Giving To Receive / Sowing To Reap
I. Luke 6: 30-38
II. We have been talking on the principle of stewardship
A. In Last week’s message we repeatedly said that God wants to bless us
B. But in closing we showed that we often forfeit our blessing because we
fail to obey or practice good stewardship.
C. Let me continue that train of thought and speak to you on “Giving To
Receive / Sowing to Reap”
III. Normally we would read verse 38 and speak on giving.
Give and it will be given to you …
A. But careful examination of these scriptures will show Jesus was speaking about Giving and Receiving / Sowing and Reaping all through this short discourse
B. Stewardship is more than paying your ten percent and then going home
C. Jesus teaches us the law of giving and receiving applies to many areas of
our lives
1. And whatever area of our life we sow to, we will reap what we sow.
IV. In vs. 30-33 We can sow goodness to others.
A. Jesus peaks to us that we should do to them what we want them to do to us
B. Sometimes we forget we are the farmers not the field
1. If we wait for someone to do for us we may get a blessing but we will
never harvest blessings
a. There’s nothing for later! Nothing we can store up
2. We need to see them as the field and an opportunity to plant goodness
C. If you were hungry, naked, cold, how would you want someone to treat you?
1. As a matter of fact, how do you want people to treat you without being
hungry, naked or cold
D. Ever hear someone complain about how they are treated?
1. Let me give you the secret to changing that. = Good stewardship
2. You sow into that person what you want back
V. vs. 32, 35; Another area of stewardship is to Sow Love.
A. Jesus tells us to give love to everyone regardless of who they are.
1. It is both a heart matter and an action
B. He tells us to love our enemies
1. Can I go back to the analogy of the farmer?
2. A lot of times before you can sow, you have to prepare the ground
a. I remember as a youth preparing ground one year to plant the next
1) It was hard work and seemed very unproductive
b. You work hard on an empty field to look back and see and empty field
c. But later, the field became a harvest
1) But never would have without preparation
3. You want love from everybody, prepare the field with love
C. In v 35 Jesus tells us what will happen if we give goodness and love
1. Your reward will be great! You will be sons of the most high!
2. You Give! You receive!
a. The question is, what do you want to receive
VI. v.36 He goes on to tell us to give mercy
A. If you sow mercy into other’s lives, what will you get back? = MERCY
VII. In vs. 37, 38 Jesus really gets to the heart of what He is saying. He makes clear the giving and receiving concept; the sowing and reaping concept
A. What we often fail to see is that Jesus is trying to teach us a
principle and not make a list of do’s and don’ts
1. Don’t want to be judged? then don’t judge
2. Don’t want to be condemned? then don’t condemn
3. Want love? goodness? mercy in your life? then love, do good, be merciful
B. Then in v.38 He gives us the grand-finale
1. How much do you want back?
2. How much do you want people to pour into you?
3. How much do you want people to give to you?
C. It is all going to depend on your measuring stick!
1. Measure it out in small measurements, get back in small measurements
2. Want a little, give a little. Want a lot, give a lot. Want nothing / give
nothing
VIII. (Matthew 10:8) Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out demons. Freely you have received, freely give. NKJV
A. There is nothing we have that hasn’t been given to us by God so He tells us
to be generous with it.
1. Are we afraid God is going to run out of something?
IX. God is a Sower
A. We spoke last week about the fact He gave us His word and it will not return
void
1. Like it or not, this is His word and it won’t return void
2. You may not see it today or tomorrow but His word will not return void
3. He placed His word in us to bring forth good things
a. But His word will bring to pass that what you give is what you will
receive
B. Our problem is that we often get our minds on the receiving part too much!
1. Preach on sowing and reaping and many will zero in on the reaping
a. They will sow only to reap
b. They will give, and then sit and watch to see if it works
2. That is sowing without faith!
3. We can concentrate on the giving because the receiving will come
a. God’s word will not return void.
C. When we go to a gas station and fill our car with gas, we don’t stand there
and worry about whether this gas is going to work or not
1. No! We put the gas in not concerned with whether it will work or not
2. We also know that the distance we can go on that gas is in direct
proportion to how much gas we put in
3. That’s the law of sowing and reaping!
D. (Luke 12:31-32) But seek the kingdom of God, and all these things shall be added to you. 32 "Do not fear, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom. NKJV
1. It is God’s pleasure to give to you
X. Let me get to the practical personal part
XI. God wants to give to us but He cannot break His own word (law)
A. He tells us we have to give to receive, (whatever it is)
B. He can do nothing about us receiving if we give nothing
XII. Let me bring this home in a practical way.
A. There are thousands upon thousands coming to church every week and
receiving nothing!
1. They’re in church, but receive nothing!
2. They may even give generously in the offering but not receiving anything
from the worship, from the message
a. Notice the sowing and reaping is working in the area of giving
1) They have money to give
B. What is taking place is the giving / receiving sowing / reaping laws are
working
1. If you put little to nothing into worship, that’s what you will get out of it
2. If you sit critically during a message, that’s what you will get out of it
3. If you put nothing in, you can’t get anything out!
a. Of course God occasionally moves upon someone in mercy
C. If you want something out of the church, you have to put something into it
because it’s the law of sowing and reaping
D. There are people who leave churches because “The people are not friendly”
1. It goes back to give and you will receive
2. (Proverbs 18:24) A man who has friends must himself be friendly,
a. There it is again! Give and you will receive
XIII. I want to conclude this series on stewardship with more than you tossing your offering into a bucket, because there is much more to it than that.
A. We will give you opportunity to give, but I also want to give you opportunity to
receive from God
B. The first thing God wants from you is you!
1. The first step to stewardship is to say “here I am”
C. I’m not saying “Here I am Lord Touch me if you can”
2. I’m Saying; “here I am to worship, to bow down! Here I am to give to you
Lord, to obey the law of sowing and reaping”
D. How do you want God to respond to you?
1. Give to Him the way you want Him to respond to You
a. The difference will be, He will multiply it 30, 60, and 100- fold
Giving To Receive / Sowing To Reap
I. Luke 6: 30-38
II. We have been talking on the principle of stewardship
A. In Last week’s message we repeatedly said that God wants to bless us
B. But in closing we showed that we often forfeit our blessing because we
fail to obey or practice good stewardship.
C. Let me continue that train of thought and speak to you on “Giving To
Receive / Sowing to Reap”
III. Normally we would read verse 38 and speak on giving.
Give and it will be given to you …
A. But careful examination of these scriptures will show Jesus was speaking about Giving and Receiving / Sowing and Reaping all through this short discourse
B. Stewardship is more than paying your ten percent and then going home
C. Jesus teaches us the law of giving and receiving applies to many areas of
our lives
1. And whatever area of our life we sow to, we will reap what we sow.
IV. In vs. 30-33 We can sow goodness to others.
A. Jesus peaks to us that we should do to them what we want them to do to us
B. Sometimes we forget we are the farmers not the field
1. If we wait for someone to do for us we may get a blessing but we will
never harvest blessings
a. There’s nothing for later! Nothing we can store up
2. We need to see them as the field and an opportunity to plant goodness
C. If you were hungry, naked, cold, how would you want someone to treat you?
1. As a matter of fact, how do you want people to treat you without being
hungry, naked or cold
D. Ever hear someone complain about how they are treated?
1. Let me give you the secret to changing that. = Good stewardship
2. You sow into that person what you want back
V. vs. 32, 35; Another area of stewardship is to Sow Love.
A. Jesus tells us to give love to everyone regardless of who they are.
1. It is both a heart matter and an action
B. He tells us to love our enemies
1. Can I go back to the analogy of the farmer?
2. A lot of times before you can sow, you have to prepare the ground
a. I remember as a youth preparing ground one year to plant the next
1) It was hard work and seemed very unproductive
b. You work hard on an empty field to look back and see and empty field
c. But later, the field became a harvest
1) But never would have without preparation
3. You want love from everybody, prepare the field with love
C. In v 35 Jesus tells us what will happen if we give goodness and love
1. Your reward will be great! You will be sons of the most high!
2. You Give! You receive!
a. The question is, what do you want to receive
VI. v.36 He goes on to tell us to give mercy
A. If you sow mercy into other’s lives, what will you get back? = MERCY
VII. In vs. 37, 38 Jesus really gets to the heart of what He is saying. He makes clear the giving and receiving concept; the sowing and reaping concept
A. What we often fail to see is that Jesus is trying to teach us a
principle and not make a list of do’s and don’ts
1. Don’t want to be judged? then don’t judge
2. Don’t want to be condemned? then don’t condemn
3. Want love? goodness? mercy in your life? then love, do good, be merciful
B. Then in v.38 He gives us the grand-finale
1. How much do you want back?
2. How much do you want people to pour into you?
3. How much do you want people to give to you?
C. It is all going to depend on your measuring stick!
1. Measure it out in small measurements, get back in small measurements
2. Want a little, give a little. Want a lot, give a lot. Want nothing / give
nothing
VIII. (Matthew 10:8) Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out demons. Freely you have received, freely give. NKJV
A. There is nothing we have that hasn’t been given to us by God so He tells us
to be generous with it.
1. Are we afraid God is going to run out of something?
IX. God is a Sower
A. We spoke last week about the fact He gave us His word and it will not return
void
1. Like it or not, this is His word and it won’t return void
2. You may not see it today or tomorrow but His word will not return void
3. He placed His word in us to bring forth good things
a. But His word will bring to pass that what you give is what you will
receive
B. Our problem is that we often get our minds on the receiving part too much!
1. Preach on sowing and reaping and many will zero in on the reaping
a. They will sow only to reap
b. They will give, and then sit and watch to see if it works
2. That is sowing without faith!
3. We can concentrate on the giving because the receiving will come
a. God’s word will not return void.
C. When we go to a gas station and fill our car with gas, we don’t stand there
and worry about whether this gas is going to work or not
1. No! We put the gas in not concerned with whether it will work or not
2. We also know that the distance we can go on that gas is in direct
proportion to how much gas we put in
3. That’s the law of sowing and reaping!
D. (Luke 12:31-32) But seek the kingdom of God, and all these things shall be added to you. 32 "Do not fear, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom. NKJV
1. It is God’s pleasure to give to you
X. Let me get to the practical personal part
XI. God wants to give to us but He cannot break His own word (law)
A. He tells us we have to give to receive, (whatever it is)
B. He can do nothing about us receiving if we give nothing
XII. Let me bring this home in a practical way.
A. There are thousands upon thousands coming to church every week and
receiving nothing!
1. They’re in church, but receive nothing!
2. They may even give generously in the offering but not receiving anything
from the worship, from the message
a. Notice the sowing and reaping is working in the area of giving
1) They have money to give
B. What is taking place is the giving / receiving sowing / reaping laws are
working
1. If you put little to nothing into worship, that’s what you will get out of it
2. If you sit critically during a message, that’s what you will get out of it
3. If you put nothing in, you can’t get anything out!
a. Of course God occasionally moves upon someone in mercy
C. If you want something out of the church, you have to put something into it
because it’s the law of sowing and reaping
D. There are people who leave churches because “The people are not friendly”
1. It goes back to give and you will receive
2. (Proverbs 18:24) A man who has friends must himself be friendly,
a. There it is again! Give and you will receive
XIII. I want to conclude this series on stewardship with more than you tossing your offering into a bucket, because there is much more to it than that.
A. We will give you opportunity to give, but I also want to give you opportunity to
receive from God
B. The first thing God wants from you is you!
1. The first step to stewardship is to say “here I am”
C. I’m not saying “Here I am Lord Touch me if you can”
2. I’m Saying; “here I am to worship, to bow down! Here I am to give to you
Lord, to obey the law of sowing and reaping”
D. How do you want God to respond to you?
1. Give to Him the way you want Him to respond to You
a. The difference will be, He will multiply it 30, 60, and 100- fold