The Priority of Giving

03/01/20 • -1 min

In his second epistle to the church of Corinth, Paul has been seeking to encourage the Corinthian believers regarding their position in Christ and the purpose of God as they face afflictions. Through afflictions, we have the opportunity to receive the encouragement of God and, subsequently, to dispense that same encouragement to others who are experiencing afflictions. Afflictions are a means by which we can give testimony to the greatness of our God! With this in mind, Paul transitions his exhortation to the testimony of the believers in Macedonia and how they handled the afflictions with which they were faced. Paul's goal is to inspire the believers of Corinth to prove themselves faithful regarding the commitments that they made - in spite of the circumstances which they found themselves. Afflictions test our resolve. In Jesus' parable of the sower, the seed and the soil, we are told of four different types of soil: the hard soil, the rocky soil, the thorny soil and the prepared soil. Only the prepared soil produced fruit; each of the others did not. The "hard soil" heart rejects the Word immediately. The "rocky" soil heart seemed to accept the Word but when trials and afflictions came it moved away. The "thorny soil" heart, as well, seemed to receive the Word but was choked out by temptations of the flesh and world. Paul began this string of sub-thought in verse one of chapter 6 with the comment, "We then, as workers together with Him also plead with you not to receive the grace of God in vain." In this section, we see again the tender balance between faith and works. As James states, "Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. But someone will say, 'You have faith, and I have works.' Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe - and tremble! ... For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also." (James 2:17-19,26) This message was presented on March 1, 2020 by Bob Corbin.

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Godly Sorrow

In his second epistle to the church of Corinth, Paul has been seeking to encourage the Corinthian believers regarding their position in Christ and the purpose of God as they face afflictions. Through afflictions, we have the opportunity to receive the encouragement of God and, subsequently, to dispense that same encouragement to others who are experiencing afflictions. Afflictions are a means by which we can give testimony to the greatness of our God! Our relationship in Christ should effect how we think about our purpose in this world. We must remember that we are, ultimately, eternal beings and will one day be absent from the body and present with the Lord! Hence, while we live upon the earth, we must see ourselves as ministers of reconciliations and ambassadors of God. As such, we should seek to bring no offense (or stumbling block) to others in their coming to the knowledge of the truth. As God's ambassadors, we must seek to not be unequally yoked, in order that God may direct our path in the ministry to which He has called us. In today's passage, Paul draws the teaching back to his initial teaching regarding how our relationship and position in Christ should totally transform how we view sufferings and sorrows. In the beginning of his epistle (our chapters 1 and 2), Paul discussed the level of tribulation that he and his team had experienced in the province of Asia. Now, he turns the thought to what he experienced when he entered Macedonia and how news from them encouraged. Tied together with Paul's sufferings was the sorrow of the Corinthians. We will discussed each of these subjects again. This message was presented on February 23, 2020 by Bob Corbin.

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The Principles and Promises of Giving

In the last message, we saw how afflictions reveal our faith. Within the context of that theme, Paul refers to the testimony of the believers in Macedonia who gave great evidence of their faith - in the midst of their affliction - by giving to the needs of the saints in Judea (cf. Romans 15:25-26). This abundant giving was founded on the fact that they had first given of themselves to the Lord. They understood that everything that they owned was actually under His stewardship and for His glory. As we will continue to examine today, they gave out of their great devotion for what God had done for them. Hence, the Priority of Giving is giving yourself first. Today, we pick up on the theme of giving by considering the Principles, and Promises, of Giving that Paul gives in chapters 8 and 9. This message was presented on March 8, 2020 by Bob Corbin.