TEXT: DEUTERONOMY 14 INTRODUCTION: How much do you give God? Martyn Lloyd-Jones told a story about a farmer who went into the house one day to tell his wife and family some good news. The cow just gave birth to twin calves, one red and one white, he said. He continued, We must dedicate one of these calves to the Lord. We will bring them up together, and when the time comes, we will sell one and keep the proceeds and we will sell the other and give the proceeds to the Lord s work. His wife asked him which he was going to dedicate to the Lord. There s no need to bother about that now, he replied, we ll treat them both in the same way, and when the time comes, we ll decide. A few days later, he entered the kitchen looking unhappy. What happened? his wife asked. I have bad news, he replied. The Lord s calf died. There are two things that determine our priorities in life o Our calendar and our checkbook o I can look in your calendar and your checkbook and tell you what s important to you because o Jesus said where your treasure is, that s where your heart is o According to financial expert Dave Ramsey: 53% of Christians have not given to their church in the last month o Number one reason given they are burdened by personal debt o In other words, the money is spent and God wasn t on their list TODAY we are going to look at the topic of tithing and specifically look at FOUR MYTHS concerning Tithing o The question we need to ask ourselves as we talk about this sensitive subject is where is our treasure and where is our heart? MYTH ONE: TITHING IS OPTIONAL Deuteronomy 14:22 (NKJV) 22 You shall truly tithe all the increase of your grain that the field produces year by year. o Moses begins by saying you shall truly tithe
o The word tithe means 10% or one tenth Why are we to tithe? Because God says the tithe belongs to Him Leviticus 27:30 (NKJV) 30 And 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 to the Lord. David recognized that even what he had to give was from God 1 Chronicles 29:14 (NKJV) 14 For all things come from You, And of Your own we have given You. But the real reason for tithing is so we will learn to put God first Deuteronomy 14:23 (NKJV) 23 And you shall eat before the Lord your God, in the place where He chooses to make His name abide, the tithe of your grain and your new wine and your oil, of the firstborn of your herds and your flocks, that you may learn to fear the Lord your God always. In the Living Bible it reads like this Deuteronomy 14:23 (The Living Bible) 23 The purpose of tithing is to teach you always to put God first in your lives. o When we tithe, we are putting God first in our lives o We are saying that we trust Him to provide whatever we need MYTH TWO: TITHING DOESN T APPLY UNDER GRACE o The reasoning behind this myth is this Tithing was part of the law, we are no longer under the law but under grace o Therefore we don t have to tithe because we are free from the law o What I find interesting about this argument is that no one ever says the law says give 10%, I m free from the law, I m under grace therefore I m going to give 90% and live on 10% of my income o They use grace as an excuse not to give But the truth is Tithing predates the law o Genesis 14:17-20 Abraham worships God and gives Melchizedek (the priest of the Most High) a tithe of the spoils of war
o This was 400 years before the law was given o This tithe was given purely as an act of worship o Genesis 28:22 God speaks to Jacob in a dream and makes the same covenant with Jacob that He did with Abraham and Issac o Jacob wakes up and says surely the Lord is in this place and he promises to give one tenth of all the Lord gives Him o This tithe was given purely as an act of worship FACT: The idea of giving generously to God goes all the way back to Cain and Abel in the garden of Eden Genesis 4:3 5 (NKJV) 3 And in the process of time it came to pass that Cain brought an offering of the fruit of the ground to the LORD. 4 Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat. And the LORD respected Abel and his offering, 5 but He did not respect Cain and his offering. o Why did God respect Abel s offering and not Cain s offering? o Because we read that Abel brought the firstborn of his flock o Abel gave to God first o With Cain we read that Cain brought AN OFFERING of the fruit o Cain didn t give God the first fruits he gave God the leftovers o Are you giving to God first? Or are you giving God your leftovers? MYTH THREE: I CAN T AFFORD TO TITHE I can relate to this. There were years in our family where we were living check to check. Every dollar felt like it was worth a million. But God makes a promise about this Malachi 3:10 12 (NKJV) 10 Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, That there may be food in My house, And try Me now in this, Says the LORD of hosts, If I will not open for you the windows of heaven And pour out for you such blessing That there will not be room enough to receive it. 11 And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, So that he will not destroy the fruit of your ground, Nor shall the vine fail to bear fruit for you in the field, Says the LORD of hosts; 12 And all nations will call you blessed, For you will be a delightful land, Says the LORD of hosts.
God says put me to the test on this one o Bring in all the tithes to the storehouse (meaning the church) o God says He will pour out over abundant blessing o God says He will rebuke the devourer what does He mean? o Have you ever lived through those seasons of life where it seems like everything is falling apart and your money is just getting eaten up? o Cars falling apart, bills you didn t expect it almost feels like there s something devouring all your resources That s the devourer o God says He will stop the devourer o God says He will bless your hard work so that it will bear fruit o Roxie and I made a decision at the beginning of our marriage that we would put God first and tithe and God has always provided for us Jesus said Luke 6:38 (NKJV) 38 Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you. Give according to your income, lest God make your income according to your giving - Peter Marshall o I d like to submit to you that you can t afford NOT to tithe MYTH FOUR: I CAN TITHE HOWEVER I WANT Deuteronomy 12:5 6 (NKJV) 5 But you shall seek the place where the Lord your God chooses, out of all your tribes, to put His name for His dwelling place; and there you shall go. 6 There you shall take your burnt offerings, your sacrifices, your tithes, the heave offerings of your hand, your vowed offerings, your freewill offerings, and the firstborn of your herds and flocks. I ve heard people say I ll give a little here and a little there o I like to spread my tithe around it s all for the Lord right? o Other say I ll buy things for the church and that can be my tithe o Well actually no it s not that can be your free will or vowed offerings, but it s not your tithe
o God is the one who determines what the tithe is, where it is to be given and how you are to give. o God says the tithe is to come from your provision o It is to be given to the place where He chooses o In Moses day it was the Tabernacle later it would become Jerusalem o In our day, it s the church o We are to give joyfully rejoicing in all that the Lord has blessed you Some say well, I support this television ministry, that radio preacher or this evangelist o I believe we should support the ministries we believe in o But the truth is, that big television preacher or evangelist you re supporting isn t going to visit you in the hospital when you re sick o They re not going to bury your loved one or follow up with the family o They re not going to spend time with you when you need prayer and counseling o Now if you want to make a free will offering or a vowed offering to other ministries that s great, but your tithe belongs to your local church WHERE DOES THE MONEY GO? TWO PURPOSES ONE: To support the families of those who minister occupationally Deuteronomy 14:27 (NKJV) 27 You shall not forsake the Levite who is within your gates, for he has no part nor inheritance with you. o God said that the priests and the Levites were to have no inheritance in the land the Lord was their inheritance Paul wrote to the Corinthian Church 1 Corinthians 9:13 14 (NKJV) 13 Do you not know that those who minister the holy things eat of the things of the temple, and those who serve at the altar partake of the offerings of the altar? 14 Even so the Lord has commanded that those who preach the gospel should live from the gospel. o So the Bible is clear that one of the reasons why we give it to support those who are called by God to full time ministry
o Thankfully God has blessed our church to be able to support one full time pastor SECOND: To pay for the ministry Deuteronomy 14:29 (NKJV) 29 And the Levite, because he has no portion nor inheritance with you, and the stranger and the fatherless and the widow who are within your gates, may come and eat and be satisfied, that the LORD your God may bless you in all the work of your hand which you do. o Here we see the tithe being used to care for the strangers, the fatherless and the widows who are within your community o The New Testament church was constantly raising funds for missions, evangelism and church planting DOES GOD NEED MY MONEY? NO BUT YOU NEED TO GIVE o So important is our need to give that God instructs Israel what to do if they re on a trip or a vacation and can t give Deuteronomy 14:22 27 (NKJV) 24 But if the journey is too long for you, so that you are not able to carry the tithe, or if the place where the Lord your God chooses to put His name is too far from you, when the Lord your God has blessed you, 25 then you shall exchange it for money, take the money in your hand, and go to the place which the Lord your God chooses. 26 And you shall spend that money for whatever your heart desires: for oxen or sheep, for wine or similar drink, for whatever your heart desires; you shall eat there before the Lord your God, and you shall rejoice, you and your household. o God says enjoy my blessing and throw a party in my name o What an awesome God that He wants to bless us Captain Levy, a believer from Philadelphia, was once asked how he could give so much to the Lord s work and still possess great wealth. The Captain replied, Oh, as I shovel it out, He shovels it in, and the Lord has a bigger shovel.