The Biblical Reaction to Grace Received
November 8, 2015 · 2 Corinthians
Scripture referenced 7 passages
The passage this message was preached from, in full, with every other passage it reached for.
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Psalm 105:1 Opening verse read before worship: give thanks to the Lord and proclaim his greatness, let the whole world know what he has done
1 Give thanks to Yahweh! Call on his name! Make his doings known among the peoples.
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Keep this verse
2 Corinthians 2:12-13
Quoted to show Paul's anxiety at Troas when he did not find Titus there
12 Now when I came to Troas for the Good News of Christ, and when a door was opened to me in the Lord,
13 I had no relief for my spirit, because I didn’t find Titus, my brother, but taking my leave of them, I went out into Macedonia.
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2 Corinthians 7:5
Quoted to show Paul's affliction when he crossed into Macedonia before finding Titus
5 For even when we had come into Macedonia, our flesh had no relief, but we were afflicted on every side. Fightings were outside. Fear was inside.
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2 Corinthians 8:1-15
The main sermon text, covering the Macedonians' generosity and Paul's appeal to the Corinthians
1 Moreover, brothers, we make known to you the grace of God which has been given in the assemblies of Macedonia;
2 how that in much proof of affliction the abundance of their joy and their deep poverty abounded to the riches of their generosity.
3 For according to their power, I testify, yes and beyond their power, they gave of their own accord,
4 begging us with much entreaty to receive this grace and the fellowship in the service to the saints.
5 This was not as we had expected, but first they gave their own selves to the Lord, and to us through the will of God.
6 So we urged Titus, that as he had made a beginning before, so he would also complete in you this grace.
7 But as you abound in everything, in faith, utterance, knowledge, all earnestness, and in your love to us, see that you also abound in this grace.
8 I speak not by way of commandment, but as proving through the earnestness of others the sincerity also of your love.
9 For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that you through his poverty might become rich.
10 I give a judgment in this: for this is expedient for you, who were the first to start a year ago, not only to do, but also to be willing.
11 But now complete the doing also, that as there was the readiness to be willing, so there may be the completion also out of your ability.
12 For if the readiness is there, it is acceptable according to what you have, not according to what you don’t have.
13 For this is not that others may be eased and you distressed,
14 but for equality. Your abundance at this present time supplies their lack, that their abundance also may become a supply for your lack; that there may be equality.
15 As it is written, “He who gathered much had nothing left over, and he who gathered little had no lack.”
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Luke 21:1-4
The widow's mite story used to illustrate giving out of poverty with joy
1 He looked up, and saw the rich people who were putting their gifts into the treasury.
2 He saw a certain poor widow casting in two small brass coins.
3 He said, “Truly I tell you, this poor widow put in more than all of them,
4 for all these put in gifts for God from their abundance, but she, out of her poverty, put in all that she had to live on.”
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1 Corinthians 16:1-4
Quoted to show Paul's earlier instructions to the Corinthians to set aside a collection on the first day of every week for the saints in Jerusalem
1 Now concerning the collection for the saints, as I commanded the assemblies of Galatia, you do likewise.
2 On the first day of the week, let each one of you save, as he may prosper, that no collections be made when I come.
3 When I arrive, I will send whoever you approve with letters to carry your gracious gift to Jerusalem.
4 If it is appropriate for me to go also, they will go with me.
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Exodus 16:9-21
Read in full to illustrate the manna principle that whoever gathered much had nothing left over and whoever gathered little had no lack
9 Moses said to Aaron, “Tell all the congregation of the children of Israel, ‘Come near before Yahweh, for he has heard your murmurings.’”
10 As Aaron spoke to the whole congregation of the children of Israel, they looked toward the wilderness, and behold, Yahweh’s glory appeared in the cloud.
11 Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,
12 “I have heard the murmurings of the children of Israel. Speak to them, saying, ‘At evening you shall eat meat, and in the morning you shall be filled with bread: and you shall know that I am Yahweh your God.’”
13 In the evening, quail came up and covered the camp; and in the morning the dew lay around the camp.
14 When the dew that lay had gone, behold, on the surface of the wilderness was a small round thing, small as the frost on the ground.
15 When the children of Israel saw it, they said to one another, “What is it?” For they didn’t know what it was. Moses said to them, “It is the bread which Yahweh has given you to eat.”
16 This is the thing which Yahweh has commanded: “Gather of it everyone according to his eating; an omer a head, according to the number of your persons, you shall take it, every man for those who are in his tent.”
17 The children of Israel did so, and gathered some more, some less.
18 When they measured it with an omer, he who gathered much had nothing over, and he who gathered little had no lack. They gathered every man according to his eating.
19 Moses said to them, “Let no one leave of it until the morning.”
20 Notwithstanding they didn’t listen to Moses, but some of them left of it until the morning, and it bred worms, and became foul: and Moses was angry with them.
21 They gathered it morning by morning, everyone according to his eating. When the sun grew hot, it melted.
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Recap
The message in order, in a few minutes of reading.
This sermon, from Second Corinthians 8:1-15, traced what Paul says happens naturally when a person or a community receives God's grace: they extend it to others. The pastor used the Macedonian churches as the main example, and drew the line from their situation then to First Baptist Jackson's situation now.
What was said
Paul wrote Second Corinthians from Macedonia, after finally meeting back up with Titus, who had been to Corinth and returned with news. That geographic and personal context matters. Macedonia was financially broken at the time, the gold rush there had played out roughly a hundred and fifty years earlier, and the region had never really recovered. Corinth, on the other hand, sat on a prosperous trade crossroads and had an unusual thing for the ancient world: a middle class. Paul knew both situations well when he sat down to write.
What surprised Paul, and what he leads with in chapter eight, was not that the Corinthians had given. It was that the Macedonians had. They gave voluntarily, beyond their means, and he did not even ask them. He keeps coming back to that word "of their own accord." The grace of God had come to them through the gospel, and it overflowed outward as generosity before anyone prompted it.
Paul's phrase "grace of God given among the churches of Macedonia" is doing a lot of work. Throughout the passage, the word translated "grace" is the Greek "charis," which can mean favor, grace, or thanks depending on context. The pastor pointed out that an action of thanksgiving, something you do to show you appreciate what you have been given, is always voluntary. It is never payment. That distinction runs through the whole argument.
Paul then turns to the Corinthians. He is not shaming them, or at least the pastor does not read it that way. He is building them up, reminding them that they excel in faith, speech, and knowledge, and then asking whether they will also excel in this act of grace. He says plainly, "I say this not as a command." He pulls in the manna story from Exodus to make the equity point: the people who gathered more had nothing left over, and the people who gathered less had no lack. The collection for the suffering believers in Jerusalem is meant to work the same way, the abundance of some meeting the need of others.
The accountability piece gets its own moment in the text and in the sermon. Paul names the specific people traveling with the gift precisely so no one can question the integrity of the process. The pastor connected that to the Modesto Manifesto, the set of commitments Billy Graham and his colleagues made in the 1940s around money, transparency, and conduct, and noted that those simple structural decisions protected their ministry for decades. Accountability, he said, has to be built in ahead of time.
The closing application was direct. The pastor asked whether there are still places and people experiencing severe poverty, whether God's grace still exists, whether the congregation has received it, and whether they will extend it. He described a man who had come into the church office that week, whose entire family had been murdered, who was sleeping in his car, and who was helped because people had already given to the local benevolence fund. The money was there because it had already been given freely. That was the then-and-there landing in the here-and-now. The service moved from there into Communion.
Doing a Bible study?
Here is a guide we have prepared for you: the passages in order, questions for the group, and room to write.
- Pastor Chris pointed out that the Macedonian churches were in severe financial hardship yet gave spontaneously and beyond their means. What do you think it was about receiving God's grace that produced that kind of response in them?
- Pastor Chris said the biblical reaction to grace received from God is grace extended to others, and that he thinks this is true spiritually, financially, materially, and with knowledge. Where in your own life have you seen that connection play out, or where do you find it hardest to make it?
and 3 more questions in the guide
Read the full transcript 8,550 words
0:01
Alright. Hey. Good morning, church. How are we doing this morning? Good to see y'all.
0:06
Hey. Let me share a verse with us to before we start singing. This one's from Psalm one zero five. It says, give thanks to the Lord and proclaim his greatness.
0:16
Let the whole world know
0:17
what he has done. Can I pray on that? And then we'll sing together. God, we're grateful to to be here together. We're grateful to meet with you.
0:25
And that's exactly what we would like to do is to proclaim your goodness, to to give our adoration and our affection to you. So would you meet us right where we're at? And, Lord, even if we're not in the mood, would you you you help us to sing our way through it? In Christ's name, amen. Won't you stand up together?
0:53
Children of the living God, come and sing. Sing out loud. Children of the living God. Sing to the living God. Sing to the wonders he has made, burden flying, falling rain.
1:12
Sing to the wonders he has made. Saint the living God. How he loves. How he loves us with great love. He sits enthroned above for our lives.
1:40
Sing his gentle healing hands, holy found, lowliest man. Sing his gentle healing hands, sing to the living God. And sing of the mercy that he gives, though we sin, he forgave. Sing of the mercy that he gives, sings to the living God. And how he loves us with great love, he sits enthroned above.
2:13
For our lousy spirit is but said in spirit like a flood. Children of the living God, sing to the living God, and sing for the morning. Sing the morning when he comes in the clouds. Glorious sun, sing for the morning when he comes, sing to the living God. One more.
2:41
And how he loves us with great love, he sits enthroned above. Pour our lives, his
3:12
I have a couple of announcements but first thing I wanted to do is give a chance. Y'all, we are always on the go. Y'all, I'm and when I say we, I mean, me and a bunch of other people. Y'all, you people are always on the go and Krista Nethercott and her son went to Bangladesh recently. A lot of y'all knew about it.
3:31
Some of you sent along help with her, sent things with her. I'm gonna ask her if she'll come up and do a quick report. So here she comes. Here they come. Come on forward, and the microphone is right back there following you.
3:49
And did you have the pictures up there?
3:55
You
3:58
go right ahead.
3:59
I I do, but I'll Okay. Sorry.
4:07
Go. Okay. Just a second. I wanted to get the my grandpa's picture up. If you can find the one of my grandpa, that's the one.
4:18
That should be up first. We went July 5 through the July 23. And Okay. Alright. So, Josh, do you want to travel clear across the other side of the world to go see Papa Henry?
4:46
Yes. How long did it take? About thirty five hours. And where do we go? Bangladesh.
4:55
Okay. This is my grandfather, Henry, and he is 92, and he was the main reason we went to Bangladesh. My uncle is a missionary surgeon for a baptist organization, and he works at a Christian hospital there and my grandfather, instead of being in a nursing home, he wanted to go live with his son. So, we travel clear across the world to go see him and spend time with him and my uncle and his family. One of the wonderful things we got to do when we were there, I wanna say thank you to all the Vacation Bible School children and adults that put in for little gifts that we could give to children that were in the hospital.
5:38
This was just an example of a little tiny flower we gave to a little kid, and he has some markers and other things that are in his hand. But you can tell, like, it made a huge difference to his family because some of these children are in the hospital for days, weeks, and so it brightened their day to do that. This was another little kid who was sick in the hospital and we got to spend time with his mom and give him gifts and that was really kind of the best part of the trip for me other than seeing my grandfather was being able to share the love of Christ with other people and to go to the hospital and just spend time with them. And even though we didn't speak their language, we did have people who could translate for us, but it was nice just to spend time with them. Here's little boy.
6:28
Hot wheel cars were the biggest hit ever. I wish I could have brought more, but they are very heavy. So we took two suit suitcases full of toys. So anything that people donated, like these cars, like anything you can think of, puzzles, markers. So these kids, they loved it.
6:48
This little boy loved this car. The last thing that we really enjoyed doing was before I don't really understand how this happened because I didn't get the whole gist of it. But when Bangladesh became its own country, they had a civil war that happened, and a lot of the women lost their husbands. And it is a male dominated culture. So if you do not have a husband, your chances of surviving and your children surviving is very slim.
7:19
So the hospital decided to come up with Heart House, and it trains women in making crafts and has allowed them throughout the years to be able to make money for themselves and their families so their kids can go to school and have an education. It allows them time to save up that money to have a piece of land for themselves and be able to survive. Buy cattle. So this was a day that we spent, and I love crafts. If anybody knows me, I'm a quilter.
7:51
I love to do anything. So I could spend all day with these people. And they sewed. They did these dolls that was just incredible. They just sat there all day amongst women, and they had friendships.
8:04
And you could just tell that they enjoyed what they were doing. They were appreciative that, you know, even though it was something really simple, they felt like they were worth their weight in gold. And so that was us spending time with these women and helping them with the dolls. So that was kind of a rundown of kind of what we did. Of course, there's a lot more to it, and so I set up a table out there.
8:33
So if people have questions, they can look at different pictures and ask questions.
8:41
Cool. Thank you very much, Chris. Thank
8:45
you.
8:48
So it's an as you go. Y'all know the go ye therefore verse? Little quick grammar lesson. Go you in there is an imperative the way that we read it in English. A lot of go you therefore and make disciples.
9:02
Baptizing and teaching them in the name. You know that. Well, it's a participle and there's a go ye imperative and it has that force but there's an ambi it's an ambiguous form. This is neat. It's also an as you are going.
9:16
As you are going, be doing these things. So it's not just go. You have to go. Every single one of you has to get out of this country and go. It is as you are going, be doing this, making disciples.
9:26
Thank you, Krista, for that just being a normal part of your life to go see your granddad and a normal part of your uncle's life to be doing that. So, cool and I've got a couple more announcements. Monday nights are happening every Monday night here. 6PM, meal music and message. Carl is in Philippians.
9:40
Are you up to Philippians two yet?
9:42
Not yet.
9:42
Not yet. Still in Philippians one. Good.
9:44
It's too good.
9:45
It's too good. Solid Rock Youth Ministries. This morning, the studies that are going on in the middle school and high school, boys and and or young men and young women are meeting in a different place. The ladies are meeting in the library and the guys are meeting in my office. So, if that applies to you, that's where that is.
10:03
Solid Rock, everything else is on. Normal stuff. There's a wrapping party next week, Wednesday, November 18 from six to eight for our Operation Christmas Child and that's fun and next Sunday, our own first to be missionary, Melissa Landis. She's going to be here and available during the connect hour. In my office probably unless it overflows and then we'll find somewhere better.
10:30
I hope it overflows. To meet and answer any questions about her ministry with Crossroads in Durban, South Africa. So, that's that. I think that's it. Everything else, check your bulletin.
10:39
In fact, one thing that's in the bulletin is War Room, the movie about prayer, the power of prayer is on at the movie theater today and this is the last day. So, if you wanna see War Room, go see it today. Check your bulletins. That's it. Love one another.
10:51
Would you stand up and hug and kiss and all that sort of thing? We'll bring you back together with a song.
11:49
Alright. And your love is like radiant diamonds. Your love is like radiant diamonds bursting inside us. We cannot contain Your love will surely come find us like blazing wildfire Sweet love of mine, I have surrendered to your design.
14:19
Let's sing that one more. God of mercy.
14:22
God of mercy, by. I'll let no one caught in serene me inside the light from withinward shape, but fix our eyes upon the cross and run to hell to show great love. And then for us, freely embed for us. Christ is risen. Let's sing.
15:51
Christ has risen from the dead, trampling worded by death. Come away, come awake, come and rise up from the grave. Christ has risen from the dead. We high on with them again come awake come awake come and rise up from the grave
16:18
beneath the weight
16:20
And beneath the way of all our sin, you bound to not, but heavens will in strength forever or let your church throw in let's sing it all Christ has risen from whom dead Oh, hell. Where is your victory? Oh, come stand in the light. The glory of God has defeated the night. Oh, damn.
17:47
Where is your sting? Oh, hell. Where is your victory? Oh, come stand in the light. Our God is not dead.
18:03
He's alive. He's alive. Our God is not dead. He's alive. He's alive.
18:16
And Christ has risen from the dead, trampling over death by death. Come away, come away, come and rise up from the grave. Christ has risen from the dead. We all are with him again. Come away come away come and rise up from the grave
18:51
Lord, can we all just pause to thank you for making us alive in you? From drawing us to yourself and you do that good work of convicting us of our sin and convincing us of your righteousness. And then we put our faith and trust in you, and we're we're alive. We are living. You are living in us.
19:13
And, God, don't let us forget that. That is such a gift that you give us life, that you raise us literally from from the dead. And so we'll just pause for a second, for a moment here, just to think on that, to sing on that, and to thank you for it. In Christ's name. Amen.
19:52
Alright. When I survey when I survey content on all my pride. See from his hand, his hands, a crown. Oh, the wonderful cross. Oh, the wonderful cross.
21:16
It's become and I and find that I may truly do. Let's sing it, the wonderful cross. Hold the wonderful cross,
23:26
Let's pray. Our father, we are so grateful for the wonderful salvation you've given us in Jesus Christ. And, Lord, you have made peace, a way for us to have peace with you, and no longer is your wrath against us. And we are so grateful, Lord. We ask that you would receive these gifts, and we pray that you would use them to spread your name for your glory's sake around the world, around this town.
23:51
And we just ask, Lord, that you'll continue to work in our hearts to open our hands and to open our hearts to you and lord, we just want to thank you and praise you in Jesus name, amen.
24:07
Alright. So, it's time. Children's Peak Ministry and Middle School and High School. If you're part of those groups, you can scoot. I am up to second Corinthians eight.
24:22
That's where we're in our study of second Corinthians chronologically. Y'all know we went through John, life of Jesus, Acts, life of the early church, and we've been going chronologically forward in the order the books were written. If you're a visitor, that's what's going on and we're up to second Corinthians eight one through 15 and I after I looked at this passage, I thought this is the biblical reaction to a grace received. This is what happens when one receives grace and I think Paul makes that point over and over again by the different way you he talks about the Macedonians and he talks about the Corinthians and so, we'll just go forward but if you'll be thinking about this, how does then and there apply to here and now? And I know that that's my job.
25:08
I think about that every week. That's what I'm trying my best to to feed this to you in a manner that you can take it and go, there's a similarity there with my life or my place or my time or my status or my whatever and I try to make it like a shoe and if the shoe fits, you just wear it. I'm I'm not really really heavy handed with it. This is how this must apply because I don't see Paul doing that. I especially don't see him doing it in this section, and so that's gonna come up several times too.
25:35
But trust me, this shoe is a one size fits most. Okay? It's not like my shoes. Most one size fits most people with this shoe, but how does then and there apply to here and now? And so we'll start with the then and there.
25:48
That's where I I do most of the study is that each week. I want to remind you of a couple things. Paul wrote first Corinthians from Ephesus while he was there. He was probably in Ephesus longer than any other place. Well, besides prison but he was probably longer in Ephesus than anywhere else that he served and Ephesus right over there, Red Star and he wrote first Corinthians to Corinth right there.
26:14
And Corinth, you'll see is on this little narrow isthmus. It was the fastest way to get anything that you wanted to get from Asia to Italy was the fastest way was to go right up to that little isthmus right there and crossover at Corinth. And you had to go on land, but you could get there much faster than going around. And so they had shipping companies that would bring you to one side and shipping companies that would take you out the other side. And because of they even had plans.
26:41
Actually, in the first century, they had plans to dig a canal, which has now been accomplished. This is still the quickest way if you're shipping stuff from Asia or what we call Asia Minor. If you're shipping from right there to Italy, it's still the quickest way. So they had lots of money because they taxed everything that came across that land, and they had lots of people coming in because there were people coming from all over the world coming through there. It was an affluent place, a crossroads of the world.
27:08
Okay? Y'all got that. That's what Corinth, the city of Corinth is like that. In the first century, they were very well off. In fact, they not even just recent studies, but studies of archaeology have shown that there was a middle class in Corinth, and that was not normal.
27:24
In most places, you had the uber rich and you had the broke. It was either one or the other, but Corinth had an emerging middle class, we'll call it. And so they had more money, probably a little bit more disposable type income than a lot of the places around them. So, that's Corinth. Paul traveled to Troas from Ephesus to minister and meet Titus there.
27:48
Y'all remember second Corinthians two, he said, when I came to Troas to preach the gospel of Christ, even though a door was open for me in the Lord, my spirit was not at rest because I did not find my brother Titus there. We talked about that last week. He was anxious about having Titus come back to him. Titus had been in Corinth. He probably delivered that first letter.
28:08
He was there and supposed to meet back up with Paul and Troas but when he got there, he wasn't there. So Paul in second Corinthians two and seven says, so I took leave of them in Troas and went on to Macedonia. For even when we came into Macedonia, our bodies had no rest, but we were afflicted at every turn, fighting within and fear fighting without and fear within. So he went from Troas over to Macedonia. And this Macedonia is the big area.
28:37
Philippi, Thessalonica, and Berea are all cities in Macedonia. This is a lot like school this morning, isn't it, so far? Macedonia in the first century had had some problems. About one hundred and fifty years before this, they had had a gold rush. So one hundred and fifty years since the gold rush.
28:59
1849, 2000. Anyway, they had had a gold rush there, but the market had gone flat after that happened, and they were completely broke. Geographic determinism. Where you are, if you were in Macedonia at that time, you were in a pretty bad situation financially for the most part. Philippi had tons of Roman soldiers that were retired living there, cause it's a good place to live, it's beautiful, and it was cheap.
29:27
It was cheap because everybody else is broke. Does that make sense? Alright. So at this time period, Macedonia was going through a hard financial crisis, and Corinth was not. That's the background here.
29:40
Paul and Titus reunite in Macedonia. After he crosses over, he sees him, and that's the normal land route. If you're going from Corinth, you would you would go back up this way and over, or you would ship from here. I don't know why. That's just the way that it is.
29:54
So when he got to Macedonia and Titus was there, he says, but God who comforts the downcast, comforted us, Paul and his traveling companions, by the coming of Titus, and Titus was returning from Corinth, That's where Paul got his report about what was happening in Corinth after he had sent him a severe letter, and now he gets news back from Titus. That's where we are. So Paul wrote second Corinthians after he had met up with Titus from Macedonia. So, it's sent from here and he was going to send it back with Titus. Y'all got, y'all with me so far?
30:26
Alright. Now, this is where we find ourselves in the text for the day. So, second Corinthians eight one to four. We want you to know or we do not want for you to be ignorant brothers and sisters. We want you to know, brothers and sisters, about the grace of God that has been given among the churches of Macedonia.
30:45
So, this is the grace of God being given to the churches at Macedonia. What is the grace of God? The grace of God is, I mean, but for the grace of God, go out. You know, I mean, it's this the whole your health, your wealth, everything that you have is by the grace of God. In particular, Paul almost always mentioned the grace of God in the context of the message of the cross.
31:09
They have accepted God's grace giving his son for their sin. They've accepted it. The grace of God is right there. We want you to know brothers about the grace of God that has been given among the churches of Macedonia. Now, it's not just that and we'll see it in just a minute.
31:25
Mention, in just a minute. The grace of God when it comes upon a group of people, Paul will go into what happens. He's saying it has been given. So, God has given grace to the churches in Macedonia but they're broke. And we we all know that now because we just looked it over.
31:43
They knew it. They knew that they were broke and Corinth would have known. Yeah, Macedonia is a tough spot. This is a letter from Macedonia to Corinth. We want you to know brothers about the grace of God that has been given among the churches of Macedonia.
31:55
For in a severe test of affliction, their abundance of joy which is precipitated by the gospel, right? When you accept Christ, it is a joyful thing to know that you no longer suffer under the penalty of sin. That's great. For in a severe test of affliction, their abundance of joy and their extreme poverty have overflowed in a wealth of generosity. Their abundance of joy and their extreme poverty.
32:24
Now, the mix of those two things together for us seems a little bit odd but if any of you have ever been on a mission trip and you come back and you've had to stand in front of your little congregation and report, it comes out almost every time. Oh, they had nothing but they were so joyful. It kinda goes hand in hand. I read something yesterday that said the poor are more generous than the rich if you go on percentages, and we all know that if you go on percentages. Because they know what it's like to have nothing.
32:56
Their abundance of joy and their extreme poverty have overflowed. My cup is overflowing. Into a wealth of generosity, Giving. It is financial. So the grace of God had been given?
33:11
Yes. Almost everywhere else that this grace is mentioned, it's gonna be in the financial form, in this whole passage, and in the next chapter too. They've overflowed in a wealth of generosity. For they gave according to their means, and I as I can testify and beyond their means. I'm here.
33:31
I'm sitting in Macedonia right now. I know what it's like. And these people gave. What were they given to? They were given to a collection that was supposed to go back for the impoverished Christians in Jerusalem, the ones in Judea.
33:46
Persecuted, broke, blackballed, list blacklisted, and shunned in a lot of cases. They had nothing. So, he's saying the Macedonians, the grace of God had been given to them and they gave according to their means and as I can testify, even beyond their means and of their own accord. Look at all of these flowery words for giving. Grace, abundance of joy, overflow, generosity.
34:13
They gave of their own accord And that of their own accord right there shows it was voluntary. In fact, Paul sitting there, the way that he says this over and over I've been looking at this all week, trust me, and last week. The way that he says this, he's saying, I didn't ask him. I didn't say, hey. Y'all need to make a take up a collection.
34:34
In fact, in his first letter to the first Corinthians, he said, you would you do this? Take up a collection. Set it aside. I've told the churches in Galatia too. Galatia was fairly well off too but he didn't ask.
34:50
He didn't ask them but he says, of their own accord and the way he says it, he says it like, it it blew me away. It was spontaneous giving. It was something that when they received the grace of God, they could not help but extend it to others. That was the way it goes. The biblical reaction to grace received from God is grace extended to others.
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I think that's true spiritually. I think it's true financially. I think it's true materially. I think it's true with knowledge. I think that whatever grace God has given you, he he expects, I think, for you.
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Maybe not expects is the right word. It's voluntary. It's totally voluntary. But you to give that to others makes perfect sense in Christ. So this is the widow's might, a little story from Luke.
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And he, that's Jesus, looked up and saw the rich putting their gifts into the treasury, and he saw also a certain poor widow putting in two mites. So he said, truly I say to you that this poor widow has put in more than all. For all these out of their abundance have put in offerings for God. But she, out of her poverty, put in all the livelihood that she had. Begging.
36:01
I don't I must have accidentally put that in there. That's it. Grace of their own accord. Now, has to be of your own accord. Grace is unmerited favor.
36:13
When you give somebody something that they don't deserve. It's payment if it's anything else, right? Grace is of their own accord. He and then he goes on and says, begging us earnestly. This is where that begging came from.
36:28
Begging us earnestly for the favor of taking part in the relief of the saint. It was of their own accord. I didn't ask them. Begging us earnestly for the favor of taking part in the relief of the saints. And that favor in that verse is charis.
36:46
Those of you who who studied any Greek know or know anybody named charis knows that Keres can mean favor or grace or thanks, depending on the context. So it's unmerited. It's always unmerited. Favor, grace, or an action of Thanksgiving. Now, an action of Thanksgiving, sending a thank you note or sending something to somebody to thank them for something that they've done.
37:10
It's nice, but it's not required. It is still something that's just voluntary, but it shows that you appreciate what you've been given. Thanksgiving in our language and in our culture, we all know what Thanksgiving is. In Mexico, they don't have exactly the same holiday, but they call it the Dia de Accion de Gracias. It's the day of the action of thanks.
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It's putting your thanks into action and sharing with one another. So the Greek word, grace, or thanks. Begging us earnestly for the, the favor, or the grace of taking part in the relief of the saints who are in Jerusalem. And this, not as we expected. He says it again.
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He's like, it's not like I had an expectation. I hadn't sent them a letter with the instructions. I did send you one. Sorry. Not as we expected, but they gave themselves first to the Lord.
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Amen. They gave their hearts to God and then by the will of God to us. This is voluntary. It's not something that you have to do. Biblical reaction though to grace received from God is grace extended to others.
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Accordingly, we urge Titus that as he started, so he should complete among you this act of grace. Now, Titus was there with him after that first letter. The first letter had instructions. And he's saying, accordingly, just after we saw this, we thought, man, so we urged Titus that as he started, his as he had started last year, so he should complete among you this act of grace. But as you excel in everything, in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in all earnestness, and in our love for you, see that you excel in this act of grace also.
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Y'all getting how much grace is involved here? It's unmerited favor handed off to people who don't deserve it, who do not merit it. They haven't done anything to get to to to get it from you. He's saying, just as you excel in everything though in faith. These are people he he was getting on to in first Corinthians pretty hard and he was congratulating and trying to make sure that they were with him All so far in second Corinthians, he says, but I know you excel in this, in faith and in speech and in knowledge.
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They had said his speech was kinda unimpressive. But he says, but yours isn't. Y'all are eloquent people. You know how to do this. You excel in everything.
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And faith and speech and knowledge are smart folks, in your earnest. Godly grief has produced that in you, if you remember last week, and in our love for you. Now there's a side note on eight seven. This is a parenthesis, a really big parenthesis right here. And it's just something I love translations of the Bible and going back and making sure all the textual evidence and everything.
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I do that sort of stuff. I like it. It's interesting to me. Hope it's interesting to some of y'all. This eight seven says, but as you excel, just as you are excelling in everything, in faith, in speech, in knowledge, so far so good, we're all right there with you.
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In all earnestness, yeah, you just mentioned earnestness last chapter. In our love for you, that doesn't flow, does it? It looks like it ought to be and in your love for us. Are you with me? You excel in everything in our love for you.
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Wait a second. No. You excel in your love for us would make more sense, it seems. See that you excel in this act of grace also. There are in the textual evidence manuscript copies that we still have.
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There are two. There's one variation right here and it's right there. It's in our love for you or in your love for us. In some manuscripts, it's one way. In some it's other.
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If you're looking at your paper Bible, it probably has a note about that at the bottom of the page. So, it's either our love for you or your love for us and that, I think it's not a big, huge hanging point of theology. It's something where Paul is building them up. Either way, I think it's either that we love you and it excels or you love us and we can tell that and we know it. But I want you to know something about the way that we translate scripture.
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Like, when you run into a difficult passage or you run into a passage where there are two different ways that the manuscript evidence has it and you're you're responsible for transmitting God's word exactly as it is and you run into it and where the evidence is both ways, good translators always take the more difficult reading. Does that make sense? You want for the fault to be with with if it's if I'm gonna fail, I'm not gonna fail by overstating. I'm gonna fail by understating. Does that make sense?
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Okay. So the more difficult reading is the one that the Bible goes with in the parenthesis. That makes sense? And that happens every time. We don't wanna be disingenuous about scripture.
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You always wanna take it seriously and if there is a more difficult reading in any manuscript and there's never any point of theology that hangs on it but you always take the more difficult. It's like, why not just be wrong? Take the step back as much as it depends on you live at peace, you know? If somebody's gonna argue you down and you've hidden it, you've made it look better than it could be, then step off of it. Anyway, that's it.
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Are you still with me? It's a quiet room this morning. Alright. Eight seven. See that you excel in this act of grace also.
42:26
So the Greek word can mean favor, grace, or thanks depending on the context. He is asking them to contribute financially to the saints in Jerusalem. There's no doubt about it. Nobody questions whether that's the case or not. He's telling them to do it and to excel at it.
42:42
He does know their financial status, and he does know what just happened in Macedonia. Some people say he was shaming them. I don't think he was shaming them. He shamed them by telling them, hey, these broke people over here gave so much. I don't think he was.
42:54
I think he was truly surprised by what Macedonians had given even though he didn't ask, and he knows that they can afford it. And so he's asking. And he's asking unapologetically. But as you excel in everything in faith and speech and knowledge and in all earnestness and our love for you, see that you excel in this act of grace, the action of thanks, the action of grace or favor. I say this not as a command.
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Not as a command. It's voluntary. The tithe is something that's an old testament concept. I think it's great, but it's not mentioned in the New Testament. If anything, it goes well, it's mentioned.
43:34
Sorry. I saw I saw that furrowed brow. It's mentioned. It's not commanded. In fact, Jesus took sin and made the thought of sin, sin.
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That makes sense? The temptation, the lust. Everything's amplified in the New Testament. I don't think the tithe, they don't ever say it. It's not as a command.
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He says that. It's voluntary. But to prove by the earnestness of others that your love also is genuine. The biblical reaction to grace received from God is grace extended to others. Is probably gonna come up from time to time like the message of cross slide.
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Okay? Their biblical reaction to the forgiveness that God has given you is to forgive others. Amen. Your love also. He's not saying that the Macedonians are better than you.
44:25
He's just saying, also, y'all could be a part of this too. For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, God's riches at Christ's expense. Grace. God's riches at Christ's expense. For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ that though he was rich, eternally existent, living in relationship with God the father for eternity past and came into this, made himself poor.
44:51
You know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, Christians, that though he was rich, yet for your sake, he became poor, unmerited favor, so that you, by his poverty, might become rich. And in this matter, I give my judgment, Paul says. Now he's already said, this I say not as a command, and in this matter, I give my judgment. This benefits you. This benefits you who a year ago started not only to do this work but also to desire to do it.
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I can't turn this there it is. Paul wrote first Corinthians from Ephesus and this is what he said in '24, but I will stay at Ephesus until Pentecost. That's why we know where he wrote it from. You know, that's where he was. He said he's going to stay there.
45:40
But this is the context. So, the first letter to the Corinthians says this, now, concerning the collection for the saints, those are the ones in Jerusalem. As I directed the churches of Galatia, so you also are to do. On the first day of every week, that's Sunday, each of you is to put aside something and store it up as he may prosper so that there will be no need for collecting or no collecting when I come. And when I arrive, I'll send those whom you accredit by letter to carry your gift to Jerusalem.
46:09
If it seems advisable that I should go also, then they will accompany me. That was the first letter. The second letter, he says, and in this matter, I give my judgment. This benefits you. It's good for you to give.
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It's really, really good for you to give. And you, who a year ago started now so he they got that first letter. They started this process, but it had never been completed. Are you with me? Alright.
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And in this matter, I give you my judgment. This benefits you. That's not the prosperity gospel. If you put in a little bit, you're gonna get a lot. No.
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But it does benefit you. Who a year ago started not only to do this but work, but also to desire to do it. So now finish doing it as well. Bring it to completion, people, so that your readiness and desiring it may be matched by your completing it out of what you have. It's out of what you have.
47:05
I've got a couple of things. There was a church revival was going on, and I worked with a lady in the in the office. And she said that they had and this was nineteen ninety two or '3. And she said that they had installed, I'm not joking, a credit card machine at the front during that revival so people could come down and slide their card. Maybe a little later than that, but about right there.
47:32
To put it on credit, put your tithe on put your seed money on credit because God was gonna repay you. That is dangerous. Paul says, out of what you have. He's not ask I mean, he didn't ask the Macedonians probably at all, but then they gave out of what they had, and it seemed even beyond what they had. For them, the readiness is there.
47:52
It's acceptable according to what a person has. If the readiness is there, the heart that has received grace, the biblical reaction is to give grace. Financially, spiritually, forgiveness. For if the readiness is there, it's acceptable according to what a person has, not according to what he does not have. For I do not mean that others should be eased and you burdened, but that as a matter of fairness.
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He was saying that there are places where people are in really, really bad shape, and you're not right now. Can you help them out? It's just that simple. Your abundance at the present time should supply their need so that their abundance may supply your need, that there may be fairness. As it is written, whoever gathered much had nothing left over and whoever gathered little had no lack.
48:39
Y'all know where that's from? You remember that? The manna from heaven. Actually, I'm going to read it to you. That's the whole thing right there.
48:45
Do you mind? It's great. It's a great story. Exodus sixteen nine says, then, Moses said to Aaron, say to the whole congregation of the people Israel, come near before the Lord for he has heard your grumbling. Ain't that great?
48:59
They've been grumbling. In Egypt, we better know that. And as soon as Aaron spoke to the whole congregation of the people of Israel, they looked toward the wilderness and behold, the glory of the Lord appeared in the cloud and the Lord said to Moses, I have heard the grumbling of the people of Israel. Say to them, at twilight, you shall eat meat and in the morning, you shall be filled with bread. How many of y'all have eaten meat and been filled with bread?
49:25
Me too. Then you shall know that I am the Lord your God. In the evening, quail came up and covered the camp and in the morning dew lay around the camp and when the dew had gone up, there was a on the face of the wilderness, a fine flake like thing, fine as frost on the ground and when the people of Israel saw it, they said to one another, manna. Mana. It means, what is it?
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Manna. What is it? What's it? For they did not know what it was and Moses said to them, it is the bread that the Lord has given you to eat. This is what the Lord has commanded.
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Gather of it each one of you as much as he can eat. You shall take each an omer. That's about two quarts. According to the number of the persons that each of you has in his tent and the people of Israel did so. They gathered some more, some less, but when they measured it out with an omer, whoever gathered much had nothing left over and whoever gathered little had no lack.
50:27
Each of them gathered as much as he could eat and Moses said to them, let no one leave any part of it over till the morning. Daily bread. Take the daily bread. But they did not listen to Moses. Some left part of it till the morning, and it bread worms and it stank.
50:46
And Moses was angry with them. Big surprise. Morning by morning, they gathered it, each as much as he could eat, but when the sun grew hot, it melted. It's there for a little while. What God has given, he's given for your provision, and that that's over that you're saving, he says it.
51:03
Red worms and stank. That's where he pulls it from but thanks be to God who put into the heart of Titus the same earnest care that I have for you. Thanks be to God. For he not only accepted our appeal but being himself very earnest, he is going to you of his own accord. This is voluntary.
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It's something that we feel God stirring in our hearts and we say yes to Jesus. Say yes to what he's asked us to do. He accepted our appeal because we ask him, but it was of his own accord. The biblical reaction to grace. Titus had received grace, and he wanted to extend it to others.
51:44
With him, we are sending the brother who is famous among all the churches for preaching of the gospel. Good. They're sending a big time evangelist. That's great. He's coming along his side and not only that but he has been appointed by the churches to travel with us as we carry out this act of grace that is being ministered by us for the glory of the Lord himself and to show you our goodwill.
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As we carry out this act of grace. Again, favor, grace, thanksgiving, unmerited completely. When people come into the office that are broke, we have heard some stories this week that break your heart. And they're true, and they don't have any right to it. But because y'all have given through the local benevolence fund, all that stuff, actually, this picture.
52:32
This was a good one for this week, actually. That was me on the cover receiving receiving a check from Old Bills Fun Run, which amplifies your donations and gets you there. It just happened to be this week, last week. A guy came in this week who is broke, completely broke. His whole family, this is awful, have been murdered.
52:55
And he just found himself spinning and does not know what to do. It's eight months later. But we were able to say yes, get him some gas money at least, get him a hotel room for a couple of nights, and let him at least have a shower and a good night sleep. He was sleeping in his car before that, and now he's supposed supposed to be with his aunt up in Billings. Be praying for that guy.
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It's just a horrible story. He didn't deserve it. He came in here. He'd had a hard time. We had it because y'all gave it, and we were able to bless him.
53:23
Amen. We take this course so that no one should blame us. Now there is financial responsibility and accountability and integrity that has to be involved. So we take this course so that no one should blame us about this generous gift that's being administered by us. For we aim at what is honorable not only in the Lord's sight, but also in the sight of man.
53:45
We aim at what is honorable not only in the Lord's sight, but also in the sight of man. Accountability and integrity must be seriously considered. You have to figure out how a cheater would cheat and then make rules against it so that it doesn't happen. Must be seriously considered and unimpeachably implemented in any ministry endeavor to protect the gift, the giver, messengers, and receivers, and that applied then and there and still here and now. Actually, I've mentioned this a few times, the Modesto Manifesto is something that Billy Graham and his cohorts came up with in the 40s, and none of those guys that were in Billy Graham's outfit have ever fallen to scandal because they decided ahead of time the system that they would use.
54:30
Four simple rules: never exaggerate the attendance figures at their meetings. Take only a fixed salary from their organization. Actually, they had that one pinned to the average salary of pastors in their denomination. Never be alone with a woman other than their wife, mother, or daughters. Never criticize fellow members of the clergy.
54:56
Those simple things have kept those guys accountable, and their integrity remains right now probably better off than any evangelical minister ever. Maybe Paul. I don't know. And with them, we're sending our brother whom we have often tested and found earnest in many matters, but who is now more earnest than ever because of his great confidence in you. As for Titus, he is my partner and fellow worker for your benefit and as for our brothers, they are messengers or apostles of the churches, the glory of Christ.
55:30
Apostles means sent out ones. They were people that the churches trusted enough to send out on this mission, okay? So, give proof before the churches of your love and our boasting about you to these men. That's the end of the text. It ends up with love there.
55:45
Give proof before the churches of your love and of our boasting about you to these men. Before the churches points back to that messengers right there because they're representatives. The accountability structure is in place. So how does the then and there apply to here and now? Did y'all get the shoe?
56:02
Have you tried it on? Does it fit? Yeah. We're in a very wealthy place. There are lots of places that are hurting.
56:08
Right? We wanna be administering gifts to get to those who are hurting. So questions for your sum up slide, Carl. Are there still places right now that are experiencing the severe affliction of poverty? Yes.
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Are there some here? Yes. Does God's grace still exist? Have we received of God's grace, church folk? Yes.
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Will we extend that grace to others? This is voluntary. Now I wanna personalize it too. Are there still people, not just people's groups, but are there still people right now that are experiencing the severe affliction of poverty? Talked to two people yesterday that don't have a place to live.
56:56
Does great God's grace still exist? It does. Are we proclaiming it? Sure. Have you personally received it?
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If not, there are lots of people in here who have. Talk to them about it. Talk to me about it. Will you extend that grace to others? It is voluntary.
57:13
Biblical reaction, though, to grace received is to give grace to others. I'm gonna go straight into this, and it's way past time. I just prepare for a normal Sunday with no communion but we're gonna commune here. In some traditions, in some churches, so elders, would y'all come forward? In some traditions, in some churches, the actual grace of God, the very real grace of God, the presence of almighty God and is in the Eucharist.
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We believe this is a symbol but it is a symbol to remind us of God's grace. So, it comes with a strong warning about not taking it unworthily. We practice an absolutely open table to anyone who's accepted the grace of God. So, if you've accepted God's grace through Jesus, you're welcome to remember him in this. As I pray, they're gonna distribute the bread first and then the cup.
58:03
Lord God, would you please bless this cracker, this little cracker or gluten free wafer in the cupcake thing. Lord, would you please bless this that we would remember you? In Jesus name, lord, we ask you. Amen. And after Jesus had lived a perfect life, never having sinned on the night that he was betrayed, he took bread after supper and after he had given thanks, he broke it and he said, this is my body that is given for you.
1:01:44
Take and eat of it and do it in remembrance of me. Thank you, God almighty, for that perfect life lived, for that sinless, debtless life that was lived, that could be given on our behalf. I thank you for the precious blood that was shed. And as we distribute this cup, Lord, would you bless everyone who partakes and those who have to just let it pass by because they have to this point not put their faith in you. Would you bless this cup, Lord, as we remember Jesus' shed blood?
1:02:26
Amen. Hallelujah. And just like the bread, he took the cup after supper and saying, this is the new covenant in my blood. Take this and drink as often as you will and do it in remembrance of me. Given as a ransom for many to pay the penalty of sin.
1:06:43
Amen. Paul says this is us declaring the Lord's death until he comes again. Carl, would you come up and we're gonna declare? Okay. Sounds good.
1:06:56
Yes. Praise God from whom all blessings flow. Praise him all creatures here below. Praise him above, ye heavenly host. Praise father, son, and holy ghost.
1:07:28
Alright. Would you stand up for the benediction both spiritually and financially? Give freely of the grace that you've received and in this matter, I give you my judgment. This will greatly benefit you. Amen.
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