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Scripture Reading: 2 Cor. 8:1-15
Paul wrote the Epistles of 1 and 2 Corinthians as a loving father. In his first Epistle Paul disciplined the Corinthians. Parents know that in disciplining children we run the risk of alienating them. If a parent disciplines a child without limitation, the child may want to run away from home. After writing 1 Corinthians, Paul was concerned about how the believers at Corinth would react to his discipline. Paul was not at rest about the matter, and he even regretted somewhat writing that Epistle. He was concerned that the entire church in Corinth would be alienated from him. Because of his deep concern, he was eagerly awaiting Titus to bring him news of the response of the Corinthians to his first Epistle. In chapter two Paul did not have rest in his spirit, for he did not find Titus. But we see from chapter seven that Titus came with good news.
Paul’s first Epistle had caused sorrow to the Corinthians, but this sorrow produced repentance unto salvation. That salvation was a full reconciliation. When Paul heard this good news, he was beside himself with joy. As he says in 7:13, “We rejoiced more abundantly over the joy of Titus.” When he wrote his second Epistle, Paul was in such an atmosphere of encouragement and joy. Thus, as we read chapter seven, we can touch the feeling in Paul’s spirit, a feeling of deep concern for the church in Corinth.
All those who would care for the churches or serve the Lord need to be impressed with Paul’s spirit in chapter seven. Here we see the proper attitude in serving the Lord. We also see that in ancient times the fellowship between the believers and the apostles was not as shallow as it is among believers today. In ancient times, the believers were in the hearts of the apostles, and the apostles were in the hearts of the believers. The fellowship among them all was very deep. They lived together in such a deep fellowship that they were even willing to die together.
The situation among many Christians today is very different. Christians may travel from group to group without having deep fellowship. For them, a Christian group is like a hotel where people come, stay for a while, and then go elsewhere. Our fellowship in the Lord’s recovery should not be like this. The local churches should not be motels for those traveling from place to place. As members of our Father’s family, our fellowship should be deep. We should be in one another’s hearts, and nothing should be able to separate us from one another. Even if we are disciplined by others, we should still love the church family and never forsake it.
Chapters eight and nine of 2 Corinthians are both on the matter of the apostle’s fellowship concerning the ministry to the needy saints. Apparently this has nothing to do with what Paul has covered in chapters six and seven. In 2 Corinthians 6 and 7 we have Paul’s work of reconciliation, and in chapters eight and nine, the ministry to the needy saints. Without the reconciliation described in chapters six and seven, it is not possible to have the ministry to the needy saints presented in chapters eight and nine. Hence, the ministry in these chapters is the issue of the work of reconciliation in the preceding chapters. This means that if we would carry on a proper ministry to the needy saints, we need to be reconciled to God, brought back to Him in full. We need to be those living in God, those who have no separation between them and God. The ministry to the needy saints recorded in chapters eight and nine is extraordinary. In order to have this extraordinary ministry, a ministry to the needy saints in other parts of the world, we need a reconciled life, a life fully reconciled to God.
In his second Epistle, Paul first pointed out to the believers at Corinth that as ministers of the new covenant, the apostles had received the ministry to reconcile God’s people fully back to Himself. Then in chapter six Paul carried on this ministry, doing a fine work to reconcile the distracted Corinthians back to God in full. After accomplishing such a work, he went on to fellowship with them that they should have a ministry to supply the needy saints.
The sequence in these chapters is important. If chapters eight and nine were at the beginning of this book, they would certainly be out of place. But one chapter follows another like steps in a staircase. I believe that as Paul was writing this Epistle he had the sense that he was taking one step after another. Only after he had done an excellent work to reconcile the distracted saints back to God did he present them with the ministry of caring for the needy saints. Thus, we should not regard these chapters as separated and isolated. Apparently chapters eight and nine are on a different subject from chapters six and seven. Actually in Paul’s thought all these chapters are connected.
Through Paul’s reconciling work, the saints in Corinth were brought back to God, repented, and received more salvation. Then in 8:1 Paul says, “Furthermore, we make known to you, brothers, the grace of God which has been given to the churches of Macedonia.” The word “furthermore” indicates that certain preparations have been made and that a particular atmosphere and condition exist for the writer to present something further. Thus, Paul goes on to speak of the grace of God bestowed upon the churches of Macedonia. His aim was that the Corinthian believers would participate in supplying the needy saints.
Today it is common for Christians to engage in fund raising to meet the need for material supply. Often, fund-raising letters are sent out to encourage Christians to give. If you compare these fund-raising letters with what Paul has written in 2 Corinthians 8 and 9, those letters will be exposed as being worthless. Compared to what Paul has written, they are altogether lacking in value, life, and spirit. For the most part, they do nothing more than urge others to give money. In a sense, in these chapters Paul is engaged in fund raising. But his way of handling material needs is absolutely in the Spirit and full of life, altogether different from the practice of today’s Christian organizations. Paul does not merely talk about money; he speaks concerning the grace of God in a way that is full of life and the Spirit. Paul’s writing in these chapters has considerable spiritual weight.
If we read 8:1-15 carefully, we shall see that grace here involves four parties: God, the giving ones, the apostles, and Christ. Thus, we may speak of a fourfold grace — the grace of God, the grace of the givers, the grace of the apostles, and the grace of Christ. Actually, Paul is not merely raising funds. Much more, he is seeking to stir up the saints to participate in the ministry to the needy ones. In order to participate in such a ministry to supply the needy saints, we need a fourfold grace.
In 8:1 Paul mentions the grace of God given in the churches of Macedonia. This grace is the resurrected Christ becoming the life-giving Spirit (1 Cor. 15:45) to bring the processed God in resurrection into us to be our life and life supply. Grace is actually the Triune God becoming life and everything to us. By this grace the Macedonian believers overcame the usurpation of temporal and uncertain riches and became generous in ministering to the needy saints.
On the day of Pentecost the believers put all their possessions together and had all things common. Acts 2:44 and 45 say, “And all that believed were together, and had all things common; and sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all men, as every man had need.” They practiced what may be called a communal life. This practice continued in Acts 4: “And the multitude of them that believed were of one heart and of one soul: neither said any of them that aught of the things which he possessed was his own; but they had all things common” (v. 32). Throughout the centuries many believers have appreciated the communal life in Acts 2 and 4 and have also tried to have all things common. A certain group in north China practiced this kind of communal life. Anyone who joined that group had to agree to give up his material possessions and have everything in common. However, the communal life in Acts did not last very long. Even as early as chapter six, problems began to arise, and not too long afterward that communal life was discontinued. In the writings of Paul we can see that the communal life described in Acts 2 and 4 was no longer in practice. From Paul’s Epistles we see that the proper Christian living is not a communal living, a living of having all things common; it is a living by grace. This grace comes from four directions; from God, from Christ, from the apostles, and from the saints.
Continuing his word about the grace of God given in the churches of Macedonia, in verse 2 Paul says, “That in much approvedness of affliction the abundance of their joy and the depth of their poverty abounded unto the riches of their liberality.” The Macedonians were in affliction, in suffering. That affliction was a test to them of how much they could be approved by God. This is what Paul means by approvedness in affliction. Whenever we are in affliction or suffering, we should realize that God is testing us to prove where we are and what we are. The result of that testing in affliction, in suffering, is approvedness. If we are able to withstand the test and are approved by God, the result will be the approvedness of affliction. The Macedonians were in that kind of situation.
In verse 2 Paul links “the abundance of their joy” and “the depth of their poverty.” This seems to be a very unusual combination. How could the Macedonians be in the depths of poverty and yet have abundance of joy? Nevertheless, the Macedonians had both poverty and joy.
With the Macedonians the abundance of their joy and the depth of their poverty “abounded unto the riches of their liberality.” The Greek word rendered liberality is also used for singleness and simplicity (see 1:12 and Rom. 12:8). Liberality is generosity in giving. Though the Macedonians were very poor, they were generous. They had the riches of liberality.
In order to be generous, we need to be single and simple. A complicated person cannot be generous. Those who are single and simple will have the riches of liberality. When they hear about a need among the saints, they will immediately decide to give something. However, those who are complicated may consider the matter and then decide to give much less than they originally intended. This is not singleness, simplicity, generosity, or liberality. We all should be generous and liberal in our giving. For this, we need to be single and simple.
When I was young I wondered why the Lord Jesus allowed Judas to be responsible for the purse. He knew that Judas was a thief, but still let him be in charge of the money. I thought that the Lord should have let John or Peter take care of the purse. But the Lord Jesus, being generous and liberal, not a lover of money, let Judas keep the purse. The Lord certainly was simple, single, generous, and liberal.
In 8:3 and 4 Paul goes on to say, “Because according to their power, I testify, and beyond their power, they gave of their own accord, with much entreaty beseeching of us the grace and the fellowship of the ministry to the saints.” Although the Macedonians were poor and in affliction, they gave generously of their own accord, that is, voluntarily. They did this through the grace of God, through the resurrected Christ as the life-giving Spirit indwelling them. This Christ is the grace of God working within the believers and motivating them to overcome the hold of material possessions, in particular, to overcome mammon. The Macedonians were in deep poverty, but the grace moving within them enabled them to overcome mammon and material possessions and to use them for the fulfillment of God’s purpose.
We need grace to overcome the usurpation of material possessions. To give continually by grace is more difficult than to put all our possessions together and have everything in common. In 1 Corinthians 16 Paul tells us to set aside a certain amount on the first day of every week. This continual giving takes grace, for it is contrary to our fallen, human nature. If we would give continually, not just once for all, we need divine grace to motivate us from within. To have a ministry that overcomes mammon and material possessions and uses them for God’s purpose requires grace.
Verse 4 says, “With much entreaty beseeching of us the grace and the fellowship of the ministry to the saints.” The Greek word for grace, charis, means grace, gift, and favor. Here the meaning is favor (Vincent). The Macedonian believers besought of the apostles the favor that they might participate, have fellowship, in the ministry to the needy saints. Instead of the apostles asking the saints to have a share in this matter, the Macedonian believers begged the apostles for such a share. They considered it a favor, a grace, that the apostles would allow them such a share.
The Macedonians wanted to give a supply of material things to the Jewish believers. However, in themselves they were not able to do this. Both materially and spiritually they needed the apostles. Therefore, they begged the apostles to let them share in this grace, to give them this grace that they might participate in such a spiritual ministry. Although this ministry was related to material things, Paul made it a spiritual ministry.
Actually, Paul was not a fund raiser. He was one who took a ministry of material things and made it a spiritual matter full of life, the Spirit, and building up. In order to participate in a ministry of material things in a way that was full of life, the Macedonians needed the apostle’s grace, the apostle’s favor. Without this, the ministry of the Macedonians to the needy saints would have been only a material one. It could not have been a spiritual ministry full of life for the building up of the Body of Christ.
According to their feeling, the Macedonians regarded it as a grace to participate in the ministry to the needy saints. That participation was also a fellowship in the Body of Christ. This was the reason they begged the apostle to give them the grace to participate in it.
Under the ministry of the apostles, the giving of material supply became a spiritual matter full of life and edification. This is altogether different from today’s fund raising, which is without life, without spirit, and without the building up of the Body of Christ. In order for our material giving to become a spiritual ministry of life and building, we need grace from God and also from the apostles.
Verse 5 says, “And not according as we hoped, but they gave themselves first to the Lord, and to us through the will of God.” This verse indicates that the Lord wants the believers themselves much more than what they have. The Macedonians were given not only to the Lord, but also to the apostles to be one with the apostles in accomplishing their ministry. This was through the will of God. It was through the will of God, through the sovereign divine agent, that the believers gave themselves first to the Lord and to the apostles.
In verse 6 Paul continues, “So that we entreated Titus that, even as he began before, so also he would complete in you this grace also.” Grace here denotes the act of giving. The word “also” indicates that besides this grace, the grace of giving, there were other graces completed by Titus among the Macedonian believers.
In verse 7 Paul says, “But just as you abound in everything, in faith, and in word, and in knowledge, and in all earnestness, and in the love which is in you from us, see that you may abound in this grace also.” Here Paul speaks of “the love which is in you from us.” This indicates that the love which was in the believers was infused into them from the apostles.
In verse 7 grace is the act of love shown in the giving of material things to the needy saints. This grace of the believers is the issue of the grace of God motivating them. In the fellowship concerning the ministry to the saints, the apostle refers to the grace of God given to the Macedonian believers to motivate and enable them to give with liberality, the grace of the apostles allowing the believers to participate in the ministry to the needy saints, and the grace of the believers to minister the material things to the needy ones. This indicates that the believers’ offering of material possessions to the Lord for any purpose should be absolutely a matter of grace, not of maneuvering.
In verses 8 and 9 Paul goes on to say, “I am not speaking by way of command, but proving through the earnestness of others the genuineness also of your love; for you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, being rich, for your sakes He became poor, in order that you by His poverty might become rich.” It is a grace to us that the Lord Jesus, being rich, became poor for our sakes. In the same principle, it is a grace to others that we would sacrifice our material riches for their sakes.
Apparently the Lord Jesus becoming poor has nothing to do with the ministry of material supply to needy saints. Actually, if the Lord Jesus had not become poor, we could not have Him as our grace. Suppose the Lord Jesus had never come into humanity. How, then, could He be our life? How could He be the grace working within us, motivating, strengthening, and supplying us to carry on a ministry to the needy saints? This would be impossible. It is crucial for us to realize that Christ can work in us today because He became poor. His becoming poor for our sakes should be an example. On the one hand, He is the life within us; on the other hand, He is the pattern, the example, outwardly. The life of the Lord within us is the life of the One who, being rich, became poor. As such a One who is both our life and our pattern, Christ is grace to us. We need to receive grace from the Lord Jesus. Then this grace will enable us to do what the Lord Jesus did: to become poor for others. Even though we may be in deep poverty, we still have something to share with needy saints. We have the life within to become poor for others, and we have the outward pattern to follow. Let us receive this grace.
If we give by such a grace, what we give will become grace to others. We give material things to help them, but these material things are accompanied by a spiritual grace. When we supply needy saints with material things in the proper way, in spirit and with life, life and spirit go with this supply. As a result, the needy ones are supplied not only with material things, but also with the riches of life.
In this message we have pointed out that to have a ministry to needy saints we need to receive grace from God, from the apostles, and from the Lord Jesus Christ. Receiving this threefold grace, we can then supply others with a material gift in grace. Whatever we do in giving to others will not simply be a ministry of material things to take care of the needs of the saints, but will also be a supply of life to them. In this way, we communicate spiritual riches to those needy saints. This kind of giving is needed among us today.
Our material gifts should be spiritual, full of life, and able to edify the saints and build up the Body of Christ. This requires that when we give some material things to the Lord, we should have the assurance that we are doing it in spirit, with life, and for the building up of the church. This kind of giving is the issue, the result, of being fully reconciled to God. Only those who have been reconciled to God in full can have a ministry of material things that brings to the needy saints a supply of life for spiritual edification and for the building up of the Body of Christ.
