The Storehouse - Mal 3:10

The Storehouse
February 17, 2013
Mal 3:10

Introduction
- During the Middle Ages people used to bring their tithes to a tithe barn
- They would bring chickens, eggs, cattle, hay, all kinds of produce
- But why is it that we tithe?
- Doesn't God own everything?  So why give money to him?
- Today we are going to take a look at what the Bible teaches about tithing

Reading- Mal 3:6-18

God owns everything, so why should we tithe?- Psa 50:10 - God owns the cattle on a thousand hills, what can we bring to the table?
- Isa 66:1 - Heaven is God's throne, the earth his footstool - why does God need our tithes?
- God is so much greater than anything we can imagine, he does not need us
- And yet we tithe.

Tithing pre-dated the Mosaic covenant- Gen 14:18-20 - Abraham pays tithes to Melchisedec
- Melchisedec was the priest of the Most High God
- It seems that this was a theophany - an appearance of Jesus on this planet, before his first coming
- The tithes were a tenth portion of Abraham's increase as a result of spoiling the kings
- Another instance of tithing was when Jacob was fleeing from Esau, and on his way to Haran
- Gen 28:18-22 - Jacob promises to tithe to the Lord
- Notice that tithing happened here, in both of these instances, before the covenant with ancient Israel
- Tithing is part of God's way of financing ministry, testing our givingness quotient, and teaching us to trust Him!

Moses and the Old Covenenant
- Moses received the law at Sinai
- The people made a covenant with God to be obedient
- A part of that covenant was a restating of the tithing principle
- Lev 27:30-33 - an outline of how to determine the tithe - every tenth animal was the Lord's
- The purpose was the support of the ministry in the Tabernacle
- That covenant passed away when Jesus became the fulfillment for the sacrifices, and the Temple was destroyed in 69 ad
- But the eternal principles of provision for ministry, generosity and faith remained

Jesus and the Kingdom message- What did Jesus teach?
- He taught the Christian walk, the way we should conduct our lives as God's children
- The sermon on the mount, in Matthew 5 through 7, shows that he was not doing away with the Old Testament law
- Instead he was asking us to live in its full intention, not just the letter of the law
- Mat 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.
- He describes what he means as he tells about the law Thou shalt not kill
- His intention is that we not hate our brother, but be reconciled with him, reconciliation is more important than offering up prayers or sacrifices
- Similarly he tackes the commands about adultery, divorce
- He also tackles other things not in the 10 Commandments, such as keeping our promises to God, the question of eye for eye, tooth for tooth, and loving our neighbor
- Each of these is taken back to God's intention, not just the letter of the law
- Mat 23:23 Jesus reprimands the Pharisees, not for tithing, but for neglecting justice, mercy and faithfulness - he says, You should have practiced the latter (justice, mercy and faithfulness) without neglecting the former (tithing)
- In other words, tithing was still to be practiced

New Testament application
- So under the new covenant a greater depth of meaning has been given to obedience
- The letter of the law was inadequate - God's intention behind the law is now our standard
- God's intention has always been to provide for his ministry, whether that be the ministry of Melchisedec (Gen 14:20), Jesus ministry - Judas had charge of the purse, which implies income as well as expenses (Jn 12:6), the disciples were sent out expecting those to whom they ministered to care for their physical needs (Luke 9:3-5), the ministry pastors who serve the church well should be counted worthy of double honor, especially preachers and teachers (1 Tim 5:17-18), Paul defends his right to be supported by the church (1 Cor 9:3-12)
- God's intention for us is that we learn to be generous and giving, not just abiding by the letter of the law - the generosity we show will be given back to us and more (Luke 6:38), if we sow sparingly we will reap sparingly but if we sow generously we will reap generously (1 Cor 9:6) - this a priciple drawn from God's own nature, he gives everything to us including his own Son
- Finaly God's intention for us is that we live in faith (Rom 1:17, Heb 10:38), he promises to supply our needs (Mat 6:33, Phil 4:19), he gives us peace (Jn 14:27) and an abundant life (John 10:10)

Conclusion- The principle of tithing has been in existence ever since God started working with his people
- Tithing is for the purpose of supporting the ministry God is doing among us
- Tithing is intended to be done out of a generous heart, not out of obligation (2 Cor 9:6-11)
- Tithing is a test of our trust that God will take care of our needs and ensure that our generosity continued
- God promises blessings when we obey him
- Blessings will be given to enable us to be generous on every occasion (verse 11)
- Let us be an obedient church, experiencing the joys of tithing and seeing God's hand as he provides for our needs