Now, the next two chapters, chapters
8 and 9 of 2 Corinthians, deal with the matter of giving. We'll
learn in these next couple of weeks who should give, how much
we should give, and to whom we should give. And the key to the
whole passage is found in verse 9 of chapter 8. And what I want
us to do is look here at verse 9 first. Let's get the key. And
once we got the key, then we'll look at the other verses and
it'll help us understand the whole passage once we have the
key. So let's look in verse 9 first of 2 Corinthians 8. For ye know
the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet
for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might
be rich. Now we know first and foremost
that the Lord Jesus Christ is the Savior of his people. That
was his purpose in coming to earth. He came to save his people
from their sins. That's why he came. And in this
season where everybody is talking about and thinking about the
incarnation of Christ, that babe in a manger, that babe came to
become a man. save his people from their sins.
That's why he came. He didn't come to be a reformer.
He didn't come to try to do something. He came to save his people from
their sins. But in saving us, he left us
an example in all things. There's nothing that we're going
to go through in this life that Christ didn't give us an example
to follow. He is our example. And here is
no different. In our giving, he is our example. Paul says he was rich. Now we can't explain. We don't
have the language to fully explain how rich the Lord Jesus Christ
is. How unspeakably rich. Yet he became equally poor. Unspeakably poor. He had to become
what we are in order to save us. And what are we? We're bankrupt. We're dead. We're helpless. We're
so just poor. And that's what he became in
order to save us. Richer than human language can
explain and more deeply into poverty than we can explain. But there are seven things I
saw here about his richness that he became poor in order to save
us, for us. First, he was rich. He is rich. in deity. He is God. The Lord Jesus Christ is God. Fully God. The fullness of the
Godhead dwells in Him. But He became poor when He became
a man. You think about how poor God
became when God became a man. God took upon Him the likeness
of sinful flesh. The Ancient of Days became a
babe of days. The Son of God became the son
of a worm, Mary. That's poor. The Son of God,
whom the heavens cannot contain, became an embryo in Mary's womb. Poor. For your sake. For my sake. He did that so he
could redeem sinful, fleshly men and women. He became poor
for our sakes. Second, he was rich in glory.
Christ is the brightness of God's glory. He's the glory of God's
glory. He's the exact image of God.
And he became poor. He took upon him the form of
a servant and humbled himself to be obedient as a servant,
even unto death, for your sake. For my sake, serving God in a
way we could never serve, dying the death that we could never
deserve, that we could never accomplish anything in our death.
He did that for us. Third, he's rich in power. He upholds all things by the
word of his power. He has all power. He does according
to his will in the armies of heaven and among the inhabitants
of the earth. And none can stay his hand or ask him, what doest
thou? He's got all power because he
is God. Yet he became poor. He emptied
himself of all power. Of all power, except the power
to save. He emptied himself of all power.
He never worked a miracle for his own benefit. He didn't deliver
himself from the cross. He didn't deliver himself from
those peons who thought they had power over him. So that he
could redeem us from our sins. The great creator one day sat
on the edge of a well. The creator who created water
sat on the edge of a well and asked a sinful Samaritan woman
for a drink of water. Talk about poor. The Creator
who created water. I think I read this one. This might not be true, but that
men can't make water. You know, we know what it's comprised
of, but we can't make it. God made water by just speaking.
Hung on a cross between heaven and earth and cried, I thirst.
He made water, he sends the rain where he will. But he didn't
use that power for himself in order to redeem a sinful people
who have no power. He became poor, suffering without
mercy for our sake because we don't have the power to deliver
ourselves. And he took our place, emptied himself of power, became
what we are in order to deliver his elect. Fourth, he's rich
in possessions. Everything that is belongs to
him. He loans it to other people,
lets us use it as, you know, a loan from him. But it all belongs
to him. The cattle on a thousand hills
are his. Everything was made by him and for him. It all belongs to him. Yet he
became poor for our sakes. He became so poor, he didn't
even have a place to lay his head. Even the foxes got more
possessions than that. They got a den, a place they
can go to sleep at night. He didn't. That's how poor he
became for our sake. Fifth, he was rich in union with
the father. They have such a rich, full union
that the father and the son are one. What a union that they have. But he became poor. He became
separated from his father. when he was made sin for his
left. He did that. He willingly became poor, separated
from his father for our sake, bearing our sin and our punishment. Sixth, he's rich in life. He is so rich in life that Christ
is life. He is life personified. Yet he
became poor for our sake. So poor that he gave up his life
and died the death that our sins deserve. Seventh, he was rich in clothing. What does scripture say he's
clothed with? Honor and majesty. He gave up his honor. He gave
up his majesty and died naked and alone for us. for our sake, because that's
how we come into this world, naked and alone, without God,
without Christ, without help, without hope in this world. He
became poor for our sakes. He emptied himself of everything
that he is in order to give us his righteousness and make us
rich. That word rich is abundantly
supplied My soul, in Christ, we are abundantly supplied. We have everything that God has
for a sinner in him. We're rich. We are so rich because
of his poverty. Christ became poor in glory so
that one day we dwell with him in glory. He became poor in power
so that he could break the power of sin over us. He became poor
in possessions so that he could give us everything that God has,
everything that he is. He became poor in union with
his Father so that we could be brought back to God. To put in
such a relationship with the Father, so close with him are
we, that no man is able to pluck us out of his hand, inseparable
from the Father, because Christ became poor for us. He became
poor in life and died so that we could be given eternal life,
a life we can never lose. He became poor in clothing and
died naked so we could be clothed in His righteousness. He became
poor in companionship and died alone so that He could promise
to never leave nor forsake us, so that He could promise you'll
never be alone. Now, if you have the presence
of the Lord Jesus Christ. And if He died for you, you do,
because He promised you you'd never be alone. Brother, you're
rich. I mean, what more can you have
once you have everything? And Christ is everything. We
have these riches because He became poverty stricken for us. Everyone for whom Christ dies
enjoys the riches of His mercy. in grace. You talk about being
well supplied. David said, my cup runneth over.
I'm so well supplied. We're so rich in his love, we
can't find the height of it, nor the depth of it, nor the
breadth of it. And we try to talk about it.
We just have to say it passes all understanding. That's the
love of God that we have so rich. And our Savior, who saved us
from all sin, left us an example to follow in his footsteps in
every step we take. He is our example of love. The
only reason we know anything about love is because he first
loved us. He's our example in grace. We
know a little bit about being gracious to people only because
of God's grace that's been bestowed upon us. He's our example in
kindness. We can muster up a little bit
of kindness towards each other only for this reason, because
of His kindness to us. And Christ here is our example
of charity to the poor, giving to the poor. Listen, no one has
ever been as poor as we are spiritually. No one's ever been that poor.
And no one has ever been as charitable in giving Christ our Lord. Now, if that example and sight
of the Lord Jesus Christ doesn't motivate us to generosity, nothing
will. Absolutely nothing will motivate
us to generosity, not a tax break, not glory or thanks of men. Nothing will motivate us to generosity
like the Lord Jesus Christ. You talk about giving till it
hurts. I saw this fellow on TV one time and you know, it's how
they are begging for money, telling people give till it hurts, give
till it hurts. You talk about giving until it
hurts. Yet in the kindness and mercy
of our Lord, he doesn't require the same from us. You give according
to the Lord's given you. Look at verse 12. Paul says,
for if there be first a willing mind, it's accepted. And according
to that, a man hath, not according to that he hath not. You're not
required to give till it hurts, to give what you don't have.
But I tell you this, nothing will motivate a believer to give
sacrificially like seeing the Lord Jesus Christ. If you've
seen him, There'll be times you will be very willing to give
sacrificially because of the sacrifice of Christ, what he
gave in order to redeem us. Now that's the key. If you've
got the key, nobody's going to have to tell you how much to
give. Nobody's going to have to tell you when to give. Nobody's
going to have to tell you how much or to whom to give. If you've got the key, You'll
know you'll get now armed with the key. Let's look at the rest
of the verses here in our lesson. Verse one of chapter eight. Moreover,
brethren, we do you to wit of the grace of God bestowed upon
the churches of Macedonia. Now, Christ is our example, but,
you know, we can be examples to one another to hear Paul holds
up the churches of Macedonia as an example. They followed
the example of Christ in giving, and we can follow their example
as well. Now, this congregation has been an example of generosity
for years. I just don't know a more generous
people. And the reason for that is the
same reason that the churches of Macedonia were known for their
generosity. It's the grace of God bestowed
upon you. This is because of God's grace.
When God is gracious to a people, shows them the Lord Jesus Christ,
they're generous. They'll give. Now Paul says,
I would you to wit, and that to wit is an old English term
that means to make known or to inform. I'm going to inform you
the way these churches of Macedonia gave to support the gospel and
how they gave to help their brethren who were in need. So you can
have another example to follow. be inspired by their example.
And in verse 2 we see how did they give? He says in verse 2,
how that in great trial of affliction, the abundance of their joy and
their deep poverty abounded unto the riches of their liberality.
Now the churches of Macedonia received the gospel in much affliction. And they were in deep affliction
at this time because of the gospel, for the gospel's sake. They lost
their jobs. They lost their homes. They lost
their family. And Paul says they were in deep
poverty. They just weren't poor. They
weren't living from paycheck to paycheck or having a hard
time of it. They were in deep poverty. Yet they still gave. They still
sent this offering in abundance of joy. This was a joy to them,
even in their deep poverty when they had nothing. It was an abundance
of joy to give. You know, Henry preached a famous
message on TV that was his last I'd heard of his most requested
TV message, the joy of giving, because it was so different than
what you see other people on TV begging for money. This is
a joy of giving. And that's the way these people
have a joy for them to give. And even in their deep poverty,
apparently they gave a rather sizable gift. Now, you all know
I graduated from Ohio State. I'm an Ohio State football fan. And one thing that's very difficult
for Ohio State people to do is to praise anybody that went to
Michigan. But I saw a thing on the NFL
Today show a couple weeks ago about a man who played for Michigan,
Charles Woodson. He's a very successful NFL player.
Went back to his alma mater, gave $2 million to complete a
building at the Michigan Children's Hospital. And the rest of the
money, he wanted to go to research that different agencies, government
agencies and stuff wouldn't fund because it's somewhat experimental.
And he wanted this research funded so that hopefully some child
could be healed, you know. And what a gift. I mean, $2 million
is a lot of money. I don't care who you are. I'm
so glad he gave that gift. A child's life will be changed
because of that gift. I'm confident of it. And he ought
to be thanked because that's a very generous, gracious gift. Yet, on the other hand, he gave
out of his abundance. And there's an even greater gift
when someone gives out of their want, out of their deep poverty,
and that's what the churches of Macedonia experienced. Look
over Mark chapter 12. I'll show you this. There is
a greater gift that a person can give out of their want. Mark 12 verse 41, And Jesus sat
over against the treasury, and beheld how the people cast money
into the treasury. And many that were rich cast
in much, and less good they should have. And there came a certain
poor widow, and she threw in two mites which make a farthing.
And he called unto him his disciples, and saith unto them, Verily I
say unto you, that this poor widow hath cast more in than
all they which have cast into the treasury. For all they did
cast in of their abundance, but she of her want did cast in all
that she had, even all of her living. Those two mites were
a greater gift, because they were given out of her poverty.
And that's what the churches of Macedonia experienced. That's
the way they gave. They gave liberally out of their
want. They gave of their money and
they gave of themselves and were happy to do it. They received
a blessing in giving. They had an abundance of joy
by giving, even in their deep poverty. So verse three, Paul
says, for to their power, their ability, I bear record. Yea, and beyond their power,
they were willing of themselves. Now this, Paul says, I'll bear
record of their power, their ability to give. They couldn't
give much because they were in this deep poverty. But they gave
according to their ability. They gave what they did have.
They didn't have much, but they gave what they did have. And
apparently they gave even beyond what Paul felt like their ability
to give really was. They gave sacrificially. their hearts were bigger than
their wallets. I was going over my notes this morning and I thought,
the only way that can be possible is if God gave them a new heart.
The heart I was born with, the generosity of that heart will
grow and contract depending on how much money is in my wallet.
The new heart God gives is a generous heart that's bigger than their
wallets. Why? Because they've seen verse
9. They'd seen the sacrifice of
the Lord Jesus Christ, how he gave in his poverty, how he became
poverty stricken for them. And they gave willingly and voluntarily
because they loved him out of thanks and gratitude. So verse
four, Paul says, praying us with much entreaty that we would receive
the gift and take upon us the fellowship of the ministering
to the saints. Now, they gathered this gift
and they brought it to the apostle and they wanted it sent to the
brethren in Jerusalem who were in need. John talked about them
last Sunday night. Same situation. They received
the gospel and much affliction. They lost their homes and their
jobs. And just it was a horrible situation. And they bring this
gift to Paul. And Paul looks around and says,
you know, you guys need this, too, maybe you should You know,
keep this amongst yourselves. You're all in deep poverty, too.
And they begged Paul with much entreaty, they begged him, take
this gift and use it for the ministry. Take this gift to the
people in Jerusalem who need it. Maybe they never even met
him. I don't know. Maybe they did.
But in this this day where travel was relatively limited, maybe
they never met him. And they said they need it worse
than we do. Please take it to him. Give us this blessing. of being able to give to our
brethren, to the ministry. Now they understood it was more
blessed to give than receive. And the only way you understand
that is because you've received the gift, the unspeakable gift
of the Lord Jesus Christ. They knew full well, they were
rich despite their poverty because they had the Lord Jesus Christ.
Now verse 5, And this they did, not as we hoped, but first they
gave their own selves to the Lord and unto us by the will
of God. Now, Paul is pretty sure that
these churches would take up a collection because that's what
believers do. They give. It's just as natural
as breathing. They give. You can't help it.
You can't stop them. They give. But this gift was
beyond what he hoped, what he expected because of their situation. He didn't think that they would,
you know, of course be able to give very much. But here's why
they gave so sacrificially and why they gave so much. Because
first, they gave their own selves to the Lord. They gave their
selves to him. They gave their souls to Christ
to save. And they gave their bodies to
his safekeeping. He'll provide. They knew the
Lord would provide for their physical needs because they'd
already seen the Lord had made them rich, spiritually rich through
his poverty. Now, I'm reluctant to use the
phrase that you can't out give the Lord because that's what
these charlatans on TV use trying to extort money out of people. But it's true. You cannot give
the Lord. He will provide. And they knew
that. They'd lived it. They'd seen
it. Because they'd seen the sacrifice of Christ for them. Now, verse
6, Paul says, In so much that we desired Titus. We're inspired
by this gift. In so much that we desired Titus.
That as he had begun, so he would also finish in you the same grace
also. Now, Paul was impressed by this
gift. So he's going to send Titus to
Corinth to receive a gift from them too. Now, apparently at
some point Titus had been there and he had taught on this manner
of giving and the people in Corinth were very willing. They accepted
his teaching on this and they are very willing to gather up
this gift and send it. Now, Paul's going to send Titus
back to complete the work. See what he says in verse 10.
He says, In herein I give my advice, for this is expedient
for you, who have begun before, not only to do, but also to be
froward. You were willing a year ago.
Now, therefore, perform the doing of it, that as there was a readiness
to will, so there may be a performance also out of that which you have.
And you notice Paul says you're willing and wants you to take
up this offering, but out of that which you have. It's always
out of that which you have. You know, they had received the
teaching of Titus on this matter and they were willing, they're
ready and willing to collect this gift. Now Paul says, go
ahead and do it. Now it's time to perform it and
give us the Lord's prosperity. You know, Paul wanted them to
complete this grace of giving and also to complete the gift
that they would send to Jerusalem. Now, verse seven, he says, therefore,
as you abound in everything, in faith and in utterance, knowledge
and in all diligence and in your love to us, see that you abound
in this grace also. Now, as we've studied this epistle,
we've seen how the church at Corinth abounded in almost every
gift, just so gifted of a group. They're known for their faith
in Christ. They're known for their knowledge
of Christ and of the scriptures. They're known to have a diligent
walk, to be diligent in worship. They're known to have a rich
love for Christ and love for his people. And also, he says,
in utterance, in preaching and speaking, Matthew Henry said
this, great talkers are not always the best doers. Great talkers
are not always the best doers. You know, a lot of times when
somebody can talk a good game, they don't really perform it. The Corinthians were. They could talk the walk. And
they can walk the walk. And Paul says, now see that you
abound in this grace also. Now, this is the work of the
Spirit, just like any of the other graces, this is a work
of the Spirit, but it's a work that's accomplished in all of
God's people. There's no such thing as a selfish
child of God. I know we still carry around
this flesh, but I'm talking as a general rule of life. There's
no such thing as a selfish child of God. In verse 8, Paul says,
I speak not by commandment, but by occasion of the forwardness,
the willingness of others, and to prove the sincerity of your
love. I'm not commanding you to give, Paul says. Now, Israel
was commanded to tithe, weren't they? Believers aren't. Believers give willingly, not
by commandment, but willingly. Now, Scripture teaches us to
give. Our Lord teaches us to give. But we're not commanded
to give. Paul said in verse 10, this is
my advice to you. It's expedient for you. It's
what you ought to do to give. But you'll give willingly, not
by commandment. And, you know, people in religion
get worried. They say, well, nobody's going to give if they're
not commanded to give. You know, people got to tithe.
Well, you're right. Natural people won't give. That's
why the IRS is such big business, because people are not going
to willingly be separated from their money. But believers will. They give willingly, generously,
because our motivation is not commandment. The IRS is a commandment. I get that thing in the mail
every year. That's a commandment to me. File and pay your taxes. This is not a tax. That box back
there, Cecil May, is not a tax box. It's for offerings. It's giving. Our motivation is
following the example of Christ and His giving and Him making
us rich through His poverty. And we're motivated to give by
love for him. Now here it is the Christmas
season. Everybody's out shopping, buying
gifts. My house is probably like your house. Janet does Christmas
shopping. Men don't Christmas shop. That's
what women do. She does a wonderful job of it. But I buy a few gifts myself
every year. I buy for her. And I buy a gift. Janet buys
everything for the girls, but I buy them each one thing from
Daddy. I buy it. I buy those for those,
you know, few little gifts. Nobody has to remind me, oh,
you better go buy them a gift. Nobody has to tell me, well,
you know, you better spend a certain dollar amount on this gift. Why? Love. You buy gifts. You give gifts
to those that you love. And God's people If we don't
do anything else, we are like Peter. Lord, you know I love you. I'm a mess. I'm ashamed of my actions most
of the time, but you know I love you. Then you'll give. You're
going to better help yourself. We follow the example of God
who gave us the unspeakable gift of his son. That gift is so wonderful,
you can't put it into words. You can't put a monetary value
on it. So we follow his example and we follow the example of
our brethren who have given so generously for so many years,
not by commandment, for love and gratitude sake. All right.