Then I heard a voice from heaven say, “Write: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.”

“Yes,” says the Spirit, “they will rest from their labor, for their deeds will follow them.”

Revelation 14:13

Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory! For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready. Fine linen, bright and clean, was given her to wear (Fine linen stands for the righteous acts of the saints).

Revelation 19:7-8

For by grace you have been saved through faith, not by works….For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

Ephesians 2:8-10

Then those who feared the LORD talked with each other, and the LORD listened and heard. A scroll of remembrance was written in his presence concerning those who feared the LORD and honored his name.

Malachi 3:16

God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have helped his people and continue to help them.

Hebrews 6:10

In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.

But someone will say, “You have faith; I have deeds.”

Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do.…

You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did.…You see that a person is justified by what he does and not by faith alone.…As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.

James 2:17-18, 22, 24, 26

Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show it by his good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom.

James 3:13

All [believers] will be in heaven, but the differences will be eternal. We may be sure that the consequences of our character will survive the grave and that we shall face those consequences at the Judgment Seat of Christ.

Donald Gray Barnhouse

There are only two days on my calendar: today and “that day.”

Martin Luther

The Steward’s Eternal Rewards

It is my happiness that I have served Him who never fails to reward His servants to the full extent of His promise.

John Calvin

Whatever good thing you do for Him, if done according to the Word, is laid up for you as treasure in chests and coffers, to be brought out to be rewarded before both men and angels, to your eternal comfort.

John Bunyan

The nations were angry; and your wrath has come. The time has come for judging the dead, and for rewarding your servants the prophets and your saints and those who reverence your name, both small and great—and for destroying those who destroy the earth.”

Revelation 11:18

At that time each will receive his praise from God.

1 Corinthians 4:5

And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life.

Matthew 19:29

…because you know that the Lord will reward everyone for whatever good he does, whether he is slave or free.

Ephesians 6:8

For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father’s glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what he has done.

Matthew 16:24-27

…because you know that the Lord will reward everyone for whatever good he does, whether he is slave or free.

Ephesians 6:8

Blessed are you when men hate you, when they exclude you and insult you and reject your name as evil, because of the Son of Man.

Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, because great is your reward in heaven. For that is how their fathers treated the prophets.

Luke 6:22-23

But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked.

Luke 6:35

Go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven.

Matthew 19:21

Consider, to provoke you to good works, that you shall have from God, when you come to glory, a reward for everything you do for him on earth.

John Bunyan

You sympathized with those in prison and joyfully accepted the confiscation of your property, because you knew that you yourselves had better and lasting possessions.

So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised. Hebrews 10:34-36

Blessed are you when men hate you, when they exclude you and insult you and reject your name as evil, because of the Son of Man.

Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, because great is your reward in heaven. For that is how their fathers treated the prophets

Luke 6:22-23

Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.

Galatians 6:9

The Reward of Rulership

If we endure, we will also reign with him. If we disown him, he will also disown us.

2 Timothy 2:12

To him who overcomes, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I overcame and sat down with my Father on his throne.

Revelation 3:21

“Well done, my good servant!” his master replied. “Because you have been trustworthy in a very small matter, take charge of ten cities.”

The second came and said, “Sir, your mina has earned five more.”

His master answered, “You take charge of five cities.”

Luke 19:17-19

Do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if you are to judge the world, are you not competent to judge trivial cases? Do you not know that we will judge angels? How much more the things of this life!

1 Corinthians 6:2-3

To him who overcomes and does my will to the end, I will give authority over the nations …just as I have received authority from my Father. I will also give him the morning star.

Revelation 2:26-28

Peter answered him, “We have left everything to follow you! What then will there be for us?”

Jesus said to them, “I tell you the truth, at the renewal of all things, when the Son of Man sits on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel….

And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life. But many who are first will be last, and many who are last will be first.”

Matthew 19:27-30

Loss of Reward?

Question: Do you believe some

Christians will experience a loss of rewards in Heaven?

I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have, so that no one will take your crown.

Revelation 3:11

No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.

1 Corinthians 9:27

If it is burned up, he will suffer loss; he himself will be saved, but only as one escaping through the flames.

1 Corinthians 3:15

Watch out that you do not lose what you have worked for, but that you may be rewarded fully.

2 John 8

And now, dear children, continue in him, so that when he appears we may be confident and unashamed before him at his coming.

1 John 2:28

And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.

Matthew 6:5-6

He who is most in the bosom of God, and who so acts for Him here, he is the man who will be best able to enjoy most of God in the kingdom of heaven. And why shall he that doth most for God in the world, enjoy most of him in that which is to come?

John Bunyan

The saints are like so many vessels of different sizes cast into a sea of happiness where every vessel is full: this is eternal life, for a man ever to have his capacity filled. But after all it is left to God’s sovereign pleasure, it is his prerogative to determine the largeness of the vessel.

Jonathan Edwards

Salvation Rewards

Past(1 John 3:2)

Future(Rev. 22:12)

Free(Eph. 2:8-9)

Earned(1 Cor. 3:8)

Can’t be lost (John 10:28-29)

Can be lost (2 John 1:8)

Salvation Rewards

Same for all Christians

(Rom. 3:22)

Differ among Christians

(1 Cor. 3:12-15)

For those who believe

(John 3:16)

For those who work

(1 Cor. 9:27)

Now it is required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful.

1 Corinthians 4:2

Should Stewards be motivated by Eternal

Rewards?

He regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt, because he was looking ahead to his reward.

Hebrews 11:26

*Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever.

1 Corinthians 9:24-25

Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen.

I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.

2 Timothy 4:7-8

Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.

Galatians 6:9-10

Similarly, if anyone competes as an athlete, he does not receive the victor’s crown unless he competes according to the rules.…if we endure, we will also reign with him. If we disown him, he will also disown us.

2 Timothy 2:5, 12

Obey them not only to win their favor when their eye is on you, but like slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from your heart. Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not men, because you know that the Lord will reward everyone for whatever good he does, whether he is slave or free….

Ephesians 6:5-7

Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving. Anyone who does wrong will be repaid for his wrong, and there is no favoritism.

Colossians 3:22-25

Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

Hebrews 12:2

Jesus says, “But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed. Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.”

Luke 14:13-14

Love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High.

Luke 6:35, NASB

For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father’s glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what he has done.

Matthew 16:27

Pleasure, Possessions, and Power

• Temptation of Adam and Eve• Temptation of Jesus• Why did Satan appeal to their

desire for pleasure, possessions and power?

Appeal to Pleasures

You have made known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand.

Psalm 16:11

Appeal to Power Jesus called them together and

said, “You know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all.

Mark 10:42-44

Appeal to Possessions (Treasures) and Place, Hebrews 11:8-16

For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God…they were aliens and strangers on earth. People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. ….Instead, they were longing for a better country—a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.

Can Appeal to Our Desires Really Be

Spiritual?

They [eternal rewards] are such as should make us leap to think on, and that we should remember with exceeding joy, and never think that it is contrary to the Christian faith, to rejoice and be glad for [them].

John Bunyan

Christianity proposes not to extinguish our natural desires. It promises to bring the desires under just control and direct them to their true object.

William Wilberforce

All men seek happiness. This is without exception. Whatever different means they employ, they all tend to this end. The cause of some going to war, and of others avoiding it, is the same desire in both, attended with different views. The will never takes the least step but to this object [happiness]. This is the motive of every action of every man, even of those who hang themselves. Blaise Pascal

C. S. Lewis The faint, far-off results of those

energies which God’s creative rapture implanted in matter when He made the worlds are what we now call physical pleasures; and even thus filtered, they are too much for our present management. What would it be to taste at the fountainhead that stream of which even these lower reaches prove so intoxicating? Yet that, I believe, is

what lies before us. The whole man is to drink joy from the fountain of joy….The New Testament has a lot to say about self-denial, but not about self-denial as an end in itself. We are told to deny ourselves and to take up our cross in order to follow Christ—and nearly every description of what we shall ultimately find if we do so contains an appeal to desire….

If there lurks in most modern minds the notion that it’s a bad thing to desire one’s own good and earnestly hope for enjoyment, it is because it has crept in from the teachings of Immanuel Kant and the ancient Stoics. Certainly, it has no part in the Christian faith. Indeed, if we consider the unblushing promises of rewards promised in the Gospels, it would seem that our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak….

We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy has been offered to us. We are far too easily pleased, like an ignorant child who goes on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by an offer of a holiday at the sea.

C. S. Lewis

Tithing:The Training Wheels of

Giving

Pre-Law Tithing

And blessed be God Most High, who delivered your enemies into your hand. Then Abram gave him a tenth of everything.

Genesis 14:20

…and this stone that I have set up as a pillar will be God’s house, and of all that you give me I will give you a tenth.

Jacob, Genesis 28:22

A tithe of everything from the land, whether grain from the soil or fruit from the trees, belongs to the Lord; it is holy to the Lord.

Leviticus 27:30

When you have finished setting aside a tenth of all your produce in the third year, the year of the tithe, you shall give it to the Levite, the alien, the fatherless and the widow, so that they may eat in your towns and be satisfied….

Deuteronomy 14:28-29

Firstfruits

Honor the Lord with your wealth, with the firstfruits of all your crops.

Proverbs 3:9

No one is to appear before me empty-handed.

Exodus 23:15

You are to give them the firstfruits of your grain, new wine and oil, and the first wool from the shearing of your sheep.

Deuteronomy 18:4

As soon as the order went out, the Israelites generously gave the firstfruits of their grain, new wine, oil and honey and all that the fields produced. They brought a great amount, a tithe of everything.

2 Chronicles 31:5

I give you all the finest olive oil and all the finest new wine and grain they give the LORD as the firstfruits of their harvest.

Numbers 18:12

Will a man rob God? Yet you rob me. But you ask, “How do we rob you? In tithes and offerings. You are under a curse—the whole nation of you—because you are robbing me. Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the Lord Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it.”

Malachi 3:8-10

Haggai 1 Give careful thought to

your ways. You have planted much, but have harvested little.…You earn wages, only to put them in a purse with holes in it.

“You expected much, but see, it turned out to be little. What you brought home, I blew away. Why?” declares the LORD Almighty. “Because of my house, which remains a ruin, while each of you is busy with his own house. Therefore, because of you the heavens have withheld their dew and the earth its crops.

I called for a drought on the fields and the mountains, on the grain, the new wine, the oil and whatever the ground produces, on men and cattle, and on the labor of your hands.”

Haggai 1:5-11

Voluntary OfferingsSpeak to Aaron and his sons and to all the Israelites and say to them: “If any of you—either an Israelite or an alien living in Israel—presents a gift for a burnt offering to the LORD, either to fulfill a vow or as a freewill offering, you must present a male without defect from the cattle, sheep or goats in order that it may be accepted on your behalf….

Do not bring anything with a defect, because it will not be accepted on your behalf. When anyone brings from the herd or flock a fellowship offering to the LORD to fulfill a special vow or as a freewill offering, it must be without defect or blemish to be acceptable….

Do not offer to the LORD the blind, the injured or the maimed, or anything with warts or festering or running sores. Do not place any of these on the altar as an offering made to the LORD by fire. You may, however, present as a freewill offering an ox or a sheep that is deformed or stunted, but it will not be accepted in fulfillment of a vow.”

Leviticus 22:18-23

And you present to the LORD offerings made by fire, from the herd or the flock, as an aroma pleasing to the LORD—whether burnt offerings or sacrifices, for special vows or freewill offerings or festival offerings.

Numbers 15:3

There bring your burnt offerings and sacrifices, your tithes and special gifts, what you have vowed to give and your freewill offerings, and the firstborn of your herds and flocks.…You must not eat in your own towns the tithe of your grain and new wine and oil, or the firstborn of your herds and flocks, or whatever you have vowed to give, or your freewill offerings or special gifts.

Deuteronomy 12:6, 17

All…who were willing brought to the Lord freewill offerings.

Exodus 35:29

And the people of any place where survivors may now be living are to provide him with silver and gold, with goods and livestock, and with freewill offerings for the temple of God in Jerusalem.

Then the family heads of Judah and Benjamin, and the priests and Levites—everyone whose heart God had moved—prepared to go up and build the house of the LORD in Jerusalem….

Ezra 1 All their neighbors assisted them

with articles of silver and gold, with goods and livestock, and with valuable gifts, in addition to all the freewill offerings.

After that, they presented the regular burnt offerings…and the sacrifices…as well as those brought as freewill offerings to the LORD.…

…together with all the silver and gold you may obtain from the province of Babylon, as well as the freewill offerings of the people and priests for the temple of their God in Jerusalem.… I said to them, “You as well as these articles are consecrated to the LORD. The silver and gold are a freewill offering to the LORD, the God of your fathers.

Ezra 1:4-6; 3:5; 7:16; 8:28

All the skilled craftsmen who were doing all the work on the sanctuary left their work and said to Moses, “The people are bringing more than enough for doing the work the Lord commanded to be done.”

Then Moses gave an order and they sent this word throughout the camp: “No man or woman is to make anything else as an offering for the sanctuary.” And so the people were restrained from bringing more, because what they already had was more than enough to do all the work.

Exodus 36:4-7

I now give my personal treasures of gold and silver for the temple of my God, over and above everything I have provided…. Then the leaders of families, the officers of the tribes of Israel, the commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds,

1 Chronicles 29:3

and the officials in charge of the king’s work gave willingly…. They gave toward the work on the temple of God five thousand talents and ten thousand darics of gold, ten thousand talents of silver,

eighteen thousand talents of bronze and a hundred thousand talents of iron. Any who had precious stones gave them to the treasury of the temple of the LORD in the custody of Jehiel the Gershonite.

1 Chronicles 29:6-8

The people rejoiced at the willing response of their leaders, for they had given freely and wholeheartedly to the Lord.

1 Chronicles 29:9

1 Chronicles 29:14, 16-18

Who am I, and who are my people, that we should be able to give as generously as this? Everything comes from you, and we have given you only what comes from your hand.…It comes from your hand, and all of it belongs to you.…

All these things have I given willingly and with honest intent. And now I have seen with joy how willingly your people who are here have given to you. O Lord, God of our fathers…keep this desire in the hearts of your people forever, and keep their hearts loyal to you.

1 Chronicles 29:14, 16-18

Grace, Law, and Tithing

Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices—mint, dill and cummin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former.

Matthew 23:23

Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished….

Anyone who breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.

Matthew 5:17-20

By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. And God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done.

Genesis 2:2-3

So the law was put in charge to lead us to Christ that we might be justified by faith.

Galatians 3:24

The Jews were constrained to a regular payment of tithes; Christians, who have liberty, assign all their possessions to the Lord, bestowing freely not the lesser portions of their property, since they have the hope of greater things.

Irenaeus

The Early Church and Tithing

If anyone shall not do this [pay tithes] he is convicted of defrauding and supplanting God.

Jerome

Tithes are required as a matter of debt, and he who has been unwilling to give them has been guilty of robbery. Whosoever, therefore, desires to secure a reward for himself, let him render tithes, and out of the nine parts let him seek to give alms.

Augustine

Arguments against Tithing:

• Tithing is legalism.

• I must pay off my debts rather than tithe.

• If I’m going to tithe eventually, I’ll need to move toward it slowly.

• I just can’t afford to tithe.

Grace and Giving

2 Corinthians 8-9

2 Corinthians 8

And now, brothers, we want you to know about the grace that God

has given the Macedonian churches. 2 Out of the most severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity.

2 Corinthians 8

And now, brothers, we want you to know about the grace that God

has given the Macedonian churches. 2 Out of the most severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity.

2 Corinthians 8

And now, brothers, we want you to know about the grace that God

has given the Macedonian churches. 2 Out of the most severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity.

2 Corinthians 8

And now, brothers, we want you to know about the grace that God

has given the Macedonian churches. 2 Out of the most severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity.

2 Corinthians 8

And now, brothers, we want you to know about the grace that God

has given the Macedonian churches. 2 Out of the most severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity.

2 Corinthians 8

And now, brothers, we want you to know about the grace that God

has given the Macedonian churches. 2 Out of the most severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity.

2 Corinthians 8

And now, brothers, we want you to know about the grace that God

has given the Macedonian churches. 2 Out of the most severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity.

2 Corinthians 8

And now, brothers, we want you to know about the grace that God

has given the Macedonian churches. 2 Out of the most severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity.

2 Corinthians 8

And now, brothers, we want you to know about the grace that God

has given the Macedonian churches. 2 Out of the most severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity.

• Our giving and God’s grace are inseparable.

The New Testament teaching on giving is an extension of the doctrine of grace.

“We want you to know”

• It’s sometimes appropriate to point to other people’s examples of giving.

severe trial.............overflowing joy extreme poverty......rich generosity

This paradox can’t be explained apart from a work of God.

How much of our giving can only be explained by the supernatural work of God’s Spirit?

Philanthropy can be man-centered. Grace is God-centered. It’s supernatural.

* The sleep of a laborer is sweet, whether he eats little or much, but the abundance of a rich man permits him no sleep.

*The more you have, the more you have to worry about.

Want to worry less? Give more.

3 For I testify that they gave as much as they were able, and even beyond their ability. Entirely on their own, 4 they urgently pleaded with us for the privilege of sharing in this service to the saints.

Three levels of giving:1) less than our ability 2) according to our ability 3) beyond our ability

• 98% give less than our ability. • 2% give according to our ability. • Less than 1% give beyond our ability.

What is it to give beyond our ability?

Pushing past the point where the figures add up. Giving without a net—no back up plan in case God doesn’t come through.

David: “I will not sacrifice to the LORD my God burnt offerings that cost me nothing” (2 Sam. 24:24).

4 They urgently pleaded with us for the privilege of sharing…

Why did they have to plead? They’d been told “we can’t take your money—you’re needier than the Jerusalem saints.”

We must never deprive the poor of this privilege. (Acts 20:35).

Whenever we get comfortable with our giving, it’s time to raise it again.

A disciple doesn’t ask “how much more can I keep?” but, “how much more can I give?”

When we stand before Christ, will any of us think, “I wish I’d given away less”?

8 I am not commanding you, but I want to test the sincerity of your love by comparing it with the earnestness of others.

9 For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich.

Who gave history’s greatest gift?

The richest person in the universe became the poorest, to make us forever rich.

He then invites us to share his wealth with others.

We can never outgive God. In giving we enter into His joy.

11 Now finish the work, so that your eager willingness to do it may be matched by your completion of it, according to your means.God calls us to follow up on giving commitments.

12 For if the willingness is there, the gift is acceptable according to what one has, not according to what he does not have.

13 Our desire is not that others might be relieved while you are hard pressed, but that there might be equality. 14 At the present time your plenty will supply what they need, so that in turn their plenty will supply what you need. Then there will be equality,

He who gathered much did not have too much and he who gathered little did not have too little. 2 Corinthians 8:15

Two problems: people having too much OR too little.

Giving solves both problems!

Give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread. Otherwise I may have too much …or I may become poor and steal...”

Proverbs 30:8-9

If God wants this equality, why unequal distribution?

We are his body, his delegates, his ambassadors, his money managers, his distributors.

He gives some too much and some too little, that those with too much can give it to those with too little.

20 We want to avoid any criticism of the way we administer this liberal gift. 21 For we are taking pains to do what is right, not only in the eyes of the Lord but also in the eyes of men.

Paul handles collected money with extreme care (v. 16-24).

Taking pains to do right not only in God’s sight, but men’s.

“I am accountable only to God.”

Wrong.

2 Corinthians 9  2 For I know your eagerness to help, and I have been boasting about it to the Macedonians, telling them that since last year you in Achaia were ready to give; and your enthusiasm has stirred most of them to action.

Churches need to hear giving stories from inside and outside.

Paul tells others of “your eagerness to help.” He says “your enthusiasm has stirred most of them to action.”

The thrill and joy of our giving that is a contagious example to others. Is this visible in most churches today?Believers can’t be inspired by each other’s giving if they don’t know about it.

Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them… Matthew 6:1

Let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father [not you] in heaven. Matt. 5:14-18

There’s a time for giving stories not to be told, and a time to be told (but only with care and humility).

7 Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.

God loves a cheerful giver.

God loves a cheerful giver.

The only way to learn to become a cheerful giver is to become a giver.

Giving is blessed, happy-making). A treatment for depression.

Note: This is a freewill gift, a special offering for the poor saints in Jerusalem.

This was not their regular giving to their local church. It was above and beyond.

The text is not saying there is never a compulsion or duty or responsibility to give.

The solution to developing voluntary and cheerful giving:

Not waiting for inspiration, while keeping our hearts on earth by withholding.

But redirecting our hearts to heaven by giving.

Matthew 6:19-21

8 And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work. 9 As it is written: “He has scattered abroad his gifts to the poor; his righteousness endures forever.”

True “Grace giving” is overflowing, seed-scattering, sacrificial and joyful giving that flows from the grace-transformed heart.

False “Grace giving” is trying to escape God’s requirements of Old Testament believers by lowering the bar of giving, making grace more impotent than law. (2.6% is not grace giving.)

10 Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness.

Give generously to [the poor] and do so without a grudging heart; then because of this the Lord your God will bless you in all your work and in everything you put your hand to….I command you to be openhanded toward your brothers and toward the poor and needy in your land.

Deuteronomy 15:10-11

He who is kind to the poor lends to the Lord, and he will reward him for what he has done. Prov. 19:17

A generous man will himself be blessed, for he shares his food with the poor. Proverbs 22:9

He who gives to the poor will lack nothing, but he who closes his eyes to them receives many curses. Proverbs 28:27

God said of King Josiah:

He defended the cause of the poor and needy, and so all went well. Is that not what it means to know me?

Jeremiah 22:16

He will also supply and

increase your store of seed

and will enlarge the harvest

of your righteousness. You

will be made rich in every

way SO THAT…

______________________

__________________.

2 Corinthians

9:1011

He will also supply and

increase your store of seed

and will enlarge the harvest

of your righteousness. You

will be made rich in every

way SO THAT…

______________________

__________________.

2 Corinthians

9:1011

you can be

generous on every

occasion

you can be

generous on every

occasion

When God provides beyond what we need, why should the default be keeping? Why shouldn’t it be giving?

Why not set a finish line, beyond which you give it all back to God?

When God provides beyond what we need, why should the default be keeping? Why shouldn’t it be giving?

Why not set a finish line, beyond which you give it all back to God?

12 This service that you perform is not only supplying the needs of God’s people but is also overflowing in many expressions of thanks to God. 13 Because of the service by which you have proved yourselves, men will praise God for the obedience that accompanies your confession of the gospel of Christ,

… and for your generosity in sharing with them and with everyone else. 14 And in their prayers for you their hearts will go out to you, because of the surpassing grace God has given you.

When God puts money into our hands, He isn’t only blessing us.

He’s testing us.

He’s watching what we do with it. And will evaluate and reward us accordingly.

If you’ve been trying to find happiness in accumulating:

How’s that been working for you?

“You have been robbing Me in tithes and offerings; you are under a curse…Test me in this and see…” Malachi 3

The keeping we do to make us happy makes us miserable.

The giving we forgo for fear it would make us unhappy is exactly what would make us happy.

So…why not give God the chance to prove that grace and joy are inseparable from giving? And to say to you, “Well done”?

• If it’s more than you’re now giving, consider starting at 11%.

• When God gives you excess assume he wants you to give it.

• Give away specific incomes: • All second income All second income • All income from a project (e.g. garage sale), All income from a project (e.g. garage sale),

product or royaltiesproduct or royalties• Inheritance you receive or leaveInheritance you receive or leave

15 Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!

Asking God about Our Giving

Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you—unless, of course, you fail the test?

2 Corinthians 13:5

Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in.

Psalm 139:23-24

Questions to Ask God about Your

Giving

1. Father, with the financial assets and opportunities you’ve entrusted to me, have you raised me up for just such a time as this? (Esther 4:14). Have you called me to join a great team of your children in freeing up money and possessions to reach out to the needy and fulfill the great commission?

2. Is the fact that you’ve entrusted me with so many resources an indication that you have given me the gift of giving and want me to learn to exercise it more frequently and skillfully?

3. What am I holding on to that is robbing me of present joy and future reward? What am I keeping that’s preventing me from having to depend on you? What am I clinging to that makes me feel like I don’t have to depend on you to provide, like I used to before I had this much? What do you want me to release that could restore me to a walk of faith?

4. In light of 2 Corinthians 8:14 and 9:11, do you want me to assume that each financial blessing you entrust to me is not intended to raise my standard of living but to raise my standard of giving?

5. Am I being held in orbit around the mass of treasures I’ve stored up? Have I overaccumulated? Like the five loaves and two fish, have you multiplied “my” assets not so I would stockpile them, but so I would distribute them to the needy?

6. Where in the world (and in my community) do you want me to go, to see and participate in Christ-centered ministries meeting physical and spiritual needs?

7. Am I treating you as owner and CEO/CFO of “my” assets, or am I treating you merely as my financial consultant, to whom I pay a fee (of 10 percent or greater)?

8. When I make a list of all the assets you’ve entrusted to me and ask what you want me to give away, is there anything I’m leaving off the list? Is there anything I’m treating as if it were untouchable, as if it were mine and not yours? Do my retirement funds belong to you too? What doesn’t?

9. Do you want me to set a basic level of income and assets to live on, then give away whatever you provide beyond that (regardless of whether that’s 50 percent, 90 percent, 99 percent, or more)?

10. How can I be sure that the assets you’ve entrusted to me will serve you after my death? How do I know that those to whom I leave them, or those to whom they leave them, will use them for your glory? If I want money to go to your kingdom later and it’s more than I presently need, why wouldn’t I give it to your kingdom now?

14. What’s the eternal downside to giving now? What’s the eternal downside of delaying giving until later? Am I really in danger of giving too much too soon? Or is the only real danger giving too little too late? If I give away most of my assets now, what will I have available to give later?

39. How can I help my pastor(s) encourage biblical training in stewardship and giving and assist them in creating an open church dialogue regarding lifestyle choices and kingdom investments?

40. Five minutes after I die, what will I wish I would have given away while I still had the chance? Would you help me spend the rest of my life closing the gap between what I’ll wish I’d given then and what I’m actually giving now?