Chargeable to No Man 2 Corinthians 11:9

Paul the apostle told the church members in Corinth, “I robbed other churches, taking wages of them, to do you service”, and in chapter eleven and verse nine of Second Corinthians, Paul told the church members,“I was chargeable to no man” where we read:

And when I was present with you, and wanted, I was chargeable to no man: for that which was lacking to me the brethren which came from Macedonia supplied: and in all things I have kept myself from being burdensome unto you, and so will I keep myself.

The verse begins, “And when I was present with you, and wanted, I was chargeable to no man:” Paul began with the words, “And when” which means “and at the time” “I was present” or “Paul was at hand, arrived, ready, in store and at command” “with you” which refers to the church members, “and wanted” or “suffered want or lacked”, “I was chargeable” which means “Paul was burdensome to the detriment” “to no man” or “to no person whether male or female”. When Paul was with the Corinthians and had personal needs, he was not “burdensome” to any of them.

The verse continues, “for that which was lacking to me the brethren which came from Macedonia supplied:” Paul added the word, “for” which means “even as, indeed, no doubt, seeing then, verily and therefore” “that which was lacking” or “whatever deficiency, lack, poverty, want and destitution” “to me” or “to Paul” “the brethren” which refers to “fellow believer who are united to another by the bond of affection” “which came” or “who appeared and made their appearance publicly” “from Macedonia” which means “extended land” and was “a country bounded on the south by Thessaly and Epirus, on the east by Thrace and the Aegean Sea, on the west by Illyria, and on the North by Dardania and Moesia” “supplied” which means “fully furnished and filled”. At the time Paul had “needs”, the “brothers” who came from the churches in Macedonia supplied them.

Finally the verse says, “and in all things I have kept myself from being burdensome unto you, and so will I keep myself.” Paul added, “and in all things” which means “in each, every, the whole and everything” “I have kept myself” or “Paul guarded, attended to carefully and observed” “from being burdensome” which means “ weightless and away from being heavy” “unto you” or “unto the church members, “and so will I keep myself” which means “Paul would remain in a guarded, attended to carefully and observed way”. Paul purposed to keep himself from being a “burden” to the church in Corinth, and he maintained that position for as long as he would deal with them.

When we think through these words of Paul, we see how he did not want the church members in Corinth to feel “burdened” by him. Ministers have needs like any other person, however, Paul did not want the supply of those needs to interfere with his message of the gospel to the Corinthians. He therefore received support from the churches in Macedonia, and no one could charge him credibly with being in ministry for the “perks”. Jesus Christ supplies the needs of His servants, and he uses people to do so, however there are some who would learn greatly by considering Paul's desire not to be a “burden” upon those they teach. If there is a teacher of Jesus' gospel who is in the ministry simply for the “perks”, GET OUT, and leave the Lord's people to someone who cares for them and not themselves.

Next time Paul tells the church members how, “the truth is in” him, so read ahead, and we shall join together then,

Until tomorrow…there is more…

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