p. 16 | The Blessedness of Giving by William T. Knox

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Nov 17, 1910

The Blessedness of Giving

By William T. Knox

W. T. KNOX

(Reading for Thursday, December 15)

“It is more blessed to give than to receive.” Acts 20:35. In speaking these words to the elders of Ephesus, the apostle Paul attributes them to Christ, saying, “Remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he said, It is more blessed to give than to receive.” While we search in vain the four Gospels for this quotation, yet we recognize that its sentiment pervades all our Saviour’s teachings, and is made so prominent by him that to ignore it would be to miss the very central feature of his gospel. Doubtless the quoted statement is among the “many other things” which Jesus did and said, which are not recorded by the four evangelists.

That the blessedness of giving is a divine idea, is evident from the fact that it stands in such strong contrast to the ideas and practises of man, who too often seeks to increase and retain his belongings, instead of using them for the good of mankind, and to augment his power over his fellow men, rather than to himself serve them; this, too, notwithstanding the fact that the whole plan of man’s existence should teach us that life is established on giving, even to the extent of complete consumption. The acorn must perish that the oak may exist. The mother must pass through the valley of the shadow of death that the child may be born, and thereafter her whole existence is given that the new life may be reared to maturity. And so through all the realm of life is manifested the great truth and principle that the highest form of existence is founded upon giving, that the most perfect phase of possession is in the ability to dispense with discretion those things entrusted to us. The degree of our success in so doing is the measure of our real happiness.

Day after day, life is ministered to us that we may live, and every organism in nature has been ordained by the Creator to minister to other organisms.

ELDER E. H. WILBUR AND FAMILY, MISSIONARIES IN CHINA

Now in this, as in other things, the natural man is found working at cross-purposes with the Lord. He seeks to make all minister to himself, imparting as little in return as possible, ignoring in his selfishness and blindness the truth so evidently set forth in nature and revelation,—that to receive and not impart can result in only stagnation and death. The flowing stream may lose its waters in the dry soil through which it flows, may even give them up and lose its identity in the great canals that lead its waters out into thirsty valleys other than its own; but everywhere it will in so doing impart the gracious blessings of abundant life. In contrast, the lake that ever receives, without giving, becomes but a dead body of water in a weary desert land, or at best its benefits are circumscribed to a very narrow sphere. So in the realm of man.

“Whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel’s, the same shall save it.” Mark 8:35.

It can readily be seen that this truth is not only applicable to man in his spiritual existence but also in his human sphere. He who lives only for self, ignoring his fellow man and his needs, closing his eyes and ears to the ever-present opportunities to minister to the necessities of others, is but as the dead seas of the world.

This principle is not confined to the earth, but is universal in its application; for it emanates from God himself. Of the angels who ever stand in his presence it is said, “Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation?” Heb. 1:14. Our Saviour came to earth to reveal the Father to us. Of him it is said, “Lo, I come: in the volume of the book it is written of me, I delight to do thy will, O my God.” Ps. 40:7, 8. “I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me.” John 6:38. The coming of Christ to earth reveals, therefore, the character and disposition of the Creator.

In 2 Cor. 8:9 we read, “For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich.” God’s grace, extended to us through Christ, was at a sacrifice that involved the universe; for he who possessed all things, far beyond the possibility of our comprehension, willingly gave all heaven, with its riches of beauty and grandeur, its innumerable company of holy beings ever delighting to do his pleasure, its wealth of perfect companionship and the honor and glory pertaining to the Godhead, and took upon himself a poverty so absolute that none who read this, or hear it read, can by actual experience appreciate it. “Foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head.” The great Life-giver, “being originally in the form of God, counted it not a thing to be grasped to be on an equality with God; but emptied himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, being made in the likeness of men; and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, becoming obedient even unto death, yea, the death of the cross.” Phil. 2:6-8, R. V., margin.

Relinquishing the glory and riches of heaven, his sacrifice brought him not only to earth as a man, but brought him as a bond-servant to men, a servant to the poorest slave as well as the richest ruler. He came not to be ministered unto, but to minister.

Now the strange feature of all this, the godlike part, is that the actuating motive in this manifestation of the abundant

grace of God to man, was not that it was something that must be done, something from which there was no escape, a transaction into which God was reluctantly forced; but rather this scene, which has filled the universe with wonder, and which will be the theme of the angelic hosts and of the redeemed through all eternity, was enacted because it was the natural fruit of the disposition of our God and his Son, Jesus Christ, “who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame.” Heb. 12:3.

The sufferings of Jesus were endured that he, thereby becoming a perfect captain of our salvation, might be able to bring many sons into glory. He saw and comprehended the blessedness and eternal joyful fruit of giving. His sacrifice was to result in the complete transformation of many, changing their dispositions, causing them to partake of his character and glory. And “as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God.” John 1:12.

Now it is evident that, as we are transformed into the sonship of God, we shall “be like him; for we shall see him as he is.” We shall do the things Christ does. We shall find joy in those things in which he rejoices; and those things that are purely earthy will lose their attraction for us.

Those who among the children of God are truly great, will, like Christ, be noticeable for their service and sacrifice for mankind; and in so doing will find their chief pleasure.

How manifestly this is set forth in some of the Bible characters, as in Moses, who relinquished the throne of Egypt that he might serve the Israelites, “choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season; esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt: for he had respect unto the recompense of the reward.” Heb. 11:25, 26. And Paul, who had within his grasp all that his people had at that time to bestow, gladly relinquished all as nothing, and as less than nothing, in comparison with the companionship of Christ and the fellowship of his sacrifices, sufferings, and service to the human family.

The same hope and sustaining experience were common to both Moses and Paul. Paul’s declaration to Timothy toward the close of his life gives the secret of the power that upheld him in his long life of ministry and suffering. “I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day.” 2 Tim. 4:6-8.

Christ exhorts us, “Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: but lay

up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal.” Matt. 6:19, 20. In another scripture, Christ shows the real principle of possession: “For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel’s, the same shall save it,” showing that true possession is not to be had in the endeavor to retain, but is found in giving. He who gives is the one who possesses, while he who strives to retain is the one who loses. This appears to be paradoxical, but is nevertheless true; for “except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.” John 12:24.

The rapidly developing conditions the world over are calling for men and means that this gospel of the kingdom with its saving power may be carried to those who are ready to perish. Great returns are promised to those who will now enter this greatest of all enterprises, and will invest in it their energies and substance. Not the least of the promised returns will be the joy and blessedness accompanying the giving. This is shown in the parable of the talents, where to the faithful steward the Lord promises what he will at the end say to his faithful ones, “Enter thou into the joy of thy Lord.”

“We then, as workers together with him, beseech you also that ye receive not the grace of God in vain.” 2 Cor. 6:1. “Every good gift and every perfect boon is from above, coming down from the Father of lights.” Everything we look upon as ours,—whether of intellect, physical power, ability, or possessions,—is ours only by the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, coming to us from the great storehouse of his treasures; not to be consumed in selfishness upon ourselves, but to be so invested in the kingdom of heaven that large returns may be realized therefrom by our Lord and by ourselves; not to be hoarded on earth in the delusion that thus we are accumulating, but to be laid up in heaven, where it can really endure. And thus, as the supply-pipe, ever discharging its cooling and life-giving stream, makes continual demand upon the fountain-head, so we, in dispensing the gifts of his grace so freely bestowed upon us, are unconsciously making demands upon him who is able to “supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.” Phil. 4:19.

There has never been a time in the history of this denomination when the cause of God has stood in greater need of devoted men and women—those whose lives have been purified by the live coal from off the altar. From every mission field come urgent appeals for additional help, appeals that, when understood, partake of the nature of demands that should not be ignored. Men are needed who will give heed to these calls, not from the standpoint of personal convenience or personal loss or gain, but rather from the standpoint from which Paul viewed the world when he acknowledged himself a “debtor both to the Greeks, and to the barbarians: both to the wise, and to the unwise.” Rom. 1:14. To such the Lord promises a return of a hundredfold on the investments, and the inheritance of life eternal.

There has never been a time when the promulgation of this message has called for a greater outlay of money than at present, on account of the ever-expanding field both at home and abroad. Nor has there perhaps ever been a time when the withholding of the necessary funds by the people of God would result more disastrously than just now. With an empty mission treasury, and fields whose ever-increasing necessities are daily being made known to us, we have a situation that can not be ignored.

On the other hand, all information coming from the world-wide field gives evidence that now, just now, greater results than ever before may be looked for in return for all effort put forth by the people of God in their endeavor to carry to all peoples God’s gracious gift of the gospel of his Son, Jesus Christ.