Galatians chapter 6. Galatians chapter 6. This morning
we'll be looking at verse 6. I, of course, planned on going through
verse 10, but that didn't work out well for me. So I think this
was enough here for our study this morning. Galatians 6 verse
6. The scripture says, let him that
is taught in the word communicate unto him that teacheth in all
good things. The title of the message this
morning, the grace of giving, the grace of giving. We have seen thus far in chapter
six of Galatians how that those of us who are born again of the
spirit of God, are to walk in the Spirit of God. Just as surely
as God elected us in eternity, just as surely as Christ saved
us by His blood, redeemed us from our sins, just as surely
as that, the Holy Spirit will come to every child of God, every
one of us. Everyone who is a child of God,
it was just as sure that we would come to faith in Christ as God
himself is sure. Because God purposed it. And
God has also purposed all of the providences and all of the
means by which we would come. He had purposed that it be by
the word of God, by the preaching of the gospel, that we would
come. And it's just as sure as if we would believe that God's
people walk in the Spirit. God has created us unto good
works. Salvation is not by our works,
but just as sure as we are to believe, we who believe are to
perform good works. You see, these are a result of
the Spirit. They're not a cause of the Spirit.
We don't receive the Spirit because of our good works. We do good
works because we have the Spirit of God in us, working both to
will and do of His good pleasure. And that's what Paul said here
in verse 25 of the last chapter. He said, if we live in the Spirit,
let us also walk in the Spirit. Walk in the attitudes of grace.
love, joy, peace, meekness, temperance, faith. These things are the fruit
of the Spirit. Now, if we live unto God, we
should also live in the Spirit and walk in the Spirit that dwells
in us. And this is to be the actions
that are wrought out of a new nature, restoration of fallen
believers. Restoration of those who have
fallen, considering who we are, considering ourselves, that we
ourselves are sinners, that we ourselves still have the old
nature, so that when our brother falls, when our fellow believer
falls into sin and he is overwhelmed with his grief and he seeks to
be restored, we should restore him. We should restore him. It
shouldn't be a checklist that we go down. We shouldn't have
to say, well, you check, check, check. If the man has put away
that sin and he seeks to be restored, we should restore. We should
consider ourselves and forgive our brother. I remember this
when Peter said, how many times should I forgive my brother?
Seven times seven. He thought he was being generous.
He probably literally meant 49. He said, should I forgive my
brother 49 times? And Jesus said, no, 70 times
7. And Jesus wasn't talking about
490 times. He was talking about a perfect,
infinite forgiveness, which is the same forgiveness that you
and I receive. The same forgiveness we receive
of Christ we give to our brothers. We walk in the spirit of humility,
always considering ourselves. This is a good work. It is a
good work to consider ourselves. To consider that we are capable
of any sin, that's important, because the moment that we think
we are above any sin, surely we fall into the sin that we're
not aware of. Matter of fact, if we think that,
we've already fallen into the sin of pride, haven't we? Friends, we are so apt to deceive
ourselves. The heart is desperately wicked
above all things who can know it. You know, I don't know my
own heart. Not as fully as I desire to,
but I know this. If God were to reveal my sinful
nature to me, I would die. I would not be able to live." I'm so grateful that he just
reveals small portions at a time. That's grace, isn't it? That's
gracious. If we saw the holiness of God,
surely we would die. And we walk in the Spirit not
only considering ourselves, but we also Everyone who is a
believer, we continually look to faith in Christ. We continually prove our salvation. We've seen that last week. He
said, but every man prove his own work. In other words, don't
run around trying to find out who saved and who's not. Just
prove your own work. Prove your own salvation. Make
sure you know that you know that you Christ. Matter of fact, make
sure that he knows you. Oh, man, that is the most important
thing for every one of us to make our calling and election
sure, because there is no second opportunity in this. There is
one life, and after this, the judgment. And I'll tell you,
there are many people who will go through this life deceived.
They've made some profession, they've endured for a little
while, and then they went away thinking that all was well. And they never considered it
again. God's saints don't do that. We
consider it every day of our lives. This is a constant thing. And how do we remedy this? By
faith in Christ, looking to Christ, looking to his obedience and
not our obedience. Heard this from Greg Elmquist
this week, just a wonderful passage of Scripture concerning how that
we are to. To remedy sin in our lives, you
know how look to his obedience and not yours. If you start looking to your
obedience, surely we're not going to last long. Surely we'll fall
into sin if we try to do it in our own strength. But I know
this, I am righteous before God because of His obedience. Therefore,
I'm free to do good works. I'm free to love, to serve, to
do those things. We should consider our own salvation. Now, excuse me, I think I skipped
something. Hold on. Because of our sin nature and
unbelief and our heart being desperately wicked above all
things, we should make our calling and election sure. You know,
my opinion of your salvation doesn't really matter, does it?
I believe that most of the people here know the Lord Jesus Christ. That's my opinion. That's what
I've seen. That's what I judge by your evidence, by your grace. But truly, My opinion doesn't
matter. Do you know Christ? Have you
believed on the Son of God? Do you believe on the Son of
God? Now, to believe on the Son of
God, we must believe on him alone. Rely on his obedience concerning
every exhortation. Now, in this verse six, Paul
communicates this example of the works of believers, the grace
of believers who are walking in the Spirit. It says, for let
him that is taught in the word communicate unto him that teacheth
in all good things. This is speaking of giving in
support of the ministry of God. This is speaking of how believers
are called, exhorted to give so that the gospel of God's grace
might be delivered unto them and go out into the world. Now, there is nothing so misused
by the religious world and so misunderstood by those who profess
faith in Christ as this matter of giving. This matter of giving
causes men to cringe. When you say that, I mean people
just automatically, I do, I know I do, when it's said. When I'm
saying it, I'm telling you that it just, it does. The flesh is
just against that, as it is against all things of the word of God.
Our flesh is so weak concerning this matter of giving. And I'll tell you, the world
has misused it. Now, under the law, the nation
of Israel was commanded to tithe. They were commanded by the law
to tithe. Go to Deuteronomy, chapter 14.
Deuteronomy, chapter 14. Look at verse 22. The scripture says, Thou shalt
truly tithe all the increase of thy seed that the field bringeth
forth year by year, and thou shalt eat thereof, thou shalt
eat before the Lord thy God in the place which he shall choose
to place his name there. The tithe of thy corn, of thy
wine, and of thine oil, and the firstlings of thy herd, and thy
flocks. that thou mayest learn to fear
the Lord thy God always." Now, these tithes, these tithes were
a tent of all of their increase. And whatever they had increased,
they were to give a tent as a heave offering to the priests for the
service of God. You see, the priests were to
live off the services, off the ties, because they had no inheritance
in the land. They were not given an inheritance. They were not given earthly possessions. They were to live off of the
law. They were to live off the means
of service. And that's in Leviticus 18. If
you want to read that later, they were to receive of this
type. Friends, this was not a request.
God did not request that the people of Israel give a tenth. They were commanded to give a
tenth of everything they possessed, every increase that they had
of God. This was a law just like the
great day of atonement, just like the sacrifices. They were
to give a give a tithe. They were bound. But friends,
this is not so with believers. This is not so in this dispensation
of grace. We are no longer under the law. We do not tithe. If you are saying that you tithe,
I understand it's a misconception by even believers to say that. Well, I'm tithing. No, you're
giving. It's a great difference. A great
difference. Because tithing is just like
circumcision. And you know what we've been
through in the book of Galatians concerning that. We're not to add any of that
law. We're not to bring in any of
that law into this gospel of grace. The Scripture says we
are set free from these laws. There is therefore now no condemnation
to those who are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh
but after the Spirit. The Scripture says that we are
free from the law of sin and death. Friends, tithing is a
burden. It's not a pleasure. And I know
that men misuse this so that they can get gain. That's the
reason why this word lingers in churches everywhere, because
the man that's standing before them would be greedy to make
sure that you are under some kind of bondage to give your
money. No, you're not under bondage
at all. It was God's gift of grace. It
was by this free gift of grace that we're justified. We have been made righteous by
the faithfulness of Jesus Christ's obedience to the law. Our Lord
did not save us around the law. He saved us through the law that
we in Christ have obeyed the law in every part. We've obeyed the law in Christ. He has accomplished that for
us and has given that righteousness to us. And we're free. We have the imputed
and imparted righteousness of God. Because our sins were imputed
to him, our sins were charged to him. We by nature are not a giving
people. Man is not a giving man. The
only reason a natural man gives is so that he might receive.
That's it. And he only desires to get more
than he gave. That's not giving. That's not
giving. Our Lord gave himself freely. He didn't give part of himself,
he gave all of himself. I'm still trying to understand
the fullness of what he gave. See, because I can't see how
great he really is yet. I can't see the vastness and
the preciousness of himself. I can't see the value, the full
value of that. I know it's great and whatever
I think it is, it's greater. It's greater. He gave himself. And he gave it. How did he give
it? He gave it freely. He gave it freely. And so, as
we are free from all these other parts of the law, we are also
free from tithing. So, take this with you. Never tithe. Never give because you feel guilt
or obligation. We give because we love to give. We give because Christ freely
gave us himself. You know, in the New Testament
that only the tithing is mentioned only four times. It's mentioned in Matthew, it's
mentioned in Luke, and these are the exact same occasion.
So really, you count that as one. It's also mentioned in Hebrews
chapter, let me see, it's Hebrews chapter four, I believe it is. No, no, Hebrews chapter seven,
it's verse two and verse seven is talking about how Abraham
gave tithes. So really those two times, it's
also one occasion. So really two times in scripture.
is having mentioned one in Matthew and Luke was a rebuke to the
Pharisees. He said, you give ties of every
little leaf, but you dismiss the weightier matters of the
law. So he wasn't teaching his people to tithe. He was rebuking
the Pharisees for their sin of not obeying the law. And Abraham
gave a tithe to Melchizedek. to show the better priesthood
of the Lord Jesus Christ. He wasn't commanding us to tithe. But I'll tell you what is abundant
in the New Testament is giving. Giving. Believers in Christ are free
from sin, free from the guilt of sin, the condemnation of sin,
and we are freed by the grace of God through the preaching
of the gospel. How did this gospel come to you? When you heard the man of God
preach the gospel to you, how was it that he was able to preach
the gospel to you? Well, I know this. Somebody supported
him. Somebody took care of him. Somebody
gave. And the word of God went out.
and was preached and you heard freely. How great was that? How much
was that worth to you? Infinite value to me. It's an
infinite value when I heard the gospel. The Holy Spirit quickened us
freely. Is there a greater gift in all
the world than the grace of God? Is there a greater gift than
faith in His Son? Why then would we cringe concerning
this matter of giving these carnal, worthless things? These things are fleeting and
passing by so fast and they're meaningless in comparison to
the grace we've received. And so then every believer in
Christ is to give to the ministry of the gospel freely as they
got it. Freely as they received it. Paul exhorts those who are taught
in the word that God's men should be supported by those who are
taught by giving freely, without obligation. But as you receive
the blessing of the gospel through the labors of the word, you should
give accordingly. If God has blessed you, you should
give accordingly. Give according to the increase.
It's good, isn't it? If you've been increased, if
you've been blessed by God, then you should give according to
that. Well, you don't bless me. Don't
give. That's easy. No, you don't have to. I'm telling
you, you're free. You're under no obligation to
me. You're under no obligation at all in these things. But God's
people do give. Paul said, is it nothing that
we deliver unto you the word of God to the salvation and keeping
of your souls? Is it nothing that you provide
for carnal needs? The believer in God is a cheerful
giver. Isn't that what the scripture
says in 2 Corinthians, that God loveth? a cheerful giver. But who's more of a cheerful
giver than Christ? And his people should reflect
that. His people should reflect that attitude of grace when it
comes to giving. The gospel is the treasure of
our hearts, and we give in hope that the
Lord may bless others with this gospel, not just ourselves. Again,
we're not just sending the carnal need, the carnal things, providing
for the carnal things so that we can just receive. We want
everyone to receive the gospel that we have. We want others
to know that the gospel, the gospel of Jesus Christ, we want
God's people to come and fellowship with God's people wherever they
are. I desire that. You know, this
weekend when I went to the conference, there were so many people that
have come to me. I had no idea that they've listened
to anything. I don't know. Scott, you put
the messages on. I don't know who's listening.
But that's not for me. But I was encouraged this weekend.
There are people that enjoy them, that are thankful for them, that
are encouraged by them. And that comes from you. That
comes from you. You, by God's grace, have been
used to bless His people. Now, is that not something? That
God would use our meager means, that He would use these little
things that we give, which are nothing, He uses them, and He
uses them to bless and call His people to salvation, to deliver
and rescue a soul from hell. How much is that worth? It's
worth an infinite value. I'm so glad that God takes little
and makes much. I'm so glad of that. I'm going to close real quickly
with four things that we are to keep in mind when we give
in support of the ministry. First of all, give unto the Lord.
Give as though the Lord himself would put it out in front of
you. Just like we worship this morning.
Just like I'm preaching the gospel. We want to serve God in this. We want to worship God in this.
Worship God in giving. It's a manifestation of the thankfulness
of the bounties that God gave us every single day. We're blessed. Give unto the Lord. Secondly, give willingly. God
does not need our money. It belongs to Him anyway. And
I'll tell you, usually the people that hold on to it, He takes
it. His people anyway. Usually the
wicked continue on to prosper and they die in their sins, but
God's people, He won't let that happen. He won't let the things
of this world interfere with our worship of Him. He will correct
us. He will chasten us. Don't hold
on to these things. They're nothing. Give willingly.
Give freely. And if God has blessed you, give
so that his gospel may bless others. Thirdly, give only to those who
preach the truth. This has been a horrible disaster. even among God's churches. Some
missionary, some man comes in with a video and he shows some
sick kids and they're feeding some sick kids and they're raising
up houses and they play on the emotions. But they never ask that man what
he preached, what's his message. See, that's good, but I'm not
going to give to that unless the message is there. unless
the gospel is being preached. What good is it if these people
are fed, they're clothed, they have houses, and their souls
are damned underneath a false gospel? I won't give to that.
You shouldn't either. You should give to the gospel.
You should give so that the gospel might go forth
and the message of Christ. I was told this. There's a rehab
facility this man's son had gone into, his son is lost. But this
so-called Christian rehabilitation center for drunks and alcoholics
and drug addicts, what they do is they get into a bus and they
travel to different churches. And what they do in this is they
give their little testimony in these churches. Now, I'll tell you, if they were
a Christian organization, they'd be very careful as to which churches
they went to. And matter of fact, they wouldn't
go to stand and give their testimony. They would sit and hear the gospel
if they were a true Christian organization. What are they going
for? Money. They're going to get money and
play on the emotions of men. That's it. This is evil. That's not giving. Don't give
to such things. Give only. to those who preach
the gospel. And lastly, give the best you
have. Give the best you have. Isn't
that what the Lord abraded the Israelites for? He said, you
bring me a blind and lame goat. I mean, you wouldn't even do
that for your neighbor. And that's what you bring to
me? The leftovers. Don't bring God leftovers. We
give God our best, because I'll tell you what, He gave His best.
He gave His best. We're to give our best. I keep
thinking about this, not only concerning our money,
but what about our time? Do we give God the best of our
time? Or do we give Him the leftovers? We should give the best. We should
give the best hours of our day to Him. I pray that God bless this to
you. Give as you've been given to. I tell you, we could never
give enough, could we? We could give our lives and it
wouldn't be enough. God is so precious. I pray the
Lord blesses to your hearts.