TITHES in a Nutshell

I wrote this to help Preachers challenge those who do not believe in Tithing for whatever reason or excuse NOT to tithe or practice tithing:

1. Tithing is only for the Jews
2. Tithing is only for those who own property
3. Did Jesus tithe?
4. I do not have enough money to tithe

I used an acrostic suggested to me by one of our pastors and partners in ministry

Introduction
God is either your Lord or just your Consultant. A consultant is hired to give advice and recommendations. The one hiring the consultant may either accept and implement the advice or simply reject it. Many even fire their consultants if they don't like the advice! Many of us treat God as our consultant instead of our Lord and Master. If God is simply your consultant, this message is definitely NOT for you. Go somewhere else, where their opinion pleases you, but God is definitely not pleased and you may not even be saved at all!

T – Tax

I – Investment

T – Tenth

H – Heaven’s doors will open

E – Exercise True Faith

S – Share in the Joy of the Lord

T = Tax. Tithing was God's tax system. When the government taxes us, it means that we do not own everything we earn and the government requires it's fair share. "He said to them, “Then render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's.” " Luke 20:25 tells us to pay what is due God in the same way we pay what is due government and vice versa. Tithing demonstrates that we are God fearing. We do not have to like taxes but we still need to pay or be penalized because of FEAR. Most so-called Christians fear the government more than they fear God!!!
Did Jesus Christ tithe? Well, may I remind you that Christ came to fulfill the Law and not to destroy it. If Christ did not fulfill the Law in its entirety (which included tithing) then we must conclude that he disobeyed the Law in at least one point (see James) and is guilty of all! Therefore, He is not the perfect Savior and we are all still condemned!

I - Investment. Before the Law, we see that tithes were an expression of worship and thanksgiving to God recognizing that all wealth comes from Him. When the tithe was incorporated into the Torah, one of it's purposes was to support the expansion of the theocratic nation. Today, one of the uses of the tithe is to support the expansion of the Kingdom of God, i.e., to fund the Great Commission of our Lord Jesus Christ. We need to INVEST in Eternity, or Invest in the Kingdom of God. Our preoccupations, passions and pursuits are determined by where we invest most of our time, talent and most especially our material treasure (Matt 6:19-21). Any earthly investment we make will NOT follow us to eternity (Luke 12:15-21.) "Only one life, t'will soon be passed, only what's done for Christ will last."

T - Tenth.  Malachi 3:10 requires the FULL TEN PERCENT! The King James Version is guilty of not translating this literally in common language. However, tithe really means tenth or ten percent, no more, no less. We cannot pay less taxes to Uncle Sam than what is due him or we get penalized, sometimes severely. We also should not pay less than the TENTH since this is due God who is infinitely greater than Uncle Sam and is our final judge!
Is tithing ONLY for the JEWS because it is in their Law? Well, it is quite important to note that Abraham instinctively knew the tithing principle even before the Law was given. We do not need the law to tell us that God owns everything, and paying the tithe reminds us of that. This is one reason why Abraham was fully blessed. and FILTHY RICH!!! Genesis 14:17-24 and Hebrews 7:4-10. Note that Abraham tithed from the proceed of the spoils and not because he had property! Note also that tithing is instinctive and does not need the Law in order for anyone to practice it.

In Matthew 5:20, Christ says that our righteousness SHOULD EXCEED THE RIGHTEOUSNESS of the Pharisees, otherwise, we CANNOT enter the Kingdom of Heaven. How can we exceed the righteousness of the Pharisees who RELIGIOUSLY PAY THE TITHE and then we don't for whatever reason or excuse??? Aren't we then WORSE than the Pharisees and may NEVER enter the Kingdom of Heaven??

H- Heaven's doors will open when we are faithful with the tithe. Malachi 3:8-12 talks not only of blessings but a clear CURSE for disobedience. Why do some Christians claim that they do not have enough money or income to tithe? One biblical reason is that the "devourer" has not been rebuked by God and something or someone always devours their income (v.3:11) and unless that devourer is rebuked, they will never meet their budget! Why? Because God is NOT involved in their finances. The only Christians who go through bankruptcy are those who do not believe in tithing.

E - Exercise TRUE faith. Malachi 3 God challenges us to test his faithfulness to the promise that he will open the windows of heaven and rebuke the devourer. If we do not have the faith to believe this promise, how then can we have the faith TO BE SAVED??? Do we believe God's promise that the windows of heaven will open when we are faithful in tithing? Do we believe in God's promise of eternal life? How can we believe one and not the other??? They both exercise true faith. In fact the faith to believe the tithing promise is easier to test because the results come faster, while with saving faith, we do not see the actual results until we die! We cannot even test it!! It goes without saying that God gave us challenges or dares to test our faith, if we really have TRUE faith or NOT!!! Are we then TRULY saved if we do not even believe God's simpler promise about tithing?

S - Share in the joy of the Lord. Matthew 25 parable of the talents --- "Well done, good and faithful servant enter into the joy of your master". Are we not all looking forward to the approval of our Lord when we enter into eternity in his presence forever? In the parable of the talents, the third servant was declared to be lazy and slothful in spite of the fact that he NEVER really lost the initial investment. So what was his fault? Well, based on the servant's own words, he knew what the business of the master was all about but did nothing to help the business! This means that Christians should be very aware that the business of the Master is KINGDOM-BUILDING (The Great Commission) and the Lord made much of kingdom building DEPENDENT on  the TITHING of his people to finance most of its ventures. Are we the third servant? Note that this servant was CAST INTO OUTER DARKNESS WHERE THERE IS WEEPING AND GNASHING OF TEETH! Does that sound like heaven to you or is this another place????

Conclusions:

1.  We are EXPECTED to give tithes even without the Law: Tithes preceded the Law of Moses. This means that before the law, tithing was “instinctively” an expression of thanksgiving and worship. Genesis 14:17-24. It recognizes that all wealth is given by God and paying back a tithe recognizes a financial partnership.
2.  We are REQUIRED to give tithes because of the Law: Tithes was used by God in the Law as his way of supporting the theocracy. The Theocracy is literally translated as the Kingdom of God. Today, Christians should use it to fund the Great Commission.

OK. No more excuses or we are just PLAIN DISOBEDIENT! We do not fear God. We do not even love God since we do not seek to please him. How then can we claim to be truly saved and we have violated all the biblical warnings against those who will never enter the kingdom of heaven??