INSTRUCTIONS ABOUT GIVING

“Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you” (Luke 6:38 NKJV).

Giving today in our local churches too often leaves much to be desired. Few church members have learned to give as they ought. Lack of giving hurt the church’s ministry. Our verse instructs us about giving. It speaks of the requirement to give, the reward for giving, and the reciprocation in giving.

Requirement to give – “Give.” This is a command from our Lord and it means that giving is not optional, but a requirement. That may surprise some who do not give well. But giving to the Lord’s work is required. Further, giving was required for us to be saved.

Our salvation is a result of the greatest giving, namely, God giving His Son for our redemption. It is therefore, no surprise that giving is required of us if we are to obey and serve the Lord.

Reward for giving – “It will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom.” No one gives to God without being duly compensated for it. Some folks say they cannot afford to give. But rather than saying we cannot afford to give, we really need to say that we cannot afford not to give. Those who do not give will not receive. When we do not give, we shortchange ourselves by cutting off our blessings. Giving will not hurt.

Reciprocation in giving – “For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you.” If we are miserly and a tight fist, we will experience the same treatment. If we are liberal in our giving, we will experience the same. People often complain about a lack of blessing. However, their own miserliness may very well be their problem. We reap what we sow! This is the message here in the reciprocation clause.

(Adapted from Butler's Daily Bible Reading 3)

Soli Deo Gloria (To God Alone Be The Glory)

Quotation of the Week

“God gave us wealth, not that we should be hoarders but dispensers!”

Thomas Manton (1620-1677)

English Puritan Clergyman

Word Study

Explain

In Matt. 13:36 we read, “Then Jesus sent the multitude away and went into the house. And His disciples came to Him, saying, “Explain to us the parable of the tares of the field" (NKJV).

“Explain” is the Greek word diasaphéō (διασαφέω = dee-as-af-eh'-o). It is made up of two words: “dia” which is an intensifier, and “saphéō” which means to make thoroughly clear, fully manifest, told in detail. Thus, the word means to explain, declare, or clarify something that is obscure.

“Fear Nots” Found in the Bible

“And Jesus came and touched them, and said, Arise, and be not afraid” (Matt. 17:7 KJV).

Did You Know…

The Baptism of the Lord Jesus is an incident in the New Testament that features all three Persons of the Trinity (Mark 1:10-11).

Bible Quiz

During the time of the Lord Jesus, what would the Jews do before eating?

**Answer to last week’s Bible Quiz: To whom does the following verse refers: “Who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory?” The Holy Spirit (Eph. 1:14).

Names For the Lord Jesus in the Bible

“THE RESURRECTION”

"Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live” (John 11:25 NKJV).

1. Meaning – THE RESURRECTION speaks of the Lord Jesus as the One who is the author or cause of the resurrection.

2. Insights – In verse 24, Martha is looking at an event – “the resurrection at the last day.” The Lord Jesus changed her focus from an event to a Person. The resurrection was in Him. Our hope is not in an event (resurrection) but in a Person (the Lord Jesus Christ). Nothing can hinder Him from giving life because He doesn’t merely have life; He is life (cf. John 1:4). There is neither resurrection nor eternal life outside of Him. He is the cause, source, fountain of the believers’ glorious resurrection and of our everlasting life. So, He not only raises the dead on the last day (cf. John 5:21, 25ff.) but is Himself the resurrection and the life.

Did You Know – Christian History

Lars Olsen Skrefsrud was born February 4, 1840 in Oppland, Norway. He was a Norwegian Lutheran missionary and language researcher in India.

As a young man Skrefsrud was imprisoned three years for theft. It was during his time in prison that the influence of the Hauge’s movement reached him. Hans Hauge was a Norwegian evangelist leading the revival in Scandinavia. Skrefsrud repented of the alcoholism and wild living that had put him behind bars. He was encouraged by his friend Anna Olsum, who never stopped believing in him. Gifted with the ability to master languages, he learned English and German while in prison. In 1862, when Skrefsrud asked the Norwegian Missionary Society to send him out as a missionary, the mission leaders in Stavanger, Norway turned him down. They did not want an ex-con representing them on the foreign field. Skrefsrud would not give up because Christ had transformed his life.

Rejected by the Norwegian Missionary Society, Skrefsrud turned to the Gossner Mission Society in Germany. This Baptist mission gave Lars the training he needed and his knowledge of German came in handy. From 1861 when he left prison until he left for India in 1863, Skrefsrud fasted almost constantly and attended church services daily. The Gossner Mission allowed Skrefsrud to go to India, but he worked his way there at his own expense. There he worked among the Santal people who lived north of Calcutta. Anna joined him on the mission field and they were married.

A war between Denmark and Germany left bad feelings. When the Gossner leaders refused to allow Skrefsrud to work with his friend Hans Peter Boerreson, a Dane, Skrefsrud withdrew from the mission and formed the Santal Mission. To get the funding they needed from Norway, they had to return to their Lutheran roots. They had abandoned infant baptism but now went back to the practice. The one blot on their record was the misleading information they issued to friends back home on this subject, trying to make it appear they had not really adopted Baptist practice earlier.

In spite of this episode, their work prospered. By 1890, Santal mission had 6,000 baptized church members. The Santal tribe suffered from oppression by their Hindu neighbors. Skrefsrud not only labored to obtain British protection for them, but preserved their language by reducing it to written form. He translated the Bible into the Santal tongue and produced a hymnal using native tunes. He wrote textbooks and even collected traditional Santal myths into a book. The schools that he founded taught farming, animal care, carpentry and other useful skills. Determined to make the Santalese self-sufficient in agriculture, he also wanted to give them a church they could run themselves. He made as few changes in Santal culture as he could consistent with Christianity. When Skrefsrud died on December 11, 1910, there were between 15,000 and 20,000 Santal Christians.

A Little Humor

All the way home in the back seat of the car the boy was quiet. His father asked him three times what was wrong. Finally, the boy replied, “The preacher said he wanted us all brought up in a Christian home, but I wanted to stay with you guys.

Thought Provoking Church Sign

“Christ’s sacrifice was exactly what God desired and we required!”