Because of the proof this ministry provides, the saints will glorify God for your obedient confession of the gospel of Christ, and for the generosity of your contribution to them and to all the others. Because of the proof this ministry providesThis phrase highlights the tangible evidence of the ministry's impact. The Greek word for "proof" is "dokimē," which implies a tested and proven character. Historically, the early church was under scrutiny, and the visible acts of charity and support served as undeniable evidence of their faith in action. This proof was not just in words but in deeds, demonstrating the authenticity of their commitment to Christ. they will glorify God
The ultimate purpose of Christian service is to bring glory to God. The Greek word "doxazō" means to honor or magnify. In the context of the early church, acts of generosity and obedience were seen as reflections of God's character, prompting others to praise Him. This glorification is a communal acknowledgment of God's work through His people, reinforcing the idea that all good deeds point back to the divine source. for your obedient confession of the gospel of Christ
"Obedient confession" combines two powerful concepts: submission and proclamation. The Greek word for "obedient" is "hypakoē," which suggests a listening that leads to action. "Confession" comes from "homologia," meaning to speak the same thing or agree. This phrase underscores the importance of aligning one's actions with the truth of the gospel, demonstrating faith through obedience. Historically, this was crucial for the early church as they faced persecution and needed to stand firm in their beliefs. and for the generosity of your contribution
Generosity, or "haplotēs" in Greek, implies simplicity and sincerity in giving. The early church was known for its radical sharing of resources, a practice that set them apart in a world often marked by greed and self-interest. This generosity was not just financial but also a sharing of life and community, reflecting the heart of the gospel message. to them and to all others
This phrase emphasizes the inclusivity of Christian charity. The early church's contributions were not limited to their immediate community but extended to "all others," showcasing the universal nature of Christian love. This outward focus is rooted in the Great Commission, where believers are called to reach all nations, transcending cultural and social barriers. The historical context of the early church, with its diverse and often divided society, highlights the radical nature of such inclusive generosity. Persons / Places / Events 1. Paul the ApostleThe author of 2 Corinthians, addressing the church in Corinth regarding their generosity and the impact of their ministry. 2. The Corinthian ChurchThe recipients of Paul's letter, encouraged to continue their generous support for the saints in Jerusalem. 3. The Saints in JerusalemThe beneficiaries of the Corinthian church's generosity, facing hardship and in need of support. 4. GodThe ultimate recipient of glory through the obedience and generosity of believers. 5. The Gospel of ChristThe message of salvation and the foundation for the Corinthians' obedience and generosity. Teaching Points Obedience to the GospelOur actions should reflect our commitment to the teachings of Christ. The Corinthians' generosity was a testament to their obedience to the gospel. Generosity as WorshipGiving is not just a financial transaction but an act of worship that brings glory to God. Our contributions should be made with a heart of worship. Impact of MinistryThe ministry of giving has a ripple effect, leading others to glorify God. Our generosity can inspire faith and gratitude in others. Community SupportThe church is called to support one another, especially in times of need. Our contributions can provide relief and encouragement to fellow believers. Eternal PerspectiveOur earthly resources are tools for eternal purposes. By investing in God's kingdom, we store up treasures in heaven. Bible Study Questions 1. How does the obedience of the Corinthians to the gospel challenge us in our daily walk with Christ? 2. In what ways can our generosity lead others to glorify God, both within and outside the church community? 3. How can we ensure that our giving is an act of worship rather than a mere obligation? 4. What are some practical ways we can support fellow believers who are in need, reflecting the early church's example? 5. How does understanding the eternal impact of our generosity change our perspective on material possessions? Connections to Other Scriptures Philippians 4:18Paul acknowledges the Philippians' gifts as a fragrant offering, similar to how he commends the Corinthians' generosity. James 2:14-17Discusses faith being demonstrated through works, paralleling the Corinthians' faith shown through their generous actions. Matthew 5:16Jesus teaches about letting your light shine before others, so they may see your good deeds and glorify God, echoing the result of the Corinthians' ministry. Acts 2:44-45The early church shared everything in common, reflecting the spirit of generosity Paul encourages in the Corinthians. | Unity in Nature and Grace; Manifold Results of Beneficence; Thanksgiving | C. Lipscomb | 2 Corinthians 9:10-15 | | Christ, God's Best Gift to Man | E. Payson, D. D. | 2 Corinthians 9:13-14 | | God's Unspeakable Gift | J. Beaumont, M. D. | 2 Corinthians 9:13-14 | | God's Unspeakable Gift | J. Cawood, M. A. | 2 Corinthians 9:13-14 | | God's Unspeakable Gift | T. Raffles, D. D. | 2 Corinthians 9:13-14 | | God's Unspeakable Gift | W. L. Watkinson. | 2 Corinthians 9:13-14 | | Gratitude to God for the Mediation of Christ | W. Auld. | 2 Corinthians 9:13-14 | | Praise for the Gift of Gifts | C. H. Spurgeon. | 2 Corinthians 9:13-14 | | Professed Subjection unto the Gospel of Christ | R. C. Dillon, D. D. | 2 Corinthians 9:13-14 | | The Christian's Surrender to Christ | T. D. Witherspoon, D. D. | 2 Corinthians 9:13-14 | | The Gift of Gifts | T. R. Stevenson. | 2 Corinthians 9:13-14 | | The Gift Unspeakable | C. H. Spurgeon. | 2 Corinthians 9:13-14 | | The Pricelessness of Christ | W. A. Gray. | 2 Corinthians 9:13-14 | | The Unspeakable Gift | R. Watson. | 2 Corinthians 9:13-14 | | The Unspeakable Gift | A. Fletcher, D. D. | 2 Corinthians 9:13-14 | | The Unspeakable Gift | J. Freeman Clarke, D. D. | 2 Corinthians 9:13-14 | | Unspeakable Gifts of God | C. Vince. | 2 Corinthians 9:13-14 | | What is Essential to Church Membership | W. M. Taylor, D. D. | 2 Corinthians 9:13-14 |
People Corinthians, Macedonians, PaulPlaces Achaia, Corinth, MacedoniaTopics Accompanies, Acknowledging, Adherence, Cause, Christ, Communicating, Confession, Contribution, Contributions, Distribution, Exhibit, Experiment, Extolled, Fellowship, Fidelity, Free-hearted, Generosity, Giving, Glad, Glorify, Glorifying, Glory, Gospel, Liberal, Liberality, Ministration, Ministry, News, Obedience, Practical, Praise, Professed, Profession, Proof, Proved, Proving, Reason, Seeing, Service, Sharing, Subjection, Test, Tidings, Towards, Wealth, Whiles, YourselvesDictionary of Bible Themes 2 Corinthians 9:13 5886 individualism
6214 participation, in Christ
7025 church, unity
8021 faith, nature of
8665 praise, reasons 2 Corinthians 9:6-13 5856 extravagance 2 Corinthians 9:6-15 5503 rich, the 2 Corinthians 9:8-14 4035 abundance 2 Corinthians 9:11-13 6672 grace, in relationships 2 Corinthians 9:12-13 8344 servanthood, in believers 2 Corinthians 9:12-15 7912 collections 2 Corinthians 9:13-14 6671 grace, and Christian life Library December 25 Evening
Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift.--II COR 9:15. Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all ye lands. Serve the Lord with gladness; come before his presence with singing. Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name.--For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. …
Anonymous—Daily Light on the Daily PathGod's Unspeakable Gift
'Thanks be unto God for His unspeakable gift.'--2 COR. ix. 15. It seems strange that there should ever have been any doubt as to what gift it is which evokes this burst of thanksgiving. There is but one of God's many mercies which is worthy of being thus singled out. There is one blazing central sun which shines out amidst all the galaxy of lights which fill the heavens. There is one gift of God which, beyond all others, merits the designation of 'unspeakable.' The gift of Christ draws all other …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture Praise for the Gift of Gifts
"Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift."--2 Corinthians 9:15. IN the chapter from which my text is taken, Paul is stirring up the Christians at Corinth to be ready with liberal gifts for the poor saints at Jerusalem. He finishes by reminding them of a greater gift that any they could bring, and by this one short word of praise, "Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift," he sets all their hearts a-singing. Let men give as liberally as they may, you can always proclaim the value of their …
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 38: 1892 3D Day. All-Sufficient Grace.
"He is Faithful that Promised." "God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work."--2 COR. ix. 8. All-Sufficient Grace. "All-sufficiency in all things!" Believer! surely thou art "thoroughly furnished!" Grace is no scanty thing, doled out in pittances. It is a glorious treasury, which the key of prayer can always unlock, but never empty. A fountain, "full, flowing, ever flowing, overflowing." Mark these three …
John Ross Macduff—The Faithful Promiser Letter Lviii to the Duchess of Lorraine
To the Duchess of Lorraine He thanks her for kindnesses shown, and deters her from an unjust war. I thank God for your pious goodwill which I know that you have towards Him and His servants. For whenever the tiniest little spark of heavenly love is kindled in a worldly heart ennobled with earthly honours, that, without doubt, is God's gift, not man's virtue. For our part we are very glad to avail ourselves of the kind offers made to us of your bounty in your letter. But having heard of the sudden …
Saint Bernard of Clairvaux—Some Letters of Saint Bernard, Abbot of Clairvaux 1872-1874. Letter from Rev. A. M. W. Christopher --Letter from Gulf of St. Lawrence-Mrs. Birt's Sheltering Home, Liverpool --Letter to Mrs. Merry --Letter from Canada --Miss
Letter from Rev. A. M. W. Christopher--Letter from Gulf of St. Lawrence-Mrs. Birt's Sheltering Home, Liverpool--Letter to Mrs. Merry--Letter from Canada--Miss Macpherson's return to England-- Letter of cheer for Dr. Barnardo--Removal to Hackney Home. Though human praise is not sought, we cannot but feel peculiar pleasure in giving the following testimony from a servant of the Lord so much revered as the Rev, A. M. W. Christopher of Oxford:-- "Of all the works of Christian benevolence which the great …
Clara M. S. Lowe—God's Answers How to be Admonished are those who Give Away what is their Own, and those who Seize what Belongs to Others.
(Admonition 21.) Differently to be admonished are those who already give compassionately of their own, and those who still would fain seize even what belongs to others. For those who already give compassionately of their own are to be admonished not to lift themselves up in swelling thought above those to whom they impart earthly things; not to esteem themselves better than others because they see others to be supported by them. For the Lord of an earthly household, in distributing the ranks and …
Leo the Great—Writings of Leo the Great Perhaps There is no Book Within the Whole Canon of Scripture So Perplexing and Anomalous...
Perhaps there is no book within the whole canon of Scripture so perplexing and anomalous, at first sight, as that entitled "Ecclesiastes." Its terrible hopelessness, its bold expression of those difficulties with which man is surrounded on every side, the apparent fruitlessness of its quest after good, the unsatisfactory character, from a Christian standpoint, of its conclusion: all these points have made it, at one and the same time, an enigma to the superficial student of the Word, and the arsenal …
F. C. Jennings—Old Groans and New Songs The Spiced Wine of My Pomegranate;
OR, THE COMMUNION OF COMMUNICATION. I would cause Thee to drink of spiced wine of the juice of my pomegranate."--Song of Solomon viii. 2.And of His fulness have all we received, and grace for grace."--John i. 16. THE SPICED WINE OF MY POMEGRANATE. THE immovable basis of communion having been laid of old in the eternal union which subsisted between Christ and His elect, it only needed a fitting occasion to manifest itself in active development. The Lord Jesus had for ever delighted Himself with the …
Charles Hadden Spurgeon—Till He Come Meditations of the State of a Christian Reconciled to God in Christ,
Now let us see how happy a godly man is in his state of renovation, being reconciled to God in Christ. The godly man whose corrupt nature is renewed by grace in Christ and become a new creature, is blessed in a threefold respect--First, in his life; Secondly, in his death; Thirdly, after death. I. His blessedness during his life is but in part, and that consists in seven things:-- 1. Because he is conceived of the Spirit (John iii. 5), and is born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor …
Lewis Bayly—The Practice of Piety The Work of the Holy Spirit
The Church of Christ. "It is the Spirit that beareth witness, because the Spirit is ruth."--1 John v. 6. We now proceed to discuss the work of the Holy Spirit wrought in the Church of Christ. Altho the Son of God has had a Church in the earth from the beginning, yet the Scripture distinguishes between its manifestation before and after Christ. As the acorn, planted in the ground, exists, altho it passes through the two periods of germinating and rooting, and of growing upward and forming trunk and …
Abraham Kuyper—The Work of the Holy Spirit Perseverance Proved.
2. I REMARK, that God is able to preserve and keep the true saints from apostacy, in consistency with their liberty: 2 Tim. i. 12: "For the which cause I also suffer these things; nevertheless, I am not ashamed; for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day." Here the apostle expresses the fullest confidence in the ability of Christ to keep him: and indeed, as has been said, it is most manifest that the apostles expected …
Charles Grandison Finney—Systematic Theology Sunday after Ascension Day
Text: First Peter 4, 7-11.[1] 7 But the end of all things is at hand: be ye therefore of sound mind, and be sober unto prayer: 8 above all things being fervent in your love among yourselves: for love covereth a multitude of sins: 9 using hospitality one to another without murmuring: 10 according as each hath received a gift, ministering it among yourselves, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God; 11 if any man speaketh, speaking as it were oracles of God; if any man ministereth, ministering …
Martin Luther—Epistle Sermons, Vol. II Of the Public Fast.
A public fast is when, by the authority of the magistrate (Jonah iii. 7; 2 Chron. xx. 3; Ezra viii. 21), either the whole church within his dominion, or some special congregation, whom it concerneth, assemble themselves together, to perform the fore-mentioned duties of humiliation; either for the removing of some public calamity threatened or already inflicted upon them, as the sword, invasion, famine, pestilence, or other fearful sickness (1 Sam. vii. 5, 6; Joel ii. 15; 2 Chron. xx.; Jonah iii. …
Lewis Bayly—The Practice of Piety Links 2 Corinthians 9:13 NIV2 Corinthians 9:13 NLT2 Corinthians 9:13 ESV2 Corinthians 9:13 NASB2 Corinthians 9:13 KJV
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