Sermon Brief
Date Written: October 21, 2009
Date Preached: October 25, 2009
Where Preached: OPBC (AM)
Sermon Details:
Sermon Series: Steppin’ UP to the Next Level
Sermon Title: Steppin’ UP to a new level of Giving…
Sermon Text: 2 Cor 9:1-15 [NKJV]
Introduction:
I once heard of a preacher from a small church who would take his 2 sons to the Thursday morning Bible study. There was an elderly deacon who met with them and every Thursday morning ole’ George would split his donut with the little brother.
It was a few Sundays later when the younger of the brothers came to church with a sandwich bag full of Cheerios. Ole’ George leaned over and asked the young man if he could have some and the little boy reached into his bag, pulled out a Cheerio, and split it in half and gave it to ole George!
Now this is a humorous story, but it carries with it a very stark and telling lesson… so often I believe our generosity to God is like that! You see God has given us so much, and yet we give Him back so little of what we are blessed with…We need to learn to STEP UP to a new level of giving… to a new level of blessing… to a level that we find illustrated in our passage this morning, turn with me to 2 Cor 9 and we are going read ALL 15 verses…
2 Cor 9:1-15 [NKJV]
1 Now concerning the ministering to the saints, it is superfluous for me to write to you; 2 for I know your willingness, about which I boast of you to the Macedonians, that Achaia was ready a year ago; and your zeal has stirred up the majority. 3 Yet I have sent the brethren, lest our boasting of you should be in vain in this respect, that, as I said, you may be ready; 4 lest if some Macedonians come with me and find you unprepared, we (not to mention you!) should be ashamed of this confident boasting. 5 Therefore I thought it necessary to exhort the brethren to go to you ahead of time, and prepare your generous gift beforehand, which you had previously promised, that it may be ready as a matter of generosity and not as a grudging obligation. 6 But this I say: He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. 7 So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver. 8 And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work. 9 As it is written: “He has dispersed abroad, He has given to the poor; His righteousness endures forever.”
10 Now may He who supplies seed to the sower, and bread for food, supply and multiply the seed you have sown and increase the fruits of your righteousness, 11 while you are enriched in everything for all liberality, which causes thanksgiving through us to God. 12 For the administration of this service not only supplies the needs of the saints, but also is abounding through many thanksgivings to God, 13 while, through the proof of this ministry, they glorify God for the obedience of your confession to the gospel of Christ, and for your liberal sharing with them and all men, 14 and by their prayer for you, who long for you because of the exceeding grace of God in you. 15 Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!
v.1-5 – Set up… background on their church…
Paul is bragging on the Corinthian church here and telling them that he had told others about their willing hearts and gracious ministry to those who served God and to those in need.
He shares with them that he really doesn’t need to say this because it is well known… The implication here is that the Corinthian church despite all its problems, had been a very giving and loving church… ministering to those in need with the love of Christ!
Paul says for him to go on about it would just be superfluous… which means to say this about them would be redundant because their actions in the past had said it louder than he could ever say it…
You know I know how Paul feels, I can brag about our church on many different levels, and even though we are struggling a bit right now financially, I find that this church is a giving and loving church when it comes to people in need.
I know that to say these things is basically repeating what we already know, but it is good to say and it is good to hear from time to time. And I know that our actions of the past few yrs are indicators that when a need arises, our church will answer the call!
But we find in v.5 that Paul challenges them to remain faithful to their ministry… remain the giving and loving church they had been in the past and that he was sending some representatives to collect an offering for the believers in Jerusalem who were suffering terribly under persecution and hardship. He charges them to not let him down… to continue to be that giving and loving church that he knew they were!
Today, I want to challenge ALL of you here today to remain faithful to your ministry of the Gospel of Christ! I know that when a need arises you are going to rise up and meet that need and you are NOT going to bring embarrassment upon the Christ whom you serve!
v. 6-11
Paul lays the challenge before them…a very specific task!
In these verses, Paul sets the stage with their past actions and ministry as a fellowship, and here he challenges them to the specific task of giving generously to this offering to the church in Jerusalem.
Today I come to you and tell you to look to the past and how giving and generous this fellowship has been…but I warn you to not be consumed by the past. In the past there were over 1,000 who worshipped here on any given week… now we have 1/10th of that…
We cannot be expected to live up to the standards set by such a large group, but what I believe we CAN do and MUST do is have the same loving and giving spirit about us, regardless of how many members we have or what we think our tithe and offerings should be…
Paul begins his challenge with the basic tenant of giving… sort of a general rule of thumb for those who were giving. Using the Scriptural principle that you reap what you sow…
What Paul was telling this fellowship is that they would only reap blessings in accordance with what they had sown in offerings and ministry gifts! In other words, if you give sparingly, your blessing will be sparing… but if you give generously your blessings will be generous…
I am a firm believer in the Scriptural principal of ‘you reap what you sow’ We must hold to this biblical principle and understand that the only way we are going to reap GREAT things in our community is when we decide to finally stop playing church and begin to sow greatly into our community… sow greatly in our time, in our talents and in our resources!
When we sow greatly we can expect God-sized things to begin to happen and God sized blessings to grace our fellowship! When we sow God-sized seeds… when we sow and do not hold back… God is going to bless us beyond our wildest imagination, and He is going to do great and God-sized things to change the community around us!
In v.7 Paul switches from a general overview of giving from the corporate standing to a much more personal view of specific giving. It is here where Paul separates those who give from the heart… and those who give for the wrong reasons!
Here Paul challenges them to not only give… but to give for the right reasons. What Paul is saying in this passage is that giving 1st begins in the heart… Paul is saying that TRUE and FAITHFUL giving is a heartfelt, outward expression of the love of Christ that dwells in and flows out from the heart of the believer.
Believers, can give, but Paul says that their gift is not going to be blessed if they give with a grudge or give out of duty or obligation… Paul lists these reasons for giving as things that steal our blessing when we give…
You see if a believer gives out of obligation, it cannot be given in love or out of the thankfulness of our hearts for what God has done for us! Believers cannot give as if they thought it was a burden they must bear… a cross to be taken up… that is not true giving… there is NO blessing in that approach to giving!
Now, as believers, we all know that God does REQUIRE a certain type of giving in what we call the tithe, which Scripture defines as the ‘first fruits’ of our labor and it quantifies that amount as the 1st 10% of our income.
However, Scripture also lays out another form of giving above the tithe, a form of giving it calls the ‘offering’! And a gift of this nature… an offering MUST be from the heart! It is giving something out of the love and thankfulness we have in Christ!
We would call what Paul is doing here a “love offering”… you give a love offering out of the love and thankfulness of your heart… not out of obligation or sense of duty.
You can fool others by giving out of obligation and duty! You can even fool yourself, but the fact of the matter is that God knows your heart and why you are giving, and if you are giving out of obligation or begrudgingly… God is going to know and He is not going bless your gift….
It is God’s desire that we give in this free and fully unselfish manner… with a free, open and cheerful heart. Give freely, love freely and experience the wonderful blessings of knowing that you are doing what God expects, but not out of obligation to God, but out of your love for Him and your desire to give of yourself to His kingdom.
God loves a cheerful giver, because the giver who gives cheerfully does not hold a grudge or bear any ill will toward the gift or the recipient of that gift! In doing so this allows the believer to serve God with a cheerful heart as well and a cheerful spirit!
However if the believer gives begrudgingly, then it stands to reason that they are also going to SERVE begrudgingly as well. And when they are begrudgingly walking with Christ, there can be no fruit…
It is God’s desire for us to be cheerful and willing in our service and our giving. This is because a cheerful giver also serves God cheerfully and is submissive to God’s calling and plan!
We can see in v.8 that Paul clarifies this about the cheerful giver… that they will be enriched by God in many ways.
There is always the grace of God we receive because of Christ on the cross… this grace is not given because of our gifts or offerings or who we are, but is a free gift from God.
We must remember what God has done for us even before we came to repentance, and when we do it causes us to realize what God has given to us and it clarifies what we need to…we owe Christ everything and it is out of our thankfulness to Him and what He has done for us that we should be giving…
When we give God’s grace is enhanced to those who give freely and out of thankfulness! Now understand that it is not as if God’s grace changes, but our view of it and our understanding of it is enhanced… to the point where we cry out to God in thanksgiving for His gracious mercy and forgiveness…
This grace gives to us enables us to serve Him in a substantial manner, where our good works toward others can be quantified and understood to be our expression of love for Christ and NOT something we are doing for ourselves!
In v.9 Paul is quoting Psalm 112:9 where David is speaking about how wonderful it is to be blessed by God. Here, David is saying that person who is blessed of God… their actions are wide ranging and will be noticed for what they are and that is deeds for God… not self-centered deeds, but deeds/good works done for their Savior!
Now in v.10-11 Paul prays a prayer of blessing on the Corinthian church’s gift for the believers in Jerusalem. Paul asks God to take this gift given and multiply it so that needs are met, but not just that… Paul prays that God will bless those who are giving, so that their fruits of righteousness increase… in other words, “God bless them abundantly and let their acts be seen as works for YOU… let them be seen as RIGHTEOUS or the right thing to do…”
Finally in v.11 Paul prays that the blessing they receive for this gift will encourage to give more in the future… Paul’s prayer was that this fellowship’s very basic view of ministry would change and that it would cause them to be generous in ALL their giving, that would reveal their thankfulness to God and give Him the glory.
v.12-15 – The what of this offering
v.12 Paul relates that this offering was important in more ways than one. YES, it was going to minister to the practical and physical needs of the church in Jerusalem…
BUT what Paul wanted the Corinthian church to understand that it was also going to play a special part in the spiritual growth and understanding of the church in Jerusalem and them giving thanks to God for His deliverance in their time of need! In other words, Paul is sharing with the Corinthians that their obedience served a physical purpose, but also a spiritual purpose as well.
v.13 – these people are going to be blessed by this offering and they are going to give God the glory… for their deliverance but also for your obedience to His calling on their lives. Here Paul reveals to the Corinthian church more about their obedience and submission to Christ. This offering would be a great witness of obedience that would influence believers who may be struggling in their walk because of hard times.
So often today we worry so much about ourselves that we lose sight of what our obedience to God is going to accomplish. We think, well if I am not obedient it is just ME who does not grow… it is just ME that it affects, but that could not be further from the truth.
When we are submissive to God… when we are obedient to His calling on our lives, it affects those around us… it affects many more than we can ever know. You never know how many people are watching you and looking to see what and if you will obey and submit to God.
YOU are a witness for Christ, not only in sharing your faith, but in how you live your life and how obedient you are in your walk with God.
v.14 – 15 we find Paul ending this encouragement to the Corinthian church by telling them that the church in Jerusalem was going to long to fellowship with them because of their ministry to them and because they longed to be with believers of such generous hearts… and all of this will be shared and understood as a great gift from God and all are going to be thankful for His blessing!
Do you know one great way to have people to WANT to come and fellowship at our church? Live your life in total obedience and submission to HIS calling! Be a great witness… Do what God has called you to do! It sounds so simple… but it has a profound effect on those around you…
Today you have heard how one fellowship was able to live out their walk in Christ by GIVING of themselves! Today this is a challenge to our church… we must GIVE all of who we are to Christ! We must live our lives seeking to do HIS will!
This includes our willingness to live as we should…
This includes our willingness to love as we should…
This includes our willingness to GIVE as we should… give the tithe that God has commanded! Are you giving the 10% tithe of your 1st fruits that God has commanded you? Are you giving to God 1st and then allowing Him to care for you? God requires the tithe and has promised that if you are faithful with the tithe that He would take care of you!
This includes your willingness to give as you should… in giving offerings above and beyond the tithe! This means giving out of your abundance! All of us here have ‘extra’… we ALL have extra for our lives and God calls for us to give out of that extra and not to keep it ALL for ourselves!
Do you remember the ‘brownie’ illustration I used a few months back? Well if you don’t… [explain brownie illustration here]
We all have extra and we should be willing to give out of that extra, and trust that the God who has already blessed us with that extra… He is going to take care of us!
Today as I stand before you, our church is hurting financially. We simply do not have enough tithes and offerings coming in to cover our basic essential needs to keep the lights on and payroll met. I am calling on ALL believers here… all church members to look at what you are giving! Are you giving what God has called you to give? Are you giving what God has commanded? Are you giving out of your abundance and sharing the blessings of God with others?
I want this made clear today, I do not want… NOR do I need your money! God does not want your money, nor does He need it for the Gospel to be preached! My desire here is NOT what you can do for me… My desire here is NOT what you can do for our church…
I want you to understand that my desire here is YOUR spiritual growth… your spiritual maturity… your submission to God in your life so that you are a true and faithful witness for Him! Are you ready to STEP UP as a believer?
Today, I challenge you ALL to step up… to step up to a new level of giving… I challenge you all to step up to a new level of blessing in service to Christ!
As Bro Steven comes to lead us in our hymn of invitation which is Living For Jesus… I want us to all consider the words of this song and the words of Scripture and the challenge of God’s word for us to live FULL OUT all the time for Him… holding nothing back!
I call on you to step out and step up to a new level of blessing by beginning to serve God as He has called you to serve… come as Bro Steven leads us…
