Being Blessed By Our Giving…Acts 20:20-35

Sermon by Pastor Dennis Gleason -- July 8, 2007 

²⁰Yet I never shrank from telling you the truth, either publicly or in your homes. ²¹I have had one message for Jews and Gentiles alike—the necessity of turning from sin and turning to God, and of faith in our Lord Jesus.

²²“And now I am going to Jerusalem, drawn there irresistibly by the Holy Spirit, not knowing what awaits me, ²³except that the Holy Spirit has told me in city after city that jail and suffering lie ahead. ²⁴But my life is worth nothing unless I use it for doing the work assigned me by the Lord Jesus—the work of telling others the Good News about God’s wonderful kindness and love.

²⁵“And now I know that none of you to whom I have preached the Kingdom will ever see me again. ²⁶Let me say plainly that I have been faithful. No one’s damnation can be blamed on me, ²⁷for I didn’t shrink from declaring all that God wants for you.

²⁸“And now beware! Be sure that you feed and shepherd God’s flock—his church, purchased with his blood—over whom the Holy Spirit has appointed you as elders. ²⁹I know full well that false teachers, like vicious wolves, will come in among you after I leave, not sparing the flock. ³⁰Even some of you will distort the truth in order to draw a following. ³¹Watch out! Remember the three years I was with you—my constant watch and care over you night and day, and my many tears for you.

³²“And now I entrust you to God and the word of his grace—his message that is able to build you up and give you an inheritance with all those he has set apart for himself.

³³“I have never coveted anyone’s money or fine clothing. ³⁴You know that these hands of mine have worked to pay my own way, and I have even supplied the needs of those who were with me. ³⁵And I have been a constant example of how you can help the poor by working hard. You should remember the words of the Lord Jesus: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’”

W.A. Criswell tells of an ambitious young man who told his pastor he'd promised God a tithe of his income. They prayed for God to bless his career. At that time he was making $40.00 per week and tithing $4.00. In a few years his income increased and he was tithing $500.00 per week. He called on the pastor to see if he could be released from his tithing promise, it was too costly now. The pastor replied, "I don't see how you can be released from your promise, but we can ask God to reduce your income to $40.00 a week, then you'd have no problem tithing $4.00." W. A. Criswell, A Guidebook for Pastors, p. 156.

The Apostle Paul had this to say in 1 Corinthians 9:14

¹³Don’t you know that those who work in the Temple get their meals from the food brought to the Temple as offerings? And those who serve at the altar get a share of the sacrificial offerings. ¹⁴In the same way, the Lord gave orders that those who preach the Good News should be supported by those who benefit from it. ¹⁵Yet I have never used any of these rights. And I am not writing this to suggest that I would like to start now. In fact, I would rather die than lose my distinction of preaching without charge. ¹⁶For preaching the Good News is not something I can boast about. I am compelled by God to do it.

He holds out his hands and makes the point that he has earned his own living and has also supported others who have been ministering with him. He has used them time and again and has supported them as they have gone out for him.

He has not coveted anyone’s silver, gold or fine clothing. Those three things were the symbols of wealth in the ancient world. He has worked with his own hands to provide for his needs.

Paul has been an example to them all. The verb there is one that means “to show somebody a thing by holding it under his eyes”.

Paul has been a giver. He reminds the elders of Ephesus of the words of Jesus…It is more blessed to give than to receive.” This is a beatitude that literally says: Blessed it is rather to be giving than to be taking. This implies that receiving is also a blessed thing, but that giving is better.

Paul willingly took the monetary gifts sent to him from the Philippian believers (Philippians 4:10-17) But he tells us Jesus said the greater blessedness lies in the right kind of giving. 

We can look to Matthew 25:34-40 for how Jesus saw giving: ³⁴Then the King will say to those on the right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. ³⁵For I was hungry, and you fed me. I was thirsty, and you gave me a drink. I was a stranger, and you invited me into your home. ³⁶I was naked, and you gave me clothing. I was sick, and you cared for me. I was in prison, and you visited me.’

³⁷“Then these righteous ones will reply, ‘Lord, when did we ever see you hungry and feed you? Or thirsty and give you something to drink? ³⁸Or a stranger and show you hospitality? Or naked and give you clothing? ³⁹When did we ever see you sick or in prison, and visit you?’ ⁴⁰And the King will tell them, ‘I assure you, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me!’

God is the most blessed Giver and so is Jesus. Jesus’ whole ministry was giving and in death he gave his life for us. The glory of the whole Gospel is the fact that it is nothing but giving.

Paul is no stranger to giving. What does Paul give? We can answer that by simply surveying this 20^th chapter of the Book of Acts.

20:1&2…he gives the gift of encouragement to the disciples who are with him and to the people as he travels through Macedonia.

20:4…he gives the gift of friendship to Arisarchus, Secundus, Gaius, Timothy, Tychicus and Trophimus. These are Paul’s friends and coworkers. To them it is the gift of friendship.

20:7…Paul gives the gift of fellowship and teaching as he preaches and talks with the people in Troas.

20:9…Paul gives these people the gift of time as he talks with them on and on. He speaks well into the night. In fact he speaks with them and worships with them until morning.

20:9…he gives them the gift of hope and healing when Eutychus falls asleep while he is preaching and falls from the 3^rd story window. He dies in the fall but Paul brings him back to life.

20:16 he gives them the gift of an example of commitment when he is in a hurry to reach Jerusalem, by the day of Pentecost. He is committed to the task before him. He moves with purpose.

20:18-21…He gave the gift of himself to the people he ministered to. He did it in humility and with tears – that was his manner. He did it by preaching and teaching – that was his method. He did it by declaring to Jews and Greeks that they must turn to God in repentance and have faith in the Lord Jesus – that was his message.

20:22…he gave all these people he ministered to and with the gift of a spiritual example. He is a man compelled by the Holy Spirit to go where God is leading him. He is seeking to finish the race God has given him to run and to complete the task he got from Jesus of testifying to the gospel of God’s grace in Jesus.

20:28…he gave them the gift of a warning to be alert as shepherds of the flock. He knew that savage wolves would come in and raid the flock, even people from their own number. So be on guard he says.

20:32…Paul gives them the gift of a challenge as he commits them to God and to the word of His grace. He says I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak…remembering it is more blessed to give than to receive.

Paul has been giving of himself since the time he met Jesus on the road to Damascus. He has been tireless in his travels and testimony to the good news about Jesus. That has been his life and his message and he has freely given and given and given.

Captain Levy, a believer from Philadelphia, was once asked how he could give so much to the Lord's work and still possess great wealth. The Captain replied, "Oh, as I shovel it out, He shovels it in, and the Lord has a bigger shovel." Today in the Word, July, 1990, p. 28.

That has been Paul’s experience. The more he gave the more was given to him. Blessing upon blessing was what Paul received. And he just “shoveled it out.”

Some people will accept the gift we offer and others will refuse it.

- In his book FOLK PSALMS OF FAITH, Ray Stedman tells of an experience that he had in a crowded restaurant.

- Just as he was about to begin his meal, a man approached and asked if he could join him.

- Stedman invited him to have a seat.

- Then, as was his custom, Stedman bowed his head in prayer.

- When he opened his eyes, the other man asked, "Do you have a headache?"

- Stedman replied, "No, I don’t."

- The other man asked, "Well, is there something wrong with your food?"

- Stedman replied, "No, I was simply thanking God as I always do before I eat."

- The man said, "Oh, you’re one of those, are you?

- Well, I want you to know I never give thanks.

- I earn my money by the sweat of my brow and I don’t have to give thanks to anybody when I eat.

- I just start right in!"

- Stedman said, "Yes, you’re just like my dog.

- That’s what he does too!"

- CS Lewis said, “I do not believe one can settle how much we ought to give.
- I am afraid the only safe rule is to give more than we can spare.”

- J.L. Kraft, head of the Kraft Cheese Corporation, who had given approximately 25% of his enormous income to Christian causes for many years, - said, "The only investment I ever made which has paid consistently increasing dividends is the money I have given to the Lord."

- J.D. Rockefeller said, "I never would have been able to tithe the first million dollars I ever made if I had not tithed my first salary, which was $1.50 per week."

- And finally, an unknown author wrote, “It’s not what you do with the million if fortune should ere be your lot, - but what are you doing at present with the dollar and quarter you got.

What Oswald Chambers has to say could well be applied to the life of the Apostle Paul. He is going toward Jerusalem not knowing what awaits him. The one thing he does know is that it is suffering and most likely the end of his ministry. This is what Chambers wrote:

Visions Becoming Reality

“The parched ground shall become a pool …” (Isaiah 35:7).

We always have a vision of something before it actually becomes real to us. When we realize that the vision is real, but is not yet real in us, Satan comes to us with his temptations, and we are inclined to say that there is no point in even trying to continue. Instead of the vision becoming real to us, we have entered into a valley of humiliation.

Life is not as idle ore,

But iron dug from central gloom,

And battered by the shocks of doom

To shape and use.

God gives us a vision, and then He takes us down to the valley to batter us into the shape of that vision. It is in the valley that so many of us give up and faint. Every God-given vision will become real if we will only have patience. Just think of the enormous amount of free time God has! He is never in a hurry. Yet we are always in such a frantic hurry. While still in the light of the glory of the vision, we go right out to do things, but the vision is not yet real in us. God has to take us into the valley and put us through fires and floods to batter us into shape, until we get to the point where He can trust us with the reality of the vision. Ever since God gave us the vision, He has been at work. He is getting us into the shape of the goal He has for us, and yet over and over again we try to escape from the Sculptor’s hand in an effort to batter ourselves into the shape of our own goal.

The vision that God gives is not some unattainable castle in the sky, but a vision of what God wants you to be down here. Allow the Potter to put you on His wheel and whirl you around as He desires. Then as surely as God is God, and you are you, you will turn out as an exact likeness of the vision. But don’t lose heart in the process. If you have ever had a vision from God, you may try as you will to be satisfied on a lower level, but God will never allow it.

Oswald Chambers, My Utmost For His Highest, July 8

Jesus has given us what he gave the Apostle Paul. We have the same message and the same ministry to proclaim the fact that people must turn to God in repentance, accept the good news about Jesus and have faith in our Lord Jesus.

 
We have been blessed by receiving it ourselves…but remember it is more blessed to give than to receive. Let’s share the gift of God’s grace with someone this week in some very special way.