Sowing & Reaping (2 Corinthians 9:6-15)

We're gonna be in 2 Corinthians.

If you need a Bible, please raise your hand.

We would love to bring one to your seat so that you can follow along with us as we're going through these scriptures.

We go through whole books of the Bible at a time, verse by verse.

And before we jump into this, this is our third week in a row about talking about generosity and giving.

And it's not some series that we're doing because we're trying to raise money, I promise.

It's just because that's where we are.

Chapters 8 through 9 of 2 Corinthians is all about generosity and it's all about giving.

And then this is, I promise, our last Sunday talking about that.

And then we're gonna move on to something else.

But it is not something that we talk about frequently.

It's what we talk about as it comes up in Scripture.

So we're gonna be in 2 Corinthians chapter 9.

2 Corinthians 9 · chapter mention

We're gonna be reading verses 6 through 15 today to finish off that chapter.

I'll give you a chance to get to there.

Alright, if you're able, please stand for the reading of God's word.

Starting verse 6.

The point is this the person who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and the person who sows generously will also reap generously.

Each person should do as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or out of compulsion, since God loves a cheerful giver.

And God is able to make every grace overflow to you, so that in every way, always having everything you need, you may excel in every good work.

As it is written, He distributed freely, he gave to the poor, His righteousness endures forever.

Now the one who provides seed for the sower and bread for food will also provide and multiply your seed and increase the harvest of your righteousness.

You will be enriched in every way for all generosity, which produces thanksgiving to God through us.

For the ministry of this service is not only supplying the needs of the saints, but is also overflowing in many expressions of thanks to God, because of the proof provided by this ministry, and they will glorify God for your obedient confession of the gospel of Christ, and for your generosity in sharing with them and with everyone.

And as they pray on your behalf, they will have deep affection for you because of the surpassing grace of God in you.

Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift.

Let's pray.

Father, as we do every week, and it's because we mean it, we thank you for your word.

Lord, we thank you that it is the compass that directs everything that we do.

Lord, I pray that as we finish off chapter 9 here, Lord, I know you have something for each one of us.

So I pray that we would approach you and approach you, O Lord, with soft hearts, with open ears and open minds to the things that you want to do.

Lord, where encouragement is needed, I pray that you would do that.

Where conviction is needed, I pray that you would do that.

Lord, where salvation is needed, I pray that today would be the day of salvation, coming to Jesus Christ, coming to you as our God and as our Father.

So Lord, I pray that you would accomplish your perfect will inside of each one of us and for this church as a whole, as this body of Christ that's meeting here this morning.

Lord, do what you will in our hearts this morning, we pray.

In Jesus' name.

Amen.

You may be seated.

So, as you can see, as we talked about, this is a continuation of this theme of giving, as Paul is continuing to instruct this church in Corinth, specifically about this preparation of this gift that has been gathered and has been stored away for almost a year now.

And it's a gift for the church in Jerusalem.

They're going through some really tough times.

And this is really a continuation of two weeks ago when we did the first half of chapter 8.

You know, last week was kind of a parentheses about trustworthy people, talking about Titus and those two different brothers that were coming to handle this gift to Jerusalem.

And Paul is reassuring the church in Corinth that their gift would be handled both with care and with accountability.

But in this section this morning, he really gets back to the heart of the giving and having faith in God to be our provider.

Reiterating to them that what we really have is God's in the first place, and we really just get to take care of and enjoy those things that He has given us.

And like two weeks ago, I think there's a lesson in here that's intended for more than financial giving.

If you remember, we're talking about how we can give of our time, how we can give of our treasure, and how we can give of our talent, the gifts that God has given us.

And today's verses are just as applicable to those three areas as it was two weeks ago.

So we're not just talking about finances here.

We're talking about overall generosity and giving of our life completely to God.

And my hope is that after we finish this larger section, that we're all encouraged to be content with what we have.

And also find contentment in planting and using the things that God has given us to advance and to grow his kingdom.

You know, sowing the seeds of our time, sowing the seeds of our treasure, sowing the seeds of the gifts that God has given us.

So Paul starts off in verse six by saying, the point is this.

All that I've been saying since the beginning of chapter 8 comes down to this.

So look at verse 6.

The point is this the person who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and the person who sows generously will also reap generously.

That's it.

We can all go home now.

Have a blessed Sunday.

Like Paul just told us that's the point of all this.

No, but actually, we're actually going to be talking a lot about sowing and harvesting this morning.

So I want to take some time to make sure we understand this.

Because in the ancient world, I think they understood agriculture a lot better than most of us do.

They didn't run to the grocery store to, you know, to find their apples.

They actually had them on trees, you know, back then and stuff like that.

But there's actually three laws of nature regarding sowing and reaping.

The first one is whatever you sow, you will also reap.

If you sow wheat, you're not going to harvest tomatoes.

You're going to get wheat.

Spiritually speaking, if we sow to the flesh, we're going to reap in the flesh.

But if we sow to the spirit, we will reap in the spirit.

Galatians 6 7 talks about this.

It says, Don't be deceived.

God is not mocked.

For whatever a person sows, he will also reap.

Because the one who sows to his flesh will reap destruction from the flesh.

But the one who sows to the spirit will reap eternal life from the Spirit.

Now the second law of sowing and reaping is that you're going to reap after you sow.

You have to wait.

It doesn't happen overnight.

And sometimes it takes a long time to see the results of what we have sown.

And when we sow spiritually, you know, we might not see or be able to reap from that sowing until eternity.

You know, that's part of what it means to store up our treasures in heaven, sowing spiritually.

Now, the third law is that you will reap more than you sow.

You know, one seed has the ability to produce millions more of the same seed or the same fruit that comes from that seed.

There's a saying, and maybe you've heard it, that you can easily count the seeds in an apple, but you can't count the number of apples in a seed.

Think about that for a second.

You can easily count the seeds in an apple, but you can't count the number of apples in a seed.

You know, that's a great thought when we're sowing for righteousness, right?

Spiritually?

But that's a really scary thought when we're sowing to the flesh.

That we're gonna reap more than we're gonna sow.

You know, who knows the chain reaction that our sowing is going to start, whether for good or for bad.

So there you have the three laws.

And this idea of reaping and sowing generously all leads back to the idea that it doesn't matter how much we have.

You know, like we talked about two weeks ago with the widow's gift.

She didn't have much, but she still gave all that she had.

And when God is measuring the heart, you know, in God's economy, that gift was bigger and larger than the amounts that the rich were giving.

You see, you can be poor and you can still be generous.

Just like the Macedonians were.

We talked about them as well regarding that gift to Jerusalem.

You know, I grew up knowing this couple where the wife was a strong believer and her husband was not a believer in Christ.

You know, he wasn't interested in the things of the Lord.

He didn't attend the church with her.

But the wife had this dilemma because she wanted to give financially to her church, but she also wanted to honor her husband.

And as you can imagine, the husband wasn't about to give a chunk of his paycheck to a church that he didn't believe in and he wasn't a part of.

So she went to the pastors of this church and said, I so badly want to give financially, but my husband isn't on board, and I want to honor him.

What do I do?

And they knew her and they knew her situation well, so they told her, make cookies.

Make cookies and bring those to church.

You know, this lady was famous for her chocolate chip cookies, and I can attest to this, I've had many.

And she's known up and down the Salinas Valley for her chocolate chip cookies.

So the pastors told her, give your cookies to the Lord by feeding them to his sheep, by blessing the body of Christ.

You see, they understood that giving to the Lord is about the heart.

Not about the type, not about the size of the gift.

It was about the heart.

This woman obviously had the right heart, but her giving was going to look a lot different than the next person.

And I mentioned this because God just wants our heart in its entirety.

You know, Matthew 6.21 says, for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

You know, if we're treasuring God, giving for his kingdom is easy.

If we're treasuring our possessions or our time even, giving of those same things becomes very difficult for us.

You know, in the same way, this idea of reaping or sowing sparingly or generously, it doesn't really have to do with how much that we have.

It comes down to how generous we are in that sowing, in that giving back to the Lord.

How generous we are with our time given to God's kingdom, with our finances, with our talent, the gifts that He's given us, given back to God's kingdom.

This is what Paul is telling the church in Corinth.

With all of those things, he says, the person who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and the person who sows generously will also reap generously.

You know, I think when we're new in our faith, or less mature in our faith, maybe I should say, I think we approach the body of Christ, and there's a season for that in the very beginning, but we approach the body of Christ as fruit connoisseurs.

Only interested in partaking of others' fruit.

You know, I want the worship to sound like this, and I want these songs to be played this way.

I want the pastor to be funny, but not teach for too long.

You know, I want these programs for my kids and these special events and, you know, all of these things.

So we end up looking for a church where we get to enjoy the fruits of seeds planted by others.

But I think there's a change in attitude as we mature in our faith.

It becomes much more about, Lord, where do you want me to sow today?

Where do you want me to sow my time, my treasure, and my talent?

How can I give?

How can I contribute to your kingdom?

Where can I sow the seeds that you've given me where others can enjoy the fruit that's produced from those seeds?

You know, we as we mature, we become less concerned with what fruit we harvest and consume, and we become more concerned with sowing for the benefit of others.

And I think it's because we know that if we're faithful to sow, God's also very, very faithful to allow us to harvest as well.

We begin to understand that we cannot outgive God, either financially or spiritually.

And I want to repeat, it's not about how much we have.

This is what Paul's telling them here.

It's not about how talented we are, it's about how generous we are with what God has already given us.

Paul goes on in verse 7.

Each person should do as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or out of compulsion, since God loves a cheerful giver.

You know, we jumped ahead to these verses.

I don't know if you remember, it was a couple months ago when we're talking about giving back in 1 Corinthians.

But this is the idea of having it decided in your heart how you're going to give and how much you're going to give before you give.

You know, there will be a time where the Holy Spirit nudges us to give on a whim.

That's not really what we're talking about here.

We're talking about regular giving.

And I mentioned that one of the reasons that we don't pass the plate here for an offering, we just have that box that's back on the counter, is that we don't want a visitor or somebody that doesn't want to give to feel like they have to.

Or that they'd feel bad or embarrassed if they passed the plate on and didn't put anything into it.

You know, we don't want people giving reluctantly or out of compulsion, as Paul says here.

In our regular giving, it should be decided in our heart and not based on what we're going to give from our first fruits and not based on what's left over.

As verse 7 says, we need to give with an attitude of cheerfulness as well.

Where you give, and you're overjoyed that you get to participate in the kingdom of God in this way.

That is the attitude in the heart that God desires in our giving and not just financially, in everything that we give for his kingdom.

Look at verse 8.

And God is able to make every grace overflow to you, so that in every way, always having everything you need, you may excel in every good work.

You see that word grace there in verse 8?

If you remember, that was a big word that we talked a lot about when we're going through chapter 8.

Paul used it in a lot of different ways, if you remember, including calling the gift to Jerusalem grace.

But here he uses it to talk about all that God gives us being an act of grace by God.

Making every grace overflow to you, he says right here.

You see, God has all the resources, literally, in all of creation.

He has all of them.

He has storehouses full of in-and-out gift cards.

If you remember that, if you weren't here two weeks ago, I apologize.

But by God's provision in grace, look at the second half of verse 8.

We will always have everything we need.

We have a slide I want to put up.

And as we look at that word right there, it's two words in English, but you need, at the end of verse 8, there.

I want to put the definition of the Greek up there because it has a couple different undertones to it.

It says, a perfect condition of life in which no aid or support is needed.

Sufficiency of the necessities of life.

But then look at the third part of the definition there.

A mind contented with its lot.

Contentment.

Here, and then in 1 Timothy 6.6.

And in 1 Timothy 6.6, it's actually translated as contentment.

And I mention this because of all that is right there, just in those two words, you need.

So not only will we be taken care of, but when we give cheerfully and when we give generously, we'll also be content with what God has given us.

You know, I think that's a question we all have to ask ourselves.

And I'll be the first to admit that I struggle with this just as much as any of us do.

You know, we live in this culture of being discontent.

It's what drives all of our advertising.

You know, if I could just have the bigger house or the newer car or the nicer clothes or the relationship that I I want, but it hasn't happened yet.

If only I could have a different job, or if I could live in any other state than California.

I know you've thought about it, right?

None of those things are bad things to desire.

But if they come from a place of discontent with God's provision, then in reality we're not content with God as our provider.

Think about that.

You know, if we put this all together, if we're giving from the right heart, if we're giving generously and cheerfully, then you are seeing God as your provider and will receive and be content with everything that He's given you.

And at the end of verse 8, then you may excel in every good work.

If you're doing this, you will never lack in resources to excel in every good work that God places on your heart.

You know, I've never met anyone that's faithful to give generously and joyfully and of their first fruits that's been in need.

Want?

Yes, absolutely, we all struggle with that, but I've never seen anybody doing all of those things that is in need of the basic necessities of life.

God is faithful when we plant to allow us to also reap all that we need.

Look at verse 9 with me.

As it is written, he distributed freely, he gave to the poor, his righteousness endures forever.

So Paul's quoting from Psalm 112, verse 9 here.

Psalms 112:9

And this is not speaking of God.

This is speaking of a righteous man who fears the Lord.

When he says, He distributed freely, he gave to the poor, his righteousness endures forever.

This is what righteous people do.

And when they do, their righteousness endures forever, it says here.

You know, being a giver doesn't make you righteous, only Jesus can do that.

It is simply part of the life that the righteous person lives.

And that's really what verse 10 comes down to.

Look at that with me.

Now, the one who provides seed for the sower and bread for food will also provide and multiply your seed and increase the harvest of your righteousness.

And I love this this attitude that Paul has about where the seed comes from in the first place.

You know, I grew up the son of a farmer up in the Salinas Valley.

I worked a lot of summers in those fields with my dad.

And the idea of not planting seed because you're afraid you will run out of seed is ridiculous.

If you need more seed, you plant all the seed that you have so you can not only harvest the crop for eating, but then also have enough seed for the following year.

The quickest way to run out of seed is to not plant it.

Seeds have a Shelf life.

Typically only good for a few years if you don't plant them.

But even in the ideal environment, you're going to experience about a 10% loss in germination every year that you don't plant your seed.

And most seeds are considered no good after five years.

So if you want more seed and more fruits or vegetables, you need to plant the seeds that you have.

And don't wait or hold them in storage like you can save them for later.

Seeds really are the opposite of the interest that you would receive from some sort of investment account.

The longer you save your seeds, the less you end up having.

And as verse 10 says, God, the one that gave you the seed in the first place, will be faithful to provide more seed for you in the future.

So show and don't hold back any in savings.

You know, some of you are already thinking about the parable of the talents, and we're actually going to get to that.

But first let's jump into verse 11.

You will be enriched in every way for all generosity which produces thanksgiving to God through us.

So the phrasing of this might seem a little bit clunky, first pass through, but think about it like this.

You will be enriched in every way whenever you're generous.

And when you take your gift to Jerusalem, because this is the basis of what all this is coming down to, that gift to Jerusalem, they're going to praise God because of that gift and because of your generosity.

Basically, in this verse, and to the end of this chapter, Paul's drawing the conclusion that your generosity in a lot of different ways is bringing glory to God.

Look at verse 12 with me.

For the ministry of this service, so talking about this gift to Jerusalem, is not only supplying the needs of the saints, but is also overflowing in many expressions of thanks to God.

Because of the proof provided by this ministry, they will glorify God for your obedient confession of the gospel of Christ and for your generosity in sharing with them and with everyone.

You know, it's one thing to know of another church, and it's a completely different thing to have a connection because of generosity with another church.

You know, when we were first planting this church, we're meeting on the lawn of Grace North County, and Calvary Chapel, Cambria called us up and said, hey, we have these huge pop-ups if you need them.

And we needed those huge pop-ups because there was some hot days and it rained a couple times as well.

And they blessed us with those huge pop-ups, if you remember those, because they wanted to be a part of what God was doing over here and bless us with those things.

Calvary Slow, for instance, and I've known the pastor there for a long time, but when we moved into this building, I let some pastors in the area know that we didn't have any chairs.

That you know, we had some folding chairs, we borrowed chairs from the different places that we had been meeting.

But they gave us these black chairs that we're sitting on right now.

Most of us, sorry for the back row, but uh sitting on the metal chairs, but they wanted to be a part of what God is doing here in Atascadero, and through their generosity, they said, we have extra chairs, you can have these chairs.

Because they wanted to be a part of what God was doing in the greater church.

Through that gift, think about it, they're blessing us every Sunday.

You see how that works?

Every Sunday, they get to be a part of what happens here through their generosity of the chairs that they gave us without actually being here.

And it produces thanksgiving in our heart.

I know for me, I love these chairs.

They're great, they're way better than metal chairs.

He goes on in verse 14.

And as they pray on your behalf, they will have deep affection for you because of the surpassing grace of God in you.

Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift.

He's saying this church is going to look at you and think about you differently from now on because of the grace of God in you.

And it's evidence because of what they are doing, the generosity, which is evidence of God's indescribable gift, he says here, which is Jesus.

That's the indescribable gift that he's referring to.

You know, and generosity, the sowing, it's really the first domino to fall that then causes praise to God, and then more praise to God, and then more praise to God.

Going along with that theme that generosity leads to God's glory.

And I want to end with this.

I want to go back to that saying.

You can count the seeds in an apple, but you can't count the number of apples in a seed.

There's no telling what God will do with the seeds that we plant.

Each and every one of us.

I'm not talking about some other people.

I'm talking about each and every one of us.

Whether that's financially or planting the seed of the gospel in somebody's life, planting the seed of pop-ups and chairs, like other churches have done for us, or cookies, like I was telling you about that woman, or prayers, or meals for people that need it, or a hug, even for somebody that needs it.

We all have something to give for God's kingdom.

And who knows how much fruit that seed will produce and what God will do with that seed from that plant that you started by sowing that seed in the first place.

You know, I mentioned the parable of the talents earlier, so I want everybody to turn back a couple books to the left to Matthew 25, the first gospel.

And we're going to talk about the parable of the talents.

You know, it sums up so well what God wants us to do with what He's already entrusted to us.

So Matthew 25, and we're going to read verses 14 to 30.

And as you're turning there, if there's any thought that any of this sounds like a prosperity gospel, I promise you that is not what this is.

We don't sow for what we can give back.

We sow because we love God and we trust Him and we we want to see His kingdom enlarged.

God's just so gracious that He always gives back, He always provides for us for our every need.

So if you want to give just so you can see how much you give back, that's not the heart God's looking for.

Look at Matthew 25, starting in verse 14.

For it is just like a man about to go on a journey.

He called his own servants and entrusted his possessions to them.

To one he gave five talents, to another, two talents, to another one talent, depending on each one's ability.

Then he went on a journey.

Immediately the man who received five talents went, put them to work, and earned five more.

In the same way the man who earned two more.

But the man who received one talent went off, dug a hole in the ground, and hid his master's money.

After a long time the master of those servants came and settled accounts with them.

The man, excuse me, who had received five talents, approached, presented five more talents, and said, Master, you gave me five talents.

See, I've earned five more talents.

His master said to him, Well done, good and faithful servant.

You were faithful over a few things, I will put you in charge of many things.

Share your master's joy.

The man who had two talents also approached.

He said, Master, you gave me two talents.

See, I've earned two more talents.

His master said to him, Well done, good and faithful servant.

You are faithful over a few things, I will put you in charge of many things.

Share your master's joy.

The man who had received one talent also approached and said, Master, and here come the excuses.

I know you.

You're a harsh man.

Reaping where you haven't sown, gathering where you haven't scattered seed.

So I was afraid, and I went off, and I hid your talent in the ground.

See, you have what is yours.

His master replied to him, You evil, lazy servant.

If you knew that I reap where I haven't sown, and gather where I haven't scattered, then you should have deposited my money with the bankers, and I would have received my money back with interest when I returned.

So take the talent from him and give it to the one who has ten talents.

For to every one who has more will be given, and he will have more than enough.

But from the one who does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him, and throw this good for nothing servant into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Those that invest what the master has given will be rewarded.

And those that bury the gift, whatever it is, and don't sow that gift will be punished.

Again, it's not about God desiring our possessions.

He doesn't need anything, but he does desire our hearts.

He wants us to sow the seed that he has given us for his kingdom as an outpouring of trust, as an act of faith, and because it's how righteous people live their lives.

And that giving will look different for each and every one of us here today.

But we do need to answer the question: are we being generous and cheerful in the giving of our time, our treasure, and our talent?

And we shouldn't be looking at each other, because this happens a lot, and saying, you know, if only I had that person's giftings, if only I had that person's resources, then I could really do something for the kingdom of God.

No.

God has gifted each and every one of us individually, uniquely.

We need to ask how we're doing with what He has already given us.

And then use that wisely.

And then the Master, like in the parable, will entrust us with even more.

But first, we have to sow and be generous with what God has already entrusted us with.

Please pray with me.

Lord, you are the perfect provider.

Lord, you have storehouses filled with every resource.

Everything is yours to begin with.

Lord, but you entrust us with various things to take care of and to be generous with.

And so, Lord, I pray that we would never look at somebody else and think, man, if I had what they had, then I could be effective for God's kingdom.

But we would take inventory of the gifts that you've given us, even if they seem minute, even if it's simply just giving somebody a hug that needs it.

Lord, help us to invest the things that you have given us wisely, to take the seeds that you've placed in our possession and to sow them for your kingdom.

There's no telling the chain reaction that can take place from the seeds that we sow.

So we pray, God, that we would be faithful to do that and we'd be able to just stand back and watch you germinate those seeds and grow them and we'll just watch the fruit that you produce through generosity, through cheerful giving, through placing others first, through placing you first in our lives as well.

Lord, all you desire from us is a heart that's fully surrendered to you in every way.

And that's how we want to live our lives.

Lord, moment by moment.

So would you show us how to do that?

How to surrender deeply, how to walk closely by the Spirit, how to abide even closer than we are right now with Jesus Christ.

Would you show us how to do those things?

Would you empower us to be able to do those things, to entrust everything to you and not look at the things that we have as our resources, but things that you've just lent to us to take care of.

Lord, would your perfect will be done in each one of us as we go out and we plant the seeds that you've given us?

We pray these things in Jesus' name.

Amen.