Does God Want You to Give?

Second Corinthians chapter nine and we're going to begin reading in verse one. Children's Church can be dismissed. That's right. Alright, let's begin reading. For as touching the ministry to the saint, ministering to the saints, it is superfluous for me to write to you.

For I know the forwardness of your mind for which I boast of you to them of Macedonia and Achaia, was ready a year ago, and your zeal hath provoked many. Yet have I sent the brethren, lest our boasting of you should be in vain in this behalf, that as I said, you may be ready, lest happily if they of Macedonia come with me and find you unprepared. We, that we say not ye, should be ashamed in this same confident boasting. Therefore, I thought it necessary to exhort the brethren that they would go before unto you and make up beforehand your bounty, whereof ye had noticed before, that the same might be ready as a matter of bounty and not as of covetousness. Same For this I say, he which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly.

He which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully. Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give, not grudgingly or of necessity, for God loveth a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound towards you that you always having all sufficiency in all things may abound to every good work. As mentioned, our missions conference was last last weekend and we emphasized missions. We also encouraged our members to take one of these cards and pray over it this week to ask the Lord how much you would give to the missions ministry of our church over the coming year.

We do faith promise missions at our church are we do not take money out of our general fund for missions. All of our mission support comes from designated giving into the missions fund. And we base our goal for the year on what comes in in the month of May. This morning, I want to take just a few minutes, and it will probably be just a few minutes unless my leg gets feeling a lot better, to talk a little bit and look in God's word, particularly on giving. Now, not just giving to missions, but giving to the Lord.

Because it's not just about the offering plate, it's not just about how much you give to missions or how much you give to the church or how much you put towards this or that. It's not just about money. It's about giving back to the Lord. What already belongs to him and that's what we're going to look at for a few minutes here this morning. A message entitled, does God want you to give?

And some people maybe in a position where you say, pastor, don't have much to give. Well, if you understand who Christ is and who we are, you'll understand that none of us have much to give. It's Christ that's given so much for us. It's not we that have a lot to give back. We don't give because the Lord can't do what he needs to do without it.

We give in worship and in praise and in honor and in gratitude. To the one who gave his life and richly supplies us with all things. Jesus told his disciples in Matthew ten eight, freely you have received, freely give. Freely you have received, freely give. So, does God want you to give?

Yes, he does. In this passage we read here from second Corinthians chapter nine, the church in Corinth had earlier committed of their own volition to give an offering to Paul to take back to the churches in Jerusalem who were suffering need, and who had helped to supply Paul to come out there and plant churches in Greece and in what is today Turkey. Paul writes back to them from Macedonia, which is Northern Greece, and says to them, the church is here giving, I just wanted to remind you in my letter that I'm writing you that you committed way ahead of time. Matter of fact, so much so that I've been able to use your testimony in order to spur others on to give to this offering. And so I'm just reminding you to have that offering ready when I come.

And so he's encouraging them to do that, which they have already committed for time to do, to give. To give freely. What does freely mean? Well, means to give without thought of self, unselfishly. To give freely means to give without thought of self.

It means to give without seeking favor in return. In other words, to give with no strings attached. Sometimes, oftentimes, we give to get. And, you know, little kids do that. You know, Christmas time they give, but they give because they want to get.

And a lot of times, the fact is we do too. Well, pastor, I don't do that. I don't give to get. Well, sometimes we give money, time, affection to friends or family in order to get some of the same in return. We give in order to get a favor.

We give sometimes to be accepted, to get attention, praise. Sometimes people give in order to get control over things. But giving freely means giving with no strings attached. Not giving to get something in return. That's the type of love, the way, that agape love is.

It's a love that gives with no strings attached. It loves because it loves the object, cares for the object of that love, not because it is looking for love or something in return. So freely means without thought of self. It means without seeking favor in return, no strings attached. It means without holding back.

There's a when I was a youth pastor in Georgia, there's a family, their last name was Griffiths. The mother came to our church regularly. Her name was Marsha. And she was one of these people that could never say, no. She'd never say no.

She helped this person, helped that person. They picked up kids to bring them to church. They were troubled kids. They came from troubled families. I'd go over there to get something and she'd have two or three kids there that belonged here, there, and yawn and she just couldn't say no.

But she was a person who gave and didn't hold back. You know, our Lord is like that. Says here in James one:five, it says, If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God that giveth to all men liberally and upbraideth not and it shall be given him. The word liberally means generously. Abraideth not means he doesn't hold anything back.

He gives it all. He gave it all on the cross of Calvary. When the Lord said his disciples, freely have received, freely give. It's what he's saying to them. Don't hold anything back.

Give your whole heart. Give your give your whole self. To this ministry that I have called you to and to these people. Freely, you have received, freely give. Without thought of self, without favor, without holding back.

What are we to give? Well, we're to give. We're to give of ourselves. Romans twelve one, I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy acceptable unto God which is your reasonable service. God doesn't want your money.

God wants you. He wants he wants you to be his child through faith in his son, Jesus Christ. If you don't know him this morning, know this, he loves you. He died for you. He wants wants you to be part of his family, he wants to forgive you of your sins, he wants to give you a home in heaven, but you must humble yourself before an almighty God, repent of your sins, and trust in his only son Jesus Christ to save you and it's the only way you'll ever know him.

It's the only way that you can receive his gift of eternal life. And it is our reasonable service who have been given life in Christ. To give of ourselves back to him. Take if you would and turn your Bibles to first Corinthians chapter eight. Let's read verses one through five.

First Corinthians eight one through five. Still talking about the same same offering here. Paul is talking about those that he was ministering to currently. He says, now, now, say, wait a second, that's not the right. Second Corinthians eight, sorry, not first, Second Corinthians eight.

He says, moreover, brethren, we do you to wit of the grace of God bestowed on the churches of Macedonia, how that in great trial of affliction, the abundance of their joy and their poverty abounded unto the riches of their liberality. For to their power I bear record, yea, and beyond their power, they were willing of themselves, praying us with much entreaty that we would receive the gift and take upon us the fellowship of ministering to the saints. And this they did not as we hoped, but first gave their own selves to the Lord and to unto us by the will of God. Paul praises the churches in Macedonia not just for the money that they gave but for the recognition that he saw in them. That they weren't just giving their money, they were giving of themselves.

That That they had yielded themselves to the Lord to be used of him. To bring glory to his name. To show his love and demonstrate his love by helping to meet the needs of others. They gave of themselves to the Lord and that's what the Lord desires today. Luke fourteen twenty six, Jesus said to some who wanted to follow him, he said, if any man come to me and hate not his father and mother and wife and children and brother and sisters, yea, and his own life also.

He cannot be my disciple. The Lord says, if we're not willing to give of ourselves in his service, then we can't truly be a disciple of Christ. There are many born again believers who are very poor disciples of Christ. Because we hold on to things. We hold on to our ambitions.

We hold on to our goals and and our desires. We we hold on sometimes to relationships that we need to let go of. We hold on to habits that need to be let go. We hold on, yes, to sometimes our finances. And we say, God, you can have everything, but you can't have what's in my wallet.

You can't have my job. You can't have my career. Lord, you can have everything but. But we belong to Him. And he desires to have all of us.

And he deserves to have all of us. For us to give of ourselves. When I was thinking about this, it reminded me of this quote, isn't from your Bible, it's from the Declaration of Independence. And for the support of this declaration, with the firm reliance on the correction of divine providence, we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor. These men that signed this declaration of independence, what they said here is this, we are giving of ourselves for this cause.

We pledge our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor. And as worthy a cause as the independence of our country was, the cause of Jesus Christ is greater. Greater. And if they can give themselves and pledge their honor and their lives, it's certainly reasonable for us to pledge our lives and our honor. To give in service for our Lord.

To give of our time. Ephesians five sixteen, redeeming the time because the days are evil. Word redeeming means to purchase up, to use wisely. We need to be giving of our time to the Lord. Time, yes, to come and worship, but time to spend in personal prayer and devotions with the Lord, time in telling others about Christ, time in encouraging others, time on the phone, time writing letters, time just staying after church to talk to somebody who looks like they're having a bad day.

Time. Prayer with our Lord. He desires and deserves our time. He also deserves our talents to be used in his servants because our talents and our gifts are gifts from who? From him.

They're tools to be used to bring glory to his name. Our time, our talents, and yes, our tender. I don't very often literate, but it sort of worked this time. Time, talents, and tender, in other words, our finances. We do need to give of those as well.

In service of the Lord. Particularly to the church and the needs of the ministry. First Corinthians 16, Paul said concerning giving. He says, now concerning the collection for the saints, as I have given order, the churches of Galatia, even so do you upon the first day of the week, let everyone of you lay by him in store. As God hath prepared him that there may be no gatherings when I come.

Paul said, give every week. Don't don't wait till I get there. We should be giving regularly. To the Lord of the provision that he gives to us. In our lives today, that usually takes the form of finances and money.

In the Old Testament times, took the it was cattle and corn and wheat. But what God has provided for us in gratitude And for his use, we should be regularly giving back to him. In Acts chapter two forty four and forty five, the early church practiced this. It says, and all that believe were together and had all things common and sold their possessions in good, and parted them to all men as every man had need. They went above and beyond giving the tithe of the Old Testament, and a church that was very needy in Jerusalem that was outcast from their own people.

People were willing to give sometimes everything to help to provide for the needs of their fellow Christians. Because the needs of the Lord are more important than the wants that we may have. If you are giving of yourselves and of your time and talent and your money, won't waste your money on frivolous and lavish selfish and temporal things, but will lay up treasures where? In heaven. You will not find security in your wallet or be unwilling to part with some of it, to show gratitude to the Lord and help a fellow saint in need or support a missionary who needs that support and other to tell others about Christ.

We'd be willing to use our material possessions like our talents as tools tools to be used in the service of the Lord. I have two automobiles. What are they? They're tools. They take me from place to place.

They take my family from place to place. Sometimes they pick up people to bring them to church. I'm glad David could be with us again today, and for some reason he seems to like me picking him up. Today my son actually picked him up because he was the one driving. So David picked up David.

But anyway, they're tools. Tools to help take care of our families, tools to maybe help out a neighbor, tools to provide for a rainy day, tools to give, to help the ministry, missionaries, fellow saints in need, money, finances, their tools. Tools God has provided for us. Now, maybe the US government prints the money, but everything comes from the Lord. Why should we give of our time, our talents, our tender?

Well, because we belong to the Lord. First Corinthians six nineteen and twenty, what know you not that your body is the temple of the holy ghost which is in you? Which you have of God and you're not your own for you're bought with a price. Therefore, glorify God in your body and in your spirit which are God's. This isn't my body anymore, it's his.

It's to be used in his service. My car is not my car, it's his car. My house, not my house. My family is really his family. My wallet, his wallet.

We are his. If we belong to him, then everything we have belongs to him. Our family, our health, our time, our talents, it all belongs to him to be used in his service. Now, that means using some of that to provide for family and for other things. It also means using it to help provide for missions and ministry needs of his saints.

As we saw earlier, it is our reasonable service. We love him because he first loved us. It brings glory to our God. Matthew five sixteen, let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your father which is in heaven. One of the ways you can demonstrate the love of God is by willing, being willing out of love for him and others to give and not be so stingy or selfish.

Why should we give? Because it does help to supply the needs of the ministry and the saints and the Lord set it up that way. Not pastors, not churches, not deacon boards. It does take money and in prayer and time and a willingness to be used of the Lord. To do the ministry of the church and of the Lord and of the saints.

It's just a few reasons why you should give And then finally, this morning, how? In what manner? In what manner you should should you give? Well, first of all, obediently. You should give obediently because it's a command.

Now, God hasn't in the New Testament commanded us to give a specific amount. But he has commanded us to give and I believe personally that if 10% was a good start in the Old Testament, being that we're under grace and not under law, I think that's a good starting point, not an ending one. You should give in faith and faith to the Lord. Luke six thirty eight says, give and it shall be given unto you. Good measure, pressed down and shaken together and running over shall men give into your bosom for with the same measure that you meet with all shall be measured to you again.

What the Lord is saying is this, you cannot give out, out give me. Now, God is not saying if you give a $100, I'll give you 200. If you give a thousand, I'll give you 10,000. No, what God is saying is, I can give you things far greater than money and blessings and joy and sometimes God returns things in material blessings and sometimes he returns them in other ways. The greatest blessings are not dollar bills.

They're in the salvation of lost souls. They're in the encouragement and growth of brothers and sisters in Christ and maybe their encouragement to us when we have a need and are down. I appreciate it. I've got several cards this week. Thank you for the cards.

It it is a little encouragement when you're when you're kind of laying in bed and not able to get up and about like you want to. Hopefully, prayerfully and appreciate your prayers that will change here pretty soon. I have been having some good days this week that just happens this morning is not one of em but but given faith, trust the Lord. Trust in the Lord with all thine heart. Lean not into thine own understanding.

The world says, well, if you want more money, keep more of your money. Don't give it away. But that's not what God says. You know something I found God always to be faithful and true and right. We've been more than tithing since my wife and I have been married, giving to missions.

And when it comes down to the end of the year and we see how much we've given, it doesn't seem like we possibly could have given that much. And when you look at it and think, wow, that's actually a good bit of money for us. But you know something despite that, the world would say, hey, well, you you have this need and that need and just keep more of it and you can get a new car or nice this or whatever but you know something? The Lord has always taken care of our needs more than taking care of our needs, taking care of many of our wants. We haven't gone wanting.

Give in obedience, give in faith, give generously. Don't hold back, give willingly. Second Corinthians nine and verse seven, as every man according as he purposed in his heart, so let him give, not grudgingly nor not necessity. For God loveth a cheerful giver. Give generously, give willingly.

Don't give because somebody's twisting your arm. We don't twist arms here. I don't preach on giving but maybe once or twice a year. Nobody's going to come knocking on your door. Nobody's gonna ask what you give.

And matter of fact, only on very rare occasions do I have any clue as to what amount people give to our church. I have other people that keep track of all that, and I don't even have to know, Because that's not what I'm all about, that's not what our church is all about. Give willingly of your own heart as the Lord leads. He'll never lead you wrong. Purposefully, give purposefully.

That's what this verse says here, is every man purposeth in his heart. So, I ask you to in in respect to missions to take this home and pray over it. Purpose, think about it. Ask the Lord what he would have you to give. As God has prospered proportionally, the Lord doesn't ask us to ask somebody who makes 20,000 a year to give 15.

He does give proportionally. The Lord knows. That's why in the Old Testament, they were to give what? 10%, a tithe. That's proportional.

So, if you made 100,000, that's 10,000. If you made 10,000, that's 1,000. A matter of fact, the one that the Lord praised the most for giving was a very poor lady who at the time gave everything she had. In the eyes of others it was nothing, but the Lord knew that it was everything. Lord knows.

He doesn't ask us to give more than we have, more than we can give. And then, give him first. Give him the first fruits. In the Old Testament, when they were to bring the tithe, they were to bring the tithe to the Lord when? And we're to bring it first.

When they when they brought in the crops, they were to give him the tithe first. They were to give him the best of the cattle and the best of the sheep. So, give to the Lord first. Don't give to the Lord the leftovers. Sometimes, we say, well, you know, if I have this left, then I'll give it.

Trust the Lord and give to him first what he has laid upon your heart. He will take care of you. What we give comes out of our finances each month before we figure anything else because it already belongs in our mind, in our heart to who? To the Lord. It's His.

It's His. And so we give to Him first. You know, doesn't God deserve the best? The best of our time, the best of our talents, the best of our finances, the best of us. He gave us the best he had to give.

He gave us his only son that we might have life. It is our reasonable service to give him the best that we have to give as well. Let's pray. Dear heavenly father, we thank you Lord for for your word and Lord, we thank you for the opportunity to give to you who has given so much for us. Lord, we we thank you.

For your son. We thank you Lord for the life that you have given us in him. We pray Lord that you that we would be willing to open up our hearts Lord to think about our time, our talents, ourselves, of our finances, and what you would have us to give in service to the Lord. And we thank you Lord for that opportunity. For what a joy it is to have opportunity to serve the king of kings.

To give a little of what you have given us back to you. And Lord, I pray that we would not shirk that responsibility. Lord, that we would be more and more grateful every day for what you have done and that we would grow in our faith to be able to trust you more with that which you have given to us. In Jesus name, we pray. Amen.