The Gift Of Giving

WESTSIDE BAPTIST CHURCH

PASTOR: TERRY VAUGHAN

SERMON TITLE: THE GIFT OF GIVING

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. He that believeth on Him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.” John 3:16-18

TEXT VERSE: Matthew 10:5-8 “These twelve Jesus sent forth, and commanded them, saying, Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not: (6) But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. (7) And as ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand. (8) Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils: freely ye have received, freely give.”

I want to preach to you this morning on the gift of giving. Jesus said to these twelve to preach, saying the kingdom of heaven is at hand and to heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead and cast out devils. Freely ye have received, freely give. I want to tell you that God gives us a lot more power and a lot more authority than we realize. We can’t be Jesus but we can be like him. Thank God there’s a special something given to every Christian by God that’s ever been saved by his marvelous grace. There’s one thing we all have in common if we’ve been saved and that is we’re in His Holy family. He gives all of us something in common and that gift is the gift of giving. We ought to be able to give somebody what God has given us. We think about the scripture there where Peter and John were going into the temple and an old lame man there at the temple gate was expecting alms of them but Peter said, “silver and gold have I none, but such as I have I give unto thee in the name of Jesus.” If you’re not helping somebody spiritually today, then you’re not helping them at all. Where do we get this gift of giving. We’re serving a God who is a giving God. He’s also a gracious and loving God. I want to share a few scriptures about how He gave to us.

1 Corinthians 2:12 “Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God.”

When God gives us things, it doesn’t cost us anything.

James 1:17 “ Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.”

God is no respecter of persons.

John 3:16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life.”

I’m glad we’re serving a God who is in the giving business.

Ephesians 2:8 “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God.”

We’re not saved because of who we are. We’re saved by his grace through faith. The Bible says it’s a gift of God. When he gave his only begotten Son, he gave him for the life and the sins of the whole world that whosoever would come and take of the water of life freely.

Romans 6:23 “The wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life.”

I’m glad when God gives things, he gives it for our benefit. He gives it for our profit. He gives it for our advancement. He gives it for His honor and his glory. He gives it for his purpose.

You know what some Christians problems are? They always want to be on the receiving end and not the giving end.

Ephesians 4:8 “When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men.”

I remember reading in Ephesians 1:3 “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ.”

I’m glad the things that God gives are not earthly things. Their heavenly things. They’ll help get you from here to glory. I’m glad God gave his only begotten Son for me. Praise God, we need to be gift givers. If you’re a child of God you need to be giving something to somebody.

1 Peter 4:10 “As every man hath received the gift, even so minister the same one to another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.”