Well, as we continue in 2 Corinthians 9, once again, Paul is putting together a collection from the Gentile churches to help the suffering churches that are in Jerusalem. And the Corinthian church was ready and willing to give a year before. In fact, they were excited to give, and they promised to give a certain amount, and started taking and making a collection. But then it stopped, most likely from procrastination, and also because of their fallout with the apostle Paul. But now they've repented. And they've repented of their sin against God and their sin against Paul. And they are now restored to Paul. They're restored to him. And since this is the case, he wants them to pick up where they left off. He wants them to fulfill their promise to give. And in verses one to five of this chapter, he dealt with the collection of their gift. how he was sending a delegation of three approved men from Corinth to prepare them and to enable them to give what they've promised to give. So that when Paul came with some Macedonians, they would be prepared to give and save themselves and Paul the shame from him having boasted of them. so that they would give as a matter of generosity and not as a grudging obligation. Well now in verses 6 and following Paul will shift from the collecting of their offering to the offering itself. And in these verses we have principles and motives for giving that all believers need to know and all believers need to apply. Here Paul deals with the very heart of giving and how God responds to that heart. And sadly, some have taken these verses and they have twisted the life out of them to support their covetous practices. For they're peddlers of the gospel, we're told, and they're out for their own game. But as we will see, these verses, they give us God's design on giving. And I would like to look at verses 6 to 9 in a sermon titled, You Reap What You Sow, using three really simple points. And they are one, how to give, to what to give, and finally, the grace to give. How to give, what to give, and the grace to give. So let's look at first how to give, and we'll find that in verse six, and I'll read that again. He says, but I say to you, but this I say, if you sow sparingly, you'll reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Paul starts by saying, but this I say, but this I say. And he has just said, I know your willingness and I know your eagerness to give, but now you've got to follow through. You've got to follow through and give what you committed to give a year ago. And he's told them of the Macedonians' generosity already, and he's told them how Christ became poor so that they could become rich in him. And he's told them how giving should be proportionate. So if you have a lot, you give more. And if you're in need, those who have more help you. And now, he will sum up how to give with this illustration and this principle from farming. And that is, he who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. And the Corinthians would have been very familiar with this illustration, very familiar with it. They would have been familiar. And what a farmer would do is he would wear this sack over his shoulder and over his chest as well, and he would fill it with seeds. Then he would walk up and down the earth that he just plowed, and he'd be tossing the seeds out, back and forth, left and right. And he would toss them out generously, for the more seeds that you throw down, odds are, more of a crop you harvest in the end. So if you are stingy with the seeds, trying to save some for next year maybe, you'll have a skimpy harvest. So a farmer knows that he can't be thrifty with the seeds. You can't be miserly or frugal with the seeds, because you'll feel it when the crop grows and your barns, i.e., won't be full. So someone who sows sparingly is looking at a loss of income, maybe looking at a hungry winter. And Paul says this principle in farming of reaping and sowing is also true in giving. If we give sparingly, we reap sparingly. Now Paul has just spoken about the bountiful gift that the Corinthians promised, and now he will show them the benefits of generous giving or of sowing bountifully. And when he says, he who sows sparingly, and he who sows bountifully, they are both in the present tense, which implies continual sowing, continual sowing. So he who continually sows sparingly, continually reaps sparingly. And he who continually sows bountifully, continually reaps bountifully. And what sowing seed involves is unhindered trust in God. Unhindered trust. For the farmer trusts the Lord will germinate the seeds. He trusts the Lord for the rain to help grow the seeds, and the sunshine to help grow the seeds, and to keep disease, and birds, and floods, and drought, anything that can destroy the seeds. And so when a farmer sows the seed, when it leaves his hand, it is basically in the hands of the Lord. He knows he can't make it grow, and he knows he cannot make it yield a plentiful harvest. Well, so too, when we give. when we give. We release the money out of our hands and we're trusting that the Lord will use it and bless it. We're giving it over to him. And that's really what our whole Christian life is like, isn't it? When we hand over our time and our talents and our abilities, we're giving them to the Lord. So giving is sowing. It's yielding to the Lord. It's trusting in the Lord. Now the question is, why do some believers So sparingly. Why do they only give a drop in the bucket back to the Lord? Why do they only give a little here and a little there? And it may be because of fear. Fear they won't have enough for themselves. Fear if they give too much they won't be able to use that money for other things which they would like to use it for. Or maybe Because there are so many charlatans out there, the name-it-and-claim-it crowd, those who are scamming and fleecing the sheep, or the people of God, that they don't trust anyone. Or maybe they just don't really believe in the promise of God, found in verse 8, that God will supply the giving heart with more to give. Maybe they don't believe in Proverbs 11, 24 and 25, which says, there is one who scatters, yet increases more. And there is one who withholds more than is right, but it leads to poverty. The generous soul will be made rich, and he who waters will also be watered himself. Or, as Proverbs 28.27 says, he who gives to the poor will not lack, but he who hides his eyes will have many curses. So they basically hold back because if they give generously, they won't be able to maybe pay their bills. Then they'll go broke. Then they'll go bankrupt. Then they'll be taken to court. Then they'll lose their possessions and be left penniless and homeless, wandering the streets of Woodhaven. And then they'll have to come to this place to scoff whatever food is downstairs. So instead of giving generously, They give as little as they can, just enough to ease their consciences, but not enough to be a real sacrifice. And the result is, when the harvest comes, they miss out on the blessings from God. And by the way, bountiful means blessings. And the blessings they reap are both material and spiritual. But more about that in a minute. Or maybe, they give sparingly, because they really don't have a kingdom mindset. They're not really seeking first the kingdom of God and his righteousness. And unlike the Macedonians, they haven't truly given themselves first to the Lord. Instead, they're worried about tomorrow. They're worried about next week, next year, their retirement, because their faith is weak. And they really don't see giving as a privilege and as an honor and as a blessing. They haven't equated what God has given them in Christ, which the natural response would be, if they did equate that, to give back joyfully to Him. So the one who gives sparingly gives with regret and gives in distrust. And there really is no faith involved in giving sparingly. And the end result is they reap sparingly. And the question is, what are they missing out on? What are they reaping sparingly? Well, for one, the blessing of giving. Paul said in Acts 20 verse 35, said that Jesus said, it is more blessed to give than to receive. like enjoying every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, like bearing abundant fruit in the Kingdom of God, like being free from selfishness and covetousness, and having sweeter communion and fellowship with Christ, like exhibiting greater degrees of the fruit of the Spirit in your life. So, he who sows sparingly He sows sparingly because he truly doesn't trust God here. He may say he does, but his unwillingness to give back to God what God has given him says otherwise. Now the one who sows bountifully reaps bountifully, and so the heart of the generous giver then is blessed. Proverbs 3, 9, and 10 says, they honor the Lord with their possessions. and with the first fruits of their increase. So their barns are filled with plenty, and their vats overflow with new wine. And as Proverbs 11.24 says, they understand that there is one who scatters, yet increases more. And there is one who withholds more than is right, yet leads to poverty again. So they reap material and spiritual blessings. Maybe they get a raise at work, maybe they get a better job, maybe they receive unexpected income and resources in some way, shape or form. And there certainly are physical blessings to be had. But there are also spiritual blessings, which really this is what's focusing on, like the blessings that the Sparsowa doesn't really reap. Look at the Macedonians, back in chapter 8, verses 1 to 5. They were a dirt poor people. They were an impoverished people. They were a people who really did not have two nickels to rub together. But they had abundant joy. They had abundant joy. And therefore they gave even beyond their ability. And there are blessings like hope. Hope in the glory to come. Peace in the midst of storms. Right? And contentment in all situations. Jesus' disciples wanted to know what they would reap for following Jesus. What they would get for giving up everything to follow him. And listen to what he said in Mark chapter 10 verses 29 and 30. He said, There is no one who has left house, or brothers, or sister, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my sake, and the gospel's sake, who shall not receive a hundredfold now in this time, houses, and brothers, and sisters, and mothers, and children, and lands, with persecutions, and in the age to come, eternal life. So it's reaping here and now, and it's reaping later. It's a hundredfold here and now, with families and all those necessities that he named, and in the age to come, glory, heaven. So Bountiful Reaping is not about getting a Mercedes-Benz, not about a Caribbean cruise, it's not about getting mortgages paid off, not about Rolex watches. It's about kingdom blessings now. Kingdom blessings now. It's about a greater faith in Christ. It's about joy in the journey. So the principle is, you reap what you sow. You reap what you sow. And we know this principle to be true, do we not? We know it to be true in life. Supposedly, well, it is the truth, you do the crime, you pay the time. Right? Not in this state, maybe, or the city, but you do the crime, you pay the time. That's you reap what you sow. You don't study for a test, you're going to fail it. That's reaping what you sow. You smoke two packs of cigarettes a day for 30 years in a row, You get lung cancer, you reap what you sow. You eat Big Macs every day for the next 10 years, you got arteriosclerosis. You reap what you sow. And if you are stingy before God and his kingdom, you reap what you sow. So the point is, those who are givers will be blessed more than those who are not. And remember, we're not talking about the amount. We're not talking about the amount. In the 10, 12 sermons that I've preached already in verses eight and nine so far, he's never said an amount, and he's not gonna do that here either. But he's talking about the heart, never about the amount. If you give according to your ability, you will reap bountifully. You will reap, but if you don't, well, you'll reap sparingly. And our truth here is you invest your money and your time and your energy into those things that are important to you. We all do that. If you invest in a classic car, you're going to garage that thing every night. You're going to be cleaning that thing, washing that thing, making sure you park on an angle so nobody comes near you. You're going to do that because you've invested money in this thing. Or if you invest in a certain stock, You're going to watch the market every day to see if it goes up an eighth of a percent or down an eighth of a percent. If you invest in a rental property, you're going to make sure that property is well-maintained. So the more you put into something, the more you hope to get out of it. You invest in getting out of it. Well, the same is true concerning your relationship with the Lord. If you invest in His kingdom, your spiritual life is going to be elevated. It just will be. If you sow the seeds of the gospel in this city, your spiritual life is going to be elevated. You're involved in spiritual things, fellowship, discipleship, evangelism. You're going to be blessed in spiritual things. So wherever your treasure is, that's where you're going to be invested in. And this is where your heart will be. Jesus told us this in Matthew 6, 21. So Paul is saying, if you give generously back to the Lord, you won't be a loser. If you give generously back to the Lord, you will not be a loser. George Mueller. said this, he said, the Christian should never worry about tomorrow, or give sparingly because of a possible need. Only the present moment is ours to serve the Lord, and tomorrow may never come. Life is worth as much as it is spent for the Lord's service. And these are the words found on a Christian's gravestone, which apply here, and there we read, what I spent I lost, what I saved I left, And what I gave, I have. And so first, how to give. Secondly, what to give. Verse seven, what to give. So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or out of necessity, for God loves a cheerful giver. Well, Paul has given them the principle of sowing and reaping, and now he'll let them know what they should give. Now he's going to tell you the amount, so to speak. And he starts by saying, so let each one give. So let each one give. And what that tells us is every Christian should be a giver. He's talking to all Christians. Let every Christian be a giver. If you're in the kingdom of God, you should be giving back to the one who put you in the kingdom of God. No one is exempt from being a giver. For God is a giver. He's a big giver. He's going to end chapter 9 by saying, thanks be to God for his indescribable gift. There's no price tag on indescribable gift. We can't even describe it, that's how big it is. So God is a giver. He expects his children to be givers as well. And what he wants is his people to give as they purpose in their hearts. He wants us to give as we purpose in our hearts. And that word purpose means decided. It means to decide ahead of time. So you shouldn't be figuring out what you want to give or will give as the plate is being passed around. And then you decide, well, maybe I'll put this and maybe I'll put that on. Maybe I won't even give it all today. No. Don't give on impulse, rather prayerfully decide what you will give to the Lord. So each person should decide for themselves what they're going to give. It's not up to the pastor, it's not up to the church, not up to the denomination. You should give what you've decided in your heart, not what anyone else tells you. It should be given from the heart what you want to give. See, it's all about the heart. It's all about the heart. This is why Jesus commended the widow who gave her last two mites in Luke 21. And then in verses one to four we read, and he looked up, that's Jesus, and saw the rich putting their gifts into the treasury. And he saw also a certain poor widow putting in two mites. So 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 would have rocked his disciples, something serious, when he said that. So she gave beyond her ability because her heart was moved to do so. And so Paul is saying our giving has to be a free will offering from the heart. Feel of the heart concerning offerings of the tabernacle God said to Moses in Exodus 25 verse 2 speak to the children of Israel That they bring me an offering from everyone who gives it willingly with his heart you shall take my offering I don't want I don't want anything from those who don't want to give but those who have a willing heart to give let them give I We read then in Exodus 35, two, take among you an offering to the Lord, whoever is of a willing heart. Let him bring it as an offering to the Lord, gold, silver, and bronze. So God wants us to give, he wants us to give from a willing heart. Because we know that he doesn't need our money. Listen, nobody is floating the church here. He already owns the universe. He doesn't need our money. He's never needed our money. He doesn't need us or what we do. But he wants us to trust him. Right? He wants us to trust him. And he's not even interested in how much we give, so to speak. Rather, the attitude of the heart in which we give it. That's what he's looking at, is the attitude of the heart. And if, like the Macedonians, our heart is filled with abundant joy, we'll give that way. We will give that way. So as if Psalm 4.7 says that the Lord has put gladness in my heart more than in the season, more than in the season that of grain and wine increased. I have more gladness than my material blessings in my heart, more gladness than that. Then you give that way. Or as Psalm 19.8 says, the statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart. The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes. Well, if that's the case, then you give that way. Now notice what Paul doesn't say here. He doesn't say, give a tithe. He doesn't say, give 10% of what you have. He doesn't say that. Instead he says, give what you purpose or decide in your heart. So then, what do we do with the tithe? What do we do with the tithe? Is there a New Testament tithe? For there certainly was an Old Testament tithe. But what you may not know was that the Old Testament tithe was a lot more than 10%. You may not know that. And you also need to know that the Old Testament tithe was mandatory. Let me explain. In Leviticus 27.30, we read, and all the tithe of the land, whether of the seed of the land or the fruit of the tree, is the Lord's, it is holy to the Lord. So the Jews had to give 10% of the land, so to speak, or the seed or the fruit of the land. Verse 32 of that chapter will say, he had to tithe his herd and his flock as well. And this 10% of everything that they had to give, went to the Levites, went to the Levites to supply for their needs, to support them. Remember, the Levites were given no land, they were given no inheritance, they had no livelihood, for they worked for the people taking care of the tabernacle. We can consider the Levites like government workers. And this tithe was required, it was like a tax, if you will. And if you didn't give it, if you didn't give this 10%, well, Malachi 3.8 said, well, you're robbing God. That's where it comes in context. But wait, there was a second tithe, a second mandatory 10% that every Jew had to give. And that was to support the religious feasts and festivals and ceremonies. And this money was given for the sacrifices and the offerings of those ceremonies. And this is found in Deuteronomy chapter 12. So the Jews had to give 10% to the Levites, 10% to the national feast. But that's not all. There was a third 10%. And this one was 10% every three years. So every third year they had to give 10%, which was like a welfare tax or a poor tax. And we read in Deuteronomy 14.28, at the end of every third year, you shall bring out the tithe of your produce of that year and store it up within your gates. And this was to help the sojourner or the fatherless or the widow who were in their towns. So what you had, was a 10% tithe, plus a 10% tithe, plus a 3 1 3% tithe every year for a grand total of, in your math, people? 23 1 3%. 23 1 3% of your money had to go every year as a tithe. And it was all mandatory, all mandatories. The Jews didn't give this because they purposed in their hearts to do so. They had to give this. And that's not to mention how they were not allowed to glean the corners of their fields when they were harvesting. If they had dropped some or went over it twice, they weren't allowed to do that. They had to leave it on the ground so that the poor could come and eat it. And we need to remember that Israel was a theocracy, or God was their governor. And this is how God governed to take care of the people. But we're not a theocracy. We're not at all. We're not that at all. Though we do pay taxes, which are mandatory, and in fact we're like a week away from having to do that, but now we're under a new covenant. We're not under the old covenant anymore. And nowhere in the New Testament are we commanded to tithe. And I know churches teach this, and I know they beat you up for it, but nowhere in the New Testament are we commanded to tithe. In fact, from the Book of Acts, which is where the church starts, all the way to the end, Revelation, the only time you'll see the word tithe is in the book of Hebrews, talking about how Abraham tithed to Melchizedek. So we are not commanded to give any percent. And some of you may be saying, that's great, 10%, all for me. You may be thinking that. And you're not commanded to do that. You're not bound to that. But that in no way means we should be stingy towards God. No way. And if 10% is what you believe you should give, then give 10%. If it's 15, give 15. If it's 20, give 20. If it's eight, give eight. But whatever you give, give it with a good heart. Give it with a good heart. I mean, if you think about it, since everything you have is the Lord's anyway, and God gave you his son so you could have life, then 10% doesn't seem like a big sacrifice, nor does 15, nor does 20. Listen, if there is anything we should be generous to, it is Christ. It is his church. For he clearly, he clearly has been super abundantly generous with us. Well then Paul tells us how not to give. And we're not to give grudgingly, and we're not to give out of necessity. And grudgingly means sorrow. Cause pain or grief. And this is when you give something and you're really sorry you gave it. I don't really want to give it. I don't really want to give it. Because you think of the other things you could be using with that money. So don't give and then be sorry you gave. Don't give and then be grieved you gave. Don't give and go home and say, I can't believe I did that. Don't do that. Don't give that way. Don't give and wish you hadn't given it. And do you know what a grudging heart implies? It implies a heart that clings to possessions. Spurgeon said, and I love this quote, there is no trial like affluence. There is no trial like affluence. Another man said this. If you can't quit thinking about what you're going to lose by giving, you shouldn't give at all. Better if you don't give at all. So don't give grudgingly, also, or out of necessity. And necessity means under compulsion. You feel forced into it. There's zero joy in giving. Zero joy in giving grudgingly or out of necessity. But rather, Paul says, we should give cheerfully. Why? God loves a cheerful giver. Loves a cheerful giver. And the word cheerful comes from the Greek word hilaros, which we get the English word hilarious from. And what it means is joyful, with enthusiasm, with delight. And giving this way is a reflection of an unselfish heart. You give because you love to give, not because you have to give. If we say we love God more than our hobbies, more than our comforts, more than everything else that we have in this life, and we spend our money more on all of those other things than we do on the kingdom, the question is, do we really love him more than those other things? Because what you value is where your money goes. It's a reality. What you value is where your money goes. So true giving comes from a happy heart. It also gives with a happy heart. And this should be the way of life of the Christian who understands the grace of God. And when we give cheerfully, we declare that our faith does not depend on material possessions. No, it shows that our faith is in God, who is faithful to provide. Well, Paul's going to conclude this verse by giving us God's perspective on a cheerful giver, and that is that he loves the cheerful giver. He loves a cheerful giver. Now, of course, God loves all Christians, whether they're cheerful or grudging givers. He loves them all. But he is delighted when his people give with a cheerful heart, when his people give with a cheerful attitude. And he loves a cheerful giver because there may be no better way to show that we're imitating Christ and acting like our father in heaven than when we give that way. Again, God is a giver. And when we become givers, we're acting like God, like father, like son. And it is an evidence that the saint loves him and values him above all else. So God takes pleasure in the heart that is thrilled with the pleasure of giving. with the one who realizes that when he gives, he's giving to God. Do you realize that when you give in the kingdom, you're giving to God? Oh, I'm giving to the church, I'm giving to this missionary. Yes, they're getting it, but you're really giving it to the Lord, and he knows your heart in that area. And it shows that we use or see giving as an act of worship, and we see giving as a privilege, And we understand that God doesn't want our money unless we delight to give it to him. And truthfully, when you give cheerfully, you are reminded just how much God loves you. If God loves a cheerful giver and you're a cheerful giver, what is that reminding you? He loves me. He loves me. Matthew Henry asked this question. He said, can a man be a loser? Can a man be a loser by doing what God loves? Can a man be a loser by doing what God loves? And so we see how to give, what to give, and finally the grace to give. The grace to give, verses eight and nine. And God is able. to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work. As it is written, he is dispersed abroad, he is given to the poor, His righteousness endures forever. Paul knows that some are going to struggle with being generous and being a cheerful giver. He knows that sowing bountifully is going to cut against the grain of some. So he says God is able. God is able to make all grace abound to you. God is able to shower you with his grace so that you can be a cheerful giver. He is able to overcome your fears to give to him according to your ability and even to give beyond your ability. Fears that if you give, you won't have enough for yourself. Fears if you give now, you will hurt yourself later. So God is able to meet your needs so that you could give cheerfully. He is able to conquer your fears and give you a heart that is a heart that wants to give. He is able to give you grace that you will have what you need. The point here is this, if you want to be a giver, God will give you what you need to be a giver. If you want to be a giver, he'll give you what you need to be a giver to do that. Just look at the Macedonians. Again, they're the human example in chapter 8. He's able to make all grace abound to you. Why? Because he is the giver of grace and he has an unlimited supply of grace to give to those who ask for it. And he can make his grace abound to you, so that you always have all sufficiency in all things. that you may have an abundance for every good work. And in that little sentence, he says all five times. Three times by the word all itself, once by the word always, meaning the same thing, and once by every, meaning the same thing. So in one sentence, he uses five words to say God will supply you with everything you need. So you can trust him to provide for you, to provide for the giving heart. The Philippians were an impoverished people, for they were from Macedonia, northern Greece. And they even sent Paul money over and over again for supplies and stuff while he was in prison in Rome the first time. And we read that. Let's look at it again in Philippians 4, verses 17 to 19. So they send Epaphroditus with money to help Paul because he is in need of just the basic needs of life. And there he says, not that I seek the gift, Paul never asked for anything. But I seek the fruit that abounds to your account. You see what he's saying? It shows me you're growing. It shows me you're growing in trusting the Lord. Indeed, I have all and abound. I am full, having received from Epaphroditus, he was from Philippi, the things sent from you, a sweet-smelling aroma, an acceptable sacrifice, well-pleasing to God. And then he says, and my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus. You see, the Philippians' giving was well pleasing to God. It was an acceptable sacrifice to him because it was from the heart. It was from the heart. They're not trying to score points in heaven here. It's from the heart. Therefore, God would supply all their need. He would give them what they needed to keep being generous givers. How? By lavishing grace on them to do just that. So God will supply every need of theirs. Not want, remember there's a difference between want and need. He'll supply every need. Not want, not wish, but every need. Because their heart was to be givers. And because you want to be givers, God will give you what you need to live As Paul says, he says this, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work. So the reason God gives to the giver is so they could keep doing what they love to do, which is giving back to the Lord. You love being a giver, God's going to make sure that he gives you what you need to keep being a giver. And good work in this context would be giving to the poor saints in Jerusalem. But the principle is, if you want to be a blessing by giving to the kingdom, that's a good work, and God will enable you to do that. There's a far cry from the prosperity preachers who say, give to us, give us your money, roll it this way, give it to us, and God will give you back fourfold, tenfold, a hundredfold. You give us 20, you're gonna get back 2,000. So you can spend it all on yourself. Lavish it all on yourself. No, not at all. The one who sows bountifully receives from God, so they can continue to sow bountifully. You want to sow a lot of seeds out there? He's going to make sure you can keep sowing seeds out there. Not that you can pile them up in your pocket. Whoa, look at this, I got 10,000 seeds. He's going to give you what you need to sow. And one of the things He gives us is all sufficiency. And you know what all sufficiency means? Contentment, the word means contentment. Contentment. And what Paul is saying is the one who sows bountifully and gives generously will be content with whatever they have. They will be content with whatever they have. Even if their giving causes them to have less, they will be content with the less. So they could keep sowing bountifully. And to show the Corinthians this isn't Paul's idea, he backs it up with an Old Testament verse. So we read in verse nine, as it is written, that's going back to the Old Testament. He has dispersed abroad, he has given to the poor, his righteousness endures forever. And this is loosely quoted from Psalm 112, verse nine. And in verse one of Psalm 112, it tells us that this psalm is about the man who fears the Lord. And one of the things he does is he distributes freely to the poor, we read. And therefore, his righteousness endures forever, meaning his righteous life here is an evidence of his right standing before a holy God and that he has eternal life. So God promised to give sustaining grace and contentment to those who trust him and give back to him with cheerful hearts. Well let me close by asking one question and giving you two thoughts. One question, two thoughts. The first question is this. Does God love the way you give? Does God love the way you give? Don't raise your hand and say yes or no. But does he, this is a point of reflection, does he love the way you give? Is he delighted by what you give and how you give back to him? Is he delighted? Now if you're a cheerful giver, well then he does and he is. If you trust him to supply for you, then he does and he is. If you're a generous giver and not a reluctant one, then he does and he is. And the follow-up question here is, would you call yourself a cheerful giver? Or would you be a grudging giver? Or one who gives out a necessity? Oh, the plate's coming, I see that the ushers are looking. What you have to ask yourself is, what actually motivates your giving? Is it the economy? Is it what you have left after all you've paid out and gotten the things that you want? Or is it fear? Maybe a badgering pastor or a church? Or is it the love of God for you? Is it the love of God for you? Does the love of God for you motivate you to be a giver, to be a servant, to be a goer, to be a helper? to be a sharer of the gospel. Paul says, the love of Christ compels me. Compels me to what? To suffer all the things I suffer. So the gospel can go out and people can hear it and God would save some. Does the love of God compel you to be a giver? Or is it fear? Is it fear? Is it that God gave you the gift of his son and the son gave you the gift of his sin atoning death for you on the cross which leads to your eternal life? And that the Holy Spirit gave you the gift of his indwelling and is securing you to the day of redemption or he brings you to glory? So does God's love for you motivate you to give generously because you know how it pleases him? My first thought is this. You can give God 10, 20, 30, 5, 2% of your money. But guess what? He wants 100% of your heart. He wants 100% of your heart. No matter what percentage of your money you give to him, he wants all of your heart. But he gave you all of his son, right? To pay for all of your sins, so that you and I could be adopted all the way into his family. And if we're giving Him all of our heart, then quite honestly, giving back generously to Him, or sowing bountifully, if you will, giving with a cheerful heart, it's not going to be a burden here. It's going to be a delight. So you see, God loves a cheerful giver because the cheerful giver loves to give back to Him. Now my last thought is for the unbeliever, the one who is not really born again. The one that does not know Him at this point. And that is living a life of selfishness and carnality and expecting to inherit eternal life is like planting grass seed and hoping to get roses. It's not going to happen. Galatians 6.8 says, for he who sows to the flesh will reap of the flesh corruption, but he who sows to the spirit will of the spirit reap everlasting life. It's life or death, spiritually speaking. Proverbs 22.8 says, he who sows iniquity means all you do is live for sin. Well, you reap sorrow, it says. So if you live for yourself, if you exist to please yourself, if you continue in your sin, you will reap the judgment of your sins. And you will die in your sins. And you will find yourself eternally doomed. But I would say to you today that God is able to save your soul. Remember that abundance grace that he has? He's able to save your soul. He's able to forgive all of your sins because of the cross of Christ. He's able to take your blackened heart and make it alive and fill it with his love. He is able to pour his life-giving, sustaining grace into that heart. And not grudgingly, like God doesn't give an ounce of grace here and an ounce of grace there. He's able to pour an abundance into you, not sparingly and not grudgingly, but abundantly. Therefore, repent of your sins today. Purpose in your heart today to seek him with all of your heart. And guess what? He will save your soul and give you everlasting life. Why? Out of compassion. and out of love for you. Don't reap what you sow. Let Christ reap it for you by taking your sin for you, trust in Him, follow Him, and live forever. Amen? Let's pray. Father, thank you that you gave us the greatest gift of all time, your Son. Thank you that you saved us from spiraling into the pit of hell. Our hearts were hard and far from you and you made them soft and you filled us with your spirit and gave us a love for you and beautiful, wonderful things and the truth. Father, I pray that we would grow in this very grace of giving as well. I pray that we would have hearts that want to give, not grudgingly or out of necessity, but Lord, that we would be so filled with your love for us and so amazed at how much you love us that we can't help but love you back and joyfully give back to you that we would count you above all else the greatest of our treasures in this life and the one to come. And Father, for the soul, the souls here today that don't know that, that don't know you, haven't been saved, aren't in the kingdom yet, Lord, would you put them in there today? Would you show them their greatest need is not money, is not having stuff or giving stuff. Lord, it's to know you, to have you as their Lord and Savior. And Lord, would you show them their sin, would you cause them to run to the cross and cry out over their sins and turn for their sins and cling to Christ, who will save them and who will show them His abundant love and grace. And Lord, we ask you for these mercies in Jesus' name, amen.