September 10, 2025 • 59 mins
It’s sobering to realize that the way we use our money is a reflection of our hearts. Are we eager to give for the sake of God’s glory, or are we more concerned with our own comforts? In this message from 2 Corinthians 8–9, we’re reminded that our giving should be an overflow of God’s grace in our lives. David Platt reminds us that we don’t give out of guilt or to reach some arbitrary amount. Rather, we give generously for the good of others because we want praise and thanksgiving to abound to God. Regardless of how much or how little we have to give, Christians ought to see giving as a privilege. Those who have received God’s grace in Christ ought to be marked by their generosity
Listen to our newest podcast, Everyday Radical!
Explore more content from Radical.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
You are listening to David Platt Messages a weekly
podcast with sermons andmessages from pastor, author and
teacher David Platt.
Speaker 2 (00:09):
If you have a Bible and I hope you do let me invite
you to open with me to 2Corinthians, chapter 8.
I thank God for the privilegeof being a part of this body of
Christ.
I thank God for you.
I thank God for Christ in youand his generosity and his love
(00:36):
that is expressed all over you,all across this faith.
And that was just such asnapshot.
I mean you could see as fast asthose screens were going.
There's too much informationand that wasn't all.
But there are so many evidencesof grace all across this faith
(00:56):
family and demonstrations of theglory of God.
So praise God for His work inthis faith family.
Tonight I want to encourage us,as we give of ourselves, to give
more of ourselves.
I want to challenge us to givemore of ourselves, based on 2
(01:18):
Corinthians 8-9.
Coming up on three years.
For me as pastor here andtonight is the first time where
we have specifically addressedin the word giving to the church
.
We've talked about giving indifferent capacities, just being
followers of Christ throughgiving, but we've not talked
(01:38):
about giving in the sense oftithing, which we'll talk about
a little bit later on.
But that next sentence in ourchurch covenant is an important
one and it deals with giving.
Scripturally, it's part of whatit means to be the church when
it says at the bottom of thechurch covenant you see there
it's bolded we will givecheerfully and generously to the
(02:00):
support of the church, therelief of the poor and the
spread of the gospel through allnations.
2 Corinthians, chapter 8 and 9being the primary text there
which we're going to look attonight.
I'm a bit hesitant, though,even in diving into this,
because I know that there arelikely people across this room
(02:21):
with some very serious hurts,some serious needs that maybe
you bring into this gatheringtonight and you might be
thinking oh great, we're goingto talk about giving, walking
through this, we're going totalk about tithing or giving to
the church, and I hope that whatwe've seen even tonight, this
(02:43):
is why we give Because of hurts,real hurts in the body, and not
just in the body, but becauseand this is what we keep in
front of us all the time thereare four and a half, at least
four and a half billion peoplein the world today who are
without Christ and, if nothingchanges, will spend an eternity
(03:05):
without Christ.
So how do we give for the gloryof Christ among those masses,
among those impoverished over abillion people in the world
living in absolute poverty, 700million in slums, 500 million on
the verge of starvation today,200 million children exploited
(03:27):
for labor.
I want to encourage andchallenge us when it comes to
giving.
Tonight I found a researchproject that had been done at
Stanford.
This is what they found Ifchurch members in America gave
at least 10% of their income tothe church so basically did what
(03:52):
is commonly associated with atithe if church members in
America gave a tithe, a tenth oftheir income, in two years'
time the church could eliminateglobal starvation and
malnutrition, provide educationfor every child on the earth and
provide universal access toclean water and sanitation in
(04:16):
two years.
Now, obviously, tonight wedon't have a lot of control over
what all churches in the UnitedStates are doing or what
members of churches are doing inother places, but we do have an
opportunity to say tonight God,god use us and God we're going
to trust that when we giveourselves to giving cheerfully
(04:40):
and generously, according towhat Scripture teaches, that you
can use us, will use us to makea significant dent in the lost
and poor population of the world.
We want our lives and we wantthis church to count for the
glory of Christ in all nations,and so I want us to see how that
affects our giving.
What does it look like to be agenerous church according to
(05:02):
Scripture?
Now you've got at the top ofyour notes there money and the
Christian.
I just want to remind you,before we even dive in, to the
overarching principle that Jesustaught.
That is echoed throughoutScripture when it comes to money
and the Christian.
Just a reminder when it comesto money and the Christian, our
hearts follow our money.
Our hearts follow our money.
Matthew 6, 21,.
(05:23):
Jesus says where your treasureis, there, your what will be
your heart will be also.
Our money signals where ourhearts are.
The way we spend our money, ourcheckbooks are sure indicators
of our spiritual condition.
Just humbling truth.
(05:44):
Humbling verse Matthew 6, 21.
You want to see where people'shearts are.
Look where they're spending.
This is humbling for us.
In the immediate culture we livein, right around this building,
you look at where we spend ourmoney on.
You look at where we spend ourmoney on big houses, nice cars,
(06:09):
nice clothes, entertainment,stuff, inundated with stuff and
we are showing our spirituality.
We are revealing a heart issue.
This is gripping for meindividually and the family.
(06:29):
We've got so far to go, even inthe family I lead.
And then when it comes to thisfaith family, probably the most
humbling facet of pastoring forme, if not the most humbling.
There's a few things that arehumbling, but one of the most
humbling facets of pastoring forme is the church budget,
because we have so far to go asa faith family.
But one of the most humblingfacets of pastoring for me is
the church budget because wehave so far to go as a faith
(06:54):
family.
We're still spending so much onourselves and just get changed
that overnight it's processing,chipping away year after year.
I pray more and more and moreand more.
But this is, I think we'regoing to see in the Word tonight
that if we really want toimpact four and a half billion
people in the world 25,000people today who will die of
either starvation or preventablediseases if our lives are going
to count for what we just sangabout, that, that means massive
(07:19):
changes in our hearts that arereflected in the way we spend
our money.
So our hearts follow our money.
What happens when our heartsare set on what God's heart is
set on?
That's where we come to 2Corinthians, chapter 8 and 9.
We're going to read two passages.
We're not going to read thewhole two chapters.
(07:40):
Two passages in just a second.
Here the setup is Paul writesthis letter 2nd Corinthians.
He's on his third missionaryjourney.
He's going to Corinth.
What had happened is, earlierhe had written the book of 1st
Corinthians, a letter to thechurch at Corinth, and at the
end of that book 1st Corinthians, chapter 16, verse 1 through 4,
what he had done is he had toldthem that he wanted to take up
(08:03):
a collection for theimpoverished church in Jerusalem
, impoverished saints inJerusalem.
And so he told them I'm goingto take up an offering, and they
expressed an eagerness aboutthat.
The only problem is, time wentby and they had not collected,
they were not giving, and Paulwas traveling to other places
and was collecting money.
We're going to see himreference how he had collected
(08:25):
money from the churches inMacedonia, which were very poor
churches.
We'll look at that in a second.
And so what he's doing here inthese two chapters is he is
reminding them to give, andthese two chapters are so
insightful because they show ushow Scripture exhorts us to give
, and I think we see a muchdifferent picture here in 2
(08:46):
Corinthians 8 and 9 than we seein the world.
How the world tells us to giveand even how we think of giving
in the church is radicallydifferent than from what, than
what Paul's going to show ushere in 2 Corinthians 8, verse 9
.
How does Scripture teach us togive?
And what we're going to do iswe're going to read two passages
, one in chapter 8 and one inchapter 9.
Teach us to give.
What we're going to do is we'regoing to read two passages, one
in chapter 8 and one in chapter9.
(09:06):
And basically the first one 2Corinthians, chapter 8, verse 1
through 9, is an example.
Paul points to these churchesin Macedonia.
We're going to see him kind oflift them up as an example.
And the second passage we'regoing to look at is 2
Corinthians, chapter 9, verse 6through 15.
And what this is over here isbasically some truths based on
this example.
So we're going to be all overthe place going back and forth,
(09:27):
just turning between these twochapters.
But to try to get this picture,let's camp out on these two
passages.
2 Corinthians 8, verse 1.
Paul writes the grace that Godhas given the Macedonian
churches Out of the most severetrial, their overflowing joy and
(09:48):
their extreme poverty welled upin rich generosity.
For I testify that they gave asmuch as they were able and even
beyond their ability, entirelyon their own.
They urgently pleaded with usfor the privilege of sharing in
this service to the saints.
They urgently pleaded with usfor the privilege of sharing in
this service to the saints, andthey did not do as we expected,
(10:10):
but they gave themselves, firstto the Lord and then to us, in
keeping with God's will.
So we urged Titus, since he hadearlier made a beginning, to
bring also to completion thisact of grace on your part.
But just as you excel ineverything, in faith, in speech,
in knowledge, in completeearnestness, and in everything,
in faith, in speech, inknowledge, in complete
earnestness and in your love,for us see that you also excel
in this grace of giving.
(10:30):
I'm not commanding you, but Iwant to test the sincerity of
your love by comparing it withthe earnestness of others.
For you know the grace of ourLord Jesus Christ, that though
he was rich, yet for your sakeshe became poor so that you,
through his poverty, mightbecome rich.
Okay, go over to the nextchapter, chapter 9.
(10:53):
That's the example Macedonianchurch.
Go to 2 Corinthians 9.6.
Remember this.
He says whoever sows sparinglywill also reap sparingly, and
whoever sows generously willalso reap generously.
Each man should give what hehas decided in his heart to give
(11:13):
, not reluctantly or undercompulsion, for God loves a
cheerful giver.
God is able to make all graceabound to you so that in all
things, at all times, having allthat you need you, so that in
all things, at all times, havingall that you need, you will
abound in every good work.
As it's written, he hasscattered abroad His gifts to
the poor.
His righteousness enduresforever.
Now, he who supplies seed tothe sower and bread for food
(11:37):
will also supply and increaseyour store of seed and will
enlarge the harvest of yourrighteousness.
You will be made rich in everyway so that you can be generous
on every occasion.
And through us, your generositywill result in thanksgiving to
God.
The service that you perform isnot only supplying the needs of
God's people, but it'soverflowing in many expressions
(11:57):
of thanks to God Because of theservice by which you have proved
yourselves.
Men will praise God for theobedience that accompanies your
confession of the gospel ofChrist and for your generosity
in sharing with them and witheveryone else, and in their
prayers for you.
Their hearts will go out to youbecause of the surpassing grace
God has given you.
Thanks be to God for hisindescribable gift.
(12:22):
Okay, so how does Scriptureteach us to give, and how is
that different from how we thinkof giving in the world or even
in the church?
First, we give out of anabundance of grace.
Scripture teaches us to giveout of an abundance of grace.
(12:43):
Come back to 2 Corinthians 8.
Paul uses nine different wordsto describe the gift the
Macedonians gave.
But by far the most centralterm there and it's all over
these two chapters is grace.
You might circle it.
Look in verse 1, chapter 8.
Now, brothers, we want you toknow about the grace that God
(13:03):
has given the Macedonianchurches.
Down in verse 7, last part ofverse 7, when he's saying excel
in all these things.
He says see that you also excelin the circle there, in the
grace of giving.
Giving itself is a grace, thegrace of giving.
Then you get down to verse 9,for you know the grace of our
Lord Jesus Christ.
Notice that giving according toScripture, is not motivated by
(13:29):
guilt.
Giving is motivated by grace.
Paul is not trying to pour theguilt trip on them.
With this example, he isshowing them a portrait of grace
and true giving.
According to the New Testament,it's giving that flows from
(13:50):
grace.
I hesitate to even throw outsome of those statistics, some
of those numbers, when it comesto lostness and poverty.
I mean, these are realities.
I think we need to see them, weneed to see our lives in their
light, but we are not motivatedto give because we feel bad.
If that's our motivation,that'll last a little while and
it'll go nowhere.
(14:10):
As deep as grace giving goes,let me show you the difference
grace makes in giving.
These churches in Macedonia wereand you see them described in
verse 2, severe trial, extremepoverty.
Macedonia includes places likePhilippi, thessalonica, berea.
These were impoverished placesto begin with.
(14:32):
They were ravaged by war,plundered by the Romans.
They were.
There was high taxation there,abject poverty, and that was
just normally.
You add on the fact that you'rea follower of Christ in that
area.
We see in Acts when Paul wouldgo to these areas in Macedonians
, severe persecution, and sobasically, these are.
(14:54):
It's not just poverty, it'sextreme poverty.
These are people who arebeggars.
They have nothing, maybe evenpartly due to the fact that they
were following Christ, maybeeven partly due to the fact that
they were following Christ, butwhere they live living in total
poverty.
And look at what verse 2 saysOut of the most severe trial,
(15:15):
their overflowing joy and theirextreme poverty welled up in
generosity.
That is so confusing to me.
Put those words together, goback and forth.
You see that Severe trial,overflowing joy, extreme poverty
, rich generosity.
How does that work?
Okay, let's do the math hereMacedonian churches, severe
(15:40):
trial plus extreme povertyequals overflowing joy, rich
generosity.
That's weird.
Severe trial, extreme poverty.
You put those together.
That's a recipe for joy andgenerosity.
How do you get from those twoelements to these two elements?
(16:01):
And the answer is grace.
It's grace, that's how you getfrom one to the next, and that's
the picture.
What Paul is doing is he iswriting a letter to a church
that is not impoverished likeMacedonia, a church that is more
well-off, and what he is sayingis look at these brothers and
sisters and how deeply, howsacrificially they gave.
(16:23):
And it's a picture, not to makeyou feel bad, but to make you
look at the power of grace andto think about what the power of
grace would look like in achurch that is more well-off.
So let me try to do in a sensewhat Paul is doing here in 2
Corinthians 8 and 9, pastorallyhere.
I remember.
I remember the first time I wasin a house church in Asia
(16:47):
underground house church settingand it was two weeks spending
time studying the Word togetherwith these poor farmers, with
little to nothing, and eventheir studying 12 hours a day
during those two weeks waseconomically killing them
because they were not out intheir fields.
But they wanted the Word.
And so we get to the end ofthat time and they start passing
(17:09):
around an offering.
They want to give an offeringto me for teaching them the Word
.
And I told the main leader.
I said no, like you're notgoing to give an offering to me,
I don't want, certainly don'tneed offering from these folks.
And he said no, we're going togive you an offering.
It is the grace of God thatcauses us to give and we teach
(17:34):
our people to give and theybelieve it's important,
according to the gospel, to give.
So they're going to give you anoffering.
And so I walk away with what,in dollars, was meager but was a
wealth in that context, twomonths after Hurricane Katrina
and our house going underwaterin New Orleans, where Heather
(17:55):
and I were living when I wasteaching at the seminary there.
Go to Indonesia two months afterthe hurricane and I'm teaching
an Indonesian seminary and theyfind out about what had happened
in New Orleans.
They're sharing differentthings.
They find out Now this is acountry that a couple of years
prior, you know, had seen aquarter of a million people
(18:19):
wiped off the face of the planet, just like that.
And if you've been to othercountries, particularly those
who have been hit by naturaldisasters, you know there was
all kinds of obviously all kindsof criticism about how the US
government handles Katrina.
We have no clue what it is liketo be left alone when it comes
(18:40):
to natural disaster, as ourbrothers and sisters do,
particularly in the two-thirdsworld.
When a natural disaster hits,there's no support network.
For that, it's decades beforeanything begins to happen in
some context.
And so here in Indonesia, in acontext with rural pastors from
impoverished places in Indonesia, they come together and they
hear about the need in NewOrleans and they say we're
(19:03):
taking up an offering.
They start giving, they startsacrificing and I come back to
New Orleans, to the seminary,with a gift, even last week.
Check this out.
Last week I was preaching at astudent leadership conference
and some of these students heardabout what we do with Secret
Church and how we take biblicalteaching, translate it into
(19:25):
different languages in the worldand then have that recorded in
audio in those languages andthen go into house, churches or
different places around theworld and give basically free
iPods, mp3 players, whateverthey are loaded with just
biblical teaching to encouragethe church there.
And so they heard about thatand they heard that I was going
to Cuba this next week and sothey started saying, well, let's
(19:48):
take a collection together tosend some iPods to Cuba.
And so these teenagers startgetting their money together,
which is great because you knowit's like mom and dad's money
for the most part.
So, bingo, like mom and dadmight not have given it, but
these guys are eager, so they'regiving it and they collected
$2,500.
These students just startcoming together.
(20:09):
I mean, I come back with amoney bag full of $1 bills and
like quarters that total $2,500.
And some didn't have money cashto give, and so they just
started coming up to me withiPods and it was like we should
have had an altar call and justhad everybody come lay down your
iPod on the stairs, like if youreally love Jesus, this is
(20:32):
what—but that's what they weredoing.
We never did that, but theywere coming up.
And even when I was leaving, aguy came up hey, take this iPod
and give it to him.
They want a picture there.
And so I want to say to youtonight, in the same vein of 2
Corinthians, 8 and 9, if ourbrothers and sisters in house
churches by the grace of God inIndonesia, by the grace of God,
and students by the grace of Godwith very little resources, are
(20:55):
digging sacrificially to howthey can give for the glory of
Christ and His kingdom, then howcan we in the wealthiest county
in Alabama dig sacrificially bythe same grace of Christ that
is in us and let that overflowto the glory of God?
That's the picture.
Let's give out of the abundanceof grace.
(21:15):
What if we did that?
What if we gave in the sameproportion at which they gave?
What if we gave in the sameproportion at which they gave?
That leads into okay, when wegive out of abundance of grace,
it means we give willingly.
This is what grace does.
Grace in our hearts causes usto give willingly.
(21:37):
Listen to verse three and four.
This is great Paul says, for Itestify that they gave as much
as they were able and evenbeyond their ability.
People with nothing givingbeyond their ability, entirely
on their own.
Listen to verse four.
They urgently pleaded with usfor the privilege of sharing in
(22:01):
this service to the saints.
They begged to give Ha Like.
When do Christians like cometogether and say we want the
offering now?
Like, please, can we pass thebaskets like multiple times in
(22:22):
the service?
We are pleading with you forthe privilege of giving.
Let's give like four or fivetimes in the service.
We are pleading with you forthe privilege of giving.
Let's give like four or fivetimes during the service.
We want to give.
That's the picture here Peoplein poverty saying we want to
give.
This is the effect of grace.
Notice that.
All of these things because itis driven by grace, grace in our
(22:42):
hearts.
This is not natural giving.
This is a supernatural kind ofgiving that begs Grace, makes
beggars out of the people of God.
People who are begging to giveGod do this kind of work in our
hearts.
We give based on God's blessing.
(23:03):
This is the point, because it'sdriven by grace.
When chapter 8, verse 1 says Now, brothers, we want you to know
about the grace that God hasgiven the Macedonian churches.
Notice this Macedonian churchesare giving not because of
anything they have manufactured,but because of what God has
given to them.
It is God who started thiswhole picture by pouring out His
(23:24):
grace.
So they're giving based on thegrace, the blessing of God that
has given to them.
It is God who started thiswhole picture by pouring out His
grace.
So they're giving based on thegrace, the blessing of God that
was given to them.
We give based on God's blessingand we give at least.
We give at least according toour ability.
Verse 3 there we read just asecond ago they gave as much as
they were able and even beyondtheir ability.
You get over to verse 12.
The reason I put that at leastthere in parentheses is because
(23:50):
verse 12 says Paul says if thewillingness is there, the gift
is acceptable according to whatone has, not according to what
he does not have.
So we give according to ourabilities.
What verse 12 is saying.
And these Macedonian churchesgave even beyond that.
And this is the lesson of thewidow's offering in Mark 12.
You remember Everybody's givingall sorts of money.
(24:13):
Widow comes and drops twocopper coins in and Jesus says
everyone else gave out of theirwealth.
She gave out of her poverty.
She gave all that she has oftheir wealth.
She gave out of her poverty.
She gave all that she has.
This is where we realize thatGod measures the value, so to
speak, of a gift in a verydifferent way than we do,
(24:38):
because God looks at what isgiven in proportion to that
which can be given, which isgiven in proportion to that
which can be given, and what 2Corinthians 8 and 9 is teaching
is give as much as you can,willingly, as much as you can.
I talked to a friend of mine, anincredible brother who lives in
(25:01):
North Africa this week, and Iwas reminded of an email he had
sent to me.
It sums this up he's living inthe middle of unreached people,
many of whom, the people groupsthat he is working with.
Very few of them have heard thegospel.
He said how many people havenot believed because they've not
heard?
What will it take for them tohear?
(25:22):
And have they not heard becausethere's no one to tell them?
What can we do, in obedience toGod, to change a world in which
there are millions and millionsof people who cannot call on
the name of the Lord becausethey haven't believed and who
haven't believed because there'sno one to tell them.
Most of us would say we know theanswer to that question.
And many of us would say weknow the answer to that question
and many of us would say wewere even doing things to change
the situation.
(25:42):
But the truth is and this iswhere it pierced me the truth is
there will continue to bemillions and millions of people
who do not hear as long as wecontinue to use spare time and
spare money to reach them.
Those are two radicallydifferent questions what can we
spare and what will it take?
(26:03):
When we ask what can we spare,it leads to giving begrudgingly.
When we ask what will it take,it leads to giving willingly,
want to give, want to give,begging to give, because we see
a need and we're responding toit.
So what grace does in ourhearts?
(26:24):
So are we, are you, are we.
As a faith family, we're givingwillingly, like this.
Second, we give general,generously, because of grace.
Grace welling up in us causesus to give generously, rich
generosity.
There, it said in verse two, andthe principle here, the truth
is what paul starts, that, thatsecond section that we read a
minute ago.
(26:44):
It's after nine verse six offwith second corinthians, nine
six.
Remember this whoever sowssparingly will also reap
sparingly, and whoever sowsgenerously will also reap
generously.
So the picture is very simplewe reap what we sow.
We know this.
A farmer if he harvests smallseed, little seed, there'll be
(27:08):
little harvest.
If the farmer plants great seed, then there will be great
harvest.
And so this is the picture.
With giving.
There's truths that begin toflow, because what Paul does
from verse 6 to 7 to 8 and 9just builds and builds and
builds and builds and reallykind of circles around this
truth in a variety of differentways.
(27:29):
And the point is, here's thepicture Generous giving to God.
I'll show this to you Generousgiving to God results in greater
giving from God.
Generous giving to God resultsin greater giving from God.
Now I want to pause real quickbefore our minds even think
(27:53):
through that process.
That, okay, what we don't mean,what 2 Corinthians 8 and 9 is
not teaching, is that if yougive to God, you'll get rich.
That if you give to God, you'llget rich.
That if you give to God, you'llbe wealthy in this world and
you'll have all the stuff thatyou want Health and wealth,
prosperity not gospel, notgospel.
(28:14):
And the Macedonians debunk thatwhole idea because they're
still impoverished, even thoughthey're given generously.
Our brothers and sisters inhouse churches around the world
debunk that idea because they'restill impoverished, but they
give radically.
This is not a measure of theirfaith.
If they had more faith theywouldn't be in that condition.
Blasphemy doesn't add up withthe Word.
(28:40):
Sorry, a little side note there,but the picture here is that
God gives generously to us as weare giving radically to others.
That's the picture we think.
Now this is totally differentthan the way we think, the way
our economics works, so to speak.
(29:02):
We think you keep more, youhave more right.
Hoard more, store it in barns,keep more and you'll have more.
Scripture's teaching give moreand you'll have more.
And the picture is thegenerosity of God, constantly
replenishing the people of Godas we're giving.
(29:24):
That's the picture all the waydown to verse 11.
Generous giving to God resultsin greater giving from God.
God gives enough for us.
Get this out there and thenshow this to you, especially in
verse eight and then verse 11.
God gives enough for us and hegives abundance for others.
(29:45):
He gives enough for us andabundance for others Enough for
us.
Verse 8.
God is able to make all graceabound to you so that in all
things, at all times, having allthat you need, you will abound
in every good work.
God is generous to His children.
He provides for His children.
He is able to make all graceabound to you.
(30:06):
He is making grace abound tothe Macedonian Christians.
They have all they need.
That's the picture.
God is able to do that, butoftentimes God gives more than
we need.
He gives more than we need.
He gives more than we need.
Why?
Listen to 2 Corinthians, 9, 11.
(30:26):
You will be made rich in everyway.
So that purpose clause, so thatyou can be generous on every
occasion.
And through us, your generositywill result in thanksgiving to
God.
So why?
Well, god is able to give allthat you need.
(30:47):
Why does God sometimes givemore than we need?
Now, american answer to thatquestion, even American
Christian answer to thatquestion God gives us more so
that we can have more.
If I've got more, well, let'sstart looking for a bigger house
(31:11):
.
Let's start looking for a nicercar.
If I've got more, then let'sget some nicer clothes.
And if the income goes up, thenthe standard of living
automatically must go up.
The reality is, standard ofliving is probably higher than
(31:33):
living above our means in mostcontexts like Birmingham, and so
we think we have more.
So God gives more so we canhave more stuff.
And Scripture says no, godgives more so that you can be
generous on every occasion, sothat you can give more.
(31:55):
When God gives more, when Godadds to the enough, when he
gives abundance, it's not sothat our standard of living will
increase, but so that ourstandard of giving will increase
.
That's the picture andScripture's giving us here.
It's the whole picture in.
We talked about this last fallwhen we were walking through.
(32:16):
The rich young man we talkedabout, john Wesley, 1731,
realizes, comes to theconviction that he needs to
define what is enough for him,so that, so that when God
entrusts anything more to him,he has got to define enough, so
to speak.
This is what I'm going to liveon and I'll be able to give away
(32:37):
anything that goes above that.
And so he defines he's enough.
It's 28 pounds.
That defines his enough.
It's 28 pounds, that's hisenough.
That's what he can live on in1731.
And that year he makes 30pounds for his salary, so he
gives two pounds away.
Next year doubled his incomeand so he gave 32 pounds away.
Next year his income's up to 90pounds.
(32:57):
Fourth year, 120 pounds.
It kept going up and up and upand up, all the way to the point
where one year his income wasslightly over 1,400 pounds.
He gave away all but 28.
That's the equivalent oftoday's wages, of making
$160,000 in the year and livingon $20,000.
(33:21):
When he died in 1791, 60 yearslater, the only money mentioned
in his will was themiscellaneous coins that he
found in his pockets and dresserdrawers.
Most of the 30,000 pounds hehad earned in his lifetime he
had given away.
So what happens?
What happens when you and I inthe wealthiest county in Alabama
(33:46):
and I know there are differentincomes represented all across
this room, but we know that allof us are incredibly wealthy
compared to the rest of theworld and so what happens when
you and I in this culture gototally against the grain of
(34:08):
what this culture says?
To do and define enough as bestas we can, biblically,
practically, to define enough,and then to say anything above
enough I'm not going to storeaway in barns and I'm not going
to spend on greater luxuries.
I'm not going to spend it onmyself.
(34:29):
I want anything above enoughthat God entrusts is going to be
given for the sake of the lostand the poor and the church
around the world.
What happens when that begins totake over our thinking?
Grace in our hearts calls us.
Now.
You know what is so exciting atthat point.
Now we're free to, like ask Godfor lots of money, and my
(34:56):
encouragement to you as a pastorat that point is make lots of
money, like tons of money, forthe sake of the kingdom of God.
Like work hard and give it awayand let the generosity of God
(35:18):
that is given to you enable youto now be generous on every
occasion, and it will result ingreat thanksgiving to God.
That's the picture here.
God, help us to define ourenough.
Now.
This is a process.
This doesn't change overnight.
Just like I mentioned, with thechurch and with our lives,
heather and I are justvulnerable continually in this
(35:41):
process, especially since lastfall, and continuing in a
variety of different ways to tryto define what that is.
I want to encourage us for thesake of the glory of Christ,
let's not waste our lives ongetting more stuff.
What happens when we decide thata $75,000 income does not
(36:01):
necessitate a $75,000 standardof living, or $100,000 or
$125,000 or anything else,whatever it may be?
What's the enough?
God gives enough for us and hegives abundance for others.
We give generously.
We give willingly generously.
This is grace.
Only grace does this.
It makes no sense.
We give willingly generously.
This is grace.
Only grace does this.
It makes no sense.
(36:21):
This is not money management101 tonight in American culture.
That's not the picture.
But this is 2 Corinthians, 8 and9.
We give willingly, generouslyand we give cheerfully.
This is almost funny, verse 7.
Each man should give what hehas decided in his heart to give
(36:46):
, not reluctantly or undercompulsion, for God loves a
cheerful giver.
The word literally means ahilarious giver, one who gives
Like as the offering basketspassed.
I mean you just picture ha yes,love giving.
(37:09):
That's the picture.
You see how God looks at givingso differently than us.
We've already talked about theability to give, now the
attitude in giving.
These things are important toGod.
God loves a cheerful giver.
(37:31):
What's really interesting?
You go back to chapter 8 realquickly and look at verse 8.
I want you to listen to whatPaul says here.
It's extremely important.
Paul says, chapter 8, verse 8.
I want you to listen to whatPaul says here.
It's extremely important.
Paul says, chapter 8, verse 8,I am not commanding you, but I
want to test the sincerity ofyour love by comparing it with
the earnestness of others.
(37:52):
And this is where we hear Paulsay that.
And we take a step back and werealize in 2 Corinthians 8 and 9
, there's not a command to give.
There's not a command to give.
There's not a command to give.
There's a pattern of giving,there's a precedent kind of set
by the master.
There's not a command here togive.
Then you begin to broaden thesearch a bit.
(38:12):
You don't see it in the NewTestament either.
You don't see a requirement togive.
Now you do see Romansans,chapter 13, and in matthew you
see a requirement to give togovernor authorities to pay
taxes.
Romans 13 says we're requiredto give in that way.
(38:33):
But the picture here is we arenot forced by god to give.
We're not forced by God to give.
We're not forced by God to give.
It's not even a command here.
I mean you'd think if Paulreally wanted to raise some
money he'd say I'm writingScripture here do it.
But he doesn't, why not?
(38:57):
This is where we come to andthis is going to be way too
brief of an overview, admittedlyfrom the start.
But it's important here becausethe tithe is not addressed here
in 2 Corinthians, 8 and 9.
And for that matter, it'smentioned in the context of the
Old Testament law at a couple ofdifferent places in the Gospels
(39:18):
.
But when we look back at theOld Testament tithe, the picture
is Leviticus, chapter 27, oneof a variety of places where it
was told to the people of God togive a tithe, a tenth, to the
Levites who would do theadministration of the whole
(39:40):
priestly system, sacrificialsystem.
But even more than that, whatyou find is in Deuteronomy
they're also told to give atithe to support the festivals
that go on.
And then another place inDeuteronomy, they're told to
give a tithe to support the poor.
And so there is required giving, a required tithe, in the Old
(40:02):
Testament law.
What we need to realize is OldTestament, this was a theocracy.
The Levites were literally likecivil government leaders, so to
speak, and what you had was apicture where there was required
giving for the maintenance ofthe nation, more like taxes.
(40:25):
And when you put those two,those different tithes together
it was really more than 10%,totaled up to some say close to
30, most say between 20 and 25,but somewhere between 20 and 30%
, more like taxes.
Even taxes that we would paytoday are a similar percentage
in many contexts, so intertwined.
(40:47):
Another place in the OldTestament you had free will
gifts.
You had Exodus, I think Exodus25, when take up an offering and
take up whatever a man's heartmoves him to give.
And so the picture is OldTestament required tithe for the
maintenance of the nation.
New Testament requirementcommand to give taxes for the
(41:12):
maintenance of the civilgovernment.
That's the picture here.
But you don't see giving to thechurch, forced, required, so to
speak.
And this is where we need torealize that we don't give to
the church like we give to theIRS.
We don't give because we'reforced to give.
(41:33):
We give because of grace in us.
God is not forcing us to give.
God has freed us to give.
That's the point of 2Corinthians 8 and 9.
He has not forced us to give,he has freed us to give.
Now here's the problem, when wecome to the tithe and we say,
well, are we supposed to tithe?
(41:53):
And what we're looking for issome kind of mathematical
formula that we can say, okay,what do I need to give in order
to make sure I'm okay?
And that misses the whole pointof 2 Corinthians 8 and 9, and
therefore the question shouldnot be asked.
People even ask what do I titheon, my gross income or my net
income?
This is a question that doesnot come to our minds and our
(42:18):
hearts.
When we are giving generouslyand willingly and sacrificially
and cheerfully, we want to giveall that we can and we're not
looking for an arbitrary levelto say, okay, this is the
requirement for me, so I'm justgonna do that and I'll be okay.
I'll have that box checked off.
Not New Testament teaching atall At all.
(42:39):
Yet it is prevalent when wethink about giving.
My encouragement would be andthis is what I look at in my
life like my encouragement wouldbe.
Yes, I think there's obviouslyan Old Testament principle of a
tithe here, and there are truthsthat are revealed about God and
his relationship with hispeople Malachi 3.10, other texts
like that.
Yes, that there's an OldTestament principle, so to speak
(42:59):
, that we honor in a sense, butI would say only to the extent
that if it would be helpful forthe tithe to be a starting point
, a starting point at best.
But grace-giving is so radicallydifferent than a tithe, and
tithe undercuts, undercuts thepicture that 2 Corinthians 8 and
(43:23):
9 is painting here.
Paul says I am not commandingyou to give.
Old Testament tithe is not yourstandard of giving anymore.
What's your standard of giving?
New Testament church?
Look at verse 9.
For you know the grace of ourLord Jesus Christ, that though
(43:45):
he was rich, yet for your sakeshe became poor so that you,
through his poverty, mightbecome rich.
This leads us.
We give out of the abundance ofgrace, willingly, generously,
cheerfully, not because we'reforced to give, because we're
free to give, because we're freeto give and we want to give all
that we can.
That's the New Testamentpicture and it leads us to.
(44:06):
We give as a demonstration ofthe gospel.
Our standard of giving is notthe Old Testament tithe.
Our standard of giving is theSon of God on a cross, and we
look at giving in light of thecross, in light of the gospel,
and giving is a demonstration ofthe gospel.
(44:26):
Paul goes from talking aboutthese Macedonian Christians to
elevating it to a whole otherlevel and he says look at Christ
.
You want to see how to give.
Here's how we give.
We sacrifice our rights forothers.
Doubtless, doubtless,christians in Corinth were
making excuses for why theycould not give, why they were
not able to give.
(44:46):
Now, and I know, I know thataround this room there are all
kinds of financial situationsrepresented.
So I want to tread lightly here, so to speak, because I know
there's so many differentscenarios in this room.
But the whole point of 2Corinthians 8 and 9 is look at
the people who have nothing,absolutely nothing.
(45:07):
They're begging on the streetsand they gave deeply.
And so grace transforms, thegospel transforms our hearts, so
that we're not looking forexcuses as much as we're looking
for opportunities.
How can I sacrifice more?
There are times when we thinkgive according to our ability.
Well, I'm just not able to givethat much.
I'm just not able to.
(45:29):
When it comes down to thebottom line at the end of the
month, I'm not able to give thatmuch.
And this is where I'm humbled,convicted and convinced.
I'm convinced the majority ofus, including myself in this
context, we are not givingaccording to our ability,
including myself, and a verysmall percentage of us are
(45:54):
really giving beyond our ability.
Now, it's not to say that it'snot tough at the end of the
month, but the reality is wehave so filled our lives with so
many things we do not need thatleave us with a little bit at
the end.
But that's where we've got tounpack the rest of this picture
(46:18):
and do the hard work of sayingwhat do we need?
What is our enough?
We sacrifice our rights forothers.
We serve a Savior who left Histhrone in glory and took on a
robe of human flesh and lived asa homeless man Luke 9, 57 and
58.
He is our example in giving.
(46:42):
We sacrifice our rights forothers and we spend our
resources on others.
Consider the richness of Christhere and what he did.
And when we spend our resourceson others, we demonstrate the
gospel.
This is the whole point.
When you get over to verse 13,he says we demonstrate the
gospel.
This is the whole point.
When you get over to verse 13,he says you have proved
yourselves.
Men will praise God for theobedience that accompanies your
(47:02):
confession of the gospel ofChrist.
I love that phrase in verse 13of chapter nine your obedience
accompanies your confession ofthe gospel.
They didn't just believe thegospel or talk about the gospel
in Macedonia.
They showed what the gospellooks like In abject poverty,
giving enriched generosity.
That's gospel and it's thepicture we demonstrate the
(47:26):
gospel when we give radically.
But what do we say?
What do we demonstrate when weacquire and get more and more
stuff, just like everybody elsein the world?
Are we showing the gospel?
No, no, we're showing the worldthat we like all the same stuff
they do.
And they look at us and theysay you got the same stuff, I do
(47:53):
, you just tack on Jesus onSundays.
The reality is we're pursuingthe same stuff.
I do, you just tack on Jesus onSundays.
The reality is we're pursuingthe same stuff.
We're running after the samestuff.
God, help us.
God, take this church and helpus to show a picture of the
gospel.
Take my life, my family.
God, help us to show a pictureof the gospel with radical
(48:16):
giving, demonstration of thegospel, such that people would
look at our faith family and saydon't just talk about the
gospel.
You see the way they give.
They give until it hurts.
There's something differentthere.
It's a picture of Christ in thegospel.
We give as a demonstration ofthe gospel, out of an abundance
of grace, to promotethanksgiving to God and this is
(48:40):
the whole point, verse 11,.
Through us, your generosityChapter 9, verse 11, through us,
your generosity will result inthanksgiving to God.
This service that you performis not only supplying the needs
of God's people, but it's alsooverflowing in many expressions
of thanks to God.
Here's the picture God givesgrace, his people give
(49:00):
generously and God gets glory.
You catch that.
God gives grace to give, hispeople give out of the abundance
of grace and he gets glory.
The one who gives the gracealways gets the glory.
That's the whole point of thechurch in Macedonia.
It's not to lift them up, it'sto lift up the grace of God in
them to the glory of God,because they're giving overflows
(49:22):
and many expressions of thanksto God.
It's why we can celebrate, whywe must.
We should celebrate like we didearlier.
Look at what God is doing byHis grace all across this faith
family and it overflows inthanksgiving to God.
That's the picture when we twofacets here promote thanksgiving
(49:43):
to God, because giving unitesthe people of God, unites the
people of God.
I'm going to fly through thispart right here, but at the end
of verse 14, it says in theirprayers for you, their hearts
will go out to you.
Their hearts will go out to you, check this out.
When the people in Jerusalemget this offering from
(50:05):
impoverished churches inMacedonia, what do you think
that is going to do in therelationship between these
saints in Jerusalem and saintsin Macedonia?
Warm hearts, unity among thepeople of God.
In the same way that when I goto Cuba this week and say to
house church pastors there, hereis a gift from brothers and
sisters in Georgia and Alabama,here's a gift, and you're not
(50:28):
alone.
There are brothers and sisterswho are praying for you and want
this to be an expression of thegrace of God to you from them.
That's unity among the peopleof God.
Giving creates community If we.
It's why it's a part of ourchurch covenant, because if we
do not give, if we are hoardersthat are holding on to our stuff
(50:48):
and not generously giving, thenthat radically affects
community.
Then we're a bunch of people inhere that want to want to keep
to ourselves and keep everythingto ourselves Instead of coming
with open hands into community.
That radically changescommunity.
We give regularly to the church.
This is not specificallyaddressed in 2 Corinthians 8 and
9, but I wanted to hit on itreal briefly here and you might
(51:09):
write down some of thesepassages because this is
important as we talk aboutgiving in the church.
We give regularly to the church.
1 Corinthians, chapter 16,verse 1 and 2.
1 Corinthians 16, 1 and 2 isthe picture where we see when
the New Testament churchgathered together on the Lord's
day, they made it a practice toregularly, systematically give
as they gathered together.
It's the precedent by which wedo what we do and we gather
(51:33):
together on the Lord's day andwe give.
We give systematically,intentionally.
We give regularly to the churchand you saw in the church
covenant we give cheerfully andgenerously to the support of the
church.
1 Timothy, chapter 5, verse 17through 19, coupled with
Ephesians, chapter 4.
A biblical picture of giving tosupport of the church, support
of equipping ministry in thechurch to the relief of the poor
(51:55):
, obviously here in 2Corinthians, 8 and 9, romans,
chapter 15, galatians, chapter 2, verse 10.
Paul says to Peter remember thepoor, remember to give to the
poor, galatians 2.10.
And then the spread of thegospel through all nations.
1 Corinthians, chapter 9, verse6 through 14.
We give.
It's biblical.
We need to give so that peoplewill proclaim the gospel to the
ends of the earth.
(52:16):
And so when we commission acouple from our faith family in
a few weeks that's going toanother country to make the
gospel known.
It's biblical To give to helpthat become a reality.
That's what's depicted there.
We give regularly to the churchfor those purposes and then the
church deals responsibly withour gift.
This is the second half of 2Corinthians 8.
(52:37):
2 Corinthians 8, 16 through 24.
Paul goes out of his way to makesure it's clear that when the
church gives this gift it willbe handled responsibly and
wisely.
When you get to verse 21, hesays we will take pains to do
what is right, not only in theeyes of the Lord but also in the
eyes of men.
And I wanted to take a momentto point out and some of you may
(52:59):
know, may not know even how itworks in this faith family, but
we have.
We have elders, which we'lltalk about next week, and then
we have a stewardship team, afinance team.
An elder provides the spiritualoversight for that team, but
the stewardship team is men andwomen in this faith family, a
group of men and women who makesure that we are wisely and
(53:21):
responsibly handling the moneythat is given to this church, to
make sure that it's not beingused inappropriately in any way.
And they work with staff DonnieArendt, gene Adams who work
with administration, and otherfolks working together on this.
And just if I could brag on themfor a moment, every year
auditors come in look at thepicture.
Every year come back Extremelywell done, above reproach, just
(53:47):
seemingly faultless.
I mean all the way down to theT.
It's just they do an incrediblejob.
So I praise God for theirdiligence to making sure we deal
responsibly with gifts.
So giving unites the people ofGod and then giving exalts the
goodness of God.
Giving unites the people of Godand giving exalts the goodness
of God.
I love the way Paul ends 2Corinthians 9, 15.
(54:08):
He says thanks be after allthis.
This is what he says Thanks beto God for his gift, his
indescribable gift, givingoverflows, and thanksgiving to
God for the way he gives.
So so dream with me for aminute.
Just indulge a bit of dreamingfor a minute.
(54:32):
Most recent statistic study thatI came across that I could find
said between a third and a halfof church members in America
today give to their churches,give anything.
I'm not talking 10%, titheanything, just give anything.
Between a third and a half.
So maybe 40% Somewhere in themiddle there, actually give
(54:57):
anything of church members andthis, to me, just reinforces.
We need to re-understand, lookat Scripture and what it means
to be a member of the body ofChrist, because that is.
It's biblically ludicrous theidea that you can be committed
to a local body of believers andyet give nothing to local body
(55:21):
of believers.
That flies right in the face of2 Corinthians, 8 and 9.
And it's not that we arerequired to give X amount.
You don't give this amount,you're not a member.
That's not the picture.
That's not what 2 Corinthians 8and 9 is saying.
But if you have the grace ofChrist in you, if the grace of
Christ and the gospel of Christis overflowing from your heart,
then we give Period.
And if that has not been apractice in your life, my
(55:44):
encouragement would be to younot here's the number, make sure
to start giving that next week.
But my encouragement would beto you to go to God and ask Him
to change your heart, becausegrace is the foundation for our
giving and only God can do thatkind of work.
So ask for grace to givegenerously and willingly,
(56:07):
cheerfully, all these things wetalked about.
But what if we did?
What if 2 Corinthians 8 and 9were actually a reality, not
just among the Macedonian church, but among the church at Brook
Hills?
And what if?
What if?
Tithe?
Instead of being this okay, letme make sure I check this off
and so I'm okay.
Maybe.
What if it was a starting pointfor men and women, brothers and
(56:32):
sisters across this faithfamily?
What if every member of thischurch had that as a starting
point?
You do the math.
Dream with me what would happen.
Watch this with me.
Dream with me if we did that ina year, in one year, if we said
okay, this year we're going touse that as a starting point and
we're going to be grace givers,and that's our starting point.
(56:53):
Watch this with me givers, andthat's our starting point.
Watch this with me.
If you are a member of thisfaith family, if you are
visiting with us tonight andattending, we certainly welcome
(57:15):
you and we hope that you havebeen blessed with studying the
Word.
But particularly for those ofyou who are members of this
faith family, I want toencourage and to challenge you
tonight to let this time tonightin 2 Corinthians 8 and 9, be a
spiritual marker for you in yourjourney, and let this time,
(57:39):
tonight, in 2 Corinthians 8 and9, some of you may old news knew
all of this grace givingreality.
It's flowing, begging to give.
If that's the case, praise theLord, continue.
I hope you're encouraged.
But if this picture of gracegiving has not been a reality in
your christian life, to saytonight, god, I need you to do a
(58:04):
work in my heart, my family'sheart and again, it's not not
necessarily even an overnightthing.
There's all kinds of stuff thatwe fill our lives with.
It takes time.
But to say tonight I want to bea grace giver, not okay, here's
the number, now do it.
(58:24):
But I want to give generously.
I want to give all that I canand I don't want to spend my
life and my resources on stuffthat will burn up in the end.
I want to spend it on that thatburn up in the end.
I want to spend it on that thatwill matter in the end.
I want my life and my financesto count for the glory of Christ
in all nations.
Speaker 1 (58:44):
We hope you've enjoyed this week's episode of
David Platt Messages.
For more resources from DavidPlatt, we invite you to visit
radicalnet.
You are listening to David Platt Messages a weekly
podcast with sermons andmessages from pastor, author and
teacher David Platt.
Speaker 2 (00:09):
If you have a Bible and I hope you do let me invite
you to open with me to 2Corinthians, chapter 8.
I thank God for the privilegeof being a part of this body of
Christ.
I thank God for you.
I thank God for Christ in youand his generosity and his love
(00:36):
that is expressed all over you,all across this faith.
And that was just such asnapshot.
I mean you could see as fast asthose screens were going.
There's too much informationand that wasn't all.
But there are so many evidencesof grace all across this faith
(00:56):
family and demonstrations of theglory of God.
So praise God for His work inthis faith family.
Tonight I want to encourage us,as we give of ourselves, to give
more of ourselves.
I want to challenge us to givemore of ourselves, based on 2
(01:18):
Corinthians 8-9.
Coming up on three years.
For me as pastor here andtonight is the first time where
we have specifically addressedin the word giving to the church
.
We've talked about giving indifferent capacities, just being
followers of Christ throughgiving, but we've not talked
(01:38):
about giving in the sense oftithing, which we'll talk about
a little bit later on.
But that next sentence in ourchurch covenant is an important
one and it deals with giving.
Scripturally, it's part of whatit means to be the church when
it says at the bottom of thechurch covenant you see there
it's bolded we will givecheerfully and generously to the
(02:00):
support of the church, therelief of the poor and the
spread of the gospel through allnations.
2 Corinthians, chapter 8 and 9being the primary text there
which we're going to look attonight.
I'm a bit hesitant, though,even in diving into this,
because I know that there arelikely people across this room
(02:21):
with some very serious hurts,some serious needs that maybe
you bring into this gatheringtonight and you might be
thinking oh great, we're goingto talk about giving, walking
through this, we're going totalk about tithing or giving to
the church, and I hope that whatwe've seen even tonight, this
(02:43):
is why we give Because of hurts,real hurts in the body, and not
just in the body, but becauseand this is what we keep in
front of us all the time thereare four and a half, at least
four and a half billion peoplein the world today who are
without Christ and, if nothingchanges, will spend an eternity
(03:05):
without Christ.
So how do we give for the gloryof Christ among those masses,
among those impoverished over abillion people in the world
living in absolute poverty, 700million in slums, 500 million on
the verge of starvation today,200 million children exploited
(03:27):
for labor.
I want to encourage andchallenge us when it comes to
giving.
Tonight I found a researchproject that had been done at
Stanford.
This is what they found Ifchurch members in America gave
at least 10% of their income tothe church so basically did what
(03:52):
is commonly associated with atithe if church members in
America gave a tithe, a tenth oftheir income, in two years'
time the church could eliminateglobal starvation and
malnutrition, provide educationfor every child on the earth and
provide universal access toclean water and sanitation in
(04:16):
two years.
Now, obviously, tonight wedon't have a lot of control over
what all churches in the UnitedStates are doing or what
members of churches are doing inother places, but we do have an
opportunity to say tonight God,god use us and God we're going
to trust that when we giveourselves to giving cheerfully
(04:40):
and generously, according towhat Scripture teaches, that you
can use us, will use us to makea significant dent in the lost
and poor population of the world.
We want our lives and we wantthis church to count for the
glory of Christ in all nations,and so I want us to see how that
affects our giving.
What does it look like to be agenerous church according to
(05:02):
Scripture?
Now you've got at the top ofyour notes there money and the
Christian.
I just want to remind you,before we even dive in, to the
overarching principle that Jesustaught.
That is echoed throughoutScripture when it comes to money
and the Christian.
Just a reminder when it comesto money and the Christian, our
hearts follow our money.
Our hearts follow our money.
Matthew 6, 21,.
(05:23):
Jesus says where your treasureis, there, your what will be
your heart will be also.
Our money signals where ourhearts are.
The way we spend our money, ourcheckbooks are sure indicators
of our spiritual condition.
Just humbling truth.
(05:44):
Humbling verse Matthew 6, 21.
You want to see where people'shearts are.
Look where they're spending.
This is humbling for us.
In the immediate culture we livein, right around this building,
you look at where we spend ourmoney on.
You look at where we spend ourmoney on big houses, nice cars,
(06:09):
nice clothes, entertainment,stuff, inundated with stuff and
we are showing our spirituality.
We are revealing a heart issue.
This is gripping for meindividually and the family.
(06:29):
We've got so far to go, even inthe family I lead.
And then when it comes to thisfaith family, probably the most
humbling facet of pastoring forme, if not the most humbling.
There's a few things that arehumbling, but one of the most
humbling facets of pastoring forme is the church budget,
because we have so far to go asa faith family.
But one of the most humblingfacets of pastoring for me is
the church budget because wehave so far to go as a faith
(06:54):
family.
We're still spending so much onourselves and just get changed
that overnight it's processing,chipping away year after year.
I pray more and more and moreand more.
But this is, I think we'regoing to see in the Word tonight
that if we really want toimpact four and a half billion
people in the world 25,000people today who will die of
either starvation or preventablediseases if our lives are going
to count for what we just sangabout, that, that means massive
(07:19):
changes in our hearts that arereflected in the way we spend
our money.
So our hearts follow our money.
What happens when our heartsare set on what God's heart is
set on?
That's where we come to 2Corinthians, chapter 8 and 9.
We're going to read two passages.
We're not going to read thewhole two chapters.
(07:40):
Two passages in just a second.
Here the setup is Paul writesthis letter 2nd Corinthians.
He's on his third missionaryjourney.
He's going to Corinth.
What had happened is, earlierhe had written the book of 1st
Corinthians, a letter to thechurch at Corinth, and at the
end of that book 1st Corinthians, chapter 16, verse 1 through 4,
what he had done is he had toldthem that he wanted to take up
(08:03):
a collection for theimpoverished church in Jerusalem
, impoverished saints inJerusalem.
And so he told them I'm goingto take up an offering, and they
expressed an eagerness aboutthat.
The only problem is, time wentby and they had not collected,
they were not giving, and Paulwas traveling to other places
and was collecting money.
We're going to see himreference how he had collected
(08:25):
money from the churches inMacedonia, which were very poor
churches.
We'll look at that in a second.
And so what he's doing here inthese two chapters is he is
reminding them to give, andthese two chapters are so
insightful because they show ushow Scripture exhorts us to give
, and I think we see a muchdifferent picture here in 2
(08:46):
Corinthians 8 and 9 than we seein the world.
How the world tells us to giveand even how we think of giving
in the church is radicallydifferent than from what, than
what Paul's going to show ushere in 2 Corinthians 8, verse 9
.
How does Scripture teach us togive?
And what we're going to do iswe're going to read two passages
, one in chapter 8 and one inchapter 9.
Teach us to give.
What we're going to do is we'regoing to read two passages, one
in chapter 8 and one in chapter9.
(09:06):
And basically the first one 2Corinthians, chapter 8, verse 1
through 9, is an example.
Paul points to these churchesin Macedonia.
We're going to see him kind oflift them up as an example.
And the second passage we'regoing to look at is 2
Corinthians, chapter 9, verse 6through 15.
And what this is over here isbasically some truths based on
this example.
So we're going to be all overthe place going back and forth,
(09:27):
just turning between these twochapters.
But to try to get this picture,let's camp out on these two
passages.
2 Corinthians 8, verse 1.
Paul writes the grace that Godhas given the Macedonian
churches Out of the most severetrial, their overflowing joy and
(09:48):
their extreme poverty welled upin rich generosity.
For I testify that they gave asmuch as they were able and even
beyond their ability, entirelyon their own.
They urgently pleaded with usfor the privilege of sharing in
this service to the saints.
They urgently pleaded with usfor the privilege of sharing in
this service to the saints, andthey did not do as we expected,
(10:10):
but they gave themselves, firstto the Lord and then to us, in
keeping with God's will.
So we urged Titus, since he hadearlier made a beginning, to
bring also to completion thisact of grace on your part.
But just as you excel ineverything, in faith, in speech,
in knowledge, in completeearnestness, and in everything,
in faith, in speech, inknowledge, in complete
earnestness and in your love,for us see that you also excel
in this grace of giving.
(10:30):
I'm not commanding you, but Iwant to test the sincerity of
your love by comparing it withthe earnestness of others.
For you know the grace of ourLord Jesus Christ, that though
he was rich, yet for your sakeshe became poor so that you,
through his poverty, mightbecome rich.
Okay, go over to the nextchapter, chapter 9.
(10:53):
That's the example Macedonianchurch.
Go to 2 Corinthians 9.6.
Remember this.
He says whoever sows sparinglywill also reap sparingly, and
whoever sows generously willalso reap generously.
Each man should give what hehas decided in his heart to give
(11:13):
, not reluctantly or undercompulsion, for God loves a
cheerful giver.
God is able to make all graceabound to you so that in all
things, at all times, having allthat you need you, so that in
all things, at all times, havingall that you need, you will
abound in every good work.
As it's written, he hasscattered abroad His gifts to
the poor.
His righteousness enduresforever.
Now, he who supplies seed tothe sower and bread for food
(11:37):
will also supply and increaseyour store of seed and will
enlarge the harvest of yourrighteousness.
You will be made rich in everyway so that you can be generous
on every occasion.
And through us, your generositywill result in thanksgiving to
God.
The service that you perform isnot only supplying the needs of
God's people, but it'soverflowing in many expressions
(11:57):
of thanks to God Because of theservice by which you have proved
yourselves.
Men will praise God for theobedience that accompanies your
confession of the gospel ofChrist and for your generosity
in sharing with them and witheveryone else, and in their
prayers for you.
Their hearts will go out to youbecause of the surpassing grace
God has given you.
Thanks be to God for hisindescribable gift.
(12:22):
Okay, so how does Scriptureteach us to give, and how is
that different from how we thinkof giving in the world or even
in the church?
First, we give out of anabundance of grace.
Scripture teaches us to giveout of an abundance of grace.
(12:43):
Come back to 2 Corinthians 8.
Paul uses nine different wordsto describe the gift the
Macedonians gave.
But by far the most centralterm there and it's all over
these two chapters is grace.
You might circle it.
Look in verse 1, chapter 8.
Now, brothers, we want you toknow about the grace that God
(13:03):
has given the Macedonianchurches.
Down in verse 7, last part ofverse 7, when he's saying excel
in all these things.
He says see that you also excelin the circle there, in the
grace of giving.
Giving itself is a grace, thegrace of giving.
Then you get down to verse 9,for you know the grace of our
Lord Jesus Christ.
Notice that giving according toScripture, is not motivated by
(13:29):
guilt.
Giving is motivated by grace.
Paul is not trying to pour theguilt trip on them.
With this example, he isshowing them a portrait of grace
and true giving.
According to the New Testament,it's giving that flows from
(13:50):
grace.
I hesitate to even throw outsome of those statistics, some
of those numbers, when it comesto lostness and poverty.
I mean, these are realities.
I think we need to see them, weneed to see our lives in their
light, but we are not motivatedto give because we feel bad.
If that's our motivation,that'll last a little while and
it'll go nowhere.
(14:10):
As deep as grace giving goes,let me show you the difference
grace makes in giving.
These churches in Macedonia wereand you see them described in
verse 2, severe trial, extremepoverty.
Macedonia includes places likePhilippi, thessalonica, berea.
These were impoverished placesto begin with.
(14:32):
They were ravaged by war,plundered by the Romans.
They were.
There was high taxation there,abject poverty, and that was
just normally.
You add on the fact that you'rea follower of Christ in that
area.
We see in Acts when Paul wouldgo to these areas in Macedonians
, severe persecution, and sobasically, these are.
(14:54):
It's not just poverty, it'sextreme poverty.
These are people who arebeggars.
They have nothing, maybe evenpartly due to the fact that they
were following Christ, maybeeven partly due to the fact that
they were following Christ, butwhere they live living in total
poverty.
And look at what verse 2 saysOut of the most severe trial,
(15:15):
their overflowing joy and theirextreme poverty welled up in
generosity.
That is so confusing to me.
Put those words together, goback and forth.
You see that Severe trial,overflowing joy, extreme poverty
, rich generosity.
How does that work?
Okay, let's do the math hereMacedonian churches, severe
(15:40):
trial plus extreme povertyequals overflowing joy, rich
generosity.
That's weird.
Severe trial, extreme poverty.
You put those together.
That's a recipe for joy andgenerosity.
How do you get from those twoelements to these two elements?
(16:01):
And the answer is grace.
It's grace, that's how you getfrom one to the next, and that's
the picture.
What Paul is doing is he iswriting a letter to a church
that is not impoverished likeMacedonia, a church that is more
well-off, and what he is sayingis look at these brothers and
sisters and how deeply, howsacrificially they gave.
(16:23):
And it's a picture, not to makeyou feel bad, but to make you
look at the power of grace andto think about what the power of
grace would look like in achurch that is more well-off.
So let me try to do in a sensewhat Paul is doing here in 2
Corinthians 8 and 9, pastorallyhere.
I remember.
I remember the first time I wasin a house church in Asia
(16:47):
underground house church settingand it was two weeks spending
time studying the Word togetherwith these poor farmers, with
little to nothing, and eventheir studying 12 hours a day
during those two weeks waseconomically killing them
because they were not out intheir fields.
But they wanted the Word.
And so we get to the end ofthat time and they start passing
(17:09):
around an offering.
They want to give an offeringto me for teaching them the Word
.
And I told the main leader.
I said no, like you're notgoing to give an offering to me,
I don't want, certainly don'tneed offering from these folks.
And he said no, we're going togive you an offering.
It is the grace of God thatcauses us to give and we teach
(17:34):
our people to give and theybelieve it's important,
according to the gospel, to give.
So they're going to give you anoffering.
And so I walk away with what,in dollars, was meager but was a
wealth in that context, twomonths after Hurricane Katrina
and our house going underwaterin New Orleans, where Heather
(17:55):
and I were living when I wasteaching at the seminary there.
Go to Indonesia two months afterthe hurricane and I'm teaching
an Indonesian seminary and theyfind out about what had happened
in New Orleans.
They're sharing differentthings.
They find out Now this is acountry that a couple of years
prior, you know, had seen aquarter of a million people
(18:19):
wiped off the face of the planet, just like that.
And if you've been to othercountries, particularly those
who have been hit by naturaldisasters, you know there was
all kinds of obviously all kindsof criticism about how the US
government handles Katrina.
We have no clue what it is liketo be left alone when it comes
(18:40):
to natural disaster, as ourbrothers and sisters do,
particularly in the two-thirdsworld.
When a natural disaster hits,there's no support network.
For that, it's decades beforeanything begins to happen in
some context.
And so here in Indonesia, in acontext with rural pastors from
impoverished places in Indonesia, they come together and they
hear about the need in NewOrleans and they say we're
(19:03):
taking up an offering.
They start giving, they startsacrificing and I come back to
New Orleans, to the seminary,with a gift, even last week.
Check this out.
Last week I was preaching at astudent leadership conference
and some of these students heardabout what we do with Secret
Church and how we take biblicalteaching, translate it into
(19:25):
different languages in the worldand then have that recorded in
audio in those languages andthen go into house, churches or
different places around theworld and give basically free
iPods, mp3 players, whateverthey are loaded with just
biblical teaching to encouragethe church there.
And so they heard about thatand they heard that I was going
to Cuba this next week and sothey started saying, well, let's
(19:48):
take a collection together tosend some iPods to Cuba.
And so these teenagers startgetting their money together,
which is great because you knowit's like mom and dad's money
for the most part.
So, bingo, like mom and dadmight not have given it, but
these guys are eager, so they'regiving it and they collected
$2,500.
These students just startcoming together.
(20:09):
I mean, I come back with amoney bag full of $1 bills and
like quarters that total $2,500.
And some didn't have money cashto give, and so they just
started coming up to me withiPods and it was like we should
have had an altar call and justhad everybody come lay down your
iPod on the stairs, like if youreally love Jesus, this is
(20:32):
what—but that's what they weredoing.
We never did that, but theywere coming up.
And even when I was leaving, aguy came up hey, take this iPod
and give it to him.
They want a picture there.
And so I want to say to youtonight, in the same vein of 2
Corinthians, 8 and 9, if ourbrothers and sisters in house
churches by the grace of God inIndonesia, by the grace of God,
and students by the grace of Godwith very little resources, are
(20:55):
digging sacrificially to howthey can give for the glory of
Christ and His kingdom, then howcan we in the wealthiest county
in Alabama dig sacrificially bythe same grace of Christ that
is in us and let that overflowto the glory of God?
That's the picture.
Let's give out of the abundanceof grace.
(21:15):
What if we did that?
What if we gave in the sameproportion at which they gave?
What if we gave in the sameproportion at which they gave?
That leads into okay, when wegive out of abundance of grace,
it means we give willingly.
This is what grace does.
Grace in our hearts causes usto give willingly.
(21:37):
Listen to verse three and four.
This is great Paul says, for Itestify that they gave as much
as they were able and evenbeyond their ability.
People with nothing givingbeyond their ability, entirely
on their own.
Listen to verse four.
They urgently pleaded with usfor the privilege of sharing in
(22:01):
this service to the saints.
They begged to give Ha Like.
When do Christians like cometogether and say we want the
offering now?
Like, please, can we pass thebaskets like multiple times in
(22:22):
the service?
We are pleading with you forthe privilege of giving.
Let's give like four or fivetimes in the service.
We are pleading with you forthe privilege of giving.
Let's give like four or fivetimes during the service.
We want to give.
That's the picture here Peoplein poverty saying we want to
give.
This is the effect of grace.
Notice that.
All of these things because itis driven by grace, grace in our
(22:42):
hearts.
This is not natural giving.
This is a supernatural kind ofgiving that begs Grace, makes
beggars out of the people of God.
People who are begging to giveGod do this kind of work in our
hearts.
We give based on God's blessing.
(23:03):
This is the point, because it'sdriven by grace.
When chapter 8, verse 1 says Now, brothers, we want you to know
about the grace that God hasgiven the Macedonian churches.
Notice this Macedonian churchesare giving not because of
anything they have manufactured,but because of what God has
given to them.
It is God who started thiswhole picture by pouring out His
(23:24):
grace.
So they're giving based on thegrace, the blessing of God that
has given to them.
It is God who started thiswhole picture by pouring out His
grace.
So they're giving based on thegrace, the blessing of God that
was given to them.
We give based on God's blessingand we give at least.
We give at least according toour ability.
Verse 3 there we read just asecond ago they gave as much as
they were able and even beyondtheir ability.
You get over to verse 12.
The reason I put that at leastthere in parentheses is because
(23:50):
verse 12 says Paul says if thewillingness is there, the gift
is acceptable according to whatone has, not according to what
he does not have.
So we give according to ourabilities.
What verse 12 is saying.
And these Macedonian churchesgave even beyond that.
And this is the lesson of thewidow's offering in Mark 12.
You remember Everybody's givingall sorts of money.
(24:13):
Widow comes and drops twocopper coins in and Jesus says
everyone else gave out of theirwealth.
She gave out of her poverty.
She gave all that she has oftheir wealth.
She gave out of her poverty.
She gave all that she has.
This is where we realize thatGod measures the value, so to
speak, of a gift in a verydifferent way than we do,
(24:38):
because God looks at what isgiven in proportion to that
which can be given, which isgiven in proportion to that
which can be given, and what 2Corinthians 8 and 9 is teaching
is give as much as you can,willingly, as much as you can.
I talked to a friend of mine, anincredible brother who lives in
(25:01):
North Africa this week, and Iwas reminded of an email he had
sent to me.
It sums this up he's living inthe middle of unreached people,
many of whom, the people groupsthat he is working with.
Very few of them have heard thegospel.
He said how many people havenot believed because they've not
heard?
What will it take for them tohear?
(25:22):
And have they not heard becausethere's no one to tell them?
What can we do, in obedience toGod, to change a world in which
there are millions and millionsof people who cannot call on
the name of the Lord becausethey haven't believed and who
haven't believed because there'sno one to tell them.
Most of us would say we know theanswer to that question.
And many of us would say weknow the answer to that question
and many of us would say wewere even doing things to change
the situation.
(25:42):
But the truth is and this iswhere it pierced me the truth is
there will continue to bemillions and millions of people
who do not hear as long as wecontinue to use spare time and
spare money to reach them.
Those are two radicallydifferent questions what can we
spare and what will it take?
(26:03):
When we ask what can we spare,it leads to giving begrudgingly.
When we ask what will it take,it leads to giving willingly,
want to give, want to give,begging to give, because we see
a need and we're responding toit.
So what grace does in ourhearts?
(26:24):
So are we, are you, are we.
As a faith family, we're givingwillingly, like this.
Second, we give general,generously, because of grace.
Grace welling up in us causesus to give generously, rich
generosity.
There, it said in verse two, andthe principle here, the truth
is what paul starts, that, thatsecond section that we read a
minute ago.
(26:44):
It's after nine verse six offwith second corinthians, nine
six.
Remember this whoever sowssparingly will also reap
sparingly, and whoever sowsgenerously will also reap
generously.
So the picture is very simplewe reap what we sow.
We know this.
A farmer if he harvests smallseed, little seed, there'll be
(27:08):
little harvest.
If the farmer plants great seed, then there will be great
harvest.
And so this is the picture.
With giving.
There's truths that begin toflow, because what Paul does
from verse 6 to 7 to 8 and 9just builds and builds and
builds and builds and reallykind of circles around this
truth in a variety of differentways.
(27:29):
And the point is, here's thepicture Generous giving to God.
I'll show this to you Generousgiving to God results in greater
giving from God.
Generous giving to God resultsin greater giving from God.
Now I want to pause real quickbefore our minds even think
(27:53):
through that process.
That, okay, what we don't mean,what 2 Corinthians 8 and 9 is
not teaching, is that if yougive to God, you'll get rich.
That if you give to God, you'llget rich.
That if you give to God, you'llbe wealthy in this world and
you'll have all the stuff thatyou want Health and wealth,
prosperity not gospel, notgospel.
(28:14):
And the Macedonians debunk thatwhole idea because they're
still impoverished, even thoughthey're given generously.
Our brothers and sisters inhouse churches around the world
debunk that idea because they'restill impoverished, but they
give radically.
This is not a measure of theirfaith.
If they had more faith theywouldn't be in that condition.
Blasphemy doesn't add up withthe Word.
(28:40):
Sorry, a little side note there,but the picture here is that
God gives generously to us as weare giving radically to others.
That's the picture we think.
Now this is totally differentthan the way we think, the way
our economics works, so to speak.
(29:02):
We think you keep more, youhave more right.
Hoard more, store it in barns,keep more and you'll have more.
Scripture's teaching give moreand you'll have more.
And the picture is thegenerosity of God, constantly
replenishing the people of Godas we're giving.
(29:24):
That's the picture all the waydown to verse 11.
Generous giving to God resultsin greater giving from God.
God gives enough for us.
Get this out there and thenshow this to you, especially in
verse eight and then verse 11.
God gives enough for us and hegives abundance for others.
(29:45):
He gives enough for us andabundance for others Enough for
us.
Verse 8.
God is able to make all graceabound to you so that in all
things, at all times, having allthat you need, you will abound
in every good work.
God is generous to His children.
He provides for His children.
He is able to make all graceabound to you.
(30:06):
He is making grace abound tothe Macedonian Christians.
They have all they need.
That's the picture.
God is able to do that, butoftentimes God gives more than
we need.
He gives more than we need.
He gives more than we need.
Why?
Listen to 2 Corinthians, 9, 11.
(30:26):
You will be made rich in everyway.
So that purpose clause, so thatyou can be generous on every
occasion.
And through us, your generositywill result in thanksgiving to
God.
So why?
Well, god is able to give allthat you need.
(30:47):
Why does God sometimes givemore than we need?
Now, american answer to thatquestion, even American
Christian answer to thatquestion God gives us more so
that we can have more.
If I've got more, well, let'sstart looking for a bigger house
(31:11):
.
Let's start looking for a nicercar.
If I've got more, then let'sget some nicer clothes.
And if the income goes up, thenthe standard of living
automatically must go up.
The reality is, standard ofliving is probably higher than
(31:33):
living above our means in mostcontexts like Birmingham, and so
we think we have more.
So God gives more so we canhave more stuff.
And Scripture says no, godgives more so that you can be
generous on every occasion, sothat you can give more.
(31:55):
When God gives more, when Godadds to the enough, when he
gives abundance, it's not sothat our standard of living will
increase, but so that ourstandard of giving will increase
.
That's the picture andScripture's giving us here.
It's the whole picture in.
We talked about this last fallwhen we were walking through.
(32:16):
The rich young man we talkedabout, john Wesley, 1731,
realizes, comes to theconviction that he needs to
define what is enough for him,so that, so that when God
entrusts anything more to him,he has got to define enough, so
to speak.
This is what I'm going to liveon and I'll be able to give away
(32:37):
anything that goes above that.
And so he defines he's enough.
It's 28 pounds.
That defines his enough.
It's 28 pounds, that's hisenough.
That's what he can live on in1731.
And that year he makes 30pounds for his salary, so he
gives two pounds away.
Next year doubled his incomeand so he gave 32 pounds away.
Next year his income's up to 90pounds.
(32:57):
Fourth year, 120 pounds.
It kept going up and up and upand up, all the way to the point
where one year his income wasslightly over 1,400 pounds.
He gave away all but 28.
That's the equivalent oftoday's wages, of making
$160,000 in the year and livingon $20,000.
(33:21):
When he died in 1791, 60 yearslater, the only money mentioned
in his will was themiscellaneous coins that he
found in his pockets and dresserdrawers.
Most of the 30,000 pounds hehad earned in his lifetime he
had given away.
So what happens?
What happens when you and I inthe wealthiest county in Alabama
(33:46):
and I know there are differentincomes represented all across
this room, but we know that allof us are incredibly wealthy
compared to the rest of theworld and so what happens when
you and I in this culture gototally against the grain of
(34:08):
what this culture says?
To do and define enough as bestas we can, biblically,
practically, to define enough,and then to say anything above
enough I'm not going to storeaway in barns and I'm not going
to spend on greater luxuries.
I'm not going to spend it onmyself.
(34:29):
I want anything above enoughthat God entrusts is going to be
given for the sake of the lostand the poor and the church
around the world.
What happens when that begins totake over our thinking?
Grace in our hearts calls us.
Now.
You know what is so exciting atthat point.
Now we're free to, like ask Godfor lots of money, and my
(34:56):
encouragement to you as a pastorat that point is make lots of
money, like tons of money, forthe sake of the kingdom of God.
Like work hard and give it awayand let the generosity of God
(35:18):
that is given to you enable youto now be generous on every
occasion, and it will result ingreat thanksgiving to God.
That's the picture here.
God, help us to define ourenough.
Now.
This is a process.
This doesn't change overnight.
Just like I mentioned, with thechurch and with our lives,
heather and I are justvulnerable continually in this
(35:41):
process, especially since lastfall, and continuing in a
variety of different ways to tryto define what that is.
I want to encourage us for thesake of the glory of Christ,
let's not waste our lives ongetting more stuff.
What happens when we decide thata $75,000 income does not
(36:01):
necessitate a $75,000 standardof living, or $100,000 or
$125,000 or anything else,whatever it may be?
What's the enough?
God gives enough for us and hegives abundance for others.
We give generously.
We give willingly generously.
This is grace.
Only grace does this.
It makes no sense.
We give willingly generously.
This is grace.
Only grace does this.
It makes no sense.
(36:21):
This is not money management101 tonight in American culture.
That's not the picture.
But this is 2 Corinthians, 8 and9.
We give willingly, generouslyand we give cheerfully.
This is almost funny, verse 7.
Each man should give what hehas decided in his heart to give
(36:46):
, not reluctantly or undercompulsion, for God loves a
cheerful giver.
The word literally means ahilarious giver, one who gives
Like as the offering basketspassed.
I mean you just picture ha yes,love giving.
(37:09):
That's the picture.
You see how God looks at givingso differently than us.
We've already talked about theability to give, now the
attitude in giving.
These things are important toGod.
God loves a cheerful giver.
(37:31):
What's really interesting?
You go back to chapter 8 realquickly and look at verse 8.
I want you to listen to whatPaul says here.
It's extremely important.
Paul says, chapter 8, verse 8.
I want you to listen to whatPaul says here.
It's extremely important.
Paul says, chapter 8, verse 8,I am not commanding you, but I
want to test the sincerity ofyour love by comparing it with
the earnestness of others.
(37:52):
And this is where we hear Paulsay that.
And we take a step back and werealize in 2 Corinthians 8 and 9
, there's not a command to give.
There's not a command to give.
There's not a command to give.
There's a pattern of giving,there's a precedent kind of set
by the master.
There's not a command here togive.
Then you begin to broaden thesearch a bit.
(38:12):
You don't see it in the NewTestament either.
You don't see a requirement togive.
Now you do see Romansans,chapter 13, and in matthew you
see a requirement to give togovernor authorities to pay
taxes.
Romans 13 says we're requiredto give in that way.
(38:33):
But the picture here is we arenot forced by god to give.
We're not forced by God to give.
We're not forced by God to give.
It's not even a command here.
I mean you'd think if Paulreally wanted to raise some
money he'd say I'm writingScripture here do it.
But he doesn't, why not?
(38:57):
This is where we come to andthis is going to be way too
brief of an overview, admittedlyfrom the start.
But it's important here becausethe tithe is not addressed here
in 2 Corinthians, 8 and 9.
And for that matter, it'smentioned in the context of the
Old Testament law at a couple ofdifferent places in the Gospels
(39:18):
.
But when we look back at theOld Testament tithe, the picture
is Leviticus, chapter 27, oneof a variety of places where it
was told to the people of God togive a tithe, a tenth, to the
Levites who would do theadministration of the whole
(39:40):
priestly system, sacrificialsystem.
But even more than that, whatyou find is in Deuteronomy
they're also told to give atithe to support the festivals
that go on.
And then another place inDeuteronomy, they're told to
give a tithe to support the poor.
And so there is required giving, a required tithe, in the Old
(40:02):
Testament law.
What we need to realize is OldTestament, this was a theocracy.
The Levites were literally likecivil government leaders, so to
speak, and what you had was apicture where there was required
giving for the maintenance ofthe nation, more like taxes.
(40:25):
And when you put those two,those different tithes together
it was really more than 10%,totaled up to some say close to
30, most say between 20 and 25,but somewhere between 20 and 30%
, more like taxes.
Even taxes that we would paytoday are a similar percentage
in many contexts, so intertwined.
(40:47):
Another place in the OldTestament you had free will
gifts.
You had Exodus, I think Exodus25, when take up an offering and
take up whatever a man's heartmoves him to give.
And so the picture is OldTestament required tithe for the
maintenance of the nation.
New Testament requirementcommand to give taxes for the
(41:12):
maintenance of the civilgovernment.
That's the picture here.
But you don't see giving to thechurch, forced, required, so to
speak.
And this is where we need torealize that we don't give to
the church like we give to theIRS.
We don't give because we'reforced to give.
(41:33):
We give because of grace in us.
God is not forcing us to give.
God has freed us to give.
That's the point of 2Corinthians 8 and 9.
He has not forced us to give,he has freed us to give.
Now here's the problem, when wecome to the tithe and we say,
well, are we supposed to tithe?
(41:53):
And what we're looking for issome kind of mathematical
formula that we can say, okay,what do I need to give in order
to make sure I'm okay?
And that misses the whole pointof 2 Corinthians 8 and 9, and
therefore the question shouldnot be asked.
People even ask what do I titheon, my gross income or my net
income?
This is a question that doesnot come to our minds and our
(42:18):
hearts.
When we are giving generouslyand willingly and sacrificially
and cheerfully, we want to giveall that we can and we're not
looking for an arbitrary levelto say, okay, this is the
requirement for me, so I'm justgonna do that and I'll be okay.
I'll have that box checked off.
Not New Testament teaching atall At all.
(42:39):
Yet it is prevalent when wethink about giving.
My encouragement would be andthis is what I look at in my
life like my encouragement wouldbe.
Yes, I think there's obviouslyan Old Testament principle of a
tithe here, and there are truthsthat are revealed about God and
his relationship with hispeople Malachi 3.10, other texts
like that.
Yes, that there's an OldTestament principle, so to speak
(42:59):
, that we honor in a sense, butI would say only to the extent
that if it would be helpful forthe tithe to be a starting point
, a starting point at best.
But grace-giving is so radicallydifferent than a tithe, and
tithe undercuts, undercuts thepicture that 2 Corinthians 8 and
(43:23):
9 is painting here.
Paul says I am not commandingyou to give.
Old Testament tithe is not yourstandard of giving anymore.
What's your standard of giving?
New Testament church?
Look at verse 9.
For you know the grace of ourLord Jesus Christ, that though
(43:45):
he was rich, yet for your sakeshe became poor so that you,
through his poverty, mightbecome rich.
This leads us.
We give out of the abundance ofgrace, willingly, generously,
cheerfully, not because we'reforced to give, because we're
free to give, because we're freeto give and we want to give all
that we can.
That's the New Testamentpicture and it leads us to.
(44:06):
We give as a demonstration ofthe gospel.
Our standard of giving is notthe Old Testament tithe.
Our standard of giving is theSon of God on a cross, and we
look at giving in light of thecross, in light of the gospel,
and giving is a demonstration ofthe gospel.
(44:26):
Paul goes from talking aboutthese Macedonian Christians to
elevating it to a whole otherlevel and he says look at Christ
.
You want to see how to give.
Here's how we give.
We sacrifice our rights forothers.
Doubtless, doubtless,christians in Corinth were
making excuses for why theycould not give, why they were
not able to give.
(44:46):
Now, and I know, I know thataround this room there are all
kinds of financial situationsrepresented.
So I want to tread lightly here, so to speak, because I know
there's so many differentscenarios in this room.
But the whole point of 2Corinthians 8 and 9 is look at
the people who have nothing,absolutely nothing.
(45:07):
They're begging on the streetsand they gave deeply.
And so grace transforms, thegospel transforms our hearts, so
that we're not looking forexcuses as much as we're looking
for opportunities.
How can I sacrifice more?
There are times when we thinkgive according to our ability.
Well, I'm just not able to givethat much.
I'm just not able to.
(45:29):
When it comes down to thebottom line at the end of the
month, I'm not able to give thatmuch.
And this is where I'm humbled,convicted and convinced.
I'm convinced the majority ofus, including myself in this
context, we are not givingaccording to our ability,
including myself, and a verysmall percentage of us are
(45:54):
really giving beyond our ability.
Now, it's not to say that it'snot tough at the end of the
month, but the reality is wehave so filled our lives with so
many things we do not need thatleave us with a little bit at
the end.
But that's where we've got tounpack the rest of this picture
(46:18):
and do the hard work of sayingwhat do we need?
What is our enough?
We sacrifice our rights forothers.
We serve a Savior who left Histhrone in glory and took on a
robe of human flesh and lived asa homeless man Luke 9, 57 and
58.
He is our example in giving.
(46:42):
We sacrifice our rights forothers and we spend our
resources on others.
Consider the richness of Christhere and what he did.
And when we spend our resourceson others, we demonstrate the
gospel.
This is the whole point.
When you get over to verse 13,he says we demonstrate the
gospel.
This is the whole point.
When you get over to verse 13,he says you have proved
yourselves.
Men will praise God for theobedience that accompanies your
(47:02):
confession of the gospel ofChrist.
I love that phrase in verse 13of chapter nine your obedience
accompanies your confession ofthe gospel.
They didn't just believe thegospel or talk about the gospel
in Macedonia.
They showed what the gospellooks like In abject poverty,
giving enriched generosity.
That's gospel and it's thepicture we demonstrate the
(47:26):
gospel when we give radically.
But what do we say?
What do we demonstrate when weacquire and get more and more
stuff, just like everybody elsein the world?
Are we showing the gospel?
No, no, we're showing the worldthat we like all the same stuff
they do.
And they look at us and theysay you got the same stuff, I do
(47:53):
, you just tack on Jesus onSundays.
The reality is we're pursuingthe same stuff.
I do, you just tack on Jesus onSundays.
The reality is we're pursuingthe same stuff.
We're running after the samestuff.
God, help us.
God, take this church and helpus to show a picture of the
gospel.
Take my life, my family.
God, help us to show a pictureof the gospel with radical
(48:16):
giving, demonstration of thegospel, such that people would
look at our faith family and saydon't just talk about the
gospel.
You see the way they give.
They give until it hurts.
There's something differentthere.
It's a picture of Christ in thegospel.
We give as a demonstration ofthe gospel, out of an abundance
of grace, to promotethanksgiving to God and this is
(48:40):
the whole point, verse 11,.
Through us, your generosityChapter 9, verse 11, through us,
your generosity will result inthanksgiving to God.
This service that you performis not only supplying the needs
of God's people, but it's alsooverflowing in many expressions
of thanks to God.
Here's the picture God givesgrace, his people give
(49:00):
generously and God gets glory.
You catch that.
God gives grace to give, hispeople give out of the abundance
of grace and he gets glory.
The one who gives the gracealways gets the glory.
That's the whole point of thechurch in Macedonia.
It's not to lift them up, it'sto lift up the grace of God in
them to the glory of God,because they're giving overflows
(49:22):
and many expressions of thanksto God.
It's why we can celebrate, whywe must.
We should celebrate like we didearlier.
Look at what God is doing byHis grace all across this faith
family and it overflows inthanksgiving to God.
That's the picture when we twofacets here promote thanksgiving
(49:43):
to God, because giving unitesthe people of God, unites the
people of God.
I'm going to fly through thispart right here, but at the end
of verse 14, it says in theirprayers for you, their hearts
will go out to you.
Their hearts will go out to you, check this out.
When the people in Jerusalemget this offering from
(50:05):
impoverished churches inMacedonia, what do you think
that is going to do in therelationship between these
saints in Jerusalem and saintsin Macedonia?
Warm hearts, unity among thepeople of God.
In the same way that when I goto Cuba this week and say to
house church pastors there, hereis a gift from brothers and
sisters in Georgia and Alabama,here's a gift, and you're not
(50:28):
alone.
There are brothers and sisterswho are praying for you and want
this to be an expression of thegrace of God to you from them.
That's unity among the peopleof God.
Giving creates community If we.
It's why it's a part of ourchurch covenant, because if we
do not give, if we are hoardersthat are holding on to our stuff
(50:48):
and not generously giving, thenthat radically affects
community.
Then we're a bunch of people inhere that want to want to keep
to ourselves and keep everythingto ourselves Instead of coming
with open hands into community.
That radically changescommunity.
We give regularly to the church.
This is not specificallyaddressed in 2 Corinthians 8 and
9, but I wanted to hit on itreal briefly here and you might
(51:09):
write down some of thesepassages because this is
important as we talk aboutgiving in the church.
We give regularly to the church.
1 Corinthians, chapter 16,verse 1 and 2.
1 Corinthians 16, 1 and 2 isthe picture where we see when
the New Testament churchgathered together on the Lord's
day, they made it a practice toregularly, systematically give
as they gathered together.
It's the precedent by which wedo what we do and we gather
(51:33):
together on the Lord's day andwe give.
We give systematically,intentionally.
We give regularly to the churchand you saw in the church
covenant we give cheerfully andgenerously to the support of the
church.
1 Timothy, chapter 5, verse 17through 19, coupled with
Ephesians, chapter 4.
A biblical picture of giving tosupport of the church, support
of equipping ministry in thechurch to the relief of the poor
(51:55):
, obviously here in 2Corinthians, 8 and 9, romans,
chapter 15, galatians, chapter 2, verse 10.
Paul says to Peter remember thepoor, remember to give to the
poor, galatians 2.10.
And then the spread of thegospel through all nations.
1 Corinthians, chapter 9, verse6 through 14.
We give.
It's biblical.
We need to give so that peoplewill proclaim the gospel to the
ends of the earth.
(52:16):
And so when we commission acouple from our faith family in
a few weeks that's going toanother country to make the
gospel known.
It's biblical To give to helpthat become a reality.
That's what's depicted there.
We give regularly to the churchfor those purposes and then the
church deals responsibly withour gift.
This is the second half of 2Corinthians 8.
(52:37):
2 Corinthians 8, 16 through 24.
Paul goes out of his way to makesure it's clear that when the
church gives this gift it willbe handled responsibly and
wisely.
When you get to verse 21, hesays we will take pains to do
what is right, not only in theeyes of the Lord but also in the
eyes of men.
And I wanted to take a momentto point out and some of you may
(52:59):
know, may not know even how itworks in this faith family, but
we have.
We have elders, which we'lltalk about next week, and then
we have a stewardship team, afinance team.
An elder provides the spiritualoversight for that team, but
the stewardship team is men andwomen in this faith family, a
group of men and women who makesure that we are wisely and
(53:21):
responsibly handling the moneythat is given to this church, to
make sure that it's not beingused inappropriately in any way.
And they work with staff DonnieArendt, gene Adams who work
with administration, and otherfolks working together on this.
And just if I could brag on themfor a moment, every year
auditors come in look at thepicture.
Every year come back Extremelywell done, above reproach, just
(53:47):
seemingly faultless.
I mean all the way down to theT.
It's just they do an incrediblejob.
So I praise God for theirdiligence to making sure we deal
responsibly with gifts.
So giving unites the people ofGod and then giving exalts the
goodness of God.
Giving unites the people of Godand giving exalts the goodness
of God.
I love the way Paul ends 2Corinthians 9, 15.
(54:08):
He says thanks be after allthis.
This is what he says Thanks beto God for his gift, his
indescribable gift, givingoverflows, and thanksgiving to
God for the way he gives.
So so dream with me for aminute.
Just indulge a bit of dreamingfor a minute.
(54:32):
Most recent statistic study thatI came across that I could find
said between a third and a halfof church members in America
today give to their churches,give anything.
I'm not talking 10%, titheanything, just give anything.
Between a third and a half.
So maybe 40% Somewhere in themiddle there, actually give
(54:57):
anything of church members andthis, to me, just reinforces.
We need to re-understand, lookat Scripture and what it means
to be a member of the body ofChrist, because that is.
It's biblically ludicrous theidea that you can be committed
to a local body of believers andyet give nothing to local body
(55:21):
of believers.
That flies right in the face of2 Corinthians, 8 and 9.
And it's not that we arerequired to give X amount.
You don't give this amount,you're not a member.
That's not the picture.
That's not what 2 Corinthians 8and 9 is saying.
But if you have the grace ofChrist in you, if the grace of
Christ and the gospel of Christis overflowing from your heart,
then we give Period.
And if that has not been apractice in your life, my
(55:44):
encouragement would be to younot here's the number, make sure
to start giving that next week.
But my encouragement would beto you to go to God and ask Him
to change your heart, becausegrace is the foundation for our
giving and only God can do thatkind of work.
So ask for grace to givegenerously and willingly,
(56:07):
cheerfully, all these things wetalked about.
But what if we did?
What if 2 Corinthians 8 and 9were actually a reality, not
just among the Macedonian church, but among the church at Brook
Hills?
And what if?
What if?
Tithe?
Instead of being this okay, letme make sure I check this off
and so I'm okay.
Maybe.
What if it was a starting pointfor men and women, brothers and
(56:32):
sisters across this faithfamily?
What if every member of thischurch had that as a starting
point?
You do the math.
Dream with me what would happen.
Watch this with me.
Dream with me if we did that ina year, in one year, if we said
okay, this year we're going touse that as a starting point and
we're going to be grace givers,and that's our starting point.
(56:53):
Watch this with me givers, andthat's our starting point.
Watch this with me.
If you are a member of thisfaith family, if you are
visiting with us tonight andattending, we certainly welcome
(57:15):
you and we hope that you havebeen blessed with studying the
Word.
But particularly for those ofyou who are members of this
faith family, I want toencourage and to challenge you
tonight to let this time tonightin 2 Corinthians 8 and 9, be a
spiritual marker for you in yourjourney, and let this time,
(57:39):
tonight, in 2 Corinthians 8 and9, some of you may old news knew
all of this grace givingreality.
It's flowing, begging to give.
If that's the case, praise theLord, continue.
I hope you're encouraged.
But if this picture of gracegiving has not been a reality in
your christian life, to saytonight, god, I need you to do a
(58:04):
work in my heart, my family'sheart and again, it's not not
necessarily even an overnightthing.
There's all kinds of stuff thatwe fill our lives with.
It takes time.
But to say tonight I want to bea grace giver, not okay, here's
the number, now do it.
(58:24):
But I want to give generously.
I want to give all that I canand I don't want to spend my
life and my resources on stuffthat will burn up in the end.
I want to spend it on that thatburn up in the end.
I want to spend it on that thatwill matter in the end.
I want my life and my financesto count for the glory of Christ
in all nations.
Speaker 1 (58:44):
We hope you've enjoyed this week's episode of
David Platt Messages.
For more resources from DavidPlatt, we invite you to visit
radicalnet.
Popular Podcasts
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
The Joe Rogan Experience
The official podcast of comedian Joe Rogan.