Generous: Everything In His Hands
The Character of Christ: Transforming Our Lives • Sermon • Submitted • Presented • 43:19
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Proverbs 22:9
Acts 20:35
Tonight we are continuing our study on the character of Christ, and the word before us is generous.
The definition we are using is this: generous is using all I have to glorify God because it all belongs to Him.
Generosity is not measured only by what leaves the hand, but by what rules the heart.
It teaches Christlike giving, where the hand opens because the heart belongs to God.
Proverbs 22:9 shows the spirit of the generous man, and Acts 20:35 gives the words of the generous Saviour.
8 But if any provide not for his own, and specially for those of his own house, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel.
It is stewardship shaped by the heart of Christ.
9 For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich.
Jesus did not give because He had too much.
He gave because He is good.
He gave Himself for sinners who could never repay Him.
Let's ask Him to make it part of our character because it is part of His.
I. Generosity Begins With A Bountiful Eye
I. Generosity Begins With A Bountiful Eye
Proverbs 22:9 begins, "He that hath a bountiful eye shall be blessed."
Before the verse mentions the hand, it mentions the eye.
The way we see people will often determine the way we treat people.
The Boutiful Eye
A. It Sees Need With Compassion
A. It Sees Need With Compassion
A "bountiful eye" is a good eye, a generous eye, an eye that looks outward with kindness.
It’s the opposite of the suspicious eye, the selfish eye, the proud eye, and the cold eye.
The bountiful eye sees a person made in the image of God and asks, "Lord, is there something You would have me do?"
This does not mean every need is ours to meet.
But it does mean a Christlike heart refuses to become hard toward human need.
The Lord Jesus saw people this way.
36 But when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion on them, because they fainted, and were scattered abroad, as sheep having no shepherd.
He saw souls to love.
That is where generosity starts.
It starts when God changes our eyes.
A generous Christian does not have to be rich, but he does have to be willing to see.
It is possible to look right at people and never really see them.
We can see the rough edges, habits, needs, and failures, while missing the soul.
Christlike generosity asks God for a bountiful eye.
Now the bountiful eye not only sees need with compassion, it also sees possessions with humility.
B. It Sees Possessions As Stewardship
B. It Sees Possessions As Stewardship
Proverbs 22:9 says the generous man "giveth of his bread to the poor.”
That little phrase is practical.
He gives "of his bread."
He is taking something God placed in his hand and using it to help someone else.
That is stewardship.
Everything belongs to God, we are just stewards.
1 The earth is the Lord’s, and the fulness thereof; The world, and they that dwell therein.
Everything begins there.
My money is not ultimately mine.
My home is not ultimately mine.
My groceries, schedule, abilities, and breath are not ultimately mine.
They are the Lord's.
A steward knows he is managing what belongs to another.
2 Moreover it is required in stewards, that a man be found faithful.
The question is not, "How much can I keep for myself?"
The question is, "Lord, how can I be faithful with what You entrusted to me?"
It changes how tightly we hold what God never meant for us to worship.
The bountiful eye sees need with compassion and possessions with humility, and then it sees blessing with faith.
C. It Sees Blessing As A Promise From God
C. It Sees Blessing As A Promise From God
Proverbs 22:9 says, "He that hath a bountiful eye shall be blessed."
That is not a prosperity gimmick.
God is not promising that every generous act will return as a larger check in the mail.
The Bible is not teaching us to give as a clever way to get.
That would be selfishness with religious arithmetic.
The blessing of God is larger than money.
Sometimes the blessing is joy, contentment, usefulness, a softened heart, or the privilege of being an answer to prayer.
But the point is not that we can manipulate God.
The point is that we can trust Him.
25 The liberal soul shall be made fat: And he that watereth shall be watered also himself.
The world says, "Hold on, or you will not have enough."
Faith says, "Obey God, and He will be enough."
That brings us from the eye of generosity to the example of the Lord Jesus Himself.
II. Generosity Follows The Words And Ways Of Christ
II. Generosity Follows The Words And Ways Of Christ
Acts 20 brings us to a tender scene in the life of Paul.
He is speaking to the elders from Ephesus, men he had loved, taught, warned, and served.
Then he points them to the words of Jesus.
Acts 20:35 says, "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."
Paul is not merely giving a financial lecture.
He is describing a way of life shaped by Jesus.
Christ teaches us three things:
A. He Teaches Us That Giving Is Blessed
A. He Teaches Us That Giving Is Blessed
The words Paul quotes are precious because they are words of Jesus not recorded in the four Gospels.
The Holy Ghost preserved them for us here in Acts.
The Lord Jesus said, "It is more blessed to give than to receive."
That sentence runs against the grain of our old nature.
Jesus does not say receiving is sinful.
Every one of us receives daily from the hand of God.
17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.
But Jesus says there is a greater blessedness in giving because giving reflects the heart of God.
16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
God loved, and God gave.
20 I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.
The cross is the greatest display of generosity in all eternity.
At Calvary, Christ did not merely give time, money, sympathy, or advice.
He gave His blood, His body, His life, and Himself.
It becomes a small reflection of the One who saved us.
If Christ has given Himself for me, how can I make my whole life about myself?
So Christ teaches that giving is blessed, and He also shows that giving is tied to labor.
B. He Teaches Us To Work So We Can Help
B. He Teaches Us To Work So We Can Help
Acts 20:35 says, "how that so labouring ye ought to support the weak."
Paul had worked with his own hands.
Paul did not view work merely as a way to get ahead.
He viewed work as a way to meet needs and help others.
28 Let him that stole steal no more: but rather let him labour, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth.
God does not merely say, "Stop taking."
He says, "Start working, so you can start giving."
Grace changes a man from a taker into a worker and from a worker into a giver.
A Christian should not think of his job only as income.
It is also a platform for integrity, witness, provision, and generosity.
The hours you work, skills you develop, discipline you maintain, and paycheck you bring home can become tools in the hand of God.
A teenager who learns to work hard is learning one channel through which generosity can flow.
Christ teaches us that giving is blessed and that labor can support the weak, and then He shows us that generous service usually costs something.
C. He Teaches Us To Give Beyond Convenience
C. He Teaches Us To Give Beyond Convenience
It may interrupt our plans, preferences, savings, comfort, quiet evening, or pride.
The Lord Jesus lived with that kind of generous love.
45 For even the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.
He came to give.
That was costly.
The Good Samaritan in Luke 10 is also a picture of this kind of generosity.
He saw the wounded man, had compassion, went to him, bound up his wounds, set him on his own beast, brought him to an inn, and took care of him.
That man gave time, effort, transportation, money, and follow-up.
He got involved.
Christlike generosity does not always mean doing something dramatic.
Sometimes it means bringing a meal,
staying after church to listen,
giving a ride,
quietly helping a family,
or saying, "I can help," when the flesh would rather say, "Somebody else can do it."
The old saying is true: "You can give without loving, but you cannot love without giving."
God sees it.
10 For God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labour of love, which ye have shewed toward his name, in that ye have ministered to the saints, and do minister.
That brings us to a very practical question.
If generosity begins with a bountiful eye and follows the ways of Christ, how does it grow in ordinary Christian living?
III. Generosity Grows Through Faithful Stewardship
III. Generosity Grows Through Faithful Stewardship
The generous life is not built in one emotional moment.
It grows as we surrender our resources, attitudes, and habits to the Lord.
A. We Honor God First
A. We Honor God First
The Bible teaches that God should have first place, not leftover place.
9 Honour the Lord with thy substance, And with the firstfruits of all thine increase:
7 Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver.
God is not looking for grudging hands attached to resentful hearts.
He loves cheerful giving because cheerful giving says something about our view of Him.
It says, "Lord, I am glad to have a part in Your work."
This begins with tithes and offerings, but it does not end there.
A believer should support the work of the local church faithfully.
Missions, evangelism, discipleship, benevolence, children being taught, the Word being preached, and the lights being on for worship are not small matters.
When God's people give faithfully, they are saying that the work of God matters.
But honoring God first is not only about church giving.
It is about the whole posture of life.
Before I spend, I should ask whether I am honoring God.
Before I commit my time, I should ask whether I am honoring God.
Before I make a purchase that will bind my future, I should ask whether I am honoring God.
That kind of thinking protects us from making generosity impossible through careless living.
We honor God first, and then we learn to hold earthly things loosely.
B. We Hold Earthly Things Loosely
B. We Hold Earthly Things Loosely
17 Charge them that are rich in this world, that they be not highminded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy;
Riches are uncertain.
Prices rise.
Jobs change.
Health can shift quickly.
If our security is in what we own, we will live anxious and guarded.
If our security is in the Lord, we can hold things with open hands.
18 That they do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to distribute, willing to communicate;
That phrase "ready to distribute" is a good description of a generous Christian.
It does not mean gullible.
It means ready.
It means the heart is not locked.
It means the answer is not always no before the question is asked.
It means we are willing to be channels, not reservoirs.
Think about a garden hose.
The hose is useful because water passes through it.
If the hose could brag, it would be foolish, because it did not create the water.
It simply carried what came from another source.
That is what we are.
We do not create grace.
We receive it.
We do not own the earth.
We manage a little corner of it for a little while.
14 Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.
That should humble us and free us.
We can use this life for God because another life is coming.
20 But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal:
A Christian who believes in heaven can afford to be generous on earth.
We honor God first, hold earthly things loosely, and then practice generosity personally.
C. We Practice Generosity In Reachable Ways
C. We Practice Generosity In Reachable Ways
Sometimes people hear a message on generosity and think, "I wish I could do something big."
But the Christian life is often built through reachable obedience.
Start where you are.
Use what you have.
Obey what God shows you.
The widow in Mark 12 cast in two mites, and Jesus said she gave more than all the wealthy givers because she gave out of her want.
Her gift was small in man's accounting, but large in God's sight.
A cup of cold water given in Jesus' name matters to God.
A note of encouragement matters.
A visit matters.
A meal matters.
A faithful tithe from a tight budget matters.
A child sharing with a sibling matters.
A church member noticing someone who feels alone matters.
A believer using his home for hospitality matters.
13 Distributing to the necessity of saints; given to hospitality.
Hospitality is not about impressing people with a perfect house.
It is about using what God gave you to strengthen people.
Maybe the table is simple.
Maybe the meal is soup and bread.
But if the heart is open, God can use it.
Some of us need to stop waiting until everything is ideal before we become generous.
A man does not become generous when he gets more.
He becomes generous when God gets more of him.
If we will not be generous with a little, more will not cure the problem.
More often gives selfishness a bigger room to live in.
So ask the Lord for one practical step.
Who could you encourage this week?
What need has God placed near you?
Where could your labor support the weak?
How could your home, schedule, skill, vehicle, or testimony be used for God?
The goal is not guilt.
The goal is surrender.
Generosity is using all I have to glorify God because it all belongs to Him.
That includes the wallet, but it does not stop there.
It includes the calendar, the kitchen table, the vehicle, the spare room, the strong back, the listening ear, the encouraging word, the quiet prayer, and the willing heart.
Conclusion
Conclusion
The gospel is the greatest display of generosity.
23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;
We could not buy forgiveness, earn righteousness, or climb up to God by religion.
But God gave His Son.
8 But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
Jesus died on the cross, shed His blood, was buried, and rose again the third day.
23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
I hope everyone listening to my voice tonight has received that gift?
If you have never trusted Christ as your personal Saviour, the first response God wants from you is not for you to pay Him back.
You cannot.
The first response is repentance and faith.
Receive the gift of eternal life through Jesus Christ.
For the believer, the gospel becomes the pattern for our lives.
We give because He gave.
We love because He loved.
We serve because He served.
We forgive because He forgave.
We open our hands because Christ opened His arms on the cross.
Tonight, begin with your eyes.
Ask God for a bountiful eye.
Ask Him to help you see possessions as stewardship, people as souls, labor as service, and giving as worship.
Then begin with what is already in your hand.
Maybe God wants you to be faithful in tithes and offerings.
Maybe He wants you to help someone weak.
Maybe He wants you to use your home.
Maybe He wants you to give time to a child, a widow, a new believer, a hurting friend, or a weary servant.
Maybe He wants you to loosen your grip on something that has been gripping you.
Maybe He wants you to stop saying, "When I have more, then I will give," and start saying, "Lord, what do You want me to do with what I have now?"
The generous life is not a loss.
Jesus said, "It is more blessed to give than to receive."
He knows what He is talking about.
May God make us a people with bountiful eyes, open hands, faithful stewardship, and hearts that look a little more like Jesus.
Tonight, if you are not saved, receive the greatest gift ever given.
Trust Christ.
And if you are saved, place everything back into His hands and say, "Lord, use all I have to glorify You, because it all belongs to You."
