Crazy about Giving
8. And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work.
9. As it is written: “He has dispersed abroad, He has given to the poor; His righteousness endures forever.”
10. Now may He who supplies seed to the sower, and bread for food, supply and multiply the seed you have sown and increase the fruits of your righteousness,
11. While you are enriched in everything for all liberality which causes thanksgiving through us to God.
Crazy About Giving
2 Corinthians 9:8-11
On last week, I discuss the phrase, “God loveth a Cheerful giver”. I told you that the Greek word “cheerful” means the same as our English word “hilarious”. And when you really get to the bottom of it, God loves someone who is crazy about Giving.
This morning, I would like to show you what God does to that person who is crazy about giving. I truly believe that our first problem in getting to where God wants us to be is BELIEVING. We simply refuse to believe that the “good life” is for us.
We believe that in order to really be a good Christian and be on the right track, we’ve got to just struggle all day everyday, but folks, that is not the life the God has in store for you and I. God wants us to prosper and be in good health.
I do believe that so many of us have become so set in our ways, so adapted to having so little that we are afraid of prospering. Giving is not something we do,but something we are. Giving is a way of life for the Christian who understands the grace of God.
In grace giving, our motive is not “to give in order to get something,” but receiving God’s blessing is one of the fringe benefits. In Grace giving, there is always spiritual and material “bread” for the eating and spiritual and material “seed” for the sowing.
Remember the widow of Zerapheth, she gave to Elijah first. She had told Elijah that all I have is a little meal, and a little oil in a cruse. I’m going to go in and fix the very last for me and my son, and we are going to die. Elijah said, fix some for me first. That’s grace giving. When you can learn how to care for others more than you do yourself, that’s grace.
When she did, God made sure that her meal barrel didn’t run out. Today we talk about Faith, but we are afraid to exercise our faith. We are afraid of grace giving, because we are not sure that God will bless us like He did the Widow of Zerapheth.
Many of us want to sow sparingly, but we want to reap bountifully. And I too believe that prayer will change things, but prayer will not change God’s principles. You can pray all that you want too, if you give sparingly, you are going to reap sparingly. The problem comes down to if you are handling what you already got in the right way.
If you will put seeds in the ground, God will make sure that they come up and produce. But on the other hand, if you eat up all of your seeds, you will not have anything to plant and therefore you can’t reap a harvest.
Money is seed. If we give it according to the principles of grace, it will multiply to the glory of God and meet many needs. We need to understand that the giving of money is just as spiritual as singing, or praying or even preaching. Time is seed. We’ve got time for everything in our lives, except God.
Don’t it seems strange to you, even though we are tired, we will make ourselves go to work, we will make ourselves go to beauty parlor, we will make ourselves go shopping, but we can be the least little tired, and we won’t come to church. We can find all of the excuses in the world to stop us from attending church. It ain’t all about coming to church, but are you giving God some devotional time? Some of us get so mixed and mingled up in worldly things, that we just simply don’t have time for God.
Talent is seed. What are you doing with your gifts? I’ve told you before, it takes all of us working together to make this ministry work. God has got us all here together at this church for a reason. You didn’t just happened to be here. God placed you here. And if you are not planting your talent into this ministry like you should be, then this ministry is not reaping the benefits of God’s blessing like it ought too.
Remember, everything that you are giving is for the uplifting and building of God’s Kingdom. One of the biggest problems we have in our church today is Stewardship. What are you doing with what God has already blessed you with? I’m going to show you today that if you will give it wisely, God will make sure that you will always have enough for yourself, and enough to give others.
Last week, Paul showed us the manner in which we are to give. If we give sparingly, we are going to reap sparingly, but if we give bountifully, we are going to reap bountifully. He showed us the method, “every man as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give”.
He showed us the motive, “Not grudgingly, or of necessity, for God loveth a cheerful giver”. Today, I would like to show you how your giving will cause increase.
Increase God’s Reward
“And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work”. We need to understand that if and when we give right, God (say God), God is able to give us more. Watch this now, because it might be somebody here that is greedy, and you want to increase your giving so that God will help you to tear down your old barn and build a new one.
This verse is letting us know that God’s giving back to us is a twofold gift. He is giving to us so that we will have enough for ourselves, and He is giving to us to increase our giving to others.
Remember the parable of the five talents, the two, and the one. The person with five talents increased his another five, the person with two increased his another two, but the person with one buried his, and gain nothing. God took his talent and gave it to the one who increased. God today is looking for increase, and the only way that your seed will produce other seed, is that you plant it in some good soil.
If you are not giving anything today, God can’t get any increase from you. And if God can’t get any increase from you, He will take what little bit you do have, and He will give it to someone who will give and someone that He can get some increase from. That is why many of us are in the shape that we are in because we refuse to give and allow God to work the miracle of multiplication on our seed.
He gives us more so that we can perform more good work. God will always see to it that the person who is crazy about giving will always have enough to give. The generous giver will not suffer for anything.
Paul said, “God is able to make all grace abound”. Now “grace” here is not referring to Salvation, but it is talking about your rewards. God’s gifts for your sowing. God’s gifts will “abound”. Abound means “to have more than enough”. So Paul simply says, “God is able to make all your rewards be enough for you and for others.
Some men approached Peter and asked Him, “Do your master pay His tax”? Peter said yea, and after a discussion with them, Jesus told Peter in Matt. 17:27, “Notwithstanding, lest we should offend them, go thou to the sea, and cast an hook, and take up the fish that first cometh up; and when thou hast opened his mouth, thou shalt find a piece (package) of money: that take, and give unto them for me and thee.” Go pay my taxes and yours.
God always gives you enough for yourself and for others. We just don’t share our gifts the way that we ought too. All of this is generated through your giving. Your Stewardship. The things that you are doing with what you already got.
Increase Your Righteousness
Not only does it increase God’s rewards, it increases your righteousness. Verse 10. “Now may He (that’s God) who supplies seed to the sower, (that’s us) and bread for food, supply and multiply the seed you have sown and increase the fruits of your righteousness”.
We need to stop running around talking about, “I ain’t got all that money to be putting in church”. Folks, God gives us enough. He gives you enough to pay your bills and enough to put in church. God gives the sower the seed in the first place. That falls back to our stewardship. You and I got to do the right kind of sowing with our seed.
Paul says here that “God supplies the sower with seed”. God gives you the money, He gives you time, and He gives you talent. You just put it in the wrong place.
Too often do we put God’s money in our houses.
Too often do we put God’s time in our cars.
Too often do we carry God’s money to our favorites department stores.
Too often do we carry God’s talent to the clubs.
Really, if you look at it right, this verse along with verse 9, defines the “sufficiency in all thing to good work” in verse 8. It is really telling us that, when we give right, God’s rewards will come in such a way that it will increase our righteous giving.
You don’t have to worry about having enough, because God is the supplier. This is Paul’s prayer that God would supply seed to the sower. God replenishes and reward the righteous giver both in time and in eternity.
A portion of this exhortation can be found in Isaiah 55:10, it talks about how the rain come down and replenishes the earth so that the earth can give seed to the sower and bread to the eater. And the last portion of this verse is found in Hosea 10:12, it talks about sow to yourselves righteousness, reap in mercy, break up your fallow ground, it is time to seek the Lord, till He comes and rain righteousness upon you.
It is just time to do things God’s way. It time to start giving God’s way, and put your trust in Him to do in your life what He wants done until He comes and rain righteousness upon you.
You better stop trusting folks. Some folks will run around and tell you not to give anything, but you watch them. They are giving, and they realize the bounty in giving, but because of their foolish talk, they have stopped you from giving. They are getting their blessings and you are walking around struggling in every way you can imagine.
Increase the Saints
Verse 11 and 12. “Being enriched in every thing to all bountifulness, which causeth through us thanksgiving to God. For the administration of this service not only supplieth the want of the saints, but is abundant also by many thanksgivings unto God;”
I don’t have time today, but this really goes all the way to the end of the chapter. There are so many people today who have yet to understand the principles of seedtime and harvest. Sowing and reaping.
It is my prayer today that God would open up your spiritual understand, and that He would hinder Satan from cutting into your blessings. Look at verse 11, it is through your giving that you become enriched in every thing to all (say all) all bountifulness.
That means that because you are crazy about giving, all your supplies are now being met. And because you now have less things to worry about, it causes you to come to church and be more thankful to God. And also, when you give to others, it causes them to be thankful to God as well, this increases the saints of God.
I know, We as Saints, we walk by Faith and not by sight. But it’s hard to come here and rejoice and even lift up holy hands and say Lord I thank you, when your mailbox is crowded with bills.
It’s hard to shout, Hallelujah, when you haven’t hardly got food in the refrigerator.
It’s hard to sing and pray good, when you ain’t got no gas in the car.
It’s hard to get in the service, when you open up the closet door, and you ain’t got no clothes to wear.
It’s hard to say Lord I thank you.
When you see everybody else around you wearing good shoes
Alligators, Osterige Skin, and Floshiem.
And you are walking around in old tore up Gro-grans.
When our righteous giving increases, it meets the wants of the saints.
Not only does it supply all of our needs,
But it causes us to get down on our knees more,
And just say Lord, I thank You.
The Lord wants to increase you today,
But He can only do it through your giving.
The Lord wants to put more food on your table.
The Lord wants to put more clothes on your back.
The Lord wants to put better shoes on your feet.
The Lord wants to put more money in your pocket.
The Lord wants you to give Him more glory.
Because when praises goes up, blessing will come down.
The Lord, needs your help, in order to increase the saints.
He wants, more people calling on His Name.
The Lord, wants more folks to recognize and realize that He is God.
He wants, more folks to know that He died.
He wants them to know, that they laid Him and a borrowed tomb.
He wants them to understand, that on the third day morning, He rose.
Why should I feel discouraged,
Why should the shadows come,
Why should my heart be lonely,
And long for heaven and home,
When Jesus is my portion?
My constant friend is He,
His eye is on the sparrow,
And I know He watches me.
