Randall Caselman
Bella Vista Church of Christ
1/25/98 pm
Give And It Will Be Given You
Reading — 2 Corinthians 8.1-8 & 9.6-10
In view of the Elders presentation this morning, I believe it appropriate for us to examine this concept of giving. Now, as we go through our lesson, I want us to understand that we are considering more than just giving our money, we’re talking about giving our all... Giving self. Note verse five of our reading from Second Corinthians eight. Paul commended the churches of Macedonia for their sacrificial giving, then he tells us why they gave so much, They first gave themselves. Church, this principle still applies:
- If we will become LIVING SACRIFICES,
- If we will be INSTRUMENTS OF RIGHTEOUSNESS,
- If we will GIVE OURSELVES TO THE LORD, then our monetary giving will automatically take care of itself as we learn how to give from Scripture.
The Bible teaches us that, if we genuinely love God, then we will sacrificially give Him: Our ambitions, Our energy, Our time, Talent, Treasure, in accordance with His truth.
The second point I want to make is that God promises to bless generous giving.
Look at the reading from Second Corinthians nine,
- Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously.
- Verse 8 says, God is able to make all grace abound, so that we have everything we need.
- Verse 9, the God who gives gifts to the poor will give to us.
- Verse 10, The one who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will SUPPLY and INCREASE our store and ENLARGE our harvest.
- Verse 11, You will be made RICH in every way so that your generosity can give on every occasion.
All of these promises are given to WHOM? Those in the Corinthian church who were willing to give generously and cheerfully. Jesus agreed with this kind of thinking when He said in Luke 6.38, Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.
With these thoughts in mind, let’s consider what is in store for us, if we give properly.
FIRST, GIVING PREPARES THE WAY FOR BLESSINGS, JOY AND HAPPINESS
Remember what Paul said Jesus taught in Acts 20.35, It is more blessed to give than to receive. The word blessed here in the Greek is Mak-ar- ee-os. It is the same word Jesus used in the Beatitudes. It could be translated JOY or HAPPY. Jesus is saying the road to a joyous, happy life is through giving.
We live in an upside-down kingdom. The world says, happiness come from getting... Receiving. Jesus says, in His Kingdom, happiness comes from what?... Giving. Question! Who are we going to believe... Jesus or the world?
Indeed, Indeed, we’ve allowed the world to squeeze us into its mold. Some of the most miserable and unhappy people I know are those who spend more and more of their time:
- Grasping,
- Clamoring,
- Striving,
- Working for,
- And wanting
More... More... More. Our text promises that God will bless those who will give generously and cheerfully.
SECONDLY, GIVING KEEPS US SPIRITUALLY HEALTHY
You see, giving is not only good, it is good for us. The prophet Malachi dealt with this point in Malachi chapter 3. The children of Israel had stopped giving, and what they were giving was not done properly. Listen to God through the prophet, Will a man rob God? But you ask, `How do we rob you?' In tithes and offerings. You are under a curse, because you are robbing me. Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this, says the LORD Almighty, and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it.
Church, it’s foolish to think that our giving has nothing to do with our relationship to God. It has everything to do with it. No! No! God doesn’t NEED our money, but we need to give, because its good for us. The Old and New Testament are filled with people who had serious spiritual problems that were directly related to their giving:
- Cain,
- Lot,
- Achan,
- Saul,
- Judas,
- Ananias and Sapphira,
- The rich young ruler who turned his back on Jesus for money,
- The richman in the narrative of the richman and Lazarus,
- Demas who love the things of this world more than God.
Remember what Paul said to Timothy near the end of his first letter, Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life. Paul is charging Timothy, to instruct well off Christians, on how to maintain their spirituality. Do you suppose these verses have anything to say to us in Bella Vista this morning? Proper giving not only blesses us, it helps keep us spiritually healthy.
THIRDLY, GIVING IS A PART OF OUR WORSHIP.
Can we worship God properly without giving?... I don’t think so. In fact, the very first time the word WORSHIP is used in the Bible is in Genesis 22.5 and the context has to do with sacrificial giving as a means of worship. Worship is:
- Homage,
- Adoration,
- Respect,
- Reverence,
- And praise.
When we give to God, as He has instructed us to do, we are worshipping Him.
Again Malachi gives us some insight to proper worship through giving. Listen as I read from Malachi chapter one... God is talking, A son honors his father, and a servant his master. If I am your father, where is the honor due to me? If I am your master, where is the respect due to me? You are showing contempt for my name. Listen now as to how God says Israel showed contempt for Him:
- You placed defiled food on my altar.
- You bring blind animals for sacrifice,
- You sacrifice crippled or diseased animals,
Try offering them to your governor! Would he be pleased with you? Would he accept you? Oh, that one of you would shut the temple doors, so that you would not light useless fires on my altar! I am not pleased with you, says the LORD Almighty, and I will accept no offering from your hands. These people were worshiping God with their sacrifices and God said,
- Your worship is not accepted,
- Your altar fires are useless,
WHY?... Because your giving is not correct. Your trying to give the leftovers and those you no longer want. Your giving to God those things that the governor would never accept.
Question! If everybody in this church gave as I did... as you did, would God be saying, I wish someone would lock the church house doors so that you would have to stop trying to worship me without giving. You see, sometime our actions speak louder than our words. We proclaim our love for God in song... Then fail to worship Him in our giving. Indeed, giving demonstrates our devotion to God.
NUMBER FOUR, GIVING TEACHES SPIRITUAL DISCIPLINE
Genuine Christianity requires a lot of self-discipline doesn’t it? We all know people who have yet to learn this fact.
- They mean well,
- They have a good and honest heart,
- They have good intentions,
- They want to do the right thing,
- They are easily touched by the word of God, but they can’t seem to quite keep it together. One day they’re on a spiritual high, the next thing we know they’ve stopped coming to services. They catch fire and are restored, only to fall again. What is the problem?.... No discipline.
You see, the problem is not in their heart, but in their will. And the will must be trained by discipline. And one of the ways to do this is by:
- Regular,
- Proportionate,
- Planned, giving. Paul tells us this in First Corinthians 16.2, On the first day of every week, each one of you should set aside a sum of money in keeping with his income. You see, giving is a matter of DISCIPLINE... Its a matter of obedience to God.
FINALLY THIS MORNING, GIVING IS AN INDICATION OF OUR LOVE
Paul says, I want to test the sincerity of your love. Paul is saying, I want to measure your love. We say, NO Paul that’s too simple;
- You can’t say, love and giving are equal.
- You can’t say, he who loves much gives much.
- He who gives little loves little.
But the Bible teaches us differently. The Bible says that love gives.. God so loved the world that He gave.
Church, we can’t separate loving and giving from our religion... Not in Christianity. Our Bible is a book about giving. God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son. The first commandment is to love God with all our heart, mind, body and soul.
You see, if we indeed love God, we will give Him:
- Our ambitions,
- Our energy,
- Our time,
- Talent,
- Treasure, in accordance with His truth. Yes, we may be able to give without loving but we can never love without giving.
The bottom line to the lesson this morning is this, WE CAN NEVER GIVE GOD WHAT HE WANTS UNTIL WE GIVE OURSELVES.
The question of the hour is this, have you given yourself to God? God wants you to be His child. You can by faith, repentance and New Testament baptism, immersion in water for the forgiveness of all your sins. Give yourself to God.... Will you?
