V. 6..”O priests that despise my name and ye say”, “Wherein have we despised thy name?”

“Ye have wearied the Lord with your words, Yet ye say, “Wherein have we wearied Him?”

“Wherein shall we return?”

“Wherein have we robbed thee?”

“What have we spoken so much against you?”

The message given from God, through Malachi, to the priests, because the people were crying out to Him in their need.

Sisterlisa

There are some that will tell you that you need to tithe to be right with God. First of all, let me say that there is NO amount of obeying that YOU can do in order to be ‘right with God’. Being right with God is by Christ alone! Paying a tithe, by Old Testament Law, does not make us right with God.

Galatians 2:21, “I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain.”

Ephesians 2:8-9, ” 8For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:9Not of works, lest any man should boast.”

The Old Testament Law has been fulfilled by Christ, our Lord. (See Galatians 4 and Colossians 2) There are some who teach the OT Tithe using Malachi 3:8, yet the also fail to inform you that the book of Malachi is actually not even written to the people, it is written to the Levite Priests!

Malachi 2:1-2, “1And now, O ye priests, this commandment is for you.

2If ye will not hear, and if ye will not lay it to heart, to give glory unto my name, saith the LORD of hosts, I will even send a curse upon you, and I will curse your blessings: yea, I have cursed them already, because ye do not lay it to heart.”

I highly recommend for you to read the entire book of Malachi, it doesn’t take long and it is easy to understand who God is talking to and what He is angry about.

Galatians 3:10-25 10″For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse: for it is written, Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them.

11But that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident: for, The just shall live by faith. 12And the law is not of faith: but, The man that doeth them shall live in them. 13Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree:

14That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith. 15Brethren, I speak after the manner of men; Though it be but a man’s covenant, yet if it be confirmed, no man disannulleth, or addeth thereto.

16Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ. 17And this I say, that the covenant, that was confirmed before of God in Christ, the law, which was four hundred and thirty years after, cannot disannul, that it should make the promise of none effect.

18For if the inheritance be of the law, it is no more of promise: but God gave it to Abraham by promise. 19Wherefore then serveth the law? It was added because of transgressions, till the seed should come to whom the promise was made; and it was ordained by angels in the hand of a mediator.

20Now a mediator is not a mediator of one, but God is one.
21Is the law then against the promises of God? God forbid: for if there had been a law given which could have given life, verily righteousness should have been by the law. 22But the scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe.

23But before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed.

24Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. 25But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster.”

In Hebrews chapter 7 we are taught about the relationship Abraham had with Melchisedec in regards to him being his priest and the one in whom he gave tithes to.

Hebrews 7:1-28 “For this Melchisedec, king of Salem, priest of the most high God, who met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings, and blessed him; 2To whom also Abraham gave a tenth part of all; first being by interpretation King of righteousness, and after that also King of Salem, which is, King of peace;

3Without father, without mother, without descent, having neither beginning of days, nor end of life; but made like unto the Son of God; abideth a priest continually. 4Now consider how great this man was, unto whom even the patriarch Abraham gave the tenth of the spoils.

5And verily they that are of the sons of Levi, who receive the office of the priesthood, have a commandment to take tithes of the people according to the law, that is, of their brethren, though they come out of the loins of Abraham: 6But he whose descent is not counted from them received tithes of Abraham, and blessed him that had the promises. 7And without all contradiction the less is blessed of the better.

8And here men that die receive tithes; but there he receiveth them, of whom it is witnessed that he liveth. 9And as I may so say, Levi also, who receiveth tithes, payed tithes in Abraham. 10For he was yet in the loins of his father, when Melchisedec met him.

11If therefore perfection were by the Levitical priesthood, (for under it the people received the law,) what further need was there that another priest should rise after the order of Melchisedec, and not be called after the order of Aaron?

12For the priesthood being changed, there is made of necessity a change also of the law. 13For he of whom these things are spoken pertaineth to another tribe, of which no man gave attendance at the altar. 14For it is evident that our Lord sprang out of Juda; of which tribe Moses spake nothing concerning priesthood.

15And it is yet far more evident: for that after the similitude of Melchisedec there ariseth another priest, 16Who is made, not after the law of a carnal commandment, but after the power of an endless life.

17For he testifieth, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec. 18For there is verily a disannulling of the commandment going before for the weakness and unprofitableness thereof.

19For the law made nothing perfect, but the bringing in of a better hope did; by the which we draw nigh unto God. 20And inasmuch as not without an oath he was made priest: 21(For those priests were made without an oath; but this with an oath by him that said unto him, The Lord sware and will not repent, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec:)

22By so much was Jesus made a surety of a better testament. 23And they truly were many priests, because they were not suffered to continue by reason of death: 24But this man, because he continueth ever, hath an unchangeable priesthood.

25Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them. 26For such an high priest became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens;

27Who needeth not daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifice, first for his own sins, and then for the people’s: for this he did once, when he offered up himself. 28For the law maketh men high priests which have infirmity; but the word of the oath, which was since the law, maketh the Son, who is consecrated for evermore.”

Jesus Christ is our High Priest, of whom we give ourselves to. He has no need of tithes. He and His Apostles and disciples taught, very clearly, How to Give in The New Testament.

Sisterlisa

This is the last of the portions of New Testament Giving, by certainly not the last of Giving from the Bible. There is more to come on Giving, from the Old Testament, and How Jesus Christ fulfilled that giving. It’s a wonderful story of grace that is expressed through New Testament scriptures that explain the love of Christ in how He gave to us.

In the fifth part of this series we saw how the widow woman gave sacrificially, but that was not the only lesson to be learned from what she did. There was also the lesson of not judging what a person gives. In Mark 12 the scribes kept taunting Jesus with questions, trying to catch him in a lie. We see here how Jesus handled that situation.

Mark 12: 35-41,
³⁵“And Jesus answered and said, while he taught in the temple, How say the scribes that Christ is the son of David?
³⁶For David himself said by the Holy Ghost, The LORD said to my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, till I make thine enemies thy footstool.
³⁷David therefore himself calleth him Lord; and whence is he then his son? And the common people heard him gladly.
³⁸And he said unto them in his doctrine, Beware of the scribes, which love to go in long clothing, and love salutations in the marketplaces,
³⁹And the chief seats in the synagogues, and the uppermost rooms at feasts:
⁴⁰Which devour widows’ houses, and for a pretence make long prayers: these shall receive greater damnation.
⁴¹And Jesus sat over against the treasury, and beheld how the people cast money into the treasury: and many that were rich cast in much.”

Jesus pointed out how the scribes sought man’s attnetion when they gave, they sought after the high places in the community to be seen, and he took notice of how many rich people gave as well. But he made sure to show the contrast between their giving and the widow’s giving.

Mark 12:43-44: “And he called unto him his disciples, and saith unto them, Verily I say unto you, That this poor widow hath cast more in, than all they which have cast into the treasury: 44For all they did cast in of their abundance; but she of her want did cast in all that she had, even all her living.”

Another example of giving is with Zaccheus, when he believed in Jesus, his heart condition changed and he felt compelled to make ammends for the ecessive amount that he had take from others before.

Luke 19:8: “And Zacchaeus stood, and said unto the Lord: Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor; and if I have taken any thing from any man by false accusation, I restore him fourfold.”

Next we see that the early believers really loved and supported one another by sharing what they had so no one lacked. The Apostles helped distribute the money and goods to those families.

Acts 4: 32-37 “And the multitude of them that believed were of one heart and of one soul: neither said any of them that ought of the things which he possessed was his own; but they had all things common. 33And with great power gave the apostles witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus: and great grace was upon them all. 34Neither was there any among them that lacked: for as many as were possessors of lands or houses sold them, and brought the prices of the things that were sold, 35And laid them down at the apostles’ feet: and distribution was made unto every man according as he had need. 36And Joses, who by the apostles was surnamed Barnabas, (which is, being interpreted, The son of consolation,) a Levite, and of the country of Cyprus, 37Having land, sold it, and brought the money, and laid it at the apostles’ feet.”

The next part of this series is so exciting! I chose not to write too much commentary on this topic, because I wanted the verses to speak for themselves.

Sisterlisa

This journey of digging into the scriptures to find out about giving in the New Testament has been so exciting! I pray you will take some time to read through the previous articles before you read this one.

Something that I have heard in churches before is to make a faith promise towards giving in a specific area. I’m not sure I agree with this approach, because how can we promise to give something we do not yet have? Even James 4:14 says that our life is but a vapor. In Proverbs 27:1 we are told not to boast for tomorrow, because we don’t know what a day may bring forth.(paraphrased) So what does it say in the NT about giving what you don’t have right now?

2 Corinthians 8:12 “For if there be first a willing mind, it is accepted according to that a man hath, and not according to that he hath not.”

Luke 11:41 “But rather give alms of such things as ye have; and, behold, all things are clean unto you.”

Next we read about not judging what others give or don’t give. Jesus often was rebuking the Pharisees and scribes for their boasting of how they were obeying The Law. In my mind this is like a child who is seeking approval from their parents at the expense of their siblings. Maybe you’ve experienced a situation where one child is being loud and another is sitting quietly being patient. The patient child speaks up with a phrase like this, “Mommy, I’m being a good girl aren’t i? I’m being so nice and quiet.” As she glares at the child who isn’t.

Now look at what Jesus made sure to point out to his disciples abut giving in the book of Mark. Jesus witnessed a widow placing her offering in the treasury. In this passage he is showing them an example of a sacrificial heart, yet she did not give out of what she did NOT have, but gave what she DID have. And not only that, but it was ALL she had to give.

Mark 12:43-44,”And he called unto him his disciples, and saith unto them, Verily I say unto you, That this poor widow hath cast more in, than all they which have cast into the treasury: 44For all they did cast in of their abundance; but she of her want did cast in all that she had, even all her living.”

May we take some time to ponder our hearts as we learn how to give, from the examples of the New Testament. Please stay tuned for more from this series in the days ahead.

This is part 4 of our New Testament Giving study that we are studying in our home fellowship. We are so excited at how the Holy Spirit is teaching us through The Word and how He is bringing others in close to us as we all seek His face and purpose for our lives.

I have a friend who asked me before about why we had put our name on the envelope of our giving when we attended a local fellowship and the thought hadn’t even occurred to me. She showed me these verses and asked if it was Biblical for me to put my name on the envelope.

Matthew 6:3-4: “But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth: 4That thine alms may be in secret: and thy Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly.”

Matthew 6:1 “1Take heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be seen of them: otherwise ye have no reward of your Father which is in heaven.”

I began thinking about this and indeed God showed me that I should not put my name down. I wondered, “why does the ‘church’ ask for the name?” Why do they keep track of our giving? It really is only God’s business who gives and how much they give. Some argue that they like to write it off on their taxes, but what does the IRS have to do with our relationship with God? Aren’t they supposed to be separated from religion? Aren’t we, as Christians, not supposed to mix in with the government in matters such as this? After questioning all this I decided I was no longer going to tell anyone how much I gave, or that I gave at all.

As we studied further, we found that God does have something to say about how much we give. Although it isn’t ten percent, like some ‘preachers tell you it is. (More on the ten percent later in this series.)

Luke 6:38: “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 ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again.”

The amount of giving is completely up to us. I believe the Holy Spirit will tell us who to give to and lead us accordingly. I believe He will bless us in proportion to our giving. I’m not sure I believe that God is going to necessarily give to us exactly to the penny, back what we gave. I also don’t know if I believe He will always give back to us monetarily. But one thing is certain He gives us His promise right there in Luke.

I also found in His Word that He is pleased when we give up something we have, in order to provide for someone else. I don’t think this means give up our home and be homeless so someone else can have a home, I think we need to use discernment. In this passage, Jesus was speaking to a rich man and I believe this was a test of where his heart truly was. We know that ‘where your treasure is, there will your heart be also’. Are we willing, at least, to sell something sentimental to us, in order to provide for someone less fortunate? Just something to think about.

Luke 18:22: “Now when Jesus heard these things, he said unto him, Yet lackest thou one thing: sell all that thou hast, and distribute unto the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, follow me.”

We should also give with simplicity. I do not think it’s wise to be lavish in giving to one person. I have received lavish gifts from people that made me feel uncomfortable. I feel that when we give lavishly it seems to be boastful and we are taught from 1 Corinthians that love is not boastful.

Romans 12:8: “Or he that exhorteth, on exhortation: he that giveth, let him do it with simplicity; he that ruleth, with diligence; he that sheweth mercy, with cheerfulness.”

So just how often did the believers take up a collection to help the widows, fatherless, and the poor? Did they have shiny gold plates and pass them to each individual? What if some of those in attendance at the gathering were the poor who had nothing to give? How would that make them feel that they couldn’t put anything in the plate? I can’t find anywhere in scripture where the Apostles passed plates to each individual. In one passage we find them laying their giving at the Apostles feet, but we’ll look at that in a future study. For now let’s look at when they gave?

1 Corinthians 16:2: “Upon the first day of the week let every one of you lay by him in store, as God hath prospered him, that there be no gatherings when I come.”

Some people use this verse to spread the doctrine of Sunday worship, the first day. Yet I can’t find where they said we must worship on the first day. (I’m not saying that we shouldn’t meet for worship on the first day of the week. As a matter of fact, I believe we should meet as often as possible and worship together. But I do not feel that we should limit ourselves to one day, or indicate to others that one day is mandatory for a day of worship. I think God wants to be worshipped every day.)

What I did find was their gathering was to do business on that day. The business of collecting for the widows, fatherless, and poor. The early believers met on the first day of the week, which on our calendar is Sunday. They met to bring their collection in and to distribute to the poor. Think about the distribution. I have never seen a fellowship distribute to the poor the day they took their offering. (As a matter of fact, I have not seen a fellowship provide for the finances of these people in my life. Not that some fellowships don’t. I just haven’t seen it myself.)

I believe this is similar to what we see today as welfare. Yet it wasn’t the state who provided for them, it was the believers! You will see in the next study that the early believers took care of their own, firs,t and NO ONE had lack! No one lived above the others.

Many gatherings will ask you to give above what you are able, but God’s Word says differently. God would not expect a single mom, living in poverty, give up her rent money in order to pay a tithe. God wants us to provide for our families first. I know this may sound odd to some readers, it was different for me as well until a few months ago when we began this study. We spent hours, days, and weeks studying New Testament giving. We wanted to make sure our giving was in accordance with God’s Word. We were so amazed at what we were finding and it has been so fulfilling, knowing that we are now doing as Christ has always wanted.

Here are some scriptures we found.

1. According to your ability.

Acts 11:29: “Then the disciples, every man according to his ability, determined to send relief unto the brethren which dwelt in Judaea:”

2. A willing mind. Not what you do not have.There are many churches that ask you to pledge a specific amount over a period of time. I personally don’t feel this is Biblical.

2 Corinthians 8:12-16: For if there be first a willing mind, it is accepted according to that a man hath, and not according to that he hath not.

3. Do not burden yourself in order to ease another.

13For I mean not that other men be eased, and ye burdened:

4. Out of your abundance and in equality.

14But by an equality, that now at this time your abundance may be a supply for their want, that their abundance also may be a supply for your want: that there may be equality:

5. There was NO lack.

15As it is written, He that had gathered much had nothing over; and he that had gathered little had no lack.

6. Titus, the preacher had this same earnest care for the people.Too many cities have poverty stricken Believers in their memberships while the leaders live in large homes with lavish cars and clothing. A man who has a true Elder’s heart will freely go without something so that the brethren will have their needs met. Remember that God did not ask the government to provide for the Brethren.

16But thanks be to God, which put the same earnest care into the heart of Titus for you.”

Not Grudgingly or of necessity. Give from your heart and be cheerful. You’ll reap what you sow.

2 Corinthians 9:6-7: But this I say, He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully. 7Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver.

Widows and Fatherless. I don’t think this verse just means to visit them, because God made it clear throughout scripture that The Body is to care for them.

James 1:27: Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.

Please prayerfully consider your giving as a follower of Christ.

Sisterlisa

We have a fellowship that gathers together several times a week and we are all experiencing this revival of God’s Word in our lives! Many of us worked together on a study about how the early Believers gathered in homes, by the riverside, and the seas side to hear the Gospel being preached. Many believers today call that the Home Church. Another term people are using to describe this is The Organic Church Life.

As we have come to this revelation of how God has been leading us to make these changes in our lives, we also began discovering things in God’s Word that had not been taught to us in the same way the Holy Spirit is teaching it to us.

John 14:26, “But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shallteach you allthings, and bring allthings to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you. “

1 John 2:27, “But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of allthings, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him. “

Something that we all worked hard on is the New Testament Giving. How did the early Christians give? Did they use shiny gold offering plates? Did they pass them from row to row? Did they have the ushers give the “Put something in the plate nod”? Who did they give the offering to? What did Jesus say they were to give the offering to? Are there examples of how the early Christians gave?

We see many gatherings today come together and take an offering in different ways, but the above mentioned is the one I have seen the most in ‘churches’ today. So we felt challenged by the Holy Spirit to find out, right from the Bible, how they really gave.

We began our study by using a concordance, a dictionary, and a chain reference study Bible. We looked up the words give, offering, tithe, fatherless and widows, and strangers. These are words most often thought of when we think of giving. The ones that may stand out the most by our knowledge of what we have learned in modern churches today.

I will share a few of the verses God gave us in this article, but before I share more I wondered if you wanted to join in this study? Feel free to look up some verses and see what you find too. The comment section is open to those who would like to participate. I will publish the comments that have verses they found about giving, but comments that provoke a debate will be held until after the study is complete. We will then create an article at the end of the study for further discussion. For now let’s just dig into God’s Word together.

Benevolence, a form of love by giving.

Matthew 5:42: “Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away.” Luke 3:11: “He answereth and saith unto them, He that hath two coats, let him impart to him that hath none; and he that hath meat, let him do likewise.” Luke 12:33: “Sell that ye have, and give alms; provide yourselves bags which wax not old, a treasure in the heavens that faileth not, where no thief approacheth, neither moth corrupteth.” Acts 20:35: “I have shewed you all things, how that so labouring ye ought to support the weak, and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he said, It is more blessed to give than to receive.” Romans 12:13: “Distributing to the necessity of saints; given to hospitality.” Galatians 6:10: “As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith.” 1 Timothy 6:18: “That they do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to distribute, willing to communicate;”

The word ‘communicate’ in 1 Timothy 6:18 in the Greek is: Koinonikos

The definition is: inclined to make others sharers in one’s possessions, inclined to impart, free in giving, liberal.

So we found how important it is to God that we help others who are in need.

1. Don’t turn away those who need to borrow. Of course I would imagine we need to use discernment in this. If someone wanted to borrow money to buy something frivolous we might decline, but if someone needed help because they needed food it would be encouraged by the Lord.

2. If you had two of something and a friend was in need of it then give it.

3. Sell unnecessary items and give alms. Alms giving is giving to the poor.

4. Support the weak.

5. Distributing to the needs of the Believers. A gathering of believers that has wealthy Christians and poverty stricken Christians should not be so. You’ll find in a future lesson what God’s Word says about that.

6. Do good to all men, especially Believers!

7. Be ready to give.

SisterLisa