Honoring God With Our Substance

As I've done from time to time, I've taken a sermon and gone back and reviewed one of our fundamental beliefs. Because, brethren, I think sometimes we look at those as, yes, we know that, we prove that when we first came into the church. And yet it's good from time to time to stop and, again, go back and look at the details and understand completely why it is that we do the things that we do and teach the things that we teach. And so I had it rolling around in my mind to address the fundamental belief again. And then I had a recent conversation with someone who said, you know, it's been really a lot of years since we heard something about tithing. And the fact that perhaps tithing would be a good topic to cover in the near future. And so today I would like to examine what the Bible has to say about the topic of tithing. The title of the message is Honoring God with Our Substance.

Honoring God with Our Substance. It is essentially what we do when we tithe to Him.

I'd like to begin, in some points that might seem basic to us, but again, to go back and review them, I think, is important.

Let's begin by defining what exactly we mean when we use the word tithe.

What is a tithe? Well, tithe by definition essentially means to give a tenth of something.

And so a tithe essentially is 10% of an overall whole. And as it's used in Scripture, the tithe refers to giving a tenth of all the increase received from produce, property, or income for the support of a religious purpose. Now, it's a little different in the Old Testament as compared to the New, but even if the slight differences, I would say underlying similarity is quite striking. So we'll look at those things.

But again, tithing is a tenth of increase.

Tithing, as we'll come to see today, is an act of worship.

Maybe we don't always think of that when we sit down and we open the checkbook and we write out a check and we send it in for our tithe.

That tithing is, in fact, an act of worship.

It's a means by which we can honor God with our substance.

Tithing, and engaging in that process, shows reverence towards God.

It acknowledges who and what God is and the fact that we recognize His power and His majesty and His dominion over all things.

And we'll see that as we walk through the message today.

Tithing is also an act of faith.

If you came into the church and you learned about tithing as a brand new concept, I think you very quickly realized that it is an act of faith and stepping out on faith. And it's an expression of our faith, showing our trust in our trust in God to provide.

So today, let's look at what the Bible shows about tithing, what it is, how it has taken place historically and today.

And first, let's begin by looking at what the Bible shows is the motivation behind tithing.

Why is it, do we tithe?

Why do we take a portion, 10% of our finances are increased in that way and give it to God?

I mean, does God need our money?

Is God maybe running a little short month to month so a bump from the people of His church would be helpful? Is that the point of tithing?

Let's look at the motivation behind why we do in fact tithe. We can begin to find the answer in Deuteronomy chapter 10, if you'll turn there, please. Deuteronomy chapter 10, we're going to read verse 14.

Deuteronomy 10 verse 14, it says, Indeed heaven and the highest heavens belong to the Lord your God, also the earth with all that is in it.

So to begin with, the motivation behind tithing is a worshipful recognition of God as the possessor of heaven and earth and everything in them.

When we look out, we look around the trees, the hills, the mountains, the stars in the heavens, even the angelic creation belong to God.

Everything that has been created has come from His hand.

And again, to tithe is a worshipful recognition of God's authority.

The fact that He is supreme and that all things belong to Him.

Now, the only things that have not been created are God, clearly, God who became Father, not created.

God, the Word who became Jesus Christ, not created.

Scripture shows that both of those beings are eternal, self-existent beings. There was no Creator involved in bringing them into existence. But apart from God and the Word, all things have been created, including the angelic creation.

Everything in the physical realm and the spiritual realm, including us, were created, and we belong to God.

So, as we begin to consider the concept of tithing, we want to consider the fact that everything belongs to God. Tithing is giving recognition to the majesty of God as the Creator of all things and recognizing that He owns it all, and that there's nothing that we possess of and by ourselves that has not come from God. There's nothing that we own, that we've earned, that we've gone out and accumulated for ourselves that is not already God's. And it's an important principle.

Let's go to Job 41. Continue this thought.

Job 41, this is very close to the end of that book, and Job here has walked through a whole process in his life of coming to recognize very clearly who God is and who He is by comparison to the majesty of God. Job 41 in verse 11, we have this question that is, in a sense, presented by God.

Job 41 verse 11, it says, Who has preceded me that I should pay Him?

You know, God says, Who came before me? You know, was there somebody before God that created God, and now God owes something to somebody? No, He says, Who has preceded me that I should pay Him? Everything under heaven is mine. And so, obviously, no one came before God.

He existed from eternity. He will exist into eternity. He owes no one anything in that regard. He is supreme, first on the scene, and everything under heaven is His, again, including anything that you and I may consider to be our own. Brethren, when we tithe, we acknowledge that supremacy of God.

Again, we acknowledge that He owns everything, and that He is the one to whom we owe everything that we've received, including our own life. Apart from God, there would be nothing even we would not be here, and there would be nothing for us to even possess.

And so, hopefully, we're beginning to see the scale that exists here, brethren, who God is, who we are by comparison, the blessing that He's poured out upon us as His creation and as His people here specifically. When God commands that a tithe of our increase is owed to Him, it's not because He is lacking. It's not because God needs money in any way, but He wants us to recognize Him as the source of all existence and all blessing. And we do that by giving just a portion, a tithe, to Him. Psalm chapter 24. Continue on with this thread of thought. Psalm 24.

Psalm chapter 24 and verse 1. It says, The earth is the Lord's in all its fullness, the world and those who dwell therein. For He has founded it upon the seas and established it upon the waters. And so, again, everything belongs to God, but God's not stingy. You know, God doesn't just create it all and is just like I'm hoarding it to myself. Nobody else can play with my toys.

God shares, and He desires to share with us. That which He possesses, He allows us to partake in a part of that and to share in it and to be productive with it. Again, when we consider tithe, is based on increase. It means something has been produced. We've been productive with what God has given us, and that's what He desires to see in this relationship. But never forget the source of all that we have. We won't turn there, but you can jot in your notes Haggai chapter 2 and verse 8.

Haggai 2 and verse 8. There, God says, the silver is mine and the gold is mine. So these things of high value, these things that we would spend our life and our effort and our energy pursuing, God says, they're already mine. Maybe I'll let you borrow those for a time and have them in your use.

Use them well. Be good stewards of what I give to you. But God says, they are mine.

The gold and silver was here long before you and I were here. We'll be here long after we are not here any longer, and yet they still belong to God. Now, the last scripture on this point, Deuteronomy chapter 8 and verse 17. Deuteronomy chapter 8 and verse 17.

Think sometimes if we're not careful, we can begin to forget. What is the source? And as well, what is the part we play? Deuteronomy chapter 8 and verse 17, breaking into the context. Then you say in your heart, My power and the might of my hand have gained me this wealth. God brought Israel out of Egypt. He was taking them to the promised land. They were going to inherit great land, great crops. If they were obedient to God, He was going to bless them, and their increase would be great. And the point was, if they weren't careful, they could begin to look around and say, Wow, you know, I've done pretty good here. Look, I put my hand to this, and it's produced, and I've done all right. But God says, be careful. Verse 18, You shall remember that the Lord your God, you shall remember the Lord your God, for it is He who gives you power to get wealth, that he may establish his covenant which he swore to your fathers as it is this day. And so as God who gives us the power to get wealth, and even our ability to produce, and to go out and work, and to have intelligence and skills, those things are a gift from God. That doesn't diminish our efforts. In fact, I think it's clear to all of us our efforts play a part in this. If you sit home all day and just sleep your life away, if you're going to be somebody who is not productive in some sense, you're going to have less than somebody who has gotten out there, gotten an education, pursued something, put their hand to it, and now there is return. God blesses those things and those efforts, and so everybody's not going to have the same amount sitting in their bank account. There are things that we do to contribute in this way, but again, never forget the source of what we receive and the source of the power and the ability that we have to pursue it in the first place. Again, tithing, brethren, is an act of worship when we honor God with our substance. Now, if we look into Scripture, we find the first recorded example of tithing is recorded in Genesis chapter 14. So let's go there. Genesis chapter 14, we'll pick it up in verse 18. And the context here is the Battle of the Valley of Sidom.

It's just following that battle. So you recall, there's the battle that takes place among the kings. There's a defeat, and the kings who are victorious go into Sodom and Gomorrah. They plunder those cities. They make off with spoils. They take captives. Among the captives was Abraham's nephew Lot. So then Abraham gathers his 300-plus servants within his household, forms an army, and goes out after the kings. God blesses the effort. Lot is recovered.

The plunder is recovered, and it is brought back. And now in verse 18, we see Abraham meeting with Melchizedek. Genesis chapter 14 verse 18. It says, Then Melchizedek, king of Salem, brought out bread and wine. He was priest of God, most high.

And we've looked at this in some detail in recent times, so I'm not going to go into too much of that again, except to remind us that this being who was Melchizedek, as Hebrews described, was without beginning, without end, without parents or genealogy. And this was not God the Father. This was the Word who became Jesus Christ, serving in this role of priest of God, most high. Verse 19, and he blessed him, he blessed Abram. And he said, Blessed be Abram of God, most high, possessor of heaven and earth. And so we see again the acknowledgement and recognition that God possesses everything. He is above everything.

All that exists is his. Verse 20, and blessed be God most high, who has delivered your enemies into your hand. And he, Abram, gave him a tithe of all. And so Abraham paid a tithe of the plunder that he brought back to Melchizedek, the priest of God, which means obviously he recognized that it was God who made his victory possible, God who had provided the blessing.

I think it's interesting, we can look at the scripture and we can look at the codified law out Mount Sinai, when God brought Israel out of Egypt, and we see tithing established in that covenant. Yet, let's not forget, brethren, that tithing preceded the old covenant, and extends yet even today. Tithing is a universal law and principle, and clearly Abraham understood that tithing was a way to acknowledge God for his blessing and for his intervention, in this case, in the battle. Clearly, Abraham understood the principle of giving God a tenth, and that it was an appropriate way to honor him with his possessions. Again, tithing preceded the old covenant. It was confirmed in the old covenant, and it continues yet even today. Now, we can also find where Abraham's grandson Jacob followed his example of tithing to God as well, Genesis chapter 28. Genesis 28. This is where Jacob, after he left his father's house, now was on journeying, and he laid down, and he set the stone at his head. You'll recall, and he had the dream of the angels going up and down the ladder to heaven, and God appeared to him in the dream, and he reconfirmed to him the same promises that he made to Abraham. God said, I'll be with you, I'll bless you, the nations will be blessed by your descendants. So, let's notice Jacob's response to this.

Genesis chapter 28 and verse 18 says, Then Jacob arose early in the morning, and took a stone that he had put at his head, and he set it up as a pillar, and poured oil on the top of it. And he called the name of the place Bethel, which means house of God, but the name of the city had been lozed previously. Then Jacob made a vow, saying, If God will be with me, and keep me in this way, that I am going, and give me bread to eat, and clothing to put on, so that I come back to my father's house in peace, then the Lord shall be my God. Verse 22, In this stone, which I have set as a pillar, shall be God's house, and of all that you give me, I will surely give a tenth to you. And so, we see acknowledgement again now from Jacob, as God is his God, and he says, I will serve you, and the blessing that you pour out in my life, of that I will tithe. I'll give a tenth to you. Again, an acknowledgement of who God is, and the fact that all blessing comes from his hand.

Now, Deuteronomy chapter 14, if we continue on, reveals the standard of just what is to be tithed on in terms of the covenant God made with Israel. Deuteronomy chapter 14, in verse 22, Deuteronomy 14, 22, it says, You shall truly tithe all the increase of your grain that the field produces year by year. So, Israel was an agrarian society. They grew crops. They had herds. They had flocks, and they were to take a tithe, a tenth, of the increase that was produced, and tithe that unto God. Now, we don't tithe, necessarily, in the same way.

If you were to grow a crop of wheat in the field, you wouldn't go take 10% of that and start sending sacks of wheat in to the home office. All right? So, whatever it is that we do to produce in this life and to increase, we take that monetary equivalent of a tithe. But the principle here, either way, says the tithe is on the increase. It says, You shall surely tithe on the increase. And so, the increase is defined as the amount that is above and beyond the expenses necessary to achieve that value. So, if we were to think of it in terms of being, say, self-employed today.

I was self-employed for 22 years before this profession, okay? So, that's kind of where my mind goes. If you're self-employed and you run a business and you go out and say your gross for the year is $100,000, but you spent $40,000 during the year on insurance, fuel, equipment, operating expenses of that business, the profit then would be $60,000. That's what would be considered the gross increase after the expenses of running the business. So, that profit, that increase is then what is tied on. Now, the Church has made an administrative decision, judgment on this, because sometimes questions come up. Well, I pay taxes. Is that really increase? I do benefit from taxes. I was grateful that the snowplow came along the road, so I could get back up here from Lewiston today. So, there is some benefit, but is that amount of tax increase where it doesn't actually be seen in our bank account? And essentially, the determination has been made that you have the option to tithe on what would be the net increase after tax. But, brethren, that is something that is between us and God. Each person is going to decide individually for themselves, and it's not like there's anybody sitting around taking account. But again, the principle is what we come back to, and the principle is you tithe on what is increase. And when your relationship with God, and as you look at your tax statement or your pay stub, you're going to determine that increase and tithe accordingly. Additionally, we won't turn there, but Leviticus 27, verse 30, says, all the tithe of the land, whether of the seed of the land or the fruit of the tree, is the Lord's. It is holy to the Lord. So, we see another principle introduced here, which is the fact that tithe is holy. God's presence is there.

Because you see, God says, everything is mine. I own it. I've requested you return this portion to me. It goes to God. Therefore, it is holy.

Again, as we come back to consider Israel that God had brought out, made the covenant with them, and now the codified law that they received at Sinai, as you consider that, we see the illustration that the tribe of Levi was devoted to the nation's religious service. And so, they became the recipients of the tithe that God required of his people. In other words, you paid tithe to God.

And God, in turn, gave that tithe to the Levites according to their service before him. Let's go to Numbers 18 and verse 20.

Numbers 18 verse 20 says, Then the Lord said to Aaron, You shall have no inheritance in the land, nor shall you have any portion among them. I am your portion and your inheritance among the children of Israel.

And so, indeed, what we'll see is that Aaron and his priestly family, his priestly line, as well as the tribe of Levi itself, had no inheritance in the land in the same way the other tribes did.

When they came into the Promised Land, it was divided up amongst the tribes, and so you had the land that was of your tribe and your family, and it passed down through the generations. That was your inheritance. The Jubilee, every 50 years, ensured that that inheritance returned to the family if it had been sold or lost in some manner. Again, the inheritance to the family was the land and the productivity and the things that were tied to that. Not so with Levites.

Levites inheritance came from God in this way, and it was funded through the tithes.

Continuing on, verse 21, "...behold, I have given the children of Levi all the times in Israel as an inheritance in return for the work which they perform, the work of the tabernacle of meeting." And so because the Levites were dedicated to the Holy Service, they served to support the priesthood and the tabernacle, later the temple system, there were the sacrifices and just all the work that went around that and surrounded that, the Levites themselves were given to what we would call the ministry of the house of God. Service in that way, and their inheritance from God was the finance through the tithe for the service they performed. Verse 22, "...hereafter the children of Israel shall not come near to the tabernacle of meeting, lest they bear sin and die. But the Levites shall perform the work of the tabernacle of meeting, and they shall bear their iniquity. It shall be a statute forever throughout their generations, that among the children of Israel they shall have no inheritance. For the tithes of the children of Israel, which they offer up as a heave offering to the Lord, I have given to the Levites as an inheritance. Therefore I have said to them, among the children of Israel, they shall have no inheritance." So again, under the Old Covenant system, all of the nation of Israel did tithe, but that tithe was, in that sense, dedicated and given to the Levites, but it was first and foremost the tithes to God. And it was God who then gave it to the Levites in that way.

Now, in addition to receiving the tithes from the people, what we find is that the Levites also tithed as well. So they weren't just, as we would call them, the ministry of the house of God in the physical sense. It wasn't like they received tithe and were exempt from tithing. They as well tithed. And we see that principle here. The tithe that they paid went to the priestly line of the family of Aaron, verse 25. Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, Speak thus to the Levites, and say to them, When you take from the children of Israel the tithes, which I have given to you, from them as your inheritance, then you shall offer up a heave offering of it to the Lord, a tenth of the tithe, and your heave offering shall be reckoned to you as though it were a grain of the threshing floor, and as the fulness of the winepress.

Thus you shall offer a heave offering to the Lord from all your tithes which you receive from the children of Israel, and you shall give the Lord's heave offering from it to Aaron the priest.

So again, all the Levites tithed. This was a universal principle throughout the nation. No one was exempt from that. It's interesting to stop and consider, if you just do the math, the Levites received 10% of the nation's increase, and they in turn took 10% of that as the tithe to Aaron and the priesthood in that way. And again, you do the math out and you figure 1% of the gross domestic product, or the increase, anyway, of the nation of Israel went to the priesthood. Now, because Aaron and his family were also Levites, it would appear that they too would have been expected to tithe.

Everything is God's. He possesses it all. There's nothing we've received that hasn't come from him. And that which God requires in return is a tithe of the increase which we have. So, brethren, what about us today? What about the Church of God? What about us as New Covenant Christians today? We know that we are to continue to tithe, but what happens to the tithe that we pay? You know, where does it go? How is it used? What does the Bible show the standard is for the tithes which come from the Church of God today? After all, there is no Levitical tribe in the Church. There is no line of Aaron. There's no priesthood according to the order of Aaron in the spiritual Israel of God today. So, how is this reconciled? Well, the book of Hebrews makes it clear that Aaron and his family line are no longer high priests. However, that does not mean that the priesthood was done away. There continues to be a priest at the house of God today. That clearly is Jesus Christ. Let's go to Hebrews 6 and tie in with what we read back in Genesis with Melchizedek and the priest of God. Hebrews 6, verse 19. Hebrews 6, verse 19.

Hebrews 6, verse 19. We want to see how this change in priesthood relates to tithing.

Chapter 6, verse 19, breaking into the flow of thought here, says, This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which enters the presence behind the veil, where the forerunner has entered for us, even Jesus, having become high priests forever according to the order of Melchizedek.

And so just as under the Old Covenant system, the high priests went behind the veil on the day of atonement, and he brought the blood of the sacrifice to present on the mercy seat before the presence of God, Jesus Christ, our high priest, has entered into the presence of God on our behalf with the blood of the sacrifice, his own blood, presented on our behalf. He is our high priest.

Chapter 7, verse 1. For this Melchizedek, king of Salem, priests of the most high God, whom Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him, to whom also Abraham gave a tenth part of all, first being translated king of righteousness, then also king of Salem, meaning king of peace. Without father, without mother, without genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but made like the son of God, remains a priest continually.

So as I explained, brother, in a recent sermon, we delved into this in greater detail. The priesthood, according to the order of Aaron, was a line of priests who came from the descendants of Aaron. They were physical beings.

They were individuals who lived out their physical life, served and then died, and were replaced.

The high priest was a physical being who only lived a certain amount of time, again, died and was replaced by another physical being. That is the order of Aaron.

Now, our high priest is according to the order of Melchizedek, and that is a different order.

Again, scripture describes the priest according to the order of Melchizedek as one who is an eternal being, being without beginning of days or end of life, without genealogy, without father, without mother in that sense. And also, this high priest is referred to as the king of righteousness and the king of peace. So that's no man. That's no physical being here.

This is an ongoing, a continuous priesthood by a divine being, in this case, Jesus Christ.

Our high priest Jesus Christ rose according to the order of Melchizedek, and not only that, he was Melchizedek. And as such, he has been the true priest of God all the way back to the time of Abraham and before, and will remain a priest forever, continually serving in that capacity.

You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek. Now, there was a time where there was a covenant with a physical nation, and there was a physical priesthood of a physical family line that served, but that did not remove the continuance of the priesthood of Melchizedek.

That fleshly line no longer serves, priesthood over the spiritual house of God. But the order of Melchizedek and our high priest Jesus Christ does. Verse 4, now consider how great this man was to whom even the patriarch Abraham gave a tenth of the spoils paid the tithes to Melchizedek.

And indeed, those who are of the son of Levi who received the priesthood have a commandment to receive tithes from the people according to the law, that is, from their brethren, that they have come from the loins of Abraham. But he whose genealogy is not derived from them received tithes from Abraham and blessed him who had the promises. Now, beyond all contradiction, the lesser is blessed by the better. Here mortal men receive tithes, the Levitical priesthood, receive tithes, and the Levites receive tithes, okay? But there he receives them, of whom it is witnessed that he lives. So we're talking about someone who lives, who truly lives. And what was witnessed about the one who lives is that this is Jesus Christ, resurrected from the dead, the one who lives eternally, serving as priest at the house of God.

Verse 9, even Levi who receives tithes paid tithes through Abraham, so to speak, for he was still in the loins of his father when Melchizedek met him. So we have Abraham, who paid tithes unto Melchizedek. And Abraham's descendants, in part who included the tribe of Levi, it says were still in Abraham's loins, had not been born yet when Abraham paid tithes through Melchizedek. And yet it was as if then that tribe of the physical descendants who received the tithes from the physical nation themselves paid tithe and recognized the priesthood of Melchizedek.

Verse 11, therefore, if perfection were through the Levitical priesthood, for under it the people received the law, what further need was there that another priest should rise according to the order of Melchizedek, and not be called according to the order of Aaron? For the priesthood being changed, verse 12, of necessity, there is also a change of the law. So again, what changed?

Well, what changed as it's relating to tithing, what changed was the priesthood who received the tithes. Abraham paid to Melchizedek, but there was a period time under the covenant with Israel, then that tithes were paid and received to the priesthood of the tribe of Levi. But now that has changed, the priest over the house of God, to which tithes go, is according to the order of Melchizedek.

So because the priesthood has seen the change over the house of God today, the law has changed.

It's not done away with. It's changed in terms of who is the recipient of the tithe. Verse 13, For he whom these things are spoken belongs to another tribe from which no man has officiated at the altar. For it is evident that our Lord arose from Judah, of which tribe Moses spoke nothing concerning the priesthood. So Christ the vine offices high priest supersedes the Levitical priesthood. Verse 15, And it is yet far more evident if in the likeness of Melchizedek there rises another priest who has come not according to the law of a fleshly commandment, but according to the power of an endless life. For he testifies you are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek. So again, there was a change in the law in terms of who actually receives the tithes.

The role reverted back to the order of Melchizedek and the Melchizedek priesthood.

So today, brethren, Jesus Christ is the high priest over the spiritual house of God, over the church of God. We are called the body of Jesus Christ. It is the church that he built, he said, I will build my church and the gates of the grave will not prevail against it.

But we are the church of God, all right? That is not a conflict there. But the point is, Christ works with his church and in his church, and he has established a physical ministry over the spiritual house of God as well. Just as under the old covenant, the priest and the tribe of Levi functioned as God's servants on the earth, fulfilling the work God had that pertained to this physical house of God, today Jesus Christ has appointed a ministry in the service of the spiritual house of God, with Jesus Christ as the high priest over that house.

The Bible says, presidents, then, for the use of God's holy tithes in service of his spiritual house and the work of the ministry today. So I want to look at that briefly. Let's go to 1 Corinthians 9.

1 Corinthians 9, and we'll pick it up in verse 7.

The common thread we should see from under the old covenant now to the new covenant is that tithes that were paid, number one, are holy and they are paid to God. And God has directed him to be used in the service of his temple, physical under the old covenant, spiritual today. 1 Corinthians 9 and verse 7. Here the apostle Paul writing, and he says, whoever 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. If you put your work and your effort and your blood, sweat and tears in something, do not receive return for the effort which you've expended. Verse 8. Do I say these things as a mere man, or does the law say the same also? For it is written in the law of Moses, you shall not muzzle an ox while it treads out the grain. Is it oxen God is concerned about? Or does he say it altogether for our sakes? For our sakes, no doubt this is written, that he who plow should plow in hope, and he who threshes in hope should be partaker of his hope. Verse 11. If we have sown spiritual things for you, is it a great thing if we reap your material things? If others are partaker of this right over you, are we not even more? Nonetheless, we have not used this right, but endure all things, lest we hinder the gospel of Christ. Paul was contending with the fact that there were others that were going around claiming to be apostles, preaching a doctrine for the purpose of merchandising the church. They were living off the gospel in terms of making a profit and seeing it as a lucrative business. And so as Paul went, especially here to the Corinthians, he didn't want to be seen as taking dishonest gain from the work of God. But he is pointing out that there is authority here in doing such. I think the principle we have to remember, brethren, and that the ministry has to be aware of, as if I would call it a warning in return, is that God's tithes are holy. They are His. And the way that He directs them to be used is specific, and it comes at a very high level of accountability. So you do your part and you pay your tithe. If that is abused, then those who abuse that will fall into the hands of God and His judgment in that regard. But again, it is a very high level of standard, even in which the church of God and the ministry of Jesus Christ are to conduct themselves, and even how they use these tithes. They're gods and they're holy.

On verse 13, Paul says, Do you not know that those who minister the holy things eat of the things of the temple, and those who serve at the altar partake of the offerings of the altar? Even so, the Lord has commanded that those who preach the gospel should live from the gospel. So again, it was a matter of He's devoting His life to going and doing something. Those that would do so, you need to be fed, you need to be clothed, you need a place to lay your head. Not that it needs to be an extravagant lifestyle, but the point is you're dedicated to serving in this way, and it's God's desire to see that those that serve Him and minister to His house would have this provision. 2 Corinthians 11. Again, Apostle Paul, continuing on the same concept, same church.

2 Corinthians 11 and verse 5, Paul says, For I consider that I am not at all inferior to the most imminent apostles, even though I am untrained in speech, yet I am not in knowledge, but we have been thoroughly manifested among you in all things. He's saying, you know what, again, those are those who are going around that would appear and claim to be apostles, yet we've manifested ourselves among you. We've spoken the Word of God. You can prove it from the Scripture. We've demonstrated the power of God by His Spirit within us. These things have been manifested among you. Verse 7 says, Did I commit sin and humbling myself that you might be exalted? Because I preached the gospel of God to you free of charge.

I robbed other churches, taking wages from them to minister to you. And when I was present with you and in need, I was a burden to no one. For what I lacked, the brethren who came from Macedonia and in everything, I kept myself from being burdensome to you, and so I will keep myself.

So Paul didn't ask wages from the Corinthians at this point. Again, even though he had authority to do so because he was sensitive to the fact that they had been merchandised, and he himself, it would have been a hindrance to the gospel for him to appear even, even with clean motives, to be merchandising the people. So Paul just said, you know, I didn't take tithes from you. I was supported by these other congregations who knew I was here and sent me, and when others arrived, they offered me support as well. And as you study through Paul's ministry, there were times that he worked with his two hands, employing his occupation in order to make those wages by which he could continue to live and function and preach the gospel. In the United Church of God, we have what is called a pastoral ministry, and that is not another rank of minister or elder in any way. We're all who are elders, our fellow elders, but in some ways, it's a distinction in terms of the ability to function in this service. Because most of the elders of the United Church of God are employed outside of the United Church of God. They work a job, they have a business, they do those things, and yet they still serve in the ministry of the house of God. But as has been determined, over the years, as congregations came into place, and there was a need to visit, to counsel, and anoint, and see those at the hospital, and do things that take actually a greater part of the day, there was a need to have a pastoral ministry who are free to minister and serve to the house of God, unencumbered by having to work outside of the ministry. And so there is a paid ministry in the United Church of God that is in part where the tithes go. Again, there's a high accountability there. There is the tithes as well are used for the work of the ministry and of the church. The preaching of the gospel, the preparing of the people, that is our commission. And that is where the tithes that are given to God are used in this day and age, in this organization, as part of the Church of God.

Now, the book of Malachi expresses the serious expectation that God has for his people to faithfully tithe. Let's take a look there. Malachi chapter 3, last book of the Old Testament, Malachi 3, verse 8. Here it's, again, God asking the question. And I think when God asks a question, we better think and consider the answer. Malachi 3, verse 8, will a man rob God? And yet you have robbed me.

But you say, in what way have we robbed you? And the answer is in tithes and offerings.

There was a time period, oftentimes, actually, where the people of God were deviating from God's principles and his standards and were lacking in these ways. And God says, you know, this is in tithes and offerings. You've robbed me. Verse 9, you are cursed with a curse, for you have robbed me, even this whole nation. Bring the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. And try me now on this, says the Lord of Hosts, if I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you such blessing that there will not be room enough to receive it. So refusing to pay our tithes to God is considered to be robbery from God's perspective. And that's a pretty strong word.

The point is, God here is saying, if you have increased from what I have given you, and you do not tithe, you are stealing from me. I think sometimes we can look at our paycheck, and we can look at our bills, and we can say, you know, this isn't going to work.

And I would agree that there are times where it doesn't appear to work on paper.

And somebody who walks in the door to the church, perhaps never having understood tithing in their life, probably living like most of us do at the limit, maximum limit, of where our income is, suddenly are introduced to the fact that there is tithing. Try put that on a spreadsheet, and you say, there's no way. That's sometimes the struggle. And I come back to the fact, brethren, as we saw, that tithing, in part, is an act of faith. And it's an expression of our faith. It's demonstrating to God our trust in Him as the one who owns everything, the one with the power to provide what it is that we need. And sometimes we can come up looking at a wall that's going up in front of us and saying, there's no way. And physically there's not. But what we find over and over and over again is submitting an obedience to God opens the way. And God provides. So again, we too have our part to play. The standard of the tithe was the increase, 10%, and it wasn't on what was left. It was 10% on the first of your increase. And then you figured out how to make what was left fit your lifestyle. Where you make your lifestyle fit that would be more accurate.

So 10 is God's portion off the top, first and foremost. I think we've all found, over the years, I've heard stories. We've talked about it, the fact that God opens doors and provides in ways that weren't even on the radar, right? Not on the spreadsheet, as you sit down to try to figure those things. But you did what you know you needed to do in service to God and He provided.

As we're looking at and considering our new place that's going to be coming shortly, we were thinking about things that are breaking down that we've owned for years otherwise. And it's kind of like when you upgrade to a new place, you sort of want a fresh start. You think, well, it'd be nice to have a new this or something other than that.

And so we've been looking as if we're at our washer and dryer and going, well, let's see, I bought that off Craigslist 12 years ago. It was used greatly at that point. And it'd be nice when we upgrade to have a new washer and dryer looking at our dining room table. That's kind of... whatever.

It's been the victim of art projects from the children all these years.

And Tabitha has mentioned her bed a couple of years now has been hurting her back. And it's like, all right, we'll get a new mattress here at some point. So you're looking at these things. We're thinking about them. Well, this place that we purchased is south of Portland will be moved up. And the people said, we're going to leave you some things behind if that's okay with you, if you want them, some things that you can furnish the place with. And we said, fine, leave whatever you want. And so after the conference this week, we stayed an extra night, Tuesday night, and we rented a U-Haul on Wednesday and drove over there to pick up what they had left us. And you know what's there? Or what was there? It's in our house now. It's a washer, a dryer, dining room table, a bed with a nice mattress. If you don't think that God opens the door to provide in ways that you weren't even considering, if you look at the spreadsheet and say, I can't do this, you know, God is not calling us to destruction. He doesn't say, here, do this, give me your tithe and let me watch you suffer. He says, no, do these things and see what I do and support to help you along the way. I believe, brethren, when we submit to God and we see His hand in our life, it is inspiring to us and serves to build our faith all the more.

The Bible also contains instruction on tithing that we've traditionally referred to in the church as the second tithe. The second tithe. And it's a tithe that is set aside separate from the tithe that we were just looking at and considering. The first tithe was given entirely to the Levites per God's instructions. The giver was not to use any of it for their personal consumption. And so it's important we keep that in mind as we look at the scriptures and further instructions in terms of tithing. So let's go to Deuteronomy, again, chapter 12. It's time, verse 5.

Deuteronomy 12, verse 5. Again, remembering the backdrop of the structure and the use of the tithe, as we saw, towards the service in the house of God. Deuteronomy chapter 12 and verse 5.

This says, But you shall seek the place where the Lord your God chooses, out of all your tribes, to put his name for his dwelling place, and there you shall go.

There you shall take your burnt offerings, your sacrifices, your tithes, tithes plural, the heave offerings of your hand, your vowed offering, your freewill offerings, and the firstborn of your herds, and your flocks. So what we notice here is that God has a command for his people to seek out the place that he chooses to put his name. His presence will be there, and they're to bring the tithes. Now, we won't turn there, but Deuteronomy 16, 16, we read that before we take up an offering at almost every holy day. And it says, Three times in a year you assemble before the Lord your God, and the place that he chooses, and that's the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the Feast of Weeks, and the Feast of Tabernacles.

And under the system of the nation of Israel, that was a pilgrimage feast. You went up to Jerusalem to assemble before God at that time. And it's through the second tithe that God made provision, and he makes provision for us to cover the expense of assembling before him at his feasts, as he has commanded. Still in Deuteronomy 12, let's go to verse 17.

Deuteronomy 12 verse 17, instruction on this tithe, it says, You may not eat within your gates the tithe of your grain, or your new wine, or your oil, of the firstborn of your herd, or of your flock, of any of your offerings which you vow, of your freewill offerings, or the heave offerings of your hand. But you must eat them before the Lord your God, in the place which the Lord your God chooses, you and your son and your daughter, your male servant, your female servant, and the Levite who within your gates, and you shall rejoice before the Lord your God, in all to which you put your hands.

So again, this is a different tithe than the one that was to be set aside for the Levites entirely and exclusively. The instruction here is that this tithe be eaten by the individual, but not at home, not within your gates. It was to be set aside and consumed at the place where God had placed his name, at his festivals.

Deuteronomy chapter 14 verse 22 says, You shall surely tithe all the increase of your grain that the field produces year by year, and you shall eat before the Lord your God in the place where he chooses to make his name abide, the tithe of your grain in your new wine and your oil, the firstborn of your herds and the flocks, that you may learn to fear the Lord your God always. But if the journey is too long for you, so that you are not able to carry the tithe, or if the place where the Lord your God chooses to put his name is too far from you, when the Lord your God has blessed you, then you shall exchange it for money, take the money in your hand and go to the place where the Lord your God chooses.

And you shall spend that money for whatever your heart desires, for oxen or sheep, for wine or similar drink, for whatever your heart desires. You shall eat there before the Lord your God, and you shall rejoice you and your household. You shall not forsake the Levite who is within your gates, for he has no part or inheritance with you. And so clearly this tithe is for personal use during the festival observance. It is an additional tithe.

It's different from the tithe that God gave that said was to go to the Levites for the service of his house. This tithe was to be kept by the tithe payer and consumed by the tithe payer at the feasts of God. We do not send in our second tithes to the church in the same way as we do our first tithe, but we maintain that ourselves to use at the festivals. We had an announcement today about a feast site.

A new feast site close by to us. We're going to be receiving the festival brochure soon and determining, all right, where am I going to go? What am I going to do? And that's going to be different for each individual, and part of that decision is going to be based on basically what we have saved in terms of tithe. I would just say, let's make sure that we use that money well, because you see, this is not vacation money.

Scripture says God's tithe is holy. We do get to maintain control over it. We do get to have the discretion in some ways to spend it, but let us not forget the purpose and the intent by which God allows us to have this tithe. To keep his festivals, to assemble and to rejoice before him, and let's do so in the spirit by which God would have us to keep those days with this tithe he's allowed us to put aside in the lecture.

Now, the final set of instructions regarding tithing that I want to touch on today pertains to what has sometimes been called the third tithe. It's a tithe which is designated to help the poor and the needy. Deuteronomy 12, Deuteronomy 14, this is a third designation of tithe, I will call it. Deuteronomy 14 and verse 28, At the end of every third year you shall bring out the tithe of your produce of the year, and store it up within your gates. So, okay, this wasn't what went out to the Levites. This wasn't what stayed within your gates then that went and took you to the feast. This was within your gates for another purpose.

Verse 29, In the Levite, because he has no portion or inheritance with you, and the stranger and the fatherless and the widow who are within your gates, may come and eat and be satisfied that the Lord your God may bless you in all the work of your hand to do.

And so we see here that this special tithe was to be handled differently than the other two tithes that we discussed. It was to be set aside every three years, and as I won't necessarily go into it, but looking in other scriptures and precedents of the land Sabbath, it's been determined that this would likely have been the third and the sixth year in a seven-year cycle, because you don't want to end up on year 21 and have a land rest as well as a third tithe year. So it would appear that this was the third and sixth, again in a seven-year cycle, but this was to be stored locally within each city for the use of the Levites, the poor of the community, as well as the stranger, the fatherless and the widow. It was a tithe that was used to provide for those who had need. We won't turn there, but Deuteronomy 26.12 contains another reference to this tithe. So what about us today, brethren? Because the question arises at times in the church as to how we handle what has been historically called the third tithe. Because, you see, we do live in a country that collects taxes, that has a welfare structure, a safety net for those who are in need. Fatherless, widow, there are certain social programs which are in place to provide, and that's taken out of taxation. The question arises, how does that mesh with what would be called in that way the third tithe? I want to read to you from our booklet titled, What Does the Bible Teach About Tithing? and it addresses the issue. It says, in addressing this question, the Council of Elders, the primary governing body of the United Church of God, has examined the matter and concluded that when Christians are forced to pay social and welfare taxes at high rates, common in countries, it is appropriate to provide them relief from such double payments for the same purpose. As an administrative matter, the Council has issued the following statement. I'm going to read to you a statement from the Council of Elders of the United Church of God. It says, the Council of Elders has resolved that where governments provide programs, the intent and purpose of which is to provide for the needs of those that the biblical third tithe was designed to assist, and that where such programs are funded by an annual rate of taxation greater than the biblical third tithe, members are not obligated to pay to what amounts to an additional third tithe to the church. So I hope you understand what this is saying. It's not saying third tithe is done away and there is no third tithe. It is saying you are paying a third tithe in taxation in support of the social programs which do what the third tithe was designed to do, and to mandate another tithe on top of that would be incensed to require a double third tithe.

It says, the Council of Elders further resolves that since there will always be members of the church whose needs are not adequately provided for by national government social programs, and since the clear example in Scripture is that the church care for the members in need, that those members of the church who are able are encouraged to contribute to the church assistance fund so that the biblical injunction to care for the needy within the church can be fulfilled.

And the booklet goes on to say this represents the understanding and application of the third tithe in our day and age by the United Church of God. So, brethren, hopefully this message today, the Scriptures that we have walked through have reminded us all of the importance of understanding and following God's instructions as it pertains to biblical tithing. In our personal relationship with God, tithing is a form of obedience. It is also a form of worship as we acknowledge the majesty of God and as we recognize Him as the possessor of all things in heaven and on earth, and we acknowledge to Him that all that we have comes from His hand. Tithing is also an act of faith. Let us never fail to recognize the importance of these fundamental principles as we seek to fulfill God's instructions to honor Him with our substance.

Again, it is a matter of worship and a matter of faith.