A Generous Reward, Part 2

Colin Smith: We live in times when a good number of us have lost a lot of money. And we would really like the stock market to give it back. And hope it will and pray that it will. But it would be good for us to think about this question. If God gave you more, what would you do with it?
Steve Hiller: Welcome to Open the Bible with Pastor Colin Smith. I'm Steve Hiller. Glad you're with us and Colin, that is a provocative question, a good question. If God gave us more, what would we do with it?
Colin Smith: Well, at least it's a hopeful question, isn't it? But it is actually a very searching one because the reality is that when God gives more and he's wonderfully generous and wonderfully kind, the easiest thing in the world is for us simply to find more ways of absorbing and consuming. And you know, you look at the course of a person's life and you say, well, now I was living in this situation at one point and then 10 years later in another situation. How can I maximize the stewardship of what Christ gives to me and be really faithful if he does give me more? And as he gives me more, that's really a test of heart.
Steve Hiller: You know, for some, they're going to hear that challenge and they're going to say absolutely that's what I want to do. For others, they're going to hear that and they're say, all right, here's just another radio pastor asking me to give more money. So what is the Bible actually have to say about this?
Colin Smith: Well, the book of Deuteronomy addresses it very directly. Here's God's people. They've been in the desert. They're going to go into the land of Canaan. They're going to have more, much, much more. And the warning that God gives is when you have more, when you prosper, be very careful that you do not forget the Lord because that's what so easily happens. Life becomes consuming as God's blessings increase. And so in receiving his blessings, we actually end up further away from him. That's a tragedy. God's blessings are meant to bring us closer to him. And that 's why the question today is of real importance.
Steve Hiller: Well, it is and we're going to look at that question a little bit deeper in the book of 2 Corinthians chapter 9. Hope you'll open your Bible and join us there as we continue a message, a generous reward. Here's Pastor Colin.
Colin Smith: I hope you have your Bible open in front of you because these verses of scripture contain some marvelous promises that have been horribly abused by some Christian teachers. I say that they have been horribly abused because they are sometimes taught these scriptures are sometimes taught in a way that kills the very generosity Paul is writing to encourage. And that's a horrible abuse to use the Bible in a way that has the opposite effect of the Holy Spirit's intent. The teaching that I'm referring to, the horrible abuse, you will be familiar with it. It is sometimes known as prosperity teaching or as the prosperity gospel. And what it says is something along these lines. God wants you to prosper financially. And the way that this happens is by a simple formula. The more you give, the more you get. And you can see why people who teach a prosperity gospel like to come to 2 Corinthians chapter 8 and chapter 9. And they will quote often verses like 2 Corinthians 8 9 that great Christmas verse. Think of what it says. You know the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor that you through his poverty might become rich. Or chapter 9 and verse 11. You will be made rich in every way. So the prosperity teacher comes and he seizes on verses of the Bible like this and he says, well, there you are. God wants you rich. And the guaranteed way for you to prosper financially is to increase your year-end giving to the church. Now you've heard that kind of thing. You've seen that kind of thing. And you know as I do that a good salesman can make this sound like the sweetest deal. You reap what you sow. So giving becomes the path to prosperity. Now the problem with that lies right here that when giving is taught as a means to gain, generosity dies. It has to. Because the giving actually is about me and what I get. When giving becomes the path to prosperity, the very point of 2 Corinthians chapter 8 and chapter 9 is lost. And that is why I describe that kind of teaching as a horrible abuse of the word of God right here. We've been saying that gospel giving is pulled out of the world of law and into the world of grace because generosity can only live and grow in the world of grace. It cannot thrive in the soil of the law. And generosity cannot grow in the soil of self-interest either. So we have to pull this whole matter of giving out of any sense of what is mine as a result. Otherwise, we cannot grow in the likeness of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Listen, the teaching of 2 Corinthians and chapter 8 and chapter 9, if I can try and summarize it this way, it's not the more you give, the more you get. It's the more you give, the more you will be able to give. Notice that in verse 11 and in verse 8. First verse 11, you will be made rich in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion. That's what God promises to us. If you set your heart on being more generous, God will give you the ability to do so. As you grow in generosity, you will find that God enables the capacity of your generosity to increase. So the point of verse 8, look at that. God is able to make all grace abound to you so that in all things, at all times, having all you need, notice need, not all you want, but all you need, he promises to supply what you need. He says you will abound in every good work. Why? Because you are growing in the likeness of Christ and therefore the fruitfulness of your life just continues to blossom and to develop. Now here's a very practical application of all of this. We live in times when a good number of us have lost a lot of money. And we would really like the stock market to give it back. And hope it will and pray that it will. But it would be good for us to think about this question. If God gave you more, what would you do with it? You know, that that's a question that discerns my heart. If God gave me more, how much of the more would be more bread for the eater and how much of the more would be more seed for the sower? Do I want more so that I will have more or if God gave more, would my heart be to grow in generosity as a result? I think that we can ask God to prosper all those who set their hearts on generosity. Don't you think that's a good way to pray? And would it not be a good thing to be able to pray personally? Lord, make me the kind of person you could trust with more. Now let's look at the harvest that is promised. We've talked about the horrible abuse which is trying to rest the scriptures in the cause of self-interest. Let's look at the harvest that is promised from a generous life. I want you to notice verse 9 and verse 10 where Paul speaks very distinctly, not about a harvest of money, but of about a harvest of righteousness. As it is written, he has scattered abroad his gifts to the poor, verse 9, and his righteousness endures forever. Isn't that interesting? The harvest of generosity is a harvest of righteousness. And the same thing in verse 10. He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness. So the harvest that is promised very clearly is not a harvest of money, but it is a harvest of righteousness. Here's this person who scatters gifts to the poor. So this is a picture of lavish generosity in verse 9. The seed that God has given to this man, he he disperses widely and liberally and strategically for the relief of those who are poor. And God says about this man, his righteousness endures forever. In other words, what you give has lasting value. So I wrote down this and I'm going to try and keep it in my mind and maybe it will help you to keep it in yours. What you spend is gone forever. What you give lives on forever. I'm going to say that with me. What you spend is gone forever and what you give lives on forever. So that Jesus said, even a cup of cold water that is given in my name, it will not go without its reward. And you remember on the last day when Jesus gathers before him all of the nations and he says to some, I was hungry and you fed me. I was thirsty and you gave me to drink. I was without clothes and you clothed me. And they say, well, when did we ever do that? And Jesus says, well, as much as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me. What's happening? He's remembering the righteousness of a generous life that goes on as a saver before God with its eternal reward forever and forever and forever. That's the teaching of the New Testament. That's the reward.
Steve Hiller: You're listening to Open the Bible with Pastor Colin Smith and a message called a generous reward. It's part of our series a generous life and it is your generosity that keeps Pastor Colin's teaching on the station. So thank you for giving to and supporting this ministry. And today is the last day to give a gift of any amount and receive as our thank you gift a book that Pastor Colin has picked out written by Tim Keller called what is wrong with this world? And Colin, tell us about this book.
Colin Smith: Well, I think everybody's heard the phrase that a picture is worth a thousand words. And the Bible answers the question, what is wrong with the world with the age-old answer, the unchanging answer that it is sin that's got into the human bloodstream. But you see what God has done so wonderfully is he speaks to us in language that we can understand. He uses pictures. And what Tim Keller has done so wonderfully here is he's drawn out the pictures that God has used in scripture to explain what's wrong with the world, to tell us what sin is and what it's like. So for example, it's like a predator, like an animal in the story of Cain and Abel. God says sin is crouching at the door as if it was ready to attack and to destroy. Or it's like leprosy which we have in the story of Naaman. This goes through and it gets at the question, what is it that's wrong with the world? That's a question that any thinking person really needs to grapple with. And it enables us to grapple with it in a way that we are able to understand. It's beautifully written. It's an easy read and it answers one of the most important questions we can ever face.
Steve Hiller: Well, we would love to send you a copy of this book. Again, it's called what is wrong with the world? As our thank you for your financial support this month. You can give online at openthebible.org or when you call 1 877 open 365. That's 1 877 673 6365 or openthebible.org. Back to the message, here's Pastor Colin.
Colin Smith: Notice that Paul says three things about the way in which God raises a harvest from the generous giving of his people. They're very simple and very obvious in verse 12. The harvest of generous giving is firstly that it supplies the needs of God's people. This service that you perform, verse 12, is supplying the needs of God's people. In other words, where God's people are generous, everything that is needed for God's work in the world is there to get it done. Supplies the needs of God's people. Secondly, generous giving brings praise and thanksgiving to God. And that's verse 11, 12 and 13. Your generosity, verse 11, will bring thanksgiving to God. Verse 12, the service that you perform is overflowing in many expressions of thanks to God. Verse 13, men will praise God for the obedience that accompanies your faith, your faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. You know, generosity, because it is an expression of love, is one of the evidences of the authenticity of Christian faith. It really is. Jesus said, it's by your love that you will be known. And generosity is an expression of love and compassion which is the effect of the gospel in the lives of Christian people. It's a wonderful story that's told of C. H. Spurgeon, the Victorian preacher in England. And he was stopped on the streets of London by an atheist. This is the end of the 19th century. And you know, atheism and Darwinism, all this kind of thing beginning to be vigorous as in some ways it's vigorous again in our time. And the atheist said to Spurgeon, how can you possibly believe in God? What evidence do you have for the reality of God? And started going on about atheism is going to be the way of the future and atheism is going to bring humanity to its full flower and its full potential and so forth and so on. And Spurgeon said, let me ask you a question. He said, how many atheist orphanages are there in London? That was the end of the conversation. There wasn't a single one. The atheist knew there were Christian orphanages all over the city because the generosity of God 's people, you see, was giving expression to the reality of the gospel bringing life change so that folks no longer live for self, but seek to reflect the one who loved us and gave himself for us, bringing praise and thanksgiving to God. And more than that, he says giving causes, verse 14, it deepens the bonds of love. Their their hearts and their prayers, their hearts go out to you, verse 14, because of the surpassing grace that God has given to you. What should I give? Well, Paul gives us guidance in thinking and making our free and glad decision. What will I receive? Not a harvest of money, but a harvest of righteousness because what I spend is gone forever. But what I give truly lives on forever. Now here's the last thing in these last moments that this picture of sowing and reaping, of a seed going into the ground and a harvest coming up as a result. This question of whether a seed should be kept or whether a seed should be given takes us to the very heart of the gospel. I don't know if you've ever thought about this, but the seed is one of the first names that is ever given to our Lord Jesus Christ in the Bible. I'm thinking about Genesis chapter 3 and verse 15 way back in the garden of Eden where God made that first wonderful promise to the human race, to Adam and to Eve. And he said there would be a deliverer who would come and he gave him this name. He'll be the seed. Sometimes it's the word offspring. But if you check it carefully, you'll find I think in every Bible that I'm aware of that there's at least a footnote that says literally seed. That is the first name, code name almost, descriptive name that is given to the Messiah who would come. God says he's the seed. And he says when the seed comes, the seed will crush Satan's head and the seed will redeem men and women who have been taken captive by his power. And then you roll through the story to the time of Abraham and you get God giving great promises to Abraham about his seed. And if you look in Galatians chapter 3 and verse 16, amazing how many 3 16s in the Bible are particularly important verses. Well, Galatians 3 16 focuses on the seed. The promises were spoken to Abraham and his seed. And Galatians 3 16 says that the seed refers to one person. And that is Galatians 3 16 Jesus Christ. So the Lord Jesus Christ is the seed promised from the beginning of time. This one life, the life of God in human flesh, the seed, the life that is of supreme value, of more value than anything and everything that you are or I will ever have. And the supreme question therefore about the seed is will the seed be kept or given? And listen to what Jesus said about this in John chapter 12 in verse 24. Marvelous statement. He said, I tell you the truth. Unless a kernel of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. So here is the seed. And God chooses not to keep it, but to give it. Christ is the seed and he chooses not to keep his life, but to give it. So the seed falls into the ground and dies. If Christ had kept the life of the seed, he would have been our supreme example, the greatest person whoever lived, but he would never have been your savior nor mine. But he came into the world and he gave his life. The seed was cast into the ground. The seed dies. The son of God loved me and gave himself for me. And that is why Paul says at the end of 2 Corinthians chapter 9 in the last verse, did you notice where he ends after all this talk about giving? Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift. The seed that freely gave himself into the ground. And because the seed is given, the seed Jesus says is multiplied. It produces many seeds because of the death and the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. The life of Jesus Christ is communicated into many, many lives, into millions of lives so that many people are able to say Christ in me is my hope of glory. His life's been communicated. His life has been multiplied. The image of Christ is reproduced for the glory of God for all eternity. And and think of how the supreme gift just fits exactly and models exactly what Paul says. What what does generous giving do? He says verse 12, it supplies the need of God's people. Oh, how the gift of Jesus Christ supplies your need and mine. What's my need? I need righteousness before God. We need reconciliation before God. And because that seed was not kept but given, he supplies all the needs of all of God's people so that there will be ransomed and redeemed people in heaven praising him forever, thanking him and loving him. That's the fruit of his generous giving. And even already, there is a great company of redeemed people in the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ, loving him, thanking God there because he has supplied the righteousness that we do not have. And don't you find yourself saying when you think about it? Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift. That the seed was not kept, but the seed was given. And through the harvest of the son of God who loved me and gave himself for me, there is life for us forevermore.
Steve Hiller: What a compelling picture of the gospel. Christ Jesus coming into this world, laying down his life so that we can have new life in him. You know, if you do know Jesus, I hope that you've been encouraged by what you've heard today. And if you don't know Jesus, but you'd like to, I hope you'll contact us here at Open the Bible. You can do that through our website, openthebible.org or better, call and talk to one of our staff members about beginning a relationship with Jesus. Our toll-free number is 1 877 open 365. That's 1 877 673 6365. Well, today's message a generous reward is part of a larger series entitled a generous life. And if you missed any of the programs in our series, you can always listen online at openthebible.org. Well, Colin, it's Friday. The weekend's coming.
Colin Smith: Yeah, and I want to encourage you to get to church on Sunday. You know, across the country, people who love Jesus will be gathering to praise him. And if you love Jesus, that's something you'll want to be part of. So find a church where the Bible is opened. And if you live in the Chicago area and you don't have a church home, I'd love for you to join us at the Orchard. There are six locations in the northwest suburbs. For more information, go to the orchard.church. That's the orchard.church.
Steve Hiller: Well, thank you, Colin, and thanks for listening. I'm Steve Hiller and I hope you'll join us next time. This program is a listener supported production of Open the Bible.
Colin Smith: This is Pastor Colin and I love the story of the thief on the cross because it's the best story we have to help people understand grace. You know, many people have the idea that if a person was to get into heaven, they'd get there by living a good enough life. Well, the thief on the cross hadn't lived a good life and he wasn't in a position to start living a good life either. But Jesus said to him, today you will be with me in paradise. Well, if the thief could get into heaven, so can everyone you know and will ever meet. Heaven, how I got here is a compelling 60-minute film in which Steven Baldwin portrays the thief on the cross in a one-person play. We've seen God use this film to help many trust in Jesus as the thief did. So who is there in your life who needs to understand grace? For more information or to watch this film for free, visit openthebible.org/heaven. That's openthebible.org/heaven.