2 Corinthians Ch9v6-15 - Generous Grace, Generous Giving: Part 3

So, 2 Corinthians chapter 9.

2 Corinthians 9 · chapter mention

Sorry, I'm just waiting on some water, so I'll just wait for them to get that, and then we'll read together.

So why don't you say hello to your neighbour while you're waiting, and say hello.

Thank you.

Remember this, whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously.

Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.

And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things, at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.

As it is written, they have freely scattered their gifts to the poor, their righteousness endures for ever.

Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness.

You will be enriched in every way, so that you can be generous on every occasion.

And through us, your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God.

This service that you perform is not only supplying the needs of the Lord's people, but is also overflowing in many expressions of thanks to God.

Because of the service by which you have proved yourselves, others will praise God for the obedience that accompanies your confession of the gospel of Christ,

and for your generosity in sharing with them and with everyone else.

And in their prayers for you, their hearts will go out to you, because of the surpassing grace God has given you.

Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift.

Well, let's pray together.

Father, thank you for your love to us.

Thank you for giving to us your word.

A word which speaks to us in our time and in our generation and to this local church.

We pray for your Holy Spirit, not just to understand these words, but how they apply to us.

And that by your Spirit, we would live them out for your glory and for all praise and thanksgiving to you.

So help us now, we ask.

Amen.

Well, over the last few weeks, we've been looking at this whole subject of giving financially.

How we give our hard-earned, precious money.

Now, before we get into the text, I want to just highlight a disclaimer.

As we think about money and you're maybe thinking, oh, he's after my hard-earned cash.

I want you to know that I don't, said this last week, I don't have any access personally to the church's funds or bank account.

And I don't set how much the church gives to me in support of the work that I do.

That is something that the members decide, and the members decide how the finances are used in support of the ministries of this church.

In fact, if you want to know more about how the church gives and where it goes to, there's this little flyer,

Carigoline Baptist Church Money Matters.

It's slightly out of date, but you can get a copy of that on your way out.

Just so you know, we want to be transparent.

Now, with that disclaimer out the way, in chapters 8 and 9, we've been thinking about how giving flows out of grace.

Giving flows out of grace.

In other words, the only way that we will become generous givers is by first experiencing God's generous grace.

Which also means that if we're not generous givers, then we have not yet been changed by God's grace.

We say, yes, God has entered into my life.

His grace is at work in my life.

But if we're not generous, then it's because we put barriers around our wallets.

And we have not allowed grace to touch our bank accounts.

Let's look at how giving flows out of grace.

Look at how the text starts.

Let's go back to chapter 8, verse 1.

Chapter 8, verse 1.

Follow the thread the whole way through these two chapters.

And now, brothers and sisters, we want you to know about the grace that God has given to the Macedonian churches.

Well, what did the grace of God do in their lives?

Verse 2.

In the midst of a very severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity.

Grace enables those with extreme poverty to be rich generously.

Therefore, look at the end of verse 7.

See that you also excel in this grace of giving.

Because, verse 9.

You know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor,

so that you through his poverty might become rich.

But more than that, chapter 9, verse 8.

And God is able to bless you abundantly.

Literally, God is able to make all grace abound to you.

We are so blessed.

Why?

Well, look at the end of verse 14.

Because of the surpassing grace God has given you.

Do you see the thread all the way through these two chapters?

Grace, or sorry, giving flows out of grace.

And grace simply means gift.

It's God's overflowing kindness and goodness to undeserving people like us.

Grace is the gift that keeps on giving.

You may remember the old story about the magic porridge pot.

You remember that?

You old enough to remember the magic porridge pot?

There was a special little pot, and all you had to say was,

Cook, little pot.

Cook.

And the porridge would begin to make.

But you had to tell it to stop.

If you didn't tell it to stop with the right words, it would just keep overflowing.

And so the little boy or girl, I can't remember, said,

Cook, little pot, cook.

And the pot just kept overflowing with porridge.

And it flowed out of the house and down into the streets.

And people were being drowned practically in porridge.

Well, here is the abundance of God's grace.

It just keeps on giving.

It doesn't stop.

Verse 15.

Thanks be to God for this indescribable gift.

There are no words to describe God's amazing goodness to us.

Well, we want to delve a little bit deeper into thinking of this amazing grace that has been given to us.

Two things we're going to see this morning.

First, the abundant grace that we have received.

Chapter 9, verse 8.

And God is able to bless you abundantly.

Literally, God is able to make all grace abound to you.

God's generosity has no boundaries.

There's no limits.

There is no use by date.

There is no end to the supply of grace.

It never runs out.

And it never dries up.

It's like the Niagara Falls.

It just continually cascades over us.

You see, God is the source of all grace.

Abundant grace.

And it is available 24-7.

Do you see there, verse 8?

God's grace is able to abound to you.

So that in all things, at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.

That is the abundance of God's grace.

We're given three examples of that grace.

First, sowing.

Look at verse 6.

Remember this.

Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly.

And whoever sows generously will also reap generously.

It's the principle from the farmer, isn't it?

The more you sow, the more you get your seed out, the more you're going to reap.

And the same is true when it comes to giving.

The more we give, the more we gain.

But let's be careful here.

This isn't about prosperity.

It's all about generosity.

It's not like the exuberant pastor in his white suit and his gold rings telling the people,

well, the more money you give in the collection today, the greater your salary is going to become.

No, those are lies.

The application is this.

The more money you give, the more you will find you are able to give.

It's not promising greater wealth in our pockets, but a heart that wells up with greater generosity.

So the more that we participate in giving, the more we will want to be able to give.

And the more that we want to be able to give, the more you will have from God to be able to give.

Literally, God will bless us in a way that we are able to release more, not to keep it in our pockets.

This is the abundant grace of God.

Then there's scattering.

Do you see it there in verse 9?

Having talked about the abundant grace of God, verse 9,

It's talking about out of their righteousness, they freely scatter their gifts.

Well, because of God's abundant grace to us, we have received a righteousness from God.

Remember it?

Back in chapter 5, verse 21.

Let's remind ourselves of those words.

Chapter 5, verse 21.

God made Christ, who had no sin, to be sin for us,

so that in Christ we might become the righteousness of God.

Let's go back to chapter 9.

So because of this righteousness, because of what we have received from Christ,

we, out of the overflow of God's blessings and goodness to us,

we scatter our gifts to the poor, the needy, and the helpless.

Again, we might picture the farmer of ancient times.

There he is with his basket out in front of him.

He doesn't just take a pinch of one or two grains and drop them.

No, he takes a fistful of grain and spreads and scatters liberally,

one after the other.

So in response, we have received abundantly,

and as we receive, we scatter the grace, the gift that God has given to us.

Now again, we have to be careful.

We're not giving to earn our righteousness, to earn our acceptance.

We don't scatter the gifts to earn grace.

No, we give graciously and generously because we have received graciously and generously.

This is the abundant grace of God.

So there's the sowing, there's the scattering,

and there's the supplying.

I hope you can see these words all come from the text.

I'm not just going for alliteration just for the sake of it.

They just happen to fall nicely today.

Verse 10.

Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food

will also supply and increase your store of seed

and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness.

Who owns what you have?

The money in your account, your possessions.

Who owns them?

Well, God owns them.

Because they all come from him.

He is the supplier of all things.

Suppose I were to invite you to lunch after the service,

and on the table was an assortment of breads.

Krusty bread, sourdough bread, French bread, seeded bread, any kind of bread.

And there we are, we're eating till we're full.

Well, I could take credit for it all, but I am not the supplier.

Verse 10.

Now he, God who supplies seed to the sower and God who provides bread for food,

will also supply and increase your store of seed

and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness.

In other words, just as God supplies physical food,

so he will supply all that is needed to grow our righteousness.

A kind of righteous life that is generous,

a life that is gracious in all that we do.

Because God not only supplies grace that we might be treated as righteous in God's sight,

but he also continues to pour out his grace in our life

to supply all that we need so that we become righteous,

that we live out a righteous kind of life

in generosity and in giving.

You see, this is the abundant grace of God.

It's like the magic porridge pot.

Cook, little pot, cook.

Grace, keep going, keep giving, keep overflowing.

And it does.

The sowing, the scattering, the supplying

is all down to God's rich generosity.

When we were young,

when we were young,

my parents had a vegetable garden out the back

and one of the things they grew was sprouting broccoli.

I don't know if you like broccoli.

Well, we had to like broccoli.

That was just the way that it was.

Now, the thing about sprouting broccoli is

the more you pick it, the more you harvest it,

the more the broccoli begins to sprout.

So if you leave it alone and don't pick it,

you won't get any broccoli.

And parents didn't believe in not picking.

They just kept harvesting it.

And the more they picked, the more we had.

For three months of the year,

every day we had broccoli.

Now, that's the point of abundant grace.

The more we receive,

the more we harvest it,

the more we take it in,

the more we give,

the more we are able to have to give.

As we experience his goodness,

it just keeps on growing.

As one writer put it,

we will always be rich enough

to be generously rich.

So the abundant grace.

But there's another kind of grace,

a surpassing grace.

Look at verse 14.

We had a look at it there just a moment ago.

Let's read verse 14.

And in their prayers for you,

their hearts will go out to you

because of the surpassing grace

God has given you.

Grace is immense.

His favour to us is incredible.

When you think you have reached your limit,

there's more.

It goes above and beyond our needs.

It's like we're dropped into the middle

of the Atlantic Ocean.

If we're Christians,

we are in a sea.

We are in an ocean.

We swim in surpassing grace.

But why does he give this grace to us?

Well, there are three clear reasons

from these few verses.

First,

God gives grace

so that glory

goes to God.

God gives grace

so that glory goes to God.

Look at verse 11.

You will be enriched in every way

so that you can be generous

on every occasion

and through us,

your generosity

will result in

thanksgiving to God.

Verse 12.

This service,

this grace of giving

that you perform

is not only supplying the needs

of the Lord's people,

but it is also overflowing

in many expressions

of thanks to God.

Do you see the flow of thought?

We have grace,

giving,

and glory.

We receive the grace of God.

We in turn give generously

to others,

which leads to

all giving

thanks and praise

and glory

to God.

You see,

giving

is the mark

or the sign

that we are Christians.

Verse 13.

Because of this service,

this grace of giving

by which you have

proved yourselves,

others will praise God,

they will glorify God

for the obedience

that accompanies

your confession

of the gospel

of Christ.

In other words,

the gospel of Christ

is so powerful,

it can change

the most tight-fisted

of someone,

all of us,

to be the most generous

of all.

And as a result,

people give praise

and thanks for God

for what he has done

in their life.

You see,

it's not about me

in what I give

or what you give.

It's all about God

who has given

all that I need

and all that I have

and has changed

and transformed

my life

so that I will want

to be able

to give.

all the glory

and all the honour

goes to God

who has given us

grace

all sufficient.

So not only glory

to God

from our receiving,

but needs

are met.

That's the second reason

we have surpassing grace.

Verse 12,

this service

that you perform

is not only supplying

the needs

of the Lord's people,

but is also

overflowing

in thanks to God.

Yes,

God gets the glory,

but our giving

also meets

the needs

of others.

That's the case

for the church

in Corinth.

They had much

to give

and they had

the opportunity

to give

to help the needs

of the church

in Jerusalem

who are in

a desperate

situation.

And this is how

God works.

He supplies us

with our needs

and we can give

to others.

God has given

to you

so that you can

help

someone

in need.

We're a conduit,

a means of

God's grace

to one another.

Needs are met.

And then the third

reason why we have

surpassing grace

is that we will

be encouraged

by others.

Verse 14.

And in their

prayers for you,

their hearts

will go out

to you

because of the

surpassing grace

God has

given you.

You see,

when we give,

we bless

those in need.

And in return,

as they receive,

it doesn't just

mean thanksgiving

and praise to

God,

it doesn't just

mean needs

are met.

It means that

they will overflow

in their praise

to God

for you.

They will thank

God for you.

They will pray

for you.

Their hearts

will go out

to you.

This is the

results of

giving.

It encourages

gospel relationships

and gospel

partnerships.

Their prayers

for you

and their

hearts

will go out

to you.

So as we

experience the

surpassing grace

of God,

it will lead to

encouragements

through prayer,

needs being met,

and ultimately

thanks

and praise

to God.

So the

abundant grace

of God

and the

surpassing

grace

of God.

How do

we respond

to these

two

magnificent

works

in our

life?

Well,

we're going

to be very

practical here,

I hope.

There we

go.

We've got

four

practical

applications

for how

we should

think about

our own

giving.

Now,

our own

giving is

between

ourselves

and God,

it's not

me to

say how

much you

give or

you to

tell me

how much

I give.

That is

between you

and the

Lord.

But nonetheless,

scripture does

give us

some practical

application.

So first,

intentionally,

not haphazardly,

go back to

1 Corinthians.

1 Corinthians

1 Corinthians 16 · chapter mention

chapter 16.

1 Corinthians

1 Corinthians 16:1

chapter 16

verse 1.

So Paul

again is

writing to

the church

about a

collection that

needs to be

made to

help the

church in

Jerusalem.

Now,

about the

collection for

the Lord's

people,

do what I

told the

Galatian

churches to

do.

On the

first day

of every

week,

each one

of you

should set

aside a

sum of

money in

keeping with

your income,

saving it

up, so

that when I

come, no

collections will

have to be

made.

You see,

he's telling

them to be

prepared,

to give,

plan to

give,

budget to

give.

And if

you're like

me, unless

we're

intentional,

unless we

plan and

prepare,

it's not

going to

happen.

I can have

all the

will in

the world,

but if I

don't prepare

and plan,

nothing's

going to

change.

for us

as a

church, we

have direct

debit,

there's a

QR code on

the box,

you can

click on

that, and

you can

plan and

prepare.

But that's

between you

and the

Lord as

to how

much and

when,

intentionally,

not

haphazardly.

Second,

proportionately,

not

carelessly.

Let's go

back to

2 Corinthians

2 Corinthians 8 · chapter mention

chapter 8.

2 Corinthians

2 Corinthians 8:11

chapter 8,

verse 11.

So the

context is

still the

same, it's

about this

collection for

the church

in Jerusalem,

and as we

apply it to

ourselves, we

say proportionately,

not carelessly.

Verse 11.

Now finish

the work so

that your

eager

willingness to

do it may

be matched

by your

completion of

it according

to your

means.

For if the

willingness is

there, the

gift is

acceptable

according to

what one

has, not

according to

what one

does not

have.

So we

can't give

what we

don't have.

Every one

of us is

different.

Some of us

will have

more, some

will have

less.

We give

as we are

able to

give.

We aren't

giving to

please

others, but

to glorify

God.

And that

will be

different for

each one

of us.

It must

be proportionate

to what

we receive.

So second,

proportionately,

not carelessly.

Third,

generously,

not grudgingly.

chapter 9,

verse 5.

Look at

chapter 9,

verse 5.

So I

thought it

necessary to

urge the

brothers to

visit you in

advance and

finish the

arrangements for

the generous

gift you

had promised.

Then it

will be

ready as a

generous gift,

not as one

grudgingly

given.

Now, often

when we think

about generosity

and about

giving, we

think in

terms of

tithing.

In the

Old Testament

and under the

Old Covenant,

there was a

tithe of

10%.

Well, actually,

if you were to

read through the

Old Testament,

you'll know there

are three

different types

of tithes.

And I

added up to

23.5%

of all that

you had in

your possessions

and what you

grew and

everything else

was all

given.

23.5%.

And then if

you happen to

live under

Roman rule,

well, they

wanted 50%

of all that

you had.

You think

your taxes

are bad.

50%.

And 23%

on top of

that.

They knew

what it was

to give.

But we're

not living

under the

Old Covenant,

we're living

under the

New Covenant.

And the

only command

in the

New Testament,

it doesn't

say anything

about tithing,

but it

does say

generosity.

That is

the only

command when

it comes to

giving.

Be generous.

And it's

up to you

what that

percentage is.

Have a look

with me if

you can just

jump forward

to 1 Timothy.

If you don't

know where

it is,

that's

right,

I'll read

it to

you.

1 Timothy

6,

17 and

18.

1 Timothy

1 Timothy 6:17

6,

verse 17

and 18.

So here's

what the

New Testament

says to

us.

6,

verse 17,

command

those who

are rich.

Well,

what is he

to command

them?

Verse 18.

Command

them to

do good,

to be

rich in

good deeds

and to

be generous

and willing

to share.

Nothing

about

tithing,

simply

generosity.

And not

grudgingly.

We're not

to be

stingy.

It means

to be

generous.

And then

fourth and

last,

cheerfully.

Isn't it

a great

thing to

give?

Yes,

it is.

Cheerfully,

not

reluctantly.

2 Corinthians

2 Corinthians 9:7

9,

verse 7.

Let me

read it.

Each of

you should

give what

you have

decided in

your heart

to give,

not

reluctantly

or under

compulsion,

for God

loves a

cheerful

giver.

Giving

is a

gift from

God and

it is a

joy to

receive.

How much

our face

lights up

when we

receive and

how much

that joy

is reflected

as we

give.

It's a

pleasure.

God has

given us

wonderful

gifts that

we might

share them

with those

in need.

so giving

flows out

of the

grace of

God

and God's

grace is

abundant

and surpassing.

Like the

magic porridge

pot,

like the

broccoli that

kept sprouting,

God's grace

will flow

continually

so that we

can give

continuously.

Let's pray.

our

Father God,

we can

say thank

you for

this

indescribable

gift,

for your

grace to

us in

saving us,

your grace

to us in

providing us

with all

that we

have and

more than

we need.

Father God,

help us

that we

would be

generous

people.

We thank

you for

all that

you have

done and

all that

you have

provided for

in this

church,

for the

kindness of

each person.

We praise

you for

such giving.

To you be

all the

glory.

Amen.

as we

surrender,

as we

surrender,

as we

give.

In

response to

God's

grace,

we offer

our life

in service

to him.

Let's

stand as

we sing

together.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Amen.

Amen.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

And also, people had asked about giving towards CUI.

There is a box on the table for that.

Thank you.