Series Subject: Commitment to the Church
Topic: Serving God Through Giving Pt.3
Text: 1 Chronicles 29:1-6
Introduction
A. Welcome to another Sunday of Commitment to the Church Emphasis. We are still on the subject of “Serving God Through Giving” as part of our series on commitment. We are studying the important biblical principles that will guide us to become a fully committed follower of Jesus. I do hope that you would gladly bear with me this morning since I will again speak on giving. I know this might make some of us here uncomfortable; but God is leading me to speak His Word about giving.
B. One Sunday morning as the preacher was dragging on and on with his sermon, a little girl who became restless leaned over to her mother and whispered: “Mom, if we give him the money now, will he let us go?”
C. Like that little girl, many thought that all that the preacher wanted and sought after was their money. They don’t understand that giving is serving God, and it’s not actually about their money. Giving to the church is not about how thick your wallet is; it is about how deep is your understanding on God’s graciousness and how deep is your love and devotion to God.
D. In our passage we find that King David had been preparing everything needed for the building of the temple he promised to build for the Lord. He was preparing the people to accept, prepare, and do the task of building the temple of God when his son Solomon assumes the throne of Israel. He encouraged them to give sacrificially until the temple of God would be completed. Then we find that the people responded to David’s request and gave for the building of the temple willingly. This incident of this particular passage laid important principles on giving. I encourage everyone of us that our giving must be done in light of these principles.
Giving must be in:
I. THE RIGHT PURPOSE (v.1)
Verse 1 tells us that King David told the entire assembly of Israel about the project of building the temple of God. He said that “this palace is not for man, but for the LORD God.” I understand here that David did not want his people to give sacrificially for the building of the temple in obedience to his word as their king. He wanted them to give with the purpose of bringing honor and pleasure to God.
Our whole purpose in giving to the church and to its ministries is not to please men or to receive honor from men. People might praise you or even flatter you of your generosity. But, do we have to mind what the people are or might be saying on our giving? I would say “no.” Our whole purpose in giving for the building of God’s kingdom is to please the Lord and to bring honor to His Name, not to heap the praise of sweet-talking men.
Colossians 3:23 says, “And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men.” I believe Paul wants us to apply the principle he is saying here in this verse in our giving. This principle will dispel the possible troubles that come with giving out of selfish motives. Giving for the recognition of men breeds disappointments, confusions, misunderstandings, and misconceptions.
One day a certain member was in trouble with his pastor about church management. He decided to leave and withdraw his membership from the church. The trouble was, he took everything he had donated to the church.
Now, do you think he’s giving with the right purpose? Is your giving done in the right purpose of giving? This church is God’s. It is His church, not of anybody here. When you give for the work, for the ministry, for the building of this church of the Lord, you are giving, not for the pleasure of any person or even for yourself. I know there is pleasure in giving, but our motive must not center on ourselves. Giving must be for the glory of God.
II. THE RIGHT DEGREE
In verse 2 David said: “I have prepared with all my might for the house of my God.” The key phrase here is “with all my might.” David did prepare the materials for the building of God’s temple in the best way he could, and the people too. Verse 6 tells us that they gave willingly according to their ability. Giving must be done that way. It must be done in the best way we can.
Don’t misunderstand me please. I’m not trying to demand a set amount of giving here because the Bible itself does not teach us that way. On the contrary, right giving is not about the size of the gift; it’s about the sacrifice behind it. In giving, the question is not “How much,” but “Is it all I can? Is it my best?” Our Heavenly Father has given us the grandest gift of His Son, are we not ashamed to give Him anything that costs us nothing?
It is said that if every believer gives in the right degree of giving, there would be enough money to fund church missions, to support pastors and missionaries, yes even to feed all the poor people in the world. But what we have are pastor-less churches and pastors who have decided to leave the ministry because of lack of financial support! Many churches confess that they don’t have funds to support a worker. Well, I’m sure the problem does not lie on how God supplies their needs, but it’s on how they give back for the work of the Lord.
Do you think Levi, knowing that he would not receive a share from the Promised Land, was afraid to accept the appointment to become the spiritual minister to his brethren? Do you think God was worried how would the needs of Levi and his growing family be met? No, because as long as every Israelite give their tithes and offerings to God in the right degree, faithfully, there would be enough food for them!
The principle I taught to my previous church about giving and supporting pastors is simple: “More tithes more Levites.” We were not having difficulty then in inviting and supporting workers to help me do the ministry there because the people were giving in the right degree. Are we giving with all our might? Are we giving in the right degree?
III. THE RIGHT DIRECTION OF AFFECTION (v.3)
Though the temple was built during Solomon’s reign, its establishment and completion was credited to David even though he had passed many years before the temple was completed. Building the temple of God was David’s success. How did he do it? What is the secret of David’s success? Vision –yes, David had a vision. But look at what he said in verse 3: “I have set my affection to the house of God.” David was successful be he directed his interest and love to his vision.
It is said that “Without vision you have no definite thing to achieve.” That’s true, but vision by itself is not a success. One must direct his affection to his vision to make it an achievement, a reality, and not just some dim-witted, senseless thoughts in the mind.
I’d like to relate again that funny story of a preacher who was trying to get his people to be more enthusiastic about the ministry of their church. The preacher said in his sermon: "If this church is going to get anywhere, it has to learn to crawl." The people responded, "Let it crawl, pastor, let it crawl!" Then he said, "And after it learns to crawl, it has to learn to walk." And the people said, "Let it walk, pastor, let it walk!" Now the preacher got excited and said, "After this church learns to walk, it has to learn to run!" The people shouted back, "Let it run, pastor, let it run!" Then excited with the response of the people he said, "And if this church is going to run, it’s going to take money! It is going to need your wallet." The pastor held his breath waiting the response of his congregation. In a great loud voice the people said, "Pastor, let it crawl. Let it crawl.”
As a believer, what do you want to achieve in life? Is your affection directed to it? Where does your affection, your interest lie?
Colossians 3:1-4 says, “If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory.”
As a member of this church, what do you want our church to be achieving? Have you set your affection to the house of God?
E. To conclude our message this morning, let me ask you with David’s question in verse 5: “Who then is willing to consecrate his service this day unto the LORD?
The phrase “consecrate his service” literally means, “fill his hand.” The question could be understood as: “Who then is willing to fill his hand this day unto the Lord?”
Are you willing to “fill your hand” to the Lord? Are you willing to “consecrate” your all to the Lord? Verse 6 says, “Then the chief of the fathers and princes of the tribes of Israel, and the captains of thousands and of hundreds, with the rulers of the king’s work, offered willingly. Will God see from us the same response His people did this time of history? Let’s see.
