In his very emotional farewell meeting with the elders of the church of Ephesus, as recorded in Acts 20, Paul said toward the conclusion of his remarks—to which the elders were without doubt giving their undivided attention—“I have shewed you, how that so laboring ye ought to support the weak, and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how He said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’” (Acts 20:35)
One cannot find that direct quote by Jesus in any other New Testament passage; it must have been such a common quotation that it was generally known by anyone who had listened to Jesus’ teachings or Paul’s preaching. It is more blessed to give than to receive. But why?
The answer may be obvious to many who read this. But, just by way of review, I go to the classic passage of Paul’s epistles on the basics of New Testament giving, II Corinthians 8 and 9. There, he instructs the church at Corinth—and, by extension, the body of Christ of all ages, universally—on why it is more blessed to give than to receive. The reasons include:
- Grace. Giving is all about grace bestowed upon churches by God (8:1,6,7,9,19; 9:8,14). In these verses Paul speaks, when teaching about giving, of the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the grace of God, the “same” grace—abounding and exceeding grace. One cannot read these two chapters penned by Paul without concluding that the giving that ought to characterize followers of Christ is, first and foremost, about the grace of God. We are recipients of His bountiful grace; thus, we should want to respond in kind and be quick to give as a matter of grace, too. “Oh, to grace how great a debtor, daily I’m constrained to be.”
- Love. Then, too, we—into whose hearts the love of God has been shed abroad—ought never forget that giving is a practical way to show the sincerity of our love. (v. 8) You can give without loving, but you cannot love without giving; and God gave His only begotten Son. If we indeed love God with all of our heart, it will be demonstrated by our love of Him, who “though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that ye through His poverty might be rich.” (8:8,9) “Oh what love, that He should die for me!”
- Compassion. In the passage that we are considering, Paul speaks of the Macedonian churches upon which the grace of God had been bestowed. He remarks that these churches had given a special offering out of their “deep poverty.” He says, “For to their power and beyond their power,” they were willing to give. (v.3) In other words, the churches of Macedonia, though they were living by meager means, had seen the church of Jerusalem, for whom the offering was being collected, in dire need. And they were moved with compassion for their brethren—so much so that they gave an offering that, for all practical purposes, they could not afford to give. (vss.1,2)
- Sacrifice. The crux of giving that pleases God is sacrificial. “To their power and beyond their power” is how they gave. Sacrificial giving is the heartbeat of the New Testament. God gave His Son sacrificially for our salvation. Recipients of such grace will respond by wanting to give back to God sacrificially what we are enabled to give, beginning with our “bodies, a living sacrifice.” (Rom. 12:1)
- Faith. Paul said that the church at Corinth abounded in faith. (v.8) Giving by faith is giving that God blesses. Whatsoever is not of faith is sin. As a pastor, God taught me early in my ministry that “faith-promise giving” to God, to advance His cause for world missions, is an exercise of faith. One’s faith is stretched, as no doubt the Macedonian believers were, to give what he or she cannot see a way to give, i.e., “over and above.” Experience has never failed to prove that this is a blessed way of giving; as Lonial Wire—one of God’s stewards who now makes his home in Heaven—always said, “I shovel it out (my offering) by faith, and God shovels it back to me; and His shovel is bigger than mine!”
- Fellowship. “…the fellowship of the ministering to the saints.” (v.4) What New Testament churches do is done in concert with other members of the body of Christ. For two years now, believers worldwide have been ministering, as a matter of grace and compassion—and, to be sure, fellowship—to the churches of Ukraine. Through a chain of love, through offerings, through van-loads of food, water, clothing, and other staples—all in recognition of the ONENESS in which His followers are connected, world without end. When one of us suffers, the entire body suffers. When any of us rejoices, the whole body rejoices. It is a fellowship known and experienced only by those who are one with God in Christ. (Please join the efforts: pastorarrowood@slavicbaptistmission.org or Missions@BaptistInternational.org)
- Obedience. Finally, we give by grace, out of compassion and for fellowship, because it is our desire to be obedient to Him who loved us and gave Himself for us. God has given us the example and the exhortation to give; thus, we give cheerfully, sacrificially, liberally, and obediently to Him, not grudgingly or of necessity, for God loves a cheerful giver. (9:7)
“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.” (II Cor.8:9)
YOU and GOD 