The Generosity Of God (Part One) – 2 of 2

Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith. Some preachers will tell you that if you sow a thousand dollars in their ministry, you will reap ten thousand in return. This distortion of a key Bible principle is one reason why Erwin Lutzer is teaching about the generosity of God as the real reason for giving. Today, that teaching continues.

Stay with us. From the Moody Church in Chicago, this is Running to Win with Dr. Erwin Lutzer, whose clear teaching helps us make it across the finish line. Pastor Lutzer, I've found that being faithful to support God's work may not make me rich, but it does seem all my financial needs are met.

Dave, you're absolutely right. There's no doubt that there is much blessing connected with generosity. And what motivates me the most is the words of Jesus when he says, Invest your funds in such a way that there will be people in heaven who will welcome you into everlasting habitations.

Imagine that. The investment is in the lives of people. Well, I want to be very clear and say that this is the second to last day. We're almost at the end of the year. And from my heart to yours, as I have frequently expressed on this program, I want to thank the many of you who have supported us this past year. Would you consider supporting us with a year-end gift? Here's what you can do.

Go to rtwoffer.com or you can call us at 1-888-218-9337. If you're like Rebecca and me, we sit down at the end of the year and assess where have we given, where can we still give, because all of us know that we are not giving to ministries. We are giving to the lives and the salvation of people. What a marvelous time we've had in worship today, reminding ourselves of God's great redemption and the high price that was paid for it. This actually is the second in a series of messages entitled The Generosity of God. Once again, we're going to talk about God's generosity. We're going to talk about giving. We're going to talk about money. And some of you, the minute I mention that, you say to yourself, oh no, it's your first time here.

All that the church ever wants is money. Or you brought a friend and you say, I just can't believe it. First time they've been here and he talks about money. Relax. With no pressure, no guilt, nothing that would come any close to something like manipulation, I'm going to make a prediction. After I finish this message, I believe that there are going to be many of you who say, wow, I wish that the offering had been after the message rather than before the message. I'm going to predict that some of you are going to come up begging for the opportunity to give. Now if I've oversold this passage of scripture, you come and tell me that too. But hang on.

I believe it's going to happen. It's been years, actually, since I've preached on this. And particularly this passage of scripture, I have never preached on 2 Corinthians 9. One of the reasons, and I'm being more honest than I have to be, is that the imagery that Paul uses of sowing and reaping is oftentimes used by so many false prophets on television. You know, come, send us $1,000, sow a seed. And as a result of that, because it's terminology that comes from the scripture, there's been some apprehension on my part as to whether or not I might be misunderstood.

But I don't think I will be. Remember that those false prophets, and not all who are on television are false prophets, but those who are false prophets, remember they basically are into sowing and reaping because of greed. Not only that, they operate on the premise that the wealth that you have is an indication of your spirituality. If you're poor, it's your fault. God wants everybody rich.

They sometimes even fall into the category of occultism, whereby you can just pronounce yourself rich. It's just the words themselves. And so I want to rid you of all of those ideas which are manifestly unscriptural. Context, 2 Corinthians 9, the Apostle Paul is getting an offering together to give to the saints in Jerusalem who have gone through a very, very difficult time.

Because they became Christians, they've been marginalized, they don't have jobs, they are poor. And Paul says, I want you Gentiles to bless Jewish believers, and I have even predicted that you're going to give a good offering, and I want to encourage you to give that offering. And so the Apostle Paul writes 1 Corinthians, excuse me, 2 Corinthians 8 and 9. And if you missed the message last week, I hope you take time to listen to it about the generosity of God in that though Jesus was rich, yet for our sakes He became poor, that we through His poverty might be made rich.

But now we come to chapter 9, and I'm going to pick it up in verse 6. The point is this, whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly. Whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Each one must give as he has made up his mind, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.

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 just that far for now. What I'd like to do is to give you five facts regarding giving, five facts regarding giving. First fact number one is that giving actually is sowing.

The Apostle Paul uses that terminology. And if you sow sparingly, you reap sparingly. Many years ago, I was a farm boy and I knew right well that if we would only seed, say, a half a bushel per acre, we wouldn't reap very much. If we wanted to have a good crop, we'd sow perhaps a full acre, excuse me, a full bushel per acre, or maybe even beyond that, because if you sow sparingly, then you reap sparingly.

But if you want a good crop, what you have to do is to plant that crop with lots of seed. Now one of the things we discover is that whatever we sow, we do reap. We reap what we sow, obviously. And we even reap more than we sow.

And the Apostle Paul is going to use this imagery for giving. He's not going to back down from the fact that if we sow, God is going to give us a harvest. So fact number one is when you give to God's work, number one, you must keep in mind that it is a matter of sowing.

You have planted a seed. That's fact number one. Fact number two is simply this, that it is a matter of planning. It's a matter of planning.

Look at the text. It says, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Each one must give as he has made up his mind. Paul is saying that there should be some contemplation. There should be some prayer as to what you're going to give. You shouldn't simply give on impulse. You know the offering basket is being passed. And if I happen to have 20 bucks, I put it in.

If not, I let it go by. No, think through. If you're married, talk to your spouse and come to an agreement as to how much you should give.

Rebecca and I have those talks every once in a while. So what you are doing is you are purposing to give. You're planning. In 1 Corinthians, 1 Corinthians 15, an earlier letter, the Apostle Paul says that each person should set aside on the first day of the week to give.

First day of the week, Sunday. Set aside so that you give consistently every Sunday. And may I remind you that when you're on vacation, you should be giving as well because the needs continue and the blessing of generosity continues as well. So the second fact regarding giving is that it involves planning. Planning.

Now there's a third fact. And here we get to what the Apostle Paul says that's kind of breathtaking and in many ways hard for us to get our mind around. Giving is not a matter of amount. It is a matter of attitude. He says this, you should not give, and here it is, under compulsion, not reluctantly. That is because within you, you are saying, oh, I don't really want to give, but I should give.

No, keep it if that's your attitude. You should not give reluctantly nor under compulsion or of necessity, as I think this translation puts it, because just because of the fact that you feel you are manipulated or you're obligated to give, some of you come from churches where that happened to you. The expectation was there. Everybody was supposed to give. If you weren't giving, people would maybe know about it, and so you felt this burden. The Apostle Paul says that if that's the way you feel about giving, don't give.

Don't give. Let it go by. You know, there's a story I read many years ago about a woman in the South who was very wealthy, and sophisticated, and she came to church and she sat there in all of her finery, loaded with bling, and she just let the offering basket pass. She passed it along and didn't put anything into it. So what the usher did is at the end of the aisle, he sent it back. Once again, she just let it go by. He thought, I'll try this one more time. He sends it back another time. She lets it go by, and he whispers in her ear and says, if you don't put anything in, take something out, because it's for the heathen anyway.

Well, you know, sometimes those stories may be true, they may be untrue, but they make a point. If you're going to sit there with an attitude like that, don't give. Don't give. Now Paul makes an amazing statement here. Theologically, we have to grapple with it. The Apostle Paul says, for God loves a cheerful giver.

Now you know that the word cheerful is the word hilaron, from which we get the word hilarious. That is often emphasized. God loves somebody who just wants to give, who begs for the opportunity of giving, who enjoys giving, because after all, Jesus said it is more blessed to give than to receive. Now here's the theological problem.

I thought about this text for a long time, and particularly this past week, I've meditated on it. Because you see, you've often heard me say from this pulpit, first of all, that God loves the world, certainly. He loves the world in a certain way.

He gave His only begotten Son. God loves the world. God loves His own people in a special way.

There's no doubt about it. In John chapter 17, Jesus makes the amazing statement regarding to God, thou has loved them even as thou has loved me. And how much does the Father love Jesus Christ? The Father is deeply in love with Jesus Christ. Now I've always made the statement that there's nothing you can do as a believer to get God to love you less. There is nothing that you can do to get Him to love you more because He loves you unconditionally, and He loves you as much as He loves Jesus. So that means that God loves stingy Christians too. He does.

You're stingy. You're a believer. He loves you as much as He loves Jesus. Amazing love. That's why we sing about the love of God.

But here in this passage, it almost seems as if there's another category. God throws that in. He loves a cheerful giver. Well, doesn't He love a stingy one?

Yes, of course. But He loves a cheerful giver. It's almost as if God says a cheerful giver so attracts my attention that I love that giver, and I'm going to do some remarkable things for Him or for her. I don't know about you, but I'd like to be in that inner circle where God not only loves me because I'm a believer in Jesus Christ and He loves me as much as He loves Jesus, which is way overwhelming that I can't grasp, but I'd also like to have this special love that God has for the cheerful giver, the one who loves to give.

Now, I know it isn't this way exactly in heaven, but let's be a little loose in our description here. I can imagine that God is having a conversation with Michael, and He says, hey, Mike, do you notice that we found another cheerful giver over there? Here's a cheerful giver. There's a cheerful giver. Now, I'd like to think that within the Moody Church there are hundreds of cheerful givers, so it's not as if they're that scarce, but when God finds a cheerful giver, God says, what are we going to do for that giver? And that's why there's a fourth fact about giving, and that is that giving is harvesting. Now, our Bibles are open, are they not?

I hope so. You know, I know that people don't come to church today with their Bibles, or they bring their iPhones, and they say, well, you know, I have the New Testament on my iPhone. May God bless you, and He loves you just as much as if you actually brought a Bible. But for the sake of the record, look up this way, this, this is a Bible.

All right? Now notice what God is going to do. He's going to grant special favor to the cheerful giver.

This is amazing. Verse 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. Is that your testimony? What do you say? Boy, that describes my life.

What describes my life is that God is able to make all grace abound so that I have all sufficiency in all things at all times for every good work. That's what God is promising to cheerful givers. Amazing.

You say, well, does cheerful giving also involve money back? Well, let's look at the text. I'm going to skip here to verse 10. He who supplies seed to the sower, who gave you the seed to sow? God. He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing an increase.

And the answer is yes, of course. You reap whatever you sow. You give money and you get money back. Okay, you've heard it from the pulpit of Moody Church. You give money, God gives you money back. You say, boy, that sounds an awful lot like those false prophets you like to talk about every once in a while.

Very different. Your Bibles are open. Your finger is on the text.

Notice what it says. He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food. It's not that he's going to multiply and give you money back so that you can drive a fancy car and live in a fancy house and so that you can be this rich person that the false prophets talk about.

No. What does it say? He will supply bread for food and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness. The reason that God is going to replenish what you have given is so that you can give more. That's the whole point. There's no self-interest here at all. I have to say, I'm really glad you clapped at that point.

And another difference with false teachers is this. They'll say, oh, send the money to us. And then you know you'll be blessed. Well, of course, if you find Moody Church to be your church home, your responsibility, your first responsibility is to give to Moody Church. But this message is going to be heard by thousands of people who belong to other churches. And I say to them, give to your church, give to your missionaries, be generous wherever you are. And that will be the pathway to blessing. It's not as if we send them to one organization because this organization has the ability somehow to bless people. No.

We're just reading the text here. God supplies bread for food and will multiply and increase so that you can sow more. Thank you. You know, I have eight beautiful grandchildren and sometimes I take them to a little pond that isn't too far away and we take bread and we feed the ducks. So I'm not as excited about feeding the ducks as my grandchildren are. But what we do is we I take maybe three or four slices of bread.

Usually it's some old bread that Rebecca finds and I take it. And then when we get there, you know, these kids want to be so generous in feeding the ducks. They'd like to throw the whole slice in at once. But I teach them how you break off little pieces so that it lasts longer.

So you you're out there and you can see the ducks. They're all fighting for the little bit of bread and the kids are just delighted to see those ducks. And then their slice of bread is finished. It's over. Oh, we don't have any more bread to give.

Well, guess what? Grandpa has another slice of bread in his pocket that you didn't see. And so what I do is I replenish it because I delight in seeing them give.

And when it comes to giving to the ducks, they are very generous and cheerful. The only difference with me is eventually I run out of bread. God never runs out of bread. And he is the one who is able to supply in answer to this. God is the one who supplies.

Well, that's the fourth point that we shall continue to emphasize, the divine favor of replacement. You empty this bucket, God says, oh, I found a generous giver, somebody who delights in giving. I'm going to fill their bucket again because the way in which I'm going to promote my work is through them. And so since I have somebody who likes to empty their buckets cheerfully, I'm going to give them more so that they'll have more that they can give. Well, of course, by that I don't mean, like many preachers do, that if you give a thousand dollars, you'll get 10,000 back. But there's no doubt that the Bible promises special blessings to those who are generous. And even now as we anticipate the end of the year, I trust that you will sit down and assess your giving.

Rebecca and I do that. And as you think about ministries, I want to, from the bottom of my heart, thank the many of you who have supported this ministry this past year. It is because of you that we can continue. And I love that passage of Scripture where Jesus talks about people entering into heaven, and they will welcome us because of our generosity and our investment in their lives.

Speaking of investment, I'm holding in my hands a letter from someone who connected with us from Guinea, West Africa. I was born and raised in a Muslim family. The Holy Spirit used your ministry to win me to Christ. Through the awesome God we serve, you have influenced my life more than you will ever know. You, my friend, are a part of testimonies just like this.

Would you consider the ministry of running to win? We hope to be in Portuguese and Turkish this coming year, 2024. Thanks again to your generosity. Here's what you can do. Go to RTWOffer.com.

That's RTWOffer.com or call us at 1-888-218-9337. Even as we come into the new year, one of the measurements of our relationship with God has to do with our generosity. And of course, that generosity involves much more than money. It involves our time.

It involves also our affections. The generosity of God ought to make us people who are open to God's leading in whatever way he desires. And I like to emphasize that it's not the amount that we give financially. It is the heart with which we give. And so there are those who can give more. There are those, of course, who give less. And I want to thank you in advance for helping us.

Think of it as a gift to God so that people's lives would be changed. Here is what you do. Go to RTWOffer.com.

That's RTWOffer.com or pick up the phone and call us at 1-888-218-9337. Even as I speak behind this microphone, I realize that there are many of you who support us with your prayers. Thank you. You can write to us at Running to Win, 1635 N. LaSalle Boulevard, Chicago, IL 60614. Running to Win is all about helping you find God's roadmap for your race of life. Next time on Running to Win, we'll pick up in 2 Corinthians 9-10 to best understand the principle of sowing and reaping. And we'll look to Christ, who gave His life for us as our model for being a giving people. Plan to join us. Thanks for listening. For Pastor Erwin Lutzer, this is Dave McAllister. Running to Win is sponsored by the Moody Church.