GOD’S GRACE ELICITS EXTREME RESPONSES

Weekend of January 22 & 23, 2022 – Pastor George Dupree

To elicit is to draw out a response or an answer

When God bestows His grace upon us that same grace will elicit a response on our part.

This is what happened to the people of Macedonia. God showed and bestowed His grace on them and there was an incredible response.

2Corinthians 8:1 Moreover, brethren, we make known to you the grace of God bestowed on the churches of Macedonia…

The next verses show the response because of the grace of God that was bestowed upon the Macedonians. But before we go there we need to look back to when the grace of God was bestowed upon them.

Paul and Silas are traveling and preaching the gospel and Timothy joins them.
Acts 16:6 Now when they had gone through Phrygia and the region of Galatia, they were forbidden by the Holy Spirit to preach the word in Asia. 7 After they had come to Mysia, they tried to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit did not permit them. 8 So passing by Mysia, they came down to Troas. 9 And a vision appeared to Paul in the night. A man of Macedonia stood and pleaded with him, saying, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” 10 Now after he had seen the vision, immediately we sought to go to Macedonia, concluding that the Lord had called us to preach the GOSPEL to them.

So after the Gospel of Grace is preached to these people there’s a result and now we’ll pick it up in 2 Corinthians 8

2Corinthians 8:1 Moreover, brethren, we make known to you the grace of God bestowed on the churches of Macedonia 2 that in a great trial of affliction the abundance of their joy and their deep poverty abounded in the riches of their liberality. 3 For I bear witness that according to their ability, yes, and beyond their ability, they were freely willing, 4 imploring us with much urgency that we would receive the gift and the fellowship of the ministering to the saints. 5 And not only as we had hoped, but they first gave themselves to the Lord, and then to us by the will of God. 6 So we urged Titus, that as he had begun, so he would also complete this grace in you as well. 7 But as you abound in everything—in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in all diligence, and in your love for us—see that you abound in this grace also.

As a result of the Gospel of Grace being preached to the Macedonians they gave their lives to the Lord and then to Paul, Silas & Timothy and then they decided to be extravagant in their sacrificial giving.

This was their formula for extravagant giving.
Severe Trial + Extreme Poverty = Overflowing Joy and Rich Generosity

That’s a different kind of math.

We might think this way –
When I have no problems and plenty of money I’ll have overflowing joy and then I’ll be very generous.

Now, that may be true but Solomon the wise said this…
If you wait for perfect conditions, you will never get anything done
Ecclesiastes 11:4 - Living Bible

Realistically speaking, generosity begins in your heart. The heart of the matter is always a matter of the heart.

In these passages Paul is writing to the Corinthian Church about the promises they made about giving money. He’s encouraging them to press on in their giving and he’s using the example of the Macedonians.

In the next chapter he gives a teaching about giving using terms they could understand, sowing seeds.

2Corinthians 9:6 But this I say: He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. 7 So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver. 8 And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work. 9 As it is written:
“He has dispersed abroad,
He has given to the poor;
His righteousness endures forever.”
2Corinthians 9:10 Now may He who supplies seed to the sower, and bread for food, supply and multiply the seed you have sown and increase the fruits of your righteousness.

You don’t have to be a farmer to understand planting seeds. If you want to plant a lawn you wouldn’t plant a handful of seeds, you’d use a lot more than that.

It’s the same with anything we sow, a lot brings a lot and a little brings a little.

Paul says that we need to decide in our heart what and how much we’re going to give and the way we decide is we use the Bible as the guide to our decisions.

So what do we do? We seek the Lord through the Word and we ask the Holy Spirit to guide us into all truth.