The Greatness Of Giving Luke 6:38 Matthew 6:1-4 Deuteronomy 15:10-11 Mark 10:43-45 Proverbs 21:25-26 Acts 20:35 John 3:16 Galatians 6:7-10 Matthew 10:8 03.16.18

THE GREATNESS OF GIVING

BREAD

³⁸ “Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”   Luke 6:38 (NIV)

¹ “Be careful not to do your ‘acts of righteousness’ before men, to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven. ² So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. ³ But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, ⁴ so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.” Matthew 6:1-4 (NIV)

¹⁰ Give generously to him and do so without a grudging heart; then because of this the LORD your God will bless you in all your work and in everything you put your hand to.
¹¹ There will always be poor people in the land.  Therefore I command you to be openhanded toward your brothers and toward the poor and needy in your land.  Deuteronomy 15:10-11 (NIV)

⁴³ “Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, ⁴⁴ and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. ⁴⁵ For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”  Mark 10:43-45 (NIV)

²⁵ The sluggard's craving will be the death of him, because his hands refuse to work. ²⁶ All day long he craves for more, but the righteous give without sparing.  Proverbs 21:25-26 (NIV)

³⁵ “In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’” Acts 20:35 (NIV)

¹⁶ “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”  John 3:16 (NIV)

⁷ Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. ⁸ The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. ⁹ Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. ¹⁰ Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.   Galatians 6:7-10 (NIV)

⁸ Freely you have received, freely give.  Matthew 10:8 (NIV)

BUTTER

“A cheerful giver does not count the cost of what he gives.  His heart is set on pleasing and cheering him to whom the gift is given.”     Julian of Norwich

“If religion is worth anything, it is worth everything.  They who do not like Christ on these terms, may leave him at their peril.  Whatever we part with for this pearl of price, we may comfort ourselves with this belief, that it is well worth what we give for it.  The terms are, that we prefer Christ.”   Matthew Henry

“God doesn’t just give us grace; He gives us Jesus, the Lord of grace.”   Joni Eareckson Tada

“Being generous with your money is a personal quality of someone that the grace of God has gripped.  Why? Because the essence of the Gospel of grace is generosity.  Jesus Christ gave up the Greatest Treasure in the world.  He gave away his treasure when he left the most affluent gated community in the universe, heaven and all its glory, became poor, so that we might become rich.  He gave up Ultimate wealth—Himself, for you.  ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive’, he said and lived.  He also said you cannot serve God and money, it’s impossible. You have to choose. Only by the power of the Gospel of grace can you begin to be generous”.   Tom Wood

“Perfection, in a Christian sense, means becoming mature enough to give ourselves to others.”   Kathleen Norris

“Remember that when you leave this earth, you can take with you nothing that you have received -- only what you have given: a full heart enriched by honest service, love, sacrifice and courage.”  St. Francis of Assisi

“Encouragement costs you nothing to give, but it is priceless to receive.”   Anonymous

“When we have exhausted our store of endurance, When our strength has failed ere the day is half done, When we reach the end of our hoarded resources, Our Father’s full giving is only begun.  His love has no limit; His grace has no measure.  His pow’r has no boundary known unto men; For out of His infinite riches in Jesus, He giveth, and giveth, and giveth again!”   Annie Johnson

“Cheered by the presence of God, I will do at each moment, without anxiety, according to the strength which He shall give me, the work that His Providence assigns me.  I will leave the rest without concern; it is not my affair.  I ought to consider the duty to which I am called each day, as the work that God has given me to do, and to apply myself to it in a manner worthy of His glory, that is to say, in exactness and peace.”  Fenelon  

“Blessed are those who spread joy that arises out of their own suffering.  He who denies himself for others clothes himself with Christ.  Seek one who does not dare approach you.  Give to the one who does not ask.  Love the one who pushes you away.  May my joys never come through the suffering of others.  May my suffering bring some joy to others.”   Prince Vladimir

“God has given us two hands:  one for receiving and the other for giving.”   Billy Graham

“The world says, ‘The more you take, the more you have.’  Christ says, ‘The more you give, the more you are.’”   Frederick Buechner

“He is no fool who gives up what he cannot keep to keep what he cannot lose.”  Jim Elliot

“Here lies the tremendous mystery – that God should be all-powerful, yet refuses to coerce.  He summons us to cooperation.  We are honored in being given the opportunity to participate in His good deeds.”   Elisabeth Elliot

“They who are Christ’s are kings. Take care that you wear your crown, by reigning over your lusts. Be a king in the midst of all that would lead you astray. Christ Jesus has broken the neck of your sin; put your foot upon it; keep it under; subdue it. In the world at large act a king’s part. If any would tempt you to betray Christ for gain, say, ‘How can I? I am a king. How shall I betray Christ?’ Let the nobility of your nature come out in your actings. Forgive in a royal manner, as a king can forgive. Be ready to give to others as God has helped you, as a king gives. Let your liberality of spirit be right royal. Let your actions never be mean, sneaking, cowardly, dastardly. Do the right thing, and defy the worst. Dare all your foes in the pursuit of that which is right, and let men see while they look upon you that there is a something under your homely appearance which they cannot understand. Men make a deal of fuss about the blood of the aristocracy; I dare say it is not very different from the blood of crossing-sweepers. But there is a great deal of difference between the lifeblood of the saints and the lifeblood of the proudest prince; for they who love Christ have fed upon his flesh, and have drunk of his blood, and have been made partakers of the divine nature. These are the royal ones; these are the aristocrats; these are the nobility, and all are mean beside. Christians, perhaps some of you have not reigned as kings during the last week. You have been either murmuring, like poor whining beggars, or you have been scraping, like dunghill rakers, with your covetousness, or you have been sinning, like idle boys in the street, who roll in the mire. You have not lived up to your kingship.”   Charles H. Spurgeon

“You can give without loving, but you cannot love without giving.”  Amy Carmichael

HEART SAVOR

·       The very nature of God is to give – I am to give as well.

·       Giving certainly does not mean simply money – it requires things much more costly than the mere jingle in the pockets.  It includes our time, our love, our encouragement, our strength, our energy, indeed, our vey selves.  Interestingly as well, the child of the King never out gives the King.

·       We have freely received we are to freely give as well.