The Biblical View Of Giving

1 COR. 16:1-4 “THE BIBLICAL VIEW OF GIVING”

A) In 1 Cor. 15, Paul was talking to the Corinthians about the resurrection!

* He closed the chapter with the teaching that one day, our loved ones who have died in the Lord

will come forth victorious. * He said in v.55 “O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where …”

* He closed chapter 15 by saying, “Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye …….”

B) They had to be on cloud nine about the time he got through talking to them about the

resurrection and he closed the chapter by encouraging them to be stedfast and unmoveable!

* But he brought them back down to earth when he started chapter 16, because in the first four

verses, he talked to them about giving. * Paul began by saying in v.1 “Now concerning the …”

C) We all know Christians who can be AMEN Christians until you start talking about giving!

* A preacher could preach on the resurrection every other Sunday and no one would ever spread

rumors that all that preacher ever talks about is the resurrection.

* Yet, if a preacher preaches on tithing every six months, rumors are that all that preacher ever

talks about is money.

D) There are a lot of people who don’t want you to preach about money …….

* Because they can put on a show in church how much they love Jesus until it comes to their

billfold and pocketbooks or their checkbooks!

* They don’t like preaching on giving because they’re afraid someone might notice how little they

give to the Lord each week …….

* And then they could never stand up and say or testify as to how much they love the Lord.

E) If you love Jesus, you will tithe … If you don’t love Jesus, you won’t tithe!

* True Christians can say with their mouths, their lives, and their billfolds that they love the Lord.

* We see very few churches today who are willing to give like the people in the early church did.

* They took up offerings to send missionaries to other lands with the Gospel …….

* To help the poor, the orphans and widows of the congregation … To help struggling churches …

* To help the poor and needy in other towns as we see in our text … But not today!

F) Today, many churches are harboring money up and not using it at all, or for selfishness!

* The early church had a heart, not only to build churches, but also had a heart to help each other.

* And Paul, in these verses, shows the Corinthians how they should give!

* Let’s look today at “The Biblical View Of Giving.”

(1) GIVING SHOULD BE PURPOSEFUL – V.1!

A) I get calls and visits a lot of times from people who never come to church, but they’re

always wanting financial assistance!

* In this day it has become the Christian thing to do to help every Tom, Dick and Harry who

comes along! * Is this what the Bible teaches? * ABSOLUTELY NOT!

B) There’s no way a church could afford to keep the doors open if they gave to all the hands that

reach out … God never intended for the church to support anything and everything!

* Listen … I’m not gonna help anybody who won’t help themselves!

* I’m not gonna ask our church to waste God’s money on people that are too sorry to work and

help themselves!

C) Notice when Paul is writing to the Corinthians, he says, “Now concerning …for the saints!”

* We should give for the specific purpose of helping God’s saints … Those who help themselves,

but still they come up short and are struggling.

* Only God knows the tithes and offerings each week that is wasted on people who will not work.

* And the Bible says in 2 Thes. 3:10 “… if any would not work, neither should he eat.”

* I’m saying, in our giving, we need to know for what purpose we are giving.

(2) GIVING SHOULD BE PERSONAL – V.2!

A) You ask, “Preacher, do you believe the Bible teaches tithing for today? * With all my heart!

* It not only teaches tithing, it teaches that we go farther than that!

* Notice the New Testament church met on the first day of the week which is the day we worship.

* The Jews always worshipped on Saturday, which was known as their Sabbath.

B) After Christ died and was resurrected on the first day of the week, we see that the New

Testament church began to meet on the first day of the week!

* As they worshipped on this particular day, they considered giving as part of their worship.