Financial Stewardship, Part 3 Giving Message Preached by Pastor Dean Allen (See the special Handout given when this sermon was preached.) I have purposely formed the contents of these messages with a mind toward the danger of opening up a lengthy list of practical suggestions in the treatment of money which would result in a collected, incipient Phariseeism or literalism that could miss the point altogether at the foundation of the heart and not be able to grapple with the principles of Scripture. Because of that approach on these things of stewardship, there is also the frustration that you're missing much of practical help and directives that many of you long to know and need to know. And so I'm torn, but at least you'll get the fundamental issues clear and be grounded in the heart, so from that you can search the Scriptures and learn the application. Someone has asked if there is a book you can read or other materials where you could dig more. Larry Burkett will help you in some practical things. He'll help you know how to put a budget together. He'll help you in the principles of savings. He'll help you in learning how to think biblically to some degree in your finances. But you have to understand that his approach is often somewhat pop. He will approach it from a collection of illustrations and personal experiences in counseling and will gravitate toward the widest audience. Also, he is not in his strength when expounding Scripture and proving the point from the Bible. There is often a weakness in citing a proof text but not carrying the judgment of the conscience. Often times in my experience, people's consciences free themselves. One of the root problems of family finances and stewardship is not having a budget. We have no plan, so we end up succeeding with our plan to do nothing with our money. Often folks' consciences don't see what a budget has to do with the Bible, not understanding it in the light of God's evident character and example of being One who is orderly and planned. You may think having a budget is a nice suggestion, but hubby and wife have to agree. That is a fundamental issue. Who is head of the home? Who is going to be the last voice of decision about what goes into the bank and what comes out of the bank? Until you get that settled, whatever practical principles we lay out are virtually useless, and there's nothing but frustration. We are left in this morass of American waste, American guilt, American greed, American gluttony, American foolishness, and the absence of worship. My heart longs to be able to lay out all that stuff for you. I can't in this short week. Some of you may want to get those thirty-three tapes from our Sunday School lectures. They are not my idea of good homiletics, but there is much that's helpful. I don't like pushing them, but in the absence of being able to find it in that breadth in any other place, we would be happy to accommodate you at cost. Before we jump into the actual doctrine of giving, I would like to give some word of help and encouragement to those of you that are bruised and bloodied from the little you've already heard. I do not want to deal with your soul so scathingly and say things that shock you. Many of you have confessed to me this week that you have this covetous heart. You almost dread what's going to happen next because you've already seen so much in your life and finances that needs to be overhauled that you don't know if you can bear any more. Because of a pastoral sense and regard for your need, I would simply remind you that we live in the midst of a people of perverse lip and perverse heart, and we are like them. Because I'd like to help you with that, I want to mention two things that are sure cures to covetousness before we talk about giving. Sure Cures for Covetousness Contentment and Gratitude
These two fellows needed to get some things decided, and one asked the Lord to command his brother to divide the inheritance with him. Apparently the younger brother wanted his part of Daddy's money, and the older brother was reluctant or hesitant to give. He wanted Jesus to straighten out that guy. Verse 14 is probably a statement of biblical theology that the purpose for the Lord Jesus coming into this world was not primarily to sort out the individual financial affairs of family members. In verse 15 he saw the motivation of this request and warned them of covetousness. Then He spoke a parable to them of a certain rich man. The ground brought forth plentifully. God gave it to him. It never occurred to him there was an ample world to which he could bestow his fruits. Instead, he came to the conclusion of building bigger barns to lay up his goods and then to take his ease. You can retire now. Your dreams have come true. The great American dream: as soon as possible, stop doing the thing God said you ought to do in order to make a living. As soon as possible, begin to violate the fourth commandment and stop laboring six days a week. Soul, take thine ease. But God said to him in verse 20, "You fool, this night is your soul required of you. And the things which you have prepared, whose shall they be?" They'll be divvied up in court. He's a fool who lays not up richness toward God, but rather for himself. Hebrews 13:5-6
This a wonderful help to those who have a problem with covetousness. How do you be free from the love of money? At least in this way: by being content with such things as you have. When you discipline yourself to be content, that will free you from the love of money. The love of money assumes and reveals that you're not content with what you now have. How can I be content with such things as I have? No less than God Himself (who made the ground of the rich man to produce plenty and abundance), no less than the One who made you (who knows what you need before you ask, who has promised to give good things to those that ask, who delights to give good things to His children, who will meet all your needs as you seek His kingdom and His righteousness first) has said, "I will in no wise fail thee. Neither will I in any wise forsake thee." The fivefold negative of this passage is a superabundant statement of God Himself that there is not one chance in all eternity that those who are content with His provision will ever lack their need. Not a chance! To reinforce God's personal, Himself-pledge, He said it in a fivefold, superabundant, positive way. That's what those five negatives in the Greek mean. They don't multiply the negative. They multiply the positive. "There's no way, under any circumstances, at any time whatsoever . . . No, no, no, no, never will I forsake you nor leave you." Because He will not forsake us, we can be content with what we have and, in that process, be free from the love of money. "So that with good courage we say, The Lord is my helper; I will not fear. What shall man do unto me?" You see again that verbal confession going out of a persuaded heart. Now there's a lot packed in that little passage. But you see, we do fear. What if they take away my house? What if they take away my children? In the United States, in my State, in my church, in my home, I'm the witness of a governmental movement to remove children from godly parents. There's an agenda abroad. It has been placed into the law. In New York State your children can be reported to an authority anonymously as being abused; and without a judge's warrant, without any legal right, the authorities can on that anonymous report enter your home, take your children on presumed guilt, and are not ever liable to tell you who turned you in or to prove the case! Yet we may confidently say (in that kind of culture, where homes are being invaded by men who have failed to rear their own children but they would like to rear ours), "Why do I fear? What can man do to me?" Their jealousy about the reproofs of their sin drive them vehemently to rob us of being able to continue to produce children that are standing rebukes to their lawlessness. There's more to it, but that makes mothers' hearts tremble for fear. I'm a personal witness and have experienced of that kind of fear. It could drive you to give up the ministry, to flee into the mountains to protect your little ones. I believe that's one of Satan's designs. But I tell you, this passage is dealing with things at the root of the heart. What happens to a lot of us? We're afraid that the job will be lost. We're afraid that we won't make enough next year. As pastors, we're afraid that maybe the church won't pay us enough. We're afraid that maybe our children won't have enough clothing. And because of the world in which we live, many give up jobs that are great paying jobs just because of the one principle of the Sabbath Day. We have at least two men in our church that are being paid half what they could have made had they simply compromised one day a month on the Lord's Day in a non-necessary work. They took a great loss. Our church took a loss in its tithes. For one little principle! How could they make such a stand? Because they've learned, "What shall I fear? What if I lose my job because I will not work on the Lord's Day? What shall man do to me?" So out of that fear comes confident statements of the lips based on God Himself's promise. And on that promise, I may be content with such things as I have. The doctrine of providence, the doctrine of faith, the doctrine of trusting God's provision — all of that is in this passage, and it's a cure for covetousness. There's one other thing, though, that's a cure for covetousness: gratitude — not only contentment, but going beyond being resigned to what we have. "OK, it's God's will, honey. It just looks like we're never going to get ahead. In the true spirit of Christ, we must resign ourselves to it." That's the same spirit that causes whole churches to fail to pray fervently and passionately for souls. Because they haven't seen any saved for so long, they're willing to accept it from a sovereign God. Don't ever accept that! Be content with God's way, but don't quit pleading with Him. Midnight! Knock on the door of heaven. Beg Him to come and open the door. Some people sort of resign themselves stoically to God's provision. That's not the text. "So that we may confidently say, The Lord is my helper." Then in addition to that, "Thank you." Oh, we have more than heart could wish! There is an illustration of an old man in a boarded up lean-to by the tracks, who was heard to say as he bowed over the little crust of bread he had found in the train yard, "All this and Jesus, too!" A depressed man had been out walking because of problems at home. He peeked through a crack in the door of that shack and saw tears rolling down the old timer's face and eyes lifted to heaven as he repeated, "All this and Jesus, too!" That sent the man back home with a right spirit. The Scripture has some built-in heart cures for built-in heart ills. Discipline yourself to be content with what you have because the Lord has said, "I won't leave you." Now maybe what it reveals for some of us is that we have not found in the Lord our satisfying portion. I believe that for some of our wives there is that tendency to depend on things in this world for security. While listening to sermons and supporting the husband, and going to a good church, and doing the things needed, yet at the heart level they haven't found security in the Lord. They cannot say, "my portion forever." "My flesh and my heart fail, but God is the strength of my heart, and my portion forever" (Psalm 73:26). We who are pastors have to struggle with this. Our wives often miss the beauties, the sweetnesses, and the glories of the labors of the gospel. They are often in the shadows doing the things that are necessary to keep us functioning. But we have to help them in their own Bibles. Sometimes preachers' wives are some of the last to learn how to open their own Bibles and know God for themselves without personal, direct dependence on hubby all the time. It's a struggle. No doubt, many of you who are not preachers have that same struggle. You wives have so much to do. With kids, how early does a woman have to get up to open her Bible without being disturbed? That's a real challenge. She has been up late. And as soon as the kids are bedded down, here's old hubby with a grin on his face. The poor woman! To get an hour alone, it makes her stay up late; or else she has to be up at 4:00 in the morning. Hubby took care of his right after supper while she was doing the dishes and getting the kids ready with their baths. We've got that reality. But I think oftentimes the ladies among us show evidence that God has not become the portion that they're satisfied with by the way they treat their Bibles and their time alone. It produces that result. The failure to internalize texts like Hebrews 13:5ff by regularly putting it into the soul, and lecturing the soul to believe in it, and forcing the soul into conformity with it, will make you uneasy when times change. When your husband comes home and says, "I'm not sure what's happening at work, honey. Be praying," you don't know how to pray because you haven't been praying. Your first reaction, rather than pray, is to call one of your friends in church and say, "Pray for us." Or you call up the pastor and ask for a solution. And what does he say? Same thing he said last time you called him: The Lord has said, "I will never leave you." Is that not enough? Why is that not enough? Because you've not cultivated through the years satisfaction in the Lord Himself. You have a weakness in worship. You have a problem. How do you solve that? Look up into the face of a Father who loves you, who to this moment has never left you, though you have felt that He had. The only reason He did that was to make you look harder and search more vigorously and to stretch you to more fullness of manhood and womanhood. Look into the face of God who cannot lie and says, "I'll never leave you nor forsake you." Then you may confidently say, "What shall man do to me? The Lord is my helper." Now that's the foundational cure for covetousness. You get that settled, and the things of the earth really do grow strangely dim. They don't have the appeal they did before you tasted that the Lord is good. It really does put everything in perspective. Perhaps one of our great challenges in Reformed Baptist Churches that are made up of single adults and so many young couples who are just getting their first kid, their first car, their first house, their first mortgage, and their first set of worries, is to try to help them understand how to get to God. It takes many people up to forty, fifty, or fifty-five to learn how to be quiet and wait on God, and know God, and be content with God. They had to taste all that other stuff first to find out it just wasn't what it was put up to be. I would spare you those wasted years. I wish you would learn it now because God has already told you your life does not consist in the things which you possess. Believe the Bible! Your problem is you don't believe it. You say, "Pastor, you were going to comfort me and encourage me, and you just nailed me again." Oh, I'm aware of that. But I want you first to see the depth of the problem, or you can never get out of it. If you don't address it as it is, you'll not deliver yourself from it. You don't believe the Bible. But He has said, "I will never leave you nor forsake you." Is He not able to increase faith? He gives grace to the humble. When you come and say, "Lord, I believe, but I'm filled with all kinds of unbelief. Help me," He does that. He delights in it. I've lived my life and survived many a dark morning on that basis. I've prayed through lots of distresses and fears because God's Word said it. I was able to say, "Lord, I don't feel it. I don't see it. I hardly believe it, but You said it. So I'm going to go on today as though it's true because I've got to believe it. You have the words of eternal life." Often times I've been at that place where Peter was. I don't know that I could say I overwhelmingly believe it, though I'm perfectly confident in it. I want to do that as a regular part of my life, as the pattern. But often it hasn't been that. It's been more like, "Lord, it's not so much I understand what you're saying and have come to have a grasp on the full plethora of it. But I know this: if I leave you, I'd be leaving the only place where there are said the things that I need. Lord, there's something here that's true. It's a strange truth in my heart. I don't comprehend it, but I've found that treasure and I'm going to sell all I have and buy that field. I want that treasure." When you get that settled, you'll see God begin to honor those cries. "Lord, I'm weak and weary. I'm afraid. I tremble." There's not a woman in this place, young or old, who will not find a gracious, open-armed God awaiting when she comes in her weakness and says, "Lord, I'm scared. Would you just be my comfort? Would you just draw near to me?" "Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you" (James 4:8). Look into the eyes of a gracious Savior who helps unbelief. You believe enough to have come to the right place for counsel. You believe enough to know it's God that's going to help. God loves that kind of humility and He'll feed it. Contentment and gratitude. What can I pay unto the Lord for all His kindnesses unto me? Thanksgiving. Psalm 116:12 and 17: "What shall I render unto the Lord for all his benefits toward me? . . . . I will offer to thee the sacrifice of thanksgiving, and will call upon the name of the Lord." God wants a thankful heart. You give that, God will honor it, it will grow, and your countenance will show it. Giving One of the directives we give to those who have struggles in these areas is quit being a taker and become a giver. The Bible explicitly teaches the doctrine of giving. For our purposes, we're narrowing down to dollars. 1. Giving money as an expression of Christian character and as an act of necessity and blessing is commanded in the Bible. Giving is voluntary, but it is not optional. We have a false dichotomy in our culture. If it isn't optional, it can't be voluntary. How can it be voluntary if we're told to do it? Well, I ask you this, husbands. Do you willingly love your wife, and are you supposed to love her willingly? Is it not supposed to come from the heart? "Absolutely, Pastor. I love my sweetie." But doesn't the Lord command you to love her — willing? Aren't we told to come willingly and worship, and yet it's a commandment? Did the Lord Jesus love to do the will of His Father? Did He not say, "I delight to do thy will, O my God" (Psalm 40:8)? And yet in every act of that delightsome obedience, He was obeying commandment. "This commandment received I of my Father" (John 10:18). "I always do the things my Father says, the things that please my Father." His was one total life of obedience to law and commandment. Yet He did it willingly. There is no contradiction between giving voluntarily and out of commandment. In fact, the commandment goes deeper than externals. The commandment is you must give willingly. And until it has been given willingly, you've not obeyed the commandment. That's why the ten percent does not pay you up, unless from the heart you love to give. That kind of giving is commanded in the Scripture. You notice I said it's an expression of Christian character. The Christian's heart is one disposed to love God, to give to God, to be rich toward God. So giving is commanded as an expression of what is natural. It's not abnormal for a church to tell its people to give, or for Christ to tell His people to give. It's not wrong; it's not a contradiction of grace. It's perfectly consistent. It's commanded in the Bible. Where? Here is a brief survey. Romans 12:20 Give to your enemies food and drink. If your enemy is hungry, feed him. If your enemy is thirsty, give him to drink. If he's naked, put clothing on him. Your enemy! That's how you heap coals of fire on his head. That's how you are children of your Father in heaven who gives to the unkind, the unthankful, and the evil. That's loving your enemies as your Father in heaven loves His enemies. It's commanded. Ephesians 4:28 "Let him that stole steal no more: but rather [in other words, having stopped his life of thievery which includes depending on the government or the church when he could work for himself] let him labor, working with his hands the thing that is good, [to a purpose-moded end] that he may have whereof to give to him that has need." He has to change his whole psychology about who he is in relationship to the world. He's not here to be served and to receive. He's going to put himself in a position that he'll have extra to give. He is to labor to do more than to make the minimum salary to get by. The seminar culture has imbibed a hippie spirit: a bag of tater chips and a street corner, and I'm happy. Then they get married. And she ain't happy. Good for her! Pity the daddy who let her marry that clod. Oh, the doctrine of preparation for marriage needs to be dealt with! You fathers, don't let her go out with a guy who cannot demonstrate that he already knows how to work for a living and get paid for it. If he says, "Oh, the Lord has led me to be a missionary, and I don't take money . . ." "Good. You don't need a wife! You want to be that spiritual, you're not going to be that spiritual with my daughter." You daddies, make it an iron-clad rule in your house and teach your daughters: don't trust a guy that is not prepared to demonstrate that he can give you something of a living similar to what your dad gave you — at least potentially. Move in that direction. The point is, provision for somebody besides your minimum need. You see, what this culture is saying when the potato chips and the street corner is all I need is, "That's all the responsibility I want." It's not contentment; it's irresponsibility. Overcome that. Labor so you can give to somebody besides you and your family. Get yourself in a position so you can give. That's why the profit motive is a righteous motive. That's why it's all right to have some holy ambition in your career, to improve yourself, to get some training, to always move up if you can legitimately without tying your heart to the world — because you want to be able to have somewhat to give to him that is in need. It's commanded. II Corinthians 8:8 It's an interesting way Paul does things not by way of commandment. "I speak not by way of commandment, but as proving through the earnestness of others the sincerity also of your love." "I'm putting you Corinthians on trial. The Macedonians gave out of their poverty [vv. 1-3]. They didn't have nearly what you Corinthians have, and they gave and again gave out of the depths of their poverty. I'm not commanding you to give, but I'm telling you this: if you don't, you've disproved your claims that you love Christ." It sounds like apostolic manipulation, psychological manipulation, but I think that he's saying "prove your love." Love gives. If you don't give, you don't love. "I'm not commanding you, but folks, what are you going to equal if you don't give? The Macedonians have set an example. What are you going to do?" Then in verse 11: "But now complete the doing also; that as there was the readiness to will, so there may be the completion also out of your ability." That sounds like a commandment. That's an exhortation, a directive. "Complete the doing . . ." Verse 24: "Show you therefore unto them in the face of the churches the proof of your love, and of our bragging on your behalf." "Don't let us be ashamed because you didn't give." It's good that some of my people are able to come and hear me preach this again, in different form than they heard it a couple of years ago, so that they can go back home and feel something of the weight on themselves. Some of us who are pastors know that when we go other places to preach, our own people are either the proof and power of our preaching or they kill it. If they are not doing what we're preaching, our mouths are stopped. "You Corinthians, we've been boasting about you. We've been saying you love, you have spiritual gifts. Don't embarrass us. Prove it. Follow through and do it." That sounds like if not a commandment, about as close as you can get to one without telling a guy, "If you don't do it you're out." Acts 20:35 "It is more blessed to give than to receive." "Follow my example," the apostle tells the elders at Ephesus. That covers lots of areas, but it includes finances. I Timothy 5:17 We're commanded to pay preachers. "Let the elders that rule well be counted worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in the word and in teaching." However you interpret the double honor concept, at least it includes financial remuneration in keeping with his faithful and proven labors. It's a commandment. Make sure that it happens. Don't hold back from them. Galatians 6:6 "But let him that is taught in the word communicate unto him that teacheth in all good things." What you sow, you'll reap. I Corinthians 9:14 "Even so did the Lord ordain that they that proclaim the gospel should live of the gospel." The Lord ordained that they who preach the gospel ought to live of the gospel. It's ordained by Christ. It's an ordinance, if we may say that, to give to the support of the ministry. Now that's just a smattering of the concept of biblical giving. It's commanded in the Scripture. It's voluntary, but not optional. 2. Giving money is encouraged in the Scripture. By Praiseworthy Example. One of the ways God encourages us to good is by showing us others who have done good. We saw in II Corinthians 8 Paul citing the Macedonians as a praiseworthy example to the Corinthians. I have a little bit of holy competitiveness in me about wanting me and my church not to be behind any other church that has our means in giving. I wouldn't want to get a letter from the apostle asking, "What about last year's commitment? I was just checking to see if you were planning to follow through. We didn't get that check. Maybe we missed it in the mail." I don't want my people to be that way. I don't want the pastors to have to go say, "Folks, we've got some needs here that you haven't noticed." I want them to have that spirit of the Macedonians that again and again they hardly need to be asked. In fact, the apostle tried to reject it. "Oh, no. You people need us to give to you." "You've got to take it. We want to worship God with this." He writes to the Philippians, in chapter 4. He says, "I'm not asking you to send an offering because I need it. God has taught me to live contentedly in whatever state I am. I've learned by experience how to suffer need. And I've learned by experience how to conduct myself when I have plenty. I'm content in whatsoever state. Christ gives me strength to do so. But I'm asking you to give because it will be real good for you to give." Now if you read that having just turned Oral Roberts off the television, you could well be thinking, "What's going on with the apostle?" The Devil does that very thing to pervert us. He gives us abuses of that kind of passage to kill it for us. I tell you, it's a legitimate motive for a preacher to say, "Give so God will bless you. Give because it's an act of a sweet-smelling sacrifice of worship God loves to smell." That passage has helped me to be able to tell my people over the years, "Folks, if you don't do your duty, my family will eat." As one of my brethren said, God has his ravens. But I also tell you, if you don't do your duty, your family may not eat. God encourages giving by praiseworthy examples. The Lord Jesus Himself taught us it is more blessed to give than to receive. He showed us. The widow in Matthew 21 gave all her living. Though less than any other, it was more than all the other. He didn't say, "Sweetheart, come here just a minute now. God is not that way. We understand. You don't have enough money to make a living. You've given all your living. That won't work. We don't expect you to tithe or to give." That wasn't the response. The Lord never even intimated there was anything at all questionable. He praised her. He set her out among the others. He accepted it. What did Elijah do with that starving widow who had just enough left for one little meal? "First of all, you feed the prophet. Take care of me first." Now, brethren, I trust you know we preachers are not going to start jumping on that text and using it. That wasn't what Elijah was doing. There are heavenly priorities in this world, and Elijah was not so falsely modest and humble that he forgot them. First things first. And watch God work. You seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness. You pay for that and you watch what else happens. But you hold back from that in order to make sure this happens, and neither one will happen. Great examples in the Scripture to encourage you. By predicted consequences for negligence. II Corinthians 9:6 Paul says in verse 5, "I'm not extorting this from you, brethren. I'm not trying to force you against your will." Then in verse 6 he says, "But this I say, He that sows sparingly shall also reap sparingly; and he that sows bountifully shall reap bountifully." If you don't want to give it, don't give it. In the early days of our church, we started asking our people to read a book every month or two so we could lead a Sunday School discussion and get them reading some good stuff, and get them growing in their theological understanding, and in the unity of the faith, and have convictions of the truth. One young married man came immediately and said, "You're binding my conscience. You have no right to make me read what's outside the Bible. And it's going to cost $3.00!" I wasn't requiring him to read it because I liked the feeling of running his reading life. He attributed to me base motives that weren't in my heart. I told him, "All right, don't read it if you don't want to read it. I'm not going to extort it. But let me tell you this: He that sows sparingly will reap sparingly. It's a law. If you don't give much, you're not going to get much." Thank God, that all changed in his life. He's now in the process of asking some other people to do some things like that. Verse 7: "Let each man according as he has purposed in his heart: not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loves a cheerful giver." If you want God to have a special love toward you, give a lot. Cheerfully! Even when he's saying, "I'm not extorting it," he's throwing motivations at you to make you feel that if you don't you're going to miss something. No manipulation. Verse 8: "And God is able to make all grace abound unto you; that you having always all sufficiency in everything, may abound unto every good work." You say, "He's talking about spiritual work." I doubt that exclusively here because he goes on to say, (verse 9) "as it is written, He has scattered abroad, he has given to the poor; His righteousness abides forever." God remembers his giving to the poor. Cornelius was given the wonderful privilege of being the open door of the Gentiles. And do you remember what the Scripture said (Acts 10:4)? Cornelius, God is going to send a prophet to you because He has remembered your alms that you have been giving of a righteous motive. God saw them and remembered them, and He's going to reward them by sending the gospel to you and saving your family. You say, "See, that's a spiritual blessing." II Corinthians 9:10: "He that supplies seed to the sower and bread for food, [and He does supply that] shall supply and multiply your seed for sowing, and increase the fruits of your righteousness." What righteousness? The righteousness of giving to the poor in Jerusalem, which is the text from the Old Testament (Psalm 112:9) he quotes to support it. And what's God going to do if you give? He's going to give you more to give. Now there may be principles here that would include the spiritual blessings. There's no question, but don't eliminate the financial thing here: if you give money, you're going to get more money to give more. That's what he's saying. What are you going to get if you send money to Jerusalem? More money to send to places like Jerusalem. It's at least that. God encourages us by rewards and consequences. If you sow sparingly, you'll reap sparingly. In Proverbs 11:24 and 26, there are consequences for withholding what is good. "There is that scattereth, and increaseth yet more; and there is that withholdeth more than is meet, but it tendeth only to want." "He that withholdeth grain, the people shall curse him; but blessing shall be upon the head of him that selleth it." By promised rewards. In the same text (II Corinthians 9:6), He that sows bountifully will reap bountifully. Luke 6:38 Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, heaping up, running over, shall men give into your hand. Continue to do well, Paul says in Galatians 6:6-9. Sow to the Spirit. Give to those that communicate the truth to you, and you shall reap if you faint not. In that case it goes way beyond money. It's eternal life. Abundant givers are always abundant blessees. Malachi 3:10-11 If you bring all the tithes and offerings into the storehouse, God will rebuke the devourer for you. Brethren, under God, I am persuaded that America's economy is rooted in robbing God of His sabbaths and His money. There is no cure except for national, governmental repentance and giving to God. Now you say, "It's not the role of the government to give to God." Well, it's not the role of the government to so tax you, to so manage the economy, to so manipulate you, and so write the laws that they keep you from giving either. Nor is it the role of government to take the name of God, and His rights, and His commandments (including the fourth one) out of the school system that it perpetuates and forces you to support with your money. God has a way. This is a Gentile nation, but I expect the same thing on it that happened to the Gentile nations in Canaan because of their sin and their refusal to obey the laws of God that had not yet been revealed to them the way they were revealed to the Jews. God kicked them out. Then He said to the Israelites, "I'll do the same to you, if you commit the same sins that the people before you committed." God doesn't care where you came from. You keep His law, He'll bless you. You break His law, He'll curse you. It still applies. But we have watered that down. I believe one of the reasons that theology has watered that down is because of our greed. We don't want to give. But God encourages giving by promising rewards: 1) A personal harvest, your personal harvest. God will multiply your seed for sowing. 2) Your practical supply. Whenever you give, God takes care of people's needs. II Corinthians 9:12, "For the ministration of this service not only fills up the measure of the wants of the saints. . ." You see, there's a practical supply that results from giving. The saints' needs are met. That's a reward for giving. To be able to have a letter written from some poor saint in Jerusalem read to the church in Corinth and saying, "Oh thank you. You don't know how we had cried. We were at our last meal and that sweet-smelling, fragrant savor came from Corinth." That's what the apostle is trying to do here. That's what you do with your children. You try to motivate them to do good by telling them what's going to happen if they do. You want to get them to see the benefits from obeying. And that's what the Lord is doing. 3) Productive worship. That last part of that same verse (12). Not only the wants of the saints are supplied, but they are abounding also through many thanksgivings unto God. When God's people give, other people give thanks to God. It abounds to many thanksgivings. When the apostle arrived in Jerusalem with that money, I tell you there was an electricity in worship! There was an exalting, outpouring of thanks to God first — not to the Corinthians first, but to God. Worship is the result. Verse 13: "Seeing that through the proving of you by this ministration they glorify God for your obedience . . ." Obedience. See it again? He is not extorting it, not commanding it; but if you do it, it's obedience. And what will happen if you obey? It will glorify God. 3. Giving money is regulated in the Scripture. a. Proportionately. I Corinthians 16:1-2, "as God has prospered every man." God is gracious. God is realistic. When it all belongs to God, He doesn't expect you to put it all in the offering plate. Your family needs it. Others need it. So there is proportionate giving. But let me ask a question to get your wheels turning about the doctrine of tithing. How much of a proportion? What does that mean? If your giving is in proportion to how much you make, then your giving must have some sort of percentage-wise concept behind it. Just a thought. Proportionately. According to each man's ability, II Corinthians 8:12 says. Proverbs 3:9: the first fruits of all God gives. You give the first proportion, the first amount of it, to God. b. Regularly. There's supposed to be some sort of regularity on the first day of the week — the ordinary day after the pay period when you gather for regular worship, regular giving every pay period and worship period. That doesn't mean you have to divide up your monthly check into four so you can follow this commandment. As you are prospered, you give. When you get your monthly check, that next Lord's Day morning you bring that principled proportionate amount. c. Benevolently. We already read about this. There is the commandment to give to the needs of men. Benevolence is one of the duties of the Christian. d. Evangelistically. I just chose that word as an adverb because there is the principle of giving money to support the gospel and to get it out. Brethren, there's nothing closer to the heart of this preacher than this vision of the dark places where all some have is a tape machine. There need to be men loving them, and laboring with them, and teaching them, and preaching to them day and night with tears, and from house to house, and in the public gathering. And they need to have a public gathering. Who is going to supply it? When you look at Nigeria, they don't require much. They don't have anything. Our heart cries out, as a pastor, to ask our people "What could you give?" God is not sparing in Haggai chapter 1 when He rebukes the Israelites, who were fresh from deliverance of the seventy years' captivity, for the purpose of building the worship of God again and putting that temple up. They were saying, "It's not time to build the temple of God." What other time was it? That's why He released them. And yet their greed! No, no! Evangelistically the gospel needs money, brethren. It is ordained that they that preach it ought to live of it. Don't force the man to go out and get a secular job. If you at all can prevent it, don't let it happen. It's one of the things we consider as a church when we look at a possible church planting situation. How capable are these people of supporting the gospel ministry? Sometimes God gives judgments and guidance of viability by the way He provides money, or doesn't. "Oh, we want a full-time pastor, but we don't have any money." Wait then. e. Decently, orderly, and honorably. Giving, as in all of our life and worship, is to be out of preparation. There's got to be a plan. Don't just wait till you get to the offering plate. Visitors come to our church, and they've been trained that you have to put something in every time it comes by. They'll throw in a dollar. There's no plan, no conviction. Oh, I delight that first Lord's Day after I've been paid every month to get out that checkbook and add that to my worship. I love doing that! It doesn't begrudge us at all. We delight in it. That's our sense of it. Remember what Paul said in I Corinthians 16: "so that there will be no collections when I come"? He was very concerned about the appearance. Take care of that ahead of time. We want to do things honorably. f. Worshipfully. It's not enough to give; it's got to be given from the heart. "Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also" (Matthew 6:21). When you give worshipfully, that means giving cheerfully. It means giving sacrificially. "Why should I give to the Lord anything that didn't cost me?" David said. He understood something of the doctrine of worship. It ought to cost something. You ought to feel something of the pinch. Once in a while you ought to recognize, "If we hadn't tithed, we could have bought this so-and-so." Once in a while that's legitimate to say. "No, we sacrificed." What is sacrifice? It's worship. Give worshipfully and with all your heart. I want to close by bringing us back to where we began this week and sort of tie it together at this point. How do you mortify a covetous heart? Where your treasure is, is where your heart will be. Do you want to get your heart where it ought to be? Put your money in that place. Do you want your heart to love worship? Pay for worship. Buy the truth. Pay for the gospel. Give to God. Be rich toward God. He says you're a fool if you lay up treasure for yourself and simply neglect to be rich toward God — not even necessarily purposely. Do you want your heart to love God? You put your money there, and I'll guarantee when you go there you'll pay attention. If you pay for that preacher benevolently and gladly and sacrificially, you'll pay attention to him. You'll want to see if he's earning his keep. But if you hold back your tight wallet, no wonder you sleep through it. The very people who have the hardest time staying awake in worship are the people who have the hardest time dipping down and giving to God's work. How brash they are to come sometimes and say, "Pastor, that latest project sure looks like it's going to be expensive." And then the next time we preach to them they're snoring. Do you see that perspective? Where your heart is, is where your treasure has been put. Do you want to cultivate a heart that's free from covetousness? Be content. Be thankful. And give more. Do you want to love your wife? Spend some money on her. I'll tell you what, it works! You spend money on her, give to her, and you'll find yourself loving the woman. Get rid of that romantic notion that when I feel it, I'll do it, or I haven't been led yet. Kill that stuff and give. It's been commanded, encouraged, exemplified. There's much reward in it. There's curse for not doing it. You do it, and you'll have some freedom that you haven't tasted. Oh, it may not come right away. In fact, you may have to do some major juggling of your budget. That's the first test some of you will have when you get home as to whether you're going to obey what you've heard. It's going to mean familial adjustments. Some of you men are going to have to grow some chests, and some arms, and some legs, and some backbone. Your sweetheart, because of her failure to know God clearly and love Him thoroughly and get satisfied with Him, is going to get scared when you start talking about what you learned at the conference. She has a right to because you've talked like this before. You better be man enough to say, "Honey, by God's grace I'm going to prove to you that it will function right if we do it right. I have no choice but to keep my conscience clear. As for me and my house, we're going to serve the Lord." I'm going to close with an illustration of a man I know, an active member in the church. A deacon came to his pastors at one level with concern about a trend in this person's giving pattern. He wanted to mention it in case there was a need for help from the deacons. Maybe something had happened at work. The man hadn't given any money to the church in over a year. The pastors investigated and asked him if he was having trouble? No, he was making over $40,000 a year. But he had let his wife take over the budget and pay the bills. His wife was not a church member. She hated that church and didn't like tithing. She didn't want to waste money on the church. So he really never saw the checks any more. He knew he was wrong and apologized, but it was out of his control. This is a real example. It lives and breathes today to the exasperation of those pastors. I say that as an extreme situation, knowing that there will be lesser degrees of that in some of your families and homes. You men need to be discerning enough to see it when you smell it and call it what it is. Say, "Honey, I understand your fears, but the Lord has promised. We're going to give firstfruits to God. We're going to put Him to the test." You watch God. "Prove me now herewith, saith the Lord, if I will not open the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing you cannot contain" (Malachi 3:10). Have you done that? I've never known a faithful, tithing, giving Christian who would not say, "It's worth it." But I've never known one who doesn't give faithfully who is ever happy or content with his money. May God give us grace to become givers in the true biblical sense of the term. Let us pray together, please. Our Father, we do thank you that You have given to this congregation such a receptive heart. Do hear our cry that all of our hearts would become like yours. O Lord, you spared not your only Son, but He who was rich became poor for our sakes that we might be rich in Him. Make us like you, O Lord, not holding anything as our own, but laying it out for your use. Lord, make us men and women who love to give, who look for ways to give, who live our lives to give, and prove your Word in your response to the giving. Bless us. Help us. Prove yourself again to us that your Word is true. O Lord, make our hearts content with you yourself in whatever way you are pleased to supply us. And make us truly thankful so that we would be free, utterly free, from the love of money. O God, do a work in us, we pray through Christ our Lord, Amen.
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