FIVE COMMITMENTS OF REPENTANCE Where do you think we are as a nation?

LESSON FOUR: BRING IN THE TITHES AND OFFERINGS

HOW MUCH ARE WE TO GIVE BACK TO GOD? 2 Corinthians 9:6–7: Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.

HOW MUCH ARE WE TO GIVE BACK TO GOD? Many Christians interpret this verse to mean that Christians are no longer bound to give ten percent of their income, which is called a tithe, but Paul is talking to them about an offering not their tithe. Look at the context of this verse.

HOW MUCH ARE WE TO GIVE BACK TO GOD? 2 Corinthians 8:13–14: Our desire is not that others might be relieved while you are hard pressed, but that there might be equality. At the present time your plenty will supply what they need, so that in turn their plenty will supply what you need. Then there will be equality. Paul is asking them to collect an offering to help out other Christians in need. Look at this next verse.

HOW MUCH ARE WE TO GIVE BACK TO GOD? 2 Corinthians 8:19: What is more, he was chosen by the churches to accompany us as we carry the offering, which we administer in order to honor the Lord himself and to show our eagerness to help. The tithe is ten percent of whatever the Lord blesses you with, right off of the top. An offering is a gift for which you can decide what amount to give.

DID JESUS EVER SPEAK ABOUT TITHING? Matthew 23:23: Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices—mint, dill and cummin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former. But notice that Jesus did not say you need to be more loving to others and forget about the tithe.

TITHES AND OFFERINGS Malachi gives us the clearest warning upon the matter of God’s people not bringing in the tithes and offerings. Malachi 3:6–18: “I the LORD do not change. So you, O descendants of Jacob, are not destroyed. Ever since the time of your forefathers you have turned away from my decrees and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you,” says the LORD Almighty.

TITHES AND OFFERINGS Malachi 3:6–18: “But you ask, ‘How are we to return?’ Will a man rob God? Yet you rob me. But you ask, ‘How do we rob you?’ In tithes and offerings. You are under a curse —the whole nation of you—because you are robbing me. Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the LORD Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it.

TITHES AND OFFERINGS Malachi 3:6–18: I will prevent pests from devouring your crops, and the vines in your fields will not cast their fruit,” says the LORD Almighty. “Then all the nations will call you blessed, for yours will be a delightful land,” says the LORD Almighty. “You have said harsh things against me,” says the LORD. “Yet you ask, ‘What have we said against you?’ You have said, ‘It is futile to serve God. What did we gain by carrying out his requirements and going about like mourners before the LORD Almighty?

TITHES AND OFFERINGS Malachi 3:6–18: But now we call the arrogant blessed. Certainly the evildoers prosper, and even those who challenge God escape.’” Then those who feared the LORD talked with each other, and the LORD listened and heard. A scroll of remembrance was written in his presence concerning those who feared the LORD and honored his name. “They will be mine,” says the LORD Almighty, “in the day when I make up my treasured possession.

TITHES AND OFFERINGS Malachi 3:6–18: I will spare them, just as in compassion a man spares his son who serves him. And you will again see the distinction between the righteous and the wicked, between those who serve God and those who do not.”

TITHES AND OFFERINGS Give the whole ten percent to God and then figure out the rest of your bills. Put God first in your life. What are we showing God that we love the most when we choose to spend our money on selfish things instead of bringing in the 10 percent that He requires? Are we thankful for the prosperity of our country?

TITHES AND OFFERINGS Perhaps if we are not tithing God is going to take more than ten percent in the cursing. The cursing could come in many forms: your income, things constantly breaking down, and other such financial difficulties.

DOES OUR ECONOMY HAVE ANYTHING TO DO WITH OUR OBEDIENCE IN THIS AREA? Look at what the Lord promises for His obedient people. Deuteronomy 28:9–14: The LORD will establish you as his holy people, as he promised you on oath, if you keep the commands of the LORD your God and walk in his ways. Then all the peoples on earth will see that you are called by the name of the LORD, and they will fear you.

DOES OUR ECONOMY HAVE ANYTHING TO DO WITH OUR OBEDIENCE IN THIS AREA? Deuteronomy 28:9–14: The LORD will grant you abundant prosperity—in the fruit of your womb, the young of your livestock and the crops of your ground—in the land he swore to your forefathers to give you. The LORD will open the heavens, the storehouse of his bounty, to send rain on your land in season and to bless all the work of your hands. You will lend to many nations but will borrow from none.

DOES OUR ECONOMY HAVE ANYTHING TO DO WITH OUR OBEDIENCE IN THIS AREA? Deuteronomy 28:9–14: The LORD will make you the head, not the tail. If you pay attention to the commands of the LORD your God that I give you this day and carefully follow them, you will always be at the top, never at the bottom. Do not turn aside from any of the commands I give you today, to the right or to the left, following other gods and serving them.

DOES OUR ECONOMY HAVE ANYTHING TO DO WITH OUR OBEDIENCE IN THIS AREA? Have we not had abundant prosperity in the past? Did we not lend to many nations in the past? The Lord blesses us for obedience and He curses for our disobedience. Look at this curse from Scripture.

DOES OUR ECONOMY HAVE ANYTHING TO DO WITH OUR OBEDIENCE IN THIS AREA? Deuteronomy 28:43–48: The alien who lives among you will rise above you higher and higher, but you will sink lower and lower. He will lend to you, but you will not lend to him. He will be the head, but you will be the tail.

DOES OUR ECONOMY HAVE ANYTHING TO DO WITH OUR OBEDIENCE IN THIS AREA? Deuteronomy 28:43–48: He will be the head, but you will be the tail. All these curses will come upon you. They will pursue you and overtake you until you are destroyed, because you did not obey the LORD your God and observe the commands and decrees he gave you. They will be a sign and a wonder to you and your descendants forever.

DOES OUR ECONOMY HAVE ANYTHING TO DO WITH OUR OBEDIENCE IN THIS AREA? Deuteronomy 28:43–48: Because you did not serve the LORD your God joyfully and gladly in the time of prosperity therefore in hunger and thirst, in nakedness and dire poverty, you will serve the enemies the LORD sends against you. He will put an iron yoke on your neck until he has destroyed you.

DOES OUR ECONOMY HAVE ANYTHING TO DO WITH OUR OBEDIENCE IN THIS AREA? America is no longer the lender and we have and are creating a tremendous debt. Unless we repent, unless we figure out how we are disobeying God, we will continue to go into slavery and our enemies will overtake us. Tithes and offerings have been around since Genesis. Abraham gave a tenth to Melchizedek, and Cain and Abel brought offerings to the Lord (Genesis 14:18; 4:1–4).

DOES OUR ECONOMY HAVE ANYTHING TO DO WITH OUR OBEDIENCE IN THIS AREA? Deuteronomy 14:22: Be sure to set aside a tenth of all that your fields produce each year. Leviticus 27:30: A tithe of everything from the land, whether grain from the soil or fruit from the trees, belongs to the LORD; it is holy to the LORD.

DOES OUR ECONOMY HAVE ANYTHING TO DO WITH OUR OBEDIENCE IN THIS AREA? What if God’s people took seriously that the ten percent that God requires is holy? Let’s turn back to the One who can turn all things around and make our silver and gold increase. Give to God first and then watch what He will do.

COMMITMENT FOUR: BRING IN THE TITHES AND OFFERINGS I will not rob God. I will bring in the whole tithe and offering. I will do this cheerfully because I love and trust God for all of my blessings. I also realize that our nation is under a curse because of our unfaithfulness in this area.

BEFORE LESSON 5 READ THROUGH: COMMITMENT FOUR