The Grace of Generosity (Part 2) 2 Corinthians 9 by Pastor Steve Lombardo

generosity is number two about the love of your heart, the love in your heart. Back to second Corinthians verse nine chapter nine verse seven. Each one must give as he decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion for God loves a cheerful giver. It's not out of legalism. It's not because just you ought to. Now we need to be spurred on to give sometimes. I know my heart needs to be spurred on and encouraged to give because I don't always like to give. So it doesn't mean we shouldn't be encouraged to give, but God loves a cheerful giver. [00:21:58] (32 seconds)  #CheerfulGiver

And so I wanna remind you as we start that the grace of God is incredible. It is incredible, the grace of God that you are experiencing right now. Theologians discuss two types of grace. There's common grace. That's the grace that everybody receives. And then there's special grace or effectual grace. That is the grace that saves a person. That is the grace that gives you the forgiveness of sins. That is the grace that gives you the resurrection of the dead. And so these are in your notes, here's here's a couple comparisons to help us grasp this truth. First one is this. Common grace gives you breath. Special grace gives you new birth. [00:08:28] (42 seconds)  #CommonVsSpecialGrace

Now we wanna be careful because there have been some pastors and preachers and charlatans who take this law of the harvest, and they turn it into the magic genie god in the sky. And if you do the right prayers, if you give the right offerings, god will be obligated to you. I've even heard some preachers say, god will be in debt to you because you gave. That is a lie from the pit of hell. And if anybody stands up before you and says, give a thousand dollars right now. If we can get 10 people here to give a thousand dollars right now actually, I'm not gonna be done with my sermon. And then we get 10 people to give a thousand dollars right now. Next month, the lord told me, you will have $10,000. [00:17:44] (47 seconds)  #RejectProsperityGospel

In the same way, the Bible lays out this principle time and again, that if you give, if you sow generously, you will be blessed generously. Spiritually speaking, with your treasures, speaking of that, with your talents, all those things. Galatians six seven through nine says, do not be deceived. God is not mocked for a man reaps whatever he sows. If he sows from his flesh from the flesh, he will reap destruction. But if he sows to the spirit, from the spirit, he will reap eternal life. See, the the law of the harvest applies to you spiritually as well. [00:17:07] (37 seconds)  #SowToTheSpirit

The last thing is this, the lord supplies what the generous person needs. This is what generosity is all about. It's about the lord. Verse eight. And God is able to make all grace abound to you so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work. God gives to the generous person the ability to abound in every good work. And then he goes on, he has distributed freely. He has given to the poor. His righteousness endures forever, quoting the Psalms. Verse 10, he who supplies the seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness. [00:25:25] (44 seconds)  #GodMultiplesSeed

And there are other churchgoing farmers that would say, he's gonna have a bad crop. He's gonna have a bad harvest because he's not honoring God. He's not honoring the Sabbath day. And yet you know what happened? He didn't seem to have any any, effect on his harvest. Why? Because the common grace of God is given to that man. Rain falls on the just and the unjust alike. But special grace that God gives, his effectual grace saves a person life person's life. Doesn't just sustain it for eighty years if you're lucky. It saves your life for eternity. [00:11:50] (39 seconds)  #RainOnJustAndUnjust

And that's true. So when you practice generosity, it helps you, and it blesses other people. And that's a powerful thing. Who do you have in your life that can be blessed by your generosity? You can bless your church. Absolutely. You can bless bless your family. You can bless those around you, your neighbor. God supplies the growth in you so that you might be generous to others. So let's end with this. The Lord will supply your need, and he will take care of you when you practice generosity. [00:27:49] (43 seconds)  #GenerosityBlessesOthers

You will be enriched in every way to be generous in every way which through us will produce thanksgiving to God. Notice the the grace of God brings all sufficiency for two different things. The first one is for your own sanctification. When you practice generosity, you will grow in your faith. Verse 10. And multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness. The harvest of your righteousness is your growth. And when you practice generosity, I mean, just you can think of it. You you build your trust in God because you're not hoarding stuff. You're trusting that God will provide. So you're growing in your faith. You're growing in your trust in God. When you're generous, you aren't greedy. [00:26:08] (41 seconds)  #GenerosityGrowsFaith