Hymn number 145, Hail Thou Once
Despised Jesus. Let's all stand together. Number
145. Hail Thou once despised Jesus,
Hail Thou Galilee and King! Thou didst suffer to release
us, Thou didst free salvation bring. Hail, thou agonizing Savior,
bearer of our sin and shame! By thy merit we find favor, life
is given through thy name. Paschal Lamb, by God appointed,
All our sin on Thee were laid. By almighty love anointed, Thou
hast full atonement made. All thy people are forgiven through
the virtue of thy blood. Opened is the gate of heaven. Peace is made twixt man and God. Jesus, hail, enthroned in glory,
there forever to abide. All the heavenly hosts adore
thee, seated at thy Father's side. Therefore sinners thou
art pleading, There thou dost our place prepare, Ever for us
interceding, Till in glory we appear. Worship, honor, power,
and blessing Thou art worthy to receive Loudest praises without
ceasing Meet it is for us to give Healthy, bright, angelic
spirits Bring your sweetest, noblest praise. Help to sing our Savior's merits. Help to chant Emmanuel's name. Please be seated. Good morning. We're going to continue our study
in 2 Corinthians if you'd like to turn with me in your Bibles
to 2 Corinthians chapter 8. 2 Corinthians chapter 8. Let's pray together. Truly, Father, worthy is the
Lamb to receive glory and honor and power and praise. Lord, if we are able to worship
Thee, it will only be by the power of Your Holy Spirit. We
ask, Father, that You would enable us now to enter into the spirit
of worship that would be done in spirit and would be according
to truth. You've told us that if we know
the truth, the truth will set us free. How we need to know
thy son, the Lord Jesus Christ, who is all our righteousness.
Lord, we pray that you would cause him to be lifted up, that
we would be drawn in faith to worship him. But we ask it in
his name. Amen. Had someone asked me this past
week, are we going to continue our study in second Corinthians
has been a few weeks. And my answer was, as the Lord
enables. So here we are. We began chapter
8 by looking at this spirit of willingness. The Lord, the scripture
says that they shall be willing in the day of my power. Now that's not just a willingness
to believe the gospel, which is done in the day of His power
when He causes us to come in faith to Christ. That's willingness. We don't come kicking and screaming. He makes us willing in the day
of His power. And the scripture says that he
works in us, causing us to will and to do of his good pleasure. And so, understanding that that
is a work of grace, Paul is now instructing the church in Corinth
on this subject of giving. And he brings up the churches
in Macedonia, particularly the church at Philippi, who had suffered
great tribulation and yet were willing. They had a willing spirit
that the Lord had given them. And he's using them as an example
to encourage the church at Corinth. How oftentimes that is our experience. We look at the work of God's
grace in another believer's life and we're encouraged to say,
Lord, would you do that for me? We see what the Lord's doing
in another congregation and we're encouraged to say, Lord, would
you pour out that same spirit on us? And so this spirit of
willingness is inspired and encouraged by the spirit of willingness
that we see God giving to other believers and other assemblies.
And that's what Paul is appealing to the church at Corinth on now. That having been said, he gets
to the heart of the matter. when he turns our attention to
the grace of God in verse 9. For you know the grace of our
Lord Jesus Christ. Now that's the beginning of willingness
to know the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. to know it experientially,
to know it as a result of the new birth, to know it as the
unction of the Holy Spirit. And you know. Those of you that have been born
again, you know of the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. And
that's the appeal for us to be gracious is to looking unto Jesus,
who is the author and the finisher of our faith. And so the appeal
now of the Spirit, let me make this statement. I've heard this
statement made before. I think I've made it here before
in times past, but it's true. Will believers be giving people? Yes. Why? Because they know the
grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. Do believers need to be reminded
and taught to be giving and gracious? Yes. Both are true. That's the, that's the point
here. We have the unction of the spirit
of God. We have the sweet work of grace
in our hearts, and that's the inspiration. And then we have
the admonitions, the encouragements, the teachings of God's word that
remind us of how he gave to us. Herein is love. Not that we loved
God, but that He loved us and gave Himself as a propitiation
for our sins. Do we love Him? Yes. Yes. What is it that inspires our
love for Him? His love for us. Do we have a willingness to give? Yes. What is it that inspires
our performing of that willingness? It's the performance that he
made when he laid down his life for his sheep. He wasn't just
willing for all eternity. For all eternity, He was the
Lamb slain before the foundation of the world. He had purposed
in the covenant of grace to come into this world and lay down
His life for His sheep. But here's the thing about it.
He performed what He was willing to do. And that's what He's calling
on us to do. He says, He says, For you know
the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. that though he was rich, how
rich was the Lord Jesus Christ. He thought it not robbery to
be equal with God. He is the fullness of the Godhead
bodily. Pure omnipotence, pure omniscience,
He has all power. He has all ability. He is immutable. He is the fullness of God. All
divine perfections are found in Him. All governments are upon
His shoulder. How rich, how rich is the Lord
Jesus Christ? His dominion is an everlasting
dominion. The scripture says that the cattle
on a thousand hills belong to him. The hills belong to him
as well. The scripture says that he's
named all the stars in heaven. You always get a chuckle out
of these advertisements you see about, I guess you give some
money to somebody and they put your name on a star. The scripture says God's already
named them. And they don't have your name on them. That's just the Lord. He owns
it all. And you know the grace, the givingness
of our Lord Jesus Christ who, though He was rich, all things
were made by Him and all things were made for Him. And as we
just sang to Him, He is worthy to receive glory and honor and
power and praise. Why? Because of the richness,
the richness of his person and the glory of his work. But, how
does this verse go on? He became poor. He laid down his riches. You know, I was thinking about
that widow's mite. When that widow put her last
two mites into the offering, the Lord pointed to her as an
example of faith. What did she have left after
she put her last substance in the offering? What did she have
left? One thing. Faith. That's all she had. She didn't have anything else.
And having faith, she had everything. That widow is a picture of Christ.
When the Lord Jesus Christ gave all that he had on Calvary's
cross, what did he have left? His friends abandoned him. The
Father forsook him. What did he have left? Faith. That's all he had. And it's all
he needed. Oh Lord, I want that kind of
faith. I want you to enable me to fall
out of love with the things of this world and to cause me to
fall in love with the Lord Jesus Christ, to follow after Him. He was despised and rejected
of men, a man of sorrows. He had no place to lay his head,
the scripture says. And listen to what he says in
Lamentations chapter 1. Is it nothing for you who pass
by? Behold and see if there be any
sorrow like unto my sorrow which is done unto me, wherewith the
Lord hath afflicted me in the day of his fierce anger. That's the Lord Jesus Christ
crying from Calvary's cross. Is there any sorrow like unto
my sorrow? Here's the one who had infinite riches, who gave
all that he had to become poor. Why? Well, let's read on. For your sakes he became poor
that you through his poverty might be rich. How poor? were we? How desperately poor
were we? How destitute were we of any
goodness, of any righteousness? Enemies in our minds toward God,
having done nothing to merit His favor, deserving of nothing
but the wrath and the judgment of God. That's how poor we were.
Couldn't present anything to God. When he made us willing
in the day of his power and we came to him through faith in
Christ, we came with nothing. Nothing. Naked mercy beggars
like blind Bartimaeus throwing his filthy coat on the street
side and coming to Christ with nothing but our sin. That's how
poor we were. Yet, through His poverty, you
have been made rich. Now, by virtue of my union with
Christ, I have perfect righteousness before God. I have acceptance
before God. I have the fullness, the fullness
of His grace. I've been adopted into His family.
I'm sitting at the King's table and eating the King's fare. The
riches that he gives to us, inheriting eternal life, an abundance of
grace and love and mercy and joy and peace with God. How? By the one who was rich,
who became poor, that we through his poverty might be made rich. What sort of riches do we have?
You know, if the Lord didn't provide for us a single thing
materially, and all we had was the spiritual blessing of salvation,
the forgiveness of sin, the grace of God, what more could we ask
for? What more could we ask for? And
yet, we go so full of unbelief, we become so discontent, don't
we? We just become discontent. And
I quoted this a moment ago, if you know the truth, the truth
will set you free. The world's full of lies. And one of the
lies that we have to suffer with is the lie of the American dream.
It's a fantasy. It is. And people think, well,
if I just get a little bit more, then I'll be content. Then I'll
be satisfied. Only contentment comes the only
way the contentment to the soul can come now the flesh is easily
satisfied You eat a big meal your flesh is gonna be satisfied.
You're gonna have to sit back and say no more. I've had enough
The flesh can be gratified and yet and then it becomes hungry
again, doesn't it? but the soul the soul. God, give me a spirit that will
not be satisfied with anything less than Christ. That's what I need. And if I
have that, I've got everything. And if I don't have that, I've
got nothing. Nothing. For you know. Do you know that
grace? Do you know that grace? Lord, I want to know that grace.
I want to know. I don't want to just hear about
it. I don't want to just talk about
it. I want to know it. I want to know the grace of the
Lord Jesus Christ, who, though He was rich, became poor, that
through His poverty I might be made the riches. How much more rich can I be?
How much more wealthy? Can a person become than to have
the full forgiveness of sin, acceptance before God, complete
righteousness, justified in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ,
the peace of God that passes understanding, keeping my heart
and my mind in Christ Jesus? Do you know that grace? The grace
That's the appeal. And herein I give my advice,
verse 10, for this is expedient for you. This is necessary. This will be to your prophet
who have begun before not only to do but also to be forward. That's willing. That word is
willing. We're still talking about willingness.
Lord, make me willing. Make me willing in the day of
your power. Work in me by your spirit and make me to will and
to do according to thy good pleasure. Now, therefore, perform the doing
of it. Don't just be willing, but actually
follow through by giving. That as there was a readiness
to will, so there may be a performance also out of that which you have. Out of that which you have. The
Lord, everything we have is given to us by Him, and giving is the
acknowledgement of that, isn't it? It's the willingness to say,
Lord, everything that I have belongs to you. You own it all. And I just want to acknowledge
that in my life. For if there be first a willing
mind, it is accepted according to that a man hath and not according
to that he hath not. For I mean not that others be
eased and you be burdened. The acceptance is a willing mind.
That's the acceptance. It's the willingness that God's
put into the heart to be a giving person. And not that one should
be burdened, that another might be relieved, but by equality,
that now at this time, your abundance may be a supply for their want,
and their abundance also may be a supply for your want, that
there may be equality. What about caring for one another? As it is written, he that hath
gathered much had nothing left over, and he that gathered little
had no lack. Now he's drawing from that experience
that the Israelites had in the wilderness when God gave them
manna from heaven. And that manna was Christ, there's
no question about that. The manna, that bread, the Lord
said the bread that came down from Moses didn't give you that
bread. My father gave it to you. I'm the bread of life. He's that
manna. And he gives it to us daily.
And that's walking by faith, that's trusting him for our daily
bread. And he that gathered much had
nothing left over. And he that gathered little had
sufficient amount. Lord, give me the portion of
Christ that I need for today. For today. And whatever portion He gives
us will be sufficient. It'll be sufficient. Some will
gather little, Some will gather much, but those who gather much
will have nothing left over, and those who gather little will
be sufficient for their needs. But thanks be to God, which put
the same earnest care into the heart of Titus for you." Now
Paul's, the Lord is not appealing to us to give because he needs
our money. That's not it at all. He's already got it all. He's
appealing to us to be giving for our sakes. I want you to
be a giving person for your sake, for your spiritual well-being. It's the remedy for materialism. It's the remedy for greed. It's
the remedy for all the things of the flesh that are holding
on so tightly to the things of this world that are destroying
us. And giving is the remedy to that.
And that's the appeal. He said, I'm thankful that God
put it in Titus' heart for your sakes. God doesn't need my money. He doesn't need your money. Don't
fool yourself in thinking that for a minute. But we need to
be giving people. Why? Because we've received,
we know of the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. And giving is the
acknowledgement of that grace. For indeed he accepted the exhortation,
but being more forward of his own accord, he went unto you. He's talking about Titus going
to the church at Corinth. And we have sent with him the
brother whose praise is in the gospel throughout all the churches.
Paul's being very careful now not to to be above reproach. He's going to these churches
and gathering up money to take to the church at Jerusalem to
help the poor brethren there and he doesn't want to be accused
of any impropriety whatsoever when it comes to this money and
so he sends Titus and he sends another brother who has been
confirmed by the churches and He's keeping his hands off of
it. And that's the way it ought to be. That's the way it ought
to be. Like one preacher said, he said,
I always leave the finances in the hands of the brethren. And
that's usually where it stays. I hope not. I hope not. Verse 19. And not that only,
but who was also chosen of the churches to travel with us with
this grace, which is administered by us to the glory of the same
Lord and declaration of your ready mind. Your performance
of it is the evidence that the Lord has made you willing. Avoiding
this, that no man should blame us in this abundance which is
administered by us, providing for honest things, not only in
the sight of the Lord, but also in the sight of men. Being very
careful that this matter of, I mean, you know this is the
case, isn't it? The love of money is the root
of all evil, isn't it? The love of it. the dependence
upon it, the greed for it. And you look at any conflict
in the world and what do you have to do to find out the source
of that conflict? Follow the money. Just follow
the money. Why? Because money buys the three
things that flesh craves. When Eve saw the fruit She saw
that it was pleasing to the eye, good to the taste, and able to
make one wise. Now that's popularity, pleasure,
and power. Popularity, pleasure, and power. And John said all that is in
the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the
pride of life, pleasure, popularity, and power. And what does money,
money buys all those things, doesn't it? Just, so he's saying
we don't want, we don't want there to be, any reason for accusations when
it comes to this. Verse 22, and we have sent with
them our brother, whom we have oftentimes proved diligent in
many things, but now much more diligent upon the great confidence
which I have in you. Whether any do inquire of Titus,
he is my partner and fellow helper concerning you and our brethren. be inquired of they are the messengers
of the churches and the glory of Christ he's calling the church
the glory of Christ now we know that Christ is the glory of the
church but how is it that the church is the glory of Christ
this is going to carry us into the into the next hour because
we're gonna We're going to be talking about what it means to
glorify the Lord, but it's not a matter of our performance
glorifying the Lord. Are we to be His witnesses? Is
that glorifying to the Lord? Yes, we're to be his witnesses.
Are we to preach the word? Are we to seek to do good to
all men, particularly those who are of the household of faith?
Yes. Are we to avoid behavior that would be a reproach to his
name? Yes. Yes, all those things are
true. But how is it that the church
is the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ? All those things are
being practiced in religion. Men think that they're glorifying
God by the things that they do. Glorifying God is not something
that you do actively. Glorifying God is something that
you do passively. The Lord is most glorified not
by what you give Him or do for Him, but rather by what He has
done for you. That's what glorifies Him. The
forgiveness of my sin is what glorifies Him. Ought I to abstain
from sin? Yes. But the glory that the church
gives to Christ is the realization that all my sins have been put
away. That's what glorifies Him. What glorifies Him most is that
I was dead and now, by His grace and by His active work, I've
been made alive. You see, it's the active work
of the Lord Jesus Christ, passively received by me, that glorifies
Him as the head of the church. The body's just pointing to the
head, and what the head has done for us. And Paul's calling the church
the glory of Christ. So, yes, is he admonishing us
to be giving people? Yes. Does our giving glorify
Him? No, it's the receiving of His
grace that glorifies Him, and it's our willingness and performing
in the giving of that grace that gives evidence that we believe
the gospel. I was once alienated from God. without hope and without God
in this world. And now I have fellowship with
Him through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Now that glorifies
Him. That glorifies Him. He's glorified
by what He has done for us, not by what we do for Him. and giving acknowledges what
He's done for us. That's the whole point of this
whole chapter. It just acknowledges what He's done for us. There was a time when I was unholy
and unable to approach God. Now I have perfect righteousness
and acceptance before God and I can come before the throne
of grace with boldness to find help in my time of need. That's what glorifies Him. He's glorified by what He's done
for us and He's calling the church the glory of Christ. The work of redemption has become
my experience, and that gives Him glory. The religious world is filled
with folks who are trying by their behavior and activity to
glorify God. What is the chief end of man?
to glorify Him and to enjoy Him forever. The problem with that
answer, given in the first question of the old catechism, is that
men will interpret glorifying God as what they do for God, not as what He has done for them. He's glorified by His work of
grace for us. Let's pray together. I'll read this last verse. Wherefore,
show you to them and before the churches the proof of your love
and our boasting on your behalf. Our merciful Heavenly Father,
We pray that we would know by experience the grace of our Lord
Jesus Christ that you would give to us a willing heart and that
you would cause us Lord to see our complete dependence upon
you and acknowledge your grace toward
us. making us willing and giving. Lord, we confess to you that
our flesh is attracted to the things of this world. The lust
of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life.
Lord, we pray that you would She would give to us a gracious,
gracious spirit, a love for Christ. For it's in his name we ask it.
Amen. Thank you.