Sermon Manuscript

2 Corinthians 8:16-17 ~ 20190922 ~ Pastor Rodney Zedicher ~ Ephraim Church of the Bible ~ www.ephraimbible.org

09/22_2 Corinthians 8:16-17; Sovereign Grace and Freedom to Desire; Audio available at: http://www.ephraimbible.org/Sermons/20190922_2cor8_16-17.mp3

Grace

This passage is about giving, and it is about grace; ultimately it is about the grace of God freely given. The word 'grace' appears 10 times in these two chapters, and it centers around the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ.

2 Corinthians 8:9 [lit trans] For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that on account of you became poor, being rich; in order that you by that poverty might become rich

Grace is God's freely given kindness. Verse 9 reminds us of the fountain of all grace, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, who became sin for us, who gave himself up for us.

8:1 talks about grace as the enabling grace of God given to the churches of Macedonia, that overflowed in their simplicity of heart toward God and joyful eagerness for the grace and fellowship of service to the saints. There in verse 4, grace is the extending of grace received from God out horizontally to others. It is a freely given gift of God to be able to give to others. Verses 6 and 7 exhort the Corinthians also to participate in this grace; the gift of freely extending what they had received out to others in need. Verse 19 also points to this grace, the gift of giving. Then in 9:8 and 9:14, he uses 'grace' again to point to the enabling grace of God which gives freely to us so that we can overflow in freely giving to others.

Here in 8:16, as in 9:15, he uses the word 'grace' in the sense of thanksgiving, grace received from God now reflected back toward God in the form of thanksgiving, recognition of his grace freely given. Grace to God; gratitude to God.

Grace comes down from God to us in the person of our Lord Jesus to make us rich in him. Grace comes down from God to enable and ignite us to freely extend the grace we have received to others, and we become a conduit through which his grace flows through us out horizontally to others. And finally, grace is reflected back up to God in the form of gratitude for all that he has given.

God's Gift

2 Corinthians 8:16 But thanks be to God, who put into the heart of Titus the same earnest care I have for you. 17 For he not only accepted our appeal, but being himself very earnest he is going to you of his own accord.

Here we see Paul giving thanks for God's gift given to Titus. This is the fourth time the word 'give' shows up in this chapter on giving. In verse 1 the grace of God was given; in verse 5 in response the Macedonians gave themselves to the Lord. In verse 10 Paul gives his advice on what would benefit them, and here in 16 God 'puts' or literally gives the same earnestness for you in the heart of Titus.

Earnestness is another word we have seen several times in this letter. In 7:11-12, Paul is encouraged that the Corinthians responded to his tearful letter with a renewed earnestness for him. In 8:7-8 he praises their excelling in earnestness and uses the earnestness of others to prove their own genuineness.

This word means an eagerness, willingness, diligence, or earnest commitment in discharge of an obligation [BDAG, 939]. Titus had a willing eagerness in his heart for the good of the Corinthians, and we are told that God put it there. God gave him his earnestness for them. Just as the source of the Macedonians' abundance of joy in the midst of their deep poverty was God's grace given, which then overflowed in a richness of single-heartedness, and an insistence on the grace and fellowship of service to the saints. Now God is the Author of the eager willingness in the heart of Titus on behalf of the Corinthians.

For Their Good

It was on behalf of the Corinthians. It was for their good. They needed him. They needed his help. This was not a vacation. 'Titus do you want to travel? Oh yeah, I love to travel, see new sites, explore new places, meet new people, all the sights and sounds and tastes and smells.' No, travel meant hardship and danger. As Paul describes later in this letter:

2 Corinthians 11:26 on frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, danger from robbers, danger from my own people, danger from Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brothers; 27 in toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure.

That's what Titus was signing up for. And he was going to a church that was difficult. To people who were difficult. He had just returned from carrying a severe letter to this volatile church, and now Paul was asking him to retrace his steps with another letter asking them to give generously. This was no easy task. This was no pleasure cruise. This was self-sacrificial service for their good, for their benefit. But part of the difficulty was to convince them that it really was for their benefit, because they didn't know what was good for them.

Desires

God gave Titus an earnestness for them. We have seen in this section the importance of right desires. Paul seeks to demonstrate the genuineness of their love. He commends their desiring even above the doing of this act of grace. He wants the doing to match their desires. He is glad that they wanted the right things, and now wants them to do what they wanted to do. He highlights not only the depth of sacrifice on the part of the Macedonians, but especially their joy and single-hearted simplicity, their giving of themselves to the Lord. Paul said back in chapter 1

2 Corinthians 1:24 Not that we lord it over your faith, but we work with you for your joy, for you stand firm in your faith.

We work with you for your joy. What brings you joy matters. Desires matter. What we are eager for matters. What we want matters. And here we learn that God gives earnestness. He is to be thanked, because he is the giver. He gave it in the heart of Titus.

Encouragement

God put earnestness in the heart of Titus. But we also see that Paul encouraged Titus toward this, and Titus received his encouragement. Just in verse 6 he said:

2 Corinthians 8:6 Accordingly, we urged Titus that as he had started, so he should complete among you this act of grace.

Paul urged or encouraged Titus. It was not a command, but it was an encouragement. Paul urged him to go, to bring to completion what he had started. 'He accepted our appeal.' Paul and Titus were close. And Paul urged Titus. This would be significant pressure. He was not obligated. He was not coerced. But he was encouraged. There was human encouragement.

Paul said back at the end of 1 Corinthians

1 Corinthians 16:12 Now concerning our brother Apollos, I strongly urged him to visit you with the other brothers, but it was not at all his will to come now. He will come when he has opportunity.

With Apollos there was strong urging from the apostle, but it was not his will to come. He felt the urging, and he was free to choose not to go. Titus was similarly urged and encouraged, and he also had the freedom to choose to go or not to go. Paul encouraged him, but he left it up to him. Titus accepted the encouragement to go. He responded to the external human encouragement.

Freedom

God put it in the heart of Titus, and Paul encouraged Titus, and yet Titus had his own earnestness and is going of his own accord. He was free to do what he wanted to do. He was eager of his own accord. He chose. He was willing. He was free.

God's Grace Creates Freedom

God put it in the heart of Titus. Paul encouraged Titus, and Titus accepted our encouragement. Titus was himself very earnest; he is going of his own free will. These verses put all these different factors together. Paul encouraged it. Titus freely chose to do it. But God put it in his heart to desire it.

These different factors do not appear as cross-purposes in tension in these verses, fighting to see which one will win out. Rather they are seen in unison, in tandem, working together to bring about the desired end. Very naturally and practically, God used Titus' prior experience in Corinth to help shape his desires.

Back in chapter 7, when Paul was finally reunited with Titus, he spoke of the comfort he received from Titus, and the comfort Titus received from the Corinthians, and the exceeding joy he had over the right desires of the Corinthians. Titus' spirit was refreshed and he rejoiced.

2 Corinthians 7:15 And his affection for you is even greater, as he remembers the obedience of you all, how you received him with fear and trembling.

God used the experience he had in Corinth to shape his affections and his desire to return. God also used the encouragement of the apostle in the heart of Titus to solidify his resolve to go. But God put the earnestness in his heart.

We saw the same thing with the Macedonians. It was willingly, freely, of their own accord, begging us earnestly for the grace and fellowship of service to the saints. But that was evidence of the grace of God given. God gave his grace; he put it in their hearts. God's grace was the underlying motive for their joyful eagerness. God's grace was the underlying motive for Titus' willing earnestness.

We could say that God's grace created the freedom. God's grace created the freedom to give joyfully beyond their means out of deep poverty. God's grace created the freedom to want to go back to a difficult circumstance to serve difficult people and encourage them to give generously.

I was a guy who grew up in Minnesota and chased the love of my life out to Washington State, and I loved it there. I had no desire to live anywhere else. I didn't even want to visit Utah. Some friends of ours moved from Washington to Utah, and we thought they were crazy. Later, I had a co-worker who invited me to come with him to mountain bike in Utah, and I had no desire. I didn't want to go. I couldn't want to go. It just wasn't in me. Almost like my wife can't want to hold a snake. It's not in her. She has no freedom to want to hold a snake. We had no freedom to want to move to Utah, until God by his grace put it in our hearts. God created in us that freedom. Then we were free to stay and continue to live and serve in Washington, and we were free to move to Utah to live and serve here. And we wanted to come. There were external factors; there were people and circumstances that God used to encourage us toward Utah, but God put it in our hearts. And we were eager to come.

The Grace of God [Philippians 2]

This is God's grace that he puts in our hearts. This is rooted in God's grace as expressed in verse 9

2 Corinthians 8:9 For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich.

Jesus freely stooped to serve others sacrificially for their good, and he invites us into fellowship with him in extending his grace to others. We see almost the exact same sequence in Philippians 2 that we see here.

Philippians 2:3 Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. 4 Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. 5 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, 6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. …

2 Corinthians 8:9 For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich.

Philippians 2:12 Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling,

2 Corinthians 8:7 But as you excel in everything— ...see that you excel in this act of grace also. 8 I say this ...to prove ...that your love also is genuine.

Philippians 2:13 for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.

Do, because God is working in you. He is creating both the willing, the desire, and the working, the energy to do it.

2 Corinthians 8:1 We want you to know, brothers, about the grace of God that has been given among the churches of Macedonia,

God put it in the heart of Titus. God gave grace to the Macedonians. God created the desire.

2 Corinthians 4:6 For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

God entered into our poverty in Jesus, he took our nature, he died our death and gives us his life. He invites us to join him in extending his grace to others. To enter in, to share in the sufferings of others, to show people Jesus.

Response

This eagerness; this freedom to want to sacrificially serve is a gift, it is grace. Ask God freely to put this desire in your heart. Receive his gift so that you can be freed to give.

Thank God who gives this desire. Give God the credit and thank him when you see this earnestness in others. Thank God when he begins to create this desire in you.

****

Pastor Rodney Zedicher ~ Ephraim Church of the Bible ~ www.ephraimbible.org