The Generous Life (Generosity is a Journey) Part – 3
10 Frequently asked questions: Tithing?
1. Should I tithe on the gross or on the net?
• The Bible said bring ye all the tithe, not what’s left afteryou paid everything else.
Malachi 1:6-10 God specifically speaks to the government getting the gross and God getting what was left
• The issue here, was they weren’t bringing money, butthey were bring lambs and doves
• What the people would do is if the Governor had to be considered they would give him the best, but when itcame to the church or God…they would go out there and get the lamb that was crippled or bruised and couldn’t be bought for much money, they would bring that to God.
• And God said “If I’m your Father, where’s my honor.”Why would you give me something with lessconsideration…was it the government that blessed you or God?”
2. If I pay tithe on the gross should I pay tithe on the tax refund I get back from the government
• No, because you already paid tithe on it throughoutthe year.
3. If I own a business, do I give tithes on all monies received?
• No, because your overhead cost is not profit
• You give tithes on the profit
• If it is taxable income, it is tithe–able worship
The problem isn’t that people don’t want to do right; It’s thatthey don’t know how to do right!
4. What if I give my tithes to someone in need, is that ok?
• No. Supporting those in need is a good thing. Help themif you can, but don’t put there need first.
• You can’t take sears money and give it to JCPenny’s because it’s similar work.
• In the new testament monies given to those in the need is called Alms…not tithe.
5. What if the church is mishandling money? This is a valid question.
God judged wicked leadership for their unrighteousness, not the faithful worshiper
• He doesn’t judge the people who gave the tithe, he judged the leadership who misuses the tithe…that’s God’sbusiness
• Once you have done it as “Doing it unto the Lord” youdon’t have to worry about policing the leadership. (God will Police Leadership)Here at Mercy Gate we do ourbest to operate with integrity and also we bring in outside auditors to review and bring correction where correction needs to be made.
• We also have a Council whom receives a financial report monthly.
6. What if I’m tithing and I’m not getting ahead
There can be a myriad of things that could be causing you not to go forward or increase in your finances.
• From bad business choices, living above your means,not being wise with other financial obligations
• Most of the time you are getting ahead, but what youexpect progress to feel like, is not what it feels like.
• Listen you could come up several steps and it still feelslike you’re not getting ahead…because life is still life.
7. What if my spouse is not in agreement with tithing?
• Agreement enhances success, talk it over with them
• If they don’t agree with your desire to tithe, you just titheon what is under your stewardship…if you make no money of your own…you cannot make the non-agreeing spouse give.
• You’re going to have to bring it to the Lord in prayer
8. I have no income, is it possible to tithe another way?
• Yes, you could tithe on your free time…volunteering,serving the churches mission needs, helping with the work of the Lord…this is still a way of honoring God.
9. I thought tithes were under the law?
• I’m going to attempt to answer this question in this morning’s teaching.
10. If I do not give tithes, I’ve been told I’m going to hell…Absolutely not, your salvation was not purchased by the tithesof man but by the blood of Jesus Christ.
• We should never confuse God’s grace with our responsibilities…tithing is your responsibility; it is oneof the ways you worship the Lord and Open up Blessing in your life.
• Some have come from churches where the Pastor usedthis to get you to give…that is called manipulation.
Many of those who attend Church have possibly missed what God’s heart is concerning money. I realize it possibly has come from poor or simply bad teaching…
One such bad teaching is that your spirituality is measure by how much you have, how many possessions you have…we get this idea that God wants everyone Rich and somehow it is a measure of your Spirituality…I don’t’ know anything that could be further from the truth than that…except the opposite, which is also taught by the church that lack, poverty, is a sign of piety and spirituality.
Neither of these are true…So I think we need to pray, “Lord let it be done in earth as it is in Heaven…”
One of my Mentors, John Maxwell says, “People grow and change when they Hurt enough they have to. Learn enough they want to , and receive enough that they are able to.”
So, what I know about Generosity is that it is a Growth Process…
It’s like a muscle, if not used, it atrophies, because our nature is to be selfish…
I have selected a theme verse for our series…so go with me to:
2 Cor 9:8 And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work. ESV
I. Abound
a. We have all heard the stories in church of how God miraculously provided and I have many stories myself…
i. One such story was when I was a Youth Pastor, Jonna and I sat down at a table and prayed over green beans because that was about to be our meal for the evening. We had taken the job on faith and now we were in faith asking God where the Next meal was coming from…as I said, Amen over the green beans and was genuinely grateful for those beans…there was a knock at the door, and someone was standing there with two black trash bags full of beef. They had butchered a calf, and the Lord told them to take some to us…so we ate like kings for months and months…ribeye, T-bones, sirloins, ground beef, the good stuff….
ii. But I remember thanking God for that moment…but I also Prayed…God I want to be the guy knocking on the door in the future…
iii. And the truth is…Jonna and I have been those who have knocked on doors of others and have given away cars, furniture, food, clothes and cash…
b. So, when I say, Abound…I want you to live in your dream home…paid off…not a mortgage, I want you to drive your dream car…but I want ALL OF US to be free to be Generous toward Every Good Work!
Transition: So, I am doing this series so that we learn how to access the economy of God…
II. Love, Hate Relationship
Luke 16:10-13
10 He who is faithful in what is least is faithful also in much; and he who is unjust in what is least is unjust also in much. 11 Therefore if you have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches? 12 And if you have not been faithful in what is another man’s, who will give you what is your own?
13 “No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.”
NKJV
a. Verse 11 mentions – Mammon is a Syrian term for the god of riches…
i. Just so you know this is the only god mentioned in the New Testament other than the One True God…
ii. In the Old Testament the Canaanite and the Babylonian god of supply and resource was Baal…
b. So, Jesus is addressing not just money but the spirit in this world that attempts to control the economies of the world…
i. The money in our pocket isn’t good or evil it is what is done with money…
c. 12 And if you have not been faithful in what is another man’s, who will give you what is your own?
i. What is another man’s…what belongs to another man…it is the tithe…
ii. Maybe you have heard we do not pay tithe, we return tithe…because it belongs to another.
iii. It’s in my stewardship and I get the opportunity to display where my Lordship lies…
iv. Why…because God wants to give me my own…He wants to bring increase to what is mine…
d. 13 “No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal (hold to) to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.”
i. So let me illustrate this…this is going to represent Mammon…and this is going to represent God…
ii. You will Love the one and Hate the Other…
iii. Or you will hold to or cling to the one and despise when money is talked about in church…
iv. Once the Lordship issue is settled it is a non-issue…but as long as the issue is unresolved…it is an aggravation or frustration when it is mentioned in Church…
v. But what God is revealing is we are serving Mammon…
1. In holding on to and despising…
2. When we love God…it is displayed by the fact we Love God…but Hate what God hates…
3. Sometimes loving God is demonstrated by what you hate…not people…
e. True Riches
i. Is not more money…true riches is healing, miracles, signs, wonders and living in Divine Health…those things can’t be bought….
ii. Here is an illustration I heard that I think defines true riches…
1. Riches would be if I was able to buy everyone here a Perry’s Steak dinner…
2. True Riches would be I buy One Perry’s Steak dinner, and it feed everyone in the House…
iii. But if we are not faithful with this $$$ we will never know true riches…
Transition: This is question number 9…is tithing a part of the law that God has freed us from?
III. Tithe and the Law
a. Tithing was established by Abraham which pre-dated the Mosaic Law by 550-600 years…
b. So, Abraham is known to us by Romans 4 as the Father of Faith…it was his Faith that was accounted unto him as Righteousness…
c. So, Abraham had won a huge battle and returning he ran into the Man of God, Melchizedek and the bible says, “Abraham tithed a 10th of all he owned to Melchizedek.”
d. So Tithing was a Faith Move, not a Law or Legalmove…
e. The difference between Law and Grace is this…
i. The Law requires…
ii. Grace enables…
iii. So, when I tithe I am responding to Faith and Grace…which has enable me!
iv. Matt 23:23
23 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness. These you ought to have done, without neglecting the others.
ESV
1. Jesus seemingly is always confronting the pharisees…
2. Here Jesus is teaching us through his rebuke of the Pharisees…just because you tithe doesn’t give you the right to be unjust and unmerciful…in the DLG translation…just cause you pay tithe doesn’t mean you get a rude pass…
3. Show justice and mercy…but also tithe.
f. Mal 3:10
10 Bring all the tithes into the storehouse,
That there may be food in My house,
And try Me now in this,”
Says the Lord of hosts,
“If I will not open for you the windows of heaven
And pour out for you such blessing
That there will not be room enough to receive it.
NKJV
i. This is the only place in scripture where God says put me to the test…
ii. Now here me…it is not money that opens the windows of Heaven…it is Obedience that opens the Windows of Heaven that pours out blessing…
iii. “There may be food in My house.”
1. You will never show me a church where revelation and knowledge are flowing from the word of God…and that church is stingy.
2. Food is revelation, wisdom, knowledge, restoration, healing…multiplication.
iv. In Israels history…they were required not to plant or harvest in the land on the 7th year…they were to eat on the overflow of what God had provided in the 6 years prior….
1. But there was a time when they delayed or actually didn’t do it for 490 years…they put off their yes to God for 490 years…
2. Israel was sent into exile for…how long does anyone know…70 years…if you divide 490 by 7 you get the number of years they were in exile…because you never keep what you withhold.
Transition: It is all about Lordship…All the Miracles Israel experienced in the Wilderness were to sustain them. All the miracles experienced in the Promise Land was to AdvanceThem.
IV. The Generosity to Abundance is a Journey
Phil 4:17
17 I don’t say this because I want a gift from you. Rather, I want you to receive a reward for your kindness. (NLT)
Tithing is God’s Business Plan for the Church and His Blessing Plan for you.
The Giving Journey:
Level 1. What should I do with my stuff?
Level 2. What should I do with God’s stuff?
Level 3. What would God have me to do with God’s stuff?
Level 4. What would God have me to give from what God has provided to me and my family?
Level 5. What would God have me to keep from what God has provided to me and my family?
My desire is to help people discover the joy of giving not the obligation of giving.
Giving Ladder Example
1. Emerging Giver
2. Percentage Giver
3. Tithe
4. Extravagant Giver
5. Surrendered Giver
