giving. He
gives not only his tithe, but also offerings (plural), not grudgingly and
not of necessity, but cheerfully with love.
5
TO FULFILL AND OBLIGATION.
". . . for ye pay tithe . . . : these ought ye to have
done, and not to leave the other undone. "(Matthew 22:23)
Jesus did not criticize the Pharisees for paying
tithes. He commended them. He said it was something they "ought"
to have done. The word ought expresses and obligation or duty.
It is one the strongest words if the English language. To pay tithes
is something every Christian ought to do.
The word
ought has three meanings: () obligation or duty; as in, "he ought to pay
his debts"; (b) desirability; as in , "You ought to eat more slowly"; (c)
expectancy or probability; as in, "I ought to be through by Monday."
Each one of these meanings put and obligation upon the Christian. It
is desirable for him to pay his tithes, he is expected to pay his tithes,
and he has a duty to pay his tithes.
6
TO ESCAPE CONDEMNATION
"Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. . . . In tithes and
offerings". (Malachi 3:8)
How sad it is that people who are honest in business and
who pay their debts to the bank, the store, and the government will not pay
God what belongs to HIM! Sometimes people quibble about whether they
are "paying" or "giving" tithes, but both terms seem appropriate. The
tithe is the Lord's, and He expects us to pay it to Him; at the same time,
He does not receive it until we give it to Him. He does not give us
the authority to use His tithe for other purposes, but we have the power to
spend it as long as it is in our hands. Nevertheless, a person is
condemned if he spends God's money.
7
TO SPREAD THE GOSPEL.
". . .so hath the Lord ordained that they which preach the gospel should
live of the gospel."
(I Corinthians 9:14)
God has ordained for people to be saved by the preaching
of the gospel (I
Corinthians 1:21). "How shall they hear without a preacher?" (Romans
10:14)
Tithing is God's way of supporting the
ministry. In the Old Testament, the Levites and the priest were God's
ministers to the nation of Israel, and they were supported by tithes.
In the New Testament, God has called people to minister the gospel.
These ministers can be more effective if they do not have provide for their
livelihood by working on a secular job but can devote themselves full time
to the work of God. They need time to give themselves to prayer and to
the ministry of the Word.
It is not wrong for a man to
labor with his hands, nor should a minister feel too good to engage in
honest labor. Yet God's plan is for those who preach the gospel to
live of the gospel.
When God inspired Moses to write
that the people should not put a muzzle on the ox that labored. God
was not as concerned with the ox as He was with the principle that a labored
should receive this livelihood from his work. The application of this
principle is that the minister of the gospel should earn his living from his
ministry. (See
I Corinthians 9:9-14.)
Some ministers have endured
financial hardships and deprivation in order to proclaim the gospel n needy
areas. If the tithing income insures that the minister can live in a
good house, drive a good car, and buy sufficient clothes for his
family, why should I begrudge providing these things t a man who would
preach the gospel even if he had to work on a secular job to do it? It
is a disgrace to a church if the pastor has to take a secular job to supply
his family's needs when there should be sufficient tithing income available
to allow him to do God's work on a full-time basis. My tithing can
help spread the gospel.
8
TO AVOID A CURSE.
"Ye are cursed with a curse: for ye have robbed me,. . ." (Malachi 3:9)
Someone has said, "You, can't out give
God, and you can't out squeeze Him either.
Some
people put their money into "a bag with holes" (Haggai
1:6) They do not give God His tithe, but they eventually spend the
money for automobiles repairs, medical bills, and a thousand other things
that they might have avoided it they had been faithful to God in their
giving.
God said that the whole nation of Israel was
cursed because they had not given God His due. God asked Israel to
dedicate the gold of Jericho to Him, but Achan took a wedge of gold
and hid it in a tent. It became a curse to him and his whole family.
I do not want God to curse my blessings. I want to give Him His tithe.
9
TO ENJOY GOD'S BLESSING.
"Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, . . . prove me now
herewith, saith the LORD of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of
heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to
receive it." (Malachi 3:10) <See also
Luke 6:38>
God blesses the people who pay tithes. They
do not always have the most money or the best clothes, but they are blessed.
However, I am wary of those who promise, "If you give God a dollar, He will
give you back four." The expectation of return should not be our
motivation for giving. And His richest blessings are not necessarily
monetary.
But I do want God to notice me and remember
me. He noticed that the widow put money into the treasury at the
Temple. he noticed what Cornelius was giving. He noticed what
Israel was not giving. He knows what we give and He notices when we
give.
God has asked us to prove Him and see if He will
not give us His blessings. I have trusted Him, tested Him, and tried
Him, and I have concluded that it is better to give God what belongs to Him.
10
TO BE CONSISTENT.
". . . be thou an example of the believers, . . ." (I Timothy 4:12)
For most of my ministry, I have lived on tithing income.
How could I receive tithes and not pay tithes? I could not do so and
be consistent. The Levities, who received tithes, also paid tithes on
what they received (Nehemiah
10:38) Preachers who receive tithes should be most faithful to pay
them.
Paying tithes will not save a person - everyone
must be born again to be saved. But paying tithes will reap a
blessing. Genuine Christian not only pay tithes , but they
willingly pay tithes.
CHRISTIAN OUGHT TO PAY TITHES
Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye
pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier
matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done,
and not to leave the other undone. Matthew 23:23 (KJV)
I. INTRODUCTION
1. Jesus condemns a lukewarm heart.
Revelation 3:15-16
2. Jesus denounce the practice of giving to be seen of men.
Matthew 6:14-;23:5
3. Jesus disapproves of boosting about contributions.
Luke 18:10-14 4. Amounts given are shown to be insignificant.
Mark 12:41-44
5. Gifts, offerings and aims above and over our tithes are biblical.
Romans 12:8;I Corinthians16:1-2; II Corinthians 9:6-7
II. THERE IS NO WAY TO CARRY OUT GOD'S
WORK SEPARATED AND APART FROM MONEY!
1. God warns us about money.
I Timothy 6:10;Matthew 6:24
2. Riches carry inherent dangers.
Mark 10:23-24;I Timothy 6:9;Luke 12:13-21
3. Ministers are especially warned of these dangers.
I Timothy 3:3,8; I Peter 5:2
4. By the proper use of treasures, we can lay up treasure for
ourselves in heaven.
Mark 10:17-22
5. Giving to God does bring rewards.
Mark 10:28-30
III. HISTORY OF TITHES
1. Tithes began with Abraham.
Galatians 3:16-19; Genesis 14:20 2.
First mention of tithing.
Genesis 14:17-27; Hebrews 7:1-11
3. Jacob promised God one tenth of his increase.
Genesis
28:16-22 4. Under the Law given to Moses for Israel, tithing
was required.
a. Israel was
commanded to pay tithes.
Leviticus 27:26-34; Malachi 3:8-12
b. Levi or the priesthood was given
the tithe for an inheritance.
Numbers 18:21
c. Levites were
to pay tithes on the tithes they received.
Numbers 18:25-32
d. Every third
year, a special tithe was collected.
Deuteronomy 14:28-29;26:12-14
5. Tithing continued into
the New Testament era.
Matthew 23:23
6. Not once is the
practice of tithing condemned in the New Testament.
Luke 18:9-14
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