INTRO: During the Great Depression, poverty swept across America like a whirling tornado, ripping up dreams and scattering hopes to the wind. One such poverty twister hit a small part of Texas where a man named Yates ran a sheep ranch. Struggling even to keep food on the table, Yates and his wife did all they could to survive. Finally, they had to accept a government subsidy or lose their home and land to the creditors.
One day, in the midst of this bleakness, a geologic crew from a large oil company came knocking. With Yates’s permission, they wanted to drill a wildcat well on his property, promising him a large portion of the profits if they struck oil. “What could I lose?” thought Yates, and he signed all the papers.
The oil crew immediately set up the machinery and began drilling. Five hundred feet down, they came up dry. Eight hundred feet, still dry. One thousand feet they sunk the shaft, and no oil. Finally, at a little over eleven hundred feet, they tapped into one of the richest oil reserves in Texas. The hole sprayed its black wealth high into the air, and soon the well was pumping eighty thousand barrels of oil a day.
Overnight, Yates and his family became millionaires. His property, once called Yates’s Field, became known as Yates’s Pool. And soon hundreds of oil wells dotted the land where once only sheep grazed.
-There are a whole lot of Christians like this, they have no idea what is of value in their heart.
-My prayer for Christians is that they can tap into the resources that God has for their lives.
TITLE: Laws of the Kingdom
TEXT: 2 Corinthians 9:6-11
I. This morning I’m not talking about money, I’m talking about much more. I’m talking about a lifestyle that God desires for our lives.
A. Our Lord said (Luke 6:38), “Give and it shall be given unto you.” You cannot grow into the person God wants you to be without actively giving.
1. We need to understand we live in a society that teaches us to take or to strive for something, to earn it. When it comes to giving it falls short when compared to the ways of God.
Question: This last week compare what you took to something you gave.
-Look in your marriages, did you give or take?
-Look in your friendships, did you give or take?
-Look in your workplaces, are you known as a giver or a taker?
2. I personally believe the reason there are so many unhappy Christians is simply they do not know what it means to give.
-Our heavenly Father wants us to be generous in all things because he is generous (he gave his one and only Son).
TS: With this in mind let’s look at some laws of the kingdom.
II. Laws of the kingdom. Just as there are physical laws in the world there are also spiritual laws.
A. The principle of increase. V. 6, “Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously.”
1. When you think about this principle the thing that stands out to me is you’re either blessed or cursed and it’s based on your own actions and attitude.
2. This principle is easy to understand because we see it in everyday life. The farmer who sows much seed will have a better chance for a bigger harvest.
-The investor who puts a large sum of money in the bank will certainly collect more dividends.
3. Let’s take this example and apply it to our everyday life because we can all benefit from this.
-In regard to relationship (friendship), many people struggle with friendship. Why – because they are not doing what the Bible says.
Example. Many people want friends but they want them on their own terms, their own conditions. It goes like this - I want friends to meet my needs, to do what I like.
Point: This is backwards. To have friends you have to be a friend - that is to put their needs above yours, their desires above yours. People who do this consistently have many friends and those who do not struggle with having friends.
4. The same is true about marriages. If I put my spouse’s needs above mine and vice versa I will have a marriage made in heaven.
-But too often you find a lot of fights and it’s because my needs are not getting met.
Image. If I sow love in this marriage I will reap love. If I sow gentleness and kindness I will reap them. Remember when God’s involved you’ll get more than you’ll give.
Summary: If I want love I will sow love, if I want friends I’ll be a friend.
TS: 2nd law from the passage.
B. Principle of intent. V. 7, “Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.”
1. Motives make absolutely no difference to the farmer.
-If he sows seed and has good weather, he will reap a harvest whether he is working for profit, pleasure, or pride. It makes no difference how he plans to use the money he earns, the harvest will probably come just the same.
2. This is not so with the Christian, motives are very important. Our giving must come from the heart.
-We must not be sad givers who give grudgingly or mad givers who give because we have to but we should be glad givers who cheerfully share what we have.
a. Interesting - cheerful Greek word is where we get our English word hilarious.
-When we give with a cheerful or hilarious attitude, God is pleased.
-You’re becoming like him, you’re trusting as you sow with a right attitude God is supplying your seed. You’re trusting God.
3. When you give with wrong motives, the sinful desires only grow. It’s called greed.
-You give to get, to spend on your own desires.
Example. You become friends with someone because they have something you desire - popularity, fame, wealth. You know by becoming their friend they will help you.
Illustrate: I remember when I got my driver’s license. I was older than the other kids, all of a sudden I was mister popular, everyone wanted to hang out because I could drive them around. I didn’t realize this until about 6 months later when everyone else got their license. All of a sudden - what happened to my friends, where are they?
Thought: Human nature is an ugly thing. It uses people for its own personal gain.
-That is not what the Lord wants, he wants us to put others’ needs first, to value them more than ourselves.
Summary: We’ve talked about the principle of increase and the principle of intent.
C. Principle of immediacy. Vv. 8-11, “And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work. As it is written: ‘He has scattered abroad his gifts to the poor; his righteousness endures forever.’ 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. 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.”
1. A farmer has to wait for the harvest, but the believer who practices in grace giving begins to reap a harvest immediately.
-There are long range benefits from our giving, but there are also immediate blessings.
a. God’s grace will abound to you, having all that you need. God who supplies the seed will increase our seed and also enlarge our righteousness.
Warren Wiersbe: The grace of God enriches us morally and spiritually so that we grow in Christian character.
-When we learn to give, the grace of God changes us.
2. V. 11 – You will be made rich in every way. Rich for the purpose “able to be generous.”
-The Lord wants to bless us so we can bless others on every occasion.
Think of it: God wants to bless us (give to us grace, mercy, etc.) so we can bless others.
Illustrate.
: God has set me free so I can go and help others to get free.
: God has given me love so I can go and show others what love is.
: God has showered me in blessing so I can go and bless others.
3. The only person who can stop this is me.
-It’s when I get greedy and just take, take, take.
-How dare I, when I’ve been so blessed by God, to keep all those blessings to myself. When I do this I will destroy myself.
Illustrate. A woman in West Palm Beach, Florida, died alone at the age of 71. The coroner’s report was tragic. “Cause of death: Malnutrition.” The dear old lady wasted away to 50 pounds. Investigators who found her said the place where she lived was a veritable pigpen, the biggest mess you could imagine. One seasoned inspector declared he’d never seen a residence in greater disarray.
The woman had begged food at her neighbors’ back doors and gotten what clothes she had from the Salvation Army. From all outward appearances she was a penniless recluse, a pitiful and forgotten widow. But such was not the case.
Amid the jumble of her unclean, disheveled belongings, two keys were found which led the officials to safe-deposit boxes at two different local banks. What they found was absolutely unbelievable.
The first contained over 700 AT&T stock certificates, plus hundreds of other valuable certificates, bonds, and solid financial securities, not to mention a stack of cash amounting to nearly $200,000. The second box had no certificates, only more currency—lots of it—$600,000 to be exact. Adding the net worth of both boxes, they found that the woman had in her possession well over a million dollars. Charles Osgood, reporting on CBS radio, announced that the estate would probably fall into the hands of a distant niece and nephew, neither of whom dreamed she had a thin dime to her name. She was, however, a millionaire who died a stark victim of starvation in a humble hovel many miles away.
Point: This is a picture of Christians who do not learn to give of themselves. They will be fear driven never understanding the riches that they had.
-Friends, if you’re not giving you’re taking – whether it’s in relationships, marriages, your walk with God.
-Our Father wants us to give.
Conclusion: Stand
