Tithes and Offerings a Biblical Perspective

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1 Tithes and Offerings a Biblical Perspective 1) Laying a healthy foundation! Honor the Lord with your possessions and the first fruits of all your increase; Proverbs 3vs9 Over the years I have been asked a number of questions concerning the believer s responsibility when it comes to tithing. To fully understand this important subject I would like us to go and study various portions of scripture under three main headings. 1) Laying a healthy foundation. 2) Following the directives. 3) Responsibilities and attitudes in our giving. Introduction: Some years ago I was asked by a certain gentleman a question concerning tithing, o How much should I pay the church? (I had to correct him and remind him that you are not paying the church you are bringing an offering to God.) o I asked him, What does the Bible say? ~ His answer was a tenth o Well how do you determine your tenth? o And I then got a long explanation and justification with great mathematical formulas on just how he ended up giving to God a tenth of what he had left over every month. Now this whole approach is a rather legalistic self justifying approach to tithing. And this is certainly not what God desires. In fact God is not as interested in our tithe as He is interested in our heart and our attitude. If we want to really understand what God wants to teach us in His word concerning tithing and offerings then we need to take note of three important facts that will help lay a foundation. 1. God is the owner of everything God tells us very clearly in scripture that every thing belongs to Him. (Psalm 24vs1;50vs10~12). In 1 Chronicles 29vs10~11 David praises God for supplying every thing for the temple but at the same time he acknowledges that all things are Gods in the first place. In Leviticus 25vs23 when God is giving Israel instructions about what to do in the year of Jubilee He highlights a very important fact He says the Land is 1

2 mine and you are but aliens and travellers )Haggai 2vs8 The silver is mine and the gold is mine declares the Lord Almighty! In fact according to 1 Corinthians 6vs19~20 we ourselves belong to God (We are no longer free agents) and in Romans 12vs 1~2 we are encouraged to give or offer ourselves to God. What is the reality of these verses ~ well bottom line God owns every thing! Often when the offering is taken up in a church ~ our prayer that goes with it goes something like this Here is a SMALL portion of what we are giving back to you! Well what about the rest? According to these passages every thing belongs to God in the first place, so what you are essentially giving Back to God belongs to him in the first place. We forget sometimes of what is written in 1 Timothy 6vs7 For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we carry nothing out of it 2. God is the provider of everything you have James 1vs17 Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights Job in the midst of his anguish and suffering acknowledges that it is God who gives and takes away ~ and what does he say? Blessed be the name of the Lord! We are reminded in 1 Chronicles 29vs12+14 that all riches and in fact all things come from God. So again what is the bottom line: no matter what you have or what you have accrued no matter how hard you have worked or no matter the price you have paid, every thing in you possession has been provided by God. So now that we understand that God owns every thing and has provided every thing we need to make a shift in our thinking and realise what we have is essentially NOT OURS but rather has been entrusted to us why we are on this earth! 3. We are called to be stewards of what has been entrusted to us In Matthew 25vs14~30 we have the parable of the talents. The master goes away on a long journey and calls his servants and delivers his goods to them, one getting 5 talents, another 3 and yet another one. Each was entrusted with the master s goods and when the master returns he wants an account from his servants. When the master entrusted his property to his servants he expected them to administer it at their discretion for his benefit ~ we see this on his return. The principles that are at play in this parable are: o Every thing belonged to the master (at no time during the masters absence did anything belong to the servants) 2

3 o Even the servants themselves belonged to the Master o They were encouraged and expected to give themselves to the masters affairs o They were entrusted with a task o And on their masters return they had to give an account of how they had utilized what had been entrusted to them. What is stewardship or what does it mean to be stewards? Collins Dictionary ~ one who manages another s property OT ~ a steward is a man who is over a house (Gen24vs2; Gen43vs19) NT ~ Epitropos ~one to whose care or honour one has been entrusted ~ a curator, a guardian, (Mat 20vs8; Gal 4vs1~2) Oikonomos ~ a manager, a superintendent (Luke16vs2~3, 1Cor4vs1~20 So what is the bottom line? Stewardship can be seen as the practice of administering the things (finance, possessions, time, ourselves, work etc.) God has entrusted to us. Now with these three facts in mind and in clear perspective let s look at the command and principle found in Proverbs 3vs9. We are told to Honour (highly respect or highly regard or revere) God with all of our possessions (Hebrew word means substance); this includes everything, your possessions, your wealth, your assets and even your very being! So the question in our minds needs to be, how am I honouring God with every thing entrusted to me? We will look more at this next week. But then we are told also to honour God with our first fruits of our increase ~ The indication is that as the Lord provides more and entrust you with more, of those things you are to separate the first bit of that (the best part) and set it apart for God. You see when it comes to tithing and giving back to the Lord, God needs to get the very best of what we have and receive, and it must come off from the first portions not the last. When we give, it shouldn t be because we feel we have to, or are obliged to but because we want to, because we want to honour God with what we have received from Him as an act of worship and appreciation. IF WE BELONG TO CHRIST, IT S LOGICAL THAT EVERYTHING WE HAVE TRULY BELONGS TO HIM. WHEN WE GIVE TO GOD, WE ARE JUST TAKING OUR HANDS OFF WHAT ALREADY BELONGS TO HIM! 3

4 2) Following the directives! Bring all the tithes into the storehouse and try me now in this says the Lord of Hosts Malachi 3vs10a It would be helpful if you read Malachi 3vs1~10 before you continue reading as we will be referring to this passage. Most people don t really like to talk about money unless they are receiving it. One of the realities of this life is the fact that money is important whether we like it or not, and what we do with our money is equally important. With the ever increasing cost of living and the almost unstoppable rise in consumer debt, high interest rates and taxations we all are faced with an ongoing challenge. However God gives some very clear guidelines in His word concerning our money and possessions, particularly in the area of what we need to bring to him. In fact tithing alone is spoken about in the OT about 28 times and in the NT about 9 times. In Proverbs 3vs9 we are told to honour God with our possessions and first fruits. Well the question is; How do I honour God with my Possessions/Wealth? Well it is quite simple really just follow God s directives! And if we look at our passage in Malachi, it starts with what must be presented back to Him. Malachi is quite a difficult book because within it God does some straight talking with His people. In ch1vs1~5 the prophet reminds Israel of Jehovah s love for them. In ch1vs6~2vs9 we have a stern rebuke addressed to the priests who had not been honouring God through the way they were carrying out their God given responsibilities and were actually leading the people astray. Ch2vs9~16 God through His prophet rebukes His people for their intermarriage with idolatrous nations around them and that now they were trying to worship both God and false Gods and in Ch2vs17~4vs6 God warns them of coming judgment, and areas where they had neglected their worship of God, one area in particular is this area of tithes! And so in Ch3 God addresses this issue. What does our passage say? Vs7 Return to me, and I will return to you, says the Lord Almighty o In this verse we have a statement from God. o It is a statement of GRACE and it is made in light of all that God has just been saying to his people The people respond; How are we to return? 4

5 o The people were, I think, trying to be pedantic o How must we do that? o What aren t we doing right? o Where is the problem? So in vs8 God asks another question in order to give an answer o Will a man rob God?-Yet you have robbed me o The people responded - How have we robbed you? Answer in TITHES and OFFERINGS o The consequence or result ~ the whole nation is under a curse o (background) There had been droughts, pestilences, poor crops which in turn had resulted in a poor income and poor economy. The solution is found in vs10: (And Gods desire) o Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse (bring all the tithes) o Then there is an invitation to test and see, check out for yourself. o The consequences ~ open floodgates; pour out blessing prevent pests, protect the crops and all nations will recognize my blessing on you. Let us pause a moment and quickly remind ourselves what the bible teaches about tithes and offerings: TITHES: Tithes are spoken about, 28 times in the OT and 9 times in the NT Each time it is referring to a portion of the whole and only about 4~6 times as a tenth directly related to. I mention this because over the years I believe we as believers have developed 2 problems with our thinking and understanding o 1) The legalist approach ~ 10% is what is required, 10% is what I give! o 2) The problem of Minimums 10% of my money (my left over money) is all that is required. Well God s word highlights for us something very different, in fact 10% is the mere minimum God wants us to give, and the 10% that we sometimes get so excited about is only the starting point when it comes to giving to God. In Leviticus 27vs30~33 (read) it mentions: o A tithe of everything from the land ~ grain, fruit is the Lords o And the tithe of the herd or flock o Notice we are not talking about money here. o HOWEVER If a man redeems any of his tithe i.e. if he wants to exchange his tithe for money he must add a 5 th of its value to it!! 5

6 o In other words if your crop is worth R1000 rand and your Tithe is valued at R100 and you want to exchange the crop for a monetary value you need to multiply it by 20% there for what you bring to the Lord is R120! o NOTICE also with the livestock ~ you don t choose for yourself - every tenth animal that passes under the shepherds rod is the Lords Often we become legalistic in our approach to tithes and that s fine but if you do it that way you need to apply all the rules!!! But you might be sitting there thinking well if God owns everything anyway then why is the tithe so important? Well firstly I don t think God wants us to be legalistic because He is not like that but there are 2 good reasons why I think He wants us to bring in the tithe: 1) Every time an Israelite or a believer brought their tithe before God they would be reminded that all things come from God ~ and therefore we are dependent on God for all things 2) There was a practical reason ~ the levitical tribe was commanded not to own land, and not to earn an income, they were called by God to set themselves aside for serving God and His purposes ~ The Levites were to take a tenth of all that was provided and given to the Lord to live on (Numbers 18vs24~28) FIRSTFRUITS Now over and above the tithe we find that God also tells us, his people, to give Him a portion of our first fruits (Proverbs 3vs9: Leviticus 23vs10) what is the practical application of this today? Well often we wait until the barn is full or the bank balance is healthy before we bring or give anything to God. The question is what do we do with our bonus or that unexpected business deal, or that inheritance or a financial gift. What do you do when God blesses you with a harvest? A portion, the first portion belongs to God. FREE WILL OFFERINGS Over and above these two areas of giving we have times in scripture where spontaneous or voluntary gifts are given over and above what is required. (Lev 22vs23; Ezra 3vs5; Exodus 35vs29). This kind of giving really highlights our true motives, we are giving because we want to and not because we feel obliged to. Isn t it amazing how sometimes we battle to support a missionary endeavour by another R20, yet we will rush out and spend R100 at McDonalds/KFC or on some other fast food outlet when the craving gets us! Or we will go into debt for that car, cell phone or item of clothing we want, we scratch around and find the money for the extra repayments, but we won t consider an extra R100 onto our monthly 6

7 giving to God s work! Here is a test (When next you buy a car go for a cheaper model and give the difference in what you were going to pay to the Lord! Or when next you due for an upgrade in cell phone hold on to the old one a bit longer and pay the difference in premium to the Lord!) Illustration: A beloved Dr retired in a little French village in the middle of some of the finest vineyards in the country. The people wanted to express their appreciation for all his years of service to them as a community. So being a village that produced some of the best wine in the country it was decided to set up a barrel in the town square and all the town folk were invited to empty a bottle of their finest wine into the barrel ~ they would then present the barrel to the Dr. This plan worked well and in no time the barrel was full to the brim and then presented to the Dr. In great anticipation the villagers watched as the Dr drew out the first glass for a taste of the wine. The colour didn t appear to be rosy as it should, and then to their embarrassment they were supplied with a surprised gasp from the Dr But this is just water He exclaimed Each villager had reasoned My little bit of wine won t be missed in a big barrel like that and I really can t afford to give the best so I will just put in a glass of water, and after all no one will notice ~ Well the Dr noticed Now this is a silly story, but how often don t we do the same thing? Sometimes we do it slightly differently, we only pay what we deem necessarily or we give our tithe according to our own priorities, but it says here in ch3 bring the whole tithe into the STOREHOUSE. What is God encouraging you to do with what He has entrusted to you? YOUR BANK AND CREDIT CARD STATEMENTS ARE THEOLOGICAL DOCUMENTS. THEY TELL WHO AND WHAT YOU WORSHIP! 7

8 3) Responsibilities and Attitudes in our giving! Out of the most severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity. For I testify that they gave as much as they were able, and even beyond their ability. 2 Corinthians 8vs2~3 Before you continue I would like to encourage you to read the following two portions of Scripture: 1 Corinthians 16vs1~4; 2 Corinthians 8vs1~15 Our Responsibility: In understanding the context of these passages, there are two things we need to take note of. First of all the church in Jerusalem had been experiencing some extreme financial difficulties as the result of an outbreak of a famine. Churches in the other parts of the known world had been asked to assist. Amongst these churches were the church s at Corinth and also the churches through out Macedonia. Secondly Paul had written in his first letter to the Corinthians concerning this collection in ch16. And so now Paul is writing again not only to encourage the believers at Corinth to give, but also to share what the churches in Macedonia had been doing. Both in 1 Cor. 16 and here in 2 Cor. 8 we have some very clear principles or guidelines with regards to both our responsibilities in giving as well as to our attitude in giving. With regards to responsibility, look at 1 Corinthians 16vs 1~2 for a moment. Some might try and argue that this was a special offering or collection for a specific need, well that might be the case but if you take a kingdom vision approach we know we are called to give to God and support His work, and the principles that are presented are supported right through scripture with regards to giving. Chuck Swindoll when talking about our giving to the Lords work summarises it very well: Our Giving should be: o Systematically ~ on the first day of each week The giving was to be a regular activity In the OT giving was also regular - there were certain times for certain types of giving o Individually ~ let each one of you 8

9 The whole church was involved as individuals They all had a responsibility o Consistently ~ put aside and save There wasn t to be a last minute run around to find the money needed There was to be planning involved They each were to set something aside and save it for when it would be collected and used in this case to help the believers in Jerusalem o Proportionately ~ as he may prosper or according to what he receives They were to take a portion of what they had received This reminds me of what the men of Israel were instructed to do in Deuteronomy 16vs16~17 (Read) Chuck Swindoll makes the comment and observes in these verses we see no pressure, no announcement, no public attention and no manipulative techniques. How different from the way things are often today. It was understood that the Corinthians would make a regular contribution as part of their weekly coming together for the help of those believers in another part of the kingdom to the Glory of God. Let me challenge you and ask you, as I challenge myself ~ Have you made up your mind to set apart a portion of all you have received to bring on a regular basis before the Lord? We have a responsibility before God to do so! Our Attitude: If we look again at 2 Corinthians 8vs1~15 we will notice something about the early believer s attitude when it came to giving. In ch7 Paul has been encouraging the believers, and expressing his delight in the way they have responded to dealing with a discipline issue in the church along with how readily and obediently they have responded to some of his teaching concerning their faith. He also is encouraged by their diligence in all things and the respect they had shown Titus. However Paul had given directions for taking up a collection for the believers in Jerusalem, and for some reason it appears that the believers at Corinth had been slow to respond to this. So Paul wants to encourage them in their giving by highlighting what God had been doing amongst the Macedonian churches. In doing so some tremendous examples are presented in terms of ones attitude in giving. 8vs1~5 o In spite of the Macedonians own personal difficulties and extreme (deep) poverty They gave both generously and sacrificially with an overflowing joy! And this was enabled by the grace of God 9

10 8vs6 o This giving was clearly (not just according to their income) but rather a freewill offering ; in human perspective of what they couldn t afford to give (see vs3) They clearly were not waiting for their own barns to be filled before they thought of others needs We have here another practical example of what we see happening amongst the believers in Acts 4vs34~35 giving freely as there was need. And look at vs4: They counted it a privilege to share in this service to the saints (and they pleaded to be involved!) Vs5 They gave themselves First to the Lord and then to us in keeping with God s will ~ where did that put themselves? 3 rd!!! So we urged Titus to come and encourage you, that what has been started will be brought to completion ~ namely their offering for the saints Unlike the churches in Macedonia the church at Corinth was flourishing ~ they had resources, they were at the centre of the trading routes yet their giving was waning 8vs7~8 o Paul encourages them that just as they abound in so many other areas of their lives so they need to follow the example of others and be diligent in this matter of giving Consider yourself for a moment, maybe you are diligent in prayer, faithful in your quite times and fellowshipping with other believers, you are committed to various ministries but what about in this area of financial giving? 8vs9 o Paul then draws their attention to our Saviour s own example: o though He was rich, He became poor for your sake so that through His poverty you might become rich o They were to use Christ s example to motivate them in their own lives 8vs10~12 o So after all that Paul has said, he says now Here is my advice to you Vs10 ~ complete what you intended to do! And do it with a readiness or willingness, having a desire to do so not because you feel compelled to, but because you want to 8vs13~15 o Paul expresses that it is not his desire to further burden them o But his desire is that there would be equality amongst the churches and believers in terms of no believer being in need. o In vs15 Paul ends off this section with this quote from Exodus 16: 10

11 When one stops to think about it these churches in Macedonia have set quite some example for all us believers. So often one uses the excuse we can t give to the Lord and His work because we don t have enough money. But often it is not really about money but rather about attitude. The problem is (as Chuck Swindoll puts it) we sometimes put our trust in our money, holding tightly on to it for fear of loosing our security or some measure of control over our lives, and not in God. Sometimes we feel we have the right to do what we want with our money and possessions thinking we had to work hard and earn it after all ~ forgetting that all things belong to God and have been provided by God. When the Macedonian believers gave they were essentially putting their lives and their trust in God, knowing that He would provide. We need to be reminded sometimes that not only what we have is essentially not ours but we also can t take it with us when we die! o Colonel Saunders said: There is no reason to be the richest man in the cemetery. You can t do any business from there. o Jesus said: (Mark 8vs36) What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul? o Solomon : Came to realise in the bigger scheme of things ultimately riches are meaningless! The bible tells us in Luke 12vs15 Be on your guard against all kinds of greed and Luke 12vs34 tells us that where our treasure is, there our heart will be also. It is when we start to have an attitude change towards God and the things entrusted to us, that we then begin to do what Glorifies God. It is only when we recognise and respect that every thing is His, and He is only asking for what is already His, that we start to truly honour God with our wealth and substance as in obedience we follow His directives in His word. It is then that we begin to tithe and give to God in a way that pleases Him! If you have any queries please feel free to contact us: Table View Baptist Church Duiker Crescent tvbc@mweb.co.za Table View Tableviewbaptist.co.za

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