Jan 26, 2020
by: Jack Lash Series: 2Corinthians: Paul's Most Underappreciated Epistle | Category: Giving | Scripture: 2 Corinthians 8:1, 2 Corinthians 8:5, 2 Corinthians 8:9
- Introduction
A. In 2Cor.8&9 Paul appeals to the Corinthians to contribute to the collection he is gathering for the poor believers in Jerusalem.
B. To inspire the Corinthians, Paul points to the generosity of the Macedonian churches.
C. 2Cor.8:1–9 We want you to know, brothers, about the grace of God that has been given among the churches of Macedonia, 2 for in a severe test of affliction, their abundance of joy and their extreme poverty have overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part. 3 For they gave according to their means, as I can testify, and beyond their means, of their own accord, 4 begging us earnestly for the favor of taking part in the relief of the saints— 5 and this, not as we expected, but they gave themselves first to the Lord and then by the will of God to us. 6 Accordingly, we urged Titus that as he had started, so he should complete among you this act of grace. 7 But as you excel in everything—in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in all earnestness, and in our love for you—see that you excel in this act of grace also. 8 I say this not as a command, but to prove by the earnestness of others that your love also is genuine. 9 For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich.
D. How Things Work: Phil Peach could come up and give us a pretty elaborate explanation of how an engine works. Well, that’s what I want to do this morning, but not about engines. I want to talk about how Christian giving works.
E. Last week we talked about how Christian generosity is one of the most beautiful things on earth: a person who is filled with the love of Christ, willingly giving his life for others.
1. And today, we’re going to talk about how that happens.
F. We’re going to zoom in on v.1, 5, and finally on v.9.
II. 2Corinthians 8:1 “We want you to know, brothers, about the grace of God that has been given among the churches of Macedonia,”
A. In order to motivate the Corinthians to give to the collection for the church in Judea, Paul describes the amazing generosity of the Macedonian churches.
1. But notice where he roots their generosity, notice what he says is the cause of their generosity: “We want you to know about the grace of God that has been given among the churches of Macedonia.” He roots their generosity in the grace of God. It wasn’t really them, was it? It was Him.
2. My friends, we are sinners. We sin. We sin consciously; we sin unconsciously. We even sin in our sleep. We are experts in sinning. Our skill in sin exceeds the greatest Olympic athletic skill. What resides in a heart and flows out of a life untouched by the grace of God is pure, unadulterated sin.
3. And left to their own devices, the same was true of the Macedonians. Without God intervening in their hearts by the power of His grace, they would have had no true love for the Judean Christians.
4. BUT THEY WERE NOT LEFT TO THEMSELVES! The Lord poured His grace out upon them, moving them by His Holy Spirit (HS) to have Christ’s heart of love toward their needy brethren.
5. This is why, when Paul holds up the Macedonians as a model of generosity, He doesn’t really give THEM the glory. The glory goes to the grace of God.
6. Every good you and I have ever done, every bit of faith and love in our souls, every godly impulse or thought we’ve ever had is a result of His grace at work in our souls.
7. So the God of grace deserves all the glory.
B. So, that’s the first lesson here about how Christian generosity works: this beautiful portrait of generosity painted here by Paul is not something merely human. It’s is the handiwork of God.
C. This is why boasting is wrong. Even when we accomplish something worthy of praise, the praise doesn’t ultimately belong to us but to God who enabled, who empowered, who gifted.
1. We love to get credit for what we do. We love praise and honor! But when we accept praise, we steal it from the One who truly deserves it. “For what do you have that was not given to you by God? And if you have been given something, why do boast of it as if you achieved it yourself?” (1Cor.4:7)
2. That’s why Paul says elsewhere, “Let him who boasts, boast in the Lord.” Paul told the Corinthians that in 1Cor.1:31, and he’ll tell again in 2Cor.10:17.
D. So, v.1 tells us the first thing about how generosity is made. Giving comes from God.
III. 2Corinthians 8:5 “and this, not as we expected, but they gave themselves first to the Lord and then by the will of God to us.”
A. Now in v.5 Paul tells us a little more about the process of how this Macedonian gift came to be. The Macedonians, he says, before they donated anything to his collection for the church at Jerusalem, first gave themselves to the Lord, and then in the Lord they gave themselves to Paul and his helpers.
B. This is SO contrary to the philosophy of life running rampant in our society.
1. It says that true life comes from being your own true self.
2. “Where once the self was to be surrendered, denied, sacrificed and died to, now the self is to be esteemed, actualized, affirmed & unfettered.” – Williams College sociologist James Nolan
3. People do not merely disobey quietly & surreptitiously today, they glory in their defiance. The theme song of their lives is, “I did it my way!” The person who is independent and insists on doing things his own way is celebrated! And those who don’t have the courage to be so brazen wish they could be like this too.
4. Today our society believes that real living comes not from submission but from defiance.
C. But Jesus said something very different. He said that true life comes from giving yourself away.
1. Luke 9:23-24 “If anyone would come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it.” We live among a people who are striving to save their lives, but are losing them.
2. God wants us to give ourselves away. It is the fitting response to the miracle of miracles, which is that God gave us His beloved Son. It makes all the sense in the world that we would give ourselves in joyful surrender to Him, and in Him to others.
D. This kind of self-surrender is what Paul’s life as an apostle was all about:
1. “I will most gladly...be spent for your souls.” 2Corinthians 12:15
2. “I am being poured out like a drink offering on the sacrifice and service of your faith.” Phil.2:17
E. This was Paul’s pattern. This was the pattern among the Macedonian believers. This was the pattern Paul was urging in Corinth. And this is the pattern God wants us to live by.
F. It’s scary to give yourself away. You can only do it if you really believe that there is Someone who loves you more than you love yourself.
1. That’s why, in order to entrust ourselves fully to the Lord, we need the Spirit to open the eyes of our hearts (Eph.1:18) so that we can see how wide and long and deep and high is the love of Christ for us (Eph.3:18).
2. ONLY THEN can we grasp that the privilege of knowing Christ Jesus as our Lord is of inestimable value (Phil.3:8). Only then can we really surrender our lives to Him as a living sacrifice of praise. Only then can our hearts be open to others created in His image, that we might serve them willingly and lovingly for the rest of our lives.
3. It begins with a realization of the ultimate Gift of God for us.
a. It then moves to grateful surrender of our lives to God.
b. And it culminates in the investment of our lives in others for Christ’s sake.
G. This is why Paul doesn’t want the Corinthians to give under compulsion.
1. 8:8 I say this not as a command, but to prove that your love is genuine.
2. 9:7 Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.
3. Paul does not want to give them the impression that he is ordering them to give or even pressuring them to give. He does not want them giving because of some external compulsion.
4. It must come from a heart given to Christ or it isn’t real.
H. This might look like simple imitation, but it isn’t. And this is very important in understanding true Christianity.
1. Simple imitation goes straight from seeing something to trying to imitate that something.
2. It leaves out the absolutely crucial step of giving oneself “first to the Lord.” It leaves out coming to Him, knowing Him, receiving Him, being filled with Him, and goes straight to imitating Him.
3. But Jesus didn’t say, “Apart from My good example, you can do nothing.” He said, “Apart from Me you can do nothing.”
4. It’s not enough to have a good example. We need Jesus to help us. We need Jesus to empower us. We need His life to flow into us.
5. Jesus said, “Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me.” – John 15:4
6. You see, in order to bear FRUIT we need to have our ROOT in Christ.
7. Fruit doesn’t get glued unto the vine. It doesn’t get stapled on the vine. It grows from the vine through the life of the vine flowing into it.
8. This is why the psalmist says that the man “who’s delight is in the law of the LORD” is “like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season.” – Psalm 1:1–3
9. The fruit of the HS doesn’t come by willpower; it doesn’t come by trying hard. It comes from being rooted in Christ.
10. If the fruit doesn’t come through the root, it’s artificial fruit, not real fruit.
I. Generosity is a fruit of the HS. Generosity isn’t a financial issue or merely a moral issue. It’s a spiritual issue. Like other aspects of love and service, it is not a matter of mere duty, it flows out of a heart which is in union with Christ.
IV. 2Corinthians 8:9 “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich.”
A. What a magnificent description of the grace of our Lord Jesus: “Though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich.”
B. Christ doesn’t stand high on His heavenly mountain and command us to do what He Himself has never done. He came down as one of us and suffered the pain of sacrificial love. And now His call to us is merely to do what He’s already done.
C. So when Paul wants to exhort the Corinthian believers to give of their riches to elevate the status of others, he reminds them that this is exactly what Christ Himself did. He saw our spiritual poverty and impoverished Himself in order to make us rich.
D. And those who have Christ Jesus ARE rich in Him.
1. We have been given “the unsearchable riches of Christ” (Eph.3:8).
2. “God...has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places.” (Eph.1:3)
3. “All things are yours.” (1Corinthians 3:21)
4. The apostles are described “as poor yet making many rich, as having nothing yet possessing all things.” (2Corinthians 6:10)
E. Nothing else compares. All else appears as nothing when set beside these riches. Money is not real treasure. Fame is not real glory. Sexual pleasure isn’t real pleasure. Sports success isn’t real victory. Marriage is not true love.
1. All these – and everything else that claims to give us what we need – are exposed as empty before the surpassing value, beauty, glory, power, victory and love of Christ.
F. Satan, of course, wants us to think otherwise. He wants us to think that we need the love/approval of people, or the fulfilled appetites of the flesh, or worldly success, or whatever. He’s happy for us to think we need anything – good or bad – as long as he can convince us that Jesus is not enough.
G. My friend, if you are a true Christian, then you are a poor person who has been made rich in Jesus.
1. In ourselves we are all poverty-stricken. That is who we are without Christ.
2. Before I became a Christian, I had nothing. I was empty. I had nothing to live for. I had no resources with which to deal with life. I had no real love in my life. I lived with a profound sense of aloneness. And it wasn’t just a feeling. The fact was, I WAS alone! I had no meaning.
3. Fortunately, I had Someone watching me. And I became a rich man when I met Him.
H. But let me ask you a question: Is Christ still poor? He became poor, but does He remain poor?
1. Of course not. He is now the richest man who ever lived. He is the most praised man who ever lived; the most loved man who ever lived.
2. As a result of what He did, “God highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.” (Phil.2:9-11)
3. This is what we must remember when we hear God’s call to us to sacrifice ourselves for the sake of others. In the dying, in the self-denial, in the sacrifice for others, ultimately we are making ourselves rich.
4. We come alive when we willingly die. We make ourselves rich when we enrich others.
5. Jesus showed us where dying leads, where sacrifice takes us. It leads to life: abundant, eternal life.
6. The head that once was crowned with thorns is crowned with glory now; A royal diadem adorns the mighty Savior’s brow. The highest place that heaven affords is His, is His by right, The King of Kings and Lord of Lords, and heaven’s eternal Light.
a. The joy of all who dwell above, the joy of all below, To whom He manifests His love, and grants His name to know. To them the cross, with all its shame, with all its grace is given; Their name an everlasting name, their joy the joy of heaven.
b. They suffer with their Lord below, they reign with Him above, Their profit and their joy: to know the mystery of His love. The cross He bore is life and health, though shame and death to Him; His people’s hope, His people’s wealth, their everlasting theme. (Thomas Kelly, 1820)
V. So, this is how Christian generosity works:
A. It begins with the grace of God , whereby Christ gives up His riches in order to enrich us.
B. Then we, smitten by this grace of God in Christ, joyfully surrender our lives to Him, and become united with Him, and then in Him give ourselves to others He created, resulting in generosity and love and service.
C. It doesn’t work any other way. There are other things the world calls generosity, but as we read in 1Cor.13:3, they are empty: “If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing.”