Alright brethren, let's go to
2 Corinthians chapter 8. And I do mean 2 Corinthians.
Melinda told me when I got home Thursday night that I told you
2 Corinthians when I meant 2 Kings. I do mean 2 Corinthians. Sometimes there is a disconnect between here and here. Y'all probably don't ever have
that problem. 2 Corinthians chapter 8. Now what does God accept? What does God accept? Now that's
a question every believer wants to know the answer to. And it
should be a question that everybody wants to know the answer to.
In our text today, God tells us what He accepts concerning
giving. But the principle applies to
salvation also. Now the Corinthian church had
been willing a year ago to take up this offering to give to the
poor saints at Jerusalem. And so now Paul is telling them
this. He says in verse 11, ìNow therefore perform the doing of
it, that as there was a readiness to will, so there may be a performance
also out of that which ye have.î For if there be first a willing
mind, it is accepted according to that a man hath, and not according
to that he hath not. Now our subject is the acceptance
of giving. God accepts that which is willingly
given out of what we have, not out of what we don't have. Let
me briefly touch on two points here and then I want to get to
that main point. First of all, God only accepts
that which is actually performed. He only accepts that which is
actually performed. He said there, Now therefore
perform the doing of it, that as there was a readiness to will,
so there may be a performance. He is saying, don't just say
a year ago you wanted to do this, but actually perform it. Christ
was willing from eternity to be surety for His people. And
we see how great His willingness was when we consider the fact
that from eternity He knew that His people would not be able
to pay or give the righteousness to the law that it demands. He
knew that from the beginning. With our suretyship, we agree
if we co-sign for somebody, become surety for somebody, we agree
to pay if they can't pay. Christ agreed to be surety knowing
we would not pay. So that shows you His willingness
before the foundation of the world. Yet, not only was Christ
willing, when the time came, He came forth and performed it.
He came forth and performed that which He was willing to do. Look
back at verse 9. For you know the grace of our
Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes
He became poor, that ye through His poverty might be rich. Paul
said in Galatians 4.4, when the fullness of time was come, God
sent forth His Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem
them that were under the law. Christ came forth and He did
it when that predestinated hour came. Now secondly, not only
does God accept only the performance, God also only accepts the performance
from a willing mind. He says there in verse 12, For
if there be first a willing mind, it is accepted. Now did Christ
perform the work of redeeming His people willingly? When He
came forth, did He come forth willingly? When He went to the
cross, did He go to the cross willingly? He said in Psalm 40
in verse 8, I delight... That's willingness. I delight
to do Thy will, O my God. Yea, Thy law is within my heart. This was the willingness of His
heart. He said in John 4.34, My meat... is to do the will of Him that
sent me and to finish His work. This was His heart, this was
His meat, this was His willingness to do the will of God. And it
was by that willingness that He perfected all His people. Go to Hebrews 10. Hebrews 10 verse 9 and 10. And then said he, Lo, I come
to do thy will, O God. He taketh away the first covenant,
the first covenant of works, that he may establish the second
covenant, which is the covenant of grace by the witch will. You see that? By His willingness. By His willingness we are sanctified
through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. Once for all time. What does
it mean? Look down at verse 14. For by one offering He hath perfected
forever them that are sanctified. Now you know what we see in Christ?
We see in Christ, when we see God raise Him from the dead,
we see God accepted Him, God raised Him from the dead, and
we see in Christ that God loves a cheerful giver. He loves a
willing giver. Christ is preeminent in everything,
and Christ is the preeminent cheerful giver. He willingly
gave Himself. Now concerning a sinner, From
whom does a willingness come? Where do we get a willingness
from? We didn't have a willingness by nature. By nature we hate
God according to Romans 8, 7. We didn't have a willingness
by nature. If there was a willingness by nature, everybody would come
to Christ whenever they get ready. But they don't and they can't.
So a willing mind in a sinner must come from someone else giving
us that willing mind. Well, Scripture says a willing
mind comes from Christ and His power. When God raised Him, God
made Him the head over the church to fill all in all. He fills all in all His people. That's His glory as the glorified
God-man mediator to fill all in all His people. And so when
God raised Him, Psalm 110.3, God made this announcement. He
said, Thy people, not everybody, Thy people shall be willing in
the day of Thy power. in the beauties of holiness from
the womb or from the beginning of the morning. Thou hast the
do of thy youth. And he is saying there by that
is that beauty of holiness from the beginning will be when Christ
by His willingness gives us that willingness by entering into
us. He makes you willing. Christ makes us willing to repent
from our works. He makes us willing to cast all
our care on Him and trust Him alone to save us. And Christ
makes us willing to perform every work that God foreordained that
His people shall perform. Christ works the willingness
in us to do every work that God has foreordained that we shall
perform. Listen to the Scripture in Hebrews
13.20. It says, Now the God of peace that brought again from
the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep through
the blood of the everlasting covenant, now that God of peace
make you perfect in every good work to do His will, working
in you that which is well-pleasing in His sight through Jesus Christ. to whom be glory forever and
ever. Amen. It's Christ. God works
in us through Christ working in us and He makes us willing
to do that which is well pleasing in God's sight. It's God which
worketh in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure. So when we have a willing mind
and we perform a work like giving, who do we glory for that? We
don't pat ourselves on the back, but glory in the Lord. Look at
2 Corinthians 8 and look at verse 16. Titus had a willingness to help
the church at Corinth. Look at who they thanked. Thanks
be to God which put the same earnest care into the heart of
Titus for you. That's who we thank. That's who
we glory in. We thank God. We glory in God
because He gave us this willing mind. Now, lastly, this is what
I want to focus on most. God accepts that which is given
according to what a man has. See there in verse 12, For if
there be first a willing mind, it is accepted according to that
a man hath, and not according to that he hath not. Now this
principle applies not only to giving, but also to salvation. Now, when we have very little
money, let's use this as an example. Giving doesn't just include money. It includes our time, our service,
our bodily service, our caring for somebody, and any other possessions
that we have. It doesn't just include money,
but it does include money. So we'll use that as an example.
Let's say we have very little money. Well, we tend to think
along these lines. We tend to say, well, I have so very little to give,
and the amount I could give is so very little, I'll just wait
until I have more. That way I can give a more substantial
amount. Alright, let's apply that to
salvation. What if I said, well, I believe on Christ. But my knowledge
of Christ is so little and my faith is so small, I think I'll
just wait until I have more knowledge and more faith and then I'll
come to Christ. The man who does that won't ever come to Christ.
You see, what's happening there? What's happening there? That
man is making his knowledge and his faith to be the deciding
factor on whether or not God will accept him. That's called
works. That's works. He's doing that
rather than trusting His acceptances by Christ only. It doesn't matter
the quantity of your faith, big or small. It doesn't matter how
much knowledge you have of Him. If you know your need of Him
and you know He's the only salvation of His people, that's all you
need to know, is to know Him. Know He is my salvation. It's
not about how much we know or how much we believe. That's works. Well, that same principle applies
to this thing of giving. If I'm waiting to give until
I have an abundant amount, I'm making the amount I give to be
the basis as to whether or not God will accept it. That's works
just like the other. Same just like the other. God
only accepts us when we give out of what we have. Now let
me apply this to salvation. In our natural state, we did
not have anything to give to God. We did not have anything
to give to God. We had no righteousness according
to the law. We had never kept the law ever. We had no holiness of heart. We had no liberty to be able
to approach God freely, willingly. We were in bondage. All we were
was sin and all we could produce was sin. Well, if we try to bring
righteousness or holiness to God that we do not possess, that
we do not have, God will not accept us. He will not accept
us. It's accepted according to what
a man hath. Not according to that he hath
not. What did Christ have when He presented Himself to the Father
to be made a substitute in place of His people? What did He have?
He had perfect faith. He had perfect faith in God who
promised Him that when He had finished His work, God would
raise Him from the dead. He had a perfect, sinless perfection
to give to God. And He came to God And God accepted
him because he had perfect fitness to lay down his life in place
of his people. He, through the eternal Spirit,
offered himself without spot to God. That's what he had. And
so God accepted him according to what he had. Now, what did
Christ have when he cried, It's finished? What did he have then? He had a perfect satisfaction
that he had obtained through God's holy love. for God's people. Perfect satisfaction. He had
perfectly glorified God by honoring God's holy law. That's what he
had. And God accepted him according
to what he had. He raised him from the grave,
set him down at his own right hand, and gave him the glory
to call out his people. It's accepted according to what
a man hath, not according to that he hath not. So after sinners
drawn to Christ now, God gives us everything through Christ. And what do we have? Well, Scripture
says, all things are yours. You who believe, Scripture says,
you have all things. We have perfect righteousness
before the law of God, by Christ's obedience to the law. We have
that through faith in Christ. Do we make void the law through
faith? Through faith in Christ. Do we
make void the law? No. God forbid. It's through
faith in Christ that we establish the law. We have a perfect righteousness
in Christ, by Christ, by what He did. We have a perfect holiness,
well not a perfect holiness because we have sin mixed with everything
we do, but we have in that new man there is a perfect holiness
that Christ is. Because by the Holy Spirit He
has made us to be born again and Christ is entered in and
Christ is holy and wherever Christ dwells is holy. And we have a
perfect holiness in that new man that Christ has created. And so when He brings you to
God and brings you to Him, because He has made Christ our wisdom,
we have now the mind of Christ. We can spiritually discern things
that we could not spiritually discern before. We understand
the Gospel now. So we come to Christ with nothing
but Christ. Because in Christ our all, we
have all. And God accepts us. in the Beloved,
in Christ Jesus. It is accepted according to a
man hath, not according to that he hath not. But what if we say,
well, I'll come to God when I'm able to gain a little more righteousness. I want to add some righteousness
to what Christ gave me, so that I have more. And I want to add
to the holiness Christ is, so I have a little more holiness
by what I've done. God won't accept it. He will
not accept it. We recognize that to be making
our works the deciding factor as to whether or not God will
accept us. We easily recognize that, that's
works. Well, understand the same is
true, the very same is true if I determine to wait until I have
more before I give. Because then I'm making my ability
to be the deciding factor as to whether or not God will accept
it. God only accepts a gift out of what we have. Now by Christ's
works, we don't need to add to what we already have in Christ
to find acceptance with God. We don't need to add anything
to what Christ has made us have. We add nothing to that to find
acceptance with God. It's accepted according to a
man hath and we have all in Christ. Now the same is true concerning
our giving. God does not measure our giving
by the amount that we give. He measures it by what we have
to give. Think about that. It's not quantity. It's not quantity. It's according
to what we have to give. The widow is the illustration.
The Lord was sitting there and He was watching these rich Pharisees
who were coming and they had abundance of wealth. And they
were giving these large sums of money. Now to you and me looking
and not knowing what they had, we would say, wow, those are
really generous givers. But Christ knew what they had.
And they had so much in abundance that that was no sacrifice. Even
though they gave a large amount, it was no sacrifice. There was
no faith involved in it because they knew they had plenty more
to be their provision. And so there was no faith in
the Lord to provide. They didn't have to depend on
the Lord to provide. But that widow that came, she cast in
all that she had. She didn't have but two pennies. Now we'd look at her and we'd
say, well, she must be tight. She must be frugal. She won't
give much. She doesn't have much faith.
Well, God knew what she had. And He said, she's cast in more
than they all cast in. Because she, out of her poverty,
cast in all that she had. You see, when it comes to salvation,
You never expect that God will accept you coming to Him with
something that you don't possess. And apart from Christ, we have
not. God will not accept us, but in Christ we have all and
that's why God accepts us. And that same principle is true
concerning giving. Now, if I willingly perform giving
out of what I have, no matter the amount I give, or no matter
the amount I possess, and no matter the amount I give, The
amount I possess could be great or it could be small. But if
I give according to what I have, that means in proportion to what
I have, so that it is a sacrifice, so that I am actually having
to depend on God. And I am actually saying by that
giving that I am trusting that God is my provider and He is
my life and not that substance. Then it is accepted of God. Do you get that? That's why He
has accepted it. Why does He accept that? Same
reason He accepts us when we come in Christ. It's because
He gave it all to us. In salvation and temporally,
He gives us all things. By coming to God with only what
we have in Christ, which is everything, all things we have in Christ. But by faith, coming to Him,
trusting in Christ, we truly have all. We are acknowledging
that Christ is our life. He is our life. We are absolutely
dependent on Him. We trust Him and Him alone, not
anything that we do to save ourselves. And when you come, giving away
money according to what we have, in proportion to what we have,
so that it's like that widow. It's a sacrifice. Then we're confessing the same
thing. That my life is Christ. My prosperity
is by God. And He's promised He's going
to provide. He's promised He will abound in all things. And
I manifest it in my heart, I really do believe Him. What did He say? He said on the
first day of the week, let every man lay by and store according
as God has prospered him. I'll tell you what a frugal giver
does. He gives according to how he's
prospered himself. A cheerful giver gives according
to how God's prospered him. There's a big difference. One
is saying, I'm my provider and I'm going to have to manage this,
make sure that I set my nest on high by what I've provided.
God says that's covetousness. But God's child, the cheerful
giver, acknowledges God's provided this. And He's promised me He'll
provide all. And I see in Christ He's done
it. So I don't have to worry about these temporal things.
He will provide for me. And He gives according, in proportion
to what He has. And manifests in His heart that
God is His life. And God accepts it because God
gave it all to Him. God gave Him the willing heart.
God gave Him the prosperity, the abundance of possessions
to do it. God gave Him, worked in Him the
performance. to do it. God gave him the opportunity
to do it. A brother in need so that he
had to do it. And God worked all of that in
him. And so when he does it, God accepts
it in Christ and for Christ's sake who worked every bit of
it. Do you believe God? I know you do. We wouldn't be
sitting here where we are right now. We'd still be in that firehouse
if you didn't. That's the biggest thing that's
been encouraging to me about getting in this place is faith. The faith that manifests that
God's given you. That's what I'm thankful for.
So that's how God measures our giving. It's according to what
a man has, not what he has. God doesn't expect you to give
what you don't have. Just what you have. Trust in Him who provided
that to provide everything else. Alright, let's stand together. Father, we thank You that we
have all in Christ We have no worries concerning salvation
whatsoever. Lord, make us to understand that
if we have no worries in that which is greater, we certainly
have no worries in that which is lesser. Thank You, Lord, that You've
made Your people cheerful, sacrificial givers. made us to see that You
are able to make us abound in all things. And we thank You
for that. You have taken us from the dung heap,
Lord, where we were just worried about self and heaping up riches
for our self and You have brought us to Christ's feet and made
us see where our true prosperity is. We thank You for that. We
pray, Lord, You would make that clear to Your people. And we
pray today that You would bless us and give to us in abundance
that we might give to You now in this service, the honor and
the glory and the praise that's due unto Your name. We ask You
to work that in us, Lord, that we might be able to praise You
and worship You and honor You in everything we do here today.
Lord, if you're willing, we ask you to make it known to some
lost sheep of yours what you've done. Bring them to Christ and
make them to be a cheerful giver just like you've done your people.
We pray in Christ's name for all these things and we're thankful,
Lord, that it's by Him and for His glory that you work these
things in your people. Amen.