1 00:00:00,000 –> 00:00:06,640 You’re listening to a sermon from Pastor Colin Smith of Open the Bible. 2 00:00:06,640 –> 00:00:16,620 To contact us, call us at 1-877-OPEN365 or visit our website openthebible.org. 3 00:00:16,620 –> 00:00:17,780 Let’s get to the message. 4 00:00:17,780 –> 00:00:20,100 Here is pastor Colin. 5 00:00:20,100 –> 00:00:27,240 This weekend is the first in Advent and so we begin preparing ourselves to celebrate 6 00:00:27,240 –> 00:00:33,720 the coming of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and it is very significant of course that 7 00:00:33,720 –> 00:00:41,180 we celebrate the coming of Jesus Christ with the giving and the receiving of gifts. 8 00:00:41,180 –> 00:00:47,099 Just at the end of our Thanksgiving eve service, I was standing in the foyer greeting folks 9 00:00:47,099 –> 00:00:51,840 and had the opportunity of saying hello to one of our students who’s been away from the 10 00:00:51,840 –> 00:00:54,720 area, just come back, and there he was with his mum and dad. 11 00:00:55,160 –> 00:01:00,060 and because he’d gone away to a new college, I said to him as I sometimes do, I said have 12 00:01:00,060 –> 00:01:03,060 you found a girlfriend yet? 13 00:01:03,060 –> 00:01:09,980 And he put his arms round his mother and he said no, he said my mother is the only girl 14 00:01:09,980 –> 00:01:11,099 in my life. 15 00:01:11,099 –> 00:01:15,779 To which I said, look you’re too early for that Christmas is next month. 16 00:01:15,779 –> 00:01:21,360 To which quick as a flash, he said, ah but she’s shopping for my present this month. 17 00:01:21,480 –> 00:01:24,660 That is a very, very wise man indeed. 18 00:01:24,660 –> 00:01:31,360 Now we mark Christmas with gifts not only because the wise man as everyone knows brought 19 00:01:31,360 –> 00:01:36,919 gifts to the Lord Jesus, but we give and we receive gifts because the coming of Jesus 20 00:01:36,919 –> 00:01:44,279 Christ into the world is the greatest gift that this world has ever received or ever 21 00:01:44,279 –> 00:01:45,919 will receive. 22 00:01:46,220 –> 00:01:52,440 And so, I want us to spend these years, these Advent weeks in this passage of Scripture, 23 00:01:52,440 –> 00:02:00,139 Second Corinthians chapter 8 and chapter 9, that really help us admire God’s great 24 00:02:00,139 –> 00:02:04,519 gift to us in Jesus Christ. 25 00:02:04,519 –> 00:02:08,179 So I hope you’ll have your Bible open at Second Corinthians chapter 8. 26 00:02:08,179 –> 00:02:13,380 The central focus in these two chapters and our center focus therefore throughout these 27 00:02:13,580 –> 00:02:17,979 three weekends will be chapter 8 and verse 9. 28 00:02:17,979 –> 00:02:22,520 Familiar words to many of us, you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ that though 29 00:02:22,520 –> 00:02:30,899 He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor so that you, through His poverty, might 30 00:02:30,899 –> 00:02:33,000 become rich. 31 00:02:33,000 –> 00:02:36,160 Now I want to begin today with really the big picture. 32 00:02:36,160 –> 00:02:42,100 This is largely introductory so that we will understand the teaching of these chapters 33 00:02:42,399 –> 00:02:47,179 I want you to think back over this year and really everything that we have been learning. 34 00:02:47,600 –> 00:02:50,139 And as I look back on what we have been learning 35 00:02:50,139 –> 00:02:53,539 from the Scriptures, what the Lord’s been teaching me and what I’ve been trying to 36 00:02:53,539 –> 00:02:59,259 learn in my own life, I think that there’s one theme that stands out more than any other. 37 00:02:59,259 –> 00:03:06,580 In many different ways, we keep circling back to this great theme of what it means to apply 38 00:03:06,580 –> 00:03:11,960 the gospel to every area of our lives. 39 00:03:12,020 –> 00:03:18,880 What difference does knowing Christ really make to a persons everyday life? 40 00:03:18,880 –> 00:03:24,660 Back in September, Pastor Mike Bulmore who pastors up in Kenosha, a number of you may 41 00:03:24,660 –> 00:03:26,740 know him and his ministry. 42 00:03:26,740 –> 00:03:33,500 He came here to our church for a special training session with our pastors and with our lay 43 00:03:33,500 –> 00:03:34,720 leaders. 44 00:03:34,740 –> 00:03:42,559 And he gave us some marvelous help in a presentation, which he called the functional centrality 45 00:03:42,559 –> 00:03:44,059 of the gospel. 46 00:03:44,059 –> 00:03:47,179 The functional centrality of the gospel. 47 00:03:47,179 –> 00:03:52,619 What he meant by that is simply this, how does the gospel actually function in the life 48 00:03:52,619 –> 00:03:54,059 of a Christian believer. 49 00:03:54,059 –> 00:03:55,259 How does it work? 50 00:03:55,259 –> 00:03:57,139 What difference does it actually make? 51 00:03:57,139 –> 00:04:03,860 My way of putting that is, how does the gospel apply to every sphere of life. 52 00:04:03,979 –> 00:04:10,039 How do you get the gospel from something out there that I believe to something that’s making 53 00:04:10,039 –> 00:04:15,080 a difference in here, touching every area of my life? 54 00:04:15,080 –> 00:04:22,279 Now, I want you to see that actually the New Testament is really one massive project in 55 00:04:22,299 –> 00:04:25,640 applying the gospel to all of life. 56 00:04:25,640 –> 00:04:27,700 The New Testament fundamentally does two things. 57 00:04:27,700 –> 00:04:32,920 First, it tells us what the gospel is, who Jesus is, why he came into the world, what 58 00:04:33,019 –> 00:04:35,720 it is that he has done for us. 59 00:04:35,720 –> 00:04:42,459 But then it also tells us, secondly, how the gospel works, what it means to be in Jesus 60 00:04:42,459 –> 00:04:49,420 Christ, how knowing Jesus Christ actually makes a difference to every sphere of your 61 00:04:49,420 –> 00:04:50,839 life. 62 00:04:50,839 –> 00:04:54,279 Now I want to give you some examples so that you get the idea. 63 00:04:54,279 –> 00:04:59,320 Because once your eyes are opened, to how again and again the New Testament keeps applying 64 00:04:59,459 –> 00:05:05,519 the Gospel to all of life, you will find you start spotting it all over the place. 65 00:05:05,519 –> 00:05:09,059 So I hope you have your Bible ready, I am going to give you one or two examples of how 66 00:05:09,059 –> 00:05:12,279 the New Testament applies the Gospel to life. 67 00:05:12,279 –> 00:05:17,600 Let’s start for example with the application to marriage, to take one very practical subject. 68 00:05:17,600 –> 00:05:23,799 Turn with me to Ephesians chapter 5 and verse 25. 69 00:05:23,799 –> 00:05:27,839 Ephesians 5 and verse 25. 70 00:05:27,839 –> 00:05:38,600 Now suppose that you’re sitting down with a husband who’s not doing a very good job 71 00:05:38,600 –> 00:05:41,640 of loving his wife. 72 00:05:41,640 –> 00:05:45,260 And you are trying to help this person. 73 00:05:45,260 –> 00:05:51,399 Try and picture that situation, how might you help him? 74 00:05:51,440 –> 00:05:59,160 Now there seems to me to be three basic ways in which we can try to motivate people to 75 00:05:59,160 –> 00:06:02,440 change their behavior. 76 00:06:02,440 –> 00:06:09,760 There’s a guilt way, there’s a pride way, and there’s a gospel way. 77 00:06:09,760 –> 00:06:13,600 And it’s very important to understand the difference. 78 00:06:13,600 –> 00:06:17,279 Let’s take the guilt way first, okay, I’m sitting down with a guy who’s not doing a 79 00:06:17,359 –> 00:06:20,459 very good job of loving his wife. 80 00:06:20,459 –> 00:06:26,619 Here’s what it sounds like if I try and motivate him the guilt way, it goes like this. 81 00:06:26,619 –> 00:06:31,660 Now look Joe or Jimmy or whatever your name is, you made a vow. 82 00:06:31,660 –> 00:06:35,559 You promised to love this woman for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness 83 00:06:35,559 –> 00:06:39,380 and in health, and whether you are happy right now or not, you have to live up to what you 84 00:06:39,380 –> 00:06:41,940 said in that promise. 85 00:06:41,940 –> 00:06:42,940 Now what am I doing? 86 00:06:42,940 –> 00:06:46,239 I am appealing to this man’s conscience. 87 00:06:46,279 –> 00:06:48,040 I am saying to him, you did this. 88 00:06:48,040 –> 00:06:53,100 You said you would do this, now it’s time for you to step up to the plate and for you 89 00:06:53,100 –> 00:06:54,760 to deliver on your promise. 90 00:06:54,760 –> 00:07:00,420 That’s a very reasonable way to motivate this guy to change his behavior, but it is a way 91 00:07:00,420 –> 00:07:06,959 that is based fundamentally on touching conscience, and therefore it works on a person’s 92 00:07:06,959 –> 00:07:09,500 sense of guilt. 93 00:07:09,500 –> 00:07:11,480 Here’s another way you could do it. 94 00:07:11,480 –> 00:07:16,200 I could try the pride way, it goes like this. 95 00:07:16,239 –> 00:07:22,880 Hey, Joe, you’re a great guy and you don’t want to mess up your marriage and I’ve looked 96 00:07:22,880 –> 00:07:26,959 at your life and you can succeed in just about anything you turn your hand to, so why not 97 00:07:26,959 –> 00:07:27,959 this? 98 00:07:27,959 –> 00:07:29,059 You can do it. 99 00:07:29,059 –> 00:07:31,500 So why don’t you just turn your marriage around? 100 00:07:31,500 –> 00:07:36,660 No, that’s not an unreasonable way for me to try and encourage him to change his behavior. 101 00:07:36,660 –> 00:07:40,679 But here’s the problem. 102 00:07:40,679 –> 00:07:46,380 Working on the guilt way increases guilt. 103 00:07:46,380 –> 00:07:52,220 Working on the pride way increases pride. 104 00:07:52,220 –> 00:07:55,920 So I want you to see that, in fact, the New Testament works in an entirely different way 105 00:07:55,920 –> 00:07:57,399 to motivate change of behavior. 106 00:07:57,399 –> 00:08:02,079 I’m just giving a first example here from the sphere of marriage, but I want us to understand 107 00:08:02,079 –> 00:08:03,079 how this works. 108 00:08:03,079 –> 00:08:07,660 Look at Ephesians, chapter 5 and verse 25 and you’ll see that the gospel approach is 109 00:08:07,760 –> 00:08:11,140 completely different from guilt and from pride. 110 00:08:11,140 –> 00:08:20,100 Husbands, love your wives not as you promised, not as only you can do because you’re a great 111 00:08:20,100 –> 00:08:26,200 guy, but as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her. 112 00:08:26,200 –> 00:08:33,799 In other words, the gospel way of encouraging a Christian man to grow in his love towards 113 00:08:33,799 –> 00:08:39,900 his wife is to say, now look at Jesus Christ. 114 00:08:39,900 –> 00:08:47,640 He was ready to sacrifice anything, everything for his bride, the church, so that his bride 115 00:08:47,640 –> 00:08:55,080 would flourish and be radiant and full of joy Now this Christ lives in you. 116 00:08:55,080 –> 00:09:00,700 The Holy Spirit has been given to you so that the life of this Jesus Christ may be reproduced 117 00:09:00,700 –> 00:09:01,700 in you. 118 00:09:02,260 –> 00:09:07,400 what that means in your marriage. 119 00:09:07,400 –> 00:09:12,760 Can you imagine anything more beautiful than a marriage that is gospel shaped, in other 120 00:09:12,760 –> 00:09:18,940 words that is a reproduction of the kind of love that Jesus Christ has for his church 121 00:09:18,940 –> 00:09:25,820 because that love has been imparted into the heart of a husband. 122 00:09:25,820 –> 00:09:29,919 Now I want you to see then that the Christian life in the New Testament as it’s laid out 123 00:09:29,919 –> 00:09:36,119 to us, I’ve just given one example, but the Christian life is not based on guilt. 124 00:09:36,119 –> 00:09:39,059 It is not based on pride. 125 00:09:39,059 –> 00:09:47,099 It is based on you being in Christ and on Jesus Christ being in you. 126 00:09:47,099 –> 00:09:50,159 Now let me give you a second example so that we get the feel of this. 127 00:09:50,159 –> 00:09:55,760 Turn over if you would to Colossians and chapter two and verses eight, nine. 128 00:09:55,760 –> 00:09:57,719 Colossians chapter two and verses eight, nine. 129 00:09:57,719 –> 00:10:04,960 Here’s a very different example, let’s apply the gospel now to the sphere of freedom. 130 00:10:04,960 –> 00:10:10,080 Getting free from the control of other people. 131 00:10:10,080 –> 00:10:14,719 Notice how Paul says in Colossians and chapter two and verse eight. 132 00:10:14,719 –> 00:10:20,820 See to it that no one takes you captive. 133 00:10:20,820 –> 00:10:23,280 Very important statement. 134 00:10:23,280 –> 00:10:27,979 He’s writing to Christian believers and he’s saying don’t let other people trap you. 135 00:10:27,979 –> 00:10:30,979 Don’t let other people bind your conscience. 136 00:10:30,979 –> 00:10:34,580 Don’t get into the position where other people are all the time telling you what to do and 137 00:10:34,580 –> 00:10:35,619 what not to do. 138 00:10:35,619 –> 00:10:38,460 Don’t let other people control your life. 139 00:10:38,460 –> 00:10:43,020 Don’t let other people lay burdens on you that God never intended you to carry. 140 00:10:43,020 –> 00:10:47,140 Don’t allow yourself to be manipulated by the advertising of this world. 141 00:10:47,140 –> 00:10:51,299 Don’t let the culture squeeze you into its own mold. 142 00:10:51,679 –> 00:10:56,340 That’s a very important statement but the question arises then how? 143 00:10:56,340 –> 00:11:04,299 How am I to enter into all the dimensions of Christian freedom, to be my own person 144 00:11:04,299 –> 00:11:05,419 in Jesus Christ. 145 00:11:05,419 –> 00:11:14,219 And the answer in verse 9 is, for in Christ, here’s how all the fullness of the god head 146 00:11:14,219 –> 00:11:18,460 lives in bodily form. 147 00:11:18,479 –> 00:11:24,239 In other words, you will enter increasingly into the joy of Christian freedom as you realise 148 00:11:24,239 –> 00:11:29,380 that everything that you need for life and godliness is yours in Jesus Christ and you 149 00:11:29,380 –> 00:11:37,840 are under the control, therefore, of no one because you belong to the hands of your sovereign 150 00:11:37,840 –> 00:11:41,559 Redeemer. 151 00:11:41,559 –> 00:11:46,960 Now once you see this pattern, you see that the whole of the New Testament is really applying 152 00:11:46,960 –> 00:11:51,880 all that’s ours in Jesus Christ to every sphere of life, marriage, freedom, you begin 153 00:11:51,880 –> 00:11:52,880 seeing it all over the place. 154 00:11:52,880 –> 00:11:56,840 I’m going to give you another couple of examples before we come back to Corinthians. 155 00:11:56,840 –> 00:11:59,479 Let’s apply the gospel to forgiveness. 156 00:11:59,479 –> 00:12:03,059 Back to Ephesians 4, verse 32. 157 00:12:03,059 –> 00:12:04,799 Ephesians 4.32. 158 00:12:04,799 –> 00:12:07,239 He is Paul teaching Christian believers. 159 00:12:07,239 –> 00:12:13,299 He says be kind, be compassionate to each other, forgiving each other. 160 00:12:13,840 –> 00:12:16,580 Now how in all the world are we to forgive each other? 161 00:12:16,580 –> 00:12:23,780 Well notice what he says, Ephesians 4.32, forgiving each other just as in Christ God 162 00:12:23,780 –> 00:12:25,539 forgave you. 163 00:12:25,539 –> 00:12:29,500 See, there is a sort of way of forgiving out of guilt, isn’t there? 164 00:12:29,500 –> 00:12:34,219 I guess I’m a Christian, so I suppose I’ve got to forgive. 165 00:12:34,219 –> 00:12:35,940 I’ve heard people talk like that. 166 00:12:35,940 –> 00:12:38,520 You ever felt like that? 167 00:12:38,520 –> 00:12:41,179 That’s forgiveness out of guilt. 168 00:12:41,799 –> 00:12:44,700 There’s a kind of forgiveness that comes out of pride. 169 00:12:44,700 –> 00:12:51,679 I’m bigger than the hurt you did for me so I’m going to show that I’m actually bigger 170 00:12:51,679 –> 00:12:52,679 than you. 171 00:12:52,679 –> 00:12:56,900 It’s a kind of forgiveness that comes out of pride. 172 00:12:56,900 –> 00:13:01,979 But what Paul is calling us to in the New Testament isn’t either of these. 173 00:13:01,979 –> 00:13:08,580 He’s calling us to a gospel forgiveness which says I am forgiven by Jesus Christ and I live 174 00:13:08,580 –> 00:13:11,140 in the good of that every day of my life right now. 175 00:13:11,739 –> 00:13:18,340 My only standing before God is in the forgiveness that is mine in Jesus Christ. 176 00:13:18,340 –> 00:13:23,580 And this Christ lives within me by his Holy Spirit, reproducing his likeness making it 177 00:13:23,580 –> 00:13:31,299 possible for me to reflect something received into the life of another person. 178 00:13:31,299 –> 00:13:34,260 All the difference in the world. 179 00:13:34,260 –> 00:13:36,340 Fourth example. 180 00:13:36,340 –> 00:13:38,260 Philippians in chapter two. 181 00:13:38,260 –> 00:13:40,020 Phillippians in chapter two. 182 00:13:40,020 –> 00:13:42,840 This is perhaps one of the most surprising. 183 00:13:42,840 –> 00:13:48,059 Let’s look at Philippians two and verse four where you find perhaps the most ordinary of 184 00:13:48,059 –> 00:13:53,099 verses followed by the most amazing of passages. 185 00:13:53,099 –> 00:14:01,820 Philippians 2.4, each of you should look out not only for your own interests but also for 186 00:14:01,820 –> 00:14:03,059 the interests of others. 187 00:14:03,059 –> 00:14:06,840 Now can you imagine a more ordinary verse in the bible? 188 00:14:06,840 –> 00:14:09,900 Look out for the interest of others the same as you look out for your own interests, this 189 00:14:09,979 –> 00:14:14,599 is about the most ordinary verse in all of the bible. 190 00:14:14,599 –> 00:14:17,380 Now Paul wants to tell us why. 191 00:14:17,380 –> 00:14:23,119 He says your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus and then he launches 192 00:14:23,119 –> 00:14:26,260 into one of the most amazing passages in the new Testament. 193 00:14:26,260 –> 00:14:31,380 The Lord Jesus who being in very nature God did not consider a quality with God something 194 00:14:31,380 –> 00:14:36,919 to be grasped but made himself nothing taking the very nature of a servant. 195 00:14:36,919 –> 00:14:40,739 Do you see what’s happening here? 196 00:14:40,739 –> 00:14:48,979 Paul launches into a massive statement of the humiliation and the exaltation of the 197 00:14:48,979 –> 00:14:54,539 son of God simply to tell us that we ought to look out for the interests of other people. 198 00:14:54,539 –> 00:15:03,219 I read a commentator who said the apostle is using a sledgehammer to crack a nut. 199 00:15:03,219 –> 00:15:07,460 You know, that’s exactly what the new testament does. 200 00:15:07,460 –> 00:15:14,219 It brings the most massive truth about our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ and it applies 201 00:15:14,219 –> 00:15:23,880 it to the most ordinary situations of your every day life and mine so that we learn to 202 00:15:23,880 –> 00:15:34,080 live not from guilt or from pride, but from the Gospel of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. 203 00:15:34,080 –> 00:15:38,599 Now I want to emphasize this as we come to the end of the year because the truth is that 204 00:15:38,599 –> 00:15:46,159 in many churches, many Christians live much of their life on guilt, or they live much 205 00:15:46,159 –> 00:15:51,359 of their life, their Christian life, on pride. 206 00:15:51,400 –> 00:15:58,280 And I want to say to you, but that is not the New Testament way. 207 00:15:58,280 –> 00:16:03,900 That is not why Jesus Christ came into the world. 208 00:16:03,900 –> 00:16:08,960 More than anything else, I want for us, as Christian believers, to learn increasingly 209 00:16:08,960 –> 00:16:17,840 what it is to live on the Gospel and on the freedom and joy that flows from it into every 210 00:16:18,479 –> 00:16:20,679 area of life. 211 00:16:20,679 –> 00:16:26,400 Now, are you seeing the pattern, how Paul takes the massive truths of the Christian 212 00:16:26,400 –> 00:16:29,799 faith and applies them to every area of life? 213 00:16:29,799 –> 00:16:31,619 Are you getting the pattern? 214 00:16:31,619 –> 00:16:33,880 You’re not certain? 215 00:16:33,880 –> 00:16:35,099 Are you getting the pattern? 216 00:16:35,099 –> 00:16:37,380 We’re getting it. 217 00:16:37,380 –> 00:16:45,760 Marriage, the interests of others, forgiveness, freedom. 218 00:16:46,260 –> 00:16:54,820 money. 219 00:16:54,820 –> 00:17:02,880 I want us to see how the Apostle Paul takes the gospel and applies it to the whole area 220 00:17:02,880 –> 00:17:08,800 of our money and of our giving. 221 00:17:08,800 –> 00:17:13,040 I want you to notice, as we get into this then, the particular circumstances in which 222 00:17:13,040 –> 00:17:19,199 the Holy Spirit moves the Apostle Paul to write perhaps the most significant passage 223 00:17:19,199 –> 00:17:23,540 in the New Testament applying the gospel to the subject of money. 224 00:17:23,540 –> 00:17:28,119 The reason that these verses were written was that Paul was actually raising money. 225 00:17:28,119 –> 00:17:34,780 He was raising funds to bring relief to Christian believers in Jerusalem who had come on particularly 226 00:17:34,780 –> 00:17:36,800 hard times. 227 00:17:36,800 –> 00:17:43,280 If you look at 2 Corinthians 8 and verse 10, you’ll see that the folks in Corinth had 228 00:17:43,280 –> 00:17:49,300 responded to this appeal for funds to help poor believers in Jerusalem. 229 00:17:49,300 –> 00:17:52,560 They responded with initial enthusiasm. 230 00:17:52,560 –> 00:17:54,920 Corinth was a bustling commercial centre. 231 00:17:54,920 –> 00:18:00,260 It was really in many ways just like Chicago, and when these folks found out about the needs 232 00:18:00,260 –> 00:18:06,180 of Christians who had become through particular circumstances no doubt including persecution 233 00:18:06,260 –> 00:18:09,739 very poor they were eager to help. 234 00:18:09,739 –> 00:18:17,099 So verse 10 of 8, last year you were the first not only to give, but also to have the desire 235 00:18:17,099 –> 00:18:18,920 to do so. 236 00:18:18,920 –> 00:18:23,619 So Paul knows these are wonderful folks, their instinct was hey if there’s a need we want 237 00:18:23,619 –> 00:18:25,099 to help. 238 00:18:25,099 –> 00:18:30,300 And so Corinth had really become a sort of flag ship church, known among other churches 239 00:18:30,300 –> 00:18:33,459 for its generosity, and for its enthusiasm. 240 00:18:33,520 –> 00:18:38,219 In fact, if you look at chapter 9 in verse 2, you’ll see that Paul says I know your eagerness 241 00:18:38,219 –> 00:18:43,380 to help, and he makes it clear that he’s actually talked to other churches about the Corinthians 242 00:18:43,380 –> 00:18:45,239 and their enthusiasm. 243 00:18:45,239 –> 00:18:50,900 And he says your enthusiasm has stirred other churches to want to respond generously, as 244 00:18:50,900 –> 00:18:51,900 well. 245 00:18:51,900 –> 00:18:56,540 So when the need became obvious there was initial enthusiasm. 246 00:18:56,540 –> 00:19:02,880 But putting together the pieces here, it becomes evident that after a time there was a growing 247 00:19:02,979 –> 00:19:04,439 reluctance. 248 00:19:04,439 –> 00:19:10,280 The Corinthians had promised to give generously but they had been slow to follow through on 249 00:19:10,280 –> 00:19:12,160 their promise. 250 00:19:12,160 –> 00:19:18,260 And so in verse 11 of chapter 8 Paul says now finish the work so that your eager willingness 251 00:19:18,260 –> 00:19:23,380 to do it may be matched by your completion of it according to your means. 252 00:19:23,380 –> 00:19:28,719 He always ties giving to what God has first trusted to us. 253 00:19:28,920 –> 00:19:33,180 And in verse 12 if the willingness is there the gift is acceptable according to what one 254 00:19:33,180 –> 00:19:39,619 has, not according to what one does not have. 255 00:19:39,619 –> 00:19:47,819 Why do you think there was initial enthusiasm to give generously followed a year later by 256 00:19:47,819 –> 00:19:50,180 a growing reluctance. 257 00:19:50,180 –> 00:19:51,180 Probably many theories. 258 00:19:51,180 –> 00:19:52,180 Here’s mine. 259 00:19:52,180 –> 00:19:54,020 I think the market in Corinth collapsed. 260 00:19:54,020 –> 00:19:56,040 What do you think? 261 00:19:56,099 –> 00:20:03,359 That there was just a change of tone and a change of experience that was going on right 262 00:20:03,359 –> 00:20:05,119 there in the church of Corinth. 263 00:20:05,119 –> 00:20:07,040 Now what I want you to notice is this. 264 00:20:07,040 –> 00:20:12,400 How does Paul tackle the problem? 265 00:20:12,400 –> 00:20:14,640 That’s the key thing. 266 00:20:14,640 –> 00:20:20,300 In fact, everything that you need to know either about giving money or about raising 267 00:20:20,300 –> 00:20:26,000 money I think is right here in these two chapters. 268 00:20:26,060 –> 00:20:31,140 Let me suggest to you, following the pattern that we’ve already seen, that there are actually 269 00:20:31,140 –> 00:20:37,520 three ways to give money or three ways to raise money. 270 00:20:37,520 –> 00:20:44,079 They all have different effects and the one that you follow will have a distinct shape 271 00:20:44,079 –> 00:20:46,219 upon your character. 272 00:20:46,219 –> 00:20:50,859 And that’s true not only for individuals but its true for us as a church. 273 00:20:50,859 –> 00:20:55,079 You’ll know what I’m going with this if you’ve been following so far. 274 00:20:55,079 –> 00:21:00,640 There’s a guilt way of raising money and of giving money. 275 00:21:00,640 –> 00:21:03,719 This one basically focuses on the need. 276 00:21:03,719 –> 00:21:07,420 What you do is you show people an extraordinary need. 277 00:21:07,420 –> 00:21:12,339 And having depicted the need as vividly as you possibly can, you then pull the heart 278 00:21:12,339 –> 00:21:17,359 strings, and then you say, now, what are we going to do about this? 279 00:21:17,359 –> 00:21:23,079 And then you say, now for the price of one cup of coffee, you could change this. 280 00:21:23,079 –> 00:21:27,560 And now, everyone feels guilty about drinking a Jolly Cup of Coffee. 281 00:21:27,560 –> 00:21:30,479 You appeal to conscience. 282 00:21:30,479 –> 00:21:34,660 You put people in a position saying, boy, I don’t know, I suppose I really ought to 283 00:21:34,660 –> 00:21:37,160 do something about this. 284 00:21:37,160 –> 00:21:44,160 Honestly, I’ve tried to think over these last months quite deeply about my own giving. 285 00:21:44,160 –> 00:21:51,439 And I have been able, clearly, to identify times when I have written a check, largely 286 00:21:51,439 –> 00:21:53,319 out of guilt. 287 00:21:53,319 –> 00:21:58,619 I was moved by a need, but the truth was, I just felt better when I’ve written a check. 288 00:21:58,619 –> 00:22:01,380 And that was probably the primary motivating drive. 289 00:22:01,380 –> 00:22:07,760 And you know, that’s okay, but Paul wants to show us something better. 290 00:22:07,760 –> 00:22:15,319 I want you to notice he doesn’t go there when he is raising funds and asking for money. 291 00:22:15,479 –> 00:22:19,599 He doesn’t want us to go there where we’re giving money. 292 00:22:21,760 –> 00:22:24,260 There’s a second way, of course, and you know where I’m going here. 293 00:22:28,479 –> 00:22:31,479 This one focuses on the opportunity. 294 00:22:31,479 –> 00:22:37,160 You lay out a great project and you say to people, now look what we can accomplish. 295 00:22:37,160 –> 00:22:41,140 Look what we can do and look how you can be part of it. 296 00:22:41,160 –> 00:22:45,640 And if you’ll give a certain amount we’ll etch your name forever on a stone or we’ll 297 00:22:45,640 –> 00:22:51,180 put your name in a published roll of honor and what is that doing? 298 00:22:51,180 –> 00:22:55,180 You see, it’s working on pride, it’s appealing to self-interest. 299 00:22:59,239 –> 00:23:06,579 Pride drives a lot of giving. 300 00:23:06,599 –> 00:23:15,060 And you know what, every Christmas there are families that get themselves into debt for 301 00:23:15,060 –> 00:23:17,300 precisely this reason. 302 00:23:17,300 –> 00:23:23,859 And I try to speak about this in the run-up to Christmas most years, hoping that a pastoral 303 00:23:23,859 –> 00:23:28,699 world will guide and help some of us particularly. 304 00:23:28,699 –> 00:23:32,660 But here’s how it works. 305 00:23:32,660 –> 00:23:40,420 You’re in difficulties financially, but you don’t want other people to know it. 306 00:23:40,420 –> 00:23:48,020 You want to give the impression that you are really doing very well. 307 00:23:48,020 –> 00:23:53,439 And because you want to give that impression, perhaps even to folks who are close to you, 308 00:23:53,439 –> 00:24:00,479 you buy at Christmas what you cannot afford, and having given the impression you wanted 309 00:24:00,579 –> 00:24:07,319 to convey, you strap yourself and your family with a financial burden of debt that goes 310 00:24:07,319 –> 00:24:11,439 on for months into the coming year. 311 00:24:11,439 –> 00:24:17,000 I want to say, don’t do that. 312 00:24:17,000 –> 00:24:25,160 Because if you think about what’s really happening there, it’s giving that’s driven by pride. 313 00:24:25,160 –> 00:24:34,359 And a proper grasp of the gospel will save you from doing that, and from its consequences 314 00:24:34,359 –> 00:24:36,000 this Christmas. 315 00:24:36,000 –> 00:24:41,719 There is a kind of giving that is out of guilt, and there is a kind of giving that is out 316 00:24:41,719 –> 00:24:42,760 of pride. 317 00:24:42,760 –> 00:24:48,640 I want you to see, as we’ve seen is the pattern of the New Testament, that Paul doesn’t go 318 00:24:48,719 –> 00:24:50,640 to either of these places. 319 00:24:50,640 –> 00:24:56,880 He wants to introduce us to a gospel kind of giving, which is focused on the person 320 00:24:56,880 –> 00:24:59,199 and work of Jesus Christ. 321 00:24:59,199 –> 00:25:03,619 I want you to notice here how the emphasis while he’s raising money is not either on 322 00:25:03,619 –> 00:25:10,959 the need or on the opportunity but on the person of Jesus Christ. 323 00:25:11,939 –> 00:25:16,520 He was rich for your sakes, he became poor, so that through his poverty you might become 324 00:25:16,520 –> 00:25:17,520 rich. 325 00:25:17,520 –> 00:25:24,380 Or 2 Nephi 9, he has scattered his gifts to the poor, his righteousness endures forever. 326 00:25:24,380 –> 00:25:31,880 Or chapter 9, verse 15, thanks be to God for his indescribable gift. 327 00:25:31,880 –> 00:25:35,119 In other words, as you read the passage, and I encourage you to read the whole of the two 328 00:25:35,119 –> 00:25:39,319 chapters because we are trying to get it into our mind and heart, the central focus is on 329 00:25:39,380 –> 00:25:42,000 the generosity of God. 330 00:25:42,000 –> 00:25:46,199 And the point that Paul is making is simply this, you know Him. 331 00:25:46,199 –> 00:25:52,060 You know this God of incredible grace in Jesus Christ who made himself poor so that you through 332 00:25:52,060 –> 00:25:53,819 His poverty might become rich. 333 00:25:53,819 –> 00:25:59,060 And since you know this generous God, and since His Spirit lives within you, you are 334 00:25:59,060 –> 00:26:02,160 in the process of becoming increasingly like Him. 335 00:26:02,160 –> 00:26:07,280 The character of Jesus is being reproduced in you and guess what that includes this, 336 00:26:07,280 –> 00:26:15,099 that God’s kind of giving can be reflected in your giving as well. 337 00:26:15,099 –> 00:26:21,040 There’s a world of difference between that kind of gospel giving and giving that comes 338 00:26:21,040 –> 00:26:25,599 out of guilt or giving that comes out of pride. 339 00:26:25,599 –> 00:26:31,500 Let me give to you two very simple distinguishing marks of Christ-like giving. 340 00:26:31,979 –> 00:26:37,479 We’ll carry these God willing through this very short series but I want to 341 00:26:37,479 –> 00:26:41,939 get these anchors as it were firmly planted in every one of our minds and 342 00:26:41,939 –> 00:26:49,400 our hearts. Christ-like giving is distinguished, it is marked by freedom 343 00:26:49,400 –> 00:26:58,920 and by joy. Notice freedom, I want to draw your attention to chapter 9 and verse 7. 344 00:26:59,780 –> 00:27:09,020 Paul says there, each man should give what he has decided to give in his heart. 345 00:27:09,020 –> 00:27:19,339 Not reluctantly or under compulsion for God loves a cheerful giver. Now notice 346 00:27:19,339 –> 00:27:23,420 that phrase, Paul says, and it’s in the very act of 347 00:27:23,420 –> 00:27:30,020 raising money that he says it. He says I do not want anyone to give reluctantly. 348 00:27:30,020 –> 00:27:38,959 I do not want anyone to give under compulsion, a very important word. No one 349 00:27:38,959 –> 00:27:48,579 he says in the church should ever feel forced to give. Now we come from very 350 00:27:48,579 –> 00:27:52,119 different church backgrounds and some of you will have experienced church world 351 00:27:52,160 –> 00:27:56,680 that’s very, very different from that. Some of you will have come from 352 00:27:56,680 –> 00:28:02,719 backgrounds where churches set rules for giving. They ask you to commit a tithe. 353 00:28:02,719 –> 00:28:06,880 They say you must give ten percent of your income if you’re a member here. I 354 00:28:06,880 –> 00:28:09,540 want you to notice that Paul doesn’t do that when he’s writing to the 355 00:28:09,540 –> 00:28:17,160 Corinthians. He could have said the Old Testament teaches tithing, that means you 356 00:28:17,160 –> 00:28:23,300 give ten percent of your income. But you see the problem with applying a rule to 357 00:28:23,300 –> 00:28:28,380 this area of life or any other area of life? What happens is if you don’t do it 358 00:28:28,380 –> 00:28:34,459 your burdened by guilt and if you do do it you’re sliding into pride. So 359 00:28:34,459 –> 00:28:40,099 Paul absolutely refuses to give a rule in regard to this matter of giving. It’s 360 00:28:40,660 –> 00:28:46,140 fascinating. Do you notice here in verse 8 he says 361 00:28:46,140 –> 00:28:53,060 there’s a most unusual phrase for an apostle to use, he says just as you 362 00:28:53,060 –> 00:28:57,040 excel in faith he says I want you to excel in giving but I’m not commanding 363 00:28:57,040 –> 00:29:02,619 you. See Paul was an apostle all he needed to do was give an instruction and 364 00:29:02,619 –> 00:29:05,319 honestly these people would have followed it because he was an apostle 365 00:29:05,979 –> 00:29:10,339 but he refuses to use that kind of authority. Verse 10 he says here’s my 366 00:29:10,339 –> 00:29:18,599 advice about what’s best for you in this matter. He will not make it a matter of 367 00:29:18,599 –> 00:29:30,780 law because gospel giving must be free. Very important anchor. Second, not only 368 00:29:30,780 –> 00:29:36,300 must Christ-like giving be free but it must be marked by joy. Each man should 369 00:29:36,300 –> 00:29:40,579 give what he’s decided in his own heart to give, not reluctantly or under 370 00:29:40,579 –> 00:29:49,619 compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. I’m old-fashioned enough still to 371 00:29:49,619 –> 00:29:54,900 be paying my bills by writing checks, at least most of them. My day off is Monday so 372 00:29:54,900 –> 00:30:05,560 I’ll be doing it again. The gas bill, the electric bill, the telephone bill, the 373 00:30:05,560 –> 00:30:12,599 television bill. You know when the estate taxes bill comes you go how how much is 374 00:30:12,599 –> 00:30:22,459 it going to be you know? Paul will not have Christian believers 375 00:30:22,500 –> 00:30:29,660 giving to the work of Christ as if it were paying taxes. Don’t do that he says. 376 00:30:29,660 –> 00:30:38,939 If that’s how you feel, that that’s not gospel giving because gospel giving is 377 00:30:38,939 –> 00:30:43,859 not just writing one more check on the list, fulfilling one more obligation. You 378 00:30:44,859 –> 00:30:53,459 it or pride. What he’s saying to us is this, that our giving if it is to reflect 379 00:30:53,459 –> 00:31:02,339 Christ giving must be marked by freedom and it must be marked by joy. Giving out 380 00:31:02,339 –> 00:31:08,500 of guilt and pride is like writing out the checks for the bills but gospel 381 00:31:08,500 –> 00:31:12,060 giving is very different Paul says decide in your heart what you 382 00:31:12,199 –> 00:31:20,959 to give and then give it with freedom and joy for God loves a cheerful giver. 383 00:31:20,959 –> 00:31:25,300 Now here’s the most important question, we’ve got these two anchors in our minds 384 00:31:25,300 –> 00:31:29,219 gospel giving it’s not driven by guilt, it’s not driven by pride but it is 385 00:31:29,219 –> 00:31:35,660 anchored by these two principles freedom and joy not reluctantly not under 386 00:31:35,959 –> 00:31:48,219 compulsion. Why are freedom and joy the essential qualities of gospel giving? And 387 00:31:48,219 –> 00:31:59,060 the answer is, because freedom and joy are the way God gives to us, therefore 388 00:31:59,060 –> 00:32:02,979 when we give with freedom and joy we are reflecting the way in which God himself 389 00:32:03,579 –> 00:32:07,640 gives. And you see, that takes us right to the heart of the Christmas story which 390 00:32:07,640 –> 00:32:12,939 is where the Apostle Paul goes with it in the verse that we know so well. You 391 00:32:12,939 –> 00:32:17,920 know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ that though he was rich, yet for your 392 00:32:17,920 –> 00:32:24,939 sakes he became poor. Think about this. He left the riches of heaven for poverty, 393 00:32:24,939 –> 00:32:29,099 he left the honor of heaven for humiliation, he left the love of heaven 394 00:32:29,119 –> 00:32:36,079 for hatred that he experienced in this world and nobody forced him to do that. 395 00:32:36,079 –> 00:32:42,239 Nobody puts pressure on the Son of God, nobody in heaven was in a position to 396 00:32:42,239 –> 00:32:48,579 say, now you’re the Son of God. So this is your job. Nobody forces the arm of 397 00:32:48,579 –> 00:32:55,619 Christ. God does not have to do anything. Psalm 115 verse 3. Our God, he’s in heaven 398 00:32:55,739 –> 00:33:01,760 and he does whatever he pleases. God does not owe salvation to the world. God does 399 00:33:01,760 –> 00:33:06,780 not have to forgive. God is absolutely under no obligation whatsoever to a 400 00:33:06,780 –> 00:33:16,780 sinful world. Nobody forced Jesus to come. He choose to and he chose to because of 401 00:33:16,780 –> 00:33:24,380 the eternal love that throbs in his heart for you and for me and when you 402 00:33:24,380 –> 00:33:29,699 see the freedom of Christ coming into the world you will have a whole new 403 00:33:29,699 –> 00:33:40,079 level of grasp of the amazing love of God for you. Without anyone leaning on 404 00:33:40,079 –> 00:33:47,180 him, without any compulsion or any reluctance, the Son of God, who though He 405 00:33:47,219 –> 00:33:56,400 was rich, became poor. That’s freedom. Why did he do it? He did it, Paul says, so that 406 00:33:56,400 –> 00:34:04,420 you through his poverty might become rich. There’s the joy. Christ knows what 407 00:34:04,420 –> 00:34:11,419 eternal joy is. He’s experienced it with the Father since all eternity. 408 00:34:11,419 –> 00:34:15,379 But the riches of fellowship with God and the eternal joy of his fellowship do not 409 00:34:15,520 –> 00:34:23,379 belong to us by nature. The way in which these riches come to us is through 410 00:34:23,379 –> 00:34:31,780 Christ’s poverty. It is through his poverty that we become rich, which is why 411 00:34:31,780 –> 00:34:36,219 he chose freely to come into the world. So that we may enter into his joy. 412 00:34:36,219 –> 00:34:40,239 Here’s what that means. Through his poverty we might become rich. What it 413 00:34:40,239 –> 00:34:45,459 means is this, if Jesus Christ had not come into the world, if Jesus Christ had 414 00:34:45,459 –> 00:34:52,459 not endured the cross, I would have been lost in hell forever without a hope of 415 00:34:52,459 –> 00:34:56,979 forgiveness, or new birth, or peace with God, and every one of us would be in the 416 00:34:56,979 –> 00:35:03,520 same position. Because eternal joy isn’t ours by nature, it is through his poverty 417 00:35:03,520 –> 00:35:07,620 that we become rich. Through his birth, through his death, through his life, 418 00:35:07,820 –> 00:35:11,760 through his resurrection, through his ascension, through his coming again in 419 00:35:11,760 –> 00:35:17,439 power and glory. That is how we are made rich in every blessing through Jesus 420 00:35:17,439 –> 00:35:20,459 Christ. And you see that is why the angels appeared the night that Christ 421 00:35:20,459 –> 00:35:27,100 was born, and they are celebrating with joy. Glory to God in the highest! Because 422 00:35:27,100 –> 00:35:32,179 there is good news of great joy, it’s for all people today, a Savior is born to 423 00:35:32,199 –> 00:35:37,320 you, and He is Christ the Lord! There’s great joy because not millions but 424 00:35:37,320 –> 00:35:41,939 billions of people from every culture and every generation are going to be 425 00:35:41,939 –> 00:35:48,159 swept up into the eternal joy that Jesus Christ has always known. Though he was 426 00:35:48,159 –> 00:35:58,540 rich he became poor so that you through his poverty might become rich. And the 427 00:35:59,500 –> 00:36:07,959 loves a cheerful giver is that God is a cheerful giver. Here’s the very last 428 00:36:07,959 –> 00:36:16,620 thing today you notice how Paul says you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ 429 00:36:16,620 –> 00:36:21,739 he’s writing to Christians the distinguishing mark of a Christian 430 00:36:21,739 –> 00:36:27,919 believer is that you know the grace of our Lord 431 00:36:27,919 –> 00:36:32,919 Jesus Christ although he was rich yet for your sakes became poor so that you 432 00:36:32,919 –> 00:36:37,520 through his poverty might become rich you know that grace and he means by that 433 00:36:37,520 –> 00:36:40,459 not simply that you have some intellectual comprehension of it but 434 00:36:40,459 –> 00:36:47,959 that grace has touched and changed your life so I and today by asking the simple 435 00:36:47,959 –> 00:36:54,760 question do you know the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ have you seen his 436 00:36:54,820 –> 00:37:01,260 kindness and his generosity have you been gripped by the extraordinary 437 00:37:01,260 –> 00:37:06,320 kindness of God in sending a savior into a world when he didn’t have to he could 438 00:37:06,320 –> 00:37:12,260 have made another world. Have you seen that it’s through his poverty through 439 00:37:12,260 –> 00:37:17,139 all that Jesus endured and supremely through his cross that you have the hope 440 00:37:17,139 –> 00:37:24,260 of entering into everlasting joy? See when as a Christian believer you know 441 00:37:24,260 –> 00:37:29,360 the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ the Holy Spirit begins teaching you 442 00:37:29,360 –> 00:37:34,580 progressively just how rich you are in him. You’ll begin to think like this 443 00:37:34,580 –> 00:37:40,419 you’ll be saying Lord now I see that you have blessed me with every spiritual 444 00:37:40,419 –> 00:37:45,760 blessing in Christ and that these blessings are mine. Now I see that from 445 00:37:45,760 –> 00:37:49,280 the fullness of Your grace I have received one blessing on top of another. 446 00:37:49,280 –> 00:37:57,860 Now I find within me such a gratitude that I have a genuine growing desire to 447 00:37:57,860 –> 00:38:04,320 reflect the goodness and kindness that You have shown to me out into the lives 448 00:38:04,320 –> 00:38:11,120 of others.” That’s how the gospel works. And that’s how it touches not only your 449 00:38:11,120 –> 00:38:14,239 marriage and your freedom and your forgiveness and looking after the needs 450 00:38:15,139 –> 00:38:25,100 others but it touches our money as well. For a truly generous life does not flow 451 00:38:25,100 –> 00:38:30,699 out of guilt, and it certainly doesn’t flow out of pride, but it does flow out 452 00:38:30,699 –> 00:38:38,600 of knowing Jesus Christ, who though he was rich yet became poor so that you 453 00:38:38,699 –> 00:38:46,199 through his poverty might become rich and when you see the freedom and joy of 454 00:38:46,199 –> 00:38:54,239 his giving and its effect in your life for all eternity, you will find a new 455 00:38:54,239 –> 00:39:03,260 freedom and joy in desiring to be increasingly like him. 456 00:39:03,260 –> 00:39:06,879 You’ve been listening to a sermon with Pastor Collins Smith of Open the Bible. 457 00:39:06,879 –> 00:39:14,219 To contact us call us at 1-877-OPEN-365 or visit our website openthebible.org