The Truth About Godly Giving Series

Dr. Bradford Reaves

Crossway Christian Fellowship

Hagerstown, MD

www.mycrossway.org

We have moved to the next chapter in Matthew as we continue in the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew Chapter 6. In this transition of the Chapter, we also find ourselves transitioning in Jesus’ sermon. We began with the Beatitudes, which serve as the backbone to being a Kingdom Citizen. Then the transition of Jesus telling the Jewish people that he did not come to abolish the law but fulfill it. That was followed by six statements, “You have heard it said… but I say to you...” These were meant to set the standard that was misunderstood by the Jewish people of the day. The Law was not something that they were to merely do, but it was something that addresses the sin that is in the heart of every man.

In short, in Chapter 5 Jesus says that your theology is inadequate. You’ve got it wrong when it comes to hate, anger, murder, divorce, swearing, telling lies, taking oaths. You’ve even got the wrong theology of love and he sets the godly standard. Now in the first 18 verses of the Chapter Jesus corrects our attitude of worship. What he says is that your worship is hypocritical. He calls them "hupokrites", which means “stage actor. And in this section he is going to go pick out three elements of their worship: giving, praying, and fasting. What he is doing is tearing down their phony piety and self-righteous religion in order for them (and us) to cease striving for our own sake and learn to depend on God for all things.

“Beware of doing your righteousness before men to be noticed by them; otherwise you have no reward with your Father who is in heaven. 2 “Therefore, when you give to the poor, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, so that they may be glorified by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full. 3 “But when you give to the poor, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4 so that your giving will be in secret; and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you. (Matthew 6:1–4)

Now the first area of worship that Jesus addresses is in our giving. There is no doubt that false teachers in the Church have abused the issue of giving for their own gain. And even with legitimate needs and organizations, we can be overwhelmed with requests for donations and causes. But that does not take away from the spiritual discipline of how we handle our money and how we handle our money is a reflection of our relationship with God. In that relationship, God expects us to be generous with what He provides for us.

So with that, I want us to look biblically at being generous and faithful givers in relation to our worship. Biblically speaking, there are two ways that we are to give in our worship. First is our regular worship in the church. Paul instructs the Christians to give according to their prosperity on the first day of each week the church meets. This is something that the believer is to agree with God in his heart in a structured means of giving.

The second means of giving is giving to the poor. That is something that is not structured, like when you give your tithes, but it is an offering - either through a need in the church, or a special missions offering like we do with the church in Guinea-Bissau, or giving privately to someone in need. Those are the two ways that God has directed us in the Bible to give and I don’t think that those are to be option parts of our spiritual walk.

Now we know that Psalm 24:1 “The earth is Yahweh’s, as well as its fullness, The world, and those who dwell in it.” So we know Psalm 50 tells us that the Lord owns the cattle on a thousand hills and that the streets of heaven will be paved with gold. God doesn’t need our money. He’s not up in heaven mussing over the books nor is the advancement of the Kingdom of Heaven dependent on your wealth. So the question now remains why is it so important?

I think first of all, it is because that God is a giving God and we are more like Him when we share in that kind of generous heart.

“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. (John 3:16)

Each one must do just as he has purposed in his heart, not grudgingly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. (2 Corinthians 9:7)