"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 through His poverty might become rich!" (II Corinthians 8:9)
In last week's lesson, on II Corinthians 8:1-7, the apostle Paul, after having his relationship with the Corinthians re-affirmed (based on the report he received from Titus), re-asserted the mission which was on his heart and which he had earlier initiated with them and with the other churches he had founded--that of raising funds to deal with poverty-stricken saints in the church of Jerusalem! And he did this by making known to them "how the grace of God had motivated believers in the churches of Macedonia to give to this cause. They manifested God's grace to others by their giving, just as God had manifested his grace to them!
He writes how, "in the midst of an ordeal of severe tribulation, their abundance of joy and their depth of poverty together overflowed in the wealth of their liberality"! And that "according to their ability, and beyond their ability, they gave of their own accord--not out of compulsion, or manipulation, or intimidation, but voluntarily"! And "even begged him, with much urging, for the favor of participating in the support of the saints"! Believing that God would take care of all their needs, as He had promised! (Constable notes that "their poverty no more impeded their generosity than their tribulation diminished their joy"!)
Paul writes, in verse 5, that they "gave far more than expected"--and that it came about after "first giving themselves to the Lord (as living sacrifices) and to us by the will of the Lord"!
MacArthur summed up last week's passage this way: "It revealed that giving is motivated by God's grace, trancends difficult circumstances, is given with joy, not hindered by poverty, generous, proportionate, sacrificial, voluntary, a privilege, an act of worship, in submission to pastors, in concert with Christian virtues, and evidence of love!"
And as we got into last night's lesson (on verses 8-15), we found that the apostle Paul was not through with giving instructions on giving! And we wondered why he was devoting so much of his time and energy to raising funds for this cause?
He certainly knew that it had nothing to do with gaining salvation and acceptance from God for what he did! He even wrote to Titus (in Titus 3:5) that "He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior...!" And he wrote to the Ephesians (in Ephesians 2:8-9) that it's "by grace that we are saved, through faith, and that not of ourselves, but a gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast!"
But Paul also knew that there was one thing he could do! And that was to "manifest" the same grace of God to others that had been so graciously manifested on him, and to become a little more like Him! And I'm sure he would have loved to sing Thomas Chisholm's great hymn, "O to Be LIke HIm" (although it hadn't yet been written): "O to be like Thee! Blessed Redeemer, this is my longing and prayer; gladly I'll forfeit all of life's treasures, Jesus Thy perfect likeness to wear!" And then the refrain, "O to be like Thee! O to be like Thee, blessed Redeemer, pure as Thou art! Come in Thy sweetness, come in Thy fullness; stamp Thine own image deep on my heart!"
Constable notes that "it was undoubtedly Paul's love for his needy Jewish brethren that motivated him! But also that because he knew this gift would honor Jesus Christ, and that it would provide a visual demontration of the equality that existed between the Gentile and Jewish Christians, and dispel Jewish suspicions of Christianity and of Paul's mission to the Gentiles" Moreover, it illustrated the spiritual indebtedness that the Gentiles owed to their Jewish brethren and, for Paul personally, was a way that he could in some way compensate in part for his earlier persecution of the Jewish Christians!"
Ephesians 2:12-22 captures this thought beautifully: "Remember that you (speaking of Gentile believers) were at that time separate from Christ, excluded from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenant of promise, having no hope nad without God in the world! But now, in Christ Jesus, you who formerly were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ! For He Himself is our peace who made both groups into one and broke down the barrier of the dividing wall, by abolishing in His flesh the enmity which is the Law of commandments contained in ordinances, so that in Himself He might make the two into one new man, thus establishing peace, and might reconcile them both in one body to God through the cross, by having put to death the enmity!" Wow!
Paul wrote in verse 8 that he hoped "the earnestness of others" (the Macedonian believers) would motivate the Corinthians to prove the sincerity of their love as well by their giving!
And then the great verse 9! "For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, so that you through His poverty might become rich!" Speaking of this verse--Constable writes that "tucked away in this very pragmatic section of Scripture about giving is a profound doctrinal treasure! Its truth is not couched in technical theological language; its words are not complex or confusing! And though its message may be grasped in one reading, the truth it contains may not be fully comprehended throughout eternity! It describes Christ's descent from riches to poverty so that believers might ascend from poverty to riches!"
The theme here, Constable notes, "is about collecting money for the saints in the church of Jerusalem, and he used the example of the Macedonians who gave so generously and sacrificially; but as the apostle thought about the reality of love that manifests itself in sacrificial giving, his mind was irresistibly drawn to the greatest example of such love and sacrifice the world has ever known--the Lord Jesus Christ! Unlike the rich of this world, who rarely if ever impoverish themselves by their giving, He--the worthy One--became poor to make unworthy ones, like us, rich!" Wow! (Makes us want to sing: "Thou didn't leave Thy throne and Thy kingly crown, when Thou camest to earth for me; but in Bethlehem's home was there found no room, for Thou holy nativity...Heaven's arches rang when the angels sang, proclaiming Thy royal degree; but of lowly birth didst Thou come to earth, in great humility; O come to my heart, Lord Jesus! There is room in my heart for Thee!")
And so, in verse 11, the apostle Paul urges the Corinthians to finish doing what Titus had challenged them to do "a year ago," and what they had promised to do, and desired to do, "by completing the collection now"! (MacArthsur writes that a desire to give, even a sincere readiness to do so, is not meaningful if it never results in actual giving!, and that there's a wide gap between wanting to do something and making it happen!) And os his plea!
And the standard by which God would judge their contribution, according to verse 12, was "not how much they gave, but how much they gave in relation to what they had"! God is most concerned with the heart attitude of the giver, and Jesus observed how the poor widow (in Mark 21:41-44) "gave more than all the contributors to the treasury, for they all put in out of their surplus, but she, out of poverty, put in all she owned"!
Paul goes on to write, in verses 13-14, that giving "is not for the ease of others and for your affliction, but by way of equality--at this present time your abundance being a supply of their need, so that their abundance also may become a supply for your need, that there may be equality"! The idea being (MacArthur notes) that "in the body of Christ some believers who have more than they need should help those who have far less than they need--viewing Christians as being brothers and sisters in a large family"!" Constable writes that "it didn't make sense to Paul that some believers should lived on the verge of starvation while other lived in excess"!
And it was Paul who wrote in I Timothy 6:17-18, "Instuct those who are rich in this present world not to be conceited or to fix their hope on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly supplies us with all things to enjoy!"
Paul ends this section by quoting from Exodus 16:18 to illustrate that financial fairness was not a new idea--describing how the Israelites were to gather the manna the Lord so graciously supplied for their daily food so that no matter how much was gathered, nobody had more or less than was needed to live on!
And so what did we learn about giving from this section of Scripture?
Lowell
In last week's lesson, on II Corinthians 8:1-7, the apostle Paul, after having his relationship with the Corinthians re-affirmed (based on the report he received from Titus), re-asserted the mission which was on his heart and which he had earlier initiated with them and with the other churches he had founded--that of raising funds to deal with poverty-stricken saints in the church of Jerusalem! And he did this by making known to them "how the grace of God had motivated believers in the churches of Macedonia to give to this cause. They manifested God's grace to others by their giving, just as God had manifested his grace to them!
He writes how, "in the midst of an ordeal of severe tribulation, their abundance of joy and their depth of poverty together overflowed in the wealth of their liberality"! And that "according to their ability, and beyond their ability, they gave of their own accord--not out of compulsion, or manipulation, or intimidation, but voluntarily"! And "even begged him, with much urging, for the favor of participating in the support of the saints"! Believing that God would take care of all their needs, as He had promised! (Constable notes that "their poverty no more impeded their generosity than their tribulation diminished their joy"!)
Paul writes, in verse 5, that they "gave far more than expected"--and that it came about after "first giving themselves to the Lord (as living sacrifices) and to us by the will of the Lord"!
MacArthur summed up last week's passage this way: "It revealed that giving is motivated by God's grace, trancends difficult circumstances, is given with joy, not hindered by poverty, generous, proportionate, sacrificial, voluntary, a privilege, an act of worship, in submission to pastors, in concert with Christian virtues, and evidence of love!"
And as we got into last night's lesson (on verses 8-15), we found that the apostle Paul was not through with giving instructions on giving! And we wondered why he was devoting so much of his time and energy to raising funds for this cause?
He certainly knew that it had nothing to do with gaining salvation and acceptance from God for what he did! He even wrote to Titus (in Titus 3:5) that "He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior...!" And he wrote to the Ephesians (in Ephesians 2:8-9) that it's "by grace that we are saved, through faith, and that not of ourselves, but a gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast!"
But Paul also knew that there was one thing he could do! And that was to "manifest" the same grace of God to others that had been so graciously manifested on him, and to become a little more like Him! And I'm sure he would have loved to sing Thomas Chisholm's great hymn, "O to Be LIke HIm" (although it hadn't yet been written): "O to be like Thee! Blessed Redeemer, this is my longing and prayer; gladly I'll forfeit all of life's treasures, Jesus Thy perfect likeness to wear!" And then the refrain, "O to be like Thee! O to be like Thee, blessed Redeemer, pure as Thou art! Come in Thy sweetness, come in Thy fullness; stamp Thine own image deep on my heart!"
Constable notes that "it was undoubtedly Paul's love for his needy Jewish brethren that motivated him! But also that because he knew this gift would honor Jesus Christ, and that it would provide a visual demontration of the equality that existed between the Gentile and Jewish Christians, and dispel Jewish suspicions of Christianity and of Paul's mission to the Gentiles" Moreover, it illustrated the spiritual indebtedness that the Gentiles owed to their Jewish brethren and, for Paul personally, was a way that he could in some way compensate in part for his earlier persecution of the Jewish Christians!"
Ephesians 2:12-22 captures this thought beautifully: "Remember that you (speaking of Gentile believers) were at that time separate from Christ, excluded from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenant of promise, having no hope nad without God in the world! But now, in Christ Jesus, you who formerly were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ! For He Himself is our peace who made both groups into one and broke down the barrier of the dividing wall, by abolishing in His flesh the enmity which is the Law of commandments contained in ordinances, so that in Himself He might make the two into one new man, thus establishing peace, and might reconcile them both in one body to God through the cross, by having put to death the enmity!" Wow!
Paul wrote in verse 8 that he hoped "the earnestness of others" (the Macedonian believers) would motivate the Corinthians to prove the sincerity of their love as well by their giving!
And then the great verse 9! "For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, so that you through His poverty might become rich!" Speaking of this verse--Constable writes that "tucked away in this very pragmatic section of Scripture about giving is a profound doctrinal treasure! Its truth is not couched in technical theological language; its words are not complex or confusing! And though its message may be grasped in one reading, the truth it contains may not be fully comprehended throughout eternity! It describes Christ's descent from riches to poverty so that believers might ascend from poverty to riches!"
The theme here, Constable notes, "is about collecting money for the saints in the church of Jerusalem, and he used the example of the Macedonians who gave so generously and sacrificially; but as the apostle thought about the reality of love that manifests itself in sacrificial giving, his mind was irresistibly drawn to the greatest example of such love and sacrifice the world has ever known--the Lord Jesus Christ! Unlike the rich of this world, who rarely if ever impoverish themselves by their giving, He--the worthy One--became poor to make unworthy ones, like us, rich!" Wow! (Makes us want to sing: "Thou didn't leave Thy throne and Thy kingly crown, when Thou camest to earth for me; but in Bethlehem's home was there found no room, for Thou holy nativity...Heaven's arches rang when the angels sang, proclaiming Thy royal degree; but of lowly birth didst Thou come to earth, in great humility; O come to my heart, Lord Jesus! There is room in my heart for Thee!")
And so, in verse 11, the apostle Paul urges the Corinthians to finish doing what Titus had challenged them to do "a year ago," and what they had promised to do, and desired to do, "by completing the collection now"! (MacArthsur writes that a desire to give, even a sincere readiness to do so, is not meaningful if it never results in actual giving!, and that there's a wide gap between wanting to do something and making it happen!) And os his plea!
And the standard by which God would judge their contribution, according to verse 12, was "not how much they gave, but how much they gave in relation to what they had"! God is most concerned with the heart attitude of the giver, and Jesus observed how the poor widow (in Mark 21:41-44) "gave more than all the contributors to the treasury, for they all put in out of their surplus, but she, out of poverty, put in all she owned"!
Paul goes on to write, in verses 13-14, that giving "is not for the ease of others and for your affliction, but by way of equality--at this present time your abundance being a supply of their need, so that their abundance also may become a supply for your need, that there may be equality"! The idea being (MacArthur notes) that "in the body of Christ some believers who have more than they need should help those who have far less than they need--viewing Christians as being brothers and sisters in a large family"!" Constable writes that "it didn't make sense to Paul that some believers should lived on the verge of starvation while other lived in excess"!
And it was Paul who wrote in I Timothy 6:17-18, "Instuct those who are rich in this present world not to be conceited or to fix their hope on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly supplies us with all things to enjoy!"
Paul ends this section by quoting from Exodus 16:18 to illustrate that financial fairness was not a new idea--describing how the Israelites were to gather the manna the Lord so graciously supplied for their daily food so that no matter how much was gathered, nobody had more or less than was needed to live on!
And so what did we learn about giving from this section of Scripture?
- We can't outgive God, "who so loved that He gave us His Son..."!
- "Give and it shall be given to you...!"
- "God loves a cheerful giver!"
- Giving is God's design for the advancement of His kingdom!
- Giving is proof of our love for God, and others!
- Giving is a privilege, and a way to "manifest the grace of God" so graciously manifested on us!
- "It's more blessed give than to receive!"
Lowell
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