Government - Part 5: Ecclesiastical Government - Giving & Worship
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[00:00:00] Turn your Bibles to 1 Corinthians chapter 9, 1 Corinthians chapter 9. We're gonna read the first 14 verses, and I'm gonna ask you to stand for the reading of God's Word, and I'm gonna ask you to remember what this is that we're reading. It is the living, the true, the eternal Word of God. So hear it for what it is, God's Word to us, God's instruction to us.
1 Corinthians chapter 9, the first 14 verses. "Am I not free? Am I not an apostle? Have I not seen Jesus our Lord? Are you not my work in the Lord? If to others I am not an apostle, at least I am to you. For you are the seal of my apostleship in the Lord. My defense to those who examine me is this: Do we not have a right to eat and drink?
Do we not have a right to take along a believing wife, even as the [00:01:00] rest of the apostles and the brothers of the Lord and Cephas? Or do only Barnabas and I not have a right to refrain from working? Who at any time serves as a soldier at his own expense? Who plants a vineyard and does not eat the fruit of it?
Who tends a flock and does not use the milk of the flock? I am not speaking these things according to human judgment, am I? Or does not the law also say these things? For it is written in the law of Moses, 'You shall not muzzle the ox while he is threshing.' God is not concerned about oxen, is He? Or is He speaking altogether for our sakes?
Yes, for our sakes it was written, because the plowman ought to plow in hope, the thresher to thresh in hope of sharing the crops. If we sowed spiritual things in you, is it too much if we reap material things from you? If others share the right over you, do we not more? Nevertheless, we did not [00:02:00] use this right, but we endure all things so that we will cause no hindrance to the gospel of Christ.
Do you not know that those who perform sacred services eat the food of the temple, and those who attend regularly to the altar have their share from the altar? So also, the Lord directed those who proclaim the gospel to get their living from the gospel." May God add a blessing to the reading, the hearing, but most importantly, obedience to His Word.
Please be seated.
So in your bulletin, there were a couple of song handout. There's also a, a half page, and on one side is the bulletin or the, uh, sermon outline that you can fill in the blank, and on the other side, there's some extra notes. There's a table, uh, about the structure of, uh, biblical governments, and then there's a list of verses that I'll be referencing throughout the sermon.
And you can look at that later. I just wanna point out that we're in a series, and the series [00:03:00] is in, is entitled, uh, Biblical Governments. And God has structured biblical governments. And when you get a chance to look at that chart, and I, I would do it later when you get home, but there's at least four, the self, the family, the church, and then civil government.
And currently, we are looking at the church government or what's called ecclesiastical government. The other thing that you'll see on that chart is there are five elements in all forms of God's government. So last week, number one on your fill-in-the-blank outline is church government, and I don't think there's actually any fill-in-the-blank on that one, but church government.
I just wanna review. Last week, we looked at the first two categories of church government. Uh, a ruler or an authority. In every form of God's government, somebody's in charge. God is a God of order. And we saw last week that it is the elders that God has put in charge of the church. The elders rule in the church under Christ.
Christ is the head of the [00:04:00] church, but Christ has appointed elders to rule in His name. And elders have a job description, and it's important that we remember this job description, and we looked at it in some detail last week. The job of the elder is to pray in the ministry of the Word, and the ministry of the Word would include teaching and preaching, instructing, discipling, counseling, studying Managing, keeping the church pure from sin or church discipline that we'll get into in weeks to come, and keeping the church pure in doctrine.
And one of the things that I shared with you, and it'll bleed over into our next category, is the church is not a business. Granted, the government recognizes us as a business. We have the same rights as a business, okay? But we're not a business, and God did not design the church as a business. And as I shared with you last week, I just read to you the job description of the [00:05:00] elders.
They're not responsible for changing every light bulb. They're not responsible for a number of things. That's where you come in. So the second thing we looked at last week was the congregation, and we saw one very important thing, and I just want to remind you of it one more time. Sunday morning is about the believer.
It's not that we're not interested in unbelievers. It's not that we don't want you to invite your unbelieving friends. But the purpose of Sunday morning worship is just that, worship. Worshiping God Almighty, being taught from God Almighty. The purpose of Sunday morning is the training and the discipling and the discipline of the believer, and so that is our focus.
But we also saw that you all have a job description in Scripture, and it starts with assembling. We are called by God to assemble every Sunday, every Sabbath, every Lord's Day. He expects us to assemble. [00:06:00] We are expected as a congregation to submit to the leadership. We are expected to serve, and service takes a number of different ways.
We all have a spiritual gift. We're expected to exercise it in the congregation. It's not something we hold onto. We're expected to worship. I thought I would get to worship today. I'm not going to, so we'll come back, and we'll cover the elements of worship next week. But as a congregation, we're expected to worship.
We're expected to be discipled, and along with being discipled, wherever God has you, and I reminded you of this last week, and I'll remind you one more time, there is no perfect church. There is no perfect pastor. And as Josh McDowell once said, and he had a, a large influence when I first became a Christian, but Josh McDowell once said that, "If you ever find a perfect church, run because you'll mess it up."
So there's no perfect church out [00:07:00] there. But we are to be discipled. That means we are to be challenged by the leadership of our church. You know, Matt, the other elder who's not present today, we've talked about how it's interesting that when, when people come to a new church or, or whenever someone's challenged with maybe a different belief, whatever you've been taught first seems to have this priority.
And if we're gonna grow as Christians, we need to allow ourselves to be challenged. So we're supposed to be discipled. And then the last thing that I listed last week is we are supposed to give. So number two on your outline is giving and tithing, giving and tithing. And I probably ought to confess my sin.
I don't know if it raises to the level of a sin or not, but this is the first sermon I have ever preached in this church on tithing, and we're going on five years. We've talked about worship. I left it out of the last sermon or the last series. We did, like, four weeks on worship. Tithing, giving is a part of [00:08:00] worship, and so we're gonna talk about it today, not because it's my requirement, but because it's God's, because I firmly believe that this is what God asks of us.
This is part of our worship. And so I would continue to be in sin, if I've gone that far, if I don't talk about it The other thing that I want to say as I preface our beginning here is there are multiple ways to talk about giving and tithing, as well as service. There are multiple ways of talking about it, and I know I'm going to leave something out.
So I beg of you, if you have questions... In fact, my last point today will be talk to your elders. It'll be part of my last point. But if you have questions, if there's something I haven't covered, please come talk to me A on your outline is free will offering. Free will offering Turn in your Bibles to First Corinthians 16.
First Corinthians 16[00:09:00]
You see, at the beginning of what we're gonna discuss today, there are different kinds of giving, and the Bible will talk about different kinds of giving. And what happens often is when we talk about the subject of tithing, and for those of you that maybe don't know, and I'm gonna give you some statistic in a, in, in a minute, but I consider, I would define tithing, uh, hopefully the way the Bible does, but it's a tenth.
The word tithe means a tenth. It refers to a 10% gift, okay? And in scripture, it's defined as a 10% gift on your gain. In modern language, it would be a 10% gift of your income. And I will argue this morning that a tithe is a specific kind of giving. It is the giving to support the church. It is a giving to support the minister.
It is a regular giving, and God has given us a specific amount. However, there are other kinds of giving, and the problem is, is much of the modern church confuses the two, and then [00:10:00] we get all kinds of weird rules when it comes to tithing. So the first kind of giving I wanna talk about is the free will offering, and we find that in 1 Corinthians 16 and a couple other places.
So look at 1 Corinthians chapter 16 I'm gonna read the first three verses. "Now concerning the collection for the saints, as I directed the churches of Galatia, so do you also. On the first day of every week, each one of you is to put aside and save, as you may prosper, so that no collection be made when I come.
When I arrive, whomever you may approve, I will send them with letters to carry your gifts to Jerusalem." So again, I would argue that this is a freewill offering. This is not the weekly tithe. Now, why do I think that? Well, in verse one he says, "Now concerning the collection," and this word for collection is typically used in the collection of money.
It's where you collect money. It can also be used [00:11:00] for taxes, but most often and in our literature, in the Biblical literature, church fathers, things like that, it is most often used for the collection of money for sacred purposes, okay? Now concerning the collection for who? Who's the collection for? For the saints, and we find out in verse three it's not even the saints of the church that he's writing to.
It's the saints in the church of Jerusalem. You see, the saints in the church of Jerusalem have come upon hard times and they need help, and Paul, and we'll see it, he talks about it several other places. He talks about it in the Book of Romans, he talks about it in the Book of Acts, he talks about it again in the Book of 2 Corinthians.
But Paul is taking up a collection to take back to the church in Jerusalem, and this is the collection that he's talking about. And while there is some overlap and while we can, uh, glean some principles here, it's not the tithe and we don't wanna confuse it with the tithe On the first day of every week, each one of you is [00:12:00] to put aside and save, as he may prosper, so that no collection be made when I come.
So let me give you the principles here, and these principles, again, there's overlap, there's bleed over, but this is a free will offering. So principle number one, we're to care for the saints. We're to care for the saints, and we're to be willing to help the saints. This is not talking about the elders. Now, I will say, and here's the overlap, when you tithe, the elders are supposed to use part of that money to help the saints in our congregation, to help those who need help in our congregation.
The second thing that I would point out that again has similarities with the tithe, but it's different, is there's a kind of regularity in this giving. Paul is very specific, on the first day of every week, that would be Sunday. We teach here that that's the Lord's Day. That's the Christian Sabbath. And when you gather together, there is to be a collection, and it's to go to the saints in Jerusalem.
However, when it's a free will offering, [00:13:00] so implied here is once the collection is gathered, you can stop giving. It's not required to keep giving for a church you've already helped out. If you've helped them and they're out of need, there's no longer reason for the collection. And the last thing that is said here, and some people I think take this the wrong way, but it says that you're to save and gather and donate as you may prosper, as a man may prosper.
Okay? When it comes to free will offerings, it's your choice. As you prosper, as God has blessed you, He has given you opportunity to bless others. The tithe is slightly different. The tithe is still based on as we prosper, but God gives us a set amount. Here, follow your heart. Give as you are able. This is a free will offering
Turn to Second Corinthians 8. This is another place where Paul speaks of a free will offering [00:14:00] In second Corinthians chapter eight, and this is one of those areas where there's really some confusion. So we're gonna very, very briefly look at, uh, mostly, uh, chapter nine verses one and then, uh, seven, but I do wanna give you the context, and the context begins, uh, all the way...
Nope, wrong passage. I do wanna give you the context. The context begins in chapter eight, okay? In chapter eight verses one and two, and you might wanna look there 'cause y- you should be right there. So second Corinthians chapter eight verses one and two. Listen to what Paul says. "Now, brethren, we wish to make known to you the grace of God, which has be- which has been given in the churches of Macedonia, that in a great ordeal of affliction their abundance of joy and their deep poverty overflowed in the wealth of their liberality, in the wealth of their giving."
Now look at verse three. "For I testify that according to their ability and beyond their [00:15:00] ability-"
They gave of their own accord. Now, a lot of people read this as this is tithing and not a free will offering, okay? So a lot of people will come back and say, "We give according to our ability. We give, you know, based on whatever we can give." Okay? The problem is they ignore the second part of the verse.
Actually, what the verse is saying is not only did they give according to their ability, but they gave beyond their ability. Now, how do we measure that? How much is beyond our ability? Is it supposed to hurt? Is it supposed to be a sacrifice? Well, again, if it's a free will offering, you get to make that decision, but if it's talking about the weekly giving, the weekly tithe, that which we're supposed to support the church with, then it becomes very difficult.
What does it mean to give beyond our ability? But notice verse four, because verse four, again, we get the context, [00:16:00] "Begging us with much urging for the favor, the opportunity of participation in support of the saints." So again, and if you read this in context, you keep reading chapter eight through chapter nine, you'll see, I believe, and, and most commentators do too, that Paul is talking about the same gift.
This is a gift going to the church in Jerusalem who are hard. They've come up on hard times. They're experiencing the bulk of the persecution right now because they're in the heart of Judaism, and they're being persecuted by the Jewish, the old covenant members, because they profess Christ as Messiah.
They've lost their land. They've lost their homes. They've lost their jobs, and they're struggling sur- to survive, and so they need help, and so this gift is going to the support of the saints Now look at chapter nine, verse one. And we read this earlier. "For it is superfluous," I'm kind of [00:17:00] repeating myself.
You kind of already know this is what Paul is saying, "for me to write to you about this ministry to the saints." It's a ministry to the saints, not to the elders, not to the church. It is not, he is not talking here about the regular tithe to support the church and the ministers
It is a ministry to the saints. Now look at verse seven. "Each one must do just as he has purposed in his heart, not grudgingly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver." Now, based again on this text, because of the confusion in understanding it, the weekly tithe, the weekly support of the church, many people will say that we, we do as we choose, we do as we purpose in our hearts.
But again, contextually, that's not what Paul is writing about. He's writing about a free will offering. Each mon- each one must do as he has purposed, and the word [00:18:00] means do as you decide, do as you choose, do as you commit. In his heart, not grudgingly. Okay? It shouldn't be out of grief. It shouldn't pain you to give.
So again, you have a choice. Maybe God hasn't blessed you, maybe you're struggling, maybe you know someone in need, and there's no financial gift you can give. Don't feel guilty Not under compulsion, not under any necessary constraint. And I would argue that there-- when it comes to the tithe, there is a constraint.
It is a command of God. It is not optional. This is. But again, there are principles, for God loves a cheerful giver. God loves a happy giver Again, this is a free will offering. Paul is not talking about the weekly tithe[00:19:00]
B on your outline is tithing. B on your outline is tithing And I wanted to give you some statistics on tithing. Uh, I've been giving you some statistics in the weeks past, so I wanna give you some statistics on tithing. And the first group of statistics comes from Barna, and I've told you before that Barna is a Christian organization.
And the second group of statistics that I'll give you, it comes from a place called Nonprofit Source, and it's an organization that looks at nonprofit organizations and sees how they're supported and things like that, and this is a secular. And so you'll notice if you're a good listener, if you're a good mathematician, you'll notice that the numbers don't always line up, but it would make sense.
One is coming from a Christian perspective, one is coming from a secular perspective. Questions are being asked differently, and people are feeling less pressure. Okay, if I have a secular perspective asking me about my Christian life, maybe I feel less pressure than if I have a Christian asking me about my Christian life.
But here are some of the [00:20:00] s- statistics according to Barna. Only 21% of Christians give a tithe. Only 21% of Christians give 10% or more of their income. Most vary, 37% of Christians, it just... it differs every week. 25% of Christians don't give at all. 25% of Christians don't give at all. This is an interesting number.
Only 43% of Christians know what tithe means. Only 46% of evangelical Christians know what the word tithe means. So again, uh, I'll define it again. Kids, this is good for you to know. A tithe is simply a Hebrew or a Greek word that means a 10th, one-tenth or 10%. Okay? 59% of, quote, unquote, "practicing Christians" do know what tithe means.
They don't define what a practicing Christian is here, so I [00:21:00] can't give you any further information. Here's a really interesting, uh, figure. Only one in three pastors, or 33% of pastors favor a traditional tithe. Only 33% of pastors even argue for a traditional tithe. Now, if I'm correct, and if this is the biblical moder- model, that's shameful
21% of pastors, or one in five pastors, say that the congregation should give enough to be considered sacrificial. The problem, however, is how do you define sacrificial? How bad is it supposed to hurt? What, what do I have to give up to call it a sacrifice? You see, this may sound odd to you, but to be commanded to tithe, to be commanded to give a certain amount, is actually a blessing.
There's no guesswork. There's no trying [00:22:00] to decide, "Have I given enough for God? Should I feel guilty 'cause I didn't give enough this week?" It's easy to budget. It's easy to honor God with a tithe
20% of pastors say the congregation should give as much as they are willing. It's, it's up to you. The non-Christian, uh, organization says this: only 5% of churchgoers tithe. 80% of churchgoers only give 2% of their income. Only 3 to 5% of Americans, this is Americans now, only 3 to 5% of Americans who give do so through regular giving.
So with most people, it's very spotty. It's here and there. The average giving, the average giving in the United States Protestant churches... And I just-- I'm pausing 'cause I want you to think. What do you think that number would be? What is the average giving in most Protestant [00:23:00] churches? Well, according to this survey, $17 a week
37% of evangelicals do not give to the church. 37% of evangelicals do not give to the church, and 17% of American families have reduced the amount they give in recent years. So it's just kind of an overview on tithing, tithing. And here's the surprise. The New Testament rarely talks about tithing. In fact, I'm gonna argue that there's only one passage in Paul where he makes the connection to the Old Testament tithing and ties it into the support of the minister.
You see, throughout the New Testament, it is simply assumed, and there's good reason for it. But just to give you an idea, the word tithe or tithing or give a tithe is only used eight times in the New Testament. It's only used 25 times in the Old Testament [00:24:00] So I had planned to give you seven reasons why you should tithe.
But as I looked at it, I've reduced it to two plus one. I'm gonna give you two reasons why I believe Scripture commands us to tithe, and then, uh, the last reason or the last point that I'm gonna get to is just practical. What if I'm not tithing? How do I start tithing? Do I tithe from my gross? Do I tithe from my net?
How do I, how do I do this? So here's my first argument. Here's why you should tithe. The hermeneutics of continuity. And what I mean by that is there are two ways to interpret Scripture, and we have been very clear as to how we do it here. There's the method... Hermeneutics, just it's a fancy word that means interpretation.
So interpreting, okay? So when you interpret Scripture, there are two general, uh, schools of thought. One is continuity and one is discontinuity. And the [00:25:00] continuity, uh, goes this way. If the Old Testament commands it, it continues unless the New Testament changes it. Let me say that again. This is the theory of continuity in our interpretation of Scripture.
If the Old Testament commands something, we continue to do it unless the New Testament says stop. Let me give you one example. We're gonna have a baptism today. We're gonna baptize an infant, okay? The reason, and I'll cover this in more detail when we get there, but the reason we baptize infants is in Genesis 17 when God instituted circumcision, the sign of the Abrahamic covenant, God commanded Abraham to apply it to his children, his eight-day-old children.
They hadn't exercised faith yet. Now God changes the sign. He changes the sign from circumcision to baptism, but He never says stop applying it to your children. Never. And so here we apply it [00:26:00] to our children. That's the hermeneutic of continuity. Then there's the hermeneut- hermeneutic of discontinuity, and the hermeneutic of discontinuity says this.
If the Old Testament says it, it stops with the New Testament unless the New Testament repeats it If God has spoken in the Old Testament and God has given us a command in the Old Testament, it stops with the new covenant. It stops with the New, New Testament unless it's repeated. We reject that. I don't think God needs to repeat Himself, and I don't see that in Scripture.
In fact, the apostles cite the Old Testament as authoritive all, authoritative all the time. I've heard many ministers stand up and they'll preach a sermon, and they will tell you that the New Testament church didn't have a Bible, that the New Testament church didn't have a Bible for 2, 300 years until finally the New Testament was recognized [00:27:00] The New Test-- Uh, the, the New Testament believers, the early church had a Bible from day one.
It's called the Old Testament, and the apostles treated it as authoritative. Another thing we'll see, and Paul's gonna make this argument momentarily, or at least I'm gonna get to it, is in the Old Testament, you had ministers. They were called priests. In the New Testament, you have ministers. They're called elders and pastors.
The moral law continues. In fact, all Ten Commandments, and I don't think they need to be, but all Ten Commandments are repeated in the New Testament. All Ten Commandments can be found before Moses. Sabbath celebration, thou shall not... All 10 can be found before Moses. And this might surprise you, tithing is found before Moses.
Abraham, in Genesis 14, tithed to Melchizedek, and I don't have time to get into it, but the writer of Hebrews actually cites that passage in Hebrews chapter 7, and it's fascinating because Abraham recognized [00:28:00] this Melk- Melchizedek was a priest of God Almighty. Hebrews tells us he was a high priest, and Abraham knew he was to tithe to this high priest.
And then the writer of Hebrews says, "Jesus is now our high priest. Should we not tithe to Jesus?" But that's an argument you can talk to me about later
The second reason I believe we're supposed to tithe, and remember, the continuity argument in my view is huge. If God commands it and He doesn't change it, and I'm going to argue in a minute that tithing was a moral law, not a ceremonial law. Tithing was a moral law. The worker is worthy of his wage.
Tithing is a moral law. Turn in your Bibles to 1 Corinthians chapter 9
This is what we read at the beginning of service. Turn in your Bibles to 1 Corinthians chapter 9, and this is the one that I wanted to give you a little fuller context. And the context of 1 Corinthians chapter 9 actually begins all the way back [00:29:00] in chapter 7. In chapter 7 verse 1, we read this, "Now concerning the things about which you wrote."
And that has frustrated interpreters for millennia because we don't know how the questions were asked. And it feels like when you were studying 1 Corinthians, and we need to be really careful because we're, we're getting half the conversation. But Paul is responding to questions that the Corinthians asked, and he begins in the second half of chapter 7 verse 1 with marriage.
And he talks about the morality of marriage. He talks about the morality of the unmarried and remarriage. And he gets into meat sacrificed to idols, liberty. He defends his freedom as an apostle. You know, him and Barnabas, they weren't taking pay for what they did, but they had every right to take pay, and Paul enters into that argument, and he begins that argument in chapter 9.
If you look at verses 6 and 7, he talks about wages are due. He [00:30:00] talks about the soldier, the farmer, the shepherd, and none of those people work for free, but they're paid. And here's the connection that you have to see. They're paid from what they do. A shepherd is paid from the sheep. A farmer is fai- paid from the land.
A soldier is paid by the government that he works for And then Paul says, "I'm not just being logical here," and he appeals to the law. He appeals to the very law of God. Look at chapter nine, verse nine. And remember, Paul does not proof text. As I've shared with you in our last series, these are hyperlinks, just like you see online and you click on a hyperlink, and you don't just read a sentence.
Typically, you're gonna read an article or a chapter or something, and it's the same thing here. When Paul quotes something, we need to go back and we need to understand the context, and we need to know how he's tying it into everything else in the Old Testament. And Paul here cites Deuteronomy 25, the [00:31:00] fourth verse.
He's talking about people being paid, and then he cites a verse about an animal being paid In 1 Corinthians 9:9, citing Deuteronomy 25:4, "You shall not muzzle the ox while he is threshing." And in the very next verse, Paul makes it very clear, is God concerned about animals? No. Now again, there's some hyperbole here.
God is concerned with animals. We see that elsewhere in the scripture, but that's not why God wrote this law. God wanted us to make the connection. If God says an animal should be paid from its work, how much more should a person be paid from their work? And it's important to understand Paul makes a moral application here.
"You shall not muzzle the ox while he is threshing" is an application of the moral law, not the ceremonies, but a moral law. And then Paul goes on further [00:32:00] in verses 10 and 11, and he talks about the plowman, the thresher. He's gonna go on to talk about the Old Testament Levitical priest and ultimately the minister.
So you should be at 1 Corinthians 9. Look at verse 11. Look at verse 11, "If we sowed spiritual things," if we sowed spiritual things, if we discipled you, if we brought the gospel to you, if we spend time praying for you, if we spend time discipling you, making available Bible studies that you can come and learn, if we sow spiritual things in your life, is it too much if we reap material things, material support from you?
This is a rhetorical question, and the obvious answer is yes. Those who sow spiritual things into you have the right to reap material compensation. That's the argument that Paul is [00:33:00] making. Look at verse 12, because what Paul is saying, it's already happening, just me and Barnabas have decided not to, but it's already happening in verse 12, "If others share this right over you, do we not more?
Nevertheless we did not use this right." It is a right, a God-given right. "We did not use this right, but we endure all things so that we will cause no hindrance to the gospel of Jesus Christ." And what I want you to see here, and you may need to go home and you ne- you may need to read 1 Corinthians 8 and 9, read it completely in context, but Paul is using a continuity argument here.
Oxen should be fed. That's a moral law. Therefore, farmers should be fed. He's gonna get into the priests in verse 13 should be fed, and then in verse 14, so ministers should earn money from what they do So look at verse 13, "Do you not know that those who perform sacred service eat the food of the [00:34:00] temple?"
So he's referencing the Levitical priests. He's referencing Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy. It's all over Do you not know that those who perform sacred services eat the food of the temple, and those who attend regularly to the altar have their share from the altar?
I skipped something. You may wanna turn there, you may not, but, uh, y- if you want to, you can turn to Numbers 18. If you'd like to just listen, just listen, because I wanna give you the command for tithing. I want you to understand why it was commanded that the Levitical priests should receive the tithe. So in Numbers chapter 18, we have God speaking to Aaron.
So Numbers chapter 18 verse one. "Now Yahweh said to Aaron, 'You and your sons and your father's household with you sha- shall bear the guilt in connection with the sanctuary, and you and your [00:35:00] sons with you sh- shall bear the guilt in connection with your priesthood.'" Now let me kinda paraphrase and summarize that for you.
Being a priest was tough. There are all kinds of laws and in- instructions on how to do a sacrifice, how to cut up the sacrifice, how to behave in the presence of God. There were res- there were restrictions and guidelines. Aaron's two oldest sons were consumed with fire from heaven because they purposefully and willingly disobeyed God in their service as priests.
And what God is saying is, "If you mess up as priests, you hurt everyone else. If you mess up as priests, you blaspheme Me. You dishonor Me. Therefore, I'm picking one family, the Levites. And in that family, I'm picking a very specific family, the family of Aaron, and you will serve as priests and nobody else will, and you will bear the guilt of what you do."[00:36:00]
That is similar to a New Testament minister. Listen to the words of James chapter three verse one. "Let not many of you become teachers." And we saw last week that pastor and teacher are used of the same job description. So he could say, "Let not many of you become pastors, my brethren," knowing that as such we will incur...
He includes himself in this group. So we know he's talking about ministers of the church, those who would stand up before the people of God and teach them "Let not many of you become teachers, my brethren, knowing that as such we will incur a stricter judgment," and literally in the Greek, a greater judgment.
You see, the pastor must also bear his guilt just like the Levitical priest has to because of the calling he has received, because he stands before God's people [00:37:00] and he is charged with preaching the Word of God, and he is charged with getting it right. Back to Numbers 18 in verse 21, Paul or, uh, Moses expands, "To the sons of Levi, behold, I have given all the tithe, all the tithe in Israel for an inheritance."
Why? Why does God do this? "In return for their service which they perform." The tithe is to pay the priest for the service that he performs at the tent of meeting. You see, the sons of Israel shall not come near the tent of meeting again, or they will bear sin and die. All the other tribes were not allowed to approach the tent of meeting.
All the other tribes were not allowed to give sacrifices. Nobody but the Levitical priesthood could approach God in this manner. "Only the Levites," verse 23, "Only the Levites shall perform the service of the tent of, of meeting, and they [00:38:00] shall bear their iniquity, iniquity. It shall be a perpetual statute throughout your generations and among the sons of Israel.
They shall have no inheritance." The Levites have no inheritance. Everyone else got a chunk of land. Every other tribe, every family in that tribe got a piece of property. The Levites didn't get anything For the tithe of the sons of Israel, which they offer as an offering to the Lord, I have given to the Levites for an inheritance.
Therefore I have said concerning them, 'They shall have no inheritance among the sons of Israel.'" So the Levitical priests received the tithe as payment for bearing their sin, for bearing their guilt, for serving at the altar. And Paul is making that connection here. Verse 13, back to 1 Corinthians 9, "Do you not know that those who perform sacred services eat of the food of the temple?"
He's referring to Numbers 18 and many other passages. "And those who attend [00:39:00] regularly to the altar have their share from the altar?" Verse 14, "So also," in like manner, so also just like that, "So also the Lord directed those who proclaim the gospel to get their living from the gospel." Now, how did the priests get their living?
From the tithe We've seen all these connections. We've seen the continuity. We've seen that Paul does not proof text. Paul uses hyperlinks. Paul is referring to the law. He's referring to the Levites. He's already classified it as a moral law, the worker is worthy of his wage. The Levites got paid from the altar, and part of that payment was not just food from the sacrifices, but the tithe, all of it.
So how should the New Testament minister be paid? By the tithe. That is the point that Paul is making. God is a God of order, and God has ordered it so that it makes sense to us and it's [00:40:00] something that we can actually do and accomplish. Listen to 1 Timothy 5:17, "The elders who rule well are to be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who work hard at preaching and teaching."
Verse 18, Paul cites the same passage, "For the Scripture says, 'You shall not muzzle the ox while he is threshing, and the laborer is worthy of his wages.'" Now, that last quotation, "The laborer is worthy of his wages," cannot be found in the Old Testament. It is found nowhere in the Old Testament. You want to know where it's found?
You want to know what Paul is quoting here as Scripture? Luke 10:7. Luke 10:7 is the only place you find these exact words. Jesus says, "Stay in that house, eating and drinking what they give you, for the laborer is worthy of his wages. Do not keep moving from house to house." The context is ministry, [00:41:00] missionary work.
Paul continues to make this connection. He continues to recognize this hermeneutic of continuity, and if the h- if the priests were paid from their work, the minister should be paid from his work. If the priests were paid from the tithe and God has not said stop tithing, then the minister should be paid from the tithe.
And what is a tithe? We've already said it. It's 10%. One of the arguments that I could have made but I chose to skip is a historical argument. Interestingly, the church has recognized from very early on this idea of a tithe. But let me get to the last part, and the last part I, I pray is helpful, and that is practical considerations.
Some practical considerations. And here's where I want to apply some biblical wisdom. You're not gonna find a verse, but I think you'll find the principles throughout Scripture, and you'll find biblical wisdom here. What if you don't tithe? What if you don't tithe and either because of this sermon or maybe you want to [00:42:00] meet with me later and get some more details, you come to the conclusion, and I pray you do.
It is my purpose to convince you that obedience to God involves tithing. The kingdom of God is losing right now, and it's losing for two reasons. Number one, we have this theology out there called dispensationalism that expects it to lose. I've already told you I think that's her- heretical. But the second reason it's losing is we have no money from which to work because people don't tithe And I had plenty of quotations, I'm not gonna take the time to read to you, but from different theologians that basically says, "We quit tithing, the qu- the church becomes impotent.
The state becomes huge." You wanna fix that problem? Start tithing. So yes, it is my purpose to convince you, not because I want your money, but God does. God commands it. [00:43:00] So some practical considerations. I think the first thing you need to, to consider is stewardship. Okay? There are multiple passages in the Bible that speak of stewardship.
But listen to this one in 1 Timothy chapter 5 verse 8. 1 Timothy chapter 5 verse 8, "But if anyone does not provide for his own, and especially for those of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever." So maybe you've gotten yourself in a situation where all your money is going towards supporting yourself, okay?
And if you started to tithe next Sunday, if you actually took 10% of your income next Sunday, you're not eating, or somebody's going without. Okay? I don't think God calls us to be unthoughtful about this. I think there are ways to start tithing incrementally and work up to it, and that's what I'm trying to get to when I talk about stewardship.
[00:44:00] So what are some principles? Number one, start immediately. If God is convicting you today, or maybe you've been convicted and you just, you recognize, "I haven't been tithing," start immediately. But I would argue start incrementally. Maybe the most you can afford right now is 2%, 3%. Start that immediately. Give that immediately.
But, but remember this, what is more important, comfort or obedience? You see, if you haven't been tithing but you're convicted, "I need to start doing this," you might need to get rid of that new car you just bought. You might need to quit doing your nails. You might need to, uh, quit buying, you know, not buy another rifle, or stop buying as much ammunition, or whatever it is you're into.
You might actually have to make a sacrifice until your budget balances out. But what is more [00:45:00] important, comfort or obedience to the God that went to the cross to save your soul? Start immediately, start incrementally. Speak to your elders. If you want help on how to do this, if you want some assistance, if you want further arguments, talk to your elders.
Get some help from your elders. Have a goal. Set a goal. I want to be at 10% by this date. And again, I would encourage you, be aggressive. You know, I didn't read any of this and we are not a name it and claim it church. I'm not saying start tithing and God will bless you. He will bless you and the Bible teaches he will bless you, but this is how God blesses you.
He blesses you spiritually and he will meet your need. He will meet your need. He promises that in so many ways So start immediately, start incrementally, speak to your [00:46:00] elders, set a date, be aggressive, and be willing to make some lifestyle changes. Now, one last thing, and I will end with this, and this is a conversation we can have later, and I might attach an article to the email tomorrow, um, because I think this article does a really good job of demonstrating this.
But I happen to believe that you should tithe from your net. You should tithe from what actually goes into your pocket. Whatever the government takes before you get your money, we call it gross. I don't think you need to tithe on your gross. I believe that you can make a biblical argument for tithing on your increase, your net, what you actually get into your own hands, okay?
Taxation and everything else, that's for another sermon. And it's interesting, the scriptures actually say in Samuel, when the government starts taxing you at the same rate as the tithe, you have a wicked government[00:47:00]
Let's pray. Father in heaven
Help us understand this argument. Help us understand this i-idea of continuity. Why should we expect you to have to repeat yourself? You have been very clear. You have told us to stop doing certain things. We don't offer sacrifices anymore. We don't circumcise our children anymore. We don't offer blood anymore.
We don't meet on Saturdays Father, forgive us for ever thinking you would need to repeat yourself. And Father, I pray that all of us would see the logic of Paul's argument, would see the continuity in Paul's argument. And Father, that we would honor you from this day forward, that we would honor you not just with our lip service But from, from what is really important to us, Lord, from our pocketbook, from our wallet.[00:48:00]
And Father, I pray that you would take those monies and you would expand your church, that your church would be that light upon the hill, uh, that it's supposed to be. That we would give from those tithes to missions and the Gospel would spread around the world, that we would help the poor in our community, that we would help the poor and the ne- needy in our own congregation.
Father, glorify yourself. It's all yours. May we simply come to that conclusion. You ask for very little Spirit of God, work on our hearts, change our hearts. May we be obedient to you in how we worship. And all of God's people said, amen.
