Speaker 1: To Welcome to Last Subject Podcast. Our mission at Vlatimery
Subject Ministries is to reach the world globally and disciple
them digitally. Let's dive into this episode.
Speaker 2: You probably have heard somebody say it in the church,
or maybe you have said it yourself. Tithing is old Testament.
We are not under the law. Jesus never told us
to tithe. And look, I get it, that sounds like freedom,
but is it actually true today? I want to walk
with you through the Bible what the Bible actually says
about tithing, not what your fears, greed or comfort, or
not even what your bank account says. So we will
look at some texts. First of all, what is a tithe?
The word tithe simply means eight tenth s, it's ten percent.
Before we even get to Malachi or Moses, I want
to take you to a man who had no law,
who had no priest, who had no sermon, who had
no local church to attend, that needed money to run
its operations and its missions. And he gave a tie.
And that man is no other but Abraham. Genesis fourteen
twentieth it says, and he gave him a tie. So
Abraham just experienced a powerful, supernatural I would even say
military victory. God delivered him from his enemies. And then
his first instinct is to give ten percent to Melchizedek,
who is this mysterious king slash priest. Nobody told Abraham
to do that, Nobody commanded Abraham to do that. He
just did it. Why because his faith. And Abraham is
called the Father of faith because he received righteousness by
faith like we do. And this faith recognized the greatness
in this king slash priest, and he responded in honor.
So then Abraham's grandson Jacob does the same thing. There's
no law, no levites, no temple, no priests, and yet
he makes a vow to give a tithe to God
in Genesis twenty eight twenty two. So Abraham gives it
as a response to victory, as a response to honor God,
and Jacob gives it as a promise that if God
blesses him, if he gives him some means, then he
will honor him. Now, I want you to notice that
this pattern existed before Moses, before the ten Commandments, and
before the ceremonial laws and the priestly laws and many others.
And that matters. Let's address the second question, and that
is the tithing end. When Jesus died on the cross.
So fast forward to Moses. Tithing is no longer just
the response. Tithing is no longer just a promise. It's
actually get embedded into a rhythm. It gets embedded into
the law. Now, so many people when they think of
the law, they think it's some kind of a curse
or some kind of an evil thing. And we have
to really be careful because the law reveals God's character,
it reveals God's expectations. And God didn't change in the
New Covenant. The Old Covenant had many different covenants, the
Covenant with Noah, the Covenant with Aaron, the Covenant with David,
and these covenants that God made with people. He had
some expectations involved in that. And so now God makes
a covenant with his nation of Israel at the Mountain Sinai,
and we see these expectations. He gives them ten commandments,
and the tithing is not in the ten commendments, but
it's part of the expectation that God lays on his nation,
on his people, his son Israel. Bible calls it. So
some of us will say, well, but that ended because
Jesus came, and all of that is done. Plus we're
not Jewish. See the Bible says Jesus fulfilled the law.
And so some people say that that means that tithing
is done. But here's where people miss. Not everything in
the Old Testament is simply you raised. Plus the Old
Testament is not actually the Old Covenant. The Old Testament
is a combination of many books, writing psalms and things
we still use. We pray the psalms. We still honor
the ten Commandments, and we live by them. And we
even Jesus even raises the bar higher, not lower, when
it comes to murder, when it comes to adultery. All
of that is still God's perfect law that is applied
even to Christians. Now, is that law and means by
which we get saved? No? Is that law and means
by which we have a relationship with God? No? But
is that a law by means by which we know
what pleases God? Not to have any the gods, not
to take the Lord's name in vain, and not to
make any images of God to honor the Sabbath. That
didn't start even with Israel. He started in a garden
of God, setting one day apart, and it's helpful for
you and healthy to honor your mom and dad. That
still applies to us. That transfers to us. So we
draw wisdom from the proverbs, we honor the Ten Commandments,
we pray the psalms, and so my rule is simple.
If the New Covenant or the New Testament cancel something,
clearly it's done. If it clarifies something, we follow the
clarified version. But if it never canceled it and it
actually connected to God's unchanging character, we shouldn't be slow
to dismiss it. Because right in the middle of the
most famous tithing passage in the scripture, God drops this
line Malachi chapter three, verse six I The Lord do
not change. Isn't that interesting? It's like God knew we
would try to dismiss this, so he interrupted his own
speech about tithing to remind us his nature does not change.
You cannot outdate God's character. So let's dive now into
what Jesus taught about tithing. Some people say Jesus never
addressed tithing. That's simply not true. In Matthew twenty three
twenty three, Jesus directly addresses tithing, and this is what
it says, woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for
you tithe, For you pay tithe out of Mint and
his and Kumin, and have neglected the waiter matters of
the law, justice, mercy, and faith. These you ought to
have done without leaving the others Undone. Notice that Jesus
did not say, forget the tithing, focus on mercy. It's
not one or the other. To Jesus, he said both.
He said, don't neglect justice and mercy, and don't neglect
the tithe. So Jesus affirms tithing in the same sentence
where he corrects Pharisees and their hypocrisy. Some people say, well,
but he was talking to the Pharisees, he was not
talking to us. Okay, By the same logic, then, when
Jesus told Nicodemus he must be born again, that should
only apply to Nicodemus, right, No, we don't do that.
We applied Jesus's teachings across the audiences. Because the Scripture
is written for the whole church and not only for
the Jewish people. These teachings that Jesus gave us, many
of them are applied to us. Now we're not offering
today tithe to a temple. We're going to a church.
But there's something else that's very important to take a
notice of the same Greek word Jesus uses for aught
in Matthew twenty three twenty three is the same root
word he uses for must in John three seven in
talking to Nicodemus, where he said you must be born again,
you ought to tithe, same language of divine necessity. Now
nobody will debate the new birth, yet somehow we debate
the tithe well, but Jesus only mentioned it once. You
can argue the same thing, for Jesus only mentioned be
born again once. So this does not mean the tithing
is on the same level of being born again. Absolutely not.
But the word that he used is actually a one
of obligation and necessity and not a one of it's optional,
And therefore I think it's very inaccurate. Now you don't
have to tithe, you don't have to do anything, you
don't have to follow what Jesus said. But it's important
that we don't put words in Jesus's mouth that he
never said, and we don't assume, well, Jesus never addressed
it when he actually did or when he addressed it
he was soft about it. He actually was very clear
about it. And I think there's a reason for that.
Now you may save lad, but what about Paul. Paul
never uses the exact word tithe. But I want to
show you something. Paul also never used the word Gehenna.
It's what Jesus used for hell. Yet we preach hell.
Paul never used the word trinity, yet we believe in trinity.
So doctrines are not proven by vocabulary. They are proven
by the full console of the scriptures that we see
throughout the Bible, not just in taking letters that Paul
wrote to specific churches in specific seasons. Paul wasn't giving
a whole breakdown of systematic theology and everything that Christians
need to do or not to do in all of
his letters. So here is what Paul does teach. Though.
Paul teaches us to give on the first day of
the week on Corinthians sixteen to two. Paul teaches us
to give proportionally according to what you have. Second Corinthians
eight twelve, Paul also teaches us to support gospel workers,
and he says this that it's commanded by the Lord.
First Corinthians nine fourteen. So the entire foundation underneath of
the tithing Paul teaches just without using the word. So
to say that Paul did not instruct the churches to
do it will be also missing the point where in reality,
Paul actually taught the foundation. What is tithing really about.
It's about the consistency in giving. It's about a proportional
percentage giving, and it's a giving that when to support
the spread and the work of the mission in the temple,
in the tabernacle, support the priests, and support the advancement
of that ministry. In the New Testament, is to support
the advancement of the Gospel. It's to support the operations
of the local church by honoring, so that there will
be a bread in the house, like it says in Malaca.
So the same principle underneath Paul is talking about without
using the word, the same way Paul talked about eternal
separation from God without using the word that Jesus always used.
We cannot say, well, I don't believe in hell now,
why because Paul never used the word gehanna. Well, Jesus
used it. That's enough, and Paul reinforced it by using
different words. So I think the strongest proof for tithing
in the New Testament is Hebrews Chapter seven. It's arguably
the strongest New Testament anchor for tithing because the writer
of Hebrews goes all the way to Abraham's tithing, how
he tied to Melchizedec, and connects it directly to Jesus's priesthood.
If the New Testament wanted to cancel tithing, Hebrews seven
was the perfect place to do it. But instead Hebrews
seven highlights tithing and actually spiritualizes it and roots it
in Christ, not in a law or somehow that it's
relating to a legalistic system where it's only limited to Israel,
to their nation. It's connecting to faith, it's connecting to Jesus,
and it's something we're still walking by faith, worshiping Jesus,
our King, and our priests. In conclusion, here are ten
reasons I tithe. Number one is because Abraham tithed before
the law by faith, and he is the prototype of
a New Testament believer. Number two, it's because Jesus said,
are too, and I do take his words seriously, even
the uncomfortable ones. Number three is God says I do
not change in the middle of a tithing conversation. I
don't think that's accidental, in the midst of all this
controversy about tithing. I take that seriously. Number four Hebrews
seven connects tithing to Jesus's eternal priesthood, not to a
law given to a nation. That still reveals God's character
and it is still important. Number five isthing trains me
to put God first, not when I feel generous, but
as a habit of submitting to the lordship of Jesus.
Number six. Every time I tithe, I say God, this
was yours first. It kills my entitlement, It kills this idea.
I earned it, it's mine, and I just get a
chance to tip to God. No, I actually acknowledge God
is the owner. I'm the steward and the manager. Number seven,
I've watched God's blessings on the ninety percent how to
perform my control on one hundred percent every single time.
Number eight, the local church feeds me, covers me, and
sends me my tithe supports the storehouse that sustains me.
If you're complaining about your local church not having bread,
not having life or movement, like, are you adding value
to it. Number nine, the New Testament goal is not
to negotiate down to the minimum. For example, look at
everything Jesus addressed from the Ten Commandments, murder, adultery and
other things. He always raised the bar. Look at the
discipleship model. Jesus would invite people to follow him and
sometimes challenge them to give everything. Look at disciples who
decided to follow Jesus, and sometimes, like zachiahs, he would
give half of his income. Jesus says, if you have
two codes, give one away. So you see, Jesus raises
the bar, not lowers it when it comes to giving,
and that makes people uncomfortable. Number ten is tithing is
not the ceiling, it's the floor. And I refuse to
live on the floor, so that means the tithing is
not my ceiling. Tithing is where I start. If you
look at the tides that supported the priests in the
Old Testament, those tides help to maintain religious service to God.
If you look at the tides that go and support
the advancement of the local church, our mission is bigger
than to me. We advance. We take territories for the
Kingdom of God. So to us the argument that somehow.
Under the Old Testament, the tithe was legalistic because it
only helped to maintain it. But now God doesn't want
us to give at all. Yet God wants us to
advance the gospel, Like how can they go on lester
scand how can they advance the gospel if the church
doesn't support the missionaries, if we don't support the youth pastors,
if we don't support the ministry, if we don't go
into schools, if we don't have charity, Like I don't
understand the logic that some people have when they push
the idea of not tithing. And if the word tithing
feels uncomfortable for you, I really you know, started with
twenty percent, started with fifty percent right away so that
you don't get triggered by that tithe thing. But to
ignore the heart of generosity that is presented in the gospels,
I think is very detrimental to our spiritual growth. Israel
tithe because God delivered them from Pharaoh. You know, we
tithe because God delivered us from darkness, He delivered us
from demon san and gave us life. And Jesus is
an example of what it's like to experience the generosity
of God, and to not develop that as a Christian,
I think it's missing the point of what it means
to be a disciple of Jesus. Now let me conclude
this on this. A question that I get asked a
lot is should I tie that on my gross or
my net? My question to you then, is this, do
you want to honor God with the first and the
full measure or only with what's left after deductions. That's
really the question the first fruits thinking or honoring God
with the first is really about putting God first, not
God after. For most people, gross is the clearest starting point.
With that said, Bible doesn't give us a verse that
says gross or net, And I'm not gonna make this
into a law or some sort of condemnation. I encourage
people you can start with the net, grow to the gross.
But if you're a business owner, it would make sense
more to tithe on your net profit than your gross revenue,
because revenue is not the same thing as increase payroll,
overhead cost, the cost of goods. That's not profit, that's
cost of producing the income, and so tithing on the
net profit is usually the most honest measure of the
actual increase. When it comes to business. So whether you're
doing gross or net, be consistent, be intentional, and don't
let the calculation become an excuse for why you avoid it.
So here is what I want you to walk away
today with tithing is not just this guilt trip. It's
not a fundraising strategy. It's a declaration. It's part of
your spiritual formation. When you're tithe, you're saying, God, I
acknowledge that you own everything I manage. You are the
lord of my wallet. I trust you with what's left.
And what you will find is what Abraham found, what
Jacob found, and what every person that has taken Malachi
three ten seriously has found. You cannot outdo give a
God who never changes if you never tithe, start this month.
Start where you are not perfectly, but faithfully tied to
your local church. You can give above your tithe to
some ministries as an offering, but your tithe goes to
the local church. So there will be food in the storehouse,
and let God bless the rest of it, and you
will see God will cause then ninety to go further.
Then you're one hundred could ever on your own. Thank
you for watching this video. I just released a little booklet.
You can download it for free on my website, or
you need a physical copy, you can get it on
Amazon or an audio version where it dives deeper into
the Beginner's Guide of giving for believers. I connect giving
to spiritual formation, not just some fundraising thing. The church
in his money. Ministries need money, and I want you
to check this out. I believe it's going to be
a great blessing to your spiritual growth.
Speaker 1: Thank you for listening to this episode. I believe that
you were encouraged, strengthened, and convicted. If this was a
blessing to you, would you help and share with your
friends as well as maybe on social media and leave
a review on the podcast where you are consuming this content.
Speaker 2: It will help us a lot.
Speaker 1: If God puts on your heart to become a partner
of this ministry, go to Pastorvlad dot org and you
can become a partner there. God bless and remember you
will raise to deliver.