God Promises Rewards
2 Cor 9:1-11
These days we see many credit card companies offering rewards. Some companies give back a portion of what you spend, other give you gifts, some would give frequent flyer miles on all purchases. Even car manufacturers are in on this, cash back or zero percent financing. We are a rewards oriented society, and that is not necessarily wrong.
Giving to the LORD is in fact, a God backed, guaranteed investment, not an uncertain gamble like the stock market. Jesus uses the promise of reward to teach his followers. He teaches people to give without a public display because the glory should go to God not to man. When Jesus saw the widow, recorded in Luke 21, who gave all she had, he used it as a teachable moment. She gave, not for her own glory but for God’s. By giving as she had, she was showing her faith in God. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said “Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.” Jesus went on to say that those who even give a cup of cold water to someone because he is a disciple he will be rewarded. (Matt 10:42). Jesus is stating and reinforcing a cause and effect relationship between giving and receiving.
Rewards is a healthy legitimate motive for giving, but only if it is not the only motive for giving. Hebrews 11:6 tells us that God rewards those who seek HIM. Faith and trust must also be our motive. Jesus tells us that giving like that is like storing up treasures in heaven. Giving like this shows that we trust God to take care of our physical needs in this life. God longs for us to trust HIM enough to seek him first. Matt 6:33 is a famous Sunday school verse “Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness…well you know the rest.
God’s teaching on generosity is also expressed with another principle. Trust God to reward true obedience. In general, it is easy to accept this principle. There are a number of examples verifying this idea in the Bible. We trust God to bless children who obey their parents, we trust God to make all things work for good, we trust Him with salvation when we obey His plan, we trust HIM that He is coming back to judge the world. If we did not, there would be little point to following Jesus.
Unfortunately, many Christians act as if this principle applies to everything but our finances. Now I am not perpetrating a health and wealth gospel that is a selfish misguided use of the Bible. However, there are those who say they believe in God, but do not trust him to help make the rent payment. However, as we see in the passage for this morning, when we trust God in the area of our finances, he also promises to reward us. He does not spell out how he will reward us or repay our trust, but he does promise a rich reward. The question is do we trust HIM? God has promised rewards that include financial blessings, but we must be committed to following his purpose.
The following are three specific rewards outlined in scripture.
1. We will be made rich in every way. (2 Cor 9:10-11)
Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness. 11 You will be made rich in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God.
God says we will be made rich in every way. We should never limit the extent of God’s blessing to the spiritual or the emotional arena, nor should we to the physical arena. God promises that if we give to him He will give us the financial capacity to be generous. The Bible describes riches as both spiritual and physical. Of all the riches we can possess none is more important than the spiritual. In the spiritual realm, these riches are His grace, His mercy, His love, His understanding, His wisdom, and His forgiveness.
In this passage Paul explains that financial decisions have physical advantages as well as spiritual. He is not just pointing out the spiritual or emotional value of giving; he is stating that we can receive from giving which could lead to greater financial resources. However as stated earlier, this is not a health and wealth gospel. If our desire is to be wealthy to spend it on ourselves, do not expect the reward. Health and wealth gospel teaches that Christians should give to get. However, GOD says we should give to get to give again.
1 Tim 6:9-10 says: 9 People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction. 10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.
Paul tells Titus: Our people must learn to devote themselves to doing what is good, in order that they may provide for daily necessities and not live unproductive lives.
I believe we have steered so far away from the ditch of the Health and Wealth gospel that we have found ourselves in the ditch on the other side of the road. We are hesitant to take at his word and believe or teach what the scriptures teach about giving. The text this morning says we will be made rich in every way so that we will be able to share more.
I have a dear friend named Rodger from the church in Upstate NY. He taught on finances. He taught by doing. Even as a youth he gave 10 cents on a dollar to the Lord. When couples came to him for financial advice, this is what he told them. He would help them get their financial house in order; they had to agree to give 10% of their earnings to the Lord. Every couple that followed through not only got their financial house in order, they had the opportunity to good for God. It is difficult to twist the scriptures into a selfish interpretation when we keep the focus on Jesus.
God does not oppose blessing his servants with material well because they keep the desires and fortunes devoted to him. There are many passages in the Bible where God tells us how He wishes to bless us. Look at Abraham, Jacob, David, Solomon, Jehoshaphat, and Job, they did what God asked, they blessed God with what they had and God rewarded them. It all depends on our motives. In modern times, I think of people like Tom Beame, J.B. Philips, and people like them who have used their wealth to provide for churches, missionaries and schools to bring the Gospel to the world.
#2: You will receive more than you give.
Now again I want to make clear I am not preaching a health and wealth gospel. It all depends on the motive for which we give. Turn to Luke 6:38 and see what Jesus says here about giving.
Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you."
I really hestitated to preach this message especially using this verse for fear that some would come away thinking like the health and wealth people. I know that I have said several times that I do not support such doctrines and that I believe these doctrines are a selfish twist of the gospel, but I also know that not every word is caught when preaching. But the signal that I want to bring out is that our faith in God and His word is at stake here. As I said earlier, I believe that most of us have swerved so hard to keep from going into the ditch of the prosperity gospel doctrine that we ended up in the ditch on the other side of the road.
Here Jesus states that God wants to bless us for proper attitude and motive for giving. Can you imagine a blessing coming down from heaven so bountiful that it overflows you lap? Well lets apply this to the non-financial world, the idea is receiving more than you give. If we give love, do we not receive more love in return? How about friendship? How about smiles? Why is it that we can apply this to the non-financial world and see it happening but when it comes to money we refuse to accept it? I want to quote Dr. Kregg Hood on this passage.
“For years I struggled with this text. I thought it was materialistic to thing God would bless me financially when I gave money to do His work. But, in reality, the materialistic view is thinking that my own ingenuity is the only source of my ability to make money. A spiritual person obeys and trusts God to release his blessings and provide all the resources of life. The unspiritual person believes human effort is the source of material wealth.
Is God able to do what He promises to do? Maybe He will use our physical attributes to bless us financially. But remember who made us, remember who controls the resources, and who is the source of our blessings.
This brings me to the third point
You will receive a greater blessing.
The last part of Acts 20:35 is probably the most quoted verse of the Bible, even by unbelievers. `It is more blessed to give than to receive.’ "
The whole idea is that the greater blessing is in the giving. I remember hearing a story about a child who was given some money to put in the offering. Her mother gave her a dollar and a quarter with these instructions, one is to go in the offering and the other was to spend in the candy store. Well after careful consideration the little girl put the quarter in the offering and kept the dollar. When asked why she did that the little girl said, “The man who spoke before the offering said that God loves and happy giver, and I knew I would be happier with the dollar to spend than the quarter so I gave the quarter to God.”
How can giving bring about a greater blessing? As a child, I hated when my parents used this quote on me when it came to Christmas or birthday presents. But now as a parent and a grandparent I have gained a better understanding. We have greater joy when we help someone and seeing their appreciation. But more importantly I have seen a greater joy is seeing that God has given me something to share. What if I were the one in need? Having something to share creates the feeling of gratitude to God for what He has provided us with.
Galatians 6:7 has three points about giving. 1. we reap what we sow, 2. we reap more than we sow, 3. we reap after we sow.
Giving is not an expense, it is an opportunity.
What is our attitude toward giving? Has it now changed any? Give and it shall be given unto you.
