In Your Bible
Read This Out Loud: 2 Samuel 24:18-25
Memorise This
Verse: Hebrews 13:16 'And do not forget to do good and to share with
others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased'
Afterwards Talk
About This: Is it fair to say that if our offerings don't move us
they won't move God?
Something To Do
Before Next Time: Giving something of value away in order to extend
the Kingdom of God
Written Diploma
Work: List as many people as possible from the bible who gave
sacrificial offerings.
Meditate Word By
Word On This Verse: Philippians 4:18
In the section
concerning tithing, it was argued that a good rule to follow regarding
tithing is that we should tithe on the first and the best of what we
receive. Having established that offerings are given in addition to the
tithe, this section will expand a good rule concerning offerings -
namely that our offerings should be sacrifices. It has been rightly said
that if our offerings don't mean much to us, they probably won't mean
much to God the bible often mentions sacrifices and when it does, it is
often in the context of financial giving. It would appear that God
simply cannot resist a sacrificial financial offering and the greater we
dare to be with our offerings, the greater we will be rewarded. The size
of a believers financial offering is solely down to them and the bible
lays down no definite rules but it would appear to lean towards
offerings being sacrifices in the sight both of the giver and God.
The best example of
someone making an offering to God that was a sacrifice was when Jesus
offered himself for the sins of the world for example
Ephesians
5:1 says, ' Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and
live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us
as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God'.
Jesus himself knows
what it means to give an expensive offering and what he calls us to do
he has done himself even to the point of giving his very life. We saw
previously the poor widow in Mark 12:41-44 she certainly gave an
offering that was a sacrifice as the scripture records she gave
everything she had left to live on into the treasury. (As always with
our sacrificial offerings, they never go unnoticed and it actually
caught the eye of the Son of God himself as will your sacrificial
offerings.)
King David is one of
the greatest givers that that the bible records and this rule that our
offerings should be sacrifices is something that he demonstrates in his
own life. In 2 Samuel 24 , after a series of errors culminating in the
recording of a census of his army, David incurs the wrath of God and as
a result he pleads for mercy and consequently is instructed to build an
alter to the Lord on the threshing floor of Araunah. He wisely declines
Araunah's offer to give the threshing floor to him for free and boldly
declares in verse 24 'No, I insist on paying you for it. I will not
sacrifice to the Lord my God burnt offerings that cost me nothing'.
Without doubt one of
the Apostle Paul's favorite churches was the Philippian church and his
letter to the Philippians is full of his love, joy and fellowship with
the believers there. Philippians chapter 4 is one of the great chapters
of the bible and Paul reveals here that the Philippian church was a
giving church and was the only church at that time to send offerings to
him on his missionary journey. It is likely that the Philippians brought
their tithes into the church and also took up offerings regularly for
Paul and the sacrificial nature of these offerings is referred to by
Paul in verse 18 'They are a fragrant offering, an acceptable sacrifice,
pleasing to God'.
A further example of
someone giving a sacrificial offering is Mary's gift of perfume used to
anoint Jesus, the story is related in John 12:1-6. Here, Mary is giving
a gift to the Son of God himself and verse 7 shows that this gift was
something that she had saved up for. Moreover, the value of the perfume
was 300 denaria Matthew 20:2 suggests that one denarius was roughly a
day's wages so the value of the perfume was roughly a year's wages. This
sacrificial offering doesn't go unnoticed and Mary's gift is recorded in
the scripture as being of great value in the eyes of the Son of God.
The same principle
of sacrificial offerings is illuminated by the writer to the Hebrews
when he says, 'And do not forget to do good and to share with others,
for with such sacrifices God is pleased' (Hebrews 13:16). Notice that
the context is again one of financial giving and the word 'sacrifice' is
used the bible declares that God is pleased when sacrificial offerings
are given by the people of God. Perhaps, you often wonder (or even fear)
if God is pleased with your spiritual life and if you are doing what God
has called you to do well, in the area of finances if you are tithing
and giving sacrificial offerings then according to Hebrews 13:16, God is
well pleased with what you are doing.
Perhaps the best
biblical example of sacrificial offerings is the Macedonian churches
(referred to in 2 Cor 8:1-6) who contributed to the collection of the
impoverished saints in Jerusalem. Their giving was exceptional as the
bible reveals three very startling facts about the offering 1) They gave
with JOY! (verse) 2) They gave even beyond their ability to give (verse
3) 3) They urgently pleaded to give into the offering (verse 4)
Sadly there are very
few examples today of people urgently pleading to give offerings into
the work of God but the Macedonians were, and their testimony is
recorded for all time in scripture. Giving sacrificial offerings is
seldom preached on or practiced today. For fear of upsetting or
offending people many Pastors don't speak on money and sacrificial
offerings and this is to their shame because of the many scriptural
references to offerings and financial open-handedness. Giving a large
sacrificial offering can be a hard thing to do but the Macedonian
believers not only pleaded to make one but had joy in doing so. Surely
these believers attained to a level of giving and confidence in their
God that few of us will ever attain to - yet what an awesome place it
must be to have such a tremendous faith level.
Finally in the book
of Malachi chapter 1 the Lord issues a rebuke to the pathetic sacrifices
that were offered to him and concludes in verse 14 ''For I am a great
King' says the Lord Almighty. 'And my name is to be feared among the
nations''. God is interested in our offerings because they reveal our
love, fear and reverence for him sadly for many Christians, their giving
shows how little they are walking with God. So, are your offerings
bringing honor to your heavenly father? are you giving offerings that
are sacrifices? do your offerings show you have a strong relationship
with God? Many worldly people are happy to pay extra money in order to
have excellence in the item they are buying - just as excellence has a
high monetary value in the eyes of the world, the excellence and glory
and majesty of God should have a high monetary value with our offerings.
So in conclusion as
to the question of how much we should be giving, there are several
things we can say. In the Old Testament, with the introduction of the
law, the people of God were called to be tithers and scripturally this
seemed to apply to all sources of income and increase, including such
areas as livestock, fruit, oil and new wine. Whilst the bible is not
completely clear on this matter it would appear that the principle of
tithing is still a discipline for New Covenant believers, and as well as
tithing, the New Testament speaks of giving financial offerings as well
(in the same way that the Old Testament speaks of offerings over and
above the tithe).
A
House of Prayer for the Poorer Nations
Pray for Chile
15,211,294
people,
Catholic majority
Catholics declining but evangelicals caught
in disunity, rivalry and introversion.
© www.operationworld.org |