“Whether we give ourselves to the Lord or not, we are His. Ye are not your own; ye are bought with a price. We are the Lord’s by creation, and we are His by redemption. Therefore we have no right to think that we can do as we please. All we handle is the Lord’s. We have no right of ourselves to anything, not even to an existence. All our money, time, and talents belong to God, and are lent us by Him that we may accomplish the work He has given us to do. He has given us the charge, ‘Occupy till I come’ (Luke 19:13).

“Do not make it a business to serve yourselves and become indifferent in regard to the claims of God upon you. You are His property.”1

The Creator of the universe declares, “I will take no bullock out of thy house, nor the goats out of thy folds. For every beast of the forest is mine, and the cattle upon a thousand hills. I know all the fowls of the mountains: and the wild beasts of the field are mine. If I were hungry, I would not tell thee: for the world is mine, and the fulness thereof” (Psalm 50:9-12).

Everything belongs to God. So when He entrusts us to become His partners, He is counting on us to make wise use of every penny, every talent, every minute, under our control. He grants us amazing freedom of choice, but we must realize that anything which might cater to our own pride would surely bring disappointment to Him. Instead of selfish pleasure-seeking, He wants to see in us the same spirit as Christ maintained when on earth. The apostle makes it clear to us: “Ye ought to support the weak, and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he said, It is more blessed to give than to receive” (Acts 20:35).

“God has a claim on us and all that we have. His claim is paramount to every other. And in acknowledgment of this claim, He bids us render to Him a fixed proportion of all that He gives us. The tithe is this specified portion.”2

Again, everything belongs to God and He is only trusting us as His partners to make wise choices in all aspects of life. Yet, as mentioned, He does distinctly refer to one specific portion by name: The tithe.

Tithing has been practiced since earliest times. For example, our first parents were forbidden to eat from one specific tree in the Garden of Eden. That was a type of tithing. Abraham returned tithes to Melchisedec. Jacob fervently pledged to carry on the practice of tithing when, in a moment of great personal crisis, he saw in his dream the ladder connecting heaven and earth, symbolic of his Saviour. The deep gratitude of his heart was expressed in his solemn vow, “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 all that thou shalt give me I will surely give the tenth unto thee” (Genesis 28:20-22).

Later, “when God delivered Israel from Egypt to be a special treasure unto Himself, He taught them to devote a tithe of their possessions to the service of the tabernacle. This was a special offering, for a special work. All that remained of their property was God’s, and was to be used to His glory. But the tithe was set apart for the support of those who ministered in the sanctuary. It was to be given from the first fruits of all the increase, and, with gifts and offerings, it provided ample means for supporting the ministry of the gospel for that time.”3

“It is a heaven-appointed plan that men should return to the Lord His own; and this is so plainly stated that men and women have no excuse for misunderstanding or evading the duties and responsibilities God has laid upon them. Those who claim that they cannot see this to be their duty, reveal to the heavenly universe, to the church, and to the world that they do not want to see this plainly stated requirement. They think that by following the Lord’s plan they would detract from their own possessions. In the covetousness of their selfish souls they desire to have the whole capital, both principal and interest, to use for their own benefit.”4 Dear brethren and sisters, we must beware of such a danger!

“The minister should, by precept and example, teach the people to regard the tithe as sacred. He should not feel that he can retain and apply it according to his own judgment because he is a minister. It is not his. He is not at liberty to devote to himself whatever he thinks is his due. He should not give his influence to any plans for diverting from their legitimate use the tithes and offerings dedicated to God. They are to be placed in His treasury and held sacred for His service as He has appointed.

“God desires all His stewards to be exact in following divine arrangements. They are not to offset the Lord’s plans by performing some deed of charity or giving some gift or some offering when or how they, the human agents, shall see fit. It is a very poor policy for men to seek to improve on God’s plan, and invent a makeshift, averaging up their good impulses on this and that occasion, and offsetting them against God’s requirements. God calls upon all to give their influence to His own arrangement. He has made His plan known, and all who would cooperate with Him must carry out this plan instead of daring to attempt an improvement on it.”5

“The tithe is set apart for a special use. It is not to be regarded as a poor fund. It is to be especially devoted to the support of those who are bearing God’s message to the world, and it should not be diverted from this purpose.”6

“God lays His hand upon all man’s possessions, saying: I am the owner of the universe, and these goods are Mine. The tithe you have withheld I reserve for the support of My servants in their work of opening the Scriptures to those who are in the regions of darkness, who do not understand My law. In using My reserve fund to gratify your own desires you have robbed souls of the light which I made provision for them to receive. You have had opportunity to show loyalty to Me, but you have not done this. You have robbed Me; you have stolen My reserve fund. ‘Ye are cursed with a curse’ (Malachi 3:9).”7

“The curse of God will surely come upon those who rob Him in tithes and offerings.”8

“A very plain, definite message has been given to me to give to our people. I am bidden to tell them that they are making a mistake in applying the tithe to various objects which, though good in themselves, are not the object to which the Lord has said the tithe is to be applied. Those who make this use of the tithe are departing from God’s arrangement. God will judge for these things. One reasons that the tithe may be appropriated for school purposes; still another would reason that canvassers and colporteurs should be supported from the tithe, but a great mistake is made when the tithe is withdrawn from the object for which it is to be used - the support of the ministers. There should today be in the field one hundred well-qualified laborers where now there is one. God cannot look upon the present condition of things with approval, but with condemnation. His treasury is deprived of the means that should be used for the support of the gospel ministry in fields nigh and far off. Those who proclaim the message of truth before great congregations, and who do house to house work, are doing double missionary work, and in no case are their salaries to be cut down. The use of the tithe must be looked upon as a sacred matter by our people. We must guard strictly against all that is contrary to the message now given.

“There is a lack of ministers because ministers have not been encouraged. Some ministers who have been sent to foreign lands, to enter fields never before worked, have been given the instruction, ‘You must sustain yourselves. We have not the means with which to support you.’ This ought not to be if the tithe, with gifts and offerings, was brought into the treasury. When a man enters the ministry, he is to be paid from the tithe enough to sustain his family. He is not to feel that he is a beggar. The impression is becoming quite common that the sacred disposition of the tithe no longer exists. Many have lost their sense of the Lord’s requirements. The tithe is sacred, reserved by God for Himself. It is to be brought into His treasury to be used to sustain the gospel laborers in their work. For a long time the Lord has been robbed because there are those who do not realize that the tithe is God’s reserved portion. . . .

“Read carefully the third chapter of Malachi, and see what God says about the tithe. If our churches will take their stand upon the Lord’s word, and be faithful in paying their tithe into His treasury, His laborers will be encouraged to take up ministerial work. More men would give themselves to the ministry were they not told of the depleted treasury. There should be an abundant supply in the Lord’s treasury, and there would be if selfish hearts and hands had not made use of the tithe to support other lines of work. God’s reserved resources are to be used in no such haphazard way. The tithe is the Lord’s and those who meddle with it will be punished with the loss of their heavenly treasure unless they repent. Let the work no longer be hedged up because the tithe has been diverted into various channels other than the one to which the Lord said it should go. Provision is to be made for these other lines of work. They are to be sustained, but not from the tithe. God has not changed. The tithe is to be used for the support of the ministry. The opening of new fields requires more ministerial efficiency than we now have and there must be means in the treasury.”9

“Some, who do not see the advantage of educating the youth to be physicians both of the mind and of the body, say that the tithe should not be used to support medical missionaries, who devote their time to treating the sick. In response to such statements as these, I am instructed to say that the mind must not become so narrowed down that it cannot take in the truth of the situation. A minister of the gospel who is also a medical missionary, who can cure physical ailments, is a much more efficient worker than one who cannot do this. His work as a minister of the gospel is much more complete.”10

Many of the writers of the Bible were actually self-supporting workers, including Jeremiah, Daniel, and Paul, to name a few. “In many places self-supporting missionaries can work successfully. It was as a self-supporting missionary that the apostle Paul labored in spreading the knowledge of Christ throughout the world.”11

Yet notwithstanding his personal choice, as Paul states, he was indeed entitled to receive the tithe based on his labors in the gospel work. “Say I these things as a man? or saith not the law the same also? For it is written in the law of Moses, Thou shalt not muzzle the mouth of the ox that treadeth out the corn. Doth God take care for oxen? Or saith he it altogether for our sakes? For our sakes, no doubt, this is written: that he that ploweth should plow in hope; and that he that thresheth in hope should be partaker of his hope. If we have sown unto you spiritual things, is it a great thing if we shall reap your carnal things? If others be partakers of this power over you, are not we rather? Nevertheless we have not used this power; but suffer all things, lest we should hinder the gospel of Christ. Do ye not 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” (1 Corinthians 9:8-14).

“Let the elders that rule well be counted worthy of double honour, especially they who labour in the word and doctrine. For the scripture saith, Thou shalt not muzzle the ox that treadeth out the corn. And, The labourer is worthy of his reward” (1 Timothy 5:17, 18).

“The tithe should go to those who labor in word and doctrine, be they men or women.”12

Many overlook the fact that our financial obligation to God is not limited merely to tithing. He also calls for the first fruits of the blessings with which He entrusts us as His partners.

“The priests the Levites, and all the tribe of Levi, shall have no part nor inheritance with Israel: they shall eat the offerings of the Lord made by fire, and his inheritance. Therefore shall they have no inheritance among their brethren: the Lord is their inheritance, as he hath said unto them. And this shall be the priest’s due from the people, from them that offer a sacrifice, whether it be ox or sheep; and they shall give unto the priest the shoulder, and the two cheeks, and the maw. The firstfruit also of thy corn, of thy wine, and of thine oil, and the first of the fleece of thy sheep, shalt thou give him” (Deuteronomy 18:1-4). An illustration of this is also found in 2 Kings 4:42-44.

“God requires no less of us than He required of His people anciently. His gifts to us are not less, but greater, than they were to Israel of old. His service requires, and ever will require, means. The great missionary work for the salvation of souls is to be carried forward. In the tithe, with gifts and offerings, God has made ample provision for this work. He intends that the ministry of the gospel shall be fully sustained. He claims the tithe as His own, and it should ever be regarded as a sacred reserve, to be placed in His treasury for the benefit of His cause, for the advancement of His work, for sending His messengers into ‘regions beyond,’ even to the uttermost parts of the earth.

“God has laid His hand upon all things, both man and his possessions; for all belong to Him. He says, I am the owner of the world; the universe is Mine, and I require you to consecrate to My service the first fruits of all that I, through My blessing, have caused to come into your hands. God’s word declares, ‘Thou shalt not delay to offer the first of thy ripe fruits’ (Exodus 22:29). ‘Honor the Lord with thy substance, and with the first fruits of all thine increase’ (Proverbs 3:9). This tribute He demands as a token of our loyalty to Him.”13

“Unto the place which the Lord your God shall choose out of all your tribes to put his name there, even unto his habitation shall ye seek, and thither thou shalt come: and thither ye shall bring your burnt offerings, and your sacrifices, and your tithes, and heave offerings of your hand, and your vows, and your freewill offerings, and the firstlings of your herds and of your flocks” (Deuteronomy 12:5, 6).

“God gives to us, that we may give. . . . In the natural world, man must do his part in the work of the earth. He must till and prepare the soil. And God, working through nature, giving sunshine and showers, quickens the seed sown, and causes vegetation to flourish. Thus the sowing is rewarded in the reaping of earth’s treasures in bountiful harvests. The lesson is true in spiritual as in temporal things. Man must work under the guidance of the divine hand; for unless God cooperates with him, there will be no increase. Human power cannot cause the seed sown to spring into life. But there can be no reaping unless the human hand acts its part in the sowing of the seed.

“The reaping will testify of what the sowing has been.”14

Stinted sowing will result in stinted reaping. This is readily noticeable when one compares a flower garden that has been heavily laden with bulbs with one that has received only a mere haphazard planting. The efforts and sacrifice of the more generous gardener will result in a visible difference. While our tithing may measure the depth of obligation we feel toward God, our offerings measure the depth of our love for Him. Let us not skimp or be stingy, for the precious promise is sure: “He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully. Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work” (2 Corinthians 9:6-8).

“Voluntary offerings and the tithe constitute the revenue of the gospel. Of the means which is entrusted to man, God claims a certain portion - a tithe; but He leaves all free to say how much the tithe is, and whether or not they will give more than this. They are to give as they purpose in their hearts. But when the heart is stirred by the influence of the Spirit of God, and a vow is made to give a certain amount, the one who vowed has no longer any right to the consecrated portion. He has given his pledge before men, and they are called to witness to the transaction. At the same time he has incurred an obligation of the most sacred character to cooperate with the Lord in building up His kingdom on earth. Promises of this kind made to men would be considered binding. Are they not more sacred and binding when made to God? Are promises tried in the court of conscience less binding than written agreements with men?

“When the divine light is shining into the heart with unusual clearness and power, habitual selfishness relaxes its grasp, and there is a disposition to give to the cause of God. None need expect that they will be allowed to fulfill the promises then made without a protest on the part of Satan. He is not pleased to see the Redeemer’s kingdom on earth built up. He suggests that the pledge made was too much, that it may cripple them in their efforts to acquire property or gratify the desires of their families. The power Satan has over the human mind is wonderful. He labors most earnestly to keep the heart bound up in self.

“The only means which God has ordained to advance His cause is to bless men with property. He gives them the sunshine and the rain; He causes vegetation to flourish; He gives health and ability to acquire means. All our blessings come from His bountiful hand. In turn He would have men and women show their gratitude by returning Him a portion in tithes and offerings - in thank offerings, in freewill offerings, in trespass offerings.”15

A precious promise is found in Psalm 50:15, “And call upon me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me.” We all enjoy receiving that kind of help from the Lord just when we need it most. Yet it is important to see that this same promise begins with the word “and” is preceded by an essential condition: “Offer unto God thanksgiving; and pay thy vows unto the most High” (verse 14). That point should not be overlooked.

Through His confidence in our potential as partners, Christ has a greater plan for us than we can ever experience in this old, fallen world. He urges, “Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: for where your treasure is, there will your heart be also” (Matthew 6:19-21).

Brethren, sisters, friends, let it be the prayer and aim of each one of us to prepare our heart and life for that wonderful opportunity to hear the wonderful words of our Senior Partner that will be sweet music to faithful ears, “Well done, good and faithful servant; thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord” (Matthew 25:23).