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THE POVERTY OF CHRIST

by J. Gerald Harris

Scripture: II Corinthians 8:9


The Poverty of Christ
Dr. J. Gerald Harris
II Corinthians 8:9

This morning I want to speak to you about one of the most significant verses in all of the bible. Just as John 3:16 is the gospel in a nutshell, so is 2 Corinthians 8:9. What a wealth of meaning is summed up in the words of this verse of scripture. These words underscore and illustrate the marvelous grace of our Lord Jesus Christ.

This morning if I wanted to preach a message on sacrificial giving, I could certainly use this verse of Scripture. In fact, if you will read this entire eighth chapter of 2 Corinthians you will find that the apostle Paul was making an appeal for a worthy offering from the church at Corinth. In his effort to arouse a Spirit of liberality and sacrificial giving among the people of Corinth, he pointed to the liberality of the Macedonian churches. Notice what it says in the first three verses of the Chapter (read 2 Corinthians 8:1-3).

Now, that was a worthy example of Sacrificial giving, but it was not the greatest example. The mighest example, the supreme Example of giving a sacrifice is to be found in The Lord Jesus Christ. Look at our text once again (read 2 Corinthians 8:9). So, you see this would be a great text to use to challenge the
Church to give and I could point you to the example of the Macedonians who gave generously in the midst of trials and afflictions. I could point you to the example of the Lord Jesus Christ who gave up the riches of glory to become our Savior.

But you see there is not only a stewardship message in this text, there is not
Only a message in giving here, but there is a Christmas message here as well. In fact, the message of Christmas is summed up in this verse.

It was love in the heart of God that sent Christ to earth: "for God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son." It was love in the heart of Christ that brought him to Bethlehem. The bible says, "(Christ) made Himself of no reputation but took upon himself the fo ...

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