{"id":8770,"date":"2020-02-02T16:31:00","date_gmt":"2020-02-02T21:31:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.garycombs.org\/blog\/?post_type=message&p=8770"},"modified":"2020-02-07T16:33:49","modified_gmt":"2020-02-07T21:33:49","slug":"the-blessing-of-being-generous-with-our-treasure","status":"publish","type":"message","link":"https:\/\/www.garycombs.org\/blog\/message\/the-blessing-of-being-generous-with-our-treasure","title":{"rendered":"The Blessing of Being Generous with Our Treasure"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Below is an automated transcript of this message:<\/h3>\n\n\n\n All <\/i><\/span> right, good morning, church! There’s such an intersection of various themes hitting today; it\u2019s Happy Palindrome Sunday. Today is 0220; if you read it backwards, it’s still 0220. Happy Palindrome Sunday. Also, happy six more weeks of cold weather, according to the to the ground hog. Today is Groundhog day, right ? <\/i><\/span> He saw his shadow. Did you see your shadow on the way in? It means six more weeks of cold weather but we haven’t had any cold weather yet, have we? Today is also Super Bowl Sunday, which I don’t really care about. My team’s not playing but it’s an excuse to eat a lot.

\nIt’s a great day, but you know what’s most important? It’s the Lord’s Day; we’re glad you’re here. We’re concluding our series called, \u201cMore Blessed.\u201d It’s based on this verse in Acts 20:35, where Jesus said, \u201c It is more blessed to give than to receive.\u201d Jesus is not against receiving. We all know that receiving is a blessing, right? It’s a blessing to receive a gift, but Jesus says something really radical. He <\/i><\/span> says that it\u2019s actually more blessed to give than it is to receive. We’ve been working this out for the last four weeks.

\nToday, we’re going to be talking about the blessing of being generous with our treasure. In other words, being generous with our possessions, our stuff, our money, our car, our house or whatever, and being generous with it. We’re talking about this today. It really is connected to other words like happiness, contentment and satisfaction. So, to be more blessed, means to be more happy and more content

\nHave you heard of the world happiness report? It’s an annual list that ranks the nations of the world based on their happiness quotient. Apparently, for four consecutive years now, the USA has been dropping steadily on the happiness quotient. We’re going down among nations of the world in happiness , <\/i><\/span> which seems ironic since we’re the nation that prides herself on the pursuit of happiness. After all, it’s in the Declaration of Independence. We are supposed to be pursuing happiness, but apparently it is eluding us. We’re becoming less and less happy.

\nThey ranked us based on our opinions in these categories:

\n(1) How much money we make. \n(2) Social support.\n(3) Healthy life expectancy.\n(4) Freedom to make life choices.\n(5) Generosity. \n(6) Perceptions of corruption and other items.

\nGenerosity was one of the major ones that they looked at. Economist Jeffrey Sachs, who was one of the report’s authors, blamed social factors for the American decline in happiness. He noted how fewer people report feeling that they have control over the choices in their lives. Fewer people feel they have others to count on in times of difficulty and fewer people trust politicians and other public figures. <\/i><\/span> He judged that by the data on charitable giving, that people are less generous toward others than they used to be. So, Sachs concluded, America’s crisis is, in short, a social crisis, not an economic crisis. In other words, what we have here is a generosity crisis. That’s what is causing the decline in happiness. People are less generous towards one another. Certainly on social media, they’re less generous on all the talk shows and all the news reports. There is less grace and less generosity everywhere. According to this report, our happiness is going down as a result.

\nIn this report, they had you take a quiz. They list a category and they would have a ladder over to the side From 0 to 10. You’re supposed to mark your level of satisfaction or happiness in that area on the ladder, like from zero being, I’m completely unhappy, to at ten of being really <\/i><\/span>, really happy. Americans just keep going down on happiness.

\nIf we were to give you a ladder of happiness today, where would you mark yourself? Where would you be on this? Have you made the connection yet that being thankful and generous, having an attitude of gratitude and generosity are very much connected to whether you feel happy, whether you feel content. They can’t be pulled apart, they’re very much connected. That’s what we’re talking about today.

\nThe apostle Paul, in the second letter to the church in Corinth, taught them that the Lord abundantly blesses those who are generous with their treasure. I believe today that we, too, can experience the Lord’s abundant blessing as we are generous with our treasure.

\nWhy is this possible? Why is it more blessed to be generous with our treasure? As we look at the scripture today, we’ll see four reasons why it is more blessed to be generous with their treasure.

\nLet’s look at the scripture. It’s in second Corinthians, chapter nine, beginning <\/i><\/span> at verse six, 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, \u201cHe has distributed freely, he has given to the poor; his righteousness endures forever.\u201d 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. 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. 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. 15 Thanks be to God for his inexpressible gift! This is God’s word.

\nWe’re looking for four reasons why it is more blessed to be generous with our treasure. Here’s the first:

\n1. Because of God\u2019s principle of sowing and reaping.

\nNotice in verse six, Paul begins, he says. \u201cThe point is this\u2026\u201d and then he gives us a timeless principle. This is a principle that farmers well understand. Many of us may have spent summers on the farm. That’s what I did. I grew up in the city, but I spent every summer with my grandfather, from the time I was a little boy, on the farm. Many of us may be removed from the agricultural backgrounds of our forebears; title=”Play the video starting here” data-timecode=”530.27″>you may <\/i><\/span> get only a little. If you sow abundantly, more comes up. This is the principle of sowing and reaping.

\nHe begins it like this; he says, \u201cThe point is this\u2026\u201d In other words, he’s been talking about something else in second Corinthians, and now he’s given us this principle to support it. We need to know what that \u201csomething else\u201d is. We know why he’s given us the principal. Well, here’s the \u201csomething else.\u201d Here’s what he’s talking about.

\nPaul is collecting a donation from the Church of Corinth and from other churches that he has planted in order to carry it back to Jerusalem, where there is a severe famine in the land. So, he’s going to these new churches and asking them to make a generous donation so that he can carry it there. So, he reminds them; if you read all of second Corinthians, you’ll see that is where he’s going now. Remember, that’s where the gospel came from. It came <\/i><\/span> from the saints in Jerusalem, which is the mother church. We should really take care of them because of all that they’ve done for us. That’s the background; that’s the point.

\nPaul is getting ready to come to Corinth, and wants them to go ahead and get the offering ready so that when he comes through, he can pick it up and take it to help relieve the suffering of the saints in Jerusalem. So, that’s what he’s talking about.

\nHe says this, \u201cif you sow sparingly, you reap sparingly.\u201d If you sow bountifully (which means a whole lot, right,) you reap bountifully. Others have called this principle the law of reciprocity, the sowing and reaping law, the law of reciprocity. Here’s how the law goes. You sow, you reap what you sow.

\nIn other words, if you sow an apple seed, you don’t get a grapefruit. You get an apple tree. You reap what you sow more than you sow and later than you sow. That’s the law of sowing reaping or the law of reciprocity as some have described it. You get what you sow more than you sow later than you sow. We kind of know this; this is not a principle. He’s basically telling the church, of course, you already know this and I’m going to build my case upon that physical truth.

\nDo you believe in gravity? Can you see gravity? No, but most of us pretty much believe it. And even if you don’t believe it, it doesn’t matter; it still works. If I step off this stage, trust me, gravity works no matter if I believe it or not. That is what this law is like; it\u2019s this law of sowing and reaping.

\nIf you want friends, you have to sow friendship. Somebody is here this morning and they say they don’t have any friends. Are <\/i><\/span> you friendly? You say that people just won’t help you out. Are you helping others? Do you sow generosity? It’s the principle of sowing and reaping. It’s true on the farm and it’s true in the physical world. It’s also true in the spiritual realm. This is what Paul is saying; it affects giving, not just sowing seeds.

\nListen to what Jesus says in Luke 6:38 (NIV) \u201c Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.\u201d Jesus is reiterating this principle, except now he’s applying it to being generous with your stuff. Being generous with your money and with your possessions. Give and it will be given unto you except in greater amounts. This is what Jesus is teaching now.

\nI don’t know how many of you enjoy eating a fresh ear of corn. A lot of people love corn . <\/i><\/span> Do I have any witnesses out there? You love corn. Okay,I have two people who love corn. The rest of you, I don’t know what to do with you.

\nApparently, Europeans who came here had never seen it. The American Indians introduced us to corn, and since then, there are so many versions of it. I grew up going to my grandfather’s farm for the summer, and he would plant at least two kinds; one was sweet corn, planted in the small garden that was for human consumption. And then he would plant more feed corn, which was in much greater amounts in the fields, and that would be for his animals. Maybe you have had a hand full of corn kernels.\nIf you saw this picture of corn kernels, you might think that that’s not even enough to get a good bite of corn. I want to just teach you something about the power <\/i><\/span>, the potential in one kernel of corn. Just like that little handful that you see on the screen behind me right now, it would just be so easy to go ahead and eat the one bite, but it wouldn’t hardly fill you up. But, if you took just two of those kernels, I say two, because that’s how my grandfather taught me when we would plant corn. We would always put two kernels in each hole because one of them may not l come up. Most of the time they would come up, but we would put two kernels in just to be sure. When they would come up, we would get these wonderful ears of corn. If you just look at an ear of corn; I’ve never counted it. Maybe some of you will go home and count the kernels, but I googled it. You know, google knows everything. Did you know that one ear of corn averages 800 kernels per ear? That’s one ear <\/i><\/span> produces 800, but I’m not finished. That’s just one ear on a stalk. The kernels are almost always in even rows of 16, 18 or 20. It’s always even, and there’s between 600 to 800 kernels per ear. Can you believe that? Every corn stalk averages two or three ears. One kernel, dropped in the ground and planted in water, gets it started, and then God does the rest. It produces three ears on average per stalk, each of them having 800 kernels per ear.

\nThat’s the law of sowing and reaping that, Paul says, is true in giving. It’s true in generosity, but it won’t be true if you eat it all. If you keep it all to yourself. You have to give it away. This is the principal Paul’s talking about.

\nI want us to believe as the people of God and <\/i><\/span> we believe what God says in His word. So, then we move it from our head to our heart. Paul is teaching us, and Jesus as well, in the book of Luke that what’s true for corn is also true for generosity with your stuff and with your money and possessions.

\nSomeone’s thinking this right now, ok, I got myself a \u201cget rich quick\u201d plan. Sometimes you’ll hear preachers preach it this way. But not this preacher you have to give to get. So you may think, I’m going to give a lot so I can get a lot more. If that’s your motive behind generosity, that you are going to be generous so that God will give me more, you know, pastor Gary, I’ll give you my email address just so you can send me $1000 and it will be multiplied to $10,000. I would never do that but some people misuse this principle, in my opinion, my humble opinion, because of the <\/i><\/span> next point that I want to make.

\nMy next point is in verse seven; Paul says your motive matters. If your motive is you give to get, then you are not really having a generous heart. Okay, so be generous because of the principal. But then here’s the second reason::

\n2. Because God loves a cheerful giver.

\nIt’s more blessed to give because of the principle of sowing and reaping, but don’t let that be your motive. Just know that fact, but let your motive be that you’re a cheerful giver. Look at verse seven, 7 \u201cEach one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.\u201d

\nFirst of all, you shouldn’t give because someone convinced you to do it or there was some kind of persuasion that pressured you into it. You should make a hard decision today. Am I going to be a generous person or am I going to be a miser? By the way, all misers are miserable, because there’s something about being a taker and a hoarder <\/i><\/span> that results in a lack of happiness in your life. Generosity and gratitude are connected to happiness and blessing. First of all, decide in your heart to choose the life of generosity.

\nThen Paul says, \u201cnot reluctantly or under compulsion\u2026\u201d The word, reluctantly, has the idea of begrudgingly or with heaviness. \u201cI guess I will drop some money in the bucket, you know, after all, the pastor preached on it today.\u201d If that’s your attitude, please don’t ruin our bucket with your reluctance and your begrudging attitude. The Lord loves a cheerful giver. He’s not so crazy about the reluctant, begrudging giver. He still loves you, but He doesn’t love that kind of giving, of being under compulsion. I’m not going to twist your arm; I’m just going to teach you what God’s word says. We’ll leave it up to you, but I will say this, if you want to experience <\/i><\/span> blessing, if you want to be under God’s blessing, you’ll live a life of generosity, not under compulsion, not because you have to give. Instead you are cheerful in giving.

\nThe Greek word for cheerful is hilaros. That sounds like an English word we know, right? Hilarious; that’s where it comes from. That’s where the the English word, hilarious, comes from, with the Greek word underneath. Cheerful is hilaros. If your name is Hillary today, your name means cheerful. Give until it cracks you up. God loves hilarious giving. He loves the person that says, \u201cyou can’t out give God. This is a lot of fun because everything I have He gave me. How in the world am I going to out give Him?\u201d This is awesome. This is wonderful.

\nSome years ago, maybe <\/i><\/span> you’ve heard it, the story of a grandfather taking his grandson to McDonald’s. (I’ve done these kinds of things, too, and I have experienced similar stories.) This story is about a grandfather and his grandson; he’s sitting there with his grandson, Little Johnny, and he buys him some french fries. Johnny is a real picky eater, but he likes french fries. They were sitting there and the grandfather leans across the table. He just wanted to share the moment with his grandson. He asks Johnny, \u201ccan I have a French fry?\u201d Johnny replies, \u201cno.\u201d Grandpa then says, \u201cwell, Johnny, you know Papa bought you those French fries. You know this, my grandson. We’re going to share a moment here of relationship and generosity. Little Johnny yanks the one French fry back. The grandfather thought to himself, \u201cLittle Johnny, I bought those French fries for you. I’ve got enough money. I could walk up to the McDonald’s counter right now and I could buy enough French fries to cover you with French fries. You won’t even be generous with one French fry? All I wanted was for you to give me one French fry back. After all, I bought those for you.\u201d Now, Grandpa didn’t say all of that to him, but what he really wanted was the relationship of sharing.Sometimes we’re like little Johnny, aren’t we? Those are MY french fries! But this is what God wants; He wants us to be cheerful and generous, \u201chilaros,\u201d in our giving.

\nDeuteronomy 15:10 (NLT) \u201cGive generously to the poor, not grudgingly, for the Lord your God will bless you in everything you do.\u201d Do you give until it \u201ccracks you up?\u201d Do the people around you say, <\/i><\/span> \u201cOh, my goodness, that fellow would give the shirt off his back.\u201d They are astounded by your generosity. This is what Paul is speaking of.

\nHere’s the third reason. The third reason that being generous with our treasure is the best way to live. It’s the happiest way to live.

\n3. Because God\u2019s supply abounds to the generous giver.

\nLet\u2019s read verse eight and following: 8 \u201cAnd 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, \u201cHe has distributed freely, he has given to the poor; his righteousness endures forever.\u201d 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.\u201d

\nYou will notice something about verse 8. It says, \u201cGod is able.\u201d Do you believe that? Do you believe God is able? The Greek word underneath the word, able, is this Greek word, it\u2019s a beautiful word, dunate\u00f3. It’s where we get the word, dynamite, or dynamo. Dynamic explosive power. That’s what the word, able, has underneath it. Dynamite power. Do you believe that God can do anything?

\nHere’s what Paul says, \u201cGod is able to make all grace abound to you.\u201d How much grace is He able to make a bound to you? All grace. How much? All. All what? Grace. <\/i><\/span>

\nWhat is Grace? It is favor. He’s able to make all favor come your way. How will He do it? It will abound to you. Paul cannot use enough superlatives in the next few verses. He covers up the next few verses with all kinds of superlatives. I want you to hear it; \u201call grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in (how many things?) all things ( what times?) all times you may abound in where? He used the word, all, up. \u201cSo you may abound in every good work.\u201d Do you see all the superlatives there?

\nHere’s what Paul is saying, \u201cGod is able.\u201d Do you believe that? I know you believe believe it right here (pointing to head) but do you believe in here (pointing to heart) yet? Has it moved the 18 inches from your head to your heart? Yet as it moved from here to here? Do you really believe that God is able to abound to you, pour out to you all that you need at every time , <\/i><\/span> in every circumstance, so that you can always be filled with what’s necessary to do good to others? Are you believing this today, hat God is able to make you abound?

\nI moved down here from Roanoke, Virginia, where I was living before I moved here some thirty years ago. I grew up in Virginia; I am not saying that Virginia is that much different, but the area I came from was a big city. It’s called the Star City in the Blue Ridge Mountains. There was this kind of attitude there of, \u201cwe can do anything.\u201d Then I moved to Wilson, North Carolina, and there were a lot of people who were saying, \u201cthere’s nothing to do here. Our kids are going to the big city. They graduate from high school to go to college and they don’t come back.\u201d People are leaving eastern North Carolina . <\/i><\/span> If you grow up here, maybe you don’t realize that attitude is here, but if you come from the outside, you kind of notice it. If you’re trying to plant the church, you particularly notice it because people have trouble believing that something can happen until they actually see it.

\nThere are two mindsets that I have observed in people; they either have a mindset of scarcity or a mindset of abundance. If they have a mindset of scarcity, they believe that they have to keep everything because if they don’t, they’ll die. If they don’t hoard, if they don’t hang on, they will starve to death, they won’t have a roof over their heads, they won’t make it. They don’t have faith for tomorrow. They don’t believe they’ll make it, so they hoard and they hang on. They’re not happy. Then there’s the person who lives the life of abundance, believing that everything they have comes from God and He will always take care of them. If He takes care of the birds of the air , <\/i><\/span> if He takes care of the lilies of the field, he can surely feed us, clothe us and take care of us. They live the life of abundance. Even though maybe I don’t see it with my eyes right now, I’m just going to believe God’s word and live generously with my time, talent and treasure.

\nI want you to ask yourself, what’s your mindset today? Do you really believe that God is able to abound in all things at all times so that you have all sufficiency? In other words, all that you need, so that you can be generous and so that you have a surplus? I wonder if you believe that.

\nI was talking to someone this weekend. He said the Lord put on his heart to go downtown. He had a day off last week just to go downtown, to sit with his earbuds in and <\/i><\/span> listen to some Christian music. He had a few booklets that had the gospel in it. He thought, I wonder if anybody will stop and talk to me. If the Lord shows me, I’ll share this gospel with them. He was just sitting there in front of the courthouse downtown and people would stop and ask him what he was reading. Then, he would give him the book. He gave out all of the books and had to go back to his car and get more. Later, his time was up and he needed to do some other things. A homeless guy came up to him; he’d just gotten out of jail. The guy needed some food but he didn\u2019t have any cash to give him to buy food. I told the man, \u201cI didn’t have any cash on me. Everybody is using debit cards and credit cards.\u201d He felt <\/i><\/span> bad and prayed for the guy, but also felt like the Lord told him to be generous. He gave him one of his booklets and the guy was happy to receive it. He was sitting there for a minute and felt like he was supposed to get some money, but didn\u2019t know how to find the homeless guy, who has now walked off. He looked down and he saw something green wadded up; he picked it up. He had just prayed. He picked up the wadded paper and it was a $20 bill. He picked it up, got in his car and was still praying for the guy as he’s driving down the road. He sees the guy on the side of the road, rolls down his window and says, \u201c Hey, brother, come over .\u201d <\/i><\/span> Then he says, \u201cHere’s $20; Lord told me to give you this.\u201d What a wonderful story. That’s a story that says I have a mindset of abundance even if I don’t have it, but if the Lord puts it on my heart, He will put it in my hand to give it because He knows my heart is right and He can trust me with it. He didn’t have the money, but then the money showed up because he had the desire before he had the money. I think that is what is important here.

\nDo you have a mindset of scarcity or a mindset of abundance? Do you believe that God is able to abound to you? In verse nine, he says, \u201cas it is written.\u201d He’s quoting the Old Testament now because the New Testament guys were saying, as it is written, the only book they had was the Old Testament. So he’s quoting the Old Testament <\/i><\/span>, he’s quoting Psa. 112:9, where the psalmist is describing the blessed character of a righteous man whose generosity extends to many, especially the poor. He has distributed freely. He has given to the poor. His righteousness endures forever. Who is he? Who do you think he is in verse 9? It sounds like God, doesn’t it? That’s what I thought, too, because God is able and He’s able to give you all sufficiency in all things and at all times. That does sound like God, but if you go read Psalm 112 you find out that it’s not God. It’s actually the righteous man. The righteous man gives liberally. He scatters abroad. So Paul was pulling here. This is the thing you have to watch when you’re reading scripture. Make sure you know who the pronouns refer to. Who is he referring to here? It actually is referring to you that if you are one like God that you’re giving, like God. See, God gives <\/i><\/span> abundantly but so do the righteous. If you’re a righteous person, you’re living as God would have you live, then you give like God. This is why Paul quotes Psalm 112:9.

\nThen, he goes back to verse ten. Now, he is back to God in verse ten, \u201cHe who supplies seed to the sower.\u201d That’s God. No one can make a corn kernel; scientists cannot make a seed. They can evaluate it, but they can’t make it. Only God can make a seed. Within the seat is the DNA and the power to produce all that we described earlier. He has given seed to the sower, but not only that, he gives enough for the sower to live on bread for food. But then it says that he will also supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increasing the harvest of your righteousness. Here’s your seed. God wants us <\/i><\/span> to live. He’s going to give you what you need; He is going to give you enough for food. But, if you’ll have a generous heart , you’ve decided in advance that you are going to be cheerful and generous, He will give you excess. He will give you more than you need because He knows He can trust you to meet the needs of others. This is the principle he’s teaching here so that you’ll have a harvest of righteousness.

\nThen, in Verse 11, it says, \u201cYou will be enriched in every way to be generous in every way.\u201d One of the reasons I think that people aren’t coming to Christ that we share the gospel with is because we’re not generous enough towards them. Instead of helping them, we often say, let me pray for you, but we don’t also try to help them. I think if we would start meeting the needs of others in Jesus\u2019 Name, they might be more apt to hear what we’re saying.

\nMalachi 3:10 (ESV) \u201cBring the full tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. And thereby put me to the test, says the Lord of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need.\u201d God invites us to test him. Test this principle, he says, bring the full tithes. That’s 10% bring the full 10% into the storehouse that there may be food in my house and thereby put me to the test, says the Lord of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need. So don’t give up on being generous. Test the Lord in this.

\nGalatians 6:9 (ESV) \u201cAnd let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.\u201d Remember, that principal, you reap according to what you sow, more than you sow, and later than you sow. Don’t be like the farmer who plants on Monday and then on Tuesday morning is out there digging it up, askind, \u201cWhy is it not coming up?\u201d Well, don’t dig up in doubt what you planted in faith. Don’t dig up in doubt what you planted in faith. Don’t <\/i><\/span> be like the farmer who digs it up too soon. It always comes up later. Don’t give up.

\nHere’s number four. The fourth reason that being generous with your treasure leads to greater blessing.

\n4. Because it produces thanksgiving to God.

\nIt produces worship. You can’t say the word, thanksgiving, without giving. Generosity and gratitude go hand in hand. Generosity and gratitude, even secular social scientists say, is connected to our sense of happiness. God told us that a long time ago; we didn’t have to test it or survey it. It’s just true gratitude. Thankfulness and generosity produces blessing in us.

\nLook at verse 11, the latter part of verse 11, \u201c\u2026which 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. 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. 15 Thanks be to God for his inexpressible gift!\u201d Paul is asking the Corinthians to give and to help with the problem of famine in Jerusalem. When that gift is given to them, they’re going to be so thankful; they’re going to thank God for it. \u201cFor the ministry of this service\u2026\u201d The service of carrying the donations to Jerusalem to feed the hungry. <\/i><\/span> It is not only supplying their needs, it will feed them, but it is overflowing in many thanksgivings to God.

\nNow, why were they thanking God when the people were the ones who sent the money? Do you ever think like that? I hope not, because we should all be thinking like this: I want to be a river of generosity and blessing, one hand open to God, with everything I have. Do you believe that everything you have comes from God? Stop shaking your fist at God, grumbling. Open your hand and receive. If you have this hand fisted up down here, He can only trust you with so much because you have dammed it up. He won’t give you any more than you can hold; the only way you can be a river is to live the life of the open hand, with on one hand open to God and the other hand open to others. Then, He can trust you that you are a conduit of blessing and a river of blessing. He <\/i><\/span> can trust you that if you give it to \u201cJohn,\u201d \u201cJohn\u201d is going to give it to others. He’s always going to supply what you need, so you have all sufficiency. He’s also going to be abundant to you so you can abound to others. This is what he’s teaching here. It will cause the people to not thank you, but they will thank the God who gave it to you. That is what we want, isn’t it? That’s what we want.

\nThen, it says in verse 13, \u201c by their approval of this service.\u201d What service? The service of giving to their needs. \u201cThey will glorify God because of your submission that comes from your confession of the gospel of Christ.\u201d Someday I need to preach just verse 13 because I’m telling you, the three points are just laying there for anybody to pick up. Brother Randy, you could pick this one up and preach it someday and just call it yours. Okay, this is a good one. I haven’t preached <\/i><\/span> it yet.

\nI’m sort of going to preach it right now, real quick, but this is a great \u201cthree pointer.\u201d I want you to look at it, 13 \u201cBy 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.\u201d So there it is; three points right there. \nSubmission, confession and contribution.

\nWhat’s the submission that you’ve been called to? To God, your master. If you made Jesus your master, He is Lord and you are not. You are a servant. Submission. And then it says that they will give glory to God because of your submission that comes from your confession of the Gospel of Christ. In other words, I have believed the good news about Jesus, that He died for my sins, that He was buried and that He was raised on the third day and lives today. I believe the gospel. So my submission is informed by <\/i><\/span> my confession. And then the third is linked to it like a beautiful chain, he says, and the generosity of your contribution. So the contribution that the generosity comes from their submission to Jesus, their confession of His gospel and then their contribution is just the natural outflow of believing in the gospel. I don’t see how we can claim to be followers of Jesus and then also not be generous. He has abounded to us so that we can be like Him in this world and abound to others. It causes great worship and thanksgiving among others.

\nLook at verse 14, \u201c while they long for you and pray for you, because of the surpassing grace of God upon you.\u201d Those people over in Jerusalem have never met the people in Corinth, but now they really want to know how they care about them. They’ve never seen them and they sent this money to them. Oh, they’re writing letters to Corinth now. Letters saying that they would love to visit them sometime. This creates family. Generosity could even turn foes into family, generous with one another.

\nIt <\/i><\/span> closes with verse 15. Paul speaks of his final thanks. Thanks be to God for his inexpressible gift. Now he’s not talking about the service. He’s not talking about the donation. This is new. This is something you can’t even put into words. It’s inexpressible. It’s too wonderful to even put into words. That’s the gift I’m convinced is the gift of Jesus. That’s the greatest gift of all. \u201cFor God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life.\u201d Have you received that gift? Can you say thanks be to God for the inexpressible gift of Jesus? That’s where our gratitude comes from. He’s given us everything we have, but the ultimate gift, the inexpressible gift is Christ Jesus. Have you received Him? Human language cannot even conceive nor express this gift.

\nHow can you tell the condition of the unbeliever? Romans 1:21 (CEV) \u201cThey know about God, but they don\u2019t honor him or even thank him\u2026\u201d We see how they know about God, but they don’t honor him or even thank <\/i><\/span> him. The unbeliever knows about Him but has never received Him. He does not honor, worship, nor thank God for what he has. That’s the person who is far from God today.

\nBut then there’s the people who believe in God. 2 Corinthians 4:15 (NLT) \u201c\u2026 And as God\u2019s grace reaches more and more people, there will be great thanksgiving, and God will receive more and more glory.\u201d God’s grace reaches more and more people. There will be great thanksgiving and God will receive and more glory.

\nWe come together on Sunday mornings like this because it\u2019s the day that we remember that Jesus got up from the grave on the first day of the week. In April, we will celebrate Easter Sunday, and we will remember this. That’s why we come together. We come together every week, on the first day of the week, to say Jesus is alive. He defeated sin, death and the grave. We celebrate and we give thanks. The expression of that is our generosity with our time, talent and our treasure.

\nHave you been convinced that it’s more blessed to give than to receive? I <\/i><\/span> wonder if the Corinthians were convinced. Do you think they took up an offering when Paul wrote the letter and asked them to do so? I wonder if there’s any place in scripture we could find out. Did they give?

\nWell, it just so happens there’s a little hint over here in the book of Romans, chapter 15, verse 26. Paul’s writing to Romans, \u201cFor Macedonia and Achaia have been pleased to make some contribution for the poor among the saints at Jerusalem.\u201d That’s the region of the city of Corinth. They obeyed. They got it. They were generous. And so the poor were cared for.

\nHow about you? Do you get it? Are you going to hear God’s word? Will you let it move from your head to your heart <\/i><\/span> today?

\nLet’s pray, Lord, I pray first for that person that has yet to receive the inexpressible gift of Jesus. Is that you, my friend? You’re here today; you came in on a thin thread. Maybe you didn’t even mean to be here. But someone invited you and you felt you had to come. But now there’s a reason to be here. What have you done with that gift, Jesus? You see, that’s what the Father really cares about. What you do with My gift, the inexpressible gift of Jesus? Have you received Him as your Lord and Savior? You can do it right now by expressing your faith through prayer. You can pray with me. right now. Let the words be yours. Dear Lord Jesus, I’m a sinner. I believe You died on the cross for me. I believe that You defeated the grave and You got up on the third day. You rose again and You ascended to the Father. You’re <\/i><\/span> alive today. I believe that. Will You come into my life, I invite You to be my Lord and Savior. I receive you as my Lord and Savior. Forgive me of my sins. Make me a child of God. I want to follow you with my life. If you’re praying that prayer now, believing, the Bible says you will be saved. Others are here and you’ve received Jesus as Lord and Savior. But you’re struggling in this area. You have a mindset of scarcity. Will you allow God’s Word to penetrate not just your mind, but your heart? God is able to make all grace abound to you so that you have all sufficiency in all things at all times to do every good work He’s called you to do. Do you believe it? Do you receive it? May it be so in Jesus\u2019 name. Amen.\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In the apostle Paul\u2019s second letter to the church at Corinth, he taught them that the Lord abundantly blesses those who are generous with their treasure. We can believe that the Lord abundantly blesses us when we are generous with our treasure.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":8745,"template":"","tags":[],"series":[2745],"scripture-book":[1314],"scripture-chapter":[1342],"speaker":[2007],"class_list":["post-8770","message","type-message","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","series-more-blessed","scripture-book-2-corinthians","scripture-chapter-1342","speaker-gary-combs"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.garycombs.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/message\/8770","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.garycombs.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/message"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.garycombs.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/message"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.garycombs.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/message\/8770\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.garycombs.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8745"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.garycombs.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8770"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.garycombs.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8770"},{"taxonomy":"series","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.garycombs.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/series?post=8770"},{"taxonomy":"scripture-book","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.garycombs.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/scripture-book?post=8770"},{"taxonomy":"scripture-chapter","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.garycombs.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/scripture-chapter?post=8770"},{"taxonomy":"speaker","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.garycombs.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/speaker?post=8770"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}