Teach Me to Tithe December 28, 2014 Sermon # 663

December 28, 2014

       Sermon # 663              

Teach Me to Tithe

Introduction:

A cartoon shows a fellow in the cemetery holding flowers. The epitaph on the stone before him reads: “Eternally peeved at those who never showed me how to tithe.” That may well happen.

Luke 6:38(NKJV) 

38Give, 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.”

Acts 20:35(NKJV) 

35I have shown you in every way, by laboring like this, that you must support the weak. And remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that He said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’”

Matthew 6:19-21(NKJV) 

19“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal;  20but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.  21For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

ILL: Since our Lord said giving, as He taught, means laying up treasure in Heaven, it follows that some in Heaven are going to be poorer for not having done that. What does it mean to “be poorer in Heaven”?  I don’t have a clue. But there it is.

The ministries of the Lord Jesus, here on earth, are weaker and fewer because of the failure of the Lord’s people to give faithfully, generously and regularly. Malachi 3:10’s command to “bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse” gave as its reason “that there might be provisions (literally, bread) in my house.” This clearly refers to funding the work of the Lord.

 (Explanation: God’s Word clearly teaches the disciples of the Lord Jesus are to be givers in all areas of life—to the poor, to the needy, to one another as necessary and to support the work of the Lord. Here, we primarily refer to contributing to the work of Jesus through the church.)

So, let’s admit the obvious here: The carnally minded in every congregation will reject teachings on sacrificial giving and resent anyone teaching it.  If I fail to teach God’s call to generous giving, I disobey the Lord and abandon His people. If I do it well, I strengthen the work of everyone dependent on the pipeline of God’s resources flowing to the world from our churches. I will bless the Lord; I will help your people to lay up treasures in heaven,  and here it comes, I will be verbally attacked by those who resent any reference to money from the pulpit.

The typical congregation will expect you to raise money mysteriously. That is, they expect that if you teach the Bible well and preach inspiring sermons, by some unknown way, people will automatically put money in the offering plate and the work of the Lord will go forward. To actually mention money by teaching what Scripture says about it is to fail in some way.

Do not expect the fearful flock to be consistent on this. The pastor will be criticized, if the money does not come in and I will be criticized if I speak on it.

I.  Why?

Romans 8:4-8(NKJV) 

4that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.  5For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit.  6For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.  7Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be.  8So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God.

ILL: People whose minds are set on the flesh resent being called to make sacrifices for anything. They have other uses for the Lord’s money. And people whose mind is set on the flesh resent being told their mind is set on the flesh. (They can think of a hundred possible explanations why they want no sermons on money, many of which are legitimate. But the bottom line is always there: Faithful givers love teachings on money; the rebellious hate them.)

All right now.

II  Steps to Mastering the Tithe

1. Tithing does not make sense humanly speaking. 

That means simply, “It may not look like it is the smartest thing you’ll ever do, but it is.” It may even feel scary as you divert money from some due bills and place in the church offering plate. Faith is always scary.

2. Tithing is a faith enterprise from start to finish.

Now, only people of faith (strong confidence in Jesus Christ) are interested in doing anything without immediate payoff. Only people of faith can pray for years and years without seeing the results of their requests; can give large chunks of their income into the offerings of the church over a long lifetime with very little feedback on what it is accomplishing; or can minister to the down and out—the truly needy—without seeing evidence that they are doing anything more than “pouring water down a rathole.”

Romans 1:16-17(NKJV) 

16For I am not ashamed of the gospel £of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek.  

17For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “The just shall live by faith.” £

ILL: Only people of faith can live by faith. The rest will complain about the preacher always harping on money because they just don’t get it. Tithing one’s income (to the Lord through His church) is all about faith. And here is what that means …

3. Plenty of church members would give, if they “could only afford it.”

ILL: The young couple is genuinely sincere when they say (mostly to themselves) that “just as soon as we get on top of our school debts and pay off the car and some bills, we’re going to begin tithing.” Almost invariably, they will add, “Just as soon as we can get a few bucks ahead.”

What they are actually saying is, “As soon as we do not have to do this by faith, we’re going to start tithing.”

That’s why we say it’s not going to happen.

4. The devil will see to it you always have plenty of debt. Furthermore, the Lord does not want us tithing “when we can afford it.”

Stay with me here.

The Lord is not interested in His people waiting for excess money to begin tithing. Those who insist they will begin tithing as soon as they get a little ahead will never tithe.

They. Will. Never. Tithe.

Satan (and our own flesh!) will make sure we always have debts aplenty. Anyone thinking they will someday get extra money with which to tithe is fooling only themselves.

God wants us to live by faith.

Hebrews 11:5-6(NKJV) 

5By faith Enoch was taken away so that he did not see death, “and was not found, because God had taken him”;£ for before he was taken he had this testimony, that he pleased God. 6But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.

 “The just shall live by faith” (found three times in the Word, in Habakkuk 2:4, Romans 1:17 and Galatians 3:11).

5.  The Lord has actually planned for tithing to be a painful decision at first.

ILL: It’s good to struggle with faith decisions. We have to come to terms with whether we believe Jesus Christ and to what extent we do.

Make up your mind: Tithing is a struggle at first.

I’ve known thousands of tithers over a long ministry. But I never knew anyone who started tithing when they could afford it. They all had to bite the bullet and come to terms with their own faith. How much does the Lord Jesus Christ mean to them? Are they willing to entrust themselves to Him even when they cannot see how this is going to work? After all, that’s how they got saved in the first place. No one knows when they first open their hearts to Him what He will do with them. Yet, they step forward and receive Him by faith.

That, incidentally, is why many people will never get saved and die without Christ. They were unable to make that tough faith decision. “For by grace are you saved through faith” (Ephesians 2:8-9).

ILL: Mary and I gave the tithe while in college with three children to support - no support from my family - college tuition to pay. Mary worked at a shirt factory. I worked as an apprentice carpenter when class was closed.  The children worked in tobacco.  Then I pastored a country church.  4 years of college, 3 years of seminary and yet I graduated without any school debt. How? Even today I wonder, how?

Painful, to be sure, and tough. But—and we must not miss this—this is where the faith comes to play. Doing this is what faith looks like.

6. To give by faith means we put obedience to God above all other considerations and trust Him to work it out.

Does Scripture teach tithing? 

Leviticus 27:30(NKJV) 

30And 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. 

Malachi 3:10-11(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 blessingThat 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;

Matthew 23:23-24(NKJV) 

23“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith. These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone.  24Blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel!

1 Corinthians 16:1-4(NKJV) 

1Now concerning the collection for the saints, as I have given orders to the churches of Galatia, so you must do also:  2On the first day of the week let each one of you lay something aside, storing up as he may prosper, that there be no collections when I come. 3And when I come, whomever you approve by your letters I will send to bear your gift to Jerusalem.  

4But if it is fitting that I go also, they will go with me.

2 Corinthians 8:1-5(NKJV) 

1Moreover, brethren, we make known to you the grace of God bestowed on the churches of Macedonia:  2that in a great trial of affliction the abundance of their joy and their deep poverty abounded in the riches of their liberality.  3For I bear witness that according to their ability, yes, and beyond their ability, they were freely willing,  4imploring us with much urgency £that we would receive the gift and the fellowship of the ministering to the saints.  5And not only as we had hoped, but they first gave themselves to the Lord, and then to us by the will of God. 

2 Corinthians 9:6-10(NKJV) 

6But this I say: He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.  7So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver.  8And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work.  9As it is written:“He has dispersed abroad, He has given to the poor;His righteousness endures forever.” £ 10Now may He who supplies seed to the sower, and bread for food, supply and multiply the seed you have sown and increase the fruits of your righteousness.

ILL: Clearly, the early Christians tithed or their critics would have pointed it out. But having said all the above, the real point is sacrificial giving to the Lord’s work, whatever that means in your situation.

I have no idea what anyone else gives and do not want to know. So, we are not talking about a legalism to satisfy some church board somewhere.

Those quibbling over the tithe—I’m amazed to find serious disciples of Jesus who get angry about this, as though we are encouraging legalism—will want to adopt the Macedonian standard above, no doubt.

7. Faith means there will always be obstacles. To wait until there are none before serving the Lord is to play into the hand of the enemy.

“We walk by faith and not by sight,” says 2 Corinthians 5:7. To walk “by sight” would mean all our questions are answered, all information is in, the money is in hand, all our doubts are satisfied, our fears are gone, our friends are on board and our family is supportive.

That is not going to happen. We live in a fallen world which “is no friend to grace,” 

Every tither I’ve ever met came to a point in life where they had to decide that “regardless” of their debts and fears and a hundred other factors, they would obey the Lord.

Conclusion:  Then, after a year or two of consistent tithing (or sacrifical giving, however you define it), your priorities will have evened out and the practice should be less painful.  

I promise that you will never regret the money you contribute to the cause of the Lord Jesus Christ. The feeling of accomplishment the Lord gives you as a result is worth its weight in gold.

“Anyone who gives just a cup of cold water to one of these little ones because he is a disciple—I assure you: He will never lose his reward” (Matthew 10:42).  

If you are a disciple of Jesus, you will want to get started giving.