Welcome, friends, to another
broadcast of Morsels for Zion's Poor. The church that I was brought
up in had a few cardinal teachings which were emphasized on a regular
basis. One of those doctrines which
took center stage was tithing. In fact, at one time there was
a great banner on the wall behind the pulpit which declared, the
tithe is the Lord's. which is a paraphrase of Leviticus
27.30. Another catchphrase which was
used quite regularly was, bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse.
The preacher was expected to remind folks of this obligation
on a regular basis, and he seldom neglected his duty. Having been
indoctrinated with such teaching, one can imagine the surprise
that awaited me as I began to study the scriptures for myself,
only to discover that nowhere in the New Testament are the
children of God ever admonished to tithe. Such a revelation is
to be kept quiet in most churches, and such teaching branded as
heresy by many others. After all, how can the megachurches
and so-called mission programs, not to mention paying the preacher
of the modern day, continue if the burden of tithing is not
laid upon God's people continually? How can the dapper-dandy preachers
of TV fame continue their work without it? Some seem to imply
that God might have to go out of business if folks don't ante
up and tithe. It has even become quite common
to hear some unashamedly teach that tithing is an investment
of sorts. They say if you'll tithe or sow
seed into their ministry, that is, their pocket, then God will
open up the windows of heaven and you'll always have plenty
of money, or at least they will. The part of all of this that
is not humorous is that the average churchgoer is persuaded that
what they are being taught is true without ever searching it
out for themselves. This same mindset, which says
that God's people must be hedged by the law concerning money,
often does the same thing with the Sabbath. Yet nowhere in the
New Testament are the children of God ever admonished to keep
the Sabbath. The word Sabbath literally means
Sabbath and was given to the Jews. So if a man is convinced
that he must keep the Sabbath, then he better start at sundown
on Friday and keep it till sundown on Saturday, or he is in violation
of the law. Of course, some have transposed
the Lord's Day, Sunday, into the Sabbath to make it more convenient,
since that's the day of the week that the New Testament churches
seem to have met on. The only grounds for such a change
exist in the imaginations of men and the edicts of the Roman
Church. The Lord Jesus Christ came to
set men free, not to bind them with burdens which neither they
nor their fathers could bear. I can hear the shudders and gasps
of those who think God's people must be treated like bondmen
rather than freeborn sons. They are convinced that unless
they demand that the Lord's people be obedient to a written law,
that they will somehow become lawless. Yet the Lord plainly
taught that He would write the law within their hearts. He has
indwelled His people by His Spirit, and they don't need laws written
in stone to guide them. Such is for the lawless and disobedient.
They are not servants, but sons, heirs, and joint-heirs with Christ.
Has He not given them a new nature, and has He not called them brethren?
Is He not their guide and teacher? Has He not placed within their
hearts a desire to please Him in all things? Wherefore, the
law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might
be justified by faith. But after that faith has come,
we are no longer under a schoolmaster. The Lord said the Sabbath was
made for man and not man for the Sabbath. God intended the
Sabbath as a blessing for His children, not as a burden they
had to bear or a religious duty that takes precedence over mercy.
Christ is our Sabbath. He is our rest wherein we have
ceased from our labors. Jesus Christ has paid all we
could ever owe. Therefore the Lord's people are
admonished to give with a cheerful heart, expecting nothing in return. They are givers not because they
are obligated, but because He has placed in them a desire to
do so, giving of themselves their talents, their good, and their
time, or but the outgrowth of that work He has wrought in them
by His Spirit. A man without a generous heart
cannot be much acquainted with Him, who gave himself for us,
nor can he have an understanding of the fact that all that we
have and are is a result of the grace of God. How much more shall
the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself
without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to
serve the living God? Do you rest in Christ, or do
you go about to establish your own righteousness? For a free
CD containing 15 of these radio broadcasts, send an email to
forthepoor at windstream.net.