Open your Bibles, if you would, to Hebrews chapter 7. Hebrews chapter 7. We've been looking at this book for the last six months or so. Took a break for Christmas, and now we are back. Instead of talking about the main point of the passage today, we talked about the main point of this passage. back on the first Sunday of December, we're going to talk about tithing, which comes up over and over in our text. Abraham tithed, Levi virtually tithed, the Levites were required to receive tithes, See how great this man is who gave tithe, who received a tithe from Abraham. The writer talks about tithing, in other words, a lot in these verses. So what do we make of that? What is tithing? Are we required to do it? If so, why? If not, why not? We're going to talk about all of those things today. So the annual sermon on giving, no, I don't give an annual sermon on giving, but just so happens that for the first Sunday of the year, we're going to talk about tithing, and we will see, no, you're not required to tithe, but yes, you are required to give generously, and to tithe is a pretty good suggested way to do that. So we'll talk about that in much more detail. Let's read the passage, Hebrews chapter seven, For this Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the Most High God, who met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him, to whom also Abraham gave a tenth part of all, first being translated king of righteousness, and then also king of Salem, meaning king of peace, without father, without mother, without genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but made like the Son of God, remains a priest continually. Now consider how great this man was, to whom even the patriarch Abraham gave a tenth of the spoils. And indeed those who are of the sons of Levi, who received the priesthood, have a commandment to receive tithes from the people according to the law, that is, from their brethren, though they have come from the loins of Abraham. But he whose genealogy is not derived from them received tithes from Abraham, and blessed him who had the promises. Now beyond all contradiction, the lesser is blessed by the better. Here, mortal men receive tithes, but there he receives them of whom it is witnessed that he lives. Even Levi, who receives tithes, paid tithes through Abraham, so to speak, for he was still in the loins of his father when Melchizedek met him." Thus far, the reading of God's Word. Let's pray. Father, let your peace rest upon Israel. We pray that you would give us peace too in our understanding of what to give, why to give, how to give, when to give. And as we look at this example of Abraham, who freely honored Melchizedek by giving a tithe to him. Lord, give us the grace to give generously Help us to love you, to honor you, to consider how great your son is, and to show our consideration of his greatness by giving to him. Free us from distraction. Help us to focus on your word this morning. We pray that you would strengthen my mouth. Give me your spirit to declare your word to your people. In the name of Jesus, your son, we ask. Amen. Well, Abraham gave a tithe to Melchizedek. The writer is talking about priesthood, of course. The main point of this passage is to establish the greatness of Melchizedek, because Jesus Christ is a priest in the order of Melchizedek. And therefore, if Melchizedek is great, how much greater is Jesus? That's the main point of the passage. But the sub-point that we're looking at today is that Abraham considered Melchizedek to be great, and Abraham showed the greatness of Melchizedek, not just by saying, man, Melchizedek is a great guy, a great priest, a great king, I love him. Abraham actually put his money where his mouth was, and gave a tithe to Melchizedek as a way of highlighting the greatness of Melchizedek. And in the same way, of course, what we'll see is that you and I need to give to the Lord Jesus Christ as a way of highlighting his greatness. Don't just say, Jesus is a great guy, a great priest, a great king, I love him. You need to go a further step like Abraham did and recognize his greatness by giving to him. So we'll see that. Let's look first of all, verse two, Abraham gave a 10th part of everything. Now what is everything in this verse? Well, if you remember the story in Genesis 14, five kings served four kings, five kings rebelled, the four kings came in, and beat the snot out of him, took all their stuff, and ran off. And of course, they also happened to take Lot along because he lived in the territory of one of the beaten kings. Well, Abraham takes his commandos, 318 trained men born in his house, and he runs up there after them, up into northern Israel, up to Syria, and there he finds the victorious kings, and he conquers them and takes all of the spoil from them. So Abraham effectively has beaten nine kings at this point. Five kings beat four kings. Abraham beats five kings. Now Abraham has beaten nine kings. Of course, everyone who conquered someone else, especially in the ancient world, but even today, takes everything valuable that they can get their hands on. So these kings that Abraham beat were carrying a lot of stuff. Abraham took all that stuff and he brought it back and he took a tenth of it and gave it to Melchizedek. He gave the rest to the three guys who helped him, his friends, and then told the king of Sodom, you deal with the rest. Distribute it however you think is fair. Abraham handles the booty in this way. Now, according to Deuteronomy, you don't actually have to tithe on war booties. So Abraham is going above and beyond even the later Mosaic law when he tithes on the spoils of the nine kings. He gives this tent to Melchizedek as a way of showing how great Melchizedek is. The Hebrew writer tells us, furthermore, not only did Abraham tithe, verse 9, even Levi paid tithes through Abraham, so to speak, for he was still in the loins of his father. is Levi virtually tithed by his covenant association with Abraham. The family of Abraham pays tithes to the order of Melchizedek. That shows that Melchizedek is greater than any descendant of Abraham. Melchizedek is beyond anyone in Abraham's family. And I use the example that a British commentator used. If the King of Britain does homage to any person, the King of Britain is thereby showing that that person's dignity is greater than any British dignity. If King Charles bows down before someone, he's saying, you're greater than anyone in the British Isles. Everyone in the British Isles regards Charles as their king. But if Charles bows before someone, he's saying, all of us here in Britain bow before you, the one he's bowing to. In the same way, when Abraham bows before Melchizedek, or tithes to Melchizedek, he's saying, Melchizedek, you are greater than anyone in the family of Abraham. Your dignity is greater than any Abrahamic dignity. So if Abraham tithes to Melchizedek, that means the Levites tithe to Melchizedek. That means the Levitical order is less than the Melchizedekian order. And therefore the Levitical order passes away, but the order of Melchizedek endures, and Christ, our priest, endures as priest in that order. The point for tithing is this, children, if you don't have an income, if you don't have money, That's okay. Your parents tithe, in a certain sense, on your behalf. That's what the writer is saying. Levi wasn't even born, but his father, Abraham, gave money to Melchizedek. Levi gets credit for that. In the same way, children, your parents may just hand you the check and say, put this in the plate. You get credit for that. You didn't earn the money. You didn't deposit it in the bank. You didn't write the check. But you handed in. Your whole family is giving. That means you are giving. So don't walk away saying, I didn't make anything this week. How can I give to the Lord? If your family is giving, you're giving. That's what the Hebrew writer tells us. So Abraham tithes. Levi virtually tithes. And then he adds in verse five, those who are of the sons of Levi have a commandment to receive tithes from the people according to the law. The word tithe means 10th, just like we saw in verse two, Abraham gave a 10th of everything. The Levites then are required to receive one 10th from their brothers, that is the other 11 tribes. Now, there are several things to observe here. The Levites get 10%. Yet the Levites are only 8.5% or 1 12th of Israel. The 12th of Israel receives a 10th of the income. More specifically, the Lord dedicated 10% of the income of 91.5% of Israel to providing for the Levites. In other words, you can do the math if you want, but what you'll find out is that the Levites are making 7.65% more than the average Israelite. As we're giving 10% of nine point, or what is it, 9.15% of the income is going to 8.5% of the population. 9.15% of the income nationally going to 8.5% of the population. So the Levites are making just a touch more. If you look up Gillette in the income tables, you'll see that median income for our city is roughly 83,000. A Levite making 7.6% more than that would be taking home roughly 90,000. Why do I bring this up? simply to say that God clearly values the priestly work of the Levites. And he wants it to be funded at a rate that is slightly above the average income. Now, of course, these are all guesstimates. The Levites were not actually exactly 12.5% of Israel or one-eighth of Israel, one-twelfth of Israel, sorry. They were Different in size relative to the other tribes. In the censuses we have, the Levites are actually one of the smallest tribes. But the point here is that God values priestly work and pays it well. He wanted his priests to have the money that they needed to do the job that he set apart for them. He didn't give them land. Instead, he gave them tithes from their brothers. So 10% goes to the Levites, that's the first tithe, and of course, that's the tithe you think of when you think of tithing. However, as hopefully you noticed, the Deuteronomy passage that we read talks about a completely different tithe. That tithe in Deuteronomy 14 is the tithe to celebration. You take 110th of your family income through the year, And you spend it all on taking your family to Jerusalem and having a bountiful family vacation. So you take that 83,000 number, median income for Gillette, that means your family saves $8,300. And you spend it all on a one week vacation to Jerusalem. That is a second tithe, a tithe to celebration. There's a lot of ministries and preachers out there who will tell you that the first tithe is still binding, the tithe to support your local Levite, by which they mean the local church and their ministry. But those same preachers who are so obsessed with the importance of tithing to their ministry don't preach nearly as often on the importance of tithing to your celebration. They don't ever say anything about this second tithe. Now, it's pretty obvious that this second tithe is a ceremonial law that has passed away. Why do I say that? Because God's presence is no longer specially located in any earthly place. You are no closer to him in Jerusalem today than you are in Gillette. Still, don't miss what this tithe tells you about the character of God. God asks you to spend every bit as much on celebrating with your family as he does on sustaining ministry work. God asks you to spend every bit as much on celebrating with your family as he does on sustaining ministry work. Abraham didn't tide the Melchizedek because he felt guilty. Abraham felt triumphant. He had just beaten nine kings. And in the strength of that victory, he hands a big chunk of the profits to his local priest. Part of Abraham's celebration of the victory is to come back, hand a fat tithe to Melchizedek, and to say, celebrate with me, Melchizedek. I have just beaten nine kings and gotten my nephew back. Is that how you celebrate a sudden windfall? It's not a bad idea. How much do you love your church? How much do you love your family? The Lord doesn't ask you to put these things in competition with each other. Instead, He asks that to the extent you celebrate giving to one, you should celebrate giving to the other. Give a tithe to your family. Give a tithe to your local church. Don't tell the kids, sorry, we don't have treats, we have to give too much to the church. The Lord says, Split the difference. Whatever you're giving to me, give to your children. Give to your family in a big celebration. And then the third tithe, we also read this in Deuteronomy 14. The third tithe is given to the poor, but only every three years. So on an annual basis, it's three and a third percent of your income going to the poor. An average Gillette family making 83,000, should be giving about $2,800 a year to the poor. Now, how do you do that? Well, we can talk about that. The unborn are some of the poorest people you can find. They have nothing. But there's many other ministries that try to reach the poor, especially abroad, Africa and places like that. God says, give to the poor, and the Psalms say, blessed is the one who considers the poor. And when he was sent out as an apostle, Paul was told to remember the poor. He said that was the very thing he wanted to do. He dedicates a huge amount of attention in his letters to this massive project that he undertook to bring poverty relief back to the Jerusalem church, despite the fact that that church tried to kill him several times. Paul remembered the poor. So, these are the three tithes of the Old Testament law. How do they relate to us? If you turn the page to the New Testament, you'll see that the word tithe appears in the New Testament only in two places. One of the places, of course, is right here in Hebrews 7. The other place is in the Gospel of Matthew, when Jesus tells the Pharisees You tithe all the herbs in your garden and you neglect the weightier matters of the law. Justice, mercy, and faith is what Jesus calls the weightier matters of the law. But in saying that, what does he tell us? Tithing is one of the less important matters of the law. This is not one of the big deals in the word of God. And a ministry that focuses on this, that makes it into one of the weightier matters of the law, is not teaching or emphasizing the things that Jesus emphasized. This is a less important thing. That's why the word tithe only comes up in the New Testament in two different places. How are the Old Testament tithes binding on us? Well, that second one, I think, is a giveaway. To pay 10% to celebrating in the city where God's name is isn't something we can do anymore. There is no such city. And therefore, that tithe has passed away in terms of its legal bindingness. We can't just spend a tenth of our income going to Jerusalem every year and fulfill that promise. God's presence is no longer in Jerusalem. The temple is not there. The building in which God lived is gone. And so if that one has passed away, we can say that most likely the other ones have too, right? Ten percent to your local Levite who has no land? Well, you don't have a local Levite, and he doesn't have no land. And therefore, same with the tithe to the poor. These things are no longer legally binding or required. Also, right, if you read the definition of the tithe in Deuteronomy 14, which we read a few minutes ago, how does it define the tithe? You give on the increase of your seed. Now, I don't see anyone in this room who makes a living by farming. I don't see anyone who can say, all right, I planted 5,000 pounds of seed, and I harvested 60,000 pounds of seed, and therefore I need to tithe on the value of 55,000 pounds of seed. And so what do we do? Well, the New Testament tells us simply to give generously. While we're at it, we should speak about what God does command. As I said, the way some ministries, some preachers talk about tithing, you would think that this was one of the weightier matters of the law. You would think that this would come up several times in the Ten Commandments. It doesn't. There's not a word in the Ten Commandments about tithing or giving money. Nothing there in God's list of the ten most important things you need to know. Instead, what does God require? Well, let me ask it this way. What's more important to God, your time or your money? What's more important to you, your time or your money? There's two commandments about worship. Don't make graven images, the third commandment. Remember the Sabbath day, the fourth commandment. God does not demand one-tenth of your money, but he does demand one-seventh of your time. He doesn't say, make sure you give me the right amount of money. But he most certainly says, make sure you give me one whole day every week. God doesn't challenge a certain fraction of your income. But He does challenge a certain fraction of your time. And so I can tell you right now, if the Sabbath galls you and you don't want to spend one-seventh of your time with God, I can assure you that He doesn't want your cash. You cannot buy Him off or say, here's money, that will replace time with me, Lord. Right? It's a cliche of child rearing. A dad who's never there because he's always out making money so that he can buy stuff for the kids. You don't know me, kid. Here's a $5,000 hockey stick. God condemns that line of thinking. As our father, he says, I want to be with you. I want a whole day of your time every single week. It's not about the money. It's about the relationship, and the relationship requires time to nurture and grow it. So when you think about tithing, think first about the Sabbath. God does ask for a specific portion of your time, but when it comes to money, he says only, be generous. Now, I think it's fine to suggest a tenth as an appropriate donation. If you're giving less than a tenth, you should certainly examine your checkbook in your heart and see if you're making provision for the flesh. Why aren't you giving generously? Most people would say that giving two or three dollars out of a hundred is not really a definition of generosity. And we can certainly add that giving generously to God is a fitting act of worship. Our Hebrews text gives us only one application, which is verse four, consider how great this man was. We're supposed to consider the greatness of Melchizedek and by extension, the greatness of Jesus Christ. That's our call this morning and for the whole new year. How do we consider the greatness of Christ? Well, by giving generously, that's certainly what our Hebrew text says. Abraham showed the greatness of Melchizedek by giving. Levi showed the greatness of Melchizedek by giving. Israel showed the greatness of Melchizedek by giving. And you and I should show the greatness of Christ by giving. Great paragraph here from Doug Wilson. All the financial embarrassments which afflict the Church of Christ can be traced back to this. We do not declare the supremacy of Christ in this fundamental way. We will lay anything at his feet conceptually, except for our hidden idol. Tithing is one of the few ways to really mortify the idol of consumerism and materialism that genuinely afflicts Christians in the West today. Talk about the Lordship of Jesus. The supremacy of Jesus without honoring him with the first fruits of your labor is just that. Talk. Abraham demonstrated the supremacy of Melchizedek and he did not do this by asking Melchizedek into his heart. He did not do it by developing a personal relationship with Melchizedek. He did it by giving 10% to Melchizedek. Having a relationship with Jesus is a good thing, right? It's a required thing. That's what the Sabbath is about. But you don't show that you're really recognizing who he is unless you're willing to give him your time and give him your money. Oh, I adore you. You're the Lord of heaven and earth, but I won't give you 10 bucks. Really? How does that make sense? In other words, brothers and sisters, when you recognize the greatness of Melchizedek, and beyond that, the greatness of Christ, tithing and the Sabbath are not a burden, they're a joy. This is how God allows you to love your church, to love your pastor, to love one another, to love your Savior. Quality time is his biggest love language. Gifts and acts of service, though, are right up there. Rejoice in that. And as Jesus said, give and it will be given to you, full measure, pressed down, shaken together, heaped up, and running over. Let's pray. Father, help us to give generously in this new year. Help us, above all, to spend time with you. as you command us to, and to give to you from the financial things that you have given to us. Lord, we thank you that you are the faithful God who keeps covenant and mercy, that you give and give and give, and that you have given to us the greatest gift of all, your own Son. Make us generous like you are generous, Father, We pray in Jesus' name, amen.