A GENEROUS CHURCH
By: Dr. Mike Jones
Theme: 2 Corinthians 9:6-15, “But this [I say], He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully. Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, [so let him give]; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver. And God [is] able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all [things], may abound to every good work: (As it is written, He hath dispersed abroad; he hath given to the poor: his righteousness remaineth for ever. Now he that ministereth seed to the sower both minister bread for [your] food, and multiply your seen sown, and increase the fruits of your righteousness;) being enriched in every thing to all bountifulness, which causeth through us thanksgiving to God. For the administration of this service not only supplieth the want of the saints, but is abundant also by many thanksgiving unto God; Whiles 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.”
The great Reformer, Martin Luther, once wrote that “There are three conversions necessary: The conversion of the heart, the conversion of the mind, and the conversion of the wallet (purse).” Of these three, it may well be that we find the conversion of the wallet/purse to be the most difficult. Charles Spurgeon writes, “with some Christians, the last part of their nature that ever gets sanctified is their pockets.”
There’s a story that’s told about a church that was undertaking a huge building project. The minister stood up one Sunday and said to the congregation. “I’ve got some good news and some bad news. The good news is that the church has all the money it needs to complete this project. The bad news is that it’s still in your wallets.”
Now that some of you have braced yourselves for this teaching because you think it’s about money, let me put you at east and commend some of you, by saying “WELL DONE!” Since the rebuilding of this ministry for the past several years, Dr. Mom has repeatedly stood here in the pulpit and commended this congregation in processing in the area of becoming a GENERAL CHURCH… especially in the areas of mission projects, charities for local needs, etc.
In 2 Corinthians 8, the Apostle Paul tells in Corinthians about the generosity of the Macedonian Churches. But when we get in chapter 9, you will learn how God wants us to give and the benefits of giving money to church ministry.
Let’s stay in Chapter 8 for a few minutes and talk about the Macedonian churches. In verses 1-2, we discover that the church is a “struggling church.” The Apostle Paul reveals to us they’re in great affliction and experiencing deep poverty; but yet, they continue to provide financial support for other churches in need.
In verse 3 we learn “they gave according to their means and sometimes they went beyond… which means they sacrificially. Therefore, verse three illustrates that giving is to be proportionate to what you have. God does not expect EVERYONE to give the same amount of money towards church ministry. But He does expect EVERYONE to give according to what they’re able to; thus, this gives EVERYONE the opportunity to be generous; because generosity has less to do with quantity and more with proportion.
The second principle of giving we see expressed in the Macedonian church, is that giving is to be done eagerly. In verse 4, they literally “begged” the Apostle Paul to permit them to participate in His ministry with their financial contributions.
When we get over into Chapter 9, verse 6 the Apostle Paul reiterates the issue of giving “EAGERLY”! He said, “He who sows sparingly shall also reap sparingly; and he who sows bountifully shall also reap bountifully.”
As John Piper, one of our modern day theologians put it, “To give sparingly is to give from a heart that, deep inside, wants to hold back.” Instead of asking ourselves how much we can possibly give, it’s often said that we start our thinking with how much we can hold back… (TO BE CONTINUED)
(Adapted from A Generous Church; all Scripture references are taken from the KJV unless otherwise noted.)