• Download Video
• Download Audio
• Print
• Email
• Save As PDF

"Lest our boasting of you should be in vain..."

Text: 2 Corinthians 9:3

MAKING SURE OF THINGS

Paul was confident that the Corinthians would live up to the reputation they had earned. They had a good name as a Church that was committed to the ministering to the saints. Paul took nothing for granted so he had sent a delegation of brethren to check and make sure that all had been prepared.

“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.”
2 Corinthians 9:3-4

1. “Yet I have sent the brethren”

a) This was an “advanced party”.

b) They would help to check if the Corinthians were ready with their promised gift.

2. “Lest our boasting of you should be in vain in this respect, that, as I said, you may be ready”

a) Paul had “boasted” of the zeal and the readiness of the Corinthians to give.

b) But what if his boasting had been in vain?

i) Paul had told the Macedonian churches about the example of the Achaian churches.

ii) That they had been ready a year back!

c) He sent an advanced party to ensure that things had gone as planned.

3. “Lest, if some Macedonians come with me”

a) This was not unusual.

b) Paul organised Missions Trips for churches

i) For fellowship.

ii) For mutual encouragement.

iii) For inspiration.

4. “And find you unprepared”

a) Paul was aware of the many problems that had plagued the Corinthians.

b) He was concerned that the Church may have been distracted by the problems.

c) And the preparation to give had somehow stalled.

5. “We (not to mention you!) should be ashamed of this confident boasting”

a) It would be shameful (great embarrassment to both Paul and the Corinthians) if they had been caught unprepared!

b) Paul hoped that the Corinthians would not let him and the churches down!