Free but Not Cheap: Stretch Yourself in Tithing and Giving

Sermon outline

Believers grow financially as they grow spiritually, so they must stretch from the level they are on: bring the tithe, honour the man of God, give themselves first to the Lord, and become radical, liberal givers whom God supernaturally supplies.

1. Stretch yourself from the level you are on

   People in the church operate on different spiritual and financial levels, and the aim is not to embarrass anyone but to move each person to a higher level. Do not try to jump to where a prosperous brother is overnight; practise at your own level and stretch, because as you grow spiritually you grow financially. The gospel is free, but it takes a great deal of money to spread it.

   Illustration: A single night of sound equipment for a large stadium meeting can cost a million rand, before the lights are even counted.

   “The gospel is free but not cheap.”

2. The tithe is ten percent of all your increase

   Salary, gifts, the sale of a house or a car: whatever you prosper by, a tenth belongs to God, and Malachi 3 says keeping it is robbing God. Coming to church without an offering is coming before God naked, however smart you look. Being a Christian is not a cross on the dashboard or a sticker on the boot, but receiving and acting on the Word.

   Illustration: As a new believer he walked out angry when his pastor preached on money and began keeping his tithe. Tyres burst, the battery died, the washing machine and stove broke, a promotion passed him by, and one day the whole suspension of his little silver Alfa Sud collapsed in the driveway. His wife told him, "You can give the devil the money or give God." When he began to tithe, God lifted them out: from one rented room to their own house within a few years.

   “When you come to church without an offering, you have come in naked.”

   • Malachi 3:8-10
   • Deuteronomy 14:22
   • John 3:16

3. Honour your man of God

   Pastors are Christ's gifts to the church, and the measure in which you receive your pastor is the measure in which you prosper and in which blessing rests on your house. Give the priest the first of your dough so that he may cause the blessing to rest on your house, and believe God's prophets so that you prosper. Whoever receives a prophet in the name of a prophet receives a prophet's reward. Know what to do in the presence of a man of God: keep quiet and receive.

   Illustration: As a newly converted Christian, before he knew Ezekiel existed, he bought two or three extra bags of groceries for his pastor week after week and hooted outside his house to deliver them, and went away blessed every time. Once his pastor, who was fasting, accepted only a glass of water and quoted, "He that receives a prophet in the name of a prophet receives a prophet's reward."

   “The measure in which you receive your pastor is the measure, number one, in which you will prosper, and number two, in which a blessing will rest in your house.”

   • Ephesians 4:11
   • Ezekiel 44:30
   • 2 Chronicles 20:20
   • Matthew 10:41

4. Give yourself first to the Lord

   The Macedonian churches, poor and persecuted, gave liberally because they first gave themselves to the Lord. You cannot give yourself to the church until you have given yourself to God, and a minister who never learns to use money as a tool for the gospel will end up selling the anointing. Ananias and Sapphira show that God knows what you have. Do not bring the church your junk: give what costs you something. Giving opens your heart to revelation and the anointing.

   Illustration: A Christian will find forty thousand rand for an urgent operation, yet when the church has a need the answer is, "That is our holiday money for 2010."

   “In the kingdom of God money is a tool for evangelism.”

   • 2 Corinthians 8:1-5
   • Acts 5:1-11
   • 2 Samuel 24:24

5. Those who stay with the supplies share in the spoils

   When David recovered all at Ziklag, some men wanted to deny a share to those who had stayed behind with the baggage, but David gave everyone an equal portion and made it an ordinance. When you sow into the church's crusades, church plants and outreach, you share the reward for every soul saved and every person healed, even though you were not preaching. Your money is the connection to the anointing.

   “If a soul is saved it's like you save the soul.”

   • 1 Samuel 30:21-25

6. God supernaturally supplies His people

   Elijah was fed by ravens, by the widow of Zarephath and by an angel; if God did that for a prophet under the old covenant, how much more for you, seated in Christ. Do not save for a rainy day, or a rainy day is what you will have. The widow gave her last cake to the prophet first, and her flour and oil did not run out. Sometimes the most ordinary people, not the wealthy, do the biggest things in the kingdom.

   Illustration: Elijah may have expected a rich widow with air conditioning, rump steak and biryani; instead he found a woman with a little flour, a little oil and a sad story.

   “Your raven's on its way.”

   • 1 Kings 17:2-16
   • 1 Kings 19:5-8

7. For the liberal giver, God commands the blessing

   When a radical, liberal giver desires something, God speaks to someone to provide it: university fees, a car deposit, a house that suddenly comes within reach. Your job and business are not your source; God is. If you are struggling with rent or a bond, sow a seed in faith, even your last ten rand, and if all you have is a cabbage from your garden, bring it. Give at your level: if you have a million, do not bring a packet of beans. It is not God's people who make a minister rich, but a minister who confers blessing on God's people.

   “Your job is not your source. Your business is not your source. God is your source.”

   • Malachi 3:10
   • Matthew 14:29
   • Colossians 3:2
   • 2 Corinthians 9:7