Tithing and Systematic Proportionate Giving

“The Jews were constrained to a regular payment of tithes; Christians, who have received liberty, assign all their possessions to the Lord, bestowing freely not the lesser portions of their property, since they have the hope of greater things; as that poor widow acted who cast all her living into the treasury of God.” Irenaeus of Lyons (130-202) in Against Heresies 

A few hundred years later, Augustine indicated that tithing was still practised --

“Tithes are required as a matter of debt, and he who has been unwilling to give them has been guilty of robbery. Whosoever, therefore, desires to secure a reward for himself . . . let him render tithes, and out of the nine parts let him seek to give alms.”

Note the clear distinction between the mandatory tithe and the voluntary offering of almsgiving.  Alms were to be given -- above and beyond the tithe.

Jerome said --

 “If anyone shall not do this [pay tithes] he is convicted of defrauding and supplanting God.”

Like Augustine, Jerome believed and taught that it is possible for New Testament Christians to “rob God” by withholding the tithe, just as it was for Old Testament believers. For the first four hundred years, the Church often, if not normally, considered the practise of tithing a minimum standard for giving.

And all the tithe (tenth part) of the land, whether the seed of the land or the fruit of the tree, is the Lord’s; it is holy to the Lord. - Leviticus 27:30

“Will a man rob God? Yet you are robbing Me! But you say, ‘In what way have we robbed You?’ In tithes and offerings [you have withheld].9 You are cursed with a curse, for you are robbing Me, this whole nation! 10 Bring all the tithes (the tenth) into the [a]storehouse, so that there may be [b]food in My house, and test Me now in this,” says the Lord of hosts, “if I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you [so great] a blessing until there is no more room to receive it. - Malachi 3:8-10

There were three tithes for Israelites.  One tithe supported the the priests and Levites, another provided for a sacred festival and the third tithe supported orphans, widows and the poor.

The practise of tithing began long before the law of Moses.  Abraham tithed to he high priest Melchizedek.  Jacob promised a tithe to the Lord.

Honor the Lord with your wealth
And with the first fruits of all your crops (income) - Proverbs 3:9

Reconstructing a Biblical Model of Giving: a Discussion of Relevant Systematic Issues and New Testament Principles

A BIBLICAL AND THEOLOGICAL ANALYSIS OF TITHING: TOWARD A THEOLOGY OF GIVING IN THE NEW COVENANT ERA

Understanding the Grace of Giving

THE TITHE IN SCRIPTURE

Christian Proportionate Giving

Proportionate Giving

7 Biblical Guidelines for Giving to God

Should Christians Tithe?

Unpopular subject

Scripture suggests that some Christians will be ashamed at Christ's coming.

Hell will be terrible for all, but it will be more terrible for some than others, depending on their works on earth.

All Christians have not the same enjoyment of God in this life, neither indeed were they able to bear it if they had it (1 Cor 3:2). But those Christians that are most laborious for God in this world, they have already most of him in their souls, and that not only because diligence in God's ways, is the means whereby God communicates himself; but also because thereby the senses are made more strong, and able, by reason of use, to understand God, and to discern both good and evil (Heb 5:13,14). To him that hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance (Matt 13:11,12). He that laid out his pound for his master, and gained ten therewith, he was made ruler over ten cities; but he that by his pound gained but five, he was made ruler over but five (Luke 19:16-19). Often, he that is best bred in his youth, he is best able to manage most, when he is a man, touching things of this life (Dan 1:3,4); but always he that is best bred, and that is most in the bosom of God, and that so acts for him here; he is the man that will be best able to enjoy most of God in the kingdom of heaven. It is observable that Paul saith, "Our - affliction - - worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory" (2 Cor 4:17). Our afflictions do it, not only because there is laid up a reward for the afflicted, according to the measure of affliction; but because afflictions, and so every service of God, doth make the heart more deep, more experimental, more knowing and profound; and so more able to hold, contain, and bear more (Psa 119:71). "Every man shall receive his own reward, according to his own labour" (1 Cor 3:8). And this is the reason of such sayings as these–Lay up for yourselves a good foundation against the time to come, that you may lay hold on eternal life (1 Tim 6:19), which eternal life, is not the matter of our justification from sin in the sight of God; for that is done freely by grace, through faith in Christ's blood; (but here the apostle speaks of giving of alms) but it is the same that in the other place he calls "the far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory." And hence it is that he in his stirring them up to be diligent in good works, doth tell them, that he doth not exhort them to it because he wanted, but because he would have "fruit that might abound to their account" (Phil 4:17); as he saith also in another place, "Beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord" (1 Cor 15:58). Therefore I say, the reward that the saints shall have at this day for all the good they have done, it is the enjoyment of God, according to their works: though they shall be freely justified and glorified without works. - John Bunyan

Hell: The Most Unpopular Subject in the World (and sometimes in the Church)

What heaven is like

As He was about to leave this world, Jesus said to His disciples --

In My Father’s house are many dwelling places. If it were not so, I would have told you, because I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back again and I will take you to Myself, so that where I am you may be also. - John 14:2-3

For Christians, heaven is our home.

So then, being always filled with good courage and confident hope, and knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord— for we walk by faith, not by sight [living our lives in a manner consistent with our confident belief in God’s promises]— we are [as I was saying] of good courage and confident hope, and prefer rather to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord. - 2 Corinthians 5:6-8

This city will have all the freshness, vitality and openness of the country with all the vibrancy, interdependence and relationships of a city.

For he was [waiting expectantly and confidently] looking forward to the city which has foundations, [an eternal, heavenly city] whose architect and builder is God. Now those who say such things make it clear that they are looking for a country of their own. But the truth is that they were longing for a better country, that is, a heavenly one. For that reason God is not ashamed [of them or] to be called their God [even to be surnamed their God—the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob]; for He has prepared a city for them. - Hebrews 11:10,14,16

Heaven will have an endless supply and we'll meet and converse with other inhabitants.  We'll open our dwelling places to entertain people. Heaven will offer much-needed rest to the weary.

We'll reign with Christ. Reigning implies specific delegated responsibilities for those under our leadership.  We'll rule over the world and even over angels.

When God brings heaven down to the new earth --

He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be death; there will no longer be sorrow and anguish, or crying, or pain; for the [a]former order of things has passed away. - Revelation 21:4

People of every tribe and nation and tongue will worship the Lamb together.

Heaven is the Christian's certain hope, a hope that can and should sustain us through life's darkest hours.  But this doesn't happen automatically.  We must choose to think about heaven and centre our lives around it --

Therefore if you have been raised with Christ [to a new life, sharing in His resurrection from the dead], keep seeking the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your mind and keep focused habitually on the things above [the heavenly things], not on things that are on the earth [which have only temporal value]. - Colossians 3:1-2