| Introduction There are several passages in the Bible that seem to be overwhelmingly contrary to our experience. This passage before us and Matthew 6:24-33 are two of these passages for me. In both places there seem to be promises that God will provide for all the physical needs of those who obey him. Yet, there are faithful Christians starving to death, having almost nothing to wear, and definitely not having a place to live. How do we understand these passages? I can think of three ways to look at this passage: 2. It is true and those who are not experiencing the blessings are not obeying it properly. 3. It is true and we need to understand it what the blessings actually are. I think we can agree that there is a direct correlation between obeying God with the moneys he has entrusted to us and being blessed by him. We can also agree the requirement to give in the context of Malachi is grounded in God's love for his people (1:1-2). I. A question about tithing in the New Testament A. Before I say anything about the content of this text I want to try to answer this question: why is the Old Testament command to tithe not used by Paul in the New Testament to enforce his efforts to raise money from the churches? B. First, three things that are not the answer! 1. Jesus abolished it – It is not because Jesus abolished the tithe. a. You never read anything like, "You have heard that it was said to you, bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse! But I say to you, five percent will do, or even two." b. On the contrary Jesus says in Luke 11:42, "But woe to you Pharisees! For you tithe mint and rue and all manner of herbs, and pass by justice and the love of God. These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone." 1) So, Jesus warns against making the tithe a religious cover for injustice and lovelessness. 2) But he doesn't throw it out. 3) He says, "These you ought to have done." 2. Proportionate giving has ceased to be the rule – the idea that giving is not index to how much we have. a. In 1 Corinthians 16:2 Paul says, "On the first dayof the week let each one of you lay something aside, storing up as he may prosper, that there be no collections when I come." b. In other words, proportionate giving is still the rule. 1) If you prosper more, you give more. 2) If you prosper less, you give less. 3) And that is exactly what tithing is. 4) So, there is no conflict here. 3. Ministry needs less money now. a. In Gal. 6:6 Paul says, "Let him who is taught the word share in all good things with him who teaches." b. In 1 Tim. 5:18 Paul talks about the payment that preachers and teachers should receive and says, "For the Scripture says, 'You shall not muzzle an ox while it treads out the grain,' and, 'The laborer is worthy of his wages.'" c. Not only that, he expects the disabled poor in the church to be supported by some kind of systematic collection. 1) This includes elderly widows in 1 Tim. 5 and the poor saints in Jerusalem. Rom. 15:26 – For it pleased those from Macedonia and Achaia to make a certain contribution for the poor among the saints who are in Jerusalem. d. Not only that, he teaches that the churches should support financially the missionary enterprise of taking the gospel to the unreached peoples of the world. 1) In Rom. 15:24 he asks the Roman church to assist him on his way to Spain. 2) And in 1 Cor. 9:7 he says, "Who ever goes to war at his own expense? Who plants a vineyard and does not eat of its fruit? Or who tends a flock and does not drink of the milk of the flock?" e. In other words, the teaching and preaching and caring and mission of the church all cost money, just like the temple service did in the Old Testament f. In fact the mission of the church cost a lot more because it is much great in scope and stands so much more in the forefront. Mt. 16:18 – And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. Mt. 28:18-20 – All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. 4. So, the reason the tithe is not commanded by Paul is not that Jesus abolished it – He didn't; he approved it. 5. Nor was the reason that we should no longer give proportionately. a. We should, "as we may prosper." b. The more you make, the more you give. 6. Nor was it that the need of the ministry is less in the New Testament. D. Three reasons Paul did not use the command to tithe when encouraging giving in the church! 1. He wanted to emphasize willingness rather than constraint. 2 Cor. 9:7 – So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver. a. Another example of the principle here is when Paul writes to Philemon. Phil 8-10 – Therefore, though I might be very bold in Christ to command you what is fitting, yet for love's sake I rather appeal to you—being such a one as Paul, the aged, and now also a prisoner of Jesus Christ— I appeal to you for my son Onesimus, whom I have begotten whilein my chains, who once was unprofitable to you, but now is profitable to you and to me. 2 Cor. 8:8 – I speak not by commandment, but I am testing the sincerity of your love by the diligence of others. b. So, Paul downplays the possibility of commanding a certain level of giving because he wants to emphasize loving willingness rather than constraint. 2. He wanted to emphasize liberality rather limitation. a. He wanted to urge people beyond the old constraints of simple proportionate giving. b. For example, in 2 Cor. 8:3-4 he commends the poverty stricken Macedonians like this: "For I bear witness that according to their ability, yes, and beyond their ability, they were freely willing, imploring us with much urgency that we would receive the gift and the fellowship of the ministering to the saints." c. And in 2 Cor. 9:6 he says, "But this I say: He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully." 1) In other words the issue isn't meeting a minimum limit. 2) The issue for Paul is how to unleash the maximum liberality. 3) The command to tithe just doesn't suit this approach. 3. He wanted to emphasize that all our getting should be designed for giving. a. He says in Eph. 4:28, "Let him who stole steal no longer, but rather let him labor, working with his hands what is good, that he may have something to give him who has need." b. The alternative to stealing in Paul's mind is not working in order to get and have, but working in order to get and give. 1) Everything we spend on ourselves should be to build a platform for giving, that is, for loving. 2) Or, as Jesus taught, he is the Owner of all we have. 3) We are just stewards commissioned to invest his money for his glory. 4) And what glorifies him most is loving liberality from a simple base, not tithing from a palace. E. So, the reason that Paul did not use the command to tithe in order to enforce his teaching about giving was that he wanted to emphasize: 1. willingness over constraint 2. liberality over limitation 3. a sense that all our money is God's not just a tenth. II. How do we "set aside" this command? A. Now how does Paul's approach to giving help us put this text to use? 1. What Paul's approach does is show us that there is a proper New Testament way to, as it were, "set aside" this command and there is a wrong way to set aside this command. 2. Paul teaches us to set it aside without setting it aside. B. We have three guidelines. 1. Sin lurks at both doors – the door of must tithe and the door of must not tithe. a. If we are going to "set aside" the command to tithe in these verses because it feels slavish and legal, and because we want to promote freedom in our giving, then let us beware of jumping out of the frying pan of legal slavery to a command into the fire of carnal slavery to fear and greed. b. Sin lurks at both doors. 1) The self-righteous door where sin welcomes the command to tithe in order to boast in its piety. 2) The self-indulgent door where sin justifies our worldly pleasures. 2. Don't set this command aside except to awaken a deeper freedom from the love of money. 3. Don't set this command aside in order to serve greater limitations, but in order to serve greater liberality. a. Not to bring peace to your conscience while doing less. b. Think of the abundance of the New Covenant and we are to do less? III. The reward of the dare: abundant blessing. A. God promises to bless us more than we can handle if we will obey him by giving properly. B. You think, "Wow, I've always wanted to be rich! If I give to God, then he will bless me so that I can get that new car and ...." C. Wait a minute! God promises three blessings, but wealth is not one of them. 1. God promises the blessing of adequate provisions, 3:11. a. The unbiblical "health and wealth" teaching preys on greed: "Give and you'll get rich," or, more accurately, "Give to my ministry and you'll get rich!" b. But the motive is wrong – God never blesses greed. c. Notice that it involves work on their part to cultivate the land and harvest, etc. 2. God promises the blessing of fruitful ministry, 3:12a. a. When God's people give generously to his cause, then the nations will hear the gospel and in turn bless those who gave to bring the good news to them. b. What better way to invest your money than in the souls of people for whom Christ died? 3. God promises the blessing of a delightful life, 3:12b. a. In a delightful land, people live delightful lives. b. To whatever degree God's people obey him by giving generously, the land is delightful. c. The sins stemming from greed are diminished. g. Obedience in giving opens the floodgates of God's blessing in other areas. IV. The significance of tithing A. Two commands that are often disparaged by Christians are tithing and keeping the Sabbath. 1. "It is not for us! We have been freed from the bondage of such laws." 2. But I don't usually hear these same Christians saying that they have been freed to give more than 10% or dedicate more days than one to the worship of the Lord. B. The tithe is an acknowledgement that all we have belongs to the Lord already. Ps. 24:1 – The earth is the Lord's, and all its fullness, the world and those who dwell therein. 1 Chron. 29:13-15 – Now therefore, our God, we thank You and praise Your glorious name. But who am I, and who are my people, that we should be able to offer so willingly as this? For all things come from You, and of Your own we have given You. For we are aliens and pilgrims before You, as were all our fathers; our days on earth are as a shadow, and without hope. Eph. 1:22 – And He put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church…. C. We already saw that the Scriptures of the New Covenant gave directions concerning the way we give. D. God gave the church the responsibility of collecting the gifts and using them for his glory. 1 Cor. 16:1-3 – Now about the collection for God's people: Do what I told the Galatian churches to do. On the first day of every week, each one of you should set aside a sum of money in keeping with his income, saving it up, so that when I come no collections will have to be made. Then, when I arrive, I will give letters of introduction to the men you approve and send them with your gift to Jerusalem. E. Tithing is not based on convenience, but obedience. F. How does Christ-centered giving look like? 2 Cor. 8:9 – For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich. a. That means that it is not guided by convenience – as matter of fact it is supposed to be inconvenient. b. Christ may be calling us to eat less, to not buy new clothes, to not go out for coffee, to not spend money on entertainment or vacations. 2. Other-oriented – for your sakes he became poor a. Giving not expecting to get something back. b. Just wanting to bless others. Lk. 6:30-35 – Give to everyone who asks of you. And from him who takes away your goods do not ask them back. And just as you want men to do to you, you also do to them likewise. But if you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. And if you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. And if you lend to those from whom you hope to receive back, what credit is that to you? For even sinners lend to sinners to receive as much back. But love your enemies, do good, and lend, hoping for nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High. For He is kind to the unthankful and evil. 3. Cheerfully even if sacrificial. 2 Cor. 9:7 – So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver. a. The way Christ gave himself for his Church is our pattern. Heb. 12:2 – looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. b. As he gave of himself, we are to give of ourselves. 2 Cor. 9:7 – So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver. Jn. 4:34 – Jesus said to them, "My food is to do the will of ` who sent Me, and to finish His work." a. Begrudgingly – grief, pain, sorrow, with ek reluctantly, with regret. b. Of necessity – distress, trouble, constraint, compulsion 5. Abundantly, 9:6, 10-11 2 Cor. 9:6, 10-11 – But this I say: He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully…. Now 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, while you are enriched in everything for all liberality, which causes thanksgiving through us to God. Jn. 10:10b – I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.
God challenges us to test him on this area (3:10). Is this a dare we are willing to take?
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