So, 2 Corinthians chapter 9.
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
chapter 16.
1 Corinthians
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
chapter 8.
2 Corinthians
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
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
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.
Amen.
Thank you.
And also, people had asked about giving towards CUI.
There is a box on the table for that.
Thank you.