Spiritual Life & Disciplines Part 14 – Spiritual Discipline #6 – Stewardship

Review The Goals: to know God and be like Him The Basis: Union with Christ The Enemy: the flesh Spiritual Disciplines Bible Intake Prayer Worship Evangelism Service

Stewardship Stewardship is recognizing that everything I have comes from God, and that He expects me to manage what He gives in such a way that He is honored and glorified (Ex. 19:5, Job 41:11, Ps. 24:1, 1 Cor. 4:7) Talents Time Treasure

Time Time is a gift from God Time must be redeemed (Eph. 5:15-16) Jonathan Edwards, The Preciousness of Time and the Importance of Redeeming It: Time is short (James 4:14) We are uncertain how much remaining time we have (Prov. 27:1) Past time cannot be redeemed (John 9:4) “Resolved, never to lose one moment of time, but improve it the most profitable way I possibly can”

Time We are accountable to God for how we use our time (Rom. 14:12, Matt. 25:14-30) Wise use of time is preparation for eternity (2 Cor. 6:2, Rom. 2:4, 2 Pet. 3:9) “Doth it not tear their very hearts for ever, to think how madly they consumed their lives, and wasted the only time that was given them to prepare for their salvation? Do those in Hell now think them wise that are idling or playing away their time on earth?” – Richard Baxter

Tithing The word “tithe” comes from a word that means “tenth.” In modern usage, the tithe or “tithing” usually means giving ten percent of a person’s income to the church. But that is not what the Bible teaches

Tithing in the Old Testament Israel was a theocracy, which meant that the religious leaders (the Levites) also served as governmental leaders Under the theocracy, several tithes were required of the people: 10% - The Levities Tithe (Lev. 27:30-33) 10% - The National Feast Tithe (Deut. 14:22-26) 3.3% (10% every 3 years) - A Poor & Widow Tithe every third year (Deut. 14:27-29) For a total of 23.3 % annually Plus…

Tithing in the Old Testament “In addition to that, you paid a half shekel temple tax every year, in addition to that, if you had a field, you had to harvest the field in a circle and leave the corners open for the poor. It was a profit-sharing plan. If you dropped a bail of hay off your wagon, on the way to the barn, you had to leave that for the poor. So you start adding that up and you are looking at about 25% of their income went to fund the national entity of the government.” – John MacArthur, Bible Questions and Answers

Tithing in the Old Testament But this required giving was Israel’s income tax system, not their offerings. Every time “tithe” is mentioned in Scripture, it refers to governmental taxation, not religious giving All offerings mentioned in the Old Testament are free-will giving, where the giver is not specified an amount to give nor required to give (Ex. 25:2, 1 Chron. 29:9)

Tithing in the New Testament The tithe is never commanded or required in the New Testament for the church. There are a few references to the tithe in the NT, but they are historical references, not commands. But the NT does command and require that believers in the church pay taxes to the government (Matt. 22:17-Rom. 13:1-8)

Giving in the New Testament Like the Old Testament, the New Testament always makes giving a voluntary privilege, not a mandatory responsibility Giving should be: (2 Cor. 9:7) Purposeful (planned, intentional, well thought-out) Not grudgingly (reluctant, with a grieved spirit) Not under compulsion (pressure) Cheerful (out of gladness, joy, happiness)

Giving in the New Testament In addition, the New Testament elsewhere teaches that giving: Should be private (Matt. 6:1-4) Should be regular & according to God’s provision (1 Cor. 16:2) Should be sacrificial (2 Cor. 8:1-5) Should be generous (1 Tim. 6:18)