Sheridan, Liddon: Week Of Meetings 1980-06 ~ 2 Cor 8:1-9

Will you turn, please, to Second Corinthians chapter eight. Second Corinthians chapter eight, we'll read just the first seven verses. 2 Corinthians chapter 8. Moreover, brethren, we do you to wit, or we bear record to you, of the grace of God bestowed on the churches of Macedonia. How that in a great trial of affliction, the abundance of their joy and their deep poverty abounded unto the riches of their liberality. For according to their power, I bear record, yea, and beyond their power, they were willing of themselves, praying us with much entreaty that we would receive the gift and take upon us the fellowship of the ministering to the saints. Of course, this is an offering they had, uh, gathered to, uh, for Paul and others to take to the saints in Jerusalem. You remember Agabus, a prophet, had said there would be a famine there, and now these saints are in need in Jerusalem, and that's the object of this gift. Verse five, and this they did not as we hoped, but first gave their own selves to the Lord and to us by the will of God. Insomuch that we desired Titus, that as he had begun, so he would also finish in you the same grace also. Therefore, as ye abound in everything, in faith and utterance and knowledge, and in all diligence, and in your love to us, see that you abound in this grace also. This morning, I want to quit preaching and go and go to meddling, as you can see, because I want to speak on this subject of giving. Of course, when a preacher preaches on giving, somebody thinks he's hinting. Uh, I'll tell you one thing, I've never had to hint. I've never had to beg. Even from day one, the Lord has always provided. We've never lacked any good thing, and we have never pulled any strings of any kind. God is faithful, and I'm quite sure if I started, uh, preaching to get something that, uh, that would be, in my case, I probably would see a decrease in my blessing instead of an increase. Uh, I trust my motive is what the apostles' motive was on this subject. Uh, would you look what he said about it in, uh, Philippians four, Philippians chapter four. Why did Paul minister on this subject of giving? Philippians four verse seventeen: He's speaking to them about giving, and has spoken to them previously about it. Not because I desire a gift, but I desire fruit that may abound to your account. That's the object of the Apostle Paul, and I trust my object in speaking on this subject is to stir our hearts up, uh, in this matter of giving, and that we might know more about this grace also. You know, I went to school, uh, uh, down in Florida, and uh, one day we had a, a new professor come into our class. Uh, the first thing he did after calling the roll was to hand out one sheet of paper. It was, uh, a, a sheet of paper that was more of a black field with a little white meandering path going through that field. And, uh, he told us to put our name on it and the date, and then he said, when I tell you to start, I want you to take your pencil and just draw a line in that white field and try to keep your line equidistant from the sides of that line, from the dark areas. He said, don't hurry, but just keep steadily, uh, drawing that line. And so that's what we did. And, uh, then he asked us to turn them in. And a few days later, uh, he called me into his office and, and, uh, had me sit down, we got acquainted, and then he pulled out my test paper, that one piece of paper. And he said, you know, I can tell you some things about yourself from this. And he began to describe some of my characteristics, and I was really amazed. Then he said, now, he pulled out another test paper. He said, the next fellow who's coming in here, and he called his name, he said, uh, he's just the opposite of you. He said, now, I really, I don't know who he is, but he said from his paper, and he began to describe him. For example, he said to me, he said, if you saw a piece of paper over there on the floor, he said, you couldn't bear it, you'd have to pick it up. And I knew that was right. He said, but this fellow, if he came in, he wouldn't even see the piece of paper. And I knew that was pretty much, uh, characteristic of both of us. Well, my point is that this man took one test and, uh, pretty well analyzed our characters, our personalities. Do you know that God has a test in his word of your true spirituality? Would you like to take a test? Would you be game to take it? A test that will show you really just the degree of your spiritual condition. Will you be honest enough to face it and abide by the score? All right, let's look at it. It's in Luke sixteen verse ten. Luke sixteen verse ten. The context here is money. I remember I was going to speak on this in an assembly, and I told the brother who was going to lead the meeting what, he asked what my subject was, and I said, giving. He said, you mean money? Yes, money. Verse ten, speaking of money now, he's he that is faithful in that which is least, money, is faithful also in much, the bigger things. And he that is unjust in the least, unjust in the way he handles his money, is unjust also in the much, in the big matters. If therefore you have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches? Now that's a strong statement, isn't it? That tells me that how I handle my money is a true index of my spiritual condition. I wonder what my grade is, what your grade is by that test. As I talk about this this morning, I hope you'll excuse me being personal, that is, using my own experience in this, my wife's and mine, because as you'll see, it's not a bragging testimony, it's really more of a confession of fumbling and stumbling along the way to find what the Lord's will was in this matter. But it's the best way I can handle this, and it's ultra simplicity as I, uh, try to bring this to your hearts. It's so nice to see that word grace here in second Corinthians eight and nine. There's two chapters that deal with giving. Uh, the word grace is there in the English seven times. In, in the Greek, it's nine times, but it's translated thanks one time and a gift the other time. Uh, what a lovely, uh, frame for this subject. Grace. This grace also. For you see, giving is not natural. It doesn't belong to human nature. It's not natural. Someone has suggested a little baby comes into the world with his little fists balled up like that, as if to say, I'm here to get and hold all I can, almost like a prophecy on its nature. The prodigal's first words were, give me. That's the cry of human nature. That's what, alas, characterizes our nation today, and the popular vote is mostly give me. But all the nature of our God, we heard it sung beautifully a moment ago, he giveth. God is the great giver. God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son. And the chapters we're looking at here, uh, end with thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift. The Lord Jesus is the great giver. In Galatians two twenty, Paul says, who loved me and gave himself for me. In chapter eight here verse nine, we read, thanks, uh, you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for our sakes or your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be made rich. God is the great giver. Christ is the great giver. And God would say to you and me, who know such giving as we have received, that no grace, unmerited favor, and such lavish favor, that we too should learn this grace of giving. In, uh, verse seven we have this, uh, exhortation to the Corinthians. You know, we hear so much bad about the Corinthian church, we fail to see that they were also a wonderful church. Uh, this verse would certainly tell us that. Verse 7 of 2 Corinthians 8. Therefore, as you abound in everything, in faith, and utterance, and knowledge, and in all diligence, and in your love to us, see that you abound in this grace also. Uh, he's, uh, looking at these, uh, Christians like, I would s- say, a diamond in the rough. Now, I hope you don't ever make the dumb mistake I made on that, uh, matter. I always thought, as I grew up, I had the impression that you meant by a diamond in the rough something like this, like you're walking through the tangled jungle, and suddenly you see a sparkling diamond that just stands out against all that, uh, uh, jungle growth. And so one day I was in a group of, of, uh, people. We were all dressed for a special occasion, and one young lady just looked so attractive, and I wanted to compliment her, so I said, you know, you look like a diamond in the rough. Well, the great silence made me aware of the fact that I had goofed. So I went back to, to my dictionary and began to look up what a diamond in the rough was, and I found out that a diamond in the rough is nothing but a dull rock. It doesn't look different from any other rock, and it's got to be taken in the hand of an expert who can study it and cut it and polish it so that he brings out those different facets that belong to that diamond, and that gives it its beautiful sparkle. But a Christian is a diamond in the rough. God is seeking to bring out the virtues of Christ in you and me. Oh, I'm so glad that the Christian life is not just being good. You know what your wife should see in you, brother? What my wife should see in me, according to the word of God, is glory. For second Corinthians three eighteen says, we all beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord are being metamorphosed into the same image from glory to glory. Oh, what possibilities are yours or mine, and we can't settle for where we are. There's more ahead. There's greater possibilities. You and I can be a sparkling diamond, because we are a diamond in the rough. One day God's going to finish the job. We know that when we shall see him, we shall be like him. My, you and I'll sparkle that day, won't we? The job will be completed. But here, these saints had these facets on their diamond, lovely facets, faith, utterance, knowledge, all diligence. That's a lovely facet to the diamond of one's character, isn't it? And their love to the apostle. He says, since you abound in these things, see that you abound in this grace also, this grace of giving. Uh, when do you start giving? When should a person start giving? Well, I think, uh, verse two says now, right now. Verse two: how that in a great trial of affliction, their, the abundance of their joy and their deep poverty abounded unto the riches of their liberality. Now, I never heard of a more foolish formula than that. It does not make any sense. Deep poverty, not just poverty, deep poverty, plus abundance of joy equals riches of liberality. That is not good sense humanly, but it makes perfectly good sense divinely, spiritually, for that's what took place in these saints. You know, we were brought up in, uh, a particular denomination that is known for getting money. Now, this is no criticism of my Baptist brethren. I think it's a virtue. Uh, the Baptists know how to get money. Uh, the only thing is, sometimes they really work hard at it. And I remember so often hearing a sermon on tithing, and you felt like you were a sinner if you didn't tithe. In fact, you hadn't given yet until you tithed. Then you started giving. That's the pretty much the teaching generally among, uh, Baptists, and that's what I was brought up under. And so I never enjoyed tithing, I just had to do it. It just had to come out, that's all. It was an obligation, just like my, you know, any other bill I had to pay. And that's the way we operated. Well, then as we came along and began to study the Word of God for ourselves, and we began to see some things that were different from what we'd been taught. We saw that tithing is not taught to the church, that he never says we have to tithe. And so we gladly threw it out the window, and we said we can give just like we feel like giving, and when the spirit hits us, we'll give. And I remember our budget. Our dear brother gave us some good advice, about the only advice I remember I got before I got married, and that was, uh, don't give the Lord a lump of money when you owe your, uh, fellow man. Pay your bills and then give to the Lord. Well, that made sense to me. I figured it was pretty foolish to owe somebody and drop a big offering in the, in the collection plate. So, uh, we'd made up our budget. Number one, the biggest thing, the house payment, two, the car, you know, right on down the list. And then we said, well, we'd get to the bottom, the Lord's. Well, I'm sure glad I don't have to tell you what went in that slot. But, you know, one day it caught up with us. One day it got as midnight, as dark as midnight in a jug. The first time in my life, we got a notice that they could foreclose on us if we didn't come up with the house payment. And I was literally sick to my stomach. And I was just then out in the Lord's work full time. Do you know what I said to the Lord? I'm ashamed of it. I said, Lord, we did a better job of it when we were handling it. It's a wonder he didn't strike me dead. What I meant was, was when I was working at a job, nothing like that ever happened. But now that I was in his work, it happened. And so I turned to my wife and I said, well, that settles it. I said, I just got to go back to my job. You know, my wife is one of the most practical persons in the world. Uh, she's not here so I can say this. She's a lot smarter than I am. And I figured she would say, yes, that's right. To my amazement, she said, I'd be ashamed of myself. Oh, how I thank God for that wife. I thought if she, being so practical, so down to earth about things, so thrifty, if she could say that when we had our backs to the wall, surely I could trust God. And I did. But you know what it made us do? It made us do business with God. It made us get on our knees and say, Lord, we have sinned against you in the way we give, and we want to get right. And we did business with God. So we took up the scriptures, and we began to just go through everything we could find or anybody could show us on this matter of giving. Uh, let's look at a few of them, the principles as to giving. First of all, Malachi chapter one, Malachi one, uh, verse, uh, six and seven and a few following verses. Malachi one verse six, A servant honoreth his father, I mean a son, sorry. A son honoreth his father and a servant his master. If then I be a father, where is mine honor? And if I be a master, where's my fear? Saith the Lord of hosts unto you, O priests, that despise my name. And you say, wherein have we despised thy name? You offer polluted bread upon mine altar, and you say, wherein have we polluted thee? In that you say, the table of the Lord is contemptible. Verse twelve, But you have profaned it in that you say, the table of the Lord is polluted, and the fruit thereof, even his meat, is contemptible. Ye said also, behold, what a weariness is it, and you have snuffed at it, saith the Lord of hosts, and you brought that which was torn, and the lame and the sick. Thus you brought an offering. Should I accept this of your hand, saith the Lord? But cursed be the deceiver which hath in his flock a male, and voweth and sacrificed unto the Lord a corrupt thing. For I am a great king, saith the Lord of hosts, and my name is dreadful among the heathen. God is saying in these verses, the way you give expresses your estimate of me. Our giving expresses our view of our God. How important is our giving? Then another scripture that spoke to our hearts is Numbers eighteen and gave us a, a bit of a, a principle that is established here. Numbers eighteen and verse eighteen twelve. And all the best, nos- notice the word best, all the best of the oil and all the best of the wine and of the wheat, the first fruits of them which they shall offer unto the Lord. This is not the only scripture, of course, there are others, uh, on this matter of giving God the best and the first fruits. Uh, look at Leviticus twenty three again for that. Leviticus 23 and verse 14. And ye shall eat neither bread nor parched corn nor green ears until the selfsame day that you have brought an offering unto your God. They were not to eat till they brought their offering to the Lord. You see what that made us do? The Lord was on the bottom of our budget. So now we just turn it upside down and put number one, the Lord. The first fruits belong to the Lord. Well, then you said, uh, you say, well, how much did you put there? None of your business. But really, I would like to tell you how much we put there. We again went through the scriptures. With our experience on tithing, and we read Jacob said, Lord, I'll give you a tenth of all you give me. Jacob, that tight rascal gave the Lord a tenth? And here I am under grace, the waterfall of God's grace. Could I dare put down less than that? That's how we thought. I'm not telling you that's what you have to do. I am saying this, that you and I must do business with God about this, and not just decide it quickly and off the cuff. We need to come to him and say, Lord, show me what I should do. Show us what we should do. And as I read verses like that, I was ashamed to start with less. Mind you, our backs were to the wall, but I was ashamed to start with less than that tenth. I read Abraham. Abraham gave a tenth, not five percent, not twenty, not eight, a tenth of the spoils to Melchizedek, who is a type not of law, but of grace, a type of Christ. And mind you, both of these cases were before the law. Abraham, the father of us all, the father of faith. And I, it was reinforced for us that we couldn't start it less than that. But then I asked my own self, well, why did God require a tenth under the law? Why not some other figure? Well, I suppose some of you could offer some better explanations than mine, but the one that came to my mind was God just figured that's what it cost to run his business. So he put a tithe. But it certainly wasn't just some wild figure. And again, it's the tenth. So, you do what you feel led. You have to be convicted of the Lord. We are not required to give a tithe. Certainly not. But I had to start somewhere. And you know, we are not ever going to get anywhere if we say we'll give when the Spirit hits us. If that's our method, I prove that didn't work. You know why? When the Spirit hit me, I didn't have anything to give. That's the, that's the fallacy in that line of thinking. We don't do anything else that way. We budget our time, we budget our money, we have everything scheduled, and yet we want to do business with the Lord in any old way. It says, as he purposeth in his heart. We must make up our mind in the presence of God, what we are going to do, and lay it aside. And then when the Spirit hits us, we've got it to give. Yeah, I went to Brother Harper, dear brother Harold Harper. He was in Washington, Georgia at the time we were making this decision, and I wanted a little encouragement along this line, or if I was doing it wrong, I wanted to be straightened out. So I went to brother Harper, and uh, he smiled when I told him how the Lord had led us thus far, and he said, brother, that's exactly the way God led my wife and me. And he said, we enjoyed giving him ten percent so much that we later said, Lord, would you help us increase it to fifteen percent? And he said, we enjoyed giving that fifteen percent so much that we went back to him and we said, Lord, would you help us to increase it to 20%? And he said, now you don't need to tell anybody this. I'm sure he'll pardon me for telling you. Uh, he said, by the grace of God, we've been able to increase it to fifty percent. And I took a big breath, you know, of amazement, and I said, boy, they've arrived. And, and just as I was thinking that, I heard him say, and we are asking him to help us to increase it. Ah, Christian, that's this grace. That's living. And we don't settle for the little percentage. We want to increase it. From glory to glory, from grace to grace, from faith to faith is the Christian life. This grace. What's the result of, of giving? Well, who could ever measure the results? In our portion in Second Corinthians, uh, chapter nine, he says that it pleases God. If there wasn't anything else to be accomplished, that would be enough. It pleases God. And secondly, in verse twelve, it causes thanksgivings to God, as well as the supply of want in the particular case. My, I'm sure that if our missionaries could speak here this morning, they would say that they too have known those times on the mission field when the need was so pressing and even became anxious moments. And then there came that letter from home, back from saints back at home, and it had just what we needed. And we had to get together and praise God for the grace that we saw in those believers manifested to us. Oh, it causes a cloud of incense to rise to the throne of God, our giving. Uh, God is glorified in the obvious subjection, he says, to the gospel of Christ. Uh, it causes saints to pray for those that give, and it's like a circle, an endless circle of blessing. But also, God has guaranteed to reward the giver. Luke six verse thirty eight says, give, and it shall be given unto you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over. Notice how, what an abundance. You see a basket, it's filled, it's not only filled, but it's pressed down and then shaken, and then running over. Full, abundant measure shall men give unto your bosom, for with what measure you meet, with all it shall be measured to you again. I have never heard of anyone who said, I gave, and the Lord failed me. Never. I have always heard, always heard, that God is no man's debtor, and he gives and gives and gives again. You know, Christians, we need to be, uh, faithful in this thing. Well, I mean, we, we need to be honest with God. We made sure we didn't cheat the Lord on this thing. So what we did was every time any money came into our hands, by whatsoever means, we took out his portion. We didn't even show it in our running account in our checkbook. We carried a separate account of it in the back of the checkbook so that we couldn't possibly touch it. And I remember sometimes we'd say, well, our account is flat, but the Lord's account is fat. And it was amazing, and that little portion, it's amazing how it'll grow. I remember before I started giving a missionary pass through when I was at Waynesboro, Georgia. I remember this missionary coming through, and the poor man just wasn't properly dressed. He, he was wearing a cheap pair of tennis shoes. And I felt so sorry for him, I could have cried. And that was when I was going on the principle, when the spirit hits you, that's when you give. The spirit sure hit me that night. And all I could do was shake his hand and say, God bless you, sir. That's all. But after we started laying the Lord's portion aside, when a case like that came along, I could write a check and almost shout hallelujah as I said, God bless you, brother, and shove that check in his hand. Oh, dear saints, let's be honest with God's business. Let's keep our accounts in order and never touch his for ourselves, and watch it grow and watch it bless. And may you and I, like Brother Harper, just keep going on and on. As you abound in everything, see that you abound in this grace also. Shall we close in a word of prayer? Oh Father, we pray that as we've looked at this subject so simply, that yet it might bear its proper fruit in our hearts. We pray that each one of us might really know this grace and know all of the blessedness of it, and that he might be in this way magnified in our life. We ask it in his precious name. Amen.