TITHE OR HELL YOUR CHOICE - Mike Peralta (first ebook reader txt) 📗

about stewardship. This teaching would stay vivid in Johnny’s memory for the remainder of his life.

“There is one thing I need you to realize though.”

“What is it Ma?” asked Johnny.

“Well son, not all of that money is yours.”

Dumbfounded and a bit angry Johnny looked at her, “But Ma, it is mine. I worked hard for it, how can it not be mine?”

“The Bible says that our money belongs to God. All money belongs to God. He gave you the strength and health to make your first dollar, now, He asks that you comply with His word and return ten percent to him.”

“But that’s a whole dime Mom! That’s far too much.” The fledgling business man began to negotiate. “Can I just give Him a penny?”

“Now Son, I guarantee you that if you fulfill your obligation with God, you’ll never regret it.” Mom brought their well-used Bible to the table and turned to the book of Malachi and began to read from chapter three at verse six through verse twelve.

"I the LORD do not change. So you, O descendants of Jacob, are not destroyed. Ever since the time of your forefathers you have turned away from My decrees and have not kept them. Return to Me, and I will return to you," says the LORD Almighty.

"But you ask, 'How are we to return?'

"Will a man rob God? Yet you rob Me.

"But you ask, 'How do we rob you?'

"In tithes and offerings.

“You are under a curse—the whole nation of you—because you are robbing Me. Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in My house.

“Test me in this," says the LORD Almighty, "and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it.

“I will prevent pests from devouring your crops, and the vines in your fields will not cast their fruit," says the LORD Almighty.

"Then all the nations will call you blessed, for yours will be a delightful land," says the LORD Almighty.

Johnny thought about these words for a minute. “I guess you’re right Ma. After all I’ll still be the richest kid in the county.”

Johnny continued to raise healthy premium chicks and faithfully gave ten percent from each sale to the local Baptist church. In time, he became a prosperous young man and realized that his Mom was right: he never had cause to regret returning ten percent of all income to God.

In 1855, John D. Rockefeller turned sixteen and he found a job as bookkeeper for a local wholesale firm. As always, John demonstrated an excellent work ethic and strove to maintain that the books were accurate and up to date. His work day typically began at 6:30 a.m. and the young man didn’t leave most days until 10 p.m. He did not mind the hard work, and maintained his high standards, even though his wages totaled a meager $4.00 a week. His bosses, Hewitt and Tuttle, paid far below minimum wage because jobs were tight and John was unwilling to quit his job. Even though he was underpaid, he continued to give his tithes (ten percent) to the local Erie Street Baptist church.

He believed and trusted God’s word and that God would open a supernatural door of prosperity when the time was right. And while he waited, John began to give generously, almost fanatically. He gave passionately to the Church and to support preachers, poor congregants, missionaries, and a school for the poor.

God honored his faith and actions. Tuttle—the partner who was always belittling John—soon quit the firm. Hewitt offered Tuttle’s half of the company to his hard-working bookkeeper, John. Shortly, John assumed co-ownership and more than doubled his pay. While John was proud of achievement, he realized it was God who had arranged this door of opportunity, just like He promised. Under John’s indomitable leadership, the company prospered and by the time John turned 23 in the mid 1800’s, he was one of only a few young self-made millionaires in America.

John D. Rockefeller’s willingness to give is something that had stayed with him his entire life and he regularly gave over and above the ten percent standard. John wrote: “I have tithed (given 10% of) every dollar God has entrusted to me. And I want to say, if I had not tithed the first dollar I made I would not have tithed the first million dollars I made. Tell your readers to train their children to tithe, and they will grow up to be faithful stewards of the Lord.”

John was willing to use his money to help people in desperate situations. In 1865, a free-man from Cincinnati heard of John's charitable giving and saw John as his only hope. It took some determination, but he was able to present his case to John and without hesitation, John D. Rockefeller was able to help this black man buy his wife out of slavery.

At the age of 53, he became America’s first billionaire, a level of wealth unprecedented in our nation’s history. Though John had continued to pay tithes on his personal income, his business strategies were considered ruthless and greedy. Then John developed alopecia, a rare glandular disease. His body was in tremendous pain and he lost all the hair throughout his body. The man with enough money to dine at the most prestigious restaurants in New York could only swallow crackers and milk. A friend wrote, "He could not sleep, would not smile and nothing in life meant anything to him."

The wealthiest man in America procured the very best physicians in the world and they stood helpless beside his bed, none seemed to be of any help. The physicians gravely decided that John had only one more year to live.

John woke once in a state of great fear and panic. “I had a terrifying dream. I was on the verge of leaving this body. Death was calling out to me and I almost surrendered, but then I heard a voice. The voice of an angel which said, ‘Your mission on earth is unfinished. Do not worry about whether or not you will die. You will live. You are a man with a great destiny to fulfill on earth. Remember this, and don’t forget it. When you leave this earth you will leave your riches behind.’”

This dream made a notable impact on John D. Rockefeller’s focus and the direction of his life. At this point in John’s total worth was approximately 900 million dollars. The dream rekindled his desire to give his money away to benefit humanity. John became quite radical in his giving and gave away 550 million dollars.

While some people considered this act foolish or irrational, John realized something. Not only could he not out-give God, but he could not afford to lose sight of the fact that the Most High God allowed him to have money to give in the first place. John said, “It has seemed as if I was favored and got increases, because the Lord knew that I was going to turn around and give it back.”

As soon as he resumed his extravagant giving, his company, Standard Oil, began to show astonishing profits. Even though he gave away the bulk of his fortune, he gained even more wealth. Even more amazing, “the moment he began to give back a portion of all that he had earned, his body’s chemistry was altered so significantly that he recovered. It looked as if he would die at 53 but he lived to be 98.” What a tremendous story about the power of giving.

John D. Rockefeller had a gift. He was anointed for business. He was empowered to gain wealth. God knew that if John was able to gain wealth he would be willing to give the money back to help others.

John made the following statement: “I believe the power of making money is a gift of God… I believe it is my duty to go on making money and still more money, and to dispose of the money I make for the good of my fellow man according to the dictates of my conscience.”

These vast stores of wealth were the gifts of the great Creator.

“…be careful that you do not forget the LORD, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.” (Deuteronomy 6:12)

--- End Of John D. Rockefeller Tithe Testimony ---

 

These tithe testimonies are only a few of the many thousands of testimonies of how people have been abundantly blessed by God for faithfully paying the tithes, offerings, and helping others. And notice how tithing and generosity to your fellow man has benefits for healing as well. When God says:

“Test me in this," says the LORD Almighty, "and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it.”(Mal. 3:10)

God really means it !

As you can see there are two sides to all of God’s commandments. Where, of course, God is carefully looking for your obedience because He eagerly desires to bless you.

 

Chapter 7: The Tithe In The New Testament

 Some say that the tithe is never mentioned in the New Testament. But this saying is actually false. There are three (3) places where the tithe is mentioned in the New Testament. Matthew 23:23, Luke 11:42, and Hebrews 7:8. We will look at all three of these passages. We will start with Matthew 23:23.

Matthew 23:23, "Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices – mint, dill and cumin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law -- justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former [Tithing].” (NIV)

Notice that Jesus did not fault the Pharisees for tithing. In fact, Jesus told them to not neglect tithing. Of course Jesus also emphasized not neglecting justice, mercy, and faithfulness. This is what Jesus was faulting the Pharisees about.

Now some say that Jesus was not talking to us in our New Testament dispensation, but to those of the Old Testament dispensation. When I first heard someone say this I was frankly taken aback by such a thought. Why? Because this is contradicting Jesus and as Malachi 3:1 says Jesus is the “Messenger of the Covenant.”

Malachi 3:1, "I will send my messenger, who will prepare the way before me. Then suddenly the Lord you are seeking will come to his temple; the messenger of the covenant, whom you desire, will come," says the LORD Almighty.” (NIV)

So everything Jesus taught as recorded in the New Testament was for the purpose of ushering in the New Covenant. Also Jesus only did and said only what He saw His Father doing.

Also notice that when Jesus spoke Mat 23:23 He was not only talking to the Pharisees He was also talking to us. Yes us. In fact the passage from Mat 23 from verse 1 to 34 was specifically addressed to us. Notice that the Biblical passage in Mat 23:23 started with Mat 23:1, which clearly says: “Then Jesus said to the crowds and to His disciples” (Mat 23:1). So if you consider