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2cor
6 The point is this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. 7 Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. 8 And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work. 9 As it is written, “He has distributed freely, he has given to the poor; his righteousness endures forever.” 10 He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness. 11 You will be enriched in every way to be generous in every way, which through us will produce thanksgiving to God.
Today as you may have guessed I want to teach on giving… In fact I almost called this sermon “Cheerfully contributing to the family” with a generic subtitle of “Gospel centered giving”, but that seemed a little overplayed… AS if we can just add the words “Gospel Centered” in front of anything, and people will all the sudden care more...
But none the less I do want to talk frankly about giving. I feel compelled to teach us about what the New Testament standard is for believers to give. I big idea in all this will be us seeing through the scriptures that our giving is not so much about us, and it is something we are invited to do, yet be quick to point out that we are not under an Old Testament command as some of my contemporaries might suggest.
Translation.... I want to answer the question, “do Christians HAVE TO Tithe?”
If you are new to the church you may not have any understanding of why anyone would care about such a topic, but suffice it to say, I am teaching about what the Bible says about our Money, specifically freely giving our money away, and not just to anyone, but specifically the church.
I want to answer questions like - When giving, is there a specific amount i should give? and Does it matter where I give my money?
Before we get to these questions I wanted us to look at a biblical text to show the heart of what we see in the New testament in people being instructed in giving.
in we have a context to understand before we breakdown what is being said… This chapter starts with a positive assurance. He is confident of the zeal that the Corinthians have shown from the collection that is meant to be sent to poor people in jerusalem. He has even boasted to others about how eager the Corinthians are to give. He tells them he is sending brothers ahead of him to prepare the gift they are giving, and so that they have time to get it all in to be sent. SO please understand they were already giving and excited about contributing to the help that was needed in caring for the poor and preaching the Gospel.
That brings us to what we read starting in the 6th verse.
6 The point is this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.
Couple things to keep in mind here as we hear Paul instruct the Corinthian church. First - Paul is speaking in agricultural terms here. Realizing farmers will really understand what he is saying here, yet for those who are not familiar with this kind of language, we get all the wrong ideas.
A farmer goes out to throw seed or sow seed in order to get as large of a harvest as possible because he knows that every seed that he tosses out will not grown and bring fruit. The more seed he gets out the better the odds of it growing and producing fruit.
The farmer doesn’t expect every seed to be part of the harvest. In fact he is somewhat caviler with his seed. He reaches into a bag of seed, takes a handful and tosses the seed. This is a quantity over quality way of farming. It is simple, you cant get a harvest if you don’t get your seed out and the more the better since it will not all grow. That is why when Jesus told the parable of the sower it was obvious that he was casting his seed over the good ground and also the rocky soil, beaten down path, and ground full of thorns… The more the better. get it?
Secondly - it is thought by some that Paul was making a reference to a proverb that people would’ve known.
24 One gives freely, yet grows all the richer; another withholds what he should give, and only suffers want.
pro.11
There is a prevalent thought that says, “ it takes money to make money”… which is derived from these kinds of proverbs.
There is no return on your investment if there isn’t first an investment.
It seems as though what Paul has said echos this thought.
But what this verse is definitely not saying is, “Well you don’t have more because you don’t give more”… And the reason why it isn’t saying that, is because it is agricultural term meaning to admonish people to freely give trusting that a return will come, but it is never meant to be a legalistic view of giving in which people feel condemnation over if they are not giving “enough”.
In fact the greek translation of is more like, “he who sows sparingly will reap sparingly, but he who sows on the basis of blessings, on the basis of blessings shall reap”...
What does it mean to, “ on the basis of blessings” give?
Do we really think this is saying that Blessings = Money or wealth? Because when we treat this verse as if it is saying, “ if we give a lot we will get a lot”… then we empty it of its power to point us to Christ!
I would submit to you that the blessings are treasuring Christ… Salvation freely given and recieved by unworthy recipients… The basis of Blessings is JESUS!!!
The Beautiful Gospel of Jesus Christ is the basis of all our blessings
The Beautiful Gospel of Jesus Christ is the basis of all our blessings
So, if on the basis of blessings we give… Then on the basis of blessings we reap!!!!
Meaning we give because we are blessed by Jesus to be included in the family of God, and because we are in the family of God because of the work of Jesus, we reap!
And what are these Blessings????
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, 4 even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love 5 he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, 6 to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. 7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, 8 which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight 9 making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ 10 as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth. 11 In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, 12 so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory. 13 In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.
The blessings we have are so much more than just some material blessings… and if we understand that, then we can actually talk about how we are giving money which is a material blessing.
What a better understanding we can have when we give our money as an act of worship because we are already blessed in Christ, and we then continually receive blessings from Christ who has already blessed us with so much.
Do we really think that us giving a percentage, or a tithe is what blesses us and keeps us blessed? Do we really think that part of an old LAW based system for worshipping God is how we are going to keep him giving favor to us?
So Are NT believers commanded to Tithe??? NO
Why??? Because the Tithe was a part of the Mosiac Law. That law has been done away with. Some may say there is a difference between civil, ceremonial and moral law found in the OT, but the Tithe was not part of the moral Law. Jesus modifies the moral law, or 10 commandments, we call this the law of Christ, which mostly keep the moral law in tact, yet we know from scripture that we are no longer under the Law.
5 For while we were living in the flesh, our sinful passions, aroused by the law, were at work in our members to bear fruit for death. 6 But now we are released from the law, having died to that which held us captive, so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit and not in the old way of the written code.
The tithe was part of that law in which we are released from.
I would also point out that the tithe was for the Levites and priests and we no longer have them in the NT either.
When we did Moses give to Melchizedek it was a one time gift not the normative ongoing tithe gift.
Some would say that Jesus affirmed the tithe...
24 “When the unclean spirit has gone out of a person, it passes through waterless places seeking rest, and finding none it says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’
42 “But woe to you Pharisees! For you tithe mint and rue and every herb, and neglect justice and the love of God. These you ought to have done, without neglecting the others.
Luke
If you notice that Jesus is talking to Pharisees who were religious leaders of Jews who were under the Law, because he had not died to redeem them from the Law yet… So his affirmation of the tithe here is keeping with righteousness, which they couldn’t do… But the point of that verse was to show that religious activity like giving a tithe is not good if your heart is rotten toward God and his people.
And if you really can’t get past this because Jesus said it, then I expect you to put a tithe of mint, cumin, and dill in the offering boxes, because that is specifically what Jesus told them to not neglect.
Finally nowhere is tithing mentioned in the NT, rather they are encouraged to give generously, to give to the poor, to give to the work of the ministry, and to give more than just money...
This is why we are in the text we are today. Paul was collecting a financial gift from those he loved to bring to the poor in jerusalem and they were excited to give generously and help contribute to God being praised by others as the relief came!
Now I realize that I may be ruffling some feathers for those who have always held to tithing as a principle to keep their heart in check, and it can have that value, but if your giving is about a percentage then you have a gospel issue in your heart. If you think that your giving is what makes you blessed and keeps you blessed, you have a Gospel issue in your heart.
So what Should we give then? if there is not a percentage, how will we know what we should give? I am glad you asked...
7 Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.
2cor9.
Does it sound like Paul is telling them they HAVE TO GIVE a certain amount?
Nope!
You should give what you have decided in your heart.. I would challenge you that the more you grow in your faith of the knowledge of the Son of God, the more you understand the Beautiful Gospel of Jesus Christ, the more your heart will change into someone who loves to give and cherishes giving as an exercise in which they tell themselves how much more they love Jesus than their own money.
The reason we do not pass plates here at living water is because we do not want people to be under compulsion. The polite stick up is something that is most seen when people feel bad because they can’t give or they cant give as much as someone else is. But I would say that is a low view of giving, because we are not to look at what others give, rather we give as we have decided in our heart according tot the Grace of God in our life… and that is a wonderful blessing to partake in.
When it says God loves a cheerful giver, could it be that he wants his children free from sin, death, hell and the grave… he wants us free from his own judgement which is coming on this world, he wants us eternally united to him… and so when it comes time to give money so others can be served and helped, we are so happy and cheerful about our fortunate position in Christ that we gladly give, and God loves that.
God Loves a cheerful giver because it shows his children understand what they have recieved from him already… Cheerful giving shows true Faith and true heart change… God loves that.
So if you cannot give cheerfully keep your money we do not need it, God blesses and ensures that his children participate in contributing to his work continuing on the earth to this day.
You can accept the invite to be part of that Grace, the ministry that preaches the Gospel and saves souls from hell, or not.
Yet there is for those who gladly give on the basis of the blessings they have recieved, and reward to be reaped...
8 And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work.
and this is where it gets interesting.... Notice the language...
God is able to make ALL grace abound to you, so that having ALL sufficiency in ALL things at ALL times, you may abound in EVERY good work.
God does not hold back from his children
it is not us and how much we give that makes all grace abound to us… it is GOD who does this… and when he does it is ENOUGH for our life. yet not just to live our life any way we want, but for us to abound in every good work...
There seems to be a concept here that our lives are for good works that we now do because we are truly saved by God.
8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
We have these good works we are supposed to walk in and live in...
and as it relates to giving, God makes his grace abound to us when we give cheerfully, and he does this so that we can abound in every good work… and this is found all over the NT when it comes to giving and living for God...
1tim
17 As for the rich in this present age, charge them not to be haughty, nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy. 18 They are to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, 19 thus storing up treasure for themselves as a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is truly life.
Here we see that we are to be generous and ready to share, and this is part of being rich in good works.. we are to do good… good works, they are very connected to being generous. How can we not see how we handle our money and giving as part of the good works that we are all called to do in Christ!
The great thing about these good works is that they are actually the opposite of the motivation many in our day have for giving… Good works are for someone else, not us. We do not need our good works… and Martin Luther said God doesn’t need your good works, your neighbor does.
Well how do we grow to understand our good works? are my good works the same as your good works? do we have different things to offer that are considered good works?
Last week Pastor Chad talked about how we have gifts and God has given gifts to the church for our mutual growing together in love and equipping for the work of the ministry. and so based on this we see 2 things, that the Church is where we learn about our gifts and are equipped and the church where we begin to use these gifts and start the process of good works.
Without the church where does the believer come to learn of his gifts and how they work with others? without the church where is Christ seen best amongst many different people yet unified in his Spirit? Why am I saying all this? because one of the questions we get asked a lot when it relates to giving is, “does it matter where I give my money”?
I would say YES it does, that the church is primary.
John Piper - The local church has a unique place in God’s plan and therefore a unique claim on the giving of its people.
I also like what Joh Piper said about the church as opposed to giving your offerings to other organizations...
“The one institution in the world that is clearly rooted in the New Testament and in the gospel is the local church. If that institution fails, all other ministries become ineffective. Indeed, if the church fails, all other ministries become unbiblical. The local church is the seedbed for all other ministries. The church is the place where the participants in those ministries find their nourishment and the biblical expression of their corporate worship.”
In short, the church is God’s idea not man’s and it is the place God uses to bring consistency to Gods people by the faithful preaching and teaching of the Gospel, and so it is the primary place where God’s people should give and support financially so that Gods people are constantly being equipped to do the work of the ministry and bring others the saving message of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Giving is part of our worship… we sing in worship, we serve in worship and we give in worship.
But when we make it about percentages it becomes about us… something we need to do in order to be blessed. The legalist inside of us always wants something he can do to be right and giving is not like that. let me give you an example...
Say you are on a football team and the coach says to you, in order to be successful on this team you need to get up at 5am, run 3 miles, lift weights regularly, and always be sure to be early to practice and every game...
If you do that you become a star athlete, but if you are the only one doing that and the team isn't succeeding, then you will look for another team...
But if the coach said to you, here is how you contribute to the success of the whole team...
Love the sport with all your heart soul mind and strength. Give all you have on the filed and off the field because no matter where you go you are always repping this team. Be committed to the entire season never giving up because I wont give up on you, there will always be help and trainers available no matter what you face. Do your best to figure out your position and excel at your position so that the whole team benefits. Part of you being on this team means you must serve others on this team and help them become better at their position too. and in all this make your commitment be to seeing this team be the very best in every way it can be...
which team wins here?
because this is the difference between christians who think that their giving is for them to be blessed and they are exercising their faith by their giving and they are the recipients of their blessings they have received from their faithfulness in giving… and the ones who see that everything they hav belongs to the lord and they give cheerfully because they wants the Gospel to reach people and so their giving is not about them and it is not separate from what others are doing.
The big picture I want you to see today is that our giving isn’t just about us gaining something from the Lord. When we think that way… Like, “if I give God will give to me”… That is like someone on a sports team that plays for themselves and their stats and doesn’t really care about the rest of the team.
We see great athletes get traded from one team to another all the time because of attitudes like this.
Do we really think that somehow in the body it is like this? We personally show our devotion to God and he blesses some more than others based on their continued efforts to get better and give more and more?
That is what happens when we keep OT thinking and mix it with NT teaching. We go the way of the rebellious children of God wandering in the dessert rather than the way of the regenerated family that has been united by Christ.
There is something fundamentally wrong with letting this kind of thinking affect our giving. We can easily make the case from the whole of scripture that giving is always an act of worship, yet we somehow make it about the level we contribute rather than the purpose and object of our worship.
It’s not about the level of your faith but the object of your faith, and likewise
It is not about the level of your giving but the object of your worship in giving.
It is not about the level of your giving but the object of your worship in giving.
So Christians can be giving at a high level, but if they are doing so that they will be prosperous, then the object isn’t really God in the worship, its self.
This is the reason why the prosperity Gospel is so offensive… It undermines the Gospel of Jesus Christ that says, “there is nothing you can do to be righteous in of of yourself, rather you must rely in the righteousness of Christ to stand before God in your place.”
Your righteousness is not your own, it is Christs that is freely given to you… It is outside of you, not something you already posses inside you before conversion. And God lavishes it on you in love because of the work of Christ for you… that while you were yet a sinner Christ died for you… He made him who knew no sin to become sin for us that we might become the righteousness of God...
21 For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
2cor.715
This is the Gospel and this is what we are now in Christ… the righteousness of God. Something outside of us that clothes us and changes us...
And as we give cheerfully God increases how we partake of this righteousness.
10 He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness.
2cor.9
Think in agricultural terms… a harvest is something you partake in… You go out into the fields and reap it… Well if the the harvest is righteousness in this case, how can God increase the portion you partake of Christs Righteousness??? It seems like that is fixed, he is totally righteous, yet it would seem that how we partake of it, how we live in it, how we experience it is ever increasing.
So how could we possibly experience it more and more?
11 You will be enriched in every way to be generous in every way, which through us will produce thanksgiving to God. 12 For the ministry of this service is not only supplying the needs of the saints but is also overflowing in many thanksgivings to God.
2cor.9:
By being generous in every way… Does that mean in your time, studying and praying… YES
How about your acts of service and good works… could you be enriched by the righteousness of Christ to be more generous in these ways? YES
And it also certainly includes being generous in our giving!
Listen to what R.C. Sproul had to say about this passage...
Paul’s assurances that God “will supply and multiply your seed for sowing” and that “you will be enriched in every way” are not necessarily promises that God will reward generous contributions with financial prosperity for one’s personal enjoyment. Rather, eager giving deepens one’s experience of God’s grace (v. 14), which sets the heart free from a grasping fixation on money and material possessions. Such “riches” enable believers to “sow” even more in generosity toward others, yielding a “harvest of your righteousness.”
Because the giving is serving to supply needs for the saints and cause many thanksgivings to God… Because the Gospel is being preached as the mission is being funded through the work of the apostles in this case.
When we give at church gatherings we are able to contribute to something bigger than ourselves, the whole body benefits and we experience more of Christs righteousness in serving others!
When we give to missions we are able to contribute to something bigger than even our local expression of the body of Christ in our church, we participate in the proclamation of the Gospel in all the world!
And while Paul is teaching the Corinthian church all this he reminds them that their confession of Faith in Christ and their generosity is causing others in the body to not only be blessed by it but long for them and pray for them which unifies them all.
13 By their approval of this service, they will glorify God because of your submission that comes from your confession of the gospel of Christ, and the generosity of your contribution for them and for all others, 14 while they long for you and pray for you, because of the surpassing grace of God upon you.
2cor9.13
And in all this church at that time, in Macedonia and Corinth are connected with the church in Jerusalem…
Cheerful giving has produces a unified church that preaches the Gospel and this is Glorious!
15 Thanks be to God for his inexpressible gift!
When it comes to teaching the church on giving, Paul breaks out in prayer and praise here!
We see God’s indescribable gift in Jesus Christ his Son and in the development and progress of His church. In his lifetime Paul saw God’s kingdom advancing from Jerusalem to Rome and the outermost prats of the Roman empire. In our times we witness the church growing worldwide in power and influence. Paul calls attention to God’s indescribable gift of Salvation and gave thanks… With him now let us to express gratitude to God for coming in flesh as the Son of God who served us and took our sins away! While we will never on this earth be able to fathom the depths of God’s love for us, we still proclaim the infinite value of our salvation and the gift of eternal life. For God’s gift is truly inexpressible in his vast love to us in Christ Jesus our Lord!
So to quote John Piper once more...
Let’s be lavish in our generosity. Let’s be sacrificial in our giving. Let’s be loyal to our local church. And let’s be farseeing in our support for many missions ministries. I think God will handle the percentages.