God has set forth very specific directives about what He
expects us to give back to Him (Lev. 27:30; Deut. 14:22-23). According to
Malachi 3:8-12, we are to give Him a tithe, which is ten percent of what we
produce or earn.
The way in which you handle your finances will mark your
spiritual growth and trust in the Lord, as well as your obedience to God. You
have heard it said that more can be learned about a person’s commitment to
Christ by looking at his checkbook rather than his prayer book. We are no
further along in our walk with God than the point to which we have learned to
trust Him with our money and His tithe.
So what is the tithe? Where does it come from and what is the purpose for such
? All of these questions may come to the
mind of a new believer or individual who does not understand God’s principles.
This lesson will answer these and others questions about God’s promises and
tithing.
The most important thing we want you to learn is that tithing
is a commandment from God and it is a priviledge to obey and not a burden.
Tithing is not done out of a sense of duty, but rather out of love and obediance
to God, and a desire to see His kingdom advanced.
Mal. 3:10 says “Bring all of the tithes into the Storehouse,
that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saidth the
Lord of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven, and pour you out a
blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it. Prov. 3:9, “ Honor
the Lord with thy substance, and with the firstfruits of all thine increase.”
The word tithe is based on the number ten in Hebrew. Tithe means a tenth; or
a tenth part, 1/10 of the whole. In Jewish history, the tenth was 1/10 of the
produce of the earth and was consecrated and set apart for special purposes.
The dedication of the tenth to God was recognized as a duty before the time of
Moses and the law. The tithe was a payment of one tenth of all the increase of
the Jews.
“And
all the tithe of the land , whether of the seed of the land, or of the fruit of the tree, it is the Lord’s it is
holy unto the Lord” (Lev. 27:30)
According to Lev. 27:30, the tithe is Holy, meaning sacred,
dedicated, or hallowed before the Lord. The tithe is very special to God and is
not an option but a command and an honor that He has trusted you to obey Him
that you may eat the good of the land. God's desire for us is to trust Him and
understand that every good thing, including money and all blessings, flows from
and belongs to Him. Tithe is symbolic to the Holy anointed oil and should be
handled as such. Tithe is not to be used
for any other purpose than what it is intended for from the giver or the
reciever, nor should it be compromised in any way but as unto the Lord.
Let’s talk about
what this means……..The tithe is not an offering, not a seed or an option to be
given as desired. God’s command is not optional. It is a clear and precise
command designed by God to be used as He intended. The tithe in today’s economy is a tenth of
your income that you return to God by bringing it into the storehouse (church)
to be used for the purpose of building the Kingdom of God. You can not negotiate your tithes, nor pay on
them, borrow from them or choose your percentage. Anything other than 10% is an offering and you have not given God His
portion of what He trusted you with. You do not want to rob God.
As stated in Deut. 14:28,
we read that the children of Iseral were instructed by Moses from God to ,
“At the end of three years thou shalt bring forth the tithe of thine increase
the same year, and shalt lay it up within thy gates. The tithe in today’s
economy is the giving of one tenth of all of the increase that comes into your life.
This may include:
1. Increase from all forms of employment prior to deductions (gross income)
2. Increase from investments
3.
Other forms of increases
such as inheritances, montary gifts, settlements, etc.
Tithing is also a matter of stewardship. The Bible clearly
teaches that all things on earth belong to God and that we are the stewards. A
steward is someone who manages that which belongs to another. Therefore, since
everything belongs to God, we need to ask HIM how He wants us to manage it.
When we give God the 10% due to Him, it acknowleges His ownership and our
stewardship.
Most Protestant Christain denominations and non-denominations
engage in regular practices of giving tithes and offerings. The definition of
tithes as mentioned earlier, is a tenth of one’s earnings (income, salary, or
regular gifts, including any other increase). Individuals are usually members of
the local church who have agreed to contribute to the financial operation of
the church by giving, weekly, monthly, and on special occasions.
Let’s talk briefly
about some of your experiences and understanding of giving of tithes and offerings, why we tithe and give offerings,
and what happens with them. To do a thorough discussion of this topic, it could
take much longer than we have, so for understanding and clarification we will
only talk about a few of the most common types of giving.
A. Tithes
and offerings: Both these
types of giving are both biblical mandates. These are God’s commands and His
pleasure to release His blessings. See Gen. 14, Deut. 14, Neh. 10, Amos 4
Matt.25 and Heb. 7. In reading these scriptures, we will see in the Old and New
Testiment that tithes and offerings are the doorway to God’s release of His blessings
to us.
B.
Church Funding: Tithes and
offerings are most commonly used by the Levite (Pastor) and staff, when needed,
as well as upkeep and maintaining of the church operations and spreading the
gospel.
C.
Donations and Charity: After the
essentials are met, most churches participate in missions, renovations and support of
other churches and worthy ministries.
D.
Personal Faith: Many
churches believe and teach their members the blessings associated with giving.
They encourage their members to follow the principles of the God they trust and
obey. They teach and practice the principle of reaping and sowing, seeding and
harvesting, Biblical teaching of obedience to the Word of God and faith in
believing God for what He says.
E.
Points of
Interest: A person
should not tithe on someone elses money without their consent. We believe a person can remain
saved without tithing; however, it is in your best interest and obedience to
the Word of God to do so, remembering, it is a sin to not obey God’s
commandments. The only way God can help you out of your financial situation is
to obey Him with the giving of our tithes and offerings. It is not a good idea
to wait until you are in the situation, or until you think you can afford to
give. It is not according to what you think you can afford, it is all about
trusting God. Give your tithes to the church you are a member of, or a ministry
with intregrity. Do not give your tithes to a charity or to help an individual.
Those gifts provide for your freewill offerings or efforts.
A. Freewill
offerings: These offerings are given voluntarily for the work of
the Lord. Building the Kingdom as lead by the Overseers of the church. An
examples of freewill offerings is found in Exodus chapter 35. Notice how the
scripture reads that the people had hearts that were willing to give. In fact, there gifts were abundant that Moses
has to asked them to stop giving. Other examples of freewill offerings can be
found in Ezra 1: 1-6, 7:16.
“they came, every one whose heart
stirred him up, and every one whom his spirit made willing, and they brought the
LORD’S offering to the work of the tabernacle of the congregation, and
for all his service, and for the holy garments
B.
Peace
offerings: According to Leviticus
7:11-12, this was given to express thanks for something the Lord had done.
C. Vows: In the context of offerings, a vow is defined as a
promise/offering that would be kept/given by the individual if God would do
something for them. The Hebrew word is neder. For
example, Hannah asked God for a son and vowed that she would return the
child to God as a Nazarite (1 Samuel 1:11) When she weaned him, she took him
and her offerings to the temple in Shiloh (1 Samuel 1: 24). The Lord then
honored His oath and the child became a prophet. Another example of a vow is
the one made by Jacob when the Lord revealed Himself as he ran from Esau. God
spoke to him about the blessings in store. Jacob vowed that he would tithe and
build a place of worship in the place (Bethel) where he had seen God (Genesis
28: 18-22). Years later, as he returned home, he was told that his brother Esau
was coming to meet him. Fearful for his and his family’s safety, he reminded
the Lord of His promise to multiply his seed (the underlying prayer was for one
of preservation). Later that night, he met and wrestled with God (Genesis
32).
D. Sacrificial
offering: This type of offering means
to give above the tithe. Today, as 21st century Christians, we
aren’t required to bring animal offerings to the Lord to express our fellowship
with Him. Jesus, who was the perfect Sacrifice, purchased our fellowship with
God and made peace through the blood of the cross. Scripture does require
Christians to offer at least three sacrifices to God.
1.
We must offer ourselves as living sacrifices.
2.
We must offer the sacrifice of verbal praise
3.
We must offer the sacrifice of good deeds, sharing
and the word of God.
Many people think they cannot afford to
tithe. Actually, we cannot afford not to tithe because of the awesome benefits
(Malachi 3:10).
1.
Windows of heaven open over your life (revival in
your life)
2.
God will pour you out a blessing, that there will
not be enough room to receive it (you will receive great prosperity)
3.
God will rebuke the devourer for your sake (the enemy will be crippled and will not
touch your life)
4.
Satan will not be allowed to destroy the fruits of
our ground (your finances will be safe).
5.
God will not allow our vine to prematurely cast
fruit (Your family will be safe from the hand of the enemy)
6.
All nations shall call you blessed (you will be a
great witness of the power and blessings of the Lord to the nations)
7.
You will be a delightsome
land (God will use you for His glory)
In our offerings, we should
follow the same principle that was given to Israel: that is to give the Lord
the best we have. The quality of our gifts shows how great our devotion is to
Him. If our offering is money, time, preaching, teaching, music, visitation,
scholarly writing, hospitality, or any other service, it must be the best. God
will accept nothing less! We are insulting our holy and gracious God when we
give Him anything second rate or left over after we have served ourselves with
the best.
If we expect to be found
acceptable before the Lord, we cannot hold anything back. He is either Lord of
everything in our lives or not Lord at all. This may sound like a very high
standard, and it should. God isn’t interested in people who serve Him only when
it’s convenient, those who are lukewarm. Jesus didn’t die on the cross so that
we could show wavering devotion to His Father. He came for believers who trust
and obey Him, to inherit a promise. Since the beginning of
time, people have thought about what they can give to God, usually to get some
favor from Him. We must remember that giving to God must be done as He
prescribes and in the manner He has laid out. We can only give back to
God what He has already given us. He does not need what we give, but we
need to learn the proper spirit of giving. When we give God’s way, it
will change our character and spiritual outlook in a positive way.
Offerings given simply to get something back from God will certainly backfire
on us.
Our
lesson this week has instructed us to give and we do it the right way when we
give our best. The leaders of FAHOW want to see debt, lack, and
shortage broken from your life. We want to see the Lord bless your life. It is
your tithe that opens heaven, and it is your offering that brings prosperity
your way. We cannot be truly blessed without the tithe, and we cannot see
abundance without both the tithe and the offering. Amen!
1. Tithing is giving 10% of
________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
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2. How much is 10% of your income (weekly, bi-weekly, or
monthly)?
____________________________________________________________
3. How do you plan to prepare your tithes and offerings (cash,
check, debt, etc.)? _______________________________________________________
4. What are some things that are contributing to your inability
to tithe?
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
5. What steps are you going to take to start or strengthen your
ability to tithe and give regular offerings?
______________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
6. What are your short-term goals for giving over the next 6 to
12 months?
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
7. List some examples of how you can begin to give sacrificially?
_________
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
“Father, I thank You and praise You for translating me
from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom that You have prepared for me.
Thank You that it is a kingdom of mercy, a kingdom of joy, a kingdom of peace
and a kingdom of abundance.
“I bring my tithe now to You, Lord Jesus. It is the first-fruits
of what You have given me, and I plant it in Your kingdom as a seed of
blessing, expecting the rich blessings of heaven to be multiplied to me in
return. I thank You, Lord, that You’ve rebuked Satan for my sake, and I stand
in agreement with Your Word that he’ll not destroy my land, he’ll not destroy
my blessings, and he’ll not destroy my crop in the field. I am a citizen of
Your kingdom. I have the rights and privileges of a citizen of that kingdom,
and I stand upon them. Thank You, Jesus, for heaven’s unlimited resources, in
Jesus name, Amen.”
