Truths About Tithing
Introduction: The subject of my message this morning is one where there is much in the way of misinformation or in some cases misinterpretation of what God has said about the subject of tithing. Is tithing mentioned in the New Testament or is it an Old Testament practice of the law? What is the purpose of tithing? There are many questions around tithing and giving money to the church and God's Word has plenty to say about it! Money is mentioned over 800 times in the Bible! God knew money would be something we would hold tightly to and place a lot of importance on. Let's take a look at what the Bible says about tithing and giving 10% back to God. The below Bible verses are the definitive verses on this subject. Let’s read the passage that we have before us:
Malachi 3:7-12
7 Even from the days of your fathers ye are gone away from mine ordinances, and have not kept them. Return unto me, and I will return unto you, saith the Lord of hosts. But ye said, Wherein shall we return? 8 Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings. 9 Ye are cursed with a curse: for ye have robbed me, even this whole nation. 10 Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and 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. 11 And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground; neither shall your vine cast her fruit before the time in the field, saith the Lord of hosts. 12 And all nations shall call you blessed: for ye shall be a delightsome land, saith the Lord of hosts.
I. The Commandment to Tithe v. 10a (bring ye)
One of the signs of Israel’s apostasy was the failure to keep the Lord’s ordinances mentioned in v. 7 God calls them to return to Him and to obedience to His Word. It is a sign of their spiritual blindness that they deny that they have done anything wrong. But God declares that they have “robbed” Him in the area of tithes and offerings. In v. 9 He declares that “they are cursed with a curse!” What does this mean? It means the withholding of His blessings from them.
ILL: Instant obedience is the only kind of obedience there is; delayed obedience is disobedience. Whoever strives to withdraw from obedience, withdraws from Grace.
Thomas a Kempis.
ILL: Once upon a time, last week, I picked up my son after football and he was hungry. So he and I stop at Burger King to pick up a snack. Well I bought for my son two of his basic food groups, Chicken Nuggets and French Fries. After going through the drive through, tossing in the bag of food in front seat of the car, I then do what any good Dad would do, I reach over to the bag with the food to grab a couple of fries, just to taste. With my son's lightning quick reaction, he reaches over and slaps my hand and says, “Don’t touch my French Fries.” I’m thinking that my son is being just a little bit selfish and stingy. I know who bought the French Fries and I’m really the true owner of the fries. I know also that my son belongs to me. I could get angry and never buy him any more French Fries to teach him a lesson, or I could “cover him in more French Fries than he could ever hope to eat.” Both options are well within my power to do. So I’m thinking, “Why is my child so selfish, I have given him a whole package of French Fries; I just want one French Fry…
Isn’t that the way we tend to be with all our things and with all our money and all our possessions? God owns it all, but we begrudging will give up only a French Fry or two, just so He will continue to bless us. The American way is to say "I pulled myself up by my own bootstraps," and "I worked hard for all I have." Do we realize it is God who gives, it is God who gives the opportunity and ability to work. It is God who ultimately owns all that we have and all that we are.
Some of you are like the little boy I heard about…
ILL: A family came home from church one Sunday and after they had lunch they sent their 6-year-old son off to play. After awhile, his mother realized that they hadn’t heard much from him, which any parent knows is a recipe for disaster. The mother got up from her recliner and walked to the child's bedroom and listened right outside his door. She kept hearing small metallic sounds and jingling come from the other side of the door. Intrigued, she cracked the door a little and looked in to see her son sitting on floor with his piggy bank opened and a few dollars in coins lying around the floor. He gathered them up and put them in the handkerchief, knelt down and prayed silently, and then threw the coin up in the air. He watched them all hit the ground, frowned, and gathered his coin back into the handkerchief and repeated throwing them up in the air. His mom opened the door and asked him what in the world he was doing. The little boy replied, “We learned in Sunday School today that we should give money to God for an offering. I forgot to bring mine today I figured I’d come home and throw mine in the air, and God would catch whatever He needed and I could keep the rest, but He hasn’t caught any yet!” As cute as that story is, it does highlight one of the common misconceptions about giving as an act of worship.
This issue is so important that it cannot be left to chance or caprice. The giving of the Lord’s tithe must be planned, intentional and free!
II. The Calculation of the Tithe v. 10b (all the tithes)
All the tithes were to be brought into the “storehouse”. What does this word signify? The storehouse is a reference to storerooms used by the Levites to store the tithes, particularly the tithes of grain that were brought to them. The most important aspect of this verse is not where to bring the tithe but how much of the tithe was to be brought. It was to be “all” or a “full tithe.” Undoubtedly the Israelites were not obeying the Mosaic instructions concerning tithes and it was pervasive; the whole nation was involved in this disobedience. Partial obedience is no obedience at all. The call to them was to full obedience.
There was a boy who went trekking on the mountain. He reached a great height when he realized that it was getting dark and he had to reach the bottom soon. He began climbing down. It was getting darker and darker, so dark that he could barely see. He was somehow managing to get down the mountain supporting with his hands and feet. Suddenly, his feet slipped. He fell and caught hold of the branch of the tree. He was holding the branch tight enough since that was his only support. He began shouting, “Is there anybody to help me out.” No reply! He kept yelling and yelling. Finally, he heard a soft still voice. “Yes, I am there to help you.” Greatly excited, he shouted, “Thank you, May I know who you are?” Quick came the reply, “I am God. I will help you, but you will have to remove your hands off the branch. Not willing to do so, the boy kept hanging all through the night and finally died. The next morning, the villagers saw the dead boy and found out that the branch on which he was hanging was just two feet above the ground.
Had he listened to the voice of God, his life would have been saved.
1 Samuel 15:22b - Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to listen than the fat of rams
III. The Challenge of the Tithe v. 10c (prove me)
TRUST IN GOD
ILL: "Trust in yourself and you are doomed to disappointment. Trust in money and you may have it taken from you; But trust in God, and you are never to be confounded in time or eternity." --D.L. Moody
ILL: Do we have a correct view of money? Do we hold stuff or does stuff hold us? Do you possess your possessions or do your possessions possess you?
I HAVE BEEN WITH MANY DYING PEOPLE AND LISTENED CLOSELY TO “THE REGRETS.”
ILL: I was driving an elderly lady to a doctor’s appointment in Lexington. It was a four hour trip. The doctor did not have real good news. Her days were limited. On the way home we stopped and ate. Then we headed home. She bowed her head and never spoke for some time. I noticed tears running down her face. The quiet stillness was deafening in the car. She never raised her head. She pulled out her handkerchief and wiped off her face. She was broken and started speaking. I listened. She was a wise woman. She was in her 80’s. With her head bowed she said Pastor you know my husband and I felt like we could never afford to pay our tithes. The Lord blessed us abundantly but 10% seemed so much and we decided that was too much to give. So we both decided we would not give. She has a few days to live. She said: I SEE NOW WE COULD HAVE EASILY PAID OUR TITHES.
She went on and said we have gone to our church 80+ years, Pastors have come and gone. They made huge sacrifices and their families have gone without. Most of them stayed until they had to leave because of their finances. She had tears flowing down her face. My husband and I giving could have made a difference. We were faithful in attendance, we just felt like we could not afford to give. I have pastored many years. I am now an old man. I still remember that day so very well. The words echo in my ears: PASTOR, WE FELT WE COULD NOT GIVE AND NOW I SEE WE COULD HAVE GIVEN AND BEEN BLESSED. Not only was my heart broken for her regrets. I was broken for every preacher that had pastored that little church and struggled because the focus on the temporal… I CAN’T. I CAN’T AFFORD. NOW I SEE, the eternal vision should become clearer…
I REALLY SEE AND UNDERSTAND THAT ETERNITY LIES AHEAD…DO WE SEE MY DAILY CHOICES IN THE LIGHT OF ETERNITY?
Matthew 6:21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
IV. The Commitment to the Tithe v. 11 (I will rebuke)
Do you want God to bless what you have, what He has given you? I already know the answer to that question. The answer is yes! God wants to “open the windows of heaven and pour you out a blessing,” so that you “shall not have room to receive it.” He can curse you just as easily as He can bless you. Do you want Him to bless you? The answer is yes again!
Did you know that tithing helps us to develop financial discipline. It requires more discipline to live on 90% than it takes to live on 100% but the difference is that God has promised to bless the 90%! Nearly - 80 percent of all divorced couples between the ages of 20 and 30 list financial difficulties as the primary cause of their separation and divorce. The Bible declares that the borrower is servant to the lender. God’s blessings are the difference between financial freedom and financial bondage! Just what does it mean when God says, “I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes…?”
In Malachi 3:11, the key word is devourer. From Strong's #398, devourer in the Hebrew is “akal.” It means to eat, feed, or consume. It refers to something that eats food, either man or animal. ... And I will rebuke the [birds, animals, insects] for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground…
Can God do something this? Listen as I read this account from:
Deuteronomy 29:5 And I have led you forty years in the wilderness: your clothes are not waxen old upon you, and thy shoe is not waxen old upon thy foot.
V. The Coronation of the Tithe v. 12 (for ye shall be)
ILL: Sir John Templeton is a multi-billionaire, one of the wealthiest men in the world. He’s a dedicated Christian now in his nineties now. He invented the idea of trust funds in investments and started the Templeton Fund. Someone asked him, “How did you make such enormous wealth?” He said, “From the very start I did the ten-ten-eighty rule. Ten-percent goes to God; at least ten percent goes into savings. Then I live on the rest.” And he kept raising the savings part every year, 11 percent, 12 percent, on and on, saving more and more and more. And he puts it in a fund and makes his money work for him.
On Tithing:
W.A. Criswell tells of an ambitious young man who told his pastor he’d promised God a tithe of his income. They prayed for God to bless his career. At that time he was making $40.00 per week and tithing $4.00. God did just that and in a few years his income increased and he was tithing $500.00 per week. He called the pastor to see if he could be released from his tithing promise, it was too costly now. The pastor replied, “I don’t see how you can be released from your promise, but we can ask God to reduce your income to $40.00 a week, then you’d have no problem tithing $4.00.”
A few years back, a Galveston church had a Tithing Demonstration Sunday for its members. On a designated Sunday everyone was asked to give a tithe of one week’s salary. They urged everyone … whether or not they usually tithed … to give a tithe that one time. As you could imagine, the offering that Sunday was the largest ever given. In fact, it was 6 times the usual offering. The aftermath was even more exciting. Many who had never tithed before changed their attitude and decided if they could do it once, they could do again. By the end of that year giving was up almost 3 times what it had been before the demonstration. The enthusiasm was up more than that. Over and over, people gave testimonies of the many changes in their lives as God fulfilled his promise in Malachi 3:10. All of this came from a simple obedience to Jehovah Jireh, the God who provides.
