The Faithful Tither.

 

The Faithful Tither.


The incentive of giving in the new testament is to lay up treasures in heaven and not upon the earth like the rich fool.

The rich young ruler was a faithful tither, and indeed faithful in keeping all that was in the law but got offended when Jesus told him to sell all he had and distribute unto the poor to have treasure in heaven, why? Because he was stupendously rich upon the earth and had great possessions, having laid up for himself treasures upon the earth.

He had no issues whatsoever with giving a tenth/tithe regularly to a religious system that holds the promise that God will open the windows of heaven and pour him out a blessing on earth he would have no room enough to contain; anything to sustain his wealthy status or even make him wealthier, anything to maintain & massage his ego as belonging to the elites of society, was welcome.

Practising tithing was not a struggle at all to him, as it is not to the natural/carnal man in what is called church today.

A greedy/selfish man who is after prospering and becoming rich upon the earth would rather practise a giving that promises him bountiful blessings to make him stupendously rich upon the earth. He would rather sow a heavy seed to a so called man of God who teaches that the anointing he carries has produced millionaires, than give to the poor who have nothing to give him in return.

The incentive of eternal treasures in heaven is not good enough for a greedy, selfish and earthly minded believer.

It is more convenient for the natural man to practise a teaching that instructs him to give 10% of his income and God will open the windows of heaven to bless him stupendously, than for him to sell something like a landed property and bring the entire proceeds for distribution to meet the needs of others. 

It is easier for a man to sell his property to meet his own need, but to sell your property to meet the needs of others, that's extremely difficult.

Rather than teaching giving a tithe/tenth to God and to have the windows of heaven pour out a blessing to you on earth, Jesus consistently taught selling what you have to give alms to the poor to have treasure in heaven. 

These were such hard teachings that the disciples heard and asked "who then can be saved"? And Jesus answered "With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible." See Luke 12:33; 18:18-24; Matthew 6:19-21; 19:16-24.

With the HolySpirit sent down from heaven at Pentecost, we see how the disciples/believers at the inception of the church, didn't struggle with such a dimension of giving as they were yielded to the Holy Spirit as a people led by the Spirit of God. Being utterly abandoned to God, selling their possessions and bringing the entire proceeds for distribution to meet the needs of other saints, was not a struggle. 

Scripture says "all that believed were together, and had all things common"; "they were of one heart and of one soul: neither said any of them that the things he possessed was his own".(Acts 2:44-45; 4:32).  

They were not attached to things/material possessions upon the earth thus it was not a struggle for them to sell possessions and give for distribution to the needs of saints.

Where fellowship with the HolySpirit was punctured in a couple who, in the unity of the flesh, conspired to bring only a part(whether 10%, 20% or 30%) of the proceeds from the land they sold, we see the clear difference; we see how it was such a struggle & conflict that led to them even telling & acting a lie against the HolySpirit as inspired by satan.

Satan is okay with legality, religiosity or formality in giving but he does not want fellowship with the Spirit in giving, a fellowship in which the Lord Jesus expresses his absolute lordship & ownership of us & all we have.

It was the fellowship with the HolySpirit in giving that satan came against through Ananias & Sapphira thus the Spirit of God who desires that fellowship more than any other thing judged it immediately. 

Let's jettison a dead religious legality & formality in giving & embrace the liberality of a living fellowship with the HolySpirit in giving.

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