Bibles again to 2nd Corinthians
chapter 8. This chapter and the one that
follows chapter 9 contain the Apostle Paul's divine inspired
instruction to the church at Corinth about an offering for
the poor believers in Jerusalem. The importance of The importance
and the relevance of these two chapters for us is that here
we find the New Testament teaching on Christian giving. We find the New Testament teaching
on Christian giving here in these two chapters. And tonight as
we look at this chapter, I'm going to divide it into three
parts. First, I want us to see Paul's
testimony about the giving of the churches of Macedonia. In verses 1 through 6, he said,
Moreover, brethren, we do you to wit, that is, we want you
to know, we do you to wit, of the grace of God bestowed on
the churches of Macedonia. Now the churches of Macedonia
would include the church at Philippi, the church at Thessalonica, and
the church in Berea. Now we know something about the
giving of the church at Philippi because the Apostle Paul in his
letter of Philippians mentions the fact that that church was
a giving church. If you will just look over a
few pages to Philippians chapter 4 and see what he says at the
closing of this letter concerning their giving. In Philippians chapter 4 verses
15 and 16. Now you Philippians know also
That in the beginning of the gospel, when I departed from
Macedonia, no church communicated with me as concerning giving
and receiving, but you only. That's amazing, isn't it? Every
time I read that, that's just so amazing to me. That a man
like the Apostle Paul, as many places, Churches that God raised
up under his ministry. As far as we know, this was the
only church that was considerate enough about him to give towards
his support. Not that he was seeking support.
He makes that clear, doesn't he, in his letters. He trusted
in God. He worked with his hands. He
was a tent maker. But again, You Philippians know
also that in the beginning of the gospel, when I departed from
Macedonia, no church communicated with me as concerning giving
and receiving but you only. For even in Thessalonica you
sent once and again unto my necessity." Now back in our text in 2nd Corinthians
chapter 8. These churches, as the Apostle
Paul tells us, were in deep poverty. Notice that in verse 2. How that
in a great trial of affliction, the abundance of their joy and
their deep poverty abounded unto the riches of their liberality. Historians tell us that the reason
that this area was in such poverty was because of the number of
wars that were fought over what has become northern Greece, where
these cities were located. And war, war causes poverty,
doesn't it? I mean, the ravages of war, destruction,
misery, poverty, all come in the trail of war. And so the
wars that had been fought here by Rome to conquest and conquer
this area had left this province of Macedonia in what Paul calls
deep poverty. Not just poverty, but deep poverty. In chapter nine, if you look
over just a few verses to chapter 9 and verse 2, he said, for I
know the forwardness of your mind. Now he's writing this to
the church at Corinth, these words. For I know the forwardness
of your mind, for which I boast of you to them of Macedonia,
that Achaia, that is Corinth, was ready a year ago, and your
zeal hath provoked very many. The Apostle Paul, in taking the
Gospel to Macedonia, or visiting in Macedonia after he had taken
the Gospel to Corinth, he mentioned the fact that the Corinthians
were liberal, that they too were a giving church, and their zeal
That is the zeal of the Corinthians provoked those of Macedonia to
give. And to give in deep, out of deep
poverty rather. Back in verse 2 of chapter 8.
How that in a great trial of affliction, the abundance of
their joy and their deep poverty abounded unto the riches of their
liberality. In their deep poverty, the apostle
Paul says, they manifested, they demonstrated their great joy. Their great joy. The fact that
they were in deep poverty just allowed them to manifest the
truth concerning the joy of their hearts. The gospel, now listen
to me. The gospel of Jesus Christ is
a message of joy. It's a message of joy. Remember
what the angel announced to those shepherds who were keeping their
flocks the very night that our Savior was born. That angel said
to those shepherds, fear not, for I bring you good tidings
of great joy. I bring you good tidings of great
joy. This is not a message of lamentation. This is a message of great joy,
which shall be to all people. And what was the message of great
joy? Unto you a Savior is born. What could be better than that?
What do we need more than a Savior? Nothing. Nothing can compare. to a Savior coming, the gospel
is a message of joy. Think about this. Most everyone
here tonight, I assume, we profess that the Lord Jesus Christ is
our Savior. So that means that all of our
sins have been forgiven. Isn't that a cause of joy? Our
sins are gone. We profess to know Christ as
our Lord and Savior. That means that through the blood
of Jesus Christ, through the blood of His cross, we have been
reconciled unto God. We came into this world children
of wrath even as others. We were enmity with God. And now we've been reconciled. We have peace with God. That's
not a cause of joy. If that's not what is, what could
be? Reconciliation. We've been adopted
the sons and daughters of God. God is our Father. Not only our
Savior, not only our God, but our Father. What a privilege,
what a blessing to know Him. Our Father, which art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name. If that's not a cause of joy.
Our names, our names we know are written. We've never seen
the Book of Life, the Lamb's Book of Life. But if we know
Christ tonight as our Lord and Savior, Our names are there. Your name is there. What a cause
of joy. The gospel is a message of joy. And we learn from the Word of
God that all things work together for our good, no matter what. No matter what takes place in
our lives. We know, that's what the Apostle
said, for we know that all things work together for good to them
that love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.
That's not a cause of joy. And we could go on, couldn't
we? There's a residence, a dwelling place, a mansion, according to
the King James Translation, that the Savior has prepared that
has your name on it. R.S.V.P. Just for you. No one else, but just for you. And the Son of God, the Lord
Jesus Christ, He has promised us He's going to come for us. We don't know when, but we know
we have His Word. He who cannot lie. He said, if
I go to prepare a place for you, I will come again. to receive
you unto myself, that where I am, there you may be also." What
joy! And this joy is real. It's not
pretend joy. You know, the world thinks that
you've got to be drinking alcoholic beverages, and you've got to
have loud music, and you've got to have all these things to really
have joy, to really be happy. You see, happiness depends upon
our happenstances. And sometimes we're in a place
and we feel happy, but the joy of a Christian is real, it's
solid, and it's always. And we don't need these other
things when we have Christ. He is our joy, the rejoicing
of our hearts. Now their joy the joy of these
churches of Macedonia, their joy was demonstrated, according
to what Paul tells us here, in the midst of their deep poverty
by their giving. And their giving was spontaneous. They didn't need some preacher
to browbeat them and Tell them, you know, if you give, you sow
a seed of faith and God will bless you. No, no. They didn't
need any of that stuff that people use today in some places. They had a joy in their heart.
And they gave spontaneously. And they gave liberally. In fact,
the Apostle Paul tells us that they gave beyond their power. Now that in a great trial of
affliction, the abundance of their joy and their deep poverty
abounded unto the riches of their liberality. For to their power,
I bear record, yea, and beyond their power, they were willing
of themselves." What Paul is saying to us here is the amount
they gave was limited Not by their desire, but by their purses. They could only give what they
had. And that's the only reason they didn't give more. Because
their desire they gave beyond their power. Beyond their ability. And there the apostle says, their
giving was not as we had hoped. Notice that in that next verse.
And this they did not as we hoped. In other words, he means it was
more than what we could have ever expected, the gift of this
congregation or these churches, more than we could have expected.
But then, I want you to notice, then he testifies how it is that
these believers in the churches of Macedonia gave so liberally,
spontaneously, beyond their power. Because, first of all, they had
given themselves to Christ. When they came to Christ, when
they trusted in Christ, everything they had was His. When they surrendered, when they
bowed down to Christ, they didn't come and say, I want you to be my Savior, but
this is part of my life over here. You can't touch that. No, no. Every part, every part
of their life, every part of their substance, it was His. They gave themselves first of
all to Christ, the Apostle said, to the Lord, and then unto us
by the will of God. What a testimony, right? What
a testimony the Apostle gives of the believers in the churches
of Macedonia. In great poverty, yet their joy
was manifested in their liberal giving. Now, verse 6, Paul says,
I'm sending Titus. I'm sending Titus to you. Now,
remember, as we've been studying through 2 Corinthians, In chapter
7, we saw how the coming of Titus was used of God to comfort Paul. Paul was so concerned about how
the church in Corinth would receive that letter, that first letter,
first epistle, in which he had to deal with some matters, and
he was concerned how they would receive that letter. And when
Titus came and brought the report, Paul said he was comforted. by
the coming of Titus and the report that he brought. Now Paul says,
I'm going to send Titus to you again, insomuch that we desire
Titus that as he had begun, so he would also finish in you the
same grace also. When he was at Corinth, when
Titus was at Corinth, they began to receive an offering, to take
up an offering for the poor saints in the church at Jerusalem. And then of course Titus left
and he came to where Paul is and comforted Paul. Now Paul
says, I'm sending him back. And notice that as he had begun
to receive the offering, you folks began to take up this offering
Now I'm sending him again that he and you would finish this
grace, this offering, this gift. Now second, here's the second
part of the chapter. We've seen Paul's testimony,
Paul's testimony concerning The believers, the giving of the
believers in the churches of Macedonia. Now second, I want
us to see Paul's encouragement here to the Corinthians to abound
in this grace. The Corinthians, he's writing
the letter to them. And he's going to encourage them
now to abound in this grace. And here are five things he says
in these verses about the grace of giving. And Paul calls giving
a grace. It's a grace. Now, number one,
here's the first thing Paul says, that without this grace, a Christian's
character is not complete. Without this grace, a Christian's
character is not complete. You notice he says, you abound,
and they did. He mentioned this in the first
chapter of the first letter. how they abounded. He never said
this, he never wrote this to any other church that I know
of. But to the church at Corinth, he commended them because they
had so many gifts in the church at Corinth. And he said, you
abound in these graces, faith. Oh, that's important, isn't it?
To abound in faith. Utterance, that is the ability
to articulate, to preach, to knowledge. You abound in knowledge. Diligence. You're diligent in
your service. And love. Those are five graces
there that he names. And they abounded in these. But
now Paul says, you need to abound in this grace too. Because without
it, Your character, your Christian character is not complete. Notice,
let's read that, verse 7. Therefore, as you abound in everything,
in faith, and utterance, and knowledge, and in all diligence,
and in your love to us, see that you abound in this grace also. A stingy Christian is a misnomer. One who has been given so much
as every child of God has. That just shouldn't be the case. No Christian, no believer, no
child of God should be stingy. We should be a giving people. And without this grace, he tells
this church You've got all these other graces, that's good. But
you need this grace too. You need to abound in this grace
as well. Alright, second. He said, This
will prove the sincerity of your love. Verse 8. I speak not by
commandment, but by occasion of the forwardness of others,
and to prove the sincerity of your love. You know, you can
talk about how much you love someone, but actions. Actions. Show it. This will prove the
sincerity of your love. This grace of giving. Don't talk
about how much you love God and never give to the cause of Christ,
never support the work of the Lord. Number three. They had the greatest motives
of all. What is it? It's the example
of the Lord Jesus Christ. For you know the grace of our
Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, think about His
wealth, the eternal Son of God, all the glory of heaven was His. Everything that was true of the
Father and of the Holy Spirit is true of the eternal Son of
God. And yet He laid that all aside and He came into this world as
a man. You know the grace of our Lord
Jesus Christ that though He was rich, yet for your sakes For
your sakes He became God incarnate. He came into this world that
you through His poverty might be made rich. What a motive, right? What a
motive to give when we think of the example of our blessed
Lord, our Savior. He gave everything. He laid aside
His glory and came into this world as a man. And you know,
Paul in Philippians, he put it like this, who being in the form
of God, made himself of no reputation, took upon him the form of a servant. Now I know he was poor when he
was here. He didn't have a place to lay
his head. I know that. But this poverty that Paul is
speaking of in this verse is his incarnation. his leaving heaven and coming
here as a man. Number four, they had begun to
give the church at Corinth. I've already mentioned that.
When Titus was there, they had begun to take up this offering.
Now, verses 10 and 11, they should follow through on the action.
Verse 10, and herein I give my advice, for this is expedient
for you who have begun before. You've already begun to take
up this offering, not only to do, but also to be forward a
year ago. And I think that means in the
last year, not necessarily 12 months ago exactly, but in the
last year, you began to take up this offering. 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. It's easy to have a desire, but
desires must be put into practice. You began to take up this offering,
now complete it, finish it, he says. And then, fifthly, the
last thing here, Christian giving, according to Paul, is perfectly
reasonable. It's perfectly reasonable. Notice what he says, beginning
with verse 12. 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. If you don't have anything to
give, God's not gonna judge you for not giving. It's accepted
according to that he hath, but first there should be a willing
mind. For I may not that others may
be eased, and you burdened, but by an equality that now at this
time your abundance may be a supply for their want, that their Abundance
also may be a supply for your want, that there may be equality. As it is written, he that hath
gathered much hath nothing over, and he that hath gathered little
hath no lack. We are to give according to our
means, according to what a man hath, and not according to what
he hath not. And Paul says now, if the tables
were turned, instead of If the saints in Jerusalem needing help,
it was you in Corinth who need help. Then what would happen? Then the church in Jerusalem,
if they were in the same circumstances that you're in, they would take
up an offering and bring to the church at Corinth. There's an
equality. That's what the Apostle Paul
is saying. It's just reasonable to give. And then he quotes this
Old Testament passage. And this has to do with the gathering
of the manna. Remember when they were in the
wilderness, God fed Israel 40 years with manna. And every day
they would go out, except on the Sabbath day, and they would
gather. And each man, each person, was allowed so much an omer,
O-M-E-R, whatever measurement that is, I'm not sure. But some
might go out there and they might gather a bushel full. They only
could have an omer. If they kept more, it bred worms. Remember? And some might go out
and just gather a little, but they still had an omer. There
was enough for everyone. And this is another message,
and I can't preach it tonight, but in this, we should see God's
providence. in taking care of his children. He's going to take care of his
children. Now that's just all there is
to it. I remember, I've used this before,
I'm sure, but hearing a dear friend of mine
preach from this passage, in fact, I remember him saying, if I came
home from the office one day and there were my children going
up and down the street, knocking on the doors, begging for money,
for food, I'd be so ashamed. I'm their father. That's my place
to take care of my children. And I'm going to do it. God giving
me strength and grace, I'm going to do it. Now if an earthly father
feels that way, how much more our heavenly father. Now here's
the third part and I'll just mention this. Paul, his determination
to provide things honest in the sight of all. And you can read
those last verses there when he sends Titus, then he sends
another unnamed man with him, who had been chosen by the churches
of Macedonia, then another unnamed man. And what Paul is saying
in these verses is, yes, this offering, this gift that we have,
we're going to take to Jerusalem, and it's going to be done honestly,
not only in the sight of God, But it's going to be done honestly
in the sight of men. And no one will ever be able
to say that we pilfered some of that offering or we misused
it for something else. No, no. This is going to be done
honestly. And that's the way Christian
giving should be, isn't it? It's a shame in our day, we've
all heard of these things, but some of these so-called Christian
ministries, they're not Christian to begin with, but how they take
in so much money and misuse so much money, the federal government
has to close some of them down. That's a shame, isn't it? All
in the name of Christ. God help us. Okay, David, let's
sing a verse or two of a hymn.