Sovereign Grace Bible Church
These are the sermons and teachings of Sovereign Grace Bible Church in Biggsville, Illinois. We exist to fulfill the Great Commission through the Great Commandment within Gospel Community.
Sovereign Grace Bible Church
Beyond the American Dream: The Radical Call to Generous Living
What if your approach to money directly reveals your understanding of the gospel? In this challenging message on generous living, we confront the uncomfortable reality that the American Dream and Christian generosity exist in fundamental tension.
The sermon examines the extraordinary example of the Macedonian churches who, despite "extreme poverty" and "severe affliction," overflowed with joy and generosity. This paradox challenges our cultural assumptions about wealth and happiness. As Americans, we struggle to distinguish between wants and needs, often viewing financial security as our primary goal rather than seeing resources as tools for kingdom impact.
Through a careful examination of 2 Corinthians 8-9, we discover that generous giving isn't about meeting a percentage or following rules. Instead, it flows from a heart transformed by the gospel. When Jesus chose money as our primary spiritual competitor, saying "You cannot serve both God and money," He recognized money's unique power to reveal our true allegiances.
The message outlines how biblical generosity works: we give even when in need, we give cheerfully rather than under compulsion, we give according to what we have, and we give trusting God's provision. The effects are profound – our giving encourages others, meets tangible needs, glorifies God, and unites believers across boundaries.
Most importantly, generous living extends beyond finances to encompass our entire lives. As Galatians 6 reminds us, "Let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap if we do not give up." This generosity isn't about performing for others but about worshiping the God who gave everything for us.
Ready to experience the freedom that comes from open-handed living? Join us as we explore how following Jesus transforms not just what we believe about money, but how we use it to advance God's kingdom in our community and beyond.
Amen, amen, good morning. Good morning, yet again. We are going through our second series on who we are now. We said we went over 14 weeks of what we believe and now we're in the midst of eight weeks of defining what this church is all about. What are the guiding principles, what will never change? Obviously, we had to begin with God's Word. How do we approach it? How do we preach from it? And that was we are a expositionally expository preaching church 95% of the sermons from this pulpit. Once we're done with this series, you will know what's happening next week because it will start at the next verse of whatever book we're in. You'll never have to question and I'll never have to be creative ever again in my entire life, and it will be great, because this is not my strong suit, if you didn't know. So we started with expository preaching, we went to intergenerational ministry, this need for evangelism, and now we get to this principle of generous living. And while everything we've said so far has been countercultural, I think this might be the most sensitive of the counter-culturals, because generous living and the American dream are at odds.
Speaker 1:There's a famous sermon 25 years ago, I believe-ish something around that where John Piper, in front of thousands of young people, preached a sermon titled Don't Waste your Life. And he started off the sermon with this story where he read from a newspaper about two older ladies who were missionaries, who died in a foreign country while on mission. And he said some people will look at that and say that's a waste. They didn't have to be there. Their lives ended before they needed to. Then he turned the corner and he said let me explain to you what a wasted life looks like. And it was from Reader's Digest and it was about whoever. Polly and Smollie and how they were married, had a wonderful life, retired early and they've been banking on that early retirement since then. They enjoy riding around on their whatever foot troller and having all the fun in the world and they now collect seashells. And that's the American dream in a nutshell. Nutshell is make enough money as quickly as possible so that my last stint here I can cruise. I don't have to do anything.
Speaker 1:The American dream is have the nice house, have the nice car, have more than enough money, have a name that people recognize and respect, have the nice car, have more than enough money, have a name that people recognize and respect. And we forget that Jesus came with a heart posture of being gentle and lowly. See, the American dream that is all about me and rising up and being better than and greater than and overcoming, is at odds with the Christian life that says this life is not about me. And so one of the principles that will help us from here on out is the principle, the distinctive, of generous living. And while generous living will begin with money, the idea that with our money we are to be generous, we will end with our lives. Because Romans 12 tells you and I that our lives are to be a living sacrifice. And I'm here to tell you living sacrifices are not comfortable. Living sacrifices are not just all cozy, having everything they want in life. The Lord of Lords provides everything we need. In America, we have a very hard time deciding between what we need and what we want. So how do we understand generous living? Well, you don't again want my opinion. We want to hear from God's word. So we'll be in 2 Corinthians, 8 and 9, and it's a cool breakup where the first 15 verses of chapter 8 will show us how to give. It shows us an example, an exposition of how to give, and then 9, 1 through 15 will show us the effects when we choose to generously give, what happens.
Speaker 1:We begin with 2 Corinthians, chapter 8, verses 1 and 2. Let me remind you that this is God's holy word. Paul says we want you to know, brothers, about the grace of God that has been given among the churches of Macedonia, for, in a severe test of affliction, their abundance of joy and their extreme poverty have overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part. Paul is speaking about this collection he's making for Jerusalem. So the church in Jerusalem is gigantic and really poor. There are thousands of Christians and no money because they all got kicked out. So what that means getting kicked out of the synagogue is I can't get a job in town, right? I'm not respected, I'm not known, I'm not allowed to go to the town square, no one will listen to me. That's what thousands of Christians, in one fell swoop from Peter's sermon, by the power of the Holy Spirit, chose was to lay it all on the line and say my money, my time, my life is not mine. So this is the context. Paul's going to all these other churches who are not in Jerusalem, so they are financially a little better off, and he's collecting for these poor saints in Jerusalem. And so he's talking to the Corinthian church about these other churches. He says we want you to know, brothers, about the grace of God that has been given among the churches of Macedonia. What is the grace of God in this text? Right, these churches in Macedonia? What is the grace of God? He gives context, grace of God. He gives context Four in a severe test of affliction, their abundance of joy and their extreme poverty have overflowed.
Speaker 1:Okay, when's the last time you were broke and overflowing with joy? I don't see a single hand. This is offensive. What are you Americans? No, jim, stop it. And Jim will go to counseling for lying later. So that just doesn't compute in our head.
Speaker 1:Right, you grew up in America. You weren't growing up on the side of the river as a bloated African child that has no food or water. And you're just like I can have fun with a stick. You and I, we're not that cool. We like think, we're like tough stuff because we drank out of like spigots and garden hoses and we ate beans out of a can straight. And we're like see, I was poor and you're like no, you could afford McDonald's once a month. I don't want to hear it Like you once a month. I don't want to hear it. You know what they can't afford over there McDonald's not even a McChickey, not even one.
Speaker 1:Now we have to get out of this American concept, which is why, actually, my philosophy of short-term missions is you're not going there for them, you're going there for you, we're going to go build them up. No, you're not, no, no, you're going to get culture shocked into realizing oh my gosh, I have everything. Because what you're doing right now is you're comparing to everyone around you and you're saying well, like Bob got a new truck, mine's eight years old. Like I'm just like so-andso, when they were 25, they had this and me, I'm like a loser that just can pay his bills and get groceries and have insurance and a car that runs, and we miss the perspective.
Speaker 1:This life is not about money, which is why, if Jesus could have picked anything, when he said you can't serve two masters, he could have said you can't serve sex and God and we've been like dude, that makes sense. I'm with you. Holler back, Give me a high five, I'm with you. He could have said you can't serve power and me. What did he say? You can't serve two gods, you can't serve money. And me why? Because money rules the world.
Speaker 1:Guess what? If you have enough money, you can buy power. You have enough money. You can buy fame. You have enough money. You can buy control. You have enough money. You can buy sex. We have all the things at our fingertips. If I just have enough money, I could never cook a meal ever again, never have to clean my house again.
Speaker 1:The list goes on and on and on. And do you know why? That's like inundated, it's like in your bloodstream. It's because you and I have been raised in this world system. Who's in charge of the world system? Satan, the devil. You know what he's really good at Knowing the sin inside you. He's been studying human beings for thousands of years, and the strongest and greatest of us, that was the purest of heart, adam and Eve. He got them. And then you and I are like that's fine, I can interact with the world, I can do a little bit of this. Like I'm pretty tough, like other college kids aren't as strong as I am. Okay, I have more self-control Like other grandparents would do that, but I am above that. Do that, but I am above that.
Speaker 1:And we have this like this inflated personality where we don't understand how weak we are and we've missed the purpose of life completely. Look at this text, verse two, for in a severe not a little like it wasn't a bad day, this is like Job day, okay. Like the car broke, the house broke, the family's dead, everything's going wrong. We have no money, severe affliction. In that moment, two things happen at the same time, kind of like if you took the two elements of salt and you had those separately, you'd be like I don't understand how that makes table salt and you can eat it, because those are both poisonous and dangerous. You put them together and all of a sudden, wow, this is great, it seasons things, it preserves things. How did that happen?
Speaker 1:In a similar sense, if we just have all this joy, right, without the suffering, we're missing a piece. And if we have all of the suffering without the joy, we're missing a piece. Both can lead the wrong way, because you and I are called to a suffering life here on this earth. And again, what we're not saying is like a poverty gospel. Okay, I want to be very clear. Right, we're going anti-prosperity and anti-poverty. We will stay on the road. We will not go into either ditch. What we're not saying is give to God and you'll be rich. That's stupid and it's wrong. No, we're not saying give all your money away and don't be able to afford to pay your bills. That's stupid and also wrong. Don't do that. There is a balance and all of my black and white people said no, there's not. There is right and there is wrong. God has given us principles for giving and everyone should say thank God Because once upon a time there was a law in the Old Testament for God's people.
Speaker 1:It's an exact percentage that measured us. And guess what? Even when you could do it and you met the percentage, your heart was in the wrong spot and so you still failed. The law was made not for us to achieve. Like I did it, I finally gave cheerfully. I gave the right percentage. The law reveals you need Jesus. Maybe more importantly, it reveals you're not Jesus. You can't do it In our superhero society. Knowing I'm not a superhero is important. Society knowing I'm not a superhero is important.
Speaker 1:This church gives us an example because in the abundance, this overflowing joy and this extreme poverty, there's an overflow, there's an outcome that happens, a wealth of generosity. Again I want you to think about. None of us have been in that spot where we've been like broke and super joyful, a wealth of generosity Again I want you to think about. None of us have been in that spot where we've been like broke and super joyful, but I want you just to try to imagine, to put yourself in that spot. Right, you're in the dingy apartment, you can't make ends meet and someone comes over for supper and you're like I have one pack of ramen. You and I could split it technically, but I'll be hungry. And we have to get out of this mindset of america and get into the mindset of the widow with elijah, where elijah goes there and says, hey, I need some bread. And the widow goes we have a tiny little bit of love for me and my son to eat before we die. And Elijah's like perfect, I'll take some. And what does she do? She follows through, she makes the little loaf, they break it and, guess what? They don't die.
Speaker 1:God provides. This is a principle that 10 years ago you would have never been. I was saved 10 years ago and you would have never been able to convince me of it. Like you, tell me if I'm on my last leg, I got $5 left. I should just like if someone comes to me, god put someone in my life, there's a need in the church, something happens you should just to which I would say, yes, that's a wonderful time to give, but only from a pure heart, not from this like well, I want Pastor Dan to be proud of me so I can go tell him next Sunday. Pastor Dan, I have $5. You gave it to Joe Schmoe on the street, like that's not going to get us anywhere. Okay, performance-driven religion will send you down the pit of despair or pride. Both are terrible. I encourage you to not go One star reviews.
Speaker 1:Now, when we are in this moment, how do we give? Well, we give even when we are in need. We open up and say I have more than enough, I have more than enough, okay. Okay, that won't be on the recording. I have more than enough. I do not need, I want, and you've come to me with a need, with a desire, with an opportunity for me to be generous, and I'll take advantage of it, because that's the example that's been given to me. What else do we learn? 2 Corinthians, 8, 3, and 4, paul says, for they gave according to their means, as I can testify, and beyond their means, of their own accord, begging us earnestly for the favor of taking part in the relief of the saints. How many of you came this morning ready to beg to give extra money to the church? No, I didn't. I didn't wake up on that side of the bed. I'm not sure where that side of the bed exists, but I'm sure it does somewhere in a much more sanctified version of myself that, hopefully, is in the future.
Speaker 1:This is what the early church looked like. I mean, they're getting killed left and right, they are getting thrown into dungeons, they are getting ostracized by the community and they're looking at Paul and saying we have two loaves of bread. Would you please let us give one of them to what you're doing? And look at my bank account and I got more than two loaves of bread. I'm like that's a lot of money, like I could do stuff with that, like our savings account could be this, we could have this, we could have our house paid off in this amount of time. Do you know, if we did nothing, we could do this. We could go out to eat every day.
Speaker 1:And what I have to ask is the heart posture right? This is what we're going to. We're not trying to say a legalistic black and white. Here's what you must do. I don't want you walking away. Like Dan said, I gotta give this much amount of money every week for the rest of my life. That's not what's happening. What we are saying is my heart matters, and even when I have nothing, I have everything because God is more than enough and my relationship with him is much more important than any religious output I will ever be able to make.
Speaker 1:So we see from 2 Corinthians, 8, 3, and 4 that we are to give generously and desirously. We're to desire to give, and you might say I'm not there. There's maybe like a little inkling in me that's like yeah, let's give Like, and that's like happens every now and then. What do I do? That's the beautiful thing is, you can't do anything. You can't do it. You can't will yourself to be wanting to give more. You can't discipline yourself to make it happen. You have to keep your eyes on Christ and say God, help me to look at my money like you look at my money. Help me to look at my church like you look at my church. Help me to love you more than this, because right now I'm wrestling and guess what God already knows the truth. So he really appreciates honesty.
Speaker 1:So when we're like I'm wrestling with this, that pleases God. He says they gave according to their means and then goes above and beyond, says they gave beyond their means. Right, this is the point where they're giving you food that they would have liked to have eaten, but you were in greater need than they were. So if I'm not starving at all and you're starving a lot, I can give you some of mine and we can both starve a little bit. That's the concept here to give generously.
Speaker 1:Verse four there again begging us earnestly for the favor of taking part in the relief of the saints. I worry sometimes that part of the reason we don't desire to give is because we don't understand that it's worship. We don't understand that the God of the universe who woke you up today. You worship him, you exalt him, you lift him high. When you give, we are to give generously and desirously. It is a favor for us to be able to give, right?
Speaker 1:Mark Thomas isn't here, but again, last week we were talking about I get to right, we're working hard. There's just a few of us working hard carrying all that stuff out of the room and we thought about poor old Dan Ashton, stuck in a recliner, who would love to go help, who is probably itching within every fiber of his being to go do something. And in that moment Mark and I are sweating bullets. And in that moment Mark and I are sweating bullets. I'm like you wanna complain. And he looked at me and he said I get to. And I was like that's it, that's it, I get to. There are people that woke up today that don't have legs that work. I get to. There are people that aren't gonna go to work the next week because they can't anymore. I get to. There are people that can't give financially I get to. There are people that aren't going to go to work the next week because they can't anymore. I get to. There are people that can't give financially I get to.
Speaker 1:Where is that heart posture? Where is that desire? Verses five through nine give us the example. We follow Christ's example. How do we give? By following our fearless leader, who's not me. I'm the nincompoop stumbling forward in sanctification with you. Our fearless leader is Christ. Look at this and this. Not as we expected, but they gave themselves first to the Lord and then, by the will of God, to us. It's this idea of I want to give. What do I do? I go to God first. I don't go to Pastor Dan and say how much do you think I should give? I'm not going to give you a number, I refuse, because then what happens? I now have a standard. Pastor Dan has said this is much money, boom. If I make that, I've met my quota. Like no, no, no, it might change from week to week. Things happen. They go to the Lord first and then, by God's, will come to the church.
Speaker 1:Accordingly verse 6, we urge Titus that, as he had started so, we should complete among you this act of grace. But as you excel in everything, in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in all earnestness and in our love for you, see that you excel in this act of grace also. Why is that important? He's like emphasizing like you guys are excelling in everything, make sure you excel in this grace too. There's a funny moment that I had with a church planner over in Nebraska six months ago, eight months ago, and we were talking back and forth and he said, yeah, the church is starting to really grow. Like we went from like 40 to a hundred in like a couple of months. I was like that's awesome. Praise the Lord, he goes.
Speaker 1:What we've learned is that people started tending well before they start giving. And so we're still at the same thing where everyone's like we're a church of 100. And we're like, no, no, we're a church of 30. Like we have a lot of people here, but nothing's changed. And so this is important because it's easy to hold on to that. It took me years of being in the church before I began to give regularly. We're not even talking sacrifice, just regularly. Like you get paid and you're like I should give. That took years just to get to that point, verse 8. Years just to get to that point.
Speaker 1:Verse eight I say this not as a command, but to prove by the earnestness of others that your love is also also is genuine. So it's the idea again, he's not trying to put a weight over them, but is rather encouraging them in the races. Like this is going to show God's love in your life. This is going to be fruitful for you and for them. Do it for your good.
Speaker 1:Verse nine 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, his poverty might become rich Again. I want you to imagine Jesus on the cross and he says okay, if you do enough good works in your life and do enough things and give enough financially, then my salvation I will give to you, but only when you've given enough back to me. Or if you worship this much, then you know you're saved for sure. No, no, no, no. Jesus was rich. The definition of rich is Jesus. Okay, jesus was rich, and what did he do? He became lowly. He became meek, humble. Someone who was criticized and sent out to die, did not consider himself to be of too much reputation, to be of too much value to love you and I, enough to die for us. And so the idea is, if we look at a life and say how much is a life worth, we'd say it's worth a lot more than whatever's in your bank account. If Jesus gave his life, my life should be open to his.
Speaker 1:One of the ways I can tell where my heart's at is by where my money goes right. I look at my time. Where does my time go? I can tell you what's most important to me, because we say a lot of things Like we'll say whatever, like I have a buddy. Right, we'll say I have a buddy and I'm like you're important to me and he goes, okay, but I haven't seen you in three months. We haven't talked and the last two times I need help you weren't there. So I appreciate the words, but the rubber is so far from the road it might be in the air, flying Like it's not. We're not there.
Speaker 1:I can tell not me personally, right what's in my heart. I can tell what's in my heart by where my time and my money and my energy go, because, guess what? I can be super self-righteous very easily as a pastor. I can pour my life out from five in the morning until five at night and just die bleeding, sweating for this church and then go home and see my children and my wife, who all need me and it's I mean, we have four children, six and under, it's controlled chaos and say, yeah, no, I'm good, I'm going to check out Dad's tired, it's been a long day. I've already, like, saved a marriage and counseled this people. I'm good, like I got nothing left.
Speaker 1:And then I could come to you and say family shepherding is very important to me. You would say family shepherding is very important to me. You would say hypocrite, like you don't mean it. No, no, I say it all the time. I don't care what you say. You're not doing it, dan. You're not there with them, you're not loving them. You pour everything out before you get home. Dan, don't tell me your children are the most important thing to you my son. I want to pour everything into him and then spend no time with him. Don't tell me your wife's heart's important to me and you don't listen to her and you don't love her. Don't tell me the church is important to you but you're not willing to financially sacrifice for it. Don't tell me that, dan. Show me it. Show me how big your Jesus is. Show me how much he controls your life. That's what I want to see, because the Jesus I see in scripture gave everything. So if you're giving nothing, there's a disconnect.
Speaker 1:Second Corinthians, 8, 10 through 12,. We continue. Paul says and in this matter I give my judgment this benefits you. Okay, who does giving benefit the preacher? Who does giving benefit the building? Who does giving benefit the people we give stuff to? No, giving benefits you. It's like trying to condition your children to do healthy habits. You're like no, seriously, like I know right now, exercise seems like, but when you're 40, you're going to really be happy that you created this habit. Okay, I know that saving is like oh, but I could be doing something with that. But like just kind of trust me. Okay, 30, 40 years from now you're gonna be like I'm really glad I had that habit of saving money. It benefits you to give.
Speaker 1:Who, a year ago, started not only to do this work but also to desire to do it? So now finish doing it as well. The idea being here that the Corinthians, they like talked a big game. He was there the first time. They're like yeah, we're going to give a lot, and he's like cool. And then like here's the news that they haven't collected anything yet. And he's like all right, you remember we said that thing like finish it, get her done, come on, make it happen. That's like discipleship in a nutshell. By the way, right, we all have like a little momentum swing. We're like I'm gonna do it all. You're like let's finish one thing, like let's just finish one book, let's do one service project, let's see you do family worship one time and then we'll go from there. Don't attack the world. Eat the elephant, okay. Just one bite at a time. That's it. So now finish doing it as well, so that your readiness and desiring it may be matched by your completing it out of what you have. This is the definition of every counseling session I've ever had with a teenage boy. Ever, ever. Is you got this readiness? That's great. Let's complete it, let's make it happen.
Speaker 1:Verse 12. For if the readiness is there, it is acceptable according to what a person has, not according to what he does not have. This is why numbers are so important, to not say. That's why I'm not going to tell you how much you should give, because guess what? One person in here could give $25 and that could be everything they have. And they're like the widow Jesus is watching. Who says that person gave everything, did you see that? And their $25 means more than your $2,500. It's about the heart. What controls you? What desires do you have? It's not according to a number. It's according to what God has given you and the desire of your heart. Last one here for the how is we give? Trusting God? Verses 13 through 15.
Speaker 1:For I do not mean that others should be eased and you burdened. Why is he saying that? That's the initial human reaction? So you want me to get poor so other people can have plenty. Okay, I see how it is. I worked hard for this, like they're being lazy, but fine, that's not what he's saying. But that as a matter of fairness. And now, like the inside's really kicking, like nope, nope, nope, nope. That was the whole point, because it's not fair.
Speaker 1:Verse 14, your abundance at the present time should supply their need, so that their abundance may supply your need, that there may be fairness. What is he saying? There's a principle that I didn't learn when I was in business, before I became a pastor. Okay, and that's you're not guaranteed to always make the same amount of money. Your life. I was like I'm going up the corporate ladder, like I'm going to just keep making more and more money. That's not true. Okay, firings happen, you get let go. Economy COVID, whatever you want to call it everything happens. Okay, you're guaranteed nothing. So if you start living on 90% of what you have right now, what happens next year? If you break a leg? What happens if you get let go?
Speaker 1:We depend on money like it's everything and we suck it down like we're gonna die tomorrow if we don't drink it all down right now and we miss the fact that you're giving today out of your abundance because one day you'll also be in need. And we take turns. We're a three-braided rope. Okay, I don't know if you've ever seen those dinky ropes. I've tried to hang stuff on them and someone my size does not hang on that. Okay, but a triple-braided rope I will hang on that, that's fair. Why? Because when it's together, it's stronger Financially. As a church, we are better together than we are separately. Well, no, dan, you don't know my savings account and my 401k, my investments, my property. I'm gonna go. I'm gonna take you back to job. Okay, don't test the lord. Don't be like I have these things, or worse, to be like the man who Jesus talked about, who said I got to build more places to store all my stuff, only to hear you, fool, you're going to die tonight. Why did you build more storage for more stuff? We don't want to be those people.
Speaker 1:Verse 15, as it is written whoever gathered much had nothing left over and whoever gathered little had no lack this idea of community and also of actually wait. Whoa, whoa. Let's have a moment. Okay, let's be humble and honest. Let's be vulnerable. How about that? Right, like so? Someone knows I'm struggling. You know what we don't do. We're great at complaining on Facebook, we're great at gossiping about the neighbor and we're terrible at saying to one friend I'm hurting, I need help, and people that have more than enough would love to know that you're hurting, but pride keeps us from saying I need help. We're to be a community, so that's how we give.
Speaker 1:What happens when we give 2 Corinthians 9, we begin in verses one through five. It encourages others to give. Paul says now it is superfluous, that's a big word. I'll let Dan Ashton explain that word to you later.
Speaker 1:For me to write to you about the ministry for the saints for I know your readiness, of which I boast about you to the people of Macedonia, saying that Achaia has been ready since last year and your zeal has stirred up most of them. Look at that Like when someone and we know this when someone's on fire for something right, even if it's like moving stuff out of a funeral home, like you're like we're going to do it. Like everyone's like, okay, yeah, we can do it. Before I was like, but now I'm like okay, we can do it. When we're on fire for something, it helps the damp wood around us to dry out and to eventually catch. That's our job To have this readiness upon which people can say did you see that person? They're ready, they're just attacking this thing and the people around smile and are filled up and say, yes, we're doing something. And they didn't even do anything in that moment, but they're excited and encouraged because you did it and you're on fire for it.
Speaker 1:That's the Christian life. You know why that's important? Because the guy who's like all pumped up six months from now is going to have depression. He's going to need someone else to come on, buddy, we're going to do this and pick him up. We're all human, we're all finite, fickle creatures, so a generous life helps to stabilize the community to where we're not depending on a man but on a church, and not on the system of the church but on the God of the church who's working through his people. And that only happens when the right heart posture is there.
Speaker 1:Verse three but I am sending the brothers so that our boasting about you may not prove empty in this matter, so that you may be ready. As I said, you would be Otherwise, if some Macedonians come with me and find that you are not ready, we would be humiliated, to say nothing of you for being so confident. So I thought it necessary to urge the brothers to go on ahead to you and arrange in advance for the gift you have promised so that it may be ready as a willing gift and not as an exaction. Here's what he's trying to say you guys still haven't gotten that collection done just yet that you were all zealous for, that everyone else is all on fire for, and if we show up and it's not there, we will all be humiliated Again.
Speaker 1:You think about when someone's on fire and they're like I'm going to do all these things and they don't follow through, and you're like like we want to avoid that moment. How do we do it? By coming alongside and encouraging the one that's leading in that to ensure it happens. When the fulfillment of this encouragement happens, others are encouraged to do the same thing. If we're all bark with no bite, no one cares. He doesn't want it also to look like there's pressure. So if there's not a collection already beforehand, and he brings all these people with him who he's been telling them all about the Corinthian church and how generous they are, and he gets there and there's no money, and so everyone's like ah, hurry up and get a lot of money out. It feels like, oh, this is a pressure point. Paul came and everyone's like, hurry up and get all your money. And he's like, no, no, we don't want that. Why? Because it's not about the money, it's about the heart. What else will happen?
Speaker 1:Verses six through 11, you'll be personally blessed. Let me say that one more time you will be personally blessed. Verse six the point is this whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion. Why, for God loves a cheerful giver. Why would those be in there? Because those are the two negative forces that will push us to give in our religiosity. Like I'm going to be religious and make this happen. What's pushing me? Compulsion. Dan said so. There's pressure. People are watching. They know Like, stop or reluctantly? Okay, I guess we could do a little bit and we'll make it happen. God, I hope you're happy. And it's like, no, god's not happy. He does not want your burnt offering. Keep it. What he wants is a broken heart. He wants you to be broken before him and say I have nothing and you are everything and I love you, that's what he wants and your money is just an overflow of that heart. God loves a cheerful giver.
Speaker 1:We should care about what God loves, especially when it comes to us. We should care about what God loves, especially when it comes to us. If you have a best friend or a significant other and you say, I love when you do this, can you imagine if the person was like oh cool, I just love. Like if my wife, she makes food, I just love when you make this. She's like cool. I'd be like, okay, I'm going to go for a walk. I would be sad. Why? Because I told my best friend in the entire world, I love when you do this. And they said cool, like that's not cool, that's not okay. I just showed you my heart and you didn't care.
Speaker 1:God is showing you his heart today and he's saying he loves when you give cheerfully, freely Verse eight and God is able to make all grace abound to you so that, having all sufficiency in all things, at all times, you may abound in every good work. Again, what is Paul doing? He's pastorally helping the heart here, because the first thought about giving cheerfully and just giving stuff away is sufficiency. What about me. What about my stuff? What am I gonna do? God's got this. I don't know if you know this or not. He's the one that allows the money to be printed and he's the one who allows the money to be printed and he's the one who controls how much it's worth. And he's the one who allowed your house to be there and he's the one who gave you life today. Trust him more than your bank account. Trust him more than your worldly wisdom. That's been in your ear since you were born.
Speaker 1:Verse nine, as it is written he has distributed freely. He has given to the poor. His righteousness endures forever. Verse 10,. He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness. Is that increasing the harvest of your money? No, will he give you more money if you give? Possibly, but why would he give you more money if you give?
Speaker 1:Well, whoever is given a little and is responsible with it, god gives more. We can think the opposite of that right. It's like, if I give now and God gives me a lot more, okay, I'll keep giving that same amount and I'll just keep going. It's like no, no, no, god gave you more on purpose, and that goes for all of life, whether it's energy or skills. Right, we learned how to do this thing. Great, who are you going to serve with that? Right, I know how to do this thing now. Great. Who are you going to love with that? I have this desire for this. Great. Who are you sacrificing for? My Christian life does not end with me, it only begins with me, and God will multiply everything to me, especially and specifically my righteousness, my Christ-likeness. It's better to be a man of integrity than a man with lots of money. That's the Dan version of a proverb.
Speaker 1:Verse 11,. You will be enriched in every way to be generous in every way, which, through us, will produce thanksgiving to God. You will be personally blessed in every way to be generous. When you're generous, look at how generous God is. You're generous. He gives you more to be generous because he's generous. It's just this wonderful generous circle. Diana Kent will probably draw a circle of that for tonight with some arrows. Show us All right.
Speaker 1:What else happens? Verse 12,. We actively meet needs Verse 12,. For the ministry of the service is not only supplying the needs of the saints, but is also overflowing in many thanksgivings to God, don't. The service is not only supplying the needs of the saints, but is also overflowing in many thanksgivings to god. Don't skip over the not only. The not only is important.
Speaker 1:When we give, we meet needs. There are things that have to happen. There is a community that's dying in darkness right now that needs the gospel. My, my $20 don't do nothing. Yes, it does. It does everything, because it's not about the money, it's about the heart. Our ministry of giving to God's church is much more important than we think. We don't think of it with gospel impact, and yet we're fools if we don't. No, no, I do a lot of good over here. That's why we don't give. I get it. I can't change your heart, but I pray that God would show you from his word where your heart should be.
Speaker 1:What else happens. Verse 13,. By their approval of this service, they will glorify God because of your submission that comes from your confession of the gospel of Christ and the generosity of your contribution for them and for all others. We see that word submission right. And when we talked about like women earlier in the thing a couple weeks ago with intergenerational ministry, like it was like uncomfortable. It's gonna be more uncomfortable now, because now we're talking about men submitting as well and it's like, no, I am a manly man, I submit to no one. It's like, yeah, no, you do. Okay, I submit to God and to the other elders of the church, like we all are submitting because it's necessary, one of the ways that we submit.
Speaker 1:Look at the overflow first off, that comes from what does the submission come from? Your confession of the gospel of Christ. Okay, so the beginning of the fountain is the gospel. God saved me when I had nothing to give him. Jesus died for me when I hated him and because of the great love with which he loved me, I can be saved by grace through faith in him, by trusting in him. That is the beginning of the fountain.
Speaker 1:Here's what we'll do, though. If we don't see the submission of giving right, the submission of the gospel in giving generously, we'll do some behavior modification. We'll be like you got to start giving, like you got to start, you got to work on this. You better fix this portion of your life. And we miss the heart issue right. When my children act up, that's a symptom that's not corrected of itself. There's something in their heart underneath that needs to be corrected. When I am not generous with my finances toward the church, it is a symptom that something's wrong in my heart, specifically with the gospel. I don't understand it well enough. I have not applied it well enough. I need to grow in it. I need to grow in my love for Christ. The list goes on.
Speaker 1:We are all called to glorify God with our lives. What is your purpose, christian? Why are you here? Why do you exist? Is it to get the biggest, next best thing? You exist to glorify God and to enjoy him forever. That's why you exist. No other reason. You exist to glorify God and to enjoy him forever.
Speaker 1:Notice what I didn't say. You exist to glorify yourself and lots of stuff and enjoy lots of money and things. The American dream is nowhere in your purpose. Now here's what we're not saying. Again, let's go to the other side and make sure we're being clear. I'm not saying you should never enjoy your house or having enough money, never go out to eat. You should never buy nice things. God's not anti-nice things. He is. When those nice things keep us from being generous with our lives, you and I are called to be generous and when we are, that's a worship to God. God is glorified in that Last thing, for this in 2 Corinthians, 9, 14, and 15,.
Speaker 1:What does our giving do? It unites God's people While they long for you and pray for you because of the surpassing grace of God upon you. Thanks be to God for his inexpressible gift. When we give financially, when we're generous with our lives, it unites people. You know what is the best counter to someone being mean to you? It's to be generous to them, it's to be gracious. Give them what they don't deserve. Give them more than enough.
Speaker 1:What did Jesus say? If someone takes your button up, for us, right? If someone takes your button up, give them your undershirt too. Someone takes your bag. Give them your boots too. Like, just give extra. Why? Because that's different than the world. The world says you take from me and I become embittered. Christians say you take from me, I'll give you more. Why? This world's not my home, I'm just passing through. I'm on a free joy ride on my way to heaven, and whatever I have or do not have, I will say the Lord gives and the Lord takes. Blessed be the name of the Lord.
Speaker 1:In Galatians 6, we see that we're to be generous with all of our life. It tells us, and let us not grow weary of doing good. Have you ever grown weary of doing good? I have. You know what I would love If there was like a recliner version of life, where people never asked you for anything, they didn't need anything and you could just cruise all the way to heaven. That would be great. I would enjoy that. Why? Because I'm weak, because I need Christ to continue to change me on the inside. Let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap if we do not give up, the idea being that I'm to be generous with my life and to not give up in that, because what you and I like to do is we like to be generous and then get out of boys.
Speaker 1:Right, I've said this before like there was a temptation where, like Bree comes home and she was at like a women's study or something like that, I took care of all the kids and I did the dishes and I cleaned up some other stuff that I never do, and I'm just like she's going to notice everything, and she comes in like this, absolutely tired and just, and she comes in and, like there's a temptation in my head, tell her what you did, let like, let her know. Like I did the dishes, babe, did you see that I did these things? Did you see that? And I'm like, no, don't do it again, don't do it again, don't do it again. And I did it. And you know what? She was very nice.
Speaker 1:I was like, oh my goodness, thank you so much for all your things. And you know what I got? The only reward I'm going to get for that, which was an eked out thank you from a wife who was exhausted, who I wanted to use for my own glorification in that moment. Is that a generous life? You'd be like well, yeah, you did all these extra things and it meant nothing because it was worship of me. I'm gonna do all these things so that they'll see how awesome I am. My wife will be so grateful.
Speaker 1:If you perform in this life for people, you will become the most depressed, anxious person that you know. Period, verse 10. So then, as we have opportunity, that means you don't have to go out of your way. You're not like, like Dan said, like my life is to be on fire and doing all the good things. So I got to, I'm gonna go walk the block and like be like hey need some help. You gotta do that.
Speaker 1:Okay, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, but and especially to those who are of the household of faith. Why? Because Jesus said they'll know you because of how you love each other. So when the world says you spend more time with us, when the world says you love us more than your church family, when the world says you spend more time with us, when the world says you love us more than your church family, when the world says I don't see you sacrificing for them, the world questions our true love. My dear friends, we have to be a generous church and it will not get easier to have this sermon preached two years from now. It will get harder.
Speaker 1:Let us pray. Father, thank you so much for your word, for your truth and for your life. We ask that you would change us from the inside out and help us to be a generous people. Help us to love your people with all of our lives, to not hold anything back, to give everything to you and Lord, may you be glorified in this place, in this community. Help us to be your hands and feet, to fulfill the ministry you've called us to to love our neighbor as ourself, but, most importantly, to grow in our love for you. Thank you that you are the God of love who gave everything for us. In Jesus' name, we pray Amen.
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