Matt 23:23 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.
Luke 11:42 But woe unto you, Pharisees! for ye tithe mint and rue and all manner of herbs, and pass over judgment and the love of God: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone.

How did Abraham know to tithe when he didn't even have a Bible?
How did Jacob know to tithe when he didn't even have a Bible?

II. All Wealth Comes from God.
Matt 25:15-28 And unto one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one; to every man according to his several ability; and straightway took his journey.
16 Then he that had received the five talents went and traded with the same, and made them other five talents.
17 And likewise he that had received two, he also gained other two.
18 But he that had received one went and digged in the earth, and hid his lord's money.
19 After a long time the lord of those servants cometh, and reckoneth with them.
20 And so he that had received five talents came and brought other five talents, saying, Lord, thou deliveredst unto me five talents: behold, I have gained beside them five talents more.
21 His lord said unto him, Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.
22 He also that had received two talents came and said, Lord, thou deliveredst unto me two talents: behold, I have gained two other talents beside them.
23 His lord said unto him, Well done, good and faithful servant; thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.
24 Then he which had received the one talent came and said, Lord, I knew thee that thou art an hard man, reaping where thou hast not sown, and gathering where thou hast not strawed:
25 And I was afraid, and went and hid thy talent in the earth: lo, there thou hast that is thine.
26 His lord answered and said unto him, Thou wicked and slothful servant, thou knewest that I reap where I sowed not, and gather where I have not strawed:
27 Thou oughtest therefore to have put my money to the exchangers, and then at my coming I should have received mine own with usury.
28 Take therefore the talent from him, and give it unto him which hath ten talents. God will one day reckon with you because what you have He gave to you.

Deut 8:16-18 Who fed thee in the wilderness with manna, which thy fathers knew not, that he might humble thee, and that he might prove thee, to do thee good at thy latter end;
17 And thou say in thine heart, My power and the might of mine hand hath gotten me this wealth.
18 But thou shalt remember the LORD thy God: for it is he that giveth thee power to get wealth, that he may establish his covenant which he sware unto thy fathers, as it is this day.

Deut 14:22-23 Thou shalt truly tithe all the increase of thy seed, that the field bringeth forth year by year.
23 And thou shalt eat before the LORD thy God, in the place which he shall choose to place his name there, the tithe of thy corn, of thy wine, and of thine oil, and the firstlings of thy herds and of thy flocks; that thou mayest learn to fear the LORD thy God always.

III. People who do not tithe are God-robbers
Mal 3:8-10 Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings.
9 Ye are cursed with a curse: for ye have robbed me, even this whole nation.
10 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.
    A. Stealing involves taking by sneaking.
    B. Robbery is taking by force of gun point.

What would you think about a beggar who had nothing and a Rich King came by and had 10 gold coins on a ring.
Sir, I have nothing................The King gave a gold coin to the beggar.
Sir, my wife has nothing.......The King gave him another gold coin.
Sir, my children have nothing....The King gave him another gold coin.
etc............. The King walked away with 1 coin left on his ring and the beggar ran after him and tackled him and beat him and took the last coin and ran away.

IV. God Says To Bring it to the Storehouse
    A. 1 Cor 16:2 Upon the first day of the week let every one of you lay by him in store, as God hath prospered him, that there be no gatherings when I come.
God says to bring it to the store or storehouse every first day of the week.
    B. Where is the storehouse?
        1. 2 Chr 31:10 And Azariah the chief priest of the house of Zadok 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. The STOREHOUSE is the local New Testament Baptist Church.
            a. Not TV or radio channels.
            b. Not gas used to come to church.
            c. Not giving to someone else who has a need.
    C. God uses it to pay His priests.
Num 18:21 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.

1 Cor 9:13-14 Do ye not know that they which minister about holy things live of the things of the temple? and they which wait at the altar are partakers with the altar?
14 Even so hath the Lord ordained that they which preach the gospel should live of the gospel.

    D. God always gets what is His.
        1. Lev 25:2-7 Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye come into the land which I give you, then shall the land keep a sabbath unto the LORD.
3 Six years thou shalt sow thy field, and six years thou shalt prune thy vineyard, and gather in the fruit thereof;
4 But in the seventh year shall be a sabbath of rest unto the land, a sabbath for the LORD: thou shalt neither sow thy field, nor prune thy vineyard.
5 That which groweth of its own accord of thy harvest thou shalt not reap, neither gather the grapes of thy vine undressed: for it is a year of rest unto the land.
6 And the sabbath of the land shall be meat for you; for thee, and for thy servant, and for thy maid, and for thy hired servant, and for thy stranger that sojourneth with thee,
7 And for thy cattle, and for the beast that are in thy land, shall all the increase thereof be meat.

        2. Lev 26:32-34 And I will bring the land into desolation: and your enemies which dwell therein shall be astonished at it.
33 And I will scatter you among the heathen, and will draw out a sword after you: and your land shall be desolate, and your cities waste.
34 Then shall the land enjoy her sabbaths, as long as it lieth desolate, and ye be in your enemies' land; even then shall the land rest, and enjoy her sabbaths.

Summary
You either give it to God willingly or He will beat it out of you with interest on what you owe.

Most people say, "Well, when God lets me hit the right lottery #, then I'll give."
"If God makes me rich first then I will give to God."
It does not work that way.

Jesus said for you to give first
Luke 6:38 Give, and it shall be given unto you;...................
Deut 15:10 Thou shalt surely give him, and thine heart shall not be grieved when thou givest unto him: because that for this thing the LORD thy God shall bless thee in all thy works, and in all that thou puttest thine hand unto.

God responds to your obedience to His Word.
You tithe by faith. There is no faith if you wait until you'll be rich.
When I obey I must do it by faith. I do what God tells me to do because He told me to do it.

X. You start giving after you have tithed. Until you tithe you can't give.
In the Bible, the smallest amount given was the tithe.
2 Cor 3:6 Who also hath made us able ministers of the new testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life.
    A. The letter of the law is the tithe.
    B. The spirit of the law is the offering. You start living when you give above your offering.
    C. Nobody is very happy who is an unprofitable servant. They never do more than they have to.
Luke 17:10 So likewise ye, when ye shall have done all those things which are commanded you, say, We are unprofitable servants: we have done that which was our duty to do.

XI. If you give, God says, "I'll give back to you more than you'll know what to do with."
    A. Luke 6:38 Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again.
    B. It is not an issue then that God wants you to give because He doesn't have anything.
Phil 4:17 Not because I desire a gift: but I desire fruit that may abound to your account.
    C. The church doesn't need you to give as badly as you need to give.
Luke 12:34 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
        1. It helps keep your heart where it belongs.
    D. If you give in the right way, God has designed giving to prosper you.
1 Cor 13:1-3 Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal.
2 And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing.
3 And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing.
        1. The person given to does not prosper as much as the giver.
        2. The more offerings that are taken in a church, the more those people have an opportunity to grow.
        3. This is why Jesus said, "It is more blessed to give than to receive."
Acts 20:35 I have shewed you all things, how that so labouring ye ought to support the weak, and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he said, It is more blessed to give than to receive.
        4. This is why God says,
Prov 21:14 A gift in secret pacifieth anger: and a reward in the bosom strong wrath.
            a. Giving isn't magical or spooky - it's spiritual.
    E. God said,
        1. Deut 15:7-11 If there be among you a poor man of one of thy brethren within any of thy gates in thy land which the LORD thy God giveth thee, thou shalt not harden thine heart, nor shut thine hand from thy poor brother:
8 But thou shalt open thine hand wide unto him, and shalt surely lend him sufficient for his need, in that which he wanteth.
9 Beware that there be not a thought in thy wicked heart, saying, The seventh year, the year of release, is at hand; and thine eye be evil against thy poor brother, and thou givest him nought; and he cry unto the LORD against thee, and it be sin unto thee.
10 Thou shalt surely give him, and thine heart shall not be grieved when thou givest unto him: because that for this thing the LORD thy God shall bless thee in all thy works, and in all that thou puttest thine hand unto.
11 For the poor shall never cease out of the land: therefore I command thee, saying, Thou shalt open thine hand wide unto thy brother, to thy poor, and to thy needy, in thy land.
        2. God said you will always have poor people so you can have an opportunity to give and grow.
        3. "He is no fool that gives up that which he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose."