Trinity Baptist Church

 

We have no record of these words in the four gospels which we have in our Bible, yet we are told here, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, that Jesus Christ said, "It is more blessed to give than to receive."  Some have referred to it as the neglected beatitude. The beatitude which Jesus gives concerning the matter of giving; it is more blessed to give than to receive.

 

What a simple thought! Nine words, seven of the words are monosyllables. I want you to say those words with me.

 

IT IS MORE BLESSED TO GIVE THAN TO RECEIVE.

 

In one clear succinct statement the Lord Jesus Christ summarizes everything the Bible has to say about the subject of giving.

 

Many preachers are hesitant to talk about the matter of giving. All of us have heard the criticism that some people give. Sometimes I have heard people say, "Every time you go to church, all they talk about is giving." Have you ever heard anybody say that? That is not a true statement.

 

In fact, in our church, about the only time you hear about giving is during an occasional stewardship emphasis and when the subject of giving comes up just during the normal course of preaching through various books of the Bible. So, it is not a true statement.

 

I think about the story I heard about the member who was complaining to his pastor. He said to his pastor, "All I ever hear around our church is give, give, give." The pastor responded and said, "You have just stated one of the best definitions of Christianity I have ever heard.

 

As we discovered last week, Christianity is all about giving. Giving is really at the heart of the Bible. The whole Bible can be summarized in this matter of giving. The Bible says that God is the happy God. He is the blessed God. In John 3:16 you have the heart of God revealed when it says, "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son."

 

Giving is the secret of a happy life. We find this over and over again in the Bible. All through the Bible we find the truth that if you want to be a happy person, then you must learn the grace of giving. You must learn what it is to have a giving life. It is the secret of happiness. It runs contrary to human nature. We don't think that's true. There's something in our human nature that says it is more blessed to receive than it is to give. A lot of people think that wealth is what will make you happy.

 

In fact, back in 1991 there was a remarkable survey done in America. It was put in the form of a book entitled, "The Day America Told the Truth." In that survey, the question was asked, "What would you do for Ten Million dollars?"

 

Twenty-five percent of those surveyed said they would abandon their family. Twenty-three percent said they would be a prostitute for one week. Seven percent said they would murder a stranger.

 

Somehow there are many people in the world and in America who have the attitude that it is more blessed to receive than it is to give.

 

Yet, Jesus said if you want to be a happy person, if you want to be a blessed person, IT IS MORE BLESSED TO GIVE THAN IT IS TO RECEIVE.

 

Now it is a blessing to receive. All of us enjoy receiving something. Yet, Jesus said it is more blessed to give than to receive.

 

I think about Zacchaeus. One of the evidences that Zacchaeus was indeed a converted man is that after his conversation with the Lord Jesus Christ, he said, "The half of my goods I give to the poor and if I have taken anything that I should not have taken, I restore it five-fold." He was saying "Half of what I have, I give." He had become a giving person. It is a good illustration that the Lord has changed your life.

 

IT IS MORE BLESSED TO GIVE THAN TO RECEIVE. Do we believe it? If we believe it, it will change our life.

 

Let's say it together. IT IS MORE BLESSED TO GIVE THAN TO RECEIVE.

 

 

Turn to II Corinthians 8. In my last message on giving I ran across this verse but didn't go into it. I want to talk to you about the importance of giving yourself to the Lord. In the 5th verse we read these words, "And this they did, not as we hoped, but first gave their own selves to the Lord and unto us by the will of God."

Notice that. They gave themselves to the Lord. One of the oldest stories I can ever remember is the story of the little boy in a church service. The pastor had talked about the importance of giving. He didn't really have anything to give and as the offering plate came closer and closer to the pew where he was standing right there on the edge of the aisle, the usher brought the offering plate to him and the little boy said, "Lower." He put the plate a little lower and the little boy said, "Lower." So he put the plate down on the ground and the little boy stepped into the plate. He gave the most important gift you will eve give to the Lord Jesus. He gave himself.

 

We are to give ourselves. That is the first gift you ever give to Jesus. That is the essential gift you give to Jesus. That is the supreme gift you give to Jesus. The Bible says that God says, "I seek not yours, but you." God is far more interested in your heart than He is in your pocketbook. God wants you to give yourself to Him, first of all. That is the number one gift you give to the Lord.

 

Another story that comes out of the early years of my life is the story of the Indian Chief and the missionary who was preaching the gospel of the Lord Jesus. The chief's heart was touched and he took his magnificent Indian chief head dress and brought that to the missionary and said, "Indian chief give head band to Jesus."

 

The missionary said, "That's not what Jesus wants you to give."

 

 

 

 

Rather puzzled, he went out to his pony and got his blanket and brought it back and laid it at the feet of the missionary and said, "Indian chief give blanket to Jesus."

 

He said, "No, chief, that's not what Jesus wants."

 

There was a more puzzled look on his face. Then he got his pony and brought it in. That was really a sacrifice. He said, "Indian chief give pony to Jesus."

 

He said, "Chief, that's not what Jesus wants you to give."

 

Finally in utter desperation and in abandonment he got on his knees and said, "Then, Indian chief give self to Jesus."

 

The missionary said, "That's what Jesus wanted all the time."

 

The Lord Jesus Christ wants you to give yourself to the Lord Jesus. If you have never been saved, He's not after your money. He is after your heart. If you have never repented of your sins and by faith invited Jesus Christ into your heart, you need to do that before this service is over. Give yourself to the Lord.

 

Then it says, "They gave themselves unto us by the will of God." He's talking about giving to God's people. We are talking about giving and giving in terms of our local congregation. We do give to others in many ways and we give to those we cannot see many times. But he is talking here about giving unto the Lord's work and to God's people here.

 

 

This is the greatest thing that is needed in our congregation. If somebody said to me today, "Preacher, what's the greatest need of our church"? I would not say more numbers.

 

We have a lot of members and as is true of all congregations, unfortunately, not all of the members are as involved as they ought to be. Not all the members are as faithful in the attendance as they ought to be. Not all the members read the Bible as they ought to read it. Not all the members pray as they ought to pray. Not all the members give as they ought to give. Not all the members witness as they ought to witness. The great need of our fellowship is not more members. We need better members instead of more members. The great need of our congregation is not money either.

 

I was thinking about the New Testament church. I was thinking about how these early disciples had very little of material things, yet they shook the Roman Empire to its foundations by their faith. I think about the fact that they had very little material things, yet they shot that pagan empire through with gleams of glorious light. The great need of the church today is not more money; it is more people who have invested their lives in the work of the Lord. That's what God needs. God wants us to give ourselves.

 

I have noticed in our culture, in recent years, that more and more people have approached church from the attitude of "what do I get out of it?" Sometimes people walk away from church and say, "I didn't get much out of the service today. I didn't like the preacher's tie it was too loud. I didn't like the song. It was too long. I didn't get much.

I don't know if I'll go back."

 

If I could just change your thinking this morning and get you more interested in what you give to it, instead of what you can get out of it. When you walk away from your church today ask yourself the question, “what did I give to the service today? Did I give something today? Was I a blessing today? 

 

Give yourself to your church. Give yourself to the work of the Lord. There are a lot of ways you can give. You can give by using your musical talent to sing in the choir. You can give by using your talent to teach in our Bible teaching ministry. You can give by giving your love for young people and working in our young people area.

 

You can give by being willing to take your time and your turn in the preschool ministry, ministering to those precious preschool boys and girls. There are many, many ways that we can give. People in our church ought to be blessed because of us. There is a load every one of us can lift. There is a burden we can bear. There is a sorrow we can share. There is something we can do to be an encouragement to other people.

 

Say it with me. Jesus said, "IT IS MORE BLESSED TO GIVE THAN TO RECEIVE." Give yourself to the Lord.

 

 

Turn to I Corinthians 16 and look at verse 2. We are talking about the matter of stewardship. I have tried to lay the foundation that the first thing you do in stewardship is give yourself to the Lord. But the matter of stewardship is all encompassing.

It includes our material substance.

 

I heard about a little boy in his Bible class. For several weeks the teacher had been teaching them about stewardship and what it really meant. That it meant giving your life to the Lord. It meant giving your talents to the Lord. It meant giving your money to the Lord. So the teacher asked for a definition of stewardship. Here's the way the boy in Bible class put it. I thought it was so good. 

 

He said, "Stewardship is like a great ship loaded with rich cargo of many things, going to many people, in many places. God is the owner of the ship and I am the captain of the ship."

 

God owns everything. He is the owner of it all. You and I are trustees. You and I are stewards. That's what stewardship is all about. We are stewards of what God has given to us.

 

Verse 2 says, "Upon the first day of the week, let every one of you lay by him in store as God has prospered him, that there be no gatherings when I come."

 

In terms of our substance there is a definite period of time that is mentioned. "Upon the first day of the week." The Bible teaches us that we should be faithful to come to God's house on the first day of the week. That's the Lord's Day. It's the day we celebrate the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. Yesterday was the day of creation. But today is the day of resurrection. 

 

 

 

It's the 1st day, the beginning again day, the Lord's Day. He says there is to be a definite period of time. That means that there is to be systematic, regular, weekly, consistent bringing of our substance to the Lord.

 

Why does the Bible teach this? Our giving is a matter of our worship. That's why we take up our offerings in the worship services. We believe that it is an act of worship. When we bring our gifts to the Lord on Sunday to the Lord's house, we are basically saying to the Lord, "Lord, this is an expression of my worship to you. This is an expression of how much you mean to me. It is an expression of how I appreciate all the many blessings you have given to me."

 

There is an act of worship involved. Another reason the Bible says we are to do it on a consistent, weekly basis is because regular giving has a way of opening up the channels of unselfishness in our heart. It has a way of unclogging those channels of covetousness in our life.

 

By nature, we tend to be selfish. I read about a bird in South America called the Me me bird. The reason it is called the me me bird is because that's what it does. It goes around all the time saying, "Me, me, me, me." I'm afraid we have too many me me people in these days. Too many people instead of giving they say, "give me." A lot of people walk around with catcher's mitts on both hands seeing all they can catch for themselves. But giving helps you unclog those channels of selfishness and covetousness.

 

 

Something else that regular giving to the Lord will do for you. It will help you learn how to handle your finances. One of the most important things I can do for you, as a Christian is to help you handle your finances.

 

You may have a financial expert that helps you do that. I don't claim to be a financial expert, but I believe the Bible and I know what the Bible has to teach about giving and if I can teach you what the Bible says about the importance of giving, I'll help you in your financial planning.

 

When you learn to give the Lord 1/10th of your income and offerings over and above that income that forces you to put yourself on a budget. When you get yourself on a budget, then you learn to put priorities in your spending. When you give the Lord His and you put yourself on a budget, then you learn not to spend money on things that are not necessary.

 

You learn to be responsible in the whole area of your giving. I'm doing a great favor to a lot of you people today if you will just take this to heart and begin to give God His gift first and then budget everything else and ask God to provide your needs. I'm doing you a great favor today. There's a definite period of time.

 

Now only on the first day of the week, but he says, "Let every one of you." There are definite people involved in this matter of giving. He is saying that everybody ought to have a part. All of God's people ought to give. I have been astonished as I have studied giving in the church fellowship.

It is astonishing to see the number of people who are members of a fellowship who never give anything as far as we know to the work of the Lord. Never. No indication of ever being a part of the giving ministry of the church. Oh, what a loss that is. Oh, how you rob yourself of blessing. God wants us all to be a part. God wants all of us to get the blessing.

 

There's a definite period; the first day of the week. A definite people; every one of you.

 

Then "lay by him in store." That means there's a definite place. That has Old Testament connotations. In the Old Testament the temple was the storehouse. The people brought their gifts to the storehouse and it was distributed accordingly. In the New Testament the storehouse is the local church.

 

Now, there are many good places to give your money. There are many good causes you can give your gifts to. I would encourage you to do so. But I would encourage you that your first gift and your foremost gift is given in your local church which is close at home. You know what's going on here. It's where you get fed. It's where you come and hear God's Word. It's where you come and the music is a blessing. "Lay by him in store." Bring your gift to God's house.

 

The music is such a blessing to us here. It takes money to have good music. The youth ministry is such a blessing here. Some of you families are involved with your young people in the youth ministry of our church. It takes money to put on a youth ministry here.

 

Missionary support to help us send missionaries and support our causes all over the world this year. There is a definite place; we bring it to God's house.

 

"As God has prospered him." That suggests a definite percentage. If God prospers us more, we give more. So, there is a definite percentage involved.

 

We are a tithing congregation. We believe that the starting point of giving for a believer is tithing. That's the entry point of giving.

 

Somebody says, "That's in the Old Testament." Well, Genesis 1:1 says, "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth." That's in the Old Testament, too. Do you believe it? Of course, you believe it. Malachi 3:10 is in the Old Testament; bring the tithes to the Lord. Do you believe it? Of course, you believe it.

 

"That was under the law." Well why would a Christian under grace want to give less to the Lord than a Jew gave under law? There is a definite percentage involved.

 

He says, "That there be no gatherings when I come." What's the purpose of it? That you don't have to talk about money all the time. You can meet every need in the congregation. Everything God wants a church to do can be done when we give the Lord our substance. Say the words of Jesus with me.

 

IT IS MORE BLESSED TO GIVE THAN TO RECEIVE. 

 

Do we believe it?

 

III. We Should Give our STORY to the World.

 

Back in Acts 20, in these words of the Apostle Paul as he gave us this beatitude of Jesus, in verse 21 the Apostle Paul made a statement about telling the story of Jesus. It says, "Testifying both to the Jews and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ." He's talking about telling the story. Dear one, we have a story to tell.

 

What about the future and revival and the end of the world?. . .I don’t know, but I’ll tell you what I’m going to do: 

 

I'm just going to keep telling the story. We have a story to tell. Jesus said it is more blessed to give than to receive. We have a story to give. It's a simple story.

 

It's a story about how God so loved the world that He sent His Son Jesus. How that Jesus Christ was born in a little manger in Bethlehem. It's the story about how this Jesus grew up to be a man and he never sinned. It's a story about how this sinless Jesus one day was carried outside the city of Jerusalem. They nailed Him to a cross and on that cross, He paid the price for your sins and my sins and the sins of the whole world. It's a story how that they put Him in a tomb and three days later He rose again from the dead. He is alive forevermore.

 

It is a simple story. It is so simple that little boys and girls can understand it. Yet, it is so sublime and so profound that the wisest of men are lost in the wonder of it. I'm going to keep telling that simple story.

It's a stirring story. There is no story that so stirs the hearts of people as the story of the Lord Jesus Christ dying on that cross for our sins. It causes homes to be changed. It causes lives to be renovated and renewed. It causes families to be put back together. It causes the shackles of sin to be broken and the grip of habits to be released in the lives of people. It is a stirring story.

 

It is a saving story. Anybody who will hear it and believe and act upon it -will be saved.

 

I heard about a little boy who was going to the neighborhood church. His daddy was an unbeliever and didn't want his boy there. Every time the boy would go and come back home, the dad would find he had gone and give the boy a spanking. He told his boy, "Don't you go down there again. If you do, I'll come down there and get you."

 

Sure enough, the little boy made his way to the church again. When the preacher preached the little boy went forward and got on his knees and gave his heart to the Lord Jesus Christ. About that time, his brutal father walked into the building, walked down to the altar and grabbed his little boy. The little boy, with tears in his eyes looked up and said, "It's too late, daddy, I have already been saved."

 

It's not too late to be saved. I would love for many of you to walk out of this building and say, "It's too late Satan, I've already been saved."

 

There's something about giving this story that means more to you when you give it away than any other time. When you tell the story of Jesus, you receive a blessing like nothing you will ever experience.

We have a hymn in our book that I've sung all my life. One of the lines goes like this. "I love to tell the story, tis pleasant to repeat. What seems each time I tell it more wonderfully sweet. I love to tell the story, for those have never heard the story of salvation, from God's own holy word."

 

The queen of England was taking a walk one day and there came a sudden downpour of rain. She stopped in a lowly dwelling and asked if she might borrow an umbrella. Not realizing it was the Queen, the lady of the house went to her many umbrellas and found a rather old, tattered umbrella with some broken ribs and gave it to the Queen. Later on she found that the Queen of England had come to her dwelling to borrow an umbrella. The woman began to weep and said, "Just think. The Queen came to my house. Why didn't I give the Queen the best I had?"

 

Have you given your best to the Lord? IT IS MORE BLESSED TO GIVE THAN TO RECEIVE.

 

Let's bow our heads in prayer.