Well, let's turn to second Corinthians chapter nine. And we have one more week this week talking about money, talking about giving the apostle Paul has spent two chapters. Excuse me, my voice is changing there. The apostle Paul has spent two chapters. here in Second Corinthians talking about money and giving. This is my third sermon in these two chapters. And as you know, I make no apologies for talking about money and giving. Money is a very frequent topic throughout the Bible. And I suppose I could give you an overview of the Bible from a perspective of money and finances and giving. And I'm sure in every book of the Bible, we find something to say. I think of John the Baptist. John the Baptist, the great prophet, given the mighty task of preparing the way for Jesus. And the Lord called John and the Lord laid his word on John's heart and on his lips. And John was given the task of announcing this new messianic age. And when John started to preach his message of judgment and repentance, Luke tells us three people came, heard John's message, and they had one simple three groups of people had one simple question for John. What do we do? What should we do? In light of this message, John is preaching. Crowds came, tax collectors came and soldiers came. What do we do? What do we do? And John answered each of these three groups talking about money or possessions. Isn't that interesting? To the crowds, he said in Luke 311, whoever has two tunics is to share with him who has none and whoever has food is to do likewise. To the tax collectors, he says in Luke three, verse 13, collects no more than you're authorized to do. That's what you're to do producing in your repentance, collect no more than you're authorized to do. And to the soldiers, he said in Luke three, 14, do not extort money from anyone by threats or by false accusations and be content with your wages. It's all just. One example of how central the topic of money, possessions and finances is in the scriptures. So I make no apology in talking about money and giving because the Bible speaks regularly of these things. And I make no apology in talking about these things also, because we're going to see in our passage this morning when we when we give cheerfully and generously. God promises to us the richest of blessings, joy and grace and abundance of good works and a harvest of righteousness and thanksgiving and glory to God. These are just some of the results of generous, cheerful giving. Let's look at how these play out in our passage, starting in chapter nine, verse six. The Apostle Paul, writing on the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, says this. The point is this, whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Each one must give as he's decided in his heart, 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 and all things at all times, you may abound in every good work. As it is written, he is distributed freely, he is given to the poor, his righteousness endures forever. 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. You will be enriched in every way to be generous in every way, which through us will produce thanksgiving to God. For the ministry of this service is not only supplying the need to the saints, But it also is overflowing in many thanksgivings to God by their approval of this service. They will glorify God because of your submission flowing from your confession to the gospel of Christ and the generosity of your contribution for them and for all others while they long for you and pray for you because of the surpassing grace of God upon you. Thanks be to God for his inexpressible gift. There are a lot of obstacles to giving, aren't there? Talk about a number of obstacles. A lot of obstacles to giving cheerfully and generously. I think this is part of why Paul has spent two chapters on this topic of giving. He recognizes that it's sometimes hard to do. The Corinthians had run into some kind of obstacles in their own giving and Paul's trying to get them kick started once again. It's not too hard to think about these obstacles that we might face in giving. One is Greed, maybe that's the first that we think of. Greed, love of money, a desire for more and more and more. That inability to be content with what you've been given. These things are not only great sins, they're also great hindrances to being generous. Greed. Think of a lack of trust as an obstacle. I mean, a lack of trust in, you know, you don't trust anyone else to handle your money, maybe. You think every organization is poorly run, especially Christian organizations, maybe. And maybe you think especially the church, they're inefficient. You're pretty sure they're going to bungle things financially. So you don't give because you don't trust those whom you may give to. Maybe a weak understanding of the gospel. Can be a hindrance. You don't give because you fail to understand the Gospel. You've not really contemplated the exceedingly generous heart of God. You've not thought of the cost to Him in giving us His Son. And you've not thought about His promises to graciously give us all things. And because you've not meditated long and hard on the Gospel of Jesus Christ, you don't give because you simply don't realize what God has given to you and promised to you. I think poor planning is one. I mean, maybe more than many of these others. Poor planning can be one of the greatest hindrances that we face to giving. You don't first plan to give cheerfully and generously. You just kind of wait and see if there's anything left at the end of the month. If there's something left, give a little. If not, well, maybe next month. You don't plan your budget or your lifestyle by taking giving to the work of the Lord into account first by your house, your cars, your mobile phone contracts, which can cost as much of a house or a car in a lot of ways. You buy these things and only then do you think of what you might give to the church. And probably it should be the other way around. Maybe we should first decide what we'll give, come up with a plan and then structure our finances around that. Poor planning may be one of the biggest hindrances to generous giving. Fear is another hindrance, isn't it? And maybe this is one of these that's maybe more significant than greed itself. You don't give not because you're greedy or because you're a poor planner, but because you're afraid there'll be Nothing left for you. Worry about providing for your family, maybe. Fear is a hindrance to giving. A passage this morning should help us overcome whatever obstacles we might face when it comes to giving well, to giving cheerfully and generously to the work of the Lord. And here, as Paul urges the Corinthians to keep giving, as Paul recognized they face some obstacles, some difficulties in this task of giving they've been given, Paul wants them to know that God has promised rich, rich blessings to saints who are generous and cheerful giver. And it's Paul's hope. that these blessings will overcome whatever obstacles the Corinthians are facing so that they will give cheerfully and generously. And that's essentially my two points this morning from the passage. I think Paul is instructing us to do two things to give cheerfully first and to give generously. Let's start with giving cheerfully. One of the first things we see in this passage is that how we give matters, how we give matters, how we do it. Paul says in verse seven, each one must give as he's decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. Paul's goal is not to guilt the Corinthians into giving. He doesn't want to twist their arms. He doesn't want to place an exaction on them. He wants them to give gladly and willingly, and he suggests to them that how they give matters. Paul doesn't give them rules to tell them exactly what they should give. He doesn't exact a tax from them and say, simply says, he says, give what you've decided to give in your hearts. He tells him God loves a cheerful giver. God loves a cheerful giver. We hear that all the time, of course, John Calvin says this about this passage, he says, liberality, generosity and giving. is estimated by God, not so much from the sum as from the disposition. In other words, when we give, God cares very much, perhaps more about how we give than what we give. Paul didn't say God loves million dollar givers. He said, God loves a cheerful giver. Just think about that. When we give cheerfully, God smiles. He loves it. He delights in our gift. He loves us for it. Isn't that amazing? God loves a cheerful giver. If you think about it, the Bible talks a lot about God's general love for his people. We know God loves us. He loves his elect. But there are only a few places that tell us that God loves us, not generally and graciously, but for specific things that we do. God loves righteous deeds, Psalm 11, 7. God loves justice, Psalm 37, 28. And God loves a cheerful giver. When you give to the work of the Lord, don't think of it as a burden or as a kind of a necessary evil, like like going to the dentist. Not that dentists are evil, at least not most dentists that I've been to, they've not been evil. We can think of giving like that. Something I don't want to do, but I have to do. Don't give to the Lord like you give to your car mechanic. Or at least like I give to my car mechanic. And I don't think car mechanics are evil either. Some are shaking their head, yes they are. But I don't like to give them my money. I hate giving money to the mechanic. I don't understand cars. And when I go, I always feel like I'm being taken advantage of. And there's always that awful moment when they call you up and say, Are you sitting down? And they run over this whole list of things that if you don't fix first, you're an awful, awful person for not fixing it. Your car will explode within the next week if you don't, you know, it's just. So I write them a check and I'm frustrated, I'm not sure everything needs to be done that they're saying and I'm grumbling in my heart. Don't give to the Lord's work like that. Instead, do just the opposite. Rejoice at the opportunity to give when the offering plate comes around. We should be excited and glad. You know, it's I don't think it's an overestimation to say that this should be one of the highlights of our week. Yes, we get to give to the Lord's work again here. Here, Lord, take this for some of us. It's not much, but I'm glad to give. Glad to give. Last Sunday night, some of you were at the Reformation service at First Reformed in Pin Hills and the joint service with the other churches there. And it was a wonderful service. At the end of the service, right after the sermon, I took Daniel down to use the bathroom right after the service, coming back. And when we came out of the bathroom, we heard the singing of Psalm 98 resounding all the way at the other end of the church. And I heard that Daniel heard that I said to Daniel, Daniel, we got to hurry to get back to the sanctuary. I didn't tell him why, but I said, we got to hurry, Daniel says, because we don't want to miss the singing. I said, yeah, because we don't want to miss the singing. And Daniel took off running to get back to the sanctuary so we could hear and be a part of singing Psalm 98 with hundreds of people. And it was a beautiful, glorious thing. We didn't want to miss it. I was excited. That's how we should think about giving in the same way we think about worshiping with the saints of the Lord, singing God's praises, excited to be there, longing to be there. I think, what do you love? What do you love in our worship in a church? You know, who says I love the play, the part where the offering plates are passed around because I get to give and that's how we should be thinking. The Lord loves a cheerful giver. And then the second main point I have is simply this. We see in this passage that we should give generously. Paul says in verse six, the point is this, whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Paul's making a farming analogy. I know as much farming as I do about cars, but I understand this analogy at least. The farmer who sows only a few seeds will reap little, but the farmer who sows generously with the seeds that he has will have an abundant, bountiful harvest. Now, this verse and other verses like it, we know in the basic idea that is taught here that God will bless those who give. It's been abused by many, many people over the years in serious ways. This passage is one of the favorite passages for health and wealth gospel preachers. They come on the television set. Sow your seed money, sow your money, cast it out to us and God will certainly return it back to you tenfold. And they have the little notes from people that, you know, say, I emptied out my savings account and gave it to you not knowing what the Lord would do next. And, you know, and then they win the lottery or something like that. Crazy like that. Write that check, give to us, they say. And what's happening is these shepherds are fleecing the sheep. They're misrepresenting this passage. Pastors and teachers, they're pastors and teachers that are greedy for their own gain. And their promise of material wealth that they give to the people is ultimately a grotesque distortion of the gospel. And this happens not only in our modern day and age with Christian television, but it happened back in the days of the New Testament. Peter addressing these kind of teachers says in 2 Peter 2, in their greed, they will exploit you with false words. They'll say they have hearts trained in greed, accursed children. And our response to the health and wealth gospel should be righteous anger. Without hesitation, we should rightly say we hate the health and wealth gospel. Paul is not saying if you give generously, God will give to you lots and lots of money back. What he's saying is quite different. He's saying, if you give cheerfully and generously, without question, God will make you rich with his blessings. This isn't the health and wealth gospel, this is the biblical gospel, this is the economy of the biblical gospel as it works itself out in the lives of God's people. Look with me at verse 10, Paul says, 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. The promise of a greater harvest here is not the promise of more and more and more money. It's the promise of more and more righteousness. That is, the more generous you and I are in our giving, The more opportunities then God will give us to give, and then the more the righteousness of God is reflected in our lives. In other words, the more generous we are, the more we become like God, even as God continues to be generous to us. And all of this, of course, is the natural pattern of the gospel working itself out in the lives of God's people. So our generosity multiplies righteousness, a harvest of righteousness. Look at verses 11 and 12. Paul says our generosity, when you're generous, produces thanksgiving to God. When you give, you give others the opportunity to give thanks to God for His provision through you. This is what he's telling the Corinthians. When you give, people thank God for it. It's an amazing thing. And sometimes this Thanksgiving happens directly. You give to the church and the church gives to poor Christians in need, perhaps. And that family, maybe, who received a gift from the church, thanks God for his provision. That happens all the time here at Calvin. Our deacons regularly working towards that end. And sometimes that kind of Thanksgiving that occurs through giving may happen indirectly, but just as significantly. You give to a missionary. Missionary goes, preaches the gospel, churches formed, people are saved. And these people who've been saved now learn to offer thanksgiving to God for the salvation they have, not having any idea that people like you or I gave a little bit of money a long time ago so that they might hear the gospel. Paul really emphasizes the significance of opening opportunities for thanksgiving through our giving. I mean, this is a big deal for Paul. The fact that when you give, people are able to give thanks to God. He says in verse 12, your giving not only supplies the needs of the saints, but is also overflowing in many thanksgivings to God. The thanksgiving to God occasioned by your giving is is just as important to Paul is the fact that their needs are being met. So give generously, give generously, because it multiplies righteousness and it multiplies thanksgiving to God. And then in verse 13. See that through your giving, God is glorified. Paul says, by their approval of this service, the poor in Jerusalem approving the gifts of the Corinthian saints, they will glorify God because of your submission flowing from your confession of the gospel of Christ and the generosity of your contribution for them and for all others. Pretty amazing what Paul is suggesting here, what happens when people give. Sam, when the people in need in Jerusalem receive this gift, They will glorify God not merely because the Corinthians have been generous, but they will glorify God also because they have seen clearly that the Corinthians generosity flows out of their confession of the gospel of Jesus Christ. The Gentile Christians of Corinth, I mean, think about this, the Gentile Christians of Corinth giving generously to the Jewish Christians in Jerusalem. Former enemies. What else besides the gospel flowing over in our lives could bring about such generous love between former enemies? And therefore, the Jerusalem Saints, Paul says, are going to glorify God. Now, that is a very big deal. The fact that God is glorified when God's people give. You give generously, you adorn your life with the gospel, you give evidence to others that God really has laid hold of your heart and you give them an opportunity to glorify God. And isn't that our end in life and all things to bring glory to God? And then in verse 14, we see cheerful and generous giving establishes an affection and a bond of prayer between the giver and the receiver. Paul says in verse 14 that the recipients of this gift in Jerusalem will long for the Corinthians. In other words, when you give, the love and longing between Christian brothers and sisters will increase. And prayer will increase. They'll pray for you. Your giving to others offers them more occasions to pray for you. Now, let's step back here and think about the big picture of what Paul has said happens when God's people give. When we give cheerfully and generously, righteousness increases, thanksgiving increases, God is glorified, the confession of the gospel is proven true as it adorns our lives. The bond of Christian love increases and more prayers are offered. It's no small matter to give. It's no small matter to give. This is what Paul means when our giving produces fruit. In some ways, Paul is asking for a pretty simple, somewhat routine gift for other people who are in need. There's nothing spectacular here. Listen, the Jerusalem Saints, they're suffering. Please help them out a little bit. That's what Paul is saying in some ways. But the end result of this act of generosity. They're not at all simple or routine. They're magnificent. They're almost indescribably magnificent. When our hearts overflow with generosity, when that generosity results in glad, cheerful giving, God always, always, always, always bountifully multiplies those gifts. Now, what seems very plain to me is that we will never learn this kind of cheerful, abundant generosity until we first learn about God's cheerful and abundant generosity towards us through the gospel of Jesus Christ. And what's key in all of this, in our call to giving, as I end things here this morning, is our need to learn the gospel and to know it and to think upon its truths and to see God's mighty, mighty hand of generosity to us in giving us Jesus and giving us all things. And we think of the words in Ephesians 1 that speak of the rich, rich eternal treasures, spiritual treasures that are ours in Christ. In other words, God has held nothing back from us. He's given us everything in and through His Son. The more we understand that, the more we see it and know it and love it and live by that truth, The more than that truth will play out in generous, giving hearts, even in our own congregation. So let's contemplate that gospel this morning as we come to the Lord's table. Please pray with me. Heavenly Father, we thank you for your word and we thank you for your calling to give generously. I do not want anyone here to give under compulsion of guilt or having a sense of exaction put upon them. I do not myself want to give in that way. I do want us to understand, Lord, your gospel and ask for your help. When we've forgotten how generous you have been to us, When we've forgotten the promises that You've given to bless us even in our giving, when we've forgotten all of the sort of cascade of results that happen when we give generously, the thanksgiving and glory that goes to You, the glad union that's exhibited between saints, when we've forgotten these things, remind us, Lord, not so ultimately we can brag about our giving, so that ultimately we might boast in our God. For You are a generous, gracious, and compassionate God. And in Christ, our Lord and Savior, You have promised us all things. And it's in His name we pray. Amen. In Romans 8, verse 32, the Apostle Paul says that he who did not spare his own son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? Dear friends, in giving us Jesus, God has been most generous to us, hasn't he? What a gift this is, the gift of the gospel treasure we have in Christ. What a gift Jesus has delivered to us and at what great cost this gift has come. As God's people, we gather around this table this morning to remember the gift, Jesus Christ, to remember the gospel of salvation that comes through this gift. and to remember the Lord's promises to us, promises of forgiveness and grace, until He comes again to redeem us and take us home with Him. Brothers and sisters, our God is a generous, generous God. And Jesus has died so that we too might learn to be generous as well, reflecting the very righteousness of God in our hearts and minds. The Lord Jesus gave us this meal, and this meal is for Christ's church. The Apostle Paul makes this clear in 1 Corinthians 11, as he issues a warning saying, whoever therefore eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty concerning the body and blood of the Lord. Let a person examine himself then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body, eats and drinks judgment on himself." In light of those words, we recognize that this meal is, in many ways, it's a family meal. It's a meal for Christ's church, the church for whom Christ died. This is a meal that is given so that we who are sinners are able to recognize in it the broken body and shed blood of Jesus by which we live. If you're not a member of Christ Church, we ask that you allow this meal to pass you by and we call on you to call on Christ for salvation now. If you are a member of Christ Church, we invite you to come and to eat and to rejoice in God's generosity to us in Christ. Let's pray together. Heavenly Father, thank you for your generosity to us in Christ Jesus. We cannot fathom the cost of this to you. We cannot fathom the humiliation that Christ went through as he became a man and lived on this earth and suffered your wrath, although he himself was perfectly righteous. And we cannot fathom, therefore, the scope of this gift that you've given to us, this gift of Christ and salvation in him. Help us to do that a little this morning, a little more this morning, help us to know what these promises mean, help us to know what it means to be united in faith to Jesus and bless these elements as they're distributed to us today. In Jesus name we pray. Amen.