And some time back, an individual called me from Lubbock, Texas, who’d been teaching one of my classes from my books, and he asked, “Brother Black,” he said, “in our class a brother said that Brother Black is teaching tithing.” And of course, he knew that word, “tithe,” would prejudice the minds of the people, and so he’d mention in every Bible class, I guess, to prejudice their minds. So he said, “Brother Black is teaching tithing.” And so he [the Bible class teacher] called me. He said, “I want to know from you, do you teach the cold, legalistic law of tithing?” I wrote back the brother and said, “No, you tell this elderly man in the Bible class that accused me of teaching the legalistic law of tithing that I do not teach the cold, legalistic law of tithing, but I teach where beginners get in, and then we go up, up, UP, UP! And he won’t bother you anymore.” No, don’t accuse me of teaching the tithing system.

You think about in the early days of New Testament Christianity—they were selling their homes! They were selling their land! And they’d bring it and lay it down at the apostles’ feet, and then you think about some man jumping up, saying [to those Christians], “I want to talk to you about tithing.” [They would say,] “Talk to me about tithing?!? I’m selling everything I have. I’ve given my house and my land!” Why tithing back there—that would have driven the contribution DOWN!

No, I don’t teach the legalistic law of tithing. I teach what the New Testament teaches, to give as God has prospered us, and I also teach [that] we’d better not pervert that WORD! A man who perverts the word, “prospers,” is just as guilty as the man who would pervert the word, “baptism.” And so, we don’t need to pervert any words in the Bible. We need to take them just as they are.

So, we give to evangelize the world. In Romans 10:13 beginning, Paul said, “For whosoever shall call upon the Name of the Lord shall be saved.” That’s one of the most beautiful verses in the Bible—that’s one of the mountain peaks of the Bible that, “whosoever shall call upon the Name of the Lord shall be saved.” You think of that—the wise man, the ignorant man, the poor man, the rich man, the unwise man—“whosoever calleth on the Name of the Lord shall be saved.”

Then he [Paul] adds, “How then shall they call on Him in Whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in Him of Whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher?” Now, just think for a moment. How can they hear without a preacher? “And how shall they preach, except they be sent?”

And then he said, “[…as it is written,] How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the Gospel of peace, and bring Glad Tidings of good things!” And so, we have the responsibility to evangelize the world, and it’s a serious responsibility.

And you think of our prosperity today. You think of the houses where we live, the automobiles that we drive, the clothes that we wear, the mutual funds we have, the CDs [Certificates of Deposit] that we have, and then, what does God want us to do? Give all this? No…no. [God says,] “I just want you to give as I’ve prospered you.” And what’s wrong with that kind of teaching? And if we gave as God prospered us—that is, the entire brotherhood—we could evangelize the world. We have the wealth to evangelize the world. And one congregation can’t do it, but one congregation can do their part. I can’t do it by myself, but I can do what God expects me to do. And this congregation can’t do it, but this congregation can do what God expects you to do, and that’s all we’re teaching.

NUMBER THREE: We give to express our love to God and to the lost. Several years ago, I was in a meeting in Atlanta. I went to a religious bookstore to see what others had said about giving. I knew our brethren had not said much about it, so I wanted to know what other people had said about it. So, I pulled a book off the shelf and it fell open, and it said, “The Most Disbelieved Verse in the Bible.” And I thought, “The most disbelieved verse in the Bible?” Now, I’m aware of the fact that’s just this man’s opinion. But he said that there’s a verse—the most disbelieved verse in the entire Bible, from Genesis through Revelation. What would you guess that he said? And I state, that’s just his opinion. But there’s a lot of truth in what he said, I know that. He said, “The most disbelieved verse in the Bible is Acts 20, and verse 35, that says, “…remember the Words of the Lord Jesus, how He said, It is more blessed to give than to receive.” He said that’s the most disbelieved verse in the Bible. Why? Because of our inverted ego; because of our selfishness; because of our self-centeredness; we just can’t make ourselves believe that there’s a greater joy in giving than there is in receiving! He said, “We can’t do that!” But I deny it! I state that’s one of the most BELIEVED verses in the entire Bible! That every intelligent person knows there’s a greater joy in giving than there is in receiving! That there’s a deep, genuine joy in GIVING! Now, let me prove it to you.

Do you have any children? Do you send them to school? Do you make sacrifices in doing this? “Oh,” you say, “of course I did.” Well, didn’t you grumble and whine and complain about it? “No, no. I was glad to do it.” Why’d you DO it? “Because I love them.”

Well, do you have any grandchildren? Do you ever give anything to your grandchildren? I remember one of these men today talking about going to town yesterday with his grandchild and getting something that she wanted. Why did you do it? “Oh,” you say, “I LOVE my grandchild!”

Well, do you have any great grandchildren? That’s one you really get a joy out of giving. “Well,” you say, “yes.” Well, why do you give to them? “Because I love them.”

Well, do you ever give your husband a gift? “Oh,” you say, “yes.” Well, why do you do it? You say, “Because I love him!”

Well, do you ever give your wife a present? “Yes.” Well, why do you do it? “Because I love her.”