Jesus’ Teaching on Giving
Partial Outline: FULL PDF HERE
Acts 20:35
Some preachers have an apologetic attitude when it comes to preaching on giving. Jesus spoke more about giving than He did heaven or hell combined and never apologized for it. Neither did Paul—He referred to giving in more than half of his epistles.
In our text, Paul admonishes us to “remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he said, It is more blessed to give than to receive.” Paul lived by these words.
Why is giving to be preferred to receiving?
Giving is Christ-like. No one ever gave as much as Jesus gave—“For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich” (2 Cor. 8:9). Think of what Jesus gave to save you and I (Phil. 2:5-8)!
•Giving subdues a self-centered or selfish disposition.
•Giving supplies the needs of others.
•Giving keeps us from becoming too attached to material possessions.
•Giving provides a good example for others to follow (2 Cor 9:2).
Giving is living. When you stop giving, you are dying. Why is the Dead Sea dead? Because it receives but never gives.
Six Things Jesus Taught About Giving
I. Giving is a BLESSING (text).
A. The blessing of eternal rewards. God will reward your giving.
B. The blessing of knowing that God is pleased. (Being able to lay my head on my pillow at night and hearing God say in my heart, “Al, I like what you did today. You did good.”)
C. The blessing of seeing God supply your needs. (see PDF for testimony how God provided during college years.)
We must put ourselves in a position where God CAN supply our needs. God can only supply a need when we have a need.
II. Giving REGULATES your level of blessing (Luke 6:38).
A. 2 Corinthians 9:6 restates the principle of sowing and reaping.
B. The grass is not greener on the other side of the fence. And the grass is not greener on this side of the fence… The grass is greener where you water it!
C. Reciprocal action (Prov. 11:24-25):
- God gives us everything that is good (mercy, forgiveness, love, kindness, money, talents, etc.) James 1:17
- You have liberty to use what God provides anyway you want.
- You can choose to give it back to God.
- God then gives it back to you with more. God gives back to you in kind what you give (bitterness; jealousy; strife; etc.)
- The process continues as long as you keep giving back to God. When you stop giving to God, the process stops (John 12:24-25).
III. Giving reveals your PRIORITIES in life (Mt. 19:16-22).
Partial Outline: FULL PDF HERE
