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Series Code: IIWSS
Program Code: IIWSS023003S
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00:00 (inspirational theme music)
00:12 (music ends) 00:15 >>Welcome to "Sabbath School," 00:17 brought to you by It Is Written. 00:18 We're delighted that you could join us again today 00:20 as we continue our journey through this fascinating quarter. 00:23 We are looking at the subject of 00:25 "Managing for the Master Till He Comes." 00:27 What does the Bible have to say about our finances? 00:31 Sometimes people say, "Oh, 00:32 "the Bible talks a whole lot about money. 00:34 Why does, why do people always talk about money in church?" 00:36 Well, we're finding out this quarter. 00:38 And this week, lesson number three, 00:40 the subject is "The Tithing Contract." 00:43 What is tithing all about? We are about to find out. 00:47 Our guest this week, once again, 00:48 is the author of this quarter's lesson, Ed Reid. 00:51 He is an ordained minister and a licensed attorney, 00:54 and we're delighted to have him back. 00:56 Before we take a look at this subject, though, 00:58 let's begin with prayer. 01:00 Father, thank You so much for being with us again today 01:02 as we continue to learn a little bit more 01:04 about this incredible subject of our finances 01:07 and how it intersects with our faith. 01:09 We ask that You'll bless our time together, 01:11 and we thank You in Jesus' name. Amen. 01:14 Ed, welcome. We're glad to have you back again. 01:17 >>Well, it's great to be here. 01:18 And we're looking forward to this presentation today. 01:20 >>And this is a fascinating subject. 01:22 It's called "The Tithing Contract." 01:24 I'm gonna begin by reading our memory text here. 01:26 It's found in Malachi chapter 3, verse number 10, 01:31 which says, "'Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, 01:34 "'that there may be food in my house, 01:36 "and try me now in this,' says the Lord of hosts, 01:39 "'if I will not open for you the windows of heaven 01:42 "'and pour out for you such [a] blessing 01:44 that there will not be room enough to receive it.'" 01:48 So we're talking here, Ed, about tithing. 01:51 Where is tithing first mentioned in the Bible? 01:54 Where do we come across it? 01:55 How do we even get this whole idea of tithing? 01:57 >>Well, it's really interesting 01:59 that 400 years before the tithing legislation 02:02 is given at Mount Sinai, 02:03 that tithing is mentioned way back in the book of Genesis. 02:06 So the first time is the 14th chapter of Genesis when Lot, 02:10 you know, remember, he had separated from Abram, 02:12 and he was living in Sodom. 02:14 Then those four Elamite kings came 02:16 and ransacked Sodom and Gomorrah 02:17 and took many people hostage, including Lot and his family, 02:20 and all the stuff that was valuable. 02:22 So they just ransacked the two towns 02:24 and took these guys hostages. When Abraham heard about it, 02:27 he went and rescued him. 02:29 I mentioned the other day to someone 02:31 that he didn't have to do that, 02:32 'cause Lot chose to live in the city. 02:34 He could have borne his own responsibility there 02:36 and his own consequences, but the interesting part to me 02:39 is that Abraham was a wealthy man. He had his own army, 02:42 318 trained servants in his own house for war. 02:45 So he joined with one of his friends, 02:47 and they went and rescued the hostages. 02:49 The big deal is, if you can imagine 02:52 just a big city like Sodom and a big city like Gomorrah, 02:55 the stuff that was taken away, 02:57 they probably took van loads of stuff away. 02:59 All the stores, the "Walmarts" and everything, 03:01 the "CVS," everything's ransacked out of all these stores, 03:04 and the people are gone with him. 03:07 So, Abraham went and rescued the hostages 03:09 and brought all the stuff back, 03:10 and the king of Sodom, the Bible had said he wasn't taken; 03:14 he was hiding in a slime pit. 03:16 So, he came out all gooey from his slime pit 03:18 and said to Abraham, 03:19 "We're so thrilled that you've brought everyone back. 03:21 "Just let us have the people, 03:22 and you can have all the stuff." 03:24 Well, Abraham said to him, "I told God before I left home, 03:27 "I raised my hand, I said, listen, 03:29 "'I'm not taking anything from anybody, 03:30 "not even a shoestring.' 03:31 "So whatever I get back is going to you 03:34 and to the people of Sodom." So he told the king of Sodom, 03:37 "I always have this practice that whenever I do something 03:40 for God, I return a tithe of anything is offered to me." 03:43 So, he--it just happened, 03:46 I don't think this is just coincidence, 03:47 but Melchizedek, the priest of the Most High God, showed up, 03:50 and he had a thanksgiving service 03:52 and praised God for the victory that Abraham had gotten 03:54 and the restored hostages and all the stuff back and so on. 03:57 At any rate, spontaneously, I want to tell you this, 04:02 that Abram gave a tithe to Melchizedek. 04:05 Now, that we learned a lot from these verses 04:07 that we've just read, the one that Eric's just read, 04:10 "Bring all the tithes"-- 04:11 it's the whole tithe--"to the storehouse." 04:13 Well, in this case, he gave tithe to Melchizedek. 04:15 We learned this, several things here. 04:17 It was just spontaneous. 04:18 There's no command to tithe in this 14th chapter of Genesis. 04:21 He just did it because he's called the father-- 04:23 of what group of people? 04:24 Everybody knows: the father of the faithful. 04:26 So he gave that as an example. 04:28 Several things we learned from that, 04:30 that he gave Melchizedek the tithe, 04:32 and then in addition to that, 04:33 it was given to God's appointed leader. 04:35 He didn't just say, "Well, now that I've got this, 04:36 I'll give 10% to a worthy cause or something." 04:40 This was a special fund for the ministry. 04:43 Also, he gave a tenth. Now, how do we know this? 04:46 Bible students like to parse some of the scriptures, 04:50 and I'll just tell you one thing. The law first mentioned-- 04:53 this is the first time tithe is mentioned in the Bible. 04:55 Does anybody know when the last mention is? 04:58 The last mention is way over in the book of Hebrews, 05:01 the seventh chapter, where it says, interestingly enough-- 05:04 he gave a tithe to Melchizedek in Genesis-- 05:06 when the same story is repeated over in Hebrews, 05:09 the seventh chapter, it says he gave a tenth to him. 05:11 So, that's one of the ways we know that tithing and tenth 05:14 is the same thing. 05:15 It's interesting also that we understand that... 05:21 Abram didn't take anything 05:22 except what his soldiers had eaten and so on, 05:24 but he gave the tenth to Melchizedek. 05:26 He put God first in this. 05:28 And this is important to understand, 05:29 that that's where it should be, 05:30 in line of our giving to return the tithe. 05:34 I might just add here that, in my opinion, 05:37 the tithe is the basic summation of giving. 05:40 Nowhere in the Bible does God suggest 05:42 that less than a tenth is his. 05:44 And if you have God as a partner, 05:45 you're always gonna be successful. 05:47 He only asks--a lot of partnerships today, 05:49 when somebody's a senior partner, 05:51 they want 51% of the business, 05:52 but God says, "I only want 10%. I'll bless the rest, 05:55 "and you take care of the rest of it, 05:56 and you'll manage for me." 05:57 >>So we've got this picture 05:59 of where tithe is introduced to us in the Bible, 06:02 and it kind of leads us into Sunday's lesson, 06:04 which the title of it is "Tithe Equals a Tenth." 06:08 But there seems to be some... (chuckles) 06:10 some doubt about that in some Christians' minds. 06:13 You and I, Ed, have both heard people say, you know, 06:16 "I tithe 3%," or, "I tithe 5%," or something like that, 06:20 which is very difficult to do, because as the lesson says, 06:22 tithe equals a tenth. 06:24 How do we know that a tithe equals a tenth? 06:28 >>Good question. 06:29 When you look up "tithe" in a dictionary, frequently, 06:32 they'll say "origin from the Bible." 06:34 The Bible gives a... 06:37 it talks about being a tenth part of something or 10%; 06:41 definition likely from the Bible, they'll say. 06:43 Tithing is simply returning 10% of our income 06:46 or increase to God as a token of his ownership. 06:50 God is so awesome in all these things 06:52 that He doesn't need the money, of course. 06:54 So He says, "I'll take the tithe 06:56 and use it for the support of the ministry." And this, 06:58 this is something interesting that we'll look at as well 06:59 as we go through the Tuesday and Wednesday section 07:02 this week. But the Bible says that the tithe is holy 07:06 and belongs to God. In Leviticus 27, verse 30, it says, 07:09 "All the tithe of the land...is the Lord's. 07:11 It is holy unto the Lord." 07:13 Well, if you look at just two verses later, it says, 07:15 when you count your sheep and your cattle, 07:17 the tenth one belongs to God. So a tenth is mentioned 07:20 right in the tithing legislation given at Mount Sinai. 07:23 That's Leviticus 27, verse 30 and verse 32. 07:26 >>So we've got several places in the Bible 07:27 that actually give us pretty clear testimony 07:31 that tithe equals a tenth. 07:35 You mentioned Hebrews 7, verse two; again, 07:37 already that talks about Melchizedek, the king of Salem, 07:40 and giving that tenth. 07:41 So there's not a lot of ambiguity there. 07:44 Why do you think, Ed, why do you think some people, 07:47 some Christians don't understand that tithe equals a tenth? 07:51 What is their understanding of tithe, would you imagine? 07:55 >>Well, frankly, that's a good question, Eric. 07:56 Frequently people think anything they do for charity 08:00 is part of their tithe. They'll say, "Well, 08:02 "we'll help to buy choir robes for the church," 08:04 or, "We'll help to pay the parking lot," 08:05 or, "We're sending our kids to church school, 08:07 you know. This is my tithe," 08:08 but tithe is a wholly separate fund from anything else, 08:11 any offerings, and so on. 08:12 And it's really non-discretionary on the part of the giver. 08:15 God didn't ask us what we should, 08:17 what we think should be done with it. 08:19 He didn't ask us how much we thought would be fair. 08:22 He just says 10% is it. So, that's very simple to figure. 08:27 Anybody that can do any kind of math at all 08:29 can figure 10% of something. 08:31 >>Okay, so you mention that some people misdirect the tithe 08:35 or what they consider to be the tithe. 08:37 What really should the tithe be used for, 08:40 and where should it be returned? 08:44 >>Well, that's a good question, 08:45 but I wanna just follow up on one of the things 08:47 I told you earlier. 08:49 When the second mention of tithe in the Bible is Genesis 28, 08:53 and that's when Jacob was fleeing from home, 08:55 where his brother Esau had said, 08:57 "My father is old and will die soon. 08:58 And when he dies, I'm gonna kill my brother." 09:00 And he was really serious; he was really mad 09:01 because of this financial situation. 09:04 So, Jacob fled from home, and while he was traveling, 09:07 he slept by a big rock for protection, 09:10 prayed that God would protect his life 09:12 and bring him back home again. 09:13 And then God actually appeared to him in a vision, 09:16 where the--this is where the staircase was earth to heaven, 09:19 and--ladder, some places called it a ladder, 09:21 but it's very hard for people to go up and down a ladder 09:24 at the same time, 09:25 so most pictures that you see of it is like a staircase, 09:27 but God stood above it, 09:29 and He said, "I'm the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob." 09:31 Well, He didn't say Jacob then; He did, from then on He did, 09:33 but He said, "I'm the God of Abraham, your father, 09:35 and Isaac." And at the end of this time He said to Jacob, 09:39 "I will bless you and bring you back to this land again, 09:41 and I'll be with you, and I'll go with you wherever you go." 09:43 So Jacob, when he woke up the next morning, said, "Look, 09:45 God is in this place, and I didn't even know it." 09:47 So he called the place "the house of God," "Beth-El," 09:49 from there on. 09:51 The interesting thing about it, at the close of his-- 09:54 this is Genesis 28, verse 22--and he said, "This stone, 09:57 "[that I've] set for a pillar, shall be God's house: 10:00 "and of all that [You] shall give me 10:01 I will surely give the tenth unto Thee." 10:03 So, here again, instead of tithe, he mentioned 10%. 10:06 This is Jacob talking. 10:07 So I think it's important that we understand that. 10:10 Now, let me answer your question 10:11 about where should the tithe, 10:12 what should the tithe be used for. 10:14 Well, this is interesting, Eric, 10:16 because I've told people many times 10:17 that if the tithe belongs to God, 10:20 as it says in the tithing legislation 10:22 in Leviticus 27, verse 30-- 10:24 the tithe is the Lord's and holy unto the Lord-- 10:26 what could God do with this tithe? 10:28 Well, the bottom line is very simple. 10:29 He can do whatever He wanted to with it. 10:31 He could take it back to heaven if He wanted to. 10:33 He doesn't need the money, of course. 10:34 Or He could burn it up as a sacrifice, 10:36 like He did the sheep and the lambs 10:37 and the sacrifices in the system. But instead He said, 10:40 "I'll reserve the tithe to pay for the pastors." 10:42 That's incredible. We have an awesome system 10:45 in the Seventh-day Adventist Church, 10:46 that we've tried to follow the Bible principles, 10:48 and we set it aside for that purpose. 10:50 Another thing is the tithe is not discretionary 10:53 on the part of the people that return the tithe, 10:56 'cause God says it should be returned to the storehouse. 10:58 So it begs the question, "Where is the storehouse?" 11:00 Well, ancient Israel knew where the storehouse was. 11:03 It's very simple to them. 11:04 They'd been told way back in Mount Sinai 11:06 that when they went to the Promised Land, 11:08 that three times a year they were to come together 11:12 for fellowship and worship. 11:14 And that was the Passover and Pentecost 11:17 and Feast of Tabernacles. 11:18 It mentions that in Exodus, of course, and also 11:20 in Deuteronomy when Moses reviews all this material. 11:24 But the interesting part about it is 11:25 they were to bring their tithes and offerings 11:28 three times a year to the tabernacle, 11:31 first at Shiloh and then later at Jerusalem. 11:33 But it is pretty fascinating that the book of Numbers, 11:38 chapter 18, verse 21 says, 11:40 God says, "I have given the tithe in Israel 11:42 "to the Levites in exchange for the work they do 11:44 at the tabernacle of meeting." 11:46 "So," God says, "these guys that are working for me, 11:48 I wanna pay, I wanna make sure they get good income." 11:51 You remember when they divided up the land 11:53 that all the tribes got big portions of land 11:56 that gives their borders from the sea to this mountain 11:58 and all that, but the Levites didn't have any 12:02 big pieces of land like that. 12:04 God said, "I want, I'll give them the... 12:07 cities of refuge," which were, there were six of them, 12:10 and they had those cities, 12:11 plus other cities among the tribes, 12:14 and they had lands for farm, for their gardens, and so on 12:17 around the cities, 12:18 but they didn't have these big huge spots of land. 12:20 They were, interestingly enough, 12:22 they were given the tithe distributed, 12:25 and--actually, I'll tell you something interesting about it. 12:28 They returned their, 12:30 all the people returned their tithe to the storehouse, 12:32 which was at Jerusalem at the temple. 12:38 By the way, the storehouse has been in effect 12:39 for a long time, 'cause when Aiken brought, 12:41 stole that property, the--later on, we'll talk about that-- 12:44 when Aiken took the part of the spoils of Jericho 12:48 to his home, 12:50 the command had been to bring it back to the storehouse, 12:53 and everybody else did that but him. 12:55 One man in a million disobeyed and caused 36 people to die. 12:59 Pretty interesting story, actually, 13:00 but the tithe came to the storehouse, 13:03 and then the Levites took it all over Israel. 13:05 They delivered it back to their own people. 13:07 >>So God's given us a pretty good indication, 13:10 a pretty clear instruction on where the tithe is to go 13:13 and what its purpose is. 13:14 It's not for us to decide what to do with it. 13:16 That's simply returning it to God 13:17 and doing what He has asked us to do with it. 13:20 If you're enjoying this 13:22 and want to learn more about this subject, 13:24 I want to encourage you to pick up this book. 13:26 This is the companion book 13:27 to this quarter's Sabbath school lesson. 13:29 It is called "Managing for the Master" by G. Edward Reid. 13:33 Of course, he is our guest each and every week this quarter 13:35 on our "Sabbath School" program. 13:37 You can find this book at itiswritten.shop. 13:41 Again, that's itiswritten.shop 13:43 and just search for "Managing for the Master." 13:46 It is the companion book 13:47 for this quarter's Sabbath school lesson 13:49 and will give you additional insight, deeper thoughts, 13:52 more stories. 13:54 It really fleshes out this quarter's Sabbath school lesson. 13:57 You'll be glad that you have it. 13:59 We're going to be back in just a moment 14:01 as we continue looking at "The Tithing Contract." 14:03 We'll see you back in just a moment. 14:05 (inspirational theme swells and ends) 14:10 >>[John Bradshaw] You can't easily live without it, 14:12 yet having it and having too much of it 14:14 can not only make life complicated, 14:16 but it can jeopardize your spiritual well-being. 14:19 Money--such a major part of life 14:22 and yet so potentially dangerous 14:24 that the Bible says more about money 14:26 than almost any other subject. 14:28 What do you do with your money? And how can you make sure 14:31 that what is meant to be a blessing 14:32 doesn't end up being a curse? 14:35 Join our conversation with financial expert Julian Archer 14:38 and learn how to avoid many common financial pitfalls. 14:42 Learn from someone who knows 14:43 and find out what the Bible has to say about finance, 14:47 about handling your money in a way that is both good for you 14:50 and glorifies God. 14:52 Don't miss "Money, Money, Money" from It Is Written, 14:55 featuring financial expert Julian Archer. 14:58 "Money, Money, Money," 15:00 watch now on It Is Written TV. 15:02 Go to www.itiswritten.tv. 15:06 That's itiswritten.tv. 15:10 (inspirational theme music) 15:14 >>[Eric] Welcome back to "Sabbath School," 15:16 brought to you by It Is Written. 15:18 We are continuing our study this week, week number three, 15:20 on "The Tithing Contract." 15:22 And, Ed, I wanna come back to something 15:23 that you were talking about just a moment ago. 15:26 When we're returning tithe, 15:28 when it's coming back into the storehouse, 15:30 how should that tithe be distributed? 15:35 How is it used? 15:37 Where does it go, according to the biblical guidelines 15:41 that God has directed? 15:43 How does the Adventist church deal with that? 15:45 >>I mentioned earlier that the counsel God gave 15:47 was them to bring their tithe three times a year, 15:50 their offering and tithe. 15:51 Since they were agricultural people, 15:52 they only had harvest those times of the year, 15:54 as you may know. 15:55 The interesting part was they were to bring it 15:57 Passover, Pentecost, and Feast of Tabernacles 16:00 to the central storehouse. 16:01 In fact, the 12th chapter of Deuteronomy 16:03 outlines the central storehouse idea. 16:05 God says when you get into the Promised Land, 16:06 don't do whatever you think you ought to do with your tithe, 16:08 but return it to the central storehouse. 16:10 It's very plain in the Bible 16:11 when you read these topics on tithing. 16:14 So, how do--one big question that people ask: 16:17 Is there any church that actually follows this principle? 16:20 Well, our church has tried to follow the principle 16:22 as best we can by determining that the tithe is the Lord's, 16:26 and it has a special purpose 16:27 that support the ministry like they did 16:29 to support the tribe of Levi in the Old Testament. 16:31 So, our church has designated 16:35 the local conference office and mission headquarters, 16:37 and if there's a union of churches, 16:40 wherever they hire people, 16:41 they should be the central storehouse, 16:43 and they're the ones that pay the pastors. 16:45 So, for the convenience of our members, 16:47 they return their tithe 16:49 as part of their worship experience on Sabbath 16:50 when they come to worship God, and then--listen carefully, 16:54 this is not designed to be funny, 16:56 but it's just something interesting. 16:57 The pastor never says to the church treasurer, 16:59 "You know, I need to make my car payment. 17:01 Can you go ahead and give me my tithe money?" 17:04 The tithe is always sent on to the main central storehouse, 17:06 and the pastors are paid from that point. 17:09 So, that's a good thing in many ways, 17:11 because they don't have to talk about money 17:14 and their salaries, like some pastors do. 17:16 They know that, as long as they're faithful in their work, 17:18 that they're gonna get paid from the storehouse. 17:20 And, essentially, something very interesting also 17:24 is that, basically, most everybody who works for the church, 17:29 is in ministerial lines, gets paid on the same basis. 17:31 So, if you have a larger church, you don't get more money, 17:34 you just get more responsibility, 17:36 and hopefully you also get more assistance, 17:38 like with people helping you, larger staff and so on, 17:41 but people don't look for larger churches to get more money 17:45 in the biblical sense. 17:46 >>It's also encouraging to me, Ed, 17:48 to know that this encourages pastors to be faithful 17:52 in the sharing of the gospel. 17:55 You know, a lot of times, in some churches, 17:57 where a local pastor's income is determined 18:00 by the tithe that is given in that church, 18:04 they may be encouraged to preach 18:09 a simpler, smoother, less confrontational, 18:12 less biblical message in order to keep the money flowing in 18:15 so that their pockets can continue to be filled with it, 18:19 but here, in this system, it doesn't matter. 18:21 There's no incentive to water down the gospel 18:23 or water down the message of the Bible, 18:26 but to preach it straight, 18:27 because the pastor's income is not going to be, 18:31 it's not gonna be affected positively or negatively 18:35 by the amount that's given in that local church. 18:37 That's encouraging to me, Ed. 18:38 >>One additional thing I could add to that, Eric, 18:40 is that the pastor is motivated not from selfish reasons 18:45 to teach about stewardship, 18:46 but to be, have the people be faithful to God 18:48 and, in tangible ways, 18:50 receive the benefits that God has promised. 18:51 So, believe it or not, it may seem materialistic, 18:56 but for those who are faithful, God has promised, 18:58 "I'll bless you in ways that you won't imagine. 19:00 "I'll rebuke the devourer for your sake, 19:01 "and I'll also make sure that you have more money 19:04 than you know what to do with." 19:05 And that doesn't mean that you have beaucoups of money. 19:08 It means that you have--your needs are met, 19:09 and you're able to help others 19:10 and help advance the cause of God. 19:12 >>That's right. Well said. 19:14 I wanna jump to Wednesday's lesson now, Ed. 19:16 Wednesday's lesson, I love the title of this one, 19:19 "Tithing on the Gross or the Net Income?" 19:22 I get this question all the time: 19:25 Should I tithe on the gross, or should I tithe on the net? 19:30 What's the best advice that you can give on this, Ed? 19:33 >>Well, the issue is very simple, really, 19:34 when you're talking about gross or net. 19:36 For most people, the bottom line is, take-home pay 19:39 that you get when you're working for a salary 19:41 or by the hour is not really the total amount you earn, 19:44 'cause, frequently, they take out taxes before then-- 19:47 income tax and property tax and different things like that. 19:51 So, the question of gross or net 19:54 is do you pay on before--your tithe-- 19:56 your taxes are taken out, or after the taxes are taken out? 19:59 And so, it's interesting the studies of our people, church, 20:03 Seventh-day Adventist people are, the majority, 20:04 more than 60% of people say they tithe on the gross amount. 20:08 They look and see what their gross pay was 20:10 and pay their tithe on that. 20:11 Eric, here's something I'd like to share with you. 20:15 God is love. God is faithful. 20:16 There's a lot of things about God. God is also honest, 20:19 and I've often thought that if you have any question, 20:21 I would err on the side of generosity toward God 20:23 because God is honest. If you give Him too much, 20:25 He'll get it back to you some way. That's what I think. 20:27 >>It sounds like we need to just trust Him-- 20:31 and trust less in our ability to do math 20:34 and see what we can get away with-- 20:37 and trust more in God's generosity. 20:38 Is that a fair assessment? 20:40 >>Yes, indeed. And there's one other illustration-- 20:42 I like to use Bible illustration--the widow of Zarephath. 20:44 During the time when Elijah had gone into Ahab's office 20:48 and said, "It's not gonna rain until I say so, 20:50 because of your wickedness," something amazing happened. 20:53 He said--God--"I'll take care of you," God said to Elijah, 20:56 and He fed him with ravens and the little brook and so on, 20:59 but finally that brook dried up, and God said, 21:02 "I'm gonna send you to the widow of Zarephath." 21:04 So God went to the widow also and said-- 21:06 this is an interesting story-- 21:08 He said, "I'm sending you a man of God, 21:10 "and you should take care of him during this time 21:12 that the drought is on." 21:14 So she knew he was coming, but when he came, 21:17 she wasn't sure who he was, but he asked-- 21:20 he met this lady out there and said, "What are you doing?" 21:22 And he said--she said, "I'm just gathering a few sticks, 21:24 "and we're gonna build a fire 21:26 "and use the last of our oil and meal, 21:27 "and we'll make a cake, and my son and I will eat it, 21:30 and then we'll both die." 21:32 Likely they were planning to starve to death. 21:35 And under those circumstances, Elijah said, 21:37 "Well, would you please bring me a drink of water?" 21:39 And then she started to go, and he said, 21:41 "But wait a minute, I'd like for you to take that, 21:43 "some of that oil and meal that you have, 21:45 and make me a little cake first." 21:46 Then he promised her that "if you do that," 21:49 God will not let the flour use up or the oil use up 21:52 until the rain comes on the earth, some three years later. 21:56 Now, this sounds kind of selfish at first glance 21:58 that he asked her to treat him first. 22:00 But, remember, God asked us to treat Him first 22:02 and respond in our obligations to him. 22:05 In this particular case, something amazing happened. 22:07 The lady went and did as she was told. 22:09 This was just a test of her faith. 22:11 It wasn't trying to take it away from her; 22:13 it was trying to multiply what she had. When she obeyed, 22:17 her oil and flour lasted for the three years, 22:20 which is pretty amazing. 22:21 >>So, gross or net, 22:23 I think you shared this with us last week-- 22:25 was it Larry Burkett who shared that, 22:27 that short quip with us?-- 22:29 >>Yes. >>..."It depends on whether 22:30 you want a gross blessing or a net blessing." 22:34 That's, I think that's fantastic advice, 22:36 and most of us, I think, would probably 22:37 prefer the gross blessing. 22:39 >>Yes, indeed. 22:40 >>Let's take a look at Thursday's lesson. 22:42 Now, Thursday's lesson is entitled 22:44 "An Honest or Faithful Tithe." 22:46 Sometimes, sometimes we hear that term used, 22:49 an "honest" or a "faithful" tithe. What does that mean? 22:54 >>Well, frequently I find people want to be faithful. 22:57 They wanna know what God says 22:59 and then seek to practice it. 23:03 So I say there are four elements to a faithful tithe, 23:06 and the first one is the amount. 23:08 Actually, when you look at it, 23:10 they can all begin with the letter "P" to help remember it, 23:12 so that'd be the portion or the percent. 23:14 And the Bible indicates that very clearly that that's 10; 23:16 it's a tenth of our increase. So, that's 10%. 23:20 So, the next one is the place to take it, 23:23 and that would be the storehouse, the central storehouse. 23:25 And that's the place from which 23:26 the gospel ministers are paid. 23:28 In our situation, that would be our local conference office, 23:31 from which the pastors of our field are paid. 23:34 And the third one is honoring God 23:35 with the first part of our income. 23:37 Remember that Proverbs, the third chapter, in verse 9, 23:39 talks about the firstfruits of our income. 23:41 And Matthew 6:33 in Jesus' mountain sermon said, 23:44 "Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, 23:46 and all these things [will] be added unto you." 23:48 So we put God in first part. 23:50 My wife Kathy's been the manager of our funds 23:53 for the whole time we've been married, over 55 years. 23:56 And she always writes the tithe check. 23:58 She said that's the first time, over the years, 24:00 "That's always the first check I write, 24:01 our offerings, tithe and offerings." 24:03 She said, "And God always blesses the rest of it." 24:06 She said, "I know that if I'd waited 24:08 "until the last thing to write, 24:09 "sometimes we would've been short. 24:10 But putting God first, He blesses it." 24:12 And that's the first part. 24:14 Now, the fourth one is it's gotta be used 24:15 for the right purpose. Now, this is interesting also, 24:19 support of the ministry. 24:21 It's our responsibility as individual members 24:23 to do the first three, to make sure it's a tenth, 24:26 make sure it goes to the right place, 24:27 and we start out with God first. 24:30 The people who run the storehouse 24:32 are responsible for making sure that it's used properly, 24:34 but God's asked us to be responsible for the first part. 24:37 Now, lemme just mention one other thing. 24:38 Interestingly enough-- 24:39 you and I have talked about this before--but some, 24:41 we've heard people say, "Well, I'm doing a 3% tithe," 24:43 or, "I'm doing a 5% tithe," or whatever. 24:46 But to be real, honestly, we don't set the parameters. 24:49 God does. So, if I don't return a full 10% of my income, 24:52 I'm really not tithing am I? In addition to that, 24:55 if I'm not using it to the storehouse to support ministry, 25:00 I'm not tithing either. 25:01 So this is the real bottom-line situation here. 25:04 >>You know, Ed, something that I was just thinking about 25:06 as you were mentioning that, there are a lot of people 25:09 who belong to a lot of different churches out there 25:12 who are wanting to give something to the work of the Lord. 25:16 If I'm understanding you correctly, 25:20 when we return a tithe to a church, 25:23 we are helping to spread, 25:24 or we are helping to pay those ministers 25:27 to spread that particular gospel 25:30 that that church is preaching and teaching. 25:33 What would you say to somebody who's thinking, "Well, 25:36 "I'm not sure if I believe in the message 25:41 "that this church or that church is teaching; 25:43 where--what should I do with my tithe?" 25:45 Where should the tithe go 25:47 if they're not certain that they believe that message 25:50 that that church is sharing? 25:52 >>Well, first of all, if you have a biblical understanding 25:54 of tithing, you'll understand the parameters 25:55 of what we just talked about. So, you can understand what-- 25:58 where's the churches that are doing that? 26:00 There's three reasons people are members of churches today. 26:02 One of 'em is they were raised in that particular church; 26:04 that's most people. Second one, out of convenience, 26:06 two people of different churches get married. 26:08 They don't go to one church one week and one the next. 26:10 They, one of 'em decides which one they go to. 26:13 And the third one is people study the Bible, 26:15 and they figure out which, where is the Bible teaching, 26:17 what does the Bible teach, and then they look for the church 26:19 that honors that principle. 26:21 So I would suggest that people do a research of Scripture 26:23 and of the churches that are, 26:25 that they know about them and see which one is doing it. 26:28 You wanna support the ones 26:29 that are teaching the truth, of course, 26:30 and honor God's commandments. 26:32 >>Fantastic. I think that's great advice, Ed. 26:35 So this week we have taken a look 26:36 at the subject of "The Tithing Contract," 26:39 something that God established 26:41 way back in Old Testament times, 26:43 we see it continued in New Testament times, 26:45 and it continues to exist today, 26:47 and God uses this in order to continue to spread the gospel 26:51 all around the world. 26:52 One of the beautiful truths of Scripture 26:55 is that before Jesus comes back, 26:57 this gospel of the kingdom is going to go to every nation, 27:00 kindred, tongue, and people. 27:02 And God gives us the opportunity, 27:03 the privilege, really, to be a part of that 27:06 by helping to finance that work 27:08 to spread the gospel all around the world. 27:11 Some people can help a lot, 27:12 some people can help a little bit less, 27:14 but everything helps to spread that gospel. 27:17 So regardless of what your income may be, 27:19 God wants to bless your income and multiply it 27:23 and use a portion of it that you give back to Him 27:26 to spread the gospel around the world. 27:28 Thanks for joining us again this week. 27:29 It's been a privilege and a pleasure to have you with us, 27:32 and we're going to be back again next week 27:34 as we continue our journey 27:36 through "Managing for the Master." 27:39 We wish you God's richest blessings until we see you again. 27:43 Take care. 27:44 (inspirational theme music) 28:26 (music ends) |
Revised 2023-01-12