Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered outside the gate. Therefore, let us go forth to him outside the camp, bearing his reproach. For we have no continuing city here, but we seek one to come.
Select a thought to read by choosing a collection, the month, and then the day:
Tithing is no gimmick. You cannot use it to force God to bless you. Tithing is acceptable to God only as part of a godly lifestyle. The blessings that come from tithing come because of the kind of life lived, not because of the money given. I knew one young man in college who made money by selling illegal drugs. He had been taught as a youth to tithe on all his increase, so he brought tithes from his drug money to my father. That young man was foolish to think that God would accept such money, and when my father discovered the source of those tithes, he refused them. God is not a beggar, eager to take whatever money men choose to bring to him. It is an honor for us if God will accept our tithes; it is not an honor for Him if we offer them.
Moses told the priests of Israel not to allow the money earned by harlots and sodomites to enter into God's temple. He said, "Thou shalt not bring the price of a whore of the price of a dog into the house of the Lord thy God for any vow, for even these both are an abomination unto the Lord thy God" (Dt. 23:18). God is not a beggar. Nor is he like so many ministers today who beg for all the money anyone will give them, as if the kingdom of God is about to collapse because of a lack of money.
If a man's ministry depends on money, then money is that man's god. The work of God does not depend upon money. Uncle Joe once said that to hear Christian ministers beg for money, pleading with people to help save their ministry, one would think that the devil is about to win, after all. But always remember that Jesus did just as much good for God's people when he didn't even have a place in which to lay his head at night as he did when he owned a house in Capernaum. Earthly possessions do not make a man able to minister the gospel, nor does a lack of money prevent a minister of God from preaching the true gospel. The holy Ghost can do just as much through a poor man as it can through a rich man, and most of the time it can use a poor man more easily.
One of the fundamental rules concerning animal sacrifices in the Old Testament was that the animal had to be without any physical blemish (e.g., Lev. 1:3). When the people brought to Him animals with missing eyes or broken legs, or diseased, or some other blemish, the Lord challenged them to offer those animals to the governors who ruled over them at that time, to see how pleased those men would be with such sorry gifts. He said, "If ye offer the blind for sacrifice, is it not evil? And if ye offer the lame and sick, is it not evil? Offer it now to thy governor. Will he be pleased with thee?" (Mal. 1:8). In this New Testament, it is the condition of the heart that matters. The soul that brings tithes and offerings to the Lord in this New Covenant must bring them without any blemish of sin in his heart if he wants God to accept what he brings. Allow me to repeat: God is not a beggar, eager to take whatever money men choose to bring to him. It is an honor for us if God accepts our tithes; it is not an honor for Him if we offer them.
There have been a number of people over the years whose money the Lord would not allow me to receive when they brought it. Their lives were unworthy of the Lord, and they were not able with their money to blind God to their iniquity. Money is no substitute for righteousness. Apparently, they thought that God would receive their money even though their lives were a disgrace; they were surprised to find out they were wrong. Some became angry when I refused their money; others behaved as though they had been mistreated; still others just went away and never came back. But other people's reactions when we obey Christ is none of our business. Our business is to do the will of Him who took us from the trash can of sin and made us children of God.
If your shepherd receives God's tithes and offerings from you even when he knows that you are stubbornly living in sin, then what you are really doing is bribing him to keep his mouth shut. He is "on the take", and you are hiding from God's conviction under the shadow of a dying tree. That man is killing you with phony mercy, and you are killing him with money stolen from God. Both of you should repent. You should stop putting God's tithes into the hand of a fool, and he should stop receiving God's tithes from the hand of another one.
God demands purity of those who worship Him. When a person with a crafty, evil heart sings hymns, God considers that singing to be a sin. Solomon said that "the prayer of the wicked is an abomination." Praises offered to God by a stubborn, rebellious person disgust Him. For one to rejoice with the saints when there is secret sin in his heart brings a curse, not a blessing. And when someone with secret sin drinks of the Spirit in the assembly of the saints, it is only to drink damnation into the soul. The Bible is very clear about these things. Then, why should we think that God, or any servant of His, would accept money from a person with an unclean heart?
The righteous life includes honoring God with His tithes and offerings because no godly person is content unless he is rendering to God what is His. When a wicked man brings money to the Lord, it cannot justly be called "tithes" because it is not of faith. It is more likely to be an attempted bribe. Unfortunately, it very often works with men who claim to be ministers of Christ. The preaching of the unadulterated word of God can be quieted by such bribes. Whom does a greedy minister dare to reprove for sinning?
So, those who bring money to the Lord can be divided into two groups: tithe-bringers and bribe-bringers. The tithe-bringers are only doing what is their nature in Christ to do. It is the nature of righteous people to bring to God what is His. Their obedience in tithing is laying up for them hope of a blessed resurrection. The bribe-bringers are doing what the world has always done: they are trying to mask a sinful heart with deeds that appear to be upright but are not. Their giving is a crime, and it would be better for them not to give at all than to give with a sin-stained heart. They would be better served to use that money to buy a new car than to try to appear righteous with it. They don't know yet that "God is not mocked."
Ask Jesus to help you take a look at your heart from his perspective so that you can make certain that what you bring to God, you are bringing out of a sincere heart. Otherwise, it is worse than a waste of your money to bring it to the man of God.