Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus. the founder and perfecter of our faith.
Some myths need to be exploded, like the one that says our giving should be based on guilt, or the one that says giving buys you merit with God. Today, the real deal on why a Christian should give spontaneously, willingly, and from a heart of love. Stay with us. From the Moody Church in Chicago, this is Running to Win with Dr. Erwin Lutzer, whose clear teaching helps us make it across the finish line.
We're again in part four in a series on managing God's gifts. Looking at Myths About Money. Pastor, is God more concerned about why we give than how much we give? Dave, I think that he's primarily concerned about why we give. We should give out of a heart of love.
It should be our expression to Him. It should be our worship to Him. And I know all those who are listening have many opportunities to give to many different ministries. but I want to ask them today if they would pray about the possibility of making a special gift to running to win. Because in this month, the month of August, we are doubling every gift that is sent to us.
Can you imagine doubling your investment? And as a thank you, we're going to be sending you a book I've written entitled Christ Among Other Gods that will enable you to defend Christ. To help people to understand why he is unique and why nobody else Is like him. Very quickly, let me give you some contact info. Go to rtwoffer.com.
That's rtwoffer.com. And I'll be sharing that info again at the end of this message. But always remember God wants our hearts. Yeah. Let me give you a second characteristic of these people.
They gave out of their deep poverty, it says. In fact, these phrases just are abundant in instructing us, aren't they? You'll notice it says their overflowing joy and their extreme, extreme poverty welled up in rich. generosity. Paul is talking about the offerings they gave.
Even in the midst of their poverty, And you and I don't know what poverty is. I personally don't know what poverty is.
Some of you may know it because there are Americans today who are very, very poor. There are people in other countries who are very, very poor. But most of us have no idea as to what it is like to be dirt poor, where you have basically nothing. And you'll notice that they gave in the midst of their poverty. What a myth!
That explodes. The myth that giving is just for the rich. That's the way people think. They think, well, you know, if I had lots of money, then of course I'd give, but I don't have lots of money, so that I can't give. That's a myth.
You see, it's not what you do with a million if riches should be your lot. It's what you are doing at present with the dime or quarter you've got. When Jesus was there in the temple watching the people give their gifts, And he noticed the widow who came with her two mites, and sometimes people talk about the widow's mite. Give that lady credit, because my Bible says that she had two mites. She had twice as much as most people think she did.
But Jesus said, she gave more than you all. You see, if you think that giving is just for the rich, what you're doing is saying is that the poor can never be faithful. The poor can never be rewarded for their generosity. No, no, no. Giving is for everyone, like I explained last time.
That's why in a pastoral prayer I never say, bless those who cannot give. We can all give something. It's a myth that giving is just for the rich. They gave out of poverty. Notice it says, now we come to a very puzzling phrase and I want you to work with me through it in your mind.
It says, verse 3, For I testified that they gave as much as they were able and even beyond their ability. How do you interpret that? One way might be to say that they gave beyond what could be reasonably expected. You've seen that, haven't you, in the lives of people who are generous. They can't afford to give.
In fact, they are taking money from something that they should really be using for something else. And they give it anyway. They're giving beyond their ability, or at least according to their ability. But notice it says that they actually gave beyond their ability.
So maybe that's what it is. They gave more than could be reasonably expected. I like another interpretation. And that is that they gave beyond their intention. In other words, to put it in our terms, they gave $10 and then God blessed them as a result of that giving and they found out that they had $10 more to give.
And so as a result of that, God began to so multiply them and so bless them because of their giving that they ended up giving way beyond their ability.
Well, what myth does this explode? The myth is that we should give only what we can afford, only what we can afford. It's easy for us to look at our bank accounts and say, well, how much can I afford to give? Question is, how much do we want God To work in our lives so that we can trust Him beyond, beyond just what we can afford. When you stop to think of it, If we give only what we can afford, do you know that that means that there's really no room for faith?
There's no room for a miracle.
Well, as you know, we're here in a building program. But we've outlined to the congregation And what an opportunity it is for us to be able to give beyond our ability to make our three-year commitment and actually leave some room for a miracle. Leave some room for God to work.
Somebody, some person who's a mathematical geek. figured out. That if the woman Who gave her two mites, that blessed lady there, that widow whose name we do not know. But if she'd have taken that two mites and it would have been invested at 4% interest for 2,000 years.
Now if you know anything about compound interest, first years are slow, but then it begins to build astronomically, that it would come out to a figure that would be 48 plus 19 zeros.
Now, I'm taking that by faith. I did not figure that out. It depends, of course, on how much you consider the mights to be in those days. But the fact is that here's a lady who invested and she gave certainly beyond her ability. And it's almost as if we can think that in the bank of heaven it's been multiplying all those years because every time we tell the story we are edified, that lady had no idea that her commitment was going to be written up in the scriptures and for years preachers were going to be able to use her as an example of giving.
It's a myth to think. that we can give only what we can afford. They gave, the Macedonians gave, beyond their ability. Let's go on to another myth.
Well, first of all, let's go on to another principle. They gave willingly. You'll notice it says in verse 4. Entirely on their own, they gave beyond their ability, entirely on their own, they urgently pleaded with us for the privilege of sharing in this service to the saints.
Now, I can imagine Paul saying to these people, you don't afford to be able to give this. Use this for clothes, use this for food. But notice it says, they begged, that's the way the NASB translates it. Here we have, they earnestly entreated us. for the privilege of giving.
I like that idea of begging, that they begged for the opportunity to give.
Well, you don't know that when the Holy Spirit of God works in a congregation and works in our hearts, Who knows, the day may come when people will actually say at the end of the service, Pastor, we're not going home until you pass the offering plate one last time. That's what happens when the Holy Spirit begins to work and people beg. No tricks. No need for bingo games, no need for trying to figure out how they were going to meet their commitment because it was the spontaneous heart of love. What myth does that explode?
the myth that giving should be based on guilt. And you know that Jesus said it is much more blessed to give. than it is to receive, and it's not a matter of feeling guilty. If you give only because you feel guilty, It may be better not to give at all. Give because you love, give because you care, give because God has given to you.
They begged for the opportunity to give and it is a myth that we should make people feel guilty as if Somehow they must. They must do it.
Well, let's go on to a fifth principle. And I like this one the best. It's in verse 5. 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.
That's the key to the whole thing. They gave themselves first to the Lord, the Lordship of Jesus Christ in everything. The recognition that he is Lord of all that I possess, he's Lord of my marriage, he's Lord of my vocation. He's Lord of my body, He's Lord of my time, He's Lord of my thought life. We give ourselves to the Lord first, and then having given ourselves to Him, It is then that we can rejoice in God's goodness and freely, generously give.
Have you ever met somebody who wants to give, but they have not given themselves to the Lord? First. By the way, the myth. that this explodes is that giving is a financial issue. It isn't.
It isn't financial, it has everything to do with the spiritual dynamics of our relationship with God. They gave themselves first to the Lord. You've seen people, haven't you, who haven't given themselves to God. They're trying to figure out how little they can give to get by with. They're nickeling and diming.
And so I say to you today in sincerity, if you're gonna cry about it, Don't give it all. Don't even bother. Because the scripture teaches that it should be out of that heart of joy, that sense of love. It's been more than 30 years now since I've been married, but what if What if on our honeymoon I said to Rebecca, you know, Um I forget exactly how many kisses I promised you on the honeymoon. And do we have any ideas to whether or not I've made my quota.
It's not the way it was, folks. Yeah. It's not the way it was. That's the way it is when you give too. You give because you love, you give because you're committed, you give because you know it's a privilege, you give because you have been given to and you know you don't own anything.
And it is with that kind of a heart that you give. It's not a financial issue, it's a spiritual issue.
Now, in order to help us to understand this, The Apostle Paul makes that remarkable, remarkable statement in verse 8 and 9. And I am not commanding you, he says, and exactly what I want to say to you as a congregation today. I'm not commanding you. But I want to test the sincerity of your love by comparing it with the earnestness of others. He says, that's why I wrote about the people at Macedonia.
I'm testing the sincerity of your love. Notice how he connects giving and the sincerity of a person's love and says that. The giving is an indication of it. And then he says, Verse 9, For you know the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that you through his poverty might be made rich. All week I'd been thinking about.
how Jesus Christ gave himself. Into poverty. He gave himself. He made himself poor. He gave until he was poor.
You think of the glories of heaven, you think of the wonders from where he came, and then you think of the stable, you think of his birth, you think that he owned nothing. Foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head, Jesus Christ said. And so he came and he gave, and when he was crucified, they took his garment and they cast lots for it. And that was the end of the deal. He became poor for us.
And I began to think, And this vision had never really occurred to me before, but imagine what it would be like in a congregation like ours with affluence and living in the country in which we do and the investments that we have made. What if we all gave until we were poor? No, we're not even there yet, are we? We're not, I hope maybe we're on our way, but we're not there. But Jesus gave so that we could become rich.
Heirs of God and joint heirs with Jesus Christ, united with Him. forever and ever. And that's our motivation. That's our standard. is to give as he gave.
And of course, along with that giving comes marvelous promises. For example, Jesus said, That give and it shall be given unto you, shaken down, running over. Because God says that when we give and we give away that selfishness and that desire to possess and that desire to own in the process, we are blessed. And God begins to work in our hearts. And He may not always bless us financially, as we'll see in the next message.
We're not talking here about health and wealth. We are talking, though, about personal spiritual benefit that comes to us when we sow acts of righteousness and do so generously. Many years ago, Forbes magazine had a picture in it of a man sitting. On a lawnmower, It was the kind of lawnmower that you could ride, obviously. He was sitting on it, and underneath it had the caption.
That this man was sitting on a $3.5 million Lawnmower. And I don't get Forbes magazine, but I saw this picture, I heard of it, I heard someone refer to it, and I said, you know, this is worth going into the library and checking out.
So here's the story. In the early 50s, there were 86 people who invested in the lion food chain stores. Of those 86, 85 were millionaires. At several million dollars. This man early on pulled out his money.
To buy this Lawnmower.
Now, the lawnmower only costs something like $1,500 or $2,000, but that's what he had in, and so he pulled it out to buy it. If he had kept his investment, He'd have had $3.5 million. But bless him, he had a lawnmower. I've often thought to myself, we sometimes are spending our money on lawnmowers, aren't we? We're spending our money on that which doesn't last, that which doesn't bring the best rate of return, that which is less secure.
than being committed to what God wants us to do. I want to conclude today by telling you that once again, if you're here and you've never received Christ as Savior, It is a myth for you to think that gifts Earn merit before God. That's a myth. You must come and humble yourself and receive the free gift, the grace of God, that we've been preaching about. To receive Christ as your personal Savior, don't even think about giving until you've accepted Christ.
But once you have and know His grace, giving. Is an awesome privilege. For in doing that, we become like. Him. Let's pray together.
And so, Father. We do want to commit ourselves to you now. And thank you for the marvelous example of your people throughout the centuries, for the Macedonians, but above all for Jesus. We thank you that He who was so rich became poor so that we could participate in his riches. Thank you for his abundance.
Thank you for The grace that we have experienced in Him. And Your Word says that we shall inherit all things. Make us, Lord, a thankful people, a joyful people, a generous people. We pray in Jesus' name. Oh man.
Oh, yeah.
Well, my friend, this is Pastor Lutzer. I want to emphasize this: that God gave his supreme gift to us, Jesus Christ. and therefore all who have received him delight to give to others. And as I'd like to emphasize, I know that we have many opportunities to give to many ministries, but I'm asking you to pray about the possibility of making a special gift to Running to Win during this month. Because anything that you give will be doubled.
Imagine that. What an opportunity to help us share the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ. around the world. And in advance, I want to thank the many of you who are committed to this ministry, many of you who pray for us, and those who give so that we can indeed continue and even grow. I hope that you have a pen or pencil handy, because I'm going to be giving you some contact info.
Here's what you do. You go to rtwoffer.com.
Now R T W offer of course is all one word. rtwoffer.com and by the way when you're there you can click on the Endurance Partner button. And find out how you can become a regular giver to this ministry. But here's also what I want to emphasize as a thank you. We are giving you a book I've written entitled Christ Among Other Gods.
I have to say that I wrote this book with a great deal of passion. Why? because I wanted to defend Christ. amid all of the religions of the world. I don't discuss all the religions of the world, but I show the uniqueness of Jesus so that if your neighbor asks, Why do you believe in Christ and not Krishna or some other supposed deity?
you'll have an answer. For a gift of any amount we're making this book available for you, and remember, your gift will be doubled. Here's what you do. You go to rtwoffer.com.
That's rtwoffer.com, or if you prefer, You can call us at 1-888-1. 2189337. That's 1-888-218-933. 9337 and even as this month is drawing to a close, let me thank you in advance. for helping us.
Time now for another chance for you to ask Pastor Lutzer a question about the Bible or the Christian life. Charles lives in Cleveland, Ohio, and listens to Running to Win on WCRF. Here's his question to day. I have a friend who's a Jehovah's Witness. He believes that the New Testament is only for the 144,000.
how can I explain that this is impossible? Charles, I do have to say that I think you've misunderstood your friend. The Jehovah's Witnesses do not believe that the New Testament is only for the 144,000. What they do believe is only the 144,000 will rule with King Jesus. in heaven.
So that's a distinction. They would say that the New Testament is for us today. But they would deny the divinity of Jesus, they deny salvation by faith alone. Theirs is primarily A religion of works. But let me give you a tip, Charles, as you discuss with your friend the big issues of life and these are big issues, namely, what do we have to do to go to heaven.
Ask him, if you haven't already, whether or not he worships Jesus. This is the way usually I approach Jehovah's Witnesses. If he says yes, that he worships Jesus, According to his theology he would be guilty of idolatry because Jesus isn't God and the Bible is very clear you should worship the Lord only. If he says, no, I don't worship Jesus. Try to help him to see that in heaven They do.
Recently some Jehovah's Witnesses were at my door and I went out and greeted them and we had this discussion. and I pointed out that in heaven Jesus is worshipped. And the woman gave me a Bible and says, Show me where this is in Scripture.
So I turned to the fifth chapter of the book of Revelation, and there it says that the Lamb they worship the Lamb and I read it to her. And she said, you know, there are many people who believe what you do, but you're the first person to whom I handed a Bible. who could actually point to a passage of Scripture that indicated that Jesus was worshipped. I invited her to receive Christ as Savior. They turned around and left.
I also invited them to pray. and they didn't stop to pray, but I knelt in the driveway. And I prayed for them. that they might understand the completeness of Jesus Christ, His divinity. and the salvation that he brought us.
And brought to all of us, not just the 144,000 who incidentally, are Jews. It's listed there in the book of Revelation. The salvation is to all who believe in Christ.
So I pray for your friend. befriend him, encourage him, talk with him. And let him know that Jesus is not just a man. He is God. a very god.
Thank you, Charles, for your question, and thank you, Dr. Lutzer, for your answer. If you'd like to hear your question answered, go to our website at rtwoffer dot com and click on Ask Pastor Lutzer or call us at one eight eight eight two one eight ninety three thirty seven. That's 1-888-218-258. 9337.
You can write to us at Running2Win 1635 North LaSalle Boulevard, Chicago, Illinois, 60614. That was Erwin Lutzer wrapping up Myths About Money, the fourth in a six-part series on managing God's gifts.
Next time on Running to Win, more specificity on our giving as we explore the Sermon on the Amount. Plan to join us. Thanks for listening. For Pastor Erwin Lutzer, this is Dave McAllister. Running to Win is sponsored by the Moody Church.
