2 Corinthians - Handling God's Mercy

The Apostle Paul was very, very careful in the way he handled finances. You know, it's embarrassing sometimes to read in the newspaper about some religious organization that turned out to be mishandling funds. It's an embarrassment to us because people then don't trust us. They say, "Oh yeah, he uses religion just to make money. Oh yeah, it's just a cover-up for some sort of a confidence game."

Well, down through the years there have been religious shysters and hucksters, people who have used preaching and church and religion to steal money from people. And of course, the city of Corinth was just filled with religious people of different kinds—different cultists, different religions, different prophets—and all of them were out for some kind of gain.

I think this helps to explain why, when Paul started the church at Corinth, he would not receive any support from them. Now, the Bible does teach that those who minister the gospel should live by the gospel. Just as the priests in the Old Testament received part of the sacrifices that were brought, so the New Testament pastor-teacher is to be supported by the people of God.

But Paul was very, very careful that there never be any kind of accusation or suspicion. He didn't want anyone to say, "Yeah, the Apostle Paul's got a good racket going there." For this reason, Paul would not handle this money by himself. In 2 Corinthians 8:16-9:5, Paul deals with the men who were associated with him in the taking up and the delivering of this offering. It raises the question: what kind of people should be allowed to handle God's money?

Well, he gives us at least five qualifications of those who should handle God's money. First, a God-given desire to serve. 2 Corinthians 8:16-17: "But thanks be to God, who put the same earnest care or concern into the heart of Titus for you. For indeed, he accepted the exhortation, but being very diligent, of his own accord he went unto you."

Titus did not have to be drafted. He didn't have to be bribed. He didn't have to be threatened. There was in the heart of Titus an earnest concern to help raise this money and safely deliver it to Jerusalem. I think this is the first qualification: a God-given desire to serve.

You know, so often in a church we find somebody who just doesn't have any concern about spiritual things, but we have to give him a job. "Well, let's make him a trustee; he can't do too much damage." No, he could vote against a building program. He could create problems on a committee. Now, Titus wasn't that kind of a person. He had a God-given desire to serve.

That is the first qualification for anyone who's going to handle God's money. I'll tell you why: that money represents the lifeblood of people. We have to be very, very careful how we handle God's money. It's not ours; it's not even the church's—it's the Lord's. It was brought by the Lord's people for the Lord's work. A God-given desire to serve. And if you don't have any desire to serve, let somebody take your job who does want to serve.

Now 2 Corinthians 8:18, we have a second qualification for those who would handle God's resources: a burden for lost souls. 2 Corinthians 8:18: "And we have sent with him," that is with Titus, "the brother whose praise is in the gospel throughout all the churches." Now we don't know who this brother is, but apparently he was some kind of an evangelist. His praise in the churches, the reputation that he had, was because of the gospel. I get the impression that this man, whoever he was, was an evangelist, a soul winner.

Now I want right now to answer this false idea that people have, that some people in the church take care of the material things and others take care of the spiritual things. I've heard folks say, "Well, you know, he's an elder or he's a deacon; he's involved in spiritual things. But he's a trustee or he's on the finance committee; he's involved in material things." My friend, what you do with God's money is spiritual; it's not material.

I don't know why it is, but in some churches the trustees and the deacons and elders fight each other. Trustees want the money to put down a new sidewalk; the deacons want to send out a new missionary. How you use your money in your church is an evidence of spirituality. And Paul says, "I want a man along on this committee who has a burden for lost souls."

I've seen some people who have big financial jobs who don't know how to handle the Lord's money. The fact that somebody can run a business does not mean he knows how to manage the affairs of a church. If he doesn't have a burden for lost souls, he'll waste that money on things that aren't important. There's a difference between prices and values.

A God-given desire to serve, that's 2 Corinthians 8:16-17. A burden for lost souls, that's 2 Corinthians 8:18. And now, a desire to honor God, that's 2 Corinthians 8:19.

"And not that only, but who was also chosen of the churches"—that word "chosen" means by vote of hand; they raised their hands and said, "We vote for this fellow, he's got a burden for souls"—"he was chosen of the churches to travel with us with this grace," that means the money he was taking up, "which is administered by us to the glory of the same Lord and to show our ready mind." A desire to honor God.

Now Paul picks this up in 2 Corinthians 9:1-5. I won't read the verses to you. He's talking there about the fact that he wanted to be able to boast about the Corinthian church in the right way. He says, "I know you were ready to give, but you haven't given yet." And he said, "I've been boasting about you all over. I've been telling people a year ago the Corinthians were ready to give."

Now he says, "I'm sending this committee to you lest our boasting should be in vain." Why? It wouldn't bring honor to the Lord. And so the third qualification is a desire to glorify God, a desire to honor the Lord.

I know of one church that had to go into a building program and they determined that for every dollar they spent on the new building, they would give another dollar to foreign missions. That's a testimony to the glory of God. I'm not saying you have to do that; I'm just saying it was a testimony to the glory of God. Don't put people on your finance committee who don't have a desire to honor God in the way they spend their money.

A God-given desire to serve, 2 Corinthians 8:16-17. A burden for lost souls, 2 Corinthians 8:18. A desire to honor God, 2 Corinthians 8:19 and 2 Corinthians 9:1-5. A fourth qualification: a reputation for honesty.

2 Corinthians 8:20-22: "Avoiding this, that no man should blame us in this abundance which is administered by us; providing for honest things, not only in the sight of the Lord, but also in the sight of men. And we have sent with them our brother whom we have often proved diligent in many things, but now much more diligent upon the great confidence which I have in you." A reputation for honesty.

You know, people who don't pay their own bills shouldn't be handling God's money. People who have a reputation for financial crookedness shouldn't be handling God's money. Now the committee says, "We're not going to give any report; God knows what we're doing." Paul says people had better know what you're doing. There had better be a report. Don't you invest any money in a ministry that won't tell you what they do with their money.

And Paul is very, very careful here to say, "I want people working with me who will be honest in the sight of the Lord and honest in the sight of men." Able to give a clean report, able to show the books and open them and not be embarrassed.

That started back in Acts 6, didn't it, in the early church? When they established the deacons, they said, "Find us men with honest report, people we can trust."

Now you may disagree with this—perfectly alright—it's a policy I've tried to follow in my own pastoral ministry: I don't want anybody on my finance committee or handling money who doesn't know how to handle his own money at home. If he's not paying his bills, if he's dishonest in the way he writes checks, I don't want him to be a part of the finances of our ministry.

A God-given desire to serve, a burden for lost souls, a desire to honor God, a reputation for honesty, and finally 2 Corinthians 8:23-24, a cooperative spirit. "Whether any do inquire of Titus, he is my partner and fellow helper concerning you; or our brethren be inquired of," anybody asks about these fellows who are on this committee, "they are the messengers of the churches," the churches chose them, "and the glory of Christ. Wherefore show ye to them and before the churches the proof of your love and of our boasting on your behalf."

A cooperative spirit. They're stewards, they're partners. Paul says Titus is my partner, he's my fellow worker. These other men are the messengers of the churches. We don't represent ourselves; we represent God's people. We must be very, very careful how we use God's money.

A cooperative spirit. There are some people who won't spend money on missions; they're against missions. There are some who are so in love with missions they won't spend any money on the church building and it's falling apart. They'll send money overseas to repair buildings; they won't use money at home to repair buildings. Now why not cooperate? Why not pray together and work together and seek the mind of the Lord?

Let me give you again these five qualifications for those who handle God's money: A God-given desire to serve, 2 Corinthians 8:16-17. A burden for lost souls, 2 Corinthians 8:18. A desire to honor God alone, 2 Corinthians 8:19 and 2 Corinthians 9:1-5. A reputation for honesty, 2 Corinthians 8:20-22. And finally, a cooperative spirit, 2 Corinthians 8:23-24.

You and I are going to give an accounting someday of how we have used the Lord's money. Don't waste it. Don't hoard it. Don't just spend it; invest it. Invest it in things eternal. Put God's money to work for God's glory, and you will always enjoy God's blessing.

2 Corinthians 9:5: "Therefore I thought it necessary to exhort," to encourage, "the brethren that they would go before unto you," that is before Paul arrived, "and make up beforehand your bounty," your generous gift, "of which ye had notice before," and of course for a year they had been preparing for this, "as a matter of bounty and not as of covetousness." What he's saying is, I want your gift to be a generous sharing; I don't want to squeeze something out of you. I don't want this to be extortion, exploiting.

Now he tells us how this is possible. How is it possible for us to give with joy and with blessing, to give in such a way as God is glorified? Well, in these next verses, 2 Corinthians 9:6-15, Paul lays down four basic principles of reaping. He's using here the image from agriculture. Paul often used different images, and agriculture was one of his favorite ones.

Principles of reaping the harvest from our giving. 2 Corinthians 9:6 we have principle number one: it's the principle of increase. This principle says we reap in measure as we sow. 2 Corinthians 9:6: "But this I say: He who soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly, and he who soweth bountifully," or with blessings, "shall reap also bountifully," that is with blessing.

Now this is true in nature, isn't it? A farmer who just sows one seed is only going to get a small harvest. A farmer who sows many seeds in his field is likely to get a bigger harvest.

Jesus said in John 12, unless a corn of wheat, a grain of wheat, is sown in the ground and dies, it abides alone; it cannot reproduce. But if it dies, it'll bring forth much fruit. So in nature we see this. If you just sow a little bit, you reap a little bit. But if you sow a great deal, you'll reap a great deal. Now this is also true in grace. In the realm of God's grace, we reap in measure as we sow.

Our Lord Jesus had something to say about this when He talked about giving, because the Lord Jesus had a great deal to say about giving. Luke 6:38: "Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again."

In other words, if you sow bountifully, you'll reap bountifully. If you sow sparingly, you'll reap sparingly. The law of increase.

By the way, we have to remember that our Heavenly Father was not sparing in His giving, was He? Romans 8:32: "He who spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all." Now if God could give to us His very best, what does that mean for our giving? You see, you are determining your own harvest.

Don't complain, don't complain if your harvest is a meager one. I'm not talking about money now; I'm talking about fullness of life. I'm talking about the whole of life. If we are living and giving, if our living is giving, then God will bountifully bless. He'll always meet our needs and even beyond that, He will give to us in our hearts the kind of Christian character and blessing that we cannot buy in the supermarket. The law of increase: we reap in measure as we sow.

Now there's a second law found in 2 Corinthians 9:7. I call this the law of intent. You reap if you sow with the right motives. You see, if you stopped at 2 Corinthians 9:6, somebody would say, "Oh my, then I'm going to give a lot of money away. I'm going to give money away and then God's going to make me rich." Oh no, watch 2 Corinthians 9:7 now. The motive is important: the law of intent.

"Every man according as he purposeth in his heart." Now we ran across this, didn't we, back in 2 Corinthians 8:12 where he tells us that God looks upon the heart? "For if there be first a willing mind, a ready mind, it is accepted." Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity; for God loveth a cheerful giver. You see, motive is important in the Christian life.

Now, motive makes no difference to a farmer. You drive through the farmlands of your country and you watch the farmer sowing. His motive may be—may be very bad. He may be sowing that seed to get money to do some evil thing. That won't stop the seed from growing. Motive makes very little difference as far as physical sowing is concerned, but it makes a great deal of difference as far as spiritual sowing is concerned.

Why do we give? Do we give just to get honor? Do we give to get back? Do we give just to have pride in our hearts? Do we give to compete with other Christians? The word of God makes it clear that if we do something from our hearts, God can bless it. Keep thy heart with all diligence, for out of it are the issues of life. So there is the law of intent: if our motive is right, then God can bless our giving and our giving will be a blessing to us.

Now what are the motives for giving? Well, first of all, of course, because we love God. That's the highest motive of all. We don't give grudgingly because God commands it. We don't give of necessity because the circumstances demand it. That kind of a person is very unhappy. That kind of a person is just constantly under bondage.

We give because we love the Lord Jesus Christ. We give because He has first of all given to us. Giving is not just what we do; giving is what we are. And the law of intent says if you'll sow with the right motives, you will reap.

Now remember, when we talk about reaping, we aren't talking simply about money. We aren't just saying that if you'll be faithful to give to God, you'll become rich. Oh no, nowhere in the Bible are we taught that. What we're told is that God will bless what we give and God will meet all of our needs and we will grow spiritually.

This leads to the third law: the law of immediacy. 2 Corinthians 9:8-11. Not only do we reap in measure as we sow—that's the law of increase. Not only do we reap as we sow with right motives—that's the law of intent. But we reap while we are sowing—that's the law of immediacy. Look at 2 Corinthians 9:8: "And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work."

Now when does that happen? Now. Wouldn't it be amazing if the farmer reaped while he was sowing? A lot of folks have the idea that when we give to the Lord, we have to wait for the harvest when we get to heaven, you know, laying up treasures in heaven. That's not true. Oh, there are treasures in heaven, and we will be rewarded for our faithful giving when we get to glory.

But 2 Corinthians 9:8-11 inform me there is an immediate harvest. Right now, today, God gives us a harvest. We reap the harvest physically and materially; we reap the harvest in the enrichment spiritually. Paul is saying in 2 Corinthians 9:8 that when you give material things, they really are not material; they're spiritual.

When you dedicate what you have to God and share it with Him and with others, God transforms it. "God is able to make all grace abound toward you." Now that's good. I'd be glad to reap all grace, to have all the grace of God available to me—His keeping grace, His supplying grace, and His grace abounding.

That ye, always having all sufficiency." That word "sufficiency" means you are capable of facing life. It's the word Paul uses: he's learned to be sufficient in all things, he's learned to be content in all things. It means adequacy for life. "Always having all sufficiency in all things." Now that's a marvelous thing. How do you get it? By being faithful in giving.

If we give with the right motive, and if we give to glorify God, and if giving is a part of our heart—we aren't doing it grudgingly or because we're forced to do it, we do it happily—then an amazing thing happens: we experience God's grace, we experience God's sufficiency in all things, and then we abound to every good work. God gives us what we need to do His work.

What He's saying in 2 Corinthians 9:8 is simply, if you're willing to give, God will make you able to give. And if you're willing to give, God will make you sufficient to live. Isn't that good? You could live on that today, my friend. Well, don't forget these laws. We'll continue this law of immediacy in our next study, but be sure that your heart is right with God. Be sure that you know that your giving comes from your heart.