He said, I put a difference between
you and the Egyptians, you and all the Gentiles. And he gave that nation the Passover
when he brought them out of the land of Egypt. That nation is
a typical nation. It's a picture of the church,
the people of God who are chosen, who are called, Of whom he also
says, I've made a difference between you and the world. Well,
he gave that nation the Passover. And that Passover is fulfilled
in Christ our Lord. He is our Passover. The rock
followed them. That rock is Christ. He gave
that nation a priesthood. A high priest and other priests. We have a high priest, that's
Christ. Christ fulfills the Old Testament
Aaronic priesthood. And we're all made kings and
priests by Christ unto our God. He gave that nation a tabernacle
in which the sacrifices were offered, in which the atonement
was made. A mercy seat. which covered the
broken law on which the blood was sprinkled. Christ is our
high priest and Christ is our mercy seed and Christ is the
blood. Those sacrifices, that Passover
is gone, that tabernacle is gone, that Old Testament priesthood
is gone, that sacrifices of animals is gone, all fulfilled by Christ. He taketh away the first, establishes
the second. He gave them the feast of the
firstfruits, in which they gathered from the fields, the firstfruits
of whatever harvest. Christ is our firstfruits. And
he gave them the Sabbath day. They were ordered not to Do certain
things on the Sabbath day, Saturday, the seventh day of the week.
Keep it holy unto the Lord. That was a rest. Picture of Christ,
our rest. We've entered into Him. Cease
from our labors as He did from His. And we've entered into the
rest in Christ as our Sabbath. God gave them circumcision. Which
is a picture of the circumcision of the heart. And circumcision
is, that's gone. All of these things have been
fulfilled by Christ and they're put away. And we could keep on
speaking of other types and symbols and pictures and elements and
rudiments of the Old Testament. But one thing particularly we
must remember about those people, most of them were unbelievers.
Unregenerate. They didn't know God. We read
about their backslidings and departures and worshipping other
gods. And it said they didn't enter
into the promised land because of unbelief. So they're just
an earthly picture, not a perfect picture by any means. But there
is something God gave them, and most churches and pastors are
willing for Christ to be our Passover, and Christ to be that
rock, and Christ to be the mercy seed, and Christ to be the high
priest, and Christ to be the Sabbath, and they've done away
with all these different things. But it's one thing that churches
today, most preachers in churches, almost, I'd say 98%, have held
on to the tithe which God gave these people. And I tell you, if we're going
to hold to that, we might as well go back and pick up the Sabbath,
circumcision, and all the rest of it. Because Israel was made
up in tithes, the tithe was for unregenerate people. It was a
tax. That's what it was, a church
tax. In other words, there were twelve tribes in Israel, and
all the tribes owned land, had their lot, rationed out to them,
except one tribe, the tribe of Levi. That was the tribe of the
priest. You remember Christ didn't come
from the tribe of Levi and said if he'd have been on earth he
wouldn't be a priest. He came from the tribe of Judah.
Judah is the king tribe. Well, he's the king priest. But
anyway, that tribe had no property, had no land. The eleven other
tribes did. And that tribe was supported
by 10% from all the others. They all gave 10%. That was a
tithe. They tithed. It wasn't just money. Most of them didn't have any
money. It was a tithe of their crops, the tithe of their herbs,
the tithe of their meat. He said, you remember in the
New Testament, he told those Pharisees, he said, you tithe
mint, anise, and cumin, all these herbs and things. And these things
you should have done. Preachers today said, see there,
we should do that. No, that was those Old Testament
fellows, those Pharisees. They were still under the law.
See, Christ hadn't died when He said that to them. When He
said to those Pharisees, you tie these things and that you
should have done, that they should have done. Just like after Christ
said that, He kept the Passover. After He said that, He kept the
Sabbath. He paid tithes. because it was
required. And those tithes were taken up
from all these people and it was a storehouse in which the
tribe of Levi was taken care of, the tabernacle, the temple
later on, the needs of the people, all this was taken from that
tithe. And when they quote this scripture,
bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse that there may
be meat in my house, saith the Lord, it's the Old Testament.
That was the storehouse. We don't have a storehouse in
that sense of the word. When he said, will a man rob
God? Yet you rob me, and you say,
when have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings. That's
in the Old Testament. I have carefully, prayerfully,
diligently, studiously studied every epistle in this New Testament
to the church is not a command anywhere for you today in the
New Testament church time. It is not there. It is not there. It is not taught. And I just
as soon teach Sabbath keeping as time. Because it's not the
way regenerate believers in Christ, it's not the way they give, and
it's not the way the Lord's kingdom is supported by taxing. church tax or rules and regulations,
forcing people to give. It's just not the way, the Kingdom
of our Lord. If you want to know and study
New Testament, in Christ, regenerated believers, the way they give,
how they give, how much they give, when they give, and we're
not just talking about giving in a church, we're talking about
giving. We're talking about giving anywhere. to your friends, to
your loved ones, to those about you, to those in need, and to
the church, and to missions, and to whatever. The way New
Testament believers give is found in 2 Corinthians chapter 8 and
chapter 9. That's where it is. So tonight,
we're going to look at chapter 9 of 2 Corinthians. Chapter 9. Now, in these chapters,
Paul praises the churches of Macedonia for their liberality.
Why would you praise anybody for tithing? They have to do
it. They're required to do it. So
they deserve no praise. They're not giving because they
want to or desire to. They have to. I remember when
I grew up in a Baptist church, that was one of the doctrines.
That was one of the dogmas. That was one of the rules of
faith. I got a paper out, and I was
about 12 years old, and my daddy made me put 10% of it. I didn't
want to, but I had put 10% of everything I collected, pennies,
and give it to the church. That's the time. And that's what
we were taught from the time I grew up when I came here to
Pollard Baptist Church. We were still under that law
of tithing. Some of you know, you were members
over there. Alright, Paul praises the churches of Macedonia for
their liberality, for their generous spirit in giving. And he rejoices
in the liberality of this church at Corinth. And here you say,
well, why does he spend two whole chapters on giving? Well, let
me give you three reasons why he spends two whole chapters
on giving. Number one, To encourage those who give that
they should not grow weary in well-doing. And that they should,
like he said, be not weary in well-doing. Do not forget, don't
forget to show mercy and help others. And that we should abound
in this grace like every other grace. Grace grows. In other words, there's a grace
of faith and love and humility, patience, meekness, kindness. Those are graces. And as we study
the Word, we grow in grace and in the knowledge of Christ. So
Paul instructs us that we may not grow weary, but make progress
in this matter of giving. All right. Secondly, our children
need to be taught to give. New believers who have come into
the church need to be taught to give. They need to follow
the example of other believers and learn the joy of giving. Giving is a joy. That's what
our Lord, it's more blessed to give than to receive. It's a
lot happier experience to give a gift than to get one. You know
what I'm talking about. It's a joy to give. And that's what he wants us to
learn, the joy of giving. And thirdly, this note runs all
the way through these two chapters. All of us need to be reminded
that we are stewards of our possessions. But our possessions are His possessions. You remember what David prayed? over in 2nd Chronicles, is it
1st or 2nd Chronicles? When he was talking about getting
money for the building of the temple, he wasn't going to build
it but his son Solomon was. But he said, Lord, we've only
given you, what did he say? What was already yours. So really,
when I say I'm a steward of my possessions, I'm a steward, really,
of His possessions. Because what I have, He loaned
me. He put it in my hands. A man
can receive nothing except it be given him from above. And
our Lord, actually, He prospers us and blesses us that we might
be a blessing. That's the way the Lord supplies
the needs of His people, is through His people. That's how he supplies
the needs of his preachers, is through his people. That's how
he supplies the needs of the mission work, is through his
people. And he blesses them, so they can be a blessing. So,
we want to be good stewards of the grace of God. But the grace
is given, isn't it? Alright, let's look at now chapter
9. Now he said, as touching, ministering to the saints, giving,
communicating, sharing, It's superfluous for me to write to
you. The word superfluous, you know
what it means? You do, I know. But it means
it's unnecessary. It's excessive. Paul says, I've
instructed you on this subject before. He said, Titus and others
have taught you about giving. And he said, for me to talk about
giving again is really unnecessary. It's really excessive. Because
verse 2, I know. I know you. I know the forwardness. I know the willingness of your
mind to give and to help God's people. For which I boast of
you. I brag on you, he said. I brag
on you to them of Macedonia. That's down in Philippi and other
places. He said, I've gone. I've bragged
about your generosity. and your willingness to give.
And he says here, that you were ready, Achaia is talking about
them, you were ready a year ago. They were taking up a special
offering for the churches and people in Jerusalem and other
places. And he said, you were ready a
year ago to do this. And I bragged on you. And listen
to the next line, and your zeal, your willingness to give, your
generosity, has provoked very many. What does that mean, provoked
them? Stimulated them. In other words,
your generosity and your willingness to give, talking to the church
at college, has stimulated these other believers, you see, and
encouraged them also to give. That word provoke, the way we
use provoke is agitate, but that's not the way it's used. You know,
he said one provoked one another to love. That doesn't mean agitate
them to love, it means stimulate them to love. Show love and it
spreads. Give and it stimulates others. Yet, verse 3, now look at this.
I said a while ago, why does he keep talking about it then?
Yet have I sent the brethren, and the brethren he's talking
about is Titus and some other fellows, Down here in verse 23,
verse 22 of chapter 8, look down across the page. And we have
sent with them our brother, whom we have all times proved diligent
in many things, but how much more diligent upon the great
confidence which I have in you. Whether any do inquire of Titus,
he is my partner, my fellow helper concerning you. or our brethren
be inquired, or they are messengers of the churches and the glory
of Christ. He sent Titus and these other fellows down there
to Corinth. And verse 3 tells us why. I've
sent Titus and these brethrens on this mission that you may
be ready to help the Lord's people in other places, lest our boasting
of you should be in vain on this behalf. That as I said, you may
be ready. Now what's he saying? Paul says,
I'm going to send these brethren to remind you and encourage you
about giving. Because I know the frailty of
human nature. I know the power of the enemy
Satan. I know how easy it is to be discouraged. And to go
indifferent. And to be taken up with other
things. So we need to be constantly encouraged and comforted and
taught in spiritual matters and in the matter of giving. We need
to be reminded. We need to be taught. Because
I tell you this, flesh comes easy. But spiritual motivation
requires grace. Flesh, it's easy to get careless,
indifferent, and forgetful. It takes grace to stay in tune. In tune. with the needs of others. We get taken up with our own
responsibilities and they, in this day, they get heavy. I was
talking about that fella down in the Yucatan had 20 children,
one of the pastors in the churches down there. How would you like
to buy tennis shoes for 20 boys now? How would you like to feed
a table of 20, two dozen eggs every morning? Three gallons
of milk would be tough, wouldn't it? So today, it's easy to get
taken up with our responsibilities and forget the needs of others. And that's what Paul is saying
here. He says, I'm going to send these men to remind you of the
needs of others, lest when they come, this bragging I've been
doing of you being vain. See verse 3, I have sent the
reverend lest our boasting should be in vain. That as I said, you
may be ready. Verse 4, lest happily, if they
of Macedonia come with me and find you unprepared, and find
you not ready to give, not ready to help, well, I'd be ashamed. And not only would I be ashamed,
but you'd be embarrassed. Therefore, verse 5, he said,
I thought it necessary to exhort the brethren that they would
go before unto you and make up beforehand your bounty, your
gift, your offering. See that? So you ask, if Paul
is bragging on this church, and like this church here is so generous,
so gracious, so willing, and Paul is bragging on that church,
but he said, human nature. And I know the enemy. And I know
the flesh. And I know how we can get taken
up with other things and really become indifferent maybe to the
cries for help. And maybe we're hearing so many
cries from our own that we forget them. So he said, I'm going to
send these brethren down to remind you. Because I don't want to
come down there Both of us be embarrassed over this matter.
That's what he's saying. All right. Now, verse 6. But
this I say, he which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly. And he that soweth bountifully
shall reap also bountifully. Paul takes illustrations from,
like our Lord did, parables. everyday occurrences. And this
is a farmer. This is a man who plants seed
in his field. And Paul says if he sows, if
he's stingy with his seed, and he doesn't want to give it up,
and he just sows sparingly, the harvest is going to be sparingly.
If he sows bountifully, if he goes out and sows free and generous
with a seed, then he'll reap bountifully. That's what he's
saying. If a man goes out to sow seed
in his field and if he's stingy with it and just puts out a little
bit, he's going to reap a very little. If he puts out much,
he's going to reap much. And this applies to giving and
sharing the blessings that God's put in our hands. Give bountifully
and generously and liberally and you'll reap the same. That's
what he's saying. That He'll supply our needs.
God is pleased with generosity. You know, I read that Sunday.
Turn to Hebrews 13. The Lord God is pleased when
we look upon the needs of others and think about the needs of
others and put forth an effort to meet that need. In verse 16
of Hebrews 13, listen, but to do good and to communicate, forget
not. Communicate is to give. For with such sacrifices, God
is well pleased. God is well pleased. That's so
encouraging to read that, God, when a person is generous and
gives, and helps another, and sacrifices to do so, it says
God's pleased. Let's read Philippians 4, verse
18. And Paul was in prison, and this
church at Philippi sent their pastor up there, Epaphroditus,
with some gifts for Paul. Some gifts. Some things he needed. They thought about him and sent
these things to him. And he says in verse 18 of Philippians
4, But I have all, and abound, I am full, having received of
Epaphroditus the things which were sent from you. These things
are an odor of sweet smell, a sacrifice acceptable, well-placing to God.
Well-placing to God. They sent these things to Paul
through their pastor, and there were other people there in prison
with him. And he said, these things that
you've sent are, I'm full now, I've got plenty, and it's just
a sweet smell to God. Well, what are we going to do
if we give up what we've got? Well, look at the next verse.
My God shall supply all your needs. according to his riches
and glory by Christ Jesus. No man ever went broke giving
to others. That's what he's saying. No man
ever yet went broke. God wouldn't let him give him
things away. God wouldn't let him. Alright,
let's look back at the text, verse 6 there. It says now, here's
the picture. If you're going to have a big
harvest, you better take a big bag of seed. If you're going
to have a little harvest, then you be greedy with the seed or
stingy or whatever, but he that soweth bountifully will reap
bountifully. Now, verse 7, if tithing is the way we are to
give, I'm to take ten percent, then why does he say in verse
7, every man according as he purposes in his heart, so let
him give? And notice he says every man.
He doesn't say just the rich, just the prosperous. Every man. Everybody. Look back at chapter
8 verse 13. I mean not that other men be
eased in you burden, but by an equality that everybody should
give. Every man, every young person,
every person give. Give, help others. And as I said
before, I'm not just talking about a church offering, I'm
talking about helping folks day by day, daily, next door, your
family, your friends, your loved ones, the folks you know. Just
helping them. Every man. And do it how? According as your purpose in
your heart. As you're led by the Spirit of
God. Let a man determine and purpose
in his own heart what he wants to give. That's right. And every person, you know, you
think about those people at the Yucatan. They're just such poor
people. The laborers make about $7 a
day. That's men who work in concrete
and lay concrete blocks and work in the hidden fields. They make
about $7 a day. And these little churches, the folks down there,
Walter teaches them to give. They give. I was in a service
there one night and a farmer came in bringing an arm load
of cantaloupes and put them up on the offering table. He'd reaped
his crop and he brought some for the church. Every Sunday
they take up an offering and they pass the plate, everybody
in there. They don't have much, but you
hear every one of them dropping in their pesos. A peso is worth
15 cents. And they drop in their pesos.
Everybody gives. We were there in Zanoon. Here's a man brought two watermelons
for Walter and I to take home with us. One lady fixed a sack
of tamales for us to take home with us. They give. One of the
pastor's wives worked for days and days and days on a needle
point dress for Doris. Came and presented it to her
after the service one night. Beautiful dress. She just worked
so long and so hard on all of that needle point up here and
down there. Giving. That's it. Everybody. It's a joy to give. Every man
according as he purposes in his heart, so let him give. That's the way to give, as you
purpose in your heart. Let me show you another scripture.
Turn to 1 Corinthians 16. 1 Corinthians 16. It says here in verse 1 and 2, Now concerning the collection
for the saints, collection and to church for whatever you're
doing, whatever God's opened the door for you to do and help
others. As I have given order to the churches of Galatia, even
so do ye. Upon the first day of the week,
let every one of you lay by him in store. How? How much? As God has prospered him. If
God's prospered me much, I need to give much. If God has prospered
me, Less? You don't give what you don't
have. God doesn't expect anybody to give what they don't have.
But give according as God has prospered you. As you determine
in your heart. Now let's go back and read this
verse 7 again. And here is a major key. Every
man, every boy, every girl, every man, every woman, according as
your purpose in your heart, so let him give. Not grudgingly,
not of necessity, but joyfully. God loves a joyful, cheerful
giver. God is well pleased. Turn to
Proverbs chapter 22. Proverbs 22 verse 9. Proverbs 22 verse 9 Proverbs 22 now he that hath
a bountiful eye shall be blessed and he that he giveth of his
bread to the poor God's gonna bless him God's gonna bless the
man that considers the poor or the woman God's pleased And blessed
is a willing, cheerful giver. Now look at verse, let's read
verse 7 and 8 together. Now, every man, every person,
according as he purposes in his heart, that's where the gift
comes from, from the heart, because you want to, not because you're
made to, so let him give, not grudgingly, not a necessity,
not a tax or a tithe. God loves a cheerful giver. And
listen. And God is able to make all grace
abound toward you. Generous people never lose by
giving. I wish I could emphasize that
like I believe it. Giving is gain. I know a man may think, people
think today, I think the reason the government allows us to take
off so much for giving to the church and all, is they consider
that loss. They let you take off for your
businessmen, for your car you drive, they let you take off
for your telephone in your office, they let you take off for your
this, that, and then let you take off what you give the church,
because to them that's loss. But let me tell you something,
that ain't loss. No. That's not loss. That's no more loss than the
seed that the farmer plants. The farmer takes his seed and
throws it in the ground, covers it up. Is that loss? Oh, I've
lost my seed. I counted off with the government,
you know. It's gone. Boy, wait a couple of months.
And the harvest comes in. Oh, no, no, it's not loss. It's not loss. God will bring
it back many fold. And he says here, God's able
to make all grace abound toward you. Look at verse 8, that you,
always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound in
every good work. You want to do good works? He'll
furnish you the material. It's exactly what that says.
You want to give? You want to help? He'll supply
the need. He's not going to let your well
run dry if you've given water away. to thirsty people? No,
sir. He's not going to let your well
run dry if you're giving water to thirsty people. He's not going
to let your cupboard go bare if you're giving food to hungry
people. He's not going to let your supply go bare if you're
giving things away to help preach the gospel. God is able to make
all grace abound towards you that you always have all you
need in all things. for your good works. This church,
it astounds me, doesn't it? The money comes in here, and
you know, it's because the money goes out. Nobody here ever raises
an objection no matter how much money is given away here. And
no matter how much you give away, it comes back in. You shut the well off and watch
what happens. You put a sign up, only one to
a customer, Let's see what happens. You stop writing those checks
and sending them to missionaries and painting the roof on churches
and things like that, the supply will stop. God will stop it.
But I tell you, no, you're not going to go broke giving, giving. You'll go broke drinking whiskey.
You'll go broke gambling. You'll go broke wasting money.
You'll go broke foolishly spending money. That leads to poverty.
But giving never impoverished anybody. It's an impossibility. You can't out-give my God. That's
right. Look at verse, let's hurry on.
Let's verse 9. As it's written, He hath dispersed
abroad. He hath given to the poor. His
righteousness remaineth forever. That's Psalm 112, verse 9. Because, listen, he that ministers
seed to the sower both ministers bread for your food. In other
words, the same one who provides the farmer with seed is the Lord
of the harvest. He provides us with what we have
in order to give. And the one who provided the
seed is the one who's king of the harvest. He determines the
harvest. That's right. That's what that's
saying. And He'll multiply your seed soon. And He'll increase
the fruits of your righteousness. That's right. If we do it for His glory, guilt,
because we love Him out of a cheerful, willing spirit, He'll increase
the fruits of your righteousness. There's verse 11, being enriched
in everything. to all bountifulness, liberality,
simplicity, which causeth through us thanksgiving to God. Now let's look at verse 12. There
are two things, I believe I said this a few weeks ago, there are
two things that are uppermost to a believer. You sitting right
here and this preacher standing here, I believe there are two
things. that are most important to us as a church family. We
want, number one, to glorify God. We want, number two, to
be a blessing to other people. Don't we? We want to glorify
God, and we want to be a blessing to others. That's what this says
right here. Listen. Verse 12. For the administration of this
service, this giving, not only supplies the wants of the saints,
but is abundant also by many thanksgivings to God. What you
give, and when you help others, when you lend a hand, that glorifies
God and helps that person. That's right. When we send our
missionary checks for the missionaries to the school in the Yucatan
or other places, it glorifies God and it helps the saints.
That's what he says, in this administration of this service,
not only supplies the wants, but brings thanksgiving to God,
glory to God. Then verse 13. Now, many people
believe that this special offering was being put together for the
church in Jerusalem. These Jewish believers up there
were under persecution. They were very poor. And these
Gentile churches, under Paul's leadership, were getting things
together to send to these thousands of people up there in Jerusalem.
I believe there were 5,000 added to the church one day, wasn't
there? Something like that. So let's know what Paul says
here. While by the experience of this ministration, these gifts,
this offering, That church up there glorifies God for your
professed subjection to the gospel of Christ. You Gentiles sending
money to these Jewish believers, cause them to glorify God for
your faith, for your generosity, and for your liberal distribution
unto them and to all men. These Jewish believers just rejoice because These Gentiles
sent these gifts and they glorify God and they say, those folks
must really love Christ. That's evidence of their love
for Christ. Their generous, open hand giving
is proof. Isn't that the word he used?
For your professed subjection unto the gospel and your liberal
distribution unto them, to all men, and by their prayer for
you. which long after you in the exceeding
grace of God in you. And then, I told you these two
chapters, chapter 8 and 9, are on this subject. You go back and read chapter
8 another time and take our commentary and read it along with that.
But he closes this whole thing with this statement in verse
15. Thanks be unto God for His unspeakable
gift. We give because he gave. We love
because he loved. We manifest grace because he
gave us grace. We're merciful because he's merciful
to us. And the motivation for all that we do
and all that we have is his gift to us. How could we be otherwise
than generous? All right, I hope that's a blessing.
God loves a cheerful giver.