Holy Giving

Leviticus 10:1-3

1 Corinthians 16:1-2 Now concerning the collection for the saints, as I have given orders to the churches of Galatia, so you must do also: On the first day of the week let each one of you lay something aside, storing up as he may prosper, that there be no collections when I come.

Giving from the heart

Know the responsibility of giving.

Matthew 10:5-10 These twelve Jesus sent out and commanded them, saying: "Do not go into the way of the Gentiles, and do not enter a city of the Samaritans. "But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. "And as you go, preach, saying, 'The kingdom of heaven is at hand.' "Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out demons. Freely you have received, freely give. "Provide neither gold nor silver nor copper in your money belts, "nor bag for your journey, nor two tunics, nor sandals, nor staffs; for a worker is worthy of his food.

Jesus did not give them a bunch of money for a “start-up company” to go out and preach. He did not “kickstart” or “gofundme” the Limited Commission.

He gave them POWER to work miracles. These were to confirm the authority of the MESSAGE.

The Gospel is not dependent upon money to work. It is dependent upon the power of God. 1 Cor. 2:1-5

1 Corinthians 2:1-5 And I, brethren, when I came to you, did not come with excellence of speech or of wisdom declaring to you the testimony of God. For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. I was with you in weakness, in fear, and in much trembling. And my speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith should not be in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.

What would happen if we lost this building, the treasury, all of it? Would we decide to give up, or would we keep on with the work of Christ’s Church?

There is NO point to our congregation if we are not GIVING to the Lord in EVERY way from the bottom of our hearts.

What are we PUTTING INTO the work of God in our local congregation? If we stopped our current level of involvement, how much would the work suffer?

If we do not give from our hearts, we might as well tear this building down, sell the property, and give the money left in the treasury to faithful Gospel preachers.

Ironic that, regarding the inactivity of many congregations, this would be a great step up in their work toward the Kingdom! If this is true for us, what a terrible testimony to our apathy and complacency!

Know the spiritual benefits of giving

We have FREELY received salvation. Rom. 8:32

Romans 8:32 “He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?”

We have FREELY received all that we need to be faithful. 2 Pet. 1:3

2 Peter 1:3 “as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue,”

We must FREELY give all for His sake. We will reap great rewards in the end. Matt. 25:40

Matthew 25:40 “And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.’”

Giving in truth

The requirement of giving

1 Corinthians 16:2 “On the first day of the week let each one of you lay something aside, storing up as he may prosper, that there be no collections when I come.”

“To set or put in a new position, or to bring about a new arrangement.” Thornhill, A. C. (2014). Election. D. Mangum, D. R. Brown, R. Klippenstein, & R. Hurst (Eds.), Lexham Theological Wordbook. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.

“Let” is not a suggestion, but an IMPERATIVE command. The same greek word is used elsewhere in very concise ways.

Jesus SET the Apostles on their work. Jn. 15:16

John 15:16 “You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you.

Paul was SET for the preaching of the Gospel. 1 Tim. 1:12

1 Timothy 1:12 NKJV - And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord who has enabled me, because He counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry,

This helps us understand that giving is not a suggestion to the Christian, but a needed work.

The truth of what it means to NOT give. Malachi 3:8-12

Malachi 3:8-12 NKJV - "Will a man rob God? Yet you have robbed Me! But you say, 'In what way have we robbed You?' In tithes and offerings. You are cursed with a curse, For you have robbed Me, Even this whole nation. Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, That there may be food in My house, And try Me now in this," Says the LORD of hosts, "If I will not open for you the windows of heaven And pour out for you such blessing That there will not be room enough to receive it. "And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, So that he will not destroy the fruit of your ground, Nor shall the vine fail to bear fruit for you in the field," Says the LORD of hosts; "And all nations will call you blessed, For you will be a delightful land," Says the LORD of hosts.

The Lord’s people were withholding from Him. Tithes are no longer something that God’s people do, but we are to “lay by in store” or “lay something aside”. This means that each person must look upon how they are doing financially and give an appropriate amount.

Most use this passage to tell people to give more money to the local church. However, in keeping with what we have already established, we have more to offer than simple money. Anyone can put money into the treasury. How much TIME are we investing among ourselves and others?

We can give more than money to the Lord by:

Edifying our brethren and families

Call and check on other members of the congregation...

When someone is or has been sick

When someone has missed the assembly time

When someone is in need of loving correction or encouragement

Go to Gospel Meetings and Bible Studies

Be prepared for our own Bible Studies

Train our children to love God and His word

Evangelizing our community

Invite others to meetings and studies

Give out bulletins and contact cards

Go door-knocking; make daily contacts

Being benevolent in every way

Do not withhold help from our brethren

Do all we can to help anyone

If we make excuses about not doing these things, we need to ask ourselves if we are robbing God of what He deserves.

We WILL be judged on how much we give to the Lord. 2 Cor. 5:10; Rev. 3:1-6

2 Corinthians 5:10 NKJV - For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.

Revelation 3:1-6 “not found your works perfect...” - Consider how our congregation could be in a similar state to that of Sardis.

Giving in the Spirit - 2 Corinthians 9

Allied with the act of MINISTERING (1-5)

Apparently there had been some strong statement of support for brethren in other places.

Paul encourages the Corinthian brethren to follow up with their promise of support, but focuses plainly upon the ATTITUDE needed.

Verse 5 - GENEROSITY, not grudging obligation (covetousness).

Interesting that they could do the RIGHT THING (giving) for the WRONG REASON (duty/obligation). This would make the action WRONG for them, or at the very least, it would bring them no true profit.

The intention GIVEN through the Spirit (6-9)

This is not just about giving less (though we each have to make that decision, as previously established).

This is about the ATTITUDE in giving.

WHY are we giving? It should be for the right reason.

Again, this applies to ALL forms of giving (money, time, effort, etc.)

All we have talked about giving to God (Edification, Benevolence, Evangelism) MUST be done NOT with the idea of “I have to do this”, but a joyous feeling of “I GET to do this”!

We will have NO lack if this is our mindset.

The benefits of giving with the proper attitude (10-15)

Paul tells them that by doing these good things, they are giving THANKS to God.

It’s more than what we SAY. It’s what we DO.

We can SAY we love God, we can SAY we are thankful all day. Are we truly giving Him everything we can give?