Tithing & Stewardship - Part 2

Thank you for listening to this message from the ministry of Morse Corner Church in Leverett, Massachusetts. Morse Corner is a non-denominational church that is committed to the preaching and teaching of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Our church was founded in 1896 by two students of the famous evangelist D .L. Moody. We seek to encourage and edify the body of Christ through the proclamation of God's word through the ministries of the local church.

If you'd like more information, visit our website morsecornerchurch .com. We hope you enjoy the message. He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.

So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity, for God loves a cheerful giver. I think of all the verses in the New Testament that most perfectly describes the proper Christian attitude for giving.

The Principle of Sowing and Reaping in Generous Giving

Proverbs 11 verse 24, this was part of the scripture reading, it says, There is one who scatters, yet increases more. I mean this is totally counterintuitive. There is one who is just very generous and just scatters and scatters and yet they increase more and more and more.

And then there is one who withholds more than is right, but it leads to poverty. See, a faithful Christian will never suffer lack. Well, you might not have the biggest TV or the nicest house or the newest of everything.

God never promised that, but you will never lack for what you need. That is a promise, I believe in the word of God. What did David say in Psalm 37, 25? I have been young and I'm now old, and yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken nor his descendants begging bread.

I mean, I don't want to be insensitive, but if somebody has to stand out on the corner and beg, they're not trusting in God. They're not obeying God because they wouldn't be in that situation. The best thing you can do is not to give them money.

You can buy them a hot lunch or to help them out in some way, but the best thing you can do is not to give them 20 bucks. The best thing you can do is to give them godly advice, pray for them, and then maybe meet a physical need that's obvious.

If they're out in the cold without a coat, you could give them your coat. That might actually help. Giving them money is not going to help them. I have been young and I'm now old, yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken nor his descendants begging bread.

What does that tell you? But just to go back to what Paul is saying about sowing and reaping, what does he say? He who sows sparingly will also, what? Reap sparingly. So this is a general principle that is always true.

Old Testament, New Testament, it's always true. He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly. So you think of planting seeds, right? That's the analogy here of planting seeds and then a harvest. If you're planting corn and you just take a few kernels, just a little handful, and that's all you plant, are you going to get a big harvest?

You can't have a big harvest unless you just scatter and scatter as much corn as you possibly can. So I think we understand the principle. He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly. He who sows bountifully, though, will also reap bountifully.

And I know you hear about that in Proverbs 10, 24. There's one who scatters yet increases more. I can imagine somebody thinking to themselves, how does that work? That doesn't make sense to me. I don't see how that can be possible.

Well, admittedly, this takes some faith, doesn't it? I mean, if God says it and you're reading it, it takes some faith to believe this. But there are countless people. I'm sure there's people in this room who can attest that when they became a faithful giver, that just changed their whole situation.

It's not a matter of, well, if I put in more this week, then within the next seven days, I'm going to get 10 times that. It doesn't work that way. We know that. But people can attest that this is the way that God will bless.

So it's a basic principle found right here in the word of God. It has been said that you cannot out give God. How many of you have heard that? You cannot out give God. And again, it's not the crass televangelist method.

You give me $10. God will give you 100 back. You know, just imagine if God set it up that way. God's too smart to set it up that way because he knows what would happen. People would figure it out and they would.

They would. They'd give more and more and more. For what reason? To get more and more in return. So that's not the way it is. Christian giving should not resemble the attitude that you find on Wall Street.

So again, he who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly. He who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity. For God loves a cheerful giver.

Tithing in the Old Testament and the Meaning of the Tithe

You know, I think about preaching. I don't usually preach on giving all that often. I do it when the text calls for it. And, you know, there could be somebody sitting there. He's preaching to me. He's talking about me.

No, I'm not. Okay. This is not directed at anybody. I promise. I promise. Now, okay. What about tithing? Right. This is one of those things that it's in the conversation. Let's address tithing. First of all, what is a tithe?

You know what a tithe is. Tithe means tenth. So tithing is when you give 10%. And we could go on at length about this. But when you tithe your weekly income, say, you know, some people ask, well, is it 10 of the gross?

Or is it 10 after taxes? Well, most agree it's 10 of the gross, right? Well, in Israel, they had the first fruits. You know, it was the first 10%. It was 10 off the top. And this isn't meant to be a sermon on tithing.

So we're just going to cover two passages, okay? Malachi chapter 3, you know, you have to go there, right? Malachi chapter 3. Because what does that passage say? Will a man rob God? You're like, oh, no.

Oh, no. And then the second passage we're going to look at, or actually we'll go here first, Genesis 14. This is the first time a tithe is mentioned in the scripture. So turn to Genesis 14. So in Genesis 14, this is before the Mosaic law has been given.

So it's before the Mosaic law, the law of God has been given. And for those who strongly believe that tithing is for today, they will point to this and say, see, there was tithing before the Mosaic law.

Therefore, there should be tithing after the Mosaic law. That's one of the common arguments. And then some people say, well, no, no, tithing is not for today. It was obligatory under the law or not under the law.

And besides, it's like paying your taxes. So it has nothing to do. So there's people on both sides and everywhere in between. But let's look at verse 18 of Genesis 14. Abraham had gone to war to rescue his nephew Lot.

And then he collected the spoils of war. Look at verse 18. Then Melchizedek, king of Salem, brought out bread and wine. And he was the priest of the most high 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 hand. And he, that is Abram, gave Melchizedek a tithe of all. So this is the first time in the scripture that we see the tithe referenced.

So one thing we can say is that it was already an established practice. I mean people knew what a tithe was. It may have been a very common practice. However, notice that Abraham, there's nothing in the text to suggest that Abraham was obligated to give the tithe to Melchizedek.

Rather, he gives to the Lord by giving 10 to the priest who is also a king. And make a long story short, some people believe that this is actually a pre-incarnate appearance of Jesus Christ. I don't know that I hold that view.

It certainly Melchizedek foreshadows Christ. We could say that. All right, so now turn to Malachi chapter 3. So as you're turning there, yes, Abraham pays the tithe. Nothing would indicate that he was obligated to do it.

I believe he gave freely. I mean it doesn't say he wasn't obligated, I suppose. But it appears that he gave freely. So we at least know that this was a practice before the law. That's true. So while tithing there seems optional, it does become mandatory for the Israelites once the law of God is given.

And what was the purpose of the tithe in the Old Testament? It was to support the priests and the Levites. Their work of ministry and offering sacrifices with the tabernacle and then later the temple.

So some people have said that essentially the tithe in the Old Testament, it would be equivalent or it's very similar to us paying our taxes. Because back then the state and the religion, they really weren't separated.

They're kind of one and the same. I think that is a fair statement to compare the Old Testament tithe to us paying our taxes. Malachi chapter 3, starting in verse 8. The prophet is writing this, but it's really God who's speaking.

Will a man rob God? Yet you have robbed me. But you say, in what way have we robbed you? In tithes and offerings. You are cursed with a curse, for you have robbed me. Even this whole nation. So remember, the Israelites under the Old Covenant, this is a very simple agreement.

You either obey God, obey the law and be blessed, or you disobey the law and be cursed. So were the Israelites obeying or disobeying? They were disobeying and therefore they were cursed. But God loves the children of Israel.

He loves them and He wants to be merciful to them. So now the Lord is challenging them. He is challenging the Jews to trust Him by faith. Look at verse 10. The Lord says, bring all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be food in My house.

And try Me now in this, says the Lord of hosts. If I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you such a blessing, that there will not be room enough to receive it. So the Jews, at least at this time in their history, their thinking was, well, if we hold on to our money, we'll have more.

On paper, that's true. On paper, that makes sense. The more we hoard or the more we hold on to, the more we will have. There's one thing they didn't account for though. God. They didn't account for God and His law and the fact that God is in control of everything.

So the Lord, He could stretch that 90 and just bless them, open up the windows of heaven. Or He could send famine, pestilence, disease. God could cause droughts to happen. God can crash the stock market.

Did you know that? He can do it. God can make your car break down. Now, I'm not saying He does that kind of a thing, but He could. What I do know for sure is that for the Israelites at least, blessing and prosperity was at least partially connected to the tithes.

God's Sovereignty Over Provision and the Limits of Hoarding

Thanks for listening. I'm Pastor Michael Grant from Morris Cornick Church. If you'd like to listen to the complete message or if you'd like more information about the ministry, visit our website, morriscornickchurch .com.

And we'd love to have you join us some Sunday morning here in Leverett. Until next time, may the grace of God be with you.