IS TITHING BIBLICAL FOR THE CHURCH AGE?

The devils have done their best on the doctrine of tithing in order to limit good churches from their maximum potential. Seeing the love of money is the root of all evil, 1Ti 6:10 “ For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.” it was very easy for the devils to put this doctrine over.
    In the world we live in it takes money to operate a household, business, government and the church is not an exception. Too many church people have fallen for this false doctrine and believe the pastor should live off of spring water and eat rabbit tracks, they say he should live by faith and therefore the church doesn’t need their money. Not only do they mistreat the pastor, but the church as a whole suffers due to the fact they can’t support the ministries that God would have them do. I know some will say, God will supply your need and He will but He uses His people to accomplish this.
As I approach this doctrine, some are going to say that I am a preacher who preaches for money. I have pastored a church for years with no salary. Then some will say that this is just an Old Testament doctrine for the Jews under the law. You just need to tell your demons and your flesh to leave you alone and let you study this with an open mind.
     The first time the tithe is mentioned is in Genesis 14:18-20. “And Melchizedek king of Salem brought forth bread and wine: and he was the priest of the most high God. And he blessed him, and said, Blessed be Abram of the most high God, possessor of heaven and earth: And blessed be the most high God, which hath delivered thine enemies into thy hand. And he gave him tithes of all.” Here we find Abram, later called Abraham, giving tithes of all to the priest of the most high God. Granted he was the father of the Israelites. But he is tithing before the Law. The next time that the tithe, (tenth Lev 27:32 And concerning the tithe of the herd, or of the flock, even of whatsoever passeth under the rod, the tenth shall be holy unto the LORD.) is mentioned is in Genesis 28:22, “And this stone, which I have set for a pillar, shall be God's house: and of all that thou shalt give me I will surely give the tenth unto thee.” Jacob tells God he will give a tenth to God if God will bless him. So we see the first two times that tithing is mentioned is before God gives the Law to Israel.
    Now we come to tithing under the Law of God. In Leviticus 27:30-34, “And 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 unto the LORD. And if a man will at all redeem ought of his tithes, he shall add thereto the fifth part thereof. And concerning the tithe of the herd, or of the flock, even of whatsoever passeth under the rod, the tenth shall be holy unto the LORD. He shall not search whether it be good or bad, neither shall he change it: and if he change it at all, then both it and the change thereof shall be holy; it shall not be redeemed. These are the commandments, which the LORD commanded Moses for the children of Israel in mount Sinai.”, you will notice that the tithe is the Lord’s and it is holy unto the Lord. When the Jew withheld part of his tithe, God would add 20% interest to the portion that was held back. It is easier to live off of ninety present than it is eighty eight.
    The tithes of the children of Israel were for the Levites so they could do the work of God. Numbers 18:21-29 “And, behold, I have given the children of Levi all the tenth in Israel for an inheritance, for their service which they serve, even the service of the tabernacle of the congregation. Neither must the children of Israel henceforth come nigh the tabernacle of the congregation, lest they bear sin, and die. But the Levites shall do the service of the tabernacle of the congregation, and they shall bear their iniquity: it shall be a statute for ever throughout your generations, that among the children of Israel they have no inheritance. But the tithes of the children of Israel, which they offer as an heave offering unto the LORD, I have given to the Levites to inherit: therefore I have said unto them, Among the children of Israel they shall have no inheritance. And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Thus speak unto the Levites, and say unto them, When ye take of the children of Israel the tithes which I have given you from them for your inheritance, then ye shall offer up an heave offering of it for the LORD, even a tenth part of the tithe. And this your heave offering shall be reckoned unto you, as though it were the corn of the threshingfloor, and as the fulness of the winepress. Thus ye also shall offer an heave offering unto the LORD of all your tithes, which ye receive of the children of Israel; and ye shall give thereof the LORD'S heave offering to Aaron the priest. Out of all your gifts ye shall offer every heave offering of the LORD, of all the best thereof, even the hallowed part thereof out of it.” The Levites were to tithe of the tithes from the people. They were to give the best that they received, not just the tenth one under the rod. So preachers are not only to live from the tithes of God’s people 1Co 9:13 “Do ye not know that they which minister about holy things live of the things of the temple? and they which wait at the altar are partakers with the altar?”1Co 9:14 “ Even so hath the Lord ordained that they which preach the gospel should live of the gospel.” But they are to tithe from those tithes.
    Next, we see God had a place that they were to bring their tithes. Deuteronomy 12:11, “Then there shall be a place which the LORD your God shall choose to cause his name to dwell there; thither shall ye bring all that I command you; your burnt offerings, and your sacrifices, your tithes, and the heave offering of your hand, and all your choice vows which ye vow unto the LORD:”, Malachi 3:10 “Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the LORD of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.”, the Tabernacle, until the temple.
    When the children of Israel came into the land of Canaan, they could not worship God until they had brought the tithe of the land. Deuteronomy 26:10, “And now, behold, I have brought the firstfruits of the land, which thou, O LORD, hast given me. And thou shalt set it before the LORD thy God, and worship before the LORD thy God:”, Proverbs 3:9 “Honour the LORD with thy substance, and with the firstfruits of all thine increase:”, Deuteronomy 18:4, “The firstfruit also of thy corn, of thy wine, and of thine oil, and the first of the fleece of thy sheep, shalt thou give him.”, Deuteronomy 14:22, “Thou shalt truly tithe all the increase of thy seed, that the field bringeth forth year by year.”
In Malachi 3:8-11, “Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings. Ye are cursed with a curse: for ye have robbed me, even this whole nation. Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the LORD of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it. And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground; neither shall your vine cast her fruit before the time in the field, saith the LORD of hosts.”, we find the curse and blessing of the tithe. When a person robs God, he puts himself under a double curse. Galatians 6:7, “Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.”, what you sow you reap, so therefore, then a person robs God of what rightly belongs to God, he in turn, robs himself of what would have been his. Now look at the blessings of tithing. There is a spiritual blessing from heaven. Have you ever seen a spiritual person who did not tithe? I had a preacher say, Don’t get so heavenly minded that you are no earthly good. A person who robs God is so earthly minded he is no heavenly good. The next blessing I would like to point out is the Lord will rebuke the devourer for our sakes. When a person tithes, his 90% goes farther and does more than the 100% would.
    We have examined tithing under the Law of God, now let’s look at tithing in the New Testament. In Matthew 23:23, “Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone.”, Jesus commends the Pharisees for tithing and condemns them for omitting the weighter matters of the Law. Jesus here teaches that it is right to tithe and no where does He say not to tithe. In fact, Jesus was very interested in how the people gave, Mark 12:41-44 “And Jesus sat over against the treasury, and beheld how the people cast money into the treasury: and many that were rich cast in much. And there came a certain poor widow, and she threw in two mites, which make a farthing. And he called unto him his disciples, and saith unto them, Verily I say unto you, That this poor widow hath cast more in, than all they which have cast into the treasury: For all they did cast in of their abundance; but she of her want did cast in all that she had, even all her living.” and again commends the poor who not only tithed but gave all her living .
    Now we come to the Christian in the day of grace, and there will be some who try to argue with what the Bible teaches on this subject. As a young pastor I knew it was right to tithe but was unable to prove it from the scriptures. God used Bro. Billy Kanoy to help me in this area. If fact, Bro. Billy said if he found that one of his members was not tithing he didn’t pray for them to start tithing, but to get saved. In John 8:37-39, “I know that ye are Abraham's seed; but ye seek to kill me, because my word hath no place in you. I speak that which I have seen with my Father: and ye do that which ye have seen with your father. They answered and said unto him, Abraham is our father. Jesus saith unto them, If ye were Abraham's children, ye would do the works of Abraham.” Jesus was talking to some Jews of which some believed and some did not. They were claiming to be Abraham’s seed but in their works it did not show. In the Old Testament a non-believing Jew was a physical seed of Abraham, the believing Jews were not only a physical see of Abraham but also a spiritual seed and when they died they went to Paradise or Abraham’s bosom. Luke 16:22 “And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried;” Jesus answered them that if Abraham was their father, ye would do the works of Abraham. John 8:39 “They answered and said unto him, Abraham is our father. Jesus saith unto them, If ye were Abraham's children, ye would do the works of Abraham.” What does this have to do with Christians in the church? Go to Galatians 3:7 “Know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham.” All who are saved by faith, Ephesians 2:8-9 “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.” are the children of Abraham. Now look at Galatians 3:29, “And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise.” the scriptures teach that if you belong to Jesus Christ then you are a spiritual seed of Abraham. Are you saved by faith? Are you a son of God? If the answer is yes, then you are Abraham’s child by adoption.
    Remember what Jesus said in John 8:39, “If ye were Abraham's children, ye would do the works of Abraham.” It did not say that you might, or there is the possibility you could; no, you would. Abraham was a tithing man. (Genesis 14) When a person is born into God’s family he is adopted into Abraham’s family and will tithe. After pastoring many years I am about ninety percent in agreement with Bro. Billy Kanoy. You may not start tithing when you first get saved, but when you get light (truth) on tithing you will start.
    Due to the love of money some may say, Well, I will tithe but I will control it. So they give to a family in need or to some TV or radio ministry and call that tithing. If you are one of those people then the next time you are sick, call that TV or radio ministry to visit you in the hospital, you old hypocrite. You expect the pastor to show up. So where does the tithe of the Lord go? Seeing the Lord chose the tithe to support the church, not bake sales, car washes, bingo, etc., then it is to go into the church where your membership is. Look at I Corinthians 16:2, “Upon the first day of the week let every one of you lay by him in store, as God hath prospered him, that there be no gatherings when I come.” notice Paul says, upon the first day of the week, you know that is the day the church is to meet. After the resurrection, which took place on the first day of the week, Jesus met with His apostles on the first day of the week, John 20:19 “Then the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews, came Jesus and stood in the midst, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you.” When Peter preached on the Day of Pentecost it was the first day of the week. In Acts 20:7, “And upon the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul preached unto them, ready to depart on the morrow; and continued his speech until midnight.” Paul preached to the disciples who had come together on the first day of the week.     

So the first day of the week became known as the Lord’s Day. He resurrected on the first day, ascended back to heaven on the first day, the Holy Spirit came down on the first day and the church meets on the first day to worship the Lord Jesus Christ. “Let every one of you”, you know what that means in the Greek? Everyone of you. None too poor, none too rich, all were to give. Next Paul says, “lay by him in store”. The words “in store”, according to Strong’s is “to amass (amass according to Webster’s 1828 Dictionary is “to gather a great quantity). Also to heap treasures together. Malachi 3:10 “Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the LORD of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.” The word storehouse in Strong’s means a depository, a warehouse, which would by the same, to amass or heap together. By comparing scripture with scripture in the Old Testament they brought their tithe to the priest at the Tabernacle or Temple and in the New Testament we are to bring our tithe to the House Of God. For example, Acts 4:34 -5:10 “Neither was there any among them that lacked: for as many as were possessors of lands or houses sold them, and brought the prices of the things that were sold, And laid them down at the apostles' feet: and distribution was made unto every man according as he had need. And Joses, who by the apostles was surnamed Barnabas, (which is, being interpreted, The son of consolation,) a Levite, and of the country of Cyprus, Having land, sold it, and brought the money, and laid it at the apostles' feet. But a certain man named Ananias, with Sapphira his wife, sold a possession, And kept back part of the price, his wife also being privy to it, and brought a certain part, and laid it at the apostles' feet. But Peter said, Ananias, why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost, and to keep back part of the price of the land? Whiles it remained, was it not thine own? and after it was sold, was it not in thine own power? why hast thou conceived this thing in thine heart? thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God. And Ananias hearing these words fell down, and gave up the ghost: and great fear came on all them that heard these things. And the young men arose, wound him up, and carried him out, and buried him. And it was about the space of three hours after, when his wife, not knowing what was done, came in. And Peter answered unto her, Tell me whether ye sold the land for so much? And she said, Yea, for so much. Then Peter said unto her, How is it that ye have agreed together to tempt the Spirit of the Lord? behold, the feet of them which have buried thy husband are at the door, and shall carry thee out. Then fell she down straightway at his feet, and yielded up the ghost: and the young men came in, and found her dead, and, carrying her forth, buried her by her husband.” Next Paul says “as God hath prospered him”, this offering is proportioned according to income. In other words, 10% of a person’s income, so the rich and the poor give the same proportion.
    A word of testimony about my tithing experience and God has blessed since I have been tithing. When I first got saved my pastor would not preach tithing and so I did not tithe. I got in such a bad condition financially that when I got a pastor who would preach tithing, I could not tithe without bringing a reproach on the Lord Jesus Christ for not paying my bills.
God convicted me and so I started taking my lunch instead of buying it and not buying anything but the necessities. Then I would give the rest to the Lord. After praying and confessing my short comings, I told the Lord if He would help me manage better I would continue to give and would reach my tithe. Soon after I got a promotion on my job which made it possible to tithe but still I had none left over. During this, God had called me to preach and had blessed me with several opportunities to preach in other churches. During this time no church had taken an offering for me, I did not care, I would have paid them had I had the money for the chance to preach. On Sunday morning I had the money to buy groceries or tithe. The Devil said, What are you going to do? You are to preach to night and may not have enough gas to make it. You must buy groceries tomorrow. You can’t tithe. Today God understands. After battling with him, when the offering plate was passed I dropped all I had in the plate and went away trusting God. That night after preaching, the pastor said, God wants us to take an offering for Bro. Hal. Do you know how much offering I received that night? You guessed it. The same amount I had given that morning to the penny. Praise God, glory to God He has never failed. Are you tithing, if not why?
    I remember when Bro. Ed Vallowe preached a revival at the church I was pastoring, in the invitation he made the statement “I challenge you to tithe for one year and if at the end of the year if you are not better off then than now I will give you your money back”. We had two families start tithing. I thought how much safer to trust God to do what he said he would do.