The Riches of Their Liberality - Part 1

Thank you for listening to this message from the ministry of Morse Corner Church in Leverett, Massachusetts. Morse Corner is a non-denominational church that is committed to the preaching and teaching of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Our church was founded in 1896 by two students of the famous evangelist D .L. Moody. We seek to encourage and edify the body of Christ through the proclamation of God's word through the ministries of the local church.

If you'd like more information, visit our website morsecornerchurch .com. We hope you enjoy the message. Turn in your Bibles to the book of 2 Corinthians. 2 Corinthians chapter 8. It was Jesus who said that it is more blessed to give than to receive, and that's true.

But it's also blessed to receive, especially when fellow brothers and sisters in Christ are moved by the grace of God to help a church that is in need. So the next couple messages will be on the subject of giving.

And I know that this subject kind of strikes fear into the hearts of some, but don't worry. We touched on the subject of guilt trips last week. Lord willing, there will be none of that. But what does the scripture say?

In the next chapter, chapter 9, it says God loves a cheerful giver.

Amen.

And that's the way that it's supposed to be. Christians should give cheerfully of their own free will. And we should be looking out for and caring for other believers. And if a church is able and is able and willing to help out and assist another church if and when they face a dire need, then churches should do that.

So starting here in chapter 8 and then going into chapter 9, the Apostle Paul is going to be addressing not the subject of a mandatory tithe, rather generosity in free will giving. So that's the title of the message, free will giving.

So before we read from 2 Corinthians chapter 8, let's open in a word of prayer. Our gracious God and Father, we thank you for giving us a new life in Christ. We thank you for the gifts that you have given us.

And as your word says, every good and perfect gift is from above. So as we open your word this morning, speak to our hearts through it. We ask this in Christ's name.

Amen.

All right.

The Grace of God in the Churches of Macedonia

Chapter 8 begins with Paul informing the Corinthians of the grace of God, how it had been bestowed upon the churches of Macedonia. So if you think of modern day Greece, that's where Corinth was. And Macedonia was simply just north of Corinth, north of Greece.

All right.

Paul writes 2 Corinthians chapter 8, starting in verse 1. Moreover, brethren, we make known to you the grace of God bestowed on the churches of Macedonia, that in a great trial of affliction, the abundance of their joy and their deep poverty abounded in the riches of their liberality.

For I bear witness that according to their ability, yes, and beyond their ability, they were freely willing, imploring us with much urgency that we would receive the gift and the fellowship of the ministering to the saints.

Now, the first thing that I want to point out and to make known to you is the same thing that Paul is making known to the Corinthians, that whatever is happening here, it is happening as the result of the grace of God.

Amen.

You know, sometimes we don't think of giving as something that has a whole lot to do with God's grace or the Holy Spirit. I mean, you write a check, you click a button these days, you drop some money in the plate or in the box.

What does God have to do with it? Well, hopefully God has a lot to do with it. Hopefully it is the spirit of God who is prompting us and directing us. So we read that the grace of God had been bestowed upon the churches of Macedonia.

So whatever good work that they did, it was the result of the grace of God working in and through them. That's the first thing. The second thing to understand is this. The people in these churches, certainly in Macedonia, these people were not wealthy.

They were on the verge of poverty, if not living in poverty. Certainly we would consider it poverty based on how we live today. So they were not rich, but at the same time they were rich. How so? They were rich in how they experienced the grace of God in their lives.

Paul points out in verse two, their great afflictions. So this was an area that had been torn apart by warfare and famine and many other afflictions, I'm sure. And yet we still see they had the abundance of joy.

Despite what they had gone through, what was going on around them, they had the abundance of joy. We want that abundance of joy, don't we? So they were poor, but they were rich in grace and rich with generosity.

So each one freely gave as they were able. They were not pressured into it. If anything, they're pressuring Paul to receive the gift. So it's that way, not Paul pressuring them. Of course, the gift was not for Paul.

Who is it for?

Well, to find out, let's go back to 1 Corinthians chapter 16 for a moment. 1 Corinthians 16, and we will see that this was an offering that was taken up for the church at Jerusalem. And I think of all the Christians facing persecution, the saints in Jerusalem may have been the worst off.

They needed help. And this was one of the great things about the early church. There were no denominational barriers. Oh, I wish that were the case today. No barriers because of denominations. There were no churches that were just, you know, an island unto themselves where they really didn't have anything to do with other churches.

You know, not to get sidetracked, but unfortunately, you know that this happens today. And this has been one of the burdens that God, I know, has laid on my heart and on the hearts of others here. It's just wonderful when Christians work together.

I mean, call me crazy, but it's wonderful when Christians in churches actually can work together. We need more of that. Now, obviously, there's nothing new under the sun. The same things that we face today, they faced back then.

But there's something special about seeing one church helping out another church. 1 Corinthians 16, starting in verse 1. Now, concerning the collection for the saints, I have given orders to the churches of Galatia, and so you must do also.

Just remember that phrase, so you must do also. On the first day of the week, let each one of you lay something aside, storing up as he may prosper, that there be no collections when I come. And when I come, whomever you approve by your letters, I will send to bear your gift to Jerusalem.

But if it is fitting that I go also, they will go with me. Now I will come to you when I pass through Macedonia, for I am passing through Macedonia. So I think we can see that the passage here at the end of 1 Corinthians is tied in with what Paul is talking about in 2 Corinthians.

So this wasn't like we do sometimes. We take up what we call a love offering, and it's a one-time deal. You pass the plate one Sunday morning, and then you send the money to whoever needs it. This was a massive undertaking that was ongoing.

So we don't know how long. It may have been a year or more that they were setting aside, setting aside, setting aside money. And then once they had their lump sum after a long period of time, then they sent it.

It would have been a large offering. Can you just imagine if every Christian in Franklin County set aside $2 a week? That's a small amount that we could all afford. If every Christian in Franklin County set aside $2 a week for a year and a half, how much would that be?

I don't know, but it would be quite a bit. Well, let's just say if every Christian set aside $20 a week for a year and a half. You know, for some, that would be no problem. Others would be maybe a little, they'd feel it a little bit.

But imagine what we could do if we wanted to, if we needed to. So that's the kind of thing that was happening. They were setting aside money every week for this long period of time, storing up money to deliver it to the saints in Jerusalem.

Free Will Giving and the Difference Between Tithes and Offerings

One quick comment you may have noticed in 2 Corinthians or 1 Corinthians. 2 Corinthians, Paul talks about freely giving. 1 Corinthians, you noticed he's giving orders. You know, you must do. So how do you reconcile the command, you must do this to, no, it's free, a free will offering.

Well, turn to Luke chapter 21 for a moment. But basically, it's simple to reconcile this. Paul is giving them instructions, guidelines. Okay, here's what we need to do. And it needs to be done orderly.

So he's saying give, but he's leaving it up to them how much they give. So the admonition is give. But as far as how much the individual gives, that is totally up to them. It is a free will offering. So here's the point.

Christians are to be givers. We can say the Lord tells us to give and to be generous. And, you know, for some people, there are Christians who give a lot. And there are some Christians who really can't afford to give much.

But even then, God still sees the heart. Look at Luke 21 verse 1. And he, that is Jesus, looked up and saw the rich putting their gifts into the treasury. And he saw also a poor widow putting in two mites.

This was like the smallest denomination, the smallest coin. Just call it two bucks. He saw the poor widow putting in two mites. And he said, truly, I say to you that this poor widow has put in more than all.

For all these out of their abundance have put in offerings for God. But she, out of her poverty, put in all the livelihood that she had. That's special.

That's special.

Turn back to 2 Corinthians chapter 8. See, the world would look at that and say, two dollars? Two mites? That's nothing. That is insignificant. What she did is absolutely insignificant. That's what the world would say.

That's how they would look at it. How does the Lord look at it? This woman is blessed by God. So the instruction to the churches was to give. You know, tithing really is a whole other subject. See, I say the word tithing and everyone's head pops up.

We'll talk about that maybe next time, okay. But for members, that's where tithing comes in. You know, members of a church giving to the church to fund the ministry. I don't believe that is what is in view here.

Paul is talking about to the Corinthians an offering for the church at Jerusalem. This isn't for the Corinthian church. This is not a tithe. This is what we call an offering, right? And we had it in the bulletins.

I don't think it's there anymore. But we used to talk about tithes and offerings. It's not the same thing. Two totally different things. A tithe is what? 10%. An offering may be, well, if you gave 15%, you could say the tithe was 10, and then the offering was the 5 on top of that.

Or an offering would go somewhere else. So there's a difference between tithes and offerings. But how much they gave, it was their choice. The saints in Jerusalem, they needed help. This was real. So let's start organizing.

Let's start storing up money to send to them. The churches in Macedonia were poor. The Corinthians were probably a little better off, but not too much. So the people, we see they were very generous in what they gave.

Not only did they give based on their ability.

What does Paul say?

They gave above and beyond their ability. And why did they do that? To satisfy a need.

That's true.

But you know what? It also gave glory to God. And it really gives glory to God because we're still reading about it 2 ,000 years later. Just think about this. Over the centuries, how many times has this passage been read in churches?

Has it been preached on? I wonder how many hearts have been stirred over this one account. I wonder how much good the Holy Spirit has brought about because of this one act that is now immortalized in the pages of Scripture.

You realize that's the way God works. Thanks for listening. I'm Pastor Michael Grant from Morris Coronet Church. If you'd like to listen to the complete message, or if you'd like more information about the ministry, visit our website, morriscoronetchurch .com.

And we'd love to have you join us some Sunday morning here in Leverett. Until next time, may the grace of God be with you.