Wednesday, June 24, 2009

36i - Jesus Christ Teaches the Nephites that Tithing is His Law in All Times - Taught in the Book of Mormon for us in our Day

To Access This Blog's Index, Please Scroll Down To the Fifth Paragraph From the End of This Post!

****
TODAY'S THEME











The Lord's Law of the Tithe - Our Obligation Which Brings Manifold Blessings When We Obey it. Our ward bishop is the Lord's steward in this important matter.
Doctrine and Covenants 119:4 And after that, those who have thus been tithed shall pay one-tenth of all their interest annually; and this shall be a standing law unto them forever, for my holy priesthood, saith the Lord.
Paying a full and honest tithe is a basic requirement in order to be a worthy member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It is just one of many obligations the Lord expects of His Saints. By much experience members of this church learn that paying an honest and full tithing brings blessings of all kinds, often way beyond what they ever hoped for.
Tithing is not a requirement of the Lord just for our day and time. It actually has been a basic requirement of God since man's beginning on the Earth.
Genesis 14:
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 gave him tithes of all. (Emphasis Added)
And in addition:
Leviticus 27:30 And all the tithe of the land, whether of the seed of the land, or of the fruit of the tree, is the LORD's: it is holy unto the LORD. (Emphasis Added)
And again:
2 Chronicles 31: 5 ¶ And as soon as the commandment came abroad, the children of Israel brought in abundance the firstfruits of corn, wine, and oil, and honey, and of all the increase of the fields; and the tithe of all things brought they in abundantly.
6 And concerning the children of Israel and Judah, that dwelt in the cities of Judah, they also brought in the tithe of oxen and sheep, and the tithe of holy things which were consecrated unto the LORD their God, and laid them by heaps.
7 In the third month they began to lay the foundation of the heaps, and finished them in the seventh month.
8 And when Hezekiah and the princes came and saw the heaps, they blessed the LORD, and his people Israel.
9 Then Hezekiah questioned with the priests and the Levites concerning the heaps.
10 And Azariah the chief priest of the house of Zadok answered him, and said, Since the people began to bring the offerings (Tithing) 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. (emphasis and clarification added)
In the just previous post I promised to have you study 3 Nephi, Chapter 24 which is about tithing, in this post. I have already commenced teaching about tithing using scriptures from the Doctrine and Covenants and the Old Testament.

So now we come to 3 Nephi, Chapter 24: These are the words of Malachi, whose book is found in our Old Testament but was not in the Nephites' Brass Plates (their version of the Old Testament). The Resurrected Jesus Christ quoted the following to the Nephites. As I mentioned earlier, Malachi's book was not in the Nephite's version of the Old Testament because Father Lehi and his family left Jerusalem at the command of the Lord before Malachi's time.

3 Nephi 24:9 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 my 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.
11 And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground; neither shall your vine cast her fruit before the time in the fields, saith the Lord of
Hosts.
12 And all nations shall call you blessed, for ye shall be a delightsome land, saith the Lord of Hosts. (emphasis added)
I want you to know my personal experience with paying tithing. With their mother, I raised a large family of nine children, (five daughters and four sons.)

I was employed by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for about 34 years before retiring. I loved the work I did. I didn't expect the salary to to be comparable to that which I could have earned working for a large business or even for the government. Nonetheless, we paid a full tithing. If we ever got behind, we eventually got caught up. I know personally that the blessings that come from paying a full and honest tithing are like we were told above in:
2 Chronicles: 31:10 . . . Since the people began to bring the offerings (Tithing) into the house of the LORD, we have had enough to eat, and have left plenty: for the LORD hath blessed his people;

1. Missionaries pay almost all of their own ongoing mission costs (Young male missionaries serve for two years (young female missionaries serve for one and a half years) They pay for their expenses from their own savings and from funds provided them by family and friends. Tithing pays for their travel (this includes the travel of older missionary married couples) to and from their missions and administrative mission costs, etc.







2. The planning, construction of and maintenance of the almost one hundred and forty six temples which are for the most part already built, are paid for by tithing funds. We have seen in a recent blog post of mine what great blessings come to not only Church members from the availability of these temples, but also to their dead ancestors who are "alive" in the World of Spirits.


1. and 2. Washington, D.C. and Buenos Aires, Argentina Temples

3. and 4 Preston, England and Manila, Philippines Temples



If you would like to view pictures of the LDS Church's Temples Built Since the Church Began You can do so here:  Temple Slide Show


_____________



DISCLAIMER
This website is not owned by or affiliated with the Church Of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (sometimes called the Mormon or LDS Church). The views expressed herein do not necessarily represent the position of the Church.



____________


TO ACCESS NEIL BIRCH'S BLOG INDEX To Either Read the Full Index Item Which Refers To This Blog Post, (Or An Item Which Refers To Any Other Blog Post You May Desire To Access): After Reading All of This Paragraph Please Click on the Following: Tithing is the Lord's Law In All Times. . .- Post 36i. When You See the Picture of Our Savior Jesus Christ Sitting Next To a Little Boy, Please, Scroll Down To Your Target Item Or Use The Alphabetic Scrolling Device (When It Has Been Installed.)

____________


"Have You Really Read the Book of Mormon?" Legal /Statement. Thank you for visiting. The author retains intellectual property and creative licensing rights. Permission to use or reprint must be given in writing. © Est.2008 Neil Birch Legal /Statement.

_____________

I deeply appreciate your readership and hope you found very beneficial that which was presented to you in this blog post.

If you have any questions about what you have read or viewed in this post or in any previous posts of mine, or if you even have a curiosity about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and or its teachings, please e-mail me. I'm Neil and my e-mail address is: jneilmelva@gmail.com. If you contact me I'll get back to you just as soon as possible.

I invite you to let your friends and relatives know about this blog if you think they would be interested. Please be advised that I also have an additional blog. It is in Spanish:   Its content is translated from the English in this blog.

Neil Birch