1. Many years ago, Robert Moffat, a missionary to Africa, was home on furlough and while preaching in a church one day, he made the following statement to his audience: “There is a vast plain to the north, where I have sometimes seen, in the morning sun, the smoke of a thousand villages where no missionary has ever been.”
2. In the audience that day was a young Scotsman named David Livingstone. He was preparing to go to China as a missionary but was prevented from going because of the Opium Wars.
3. David Livingstone could not forget those words, “the smoke of a thousand villages.”  He spoke to Dr. Moffat and soon David Livingstone was on his way to Africa.  He walked from coast to coast across the entire continent of Africa, becoming one of the greatest missionaries that ever lived.
4. Later on, he married Robert Moffat’s daughter.
5. If you want to get a blessing, read some missionary biographies.  God used them to bring the Gospel to the lost around the world – Livingstone to Africa, Hudson Taylor to China, William Carey to India, Adoniram Judson to Burma, and many others – some well known, some not so well known, but all dear to God and to God’s people.
6. We must always remember this: these missionaries never would have succeeded without prayer support and financial support.  In fact, it has been often said that the most important thing is to get Christians praying for missionaries, because once Christians start earnestly praying they will soon start earnestly giving.
7. All Bible-believing Christians would agree that our Lord’s last words before He ascended into heaven (what we refer to as “the Great Commission”) are the marching orders of the church.
8. There are various methods available for carrying out the Great Commission.  Evangelizing one’s immediate area is best done by knocking on doors, distributing Gospel tracts, preaching over the radio, advertising in the telephone directory and the Internet, and in local newspapers, etc.
9. But how are we to bring the Gospel to “every creature”(Mark 16:15, 16)?  The answer is supporting missionaries through faith promise giving.
10. This morning, I would like to give a few basic principles on faith promise missions.

I. THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN FAITH PROMISE AND THE TITHE.

1. Tithing goes back as far as Abraham (Genesis 14:18-20).  Some would say it goes back all the way to the Garden of Eden.  God told Adam he could eat anything he wanted except from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (Genesis 2:16, 17).  The principle: God reserved one tree for Himself.
2. Some would agree with this principle but point out that the concept of tithing is not clearly taught here.  That is true, but nevertheless Abraham had to have learned about tithing somewhere.
3. In any event, Abraham tithed in Genesis 14, and we see his grandson Jacob promising to tithe in Genesis 28:22.
4. Later on, tithing was incorporated into the Law (Leviticus 27:30).
5. Contrary to what some preachers say, tithing is not clearly taught in the NT, nor is it emphasized in the NT.
6. If you get out your concordance (or www.blueletterbible.org) you will only see the word “tithe” seven times in the NT.  It is found 32 times in the OT.
7. Let us look at the NT references (Matt. 23:23; Luke 11:42).  Here the Lord is rebuking the Pharisees for their hypocrisy.  He tells them it is good that they tithe, but they should also be concerned with “the weightier matters of the law, judgment (justice), mercy, and faith.”  So our Lord approved of tithing, but this is not a good verse upon which to build a strong case for NT tithing.
8. The parable of the Pharisee and the publican is similar (Luke 18:9-14).  The gist of the parable is not the importance of tithing.
9. This leaves us with four references in Hebrews 7:5-9.   Again, the gist of this passage is not the importance of tithing.  The emphasis here is that the Melchisadec priesthood is superior to the Levitical priesthood.
10. These are the seven references to the tithe in the NT.  I have preached many messages on stewardship but seldom refer to these verses because in the NT the emphasis is not on the tithe, it is on grace giving.  Grace giving is over and above the tithe (cf. II Cor. 8:1-3).  The tithe is just a starting point, a benchmark.  You have to start somewhere.  A tithe is a good place to start (not to finish).
11. (Some Christians give ten percent, but they can afford to give more.  God is not concerned with how much you give.  It is how much you keep for yourself that matters.)
12. In the NT, God does not command the tithe.  In the NT the Bible says each believer should give “as God hath prospered him” (I Cor. 16:2).  That is often more than a tithe (cf. Mark 12:41-44).

II. SUMMARY OF NT GRACE GIVING (Scofield Study Bible).

1. Dr. Scofield gives an excellent summary on p. 1235 of his study Bible.
2. It is a “grace, i.e., a disposition created by the Holy Spirit (II Cor. 8:7).”
3. “In contrast with the law, which imposed giving as a divine requirement, Christian giving is voluntary, and a test of sincerity and love (8:8-12; 9:1, 2, 5, 7).”
4. “The privilege is universal, belonging, according to ability, to rich and poor (8:1-3, 12-15; cf. I Cor. 16:1, 2).”
5. “Giving is to be proportioned to income (8:12-14; cf. I Cor. 16:2).  The OT proportion was the tithe, a proportion which antedates the law (Gen. 14:20).”
6. “The rewards of Christian giving are joy (8:2), increased ability to give in proportion to that which has been already given (9:7-11), increased thankfulness to God (9:12), and God and the Gospel are glorified (9:13, 14).”

III. SOME PRINCIPLES OF FAITH PROMISE.

1. I want for us to focus now on what Scofield gives as one of the rewards of Christian giving (or “grace giving”) – “increased ability to give…”
2. The Bible speaks of “tithes and offerings” (Malachi 3:8). First Corinthians 16:1 refers to “the collection.”  Second Corinthians 9:13 refers to their “liberal distribution.”  When it comes to the concept of faith promise, I believe it is an offering above the tithe.
3. Similarly, gifts to the church’s building fund and other special projects are offerings over and above the tithe.  If a Christian takes them out of his tithe then he does not really understand grace giving.
4. I think the best example of grace giving in the NT is demonstrated by the churches of Macedonia (II Cor. 8:1).
5. We do not have time to get deep into this morning, but let me point out a few principles here.

• They gave generously despite their afflictions and their poverty (8:1, 2).  Many Christians use these for excuses not to give.
• They gave sacrificially (8:3).  Faith promise is not giving out of one’s abundance for that takes no faith at all.  Faith giving is giving beyond one’s ability (“power”) (8:3).
• Like the man who was asked how much he was giving for a special collection.  He replied, “I guess I can give $100 and not feel it.”  His friend told him, “Brother, give $200 and feel it!  The blessings come when you feel it!”
• They first gave of themselves (8:5).  If God has you, He will have your wallet or your pocket book.  Too many Christians expect others to pay the bills.  We are seeing this now with all these government “bailouts” (e.g., mortgage bailouts).
• It is shame this sort of thinking has gotten into churches also. God cannot bless a church until the members get serious about getting the Gospel out to the lost.

CONCLUSION:

1. An example of grace giving in the OT: In I Kings 17, the widow woman of Zarephath only had a handful of meal in a barrel, and a little oil in a cruse (17:8-12).
2. Yet the prophet Elijah told her to bake him a cake first (17:13). By FAITH (this is what we mean by “faith promise”), the widow BELIEVED the prophet and by FAITH she OBEYED GOD.
3. Through her act of faith, God supplied her needs, her family’s needs, and the prophet’s needs as well (17:14-16).