PARTNERS IN GOD’S PROVIDENCE

Posted by Pastor Greg Allen on May 16, 2021 under 2021 |

Bethany Bible Church Sunday Message; May 16, 2021 from 2 Corinthians 8:10-15

Theme: When we give generously to meet the specific needs of God’s people, we become partners with Him in His providential care for them.

(All Scripture is taken from The New King James Version, unless otherwise indicated).

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In 2 Corinthians 8-9, the apostle Paul was writing to the Corinthian believers about the subject of ‘giving’. About a year or so prior, they had decided that they wanted to help out with a relief effort for the Jewish Christians who were suffering hardship in Jerusalem. But along the way, the Corinthians lost their momentum. And in these chapters, Paul was writing to encourage them to renew their commitment and to follow through on their intention.

And in 2 Corinthians 8:10-15, as part of that encouragement, he wrote to them and said;

And 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; but 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. For if there is first a willing mind, it is accepted according to what one has, and not according to what he does not have. For I do not mean that others should be eased and you burdened; but 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. As it is written, “He who gathered much had nothing left over, and he who gathered little had no lack” (2 Corinthians 8:10-15).

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Now; there are lots of lessons about the whole idea of giving that we can learn from this passage and from all that surrounds it. But there’s a larger principle in operation that ties those lessons together. It’s not something that we find stated directly in this passage—but it is implied throughout it. And that larger principle is the doctrine of ‘the providence of God’.

I love to think about this wonderful doctrine. The name ‘providence’ suggests, of course, the idea of active ‘provision’ and ‘care’. And so, the doctrine of the providence of God teaches us that God sovereignly and actively cares for and preserves every aspect of His creation. The most thorough expression of this doctrine that you can find is the one contained in the fifth chapter of the Westminster Confession of Faith. It says;

God the great Creator of all things doth uphold, direct, dispose, and govern all creatures, actions, and things, from the greatest even to the least, by His most wise and holy providence, according to His infallible foreknowledge, and the free and immutable counsel of His own will, to the praise of the glory of His wisdom, power, justice, goodness, and mercy.

The Bible tells us that God upholds all things “by the word of His power” (Hebrews 1:3); and that He causes all things to “work together for good” to those who love Him (Romans 8:28). Many times in life, this wonderful principle has brought me great comfort and peace. I hope that it has to you also.

But there’s an interesting thing that the Westminster Confession then goes on to affirm about God’s providence. And that is that, though He doesn’t need to—though He is freely able to miraculously work above and beyond and without them—“God, in His ordinary providence, maketh use of means …” In other words, God sovereignly works out His providential care through the ordinary matters and processes of life. The food He provides for us ordinarily grows from the ground. The rains that He gives ordinarily fall to the earth in normal weather patterns. Our livelihood is something that He ordinarily provides through the work of our own hands. But every detail of it is under His good superintendence; and it all serves to accomplish His providential care for us.

I hope you can see why I love this precious and comforting doctrine. So also did the apostle Paul. And I see it as the larger principle that underlies all that he writes to the Corinthians in this morning’s passage. While I don’t see this stated explicitly in our passage this morning, I do see it strongly implied later on in Paul’s words. In 9:12-15, Paul wrote to these very same Corinthians—as they prepared to give in order to help others—and told them;

For the administration of this service not only supplies the needs of the saints, but also is abounding through many thanksgivings to God, while, through the proof of this ministry, they glorify God for the obedience of your confession to the gospel of Christ, and for your liberal sharing with them and all men, and by their prayer for you, who long for you because of the exceeding grace of God in you. Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift! (9:12-15).

It was important for those Corinthian believers to be faithful to give—as they at one time had the desire to do. That desire was from God. And it would be through their faithfulness to give that they were the divinely appointed ‘means’ by which God provided for others.

And so; when we place the whole matter of ‘giving’ into the greater context of the providence of God—and when we realize that, in faithfully giving as God leads us, we are becoming the ‘means’ by which His providence is sovereignly being worked out toward others—it then transforms our whole attitude toward giving. It doesn’t always have to mean giving money, of course. It can involve sharing our material goods. It can involve giving our time. It can involve providing our physical help. It can involve making a phone call, or sending a text, or putting a note or a card of encouragement in the mail. But whatever form that ‘giving’ takes—when God puts the impulse in our hearts to give—it’s no longer a chore. It’s no longer a grudging duty. It no longer feels like a sacrifice. Instead, it becomes a joyful, exciting, and meaningful act of service to our sovereign God by which He ‘providentially’ meets the needs of others and brings glory to Himself.

That’s what excites me about this morning’s passage. It teaches us that when we give generously to meet the specific needs of God’s people, we become partners with Him in His providential care for them.

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Now; let’s walk through this passage, verse-by-verse, and draw out the lessons it teaches us—and all with an attention to how we can be the means of God’s providential to someone else.

Paul began in verse 10 by writing, “And 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 … “ And from this, we see that …

1. IT’S GOOD TO HAVE THE DESIRE TO GIVE.

There are a couple of important things to notice about what Paul says. First, Paul only ‘advised’ them to follow through on their gift. In other words, the kind of giving that he is talking about is a free-will gift.

If you look back to verses 6-7, you see that Paul wrote;

So we urged Titus, that as he had begun, so he would also complete this grace in you as well. But 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 (vv. 6-7).

About a year or so before this time, those Corinthian Christians had been inspired to give to the cause of helping Jewish Christians in their time of need. Paul’s missionary colleague Titus had encouraged them in this. But they had not yet followed through on it. Paul was urging them to get back to it. But he was careful not to ‘command’ them to do so. He was careful only to say, “in this I give advice …” He didn’t want this to be a gift that was given from out of any kind of pressure or any sense of guilt; but rather from out of sincere desire. Later on, in 9:7, he put it very plainly;

So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver (9:7).

In God’s household, no one should ever be made to feel pressured or compelled to give against their will. It should always be done willingly, so that it can be done ‘cheerfully’. If you can’t give willingly or cheerfully before God, then don’t give. A willing and cheerful gift—springing forth from sincere love and thanks—is the kind that honors God, and that He blesses.

But that didn’t mean that there weren’t some truly compelling advantages to giving. Paul wrote that it was to their advantage—that it was to their benefit—to not only do what they intended, but also to even have the desire to do it. It would not only be by the providence of God that they would give to meet the needs of others, but the very desire to do so was itself a gift of the providence of God. Such a sincere desire is a grace that God places in our hearts. In verses 1-5, Paul wrote of the Macedonian churches and said;

Moreover, brethren, we make known to you the grace of God bestowed on the churches of Macedonia: that in a great trial of affliction the abundance of their joy and their deep poverty abounded in the riches of their liberality. For I bear witness that according to their ability, yes, and beyond their ability, they were freely willing, imploring us with much urgency that we would receive the gift and the fellowship of the ministering to the saints. And not only as we had hoped, but they first gave themselves to the Lord, and then to us by the will of God (8:1-5).

And this all sprung—ultimately—from the grace of the Lord Jesus Himself. As Paul said in verse 9, “though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich.”

So; that desire to give—that willing and free impulse to be used by God to meet the pressing needs of our brothers and sisters in Christ—is from God. It is itself a gift of His providence; and is a very good thing …

2. BUT ONLY IF IT’S PUT INTO ACTION AS WE ARE ABLE.

Paul affirmed the goodness of the desire that was in them a few months before; and said in verse 11, “but 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.”

Way back in 1 Corinthians 16, the apostle Paul had recognized this desire that was in them to give. And so, he urged the church family to set something aside when they gathered each Sunday. But something went wrong. They stopped. It might have been because of some of the troubles they had with false teachers in their midst. Or it might have been because of some of the strains in the relationship they had been experiencing with Paul. But for whatever reason, they needed to be encouraged to rise up again and put their desire back into practical action. In 2 Corinthians 9, he wrote and told them;

Now concerning the ministering to the saints, it is superfluous for me to write to you; for I know your willingness, about which I boast of you to the Macedonians, that Achaia was ready a year ago; and your zeal has stirred up the majority. Yet I have sent the brethren, lest our boasting of you should be in vain in this respect, that, as I said, you may be ready; lest if some Macedonians come with me and find you unprepared, we (not to mention you!) should be ashamed of this confident boasting. Therefore I thought it necessary to exhort the brethren to go to you ahead of time, and prepare your generous gift beforehand, which you had previously promised, that it may be ready as a matter of generosity and not as a grudging obligation (9:1-5).

Paul certainly wasn’t expecting them to give in the way that the Macedonians gave. Those Macedonian believers had given so much that they put themselves into poverty. Instead, Paul was encouraging the Corinthians to complete this desire to give—as he puts it—“out of what you have”. But it was important that the desire that they once had not simply remain ‘a desire’—but that it be brought to completion.

And here again, I see the underlying principle of the providence of God. When God sets before us the needs of others, He often also puts within us the desire to help them. He doesn’t call us to do what we cannot do; but only what He has provided for us to do. But we can’t be the divinely-appointed means of His providential care to someone else unless we actually convert that desire to give into action. May God help us to bring ‘desire’ to ‘completion’ from out of what He has given us.

And that leads us to yet another lesson we can draw from this passage with respect to God’s providence; and that is that …

3. GOD GIVES US THE MEANS TO FULFILL THAT DESIRE.

In verse 12, Paul wrote, “For if there is first a willing mind, it is accepted according to what one has, and not according to what he does not have.” The very same providential God who gives us the desire to meet the needs of someone else also providentially gives us the means to do what He puts into us to do.

There is truly something marvelous to all this. There is, in the household of God, a wonderful kind of ‘interchange of care’ between us as believers—so that God sovereignly provides to one what He intends to be for the help of another. This is expressed amazingly in 2 Corinthians 9:8-11;

And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work. As it is written:

“He has dispersed abroad,
He has given to the poor;
His righteousness endures forever.”

Now may He who supplies seed to the sower, and bread for food, supply and multiply the seed you have sown and increase the fruits of your righteousness, while you are enriched in everything for all liberality, which causes thanksgiving through us to God (9:8-11).

What a satisfying interchange this is! There have been times when my wife and I have been blessed with an abundance; and we then felt the impulse from God to give a portion of it to someone else in the body of Christ. And we found out from them that it was just what they needed and that it came just in time to help them. Likewise, there have been many times when we were in need; and then, God placed it on the heart of someone else to send some help our way. There’s no other way to explain this wonderful interchange except that God—in His providence—gives us the desire to help one another … and then also gives the means to do so.

And this leads us to another thing that we learn from this passage; that …

4. THIS IS GOD’S DESIGN FOR OUR MUTUAL CARE.

In verses 13-14, Paul wrote, “For I do not mean that others should be eased and you burdened; but 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.” This would not mean that there is a complete equality of outcome—so that everyone ends up having exactly the same supply no matter what they do, or so that no one person has more than another. Rather, Paul is speaking of an equality of care and provision for one another. It’s an equality in the sense that when you have a need, I can help you; and that when I have a need, you can help me—so that we have an equality of mutual care for one another within the body of Christ.

It would be important to point out that this is not the same thing as what we understand today by the name ‘socialism’. Some have made it out to be an example of that. But there are some very important differences.

• This is not something for society as a whole, but rather only for the church of redeemed believers.
• This is not something that is made mandatory for all, but rather that always remains completely voluntary and free.
• This is not something that is made into a permanent, ongoing policy, but rather that only occurs according to the specific needs of specific individuals in relation to the abundance of others “at this time”.
• This is not something that is enforced by law, but rather that is motivated by love.
• This is not something that comes about by means of a distribution from all things held in common, but rather from someone giving willingly out of what they own.
• This is not something that is secular in nature, but rather that is fundamentally and necessarily spiritual; and that comes only through a gracious work of the Holy Spirit.
• This is not something that finds its motivation in an economic theory or in the philosophy of human origin, but rather that is motivated by the loving sacrifice that Jesus made for us on the cross—and through first giving one’s self to Him.

God has given us some fascinating examples of this mutual care in His word. At the end of Acts 2—after the Holy Spirit came at Pentecost, and the church of Jesus came into existence—we’re told;

And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers. Then fear came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were done through the apostles. Now all who believed were together, and had all things in common, and sold their possessions and goods, and divided them among all, as anyone had need. So continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved (Acts 2:42-47).

Later on in time—even during a period when the church began to be persecuted—we read this at the end of Acts 4;

Now the multitude of those who believed were of one heart and one soul; neither did anyone say that any of the things he possessed was his own, but they had all things in common. And with great power the apostles gave witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And great grace was upon them all. Nor was there anyone among them who lacked; for all who were possessors of lands or houses sold them, and brought the proceeds of the things that were sold, and laid them at the apostles’ feet; and they distributed to each as anyone had need (Acts 4:32-35).

Now; this was all a work of God’s providence by which—within His church family—His design for mutual care was being accomplished.

And this leads us to one more point; that …

5. THUS WE BECOME PARTNERS IN HIS PROVIDENCE TO EACH OTHER.

Paul looked back to the story in the Old Testament of how the people of Israel collected manna every day in the wilderness. In verse 15, Paul quotes from Exodus 16:18 and says, “As it is written, ‘He who gathered much had nothing left over, and he who gathered little had no lack.’”

In that Old Testament story, God provided the manna daily. Everyone gathered up only what they needed for that day. If anyone tried to hoard manna, it rotted away. In the end, everyone had just what they needed. And now, it’s not the manna that God gives today; but rather, it’s you and me that He gives to each other. In His great work of providence, He uses us—and the abundance He gives—as the means of providing for each other. What a privilege!

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So; this should change the way we think of ‘giving’ within the body of Christ. As we go through life under the leading and empowering of the Holy Spirit, whenever He places a concern for someone else before us, we should understand that the desire to help is a good thing. It comes from God. It is itself a part of His providence to us. But we also should bring that desire to completion—not from out of what we don’t have, but from out of what we have been provided by God. We can trust that when God provides us with the desire to help our brother or sister, He also provides us the means to do so. This is His design for our mutual care for one another.

Let’s yield ourselves to our Lord for this—willingly and joyfully. And as we do, let’s keep in mind what a great privilege it is: that when we give generously to meet the specific needs of God’s people, we actually become partners with the God of providence in His providential care for them. What an honor that is!

EA