Tithe Instituted Before the Law? Look Again.
I believe that I am well within scriptural bounds to equate even as
the religious world has, the tithe being something instituted before the
law. All I have done is to identify the fact that circumcision was instituted
before the law and we followed Paul's logic about something instituted
before the law and he says if you observe it you are a debtor to do the
whole law and you have fallen from grace and Christ will benefit you nothing.
I believe that by comparison, I am well within scriptural
grounds in telling you that in the church that now exists, our problem
is not with circumcision but with tithing. I have seen more people who
have tithed all their lives become bitter and resentful towards God than
anything that I know of. At some point something happens and God doesn't
come like Johnny on the spot and retrieve them from their difficulty. It
takes us into doubt and unbelief, because we ministers have taught you
to trust the tithe, the same as the Jews trusted circumcision.
Are you to stop giving? Giving should be a freewill gift
of our hearts. You may decide on ten percent but whatever the percentage,
I do believe Paul teaches that you should decide on a percentage. Paul
never taught a certain percent though. If you are a part of this
body you are part of the believers, you need to make a decision on giving
something and to whom you feel the most good would be done in reaching
out to others. If you can't yet do it joyfully, ask yourself why that seems
to be so. Amen. Praise the Lord. Thank you Father.
Mike's Closing Prayer
Father God, we thank you so much for the power
of your grace. I pray Lord Emmanuel, that if there is anything wrong with
what I have shared here, that the people will be able to see it with their
hearts. But I pray dear God, if the element of truth of the gospel is in
this teaching concerning the tithe, I pray dear God, that our hearts would
not only receive it, I pray dear God, that this information will be duplicated
by the thousands and spread around the world to churches and denominations.
|