Max & Donna at 50th Anniversary in the Ministry
and Max's 80th Birthday Celebration, May 15, 2013
SEVEN BENEFITS OF
TITHING & GIVING TO GOD
By Pastor Max Solbrekken, D.D.
God set
forth the principle of tithing in the Garden of Eden when He reserved for
Himself the ‘Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil’. It was ‘out of
bounds’ and forbidden to Adam and Eve.
The
Bible says: “And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, of every tree of the
garden thou mayest freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and
evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest
thereof thou shalt surely die.” (Gen. 2: 16, 17)
The
original Hebrew says, “in dying thou shalt die”. In other words,
the process of death would begin that day and in due time they would expire! It
is interesting to note that since that time, babies have been born with death
in their bodies – cells dying constantly but being renewed just as quickly –
until the aging process sets in!
The same is
true in the SPIRITUAL REALM! Man is born in sin! He is spiritually dead while
he still lives and is already condemned, but is separated from God in eternal
darkness after physical death occurs!
The Bible says, He
that believeth on Him is not condemned, but he that believeth not is condemned
already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of
God. (John 3, 18)
Nevertheless, the principle of tithing began in the Garden of
Eden, and very early on man refused to keep his hands off what God had reserved
for Himself. This is the situation today, since mankind has little or no
regard for God or His Word! It is not difficult to understand why the world
is so messed up, when you consider how few people honour and worship Almighty
God the Creator and receive His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ into their heart and
life!
COMMITTING GRAND LARCENY!
And
tragically, many believers in Christ refuse to give Him what is rightfully His
– tithes and offerings – disregarding the ‘Great Commission’,
to make Him known among the heathen! The actual response given to Christ’s
Words by the average Christian and Congregation in this respect, could properly
be renamed the ‘Great Ommission’!
The
prophet Malachi chronicled
the sin of God’s people in offering polluted and imperfect sacrifices,
dishonoring Him: “Ye offer polluted
bread upon My altars; and ye say, Wherein have we polluted Thee? In that ye
say, The table of the Lord is contemptible. And if ye offer the blind for
sacrifice, is it not evil? And if ye offer the lame and the sick, is it not
evil?” (Mal 1: 6,)
Their SIN was “stealing” from the Life Giver. Not wise! Talk about biting the
hand that feeds us. This is in fact, breaking the Eighth Commandment which
states: “Thou shalt not steal”. (Exodus
20: 15)
Our
Lord offers Mercy and Forgiveness: “RETURN UNTO ME and I will return unto you,
saith the Lord of Hosts. But ye said, Wherein shall we return? Will a man ROB
God? Yet ye have robbed Me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed Thee? In tithes and offerings. Ye are cursed
with a curse: for ye have robbed Me even this whole nation.
“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 widows of Heaven and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to
receive it. And I will rebuke
the devourer for your sakes…” (Mal.3: 8-10)
A most serious CHARGE indeed, and again
Almighty God offers an opportunity of reconciliation and restoration to guilty
sinners on the basis of His great love and compassion!
GOD PROMISES THE DELIVERER!
The moment
that Adam and Eve rebelled against their Maker they died spiritually! Guilt and
condemnation gripped their souls and fear filled their hearts as they tried to
hide from their Father and God! After confronting them with their sin and
hearing their confession, He brought down His judgment upon the human race, the
earth and Satan.
Then, He
made a statement that we call in theology the ‘Law of the First Mention’,
in which He promised to send a Deliverer to redeem mankind from the
devil’s power. The Redeemer would be born of a virgin – incarnated,
God in human flesh – and would totally crush Satan’s head, while the ‘Evil
One’ would only bruise His heel!
Even
though Jesus suffered the agonies of scourging and crucifixion, He was raised
from the dead in victory and power, and Satan was totally defeated for time and
eternity with no authority over those who believe in our Lord Jesus Christ!
In order
to save Adam and Eve, our Heavenly Father killed an innocent animal, a type
of Jesus the Lamb of God, who would die on Calvary’s cross to atone for our
sins. The blood of the innocent animal covered their sins and its skin was used
as a covering for their naked bodies!
So that they would not eat of the fruit
from the ‘Tree of Life’ – a type of Jesus the Life Giver – and
live forever in their sins, God drove them out of the Garden of Eden. Although
they had already died spiritually the moment they sinned, when they were driven
out of the garden and could no longer eat of the Tree of Life’s fruit, they
began to die physically!
It was Jesus - the “Way, the Truth and
the Life” - that had kept them from aging and dying while they were living
in constant fellowship with God and eating of Him!
THE LORD’S SUPPER: HOLY COMMUNION!
Why did
Jesus institute the Holy Communion? He is the TREE OF LIFE! He
said: “For the Bread of God is He which cometh down from heaven, and giveth
life unto the world…I am the bread of life: he that cometh to Me shall never
hunger; and he that believeth on Me shall never thirst. Verily,
verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on Me hath everlasting life.
“I AM THE BREAD OF LIFE. This is the Bread which
cometh down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof, and not die. I am the Living
Bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall
live forever: and the Bread that I give is My flesh which I give for the
life of the world.”
“… Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of
Man, and drink His blood, ye have no life in you. Whoso eateth My flesh, and
drinketh My blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day.
For My flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. He that eateth My
flesh, and drinketh My blood, dwelleth in Me, and I in him.
“As the living Father hath sent Me, and I live by the Father; so he that
eateth Me, even he shall live by Me. This is the bread which came down from
heaven: not as your fathers did eat manna and are dead: he that eateth of this
bread shall live forever.” (John 6: 33, 35, 47-58)
A WORD OF CAUTION: Our Roman Catholic friends,
although very faithful, have received erroneous teaching about the Lord’s
Supper. They believe that by the priest
saying some words in Latin, immediately the bread and wine turns into the
actual physical body and blood of our LORD JESUS. That is not true!
If it
were true, why does the priest alone
drink the wine? Since the blood purchased “eternal
Life” for us, why withhold it from the parishioners? Jesus gave His blood
for the forgiveness of our sins and eternal life. When He cried, “It is finished”, He had completed His
atoning work for our Salvation, fulfilled all the Old Testament Scriptures concerning
the Messiah and purchased our Eternal Redemption.
It
goes MUCH DEEPER than that! When we
receive Jesus Christ as our Redeemer, Lord and Saviour, He comes into us and we
become partakers of His Divine Nature and we become ONE with Him.
The Bible says: “And we KNOW
that the Son of God is come and hath given us an UNDERSTANDING, that we may know Him that is true, and
we are in Him that is TRUE,
even in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the TRUE
GOD and Eternal Life.” (1 John 5: 20)
Jesus plainly stated: “It is the Spirit that quickeneth; The FLESH
PROFITETH NOTHING: the words that I speak unto you, THEY ARE
SPIRIT
and they are LIFE.” (John 6: 63).
Even if you could eat the physical flesh of Jesus, it would not help
you! Even if you could drink the physical blood of Jesus, it would profit you
NOTHING! And St. Paul
wrote: “Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh: yea, though we
have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we Him no more.”
(2 Cor.5: 16)
In the same
manner that the presence of God gave life to Adam and Eve when they partook of
the fruit from the ‘Tree of Life’ - which was a symbol of God the Son –
so when we believe His Word and partake of the emblems that remind us of Jesus
broken body and shed blood we partake of Him and His Life!
By FAITH we receive the BODY and BLOOD of
Jesus Christ into our very beings. By FAITH we eat HIS body and receive the
merits he provided by HIS broken body and by faith we drink HIS shed blood, and
we receive the Eternal life that HIS shed blood has provided for us. We
become partakers of Christ and He dwells within us!
Therein is the KEY! The flesh profits
nothing. It is a SPIRITUAL EXERCIZE. It is only by the Holy Spirit that we
receive the LIFE OF JESUS into our total being; spirit, soul and body!
Otherwise we would be advocating cannibalism. The Papal drafters of the Roman
Catholic document on the Eucharist in the Council of Trent shows how fleshly
and out of touch with the workings of the Holy Spirit that corrupt Denomination
had become. Here is an excerpt of that damnable doctrine which has up until
today not been revoked:
CANON I: "If anyone shall deny that the body and blood, together with the
soul and divinity of our Lord Jesus Christ, and therefore entire Christ, are
truly, really, and substantially contained in the sacrament of the most Holy
Eucharist; and shall say that He is only in it as a sign, or in a figure - let
him be accursed!
CANON II: "If anyone shall say that the substance of the bread and wine
remains in the sacrament of the most Holy Eucharist, together with the body and
blood of our Lord Jesus Christ . . . - let him be accursed!"
CANON VI: "If anyone shall say that Christ, the only begotten Son of God, is
not to be adored in the holy sacrament of the Eucharist, even with the open
worship of Latria, and therefore not to be venerated with any peculiar festal
celebrity, nor to be solemnly carried about in processions according to the
praiseworthy and universal rites and customs of the Holy Church, and that He is
not to be publicly set before the people to be adored, and that His adorers are idolaters, - let him
be accursed!"
For the record, as the Second
Vatican Council commenced in 1963, Pope
John XXIII declared, "I do accept entirely all that has been
decided and declared at the Council of Trent."
EXACTLY, WHAT IS
HOLY COMMUNION?
Firstly,
it is a time of remembrance and deep meditation on the purpose of Jesus
Christ’s coming to this planet. A perpetual ‘Remembrance Service’, constantly
reminding us of the sacrificial, vicarious and efficacious death
of our Lord Jesus Christ for us all!
Secondly, it is a time of
receiving peace, assurance, strength and healing – spiritually, mentally and bodily - as we partake of Jesus Christ
the ‘Bread of Life’ and the ‘Tree of Life’!
St. Paul
brings out very forcefully that it is not only the death of Jesus and the SACRIFICE
He made through His shed blood that
avails. It is also through His LIFE that we receive His life into our beings:
“Much more then, being now justified by His
blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. For if, when we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the
death of His Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be SAVED THROUGH HIS LIFE.” (Rom.5: 9-10)
The Lord’s
Supper or as some have called it the ‘Jesus Meal’ is a proclamation of the Gospel of Christ! The
Bible says: “And when He had given thanks, He brake it, and said, Take, eat:
This is My body, which is broken for you: This do in remembrance of Me.
“After the same
manner also He took the cup, when He had supped, saying, This cup is the NEW TESTAMENT in My
blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of Me. For as
often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do SHOW THE LORD”S DEATH TILL HE COME.”
We proclaim the Lord’s death till
He comes every time we partake of the emblems that remind of our Lord’s
sacrificial death on the cross for us. We also proclaim His glorious resurrection from the dead. And we proclaim the glorious hope of His soon
return!
Again, we find the ‘TREE OF LIFE’ in the New Jerusalem! The
Bible says: “And he showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal,
proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb. In the midst of the street
of it, and on either side of the river, was there the ‘TREE OF LIFE’, which bare twelve manner
of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree
were for the healing of the nations.
“And
there shall be no more curse: but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in
it: and His servants shall serve Him. And they shall see His face; and His name
shall be in their foreheads. Blessed are they that do His commandments, that
they may have the right to the ‘TREE OF LIFE’, and may enter in through the gates of the city.”
(Rev.22: 1- 4, 14)
Again, this is symbolic of Jesus who is the
Life Giver!
After
they were driven out of the garden, God instructed Adam to offer animal
sacrifices as atonement for their sins. It was the beginning of the elaborate ‘sacrificial
system’ that He would institute later under Moses!
Both Cain
and Abel knew the rules and the two brothers each built an altar to
bring a sacrifice to the Lord God. Cain rebelled against God’s command and
substituted his own rules for sacrificing. His offering was rejected, but Abel
obeyed the Lord and received His favour!
“And in process of time it
came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the
Lord. And Abel, he brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat
thereof. And the Lord had respect unto Abel and his offering: But unto Cain
and his offering He had not respect.” (Gen.4: 3-5).
ABEL
is a type of the believing individual who trusts in the shed blood
of Jesus Christ and His sacrificial death for our eternal salvation. And CAIN
is a type of the modernist who trusts in his good works to get to heaven. He
has changed the rules and rejected God’s ‘plan of salvation’
through Jesus Christ’s atoning work for us on the cross!
GOD INSTITUTED TITHING
BEFORE HE GAVE THE
LAW!
Abraham
paid tithes to Melchezedik, Isaac
paid tithes to God during a famine and Jacob
covenanted with the Lord God to pay one tenth of everything He would give him.
Paying tithes and giving offerings to God is only ‘a
small thank you’ for all He has done for us. But it is also a LAW that works without fail. Great
blessings follow the obedient act of returning to God a portion of what He has
given us!
Abraham became very rich. Isaac received an hundred
fold even in a time of famine. And Jacob returned to the land of his
fathers with great substance making peace with his brother Esau who had sworn
to kill him. And spiritually, all three became giants and patriarchs of
faith in God!
When God spelled out the moral, ceremonial and civil laws to
Moses, He reinforced the same principle He had outlined in the Garden, that
one tenth belonged to Him. And He also accepted offerings! Jesus kept the Law perfectly and fulfilled
it!
1). HE PAID TITHES - "Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets:
I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill". (Matt. 5:17)
2). HE SANCTIONED PAYING TITHES - "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, and
not to leave the other undone". (Matt. 23:23)
3). HE HAS A RIGHT TO RECEIVE TITHES - "Now consider how great this man was,
unto whom even the patriarch Abraham gave the tenth of the spoils. And verily
they that are of the sons of Levi, who receive the office of the priesthood,
have a commandment to take tithes of the people according to the law, that is,
of their brethren, though they come out of the loins of Abraham:
"And
here men that die receive tithes; but there (in Heaven) He (Jesus
our High Priest) receiveth them, of whom it is witnessed that He
liveth." (Heb. 7:4,5,8)
St. Paul ordered New Testament saints to
pay tithes (II Cor. 9:13-14). He stated
that God’s Ministers are to be supported as the Levites out of the tithe. "And, behold, I have given the children
of Levi all the tenth in Israel
for an inheritance, for their service which they serve, even the service of
the tabernacle of the congregation". (Numbers 18:21)
PLEASE NOTE: This treatise will be continued soon! M.S.
.png)
