08.08. May One Use the Tithe?

8. MAY ONE USE THE TITHE?

"May we borrow the tithe?"

According to Leviticus 27:31, yes. It says, "And if a man will at all redeem ought of his tithes, he shall add thereto the fifth part thereof."

If I get in a tight and I have a hundred dollars of tithe money, I may use it; but when I pay it back, I must pay one hundred and twenty dollars.

The most hard-boiled, money-grabbing banker hardly dares ask more than 10 per cent interest. Yet this great God of love and mercy charges 20 per cent

Why should God ask more interest on His money than the banker? In fact, in most instances, more than twice as much. Because it is dangerous to use the tithe. When Children Borrow

Borrowing the tithe from the Lord is like children borrowing money from their parents. They are honest and plan to pay it all back. Yet many of you know by experience how it turns out Once you have borrowed from your tithe, it is one of the hardest things in the world to replace.

The devil takes advantage of the fact that you are in debt to God and whips you over it and makes you miserable and, if possible, will make you backslide altogether. It is dangerous to borrow the tithe. If you need money, you had better go to the bank. Don’t borrow from the Lord.

Illustration

After I had been tithing a year or more, through no fault of mine or my family but through sickness, we got rather deep in debt.

The enemy said to me: "It is not right for you to give a tenth of what you make to the church when you owe these bills. A Christian pays his debts. You should pay these creditors, and when all your obligations are settled you can give more than a tenth to the church."

That sounded very religious. In fact, it sounded so much like the thing to do that I took his advice. His advice was wrong and this is what is wrong with it: a Christian should pay his debts, but he should not use God’s money to pay them. He should use his own.

Honesty, the Best Policy

Suppose a man hands me a ten-dollar bill to give to our rescue mission. He has made me his steward. He has entrusted me with his money to turn over to our rescue mission treasurer. Suppose I owe a hundred dollars to some mercantile company and my note is due and, instead of turning the ten dollars to the treasurer of our rescue mission, I add it to my ninety dollars and pay my debt to this mercantile company. You say, "Brother Aycock, that would not be honest -- that would not be right." True! However, it would be just as honest as it would be for me to take ten dollars of the tithe of God’s money and apply it on my debts.

Never lose sight of the fact that "The tithe is the Lord’s." No part of it belongs to us. Therefore, we have no right to use it to pay our debts.

Listening to Satan

However, I listened to the devil. I quit paying my tithe so I could pay my debts, and the result was God was not getting anything, I was not getting anything, and neither were my creditors. Condemnation came into my heart and I began to lose peace, joy, and victory from my soul.

When I awakened to this fact, I went on my knees and promised God that, if He would forgive me, I would pay Him one-tenth of all I made the rest of my life. Immediately I began tithing again, and it was not long until I had a dime to go into the church and I had ninety cents to apply on my debts.

I discovered back there years ago that ninety cents will go further if God gets the tithe than the whole dollar will go if God does not get anything.