Tithes and Offerings
Apostle Dr. Prince Nnams N.Kalu.
"Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed Thee? In tithes
and offerings." - Mal.3:8
"But this I say, He that soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully
shall reap also bountifully. Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give, not grudgingly, or of necessity,
for God loveth a cheerful giver." - 1Cor.9:6-7
No single area of life says more about the condition of a person's heart toward God than the area of tithes
and offerings. Most of the teachings on "tithes and offerings" which have been received by the Church, have not been approved
of by the Spirit of God, and lead God's children astray. As a result, the saints are paying their "enemies". Hopefully, this
tract will clear up these vital issues for every reader.
"And Jacob went out from Beersheba, and went toward Haran. And he lighted upon a certain place, and
tarried there all night, because the sun was set. And he took of the stones of that place and put them for his pillows, and
lay down in that place to sleep. And he dreamed, and behold a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven.
And behold the angels of God ascending and descending on it.... And Jacob rose up early in the morning, and took the stone
that he had put for his pillows, and set it up for a pillar, and poured oil upon the top of it.... And Jacob vowed a vow,
saying, If God will be with me, and will keep me in the way that I go, and will give me bread to eat, and raiment to put on,
so that I come again to my father's house in peace, then shall the Lord be my God. And this stone, which I have set for a
pillar, shall be God's house, and of all that Thou shalt give me, I will surely give the tenth unto Thee." Gen.28
The tithe is the tenth of one's income, which the righteous have always devoted to the Lord. Some teach that
tithing belonged only to the time of the Law of Moses and, therefore, does not apply to the church. Yet, long before the time
of Moses, we read that Abraham, the type of believer, paid tithes to Melchizedek, the type of Christ (Ps.110). "If Abraham
were your father", Jesus said, "ye would do the works of Abraham" (Jn.8:39).
One of the notable "works of Abraham" was to pay tithes to Melchizedek, the Priest-King of Salem (Gen.14:17-20),
and every one who is of like faith with Abraham pays tithes to the Melchizedek of the church, Jesus Christ, by bringing tithes
to those sent by him to preach his gospel. God's will concerning tithes and offerings has never changed.
As Melchizedek received tithes, so Jesus does. It is true that, here on earth, men who die receive the
tithes, "but there he receiveth them, of whom it is witnessed that he liveth" (Heb.7:8). The commandment to tithe cannot be
repealed, so long as the priesthood of Christ lasts. Abraham's blessing through tithing is ours, being a part of his blessing
of justification by faith.
The refusal to bring tithes and offerings to the Lord's ministers is sin. Often, it is the sin of covetousness
which prevents one from rendering his tithes and gifts to the Lord.
The love of money hinders many from being able to express gratitude to God for all His benefits. How much
are the blessings of God worth? How much is your eyesight worth? your hearing? your limbs? and what of your home, your clothes
and food? Covetousness undermines thankfulness, until one is rendered a helpless slave to his own possessions.
Judas is not the only one who has traded his eternal heritage for a few pieces of silver. Another most
common reason for failure to obey God in tithes and offerings is a government-despising spirit. When one brings his tithes,
he is acknowledging a higher authority.
He is confessing his submission to the authority which Christ has established in his church, in the person
of the man who receives the tithes. By acknowledging the greater one, he places himself in a position to be blessed by God,
as Abraham was blessed by Melchizedek when he acknowledged his authority and rendered tithes to him. If one patiently observes
those who refuse to bring their tithes to the Lord, he will in time discover the real motivation for their rebellion.
In the Law, we learn that "All the tithe of the land, whether of the seed of the land, or of the fruit
of the tree, is the Lord's. It is holy unto the Lord. And concerning the tithe of the herd, or of the flock, even whatsoever
passeth under the rod, the tenth shall be holy unto the Lord" (Lev.27:30,32). Now, we know that
"the law is not made for a righteous man, but for the lawless and disobedient". In other
words, Abraham didn't need a law to tell him to render tithes and offerings to God.
Being a righteous man, his conscience told him to do so. And it was long before the Law was given that righteous
Jacob promised God, "Of all that Thou shalt give me, I will surely give the tenth unto Thee." Jacob
was, at that time, without home or income, and friendless in a strange land, on a perilous journey; nevertheless, this vow
and his faithfulness to it resulted in his return to his father's house in peace and plenty. So, the righteous lived as the
Law said to live before the Law was actually given. The Law was given as a light, revealing what righteous behavior was and
what t was not.
The tenth of all our increase is the Lord's. This has always been true, before the Law, during the Law, and
after the Law. The tenth of your increase is not yours. It is merely left in your care to be given to the minister of God
- for your blessing, as well as his. We read, in Numbers 18:21, "Behold, I have given the children of Levi [ministers
ordained by God] all the tenth in Israel [the church] for an inheritance for their service which they serve, even the service
of the tabernacle of the congregation." This is God's plan. Abraham knew it and acted upon it,
as do all his true children. We might also add that the tithe belongs to GOD'S minister, not "any" minister. Christian ministers
are not God's ministers, because they are not preaching or teaching the truth.
Any minister that teaches a person can be born again without receiving the baptism of the holy Ghost
(with the evidence of speaking in other tongues) is teaching that a person can be born again without obeying God (for God
gives the holy Ghost to all who obey Him - Acts 5:32). This man is a minister of Satan, and to give your tithe to him, is
to give your tithe to the enemy of your soul, and the enemy of the Church. Your tithe belongs to the one who has an anointing,
and ministers according to the power "that God giveth" - the power of the holy Ghost.
Listen now to our Creator, as He asks and answers this question: "Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed
me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed Thee? In tithes and offerings (Mal.3:8). "Thou shalt not
steal" is one of the ten commandments, and God says the tenth is His. Are we then to construe this commandment to mean, "Thou
shalt not steal, except from the Lord"? Indeed, are we less guilty when stealing the tithe from the Lord than when we steal
from man? Quite the contrary. I should be less guilty in taking your nine-tenths than I should be in taking the Lord's one-tenth.
His one-tenth is holy; your nine-tenths is not. In failing to render the tithe to His minister, I become an
enemy of Christ, undermining the efforts of those doing his work in the earth. Some have said that they believe in giving
only as God prospers them. This condition is met perfectly by the tithing system. The man who earns only ten dollars must
render only one dollar in tithes. Isn't that "as the Lord prospers"?
It helps to understand these truths if we keep in mind that paying tithes is not giving anything. It is only
rendering to God what belongs to Him. One does not give tithes; he pays, or renders, them.
For instance, if one were to steal ten dollars from me, and then were to give me a dollar in an offering,
I would have to consider the dollar a gift, but I would, at the same time, have to consider the giver a thief. Similarly,
if your tithe is ten dollars and, instead of paying your tithe, you give a dollar to the ministry, then you are robbing God
of His tenth, and through pity or because someone asked, you are returning part of it. You are giving, but you are also a
thief. It has been said that "the tithe is the basket in which the Lord sends us the nine-tenths, and if we do not return
His one-tenth, we steal the basket."
If the law of the tithe is to be ignored, then God's church is without a system for its financial support.
God has given law and order to every phase of government on earth, from the home to the nation.
Then, why should anyone think that God would leave the church, the earth's highest form of government, without
a system of financial support? Taxes are for the support of the state; tithes are for the support of the church.
One cannot neglect either and be a faithful follower of Christ, for Jesus said, "Render therefore unto
Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and unto God the things which are God's."
Paul emphatically confirms the tithing system by saying, "Do you not know that they which minister about
holy things live of the things of the temple? And they which wait at the altar are partakers with the altar? Even so hath
the Lord ordained that they which preach the gospel should live of the gospel" (1Cor.9:13-14).
Offerings
Not only did God say that he had been robbed in tithes, but also in offerings. An offering is what we give
after we have paid tithes. This offering must come from our nine-tenths, since the one-tenth is already the Lord's. Because
they have not understood the truth concerning tithes and offerings, many of God's dear children have served Him for years,
and have never given one dime to support His ministers. All they have done is render tithes to Him. Concerning offerings (our
giving beyond our tithe) Paul wrote, "Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly,
or of necessity, for God loveth a cheerful giver. But this I say, he which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly, and
he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully." What kind of harvests awaits?
Manner Of Giving
"Give, and it shall be given unto you. Good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running
over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that you mete shall it be measured to you."
This is the manner in which God has taught us to give unto men: Good measure, pressed down, and shaken together,
and running over. If God has commanded us to give to men in this manner, should we come to God with an offering that is insufficiently
small, or that is not in "good measure", or that has not been "pressed down", and that we have not "shaken together"? Until
we do this, we can never bring Him an offering that is "running over" with thanksgiving and faith.
This is God's way of giving to us, and He asks us to do nothing more than what He Himself freely does for
us. Oh, the depths of His love and mercy, and how tediously we take of it, and of His riches! How lightly we esteem His precepts!
Should we not return to Him an offering worthy of His grace, to show our gratitude for that which He has done for us?
Let us put into operation that challenging sequence of events described by the prophet, Malachi: "Bring
ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in Mine house, and prove Me herewith, saith the Lord of hosts,
if I will not open to you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive
it."
TEN MOST COMMON QUESTIONS ASKED CONCERNING THE TITHE
TEXT: Mal 3:6-12
6
"I the LORD do not change. So you, O descendants of Jacob, are not destroyed.
7 Ever since the time of your forefathers you have turned away from my decrees and have not kept them. Return to
me, and I will return to you," says the LORD Almighty. "But you ask, 'How are we to return?' 8 "Will a man rob God? Yet you rob me. "But you ask, 'How do we rob you?' "In tithes and offerings.
9 You are under a curse — the whole nation
of you — because you are robbing me. 10
Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this," says the LORD Almighty, "and
see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for
it.
11 I will prevent pests from devouring your crops, and the vines in your fields will not cast their fruit," says the
LORD Almighty. 12 "Then all the nations will
call you blessed, for yours will be a delightful land," says the LORD Almighty. (NIV)
INTRO: We looked at the passages where God
is going to release the wealth of the nations to us (Isa 60, 61, Hag 2:7 etc). I shared that there are four areas that we
need to be prepared for. We need to be under the Lordship of Jesus. We need to grow in character and in wholeness. We need
to see the purpose of prosperity and finally we need to sow. I want to talk about giving with the most foundational aspect
of giving which is the tithe. Teaching this is something I am committed to do at lease once a year. But the way I want to
teach this message is by answering the common questions people have asked me about the tithe over the years.
I.
WHAT IS A TITHE?
A. TIHE MEANS A TENTH
1. Or 10% of your income. You can’t tithe five percent. The tithe is holy to the Lord. Lev 27:30-33. Everything
belongs to God but 10% was set apart as a reminder that He owns everything and that He is first. .
2. Why ten percent?
The number ten represent a test in the Bible. The tithe is a test. Often I would come to class, people will be talking about
the test and I would say what test? Did you know that God gives you a test you every week. There is a test-taking place. I
don’t want you to say what test?
- Why could
you not put this in the New Testament? This is a test. If I can get to their heart. They will gladly give to me. They will
gladly give more than ten percent. Are you really going to put God first in your life?
- I have placed that verse exactly where I
wanted it, if it were clearly in the NT it wouldn’t be much of a test.
- The tithe was to establish the test of obedience.
It is all about Lordship.
- And this is only time God says test me when
it comes to the tithe
- The
offering is beyond the tithe. Special offering on e.g. Miracle Offering Sunday, special offering
for building.
II.
ISN’T TITHING
UNDER THE LAW?
A. TITHING WAS BEFORE THE LAW AND WAS INCORPORATED INTO THE LAW.
1. ABRAHAM TITHE 430 BEFORE THE LAW. THEN TITHING WAS INCORPORATED
INTO THE LAW.
2. Gen. 14:18 ¶ Then Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine. He was priest of God Most High, Gen.
14:19 and he blessed Abram, saying, “Blessed be Abram by God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth. Gen. 14:20
And blessed be God Most High, who delivered your enemies into your hand.” Then Abram gave him a tenth of everything.
3. Matt. 23:23 ¶ “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your
spices — mint, dill and cummin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law —
justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former.
B. TRANSCENDING PRINCIPLES THAT ARE TRUE IN THE OLD AS WELL AS IN THE NEW.
1. Did you know that
murder was under the law do we say because it is under the law so do can we murder?
2. Matt. 5:17 ¶ “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to
abolish them but to fulfill them. Matt. 5:18 I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest
letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything
is accomplished. Matt. 5:19 Anyone who breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same
will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the
kingdom of heaven. Matt. 5:20 For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that
of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.
3. My experience has
taught me when people pull the law card out; they just want to rationalize the tithe because they don’t want to pay.
4. What it comes down
to is a Lordship issue.
II.
WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE TITHE AND
THE FIRSTFRUITS?
A. FIRSTFRUITS IS WHAT GOD HAS GIVEN AS THE FIRST FROM HIS GOODNESS THAT MUST GIVEN OR DEDICATED BACK TO GOD
B. THE FIRSTBORN BELONGS TO GOD
2. Ex. 13:2 “Consecrate to me every firstborn male. The first offspring of every womb among the Israelites belongs to
me, whether man or animal.”
3. Ex. 13:12 you are to give over to the LORD the first offspring of every womb. All the firstborn males of your livestock
belong to the LORD. Ex. 13:13 Redeem with a lamb every firstborn donkey, but if you do not redeem it, break its neck.
Redeem every firstborn among your sons.
4. God declares that the firstborn is his 16 times in Scripture.
C. THE FIRSTFRUITS MUST BE OFFERED TO GOD
1. Ex. 23:19 The first of the
firstfruits of thy land thou shall bring into the house of the LORD thy God.
2. It says to the house of the Lord. It doesn’t say TV ministry. It is not first
to hunger relief although we support a World Vision child. It says bring it into the house of the Lord your God.
3. Prov. 3:9 Honor the LORD with your wealth, with the firstfruits of all your crops; Prov. 3:10 then your barns will
be filled to overflowing, and your vats will brim over with new wine.
III.
WHERE OR WHAT IS THE STOREHOUSE?
A. THE STOREHOUSE IS THE LOCAL CHURCH
- I believe
the storehouse is the local church where you go to worship. The key word is “bring”. It doesn’t say
“send”. It implies that when you come to the temple or the local church to worship you are to “bring”
your tithes and offering.
- Storehouse is where you get fed spiritually.
- You can give
an offering to ministries but the tithe goes to the place where you are spiritual covered can pastorally cared for.
IV.
SHOULD I TIHE ON THE GROSS OF THE NET?
B. YOU TITHE ON THE GROSS
- On the gross and not net. Your company is
doing a favor for you by taking money out for taxes. But if you were self- employed, you would first tithe and then give to
government second.
I.
I OWN MY COMPANY, SHOULD MY COMPANY BE TITHING?
C. ABSOLUTELY
- Do you want God to be blessing your company?
- But you tithe on the profits.
- All great Christian companies, churches
and organization should apply the principle of tithing.
V.
WHAT IF I AM IN DEBT AND
I CAN’T AFFORD TO TITHE?
A. MY DEBT IS FIRST TO GOD.
1. The tithe belongs
to Him. I must not rob God to pay others. God will help you out of debt, but we must first obey God.
- You cannot afford not to tithe. It is better
to have God’s blessing on the 90% than have all without the blessing of God. Giving is not a financial issue; it is
a Lordship issue. People under the Lordship of Jesus should stop quibbling about tithing and rationalization.
I.
SHOULD I TITHE ON THE SALE OF MY HOME?
D. ABSOLUTELY
- However, the tithe would be on the profit
of your equity. If you bought your house for $400,000 and you sold it for $500,000, your profit would be $100,000. Your tithe
of that would be $10,000.
E. ANY CASH INCOME THAT YOU RECEIVE FROM THE LORD YOU SHOULD TITHE ON
- Profits from investment
- Cash gifts
- Cash birthday and Christmas gifts
- Money given to you.
- The tithe belongs to the Lord
IX.
WHAT IF MY SPOUSE IS OPPOSED
TO ME TITHING?
A. THIS IS A COMPLEX SITUATION
1. I think you need
to learn how to pray and appeal to the other person.
2. Let’s try for
three months and see if God does bless.
3. Also if you are earning
a separate income from your spouse, you should at least have the freedom to tithe off your income.
4. If you still have
conflict, my pastoral recommendation is that you wait until you are both on the same page.
X.
WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS OF TITHING?
A. BLESSED IF YOU DO THIS
- More blessed to give than to receive.
- Tithe- blessed, don’t tithe –
cursed.
- Pour out such a blessing. All nations will
call you blessed.
- Not just a door but windows.
CONCLUSION:
- Tithing is a
Lordship issue. If you are not tithing, I don’t know how you can say that you love God with your whole heart.
- There
is no compromise with God. It is heaven or hell, saved or not saved, light or darkness, blessing or curse.
- God is
testing you. If you have failed the test. There is no condemnation, but repent and receive grace and begin to do what you
are to do.
- God give us
grace. Grace follows obedience and faith. I am going to ask you to make a commitment to tithe all the days of your life.
QUESTIONS ASKED ABOUT TITHE:
- What is the
tithe?
- Should
one tithe on the gross or the net?
- What is
the storehouse? Why would it be the local church?
- What else
should you tithe on? What about the profits from the sell of your home?
- Why don’t
people usually tithe and argue that the tithe is under the law?