2 Corinthians - Lesson 7C&8A

• Welcome back to our study of 2 Corinthians the 7th Chapter. Last week we ended our teaching by finishing up verses 8-12.

  • In those verses we read where Paul shifted the tone of his writings, where He moved from that of a negative or corrective type of writing to more of a positive or encouraging writing.

    • And why was that? Well it was because of the words of Titus, his disciple and protege.

  • If you remember, Paul had previously written a letter to the church of Corinth, a letter known as the “severe letter”. And as we have come to learn, it was known as the severe letter due to its harshness and severity of tone.

  • And as it is with most of Paul’s writings, he wrote that letter trying to correct the church's behavior. And so once the letter was complete he gave it to Titus, and Titus hand delivered it to the Church of Corinth.

    •  Obviously this had to be the case, since there was no FedEx, UPS, text or email - or any planes, trains and or automobiles.

    • So, Titus walked the letter to the church, which meant Paul had to wait to hear back from him.

  • And sure enough finally, after a very long wait, Paul meets up with Titus in a town known as Macedonia.

    • And when Titus arrives he delivers Paul some good news. He let Paul know that the church had received the letter and they responded accordingly.

    • They repented and changed their behavior.

    • And not only did they repent, they also dealt with the individual inside the church who was causing all the problems.

• It was at that point, that the tone of Paul’s writings shifted here in the 7th Chapter of 2 Corinthians from that of a negative tone to that of a positive one.

  • Now, in an effort to bring us back up to speed and to stay in context, I want us to back up re-read Verses 8-12 from last week, and from there we will proceed forward into the last half of Chapter 7 and then progress into Chapter 8. And here is what Paul said:

2 Cor. 7:8 For though I caused you sorrow by my letter, I do not regret it; though I did regret it—for I see that that letter caused you sorrow, though only for a while—
2 Cor. 7:9 I now rejoice, not that you were made sorrowful, but that you were made sorrowful to the point of repentance; for you were made sorrowful according to the will of God, so that you might not suffer loss in anything through us.
2 Cor. 7:10 For the sorrow that is according to the will of God produces a repentance without regret, leading to salvation, but the sorrow of the world produces death.
2 Cor. 7:11 For behold what earnestness this very thing, this godly sorrow, has produced in you: what vindication of yourselves, what indignation, what fear, what longing, what zeal, what punishment of wrong! In everything you demonstrated yourselves to be innocent in the matter.
2 Cor. 7:12 So although I wrote to you, it was not for the sake of the offender nor for the sake of the one offended, but that your earnestness in our behalf might be made known to you in the sight of God. 

• I won't go back over what all we studied pertaining to these verses, only to say that Paul made it clear; He was sorrowful about what he wrote, how it caused them pain, but not really because the letter accomplished its intended purpose.

  • Which was what? That they repent and dealt with the man inside their fellowship who was causing all the issues.

  • The man who was telling them that Paul wasn’t an Apostle, that he didn’t have Apostolic powers and therefore they shouldn’t listen to him.

    • I won’t elaborate too much on this only to say I have been involved in church for many years, and on a few occasions, I have dealt with this same type of person. Someone who is always stirring up trouble inside the fellowship – baseless trouble I might add.

    • And let me be clear, sometimes things must be dealt with from a church leadership standpoint. That’s not what I am talking about.

    • I am talking about an individual who stirs up trouble because that’s what makes them tick – they love it and they feed off of it.

  • And as I said, I have dealt with this myself a few times. Matter a fact, when we started this church we had an individual doing this very thing week in and week out.

    • He was constantly trying to catch me making a mistake as it related to what I taught. This was extremely taxing and irritating to say the least.

    • Having said that I will say, through much prayer and patience (which is a miracle in and of itself for me to have patience) God handled it.

    • And He also taught me something, which was to be prepared to study and know what I was teaching, to not take it lightly. And that’s what I did.

• Anyways, God handled this individual in our church, and let me say that at the core of what this man was all about, it really simply boiled down to pride – this person had an agenda and he was determined to push it through to completion.

  • I later on found out he had done the same thing in other churches by the way, and he also tried to get others on board with him as well. Which is always the case as “Misery loves company”. And why? Because that person always needs support, to feed their ego and keep the narrative going.

    • And let me just remind the church, if you don’t feed into someone when they try and cause dissension they will eventually either conform or leave. So when someone tries to cause trouble, be the one to stamp it out.

• Next we move into verses 13-16 where Paul writes the following:

2 Cor. 7:13 Because of this, we have been comforted. And besides our comfort, we rejoiced even much more for the joy of Titus, because his spirit has been refreshed by you all. 
2 Cor. 7:14 For if I have boasted to him about you regarding anything, I was not put to shame. But as we spoke all things to you in truth, so also our boasting before Titus proved to be the truth. 
2 Cor. 7:15 His affection abounds all the more toward you, as he remembers the obedience of you all, how you received him with fear and trembling. 
2 Cor. 7:16 I rejoice that in everything I have confidence in you.

• I’ll try and paraphrase this section for you real quick: Paul writes that once they received the good news the church repented. He and the other disciples were comforted, and they also received joy because they saw in Titus that his spirit had been refreshed by the church’s reaction to Paul’s letter.

  • This is another truth of scripture – You and I have in our possession the ability to bring a refreshing into the life of another believer.

    • In other words when someone gets down, we have the ability to lift them up. And we can do that through the way we act and/or react to life’s difficulties.

  • Follow me here for just a moment because of how this church reacted to Paul’s “Severe Letter”, which was to repent and to change their ways, Titus' spirit was refreshed.

    • Another way to say it is he had some of his faith in humanity restored. Their reaction gave him hope and gave him strength to carry on.

    • This also happens when we share our hardships and struggles with other believers as well, especially in times of their own personal trial and tribulation.

  • You see, when we recall, reflect and testify to the goodness of God – specifically as it relates to “His Mercy and Grace”, how he brought us through whatever it was – that testimony always has a way of lifting people up.

    • And so, just remember that because part of the church’s responsibility – Part of your responsibility as a believer – is to lift up your brothers and sisters and to refresh each other’s spirit.

    • And as I said, one of the best ways to do that is through our own testimony – by recounting what God has done for us, and/or what he did for another brother or sister – the gift of our testimony is a gift we should always bestow on another individual.

    • So remember that and be sure to share it and don’t hold it in!

• Next, finishing with verse 14-16, Paul says he boasted about them, that he had confidence in them. Essentially what he was saying was, I knew you would do the right thing and that’s what I told Titus.

  • And so the sense here is that he told Titus that they would repent, and when they did he was relieved, all because what he said would happen, happened.

  • Many times, we too can find this same type of relief or solace when we tell someone that God will not leave them nor forsake them (even though they themselves may not be able to see that in the moment), but then sure enough God shows up and does exactly what we said he would do.

    • I find this especially true when someone is going through a very difficult time. Maybe something that I’ve never gone through. Let me say in those times the best thing to say is either A) Nothing at all or B) Simply say "I can’t imagine what you are going through"

    • In those times, it's best to refrain from trying to connect with their pain as if you understand their situation or circumstance.

    • When we do this it almost always comes off manufactured, fake and/or disingenuous. And that’s almost always the case even if you aren’t trying to be fake or disingenuous. Even if you are trying to be sincere!

  • Instead of trying to make a connection, just simply say "I can’t imagine what you are going through, can I pray with you?" And then when you pray ask God to give them peace – a peace that will eventually lead to understanding.

    • You can also say, "I don’t know where all this is going, but I do know that God is still on his throne and that He loves you. And that He is doing something even in this tragedy, and in time He will reveal the purpose behind all of this."

  • And for us when He reveals it that’s when we can rejoice and find confidence in the Lord. That’s when you can use that situation as a testimony to lift someone else up and refresh their spirit. That’s the sense of what Paul is saying here.

• Moving on into Chapter 8 my NASB entitles this next section "Generosity Commended". I want you to listen to what Paul wrote:

2 Cor. 8:1 Now, brothers and sisters, we make known to you the grace of God which has been given in the churches of Macedonia,
2 Cor. 8:2  that in a great ordeal of affliction their abundance of joy and their deep poverty overflowed in the wealth of their liberality.
2 Cor. 8:3 For I testify that according to their ability, and beyond their ability, they gave voluntarily,
2 Cor. 8:4 begging us with much urging for the favor of participation in the support of the saints,
2 Cor. 8:5 and this, not as we had expected, but they first gave themselves to the Lord and to us by the will of God.
2 Cor. 8:6 So we urged Titus that as he had previously made a beginning, so he would also complete in you this gracious work as well.
2 Cor. 8:7 But just as you excel in everything, in faith, speaking, knowledge, and in all earnestness and in the love we inspired in you, see that you also excel in this gracious work.
2 Cor. 8:8 I am not saying this as a command, but as proving, through the earnestness of others, the sincerity of your love as well.
2 Cor. 8:9 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.

• In these verses Paul makes another shift. He moves from boasting about the confidence he had in the church of Corinth, to encouraging them to be like their church brothers and sisters to the north, the churches in Macedonia.

  • He encourages them to emulate these churches in a very specific way, as it pertains to their generosity, to their giving!

  • In these next several verses Paul is going to paint a picture for us, a picture of what I call a foundational truth or principal of God as it relates to giving.

  • Beginning with verses 1-3 Paul says:

2 Cor. 8:1 Now, brothers and sisters, we make known to you the grace of God which has been given in the churches of Macedonia,
2 Cor. 8:2  that in a great ordeal of affliction their abundance of joy and their deep poverty overflowed in the wealth of their liberality.
2 Cor. 8:3 For I testify that according to their ability, and beyond their ability, they gave voluntarily, 

• Let me break this down for you. In verse 1 Paul says “we make known to you the grace of God which has been given in the churches of Macedonia”.

  • And then he ties God’s Grace back to their giving in verses 2&3 when he says, “That in a great ordeal of affliction their abundance of joy and their deep poverty overflowed in the wealth of their liberality”

  • Let me say this before getting started on this topic this morning, first of all we are coming up on our 10-year anniversary in this church.

    • And when we started this church there were a couple of foundational principals that I started with.

    • First of all I said, I would never preach or teach in a topical format. More specifically, I wouldn’t come up with some topic, brought on by a personal agenda, and use the scriptures to back up my point. This is called eisegeting the scriptures – and I wont do that.

    • Instead I committed to always exegete the scriptures, which is a style of teaching or preaching that begins with the Bible as the basis or foundation for the teaching and lets the word of God teach you, or speak to you and tell you what you need to know.

    • And why teach this way? Because one method is riddled with Man’s opinion and the other with God's.

• And so, for 10 years I have taught the Bible – Book by book, Chapter by Chapter, verse by verse – rightly dividing the word of truth.

  • That’s what the Pastor teacher is supposed to do, nothing more nothing less. And so in keeping with this concept of not teaching topically, I certainly wasn’t going to push people to give – I wouldn’t even mention it unless I came across it in the teaching.

  • Over the past 10 years I don’t think we have talked about giving or tithing more than maybe once or twice. And today you can rest easy knowing that just because we have landed on this topic here in 2 Corinthians I am not going to wear you out about it and make up for the lack of teaching on this topic over the last 10 years.

    • Instead, I am going to do what I always do and that is teach you about this topic.

    • Now what is interesting is this topic has come up a lot over the past several weeks. And for a few reasons, but obviously because of our potential move into a new facility, my position on this topic is still the same as it has always been.

• I believe the lack of what appears to be Spiritual Maturity revolving around this topic of giving has less to do with immaturity and more to do with a conflict with God's Word.

  • Let me try and explain. Yes it is true that giving is a test of the heart, of faith and trust in the Lord.

  • But God's word is very clear on debt.

Proverbs 22:7 The rich rules over the poor,
            And the borrower becomes the lender’s slave.

Romans 13:8 Owe nothing to anyone except to love one another; for he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law. 

• God said, the borrower is slave to the lender, that we are to owe no man nothing but to love him. And yet, the church makes a decision to take out a loan and place itself deep in debt, sometimes for millions of dollars.

  • And so I believe the conflict that arises from a giving campaign, has less to do with a lack of Spiritual Maturity, and more to do with a conflict brought on by working opposite of God’s Word.

  • Now, I am sure I will get lots of fan mail if this message reaches Pastors and church leaders around the world. But let me remind you, “I am not making the news - I’m simply reporting it”.

    • Also let me say, this is just me, but I am not sure why a church with 300, 400, 500 and upwards of a 1000 people couldn’t just raise the money without going into debt.

    • Follow me here, if God says don’t be in debt and yet the church feels like they need to build a building for the purposes of doing more work for the kingdom, then couldn’t God provide the financial resources needed, through the people, to build the facilities?

    • I would say He could. The difference really lies in our patience and our trust in Him.

  • If you want to really know if God wants you to build a new church facility or add on to an existing one, just gather the people together, and pray and ask God to provide the money through the people.

    • If you can’t raise the money on the front end, then guess what, that’s probably a pretty good sign you aren’t suppose build it.

    • For a real life confirmation of this, I have a good friend who moved to Tullahoma a few years ago. And when he moved here and joined a local fellowship, the church he joined, started a building campaign.

    • And I remember him being bothered by it. He told me that when he lived in another part of the state the church he grew up in decided to build a new facility, but instead of going into debt the church decided to do what I call a “reverse giving” program. Reverse in the sense that it went against traditional thinking.

    • His church decided to ask people to pray and commit to giving toward a new building, but they wouldn’t go into debt – people would pray and give up front, and once they raised the money, when they reached their goal, then they would build.

  • I can’t remember all the details except to say it was roughly 20 years ago, and they weren’t a super large church, but they raised roughly 2 million dollars without borrowing a dime.

  • What a novel concept! Just pray and ask God to provide the harvest much like a farmer praying for rain!

• Anyways, this topic of giving is a touchy one, and as I said it has come up a lot over the last several weeks. But I do believe I have done our fellowship a disservice in a sense as it relates to giving – I have kind of suppressed the issue, and in suppressing it I have denied people the ability to understand the principals behind Giving.

  • Specifically, why does God require us to give, or tithe? Is it because He is broke and He needs your money, or is there a deeper Spiritual Truth at play?

    • Does it have more to do with you and less to do with him?

    • Let me start out by saying, nowhere in scripture is the concept of giving to get, ever taught.

  • But the scriptures do paint a picture where when someone gives, the result is they receive.

  • Some might say, well Pastor isn’t that the same thing? The answer is no – because many times what the individual receives in return isn’t financial.

    • That’s what we see here in 2 Corinthians with Paul’s writings. Let’s look at it again:

2 Cor. 8:1 Now, brothers and sisters, we make known to you the grace of God which has been given in the churches of Macedonia, 
2 Cor. 8:2  that in a great ordeal of affliction their abundance of joy and their deep poverty overflowed in the wealth of their liberality.
2 Cor. 8:3 For I testify that according to their ability, and beyond their ability, they gave voluntarily, 

• In verse 2, we clearly see three things at play here:

  • First, this church is poor (deep poverty). Which is not poor like we think of poor, they were poor in the sense of starvation poor. And yet, they gave liberally.

    • It doesn't say how much they gave, just liberally (sacrificially). The sense is that they gave more than they should.

    • And the result was what? They had an abundance of joy. Not money – Joy.

  • And I can tell you that there is something supernatural going on here, because from the world's point of view, they shouldn’t be deeply poor and filled with an abundance of joy at the same time.

• Well there is a “Spiritual Principal or Law” in play here, and it has nothing to do with money but everything to do with obedience.

  • The joy we receive from giving revolves around obedience. It's not the giving that brings the joy (although that can be the case), it’s the act of obeying God, pleasing Him.

    • Which makes sense when you line that concept up against scripture. Listen to what 1 Samuel 15:22 says about this very thing:

1 Samuel 15:22 Samuel said,
            “Has the LORD as much delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices
            As in obeying the voice of the LORD?
            Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice,
            And to heed than the fat of rams.

• Here we see the principal of obedience explained in detail: it's not about the sacrifice itself, it's about the obedience. And obedience is a faith, a trust and a heart issue.

  • Do we really think God needs our money? It's already His, and so obviously money and possessions mean nothing to God.

    • Yes money is part of our financial echo system – by definition money is simply a medium of exchange. Meaning it’s just an instrument we use to exchange goods and services, least of which is for food and shelter.

  • Money is also cyclical by design, meaning it was never meant to be hoarded up.

    • On the contrary, it was meant to be used as an instrument. Primarily as an instrument of blessing to others!

• Let me close with this, over the next week or so I am going to teach you this concept of giving and tithing but not in the way you might think.

• And certainly not for the purposes of giving to get or for the purposes of going into debt for the kingdom.

  • But rather for the purposes of showing how God views giving, and more specifically, how giving relates to your contentment and joy on this planet as you live out all the remaining days of your life

    • Amen – Amen !