Shall we now open our Bibles to the second letter of Apostle Paul to the Corinthians, second letter of Apostle Paul to the Corinthians, and we shall read from Chapter 8, Chapter 8, verse 1. Chapter 8, verse 1. 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 and abundance of their joy and their deep poverty abounded unto the riches of their liberality. We are on part 19 of our study on the letter of Apostle Paul to the Corinthians, the second letter of Apostle Paul to the Corinthians. And today we will talk of poverty cannot restrict to live a radical Christian life. Poverty cannot restrict to live a radical Christian life. Now Titus has returned from Corinth after meeting the followers of Christ Jesus. He gives a very encouraging report about the Corinthian saints and Apostle Paul is filled with joy. He heard that the Church of Christ in Corinth has repented. They have sorrowed for what they have done. They are very appreciative of Paul's letter to them of correction and encouragement and guiding them to follow the culture of heaven, the culture of the kingdom of God and not their own culture of depravity. immorality, modern ideas of freedom in promiscuity, and independent self-determination. Titus returns and tells Paul how with fear and trembling they received him. And Paul, before he sent him to Corinth, had told him about the Corinthians. He had boasted about the saints in Corinth. We get this in 2 Corinthians chapter 7 verse 14. For if I have boasted anything to him of you, Paul writes in the second letter, I am not ashamed. He boasted about the Corinthian saints, and he said, I am not ashamed, but as we speak all things to you in truth, even so a boasting which I made before Titus is found a truth. You see, it worked out. As I said, I know these saints. Christ will change them, for they truly love the Lord Jesus Christ. So you see, Paul was telling the truth about them. Yes, there were many flaws with them, but they were ready to receive correction and change. So Paul writes to them saying, 1 Corinthians 7.11, Yes, for behold the self same thing, 2 Corinthians 7. Verse 11, for behold this selfsame thing that is sorrowed after a godly sort. Now we did, we looked at this portion of the scripture in detail last week, but let us just go through it once again. So they received Paul's admonishing, correction, discipline, instruction, his concern, his guidance, his love. with sorrow. They sorrowed after godly sorrow. And this is how Paul described their reaction to his letter inspired by the Holy Spirit. And as I said we find it in verse 11 of chapter 7. So they were moved with carefulness, meaning with eagerness, with earnestness. They took it as their business to be quick to make a change. They were moved to clearing, meaning they were eager to clear themselves of those low standards, of those black spots from their lives. Then thirdly, they were moved with indignation. Meaning, they resented their beliefs and deeds. They were aroused with righteous anger. They were angry with themselves for the wrong they had done and the wrong they had believed. Then fourthly, they were moved with fear. Meaning, it caused them fear. Fear for doing what they should have not done. Fear for having believed wrongly. that they had begun to do what they were doing as unbelievers. They were going back in their old belief, in their old practice. Then fifthly, they were moved with vehement desire, meaning all this made them long to see Paul, to meet him. Paul had gone through so much of pain and sorrow in bringing the gospel of Jesus to them and had suffered so much persecution. Now they felt that they had betrayed him by betraying Jesus, their Lord, who had given them eternal life. They wanted to see Paul. Authorized version puts it as vehement desire, that is longing desire. Sixthly, they were moved with zeal, meaning they showed great zeal, deep concern to put things right. And seventhly, They were moved with revenge, meaning they were so very ready to see justice done, to punish where punishment was needed, to take revenge on sin, meaning to punish sin in themselves and to root it out from among them. This is godly sorrow. This is called radical discipleship. It fits in with chapter 13 of 1 Corinthians. Dear friends, we can have zeal for evangelism. We can have zeal to be a martyr. We can have zeal to give away all we possess. We can have zeal and we could be having great knowledge of understanding scriptures. And we could be great preachers and have great faith to heal and perform miracles. But if we have no change of life, if we have no mind of Christ, and if we have no desire to practice, and put on the character of Christ, then it profits us nothing," wrote Paul to the Corinthians. But we see that the saints of Corinth, they took this seriously, to change and to put on Christ. So Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 7, verse 13-16, Therefore we were comforted in your comfort, yea, and exceedingly the more joyed we for the joy of Titus, because his spirit was refreshed by all, and his inward affection is more abundant toward you, while he remembered the obedience of you all. how with fear and trembling he, you received him. I rejoice therefore that I have confidence in you in all things." Now, having said all this, there seemed to be one thing lacking yet among the saints of Corinth, one thing lacking. Remember Corinth was a very great city. It was made the provincial capital of Greece. It was the most prominent city in Greece. From the Greeks, it came into the hands of the Romans. We are told about 100 years It was destroyed and it lay without being resurrected, without being repaired. But then after 100 years, it was once again revived. Marble temples dominated the landscape. It became a cosmopolitan city. It became an international commercial city. It grew as a center of luxury, indulgence, and vice. It was famous for its Isthmian games, games such as equestrian, gymnastic, and music took place here. There was running and boxing. There was a famous temple of the goddess of love. Sacred prostitution was practiced, having 1,000 sacred prostitutes, or as they were called, slave priestesses. Morally, they were notoriously corrupt. So Corinth being rich in commerce, in all probability, they had well-to-do people in the church. It was probably like the city of London, all having more than enough to eat and drink and shelter over their head. besides many wrong practices, which they corrected themselves. Now they lacked one thing, and perhaps some of you have already guessed, they lacked in giving, giving. Paul goes to speak about giving in two chapters, chapter eight and chapter nine. And this goes to show that the Lord takes giving very serious. For God himself is a God who gives. He went so far as to give his very self in and through his Son, Jesus Christ. The Son of God became man. He broke his body and shed his blood for the salvation of mankind. And so Jesus, the Son of God, goes to say, God so loved the world God's soul of the world that he gave. He gave his only begotten son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life. Now Paul does not bash them and hammer them about this great virtue of giving. To give is a command of the Lord. He does not manipulate them by telling them that if you give 10 pounds, you will get 100 pounds in return. Nothing of this sort. He goes on to talk about the churches of Macedonia. Instead of telling them directly, he tells them about the churches of Macedonia. Look at verse one. Moreover, brethren, we do you to wit We do make known. We want to declare. We want to make you understand of the grace of God bestowed on the churches of Macedonia. We want to make you know, make you understand and declare of the grace of God that was bestowed on the churches of Macedonia. What is this grace of God that was bestowed on the churches of Macedonia, and why? Verse 2, 2 Corinthians 8, verse 2. How? That in a great trial of affliction, the abundance of their joy and their deep poverty abounded unto the riches of their liberality. Four things Paul want to inform or make known to the Corinthians about the brethren in Macedonia. One, that these brethren are very poor, deep poverty. Secondly, ever since they have begun to follow Jesus Christ, they have been tested by many troubles. Thirdly, they abound in joy. Fourthly, they abounded. in being rich, in giving liberally. They overflowed in rich generosity. So they were very poor, but filled with joy, filled with joy. They were not only poor, but they had many troubles for coming in Christ. Yet, they were filled with overflowing generosity to give. Now how could these poor Christians, troubled with many trials, abound in joy, and from their poverty and great trouble overflow in rich generosity? Paul's answer is, Paul's answer is grace, grace. This is the grace of God upon such people. It is the grace of God that has done this to them. They were able to do this because of the grace given to them by God. Now let us stop here for a while and ask ourselves, is this grace found in my life, in your life? Am I like the Corinthians? I live in London and I have plenty of food and clothing. We have come from many nations that are poor. Have I become like the Corinthians? Have I become like the natives of this land? Do I find it difficult to be hospitable Do I find it hard to extend my hand to the poor, to the needy, to make a cup of tea to the one that has come from cold weather? Do I refrain from asking, at least for the sake of courtesy? Courtesy counts. Hospitality counts. I will just read four verses on hospitality so that it generates in us a change of mind. Romans 12 9-13 Let love be without dissimilation. abode that which is evil, cleave to that which is good, be kindly affectionate one to another with brotherly love, in honor preferring one another, not slothful in business, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord, rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, continuing instant in prayer, distributing to the necessity of saints, given to hospitality. 1 Timothy 3, verse 2. 1 Timothy 3, verse 2. A bishop then must be blameless and husband of one wife, vigilant, sober, of good behavior, given to hospitality, apt to teach. Titus 1, verse 8. Bishop must be a lover of hospitality, a lover of good men, sober, just, holy, temperate. 1 Peter 4, verses 8 and 9, and above all things, have fervent charity among yourself, for charity shall cover the multitude of sins. Use hospitality one to another without grudging. Twice Paul says that the elders should have in them the virtue of hospitality. If elders or pastors are to be hospitable, it is obvious then that the rest of the saints have to be hospitable too. And we are to do this without grudging. Hospitality is about giving. It is a sacrifice. A lot of work is involved in hospitality. It is not only about giving. In serving the guests much labor is involved. Mind is involved. Strength is involved. Emotions are involved. Do you have this grace? You or me have no trials for being a Christian in this land. You are not verbally abused nor physically troubled. You are not thrown out of your job. It is beginning to happen though. Perhaps you don't take the trouble to go out making known the glories of Christ and the need for salvation. So obviously you don't have grace in this either. So at least do hospitality, give yourself, break your body in serving your brethren once in a way. Romans 12, verse 11 says, be not slothful in business. What is our business, dear friends, dear brethren here on earth? Let us hear from our Lord Jesus Christ himself. What is our business? Matthew chapter 25 verse 34 to 40. Then shall the king say unto them on his right hand, come ye blessed of my father. Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungered and he gave me. Food. I was thirsty and he gave me drink. I was a stranger and he took me in. Naked and he clothed me. I was sick and he visited me. I was in prison and he came unto me. Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee as hunger, hungered and fed thee, or thirsty and gave you drink? When saw we thee a stranger and took in, or naked and clothed thee? Or when saw we thee sick or in prison and came unto thee? And the king shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, inasmuch as ye have done it unto the one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me. But those that will not do all these shall go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into life eternal. Now, some might say, I do a lot of these good works. This means I have grace and I will go in the kingdom of heaven. But are you righteous? Do you have the righteousness of Christ imputed on you? Are you clothed with the righteousness of Christ? Are your sins forgiven? Do you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ? Do you hate sin? Are you born of God's Spirit? And do you have the power to obey God? Look, Jesus says, as you have done it to one of the least of these, my brethren, you have done it unto me. This means you must do it to those that believe and love and obey Jesus Christ. You must do it to His brethren. Do you love the followers of Christ? Do you appreciate those that tell you about Jesus being the only way, the truth and the life? That without Christ you are lost? Do you love these men and women? If so, You would become one of them. And if your hand have extended toward these, in all these areas of their lives, you will be blessed. You will be blessed. But think about it. How many will stand for the lovers of Christ when persecution begins? How many? Stand today on the side of those that are not willing to submit to the LGBT agenda in the offices, in the schools, in civic centre and so on. The message of the Lord Jesus Christ is clear. Be hospitable. Be hospitable. And being hospitable shows that you have grace. Now, in our little fellowship, there are wonderful people. They constantly show hospitality. You go out of your way to bring a little comfort to the needy. But, dear friends, brethren, let all of us work on this little more. Let us work, all of us, a little more. Remember, it is grace. Grace comes by imitating our savior, Jesus Christ. We are increased in grace by obeying his commands. Keep this in mind. You don't have to be rich in order to be hospitable. You can see that the poverty of the Macedonian could not restrict them. from giving willingly with overflow of generosity. If riches made a person hospitable, then the West would be the most hospitable place to live in. But sadly, it is not so. Not even the Christians who are commanded to be hospitable are so. I'm not making a general statement, but in many cases, and there are many who are very, very generous following the advice and the command of the Lord. It's sad to say, sometimes you don't even get a smile when you enter into many of these churches. You don't even get a handshake. Why? No grace? Dead? No power? What does grace bring in that the saints become hospitable? What does grace bring? In that the saint becomes hospitable, willing with overflow generosity. Now Paul put the giving, or the Macedonian hospitality, to power. Power. So Paul says in 2 Corinthians 8, verse 3, For to their power I bear record. Yea, and beyond their power, they were willing of themselves. What power is this? Where did it come from? From the Holy Spirit of course, from their obedience to Christ of course. Jesus our Saviour himself gave all of himself willingly As we read over here in verse nine, for he know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for our sakes he became poor, that he through his poverty might be rich. If Jesus gave his very body and blood willingly, what value does material object have for us? It cannot be more than the body and the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. The Macedonians gave themselves beyond their ability, and they did it willingly. This is power. The same kind of power is the power of forgiveness. When you forgive a person, it is a power of God in you which makes you do beyond your measure. You see, living the life of Christ is power, power that is from within. Jesus our Lord is a perfect example of this, isn't it? We did not deserve any forgiveness. We were heading for hell. We were doomed. We possessed wickedness. Our very nature, our very makeup was evil. Yet he forgave us and took the blame upon himself. He stood between God, the judge, and the people to be punished. He said to the Lord, his father, lay the blame on me. Punish me. Lay their debt on me. Consider me to be sin. Put your wrath on me. I will bear their wrath. This is power. This is power. Grace is power. Such power does not come from the knowledge of the world. Such power does not come from physical strength and weapons. Such power does not come from wealth. It comes from the spirit of the risen Lord Jesus Christ. Apostle Paul told the Corinthians, In 1 Corinthians chapter 2, verses 1 to 3, he said, and I, brethren, rather he wrote to them, and I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God, for I determined not to know anything among you save Jesus Christ and Him crucified. He preached Christ crucified, and I was with you, he says, in weakness and in fear and in much trembling. Verse four, and my speech, he says, and my preaching was not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in a demonstration of the spirit and of power. You see that? Why? That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God. He was an example himself, and Christ was his example. Isn't it the way the Lord Jesus Christ lived? Humbly before mankind, but he lived with the power of God. So what did the Macedonians do? Paul says, they asked us, they entreated us, forced us that we should receive their gifts and join them in serving the saints in need. They forcefully made the contribution towards the needs of the saints in Jerusalem. So Paul says in verse four, 2 Corinthians 8, verse four, praying us with much entreaty that we should receive the gift and take upon us the fellowship of the ministering to the saints. Verse five, 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. So you see, they were able to do this because they first gave their own selves to the Lord. Their love for the Lord, their Saviour, was genuine. They had decreased and Christ had increased in them. They were crucified with Christ. They understood that to live Christ, to live His life, is to die to self and not to preserve oneself. So Paul encourages them saying, therefore, in verse 7, he tells the people of Corinthian, the saints of Corinth, therefore, as he abound in everything, in faith, and utterance, and knowledge, and in all diligence, and in your love to us, see that ye abound in this grace also." Also. Paul, as you know, had actually written to them in his first letter. I'll read for you what he wrote to them. 1 Corinthians 1, verses 4 to 7. He had said, I thank my God always on your behalf. Why? For the grace of God which is given you by Jesus Christ, that in everything We are enriched by Him. Look at this, in all utterance and in all knowledge, even as the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you, so that you came behind in no gift. You had all the gifts. waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. They had all these blessings from the Lord, but they lacked in giving. Paul is encouraging them so that they do not come behind in any gift And us, dear friends, we should be having that same thought, that same desire, and pray that the Lord may bless us with all the gifts, all the gifts that God wants to give to us. Why is it the rich fall short in the grace of giving? We may ask, the Bible says in Proverbs chapter 13 verse 7, there is that maketh himself rich, yet hath nothing. There is that maketh himself poor, yet hath great riches. Why is it that the rich has nothing, although they are rich? Proverbs chapter 21 verse 17 says, he that loveth pleasure shall be a poor man. He that loveth wine and oil shall not be rich. You see, when you become rich, you also begin to spend more, plenty on pleasure, on tourism, on wine, on food, giving gifts to their rich friends, and to have all that their eyes can feast on. And all these needs money. To do all this, you need money to go to the five-star hotel and to eat or to drink a cup of tea which may cost about 100 pounds, which you can get for one pound. You see, so they fall short in the grace of giving because, oh, I need so much money to live that lifestyle. How will I live that lifestyle which I'm so used to now if I give my money to the poor? You see, let us not be so. Let us not come behind such a grace of giving to the needs of the saints in giving for the cause of the gospel. Jesus says in Luke chapter 3 verse 38, give and it shall be given unto you good measure, pressed down and shaken together and running over shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that he meet with all it shall be measured to you again. Apostle Paul had gathered all the elders He had gathered all the elders from the region of Ephesus, and he told them that he had not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God. And this is so very important, dear friends, that we hear the whole counsel of God, not just my favorite, or what you like to hear. No, that is not what the apostles did. That is not what Christ Jesus, our Savior, did. He taught us the whole counsel of God, everything that God wants us to do. He revealed it to us. And Paul says, I have done the same. I have not in any way kept behind you know, any part of what I should tell you what God has revealed to me. And among many things he had told them, this is in Acts chapter 20 verse 35, he says at the end, I have showed you all things how that so laboring he ought to support the weak and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he said, it is more blessed to give than to receive. It is more blessed to give than to receive. Oh, dear brethren, may we not fall short of giving ourselves first to the Lord in purifying our soul and living a holy and righteous life and in giving. like we heard in the morning, that in doing the Lord's command, we should not become proud, we should not be doing to show off, but that we do it humbly. Well, we shall continue on Chapter 8 when we meet next on the Lord's Day. Shall we pray?