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“'Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,' which is translated, 'God with us.” Matthew 1:23
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And all the tithe of the land, whether of the seed of the land, or of the fruit of the tree, is the Lord's: it is holy unto the Lord. QUESTION: One of the questions in the mind of every new convert is h' ' to give, how much to give, where to give and when to give. ANSWER: The answer to these questions are found in the Bible. The storehouse is the church. A tithe is a tenth and the way will be covered later in the lesson. THE BLESSING: The Bible says there is a blessing in tithing. The promise is that if we will bring our tithe to the storehouse, God will open the windows of heaven and pour us out a blessing that we can't contain. One of the teachers in our church said someone made the statement to him that they couldn't afford to tithe. He replied to them that he couldn't afford not to tithe. GIVING THE BIBLE WAY: 1. ABRAHAM STARTED IT: Some say that tithing is under the law, but long before the law was given Abraham had been to deliver his nephew Lot from the enemy and was returning when Melchizedek, king of Salem met him. Melchizedek was the priest of the most high God and a type of Jesus. The Word says Abraham gave tithes of all. Genesis 14:18-20 And Meichizedek King of Salem brought forth bread and wine: and he was the priest of the most high God. And he blessed hint, and said, Blessed be Abram of the most high God, possessor of heaven and earth: And blessed be the most high God, which hath delivered thine enemies into thy hand. And he gave him tithes of all. 2. JACOB CONTINUED IT: After Jacob had the vision of the heavenly ladder, he awoke, and said Surely the Lord is in this place: and he placed a stone at the place and called it Bethel . There Jacob made a vow to God. Genesis 28:20-22 And Jacob vowed a vow, saying, if God will be with me and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat, and raiment to put on, so that I come again to my father's house in peace; then shall the Lord be my God: And this Stone which I have set for a pillar, shall be God's house: and of alt that thou shalt give me I will surely give the tenth unto thee. After the law was given to Moses, God called him back to the mountain to give him directions for building the tabernacle, a place where God could meet with man. For the building and support of the tabernacle God commanded that the people give a tenth of all they had and Moses incorporated this commandment into the law. Leviticus 27:30 And all the tithe of the land, whether of the 8eed of the land, or of the fruit of the tree, is the Lord's: It is holy unto the Lord. Malachi is telling God's people to return to the Lord and he ask the question "Will a man rob God? and then says that a man robs God in tithes and offerings. Then Malachi commands them to tithe. Malachi 3:10
Paul, writing to the church of Corinth was telling them that they should support the work of spreading the gospel, because God had ordained it that way. I Corinthians 9:14 Even so hath the Lord ordained, that they which preach the gospel should live of the gospel. As Paul continues his letter to the Corinthians, he explains the way to give and when to give. I Corinthians 16:2 Upon the first day of the week let everyone of you lay by him in store, as God hath prospered him, that there be no gatherings when I come. |