[0:00] This message was recorded at Vision Baptist Church in Alfreda, Georgia. This is the next message in our series in the book of 2 Corinthians, entitled, We Faint Not.
[0:14] I am glad that He is our refuge and our strength. Amen? And with that, we can be confident. Take your Bible, go with me to 2 Corinthians chapter 9, if you would. 2 Corinthians chapter 9. And we want to talk about what Paul showed them that their giving was doing.
[0:29] He says to them, your giving is accomplishing these four things that I'd like to show you this morning from the Word of God. And they work exactly that way in our lives. So if you've got a sheet of paper, I hope you'll write down four things or jot it in the margin of your Bible.
[0:44] The first thing he tells them in chapter 9 is that their giving motivates others to give. Their giving, your giving, motivates others to give. Look at verse 2.
[0:54] Why don't you underline in your Bible, in verse 2, your zeal has provoked.
[1:11] Right beside that, somewhere in the margin, the word motivated. Your zeal, your desire to give, your hunger for God has motivated other people to give. Now listen to this, if you would.
[1:21] Christians are a community. We're a church, a local church. Our gatherings help motivate us to do all sorts of things that bring honor to the Lord Jesus that saved us.
[1:32] Hebrews chapter 10, verse 24 and 25. The Bible says, let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together as a manner of some is, but exhorting one another so much the more as we see the day approaching.
[1:50] Did you notice in verse 24, the local church, the assembling, the congregation, the getting together. The first thing it said in verse 24 is consider one another, think about one another, have each other in mind and provoke each other to love and to good work.
[2:04] So we get together. God's using that. We need our church. We need to be faithful in church. We need to know that there are a lot of one another's in the Bible that you can't do outside the doors of a local church.
[2:17] We provoke and motivate each other. And that's what Paul said. Your giving is motivating and provoking people in other places to be bigger givers. Paul had gone around using the Corinthian church as a way to motivate people.
[2:31] He would give their testimony and he would tell about how poor they were. And he would tell about their desire and their zeal and their hunger to give. And he had motivated them. But don't forget there had been a problem. All of a sudden there was this big split between Paul and the church and there was some upset people and some division.
[2:47] Sounded like it must have been a Baptist church. And there were people who were on the side of Paul and others and Jesus and Peter and Apollos. And there was sin in the church. And so evidently they had stopped in their giving.
[2:58] And he's back to them saying, guys, I've been using you. And now things are kind of right between us like we saw a couple of chapters ago. They really got right. And he said, hey, it's time to get on track with our giving.
[3:09] 1 Corinthians chapter 16. He said to them in verse 1. He said, now concerning the collection for the saints as I've given order to the churches of Galatia, even so do you. On the first day of the week, let every one of you lay by him in store as God has prospered him, that there be no gatherings when I come.
[3:26] Paul said, I'm coming to get that special offering. Now remember, this wasn't an offering really for the local church. This wasn't an offering for a building fund. It wasn't an offering to build a building, to have a gymnasium, to have a family life center, to get new chairs.
[3:39] It was an offering to take care of saved people that were very poor in the city of Jerusalem. And Paul had been going around bragging about them. He'd been telling everybody. Verse 2, he said, I know the forwardness of your mind and your zeal has revoked a lot of people.
[3:55] Verse 3, he said, I don't want our boasting of you to be a wasted effort. He said, I want you to be ready when I get there. I'm coming by and I'm going to be bringing some fellows from the churches in Macedonia.
[4:06] Because everybody's going to send a representative with their offering to make sure it gets handled right. Because we're going to administer money right in the local church. He said, they're going to be coming back and I don't want to find you, verse 4, unprepared.
[4:17] So they were traveling with the offering and they were coming. And Paul said, your giving has motivated other people. Let me just tell you, just write that down. Your giving motivates others to give.
[4:28] But let me stop here. Did you know that when we're together, we motivate each other for a lot of things? We motivate each other to love Jesus more. We motivate each other for good works that we're supposed to.
[4:40] Or we could motivate each other to have a bad attitude. Our giving, everything we do, by being together, we stir it up in each other to do more. Paul said, your giving has provoked others to give.
[4:51] The second thing, I want you to look at their giving did. The second thing, look if you would at verse 5. It says, therefore, I thought it necessary to exhort the brethren that they would go before you and make up beforehand your bounty.
[5:04] Where if you had noticed before that the same might be ready as a matter of bounty and not as of covetousness. Look at that. He said, I want the offering to be ready like a goodwill, happy, excited, gracious gift that you've got ready.
[5:21] I don't want to have to come down and extract it from you. I don't have to come down and like a strong arm and say, you guys promised I want you to give it now. I don't want covetousness to step in and stop you from being and giving all that you ought to give.
[5:34] What are you supposed to be the greatest hindrance to giving? Probably covetousness. I grew up hearing this quite regularly, which was a spiritual bad attitude.
[5:46] We don't have a boat like the neighbors have. And we don't have other things like the neighbors have. Because while they spend 10% on themselves, we spend 10% on God.
[5:58] And I was like, that has to be a bad attitude somewhere in there. Amen. In other words, it was almost bred into me that we better give, but we'll never get to have covetousness.
[6:10] Right at the very root of that statement. This offering should be given as a bounty, not something that was being taken. It should be generosity, not stinginess. I just want to talk to you just a second about covetousness.
[6:23] That word comes up. It's a word we don't like. And it's a word we don't ever discuss or preach about. And by the way, you would discipline somebody out of a church for homosexuality or adultery or fornication or pornography.
[6:34] But there's one sin that we are going to pretty well leave alone. And that's covetousness. Listen to what the Bible says. It's a part of our very nature, our old nature. It's a super wicked sin.
[6:45] Listen, Mark 7, 21. Jesus said, from within, out of the heart, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness.
[7:02] All these evil things, all these evil things come from within and defile, contaminate, make dirty the man. We have in our very nature before Christ a covetousness there.
[7:18] But we are no longer covetous people. Say amen right there. We are no longer covetous people. We are new creatures that we are now in Christ. The Bible says in Ephesians 5, 5, for this you know, that no whoremonger, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God.
[7:39] Do you know that? Did you? Listen to this. Are you ready? Say amen with me. Whoremongers aren't going to go to heaven. Amen. And unclean people aren't going to go to heaven. And covetous people who are idolaters aren't going either. Amen.
[7:51] Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Even though we are new creatures and the covetousness isn't part of our nature now, you and I work at putting to death what's already dead and taking off what's already gone from our lives.
[8:06] Look at Colossians 3 and verse 5. You know that in Christ you're a new creature. And in position you're accepted. And in position you're right with God. And in position everything is perfect.
[8:17] And in position you're a brand new person. But your practice is going to start lining up with your position. you're going to start living out who you are that's what you ought to always think about i need to live out who i am who am i in christ i am a new creature and listen to what he said in colossians chapter 3 and verse 5 he said mortify or put to death therefore in your members which are upon the earth fornication uncleanness uncleanness uncleanness inordinate affection evil concubines and covetousness which is idolatry he said put it to death now listen to this listen when i got saved he changed me and all of a sudden grace fills my heart and all of a sudden grace makes me want to be a different person all of a sudden grace wants the love of god to be shed abroad in my heart but i have to be very careful to remember that i still wear some of the old stuff and i still have some of the old habits and i'm to put off i'm to to mortify i'm to put to death and to put on some other things and so today though in your heart there's almost a little battle going on part of you says no i want to be a giver and no i want to serve god and no i want to honor god with all my stuff because that is what's in you but there's another part of you say wait a minute wait a minute wait a minute so you've put to death put to death because covetousness has horrible consequences all through the bible covetousness has horrible consequences in romans chapter 1 verses 28 and 29 and that in that chapter god describes the lost man the fallen man the wicked man he says this and even as they did not like to retain god in their knowledge god gave them over to a reprobate mind to do those things which are not convenient being filled with all unrighteousness fornication wickedness covetousness maliciousness full of envy murder debate deceit malignity whisperers it happens and those that do not know god than those who do not like to retain god in their mind they want to rebel and they want to remain covetous micah chapter 2 and verse 2 it said they covet fields and they take them by violence and they oppress men covetousness it causes us to do and act and be what we're not supposed to be covetousness covetousness is like saying no to god ver psalms chapter 10 and verse 3 the bible says for the wicked boast of his heart's desire and blesses the covetous whom the lord hateth when you and i live like they live we're saying god i want my money i want my things i want to live my life this giving bit really gets under my skin i don't like it when you come talking to me about that because it belongs to me i have hunger and desire for these things this will be a wild verse for you but you see covetousness hinders giving and did you know that in first corinthians chapter 5 when he tells them who to separate from in the church and he lists these people and says these people listen to what he says first corinthians 5 11 but now i've written unto you not to keep company if any man that calls himself a brother if he says he's a christian if he says he's a brother if he says he's saved if he's a fornicator look at the next word or covetous or an idolater or a railer a drunkard extortioner with such one no not to eat now let me just explain something to you somewhere along the line you need to tell your money what to do and quit letting your money tell you what to do somewhere along the line you need to stand up and say no things you don't own me i own you john does a good job of explaining that to us on every sunday morning you've heard it a a gazillion times since you've been here but somewhere along the way you stand up and you say to your stuff stuff your stuff and i'm in charge somewhere along the way you say everything i have god gave to me i know i didn't make it i know i didn't earn it i know i'm not the big spot shot i i know that it's god that gives me the power to get wealth i know it is god's blessing on my life and things you won't control my life and i'm fixing to
[12:22] write a check and give some offerings i'm fixing to i'm fixing to give an offer to support my church i'm going to get involved in supporting missions i'm going to get involved in good projects i'm going to use what god gives me for god because i belong to god and everything about me belongs to god covetousness is selfishness selfishness is anti him and it's pro me amen i'm all interested in me now listen here i'm not gonna take up an offering anymore today than i would any other day but this is just a passage of scripture we're in and paul said when i come get the offering guys i want it to be like a bounty i want it to be like something we receive with great joy and everybody's having a party you remember what the verse is the key verse i've been trying to tell you first corinthians chapter 9 and verse 7 god doesn't want you to give an offering grudgingly nor of necessity god loves a what cheerful giver but just guess what turns us out of being cheerful we're either cheerful or we're covetous we want to get rid of that the first thing my giving provokes others the second thing my giving helps me to have victory over covetousness by the way it is very natural to be covetous from the time they're born our children are very covetous they want everything one of the first words they learn how to say is mine and they grew up knowing that word just like we do i told those i guess it was on wednesday thursday night that the people that were here when i was in peru just a few weeks ago jeremy hall's little boy who's three years old he loves watches and he kept coming up to me and would tap on my watch and say mine he said let me see your watch and he'd say let me see my watch so his daddy gave him a watch and he put the watch on he came down and i said let me see your watch and he said my watch my watch and then he walked over to my arm and tapped my arm and said my watch both of them were his watches because that's the way we are but covetousness is something i want to put off i want to put on christ giving i want to put on giving and put off stinginess number three your giving will bless you that's what he says in the passage your giving will bless you the bible says in second corinthians chapter nine and verse six this i say he which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully every man according as he purposes in his heart so let him give not grudgingly or of necessity for god loveth a cheerful giver giving is not something we do it is something we are giving is a way of life for the christian who understands the grace of god when you realize everything i have comes from him everything i have belongs to him i have a big receiver i can all of a sudden become a big giver it becomes who i am now before i go on i want you to notice the verse six it says he which soweth sparingly will reap sparingly he that sows bountifully will reap bountifully i want you to look this way just a second because i want you to understand something this is not a prosperity gospel there are great bible truths in the bible about how god blesses you because you learn to become a giver that have been so twisted to make preachers rich and to get them big fancy houses and big fancy cars they've been so twisted to manipulate people to give money that we can turn off to that but there are bible truths your giving will bless you your giving will bless you tonight we'll see it'll bless saints it'll bless other christians but your giving will bless you and god gives all kinds of promises but it's never a get rich quick scheme it's never a way to get something out of god it's not a way to get money he said to them hey guys we're going to take up this offering now y'all remember if you give a little bit offering you're just asking for a little bit of blessing if you give a big offering you're asking for a bigger blessing but i want you to give willingly i want you to give out of a heart so let me read you some bible verses about god blessing financially those of us that learn to give proverbs chapter 3 verse 9
[16:25] the bible says honor the lord with thy substance and with the first fruits of all thine increase so shall thy barns be filled with plenty and thy presses shall burst out with new wine solomon tells his boy he says son let me tell you something honor god with what he gives you honor god with what he gives you and god will take care of you you ought to circle that in your bible honor the lord honor the lord with your substance you ought to say and see listen to this somewhere along the way in the baptist circle we got a hold of the idea that 10 of everything we have belongs to god that is just so ridiculous it all belongs to god it's not like you pay god off with 10 and set back with 90 and say you got your cut now leave me alone i want to honor god with everything he gave me can you say amen right there honor the lord look if you would at proverbs chapter 11 and verse 24 there is that scattereth and yet increaseth there is that withholdeth more than his meat but it tendeth to poverty the liberal soul shall be made fat and he that watereth shall be watered also himself there's one guy according to solomon talking to his son there's one guy man he's scattering out boy god gives it to him he just keeps giving it away giving it away scattering it out scattered out and and yet he keeps getting more and there's another guy who's stingy and he holds it back and it tends to poverty there's one guy who's watering everywhere else and he's getting watered in proverbs 19 17 the bible said he that hath pity upon the poor lendeth unto the lord and he that and that which he hath given will he pay him again god has pity on those on the poor and you have and when you have pity on the poor god gives back to you being stingy has its own curse the bible says in proverbs 28 27 he that giveth unto the poor shall not lack but he that hideth his eyes shall have many a curse i'm not going to see that i don't want to know what's going on don't bring those missionaries in here don't let me see how people over there need stuff i don't want to see that because it makes me feel bad about it he that giveth unto the poor shall not lack he that hideth his eyes shall have a curse so here's some principles about your giving go back to second corinthians 9 with me write down a couple of principles we sow we reap according to how we sow the bible says in second corinthians 9 6 i say he which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly he was so about tofully shall reap also bountifully there is without a doubt it's in the word of god that the way you give the way you're giving and will affect how god will respond to you and giving back to you we reap when we sow with the right motives our reaping is based on having a right motive the bible says in verse 7 every man according as he purposes in his heart so let him give not grudgingly or of necessity for god is for god is for god love with a cheerful giver so so just remember this our giving don't give because the church needs it don't give with a bad attitude don't give because there's pressure give because you're in love with jesus and you see the cause and your purpose in your heart and as you pray about it think about you say man i want to give to that and you can give with joy so god blesses when you give according to what he's given to you give according to what he's given you and how he worked in your heart our giving is from the heart and a desire to please god if you can't give joyful from the heart then ask god to break open your heart and fill it with his grace to do what he wants you to do did you know that we reap even while we're sowing we reap even while we're sowing look at verse 8 and god is able to make all grace abound towards you that you have always having all sufficiency in all things may abound to every good work i'm gonna keep reading in just a second but can i get you to just uh can i get you just um put a circle around this god's able god's able you see when i look what's this watch this it
[20:32] changes my perspective from i'm able betty and i are able my family is able to this god is able i know god's in charge of my life i know god's taking charge of these things and i know god is showing his power in in my life look what he says and i want you to underline it in your bible all grace all grace all sufficiency all things in that one verse look at it god said man i'm going to come out with you with all grace towards you he said i'm going to come with all sufficiency in all things so that you may abound to every good work now look at this look here you know how god works he works through you you know how god works he works through me you know what god's doing god said hey i i need you to learn to be a channel of my blessings i need you to learn to be a blessing giver because you've been a blessing getter i need you to get a hold of this and he said when you do i'll make all grace abound towards you and i'll give you all sufficiency in all things for every good work god's going to see to me as you go about giving and doing and god just keeps replacing and giving to you so you can keep going and giving and doing god's blessing and working in that as we sow we watch god's miraculous multiplication look at verse 10 miraculous multiplication look at verse 10 now he that ministers seed to the sower above minister bread for your food and multiply your seed sown and increase the fruits of your righteousness he's given seed to the sower bread for your food and he's multiplying your seed and he's increasing your fruits god's just in big time ministry working through us verse 11 we are enriched as we enrich others verse 11 being enriched in everything to all bountifulness which causes through us thanksgiving to god we are enriched in everything to all bountifulness and it causes thanksgiving to god i think of the the saints back in jerusalem they're back in jerusalem and probably back there in jerusalem they're wondering you know are those gentiles really saved are those gentiles really christians do those gentiles really learn the things of god and the grace of god they were roman pagans just a little while ago they were greek pagans they were other nationality pagans just a while before but all of a sudden paul says look as you make them rich now that's not about making them rich financially it's about being a blessing to them it's about being gracious to them he said as you're a big blessing to them as you're a big blessing you're going to cause all kinds of thankfulness to god look at he says thanksgiving to god look what it happens here when when they gave those christians back in jerusalem or suffer would have said wow what a great god we serve wow what a great god we serve that works to provide our needs that works in our brother's hearts out in this out in the mission field that are sending money back to us praise jesus you've done such a great work in us to provide for us and us and them to give i know around the world our offerings and our giving is a blessing to churches and they're always thanking me when we travel here's what he said being enriched in everything and to all bountifulness which causes through us thanksgiving to god the more we give the more we're able to give last thing right here it is you're giving manifests the change that jesus has made in your heart your giving manifests the change that jesus has made in your heart it's the grace of god that makes you give now some people will give to get their name on a building some people will give to get some kind of get something in exchange they'll give for a selfish reason but these were people that didn't even know these poor people back in jerusalem and what had happened is god had done a work in their heart and they said we want to get involved to give it it's kind of like when you give to missions around here you're giving to people you've never even seen and you probably won't see you land in glory
[24:32] it's the grace of god that makes you give you give because you have a new nature like your father and the one exhibited by your son your motivation to give is that jesus gave so willingly he said that in second corinthians chapter 8 verse 9 he said you know the grace of the lord jesus christ that though he was rich yet for his sakes he became poor that ye through his poverty might be made rich we give because our lord jesus is a giver we give because our father's a giver for god to love the world and he gave his only begotten son it's it's in our bloodline now in our new bloodline it's in who we are in jesus christ to be givers your giving reflects your new nature and your desire to be more like the lord and savior than who and what you were before your giving shows god's grace in your life as he grows and matures you your giving shows god's teaching you the things of real value your giving does much more than these few things but you get the idea it's important that we learn to be a giver now this one will tell you given is a foreign concept to a non-born-again people unless it's a selfish giving we may give out a pity necessity we may give grudgingly we have to but to just give because you're so in love with jesus and so in love with the causes of christ is something that grace has done in us he came and he saved us and he made us new creatures and paul says you know what those jews didn't love you before they were saved they were racist about you before they were saved but now they're your brothers in christ and all of a sudden these people are going to give to this despised group of christians that came out of jewish tradition and jewish heritage it's going to join the church together it's going to be a blessing to each other it's going to show them there's something special going on your giving makes a difference your giving your giving motivates others to give your giving will help you overcome covetousness which i think you really want to overcome you're giving you're giving what will show that jesus has done a work in your life your giving will bless you you learn in second corinthians chapter nine our god is in charge he is working in your life he is teaching you please do away with a couple of ideas and this is it do away with the idea man i gave god 10 and that's it know this it all belongs to him and you love him and you're a steward of his things and you manage his things you manage his life not your life his family not your family his goods not your goods you're going to put him first you're going to honor him the probably the hardest place to honor him is with money and especially when you talk about real money we're all willing to throw five bucks at it we're all willing to throw 25 bucks at it but man you start talking a larger percentage i mean you 10 scares us to death more than that will really terrify us we hear the story about the guy who gave 90 and we're all like what in the world was wrong with that guy but here's what's going on that guy figured out something it's not mine to begin with it belongs to him father in heaven i love you i thank you for the chance to serve you i pray that your name would be magnified and glorified i pray that you'd help us as christians to learn to give i pray you'd help us to realize the grace of god that was bestowed on us through jesus dying on a cross for us i pray for those that are here today lord that may not know you as their personal lord and savior that today they would realize that their need of you and they would put their faith and trust in you i pray dear god that christians would learn to take out their checkbook to take out their keys to take out the pictures of their children and their grandchildren and say lord i surrender all i give it all to you for your honor and glory i pray god that you'd magnify yourself through this and i'll give
[28:34] you praise and honor you have been listening to austin gardner pastor of vision baptist church for contact information location service times or more audio and video recordings log on to www.visionbaptist.com site. doubtful Multinp Kostenon 8国家ena Good morning!
[29:02] Good morning! Good morning! Good morning! bạn h great Elizabeth I would love you Good morning! You Good morning!
[29:12] Good morning! Good morning! Good morning! Good morning! Good morning! 여러분