HIS INEXPRESSIBLE GIFT

HIS INEXPRESSIBLE GIFT

2 Corinthians 9:12-15 NET.

¹² For the ministry of this service is not only supplying the needs of the saints but is also overflowing in many thanksgivings to God. ¹³ By their approval of this service, they will glorify God because of your submission flowing from your confession of the gospel of Christ, and the generosity of your contribution for them and for all others, ¹⁴ while they long for you and pray for you, because of the surpassing grace of God upon you. ¹⁵Thanks be to God for his inexpressible gift!

Sometimes, as the Apostle Paul writes, he seems to pause, look at everything God is doing, and simply erupt in praise. You can almost hear his voice rising, his heart swelling, the pen of his secretary moving faster as he speaks. Second Corinthians 9 ends with one of those moments. After two chapters of urging the Corinthians to complete their promised offering for the poor believers in Jerusalem, Paul suddenly bursts out: “Thanks be to God for His inexpressible gift!”

It is as if Paul is saying, “Corinthians, do you see what God is doing? Do you see how your giving is part of something so much bigger than you? Do you see how grace is multiplying through you?”

This passage is not just about money. It is about worship. It is about unity. It is about the gospel. It is about the God who gives generously and invites His people to reflect His heart.

Today, we walk through verses 12–15 and discover four ways God multiplies His work through the generosity of His people.

I. The Ministry of Giving (v. 12)

“For the ministry of this service is not only fully supplying the needs of the saints, but is also overflowing through many thanksgivings to God.”

Paul begins by calling the offering a ministry—a leitourgia, a word used for priestly service. In other words, giving is not merely a financial transaction; it is an act of worship. It is a sacred ministry performed before God.

The believers in Jerusalem were suffering. Famine had struck the region. Persecution had scattered families. Many Jewish Christians had lost jobs and social standing because of their faith in Christ. They were materially poor, and they were spiritually discouraged.

Paul says, “Your giving is supplying their needs.”
Not symbolically. Not theoretically.
Actually. Tangibly. Practically.

This is the first miracle of generosity:
God uses ordinary people to meet extraordinary needs.

But Paul doesn’t stop there. He says this ministry is “overflowing through many thanksgivings to God.”

Think about that.
When the Corinthians give, the Jerusalem believers don’t say, “Thank you, Corinthians.”
They say, “Thank You, God!”

Your generosity becomes someone else’s worship.
Your obedience becomes someone else’s praise.
Your sacrifice becomes someone else’s song.

This is why giving is holy.
It redirects glory upward.

Every time you give—whether to missions, benevolence, a struggling family, or a ministry—you are participating in a priestly act. You are lifting someone’s eyes to God. You are helping someone say, “Lord, You heard me. You remembered me. You provided for me.”

Giving is not about losing something.
It is about joining God in His work.

II. The Witness of Giving (v. 13)

“Because of the proof given by this ministry, they will glorify God for your obedience to your confession of the gospel of Christ and for the generosity of your contribution to them and to all.”

Paul now shifts from the effect of giving to the testimony of giving.

Giving proves the gospel is real. Paul says the Jerusalem believers will glorify God because of the Corinthians’ “obedience to (their) confession of the gospel.” In other words:
Your generosity proves your faith is genuine.

Anyone can say, “I believe in Jesus.”
But generosity shows that the gospel has taken root in the heart.
It shows that Christ has changed your priorities, your values, your loves.

Giving is not the cause of salvation.
But it is the fruit of salvation.

Giving displays unity in Christ. This offering was not just financial—it was relational, cultural, and theological.

The Corinthians were mostly Gentiles.
The Jerusalem believers were Jewish.
Historically, these groups were divided by suspicion, prejudice, and centuries of hostility.

But now, in Christ, they are one family.
And the offering becomes a bridge.

Paul is saying:
“Your generosity is preaching a sermon. It is declaring that the gospel has torn down the dividing wall. It is showing that Jew and Gentile are one in Christ.”

This is the second miracle of generosity:
Giving displays the unity of the church.

When believers give sacrificially, the world sees something supernatural.
They see a community that is not driven by self-interest but by love.
They see a people who care for one another across backgrounds, cultures, and differences.

Generosity is evangelistic.
It is a witness to the world that Jesus is Lord and His people are one.

III. The Fellowship of Giving (v. 14)

“While they also, by prayer on your behalf, yearn for you because of the surpassing grace of God in you.”

Paul now describes the relational fruit of generosity.

Giving creates affection. The Jerusalem believers, who may have once doubted the sincerity of Gentile believers, now “yearn” for the Corinthians. They feel deep affection for them. They pray for them. They love them.

Generosity does that.
It softens hearts.
It builds bridges.
It creates fellowship.

When you give to someone, you begin to care about them.
When someone gives to you, you feel connected to them.

This is the third miracle of generosity: Giving knits hearts together.

Giving reveals God’s grace at work.

Paul says they will long for you “because of the surpassing grace of God in you.” In other words:
“They will see God’s grace shining through your generosity.”

Generosity is not natural.
It is supernatural.
It is evidence that God is at work in a person’s life.

When the church gives, relationships deepen.
Prayer increases.
Love grows.
The body becomes stronger.

Generosity is not just about money—it is about fellowship.
It is about participating in God’s work of uniting His people.

IV. The Source of All Giving (v. 15)

“Thanks be to God for His inexpressible gift!”

Paul ends with a doxology.
He cannot talk about giving without talking about the Giver.

A. God’s gift is the foundation of our giving

What is the “indescribable gift”?

It is Christ Himself. John 3:16.
It is the grace of salvation.

It is eternal life through Jesus Christ. Romans 6:23.
It is the generosity of God poured out in the gospel.

God gave His Son.
God gave His grace.
God gave His Spirit.
God gave His promises.
God gave His mercy.
God gave His love.

Every act of Christian generosity flows from this fountain.

God’s grace is the model for our giving.

God did not give reluctantly.
He did not give sparingly.
He did not give under compulsion.

He gave freely.
He gave joyfully.
He gave sacrificially.
He gave completely.

And Paul is saying:
“Corinthians, your giving is simply the echo of God’s giving.”

We give because He first gave.
We love because He first loved.
We serve because He first served.

The more we see Christ, the more generous we become.
The more we understand the gospel, the more open our hands become.
The more we meditate on God’s grace, the more we desire to reflect it.

Generosity is not a financial issue.
It is a gospel issue.
It is a heart issue.
It is a worship issue.

Conclusion: The Gift That Keeps Giving

Paul ends this section with worship because giving is ultimately about God.
When believers give:

Needs are met
Worship rises
Faith is proven
Unity is strengthened
Love grows
Prayer increases
Christ is displayed
God is glorified

This is the miracle of generosity.
It multiplies.
It spreads.
It bears fruit far beyond what we can see.

And all of it flows from the greatest gift—Jesus Christ, God’s inexpressible gift.

So today, let us give with joy.
Let us give with faith.
Let us give with gratitude.
Let us give with worship.
Let us give because God has given us everything in Christ.

Thanks be to God for His inexpressible gift!

Amen.

2 Chronicles 6

2 Chronicles 6

2 Chronicles 6:1 Then Solomon said: Yahveh said he would dwell in total darkness,

2 Chronicles 6:2 but I have built an exalted temple for you, a place for your permanent residence.

2 Chronicles 6:3 Then the king turned and endorsed the entire congregation of Israel while they were standing.

2 Chronicles 6:4 He said: Praised be Yahveh God of Israel! He spoke directly to my father, David, and he has fulfilled the promise through his power. He said,

2 Chronicles 6:5 “Since the day I brought my people Israel out of the land of Egypt, I have not chosen[1] a city to build a temple in among any of the tribes of Israel, so that my name would be there, and I have not chosen a man to be ruler over my people, Israel.

2 Chronicles 6:6 But I have chosen Jerusalem so that my name will be there, and I have chosen David to be over my people Israel.”

2 Chronicles 6:7 My father, David, had his heart set on building a temple for the name of Yahveh, the God of Israel.

2 Chronicles 6:8 However, Yahveh said to my father David, “Since you desired to build a temple for my name, you have done well to have this desire.

2 Chronicles 6:9 Yet, you are not the one to build the temple, but your son, your offspring, will make the temple for my name.”

2 Chronicles 6:10 So Yahveh has fulfilled what he promised. I have taken the place of my father, David, and I sit on the throne of Israel, as Yahveh promised. I have built the temple for the name of Yahveh, the God of Israel.

2 Chronicles 6:11 I have placed[2] the ark there, where Yahveh’s covenant is that he established with the Israelites.

2 Chronicles 6:12 Then Solomon stood before the altar of Yahveh in the face of the entire congregation of Israel and spread out his hands.

2 Chronicles 6:13 For Solomon had made a bronze platform five cubits long, five cubits wide, and three cubits high and put it in the court. He stood on it, knelt on his knees in the face of the entire congregation of Israel, and spread out his hands toward the sky.

2 Chronicles 6:14 He said: Lord God of Israel, there is no God like you in the sky or on the land, who guards his covenant and covenant faithfulness with your slaves who walk before you with all their heart.[3]

2 Chronicles 6:15 You have guarded what you promised to your slave, my father, David. You spoke directly to him, and you fulfilled your promise by your power, as it is today.

2 Chronicles 6:16 Therefore, Yahveh God of Israel, guard what you promised to your slave, my father David: “You will never have a man cut off before me to sit on the throne of Israel, if only your sons guard their way to walk in my instruction[4] as you have walked before me.”

2 Chronicles 6:17 Now, Yahveh God of Israel, please confirm what you promised to your slave David.

2 Chronicles 6:18 But will God indeed live on the land with humans? Notice, even the sky, the sky of skies, cannot contain you, much less this temple I have built.

2 Chronicles 6:19 Listen to your slave’s prayer and his petition, Lord my God, so that you may hear the cry and the prayer that your slave prays before you,

2 Chronicles 6:20 so that your eyes watch over this temple day and night, toward the place where you said you would place your name; and so that you may hear the prayer your slave prays toward this place.

2 Chronicles 6:21 Hear the petitions of your slave and your people Israel, which they pray toward this place. May you hear in your dwelling place in the sky. May you hear and forgive.

2 Chronicles 6:22 When a man who fails[5] his neighbor is forced to take an oath[6] and comes to take an oath before your altar in this temple,

2 Chronicles 6:23 may you hear in the sky and act. May you judge your slaves, condemning the wicked man by bringing what he has done on his head and providing justice for the righteous by rewarding him according to his righteousness.

2 Chronicles 6:24 When your people Israel are defeated before an enemy, because they have failed you, and they return to you and praise your name, and they pray and plead for favor before you in this temple,

2 Chronicles 6:25 may you hear in the sky and forgive the sin of your people Israel. May you restore them to the land you gave them and their ancestors.

2 Chronicles 6:26 When the skies are shut and there is no rain because they have failed you, and they pray toward this place and praise your name, and they turn from their failures because you are afflicting them,

2 Chronicles 6:27 may you hear in the sky and forgive the sin of your slaves and your people Israel, so that you may teach them the good way they should walk in. May you send rain on your land that you gave your people for an inheritance.

2 Chronicles 6:28 When there is famine in the land, when there is pestilence, when there is blight or mildew, locust, or grasshopper, when their enemies besiege them in the land and its cities, when there is any plague or illness,

2 Chronicles 6:29 every prayer or petition that any person or that all your people Israel may have- they each know their own affliction and suffering- as they spread out their hands toward this temple,

2 Chronicles 6:30 may you hear in the sky, your dwelling place, and may you forgive and give to everyone according to all their ways, since you know each heart, for you alone know the human heart,

2 Chronicles 6:31 so that they may fear you and walk in your ways all the days they are living[7] on the land you gave our ancestors.

2 Chronicles 6:32 Even for the foreigner who is not of your people Israel but has come from a distant land because of your great name and your strong hand and outstretched arm: when he comes and prays toward this temple,

2 Chronicles 6:33 may you hear in the sky in your dwelling place and do all the foreigner asks you. Then all the people of the land will know your name, to fear you as your people Israel do, and understand that this temple I have built bears your name.

2 Chronicles 6:34 When your people go out to fight against their enemies, wherever you send them, and they pray to you in the direction of this city you have chosen and the temple that I have built for your name,

2 Chronicles 6:35 may you hear their prayer and petition in the sky and bring them justice.

2 Chronicles 6:36 When they fail you, for there is no one who does not fail- and you are angry with them and hand them over to the enemy, and their captors deport them to a distant or nearby country,

2 Chronicles 6:37 and when they come to their senses in the land where they were deported and repent and seek your favor in their captors’ land, saying: “We have failed and done wrong; we have been wicked,”

2 Chronicles 6:38 and when they return to you with all their heart and all their throat in the land of their captivity where they were taken captive, and when they pray in the direction of their land that you gave their ancestors, and the city you have chosen, and toward the temple I have built for your name,

2 Chronicles 6:39 may you hear their prayer and petitions in the sky, your dwelling place, and bring them justice. May you forgive your people who failed you.

2 Chronicles 6:40 Now, my God, please let your eyes be open and your ears attentive to the prayer of this place.

2 Chronicles 6:41 Now therefore: Arise, Yahveh God, come to your resting place, you and your mighty ark. May your priests, Lord God, be clothed with salvation, and may your faithful people enjoy[8] goodness.

2 Chronicles 6:42 Yahveh God, do not reject your anointed one; remember the covenant faithfulness to your slave David.

[1] בָּחַר = choose, try out, test. 2 Chronicles 6:5, 6, 34, 38; 7:12, 16; 11:1; 12:13; 13:3, 17; 29:11; 33:7. 2 Chronicles 2:12; 6:3, 4, 13; 9:8; 20:26; 30:27; 31:8, 10.

[2] שׂוּם = place, put. 2 Chronicles 6:11, 20; 12:13; 18:26; 23:15, 18; 33:7, 14.

[3] לֵב = heart. 2 Chronicles 6:14, 38; 7:10, 11, 16; 9:23; 12:14; 17:6; 24:4; 25:19; 26:16; 30:12, 22; 32:25, 26.

[4] תּוֹרָה = instruction. 2 Chronicles 6:16; 12:1; 14:4; 15:3; 17:9; 19:10; 23:18; 25:4; 30:16; 31:3, 4, 21; 33:8; 34:14, 15, 19; 35:26.

[5] חָטָא = fail. 2 Chronicles 6:22, 24, 26, 36, 37, 39; 29:24.

[6] אָלָה = oath. 2 Chronicles 6:22; 34:24.

[7] חַי = living. 2 Chronicles 6:31; 10:6; 18:13; 25:12.

[8] שָׂמַח = enjoy, rejoice. Chronicles 6:41; 15:15; 20:27; 23:21; 24:10; 29:36; 30:25.

links:

ACST 52- The Change
real presence – Devotions
staying real

The 2 Chronicles shelf in Jeff’s library