Sermon Notes, June 5, 2016 AM
The Sincerity of Our Love
Steve W. Reeves
INTRODUCTION:
A. A woman once commented to her preacher, “All we talk about is ‘give, give, give,
give.” The preacher responded, “Thank you the most beautiful description
of the Christian faith I have heard.”
1. Everything about Christianity involves giving.
2. Of all the words of Jesus none are more familiar than those of John 3:16, “For God
so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son.”
3. In Matthew 25:34-35 Jesus said, “Then the King will say to those on His right,
‘Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you
from the foundation of the world. 35 For I was hungry, and you gave Me something
to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink.”
B. In the region of Macedonia there was a group of churches who were commended for
the extraordinary way in which they gave. We read of them in 2 Corinthians 8:1-9:
Now, brethren, we wish to make known to you the grace of God which has been given in the churches of Macedonia, 2 that in a great ordeal of affliction their abundance of joy and their deep poverty overflowed in the wealth of their liberality. 3 For I testify that according to their ability, and beyond their ability, they gave of their own accord, 4 begging with much urging for the favor of participation in the support of the saints 5 and this, not as we had expected, but they first gave themselves to the Lord and to us by the will of God. 6 So we urged Titus that as he had previously made a beginning, so he would also complete in you this gracious work as well. 7 But just as you abound in everything, in faith and utterance and knowledge and in all earnestness and in the love we inspired in you, see that you abound in this gracious work also. 8 I am not speaking this as a command, but as proving through the earnestness of others the sincerity of your love also. 9 For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ that though He was rich, yet for your sake He became poor, so that you through His poverty might become rich.
1. The situation that prompted this passage was the desperate need of Jewish
Christians in Jerusalem who had been persecuted and stripped of their goods.
Many were destitute and 0suffering. In his travels Paul was collecting money to
provide for their needs.
2. As Paul writes to the church in Corinth he holds up the Macedonian Christians
as examples of what it means to demonstrate the sincerity of your love.
I. THEY WERE RECIPIENTS OF GRACE – Vs. 1, Vs. 9.
A. This text begins and ends with a reminder that these people were recipients of
God’s great gift of glorious grace.
1. Vs. 1 – “We want to make known to you the grace of God which has been made
known to the churches of Macedonia.”
2. Vs. 9 – “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ that though He was
rich, yet for your sake He became poor, so that you through His poverty might
become rich.”
3. As they considered what God had done for them they wanted to give to others.
B. We fail to recognize how much God has blessed us..
1. God has poured his grace out on us but we don’t always recognize it. An elderly
woman wrote her insurance company saying she could no longer afford to pay
her late husband’s life insurance because he had been dead three years. She
was still paying when she should have received the available benefits.
2. We sometimes act as if we are paupers selfishly wanting to hold on to everything
we have when in fact God has blessed us abundantly.
II. THEY OVERFLOWED WITH JOY AND LOVE – Vss. 2-3.
A. Looking at these people you wouldn’t think they overflowed with anything.
1. They were practically destitute.
2. Macedonia had been ravaged by war and natural disasters.
3. Caesar had removed the income tax from them because of their poverty.
4. This is why Paul says, “That in a great ordeal of affliction their abundance of joy
and their deep poverty overflowed in the wealth of their liberality” – vs. 3.
B. You do not have to be rich in material goods to be a generous giver.
1. New York and California are two of our wealthiest states yet both of them rank in
the lower half of charitable giving according to a CNBC report in 2014.
2. Utah led the list of greatest giving per capita followed by Mississippi, Alabama,
Tennessee and Georgia. Arkansas was 9th on the list.
3. Poor people give a higher percentage than rich people do and they find joy
in doing so.
4. Twenty years ago I spent several weeks preaching in Donetsk, Ukraine. One
evening our mission group was invited into the home of an elderly woman for
a meal. It was a small house and it was obvious that she was very poor. We
had “borsch,” (broth with cabbage) and homemade bread. After the meal the
woman went to a cabinet and took out a box of chocolates to serve. Her
daughter, one of our interpreters, told us she had been saving that box of
chocolates for years waiting for a special occasion. I had a lump in my throat as I
thought of how this poor woman had given the best she had for us.
C. The most important aspect of giving is not the size of the gift but the attitude of
the giver.
III. THEY WANTED TO GIVE – Vs. 4
A. These people wanted to give. According to verse 4 Paul says they, “begged us
with much urging for the favor of participation in the support of the saints.”
1. They didn’t have to be cajoled or shamed into giving.
2. They gave because they loved.
B. Nowhere in this text do we read about the amount they gave. It didn’t matter. It
wasn’t the size of their gift but it was the love that motivated it that was important.
C. These people gave because they wanted to give. Two businessmen were touring
South Korea with a missionary. As they traveled the back roads they saw a
field being plowed. There was an older man pulling the plow while his son held on
to the handle. The businessmen remarked to one another how poor they must be.
The missionary replied, “They don’t see themselves that way. When the church was
building a building they sold their ox to help pay for it.” “What a sacrifice,” said one
of the businessmen. “They didn’t see it that way,” said the missionary. “They were
thankful they had the ox to sell.”
IV. THEY GAVE OF THEMSELVES. – Vs. 5.
A. Their giving was sacrificial. Paul says in verse 5, “and this, not as we had
expected, but they first gave themselves to the Lord and to us by the will of God.”
1. You have heard the saying, “You can give without loving but you cannot love
without giving.” .
2. That’s exactly what God has done.
a. Romans 5:8 – “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we
were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”
b. What did God do to show us He loves us? He gave the gift of His Son.
B. Paul goes on to say that by giving of ourselves we prove the sincerity of our love
for the Lord. In verse 9 he said, “I am not speaking this as a command, but as proving
through the earnestness of others the sincerity of your love also.”
1. Paul understood that you cannot force people to give. It is something that must
flow from the heart.
2. Love that gives sacrificially is authentic. This is why a parent works two jobs to
pay for the education of their children. This is why a husband or wife goes
without a particular item to provide something special for their spouse. This is
why David said in 2 Samuel 24:24, “I will not offer to God that which costs me
nothing.”
CONCLUSION:
A. A man had a beautiful daughter. He watched with delight as she grew but he noticed
that she was always costing him money. When she was born there was a hospital bill
and a doctor’s bill. As she grew he spent money on medicine, clothes, food, and toys.
When she was in junior high she had to have braces on her teeth. During high school
there was always something that cost money. He sometimes complained about it.
Then, one sad day, she died. She never cost another cent. As long as the church –
any church is busy, active and growing it will cost us something. Just remember, it
cost Jesus far more.
B. Why not demonstrate the sincerity of your love for Him today?
