Highlight, Explain, Apply

This chapter gives four principles of stewardship for believers:

1. The principle of accountability: The believers in Corinth and Macedonia belonged to the same family. They should share together in giving. – Macedonia –
   1. The giving of Macedonia:
      1. The source of generosity: the Grace of God: ¹Moreover, brethren, we make known to you the grace of God bestowed on the churches of Macedonia:The miracle of generosity:²that in a great trial of affliction the abundance of their joy and their deep poverty abounded in the riches of their liberality.The attitude of generosity:³For I bear witness that according to their ability, yes, and beyond their ability, they were freely willing, ⁴imploring us with much urgency that we would receive the gift and the fellowship of the ministering to the saints.The motive of generosity⁵And not only as we had hoped, but they first gave themselves to the Lord, and then to us by the will of God.
      The challenge of Macedonia⁶So we urged Titus, that as he had begun, so he would also complete this grace in you as well.
2. The principle of discipleship – It is not only your personality and your service that fall under God’s direction when you are saved; so do your resources. To surrender in all other areas without surrendering in this one proves that your love is not sincere! – Real discipleship means:
   1. Full development – Neglecting giving means neglecting a grace that disciples are supposed to have and doing so truncates their growth. ⁷But as you abound in everything—in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in all diligence, and in your love for us—see that you abound in this grace also.Genuine love – The genuineness of your love can be proven by giving to the needs of others.⁸I speak not by commandment, but I am testing the sincerity of your love by the diligence of others.Full imitation – ⁹For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich.
3. The principle of equal sacrifice – ¹⁰And in this I give advice: It is to your advantage not only to be doing what you began and were desiring to do a year ago; ¹¹but now you also must complete the doing of it; that as there was a readiness to desire it, so there also may be a completion out of what you have. ¹²For if there is first a willing mind, it is accepted according to what one has, and not according to what he does not have. ¹³For I do not mean that others should be eased and you burdened; ¹⁴but by an equality, that now at this time your abundance may supply their lack, that their abundance also may supply your lack—that there may be equality. ¹⁵As it is written, “He who gathered much had nothing left over, and he who gathered little had no lack.”
4. The principle of integrity – Paul is telling the Corinthians that they are not traveling alone with the money because v20 they want to avoid any hint that they might pilfer the funds that have been raised. With our giving, there must be integrity of how we handle the money. ¹⁶But thanks be to God who puts the same earnest care for you into the heart of Titus. ¹⁷For he not only accepted the exhortation, but being more diligent, he went to you of his own accord. ¹⁸And we have sent with him the brother whose praise is in the gospel throughout all the churches, ¹⁹and not only that, but who was also chosen by the churches to travel with us with this gift, which is administered by us to the glory of the Lord Himself and to show your ready mind, ²⁰avoiding this: that anyone should blame us in this lavish gift which is administered by us—²¹providing honorable things, not only in the sight of the Lord, but also in the sight of men. ²²And we have sent with them our brother whom we have often proved diligent in many things, but now much more diligent, because of the great confidence which we have in you. ²³If anyone inquires about Titus, he is my partner and fellow worker concerning you. Or if our brethren are inquired about, they are messengers of the churches, the glory of Christ. ²⁴Therefore show to them, and before the churches the proof of your love and of our boasting on your behalf.

HIGHLIGHT

 2 Corinthians 7:2–4 (NKJV) ²Open your hearts to us. We have wronged no one, we have corrupted no one, we have cheated no one. ³I do not say this to condemn; for I have said before that you are in our hearts, to die together and to live together. ⁴Great is my boldness of speech toward you, great is my boasting on your behalf. I am filled with comfort. I am exceedingly joyful in all our tribulation. 

Paul keeps using that phrase: “Open your hearts to us.” He mentioned that back in chapter 6, but he goes on to elaborate here. In what he says you can see certain behaviors/attitudes that lead to open hearts:

EXPLAIN

• Trust: v2 He says that they have done no one wrong, but they have been completely trustworthy.
• Commitment: v3 He says that he is willing to die or to live with them. They are connected and will rise and fall together.
• Confidence: v4 – He is confident that God is going to see them through and keep them on track.
• Concern: v8 – Paul knew that his letter had hurt them and he regretted that he had to hurt them. “People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.
• Confrontation: v9 You must be willing to confront sin.
• Supernatural power vv10-12: Paul says that they had “godly sorrow.” That’s an interesting way to put it. What came to the Corinthians was a sorrow from the Holy Spirit that produced repentance. This repentance is a supernatural work of the Holy Spirit. 
• Humility and repentance: If people are going to open their hearts, there has to be humility and repentance.

APPLY

As a leader, I long for people to have open hearts to God and to where He wants us to go as a church. That openness requires that people know:

• That they can trust us. We are not going to hurt them or damage them spiritually.
• That we are committed to them for the long haul. We live or die together.
• That we believe in God’s work in their lives and are confident that He is going to work in them.
• That we are concerned for their feelings and what they are going through.
• That we love them enough to confront sin in their lives.
• That we are praying for God’s Spirit to work powerfully in them to bring them to repentance.
• That they must be willing to respond in humility and repentance.

RESPOND

I want to find a way to use these truths in leadership. I will begin by sharing with the staff.

Highlight:

 2 Corinthians 6:3–10 (NKJV) ³We give no offense in anything, that our ministry may not be blamed. ⁴But in all things we commend ourselves as ministers of God: in much patience, in tribulations, in needs, in distresses, ⁵in stripes, in imprisonments, in tumults, in labors, in sleeplessness, in fastings; ⁶by purity, by knowledge, by longsuffering, by kindness, by the Holy Spirit, by sincere love, ⁷by the word of truth, by the power of God, by the armor of righteousness on the right hand and on the left, ⁸by honor and dishonor, by evil report and good report; as deceivers, and yet true; ⁹as unknown, and yet well known; as dying, and behold we live; as chastened, and yet not killed; ¹⁰as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing all things. 

Explain:

In chapter 5 Paul ends by describing the ministry all believers have to bring others to Christ. In chapter 6 he talks about the ramifications of this calling. The salvation received through Christ is so complete and so powerful that we now become focused on spreading that message to everyone.

Paul then describes that commitment which gets the job done. He says that he is focused on sharing Christ through all the tribulations from without and all the temptations from within. Verse 8 is an example of what Paul is getting across. I like the way the NLT renders it: We serve God whether people honor us or despise us, whether they slander us or praise us. That is the kind of focus that causes the gospel to advance. It never has been, nor will it ever be a “job.” We cannot coast to heaven. Sometimes we face what seems like utter defeat. In those moments we should take the time to evaluate whether we could do something in a better way, but ultimately we keep on going because God has called us.

One more thing from this chapter: In v13, Paul says: I am asking you to respond as if you were my own children. Open your hearts to us! That is what makes the difference in ministry. When people lose trust and close their hearts to you, you are no longer able to have much impact. I really think that happened in our church last year. We had a group of people who lost trust and closed their hearts.

Apply:
Two applications:

• First, ministry will always be challenging. Sometimes it will feel like you are dying. In those moments it is good to remember this passage especially We serve God whether people honor us or despise us, whether they slander us or praise us.
• Second, one of our primary jobs as pastors is to seek to have people open their hearts to us. Closed-hearted people will not follow very well.

Respond

I will try to think of ways that we can get people to open their hearts to me as a pastor.

Highlight:

 2 Corinthians 5:17 (NKJV) ¹⁷Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. 

Explain: 

Paul continues his message about the gospel that is entrusted to jars of clay. In chapter 5 he talks about the new, eternal bodies we are going to have. We will not be some nebulous cloud nor some angel. We will have heavenly bodies and we know this is so because God’s Spirit is in us and witnesses to this fact.

Because we have this promise, we work hard to persuade others knowing that God has given us this responsibility. Paul connects this with his own ministry and tells the Corinthians why he is so passionate about the gospel. In the gospel we learn that, not only did Christ die and raise for us, we died with Him and have a new life controlled by Christ.

So, why compare one redeemed person to another from a human point of view? EVERYONE who has become a child of God is a new person. Old things are gone and the new has come. Everyone who has experienced this life change has also been given a task: Because of Christ’s gift to us, we are ambassadors who witness to this blessing and persuade others that they can experience this life change too. God appeals to those who are lost THROUGH US. He calls them to be reconciled to him. All of this is possible because God made Christ Who never sinned, to become sin for us so that this new life would be possible.

Apply:

I had never seen the connection between 2 Cor 5:17 and what comes before it until today. The Corinthians were arguing that some people were better preachers or even better Christians than others. 2 Cor 5:17 is saying that no one is better than anyone else and that EVERYONE who is in Christ is a new person and has a new purpose. To be an ambassador. There is no missionary hierarchy in the new testament. It is for everyone!!!

Respond

I will communicate this truth to the church and possibly prepare a message on this passage for the Missions Conference.

2 Corinthians 4:16–18(NKJV)

¹⁶Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward manis being renewed day by day. ¹⁷For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding andeternal weight of glory, ¹⁸while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen aretemporary, but the things which are not seen areeternal.

Explain: 

Paul says that since we have been given this great relationship with God through His Spirit that brings ever increasing glory, we do not give up, nor do we try to manipulate people into seeing things our way. We realize that the salvation of others is blocked by Satan’s blindness and that it takes a supernatural work to open their eyes. So, he says, we just preach truth and let God make the difference. 

This gospel “light” of God’s glory is shining in our hearts and illuminates our lives. Our lives are like fragile, ordinary jars of clay, but in them is the eternal light of God and it shows that the source of the light is not from God but from ourselves. Yes our troubles are very real: We are perplexed, knocked down and crushed, but God carries us through. 

But because our treasure and our mission is so important we cannot give up. Our bodies are dying a little more each day, but our Spirits are being resurrected every day. We look beyond the small troubles of this life to the eternal glory that waits for us.

Apply:

Because the message is glorious, the container is unimportant.Because the glory is eternal, the trouble is bearable.

Respond

I will focus on the mission and the message

Highlight:

 2 Corinthians 3:16–18 (NKJV) ¹⁶Nevertheless when one turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. ¹⁷Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. ¹⁸But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.

Explain: 

Paul challenges the Corinthians who are asking him to prove himself, saying that he has no need to “prove” himself because the Corinthians themselves prove his ministry: He led them to Christ. He was able to do this because God had a new plan of action for Paul to introduce when it came to salvation. 

The old plan led to death because no one could keep the law. Even so, when the law was given, Moses’s face glowed with the glory of God because it was so wonderful. Bright as it was, however, the glory of the law cannot compare to the glory of salvation by faith alone. 

Such a covenant is so wonderful that nothing should be able to discourage us. Moses knew that the glory was fading, so he hid it with a veil so that they could not see the glory was gone. Today, however, when someone turns to Christ, they are brought face to face with God. Seeing Him they glow with an ever increasing glory as they look upon God.

Apply:

Through Christ and His new covenant, I am able to gaze on God and experience His presence much like the disciples did on the mountain of transfiguration.

Respond:

I will not take this for granted but seek His face today.

1 Corinthians 9 (CSB)

H

1 Cor. 9:22b – “I have become all things to all people, so that I may by every possible means save some.”

E

Paul has been discussing the fact that he has not made us of his rights to receive money for preaching the Gospel.  Instead, he desires to do nothing that in any way could potentially become a hindrance or something his opponents would use against him to stop him from advancing the Gospel.  Of course, as Paul himself says, there’s nothing wrong with receiving money from the church for his work, but he personally chose not to do so.  So he says in this verse, that he is choosing to become all things to all people.  This means when he’s around Greeks, he’ll take an interest and even participate to a degree in their culture in a morally uncompromising way so that he may be able to contextualize the Gospel to that specific culture.  He likewise would do the same thing for Jews.  

A

I should do whatever I can to help advance the Gospel. That means I must learn to embrace the non-sinful elements of other cultures and subgroups that I am trying to minister to so that I can better contextualize the Gospel in a way that they will understand, appreciate, and be receptive to.  All of this will help me create relationships with people who are not like me so that I can share and show them the love of Jesus.  

R

Prayer: “God, help me to learn to contextualize the Gospel wherever I am.  Help me intentionally not to impose my cultural standards and understanding of things on those of a different culture on matters that are not related to biblical truth.  Help me to do this so that I may be better received and not create unnecessary stumbling blocks to them understanding and responding to the Gospel.”  

Aaron Pierce

Highlight:

1 Corinthians 16:13–14 (NKJV) ¹³Watch, stand fast in the faith, be brave, be strong. ¹⁴Let all that you do be done with love.

Paul is giving final instructions to the Corinthians and includes these short imperatives:

• Watch: Literally, “stay awake”. Don’t allow this world to put you to sleep spiritually.
• Stand firm in the faith: When it comes to the content of the Gospel, don’t surrender a single inch.
• Be brave – Be courageous as a soldier/man is supposed to be.
• Be strong: to be or become strong or powerful beyond the average or expected; whether physically or in one’s constitution.
• Do everything with love – The balance of the previous four commands is this one. We must be strong, but act in love.

Apply:

In the Christian life, there must be a strong determined approach. We must stand firm on truth, yet we must still do everything with love. No matter the intensity of the battle we may be in, we must both stand strong and act in love.

Respond

I will seek to apply this in ministry.

For I swear, dear brothers and sisters, that I face death daily. This is as certain as my pride in what Christ Jesus our Lord has done in you. ³² And what value was there in fighting wild beasts—those people of Ephesus—if there will be no resurrection from the dead? And if there is no resurrection, “Let’s feast and drink, for tomorrow we die!” ³³ Don’t be fooled by those who say such things, for “bad company corrupts good character.” ³⁴ Think carefully about what is right, and stop sinning. For to your shame I say that some of you don’t know God at all. ^[1]

Explain: Paul is explaining to the Corinthians that they have been receiving false teaching about the resurrection. Some have been saying that there is no resurrection of the dead, evidently saying that if people were not alive when Christ returned, they would not be raised. Paul tells them that without this hope the gospel makes no sense—there is no point. The gospel is not some feel good, do-good religion to make us nicer to one another in this world. It is an eternal thing with eternal consequences. If you do not fully embrace that, you don’t know God at all!

Apply:I must constantly return to the powerful hope of the gospel. Without it, none of the rest of the gospel even makes sense.

Respond

I will remind myself constantly of what I am following Jesus for. Because He lives, I will live.

Highlight:

1 Corinthians 14:13–19 (NKJV) ¹³Therefore let him who speaks in a tongue pray that he may interpret. ¹⁴For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays, but my understanding is unfruitful. ¹⁵What is the conclusion then? I will pray with the spirit, and I will also pray with the understanding. I will sing with the spirit, and I will also sing with the understanding. ¹⁶Otherwise, if you bless with the spirit, how will he who occupies the place of the uninformed say “Amen” at your giving of thanks, since he does not understand what you say? ¹⁷For you indeed give thanks well, but the other is not edified. ¹⁸I thank my God I speak with tongues more than you all; ¹⁹yet in the church I would rather speak five words with my understanding, that I may teach others also, than ten thousand words in a tongue.

Explain:In speaking of the gift of Tongues, Paul basically tells the people that it’s use in the church should be very limited because it is much more important that the people be edified than that you personally be edified. There is a place for your personal edification: your own prayer closet. In the church service, however, tongues will bring only confusion unless there is a valid interpretation.  

Apply:The purpose of communication in the church is always the building up of the body through the worship of God. For that edification to take place, there must be understanding of truth. Therefore, it is extremely important that we remember that, within the church service, edification is focused on the communication of truth, not the emotion of an individual. In our singing, preaching and worship, it is truth that we focus on.

Respond:

I will seek to have our music, preaching, and worship communicate the best truth possible so that our people will be built up.