WWUTT 1693 Respecting What is Good (2 Corinthians 8:16-24)

Christian, you must be very careful not to let the applause of men become a snare to you.

We love not to receive the praise of men, but to serve our Lord God when we understand the text.

This is when we understand the text, studying God's Word to reach all the riches of full assurance in Christ.

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Here's your teacher, Pastor Gabe Hughes. Thank you, Becky. We come back to our study in 2

Corinthians, finishing up chapter 8 today, and I'm going to begin reading in verse 16, we'll go through verse 24 out of the

Legacy Standard Bible. This is the Word of the Lord, through the Apostle Paul, writing to the church in Corinth.

But thanks be to God, who puts the same earnestness on your behalf in the heart of Titus.

For he not only accepted our plea, but being himself very earnest, he has gone out to you of his own accord.

And we have sent, along with him, the brother whose praise in the things of the gospel is throughout all the churches.

And not only this, but he has also been appointed by the churches to travel with us in this gracious work that is being ministered by us for the glory of the

Lord himself, and to show our readiness, taking precaution, lest anyone discredits us in our ministering of this generous gift, for we respect what is good, not only in the sight of the

Lord, but also in the sight of men. And we have sent with them our brother, whom we have often tested and found earnest in many things, but now even more earnest because of his great confidence in you.

As for Titus, he is my partner and fellow worker among you. As for our brothers, they are messengers of the churches, a glory to Christ.

Therefore, openly before the churches, show them the proof of your love and of our reason for boasting about you.

Now we have what appears to be three men who are talked about here in verses 16 to 24.

It could just be two men, but two of those men, well, that could be confusing.

Okay. If it's three men, two of the men are not mentioned by name. They're not named.

Titus is the only one that's named, so he would be the third. If it's just two men, then the one guy's name who isn't mentioned is talked about twice at the beginning and then toward the end.

And then Titus is the one other guy that is named. But Paul mentions these men as accountable workers, as those who are keeping accountable this ministry of the money that is being collected and therefore taken to Jerusalem to bless the saints that are there.

So bringing back to your mind everything that we've considered this week from chapter eight, understanding it in context, remember that there is a famine there in Judea.

The church at Jerusalem is particularly afflicted by this famine because of the persecution that has been happening to them by the teachers of the law, the

Pharisees, the priests, men like this around in Jerusalem that are persecuting the

Christians that are there. Yes, there are Christians that are being persecuted in other parts of the world. Persecution was heavy in Thessalonica.

Some of the Christians were even persecuted in Corinth. But by and large, the Romans were leaving the

Christians alone. Most of the persecution was coming at the hands of the Judaizers at this particular time.

It would certainly ramp up later by the Romans, but at this time in particular, the Judaizers are the persecutors.

They're the ones that hate that Christ is being talked about as being the Messiah and that he is the fulfillment of all the law and the prophets.

You know, they're accusing Paul of antinomianism, of this greasy grace.

All you have to do is just believe in Jesus and you can sin all you want. And then faith in Jesus covers over all your sin.

You don't even have to keep the law anymore, which, of course, that is not what Paul was preaching. But that's what the

Judaizers would proclaim about Paul's message. They would try to slander him in that way. And then those who came to faith in Christ were heavily persecuted by the

Judaizers. This was especially the case in Jerusalem, because where are most of those priests and Pharisees going to be?

They're going to be right there in Jerusalem, right where the temple is. So the Christians were feeling it especially hard there, being afflicted by the famine and then the persecution that's coming upon them.

So Paul is collecting money to benefit, to bless that church that's there in Jerusalem.

And he's talked to the churches in Macedonia, as we read earlier in chapter eight.

They begged to be part of of this collection. Hey, let us get in on this that we might share in this grace.

We want to collect money to bless the churches that are there or bless the church rather that's there in Jerusalem.

So that included the Bereans, the Thessalonians, the Philippians. They wanted to be a blessing to the

Christians that were at Jerusalem. Paul had encouraged the churches in Galatia to be involved in this.

And now also the churches in Achaia, particularly the Corinthian church.

In fact, this collection started in the Corinthian church, according to what we have in 1

Corinthians 16. And Paul says here also in chapter eight that this started with you. So complete the work that began with you and be faithful to this giving to the saints that are at Jerusalem.

So that's what the collection is for. That's what's going on. These are the churches that are involved in this particular collection.

And so Paul mentioned certain men here in verses 16 to 24, men who are going to help keep this collection honest so that the money that is collected is being delivered to the right place.

We're not trying to pocket any of it. We're not walking away with it and then just claiming that it was given to the church in Jerusalem.

These men are going to ensure that it's going where it means to go. And in fact,

Paul had even invited the Corinthians back in 1 Corinthians 16. He invited them to entrust some men to Paul, to the church there at Jerusalem.

So the Corinthians could have chosen men to go with them, too, if they wanted to. But he lays this out here so that there would be accountability, so that, you know, the money that is being collected is being handled honestly.

Now, you should be able to trust the Apostle Paul. Right. And if Paul was going to lie about the money that was being collected, if he was going to say, yeah, you've collected this amount of dollars and that's exactly what's going to Jerusalem.

But then he ends up pocketing some of it. What do you think would happen to Paul if he were to do that, if he were to behave in a in a dishonest way?

Well, what would happen to him would probably be what happened to Ananias and Sapphira. You know this story, right?

The the couple that claimed that they were that they were giving all the money that they had collected from a certain field, they were giving all that money to the church.

But it turned out they had pocketed some of it and therefore lied about the amount of money that they were giving to the church.

And what happened to them? Let's look at it in Acts chapter five, and then I'm going to come back to the verses that we're looking at here in Second Corinthians chapter eight.

This won't take very long as we finish up eight. So let me let me look at at Acts five, the story of Ananias and Sapphira.

And we understand the conviction in Paul's heart to be absolutely honest with the money that's being collected and therefore distributed to the

Christians that are there at Jerusalem. So Acts chapter five, beginning in verse one, a man named

Ananias with his wife Sapphira sold a piece of property. Now I should probably

I should probably back up just a little bit. So remember, and I talked about this earlier this week, the church that started there at Jerusalem was big.

It began with 120 people in the upper room. But then on the first day that the gospel was proclaimed at Pentecost, 3000 people were added that day.

And then thousands continue to be added to the saints that were there in Jerusalem.

So going back to chapter four, verses 32 to 37, it says the congregation of those who believed were of one heart and soul and not one was saying that any of his possessions was his own, but for them, everything was common.

And with great power, the apostles were bearing witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus and great grace was upon them all.

For there was not a needy person among them. For all who were owners of land or houses would sell them and bring the proceeds of the sales and lay them at the apostles feet and they would be distributed to each as any had need.

Now, Joseph, a Levite of Cyprian birth, who was also called

Barnabas by the apostles, which translated means son of encouragement and who owned a field, he sold it and brought the money and laid it at the apostles feet.

So you have this Barnabas who had sold his field, brought all of the money, laid it at the apostles feet, all of it.

And so following that account, we have in chapter five, verse one, but a man named

Ananias with his wife, Sapphira, sold a piece of property and kept back some of the price for himself with his wife's full knowledge and bringing a portion of it, he laid it at the apostles feet.

Okay. So you have Barnabas is being contrasted with Barnabas who sold his whole field and brought all of the proceeds and gave it to the benefit of the church and Ananias and Sapphira sell their whole field, but bring part of the proceeds to the apostles and lay it at their feet.

But Peter said, Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the

Holy spirit and to keep back some of the price of the land while it remained unsold?

Did it not remain your own? And after it was sold, was it not under your authority?

Why is it that you laid this deed in your heart? You have not lied to men, but to God.

In other words, Peter is saying to Ananias, it's your field to do with what you want.

When before you sold it, it was yours. So it's under your authority. Now, after you've sold it, the money that you have brought in from the sell of that field, that's also under your authority to do with what you want.

You could bring half the money to the apostles and lay it at the apostles feet and say, here's half of the sale.

And it would have been, there would have been rejoicing over that. Well, thank you. Thank you for bringing this money.

It's at your own discretion to give how you want to give. But Ananias lied.

He brought a portion of the sale, pocketed some for himself, brought the portion and laid it at the apostles feet and made it seem like it was the whole thing.

This is what I sold the field for. Here you go. Here's all of it. Because he wanted the same kind of recognition that Barnabas got.

Hey, Barnabas sold a field and he gave all of his proceeds and look at how excited everybody was because of that sacrificial gift.

So Ananias and Sapphira wanted to be perceived of in the same way. So they wanted the recognition of men.

They did not have the fear of God. And so Peter said, this is wicked.

What has happened to you? What do you have done in your heart? Satan has done this work in your heart. In verse five, as Ananias heard these words, he fell down and breathed his last and great fear came over all who heard.

Because Ananias had lied in this way about how much money he was really giving. It was, it was

Satan that planted it in his heart to do this. And it was to his death, to his own destruction.

Verse six, and the young men rose up and wrapped him up. And after carrying him out, they buried him.

Now there was an interval of about three hours and his wife came in, not knowing what it happened.

She didn't know that Ananias was dead. And Peter responded to her, tell me whether you were paid this much for the land.

And she said, yes, that much, which wasn't true. They were paid more than that.

But Ananias and Sapphira pocketed some of the money. And Sapphira is fully in the knowledge of what it was that Ananias had done.

So now she has lied to Peter and said, this was how much money we brought in for the sale of the field.

And Peter said to her, why is it that you have agreed together to put the spirit of the

Lord to the test? Behold, the feet of those who buried your husband are at the door and they will carry you out as well.

And immediately she fell down at his feet and breathes her last. And the young men came in and found her dead and they carried her out and buried her beside her husband.

And great fear came over the whole church and over all who heard these things.

Now, at the hands of the apostles, many signs and wonders were happening among the people and they were all with one accord in Solomon's portico.

But none of the rest dared to associate with them. However, the people were holding them in high esteem and the fear of God is upon them.

We don't we don't want to dishonestly say that we're Christians when we're really not. That was kind of what was going on there.

And more than ever, believers in the Lord were added to their number, multitudes of men and women to such an extent that they even carried the sick out into the streets and laid them on cots and mats so that when

Peter came by, at least his shadow might fall on any one of them. Also, the multitude from the cities in the vicinity of Jerusalem were coming together, bringing people who were sick or afflicted with unclean spirits, and they were all being healed.

So that's what we have there in Acts chapter five, the fame of the

Lord going out even from this thing that happened, this punishment that had come upon Ananias and Sapphira because they lied.

Now I mentioned that story. It's a good story to remember. Understand your sin will find you out.

There is nothing that you can conceal from God. As Jesus said to the churches in Revelation chapter three,

I am he who searches mind and heart and I will give to everyone according to their works.

OK, so there is nothing that you can hide from the Lord. It's a good lesson for us to remember all the time.

But I I recall that story so that you might understand. Paul knows that he can't cheat with this money that's being collected for the church in Jerusalem.

He knows that because he's got the fear of God in his heart. He knows that if he were to mismanage this, especially if he were to deliberately pocket some of that money for himself and then come to the church at Jerusalem and say, see all this money the churches have gathered for you.

When in reality, he took some of it for himself. Paul knows that he would face the wrath of God if he were to do such a thing.

So Paul can be trusted, even if he were carrying the money alone, as God is his witness, he could be trusted with that money.

But what's the reason for having these fellow brothers in the Lord go with him?

Well, that's that's what we're going to see here in verses 16 to 24. So we come back to 2

Corinthians 8 16. But thanks be to God who puts the same earnestness on your behalf in the heart of Titus.

So you have an earnest desire to want to benefit the church that's in Jerusalem. So does

Titus. He has that desire also. So you can trust him with the administration of these funds.

Verse 17, for he not only accepted our plea, but being himself very earnest, he has gone out to you of his own accord.

When Titus came to the Corinthians to check on how they were doing after Paul had sent his tearful letter to them, he did that of his own accord.

He wanted to serve the church in this way on his own. Verse 18.

And we have sent along with him the brother whose praise in the things of the gospel is throughout all the churches.

Now, there are other translations that translate this as his fame.

OK, his fame is known throughout all the churches. So this is an unnamed brother. We don't know who his name is.

We have no idea who this person is. Could be Barnabas. It could be Apollos, although I would think if it was

Apollos, Paul would have used that name because the Corinthians loved Apollos. And he mentioned Apollos in the previous letter in 1

Corinthians. And so I would I would think that if it were Apollos, that the that the name would have been given there.

Maybe it could have been Luke or was it Mark? We don't know. We don't have any idea. But he was famous.

He was well known and so well known that just Paul saying this would have clued the Corinthians in on, oh,

I know who he's talking about. I know who he's sending to us. And they they would have gotten very excited about that.

But but Paul just highlights the fact that this is a reputable man. His reputation is known to all the churches.

So therefore, you can hold him in high esteem as well. Verse 19.

And not only this, but he has also been appointed by the churches to travel with us in this gracious work that is being ministered by us for the glory of the

Lord himself and to show our readiness. So this is somebody who is traveling with us.

You have Titus, you have him, you have me and other missionary brethren that were with Paul all traveling together with this gift to take it to those who are in Jerusalem, taking precaution.

Now, Paul says here once again, here's the reason why it's so important to have these men around him, even though you could have entrusted

Paul on his own merit versus verse 20, then taking precaution lest anyone discredits us in our ministering of this generous gift for we respect what is good, not only in the sight of the

Lord, but also in the sight of men. So, of course, in the sight of God, Paul could be trusted with that money.

He wasn't going to cheat anybody out of that money, especially the saints that were there at Jerusalem. He could be trusted with it.

But he also wanted there to be accountability in the eyes of men because other people are not going to be looking at Paul going, oh, yeah, he's afraid that he might get struck down like Ananias.

So we know that Paul is going to be honest with that money. Most other people wouldn't recognize that.

They probably don't even know yet the story of Ananias and Sapphira if you're talking about some of these Greek cities that were off to the

West. And so for accountability, Paul takes other missionary brethren with him so that, you know, there are men, there are checks and balances going on here to see to it that that money is handled rightly and it is delivered to where it needs to go.

This is this is Paul respecting what is good, not only in the sight of the Lord, but also in the sight of men.

And so, my friend, sometimes it's good to have that accountability, even though you can be trusted. It is good to have that accountability just so it could be said even in the sight of other people that this person can be trusted.

Right. You understand what I mean by that? So going on to verses 22 to 24, as we finish this up, and we have sent with them our brother whom we have often tested and found earnest in many things, but now even more earnest because of his great confidence in you.

Now, I mentioned I think there's three men here. So the famous person is not, therefore, the brother being tested in verse 22.

And then you also have the mention of Titus. So there's three men, the famous brother, Titus and the tested brother.

We have sent with them our brother sent with them. So, see, that would indicate that it's

Titus and the famous brother. And we've sent with them our brother, somebody from Paul's own missionary group whom we have often tested and found earnest.

He is eager in many things, but now even more earnest because of his great confidence in you, because of the report that has come back to us about the genuineness of your faith.

Verse 23, as for Titus, he is my partner and fellow worker among you.

As for our brothers, the famous brother and the tested brother, they are messengers of the churches, a glory to Christ.

Therefore, openly before the churches, show them the proof of your love and of our reason for boasting about you.

Show them the proof. What is that? The money you've collected. Show it to them.

The genuineness that you have for the brothers, show them what you've collected so that these two brothers and Titus may receive it from you and it will be delivered to the

Christians that it will benefit there at Jerusalem. Now, if there's any practical implication that we take from this today, this particular lesson,

I know it's kind of difficult to glean from that. Like, what should we learn from this exactly? Accountability?

Sure, that's a good lesson to learn there. But I think we go back to what I had stated at the conclusion of the story of Ananias and Sapphira.

The Lord knows your every thought and every intention and every action. So, may your love be genuine.

As Paul said to the Romans in Romans chapter 12, let love be genuine.

Abhor what is evil. Hold fast to what is good. The Lord tests minds and hearts.

He knows your every thought. He knows your every intention, your motivation, your deeds, your words, your actions.

So, let yourself be accountable to the Lord first. But also, it is a wise thing.

That we would be accountable before men. Heavenly Father, I thank you for the grace that you have given to us through Jesus Christ, our

Lord. And because you have been gracious to us, may we be gracious to one another.

Willing to benefit each other, as Paul has encouraged the church in Corinth to do here. But may we also have the fear of God in our hearts.

When we give and we give generously, we do so not to receive the praise of men. For as Jesus said in the

Sermon on the Mount, I tell you that those who have given expecting the praise of men, they've received their reward.

But we give in secret that the Father who sees in secret may reward us.

And so, we do this out of love for our brothers and sisters in the Lord. And we do this to the glory of your great name.

May your name be praised in all the earth. It's in Jesus' name that we pray.

Amen. You've been listening to When We Understand the Text with Pastor Gabe Hughes.

Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, Gabe will be going through a New Testament study. Then on Thursday, we look at an

Old Testament book. On Friday, we take questions from the listeners and viewers. Tomorrow, we'll pick up on an