07 Finances

Welcome again to, This is Church, and tonight we're looking at the important subject of money—finances. How does it work in relationship to the church? This is important. If you're going to join the church, you need to know what happens with money. Money is one of those awkward subjects.

It has been so abused in the church that very often people either abuse it or don't want to touch it at all. I remember when we planted JoshGen in 1999, I had seen all these prosperity guys and they'd say, "give your money, give your money."

So, I was quite allergic to that. And I was so scared that people would think we're just about money, that for the first six months I didn't speak about money at all. And I was quite proud of that. Then one of the apostolic guys, that we were submitting to at the time, came into the church.

While he was ministering, he asked us the question, "When last did you talk about money?" And I proudly said, "I haven't." He looked at me and he said, "You're six months in and you haven't spoken about money? You're not teaching the people the whole counsel of God."

He rebuked me. I realized in that moment that the remedy for abuse is not, no use, but proper use. I was not giving people counsel on this important subject, that the Bible talks a lot about, because I was embarrassed or ashamed at what people would think.

Since then I've really tried my best to teach about this subject Biblically. We know that money is important. Without it not much can happen. What we want to do in this session is learn—how does money relate to the church? Primarily, I'm going to talk about how it works through the church.

Our Attitude Towards Wealth

I will initially touch on our attitude towards money. Then we will look at the details about how it should actually work in the church. Let's start with this. I think money is one of the ways that we get tested in most. It is something that we can very quickly put our dependence upon, isn't it?

When you've got money, it's awesome. When you haven't, it's quite challenging sometimes. It's one of the few things that God compares Himself to, because He's supposed to be our source of everything. Money can quickly take His place if we don't watch our hearts.

God or Money: Choosing Your Master

Jesus said in Matthew 6:24, "No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you'll be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money." One of the things that we have to work through as Christians is, what am I going to serve?

You're actually not supposed to serve, or give yourself to money. You're not supposed to give yourself to make money. You're not supposed to give yourself even to your career. You're supposed to give yourself to God. That doesn't mean you don't work or serve in some way, but money should never be your master.

You can't live for money. You can't go somewhere because you get a great job offer. The Bible says we go where the Lord tells us to go. We do what the Lord tells us to do. It's quite important that we make sure that money doesn't subtly take the place of Jesus.

Because then we start living for money and the benefits that it gives instead of actually living for the Lord. It's a sign that we've lost our love for Jesus and we're starting to become worldly. As a Christian, you cannot serve money. Money can serve you.

But you can't serve it. In other words, it's something that we must steward well, but it's not something that I'm gonna give my life for or to. I would encourage you, as you join any church, if you're following Jesus, make sure you get that thing sorted.

Because the devil can offer the world to make you forfeit your soul. And Jesus said, "What is a profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul?" Be careful of open doors. People say, "God, if it's You, open the door."

You forget, when Jesus was tempted by the devil, the devil opened the door to the world and said, "Look at the kingdom of this world. All their wealth, all their glory. They belong to me and I can give them to anyone that I choose. Bow on and serve me. Worship me, and I'll give you..." And so at the end of the day, be careful, the devil can open doors to finances that can take you out of the purposes of God. Make sure. If the door's open, doesn't mean that it's God.

Remembering God as the Source of Provision

You need to hear God to walk through the door. The steps of the righteous are ordered of the Lord. Some concepts about money and how we must do it. In Deuteronomy 8:18 God says to Israel, "Remember the Lord your God for it is He who gives you the ability to produce wealth and so confirms His covenant, which He swore to your forefathers as it is today."

Who gives you the ability to produce wealth? God does. You might think that you're awesome, but I can guarantee you this. God is the one who ultimately blesses one person depending on how He chooses. And so God gives the ability to produce wealth.

He says, be careful to remember the Lord your God who gives. Often when you're a young person or you are a young Christian and you're poor, you pray, "Jesus, please help me Lord. Give me." Then, once you start to get money, you forget that He gave you all these things.

You start to actually live for and put your faith in your money and you don't remember the Lord who brought you into that place. Money tests us in ways that are very, very scary. That's why it's harder for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of Heaven.

In other words, pity the rich man. You've got it easier than him. Did you ever think of that? The poor man should know, Jesus said, "blessed are the poor." The poor man learns to live on his knees. The rich man thinks he is important and that puts him in great danger in his relationship to God.

So wealth isn't as awesome as we think it is. It's not sin to be wealthy, my goodness, money will test you. How many of you found, when you were a young Christian, it was very easy to trust God. Then when you get more money, your tithe starts to grow.

When you had nothing your tithe was a few Rand. Then you earn a salary and it's hard to give, but you must remember the Lord your God, who's brought you into the spacious place and given you the ability to produce the wealth that you have.

So always remember that. Remember that money is something we steward. We're not our own, the Bible says, we've been bought at a price. Nothing I have belongs to me. It belongs to my Master, because I'm a slave, I'm brought into His family. I can steward what He entrusts to me, but it's not mine.

Prioritizing the Kingdom over Earthly Needs

It belongs to Him. Remember as Christians, I'm not my own. I was bought at the price. Likewise, everything I have belongs to my Master and I wanna steward it well. It's His, it's not mine. We seek the kingdom of God, not money. In Matthew 6:31-33, Jesus is talking to these new Christians that are starting to follow Him.

He's trying to teach them His ways and He says to the disciples, "Don't worry about your life saying, what are we eat or what are we gonna drink? Or what are we gonna wear, for the Pagans run after all these things? And your heavenly Father knows that you need them."

In other words, the pagan lives for clothes and food, but it's not so with us. Jesus says to us, "seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well." So for the Christian, if we put God's kingdom first, He looks after our needs.

But if we start to live for our needs, we sin against Him. Is the kingdom your priority, or is your career your priority? The kingdom is the most important thing. At the end of the day, each of us needs to say, Lord, I live to see Your kingdom advance.

Finding Contentment in Every Circumstance

It's great that He might bless us with homes and cars and clothes. He says He will, but our priority is not those things. Our priority is Your kingdom, Lord. Secondly, be content. Philippians 4:11-13. How many of you know that scripture says "I can do all things through Christ Jesus who strengthens me?"

Actually, the context is when you don't have money. The context is when life is really difficult. It's not like I can be a Springbok athlete, or a provincial athlete, or a national athlete. It's actually talking about how we survive in all circumstances. And Paul's saying, I've learned to be content.

Philippians 4:11-13. "I'm not saying this because I'm in need, for I've learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need." In other words—as a Christian—if you're going to follow Him, there'll be times that you'll be in need.

There'll be times that you'll look at your budget and say, "Dear God, how am I going to get through this month?" "I have learned this and I know what it is to have plenty." There'll be times that God will bring you into seasons where you'll say, "Oh my goodness, I've got more money than I know what to do with."

"I've learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry." At some point as a Christian, you might go hungry. You might say, "Well, where's my provision now, God?" Part of His provision is to give you the ability to endure, even when you're hungry.

So he says, "Being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through Him who gives me strength." God will be with you when you go through the tough times and God will be with you when you have plenty.

But remember, in both those times, you need to learn to be content. In other words, don't lose sleep over lack of money. Don't get angry or frustrated with God. We often joke about when we start tithing—there's this principle that normally, when you start tithing, God blesses you back.

So you tithe the first month and then all hell breaks loose. Your dog gets sick, your car breaks down, your boss fires you. And you're thinking, "God, I've just tithed. What's going on?" And sometimes the Lord is taking us through a season. He's not a slot machine that You put something in and You get something out.

He's a person and He works in ways that we don't understand. His ways are infinitely higher than ours. So He wants to teach us obedience, not just obedience. Also faithfulness. In the tough times are you able to say, "Money is not my lord. He's my Lord. And I'm content in my God, I know He will look after me." And there's a place that we need to learn as maturing Christians to live being content in all things. And to rejoice in all things.

Philippians 4:4, "Rejoice in the Lord always. I'll say it again. Rejoice." Why do you rejoice? Because you've got an eternal kingdom that's being prepared for you. There's a story of a rich man who dies and he wants to take his gold with him. He begs and pleads. Finally he gets permission to bring a suitcase full of gold bars to heaven with him, which is his whole life's work.

As he walks in an angel greets him and asks, "What's in the suitcase? You're not allowed to bring things." He said, "I got permission. It's my life's work. It's all the gold that I've earned." Then he opened the suitcase to show the angel, and the angel said, "But that's paving."

The Bible says heaven is paved with gold. So, actually we have eternal riches that can't fade or spoil. They won't get stolen. They won't rust and moths won't take them away. So we rejoice. In all things, because we know that God's in control. And if He brings me into a good season or a bad season, it doesn't change the fact that He's God and He will take care of us. Amen?

Faithfulness with Worldly Wealth and True Riches

Next point: Use money to prove your faithfulness and to grow in your calling. In Luke 16:11, Jesus says something so profound. "If you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches?" In other words, one of the ways that God will test you is with money. And He'll see, can you be found trustworthy with worldly wealth? And if you can't be found trustworthy with worldly wealth, He's not going to trust you with true riches.

What are true riches? It's walking in your heavenly calling. It's walking in the things that God has called you to walk in. It's actually walking in what He made you to walk in. And so some of us fail the test. I think churches are full of people that'll never walk in things that are true riches. They'll never walk in the destiny because they haven't learned to be faithful with little things like money. And God will test such as money in the good and the bad. And in this, He's trying to teach us to be like Him and to live for eternity with Him.

Don't fail your tests. Learn these lessons. When you pass these tests in little things, like worldly wealth, which is not that important in the big scheme of things—God will entrust you with things that are true riches—and that's people—it's ministry—it's touching lives, and causing His kingdom to come to the earth, which gives you a reward that the Bible says can never fade or spoil. It's kept for you forever. Don't fail your tests. That's what I want to say to you. Make sure you pass your tests.

Let faith rule your finances. This is my fifth point. "For we live by faith and not by sight" the Bible says in 2 Corinthians 5:6-7. "We live by faith, not by sight." In other words, we don't live, as Christians, based upon our logic and our reasoning and what we can see and what we can understand. We live by faith. And there's a time in every one of our lives, where we will look at our budget and we'll look at what God's asking and we'll say, "This doesn't make sense."

Passing the Test of Faith in Finances

And until you learn to live by faith, you're not passing your test. One of my stories as a young Christian—this is how the Lord started to teach me. I didn't even know about tithing. I was a brand new Christian. I lived in a car. I had no money at that point. I had this little diesel Golf. I went to church on Sunday night, and I remember I didn't have enough money to get home again. And in those days if you ran out of fuel, it was such a mission to get the car started again.

So I made sure I never ran out of diesel. I knew I'd get to church, it was the evening service, and then I was going to hitchhike home and hitchhike for the rest of the week until I got enough money to hitchhike back to my car with a bottle full of diesel to fill it up and keep driving.

I went to church, because I wanted to be faithful. During the service the offering basket came around. And I thought, "I'm not going to give money. I didn't have money. I'm super poor." Then I heard the Holy Spirit say to me, whatever's in your pocket, put it in the offering bowl.

I thought I only had a few cents. So, I reached into my pocket and there was a R10 note. Now this is in 1994, so I could drive from Cape Town to P.E. with R15. It was a long time ago and I could get far with R10.

I remember thinking, "With this R10 I could buy enough food for the rest of the month and I can drive home tonight, versus hitchhiking home tonight." And it was one R10. I couldn't break it. I was thinking of trying to swap it, but the offering bucket was on its way.

Then I realized that I didn't even know I had it. I thought, "Just be faithful." And I put the R10 in the bucket and I watched it go. I thought, "What did I just do? I'm hitchhiking home. I've got no food," and to be honest, I didn't enjoy the rest of the service.

At the end of the service I got up to walk out. I didn't know anyone in that church. I was a brand new Christian. It was quite a large church. As I'm walking out an old lady runs up to me and says, "Young man, young man!"

I turned around. I don't know who she is. She says, "Young man, in the service, God told me to give you this." She gave me R50. Never in my life ever had people just walk up to me and give me money. I was so excited.

I obviously put diesel in my car and drove to my friend's house to tell him the story. I knocked on the door. I wanted to just tell somebody, "You're not going to believe what's just happened." They opened the door and before I could say anything, my friend said, "Andrew, I'm so glad you're here.

I was praying for you earlier and God told me I must give you R50." I didn't tell them anything before. This was incredible. I was a brand new Christian. Just baptized the week before. I'd just been baptized actually the week before. One of the guys had said to me, would you come and speak at our school?

Just to tell your story—because I'd got saved out of drugs. It was the first school I ever spoke at. And the only school that I ever got paid to do it. After the meeting, telling these young people about my life story, the teacher comes to me and says, "We're not supposed to give you money, but I can't shake the fact that I need to give you some money."

And he gives me R50. I got R150 within 24 hours of giving my R10. I realized then that I gave all that I had. Although there was no food, I gave—and the Lord has started to teach me that this is a faith thing.

Sometimes you won't understand, but we do the right thing, even when we don't understand. And whether He comes through or He doesn't, He's God and He is faithful to finish the work that He starts in us. So learn the lessons well, develop a generous attitude.

Developing a Generous Attitude and Working Hard

In 2 Corinthians 9:7, "God loves a cheerful giver." In other words, God loves people that love giving. Because He loves giving, and so in some ways when we learn to give generously and to be a people that are generous with our resources, God loves to bless us back, and it thrills Him.

So learn the lesson of being generous. Work hard. While we don't work for money, we must work. The Bible tells us in 2 Thessalonians 3:10-12. Paul says, "For even when we were with you, we gave you this rule, if a man will not work, he shall not eat."

Some might say, "I'm just going to live by faith." No, no, no. You're getting it wrong. While you don't live for money, you've got to work. God has put this into creation, we all need to work. And so the rule in the church is, if a man will not work, he shall not eat.

"We hear that some among you are idle. They're not busy, but they're busy bodies." In other words, they're just getting up to nothing. "Such people we command and urge in the Lord Jesus to settle down and earn the food or the bread they eat."

We work, but we're not given to those things, we work well. Make sure that when you are working, that you are being as faithful as you can in whatever context you're in. Make sure that you're a good steward and that you're a good reflection to Jesus in the marketplace.

Sometimes the only Jesus people will see is you and how you, so work well. At the end of the day there are boundaries, there are certain things that I will not be able to do because my priorities are other than my money. And then, if you get stuck, get help.

Seeking Help and Breaking Cycles of Poverty

Our life's a mess normally when we come to Jesus. And so normally everything's a mess. If you came to Jesus and your life was together, well done. I needed to learn, by the Spirit of God, learning the ways of God. And sometimes we need help.

I remember a season where my wife and I lived in a car in somebody's yard because we couldn't afford rent. So there were seasons that we got help from people in the church. We've also helped others when they need help. People come to me for help sometimes and we'll looked at their budget and they'll say, "I can't afford to tithe."

And my answer is always, "No, you can't afford not to tithe." It's one of those ways that we break out of cycles of poverty. While these aren't slot machines, there are general principles that, when we do apply them, they do seem to attract the favour and the blessing of God.

The Principle of the Tithe in Malachi 3:10

In Malachi 3:10, it's an Old Testament scripture, but the principle is the same. It says, "Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. And test me now on this". We are told not to test the Lord your God, but this is the one place where God says, "You can test Me on this."

"Says the Lord of hosts, and see if I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for your blessing until it overflows." There is story upon story of believers that have started learning how to be faithful with their resources.

And our God has miraculously come through. You will find at the end of the day, if you're faithful with His things, He's faithful to look after you. I can tell you so many miraculous stories that I've heard as I've walked with Him over the years.

The Biblical Pattern for Resourcing Local Church Ministry

Now, let's look in greater detail how does finances work in the church? How do we give? How does this work? Because we all need money. I need a salary, like you do. I've got a wife, I've got a daughter, and there's, there are many other pastors and elders and administrators.

We've got guys that are working on these cameras that are going to make these videos available. All of these things take money. And so how does that work in the Bible? Does the Bible talk to us about that? I need to say, in some churches you are just a number, and they'll give you a great performance, and there's one pastor to a thousand people, because he doesn't actually know you, he doesn't care about you, he's just gonna put up a great show on a Sunday.

That's not the biblical pattern. The biblical pattern is—keep watch, shepherd the sheep. You're gonna give an account for each one, so it actually takes a lot of work to disciple people. It is a huge amount of work. You have no idea. I remember one of our elders was director of Calvin Klein in South Africa.

He started Calvin Klein in South Africa. He was employed to bring it in. Calvin Klein is a huge brand. When he came onto eldership, I remember he once said to me, "Compared to the workload that I'm carrying now, that was easy. The responsibility is so much more, because we're not dealing with money.

We're dealing with people that Jesus died for. And people are complicated. You've got to get to know them. They come with brokenness and we've got to try to love them through. Teach them everything about the Lord. We've got to make sure that they're all being looked after and cared for.

And disciple you into everything that God's got for you. Do you know how much thought and work it actually takes to care for people? Think of a child. I mean, some of you have two children and you're thinking, "I remember when I had a life."

Adults, to be honest, they're just big children. We might have learned some things at school and we can do math and science, but in reality, most people, when they come to Jesus, they don't know how to live life. They don't know the ways of God and we've got to teach them the ways of God.

And that's a lot of work. And so the model that we carry, the biblical model is—we need elders who can do this work. So we need resources. I'll tell you now, if I'm holding down a secular job, like you are, and then at the end of my secular day, I've still got a wife and kids, then you're going to get the dregs.

There's no way I'm going to be able to look after people properly because I just don't have the resource. I can look after a small group. But I'll never be able to look after the church properly and see it grow and mature. You end up in survival, especially if you're leading.

So it really is something we've got to get right. And again, one of the greatest hindrances to the future work of the kingdom is money. It's probably the thing that holds us back more than anything else. If we had more money right now, we could probably plant five or six more churches.

We just don't have the money to bring people on staff. We don't have the money to bring guys through, that are ready, we just don't have the resources. So there are actually people who are not getting saved and coming to Jesus because we don't have enough.

Money is the hindrance here. We've got one of our churches meeting under a tree at the moment. There are about 80 people in Montagu, that are meeting under a tree. We need venues. Money is a major challenge for us. So, let's look at money and how it works.

The first thing we'll be looking at in some detail is the tithe. It's a very hot subject. If you Google this, you're going to find a lot of... Don't Google it. It's going to make work for us and then you'll need to pay us more.

The Purpose and Origin of Tithing

The tithe—let's look at what it is, where it came from, and how it practically works for us. Tithe means one tenth. Ultimately, everything that we earn belongs to God, but we bring one tenth and we give it back to Him. There are two things about tithing you should know.

Firstly, we tithe to acknowledge God and to honor God as our source. We're saying, "God, everything that I have is Yours. I get to enjoy nine tenths, but one tenth of what You give me, I'm using to acknowledge that You are my provider, You are my God.

I'm remembering You with it." Secondly, it's God's way of providing for His workers. It's God's way to make sure that His kingdom can work and be administrated and cared for. Tithing is first mentioned around four thousand years ago. Before Moses, before the law, there was a guy called Abraham, he's called the father of all who believe.

In other words, through him all nations were going to get reached. He had this relationship with God, and at one point we see something quite profound. In the Old Testament we read snippets of people's lives. You are showed a moment and you are given access to see some aspect of them.

Although we are reading from the New Testament, the moment recorded is from Genesis. Abraham meets a guy called Melchizedek. The writer of Hebrews, which is now New Testament, writes about this person that Abraham meets. It's important that we look at Melchizedek, because this teaches us a lot about the tithe.

And so Abraham has just gone to battle. He's won these great victories, and on his way home, he meets Melchizedek. This Melchizedek, the Bible says, was king of Salem and priest of God Most High. Now, this is before the law, before there was a temple, so it's quite an interesting guy—he's this priest of God Most High, he's a priest of Yahweh, God.

There's no temple and there are no priests yet. He's the first one we see. The Levites came years later. He met Abraham returning from the defeat of the kings and he blessed him. And Abraham gave him a tenth—a tithe of everything. Now, Melchizedek means King of Righteousness.

And he is called King of Salem, which means King of Peace. Now, who is the King of Righteousness and who's the King of Peace? Yes, Jesus. The Scripture also mentions that he is without father or mother. So he wasn't born like we were.

This is Jesus, who in His pre-eternal-state has never been born yet. Without genealogy. In other words, He's got no ancestry. Without beginning of days or end of life. In other words, He was never created, and He's never gonna die. Who's he talking about?

He's talking about Jesus. Like the Son of God, He remains a priest forever. He was resembling the Son of God, the word in the Hebrew would be translated as a "facsimile". Do you remember a fax? You could send a document and an exact copy would be printed on the other side.

In some ways He was Christ incarnate, He was Jesus, appearing to Abraham before He came to the earth in His heavenly form. He's actually a priest of God. He's the King of Righteousness. You know that Jesus is still a priest of God? He's the priest that was before the law, and He's the priest that was after the law.

Jesus Christ as the Eternal Priest

He's the eternal priest, the Bible says. He forever. He's got an eternal priesthood. Jesus, who is the eternal priest, receives the tithe from Abraham. Then Abraham's got a son called Isaac, and he's got a son called Jacob. Now you see something happens with Jacob, when he became a follower of God.

He's a bit rebellious, but at some point he turns his life around. And in his first conversation with God, when he turns his life to God, Genesis 28:20-22, he is turning his life to God for the first time. "Then Jacob made a vow saying, 'If God will be with me and will watch over me on this journey I'm taking.

If He will give me food to eat and clothes to wear.'" Did you remember what we read in Malachi? God said, "If you give me your tithe..." Now Jacob says, "Lord, if You'll look after me, give me food to eat and clothes to wear so that I return safely to my father's house, then the Lord will be my God.

And this stone that I've set up as a pillar will be God's house. And of all that You give me, I will give You a tenth" — of all that You give me I will give You a tenth — where did he learn that? It must have been something that he saw Abraham do, his grandfather.

Tithing Before and During the Law of Moses

He knows to follow God means... everything I own belongs to God, and I'm gonna bring Him a tenth. Now, all this is before Moses is there. Then Moses comes about 3,200 years ago, and we know Israel's in Egyptian captivity. They come out, they're going towards the promised land, and at one point God starts to establish them as a nation.

This nation has come from Abraham, then they are divided into twelve tribes. Abraham's grandson has twelve sons, who became the fathers of the twelve tribes of Israel. One of the sons of Jacob is called Levi. God had a unique purpose for the Levites.

God told the Israelites that when they go into the promised land, each tribe would receive their own portion of land. Within the land that was promised to Israel, each tribe was portioned a piece. Within that portion, God also gave a portion of land to each individual.

This land was the inheritance of their children and their children. But to Levi God did not assign any land. The Levites' job would be to be priests, to minister to God and also to minister to His people. The Levites had to lead Israel spiritually.

And what God did was to use the tithe of the other tribes to pay and take care of the Levites. Levi never got a portion of land, but he was employed full time. Numbers 18:21, God says, "I give to the Levites all the tithes in Israel as their inheritance in return for the work they do while serving at the tent of meeting."

The Levites and the Shadow of the Real

They've got this unique thing that they're supposed to do, and their job is — they have to serve God and serve the people. Now the Bible tells us that the law of tithing is a shadow of the real, and the scripture for that is in Hebrews 10:1.

"The law is only a shadow of the good things that are coming, not the realities themselves." In other words, what God did with Levi and with the tribes is a shadow of the real. Right now I can see the shadow of your foot because of the light above you.

I can see your form. But that's not you. It's showing me what you are like, but it's not you. You can sometimes recognize someone by their shadow. In some way the law, and this whole system brought in through Moses and Levi, is a shadow pointing to something else.

And Levi is a priest and he's a priest tribe, but Melchizedek was before and after Levi, because he was the priest forever. Do you know that right now Jesus is our High Priest? So He is Melchizedek. He is the High Priest who lives forever to ultimately minister before God and to minister to us.

So that you've got this priesthood that happens for a little while and, that system is then broken. God says I'm not going to work on the old shadow, now I'm bringing the real. In bringing the real, the old is obsolete. The shadow is no longer useful because now Christ has come.

If Christ is the eternal priest, do you realize, before the law, He was getting the tithe? And what's interesting is, the writer of the Hebrews tells us, the law also tithes to Christ. Because Hebrews says that Levi and that whole tribe was in Abraham when he tithed to Melchizedek.

So actually, the law, therefore tithed to Christ who was the eternal priest, because Christ is the real and they were only gonna be a shadow. The whole of God's dealing with these people, from Abraham right through until now, we have an eternal priest who receives a tithe.

We see this in the New Testament. Hebrews 7:8: "So in one case, that's Levi, tithes are received by mortal men." Levi would receive the tithes... "but in the other case, the eternal priest, Melchizedek, by the one of whom it is testified that He lives forever."

Melchizedek, Christ, receives the tithe. So if Christ is the eternal priest, He got the tithe before the law, He got the tithe through the law, indirectly. Now every son of faith, every child of Abraham, brings their tithe and they say, "God, like my father Abraham, all that I have is Yours."

Jesus’ Endorsement of Tithing

I will bring a tenth because You're the Eternal Priest, who forever lives, to intercede for me. Does this make sense? So Jesus also endorsed the tithe in Matthew 23:23. He was rebuking the Pharisees because they're being hypocritical. They're doing some things well and other things not well.

He says, "Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites. You give a tenth of your spices and milk." The dual income. In other words, you are really being pedantic about making sure that you bring the right kind of amounts in, but you've neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy, and faithfulness.

"You should have practiced the latter"—you should have brought your tithes in—"without neglecting the former." Make sure that you carry on the right heart of justice, mercy and faithfulness. So Jesus endorsed the tithe, which would have been a big thing to the early Christians because there are some things that were pre-law and in the law that have passed away or been brought to their fullness.

Let me think of some quickly. Circumcision. Abraham before the law was circumcised. In the law circumcision was practiced as well, but is circumcision still relevant? Not the way they did it, because the Bible tells us very clearly that it's no longer about circumcision of the flesh, but circumcision is still relevant because the Bible says that it was pointing to the better thing—which is the circumcision of the heart.

When the Bible changes something it's very clear. Another one would be the Sabbath. Are we bound to the Sabbath? Do we have to take a day off? Does it have to be Saturday or Sunday? No, the Bible says we're not bound to Sabbath.

Christ is the Sabbath rest. We're not bound to these things anymore. My rest is Jesus. It was pointing to Him. But nowhere in the Bible does it take the concept of the tithe and break it. The only things we break from the old are when the new actually clearly pictures it.

Supporting Ministry Workers in the New Testament

So I would argue that the tithe is to the eternal Priest, is as relevant to us today as it was to Abraham. And actually, Levi was simply a shadow, but now we bring our tithe to our eternal Priest who ever lives to intercede for us.

And what happens with that tithe? Well, the Bible says that, just like the Levites were paid, in 1 Corinthians 9:13-14, the second part: "Don't you know that those who work in the temple"—He's talking Old Testament, Levi—"get their food from the temple?"

In other words, they get their resources from the temple. "And those who serve at the altar share in what is offered on the altar." He's talking about Levi. "In the same way, the Lord has commanded that those who preach the gospel should receive their living from the gospel."

In other words, like Levi got their money from Israel, the tithes and offerings, so now in the New Testament, those who preach the gospel should get their living from the gospel. So a lot of people say, Paul was a tentmaker. And I'm gonna smash that thing just now because it's the biggest load of rubbish.

Paul's telling us quite clearly that those who preach the gospel should receive their living from the gospel. In other words, we're not supposed to be tentmakers if we're called to do this full time in the Lord. The Bible is very clear. In 1 Timothy 5:17-18, "The elders who direct the affairs of the church well are worthy of double honor."

Now double honor means very—there's no dispute about this—honor them with pay, with money. "Especially those whose work is preaching and teaching. For the scripture says, 'Do not muzzle the ox while it's treading out the grain,' and 'The worker deserves His wages.'"

In other words, those that work in the church as elders full time are working among you, sowing spiritual seed, they should receive a material harvest. How do you do that? Well, you bring your tenths, your tithes, and with that money, they're able to do what they're supposed to do.

Otherwise, they can't. So it's quite interesting. I did this little sum. On average, one tithe averages out to about two and a half people. Normally in every family, you've got one or two kids, normally two, maybe three kids. On average, one tithe is about two and a half people.

This means, if everyone brought a tenth in... and remember there's also other running costs. You've got phones, you've got AV... It's about 40 people, ideally, for one full-time worker. So if everyone brought their tithes, we'd have one full-time worker for every group of 40 people.

So here's the thing. That's doable because 40 people I can look after properly. Later I'll touch on what happens when you don't bring the tithe in or when we think that grace doesn't touch the tithe. So whatever is increasing to our estate, commission, salary, pre-tax, because God gets first.

Inheritance and Practical Tithing Questions

Whatever blessings I get financially, we tithe on. I also tithe. I bring my tithe in as well, because we're all priests. I'm just paid to do this. I want to touch on inheritance, because some ask, "Do I tithe on inheritance?" That's a debatable subject, I'll tell you why it's debatable.

In Israel, Israel was given a portion of land and that would be handed down from father to son, father to son... So the reality is, when a son inherited that land from his father, it would be next to impossible for him to pay a tenth of that land.

He would simply get that land and whatever is produced on it, he would then tithe on. So it's debatable if you should tithe on an inheritance. Some would say you should, but the challenge is that you'll need to take out bonds to pay the tithe.

So each one needs to work this out for yourself on that specific subject. I think it's a gray matter. Some tithe on the cash that they get in the inheritance and not on the property if they get it. But the bottom line is, do what you do with faith. I think it is a debatable thing. This means for some of you, because of your faith, God would expect you to tithe on your inheritance. And others not. This is one of those gray areas, but I can say this—You're never going to outgive God.

Grace and the Generous Giver

That was something that I did want to just clarify. But, any increase outside of inheritance—tithing is non-negotiable—we bring it. Now, I remember, there was this teaching, and it's still going around, it says, under grace, the law has passed away and we're not bound to tithe.

Don't give under compulsion. Give as you feel led, as you want to, because God loves a generous giver. But it's actually way out of context. The thing I want to say is this. There was a time, I'd been tithing faithfully for about a year and a half at this point.

Then I heard this teaching—I didn't have to tithe—and I thought, "Awesome!" Just give as you feel you want to be led to give. And so for the next six months, I went to church every Sunday, and I didn't give anything. I think I might have given a few cents here and there, but I thought, I didn't have money, and I was trying to help my friends, and sharing.

And so, for a period of about six months, I didn't tithe. And I was in church one day and I remember standing there and suddenly the Lord spoke to me and He said, "You're sinning against Me." I said, "How?" "You're not tithing." And I knew at that point, I just knew I needed to start tithing again.

So I said, "I'm so sorry Lord, please forgive me. I'll start tithing next week." And the Lord said this to me, "What about the money you owe Me?" Then I realized for six months I hadn't tithed. And He held me to that. For the next four months, I paid back my tithe and I tithed.

And then the Lord said, "Fine, you can move on now." And I've kept tithing, I never stopped from that point. I learned my lesson once, I'm never going there again. The money is the Lord's, it's not mine. It takes money to advance the Kingdom, so I've tithed since then faithfully.

The Relevance of Tithing in the Local Church

Let me say this. If you still think that tithing is not relevant, I would say be very careful. We did a survey once of people that did tithe and those that didn't tithe. People that did tithe on average, give about 12%. They give 10 percent tithe to the church and they give about 2% to friends or family or just as the Lord leads.

But people that said they're no longer under the tithe gave on average 2%. And of that 2%, less than 1% came into the local church. They normally gave to aunties or uncles or friends who are on the mission field somewhere. Which means if you do the sums, you would need around 400 non-tithing people, giving as they felt without any compulsion, for one full-time worker.

400 people. I can tell you now, we've planted churches, to grow a church past 40 to 50 people is next to impossible, hardly anyone pulls that off, because you end up in survival mode and maintenance mode. You're working, you're coming home, you've got your wife and your kids, and then you've still got to care for the church.

So you find the Kingdom can't advance. And what's quite scary is, in March 2022, the Barna Group did a survey of full-time pastors. They asked the question, "How many of you want to give up ministry?" And 42% of pastors wanted to give up.

40% of them, it was found, were at high risk of burnout because of the burden of their job. According to the Pastoral Care Incorporated, for every ten pastors that start in ministry, one of them will end their life in ministry. The rest will fall away or give it up.

It is a hugely challenging job. If they are working and they're not getting paid for it, you're just destroying the very thing that moves the kingdom forward. Because if there's no elders, if there's no leaders... You're not going to have families, you're not going to have churches being planted.

Giving Under Grace vs. Giving Under Law

Everything goes into survival mode, and the kingdom does not advance. So be very careful. But I would say this. If you feel you're not compelled to give. If you say you're under grace now and you don't have to give, well then you would agree with me on this.

In Matthew 5:20, we read "that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven." If under grace, you and I believe that we should be giving far more and living far more righteously than they did under the law.

I'm arguing for those that say, "I'm not under the law, I don't have to tithe, I'm under grace." Well, it's not something that can necessarily stop you from becoming a member. As long as you work this out. If you're under grace and you think you're going to go beyond the law, then if you want to give 20%...

That's fine. 30%, that's fine. But at least, if you're going to join the church, bring in your tenth, because you're matching what they were under in the Old Covenant. Are you with me? Bring it to the church, not to your uncle and auntie and your friend who's on the mission field.

The Right of Elders to Receive a Wage

The Bible's very clear in 1 Timothy 5:17-18, "The elders who direct the affairs of the church are worthy of double honor, especially those whose work is preaching and teaching. For Scripture says, 'Do not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain,' and 'The worker deserves his wages.'"

I love that. Most of you, well I think probably all of you here, go to work on Monday morning and you work for the week and at the end of the month you are hoping someone's gonna pay you your wage. You've done the work, now you expect the wage.

Can you imagine if your boss called you in and said, "Thanks, your work was amazing this month, but I've got a friend who's in the mission field in Mongolia and I'm gonna take your pay and I am going to pay him." What are you going to do?

The worker is worth his wage. You're going to say, "Hang on a minute, that's my money to give. It's my right to have that money." And that is the language of the New Testament. It's my right to have that money. I know the more mature guys will ask, what about Paul when he said, I didn't use that as his right, but he called it a right.

He might not have used it. In other words, you might say to your boss, "You know what? Take my money and give it to that person out in Mongolia." But that's your right to do or not. He doesn't have a right to hold it back from you.

So, and remember in 1 Corinthians 9:11-12, "If we have sown spiritual seed among you, is it too much if we reap a material harvest from you? If others have this right of support from you, shouldn't we have it all the more?" This is Paul talking.

The Difference Between Tithes and Offerings

So we have a right to this. This is our wage. Be fair and faithful with us because we work hard among you. So help us. Don't make our job a burden, make it a joy. Amen. Then we've got offerings. So this is beyond the tithe.

I don't tithe to other churches. I tithe to the place that I am being cared for. This is my storehouse. But offerings are things that we give beyond that. Churches often might have a specific offering. Like if they're trusting God for a new building.

Then we bring offerings. Sometimes we might bless somebody that's ministered. We just had Ryan Kingsley with us. We took up an offering to bless him, so that he could carry on the work. So there's times that we bring beyond the tithe. We bring offerings.

Now, offerings are different from the tithe. And this is where everyone gets confused. Tithe is a tenth. Offerings is whatever you feel you want it to be. You can give as you feel led. If you don't want to give, that's fine. That's between you and God, but God does love a cheerful giver.

And so in 1 Corinthians 16:1-2, Paul tells them about the collection for God's people. And this is one church, the Corinthian church, taking up an offering for another church, a church in Jerusalem. There was a drought and a famine and that people are starving.

So one church has taken up an offering to help another one. It says, "Do what I told the Galatian churches to do. On the first day of every week, each one of you should set aside a sum of money in keeping with his income, saving it up so that when I come, no collections will have to be made."

And then he goes on in 2 Corinthians 9:6-7, because they haven't taken that up properly. He comes back and says, "Hey, you haven't done that offering that we spoke about." "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."

Most people that are against the tithe say, "We're not under compulsion." This is not referring to a tithe. This is an offering from one church to another church. And the offering is always—give what you feel you want to give. There's no number that God gives us. You give as you want to give. And remember, God loves it when you're generous. That Scripture has got nothing to do with the running of a local church; it's got to do with one church helping another church that's in poverty, that's starving.

Ministry to the Poor and Needy

Next point is alms, and the poor and needy. 1 John 3:17: "If you see a brother in need and you don't have pity on him, how can the love of God be in you?" In Acts 2:45, "They sold their properties and possessions to give as anyone had need."

One of the ways we give beyond tithes and offerings is to the poor. Your first priority is to the believers who are poor. There should be no needy people among us. Beyond that, you might give to the poor outside of the church, because God loves the poor.

Our ministry to the poor is called Ikhaya le Themba. It's a JoshGen ministry; we just call it Ikhaya le Themba. It does a lot of work into the poor. At times we'll take up offerings. There's a Christmas donation and people give presents and the guys will take kids food and provision and training. That's our ministry to the poor.

We also at times take up offerings for the poor. When COVID hit, Zimbabwe was in dire straits. I remember Will Marais, one of the guys who was working with us apostolically, he was weeping. He said, "There's no food. There's nothing in the shops. There's no money." This is even before COVID. It costs more to drive to work than you're going to earn in a day. Some of our pastors were telling us that they were digging up tree roots and boiling them in water so they could try and eat something.

Then COVID hit and people were dying. And we as churches said, "We want to help." We took up an offering for the poor churches and people then gave as they felt led. And we were able to help many people. And actually not just Zimbabwe, but many nations who had literally no means of support. They were able to be carried through and feed their children. Today, many of them would thank God because the wealthy churches took up offerings to help the poor churches. This is ministry to the poor. It's something that we do and it's good to give to the poor.

Personal giving. Sometimes God will just lead you to give to somebody. Listen to Him.

Apostolic Giving and the Tentmaker Argument

Lastly, apostolic giving. It's interesting. Let's jump into this tentmaker thing again, because one of the arguments against full-time workers is, "Well, Paul was a tentmaker, so you guys shouldn't get paid a salary. Actually, you should all get a job," insinuating that we don't work.

In Philippians 4:15-19, Paul talks about this. He says, "As you Philippians know, in the early days of your acquaintance with the gospel, when I set out from Macedonia"—when he set out from Macedonia, he actually went to Corinth—"not one church shared with me in the matter of giving." Paul is an apostle; this is not an elder. Apostles traveled between the churches and some apostles are carried by local churches. John and Peter would've been carried by the local churches. Paul wasn't carried by church financially, and so he had to trust on the provision of people that helped them and blessed him.

"Not one church shared with me in this matter of giving and receiving, except you only." The Philippians are the only church that helped him financially. "For even when I was in Thessalonica, you sent me aid again and again when I was in need. Not that I'm looking for a gift, but I'm looking for what may be credited to your account. I've received full payment and even more. I am amply supplied now that I've received from Epaphroditus the gift you sent." He's talking money. "They're a fragrant offering."

So when you give to the apostolic, it's a "fragrant offering, an acceptable sacrifice, pleasing to God. And my God," He says, "will meet all your needs according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus." As we give to the apostolic, it blesses God because the apostles advanced the work of the kingdom.

They plant churches. They make sure that the kingdom is advancing. And so this is not tithe, this is offerings, but it's apostolic giving. So let's look at this tentmaker thing, because that's one of the most strong arguments that people use against why we shouldn't get paid.

Paul goes to Corinth and there's a problem when he arrives. Corinth has got a bunch of Christians that are Greek orators. There was a Greek way of thinking—you would pay people to be brilliant. So you would have guys that stood on the street corners and you'd pay them and they would then wax eloquent.

What happened was, some guys would come into the church and they were starting to do the same thing. And so Paul realized that there was a big problem here 'cause people are using the gospel to make money. We don't use the gospel to make money.

We preach the gospel free. So there's a corrupt motive. He says in one place, some people preach because they want to get rich. And so Paul realized with the Corinthians he had a problem here. If he did get paid by these guys, he would be perpetuating that problem.

And so he chooses to not get paid by them, which actually creates a problem for him, funny enough. He talks about these other guys in 2 Corinthians 11:13. He says, "For such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, masquerading as apostles of Christ."

They're basically in it for the money. And he goes on to say, I want to cut the ground up from under them, so I'm not going to take money from you. So he makes tents. He gets a job with a guy called Aquila, and he actually starts making tents.

He does that because he doesn't want to make it look like he's peddling the gospel for money. Out of interest we did the same thing in America. When I arrived at one of the churches in America, Africans always go over to America for money.

When we arrived there the church didn't trust our motives. I had heard through the grapevine that they thought that Four12 was just there to get money out of them. And so I got up in front of the church and I said, we will come at our own expense for at least a year.

I will not receive a cent from you for a year. We'll come at our own expense. We'll pay our own way. We will not take anything from the churches. And because we did that, they listened to us. They've just recently started to bless us.

And if they never paid us, it wouldn't change a thing, because we do this for Jesus, who gave us salvation freely as a gift. We've done this in a number of places. So Paul does make tents for a while, and then in 1 Corinthians 9:12, he writes to the Corinthians, "If others have this right of support from you, shouldn't we have it all the more?"

The Right to Support vs. Choosing to Serve Freely

It's quite interesting, the argument, if you look at it, he says, "We actually have a right to support, but we did not use this right. On the contrary, we put up with anything rather than hinder the gospel of Christ." He says it's a right, but because I didn't want to hinder your faith, I didn't take it.

I didn't use my right. Then after being in Corinth for just a few weeks working as a tentmaker we read Acts 18:5, "Silas and Timothy came to him from Macedonia and from that moment Paul devoted himself exclusively to preaching, testifying to the Jews that Jesus was the Christ."

What happened? He's no longer making tents. He's now working exclusively in preaching. How did he do that? The Philippians. The Philippians gave him money and obviously it came through Silas and Timothy when they came from Macedonia. In 2 Corinthians 11:8, he says, "I robbed other churches by receiving support from them so that I could serve you."

Should Full-Time Workers Be Paid?

So should full-time workers get paid? Well, as soon as Paul could, he did. Don't use that because it's actually really taken badly out of context. If you look at it in context, as soon as he could, he was paid for by the churches, just not that church.

He had to rob another church. And then nations, it costs money to go to nations. How many of you enjoyed Ryan Kingsley come through us? Did your faith not grow? They come and they strengthen our faith. They grow us, and they break things open, and they plant churches, and they bring health.

Investing in Apostolic Ministry and Church Planting

So we give to the apostolic. Just so that you know, I've asked Phil to give me the figures on this, JoshGen alone gave five and a half million Rand, last year, outside of ourselves, into the apostolic. Wow. Do you know what we could have done with it?

We want to partner with the apostolic. We give to churches being planted. We give to those that can get into poorer areas and preach the gospel to Zimbabwe. And we've got the Macintoshes now in Malawi, breaking things open. We paying for those kind of guys with that kind of money, because we think that it's more than just JoshGen.

Navigating Financial Struggles as a Community

It's about making disciples of nations. And so we give, even as a church, we give apostolically, but likewise, sometimes we as individuals give apostolically to advance the kingdom of God. We want to be partners in the gospel. So quickly in closing, if you're in need, if you come to the end of the month and you're going, "Oh Jesus, I've just started tithing and I'm in trouble," talk to your leaders, talk to your community leaders. Tell them, "Hey man, I want to be faithful, but I'm struggling."

I remember, my wife and I, very often we've said to people, "Tithe and we'll pay for your food. Tithe, and if you need to give up your rent and move in with us until you're able to be more secure." I would rather help you to be faithful to God and get breakthroughs than just leave you on your own. If you are in trouble financially, bring it out. The question will be, are you being faithful? Are you being a good steward? The guys would then say, "Can we look at your finances? What are you doing?"

"Well, I've just bought a new BMW M5, but I don't have any food." Okay, you were really dumb. Let's try and help you through this. We want to help you through this. We don't want to punish you, we want to help you, but you're not being a good steward of Your resources. And so the elders will get involved and try to help you get to the point that you are sustainable. And, not just sustainable, but actually able to be a blessing to others. Because God blesses us so that we can be a blessing. So, speak up if you're in trouble.

Leadership and Generosity in the Church

When it comes to the conference, if you didn't have money, speak. This is free, man. He's given us everything. This is not something we do for money. I'll finish with this, I'll never forget the one day as elders we wanted to give generously as offerings. We wanted to build a building. We felt the Lord told us to do this. I remember sitting down at them and saying, "Guys, we need to give more than anyone else."

So what we did was, I mean Mike Davies, one of our elders, sold his only house and brought that money in, gave it to the building. Some of the guys had two cars. They sold one of their cars and brought that money. This was the elders. Then we sat down as elders and looked at our budgets and said, "This is what I'm earning," and all of us literally said, "How much can I cut it?"

Some of us gave up medical aids, we gave things up so that we could earn less salary so the church could do what it needed to do, and thank God for this building because without it you wouldn't be here tonight. We're generous in all things as leaders. We set an example in these things because we realize it is about seeking the kingdom of God first. We're here to make disciples of nations. We work together to that end. So work with us. If you're going to join the church, partner with us in this, help us so that we can help you and serve you.

Otherwise you suffer as well, because we can't actually bring you through. We end up in survival mode. The kingdom suffers when we don't have resources. So be faithful if you join the church. However you get there, but get there. Amen? Amen.