TITHE STILL APPLIES by Mike Peralta (ebook reader for pc .TXT) 📕

2. God told the missionary to preach the tithe to the people: “Again, a silent moment. “You must declare to them My tithe.” Considering that the missionary did not initially want to preach the tithe to the poor people this preaching did not originate from the preacher’s own thinking. The missionary preached the tithe solely out of obedience to God. This is still another very strong confirmation that the tithe has NOT been” done away with.” It is also a very strong confirmation of Malachi 3:8-12.

And I really, truly do not believe this story by this missionary was “made up.” Again remember the missionary did not initially want to preach the tithe to the poor people. The missionary felt badly about taking the gifts, but he too was faithful, so he sold some and used the money for the work of the church.

3. God’s PROMISE of abundant blessing came to pass – exactly as God promised in Malachi 3:8-12: “It wasn’t long before the effects of drought were seen throughout the countryside. Poverty gripped the people of the land worse than ever. Crops failed; buildings deteriorated; gloom covered everything. But, miraculously, this was not so with the members of that little church. Their crops flourished as though supernaturally watered. But more than that, the yields were extraordinary, bounteous, healthy, flavorful. Their fields were green, while those around were withering. Their livestock were sleek and strong. Relative abundance replaced abject poverty. They even had an overflow of crops and goods that could be sold, and before long their tithes included money. They were able to build a much-needed new meeting house.”

 From the prior chapter you can see how God keeps His promised blessings. And it is very important to realize that God -- just as faithfully -- keeps His promised judgments. And what is God’s promised judgment if a person does not tithe? That is what this section is about.

At one time I used to think that the only punishment for not paying the tithe would be financial difficulties. However, after careful Bible reading, study, and prayer I cannot reconcile only financial difficulty to be the only punishment for robbing God of His tithe. Since 1 Corinthians 6:9-10 says that thieves will not inherit the kingdom of God, the only thing I could conclude is that robbing God of His tithe (Malachi 3:8) is being a thief, and since thieves do not go to heaven, then failing to pay tithes will land you in Hell. I realize this is hard for some people to believe, but it is there in the Bible very clearly. Let us therefore carefully study 1 Corinthians 6:9-10:

We first study the word WICKED in the bible.

The Term WICKED : To understand what the term WICKED means let us look at 5 scriptures (there are hundreds more but these should suffice):

"Now the men of Sodom were WICKED and were sinning greatly against the LORD." Genesis 13:13

"The WICKED will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous." Psalm 1:5

"You are not a God who takes pleasure in evil; with you the WICKED cannot dwell." Psalm 5:4

"Salvation is far from the WICKED" Psalm 119:155

As you can see, in the Bible, the term WICKED always refers to those who are not saved and who go to Hell if they die without repenting.

Who Gets Condemned To Hell:

8 But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts [witchcraft], the idolaters and all liars [false teachers] -- their place will be in the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death." Rev 21:5-8 (NIV)

Similarly, in 1 Cor 6:9-10 Paul states: "Do you not know that the WICKED will NOT INHERIT the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: NEITHER the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexuals nor THIEVES nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will INHERIT the kingdom of God." 1 Corinthians 6:9-10

From this last verse alone we clearly see that:

THIEVES WILL NOT INHERIT THE KINGDOM OF GOD !

Make no mistake about it, THIEVES are classified with the WICKED and the WICKED are NOT going to Heaven.

Notice that the passages Rev 21:5-8 and 1 Cor 6:9-10 are parallel scriptures. Both are referring to those who will NOT go to Heaven. As hard as it is for some to believe, GOD WILL SEND THE THIEF TO HELL.

According to the Bible the following people are classified as THIEVES:

1. Thieves – Stealing from another person. (1 Cor. 6:9-10)

2. Swindler – Those who lie and cheat people out of their money or goods. (1 Cor. 6:9-10)

3. Robbing Tithes – Those who Rob God of His Tithe. (Malachi 3:8)

Notice that, as well as thieves and swindlers who steal from people, God will also condemn those who rob Him of His tithe. Although our present day church culture, may overlook or trivialize this sin, God does not and will not approve of this sin.

“Will a mere mortal rob God? Yet you rob Me. "But you ask, 'How are we robbing you?' "In tithes and offerings.” Malachi 3:8

Because not paying the tithe is classified by God as robbery in Malachi 3:8, this sin will send you to Hell as God PROMISES us in 1 Cor. 6:9-10. I realize many people do not believe this but it is clearly there in the Bible – the unalterable Word of God.

I counsel everyone to believe God in His Word or face eternal damnation in Hell when they die. I tell you this as a warning.

 And indeed, God tells you this as a warning in His Word. Doubt this at your own eternal certainty in Hell.

NOTE: Originally I was not going to include this chapter (since many people -- even pastors think it is far fetched) but God dealt with me to include this section about one of God’s PROMISED judgments – for people who disobey Him on the tithe.

Again doubt this at your own eternal certainty of Hell. For more information, including true testimonies, read my book: “Tithe or Hell Your Choice” by Mike Peralta.

Remember what Jesus tells us in Matthew 7:21-23, “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. “Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ “And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; DEPART FROM ME, YOU WHO PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS.’

This last scripture is extremely important. Notice four things from this last verse:

• Only those who do the will of the Father (those that are obedient to the Father) will go to heaven.

• If you don’t have a close intimate relationship with Jesus then Jesus will end up telling you that He doesn’t know you and to depart from Him.

• Jesus will tell those who practice lawlessness (those who are disobedient and break God’s laws) to depart from Him. This is why obeying God’s laws in all of the Bible is necessary to enter into the Kingdom of Heaven. As it says in Hebrews 12:14, “Without holiness no one will see the Lord.”

• Even if you are involved in a good deal of ministry, even performing miracles – but don’t get close to Jesus, and therefore do not do the Father’s will, you will be cast into Hell.

I have heard people and even pastors tell me that “failing to pay the tithe will not send you to hell.” But 1 Corinthians 6:9- 10, Malachi 3:8, and Matthew 7:21 tells us otherwise: If you don’t pay the tithe you most definitely WILL be sent to Hell.

Remember this is God’s holy, truthful, unbreakable word. And it doesn’t matter what teacher or pastor tells you differently. God will hold you personally accountable for robbing Him of His tithe.

Originally, for this book, I was going to skip giving you this warning about the consequence of robbing God of His tithe. But God personally, strongly, warned me in my spirit that if I didn’t include this warning for you He would personally hold me responsible for your blood (Ezekiel 3:16-21). I don’t want to sound harsh, but if there are harsh consequences wouldn’t you want to be warned about it? Please take this in that spirit from me. But most importantly, believe and obey God’s commandments -- including the tithe. You will eternally be glad you did.

 In chapter 8, I covered some aspects about Jesus being our High Priest in the order of Melchizedek. Since Melchizedek received tithes from Abraham it will help to see the full parallel of Christ being our High Priest by also receiving our tithes. This is so important that I want to elaborate more about Jesus being our High Priest in the order of Melchizedek. It is also good to do this to see how strongly God the Father, desires for us to honor His Son Jesus with our tithes.

A very important point here is that if the tithe was done away with then this would mean Jesus could not fulfill the status of being in the order of Melchizedek. You see God always fulfills His word. It is also very obvious from all mention of Melchizedek in the Bible that God fully intended to fulfill and commands us to fulfill our part of honoring Christ with the full rights and honor of a High Priest – in the order of Melchizedek. And just like Melchizedek received tithes from Abraham, Jesus Christ receives tithes from us – the spiritual children of Abraham. Let us now study Genesis 14:18-20, Psalm 110:1-4, and Hebrews 7:1-10.

Let us first read Genesis 14:18-20,

Genesis 14:18-20. “18 And Melchizedek king of Salem brought forth bread and wine: and he was the priest of the most high God. 19 And he blessed him, and said, Blessed be Abram of the most high God, possessor of heaven and earth: 20 And blessed be the most high God, which hath delivered thine enemies into thy hand. And he [Abram] gave him [Melchizedek]