Malachi 3:8-10
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We are entering that time of the year when we are going to approve a budget for 2014. I know all of you are getting excited when you hear that I am going to preach a message on tithing.
I consider myself a biblical preacher. Therefore, I will preach the full counsel of God. It is not an option for me; it is an obligation.
Secondly, we would be keeping you from a great blessing if we did not preach on the subject of giving.
The Bible only deals with three things:
- Our relationship to God
- Our relationship to each other
- and to God's creation.
Stewardship takes in more than money. A. W. Fagan said, "Tithing is only a small part of what the Bible says about giving. And giving is only a small part of what the Bible says about stewardship."
It takes in our time, talents, and testimony. We have a responsibility to pass down an earth that is not polluted for our children.
However, for this sermon today I want to give a biblical basis for tithing.
I. TITHING WAS GOD'S PLAN.
I am not making this up as I go. There is a biblical basis for tithing.
1. The first step in tithing is acknowledging God's ownership. God owns everything. You can pretend it is yours all you want. However, I can assure you that you can lose it.
-God created man and woman and placed them in a furnished garden. They had everything they needed to survive. God told them they could eat of all the trees of the garden except one. That one tree was His tree.
-Guess what? They did not appreciate God's restriction. The Devil tempted them into believing they were missing something.
It was as if God gave Adam and Eve 10 apples. It was a gift to them. He wanted them to give one of the apples back to him. The reason for this is that they would acknowledge that all the apples belonged to Him, not just the one they gave Him.
Now here is the point; they would not have any of the apples had it not been for the graciousness of God. However, they sinned thinking God held out on them.
Do you believe God owns everything? If you are not tithing, you are not acting like it! He gives with one hand and expects us to put one back in His other hand.
-There was a large supermarket next to a church. The pastor asked if they could use some of the parking spaces on Sundays. The owner said, "You can use the spaces every Sunday of the year except one." The pastor said, "That's fine, but why can't we use it that Sunday?" The owner said, "Because I don't want you to forget that it is my parking lot!"
2. The second step in tithing is expressing our gratitude to God.
-In Genesis 14 a league of kings came up against Sodom. They plundered the city and took Lot as a hostage. One man escaped and told Abraham. He armed his servants and pursued the kings. He routed them by night, freed Lot, and took the bounty.
-The King of Salem met him and blessed him, priest of the Most High God. He blessed Abraham; and Abraham paid him tithes.
This is the first time tithing is mentioned in Scripture. Abraham was so grateful for the victory God had given him he would not even take any of the spoil.
We are entering that time of the year we call on God and thank him for his blessings. Do you have anything for which to be grateful? How do you express that gratitude to God?
-If Abraham commenced tithing, Jacob continued tithing. He had an experience with God and committed himself to tithe. Zacchaeus got right with the Lord and was willing to give back four times as much as he had taken. Jesus accepted him, and he was so grateful that his pocketbook flew wide open. There is something about getting right with God that elicits our giving.
II. GOD'S PLAN WAS PUT INTO PRACTICE.
1. Moses commanded the tithe. Leviticus 27:30, "The tithe is the Lords," "But preacher, tithing was under the law and we are under grace." It is a disgrace to grace that Christians should give less under grace than the Jews did under the law.
Abraham paid tithes to Melchizedek before the law was ever written. The Christian lives on a higher plane than the law. It is the plane of love.
-By the way, marriage was before the law, as well. I will allow you to make your own application there. The point is they were both incorporated into the law.
-The word tithe means tenth. That formula simplifies our giving. You are to give God a tenth of what you earn. That makes giving fair. It does not matter how much you make, you can pull your share of the load by giving a tenth.
2. Jesus commended tithing.
-Matthew 23:23 "You ought to have done these things and not leave the other things undone." Jesus did not come to eradicate the law. He came to fulfill the law.
3. Paul challenged the churches with this message.
-1 Corinthians 16:2 "Upon the first day of the week let each one of you lay by in store as God has prospered him."
-The problem in our text is that the Jews had abandoned this practice. There was a curse upon the land. What could they do? They could bring the whole tithe into the storehouse.
This means if they wanted to solve the problem here is what you need to do. Bring your offering to God. How much of it! The whole of it! Where should I bring it? You are to bring it to God's house. Why should I bring it? Therefore, there will be meat in my house.
III. TITHING HELPS US TO FOCUS ON GOD'S PURPOSE.
We need to regain a balance today between those who ignore the tithe completely and those on the other hand who legalistically promote the tithe. The tithe may not be explicitly taught in the New Testament; but neither is it explicitly denied. As a Christian, you won't go to hell because you do not tithe. However, tithing does say something to God;
Do we appreciate what He has done, is doing, and will do?
It says something about us. It lets us know where our priorities lie. It says something about our sacrifice, are we tithers or tippers?
It says something to other people. It says I care for you, It says we believe God's work is important.
-The purpose of the tithe is to grow us spiritually. The purpose of the tithe is so there will be meat in God's house. The Leviticus did not receive a portion of the land. They received the tithe from the other tribes so they could carry out the work of the Temple. When you tithe, you support your ministers and the ministry.
-U.S. News reported that the biggest givers to churches are between the ages of 65-and 74. If that is true, it does not take a rocket scientist to figure out that our churches are going to face some serious challenges in the future if other age groups do not pick up the slack.
-Are you doing your part to make sure the church and its message are getting out to the next generation?
IV. TITHING COMES WITH A PROMISE.
-Luke 6:38 says, "Give and it shall be given to you, good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, they will pour into your lap.
1. God promises that when we tithe that He will consecrate the other 90%.
-You can do more with the 90% than you can by keeping 100%
2. God promises that He will bless us.
-There was a church in Oklahoma that guaranteed the members if they did not receive more than they gave, the church would refund their money. Today, I make you the same promise. If you do not receive more than you give to this church, the church in Oklahoma will refund your money.
Seriously, our motive for giving is not to receive more. However, if our attitude is right in our giving, God will open up the windows of heaven and pour us out a blessing that there will not be room enough to receive it.
The invitation this morning is from God. He says test me and see.
-You say, "I have never been challenged to tithe."
You have now.
I am asking you to commit to giving one tenth of your income to the Lord. If you accept this invitation, you will soon realize that tithing is not the end of our giving; it is only the beginning.
I call it the teething stage for baby Christians. Soon you will be giving a tithe and an offering. (Remember, the tithe is His already. The offerings are what we give above the tithe.)
You say the economy is bad and I cannot afford to tithe. I say we do not tithe based on the economy. We tithe based on the promises of God. You cannot afford not to tithe!
-Did you wait until you could afford it to get married?
-If you wait until you can afford it, you will be like the couple in this poem.
The bride bent with age, leaned over her cane
Her steps uncertain needed guiding
While down the church aisle, with a wane, toothless smile, comes the groom in a wheelchair gliding
Who is this elderly couple thus wed
You will find when you closely explore it
This is that rare, most conservative pair
Who waited until they could afford it?
If you wait until you can afford it, you will never do it.
