Giving in the Context of Grace

Transcript

GRM 1077
04/01/2012
Giving in the Context of Grace
2 Corinthians 8:1-9
Gil Rugh

I’m going to talk to you about how we handle our money and our finances. The whole issue of giving, for us as believers. Whether it’s to a project specifically or generally in our service to the Lord. I’d like to direct your attention first, to the book of Ephesians 2. In Ephesians 2, we have some very well know verses. Beginning in verse 8, “For by grace you have been saved, through faith. And that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God. Not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.” God’s work of salvation is God’s work of salvation. We cannot be saved by works. We cannot be saved by doing any particular activities, including joining church, being baptized, giving money, trying to be a good person, or anything else we might do. Salvation is by grace. “For by grace you have been saved, through faith.” Salvation is a gift of God, bestowed in love, mercy, kindness, in grace. Verse 10 tells us, “For we are His workmanship.” When we have come to place our faith in Christ, and be saved by the grace of God, “we are His workmanship”, created in Christ Jesus as new creations. Old things pass away, all things become new. We are now, children of the living God. “We are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works.” If there’s one thing that is overwhelmingly confusing in the world today, and in the religious world today, it’s getting the order reversed. That is the difference between going to heaven and going to hell. “We are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works.” We are not saved by good works. We are saved by the grace of God, in order that we might do good works.
First, you must be born again. Born into God’s family. Be made new by the grace of God, through faith in the death and resurrection of Christ. Then, as His workmanship, we are “created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” When God makes us new in Christ, and old things pass away and new things come, as he wrote to the Corinthians in 2 Corinthians 5. That means we live a new life, a different life. That’s what He’s saying in verse 10. The good works that God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. We have now a new realm of life, a new way of living. We live in the realm of God’s grace. Our life is not to be sectioned into this aspect and this aspect, as though this is the “spiritual” part of our life. We go to church. We study the bible. We pray. Those are the spiritual things. But then we go to our jobs. We raise our family. We prepare to retire, whatever. Those are material things and physical things. No, we have been transferred into a new realm, a new sphere of existence. We are now sons of the living God. We have been the recipients of His saving grace. Now, all of our life is lived in the realm of that grace.
As we look into the word of God, on the subject of our material possessions, and how we go about giving. Whether it’s a special project or generally in our giving. The principle will be, we do this in light of the fact, that we are those living in the sphere of God’s grace. We are walking in those works and those deeds that God has prepared us to walk in. We are conducting ourselves as those belonging to God, living in the sphere of His enabling grace.
I’m going to turn you to the book of 2 Corinthians 8. When we think of the grace of God, we think of the work that He has done in salvation. Indeed, that is foundational to everything. But it is foundational, but when we have entered into the grace of God in salvation, that is now the realm of which we live. 2 Corinthians 8 and 9, are perhaps the fullest and most detailed development of the responsibility of God’s people in giving, that we have in the Bible. It interests me, that the word “grace”, which we saw in Ephesians 2:8, “For by grace you have been saved”, is used more often in Ephesians 2:8-9, than any other chapters in the Bible. It will be used 10 times in these two chapters, given to the subject of our giving. Seven times in chapter 8, the word grace is used. The book of Romans, in Romans 5, only uses grace 5 times, in that great chapter. It’s not just that we count the number of times a word is used. But we went on to see, that God is emphasizing for us, as He talks about the proper use of our material things, that it must happen in the context of His grace. Any giving, given outside the realm of God’s grace, is nothing to Him. You might as well have bought a new house, gone on vacation, went to dinner, done something. Because the only giving that pleases God, is the giving that flows out of the work and operation of His grace, in the lives of His people. That’s why unbelievers can never give in a way that is pleasing to God. They have not entered into the sphere of His grace, operating in their lives, because the entrance comes through faith in the finished work of Jesus Christ. Recognizing our sin and guilt and turning from that sin, and to place our faith and trust in the death and resurrection of Christ, and that alone.
Let me just note with you, the uses of the word “grace”. The Greek word, grace, is charis. They transliterated it over, charis. Sometimes it’s given as a name of a girl, Charis, grace. It’s been used 10 times here. Let me just note here, because sometimes it’s not translated by “grace” in your English Bible. I highlight them in my Bible so that they stand out to me.
Verse 1 of 2 Corinthians 8, “Now brethren, we wish to make known to you the grace of God”, the first use. Down in verse 4, “Begging us with much urging for the favor” (that word translated favor, is our word charis, grace). Down in verse 6, the last sentence in the verse, “so that he would also complete in you this gracious work”, literally, this work of grace. Gracious, translation of the word, grace. Down in verse 7, at the end of the verse, “see that you abound in this gracious work”, again gracious, translation of the word grace, literally this work of grace. Down in verse 9, “for you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. Though He was rich, for your sake He became poor. That you, though His poverty might become rich.” Down in verse 16, “but thanks”, that word translated thanks, is our word grace. The word grace has breadth in it, favor, thanks.
All coming back though, as they read this letter in Greek, they would be constantly seeing the word grace. Like many of our English words, they have a breadth of meaning. The context determines the meaning. That’s one of the difficulties when you’re learning a new language. Some of you have done that. To come to know the language better, you see something of the breadth of the language. When you talk to someone who’s just learning, perhaps English, they have a wooden use of words. Because they haven’t yet come to appreciate the breadth that different words can have. So, they want to use one word in a wooden way and that’s true for all of us. But as the Greeks would have read this, and saw favor, thanks, different words translating the word grace, it would all remind them, we’re in this sphere of grace. Because they are all connected in meaning. We have the word thanks, in verse 16, but thanks be to God. Why do you have thanks? Well, grace is something bestowed, freely, without expectation of repayment. Well, that’s something you’re thankful for. You can see how this word grace would come to be used in another context of thanks. Thanks, in verse 16, the word grace. Down in verse 19, the middle of the verse, “But he has also been appointed by the churches to travel with us in this gracious”, there’s our word, gracious work, this work of grace. Those are the seven uses in chapter 8.
Then you come down in chapter 9 to verse 8, “God is able to make all grace abound to you.” Down in verse 14, “because of the surpassing grace of God in you.” Then verse 15, “Thanks”, there it is, the word grace, translated into this “thanks be to God for His indescribable gift.” The gift of His Son. Grace, grace, grace. How we walk in grace, particularly here, he’s going to focus on, in the area of giving. The context of this, can call it a project of Paul, he’d been traveling, revisiting churches in the Gentile world, that he was key in establishing. As he revisits these churches, he is collecting an offering from the Gentile churches, to take back to the church in Jerusalem. Because the church in Jerusalem is experiencing great persecution and poverty. You can understand that. Jerusalem is the center of Judaism. Those who became believers in Jesus Christ, typically Jews in Jerusalem who have become believers, are now in a difficult situation. Perhaps you think of it like, what would happen if someone in a Muslim country becomes a Christian and a group of them do and establish a church. Suddenly, they’re not going to be under tremendous persecution. Are their families going to have anything to do with them? What are they going to do for a job? This is what’s happening in Jerusalem among the Jews. These Jews, who turned to Christ, to place their faith in Him, suddenly, their families won’t have anything to do with them. Now, what about their jobs? All of a sudden, their employers says, ‘I don’t need you anymore”. So, they are struggling there.
Paul is collecting an offering from the Gentiles, why? Come over to Romans 15. Romans is written after this letter, the second letter to the Corinthians. If fact, Romans will be written when Paul does get to Corinth. But he tells why he’s been collecting this offering, in Romans 15. He says in verse 25, “Now I am going to Jerusalem, serving the saints.” Some of you have been part of our study in Acts, where we’ve been talking about this part of Paul’s life. What happened when he got to Jerusalem with this offering. Then he says in verse 26, “for Macedonia and Achaia”, Macedonia is the northern province of Greece and Achaia is the southern province. “Macedonia and Achaia have been pleased to make a contribution for the poor among the saints in Jerusalem.” They were pleased to do so and they are indebted to them. “For if the Gentiles have shared in their spiritual things, they are indebted to minister to them also in material things.” Then Paul says, When I “put my seal on this fruit”, this is fruit that’s been born in the lives of these Gentile churches. I’ll come and visit you.
Paul says the Gentiles have benefited, spiritually, from the Jews. What happens? Our Old Testament, from chapter 12 of Genesis on, is about what? Who? The Jews, the physical descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. The Savior of the world, Gentiles as well as Jews, is who? The Messiah of Israel, the Jewish Christ. The church was established where? In Acts 2, in Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost. Comprised of Jews. The Jews have been the beneficiaries, and through them the Gentiles have been the beneficiaries of the work of God. So, Paul says, these Gentiles have benefited from the Jews, spiritually. It's fitting they help the Jews when they are in material need. Talking about believing Jews in the church at Jerusalem. That’s important, otherwise we get confused. We’ll talk about it when we proceed in 2 Corinthians in a moment. But just to prepare you, Paul is not establishing a program of social work here. First, it’s limited to helping the poor among the saints in Jerusalem. If you’re still in Romans 15, the end of verse 26, the “holy ones”, the believers in Jerusalem. Secondly, it’s not helping poor believers in other places. It is limited to this focus. That becomes very clear as we look into 2 Corinthians.
As you come back to 2 Corinthians, stop at the end of 1 Corinthians. 1 Corinthians 16, an earlier letter Paul wrote to the Corinthians. In 1 Corinthians 16:1 he says, “Now concerning the collection for the saints, as I directed the churches of Galatia, so do you also.” I’m giving the same instructions to you, Paul says, writing to the Corinthians, the church at Corinth, as in Acacia in southern Greece. The churches of Galatia are on a different continent, and they are east of Asia Minor where the churches, like Ephesus and Colossae are located. We saw that in the journeys of Paul. Paul had established churches in Galatia. He wrote the letter to the Galatians to them. He had given them instructions regarding the offering. He says, I’m giving you the same instructions. What I want you to do, “On the first day of every week let each one of you put aside and save, as he may prosper, so that no collections be made when I come.” Paul is not the Lord’s beggar. He’s not going to come and try to coerce them into giving. He’s not going to come and by personal confrontation move them to give. This offering is to be taken before he gets there. “And when I arrive, whomever you may approve, I shall send them with letters to carry your gift to Jerusalem”, and I may go with them as well.
See, this is about Jerusalem, this is about the saints in Jerusalem. He’s already talked to the Corinthians about this. Written a letter. Titus has been here to start the collection, as we’ll see in a moment. When you come to 2 Corinthians 8, Paul’s going to talk about this collection, this offering. He’s concerned, it’s been a year, about a year since they started this project. Paul’s concern is their enthusiasm and commitment, and zeal may have cooled off. So, he’s writing to encourage them.
Interestingly, in chapters 8 and 9, he does not mention the church in Jerusalem. He does not mention the poor people in Jerusalem. He does not mention money. But he talks much about the grace of God and the result of the grace of God, working in the life of an obedient child of God. That’s the source out of which the motivation for giving is to come.
He starts chapter 8 of 2 Corinthians saying, “Now, brethren, we wish to make known to you the grace of God which has been given in the churches of Macedonia.” He hasn’t mentioned anything about this giving in the second letter here. Much of the letter, up to this point, has been engaged with matters related to the fact that Paul had written to the Corinthians earlier. He was concerned about what was going on in the church in Corinth. He was wondering, after writing his previous letter to them, what had been their response. Did they accept what he had to say in that letter? Have they turned against him? He was so concerned he sent Titus down to Corinth, to see what was going on. In chapter 7, he tells us about Titus finally coming back to report to Paul. For verse 5 of chapter 7 says, “even when we came into Macedonia our flesh had no rest, but we were afflicted on every side, conflicts without, fears within. But God, who comforts the depressed, comforted us by the coming of Titus.” What happened? While Paul was in Macedonia, Titus returned with a report on how the Corinthians had accepted the previous letter of Paul and his rebuke and instruction. They had repented their sin. They had mourned over their unbiblical conduct. Paul is thrilled to see that they have gotten right with the Lord and are in a right relationship with Him.
So, chapter 8, he’s ready to address them on the matter of their giving. He starts out by not talking about giving, but talking about the grace of God, that God had given to the Macedonians, the churches of Macedonia. Note how this is put; “We wish to make known to you the grace of God which has been given.” I’m sure that “has been given” as a divine passage, because it’s God doing the giving. God has given His grace to the believers in the churches of Macedonia. That’s foundational to everything that’s going to go on in the next few chapters. He starts out that way, and he’ll end at chapter 9, by talking about the “surpassing grace of God” and “thanks, grace to God, for His unspeakable gift.” Everything here is about the work of God’s grace in a life. This has been given in the churches in Macedonia. We know about the churches in Macedonia, that would include the church at Philippi. Paul wrote the letter to the Philippians, to this church. It would include the church of Thessalonica that Paul wrote two letters to the church at Thessalonica, letters to the Thessalonians. He also ministered in Berea in Macedonia, and may have established a church there, because the Bereans were willing to search the scriptures.
So, he’s writing to tell the Corinthians about the grace that God bestowed on the Macedonians and here is that grace. “That in a [their] great ordeal of affliction, their abundance of joy, and their deep poverty overflowed in the wealth of their liberality.” Great contrast drawn here, two sets of contrast. “A great ordeal of affliction” and an “abundance of joy.” A great ordeal of affliction and an abundance of joy. Deep poverty overflowing in the wealth of their liberality. Deep poverty. Wealth of liberality. See the contrast he’s drawing. What he’s saying here is, churches in Macedonia are going through a great ordeal of affliction. They are under severe trial. Under great intense persecution. But in that state, that is ongoing, their abundance of joy, they had an overflowing joy. This is going to be one of the repeated words through chapters 8 & 9, abundance, overflowing. They have an abundance of joy. Joy being one of the outstanding characteristics of a true believer. The fruit of the Spirit as well, joy. You note the contrast. They are in a great ordeal of affliction, they are under intense persecution, but they have overflowing joy! A joy that is not related to their circumstances. It’s produced how? By the grace of God that was given to them in their heart, so that the fruit of the Spirit is joy, is coming from within. It’s not controlled by the fact they are undergoing severe affliction, persecution. They have deep poverty. This expression here, “deep poverty”, refers to “rock bottom” poverty. Bottom of the barrel poverty, destitute. I mean, he’s stressing the seriousness of their material situation. They are in deep poverty. But out of that, comes the overflowing wealth of liberality. What a contrast. How do you do that? When you’re at rock bottom poverty, but as a result of the grace of God working in their life, they had an overflowing wealth of liberality.
Paul doesn’t get into amounts here. That’s not what’s key. The point is, what God is doing in the heart. It’s like the widow’s mite in Matthew 12, when Jesus talked about that at the end of Matthew 12. She gave in, just that mite, and it’s nothing compared to what other people would give. But Jesus said, it was the most! Why? Because she gave everything. See, God’s not in need. We don’t give because we’ve got to help God out. We don’t give because, you know, if we don’t do it, well, probably won’t get done. There are other things I’d probably rather do but. I’m not a beggar for God. Paul was not a beggar for God. He is simply telling what the grace of God has done in the lives of those. So compared to what they have, what they did was overflowing riches. Doesn’t say how much, because the amount doesn’t matter. Man looks on the outward appearance, God’s looking on the heart. He had done such a work in their heart, that they gave out of their poverty, which could only be viewed as overflowing liberality.
Paul says in verse, before we go there, go look at the church at Thessalonica. Well, stop at Philippians, and get you there quicker, easier. You’re in 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians. We’re just after 2 Corinthians, Philippians first. Remember, this is one of the churches in Macedonia. Later, after Paul writes this letter, 2 Corinthians, at the end of the book of Acts, when he’s imprisoned in Rome, he writes a letter to the Philippians. Their situation has not improved. The grace of God working, being bestowed upon the Philippians, didn’t mean their physical situation changed. Their generosity didn’t bring about a change, they’re still under intense persecution and the consequences of that. In Philippians 1:27, he encourages them to conduct themselves “in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ; so that whether I come see you or remain absent, I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel; in no way alarmed by your opponents – which is a sign of destruction for them, but of salvation for you, and that too from God. For to you it has been granted for Christ’s sake, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake, experiencing the same conflict which you saw in me, and now hear to be in me.” When Paul was in Philippi, you know what happened to him? He was beaten, thrown in prison, remember. They saw that when Paul was there. You know what? Now, Paul writes, what’s the situation? He’s a prisoner in Rome. You have the blessing of suffering for Christ, just like you saw me suffering, and what you hear now about my present experience. Nothing has changed. This is a difficult place to bear testimony for Christ.
Turn over to 1 Thessalonians, you’re in Philippians, Colossians, and you will hit 1 Thessalonians. 1 Thessalonians 1:6, Paul writing, encouraging the Thessalonians, verse 6, “You also became imitators of us and of the Lord, having received the Word in much tribulation”, there’s our afflictions, “with the joy of the Holy Spirit.” Remarkable, encouraging, and then he writes about them in 2 Corinthians 8, their great ordeal of affliction. They have overflowing joy. Here, when they receive the Word in much tribulation, affliction, they had with it, the “joy of the Holy Spirit, so that you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia. For the Word of the Lord has sounded forth from you, not only in Greece, but also in every place”, and so on. Come over to chapter 2:14, “For you brethren, became imitators of the churches of God in Christ Jesus that are in Judea.” In other words, the church in Thessalonica is imitating the believers, the churches that have been established in Judea, over in the realm of Jerusalem and that surrounding area. “For you also endured the same sufferings at the hands of your own countrymen, even as they did from the Jews.” The Jews in Judea, who became believers, are undergoing intense persecution. The Gentile believers in Thessalonica are undergoing intense persecution from pagan Gentiles, because they’ve become believers. Down in chapter 3 of 1 Thessalonians, Paul says he sent Timothy to encourage them, verse 3, “so that no man may be disturbed by these afflictions; for you yourselves know that we have been destined for this.” Paul didn’t see being persecuted for your faith and your testimony as something out of the ordinary. He saw it as something that is part of the destiny as believers, as they live in an ungodly world, as children of light in the midst of darkness. Verse 4, “For indeed when we were with you, we kept telling you in advance that we were going to suffer affliction; and so, it came to pass, as you know.” So, I wanted to find out, to make sure you have stayed the course been faithful.
Just turn over to 2 Thessalonians 1:4, “therefore, we ourselves speak proudly of you among the churches of God for your perseverance and faith in the midst of all your persecutions and afflictions which you endure.” I mean, these are troubled churches.
Come back to 2 Corinthians 8, so Paul says, verse 2, “that in a great ordeal of affliction their abundance of joy and their deep poverty overflowed in the wealth of their liberality.” Verse 3, “For I testify that according to their ability”, this is going to be an important principle. It will come up again later in the chapter, “according to their ability, and beyond their ability.” The churches in Macedonia are exceptional. The principle that Paul will establish with the Corinthians is you should give according to your ability. That’s true for every believer. But the Macedonians have gone beyond. They gave not only according to their ability, but they also gave beyond their ability. “Of their own accord”, another important principle. If you give because you’re pressured by someone to do it, it doesn’t amount to anything. It gains no approval from God. Because it came out of their own desire. They wanted to do it. In fact, verse 4, “begging us with much entreaty[urging] for the favor [under grace] of participation in the support of the saints.” Evidently, Paul was reluctant to take an offering from the churches in Macedonia. But they had heard about this opportunity to help the poor, suffering Jewish believers in Jerusalem. They recognize the benefit they had received from the Jews. These Jewish believers, and they wanted to be part. Paul’s reluctance to take money from them, to accept an offering from them, they were “begging us with much [urging] for the favor [the grace] of participation.” The word participation, another key word. Paul is going to use a variety of words; money is not one of them. Participation, fellowship, koinonia. Remember the days when everybody was talking about koinonia? You had koinonia groups, and all the little groups called koinonia groups, fellowship groups. It means to share in common, with this privilege, motivated by the grace of God, to be able to share in the fellowship, in supporting the saints, the holy ones in Jerusalem. ‘You know, I can’t take this from you, you’re all but destitute. You need everything you have to take care of yourselves.’ They are begging, ‘no, no, you have to give us the privilege, the grace, the favor of being involved in this way of fellowshipping.’ You know what it’s like, if you’ve ever been in a time of need, and someone has come forward to help you, a fellow believer, with financial support. You feel a bond with them. You are joined together with them. So, they recognize the point, ‘we want the Jewish believers in Jerusalem to know, that we appreciate them, their sacrifice, their testimony, their stand.’ ‘You have to give us the privilege of doing this.’ What’s Paul going to say? So, verse 5, it says it goes beyond, it’s “not as we had expected, for they first gave themselves to the Lord and [then] to us by the will of God.” See how it works out. ‘Paul, we’ve prayed about this, we’ve presented ourselves before the Lord, and Lord we want Your grace to work in our lives. We are firm that this is what the Lord would have us do, by His grace.’ What’s Paul going to say? ‘Don’t do what the Lord would have you do?’ “They first gave themselves to the Lord, then to us.” What can you say? What do you do? ‘I can’t say no. I mean; they gave themselves to the Lord, they tell me they’ve committed this to the Lord, themselves to the Lord. They prayed about it. They really believe that He has moved in their hearts and mind and given them a desire to do this.’ Is Paul going to say, ‘don’t do what the Lord tells you to do?’
So, that’s the situation in this giving, out of the churches in Macedonia. Verse 5, “and this, not as we had expected, but they first gave themselves to the Lord and to us by the will of God.” So, now we’re going to turn, he’s done talking about the Macedonians. He won’t bring them up again for the rest of chapter 8 or 9. He just used them as an example. He’s not creating competition between the Corinthians and the Macedonians. The Macedonians didn’t have the resources to give what the Corinthians would have the resources to give. But what he’s doing is challenging the Corinthians to imitate the faith and conduct of those who live by grace.
So, he says, verse 6, so “we urged Titus that as he had previously made a beginning, so he would also complete in you this gracious work”, this work of grace “as well.” We’re not told the details, but evidently Titus had been Paul’s representative, to come to Corinth initially and tell them about the offering. Paul had written further details about it. So, Titus, who had been Paul’s representative, to go and deal with the conflict, and see how the Corinthians responded to Paul’s previous letter. Now, we find out he had a ministry among the Corinthians and talked to them about this offering. He had made the beginning, so Paul is sending Titus, he’ll be the carrier of this letter, to Corinth again, back to Corinth. So that “he would also complete in you this work of grace.” They made a beginning. It’s important to finish well. A beginning that you don’t finish, is nothing. They are just empty promises. They are just good intentions. So, verse 7, “But just as you abound in everything.” Now, here’s that word again. We had it up in verse 2, “abundance of joy”, “overflowed in the wealth of their liberality.” Here, “you abound in everything.” The grace of God’s been at work at Corinth. You abound “in faith and utterance and knowledge and in all earnestness and in the love, we inspired in you, see that you abound [overflow] in this” work of grace also. We think of the Corinthian church as a church filled with problems. It had more than its share of problems. You understand, it is also a church filled with the grace of God. This is the tragedy of the church at Corinth, the inconsistency. A church filled and overflowing with evidence and manifestation of God’s work of grace in lives. But there were things that they tolerated, that didn’t belong there.
Back to 1 Corinthians 1, Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians. He said to them in verse 3, “Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. I thank my God always concerning you, for the grace of God which was given you in Christ Jesus.” Sounds like what he said about the churches of Macedonian. Let me tell you about the grace of God that was given them, as an ongoing provision of grace. You see, this is the sphere in which we now live. Everything relating to our life, is to be lived now in this sphere, the sphere of God’s grace. His enabling grace is what moves us in our walk with Him. It’s a life of grace. We are saved by grace; we are sanctified by grace. We live by grace. So, the grace of God has been given you. What does that do? “In everything you were enriched in Him, in all speech and all knowledge, even as the testimony concerning Christ was confirmed in you.” Our walk, you see grace manifested in the lives of a person who has been saved. That confirms the reality of their testimony. Not only did they declare that they had placed their faith in Christ, but they also manifest God’s saving grace in the way they live. That’s what he says. “The testimony concerning Christ was confirmed in you.” As in everything you were enriched in Him. Verse 7, “So that you are not lacking in any gift.” That word “gift” is what? We get the word charismatic from it. Charis, gift, grace, charismatic, a grace gift. They don’t fall behind in any of this.
So, come back to 2 Corinthians 8:7, “You abound in everything.” God’s grace manifests itself in overflowing ways, in the church at Corinth. The variety of gifts that Paul talked about in detail in chapters 12, 13 and 14 of his first letter. “The love we inspired in you,” the “out of us, in you love”, the results of Paul’s ministry to them. He talked to them in the “love chapter” in 1 Corinthians 13, about love. Paul says, ‘you abound in these things.” “See that you abound in this work of grace also.” You see, since we live in the realm of grace, I cannot segment things off and say, ‘well, you know, this is my, you know, this is not a spiritual thing, this is just money; not just houses, vacations, buildings, anything. All my life is to be lived in the realm of grace. I must overflow in this area as well. Not good enough that the Corinthians did it in the other areas. If grace is not operating in its fullness in every area of my life, I am deficient. So, “see that you abound in this gracious work also.”
Now, be careful, “I am not speaking this as a command, but as proving through the earnestness of others the sincerity of your love also.” He exhorts them to overflow in this work of grace. ‘But you understand, I’m not commanding you to give to this offering.’ ‘I’m not commanding you.’ ‘But I am proving’, the word testing. The Greek has two words for testing. One – to put to the test with the expectation of approval. Second - put to the test with the expectation of failure. This is the word for proving with the expectation of success. “But as proving through the earnestness of others the sincerity”, genuineness “of your love also.” ‘I’m just challenging you, with the manifestation of God’s grace and the consequence of love. Love offering, if you will, that came from the Macedonians.’ But I’m not commanding you to give to this offering. But it is a test for you, to demonstrate the zeal, the genuineness of your love. It’s a test, an opportunity to demonstrate genuine grace at work in producing love. So, verse 9, second example, we close here. We had the Macedonians, but here’s the greatest example of all. “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sake He became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich.” Just the opposite of the Macedonians. The Macedonians were poor, but they overflowed in the wealth of their liberality, for the benefit of others. Christ was immeasurably rich, but He became poor so that we might become rich. Talk about, “you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ.” This is the foundational grace of God. Him providing our salvation. “Though He was rich.” The one who dwelt in eternity with God the Father and God the Holy Spirit. The one who shared the glory of God in John 17, as He anticipated His crucifixion when he said, “Restore to me the glory which I had with you before the world was.” How do you measure the glory that belonged to Him as God? But He was rich, but what happened? He became poor, that envelopes all of the incarnation, from His birth to His death, climaxed with His resurrection. Why? He humbled Himself and became obedient even to the obedience of death, for our salvation. Therefore, God has highly exulted Him, so that you, through His poverty might become rich. I mean, you see, you can’t be saved by trying to follow the example of Christ. Salvation is by grace through faith. But Christ sets an example for us, in the grace that was bestowed upon us. How can we be selfish? How can our giving be corrupted by covetousness? If I give, I won’t have it for me. Amazing, the grace of Christ that covers everything. That’s why we started out by talking about the grace of God in His salvation. That’s the ultimate example. But then around us, there are examples of that grace being manifested in concrete ways. Think about our material things. There are clear substantial ways we see the grace of God working in our lives. The example of the Macedonians challenges us with their zeal, to display God’s grace in this area of their lives. The example of the one who is our Savior, that has brought all the benefits of God’s salvation to us at great cost to Him and no cost to us. Now, we have the riches of eternity. We’ve talked about some of this and what God has prepared for those who love Him. The New Jerusalem is the eternal dwelling and the glory of God and the splendor that will be ours. How do you measure that? That is to control the way we think about our giving. We’re going to go on then to give his opinion on what the Corinthians should do. It all has to be governed by grace. It all has to be a result of God’s grace. If you’re here and don’t know Jesus Christ, and you have five million dollars you want to give, don’t give it here. Go buy an island some place. Enjoy it in the little time you have. Eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow you die. God doesn’t need my money. He doesn’t need your money. He’s a God without need. He says, ‘If I had need, I wouldn’t tell you.’ Because we couldn’t do anything about it. He has no need. But His grace works in our lives. His intention is, that grace be manifest, the salvation He has brought us, in every aspect of our lives, including our giving. That’s why we believe in giving from a basis of God’s grace.

Let’s pray together. Thank You Lord, for the greatest gift of all, the gift of Your Son. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ who was rich, but He became poor, so we, through His poverty, might become rich. These are immeasurable truths, yet Lord, we thank You that we are privileged to live in light of these truths. To manifest Your grace in these very real and tangible ways. Pray the truth of Your Word would grip our hearts and minds. That all areas of our lives might evidence the overflowing grace in which we live. We pray in Christ’s name. Amen.