Faithful Stewardship of Our Money: Our Giving

If a new Christian came up to you here at church or at work,

knowing that you're a professing Christian,

you attend this church, and they told you,

I have just become a Christian, I know I'm supposed to give.

What do I do?

Could you explain to me what you give, how you give,

how much you give?

I don't know anything about it.

What would you tell them?

As we continue our study on faithful stewardship,

this morning I want us to conclude the part about the faithful stewardship of our money.

Some of you I know are going to say, oh, I'm so glad he's through with that.

But as we continue talking about being wise managers of our time,

our talents, our treasures,

we're going to wind it up today, the part about giving,

or the part about being a stewardship of our money,

by looking at our giving.

What would you say to someone who asks you,

what do I give, how do I give, why do I give?

What I want us to do is do a brief survey of some of the major teachings in the Old Testament and the New Testament

about giving,

and then put it together into what the Bible actually means for us today about giving.

Let's do first giving in the Old Testament.

We looked briefly last week and saw that giving to God should be our first priority.

This is called first fruit giving.

Proverbs describes this kind of giving as honoring God.

Look at it.

Honor the Lord with your wealth and with your first fruits of all your produce.

But what you want us to notice is that first phrase, honor the Lord.

The idea of first fruit giving is honoring God, is focused on Him.

We also saw last week that such giving demonstrates trust in God.

For those people giving the Lord the first fruits of their produce, their crops,

they were saying, we're giving God the first,

and we're going to trust Him to provide us with the rest that will meet our needs.

Well, the same thing is true about us.

When we give Him the first of our income,

we're trusting Him.

And we're saying to Him that we're trusting Him to meet our needs with the rest of our income.

Paul encouraged Christians throughout his travels and in several of his letters

to give generously and willingly because God can be trusted to supply us with what we need.

In fact, God supplies us with what we need to give, to save, to invest, and to spend.

By the way, I was so surprised I've got more feedback from last week's message

about on the part about saving and investing than anything else.

In fact, I had some people talk about that really got to them.

Well, I want to just reemphasize this morning.

A part of being a good steward, it's not just giving.

It's earning.

It's giving.

But it is saving and investing wisely as well as spending.

But what I want us to note here in 2 Corinthians 9,

Paul encourages them to trust God.

Look at it.

And God is able to bless you abundantly

so that in all things, at all times,

having all that you need,

you will abound in every good work.

Our first giving priority should be that we give to God.

Don't think about giving to a church.

Don't think about giving to a cause.

As Christians, we need to think of our giving first and foremost

as giving to God to honor Him,

to thank Him,

and to demonstrate to Him we trust You, Lord.

We're going to give the first of our income to You

because we have confidence

that You'll supply us with what we need for everything else.

Well, the major emphasis in the Old Testament on giving

is not the first fruit giving,

but it's on the giving of a tithe or 10% to God.

The first Old Testament records of giving a tithe

was not under the law, not a requirement.

The first time we see tithing mentioned in the Old Testament,

in the book of Genesis,

it was given as a voluntary, spontaneous expression

of worship or gratitude or commitment.

Abraham, who was first known in the Old Testament as Abram,

God's the one who changed His name to Abraham.

On one occasion, He gave a tithe of all He had won in a battle.

He gave a tithe of the spoils of war

to a mysterious figure in the Bible,

Melchizedek, king of Salem and priest of God, he's described.

It says in Genesis 14, verse 20, just simply,

Genesis 14:20

and Abram gave him a tenth of everything.

But I want you to look next at the book of Hebrews.

It affirms that this was an act of worship.

Note, this Melchizedek was king of Salem

and priest of God Most High.

He met Abraham returning from the defeat of the kings

and blessed him,

and Abraham gave him a tenth of everything.

In response to that,

God is an expression of worship given to the priest of God.

Next, Jacob, Abraham's grandson,

promised to give a tithe of all that God had given him

in response to God's promise to bless him.

God promised to bless Abraham, Isaac, Jacob,

and their descendants in a very special way,

and ultimately, we're reading the New Testament,

that was through Jesus.

But I want you to note how Jacob responded to God

by saying,

and all that you give me,

I will give a full tenth to you.

That promise of a tithe

was an expression of his commitment to God

because of God's promise to bless him.

These two examples show us

that tithing first appears in the Bible

as a volunteering.

From the heart,

expression of worship,

of gratitude,

of commitment.

That's how it begins.

But tithing appears next in the Bible

as a required giving under the law.

And that's what the majority of things

you read about the tithe in the Old Testament

is all about.

Required, mandated giving

by the people of Israel

living under the law

in the promised land.

Three passages explain this.

I want you to look on the screen,

and I want to encourage you

to write that down

and look at those.

There's a lot of verses represented there.

Leviticus 27, 30 through 33.

Numbers 18, 21 through 32.

Deuteronomy 14, verses 22 through 29.

Deuteronomy 14:22–29

If you read that,

you may be a little bit confused.

Old Testament scholars debate

how many tithes

are actually being required

in those verses.

Some think there was one yearly tithe,

and then a second one

was required every three years.

Some think there were two yearly tithes,

and then a third one

required every year,

every three years.

Well, when you read those passages,

it's obvious

the people of Israel

were required to give more

than a tenth of their income

every year to God.

It was a requirement

under the law.

Now, let's move on

to the New Testament.

The New Testament does not teach

that Christians must give

a certain percentage

of their income to God.

The New Testament does teach

that Christians should give,

but it doesn't say how much.

It doesn't talk about a percentage.

Most of what you read

in the New Testament about giving

is focused on principles.

Or what we might even say,

our attitude in giving.

I want you to look at some examples.

The New Testament says

that our giving should be willful

or voluntary giving.

We looked at this verse last week,

but let me just remind you.

Each one must give

as he has decided in his heart,

not reluctantly

or under compulsion.

And the second attitude

about giving should be cheerful giving.

And here's the rest of that verse.

For God loves a cheerful giver.

Everyone must give,

but you decide.

You choose how much.

And whatever you give,

do it cheerfully.

Number three,

regular giving is what

the New Testament calls for.

On the first day of every week,

each of you is to put something aside

and store it up.

Our giving should be

on a regular basis.

The fourth principle,

proportionate giving.

Each of you is to put something aside

and store it up

as he may prosper.

Everybody's not supposed

to give the same.

Everybody doesn't prosper

the same way.

Some people are very blessed.

They're very prosperous.

Their giving should reflect that.

Some people just

are not that prosperous.

Fact is,

the reality of life

and their giving

will reflect that.

The fifth attitude

or principle of giving

in the New Testament

is generous giving.

For they gave

according to their means,

as I can testify,

and beyond their means

of their own accord.

There again,

of their own accord

emphasizes

that Christian giving

in the New Testament

was something

that they voluntarily

chose to do.

Even when they sacrificially

gave beyond their means.

Now,

before we start looking

at the amount

we should give,

we need to make sure

that our attitude

toward whatever we give

is the right attitude.

So let's think.

As you think about

giving to God,

and let's be specific,

through this church,

what goes through your mind?

How do you think

of your personal giving?

When you write your check

or give online

or put cash

in the offering plate,

what goes through your mind?

How do you feel?

How would you describe

your attitude

about your giving

to God

through this church?

and then let's just look

at what the New Testament said.

Do the words

willful,

voluntary,

cheerful,

regular,

proportionate,

and generous,

do those words

describe

the attitude

you have

as you give?

Do those words

describe your

habit,

your actions

about giving?

In light of what we see

in this brief survey

of biblical giving,

we need to think about

what should we give

to God today

as Christians,

believers of the Bible?

How should we think

in terms of giving today?

Well, the first thing

we need to understand

about giving today

is that

we do not live

under the Old Testament

law of Moses,

including

the law's requirement

to tithe.

Jesus Christ

has fulfilled

the law.

Jesus

has fulfilled

the law

and set us free

from the law's

requirements.

Now this is stated

here and there

throughout the New Testament.

A statement here,

an example there.

It is explained

in some detail

in the book

of Galatians.

It is explained

fully

in the book

of Hebrews.

If you want

to know,

get a handle

on,

why do we not,

why are we not

obligated today

to live under

the Old Testament

law of Moses,

first five books

of the Old Testament,

like the people

in Israel were

living in the

promised land?

Read the book

of Hebrews.

It explains that.

And Hebrews

Hebrews 8 · chapter mention

chapters 8,

9,

and 10

will give you

the most detail

on why we

as Christians

today

are no longer

under

the Old Testament

law.

In a nutshell,

this is what

Hebrews is telling us.

Jesus fully

kept the law

of God

for us.

Jesus perfectly

kept,

obeyed,

fulfilled the

requirements

of the law.

And when we

trust Him

as our Savior

and Lord,

we're one

with Him.

God looks

at us

united to Christ

and the requirements

of the law

have been fulfilled.

We receive

the righteousness,

the perfect life

credited to us

of Jesus.

Jesus also

died on the cross

to pay the penalty

for our sins

of disobeying

God's law.

And so when we're

united to Jesus

by faith

as Christians,

God looks at us,

we are lawbreakers.

We've sinned

and come short

of the glory of God.

But when God

looks at us

united to Jesus

by faith,

the penalty

for our sin

has been paid.

What Jesus

did for us

through His life

and death

is what saves us

and frees us

from the

penalty of the law.

We put our faith

and trust in Jesus

as our Lord

and Savior.

We are forgiven

and made right

with God

right then

and there.

Our salvation

is by God's grace.

It is totally

undeserved

through faith

in Jesus

and what He

has done

to make us

right with God.

That's why

we don't bring

animal sacrifices

to a temple

on a regular basis

to offer atonement

for our sins

like the people

in Israel did.

That's why

thank the Lord

we don't have

to abstain

from barbecued pork

and ribs

and bacon.

Now if you don't

agree with what I said

you better not

be eating any bacon

or barbecue.

We've been set free

from those dietary

regulations.

There is no

unclean food.

There's a lot of food

we probably shouldn't

eat

but not from

a biblical perspective.

It's what Jesus

has done

for us

on the cross

that we're not

required to keep

Sabbath laws.

You say

well I do.

Well

you don't worship

on the Sabbath

if you come here

on Sunday

Sabbath is the

seventh day.

Saturday.

So you're not

keeping Sabbath laws.

No one is.

Well how should

we think of the

Old Testament

today?

Just forget it?

Rip it out of the Bible?

Absolutely not.

What we read

in the Old Testament

is still the Word

of God

that provides us

with listen

eternal principles

for living a life

that pleases God.

For example

all of the

Ten Commandments

are restated

reinforced

in the New Testament

except the

Fourth Commandment

concerning the

Sabbath.

We don't live

under the Old

Testament law

of Moses

but we do

live under

the principles

contained in

the law.

For example

lying and

stealing is

always wrong.

Honoring your

father and

mother is

always right.

It's just in

the nature of

God for

lying and

stealing to

be wrong.

It's contrary

to who he is.

Honoring your

father and mother

is just how God

created life to

be in this world

between children

and parents of

all ages.

You honor your

father and mother.

Worshiping God

only.

Having no other

gods.

Never taking his

name in vain.

Those are eternal

principles that tell

us how to honor

God.

You can't honor

God and serve

idols or other

gods.

You can't take

God's name in

vain and that

doesn't mean you

just don't use his

name in profane

statements.

That means you

don't take God's

name flippantly or

casually.

If you don't use

God's name be

talking about him

seriously,

honestly,

not flippantly or

casually.

So what about

tithing?

Is that a

principle?

A principle that

endures or is it a

law we no longer

have to keep?

Let's think about

it.

Tithing appears in

the Bible before

the law ever

existed.

Voluntarily giving

a tithe to God is

one of the oldest

tangible expressions

of worship showing

gratitude and

commitment found

among God's

people.

Here's something

else we need to

think about in

relation to the law

and today and

principles and so

forth.

Jesus never

lowered the

standards of

truth found in

those Old

Testament laws.

He actually

raised the bar.

Jesus raised the

standards of truth

for an example.

Jesus taught that

murder is more

than just taking

someone's life.

Murder actually

begins with anger

in our heart.

Insults,

condemnations,

judgments on our

tongue.

Look at what

Jesus said in the

Sermon on the

Mount, Matthew 5.

He says,

You have heard that

it was said to

those of old,

you shall not

murder.

And whoever

murders will be

liable to

judgment.

But I say to

you that everyone

who is angry with

his brother will be

liable to judgment.

And whoever insults

his brother will be

liable to the

counsel.

And whoever says

you fool will be

liable to the hell

of fire.

Jesus said that

adultery is much

more than a

physical act.

The sin of

adultery begins

with a lustful

look and desire.

Note again,

Sermon on the

Mount, Matthew 5.

Jesus said,

You have heard that

it was said,

You shall not

commit adultery.

But I say to you

that everyone who

looks at a woman

with lustful intent

has already committed

adultery with her

in his heart.

And each of those

examples,

Jesus is bringing

out the spirit

of the law,

not just the letter.

And in doing that,

Jesus did not lower

the moral requirements

of the Old Testament

laws.

He raised them,

didn't He?

It's obvious.

So now we come

to tithing.

Tithing appears

to be a solid,

biblical,

very sound

principle

for Christians

today

that gives us

a starting

point

in our giving

to God.

That seems

to be the most

common understanding

of tithing

among Christian

leaders

who take the

Bible's

teaching

seriously.

I want you to

look at an example

from James

Boyce,

long-time pastor,

10th Presbyterian Church

in Philadelphia,

on the radio

for years,

highly respected.

He says,

although the tithe

is not mentioned,

the giving of

weekly offerings

is,

he's talking about

in the New Testament.

And more importantly,

it is generally

the case

in the New Testament,

the obligations

of the Old Testament

legislation

are heightened

rather than

lessened.

Jesus in murder,

Jesus in adultery.

So while we are

not required

to give a specific

tenth of our income,

it is hard to think

of a normal Christian

blessed with the

fullness of the

gospel of Jesus Christ

doing less.

Under reasonable

circumstances,

any true believer

in Christ

should give more

than the tenth.

For all we have

is the Lord's.

Randy Alcorn,

some of you

have read his book

on heaven,

done a study

here in church

on heaven

based on his book.

He's written a lot

of things about giving.

One of his books

was called

The Treasure Principle

and in that book

he compares tithing

to training wheels

on a bicycle.

He says,

training wheels

help you to learn

to ride,

but once you learn

to ride,

you take off

the training wheels.

He says that

when we really

learn to give,

tithing won't

even be an issue.

It will be merely

the beginning point

of our giving.

One more,

Wayne Grudem.

My conclusion

about how much

we should give

is that the New Testament

does not specify

any certain amount

such as 10%.

But a tithe

certainly seems

like a wise guideline

at least when someone

is beginning

beginning

to give

to the Lord's work.

It is a level

of giving

that is significant

and yet not

excessively

burdensome

for people.

I want us

to understand

that the key

to practicing

faithful stewardship

of everything

we have,

everything that we are,

including our money,

is to first

give ourselves

to God.

That's what I pointed

out at the beginning

of this first fruit

offerings.

We are honoring

God.

We are doing it

to Him.

The focus

is on Him.

That's how Paul

explains

how one group

of Christians

were able

to give

so generously.

Note this

in 2 Corinthians 8.

For they gave

according to their means

as I can testify

and beyond their means

of their own accord

begging us

earnestly

for the favor

of taking part

in the relief

of the saints

and this

not as we expected

but they gave

themselves first

to the Lord

and then

by the will

of God

to us.

The key

to their giving,

wanting to give

like they did,

it grew out

of their relationship

with the Lord.

Here's what I want

us to understand.

When we give

ourselves first

to the Lord Jesus Christ

in faith,

in love,

in commitment,

everything else

in our life

will fall into place.

When Christ

is truly

the Lord

of our life

and He's first

in our life,

we'll be faithful

stewards

of our time,

of our talents,

of our treasures.

That includes

earning it,

saving,

investing it,

spending it,

as well as

giving it.

The most

important question

for each of us

this morning

is this,

have I truly

given my life

to Christ?

Our lives

should show it.

If we have,

we should know it

and other people

should be able

to see that in us

because first

and foremost,

our heart's desire

will be to know

Him better,

love Him more,

serve Him

with all our heart,

and that includes

everything.

Now,

if that's true

about you,

if you think

to yourself,

I know,

not perfectly,

but I truly

love the Lord,

I want to know

Him better,

I want to be

more like Him,

I want you to

thank God

because that is

a sign,

a great sign

that God has

worked in your life

in a very

gracious way.

God's changed you,

He is changing you.

If that just

appeals to you,

that's what you're

seeking to do,

to know and love

and serve the Lord,

just thank God

and ask Him

to help you

to keep on.

But if you're honest,

you might say,

that used to be true,

but it's not like

it used to be.

So what I want you

to think is this,

if you have allowed

some more

or something

to take the

Lord's place

in your life,

admit that

as the sin

that it is

to God

right now.

You may not

have ever meant to,

but right now,

you're more concerned

about doing this,

pleasing yourself,

or pleasing a certain

person than you are

pleasing God.

I want to encourage

you to confess

that as the sin

that it is,

turn from it,

change your mind,

repent,

ask God to help you,

and then come back

to Him

in a renewed faith

and commitment.

Ask Him to help you

day by day,

maybe hour by hour,

to live a

God-conscious

life.

life.

Be focused

on seeking

to know

and love

and follow

and be like

the Lord Jesus.

But if what

we're talking

about here

has never been

true about you,

you don't know

God,

you don't have

a relationship

with Christ,

and the truth

is you've never

really thought

that much about

it or cared

to.

But if you do

now,

if God's been

working in your

life these past

few weeks,

maybe through

some of the

things we've

learned,

or maybe just

today,

I want to

encourage you

to turn your

back on living

for you,

repent of

your sin,

put your trust

in Jesus,

and call upon

Him to save

you right now.

That's the most

important thing

for you to do.

I want us to

conclude this

message the same

way we began

this morning.

I want to ask

you,

how would you

instruct a new

Christian

concerning their

giving?

What if they

ask you to

tell them

how you

give,

your thoughts

on giving,

your actions,

what would you

say?

I know for a

fact that there

are many people

in this church

who have a

testimony similar

to mine about

their giving,

and so on

behalf of people

who give this

way, I want to

give you an

example.

I'm going to

give you my

and Lisa's

testimony.

I don't

remember when I

began to

tithe.

When I met

Lisa, I was

already tithing.

She was already

tithing.

When we got

married, we

were already

committed to

giving God the

first 10% that

He blessed us

with.

I'm talking

about we gave

the first 10%

of the gross

income that

we had.

We gave this

tithe to

God with an

emphasis on

giving it to

God, but we've

always given it

to Him through

our local

church, through

our church,

through this

church today.

We've always

considered my

income and her

income to be

our income.

Now, I know

everybody here

doesn't do

that.

That's not the

point this

morning.

I don't have

my money.

Lisa doesn't

have her money.

We have our

money.

And so we

give one

tithe of

our offerings,

our income

rather.

It used to be

the first check

we wrote after

we got paid,

which has been

for years now,

twice a month.

Now, we've

set it up for

that tithe to

be drafted the

day after payday,

two times a

month.

I love that.

I love online

giving.

I love having

it drafted.

You may not

want to do

that, and

that's fine

for you.

But you'd be

surprised how

many Sundays

I've sat in a

pew and

passed, seen

that plate go

by twice, and

I get home,

it's still in my

pocket.

I love having

it drafted, and

I try to think,

I don't every

Sunday, but I

try to think and

do most Sundays

when that plate

has passed.

Thank you,

Lord, for

blessing us and

allowing us to

be able to

give the way

that we're

giving now.

For over 41

years, we have

given at least

10% of our

income to God

through our

church, regardless

of what our

income was or

what our expenses

were.

There's been

times in our

life when money

was tight, and

we cut back on

our spending.

We've never

cut back on

our tithing.

After giving

10% to God

through the

church, we

consider what

other ways God

would have us to

give with the

other 90%.

I want to be

real honest with

you here.

We've always

practiced saving

and investing.

That's very

important.

It's wise.

It's biblical.

I just don't

realize, haven't

realized how many

people don't

understand that,

but you need to

understand that.

But we consider

what we give, the

10% to be our

tithe.

And we consider

what else we

give to be our

offerings.

And we always,

through the years,

have given

offerings to

special cause,

special mission

causes.

Usually our

largest offering

like this is to

the Lottie Moon

Christmas offering

for international

missions that we

give through our

church.

Some years our

largest offering

has been giving

to the building

fund.

We were doing

something real

special like

building or

remodeling here.

We've made it a

habit to give to

other offerings for

various kinds of

ministries and

missions that were

biblically sound,

gospel type

organizations.

We've also

supported some

individuals who were

raising money to go

on a mission trip or

being involved in

some missions,

but we do not

give to people who

ask us to just go on

pleasure trips or

even educational

trips.

That ain't my

place.

I'm not sending you

around the world,

but I will help you

to serve the Lord

somewhere around the

world.

We've given to

benevolent ministries

like Prison

Fellowship's Angel

Tree, Samaritan's

Purse, the Dream

Center.

One reason we give to

those ministries is

because we're

supposed to help

people who are in

need, and those

kind of organizations

not only help people

who are in need,

but they share the

gospel in the

process.

We have given like

this out of love and

gratitude to God for

all that He has done

for us and out of

obedience to what we

believe He's called us

to do.

But I want to be real

clear about something.

We have not and we do

not give out of fear

or guilt.

I grew up going to

church and all my

life, mostly growing

up, I heard it taught

that the tithe is the

Lord's and if you don't

give it, He's going to

get it some other way.

That is poor theology.

That is not biblically

sound theology.

I think if we don't

give, we miss out on a

lot of blessings.

But I don't think we

should give because we're

afraid God's going to do

something to us to get it

another way.

You can't find that as a

motivation for giving.

The result has been in

our giving, God has met

all of our needs and so

much more.

But I want to be quick

to say here, don't give

thinking God's going to

make me wealthy or I'm

going to manipulate God

by my giving.

It doesn't work that way.

God has promised to meet

our needs, but He has not

promised to meet our

wants.

In our lives, we've been

blessed by having our

needs met and a lot of

wants.

But there's been things we

couldn't afford to do.

There's been times, lots of

times we've told our

children we can't afford

this because we chose to be

faithful to God to give

instead of just spending it

on ourselves.

But we chose to do that

because God has blessed us,

because He sent His Son to

die for us.

We love Him.

We appreciate it.

That's our testimony.

And you may not know a lot of

people in this church.

If you're a guest here today,

if there's a lot of people in

this church, theirs wouldn't be

exactly like ours, but a lot of

people in this church do the

same way because I've heard them

say it.

That's our testimony.

That's how I would explain to a

new Christian how to give.

What's your testimony?

How do you give?

Make sure that whatever it is,

it's what pleases God, what honors

Him, what demonstrates your trust in

Him.

And if it doesn't, talk to Him

about it this week and develop a

way to give that will honor God and

show Him that you love Him and

trust Him.

Let's pray together.

Father, show us now how we should

respond to You and just help us to

do it.

Help us to commit ourselves to You

first and all that we are to do.

and all that we have, including our

money and our giving.

Let's just have an attitude of

prayer and respond to the Lord as He

speaks to us.

If I could help you, pray with you,

I'll be here at the front and we'd be

happy to do that.