The Christian's Approach to Money part 2 The Tithe

Well, take your Bible, and if you would have it open, maybe to that passage, if you're like me, always look at the Scriptures when we're going through the various Scriptures when we're looking in God's Word, God's message that is before us. I said earlier that this passage in 1 Timothy 6 is our foundational passage. We will read it each time we come to this subject. We have put our study in the Gospel of John on hold, and we're in this series, Messages from the Pastors' Hearts. Some of you know that this is a series that I pick up from time to time. When there's a subject I feel like we need to address.

That different series is on our church website. I would encourage you maybe, if you would go back and listen to some of those messages, some go back four or five years. Because as a pastor, I feel like there are times when things are strongly impressed upon my heart, and it's time to step to the plate and look at some of these subjects. Well, this morning, just like last week, we're looking at the subject of money. The title is "The Christian's Approach to Money." This morning is a part two. We'll just carry that same title on over.

We'll carry that over next week as well, as we're looking at our monies and what God would want to do in this area of our life. Now last week, we got started on this subject. We had one message, "The Christian's Approach to Money," and we explored this topic with three questions. Three questions. The first question was very basic, fundamental. How do we think about our money? Now I referenced and expounded upon several scriptures. These are thought-provoking. I believe they helped us get our mind going in the right direction. Then the second question that we looked at was, "How do we gain our money?" We saw that we are to earn our money.

We are to work for our money. That's a word that word worked that a lot of people don't like today, but that's the Christian way. And then the third question was, "How do we use our money?" We looked at doing good with our money out of First Timothy, or excuse me, Second Timothy 6, one of these foundational passages, verse 18. We looked at the fact that we are to use our money and our possessions to do good. Three areas of life that I applied to us. We are to do good in our families first. We are to do good in the life of the church, and then we are to do good outside of the church.

Now, I went a little further down this road on Wednesday night. Many of you know that we have a Bible study time as well as a prayer time, but Wednesday night in our Bible study time, I made the statement that this message should make us think. We should be made to think about how we view our money as well as how we use our money, even more than our money, our possessions. Wednesday night I said that we need our Lord to take this big stick of the work of the Spirit and to put it into the pot of our monies and our possessions, and we need the Lord to stir and stir and stir things up.

We need our Lord to show us how He sees our monies and our possessions, and we need our Lord to show us what He wants us to do with our monies and in our possessions. I believe that the Lord is doing this work. One of the men of the church contacted me this week, and he talked about how this made him start to think. He asked me for some information from the notes, and he just expressed that this has started him in the process of thinking about his monies and possessions. Now, from time to time, I might pause in my notes and say something as your pastor. Now, I want to say this to you. This is in the form of a challenge.

Make sure you listen to everything that's put before you. I would encourage you to read these passages and these topical messages. A lot of times I'll reference scriptures. I read them, and I really challenge you to go back and read these passages, meditate over what's before us, and invite the Lord to stir in us and begin to work in us in this area. Now, inevitably, when we begin to discuss money and giving in the life of the church, one particular word comes to the table. That's the word "tithing." Another form of that word would be "tithing." That comes to the conversation rather easily.

Many people ask questions concerning the tithing, questions like this, "What is tithing?" That's a legitimate question. Where is tithing found in the Bible? I've heard that one before. Does tithing apply in the New Testament, or is it only in the Old Testament? I've heard that one before. And another question, does tithing apply to us today? Now this morning we're going to look at this subject of the tithe. This message will answer these questions and then some. And now for some of you, this might stir up a few questions. I've said this many times. When a message stirs up questions, that's good.

I heard the old famous Southern Baptist evangelist Manly Beasley said, "Good preaching stirs up questions." And I add to that. Preaching answers questions, but it also stirs up questions. And if you find yourself with a question or two, I will be glad to sit down with you and take you through the Scriptures and help you with those questions. But I would encourage you to study on your own. Many times I've had questions after preaching, and I had to dig into the Word and let the Lord work in me to answer those questions. Now this morning we're going to look at the tithe in three ways. Three ways.

I will put that information on the screen for you. We're going to look at the tithe before the law of Moses. We're going to look at the tithe between the law of Moses and Jesus. The tithe between the law of Moses and the time of Jesus. And then the tithe between Jesus and now. You see the title of the message? Like I said, this is carrying over from last week's title, "The Christian's Approach to Money, Part 2, Simply the Tithe." The Christian's Approach to Money, Part 2, Simply the Tithe. Now I think I said this earlier. I repeat it. There are going to be quite a few Scripture references. I will read some. I will reference others.

I challenge you to write them down and go back and study them. If I only reference the Scripture, it really would be good for you to go and read them. So this will all come together in your mind and in your heart. So you see how we're going to go this morning? The tithe before the law of Moses, the tithe between Moses and Jesus, and the tithe between Jesus and now. So let's look at our first major truth this morning. The tithe before the law of Moses. Now many people are surprised to find that tithing is found in the Old Testament. As a matter of fact, it goes far back to even the time of Abraham.

There are two places where the tithe is mentioned before the law of Moses. First, an example with Abraham, and then second, there's an example with Jacob. Now I will mention these two and expound here, and I will give you several Scripture references. So just follow along with me. First of all, notice that Abraham tithed, and he tithed to the great king Melchizedek. Now the events that I will reference here took place in a series of events. Most of you know the story of Abraham and his nephew Lot. But Lot was an unwise man of God, and he found himself in some very precarious positions, and he ended up being caught up in a regional war.

Well Uncle Abraham was a faithful family member and a faithful man of God, and what does he do? He rallies his people to go rescue Lot. This is the events taking place, and these verses come from those events. We see this in Genesis 14, verses 18 to 20. Let me read the verses. And Melchizedek, the king of Salem, brought out bread and wine. The Scripture says he was the priest, the priest of the Most High God.

Verse 19, "And he blessed him, blessing Abraham, saying, 'Blessed be Abraham by God Most High, possessor of heaven and earth; and bless me God Most High, who has delivered your enemies into your hand.'" See, Melchizedek is talking about the great victory that God helped Abraham secure. And then notice what happens. And Abraham gave him the king a tenth of everything. Now a few specifics I want us to see here. Notice who King Melchizedek was. He was the king over what was then ancient Jerusalem. And his name meant righteous king. The Scripture says he was a priest of God of the Most High God.

The wording said, "Priest of the Sovereign Lord," there in the Scripture. He worshiped the same God that Abraham worshiped. He did not worship the Canaanite gods of the land. So this is who King Melchizedek was. Then notice what Abraham did. Verse 20 says that Abraham gave the king a tenth of everything. These were the spoils of that war. And this is the first time that the tithes mention in the Scriptures. And notice why Abraham gave this tenth or tithe. There is no commandment given for Abraham the tithe. This is strictly a voluntary move on Abraham's part. Also there is no other account in the Scriptures of Abraham tithing again.

So what do we have? We have Abraham tithing or giving a tenth to King Melchizedek. Then our second example is Jacob. This Jacob tithe to God. Now this comes out of or from a dream that Jacob had. This famous dream of Jacob's ladder into heaven. And this is Genesis 28 verses 18 to 22. The Scripture reads, "So early in the morning Jacob took the stone that he had put under his head, and he set it up for a pillar and poured oil on top of it. He called the name of this place Bethel, but the name of the city was Luz at the first.

Then Jacob made a vial saying, 'If God will be with me and will keep me in all of this way that I go and give me bread to eat and clothing to wear, so that I come again to my Father's house in peace, then the Lord shall be my God.' In this stone, verse 22, 'which I have set up for a pillar, shall be God's house. And of all that you give me, I will give a full tenth, a tithe, to you.'" A few specifics here. Notice that Jacob was setting up a monument to God. Setting up a stone to mark a special religious site was common in that day. This served as a reminder to Jacob, a monument of spiritual remembrance for Jacob and for others.

Notice Jacob offered to tithe a 10% tithe to God. This says that a tithe of 10% must have been a known practice. It must have been a common practice among the people. But notice why Jacob offered to give this tent. Again, there is no commandment given for the tithe. This seems to be voluntary, even though it does seem to be a known practice. Now, in summary, what do we see here with these two examples? First, these instances are the first time tithing is mentioned in the Bible, and this is before the giving of the Mosaic Law. Second, these were purely voluntary events. These men tithed because they wanted to tithe.

There seems to be no commandment given here, but notice something else. What was Abraham's motivation and what was Jacob's motivation? Abraham tithed out of an appreciation to God while Jacob was tithing to try to bargain with God. So what do we see? We see these two men tithing. Now, here, I have three words that I want to use for application. I think you know my habit by now is to explain the truth, to expound the truth of God's Word, and then to apply the truth of God's Word to our life. And I believe there are three words that we can pull here and apply to us today. The first word is the word reason. Now, this leads me to a question.

What is your reason? What is our reason for tithing or forgiving? Are we like Abraham or are we more like Jacob? Is there a hidden reason why we tithe? See, I don't know your heart, but God does. And we need to know the reason why we tithe. And the second word is motive. What is our motive for tithing? Now, that could be closely related to the reason, but it needs to be said. It needs to be asked. What is the motive in why we tithe? And then the third question is how. How do we give? How do we tithe? I've known men who gave in such a way where everyone could see. You see how they tithe?

But I think that just those three words in the form of a question can cause the Lord to stir in our hearts, to overturn hidden things. What is the reason for tithing in our own life? What is our motive for tithing and giving? And how do we give? Do we give out of obligation? Do we give out of habit? Now, I want to go a little further down this path. First, we should give out of a true heart for God. We should give out of a true heart for God. Let me give you an example. Those of us who are married can relate to this.

Listen, if we give to our wives and it's not out of love and it's not out of appreciation, if we do with our wives because of what we can get, what will our relationship be like? It won't go very far, will it? You see, that helps us see why and how in our motive. The second question is, do we give out of the commandments just simply because it's commanded? See, these things help us stir in this pot to help us see why we give, our motives and how. Let's move on. I want us to see our second major truth. I want us to see the tithe between Moses and Jesus, this tithe between the law of Moses and the time of Jesus.

Now this would cover the time period between the giving of the Mosaic law and the ministry of Jesus. Some may know of the two instances dealing with the tithing before the Mosaic law, but there are many in the church today who are ignorant of tithing under the Mosaic law. Many are ignorant of this type of tithe and the amount of tithe during this time period. Now there are several observations that I want to make here. There are several scripture references. Some scripture references I will read and some I will just mention. So first notice, the tithe was, there was a tithe to the priests.

There was a tithe to those Levitical Old Testament priests. This was giving during the time of the Mosaic law. This came about through Moses, Leviticus 27 verses 30-34. It deals with this tithe and notice what the scripture says. Every tithe of the land, whether of the seed of the land or of the fruit of the trees is the Lord's, it is holy to the Lord. If a man wishes to redeem some of his tithe, he shall add a fifth to it. And every tithe of herds and flocks, every tenth animal of all that pass under the herdsman's staff shall be holy to the Lord. One shall not differentiate between good or bad, neither shall he make a substitute for it.

And if he does substitute for it, then both it and the substitute shall be holy. It shall not be redeemed. These are the commandments that the Lord God commanded Moses for the people of Israel on Sinai. Now here this tithe, it was to be brought to the Levites, the priests of the land. The tribe of Levi, which is where the priests came from, they had no means of earning a living. Truthfully, they worked for the nation. They worked for the people. And this tithe went to support the Levites. This is listed out in Numbers chapter 18 verses 21-32. I will not read this verse because of time, but out of Numbers we see some specific.

This tithe listed here was not money, but tithing from the land. This tithe listed here was the Lord's. This meant that although it was given to the priests, it was seen as the Lord's. This was a very practical tithe of 10 percent. And simplistically we can say it like this. This was for the running of the government under the Levites, who were the priests. This was considered a national tithe. So first, under the Mosaic law, there was this tithe for the Levitical priests. Second, there was the tithe for the religious festivals. There was this tithe for their religious festivals.

These tithes are listed out in Deuteronomy chapter 12 verses 6-17. Again, I will not read these verses because of time. These tithes were for national celebrations and the religious festivals that were unto the Lord. The text reads that these tithes listed here, they were brought up to Jerusalem. And the passage says that these tithes listed here, they were for the people. And this was a practical tithe of 10 percent for all of the religious festivals and all of the celebrations under the Lord. This included the priests and the people. This was a big national celebration of worship.

It involved food, it involved fellowship, it involved celebration, but ultimately it was worship unto the Lord. So we see there was a tithe from the people for these religious festivals. Then third, there was the tithe for the poor. The tithe for the poor. This is in Deuteronomy 14 verses 28 and 29. I'll read this verse because I want us to see these verses. "At the end of every three years, you shall bring out all the tithe of your produce in the same year and lay it before your towns.

And the Levite, because he has no portion or inheritance with you, and the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow who are within your town, shall come and eat and be filled, that the Lord your God may bless you in all the work of your hands that you shall do." This was a tithe for the poor that was among the people. You could call this a national social security system or even a welfare system. And this is no stretch to call this a social security system. This tithe was for the orphan. This tithe was for the widow. This tithe was for the stranger who was destitute among them.

And again, this was a practical tithe of 10% every third year for the poor and for the indigent among them. This is what we would call social security. Those who were in need and we provide for them. And this was a legitimate need and this was a true need before the people. But we must notice one major detail. So far, the Jews in that time, the time of the Mosaic law, they tithed over 20% a year. This was strict mandatory giving under the law of Moses. But there was more. There was more for the poor in Leviticus 19. There was the sabbatical rest for the land and debts in Exodus 23. There were the temple tax in Exodus 30.

And scholars teach us that Jews easily tithe 25 to 30% of their monies and possessions. But yet there's more. Fourth, there was the free will offering. Above all of the tithes, that would have been 20 to 30% easily, the Jews gave offerings from their hearts as they were led of God. This was above and beyond all of the tithes and all of the other requirements. A couple of examples. There was a free will offering concerning the tabernacle in Exodus 35, 20 to 29. And in Exodus 36 verses 4 to 7. There was a free will offering in Leviticus 22 verses 17 to 31 and there are other examples.

This was an offering above and beyond the required tithe from the Mosaic law of 23 to 30% easily. That would have been strictly from someone's heart. It would have been based on one's understanding of how God wanted them to give. Now in summary, what do we see here? I know it's a lot. But we see that the Jews gave a lot more than that 10% that is in our mind. That 10% that we're accustomed to thinking about. We also must understand that the nation of Israel, it was a theocracy. It was not a democracy like we have today. This meant that a lot of what was given would be very similar to what we see as taxes today.

And they gave and they gave so much. Now an application, what can we learn here? First for some, this is corrected. There are a lot of you who believe that the Jews simply gave 10%, but that's not true. Again, they lived in a theocracy, not a democracy. And this is educational. I know this is not exhaustive. There's so much more that we could teach here. I know this is an overview. To me this shows us that we should be better students of the Old Testament. We should learn these things. In an application, I think that this should challenge us. God's people in the Old Testament gave and they gave a lot.

You might say, "Pastor, I give a lot." Yes. These people gave to the things of God. And I think this should challenge us to examine how we give, why we give, what is our motive in our giving, and even so much more. Let's continue on. Notice our third major truth in our outline. The tithe between Jesus and now. The tithe between Jesus and now. Now this could be called New Testament giving. And this is accurate. Nothing wrong with using that phrase New Testament giving. Now we see this exemplified and taught in the New Testament. We can learn a lot about tithing when we study the Old Testament.

We can learn principles that can apply to us today. But with tithing, and I repeat. With tithing, we must see what is in the New Testament. Now there are two specifics I want us to see here. These come in the form of questions. The first question is this. What is required in the New Testament? See that's a logical question that most people go to. What is required? And I repeat that word required. We must see what is required in the New Testament. And there are two passages that I want us to read together. These are lengthy, so be patient with me. Matthew 17 starting in verse 24. And Matthew 22 starting in verse 15. Matthew 17, 24.

When they came to Capernaum, the collectors of the two dropped my tax, went up to Peter and said, "Does your teacher not pay the tax?" See this was the Roman tax. He said yes. And when he came into the house, Jesus spoke to him first thing. What do you think, Simon? For whom do kings of the earth tax, take, toil and tax? From their sons and from others. Verse 26. And when he said from others, Jesus said to him, then the sons are free. However, not to give offense to them, go to the sea and cast a hook and take the first fish that comes up. And when you open its mouth, you will find a shekel. That's a coin.

Take that and give it to them for me and for yourself. See Jesus was paying the tax. Verse 22, excuse me, Chapter 22 starting in verse 15. Then the Pharisees went out. They plotted how to entangle him, that's Jesus, in His words. And they sent their disciples to Him along with the Herodian saying, "Teacher, we know that you are true and teach the way of God truthfully. And you do not care about anyone's opinion, for you are not swayed by appearances." Verse 17, "Tell us then, what do you think? Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar or not? But Jesus, aware of their malice, He said, 'Why do you put me to the test, you hypocrites?

Show me the coin for the tax.' And they brought him a denarius. And Jesus said to them, 'Whose likeness and inscription is this?' And they said, 'Caesar's.' And then He said to them, 'Therefore, render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's and to God the things that are God's.' And when they heard it, they marveled. And they left Him and went away." Notice some specifics here. What did Jesus do? First, Jesus paid His taxes. Not only did He pay His taxes, but He paid Peter's as well.

And then also, Jesus clearly said, "Give what is Caesar's to Caesar." And then Jesus clearly said, "Give what is God's to God." So what do we see here in these verses? Jesus required the New Testament believers to pay taxes, just as He did. Give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar. That would be monies or taxes. You find this explained in Romans, Chapter 13, Verses 1, 2, and 3. Paul said, "Let every person be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God.

Therefore, whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive His approval." What is Paul saying? Give to Caesar what is Caesar's. What else do we see here? Jesus gave to God what is God's. God deserved the heart, the life, and the service of His people. And Jesus said, "Give to Caesar what is Caesar's, and give to God what is God's." So what do we see here? These are the requirements laid out in the New Testament.

But this leads to the second question. What about the tithe in the New Testament? Many are surprised to see how Jesus dealt with tithing when He approached the Jewish leadership. Matthew 23, starting in verse 23, what does He say? "Woe to you." That is a judgment statement. He says, "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites, for you tithe, mint, and deol, and cumin, and have neglected the weightier provisions of the law, justice and mercy and faithfulness. But these are the things you should have done without neglecting the others." And notice what He says.

"You blind gods, you strain out at an out, and you swallow a camel." Here we see that the religious leaders tithed. Yes, they tithed. But we see the religious leaders neglected the weightier, the more important things. And Jesus said that they should have neglected the tithe to attend to the weightier things. Jesus said they would have been better off to neglect the tithe and to pay attention to what? Justice and mercy and faithfulness. Now what are we seeing here? They tithed, but Jesus rejected their tithe. Why? Why did He reject it? It was their heart, their lack of obedience. Their tithe did no good whatsoever.

They were just rules that they were checking off one by one. These religious leaders were giving according to the letter of the law while ignoring the heart of the law. And God rejected their tithe, and God rejected them. And a question. Other places where tithing is mentioned in the New Testament? Yes. Luke 8, verse 12, is a similar situation. The Pharisee and the publican. Hebrews chapter 7 mentions Abraham's tithe way back from Genesis 14. So there are scriptures dealing with the tithe in the New Testament. But what do we see here that is applied to us? Is tithing taught? Is it commanded? Is it even expected in the New Testament?

Some of you will be shocked. But the answer is no. There is no New Testament verse that we can say that we as Christians should tithe 10% that it is required. Now that leads us to another question. Well, what do we see? What do we see from the New Testament? We see that taxes are expected, and then giving is a free will giving. Now this leads us to really where I want to go. And that is-- I think I'm going to date myself when I say this-- what the old radio personality Paul Harvey used to say. The rest of the story. See, this just leads us to the rest of the story. And that is truly what New Testament giving looks like.

And like I said Wednesday night, and I said earlier, this is the Lord stirring the pot of our lives and our expectations. And what we do, this is the Lord stirring in us. And look, causing us to think about our monies, how we give, what that looks like, what we should do. That is the Lord stirring it all up. Because I believe there are many of you. You think the tithe is commanded, and the tithe is enough, and that's what you do. And you move on. And actually, that's the farthest thing from the New Testament. Now what's the rest of the story? You'll have to come back Sunday to see. Next Sunday. Now I want to conclude.

This is how I want us to conclude. I want to go back to what I shared with you Wednesday night. Now these messages are layered. They're going to build on one another. Wednesday night I brought before us a three point challenge concerning our money. This was in addition to Sunday morning's message, last Sunday morning's message. And this is in addition to this morning's message. We will continue to revisit this challenge, and I will even add to this challenge as we continue along. So this is our three point challenge that I want us to all take with us.

First, as your pastor, I'll call you, I'll call us to engage in a prayerful examination of our money and of our properties. I'll call us to engage in a prayerful examination of our monies and our properties. This will take time. This will take effort. This will take spiritual effort. This will take spiritual discipline. We can't just pray this at the supper table. This takes the prayer closet. This takes us going to our knees with a notebook that's open and the scriptures before us, and even some of what we've looked at last week and Wednesday and this morning and the weeks to come.

And I call us to engage in a prayerful examination of what we have, what we spend, where it goes, what we do, our attitudes and our expectations. Examine our monies. Second challenge. As your pastor, I call us to come to a place of honest examination between our essentials and our extras. I call us to come to a place of an honest examination and differentiate between our essentials and our extras. Now I go back to a verse. I referenced this and expounded on it Sunday or, excuse me, Wednesday night and last Sunday, 1 Timothy, chapter 6. 1 Timothy, chapter 6, verse 18. What does Paul say to Timothy?

Timothy and the life of that church instruct those who are rich in this present world. Now look, we must interpret that little phrase in light of their culture. Their culture was completely different than our culture. And in Paul's day and in Timothy's day and in the Ephesian church, if anyone had more than daily food and simple shelter and clothes on their back, they were rich. We are rich. Every single one of us are rich. All of us have extras. I go back to those two words. I call us to come to a place of honest examination between our essentials and our extras. And we all have extras.

As a matter of fact, when you get in your prayer closet and you start making that list, you'll start writing essentials and writing extras. And I think you'll begin to take some of those essentials and move them over to the extras category. Third, as your pastor, I call you to pray and to pray, maybe praying fast, and ask God to get you to a new place of usefulness with your monies and your possessions. You ever known someone who was hindered by poor financial decisions? You ever known someone who was hindered by bad debt? Have you ever known someone who was in a place where they just weren't that useful? Now, I want to be careful here.

There are some of you. You have been handed a set of circumstances that are out of your control. I understand that. That's not what I'm talking about. There are some people, though, they back themselves in a corner by making poor decisions or unwise decisions or selfish decisions, and they're just not as useful as they can be in the area of their finances and their possessions. And what I mean by useful, useful in the life of the church. You might say, pastor, you're just trying to get me to a place where I'll give more.

No, I'm trying to get us all to a place where we'll be useful, useful in the hands of the master according to his will for your life, my life, and the life of the church. Now briefly, I'll read those three challenges again. So that we'll all have them in our minds. I call us to engage in prayerful examination of our monies and our properties. I call us to come to a place of honest examination between the essentials and the extras. And I call us to pray and pray and keep praying and ask God to get us to a place of usefulness, useless for the church, useless for our family, and usefulness for others. So what are we looking at?

The Christians' approach to money. Last week, we started thinking about our money. Can't serve God in money. We saw that we must do good with our monies. This morning, we looked at the tide. I think this has been educational. It's by an eye opening. And for some, you stood up in the edge of your seat and thought, I've got to hear what next week's going to be about. It's all building and taking us where the Lord wants us to be. The Christians' approach to money. Let's pray.