Tithing, Part 1

Brethren, does God need our money? Why would he want our money? What would he do with it? After all, he created the whole universe. He created everything. He created all of the billions of galaxies out there, each one of them having billions of stars. How many of you own a galaxy? Or how many of you own a star? Well, he owns all of it. You look at the earth, you see all of the beauty. You look at the earth and you see all of the wealth. People get out and they have gold mines and diamond mines and they have all kinds of escapades where they're trying to dig up out of the earth some of the wealth that might be there. We tap into oil, we tap into all kinds of things. Isn't that God created it all? He owns it all. Is there anything that God doesn't have that you and I can give Him? It doesn't have a Rolex watch, Gucci shoes, a Hartshaffner Mark suit. What is it that God doesn't have that you and I can say, here it is God, I'll give it to you, you don't have it. Therefore, it's something He would have. Is this the reason He asks us to tithe and give offerings? Because He doesn't have things and so He wants you to supply them and make up the difference? Is God like a potentate or a king who's always obsessing about how much money He has and collecting money? You look down through history and you see all of the rulers down through the ages and they're always trying to accumulate wealth. And the king always seems to be up here in the lap of luxury and the common folk are down here barely getting by. What about some of the dictators in Africa? Many of these get aid from the United States. Maybe we give them 250 million dollars a year to try to buy their loyalty. Who gets all that money? Well, generally those in charge. And sometimes when these individuals are overthrown, there's coup d'etat and the country's overthrown, what happens? Well, you find they go to Switzerland, they got a billion dollars stuffed away somewhere in the bank. Where they get that money? Well, they're always out looking for themselves. If God wanted silver and gold and diamonds and rubies and emeralds and precious stones, guess what? He could create tons of it! He could snap his fingers like that and his whole room would be full of gold. And like Scrooge McDuck, he could sit on top of his gold in his vault. Is that what God is concerned about? So why is God concerned about the few dollars or few pennies that you and I have? Why does he say to tithe or to give money to him?

After all, you work hard for your paycheck, don't you? I mean, you get out there and you slave 40, 50, 60, 70 hours a week. Perhaps you're on a limited income, you don't have much money.

Why would you give a tenth of it to God? And what's the purpose? And actually, there's school of thought today among several in the greater Church of God community that tithing is not required under the new covenant, that all you have to do is give an offering, that God is just concerned that you give a little more. Tithing is supposed to be an Old Testament principle, it's not something that we need to be concerned about. What does the Bible say about tithing?

Is it only an Old Testament practice? Are we only required to give an offering now and then?

Why would God want our money anyway? Because he's already so wealthy, why would he ask us to give him something? So isn't he the Creator and ruler over it all? Anyway, well, obviously, God owns everything. I believe we all understand that. And he doesn't have what he doesn't have and need he could create it if he wanted to. He doesn't need anything from us, including our tithes. We are only returning to God what he gave to us in the first place. Let's go back to 1 Chronicles chapter 29. 1 Chronicles chapter 29.

And verse 10, we find here David, I think, gives an excellent foundational principle, which we will build a lot of what we're going to talk about today.

Give you the setting. You might remember that David wanted to build the temple, but God said, no, you've been a bloody man. You can't build the temple. Your son Solomon will. So David did the next best thing. He gathered all of the goods together. He got all of the gold, silver, wood. He started collecting all of that. And the people gave generously. And so here is his dedication or prayer before God, thanking him for all of this. It says, therefore, David, bless the Lord before all of the assembly. And David said, blessed are you, Lord God of Israel, our Father, for ever and ever. Yours, O Lord, is the greatness. Yours is the power, the glory, the victory, the majesty. All that is in heaven and on earth is yours. So notice everything in heaven, everything that you can see and everything that you don't see is God and on the earth. Yours is the kingdom, O Lord, and you are exalted as head over all. Both riches and honor come from you, and you reign over all. In your hand is power and might. In your hand it is to make great and to give strength to all. 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? Now notice the next sentence. For all things come from you.

Everything comes from God. And of your own we have given you. So it's God's. He gives it to us, and we give part of it back to Him. That's what He's talking about. Of your own. God shares His own. God shares His wealth. He shares His goodness with us. And then we give Him back, Son. For we are aliens and pilgrims before you, as were all of our fathers. Our days on earth are as a shadow and without hope.

So all riches and wealth come from God. We give back to God what He has already given to us.

Now why does God do this? Well, notice verse 17.

I know also, my God, that you test the heart. God is in the heart business.

God is in the business of creating a family, of developing godly character. So God will test our heart to see if our heart is right before Him, if our heart is in tune with Him.

It says that you have tested the heart and have pleasure in uprightness. As for me and the uprightness of my heart, I have willingly offered all these things. And now with joy, I have seen your people who are present here to offer willingly to you.

So the commandment to tithe is more for our benefit than it is for God's. God doesn't need it.

You and I are the ones who need to have the right mind, right character, right attitude, and the right approach. His main goal is to bring us into the very family of God so that we can be His sons. We will see as we progress through this sermon today, there are several things that tithing, if a person tithes with the right attitude, will do. God has the right.

He has the privilege to prioritize our wealth for us. He has the right to tell us where we should put it and what comes first. Remember Matthew 6.33, seek you first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. So God says, first of all, we seek His kingdom. And so God has the right to tell us how to prioritize our wealth. Tithing also honors God.

It shows honor and respect, deference to God. Tithing is holy to God.

It's a part of our obedient worship of God. We don't stop to think about it, but we send that check in. Are we given offering that it is actually a part of how we worship God? Do we put God first? Tithing shows that we're willing to put God first above mammon, that we don't set our heart on that. I think as Rick Cloud has brought out, who does the world admire? Well, they admire athletes who can make $20 million playing a game that we all love to play. Or a basketball player, a football player, whoever it might be. You find that God is concerned whether we will put Him first.

Another purpose in tithing is to pay His servants, those who labor in doing the work of God. Tithing also helps to further the work of God. If you're going to preach the Gospel, you're going to print magazines, booklets, you're going to do a broadcast, things of this nature. It's got to be paid for. So God uses the tithes.

Now, let me ask you a question that's a basic question that needs to be answered, which we'll answer throughout this sermon. What method does the Bible reveal for the support of God's work? What is the method of supporting it? How do we do it? And how do we do it? Has that method ever changed? Or is it the same today? Was it the same yesterday?

Or is it the same forever? Actually, it might be a scripture that would help to answer all of this. But does God change the method? Let's go back to the very beginning. The book of Genesis is the book of beginnings. Genesis 14 will begin in verse 18. Genesis 14 in verse 18.

I want you to notice here about Abram. We have a situation introduced here that there's no background knowledge. If you just had the book of Genesis and you read this, you would have all kinds of questions that you might ask.

It says, Then Melchizedek, king of Salem, brought out bread and water. He was the priest of God, Mosiah. Who was Melchizedek? It doesn't tell you, does it? It just says he's the priest of the Mosiah God. He's the king of Salem. Salem is the area that we would know as Jerusalem, the city of peace. He's the king of peace here. And he is the priest of God. And he blessed him and said, Blessed be Abram of God Most High, possessor of heaven and earth. And blessed be God Most High, who has delivered your enemies into your hands. And he, Abram, gave him a tithe of all, of all the spoils he gave him a tithe. Now, this is the first mention of tithing in the Bible.

And notice the key points. Who received the tithe? Who was the recipient of the tithe? Well, it was God's representative on earth at that time who happened to be Melchizedek, the priest of the Most High God. Now, what did Melchizedek use the tithe for?

I have no idea. It doesn't say, does it? That's one of those questions that you just have a question mark. It just says, He was the priest and the tithe was given to him. What was the reason for tithing? Well, it was to acknowledge God as the ultimate giver. And notice the computation for tithing. What was it computed on? All of the increase. In this case, it was the spoils of war. Now, anytime you go to war, back at this time, there would be spears and swords and maybe horses, chariots, tents, sleeping bags. I don't know what all they had back at that time, but there were goods. And maybe there had been a few cities sacked along the way, and so they had booty from those cities. And so here's all the spoil. The first thing that Abraham does is to give a tenth to God. So, one of the things that this indicates is that tithing is not limited to just increase from agricultural produce. This is what some people would say.

But here he tithed on all the spoils of war. So it wasn't just restricted to vegetables and fruits. It was on all the spoils. So tithe comes from a person's increase, whatever the source is of that increase, whether it's agriculture or you get a paycheck. The tithe, the 10%, is paid on that. Abraham is called the father of the faithful, so he faithfully did this. Now, in Genesis chapter 28, we find the example of Jacob.

Genesis 28, beginning in verse 20. Let's notice his example.

Then Jacob made a vow, saying, If God will be with me and keep me in the way as I am going, 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. And this stone, which I've set as a pillar, shall be God's house, and of all that you give me, notice, everything that God gives him, I will surely give a tenth to you.

So, one, he acknowledges that it was going to come from God. Whatever God gives him, he would give back to God. Now, here's a question about Jacob and Abram. How did they know how much to give? They give a tenth. How did they know it was a tenth? Who told them it was a tenth? Did they just reason in their mind, well, I think I should give a tenth. Why not a fifth? Why not an eighth? Why not 20% or 50%?

Where did they come up with the figure one tenth? Obviously, somebody had to tell them. And I believe that God told Abraham. Abraham told Isaac. Isaac told Jacob.

And, you know, so it was passed on. Now, some critics will argue that he only tied because God blessed him and protected him. That begs the question. He did tithe, did he not? So, the example is there that he tithed. He tithed 10% the same thing that Abram did. And he didn't come up with some other figure. So, he understood that one tenth of it belonged to God and should go back to God. Okay, to whom did he give the tithe? Who did he give it to?

Well, notice here. And going through this, he says, I will surely give a tenth to you.

So, he's talking here about God. But he was going to give God one tenth. Now, how do you give one tenth to God? God's in heaven. We're here. How do you give it to God? Do you do like the joke about the old Jew who said, let me tell you how I tithe? God takes what he wants. You know, I take what's left. So, how do you do that? Well, I throw it up in the air. Whatever God wants, he takes. Whatever falls down, I take. Well, you know, that's the way some people consider tithing. But that's not the way God says to tithe. Obviously, he or undoubtedly, even though it doesn't say so here, he probably gave it to Melchizedek again, who was on the earth. Remember, as we will see as we go along, we'll find out who Melchizedek was here. It doesn't reveal it here. But it does say that he gave him the tithe.

What were they used for? Again, I pose that question. What was it used for? It doesn't state. Now, hundreds of years later, the descendants of Jacob grew into a nation.

The pre-existing law of tithes and offerings was included as part of the covenant between God and between Israel. God actually had it codified. God did not change his method of support for his work or for his servants. We now find a tithe, a first tithe, but instead of it being given to Melchizedek, guess what? It's still given to God. It's still God's. But God now designates someone else to give it to. Instead of God saying, okay, here it's for my priest, Melchizedek, God said, now it's for the Levites. And so God then designated it to be given to the Levites. But notice, the method is still the same. Still one-tenth, and it's to be given to whomever God specifies. The principle of tithing doesn't change, but the recipient might change. Now that's very important to realize, because when we come to the New Testament, we will see another change taking place. The tribe of Levi was chosen to do the service of God in ancient Israel. No longer was it Melchizedek. Since God was dealing with the whole nation, he had his servants write in detail how to tithe. So let's go over and read it. Leviticus 27, beginning in verse 30. Leviticus 27, beginning in verse 30.

We read here some of the instructions concerning tithing.

It says, all the tithe of the land, whether the seed of the land or the fruit of the tree, is the Lord's. Notice the tithe is God's. It is holy to the Lord.

I mentioned to you earlier that the tithe is holy. Holy means it's set apart, dedicated to God, for whatever purpose God determines it to be used. We don't know exactly what Melchizedek did with it, but we can know what the Levites were supposed to do with it because the Bible specifies.

Now verse 31, if a man wants to redeem any of his tithes, he shall add one-fifth to it.

What do you mean, redeem your tithe? Well, what if you had a good corn crop or a wheat crop?

And the seeds this year produced wonderful abundance. So you said, well, I would really like to save some of this. Instead of giving all of this, I'd like to save some. You still have to tithe.

And if you're going to set aside and use that, you have to add a fifth to it. So they could actually do something of that nature, but they had to add 20% to it for taking it and using it that way.

But notice it was a little different for the herd. Of the tithe of the herd or of the flock, whatever passes under the rod, the tenth one shall be holy to the Lord. He shall not inquire whether it's good or bad, nor shall he exchange it. And if he exchange it at all, both it and the one exchanged for it shall be holy. It shall not be redeemed. So you could not redeem the cattle. Now why? You're a farmer. You've got 10 young calves there. Maybe one of them is a bull, and you say, boy, I'd like to keep that bull. But what if the bull is the tenth one to go under the rod? You've got a corral. You run them down a chute, and as they come out, the tenth one, you mark it. That's the one that goes to God. What if it's the bull?

I don't want to give my bull to God. I want to keep the bull. I'll give God a calf.

Here's this sickly, scrawny runt over here. I'll give God this sickly runt. We can't do that. It doesn't matter if it's skinny, sickly runt runs through and you mark it. That's God's. If the best runs through, you mark it. That's God's. Now if you tried to redeem it, you'd be going against the whole principle of marking the tenth one to go through. So God says, no, you can't redeem the cattle. And so you find that God gave them this.

Now, the tithe was not to be used or consumed by the tithe payer. Many people today keep their tithes. We have people, again, in the Church of God community, who aren't going anywhere. And they have said, I refuse to give my tithes to any organized church. So they will not give their tithe to an organized church. They keep it and they decide how they will spend it. So they decide to use it for charity work or to give it to the poor. Somebody's house burns down, so they give them their tithe. Is that the proper use of the tithe? What does it say here? It is the Lord. It is holy to God. It is set apart to God. It is dedicated to God. Now, then it's up to God to determine how that can be used. And we, as a human being, cannot keep it ourselves and determine that we'll give it to charity or we'll do this. You can give offerings. You know, you have extra money. You can do anything you want to do with that. But not the tithe. The God is very explicit about that. In Numbers 18, go over here to the next book, Numbers 18 verse 21, we find this statement made here.

Under the old covenant, to whom did God give the tithes? Tithe goes to God. God says, I'll give it to whomever I want. Now, who did God give it to? Verse 21, Behold, I have given the children of Levi all the tithes in Israel as an inheritance in return for the work which they performed, the work of the tabernacle of meeting.

All of the other tribes, the twelve tribes, thirteen if you want to count them, Manasseh. They were given land and property, so everybody by family maybe was given, depending on the size of the family, fifty hundred acres, however much, they divided up among them. They could work the land, produce a crop, raise cattle, have fruit trees, and they could earn an income and take care of the family. The Levites were not given an inheritance of property in this manner. Now, they had cities to live in, and all of the cities had what we would call a greenbelt around them, where they had small gardens and all where you could go out and you have a garden, but where you would not earn your living by doing that. The Levites had their living paid by the tithes, as it says here. This was their inheritance, why, in return for the work which they perform, the work of the tabernacle of meeting. Hereafter, the children of Israel shall not come near the tabernacle of meeting, lest they bear sin and die. So, the average Israelite could not go in and offer a sacrifice on the altar. They couldn't go into the tabernacle. That was left up to the priests and the Levites. 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 your generations, and among the children of Israel they shall have no inheritance. For the tithe of the children of Israel, which they offer up as a heave offering, or an offering dedicated to God, I, God says, have given to the Levites as an inheritance. Therefore, I have said to them, among the children of Israel, they shall have no inheritance. The Levites were to live off the tithe. That was their remuneration. They were not given any land to inherit. So, being exempted from the cares and labors of a worldly business, where they'd have to go out and farm all day long, they could devote themselves exclusively to the service of God. And at age 30, they started working in the tabernacle. At age 50, they retired from doing the hard labor. God took those who were young and vigorous and strong, and they were the ones killing the cows, cutting them up, slaughtering them, hauling off the dung, and the hides burning them, and doing all of this stuff. But, they were exclusively devoted to the service of God. There was a bond of mutual love and attachment that should have formed between the people and the Levites. Now, let's notice in verse 25 an additional aspect about tithing. 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 you, from them, as your inheritance, and you will offer up a heave offering of it to the Lord, a tenth of the tithe. So the Levites then gave a tenth of the tithe to God, and then God turned around and gave it to the priest, as we'll see. And your heave offering shall be reckoned to you as though it were the grain of the threshing floor, as if they had been out harvesting a crop and put it in the corn in the corn crib, the wheat in the bin, and the fullness of the winepress. Thus you shall also offer a heave offering of the Lord with 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. Now, stop and think about this. If Israel had been faithful in tithing, one tenth of all of the tithes of all of the tribes would have come to the Levites.

They then tithed on the tithe they were given and gave it to the priest. So the priest and his family would have gotten one hundredth of the wealth of Israel. So God considered that a very high office and responsibility, and they were remunerated according to that. So the Levites gave a tithe of the tithe to the priest. We've always followed that principle down to this day. You as ministers, we tithe. I get paid from your tithes, and I tithe on the tithe back to the church. So we all have to tithe from that perspective. This system provided also for religious instructions because the Levites not only did the work of the tabernacle, they also became judges, and they taught the law. And especially once they turned 50 and they retired from doing all of the heavy work, until they died they could sit as judges. They could study the law of God, have plenty of time to go through all of that. In Acts 6, we find that God employed the same principle in the New Testament. Let's go over to the New Testament, Acts 6, verse 2.

Remember after the church had grown, many of those who had come up for Pentecost and not left Jerusalem yet, they were still being instructed in God's way of life. And you find many of the Hellenists, those who had come from outside of Jerusalem, that their widows were being neglected in the daily administration, or probably the third tithe administration. Then the twelve summoned the multitude of the disciples and said, it's not desirable, it's not the best, that we should leave the Word of God in served tables.

They're not saying that it's below their dignity to serve tables, but it doesn't make sense.

Verse 4, we will give ourselves continually to prayer and to the ministry of the Word.

Same principle, where the ministry can devote themselves to the study of God's Word, preparing sermons, Bible study, can visit, counsel, judge, teach God's way of life. So you find that Israel was responsible for the organized worship of God for the nation of Israel, and God places that responsibility to lead and guide and direct the church today, likewise, upon the ministry.

Now, when you study the history of Israel, you'll find one thing.

Nation of Israel rarely obeyed God for very long, but occasionally a religious leader would come along or a king would come along. They would institute a reform to bring the people back to God. We have one such example of that as Hezekiah. In 2 Chronicles, chapter 29, in 2 Chronicles, chapter 29, and beginning here in verse 1, let's notice what it says about Hezekiah.

Verse 1, Hezekiah became king when he was 25 years old and he reigned 29 years, Jerusalem. His mother's name was Abijah, the daughter of Zechariah, and he did what was right in the sight of the Lord according to all that his father David had done. So he obeyed God.

Now, in chapter 31, in verse 20, it says, Thus Hezekiah did throughout all Judah, he did what was good and right and true before the Lord his God. So he was faithful and he strove to do what was right. Now, what did he do? Well, back up to verse 11 here. Verse 11, chapter 31, Hezekiah commanded them to prepare the rooms in the house of the Lord, and they prepared them. Then they faithfully brought in the offerings, the tithes, and the dedicated things in Kanoa or Konaiah. Levite had charge of them and Shammai, his brother, was next. So they oversaw the use of that. So they began to distribute their allotment, as we find in verse 15, to the Levites and to those who should have them. Chapter 30 shows that Hezekiah re-instituted the Holy Days and the Sabbath days, and they returned to the observance and obedience of God's law. So the Levites were once again able to teach the people God's law and way of life, because instead of them having to go out and farm and do that type of thing, they were now freed up to be able to be there, to conduct the worship of God, the service at the tabernacle to teach, and to judge the people.

Now both the house of Israel and the house of Judah went into captivity for their ultimate rebellion and sin against God. 70 years after captivity, God permitted a remnant of Judah to come back to Palestine. They came back to Palestine, they set up and tried to set up the worship of God, but after a period of time they had grown lax, selfish, and rebellious, and they had fallen back into the same pitfalls, same problems, that had before.

Now in Nehemiah, let's go over here to the book of Nehemiah, you'll find that Nehemiah chapter 13 and verse 9, Nehemiah came back and he was greatly distraught over what he saw going on. The princes, the leaders in Judah at this time, had actually cleared out some of the rooms in the tabernacle area, in Tobiah, had a room there, and he was using it as his headquarters. And you find that Hezekiah came back in verse 9, then I commanded them to clean the rooms, and I brought back into them the articles of the house of God with the grain offerings and the frankincense. And I also realized that the portion for the Levites had not been given them. So the Levites were not being taken care of. For each of the Levites and the singers who did the work had gone back to the fields. So they were out there working as a farmer, and so they did not have their daily rations. So I continued with the rulers and said, Why is the house of God forsaken? And I gathered them together and set them in their place. And then all Judah brought the tithes of the grain and of the new wine and the oil to the storehouse. So again, when a reformation takes place, what happens? Well, the people began to tithe again and to obey God. Now verse 14, Remember me, O my God, concerning this, and do not wipe out my good deeds that I have done for the house of my God and for its service. And so you find that he prayed that God would bless him. Now, brethren, in the book of Malachi, God clearly states that not tithing breaks one of his commandments, one of the Big Ten. Can you guess what that is? Let's go over to Malachi chapter 3.

Malachi the third chapter, beginning in verse 8. God says, Will a man rob God? What is robbing? It's stealing, is it not? There is a commandment that says, Thou shalt not steal. Well, here God says, Will a man rob God? So you ask, How can we rob God?

Yet you rob me, but you say, In what way have we robbed you? And God replies in tithes and offerings. That's how. So when we don't pay our tithes and offerings, we're actually robbing from God. We're taking from God. You're cursed with the curse. So there is a penalty for doing this. For you have robbed me, even this whole nation. Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Try me. God says, Put me to the test. And this says, The Lord of hosts, If I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out a blessing for you, God says that there will not be room enough to receive it. And of course, He's talking here nationally about what He would do for the nation. So you find here that God shows that not tithing is robbery. Now, did the law of tithing continue under the terms of the new covenant? Are we expected to tithe today, or is it just that we give an offering today?

Well, Matthew 5, let's start there, Matthew the fifth chapter in verse 17, you find that Jesus Christ warned against assuming that God's laws were abrogated by His first coming. Matthew 5 verse 17, Do not think that I came to destroy the law of the prophets. So here's something that we're not to think. I did not come to destroy, but to destroy.

You see, that's the way people read this. He didn't come to destroy, He came to destroy. Or to fulfill it, do away with it. But what else is that? I've got something here. Well, let's talk about this podium. I've got this podium here. I could say, don't think that I've come to destroy this podium. I didn't come to destroy this podium. I've come to fulfill it.

Well, what am I going to do? Fulfill it? They interpret the word fulfilled, meaning to do away with. That Christ, in other words, kept the law, and by keeping it, we no longer have to keep it. That Christ, therefore, fulfilled it, we're no longer under the obligation. The word fulfilled doesn't mean that. It means to bring it to the full.

It means that Christ came and He expounded the law. Matthew 5, 6, and 7, instead of doing away with the law, what does He say? Well, He gives the spiritual intent of the law. He shows that murder is greater than just taking the life. If you hate your brother, you're guilty of murder. Adultery is in the mind, and that's much more than just committing the act. So He explains the spiritual intent. And so He gave, yes, He obeyed it, but He also gave the meaning. Because He goes on to say, Surely I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled. Whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches men so. So you break it, you teach others to break it. Shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven, and whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. And so you find that He doesn't say that it's done away. Now, what did Jesus Christ specifically teach about tithing?

Did He ever mention tithing? Well, Matthew 23, 23, easy memory verse to remember, 23, 23.

Christ, speaking to the Pharisee, says, Whoa!

Do you scribe some Pharisees, you hypocrites? You pay tithe the mint and anise and common.

That'd be like us today paying tithes on tea leaves. Nine for me, one for God, nine for me, one for God. And back and forth, they were right down to the tille leave. You pay tithe on these.

But you've neglected the weightier matters of the law, justice, mercy, and faith.

These you ought to have done without leaving the other undone.

So He says, you ought to have done that. You ought to tithe. But don't leave the other undone. Now, some people say, well, that's not what it means.

Well, you can read it either way. It still commands you to do it either way, doesn't it? If you say, these you ought to have done, referring to tithing, then that means you ought to have done it. If you say, these you ought to have done, in other words, the weightier matters of the law without leaving the other undone.

So, you know, both say the same thing, right? Both command. What it's commanding is that you tithe, and then you also do the weightier matters of the law. You should do both. Well, they were doing one without the other. And so Christ said, this is what you ought to do. You see, when it comes to the law, theologians today teach that Jesus Christ was obedient to the law. I mean, how can they get around it? He kept the Sabbath, kept the Holy Days. He talked about the law. They can't get around that.

But then he died, and when he died, he was nailed to the cross. And at that point, everything was nailed to the cross that had to do with the law. This is what they teach. If that's true, let me ask you a question. What good are His teachings?

If everything He taught applying to especially the law was nailed to the cross, what good are His teachings, and what good is His example?

I think we're supposed to follow His example. Now, I believe that we're supposed to follow His teachings.

Who was perfect? Who never sinned? You find that Jesus Christ was.

But what they want to do is pick and choose what to believe from His teachings. So how do you do that? Well, I'll tell you how they do it. They say, well, the law has been done away. All that you have to do from what Christ said is to love. Just have a little love in your heart. And if you love, then that's all you have to do. You don't have to be obedient. But what does the Bible say?

This is the love of God that we keep His commandments.

Didn't Christ say, if you're to love the Lord your God, with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and you love your neighbor yourself, on these two commandments, hang what? The law and the prophets. The whole Old Testament hangs on this.

Love is simply God's nature, and it's manifested through obedience, through keeping His commandments, His law. So Christ did set the example for us. But again, the theologians today will say, well, what happened? They call it progressive revelation. God revealed to Moses, and Moses understood more than Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. And then, along comes Christ, He understood more than Moses. So when He was alive, He went by what He said. But He died. Now comes Paul. And Paul understood more than them all. So you don't need anything but Paul's writings to await the gospel, to await the Old Testament. Just take the 14 books that Paul wrote. And I will guarantee you, I can take the 14 books that Paul wrote, and absolutely prove to you, you ought to keep the law and the commandments. That's what you want to take. So that reasoning does not hold water.

Jesus Christ came to start His church, and He said that He would be with that church even until the end of the age. Let's notice in Galatians 6.16. We refer to this quite often, but don't always read it. Let's read Galatians 6.16.

For as many as walk according to this rule, peace and mercy be upon them, and upon the Israel of God.

In the Old Testament, God chose the physical nation of Israel, the twelve tribes, to be His people. He set an example before all nations. Who is God working through today? He's working through the Israel of God, the spiritual Israel. We are spiritual Jews today, and as such, we have the same responsibility to set the right example.

The need for tithing that God addressed with ancient Israel still remains the same as His work in the New Testament. God's way of life has to be taught to the whole world, not just to the nation of Israel. Members still need to be nurtured and cared for. Members are to continue to assemble together on the Sabbath. We are to preach the gospel to the world. The poor and the widows still need to be taken care of and not neglected in the daily administration.

Let's go over here to Hebrews 9. Hebrews 9, and notice what Paul said here in a section. Because in Hebrews 9, we find that the temple-based physical liturgy has now been rendered obsolete, but the remainder of God's law, which includes tithing, remains. Now, let me explain what I mean by that. Under the Old Covenant, God chose the Levites to do a service. Now, where did they serve? They served in the temple. Where is the temple today? There is no physical temple today.

70 AD, the temple was destroyed. The Jews were scattered. So, there is no Levitical priesthood today operating. There's no temple in order to offer sacrifices up. There's no altar. Israel used to offer sacrifices. They didn't need a temple. They just needed an altar to offer up the sacrifices. So, you find that Israel, the Levites today, are not functioning because there is no temple to function. So, you read here beginning in verse 8 because it describes under the First Covenant the earthly sanctuary, the tabernacle, and then the temple, how it was arranged with two rooms, the outer room, the holy place, and the holy of holies, and all of the instruments that were in there.

But in verse 8, the Holy Spirit indicating that the way into the holiest of all was not yet made manifest while the first tabernacle was standing. As long as that first tabernacle was there, access to God and through Christ wasn't possible. Now it is. Through Christ, we can go to God the Father behind the veil and you'll pray to Him.

It was symbolic. All of this was symbolism, symbolic, for the present time in which both gifts and sacrifices are offered, which cannot make Him who performed the service perfect in regard to the conscience, concerned only with foods and drinks, various washings, and fleshly ordinances, imposed upon or excuse me, imposed until the time of Reformation. So, this physical worship, centered around the temple and the tabernacle, was imposed until a certain time when there would be a Reformation. So, what you find that liturgy had to do with animal sacrifices, washings, ceremonies, food and drink offerings, those things are now obsolete.

There is no temple, no Levitical priesthood. There was a time in the Reformation of the worship of God. In Jesus Christ, clearly in John 4, 24, said, the time is coming when you will not have to worship God in Jerusalem, but God seeks those to worship Him in spirit and in truth. So, we worship God in spirit.

We don't have to go up to Jerusalem today. Actually, we are the temple, are we not? Each one of us individually, our bodies are called the temple of God's spirit. Collectively, we are the temple of God. Now, God dwelled anciently in Israel in the temple because He said that He wanted to dwell among His people.

He wanted to be able to walk among them. God dwells among us through His spirit today. We are the temple of God. We are the light of the world. And so, the removal of the fleshly ordinances that was imposed upon the time of Reformation did not abrogate the law of tithing, did not go away with the law of tithing. It did, however, necessitate a change in who was going to receive the tithes because no longer does it go to the Levites. Remember, first of all, it went to Melchizedek, a high priest of God.

Then God gave it to the Levites. Now, in the New Testament, to whom does God give it? He gives it again to His high priest, Melchizedek, and to the Melchizedek priesthood today, or to the New Testament ministry. Back up here to chapter 7, across the page of my Bible. Chapter 7, beginning in verse 1. Let's notice what was changed. People quote this chapter to say, well, the law of tithing was changed, and we'll find that that's not right at all. This Melchizedek, king of Salem. Now we begin to find out who this Melchizedek was.

Priests of the Most High God who met Abraham, returning from the slaughter of the kings, and blessed him, to whom also Abraham gave a tenth part of all. So he tithed 10 percent of the spoil. First being translated king of righteousness, and then also king of Salem, meaning king of peace. Okay, can you apply a title, king of righteousness and king of peace to a human being? This is not a human being, so we'll see. Why? Verse 3 says, he was without father, without mother. Everybody in here who's without father and mother, please stand. We all have a father and a mother, don't we?

We're human, but he didn't have a father or a mother, without genealogy. He didn't have predecessors, having neither beginning of days nor end of life. That's what we call the eternal. No beginning, no end. Made like the Son of Man remains a priest continually. So the one in the Old Testament that we know as the Word, the second member of the God family, was the one who was Melchizedek, the priest of the Most High God on earth at that time. And today, guess what? He is high priest again, is he not?

Not a physical high priest from Aaron, but he. Verse 4, now consider how great this man was to whom even the patriarch Abraham gave a tenth of the spoil. And indeed, those who are the sons of Levi who received the priesthood have a commandment to receive the tithes. So notice, the commandment was that they were to receive the tithes. And we found that especially back in Numbers 18 from the people according to the law. So the law said, give it to the Levites, and then the Levites tithed and gave it to the priest.

That is from their brethren, though they have come from the loins of Abraham. But he whose genealogy is not derived from them, okay, what's he talking about? He's talking about Jesus Christ. What tribe did Christ come from?

The tribe of Judah. He could not be high priest coming from the tribe of Judah if, you know, they were going to continue with the Levitical. So there was a change that was going to take place. So he's making an argument here. And the argument is the tithes and offerings were given originally to Melchizedek. He was not of Levi. Then later on, it was given to Levi. Now it's reverted back to Melchizedek. But this time, he's the priest of God through the resurrection. And he's in heaven, sitting on the right hand of God, and not just on earth. But it goes on to say, but his genealogy is not derived from them who received tithes from Abraham and blessed him who had the promise. Now beyond all contradiction, the lesser is blessed by the better. Here mortal men receive tithes. That's the Levites. But there he received them, of whom it is witnessed that he lives. So again, he's harking back to the example that there is a precedent in Scripture that shows that the tithes can be collected by someone beside the Levites. I mean, that's what he's establishing here.

Even Levi, who received tithes, paid tithes through Abraham, so to speak. For he was still in the loins of his father when Melchizedek met him. 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 arise according to the order of Melchizedek, and not be called according to the order of Aaron? For the priesthood being changed. So what was changed? Priesthood is changed.

Of necessity, there's also a change of the law. What? The tithing is done away? No! To whom the tithe is paid? That's the change in the law. It is now given to Melchizedek. For he of 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. So he's talking about Christ as our high priest. Of which tribe Moses spoke nothing concerning the priesthood. And it is yet far more evident, if in the likeness of Melchizedek there arise another priest. Jesus Christ, as the resurrected Son of God, is now our high priest, who has come not according to the law of the fleshly commandment, not because of what was written in the Old Testament, fleshly commandment, but according to the power of an endless life. See chapter 8, if you go over to chapter 8, then notice verse 1. Now this is the main point of the things we're saying. We have such a high priest who is seated at the right hand of God. So what he's doing is not only is he introducing this about tithing, but he's using Melchizedek, Levi, Melchizedek to introduce the fact to the Jews that he's writing this to, to the Hebrews, that we have another high priest today other than Aaron and Aaron's descendants. So very wisely, you know, he starts creating this argument, if you want to put it that way. For, verse 17, quoting from the Old Testament, he testifies, you are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek. So we find here Paul is very wise in how he introduces this. The law of whom would now be priests and who would therefore receive the tithe was changed.

The work of God today is done by the ministry in the church. It was done by the ministry in the early New Testament church. The apostles, those who were ordained by the apostles, Timothy, Titus, and all of those men. The Melchizedek order of Jesus Christ has replaced the Leviticus order, or priesthood, in the administration of the New Covenant. The Levites lived off the tithes from the people. They carried out the work of the ministry in the Old Testament in three basic areas. One, temple service. Two, teaching the law of God. Three, as judges. And so you find that the same principles apply today. In the temple service, in other words, serving God's people, the congregation today, you have the ministry teaching the law of God and being judges, having to render decisions, and so on. Let's finish up and go over here to 1 Corinthians 9. 1 Corinthians 9, verse 4.

The apostle Paul, again, makes a very strong case.

He starts out by saying that there were those who were questioning him and his apostleship. Verse 3, he says, My defense to those who examine me is this. Do we have no right to eat and drink?

He's not just talking about eating and drinking. Obviously, he ate and drank, or he would be dead.

Everybody eats and drinks. He's talking about, don't we have the right?

And when you look this up, the word right means authority. Don't we have the authority to eat and drink? Do we eat and drink from the tithes, as we will see, from the contributions, from the work that we're doing? Do we have no right to take along a believing wife, as do also the other apostles, the brothers of the Lord in Cephas?

So the idea that the ministry should be at celibate is not taught in the Bible. The apostles all had wives. Or is there only Barnabas and I who have no right or no authority to refrain from working? Now, did Paul not work? Is he talking about the fact he was a lazy bum and didn't work? Well, of course not. Paul said he worked harder than them all. Paul was very diligent, and in order not to offend people, Paul wouldn't collect tithes. He actually plied his trade as a tent maker, because he knew that there would be those who would accuse Paul. He's only in it for the money. And so in order to avoid that criticism, he worked, and he still taught the people.

He says, don't we have the right to refrain from working? Whoever goes to war at his own expense, so you go to war, somebody hires you, they pay you. Who plants a vineyard and does not eat its fruit? If you plant a garden, don't you eat of it? If you're a farmer, you plant a wheat field, and so on. If you need the produce, don't you partake of the field? Or who tends a flock and does not drink the milk of the flock? You drink the milk, you eat the meat, you've got the hides, whatever you want to take. Do I say these things as a mere man, or does not the law say the same also? Isn't this what the law is teaching? For it is written in the law of Moses, you shall not muzzle an ox while it treads the grain. So they used to go around in the circle, and as the ox goes around, he would eat some of the grain as it went along. Okay, as the ministers, the ox, are out here working in the field, we ought to be able to eat some of the grain. That's what he's saying. Is it oxen that God is concerned about? Is that the reason why he wrote this? Or does he say it's all together for our sake? Well, for our sake, no doubt. He says, this is written, that he who plows should plow in hope. If you plow, produce a crop, you should be able to benefit from that crop.

He who threshes in hope should be partaker of this hope. So if you're threshing, you get a crop, you should be able to partake of that crop. If we have sown spiritual things, and notice what he's talking about, he comes down and gives the analogy. We're not out here sowing physical things, he says. We're sowing to you the spiritual things. Is it a great thing if we reap from your material things? We sow you the spiritual you give to us, the physical, the material. If others are partakers of this right or this authority over you, in other words, they're taking and collecting the ties. Are we not even more? Nevertheless, we've not used this right, but we've endured all things, lest we hinder the gospel of Christ. 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? They would offer up the peace offering, different offerings. They would partake of those and eat of them. Even so, the Lord has commanded that those who preach the gospel should live from the gospel. You preach the gospel, you live from the gospel. Same principle we find in the Old Testament among the Levites. Those who worked at the temple lived off of the, you know, the ties and the offerings. So the same principle is applied in the New Testament. The ministry lives off the ties. The laborer is worthy of his hire. The work of God is accomplished through the ties and the offerings of God's people. There is no doctrinal discussion ever in the New Testament about changing the law of tithing to a method of voluntary giving. You know, it does talk about offerings, which we'll see next week or next time I speak, but the offerings you find do not replace tithing. Tithing has always been the system that God has used from the very beginning down to the very end.

Next time I speak, brethren, I will cover second and third tithes. We'll go through offering, and we will see what the Bible says on how these should be collected and administered today.