You may have put a financial curse on yourself — and not know it! There is a CAUSE for every effect. Even many professing Christians are under this curse. There is a financial LAW that produces financial blessing — or curse!
IN SPITE of national affluence, millions of professing Christians are constantly in financial trouble. They just can't seem to make ends meet. They are under a financial CURSE. For the God of heaven has given specific financial instructions which bring blessings when obeyed. In the soon-coming World Tomorrow, these laws will be universally understood and obeyed — and tremendous PROSPERITY will result. These laws are living, active principles that produce results. For they were set in motion by a REAL GOD who is very much alive and active! Many Christians are beginning to wake up to God's financial laws which most have neglected. Recent articles in popular national magazines indicate a revival in the idea of tithing. Have you read about it? Have you heard of the BLESSING that comes from obeying this Biblical command? Thousands of church members have recently discovered that they are financially blessed for tithing. They gave more but they still had more left!
Tithing Brings Blessings
This remarkable paradox would have been even more pronounced if these people hl followed the Bible instruction on tithing. Instead, they were following a "watered-down" version of tithing now being adopted by many of our leading churches. Nevertheless, to the extent that it was carried out, this nationwide experiment in "modern tithing" clearly indicated that if the tithing principle is followed — the tither is blessed in many ways! If there is one principle that runs through God's Word, it is that obedience brings BLESSINGS. And it is doubly so in the matter of tithing. To those Christians who have obeyed God's tithing law for years, the happy results of tithing will be familiar. Let us consider some of them. First, it is an absolute fact that the faithful tither is PROSPERED by God. Here at the Headquarters of God's Work, we receive word of literally scores of people who have started prospering after they began to tithe! In some cases, this can be attributed in part to the fact that people begin to budget their income more wisely once they begin to tithe. But this, is NOT the whole story. Another important factor is that when you start tithing, you are forced to realize that you are in a literal type of partnership with God. Almost automatically, this helps you obey Jesus' command: "Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things your material needs) shall be added unto you" (Matt. 6:33). Thus, by seeking God's Kingdom first, your life takes on more real purpose and meaning. You become a better worker or employer — a better human being. Your horizons take on greater dimension. You are soon able to accomplish more — and your resultant financial reward is naturally greater. Actually, though, the biggest reason that tithers prosper is that God Almighty really and literally BLESSES them! The true God is Creator and Ruler of heaven and earth. He CONTROLS the forces of nature. He has the POWER to change circumstances and men's hearts. Yes, God is REAL! And His blessing on the tither is real. It works! It is a fact! The Almighty promises: "Honor the Lord with thy substance, and with the firstfruits of all thine increase: So shall thy barns be FILLED with plenty, and thy presses shall burst out with new wine" (Prov. 3:9-10). Now notice that in the last book in the Old Testament, in a chapter looking toward the future and the New Covenant, God says: "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" (Mal. 3:10). Here is a blistering CHALLENGE from Almighty God! God says He WILL bless you if you begin tithing — as He commands — through faith in Him and in His Word. Hundreds of case histories may be cited to show that God certainly does bless the tither even in material ways. He may not do it immediately. You may have to obey Him and exercise faith for a while. But as you serve Him, obey Him, trust Him, God will keep His part of the bargain. Your blessing IS CERTAIN to come!
The Spiritual Benefits of Tithing
Even more important than the absolute promise of material and financial blessing, is the spiritual blessing received by the tither. For one thing, tithing builds faith. The tither learns to look to God and His Word in a realistic manner. In tithing, He is worshipping God in a tangible, literal way. This tangible act of faith in turn builds more faith in God. And it brings a new inner confidence and peace of mind. In like manner, tithing strengthens your relationship with God and with His Work. Through the renewed faith in God which tithing brings, you come to regard God's interests and God's ways more as your interests and desires. Your partnership with God assumes deeper proportions than a purely material thing. Because you have made it a real thing through tithing, your relationship with God soon becomes your first interest in life. Remember Jesus' words: "For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also" (Matt. 6:21). Tithing puts your HEART in God's Work! In this great Work which God has raised up to proclaim His last warning message to a dying world and the good news of the World Tomorrow, we find that those who faithfully pay their tithes and give liberal offerings besides as God has commanded (Mal. 3:8), are the ones who are GROWING spiritually and who are best preparing themselves for a place in God's Kingdom. Because both their hearts and their pocketbooks are YIELDED to God, His spiritual blessing and POWER is at work in their lives! Jesus warned: "Ye cannot serve God and mammon" (Matt. 6:24). You cannot "halfway" worship the true God! But when your whole LIFE is dedicated to God's will — and to doing your part in the great WORK He has commissioned His servants to perform — you will then truly worship and serve the living God. Your earnest prayers, your time, your talents, your tithes, and offerings — all will be freely offered to further the Work of God. God's Work is warning the world of its sins, and preaching the good news of His soon-coming Kingdom, or world-ruling government (Matt. 24:14). If your treasure is in God's Work and in His Kingdom, your HEART — as Jesus said — will also be there. And if you overcome self and are faithful, soon — at Christ's coming — you will be there!
Jesus Christ's Teaching
Most people understand and know that God commanded His children to pay the tithe, or first tenth of income, to His ministers during Old Testament times. But many have heard that God's financial law for that time has been CHANGED in the New Testament. Since Christ came as the Mediator of the New Covenant, He would be the one to authorize such a change if one were made. It is certain that the apostles had no authority to authorize any such change in God's Law, and that they did not do so. Notice that after His resurrection from the dead, Christ commanded the apostles to go to all nations, "Teaching them to observe all things WHATSOEVER I HAVE COMMANDED you" (Matt. 28:20). They were nowhere authorized to teach ANYTHING different! What then was Jesus Christ's teaching on the subject of tithing? First, consider the import of Jesus' statement in Matthew 4:4, "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God." Remember that the only written Word of God at the time Jesus spoke was the Old Testament! In the Old Testament, tithing is referred to as a principle of God even before the Old Covenant was made with Israel (Gen. 14:20). And the New Testament book of Hebrews refers to this very act of Abraham PAYING TITHES to Melchisedec as a proof of the superiority and spirituality of the Melchisedec priesthood over the temporary Levitical priesthood (Heb. 7:1-8). Since this entire chapter in Hebrews is speaking of the taking of tithes as a RIGHT of God's true ministry in each age, verses 9 through 16 clearly indicate the right of Christ and His spiritual priesthood to take tithes under the New Covenant.
Direct Statements on Tithing
Not fully understanding that Jesus Christ is the "Word" of God — the One who inspired the Old Testament, not realizing that the laws of God are fully listed ONLY in the Old Testament and are merely spiritually magnified and explained in the New Testament, some will still insist: "We want some DIRECT statements by Christ which show that He approved of the tithing law." All right — you shall have them! Will you BELIEVE? Will you OBEY? In speaking to the scribes and Pharisees, who often made a self-righteous display of strictly keeping some of the smaller points of God's law, Jesus said: "Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done [these weightier matters], and NOT TO LEAVE THE OTHER [carefully tithing] UNDONE" (Matt. 23:23). Isn't that clear enough? Jesus said that spiritual qualities such as mercy and faith ought to be put ahead of carefully and strictly paying tithes on every little plant that might grow in your garden — especially when that strictness led to self-righteousness. But Christ said "NOT to leave the other undone" — NOT to fail to pay your full tithes as God has commanded! In Luke 11:42, this same command is repeated in a similar manner — inspired to be placed here also by God's Holy Spirit! Men would like to regard God's tithing law as of least importance. But speaking of even the smaller points of God's law, Jesus continued: "Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven. But whosoever shall DO and TEACH them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven" (Matt. 5:19). How plain! If we are looking for an argument, we will always find one. But if we are willing to "hunger and thirst" for righteousness, to obey even the smaller points of God's law, we will be BLESSED for so doing.
BLESSINGS of Obedience
Literally thousands of letters come in to our office each year describing the BLESSINGS that come — here and now — through tithing. These letters are from REAL people — like you and me! These letters strikingly demonstrate that it PAYS — even physically and financially — to obey the commands of Almighty God. Heed them and learn how God lives and moves TODAY. A reader in Texas writes:
"God truly does bless a tither. When I first started tithing a year and a half ago I was making $1.50 an hour. I now make over $4.40 an hour and I'm working in the trade I like best. The way it all came about would be impossible without God's help."
A Mississippi mother who works part-time states:
"I have been feeling ashamed to send in such a small amount for tithes. But the other day I was looking for some papers and ran across one of my old receipts where in 1962 I only sent in $1.00 for tithes, and it started me to think how much better things have been with me and my children: better health, food, clothes, and I have more work to do than I did then. And I do send in more than I did although it is so small an amount."
And from Idaho — convinced by his father's example:
"I have read your PLAIN TRUTH articles that my Dad has received for quite awhile in California and have seen the results of his tithing. For example, on the job he has now, 12 or 13 years ago he had some difficulty with the bosses (there are several) and advertised for another job. He got one right away at the same wage he had been getting. When he gave notice he was leaving he was given a $50.00 per month raise to stay on there. About 10 months later he ran into the same trouble of too many bosses contradicting each other with Dad in the middle again. He quit again and before he got his belongings loaded he was enticed to stay with another raise, this time $25.00 per month. Before sending his tithes in to you he was like me, just not quite getting by and in debt up to the ears."
An Arizonan has seen the proof:
"I am convinced that I must tithe. I have been like some of the people who quoted 'I'll get out of debt, then tithe' — but I have also found that it DOESN'T WORK [emphasis ours]. For my debts are the same as they were this time last year; in fact, the debts are larger. I have in the past tithed, but not on a regular basis and did receive financial blessings each time. My tithes in the future will be the first to be paid, regardless of debt pressure. I know that God will provide the safety valve to take this pressure away."
An overseas soldier has put God to the tithing test, and is thankful:
"I would like to write this letter to tell you some good news. I started in October, 1965, to send a little over ten percent of my earning to tithe each month. I was a Private E-1 then sending about eight dollars a month. Each time I was promoted I kept sending a little over ten percent. Now in a little over a year I have been promoted to E-5. So next month I will increase my monthly tithe from twenty dollars to thirty. This is well over ten percent of earning; the rest is a gift to thank God. Making God my business partner was the wisest thing I have ever done. I want to thank you for showing me the way. May God bless you and keep His word going in these last days."
How to Obey?
Yes, Jesus Christ taught tithing! And, as we have seen, He commanded His apostles to teach the nations "ALL things whatsoever I have commanded you." He then promised: "I am with you always, even unto the end of the world" (Matt. 28:20). We are very NEAR the end of this age! Christ commands us to tithe to His spiritual priesthood — His true ministers — to carry out His Work of preaching the good news of God's government, and warning a rebellious, God-rejecting world of the Divine PUNISHMENTS soon to come. Jesus referred to this time of world convulsion and fear of human annihilation. He spoke prophetically of the great worldwide Work His true ministers would carry out in this last age: "And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the END come" (Matt. 24:14). Somewhere on earth today are the true ministers of God. As the end of this age approaches, they will be carrying out Christ's commission with increasing POWER. They are making plain the good news of the soon-coming Kingdom of God. Without fear or favor, they are explaining the laws of that Kingdom. And they are making plain and clear the hundreds of prophecies referring directly to this end-time. Through God's Spirit, they alone can be definite and SPECIFIC about the tremendous events soon to occur on this earth. This very Work which you are now reading about and whose message you hear over The WORLD TOMORROW broadcast is the ONLY Work which is preaching and publishing the gospel of the soon-coming Kingdom of God! If this is not yet clear to you, then just keep an open mind and let the fruits PROVE to you where Almighty God is really working! For God's true ministers are carrying on His Work. They represent Him. It is to God that you should pay your tithes and cheerfully give your offerings. God directs His ministers to use His money for His Work — not some counterfeit work of men! And this dying world desperately NEEDS to be reached with God's truth and with a knowledge of the WAY to peace, happiness and prosperity. God's tithes should be paid to God's representatives who are doing His Work and preaching His message! Don't get to thinking you cannot afford to pay tithes. You cannot afford not to! If you obey through love and faith, your very Creator says He will BLESS you for it. And, as we have stated, that blessing is just as REAL as God is real! It is both a physical and a spiritual blessing. Frankly, if you hope to enter God's Kingdom and inherit eternal life, you had better learn to do what Jesus Christ says! Speaking of tithing, He definitely states that you had better NOT leave it undone!