The Heart of the Generous
Notes
Transcript
Handout
Corona Virus:
Corona Virus:
In response to the corona virus I’d like to share a verse with you “For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.”
Junior Church Dismissed
Corona Virus: In response to the corona virus I’d like to share a verse with you “For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.”
Imagine being a person without faith in Christ and not knowing God. A pastor friend on facebook posted this statement: CHRISTIAN!
Take 1 minute... Imagine what it would be like to not believe in an omnipotent God. Imagine the terror & uncertainty that so many are feeling tonight. Could this be our moment? Could this be our chance to demonstrate true peace & genuine faith to a world in panic?
As we pause our service for just a moment to corporately pray for our nation I ask you to not only seek God for what He can do in his power during this time, I also challenge you to ask God to direct you in how you can have an impact on our community for the sake of the gospel as we navigate through the days ahead.
Please bow with me in prayer for a few moments to petition to the Lord to remove this virus and allow us to shine the light of the gospel to those in our circle of influence.
PRAY
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Introduction
Introduction
Junior Church Dismissed
Well, We were hoping to have the foyer done this week but due to a shipping issue with Lowes…we are tiling this week. It was a blessing in disguise though as we’ve used the free time to go ahead and take care of some of the details that come along with remodeling a room. Again, if you would like to be apart of that project, let us know via a next step card and we can make time for you.
This week we are finishing up our series “A Generous LIfe” by examining the heart of the generous. I’m thankful for the many pastors who took this opportunity to change their messages and preach on faith during difficult times. The Lord did not lead me in that direction and I believe it is because the message I have prepared has much to do with faith, even though we are talking about generosity.
The first message in this series we examined the “The Heart of Generosity.” We found Jesus to be that heart and the source of our generous spirits. Last week we looked at stewarding our generosity. Making sure we are spending our time, talents, and finances on the right things.
This week we are going to look at the heart a generous person has by finding it in scripture and looking at Jesus’ response to it.
Follow along as I read this morning
1 And he looked up, and saw the rich men casting their gifts into the treasury.
2 And he saw also a certain poor widow casting in thither two mites.
3 And he said, Of a truth I say unto you, that this poor widow hath cast in more than they all:
4 For all these have of their abundance cast in unto the offerings of God: but she of her penury hath cast in all the living that she had.
PRAY
The Bible calls us to be cheerful givers.
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.
It’s been said that whether you give cheerfuly or not God will take it.
While there may be truth to that, it’s not what God loves. And I want to be a person that does what God loves.
Have you considered what it takes for a person to cheerfully give away money, time, talents? I believe it takes faith. What we have faith in will determine where our treasure is.
Jesus said
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.
21 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
It’s been said you can tell much about a man by looking at his checkbook and his calendar.
Where and what you spend your time and money on shows what is important to you.
The first indicator, not the only but typically the first indicator of spiritual struggle is batteling with who owns all we have and how we can give back to the Lord. It’s a struggle of faith that God can care for us.
Let me be direct at the beginning this morning: If you struggle with where everything comes from and how you should be giving it back to Him, you have a spiritual problem that can only be fixed by going to God about it and taking action on it.
Todays message is on money…money and faith. I know that can get uncomfortable for some....that’s a good thing. Do you know what 15% has to do with todays message?
15% is the percentage of talks that Jesus gave on money in comparison to everything else He said. That would be the same as me taking 8 Sundays or 2 months to preach and teach specifically on money.
Now, I don’t have that in my preaching calendar nor do I plan on it but that should give us a little more understanding of how important the area of how we handle our finances is to Jesus.
Not only did Jesus speak about finances 15% of ministry, this event we will witness through the eyes of the bible today is the last public event of Jesus’ ministry.
In timeline of His crucifixion we are about 3 days from when He is betrayed and taken to the cross.
His last public act was a parable. It wasn’t the performing of a miracle, it was observing the giving being done at the temple.
Jesus went to the temple and positioned himself in such a way he could observe the brass boxes in the court of Women. The brass boxes were used to collect the tithes and offerings of the people and had 2 specific purposes
Support the priests and services at the temple. It was to keep the fires going and the oil burning.
4 of the boxes were specific to serve the needs of the community and needy.
The collection of money here is much like the offerings we take today. The money that comes in through the offering is used to support the edification, education, and exhortation of the local church ministry here. It’s used for outreach and for meeting the needs of the less fortunate. We do that whether it be through financial giving or by receiving resources on behalf of an organization in the community like we have chosen to do with salvation army.
Now here is Jesus in his last public act of ministry observing the giving of those at the temple. The first thing I want us to notice this morning is the Comparison of the Givers
I. The Comparison of the Givers
I. The Comparison of the Givers
Jesus first saw the giving of the rich
A. Jesus Saw the Giving of the Rich
A. Jesus Saw the Giving of the Rich
Jesus being God has every right to observe the means and motives behind our giving. And when Jesus watches what is put in the plate He doesn’t just see what is put in…He’s sees what is held back.
9 For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to shew himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him. Herein thou hast done foolishly: therefore from henceforth thou shalt have wars.
9 For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to shew himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him. Herein thou hast done foolishly: therefore from henceforth thou shalt have wars.
He sees the material and the immaterial. What do I mean by that?
I mean he sees our heart.
7 But the Lord said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart.
As he sat and observed the rich coming in and dumping large sums of money into the brass boxes he saw two things.
The first was their pride
1. He saw their Pride
1. He saw their Pride
Jesus is not demeaning the fact that they are rich OR the fact that they gave. It’s not wrong to have money and it’s not wrong to give money…it’s wrong to be prideful about what you have and what you give.
Jesus had already called the Pharisee’s out for their prideful displays of holiness in
11 The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican.
12 I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess.
They were making a show of how much they gave thinking the monetary amount meant anything to God.
Paul wrote to clear this up for us New Testament Believers in
23 And he that doubteth is damned if he eat, because he eateth not of faith: for whatsoever is not of faith is sin.
Oswald Chambers said “With Christ, it is not how much we give, but what we do not give that is the real test.”
Jesus saw the pride in their hearts as they gave large sums of money and He also saw their displays of pompousness
2. He saw their pompousness
2. He saw their pompousness
Notice in verse 1 there that He saw the rich men “casting their gifts”
That word casting in greek comes from the word ballo which means to throw or to let go of a thing...
((USE MONEY)) You can see them now walking up to these boxes taking out their bags of money that they didn’t pay 10 cents for and tossing it all in. Making a big show of it.
They were giving large amounts and Jesus didn’t condemn them for that. He didn’t comment on what they gave He commented on how and why they gave it.
They gave from their surplus. They were not giving by faith. Let me put it this way and to get some Dave Ramsey into this.
They would make their budget and then whatever might be left after they did all they wanted, would be given. Instead of how God calls us to give of our first fruits and determine our giving before we make out budget. The reason I mention Dave Ramsey is because Giving and Saving are at the top of the budget and then you live off of what is left. Great biblical principles there that we should all apply.
It’s not wrong to have money. It’s not wrong to save money. But it should be saved with an open hand not a clinched fist.
One author said it this way “Christians are to be rivers not reservoirs, channels not containers.”
Jesus observed the giving of the prideful and pompeous people and then he saw the giving of the poor.
B. Jesus Saw the Giving of the Poor
B. Jesus Saw the Giving of the Poor
Verse 2 “He saw also a certain poor widow casting in thither two mites..”
The mite was small brass coin worth about 1/5 of a cent.
She had 2/5 of a penny and gave them to God.
This woman was in extreme poverty. She was someone that could have came to the temple with a hand out looking for how she could have been served by the money that was in the boxes she was contributing to.
She understood though it was better to give than to receive and felt privileged to give instead of entitled to receive.
Here in the first point of the message you can see the heart of the generous.
It’s not about how much money you have it’s about how much faith you have.
Paul wrote about another group of people that gave from their poverty in
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.
By the grace of God the church at Macedonia during affliction and poverty didn’t give out of their abundance of money they gave because of their faith and out of their abundance of JOY!. Their faith wasn’t in their bank account or their health, their joy wasn’t in their car or their retirement, their joy was found in the Lord.
Larry Burkett said “God will use money to strengthen our trust in Him. It is often through money that God can clearly and objectively show us that He is God and in control of everything.”
Job of the Old testament understood this when he said “The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away…Blessed be the name of the Lord.”
Job lost his home, his family, his business, his health, and yet He still gave praise to the Lord!
Jesus sat back and saw the giving of the rich and He saw the giving of the poor and then He says something about them. When Jesus speaks, we should all listen.
Notice with me the comments of the SAvior
II. The Comments of the Savior
II. The Comments of the Savior
A. Regarding the Widows Offering
A. Regarding the Widows Offering
Of a truth…That means in reality, truly, this is certain...
This woman has given more than all of those pharisees.
obviously we know that Jesus wasn’t referring to the total amount that was given. That was obviously paling in comparison to what the pharisees gave. But she gave of all she had.
She did it not because she had it to give she did it because she knew the privelage of giving. She gave because she knew someone else needed it. She gave because God had showed her love and she wanted to show it to someone else. She gave because she had faith in God to care for her more than the money would.
She sacrificially gave to the Lord. She sacrificed a little extra in the 401k. She sacrificed the nicer car. She sacrificed the cup of coffee. She sacrificed something to give to those who had nothing.
What do we sacrifice when we give to the Lord? Is it just the cup of coffee? Is that all the Lord has called us to give up for Him?
You see when we give, we give in worship and God receives it in worship.
15 By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name.
16 But to do good and to communicate forget not: for with such sacrifices God is well pleased.
God Received the fruit of our lips. That’s our words, our songs. When we come here in Sunday and preferably what you do everyday, is worship God with your lips, with your actions, with all that you do.
However if you notice in verse 16 of …bring that back...
Notice the word “communicate” it comes from the greek word Koinonia meaning a gift jointly contributed, a collection, a contribution, as exhibiting an embodiment and proof of fellowship.
That word means
To do good and to contribute, forget not that God is pleased with those types of sacrifices.
It is good to give sacrificially. It is worshipful to give sacrificially. It is proof of your faith in God to take care of you better with what you have left than the 100% you started with.
The Bible teaches the principle of tithing throughout it and is one I believe God blesses. Giving 10% and allow God to care for you better off of 90% than 100%.
Jesus commented praise to the widow and her giving and then he commented regarding the rich men’s offering
B. Regarding the Rich Men’s Offering
B. Regarding the Rich Men’s Offering
He said out of their abundance have they gave. They gave large amounts but didn’t sacrifice for it. They gave large amounts and kept back large amounts.
I taught on stewarding our generosity last week on purpose because I don’t want you walk way from here and say “Pastor Dustin said I should give all that I have to the church” No I did not.
I said you should sacrifically give to God through the local church as a form of Worship to Him and providing a means for the work of God to be accomplished through the ministries of the church and the missionaries we support. Amen. You can tweet that if you want to.
See the attention that was given to these men verses this poor widow woman.
Jesus saw what they were doing and said nothing at first. But it was the moving of God in the heart of this woman to give her 2 mites to the temple that caught Jesus’ gaze and caused our Lord to speak praise about her.
See with me the commendation of Sacrifice
III. The Commendation of Sacrifice
III. The Commendation of Sacrifice
This widow had a pure heart towards God. She had a heart of Faith. She had a heart of love. She had a heart bigger than most of us in this room…let’s be honest with ourselves…She did.
When she came into give she didn’t make a show, she didn’t look to the pharisees and their pompous giving, she came, she gave, she left.
She didn’t compare her offering to anyone else’s but resolved to give what she could.
Maybe you don’t think your extra $20 a month would help…let’s do some math real quick to see the impact $20 could have. That’s about $5 per week.
What if 100 people in this auditorium said “I’ll give $20 more a month to the church” that’s a cup of coffee a week. Maybe two if you only get a pike place. It’s less than a frappacino though.
100 people sacrifice a cup of coffee a week…I believe this was done to help pay the mortgage off right? Thank God for that but let me ask you…did the message of the gospel stop when the building was paid off?
100 people extra $20 per month, is $2,000 per month. $2,000 per month is $24,000 per year.
What could we accomplish with that extra $20 a month you could give? Much! What id you decided to give that towards our missions program? What if you split it between our missions program and out #4bristol initiative? How many people could be impacted by the gospel for a cup of coffee a week?
This widow gave what she could…it wasn’t much…and when she stands before God one day to give an account He won’t chastise her for the amount…I believe she will hear those words we saw last week, “Well done thy good and faithful servant, enter into the joy of thy Lord”
Because her giving was Sacrifical
A. Her Giving Was Sacrificial
A. Her Giving Was Sacrificial
She gave out of her penury. That word means her deficiency. Out of her poverty she gave. Out of her minimum wage job she gave. Out of her destitution, she gave.
She gave in all the living that she had.
Living from the greek bios meaning that by which life is sustained
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.
They gave of them own selves to the Lord. Again, we are not instructed to give all that we own but we are instructed to give sacrificially.
If you haven’t figured me out yet as a pastor it’s my hearts desire to see Liberty Baptist do a great work in the Bristol Community and the world through our Liberty Worldwide program. I believe God can use this body of believers to get the gospel out in a mighty way. I believe each of you have a desire to see God work in your lives and in our community. That wont’ happen without sacrifice.
Dr. John henry Jowett said “Ministry that costs nothing, accomplishes nothing”
Her giving was sacrifical and it was also personal
B. Her Giving was Personal
B. Her Giving was Personal
It’s been said
Money is so intimately related to the possessor, that you cannot give money without giving a part of yourself.
Paul wrote to the Corinthians again about giving and said
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.
8 And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work:
Give as God has given to you. Give in proportion to what you have been given. That’s why I believe in tithing. It’s in proportion to what I give.
Some might say “some months I can’t” I’d say every month God can...
Your giving is between you and God. Please don’t feel obligated to talk to me, email me, or tell anyone else why you give or don’t give. Take that to the one who took three nails and a spear through is body for you and discuss it with Him in prayer. It’s Him who we will all give an account to one day...
And I don’t know about you but I want my giving, I want to know my giving is like the widows and pleasing to Christ.
C. Her Giving Was Pleasing to Christ
C. Her Giving Was Pleasing to Christ
It’s clear throughout scripture that when we give sacrifically we are pleasing God.
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.
18 But I have all, and abound: I am full, having received of Epaphroditus the things which were sent from you, an odour of a sweet smell, a sacrifice acceptable, wellpleasing to God.
A sweet smell, a sacrifice aceceptable, well pleasing to God.
That’s what I pray we send up to the Lord next week during Liberty Worldwide. When you make the decision by faith to give towards the gospel being given out in Bristol and through our missions program I pray that it is 1. Above what you already are giving to the Lord through the church. 2. sacrifical giving so that it may be pleasing to the Lord.
Let me tell you this…it’s not so I can get a raise…It’s not so the staff can get a raise....it’s not so I can get new furniture in the office…it’s not so we can make changes. It’s so we can get the gospel out in Bristol and the world.
So when you give know…some of those things have to be done…new paint, new furniture, but next week, what you are deciding to give will be earmarked for the direct propagation of the gospel.
Conclusion
Conclusion
The example of the widow’s giving should challenge us to give like she did and to have faith like she did. Faith during normal times or times of crisis should always produce action. Whether giving financially, serving others, encouraging others, or having a sound mind during trouble times, our faith should guide us to being a light to the world.
We need to realize two more things about her giving and I’ll be done.
First, she didn’t give so she could be saved.
Her salvation is like mine and yours secure in her faith in Jesus Christ as the Son of God that died for her sins.
She didn’t pay indulgences, she wasn’t trying to earn her way into heaven. Salvation is by grace and through faith in jesus.
John Dyer said “A man may go t heaven without health, without riches, without honors, without learning, without friends; but he can never go there without Christ.
Secondly, She gave out of her Love for God
She didn’t have much to give but she gave what she had out of love for God. Not out of guilt. Not trying to repay God. She gave for one reason…becuase she loved the God who sent His son to die on the cross for her sins.
Do you know Jesus that way?
Do you for sure that your going to Heaven like this widow did?
In order to do so, you need to know Jesus. You need to have a relationship with Him by faith. You need to know the love of God to show the love of God.
The Bible says in
that God loves you so much He sent Jesus to die for your sins. In that same verse Jesus said that whosoever believes on him will not perish but have everlasting life.
Eternal life in Heaven with Jesus is based upon your belief in Jesus’ death burial and resurrection paying for your sins.
It’s that simple. Believe on Jesus…have a relationship with Him.
To those who do believe in Jesus: Are you showing your love and faith for Him through your giving? Is your giving sacrificial or out of your abundance?
If you made the decision to trust in Jesus this morning I want to invite you to confirm that with prayer. The words of the prayer mean nothing if you don’t believe in your heart that Jesus is the Son of God who died for your sins and was raised from the dead.
If you want to make the decision to trust Jesus as your savior this morning please pray after me
“Dear Jesus, I know I’m a sinner, I believe you came to die on the cross and rose from the dead. I put my faith right now in you and ask you to come into my life and change me from the inside out. Amen.”
PRAY
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