The Results of Faithful Tithe Paying by H. LOUIS MIGNOT

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Nov 18, 1915

The Results of Faithful Tithe Paying

By H. LOUIS MIGNOT

Tithing—No. 2

The Results of Faithful Tithe Paying

H. LOUIS MIGNOT

Whenever a faithful tithe is paid by the people of God, the gospel bearers are encouraged in their work. And so we read: “Moreover he [Hezekiah] commanded the people that dwelt in Jerusalem to give the portion of the priests and the Levites, that they might be encouraged in the law of the Lord. And as soon as the commandment came abroad, the children of Israel brought in abundance the first fruits of corn, wine, and oil, and honey, and of all the increase of the field; and the tithes of all things brought they in abundantly. . . . The children of Israel and Judah . . . brought in the tithe of oxen and sheep, and the tithe of holy things . . . and laid them by heaps. . . . Then Hezekiah questioned with the priests and the Levites concerning the heaps. And Azariah the chief priest . . . answered him, and said, Since the people began to bring the offerings into the house of the Lord, we have had enough to eat, and have left plenty: for the Lord hath blessed his people; and that which is left is this great store.” 2 Chron. 31:4-10.

Tithe Paying Indorsed by Jesus

When Jesus came to earth, he indorsed the payment of tithe. The Pharisees were very scrupulous and rigorous in the matter of its payment, even of the little things which their gardens produced. But while they were very particular in that duty, there were “weightier matters” which they had passed over. They had omitted the exercise of “judgment, mercy, and faith.” “Execute true judgment, and show mercy and compassions every man to his brother.” Zech. 7:9; Isa. 56:1. We are liable to fall into the same pit of pharisaism by our refusal to exercise the spirit of “judgment, mercy, and faith,” and so merit the denunciation which fell from the lips of our Saviour upon the hypocrites of his day. He 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, and not to leave the other undone.” Matt. 23:23.

Notice carefully that Jesus did not denounce the paying, but the hypocrisy of God the scribes and the Pharisees. On the contrary, he approved their payment of tithe, which will be clearly seen in the expression, “These [tithing the mint, and anise, and cummin] ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other [the exercise of judgment, mercy, and faith] undone.”

Our Saviour has indeed beautifully set forth the importance of tithe paying. Men contend that the tithing system was abolished by the death of Jesus. We ask, Why should he abolish the sign or mark of his double ownership of the earth and of man? Is the earth no longer his? Is man no longer the purchase of his blood?

The Concluding Reason Why We Should Pay Tithe

Still another reason which we shall present on the importance of tithe paying, is that Abraham, whose children we are by faith (Gal. 3:7), paid tithe to “Melchizedek king of Salem” and “priest of the most high God.” Gen. 14:18-20. Moreover, his priesthood was a type of the priesthood of Jesus Christ, our Saviour being a priest after his order. Therefore, as our father Abraham paid his tithe to Melchizedek, who prefigured the ministry of Christ, and as we are now living under Christ’s ministry, it is obligatory upon us who claim to be Abraham’s children to pay tithe to Christ, as Abraham did to Melchizedek, whose ministry typified that of Christ. For, said Jesus, “If ye were Abraham’s children, ye would do the works of Abraham.” John 8:39. Christians are indeed Abraham’s children, for so it is written: “Know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham.” “If ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed.” Gal. 3:7, 29.

Offerings

We now have reached another phase of our subject, which is, “Shall we give offerings?” The answer to this question is, Yes! Besides the payment of tithe, we ought to give voluntary offerings to the Lord. The payment of tithe and the giving of offerings are of equal importance. This is plainly brought to our view in the third chapter of Malachi, where the church is accused by God of robbing him. Says Jehovah, “Ye have robbed me . . . in tithes and offerings.” And those who have robbed him are declared to be “cursed with a curse.” The tithe, as we have already seen, is the tenth part of man’s income or increase, and the payment of it is man’s acknowledgment of Jehovah’s ownership.

What, then, do our offerings signify? Our voluntary offerings are the tokens of our love to God wrought out in action. Loving is giving, and giving is loving. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son” an offering on our behalf. That is the evidence and basis of true love. We in turn so love him that we give to him, of whatever we possess, voluntary offerings for the advancement of his work.

He “so loved the world, that he gave,” and we in turn catch his spirit, and so love him that we make voluntary offerings to him. Those who refuse to do so rob him of that service of love which is his due. Our cheerful offering is therefore our service of love in deed and in truth. And as love is the fulfilling of the law, and offerings are the fruits of love, therefore every child of God ought to realize the importance of making voluntary offerings.

“But whoso hath this world’s good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him?” That is how the apostle illustrates the unfeigned love which each child of God ought to possess. It will work, for it is an active, living principle. He who possesses love, will offer his substance first to God and secondly to his fellow men. “Little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth.”

May the Holy Spirit impress our minds with the importance and necessity of the payment of our tithe and the giving of our offerings to the Lord, so that his work in the earth may speedily be finished. Then shall our Saviour return with his reward for his faithful children.

Empire, C. Z.