Concerning The Collection - Part 3 Series

And so you see, the only time the tithe ever came into play was in taxation, not in freewill giving.

C. Giving from Jesus to the Present

Now, notice giving from the time of Jesus to the present.

1. Required Giving

Let’s first examine required giving from Jesus to the present.

Romans 13:6-7 says: “For because of this you also pay taxes, for the authorities are ministers of God, attending to this very thing. Pay to all what is owed to them: taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor is owed.” It doesn’t say “IRS” here, but the people at the IRS are God’s servants. God requires us to give taxes to the government.

Interestingly, the New Testament says exactly the same thing as the Old Testament as far as required giving is concerned.

2. Freewill Giving

Now, let’s look at freewill giving from Jesus to the present.

2 Corinthians 9:6-8 says: “The point is this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work.”

God won’t just give us back the spiritual blessing. He’ll make sure we have all sufficiency in all things. Verse 10 says: “He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness.” We will receive the physical bread and the spiritual fruit of righteousness by investing with God.

Romans 8:32 says that God, “who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?” God is unspeakably generous in giving us his Son who bore our sin. God is unfathomably gracious in giving us all things. And the response of the Christian who has truly comprehended the generosity of God never asks, “How much can I keep for myself?” but rather, “How much can I give to my God?”

Conclusion

So what does Paul say is the proportion you are to give in 1 Corinthians 16:2? You are to give exactly what you determine to give in your heart. For as Paul said in 2 Corinthians 9:7: “Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.” How much are you to give to the Lord? Whatever you want.

Now some of you may struggle with this. You say, “Pastor, that doesn’t tell me how much I am supposed to give.” Well, for those of you who would like a guideline, I would suggest that you give 10% of your income. Start with that as a base and work up from there.

Frank Barker was the founding pastor of Briarwood Presbyterian Church in Birmingham, AL. I believe he was the pastor of that church for about 40 years before he retired a few years ago. The Lord wonderfully blessed the ministry of Frank Barker. Briarwood Presbyterian Church is one of the largest churches in the PCA, with about 8,000 communicant members. They have started scores of ministries impacting the city, region, and the world with the gospel of God’s grace. I once read in The Barna Update that the city of Birmingham has one of the highest percentages of Christians in the nation. I have no doubt that part of the reason for that statistic is Briarwood Presbyterian Church and Frank Barker. Anyway, Frank started by giving 10% to the Lord. Over the years, he and his family maintained a very simple lifestyle so that by the time he retired he gave 75% of his income to the Lord! God wonderfully blessed Frank for his cheerful giving.