Jan 14, 2018
by: Jack Lash Series: Biblical Giving | Category: Giving | Scripture: Malachi 3:7–12
- Introduction
A. I preach these two sermons on giving at the deacons’ request.
B. Review: Last week, I tried to make a case that the NT places upon God’s people a duty to give to their local church, a duty which can be seen in the duty to pay those who spend their lives teaching and shepherding. Gal.6:6; 1Tim. 5:17-18; 1Corinthians 9:7-14
C. This morning we’re going to pursue the subject of giving a little further.
II. Tithing
A. WHAT IS TITHING? tithe means "tenth"
B. “The practice of giving a tenth part of one’s possessions for the maintenance of both cult and government is ancient and widespread. We find it with numerous neighboring nations, such as the Canaanites, Phoenicians, Arabs, Carthaginians, and Lydians, as well as with the Greeks and Romans.” – Verhoef
C. The principle and duty of giving the tithe is well-established in the OT.
1. Tithing before Sinai:
a. Abraham tithes to Melchizedek - Gen. 14:18-20
b. Jacob at Bethel - Genesis 28:22 “Of all that you give me I will give a full tenth to you.”
2. At Sinai - Exod.34:26; Lev. 27:30
3. After Sinai: Num.18: 11, 21-31; Deut.12:5-6; 17-19; 14:22-29; 18:4; 1Sam.8:15, 17; 2Chron. 31: 4-12; Neh.10: 37-39; 12:44; 13:5, 12; Ezek. 44:30; Amos 4:4
4. But the most extensive passage on tithing in the Bible is in Malachi 3:7-12.
D. Malachi 3:7-12
1. Through the prophet Malachi God is rebuking the Israelites: “From 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?’ 8 Will man rob God? Yet you are robbing me. But you say, ‘How have we robbed you?’ In your tithes and contributions. 9 You are cursed with a curse, for you are robbing me, the whole nation of you.” – Malachi 3:7–9
a. God takes His house personally. You are robbing Me!
b. The curse refers to something done in the past but still in effect. We can tell from vv.10b-11 that the curse consists in the failure of crops as a result of drought and locusts.
c. But so far the curse had not deterred them from their sin. Instead of repenting and forsaking their sin of not tithing, they said that because of their poor economic condition, they couldn’t afford to.
2. Then he tells them what they must do in Malachi 3:10–12, “Bring 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. 11 I 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. 12 Then all nations will call you blessed, for you will be a land of delight, says the LORD of hosts.”
a. He answers their "But I can't afford to tithe!" with “You can’t afford NOT to tithe!” by saying that if they tithe, He will shower them from heaven & rebuke the devourer. What is the devourer?
b. Devourer, for them, meant the locusts which would destroy their crops. A few years ago, Michelle asked us to pray for rain in West Africa. And the rains came in abundance. But then came the locusts and destroyed all that the rains had produced. That’s the same thing as here.
c. But we have our devourer too, don’t we? What eats up your income? Is it unnecessary purchases? Too many fancy Starbucks drinks, new shoes, expensive shows? Those are things you control.
d. But, even if you’re very careful with your money, it can still disappear very fast. Car repairs, unexpected fees, insurance payments, broken appliances, medical bills, a lost contract, taxes.
e. This kind of thing is our devourer. These are things you don’t control. God does. And this is what God says He will rebuke if we honor Him with our money.
f. But He calls them to a leap of faith: to begin to give when they’re not making ends meet already.
g. But this is exactly what God wants us to do: “Test Me now in this and see if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need. I 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.” (Malachi 3:10-11)
E. Now the question is, has the duty to tithe ceased? There are disagreements about this in the body of Christ. And there are some good arguments on both sides.
1. In our SS class this fall, we discussed how we know what OT laws are meant to continue and which are not. Deciding what laws carry over from the OT to the NT is not easy. But there are principles we’re given in the NT whereby these judgments can be made. Even applying those principles, tithing is a difficult case.
2. Westminster Confession of Faith and the Sabbath
a. The WCF makes a distinction between the moral law, which continues from OT through the NT age and summarized in the 10 commandments, the ceremonial law, which is abrogated in the NT, and the judicial (civil) law, “which expired together with the” nation of Israel except for the general equity thereof.
b. What about tithing? Is that moral or ceremonial?
3. The reason that many people have concluded that the duty to tithe does not continue into the NT is because it is so intertwined with the ceremonial law.
a. The weakness of this is that the law of the Sabbath is also intertwined with the ceremonial law.
(1) And we believe that the fourth commandment continues.
b. The law of the Sabbath and the law of tithing have a lot in common.
(1) They both existed long before Sinai, when the law of Moses was given.
(2) The both have to do with the ordering of our lives.
(3) They both are about yielding a fraction to God (either a fraction of our time: one day in seven, or a fraction of our income: one tenth).
(4) Neither of them get set aside or strongly reaffirmed in the NT.
(5) They both can be easily untangled from their ceremonial links.
c. And yet there is one big difference: tithing is not one of the ten commandments, hand-written by God in stone and stored in the ark.
d. The other reason it is rejected by some is because it doesn’t seem that tithing was practiced in the early church, for there is no mention of it in the writings of the early church fathers.
4. So what is the evidence that tithing is supposed to continue in the NT?
a. The NT says much about giving and generosity, but there is only one mention of tithing. It is on the lips of our Lord Himself in Luke 11:42; Matt. 23:23 - "Woe to you, Pharisees, because you give God a tenth of your mint, rue and all other kinds of garden herbs, but you neglect justice and the love of God. You should have practiced the latter without leaving the former undone."
b. It would be nice if there was more in the NT, but there aren’t.
c. But notice the last sentence: “You should have practiced the latter without leaving the former undone.” There are two important things to say about this:
(1) This saying occurs twice in the gospels. Maybe Jesus said it twice, maybe He just said it once. We don’t know. But the record of the saying is slightly different in Matt. 23 and in Luke 11.
(a) In Matthew, He addresses scribes and Pharisees. In Luke only Pharisees.
(b) In Matthew, He calls them hypocrites. In Luke, He doesn’t.
(c) In Matthew, He says they tithe mint and dill and cumin. In Luke, He says tithe their mint and rue and every herb.
(d) In Matthew, He says they neglect the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness. In Luke, He simply says they neglect justice and the love of God.
(e) But both of them say the exact same thing at the end: You should have paid attention to the more important matters, without neglecting the more minor matters like tithing.
(f) And He’s not referring to tithing itself nor to giving to the church. He’s talking about tithing the herbs growing in one’s garden. And yet He says they were right to tithe it, but wrong in neglecting the weightier matters.
(2) Nowhere does Jesus speak positively about an OT ceremonial law which is about to expire. In fact, every time He speaks about one, He says things which suggest the law has faults and needs to be abrogated:
(a) John 4:21-24
(b) Declaring all foods clean – Mark 7:19
(c) The closest thing we have to Jesus reaffirming something in the ceremonial law was when He told the ten healed lepers to go show themselves to the priests. (Luke 17:14)
d. The OT system whereby priests who served at the temple would be paid by the tithes and offerings peoples brought to the temple is used to argue that those who devote themselves to preaching the gospel should be paid by those to whom they preach. 1Cor.9:13–14 “Do you not know that those who are employed in the temple service get their food from the temple, & those who serve at the altar share in the sacrificial offerings? In the same way, the Lord commanded that those who proclaim the gospel should get their living by the gospel.”
5. To me, it seems like there’s more evidence on the side of tithing continuing into the NT, but I don’t know for sure.
III. Conclusion
A. In the end I’m not sure it really makes a lot of difference.
1. Those who believe the tithe is not binding in the NT, usually argue that in the NT age more is expected of us than the tithe, not less. We’ve been given more. “Everyone to whom much was given, of him much will be required.” – Luke 12:48 Certainly grace is greater in NT.
a. The early church shared everything in common. The tithe would have seemed minimalistic.
2. There’s still a lot we should all be able to agree on. Whether or not you conclude that tithing is obligatory in the NT, there are a number of things we can learn from all this.
a. We should all be able to agree that it is not optional whether we financially support the church with a portion of our income. (Listen to last week’s sermon.)
b. Our church giving should be the first fruits of our income and not the leftovers. (Surely Prov.3:9 isn’t a part of the ceremonial law! If it is, it’s the only verse in the book of Proverbs that is! "Honor the Lord with your wealth, with the first fruits of all your crops; then your barns will be filled to overflowing, and your vats will brim over with new wine.")
c. To give regularly to the church is not so much an act not of generosity or investing in something good but an act of faith and submission.
d. A failure to do so is an offense against God. It is robbing God.
e. Even an insignificant amount is significant to God.
(1) The story of the widow’s mites (Luke 21:1-4) shows that it’s not about the amount of money.
f. There are great blessings connected with giving.
(1) Mal.3:10-11 Bring 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.
(2) Luke 6:38 "Give and it shall be given to you; good measure, pressed down shaken together, running over, they will pour into your lap. For whatever measure you deal out, it will be dealt to you in return."
(3) 2Corinthians 9:6 “Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.”
(4) (Don’t tithe for the sake of getting rich. That’s not the point.)
g. God will supply us with enough to meet our needs and to give away.
(1) 2Corinthians 9:8 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.
(2) 2Corinthians 9:10 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.
B. One of the things I like about tithing is the distinction between two kinds of giving:
1. The obligatory/surrender/acknowledgment-of-His-authority giving
2. The investing-in-the-kingdom, loving-your-neighbor kind of giving
3. This was the pattern in the OT: obligatory offerings and then there were free will offerings
C. Giving is all about us and God.
1. God doesn’t need our money. He calls us to give not because He needs our help, but
a. Because He graciously gives us the privilege of being involved in His work, and
b. because He wants us to learn to trust Him and put Him first in our lives.
2. God has given us disciplines whereby we cultivate the firstness of God in our lives.
a. The first day of the week we give to Him.
b. The first chunk of our income we give to Him.
c. The first piece of our day we give to Him. (Psalm 5:1-3; 17:15; 88:13; 119:147; Matt.6:11)
d. These help us establish a pattern of putting God first.
3. You see, life isn’t all about money. It’s all about God.
a. The church isn’t all about money. It’s all about God.
b. Your finances are not all about money. They’re all about God.
4. Everything I do says something. What I do with money says something, it is a proclamation of something, whether I like it or not. If I spend my money indulging my own fleshly desires, I am proclaiming to the world that I think I am the most important thing in the universe.
a. If I put all my money into physical health - health spas, exercise equipment, health food, medical research and the like, I am declaring to the world that the human body is the ultimate reality.
b. If I devote all my monies to trying to make more money, I am saying that the acquisition of money is the most important thing in life.
5. We preach a sermon with every dollar we spend, whether we intend to send that message or not.
a. Every time you put money in the offering plate, you are proclaiming something (or ought to be):
b. Every time you give, you say, “I do not provide for myself. God provides for me. God is my benefactor. I'm not the one making this happen. All this is from Him. My income isn't ultimately a result of hard work. It's a result of God's gracious, loving care for me as His child.”
c. You say, “I don’t need this money. I need God.”
6. It is also a proclamation that God comes first in our lives.
a. It is a proclamation that God is 1st and I am second.
b. It is a proclamation that God is 1st and money is second.
c. It is a proclamation that God is 1st and my family is second.
d. Giving is an expression of surrender. It’s a symbol of God's authority over and ownership of all my possessions, and of my person. I am not my own. I belong to God.
7. Giving is an expression of thanks to God – a response to His giving to us, which far outweighs what we could ever give to Him.
a. This is why there’s such an emphasis in the NT on giving joyfully.
8. We live in a materialistic, self-indulgent, consumer-frenzied society. And there is a constant pull on each of us to give in to the world’s addiction to stuff, to spending, to shopping, to indulging. We’re the richest country in the world but have the highest personal debt, because we’re not satisfied with what we have: we always want more. And there’s never been a time or place in history where it’s more important for God’s people to regularly make these proclamations of what is true with our money – for our sakes and for Christ’s kingdom’s sake.
9. 1Timothy 6:6 But godliness with contentment is great gain, 7 for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world. 8 But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content. 9 But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. 10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs...17 As for the rich in this present age, charge them not to be haughty, nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy. 18 They are to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, 19 thus storing up treasure for themselves as a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is truly life.