2 Corinthians 8:19 ~ 20190929 ~ Pastor Rodney Zedicher ~ Ephraim Church of the Bible ~ www.ephraimbible.org
\09/29_2 Corinthians 8:19; To the Glory of the Lord Himself; Audio available at: http://www.ephraimbible.org/Sermons/20190929_2cor8_19.mp3
Paul takes 2 chapters in 2 Corinthians to encourage them toward generosity. They had expressed an eagerness to give to the saints in Jerusalem the previous year, and Paul had given instructions for the collection at the end of his letter we know as 1 Corinthians, but it seems they had not yet followed through. There were troubles in Corinth, which Paul had to address. There were those who were questioning his authority, and undermining his integrity, and it appears, the collection had stalled. They needed encouragement.
So he encourages them with the example of the Macedonians. He encourages them ultimately with the self-sacrificial service of our Lord Jesus Christ, who being rich, for your sake became poor, so that you through his poverty might be made rich.
He is not asking the Corinthians, however, to follow the example of the Macedonians, who gave beyond their ability, or of Jesus who became poor for our sake. Rather, he desires that there be equality, that your abundance would supply their lack. Not that you be impoverished to bring them relief, but that you give out of what you have, according to what you have.
Today I want to zoom in on verse 19, where he gives the overarching purpose of this generosity, this act of grace, this fellowship with the saints. He is encouraging Titus to return to them and bring to completion in them this grace.
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. 18 With him we are sending the brother who is famous among all the churches for his preaching of the gospel. 19 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 our good will.
These last two clauses of verse 19 give the purpose of this act of grace. It is to the glory of the Lord himself, and our willingness.
Paul's Willingness
First, Paul's willingness. This word translated 'good will' is the same word translated 'readiness' or 'eagerness' in verses 11 and 12. It is a word that communicates a forward desire to do something, a passion for something. This eagerness or good will on the part of Paul was expressed as early as Acts 11, where in preparation for a famine, the disciples in Antioch:
Acts 11:29 So the disciples determined, every one according to his ability, to send relief to the brothers living in Judea. 30 And they did so, sending it to the elders by the hand of Barnabas and Saul.
Barnabas and Saul, or Paul delivered this service to the saints. This may be the same visit to Jerusalem that Paul refers to in Galatians 2, where he privately presented the gospel he preached to the leaders in Jerusalem, and they added nothing to him.
Galatians 2:9 and when James and Cephas and John, who seemed to be pillars, perceived the grace that was given to me, they gave the right hand of fellowship to Barnabas and me, that we should go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised. 10 Only, they asked us to remember the poor, the very thing I was eager to do.
Paul was eager to remember the poor. The gospel they believed and proclaimed of salvation by grace alone through faith alone in the finished work of Christ alone was the same. And they together believed that the faith that saves is never alone; the New Covenant work of the Spirit in the heart of a believer would so change them that there would be an eagerness to serve others. Paul looks at this act of grace as an opportunity to prove the genuineness of the Corinthian's love (v.8). He is in total harmony with James, who teaches that genuine saving faith will produce a transformed heart that overflows in self-sacrificial service to others.
Paul in 2 Corinthians is finalizing his plans for the collection for the poor in Jerusalem, and here he says, it is to show his own readiness or goodwill. But this aim is subservient to his greater aim.
To The Glory of the Lord Himself
2 Corinthians 8:19 ...as we carry out this act of grace that is being ministered by us, for the glory of the Lord himself and to show our good will.
This act of grace is first of all to the glory of the Lord himself. Paul is concerned primarily with glory, with bringing glory to God, living to his glory. To the glory of the Lord himself. On the issue of idolatry in 1 Corinthians 10, he said:
1 Corinthians 10:24 Let no one seek his own good, but the good of his neighbor. ...31 So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.
The ruling principle under which all of life, including issues of liberty, eating and drinking, should be lived is the pursuit of the glory of God.
In Romans 1, the wrath of God comes on those who suppress the truth about God, his invisible attributes, his eternal power and divine nature. They refuse to honor him as God or give thanks to him; they exchange the glory of God for images; they fall short of the glory of God, and they are justly under his wrath. To fail to give God glory, to fail to honor him as God or give him thanks, is sin, treason against God. We were made, Isaiah 43:7 tells us, for his glory.
Paul has talked much about glory in 2 Corinthians 3 and 4. He talked about the glory displayed under the Old Covenant, the glory of the Lord manifest in the tabernacle; the glory of the ministry of death carved in letters on stone, the glory reflected in Moses' face, which was being brought to an end, He contrasts this with the glory of the New Covenant, written on tablets of human hearts by the Spirit of the living God.
2 Corinthians 3:7 Now if the ministry of death, carved in letters on stone, came with such glory that the Israelites could not gaze at Moses' face because of its glory, which was being brought to an end, 8 will not the ministry of the Spirit have even more glory? 9 For if there was glory in the ministry of condemnation, the ministry of righteousness must far exceed it in glory. 10 Indeed, in this case, what once had glory has come to have no glory at all, because of the glory that surpasses it. 11 For if what was being brought to an end came with glory, much more will what is permanent have glory.
Then he says in
2 Corinthians 3:18 And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.
The glorious New Covenant ministry has far surpassed the old in glory. We all can behold the glory of the Lord unmediated, and this transforms us into his image, to reflect his glory.
He goes on in chapter 4 to talk about the veil, the satanic blindness on unbeliever, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. The gospel, the good news, is the glory of Christ. God overcomes this supernatural blindness by his own sovereign word.
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.
Our willful suppression of the truth about God's glory is guilty, and we are justly condemned. And God, by his word, overcomes our darkness and gives the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. As we with new eyes behold the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ, we are being transformed. God's glory reflected in our lives should far surpass the glory that made Moses' face shine.
What God's Glory Looks Like
Here in chapter 8, Paul tells us what this New Covenant glory looks like. It looks like God's grace made tangible. It looks like followers of Jesus loving and serving and helping other people. It looks like the impoverished Macedonians begging earnestly for the grace and fellowship of giving beyond their means to serve the saints. It looks like the Corinthians out of their abundance and out of their genuine love for the Lord joyfully giving to the poor saints in Jerusalem.
I'll tell you one instance of the New Covenant glory of the Lord that I have seen. As a young married couple, we visited a new church. That very first Sunday a family invited us to come over the following Sunday after church for lunch at their home. But the intervening Saturday Deanna and I were bicycling on a trail, and while we were going down a fairly steep hill her front tire came off, and her bike flipped and she was knocked unconscious. We took an ambulance ride to the hospital, and when I realized that obviously we weren't going to make it either to church or to lunch the following day, I called to cancel. That couple showed up in the hospital to pray with us, and after we returned home, we had people from that church that we didn't really even know showing up at our door to bring us meals and to pray with us. That was sometimes a bit awkward, and it was a humbling way to get to know our new church family. But we saw the glory of God in the faces of people we didn't really know as they surrounded us with love and care and support. They were truly the hands and feet of Christ to us in our time of need. That was the surpassing glory of the New Covenant; people who had been transformed by God's grace extending that grace freely to those in need.
The Nations Bringing Glory to God
The glory of the Lord looks like Paul and those appointed by the Gentile churches carrying a generous gift to the believers in Jerusalem.
The glory of the Lord is seen in these simple tangible expressions of grace in the body of Christ. But I think there may be something even bigger in Paul's heart when he writes this.
In Romans 15:15, Paul views his role among the Gentile churches as 'priestly service of the gospel of God, so that the offering of the Gentiles may be acceptable', then he goes on in verse 25 to talk about his plan to travel to Jerusalem bringing this service to the saints from Macedonia and Achaia.
When he says here in 2 Corinthians 8:19 that this act of grace is for the glory of the Lord himself, could he have in mind the glory of the Lord in some of the prophetic passages like Isaiah 60?
Isaiah 60:1 Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD has risen upon you. 2 For behold, darkness shall cover the earth, and thick darkness the peoples; but the LORD will arise upon you, and his glory will be seen upon you. 3 And nations shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising. 4 Lift up your eyes all around, and see; they all gather together, they come to you; your sons shall come from afar, and your daughters shall be carried on the hip. 5 Then you shall see and be radiant; your heart shall thrill and exult, because the abundance of the sea shall be turned to you, the wealth of the nations shall come to you.
Could it be that Paul sees his work of proclaiming the glory of Jesus among the nations as at least a beginning toward the fulfillment of these passages? That “the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together” (Is.40:5)? In fulfillment of Genesis 12, where Abraham is blessed in order to be a blessing to the nations? Paul brings the good news of the glory of God in the face of Jesus the Messiah to the nations, and now believing Gentiles are bringing their wealth back to their Jewish brothers and sisters in Jerusalem.
In Romans 11, Paul talked about the failure of many of his fellow Jews to believe in Jesus their promised Messiah, and he says that
Romans 11:11...through their trespass salvation has come to the Gentiles, so as to make Israel jealous. 12 Now if their trespass means riches for the world, and if their failure means riches for the Gentiles, how much more will their full inclusion mean! 13 Now I am speaking to you Gentiles. Inasmuch then as I am an apostle to the Gentiles, I magnify my ministry 14 in order somehow to make my fellow Jews jealous, and thus save some of them.
In Romans 15 he says:
Romans 15:27...if the Gentiles have come to share in their spiritual blessings, they ought also to be of service to them in material blessings.
The prophecies of Isaiah end with a vision of the new heavens and the new earth. Those who rejoice with Jerusalem and mourn over her are invited to
Isaiah 66:11 ...drink deeply with delight from her glorious abundance.” 12 For thus says the LORD: “Behold, I will extend peace to her like a river, and the glory of the nations like an overflowing stream;
It looks to the time,
Isaiah 66:18 ...the time is coming to gather all nations and tongues. And they shall come and shall see my glory,
God will send to the nations
19 ...that have not heard my fame or seen my glory. And they shall declare my glory among the nations. 20 And they shall bring all your brothers from all the nations as an offering to the LORD,
The glory of the Lord is proclaimed among the nations. And God takes from the nations a people for himself. Through the Jewish Messiah, all the nations of the earth are blessed.
The glory of the Lord himself is displayed;
Ephesians 2:13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. 14 For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility
The glory of the Lord himself is displayed when the unity of the body is displayed in tangible practical ways.
Romans 15:5 May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus, 6 that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. 7 Therefore welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God. 8 For I tell you that Christ became a servant to the circumcised to show God's truthfulness, in order to confirm the promises given to the patriarchs, 9 and in order that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy. As it is written, “Therefore I will praise you among the Gentiles, and sing to your name.”
Welcome one another for the glory of God. Live in such harmony with one another ...that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Glorify God for his mercy. Joyfully and eagerly extend God's grace and fellowship in service to the saints for the glory of the Lord himself.
1 Corinthians 10:31 So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.
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Pastor Rodney Zedicher ~ Ephraim Church of the Bible ~ www.ephraimbible.org