INTRODUCTION

We are continuing our series in 2 Corinthians, but we are doing so mindful of this “giving season” that we are in. We are all active participants in this matter of giving and receiving, and so this is wonderful time to practice the spirit of generosity. Like other virtues, this is not something that just happens all by itself.

THE TEXT

“I speak not by commandment, but by occasion of the forwardness of others, and to prove the sincerity of your love. For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich.” (2 Corinthians 8:8–9).

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT

Paul begins here by saying that he is not issuing “a commandment” (v. 8). This is a stirring up of love, and not an exercise of raw authority. Paul is using the generosity of the Macedonians to stir up the Corinthians, just as he had earlier used the Corinthians to stir up the Macedonians (v. 24). He wants to test the sincerity of their love (v. 8), a point that he repeats again in v. 24. And then he comes to the foundation of all true generosity. Because they knew the gospel, they knew about this. Paul says “ye know.” What did they know? They knew the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ (v. 9). And what did this grace entail? The Eternal Word of God, infinitely wealthy, became finitely poor, and He did this so that we, through His poverty, might be made rich (v. 9).

WEALTH AND POVERTY

Notice that Paul does not say that through the riches of Christ we are made rich. What makes us rich is the poverty of Christ. We were already poor, and Christ joined us in that condition. We had been wealthy, and in the Fall had thrown it all away, squandering it. Now we were destitute, bankrupt, starving. Jesus Christ was born into that world, born of a woman, born under the law (Gal. 4:4). Because He shared our poverty, as a consequence we may share in His wealth. But this only works because Christ is a federal or covenant representative.

CHRIST AS HEAD

The human race is fallen because the entire human race rebelled in the Garden of Eden. When our first parents sinned against God there, the entire human race was present. The entire human race acted, and when they acted, the whole race fell—even those who had not yet been born.

When Adam disobeyed, we disobeyed. When Adam ate the fruit, we ate the fruit. When Adam fell into death world, we fell into death world. Not all this means that the human race got into sin covenantally, through our covenant head. “Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:” (Romans 5:12).

Now the way in is the way out. If we got into sin covenantally, we need to get out covenantally. If the Head of the human race plunged us into sin, then we need a new Head of the human race to get us out. And that is precisely what God provided for us in Christ. He is the second Adam (Rom. 5:14), the final and ultimate Adam.

“For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous” (Romans 5:19).

“For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive” (1 Corinthians 15:22).

FRIEND OF SINNERS

How did Christ share in our poverty? He was born into a fallen race to begin with. He was of the royal line of Judah, but the perks of that royalty were long since gone. He was not born into an aristocratic family. When He was dedicated at the Temple, His parents offered up two turtle doves, the sacrificial option for poor people (Luke 2:24; cf. Lev. 12:8).

He began His earthly ministry with the baptism of John, which means that He began His ministry by identifying with sinners. Everything that was assumed by Him in the Incarnation was redeemed by Him in His death, burial, and resurrection. In the entire life of Christ (not just in His time on the cross) we see our redemption taking final and complete shape. Remember what we saw in the first chapter— “For all the promises of God in him are yea, and in him Amen, unto the glory of God by us” (2 Corinthians 1:20).

GET TO, NOT GOT TO

So when we come to give a gift, we should make sure that we keep three things in the front of minds at all times. The first thing is to remember how Jesus gave, and how much He gave. “Ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ . . .” The second thing is to look at the generosity of other Christians. If we just looked at Christ only, it would be easy to slip off the point and shrug because “I’m not Jesus.” But the Macedonians . . . they weren’t Jesus, but they still gave an amazing gift. “And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works” (Hebrews 10:24). When you are tempted to begrudge a need to give, then look around for some forgiven sinner like you, who has a much better set of excuses that you do, and yet does not use those excuses. And last, this kind of thing tests the sincerity of your love. Do you love? Then love gives. Do you love? Then love sacrifices. Do you love? Do you really?

These three actions are the path to a get to, not got to mentality.

Look to Christ, always to Christ. Second, look to your Macedonians. And last, look to your own heart, and if you are tempted to be discouraged by what you see . . . look to Christ again.

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INTRODUCTION

Our normal pattern during the season of Advent is to bring a series of messages that are geared to the season, thus taking a break from whatever book we were working through at the time. But as it happens, some of the themes in 2 Cor. 8 line up with some of the things I wanted to emphasize in this Advent season anyway. So for a week or two, at least, we are continuing our series. The theme concerned is giving and generosity, quite a fitting topic for Advent.

THE TEXT

“Moreover, brethren, we do you to wit of the grace of God bestowed on the churches of Macedonia; How that in a great trial of affliction the abundance of their joy and their deep poverty abounded unto the riches of their liberality. For to their power, I bear record, yea, and beyond their power they were willing of themselves; Praying us with much intreaty that we would receive the gift, and take upon us the fellowship of the ministering to the saints. And this they did, not as we hoped, but first gave their own selves to the Lord, and unto us by the will of God. Insomuch that we desired Titus, that as he had begun, so he would also finish in you the same grace also. Therefore, as ye abound in every thing, in faith, and utterance, and knowledge, and in all diligence, and in your love to us, see that ye abound in this grace also.” (2 Corinthians 8:1–7).

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT

Paul wanted to make sure that the Corinthians knew about the particular nature of the grace that God poured out on the churches in Macedonia (v. 1). In the context of great affliction, their abundant joy and their extreme poverty combined to produce a most generous gift (v. 2). Paul testified that they willingly gave up to their ability to give, and even beyond it (v. 3). As Chrysostom pointed out, in this situation, the Macedonians did the begging, not Paul (v. 4). Not only did they give as Paul’s band had hoped, but they did this in the right order. They donated themselves to God first, and then to Paul’s specific project, and all in the will of God (v. 5). Apparently, Titus was delivering this letter also, and as he had reminded them of their pledge on his previous visit, Paul is now looking for him to complete the giving campaign (v. 6). Paul then makes his pitch. As the Corinthians abounded in numerous graces—faith, speech, knowledge, diligence, and love—so should they abound in this grace of giving monetarily as well (v. 7). The grace bestowed on the Macedonian churches was a grace of giving (v. 1), and Paul is seeking to find the same kind of generosity rising up in the Corinthians (v. 7).

DIFFERENT KINDS OF GIVING

Now by “gifts,” I include pretty much anything going out—time, money, wrapped up presents, hospitality, and so on. Every church should want to develop a culture of generosity, and this is the kind of culture that has many manifestations. This means hospitality. It means unloading moving vans. It means rallying to meet someone’s financial crisis. It means barn-raising events. It means the discipline of loving birthday and Christmas opportunities. It means open-handedness.

Now we are coming into a season of shopping for gifts, and so we should take special care to make sure we understand what we are doing. A gift—as given externally, as seen from the outside—can be one of three things. First, it can be a bribe. Second, it can be an extortion payment. And third, it can be a true gift. Two of them are most unfortunate, and the third is the genuine article. How can we tell the difference?

The bribe is given by a manipulator, or someone who wants somehow to game the system. He gives in order to get. You give presents in order to get presents. You give compliments in order to receive compliments. You donate to the church so that others will see you in that role. This was the sin of Ananias and Sapphira (Acts 5:1ff). Jesus warns against it sternly (Matt. 6:1).

An extortion payment is given by someone who is under duress. He gives in order to be left alone. This is the sin that Paul is trying to teach us to avoid in the next chapter (2 Cor. 9:7).

The true gift is what the Macedonians offered here. They gave themselves first to God (v. 5), and then turned to the second stage of the gift. Christmas morning should be the second unwrapping of the gift. You give yourself to God first, and He unwraps you, and then you give your gift to the other person. This person gives to get, in order to be able to give some more. Our aspiration should be for this to become our way of life.

AN AQUIFER OF GENEROSITY

What is happening when this wonderful thing occurs? In this chain of events, God gives first. The word charis (grace, favor, benefit or gift) is used eight times in chapters 8-9. God bestowed His grace on the Macedonians (v. 1), which is where their giving spirit first originated. Paul wants to see the same thing happening in Corinth (v. 7).

Remember that this was a one-time special need offering. We are not talking about the tithe here, or regular giving. This was a relief offering for the saints in Jerusalem. It was off-budget.

As they gave to others in this way, it created a bond of koinonia-fellowship (v. 4). Sharing of goods is fellowship, just as the sharing of food is fellowship. We partake of one another when we give. We are intertwined when we give. When we give, we are being knit together.

For the Macedonians, this geyser of generosity came about in a unique set of circumstances. First, the grace of God came down upon them (v. 1), and then the providence of God surrounded them with a great trial of affliction (v. 2). In that setting, their deep poverty combined with their abundance of joy to erupt in an effusion of giving. The word for deep is bathos, which we get the word bathysphere. Their poverty was down in the Mariana Trench which, when combined with heavenly joy, exploded into a remarkable gift.

IN HIS STEPS

We are going to develop this much more when we get there, but we need to look ahead at the next two verses. When we give to others properly, we are doing so in the footsteps of the Lord Jesus. This is part of what it means to follow Him. Christ was rich, and He became poor as a gift, so that those who were poor might be made rich through Him (2 Cor. 8:9).

There is no generosity without Christ. The engine that drives the economy of generosity is not merchants, or manufacturers, or commercial interests, or anything like that. It is not possible for us to remember the gift of Christ, and not to have a multitude of gifts following.

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INTRODUCTION

There are three kinds of grief in this passage. The first is Paul’s godly response to the pastoral meltdown at Corinthian. Paul had been entirely “cast down” (v. 6), and this was the troubles out of which the coming of Titus had been the deliverance. Then there is the godly sorrow and grief that follows after sin, and which results in true repentance (v. 10). But the third kind, the sorrow “of the world” leads only to death (v. 10).

THE TEXT

 “Receive us; we have wronged no man, we have corrupted no man, we have defrauded no man. I speak not this to condemn you: for I have said before, that ye are in our hearts to die and live with you. Great is my boldness of speech toward you, great is my glorying of you: I am filled with comfort, I am exceeding joyful in all our tribulation. For, when we were come into Macedonia, our flesh had no rest, but we were troubled on every side; without were fightings, within were fears . . .” (2 Corinthians 7:2–16).

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT

The first exhortation here to “receive us” is echoing the earlier summons to open or enlarge their hearts (v. 2). Paul says he has wronged no one, corrupted no one, and defrauded no one (v. 2). This is perhaps an indication of the charges made against him. Paul is not trying to condemn the Corinthians who are on the fence—with all his heart he wants to die and live with them (v. 3) Paul is bold with them because he is overjoyed in them, and filled with comfort (v. 4). We now learn about how torn up Paul was in Macedonia—fears within, quarrels without (v. 5). But Paul was comforted two ways—the first through the coming of Titus (v. 6), and second by the news Titus brought (v. 7). Paul was greatly comforted to learn about the Corinthians “earnest desire,” their “mourning,” and their “fervent mind toward” Paul (v. 7). Although Paul made them sorry with that letter, he did not regret it now (v. 8)—although there were some moments where he did regret it. Their sorrow was just for a season (v. 8)—their sorrow was a fruitful sorrow, not a damaging sorrow (v. 9). For there are two kinds of sorrow and grief—one leads to repentance and salvation, while a worldly sorry just works death (v. 10). He then describes their godly sorrow, the components of which were diligence, clearing themselves, indignation, fear, vehement desire, zeal, and vindication (v. 11). In all this, they went above and beyond. Paul was not aiming at the ringleader in the congregation who had caused the trouble, nor was he defending himself, but rather that they might see his pastoral care for them (v. 12).  This is why the news from Titus about how refreshed he was in them was so good (v. 13). When Paul had bragged about the Corinthians to Titus, this was simply the same kind of truth he spoke to them. And they had not embarrassed him (v. 14). And now Titus is warmly attached to that congregation as well (v. 15). Note that this deep affection is not inconsistent with obedience, and fear, and trembling (v. 15). The whole episode has caused Paul to rejoice in all things (v. 16).

A MESS IN CORINTH, AND ANOTHER ONE IN MACEDONIA

Paul had a meltdown situation in Corinth, which he had sent Titus to deal with by means of a letter. He came to Macedonia, expecting to find Titus there, but he was delayed. But instead of Titus, he found a bad situation there in Macedonia—everywhere he turned he ran into conflict (v. 5).

Internally, Paul was beset with fears that all his work might come crashing down. This was a common concern of his—were all those floggings for nothing? Consider Gal. 4:11; 1 Thess. 3:5; and 2 Cor. 11:28-29.

IN THE PERSON OF TITUS

When Titus came, God was the one who comforted Paul (v. 6). Titus was the instrument, and God was the agent. This expression is likely an allusion to Is. 49:13 in the LXX—where God brings eschatological comfort to His people. The coming of Titus was like that. Christ has a body, and He works good for His people through that body. You are the hands and feet of Christ Himself in the world.

SEVENFOLD REPENTANCE

The repentance of the Corinthians before Titus had been a convulsive and dramatic one. They were not at all trying to preserve their dignity, putting things right without ever having to humble themselves. Remember that Paul mentions their obedience, their fear, and their trembling. This is a combination of a felt and very real authority with deep and open affection—the kind that Paul displayed with his enlarged heart.

The sevenfold repentance could not be described as being in any way nonchalant. They were diligent, they worked to clear themselves, there was real indignation, they feared, they showed vehement desire, they displayed their zeal, and their hunger for vindication. And notice that Titus accepts all of this kind of behavior, as does Paul.

ACTUAL GOOD GRIEF

Paul sharply distinguishes godly sorrow from a worldly sorrow. There are two kinds of sorrow. The fact that you did something wrong, and are sorrow about it, does not by itself mean anything. Suppose you did something that was pretty tawdry, and you are humiliated about it. Every time you think about it, your forehead gets hot. You sinned on Monday, and you are sorry on Tuesday. Comes Friday, and you are still gnawing on your sorrow, like a dog with a bone. You are sorry yesterday, sorry today, and sorry tomorrow. At this rate, you are going to die sorry. That kind of sorrow is one of the things that needs to be repented of.

The godly sorrow that Paul describes right alongside it is a godly sorrow that “works repentance to salvation.” That salvation, remember, is Christ. Godly sorrow drives you where? Godly sorrow leads straight to Christ. Godly sorrow leads you straight to the place of no regrets (v. 10). The way such a thing could ever be possible is that if all our regrets, and all the sins that produce such regrets, are bundled up together and laid on the shoulders of Christ at the moment when He bowed His head and died.

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INTRODUCTION

Remember that the point of this epistle is for Paul to defend the authenticity of his ministry. There are three groups involved. There were the false teachers, the agitators that stirred up the trouble. They had initially swayed the whole church, but after Paul’s severe letter, the bulk of the church had come back into their loyalty to Paul. That is the second group. The third group was made of saints in the church who were still rattled, who still had the wobbles. These were the ones that Paul beseeched to “enlarge their hearts.” And in this passage, we get to Paul’s basic “call to action.” We have come to the thing which they must do.

THE TEXT

“Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty. Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God” (2 Cor. 6:14–7:1).

DEBRIS CLEANING

Before summarizing the text, there is an important misunderstanding to get out of the way. In this section, Paul famously says that we are not to be “unequally yoked with unbelievers.” This is regularly applied to marriages and/or business partnership, and while this is a legitimate application, it is not what the text is talking about—and we have to be careful not to lose the original meaning. When Paul tells Timothy to take a little wine for his stomach and frequent ailments (1 Tim. 5:23), he was not trying to refute teetotalism. That is a legitimate application (by extension), but not what Paul was talking about. It is the same here.

The original meaning was the summons that Paul was delivering, urging the remaining wobbly Corinthians to make a complete break from the false teachers (whom we will get to know much better in later chapters). For now it will serve to distinguish the wolves from the sheep who have been mauled by wolves. Paul is appealing here to the latter.

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT

Paul starts with the principle. Do not be in harness together with unbelievers (v. 14). The reason is then given in a series of contrasts. Is there fellowship between righteousness and unrighteousness (v. 14)? Communion between light and darkness (v. 14)? Concord between Christ and Belial (v. 15)? Faith and infidelity (v. 15)? The temple of God with idols (v. 16)?

These destructive false teachers want to set up their idols in the Corinthians, saints who were the Temple of God (v. 16). What looks like a solitary quotation from the Old Testament starting in v. 16 is actually a complicated mashup of quotations from about six different places in the Old Testament. The first two are promises of close and intimate fellowship (Lev. 26:11-12; Eze. 37:27). Then came the promise of adoption, and this is taken from four distinct places (2 Sam. 7:14; Is. 52:11; Eze. 20:34; Is. 43:6).

Overwhelmingly, the six cited passages are talking about Israel’s restoration to the land, brought out of exile. The Corinthians were the heirs of these spectacular promises and, as such, had an obligation to cleanse themselves from all filthiness of spirit and flesh, perfecting holiness in the fear of God (7:1). That is the call—to break with these sons of Belial.

SONS OF BELIAL 

We can tell that this is the import of this passage from the overall flow of the argument. Dealing with these false teachers is, after all, the theme of the entire letter. But we can also see it in his use of a word like Belial. The word probably means worthlessness, and is used throughout the Old Testament to refer to covenant losers. In other words, we are talking about covenant members who were wicked louts. See, for example, the following: Dt. 13:13; Judg. 19:22; 20:13; 1 Sam. 1:16; 2:12; 10:27; 25:17,25; 30:22; 2 Sam. 20:1; 1 Kings 21:10,13; 2Chron. 13:7. This is precisely what Paul was dealing with at Corinth, and so he asks the rhetorical question—what possible fellowship can there be between Christ and Belial?

THE PRESSING NEED FOR MORE CHURCH SPLITS

The “unbelievers” Paul is talking about are his adversaries within the church. These are false brothers. Do not be “yoked with” means do not pal around with, enable, encourage, or otherwise link to these people.

The driver of all such splits, however, needs to be holiness. If they pursue holiness in the fear of God, a lot of the separating will take care of itself. Paul is reminding the Corinthians of their identity in Christ. Now, in Christ, what are they? They are the righteousness of God (2 Cor. 5:21). They have been made light (2 Cor. 4:6). In Christ, they are a new creation (2 Cor. 5:17). By direct implication, Paul includes them as being among those who believe (2 Cor. 4:4). They are the Temple of God (2 Cor. 6:16). So the Corinthians are or have each of the characteristics that have no fellowship, communion, concord, part, or agreement with the corruptions offered by the sons of Belial. Those corruptions would unrighteousness, darkness, worthlessness, infidelity, and idolatry. And it is holiness of life that drives all such things away.

DISEASED EVANGELICALISM

Satan has two basic strategies for attacking the church. He attacks it by persecutions from without, and he attacks it by introducing corruptions from within. The latter has been his tactic of choice in the American church, and it has worked very well for him. The bottom line of all such corruptions is unholiness, and usually with a sexual component. This is why vast swaths of the evangelical church collapsed almost overnight when the challenges of the last two years first appeared.

And so the application today should be obvious. Separate from—do not have anything to do with, do not follow, do not fellowship with—the ministries of anyone who is woke, or semi-woke, or is effeminate, or who compromises on theistic evolution, or who makes room for homosexuality as an identity, or who ordains women to be pastors, or who advances any form of critical theory, or who would otherwise invite this generation’s Clown Car Review into the church. Tragically, this list is not limited to mainline liberal churches. Because we did not heed the warnings of the apostle, the evangelical movement is shot through with the cancers of unbelief.

But do not just turn away. That is insufficient. Pursue holiness. Pursue righteousness. Pursue Christ.

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INTRODUCTION

The early church father John Chrysostom once said that the apostle Paul went through a “blizzard of troubles.” This passage, this text, is one of the places where we learn something of them. But, if truth be told, we are probably just learning a fraction of them.

Paul’s adversaries at Corinth were apparently arguing that Paul could not be from God—look at how much trouble he was in, all the time. The man was a controversy magnet, and this was upsetting to that breed of Christian that wants to stay well away from all controversy magnets. But Paul’s reply that the troubles did not negate his ministry. Rather, his long endurance through those troubles confirmed his ministry.

THE TEXT

“Giving no offence in any thing, that the ministry be not blamed: But in all things approving ourselves as the ministers of God, in much patience, in afflictions, in necessities, in distresses, In stripes, in imprisonments, in tumults, in labours, in watchings, in fastings; By pureness, by knowledge, by longsuffering, by kindness, by the Holy Ghost, by love unfeigned, By the word of truth, by the power of God, by the armour of righteousness on the right hand and on the left, By honour and dishonour, by evil report and good report: as deceivers, and yet true; As unknown, and yet well known; as dying, and, behold, we live; as chastened, and not killed; As sorrowful, yet alway rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing all things. O ye Corinthians, our mouth is open unto you, our heart is enlarged. Ye are not straitened in us, but ye are straitened in your own bowels. Now for a recompence in the same, (I speak as unto my children,) be ye also enlarged” (2 Cor. 6:3–18).

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT

Paul here works through a litany of his troubles. He is careful not to give offense in anything (v. 3). He is of course talking about unnecessary offense. In the original, there are 28 descriptive comments. As Kent Hughes points out in his commentary, the first 18 are prefaced with the word in, the following 3 by the word through, and the last 7 by the word as. Not only so, the first round tends to come in triplets. First we see general troubles—afflictions, necessities, and distresses (v. 4). The second triplet was made up of troubles from others—stripes, imprisonments, and riots (v. 5). Remember that Paul went through riotous tumults in Pisidian Antioch, Iconium, Lystra, Philippi, Thessalonica, Corinth, Ephesus, and Jerusalem (Acts 13:50; 14:5,19; 16:22; 18:12; 19:23; 21:27). That man knew his riots. Then there was the triplet of troubles he went through that might be called self-sacrificial—labors, watching, and fasting (v. 5).

How could he endure all this? Paul then gives us a list of the inner graces that made it possible for him to maintain his steady equilibrium, despite all the commotion around him. In the middle of this list he mentions the Holy Spirit Himself by name. So Paul does what he does BY pureness, knowledge, patience, kindness, the Holy Spirit, and by genuine love (v. 6). He does it BY the word of truth, the power of God, and the armor of righteousness on the right and on the left (v. 7). The word armor here would be better rendered as weapons—for the right hand and left. He does what he does BY honor and dishonor, BY evil report and good (v. 8a).

For the last seven, Paul gives us a series of paradoxes, all of them ending on an upward note of triumph. AS deceivers, but actually true (v. 8). As unknown, but actually well known. AS dying, and yet look at us live. AS punished, but actually not killed (v. 9). AS sorrowful, but always rejoicing, and AS poor, while actually enriching many others, and AS possessing nothing while at the same time owning everything (v. 10).

Paul then speaks straight to the Corinthians—our mouth is open, and our heart is enlarged (v. 11). They were not restricted in Paul and company, but rather were constricted in their own attitudes (v. 12). The kink in the hose was in them, not in Paul. Paul pleads with them as with his own children—be enlarged in heart, just as Paul is (v. 13). This is something we can imitate the apostle in.

THE GRACE OF CONTROVERSY

There are those who believe the ministry to be an indoor job with no heavy lifting. There was an old Southern joke that said that a hot sun and a slow mule had been responsible for many a call to the ministry. This has always been a lure. There were men in the first century who confounded gain with godliness (1 Tim. 6:5). And remember what Paul warned against just a few chapters before—“For we are not, as so many, peddling the word of God; but as of sincerity, but as from God, we speak in the sight of God in Christ.” (2 Cor. 2:17, NKJV). And when there is constant trouble, it disrupts marketing. It discourages sales. It makes it hard to be friends with the world, and to monetize that friendship. That’s why Demas had to leave Paul’s company to take a new position (2 Tim. 4:10).

BEDROCK JOY

Notice that biblical joy is not a frothy bubble gum kind of joy. It is not happy happy joy joy. It is not superficial sentiment. Paul says “sorrowful, yet always rejoicing” (v. 10). This shows us that when Paul tells us elsewhere that we are to rejoice all the time (Phil. 4:4), he is not urging into a masochistic glee. The soil in your life may grow some plants that have thorns, but down underneath it all must be the bedrock of joy.

LARGENESS OF HEART

Paul concludes this section by urging expansiveness of heart upon the Corinthians. He tells them that it was because of his largeness of heart that made tell them about all the troubles he had gone through. His mouth was open because his heart was enormous. He spoke because he loved. “I will run the way of thy commandments, when thou shalt enlarge my heart.” (Psalm 119:32).

When King Solomon pleased the Lord by asking for wisdom instead of other things, what did God do for him? “And God gave Solomon wisdom and understanding exceeding much, and largeness of heart, even as the sand that is on the sea shore” (1 Kings 4:29).

Fussers don’t have this largeness of heart. They fuss right and they fuss left. They fuss about their meals, they fuss about the traffic, they fuss about the sermons, they fuss about the lack of things to grumble about. Because this had happened at Corinth, the saints there had fallen prey to certain agitators who wanted to circulate complaints. So Paul opened his heart wide, and poured everything out. And it was at that moment that he told them the problem was in their own twisted, constricted hearts. Open up, Paul says. Imitate him as he imitates Christ. Join him and his company of great hearts. It sounds inspiring, but what is the cost? It means going and walking with Paul as he works through his blizzard of troubles.

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