Sermon Tone Analysis

*Giving Compelled by Grace Not Guilt*

/Exodus 25.1-8/

Pastor Oesterwind

 

*Introduction: * Timothy Keller writes, “Once upon a time there was a gardener who grew an enormous carrot.

So he took it to his king and said, ‘My Lord, this is the greatest carrot I've ever grown or ever will grow.

Therefore I want to present it to you as a token of my love and respect for you.’

The king was touched and discerned the man's heart, so as [the gardener] turned to go the king said, ‘Wait!

You are clearly a good steward of the earth.

I own a plot of land right next to yours.

I want to give it to you freely as a gift so you can garden it all.’

And the gardener was amazed and delighted and went home rejoicing.

But there was a nobleman at the king's court who overheard all this.

And he said, ‘My!

If that is what you get for a carrot—what if you gave the king something better?’

So the next day the nobleman came before the king and he was leading a handsome black stallion.

He bowed low and said, ‘My lord, I breed horses and this is the greatest horse I have ever bred or ever will.

Therefore I want to present it to you as a token of my love and respect for you.’

But the king discerned his heart and said thank you, and took the horse and merely dismissed him.

The nobleman was perplexed.

So the king said, ‘Let me explain.

That gardener was giving */me/* the carrot, but you were giving */yourself/* the horse.’

/Timothy Keller, The Prodigal God (Dutton, 2008), pp.

60-61; submitted by Van Morris, Mount Washington, Kentucky; //http:~/~/www.preachingtoday.com~/illustrations~/weekly~/09-03-30~/1033009.html//; last accessed on 11-22-09/

*/Transition:  Much of the giving we do is actually taking.

We are not unlike the nobleman Keller writes about.

We give to ourselves and not really to God.  Exodus 25 provides a pattern for giving that pleases God - giving that is compelled by grace and not by guilt…/*

*Scripture:*  *1*Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:  *2*“Speak to the children of Israel, that they bring Me an offering.

From everyone who gives it willingly with his heart you shall take My offering.

*3*And this /is/ the offering which you shall take from them: gold, silver, and bronze; *4*blue, purple, and scarlet /thread,/ fine linen, and goats’ /hair; /*5*ram skins dyed red, badger skins, and acacia wood; \\ *6*oil for the light, and spices for the anointing oil and for the sweet incense; *7*onyx stones, and stones to be set in the ephod and in the breastplate.

*8*And let them make Me a sanctuary, that I may dwell among them.

*/Exodus 25:1-9/*

*/Transition:  Tonight, we will look at three proofs that giving is compelled by grace…/*

 

 

 

Giving Compelled by Grace is Directed to God (25.1-2, 8)

                Verse one points up the fact that the LORD spoke to Moses.

Giving compelled by grace is based upon the authority of God’s Word.

It is not directed toward man or a building, but to God Himself.

In verse two God says to Israel, “Bring Me an offering” and in verse three, “…You shall take My offering.”

We should remember that Israel did not have anything to give God other than what He had already provided for them - namely, provision from the Egyptians as they left.

Five Hebrew words comprise verse eight:  “They will make me a holy place and I will locate among them.”

God will not dwell among them unless they invite Him by preparing a house for Him.

God does not need a building or temple complex; He desires the people make a home for Him and then locate their houses~/tents around His own.

All was directed toward God; He was and is central.

*Application~/Illustration:*

·         We give */at/* church but are really giving */to/* God.

We express our worship to God when we give at offering time during each service.

Remember that God owns it all:  “The earth is the Lord’s and all its fullness” (Ps 24.1a).

·         My son cannot afford to buy me a birthday gift.

He has no money of his own.

But I may give him an allowance with which he may use it to purchase a gift for me.

He does so because he loves me.

I give him the ability to express that love.

·         While God is able to provide a completed tabernacle, He chose to provide the raw materials for one instead.

He allowed His children to express their love by constructing a house for Him. 

·         Can we repay God with our tithes and offerings?

Can we repay Him with an extensive missions’ budget?

No, but we can use what He provides as a gift of gratitude for Him.

This is why we extend the opportunity to give to those that understand the purpose of giving in the first place (it is why we note to our visitors that they shouldn’t feel obligated to give).

·         God will use what we give Him to push the parameters of His kingdom.

Verse eight indicates that Israel gave so that God could dwell among them.

But a sanctuary is a holy place.

We cannot draw near the blinding, radiant, and holy presence of God.

He is transcendent because of His holiness.

·         A */sanctuary/* and a */tabernacle/* communicate the */transcendence/* and */closeness/* of God.

No tabernacle could contain the God of the Universe.

Yet He has chosen to indwell believers; to tabernacle among them.

·         God is not just within the four walls of our auditorium.

He is in each believer this evening.

We come together in this place this evening to hear from God.

Our church is an outpost from which we gather and strategize to fulfill the Great Commission under the direction of the Holy Spirit.

·         If we are using this building to for such a holy work, then we ought to support it with our own offerings.

We will need a building soon.

We need to renovate this one.

Do you believe that it is more spiritual to give to the missions’ budget than that of the building fund?

Does not the building provide for the training of future missionaries under the tutelage of God’s Word?

Is preaching and preparing to reach our own Jerusalem holy work? 

·         What do tithes and offerings do for the staff of our church?

They provide for the pastors’ physical needs so that he may preach, pray, and provide spiritual care.

They provide for our worldwide outreach through various missionaries.

They provide for materials for discipleship and the promotion of local evangelism.

They even provide opportunities to plant more churches in California.

·         We are doing a holy work here.

We need not be ashamed to ask for the resources to continue to do it.

What would you give to see lost men and women come to Christ for eternal life?

Our whole purpose for being here in this place at this time is so that lost and dying people will hear the gospel of Jesus Christ.

By grace we are saved through faith.

By grace we give our very best so that others may come to know and live what we already know and live!

*/Transition:  Giving compelled by grace is directed to God.

It is one of the most God-centered things we do…/*

Giving Compelled by Grace is Prompted by the Heart (25.2)

Offerings were collect “from everyone who gives [them] willingly with [their] hearts” (25.2).

The New American Standard Bible translates the Hebrew, “From every man whose heart moves him…”  The offering was required only from those willing to give – those who were prompted to give with their hearts.

“So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver” (2 Cor 9.7).

*Application~/Illustration:*

·         The heart of each individual prompted him to give.

They were not forced to give.

·         It is an offering not a compelling (2 Cor 9.7).

·         God did tell Israel what they should give specifically in this passage, but they were to give willingly all the same.

It was the same with tithes.

Israel was to tithe or give 10% back from what they were given as they labored (see Lev 27.30).

·         We follow a similar pattern in our church today.