TPC Connections

Sermon Notes

THE GENEROUS LIFE
Part 2
“New Testament Giving”
Prov 11:25 “A generous soul will prosper, and he who refreshes others will himself be refreshed.”
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Last time, we laid the foundation for the subject of giving with tithes and offerings.
We saw that there are two kinds of giving in the Bible–VOLUNTARY and REQUIRED.
Under Moses and the Old Covenant, REQUIRED GIVING was introduced.
And under Jesus and the New Covenant, VOLUNTARY GIVING was introduced.
New Testament VOLUNTARY GIVING flows out of a born again, thankful, and generous heart motivated by love.
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FIRST, New Testament voluntary giving is motivated by the desire to:
• Help the needy: The New Testament records that the early church “had everything in common” and sold their possessions to meet the needs of others (Acts 2:44–45).
This was not early church socialism, as some claim.
Socialism is FORCED seizure of your money for purposes you have no choice in, while NT giving is VOLUNTARY giving for the purpose of your choice!
As Peter told Ananias when he was caught lying about how much he had given to the church,
“Ananias, how is it that Satan has so filled your heart that you have lied to the Holy Spirit and have kept for yourself some of the money you received for the land? 4 Didn’t it belong to you before it was sold? And after it was sold, wasn’t the money at your disposal?”–Acts 5:3-4
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Then SECONDLY, New Testament voluntary giving is motivated by the desire to:
• Empower and enable kingdom ministry–Paul wrote to the Philippian church,
“As you well know, when I first brought the Gospel to you and then went on my way, leaving Macedonia, only you Philippians became my partners in giving and receiving. No other church did this.”–4:15
So the Philippian church had partnered with Paul financially in his work of preaching the gospel.
It is to THEM the promise came, “But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.”–4:19
Conversely, we see in Scripture that the Corinthian church, which was the most spiritually gifted church, lagged behind in generous giving:
“You people there are leaders in so many ways—you have so much faith, so many good preachers, so much learning, so much enthusiasm, so much love for us. Now I want you to be leaders also in the spirit of cheerful giving.”–2 Cor. 8:7
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Now, in light of all that, let me give you a few key features of NT giving found in 1 and 2 Corinthians:
I. It is to be REGULAR
1 Cor. 16:2 “On the first day of every week each of you should put aside some of your money. Give a certain part of what you have earned.”
The first day of the week was Sunday, so Paul is talking about the weekly gathering of the church for worship.
This first instruction from Paul tells us that our giving should be REGULAR.
God provides for each of us in many ways every day, and we should give regularly back to him.
And I don’t think you have to be legalistic about this.
Some people are paid weekly, some every two weeks, some monthly, and others at differing times.
The idea is that we are to be regularly generous with giving to help others and to further the work of the kingdom.
It flows from a heart of thanksgiving for all that God has done for us, and because we naturally care about others and the spread of the gospel.
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And the second NT feature of giving is:
II. It is intentional
“On the first day of every week, each of you should take some of your money and put it in a special place. Save up as much as you can from what you are blessed with.”–1 Cor 16:2
This speaks of preemptive planning.
This person is not praying about what to give when the bucket is coming down the aisle toward them!
No, they’ve already set aside what they plan to give to the Lord’s work!
We see modeled here a person for whom giving and generosity are a way of life.
They are not occasional, compulsive tippers, but are regular supporters of the Lord’s work and helping the needy.
Remember, a person’s giving reveals their heart–what you really care about, what your priorities are, what is important to you, where your treasure is, what you value.
Are you storing up treasure here on earth or are you storing up treasure in heaven?
Jesus taught, “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20 But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal; 21 for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”–Matt 6:19-21
–The Bible says you can’t take it with you, but you can send it on ahead!
Money is spent on all kinds of things, good and bad, but when it is spent on the work of the kingdom of God in Jesus’s name it brings eternal rewards.
One of my favorite commentators wrote, “This is the way to have worldly treasure secured from moth, rust, and thieves; for to lay it up in heaven with God, to give it to him, to his poor, to make use of it for his glory, is to lay it up in a place where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal!”
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And a 3rd feature of NT giving is:
III. It is proportional
The verse says, “storing up as you may prosper.”
Another version says, “from what you have earned during the week,”
And one more version, “in keeping with his income.”
*The story is told about a local business man who was having trouble tithing. So, he went to his pastor for help and said, “Pastor, when I was a young man and earned $100 a week, I had no trouble tithing. I gave $10 a week and it felt great.
Over time the Lord prospered me, and I was earning $500 a week. It was more difficult giving $50 a week, but I still did the best I could. Then when I was earning $1,000 a week, it was real difficult giving $100 each time. Why, that’s as much as I used to earn in a whole week!
And then when I began earning $2,000 a week, $3,000 a week and more, I just found that I couldn’t tithe anymore.
Pastor, will you please pray for me?”
The pastor said he would be glad to and began praying,
“Lord, my friend here is having trouble tithing. He has asked for your help. Oh Lord, could you please reduce his income back to the level where he would feel comfortable tithing again?”
At which point the business man said, “Pastor, thank you very much, but you can stop there, I think I’ve just been cured!”
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And finally, NT giving should be,
IV. VOLUNTARY
Now, the whole of 2 Corinthians 9 is about NT giving, and it starts with verse one saying,
Vs. 1 “I really don’t need to write to you about this ministry of giving…”
In other words, you already know about it.
Then Paul lays out one of the encouraging truths for NT giving:
Vs 6 “But this I say: the one who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and the one who sows generously will also reap generously.”
So, the principle of sowing and reaping should be a factor in our decision making with how much we want to give.
Do I want a small harvest, or a large harvest!
In light of that encouraging nudge to give generously, he goes on to say:
In 2 Cor. 9:7 “Each one of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give. You should not give if it makes you unhappy or if you feel forced to give. God loves those who are happy to give.”
So NT giving is not forced like socialism.
It flows out of a thankful heart,
A desire to help the needy,
A burden to reach people with the gospel,
And is encouraged by the principle of sowing and reaping!
LET’S PRAY!