Ready To Give

We're in 2 Corinthians chapter 9, so if you want to find that in your journal or your Bible, chapter 9, 2 Corinthians chapter 9, and as you're finding that, let me give us just a quick recap.

2 Corinthians 9 · chapter mention 2 Corinthians 9 · chapter mention

Paul obviously is writing this letter to the Corinthian church, and as we learned last week, he has sent a lead party, right, of three trustworthy men, three trustworthy men.

One of them is named Titus, we know him, there's a letter in the New Testament written to him. The other two we have some theories about, but they are unnamed brothers.

And so as he now, Paul, comes to the midpoint of the letter here in chapter 8, which would be what we looked at last week, we have seen Paul devote a significant amount of attention to one topic, the topic of the collection.

What collection? It's the one that Paul envisioned being taken up by predominantly Gentile believers in the area of Greece, the two provinces north and south, and he wants them to take this collection

up and deliver it for famine relief for the poor, needy believers in Judea, who are mostly Jewish in background. And as we saw just a couple of weeks ago in chapter 8, Paul wants to motivate them to finish it.

He says, yes, about a year ago, you guys started it. You Corinthians were the first ones to step up and make a commitment. In fact, your initial commitment a year ago is what has motivated other believers like the ones in Macedonia.

So now I want you to complete this act of grace. Chapter 8, verse 6. You guys excel in all kinds of things. I want to see you excel in this.

I say this as your apostle not to shame you. I'm not trying to manipulate you, but to prove the earnestness of your love. Paul goes on to let them know, hey, we're not asking for something like socialism, we'd

call it today, much less that you guys would be impoverishing yourselves so that other people get rich. No, this is about fairness. Letting your abundance now supply their need.

That's what he says in verse 14 of chapter 8. And then Paul went on at the end of chapter 8, as we saw again last week, to introduce these three men, this lead party that he's sending.

It's going to end up being a company of about 10 men, but right now it's three that he sent ahead. And they're probably standing right in front of the Corinthians and have actually delivered this letter.

And he says, these are supremely trustworthy men. And then we saw in those verses at the end of chapter 8 that Paul went on to give a few of their qualities and what made them trustworthy.

Well, today Paul's going to finish up on this topic of the collection here in chapter 9. Only while the situation at hand was, yes, a very present need for a relief fund, what we're going to find is that Paul ends up talking in a way that gives us larger principles about

giving in general, about what it looks like for a Christian to be ready to give. And so let's take a look at where we're going to start today, chapter 9, verse 1, and let me read the chapter for us.

Now it is superfluous for me to write to you about the ministry of the saints, for I know your readiness, of which I boast about you to the people of Macedonia, saying that Achaia has been ready since last year, and your zeal has stirred up most of them.

But I am sending the brothers so that our boasting about you may not prove empty in this matter, so that you may be ready as I said you would be.

Otherwise, if some Macedonians come with me and find that you're not ready, we would be humiliated to say nothing of you for being so confident.

So I thought it necessary to urge the brothers to go on ahead to you and arrange in advance for the gift you have promised, so that it may be ready as a willing gift, not as an exaction.

The point is this, whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Each one must give what he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion,

for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work.

As it is written, he has distributed freely, he has given to the poor, his righteousness endures forever. He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for

sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness. You will be enriched in every way to be generous in every way. Which, through us, will produce thanksgiving to God.

For the ministry of this service is not only supplying the needs of the saints, but is also overflowing in many thanksgivings to God. By their approval of this service, they will glorify God because of your submission that comes

from your confession of the gospel of Christ and the generosity of your contribution to them and for all the others, while they long for you and pray for you because of the surpassing grace of God upon you.

Thanks be to God for his inexpressible gift. Let's pray once more. Father, as Paul just prayed a moment ago, we ask for clarity. We pray that your spirit would speak to us through your word.

Lord, help us to realize that, yes, it is an occasional teaching, a situation where there was great need, but that, Lord, in your wisdom and for your good purposes, you have put this teaching here from Paul for our benefit.

So, Lord, let us reap the benefit of it today. And we pray this in the name of our Savior, in Jesus' name, amen.

I don't know about you, but I like the way Paul starts out here. He says, I don't want to sound alarming, but then it's actually kind of like I'm a little alarmed.

He says to them, I'm sure I don't need to say anything about this. It'd be superfluous for me to have to mention this, but I really don't want you to be humiliated.

He tells them, if you remember, you guys were the inspiration for the much poorer Macedonians who have given, verse 2, it was actually your zeal that stirred up most of them.

And that's why I've sent this lead team to you now under Titus' direction, verse 3, so that all the big boasting that I made about you guys and what generous hearts you have so that it will not prove empty in this matter.

Because when the rest of our party gets there, if we find that you're not ready, verse 4, oh boy, that would not be good. That would be humiliating for all of us, Paul says.

So verse 5, we've sent these three guys on ahead so that you might be ready with a willing gift. A willing gift. And that's the key word, willing.

It's not an exaction. It's not a tax. It's not an assessment or a fee. This is a free will gift that you're giving willingly. So that's how Paul starts out in his first paragraph here.

But then we notice what he does beginning in verse 6. In verse 6, on through the rest of the chapter, Paul takes some time to teach them about Christian giving.

And what I think we see is we're teaching him, he's teaching us what giving should be like, the manner in which we should give. I think he's also teaching about what giving is for.

In this case, it's pretty obvious for fellow believers in need. And then I think he winds up teaching about what their giving will produce or what it's meant to produce.

Now again, some would call this occasional teaching, and it is. Meaning there's a real life situation in 55, 56 AD that needed attention, and that's these poor, presumably starving believers in Judea.

That's the reason for this collection. But oftentimes what we find in the New Testament is that even when it is occasional teaching, we find that the Lord is giving us principles in it.

And there are principles and teaching that extend beyond the one occasion. So you know, for instance, in the first letter to the Corinthians, there's these times where Paul's talking about situations, whether it's dealing with immorality, or how to approach marriage, or answering the Corinthians specific questions.

We don't read that and say, well, I guess that's just for them. We understand that often in situational teaching, there is a wider application.

There are principles offered for every Christian. And I'm telling you, that's what's here today, especially as we hit verse 6 and move on to verse 15.

So what I would like to do for us today is bring a little structure with these questions I just asked. I'm going to have three questions. You can see them on the screen.

Three questions, starting with one, what should our giving be like? Number two, what should our giving be for? And then finally, number three, what should our giving produce?

So you get them up front. Don't worry. We'll take them one at a time. Starting with question number one. What should our giving be like? The first answer to this question, already heard it from Paul.

Letter A, it should be decided willingly and cheerfully. It should be decided willingly and cheerfully. Verse 5, Paul says, a willing gift. Again, not a tax.

It's not some kind of an assessment levied against you. I know in the last couple of years, the missionary church of which we're a part, the denomination, they have what they call a policy they call the investment in shared ministries.

And what that means is 2% of all the funds that come into a local church, 2% goes to the home office. We give about 2.75% to our region. So almost 5% of what you give goes to these two areas of oversight, which are good and we need and are helpful.

They pay salaries, they facilitate us, they help us. We don't see that as a tax. And I remember a meeting where our president was saying, it's not a bill.

I hope churches don't see it like a bill. It's an investment. Same thing here. Paul's talking about giving. He wants it to be willing. He does not want you to think that being a Christian comes with a subscription cost, right?

Doesn't have a membership fee. Grace is free. Grace is free. Grace is free. And yet, and yet, giving is an act of obedience for every believer.

And it's one for which our hearts need to be willing. Verse 7. Each one must give as he has decided in his heart. Not reluctantly or under compulsion.

When he says decided in one's heart, it means that you get to make up your own mind. I get to wake up my own mind with my wife, in my case. It's not a compulsory decision someone else makes for you and then pushes upon you.

It's something that you are to process and do out of private conviction regarding what that will look like. Namely, how much you will give. And we don't do this reluctantly or under compulsion.

Paul says, no pressure. Paul is not applying pressure. He doesn't want anyone to feel forced or compelled or guilted into giving. That would not be the right motivation.

And I find it interesting. You notice that the apostle never tells the Corinthian church how much. Does he? He doesn't tell them how much. He doesn't even give them a percent.

And neither can a pastor or a church leader lay down the law and tell you, this is what you have to give as a Christian. Now, having said that, we're not above making suggestions.

And neither is the Bible. In fact, I think there are some scriptural patterns that are worthy of our notice. Goodness knows that in a relatively affluent country like ours, I'm not going to get in an argument with you about whether we're the richest country in the world.

I think we are. But I'm not going to argue that. But let's at least agree, relatively affluent, that our giving as American Christians should probably be on the higher side, right?

As a percentage of our income. And so I look at the ancient Israelites and I see a tithe. You see that too in the Old Testament. And then I find Jesus, you know, he critiques the religious leaders, especially the Pharisees, about a lot of things.

And strangely enough, he does not critique them about their tithing. You know what he actually says in Matthew 23, 23? He says, this is good.

You ought to do that. But I want you to see that God's word is far more concerned right now with the attitude of our heart than with the size of the paycheck.

Or the size of the gift check, I should say. It says that God loves, Paul says, God loves a cheerful giver. Cheerful. End of verse 7. So that's the first thing that should characterize our giving.

That's what our giving should be like. It should be decided willingly and cheerfully. Let's go on. Letter B. Letter B. It should be given generously.

Generously. Verse 6. I like it when Paul says, here's the point. The point is this. Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly. And whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.

Now scholars tell us this is a well-known agricultural proverb of the day. It was common stock in the Old Testament. You find it in Jewish wisdom literature.

It'd be like us saying today, you know, things like, you get what you pay for. Or you reap what you sow. Have you heard that? You reap what you sow.

And that's kind of what Paul's doing here. Sow sparingly. You reap sparingly. Sparingly means tight-fistedly. He means miserly. Bountifully, on the other hand, means generously, lavishly, liberally, big-heartedly, if that's a word.

Paul is telling us that the size of our harvest will be in direct proportion to the amount of seed that we've sown. So, you're a farmer and you want a good crop.

You've got to sow that seed liberally, right? Be generous. Be generous. And if you are, he says, it will multiply. Check out verse 10. He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food.

By the way, that's God. He will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness. You know, I've shared like a paraphrase of some of these verses with my kids, my now adult kids who've grown up.

But I remember once I was accused of sounding like a prosperity preacher. I was accused of sounding like a prosperity preacher. Well, here it is.

It's in the text. Now, what's different is the motivation. If a person is driven to be generous as a kind of get-rich-quick scheme, well, that's not going to work.

God sees through that. God will not honor that. What Paul is making very clear for us in verse 8 is that God makes all grace abound to us so that having enough for ourselves, being sufficient in all ways, having all of our needs met, we can then abound in every good work.

This means that God blesses the generous to be more generous. Not to hoard, not to be selfish, but to give and to give more. Verse 11. Here's the prosperity gospel part.

Listen. You will be enriched in every way if you give. Does this sound like a prosperity preacher? You will be enriched in every way to be generous in every way.

That's a little different than your garden variety televangelist that I grew up watching. I think they're still on TV. The kind that manipulate people to fatten themselves with a lavish lifestyle and jet around, sometimes in a literal jet that they own.

I don't approve of that. I would not want to be those people on judgment day. But again, in verse 13, Paul talks about the generosity of your contribution.

You know, we hear those words, we think, well, okay, be generous. What's that look like? I don't know. Let's be frank for just a moment. I don't know what you earn.

You do know what I earn. That's not fair. You don't know what my wife earns. But we all have our individual households and incomes. And some of them are two income and some of them are one income or one plus a little bit when we can find some other things.

But let's just take a household that earns $50,000 a year. $50,000 a year. So if you've got a young family at home, I'd say that if you're giving 10%, can you do math?

Was that $5,000? I'd say that's pretty generous. I would be satisfied. Well, let's never be satisfied. I would be pleased if I could do that.

But if you earn twice that, if you earn, say, $100,000, or if you earn three times that, $150,000, and you still give $5,000, that's like 3%.

I mean, it's nice. We'll still take it here. Missions will take it. But it's not remarkably generous for the most affluent country in the world.

What's the point, you say? I would just point you back to verse 6. That's the point. The point is, well, I'll let you read it. I want to go on to the next point.

Letter C. What should our giving be like? Letter C. Our giving, it should flow out of obedience to the gospel. You say, well, that's a strange thing to add on here.

It's like we're going to get theological now. I thought we were describing cheerfulness and generosity. Well, that's a very distinctive feature that Paul offers that should characterize the manner of how we give, what our giving is like.

It should flow out of obedience to the gospel. I'm talking about the gospel where Jesus Christ gave everything. Jesus gave his very self to die in our place, to pay the penalty for all our sin.

That gift that Paul mentions at the end, that inexpressible gift. He doesn't even have words for it. He makes one up in the Greek. Nobody had ever seen this word before.

Inexpressible gift, verse 15. He says that should inform everything. Everything about our lives. We live in light of having received the most wonderful gift of all, the gift of life.

The gift of life eternal. That should inform everything about our generosity and our stewardship. Check out what Paul says down in verse 13.

I know we're jumping around, but look at verse 13. He says, By their approval, the Judean needy believers, by their approval of this service, they will glorify God.

Because of what? Because of your submission that comes from your confession to the gospel of Jesus Christ. And the generosity of your contribution for them and for all the others.

In other words, what Paul's talking about is those needy Judean believers. And he's saying that when they see your gift, when they receive this relief fund from all of you, proving your love for them, by the way, when they see that, they're going to glorify God.

They'll glorify God. Why? Because of your submission to the gospel. Because they'll see you're the real deal. Because a real deal Christian gives.

And they will see proof of that. Proof of your love. Proof that Jesus really is your Lord. Because when we confess the gospel of Jesus Christ, that does mean that he is Lord.

And when he's Lord, that makes us his servants. He's the owner. We are the stewards. So what's another thing that should characterize our giving as believers?

It should flow out of our obedience to the gospel.

Is that true in your life? I guess I'm asking you if you're a believer. If you've been touched by the gospel. Is Jesus both your Savior and your Lord?

Is he Lord of your finances? Jesus. All right. Let's go on to the next big question. Number two. Next big question in blue. Number two. We go from what should our giving be like to now this question.

What should our giving be for? What should our giving be for? We're going to highlight three areas. Three appropriate areas for our giving to go.

And given our passage, the first one's going to be rather obvious. Letter A. To supply the needs of the saints. Letter A. To supply the needs of the saints.

Here again, obviously, this is the whole point of the Judean collection. And what this special team Paul's putting together is going to do. They're going to gather this collection from the Macedonian churches.

From the Achaian churches, including Corinth. And they're going to take their abundance to go help supply the needs of needy believers living in Judea.

And, you know, we see this as a general principle beyond just this occasion. We see this as a part of the normal life of the early church in the earliest chapters of the book of Acts.

Let me take you back to Acts chapter 4. This is not long after Peter's famous sermon where a couple thousand new believers get saved. And he writes this, or Luke writes this.

Acts 4 · chapter mention

Acts 4 verses 34 and 35. There was not a needy person among them. For as many as were owners of lands and houses sold them. And brought the proceeds of what was sold.

Acts 4:34

And laid it at the apostles' feet. And it was distributed to each as he had any need. As he had any need. That means that believers were looking around at their fellow believers.

And they were seeing that some were doing fine. And some were doing really fine. And some were not so fine. Some were in need. Some were struggling.

Now again, as we've said before in the last couple of weeks. This is not a manifesto for Christian communism. Where everybody has identical net worth.

Get saved in Jesus and join the cult. Right? It's not that. It doesn't mean that we all have the same size houses. With the exact same square footage.

And same trim levels. Or that we all drive like we buy a fleet of vehicles. We all drive the same car. It's supplying the needs of your fellow believer.

When they arise. The needs. Not the wants. What does Jesus say? He says, The least of these brothers of mine. We often clip off that last part.

The brothers of mine. Often you hear people say, The least of these. He says, The least of these brothers of mine. He's talking about the believing family.

And yes, I would say a passage like Galatians 6.10, If you've heard that, Does say, You should do good to everyone as we have opportunity. But it also says, Especially, Especially to those who are of the household of faith.

Meaning that the brotherhood of the believers is your top priority. So what's a first appropriate area for our giving? It's to supply the needs of the saints.

And we do that here at Redeemer. We have what we call a benevolence fund. It's a separate fund. We don't pay the light bill out of that. We don't fix parking lots out of that.

That is a benevolence fund that the elders are in charge of. And when any of you, Any of you have a need, You're in a situation where, Man, We didn't expect this.

And we don't know how we're going to pay it. We want you to come to us. And we want to help. We want to tend to the needs of the saints. That's the first appropriate area for giving.

That's what's occasioned the whole passage. However, While it might occasion, Be the occasion for Paul's teaching here, I want us to see that there is a wider application.

Because the fact is that there are several other places in the New Testament. We're not going to go to all of them, But I'm going to touch on a couple.

Where we are also taught about giving, And what's appropriate to give toward, And put the Lord's money toward. Let me highlight just a couple more.

A couple other areas. Letter B. For the mission. For the mission. Now Paul, It's kind of strange here in Corinth, Because he goes out of his way a couple times to say, I haven't taken any money from you guys.

I haven't taken a penny from you Corinthians. We know that he did some tent making, But did you know that he was also getting support from other churches?

And we've probably learned enough about this letter, And this tense relationship, And the breakdown that they've had, Paul and the Corinthians, To know that there were some rivals in the church, That were showing up.

They were challenging Paul. And one of the ways they were coming at him, Is they were saying, You're in it for the money Paul. Which is so ironic, That gaslighting.

How people accuse you of something that they're doing. It still happens today. That's what they were doing. They were there for the money. But they said, Paul, We don't trust you.

You haven't taken a dollar yet, But we know you're working a long game. And so he'll write this in a couple of chapters. 2 Corinthians 11, Verse 9.

2 Corinthians 11:9

And when I was with you guys, And was in need, I did not burden anyone. For the brothers who came from Macedonia, Remember those poorer Christians?

They supplied my need. So I refrained, And will refrain, From burdening you in any way. He's saying, I'm not going to take any income from you, No support from you, Corinthians.

And yet again, Here's the thing. Paul might have refused financial support from Corinth, But he did not refuse financial support for his mission altogether.

In fact, The Macedonians supplied my need. And over in his letter to the Philippians, Philippi's in Macedonia, He actually praised the Philippians for their financial partnership.

It's almost like a missionary with supporters. Here it is, Philippians chapter 4, Verses 15 and 16. And you Philippians yourselves know, That in the beginning of the gospel, When I left Macedonia, No church entered into partnership with me, In giving and receiving, Except you only.

Philippians 4:15

Even in Thessalonica, You sent me help for my needs, Once and again.

We can go on to read in verse 18 of Philippians 4, How these Philippians had sent Paul monetary support, And Paul calls it, An acceptable, Fragrant offering.

They did this, He says, More than once. I take that to be regular support. Some of you do that for missionaries. You give monthly support. We do that.

Monthly support. Your church does that too, By the way. We give a percentage. We try to give about 10%, Give or take, Of everything that we have in our budget.

We try to give about 10% away to missions. This is in addition to the 5% we give to the region, And to the denomination. We think that's important.

We think that's good. And please understand, When we say mission, For the mission, Yes, That can mean overseas, Crossing an ocean, Going to a foreign country, But it's not limited to that.

Mission can be any kind of new work. Any kind of new ministry endeavor. Anytime you start a new thing for the gospel. Those who carry out the great commission, To go and make disciples of all nations.

So that includes mission abroad. That includes new works, Church plants, Here at home. All of it. So what's another appropriate area for your giving?

It's for the mission. And finally, Let me highlight a third area. Third area. And this one hits a little closer to home. Letter C. For the support of ministry workers, And ministry apparatus.

Ministry workers, Ministry workers, And ministry apparatus. Here we're talking about the local church. From having a place to gather, And worship, And not be in the snow.

To having rightly trained folks, Devoting significant time to teaching, And leading. Let's start with those who preach and teach, Like I'm doing right now.

Like Matt's done. Here's what 1 Corinthians 9, Verse 11. Paul writes over there, In chapter 9, Verse 11. He says, If we have sown spiritual things among you, Is it too much if we reap material things from you?

1 Corinthians 9:11

You see, It's interesting. Even though he's not taking any money from the Corinthians, He's kind of saying, He's kind of shaming them. He's kind of saying, It's our right.

You should be paying us. And then he goes on in verse 13. And he says, Do you not know that those who are employed in the temple service, Get their food from the temple?

And those who serve at the altar, Share in the sacrificial offerings? It's kind of funny when people say, Oh, that's Old Testament. That doesn't apply anymore.

Tithing, giving, Old Testament. It's funny how Paul's very comfortable reaching into the Old Testament, Into Judaism, And applying it to the Christian church and the Christian life.

And he finishes by saying this, In the same way, Verse 14, You know, from time to time, Someone will ask me flat out,

Do you feel bad that you have to be paid a salary by your church as a pastor? And because of passages like this one, I say, No. Not at all. Not at all.

It's biblical. It's good. 1 Timothy chapter 5. 1 Timothy 5 verse 17. This is what Paul says. He says, Let the elders who rule well. Let the elders who rule well.

1 Timothy 5 · chapter mention 1 Timothy 5:17

I guess maybe those that don't rule well shouldn't be paid. Let the elders who rule well be considered worthy of double honor, Especially those who labor in preaching and teaching.

For the scripture says, You shall not muzzle an ox when it treads out the grain. That's a nice metaphor for preachers who are going to get too big a head.

You're just kind of an ox. And the laborer deserves his wages. That's another good metaphor. We're just laborers. The laborer deserves his wages.

Now, to be clear on a couple things, Double honor is not a parade for your pastor. Right? It's talking about money. Payment. A salary. A paycheck.

Every two weeks, you guys deposit. Did you know this? You deposit into my account at First Source a paycheck. For which we're grateful. Just like you probably have.

If you work. Or if you've worked all your life, And now you're taking a pension or retirement. It's a paycheck. It's the ability for someone like me and Matt To spend about five and a half, More realistically, six days a week, Doing this thing full time.

I don't get up in the morning and go off to another job. Like you do. Because my job is this. It's the ministry of the word. The quote unquote experts tell us that a church family Needs a full time staff member for about every 70 people.

Some of you that have read the literature will say, Yeah, I remember hearing that. A church of about 70 is good. You know, one full time pastor should be good.

Redeemer is about 200 or so. And so with our ministry team, We have a couple of us full time. Matt and I. And then we've got a few part time people like Courtney.

Amber, Jen, Amy, bookkeeper. So I think we're right about where we should be. And this is good. It's appropriate. It's appropriate. And not only for personnel who serve in the church.

Let me talk about that ministry apparatus part. The practical things that we need to do ministry. Like a roof over our head. And lights. And sound.

And heat. And a parking lot. And a copier. And the coffee that you like. And the playground that's buried in snow but soon will thaw out. And the curriculum that we need.

If you want to know the things that we spend money on, We don't have any secrets around here. We publish the budget. There's no secret budget under the budget.

It's all out there. We give it to you once a year. We can give it to you anytime you want. We publish it and give it to you. And we even let you decide on it.

You approve it. There are no secrets. And what I'm saying is, It's good to sow bountifully. Yes! Even into the ministry of your local church.

I don't know where this came from. But sometimes there's almost a sense of like, Benevolence. Or missions are higher and pure. And then give into the local church.

Oh, I guess some people have to. I don't really like to do that. Why? I'm all about all three. But let's not throw one underneath the rug. Because we're used to it.

It's not shameful that we pay a part-time income To our worship leader. Or our children's director. Or to two full-time pastors.

Now, of course, I do hear the occasional objection. Well, what about the early church in Acts? Didn't they meet in homes? And I would say, Yes and no.

Yes, they did meet in homes. And if you really want to play that argument, Let me know. And we will meet at your home next week. Would that be cool?

You ready for 200 people? Including all the kids with muddy boots? You got room for them in your house? No, I don't either. And funny, but, you know, the ancient Israelites, God's people in the Old Testament, Did they have house tabernacles?

No, they had the tabernacle. They had the temple. And in places like Exodus 35, We even see how God's people all contributed To creating and maintaining that sacred space.

And all the apparatus that they needed. So call me crazy if I don't think that Having a building as a local church Is so completely unbiblical.

Not to mention that the early church Often met at the Jerusalem temple, by the way. There was this area outdoor Called Solomon's Portico. Now, by the way, We live in a climate where Meeting outside on porches Isn't going to work right now.

And a lot of these early churches That started in homes, They were in the homes of very wealthy people With an estate And with a lot of outdoor spaces.

And so they presumably could get A couple hundred people at Lydia's house, The dealer in purple cloth. Right? So some things have changed. And having a public ministry space That can host a larger number of people, Well, the temple portico, Solomon's portico, We're told the church was a couple thousand

At that point. Grounds and buildings, by the way, In the first century, That were all paid for And kept up by tithes. No less. Don't forget that.

So we've looked at what our giving Should be like. The first question. We've just considered this question Of what it should be for. But let me go on to one last question.

Question number three. What should our giving produce? What should it produce? We'll start with this letter A. It will produce Multiplied seed For generous sowers.

Multiplied seed For generous sowers. Now we've already touched on this, But I want to be very direct And very specific about this right now.

Because that's what Paul is. Very direct. Very specific. He says this in verse 6. You sow bountifully, You will reap bountifully. And then he says in verse 8.

And God is able to make all grace abound to you, So that having sufficiency in all things, At all times, You may abound in every good work. What that verse is telling you and I, Is that God is going to make sure, That His generous givers, Have what they need.

He's going to make sure that, You have what you need. Paul says all the time. In all circumstances. And, He will also make it so that, We will be able to, Abound in every good work.

Let me give it to you, In the New Living translation. I don't use that one very much, But this one's pretty good. I probably should have it on screen, But I don't.

And God will generously provide all you need, Then, You will have everything you need, And plenty left over to share. And plenty left over to share.

Verse 10 sums it up really nicely. He who supplied seed to the sower, And bread for food, Will supply, And multiply your seed for sowing, And increase the harvest of your righteousness.

Listen, Some of you are gardeners. I try. I don't pretend. I try. Others of you, Maybe have done some farming in your life. Every farmer, Especially an ancient world farmer, Knows that if you're going to, See a harvest, You got to throw some seed.

And you can't be, Tight-fisted with the seed. You've got to be liberal. You've got to, Throw some seed out there. Others of you, Some of you gardeners, I know, You do this thing where, After you get a crop, You know how to get the seeds, From the crop.

And dry them out, And wash them, And find the good ones, And save them for next year. And that's really amazing. What Paul is saying is, Just that.

If you sow the seed, You're going to get more back, That you can keep sowing. We think Paul's probably applying, A quote from the prophet Hosea.

Hosea chapter 10, Verse 12. Here's what the prophet wrote, Sow for yourselves righteousness, Reap steadfast love, Break up your fallow ground, For it is the time to seek the Lord, That he may come, And rain righteousness upon you.

Hosea 10:12

Paul is taking this principle, Which applies to more than just financial matters, Right? We know that the prophets, Were not just concerned about, People eating, And rains from heaven, They were concerned about, Things like righteousness, Which was sorely lacking.

But Paul is taking, Something that applies, To more than just financial matters, And right here, He's applying it to financial matters. That's why people like Dave Ramsey, Teach principles of giving, And tithing, Not at step five, Not at step eight, He teaches it where?

Like step one or two, I don't know where it is. Early, Right off the start, He says start tithing, This is Dave Ramsey, Start tithing when you don't think you have enough, And I'm not going to swear by everything, Dave Ramsey's ever said in his life, But I think what's driving him to say that, Is this principle,

That this principle, That Paul's giving us right here?

And so all I would say to some of us, Is if you're sitting here today thinking, Man, I just don't have enough to give, I would say you probably won't ever until you try.

It takes some precious seeds. But God is in the promising business. And he's also in the multiplying business. And he promises to multiply. Try him out.

What should our giving produce? First, It should produce multiplied seed for the generous sower. But there's more. Something else that our giving produces.

Letter B. Letter B. It will produce bonds of affection, Fellowship, And unity. Bonds of affection, Fellowship, And unity. Unity.

This is really what Paul was after here. Yes, He cared about some really hungry, Needy believers in Judea. But more deeply than his concern for that, Was a desire to see Gentile Christians with abundance in Greece, Sharing their abundance with their Jewish Christian counterparts in Judea,

And creating unity in the church. In verse 14, He talks about how the Judean believers, Once they receive this gift, He says, They will long for you, And pray for you.

Long for you. That's a tender, Deep affection. The kind that brings believers together in fellowship, In unity. That's one of our goals here at our church, Is that you feel that, Here at Redeemer, With fellow believers.

And I don't know about you, But show of hands today, Who likes receiving a gift? You like receiving a gift? I like receiving a gift. And how much more when that gift, Meets a huge need, And you don't have the resources for it.

And that's what was happening here, For these Jewish Christians in Judea. They didn't have a rainy day fund. They didn't have a backup plan.

And through these new believers, In the Gentile world, They were about to be blessed. You know, I've been there. I remember, I remember my poor seminary days.

Some of you have been to seminary. Everybody's poor in seminary. I was living in Chicagoland, Not a place for, The rich suburbs of Chicago. What a place for a seminary.

Guess what? It just closed. Sorry. But I had no money. I had, I had numbers behind my name, But they were debt numbers. From my Bible college.

I was driving at the time, A 1987 Buick Skylark. No, wait. Not 87. It was an 83. 1983 Buick Skylark. And I had been, In my Bible college years, I've been swapping out parts, All over the car, And the engine with junkyard parts.

Because I had a couple friends at college, That knew how to work on stuff. And I'd call my dad, And he'd be like, Yeah, check the local junkyard.

And we kept that car running. And then I took it, From the fields of Iowa, To the streets of Chicago. And then it died. No more junkyard parts are going to fix it.

It's dead. And my friend from high school, My buddy from high school, Went to gym town. Gave me his car.

Didn't charge me. He was free. Signed over the title. Just gave it to me. It was like, I think one year newer. It was a 1984, Olds Cutlass. I think they called it Cutlass Supreme.

It was pretty much the same age, And wear and tear, As my old car. With one big exception. It still ran. And it ran for me for the next two years.

Even without power steering. It had power. Didn't have power steering, Which made driving Chicago fun. It didn't have air conditioning. And the windows didn't work either.

So it was warm in the summer. But listen, My friend and I, We were close before that. You know, we were close. But man, that was a big deal.

And that bonded us even closer. And if you yourself have ever experienced something like that, Being given a car for free, You know, it's nice to be able to turn around and do the same thing for somebody else.

Right? And you know, that was the case for us. Wouldn't you know? I got married. Terry brought an income to the household. That was new for us.

We bought another car. And we had this car. You know, the no windows, no power steering, no air conditioning car. And what did we do? We gave it to another seminary student.

And he drove it for another year. Paul wanted Jews and Gentiles in God's church to be unified and bonded. And he was trusting that the gift of this major collection would convince Jewish Christians that God was fulfilling ancient prophecies.

And what were those ancient prophecies? Well, there's quite a few of them. They talk about the nations. Talk about the Gentiles. And how all the nations and the Gentiles would come to the Lord's temple.

And there's even some prophecies that talk about them bringing in their wealth to the Lord's temple. So what will our giving produce? A. Multiplied seed for generous sowers.

B. It will produce bonds of affection, fellowship, and unity. And finally this. C. It will produce thanks and glory to God. Thanks and glory to God.

B. Verse 11. When this collection is delivered, it will produce thanksgiving to God, Paul says. Again in verse 12. For this ministry of this service, he writes, it's not only supplying the needs of the saints, but is also overflowing in many thanksgivings to God.

Now, we ask ourselves, will the Judean believers receive this fund and think only of the Corinthians and the Macedonians? What great guys they are?

No, not only. They would know that something like this could only come from God. And Paul knows this too, which is why he writes down in verse 13 that they will glorify God in seeing the practical outworking of the gospel like this.

All of which leads Paul, of course, at the very end of this chapter, to not just think about the material provisions and thank God for those, but to also thank God and think about the very best provision and best gift and really the source of all the other gifts.

And that's verse 15. Thanks be to God for his inexpressible gift. You say, what gift is he talking about? It's the gift for which Paul doesn't even have appropriate words to express his deep gratitude.

The gift that came in the form of God sending his one and only son, gifting him to the world as an atoning sacrifice for all our sins. It's that gift of himself.

Christ reconciling us, creating the very gospel unity that he knew in faith would come through the Corinthians' obedience and generosity.

It's the very same gift that we have the privilege to celebrate and proclaim right now, today. So I'm going to ask those who are going to be serving us at the Lord's table, if they would come right now and I'm going to pray for us.

So if you would bow your heads with me, let's turn our attention to the Lord as we prepare our hearts. Father, we thank you for this truly, truly inexpressible gift.

Because of your son Jesus, we can have fellowship with you. We can have life with you. We can have a hope, a hope that anchors our souls in the midst of a world that is so often adrift.

Lord, we've considered the subject of giving today and we need your help. Help us, Lord, to always see it through the lens of what you've provided and given to us.

And that's salvation. Salvation from our sins by your free grace. That's hope eternal from you, our generous and patient God. We thank you and we praise you.

And we pray this in the name of your son, in Jesus' name. Amen.