GIVE YOURSELF TO THE LORD Second Corinthians Eight Paul wrote about churches in Macedonia and their example in giving. The churches of Macedonia included Philippi, Thessalonica, and Berea. Paul was raising money to help the Christians in Jerusalem. Many of them were very poor at this time. The bre... [ Continue Reading ]
_FIRST GAVE THEMSELVES TO THE LORD 2 CORINTHIANS 8:1-6:_ Paul made known to these brethren that he considered both the opportunity to give and their willingness to give to be of the grace of God. Philippi, Thessalonica, and Berea were very poor church yet they practiced great liberality. They were v... [ Continue Reading ]
_THERE MUST BE A WILLING MIND 2 CORINTHIANS 8:7-12:_ The Corinthian brethren seemed to have thought of themselves as abounding in faith, utterance, knowledge, diligence, and in love. Paul now encouraged them to abound in the grace of giving also. He said, "Therefore, as ye abound in every thing, in... [ Continue Reading ]
_THAT THERE MAY BE EQUALITY 2 CORINTHIANS 8:13-18:_ The spiritual abundance of Jerusalem had blessed Corinth. It was only fair that Corinth share some physical blessing with Jerusalem during their poverty. The equality that Paul spoke of was neither communism nor any form of it. It was an "equality... [ Continue Reading ]
_PROVIDING FOR HONEST THINGS 2 CORINTHIANS 8:19-24:_ The churches chose this brother to help administer their gifts. It was Paul's goal to avoid any blame in this matter. He did not want anyone to find fault with the way they handle their generous gift. Paul took the necessary steps so that no one c... [ Continue Reading ]