>> Jen: Good morning, faithful listeners. Welcome to the Bible Explained podcast. I actually am drinking coffee today. This is the first cup of coffee I have had in months. I am looking at it lovingly and actually I am, uh, using a coffee cup that says love all over it because that is how I feel about my coffee. So we'll see. We'll see how this goes. I have been feeling a little bit better and I appreciate everybody who has been
praying for me. This has been a year long battle I've been having with my stomach and so I've tried many different diets, I've been to many different doctors. And finally now I feel like I might be making some headway with my diet. I am fully gluten free now, which is, um, it's something. But I've been feeling a bit better. And so for the first time in months, I am trying out coffee to see how it sits in my stomach. Pray for me.
All right, so we're going to be reading 2 Corinthians 8:1 15 today, so grab your cup of coffee and join along with me as we give reverence to God's word together. Moreover, brothers, we make known to you the grace of God which has been given in the assemblies of Macedonia. How in a severe ordeal of affliction, the abundance of their joy and their deep poverty abounded to the riches of their generosity. For according to their power, I
testify. Yes. And beyond their power they gave of their own accord, begging us with much entreaty to receive this grace and the fellowship in the service to the saints. 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. So we urged Titus that as he had made a beginning before, so he would also complete
in you this grace. 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. I speak not by way of commandment, but as proving through the earnestness of others, the sincerity also of your love. 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. I, uh, give advice in it is expedient for you, who are the first to start a year ago, not only to do so, but also to be willing, 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. For if the readiness is there, it is acceptable according to what you have, not according to what you don't have. For this is not so that others may be
eased and you be distressed. But for equality, your abundance at this present time supplies their lack, that their abundance may also become a supply for your lack, that there may be equality. As it is written, he who gathered much had nothing left over, and he who gathered little had no lack. So this entire passage today is talking about
giving. You'll remember that in the last chapter of 1 Corinthians, Paul had actually told the Corinthian church to put together a collection of monies and goods for the Jerusalem Christians who had very little. So if you go back to 1 Corinthians 16, here's what Paul says in verse 1. Now, concerning the collection for the saints, as I commanded the assemblies at Galatia, you
do likewise on the first day of every week. Let each of you save as he may prosper, that no collections are made when I come, when I arrive, I will send whoever you approve with letters to carry your gracious gift to Jerusalem. If it is appropriate for me to go also, they will go with me. So in the last letter, Paul wanted the Corinthians to give to the poor Christians in Jerusalem. We don't know exactly why. There could have been some sort of famine happening in Jerusalem at the time, and
the Christians were really struggling over there. There could have also been a deep persecution happening in Jerusalem against the Christians at that time also, and they were in need of food and, uh, supplies. So we're not exactly sure what happened in Jerusalem at this time, but we know something happened because Paul was organizing this collection, not just with the Corinthians, but also it says he organized it in
Galatia. And. And now in 2 Corinthians, chapter 8, he mentions how all of Macedonia, the assemblies of Macedonia, gave in this collection as well. So going back to our passage today, 2 Corinthians 8:1, Moreover, brothers, we make known to you the grace of God which has been given in the assemblies of Macedonia. Now, Macedonia would have been all of northern Greece. So that would have been multiple churches up in northern, uh, Greece. And then Achaia was
southern Greece. That was where the Corinthian church was. But apparently now Paul is telling the Corinthians, look, you know, all of these churches in northern Greece have given very generously to this collection that I talked to you about previously. He says, I want to make known to you the grace of God which has been given in the assemblies of Macedonia. How, in a severe ordeal of affliction the abundance of their joy and their deep poverty abounded to the riches of their
generosity. And it's interesting that Paul calls their generosity the grace of God, because that really is what generosity is. When you think about it, when somebody is generous to you, when they give to you, when you don't expect it, don't you just feel so loved and cared for by that person? It's almost like they are giving you grace. It's almost like the grace of God is being poured out on you through their generosity.
And I know that, you know, with my ministry, I've felt that way multiple times with just the generosity of you faithful listeners and how kind you have been to me and to this ministry. It has really made me feel so loved by both you guys and especially by God. And there's been times where I felt so down or discouraged. And then one of you either sends me the kindest email or you give me a really nice review, or you
donate something to the ministry. And it just makes me feel so loved by you guys and also by God. So it's like a, uh, grace. It's the grace of God. And you're going to notice that Paul uses that same language to describe generosity multiple times throughout this passage. But notice in verse two here, it says that the Macedonians were in severe affliction, but yet they gave so generously. It says their deep poverty abounded to the riches of their generosity.
So in spite of their poverty and in, in spite of this affliction that north Greece was going through, they still wanted to give freely. They still wanted to give so much and to show God's grace to these Christians in Jerusalem. And this, of course, is historically accurate, because the entire Bible is historically accurate. Um, North Macedonia in the days of Paul and in the time that Rome occupied pretty much everything, Macedonia was very poor because they were once run by Alexander the
Great. And then when Rome came in, after Alexander the Great died, Rome came in, took over Macedonia, and took pretty much everything that northern Greece had to offer. So the people were left pretty destitute and pretty poor during the time, uh, of the Roman occupation. So the Macedonians were quite poor. And yet in spite of this, they gave so generously. Verse 3. For according to their power,
I testify, yes. And beyond their power, they gave of their own accord, begging us with much entreaty to receive this grace. There's that word again, that verbiage, this grace and the fellowship in the service to the saints. So not only did the Macedonians go above and beyond in their giving despite their poverty. But they also begged Paul to take this gift. Paul didn't even have to ask them to do it. The Macedonians were just like, how can we help? We heard about Jerusalem. What can we do? We
want to give. And they begged Paul to take that gift. This was not what we had expected. But first they gave their own selves to the LORD, and then to us through the will of God. So notice that for the Macedonian Christians, their hearts changed first. Non Christians can be generous, that is for sure. But you can look up the statistics. Overwhelmingly, Christians are the biggest, most generous givers on the planet. And that is through
study after study after study. The majority of charity comes from Christians giving to other people. And we should pat ourselves on the back for that good job. Because that is showing God's kindness to others. When you give, when you take something freely that God has given you and you give it to somebody else, that is you showing the love of God to that person. But that really can't happen without a heart change. Christians are the most generous people overall because they have had that
heart change before God. They have learned that, you know, everything that we own comes from God anyway. Everything that we own is temporary. And also on top of that, when we give, it says in Scripture that God will give to us he who refreshes others. That's a proverb. He who refreshes others will himself be refreshed. God tells us in scripture to never test Him. He says, don't test me. I don't want you to test Me, except
in one thing. There's only one thing that God tells us to test Him in, and that is with our generosity. He says, give. Give and see how I'm going to bless you. And it also says in Scripture that God loves the cheerful giver. He loves people who give generously. Why do you think that is? Because God Himself is generous. God Himself gives grace to us freely. He's a giver. And so He loves people that emulate that same giving spirit that He also has.
And I can tell you that giving financially is not one of my strong suits. It never has been. I've always actually been, uh, quite stingy when it comes to money. My husband is very generous with finances and also with his energy and time as well. Uh, he's a great guy. But I'll focus specifically on the finances for right now. He's very generous financially. And one thing I've learned over the years, watching my husband give, when I feel this, like, fear inside
my chest where I'm like, oh, My gosh. You know, he's giving money. We don't have a ton of money to give right now. I would get stressed out, but then my husband would give and he'd be like, it's okay, like, we're fine, we can give. And I'd be like, alright, whatever. You know, I'm just gonna pray and trust that that was okay. And it always was okay. It's always been okay. No matter how much we have given, we've been fine. It's like the money just comes right back in
through various means. Even when it feels like it's not going to, it just comes right back in somehow. And we've always been okay. God has just protected us through that giving. And I have learned that over the years that God really does take care of people who give. And it seems that these Macedonian Christians understood this principle as well, that even though they didn't have a lot to give, they went above and beyond to give
generously because they had faith. They knew that it was going to be okay if they gave, because God would provide for them. He would protect them if they did give this gift. And now, you know, they've been honored through history because Paul wrote about this in the Bible. And we can read this whenever we want. We can see how generous the Macedonians really were. So the Macedonians truly were blessed by God because of how much they gave.
Verse 6. So he urged Titus that as he had made a beginning before, so he would complete in you this grace. So it's kind of Old English to say that the Corinthians did not follow through with their giving. So you remember, okay, First Corinthians, chapter 16, the last chapter of First Corinthians. Paul told the Corinthians to take up a collection for the Christians in
Jerusalem. And that when Paul came to visit the Corinthians, he would collect what they had and take it to Jerusalem to distribute it to those Christians. However, it seems that this never happened. And perhaps that's one of the reasons why Paul was so frustrated when he went to go visit the Corinthians. Because we know some sort of conflict and confrontation happened when he got to the Corinthian Church. And this collection was never taken up. So that was when Paul traveled his
way up to northern Greece. He sent Titus down with a harsh letter to the Corinthians, and the Corinthians received Titus and received this letter. And so now Paul is saying that he asked Titus to urge the Corinthians to follow through with this giving. That they were supposed to do. 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 once again, that grace being giving.
This entire time, when Paul is using the word grace, he is talking about giving. Financially. Giving is a grace because you are showing God's grace to other people. Giving is a grace because you are humbling yourself, in a sense, by giving of your own things to another person who you might not know. And thirdly, giving is a grace because you are graciously supplying somebody's needs. So, yes, giving is in fact a grace.
And Paul urges the Corinthians to complete abound, um, in this particular grace of giving, verse eight, I speak not by a way of commandment, but as proving through the earnestness of others, the sincerity also of your love. So not only is giving a grace, but it's also a love for other people. And Paul says, look, I'm not commanding you to give. In fact, there's only a couple times in Scripture where people are commanded to give. The first time is in the Old Testament when it came to the tithes
and the offerings. And then the second time is in The New Testament, 1st Timothy 5 verse 8, that says anyone who does not provide for their relatives and especially for their own household has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever. So those are the two times where people are called, like, Literally commanded to give is in the Old Testament with the tithes and the offerings, and then the New Testament for your own family. You must provide and give
to your own family first. But for the most part, giving is never a specific command. In Scripture. It's more about you being generous with what God has given you. Like I said, Scripture says God loves the cheerful giver because God Himself is a giver and He wants us to emulate Him. And that is why Paul says, here, I speak not by way of command. I'm not commanding you to do this, but I want you to prove the sincerity of your love also like the
Macedonians did. 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. And you might be like, well, when was Jesus rich? Well, Jesus left heaven. You know, Heaven is complete paradise. There's no wants in heaven. Jesus was reigning in heaven. He was a king in heaven. He sat at the right hand of God the Father, and He had everything, every single thing that you could ever
need. Jesus gave all that up. Gave up His kingly status to come to earth in complete poverty. I mean, He was born in a manger, for heaven's sake, and that's like complete and total poverty. So Jesus went from being a king to laying in a filthy manger. He went from riches to poverty to show His love for other people. He humbled himself. And in a sense, that is also what we are doing when we give generously to other
people. We are humbling ourselves. We're saying, you know, we don't need this as much as somebody else needs it. So I want to give this because this belongs to God anyway. It's humbling yourselves. It's showing love, it's showing grace to other people, the way Jesus did when He left heaven to become poor. For you and for me, verse 10, I give advice in this. It is expedient for you who were the first to start a year ago, not only to do, but also to be willing.
So it's not enough to give just because other people are doing it or, uh, just because you feel guilty or something like that. That's not the reason you should be giving. You should give with a willing heart, with a cheerful heart. But now complete the doing also. In other words, finish what you started. Corinthians, you started taking up that collection. You never gave it to the Christians in Jerusalem. So finish that, complete it.
That as there was the readiness to be willing, so there may be the completion also out of your ability. So not only do you have to be willing to give, but you have to follow through with the giving as well. Because it's not enough to just be willing to give. Actions speak louder than words. Christ was willing to come to earth, but He also followed through with what He was
coming to do. But then verse 13 and 14, to conclude it says, for this is not that others may be eased and you be distressed, but for equality. You don't give so much of your own stuff that you're unable to provide for yourself and for your family. Once again, what does First uh, Timothy 5, 8 says? It says, anyone who does not provide for their relatives and especially for their own household, has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever. So you don't give so much that you're actually
destroying your family in the process. You don't give your children's college fund because you think that that is holy to do or something like that. You give what you are able and what you are willing to give and what you can follow through on. That is how much you give, and also you shouldn't give so much that you're burdened and other people have it easy. Also, you give for equality. We do it so that everybody can be unified a little bit more, because we are all part of
the body of Christ. And God cares about each member of His body, and He wants all of His members to be protected and taken care of here on this earth, which is why God tells us to provide for the widows and for the fatherless also, because this is all going to bring us closer to unity, to God. So we don't give too much of our own stuff. We don't give to ease the burdens of other people and make ourselves way more burdened because now we don't have enough money. But we give so that other people
aren't starving. We give so that other people aren't living in complete misery. We give so that all of us can be unified a little bit more. And you might be like, well, this sounds a little bit like communism. Well, it's not communism, and I've talked about this multiple times on the podcast before, because communism is when the government comes and takes over and distributes wealth the way they think is necessary. Once again, what does Paul say here? He says, this is
not a commandment. He says, this is something each of you should be willing to do in your own hearts. This is something that each of you should dedicate to do. It is not a command. When socialism or communism comes in, that becomes a command. The government comes in and takes your money to give to another person. But that is not what giving is. Giving is never commanded like that. Which, by the way,
I still don't know the difference between communism and socialism. No matter how much people like to say, you know, socialism is so different from communism. It's the same thing. Okay? Socialism is just communism lite. That's it. Okay. Uh, it's the same thing. And nobody can convince me otherwise. So this is not communism what Paul is talking about here. This is how the church members should be treating
each other. You know, something that happened in North Carolina that was just so amazing, you know, when that hurricane just, like, ripped through North Carolina and just absolutely destroyed all those people's lives and houses and just, uh, caused people to have to live in tents. And it was like one of the coldest winters this year in North Carolina, and people are still living in tents to this day.
You know, the people of North Carolina actually said the only people that stepped up for us were the charities and the churches. Our neighbors stepped up to help Us. And, wow, isn't that a great testimony for the church? That is what the church should be stepping up and doing. Faithful listeners, I'm so excited that you shared a cup of coffee with me today and that I was actually able to share a little bit of coffee with you today as well.
Not gonna lie, I've been a little bit ashamed recently. I haven't been talking as much about coffee or tea. You might have noticed at the beginning of the episodes, like, I used to rib the tea drinkers quite a lot, and I kind of stopped ribbing the tea drinkers just because I was, you know, drinking tea myself. And I don't want to rib myself, so I didn't rib you guys as much. And, uh, I was ashamed. You know, I'm like, man, you know, my entire brand
is built off of coffee, kind of. I mean, the podcast logo is a coffee cup. So I'm excited that I was able to drink a little bit of coffee today with you guys. We'll see how it settles in my stomach. And, um, just continue to pray for me, if you would, um, for continued healing in my gut, that would be fantastic if I could totally get rid of whatever issues I am currently dealing with. Anyway, faithful listeners, have a fantastic and
wonderful rest of your day. I will see you guys on Monday if I don't see you tomorrow. Tomorrow is for the members. If you'd like to become a member and gain access to the Friday podcast, which is separate from this podcast, then click the link in the description, the one that says Ko Fi, and it will explain to you how to become a
member and gain access to the Friday podcast. Because right now we're going through the Book of Psalms, and it's been great, and I hope to see you guys over there, but if I don't, I will see you all on Monday for an episode from Second Kings, where, shockingly enough, we're actually going to be talking about a widow and another woman who is a very generous giver also. So this episode and Monday's episode will kind of be connected a little bit. Faithful listeners, have a fantastic and
wonderful rest of your day. Happy listening and God bless. M.