Prelude to Giving (Part 1 of 2)

What does the Bible teach about God's people giving financially to the work of the Gospel? On Truth for Life Weekend, we're beginning a series titled The Grace of Giving.

We'll hear about why we should give, what we should give, how we should give. Alistair Begg begins by looking to the Apostle Paul's example for direction. And I invite you to turn to 2 Corinthians 8, verse 1. And now, brothers, we want you to know about the grace that God has given the Macedonian churches. Out of the most severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity. For I testify that they gave as much as they were able and even beyond their ability, entirely on their own, they urgently pleaded with us for the privilege of sharing in this service to the saints. And they did not do as we expected, but they gave themselves first to the Lord and then to us in keeping with God's will. So we urged Titus, since he had earlier made a beginning, to bring also to completion this act of grace on your part. But just as you excel in everything, in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in complete earnestness and in your love for us, see that you also excel in this grace of giving.

I am not commanding you, but I want to test the sincerity of your love by comparing it with the earnestness of others. For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that you, through his poverty, might become rich. And you may want to keep your Bible open there. We are thankful to God for his Word. Let us pray. Father, with our Bibles open before us, we come and ask for your help, that the Spirit of God will illumine the printed page to us, that our minds will be alert and open to its truth, and that our lives will be quick to welcome it and obey it and live in the light of it. Help us both in speaking and in listening to do so in such a way that honors and glorifies you, the living God.

For in Christ's name we pray, amen. I wonder how many of you have heard the fictitious tale of the monks who committed themselves in a particular monastery not only to a vow of poverty and celibacy, but also to a vow of silence. It was a new departure for them. They had lived there for some time, but they determined that they would commit to silence, and only on one occasion in a year would any one of them be called on to speak. And so, having made the determination, a year elapsed, and the first of the brothers was given an opportunity to say something.

Everyone was, of course, very interested. Having been silent for a year, they wondered just what it was that he would address. He stood up and he said, I think that the oatmeal here at breakfast is far too runny. And then he just sat down. Another year elapsed, and it was the opportunity for someone else, and the brothers anticipated that he would take it to a new level, but instead he stood up and he said, I personally think that the oatmeal at breakfast here is far too lumpy.

And then he sat down, and not another word was spoken for twelve months. The third fellow stood up and said, I'm really tired of this arguing about oatmeal. I purposefully chose to tell that fictitious tale, which isn't really much good, but it allowed me to say something that is important to say. Because the subject matter that I'm about to address with you this morning and again this evening, and probably next Sunday morning as well, has been as sparingly addressed as the subject of oatmeal in the fictitious monastic tale just told. And I determined this week, for a number of reasons which I'll now share with you, that it probably would be advantageous to address this subject again. First of all, a comment that was made to me in the last seven days by one of my colleagues. Secondly, an observation that I received in a letter at the very beginning of this past week. Thirdly, a question that came from a young lady to me asking very specific questions concerning what was she supposed to do with her money in relationship to the work of the gospel.

She said she really didn't have much idea. I was at the same time quite delighted to realize how timely I was when yesterday in Heinen's I picked up the current edition of Time Magazine and found that it contains the headline, Does God Want You to Be Rich? Yes, say some mega churches, others call it heresy, the debate over the new gospel wealth.

I said to myself, Wow, it's almost as if I was prompted, and maybe I should definitely go ahead with the matter at hand. What, where, when, why, and how God's people give says something, not everything, about the state of our commitment to the Lord Jesus Christ. Online, our check stubs speak volumes. If you no longer use checks, then your online banking records tell it all. You can tell where the largest purchases have been made, the largest ongoing commitments are to be found, the state of your own credit history, and everything else is there for any and all finally to see.

And everything under the gaze of an all-seeing God. If we give grudgingly, then our approach is essentially, I have to. If we give dutifully, our approach is essentially, I need to. If we give thankfully, our approach is essentially, I want to.

I want to. And all of us this morning, to some degree or another, will be found as either grudge giving, duty giving, or thanksgiving. And by our giving, as someone has written, our money can make us overseas missionaries without ever leaving home, turn us into evangelists without ever standing on a platform, make us broadcasters without ever entering a studio, and Bible teachers without ever writing a book. Now, in the passage that we just read, you will notice that Paul's concern, as stated at the end of verse 7, is that these Corinthian believers to whom he writes might excel in the grace of giving. In the earlier part of the same verse, he has given them their scores, as it were, for faith and speech, knowledge, earnestness, and love.

He says, you have a 4.0 when it comes to all of these things. Now he says, see that you also excel in this grace of giving. Make sure, he says, that all of these other elements—speaking your own faith, your knowledge, your earnestness, and so on, and your love—make sure that all of these things are expressed in the most practical of forms, namely in the realm of generosity. That is what he is addressing—the generosity, the overflowing goodness of the people of God. Now, I want you to notice his tone, as it's there in the opening phrase of verse 8, because tone is very, very important always. That's one of the reasons I didn't want my voice to be particularly loud. You'll notice, he says, I am not commanding you.

This is not a command performance, he says. No, he says, what I'm doing is I want to set a test, a test of the sincerity of your love by comparing it with the earnestness of others. And in verse 10, you will notice his tone, he says, and here is my advice about what is best for you in this matter. There is nothing heavy-handed about his approach, nothing domineering, because Paul recognizes what the Bible declares, namely that when it comes to the matter of the individual believers giving to the work of the gospel, it is not a matter of legislation but a matter of individual conscience. It is not a matter of legislation but a matter of individual conscience. Therefore, we should always be wary of those who, when they address the subject of Christian giving, do so in a way that is legislative or in a way that is so prescriptive as to allow little or no loopholes to the people who are under their care.

We have no basis upon which to dictate to others about the use of money. We each have the responsibility to submit ourselves to the authority of Scripture as it comes home to our minds and to our hearts. So with all of that said, here is our plan. Let us look at the example that he provides. Let us take the test that he sets. And we will spend the majority of our time on the example. The test will be brief, although you may want to take it home with you, as it were.

If you're not planning on taking notes, I think you should, because you will be helped by these five things that I'm about to point out to you in the text. I think it would be important for some of you, because you have never, ever been in a church where any kind of sensible thing has been said about giving. You've got a word, tithe, that rings around in your head.

You're not sure quite what to do with it. Some of you have come out of a background of Roman Catholicism, and by your own testimony you have given very sparingly to the church. Others of you have come from backgrounds in which the prohibitive nature of what has been said from the front has caused you all kinds of concern.

You are sensible people. Here is the Bible. We're about to study it, see if what I'm telling you is in the Bible. We're considering the example that he provides.

What is this example? Well, it's the example of the Macedonian churches. You will see that in verse 1. These Macedonian believers have operated in a certain way in relationship to giving and Paul holds them up as an example.

Now we'll begin not with verse 1, but what is said in verse 5, because this is a foundational element, although he doesn't mention it until the fifth verse. Number 1, they gave themselves first to the Lord. In other words, their money was simply an expression, one expression, of their devotion to the Lord Jesus Christ. Since they had, if you like, put themselves in the offering plate, then the money followed naturally.

Now you see, this is of foundational importance. Because the person who comes in from outside who is wondering about Christianity, who is considering the claims of Jesus or perhaps has been invited along, and happens on a morning like this and finds that there's a Scotsman of all things with a name like Begg talking about money and says, How did I get myself in such a dreadful predicament? They may be forgiven for simply assuming that what this is about is it's because every so often you have to talk about money and so on, and what the person tries to do is manipulate and cajole and encourage and so on and try and drum it all up.

Nothing could be further from the truth. But when a person understands that becoming a Christian is the giving of themselves to the Lord, then all of the other stuff follows in line. But until that is understood, until point one is in place, they gave themselves first to the Lord, then all the other stuff is out of whack. That's why in baptism, in baptism we declare Jesus is Lord. That was the earliest Christian creed. And the person was saying, Jesus is Lord of my mind and of my affections.

He is Lord of my goals and my dreams and my future, and he is Lord of my finances. Years ago, in Skipton, the gateway to the Dales in Yorkshire, a gentleman was baptized, a prominent man in the community, a wealthy man, who'd been known for his material status. He'd also been known for the fact that he had no interest in Jesus or the church. Someone had invited him to a Bible study, and as a result of him studying the Bible, he had come to understand who Jesus is and why he had come and died on the cross. And he offered up his life to Jesus in response to God's grace. On the evening that he was baptized, he appeared quite dramatically in contrast to the others who were present. Most of them were wearing jeans or a t-shirt or a simple pair of trousers, and he came and he had an immaculate three-piece navy suit on with a vest and a wonderful silk tie. And he just looked like he was ready to present a business opportunity in London, which of course he really was ready for. And in his testimony, he explained why he had dressed in this way.

Because he recognized that his suit and his tie and the quality of his shoes represented all he once held dear and built his life upon, everything that gave status and significance to him when he walked into a meeting. And he says, I've decided to be baptized in all of this clobber so that I might remind myself always from this day that Jesus Christ has all of me. They gave themselves first to the Lord. William Booth was asked on one occasion how did he explain the peculiar usefulness that God had made of him in the founding and framing of the Salvation Army. And he replied without any pride, Jesus Christ has all of me.

None of us can get beyond the starting block in the issue until this is resolved. They gave themselves first to the Lord. Secondly, and we'll go back up the text now to verse 1, they gave in response to the grace of God. That's why he's able to say, now brothers, we want you to know about the grace that God has given the Macedonian churches. Now there should be no surprise, because any consideration of giving inevitably begins with the fact of God's giving, that God is the giver of every good and perfect gift, as James says in 1.17, that he gives to us one blessing after another in the Lord Jesus Christ, that in the most famous verse, probably, of the New Testament, we have in John 3.16 the giving of God in his only Son. And here, actually, in verse 9 of the passage that we read, you know, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich yet for your sakes, he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich. Now what you need to notice is that there is a direct correlation, a direct line.

And I drew this line in my notes, and if you want to put this in your notes, it may help you. There are three words all beginning with G—grace, gratitude, giving. Any attempt to encourage ourselves, or anyone else for that matter, to give to the work of the gospel with any kind of mechanism that does not begin with the grace of God is a flawed mechanism. The starting point is not the needs of the world.

The starting point is not the peculiar concerns of this or this. The starting point is the grace of God. God is a giving God. Because he is such a giving God, we should be grateful that he is. And our gratitude should then release itself in our own giving. You see, the more we become aware of God's grace in our lives, in our circumstances, the more we will respond with a thankfulness which produces itself, as did here in verse 2, in overflowing joy. You see, when by grace we become more like our heavenly Father, then we will become more generous in our giving. Because our heavenly Father is really generous. And if we are his children and we are going to take on the family likeness, then one of the characteristics of God's children is generosity. Notice in verse 2 that their generosity was unhindered, uninhibited, by two things, severe trial and extreme poverty. What? Who does he use as an example? The Macedonian churches.

Why? Because they had tons of money, everything was going really nicely for them. So he chose this group and said, look, here's a group of people, everything's going great over there, they're full of cash, and so just be like them.

No. He looks across at the Macedonian churches, they face extreme trial, they face at the same time particular and peculiar and extreme poverty. But notice the terminology, out of the most severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity—grace, gratitude, and giving. Overflowing joy bursts the banks in a tidal wave of generous giving. Now, you see, that is why—some of you will have read this Time Magazine—that is why you will find in here, reference being made directly and tangentially to a famous Old Testament verse, which is Malachi 3 and verse 10, where God says to his people, "'Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse.'"

Why? "'That there might be food in my house, the tithing of grain and cereal.'" "'Do what I'm asking you to do,' he says.

And then look at what he says. "'Test me in this,' says the Lord Almighty. And see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it.'" Maybe the Macedonian believers were reading that.

Maybe they sat down to one another and they said, you know, we have a severe trial here, we have peculiar poverty, and somebody said, yeah, but what about Malachi 3.10? What about what God says there when he issues the test? Test me and see.

Send me to the test and see if I won't burst your banks with my overflowing generosity. Now look at verse 10 of chapter 9. "'He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness. You will be made rich in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God.'" Grace, the generosity of God granted to the people of God so that the people of God may then manifest the grace of God in their generosity so that that generosity may not be an end in itself but may result in thanksgiving and praise to God.

You see, the cycle starts and finishes with God. This is not a quid pro quo. This is not a motivational speech. This is not try and do this so that you can get that.

This is do this because you should. God blesses this. When he does, he wants you to be generous, and when you're generous, God is glorified. So it's all God. The God who gives everything is the God who made everything. He's the God who requires everything. He is the God who owns everything, and he is the God who ultimately gets the praise for everything, rich in every way, so that you may be generous on every occasion.

We'll come back to this. It should be our pattern that as our awareness of God's grace increases in our life, we respond with increasing thankfulness and joy, and we become more generous in our giving. You're listening to Alistair Begg on Truth for Life Weekend. Now October is Pastor Appreciation Month, and it's nearly over. At Truth for Life, we are passionate about encouraging pastors and about building up local churches. That's why we make all of Alistair's messages available free through the mobile app or on our website, and many of these online sermons are accompanied by a corresponding transcript. We receive hundreds of letters from pastors who write to us and tell us how encouraged they are in their own ministry by Alistair's teaching. You can visit truthforlife.org today to watch or to download or share messages from Alistair's entire teaching library.

And each year, Alistair holds a conference at Parkside Church specifically for pastors and leaders in ministry. It's called Basics, if you weren't able to attend the Basics Conference in May in 2022, you can still listen to or watch all of the presentations from Alistair and from his guests John Woodhouse and Tony Morita. They're available to view or to hear for free online at basicsconference.org. You can also listen to past Basics Conferences going back all the way to 2002.

Visit basicsconference.org slash archives to watch or listen. By the way, this is the last weekend we'll be offering a book called The Grumbler's Guide to Giving Thanks. This is a great book for all of us. All of us grumble, some of us more than others, some days worse than other days, but The Grumbler's Guide will help you replace self-focused whining with God-centered worship. Visit truthforlife.org to find out more about The Grumbler's Guide to Giving Thanks.

I'm Bob Lapine. Thanks for joining us this weekend. Today we learned about the example the Apostle Paul provided for financial giving. You'll want to listen next weekend to hear the conclusion of this message and take a practical personal and challenging test to find out what your giving reveals about you. The Bible teaching of Alistair Begg is furnished by Truth for Life, where the learning is for the living.