Ready To Give

2 Corinthians 9:1-7 (NIV) 1  There is no need for me to write to you about this service to the saints. 2  For I know your eagerness to help, and I have been boasting about it to the Macedonians, telling them that since last year you in Achaia were ready to give; and your enthusiasm has stirred most of them to action. 3  But I am sending the brothers in order that our boasting about you in this matter should not prove hollow, but that you may be ready, as I said you would be. 4  For if any Macedonians come with me and find you unprepared, we--not to say anything about you--would be ashamed of having been so confident. 5  So I thought it necessary to urge the brothers to visit you in advance and finish the arrangements for the generous gift you had promised. Then it will be ready as a generous gift, not as one grudgingly given. 6  Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. 7  Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.

The Givers Who Please God, 9:1-7 (9:1-7) Introduction: giving pleases God, for giving is of the very nature of God. God is the very One who has given the supreme gift—the Lord Jesus Christ. The most loved passage of Scripture clearly proclaims the glorious truth. "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life" (John 3:16). To repeat the truth, giving pleases God. However, not every giver pleases God. This is clearly seen in this passage. Who, then, are the givers who please God? 1. They have a readiness, an eagerness to give (v.1-2). 2. They are not caught unprepared to give (v.3-5). 3. They give much and reap much: reap what they sow (v.6). 4. They give deliberately, not grudgingly, not from compulsion (v.7).

1. givers who please God have a readiness, an eagerness to give. This is seen in four clear statements made by Paul. 1. He expected the Corinthians to give. Why? Because some dear "saints" of God needed help. The term "saints" (hagious PWS: 3361) means those who are set apart and devoted to God. It is a term referring to genuine believers. The point is striking. Some fellow believers were in desperate need. The churches in Judea were poor and desperately needed help; therefore the Corinthians were expected to help them. In fact, the expectation was so strong there was little need to even say anything about it. Thought 1. Christian believers should be so devoted to God that people expect and know that they will give to meet the needs of the world. In fact, as long as a need exists, believers should be giving all they are and have to meet that need. Luke 12:33 (NIV) 33 Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will not be exhausted, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. 2. Paul knew the forwardness, the readiness of their minds to give. How often can this be said of believers? Of a church? Are we honestly forward, reaching out, searching for needs to meet? Can others actually know that our minds are ready, set, and focused to give? 3. Paul boasted in the Corinthians, in their readiness to give. It had happened a year earlier. The spirit of the Corinthians had been so committed to ministry, to meeting the needs of their fellow believers, that they had immediately underwritten the mission project to help the churches of Judea. But soon afterward some problems had arisen, and the church backed off its commitment. Before the problem, Paul had boasted in the zeal of the Corinthians, how quickly they had committed themselves to the mission project. Thought 1. The commitment to missions is always commendable and is a great testimony to be shared with others. Every church needs such commitment, but it needs to follow through on its commitment. It needs to live day by day for Christ, lay aside differences and get rid of divisiveness and sin in its midst, and get to the task at hand: ministering to the needs of those who are in desperate straits. 4. The zeal and commitment of the Corinthians stirred "many" to help in the mission project. Thought 1. This is the spirit and testimony needed by the Lord's churches: a zeal for missions so strong that it stirs "many" to make the same commitment.

John 4:34-35 (NIV) 34 "My food," said Jesus, "is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work. 35 Do you not say, 'Four months more and then the harvest'? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest.

John 9:4 (NIV) 4 As long as it is day, we must do the work of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work.

2.givers who please God are not caught unprepared to give. As Paul travelled from place to place, he was always training young disciples in the ministry, and these disciples often travelled with him. In addition to these, Paul was sometimes escorted to the next city by men from the place where he had just completed his ministry. This was soon to be the case: some men from Macedonia were going to escort him to Corinth. This fact is the background for what Paul now says. 1. Being unprepared to give causes shame. Paul says that he was sending Titus and the two other men to reactivate the mission project among the Corinthians. He was doing this lest he be ashamed and embarrassed when he and the other Macedonians arrived. He had boasted in the Corinthians a year earlier, using their commitment to missions as a testimony to stir the Macedonians to underwrite the same project. If he and their representatives arrived and the Corinthians had slipped back and failed to follow through, the situation would be a reflection upon Christ, Paul, and the Corinthian church. Thought 1. A Christian who is unprepared to give brings shame to the very name of Christian. The very purpose for Christ coming to earth was to give—to give sacrificially and to give all. He gave His very life to meet the needs of desperate humanity. Therefore, it is a shame, an embarrassment to the name of Christ for a professing Christian not to give; for Christ existed to give. The very name of Christ and of Christian means to give and to give sacrificially—to give all. 2. Being prepared shows love, not covetousness. Paul says that he was sending the men ahead of him so that the church could reactivate the mission project and offering. They needed to have the collection ready when he arrived. Note why Paul felt this was necessary: so that the Corinthians would demonstrate love and generosity, not covetousness. If the mission project was still being delayed when he and the Macedonians arrived, the church would seem to be covetous and worldly. They would be failing in their very purpose for being on earth: to minister to those in need. Thought 1. Honest believers and churches have to confess to covetousness. Few really give all they are and have to meet the desperate plight of the human race, a human race of men and women, boys and girls dying without Christ; and so many are dying prematurely from hunger, cold, disease, loneliness, emptiness, worthlessness, sin, and evil. How terrible covetousness is! Living extravagantly, spending beyond our needs, banking, hoarding, building up estates, constructing larger and larger homes, buying more and more—all to the deprivation and destruction of human life and to the doom of human souls. Covetousness has no place in the Christian's heart nor in the church, much less upon earth. It's results are too devastating. Believers must be prepared to give, demonstrating the very sacrificial love of Christ Himself who gave all to meet the needs of the desperate.

1 Timothy 6:17-19 (NIV) 17  Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. 18  Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. 19  In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life.

3. (9:6) Stewardship— Giving— Reaping— Reward: givers who please God give much and reap much. In fact, when it comes to reaping, they reap exactly what they sow. Note that the picture is that of sowing seed: when a man plants the seed, the same is returned to him; in fact, much more is returned to him—a full harvest. This is one of the great principles of Scripture, but it must be carefully noted: it is not the man who pretends to sacrificially give who shall be greatly blessed by God. It shall be the man who actually does sacrifice all he is and has. This man will never go lacking; God will abundantly provide for him.

Proverbs 3:9-10 (NIV) 9  Honor the LORD with your wealth, with the firstfruits of all your crops; 10  then your barns will be filled to overflowing, and your vats will brim over with new wine.

Proverbs 22:9 (NIV) 9  A generous man will himself be blessed, for he shares his food with the poor.

4. (9:7) Stewardship— Giving: the giver who pleases God gives deliberately, not grudgingly and not from compulsion.

It is absolutely crucial to note one thing: God does not accept the gift of a person who does not want to give. God expects three things of the person who gives. 1. The giver must give as he purposes in his heart. This does not mean that people are not to be encouraged to give nor that they cannot be stirred to give. It means that a person is... • to think about the need. • to think about what he should give sacrificially. • to make a deliberate decision about what he should sacrifice in order to give what he should. • to give exactly what he should give. 2. The giver must not give grudgingly: not out of sorrow, not with reluctance or regret. If the giver is going to be mulling over his gift and regretting that he had given it, his gift is unacceptable to God. The person needs to straighten his heart out with God, for... • he is failing to see the desperate needs of the world. • he is failing to see what Jesus Christ has done for him. 3. The giver must not give out of necessity. A person's gift is not acceptable to God when he... • is forced to give. • gives because he fears what others will think. • gives just to please others. • gives to keep others from pestering him. • gives out of a desire for personal honor and recognition. 4. The giver must give cheerfully if he wishes God to accept his gift. The word "cheerful" (hilaron PWS: 559) means joyful. The giver is pleased and delighted to give to meet the needs of God's people and of the world. Note that God loves the cheerful giver, for the cheerful giver is just like His Son, Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ willingly and cheerfully gave all He was and had to meet the needs of the world.

1 Corinthians 13:3 (NIV) 3  If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing. 1 Corinthians 16:2 (NIV) 2  On the first day of every week, each one of you should set aside a sum of money in keeping with his income, saving it up, so that when I come no collections will have to be made. 2 Corinthians 8:12 (NIV) 12  For if the willingness is there, the gift is acceptable according to what one has, not according to what he does not have.