Nine Bible Words About Giving

Q: What does the Bible say about giving?

The Bible emphasizes that giving should be motivated by grace and love, not by obligation. The Bible addresses the concept of giving extensively, particularly in 2 Corinthians chapters 8 and 9. It teaches that giving is an outpouring of grace; thus, the grace of giving is essential for believers. In 2 Corinthians 8:7, it states that believers should abound in this grace as they do in other graces like faith, knowledge, and love. Furthermore, the motivation behind giving is crucial; it should stem from love, as indicated in 2 Corinthians 8:8. If we give out of obligation, it counts for nothing, but when our giving is an expression of love, it is pleasing to God.

Q: Why is grace important in Christian giving?

Grace is foundational in Christian giving because it reflects God's own grace towards us. Grace is paramount in Christian giving as it mirrors the grace that God has shown to us. The concept of grace in giving is encapsulated in 2 Corinthians 8:7, where Paul instructs the Corinthians to abound in the grace of giving. This grace is not about the amount we give, but about the attitude and motivation behind our giving. Giving out of grace means recognizing that all we have is a gift from God, and as a response to His generosity and love, we are compelled to give willingly and cheerfully. Thus, giving becomes a form of worship and gratitude rather than a legalistic obligation.

Q: How do we know that God desires cheerful giving?

God desires cheerful giving as it shows a willingness and joy in supporting His work. God desires cheerful giving because it reflects a heart that is joyous in the act of giving. In 2 Corinthians 9:7, Paul states, 'Let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver.' This suggests that God is more concerned with the heart behind the gift than the gift itself. Cheerful giving indicates an alignment with God's own nature, as He gives generously and without reservation. Therefore, our giving should stem from gratitude and joy in response to His grace, rather than compulsion or fear of obligation.

Q: What is the significance of giving according to proportion?

Giving according to proportion signifies that each person should give based on how God has prospered them. The principle of giving according to proportion is significant as it allows for equality among believers. In 1 Corinthians 16:2, Paul advises that each individual should give as they have prospered. This reflects the understanding that God has entrusted us with varying resources and expects us to share those resources equitably. The focus is not on equal amounts but on equal sacrifice. This proportionate giving fosters a community in which all members contribute according to their ability, leading to mutual support and an acknowledgment of shared blessings from God. It emphasizes that generosity comes in many forms, and individual circumstances should guide different levels of giving.

Q: Why is love essential in the context of giving?

Love is essential in giving because it ensures that our gifts are sincere and pleasing to God. Love is at the heart of Christian giving, as emphasized in 2 Corinthians 8:8, where Paul points out that giving should prove the sincerity of our love. When our giving is motivated by love, it transforms the act from mere transaction into a heartfelt expression of one’s faith and devotion to God and His people. Love engages our hearts, encouraging us to give joyfully and generously without the weight of obligation. Moreover, when we give out of love, it becomes a reflection of Christ's love for us, highlighting that sacrificial giving is not just about the gift itself but about the relationship and heart from which it flows. Therefore, if giving is absent of love, it becomes worthless in God's eyes.

We're going to open our Bibles,
first of all, to the Book of 2 Corinthians, Chapter 8, 2 Corinthians
8. The title of the message tonight
is, Nine Bible Words About Giving. Now there's no reason for the
mature believer, and I'll be speaking tonight to mature believers,
There's no reason for the mature believer to be uninformed on
the subject of giving. There are plenty of scriptures
in the Bible on this subject. In fact, the entire 8th chapter
of 2 Corinthians and the entire 9th chapter of 2 Corinthians,
both of them are devoted to one subject, and that is giving. And I've worked on a little message
tonight that's been helpful to me, and I want to pass it along
to you. And I've designed it in this
way, nine New Testament words in regard to giving. And I think
it'll help you to remember What I've said about the subject,
if you'll jot down these words, probably in the back of your
Bible, nine New Testament words about giving, and then you can
jot down out next to the word the scripture that we use. For
example, the first word is grace. Grace. And the scripture that
I'm using is 2 Corinthians 8.7. Now the first word in dealing
with the subject of Christian giving is the word grace. He says in 2 Corinthians 8, 7,
Therefore as you abound in everything, now the word abound means to
overflow, generous outpouring. And he says this church abounds
in faith, as you abound in everything in faith. You are a church noted
for your faith. You believe God's word. You believe
in Christ. You believe in the doctrines
of God's word. You are a church noted for your
faith. You abound in faith and utterance. Your church noted
for your gift of speech." Now, this could be one of two things.
It could be either the gift of tongues, for he deals with this
in the letters to the Corinthians, or it could be the gift of understanding
and preaching the word of God. You are a church, and this may
be it, because Paul prayed that he might have open doors of utterance
through which he might preach the gospel. So as you abound
in faith and utterance, that is, knowledge in the preaching
of the word of God, and as you abound in knowledge, knowledge
of Christ and of the truth of the gospel, You're bound in all
diligence. Your ministers preach the word.
You attend the services faithfully. You protect the ordinances. You're
zealous for baptism and the Lord's Supper. You hedge about the doctrines. You defend them. So you're bound
in diligence. And you're bound in love to us.
He said you love the apostles. You love the elders. You esteem
them and honor them as men of God. See that you are bound in
this grace also." Now the grace he's talking about is the grace
of giving. As I said, the whole 8th chapter
of 2 Corinthians deals with giving. And the first word that Paul
uses to describe Christian giving is the word grace. The grace
of giving. Let this grace be yours as well
as these other graces. You are bound in the grace of
faith and the grace of love and the grace of utterance and knowledge
and diligence and these things. See that you are bound in this
grace also. Grace and the ability to show
grace is the gift of God's grace. If God's grace is absent, human
grace is absent. If God's grace is present, human
grace is present. Now the second word is love,
verse eight. The second Bible word dealing
with giving is love. 2 Corinthians 8, he says, I speak
not by commandment. The Apostle says, I'm not ordering
you to guilt. No siree. I speak not by commandment,
but by the occasion of the forwardness of others, and to prove the sincerity
of your love. Now brethren, if the Apostle
commands us to guilt, he's defeating the whole concept of grace. He's
defeating the whole concept of love. When people are commanded
and they do things as a result of a command, it's not grace
and it's not love. God has not set terms or sums
for his people to give. I'll challenge anybody in the
whole United States on that. God has not set times nor sums
for his people to give. Giving is like any other grace,
got to be motivated by love or it's a sin. Now that's so. Let me show you that. Hold the
scripture here and turn to 1 Corinthians 13. Giving is like any other
grace. If it's not motivated by love,
it's sin. In 1 Corinthians 13, verse 1,
listen, Do I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have
not charity or love? I am become as a sounding brass
or a tinkling cymbal. That's about what it's worth.
And do I have the gift of prophecy and understand all mysteries
and all knowledge, and do I have all faith? so that I could remove
mountains and have not love, I'm nothing. And though I bestow
all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to
be burned and have not love, it profiteth me nothing." So
these preachers can pass out their pledge cards, and they
can write articles in their bulletins on how Christians ought to give
ten percent, and they can browbeat and challenge and and command
their people to give, that's up to them, but I'm simply saying
this, Paul says, I speak not by commandment. He's not saying
that this is not the word of God, he's saying I'm not commanding
you to do anything. I'm not commanding you to give.
He said, I'm simply speaking by the occasion of the forwardness
of others and to prove the sincerity of your love. If you love, he
said, you'll give. If you love, you'll give. And
look at the next verse. He shows us this love in operation,
for you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. Though he
were rich, yet for your sake he became poor, that you through
his poverty might be rich. He's saying here the love of
the Father gave the, look at the last verse in this ninth
chapter on giving. The last verse in chapter nine.
Thanks be unto God for His unspeakable gift. The Father loved and gave
the Son. The Son loved and gave Himself. If we love, we'll give ourselves
and of our means and whatever we have. It's got to be based
on love or it's no good. And therefore Paul says, I'm
not commanding you to give. God doesn't set times nor sums
for his people to give. And you remember this one statement.
Giving is like any other grace. If it's not motivated by love,
it's a sin. Sinful praying, sinful giving,
sinful worship, anything else that's not motivated from love. All right, the third word now
is found in verse 12, 2 Corinthians 8, and that's the word willing. Willing. For if there be first
a willing mind. If there be first a willing mind. If our gifts are given from a
willing heart and a cheerful heart, freely given, it's accepted
of God. For he said, if there be first
a willing mind, it is accepted, according to that a man hath,
and not according to that that he hath not. Now, the quantity
matters little. The quantity matters little.
Whether it be great or whether it be small, the quantity has
no bearing on its acceptance, none whatsoever. It's based on what you have to
give, not what you don't have. It's not the amount, it's the
motive, a willing heart. Turn to Exodus 35. Here's a beautiful scripture
on this subject, Exodus 35, and this word is used over and over
again. Now Moses was receiving an offering
from the people for the tabernacle, Exodus 35 forward. Now listen
to this. And Moses spake unto all the
congregation of the children of Israel, saying, This is the
thing which the Lord commanded. Take ye from among you an offering
unto the Lord, whosoever is of a willing heart, let him bring
it, an offering of the Lord, gold, silver, and brass, and
so forth, whosoever is of a willing heart." Now look at verse 29,
this same chapter, Exodus 35. The children of Israel brought
a willing offering unto the Lord. Every man and woman whose heart
made them willing to bring for all manner of work which the
Lord had commanded to be made with the hand of Moses, a willing
offering." This is the area that needs our careful attention.
He uses the word cheerful over in the next chapter. He said
God loves a cheerful giver. I want to read you a letter I
got today. Every once in a while we get offerings from the television
audience. Sometimes we get, oh, one last
week somebody sent a $98 check, and somebody sent a $60 check
for the tape ministry this week, and Man in Pipe will send a $20
bill every couple of weeks. I got a letter from this young
man in the penitentiary at Lucasville. This is Tom DeJarnett. This is
the former boxer, the black friend of mine there that I think so
much of. We write regularly. He makes twelve dollars a month.
That's what he's allowed. This check made out to me and
to the church here is for three dollars. And he said, Dear Brother
Mahan, I thought I'd get a note out to you. It's been such a
nice week. Good fellowship last night at
the church. They have a church service there.
They have a chaplain. We shared so many wonderful thoughts
together, and I'm glad to see some spiritual movement here.
It really was a blessing last night. We only have 18. We're
a small body of membership. But I want you to know that this
$3 is not enough to mention, but it's from my heart. If it
were $300,000, it would not be enough for how the gospel which
you preach has played such a role in my outlook for a more meaningful
life. It helps me in this struggle,
you see, when a man has craved sin, such as me, until he hates
it bad enough to crave God. And this is how I seem to be,
thirsty and hungry, as I seek a better purpose. There's never
enough money or words to express my gratitude toward you or the
13th Street Baptist Church. But I want to do little things
for people as I can. Because one of the hardest things
to accomplish in life is to be as generous to someone else as
you are to yourself. This guy's poetical, I tell you.
No education, I imagine, amount to much, but good night. He's
brilliant in his heart. I believe much of your knack
of teaching has rubbed off on this old boy in a big way. I thank God for your brotherhood,
your friend Thomas, and as he's checked. It's not the amount,
and that's what Paul is saying here in 2 Corinthians 8 verse
12, there must be a willing mind. This is a willing mind. That's the key to it, a willing
mind. And this is the area that needs...
Any time that I give, and I'm talking to myself too, any time
I give out of a sense of duty, and a preacher ought to give,
he ought to lead the congregation in giving, but any time I give
out of responsibility, or out of a sense of debt, or even to
set an example, or even from obligation, I'm in trouble. It's got to be given from a willing
heart, from a cheerful heart. This is what I want to do. This
is what I want to do. Now another word that describes
giving, you've got to go back to 1 Corinthians for this, verse
16. 1 Corinthians 16, that's the
word proportion. You know nearly everybody wants
us to tell them how much to give. People everywhere want to talk
about percentages. But I just, I'm just not going
to get drawn into that. Because it's, Brother Muse described
it one time, he said, if you tie the underlaw, you don't get
an outlaw. And I guess that describes it
about as good as any way. But I want you to see if this
word doesn't help us to know how to give in the sense of the
psalm, the amount, 1 Corinthians 16. Now, verse 1, concerning
the collection for the saints. As I have given orders to the
churches of Galatia, even so do ye. Upon the first day of
the week, let every one of you lay by in store, as God hath
prospered him." As God hath prospered him. That there be no gatherings
when I come. Paul said, I won't take up an
offering, I get there, you do it for I get there. Proportion. Now here's the thing, let's look
at this a moment. I jotted down these notes. Every
good and perfect gift comes from God. Whatever I have comes from
God. If I drive an expensive car,
if I drive a Volkswagen, God gave me either one of them. If
I can wear fine clothes, God gave me those. If I don't have
very fine clothes, God gave me that. If I live in a mansion,
But if I live in a log cabin, everything comes from God. And
some, God has blessed more than he's blessed others, financially,
materially. Therefore, this verse says there
to give more. It says, look at it again, let
every one of you lay by and store, given the offering, as God has
prospered you. If God has prospered you, if
you make $10,000 a year, you certainly should give more than
the man who makes $5,000 a year, as God has prospered. God prospers
both of them. And the man who makes very little,
now we're talking about Tom giving us $3, you say, isn't that wonderful?
He's supposed to give. He's a child of God. I don't
care if you make five cents a week. I wish my children could learn
this, and elderly people, and folks on Social Security. I don't
care if a man's on Social Security is supposed to give to the Kingdom
of God. I don't care if we're living
on a pension we're supposed to give. We're supposed to give. Now that's right. Every one of
you, as God has prospered you, in proportion as God has prospered
you. And my gift to the gospel and
my gift to aid those in need is based on my ability to give
according as God's enabled me. Now turn back to 2 Corinthians
8 a moment, verse 14. It says, but by an equality,
by an equality, that's the way we're supposed to give. Verse
13 says, I mean not that other men be eased and you burdened.
One fellow, two or three, four, five, ten, twelve, not supposed
to carry the load. Every person in the kingdom of
God is supposed to give. We'll get to that word in a minute,
the word everyone. But my friends, God's people,
and I listen to this and remember this and I emphasize it with
all my heart, we're not under the law to tithe any more than
we're under the law to keep the Sabbath day. Now that's so. God's people are not tax payers,
they're sons. I'm not a taxpayer in the kingdom
of God. I'm a son. I'm an heir. And I don't sit
at home and figure out, now I made $220 this week, so I owe $22
tithe. I'm not a taxpayer. I'm a son. I own part of this kingdom. I'm
an heir of this kingdom. There was a salesman who came
in and got on an airplane and sat down by a preacher. He didn't
know he was a preacher. He just sat down by a man sitting
there who happened to be a minister. And they rode a little while
and the minister didn't say anything. The man didn't know he was a
minister. But after a while the man was a young man, talkative,
and he turned and said, How do you do? The minister said, How
do you do? The salesman said, I'm in the
jewelry business. The pastor thought a minute.
He thought, well, God's making up his jewels. He said, I am
too. And the salesman said, well,
we deal only in the best jewels. The preacher said, we do too,
to their best. And the salesman said, but I'm
in business with my father. And the preacher looked at him
and said, well, that's strange. I am too. And the salesman said,
well, he trusts me with much of his business. The preacher
said, my father does too. And the salesman said, I'm on
my way right now to a meeting with my father. The preacher
said, that's strange, I am too. And the salesman said, well,
I hope I can give a good report. The preacher said, I hope I can
do. And I think that pretty well
sums up this proportion thing. has put some things in my hands
and in your hands. God's trusted me with some material
things, he's trusted me with some physical blessings, he's
trusted me with his word, he's trusted me and you with a lot
of things, hasn't he? And he's abundantly blessed us
all of us And I am to give as He has blessed me and as He enables
me to give. And I'm not to look and see what
another person's giving that has no bearing on it whatsoever.
I'm not supposed to ask the preacher, what do you think I ought to
give? That has no bearing on it. I'm supposed to give as God
has enabled me. Stay at 1 Corinthians 16, here's
the fifth word, the word everyone, everyone. Upon the first day
of the week, let every one of you, this means the rich and
the poor, Our Lord Jesus didn't hand the widow's mite back to
her when she came down and put it on the table. He said she
gave all she had, but he left it right there in the collection
and blessed her. The old and the young, the rich and the poor,
the leaders and those who serve, the young people, the elderly
people, The amount of the gift, I stress it over and over again,
is not important. Actually, sometimes a small gift
means more in the kingdom of God than a great gift. It's simply
recognizing the Lord's sovereignty and Lordship over all things
and my gratitude to him for what he's given me, and also a willingness
to share it with others. Now, let's go back to 2 Corinthians
chapter 9, pick up this sixth word, and that is the word liberally,
liberally. 2 Corinthians 9 verse 6. Now, look at this verse carefully
here. In verse 5, Paul said, Therefore
I thought it necessary to exhort the brethren that they would
go before unto you, and make up beforehand your bounty, or
your collection, or your offering, whereof you had noticed before
that this offering might be ready as a matter of bounty, as a matter
of blessing, or giving, and not of covetousness. But this I say,
He that soweth sparingly shall reap sparingly, he that soweth
bountifully shall reap also bountifully." Now let me use an illustration
about giving liberally. God's people are liberal people.
They're generous people because they have been treated generously.
But this thing of learning to give generously will enable us
to be blessed generously. Now the Lord promises here, he
which soweth sparingly is going to reap that way, and he that
soweth liberally or bountifully shall reap bountifully. Now there's
a good deal of likeness between sowing seed in the earth and
giving. See if you can catch this with
me. First of all, the seed that we sow, if we're going to make
a garden, the seed that we sow is seed Not that it's worthless. It's not seed that is left over. It's not seed that we don't need
or don't want. But when we go out to sow seed,
we carefully select good stock, don't we? Good stock, good seed. We're not going to put in the
ground bad seed, worthless seed. In other words, when I'm giving
in the kingdom of God, what I give ought to be taken off the top,
not what's left over, not what I don't need, not that which
is worthless to me, but select good stock, good seed. Now, secondly,
the seed is scattered about the field. It's not just placed in
one place. here, in one place here, it's
scattered over the entire field. It's given where it is needed,
wisely but generously. And then here's something that
Spurgeon pointed out. The seed that is sown is scattered
with an open hand. With an open hand. The sower,
in order to have a harvest, has got to turn loose of the seed.
He's got to turn loose of it. He can't grip it in his fist.
He can't hesitate to let it go. He can't just sprinkle a little
bit here and there. He's got to generously sow it. He's got to let it go, and let
it go liberally. If he expects to have a great
heart. If he sows sparingly, that's the way he's going to
reap. If he sows liberally and boundlessly,
that's the way his harvest is going to be. Now his is the business
to sow. God's business to give the hardest.
Turn to the book of Galatians a moment. Now, not many people,
Lester read this in the study tonight when we had our Bible
reading and prayer back there. Not many people know this, but
this Galatians 6 is talking about giving too. Beginning with verse
6 of Galatians 6, let him that's taught in the word, that's you,
Communicate unto him that teacheth in material things. In other
words, when a preacher is preaching or teaching the word of God,
his church is supposed to take care of him financially and materially. That's what it's saying there.
Communicate or give. Be not deceived. God is not mocked. For whatsoever man soweth, that
shall he also reap. We're going right back to this
thing of giving. as a man gives. Now, we've got
to learn to give. We've got to learn the grace
of it. We've got to have the right motive
of it, love. We've got to have a willing heart.
And we only give as God enables us, and the amount's not important.
The amount is not important. And we've got to do it with an
open, liberal, generous spirit. We've got to sow bountifully,
not And look at verse 8, For he that soweth to his flesh shall
of the flesh reap corruption. If I invest everything I've got
in myself, what's the problem? I'm sowing to my flesh, I'm gratifying
my flesh, I'm pleasing my flesh, I'm taking care of my flesh,
I shall of the flesh reap corruption. I'll watch it all decay, I'll
watch it all fall around my ears, I'll come to old age with nothing.
But he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life
everlasting. Let us not be weary in well-doing. In due season we'll reap if we
faint not. As we have therefore, then, opportunity,
let us do good unto all men, especially them who are the household
of faith." That's what that verse is talking about. A lot of people
think that verse, "...be not deceived, God is not mocked,
whatsoever man soweth, that shall he reap." I'm not going to reap
the bad deeds I've sown. They've paid for on Calvary's
cross. No such thing as that at all. My sins have been counseled,
been put away, been separated from me as far as the East is
from the West. I don't expect to ever hear from them again.
But I'm going to hear from something else again. Through life, as
I get older, I'm going to hear from whether or not I've been
faithful to what God's put in my hands, whether I'm a steward,
a good steward of the grace of God and of the material blessing
and all these things that He has trusted me with. And if I
sow sparingly, that's the kind of harvest I'm going to have.
If I sow bountifully and generously and liberally, turn to Luke 6. Let me show you this over in
the book of Luke. And it's a difficult thing. I know we're on a difficult
subject. But it's one we need to study
because the Bible has so much to say about it. Luke 6, 38.
He says, Give, and it shall be given unto you. Good measure,
pressed down, shaken together, and running over shall men give
unto your bosom. For we're the same measure that
you meet. It's going to be measured to
you. That's what God said. It's going
to be measured to you. Turn to Deuteronomy 15, look at this
verse here. This is an excellent verse on
this particular word, liberality, generosity. In Deuteronomy 15,
11, For the poor shall never cease out of the land. Therefore
I command thee, saying, Thou shalt open thine hand wide unto
thy brother, to thy poor and to thy needy, in thy land. Open
your hand wide. Very wide. The thing about sowing
is that you don't harvest the next day, you don't harvest the
next week even. You know patiently that you put
that seed in the ground, you cast your bread upon the water
and hoping for nothing in return, but God will return it. Now here's
another word, the word voluntary. This is the seventh word. 2 Corinthians
9, look at this one. Paul says, "...every man according
as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give." In other words,
I judge this scripture to mean this. I'm not to tell you when
to give, I'm not to tell you how to give. If you want to put
it in one of those envelopes, you can. If you don't want to,
you don't have to. If you want to send it to a missionary, you
can. If you want to give it to the general treasurer, you can.
I'm not to tell you how to give. I'm not to tell you how much
to give. It says, Let every man according as he purposeth in
his heart. Let him give. And I know a lot of preachers
preach storehouse tithing. They just prayed that Maybe the
church won't be able to pay the light bill if they leave it up
to the people. But I tell you this, I believe
in leaving it up to the people and God and the Holy Spirit. I don't mind, I'm not the least
bit afraid of telling everybody in here, you purpose in your
own heart, between now and Sunday morning, what you want to give,
how you want to give it, when you want to give it, And I trust
God, because I know that He'll lead His people. And if you're
not His people, I don't want you to give. Isn't that right?
And you don't want anybody to give, that gives grudgingly or
unwillingly. This is a matter that's to be
determined in our hearts, between us and the Holy Spirit. God will
tell me what's needed. God will tell me where it's needed.
And God will tell me what part He wants me to have in it. And
it all belongs to Him. He's just given me a part of
it to use for myself and to use wisely for others. Listen to
what Peter said to Ananias. Now, a lot of people get the
wrong idea about this. Turn to Acts chapter 5. Why don't
you listen to what Peter tells Ananias over here. Now, this
man Ananias, Acts 5 verse 1. Listen. A certain man named Ananias
with Sapphira his wife sold the And they kept back part of the
price, his wife also being a part to it, and they brought a certain
part and laid it at the apostles' feet. They brought a certain
amount, and Peter said, Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart
to lie to the Holy Ghost and to keep back part of the price
of the land? In other words, Ananias, a lot of people at that
time were selling their land and coming and giving it to the
apostles, and they were dividing it among the people who had lost
jobs and homes. And Ananias bought this amount
of money, and he sold some land, laid it at the apostles' feet,
and he said, We sold the land for this much. Here, all of it
is. But he kept back some of it. Look at verse 4. While it remained, was it not
yours? After you sold it, was it not
in your power? You didn't have to give any of
it. That's what Peter is saying. It was yours. We haven't set
any rules around here how much you're supposed to give. It's
yours. Now where you made your mistake out of now is lying to
the Holy Ghost. It was yours before you sold
it. You didn't have to sell it. And after you sold it, you could
have kept it. It was yours then. It was in your power. And that's
what I'm saying. What we have is that God has
placed it in our possession, in our power. He trusted us.
We're his sons. We're his children. We can be
trusted. and God will lead us voluntarily as we purpose in
our heart. Now, the eighth word. This is
three words in one, but Matthew's chapter six, and the word is
unto the Lord. Unto the Lord. That's the way
all giving is to be done. Whether I'm helping a poor person,
that person really may not be worthy. People stop by the study
here, and I've bound you do it, you gave me a charge account,
we buy them groceries, they may not be worthy, but I'm not doing
it as unto them. I try to check and find out who's
a cook and who's not a cook, but you can't always tell, and
you can't always find out, and you just have to do it as unto
the Lord and let God take care of it. And here he says in Matthew
6, Take heed that you do not your arms before men to be seen
of them, otherwise you have no reward of your Father which is
in heaven. Therefore, when thou doest thine arms, do not sound
a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues
and the streets, that they may have glory of men. Verily I say
unto you, they have their reward. But when thou doest thine arms,
let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth." Don't
advertise it. that thine arms may be in secret, and thy father,
which he hath been seeking himself, shall reward thee openly." Now
this is a difficult area. And brethren, we feel that we
deserve some recognition. When a man is generous and when
a man is overly generous and kind, he does deserve some credit. He does deserve some reward,
but by whom? by the Heavenly Father. It's
unto God, and this is a lesson we need to learn. As we do it
unto the least of these, we do it to Him. That's what Christ
said. As you have done it to the least
of these, you did it to Me, and I'll do the reward. I'll do the
reward. So here's what I try to think
of. Turn back to 2 Corinthians 9. Let me show you a verse here. 2 Corinthians 9, verse 10. Listen to this. 2 Corinthians
9.10. Now he that ministereth seed
to the sower, who is that? That's the Lord. He gives the
seed to the sower. The fellow that's sowing the
seed, God gave him the seed. He didn't make it, God gave it
to him. Both minister bread for your food and multiply your seeds
on and increase the fruits of your righteousness. Now here's
what he's saying. God who provides seed for the sower and bread
for the eating will also provide and multiply your resources for
sowing. He'll enable you to give. As
he provides seed for the sower, he'll provide resources for you
to use for his glory. The more he can trust you with,
the more he will trust you with. And this is something we need
to learn. When we give our gifts, and we feel like, well, I've
sacrificed and I've done this, Or let somebody know about it.
Well, somebody knows about it. He sure does. He knows about
it. And I'll guarantee you he won't
forget it. Because here's the last word. Well-pleasing. Well-pleasing. Hebrews 13. Hebrews
13 verse 16. Listen to this. But to do good
and to communicate forget not, don't forget to do good and communicate,
for with such sacrifices God is well pleased. God is well
pleased. I wish, if at your convenience,
you'd read the 2 Corinthians chapter 8 and chapter 9, all
about giving, and underscore these words that I've passed
on to you tonight. May God enable us to give from
a motive of love, from a heart filled with grace, willing, willingly,
cheerfully, as unto the Lord, generously, liberally, hoping
for nothing in return, but knowing that God will bless it because
it's well-pleasing in His sight. Our Father, we thank Thee for
Thy Word, Thy Word which teaches us the things that we need to
know, reveals unto us Thy will and Help us in this grace. May we, as we abound in faith
and knowledge and utterance and doctrines and these other things,
diligence, abound in this grace also. Let us learn to give with
simplicity, with a cheerful, willing heart, as unto the Lord. And Lord, bless this church and
supply the need and use it for thy glory, for the glory of thy
dear Son. In his name we pray, amen.

Nine Bible Words About Giving

What does the Bible say about giving?

Why is grace important in Christian giving?

How do we know that God desires cheerful giving?

What is the significance of giving according to proportion?

Why is love essential in the context of giving?

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About Henry Mahan

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Nine Bible Words About Giving

What does the Bible say about giving?

Why is grace important in Christian giving?

How do we know that God desires cheerful giving?

What is the significance of giving according to proportion?

Why is love essential in the context of giving?

Sermon Transcript

About Henry Mahan

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