THE GENEROUS SERVANT
2 CORINTHIANS 9:6 11
Illustration #103 Larson
READ 2 COR 9:6 11
In these verses Paul was talking to the Corinthian church about taking an offering for the suffering saints in famine stricken Jerusalem. He was urging them to give...not grudgingly but generously, like the Macedonians who had given an offering out of their poverty.
Now what does this have to do with hurting, downcast people who are bankrupt of resources? People who need help...people who are even generous in their giving.
I think this has everything to do with many of you people here. And the reason is...because so many are serving God without a generous cheerful spirit.
Where is your joy and happiness in serving the Lord? This word isn’t just talking about giving money...it is speaking of ministry to God and His body!
You see, God did not send you here to this church without help or abundant resources. All you need is available to you...strength, rest, power, ability, joy and cheer. There is no reason for any of you to labor with sadness...or to be overburdened. You have access to all strength and joy!
And I’d like to show you some very important things from this passage of Scripture.
1. When God calls us to any specific work, He has already made provision for everything we need to accomplish it...with freshness and cheer!
READ V.8 ....This verse is not just a hope...it is a promise. It begins with the words "GOD IS ABLE" And He certainly is...but God is not just interested in meeting your need. He wants to give you more than you need...that’s what abound means...an ever increasing, superabundant supply!
Ephesians 3:20..."Now unto Him that is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us..."
Think of what is promised here...when you are down and tired and think you can’t go any further, God is able to so energize you that you will have all that you need..at all times..in every possible situation!
This promise includes power to keep you from falling. No matter how powerful your temptation is...or how discouraged you are about your lack of resistance, God says this about His power on your behalf:
"Now unto Him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy! Jude 24
It is as if the Lord is saying, "Listen...all you who are faithful to me, who attend My house and labor in prayer...I want to give you an abundance of strength, hope, joy, peace, rest, finances, encouragement and wisdom. In fact, I want to give you an overabundance of all you need...at all times!"
God never intended for us to be spiritual paupers...poor in the things of the Lord. A generous servant is one who enjoys a revelation of all the great provisions God has prepared for him...and he goes after this revelation by faith!
READ 1 Cor. 2:9 10
Paul is saying, Hey, our forefathers couldn’t begin to comprehend all the great things God had prepared. It never entered their vision, their hearing, or even their imagination.
And there is no reason for us to be blind about these things...to go on not knowing what is ours. Our eyes must see, our ears must hear, it better enter into our hearts and minds... because we’re the people God prepared it for.
I believe most Christians haven’t honestly faced the power of these promises of God. We’ve read them many times but they are little more than dead letters written long ago with no real relevance to our lives.
We haven’t laid hold of them and said, "Lord, show me what you have prepared...open my mind and spirit to your resources. Your word says I must know all these things that are freely given so I can claim them for your glory.
Why are so many Christians so easily discouraged? Why do so many experience weakness...feelings of despair and emptiness...why do so many fail to move on and grow?...It’s because they do not have this revelation of all that God has for those who would appropriate them.
How many of you fit the description of a bountiful servant...one who has all he needs, and more, at all times, in every crisis?
Look at verse 8 (2 Cor 9)
To abound here literally means "ever increasing; to have more at the end than at the beginning"
In other words, as the battle gets hotter, God’s grace increases!...
As weakness comes upon you, His strength comes on even greater!...
And when your burdens get heavier, His power and strength increase in proportion to your burdens.
Yet God gives this strength only to those who want it, need it, and appropriate it. And I guess that’s the question...do you want it?
We ought to abound in our ministry...in our work... in our life.
The harder the situation, the more difficult the path, the more heavy our burdens…the more cheer, the more rest, the more hope we can have! God is saying to each of us, "You shouldn’t be worn out and drained... you should be increasing your efforts rather than pulling back."
2. Now, since God has promised superabundant supply, He expects us to give Him all we have...with our heart in it! God does not accept grudging service from anyone! (REPEAT)
Colossians 3:23 says, "Whatever you do, do heartily as unto the Lord, and not unto man."
Heartily means with all you heart...all your strength...all that is within you. Go back to v.7 of our text...(READ)
Paul makes a dual application of this matter of giving. It has to do with financial offerings...and the giving of our very lives to God’s work!
Paul wrote that the church in Macedonia literally begged him to let them take up a collection for the poor, suffering saints in Jerusalem. These Macedonians were so totally given to the Lord they gave out of their poverty.
Illustration......#246 Larson
At the time of this offering the Macedonians were suffering worse than Jerusalem was. Their economy was smashed, a depression had hit, and everything was out of control. Yet out of that chaos, they gave all they had...above their ability...bountifully!
But they gave much more than their money. They told Paul, "Here is our offering, now what do you want us to do? We volunteer our services to the work of God. They gave beyond their human ability...
And Paul didn’t have to browbeat them into giving...he didn’t hold them to the Law. They were so excited about Jesus...so willing to trust in His faithfulness, they gave willingly, eagerly, generously.
I want to warn you of something...if you focus on percentages with God you might as well keep your money. God does not honor any gift that is not given in joy. The church may accept it, and use it for His glory but you will get nothing eternal out of it.
If you give only because you believe it is commanded your heart attitude is all wrong. One man told me, "After I give my 10% I can do whatever I please with the rest. And I expect God to bless me as He promised...because I gave my tithe.
NO! Many are able to give more than a tithe...and God wants us to give as we are able...with generosity. There is no place for stinginess among God’s people.
You show me a Christian who gives only what he thinks is required of him and I’ll show you a Christian who is stingy with his time, energy and work for God (and he’s probably stingy with his family too)
If you are stingy with God, God will be stingy with you. If you go to church grudgingly...once a week out of obligation...God will deal with you in the same way, giving you hardly any blessing at all.
When you give your heart and life fully to the Lord, all your giving comes out of your love for Him! If you have given yourself to the Lord wholeheartedly your first thought shouldn’t be, "How close to 10% can I give"....but How much of myself, my money, time and energy can I give?
Our joy ought to be in how much we can give...and how much our heart is in it. Anything else is extortion. If you drop your offering into the plate and think, "I could have paid my gas bill...but I have to give it...then you should have kept it. Because God will not acknowledge it.
The fact is, the more strength and energy you spend for God, the more He will pour back into you. The more you exert yourself for His concerns...the more you sacrifice of your time, resources and strength ...the more He has promised to strengthen you. And the end result for you is over abundance.
And don’t get hung up just on money...because I’m talking about much more than just that. I’m talking about giving to the work of the church and the ministries God has here...for you!
Yet so many say, "I want to do more, I’d like to do this or that, but I’m so tired, so busy, or so weak, weary, worn out...I just can’t help it. But there is not a single emotion, a single kind of despair or weariness that Paul didn’t experience himself.
"...troubled on every side...perplexed...persecuted...cast down...He said outside there were fightings, and inside were fears...in weariness and painfulness in hunger and thirst in cold & nakedness"
But Paul always jumped right back into the battle... because he was drawing on the resources of his heavenly Father! We see him rebound again and again with new faith and new strength to go on.
Every time Paul was downcast he turned to the Lord. He knew the God of comfort...and he began drawing on heaven’s resources.
If you are thinking about giving up...if you want to take it just a bit easier, or even quit outright, you’ll be making the biggest mistake of your life. Stay in the battle...because it is in the heat of warfare that God makes you stronger. (PRAISE......)
When things look their worst that is when He comes to you generously, showering you with His resources and inner strength. Only those involved in the battle receive these great provisions!
3. Finally, God expects only cheerful service...without murmuring and whining! If you are going to give yourself to the Lord and His service, you must do it cheerfully. Look at v 7...for God loves a cheerful giver.
I get convicted on this one because often I go about my work without the joy of the Lord...and I hear others say, "I’m so weary, I don’t know how I’m going to make it...God, give me strength! And most of that is murmuring and whining.
The word for cheerful in Greek here means "hilarious, merry, glad"... having a light heart, willingness, gladness. And God is saying, "Whatever you do in your labors for me...whether it’s praying, worshiping Me in My house, or seeking me in your private place...do it cheerfully.
Be joyful and generous with everything...your money, your service, your time, you life! I ask you..."Has serving the Lord become a bore, a drag to you? Is it just a burden, leaving you mostly tired and worn out?
God had promised us everything we need, at all times, to be more than conquerors. And yet we go about complaining of heavy burdens, hardships, lack of strength! We murmur and complain and we run to God like poor, forsaken paupers.
Jesus said, "My yoke is easy and my burden is light." If your burden is heavy, you’re not carrying His, but your own...and you make Him out to be a liar.
In just one day 23,000 children of Israel were put to death in the wilderness...because they murmured! Paul called their sin "testing Christ" in 1 Cor 10:9 10...
"We should not test the Lord as some did and were killed by snakes. And do not grumble, as some of them did, and were killed by the destroying angel."
God doesn’t want you complaining about your burden...He wants you to chase those things out of your life by laying hold of His word. Your checkbook to His resources is faith...that’s why I spent 3 weeks on it
God is saying, "I already made provision for you. What need in your life is so great that I cannot supply more than is required? What kind of weariness or burden is so heavy that I can’t give you the super strength to endure? ALL YOU LACK IS FAITH!
I challenge you to answer the following questions with a simple yes or no:
Does the Word of God promise to supply all your needs?
Does Jesus say He would never leave you, but be with you to the end?
Did He say His ears are open to your prayers, and that He would give you the desires of your heart?
Did He say you would be more than a conqueror?
Did He say He would keep you from falling and present you faultless before the Father’s throne?
Did He say He would supply you with all you need at all times?
Did He promise you all the seed you need to spread the gospel?
Is He more willing to give than you are to receive?
Is He greater in you than he that is in the world?
Will He do exceeding abundantly above all that you ask or think?
Are His thoughts toward you good thoughts?
Is He a rewarder of those that diligently seek Him?
Is His eye upon you day and night?
Is He interceding for you right now?
Is He preparing a place for you in glory?
Is He coming in the clouds to gather His people home?
Your answer to all these should be, Absolutely Yes!
One final question can anyone or anything in heaven or on earth separate you from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus? NO!
