Acts 20:35
Remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he said, It is more blessed to give than to receive.
C. H. SPURGEON (1834-1892): The liberal soul shall be made fat: and He that watereth shall be watered also himself, Proverbs 11:25. If I carefully consider others, God will consider me; and in some way or other He will recompense me. Let me consider the poor, and the Lord will consider me…Let me feed His flock, and He will feed me. Let me water His garden, and He will make a watered garden of my soul. This is the Lord’s own promise; be it mine to fulfil the condition, and then expect its fulfilment.
THOMAS ADAMS (1583-1656): Doth any think he shall lose by his charity? No worldling, when he sows his seed, thinks he shall lose his seed; he hopes for increase at harvest. Darest thou trust the ground, and not God? [Be] sure God is a better paymaster than the earth: grace doth give a larger recompense than nature…Blessed is he that considereth the poor; there is the seeding: The Lord shall deliver him in the time of trouble, Psalm 41:1; there is the harvest.
FANNY J. CROSBY (1820-1915): I always believe in and carry out in my life the command which runs, Honour the Lord with thy substance and with the first fruits of all thine increase: so shall thy barns be filled with plenty, and thy presses shall burst out new wine, Proverbs 3:9,10.*
GEORGE WHITEFIELD (1714-1770): Let us be faithful today, and our Lord will support us tomorrow.
C. H. SPURGEON: Many people will always be poor because they never give to the cause of God…Many a man becomes empty-handed because he does not know the art of distribution.
VERNON J. CHARLESWORTH (1839-1915): Once, [at] a public charity, a note was handed to [Roland Hill] in the pulpit, inquiring “would be right for a bankrupt [man] to contribute to the collection?” He answered it firmly in the negative. He then added, “But, my friends, I would advise you who are not insolvent not to pass the plate this evening, as the people will be sure to say, ‘There goes the bankrupt.’”
FANNY J. CROSBY: I think I have a story as good as that on Christian giving―A young minister friend of mine went up to a quiet New England town to spend his vacation with his little boy…The preacher had not been in town a week before a deacon of the church came and requested him to preach on Sunday morning, as the man engaged had disappointed them. After some talk with the farmer-deacon the minister consented. [After] he preached, the service ended without an offering being taken, and it had been the custom of this minister never to appear in the sanctuary without bringing an offering to the Lord. So as he left the church he place a fifty-cent piece in the box by the door and went down the winding “Pine Path.” In a few seconds he heard a voice, and, turning, he saw the deacon hastening towards him, who placed in his hand a fifty-cent piece, saying, “It is the custom up here to present the preacher with whatever we find in the offering boxes for his services.” Then the minister’s little boy looked up into his father’s face and said, “Papa, if you had given more you would have gotten more, wouldn’t you?”
WILLIAM S. PLUMER (1802-1880): He who is not liberal with what he has, does but deceive himself when he thinks he would be liberal if he had more.
D. L. MOODY (1837-1899): What makes the Dead Sea dead? Because it is all the time receiving, never giving out any thing. Why is that many Christians are cold? Because they are all the time receiving, never giving out any thing.
SAMUEL CHADWICK (1860-1932): A tight fist means a shrivelled soul.
JOHN GILL (1697-1771): Here are present, I doubt not, some persons of divided sentiments; some believing in free-will, and some in free grace. Those of you who are free-willers and merit-mongers will give, of course, for the sake of what you suppose you will get by it. Those of you, on the other hand, who expect salvation by grace alone, will contribute to the present charity out of love and gratitude to God. So between free-will and free grace I hope we shall have a good collection.
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* Editor’s Note: A man once asked a certain preacher a question on church tithing: “The Bible tells us to tithe ten percent of our income,” the man said, “but does that mean ten percent of our gross income, or our net income?” The preacher immediately recognized the miserly motive underlying the man’s question. “Ah, well, that depends,” he replied, “on whether you want gross blessings, or net blessings.”
