Untitled Sermon (12)

The Tithe is Over

How Many People Tithe According to Malachi?

Numbers 18:8–32 (ESV)

(FOR THE MEN OF GOD)

26“Moreover, you shall speak and say to the Levites, ‘When you take from the people of Israel the tithe that I have given you from them for your inheritance, then you shall present a contribution from it to the Lord, a tithe of the tithe.

27And your contribution shall be counted to you as though it were the grain of the threshing floor, and as the fullness of the winepress.

28So you shall also present a contribution to the Lord from all your tithes, which you receive from the people of Israel. And from it you shall give the Lord’s contribution to Aaron the priest.

29Out of all the gifts to you, you shall present every contribution due to the Lord; from each its best part is to be dedicated.’

30Therefore you shall say to them, ‘When you have offered from it the best of it, then the rest shall be counted to the Levites as produce of the threshing floor, and as produce of the winepress.

31And you may eat it in any place, you and your households, for it is your reward in return for your service in the tent of meeting.

32And you shall bear no sin by reason of it, when you have contributed the best of it. But you shall not profane the holy things of the people of Israel, lest you die.’ ”

Deuteronomy 14:22–29 (ESV)

22“You shall tithe all the yield of your seed that comes from the field year by year.

23And before the Lord your God, in the place that he will choose, to make his name dwell there, you shall eat the tithe of your grain, of your wine, and of your oil, and the firstborn of your herd and flock, that you may learn to fear the Lord your God always.

(FOR THE FESTIVALS)

24And if the way is too long for you, so that you are not able to carry the tithe, when the Lord your God blesses you, because the place is too far from you, which the Lord your God chooses, to set his name there,

25then you shall turn it into money and bind up the money in your hand and go to the place that the Lord your God chooses

26and spend the money for whatever you desire—oxen or sheep or wine or strong drink, whatever your appetite craves. And you shall eat there before the Lord your God and rejoice, you and your household.

27And you shall not neglect the Levite who is within your towns, for he has no portion or inheritance with you.

(For the POOR)

28“At the end of every three years you shall bring out all the tithe of your produce in the same year and lay it up within your towns.

29And the Levite, because he has no portion or inheritance with you, and the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow, who are within your towns, shall come and eat and be filled, that the Lord your God may bless you in all the work of your hands that you do.

Deuteronomy 26:12–15 (ESV)

12“When you have finished paying all the tithe of your produce in the third year, which is the year of tithing, giving it to the Levite, the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow, so that they may eat within your towns and be filled,

13then you shall say before the Lord your God, ‘I have removed the sacred portion out of my house, and moreover, I have given it to the Levite, the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow, according to all your commandment that you have commanded me. I have not transgressed any of your commandments, nor have I forgotten them.

14I have not eaten of the tithe while I was mourning, or removed any of it while I was unclean, or offered any of it to the dead. I have obeyed the voice of the Lord my God. I have done according to all that you have commanded me.

15Look down from your holy habitation, from heaven, and bless your people Israel and the ground that you have given us, as you swore to our fathers, a land flowing with milk and honey.’

Josephus on Tithing (Antiquities 4.239)

(240) Besides those two tithes, which I have already said you are to pay every year, the one for the Levites, the other for the festivals, you are to bring every third year a third tithe to be distributed to those that want; to women also that are widows, and to children that are orphans

Famous Verse on Tithing

Malachi 3:6–15 (ESV)

6“For I the Lord do not change; therefore you, O children of Jacob, are not consumed.

7From the days of your fathers you have turned aside from my statutes and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you, says the Lord of hosts. But you say, ‘How shall we return?’

8Will man rob God? Yet you are robbing me. But you say, ‘How have we robbed you?’ In your tithes and contributions.

9You are cursed with a curse, for you are robbing me, the whole nation of you.

10Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. And thereby put me to the test, says the Lord of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need.

11I will rebuke the devourer for you, so that it will not destroy the fruits of your soil, and your vine in the field shall not fail to bear, says the Lord of hosts.

12Then all nations will call you blessed, for you will be a land of delight, says the Lord of hosts.

13“Your words have been hard against me, says the Lord. But you say, ‘How have we spoken against you?’

14You have said, ‘It is vain to serve God. What is the profit of our keeping his charge or of walking as in mourning before the Lord of hosts?

15And now we call the arrogant blessed. Evildoers not only prosper but they put God to the test and they escape.’ ”

Jesus Fulfilled the Law....

WE GIVE REGULARLY

16:1 Now concerning the collection for the saints: as I directed the churches of Galatia, so you also are to do.

2 On the first day of every week, each of you is to put something aside and store it up, as he may prosper, so that there will be no collecting when I come.

3 And when I arrive, I will send those whom you accredit by letter to carry your gift to Jerusalem.

4 If it seems advisable that I should go also, they will accompany me.

We give for (1) helping the poor (2) supporting ministers and (3) funding domestic and foreign missions

WE GIVE SACRIFICIALLY

2 Cor. 8:1-6 The poor Macedonians begged to be a part of the offering to the church in Jerusalem

2 Cor 8:7-15 Paul encourages them not by guilt, but by reminding them about the grace of God that is flowing in their lives today.

9 For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich.

10 And in this matter I give my judgment: this benefits you, who a year ago started not only to do this work but also to desire to do it.

11 So now finish doing it as well, so that your readiness in desiring it may be matched by your completing it out of what you have.

12 For if the readiness is there, it is acceptable according to what a person has, not according to what he does not have.

13 For I do not mean that others should be eased and you burdened, but that as a matter of fairness

14 your abundance at the present time should supply their need, so that their abundance may supply your need, that there may be fairness.

15 As it is written, “Whoever gathered much had nothing left over, and whoever gathered little had no lack.”

2 Cor. 8:16-9:5 Titus is sent to go and make sure the money is raised from Corinth/Achaia

ILLUSTRATION: The Old lady with her pledge card.

WE GIVE CHEERFULLY

2 COR 8:4-5

4 begging us earnestly for the favor of taking part in the relief of the saints—

5 and this, not as we expected, but they gave themselves first to the Lord and then by the will of God to us.

2 COR 9:7

7 Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.

WE GIVE CHEERFULLY BECAUSE GOD WILL SUPPLY WHAT WE NEED FOR LIVING AND WHAT WE NEED FOR GIVING… WE BECOME CONDUITS OF GOD’S GRACE…

8 And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work.

9 As it is written,

“He has distributed freely, he has given to the poor;

his righteousness endures forever.”

10 He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness.

11 You will be enriched in every way to be generous in every way, which through us will produce thanksgiving to God.

There is no number….

When we understand the joy of giving in response to God’s grace, “how much does God want” becomes “how much can I give?”

YOU

1. Receive the grace God has given to you and become RICH.

2. Consider graduated giving to your local gospel-centered church (i.e. 5% to 6% or %10-11 or %20-21)

ILLUSTRATION: The Widow with two Mites