1 Now it is unnecessary for me to write to you about the offering [that is to be made] for the saints [in Jerusalem]; 2 for I know your eagerness [to promote this cause], and I have [proudly] boasted to the people of Macedonia about it, telling them that [a]Achaia has been prepared since last year [for this contribution], and your enthusiasm has inspired the majority of them [to respond].
What we are seeing now is epic, historic, Biblical. You have a chance to be part of this. We have been preparing for this moment for the entire age of grace.
3 Still, I am sending the brothers [on to you], so that our pride in you may not be an empty boast in this case, and so that you may be prepared, just as I told them you would be; 4 otherwise, if any Macedonians come with me and find you unprepared, we—to say nothing of yourselves—will be humiliated for being so confident.
Once again the only reason we are reading this book and care about this book is because Paul was an apostle of Jesus Christ bringing a message from Jesus. The Lord has been boasting of us! He has said that when He comes He will find faith on this earth, He will find a great camp, the army of the Lord that hears his voice, obeys His command and will not allow their house to be broken into by thieves.
5 That is why I thought it necessary to urge these brothers to go to you [before I come] and make arrangements in advance for this generous, previously promised gift of yours, so that it would be ready, not as something extorted [or wrung out of you], but as a [voluntary and] generous gift.
Again, I don’t know that much about this particular event, but I do know that in my life and in this age the Lord has sent many brothers to us to make arrangements in advance. Every experience you have had from the Lord has prepared you for this day, every word shared with you by these brothers was to prepare you for this day.
What we are seeing now is epic, historic, Biblical. You have a chance to be part of this. We have been preparing for this moment for the entire age of grace.
3 Still, I am sending the brothers [on to you], so that our pride in you may not be an empty boast in this case, and so that you may be prepared, just as I told them you would be; 4 otherwise, if any Macedonians come with me and find you unprepared, we—to say nothing of yourselves—will be humiliated for being so confident.
Once again the only reason we are reading this book and care about this book is because Paul was an apostle of Jesus Christ bringing a message from Jesus. The Lord has been boasting of us! He has said that when He comes He will find faith on this earth, He will find a great camp, the army of the Lord that hears his voice, obeys His command and will not allow their house to be broken into by thieves.
5 That is why I thought it necessary to urge these brothers to go to you [before I come] and make arrangements in advance for this generous, previously promised gift of yours, so that it would be ready, not as something extorted [or wrung out of you], but as a [voluntary and] generous gift.
Again, I don’t know that much about this particular event, but I do know that in my life and in this age the Lord has sent many brothers to us to make arrangements in advance. Every experience you have had from the Lord has prepared you for this day, every word shared with you by these brothers was to prepare you for this day.