A God-Wrought Partnership

passage today, a special passage
of Scripture that I think will be both encouraging and instructive. 2 Corinthians chapter 8. The context of these particular
comments fall in the context literally
of Mark’s return from his mission trip. And most of you know that
even by policy, by philosophy of ministry, if you will, we
don’t typically promote short-term missions. But this one was different
on a number of different levels. Number one, the quality of the
man involved. We rejoiced. a hearing that Mark
was interested in going, the particular opportunity there
to the Ukraine, where, as you know, we have three missionaries
serving. And the other part of it that
you may not know is that almost from my earliest days of ministry,
I remember in one of my early churches, they had just a lot
of missionaries. And the sad thing that I began
to observe, they knew very little about them. Sometimes most people
knew their names, and that was about the extent of what they
knew about their missionaries. They didn’t know exactly what
their mission was, they didn’t know what their gifts were, they
didn’t know what their needs were, but we were always faithful
in writing the checks. And I would even suggest to you
that for the most part, for most people, that’s what missions
is, writing a check. And we don’t know what the missionaries’
real, genuine needs are. We don’t know really, truly how
to pray for them. And so what I began to long for
is the capacity or the ability to cultivate
what I referred to way back then, 25 years ago, as a missions liaison. Somebody who would go in and
work with these people really get to know them, really get
to know their needs, and then return and cultivate, much like
what Paul even in this passage does, cultivate a real genuine
interest and concern for the missionaries in particular. Well, life happens, and I left
several churches, ultimately came here to plant, and it has
taken 18 years for us to really get our feet on the ground, to
begin to look at what our opportunities are in that regard, and to begin
to cultivate the idea of a missions liaison. And even at the intervention
of it, Mark was thrilled and overwhelmed, and so that’s the
reason that we were so encouraged to be able to help support Mark,
to be able to go to the Ukraine, interact with some of these missionaries,
have his own missions experienced, but then return to us for the
purpose of stirring our own hearts. In essence, that’s how Paul is
functioning in this particular passage. He knows the needs,
he knows that there are substantial needs, and he is cultivating
that interest among the churches. This is another one of those,
I think two weeks ago, didn’t I preach a, what I called a gotcha
passage? that if you preach on prayer
or giving or evangelism, it’s one of those that you step on
everybody’s toes, everybody’s convicted. Well, in a sense,
a message on stewardship is like that, right? It’s in that genre. But I want to take a step back
from this and use this really as much as an encouragement for
this particular local church and a greater admonition to be
even more faithful. There was a famine in Jerusalem. It wasn’t the worst that they’d
ever faced, but it was significant and it was prolonged. It was
fed by not only political greed, it was also fed by wars and other
skirmishes that had occurred in and around Jerusalem. that
siphoned off resources, and now the church, who had formerly
been part of the system, as it were, found themselves on the
outside of the Jerusalem organization, and they were really on the outside
of almost every element of care that was provided. In the midst
of Paul’s great ministry, He learned of this significant opportunity
in Jerusalem. It was originally the heart,
as you know, of the Jewish religion, but now was the heart of Christianity. It was from Jerusalem that everything
had disseminated, and it was in the midst of this great drought
and severe famine that Paul begins to learn of this need. The Christian
converts in Jerusalem were particularly harmed by the circumstances there. The distress was great. It was
prolonged. It was described by one as a
pauperized population. Here’s what happened. They had
a system that we might even refer to in our own day and age as
welfare. And people had literally learned how not to work. And so when famine and difficulty
struck, the difficulty was all that much more acute for those
living in Jerusalem because they had learned how not to work.
And now they found themselves impoverished and in great need
with very little ability to provide even for their basic needs. They had become dependent. on
other people’s money. And so when this famine occurred,
you have almost an entire nation in desperate need. And because
Christians were already on the outside, already feeling the
heat of persecution, the Christians felt this famine, this need most
acutely. Regardless of what all the factors
that led into it, the bottom line was that the saints in Jerusalem
were in a particular and desperate need of assistance by their fellow
Christians outside of Jerusalem. One described it in these terms,
he said, Jews had often made collections for impoverished
Jews, and so Christians must do at least as much. Christians were being watched. They were being watched by not
only the heathen world, but especially by the Jewish world. Jews knew
that it was commonplace, a common practice, to take up a collection
for those who were needy, and to not have the Christians do
so here would have been beyond offensive. And so Paul saw this
very special need. To be able to provide a gift
to the Jerusalem church from the Gentile Christian church,
from without, was beyond just a political maneuver. It was
beyond just a kind gesture. It was a legitimate need that
Paul knew the Gentile churches could meet. And it would mean
a great aligning of these two bodies. That’s the context. If you turn to 2 Corinthians
chapter 8, I want to just look at the first five 2 Corinthians chapter eight, verses
one through five. Now brethren, we wish to make
known to you the grace of God which has been given in the churches
of Macedonia, that in great ordeal of affliction, their abundance
of joy and their deep poverty overflowed in the wealth of their
liberality. For I testify that according
to their ability and beyond their ability, they gave of their own
accord begging us with much intrigue for the favor of participation
in the support of the saints. And this, not as we expected,
but they first gave themselves to the Lord and to us by the
will of God. So Paul sees this opportunity.
Here’s the background. He sees this opportunity. His
desire is to have the Gentile churches make one great, magnanimous
gift to the Jerusalem church, to relieve their very real needs,
and Paul writes to the Corinthian church from his then ministry
hub in Ephesus. If you would, I’m gonna take
you on a few little tours here, if you would, turn to 1 Corinthians,
just back one book, about eight chapters, 1 Corinthians chapter
16. This is the first time that he
appeals to a church, for some assistance, some monetary assistance,
always a delicate proposition. It’s no easier then for Paul
than it is now for a pastor to stand before a congregation and
appeal for money. It just is one of the most uncomfortable
things you can do. Well, here’s Paul, verse one. Now, concerning the collection
for the saints, evidently they knew something of it, Perhaps
Titus or one of his other helpers had shared this particular need
with them. And so Paul is able to transition
very quickly. They already know about this
collection, but Paul wants to address it specifically with
them. Now, concerning the collection for the saints, as I directed
the churches of Galatia, so do you also. On the first day of
the week, Each one of you is to put aside and save as he may
prosper, so that no collection will be made when I come. When
I arrive, whomever you may approve, I will send them with letters
to carry your gift to Jerusalem, and if it is fitting for me to
go also, they will go with me. But I will come to you after
I go through Macedonia, for I am going through Macedonia.” So
he basically says, look, at your service, at your church service
on the first day of the week, I want you to take an offering.
I want you to pass the plate. I remember one of my seminary
professors, some of you have heard this story, my dear Pastor
Montoya, when we first started, he asked me, how’s your ministry
going? How’s the giving? Why are you
having to work bivocationally? through a series of questions,
finally determined that what we had done was put an offering
box on the back table, in the back corner of the church, so
that if you wanted to make your offering, you had to go back
there and put, we didn’t want to pressure people or, well,
as soon as he heard me say that, he just began gently but graciously
shaking his head, and he said, you know what your problem is?
You’re too cute. You’re trying to be too cute.
He said, pass the plate, and if it isn’t full, pass it again.
On the first day of the week, they were to take up an offering
so that Paul, when he got there, didn’t have to do this high-pressure
tactic. The Corinthians’ response was
praiseworthy. It was almost like they had made
a faith promise, and I don’t go in for those, but they responded
very favorably. Maybe they gave a dollar amount
or maybe they just talked it up and were very enthusiastic
about the idea. They had big plans, grandiose
plans. They had sincere intentions that
at least to the point where Paul writes them again in 2 Corinthians
had fallen almost completely flat. Paul Paul even commended
their response when he wrote to the Macedonians. Paul mentions
this kind of preparation on the part of the Corinthian church
when he wrote to the Roman church. In Romans 15 he says, for this
reason I’ve been hindered in coming to you. Remember that
season where he begins to explain why he had been so long forestalled
in coming to Rome. Well, he wraps it up in saying,
I’m going to Jerusalem serving the saints. That’s my intention. I hope to get to Rome, I purpose
to get to Rome, but right now I have this great need, this
gift that I’m taking to Jerusalem. And then he says this, listen.
For Macedonia and Achaia have been pleased to make a contribution
to the poor among the saints of Jerusalem. So now he is already,
now there’s a snowball effect. Not only the Corinthians on board,
But now the Macedonian churches are on board. Well, the Macedonians
obviously respond incredibly so much so that Paul turns around
and sets forth their example to the Corinthians to spur them
on really to complete what they had purposed to do. They talked
a big story. They talked about doing a lot
of things. They talked about supporting
this effort in great detail. and at least thus far they’ve
done nothing. And so Paul pauses as he’s passing through Macedonia
to write to the Corinthian church one more time. Paul proceeds
ultimately on to his Jerusalem ministry awaiting word back from
them. So this is exactly Paul’s course,
as you will recall. When we find him on that brief
stop, remember, at Miletus, He pauses in Miletus and calls the
Ephesian elders to himself, and ultimately he says, after these
things were finished, Paul purposed in the Spirit to go to Jerusalem.
And after he had been to Jerusalem, his intentions were to return
to Rome. Well, he writes this appeal that
we’ve just read in 2 Corinthians 8. The Corinthians had fallen short.
They hadn’t followed through. Other churches have. And what
Paul does is use this commendation as a sort of a spur to the Corinthian
churches. At the end of Paul’s letter to
them, there’s almost a, almost a rebuke. I suppose there’s no other word
for it than a rebuke. In 2 Corinthians 11 he says,
I robbed other churches by taking wages from them to serve you. Here’s Paul magnanimously pouring
out his efforts, serving the Corinthian church, putting out
fires, making doctrinal corrections at nearly every turn. The church was just a mess from
the very start. doctrinal error, and he says,
you know how I supported my ministry? By taking from churches that
were less capable of supporting me than even you were. I robbed
other churches by taking wages from them to serve you. And when
I was present with you, I was in need, I was not a burden to
anyone. Paul basically prepared and provided
for himself and his team. and in everything I kept myself
from being a burden to you and I will continue to do so. In
essence, and very sadly, Paul basically says, look, I don’t
need a penny from the Corinthian church. But he will not take
that position with regards to Jerusalem. And he uses this very
passage to do it. I want to look at this example
of Christian giving. Go back if you would. 2 Corinthians
chapter 8. Let’s begin back in verse 1. Now brethren, we wish to make
note to you the grace of God, which has been given in the churches
of Macedonia, that in great ordeal of affliction, their abundance
of joy and their deep poverty overflowed in the wealth of their
liberality. It is a very complex sentence. doesn’t even begin to do it justice. It is a very complex sentence,
even in the Greek, and so we have to stand back and essentially
digest it, even what Paul is saying. Paul says, look, let
me tell you about God’s incredible goodness, his grace, that has
been manifested in the churches of Macedonia. I want you to see
what God is doing there. that they have proven over and
over again, even through great affliction, to be joyful. They have proven over and over
again, even in the midst of deep poverty, to come up with this overwhelming
generosity. When Paul makes this very quick
transition to this new subject. He had been speaking at length,
if you know 2 Corinthians, about the Christian ministry, but now
he switches gears very abruptly here in chapter 8 to a discussion
regarding the partnership in the support of that ministry. The churches of Macedonia, he
mentions very generally here, doesn’t he? We know what they
are. There were three. essentially,
three churches that were clearly identified and established through
Paul’s missionary work, the church in Philippi, we’ll talk more
about that in a second, the church in Thessalonica, which was a
likely event, and the church in Berea. Three churches that
Paul sows up and sums up under that little umbrella word, the
churches of Macedonia. When Paul came into Thessalonica. As I said, it was a lively event.
They literally chased Paul out of town, the townspeople did,
and so Paul, as he advances into the next city, Berea, Luke just
notes there that these Bereans were more noble-minded than those
in Thessalonica. Thessalonica was a lively place,
a hostile place, and yet, The church had been planted and the
church begins to grow and function to the point where Paul can even
boast of it. When Paul wrote to the Thessalonica
church in chapter one, he said, you also became imitators of
us and of the Lord, having received the word in much tribulation
with the Holy Spirit. So here in the midst of this
hostility, the Thessalonians received. they receive the Word,
they are open to the Gospel, receptive of it, so much so that
they became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and
Achaia. When Paul writes to them again
in 2 Thessalonians, he said, 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.
They were a stout people. They were a people that quickly
were committed to Christ, even in the midst of great difficulty. But there was one church among
the three that absolutely stood out from among the others, even
in their response in this regard. Paul mentions them very generally,
the churches of Macedonia. But it was the Church of Philippi
that was foremost among them. We can look back now and we can
determine clearly that the Church of Philippi was different than
all the rest. Paul writing to them in chapter
one of his epistle to the Philippians said, I thank my God in all my
remembrance of you. As Paul looked back quite globally
over all his interaction with the Philippian church, He said
every memory that he had produced thanksgiving in his heart, always
offering prayer with joy in my every prayer for you all. And
here’s why. In view of your participation
in the gospel from the first day until now, did they go out
witnessing in their own town? Quite likely. Lydia, the Philippian
jailer, both took Paul home to their households where Paul could
preach the gospel even to their own families. But what’s in view
here, in their participation in the gospel, was the very thing
that’s in view in 2 Corinthians 8. The participation in the gospel
by way of giving. At the end of that same epistle,
please turn if you would to Philippians chapter 4, where I want you to
see a more lengthy statement. Philippians chapter 4, and I
want to pick it up in verse 10. We’re just laying the groundwork,
really, to understand this gift, to understand Paul’s purposes
here. In Philippians chapter 4 Paul
writes, But I rejoiced in the Lord greatly, that now at last
you have revived your concern for me. Indeed, you were concerned
before, but you lacked opportunity. Not that I speak for one, for
I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am.
I know how to get along with humble means, and I know how
to live in prosperity. In any and every circumstance,
I have learned the secret of both being filled and going hungry,
both of having abundance and suffering need. I can do all
things for him who strengthens me. There’s the context for that
famous verse. Nevertheless, you have done well
to share with me in my affliction. So here, the Philippian church
had probably promised and had gone over and above in their
commitment to Paul in his own missionary needs, but then Paul
makes this statement. You yourselves also know, Philippians,
that at the first preaching of the gospel, after I left Macedonia,
no church shared with me in the matter of giving and receiving
but you alone. Well, that almost contradicts
what Paul says here in 2 Corinthians 8. The grace of God given in
the churches of Macedonia, I think what Paul’s doing here is graciously
allowing for some anonymity So that boastfulness wouldn’t be
generated in the Philippian church. But they were there. No doubt
about it, they were there. No doubt about it, they were
standing with Paul. They were giving to the ministry
of Christ. They were supporting not only
Paul’s efforts, but the gospel ministry through him. Back to
verse one of 2 Corinthians 8. In 2 Corinthians 8, he says,
now brethren, we wish to make known to you the grace of God.
And we can get really sideways in the understanding of this
passage. If we take that typically how we do when we refer to the
grace of God, God’s efforts towards bringing us to salvation, that’s
usually what we mean when we speak of the grace of God. That’s
not at all what Paul means here. Paul isn’t talking about the
salvation that God had worked in the churches of Macedonia. He wasn’t talking about God’s
gift of his son and the salvation by grace through faith in him. This phrase that’s used a number
of different times throughout the scriptures is also used in
a number of different ways, and the context is what steers it.
Here, it isn’t talking about salvation. What he’s talking
about here isn’t even about the collection, the gift, if you
will, that the Macedonians have amassed on behalf of the Jerusalem
church. That’s not the grace of God.
The grace of God that Paul is referring to here is the work
that God had done in the people of these churches. At least the
church of Philippi, if not more. That was the grace of God. The
grace of God was the great change, the great transformation, the
heart of transformation that they had received that made them
now serviceable and useful to God. Paul basically traces their
generosity, the generosity of the Macedonian church, the generosity
of the Philippian church. He traces it back to its real
and true source, doesn’t he? It’s Almighty God. And that’s
who he gives glory to. He gives glory to God for what
he sees in the Macedonian believers. Grace of God was that element
that enabled them to do such great work. And if you notice,
it says the grace was bestowed not on the Macedonian believers,
but in them. God had changed their hearts.
He had changed their lives. In other words, it was God-wrought.
God did the work in the Macedonian churches. God’s grace had been,
and even now was, actively at work in their lives, the lives
of these believers. He was changing them, he was
sanctifying them, and Paul steps back and acknowledges it. That’s
simply what he does. Everything that we do. If we
do anything good for the sake of Christ, anything good for
the kingdom, If we do any kind of good for the sake of the gospel,
it’s only because of God’s abundant grace working through us. Whatever
we do, it’s by God’s grace. One pastor said the sacred writers
constantly recognize the fact that the freest and most spontaneous
acts of men, their inward states and their outward manifestations
of those states influence of the Spirit of God.
We can’t take credit for anything. The Macedonians couldn’t take
credit for this magnanimous gift. Paul says, look, it’s God. It’s
God’s grace at work in them. And that special grace was not
only in partnership with the most glorious endeavor on earth,
that of the gospel ministry, but it would also include the
very nature of that participation. How were the Macedonian believers
participating? Glance down at the passage just
briefly. Paul mentions essentially a two-fold change that God had
worked in their life. Verse one, now brethren, we wish
to make known to you the grace of God which has been given in
the churches of Macedonia. What are they? That in a spirit of joy, they
conducted themselves even in the face of great trial. That
was the work of God. Look at verse two. That in a
great ordeal of affliction, their abundance of joy was overflowing. But there was a second thing
that God was doing in them and through them. That with a heart
of generosity, even in the midst of insufficient means, they were
overflowing. So these words in verse two,
they’re explanatory, really, of what kind of grace, what is
this grace of God that Paul speaks of in verse one, this grace of
God bestowed upon the Macedonians? It’s changed lives. It’s changed
lives that now can endure trials with joy. It’s changed lives
that can now give generously, even in the face of their own
personal poverty. You see, we have this mindset that it’s okay for missionaries
to suffer. They should be banged up a little
bit. They should be needy. They should live on meager means. They should learn to get by. And what Paul acknowledges here
from the very start is that, look, these sending churches
were just as much in the machinery of God, being changed and conformed
into His image as any missionary was. It was the grace of God. God
was not going to leave the Macedonian believers untouched if they were
truly and genuinely going to participate in the great ministry
of the gospel. Our tendency to think that only
missionaries should suffer, only missionaries should live these
remarkable lives of faith, only missionaries should bear the
mark of God’s work in their lives is wrong. What Paul says here
is that God was every bit as much at work in the lives of
the Macedonian believers. Lancet verse 2, we’ll look at
the first part of that just briefly. Even in the face of great joy,
or great trial rather, there was a spirit of joy. Christian giving was done out
of a heart of joy. They couldn’t wait, even in the
midst of their tribulation. They were joyful and thrilled
at the very privilege of participating in Paul’s ministry. It was really the one work of
God that he was doing in their lives, the grace of God, with
these two magnificent effects, joy in the midst of trial, generosity
in the midst of poverty. But this joy, the saints of God
know it, you know it. It is that inexplicable peace
that you have, and really, Exaltation, to use Paul’s word, even in the
face of the most pernicious difficulties that life can throw at us, that joy and affliction is one
of the undeniable marks of God’s grace in our lives, isn’t it?
The world doesn’t understand it. In fact, sometimes other
fellow believers can’t understand it. When we rise to our feet,
And we’re not beaming, we’re not dancing about the house,
but we do have a deep and subtle joy in our hearts that God is
sovereign and God has sifted the particular trials that have
fallen our way through His loving fingers. That God loves us and cares for
us. One pastor said a few things
are more characteristic of Christians than their exuberant joy. Those
who witness great joy in people whose lives are full of trouble
are led to think that some people are in possession of something
which is well worth having. It’s a witness. At the end of
the day, when the world is watching, even other fellow believers are
watching, they see the joy in the midst of this trial, and
it bears witness to God’s goodness and grace. It’s not surprising
that since the Philippian church was one of the churches involved,
you can’t even flip through that epistle reading it casually without
coming away with the overwhelming sense of their joy in the Christian
life. It is very much the epistle of
joy, isn’t it? Lydia, the jailer, they were
both examples of this. And joy, happiness, we speak
of it from time to time, but rarely in concert with trial. What Paul calls here, affliction. We don’t know exactly what the
Philippian church, these other churches were exposed to. We
get a glimpse of it in the Thessalonian church and the Philippian church
early on. But here are these community
of relatively young believers in these heathen cities, hostile
towards them, and so persecution is certainly at the heart of
what they’re experiencing. Affliction, trouble, poverty,
not only that which they shared with their fellow citizens, even
the heathen were under difficulty in some of these cities, but
it’s the persecutions that were heaped on top of that, that were
so deeply troubling. A great ordeal of affliction
is what Paul calls it. They received the gospel in affliction,
the gospel continued to flourish among them, and the more the
gospel flourished, the more the persecution flourished. They
suffered from their countrymen, they suffered from poverty, they
suffered from a lack of acceptance in these particular communities,
reproaches, persecutions. One pastor said, now for persons
in prosperity, when all things go well with them, to be generous
is no great matter. But for persons in adversity,
under trying dispensations of providence, among many afflictions, To communicate generosity to
the relief of others is something remarkable. And that’s where
they were. This tribulation had left its
mark on their life, but it wasn’t going to define them. They weren’t
going to be defined by the fact that they were under affliction.
They were going to be defined by the fact that there was joy
in it. And so even though they’re in
the midst of this great difficulty, whatever it was, their thoughts
were more focused on the difficulties than others were facing. There’s
a principle we should emulate. Glance at the passage again.
Look at the second great thing that God was doing through them.
Not only joy in the midst of trials, but generosity in the
midst of poverty. It’s a contradiction, at least
in our own mind. It doesn’t make sense that in a great ordeal of affliction,
their abundance of joy and their deep poverty overflowed in the
wealth of their liberality. This poverty that he speaks of,
we really have no, we have no reference point for this. Most
of us have never even come close to knowing poverty. And it wasn’t
that their poverty was getting progressively worse because the
form of the sentence here says that they, in essence, had already
hit rock bottom. They were utterly destitute.
They were objectively poor. One historian said the condition
of Greece at the time of Augustus was one of desolation and distress. It had suffered severely by being
the seat of successive civil wars. Beside, the country had
never recovered from the long series of miseries which had
succeeded and accompanied the conquest by Romans. It had been
exposed to all the evils of war. Imagine buildings destroyed and
businesses destroyed and families and people. All of Greece was under this
dire condition of poverty So much so that the way the Macedonians
described their country at the time was like a lacerated and
disjointed animal. A mere animal thrown in the ditch
waiting to die. Well, you know it’s pretty noteworthy
if you work your way through the epistles to the Thessalonians
and to the Philippians. You don’t find those admonitions,
warnings against the abuse of wealth that you find in some
of the other epistles. You don’t find them written to
them because it wasn’t a problem. And you know what? If Jerusalem were not so vexed
at this particular season of drought and famine, the churches
of Macedonia would have been good candidates for a focus of
relief for their own situation. And yet they gave. And they didn’t
just give. Paul says that out of their deep
poverty, it overflowed in the wealth of their liberality. That
their gift was rich beyond measure. They didn’t have great means,
but they had a great heart. They had a great commitment to
the work of the gospel, and they opened up their heart and they
shared what little means they had. And it was very much as
the widow’s might, remember? The poor widow who came in and
put in two coins that together equaled only a penny. Paul says,
they gave. Out of their deep poverty, their
gift was overwhelming in the wealth of their liberality. It’s
an interesting phrase. It essentially means singleness
of mind and purpose, that liberality. It basically could be crunched
down to be described in these terms. They had one thing on
their mind, and it wasn’t them. They had one thing on their mind.
It was the gospel ministry and it was the promotion of whatever
Paul was doing by means of his own ministry. When Paul speaks of riches here
in this passage, we have this tendency to think of the wealth
of the liberality as a lot of money. That’s not what Paul’s
saying here. He’s talking here about spiritual
riches. And almost every time Paul uses
this word, that’s exactly what he’s doing. In fact, Paul only
uses the word riches one time to refer to financial wealth.
Almost always, it’s referring to a spiritual wealth. Romans 2.4, the riches of his
kindness and tolerance and patience. The riches of his glory, Romans
9.23. The riches of his grace, Ephesians
1.7. The wealth that comes from the
full assurance of understanding, Colossians 2.2. Paul says, look, he’s talking
about their riches, but it wasn’t a dollar amount that was so impressive. It was the percentage of what
they gave. They didn’t limit themselves,
heaven forbid, to a 10% tithe. They gave not only what they
could, but even beyond, as we’ll see momentarily. Liberality. Generosity in the
face of poverty is another undeniable sign of God’s grace at work in
the life of his children. But Paul wants to drive the point
home. And he wants to tell us how they
gave. You see, we can’t go remanufacture,
not easily anyway, poverty. We can’t go remanufacture affliction. Affliction will come. We will
face affliction in our day in many different forms. We don’t
go looking for it. We don’t need to go looking for
it. We don’t need to make ourselves impoverished through foolish
decisions or giving all of our money away. But he does want us to know how,
by what means, did the Macedonian churches give that was so noteworthy. For that, I want to close with
verses three through five. And it’s important to note here,
much like we did several weeks ago in the Gospel of John, I
want you to note two little words in italics. They gave. You see, the words don’t occur,
they don’t occur early on. They have to be supplied, really,
to help the sentence make sense. That’s the only thing that fits
in that gap, by the way, in verse three. They gave, but it’s supplied. For I testify that, according
to their ability and beyond their ability, they gave of their own
accord, begging us with much entreaty for the favor of participation
in the support of the saints. And this, not as we expected,
but they first gave themselves to the Lord and to us by the
will of God. Out of this explanatory section,
which provides the particulars, if you will, the how of what
the Macedonians were doing, and this is the part that we can
be stirred to emulate, we can’t go make ourselves poor, we can’t
go looking for tribulation, but we can follow their example in
this regard. They gave according to what they
had and above. They acted out of their own accord.
They literally begged Paul for the privilege to participate,
and they went above and beyond what he had even hoped. All of
those modifiers describe how the Macedonians gave what they
did. Look at the first one. I want
to look at these four evidences of a mighty work of God. Elements of stewardship that
display the work of God in a believer’s life. And these are good for
us to just hear and examine our heart. Ask ourselves these same
questions. Is this how I give? Stewardship that displays the
work of God in a believer’s life is first of all observed when
we give sacrificially. Look at verse three. For I testify
that according to their ability and beyond their ability they
gave. This is in support of what Paul
has already said in verses one and two. And what he says is,
they not only went above and beyond, but even contrary to
their own personal circumstances. It was almost a contradiction
to their poverty, to give so much. It was to the very extent of
their ability and beyond, that when they said, we can’t possibly
write a check that big They wrote a check even larger. I love the
way one pastor examining this said, they made a joy of robbing
themselves. Let me ask you quickly, when
you give to a situation like that, does it hurt? Is it sacrificial? Does your gift require faith
Or is it simply out of the overflow of what God and His providence
has just lavished upon me? Paul says, look, he had worked
into the heart and lives of these Macedonian believers to the point
where they just gave sacrificially above and beyond what they were
even able. Secondly, stewardship that displays the work of God
in a believer’s life is observed not only when we give sacrificially,
but it is manifested when we give willingly. Look at this. They gave of their
own accord. So often today in our day and
age, and we all get these mailings, newsletters, and you always know
what it is when you open it up and it has an envelope, a self-addressed
envelope. You know what it is. It’s a request
for money. And we’re almost used to it.
We’re almost steeled to it. To where even greater efforts
have to be made, manipulation and full color and there’s got to
be something in there for us, giveaway gimmicks, that if we
will only give to this particular ministry, then we will receive
in return. The basic thought here that they
gave willingly, that they gave of their own accord. No one had
to twist their arm, no one had to to make a strong appeal to
them. No one had to berate them. No
one had to pass the offering plate two and three times without
any prompting. The Macedonians just stood ready
to get it. They didn’t need the apostles’ exhortations. They
did it freely. You might even say it was self-motivated. It wasn’t out of compulsion.
It wasn’t as a result of a high-pressure tactic that they responded. They
gave them their own accord. The Apostle didn’t need to beg
them to help. They stood ready. Those of Macedonia,
they didn’t need appeal, they didn’t need counsel, they didn’t
need arm-twisting. The very thing that he’s doing
here to the Corinthian church, a follow-up letter? With a strong
appeal, a well-reasoned approach, an impassioned plea, a well-reasoned
argument, they didn’t need any of it. The Macedonians saw the need,
they observed it, and they responded out of their own heart. Thirdly,
stewardship that displays the work of God in a believer’s life
is observed when we give sacrificially, it is manifested when we give
willingly, Thirdly, it is an acknowledged participation in
a privileged partnership. I know that the saints have heard
me use that phrase many times with regards to our own mission,
with regards to our ministry to Evgeny and Andrei and Ruslan. It’s a privileged partnership.
This is where I get it. Look at verse four. I don’t even
know what this scene looks like. Begging us with much entreaty
for the favor of participation in the support of the saints. Paul likely, we know that he
came through Macedonia not once, twice, three times. I get the
scene, or the sense of the scene here, that they were well aware
of the need. Paul didn’t even ask them. He
saw their poverty. He saw what great need they were
in, and they made an offer, a magnanimous, generous offer. And I get the
sense that Paul might even initially have tried to refuse it. Look,
you have your own needs to take care of. So they resorted to
begging. Did they fall down on their knees?
Did they pull Paul aside? Did they plead with him and say,
Paul, please, We want to be a part of this ministry. When was the
last time that we did that with anything? Begging us with much entreaty
for the favor. You know what that word is? Grace. They weren’t obligated to do
this. It was God’s privilege. The favor of participation in
the support of the saints. It was a privilege. for them to be part of it. The favor isn’t a gift for the
apostle. The favor isn’t a kindness that
Paul’s going to do to the Macedonians. The favor is the privilege of
participating in this incredible ministry that Paul had. They didn’t wait to be asked.
They literally asked and then when possibly even refused, they
literally begged Paul for the privilege to do so. Paul tips his hand as to the
reason behind all this. When he wrote to the Romans,
which verse we read a moment ago, Macedonians and Achaia have
already been pleased to make a contribution for the poor saints
in Jerusalem. He says, look, I’ve already gathered
in this great gift from them. Here’s why. Yes, they were well
pleased to do so, and they are indebted to them, that is, the
Jewish Christians, for if the Gentiles have shared in their
spiritual things, they are indebted to minister to them also in material
things. These Gentile Christians looked
up and said, God has bestowed upon me, through the sending
of the Jerusalem Church, most notably Paul himself, I have
been included in the Gospel. I have been included in salvation
itself. What is money in comparison with
that? It was my great privilege to
be in standing at peace with Christ, made him in turn look
for the privilege to stand with Paul in the conduct of his own
ministry. Fourthly, stewardship that displays
the work of God in a believer’s life is not only observed when
we give sacrificially, manifested when we give willingly, it’s
an acknowledged participation in a privileged partnership,
and fourthly, it is a result of absolute submission to Christ. I testify that, according to
their ability and beyond their ability, they gave of their own
accord, begging us with much intrigue for the favor of participation
in the support of the saints, and this not as we expected,
but they first gave themselves to the Lord.” You know what? If you’re not in Christ, God
doesn’t need your money, and we don’t need to ask for it,
do we? God doesn’t need our money. God wants to include us in the
plan, but not before we have closed with Christ, not before
we have put our faith in the Lord Jesus. They had already gone far beyond
what Paul ever hoped. They had given their hearts and
lives to the Lord Jesus Christ. They were Christians. And then
over and above that, they began to participate in Paul’s incredible
ministry. likely small by all accounts
financial gift. Giving is always more than just
writing a check. Missions is always more than
just writing a check. Participating in the gospel ministry
is always more than just writing a check. God wants first and
foremost our own hearts. See, these Philippian believers,
these Macedonians, they had given from among their
own church body to Paul’s work. Sopater of Berea, Aristarchus,
and Secundus of Thessalonica, Epaphroditus of Philippi had
all gone into the gospel ministry, but that’s not what Paul’s talking
about here. He says that each of these individual Christians
had already given their hearts and lives to Christ and would
not be turned aside. They knew what God would have
them to do and they obeyed. And they did
it out of a heart of gratitude for what God had first given
to them. Would you examine your hearts on those four Our merciful God, we humble ourselves
in your glorious presence and we thank you that you are indeed
at work in our hearts and lives. You are indeed about the business
of changing us from within. Lord, we see what a thorough
job you had already done in the lives of these believers. overwhelming
joy in the midst of their persecution and trials, the generosity in
the midst of this deep poverty in which they found themselves.
Lord, few of us have ever been in that particular circumstance
and we can’t emulate all of that. But we can look to the example
of the Macedonian churches and we can look to emulate the way
that they gave beyond their ability, all of
their own, by their own motivation, literally
participating in the great work of the gospel ministry. That all of this, Lord, was first
and foremost because they had given their hearts and lives
to Christ. And Father, if there is anyone in the room who does
not know the Lord Jesus Christ, and has not first yielded to
Him in faith, Lord, all the gifts in the world, all the money in
the world, if they were to generate millions, would be absolutely
worthless in that final day. The Lord, there are any who do
not know Christ, draw them, we pray, to salvation. For us who
do know you, we plead, use us for your glory. It is a privileged
participation indeed. And we rejoice to participate
in the great gospel ministry. for the sake of Christ and for
God’s own glory. It’s in Jesus’ name that we pray. Amen. As we close, if you would
take your hymnals, turn to 585, take my life and let it be. Let’s
stand and sing.