If you would open up your Bibles to page 627 of your pew Bibles, it's Proverbs chapter 3, if you've brought your own.
Last week I started preaching two sermons on generosity.
And let me just read this for you. This is Proverbs chapter 3.
I'm going to focus on 9, and I'm actually going to focus on one word in verse 9.
Honor the Lord with your wealth and with the firstfruits of all your produce.
May God bless the hearing and application of His word.
Let's say this week you get an unexpected phone call from an estate attorney.
Your recently deceased neighbor, she was in her 80s, and you and your family had essentially adopted her.
You were showing her kindness. You were helping her out in so many different ways.
Well, it turns out she wrote you into her will.
You didn't plan that. You weren't pining for that.
You didn't even know she had any money.
You were just seeking to love your neighbor.
This lawyer says, I'm just calling to let you know that you're going to be receiving $10,000
from Gladys' estate by the end of this month.
So for us, it'd be like this coming week. We'd get $10,000 in the mail.
Let me ask you a question.
What do you do?
How does God want you to respond to that?
What should be your attitude, your posture towards that $10,000?
And then what should be your actions, your practice?
What do you do with that?
I hope you're at least asking this.
As God's steward of all that He has given you,
you're asking God, what would you have me do with this?
What would you do with this?
Let's move from a kind of one-time windfall
to now your monthly income.
Most of us in this room are receiving some kind of monthly income.
Maybe you are receiving $20,000 a month,
$10,000 a month.
Maybe you're receiving $5,000 or $3,000 a month.
What should be your posture toward that monthly income?
And what should be the practices of good stewardship
in stewarding that money in a way that pleases the Lord?
Now, if you weren't here last week,
I preached on Proverbs 3, 9 and 10,
and I was trying to make a case that the gospel of Jesus Christ
radically, radically changes our hearts towards money.
Instead of seeing money for our own glory,
now we have been rescued and money is a means to God's glory.
So we're going to steward it to God's glory
because we're God's stewards trusting in God's promises.
This is what the gospel does.
It de-golemizes us.
Remember that?
My precious.
The love of money is like the ring of power in our hands.
It's not a ring.
It's usually on our smartphones
where we're looking at our bank accounts.
Oh, my precious.
The gospel rescues us from that.
This morning, I want to move from
the why we give last week
to the how we give.
And it's that word firstfruits
that is such a help.
When you read that in 3.9,
firstfruits,
with the firstfruits,
we're to honor the Lord
with the firstfruits of all your produce.
The original recipients would have been thinking
like the firstfruits of their barley harvest,
of their wheat harvest.
There's multiple harvests
during the growing year in Israel.
Or if you had a flock,
it would be the firstfruits of your flock.
And it's okay to think in terms of sequence,
like this is the first we give back to God
of what He's given to us.
But this word is not just sequential
in its firstfruits.
This word is qualitative.
We give our best to the Lord.
When we honor the Lord with our wealth,
we give Him the best we have.
And so this morning,
what I want to help you to think through is,
you're going to hear me say that,
give your best to the Lord.
In light of what Christ has done for us,
let's give our best to Him.
And so, I want to help you think through
how to give your best to the Lord
attitudinally,
and how to give your best to the Lord
by way of action.
How to give your best to the Lord
by way of posture of heart,
and how to give your best to the Lord
by way of practice.
There is much grace here.
Now, let's just state the obvious.
There in this room are people
with a wide range of incomes.
Not all of us have the same income,
and that's okay.
We're not making any claim
that all of us should have the same income.
But here's what's going to unite us,
brothers and sisters, as a church.
It's when we are united
in giving our best to the Lord
with whatever He's given to us.
When we are doing that together,
it unites us in a God-pleasing posture.
And so let's give our best to the Lord.
Whatever He's given of us,
let's give our best back.
And let's start off with this
kind of sense of attitude, of posture.
By attitude and posture,
what I'm talking about
essentially is your motivation.
What is the motivation
behind your stewardship in general
and your giving in particular?
And in order to drill down into that,
we're going to move away
from Proverbs chapter 3,
and I want to bring you
to a passage in 2 Corinthians.
It's in 2 Corinthians 8 and 9.
If you're looking at your pew Bible,
it starts on page 1149.
And so I just want to give you
some background of what's going on
in 2 Corinthians 8 and 9.
At this time in the first century,
there was a devastating famine
that had broken out in Jerusalem
and the surrounding areas of Jerusalem.
And it was wreaking havoc
in the Jerusalem church.
So the Jerusalem church
were primary Jewish Christians,
and they were now suffering
because of this famine.
And so the Apostle Paul does something.
It's one of the first Christian relief efforts,
a Christian relief fund.
Do you know what the Apostle Paul does?
He reaches out to primarily Gentile churches
around the Mediterranean basin,
churches in Macedonia,
and the churches in Galatia,
and the church of Corinth.
And he says,
okay gang,
what can you do
to help your brothers and sisters
in the Jerusalem church?
And so what he's doing
in 8 and 9
is he's circling back
to a commitment
they had already made,
and he's motivating them to give.
And so for us,
it's very helpful
because we're going to apply this
not to a one-time gift
to people in need.
We're going to apply this
to our monthly stewardship of God,
what he entrusts to us.
And so with that said,
what I want you to see
in 2 Corinthians 8 and 9
are three motivations,
three attitudinal
kind of lining up
to what pleases God.
The first one is this.
It's in 2 Corinthians 8, 8 and 9.
It's gospel.
It's a gospel-shaped generosity.
It's attitudinal.
It's posture of heart.
It's motivational.
Look what he says.
In verse 8 he says,
I say this not as a command,
but to prove by earnestness
of others that your love
is also genuine.
He's talking about this relief effort
that they've been kind of gathering
for about a year
and they're going to send it.
And he says in verse 9,
for you know the grace
of our Lord Jesus Christ
that though he was rich,
yet for your sake he became poor
so that you by his poverty
might become rich.
This is a gospel motivation
towards generosity.
What's being said here
is that Jesus himself
became poor
so that he would enrich us
with salvation
and that should motivate us
in our giving
to divest ourselves
of some of our wealth
to help other people
become enriched in Jesus.
Jesus.
It's a gospel motivation.
The idea of
he who became rich,
he who was rich
became poor
is talking about
his incarnation.
This is Philippians chapter 2,
3 through 11
where Jesus who
before he took on flesh,
before the second person
of the Trinity
was incarnated,
he was in glory in heaven
and when he took on flesh,
he took the form of a servant.
He humbled himself.
He became poor
and then he lived
a perfect life,
died on the cross
and through that death
and resurrection,
he brings wealth
to sinners.
He makes us rich
for those who believe.
Yet for your sake,
he who was rich
became poor.
And you know what kind
of riches
it's the riches
of salvation.
It's the riches
of God's grace
that are in Christ Jesus.
It's Jesus himself.
Our riches
in Christ.
Jesus is our treasure.
And so,
when you think about this,
that Jesus is our treasure,
can you stack Jesus up
next to anything
you could possibly think of
on this planet
and say,
how could that
in any way
be more valuable
than him?
This gospel motivation
gets at something
in us
in which
God is saying to us,
just as your God
became poor
to make you rich,
so now you
handle your wealth
to make others
rich in Jesus.
it's powerful motivation.
It's powerful motivation.
Didn't deserve it.
We didn't deserve
Jesus becoming
poor to make us rich.
That's why we read
that this is
the grace
of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Christ.
So this first
motivation,
this first dimension
is gospel.
The second aspect
of it is
generosity.
We're to be generous.
If you flip over
to 2 Corinthians 9,
6,
Paul starts drawing
on a particular
illustration,
particular way
of being
that that congregation
would have been
very familiar with.
The point is this,
Paul writes,
whoever sows sparingly
will also reap sparingly,
and whoever sows
bountifully,
generously,
will also reap
bountifully.
We're not talking
about sowing
as in a sowing machine.
What we're talking
about is
sowing seed.
We're talking about
planting
and growing
and harvesting.
And Paul
is using
this
illustration
to attend
to how we give.
You sow a little,
you reap a little.
You give a little,
you reap
a little.
The sowing
is analogous
to financial giving.
Giving of your
financial resources.
And we're not
to give minimally
according to what
Paul is saying here
is the
principle is we
give generously.
We give abundantly.
Now, if you flip
back to 2 Corinthians
8,
Apostle Paul does
something really
interesting.
In verses 1 and 2,
he brings up
some other churches.
The churches
of Macedonia.
And he's kind of like,
you know what,
Corinthians,
let me just tell you
what the Macedonians
are doing.
And then he goes on
in verse 3
and he says,
for they,
the Macedonian churches,
gave according to
their means,
as I can testify,
and beyond their means
of their own accord.
In other words,
they had started
to give sacrificially.
Going beyond their means.
These Macedonians
who had nothing
were finding ways
to give
because they
had a gospel
motivation going on.
And they want to be
part of this
relief effort.
They want to be part
of what God was doing.
And so,
what we see here
is not only just
a sowing,
not of a little,
but a sowing
of abundance
and even moving
into sacrificial
giving.
It's kind of like this.
Let's say we're
living in first,
let's say we're
living in Corinth,
but it's Corinth
21st century.
And if your family
is kind of a,
you stop at Starbucks
a lot.
And there's not
necessarily wrong
with that,
but let's say
you hear about
this need
in the Jerusalem church
and you gather
your family,
you're a dad,
you're leading your home
and you're like,
here's what we're
going to do, gang.
We're going to go
without Starbucks
all year long
and we're going to
take the stuff
that we'd spend
for Starbucks,
we're going to
pile it up
and we're going
to send it
to the church
in Jerusalem
because we can
go without Starbucks
so that they can
eat.
It's that kind
of mentality,
others oriented.
What is really
interesting is when
you start asking
the question,
well, what is
the abundant
harvest that's being
talked about here?
If we're to sow
abundantly,
we're going to
reap abundantly,
what is the
abundant reaping
that we're talking
about?
And you start
to see it
at the end
of chapter 9,
starting in verse 11,
I'm going to
highlight some
words for you.
You will be rich
in every way,
to be generous
in every way,
which through us
will produce
thanksgiving
to God.
Verse 12,
for the ministry
of this service
is not only supplying
the needs of the saints,
but is overflowing
and many thanksgivings
to God.
By their approval
of this service,
they will glorify God
because of your
submission that comes
from your confession
of the gospel of Christ.
Gospel-driven
generosity
and the generosity
of your contribution
for them
and for all others
while they long
for you
and pray for you.
It's uniting
these Christians
because of the
surpassing grace
of God upon you.
Their generosity
is an outworking
of God grace
in them.
And then Paul says,
thanks be to God
for his inexpressible gift.
The harvest
is thanksgiving
among God's people
all over the place.
God gets the glory.
God gets the praise.
He knits his churches
together.
And everybody's saying,
yes and amen,
isn't this good?
It's the second
kind of attitudinal feature
in this passage.
We saw gospel.
Now we've seen generosity.
The last thing
I want you to see
is the joy
in 9-7.
Each one must give
as he's decided
in his heart.
We all have
different incomes.
We're all in
different situations.
But we each must decide
before the Lord
what we give.
Not reluctantly
or under compulsion
for God loves
a cheerful giver.
Would you look at
the person next to you
and just say,
God loves
a cheerful giver?
God loves
a cheerful giver.
And the way
that Paul is talking
about cheerful giving
in the actual verse,
he qualifies it
with some nots.
He says,
cheerful giving
is not reluctantly.
Could you imagine
someone writing a check
to Christ the King Church
and they're kind of like,
oh, fine.
Yeah, okay.
I'll write this,
I guess.
Take it.
You're kind of reluctant.
Paul's like,
keep it.
God loves
a cheerful giver.
A voluntary giver.
Not under compulsion.
You don't feel like
you're having
your arm twisted.
But this is flowing
out of God's work
of grace.
This is flowing
out of what Christ
has done for you
and you're like,
you just,
give me opportunities.
Have you heard
of those stories
about churches
that pass the plate
and the head
of the stewardship
committee looks
at the plate
and that's not enough
and they pass
the plate again?
It's called compulsion.
It's a little manipulative.
Let's just see
what God's word says
and let's respond
in faith.
A cheerful heart
is a heart
shaped by gospel grace.
It's a heart
that is generous
in wanting God
to be exalted
and praised.
it's a heart
that is finding
joy
in what God
is doing
and is happy
to share
their wealth.
It's this
kind of idea
where you're like,
whatever I'm contributing,
if that's going
to more
and more people
treasuring Jesus
above all else,
it's going
to more and more people
that Jesus
is the treasured
center,
the controlling
center of their lives.
Oh,
go
with joy.
So,
these are what
goes into
forming
a mature Christian
attitude
when it comes
to stewardship
in general
and then giving
in particular.
So,
let me ask you,
let's do an audit.
How does your heart
line up?
how is the gospel
shaping,
motivating
your stewardship
and your giving?
How is this,
is there,
is there this sense
of abundant,
I want to be giving
more abundantly,
not sparingly,
but abundantly
so that there would be
this harvest of praise
to God.
is that functional
in you?
Is there joy
in your heart
as you give?
Now,
if you're saying,
well,
no,
I'm not really,
do you know
what you do?
You run
to chapter 8,
verse 9,
and you give thought
to the second person
of the Trinity
becoming poor
in order to make you
rich with Him.
That gospel
tending to your heart
will bring about
a God-pleasing change.
So,
this is getting at,
hey,
let's give our best
to the Lord
and it starts
with attitude.
It starts with heart posture.
So,
for the balance
of our time,
what I'd like to do
is,
what does it mean
to give our best
to the Lord
by way of actions
and by way of practice?
So,
let's say
that you bring
this gospel-shaped heart
to your $20,000
a month income
or $10,000
or $5,000
or $3,000
and your posture
has been transformed
towards this money.
You're like,
Psalm 24,
1,
all of this
is the Lord
so I'm going
to give back
some of it
to the Lord
with joy.
Now what?
What does that look like?
I wish someone
would have told me
what I'm about to tell you
when I was 23 years old.
This isn't rocket science.
What I'm about to share with you
is common grace,
but I think it will help you.
Here are three categories
to think about
all of your income
of what God entrusts you.
Here are three ways
to think about it.
Three words,
give,
save,
spend.
And as a starting point,
you want to be thinking
very practically
to be giving 10%
of what God has given you,
to be saving 10%
of what God gives you,
and to be spending 80%
of what God gives you.
Just as a starting point.
And so it just gives you
something to aim at.
And so what I'd like to do now
for the rest of our time
is just kind of unpack
these things.
I'm going to spend
the bulk of my time
in the giving category,
move to saving,
and then if I've got some time,
I'll talk about spending.
Give your best
to the Lord
of your monthly income.
9-7,
each one must give
as he decided
in his art.
Each one of us
is to be stewarding
that which God entrusts to us.
We're to give
a portion of that
back to the Lord.
First fruits,
the best.
The first,
the best.
So the principle
I want you to hear right now
is when you give,
don't give leftovers
at the end of the month.
Give the best
at the beginning of the month.
start there,
and if you come up short,
you're going to deal
with that in your spending,
not your giving.
Decide how much.
And the,
under the Old Covenant,
Old Covenant saints
were commanded
to give 10%
of their monthly produce,
of their monthly income.
And when we get
to the New Testament,
the New Testament
is rather silent
on the tithe.
And so,
you really can't make
this airtight argument
either way
for the tithe
in the New Testament
because it's pretty quiet on it.
But I'm with Randy Alcorn.
Randy Alcorn
wrote this book,
The Treasure Principle.
I think we've got
four copies still
at the Connect Desk
out there
if you want this.
It's outstanding.
What Randy Alcorn does
is he makes this case
of using the tithe
to help you give.
Think of the tithe
as training wheels
on your giving bike.
Just getting started.
And it helps you
in terms of aiming
at something
to be giving back
to what God is giving you.
Giving your best
back to the Lord.
And you know what?
You're going to find this.
Because
riding your bike
with training wheels
is kind of fun.
Riding your bike
without training wheels
is even better.
And so,
see those training wheels
as to get you going.
But you don't have to stay
riding your bike
with training wheels on
if you're able.
He makes this case,
Randy Alcorn,
when it comes to the tithe.
The old covenant saints,
well,
they were commanded
to give 10%.
How much more
should new covenant saints
who know the grace
of the Lord Jesus Christ
give more?
There's this study
that was done.
I came across it
this past week
getting ready.
It's called
The Giving Gap.
Changes in Evangelical Generosity.
It's really interesting.
I just read
the executive summary,
which is 12
kind of summary statements.
And
this is what
the eighth summary statement is.
Generosity is the proportion
of household income
given away.
Now,
this is all evangelicals
in the American church
over 2024.
Think of it as a percentage
of your annual income.
The average donor gives
Do you know how,
do you know what the percentage is?
The average donor gives
blank of household income
to the church annually.
It's 2.8%.
And that's down
from 3.2%
in 2021.
It's interesting.
It's like,
okay,
giving's good.
We're giving something.
But if you're going to
talk about this
in terms of
giving sparingly
versus giving abundantly,
where would that fall?
And where would that fall
in terms of prioritizing
your giving,
giving your best
to the Lord?
It's a helpful
assessment
of where the American church
is,
the wealthiest church
in the world.
It's a helpful
So maybe right now
you're saying,
10%?
We can never do that.
How about this?
How about
asking the question,
what can
you do?
Are you giving
to begin with?
And
what's your next step
in your giving?
Can you start
looking at
what you spend
and say,
you know what,
that's a want.
We don't need that.
Let's reassign
that to
that which is
even more pleasing
to the Lord.
Are you giving at all?
What's your next step?
And see the 10%
as training wheels
to be
getting going
in your giving.
And remember,
Jesus became
poor
to make us
rich
so that
we
could
sow
abundantly
so that
more and more
people
would reap
a praise
harvest
to the Lord.
Finding their
treasure in
Jesus.
I was going to
talk about
frequency.
I'm going to
skip that.
Here are two
thoughts.
I was given
this book
by a brother
from the church
to read.
It's called
True Riches.
It's by
John Cortinez
and Gregory
Baumer.
It's a really
helpful book.
I'd recommend it.
I don't agree
with everything
in it.
But you know
what was
challenging
about this
book?
Here's what's
challenging
about this
book.
They raised
the question
of what do
you base
your lifestyle
on?
Do you base
your lifestyle
on your
income
or do you
base your
lifestyle
on your
giving?
It was a
very challenging
and provocative
question.
So it started
us re-evaluating
hey what do
we need
what do we
need to
live on
so that we
can free
up more
money to
give?
Because we
delight in
Jesus.
Another thought
is this.
It's about
progress.
It's about
growth.
Giving is an
act of grace.
2 Corinthians
8.
It's something
that God
is at work
in us
and we
respond to
and step
into
and experience
more and more
of his joy
so what's
your next
step?
What's
your next
step
individually?
What's
your next
step as
a family?
How can
you excel
still more
in this
act of
grace?
So
giving.
Give.
Give your
best to
the Lord.
Second
category is
save.
Saving
is putting
away money
and if
you're aiming
at 10%
aiming at
it.
Just like
giving,
you're aiming
at it,
you're moving
towards it.
That's
good.
It's just
important to
start.
Can I give
you a principle
from the
Proverbs
about saving?
This is
really helpful.
This is
Proverbs 13,
11 and
it says
this,
wealth
gained
hastily
will
dwindle
but whoever
gathers
little by
little will
increase it.
Little by
little.
saving
little by
little.
So maybe
it's long
term saving
little by
little.
You're
saving,
you're putting
money away
for your
retirement or
you're building
up towards
a new car
to you that
you need to
purchase.
It's little by
little you're
putting away.
Or it's more
of a short
term 12 month
savings.
You're saying
okay you know
what we've got a
summer vacation
coming up and
so we're just
going to put a
little money
away little
bit by little
bit kind of
throughout the
year to be
ready for that
when it
comes or we
have a property
tax come and
due in December
and we're going
to put away
a little bit
little bit
and be ready
to pay that
property tax.
Christmas
we're trying to
save now put a
little way a
little way for
Christmas 2020
25.
And so you're
just putting
money away
tucking away
a little little
by little for
different things
coming down the
line.
But when it
comes to saving
I want to give
you a category
that I think
you should
consider.
It's called
an emergency
fund.
And what an
emergency fund
is is something
you save
towards.
It's usually
about $1,000 to
$2,000.
And how to
think about it
is like a
red case with
glass that
says break in
case of
emergency.
And so this
money for your
emergency fund
would be something
like you have a
medical expense that
you weren't
planning for.
you break into
your emergency
fund.
Or you have a
house expense
something goes
big time on your
house and you
weren't ready for
it.
Emergency fund.
Something else
happens.
Car expense.
Or maybe you
have a brother
and sister that
is facing a
crisis.
Break into the
emergency fund.
What then you
do is you
rebuild the
emergency fund
after you use
it.
And what that
will do is
it will protect
your cash flow.
It will help
you if you're
living paycheck
by paycheck
and maybe you're
in a cycle of
debt to help
you get out of
a cycle of
debt.
When it
comes to
saving,
I just need
you to hear
this.
We don't
trust in our
savings.
We trust in
God's promises.
But we're
wise in doing
our savings.
The third
category of
kind of like
giving our
best to the
Lord is by
way of our
spending.
You know,
I gave you
the percentages.
Give 10%,
save 10%,
spend 80%.
You know,
you don't
have to
spend 80%
if you
don't want
to,
if you don't
have to.
You don't
have to do
that.
What has
been really
helpful for me
over the years
has been
thinking in
two categories,
what are my
needs and
what are my
wants?
Can I just
define for you
what a need
is?
A need
is something
that is
necessary for
you to
live.
It's food.
It's clothing.
It's shelter.
It's, you
can make a
case for
transportation.
I think you
can make a
case for a
phone to be
functional in
our culture.
And so,
when you start
realizing what
your needs
truly are and
then what are
your wants,
what is
unnecessary,
but good.
Helpful.
It gives
you a sense
of priority.
And so,
if you're
putting together
a budget,
which is
simply a tool
to help you
steward God's
funds,
the first
things that
you're going
to want to
spend on
are your
needs.
And then,
and then the
discretionary
spending are
your wants.
Very helpful
categories.
Now,
if you want
a helpful
exercise,
download your
monthly bank
statement and
look at all
of what you
have purchased
as you have
made and
right next to
each one in
N or a W.
This is a need,
this is a want.
It'll be
interesting to
see what you
find out.
Jenny and I,
neither of us
are money
managers.
Neither of us
are administrative
powerhouses.
services.
And the tool
that has helped
us grow us,
serve us in
our financial
stewardship is
called a cash
envelope system.
It's old school.
And what it is,
is we have this
little accordion
file with 12
slots.
And at the
beginning of
every month,
I go to the
bank and I get
cash out and I
put it in each
slot for groceries
and for
upcoming auto
maintenance and
for clothes and
for haircuts and
for other things
like that.
And for us,
this is just
where we live.
It helps us
because we
always see what
we have in a
category.
And when we're
out of it,
we're out of it.
And it has
served us as
we want to
give our best
to the Lord.
And if that's
where you are,
I would highly
recommend it.
It is a really
helpful tool.
And it can
function as an
emergency fund at
the same time.
Now, I know I
haven't talked
about debt.
I know I
haven't gone into
talking about
budgets.
Let me point you
to some resources
that can help you
without some
websites,
Crown Financial,
Dave Ramsey.
People are
different sides of
the fence with
Dave Ramsey,
but he offers
this course called
Financial Peace
University.
It will help
you.
Compass,
Compass
Finances
God's Way.
It's a good
organization to
help.
You can go to
any of those
websites to
get help here.
There's this
book,
a recommended
treasure principle.
There's true
riches.
But if you want
to talk to a
human being,
and you're
like,
we need help,
would you come
find me?
We can direct
you to someone
in our church
who can really
help you with
these kinds of
things.
So when we
talk about
giving your
best to the
Lord,
three categories.
Give,
save,
spend.
What's your
next step?
To give your
best to the
Lord in your
actions.
Giving your
best to the
Lord is both
dealing with
posture and
practice,
kindness.
And every one
of us in the
room has room
to grow.
We all have
different income
levels in this
room, but what
will unite us in
our generosity as
we move forward
is if each of us
is growing in
giving our best
to the Lord.
We can do that
together.
So,
if you receive a
10,000 check in
the mail this
week from the
settlement of an
estate, what
would be
governing your
heart and your
actions?
I'd hope it be
at least this
question.
God is your
steward.
How can I
honor you best
in stewarding
this money?
Let's pray
together.
God in heaven,
we do thank you
so much for the
money you've
entrusted to us.
We want to be
delivered from the
love of money
day by day, and
the gospel does
just that.
It moves our
heart off of
money and moves
our heart onto
the treasure of
our soul,
Jesus.
Would you grow
us in our
attitudes and our
actions, our
postures and our
practice so that we
would excel still
more in this act
of grace.
It's in your name
we pray.
Amen.