Sermon for 6/27/21 15 Minutes - "Generous Giving!"
Notes
Transcript
2 Corinthians 8:7-15
2 Corinthians 8:7-15
This morning I'll be reading 2 Corinthians chapter 8 verses 7 through 15.
And I'll be reading from the Holman Christian Standard Bible.
2 Corinthians 8:7–15
Paul is appealing to the Corinthians to follow the example set by the churches in Macedonia when it comes to helping others.
2 Corinthians 8:7–15 (HCSB)
7 Now as you excel in everything—faith, speech, knowledge, and in all diligence, and in your love for us —excel also in this grace. 8 I am not saying this as a command. Rather, by means of the diligence of others, I am testing the genuineness of your love. 9 For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ: Though He was rich, for your sake He became poor, so that by His poverty you might become rich. 10 Now I am giving an opinion on this because it is profitable for you, who a year ago began not only to do something but also to desire it. 11 But now finish the task as well, that just as there was eagerness to desire it, so there may also be a completion from what you have. 12 For if the eagerness is there, it is acceptable according to what one has, not according to what he does not have. 13 It is not that there may be relief for others and hardship for you, but it is a question of equality — 14 at the present time your surplus is available for their need, so their abundance may also become available for our need, so there may be equality. 15 As it has been written: The person who gathered much did not have too much, and the person who gathered little did not have too little.
God bless the reading and the hearing of your word this morning.
Let us pray:
Dear Lord,,, as we begin this morning,,, with everyone here today and all that are listening and watching by video,,, we ask that you open our ears to hear and our hearts and minds to receive the message that you have for us today,,, In Jesus' name I pray,,, Amen.
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As you heard during the announcements we had our Annual conference this week and I loved participating from home and voting through by computer.
I miss visiting with others but it was definitely a lot easier to do here rather than driving to Jackson.
As you will see during this sermon,,, there was some information given about the generosity of Mississippi Methodist that I will share.
As we begin,,, I wanted to remind you that last Sunday we looked at "Trusting Jesus Through the Storms in Our Life".
And this morning we will look at the words of Paul and his letter to the Corinthians about "Generous Giving".
So let's begin as we see how these verses can help us in our walk with God this week.
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Verse 7 says: 7 Now as you excel in everything—faith, speech, knowledge, and in all diligence, and in your love for us —excel also in this grace.
If you read the verses leading up to the verses of today you will see that Paul is using the Macedonian churches as an example of the way that the Corinthian churches should act.
In chapter 8:2-4 it says: 2 During a severe testing by affliction, their abundance of joy and their deep poverty overflowed into the wealth of their generosity. 3 I testify that, on their own, according to their ability and beyond their ability, 4 they begged us insistently for the privilege of sharing in the ministry to the saints,
They were able to help because they understood that God had been so good to them,,, they wanted to help even though they weren’t rich in material goods,,, but they trusted God to meet their needs instead of worrying about how they would take care of things themselves.
The Macedonians had made it a point to give to the missions to help spread the gospel further,,, even though Paul had not specifically asked them for help.
But,,, Paul understood,,, that because of all that God had done for them,,, even in spite of all of the persecution that they were facing,,, the Macedonians wanted to help.
And now he’s telling the Corinthians that because of all that God has done for them,,, and the love that He’s shown them,,, they should do no less.
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Verse 8 says: 8 I am not saying this as a command. Rather, by means of the diligence of others, I am testing the genuineness of your love.
Paul isn’t telling them that this is something that he is demanding that they do,,, but,,, he is telling them that he is testing them,,, and he is testing them through the genuineness of your love.
Paul is telling them,,, that because of their love for Jesus,,, their love for him,,, and the commandment of Jesus,,, “to love your neighbor as yourself” ,,, they should want to help.
This should be true for us today as well.
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Verse 9 says: 9 For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ: Though He was rich, for your sake He became poor, so that by His poverty you might become rich.
The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ,,, Refers to Jesus’ generosity shown to us through His incarnation and death,,, and,,, Jesus offered Himself willingly and sacrificially—an example for all believers (John 10:18; 1 John 3:16).
Though he was rich,,, Refers to Jesus’ preexistence as the Son of God,,, where He enjoyed the presence of the Father and shared in His glory (John 17:5).
He became poor,,, Refers to the incarnation of Jesus and His social standing while on earth (Luke 9:58). Paul is also thinking of Jesus’ earthly poverty,,, as well as His suffering and death (e.g., Phil 2:6–8).
Paul uses Jesus’ choice to become poor as the beginning point of his appeal for the Jerusalem collection,,, then by tying in the gift of salvation and its blessings—which is,,, the inheritance of God’s kingdom,,, the righteousness of God,,, and glorification (1 Cor 15:50; 2 Cor 5:21),,, all of these together,,, should make them realize how much God has blessed them.
And Paul believes that by bringing this to their attention,,, the Corinthian believers ought to appreciate and imitate Jesus’ self-sacrifice on behalf of others.
And again,,, we should take note of this as well.
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Verse 10 says: 10 Now I am giving an opinion on this because it is profitable for you, who a year ago began not only to do something but also to desire it.
According to my Believer’s Bible Commentary,,, this collection had been talked about a year earlier,,, even before the Macedonians became involved.
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Verses 11 and 12 say: 11 But now finish the task as well, that just as there was eagerness to desire it, so there may also be a completion from what you have. 12 For if the eagerness is there, it is acceptable according to what one has, not according to what he does not have.
Whatever their reason was for delay,,, Paul tells them that they should forget about it and complete the job which they had started.
And,,, they should do it with the money that they had at the time,,, instead of waiting to see what they could do in the future if their wealth increased.
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Verses 13 and 14 say: 13 It is not that there may be relief for others and hardship for you, but it is a question of equality — 14 at the present time your surplus is available for their need, so their abundance may also become available for our need, so there may be equality.
Paul wasn’t telling the Corinthians to give when they didn’t have enough for themselves,,, instead,,, he was saying that since the need was there,,, and they had enough to help,,, then they should help because,,, as their own needs change,,, then others could help them later.
That way,,, it would help everyone to have the funds that they needed for the ministry that God was leading them to do.
Paul gives them an example from the Old Testament,,, in the next verse.
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Verse 15 says: 15 As it has been written: The person who gathered much did not have too much, and the person who gathered little did not have too little.
This is from Exodus 16:18 and if you remember,,, the Israelites were able to gather manna every morning,,, and depending on the size of their household,,, some would be able to gather more than others.
But none of them could gather more than would be eaten in a day,,, my Holman Christian Standard Bible says,,, 2 quarts,,, according to Exodus 16:16,,, and the King James version says,,, an omer.
Regardless of how much each family gathered,,, they were only able to gather as much as they could eat,,, they couldn’t gather more than this or it would spoil.
Of course,,, they gathered twice as much on the sixth day because the manna would not appear on the Sabbath,,, and it did not spoil.
But,,, the point that Paul was trying to make,,, was that when God gave food to the Israelites,,, He did so equally,,, according to their needs,,, and the church should do no less.
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So as we have seen this morning,,, God intends for us to help others every chance that we can.
He doesn't want us to spend what we don't have,,, but at the same time,,, we must learn to trust Him when we are tasked with supplying help to others.
We need to remember these words of Paul as we go forward and we find ourselves trying to figure out what we need to do when we see a need that we should take care of.
I believe that there are some things,,, that we can do better,,, and hopefully we will use these words to help us along the way.
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At the same time,,, satan may have intended this virus to cripple the church,,, but we have seen where our giving during this pandemic has remained consistent throughout the state.
Actually,,, as we have seen during our annual conference,,, our giving as Mississippi United Methodist was still great,,, and even went up 1%,,, all during a national pandemic.
We had our ups and downs here locally,,, but,,, we are still here and thriving,,, and I'm sure that isn't what satan had in mind last year when all of this began.
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So this week as we go about our day and week,,, hopefully we will keep an eye out for needs wherever we are,,, and do our best to answer that need as we are able.
We want to hear that we have been consistent in our giving,,, and helping others,,, just as we have been commanded by Jesus.
And we can use these words from Paul to help us remember,,, that it's through the help that we give each other,,, that can help all of us,,, in our,,, "Generous Giving"!
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Hymn: 337 - Oakdale
Hymn: 337 - Seminary
Benediction
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