I feel impressed to bring this
message this morning on it's more blessed to give
than to receive. And I feel the message is so
needful because there's so much false
teaching on this subject. Preachers in churches today most
of them, I regret to say, are abusing people on this subject
and misusing them in this area. And they've literally, I believe
the tactics that are being used to get people to give to churches
have literally robbed God's people of the joy of giving. If giving
is not a joy, it's not a blessing. It's not pleasing to God. Several
years ago, I brought a message on this subject on television.
I called it the joy of giving. And I believe we received more
letters requesting that message and any message that I've brought
in many years. Wouldn't you say that, Bronis?
The joy of giving, no matter where it's been played, on other
stations, we hear from people and these are the comments, oh,
you've helped me so much on this subject, and that's what I want
to do. Our Lord said, it is more a blessing
to give than to receive. It's a blessing to receive, a
gift. from a loved one. But he says
it's more blessed to give. Giving should be a blessing.
It should be a joy. And it will be if it's done properly
and scripturally. Now what does the apostles, what
do the apostles of our Lord teach on this subject? Let's find out
this morning. Now the chief problem in religion
today is the motives and the reasons that are being given
from the average pulpit to get people to give. Let me give you
four. These are the main four reasons
and motives that are given today for giving. Number one, preachers
are teaching that it's our duty to give. But not only to give,
it's our duty to give 10% of everything we have. That's what
I was raised on, from a child. I was taught to give, I had a
paper route, and my father was a deacon in the church, and we
were active in the membership of the church, and everybody
in the church was taught to set aside 10% of everything they
have, like they did in the Old Testament. And they used, bring
ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that they may be meat in my house,
saith the Lord. And the preachers who are preaching
this, tithing, have to go back to the law of Moses. They go
back to the law of Moses given to Israel. When they had 12 tribes,
11 tribes owned land and farmed and cattle. One tribe, the tribe
of Levi. took care of the temple, the
tabernacle, the sacrifices, all these things. And the other eleven
kept them up and brought the tithes into the storehouse and
helped the poor and so forth. But it was a tax under the law. Well, when these preachers go
back and pick up tithing and teach it today, they don't pick
up circumcision. Moses also commanded all of Israel
to be circumcised. They don't teach Seventh-day
Sabbath. Moses taught the people not only to tithe and to be circumcised,
but to keep the Seventh-day Sabbath. They don't teach the Jewish dietary
laws. They don't keep the Passover. We don't have a priesthood. Every
believer is a priest. When the Lord Jesus Christ came
into this world and died and redeemed his elect and built
his church, he did not say one word about tithing to the church,
not one word. And he gave his apostles, Paul and James and John and Peter,
he gave them the spirit to write the 21 epistles to the church,
21 epistles from from the book of Romans to the book of Jude,
21 epistles. And in those epistles, they deal
with baptism, and they deal with the ordinances, the Lord's table. They deal with keeping the Lord's
table. They deal with deacons and elders. They deal with marriage. They
deal with all subjects, totally. But they never mention the word
tithing in 21 epistles, not one single time. Don't mention the
word tithing. or tithe. It does not occur in
any of those epistles. Now, it occurs in Hebrews one
time. And when the word tithe occurs
in Hebrews, it tells the Hebrew strangers how that Levi himself
paid tithes in Abraham to Melchizedek. But there's not one commandment
in the entire 21 epistles that tells us that we're supposed
to give 10% of our income to the church. It's not that. I'll
show you one scripture in Matthew 23 that preachers use when our
Lord spoke to the Pharisees in Matthew 23, verse 23. Listen
to this. Matthew 23, verse 23. He said,
Whereunto ye scribes? You've got it, Matthew 23, 23.
Worldly scribes, Pharisees, hypocrites. You pay tithes of mint, anise,
cumin. You pay tithes. They had to pay
tithes of everything. All herbs, all crops, everything
had to be tithed, 10%. And have omitted the weightier
matters of the law, such as judgment, mercy, and faith. Now these ought
you to have done. You ought to have tithed. These
scribes and Pharisees ought to have tithed. Why? They were under
the law. Christ had not died on the cross.
Christ had not completed all of his redemptive work. They
were under the law. They kept the Passover. They
were circumcised. They kept the Lord's Day. They
kept the dietary laws, they did all these things. And the tithe,
he says, these things you ought to have done and not to leave
the others undone. That's the only place that is
mentioned there in the back of Christ telling people they ought
to tithe. And those men were under the law, but we're not
under the law. Well, that second motive that's
used to get people to give, they say it's your, you owe it, it's
your, it's your duty to tithe. The motive is given in rewards. This is what is taught. If you
give, if you plant these seeds, God will reward you. He'll reward
you here on earth with a special rewards and honor and he'll reward
you with a better job and prosperity and all of these things. If you
give, and then he'll give you a special place in heaven. You'll
have rewards on earth and rewards in heaven. If you give, God rewards
you financially and materially. My friends, this is not a motive
for giving, this is covetousness. This is selfishness. Turn to
the book of Luke, chapter 6. Luke, the 6th chapter. This is
what our Lord said in reference to covetousness and selfishness
as a motive for giving reward. Listen. In Luke chapter 6, verse
32. If you love them which love you,
what thank have you? Unbelievers also love those that
love them. If you do good to them which
do good to you, If you do good in order to get
something back, what like have you? Unbelievers also do the
same thing. If you lend, if you give to them
of whom you hope to receive something in return, what like have you? Anybody does that. Anybody lends
to others to receive as much again, or a little interest on
it. That's just trading back and
forth. But I say unto you, verse 35,
love your enemies and do good, and give, lean, hoping for nothing
again, hoping for nothing again, not motivated by seeking a reward
or return on your investment or someone to do good to you.
I say hoping for nothing again, and your reward will be great.
And you be called the children of the highest, for he's kind,
not to get something back. He's kind to the unthankful,
and he's kind to the evil. So be ye therefore merciful as
your Father in heaven is merciful. So tithing, that's not what's
taught in the New Testament, not for believers. That's under
the law. We're not under the law of Moses.
seeking rewards, hoping for something in return for what we do, that's
not the motive. Our Lord Jesus Christ condemned
that. Well, here's the third one. Another
motive used today to promote giving, to encourage people to
give, is fear. If you pay your tithes and other
requirements, you'll prosper. But if you don't pay your tithes,
you'll suffer. If you pay your tithes, God will
reward you. If you don't pay your tithes,
God will take it away from you some other way. I was in a meeting one time in
North Carolina where they were trying to drum up support for
missionaries, and that's a good cause, supporting missionaries.
But one of the preachers there came forth with this idea. That
if you tithe and give, your car won't break down. But if you
don't, you might have to trade cars. Or your washing machine
will fold up. Or your children will get sick.
In other words, just implanted a motive of fear in the people. Well, I better sign up, because
I don't want to be buying another car. I don't want to be buying
another... That's an evil motive. Fear, that's not joy. That's
not a blessing. Now here's another motive being
used today. This is the television evangelist praising people for their gifts.
We'll put your name on a brick. You can buy one brick or five
bricks or ten bricks. We're going to build a brick
patio and your name will be on a brick. Oh, we'll send you a
certificate. You belong to the 700, the 600,
the 500, the 400 club, you know, you're an official member of
the club. This is an honor that comes from men. And to give on
that basis is evil. Let me show you two scriptures.
Turn to Psalm 49. Psalm chapter 49, verse 10 through
12. People leaving their names behind
on buildings and monuments and special things that they've done
in giving money. Now listen to this, in Psalm
49, verse 10. For he seeth that wise men die,
they do, likewise the fool and the brutish person perish, they
all die. and leave whatever they have
to others. Naked I came into this world, and naked I'm going
out. And whether I'm a wise man or
a fool or whatever, I'm going to leave it all. I'm not taking
any of it. It's all going to stay right
where it was accumulated, right here. Verse 11, their inward
thought is, now here's their thought, that their houses, their
names, Their purposes, their promotion, their endeavors shall
continue forever. They want their names continued
on this earth. They don't want to leave it like
everybody leaves it. They want it continued. They want to be
remembered. So their thought is that their
houses shall continue forever and their dwelling places to
all generations, so they call their lands after their old names. They leave their names back here
so folks will remember what today is. An evil motive. Every time you see the name,
oh, he's the fellow that gave this and gave that and gave the
other. Verse 12. A man being in honor, abideth
not. He's like the beast that got
run over by the car in the road and they drug him off. That's
what it amounts to. Here's the other scripture, Matthew
chapter 6. Matthew chapter 6. The master
speaks. Matthew chapter 6, verse 1. Matthew 6, verse 1. Now take
heed, this is what we've been reading about, that you do not
your alms, your giving, your righteousness before men to be
seen of them or to be remembered of them. Otherwise, you have
no reward of your Father which is in heaven. Therefore, when
you do your alms, don't sound the trumpet before you. Don't
declare it and promote it as the hypocrites do in the synagogues
and in the streets, that they may have the glory of men. Verily
I say unto you, when they do this and men glorify them, they
have their reward. But when you do your alms, let
it be in secret. Let not your left hand know what
your right hand doeth. That your alms may be in secret,
that your giving might be in secret, and your Father which
sees in secret will reward you openly. Now I tell you kindly and sincerely, but very positively,
that motivating people, and somebody feels like all giving
is good, that's fine if it helps somebody, but I want to help
the person that does the giving. I want that person to be blessed.
So I say that to motivate people to give and to share based on
duty, tithing, taxing them, rewarding, fearful, praise and honor is
displeasing to the Lord. I think I've proved that, haven't
I, Ben, from the Scripture? It's displeasing to God. It's
a denial of grace, and God won't bless it. You see, A fellow said
to me one time, he said, I've never made a study of the theology
of giving. Giving's not a theology, it's
experience. It's an attitude. It's a state
of heart. Giving's not a law, it's not
a doctrine, it's not theology. You see, mercy and grace is the
gift of God in regeneration. If any man be in Christ, he's
a new creature. Old things are passed away and
all things become new. He's a new person. I can do all
things through Christ who strengthens me, because it's Christ who strengthens
me. So this thing of mercy and grace
in the heart is the gift of God in regeneration. Mercy and grace
is the fruit of the Spirit in sanctification. Mercy and grace
is the life and mind of Christ in us by experience. He's in us. That's what giving is. And the Apostle Paul, let me
show you something, now turn to 2 Corinthians. The Lord gave
the Apostle Paul, when he wrote the book of 2 Corinthians, Paul,
he led the Apostle Paul to dedicate two whole chapters in the book
of 2 Corinthians to the subject of giving. How we should give,
who should give, and so forth and so on. Two whole chapters.
I'm not going to try to cover all of them. I'm going to try
to give you about five words that Paul uses in these two chapters,
2 Corinthians chapter 8, chapter 9. have to do totally solely
with how to give, how to give in joy, how to give so that it's
a blessing and not a duty or reward or fear or seeking recognition. Now here they are, here are the
five words. The first one is the word grace. Let's start with
chapter 8 verse 1. Chapter 8 verse 1. We do you to wit, that is, I
want to inform you, I want to make you aware of the grace of
God bestowed on the churches of Macedonia. Now here's our
first word, it's grace. Giving is a grace. The grace
of God that was bestowed on the churches of Macedonia. How then,
in great trial of affliction, The abundance of their joy and
their deep poverty abounded unto the riches of their liberality.
They were people who were not prosperous, they were people
who were in poverty, but they still gave. Not only to their
power, I bear record, verse 3, beyond their power, beyond their
ability, they were willing of themselves to give. And he says in verse 4, and they
prayed us, they prayed Us, myself and the other apostles, were
much entreated that we would receive the gift that they gave
and take upon us the fellowship of ministering it to others.
Paul said, this church, I won't tell you about the grace of God
to these churches in Macedonia. They weren't rich people, they
were just poor people, but even in their poverty, The grace of
God enabled them to take up a collection for suffering saints. And they
called us and gave it to us and prayed that we'd take it and
distribute it as the people had need. Verse 5. And this they
did, beyond our hope. He said, not as we hope, beyond
our hope. First they gave their own selves
to the Lord and unto us by the will of God. That's where it
started. It started with grace in the heart. The Lord gave them
that will and that desire to share with others, and then they
gave it to the apostles. All right, so this is what Paul
says now about the church of Corinth. In so much that I desired
Titus, that as he had begun, he would also finish in you this
grace. I want Titus to come down there
and teach you the Spirit of giving. like these churches in Macedonia.
And he, in the next verse, he compliments the church in Colorado. He says in verse 7, therefore
as you abound in everything, this was an abounding church. You abound in faith, you're a
church that's strong in faith, you love Christ, you believe
the gospel. You abound in utterance, you're strong preachers of the
gospel. The gospel sounds forth from
your pulpit. You believe God. You're strong
in utterance and knowledge. You're strong in knowledge. You
know the doctrines of grace. You know the truth of God. And
in all diligence, you are diligent people. And in your love to us,
you love the apostles. You love the preachers of the
gospel. Now watch this. See that you're bound in this
grace also. It's a grace. Not a theology,
it's not a duty, it's not a requirement, it's a grace. Grace in the heart. Grace in the heart. Generosity
is a mark of grace in the heart. It can't be taught. It has to
be revealed. That's right. You're bound in
faith and preaching, bound in this grace also, grace of giving. All right, verse 8, now here's
the second word, and that is love. Grace and love. He says in verse 8, I speak not
by commandment. I'm not commanded of God to tell
you what to give. Now, if tithing is what we're
supposed to do, that's a commandment. That's a commandment of the Old
Testament. If as your pastor, I believe
you ought to put aside 10% of everything you've got, I can't
say I speak not by commandment. I have a commandment. But Paul
said, I don't have that commandment. I'm not commanding you what to
give or how much to give or even when to give. I'm not commanding
you at all. I'm not ordering you. But I'll
tell you this, I'm speaking by the occasion of the love and
forwardness of others. I'm holding forth an example,
an example of those before you that have been blessed of God
to give. And secondly, to prove the sincerity
of your love. That's it. Giving is motivated
by love. And here's the chief example,
verse 9. For you know the grace of our
Lord Jesus Christ. the grace of Christ, the love
of Christ, though he was rich, for your sakes he became poor,
that you, through his poverty, might be rich. That's it. That's motivated by love. And
turn to 1 Corinthians 13. And if love is not the motive,
then the gift is really useless. And this is powerful here now.
In 1 Corinthians chapter 12, I'll read a couple of verses
in chapter 12 first. A couple of verses here in chapter
12, verse 30. Have all the gifts of healing,
do all speak with tongues, do all interpret in that early church?
No. Well, covet the best gifts, but I'm going to show you a better
way. a more excellent way. Though I speak with the tongues
of men and of angels and have not love, I am become as a sounding
brass or a tinkling cymbal. And though I have the gift of
prophecy and understand all mysteries and all knowledge and have all
faith so that I can remove mountains and have not love, I am nothing.
And though I bestow my goods to feed the poor, I give my body
to be burned and have not love, It profit me nothing." Herein
is love. Not that we love God, but He
loved us and gave His Son to be the perpetuation for our sin.
That's the true motive. And that's how He seeks to motivate
these people in verse 9. You see the grace of our Lord
Jesus Christ. Though He was rich, for your
sakes He became poor. that you through his property
might be rich. All right, verse, now here's
another word, verse 11. The word willing, the word willing, number 11. Now therefore perform the doing
of it, that as there was a readiness
to will, so there may be a performance also out of that which you have.
For if there be first a willing mind, that is first. It is accepted according to that
a man hath, and not according to that he hath not. If the will
is there, if the love and the will is there, it's accepted. Whatever service I perform or
whatever gift I give, the size of it's not important. The size
of it is not important. It amounts to little. It's the
will. It's the desire. Let me show
you a couple of scriptures. Turn to Psalm 50. Psalm 50, verse
9 through 15. Psalm 50, verse 9. The Lord says here in verse 9,
Psalm 50, I'll take no bullock out of your house. or he goats
out of your foes. Why? Because every beast of the
forest is mine, and the cattle upon a thousand hills. I know
all the fowls of the mountains and the wild beasts of the fields
are mine. If I were hungry, I wouldn't
tell you. The world is mine, and the fullness of it. Will
I eat the flesh of bulls or drink the blood of goats? Offer unto
the Lord thanksgiving, and pay thy vows unto the Most High,
and call upon me in the day of trouble, and I will deliver thee,
and thou shalt glorify me." There's a willing spirit, the love of
the heart for him, for his people, and the willingness. There will
first be a willing mind. Now turn to Mark chapter 12. The size of the gift to him who
owns everything is really nothing. It's really nothing. He said,
I own the cattle on a thousand hills, everything mine. It's
not the size at all, it's the love from which it's given and
the willingness to give. That's the two most important
things there. In Mark chapter 12, Now listen
to this. And Jesus sat over against the
treasury and beheld how people cast money into the treasury.
Now this was a day back there under the tithe and all this
sort of thing. And watched them give, and many
that were rich cast in much. And there came a certain poor
widow. She threw in two mites, and he describes in the margin
there how small that was, two mites that make up fathering.
And he called unto his disciples, and saith unto them, Verily I
say unto you, that this poor widow hath cast more in than
all they that had cast into the treasury, all these people They
gave out of their abundance, and they have so much more left
than she, but she, they gave in their abundance, but she,
of her want, out of love and willingness, did cast in all
she had, even all her living. So as far as God's concerned,
and as far as the gift is concerned, the size of it is not important. I'll show you something. Anybody know what that is? I
said, Preacher, that's a golf ball on a string. Well, it's
really not. It's really not. It's a telescope. That's what it is. It's a telescope.
And it's a cheap one at that. You wouldn't want to go to a
ball game with this. It's a cheap one. But a long time ago, years
and years ago, one of my grandchildren was given about five dollars
to buy everybody a Christmas gift. And out of love for his
heart and willingness, he bought his granddaddy a telescope. And it really doesn't mean anything
to anybody else, but I've had it hanging in my study at home
for 15 or 20 years. Because it means a lot to me.
It came from the heart. It came from a willing mind. And it came from his poverty. He didn't have much. But it's
worth a lot to me. You couldn't buy it. That's right. And that's exactly what this
is saying here. Grace in the heart. Love. And a willing mind. Not because
I had to, not because I expected to, not because I ought to, not
to get the reward and not to be remembered, but just because
I wanted to. That's it. Now let me give you,
turn to chapter 9. Here's a couple more words before
I let you go. A couple more words. In chapter
9 of 2 Corinthians, verse 7. Every man according as he purposes
in his heart, so let him give. Now let's pause there just a
moment. Any time that you get into a
discussion with someone on this tithing business, and they keep
insisting, that's the way we're supposed to give, you take them
to this verse. This word settles the issue.
If I am obligated and required by law to give ten percent, purposing
in my heart has nothing to do with it. That's right. There's no reason for me to consult
my heart. There's no reason for me to purpose
anything. There's no reason for me to sit
around and determine, because of the way God's blessed me,
to bless somewhere. I've got a tax to pay, so I'll
pay it. Every man, every man, according
as he purposes in his own heart, so let him give. And that's the
way. That every person, as he determines
in his own mind and purposes in his own heart, not reluctantly,
not grudgingly, not sorrowfully, not of compulsion, not of necessity,
For the Lord God loves and takes pleasure in a cheerful giver,
one whose heart is in his giving. God Almighty takes pleasure. He loves a cheerful giver, not
a tither, not one who begrudges, not one who gives in necessity,
not one who gives because he has to. God loves a person of
grace who gives because he wants to, because he loves to, because
Christ is in his heart. And you know something, verse
8? And the Lord is able to make all grace abound towards you,
so that you always have all sufficiency in all things, and may keep on
giving. May abound to every good work.
He'll supply your need. That's what it says here. That
person who has found out the joy of giving and the blessedness
of giving and the love of giving and the willingness to give,
God will keep his hands full. That's what that says. God is
able to make all grace abound towards you, that you, always
having all sufficiency in all things, may abound in that good
work, as it is written over there in the book of Psalms. He hath
dispersed abroad, he hath given to the poor, and his righteousness
remaineth forever." In other words, you can't out-give God. Maybe I can't afford to do this.
You can't, but he can. That's right, you can't out-give
him. Verse 10, this is speaking of
God. God that ministers seed to the
sower, both ministers bread for your food. and multiply your
seed so and increase the fruit of your righteousness." Now,
that's four words. Now, here's the last one. I'll
close. Thanksgiving. Grace, love, willingness, and purpose in our hearts. Now,
here's the last one with thanksgiving. And this mentions this over and
over, verse 11, being enriched in everything to all bountifulness,
which causes through us thanksgiving to God. For the administration
of this service not only supplies the want of the saints, but is
abundant also by many thanksgivings to God. It just gives God glory.
You know what I'm talking about because you're a generous giving
people. It causes people to thank God. Not only ministers to want, but
it makes people thank God. Well, by the experience of the
experiment of this ministration, they glorify God for your professed
subjection unto the gospel of Christ, for your liberal disprodution
unto them and to all men. They praise God for you. And
by their prayer for you, which long after you for the exceeding
grace of God in you." Now, in closing, I jotted this down. The Apostle, in closing these
two chapters, chapter 8, verse 9, chapter 9, he's given us motives
for giving. All these motives, I've given
you grace and love and and willing heart and purpose with thanksgiving. Now, he closes this with the
strongest motive and argument that can be used by anyone to
stir people up to generosity, kindness, mercy and grace to
one another. And that is he calls our attention
to God's wonderful, indescribable, inexpressible, unspeakable gift,
verse 15, thanks be unto God for His unspeakable gift. How can I glorify Him? Well,
for that gift right there. One, by resting the whole of
my salvation on Christ. by giving him the glory for all
that I am and have, salvations of the Lord. Three, by acknowledging
that it's God that made me the difference. And fourthly, by
putting in practice this same spirit. Let this mind be in you,
which was also in Christ Jesus, our Lord. I hope that's a blessing
to you.