Giving: A Matter of the Heart (Part 2 of 2)

How Much is Enough Today on Truth for Life, Alistair Begg offers a biblical framework for giving.

We're looking at chapter 16 in 1 Corinthians verses 1 through 9. The issue is not that we have a lot of money out of which we can give. The issue is that since our giving is to the Lord, we want always to be giving, each one of us.

And if all that I can give would be the result of no longer taking the plain dealer six days a week and put that in the offering plate, that would be absolutely fine. Because each one is to be setting aside on the first day of every week their resources. Now, the word here for set aside is the Greek word thesorizo, from which we get our English word thesaurus, which we think of usually in terms of a collection of words or a compendium or a treasury of words.

It is the same word. And what Paul is addressing here is the fact that in the period in which he is writing, both in pagan environments and also in Jewish environments, in the religious framework, there were literally treasuries within the places of worship. And it was customary for people on a regular basis to bring resources and to put them in those treasuries.

And so says Paul, that's what I want you to do. On a regular basis—indeed, on a weekly basis—I want you to set aside these resources in the treasury. Oh, but says somebody, don't you think he's just talking about setting them aside at home?

No, I don't think so. Because he says, I want you to do this so that no collections will have to be taken when I come. If everybody was setting it aside in their home, they'd have to have a collection when he showed up. But if everybody was setting it aside regularly in the treasury there, then when he showed up, there would be no need for collections, because the money would already be in place. Oh, but says somebody, this surely doesn't apply today, because after all you've got to understand the tax implications of these things, and if I keep the money to December 30th and so on, then it's far more effective and far more useful and so on. Listen, I know about that, a little bit about that. I understand the wisdom of that.

So do you. But this is what the Bible says. And there is something about the actual discipline of weekly setting aside money that is imperative for God's people. Because it is a reminder to us, at least on the first day of every week, that all that I am and all that I have is a result of God's grace and his goodness to me.

Now, if I choose to do that once every four months, I don't have the same benefit of that experience. And furthermore, the resources that accrue then in turn to the church, rather than the wealthy trying to make sure that they make sufficient interest off the seed before they finally scrape in before the end of the year with a donation—hmm, something to think about, I can tell by your eyes. The participation then was total. The amount, as we're going to see in a moment, was personal, but the participation was total.

Let me just make a couple of points of application before I come to the fifth question. The New Testament—indeed, the Bible itself—says this. Learning to give properly is a central part of learning to worship properly. And we have never really learned to worship the Lord until we have learned to give to the Lord. And the other thing to point out is that the local church, while not having the exclusive access to our giving, should nevertheless be the primary place of our giving. Here it is that we support God's people, that we support God's servants, that we support God's ministry as we place our gifts into the custody of those who have been entrusted with the awesome responsibility of dealing with them.

A tremendous amount of money is duplicated and reduplicated as a result of a misunderstanding or an unwillingness on the part of God's people to begin at the point that the New Testament calls us to begin—namely, at the treasury in the central place of the local church. Now, we come to the fifth question, which, for many people, is perhaps the most significant one. How much was to be given? How much? That's what everybody wants to know. Let's cut through it. We got the Sunday thing, we got the, you know, who's involved and everything, but let's get to the heart of the matter.

How much? That's a very important thing, you see, because for the Jewish mind, they wanted it buttoned down real tight. Just tell me how much. Because I don't want to give any less, but I'm blowed if I'm gonna give any more. So just tell me what it is. And I have some very good friends with whom I play golf who tell me, say, You know what? I buy my seat in the synagogue, I pay my thing, I do the high holy days, and the rest of it just keep out of my face. I just want to know what my responsibility is. Tell me how much, tell me how often, let me do the deal, and let's get out of it.

Paul doesn't give them any kind of luxury like that. Look at what he says. Each one of you should set aside a sum of money.

This is not getting real helpful, folks. A sum of money. Is there any indication of what it should be?

Yes. In keeping with his income. In other words, there is some correlation between the sum of money that you set aside and I set aside and the way in which God has prospered me. But there is no specific indication given here. There is no amount, there is no percentage, and indeed, for all of my searching, I can find no amount and no percentage in the whole of the New Testament.

Always it is discretionary. Let me show it to you right now. Let me give to you old territory for some, new terrain for others. Let me give to you a number of biblical pointers in relationship to this how-much question. I'm just going to go through them quickly.

Pointer number one. True giving begins with a giving of ourselves to the Lord. 2 Corinthians chapter 8 and verse 5.

If you look there, you will discover, 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 true giving begins with a giving of myself to the Lord. In the same way as when you get married.

In your marriage service, you may have had the line, when you put the ring on your bride or your bridegroom, you're supposed to put the ring on the fellow's fourth finger of his left hand and say after the officiant, With this ring I thee wed, With all my worldly goods I thee endowed. You remember that? In other words, you get me, you get all this. And hopefully there isn't all this. In some cases it's like, You get me, you got a problem. But you get me, you get all this. In other words, first I give myself to you, and then all that I have, it comes to you. There's no prenuptial agreements, there's no funny business, there's no separating of funds and resources, there's none of that nonsense.

We two are one. You got me, you got the whole show. I get you, I get the whole show. And I'm not talking now about business and tax dealings, okay? I'm talking philosophically here.

I'm talking expressively. And that's the picture. When the Lord Jesus gets us, he gets it all. He doesn't get us and ten percent of what we own. He gets us and the whole deal—hundred percent—the totality, the business, the house, the cars, the vacation home, the resource, the income, the tax benefits.

He gets the whole deal. True giving begins with the giving of myself to the Lord. 2 Corinthians 8 5. Secondly, true giving is in response to what Jesus has given for us.

Still, in 2 Corinthians 8, look at verse 9, 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. He is the creator of the ends of the earth. He is the one who owns the cattle on a thousand hills and the wealth in every mine. He is the Lord of the universe. He is King of heaven. He is sovereign over the whole thing, and he appears as a baby wriggling his toes in the ignominy of a Bethlehem straw heap. And he says to his followers, foxes of holes and birds of nests, but the Son of man has nowhere to lay his head.

Why did he do this? In order that we through his poverty might become rich. C. T. Studd says, If Jesus Christ be God and died for me, then no sacrifice that I could ever make for him could ever be too great. Thirdly, true giving will be generous rather than grudging or reluctant.

2 Corinthians chapter 9 and verse 5. So I thought it necessary to urge the brothers to visit you in advance and finish the arrangements for the generous gift you had promised. Then it will be ready as a generous gift and not as one grudgingly given. In other words, he says, I don't want to be sending out a collection agency for your funds. I don't want to be phoning you up and saying, Excuse me, remember you promised a gift for the poor in Jerusalem. I was just wondering how you're coming along with that. Don't you love that phrase?

I was just wondering how you're coming along with that. The answer is, I'm not coming along at all. If I'd been coming along, I would have come along.

You would have had the jolly stuff. No, he says, I want you, you see. I sent them ahead to finish the arrangements for the generous gift you had promised. You see, what had happened is God had stirred within their hearts, and they said, I'm in for that. Paul says, When you get to that point, make sure you get in right there. Don't let it go cold on you.

And then someone has to come and relight the fire of enthusiasm underneath you. He says, Let your giving be generous rather than grudging or reluctant. Verse 7 of 2 Corinthians 9, The amount of our giving is to be personally determined. How much should I give? Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion.

Nobody coming along and saying, This is what it costs, and this is what you've got to give, and blah, blah, blah. For God loves a cheerful giver, a hilarious giver. That's the word. Hilarious. He loves it when people just go nuts giving. Why don't we give this? That's crazy. Yeah, I know, isn't it? Let's give it!

It's hilarious! How much did you have in your pocket? I don't know. I think I had about 270 bucks. You put the whole thing in? Yeah!

Why? Did you realize how much I spent this week on golf? Did you realize how much we spent this week on eating out? Did you realize how much we spent in the last six months on ourselves? Goodness gracious, if I took everything I had in my pockets and put it in, we wouldn't even come close to what we've been doing for ourselves. And we didn't eat that out. We said, Shall we drive or shall we fly? And somebody says, Let's fly. It's kind of crazy, but let's do it.

Cheerful and personally determined. We said, Well, what about tithing? What about tithing? Well, don't you believe in tithing? Yeah, I believe in tithing when you're supposed to tithe, and I don't believe in tithing when you're not supposed to tithe. So when are you supposed to tithe?

In the Old Testament, under the Mosaic law. Mm. That's a real problem, because I was feeling really good about my ten percent. And the ninety, I've got it stashed beautifully. You're not gonna tell me that ten percent isn't the deal. That's exactly what I'm gonna tell you.

It's not. You see, when you look at the Old Testament, under the Mosaic law, in the establishing of a tithe—I gotta get this money up, incidentally—but in the establishing of a tithe—that'd be hilarious, somebody comes and takes it—in the establishing of a tithe, there were three elements to it. There was a tithe for the Levites, which is the government. There was a tithe for the national feast, which was the community. And there was a tithe for helping the poor, which was welfare.

And when you put it all together, it amounts to some twenty-three percent of the people's income. Israel was a theocracy. In other words, their government was ruled by God. And in order for the structure of a nation to function, they needed these taxes. And these tithes were the taxes so that the nation might function effectively. They were not free will offerings. They were demanded, they were required, they were necessary, there was a date when they were due. And there is no doubt about it.

You have the little voucher, you've got the envelope ready, and you've got to put the check in it. And whether you feel good about it, bad about it, or whatever, you've got to do something about it. But that's not about giving today to the Lord's work. That's different. And it was different for the people of God. In fact, in Exodus chapter 25, God introduces a free will offering.

And I want you to notice this, because it's really quite remarkable. Exodus 25, the Lord said to Moses, tell the Israelites to bring me an offering. You're to receive the offering for me from each man whose heart prompts him to give. The prompting of his heart to give. If you go forward ten chapters, you find the same emphasis.

Thirty-five, five. This is what the Lord has commanded. From what you have, take an offering for the Lord, and everyone who is willing is to bring to the Lord.

And then he mentions all these different things. And in verse 21 of Exodus 35, and everyone who was willing and whose heart moved him came and brought an offering to the Lord. Now, this thing got so out of hand that by the time you get to Exodus 36, verse 6, God has to issue an instruction through his servant Moses, who gave an order, and they sent this word throughout the camp. No man or woman is to make anything else as an offering for the sanctuary. And so the people were restrained from bringing more, because what they already had was more than enough to do all the work. As soon as they were cut free from the legalistic requirements of a tithe, which actually limited them, the thing went nuts. And eventually, the word goes, Hey! That's enough!

Stop for a while! Now, it wasn't as a result of having a law laid down. Now, you say, Well, does the tithe have no place? I think it has a place in this respect, that if that principle was important in the old covenant, then it certainly represents a good starting point in the new.

It gives us some kind of frame of reference. But I believe the real danger is that we breed a mentality that says, When you become a Christian, there's a kind of ten-percent deal kicks in. It's bad if you've only ever been giving half of one percent or nothing to the Lord until your Christian experience, because a ten-percent hit in your income will be felt. But that's not the deal. The deal is that when we become Christians, the Lord takes over everything. He ultimately owns the title to all that we have and all that we are. And so to get away with ten percent would be to sneak out.

Well, I've said enough on that. I would add to it that true giving is to be sacrificial and yet cheerful. David says, I won't offer to the Lord that which cost me nothing. 2 Samuel 24 24. Ultimately, true giving is a matter of the heart. Jesus says in Luke chapter 6 and verse 38—a wonderful verse. I've always thought it should be some kind of song.

I don't know if it is or not. I don't know how you make it into a song, but it would certainly move along, I'm sure. Jesus says, Given, it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be poured into your lap.

For with the measure you use it will be measured to you. In other words, stingy in, stingy out. You want to be stingy with God?

That's okay. You want to be generous? Then you'll see the blessing that attends it. There was a final question in verse 3 and 4 of 1 Corinthians 16.

I just mentioned it, and we will conclude. How will these financial matters be handled? The answer in verses 3 and 4 is, with scrupulous care. You'll notice that Paul arranged for the collection, but he didn't plan to touch the money in person at any time. You'll notice that the Corinthians were to raise it, the Corinthians were to keep it until Paul came, and when it finally went to Jerusalem, he was going to write letters, but they would be given to men that were approved by the people there in Corinth, and these men would take the money there. Some of the worst things that have ever happened in the framework of Christianity have happened as a result of people in leadership positions having access to the funds and the resources.

You read some of the most horrendous things. You know, evangelists counting the offering, pastors putting it in the bank, all that kind of thing. And I want you to know, just in passing, just as interesting as it is, I can't sign a check in this church. I can't draw down funds in this church. I can't do anything financially in this church except in relationship to my book and conference allowance, which is a minimal amount of money, and it all has to be disbursed to me by the hands of others. And I absolutely love it. I love it. So, if we raised two million, five million, ten million, twenty million for the work of the kingdom, that'll be fine.

I might even stand up here and say, Let's go. But you can be sure that I'll never touch it. It will be put in the hands of godly men who will care for it as those who give an account to God.

What's this collection? For the poor people. Why is it so important?

Because our money is an expression of our love. When should it be received? First day of every week.

How much is involved? In proportion with our income as God moves our hearts. And how will it be handled?

Please God, it will be handled with the utmost integrity. In light of all that is ours, by God's grace, we are to be cheerful givers. You're listening to Truth for Life. That's Alistair Begg.

Keep listening. Alistair will be back to close with prayer in just a minute. In today's message, Alistair mentioned that the local church should be our primary place of giving, and we wholeheartedly endorse this at Truth for Life. In fact, we encourage you to support your local church prayerfully and financially, first and foremost. Our goal at Truth for Life is to come alongside your local church. Our mission is to teach the Bible with clarity and relevance, not only so that unbelievers will be converted, but so that believers will be established and local churches will be strengthened in the process.

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Just visit truthforlife.org slash donate. Now here's Alistair. Father, grant that in these most practical of areas you will reign supreme within our lives. Glorify your name in the giving of ourselves and in the giving of our resources. For Jesus' sake we ask it. Amen. Amen. I'm Bob Lapine. When Jesus said to his disciples, follow me, I've got a job for you, he was calling you and me as well. Join us Monday to hear about this special and personal invitation from Jesus. The Bible teaching of Alistair Begg is furnished by Truth for Life, where the Learning is for Living.