Should Christians Tithe?

The following is a pre-recorded program.

Here again is Dr. Michael Brown. Hey friends, welcome to the Line of Fire. This is Michael Brown, and we are doing some special teaching this week on subjects where over the years we've gotten countless, countless questions sent in about the same subjects, about Sabbath observance, about tithing, about dietary laws, about divorce and remarriage. And we've taught on these things.

We've gone through the word, we've entertained calls on it. Sometimes we've even had friendly debates with folks about these different issues, but I thought it'd be time to just do a refresher, go through the relevant scriptures, answer the questions as best as we can and give you some guidelines for your own life, for your own practice. If you have questions, maybe you're, you're a pastor and you're trying to sort this out. Maybe you're committed to a local congregation, you go to a house church, or right now you're isolated. You can't go, what should you do with money?

And so on. So I'm not telling you who you should give to, or specifically what ministry you should support other than where you are nurtured, the congregation that you are part of, that there's your home where people are pouring into you and you're able to serve there. That's where you want to underwrite on a most foundational level.

And then there's giving above and beyond that. But we want to look at principles specifically concerning tithing. I won't be taking calls. I won't be interacting with breaking news around us.

So sit back, take this in, share this with a friend. It's interesting that in many churches you will be taught very plainly that tithing is required by God today. In other words, to be in full obedience to the Lord and compliance with the Lord, that you should be tithing. And to not be tithing would be quote, robbing God.

Or that perhaps your finances are even under a curse because you're not tithing. Is that scriptural? Is that a New Testament concept? Is this a part of the law of Moses that is now binding on us today, whereas other things are not binding?

Or is that a completely wrong way of looking at this? So where's the first mention of the tithe in scripture? Well, Genesis chapter 14.

So let's look there. Genesis chapter 14. And you know, the account Abram has come back from rescuing Lot and others, and there was war with Sodom and other kings. And in the midst of this, Machitzedek, Melchizedek, right? In Hebrew, Machitzedek of Salem, king of Salem, brought out bread and wine. He was a priest of God most high. And then it says, and he blessed him saying, baruch ha'vram l'el el yon konei shamayim va'aretz. Blessed be Abram of God most high, creator of heaven and earth, v'varuch el el yon asher magen tzarecha biadecha. And blessed be God most high, who has delivered your foes.

Magen tzarecha biadecha, who has delivered your foes into your hand. And then notice in the translation here, and Abram in brackets gave him a tenth of everything, v'yiten lo maz-ser mikol. Now the Hebrew just says, and he gave him a tenth of everything.

So who gave who? Who did Abram tithe to Melchizedek, Melchizedek, or did Melchizedek tithe to Abram? Well, this has universally been understood that Abram tithed to Melchizedek, all right? But just pointing out that the Hebrew has to be interpreted, cause this is, and he gave him a tenth of everything.

Okay. So that's the first reference. It's not in Sinai law, Sinai covenant.

It's not part of the, the, the commandment, set of commandments that God gave to Israel, but there must've been something customary about this, something honorary about this that was known in the culture, or just was Abram's own expression. I've got all these spoils. I'm going to give you a tenth of everything. Now here's the next reference, Genesis chapter 28, the end of the chapter, Jacob, as he's, as he's fleeing from, from the wrath of, of, of his brother Esau. And he's going to be going on his own now. He's going to Padan Aram.

He's going on a journey. Jacob makes a vow saying, if God remains with me, if he protects me on this journey that I'm making and gives me bread to eat and clothing to wear, and if I return safe to my father's house, then the Lord, meaning Yahweh, shall be my God. And the stone, which I have set up as a pillar, shall be God's abode. And of all that you give me, v'chol asher tit'enli, of all that you give me, aser asrech alach, excuse me, aser, excuse me, aser asren lach, I will set aside a tithe for you. So the Hebrew is emphatic that I stumbled over really a couple of times that I will, I will surely give you a tenth of everything. Now, again, this is before the law on Mount Sinai. This is before the giving of these relative commandments.

And there, there, there are quite a few about tithing that we won't get into. Some have argued that all the tithing giving would be over 20% of income, but to tithe literally means to give a tenth. Those, those Hebrew words that I was reading literally mean to give a tenth. Our English word tithe means a tenth. So here's what we know. Before Mount Sinai, the tithe was practiced by Abram, in one instance, and by Jacob as a lifestyle, as part of a vow. So there's something symbolic about this.

There's something symbolic about saying, God, that everything I have, I'm acknowledging you, I'm remembering you, I'm putting you first, I'm giving to you first. Okay? So that's, that's where things start.

Start. But there's more. There is more to the subject. It was part of Sinai law, but we are not under the Sinai covenant. There are many, many laws that were given that are not binding for all Christians today. And almost all pastors across America would agree, yeah, all Christians are not bound to keep all of the commandments of the Sinai covenant.

They would agree on that. Well, then why do they want to emphasize tithing? Why do they say tithing is so important?

Is it just because they're greedy? Is it just because they want to grow their church or in, in, in finances or maybe put more money in their own bank accounts? One pastor, pastor of an incredibly generous church, has said this, that if you're a pastor and you teach your people to tithe so that you can bring in more money for the church, God will not bless you. If you teach them to tithe so that they will be blessed, God will bless that. But you might push back and say, on what basis are you teaching the tithe? Where does it say to teach that in the New Testament? Well, let's, let's look first at a few more verses from, from the Hebrew Bible, and then we'll come over to the New Testament. I haven't answered the question yet. I've asked it, should Christians tithe, should Christians tithe, must Christians tithe, but I have not answered the question yet.

So for those saying, I didn't get your answer yet, I haven't given it yet. We're just taking a journey through scripture. Proverbs chapter three, Proverbs chapter three, verses nine and 10, kabedat araname honecha omei rishikol tu otecha l'mal u'aseh mecha sava t'v'tiroshi kaveh rifrotsu. Honor the Lord with your wealth.

Same word for honor your father and mother. Honor the Lord from your wealth, with your wealth, and from the best of all of your income, all of your produce, everything you get, given the first fruits that, that, that word best there in Hebrew, rishit, rishikol tu otecha. So that's from, from the first fruits of everything you're getting, hence the best that, but, but out of everything you get you give to God first and you give to him of the best.

And what's the result? And your barns will be filled with grain. Your vats will burst with new wine. All right, now let's step back from this and realize that even though this was part of the Sinai covenant, and this was part of the law, this is also a principle in Proverbs that you should honor God first, that of the wealth that he gives you, the income that he gives you, the produce that he gives you, you should honor him first and he will bring blessing with that. He will bring blessing with that. This is just like many, many other promises in Proverbs that God blesses the generous, that God blesses those who are open-handed. You have in the Psalms as well, generosity and righteousness are two sides of the same coin. Generosity and love are two sides of the same coin. Generosity and purity are two sides of the same coin.

In other words, a life devoted to the Lord, a life given over to the Lord will also be a generous life. I have ministered in countries in the midst of real poverty and here are members of a local congregation and it's time for the offering and they will come and lay a piece of fruit at the altar there. That's, that's from their garden. That that's from their Grove.

That's, here's a vegetable and they take it and lay it down there. That's what they have to give. And you say, well, well you should just have them keep it then cause they have so little.

But I've talked to leaders that work among the very, very poor. They said, no, it's good for them to learn to give. It's good for them to cultivate a mentality of generosity. So I'm not yet answering the question, should Christians tithe, must Christians tithe, but I am encouraging a spirit of generosity and a spirit that puts God, puts God first in keeping with Jesus saying in Matthew six, seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these other things.

Matthew six 33, right? All these other things, the things you need in life, just the daily bread and daily sustenance and a roof over your head and clothes on your back. All these other things will be added to seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness.

Put him first and then go about your business. Go about your work. Be diligent, work hard. Proverbs also emphasizes diligence. Proverbs emphasizes that and speaks against laziness. But generosity goes hand to hand with the character of God.

God himself is a generous, generous giver, a gracious and generous giver. Here, look at this picture. I've got, I'm holding up a pen in my hand. I want this pen.

Mike, can you let me have it? No, this is my pen. You're not getting my pen. I like this pen.

Okay. So I get to hold onto the pen, right? But can you get anything else in this hand? No, it's, it's, it's, it's tight.

I'm tight-fisted. You can't get anything else in this. I'm going to keep my pen.

But, but now I'm not going to get anything else. Instead, Hey, Mike, can I borrow your pen? Take it.

Yeah, I'm good. Take it. Open my hand. You take this pen.

Great. You take it. It's yours.

We'll give it back if you want, but it's yours. You know, the good thing is I got open hands. I cannot receive.

I cannot receive. When you are open-handed, and the Bible even uses these idioms, tight-fisted versus open-handed. When you're open-handed, you give, you give with generosity, but now you're able to receive because you're in that posture.

So by all means, before we get to the answer to the question, should Christians tithe, must Christians tithe? Before we get to that answer, let us emphasize that generosity is a good thing. And being a giver is a good thing. Rather than always thinking, I don't have, I don't have, I need people to take care of me. I have the mentality that I get to bless. I'm a giver. I get to serve others. I get to pour into God's work. It's The Line of Fire with your host, Dr. Michael Brown. Get into The Line of Fire now by calling 866-34-TRUTH.

Here again is Dr. Michael Brown. Should Christians tithe? Must Christians tithe? Is it God's will that followers of Jesus give 10% of their income to God's work to the local congregation?

Beyond that, they give. What does God have to say about this? Can we just take specific words from the Old Testament and apply them to today? Now Jesus does say in Matthew 23, when he's rebuking religious hypocrites, that you tithe on the smallest little detail of everything, but you neglect the greater matters of justice, mercy, and faithfulness.

You should have done the one without neglecting the other. So he doesn't speak against them giving. He says, no, it's good that you're tithing, but still, that's not post-cross, post-resurrection directive.

Like the Sermon on the Mount, that's Jesus speaking to his disciples, and those are those are eternal principles that he's letting out for us to live in this world. But he doesn't set it on tithing. You say, yeah, but Hebrews explains that Abraham gave the tithe to Melchizedek and that Levi was in his womb, so that that meant Levi was giving the tithe, and yeah, I understand, but it doesn't say that Christians should tithe today, does it?

There's not that specific teaching. Well, how about Malachi chapter 3? Malachi chapter 3, probably the best known verse in the Bible about tithing, and God says to his people, you are suffering under a curse, yet you go on defrauding me, the whole nation of me, the whole nation of you. Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, and let there be food in my house, and thus put me to the test, said the Lord of hosts.

I will surely open the floodgates of the sky for you, and pour down blessings on you, and I will banish the locust from you, so that they will not destroy the yield of your soil, and your vines in the field shall no longer miscarry, said the Lord of hosts. All right, so, bring the full tithe into the storehouse. So what would the concept be in ancient Israel? And I'm not going to get into all the details of how they paid their tithes, and what they did with it, and then when they would go to Jerusalem, and bring the funds, and so on, but the idea would be that this supported priestly Levitical ministry in the nation, that you had the maintenance of the tabernacle, that you had the Levites in every city, that you had the priests doing their work, that there were sacrifices to be offered, there were things to be done, there were people whose full-time vocation was the service of God as priests and Levites, and they had to be supported. So this was the support system, and with everyone giving, that there would be ample supply, and there'd even be money to give to the poor and help in that regard, and that a spirit of generosity was always important. We find it through the Torah that Israelites encouraged to be generous, and encouraged to lend without thinking about how I can get a return, even lending to a fellow Israel that you wouldn't charge interest. So a spirit of generosity is there, and as I mentioned in the last segment, we have verses and proverbs about that, quite a few about generosity versus stinginess.

The righteous person in the Psalms commended for being generous. So this was how things would work, and as people withheld that which belonged to God, and that which supported priestly ministry, and kept it for themselves, then it brought judgment. They were under a curse. The blessing of God was not flowing. As they honored him and put him first, the blessing was richly poured out.

Now, is it right for pastors to use this today to batter people over the head in their church, and to say, you're cursed because you're not tithing, and God will reverse the curse if you give? It is better to look at the principles of Malachi, to understand what brought about cursing, what brought about blessing, to understand why generosity, to understand why support of God's work was important, to understand why we should give to him first and give him the best, to understand the principles, and then by acting on the principles, it brings blessing and return. Generosity begets generosity. Grace begets grace.

So that's so, so important to understand and take hold of. And pastors, I'd encourage you, rather than just preaching that, because it still is an Old Testament verse under Sinai Covenant, rather than just preaching that and hammering people with that, think of the life-giving principles from it. Think of the life-giving truths in it, and then preach those life-giving truths to cultivate a spirit of generosity and honor toward God, and with that, a release of blessing. Don't hit people over the head with it as a requirement under the law, because there is no New Testament requirement for the tithe.

Let me say it again. There is not a New Testament requirement for tithe. Rather, as we'll see, there is a principle, and the principle calls for generosity, and the principle calls for support of those who are in ministry. As Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 9, those who preach the gospel should make their living by the gospel. In other words, if your full-time vocation is gospel service, then those you are serving should cover your needs and expenses.

If you were a traveling minister in those days, it would mean that people accommodated you, they put you up where you were, they cared for you, fed you, and then when it was time for you to go to the next city, you had funds enough to travel to get to that next location. And that those who were local ministers, Galatians 6, those who were taught by the word should share all good things with their teacher. So this is just reciprocity, this is just common sense spiritually. These are taught in the New Testament, but the specific tithe command is not taught.

Let me say it again. The principle of generosity is taught. The principle of supporting those that minister to spiritually, that is taught. But the specific requirement of the tithe is not taught. Now, you might say, when you get to the New Testament, there's sacrificial giving, and the believers in Acts even sold what they had.

Some sold fields, some sold everything and gave it for the common good. Oh yeah, when you get to the New Testament, you get to sacrificial generosity even beyond what was found in the Old Testament. So by all means, we should cultivate that. By all means, we should encourage that. By all means, we should say, hey, as the Lord lays it on your heart, especially in times of need, which just speaks to you to step out in faith, do it. God will honor it.

But it is not out of a legal commitment. It is out of a heart of generosity, and it is a heart of appreciation and a heart of reciprocity. I remember teaching at Bible school on Long Island in the mid-1980s, and a gentleman came up to me, older student, and he said, you know, it says in the Bible, let him who's taught in the Word share all good things with his teacher. He said, well, I want to share something with you. I said, oh, okay. And he said, I want to share a testimony. Now, I was blessed to hear the testimony. But that's actually not what the Scripture means. It would mean, for example, that you've got your local pastor teacher in your community, and he's spending hours studying the Word and laboring to prepare messages and lessons for the children's workers and helping people.

He's putting the other series on helping people deal with depression and fear and then going to visit folks in the hospital and pray for them and so on. Well, you receive from that person, you should share with them. You should sow back into them. And this is a righteous principle. And Paul says, look, that's just the way things work. When you go to a restaurant, you pay for your meal.

It's just a natural thing you do. When you go to the grocery store, you pay for your groceries. When you go to that athletic event, you've got the professional team coming in.

There's a big game. You pay for a ticket, right? So, I mean, that's just the way things go. So, the gospel is given freely, right? Thirteen years of daily radio given freely.

Never charged you to listen. Articles posted, thousands of them freely. Sermons preached freely with joy. And now people freely give back and support our work to enable us to do what we do. Look at it as a life-giving principle.

Look at it as a healthy principle. I remember talking to a gentleman that I worked with before I was in vocational ministry. So, it was late 70s, early 80s. And he asked me, what does your pastor do for a living? I said to him, what does your rabbi do for a living? He said, he's a rabbi. I said, yeah, my pastor's a pastor. It was a funny question, but in his mind, yeah, the rabbi gets paid to be the rabbi. What does your pastor do? He's a pastor.

He probably works a lot more hours than a normal guy would work and makes less money per hour, but it's because it's ministry work. I was in England one time and the pastor was telling me that kids were going around in first day of class and his daughter comes home and says, oh yeah, they asked us what our daddies do for a living and what kind of job they have. And she said to her daddy, yes, I talked about you. And her daddy said, well, what did you tell him when they asked, what does your daddy do for a living? She said, I told him, he doesn't have he doesn't have a job.

He's a pastor. No, look the same way. How would you feel? How would you feel friend? If you work really hard on a project at your job, right? Instead of a 40 hour week, you put in the 50 hour week and you do everything you're asked to do and more. And at the end of the week, you don't get your paycheck.

How would you feel? Now I don't do ministry for paycheck, God forbid. I left secular work and started teaching full time in the ministry school, married with two children living on Long Island, which has never been cheap.

This is always $1,450 a month, married with two children and a house on Long Island. We had to pray in money every month. We had to believe God for funds every month.

And I was told that that's the way the school ran things to make sure you were there only because you were called to be there because you weren't going to make enough to live. You don't do ministry. Yes, you may be blessed and prosper over a period of years. That's not what you do ministry for. But what I want you to understand is that people are ministering to you the biblical principles that you're supporting them.

That if they're pouring into you, that you support them. It's a righteous thing to do. It's a godly thing to do. It's a fair thing to do. And it's how things run well.

It's the way God set things up. So, I've said plainly that there is not a tithe requirement in the New Testament. But in the New Testament, God does call for generosity, and we'll see that more in a moment. And he does call for believers to support their leaders. Not to make them rich, but to support them. If you are ministered to spiritual things, Paul writes, 1 Corinthians 9, if we minister spiritual things to you, is it too much to eat natural things from you?

We pour into you spiritually, now you support us in the natural, so we can then minister to more people. So, you understand how the system works? It's basic. It's godly. It's good.

It's fair. But there's much more to come. It's The Line of Fire with your host, Dr. Michael Brown. Your voice of moral, cultural, and spiritual revolution.

Here again is Dr. Michael Brown. Are Christians required to tithe into the New Testament? No, they're not required to tithe. But, as we go through the New Testament, we see that the New Testament encourages systematic giving. It encourages proportional giving.

In other words, as you have, you're able to give. It encourages generous and even sacrificially generous giving at certain times. And it does call for those who are ministered to spiritually to sow back in naturally to support those who minister to them. We're going through what the Bible says about tithing on today's broadcast, not taking calls, not commenting on breaking news, but just making this a teachable moment to dig into Scripture together.

Because we've been asked about tithing many, many times over the years, like a number of other subjects that come up all the time. So here's a renewed broadcast where we focus on this and go through the relevant Scriptures. But can I tell you a couple of stories, a couple of giving stories from my own life. Then we're going to look at a bunch of New Testament verses.

I remember being in California. I was speaking at a missions conference in Anaheim. And at the end of the service, they received an offering.

Now, I was the guest speaker. I was going to receive an honorarium, not me personally, but our ministry would for my speaking. And normally, you know, the offering is is going to support the speaker's ministry, in this case missions as well. But I thought, you know, I want to give to this.

It's a missions offering. I want to give to others. And I had $40 in my pocket, literally. I was going to be dropped off at the airport there in California.

And then it was going to be the red eye. I was going to be flying back through the night. And I thought I should just give what's in my pocket. I got two $20 bills. I mean, I've got no cash at the airport, but I got two $20 bills.

That's what I'll give. And I gave the money just to honor the Lord. Well, the guy's dropping me off at the airport. He's a student in a seminary there and very clearly does not have money.

Very clearly does not have money. As you tell from the vehicle, you can tell just chatting, all right. I'm getting out of the car. He says, hey, you're going to get a meal at the airport. I said, yeah, you know, I'm going to get something to eat before the flight. And of course, I have my credit card to use. It's not like I was without any hope of anything.

Or I just skip eating. He says, oh, get yourself a nice meal. I want to give you this.

I said, no, no, I'm good, man. He goes, no, no, no, I want you to have this. And I thought, okay, he'll get blessed if he gives. He'll get blessed for being generous. So I want to honor that and not get in the way. He was so insistent.

And what does he do? He puts two $20 bills in my hand. What kind of meal are you going to get at the airport for $40, right? Obviously, I didn't spend all that there, but it was just, I just thought, now, isn't that funny? I just gave $40 out of my own pocket.

Now, literally $2.20 is the same thing back in my pocket. It's just a little thing, but I thought, isn't that interesting? Just one of those times, a little prompting, act on it.

Okay. There's another time I was speaking at a conference and I was going to be traveling out from there and I really needed to have some cash with me on this trip. And during the offering, I felt I'm supposed to give this money. I'm supposed to give away this money, the cash that's in my pocket. And I thought, okay, all right, what can I do? Let's see, we've got a book table here that someone's running for our ministry.

You know, someone from the conference is running it. Maybe afterwards, maybe afterwards I can go over to the book table because I need some cash to travel with for the next part of this ministry and a ministry trip. And I thought, no, that's not going to work because I won't be able to see the table's going to be closed. And I just felt, just give it. So in my mind, I went through every option of how I could get cash and have bank card to use. Then it's like, I don't have any, but I feel I'm supposed to give a little thing, a little, little thing. But I felt prompted and I gave. And then afterwards some friends say, Hey, Mike, you want to go out and get some pizza? This is in the days when I used to eat pizza all the time.

I said, sure thing. We go out to the pizzeria and sit down for the meal. The end of the night guy says, I really want you to have this. And just stuffs cash in my pocket. Somebody else just gives me some cash. I'm going to go out for meals with people all the time and they don't put money in my pocket afterwards. And I looked and it was much more than I gave. I thought, isn't that interesting? Because in my mind, again, tiny little story, but in my mind, I went through all the options and I thought, nope, nope, whatever.

I just have to go without money. And the next thing there's more cash in my pocket than I had before. I just, it was a little thing happened again. It got my attention.

Okay. We lived on Long Island and this was, I'm just thinking the apartment we were in there on Long Island. So it's gotta be right around 1980. And I'm, I'm working about 70 miles from home this next day. And those days I sold baby pictures for a living.

A long time ago, I was getting my PhD at NYU, supporting a family, married with two kids, living in an apartment, upstairs apartment in a two family house on Long Island. And what would happen was I'd get about 50 sets of pictures and they were entitled to a free eight by 10. But when we went in there, we, we offered them different packages and you'd buy this, et cetera.

And when, when our first daughter was born, we got the pictures, did the whole thing. I thought, oh, whatever. It's a fun thing.

People like pictures, salesman, natural salesman, fine. So you'd see, you know, eight, 10 people a day, and most of them would buy, and then you get a commission on that. So it was enough to live on. It wasn't much, but it was enough to live on. But, but this particular Monday, I was going to be driving way out on the Island.

I lived in a place called Island Park right next to Long Beach on the South shore. And I was going to be going out to Riverhead about 70 miles out. The only redeeming thing was I was going against the traffic each way. So it wouldn't take as long.

I'd never been out there. I just felt that's a long drive each way. I got to leave early and make the calls and set up the appointments and so on, cause they'll all be done same day. And anyhow, I'm looking at our bills in those days. I paid the bills in the house and, and I'm looking, it's like, okay, we've got to pay our rent. We got this electric bill done and the rent, the landlord is a really nasty and nasty, angry man who lives downstairs. So you cannot be a second late for the first day of the month. That's it, rent in his hand. And this, and I looked and I said, but if I tithe, then there won't be enough.

I'm going to be short. And I felt the Lord bring me to Malachi 3. Now I've said that Malachi 3 is not a legal thing over us today, cause we're not under the Sinai covenant, that you're under a curse if you don't tithe.

And if you tithe, you'll be out from under the curse, but there are principles of generosity there that God will honor, principles of generosity. And I felt those words from the Hebrews speak to me, prove me, says the Lord. The only time in the Bible where God says to test him, prove him, prove me. This is Sunday night. I said, okay, I'm writing the checks, I'm going to tithe, I'm going to honor the Lord, but when it's time to pay these bills, I'm going to have a shortfall.

Something has to happen. So I, it's the only time in my life I ever felt God speak that verse to me and say, prove me, test me, and give. It wasn't a big deal. I mean, whatever my salary was, if I got paid every two weeks, maybe I was making $250, $300 a week, I don't know, whatever it was, wasn't much. And, you know, maybe a little bit more than that as I think, but so you tithe, it was, you know, $60, $70 every two dollars every two weeks, but it was the make or break, you know what I'm saying? Sometimes, you know, you don't have three dollars, little and thirty, little and sixty, little and a hundred, a thousand, or ten thousand, whatever.

So I, okay, Lord, I write the check, I'm going to honor you, and I drive out to Riverhead that day, and I start, like always, make my appointments early in the morning, and set it up through the day, always see, you know, try to make a little route that makes sense on the map, days before GPS, and the first person, they want to bike everything. It's like, are you kidding me? Just, yeah, yeah, great, I want to get this, oh, we got uncles and aunts, along with the grandparents, and, you know, I need more pictures, okay, great, oh, we love these pictures.

Are you serious? The next house, same thing. And the next house, the same thing. I mean, I called the office midday, I was stunned, but I was stunned by God, because he told me the night before, prove me, watch what I do, I'm selling baby pictures, come on! By the end of the day, instead of seeing ten people in a day, the orders were so many, I only got to see eight, but if I remember, it was eight orders for like $1,345. I haven't told the story in years, so I remember the exact time, I think it was eight orders for $1,345 of baby pictures. Now, they were going to get a lot of stuff, quality stuff, I was like, you got to be kidding me. The end of the week, the last customer made the biggest order in my history, it was like a $400 or $399, whatever. And I was in an apartment building, and it put me over $4,000 of baby pictures sold that we could set a record for the company. I remember when I finished that I was in the apartment building, I just met with the husband and wife, and they ordered this and this and this, and yeah, everything, we love it, we're great, let's do it. It was the easiest sale I ever had.

I was stunned. And I got out of the apartment, and right there in the hallway, so there's nobody walking up and down the apartment building, I got on my knees and raised my hands in worship, not because of the money, but because of the miracle of God saying, prove me. You say, what was a regular week? This is like over three times, or sometimes over four times, what I bring in in terms of sales for the company.

At least three. And when I came in, that next morning, they were all like, did you do it? Yeah, I showed them the figures, they were all stunned, and I never came near that again. But it was quite a job, right? But it was just God encouraging me to prove him, to test him, and to see what he would do. The one and only time in the Bible it says to test him, and the one and only time he ever spoke that specific verse to me in that context. Oh, he spoke to me many times to step out in faith, and to even quit my job and go teach at a Bible college. Yeah, that was all part of a few years later, when he told me to quit my job. I had a better job at that point, and was bringing a little bit more money, and we'd moved into a house, got a great deal in a house, and so on. And he's challenged me in many ways, step out, obey him, and test him in that sense to see if he'll back his word. But that was the one and only time for Malachi 3, and the most amazing specific financial miracle I had at work.

And you think, I mean, baby pictures? Are you kidding me? I've been wholesome enough, but are you kidding me? So I want to encourage you, you are not under the law of tithing in the New Testament. But as you have a spirit of generosity and freedom and joy to give to God's work, to give and support your local congregation, to give and support the ministry projects and the ministries that you believe in, and to be generous to the poor, to the needy as you do it, not out of obligation, but out of love and freedom.

It's amazing to see what God does. Oh yeah, you still have to work, you still have to be a good steward. Yeah, these other principles apply. Irresponsibility and laziness will never be blessed. Giving is never a way out for irresponsibility and laziness. If you honor the Lord and work hard and you're generous, you'll really see God smiling. It's the Line of Fire with your host, Dr. Michael Brown. Your voice of moral, cultural, and spiritual revolution.

Here again is Dr. Michael Brown. So what does the New Testament say about giving? It certainly builds on the principles of the Old Testament. It builds on the principles of the tithe. It builds on principles of generosity. It builds on principles of supporting those that do the work of ministry in your life.

It absolutely supports that. But then there are other distinct statements that are made. Look at what Jesus said. It's in a context of giving and generosity and even forgiving and compassion. Look at what Jesus says. Luke chapter 6 verse 38, well-known verse, give and it will be given to you.

A good measure, pressed down, shaken together, overflowing will be given into your lap, for whatever measure you measure out will be measured back to you. So this is a New Testament principle, that you will be blessed in accordance with your generosity. It works this way in a thousand areas of life, not just financially. That you will be treated as you treat others and here you will receive as you give. So this is from Jesus and yes it does apply financially as well as to other areas of life. Now in 1st Corinthians 16, Paul said that the first day of every week you should lay aside funds.

This is for a special offering he was taking to help the the poor believers in Jerusalem. But here's the point with this, is that there was systematic giving. There was put your money aside the beginning of each week and the beginning of each week would also speak of, okay this is a first fruits thing. This is something I'm setting apart at the beginning before I have my expenses for the rest of the week.

I'm setting this apart first. So giving to God first, that would be in accordance with the that would be in accordance with the tithe, the first fruits. Giving to God first, giving to God systematically.

And Paul explains proportionately, generously. So you could say that this is the tithe plus, but not by command, by principle, by spirit. Let's look at what Paul writes, 2nd Corinthians chapter 8.

2nd Corinthians chapter 8, beginning in verse 1. Now we make known to you brothers and sisters the grace God has given to Messiah's communities in Macedonia, that in much testing by affliction the abundance of their joy and their extreme poverty overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part. For I testify that according to their ability and even beyond their ability they gave of their own free will, begging us with much urging for the favor of sharing in the relief of the saints. Moreover, it was not just as we had hoped, but they gave of themselves first to the Lord and then to us in keeping with God's will. So where it's Titus that just deceived made a start before, so he should also complete this gracious service for you.

So he sent Titus to help prepare an offering to help the poor believers in Jerusalem. But as you excel in everything in faith and speech and knowledge and all diligence and in your love for us, also excel in this grace and this divine enabling to give. Now he says this, verse 8, I'm saying this not as a command. Again, there is not a New Testament command for the tide, but a call to generous, sacrificial, consistent giving.

I'm saying this not as a command, but I'm trying to prove by the diligence of others the genuineness of your love as well. For you know the grace of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah, that even though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor so that through his poverty you might become rich. So obviously speaking of spiritual poverty and riches or of naturally stripping himself of everything, that we could be spiritually rich, it's not saying Jesus died for us so that we would be financially rich. This is not saying that the purpose of the cross is to make you rich financially. That's the carnal prosperity message which we renounce and reject. But it does, and by the way, you think Jesus cared about earthly riches coming down from heaven and all the treasures in heaven?

You think he cared about earthly riches? But here's the principle that he gave, and that as we give, blessing comes. He gave, we are blessed, we give sacrificially, we are blessed. Okay, 2 Corinthians chapter 9. 2 Corinthians chapter 9.

Let's, let's, well, we'll tell you what, we'll keep reading through, we'll go back, we'll go back to 2 Corinthians 8, and Paul says this, verse 12. If the eagerness is present, the gift is acceptable according to what a person has, not according to what he does not have. For it is not relief for others and hardship for you, but as a matter of equality. Your abundance at this present time meets their needs so that their abundance may also meet your need so that there may be equality. As it is written, he who gathered much did not have too much, he who gathered little did not have too little about the children of Israel. Exodus 16 and the gathering of the man. Okay, 2 Corinthians chapter 9. 2 Corinthians 9, beginning verse 6.

This is for everybody, this is for all believers. 2 Corinthians 9, 6. The point is this, whoever sows sparingly shall also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully shall also reap bountifully.

Leave the scripture up on our screen for a moment for those who are watching. But pastor that I had late 70s, early 80s, was once asked, should be tithed on our net income or our gross income? And he said, how much would you want blessed? Do you want God to bless your net income or your gross income?

You know, what are you asking God to bless? So you sow sparingly, you reap sparingly. Yeah, I never have enough.

Maybe there's reason. Maybe you need to cultivate generosity. Maybe you need to change that attitude of I'm always the one in need, and go out to the restaurant, everyone has to treat me, everyone has to help me.

Maybe you say, okay, I'm going to start changing that. I'm going to be the one to give and be generous. And as God entrusts you with that, then just opens things up that the people that I know that are most supernaturally blessed financially are the most generous givers.

And the more they give, it just pours out, and they just keep giving more with joy. Let each one give as he has decided to sow it, not grudgingly or under compulsion. To repeat, there is not a New Testament law for tithing, a New Testament requirement for tithing. It's not New Testament. Your local congregation may say to become a full member, this is what we ask of members, they can also ask that members wear jackets and ties.

Men wear jackets and ties, ladies wear dresses. They can ask what they want, you know, that's fine. But there is no New Testament requirement for tithing, rather a principle of giving above and beyond the tithe. Let each one give as he has decided in his heart, not grudgingly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.

You've often heard that word quoted, here's where it's from. And God is able to make all grace overflow to you, so that by always having enough of everything, you may overflow in every good work. As it is written, he scattered widely, he gave to the poor as righteousness endures forever, from Psalm 1 12. Now, look at this, the one who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed and increase the harvest of your righteousness. You will be enriched in everything for all generosity, which through us brings about thanksgiving to God. Listen to that again, you will be enriched in everything for all generosity, which through us brings about thanksgiving to God. For this service of giving is not only supplying the needs of the saints, but is also overflowing with many thanksgivings to God. Because of the evidence of this service, they praise God for the obedience of your affirmation of the good news of Messiah, for the generosity of your contribution to them and to everyone. And in their prayer for you, they long for you because of the surpassing grace of God upon you.

Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift. My motivation in teaching this was to teach it. In other words, it's a question we're asked a lot. We've taught on this in years past, but I thought, let's just renew this. Just did a teaching on Sabbath for the same reason. So my motivation in teaching on tithing was to lay out what the Word says to explain these principles. So in my heart, as I read the New Testament, I see something above and beyond the tithe. I see a giving above and beyond that. I see it systematic.

I see it set apart. I see it as firstfruits. And we didn't even get into the whole teaching of firstfruits in the Bible. But this whole aspect of putting God first in all these different ways. Friends, my motivation in teaching was to share the Word and to edify you with the Word and to help you live out what God speaks, what God desires, so that your life can be blessed. My motivation in teaching it is not to generate funds for the ministry any more than my motivation on teaching on the Sabbath was to get you to keep the Sabbath for our ministry.

That's not my motivation. I will tell you this, that those of you who have given have blessed us greatly, and we deeply appreciate your support. So I want to take this opportunity to thank you. My motivation in teaching was not to request funds or to set up a special offering at the end of this broadcast. My motivation was to answer a question that we get a lot as we get Sabbath questions and others a lot, and to take a whole broadcast and go through Scripture and go through principles and lay these things out so that you can have a better understanding and making decisions in your own life. But I would be remiss if I did not thank you who've given to us over the years.

Some of you have been monthly supporters for many, many years. Thank you. Some have given sacrificially. God knows that. Thank you.

It may have been a hundred dollar check, but it felt like a million dollars to you. God knows that, and we appreciate it. And there's treasure in heaven, and you'll get to meet people whose lives were changed and perhaps even saved from darkness and sin through your generosity. Some of you have helped us with one-time gifts when we put out special appeals. Thank you. Your ministry of giving is a ministry.

Just know that. Supporting your local congregation, supporting other ministries, helping others in need, helping our ministry. It's a great ministry, a ministry of giving, a ministry of generosity, a gift of generosity.

It makes a difference. It lifts burdens off leaders. It frees them to do so many things God's called them to do, and they give their focus and energy to that. So God bless you. May you have that spirit of generosity. May you support your home base, your home congregation, and those that minister to you. And may you do it out of a spirit of love, gratitude, and joy, not out of compulsion and law. And may the smile of God beyond you as you do. And may you in every as you do. And may you in every way be fruitful and multiplied for His kingdom and His glory. Another program powered by the Truth Network.