“Gambling or Giving”

I. The Purpose Of The Collection

A. It Benefits The Receivers

B. It Blesses The Givers

II. The Procedure Of The Collection

A. It Is To Be Punctual

B. It Is To Be Personal

C. It Is To Be Proportional

III. The Practicality Of The Collection

So he begins chapter 16 by saying, Now concerning the collection. If you want to kill the joy in the average Baptist meeting you just start talking about the collection; that is probably the saddest time of the service. In fact normally you have to get people standing up and singing a song when the collection is taken. In fact there are some Baptists that when the offering plate is passed we ought to sing the song, “When We Asunder Part It Gives Us Inward Pain.” It certainly is not a subject that normally is associated with great spirituality, and yet the apostle Paul lays before us the subject of the giving and he does it right in the context of the great theme of spiritual matters. Now of course you know that God’s children live in two realms: our hearts are in heaven and our feet are on this earth; we are rejoicing in the sweet by and by but we also know that the Christian life applies to the nitty gritty of the here and now.

The Bible is a wonderful Book, it is a wonderful book because it shows us that we are to be deeply spiritual but we are also to be definitely practical. The Christian life lays warm sympathetic hands on the daily issues of life. The parables of the Lord Jesus Christ, there are over thirty_five in number, and about sixteen of those parables of our Lord have to do with material possessions. Our Savior understood that money and the use of money and the abuse of money are vital matters that have to do with daily life. Most of you spend the majority of your waking hours dealing with how to make a living: making a living, earning a salary, earning your money in order to pay for the things you need, and to meet your responsibilities. So it would be unthinkable that the Bible, which is such a practical, down_to_earth book, would not spend a great deal of time talking about the subject of giving and the proper relationship of God’s child to the matter of money.

Now having just introduced these verses in that matter we raise the question, What does this have to do with the subject of the gambling? Why do we relate what we are told in these verses to the subject of the gambling? Well I think it is because in the gambling and in these verses of scripture here we have a contrast between a lottery lifestyle which is based on greed, and a Christian lifestyle which is based on grace. Now the gambling of course has been a very major topic of conversation for the last several days; it’s almost as if there has been a feeding frenzy going on. Hysteria almost has developed. People by the thousands and the tens of thousands have been purchasing gambling tickets. Now there’s the prize, they say it’s going to run around 105 million dollars for the prize. Some people stood in line for five hours buying tickets and waiting to buy tickets. One man I read about in the paper today spent seven hours purchasing for himself and for his family eighty thousand dollars worth of gambling tickets. The odds that you would win the gambling are 1 in 14 million. Now your odds of dying in a car crash are much greater than that. In fact you have a greater chance of being hit by a falling object than that. The odds of your dying with syphilis are greater than the odds that you would win in the gambling. Yet three out of every four people in America gamble in some form; eighty percent of the people in America are in favor of a state form of gambling of some kind. Is it wrong for a state to have a gambling? and is it wrong to play the gambling? And the answer to that is, Of course it is. You do not have to have a Phd. from Harvard to know that the gambling is wrong. In fact if you have an IQ just a little above the level of water buffloe you know that it is wrong for there to be a state¬supported lottery and for people to play the gambling. Now there are many reasons. Let me just quickly give you four reasons why the gambling is wrong. ++NUMBER --++ONE, --++--++GAMBLING --++IS --++WRONG --++BECAUSE --++IT --++ENABLES --++COMPULSIVE --++GAMBLERS --++TO --++PURSUE --++THEIR --++ADDICTION. --There are ten million compulsive gamblers in America. Probably the one that has been most prominent in the news, the most well_known in recent days, is baseball great Pete Rose. We’re told that Pete Rose spent between eight thousand and ten thousand dollars per day in gambling. He owes bookies between five hundred thousand and seven hundred and fifty thousand dollars, he is a compulsive gambler, he is addicted to gambling. Now of those ten million compulsive gamblers, listen to this: 20 percent of those are teenagers and 34 percent of those are women. It used to be men who were addicted to gambling but now the preponderance, the large majority, are teenagers and are women. Studies have been done about the effects of compulsive gambling on their spouses and also on their children. For instance, the effect of compulsive gambling on the spouse: 67 percent of the spouses have been harassed by creditors, 61 percent have become violent toward the gambler, 78 percent suffer from insomnia, and 11 percent have attempted suicide. The effects of compulsive gamblers on their children: 25 percent of the children of compulsive gamblers have exhibited behavioral and adjustment problems in school. So the gammbling is wrong because it is government feeding on the habits of the compulsive gambler and preying on his addiction, so it enables the compulsive gambler to pursue his addiction. ++NUMBER --++TWO, --++--++GAMBLING --++IS --++WRONG --++BECAUSE --++IT --++ENSNARES --++THE --++ECONOMICALLY --++DEPRIVED. --What I mean by that is is that those who++’0*á(á(__+are in the poverty level spend disproportionate amounts of their money to their number in the purchase of lottery tickets. This is why you will always find a larger concentration of stores that are selling lottery tickets in the economically deprived areas. The lottery is a form of economic immorality, it appeals to those citizens that are least able to afford it, it is a regressive form of taxation. Studies have been done in lottery states and here’s what they’ve discovered among other things: they have discovered that those whose incomes are under $5,000 per year spend an average of $6.80 per one thousand dollars of their income; those whose salaries are over $25,000 per year spend only $1.46 per thousand of their income, and yet government, which preys on the poor with this kind of regressive form of taxation never sets aside any funds for the poor. Gambling, lotteries, breeds new gamblers, it draws organized crime, it brings illegal forms of gambling into a state, it makes a state dependent upon the weaknesses rather than the strengths of its citizens. So instead of calling it a lottery it ought to be called a lootery, it ensnares the economically deprived. ++NUMBER --++THREE,--++ --++GAMBLING --++IS --++WRONG --++BECAUSE --++IT --++ELEVATES --++MATERIALISM --++TO --++IMPROPER --++LEVELS. --Now the Bible never says that things are wrong, in fact the Bible teaches us that God has given us things. The Bible says God has given us things richly to enjoy, all things richly to enjoy. There is nothing wrong with things, things become wrong when they become ends in and of themselves. Jesus said man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God. Now what Jesus was saying is is that there is more to life than the material. The material is important but it must not be elevated to an improper level. The lottery teaches a materialistic lifestyle, the lottery teaches people to believe that the sunnum bonum of happiness in life is the acquisition of material things. So the lottery is wrong because of that elevation improperly of materialism. ++NUMBER --++FOUR, --++--++GAMBLING --++IS --++WRONG --++BECAUSE --++IT --++ENCOURAGES --++A --++SOMETHING --++FOR --++NOTHING --++VALUE --++SYSTEM. --It encourages a something for nothing value system. Now the debate is on as to whether or not the lottery indeed aids education and the debate is on and there are those who say it does and there are those who say it doesn’t .I will not involve myself in that particular discussion but I would say that we are sending an ominous message to your people in our school system when we are suggesting that the way to fund education is to do it by means of a chance instead of a designed program of responsibility on the part of the citizens. You see, lottery teaches people to depend upon chance instead of upon hard work and instead of trusting in God. Now the Bible says that God will meet the needs of your life. If you will put your trust in Him, if you will depend upon Him, He will meet your needs in life. But the lottery is wrong because it encourages a something for nothing value system. Now then, the question is raised, What about the Bible? Does the Bible condemn the lottery? Well absolutely the Bible condemns the lottery. I mean you don’t have to be a Phd. in theology to++’0*á(á(__+know the Bible condemns the lottery. You say, Oh, I’ve got you now, Preacher; nowhere in the Bible does the word “gambling” occur. You are exactly correct. Nowhere in the King James Bible does the word “gambling” occur. Nowhere in the King James Bible does the word “pornography” occur. Does anyone in this building tonight deny or would doubt that the Bible would condemn pornography? Nowhere in the Bible do the words “child molestation” occur. Does anyone in this congregation tonight deny or doubt that the Bible condemns child molestation? So the fact that the Bible, in the King James Version, does not use the word “gambling” does not in any way suggest or imply that the Bible is silent on the subject of gambling. Of course the Bible condemns gambling. Let me give you seven scripture verses, there are many others I could use. The first one is + +Exodus 20:15- - Thou shalt not steal. The lottery is stealing from the poor. + +Exodus 20:17:- - Thou shalt not covet. Because, you see, the lottery is desiring what rightfully belongs to others. Number three, + +Isaiah 3:14:- - The Lord will enter into judgment with the ancients of His people (talking about leadership), and the princes thereof (talking about officials): for you have eaten up the vineyard; the spoil of the poor is in your houses. Government is to assist the poor not exploit the poor. Verse number four, + +Proverbs 13:11- - (in the Living Bible Paraphrase): Wealth from gambling quickly disappears, wealth from hard work grows. Verse number five, + +Proverbs 28:20- - (in the Living Bible): The man who wants to get rich quick will quickly fail. Verse number six, + +2 Thessalonians 3:10:- - If any would not work neither should he eat. The Bible places its approval upon the work ethic. Verse number seven, + +Matthew 6:33:- - Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you. Now then, let me just give you a wrap_up on why the lottery and why gambling is wrong. Gambling and the lottery are wrong because it undermines values, it mocks work, it finances crime, it robs children, it enslaves its addicts, it subverts government, and it poisons whatever it touches. Ladies and gentlemen, those are just a few of the reasons why gambling and the lottery is wrong. Enough said. End of subject. I’m moving in now to this matter of giving because, you see, the lottery and New Testament giving are in perfect contrast to one another, they are each the antithesis of the other. You see, the lottery is based on selfishness, New Testament giving is based on unselfishness; the lottery hurts people, New Testament giving helps people; the lottery is based on being a taker, New Testament giving is based on being a giver; the lottery is based on greed, New Testament giving is based on grace. That’s what Paul is talking about when he talks about this whole matter of the collection. Now the matter of the giving of a believer is so very important because the collection is a good gauge of your spiritual life. What you are spiritually will often be reflected by what you do in the matter of your giving. Now all of us are selfish by nature, we are born selfish. That precious little old child comes into your home; oh, what a precious little darling he or she is. It isn’t long until you find out that that precious little darling++’0*á(á(__+is just as selfish as he or she can be. In fact he is so selfish he doesn’t care if you haven’t slept much, he’ll just get you up at 2:00 a.m. and insist that you bring him something to eat. You see, we are born selfish, and when we come to the Lord Jesus as our personal Savior God has to break up the choked channels of our selfishness and get us out of ourselves and get us into thinking about others. And one of the greatest ways to do that is in this matter of giving. Now notice the purpose of the collection. Paul says, concerning the collection for the saints, and then he says in verse 3, I will send them to bring your liberality unto Jerusalem. Now you see, there are two purposes for this matter of Christian giving. ++NUMBER --++ONE --++IS --++TO --++BENEFIT --++THE --++RECEIVERS --++AND --++TO --++BLESS --++THE --++GIVER. --There was some real needs that Paul was addressing in this collection he was taking. There were some saints in Jerusalem who were poor and Paul was getting up a collection to help meet that need. There had been a famine in the land and many of the people were poverty stricken, the early church in Jerusalem had become ingrown in its ministry, had not taken seriously the Lord’s great commission. Any time a congregation of God’s people become ingrown in their ministry, instead of looking upon the world as a mission field, that kind of church becomes a mission field itself. You see, a church is either a force to work with or it is a field to work in. So Paul says, We’re going to get up a collection and we’re going to send it to the poor saints of Jerusalem. So needs are met when people give as God commands to give. It not only benefits the receivers but it also blesses the givers, there’s a blessing that comes. Paul says, your liberality, it is the word “grace", your expression of grace. We give as an expression of the grace of God in our life. Did you hear about the man who bought himself a new boomerang and killed himself trying to throw the old one away? Well did you know that is exactly the way grace giving is? That’s exactly the way grace giving is. You just can’t out give God. You see, you just give to God, God will just give back to you. Jesus said to give and it shall be given unto you, pressed down and shaken down and running over shall men give into your bosom. What God is simply saying is you become a grace giver, you begin to look at life not for how much you can get out of life but how much you can give into life, and God says I’ll just keep heaping up the blessings on you. So that is the purpose of the matter of giving the collection. But then I want you to notice ++THE --++PROCEDURE, --how are we to go about this matter of giving as New Testament believers? There’s a procedure mentioned here in + +verse 2- - that I want us to follow just briefly. First of all, giving, grace giving, New Testament giving, is punctual. He says, upon the first day of the week. We do not gather together for worship on the sabbath day. The Jews worshipped on the sabbath, that’s Saturday. They gathered together to commemorate God’s work of creation. You and I gather together on the Lord’s day to commemorate God’s work of resurrection. When we come together we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ. So in the New Testament and today it is a day of worship. So giving++’0*á(á(__+is to be a part of our worship; when we give we worship the Lord in our tithes and in our offerings, and our giving in our worship is an expression of our love for the Lord, we’re showing how much we love the Lord. You know, you love your wife, you love your children; if you love them you will give. I saw a lovely little baby carriage the other day and it was a gift of a happy grandfather, you see. Oh, that granddad loved that little grandbaby; so what did he do? He just wanted to buy something. Love always expresses itself in giving. Now listen to me. You can give without loving but, friend, you can’t love without giving. Amen. That’s right. You can give without loving but you can’t love without giving. It is an expression of love, it is to be punctual, on the first day of the week. That simply is the basis for the envelopes that we send out. We send out envelopes so you can put an offering in that envelope and on the Lord’s day, the first day of the week, you can bring it. These verses teach that giving is to be a systematic matter. I heard about a man who got all fired up in church. And you know when you get fired up and really get on fire for Jesus you want to do something at your church. He came to his preacher and said, “Preacher, just give me something to do. I want to do something. I’m on fire for the Lord and I’m just burning up with zeal. Give me something to do.” And the pastor said, “Well, the only thing I can think for you to do, we’ve got about ten men who’ve been inactive this past year. Why don’t you just write them a letter. They haven’t come and they haven’t given anything this year; why don’t you just write them a letter.” He said, “I’ll do it. You give me the names and addresses.” Well, about a week later the pastor got a letter from one of those men and that letter said, “Dear Pastor: I am aware of the fact that my attendance has been delinquent in the past year and I want to assure you that I will be more faithful in my attendance. And, Pastor, I must admit also that I have not been giving the way I ought to give. So, Pastor, enclosed you will find a check for $1,000. Sincerely, (He signed his name, then it said) P.S. Dear Pastor: Will you please tell your secretary that there is only one “t” in dirty and no “c’s” in skunk?” But not only is giving to be punctual, it is also to be ++PERSONAL. --It says let every one of you lay by him in store, let every one of you lay by him in store. That means that everybody is to give. You see, the Lord Jesus accepted the gift, the widow’s mite, and He also accepted the gift, the much of Barnabas. The rich are to give, the poor are to give. The young are to give, the old are to give. Everybody is to have a part in the giving to the things of the Lord and the giving to the collection. Let every one of you lay by him in store. I think a good way to translate that is is to lay up something as a precious thing. I don’t think I would be far off if I translated it that way. Let every one of you lay up as a precious thing. You know what I think about when I read that? I think about Mary and her box of expensive ointment. Someone said that it probably represented an entire year’s salary. ++’0*á(á(__+And, you know, Mary lost her brother Lazarus. You remember Lazarus died. And I can almost imagine that Mary went up there and reached for that box of expensive perfume to anoint the body of Lazarus. She said, “No, I’m saving this for something special; I’ve laid up a precious thing.” And then, do you remember?, the Lord Jesus came to her home and Mary went and she got that which she had laid up as a precious thing and she got that ointment, she got that expensive perfume, and she took it and she cracked the vessel and she poured the entire contents of that box of ointment on the head and the feet of the Lord Jesus Christ. She had laid up a precious thing and the most precious reality in her life was Jesus Christ and she just poured it all on Jesus Christ. You see, friends, that’s the way we ought to give, that’s how we ought to go about our giving. I don’t know about you but the first check I always write out out of my salary is what I’m going to give to Jesus. I want Him to have the very first, I want to lay it aside as a precious thing, I want to lay it aside as something that means something to me, I want to lay by me in store, I want to do it as an act of love for the Lord Jesus Christ. Lay by him in store. Lay up a precious thing. And then, you see, giving not only is to be personal and punctual but giving is to be ++PROPORTIONAL. --Do you see that, “as God has prospered him” ?Now what he’s saying there is you ought to add up the blessings and on the basis of the blessings that’s the way you ought give. Has God prospered you? Has God prospered you materially? You say, It’s been a tough year. You know, a lot of people have had a tough year, a lot of businessmen, it’s not been an easy year, but I want to ask you, Even in the midst of that has God blessed you physically? Has God blessed you physically? Physical things. I wonder how many men in this building, you have more than one suit. Do you have at least two suits? Could I see the hands of the men, you’ve got at least two suits? Oh, yes. Did you know a lot of people in this world, they don’t have one suit much less two. I wonder, ladies, do you have more than one dress? How many of you ladies have more than one dress, you have at least two dresses? Would you raise your hand. But did you know what? There are some folks in this world, all they have is just what they’ve got on their body. Oh, God has blessed us, hasn’t He? physically. Any of us not have enough to eat today? Oh, God has prospered us physically hasn’t He? I wonder if there’s anybody here, has God prospered you health_wise, has God given you health? Some you, you had a physical difficulty and you went to the doctor and he said it may be serious and yet you went back and you have shared it with me and the doctor said it’s not as serious and he thought it was going to be. Has God blessed you? Has God blessed you spiritually? Have you got a Bible? Oh, do you have church? Oh, do you have a Christian family? Do you have the Holy Spirit? Do you have salvation? Do you have Jesus? Let every one of you lay by him in store, as God has prospered him. I used to hear that old song, Count your blessings, name them one by one, and it will surprise you what the Lord has done. So, you see, that’s the procedure.++’0*á(á(__+î Then, I close out, ++THE --++PRACTICALITY, --the practicality of New Testament giving: that there be no gatherings, no collections, when I come. Now what Paul is let’s take care of this giving matter, let’s get this on out of the way, so we can spend our time on the main business. God’s way, we have done it God’s way by the tithes and the offerings of the people. So that there be no gatherings. In other words that we do not have to spend an inordinate amount of time on the subject of giving because, you see, ladies and gentlemen, we believe that the Christian lifestyle based on grace which results in giving is far superior to the lottery lifestyle which is based on greed which results in getting.