2 Corinthians 8 | The Upward Way | Bible Study with A. Z. Adams — Transcript

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1. 0:002 Corinthians [music] chapter 8 verse 1.
2. 0:03Now, brethren, we wish to make known to
3. 0:06you the grace of God which has been
4. 0:08given
5. 0:09in the churches of Macedonia.
6. 0:12So, Paul has [music] just come through a
7. 0:14season of
8. 0:16rebuking them yet again, encouraging
9. 0:19those who've responded, [music]
10. 0:21explaining that
11. 0:23the separation that needs to take place
12. 0:26in their life is to make room for the
13. 0:28presence of the Lord and the company
14. 0:31[music] of his people.
15. 0:33And he's encouraged them in the end of
16. 0:35the previous chapter.
17. 0:37He says that he is rejoicing [music]
18. 0:39that in everything he has confidence in
19. 0:41them again.
20. 0:43And now to this church who he's just
21. 0:45ministered to about repentance, he says,
22. 0:47"I want to make known to you the grace
23. 0:48of God
24. 0:49which
25. 0:51is unfolding
26. 0:53>> [music]
27. 0:53>> in the churches of Macedonia. Now,
28. 0:54brethren, we wish to make known to you
29. 0:57the grace of God
30. 0:58>> [music]
31. 0:58>> which has been given in the churches of
32. 1:01Macedonia.
33. 1:03That in a great ordeal of affliction
34. 1:07their abundance of joy and their deep
35. 1:10poverty overflowed in the wealth of
36. 1:13their liberality.
37. 1:17So, his point is, "I want you guys to
38. 1:20change how you understand grace.
39. 1:23I want to point out that the church that
40. 1:26I think is abounding in more grace than
41. 1:28anybody
42. 1:29is one that is not getting this grace
43. 1:32because [music] of prosperity
44. 1:34and because everything's going well.
45. 1:37Instead, I want you to understand that
46. 1:40the grace of God is abounding toward
47. 1:42[music] them
48. 1:44in their deep poverty
49. 1:47and their affliction.
50. 1:50I want you to understand that joy and
51. 1:54grace and wealth of liberality
52. 1:59is coexisting with poverty and
53. 2:03affliction
54. 2:05and great trial.
55. 2:07And what this tells us is that part of
56. 2:09the way people were trying to separate
57. 2:13the church from Paul is they were saying
58. 2:16that his afflictions were the judgment
59. 2:17of God.
60. 2:20He was being lied about.
61. 2:22People in the church were accusing Paul
62. 2:25of stealing the money that had been
63. 2:28promised to Jerusalem.
64. 2:31So, he was making a collection from
65. 2:33church to church and taking it to
66. 2:35Jerusalem and they're saying, "No, Paul
67. 2:37is stealing it and spending it on
68. 2:38himself."
69. 2:40And [music] so there is slander,
70. 2:43there is dishonesty,
71. 2:45and Paul is coming under terrible bad
72. 2:48repute,
73. 2:49not for having done anything wrong.
74. 2:52And he is trying to say to them, "You
75. 2:54need to get out of your heads that
76. 2:56those who are spoken of well are in the
77. 2:59grace of God, but those who are
78. 3:01persecuted, misunderstood, lied about,
79. 3:03and slandered, they're somehow under
80. 3:05God's judgment. You need to get that out
81. 3:08of your head." And he starts with that
82. 3:11and he's still in that in the eighth
83. 3:12chapter.
84. 3:15And he's he's saying, "I want you to
85. 3:16think about the church I believe has
86. 3:19more grace than you guys.
87. 3:21It's coexisting with a lot of problems.
88. 3:25I want you to rethink how you understand
89. 3:27God's grace." Verse three, "For I
90. 3:29testify
91. 3:31that according to their ability and
92. 3:33beyond their ability, they gave
93. 3:37of their own accord,
94. 3:39begging us with much urging for the
95. 3:42favor of participation
96. 3:45in the support of the saints.
97. 3:48And this, not as we had expected,
98. 3:52but they first gave themselves to the
99. 3:55Lord and to us by the will of God.
100. 4:00So,
101. 4:01he says, "This church that is going
102. 4:03through a great poverty,
103. 4:07this church that is in terrible
104. 4:09affliction,
105. 4:10was the most determined to be part
106. 4:13of the support of others.
107. 4:15They were the the first to participate
108. 4:19in the sacrifice sacrificial giving and
109. 4:21support of others.
110. 4:23They were not the ones who were sitting
111. 4:25back saying, 'You don't know how much
112. 4:26we've gone through.'
113. 4:28They were the ones who were stepping up
114. 4:31and determined to help.
115. 4:34But what was the order by which they
116. 4:37helped?
117. 4:38Did they say, 'We want to
118. 4:40get God's favor, so we're going to
119. 4:42really sacrifice
120. 4:44for the ministry and hope that God likes
121. 4:47us for that.' Is that the order by which
122. 4:49they they gave themselves?
123. 4:52No, he gives us an order, first and
124. 4:55second. What is the first?
125. 4:58They gave themselves first to God
126. 5:02and then to us according to the will of
127. 5:04God.
128. 5:07So, there's an order.
129. 5:09Your relationship with God comes first.
130. 5:12Your devotion to God comes first. Your
131. 5:15obedience to God comes first.
132. 5:18And if you're anchored first in how
133. 5:20you're giving yourself to the Lord, then
134. 5:22you'll know how to give yourself to
135. 5:24others according to the will of God in
136. 5:27order to serve and support the ministry.
137. 5:31So, we urged Titus that as he had
138. 5:33previously made a beginning, so he would
139. 5:35also complete in you this gracious work
140. 5:39as well.
141. 5:40So, he says, "You guys are not like the
142. 5:43Macedonian churches. You haven't yet
143. 5:46brought in a complete offering.
144. 5:49But we've urged Titus to go ahead and
145. 5:51make complete what started.
146. 5:54They're apparently needing to raise some
147. 5:56funds for an urgent need.
148. 5:58And Paul is saying, the churches that
149. 6:00were the fastest to give
150. 6:03were the churches who were the poorest
151. 6:04and the most hurting.
152. 6:06But the churches that are the most
153. 6:07reluctant are the ones that are the
154. 6:09richest and the most
155. 6:11able to serve. So he says, we urged
156. 6:14Titus, you need to go ahead and finish
157. 6:16and help that beginning turn into a
158. 6:18completion.
159. 6:19But just as you abound in everything,
160. 6:22in faith and utterance and knowledge and
161. 6:26in all earnestness and in the love we
162. 6:28inspired in you, see that you abound in
163. 6:32this gracious work also.
164. 6:34So he tells them, we know that you guys
165. 6:36are really good at
166. 6:39faith and utterance, talk, and
167. 6:43knowledge, and all earnestness,
168. 6:46and in love that we inspired in you.
169. 6:49Um we want you also to abound in this
170. 6:53gracious work also. We want you to be
171. 6:56givers. We want you to be sacrificial.
172. 6:59We want you to participate in what the
173. 7:01other churches are doing and not just
174. 7:04what you're doing yourself.
175. 7:06I am not speaking this as a command,
176. 7:09but as proving through the earnestness
177. 7:12of others the sincerity of your love
178. 7:15also.
179. 7:16So he says, I'm not forcing you to do
180. 7:18this. I am not going to say you need to
181. 7:19give this much,
182. 7:21but I want you to prove to me
183. 7:23what you claim. I want you to prove to
184. 7:25me
185. 7:26that you really do feel like you say you
186. 7:29feel.
187. 7:30For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus
188. 7:32Christ that though he was rich, yet for
189. 7:35your sake he became poor,
190. 7:38so that you through his poverty might
191. 7:40become rich.
192. 7:43I give my opinion in this matter
193. 7:46for this is to your advantage.
194. 7:48Who were the first to begin a year ago
195. 7:50not only to do this, but also to desire
196. 7:53to do it.
197. 7:55So he says, "I'm I'm giving you my
198. 7:56opinion, but I'm going to leave it up to
199. 7:58you how you're going to obey this."
200. 8:01But now finish doing it also so that
201. 8:03just as there was the readiness to
202. 8:05desire it
203. 8:07so there may also be the completion
204. 8:10of it by your ability.
205. 8:13So the Corinthians were the first to
206. 8:15say, "Let's do it. Let's support this
207. 8:17mission work."
208. 8:19Like so many churches do.
209. 8:21We'd love to participate. We'd love to
210. 8:22help out.
211. 8:24But he's saying, "You haven't actually
212. 8:26finished it. You've given less than a
213. 8:28lot [clears throat] poorer churches have
214. 8:30offered."
215. 8:31But now finish doing it also so that
216. 8:33just as there was the readiness to
217. 8:35desire it, so there may also be the
218. 8:37completion of your ability.
219. 8:40For if the readiness is present, it is
220. 8:42acceptable according to what a person
221. 8:44has, not according to what a person does
222. 8:47not have.
223. 8:48There's no outside standard where God's
224. 8:50going to make you give some arbitrary
225. 8:52amount. Just give what he's given. Just
226. 8:55give according to your ability, not
227. 8:56according to what you think you ought to
228. 8:58give, but give according to what you
229. 9:00have.
230. 9:03For this is not for the ease of others
231. 9:05and for your affliction
232. 9:07but by way of equality.
233. 9:10At this present time, your abundance
234. 9:12being a supply for their need so that
235. 9:15their abundance also may become a supply
236. 9:18for your need. And that there may be
237. 9:21equality. As it is written, he who
238. 9:23gathered much did not have too much, and
239. 9:26he who gathered little had no lack.
240. 9:28So he's saying we're meeting a need in
241. 9:31the church, but someday they're going to
242. 9:32meet a need in you. And this isn't to
243. 9:34make you poor. This isn't to make you
244. 9:36miserable. That's not what he wants. He
245. 9:39just wants you to understand that there
246. 9:40needs to be some equality. If this
247. 9:42church is suffering, you need to help
248. 9:44out. And if you're suffering one day,
249. 9:47they're going to turn around and help
250. 9:48out, too.
251. 9:49This is equality that is completely
252. 9:52voluntary.
253. 9:53Paul is not Caesar. Paul is not a tax
254. 9:56collector.
255. 9:57He's not ordering them to do it. He's
256. 10:00keeping it completely voluntary, but he
257. 10:02wants there to be a culture of equality
258. 10:04in the church.
259. 10:06Not so that one will suffer because
260. 10:08another was suffering,
261. 10:09but so that when there is an abundance
262. 10:11and also a poverty or a great need,
263. 10:15there would be some equalizing.
264. 10:18But thanks be to God, who puts the same
265. 10:20earnestness on your behalf in the heart
266. 10:22of Titus.
267. 10:24For he not only accepted our appeal,
268. 10:27but being himself very earnest, he has
269. 10:30gone to you of his own accord.
270. 10:33We have sent along with him the brother
271. 10:35whose fame in the things of the gospel
272. 10:37has [music] spread through all the
273. 10:39churches.
274. 10:40And not only this, but he has also been
275. 10:42appointed by the churches to travel with
276. 10:45us in this gracious work, which is being
277. 10:48administered by us for the glory of the
278. 10:51Lord himself
279. 10:52and to show our readiness,
280. 10:54taking precaution so that no one will
281. 10:57discredit us in our administration
282. 10:58[music]
283. 10:59of this generous gift. For we have
284. 11:02regard for what is honorable and not
285. 11:05only in the sight of the Lord, but also
286. 11:07in the sight of men.
287. 11:09So they're sending Titus,
288. 11:11and they're also sending an unnamed
289. 11:13brother.
290. 11:14It may be Apollos, but it's somebody who
291. 11:16is recognized by all the churches. And
292. 11:19he's saying, "I'm sending him along with
293. 11:21you [music] so that you know that the
294. 11:23way we're handling this is not how
295. 11:25people accuse us, [music] but it is
296. 11:27honorable.
297. 11:28We're wanting to do everything
298. 11:30honorably.
299. 11:31We have sent with them our brother, whom
300. 11:34we have often tested and found diligent
301. 11:37in many [music] things, but now even
302. 11:39more diligent because of his great
303. 11:41confidence in you.
304. 11:43As for Titus, he is [music] my partner
305. 11:45and fellow worker among you.
306. 11:48As for our brethren, they are messengers
307. 11:51of the churches, a glory [music] to
308. 11:53Christ. So, they were being sent by the
309. 11:56churches as apostles of the churches,
310. 11:58messengers of the churches
311. 12:00>> [music]
312. 12:00>> to take care of this issue. Therefore,
313. 12:04openly, before the churches, show them
314. 12:07the proof of your love and of our reason
315. 12:10for boasting about you.
316. 12:14>> [music]
317. 12:24[music]