First Corinthians 16 Part 1 Christian Offering And The Blessing of Tithing

We are making our way through the book of First Corinthians and have reached the final chapter of this first letter to the church at Corinth.

An orderly process for collecting tithes and offerings is established.

1 Corinthians 16:1-4  Now concerning the collection for the saints, as I have given order to the churches of Galatia, even so do ye. 2)  Upon the first day of the week let every one of you lay by him in store, as God hath prospered him, that there be no gatherings when I come. 3)  And when I come, whomsoever ye shall approve by your letters, them will I send to bring your liberality unto Jerusalem. 4)  And if it be meet that I go also, they shall go with me.

The word "collection" refers to money donated by each member of the church. We previously studied that God's standard for our giving is the tithe and offerings for the poor or for missions is extra beyond our tithes.

Some do not think that a Christian is responsible for giving an offering or making a tithe. 

Yet, Abraham gave a tithe to the king and priest named Melchisedek, 400 years before tithing was encoded in the law of Moses (See Genesis 14:17-20).

What is a tithe? It means ten percent. If I earn one hundred dollars per week my tithe would be ten dollars. If I earn one thousand dollars per week, my tithe would be one hundred dollars.

Tithing is mentioned 40 times in Old and New Testaments. 

We will look at several scriptures to learn what God wants us to do in regards to financially supporting His kingdom work. 

First principle of giving is that you cannot outgive God.

Luke 6:38  Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again. 

Tithing is a wonderful spiritual activity that we are privileged to participate in. Jesus taught that the more we give to our church the more God will give to us. 

Some wrongly teach that God will give us more money as we give more funds to support church ministry.

I have found after many years of tithing, that though ten percent of our income is gone, all our bills are still paid and we still do not run out of money.  

All of our physical needs have been supplied by God and we lack nothing.

The fact is that when you start tithing, you will find you don't even notice that your budget has ten percent less money to work with.

Those who are stingy givers will not receive a blessing like those who generously give to support their local church.

Some may say, "Well, I support charitable organizations like ASPCA, or Goodwill Industries, or the American Red Cross or the YMCA/YWCA, so I don't need to give to my church."

There is nothing wrong with supporting a good charitable organization, but all things must be done decently and in order.

Our First and Primary obligation is giving our tithe to the LORD. HE will hold us to account if we do not do as He commands. 

God has always supported His work by the willing contributions from His redeemed people. 

Tithing honors our LORD and brings His blessing.

Proverbs 3:9-10  Honour the LORD with thy substance, and with the firstfruits of all thine increase: 10)  So shall thy barns be filled with plenty, and thy presses shall burst out with new wine. 

All that we have came from God and belongs to Him. He allows us to retain 90 percent of our earnings and He will bless us as we willingly offer Him our tithes. 

God is honored and glorified when we give Him our tithes. The firstfruits offerings means Israelites were giving God the very best of their harvests first, before any harvest was gleaned for their own needs. 

When it comes to our finances, we must honor God because He is our highest priority. He comes before our spouse, before our children and before all other things that we do in life.

God promises a blessing that will be measured out in proportion to what we give to Him in tithes and offerings.

Proverbs 10:22  The blessing of the LORD, it maketh rich, and he addeth no sorrow with it. 

Giving tithes to God is a beautiful blessing for the believer in Christ. Giving tithes is a spiritual sacrifice that God is pleased with. Our hearts should be full of joy when we offer our tithe to the LORD.  

God also takes note when we support those who are truly poor and needy.

Proverbs 19:17  He that hath pity upon the poor lendeth unto the LORD; and that which he hath given will he pay him again. 

Proverbs 22:9  He that hath a bountiful eye shall be blessed; for he giveth of his bread to the poor. 

God wants His redeemed people to be generous with our time, money and talents. There are times when a neighbor or family member is in financial distress and if we are able to, we relieve them.

We do not take away money from our tithes in order to help the poor. The tithe belongs to God and comes before all other financial transactions that we make. 

God also takes note when we help the poor and needy, such as widows. Kind hearted actions like assisting the poor is like lending our money to the LORD. 

He will bless us for being generous.

Tithing is mandatory under God's law. 

Leviticus 27:30-32  And all the tithe of the land, whether of the seed of the land, or of the fruit of the tree, is the LORD'S: it is holy unto the LORD. 31)  And if a man will at all redeem ought of his tithes, he shall add thereto the fifth part thereof. 32)  And concerning the tithe of the herd, or of the flock, even of whatsoever passeth under the rod, the tenth shall be holy unto the LORD. 

An agricultural economy like Israel's had different standards for wealth. The herds and flocks, the land and seeds were all measures of wealth. 

Thus, tithes included seed, fruit, grains or livestock. Ten percent is the standard for our offerings to Him. 

Deuteronomy 12:5-7  But 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: 6) 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: 7)  And there ye shall eat before the LORD your God, and ye shall rejoice in all that ye put your hand unto, ye and your households, wherein the LORD thy God hath blessed thee. 

Tithing is connected with rejoicing in our hearts and enjoyment of His bountiful provision for our lives.

Deuteronomy 14:22-23  Thou shalt truly tithe all the increase of thy seed, that the field bringeth forth year by year. 23)  And thou shalt eat before the LORD thy God, in the place which he shall choose to place his name there, the tithe of thy corn, of thy wine, and of thine oil, and the firstlings of thy herds and of thy flocks; that thou mayest learn to fear the LORD thy God always.

Tithing was to be done each year according to the times of harvest. Tithing teaches us to fear the LORD by maintaining a healthy reverence and respect that He is worthy of. 

Do not sin by robbing God of His tithes. 

Malachi 3:8-10  Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings. 9)  Ye are cursed with a curse: for ye have robbed me, even this whole nation. 10)  Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the LORD of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it. 

Malachi was the last Old Testament prophet and he pointed out many areas where the Jewish people had sinned against God.

In this example, they robbed God by not giving tithes and offerings. Their failure to tithe brought a curse upon God, which happens with all disobedience.

Notice that God promised to open the windows of heaven and pour out blessings upon His people if they would bring in their tithes to the storehouse.

Paul's instruction to the churches for tithes and offerings. 

1 Corinthians 16:1-4  Now concerning the collection for the saints, as I have given order to the churches of Galatia, even so do ye. 2)  Upon the first day of the week let every one of you lay by him in store, as God hath prospered him, that there be no gatherings when I come. 3)  And when I come, whomsoever ye shall approve by your letters, them will I send to bring your liberality unto Jerusalem. 4)  And if it be meet that I go also, they shall go with me.

Collection of tithes and offerings for God was to be done on the first day of the week, which is Sunday. Thus, each Lord's day that the churches meet a collection was to be taken from the people. 

Whatever God has prospered us with is the basis of our tithes. Paul was also taking up a special offering for the poor saints of the Jerusalem church.

Paul planned to personally visit Corinth to gather up the special offerings taken for the poor Christians in Jerusalem. 

He asked the church at Corinth to select some trustworthy men to accompany Paul in bringing that special offering to those who were in need in Jerusalem.

We learned valuable truth about tithing and offerings today. If we do not tithe then we are missing out on God's blessings and provision for our own lives.

We must choose to step out by faith and trust that God will keep His Word. 

We will be happily surprised to see what He will do as we willingly give Him our tithes.

Bob