Colossians 3:23, "...to the Lord, and not unto men."

We shall speak here primarily of giving through the Lord’s church.

I. GIVING IS UNTO THE LORD.

A. Many people who give through the church think they are giving to the preacher or the church:

1. That is not true. If that be the intent of anyone’s giving, it should be immediately changed, for that is a wrong intent in giving.

2. As later study will show, the church and the pastor (s) survive economically from the giving; but the treasury is the Lord’s. It does not belong to the pastor or the church. The Lord merely made them custodians of His treasury.

B. The church itself and the pastor belong to God.

1. Acts 20:28 says of the church that "He hath purchased" it "with his own blood," and the pastor is its "overseer".

2. The Bible calls the pastor "The servant of the Lord," II Timothy 2:24.

3. The money and properties of a church do not belong to the pastor or the members. It all belongs to God.

C. Thus, God’s word speaks of it as the Lord’s money.

1. Leviticus 27:30 says, "all the tithe of the land is the Lord’s."

2. To show that it is God’s, His word says we rob him when we do not bring it into His treasury. See Malachi 3:8-9.

A. Some contend that they have God’s money in their bank. Others send the tithe to some radio preacher and think to please God thereby. Not so.

B. The Bible teaches that the tithe is to be brought to God’s house.

1. Abraham brought his money to the Lord’s treasury in his day, Genesis 14:19-20.

2. Israel brought God’s money to God’s house, II Chronicles 31:5-10.

3. God told Israel to bring it to the "storehouse, " (Malachi 3:10); not to the bank or elsewhere.

4. Now we are told to "lay by... in store," (I Cor.16:2). The church is the place where the storing is to be done as seen in Acts 5:1-10.

5. The church today has charge of God’s affairs on earth, (Matthew 18:18, Matthew 28:19-20) and God wants his work to be done through his church, (Ephesians3:21).

6. It is evident that the church is the place where giving to God is to be done.

A. He already owns everything in our custody.

1. Psalm 24:1 says, "The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof, the world and they that dwell therein. God says, "For every beast of the forest is mine, and the cattle upon a thousand hills," (Psalm 50:10). He continues in verse 12, "If I were hungry I would not tell thee: for the world is mine, and the fullness thereof"

B. He doesn’t need what we give; but has ordained that His work be carried on by our giving.

1. In addition to our giving, He has all sorts of means by which he can raise funds and carry on his work.

2. As Matthew 28:19-20 shows, He assigned the church the task of carrying on His work, and He desires that glory to Him come through the church, (Ephesians3:21).

3. God has instituted systematic giving as the means of financing His Work.

C. Giving was not designed by God to pay His expenses. Giving was established for the well-being of the giver.

I. Consider Luke 6:38. "Give, and it shall be given unto you, good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again."

2. Jesus made this point when He said, "It is more blessed to give than to receive," Acts 20:35.

3. The more you give, the more you become a part of something outside yourself, something besides self.

a. A man wrapped up in himself will be a little man, and will usually develop physical ailments which cost him money and may shorten his life.

b. Giving frees you from the clutches of self.

c. Jesus said, "Whosoever exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted," Luke 14:11.

4. Giving wins a victory for you over one of your greatest enemies, the love of money.

a. That love is said to be the root of all evil, 1 Timothy 6:10.

b. Money is a ruthless and cruel master. When it dominates a man’s life, then comes greed, selfishness, covetousness, cruelty and hatred. The evils this master can generate are many.

c. Furthermore, money always disappoints those who fall in love with it, (James 5:1-5).

d. Giving makes you the master over your money; not money over you.

5. Giving makes you obedient to the command of the Lord to give, (I Corinthians 16:2).

6. Giving makes you a part of and gives you a hand in the greatest work on earth: the Lord’s work.

7. Giving makes you a part of a work that spans past this life into eternity.

a. The Lord’s work is a work with souls: a work of eternal matters, (Daniel 12:3).

b. All earthly works you do shall perish, (II Peter 3:10).

c. But, your investments in the Lord’s work will never, ever perish, (Matthew 6:19-20).

8. Giving also opens the windows of heaven’s blessings upon you, (Malachi 3:10).

9. It really is true that giving does far more for the giver than it does for the Lord or the pastor or the church. If you are not giving unto the Lord, you are cheating yourself.