Thank God for His Gift [25mb]

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This is a sermon based on 2 Corinthians 9:15 “Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift.”

Written Excerpts:

Introduction: In thinking about this service and seeking the Lord’s guidance for the message today, I was drawn to this passage of Scripture because it emphasizes both the theme of thanksgiving and the theme of gift-giving. I felt that this would be appropriate to use for this Sunday that immediately follows Thanksgiving  and anticipates Advent.

If you look at this chapter, the words thanks and thanksgiving occur three times in these closing verses of the chapter. The expression of gratitude is definitely on the Apostle’s mind. We will be looking at the reasons for this in just a moment. Then, in the last verse, Paul erupts into his own expression of thanks to the Lord for His gift that is “unspeakable” (i.e. indescribable; “wonder beyond description” – A.T. Robertson)

I believe that the gift that Paul is speaking about here is the gift of His Son, Jesus Christ. Therefore, it certainly seems that what we have here is a direct connection between the practice of giving thanks unto God, and the Incarnation of Jesus Christ in which God is giving His gift unto us.

Transition:    Let us look at the message of the Apostle in this chapter to discover the reasons that thanks is being offered to God.

I. Thanks is offered because of the generous gifts of believers.

v. 11 (NASB) – “you will be enriched in everything for all liberality [generosity], which through us is producing thanksgiving to God. 

v. 12 – For the ministry of this service is not only fully supplying the needs of the saints, but is also overflowing through many thanksgivings to God.

Paul proclaims that the generosity of the Christians in the region around Corinth will produce thanksgiving to God. He states that when the believers in Jerusalem see what their brothers and sisters have done, they will not only be thankful to them, but they will also direct their thanks to God who provided the blessings and prompted or motivated the generosity.

The writer, Matthew Henry, points out that there are three main principles for giving that are outlined by the Apostle here in chapter nine. When these principles are followed, then the result will be an abundance of thanks offered up to God.

A. Christians should give bountifully.

v. 5 – “Therefore I thought it necessary to exhort the brethren, that they would go before unto you, and make up beforehand your bounty, whereof ye had notice before, that the same might be ready, as a matter of bounty, and not as of covetousness.”

The believers in Corinth are reminded that their gift being prepared for the believers in Jerusalem was to be a gift given bountifully or generously and not being tight-fisted or giving grudgingly.

The image that comes to my mind when I read these verses is a contrast between two kinds of givers. One kind is the man who scoops down into his barrel of grain and gathers all that his arms can hold and then throws his arms wide open to unload the grain into the empty sack of the waiting neighbor. The other kind of giver is the man that grabs a handful of grain and opens it just enough to allow the grains to slip out in a small stream into the waiting hand of the needy neighbor. One is generously giving out of his abundant resources provided by God, while the other is barely letting go of what he must to satisfy his conscience.

B. Christians should give deliberately.

v. 7a – “Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give;”

“purposeth” – compound word, “before” and “choose”, thus choose before; as in preferring one thing over another, or to purpose or resolve beforehand. (Complete Word Study Dict on NT)

Unless a person plans and purposes to be generous, it will not happen. Helping out those in need is not something that generally happens accidentally or coincidentally, but it is usually done purposefully and intentionally. This implies that we can and should learn to develop a habit and practice of generosity toward the needs of others.

C. Christians should give freely and cheerfully.

v. 7b – “…not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver.”

(Adam Clarke) – The Jews had in the temple two chests for alms; the one was of what was necessary, i.e. what the law required, the other was of the free-will offerings. To escape perdition some would grudgingly give what necessity obliged them; others would give cheerfully, for the love of God, and through pity to the poor.

Paul is reminding the Corinthian believers that when they give for the needs of others they should do so with a cheerful spirit. There is plenty more that the Apostle says in this chapter about the practice of benevolence and generosity, but we have covered some of the main points.

Looking again at vv. 11-12, we see that Paul is declaring that when God’s people give to the needs of others in God’s way, then those who have watched it and those who have received it will naturally respond by giving thanks to God who motivated it all through His divine grace.

II. Thanks is offered because of the indescribable gift of God.

As I read through these verses and came down to the last verse of the chapter, it seems to me that while Paul is discussing all about generosity and deliberate, cheerful giving for the Christian believers in Jerusalem, he is suddenly reminded of how much this relates to the wonderful gift God has given to us.

In verse 13 he states that because of this experience of generous giving, the Christians are glorifying God because the Greeks have demonstrated their submission and obedience to Christ through their generosity. In verse 14 he declares that these same Christians are praying for an over abundance of God’s grace to be granted to the Greeks. As he speaks of these experiences, he suddenly connects these events and descriptions to the overwhelming and indescribable gift of God.

Most commentators say that this gift that Paul is referring to here is the gift of His Son, Jesus Christ. Adam Clarke, on the other hand, says that the specific meaning of “gift” refers back to the word “grace” in the previous verse. In other words, he is declaring the over abundance of grace is the gift that cannot be described in human words.

Even if Clarke is correct, we must recognize that this grace granted to the Corinthian believers is only because of Jesus Christ who is the original gift from God.

Conclusion:

We give thanks to God, says Paul, for His wonderful, marvelous gift that cannot be adequately described in human language. There is an unbroken connection between God’s gift of His Son to humanity and our resulting gratitude that leads us to be generous toward others just as God has been toward us.

That generosity expressed through us toward others produces more thanksgiving and gratitude to God for all that He is doing, which reminds us again of how much He has already done for us, and on and on…

In our closing song, “Tell Me the Story of Jesus” we emphasize the gift of God in giving His Son to provide our redemption.

Let us sing with gratitude and then live it out in generosity.