THE GRACE OF GIVING

The matter of giving is called a grace by Paul, who says, 
"Therefore, as ye abound in every thing, in faith, and utterance,
and knowledge, and in all diligence, and in your love to us, see
that ye abound in this grace also" (2 Cor. 8:7). The context
shows that this particular grace is not the grace of God that
bringeth salvation; it is the grace of giving.

Giving is supposed to be characteristic of Christian living
throughout the entire year. Some people make Christmas the time
of giving. Commercialization has almost ruined Christmas with
stores and advertising. To many people the spirit of Christmas is
lost, for the attitude is to receive gifts instead of giving, and
honoring the birth of the Savior. The first Christmas was marked
by giving. God the Father gave the gift of His only begotten Son
to this world, and He later gave His life. In celebration and
commemoration of this, it is good for us to give, but we should
remember, "It is more blessed to give than to receive" (Acts
20:35).

Giving should characterize the Christian life from start to
finish; for example, the Christian should give liberally of his
money, "for God loveth a cheerful giver" (2 Cor. 9:7), and he
should give above the tithe, for if he sows sparingly he reaps
sparingly, but if he sows abundantly he will reap abundantly (2 
Cor 9:6). If Abraham gave tithes under grace before the law, then
certainly the Christian can give a tithe under grace after the
law. The Christian life should be characterized by generous
giving, giving not only of the tithe, but offerings above the
tithe; giving not only of his money, but of his time, talent, and
family; giving not only these things, but giving forgiveness to
his enemies, to those that abuse him and misuse him, giving back
good for evil instead of evil for evil (1 Peter 3:9). One may say
that giving is the most expressive word of the entire Christian
life: giving the gospel to sinners, and giving his time to
minister to other Christians.

Giving is the word. When General William Booth was asked to send
out a cablegram to all members of the Salvation Army (which back
in those days was a Bible-believing outfit engaged in soul
winning), General Booth sent out one word in that cablegram:
"Others." The way you mark children is by their
self-centeredness. The way you mark the adult is by his concern
for others. I'm not talking about the big father government
concern which takes money out of your pocket to feed itself while
it's feeding other people who use it as an alibi to get more
money. I am not talking about that. When I talk about concern for
others, I am not talking about organizations that make a living
off people who work. When I talk about concern tor others, I am
talking about a genuine concern for individuals, where an
individual gives of his time and money to help an individual. I
am not talking about corporate Socialism, where you pretend to be
concerned about the social problems and environmental problems in
an effort to pass laws to take away freedoms from Americans. We
all recognize the fact that ninety percent of the Congressmen are
now Communist in ideology, even though they don't hold a card.
Communism is the philosophy taught in every public school system
in America, disguised as socialism, but who is trying to kid
whom? Who doesn't know that a little leaven leaveneth the whole
lump? You don't have to carry a card to be a Communist. All you
have to do is believe in evolution, believe in dialectical
materialism, and be in favor of the government controlling every
aspect of life. That's what a Communist is. Whether you call it
Socialism, Fascism, Catholicism, or something else is immaterial.
They are all the same system. These systems that would put you in
jail, take your property, persecute your family, shut up your
Bible, and tax you to death are all the same system, with various
names for it.

We can learn a lesson by studying what the wise men gave (Matt.
2). We can find here a beautiful progression of the grace of
giving:

1. Seeking: they saw the star in the sky and gave up their homes
to go and follow it (Matt. 2:2).

2. Finding: they went to Jerusalem and took time out to inquire
of Herod where the baby was (Matt. 2:9).

3. Worshipping: they came on their knees and fell before the
Savior when He was about two years old, and then they gave (Matt.
2:11). As a part of their worship, they gave their gifts.

This shows the sinner seeking, finding, worshipping, and giving,
which is the proper order for the sinner who finds Christ. The
unsaved man should seek to find God; he should find God as
Saviour and worship Him when he finds Him, and his worship should
be manifest by freely giving to that Saviour.

The gifts the wise men gave were very interesting. They were
gold, frankincense. and myrrh. The gold was a tribute to a king.
The frankincense was a gift to a priest. The myrrh was a gift to
a prophet. The gold was given because it is the highest thing on
this earth; therefore it is fitting to give the King of kings.
The frankincense is a type of prayer that a priest offers up
(Rev. 8:3-4. Luke 1:10); they acknowledged Jesus Christ's
priesthood as Priest of priests. The myrrh was a bitter herb used
in embalming. This tribute was given to the suffering Savior to
show that He would die on thc cross, where He was offered myrrh
mixed with the wine in Mark 1:23. So, the bitter things were
given to Christ, the royal things were given to Christ, and the
religious things were given to Christ.

What should the Christian give? The first item you should give to
the Lord has been carefully covered up by every major evangelist
in the United States. It is your body. In order to deprive you of
your consecration and sanctification, every major evangelist and
preacher in the United States has been talking about "letting
Christ come into your life." That is a Satanic counterfeit. God
does not want your life; He wants your hody. lf He has your body,
He has your life, and the only time He doesn't have your life is
when He doesn't control your body. Evangelists talk about
"letting Christ come into your life" and "sharing your life with
Christ," which practically means absolutely nothing. If the Holy
Spirit is not in your body and doesn't have possession of your
body, that much of your body and that much of your life is your
life or the devil's life, even when you acknowledge Christ. The
part of you the Holy Spirit of God does not control, either Satan
controls or you control.

The first thing you should give is stated as follows: "I  beseech
you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present
your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which
is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world:
but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may
prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of
God" (Rom. 12:1-2). The Macedonians first gave their own selves
to the Lord (2 Cor. 8:5). The Lord is in the devil's life, but He
is not in the devil's body. The Lord eventually gets mixed up in
the life of everything on this earth because as a providential
divine Creator, He has charge of all life and death on this
earth. But to say that God Himself is active in the body of Satan
as a controlling force is nonsense. Therefore, simply because a
person lets Christ into his life in one or two places where he
thinks he can get Him without doing any damage, doesn't mean that
such a "Christian" is even a saved man. A man is not saved until
he has been regenerated by the Holy Spirit of God, and the Lord
Jesus Christ is indwelling his body in the person of the Holy
Spirit. That saved man has given nothing to God until he has
taken his members: arms, legs, eyes, nose, ears, throat, mouth,
tongue, lips, teeth, and jaw and given them to Jesus Christ. You
ask, "Where is that found?" That is the entire subject of Romans
6. Read it. And it is the subject of Romans 12:14. Read it. If
you have not given your body to God, you haven't properly given
anything to God that He asked for. God wants your body.

Paul said this to the demoniac Charismatics in Corinth, who were
going to bed with their own mothers and bragging about their
gifts: "What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the
Holy Ghost" (1 Cor. 6:19). Here is a bunch of people bragging
about their gifts, and they didn't know their body was the temple
of the Holy Ghost. They talk about "the baptism in the Spirit,"
which doesn't occur anywhere except in new translations. There is
no such thing: the Greek preposition "en" is never translated as
"in" unless it is in the locative case, referring to location,
but who didn't know that? That bunch didn't even know their
bodies were the temple of the Holy Ghost. Do you know why?
Because their bodies were being used for drunkenness (1 Cor.
11:21), long hair (1 Cor. 11:14), and fornication (1 Cor. 5:1).
They let Christ come into their life, but He didn't have their
bodies, and Paul had to tell that bunch of Charismatics, "ye are
not your own. . .ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify
God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's" (1 Cor.
6:19-20).

First we give our bodies to God; if that hasn't been done, then
the rest doesn't count. After that, we give ourselves wholly to
the things of God. The young preacher was told to meditate upon
these things and give himself wholly to them (1 Tim. 4:15). The
things he was told to give himself wholly to were certainly not
giving and loving and making peace with the brethren. He was
certainly not told in the passage to give himself wholly to
prayer.

It's amazing how little people know about the Bible when you put
them on the spot about it because the average Christian today has
no Bible. He has what he calls a "reliable translation," and
consequently, when you begin to talk about the Bible, he doesn't
know what you are talking about. Do you know what Timothy was
told to give himself wholly to and told to meditate upon? He was
told to be "an example of the believers, in word, in
conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity . . .
give attendance to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine. Neglect
not the gift that is in thee" (1 Tim. 4:12-14). He was told to
give attendance to reading and to doctrine. Is that what you
attend upon? Give attendance to the reading of the word, Paul
said, "Till I come, give attendance to reading, to exhortation,
to doctrine" (1 Tim. 4:13).

We should give ourselves to prayer: "But we will give ourselves
continually to prayer, and to the ministry of the word" (Acts
6:4). If a man has been called to be a minister, then his life
has been reserved for two things: prayer and the ministry of the
word. That is for a full-time minister, in this case a full-time
apostle.

What else should he give? He should give thanks for everything.
"In everything give thanks: for this is the will 
of God in Christ Jesus concerning you" (1 Thess. 5:18).

He should give money to the Lord. The Macedonians, out of their
deep poverty, gave liberally to the Lord and Paul accepted the
gift as an act of fellowship (2 Cor. 8:14).

How are we to give to the Lord? Systematically: "Upon the first
day of the week let every one of you lay by him in store, as God
hath prospered him" (1 Cor. 16:2), not just giving at Christmas
time, but every week of the year. Be businesslike in your giving,
be careful to keep accounts, and make sure you give to God every
week without failing a week, upon the first day of the week.

Put by you as God has prospered you, individually: "let every one
of you lay by him in store" (1 Cor. 16:2), not only the head of
the home, but the mother and the children. Giving is not just for
the rich; it is for the poor also. The only difference will be in
the size and quality of the gift.

Proportionately, "as God hath prospered him" (1 Cor. 16:2). As to
figuring out a portion, the Holy Spirit has already done it for
you because long before the Old Testament law was given you were
told that a man saved by grace through faith gave a tithe.
Abraham tithed before the law. Jacob tithed before the law. The
Jews tithed under the law. So, you know what the proportion is.
The minimum proportion is a tenth. In the Old Testament under the
law they gave a tithe, one-tenth of their income. Before the Old
Testament law under grace Abraham and Jacob gave tithes,
one-tenth of their income. The tithe was wholly for the Lord and
did not belong to the person.

We're not under the law today. We are not forced to tithe, but
under grace we should be able to give more than a person under
law. Personally, I think you will find that if you give above the
tithe God will continue to bless you spiritually in every other
way. R.G. LeTourneau gave ten percent, and then as God prospered
him, he increased the gift to twenty percent, and now he gives
higher than fifty percent. God gives abundantly to those who give
to Him. The thing for you to do is to prove God daily in this
matter. I could talk to you all I want to about the grace of
giving and the goodness of God, but you cannot prove Him until
you have proved Him yourself. Up and down this country one of the
preachers' most famous cliches is, "No man can outgive God," and
I believe that, and you believe that. At least we say we do. Have
you ever tried it? Do you think God would let you be more blessed
than He is? The Bible says, "it is more blessed to give than to
receive" (Acts 20:35). Do you think God would let you outdo Him
in getting a blessing? If "It is more blessed to give than to
receive," do you think God would let you outdo Him in giving?
Why, of course not. Did you ever try it? Why don't you try it?
For two months give ten percent, and the next two months give
fifteen percent, and the next two months give twenty percent, and
the next two months give twenty-five percent, and watch what
happens to your income. Boy. that would take some "guts,"
wouldn't it? Excuse me: "Christian courage." Now, wouldn't that
take something?

We should give cheerfully. Not only proportionately, not only
systematically, not only individually, but cheerfully. "God
loveth a cheerful giver" (2 Cor. 9:7). You shouldn't have the
attitude that, "There's that collection plate again. Do I have to
give something?" You should count it a great privilege and a joy
to be able to give something back to the One who gives so much to
you. Atter all, if you have health, where did you get it? If you
have a good job, where did you get it? The government? If you
have good looks, who gave that to you? If your family is saved.
who saved them? Now, how could you be stingy in view of that? God
loves the one who gives willingly and cheerfully. We like to
receive gifts that have been cheerfully given to us, not
grudgingly. Give cheerfully.

Give as Christ gave. Christ gave everything He had, even life
itself. Give sacrificially, like the Lord Jesus Christ. In 2
Corinthians 8:2 the Christians put their offering in out of their
deep poverty. The widow gave two mites, which was all her living.
God measures gifts by how much is left, not by how much we give.
God sees the heart of the giver rather than the size of the gift,
so let us give gladly and cheerfully, and let us give often.

Our gifts, though small, delight the heart of the Father in
heaven. Blessings follow generous giving to the Lord. The
blessing isn't always material abundance, though many times it
is. If you faithfully tithe and have done the best you can, the
Lord is certainly going to bless you. Paul said, "the things
which were sent from you, an odour of a sweet smell, a sacrifice
acceptable, well-pleasing to God" (Phil. 4:18). Christ said to 
"lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven" (Matt. 6:20). Give to
poor Christians and needy Christians. Give to orphans and widows
who are Christians. Give to the needs of your church and its
services. Give for the spread of the gospel to the ends of the
earth. If you can't go, give. If you can't give, pray. If you
haven't got something to give, pray and ask God to give you
something to give, and when He gives to you, give back liberally
and cheerfully, "for God loveth a cheerful giver."