Godly Boasting
2 Corinthians • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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Videos of Paul’s missionary journeys to help explain how the collection for the poor saints in Jerusalem progressed.
28 One of them named Agabus stood up and began to indicate by the Spirit that there would certainly be a great famine all over the world. And this took place in the reign of Claudius.
25 but now, I am going to Jerusalem serving the saints.
26 For Macedonia and Achaia have been pleased to make a contribution for the poor among the saints in Jerusalem.
27 Yes, 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.
Godly giving doesn’t just happen, but when it does, it something to be proud about in the Lord. Paul was proud of the Giving of the church in Corinth. Proper pride is another form of praise, when God gets all the credit for a work that is done through us.
Signs of Stewardship that Honors God and worth boasting about.
1. Zeal
1. Zeal
1 For it is superfluous for me to write to you about this ministry to the saints;
Superfluous = Uncommon, remarkable, or strange.
2 for I know your readiness, of which I boast about you to the Macedonians, namely, that Achaia has been prepared since last year, and your zeal has stirred up most of them.
Readiness = eagerness or willingness.
Achaia - The churches around Corinth in the area of Achaia.
Zeal = noble passion. The church in Corinth was so zealous for this project over a year ago, that the other churches caught their generosity bug and joined in the project because of Corinth’s lead.
Prepared - It seems that Paul was concerned that even though they had started receiving gifts for Jerusalem, they either had not continued collecting the gifts or had decided to not following through with handing over the gifts because of the rift with the Apostle Paul.
24 and let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds,
Are you eager to minister for your Lord Jesus? Are you zealous to give to Him through His body?
2. Prepared
2. Prepared
3 But I have sent the brethren, in order that our boasting about you may not be made empty in this case, so that, as I was saying, you may be prepared;
4 otherwise if any Macedonians come with me and find you unprepared, we—not to speak of you—will be put to shame by this confidence.
It seems Paul would have known what the Corinthians had promised to give. It may have been that the Corinthians had assets like property or homes that they pledged to sell. Part of the preparation then would be to turn those assets into money that could be used by the saints in Jerusalem.
The Bible Exposition Commentary Chapter Eight: The Grace of Giving—Part 2 (2 Corinthians 9)
Paul had used the zeal of the Corinthians to challenge the Macedonians; but now he was using the Macedonians to challenge the Corinthians!
We need to be careful not flaunt our giving by telling how much we give or advertising what each person gives. That is not what the Lord taught…
1 “Beware of practicing your righteousness before men to be noticed by them; otherwise you have no reward with your Father who is in heaven.
2 “So when you give to the poor, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, so that they may be honored by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full.
3 “But when you give to the poor, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing,
4 so that your giving will be in secret; and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you.
If we are boasting about our giving then we we are not giving according to grace.
Ways to be prepared: Selling property or things so that you can give larger gifts. End of life giving that minimizes the tax you pay so that you can maximize your gift to the Lord. Taking home offering envelopes.
Non-giving ways to be prepared: Thinking ahead of time who you can have over for dinner after church. Having some specific encouragement for people that you know you will see in church. Having a praise ready that you can share during the service. etc.
3. Gracious
3. Gracious
5 So I thought it necessary to urge the brethren that they would go on ahead to you and arrange beforehand your previously promised bountiful gift, so that the same would be ready as a bountiful gift and not affected by covetousness.
bountiful gift = blessing or praise.
covetousness = begrudging obligation, greed.
This is a serious spiritual matter. It is idolatry
5 Therefore consider the members of your earthly body as dead to immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed, which amounts to idolatry.
S Lewis Johnson: four ways to give,
1. We can give as a duty. You give just like you send your checks into the IRS. You have to do it.
2. We can give to find self-satisfaction. It makes you feel good to give. This is essentially a selfish kind of giving.
3. We can give to have some prestige among the saints or even among the world. If you gave a certain amount of money they would put your name on a plaque in one of the rooms of the building. That kind of giving is for prestige. The gift is not given to help; it’s to glorify the giver.
4 We can give according to the principle of Grace Giving. Giving in gratefulness for all that the Lord Jesus has done for you. It is Sacrificial giving, It is giving within your means, it starts with giving of yourselves to God.
This is the kind of giving that pleases God and is honorable among people.
4. Generous
4. Generous
6 Now this I say, he who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.
300 Illustrations for Preachers Waitress Receives $6,000 Tip
Waitress Receives $6,000 Tip
Proverbs 19:17; Matthew 5:42; Acts 20:35; 2 Corinthians 9:7; Hebrews 13:16; 1 John 3:17
Preaching Themes: Giving, Money
Abigail Sailors was a waitress in a Cracker Barrel restaurant in Nebraska. The eighteen-year-old waitress was waiting on a table of men who were interested in her story. She told them how after a rough childhood in foster homes she had managed to enroll at Trinity Bible College in North Dakota. Unable to afford the second semester, she returned to Nebraska to work. The men left her a $100 tip; then one of them wrote the college a $5,000 check to cover her tuition and another for $1,000 to cover her expenses. Sailors said, “It forever changed my heart and my life.”
What a blessing these men were to Abigail, and how blessed they must be to be able to make such a difference in a life.
—Jim L. Wilson and Rodger Russell116
When we give in the light of the grace of God, we can be generous because Our Lord has been so generous to us.
Do you see these signs of Stewardship that honors God in your ministry? How can you apply these truths to loving the Lord Jesus and His body the church?
