2 Corinthians 9:1-5 For as touching the ministering to the saints, it is superfluous for me to write to you:… I. WHY DOES GOD CALL US TO GIVE? 1. He cannot need our gifts. We can give Him nothing that we did not first get from Him. 2. It must be somehow for our sakes. Giving is God's way of getting for ourselves the highest good. The root of sin is selfishness. God would have us grow bigger, have a larger world to live in, find a higher joy; and the secret of all this change is giving. It is a curious fact that we call a man who gets but does not give a "miser," that is, a miserable man. The true worth of money is never learned until we begin to make others happy with it. It is just so of learning. There is joy in getting knowledge; but a higher joy it is to teach those who do not know. II. NATURE TEACHES US MANY LESSONS ON GIVING. The sun exists to give light, heat, and life. The sea is always giving. III. GOD MEASURES OUR GIVING BY OUR PURPOSE. "Every man according as he purposeth in his heart." What did you mean to give, and what was your motive? IV. LIBERAL GIVING IS PERHAPS THE CHOICEST, RIPEST FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT. The Arab proverb says, "The water you pour on the roots of the cocoanut-tree comes back to you from the top, in the sweet milk of the cocoanut." You may hang up a bar of slightly tempered steel, strike it with a mallet, and make it a magnet. Then with that magnet you may, by rubbing other bars with it, make them magnets too; and it is wonderful that instead of making the magnetic power of that first bar less, you increase it. (A. T. Pierson, D. D.) Parallel Verses KJV: For as touching the ministering to the saints, it is superfluous for me to write to you:WEB: It is indeed unnecessary for me to write to you concerning the service to the saints, |
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