2 CORINTHIANS 9: 6-7 [GAINING PERSPECTIVE Series]
THE LAW OF THE HARVEST
[Luke 6:38 / Phil. 4:10-20]
Can a man lose by doing that which pleases God? These verses are an eloquent tribute to the blessedness of Christian giving. Grace giving always rebounds with multiplied blessings for the giver.
Yet in grace giving our motive is not to get something, but receiving God's blessing is a result of grace giving. What God gives back is not always money or material goods but it is always worth far more than we gave.
Giving, like other good works, should be done with thought and design. Due deliberation and forethought should be used in becoming a giver. After contemplation and planning, grace giving should flow freely and not begrudgingly. Giving is not simply an act, it flows out of who we are, out of our love for God. Then we will be the cheerful givers who are loved by God (CIM).
I. SOWING & REAPING, 6.
II. PREPARED GIVING, 7.
Why should the Corinthians give generously? The Bible gives two reasons here. In verse 6 is the law of the harvest and the second reason given in verse 7 is because God loves the givers. Let's first look at verse 6 to learn the spiritual law that is at work in giving. “But this (I say) the one who is sowing sparingly, He will also harvest sparingly, and the one who is sowing upon the bases of blessings, He will also, harvest upon the bases of blessings.”
The principle of the harvest is obvious because we see it operate in God's natural creation continuously. The farmer who sows in a small way inevitably must reap a small harvest and the principle continues that the man who sows generously will have the opportunity for a generous harvest (Gal. 6:7-8). The investor who puts a large sum of money in the bank will certainly collect more dividends. The principle or law holds true in both the natural and spiritual world (Prov. 11:24-26). The size of the harvest relates to the amount of the sowing. The biblical lesson which Paul is urging the Corinthians to understand at this point is that to give is to sow.
This familiar farm illustration states both the positive and the negative of the same idea. The negative point emphasizes the truth that when a person makes it a habit to give only a little, he or she can expect very little in the way of blessings. On the other hand, the personal rewards are great for those who habitually give generously. The Bible is opening our eyes to the fact that the “law of the harvest” applies to the sharing and giving of our material resources.
Imagine a MAN FROM CITY, a huge city, wall to wall concrete, a real concrete jungle. He’s never been out in nature to learn from it but goes and stays with a distance relative who is a farmer. It is planting season. He sees the farmer putting corn seed in the ground. Now he knew corn, it was something you eat, but he had no idea where corn came from. It was obvious that the farmer is struggling because the farm looks run down. He tells the farmer that the reason why things are bad on the farm is because he is wasting what little he has by putting it in the ground.
Each year a farmer has a choice to make. He and his can eat all the seed. He can enjoy all the corn or turn the wheat seed into bread and consume it. Or the farmer can "loss" some of his seed to the earth. He must lose his seed, give it to the earth, to later reap a harvest. But when he entrusts that dry, dead looking seed, contrary to all appearances, it eventually will be returned. For the planted seed possesses within itself the potency of life & increase.
Lots of things determine the quantity of a harvest: the quality of the seed, the number of seeds sown, the quality of the soil, and the amounts of moisture and nutrients provided. And the same is true with spiritual harvest. God's law of the harvest apply to the sowing we perform. Our seeds are our good works, our financial giving, our prayers, our study, our service, and our worship. If one’s return is determined by his investment then no farmer would sow haphazardly and expect a beautiful, bountiful harvest. And neither should we.
[As stewards, we have been entrusted with seeds to sow. And as we sow, so shall we reap. Anyone can count the seeds in one apple, but only God can count the apples in one seed. ]
What Paul is teaching us is that just as there are natural laws in the universe—laws of gravity, inertia, and thermodynamics—there are spiritual laws as well. If you give sparingly, you will reap sparingly; if you give bountifully, you will reap bountifully. That’s an absolute law of God as certain as is gravity or any other physical law.
People say that yes this person should give because they can afford to give. The reality in the church often is that because they gave they can afford to give. The Law of the Harvest has been operational. They gave an now have an even greater harvest to give out of. But it also needs to be said that a spiritual harvest may differ in kind from the seed sown. A material seed may reap a spiritual harvest (2 Cor. 9:9; 1 Cor. 9:11). Christ taught that even so slight a gift as a cup of water given in His name will not go unrewarded (Mt. 10:42; 25:34-36; Prov. 19:17). Goodness brings its own reward and leads to an increase of goodness. But we don't give to gain. We give because our heart is prepared to give and touched by the need. When ever fleshly reason calls us back from doing good through fear of loss, we should immediately oppose it with this shield: The Lord declares that we are sowing.
II. PREPARED GIVING (7).
Can a man lose by doing that which pleases God? Another reason for giving generously is that God loves generosity. “Just as everyone has purposed by (in his) heart, not (grudgingly) out of sorrow or out of compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.”
There is to be a willing heart and a sincere desire on the part of the one giving in order to participate. Giving is to be done by making the deliberate decision to give, to be a giver. Giving is to be a purposeful & deliberate choice or plan to give or be a giver. In other words giving is not to be done haphazardly but it is to be purposed or planned out. Each person should solemnly get before God and think about his or her giving. It is through this working it out with God that we receive the grace of giving which will bring our heart and attitude in line with God.
Why? Because our attitude when we give is more important than the amount we give. We don't have to be embarrassed if we can give only a small gift. God looks at the heart, not the hand; the giver not the gift. How we give is much more important than how much we give.
[According to a story I read, A WEALTHY MAN had a reputation for being stingy with his money. One day as he talked to the pastor of his church, he asked, "Why do people accuse me of being a miser even though they know that I have stated in my will that when I die all my money-will be given to charity?"
The minister responded by telling A FABLE about a pig and a cow. The pig complained that he couldn't understand why people liked cows more than pigs. He said, "I know that you cows give milk to people. But we pigs give them bacon and ham." "Yes, said the cow, "that's true. But there's one big difference. We cows are glad to do our giving while we're living. You pigs only do your giving after you're dead."
It certainly is commendable to include worthy causes in our wills-but not at the expense of cheerful giving right here and now. If we fail to give generously because it would alter our lifestyle or conflict with our desire for things, we lose out on God's full favor. How pleased the Lord must have been when the Israelites gave so willingly and generously for the building of the tabernacle that Moses had to tell them not to bring any more!]
We are to give willingly, not grudgingly or under compulsion. To contribute grudgingly or under compulsion is not an act of Christian giving. Giving grudgingly or sorrowfully manifests itself in a variety of ways. Acts 5: 1-11 tell the story of ANANIAS AND SAPPHIRA. They attempted to deceive people into thinking they were giving their all when they were not. They gave deceptively. God did not judge them for the amount but because of their attitude.
God's Word instructs believers not to give “grudgingly or out of compulsion.” A genuine love for Jesus and His cause, not social pressure, should motivate our giving. Only then will our offerings be pleasing to the Lord and bring blessing to our lives.
A Tampa chiropractor had paid ALIMONY to his former wife for a long time. [In 1994] he came to his final alimony payment [of $182]. He didn't just want to send his money; he wanted to send a message. So in large scale he drew a check on the back of a pinstripe shirt. On the memo line of his shirt-check, he wrote, "Here it is the shirt off my back!" The bank cashed it without question.
Giving to God should not be grudgingly or out of compulsion. God is concerned about how we give from the resources we have. We are encouraged to give generously because God loves a cheerful giver. We should not be ungrateful givers who give because we feel we have to but we should be glad givers who cheerfully share what we have because we have experienced the grace of God. The word cheerful comes form the Greek word hilaos, it is where our words hilarity, hilarious, and exhilarate are derived. A joyful willingness comes out of giving because we realize what all God has given to us by giving Jesus Christ in dying for our sins and buying us back out of slavery to our sins. Yet not only do we give out of gratitude for what Christ has done for us we can also give cheerfully and generously because it is God who supplies the means (Job 4:8; Prov. 11:18, 24; 22:8; Lk 6:38; Gal 6:7) for us to give [which we get to next Sunday when we look at verse 9].
God is pleased when His children share their material blessings with others, but He wants them to do so with grateful hearts and pure motives. They are not to be generous just to gain attention or to satisfy their ego. Their giving must not be done “grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver.”
A preacher was making an appeal for funds before a large congregation. He asked the people to bring their gifts to the front of the church as an act of WILLING AND CHEERFUL SACRIFICE. Many came forward to present their offerings. Among them a little lame girl who hobbled along at the end of the line. Pulling a ring from her finger, she placed it on the table at the foot of the platform and then made her way back up the aisle.
After the service was over, an usher was sent to bring her into a side room where the preacher met her and said, "My dear, I saw what you did tonight. It was beautiful. But the response of the people has been so generous that we have more than enough to take care of our needs. We don't feel right about keeping your treasured ring, so we want to give it back.” To his surprise the little girl shook her head in refusal. With a look of rebuke in her eyes, she said, “Pastor, you don't understand. I didn't give my ring to you or the church, I gave it to the Lord!”
D.L. Moody, in his book Daily Gems, recounted that after the great Chicago fire in 1871 he went to New York to solicit funds for its victims. When he arrived, he was introduced to a wealthy man who was reported to be very generous. Impressed by the great need in Chicago, he gave Moody a large check. He then directed the evangelist to several other men in the area, who also gave liberal contributions. When Mr. Moody was about to leave, he shook the benefactor's hand and made this parting comment: "if you ever come to Chicago, be sure to call on me. I'll return your favor." The man responded, "Mr. Moody, don't wait for me to come. Do it to the first man that comes along." Commenting on that experience, Moody said, 'I never forgot that remark. It had the ring of the true Good Samaritan."
That man was the kind of giver who pleases God. Moved by the needs of others, he willingly gave of his means to alleviate their suffering. And we can be sure that he benefitted the most, because the Lord Jesus said, "It is more blessed to give than to receive” (Acts 20:35).
In CLOSING
The true measure of gift and giver is not its external magnitude but in the inner state of the giver’s heart. A man who gives ungrudgingly for the blessing of others can rejoice-in the knowledge that in doing so he is sowing seed which will produce a harvest of blessing for himself. If the giver finds real pleasure, it is for him quite literally an exhilarating experience. The happiness and openness of his heart will be reflected in the happiness and openness on his face.
Christians are rewarded for their generosity. Yes God will bless a gift that is given out of a sense of duty, but givers experiences the love of God when they give cheerfully. Grace giving means that God blesses the giver as well as the gift, so that the cheerful giver is a true blessing to others also.
