Giving and Receiving

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Ryan&Amber2013

Puritan Board Senior
It's neat to see the principles of the Bible played out in life. Today I wanted to give a coworker some extra clothes I had in my closet that would fit him. I handed them to him and he said thank you, and we parted. I then headed to say good morning to my boss, and immediately she asked me if I wanted a new Keurig machine they didn't use. Until today we just used a cheap coffee pot, but the Lord decided to bless us. It was so neat how that played out right in front of my eyes.

Remember this—a farmer who plants only a few seeds will get a small crop. But the one who plants generously will get a generous crop.
2 Corinthians 9:6
 
So I should have sent some money to Rev. Ike in the early 70s instead of waiting for my "pie in the sky by and by?"
 
ENRICHED BY GIVING:

Matthew 10:40-42

40 He that receiveth you receiveth me, and he that receiveth me receiveth him that sent me.

41 He that receiveth a prophet in the name of a prophet shall receive a prophet's reward; and he that receiveth a righteous man in the name of a righteous man shall receive a righteous man's reward.

42 And whosoever shall give to drink unto one of these little ones a cup of cold water only in the name of a disciple, verily I say unto you, he shall in no wise lose his reward.

Theme:

The eyes of our loving Father in Heaven are ever upon those who labor for him. Not a single deed done for the sake of Christ is overlooked.

The least service performed for the sake of those who bear or those who believe the Gospel is observed and rewarded by God. He that cares for a minister or a believer with so little as a cup of cold water to drink for the sake of Christ will in no way lose his reward.

God considers these acts so highly that He promises to recompense even kindnesses as simple as offering a cup of cold water to one of these little ones.

Introduction:
This doctrine must be reclaimed from the false prophets:

I have crafted this sermon to mirror the writings of the Puritan Thomas Gouge. Gouge, who gave away 3/4th of his own income, wrote an excellent book, entitled, “Riches Increased By Giving.” I mirror this godly and sound man today on purpose. I want to show you that this doctrine is, indeed, biblical. No matter how it is misused by evil men today for selfish gain, this is a biblical doctrine. Imagine if you heard a sermon on TBN with the title, “Riches Increased By Giving” I can guess what you might probably think. I would think the very same thing. How convenient! How self-serving! You would question the motives of these television preachers who wear their “bling” and drive in their fancy cars.

But remember this well. Christ refers to his ministers and his people here as “little ones” – those who are poor in spirit. In contrast, those who preach for filthy lucre’s sake rather exalt themselves. They hunger, not for righteousness, but for high and mighty titles. The false disciple would not be satisfied with this designation of being a “little one” as Christ refers to his people in this text. They would rather emulate Simon Magus who in Acts 8:8-9 was happy to receive the title of a great and powerful one.

So today I ask, “Why should we let false prophets grab a precious truth and twist it for their own gain?” Let us retrieve this doctrine back, let us wrest it from their evil greedy grips…for the good of the whole church, especially the poor.

My own story: I preach this message today on a day when I am not presenting my own Gospel work in Papua. I do not want this Gospel truth clouded. I do not want this message to hit resistant ears because some may think I am urging greater giving to myself and the cause for which I labor in Indonesia.

Instead, let me put it in this way: I have already been greatly blessed by you. I bring this sermon today as a thanksgiving. You have always supported me so well. How can I encourage you best, except to deliver this message to you: I am expecting God to bless you.

I have never once in 7 years of overseas service been under-supported. Many missionaries often struggle financially. When the economy slumped I actually had several people increase their levels of support. They said, “This is in case some other donors must decrease their support of you.” Not a single one did.

And so I preach this sermon not to get something from you – for you have already given much. Today I want to bless you with a very biblical assurance that because of your kindness God will reward you. Because of your kind treatment of me and others whom I have been able to help because of you, I fully expect that God will richly bless you.

God sees your good works for the sake of Christ. He will repay. Not a single deed done for the sake of Christ will be forgotten.

The setting of the sermon:

Our text occurs towards the end of Matthew chapter 10. This chapter is an ordination sermon of sorts, a discourse given upon the commissioning of The Twelve Disciples. In the close of the foregoing chapter, Christ had commanded his disciples to pray the Lord of the Harvest to send forth laborers. Here we have an immediate answer to that prayer. Some of those that prayed…went! Christ here calls his disciples and sends them out as apostles, giving them instructions and telling them what they are to expect.

In verse 40, we come to our text today, explaining God’s attitude towards those who kindly receives God’s message and his messenger, “He that receiveth you receiveth me, and he that receiveth me receiveth him that sent me.” Then in verse 31, “He that receiveth a prophet in the name of a prophet shall receive a prophet's reward; and he that receiveth a righteous man in the name of a righteous man shall receive a righteous man's reward.”

Receiving a prophet in the name of a prophet:
Jesus here gives encouragement to his disciples, whom he is about to send out. Ministers are ambassadors for Christ. Those who treat the Lord’s ambassador’s kindly, will receive kindness from the Lord. It is said that those who entertain strangers may entertain angels unaware; but when we refresh the saints for Christ’s sake, it is as though we are ministering to Christ Himself. God makes himself present to people through the feet of his servants. Even in earthly kingdoms, honor or contempt put upon an ambassador reflects honor or contempt upon the prince that sends him. How much more when it comes to the kingdom of heaven.

What does it mean to receive a prophet in the name of a prophet? This means that one receives a man on the basis of his calling. He is relieved and comforted because he is a prophet. For the sake of Christ and for the sake of the high calling to which God has called his messengers, these same messengers are kindly received. The same goes for the designation of a “righteous man” – that is, a man is taken care of and relieved on the basis of his calling either as a prophet or, more generally, as a Christian, and for the sake of Christ.

Do you want to give proof that you love God? Then love God’s people.

Our text today bears some semblance to the very small 3rd letter of John. There, we see Gaius praised and Diotrephes condemned. Why? Because Gaius received well the messengers (the travelling missionaries) coming in the name of Jesus, while the other (Diotrephes) did not receive them well.

Our text also mirrors the words of Jesus in Matthew 25, where we have the scene of judgment, the separation of the sheep from the goats. One group goes to heaven and the other group is sent to hell. The distinguishing difference between these two groups from Matthew 25 is this: how did they treat the brethren?

Verse 35, “For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me. Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink? When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee? Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee?

40 And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.”

We are to do good to all men, especially the household of faith. I know many ministries that use these passages, both Mathew 10 and Matthew 25, to promote soup kitchen ministries to the poor or feeding the homeless. Yet, many of these ministries violate the Apostle Paul’s injunction in 2 Thessalonians 3:10, “…if any would not work, neither should he eat.” More specifically here in Matthew 10 and Matthew 25, what the Lord has in mind is doing good to his “little ones” or “the least of these my brethren.” To take care of other Christians and Christ’s ministers is as if they are showing kindness to Christ himself.

The motivation is the Gospel:
Also, we see in this phrase, “receiving a prophet in the name of a prophet” the proper motivation for service. The motivation is for the glory of God. We do good to glorify God, not ourselves. We give with the right motive. We must beware. The vilest worms grow in the fairest apples. So, too, the worst sins can infect even the best of duties. And so our kindness must be from the heart, for the sake of Christ.

Paul speaks of right motivation in 2 Cor. 9:7, when he says, “Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver.”

Receiving a prophet’s reward:
In verses 41, Jesus states, “He that receiveth a prophet in the name of a prophet shall receive a prophet's reward.” What does this mean?

Here Jesus himself preaches that, according to the kindness that we show, so shall our reward be. There is no better way to fill our treasures, as by emptying them for God. Men carefully choose where to store their wealth. They look carefully for a safe place in which to place their money. They go to great lengths to make sure that their finances are secure.

What is a more sure hand than the hand of the Lord? There is no danger from thieves or rust if we loan our goods to the poor. All we have can be lost in an instant; yet there is no danger of any of our alms for the sake of the Lord being lost.

In the story of Job we see all that was lost in a single day. What more careful and prudent measure can we take, therefore, than to be enormously generous with all that we have?

The Apostle does, in fact, liken our gifts as “seed” (2 Corinthians 9:10). Please don’t let the television preachers harden you against Paul’s metaphor here. Paul does, in fact, speak of your gifts for the sake of the Gospel being as seed. And it is the nature of seed to multiply.

Examples from Scripture abound: Does not this theme accord with the whole of Scripture? Can you think of examples in Scripture of generosity, and how God recompensed such generosity? These are too many to list. Do you have a pen and a notepad ready? But remember these few:

The widow of Sarepta: Remember how she, despite her poverty, cared for Elijah during the famine. Remember how God preserved her meal and her oil. More than that – the Lord restored her very son to life again and gave her the Word of God richly through His prophet (I Kings 17:22).

Remember the story of Elijah’s successor, Elisha, and his encounters with the Shunammite woman. She refreshed and lodged the prophet and exercised much hospitality to him, even building a prophet’s chamber for Elisha when he passed through. The Lord recompensed her with a son. And when that son fell sick and died, the prophet raised him from the dead.

Remember the account of Dorcas, or Tabitha, in Acts 9, a woman “full of good works and almsdeeds” according to Acts 9:36. It seems that she made garments and coats for poor widows. And yet, she sickened and died. We read, in verse 36-39 that all the widows stood by weeping, and “shewing the coats and garments which Dorcas made, while she was with them.” But then, in verse 40, it says, “But Peter put them all forth, and kneeled down, and prayed; and turning him to the body said, Tabitha, arise. And she opened her eyes: and when she saw Peter, she sat up.”

Cornelius was well-spoken for his alms-giving in Acts 10, and the Lord sent him salvation through the message of Peter.

Remember Publius in Acts 28? When Paul was shipwrecked on Malta this man lodged the Apostle kindly. And when Publius’ father lie sick, the Apostle Paul healed him.

Other examples abound, such as Phebe, Onesiphorus, Gaius, and others which Paul mentions by name for their generosity and hospitality. How honorable are their names to be so mentioned for all ages in Holy Writ. What a mark upon history.

Other Scriptures: There are many other Scriptures as well. In case the false prophets and those who preach for filthy lucre have prejudiced you against this doctrine, please be patient with me and allow me to note these other Scripture passages as additional evidence:

Starting with three negatives examples of what not to do, remember first Luke 16, the parable of the rich man and Lazarus. The rich man’s lack of concern for the poor was central to his guilt. The angels bore away Lazarus at his death. The rich man, because he denied crumbs of bread in this life to the poor, was denied even a drop of water in hell.

I John 3:16-17, “Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.17 But whoso hath this world's good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him?”

Finally, is this sobering passage from Proverbs 21:13, “Whoso stoppeth his ears at the cry of the poor, he also shall cry himself, but shall not be heard.”

Positive injunctions towards generosity abound. I Timothy 6:17-18, “Charge them that are rich in this world, that they be not high-minded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy. That they do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to distribute, willing to communicate, laying up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life.” Note well that this verse states that those rich in generosity are “laying up in store for themselves a good foundation.”

Proverbs 3:9-10, “Honour the Lord with thy substance, and with the firstfruits of all thine increase: So shall thy barns be filled with plenty, and thy presses shall burst out with new wine.”

Proverbs 11:24-28, “There is [one] that scattereth, and yet increaseth; and there is that withholdeth more than is meet, but it tendeth to poverty.” And continuing into verse 25: “The liberal [or generous] soul shall be made fat: and he that watereth shall be watered also himself.”

Proverbs 28:7, “He that giveth to the poor shall not lack.”

Even more amazing than this is Proverbs 19:17, “He that hath pity upon the poor lendeth unto the Lord; and that which he hath given will he pay him again.”

Note well here that the one who gives to the poor is said to actually be lending to God. The poor are not able to repay you; but God is able. God puts himself under debt to the giver of alms to the poor. Who is a more sufficient surety than the Lord himself! How happy is the man who becomes a creditor to his Creator! I blush to even mention this because it sounds sacrilegious, but nevertheless this is, indeed, the gist of what God is saying here in this Proverb - the giver of alms to the poor makes God His debtor.

The preacher (probably Solomon) attests to this same truth in Ecclesiastes 11:1, “Cast thy bread upon the waters: for thou shalt find it after many days.” By bread here is meant all the necessities of life and by casting is meant “freely giving.” The promise is given that your charity will return to you.

And in Luke’s Gospel, 6:28, our Saviour testifies to this same truth, “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.”

The Apostle Paul seconds this testimony, in 2 Corinthians 9:6, “He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully.”

Job, in chapter 28, defends his righteousness with these words, verses 12-15, “…I delivered the poor that cried, and the fatherless, and him that had none to help him…I caused the widow's heart to sing for joy...I was eyes to the blind, and feet was I to the lame. I was a father to the poor…”

Finally, how does James speaks of our practical religion but thusly (James 1:27), “Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction…”

God is all-powerful. He owns the cattle on 1,000 hills. God could relieve the poor directly, and could do good to other men without us. But he gives us the honor to be made his stewards. It is a great mercy from God to us to receive this honor; and a greater mercy still that we are given hearts by grace to delight in such a thing.

Examples from my life: I have become a witness to this truth, not merely by the reading of it from the Scriptures. I have witnessed this in my own life as well. Here are a few examples.

Mep’s wife and the pig: When Brad and Braxton visited me in my village of Danowage we made the 8-10 hour trek to Ujung Batu. I mean trek – this isn’t hiking like you do in America. This is wading through swamp and slipping through mud and ducking under sago palm branches. When we arrived, the shriveled older wife of the evangelist Mep lived there. I guess she was in her late 50’s, living in a hut, no electricity, running water, anything. She was sharing her meager food with tribal children, including one she has adopted into her own family. We are talking poor, most days subsisting on sweet potatoes and a small store of peanuts. Yet, she immediately killed one of her piglets for us; she roasted it whole over the fire for us. When she prayed, she thanked God that we visited her. She gave us the best place in the hut to sleep. It was all incredibly humbling.

Melenus Kogoya and him carrying my packs: Melenus is a Papuan Christian from the highland Dani tribe. He cannot read or write and I don’t think has ever been to school. I’ve never seen him in a pair of shoes. He petitioned God, however, to be able to come and serve in the region of the Korowai tribe with me. He arrived, and then we received news of several very sick people a day’s hike to our east. So, we packed up medicines. And Melenus says, “I cannot read the bible myself even, and I cannot preach. But I want to carry your bags for you, so that you can take your bible and so that you can take all the medicines that you need and won’t be too tired.” For a full week we slept out of doors. We hiked 14 hours one day, and waded through waist-deep swamp a lot, and neck-deep through a swamp one time for nearly an hour; it smelled like bathing in raw sewage. I counted 25 leeches on me afterwards. Yet Melenus carried these bags and kept the backpack that needed to stay dry above his head the entire time, and prevented it from falling into the swamp water. When Melenus was sick (out of his mind really) with malaria some months later, we were able to return the kindness. Perin fed him and gave him sips of water as he lay semi-comatose and we arranged medevac for him because he was unresponsive with fever.

Honour or contempt put upon an ambassador reflects honour or contempt upon the prince that sends him. Ministers are ambassadors for Christ. How I was treated like a king from Melenus and Mep’s wife. Those who treat the Lord’s ambassadors kindly, will receive kindness from the Lord.

Also, those who contemn the Lord’s messenger, too, will be recompensed. Listen now to hear the Lord has defended me.

Peter: Peter was a very bad man in the past. My stomach would knot upon the mere sight of this man. If he merely passed by my house, my blood pressure would rise. For good reason, too. He threatened to shoot both me and Jimmy with arrows. On several occasions. He even brought his bow. He even drew back the string with the arrow lodged ready. Why? Because we were protecting a young girl from forced marriage to Peter. These threats finally ceased. Peter approached me. I braced myself and expected yet more trouble, but he told me this story.

He stated that every time he made a plan to hurt me or Jimmy, that God (these are his words) sent him “dreams of fire.” Every-time he repented of his plans of harm-doing, God allowed him to sleep well. He stated that the more he was angered towards us, the sicker he got. When he eased off on his anger towards us, he returned healthy again. These are his words, he concluded that “God was protecting his servants” and that he had better not harm them. He has claimed to repent and he even followed me around one day telling other tribal peoples that, they too, needed to repent. I am not sure the others were all too happy with this unexpected visit by Peter.

Our labors and our love are in no wise insignificant:
Back to our text: Verse 42, “And whosoever shall give to drink unto one of these little ones a cup of cold water only in the name of a disciple, verily I say unto you, he shall in no wise lose his reward.”

All too often, we labor in obscurity, anonymity. We wonder if our efforts are for nought. What is it all for? But our Lord is very gracious. He reminds us here that even the very least act of kindness done in His name WILL be remembered. It will not be done in vain. And it will not only be remembered, but recompensed.

Notice in our text that our Saviour does not mention the giving of vast wealth. He mentions the simple giving of water to a servant in His name. Wine is not mentioned, but water. A drink bought at market or in need of thorough preparation is not mentioned, but only a simple gift, drawn freely. No effort is made to heat it or sweeten it. The drinker may very soon become thirsty again. And yet, “Kindnesses shown to Christ’s disciples are valued in Christ’s books, not according to the cost of the gift, but according to the love and affection of the giver.” (Matthew Henry). The widow’s mite was therefore valued very highly. So take heart; though you may be poor in the world, you may be truly rich in good works through giving.

A prophet, a disciple, a little one: Mentioned here as to the target of our hospitality is first written a prophet, then a disciple, than a little one. Whatever station of life or social class, we are to highly regard our brethren and aid them. No matter how low or little in the eyes of the world they are, to love them these little ones is to love Christ. They are valued so much in the eyes of God that no small mercy done to even the lowest of them will ever be forgotten; the Lord takes note of each.

Closing application and thanksgiving:
Again, I want to reiterate, I preach this sermon not to get something from you – for you have already given so much. Today I want to bless you with a very biblical assurance that because of your kindness God will reward you. Because of your kind treatment of me and others whom I have been able to help because of you, I fully expect that God will richly bless you.

The Apostle Paul (probably the Apostle Paul) assures this very same thing in Hebrews 6:10, “For God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labour of love, which ye have shewed toward his name, in that ye have ministered to the saints, and do minister.” Let me repeat this again by way of paraphrase. Hebrews 6:10, “God would not just if he forgot all the good things you have done for the sake of His name when you have helped out believers.”

Today I tell you, in the past several years, you have helped aid persecuted villagers. May the Lord richly repay you.

You have helped evacuate sick and wounded evangelists and villagers to hospitals. The Lord is not unjust as to forget these deeds.

Jimmy and Ainus have both been mauled by wild jungle boars. Both were suspected to be either dead as they lay on the ground or certainly on the road to death. They have both recovered, due to your kindness for the sake of Christ. You shall not lose your reward.

You have paid for surgeries, you have housed homeless evangelists, you have fed hungry (I mean...NO FOOD AT ALL) evangelists, down to their very last plate of plain rice. You have had pity upon the poor and have thus lent unto the Lord. He will repay.

You have given scholarships for bible school students. You have sent future pastors to school. You have ministered to Christ Himself in these efforts.

You have bought medicine and medical equipment for the village. You have helped construct a school and repaired the homes of evangelists who live under leaky thatch roofing. May your generous souls be made fat.

If there was ever class of people to be classified as “little ones” in the eyes of the world, it would be some of the Dani evangelists with which I work. Inquiring as to how much support or money Jimmy, my closest co-workers, made several years back, he stated that the last 12 months saw him hold about 150 dollars only for the whole course of the year. You have since supplied travel costs to him to go and preach afar and funds to help repair his simple house, and to print evangelistic materials, and to eat when he knew not where his next meal was coming from.

God sees. He will repay. Not a single good deed done for the sake of Christ will be forgotten. You have ministered as if to Christ Himself. You have lent to the Lord. You have ministered to the saints. May the Lord repay you richly, and may you receive a prophet’s reward. Thank you.




(a sermon preached at my home church upon returning from my first term on the mission field, purposely patterned upon Thomas Gouge's sermon and with a handout quoting Gouge's points, and a website where to find his sermon).

Here is Gouge's excellent sermon: https://www.apuritansmind.com/stewardship/riches-increased-thomas-gouge/
 
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