Before you take a young convert who is still aglow with the joy of the Lord and teach him that fasting is essential for his spiritual health, remember this: When the fasting question was brought up, Jesus immediately linked it with mourning (Matt.9:15). In the days following His crucifixion his disciples would mourn and fast for sorrow of heart, but their sorrow would soon be turned to joy (John 16:20).
In Acts 2:42-47 fasting is missing from the list of things routinely done by the early church. It does say they praised the Lord, fellowshipped, continued in the apostles’ doctrine, broke bread from house to house and ate their food with gladness and singleness (Gr. Phellos, pure benevolence) of heart.
When we lived in Holland I attended a church which occasionally called a church fast, but otherwise did not overemphasize fasting. This church had one fatal flaw, though: It taught that you might be saved by grace, but you were kept by works. I eventually left this church for this very reason. But I will give them credit for one thing. They kept one custom of the early church: regularly eating meals together as an act of fellowship. Each Sunday, the congregation would divide into little groups to meet over at different people’s houses to eat and visit. In that way the FAMILY feeling of “church” was experienced. In the early church, the entire congregation probably ate their meals “feasts of charity” (love feasts) together (spoken of in Jude 12). It was at that time they celebrated the Lord’s Supper (I Cor.11:20-22). Why do I believe this? Because of verses 21-22. People were overdoing the wine and getting drunk! You can’t get drunk from a thimbleful of wine! And in verses 33-34, Paul exhorts the ones who come earlier to wait till the others arrive (probably poor laborers who couldn’t get there early).
There is much more scriptural support for teaching new converts that eating together as a church is helpful to spiritual growth, than teaching them that frequent fasting is essential.
What about tithing? Should new converts be taught to tithe? The early church did NOT practice tithing! If tithing is such an important doctrine, then why is it nowhere commanded by Peter, Paul, or any of the other apostles? Jesus does mention tithing, but in only two contexts, one where He is castigating some haughty Scribes and Pharisees for their hypocrisy and lack of mercy (Matt.23:23; Luke 11:42). The other example is where Christ describes a proud prayer offered up by an unrepentant Pharisee who went home unjustified by God (Luke 18:12). Only those three verses contain any remarks from Jesus about tithing, and they are all in an unfavorable context! Jesus okays the Pharisee’s tithing of mint, anise and cumin, but He was speaking to someone who lived under the Law of Moses and before the Cross. Jesus said nothing about the Pharisee needing to tithe his money. Modern tithe takers order their congregation to give TO THEM first dibs on their paycheck each week, but Scripture clearly specifies what is to be tithed under the Law:
Leviticus 27:30: And all the tithe OF THE LAND (not of a paycheck!) whether of the seed of the land, or of the fruit of the tree, is the LORD’S: it is holy unto the LORD.
Leviticus 27:32 And concerning the tithe OF THE HERD, OR OF THE FLOCK, even of whatsoever passeth under the rod, the tenth (not the first item counted) shall be holy unto the Lord.
Nehemiah 10:35-37 specifies what items constitute a firstfruits (heave) offering unto the Lord. The firstfruits offering was collected from whatever agricultural produce ripened first (Deut.26:2). It was presented by the Israelite farmer (not the sandalmaker or fisherman!) to the officiating priest. The firstfruits offering was presented early in the harvest season, some time before the tithe (every tenth item) was gathered from the vast majority of the harvest which ripened later. What exactly made up the firstfruits offering?
VERSE 35: And to bring the firstfruits OF OUR GROUND (no mention of money), and the firstfruits of all manner of trees, year by year unto the house of the Lord:
VERSE 36: Also the firstborn of our sons, and of our cattle, as it is written in the Law, and the firstlings of our herds, and of our flocks, to bring to the house of our God, unto the Priests that minister to the house of our God******The first part of this verse helps to prove the distinction between tithes and firstfruits, which are often used interchangeably by pulpit preachers to get more money from poor folks who buy groceries with what little is left after paying their bills. And, notice:
The firstfruits law applied to human sons, not just the firstfruits of cattle. But tithes were not paid on every tenth child borne by a woman! The firstborn son was payable to the Lord as a firstfruits offering, and even he was supposed to be redeemed (bought back) by the parents (Numbers 18:15-16). But no one under the New Covenant needs to pay redemption money to some preacher. We are NOT redeemed with silver or gold, but with the precious Blood of Jesus (I Peter 1:18-19). The Lord later accepted the Tribe of Levi as belonging to Him instead of the firstborn of the Israelites (Numbers 3:45).
Notice also, the firstfruits were brought “to the House of our God, unto the priests”. Even if it were okay to transfer the Tithing Law from the Old Covenant over to the New (which God forbids!), you’d also have to transfer ALL the components of that particular law, including the priests and the House of God! Just what IS the New Covenant House of God, and who ARE the priests of the New Covenant?
I Cor.3:16: Know ye not that YE are the Temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?
2 Cor.6:16: And what agreement hath the Temple of God with idols? For ye are the temple of the Living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them, and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.
Saints, WE are the Temple of God! The new convert must not be left in the dark about this important fact! He (or she) already has plenty of hurdles to overcome in this life (peer pressure, satan’s temptations, etc.), without also being hoodwinked by preachers who teach them that the CHURCH BUILDING is a literal storehouse for money, rather than the believers themselves being the House of God!
Saints, not only are we the Temple of God, we are also the PRIESTS of God! Another under-emphasized power secret new converts must know!
I Peter 2:5 YE also, as lively (living) stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.
VERSE 9: But YE are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a peculiar (purchased) people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. In those verses Peter made NO distinction between “pew Christians” and “pulpit ministers”! That division developed centuries after the death of the early apostles, and helped make professional clergymen wealthy.
What kinds of items were brought by Israelite farmers under the Old Covenant? Continuing with Nehemiah 10:37: And that we should bring the firstfruits of our dough (bread dough, that is), and our offerings, and the fruit of all manner of trees, of wine and of oil, unto the priests, to the chambers (storerooms) of the House of our God; and the TITHES OF OUR GROUND (again, tithes are distinguished from the firstfruits here!) unto the Levites, that the same Levites might have the tithes in all the cities of our tillage.
Only EDIBLE tithes which grew or grazed on the ground were brought to the Levites. OFFERINGS of the fruit of the ground and firstfruits of crops were brought to the Temple storehouses by the people, but tithes paid to the Levites by the people were to be stored in the cities set aside for the Levites and their families (Lev.25:32), not in the Temple storehouse! Provision for Levites and the poor was also to be stored within the city gates of all Israelite cities (Deut. 14:28-29). Scripture does not command the ordinary Israelite to bring any tithe to the Temple storehouse, but to store them for the poor and Levites only, besides that tithe which was set aside for their own personal use at the yearly Festivals. So that shoots a hole in the argument that the church building is analogous to the place where ordinary Israelites brought their tithes to the Levites! When do you ever hear any preacher rant and roar about neglect of the third-year Poor Tithe? What about yelling at farmers for failure to allow homeless people to glean ears of corn out of their field? A plain reading of the Book of Ruth reveals God’s love for poor people, not just for “spiritual Levites”!
Pulpit ministers often call themselves “spiritual Levites” but they could set their sights higher. Numbers 3:9 and 8:19 says that the Levites WERE GIVEN AS GOD’S GIFT to the sons of Aaron, the only Israelites allowed to be official priests! They were, in effect, bondservants (virtual slaves) of the priesthood! Far from being the kingpins, the Levites did the menial chores of the Tabernacle, such as setting up its props, skinning sacrifices, transporting the Holy Things, ministering at the Door of the Tabernacle of the Congregation, etc., while the actual priesthood drew near to the Presence of Almighty God at the Altar. Today’s “spiritual Levites” milk cash cows till they’re skint, but I doubt they’d have much stomach for doing a REAL Levite’s job of skinning cows (2 Chron.29:34).
Bad doctrine has been repeated millions of times from millions of pulpits over the centuries, so I’ll repeat the TRUTH: The Levites presented their own “tithe of the tithe” to the Priesthood who did not have to pay any tithes at all (see Numbers 18:26-28)! Only this tithe, PAID BY THE LEVITES, was ever stored in Temple storehouses (Neh.10:38)! THOSE WHO PAY TITHES DENY THEIR OWN PRIESTHOOD IN CHRIST JESUS! Seminary-trained preachers who downplay the priesthood of the new convert (or any other Christian) by demanding tithes are sinning against God.
Author Resource:-
Patricia Backora has been filled with the Holy Spirit since 1970. She believes in the nine Gifts of the Spirit, and the imminent return of Christ. Patricia’s articles address problems and spiritual needs in the Christian church. She believes that the rightly divided Word of God (2 Tim.2:15) must be the final authority.
http://banpreachergreed.tripod.comhttp://kingdomage.tripod.com
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