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Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Amen. Well, why don't we just stand? I know that you just sat down, but we'll have you stand. And we're going to pray.
[00:00:06] And I'd like us to pray for our broken world today. God wants to reveal himself to people. You realize that and a lot of the conflict in our world. I was chatting with someone yesterday at a funeral.
[00:00:18] It really comes from the things inside of us. You know, we can talk about nations striving against nations, but it's really the. The brokenness within each human heart. So, Father, we do pray today for nations in conflict in our world. Today. We pray for the pressures that leaders feel around the world. We commit them to your grace, Father. We pray only you can bring about healing and transformation and a change of attitudes from hatred to love. That's what you do. That's what you specialize in. And so we pray, Father, that you would bring about cessation of hostility.
[00:00:53] Lord, I pray today that you would reveal yourself to people, Lord, and especially even as we gather in your name, Lord, even here this morning, that you would speak into our lives, that we would recognize the power of living a life where we're serving you, Father. And we just thank you for that, Lord. We just pray that we would not live in fear, but that we would walk by faith, that we would understand that as we trust you, that you are trustworthy, and as we relate to you and come into a relationship with you, that we're your children, that you will take care of us, Lord, because you made that promise. And there's one thing we know, you cannot lie. And so we thank you for your promises, Lord. They're yes, and they're amen, they're true. And we've experienced the reality of those promises again and again, and we thank you for that. Now open our hearts, Father, even as I shared last week, give us an awakened heart. May we hear your voice. May we hear your words. And, Lord, may it move us, Lord, to not just gain some more information, but may it move towards transformation in our lives. And we thank you for that. In Jesus name, amen. Amen. You may be seated.
[00:02:05] We're going to go back to our series here in the Second Corinthians letter Paul is writing.
[00:02:12] I've kind of been in and out of this series because, you know, it's been different. Mother's Day came along, and then it was Pentecost Sunday, Sunday, but now I'm back to finishing the series. So we're in chapter nine, and it was Charles Spurgeon who said to Earn money is easy compared to spending it. Well, that's an interesting statement, but I think it's true. He says, I suppose we all find that money goes quite fast enough, but after all, it was made to circulate and there's no use in hoarding it.
[00:02:40] It's bad to see our money become a runaway servant and leave us, but it.
[00:02:45] It would be worse to have it stop with us and become our master.
[00:02:50] A lot of food for thought in that little quote that he shares with us. But Jesus certainly spoke about money. How many know that's true. And it's not a topic that I speak about a lot, but I never make an apology for speaking on this issue when we're looking at a biblical text and we're going to look at what Paul has to say about it. But let me. Before we get there, let's see what Jesus had to say again. I want to remind us some very powerful words. And he says, do not store for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and vermin destroy and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Isn't that interesting? So what Jesus is really concerned about, and I think this is so important, is the condition of our heart. And when I talk about the word heart, we're talking about the full gamut of understanding. It's our mind, it's our emotion, it's our will, it's actually our personality. And what Jesus doesn't want to have happen is that you and I begin to serve money rather than God. And so he says that in verse 24, no one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. But you cannot serve both. God, money. Now I'm going to share, I think, why people serve money. You know, what drives people?
[00:04:16] Insecurity and fear. That's why people serve money.
[00:04:20] See, if you don't believe in God, what are you going to believe in? And so in our culture today, money is the currency by which people live life. Now, we're not saying that you don't need money. I'm not ever suggesting that. I'm just saying that you can't let it become that which you serve.
[00:04:37] Money is meant to be utilized. Money is a tool. Money is a blessing that comes from God. We're going to talk about how, like Spurgeon says, It's, you know, how do you spend it? Well, and we're going to even talk about how to earn it. We're going to talk about all of these things today because I think sometimes we have a wrong viewpoint of money. You know, the Bible doesn't say money itself is evil. It says the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. So it brings difficulties into our lives. And how many know, you know, sometimes we overextend ourselves and then we're in credit and we have those kinds of anxieties. Other times, you know, we are just captured by what society promotes. And let's face it, our world is designed, our economy is designed to create dissatisfaction in our lives. How many know that's true? That's the nature of advertisement. They're trying to tell you you need something, you don't.
[00:05:30] That's what they're working on. And so, you know, you and I are captured by all of these shiny gadgets that eventually rust out, wear out and are taken away from us, and we don't bring it with us when we go into eternity. So we need to maybe take a look at what are we living our lives for.
[00:05:49] And Paul is going to talk about this whole idea of generosity, this whole idea of giving. Why is that so important?
[00:05:56] Well, one of the reasons is so money doesn't control us.
[00:06:00] I think one of the reasons why people don't give or don't give much is that they believe that giving will diminish them. In other words, they're going to be impoverished by doing that. But the reality is that what giving does for us is it enlarges us and it enriches our lives. And now you go, I don't know about that, Pastor. You're giving away some and then you've got nothing there. But what I'm up to, going to talk for a minute and show you from these texts of scripture in Second Corinthians that giving is really an expression of faith in God. And we'll see. People give, I think, for a variety of reasons. Some give to be admired or honored. We have philanthropists. They're not even believers. They're giving lots of money. People admire them. Some give grudgingly out of obligation or guilt. They're manipulated to give. And by the way, I think it's wrong for any of us to manipulate somebody to give money.
[00:06:51] That's a sin. I'll just say flat out, and you'll see that.
[00:06:55] However, what prompts those who delight in giving is a heart filled with love and Concern for others in need. But I think the highest and greatest motivation for giving must come from a relationship with God. So we're going to look at motive today. Why do we give? Giving reflects, I think, what's happening on the inside. The greater the love of God that fills our heart, I think the greater the capacity we develop in order to give of our time, ourselves, our energy and our resources. That's what happens. So, you know, I think giving is kind of a barometer. Rather we like it or not, it's telling a little bit about ourselves. You know, are we fearful? Do we really love God? You know, is God's love filling our hearts? Do we really care about other people? These are all the things that begin to happen when we talk about this area of call giving.
[00:07:47] What ultimately inspires, I think the greatest acts of giving is the ultimate giving of oneself. How many know, if you've given yourself, then you know, everything about you has been given. I mean, isn't it happens when you get married, you're giving of yourself and you're giving everything to the person you love. And so that's why it's so important that we have to first give ourselves. And Paul talks about that, you know, that he commends the church that said, no, but you first gave yourselves before you gave anything. And that's what God is looking at. Where are we at in our own hearts? And then we're going to see that God's gift of love is actually a sacrificial gift. How many know that's true?
[00:08:28] The greatest expression of love is always, you know, what we give, that it even costs us something. And I think true giving does cost us something. You know, think about the most precious thing you can give. God gave the most precious gift he could have. He gave the world his son. And if you want to know how precious that really is, read the story of Abraham all over again when he has to offer up Isaac and God makes a provision that he doesn't have to do that. But I believe at that moment God reveals something to Abraham of the nature of God's heart. The pain that the Father had to have to sacrifice his son in order to bring reconciliation back from us, who are in a sense rebels from God to be restored in a relationship with him.
[00:09:12] So what we're going to discover is that giving is not done out of obligation, and I would say not even out of an expression of gratitude, but rather it's an act of faith in God who first gave to us.
[00:09:24] And here's the thing you need to know and will continue to give to us. Now, how many here you've been a Christian for at least 10 years? Just raise your hand. At least 10 years.
[00:09:33] How many can say God's been faithful over those 10 years? Raise your hand. Okay. How many have been a believer for over 20 years?
[00:09:42] Now? Keep your hands up. Is God still faithful to you over 20 years? How about 30 years? How about 40 years? How about 50 years? You see, David said something interesting. He said, I've observed this in life. I was once young and now I'm old. But I've never seen the righteous forsaken, nor seed begging for bread. I'm going to tell you right now, when God starts something with you and me, he continues right to the very end. He's going to be faithful to you right to the day you step into his presence. He's going to take care of you because he's a loving, kind and gracious father. And we need to understand that. So now Paul is concluding his remarks about the collection that he started in chapter eight. Chapters eight and nine deal with this whole area of financing. So I gave you a break last week. Instead of two weeks in a row, you get a week off and a week on here. So let's take a look here. This concluding chapter on giving in closing remarks about giving. And I think we discover three elements regarding the nature of cheerful giving and how it affects both the giver and the receivers of our generosity. And when I speak of cheerful giving, you know, it doesn't mean that you, you know, some people think you're giving when you're laughing. No, it's not. Cheerful giving means you're giving because you want to do it. That's a cheerful giver. You want to do this, you want to express something, and so you want to express love. And this is one manifestation of that. So let's take a look here at the first element. It reveals something of the unity of the faith being demonstrated. You go, that's an interesting element. Well, let me explain it to you. It's not just about meeting the needs of needy people. How many know you always have needy people?
[00:11:23] I think we should always be helping people as best we can. I think we always start with the household of faith. You know, we actually have a benevolence policy in our church where we're helping needy people, but we have guidelines and we always start with helping the people in our own church family. How many think that's, you know, charity always starts at home, and then we edge out, and so we kind of, you know, we look at, you know, people that maybe are single moms and they have little kids and they're in a crisis. And so then they come into the next line of our grid. And so we have actually guidelines on how we help people. And so we're, you know, I don't know if you know this, but there's a constant flow of people coming to our church for assistance. It's just all the time. And you know what? That's fine.
[00:12:02] That's what it's about. We're here to help people now. But this is something even more significant. It's not just the poor. The Bible talks about that. But how about extending beyond ethnicity? How about stepping beyond, you know, people that are in your comfort zones? That's when you know you're really giving. Okay?
[00:12:24] When you're giving to your enemies, when you're blessing those that don't deserve it. Well, that's a real challenge. Let's move beyond these things. You know, it's speaking of having a love for others because of Christ's love being revealed within our lives. Paul was concerned to show the reality of the gospel that came to the Gentiles by their generosity to the Jewish believers in Jerusalem who were strong, struggling financially during a time of famine. Now you say, well, what was Paul really trying to say? Paul was trying to show his countrymen, Jewish people who had a relationship with God, that these Gentiles who had now come to faith in God were genuine. And how many know when people are giving up their finances to help people they don't know?
[00:13:07] That says a lot about something happening inside of them.
[00:13:10] And that's what Paul wanted them to demonstrate to the Jewish people there in Jerusalem. Now, what you and I may not understand, and this is. This is cultural. Do you know, in the ancient world, giving to people you didn't know or strangers wasn't normalized.
[00:13:30] We've been affected by Christianity. Even though people today give to people they don't know that are not Christians, it's because of Christianity they're doing that. Listen to what David Garland, he's a commentator, he says here he was only able to spur on most of them.
[00:13:49] The reason is that charity for strangers was something foreign to the prevailing cultural mores in Paul's day. Isn't that interesting? Money was to be earned for oneself and to be enjoyed by oneself in one's household.
[00:14:04] Hey, now, a lot of people think like that last line. That's where a lot of people are camped today, but not everybody. There's a lot of people that are very gracious and they give to total strangers. That's because of the Christian influence in our thinking.
[00:14:17] It's because of this kind of teaching. It's because of the love of Christ that's permeated society. And so we have the residue of this understanding still in our culture today. We need to know that.
[00:14:32] Now, he goes on to say something so unprecedented as collecting money to send to people they did not know and who were not of the same race, could not expect to receive everyone's ardent support because this is foreign to their way of thinking. But Paul is now revealing to the believers in these Gentile churches, hey, you know, if God loved you and showed mercy to you, you need to show mercy to other people. God gave his gifts to you. You need to give your gifts to other people. He's teaching them this whole concept of allowing the love of God to be expressed in tangible ways. Now, I know that this attitude of, you know, the last little line where I said, money is to be earned for oneself and only used for those we love, that's a pretty prevailing thought now. That's becoming a more dominant thought in our culture today. How many say that's probably true? Yeah, I think it is.
[00:15:30] So Paul is going to make an appeal here.
[00:15:33] In Second Corinthians 9:1:4, he says, there's no need for me to write to you about this service to the Lord's people. What service? Well, he's going to explain it for I know, he says, your eagerness to help, and I've been boasting about it to the Macedonians. Now, if you know anything about geography here, Greece in the ancient world was divided into two main provinces. Macedonia was the northern part, Acacia, with the southern provinces. Corinth is in Acacia, Thessalonica, Philippi, that's in Macedonia. So these northern churches now have been inspired to give, because Paul's been telling them, because he's traveling between churches, he says, oh, you know, I found out about this need in Jerusalem. The people there are suffering, there's famine. And the people in Corinth were so moved, they're going to take up an offering and send it to them. Well, the people of Macedonia rallied and said, okay, we can do it, too. How many know that sometimes other people's example motivates and spurs us on? And so Paul is saying that. But now Paul has a little bit of a concern, because as I shared over the last number of weeks and months here, that the first, the Corinthian church, went through a divisive time. And how many know when you're bickering amongst yourselves, you're not very generous.
[00:16:50] You're too busy fighting.
[00:16:52] You know, it's true.
[00:16:54] You know, I mean, if you're not unified as a couple in your marriage, you're not generous. You're too busy fighting. If a church is busy bickering among themselves, they're not going to be generous towards other people. They're too busy fighting. But now Paul has kind of mediated and they've stopped doing that. And now Paul reminds them of what they intended to do earlier and says, hey, remember when you said you guys were going to help these guys? Well, maybe you need to pick it back up because. Because I've been boasting about you guys to all these other churches and, oh, by the way, they're coming your way.
[00:17:24] They're coming down, heading to Jerusalem. They're going to stop off and pick up your collection.
[00:17:30] Yeah, don't embarrass us, right? That's what he says. Here, just look what he says. I'm sending the brothers in order that are boasting about you in this manner should not prove hollow. And that you may be ready, as I said you would be, for any Macedonians coming with me and find you unprepared. We not to say anything about you would be ashamed of having been so confident. In other words, he's going, don't put us on the spot here, guys. You know, I know that in your heart you wanted to do something.
[00:18:06] Have you ever had those moments in your life where you felt like I wanted to do something, but then the moment slipped by and you didn't do something? And then later on you thought, oh, I'm not going to do anything.
[00:18:16] How many, you know, I got my hand up. You know, some of you probably, you're just great. You always give what you think you're going to give right away.
[00:18:24] But, you know, sometimes we rethink what we're doing and Paul is trying to remind him, no, go back to that first emotion. Go back to that first impulse. Go back to how God was inspiring you to do something. And oh, by the way, I've been telling how great you guys are, and these guys are going to show up from the north and they've given sacrificially. And so if you guys, who are very, by the way, Corinth was a very wealthy city. And he was saying, by the way, if you guys don't do anything, it's going to be embarrassing. Not just to me, but it's going to embarrass you, because, you know, I'm just letting you know this is what's going to happen.
[00:18:59] Oh, wow. This is pretty interesting stuff. How many know when you're reading the Bible, sometimes you don't get the. The full scope of it unless you start thinking about what's going on here. Why is he saying these things?
[00:19:11] Giving, Then he goes on to say, should not come out of a result of coercion. Coercion is putting pressure on people. Sometimes you can manipulate and put pressure on people. And he says this. So I thought it necessary to urge the brothers to visit you in advance and finish the arrangements for the generous gift you had promised. And then it will be ready as a generous gift gift and not as one grudgingly given.
[00:19:36] Ah, you know, can we understand something about God? When you and I are doing something, he can tell if we do it cheerfully or grudgingly. Oh, if I have to.
[00:19:48] You know, how many have ever.
[00:19:51] Let's be honest, sometimes, you know, as a Christian, you know the right thing to do, but you don't really want to do it.
[00:19:58] Come on, let's be honest about that. And then you go, okay, I know I'm supposed to do it, you know, and some people go, if you're going to come with that kind of an attitude, don't bother coming. Right. You know, what does God say? No, come as a cheerful person. Yes, I'm looking forward to doing this. I'm excited about helping you.
[00:20:21] It's getting quiet in here, but that's what he's talking about, you know, so it's interesting that Paul himself did not, Was not one of the three guys that were going up to check on these guys. In other words, he didn't want to have his presence there putting pressure on them. So he's not trying to exploit them or manipulate them in any ways. And Colin Cruz says while Paul is looking for a bountiful contribution from the Corinthians, he stresses that it must be a vulnerable, voluntary gift, not one made simply because he's applying pressure. They must do as they have made up their minds, not reluctantly or under compulsion. Their giving must be in accordance to what they have determined individually in their own hearts. And if they give while feeling under compulsion, for example, from Paul, then their contributions will be made reluctantly and the whole purpose of the project, which is to express. Express the concern of the gentile churches for the needy Jewish churches in Judea will be negated. What's Paul, what's he saying? He's basically saying, listen, if you guys are just giving, you know, because you feel like you have to do it. You're not communicating what really you want to communicate to these people in need.
[00:21:38] What you want to communicate to these people in need is you've been so set free by the gospel, you're so excited about Jesus. You. You really love God and you love people that you cheerfully and wonderfully want to help these people in need.
[00:21:54] But how many ever feel like when somebody does something for you and it's done grudgingly, you go, why bother?
[00:22:00] You know, it kind of sours the whole experience. And that's what Paul is trying to get across. And so God is reminding us about giving either to an individual or to a charity, that we do it with cheerfulness, not that we are hilarious. You know, I've read things where we're supposed to be hilarious, laughter and all that stuff. I don't think that's the point. I think the point is what he's trying to say is that we're doing it willingly and we're happy to do it. We're excited about doing and being a blessing to somebody else. Okay, let me move on to the second element. It's simply an expression of our faith in God's future provisions.
[00:22:39] This is really, really important. Okay, Giving suggests that we believe that if we take something that God has blessed us with and give it to someone else, that God in turn will make sure that we have something for our future. It's an interesting thought.
[00:22:54] How many know that immediately suggests one word, faith.
[00:23:00] So what you need to understand is giving is always an act of faith.
[00:23:05] Do you understand what I'm saying?
[00:23:07] Now think about this. Do you know it's impossible to please God without faith? It says it's impossible to please God.
[00:23:15] First of all, we have to believe that God is.
[00:23:18] And that God is a rewarder of those who diligently seek him. So when we're giving, it's an act of faith on our part. I believe as I give, God will make sure that my needs are met. And not only that, that God will allow me to continue to be able to bless, Bless and meet the needs of other people. That's an act of faith.
[00:23:38] How many can see what I'm saying? See, why am I trying to hold on to everything is because I'm fearful. I'm afraid that if I give, I won't have enough. And a lot of people, the reason why they're struggling with giving is because. Well, I think a number of things. Number one, they have the wrong priorities and they have a wrong understanding of money. They have a wrong understanding of their relationship to God. And I think fear drives a lot of what's going on in their life. How's that? And a lot of times we feel like, you know, if I buy the things that I see around me, all the trinkets in this world, somehow these things will make me feel better about who I am.
[00:24:15] Isn't it great to be free from having to image manage?
[00:24:21] Isn't it great to be free from the idea that I don't have to appear to be successful or appear to do this?
[00:24:28] You know, a lot of the stuff that's going on today and a lot of where people get into bondage is people are constantly comparing each other with one another. How many know that's true? And the Bible, we're going to see this later on this book in Second Corinthians, he says, that's a state of immaturity.
[00:24:43] You and I need to be secure and understand that I have a mission from God. I have an assignment from God. I'm just interested in doing one thing to bring glory to God through the assignment God gave called my life.
[00:24:59] So here's what he says. Then he talks about how we give in verse 6 through 7. Here he says, remember this, Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly. He's using an agricultural visual, a concept, an illustration.
[00:25:19] How many know. If you're a farmer right now and you don't sow a lot of seed, what can you anticipate when it comes to be harvest time?
[00:25:27] Not much is the right answer. Okay? But if you go out there and say, yeah, I'm going to take a lot of seed out here, I'm going to sow a whole bunch of seed. I'm looking forward to a harvest. And so he's saying here, whoever sows sparingly is going to reap sparingly. And whoever sows generously will reap the generously. So he's using the sowing and reaping principle. You can, you know, some people, they just don't give a lot. And so they don't, you know, they always feel like they're living on the ragged edge. But here's a generous giver. Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion. For God loves a cheerful giver. So he's not asking us to give more than we have. That's not. I would never suggest we do that. That would be wrong, but that we kind of Figure out, okay, this is what I feel like I can spare this, and I want to spare as much as I can to make this happen, and I'm committed to doing that.
[00:26:29] And if we sow, the Bible says, with generosity from our hearts, not the amount, it's the attitude is what I'm getting at. We're doing what we can here. God sees that and he's going to respond in, like, passion.
[00:26:43] Then he goes on, and God now is able to bless you abundantly so that in all things, at all times, having all you need, you will abound in every good work.
[00:26:57] Okay, so let's just unpack that verse for a moment and understand it. This doesn't mean if I sow a lot, I'm going to get a lot.
[00:27:05] What is God saying? He said, no, no.
[00:27:07] God says, listen, you sow and I'm going to provide your needs, but I'm going to do more than that. I'm going to abound to you in every good work.
[00:27:19] So the question I raise is, what is he really saying? He's saying it comes down to, can God trust me?
[00:27:27] Like, you know, if God starts giving me a lot, what am I going to do with it?
[00:27:32] And by the way, the more you get, the more pressure it puts on you, because now you got to figure out what to do with it, you know, and some people, it'd be great. I trip here, new car there. No, that's the wrong thinking. It's the, like, I'm now God's manager and we're doing good now, but I got to figure out now, what am I supposed to do with it, what he's blessing me with, and where do these things go in my life?
[00:27:58] Colin Cruz says the word resources, translated sporon, or seed plan. Paul says to his readers that the God who provides seed for the sower will also multiply their seed and increase their harvest. And in this context, the meaning seems to be that God will multiply the material resources of the Corinthians as they use them to meet the needs of the Judean Christians. He will increase the effect of that righteous deed. The Corinthians, by making a monetary gift, will sow the seed. God will increase the effect effect of that righteous deed so that it produces a rich harvest of unity, love, and thanksgiving. How many go? That's got nothing to do but getting money back.
[00:28:40] So we got to just shatter that a little bit, okay?
[00:28:43] The reaping here is not in order to get more, okay? This isn't like you're investing in a Business. This is not like, you know, you're playing the lottos. You know, this is not what this is about at all, guys. This is about, you know, God saying, we're using these resources in order to bring thanksgiving in the hearts of these people.
[00:29:07] And as we're going to see, it's a demonstration of the quality of our lives.
[00:29:13] In other words, I write, we're not going to be diminished as we give, but rather it not only enriches us as we give, but it enriches the lives of other people because we believe God will continue to meet our needs. I love that, you know, I don't believe I can outgive God. The effect of this kind of generosity creates unity, expresses love, causes thanksgiving to be directed to God. Anthony Thesselson says, how seriously do we take to heart that a person reaps what he sows?
[00:29:46] Well, I could argue, you know, if you sow good things in life, you're going to get good things back. If you sow. If you sow to sin, you're going to reap death. If you sow to righteousness, you're going to reap life. If you sow to, you know, graciousness in people's lives, you're going to receive graciousness in return. And people are going to pray for you, bless you, and they're going to bless God. And isn't the goal of our lives. Let's recalibrate here for a moment. What's the goal of our life?
[00:30:13] Hopefully we come to a new place on our journey to say, I'm living now to bring glory to God.
[00:30:20] That's the goal of my life. I want to bring God glory. I want my life to have meaning and purpose, but meaning and purpose, not to bring glory to myself, but to bring glory to him. That's what our goal should be. He goes on, is this a warning or is it an encouragement to us? Well, if we're doing the right thing, it's an encouragement. If we're not, it's a warning. If you're giving little, don't expect a lot. If you're giving a lot, be encouraged. God's going to take care of, of your needs. It's going to help you as you're blessing other people.
[00:30:50] So question I ask is, what am I doing? Or what are you doing? You can ask yourself that question.
[00:30:57] With what God gives me, what are we doing with what God gives me? You know, how am I using the gifts God has put into my life? And I love what Scott Heffernan writes He says Paul's goal was not to attain an inner detachment from material things through some sort of a stoic self mastery, but a recognition that God is the giver of all things.
[00:31:20] Perhaps nothing today is more radical than to assert that God and not our own self is responsible for all that we are and have.
[00:31:31] That's a very radical thought today. That's a paradigm shift. Most people don't see it. You know who you are and what you have.
[00:31:39] You didn't get it from yourself. God gave it to you.
[00:31:44] Okay, you got to think this way. When you start shifting in this way of thinking, it changes the way you operate. He goes on, our resources originate from him as a blessing, not for us, as an expression of what we deserve.
[00:31:58] A lot of people go, yeah, I work hard. We'll see that this insight is as profoundly life changing as it is simple, that the giver of everything is the foundation of our giving to others. In other words, I'm only giving you what God gave me.
[00:32:13] Does that make sense?
[00:32:15] Today I'm preaching to you. I'm only giving you what God gave me. I can't give you what God hasn't given me. Now, over the years, I could say, well, I've studied, I've spent years preparing and all that, but God gave me that opportunity. Everything comes from God. It's been freely given. We freely really give. The key to generosity is not caring less about what we have in the world, but caring more about God's purpose in granting to us his gifts.
[00:32:42] I'm going to say that one more time because that's a very powerful thought. It's not caring less about what we have in the world, but caring more about God's purpose in granting to us this gift. In other words, this is what God's given me. What am I going to do with it?
[00:32:55] How am I going to use this gift? It's not just money, folks. It's time. It's energy.
[00:33:00] It's spending, you know, giving of yourself to other people in many different ways. It's pouring out your life for other people.
[00:33:08] You know, what are you doing with what God's given you? Because one day you're going to give an account to God. How you spent your life, how you spent your time, your resources, all of that, those were all gifts from God. How did you use them? It's like God says, I gave that guy 10 talents. And when he came back to his master, what did he say?
[00:33:26] Well, what did you do? What I gave you. Look what I gave, look what I got. Back, lord, I got 10 things, you know, 10 talents back. God goes, well done, thou good and faithful servant. But you know, the one sad part of that whole parable is the last person who got one talent and what did he do is he buried it and he didn't use it. And he said, oh, I just buried it. So, you know, I would give it back to you. Just what you gave me, I gave back to you. That's it.
[00:33:52] I didn't use it. Well, God's not just interested in giving us something so we sit on it. God is interested in giving us something so we would do something with it.
[00:34:02] That's why you may think I'm in your space once in a while, but I'm always challenging you. Get involved. Serve other people. Figure out how you're wired up. Serve. Use your gift. Pour out your life to other people. Why am I telling you this? For your sake.
[00:34:17] You think it's for my sake? No, it's for your sake. Because if you don't do it, you're in trouble, and I know that.
[00:34:23] My goal is to help you not get into trouble. Okay? My goal is to help you get before Almighty God. God goes, yes, you did what you were supposed to do. Well done, thou good and faithful servant. And I will be right beside you going, yeah, right on.
[00:34:37] They're on my team, part of my group. They did the right thing. God, you. He goes, yeah, that's good. I see that. You know, right? How many are catching on?
[00:34:47] So, you know, when I'm asking you guys to do something, it's not because it's for my sake. I'm saying it's for your sake. It's for all of our sake. We benefit each other.
[00:34:58] Okay? Paul supports this idea of being a righteous manager of God's goods and giving to other people. He says, as it is written, they have freely scattered their gifts to the poor, their righteousness. And.
[00:35:09] Well, he's just quoting Psalm 112, verse 9. They have freely scattered their gifts to the poor. Their righteousness endures forever. Their horn will be lifted high in honor. How many here want to have. How would you like to be honored by God? How many here say, yep, I would love to be honored by God. Anybody here want to be honored by God? I got my hand up, certainly. I want God to honor my life.
[00:35:31] Well, do righteous things.
[00:35:34] Do the right thing, you know, and God will honor you. Isn't that beautiful?
[00:35:40] You know, I want God to honor every one of you. I want God to pat you on the back. I want God to be your greatest cheerleader.
[00:35:49] Isn't that good?
[00:35:50] See, Paul is telling them this.
[00:35:53] So when we give to the poor, it brings both honor to God and to the giver. God's praise. The giver is blessed. And Jesus reminds us it's more blessed to give than to receive. And people go, really?
[00:36:04] Yes, because you have something to give and the person that's receiving doesn't.
[00:36:10] So you're in the blessed position.
[00:36:13] So it is blessed to give. It's a blessed thing.
[00:36:17] God has entrusted us with resources to give, to provide opportunities for people to be blessed through us, and then they bring thanksgiving to God. Isn't that great?
[00:36:26] Ultimately, this behavior of giving brings thanksgiving to God. I love this.
[00:36:31] Now, he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for the food will also supply and increase your store of seed. Who's he talking about? Who is supplying seed to the sower?
[00:36:42] God is.
[00:36:43] You say, well, listen, I'm working for this. No, no, no. God's the one that's providing seed for the sower, increasing your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness. You will be enriched in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion. How many would like to have enough till I could be generous on every occasion? Well, then you better start sowing generously.
[00:37:04] Then you'll have enough to be continually doing it. Why? Because God's the one that provides seed to the sower. So, God, if I need more seed, I got to keep planting seed.
[00:37:15] It's true.
[00:37:16] And this is going to and through us. Your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God. This service that you perform is not only supplying the needs of the Lord's people, but is also overflowing in many expressions of thanks to God. So what happens when you bless people with your gifts? People over here are receiving it. Yeah, you know, we can do it right to their face. But, you know, sometimes when we're giving to people that we've never known, like our church is, you know, investing all over the world. I don't know if you know this.
[00:37:46] We're giving through. You know, we're giving to this mission and this mission and this mission. You know what's happening.
[00:37:51] So all of our missionaries, they're telling them, this is from our church family in Canada. And you know what the people are doing in these countries? They're praising God and they're praying for the people here.
[00:38:03] You know why our church has been blessed? Because we continually bless people. We're blessing other people, and they're praying for Us. And God keeps bringing us more to bless more. It's a beautiful cycle. So not a vicious cycle. It's a beautiful cycle, okay? Because of the service by which you've proved yourselves, others will praise God for the obedience that accompanies your confession of the Gospel of Christ and for your generosity in sharing with them and with everything else. Now Colin Cruz points out, the needs of the Jewish Christians in Judea will be met and they will offer thanksgiving to God, recognizing the Gentile Christians obedience to the gospel and the surpassing grace of God at work in them. So you will no longer and so will long for them and pray for them. In short, the outcome will be the enhancement of the unity of the church. That's a beautiful thing. You know, some people say we're praying for the unity of the church. I'm going, good. And one of the ways of doing that, not only through prayer, but you can also give to others so that it brings unity. And that's what he's talking about. Other parts of the world are unified.
[00:39:14] You know, let me go to the third element, the source of our motivation for giving.
[00:39:21] When we consider generosity, it should point us back to the one who gives us what we have.
[00:39:27] It shouldn't stop with us like, hey, I did this great thing.
[00:39:31] Good on me. No, no, no, no. We can never, never, never outgive God. God is our greatest example of being generous, is he not? He's the one that is amazing. Jesus says, you know what? I'm the one that replenishes you. He says, given, it will be given to you a good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over will be poured into your lap for what the measure you use. It will be measured to you, back to you, measured to you. So I'm saying to myself now, if I have to, you know, how many want God if he's going to pour a blessing to you? How many want a big scoop of blessing or a little scoop of bless of blessing? How many? I'm just asking how many want a big scoop of blessing?
[00:40:13] Okay, if you want a big scoop of blessing, you got to grab a big scoop. Okay, I'm going to bless this person. Got the little scoop, the big scoop. Okay, which one do I want? What do I want God to use on me? This one. Okay, how many are catching on?
[00:40:27] Are you catching on? So all the people go, I don't know about this. Well, I'll give them a little bit. I said, that's good. I'm glad you're giving a little bit. God goes, okay, what scoop am I going to use for the person that's using the little scoop? Well, I'll use the same scoop.
[00:40:42] I just asked you how many wanted a big scoop from God. Like put my hand up. So then I got to start. You know, I'm just going to scrap the little scoop. I'm just pushing it aside. I'm just going to start, keep using the big scoop. I want God to just keep pouring.
[00:40:54] And you know what I've discovered?
[00:40:56] My scoop's getting bigger. God's scoop's getting bigger.
[00:40:59] It's really amazing. I'm watching them do this.
[00:41:02] He says here, and in their prayers for you, their hearts will go out to you because of the surpassing grace God has given you. Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift. Actually, it was funny when I was studying this, that word indescribable that we're translating into English. In the Greek, Paul made up a word.
[00:41:19] It's the unexplainable gift. It's beyond describing is what Paul is saying. How many know the gift that God gave us is even beyond describing?
[00:41:29] And what's that gift? Well, that's Christ. He's the indescribable gift. Okay, so what will motivate God's people to pray for those who share this grace of giving to them?
[00:41:39] Well, one of the great dangers that we're living in today, how many know, is self reliance and self sufficiency. That's actually one of the our biggest.
[00:41:49] If you want to know what your greatest challenge is, there it is right there.
[00:41:53] Most of us don't see that as a sin, by the way. We just say, I'm self reliant, I'm self sufficient, I don't need anybody.
[00:42:01] God goes, you're just fooling yourself.
[00:42:04] The whole society is dependent on one another.
[00:42:07] If we go into a bigger recession, we'll go into a depression. You'll find out how self sufficient and self reliant you are. Come on now.
[00:42:14] We have lived as though it all depends on us. But it's deception which is only exposed when life stops working the way we think it ought to. Then we get bummed out, hey, what's going on here, right?
[00:42:28] We struggle and then are brought to our knees learning again that we only, that we not only need to trust God, but we also need the prayers of God's people. For us, it's often seen in our attitude and of course our actions towards finances.
[00:42:45] Our view is culturally conditioned. So man, I just ran out of time and I was getting to the Good part.
[00:42:54] How does this happen?
[00:42:57] Well, I got to stop.
[00:42:59] So here's the good news and the bad news. The good news is this will go on a blog, okay? And you can always get to that blog and finish reading it. But I'm going to tell you right now, you want to continue hearing the rest of the story and you go, why don't you just preach the rest of it next week, Pastor? Because it's like building a brand new sermon. And this is at the tail end. So I'm not going to do that. But I'm going to give you that opportunity to go there. But let me close with this thought.
[00:43:29] We don't give to God solely out of an attitude of gratitude. And I'll tell you why. Because then there's, how many have ever done something for somebody and then they come back and they give something back to you? And why are they doing that? Because they feel grateful.
[00:43:45] Okay?
[00:43:46] How many know that you and I, it's like trying to pay back a debt to God.
[00:43:51] It never works. You can't pay God back.
[00:43:55] So what does God really want from us about giving? Let's stand as we close now, what is it God really is looking for?
[00:44:02] He wants to develop something inside of you.
[00:44:06] And you know what that something inside of you is Faith.
[00:44:11] He wants you to learn to depend on him and trust in Him. Do you know why a lot of us, and we're all guilty of it to varying degrees. Okay. We want to make sure that we have a little bit aside here so we can take care of ourselves. And I don't say that's necessarily evil, but if we're depending on that, that's a problem.
[00:44:28] We, what God wants us to learn to do is every day depend on Him.
[00:44:34] Does that make sense to you?
[00:44:36] When Jesus taught us how to pray, he says, give us this day our weekly bread, our yearly bread, our daily bread. He wants you and me to trust him every single day.
[00:44:52] That's why last week when I said, do we spend more time with the screens and the social media than we do with scripture?
[00:45:00] Because what we're doing is letting this influence this.
[00:45:03] We're letting the media and the culture influence the way we're thinking rather than God.
[00:45:09] And then we're going to live with all of the anxieties and fears that our society has.
[00:45:14] What God is wanting to do is get to know us. He knows us, but he wants us to get to know him and learn to trust Him.
[00:45:23] So at the very end of our lives, we're still trusting Him. It's a daily thing, folks. It's not only on a spiritual level, but it's on a practical level. Every single day, I'm dependent on God.
[00:45:34] Every single day I need to hear God speaking into my life. Every single day. I need to know that God is providing the resources I need so that I can live a life of generosity.
[00:45:46] I'm giving my life away.
[00:45:49] You know, this is how I think in my mind. I don't own my body. I don't own anything. It all belongs to God. Whatever he wants is his.
[00:45:58] I'm just pouring out my life for him.
[00:46:01] That's the way we should be living. I'm just emptying myself for him.
[00:46:06] And as I keep pouring myself out, you know what I noticed? God keeps pouring in. And the more you pour out, the more God pours in.
[00:46:14] It's really interesting.
[00:46:16] So God wants us to learn to trust him.
[00:46:19] Why would God begin something in your life and not complete it?
[00:46:24] That flies in the face of scripture. I began this good work in you. I'm going to finish it.
[00:46:30] And so today I want to pray for all of us in this room. Right now, I'm not going to ask you even to raise your hand. Just want you to bow your head and you already know who you are.
[00:46:40] I want you to admit to something.
[00:46:42] My life is determined more by fear than my faith in God.
[00:46:50] But listen to me. Perfect love casts out fear.
[00:46:54] If I love God perfectly, I will never worry again.
[00:46:59] Really. It's true.
[00:47:01] I'll just trust him.
[00:47:03] I'll just trust him.
[00:47:05] And so, Father, I pray for all the fear that we have. One of the reasons we don't give much is because we're fearful. That's why we use the little scoop.
[00:47:13] We're giving little because we're afraid.
[00:47:16] We don't know if this is really going to work. But we want you, Lord, to use the big scoop on us. But we're not. We're afraid to actually use it ourselves.
[00:47:26] But I pray today that you will shift us in our thinking.
[00:47:30] We'll begin to understand that day by day you want us to trust you.
[00:47:34] And day by day you want us to learn how to be generous like you. And to use a big scoop to help other people.
[00:47:41] And that because of that, you have learned. You can learn to trust us to be able to be a generous person. And big scoops keep coming our way and we just keep scooping it out. It just seems to be a never ending supply of you meeting our needs and giving us more than we need so that we can be generous.
[00:47:59] It's not about building bigger barns, Lord, because we already know.
[00:48:04] Like that foolish person said they weren't rich towards you, they just built a bigger barn, put more stuff in it. And you warned them. He said, this night your soul is required of you.
[00:48:14] Lord, we want to invest our lives for eternity and not just for the short duration that we're here.
[00:48:24] And we thank you for helping us overcome our fear today.
[00:48:28] Would you put your love inside of us? Would you pour a greater measure of faith and love in our hearts today so that we will no longer walk in insecurity and fear? In Jesus name, Amen. God bless you as you leave.
