Sunday, 9/23/12 pm
THE CHRISTIAN AND MONEY
Generosity toward Others
Throughout our study we have mentioned the need to share and to give.
Today we will focus on some of what the scriptures say about
this. Tonight we will
examine a number of scriptures to show how extensively this is
addressed. We will see that
not only are we to give, but it is something to be done abundantly
(generously).
a.
It is no secret that the
Christian’s life is about others.
When we think about others it will affect many aspects of our
lives. This includes the way
we use our money and possessions.
If our attitude about things is what it ought to be (realizing
they are temporal, we are but stewards with what we have, contentment,
etc.) we will readily share with others.
b.
God has always expected
us to be benevolent and think about those who are less fortunate than
us.
i.
Under the Old Law we
read, “Six years you shall sow
your land and gather in its produce, 11 but the seventh year you shall
let it rest and lie fallow, that the poor of your people may eat; and
what they leave, the beasts of the field may eat. In like manner you
shall do with your vineyard and your olive grove. 12 Six days you shall
do your work, and on the seventh day you shall rest, that your ox and
your donkey may rest, and the son of your female servant and the
stranger may be refreshed“(Ex. 23:10-11).
ii.
“When
you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not wholly reap the corners
of your field, nor shall you gather the gleanings of your harvest. 10
And you shall not glean your vineyard, nor shall you gather every grape
of your vineyard; you shall leave them for the poor and the stranger: I
am the LORD your God.” (Lev. 19:9-10)
iii.
Deut. 24:19-22 similarly
says, “When you reap your harvest
in your field, and forget a sheaf in the field, you shall not go back to
get it; it shall be for the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow,
that the LORD your God may bless you in all the work of your hands. 20
When you beat your olive trees, you shall not go over the boughs again;
it shall be for the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow. 21 When you
gather the grapes of your vineyard, you shall not glean it afterward; it
shall be for the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow.”
NOW notice vs. 22, “And you shall
remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt; therefore I command
you to do this thing.”
There was reminder that at one time their ancestors were spared by the
generosity of another nation.
iv.
Finally, Deut. 16:17,
“Every man shall give as he is able, according to the blessing of the
Lord your God which He has given you.”
c.
Throughout the Proverbs
we find admonitions to share.
i.
Prov. 14:31, “He
who oppresses the poor reproaches his Maker, But he who honors Him has
mercy on the needy.”
ii.
Prov. 21:13, “Whoever
shuts his ears to the cry of the poor will also cry himself and not be
heard.”
iii.
Prov. 14:20-21, “The
poor man is hated even by his own neighbor, but the rich has many
friends. He who despises his
neighbor sins; But he who has mercy on the poor, happy is he.”
iv.
Prov. 25:21-22, “If
your enemy is hungry, give him bread to eat; And if he is thirsty, give
him water to drink; for so
you will heap coals of fire on his head,
And the LORD will reward you.”
We are more familiar with this verse from Rom. 12:17-21.
d.
Christians shared with
each other-
i.
Galatians 6:10 says, “Therefore,
as we have opportunity, let us do good to all, especially those who are
of the household of faith.”
Paul challenges us to care about our brethren.
ii.
This is what they did in
the first century – Acts 2:44-45 (cf. 4:32-37).
As the church started brethren helped each other.
iii.
Phil. 2:4 says, “Let
each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the
interests of others.”
iv.
Rom. 12:13, among the
qualities we are to demonstrate in “brotherly love” includes, “distributing to the needs of the saint, given
to hospitality.”
v.
Rom. 15:25-27, “But
now I am going to Jerusalem to minister to the saints. 26 For it pleased
those from Macedonia and Achaia to make a certain contribution for the
poor among the saints who are in Jerusalem. 27 It pleased them indeed,
and they are their debtors. For if the Gentiles have been partakers of
their spiritual things, their duty is also to minister to them in
material things.”
vi.
1 Tim. 5:8, 16 is a
passage that speaks of the responsibility one has to take care of his
own household. To not
provide is to deny the faith.
In vs. 16 we read, “IF any
believing man or woman has widows, let them relieve them, and do not let
the church be burdened, that it may relieve those who are really widows.”
From this text we find both individual and congregational
benevolence toward our spiritual family.
vii.
1 John 3:17 says, “But whoever has this world’s goods, and sees his brother in need, and
shuts up his heart from him, how does the love of God abide in him?”
viii.
Finally, consider Jas.
2:14-17, “What does it profit, my
brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can
faith save him? 15 If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of
daily food, 16 and one of you says to them, “Depart in peace, be warmed
and filled,” but you do not give them the things which are needed for
the body, what does it profit? 17 Thus also faith by itself, if it does
not have works, is dead.”
James equates our faith with action.
He specifically addresses our needy brethren.
e.
We are commanded to be
benevolent in society
i.
There are also many
passages that describe how Christians shared with the world.
And if we have a proper perspective about things, we won’t
hesitate to help others in need.
In so doing we realize that we have opportunity to glorify God.
ii.
Matt. 5:42, “Give
to him who asks you, and from him who wants to borrow from you do not
turn away.”
iii.
Luke 6:32-35,
“But if you love those who love
you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love
them. 33 And if you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is
that to you? For even sinners do the same. 34 And if you lend to those
from whom you hope to receive back, what credit is that to you? For even
sinners lend to sinners to receive as much back. 35 But love your
enemies, do good, and lend, hoping for nothing in return; and your
reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High. For He is
kind to the unthankful and evil. 36 Therefore be merciful, just as your
Father also is merciful.”
iv.
Luke 12:33-34, in a
passage where Jesus challenges His disciples to seek first the kingdom
of God. Here He says, “Sell
what you have and give alms; provide yourselves money bags which do not
grow old, a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief
approaches nor moth destroys.” NOTE:
In this text Jesus is not advocating a vow of poverty, but He is saying
that one way we can “secure” the kingdom of heaven is by giving alms
(helping the needy). His
point is, as we find in so many passages – DON’T trust in the
uncertainty of this life.
v.
Luke 14:12-14, Jesus
told a parable saying, “When you
give a dinner or a supper, do not ask your friends, your brothers, your
relatives, nor rich neighbors, lest they also invite you back, and you
be repaid. 13 But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the maimed,
the lame, the blind. 14 And you will be blessed, because they cannot
repay you; for you shall be repaid at the resurrection of the just.”
vi.
Acts 20:35, Paul
summarized his meeting with the Ephesian elders by saying, “I
have shown you in every way, by laboring like this, that you must
support the weak. And
remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that He said, ‘It is more blessed
to give than to receive.’”
vii.
Gal. 6:10, AGAIN, “As
we have opportunity let us do good to all…”
viii.
Rom. 12:20 calls for us
to feed our enemy, and let God take care of the vengeance.
ix.
Eph. 4:28, “Let
him who stole steal no longer, but rather let him labor, working with
his hands what is good, that he may have something to give him who has
need.”
x.
1 Timothy 6:17-19, “Command
those who are rich in this present age not to be haughty, nor to trust
in uncertain riches but in the living God, who gives us richly all
things to enjoy. Let them do
good, that they be rich in good works, ready to give, willing to share,
storing up for themselves a good foundation for the time to come, that
they may lay hold of eternal life.”
xi.
Heb. 13:2, “Do
not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some have unwittingly
entertained angels.”
xii.
Heb. 13:16, “But
do not forget to do good and to share, for with such sacrifices God is
well pleased.”
f.
Godly examples
i.
The parable of the Good
Samaritan is such a good example – Lk. 10:33-35,
ii.
Acts 9:36, 39 – Tabitha
(Dorcas) made garments for the widows
iii.
Acts 10:1-4 – Cornelius
was devout and gave alms generously to the people
iv.
1 Tim. 6:10 – the rich
are commanded to do good and be willing to share.
g.
As we can see, sharing
with others is something God views as important.
It helps us develop a proper perspective toward things in this
life.
a.
God has been generous
with us – Consider the text of 2 Cor. 9:6-15.
IN this text we find
i.
Paul giving instructions
to brethren concerning giving – God loves a cheerful giver, etc.
More on this in our next lesson.
ii.
Vs. 8 speaks of God’s
abounding grace. HE is able to
“make all grace abound toward you.”
iii.
Vs. 10 – He supplies
seed to the sower, bread for food, etc.
God has abundantly sustained in this world.
Where we live this abundance is excessive.
iv.
9:14-15 speaks of His exceeding
grace which is described as “His indescribable gift.”
v.
Consider for a moment
everything that God has done for us – sending Jesus to die for our sins,
giving us His word, continually blessing us with what we need, etc.
No wonder we can never repay!
b.
Because of His
generosity, we ought to be generous!
i.
Our generosity to others
is a demonstration of our gratitude to Him.
ii.
2 Cor. 9:12 says that
our liberality (in giving to help the needy) is an outpouring of our
thanksgiving! Are be truly
thankful?
iii.
Vs. 13 – it can cause
others to glorify God.
iv.
Earlier in that letter
Paul gave us an example of generosity – 2 Cor. 8:1-5 – the poor in
Macedonia. You see their
generosity because their gratitude toward God was there first.
c.
Generosity (liberality)
is indicative of the way we do everything as Christians
i.
Are we not to excel in
all that we do? Col. 3:23–
whatever you do, do it heartily, as unto the Lord.
ii.
2 Cor. 8:7, “But as you
abound in everything – in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in all
diligence, and in your love for us – see that you abound in this grace
also.” Paul is speaking of
giving to help needy brethren.
d.
God notices when we
share –
i.
Mark 9:41, “For whoever
gives you a cup of water to drink in My name, because you belong to
Christ, assuredly I say to you, he will by no means lose his reward.”
ii.
Luke 6:38, “Give
and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken
together, and running over will be put into your bosom.
For with what measure that you us, it will be measured back to
you.”
iii.
Heb. 6:10, “For
God is not unjust to forget your work and labor of love shown toward His
name, in that you have ministered to the saints, and do minister.”
iv.
Matt. 25:35-40, when we
stand before God in judgment, at least one aspect that will be used is
whether or not we cared for and took care of others.
v.
Prov. 3:9-10 – “Honor the Lord with
your possessions, and with the firstfruits of all your increase; So you
barns will be filled with plenty, and your vats will overflow with new
wine.”
vi.
Prov. 19:17, “He who has pity on the
poor lends to the Lord, and He will pay back what he has given.”
vii.
Finally, Matt. 6:1-4 – Jesus speaks of being humble in our giving.
He notes that you shouldn’t parade it, but He knows what you do
and will reward you openly.
viii.
NOTE: Many of these verses are abused today by those who preach a “Health
and wealth gospel”. Such is
an abuse and in a future lesson in this study we are going to address
this in detail. But what I
want us to notice in these verses is that God takes note of what and how
we give. He knows our hearts
and our abilities. He WILL
reward us accordingly. But let us
realize that such rewards may not come as we expect them, or even in
this life, but in His time they will come.
a.
Perhaps the biggest challenge we face today is to answer the question, who
should we share with?
b.
Hardly a day goes by, or a street corner, when we don’t see someone asking
for change. Times are hard,
and there are many who are legitimately in need, and perhaps even
desperate. What do we do in
such circumstances? Is it
wise to give them your change?
My answer to that is: I DON’T KNOW!
It is a judgment that we have to make, based upon the
circumstances. But in so
doing there are some things to consider:
i.
There are those whom we ought to not help!
2 Thess. 3:10 says, IF anyone will not work neither shall he eat.
IF we know that someone is going to misuse what we “share” with
them, we should NOT enable them to engage in such activity.
IT is because of this that I do not believe we ought to help
everyone who is asking for something.
ii.
BUT, we must also realize that there are really needy people.
Jesus said, “The poor you have with you always” (Matt. 26:11,
John 12:8, etc.).
Sometimes I wonder if we pass judgments too quickly.
Consider what James said about one coming into our assembly and
shunning the poor (James 2:2-4).
The fact is, the poor are often defenseless and desperate.
iii.
If you are not sure, should you err on the side of generosity or
stinginess?
(cf. Heb. 13:2)
Here is a suggestion. IF
someone is asking for money for food, why not offer to buy him food!
That way, if he is seeking to do ungodly things, at least that
which you gave him was NOT used for that.
iv.
Another point.
You can’t help everyone!
Even Gal. 6:10 says, “As we have opportunity!”
v. IF you don’t feel comfortable helping someone in that circumstance, there are many other ways to show generosity. Don’t use those who abuse the system as an excuse to get out of a part of our lives that we have CLEARLY established needs to be prevalent!
And
thus we can see the blessing of generosity.
It is commanded, and it is not limited to our wallets.
But God does EXPECT us to share with others.
Are we sharing as we ought to?