GIVING WITH JOY (2 CORINTHIANS 8:1-5)

Psalm 100 KJV 1900

A Psalm of praise. 1 Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all ye lands. 2 Serve the Lord with gladness: Come before his presence with singing. 3 Know ye that the Lord he is God: It is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; We are his people, and the sheep of his pasture. 4 Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, And into his courts with praise: Be thankful unto him, and bless his name. 5 For the Lord is good; his mercy is everlasting; And his truth endureth to all generations.

GIVING WITH JOY ()

2 Corinthians 8:1–5 KJV 1900

1 Moreover, brethren, we do you to wit of the grace of God bestowed on the churches of Macedonia; 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. 3 For to their power, I bear record, yea, and beyond their power they were willing of themselves; 4 Praying us with much intreaty that we would receive the gift, and take upon us the fellowship of the ministering to the saints. 5 And this they did, not as we hoped, but first gave their own selves to the Lord, and unto us by the will of God.

OUR TEXT TODAY TELLS US ABOUT THE CHURCHES IN MACEDONIA AND THE JOY THEY HAD IN GIVING. FOR THIS IS NOT WHAT WE WOULD HAVE EXPECTED OUT OF A CHURCH THAT WAS EXTREMELY POOR BECAUSE OF THEIR AFFLICTIONS, AND THEIR TROUBLES. BUT IT WAS MUCH MORE THEN COULD HAVE BEEN HOPED FOR. 

TROUBLES. BUT IT WAS MUCH MORE THEN WE COULD HAVE HOPE FOR. 

THOSE CHURCHES IN MACEDONIA WERE FAR MORE GENEROUS THAN WHAT SEEMED REASONABLE OR POSSIBLE. THESE CHURCHES IN MACEDONIA WERE YOUNG IN AGE AND SMALL IN MEMBERSHIP. AFFLICTION AND PERSECUTION WERE THEIR DAILY COMPANIONS. POVERTY HAD TOUCHED THEIR LIVES DEEPLY. THEY KNEW WHAT IT WAS TO BE WITH OUT, WHAT IT WAS TO RUN SHORT OF HAVING ENOUGH TO MAKE IT BECAUSE POVERTY HAD CRUSTED THEIR LIVES TO THE CORE. 

VERY FEW OF THEIR MEMBERSHIP BELONGED TO THE BUSINESS AND PROFESSIONAL CLASS. IN FACT, BIBLICAL HISTORIANS TELLS US THAT THOSE WHO DID HAVE POSSESSIONS HAD LOST MANY OF THEM AS THE RESULT OF AN EARTHQUAKE IN MACEDONIA. AND THOSE WHO DID NOT LOSE THEIR POSSESSIONS THROUGH THE EARTHQUAKE HAD BEEN STRIPPED OF THEM BY THE ROMANS. VERY FEW OF THEM HAD BRAGGING RIGHTS. YET THESE SIMPLE, CHRIST-LOVING, GOD-FEARING, COMPASSIONATE-FEELING PEOPLE WERE MOVED WITH MERCIFUL GENEROSITY WHEN THEY LEARNED THAT THE APOSTEL PAUL WAS RAISING AN OFFERING FOR THE FAMINE-STRICKEN CHURCHES IN JERUSALEM.

I"VE NEVER BEEN ABLE TO UNDERSTAND IT. IT'S A MYSTERY TO ME HOW THOSE WHO OFTEN ARE THE MOST BLESSED ARE THE MOST SELFISH, THE LEAST WILLING TO HELP, AND THE ONES WITH THE MOST EXCUSES OF WHY THE DON’T GIVE OR PARTICIPATE ARE SO QUICK TO FORGET HOW THEY WERE HELPED WHILE THEY STRUGGLED, OH HOW FAST THEY FORGET JUST HOW FAR GOD HAS BROUGHT THEM..

WERE AS THOSE WHO STRUGGLE SEEM TO BE WILLING TO SHARE THEIR LAST CRUST OF BREAD WITH ANOTHER. AND THIS IS THE WAY IT WAS IN . LISTEN IF YOU WILL TO PAUL AS HE TELLS US ABOUT THE CHURCHES IN MACEDONIA. HE STARTS OFF BY SAYING IN VERSES 1 AND 2, WE WANT YOU TO KNOW WHAT GOD'S GRACE HAS ACCOMPLISHED IN THE CHURCHES OF MACEDONIA. THEY HAVE BEEN SERVERELY TESTED BY TROUBLES . BUT THEIR JOY WAS SO GREAT THAT THEY WERE EXTREMELY GENEROUS IN THEIR GIVING, EVEN THOUGH THEY ARE VERY POOR.

WHAT A PARADOX, WHAT A CONTRAST, WHAT AN EXTREME! THEY WERE EXTREMELY POOR BECAUSE OF THEIR AFFLICTIONS, BECAUSE OF THEIR TROUBLES. BUT ON THE OTHER HAND, THEY WERE MOST JOYFUL IN THE GENEROSITY OF THEIR GIVING. IN OTHER WORDS THEY GAVE WITHOUT COMPLAINING. AND YOU KNOW THAT OUGHT TO BE A MESSAGE TO US TODAY, FOR THE BIBLE SAYS, SERVE THE LORD WITH GLADNESS () SERVE THE LORD, NOT WITH COMPLAINING, NOT WITH CRITICISM, NOT WITH EXCUESES, BUT SERVE THE LORD WITH GLADNESS. THEY HAD BEEN SEVERELY TESTED BY TROUBLES. DO YOU HERE ME? THEY HAD BEEN KNOCKED DOWN ON THEIR BACKS, YET THEY HAD THE JOYOUS GENEROSITY OF SAYING THANK YOU JESUS, BY GIVING TO SUPPORT THE CHURCH AND BY GIVING TO THOSE WHO WAS WORSE OFF THAN THEY.

I BELIEVE THAT THE MACEDONIA CHURCH TEACHES US THREE STERN REALITIES: (1) THEY WERE POOR; (2) THEY WERE SEVERELY TESTED BY TROUBLES, AND (3) THEIR JOY IN THE LORD WAS GREAT. AND IT WAS BECAUSE OF THEIR JOY THAT THEY WANTED TO HELP GOD'S PEOPLE IN JERUSALEM. PAUL STATED IN VERSES 3 AND 4 , I CAN ASSURE YOU THAT THEY GAVE AS MUCH AS THEY COULD, AND EVEN MORE THEN THEY COULD. IT WAS OF THERE OWN FREE WILL THAT THEY BEGGED US AND PLEADED FOR THE PRIVILEGE IN HAVING A PART IN HELPING GOD'S PEOPLE. AND YOU KNOW WHEN I REFLECT ON THOSE WORDS OF SCRIPTURE, I'M REMINDED OF THE FACT THAT GOD DOES NOT EXPECT YOU OR ME, TO DO IT ALL. ALL HE EXPECT FOR US TO DO IS OUR PART. HE EXPECTS US, AND DESIRES OF US TO HAVE A SHARE. HE EXPECT FOR US TO MAKE OUR CONTRIBUTIONS.

THE CHURCHES IN MACEDONIA WERE SAYING: YES WE'RE VERY POOR. YES, WE'RE SEVERELY TESTED BY TROUBLE BUT, IN SPITE OF IT ALL, GOD HAS BEEN GOOD TO US. WE WANT TO HAVE A SHARE IN HELPING ARE BROTHERS AND SISTERS IN JERUSALEM. SOMEBODY IS SAYING TO THEM-SELVES; NOW REV. THAT DOESN’T SOUND RIGHT THE POOR GIVING UNSELFISHLY. YES THAT'S WHAT I'M SAYING. SEE REASON AND LOGIC ARE BOTH COLD AND DISPASSIONATE. REASON AND LOGIC ARE NOT EMOTIONAL. REASON AND LOGIC ARE VERY PRACTICAL. SO THOSE OF YOU WITH AN ARGUMENTATIVE NATURE, THAT GROWS OUT OF THE CONTEXT OF REASON AND LOGIC, IS SAYING HOW CAN VERY POOR, SEVERELY TROULBLED CHRISTIANS BE HAPPY, AND AT THE SAME TIME UNSELFISH?

WHAT WAS THERE SECRET? WHAT WAS THE MOTIVATION FOR THEIR BEHAVIOR?  WELL IN VERSE 1 PAUL EXPLAINS IT THIS WAY. HE SAYS, WE WANT YOU TO KNOW WHAT GOD'S GRACE HAS ACCOMPLISHED IN THE CHURCHES OF MACEDONIA. IN OTHER WORDS, GENEROSITY IN PEOPLE IS THE WORK OF GODS GRACE. BY NATURE YOU AND I ARE SELFISH. BY NATURE WE COME HERE WITH OUR HANDS CLOSED. BY NATURE LITTLE CHILDREN HAVE CLOSED FISTS. SPIRITUALLY, MANY OF US ARE STILL LITTLE CHILDREN. WITH CLOSED FIST..

THE WORD LETS US KNOW THAT BY NATURE, HUMAN BEINGS ARE SELF-CENTERED, NARROW-MINDED, AND GREEDY. BUT GRACE ENABLES US, GOD'S GRACE AND NOT OURS, TO SAY WHEN IT COMES TO GIVING GENEROUSLY, I ONCE WAS LOST, ON THIS ISSUE OF GIVING, BUT NOW I'VE FOUND THAT GOD'S WORD IS TRUE. NOT BECAUSE THE PREACHER SAID SO, BUT I HAVE BEEN TOUCHED BY THE GRACE OF GOD. FOR MY BROTHERS AND SISTERS ALL THE ARM TWISTING, SALES PROMOTIONS, SUNDAY MORNING PEP TALKS, AND PULPIT PLEADINGS WILL NOT PRODUCE CHEERFUL GIVING THAT PLEASES GOD. IF THE WORD OF GOD DOES NOT DO IT, IF GOD'S GRACE DOESN'T CHANGE US, THEN PUBLIC RELATIONS WON'T DO IT. WE NEED TO LET GOD'S GRACE CHANGE OUR LIVES, AND OUR ACTIONS SO THAT WE CAN SAY.

ALL TO JESUS I SURRENDER, ALL TO HIM I FREELY GIVE

BECAUSE YOU'VE BEEN MY BREAD. WHEN  IM HUNGRY

YOU'VE BEEN MY WATER IN DRY PLACES. 

YOU'VE FOUGHT MY BATTLES. WHEN ENIMES AND OR FRIENDS ATTACKED ME

I'M SO GLAD I DON'T HAVE TO FIGHT MY BATTLES.

YOU'VE ROCKED ME IN YOUR ARMS OF MERCY.

 CAUSE I'VE SURRENDERED ALL TO GOD.

 I 'VE PUT IT ALL IN THE MASTERS HANDS.

IN THE HANDS THAT KNEW WE COULDN’T DO IT ON OUR OWN SO HE SENT HIS VERY BEST 

IN THE HANDS OF JESUS THAT WE PIERCED HAS THEY WERE NAILED TO THE CORSS 

IN THE HANDS THAT DIED AND WAS BURIED THREE LONG DAYS FOR YOUR SINS AND MINE 

IN THE HANDS THAT GOT UP WITH ALL POWER ……

 YOU NEED TO PUT IT ALL IN GODS HANDS. 

I SURRENDED MY LIFE TO CHRIST A LONG TIME AGO. AND SOMEBODY HERE TODAY MAY WANT TO DO THAT RIGHT NOW. 

I'M NOT THE FIX-IT MAN. IT'S NOT MY JOB NOR DO I HAVE THE ABILITY TO FIX EVERYTIHNG THAT'S BROKEN. 

BUT I JUST PUT IT IN THE HANDS OF GOD AND LET HIM STRAIGHTEN IT OUT. DO YOU KNOW HIM FOR YOURSELF?

I surrender all I surrender all All to Thee my blessed Saviour I surrender all

All to Jesus I surrender All to Him I freely give I will ever love and trust Him In His presence daily live

All to Jesus I surrender Humbly at His feet I bow Worldly pleasures all forsaken Take me Jesus take me now

I surrender all I surrender all All to Thee my blessed Saviour I surrender all

I surrender all I surrender all All to Thee my blessed Saviour I surrender all

I surrender all I surrender all All to Thee my blessed Saviour I surrender all

I surrender all All to Thee my blessed Saviour I surrender all

All to Jesus I surrender Make me Saviour wholly Thine Let me feel the Holy Spirit Truly know that Thou art mine