Description
Pastor Keith Thomas teaches 2 Corinthians 9:1-12 in Week 8 of Becoming Righteous Agents at North Park Bible Church. God owns everything, so we are stewards of our treasures, not owners. From Job, 1 Timothy 6, Matthew 6, and the generous Macedonian churches, Keith shows what true grace giving looks like: prepared, proactive, intentional, and cheerful.
Summary and Application
Over the past several weeks, our Becoming Righteous Agents series has looked at the areas of life God calls us to steward: our time, our talent, our bodies, our relationships, and the world itself. This week Keith turned to the one many of us would rather avoid: our treasure. It was, he noted, the first sermon he has preached on giving in his years at North Park, and he made the case that a subject Jesus and the Scriptures address so often is not one we can afford to skip.
His central claim is simple. When you understand grace, you become a generous giver. When you don't, you hold on tightly.
Who Really Owns It?
Keith began with foundational truths. Psalm 24:1 declares, "The earth is the Lord's, and all it contains." If God owns everything, then nothing we hold is finally ours. As Keith put it:
"You are simply a steward of what you think that you own."
Adam did not own the garden; God entrusted it to him to tend on His behalf. We stand in the same place. Our homes, paychecks, and savings are entrusted to us, and that changes how we hold them.
Job shows what that looks like under pressure. Having lost his wealth and his children, he fell to the ground and worshiped: "The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord." Job understood that possessions are temporary. We can't take them with us.
The Pull of Riches
Scripture also warns about the folly of chasing wealth. Proverbs 23 pictures riches sprouting wings and flying off like an eagle. In 1 Timothy 6, Paul tells Timothy that godliness with contentment is great gain, and that it is the love of money, not money itself, that is a root of all sorts of evil. Keith pointed out how often that verse is misquoted, and how easily the love of money becomes an idol, even for believers.
He also recalled a conversation with a successful man who described himself as dependent on no one but himself. Keith's question: who gave him the intelligence and abilities to earn what he has? God is the one who provides.
Where Your Treasure Is
Jesus put it plainly in Matthew 6:19-21: earthly treasure is exposed to moth, rust, and thieves, but treasure stored in heaven is secure, "for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." Keith shared a painful memory from early in his marriage, when thieves broke into the family's apartment and carried off irreplaceable heirlooms. Things we work hard for can disappear in an afternoon. That is why the Lord calls us to invest in what lasts. And our spending tells the truth about us:
"Your checkbook priorities reflect your heart priorities."
The Grace Behind the Giving
From there Keith opened 2 Corinthians 8. The churches of Macedonia, poor and afflicted, gave with overflowing joy and beyond their ability, even begging to take part in Paul's collection for the suffering believers in Jerusalem. Wealthy Corinth, meanwhile, had promised to give a year earlier and still hadn't followed through. What made the difference? Paul points to the Lord Jesus, who though He was rich became poor for our sake, so that through His poverty we might become rich.
"You see, your salvation is a picture of grace."
Grace received becomes grace given. Paul was not commanding the Corinthians or guilting them; he was inviting them to step into the same grace they had received.
The Practices of a Grace Giver
In 2 Corinthians 9:1-12, Keith traced the practices of true grace givers. They are prepared and proactive, turning good intentions into action rather than drifting into delay. They understand the law of sowing and reaping:
"You cannot outgive God."
They give voluntarily, not under compulsion, and intentionally, with forethought and a plan. They give cheerfully, because "God loves a cheerful giver." They experience greater grace, they recognize that God supplies every resource they have, they find their lives enriched as their giving overflows in thanksgiving, and they see themselves as God's agents, channels of His provision to others.
Grace giving, Keith concluded, is a life choice and a practice, not an accident. He closed with Matthew Henry's reminder to make it the business of every day to prepare for our last day, and to give with the end in mind.
Reflect
Do you think of what you have as owned or as entrusted? How would your week look different if you held it as entrusted?
If someone read your bank statement, what would they say your priorities are?
Is there a need you've heard about where you have meant to give but haven't yet taken action?
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The Biblical Stewardship of Your Treasures: True Grace Giving
Pastor Keith Thomas | November 8, 2026 | Becoming Righteous Agents Series, Week 8 | 2 Corinthians 9:1-12
Introduction: Stewarding Our Treasure
So we are on this series called Becoming Righteous Agents, and this has been a series where we have evaluated the various areas where we are called to be good stewards. Now, obviously, these are just a portion of the number of areas where we are required to be good stewards, but these are the main ones. We've covered time, talent, our temple, the tribe (we did two weeks on the tribe), the terra, that is our world, and this week we're going to do the treasure. More than likely, I will do another week on the treasure. Now, I have been in the pulpit here now, believe it or not, this is starting my fourth year, I think, as an interim pastor. Isn't that kind of funny?
But at any rate, this is the first sermon I believe that I've done on giving. But it's something that I probably should have done earlier, all right? But nevertheless, that's where we're going to land this morning: on the whole issue of giving in the life of the believer. And I will take a couple weeks to do this, because I think it's important that we cover some false issues about giving, and I will do that next week. But this week, we're going to focus in on our treasure and the stewardship of our treasures, that is, true grace giving, all right? That's what God has called us to be, true grace givers. So when you understand grace, you will be more prone to be a big giver, all right? Because I think that it has implications: if you don't understand grace, you will be more stingy and you will not be giving as God has prescribed.
And so as we go through this, we're going to go over a number of different scriptures this morning. So you will need to have some nimble fingers, but I've tried to put some on the screen here so you don't have to be leafing through everything. But nevertheless, we will cover a number of scriptures. They are all in your notes so that whenever you go home this evening or later on today or throughout the week, you have something to look up as we go through these issues of giving. But our main focus is going to be on 2 Corinthians 9:1-12, which Dawn just read.
Money Reveals Our Values and Our Character
Now, a few weeks ago, I gave you a quote by a guy by the name of Randy Alcorn. And Randy Alcorn says this in the very beginning sections of his book, Money, Possessions, and Eternity. He says, "Our use of money and possessions is a decisive statement of our eternal values. What we do with our money loudly affirms which kingdom we belong to. Whenever we give of our resources to further God's kingdom, we cast a ballot for Christ and against Satan, for heaven and against hell. Whenever we use our resources selfishly and indifferently, we further Satan's goals." That's what Randy Alcorn says. But the thing that I wanted to focus in on here is that what he says is that the use of our money and possessions is a decisive statement of our eternal values. It really is.
And then I had the privilege, whenever I was working on Capitol Hill (I worked for six years on Capitol Hill), I worked for a government agency called the Architect of the Capitol. None of you have ever heard of that. But we were responsible for the design, the construction, the maintenance of the entire Capitol Hill complex. And I was in the HR department there. I'd worked there for six years. And so we managed and oversaw the Capitol building, the Capitol grounds, the United States House of Representatives, all the buildings over there, and then all the buildings with the United States Senate, as well as the Library of Congress and all of their buildings, and the United States Supreme Court. In addition to that, we also oversaw the facilities at the United States Botanical Gardens, as well as the United States Power Plant. So that was our responsibility. And I oversaw the HR, well, not oversee it, but I had one of those sections. And I got moved around a couple times in terms of assignments.
But nevertheless, I had the privilege, whenever I was working there on Capitol Hill, that I would cut out for a lunchtime study. And whenever I was at that lunchtime study, I would make my way over to the United States Senate office buildings. And I would meet with a guy over there who was the chaplain of the United States Senate. So there were a lot of people in that Bible study that were on Capitol Hill; most of them were staffers of the various Senate offices and so forth. And I would sneak in and be a part of that study. And whenever I was there, the fellow that was the United States Senate chaplain was Richard Halverson. And he says in one of his books, "Jesus Christ said more about money than about any other single thing, because when it comes to a man's real nature, money is of first importance. Money is an exact index to a man's true character. All through Scripture, there is an intimate correlation between the development of man's character and how he handles his money."
And I had the privilege of being a part of that study from right around 1988 to whenever he passed away in 1995. But nevertheless, that is what Richard Halverson had to say about money. Scripture says a lot about money that most people don't realize, because it's a reflection of your values in your heart. And what Halverson says here, it's also a reflection of your true character.
Now, we've been on this journey about stewardship, and stewardship really has nothing to do with your salvation, but it has everything to do with your sanctification. And these two passages, we've talked about this. And so it's this ongoing process of transformation, that we have this continuous aspiration to grow in terms of our stewardship. And so that's what the main idea is in 2 Corinthians 3:18, where this is a process of continuous growth and maturity and yielding to the authority of Christ in our lives to become more Christlike. It's going to impact the way we give.
And then the passage in 2 Corinthians 5 talks about the whole issue that one day, whenever we go to glory, we will all be at the judgment seat of Christ. And as I've talked about before, this is not a judgment about whether you're in or out of heaven, but it's a judgment about what you've done as a believer with what you've been given, and how you utilize what you have been given, and how you have done as a steward of what God has entrusted to you.
So with that, we want to understand: since Christ talked about money and the Bible records a lot about money, it should be really important for all of us to focus in on it. If the Bible speaks about it and Jesus speaks about it and the Scriptures have an abundance of material about money, it really should be something that I focus in on and not avoid.
You know, one of the things: having been in ministry for now probably well over 25 years, in all of my 25 years, the ministry that I primarily work with is Quest. Before that, I was with a ministry called Search. And ever since I started with them, full-time, back in 1998, I've had to raise my own support and go and talk with people about being partners with us in terms of our ministry. And you talk about some difficult territory: that is whenever you go and you talk to someone one-on-one about being a partner with your ministry and supporting you in terms of your ministry.
Foundational Truths: God Owns Everything
So what does Scripture really tell us? There are some really foundational truths about our treasures, all right? Some really foundational truths about our treasures. And so we're going to go through a number of these foundational truths early on before we land in 2 Corinthians. We're going to first go to 2 Corinthians 8, and then we're going to go to 2 Corinthians 9. And so what we're going to do is transition to that in the latter portion of this sermon.
But what are these foundational truths that the Scriptures have for us? So while we may think that we have possessions, the reality is God owns everything. And so we see this in Psalm 24, verse 1. It says, "The earth is the Lord's, and all it contains, the world, and those who dwell in it." God owns everything. In Psalm 50, verses 1 and 2, it says, "For every beast of the forest is Mine, the cattle on a thousand hills. I know every bird of the mountains, and everything that moves in the field is Mine." That's what God says in terms of His ownership of everything.
And so when we think about stewardship, by definition, it recognizes that God has entrusted us, right? So since God owns everything, the things that we have have essentially been entrusted to us. You are simply a steward of what you think that you own. Does that make sense? And so so often we have the wrong mindset when we come out of life: we think of ownership, of something that belongs to me, as opposed to something that God has entrusted to me. There's a big difference between those mindsets.
And so we see that Adam, while he was placed in the garden, did Adam own anything? No. In fact, what God said to him was, "I'm entrusting this garden and its entire administration to you." Remember, we talked about the divine institutions, right? God gave him individual responsibility to administer God's, God's what? Garden, on His behalf. And so that translates to us as well, so that we are simply stewards of what God owns. And so believers are simply stewards of their treasures. You are a steward of whatever you own.
We Can't Take It With Us
And so the treasures that we have been entrusted are temporary possessions, and you are a steward of those possessions. Now notice what it says here in this passage in Job. Now you have to remember what happened to Job. He was a very, very wealthy man. And what most people believe is that Job was a contemporary of Abraham, that time frame. So very early on, like Genesis 12, the whole book of Job (I think it's 42 chapters) takes place at about the same time as when Abraham lived.
But remember, he had all of these possessions, and everything that he owned, to a large extent, was taken from him. There are some theological issues in that whole account, but nevertheless, there was this issue between God and Satan. And God said, "Have you considered My servant Job?" And Satan said, what? "Well, he's only doing that because..." what? "You've blessed him. If you take away his goodies and all of his trinkets and toys, his possessions, his wealth, he'll deny You." And so that began this whole journey where God said, "Okay, we'll see what he's all made of," and God knew what Job was all about.
But nevertheless, verses 20 and 21 tell us the heart of Job, because he was told that he had lost all of his crops, all of his cattle, his camels, everything that he owned, basically his wealth in its entirety. And not only that, but he also lost his children, right? The only thing he has left is what he's wearing, and maybe his house; I don't know about that. But nevertheless, he had his wife there. And so Job arose after he got news of all of these events that transpired, and this is what happens with Job: "Then Job arose and tore his robe and shaved his head, and he fell to the ground and worshiped." That's obviously an act of remorse or grief. "And he said, 'Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked I shall return there. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away.'" Notice what he says: "Blessed be the name of the Lord." Kind of like, in your face, Satan, right?
So Job didn't know about that competition or that whole debate between God and Satan. You see, Job was the person who was living this out in the flesh. He did not deny God. He saw himself as what? A steward. And even though he had those temporary things, he saw them as being temporal. Job lost his family and his children and nearly all of his wealth and his assets. But Job recognized his money and possessions were temporal. Even in his circumstances, he worshiped and praised God, and he remained loyal to God.
The Folly of Pursuing Riches
And so we move on to this next section here, where we are warned in Scripture about the folly. Okay. So the first one is that we're stewards, right? And the second major issue is that we can't take it with us, right? Whatever we have is temporal. And then we move on to this next one: we are warned in Scripture about the folly of pursuing wealth and riches. This is from Proverbs 23. You don't have to turn there, but I'll read this to you. It says, "Do not weary yourself to gain wealth, cease from your consideration of it. When you set your eyes on it, it is gone. For wealth certainly makes itself wings like an eagle that flies toward the heavens." It flies away. It can disappear in a moment's time. So you can have wealth and possessions, but eventually they can just what? Evaporate. Be careful about making riches your pursuit.
You see, Paul instructs Timothy that he must guard himself against the lure of riches and the temptations of wealth. Turn to 1 Timothy in your Bibles. 1 Timothy chapter 6, and we're going to look here initially at verses 6 through 10. Paul is warning Timothy about this whole idea of the lure of riches. He says, "But godliness actually is a means of great gain when accompanied by contentment. For we have brought nothing into the world, so we cannot take anything out of it either. If we have food and covering, with these we shall be content. But those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a snare and many foolish and harmful desires which plunge men into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all sorts of evil, and some by longing for it have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs."
So let's look at this and examine this. First off, in verse 9: living a life of contentment enables one to avoid the snares of greed and coveting. You see, contentment is almost a lost thing, because we're bombarded with so many things that become enticements to us. And the verse that is often misquoted, right, is verse 10: that money is the root of all evil. That is what is oftentimes said: money is the root of all evil. But no, it says what? It says the love of money. It's the love of money. That is where it becomes almost your idol, right? It's that zeal, that love for money, that love for possessions. That becomes an idol.
Notice it also says the love of money can lure. Notice what it says there. It can lure people away into foolish ruin. I know of some people who have pursued wealth and risked enormous amounts of money only to lose every single penny. And so the love of money can lure people into foolishness and ruin, as well as abandoning one's faith. It can become their god, their idol, right? Even as believers, people can be lured into this. And what Paul's doing here is he's warning Timothy that he needs to teach and to train people, right? This is something that is a landmine even for believers.
And so we see here also, when we hop down a little bit further to verses 17 through 19 in this same chapter of 1 Timothy 6, Paul continues on. He says in verse 17, "Instruct those who are rich in this present world not to be conceited or to fix their hope on the uncertainty of riches, but on God." You see what Paul's encouraging Timothy to do here? Be what? Be content, and don't put your hope in this present world, not in your riches. Don't be conceited about your wealth, and don't fix your hope on the uncertainty of riches, "but on God, who richly supplies us with all things to enjoy." Now notice what he says: "Instruct them to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, storing up for themselves the treasure of a good foundation for..." what? "The future."
That's the idea: what you do with your wealth now, if you invest it properly for God's work, what are you doing? You're investing it now. You're sending that on ahead. You're paying dividends on your eternal places. And so we see here: beware of conceit and putting their hope in riches. God is the one who provides. You see that in verse 17? God's the one who provides.
You know, so often what I think of is this. I was talking at North Park Academy, and I was talking about this conversation I had with this fellow, and he says, "I am dependent on no one but myself. I have supreme confidence in me." Now he was talking about salvation, but he has done quite well for himself in terms of his monetary gain. You see, he thinks of himself as being what? A self-made man. But really, here's the question: Who gave him the intelligence to get what he has? Is that by accident? Is that just something that he came up with, his own intelligence and his own abilities? Or is that something that God gave him? Is he truly, is he really a self-made man? No. It's God; God is the one who provides.
Treasures in Heaven
You see, what he also says here is they are to be generous. They are to do good for others with their riches, storing up treasures in heaven. You see that? It's the idea that you can invest here today in what has eternal value as opposed to temporal value.
And Jesus taught on the use of money and the right mindset when it comes to possessions. Turn in your Bibles to Matthew chapter 6. And this continues in the same type of mindset. We saw where Paul charged Timothy, and now we're going to turn to Matthew chapter 6. And this is the Sermon on the Mount, where Jesus is giving instructions primarily to His disciples, but He's also instructing what? The people who were at the Sermon on the Mount, listening to Jesus give this sermon on the kingdom. In Matthew 6:19-21, we see where Jesus is giving them instructions. He says, starting in verse 19, "Do not..." (see, this is an imperative) "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal." Notice what He says in verse 21: "For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."
I will never forget, whenever Karen and I first got married, we were in this three-story apartment building, and I chose intentionally to get on the third floor of that apartment building. And I was working on Capitol Hill at that time, and I would come home from work, but she would always get there before me, because she was a teacher. She got off a little bit earlier than I did, because I had to drive out from D.C., all that lovely D.C. traffic. And so she would always be at home before I would be home.
So I pulled in one day, and I saw all these police cars out there in the front and in the parking lot. I thought, this is weird. We lived in Greenbelt, Maryland. It was a relatively safe neighborhood, but nevertheless, I saw Karen's car there, and so I began to go into my apartment, and I said, this is weird, because I see the apartment manager there, and I see police officers there. And as I went further up the steps, there were more police officers. And then whenever I get to the door, the apartment complex manager says, "Your wife is in the bedroom. She needs to talk to you."
Now, you can imagine what I thought had taken place. So I go back to the bedroom, and there's Karen, and she is perfectly fine. But the first words out of her mouth were these verses. She said, ... She was fine. But you can imagine all of the things that are going through my mind as this episode is unfolding. But what had happened was some thieves came into our apartment. They were in the common ground, and they would hoist themselves up into the attic and go across the attic and kick a hole in the floor and jump down into your apartment, even though it was locked. And then they would turn the deadbolt and leave with all your stuff. They broke in and stole a lot of stuff, including Karen's grandmother's wedding ring. They stole my class ring from my college years. They stole one of my guns and a bunch of money that we had, and jewelry. But you see, that's the verse that she said. It was in her heart.
Now, that's what happens in this world. You see, the point here that Jesus is talking about is what? Don't store up for yourselves treasures where? On this earth. But store up for yourselves what? Treasures in heaven, where no thieves can break in and steal. I'll tell you, whenever that took place, I felt completely violated, because I had worked so hard to accumulate those things. And you have all those things, and there were some things that were priceless, right? Things that someone else worked hard for, and they gave them to Karen, like her grandmother's wedding ring, right? You can never, ever replace that. You see, but the point here that Jesus is talking about is: store up for yourself treasures in heaven. And so we need to have the mindset that heavenly treasure is greater than earthly treasure. And so the point here is also that your checkbook priorities reflect your heart priorities. So whenever you look at your checkbook and your bank statements and you see where your money is being spent, what does that tell you? That is a reflection of your life priorities.
The Mindset of True Grace Giving
So now let's look into this next area of true grace giving: the mindset of true grace giving. As we jump in here, you can turn in your Bibles to 2 Corinthians chapter 8, 2 Corinthians chapter 8. And we're going to look at this kind of quickly, but nevertheless, what Paul's doing is he is going to give some information to the church at Corinth. And so he is providing believers with this new paradigm of giving in the New Testament.
And so believers in Jerusalem were under intense persecution, and they were ostracized from their families and the synagogues and their temples. Why? Because they had become believers in Jesus. And so if you know anything about Judaism and so forth, and even some like Muslim religions or Islam, if you convert from that, you become what? Persona non grata in your community and in your families; you are excised from those families. So even at that, they're also outcasts within the synagogue, the temple worship, and business networks. So even though you might be a part of the town or village, you are a marked person with respect to your faith and you're ostracized. But nevertheless, during this time frame, in AD 52, in Jerusalem and Judea, there was this massive famine that was going on for a number of years. And so believers, especially the poor, were hit very hard and faced incredible hardship. So that's the backstory of what's taking place here in 2 Corinthians chapter 8.
So what Paul is doing is he's taking up a collection from those who had become believers through all of his first, second, and third missionary journeys. He is collecting money from all of these different churches to send to the saints in Jerusalem. And because Jerusalem was a hot spot (it was the primary location of the church, the beginning of the church), there were a lot of believers there, and there were also a lot of teachers, and even some of the apostles were still there.
So nevertheless, Paul is collecting money for these people in Jerusalem. And we can piece the puzzle together in terms of his desire to collect this money. So he was collecting money from churches in Rome. He was collecting money from churches in Galatia and Macedonia and Achaia and Asia Minor. From all of these churches, Paul is collecting this money so that he can take it down to Jerusalem. So Paul used delegates such as Titus to be his emissaries, to help him in this collection effort and collect these funds. So this is a high priority for Paul, to collect these funds for the saints in Jerusalem. So that's the backdrop of this whole passage in 2 Corinthians chapter 8.
So we can see here what Paul is trying to give them as a vision for being true grace-giving people. So Paul encourages the believers in Corinth to emulate the heart attitude of believers in Macedonia. Notice what he says here in verse 1. He says, "Now, brethren, we wish to make known to you the grace of God which has been given in the churches of Macedonia, that in a great ordeal of affliction their abundance of joy and their deep poverty..."
So what he's doing is he's writing to the people at Corinth, and he's applauding what's taken place up in Macedonia. Macedonia is up where Thessalonica was located, Philippi, Berea, and those churches there. And what Paul is doing is he's writing to the church at Corinth, and he's saying, "You should see what's happening up in Macedonia. Those people have grace giving mastered. In fact, I'm using them as an example for you to follow."
Notice what he says here: "Now, brethren, we wish to make known to you the grace of God which has been given in the churches of Macedonia." You see, the churches of Macedonia are in the process of giving sacrificially: "that in a great ordeal of affliction," even though they are being afflicted, "their abundance of joy and their deep poverty..." So these churches do not have the kind of wealth or capacity to give compared to the people in Corinth, a very, very wealthy city. You see, the people in Macedonia don't have the abundance of wealth that they have in Corinth. For our purposes today, that would be like someone who's in West Virginia compared to someone who's in New York City. Does that make sense? You see, poverty compared to what? Great wealth.
But the people in Macedonia were giving unbelievable amounts of money, even in their poverty and their affliction, compared to the churches in Corinth. Notice what he says: "in a great ordeal of affliction their abundance of joy and their deep poverty overflowed in the wealth of their liberality." They're giving liberally. So Paul encourages the believers in Corinth to emulate the heart attitude of the believers in Macedonia. They were in deep poverty. They gave with their abundance of joy. They were giving liberally. Give till it hurts. And that's what they were doing. And they gave not just according to their ability, but beyond their ability. They were giving what? Not just of their ability, but they were giving willingly and liberally.
And they were begging to participate. Notice what it says in verse 4: "begging us with much urgency for the favor of participation in the support of the saints." You see, they wanted to be a part of the program, saying, "We want to be a part of this whole big deal of giving to the saints in Jerusalem." They wanted to be a part of it. They wanted to be a part of this deal. And so the Macedonians gave of themselves first to the Lord. Notice what it says in verse 5: "and this, not as we had expected, but they first gave themselves to the Lord and to us by the will of God." You see that? You see, proportionally, they were big givers compared to those who had what? Far greater income and wealth. They made a liberal donation to the saints. And so Paul is bragging about them to the church at Corinth.
You see, that's what Paul's doing. He's saying, "Look at the saints in Macedonia and what they're doing." They're knocking the cover off the ball. Even though they don't have the genuine capacity to do it, they are like all-stars in terms of giving.
And so we see here what is going on. Paul had written to the church at Corinth one year prior to this letter. He had written a letter before this letter of 2 Corinthians; he had sent them a letter one year before. And what's happening is, what are they still doing? Titus delivered the letter and made the appeal to them to give to the needs of Jerusalem one year previously. And so we see here in verse 7, it is evident that the believers in Corinth had not taken steps to participate in this grace gift. Notice what it says, verse 6: "So we urged Titus that as he had previously made a beginning, so he would also complete in you this gracious work as well. But just as you abound in everything" (see, this is a rich church in Corinth) "in faith and utterance and knowledge and in all earnestness and in the love we inspired in you, see that you abound in this gracious work also."
You see, they hadn't stepped up yet. Even one year previous to that, he gave them the goal, that they should be giving to this endeavor. But they weren't. See, the church at Corinth abounded but failed to give, but the churches in Macedonia were persecuted and faced even greater hardship.
Paul reminds them that they are recipients of God's grace. And Christ was rich but became poor for you. Notice what he says in verse 9. I'll pick it up in verse 8: "I am not speaking this as a command." So what Paul is doing is he's saying, "I'm not commanding you to give. You're not doing this out of obligation or duty. I'm not guilting you into this." But what he's saying is, "but as proving through the earnestness of others the sincerity of your love also." Notice what he says in verse 9: "For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sake He became poor, so that you through His poverty might become rich."
You see, your salvation is a picture of grace. So if you understand what God's grace is all about, what are you going to be? You're going to be a person of what? Infinite grace to others with your own resources. It says, "I give my opinion in this matter, for this is to your advantage, who were the first to begin a year ago not only to do this, but also to desire to do it." What Paul is saying there is, "Here is your golden opportunity to step into this grace and be a grace giver." You see, the bottom line is that the churches in Corinth did not understand grace and a willingness to be grace givers. You see that?
True Grace Giving Practices
So now let's move on to chapter 9. I know we left a few verses out, but I'll leave that to you to sort through those verses, the rest of chapter 8. But nevertheless, let's move on to chapter 9 and what Paul is going to do. Now I'm going to give you a number of lessons in this section here, and I put them all in your notes so you don't have to scramble around trying to write them down. I want this to be user-friendly. All right?
So let's look and see what chapter 9 has for us here. It says, "For it is superfluous for me to write to you about this ministry to the saints; for I know your readiness." See what Paul is doing? He's saying, "I know you're ready to do this. You said you were ready to do this." See what Paul is saying here in this section, in verse 2. What he's saying is, grace givers are what? Prepared. They are prepared to give. Paul bragged about the believers in Corinth to the believers in Macedonia. But you see what happened? The Macedonians said, "Oh, look, the people down in Corinth, they're going to be giving. We want to be a part of this too. We're going to give." And they did it instantly. But the people in Corinth, they're still laying eggs. They're not doing anything. So you see, what's important to understand is that grace givers are prepared to give.
Second, grace givers are proactive. Notice what it says in verse 3. He says here, "But I have sent the brethren, in order that our boasting about you may not be made empty in this case, so that, as I was saying, you may be..." what? You see, they are proactive. Grace givers are proactive givers. Evidently, they desired to give but had not taken the steps to put things in action. Paul was encouraging the people at Corinth: get off your duff, right? And get at it. Be proactive, not passive. You see? One of the biggest dangers for people (and you can ask my wife), passivity drives me bananas. Be proactive.
Paul's encouraging them to what? Act. Notice what it says in verse 4. All right? Let's move on to verse 4: "otherwise if any Macedonians come with me and find you unprepared, we (not to speak of you) will be put to shame by this confidence." You see, what Paul is saying is, "I don't want to be put to shame, because I've been bragging about you people to the people of Macedonia, and you haven't done anything yet. I don't want to be put to shame, because if I'm put to shame, what does that mean for you?" You see what that is? What's Paul saying? He's saying, "You need to take action here, folks. Be proactive." Paul does not want to be put to shame, because he conveyed their enthusiasm. They talked about giving. They kind of even made overtures of giving. But what did they do? Zero. They weren't taking action. But what Paul is saying here is, you need to take action. Paul is strongly encouraging them to act. Don't just think about giving, but make plans and act. Now. Now. And so what Paul is saying here is, don't fall victim to procrastination or delay. Don't just think about it. Be proactive. Right?
We move on to verse 6. He now goes on to talk about this whole next section here. He says, "Now this I say, he who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully." You see this? You see, what Paul is saying here is this: grace givers understand the law of sowing and reaping. And verse 6 is the law of sowing and reaping. All right? You cannot outgive God. You cannot outgive God. You see, what Paul is saying here in verse 6 is, "Now this I say, he who sows sparingly..." So if you're stingy, right, what's going to happen? He "will also reap sparingly." You see, there's this principle, this divine principle of what? Sowing and reaping. "He who sows bountifully will also..." what? "Reap bountifully."
Then we move on to verse 7. Now, verse 7 is packed. All right? Because he's giving us the various practices of true grace givers. Notice what it says in verse 7: "Each one must do just as he has purposed in his heart, not grudgingly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver." Now, let's pull this apart just a little bit. See, grace givers voluntarily give. They're not under some kind of arm-twisting maneuvers of giving. It should be something that you want to do. They voluntarily do this. They do not do it out of duty or obligation, but it's a heartfelt desire and love.
In the second part of verse 7, grace givers are intentional. They purpose in their heart, and they give with forethought and intentionality. They're strategic in their giving. They're not whimsical. No, they have a game plan for doing it. You see? I think these are principles that we should apply even to our missions committees, right? Where we strategically plan and give to organizations that we want to give to with grand intention. Not whims. We are strategic and we are intentional. And this is exactly what we should be as individuals as well. We believe in something. We want to get behind something because we want to be a part of that ministry endeavor.
Look, I have spent almost 30 years raising support, and almost to a person, so many people have said, "Keith, I don't care about the ministry. I know you." And they support me because they know me and what I do. Right? And that's the idea here: they are giving with strategic intentionality, because they can trust who they're giving to, because they will use those resources and funds properly.
Next, in verse 7, grace givers are what? Cheerful givers. See, this is a part of the practice. Grace givers give cheerfully. Believers who understand these principles and practices give with a sense of happiness or joy. This is a sign that they grasp the significance of God's grace, and the abundance of His grace flows through you to others. You see, they are cheerful givers. The Greek word there is almost "hilarious." It's like a form of hilarity. It's giving with great joy. Hilarious. It almost makes you want to laugh and give with joy because it's such a great thing to do.
Well, let's unpackage this just a little bit more. We have a few more verses to go through. Bear with me. In verses 8 and 9, grace givers experience greater grace. Notice what it says in verses 8 and 9. He says, ... And this is a quotation from a psalm: "As it is written, 'He scattered abroad, He gave to the poor, His righteousness endures forever.'" And so what he's saying here is that this is greater grace. This is what you experience. You see what God is doing: He's giving you an abundance of grace. Paul states that every good deed, not just giving, is recognized by God.
And then verse 10: grace givers understand that God provides and supplies our resources. Notice what he says in verse 10: "Now He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness." You see, God is the ultimate provider, and we can use what He provides us as a conduit for others. Okay? What you're doing is, you're able to give because of what God has given to you. And now you can take what God has blessed you with and give to others so that what? They are blessed even more. He provides our resources.
And then in verse 11, grace givers recognize their lives are enriched by God. Notice what he says in verse 11: "you will be enriched in everything for all liberality, which through us is producing thanksgiving to God." You see, when we give, we're giving to God first and foremost, but also it is what? It is being enriched by God. There is certain blessing in giving, as our giving is an act of thanksgiving to God. It is truly an act of thanksgiving to God.
And then when we get to verse 12, finally, what we see here is this. Excuse me. "For the ministry of this service is not only fully supplying the needs of the saints, but is also overflowing through many thanksgivings to God." You see, grace givers see themselves as God's agents. See, you're acting as God's agents to what? To give to other people or other ministries, where you are acting as God's agents to those people. They abundantly supply the need of the saints, because their giving is an act of thanksgiving to God, for His grace has been extended to them. You see, what is happening is you are giving to God out of a sense of thanksgiving to Him, but also what's happening is you are blessing that other person with the gifts that you're giving. You are a part of being God's agent in giving.
So, grace giving is more than having the right mindset, what we talked about earlier in that whole section. It's also proactively taking steps to be engaged regularly in God's work through God's people. And then grace giving is a life choice and a practice. It's not something that happens by accident. It is something that is intentional. It is something that is, what, strategic? Where you use your resources, and it's a reflection of where your heart truly is.
And so, I want to finish with this quotation from Matthew Henry. Matthew Henry says this: "It ought to be the business of every day to prepare for your last day." You see, what Matthew Henry is saying here is basically, give with the end in mind. You see, there will be a day when we all face that judgment, in terms of understanding: what have you done with what you have been given?
Application Questions
So, what are some application points this morning? Well, first off, these are a series of questions that are intended for you to ask later on, between you and your spouse or you yourself. These are reflective questions. All right? Do you affirm that God owns everything? And then, how does this modify the way you see yourself as a steward? How are you doing as God's steward on this earth, as His agent?
And then, second, do you truly give liberally? Do you give until it hurts, that is, beyond your ability? And I think the idea here is that you need to live by faith. Right? You know, oftentimes I'm thought of as being in a ministry that is a faith-based mission. Well, really, that's the way we all should live, right? By faith. Right?
Third, why do you think that the richest people are the stingiest? Now, oftentimes we see these big philanthropists, right, where they give millions and millions of dollars, but if statistics ring true (and I've seen statistics on this), the people who have the most are oftentimes the stingiest people. They may give a lot of money, but proportional to what they really, truly have, it's much smaller. That's why Jesus lauded the what? The widow who gave the what? The mite. Why do you think that is? Do they understand God's grace? Maybe not.
And then fourth, do you have a goal for your giving? Are you proactive? Do you take action when you hear about a need? And then, do you have a passion for giving? Do you truly have a passion for giving to God's work? And then finally, if we were to evaluate your checkbook or your bank statement, what would it tell you about your priorities in life? Are you a true grace giver? I think we all have space for self-evaluation this morning as to where we are with that question.
Closing Prayer
Let's close in a word of prayer. Lord, we truly thank You for Your instruction and for Your guidance and Your Word, that we would be people who are different, because we see that You own everything and that we are simply agents of Yours, and You have called us to have not only the right mindset about giving but also the right practices for giving. Lord, use us as we seek to be Your agents in this world with our money. Use us as we reflect on these things; convict us of where we need to improve and be different. We pray these things in Your holy name. Amen.
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AI Disclaimer
This transcript was cleaned from an automatically generated machine transcription with AI assistance. It is complete: nothing Keith said has been omitted, softened, or summarized. The following changes were made:
Formatting: timestamps removed; section headings added to reflect the sermon's structure; punctuation, paragraphing, and quotation marks added; filler words, false starts, and repeated words removed (e.g., "you know," doubled words, "What's that?").
Scripture readings aligned to the NASB 1995, the translation Keith read, where the machine transcription garbled or loosely rendered the wording: Psalm 24:1; Psalm 50:10-11; Job 1:20-21 ("mother's room" to "mother's womb," "fell on the ground and wore, he worshiped" to "fell to the ground and worshiped"); Proverbs 23:4-5; 1 Timothy 6:6-10 ("various temptations and snares" to "temptation and a snare," "deception" to "destruction," "the root" to "a root") and 6:17-19; Matthew 6:19-21 ("break in to steal" to "break in and steal," "there is your heart" to "there your heart"); 2 Corinthians 8:1-10; and 2 Corinthians 9:1-12 ("superlifes" to "superfluous," "proposed" to "purposed," "the righteous He endures forever" to "His righteousness endures forever," "need of the saints" to "needs of the saints" in the reading). The NASB's dashes in 2 Corinthians 9:4 are set as parentheses, per the pack's punctuation standard.
Name and term corrections: "honed" to "owned"; "exercised from those families" to "excised from those families" (best judgment from context; see the staff review sheet); "the might" to "the mite"; "Christ-like" to "Christlike"; "Botanical Gardens" and "Power Plant" left as spoken.
Verbal slip corrected: "We're going to first go to 1 Corinthians 8" corrected to "2 Corinthians 8," since Keith then turns to 2 Corinthians 8 and the outline lists 2 Corinthians 8.
Kept as spoken (flagged for staff, not corrected): "Psalm 50, verses 1 and 2" (the verses read are Psalm 50:10-11); the Matthew Henry quotation's wording ("your last day").
Untranscribed audio: the machine transcript has no words where Karen's quotation of the verses would be ("She said, ... She was fine."), where 2 Corinthians 9:8 was read ("He says, ..."), and in a gap between 39:09 and 39:34 near the reading of 2 Corinthians 9:2. These are marked only with ellipses where the sentence breaks; no words have been supplied.
Book title formatting: Money, Possessions, and Eternity italicized.
