A Deeper Look into Romans 12: The Spiritual Gift of Giving

And so we're In Romans chapter 12, we're continuing our study in the book of Romans.

As we've mentioned for the past few weeks, Romans chapter one through chapter 11 really deals with the understanding of who he is and what he has done for us, who God is and what he has done, what we should believe about him, what we should believe about our faith, what we should believe about our salvation.

And really Now Romans chapter 12 on is dealing with how we should live our lives in accordance to that belief.

And we've gotten here to Romans chapter 12.

And starting in verse 6, we begin to study the gifts that God has given us within the body of believers to exercise for the furtherance of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

You know, every believer has been given something by God.

Maybe they've been given the ability to teach, maybe they've been given the opportunity to encourage.

Maybe some are leaders, some are those that extend mercy.

But today we're going to see the gift of giving.

And anytime we bring up the word giving within the church, there is some level of discomfort for some people because of maybe someone in the past that misunderstood the aspect of biblical giving, or maybe someone that's abused biblical giving.

But what we're going to see here, Romans chapter 12 is this spirit through filled God given grace that deals with the understanding of giving.

Not just our finances, even though that's a part of it, but giving ourselves to others so that they can understand God and that they can grow in the Lord.

And so today we come to a gift that often gets misunderstood.

When many people hear about giving, they immediately think it's all about money.

Well, now it's the pastor's job to come up and start to talk about giving money to the church.

And now going to hear a sales pitch.

I can guarantee you that it won't be that.

Here this morning we want to look at what the word of God says about giving.

And we want to go back a little bit deeper to the heart of giving because we can understand that there's a way to give and there's a way to give in a ungraceful spirit and then a spirit of grace, a spirit of joy.

And we're going to talk about that here this morning.

Certainly, financial generosity is part of the gift, but the gift of giving is so much larger than writing checks.

Giving includes our time, our resources, our talents, our possessions, our opportunities, our hospitality, even in our relationships, influence, and yes, finances.

And so the believer with this gift of giving consistently asks this question, how can what God has entrusted me with become a blessing to somebody else.

Think about that question that the person with the gift of giving ask, how can what God has given me become a blessing for somebody else?

Now I've had some people ask me, pastor, why are we spending so much time on these gifts that are listed here in Romans chapter 12?

Well, for me, many times when I hear Romans chapter 12 preached, I hear verses really six through eight be done in about five minutes.

Here's the gifts, here's what they mean.

Let's move on.

But I really do believe that it's important for the local church to understand the grace given gifts from God to the believer so that we can all be more effective in our service within the church.

I think that we all want to be effective servants of the Lord.

And oftentimes what happens is if someone doesn't know what their gift is, they're like, hey, well, I'm just serving, but I'm not really sure if, if I'm gifted here.

I really don't know if I'm going to be effective.

And so yes, there is a call for all of us to serve in a general manner and sometimes we do have to serve outside of our comfort zone.

But what the Bible does say is that these gifts are given to Christians, as it says in verse six, gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us.

So this is a gift from God.

Therefore it's something that we should study, it's something that we should identify in our lives.

So number one, understanding the gift that God has gifted us with or the gifts that God has gifted us with brings us effective service within the body of believers.

But it also brings us something else with understanding the gift of grace that God has given us.

And when we exercise that gift of grace within the body of believers, it brings us joy.

How many times have you seen someone serving within the church and they have no joy, they have no zeal, they think like, well, maybe I'm not even really accomplishing anything.

Well, the truth is, is that sometimes we're exercising outside of what God has gifted us in and we lose that joy of service within the body of believers.

So part of understanding our God given grace is that we understand, number one, that we can be effective.

And number two, we can understand that there can be joy in our service to the Lord.

And so that's why we're going to break down each one of these gifts in a very detailed way so that we can identify those gifts in our life and so that we can utilize those gifts within the body of believers.

So that we can be effective so that we can be joyful, and that ultimately we can give glory to the Lord.

And so we get to verse number eight of Romans chapter 12.

Last week we looked at exhortation.

You can look back at the sermon on exhortation on our YouTube or Facebook.

But we now find in verse eight, halfway through the verse, it says, he that giveth, let him do it with simplicity.

Now, that's just one phrase there, but there's a lot there.

He that giveth, give with simplicity.

Now, what does that mean, simplicity?

Well, we're going to dive deeper into that here this morning.

But basically, simplicity means giving with sincerity, generosity, and singleness of purpose.

I'm going to say that again.

Giving with simplicity means giving with sincerity, giving with generosity, and giving with a singleness of purpose.

We all know that there's a way that we can give in which we're not giving with the right motivation.

We're not giving with sincerity.

We're not giving with generosity.

We're not giving it with singleness of purpose.

We have our own purpose.

And so what we see in this passage is that, yes, it is good that we give, but those that are gifted in giving must give in a specific way, a way that God has called us to give.

It's a way that we give without hidden motives.

It's a way that we give without manipulation.

It's a way that we give without seeking recognition.

Simply put, it is giving because Christ has given to us first.

And so some of us here today might say, you know what, Pastor?

I know right now I am not spiritually gifted in the area of giving.

I'm more on one of the other gifts.

Well, that's understandable.

I think that we all understand that some of us might be gifted in certain things and not gifted in others, but it doesn't mean that we neglect that gift.

I think all of us can learn what biblical giving is here today, because even if we are not spiritually gifted in the area of giving, all of us are called to give.

And so we should learn and grow in this area within our life.

And so let's look at the understanding of gift giving.

Gift giving in the realm of Scripture is a spirit given grace and motivation to serve God by joyfully, wisely, and generously investing one's resources, abilities, possessions, opportunities, and finances to meet needs, to advance the Gospel, to strengthen Christ Church, and to glorify God.

I want you to think about those motivations.

It says there to be the kind of giver that is going to meet needs to advance the Gospel, to strengthen Christ Church, and to glorify God.

Giving should not be motivated by obligation.

Even though that's sometimes how we feel within the church.

We feel like, well, I better give or else that's not the right type of motivation.

That might be where it starts.

But biblically speaking, as God grows in our life as someone who we love, and as God works in our life and grows us as believers, we must understand that it cannot be motivated by obligation.

It must be motivated by gratitude.

The giver recognizes that everything belongs to God.

Psalm 24:1 tells us that the earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof.

And so what we have to understand when we're talking about the topic of giving is that what we have is really not even ours.

We are stewards of what God has given us.

Now, we need to define that word steward this morning because that's so very important to understand.

Giving, stewardship is this.

God gives us something to oversee for a time, to manage for a time.

It's not ours to own, but it is ours to manage and to use for the cause of the gospel.

So we as Christians are stewards of many different things that God has given us.

But ultimately we're reminded that everything belongs to God.

And when we understand that principle that everything belongs to God, it's a lot more of a joy to give because we're giving back to God for what he has already given us.

We're not the owners, we're just stewards.

Everything that we possess has first been entrusted to us by God.

We even know that in James, chapter one, verse 17.

It tells us that every good gift comes from God.

So giving is more than just money, even though that's part of it.

Money is one expression of generosity.

But throughout Scripture, we see people giving their homes, their fields, their food, their strength, their skills, their time, their encouragement, giving their lives for other Christians.

Some believers have significant financial resources, and oftentimes the gift of giving comes along with financial resources that God has blessed an individual with.

I think of Abraham, if you know anything about Abraham.

In the Old Testament, Abraham was given many financial and material resources, and he was able to use those resources to give to others.

And so oftentimes, God gives the person with the gift of grace the financial or material resources to give to people within the body of believers.

Others may have very little money, but possess other things like time, hospitality, wisdom, or even practical abilities.

So the question is never, how much do I have?

Because I think that's sometimes what people think.

They think, well, Pastor, I can't be a giver within the church because I don't have a lot.

It's not about how much do I have, but rather we should ask this question, how can I have.

How can what I have serve the Lord?

So it's not a matter of, well, I need more so that I can give.

It's a matter of, lord, what do I have that I can give to you?

And so we have to understand the motivation of the giver.

The motivation is to be invested in what God has entrusted us with so that other people can flourish spiritually.

Remember the servant.

The servant was someone who could come alongside of someone and help them so that they can do what they need to do for the Lord.

Well, the giver is very similar.

The giver is someone who says, I can come and give you what you need so that you can do what God has called you to do.

So as you understand this, within the Christian church, within the body of believers, we see the giver helping the teacher.

We see the giver helping the prophet.

We see the giver helping the exhorter to do what they have been called to do.

The giver provides those things and invests in that way so that people can spiritually flourish within the body of Christ.

And so they're asking questions like this, who needs help?

What need can be met within the body?

How can God's work move forward?

How can we move things forward in this plan?

What has God placed in my hands, in my possession for his kingdom?

And so the giver finds joy not in possessing, but in releasing and investing into the kingdom of God.

Jesus tells us that giving is a blessing.

Acts chapter 20, verse 35 says this.

It is more blessed to give than to receive.

We understand that there is a blessing in receiving, but what the Bible says is that it's more blessed to give than receive.

Why?

Because.

Because we're investing into the kingdom of God.

We're investing into a brother or sister in Christ so that they can see the blessings of God in their life.

And so as we've studied this passage of Scripture, we've seen that people who are gifted in these areas can either exercise the gift in the flesh or in the spirit.

And that's really the Christian life in general.

If you think about the Christian life in the big picture, we really have a decision to make every day.

And I would even say not just every day, but basically every minute.

We have a decision on whether or not we're going to feed the flesh or feed the spirit.

Are we going to Yield to the spirit in the way that God has for us to live.

Are we going to give into the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life?

Well, we know that as we're gifted in certain areas, we can exercise it in the flesh or in the spirit.

So what does a spirit filled giver look like?

Well, biblically speaking, a spirit filled giver recognizes that everything belongs to God.

We already talked about that before.

We should recognize in the Spirit that everything that I have belongs to God.

Sometimes we get possessive.

Sometimes we think, well God, you can have this, but not this.

You can have my 10%, but nothing else.

Lord, this is my thing, this is my job, this is my house, these are my children.

And what we have to understand is that in the grand picture, the grand design of the Christian walk, God owns it all.

And so a spirit filled giver understands that we're just stewards, we're just managers, we're not the owners.

Every blessing is an opportunity for ministry, but also a spirit filled giver gives joyfully.

We're going to see in Second Corinthians, chapter 9 that the Bible says that God loves a cheerful giver.

So a spirit filled giver is joyful when he or she gives.

Giving isn't painful, but it's worship.

We understand that as we exercise these gifts within the church, that's worship.

And so a spirit led grace giver is someone who delights in seeing God use what God has already entrusted them with.

So God, you've given me this.

I'm so happy that you're using me to do this because you are the source of all of this within my life.

So there's a joy in giving.

But also we see that they give quietly.

It's not about having attention.

They don't let the left hand know what the right hand does.

And so for a spirit filled giver, recognition is not necessary.

We're going to see the flip side of that is that a spirit filled giver does need recognition.

But for a, for a flesh filled.

Sorry, excuse me.

A flesh filled giver is going to need recognition.

So what we're going to see is that they give with sensitive sensitivity to the needs of the body.

They're sensitive to people that are in pain.

They're sensitive to people who are going through loss.

And oftentimes it's they who don't necessarily notice because that might be someone who has the gift of mercy or maybe a servant.

But as they are aware of the gift that is needed, they notice and then they Quietly ask, what can I do?

How can I provide?

And so there is this spirit filled giver who is sensitive to needs.

They are generous not necessarily because they're wealthy, because we know that not everyone that's wealthy is generous, but because they trust God.

Generosity is based in the measure of faith that we have in the Lord.

Lord, I trust you that you're going to provide and I can provide for other people.

So it's not.

Generosity is not measured by dollars.

It's measured by sacrifice.

It's measured by submitting ourselves to the Lord and saying, how can I meet someone else's need?

Another way that a spirit filled giver reacts is they invest into eternal things.

It's not all about the material.

It's not all about the here and now.

They're thinking, yes, that this is a possession that we have now.

But it's not for the here and now.

It's not for the material, it's not for the temporary, but it's for the kingdom of God.

It's for eternal matters.

They understand when Jesus said, lay not up your treasures here on this world, but lay up your treasures in heaven, that that's a principle that they live by.

What I'm going to give now is not for the here and now, but it's for eternity.

It might get noticed, it might not get noticed, but God understands that I am sacrificing for him.

Another way that a spirit filled giver reacts is that they're wise stewards.

There's wisdom in their giving.

It doesn't, by the way, generosity doesn't eliminate wisdom.

We should have discernment in our giving.

We shouldn't just throw our money out everywhere and not know where it's going.

The Bible says that someone who is gifted in this area with the Spirit guiding them does have an element of wisdom in their life.

They seek to maximize the kingdom of God, to utilize it for the right purposes.

They delight in seeing others succeed.

And ultimately they delight in seeing the Lord be glorified through the their giving, not themselves.

That's a spirit filled giver.

But then we look at the other side of the coin.

The fleshly expressions of the gift would be seen this way.

Because we know that even generosity can become self centered when exercised in the flesh.

So Jesus warns against this.

He says, don't give to be seen of men, but to give before the Lord.

The applause of people becomes reward for some people and therefore it's giving to men so that they can get the praise of men.

So a fleshly expression of the Gift of giving is to give for recognition like I gave.

And I need someone to recognize that another way that it could be experienced fleshly is they give to gain influence.

And so instead of helping other people, it's to control other people.

Their generosity becomes manipulation and that manipulation becomes some level of control.

That's the flesh filled experience.

When it comes to the gift of giving, sometimes the person who is the giver, who is trusting in the flesh, trusts the wealth more than God.

Well, I know that God said this, but hey, I'm the one that has the money, I'm the one that has the resources.

And so I'm going to trust in the material and not the things of God.

There's that temptation to be trusting the wealth.

More than the power of God, there is a temptation to become prideful.

As someone who becomes more and more generous continues to give, they become spiritually in their mind superior and therefore fall into the trap of being prideful.

Sometimes there's the temptation to judge others that aren't giving as much as you.

Sometimes there's the temptation to give with strings attached.

Generosity does not have strings attached.

True generosity expects nothing in return.

I was just having a conversation with a Bible study that I have and I said, you know what?

When God calls us to love someone, it's not the type of love that the world defines as love.

The world's love is this love.

People who do things for you love people who give you enjoyment love people who reciprocate that love.

But the Bible says that the love that we're called to have is a different type of love.

We're called to love people that as the Bible says, are unlovable.

We're called to love people that are enemies.

We called to love people that are difficult.

And the Bible says that that's the same thing with our giving.

If our giving is based in love, it's not about receiving something in return, but it's about giving it for the kingdom of God.

And so what that can bring about is resentfulness.

The giver who is exercising in the flesh can become resentful.

When appreciation is lacking and joy disappears, they now turn to the understanding that, well, maybe it's not worth it to give and it reveals their motivation.

Sometimes flesh filled givers are enablers instead of helpers.

Well, hey, you know, this person has a problem, we'll just give money to them and that'll make sure everything will go away.

And that's not always the answer.

Sometimes giving finances are a good thing.

So sometimes helping someone out out of a situation is a good thing when it comes to the financial resources.

But sometimes we think that money can solve all of our problems.

And so it's not necessarily about enabling, it's about helping people.

And so as we mentioned before, wisdom should always accompany generosity.

And sometimes what happens with the giver, the flesh filled giver, is that they neglect their own selves or their own family because they're helping others in need.

And the Bible does say that we should be good keepers of our home.

The Bible says that we should take care of those that we love and those that were overseeing.

And so oftentimes generosity can become an excuse for irresponsibility.

And what we as Christians need to understand is that responsibility needs to be tied to generosity.

And the Bible tells us that that is the way that it should be exercised in the Spirit.

So let's go to 2 Corinthians, chapter 8.

This is going to be our main text here this morning.

Second Corinthians, chapter eight.

We're going to see an example of the Macedonian church who were considered to be wonderful grace givers.

And I think that this can be an example for all of us as we look into the word here this morning, that even if we're not gifted by the grace of giving, we all should understand what it means to be a grace giver so that we can exercise it within our lives in a way that glorifies God.

2 Corinthians, chapter 8.

Paul is speaking to the church at Corinth, and he's reminding the church at Corinth that they were the ones that influenced the Macedonian church to be givers.

But now what's happening is that church at Corinth has backed off in their giving.

And by the way, the church at Corinth had many resources.

And what we're going to see is that the Macedonian church didn't have as many resources, but the Corinthian church had backed off in their giving.

They had backed off in their joy.

They had backed off in their passion to support the work of God.

And, and so this chapter defines, I believe, biblical generosity and what it means to be a grace giver.

Paul is encouraging the church here in Corinth to participate in an offering for helping the suffering believers at Jerusalem.

But before even speaking about money, he talks about something greater.

He talks about grace.

And that's why we see that this passage deals with something called grace giving.

Look at verse number one with me says, moreover, brethren, we do you, to wit, or to understand, of the grace of God bestowed on the churches of Macedonia.

He doesn't say here in verse one.

Look, Corinth Church.

The Macedonians are good givers.

You be good givers.

No, he starts with the grace of God.

He starts with the motivation.

He starts with the blessing that the Lord has brought to the church at Macedonia.

So what I want you to see here as we get started is that he doesn't bring up money.

He doesn't bring up giving.

He brings up grace.

And what this tells us is that giving always should be based in grace.

It should always be based in understanding of what God has done for us in our life.

Their circumstances did not control their giving.

What controlled their giving, it was God's grace.

Oftentimes we think about circumstances controlling all of these gifts that we see in Romans chapter 12.

But what the Bible says is that that is not the deciding factor of how we exercise these gifts.

The deciding factor of how we exercise these gifts is the grace of God.

So he says, remember, understand, know the grace of God, verse 2.

How that in great trial of affliction, the abundance of their joy and their deep poverty abounded unto the riches of their liberality.

You would say, what is that even saying?

He says this.

They're in a great trial of affliction.

They're finding themselves in deep poverty.

Yet because of the grace of God, they're able to give, as it says there, liberally.

It goes back to the same understanding that we see in Romans 12:8.

Those that give give with simplicity.

Those that give give liberally or generously.

And so it's not about their circumstance, because if it was about their circumstance, the Macedonian church would have every reason not to give.

It says that they were in great affliction.

It says that they were in deep poverty, but it says also that they had joy and that they had the riches of God that allowed them to give generously.

Verse 3.

For to their power I bear record, yea.

And beyond their power, they were willing of themselves.

The Bible says that they gave beyond their own power.

And that's really what it is within our Christian walk, when we serve the Lord, when we give anything to the Lord, when we serve within the church, folks, we are able to serve beyond our capabilities when we're doing it in the grace and the power of God.

I. I love the fact that I can recognize where I fall short and then I can recognize where God takes over.

That's the beauty of the grace of God.

And folks, it's more than just giving.

It's in every element of our lives.

It's in every gift, let's say, for example, you're a teacher and you get to a situation and you say, there's no way that I can teach this difficult subject.

There's no way that I can communicate this to the next generation.

There's no way that.

That I can articulate this in a way that's going to impact someone's life.

And the truth is, is that you might fall short with your resources.

You might hit the end of your power.

But the Bible says it's because of the power of God that we can exceed the expectations that we have in our life and we can follow through with faith and understand that God can push us farther than we could ever expect.

And that's what verse three is all about.

He says, they gave beyond their power.

Why?

Because they were willing of themselves.

They were given, giving themselves over to the Lord.

They gave beyond their ability, but we see that they first gave of themselves.

Let's go to verses number four and five, he says, praying us with much entreaty that we would receive the gift.

Basically, the church in Macedonia was begging the.

The church in Jerusalem to take the money and take upon us the fellowship of the ministering of the saints.

They had a goal of helping people, and they said, no, please let us help.

We have a desire to help.

But verse five, it says, and this, they did not, as we hoped, but first gave their own selves to the Lord and unto us by the will of God.

So before they gave anything else to anybody else, they gave themselves to the Lord.

Before they gave money, they gave themselves.

They gave their heart to a life of submission to the Lord.

God has never primarily wanted our money and our wallets.

He wants our heart.

And so when we give our heart to the Lord, everything else follows.

Our finances, our time, our talents, our possessions, our family, everything.

When we give him our heart, it's not a chore to do things for him because our heart is already there.

That's where our treasure is.

And so what we see here in 2nd Corinthians, chapter 8 is.

Paul's not addressing the issue of giving.

He's addressing the issue of the heart.

And it's the heart that brings us the opportunity to follow whatever we desire.

So he says, if your heart desires the Lord, you will give properly.

If your heart desires the Lord, you will teach properly.

You will exhort, you will have mercy, you will have compassion.

And so it's always a matter of the heart.

If I got up here today and say, hey, folks, we need money.

We're lacking in money, please.

You got to give.

You got to give.

And it's all compelling in the concept of making you feel guilty, making you feel as if something's going to be lost if you don't give.

That motivation might be effective for a time, but the motivation of the heart must be the motivation of what we ultimately desire.

And if we ultimately desire just things, eventually those things are never going to give us satisfaction.

And eventually we might say, yeah, I'm not getting what I want, so I'm not going to give.

Folks, the motivation has to be that I love God, and he has called me to give.

I love God, and he's called me to serve.

I. I love God, and he's called me to teach.

I love God, and he's called me to exhort.

Folks, the matter is always a matter of the heart.

So they were able to give beyond their ability.

They were able to give in times of poverty.

They were able to give in times of pain and suffering.

Why?

Because of the grace of God, and they considered it a privilege.

You, you see it there in verse four, it says, they said, please let us give the gift.

Paul was probably saying, look, you guys have a difficult situation.

You don't need to give.

And they're like, no, please let us be a blessing.

Sometimes that's hard.

Sometimes it's hard to give when we don't know when it's going to come next.

And I'm not saying here this morning that you should give your last dollar to the Lord and not be able to eat.

That's not what we're saying here.

What we're saying is that when we give the heart, God will reveal to us what we're able to give, and he'll place it upon our hearts.

I think that one of the examples of a grace giver is found in Second Corinthians, chapter 8.

I know a lot of people will talk about the widow with two mites, and they'll say, pastor, that passage of Scripture teaches that every single person in the church should give everything that they have.

I think that that is one element, is that we should be giving more than what's expected.

But I do believe that the story of the widow of two mites is also about how the leaders, the spiritual leaders, the Pharisees, were abusing the widows and telling them that they had to give everything.

And they were misrepresenting the love of Christ within the church.

At that time, it wasn't the church, it was the synagogue.

But what we see is that the Jesus in that context was talking about not abusing the widows because the Pharisees were abusing the widow.

So I'm not here today saying, hey, look, if you've got $20 in your pocket, give that last $20 to me and I'll take that from you.

No, that's not what this is about.

Because your, your life matters.

You need to consider that.

So that's not what that's talking about here.

What's talking about is this.

If God places something on your heart, he gives you the resources, he gives you the conviction, then we should act on that.

And so the possibility is that we might have to give out of poverty.

But the other side of the coin is that most of us are not in poverty.

Most of us are greatly blessed with the things of God.

Now you might say, pastor, I think there might be people that are blessed more than me.

That might be the case.

Okay.

But relatively speaking, let's talk about this this morning.

Relatively speaking, all of us are greatly blessed with the grace of food, clothing.

Most of us have some level of transportation.

Most of us are probably living with some level of shelter in our lives.

Now, it might not be the type of shelter that you've always wanted.

It might not be your dream home.

You might not be driving the vehicle that you always dreamed you'd have.

But the truth is, is that God has greatly blessed us.

And if we think about it, I love being an American.

I love living in America.

I'm proud to be an American.

I'm thankful to be here.

But what opened up my eyes was leaving America and going to another country that didn't have the same resources that we had.

And I was looking at it, how can these people be happy?

I'm looking at someone that their house is literally like the size of probably my bedroom.

And I'm looking at that going, wow.

I'm going to come and try to impart some, like, wisdom and knowledge to them and tell them what it means to have the joy of the Lord.

And they're smiling and having the joy of the Lord.

And I'm going, how can you have the joy of the Lord?

Where's your vehicle?

They're like, we don't.

We walk.

These are our vehicles right here.

And I'm like, wow.

And that was a wake up call for me.

Because if I'm honest, can I. I'll be honest with you today.

I'm going to try to be honest with you as much as I can.

There's been times in my life where I've looked at what God has blessed me with.

And I said, why can't I have more?

I want to have that house that that person has.

I want to have the vehicle that that person has.

I want to have whatever that that person has.

And that covetous spirit has brought me to a place where I'm like, I can't give because I can't afford to give folks.

You can't not afford to give.

Okay?

The reality is, is that God has given us so much in our life.

And I'm not here today to say, hey, look, there's a prosperity gospel that if you just love God, he'll give you more money.

That's not what I'm talking about.

It's a completely different thing.

What I am saying is that if we look into our life and if we're honest with ourselves, God has greatly blessed us.

And so we see in Romans, chapter 12 and 2 Corinthians, chapter 8, that it should be considered a privilege to give, not an obligation.

And again, I'm not talking just about finances.

I was.

I was so pleased and thankful to look around at VBS and see people working behind the scenes, getting the food out.

I was.

It was amazing to see people working security, people working in the classrooms, getting people to memorize verses, setting up for the game time.

It was a blessing to see people giving of their time and their talents for the Lord.

Folks, you didn't have to be out here for that.

There could have been a lot of other things that you were doing that was less stressful, but God had called you for that moment to do that thing, and that was such a blessing.

And those kids will remember that.

They'll remember the blessings that they had at vbs.

And it's important because that's a thing that's going to last for eternity.

And so in 2 Corinthians, chapter 8, he says that it was a blessing.

It was a privilege to give.

And so we see going further, a little bit more.

He says in verse number six, in so much that we desired Titus, that as he had begun, so we he would finish in you the same grace also.

And so what Paul says this, we sent Titus to you so that you could have that same blessing, so that you could have that same grace.

He says, therefore, verse seven, as ye abound in everything.

So he says, you guys at the church at Corinth, you guys have so many gifts, you have so many talents, you have so many areas of service.

Verse 7.

He says that in everything in faith.

He says, you guys have so much faith and in utterance in your speech and in.

And in knowledge and in all diligence and your love to us.

Paul is commending the church at Corinth, saying, you have so many great gifts.

You guys have faith, you guys have teaching, you guys have service, you guys have love, you guys have knowledge, you have diligence.

You have all these things.

He says, see that ye abound in this grace.

Also, he says, don't neglect the gift of giving within all the other blessings that you have.

He says, you're abundantly blessed with so much spiritually and materially.

Don't miss this grace because it is a gift to be able to give.

And that's what he's mentioning here in verse number seven.

Then he says in verse eight, he says, I speak not by commandment, but by the occasion of foreignness of others.

And to prove the sincerity of your love, he basically says this.

He says, yes, you can not give and still receive these blessings from the Lord, but you're missing out and you're missing the opportunity to display your love for others.

One of the many ways that we can show our love for other people is by giving.

One of the ways that we can show our love for the Lord is by giving not just our finances, but also our time and our treasure and our talents and all the things that we have within our life as gifts.

And there's a lot of other occasions in Scripture that speak to biblical examples of giving.

There's the.

Of course, we already mentioned the widow with two mites.

She.

She didn't measure out like, well, I can't afford to give this.

She gave everything.

But I do believe that passage also deals more with the Pharisees who are abusing this widow.

There's also the story of the good Samaritan.

Some of you know the story of the good Samaritan.

There's this fellow who's on the side of the road.

He's half dead.

He's beaten.

He's been taken for everything that he has.

And the Samaritan who comes along, who shouldn't in the story be the logical person to help that individual, you remember who came by before them.

It was a priest and a Levite.

It was the religious people that should have helped.

It wasn't the Samaritan.

Why?

Because the Samaritan and the Jew were enemies.

But the Samaritan said, no, I'm going to help this individual.

And In Luke, chapter 10, it tells us that he gave him his time.

He gave him oil, he gave him bandages, he gave him transportation.

He gave him money.

And he gave him hope.

He gave him an opportunity to have a second chance.

And that speaks not only to the Christian as a believer.

We should be the one who is giving, but ultimately speaks to the greatest act of grace.

And that is the grace that God gave us by giving us his only begotten Son for us for salvation.

Barnabas was a giver.

There was an interesting character in Acts, chapter nine named Dorcas.

It says that she was full of good works.

She gave clothing, she gave practical help, she gave of her abilities.

There was, think about in John, chapter six, the boy with the loaves and fishes.

There was that opportunity for him to give just a small piece.

But eventually God multiplied that to feed thousands.

And so when we surrender ourselves to Christ, God multiplies.

And so we see all those biblical examples of giving, and there's so many more.

But the greatest example of giving is found in Second Corinthians, chapter 8, verse 9.

I want you to go there with me because this is where we're going to spend the rest of our time.

Some people say, well, you know what, Pastor, I haven't been given very much, so I don't know what I can give.

I'm not talented.

I don't have a lot of resources.

I'm limited.

So what?

What have I received?

Well, 2nd Corinthians 8, 9 summarizes this so well.

It summarizes what we have in Jesus and what he has given us.

And as you've seen as a theme in this study, we're ending every sermon with the greatest example of these gifts being Jesus Christ.

So 2 Corinthians, chapter 8, verse 9.

He says this, for ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich man.

Is that an understatement?

The Bible says that God owns the cattle on a thousand hills.

He owns all the wealth in all the world.

Jesus left his estate.

Jesus left the place that he had as God over the universe.

And it says that he came.

And what does it say?

Says that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor.

This speaks of the humbled nature of Jesus, as Philippians chapter two says, that he took the form of a servant.

Jesus comes and sacrifices all of the benefits of being who he is, and comes.

And he could have been born anywhere.

He could have been born in the palace.

He could have been born in the richest family.

But no, Jesus came and was born in a stable, in a manger, in a lowly place.

Why did he do that?

Well, the Bible's going To tell us why he did that, he was placed in a feeding trough, probably in a cave in Bethlehem.

He grew up in a place called Nazareth.

And we know that the reputation of Nazareth was what good could come from Nazareth?

Jesus humbled himself.

Why?

Why did he become poor?

And it's not just talking about physically or materially poor.

He poured himself out for us.

Why, as it says here in verse nine, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor.

That why that ye, through his poverty might be rich.

Now, if you were taking this verse out of context, you would say, well, Jesus became poor so that I could become materially rich.

But if you understand the context of this passage, he's not talking necessarily about the material.

He's talking about the spiritual and he's talking about all the riches and the blessings that we find in knowing Jesus Christ.

And he says, jesus gave everything for you so that you could experience what he has, so that you could experience everlasting life, so that you can experience forgiveness, so that you can experience love, so that you can experience hope and knowing that you can be united with your heavenly Father one day.

And so Romans chapter 8 says that we can cry out abba, Father.

That we can have access to our Heavenly Father by.

By going to the throne of grace.

Why?

Because of our high priest, Jesus Christ.

And so he says, Jesus became poor so that you could become rich.

Not in the financial, but in the spiritual.

And so Jesus possessed all the glory in heaven, perfect fellowship with the Father, infinite majesty.

Yet he became poor for our sakes.

He entered into our world.

He took on flesh.

He endured rejection, he suffered, he died.

Not because he deserved that death.

And guess what?

Not because we deserve that death, but because he loved us.

We give because he first gave.

We love because he first loved.

Not gold, not land, not possessions.

It was the Son of God who gave Himself for us.

It's the one who was placed on a cross, beaten, mocked, not because he had to, but because of his love for us.

He was willing to endure the cross.

The Bible says in the Book of Hebrews that it was because of his joy that he endured the cross.

That's the type of love that should drive the understanding of what our giving is all about.

He's given me so much.

The least I can do is give as he's given me.

I hope that we can understand here this morning that giving is not necessarily something that we do just to receive the love of God.

There are some people that teach that we'll give more and you'll get more love.

Hey, you know what?

Just call this number and I'll send you this little prayer card and you can give more money and more blessings.

Folks, that's not what God has called us to do.

That's called manipulation.

Let me just tell you the truth here this morning.

God loves you infinitely.

You can't get him to love you anymore.

You say, well, if I just try a little bit harder, give a little bit more.

No, folks, God already proved his love to you on the cross.

But God commended or demonstrated his love toward us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

That's enough.

That's the proof.

That's infinite love.

That's infinite grace.

Now we get to be the beneficiaries of that grace.

And we give as we understand how beautiful that is.

When we give, we understand that God infinitely loves us.

And it's not about earning his love, but it's about reciprocating what he has done for us in thankfulness, in gratitude.

And that's the motivation.

So someone who's been gifted by the gift of grace.

We don't give with strings attached.

We don't give with ulterior motivations.

We don't give with control.

We give because God has given to us.

And so there's this phrase that if you can think about this today and meditate upon it here this week, I believe it'll help all of us when it comes to the understanding of the gift of giving.

It's this giving as we have been given.

All God asks us to do is give as we have been given.

God has given us so much.

The Christian life is just a continual response to God's generosity.

God has given us grace instead of condemnation.

He's given us mercy instead of judgment.

He's given us forgiveness instead of wrath.

He's given us eternal life instead of eternal death.

He's given us spiritual gifts for ministry.

He's given us the Holy Spirit for comfort, for power, for conviction.

He's given us the church to encourage us and to exhort us.

And he's given us daily provisions for our needs so that we can live for Him.

And so the question is not, do I have enough to give?

The question is, is how should we live?

Well, we live in gratitude and thankfulness.

And then that brings and breeds mercy, grace, forgiveness.

We give because we've been given to.

We forgive because we've been forgiven.

We show mercy because we've received mercy.

We serve because Christ first served us.

And so generosity is simply the gospel being made visible to the world.

We're demonstrating just a portion of the love of what God has done for us.

And that's what generosity, that's what giving looks like.

And so if God has given you the gift of giving, steward, faithfully give joyfully, give wisely, give quietly, give sacrificially give, because Christ has given everything to you.

And so when we go through the study, understand that there are going to be people, that this is not a struggle for giving is like, it's natural.

Of course I'm going to give.

That's just what I'm doing because that's how I'm gifted.

It's kind of like telling me it's not a stretch for me to teach.

Okay, I'm gonna, I told someone recently, if I wasn't teaching in the church, I'd be teaching somewhere.

God has wired my brain.

Whether it's good teaching or not.

I want to teach.

I'm gonna teach.

I try to teach my children all the time.

Like, hey, guys, let me tell you what this is all about.

Let me, let me explain to you that this is what you need to do.

Like, going out fishing with my son is always a struggle.

And my daughter, because when, when we first started, I have my children out, like two years old.

Silas is already out with the fishing rod and trying to get it going.

And Micah, he's not here, so I'm going to talk about him.

First time he would get out there, he tried to cast the rod and he throw it.

Dad, it's not, this rod's not working.

This, this, this reel's not good.

I said, son, it's, it's Cuz you're not using it right.

Let me try to teach you.

So pops it open and we work on it.

Then, you know, he gets older and he starts getting a little bit better, and then we get a little bit more advanced.

So it used to be a little button that you push and you throw it.

Now it's like you open it up and, and then I, I, I'm gaining a little bit more trustful with him that he can move down the bank a little bit and fish over here.

And he's, he's on his own a little bit more.

And he comes up to me not too long ago when we were fishing, and his whole fishing reel was like a bird's nest.

And he's like, dad, how did this happen?

And I said, well, obviously you did something wrong.

And he was like, no, no, it wasn't me.

This wasn't me.

I didn't do anything wrong.

I said, son, it lines up that you did something wrong.

And so instead of, you know, and different people would deal differently in that situation, you know, a mercy might say, oh, I'm so.

And like, crying with him.

I'm so sorry, Micah.

This is bad.

We don't have, you know, a teacher like me sits down and says, okay, son, this is all the things you did wrong to get to this place.

But a giver might say, well, son, you know what?

That's just beyond repair.

Let's just go buy you a new one.

Okay, that's maybe the giver.

So the point is, some of us here are just going to be natural givers, just going to exude out of us.

And that's a blessing.

That's a gift of God.

But there's a way to exercise that in the spirit, the right way, or to exercise that in the flesh and be a certain way.

So if you are gifted in that area of giving, utilize it in the spirit.

Do it for the cause of the kingdom.

Don't do it with the strings attached.

Don't do it with control.

Don't do it to get the praise of man.

Do it because it's an honor and glory to the Lord and it helps others.

But if you're like me, maybe, and you don't have the natural gift of giving, you think about all the reasons why you shouldn't give and why there might be better places to do certain things.

Folks, it is a command from God to.

To some degree, give back to Him.

God has called us to give.

And so he's not asking for everything.

He's asking for us to be able to invest back into the kingdom of God.

So for.

For me, or maybe for you, it's a matter of learning what it means to be a grace giver, learning from those that are spiritually gifted in the area of giving.

And so the measure of generosity is not found in the size of the gift necessarily, but it's found in the greatness of the Savior who has motivated us to give.

And so like you to ask a few questions to yourself here, and then we'll close.

Number one, do I view everything I possess as belonging to God?

It's a real question that I want you to think about here this morning.

Do I look at everything that I have and do I say, yes, this belongs to God?

Or do I say, God, you can have this, but not this?

I encourage you to think about that here this morning.

But number two, the question would be this.

Am I giving from obligation or Gratitude.

If it is obligation, let's inspect our lives.

Second Corinthians, chapter nine tells us to be cheerful givers.

If I'm not cheerful in my giving, I'm not following the way that God has told me to give.

Third, is there a need God is prompting me to meet right now?

Sometimes what happens is as God has given us an opportunity to give, he responds with giving us.

What I would say is a prompt or a conviction to say, God's placed that upon my heart.

I'm going to tell you, I didn't know the country of Rwanda existed like, three years ago.

Maybe, maybe I heard about it, but I just didn't know anything about it.

And it's probably like you.

You didn't know anything about it.

But when I went, my heart was there.

It's like, wow, there's some kind of like God's placing them on my heart.

Now you say, well, I've never been to Rwanda.

I don't have that heart.

I understand that.

But you know where your heart might be?

Bbs.

Man, I saw those kids out here, and that was something unique.

That was something different.

I've never seen kids having joy like that.

I've never seen people working together like that.

Your heart might be there.

Maybe you say, well, Pastor, my heart's not in VBS or Wanda, but maybe I've traveled to this country and that's where my heart is.

I don't know where God is going to place your heart in giving, but what I am going to say is that God will place you in a place where you are going to desire to invest into the kingdom of God in the way that he has called you to invest.

But then I would ask you this question.

Have you given yourself completely to the Lord in your heart?

Or are you trying to say, lord, I'll give you this, you give me this.

I have this, and I'm not going to let you have that.

Have you given yourself completely to Him?

What if God called you?

Let's just say the big what if today.

What if God called you to start a ministry?

What if God called you to give to this need?

What if God moved you?

What if God changed you?

You don't know what God has in store unless you give yourself over to him and be willing and ready to move when he calls you to move or to stay when he calls you to stay.

And last but not least, does my generosity, my giving, my sacrifice point people to me or to Jesus Christ?

Is it about me or is it about him?

And that could be for any one of these gifts is my gift of teaching, my gift of exhortation, my gift of mercy, my gift of service in Is it about me or is it about Him?

Well, the Bible tells us that it's all about Him.

It's all about giving glory to Him.

And so the gift of giving is the Spirit given motivation to joyfully steward everything that God has entrusted us with for his glory and for the good of others.

It's not merely about financial generosity, but it's an offering of our lives, our resources, our abilities and our opportunities in response to the immeasurable gift that God has given us in our life.

When we live this way, when we live with that attitude of gratitude, we're able to see the blessing in the gift that God has given us.

And so we see that God tells us over and over again that it is a beautiful gift that he's given us.

Second Corinthians, chapter 9, verse 15 says, thanks be to God for this unspeakable gift, this immeasurable gift.

God has given us the greatest gift in our salvation.

And if you don't know Jesus Christ as your personal Savior, the Bible says that today can be the day of salvation.

The Bible says that today you can find forgiveness.

Today you can find grace.

Today you can find everlasting life.

Jesus died on the cross for your sins.

Say sins.

I'm not a sinner.

I'm a good person.

Bible says for all have sinned to come short of the glory of God.

I hope that you understand that it's not about being a good person, because where do we get that definition of good?

Well, I'm better than that person.

You might be less of a sinner than that person, but the Bible says, for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.

So really the true standard of goodness is Jesus Christ.

And I think all of us, if we match ourselves up to Jesus Christ, will understand that we're never going to meet that standard.

That's not bad news, that's good news.

The good news is that I can meet the standard of Jesus Christ, but what I can know is the gift of grace.

Jesus died on the cross for our sins.

The Bible says that he demonstrated his love towards us.

But the Bible also says that he rose again on the third day and that he conquered death through the resurrection.

And then Ephesians 2, 8:9 says, for by grace are you saved through faith, and that not of yourselves.

It is a gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast.

And so today you can receive that gift.

You can believe in Jesus Christ today and no forgiveness, no love, no hope, and no satisfaction and sufficiency in him.

And then it's not a matter of man, it's such a struggle to give, but it's a matter of I get to give to the Lord.

And so here today, please know that this is not Pastor Josh trying to plead with you and pull all of your resources so that I can have more things.

Folks, I want you to understand that I have more than I've ever wanted in my life.

I am gifted beyond what I have ever expected in my life.

And I think all of us, if we're honest, would understand that.

So it's not a matter of trying to get new things and nice things and having all the bells and whistles.

It's a matter of fueling the kingdom of God and being the vessel of the gospel, going out to the world and so invest into the kingdom.

If there's something that we're doing at Middletown Baptist Church that is not about bringing disciples into Jesus Christ, it's time to reevaluate it.

Everything that we do must be for the cause of making disciples.

Let me tell you this.

Someone told me this recently, and it was a good teaching.

They said, what are you doing at Middletown Baptist Church in this area?

What ministries do you have?

What's the vision for all those ministries?

And it made me really think.

And I'm going to tell you what.

What I believe should be the answer to that question.

When someone asks, why do you do vbs?

Why do you do men's ministry?

Why do you have a teen group?

Why do you have small groups?

Why do you have the music ministry?

Here it is.

I'm going to give you the answer.

It's a very simple answer.

To make disciples.

That's what it is.

Because if there's an answer outside of that, it's not a biblical answer.

Well, I have.

We have VBS because it's a place where we can drop our kids off.

That's not a biblical reason.

You can drop your kids off anywhere.

Truth is, is that we must understand that everything that we do is to make disciples.

So that would also go for giving.

Why do you give to the church?

Well, because I have to or people are going to get mad at me.

No, that's not it.

First of all, let me tell you, I don't know what you give here at Middletown Baptist Church.

Way of transparency.

I have no idea what anybody gives here.

I know what the final total is, but I don't Know what everyone's giving.

I don't know if you are giving, that's a good thing.

I don't need to see that.

But at the end of the day, what it is, is if I said to you, what's your reason for giving a Middletown Baptist Church?

And you said, any other reason other than it's to make disciples for Jesus Christ, I would say, well, then we've got a problem with our motivation.

Because our motivation as the church is the great commission to go and make disciples for Jesus Christ.

If it's for any other reason, we've lost track.

It's not for entertainment.

It's not for pleasure.

It's not for satisfaction.

Everything that we do within the church should be to glorify God by making disciples for him.

How do we make disciples for him?

We live out the message of Jesus Christ in the Gospel.

And so the way that you give is a gospel ministry.

The way that you serve is a gospel ministry.

The way that you teach is gospel ministry.

The way that you respond to fellow Christians is a gospel ministry.

That the way that you sacrifice for people is a gospel ministry.

And so let me think about it this morning from this perspective.

It's this.

Don't see all these things that you do within the church as segmented things that are totally different.

See them all aligned with worship and the gospel ministry.

And when we see it that way, when we see giving as worship, when we see giving as a gospel ministry for the Lord, we're able to do it in such a way that is joyful, that isn't with strings attached, that isn't manipulation.

And we can ultimately say that, hey, you know what?

The reason why I give is because of what God has given me and he's given me everything.

So praise God for that.

If you need to trust in Jesus Christ as your Savior today, we're going to have an opportunity for you to respond.

Get on track, get on the path of the race that is set before you because of what Jesus Christ has done for you.

I'm going to ask if you're able to stand with me this morning, every head bowed, every eye closed as the music plays here today, or going to respond?

This isn't about impressing somebody or influencing somebody.

This is all about responding to what God has told us in his word.

The first question that I have to ask is this.

Do you know Jesus as your personal savior?

I would not be doing what God has called me to do unless I confront you with that decision here this morning.

Do you know Jesus?

Oh, yeah.

I know about him.

I heard about him.

I know his story.

No, do you know him in a personal way?

Do you have a relationship with him?

Have you placed your faith and trust in who he is and what he has done for you on the cross, conquering death through the tomb and ultimately ruling and reigning for you today?

If that's something that you need, we've got folks up here that will show you in the Bible what it means to know Jesus and to know the greatest gift ever given.

But secondly, if you have trusted in Jesus Christ but yet giving is a struggle for you, maybe you say, I just don't know how I could give anything this morning.

Maybe come forward and just recognize what God has done for you and give back just a portion of what he has blessed you with.

I would ask you to think about this this morning.

This is the last appeal.

Maybe you have been gifted in the area of giving.

Maybe you're just like, I love to give.

But am I giving out of the right spirit or am I giving because of me?

Is it about control or is it about compassion?

Is it about manipulation?

Or is it about the message of the gospel of Jesus Christ here this morning?

May it be that it's the message of the gospel, that it's the compassion of the grace that Jesus Christ extended to me as I have been greatly given, so I will give to him.

Lord, I pray that you'd be in this time of invitation working hearts and lives.

We thank you for all that you do in Jesus name Amen.

As the music plays follows the Lord leads here this morning.