WHAT THE BIBLE SAYS ABOUT GIVING.
BY REV. WM. M. TAYLOR, D.D.
In his sermon entitled “How to be a Christian in Trade,” a discourse which illustrates the wonderful combination of practical sagacity with spiritual insight, for which he was so remarkable, Dr. Bushnell says that “the great problem we have now on hand is the Christianizing of the money power of the world,” and again that “what we wait for, and are looking hopefully to see, is the consecration of the vast money power of the world to the work, and cause, and kingdom of Jesus Christ. For that day, when it comes, is the morning, so to speak, of the new creation. That tide-wave in the money power can as little be resisted when God brings it on as the tides of the sea; and like these also it will flow across the world in a day.” This witness is true, and it becomes us all, to pray and labor for the fulfilment of the prophecy that men shall come, “their silver and their gold with them, unto the name of the Lord our God.” But here the revival must begin in the Church itself. In former times we have had revivals with distinct characteristics. One was remarkable for the blessing which rested on preaching, another for the spirit of prayer which seemed to be poured out on the people generally; another for the interest that was evoked in the study of the Scriptures. What we have yet to see is a revival of which the chief distinguishing feature shall be liberal giving to the cause of the Lord Jesus, and when that comes it will be the prophecy of yet grander things for the promise “prove me now herewith if I will not open you the windows of heaven and pour you out a blessing that there shall not be room enough to receive it,” was made, not in connection with an exhortation to prayer, as so many who quote it seem to believe, but with immediate reference to the honoring of God with our substance, for thus it runs: “Bring ye all the tithes into the store-house, and prove me now herewith.” While, therefore, it is true that a spirit of liberality in the support of the cause of Christ must be a fruit of renewed life in the Church, it is also true that its manifestation by the Church will be the forerunner of such spiritual triumphs as it has never yet achieved. Thus it is of great moment that we should use means for the awakening of Christians to a sense of the importance of this matter, and few things, in my judgment, would more efficiently contribute to the attainment of that end than setting briefly and pointedly before them the teachings of the word of God upon the subject. I cannot hope to cover all that ground in the few minutes now at my disposal; the most I shall attempt will be to take a general survey of it.
Beginning, then, with the act of giving itself, I find that it is spoken of as a part of self consecration to God, for when at the close of his reign David brought out in the sight of all the people the treasures which he had amassed for the building of the Temple and sought to incite them to make an offering for the same purpose, he said, “Who then is willing to consecrate his service this day unto the Lord?” It is regarded as an act of worship, for God commanded his people to “come into his courts and bring an offering with them.” It is described by Paul as a “grace.” When writing to the Corinthians he said, “Therefore as ye abound in everything, in faith and utterance and knowledge, and in all diligence and in your love to us, see that ye abound in this grace also.” Only think of it—“as ye abound in utterance, so abound in this grace also.” What a blessed thing it would be in this America of ours, on which the gift of tongues seems to have been so lavishly bestowed, if Christians generally were as fluent in giving as they are in speech! It is referred to again and again as a “communion” in such passages as these: “Let him that is taught in the word communicate to”—that is, have communion with Him, that teacheth in all good things, “to do good and to communicate forget not,” or, as it might be given more literally, “Of well doing and of communion be not forgetful, for with such sacrifices God is well pleased.” In the same sense Paul, who had just received a gift from the Philippians, thanks God for their “fellowship,” that is, “communion” in the gospel from the first day until now; and praises them for having done well in communicating, or rather, for the word is the same, in having communion with his affliction; while he records it to their credit that no church communicated with him; or, for the word is still the same, “had communion with him in the matter of giving and receiving but they only.” To the same effect he says to the Corinthians that the churches of Macedonia had begged him to take upon him the “fellowship,”—that is, “communion”—of ministering to the saints in carrying to Jerusalem their gifts to the poor of that city, and he urges his readers to accept a part in the same service that God might be glorified for “their liberal distribution”—that is, for the liberality of the communion, for so the word still is, “unto them and unto all men.” And to mention only one other passage, the same apostle in his Epistle to the Romans bids his readers “distribute to the necessities of the saints,”—that is, for the word is still the same, “hold communion with the necessities of the saints.” Thus the making of contributions for benevolence in every form of it in which the Church is engaged is as really a communion service as is the observance of the Lord’s Supper. The same word is used in reference to both, and both alike are manifestations of the oneness of all the people of Christ in their common Lord. If this were more generally understood and felt by us I am sure that we should all have greater enjoyment in that part of the service on which so many look with disfavor, the making of a contribution; for that, as Paul gives us to understand, is only the manifestation by us in another form of the fellowship which we show forth when the bread and wine of the supper are passed from hand to hand among us. In this view of the case it is to be feared that there are far more “close” communionists in the Church than those who are commonly so denominated, and it may be well for us to take the beam out of our own eyes before we seek to become oculists to others.
Further, this giving is distinctly spoken of in the New Testament as a privilege. Remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how He said “It is more blessed,” that is, it is a greater happiness “to give than to receive.” In many enterprises in which men engage the cost is more than the profit, “the play” as the French proverb has it, “is not worth the candle,” but here there is always blessing; blessing in the consciousness that we have the means of doing good; blessing in entering into fellowship with God, whose happiness is all that of giving out; and blessing in the fact that the joy of the recipient comes back to us and redoubles our delight.
But passing now from the act itself to the reward promised to it, we find that set before us in three different ways. It is first, temporal. “Honor the Lord with thy substance, and with the first fruits of all thine increase. So shall thy barns be filled with plenty and thy presses shall burst out with new wine.” It is, second, spiritual, for Paul in connection with his exhortation to the Corinthians says: “God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that ye always, having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work being enriched in everything to all bountifullness.” Was there ever such a piling of universal terms one above the other as we have here? It seems as if the apostle could not say enough to strengthen his assertion, and it is all said in connection with cheerful giving. Nor is this all. He goes on to say that the gifts of the Corinthians by evoking prayers on their behalf from the hearts of the receivers, would return in blessings into their own bosoms. You know how the process of irrigation goes on in nature. All the rivers run into the ocean, out of that the sun continually evaporates clouds, which the wind blows back over the land, where they fall out in rain on the mountains, and go to feed the rivers. Thus evermore the circle is kept up and the lands are fertilized. Now in the same way the gifts we make to God all run into the furtherance of his cause, and are by him lifted up into the celestial region of his grace and power, whence they descend again with new blessing into our hearts, making both ourselves individually and the Church at large joyous and productive. Then there is a third reward which is eternal; for Jesus in the close of the parable of the prudent steward says: “Make to yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness that when ye fail they may receive you into everlasting habitations.” Money will not purchase our entrance into heaven. Nothing can do that but the work of Christ; but the money which out of love to Christ we give to his people and his cause will secure that we shall be received in heaven by those whom we have been the means of benefiting. As we enter they will take us by the hand and lead us up to Him that sitteth on the throne, saying: This is he whose efforts and whose gifts were, under thee, the means of our being here; let it be done unto him as unto the man whom the King delighteth to honor. And he will reply: Well done! “Inasmuch as ye did it unto one of the least of these my brethren ye did it unto me.”
Then as to the manner of the giving. We are told that it should be cheerful, for God loveth a cheerful giver. It should be no stereotyped and immutable thing, the same through life, but “as God has prospered us.” It should be systematic, as the result of careful thought and weekly planning on the Lord’s day, under the influence of the memory of His resurrection. For it was after his great argument on the resurrection that Paul said “now concerning the collection,” and it was because of its connection with that resurrection that he specified “the first day of the week” as that on which every one should “lay by him in store as God hath prospered him.” Weekly storing in the Lord’s box at home on the Lord’s day, that is what Paul recommends, and then when the Lord makes his appeal to us we can cheerfully give Him of His own. In the neglect of this plan, and the making of gatherings for this and that cause as each comes along, we have the explanation of the disfavor with which, in the public service, too many hear the announcement that a contribution will be made.
But now, finally, as to the motive. Here it is: “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.” The bringing of such a motive to bear on so simple a thing as the making of a contribution for the poor saints of Jerusalem seems like cracking a nut with a Nasmyth steam hammer. But Paul knew what he was doing when he dictated these words. He wanted to exalt and consecrate all Christian beneficence by having it done from the most powerful Christian motive. And after the presentation of such a motive there is no more to be said. For when men know the grace of Christ, they will never feel that they have given Him enough, and till they know it they will never give Him anything. They may contribute to keep up appearances so as to be like other people, or to gain a reputation, but they will never give to Him until they know His grace. This is the very pith and marrow of the matter. Before men give to Christ they must receive from him, and when they have received Christ Himself into their hearts they will be impelled to give. Impelled, not compelled; for the delight and the duty will coincide, or rather the duty will be merged in the delight. So we come round to the point at which we set out. A revived church will become a giving church, and a giving church is the fore-herald of a converted world.
How much owest thou thy Lord? That is the question which the giver has to face. Sometimes in commercial circles a man will assign a debt that is owing him to some one else, out of friendship, that he may take it when he has collected it and use it for himself. Much in the same way, I think, the Lord Jesus has assigned a large portion of the debt which we owe to him to those who are around us—to the unconverted at our doors, to those races among whom you labor, to the pagans far away. This was what Paul felt when he said, “I am debtor, both to the wise and to the unwise, both to the Greek and to the Barbarian”; and it was the constant feeling of that sense of obligation that gave his life its nobleness and its usefulness. So let it be with us; and let us see in those for whom appeal is made to us through this Association, the representatives of Christ.
There is a beautiful story told in Stevenson’s “Praying and Working.” I am very fond of repeating it—I may have told it to some of you before, but no matter—about a little child in the orphanage of John Falk at Weimar. They were having supper in the dining-hall, and the teacher gave thanks in the ordinary way before the children began their meals, saying, “Come, Lord Jesus, and be our guest to-night, and bless the mercies which Thou has provided.” One little boy looked up and said, “Teacher, you always ask the Lord Jesus to come, but he never comes. Will he ever come?” “Oh, yes; if you will only hold on in faith, he will be sure to come.” “Very well,” said the little boy, “I will set a chair for him beside me here to-night to be ready when he comes.” And so the meal proceeded. By-and-by there came a rap at the door, and there was ushered in a poor half-frozen apprentice. He was taken to the fire and his hands warmed. Then he was asked to partake of the meal, and where should he go but to the chair which the little boy had provided? and as he sat down there the little boy looked up with a light in his eye, and said, “Teacher, I see it now! The Lord Jesus was not able to come himself, and he sent this poor man in his place. Isn’t that it?”
Aye, that is just it. And so, brethren, the Lord Jesus isn’t able, according to His plans for this world, to come personally yet among us, but He has sent those colored people, Chinese, Indians and heathen to make appeal in His behalf to us, and who among us will set a chair for Him? There are many friends with whom I hardly agree who are very anxiously waiting for the appearance of the personal Christ among us, and they are wondering what they shall do to welcome Him. Would that the eyes of these brethren and our own too were opened to the perception of the Christ that is already here, in the persons of those needing to be helped and educated and elevated, and that their ears could hear His words, “Inasmuch as ye do it unto one of the least of these His brethren ye do it unto Christ.”
That is the Christian philosophy of giving, and if a man does not feel the force of these considerations I should be disposed to say he has not yet begun to be a Christian.