Faithful Servants, Faithful Stewards

0:58Excuse me, I'm deeply thankful for my family, my wife, and my kids. But I'm especially thankful for you, New Life. God has changed my life through you, and so there's no greater honor and privilege to stand before you and bring God's word. So I'm excited. Well, here we are, 2 Corinthians 8. We've been in the Messy Church series, and Paul is going to continue to shepherd and shape the Corinthians' theology, their understanding of how their lives ought to be changed and impacted. As a result of their conversion to Christ.

1:33Remember, he spent many chapters defending himself, he and his companions, for the ministry that God has called them to, because they're ministering to a messy people, a messy church, much like we are. And so, naturally, there's some suspicion of Paul and his crew, right? People are tempted to think that Paul and his companions are out for themselves, right? They're out for material gain, physical gain, financial gain. But Paul continues to faithfully shepherd the church. Isn't he a master of keeping the main thing, the main thing?

2:15I mean, in all of this, Paul continues to drill down into what is most important. And so, what is the main issue at hand? Now, listen, this is going to sound like the Sunday school answer, but hang with me because I'm going to try to prove it to you. The main issue here is love. Specifically, that love would express itself in and through the churches by their unity. Right? If we could summarize the message of 1 and 2 Corinthians, this messy church series, it's Paul pressing the Corinthians to show their love by their unity. Because one of the greatest evidences of God's grace is in and through the church. Is loving unity. So this is important.

3:05If you'll remember back to Acts chapter 15, there's a council that goes down. It's called the Jerusalem Council. And the main debate at the Jerusalem Council is whether or not Gentile believers, that is non-Jews, are required to essentially become Jewish in order to be Christians. So the main issue at hand here is circumcision. Are they required to be circumcised in order to be believers in Jesus? So it's important to note here at the very beginning, as God begins to bring together the nations, so to speak, as the Gentiles are grafted in, there is division among God's people.

3:50And this sounds similar in many respects to the day and age that we are living in. And so we fast forward to the Corinthians. Paul is ministering to a predominantly Gentile church, the Corinthians. They are a messy people, yet they are redeemed by God. They have tasted and seen the glory, the joy, the freedom, the wonder of saving faith in Christ. And it couldn't be more clear here with the Corinthians that it was apart from their own works, apart from their own doing, right? We've read about them. We've seen who they were, who they once were, and what they were a part of. And God was beginning to change that.

4:32And so they're put to the test. 1 Corinthians 16, look at this real quick. They're put to the test. There are Christians in Jerusalem that are struggling to make ends meet. And Paul comes to them and he says, Now concerning the collection for the saints, he's talking to the Corinthians about the collection for the saints in Jerusalem. As I directed the churches of Galatia, so also are you to do. On the first day of every week, each of you is to put something aside and store it up, as he may prosper. So there will be no collection when I come. And when I arrive, I will send those whom you accredit by letter to carry your gift to Jerusalem.

5:12If it seems advisable that I should go also, they will accompany me. And so the Corinthians are made aware of this need, and though they're not in close proximity, they're not members of the same church, they agree to meet this real and present need. And so one of the things that Paul is doing in this text, in 2 Corinthians 8, is he's reminding the Corinthians of what they promised to do. And it's here in chapter 8 that we find some of the most important principles of the purpose and joy of giving.

5:50Paul Barnett says in his commentary of 1 Corinthians, I'm sorry, 2 Corinthians chapter 8, he says this. For these chapters. We're able to discern some of the abiding principles which should control the Christian stewardship of his gifts and his resources. In verse 5 of chapter 8, Paul essentially sums up the Christian life. And he says that the Christian life is a life of giving. The Christian life is a life of giving. And he sets forth the Macedonians. He commends the Macedonians for their example, saying that they first gave themselves to God and then to others, as you heard Pastor Alan preach last week.

6:37And in verse 7, he shows how giving financially to the work of God through the local church is a natural response or outworking of God's grace in a believer's life. When Jesus captures your heart, this becomes natural for the believer. It's not before, because we want to live for self, but in Christ, this begins to be our new nature, this self-giving. And so, in other words, if we don't see this evidence of grace in our lives, then we must evaluate ourselves.

7:20I think what Paul is saying in chapter 8 is that we are underdeveloped, we are immature, if this is not evident in our lives, and we claim to be believers. Look at what Barnett says. Committed self-giving to the Lord and to others is basic to Christianity. Basic to Christianity. And then in verse 9 of chapter 8, Paul shows how the act of giving is ultimately an overflow of love and worship of Christ. In other words, no one entrusts themselves to God in this way apart from the power and the example of Jesus Christ.

8:03That is the central focus of the gospel of Jesus: one of giving. Jesus willingly and lovingly gave himself. Though he was rich, he became poor, so that we who are poor might become rich. This is the great exchange, namely, that we might inherit the wonderful riches of his grace through faith and be given eternal life. And so we look to Jesus, as the author of Hebrews says, because he is love, and one of the primary demonstrations of his love is through the act of generous giving. All right, so to sum all of this up, to set up our passage, Paul is saying, and he is showing how God is working to bring his people together, to unify them in love through giving, through selfless and Sacrificial giving. So he's taking the Gentile believers and the Jewish believers and he's bringing them together. And the method, the means by which he is doing that here is through giving.

9:12Isn't it beautiful how God was and is working all these things together for the good of his people in the glory of his name? So you see, matters that relate to money and giving, they're about much more than the financial gift, or about much more than the financial means. Well, Titus enters the picture in chapter 7, and in a very real sense, Paul is on trial. The Corinthian Christians are on trial. God is on trial. Remember, he spends forever defending himself and his comrades. And here's the big question: this is the question that they must ask, right?

9:56That we must ask. Will God be seen as he truly is through the ministry of his people, the church? Will God be seen as he truly is? Will we, the church, properly reflect God in all of his glory? And this helps us begin to see the purpose and the place for which Paul is writing these words that we're studying today. And this is precisely why Paul and his companions took great care and concern to make sure that they hear. Handled this matter to make sure that they handled this collection so carefully. And I think there's much for us to learn here. Though this small section is a bit of an aside, right? It seems like a bit of a note in the stream of thought that Paul's communicating. I think it's critical for us to see and understand that God equips his church with men and women of character to faithfully steward the positions and the possessions that he has given.

11:05God has given, I'm sorry, God equips his church with men and women of character to faithfully steward the positions and possessions that he has given. And so here's the big picture as we enter this text, verse 16. It's been about a year since Paul had that conversation, 1 Corinthians 16. It's been about a year since then. And Paul is encouraging them, helping them to remember this promise. He says, on the first day of every week, set aside funds. In other words, start storing them up, collecting them, so that when I come, they will be ready.

11:43And we see here that the habit and blessing of giving comes when we discipline and devote ourselves to the regular worship of Jesus through giving. We can see here that Paul is encouraging them, challenging, telling them, Telling them, no, regularly commit yourself to this. And then he's going to go into the details about how they are to do this, why they are taking the course of action that he's encouraging them to take and that they're taking. And then he's going to talk about Titus and the men who are going to actually go and receive the collection. And so let's jump into verse 16 and try to make some sense of this.

12:30We pick up where Paul does, and he begins by thanking God. So given all that he said, all the instruction he's given, all the encouragement he's given, all of the pushback that he's received, right? All the contending that he has done, he begins by thanking God. How easy is it for us to miss this seemingly small and unimportant detail? But Paul begins where we too must begin with a heart of gratitude and thankfulness to God because it says so much about what we truly believe.

13:17Right, functionally, do we truly believe that all of the seemingly small things and all of the seemingly great things, all of the wonderful things in our lives, and all of the difficult things that are in our lives? Lives that we wouldn't wish on anyone. Functionally, do you really believe that they are all by the hand of our loving and good God? Because if we do, then we will see that unexplainable thankfulness and gratitude well up in us, even in the valley, because we know he hasn't left.

14:06You see, we can't properly see the people, the positions, and the possessions that we've been entrusted with apart from properly seeing the lavish generosity of God with every breath we take, every moment we're given, every responsibility entrusted, every trial endured. So, what does Paul thank God for? The commitment of the Corinthians to do what they said and give money to the Jerusalem Christians? Nope. The size of the gift? It says here that it looks like it was a sizable gift. Nope.

14:48Paul thanks God for these men, for their faithfulness, their character. And if anyone knows the importance of character, it's Paul. The Lord Jesus confronted him in his sin as he's killing Christians and causes him to be born again. A man who was a faithful servant, but a servant of the wrong God. A man who was serving but was directing his service in the wrong direction. He was devout and committed. He was a Pharisee. But he was trying to fulfill all the legal demands of the law while his heart was far from God.

15:38But God. Wonder of wonders. Two of the most beautiful words in the scripture. But God being rich in mercy at just the right time, he broke through. A man who's killing believers. He breaks through. He interceded and he caused Paul to see as he hadn't seen before. Maybe you've been there. And we see in the New Testament God transforming a wretched man into a wonderful display of his glory. As a potter shapes clay, God is shaping and reforming Saul of Tarsus into the apostle Paul, a man of faith, of boldness, and of godliness. Character. And so Paul begins here and he thanks God for the character of these brothers that are going to the Corinthians. Why? Because he knows only God could do that.

16:44Only God could change these men because it had happened to him as well. Praise be to God. My friends, I don't have to convince you of the importance of character or the great lack of character in our day and age. From the White House to the church, we have seen a true lack of character, spirit-filled, spirit-empowered character. We've seen it in the past, we are seeing it in our day, and we will continue to see it into the future.

17:18But, church, this is to be expected because society and our culture at large is by nature motivated by self. It's how we were all born. It's by nature our first choice to do what is best for us. Well, God's kingdom is actually quite opposite, right? It's upside down. It's about a king who died in a kingdom that's based on selfless service. As Jesus says to his followers, the first shall be last, and the last shall be first.

17:58If you want to gain Life, true, lasting life, you have to die. And in so doing, this amazing transformation happens. Eternity is given, grace is imparted, and the power of the Holy Spirit begins to transform and conform the believer to the image of Christ. So all of the gifts, skills, abilities, passions, desires that were there, they're still there. And God begins to change them. And God begins to reform them. And that's what we see in Paul, and that's what we see the scriptures describing the life of sanctification. And so the question is: what are the qualities or character attributes of these men?

18:59What are the characteristics that possess them? What are the characteristics and the qualities that put them in position to serve God's people? And so, first and foremost, as we look at their character, I think we see the first characteristic is their godliness. Verse 18 says that one of the brothers that is being sent is famous among all the churches for what? What is he famous for? Now think about this. These guys are being sent to collect a massive gift. And so you would think that if you're going to send some guys to do that, you're going to send the guys who are savvy in business, maybe have a banking background, maybe accounting, right, makes sense. That's not what it says. He's famous for what? For preaching the gospel. And why is that important?

20:02Because the man or woman, the leader who is formed by the foundational truths of God's word, is a man or woman that can be trusted no matter their skills, gifts, abilities, or capacities. We must remember that God doesn't measure a man first and foremost by what he sees on the outside, but by mere appearances. No, God looks at the heart and he desires faithful, godly, and holy people. Think about the passages that talk about the biblical qualifications of leaders. What do those lists contain? Well, they're primarily lists of character attributes and qualities with very few competencies or skills that the leader must possess. Now, I'm not discounting those things because they're important, but what we see here is the focus. Is on character. Therefore, for those who are in Christ, for you and I, we must devote our best efforts to becoming a holy and godly people.

21:17I recently started reading a book by Dallas Willard. It's called The Spirit of the Disciplines. He's making the case early in the book that for many of us, we have approached the spiritual disciplines in the wrong way, or at least we've thought about them in the wrong way. And so he gives this, he compares the spiritual disciplines to a young boy who is watching his favorite baseball team. Now, if baseball is not your thing, that's fine. Some of you wrongly think it's too slow and all of that, but you have your own opinions. So, anyhow, think about your sport. And so, he compares it to baseball. And he says that this boy, well-meaning, watches his favorite team and his favorite players in order to know what he must do to be great. And so, he watches them in the field. He sees how they move. He sees how they act. He watches them at the plate. And if you've watched baseball, you know that they all have crazy routines. And if you've played baseball, you know that all of your coaches tell you, don't do that. Don't do what they do. But he's watching. And he's learning.

22:35But what he learns is that when he gets in the game, merely mimicking his heroes isn't enough to gain him the success, to gain him the results that he sees on the screen. You see, they've worked their entire lives to build the muscle memory, to perfect their craft, to know the game, to develop their skills, so that the moment the ball comes, they can react. You see, it's much deeper than just actions. We cannot expect to be godly people, to act godly in all circumstances, by attempting to simply, now hear me, simply mimic the actions of God. No, Jesus responded the way he did because he had spent the time, he had given his life to transform himself into the image of the Father. So much so that it's just what came out of him, much like the baseball player.

23:50And so listen to how Willard describes this. So we should be perfectly clear on one thing: Jesus never expected. us simply, or I would say only, to turn the other cheek, to go the second mile, to bless those who persecute us, to give unto them that ask, and so forth. These responses, generally and rightly understood to be characteristics of Christ's likeness, were set forth by him as illustrative of what might be expected of a new kind of person, one who intelligently and steadfastly seeks above all else to live within the rule of God. Underline that. To live within the rule of God and be possessed by the kind of righteousness that God Himself has, as Matthew 6:33 portrays. And he continues, true Christ-likeness, true companionship with Christ comes at the point where it is hard not to respond as he would. Think about that for a minute.

25:09It's hard not to respond as he would. Church, I want that for me. I want that for you. It's what Paul commends in these men. It's what God commends in his servants, deep above. Hiding, godly character, holiness. To do so, we must be about the work of transforming ourselves by the renewing of our minds, as Romans 12 says. And this is what Paul commends in these men. My friends, I wonder what those closest to you would say about you.

26:00Would they commend you first and foremost for your godliness? Or they say that you're just a good guy, you're a nice gal. So, first, God commends their godliness. Second, he says that they were earnest. He thanks God for putting into Titus the same earnest care that Paul has for the churches. That phrase means to care with diligence, enthusiasm, or zeal. Zeal being great energy or enthusiasm in pursuit of a cause. There was this sincerity in their care for others.

26:52This phrase is mentioned four times in this text, and it helps us to understand the character of these men, Titus and the Titus. Others. And here's the bottom line. We will pursue, we will strive after, we will be excited about, we will be overjoyed about what we love the most. For these men, their passion for God was evident in the way that they cared for others. And the way that they cared for others says much about who they were.

27:27They were diligent to consistently pursue the cause of Christ and other people, even when it was costly to them, even when it didn't make sense according to the world. They had great enthusiasm to make Jesus known because Jesus had joyfully made himself known to them. So they were excited, they were ready, they were willing. And they wouldn't give up. They had this zeal because they knew that love was on the line. They knew that others would come to know the love of their Lord because of how they had been loved by them, the Lord's followers.

28:14This is who these men were, and this is how they cared for these believers. I don't know about you, but I wouldn't even use this phrase to. Describe myself. And so I think it's important for us to consider: are we earnest? Are we diligent, enthusiastic? Do we show zeal in the right direction for the right things? Is there this sincerity in the way that we love and care for others? Well, further, they were of good will and they served others on their own accord.

29:03They were eager, they were ready, they were willing, and that desire and motivation is not something that they manufactured. They didn't pull up their bootstraps to do this. This was the effect, the power of the Holy Spirit working in and through them. They didn't have to be reminded. They didn't have to be prodded. They didn't have to be told. It's what they knew. It's what they loved. It's what came out of them. Have you ever worked or served with someone who was ready and eager and willing to do whatever was necessary to accomplish the task or the goal?

29:45They were the epitome of the self-starter. They were just so motivated. Now, be honest, sometimes that gets under your skin a little bit, right? But I think that's what Paul is talking about here: that these men. They were doing this on their own accord. They were ready. They were willing. And so this helps us to see what qualified them for this service. Notice that this wasn't just Paul's opinion, but the churches had appointed, verse 19, they had chosen and set apart these men to hold these positions as messengers, stewards, managers of this gift, and that they had been tested, verse 22.

30:34They were proven to be fit for service after being examined. That's what the word tested means. Character is seen and made evident over the course of time. This is why Paul wisely advises not to appoint an elder, a leader, who is a recent or a new convert. It's not necessarily that we should be suspicious, but rather we should be cautious because they haven't been tested. A good tree will bear good fruit, and a bad tree will bear bad fruit. And this fruit is produced in time. And so, what do we learn from this? As we look at the character, the positions that they held, that God is equipping his church with men and women of character. To faithfully reflect his glory, that those inside the church and outside the church would have a better understanding of who God is based on what they see in God's servants.

31:48And the method by which he's doing that is through service, through the laying down of one's life. And so, if I could give you any encouragement, it would be that we have a tremendous opportunity in and through our service, both inside and outside the church, as we serve one another to demonstrate our love for Jesus. And that couldn't be more fitting in this moment we're living in. Many are hopeless, many have no foundation by which to stand on.

32:32Many feel alone. And by laying down our lives, we have the opportunity to serve and show Jesus. And this is exactly what they were doing. These men of character had been given positions of service, and they were serving, laying down their life. Well, the final issue that Paul addresses is the actual collection itself. More specifically, the way in which these men handled the collection that they were going to receive. And it's here that we begin to understand the importance of faithful stewardship, managing the possessions that God has given. First of all, Paul defines the act of giving in and to the local church as an act of grace.

33:30That is, giving of one's money to meet needs and bless others within God's church is the result of God's grace working in our lives to cause us to give ourselves in this particular way. He calls it an act of grace. But secondly, he talks about the way in which they went about this collection or the method that they employed, the care and concern by which they took to receive this collection. And what is the reason given? What does Paul say that the reason is? Verse 20. He says that no one should blame us about this generous gift that is being administered by us. The word blame means to criticize or find fault or discredit. And so in other words, there was this potential through these men going to collect this offering, there was this potential for people to see what they were doing, to misunderstand. And as a result, for that to be a reflection on how they viewed God, that is the weight of the matter. And it's critical because the church is the glory of Christ we see in verse 23. Now, if you've read ahead, you know that some scholars will disagree on this verse, right? Some would say that the church is not the glory of Christ, but these men are the glory of Christ by the way that they serve, the way they handle themselves, the way that they represent the church. And some say that the church is the glory of Christ. Well, I don't think you can go wrong here. I think it is the church that's the glory of Christ based on what Paul's saying in the punctuation.

35:13But the point is, such great care and concern was taken here because the witness of the church was at stake. And my friends, there is no greater, let me say this positively. We have the greatest opportunity by the way we, as the church, and we individually handle the money that we have been given. We have the greatest opportunity to show what we believe and who we serve. That also means the opposite is true. There is great danger that we may confuse. Others by the way that we handle and manage and by what we do with our money.

36:12Verse 21, Paul says, Their aim was to do that which is honorable in the sight of God and in the sight of man. Now we can't drive by this because I know you're with me and you look at the first one and you're like, yep, check the box. Do that which is honorable in the sight of God. Me too. We all want to do that which honors the Lord. We make it our aim to please him. 2 Corinthians 5 says, We want to do that which is honorable, which is good and proper and beautiful and virtuous.

36:51But what about the second part? What about the second part? To do that which is honorable in the sight of man? I mean to what extent were Paul and his companions responsible to ensure that others rightly saw their actions? I mean what control do they really have? All the questions begin to flood your mind. What does this mean? What is the meaning of this? What is one to do? Because no matter what you do, Or you don't do, you have the potential of making the wrong decision in someone else's eyes. So, on one hand, you can focus your efforts on pleasing the Lord.

37:44Right? There's wisdom in that, and that's kind of what Paul is saying here, but it seems to miss the whole point. On the other hand, we can be overly concerned about what others think or how they may perceive our actions and thus solely act based on what we think they think. That seems to miss the point. So, what is it? Well, I think, like many things, my friends, the answer falls somewhere in the middle of the two.

38:14The way of faith, doing what is wise and discerning, the way forward always requires us to make decisions in an effort to please God and serve others. Because if we don't, don't we neglect the great commission that we've been called to? If we don't consider the Lord and we don't consider others, don't we neglect what Jesus sent us to do? I think Paul's answer here is yes. Of course, the object of our worship is God. However, People are the ones we've been called to serve with the hope of sharing and showing the love of God. It's people who need to hear and to see the good news of Jesus Christ.

39:15It's what we've been called to do, so what we do matters. How your actions are perceived matters. Let me say it a different way. As followers of Jesus, we don't have the freedom to do whatever we want. We don't have time, but I want to remind you of 1 Corinthians 8. Ironically, I preached that text however long ago, but it's on the conscience. And it's about how we who are strong in our conscience and we who are weak in our conscience ought to interact and seek to love and serve one another. We don't have the freedom to do whatever we want because lives are on the line.

40:12My question for you, and the question that I've been wrestling with is: Am I actually living that way? As we think about leadership in God's church, there's a strong call here to evaluate whether or not we have been and are being above reproach in our stewardship of the money and resources God has given. But for each of us individually, it's also a call to ask ourselves: is this the first criteria that we use as we make decisions?

41:00Is it our aim to do that which is honorable in the sight of God and what is honorable in the sight of others? Because Paul says these godly men of character, that's what they sought out to do. And in so doing, they accurately reflected their Lord. Well, you see, it all comes back to love, doesn't it? Paul's final encouragement, his final exhortation to the Corinthians in verse 24, is to show their love for God and his church, to make known their unity in the Spirit through their giving and through how they treated these men who were coming to receive the collection. Give proof of your love in these ways, he says.

41:52God equips his church with men and women of character to faithfully steward the positions. And the possessions that he's given. And so the formula is simple. It's not easy, but it's simple. Both for the follower of Jesus and for those who are not yet believers in Jesus. We need God to transform us into the image of Christ by the power of the Spirit so that we would rightly reflect God's goodness and grace to the world around us by the way that we conduct ourselves and live our lives.

42:39So for the follower of Jesus, you must look to Christ. My favorite passage in Hebrews: look to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of your faith. Because only He can change your heart, and only He can begin to loosen your grip on the things of this world and begin to change your perspective, the way that you see this world and all the things in it. Because when we begin to see things that way, as God does, we properly reflect Him and we have great opportunity to win many to Christ.

43:24For the non-believer, these sweet and wonderful words. Know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. Though he was rich, for your sake, for your sake, he became poor so that you by his poverty might become rich. Only he can do that in and through you. But you have to lay down your life. You have to be willing to say, I don't know all the answers, but I trust him to make them known and to begin to conform me and change me. He promises that if you turn to him, he'll receive you and he'll begin to change you.

44:24And as we've seen in the Apostle Paul with these men, and I hope, my friends, as you have seen in your believing friends, you have seen God transform worldly, ungodly people who are far away from God into faithful men and women of character who rightly and properly handle all that God has entrusted to them. That's the hope, and that is our aim. May it be so. Let's pray together. God, we couldn't have begun our time in worship with a more fitting song talking about our great need for you.

45:33For those who are in Christ, many who have been seeking and trusting him for some time, it's so easy to forget our great need. But it's the invitation you give to come to find our rest and peace in you. God, I'm so convicted that we've read your word simply and sometimes only to mimic the actions, the attitudes that we see there, and we haven't been deeply transformed. God, we know that your Holy Spirit that dwells in us because of Christ is powerful enough to change. Change even our hard and dark hearts, and we pray that you would do that.

46:40And for those who are not yet believers, God, we pray that they would see our love, our godliness, our earnest care, our good will and desire to love you and serve others, to manage and steward all things for your good and your glory and the benefit of others and turn to you and trust themselves to you. Only you can do that work in us, and we pray that you would. It's in Jesus' name that we pray these things. Amen.

47:36Thank you for listening to the sermon audio from New Life Baptist Church in College Station, Texas. For more information or to support our ministry, visit us online at newlifecs.net.