The open door to give

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1º Reyes 17:8–16 KJV 1900

8 And the word of the Lord came unto him, saying, 9 Arise, get thee to Zarephath, which belongeth to Zidon, and dwell there: behold, I have commanded a widow woman there to sustain thee. 10 So he arose and went to Zarephath. And when he came to the gate of the city, behold, the widow woman was there gathering of sticks: and he called to her, and said, Fetch me, I pray thee, a little water in a vessel, that I may drink. 11 And as she was going to fetch it, he called to her, and said, Bring me, I pray thee, a morsel of bread in thine hand. 12 And she said, As the Lord thy God liveth, I have not a cake, but an handful of meal in a barrel, and a little oil in a cruse: and, behold, I am gathering two sticks, that I may go in and dress it for me and my son, that we may eat it, and die. 13 And Elijah said unto her, Fear not; go and do as thou hast said: but make me thereof a little cake first, and bring it unto me, and after make for thee and for thy son. 14 For thus saith the Lord God of Israel, The barrel of meal shall not waste, neither shall the cruse of oil fail, until the day that the Lord sendeth rain upon the earth. 15 And she went and did according to the saying of Elijah: and she, and he, and her house, did eat many days. 16 And the barrel of meal wasted not, neither did the cruse of oil fail, according to the word of the Lord, which he spake by Elijah.

Introduction

In this story we see the prophet Elijah in Israel during a great famine.

Because of the sins of the king and the people, God had withheld rain from the land and the situation in Israel was dire.

Elijah had just spent a long time being fed by the Lord lliterally by birds.

And now, with the brook dried up, God told Elijah to go to Zarephath and there he would find a widow woman who was “commanded” to sustain him.

So Elijah obeyed the word of the Lord and went to Zarephath.

When he arrived, he found a widow lady gathering sticks.

She had a son, and was literally about to prepare her last meal.

She was in deep poverty.

Elijah, understanding that this was the woman that God wanted to take care of his need, asked for a glass of water and then a morsel of bread.

The woman, did not understand that she was “commanded” by God to sustain Elijah.

I am sure that she was a nice lady, I am sure she was a hospitable lady, but the reality is that she was in a desperate situation.

She was poor, and there was a famine.

And all she had was a little tiny bit of food left.

Her plan was to make one last meal for her and her son and then they would starve to death.

But Elijah knew that God had great plans for her.

And Elijah knew from experience that Little is much when God is in it.

It did not matter to God if she was poor or if there was a famine, or if she was a widow.

God was not dependent on her material abilities to make money.

God wanted to use her in a great way.

So Elijah told her to “fear not”

He is basically telling her to trust God.

He then tells her to first make him a little cake.

He didn’t ask for all her last meal, he just asked for a little cake.

He asked for a small portion of what she had so that he could eat to.

The woman I imagine was very surprised at his request.

But she knew this was a man of God.

He had given her a message from God… “fear not”.

And so she chose to in a moment of faith, believe what God had said to her.

So with great faith, she went and baked a little cake for Elijah.

Elijah was greatful.

Im sure it was the best cake he had ever tasted.

It satisfied his hunger.

He probably said, Lord bless you sister. Thank you for helping me and my ministry.

Thank you for meeting my need.

The woman I am sure said “my pleasure” and then went back into her house to finish the meal for her son.

She opens her jar of flour, that only had a little tiny bit left.

Just enough to make one last meal for her and her son.

She poured it into a mixing bowl, tilting the jar deeply to make sure she got every last drop.

Then something miraculous happened.

Tilting the dar deeply, flour began to pour out of the jar.

It filled the mixing bowl, it probably overflowed the bowl.

She stood there in shock.

What was going in.

She opened the jar and saw that there was some flour in there, but nothing was out of the ordinary.

Then she pulled out another bowl

She wanted to see how much was left.

The flour poured and the second bowl was filled as well.

She looked in the jar again…same thing. Just a normal small amount of flour.

She kept pouring.

Bowl after bowl…the flour would not stop pouring.

It was a miracle.

She grabbed the oil, she knew she just had a little bit left in the jar…same thing.

It just kept pouring.

God had saved her and her son.

Its likely that this lady was able to not only save herself and her son but also many of her neighbors, maybe even her whole village.

God had provided for her need.

All because of her faith and her desire to help Elijah do the ministry that God had called him to do.

God had “commanded her” to sustain Elijah.

And she trusted God, and God sustained her too, far more than she could have ever imagined.

The widow woman decided to prepare a little room where Elijah could stay as long as he needed, and she kept sustaining Elijah as long as he needed.

Elijah would lodge at this families house for a time.

And God provided for his needs through this widow woman.

And God provided for her needs as a result of her faith.

God greatly blessed this woman, and later on when her son was sick, God even healed her son.

Tonight as we consider the open doors that God has put in front of us in regards to world-wide missions, I want to speak about a great open door of opportunity.

We have seen so far the open door to pray

We have seen the open door to send

Tonight we are going to see the open door to give

God had just spent some time taking care of Elijah with birds bringing him food.

And God could have continued to do so.

But that is not what God wanted to do.

God desires to use regular ordinary people to take care of his work.

To be part of God’s army of supporters.

Notice that God did not send Elijah to some rich mansion, some retired millionaire who had stored up plenty of food during the time of famine.

He sent him to one of the poorest ladies in Israel.

Someone who had lost her husband

Someone who was a single mom raising a son.

Someone who was literally about to eat her last meal.

Someone who had practically nothing.

And God used her to make the ministry of Elijah possible.

To help Elijah with his great need.

Today the work of God is accomplished by the team-work of many.

Missions is not a one man mission.

Its a team mission that can only be accomplished by the army of God.

With missions, those who tend to get all the attention, all the focus are the missionaries.

Example: How we talk about how the missionary must live by faith, be willing to leave his family, his culture, his language, etc.

And is the one with the “boots on the ground”.

And when we talk about missions we focus on the missionaries.

And its true, the boots on the ground are very important, we learned about that on Friday night.

But we must not forget that the work of missions is only partly accomplished because of the efforts of the missionary.

The reality is that God has a great army of supporters that He has chosen to make it possible for the missionary to go to the foreign field.

And this great army of supporters is not mainly composed of people with great jobs, and tons of extra income.

The backbone and great majority of this great army of supporters are people like this widow woman.

In many cases people who have nothing.

And God uses what they have, in a tremendous way, and does not require of them what they don’t have.

This woman did not have hardly anything.

She did not have great skills and talents.

Her husband was dead.

And though she couldn’t do much, there was one thing she could do.

She could bake a cake.

And God said, yes, I can use that.

She could give a bed to a weary preacher.

And God said, yes, I can use that.

She could separate off a portion of her small sustenance to feed the missionary.

Can I tell you something?

God can use us where we are.

2 Corintios 8:12 KJV 1900

12 For if there be first a willing mind, it is accepted according to that a man hath, and not according to that he hath not.

Example: How some people think that God will use them when they have a great job.

Can I tell you something, God is looking at your heart and your sacrifice not your dollar amount.

Marcos 12:41–44 KJV 1900

41 And Jesus sat over against the treasury, and beheld how the people cast money into the treasury: and many that were rich cast in much. 42 And there came a certain poor widow, and she threw in two mites, which make a farthing. 43 And he called unto him his disciples, and saith unto them, Verily I say unto you, That this poor widow hath cast more in, than all they which have cast into the treasury: 44 For all they did cast in of their abundance; but she of her want did cast in all that she had, even all her living.

Notice here how God looks at our giving.

He looks at our sacrifice.

Some give much, but sacrifice little.

Some give little, but sacrifice much.

Can I tell you something.

When I was a kid, I did not have a job.

My parents would give me a very small allowance every month.

Or I would be able to do odd jobs and earn a tiny bit of money.

When I was 11 or 12 years old, I started giving to faith promise missions.

And I think I was only able to give a couple of dollars a week to missions.

But that was a lot for me.

That was a big decision.

And I gave, and I saw how God not only provided for me to give, he gave me more.

You know what I believe?

I believe that God was every bit as pleased with that sacrifice, as He is with much larger donations that i have made as an adult.

You may not be able to do much, but you can make a cake.

You can give to the Lord right where you are at, with the resources that you have.

And God can take that and He can multiply it and He can use it to support His work.

And God is pleased with your sacrifice.

The open door of giving is before you tonight, will you walk through it?

Let me give you a few things to write down real quick tonight about this open door of giving.

1. Missions giving is biblical

This is not something invented by man to get people’s money, the missions offering is biblical.

We already see here in this text a biblical example of God using His people to support his work but these examples are numerous in Scripture.

A. The Shunammite women

2º Reyes 4:8–11 KJV 1900

8 And it fell on a day, that Elisha passed to Shunem, where was a great woman; and she constrained him to eat bread. And so it was, that as oft as he passed by, he turned in thither to eat bread. 9 And she said unto her husband, Behold now, I perceive that this is an holy man of God, which passeth by us continually. 10 Let us make a little chamber, I pray thee, on the wall; and let us set for him there a bed, and a table, and a stool, and a candlestick: and it shall be, when he cometh to us, that he shall turn in thither. 11 And it fell on a day, that he came thither, and he turned into the chamber, and lay there.

Explain: How she fed and housed Elisha when he traveled (traveling is not cheap).

Men must eat and have a place to sleep.

Traveling is also exhausting…Elisha crashed in that bed, he was exhausted.

Notice: Her financial help that was given to Elisha was not considered her tithe she gave to the temple.

Important: You cannot give biblically to missions until you have tithed.

You should not give your tithe to missions, that should go to your church for the care of your church.

This woman gave to the ministry of Elisha by providing for his needs. This is like our modern missionary offering.

People support the missionary so that he can go places that they cannot and preach the gospel.

We don’t give to receive, we are laying up treasure in heaven, but God does take care of those that take care of his work.

Notice: God blessed this woman in a tremendous way (with a son) because of her generosity to God's work.

B. Mary, Martha and Lazarus

Lucas 10:38 KJV 1900

Now it came to pass, as they went, that he entered into a certain village: and a certain woman named Martha received him into her house.

Mary, Martha, and Lazarus were siblings, and they knew Jesus and were friends with Jesus because they would often house and take care of Jesus and his disciples when they came through their town.

Explain: Jesus was a carpenter, he was not lazy, it was not that he did not want to work.

However, during his earthly ministry his needs were met by others giving to his ministry and providing for his housing, food, and financial needs.

Jesus in this sense was a supported missionary.

Note: Missionaries are not people that just don't want to work.

They work very hard in the ministry but most left good jobs and careers.

Example: Bevins Welder leaving his banking job.

It is often very uncomfortable for missionaries to live off of missions support because we would prefer to work and rely on ourselves, however, God's plan is that they that preach the gospel should live off the gospel if it is possible so that they can devote their time to the ministry.

Sometimes preachers do have to work outside of the ministry,

Example: Paul had to make tents for a time to support himself and his ministry.

but this is not the ideal plan of God.

1 Corintios 9:14 KJV 1900

Even so hath the Lord ordained that they which preach the gospel should live of the gospel.

In the case of missionaries, they often cannot work legally and don’t have that option to be bivocational as a national pastor might.

Notice: Later on Lazarus was blessed in that he was raised from the dead by Jesus.

Once again, we never give in order to receive…we never expect anything in return when we give, but the reality is God blesses those that take care of His men.

God is generous with those generous toward His work.

C. The Philippian church and the Macedonian church

Filipenses 4:14–17 KJV 1900

14 Notwithstanding ye have well done, that ye did communicate with my affliction. 15 Now ye Philippians know also, that in the beginning of the gospel, when I departed from Macedonia, no church communicated with me as concerning giving and receiving, but ye only. 16 For even in Thessalonica ye sent once and again unto my necessity. 17 Not because I desire a gift: but I desire fruit that may abound to your account.

“Communicate with my affliction" is referring to them helping Paul out financially.

The church at Philippi gave a financial gift to help the ministry of Paul.

It appears that they often did this.

Paul then tells them that the fruit of his ministry abounds to there account.

And this leads me to what exactly the missions offering is.

Example: You will see the return on your investment at the Judgment seat of Christ and in heaven.

Example: How we sold our house in FL to go to the mission field.

Marcos 10:29–30 KJV 1900

And Jesus answered and said, Verily I say unto you, There is no man that hath left house, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my sake, and the gospel’s, But he shall receive an hundredfold now in this time, houses, and brethren, and sisters, and mothers, and children, and lands, with persecutions; and in the world to come eternal life.

Here, that house would have given me 3X return on my investment, but in heaven its a hundred.

God is no man’s debtor, you can’t out give God.

You may or may not see the blessings on the earth…but you will see them in heaven.

Paul was clear, the rewards he was getting as a missionary were also going to those who sent him.

Romanos 10:14–15 KJV 1900

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? And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!

Those that go and those that send are working together and both receive a reward.

2. Missions giving is an eternal investment

Example: Getting to heaven and having someone from another country come and thank you for sending the gospel to them by way of supporting a missionary.

Example: Winning people to the Lord in amazon villages or the kids saved in VBS

This church helped finance that trip. It took hotel stays, food, plane tickets, equipment, etc.

Without the missionary offering, those trips to the Amazon would not be possible...therefore God credits you with the fruit.

Missions giving is a way for you to participate in evangelism all over the world.

Note: Our money is our time. Missions giving is giving of your time just as I as a missionary give my time to the ministry, so do you when you invest financially.

Isn't that amazing? Missions is really the best investment we can make.

One day, we will see that investment in heaven.

We are laying up treasure in heaven when we invest are lives, time, and money in the Lord’s work here on the earth.

3. Missions giving is necessary for us to fulfill the Great Commission

Hechos de los Apóstoles 1:8 KJV 1900

But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.

Now the word both is the greek word TE and it means obviously "both" but in the sense of no only but also.

We are to be witnesses to all these places not just one.

We can only do that through a missions program.

We can only do that through a missions offering.

I can only be in one place at a time.

So when I am in Colombia I can't physically be a witness in Africa.

But I can send someone else there to be a witness with my missions offering.

And you can too.

Wise man: All of you should go to the mission field and if you can’t, you should send someone in your place.

3. Missions giving is miraculous

2 Corintios 8:1–5 KJV 1900

1 Moreover, brethren, we do you to wit of the grace of God bestowed on the churches of Macedonia; 2 How that in a great trial of affliction the abundance of their joy and their deep poverty abounded unto the riches of their liberality. 3 For to their power, I bear record, yea, and beyond their power they were willing of themselves; 4 Praying us with much intreaty that we would receive the gift, and take upon us the fellowship of the ministering to the saints. 5 And this they did, not as we hoped, but first gave their own selves to the Lord, and unto us by the will of God.

The Bible says that the Macedonian Christians gave even in their deep poverty "beyond their power."

What they gave, they shouldn't have been able to give.

But God gave through them.

God will give more through us that he will give to us.

Example: When I was dirt poor in North Carolina and I more than I should have been able to give. It was amazing to see God build my faith through that process.

Example: The car crash that financed my missions trip

I am not saying that everyone should commit huge sums of money that they could never afford, but I am saying that there is a reason it is called faith promise missions.

We ask God what He wants us to give.

We then give that by faith trusting in Him to provide it.

You don't have to be rich to give to missions...even in deep poverty we can be channels of the grace of God.

Example: Lazaro at the Indian village and my people realizing how much they had.

The widows might was more in the eyes of the Lord than those that were rich and just gave what didn’t really cost them.

4. Faith Promise is a monthly commitment that lets the church then commit to missionaries

You are asked to make your commitment public so that the church can plan accordingly in its corporal missions giving.

Note: There are those who say that they don’t feel comfortable making a financial commitment to missions.

Then they go down to the cell phone shop and buy and phone and cell phone plan and sign a 12 month contract committing to paying a certain amount each month for a cell phone plan.

The reason you don't want to commit to giving to missions is because you don't want to.

You don't see value in it.

But they out of principle would never make a financial commitment to send the gospel.

The monthly commitment helps remind us what we promised to give and helps the church know what to expect and thereby plan on how many missionaries the church can support.

5. Missions giving is for our spiritual growth

God's plan is for his preachers to be taken care of by his people.

However, if they do not take care of them.

He is more than capable of taking care of them.

He fed Elisha with ravens

He paid the disciples taxes with money out of a fishes mouth

He owns the cattle on a thousand hills.

He is capable of providing for our needs in other ways...God takes care of us.

But the reality is, we need to give.

Note: Faith promise will build your faith.

It also teaches us to put others before ourselves.

Giving is good for us spiritually.

I love to give.

Hechos de los Apóstoles 20:35 KJV 1900

I have shewed you all things, how that so labouring ye ought to support the weak, and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he said, It is more blessed to give than to receive.

Giving should be a joy to us.

And for many Christians it is a joy.

Because God has their heart...they love to put their money where their heart is.

When Christ is our passion, when we love Him and we love others and we have His heart for souls, then missions giving is something we will even enjoy doing.

We will want to give.

If we love the Lord, and if we love others

We put money into what we love.

Example: Men who spend a ton of money on golf clubs and golfing fees do so with joy because they love to golf. I would cry if I had to spend $100 on a golf club.

Example: Going on a ski trip.

Because I hate golf and love hockey.

We enjoy spending our money on what we love.

That is why Jesus said ....

Mateo 6:21 KJV 1900

For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

When you give to missions, you are not just giving money, you are giving your time, your life, you are giving your heart.

When we love God's work, when our heart is in heaven and for lost souls.

It is a joy to give to missions.

And God blesses us for it.

I am convinced that many of the financial blessings I have experienced in my life are a direct result of giving to missions since I was literally a child.