FINANCING GOD'S CHURCH

God is a God of order (I Cor. 14:40). He has always worked by plans. He had a plan when He made the universe. He had a plan for the making of man and the establishing of the human family on earth; He had a plan for salvation and a plan for the work of the church. It would seem strange indeed if God should have a plan for everything else; and yet left no plan for the financing of His church.

God's plan never authorized churches to use worldly schemes to raise money for the support of His work. Such practices as church sponsored sales, dinners, raffles, bazaars, chili suppers, ice cream suppers, etc. to raise money is certainly not God's plan. There is no such system found in the Bible as high pressure cam- paigns, nor did God intend for His churches to become beggars, go- ing out into the world to beg for funds. Such schemes and practices are a disgrace to the church and certainly are not pleasing to the Lord.

God has given us only one plan for financing His churches and that is by the tithes and offerings of His people. The tithe is the tenth, meaning that God's people are to bring a tenth of their incomes to the Lord for His work. It is the practice today for deductions to be made from the income for most people before they receive their pay check.

Let us remember that your salary or income is the total or gross amount you make before the deductions are made, and the tenth or tithe should be paid on the gross amount. Offerings are the amounts that are given over and above the tithe. This is the plan that God teaches all through His Word and it is the only Scriptural plan of church finance.

The key verse on New Testa- ment church finance is found in I Corinthians 9:13-14 which reads thus:

"do you now know that they which minister about holy things live of the things of the temple? And they which wait at the altar are partakers with the altar? Even so hath the Lord ordained that they which preach the gospel should live of the gospel.

Paul here refers us back to Numbers 18:21-28 which des- cribes for us the manner in which the Temple worship and the Priests and Levites were sup- ported through the tithes and offerings of the people.

God commanded all the people to bring their tithes and offerings to Him and these were used for the support of the Lord's work. Paul's next words are "even so," which means "in the same manner."

So Paul says that the work of a New Testament church is to be supported in the same way that the Temple was supported, that is by the tithes and offerings of the people. Even as all the people back there were to bring their tithes and offerings unto the Lord, so are we today.

Other passages which clearly teach that this is God's plan for each one of us, are as follows:

I. TITHING BEFORE THE

LAW OF MOSES

Genesis 14:20 reads, "And he gave him tithes of all." In this passage we have the record of Abraham paying the tithe unto Melchizedek, the priest of God. Some claim that tithing was just a part of the Mosaic Law, but in this passage, we see tithing being practiced some four hundred years before the Law. Abraham had been taught by the Lord to tithe, either directly or through others who had previously been taught by Him.

Genesis 28:22 reads, "Of all that thou shalt give me I will surely give the tithe unto thee." This is the promise to the Lord by Jacob that he would tithe and this too was long before the Law of Moses.

II. TITHING UNDER

THE LAW

1. The tithe was incorporated into the law as seen in the following passages:

Leviticus 27:30, "The tithe is the Lord;s. It is holy unto the Lord." Certainly if the tithe belonged to the Lord then, it belongs to the Lord now. Also, if it was holy unto Him then, it is holy unto Him now.

Numbers 18:24,26,28, These three verses teach us that the means of supporting the priests and the worship was to be the tithe. The priests themselves were also required to tithe as were the Levites. (Hebrews 7:9)

2. Tithing was practiced under the Law, II Chron. 31:5,6,12; Nehemiah. 10:37-38).

3. Those who failed to tithe were condemned by the Lord of being guilty of sin. Note the following Scriptures. In Amos 4:4 the people were charged with failing to tithe. In Malachi 3:8-9 those who failed to pay their tithe were called God-robbers. In the next two verses God challenged the people to try tithing and promised the Lord's blessings for it.

III. TITHING IN THE NEW TESTAMENT

Three passages of Scripture need to be noted. These are: Matthew 21:23 and 23:23 along with Malachi 3:1-4. The passage in Malachi contains a prophecy predicting that the Lord would come and teach the people how to give righteously and acceptably. This prophecy is then followed by the charge that they have robbed God in failing to give their tithe. Matthew 21:23 and 23:23 is the fulfillment of this prophecy.

The Lord teaches them in these passages that if their giving is to be acceptable they must tithe and also keep the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy and faith. In other words, just giving the tithe is not sufficient, there must be right living also.

In Matthew 23:23 the Scripture says "ye ought" to tithe. If the Lord says "ye ought" to tithe, who are we to say "ye ought not?"

Compare I Corinthians 9:1-14 with Numbers 18:24. Paul teaches us that the work of the church and the ministry should be supported in the same manner that worship was supported in the Old Testament, that is by tithes and offerings.

In I Corinthians 16:2 we find clearly taught proportionate giving, "as God hath prospered you." The only proportion found in the Bible is the tenth or the tithe.

In Hebrews 7:1-8 we have another passage dealing with the subject. Verse 8 says, "And here men that die receive tithes; but there he receiveth them of whom it is witnessed that he liveth." The "men that die" refers to the Levitical or Mosaic priests. The "He" refers to Christ as a fulfillment of the priesthood of Melchizedek.

As the people paid tithes to the Levitical priests, so now they pay tithes to Christ as the greater priest. Tithes and offerings are paid to Him today through His church.

The above passages show clearly that god's plan of church finance is for His people to bring His tithes to His house for His work. Everyone who has an income, no matter how small it may be, is expected by God to tithe. I Corinthians 16:2 says, "Upon the first day of the week let every one of you lay by him in store as God hath prospered him." With God it is everyone.

It needs also to be pointed out that the tithe must be brought to God's storehouse. God's store- house today is His church. You have no right to use God's tithe in any way you want or to send or give God's tithe to anybody, no matter how worthy the work they may be doing.

The tithe belongs in the church (storehouse) where you are a member. If the church where you hold membership is not worthy of your tithe, it is not worthy of your membership either, and there may be occasions when it is better to have your membership in a church in another city and to put your tithe there, than to have your mem- bership in a church that supports liberalism or modernism.

God holds every Christian responsible for what he supports, and your responsibility does not cease after it has been given to your church. If your church sup- ports modernism or liberalism in any fashion, then God will hold you responsible for its support.

IV. SUMMARY

This then is God's plan for financing Baptist churches. We are not interested in man-made plans. We believe in following God's plans in everything, and we believe that every member of a Baptist church should be a tither, bring to the Lord a tenth of his income.

Remember the words of Jesus in John 14:15 where He says, "If a man love me he will keep my commandments." Finally the Lord says in verse 24, "He that loveth me not keep not my sayings."

This plan of church finance would meet all of the financial needs of a church if every member would tithe. This would make possible the payments of our debts, a greater expansion of all phases of our local church work, and at the same time provide far more money for missions. The great blessings on the members for their faithfulness as stewards of the Lord would be immeasurable. Let every member resolve now not only to live right, but also to give right. -- Author Unknown