False Prophets And The Tithe

Bring all the tithes (the whole tenth of your income) into the storehouse, that there may be food in My house, and prove Me now by it, says the Lord of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it. Malachi 3:10

If you were raised in a Full Gospel, if you can claim it, you can have it church like I was, than this scripture has been beaten into your brain. Every Sunday Malachi 3:10 is quoted as people cheer and praise our Father because they are all going to become mega rich. The preachers dangle this verse out there in front of us like a carrot that has been tied to a pole that is attached to our heads. That carrot always seems to remain just out of our reach. Whether we run or walk, it is still just out of our reach. Don’t stop tithing today they preach, your breakthrough just might be with this tithe. Yet no one has so much that they cannot contain it, not even the preachers. How can this be, it’s a scripture that they are quoting, so why aren’t there mega billionaires all throughout the church? I mean there has to be some people giving 10% faithfully.

When God speaks of a new [covenant or agreement], He makes the first one obsolete (out of use). And what is obsolete (out of use and annulled because of age) is ripe for disappearance and to be dispensed with altogether. Hebrews 8:13 Amplified

Look at the scripture used by so many to talk about the tithe; it’s in Malachi, which is in the Old Testament. The tithe is an Old Covenant command and the Holy Spirit tells us that the Old Covenant has been dispensed with all together. So the tithe has been dispensed with all together. The New Covenant tells us that our treasure is laid up in Heaven, not on this earth.

But gather and heap up and store for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust nor worm consume and destroy, and where thieves do not break through and steal; Matthew 6:20

The New Covenant tells us that we are not to seek out earthly wealth.

Therefore do not worry and be anxious, saying, What are we going to have to eat? or, What are we going to have to drink? or, What are we going to have to wear? For the Gentiles (heathen) wish for and crave and diligently seek all these things, and your heavenly Father knows well that you need them all. But seek (aim at and strive after) first of all His kingdom and His righteousness (His way of doing and being right), and then all these things taken together will be given you besides. Matthew 6:31-33

The New Covenant tells us that we will be empowered to give half away, not just a measly tenth.

And he replied to them, He who has two tunics (undergarments), let him share with him who has none; and he who has food, let him do it the same way. Luke 3:11

The glory of the New Covenant is that there is absolutely no separation at all between us and our Father. Everything that He has is now ours and everything that we have is His. He doesn’t give us 90% and keep 10%. He gives us 100% and He empowers us to give His Kingdom 100%. Tithing represents separation, as if we have something and our Father has something. The New Covenant is so much greater than that. Giving to others is what we now live for, but our treasure is not an earthly one, it is a spiritual one. So beware of a preacher or a church that focuses heavily on Malachi and tithing. The Truth is far greater than what they are preaching. The Truth is our wealth is eternal, it is laid up in Heavens banks and it will bare great returns for the rest of eternity. The Truth is our Father will cause each and every one of us to give as He desires for us to give. It is all by grace, not law.  

False Prophets

Beware of false prophets, who come to you dressed as sheep, but inside they are devouring wolves. Matthew :15

And many false prophets will rise up and deceive and lead many into error. Matthew 24:11

Beloved, do not put faith in every spirit, but prove (test) the spirits to discover whether they proceed from God; for many false prophets have gone forth into the world. 1 John 4:1

Just for fun the other day I looked at a couple of popular Televangelists web sites to see what prophecies they were giving. This year it seems that the Evangelists that I looked at were all prophesying about this being the year that the door is open for us. As with most of their prophecies it was left up to us to walk through that door and they really didn’t say what would happen if we did walk through it. The prophecies were vague and as usual with modern day Televangelists placed all of the burden on us to do what our Father is supposedly saying to us.

Here is my issue with such prophecies.

Now may the God of peace [Who is the Author and the Giver of peace], Who brought again from among the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, by the blood [that sealed, ratified] the everlasting agreement (covenant, testament), Hebrews 13:20

I am the Vine; you are the branches. Whoever lives in Me and I in him bears much (abundant) fruit. However, apart from Me [cut off from vital union with Me] you can do nothing. John 15:5

Beware of prophecies that place all of the burden on us. Jesus repeatedly tells us that He will Shepherd us, that He is our strength, and that He will lead us into the paths of righteousness. Our Father will lead us through whatever doors that He has, we are never left alone. Our Father never sits back and allows us to do it on our own. What type of Shepherd would Jesus be if He left it up to the sheep to decide whether or not they were going to follow Him?

But when He, the Spirit of Truth (the Truth-giving Spirit) comes, He will guide you into all the Truth (the whole, full Truth). For He will not speak His own message [on His own authority]; but He will tell whatever He hears [from the Father; He will give the message that has been given to Him], and He will announce and declare to you the things that are to come [that will happen in the future]. John 16:13

So when you hear a prophecy, and the Bible clearly tells us that we should eagerly desire prophecies, make sure that they line up with the Truth that sets us free. Prophecies should be clear, specific, and always place the glory on our Lord and His success at insuring we are victorious through His strength. If they are vague and place the burden on us, beware of them!

Eagerly pursue and seek to acquire [this] love [make it your aim, your great quest]; and earnestly desire and cultivate the spiritual endowments (gifts), especially that you may prophesy (interpret the divine will and purpose in inspired preaching and teaching). 1 Corinthians 14:1

Dispense With The Old Covenant All Together

When God speaks of a new [covenant or agreement], He makes the first one obsolete (out of use). And what is obsolete (out of use and annulled because of age) is ripe for disappearance and to be dispensed with altogether. Hebrews 8:13 Amplified

We are plainly told here in Hebrews that the first Covenant, the Old Covenant is obsolete and should be dispensed with all together. That is a powerful scripture. Think of what our Father is saying to us here, the Old Covenant is to be dispensed with all together. That means the 10 Commandments, which were part of the Old Covenant, are too dispensed with all together. How can that be?

For I will be merciful and gracious toward their sins and I will remember their deeds of unrighteousness no more. Hebrews 8:12

Under the New Covenant we no longer have laws, we have grace. Jesus was so successful on the Cross that we no longer need to keep a bunch of rituals and laws to have an eternal relationship with our Father. The only way that we will ever live and love the way that we should is by realizing that we can’t do it and no law will change the Truth that we cannot live righteously.

For God has consigned (penned up) all men to disobedience, only that He may have mercy on them all [alike]. Romans 11:32

But then Law came in, [only] to expand and increase the trespass [making it more apparent and exciting opposition]. But where sin increased and abounded, grace (God’s unmerited favor) has surpassed it and increased the more and superabounded, Romans 5:20

For the Law results in [divine] wrath, but where there is no law there is no transgression [of it either]. Romans 4:15

[To be sure] sin was in the world before ever the Law was given, but sin is not charged to men’s account where there is no law [to transgress]. Romans 5:13

For sin shall not [any longer] exert dominion over you, since now you are not under Law [as slaves], but under grace [as subjects of God’s favor and mercy]. Romans 6:14

We no longer live under a covenant that requires us to keep a bunch of rules and regulations. We now live under grace and grace means that it is now our Father’s responsibility to make sure that we are doing what is required to best serve those around us, which is serving our Kingdom.

 It is a reason for pride and exultation to which our conscience testifies that we have conducted ourselves in the world [generally] and especially toward you, with devout and pure motives and godly sincerity, not in fleshly wisdom but by the grace of God (the unmerited favor and merciful kindness by which God, exerting His holy influence upon souls, turns them to Christ, and keeps, strengthens, and increases them in Christian virtues). 2 Corinthians 1:12