Money Talks // Cheerful Giving // Pastor Josh Evans

Amen.

You can have a seat here today. Has your heart been blessed already today? And I tell you that song worthy is the lamb is probably one of my all-time favorite songs because every time I sing that I think this is what Heaven's going to be like. And I think we're going to be seated around the throne of God singing songs like that.

And I don't know about you but even so come Lord Jesus and Heaven gets sweeter and sweeter each and every day and and I am so looking forward to that day. Well, if you have your Bible, you can go to 2nd Corinthians chapter 9 here today. 2nd Corinthians chapter number number 9 and and we are continuing our series through or the series entitled money talks. In fact, let's all say that title together money talks and the reason behind the series is really scripture talks a whole lot about our money and our possessions and it communicates a whole lot about your relationship with God. So the question that that we need to ask is what would our money say if it could talk to us and we've learned that maybe your money will say things like that.

You're you're focusing your life on things that are going to corrupt and decay or or maybe you're struggling with contentment in your life. You see there's a bunch of different things that our money can say if it could talk and it might perhaps reveal something about about your life. Now, let me say this I say this every week of the series.

We've only done this for three weeks and this is the final week. So you can breathe kind of a sigh of relief after after today, but talking about money in a church can be really awkward right and it can be uncomfortable. In fact, I'll say this as your pastor. If you think it's uncomfortable hearing sermons on money. It's really uncomfortable standing up here and preaching sermons on money because I can sense how uncomfortable you truly are. Okay, and then also talk when a pastor talks about money. It can come across like like it's self-serving right because I'm employed by the church.

So of course, I want you to give to the church and so it's this awkward awkward conversation. But but we've learned that that Jesus talked a whole lot about money. He talked a whole lot about your possessions. He talked a whole lot about materialism.

And the reason is is because there's something that's connected between our money and who is ruling on the throne of our of our heart. And today we are going to talk from 2nd Corinthians 9 Paul as he's writing to the church at Corinth. We are going to talk about the idea of giving or being generous with what God has has given us the you know, Paul is writing this letter to the church at Corinth and and in chapter 9 really chapter 8 and 9 we could look at both chapters if we have the time to do so and in both chapters Paul is addressing the need of money. In fact, he's talking directly about the Corinthians giving to the church at Jerusalem and he's talking about the importance of them giving if you look at the first five verses of this of this chapter, we see that Paul is in fact bragging on the church at Corinth for how they have given so faithfully to to the church. He was bragging about in verse 2 when he talked to the people of Macedonia. He was talking about how he boasts and how giving or how generous these people the Corinthians are and so he's talking about that and so their issue was not that they were not giving or or not being generous but the issue that he begins to bring up here in chapter 9 is the heart by which they gave.

The heart by which they gave you see giving or being generous is not always about the amount that we give. Sometimes it is about the heart in which we we give and here in 2 Corinthians 9 Paul talks directly about that. We'll pick it up in verse 6. He says this but this I say he which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully. Now no sparingly just means holding back and and so in other words, he's telling the church he says listen, if you are stingy and holding back with your giving when when needs arises or or things like that.

He says you can expect to reap the same. I don't really know how better to say that but that's what he's saying but he tells the church. He says if you sow bountifully then you will reap bountifully. Now that's a heavy verse for us to take in because I know many of you you think this is Josh talking that is scripture talking.

So if you're going to be mad at anybody don't be mad at me. Okay, just be mad at what the Apostle Paul saying, but it's a it's a truth there that he's bringing up and then he goes on verse 7 every man every one of us according as he has purposed purposed in his heart. So let him what's the next word give I know it's hard for us to say that word. Let's say it together give so let him give then he goes on and talks about the motivation of why we give he says don't give grudgingly or of necessity for God loveth a cheerful giver and God is able to make all grace abound towards you that ye always having all sufficiency and all things may abound to every good work.

If you write in your Bible you can write next to that verse. He will provide for you. Listen, let me say this that when you give he will supply every one of your needs. I know sometimes it's difficult for us to give right because when we give we are having to you know, sacrifice something it can be painful in order to be generous because you are giving something and and you're sometimes you're looking at at bills and you're looking at all the things that you want to pay for and the thoughts of being generous and giving sometimes is difficult for us because it's like an investment and Paul. He recognized that the people in Corinth.

They were no different than you and they were no different than me. They had bills they had things that they had to pay for and so you can imagine the resistance that they were probably feeling when Paul is talking about this. And so he says listen, God is going to provide and he is going to give you everything that you need and then he says in verse 9 as it is written. He hath God is dispersed abroad. He hath given to the poor his righteousness remaineth forever.

Now he that and this is so important and if you want to get the principle of giving verse 10 really shows us exactly what what Jesus means when he talks about about giving. He says Paul says now he that minister is seed to the sower both minister bread for your food and multiply your seed sown and increase the fruits of your righteousness. He uses this idea of sowing and and and throughout scripture he talks, you know, whether it be Jesus or Paul they talk about agriculture a lot because that was something that unified the multitude that was listening. They had a bunch of people that this was the way that that they live.

This is what they did each and every day. They'd go out and they plant seed and and they would disperse seed and and and anytime that they did that they would have to trust that there would be a harvest for that. If you have ever farmed something in your life, you would understand that that that is a big part of it. Farmers have to live by faith.

Don't they they have to live by faith because you plant something in one seed assuming and hoping and praying that one day the harvest will come right? Listen, I am not a farmer. I know for many of you. You're like really you look like a farmer and I get it.

I I get it. I'm not but but I'm actually not real gifted when it comes to that stuff, but my family have all been you know around around the farm world. So my uncle they own a farm and and and so over the years going over there with them. We I have had to help them on the farm.

It doesn't take long for me to realize that you know, God has called me into something different and it doesn't take long for my uncle to realize that you know, his great grandchildren are more gifted than I am at this and their children. Okay, and so but over the years I've had to help him and and we plant things and and so certain things and and they are praying and hoping that a harvest will come so Paul brings and he alludes that that's kind of how giving is that's how how being generous with your money is he says listen, first of all, remember this everything you have is from him anyway. Okay. That's the first principle everything that we have in life every bit of the money possessions and things that you have it is for you. Here's what what you don't need to think about.

Yes. We work for certain things, but at the end of the day God is who gives us what we have in life. Can we all agree to that that that's something so so listen don't think that man you have what you have just because man you've earned and God's been good to you and that's why you're at where you are today. Okay, and so listen, he says hey everything we have is from God. Okay, and he says giving is like when you go out a farmer and you sew and you give and you live generously that a harvest will come.

Now that takes faith, right? And he says while you're giving and while you're sewing while you're being generous if you keep a lot of that seed back because you're afraid and you're nervous that a harvest is not going to come and you withhold it and you spare it and you keep it for yourself. He's saying that the harvest will be determined by what we or how we sew and so he says if you want to sew sparingly keep a bunch back then you're going to reap that kind of harvest. But if you sew bountifully in faith and give generously then you are going to reap that kind of harvest. Verse 11, he goes on and he says here's the result, being enriched in everything to all bountifulness which causeth through us thanksgiving to God for the administration of this service not only supplyeth the one of the saints, he's talking about giving to the church but is abundant also by many thanksgivings unto God whilst by the experiment of this ministration they glorify God for your professed subjection unto the gospel of Christ and for your liberal distribution unto them and unto all men and by their prayer for you which long after you for the exceeding grace of God in you thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift. So in these last few verses he says the reason why we should give or the motivation and why we should give is because God has given you a gift far greater than anything you could ever give him.

Think about that. You know, like I know I've been in church my entire life and I mean I just when I was a kid and I would get birthday money my parents would tell me I need to tithe off that, right? And so it was kind of grilled into me I got my first job when I was about I think 14 or 15 and it was just a little job that I got that my parents hooked me up with and so I'd work after school at a greenhouse. In fact, I knew nothing about anything that we did but they were like, hey, I'll work and I can be consistent so I did so every bit of money that I made my parents would drill into me this idea of tithing and giving and things like that.

As a teenager, I didn't really understand all of that. I didn't really realize why it was important for me to be, you know, faithful with that and to be consistent with that and to be generous with my money. But I'll tell you this, when it comes to giving sometimes we think, you know, oh, I just have to give the bare minimum.

Have you ever been there in your life? You're kind of like, I just want to do the bare minimum that I have to, the bare minimum of what is required of me and that's really what I did and we begin to think that giving is all about an amount. It's all about just an amount in our life and what Paul is saying is this, he's saying this, be generous with what God has blessed you with because what gift he has given to us in the person of Jesus Christ is greater than anything that you could ever offer or give back to him in return. That's what the apostle Paul is telling the church here.

That's the motivation by which we should give. You want to know the standard of your giving? Here's the standard, it's Jesus.

It's Jesus. You see, yes, he tells us that we should give and we should tithe and things like that but listen, that's not the full standard. Paul raises the standard a bit and he says this, aren't you grateful and I know I am today, aren't you grateful that Jesus didn't say, man, I want to purchase Josh Evans with the bare minimum possible. I want to do the bare minimum possible for that church family at Union Grove. I don't want to go all the way to the cross.

I don't want to give my entire life for them. Aren't you thankful Jesus didn't hold back for you but yet you and I so often, we hold so much back for him. Paul says, listen, God gave us, John 3.16, for God so loved the world that he gave. You see, the unspeakable gift that God has given to us is Jesus Christ and he should be the standard by which we are generous. Paul says, listen, giving, he should be the standard but giving is not all about the amount that we give.

It's sometimes about the heart in which we give. Have you ever gave something, you can be honest, this is confession time. Have you ever gave something just to kind of like, you look around and just make sure people are watching?

Anybody ever done that? Anybody want to care to admit that? Nobody's going to raise their hand. That's kind of a question.

No one's going to raise their hand. But you know, when you're young, you know, you're kind of like sitting in church and you're watching as that offering plate goes and you're kind of watching people and stuff, you know, and I drop a few bucks in there and I just want everybody to know that I gave. You see, sometimes the motivation can get in the way of our giving, of our being generous. You know, my wife and I, at the holiday season, she always gives me a budget of what I can spend for her and a budget for what I can spend if I get anything for the kids that she does not know about. How many of you at Christmas time you set budgets for how much your spouse can spend or something?

Any of you do that or are we the only family? Okay, Abby, I want you to look around. Okay, there's not a lot. So she gives me this budget and every year she's like, you can only give this amount of money or you can only spend this amount of money on me. And by the way, men, if afterwards you're sitting at lunch and your wife says, hey, listen, I like what Pastor and Abby do and we should do that, it's a trap.

I just want you to know it is a trap, okay? Because here's the thing, if I stay under budget, she doesn't mean enough to me, right? That's how she's gonna feel. So here's what I do is I throw the budget out the window and I go crazy overboard, okay? I go way overboard. And so when she opens her gifts, a lot of times she's just like, somebody went over budget. And I'm just like, enjoy the unthinkable gift that I have given you on this Christmas morning. And here's the thing, so like I always go above and beyond and afterwards, I'm never, you know, like afterwards on Christmas day or on her birthday, which I'll say this, we don't talk about this a lot, they're on the same day, so I have a really difficult time.

December 25th is a difficult day for me, okay? And so like all of this, you know, it's happening on this one day, I don't sit there when I go to bed on December 25th, I'm laying there, I don't sit there and be like, man, I really regret, you know, giving all, I really regret spending all that money, you know, on them. With my kids, it's the same way. We always go over, we try to set a budget and we always go over for them and things.

And you say, why, what's the point of this? The point is, is when you love someone and when you have that relationship with somebody, the amount that we give, you just throw it out. We just want to be generous and we want to go above and beyond anything because of how we feel for one another, whether that be for my wife or whether that be for my kids or anything like that because I have a love for them.

And because of that love, I want to give gifts to them. I want to be generous to them. You see, the idea that Paul says is he tells us we need to have a cheerful giving lifestyle.

We should be happy. We should delight in it. So I want you to see three things from this passage that I think will help you. The first thing is this, I want you to see the fruit of giving or the fruit of being generous, the fruit of being generous with our money. I mentioned this earlier in verse six. He uses this farming or agricultural technology or this agricultural wording here, this verbiage, when he says this, he which soweth sparingly shall reap sparingly, but he that soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully.

You see, here's what that tells me to be as direct as I can be. Stingy giving results in a stingy harvest. Bountiful giving results in a bountiful harvest. You see, Jesus, he says this in Luke 6 verse 38, he says, give and it shall be given unto you. You see, what Paul is saying is that when we are generous with what we have been given and we are generous with that, then God will give us a harvest. Do you remember in the gospels when Jesus was in this big multitude and all this multitude came by him and he looked at the disciples and he said to them, he said, hey, how are we going to feed all of these people? And there were thousands of people.

Do you remember this story? And when Jesus fed the 5,000 people and so he says, hey, how are we going to feed all these people? And the disciples had nothing and think for 5,000 people. You know, Miss Lori Beard and I have already talked. How are we going to feed all the people for a homecoming?

We're already having conversations about that. And that's only several hundred people. And so what if I just went to Lori on a Sunday and said, hey, listen, we have several thousand people here at church in the morning. How are you going to feed them, Lori? She'd probably start throwing things at me. I don't know.

But you see, it would be a difficult thing. You can imagine the stress that the disciples had when they're like, well, I mean, we weren't planning on feeding them. Let's just send them home. They probably have food at their own houses.

It's about time that they headed home. And so Jesus, you know, like he's there and one of the disciples came and said, hey, I found this boy, found this little kid and he brought this little, you know, sack lunch kind of lunchable type thing. And it's got a couple fish. They had lunchables back then.

Okay, I'm convinced. Don't spoil, you know, this. Okay, so I had a couple pieces of bread and fish in it. And he said, this is about all that we have, you know, and this boy brings this to Jesus. And then moments later, like Jesus is just breaking off pieces and giving it to the disciples and they, you know, feed all these people. And there were like 12 baskets left over of leftovers from something so small that started.

You see, the principle here is very similar to that story. This young boy came giving everything that he had. Everything. He just came to Jesus surrendering. It's not about how much you give. If you're in here today and you'd be like, man, I don't have as much as that person.

Don't get into that. It's coming with whatever God has blessed you with and bringing it to him with open arms, surrendering it to him. And the principle of what Paul is saying, when we do that, then we will have 12 baskets of a harvest left over. And here's what that doesn't mean. I don't want you to think that that means money.

We think that immediately means, man, we're just going to be rich or whatever. But sometimes the harvest that Jesus brings doesn't come in the form of money. But let me tell you this, the way that he's going to bless you because of your giving is going to be far more rich in your life than money could ever be. You see, that's the harvest.

That's what he's saying. He says, give bountifully, be generous with your money. That's the fruit of giving. Then he says the heart of giving. Verse 7.

He says, every man according as he has purpose in his heart. So let him give. We see that there's a command to giving. There's a command. Listen, it's not something that we just ask.

No, there's a command. We should purpose in our heart to be generous with our money. In fact, when we give, it's a heart issue. You know, Jesus talks about that. We've seen that in this series, that there is a correlation between the heart and how much and what we give. So Jesus or Paul is saying that there's a heart there. And then he goes on in verse 7 to show us the heart behind our obedience. So let him give not grudgingly or of necessity.

Why? Because God loves a cheerful giver. Let me just say this generosity. It's not just an exterior problem.

It's a heart problem. It starts from within. Living a life that is generous. It's not something that we can leave here and change from the outside. In fact, the gospel is not an outside-in gospel. You see, when Jesus changes your life, it doesn't start from the outside and work its way in. It starts from the inside in our heart. He changes our heart and that is what changes the outside. You show me somebody that their outside has never been changed. Their heart has never been changed.

You see, that's the point. The gospel is what comes to the heart. And so Paul says that there is a heart behind our obedience to giving. We should give it. There's a command to give but there should be a heart. There should be a cheerful. There should be a delight a joy when we are generous with our time with our treasure and with our money and so Paul is saying this that generosity is not just an exterior problem.

It's a it's a heart problem. You show me someone that's not generous and I will show you someone who who is placing money on the heart of their life replacing materialism on the heart of their their life in 2 Corinthians 8 if you flip over a page you can see this verse verse 9 it says this for ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ that though he was rich yet for your sakes. He became poor that ye through his poverty might be rich. Let me remind you that the heart behind the obedience when Jesus changes your heart and I believe you know, you're here each and every week usually at our church. I believe Jesus has changed a lot of your hearts in here today. And if you're in here today and you say my heart has been radically changed by Jesus then what Paul is saying is when our heart has been changed by Jesus, then he becomes the standard by which we give back to him. You see the richest person in the entire world left a perfect heaven to come to this earth and become poor so that you and I can be rich so that you and I can be be rich you see the gospel is all about Jesus coming to this earth and taking on your shame and brokenness and become poor remember he is the creator of all things the king of Kings and Lord of Lords and he could have come to this earth and he could have immediately become king couldn't he have if he wanted to he could because he was God but you see the king of Kings came to this earth and he was born in a stable he was born to a family that really would have been the last ones that we would have ever probably chosen for him to be born into that family and he lived on this earth and lived a life of rejection and poverty and why would the king of Kings do that you see the reason Jesus came to this earth and live that kind of life is so that you could be rich not materialistically but who you get in Jesus is far more than anything that money could ever buy for your life and that's the point so Paul is saying this listen Church when you trust in Jesus in your life and he changes your heart the only proper response out of that is for us to be generous with our life thirdly we see the provision of giving this is where it gets somewhat somewhat tricky in verses 8 through 11 we think giving or our generosity is a lot of times for the recipient of the gift like like in other words when you when you give to the church or or something you're doing God a favor when you give to him right we kind of feel that way from time to time but Paul is saying this listen God does not necessarily need your money I don't want you to think that today I don't want you to leave here and and be guilted into anything I don't want you to leave here and be like man of God God just must really need our money but here's the thing here's the principle of generosity and in Scripture it's not something God necessarily wants from you but a life of generosity is something that God wants for you you see it's not generosity and being giving with what we've been given it's not this thing that God just needs from you it's something that God wants for us and let me remind you you can not out give him and and what he's saying you say what is what does he give us in return if you if you look at verse 8 God is able to make all what's the next word grace abound towards you that he always having all sufficiency in all things may abound to every good work you see Paul is talking about provision pause talking about provision he's talking here that when we give and we give out of a cheerful heart and the motivation behind behind us giving and being generous is not to please us it's not to impress anybody you know some of the people that are the most generous they don't have to get you know online and talk about all the all the things that they do no it's just something that we give because our heart is fixed upon him and not fixed upon what everybody looking at us and he says once we give then there is a provision a fruit a harvest that follows you say what does that look like let me tell you this if you're generous with your life and generous with your money and generous with your possessions you're going to get provision you're going to get peace you're going to get satisfaction you're going to get security you're going to get grace that abounds you're going to get safety you're going to get protection you're going to get his presence and you're going to get his contentment and let me say this all of those things are worth more than any dollar amount that you could ever achieve in your life that's the point of being generous listen don't listen to somebody that says if you are generous you're going to be rich in your pocket book or in your wallet listen that's crazy but listen the scripture says that once we're generous with our life and our money that he's going to give us something worth far more than money could ever ever buy in your life he just wants us to be generous he just wants us to live a life of generous being generous with your money it gives you something worth far more than silver and gold listen that's why we give we we don't talk about giving from time to time because god is desperate for your money that's not why we talk about it that's not why we encourage giving i don't want you to think man that church just really thinks god needs our money we talk about giving because we believe that god can do something so great in your life if you would just come to him with what you have out of a cheerful heart he will use every bit of that and give you something far greater than money could ever afford that's the point that's the point of the whole series that's the point of of money in general it's not about how much you give listen all i want is for everybody in our church to come with what they have and offer it up to god and watch him give them 12 baskets full of grace full of safety full of protection full of security full of peace everything that we're looking for that's the fruit of a life that is generous for him would you bow your heads with me let's do this let's all stand at this time nobody looking around heads bowed hearts lifted in prayer i know giving is a touchy subject in churches but let me say this if we're generous with our money he's promised that he will give us something worth more than silver and gold i want you to think about your life more than just the amount what if it doesn't matter the amount of money that you have are you coming to him with your life and offering it in surrender to him saying god this is all i got use it for your honor and glory i'm going to pray and then if god spoke to you in any way maybe maybe you've realized that you've not been given out of a cheerful heart or maybe you're in here and and you realize that you know you've been holding back and you want to be more generous with your maybe it's more than money maybe it's your time and you just want to give your life to him or or maybe you just want to come to an altar here in a moment and thank him for the gift of jesus and coming down and saving you and coming down and redeeming you and becoming poor so that you could be rich in him i'm going to pray and then i'm going to open up this altar and listen if god spoke to in any way you come father we love you speak to our hearts lord i pray that you would give people the courage to come if god spoke to him for it's in your name we pray amen the altar is open nobody's looking around if you're in here today and god's spoken to in any way listen god can do something with whatever you have it's not about the amount it's about the heart in your life the altar is open maybe some of you need to come and just say father thank you for forgiving me your son jesus i don't deserve it but i'm thankful for that the altar is open if god speaks to you you come and do business with him