1 Corinthians 16:1–4, "Now Concerning Giving."

We're just about finished teaching through First

Corinthians. We'll actually finish the book

next week and then we'll have a a series focusing in on the Holy

Spirit for a few weeks and then we'll get back into Second

Corinthians. It's helpful because we know the

context of of Paul's writing here to the church at Corinth.

So, you know, it makes sense to flow from First Corinthians into

Second Corinthians. But tonight the title of the

message is now concerning giving and we're going to just focus in

on the 1st 4 verses of chapter 16.

Now as Christians, our lives are about lordship.

We are surrendered people. We are people who acknowledge

Jesus Christ to be our Lord. Our lives are fully given over

to Jesus in every area and in everything.

And that's what it means in theory, but in practise it's

often a different story. But what that means is that if

Jesus is our Lord, does he have every part of our lives?

Is he Lord over our thoughts? Is he Lord over our dreams, our

goals, our ambitions? Is he Lord over our hearts?

Is he Lord over our marriages, our children, our relationships,

our parenting? Is he lured over our actions?

Is he lured over our words, spoken, written, texted?

Is he lured over our work ethics?

Over our homes? Over our sexuality?

Over our material possessions? Is he lured over our money?

And Christianity is about a life that is surrendered unto Jesus.

And this includes how we handle and how we think about money,

about finances, about material possessions and.

And this is what Paul deals with and for us tonight in these 4

verses. In one Corinthians 16, Paul

answers the final of what have been various questions, but 4

specifically from the Corinthian church that they had written to

him. Paul, we're new believers, We're

brand new. We're we're about 5 years old in

their in their saving relationship with Jesus and they

had written to him seeking guidance on a number of things.

And we've looked at those and it's forced us to look at a

number of probably difficult passages and, and topics as

we've done so. And they asked questions about

relationships, about singleness, about marriage, about divorce.

And he dealt with those in Chapter 7 in First Corinthians.

And then they were wondering, well, how far can you go as a

Christian? Is it permissible for us to do

this or to not do that and still name the name of Christ?

If we're followers of Jesus, does that mean if we do this,

are we disqualified? Or if we don't do that, are we

disqualified? What's the areas of what we call

today Christian liberties? And we looked at that in chapter

8, and then we had chapter 1213 and 14, considering spiritual

gifts, The Holy Spirit, the greatest gift is given to each

and every one of us as the body of Jesus Christ.

Different giftings that are to be a blessing unto God and to

each other. And he deals with that in

chapter 1213 and 14. And and now tonight, giving

money, how much and how often? Chapter 16 in each of these

questions, Paul begins, and this is the clue for us as we see it

in a moment in reading from verse one.

Each answer to those questions begins with the phrase now

concerning, now concerning spiritual gifts.

Now concerning tonight. The collection for the Saints is

how it begins in verse one. Now concerning the collection

for the Saints. So tonight we will look at God's

view of giving. We'll see us being able to

direct our focus on how it is that we're to give and and why

it is that we're to give and what that means for us as

believers if Jesus Christ is truly our Lord.

I'm reading from the new King James Version tonight, verse one

now concerning the collection for the Saints.

As I have given orders to the churches of Galatia.

So you must do also. So this isn't just a a random

isolated point of application for one church specifically in

current, but he'd also instructed another collective

group of churches in the region of Glacia.

This information that we're reading on the first day of the

week, verse 2, What is the first day of the week?

Sunday the church had begun to gather, not on the Sabbath, as

was the Jewish custom on the Saturday, but on the Sunday

being the Lord's Day, the day that Jesus rose again, the first

day of the week. And so that was when they had

begun gathering and meeting each week as a body corporately to

worship God and to study God's Word.

So he says on the first day of the week, let each one of you

lay something aside, storing up as he may prosper, that there be

no collections when I come. And when I come, verse 3,

whomever you're approved by your letters, I will send to bear

your gift to Jerusalem. But if it is fitting that I go

also, they will go with me. And as I say, next week, we'll

deal with the rest of the chapter.

And it reveals Paul's pastoral heart to the church there.

And we'll glean from that. But tonight our focus, God's

view on giving. Now concerning giving,

interestingly, while spiritual gifts pulled out with over 3

chapters, 12/13 and 14, he only gives 4 verses to money and

giving. That doesn't mean that it's less

important, but I think it to be less complicated.

You see, there was a lot to deal with, with the treatment and

correction of their youth and abuse of spiritual gifts.

So he devoted a lot of time and energy and effort in chapter

1213 and 14 to correcting those and guiding them in that.

And here in these verses that we've just read, he answers in

less space. Again, not less important, but I

think less complicated. Why?

Because doesn't it seem that when it comes to money and

material possessions that you either have a lot of it, not a

lot of it, or just enough just right, kind of like Goldilocks

and the three bears. Because ultimately here, what

we're getting into is the understanding that we need to

remember. And what is base at at this is

that whatever that we have, whether it be a little, whether

it be a lot, whether it be just right in our estimation,

whatever we do have comes from God.

And we are stewards entrusted with that material possession,

with with those finances, with that money by God.

And ultimately, what matters is this.

What honours God is how we gain what we have, how we've gone

about acquiring those funds and those material possessions.

And what honours God is, is what we give with what he has given

us, with how we've been obtaining those funds, with how

we have gained what we have, and then how we go about

disseminating or using that which we have been entrusted by

God. And all of it, again, all of it

comes from God's hand. He is sovereign over all of

that. Now, I will say this for anyone

perhaps new here tonight or maybe recently coming along, we

don't often talk about money. This is not like that.

You've come in and gone. The very thing that I didn't

want coming into church is the very thing that this preacher

guy is talking about. What we do here is we go through

books of the Bible and as we do, we teach them verse by verse,

chapter by chapter and and book by book.

We go that way. And what that does is it, it

forces us to deal with topics and subject matter that might

not necessarily be choices of, of, of preference for us, but we

need to deal with it because we're, we're concerned with the

whole council of God's word. And that's why going through

First Corinthians has forced us to deal with certain topics,

hasn't it? That might not necessarily be

choices for us if we were to teach a, a topical message or to

give topical preaching a priority here in our

congregation. I mean, sexual immorality and,

and, and the, the, the issues that they were dealing with in

first current, That's not something that you go, yeah, I

want to teach on that. Like I said, the spiritual

liberties and the things that we can go through and and can and

can't do as believers, speaking on divorce and speaking on,

speaking in in tongues, those aren't things that people

necessarily go. If I'm looking for a text to

preach out of, I'm settled on that.

And now money. Now our giving.

Now the Bible emphasises money a fair bit.

Did you know that there are over 2300 verses about money in the

Bible? And that is actually twice as

many as faith and prayer combined.

So it's a pretty important topic through the Bible and important

for us to know about as God's people.

Jesus spoke more about money, listen to this than heaven and

hell combined. Isn't that interesting?

16 of his 38 parables Jesus told involved money or possessions,

navigating through that and how to deal with that.

So why is such an emphasis? Why is it given such priority

through the Bible? It's because of this, because

money, material possessions often reveal the heart within

us, often indicate what we value, what we prize.

Jesus said it this way, didn't he?

He said in Matthew chapter 6, verse 21.

Matthew 6:21

Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

You see, what we spend money on, what we're willing to prioritise

and sacrifice for or not, that reveals where our hearts longing

is. And Jesus said that we're to not

store up treasure here on earth, but to store up treasure in

heaven. And what we're going to learn

and what we're going to see through these verses tonight is

this is that generosity, greed, covetousness, these are all

heart issues. And so is contentment.

And generosity enables us to be surrendered to God in ways where

greed and covetousness causes us to resist God's work and will in

our lives. In all of these topics that Paul

has been addressing through the book of, of Corinthians here,

First Corinthians, it's been about lordship in many of those.

Is Jesus Lord over my sexuality when he dealt with that?

Is Jesus Lord over my relationships when he dealt with

that? And here is Jesus Lord over my

money, over my material possessions, over my giving or

not? And that's continued in

tonight's focus. If you're not a follower of

Jesus Christ, how you handle money?

Is it usually according to personal goals or principles or

ambitions that you might have? But as a Christian, you and I,

how we view money reflects our view of God's authority in our

lives, of God's lordship over us.

And how we make and manage money is a direct reflection of our

relationship with God. You see, money will either

compete with our devotion to God, or it will complement it.

It will either master us or serve us.

Jesus said that you cannot have two masters, didn't he not that

you cannot serve Mammon, which was an understanding back then

of money and of material possessions and serve God.

And so it's for this reason that we need to consider the totality

of the Bible's teaching on this before digging more deeply into

these verses. And what we'll see and, and need

to understand is that it will either cause or when we look at

the Bible, the, the Bible either offer a 'cause when it comes to

money or a caution when it comes to money and material things.

And through the Scriptures, the, the cause of the source of all

material things is the Lord. This was given all the way back

in the Pentateuch in in the the book of Deuteronomy, Moses

reminded the people of Israel when they would head out into

the promised land, a land that was given to them as a land that

would be flowing with milk and honey.

And he says to them, Deuteronomy 8 verse 17 to 18.

Deuteronomy 8:17–18

You say in your heart, my power and the might of my hand have

gained me this wealth. And you shall remember the Lord

your God, for it is he who gives you power to get wealth that he

may establish his covenant which he swore to your father's as it

is this day. You see, there are many people

who say, well, I'm a self, self made man and I've pulled myself

up by my bootstraps and, and what I have and what I possess

is all because of my acumen, all because of my ability, my

decisions, my capacity. But but God through Moses

reminds the people of Israel. Lest you be tempted to say that,

let me remind you that the cause of this power, the cause of this

might is me. That I am the God who has gifted

and enabled you to earn this, to, to make those decisions that

have borne such fruit. To recognise that I am the

'cause that I am the source of all provision materially that

comes to you. So God is to be seen when we,

when we look through the Bible, when it comes to money and

material possessions, God is to be seen as the 'cause as the

source of that. But then as we read through the

Bible, there's always cautionary information given to us,

cautionary to not become greedy, cautionary to not become

covetousness, to desire what other people's have and possess

so that it consumes us, or to make an idol out of material

things. Paul dealt with that when he

focused on idolatry. And we know this passage quite

well, one Timothy chapter 6 verse 10, because it's often

misconstrued and and misquoted, but it says for the love of

money is a root of all kinds of evil for which look at this,

some have strayed from the faith why?

In their greediness and pierced themselves through with many

sorrows. That's a caution that's given to

us in the Bible. And then Jesus, Luke 12 verse

Luke 12:15

15, he said to them, take heed and beware of covetousness.

Covetousness for one's life does not consist in the abundance of

the things he possesses. When it comes to talking and

discussing money in in the church and from the pulpit, it

can be contentious. And I think because the church,

largely capital C, has had problems with money, hasn't it?

There's been great abuse and and misuse of funds, and teaching

out of the Bible usually seems to err on on one of two sides of

the spectrum. That either there's this poverty

theology that that all money is to be renounced, that all

possessions are bad or are evil, and that the poorer that you

are, the more holy and righteous that you are and closer to God

as a consequence. That's one end of the extreme.

And the other end is the prosperity doctrinal prosperity

theology, that that money is a blessing and that you need faith

and that when you are blessed, it's a declaration of faith and

you're a King's kid and and you're entitled and you have

certain rights. And it's that whole health and

wealth prosperity doctrine that's that's often taught.

And, and we swing from one end of the spectrum to the other.

And what the Bible is about is balance.

So therefore, what we need to be about is balance.

We need to avoid the extremes of of the poverty gospel, that

money is evil, that you should have nothing when it comes to

possessions or the other extreme of the prosperity gospel that

God wants everybody who is a follower of him to be rich and

wealthy. Both are distorted.

The truth is this, we give you what the Bible says.

Proverbs 30 verse 7 to 9 Give me neither poverty nor riches, lest

Proverbs 30:7–9

I be full and deny you, or lest I be poor and steal.

In other words, the writer of the Proverbs there says, if I

have too much, I can be apartment or prone in that

fullness, in that abundance, to forget about God, and it

dishonest him as a consequence. And I will deny God as the

source. I will claim credit and glory

unto myself, unto my own again acumen and intellect and

ability, and then the dependence is on myself, and I will

dishonour God as a consequence. Or if I have too little down the

other extreme, I can be apartment or prone to seek or to

seek to steal and thieve and to take unto myself will become

covetousness and likewise bring dishonour unto God.

You see, whether you have little, whether you have much,

your heart can drift. And so the antidote, the cure to

that. It's our first point tonight.

And that is this, as Paul brings it out, give generously, give

generously in Second Corinthians.

Later on, he'll write to the church these words in Chapter 9,

verse six and seven. But this I say, he who sows

sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows

bountifully will also reap bountifully.

So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not

grudgingly or of necessity, for God loves a cheerful giver.

I just read from the new King James Version and it said not to

give out of necessity, but I like how the NIV says it says

not to give under compulsion. You ever been in those contexts

where the plates been passed around or you have this, this

pressure almost like this, Gee, I, I better give and, and you're

looking and, and this was kind of a little bit of my, my

childhood upbringing. Some it was a little more

popular. We don't deal so much in, in

cash these days, But you know, the plate would whip around and

it's like, no, there's not enough.

Bring it around again and bring it in.

And, and so there was this compulsion going on.

And Paul says that's not how it's to be, but God loves a

cheerful giver that there should be this welling up within us of

oh, how joyous, how wonderful, how good and how right, how

blessed I am. And, and then I, I love, I want

to, I get to do this sense of the privilege of being able to

give. Let me give you an illustration.

Maybe you know the name Rockefeller.

So John D Rockefeller, in 1916, he became America's first

billionaire. But he lived in such poor health

and distress at age 53 because of the the pressure and the

worry and the anxiety that consumed him about the money

that he possessed. His diet was milk and crackers

because he literally worried himself sick.

It was all that he could consume that would kind of soothe his

stomach. But then he discovered by his

own testimony the biblical principle of tithing, and it

changed everything for him. He adopted the financial

philosophy of John Wesley, who was a preacher many years before

him, who said this earn all you can, save all you can, give all

you can. And that transformed the way

that Rockefeller approached and thought about money and about

his material possessions. And his health improved to the

to the point that he actually lived to to the age of 97.

Why he became generous, his mindset, his attitude, his heart

changed. He began to give back unto God

and to God's work and, and generosity within him began to

to bring peace in his heart and in his life.

And as a consequence, even impacting him physically where

once it it was not a good situation for him.

And here's what we know about generosity.

When we're generous, it reflects God's heart.

It reflects the God that we purport to serve, the God that

we call Father. You see, God is generous.

That's an attribute of his character.

It's who he is. James one verse 17 says that

every good and perfect gift comes from above, comes down

from the Father of lights in whom there is no shadow or

turning. In other words, that that

Scripture declares that everything that we possess that

is good, it rightly has its source, has its cause in God.

Why? Because God is good and God is

generous, and he gives out of that generosity to us, his

people. John 316 We know it so well, for

God so loved the world that he gave.

He's one and only Son. So when we are celebrating

Christmas, when we're remembering the gift that is

Jesus Christ, the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes in a

Manger, it's effectively a celebration of the generosity of

God. When we remember Easter, that is

effectively a celebration of the generosity of God that Jesus

would willingly give up his life to die in our place upon the

cross for our sin. And then as we've been studying

through and, and we're going to get into a series of it.

When we consider the gift of the Holy Spirit, that an attribute

of, of the Holy Spirit is that he gives gifts to us, his

people. You see, there's this generosity

that is in the the Trinity that is the Godhead, Father, Son and

Holy Spirit. God's generosity is evident and

it is unmatched. And so if we're to be followers

of God, then generosity is to be part and parcel of who we are,

just as families share attributes and characteristics.

You know, we look around, we know people here and we can see

certain mannerisms, certain phrases and, and certain things

that identify and mark as well. They've got to be related, we

say. If God our Father is generous,

then we, his children, his sons and daughters, as we sung

tonight, should it not stand to reason that we too are generous

with what he has given us? It is part and parcel of who God

is, and God has modelled that for us to follow, to emulate, to

imitate Him as His children. You see, when we give, when we

imitate our generous Father, not just with money, but with time,

with, with love that has been bestowed upon us, with patience

towards others, with forgiveness towards others, anytime we are

generous, not just with money, we are reflections of our

Father. Why?

For He is generous. And so our giving our first

point tonight is to be generous. The second I'll go back to verse

2 here, for this is to give proportionately on the first day

of the week. He says let each one of you lay

something aside, stirring up as He may prosper, that there be no

collections when I come. Let me read verse 2 again, this

time from the NIV. I've mentioned a couple of times

because I really want you to hear the language of how the NIV

presents this. It says this on the first day of

every week, again Sunday. Each one of you should set aside

a sum of money in keeping with his income.

That's the proportion of part saving it up so that when I

come, no collection will have to be made.

So what Paul said very practically was that when he

came to visit, he didn't want to have a whip around the hat.

All right, everybody, we've got to give money to Jerusalem to

help God's work there, to support and benefit the the body

of believers over there. And just as the other churches

in Galatia have done, and just as the churches in Macedonia do,

now it's your turn. OK, everybody and and you know,

at the time when it's this one off giving, you kind of think,

wow, that's that's a fair bit and can I afford that and so on.

So it's very practical in many sense.

And so he says to the Corinthians to give in

proportion to their income. Now that's a principle that we

would understand through the Bible and we call, you know, we

pray for it. We give of our tithes and

offerings and and that's that's language that's in the Bible.

But what we need to understand and and hopefully what you'll

understand as I I teach through this is this is no longer an

obligation for us under the law, but is a motivation that springs

out of grace. Understand it's discipline

giving Paul's instruction give on the first day of the week

again Sunday. It's when early Christians would

gather to worship. It's why we we worship on a

Sunday, Jesus rose. It's when they would meet for

worship and he wants the giving to therefore be a part of that

gathering for the giving then to be a part of that worship

service in devotion unto God. He says for them to set

something aside regularly and intentionally.

Now for you and I, as we seek to consider application out of

that, does that mean that that where to give weekly?

Not necessarily. That may be your practise, but

you might give monthly, you might give fortnightly, you

might give on a six monthly basis or an annual basis.

But what the point is, is there's to be regularity to that

and discipline to that. Why?

Because small, consistent discipline beats sporadic

emotion. He didn't want a scramble when

he arrived. He didn't want an overwhelming

sense of burden either when he arrived.

But again, for it to be a regular, habitual, disciplined

part of their worship unto God. Why?

Because haven't you found this to be be so that generosity

grows through habit in our lives before it becomes joy.

And so Paul recommends a regular amount be given a portion for it

to be a disciplined part of their worship.

Notice what Paul does not specify as this the portion

amount, nor the portion percentage.

It doesn't name a percentage. The Bible speaks of the tithe,

which literally is a percentage, the 10th as a guideline.

That was Old Testament, what the Jews were encouraged as a

baseline, kind of like the poorest of the poorest

Israelites under the the system of Judaism that they were to

give a tithe. Now 41 times in Scripture, that

word, that phrase tithe is provided.

I'm going to give you 2 tonight. You're welcome in the Old

Testament and one from the New Testament, Malachi chapter 3,

Malachi 3:8–10

verse 8 to 10. Will a man rob God?

Is the question asked. Yet you have robbed me.

But you say in in what way have we robbed you in tithes and

offerings? You are cursed with a curse, for

you have robbed me. Even this whole nation.

Bring all the tithes into the storehouse.

Now the storehouse was a reference to the temple place of

worship and to God. Bring all the tithes into the

storehouse, that there may be food in my house.

God says, and try me now in this.

Test me now in this, says the Lord of hosts, if I will not

open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you such

a blessing that there will not be room enough to receive it.

And in the New Testament there had been and, and the Pharisees,

the religious leaders had sort of swung over to the other end

of the spectrum, where in the Old Testament, what Malachi and,

and the people of Israel at the time were doing was abandoning

altogether the giving of tithes and offerings.

At the time of Jesus, the Pharisees were very Pharisaical

about it to the letter of the law about it and Jesus here in

Matthew 23 verse 23, he affirms tithing as as being important as

Matthew 23:23

being a practise that they were to do.

But he emphasises the heart in that he says woe to you scribes

and Pharisees, hypocrites, for you pay tithe of mint and anise

and cumin. So these were herbs and spices

that they were very particular and pedantic about.

And it's like, OK, let's break off the mint leaves. 12349 for

me, one for God. And and that's how precise they

were about it. But then he says you have

neglected the weightier matters of the law, justice and mercy

and faith. These you ought to have done

without leaving the others undone.

So this is, I'm not dismissing the tithe and the offering

altogether, but your heart has gone Askew.

You're focusing on the wrong things.

You think that you're, you're doing the right thing by being

so particular about that, but you're neglecting justice and

mercy and faith. And So what we see and to

understand is it's not about God needing your or my money.

He owns it all. The Bible tells us that again,

but it's about whether or not God has your heart, and the

tithe is a great starting point in that.

And let me just emphasise this again.

Tithing is not a mandate of the law.

It is a motivation of the heart. We read earlier out of Second

Corinthians that God loves a cheerful giver.

No one should ever feel obligated to have to give 10% of

your income because we're not under the law, we're under grace

now. And because we're under grace

now, you should feel free to give 20% or 30% or 40% or 50%.

We kind of laugh at that, don't we?

No way. But whatever.

God lays on your heart. Yeah, there's a common

objection. Maybe even you're thinking this

tonight. I don't know if you've ever

heard it. Oh, tithing is Old Testament.

It's it's so Old Testament. It's it's the law and and we're

free from that. Usually what I found is that

whenever people ask that or are thinking that they're coming

from the position of wanting to do less than 10%, You know, I

know I'm not under obligated under the 10th under the tithe

anymore. And and yes, whilst that's true,

we're not under law, what we are under now is what grace.

So let me ask you this in thinking about that, does grace

do more or less than the law? Grace is more than the law,

isn't it? So while we shouldn't feel

obligated, Paul wrote, as I said, a cheerful giver to give,

as we've read here, in proportion.

And God doesn't want us to give out of compulsion or obligation,

but because of grace, because of what God has given.

I want to honour, I get to honour the Lord with a portion

of what he has given to me, whether that be 10%.

I think that's a great baseline for us to be honest, or whether

that's 11 percent, 12%, 21%, whatever.

You are convinced and and convicted by God that yes, this

is in proportion God to the grace that you have given that I

am desirous to give back to you. And so because if I'm living

under the grace of God's, if if you know, the riches that God's

given through his grace to me are showered on my life and on

your life, that that bounty of provision that he has blessed us

with. And don't you think that we

should maybe consider to give a little more than the poorest of

the Israelites some 2000 years ago under the old law?

And so we're to give proportionately, whether that's

the 10th or something else. You know, personally, when, when

April and I got married, tithing wasn't an issue for us.

It was just a matter of fact part of our budget.

And because we'd both been raised in homes where, you know,

this was already a principle instilled in US.

And so when we came together and sorted through that in our, in

our planning, in our budgeting, it wasn't a big deal.

But let me tell you, when it was a big deal for me was when I was

8 years old. You know, we'd do the odd job

around the house and whenever we would get some pocket money,

your mum or dad would, would say, you know, it'd be good for

you to give some tithe out of that unto God.

And we grew up in a home where we didn't really get an, an

allowance because I think mum and dad figured we had free room

and board and, and that was pay enough for wedding and vacuuming

and so on. And so, you know, the odd chore

that you'd get and that that's wonderful because that's

certainly what I've instilled in my kids too.

But you know, when we did receive some, some, you know,

funds for chores or we're saving up for something, you know,

$0.50 of $5 was huge back then. Back in the 80s, you could buy a

car for $0.50. It felt huge to me.

How much $0.50 out of $5.00? But you know, as I obediently

followed through that, then that obedience to God in those small

things, it grows into a life of trust and again and again and

again. Here's what I found God to be

faithful to what he said in Malachi.

You can test me on this. And there's been times when, you

know, I thought, well, we could use that, that money for

different things. But no, God has been odd.

A God who is true to His Word and blessed and provided, and

we've never gone without as a consequence.

But we give, and so we give generously, and we give

proportionately. And thirdly and finally in this

give graciously. When I come, verse 3, whomever

you approve by your letters, I will send to bear your gift to

Jerusalem. But if it is fitting that I go

also, they will go with me. The express purpose of this was

a gift to the body of believers in Jerusalem.

And Paul gives some very practical instruction in these

verses that we've just read. He wanted them to appoint some

trustworthy people to deliver the offering.

It wasn't just collecting money himself, but he ensured here

accountability and integrity in there.

But notice the word that he uses, gift, and in the Greek

that is the word charis or charis, which is Greek for

grace. Giving then is an act of grace.

At the end of verse 3, you could effectively read it.

I will send to bear your grace to Jerusalem, Your gift to

Jerusalem. Giving is a part of us being

gracious. Grace means love, Yes, kindness,

generosity, all of those things that have been extended to us by

God. But at the core of it is this

because we don't deserve it. It is undeserved favour.

It is nothing that we have done to warrant it or to merit it in

ourselves to earn it, but it is a gift, It is generous.

It is grace. And when we give, we echo the

grace that God has shown to us. And Paul wanted the Corinthians

to excel in the grace of giving as they excelled in other

graces. And he holds for them an

example, a group of people in what's called the Macedonian

churches. And we see this later on in

Second Corinthians chapter 8. Let me read 7 verses to you out

2 Corinthians 8 · chapter mention

of this. Because the Macedonian believers

were extremely poor, but they were rich in generosity and

grace. So Second Corinthians chapter 8,

2 Corinthians 8 · chapter mention

verse one to seven. And again, I'm going to read

from the NIV. So if you've got an electronic

Bible, you can perhaps flip translation.

It'll be new King James Version on the screen.

But the NIV says, and now, brothers, we want you to know

about the grace that God has given the Macedonian churches

out of the most severe trial. They're overflowing joy and

their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity.

For I testify that they gave as much as they were able and even

beyond their ability entirely on their own.

They urgently pleaded with us for the privilege of sharing in

the service to the Saints. See how they saw it.

They saw it as a privilege, and they did not do as we expected,

but they gave themselves, and here's why.

They gave themselves first to the Lord and then to us, in

keeping with God's will. And so we urged Titus, since he

had earlier made a beginning, to bring also to completion this

act of what does he call it? Grace on your part, but just as

you excel in everything, in faith, in speech, in knowledge,

in complete earnestness, and in your love for us, see that you

also excel in this grace of giving.

And so in other words, what Paul says and declares to them is, I

know your excellence in all of these areas.

You excel in this way, in your faith, in your trust of God, in

your speech, in what you declare, in your knowledge of

things of the Bible, in your complete earnestness, in your

love towards us. But here's what I want you to do

also. I'd I'd love for you to excel in

this privilege of gracious giving, for that to also be a

part of your character and of your attributes.

The Macedonians says they gave beyond their ability.

Why? Because they first gave

themselves to the Lord. You see, the heart was connected

to an understanding of who God was, and out of that flowed this

sense of wonderful privilege. Now that God has been so

gracious, God has been so good, God has been so kind, we want to

our man. He has blessed us.

We want to be a blessing to those that need it.

We want to be a blessing to the Lord's work here on earth just

as in heaven. So these 4 verses we've looked

at now concerning the collection for the Saints.

As I've given orders to the churches of Glacier, so you must

do also on the first day of the week.

Let each one of you lay something aside, storing up as

he may prosper that there be no collections when I come.

And when I come, whomever you approve by your letters, I will

send to bear your gift to Jerusalem.

But if it is fitting that I go also, they will go with me.

God doesn't want your money. God doesn't need your money.

What God wants, what God needs is you, who's Lord of your

wallet. You see, our wallets, our bank

accounts, often tell the truth about who or what rules our

hearts. So today Paul's challenge, give

generously from the heart, not out of guilt.

Give proportionately as a discipline, with regularity, in

keeping with God's provision for us, and give graciously.

Thirdly, as an act of love and of worship, as we first give

ourselves unto the Lord. So God in my life, God in your

life, am I? Are we honouring you in how we

gain and in how we give our money, our material possessions?

You know, here's a final thought for you and I Speaking of the

generosity of God. If if God never gave us any

other thing but Jesus Christ, he's already given us more than

enough, right? And yet he can't help himself.

He continues to bless. We have such riches in the

heavenlies. Yes, that might be material and

many times it's it's more spiritual in in what we've been

blessed with and how we've been saved.

But, you know, as people who name the name of Christ

Christian, as people who call Godfather, then it would stand

to reason that we as followers of Jesus, that we as sons and

daughters of God, that we as those that have the Holy Spirit

dwelling within us, that we would be generous, that we would

be givers, that grace would flow out of us just as it has been

given to us.