T ne Priceless Privilege of Giving T ru e G iving T h a t Involves Sacrifice, an d the G iving of Self, th e Bible P lan
T. C. HORTON -
are four fundamental which are essential to !-rounded Christian life: —th e Word of God, the
you r m essenger, and he that m inistered to m y w an ts.” (Phil. 4:15-18) “ Now y e Philippians know also, th at in the beginning o f the gospel, no church communicated w ith me as concerning g iv in g and receivin g, but y e only. F o r evex^ in Th essalon ica y e sent once and again unto m y necessity. Not because I desire a g ift ; but I desire fru it that m ay abound to you r account. B u t I have a ll and abound; I am fu ll, h av in g received of Fpaph roditu s the things which w ere sent from you, an odour o f a sw eet sm ell, a sacrifice acceptable, w ell pleasing to God«.” God’s grace was m anifest in moving the h earts of th e Macedonians to give, — th a t grace of God which P aul speaks c-f in T itus 2:11: “ F o r the g ra ce of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to a ll n*en.” The church seems, to have been poor, bu t th ere were in it no m iserable croak ers singing “Charity begins a t hom e;1'’ or “Look out for Number O ne;’’ or “He th a t careth not for his own is worse than an infidel.” The seal of the church was upon their gifts, and it bore the image of Christ. They gave until they felt it, and it felt good. They sacrificed self, generously, beyond th eir ability from the human standpoint. They were single-hearted. Their motives were as pure as their poverty was deep. They spoiled their goods joyfully. It was spontaneous giving, v. 3: “ F o r to their own pow er, I bear record, yea, and beyond their pow er th at they w ere w illin g of them selves.” This was no mechanical, machine- planned project. It was not worked up. A few men were not seen before hand and pledged to give so much in order to squeeze the sovereigns out of the others. They were afraid Paui would not accept the gift and plead witn
milk and meat, for sustenance. Second, — prayer; a living touch w ith our loving F ath e r who delights in our dependence upon Him for every need. Third,-—a h eart of compassion, like the h ea rt of our Lord, for all men, and a definite purpose and program to do our best for the salvation of others. F o u rth ,— the heavenly grace and joy in giving. One of the sad things in the lives of believers is the loss of this priceless privilege, and th e words of this article are designed to refresh th e memory, re new th e desire and restore the h ab it of gracious giving. In 2 Cor. 8:1-15 Paul gives us a message well worth our meditation. F irst, there had been self-sacrificing giving, vs. 1, 2: “ Moreover, brethren, w e do you to w it of the g ra ce o f God bestowed on the churches o f M acedonia: H ow that in a g re a t tria l of affliction the abundance o f their jo y and their deep poverty abounded unto the riches of their lib erality .” The churches of Macedonia, Thessa- lonica and Berea had given out of th e ir abysmal penury-^-their awful poverty. “Their joy overflowed th eir affections and th eir liberality overflowed th eir p o v erty /’ The Philippian church had Lydia whose noble example no doubt stirred th e ir souls and stim ulated their giving. This was the only church from which Paul would accept personal help (Phil. 2 :2 5 ): “ Y e t I supposed it n ecessary to send ta you Hpaphroditus, ray brother and com panion In labour, and fellotv-soldier, but
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