It's About Tithing!

Leviticus 27: 30-32; 2 Corinthians 8: 7-9

For many people tithing is one of the most misunderstood and mysterious subjects in the Bible.
It is like prayer in many ways.
Praying is an act of worship, and so is tithing.

In order for a person to understand prayer, he or she must experience the joy of it.
So, it's also true that in order for a person to understand tithing, he or she must experience it
by giving God a minimum of 1/10 of his or her income.

Some believe tithing started when Moses gave the law to the Jews in the desert of Arabia.
Closer study, however, reveals that Moses simply incorporated the tithe into the law
for the people of God were tithing long before the day of Moses.
Tithing had been a practice for years when Moses, by the divine command of God,
placed the law of tithes and offerings in the Levitical commandments.

Abraham lived at least 500 years before Moses.
The Bible tells us that he was a tither.
The first recorded act of tithing in the Bible is found in Genesis 14:20:
" Blessed be the most high God, which hath delivered thine enemies into thy hand.
And he gave him tithes of all."

Abraham had won a military victory.
He had rescued his nephew Lot.
The mysterious priest, Melchizedek, appeared on the scene.
In order to show his gratitude to God, Abraham gave a tithe of everything he had captured
in the battle.

Tithing was already a time honored-God given custom even in the day of Abraham.
It was always a 10th.

The first recorded act of worship on the part of both Cain and Abel is bringing their offerings
to the Lord.
Genesis 4: 3 states: " In the process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought
of the fruit of the ground as an offering unto the Lord.
And Abel also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof.
And the Lord had respect unto Abel and to his offering."
So, God must have taught Adam to tithe and Adam taught his sons.

So from the beginning they were shown that they were accountable to God
for their stewardship.
So from the first, people have been commanded to invest a portion of their income
in the work of the kingdom of God.

The plan of tithing revealed to us in the Bible originated with the Almighty God.
Tithing is God's plan, and it will continue to be the practice of the children of God
until Jesus comes.
The first recorded act of tithing is found in Genesis 14:20 when it is said
regarding Abraham, " He gave Him tithes of all."

Jacob continued the practice of tithing.
He stated, " This stone which I have set for a pillar, shall be God's house:
and of all that thou shalt give me I will surely give the tenth unto thee."
(Genesis 28:22)

Moses incorporated tithing into the law.
He talked to people what God had commanded, " all the tithe of the land,
whether of the seed of the land, or of the fruit of the tree, is the Lord's: it is holy
unto the Lord." (Leviticus 27:30)
In that same passage of Scripture, Moses went on to say,
" the tenth shall be holy unto the Lord." (Verse 32)

The last prophet to write in the Old Testament was Malachi.
With great fervor he preached to the people the message of God.
In a straightforward manner he condemned the people for forsaking the practice of tithing.
The prophet Malachi wrote: " Will a man robbed God?
Yet ye have robbed me.

But ye say, wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings.
Ye are cursed with a curse: for ye have robbed me, even this whole nation.

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." (Malachi 3: 8-10)

When you study the progression of tithing in the Bible, you are struck with the fact
that Jesus, our Saviour, practiced tithing.
He perfectly kept God's law,
And Jesus commended tithing while condemning omitting judgment, mercy, and faith.
" 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)

A very clear explanation of how we are to bring our tithes to God is outlined
by the apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 16: 2: " Upon the first day of the week
let every one of you lay by him in store, as God hath prospered him, that there be
no gatherings when I come."
So from the beginning, people have been commanded to invest a portion of their income
in the work of the kingdom of God.

The method of supporting our churches day is through the tithes and offerings
of God's people.
We tell the people of God of the great needs of the kingdom and the Lord lays on
the hearts of His people to dedicate their tithes and offerings to the work of God
through the church.

Tithing is God's plan.
Tithing is within the capacity of every Christian.
If each of us would give to God that which is rightfully His, we could change the
slow pace of the Christian church into a fast pace that will reach more people for Christ.
We would relieve the poverty of the work of God and fulfill the Great Commission.
Think of all the good things we could do it everyone tithed ...

Let's join the great multitude of the saints of the ages who found tithing to be a great blessing.
Let us join hands with Abraham, Jacob, Moses, Malachi, Paul, and even
our Lord Jesus in committing to tithe.

God promises to bless the tither: " Honor the Lord with thy substance,
and with the firstfruits of all thine increase: So shall thy barns be filled with plenty,
and thy presses shall burst out with new wine." (Proverbs 3: 9-10)

When Paul wrote to the Corinthians, he said, " But this I say, He which soweth
sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully shall reap
also bountifully." (2 Corinthians 9: 6)

Malachi said that if we will tithe, God will open the windows of heaven and pour us out
a blessing that there will not be room enough to receive.
Jesus taught us that we're to lay up treasures in heaven.
As a matter of fact, Jesus taught in Luke 6: 38, " Give, and it shall be given unto you;
good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over."

Why would any Christian refuse to tithe?
How can any Christian receive all the blessings that God pours out on us so abundantly
and still refuse to obey the clear teaching of the Bible regarding tithing.
Tithing is God's plan.

You and I are stewards of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
There are hungry hearts and lost souls all over the world that need to hear the message of God.
When you and I bring our tithes to the Lord's church for the Lord's work, we are taking
the Lord's gospel to the ends of the earth.
Nothing could be more rewarding and more joyful than that.

Sermon adapted