November is missions month at Beacon, as most of you know. It has been for, well, not all 53 years of our church's history, but the greatest, greatest part of that, we have devoted the month of November to the subject of missions. We emphasize our responsibility to take the gospel to the ends of the earth, the Great Commission given to us by our Lord and Savior. And we consider carefully our part in that great commission. Not everyone can go.
Not everyone should go. God calls certain people to go, and others to stay. And the majority of us will stay in our our locality, our our location. For us here in Alamance County, North Carolina, but we have a very important part to play in the sending of missionaries to the ends of the earth. We support them in prayer, and we support them financially, which enables them to go.
And so, these are the things that we consider during missions month. We started our church in 1973 with a commitment from the very first Sunday that we would give 10 of the offerings that came in to missions. That's when we had nothing. I sometimes surprised myself at the willingness of all of our people to follow that recommendation, but they did so gladly. And so, for a long time, we'd take the the offerings that came in Sunday by Sunday.
At the end of the month, we would divide them by the number of missionaries that we were supporting at that time, probably four or five, and send one fifth of the of the one tenth to to those missionaries. But we wanted to be able to enlarge that, and we became aware of what is called the Faith Promise Missions Program. And so I think it was in 1979 that we inaugurated that. In addition to the 10 that we were already giving, we had a missionary statesman here for a conference by the name of Mel Rudder. Did you know Mel Rudder?
You did not. I remember him fondly, and he explained to us. The principles of the Faith Promise Missions Program, and we launched into that at that time.
So we started doing that as a church, probably in 1979-1980, and that involved a significant expansion of our partnership in missions. I found that our congregation was very eager to get involved to enlarge the amount that we were giving to missions, and that made that possible. But there have been a time or two over the years when someone has, perhaps new, has come into the congregation and learned about the Faith Promise Missions program and said, "Is that biblical?" I don't. I don't know if that's biblical. And I'm happy to explain to whoever asks that indeed it is biblical.
Maybe more so than most people realize. But I think it's good to remind ourselves from time to time that how remarkably biblical the Faith Promise program is, because it follows so closely the pattern of the Gentile project offering that Paul raised among the Gentile churches for the saints at Jerusalem. You can see almost every element of what we call the Faith Promise program in that offering that Paul took up. And there are references to that both in the book of Acts and in several of Paul's epistles. But the most extensive treatment of that offering is found in Second Corinthians chapters eight and nine, that we're going to look at today by drawing principles throughout those two chapters, where Paul is is actually prodding the Corinthians to get busy and do what they'd already promised to do.
He says in that chapter that. Corinth, the Corinthian church, had been the first one to make a pledge to that offering, and the amount of the pledge was very encouraging. And Paul took that report to other churches, primarily in Macedonia, in the northern part of Greece. Corinth being in the southern part of what we today call Greece, and Paul took that report to Philippi and to to. Thessalonica and to Berea, the churches in the northern part of Macedonia, and they responded enthusiastically.
In some ways, maybe even more enthusiastically than Corinth. But Corinth's pledge, generous pledge to that offering, spurred great giving among them. And Paul tells us he also launched this project offering among the churches of Galatia.
So really, among all of the churches that he had founded, he asked all of them to take part in this, and he told them how to do it. And he told them basically decide how much you think the Lord wants you to give, person by person, and and put those totals together so that we know how much your church is planning to give. And work on raising that money over the next year, and when the year is up, we'll take your offerings to Jerusalem. And yet, the Corinthian church wasn't following through on the day-to-day, week-to-week, Sunday-by-Sunday responsibility of putting that offering together. And so Paul writes in Second Corinthians eight and nine, basically saying, "Come on now, get with it.
You said you would. You are going to be really embarrassed when I visit you and have some from the churches of Macedonia with me, and they find out that you didn't do what you said you would do.
So come on, get going, do it, fulfill it, finish it, and honor the Lord in your giving." So that's where we're going to camp today, for the most part. Really, two parts in my message today. Number one, principles of giving, drawn from these two chapters, and then number two, questions about giving that I trust will be helpful to you as you consider your part in your giving to God. Principles of giving from Second Corinthians eight and nine. And there, I could have listed probably two dozen, but I, I held myself down.
It's still going to be quite a few. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight.
So if you take notes, you're going to have to have to take them quickly, or just listen. But anyway, principles of giving in Second Corinthians eight and nine. Number one, giving enhances spiritual growth. Giving financially to the Lord enhances spiritual growth. Look at chapter eight, verses or verse seven.
But as you abound in everything, and then Paul lists several areas of Christian growth and maturity that they were abounding in. As you abound in everything, in faith. In speech, you're growing in your ability to talk about the things of God. In knowledge, you're growing in your knowledge of God's word. In diligence, you're getting more faithful and committed in your churches to the work of the Lord.
And your love for us, your love is growing. All of these are areas of Christian maturity. But notice this: the last part of verse seven. See that you abound in this grace also. What grace?
Giving. That's what the whole six verses in front of verse seven are talking about. They're giving. Verse. You can back up one verse and see it.
I think, a little better.
So we urge Titus. That as he be had begun, so he would also complete this grace and you as well. What grace? Giving back up, back up, and you'll see it. That's what he's talking about.
The offering, the project offering, for the saints in Jerusalem. And Paul said, "You're doing pretty well in your spiritual growth and maturity. We are as Christians to grow in grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. You're doing pretty well in other areas of your growth, but in this area, you." Are not developing as well as you should. Come on now.
See that you abound in this grace—the grace of giving, also. And so, giving enhances spiritual growth. It's part of it. You can't really grow as much and develop as much as you ought to spiritually if you leave this out. Giving enhances your spiritual growth in other areas.
Giving must be part of the package of the various things that constitute God-honoring spiritual growth, and as you give, that will also stimulate other areas of growth as well.
So it's a very important part of the Christian's life. Giving enhances spiritual growth. Number two, giving expresses. Christian love.
Next verse, verse eight. But I speak not by commandment, but I am testing the sincerity of your love by the diligence of others. I'm testing the sincerity of your love against by comparison is what he's saying to the giving of others. The Macedonian church. Said they love Christ.
Said they love the saints of God. Said they love the beleaguered saints in Jerusalem. Said they love God's messengers, such as the Apostle Paul, and they showed it in their giving. You said it. Where's the proof?
Your giving will demonstrate the reality of your professed Christian love for Christ and for others, or it will demonstrate that at least some of that is more empty words than it is reality. Your giving expresses Christian love. Number three, giving begins with honorable commitments. And we keep going. Verse ten.
And in this, I give advice. It is to your advantage, not only to be doing what you began and were desiring to do a year ago, but now you also must complete the doing of it. That as there was a readiness to desire, to desire it.
So there also may be a completion of what you have. And before I comment on that, drop down to chapter nine, and let's read the first five verses there.
Now concerning the ministering to the saints, this is the saints in Jerusalem. It is superfluous for me to write to you, for I know your willingness. About which I boast of you to the Macedonians that Achaia, that's Corinth, Achaeanth was ready a year ago, and your zeal has stirred up the majority. Yet I have sent the brethren, lest our boasting of you should be in vain in this respect, that as I said, you may be ready. Lest if some Macedonians come with me and find you unprepared, we, not to mention you, should be ashamed of this confident boasting.
Therefore, I thought it necessary to exhort the brethren to go to you ahead of time and prepare your generous gift beforehand, which you had previously promised, that it may be ready, as a matter of generosity, and not. Of of as of grudging obligation. Giving begins with honorable commitments, and we see that very clearly in the verses I read. I described that to you earlier.
Now I think you can see it more clearly in the Word of God. But it's exactly what I what I told you. Paul first went to them and and told them about the project, told them about the need. The saints in Jerusalem were being persecuted more than others.
Some Gentile Christians were were experiencing persecution as well, but it was particularly bad among the Jewish Christians in Jerusalem because they were a minority among a nation of Jews that were hostile to Christ and hostile to Christians. And it was costing them dearly. Many of them had lost their jobs and had been kicked out of their houses, and they were really being persecuted, and were suffering, suffering poverty because of their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. And so Paul said, "Well, we can help with that. We Gentiles can help with that." He was the apostle to the Gentiles.
The churches that I have founded can help with that. Paul had a heart for that. And so he explained to the churches as he visited them one by one. This is what I propose that we do. You decide what you're going to give.
You decide what you're going to give each church as the individual members collected their faith promise for this project. You all decide what you're going to give, and then we'll collect it and take it to Jerusalem. A group of us together, the ones that you appoint for that purpose, but. You made a commitment. That's good.
That's honorable.
Sometimes people get the wrong idea that it's not honoring to make commitments like this. But it's very clear that this is very honoring to the Lord. This is a God honoring commitment, and you made it. And it was good that you made it. It was the right thing that you did when you made it.
But the problem is you haven't been following through Sunday by Sunday, so.
Now you need to do that, but giving begins with honorable commitments. Right commitments are helpful; they help us do what we know we ought to do. They are God honoring. Obviously, you can't read this and come to any other conclusion but that this kind of commitment is God honoring, and commitments help us to determine in a, in a, what should I say in a in a quiet way. What we should do in our giving gives us plenty of time to think about it, pray about it, analyze it, make a serious commitment, and then follow through.
And making the commitment in that way will help us to follow through.
So, giving begins with honorable commitments. Number four, giving accords with divine provision, chapter eight, verse twelve. For if there is first a willing mind—that's your commitment, your thoughts about what you think God would have you do—if there is first a willing mind, it is accepted according to what one has and not according to what one does not have. Simple, but it needs to be said: God isn't expecting you to give what He hasn't given to you. In fact, this is saying, in effect, if you make a commitment based upon your present circumstances, and then things take a downward turn, God isn't expecting you to.
Fulfill the the fullness of that commitment if he hasn't supplied what you thought he was going to supply, it can be adjusted. But just be sure that you are doing what you can. God isn't expecting you to give what you don't have. God isn't expecting you to give what he hasn't given to you. But be sure you be faithful with what God has given to you.
Giving accords with divine provision, we give in proportion to God's supply to us. We are not expected to give what we have not received from God. That's an important principle. Number five: giving produces financial reward. And I, before I read these verses and talk about it.
Let me say this may be one of the most difficult ones among those of us who are not televangelists because they have ruined this. They have taken a biblical principle and and twisted it, distorted it, maligned it so much. That some of God's people aren't willing to touch it with a ten-foot pole, but you see, there are verses, there are promises in the Bible that relate to this. That God does reward people who give, and the more people give, the more God rewards them for their giving. Turning to chapter nine, let's look at verses six and ten and eleven.
Verse six: But this I say, he who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. If you took that out of context, you might not realize he's talking about giving. You put it into context, and you realize that's exactly what he's talking about. We could, I think, honestly say he's talking about giving and nothing else. He's applying this law of sowing and reaping to giving.
Those who sow sparingly, they aren't willing to give much, are not going to reap much. In God's way of Overseeing the sowing reaping process and finances, but those who sow bountifully, generously, are going to reap more bountifully in return. God said it; I didn't say it. God said it because the televangelist takes that and and distorts it in some way. Doesn't knock it out of the Bible.
It's there. God does reward those who give. And what you receive from God tomorrow and next month and next year will, to some extent, be related to how faithfully and generously you are giving to God today and tomorrow. If you sow sparingly, you'll reap sparingly. If you sow bountifully, you'll reap bountifully.
Verse ten. Chapter nine, verse ten.
Now may he who supplies seed to the sower, and bread for food, supply and multiply the seed you have sown, and increase the fruits of your righteousness. The one who supplies the initial seed. Back to this sowing and reaping analogy. Where did the farmer get the seed to sow in the field? God gave it to him.
God supplied the seed. Where did the crop come from that produced the bread that He's referring to here? He who supplies the seed to the sower and bread for food. The bread, of course, is the other end of the process. It begins with the sowing of the seed.
It ends with the reaping of the wheat and the milling of the wheat and the making of the food, the bread.
So He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food. Supply, and multiply the seed you have sown, and increase the fruits of your righteousness. In the context of giving, you take what seed God has supplied, and you sow it, and God multiplies it. Giving produces financial reward. Verse eleven.
We keep going; it kind of goes on from verse ten. While you are enriched in everything, when you are sowing liberally, while you are enriched in everything for all liberality, which causes thanksgiving through us to God, God will even help you receive more from Him if you're willing to give more to Him. That's really what it's saying. The one who supplies the seed will supply more seed if you're sowing seed. God will enable you to give more liberally than you thought you could because He's honoring the faithfulness and the sacrifice of the giving you're doing now.
So, what verses? Verses nine and ten and eleven, and I'll throw in one more text from Luke chapter six. As I find it here, Luke six thirty eight, words of Jesus: Give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over, will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back.
To you, there's a little bit more elaboration on the same principle.
So sparingly reap sparingly, so bountifully reap bountifully, so bountifully that God will give back to you. God will cause resources to come to you from who knows where. May come from your job. It may come from other places. But God will do that.
You'll you'll receive bountifully, so you'll have to press it down, and pack it together, and it's still running over. But that's the way God gives to those who give bountifully. And so, giving produces financial reward. Or we could put it this way: give little, receive little; give more, receive more; give much, receive much.
Now, again, I'm not saying this. To deceive you. I'm not saying this as a televangelist. Say, send me fifty dollars, and God will give you a thousand in return. And be sure you send it to me.
No place else. I need another jet. I my one isn't enough. It's been it's been ruined by those who use it in such a sinful way, but the principle is still here in God's word. It isn't removed from the Bible because some people distort it.
Giving produces financial reward. All right. What else? Number. Where are we?
One, two, three, four, five, six. Thank you.
Somebody's keeping track. Thank you, Walt. Walt always faithfully takes notes. If I preach on a text that I preached on forty years ago, Walt may come to me and say, "I remember when you preached that on September 14th in 1982." He's got it all down. Thanks for the reminder.
All right, the next one: Giving stimulates increased worship. Chapter nine, verses twelve and thirteen. For the administration of this service, not only supplies the needs of the saints—that's what it's doing on the surface—but there is really a lot more involved going on. But this is what. You're taking it up for their needs.
You're giving it to them because of their impoverishment, but it not only supplies the needs of the saints, but also is abounding through many thanksgivings to God, while. Through the proof of this ministry, they glorify God for the obedience of your confessions to the gospel of Christ, and for your liberal sharing with them, in all men. In other words, when you give to the saints, this obviously isn't going to happen when you give to unconverted people, but when you give to the saints, when you give to the beleaguered saints in Jerusalem. When you give to the needs of the gospel, when you give to gospel ministers who are endeavoring to serve the Lord, but they need help financially to get where they're going and do what they're doing, when when you give to the saints of God, those who know the Lord, what does that do? You say, well, it helps them to do what they need.
It it supplies a need for them. Yes, but more, it causes them to give thanksgiving to God, and in that way, worship to God is increased also. Your giving is related to worship in perhaps more ways than you realize. We generally say the ushers are coming to receive your tithes and offerings as you worship the Lord in your giving. That's exactly right, and we will see that as you worship the Lord in your giving, that it's going to stimulate worship in others, and they are going to worship the Lord as well.
When we give to the needs of the saints. They are inspired to worship God, in praise and thanksgiving.
So giving stimulates increased worship. Number seven. Giving develops Christian fellowship. Chapter nine, verse fourteen. Going on from what we just read, and by their prayer for you, who long for you.
Because of the exceeding grace of God in you, I think I need to read verse thirteen and fourteen together again because it all goes together. Verse thirteen: While through the proof of this ministry they glorify God for the obedience of your confession to the gospel of Christ. I pause there. The way you give says something about your relationship to the gospel. You say, well.
You're not saved by giving. You're saved by trusting Christ. Yeah, but there's a relationship here, and when people see your generous giving to the saints, to the cause of Christ, to the advancement of the gospel, they know that the gospel has changed you. That's evidence that the gospel has changed your heart. Your obedience to your confession to the gospel of Christ—you confess faith in Christ—and that's evidenced by your giving, and for your liberal sharing with them, and of all men.
Now, verse fourteen, and by their prayer for you, who long for you because of the exceeding grace of God in you. What is this? When we give to the needs of the saints, they not only praise God, but they pray for. The ones who gave to them, they do. I've experienced this many times.
They pray for us. They they long for us. They they would love to be able to talk to thank us personally if they can. In many cases, that's not impossible. But they see the grace of God in us, and they want to draw closer to us.
How many times when I've been in, say Zimbabwe in Africa. And among the pastors there that we have been involved with substantially over the years, and how many of them have said, "Our church is praying for your church because your church has demonstrated your love for Christ, and to us by the giving that we have received." So we're praying for you. It's not only the. We're praying for them, as we ought. But they're praying for us, and in other ways.
And they they long to see us. I sometimes joke with those people over there, and say, "Well, how how about you? I've been coming to visit you a lot. How about you coming over to visit me?" Well, that's virtually impossible.
Some of them have never been more than ten or twelve miles from their house in their whole life. Their lives are so different.
Some some of them have never been on a plane and never will. In fact, they they've probably never seen one except so high in the sky they don't know what it looks like. Their lives are so different, but they would love to draw closer to us. There's a there's a strengthening of fellowship, a strengthening of partnership, God honoring partnership in the body of Christ that takes place with this kind of giving. And then finally, giving imitates God's grace.
The last verse of chapter nine: "Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift." What essentially does it mean to grow in grace? It means to become more Christ-like, more like God. And one of those areas is in giving. God has given beyond measure. That's why it says His indescribable gift.
It's it's not even possible to describe it. It's so great. God is the great giver, and that His bounty is great, gracious giving. Of of everything that we have that we need, and and most of all, giving of His own Son as the substitutionary sacrifice for our sin upon the cross. God is the great giver, so we give thanks to God for His indescribable gift.
We can never describe, but we can never fully understand how great and large it is. But our giving reflects the character of God to a small degree. God's the great giver. We are the small givers compared to Him. Doesn't matter how much you give; it's a pittance compared to Him.
You say, "I've given a couple of million." Wonderful. God's given hundreds of trillions, and you can't, you can't, you can't count it. He gives and gives and gives and gives. He giveth, he he giveth and giveth again. But as we give, we become more like Him.
As we give, our giving imitates God's grace. For God is a giving God. God's giving is superabundant, and our giving reflects His in some small way. And as we grow in our giving, as our giving becomes more abundant, we are becoming greater imitators of God. All right, that's the first part of my message.
Principles of giving from Second Corinthians eight and nine. Now, let me deal quickly with several questions about giving. And here, here are the questions: Number one, why should I give? Number two, how much should I give? Number three, how much should I keep?
And number four, how do I grow in giving? All right. Number one, why should I give?
Well, I hope you've are I hope you've got that settled already. But there are a couple of reasons. Let me suggest them to you. Number one, because God commands it; He really does, in several places and several ways. But let me take you back to Paul's first Corinthian epistle, where he was first introducing this project offering to them, and here's what he said in 1 Corinthians 16:1 and 2.
Now, concerning the collection for the saints. See, we're talking about the project offering for the saints in Jerusalem.
Now, concerning the collection for the saints, as I have given orders to the churches of Galatia, so they were included too: churches of Macedonia, churches of Galatia, churches in Achaia. As I have, and notice that word, given orders to the church of Galatia.
So you must do also. No, no, not Paul. You shouldn't put it that way. As I, as I suggested that maybe if they felt like it, they ought to get involved in this. And in some in some statements, it sounds more like this.
But in other statements, it sounds more like a divine command. As I have given orders to the churches of Galatia, so you must do. On the first day of the week, that's why we worship on Sunday. On the first day of the week, let each one of you lay something aside, storing up as he may prosper, that there be no collections when I come.
So, why should I give? Because God commands it. But not God not only commands it, but this is interesting. God commends it. What do I mean by that?
We have an interesting insight into the words of Christ that are not found in the Gospels, but are found in Acts chapter twenty when Paul is talking to the elders of the Ephesian church, and among other things, he says to them in verse thirty-five, "I have shown you in every way by laboring like this." That you must support the weak, and remember the words of the Lord Jesus. And here it is: He said, "It is more blessed to give than to receive." Where's the greater blessing, the receiving? A lot of people think so, but Jesus said the greater blessings in giving. There's a lot of reasons why that's so. One is your ability to give shows God's blessing on your life.
The person who is in great need, evidently, has not been so blessed as you have, and so you have been blessed in this way. It's more blessed to give than to receive. It's more blessed to be able to give than to need to receive. But even without that factor, it's better to give than to receive. It's better to want to give than to.
Want to receive? Gimme, gimme, gimme, gimme. That's not the spirit of Christ.
So why should I give? God commands it. Why should I give? God commends it. He says it's better to give than to receive.
Giving shows our obedience to the words of God about giving. Giving shows our faith that we believe that God will keep the promises He has made to those who are faithful to give. Giving shows our understanding of stewardship that we actually own nothing; it all belongs to God. He gives it to us to manage, and we manage it for His glory. And this this kind of giving shows that we understand that.
Giving shows our gratitude to God for what He has done for us. That's why I should give. Number two, how much should I give? This is always an interesting question, and you know what I believe on that, but not all of you do because not some of you are new since the last time I've dealt with this. But I am totally convinced that the starting point in our giving should be the tithe, and I know people object to that.
With things like tithing is Old Testament and we're New Testament Christians. Let's look at that a little more carefully. What you probably are thinking when you say that is that tithing under the law of Moses was a divine requirement, and you don't find that same requirement in the New Testament. True. But what you find in the Old Testament is examples of tithing that predate Moses by hundreds of years.
When Abraham was given by God victory over the enemies of his nephew Lot in Sodom, and he was met by Melchizedek, that mysterious figure that we learn more about in the Book of Hebrews. What did he do? He worshipped God by giving a tithe to Melchizedek. Moses, I mean Abraham, why did you give a tithe? Moses is four hundred years later.
He's he isn't even living now. Why did you give a tithe, Abraham? Where did you even hear about a tithe? Moses hasn't mentioned it yet. But you see, it was clearly understood.
Long before Moses, so when you say tithing is Old Testament, it is, but it's a principle that predates Moses by hundreds of years. Jacob experienced the same thing. He met God at Bethel when he was running away from home, and he didn't have anything. He didn't have two nickels, two shekels to rub together. In his hands, but he said, "If you bring me back safely, I will give you a tenth of all that I receive." Jacob, where did you hear about a tithe?
Where did you hear about a tenth?
Well, I heard it from Abraham, perhaps. Where did Abraham hear about it? Who knows? It was something that was a principle that showed a God-honoring amount of giving, a standard by which people could gauge their giving, and we therefore don't are not we're not impressed we're not we're not persuaded by the argument that it's. Gone because we are now New Testament Christians.
It's true we're not commanded the tithe the same way Moses commanded the Jewish people under under his law to tithe, but the the giving principle, the giving command, the giving encouragement is all throughout the New Testament. And the question is, what are we asking now? How much should I give? And I'm suggesting to you that you start by giving the tithe. That's where you begin.
It's a good starting point, and then I'm I'm quite confident that you should learn to give beyond that, and God will be honored in that.
So, question number three: How much should I keep? That's kind of an interesting question. I keep what I don't give, right? But how much should I keep? That's another way of looking at the same question: of how much should I give.
And let's start by answering that question by saying, "Should I give it all?" And the answer is no. You shouldn't give it all. Why not? Because there are commands in God's word of obligations that God has given to you. You have an obligation to feed your family.
You have an obligation to take care of temporal needs that God has given to you. The Bible says, if a man doesn't take care financially of his own household, he's worse than an infidel. He's denied the faith. He's worse than an infidel. If you give it all, you can't do the other things that God told you to do.
He's not telling you to give it all, but he is telling you to give a generous amount. For a lot of reasons, I'm convinced in most, almost every circumstance, it would be disobedient to give it all. It certainly would be disobedient to give it all if we have unmet obligations.
Well, I gave it all to God, so I don't have any anything left to take care of my obligations. Jesus dealt with that with the Pharisees about taking care of their parents, and he said the Bible says, the commandment says to. Love your father and your mother, and that involves taking care of them in their old age. But what you rascals have done, have said, "I've given this to God." They actually hadn't given it; they just sort of put that, put that sign on it. This amount has been given to God.
I don't have anything left to take care of my parents. Is that God honoring? No. No. God has given us obligations, and He gives us resources to meet the obligations.
So no, He's not asking anybody to give it all. But He's asking you. He's telling you to give a portion of it that honors God, that demonstrates your Christian growth, that demonstrates your love for Christ and for the gospel, and for the souls of others, and for the needs of others. I often think of this verse in First Timothy six seventeen. Paul says, "Command those he's writing to Timothy; those under your charge, command those who are rich in this present age." Let's stop right there.
In our day, we have a whole lot of people who say nobody should be very rich. Where'd you get that idea? Not from the Bible. Nobody should have as much money as Elon Musk. Who says?
Who who decides that? You or God? It's clear that God does give wealth to some people and poverty to some people, and everything in between. God does that.
So, command those who are rich in this present age not to be haughty. Not to trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God, who and then this, who gives us richly all things to enjoy. Evidently, it's God honoring to take some of the surplus, if God gives a surplus, and enjoy the things that that's able to. Righteously provide for you. In other words, God not only doesn't tell us to give it all at whatever level, but He doesn't say that the rich man has to give away so much that he ends up living like the poor man.
That's not what I read in the Bible. It's perfectly appropriate, if God has blessed you, to enjoy some of those temporal blessings that that money supplies. But only if you're trusting God, not in uncertain riches. Only if you are being humble, not being haughty. Only if you are—if God has given you more, you should be giving more.
Only if you are giving abundantly, God has supplied you with more so that you can give more. You can certainly enjoy some of the nice things of life, but you need to be sure that you're giving first. And that brings me to what I've called the abundance principle, and it is this: when you are giving generously, you can righteously enjoy a portion of God's bounty. If you are not giving generously, You dishonor God by keeping your God-giving bounty to yourself. How do you know the difference?
How do, how do you know when you've given enough that it's okay to now take some of this and buy a nice car? You've been you've been driving a, a beat-up car, for so many years. Is it God honoring to to buy a new car?
Well, I probably should give that to missions.
Well, I hope you're giving a lot to missions, and here's how you can tell: if you are giving generously, if you are tithing, if you are giving beyond the tithe, and you still have a surplus, buy that car, enjoy it, as the bounty of a God who has given us all things richly. To enjoy, but if in order to buy that car you've got to stop tithing, you've got to not give bountifully beyond the tithe, then you're a hoarder, and God isn't going to bless that. You see what I'm saying? There's the abundance principle. We are.
We can know when we can righteously enjoy. Abundance and bounty, if God supplies it, by this standard, are we giving generously according to Bible standards, not according to my subjective idea?
Well, I'm given a lot. What's it really boil down to?
Well, one or two percent a year. Ha! You're not given a lot, not by Bible standards.
Well, I'm giving more than my neighbor, no doubt. He's not giving much at all. I'm always amazed that when we get some reports from some of these liberal people that want to want want to supply money for everybody for everything in this country, and we find out we get a glimpse for some reason at their tax return, and they've given maybe less than one half of one percent to charity on their taxes. You, but you hypocrite, you scoundrel. You're you're free with everybody else's money, and you are tight as a, as a, as a tight as you can be with your own.
That doesn't honor God, but if you are being truly generous, biblically generous with what God has given, then you don't need to feel guilty. I've had. And this doesn't happen often. Usually, the problem is that we are disregarding our our giving to God and trying to keep everything we can. But sometimes you you you find Christians who are so committed to the Lord they feel guilty about having something nice.
I think I can give this illustration because the person that it applies to was not here and hasn't been for quite a while. But I remember one day a dear lady in our church. She and her husband had gotten a new car, a used new car, and she was showing it to me, and she said. Yes, it has leather, but we couldn't find one that that had upholstery instead of leather. And yes, it has this, but we couldn't find one the other way.
She was apologizing for the nice things on this car. She should. She didn't feel like she should have had those things, but that's just the only one they could find that seemed to meet the need. And I said, for goodness sakes, enjoy what God has supplied. He gives us all things richly to enjoy, and I knew that these people were givers.
And this was some of the bounty that God had supplied. Don't feel uneasy about it. Don't feel guilty about it. Enjoy it. The God who gives us all things richly to enjoy.
I'm done. Let's pray. Father, thank you. Thank you for the guidance of Your Word. We really wouldn't know how to live God-honoring lives apart from Your Word telling us how.
Now, Lord, help us to be obedient. I pray in Jesus' name, Amen.
