All right, let's take our Bibles
and turn to 2 Corinthians chapter 8. In this chapter, Paul points
out the generosity and the liberality, he calls it, of the churches
where he'd been ministering over in Macedonia. And by their example
of this grace which God had worked in them, He's encouraging the
Corinthians now to do the same. Giving, that's what this chapter
is all about. Giving is a gift of God's grace. If you have liberality, if you
have generosity, toward the people of God and the things of God
and the welfare of others. If you have this, it's a gift
of God's grace. We're not born with it. We're
not born with it. Paul calls it in this chapter,
the grace of God bestowed on them. It's a gift of God's grace,
and it's a strong evidence of the inward working and maturing
of the believer. Believers, there's a time when
a man's born again. He's born of God. And just as
an infant, he doesn't know everything. He's not mature. He's an infant.
He doesn't understand things. And we want to be careful around
these little ones. You're careful around your little
ones. You don't say things in the presence of these little
children that you'd say to a full-grown adult. because you know they
don't have that experience yet. They're not going to understand
what you're talking about. And so there's a time when a
man's born of God, and as he grows, he grows in grace and
knowledge of Christ, and he begins to see and to understand these
things, and these things are developed in him. Well, here's the question. Is
our giving really important? Is it really important? Is it
something that needs to be taught? Is it something that needs to
be talked about or should we just bypass it and get on to
bigger and better things? Is it important? Is this something
needful for us to preach and teach in our congregations? Well,
it was important enough that the Holy Spirit inspired this
man to write two full chapters in this letter to the Corinthians.
about this very thing of giving. It's that important. In chapters
8 and 9, the apostle covers all the questions that men and women
usually ask about giving. Who should give? Should everybody
give? How do we give? How much should
we give? And to whom should we give it?
And I pray that as we go through these chapters, Paul's letter
will take root in us as it did in them. 2 Corinthians 8, beginning with
verse 1. Moreover, brethren, we do you
to wit of the grace of God bestowed on the churches of Macedonia. Now often when we read the old
King James Version, especially you that are younger in here
and you read this thing, you'll come upon words and phrases that
are not familiar with you. They've been dropped from the
English language. And we run into those in Hebrews. The word divers, he uses over
there. That's not a common word used
in our day. And here he uses this phrase,
do you to wit. Now, this is an old English phrase
which simply means to inform you. That's what he's saying
here. I want to inform you of the grace
of God bestowed on the churches of Macedonia. And the word grace
here, I want to call your attention back to this. The word grace
here carries with it the same meaning as it does over in Romans
521. You read that word grace over
there in its context, And it's an active reigning principle
of the heart. He said, as sin hath reigned
unto death, Romans 521, as sin hath reigned unto death, even
so might grace reign. Well, how did sin reign? Well,
it reigned in our natures, didn't it? Sure it did. It reigned in
our natures. It's our nature to sin. It's
our nature to be angry. It's our nature to be envious
and to lie and all these things that we did. It rained in our
natures. It rained in our affections.
We love darkness rather than light. It rained in our motives. It rained in our hearts and minds.
Even so, he said, might grace rain the same way, the same way. And it's going to reign through
righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord. So what am I saying? I'm saying
that grace is not a passion that flares up every now and then.
And it's not a doctrine that lays dormant in the sinner's
heart to be used only as an excuse for his sins or to ease his conscience
concerning judgment. Grace, true saving grace, is
an active, vital, working principle. And it reigns in his nature,
and it reigns in his actions, and it reigns in his thinking,
and it reigns in his affections and motives. It affects the whole
man, the whole man. And if the grace, we say, which
has brought us true saving faith, does not reign within and dominate
our whole person, we might question whether or not it's the true
grace of God. Because as he describes grace
in the scriptures, he tells us that this grace reigns. It reigns. Now, Paul's already talked about
the grace of God in their hearing. He's already talked about the
grace of God in their believing, in their affection for one another.
He's already talked about this grace causing them to submit
themselves to correction, leading them to repentance. Now he's
going to show them something about the grace of God in the
liberality of the saints. Verse 2, how that in a great trial of
affliction, The abundance of their joy and their deep poverty
abounded unto the riches of their liberality. Now reading, and
I'm accepting, oftentimes when you read these old historians
and you read these old writers, you pretty much accept at face
value what they're telling you about that history because we
got very little history except theirs on what took place. And
these churches, according to the historians, were under great
persecution from the Jews and the pagans, which I can understand
that and how that might be. And a strong evidence of man's
corruption and depravity is his willingness to take sides with
even his enemies against the saints of God. That's a strong
evidence of this world. Hate you, our Lord told his disciples. Some think because of this public
identification with Christ and his church that a lot of people
lost their jobs and businesses and reputations. I could understand
if that was so. I don't have a problem with that.
But evidently, whatever had taken place, had left them in great
poverty. And all these things could well
be. But here, Paul's talking about this active principle of
grace doing a work in them. And I believe what Paul's talking
about here is their joy in Christ and a discovery of the great
poverty of their souls. That's what I believe Paul's
talking about here and not their outward poverty. This is where
generosity and liberality and sacrificial giving is born. It's
born in the discovery of your poverty and the discovery of
your sin and the discovery of his love and grace for his people. That liberality was the result
of the grace of God, Paul said, which was bestowed on them. And this grace came by way of
the purpose and love of our, it came by this purpose and love
of God, our Savior. It came from our God, our Father. And it made provision for us
and appointed His Son as our Savior and Lord. And this grace came to us through
the God-man, Christ Jesus, who though He were rich, He was rich. He thought it not robbery to
be equal with God. I have no concept of even what
that means. But he thought it not robbery
to be equal with God, but made himself of no reputation, took
on him the form of a servant, was made in the likeness of men.
And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself even
further. He humbled himself and become
obedient. under death, and as Clay pointed
out last night, even the death of the cross. He loved us, the scripture said,
and gave himself for us. How can any man see this grace,
hear of this grace, experience this grace, and be not motivated
to give? I don't preach a lot on giving.
I preach a lot on Christ. Because if a man knows Christ,
he'd be willing to give. I won't have to work on the giving
so much. The abundance of their joy and
deep poverty abounded under the riches of their liberality. All right, verse 3. For to their power I bear record,
yea, and beyond their power, They were willing of themselves,
praying us with much entreaty that we would receive the gift
and take upon us the fellowship of ministering to the saints. Two things here that Paul brings
to our attention concerning the gifts of these churches. First of all, how they gave. They gave of their own accord.
They gave of their own accord. They gave willingly, voluntarily. They were not told how much to
give. They were instructed that they
should give, but they were not told how much to give. And they
knew that Paul and Barnabas were sin of God and needed sustenance. They knew that. They needed clothes. They needed a place to sleep.
They needed food and shelter. And let me tell you this. God
sends His ambassadors especially to His elect. They're sent to
warn. I'm not saying we don't ever
stand up and warn men. We're sent to warn. And we tell
men, you know, the consequences. We tell men the consequences
of believing not. We warn men. But we're sent especially
to His elect. Now let me ask you something.
You think blind Bartimaeus ever ceased to be thankful that God
sent his son his way? I bet there wasn't a more giving
man in that country than blind Bartimaeus when God gave him
his eyes. You think that legion, that Gadarene
demoniac ever forgot about the son of God coming to him and
casting out those demonic powers that ruled in him and reigned
in him? and left him clothed. Where'd
he get him clothed from? The Lord gave him to him. Found
him clothed and in his right mind. You reckon he ever gave? I guarantee you he never had
a problem with giving. Never had a problem with it.
You think that Philippian jailer ever forgot how beautiful the
feet of the apostle was that brought him glad tidings of great
things? You think that half-naked harlot
lying at the feet of Christ ever forgot his intercession for her
before the Jews and before God? I'm telling you this, that man
whose heart has been ministered to by the grace of God will never
forget it. He'll never forget it. He'll
be mindful of those who have not yet heard it. He'll be mindful
of those who ministered it to him. And he'll be mindful of
the God of all grace who brought all these things to pass for
him. The grace of God that manifests
God's love and mercy to sinners reached into every part of the
believer's being. It reaches into every part. It
will manifest itself in sacrificial giving and even beyond. Paul said, I'm testifying now
of your power, but I'm testifying of something beyond your power.
They brought their gifts to the apostles and they begged them
to take the oversight of it and distribute the gifts. And Paul
used a word here concerning both their gifts and the ministering
of these gifts that you need to look at. He uses the word
fellowship. Fellowship. They entreated us
to receive their gift and to take upon us the fellowship of
ministering to the saints. They called it a fellowship because
they saw their gifts to be in conjunction and in harmony with
that of the whole church and churches everywhere. They called
it a fellowship because they saw their part in the ministry
of God and took their place in the ministry of God and did what
they could do. They called it a fellowship because
they saw themselves fellers in the same ship. And it's a fellowship. Verse 5, And this they did, not
as we hoped, but first gave their own selves to the Lord, and then
unto us by the will of God. I love Brother Mahan's comments
on this verse, and I didn't change it. I'll just quote it to you.
The apostle expected something from them. even in their condition,
even in their trouble. But what they gave went beyond
his expectation. I heard this comment by several
of our men in this place. Not in my wildest imagination
did I ever expect to have what we have here. That's exactly
what Paul's saying about their giving. He expected them to give. They were believers. He expected
them to give. He just didn't expect how much
they gave and how generous they'd become. But here's why they brought their
gifts, and I hope why that you bring yours. They first gave
themselves to the Lord and to us as his ambassadors
by the will of God. When a man gives himself to the
Lord, he gives himself to the care of his providence. He subjects himself. He understands
and believes and rejoices in God's providence concerning him. I mean, what if you had control
of the providence? You don't have the wisdom of
God, you don't have the love of God, you don't have the mercy
of God in its perfections, but he does. I'd rather he'd handle
affairs, wouldn't you? I don't want to handle them.
All I ever did was mess them up. Just mess them up. When a man gives himself to the
Lord, he gives himself to the care of his providence, trusting
him to provide for him and enabling him to continue to give and to
support that work. He understands that he's a member
of that church. He's a member of God's church,
of God's elect. He understands that there's not
another reason for him to be left on this earth. He has a
perfect righteousness. His sins have been put away. There's not another reason for
him to be allowed to continue in this world except the ministry
which God has given him the divine privilege, the gracious privilege
to take part in. And the more you understand of
that, the more you give yourself to it. Listen to what Paul wrote
to the Philippians. He commends them on their gifts.
He goes through several verses in Philippians commending them
on their gifts, both to him and for the saints. And he says this
in Philippians 4.19 concerning their giving. Listen to this.
He said, but my God, shall supply all your need according to His
riches in glory by Christ Jesus." All your needs. He'll take care
of it. He'll take care of it. David said, I've been young and
now I'm old, yet I've not seen the righteous forsaken nor his
seed begging bread. Now let's look at verse 6. insomuch that we desired Titus,
that as he had begun, so he would also finish in you the same gift
also." Evidently, Titus had began to instruct them in this grace
of giving. And Paul says that he needs to
finish teaching them. He needs to finish this work
which he had begun. And as those Macedonians had
done, so he sent Titus to encourage and collect the gifts for the
saints in need and for the furtherance of the gospel. The grace of giving
is to be taught and practiced in every church. Verse seven,
therefore, as you abound in everything, in faith, and utterance, and
knowledge, and in all diligence, and in your love for us, see
that you abound in this grace also. Don't cast this aside. Don't put this on the back burner.
You think about it. Now, I'm just going to give you
some of my thoughts. When we come together to worship,
don't wait until you come in the back door to think about
giving. You think about it all the week
long. You prepare for it. You set aside in your heart what
you want to give. And that giving is a part of
worship, is it not? It always was a part of worship. Clear back on the Old Testament,
even in the times, it was included as a part of the worship. And
it needs to be incorporated in our worship. And I hope you don't
wait till you walk through the door to prepare yourself to worship.
So don't wait till you walk through the door to prepare yourself
to give. Think about it. Prepare for it. Determine. what it is you're going to give.
According to this verse, Paul has commanded this church, he's
commended this church on their attitude and spirit and on their
gifts and abilities and on their affections and motivations. They were strong in faith. They
were clear in their preaching and their knowledge of spiritual
things and in their diligence and even in their love for him.
He commends them on these things. And as these things were recognized
as evidences of the work of the spirit of grace in them, he also
wanted to see the spirit of liberality abound. The grace of giving cannot
properly be exercised without an inward working of the Holy
Spirit. It just can't be. It just can't
be. I remember my days back in religion. They'd pass an offering plate,
and I remember one old fella, he drove a Buick, which was a
very expensive car back then. I don't know how it compares
today, but back then, that was like a Cadillac. And he lived
in a fine home, had a good living, made for himself. But when it
come time to give, he had one of those little squeeze change
purses. You seen one of those little
rubber change purses? And he'd get that out, and then
he'd fish around in the change purse, and he'd find something,
and he'd put it back in his pocket. That's not giving. And I'm telling
you something. I'm not trying to get you to
give a bunch of money. I'm not trying to do that at
all. I'm trying to help you to understand what this privilege
of giving is. It's a privilege. My soul, God
don't need our money. Think about it. He's God. He
said, if I was hungry, I wouldn't tell you. The cattle on a thousand
hills belongs to me. He don't need our money, but
he's given us this privilege to be in fellowship with one
another in this thing of the ministry. And giving is a big
part of it. And it allows us to express our
gratitude. You think about that when you're
determining that amount that you're going to put in the offering
plate. You think about your gratitude for what God's done for you.
That's what motivates giving, gratitude, love. You think about
the love of God that singled you out among the billions in
this world, singled you out, appointed for you a savior, a
representative, and a federal head, and sent him to the cross
to die in your room instead. You think about that, and you
won't have a bit of trouble giving. I won't have to tell you how
much. I won't have to go through any of those things. All right.
Verses 8 and 9. I speak not by commandment, but
by occasion of the forwardness of others, and to prove the sincerity
of your love. For you know the grace of our
Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes
he become poor, that you through his poverty might be rich. Some people tithe. I allow it, but I really wish you wouldn't.
I really wish you wouldn't. Paul gives no such commandment
to the church, nor did God fix any certain sums or amounts concerning
the believer's gifts. God's already revealed His will
concerning giving. It's to be voluntary, of a willing
mind. All are to give, and your gifts
are to be according as the Lord has prospered you. And our motives
to be the love of Christ, and I want to say this, our giving,
if it's according to these things, really When you mature, it will
outdo tithing. It will leave tithing in the
dust. Now, I'm telling you the truth. Tithing was a mandatory
tax for the existence of the priesthood and to keep up all
things that were needed to maintain their work. Offerings are the
voluntary gifts of loving bond slaves for the welfare of the
church and the ministry of the gospel. There are no comparisons.
Giving is a blessed privilege. It's not a tax. All right, verse
10. And herein I give my advice,
for this is expedient for you who have begun before not only
to do but also to be forward a year ago. You started this
thing a year ago, hearing about it, learning about it, determining
that you were going to do something about it. Now, therefore, verse
11. Perform the doing of it, that
as there was a readiness to will, so there may be a performance
also out of that which you have. Preachers don't have much to
give. Give a little. Just give a little. Nobody said
you need to give a lot. Give a little. This church had
talked about giving. They had good intentions to give. They seemed to understand what
it was to give. Now Paul said there had been
enough talk. Let's get at it. Let's get at it. Let's do it.
The Lord has proved to me time and time again that he's not
dependent on any group of people or any individual to do anything. God doesn't need us to give.
It's a privilege. And then I'm going to tell you
one more thing, and I'm going to close out this lesson. Believers whose heart is right
with God look for the opportunities to give. We look for opportunities. You have opportunities all the
time that cross your path. Believers look for them. They
look for them. And when they see them, it's
a privilege. It's like God gave them the gift
to give and to help in that situation. And they do. And they do. Oh, may God teach every one of
us the grace of giving. Thank you.