Now, I'd invite you to turn with me to 2 Corinthians, chapter 12. 2 Corinthians, chapter 12, for the moments that remain this afternoon. I'm going to read a brief passage, beginning in verse 12, down to verse 15. And with God's Word open before us, let's seek the Lord in prayer and ask the Lord now to speak to our hearts through His Word Let's pray. Dear Lord, again, we thank Thee for this book that Thou hast given us, a book inspired of God. We thank Thee for the way Thou didst move in the lives, in the minds, in the hearts of those who penned these words, so that in a mysterious way, beyond our comprehension, they were moved to write the very words that thou wast have them pen for us, so that we may view these words as the very words of God. Help us to consider, O Lord, that that's exactly what we have before us now, and may we give due attention to thy word, because this is thy word. I pray again, dear Lord, that thou will take me up and make me a vessel fit for thy use, and grant to me strength of heart and mind, clarity of thought and speech, especially unction from on high, so the message will be perceived as the very message God has for this people for this time. We pray these things in Jesus' name, amen. Second Corinthians chapter 12, beginning in verse 12, this is the word of God, let us hear it. Surely the signs of an apostle were brought among you in all patience, in signs, in wonders, in mighty deeds. For what is it wherein ye were inferior to other churches, except it be that I myself was not burdensome to you? Forgive me this wrong. Behold, the third time I am ready to come to you. And I will not be burdensome to you, for I seek not yours, but you. For the children ought not to lay up for the parents, but the parents for the children. And I will very gladly spend and be spent for you, though the more abundantly I love you, the less I be loved. Amen. We'll end our reading in verse 15. We know the Lord will add his blessing to the reading of his word for his name's sake. And it is to that 15th verse that I want to call your attention for a few moments this afternoon. Paul writes, I will very gladly spend and be spent for you, though the more abundantly I love you, the less I be loved. When the apostle Paul made the statement earlier in this epistle, that we would be transformed into the image of Christ by beholding Christ, he was not merely sermonizing in terms of some far-fetched ideal. He was speaking from experience. From the moment Paul had beheld the risen Christ on the Damascus Road, his life was forever changed and this process of transformation begun. Paul truly went from glory to glory by the Spirit of the Lord, and I believe that his Christ-likeness shines very brightly in this second epistle to the Corinthians. This epistle, even though it is like all of Paul's epistles, rich in doctrine, is nonetheless noted perhaps more for its personal warmth and compassion, maybe more than any of the other epistles that Paul wrote. His love for the saints at Corinth was unmistakable. His love governed what he would do for them and what he would refrain from doing from them. So he tells them in the beginning of chapter two that he would not come to them as long as he was in heaviness for fear of making sorry the very ones that he would want to make him glad. And in these various expressions and manifestations of his care and his love and his desire for the saints at Corinth, I think you could say that he reminds us much of Christ. We are continually on the mind and heart of Christ. So we read in Psalm 40 in verse five, thy thoughts which are to us where they cannot be reckoned up in order unto thee. If I would declare and speak of them, they are more than can be numbered. Our Savior has each one of us in mind to that extent. More than we know, more than we can comprehend, more thoughts than can be numbered. And we can certainly hear the desire of Christ reflected in Solomon when he writes in Proverbs 23 and verse 26, my son, give me thine heart and let thine eyes observe my ways. It's the same way our Savior would view us, the same desire that our Savior has toward us. My son, give me thine heart. That's Christ's desire over his people. His hands are viewed as stretched out even to a disobedient and gainsaying people. He weeps over the doom of his rejecters. If you're in the meeting today without him, his hands are stretched out even to you. He takes no pleasure in the damnation of his rejecters, but rather invites them to come to him. The spirit and the bride say come, and let him that hear us say come, and let him that is a thirst come, and whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely. Revelation 22 and verse 17. Now when we come to the words of our text in chapter 12 and verse 15, I believe that there is so much of Christ shining through Paul that we do no injustice to the text if in these words we hear not so much the voice of an apostle speaking to Christians that he loved dearly a long time ago, but indeed we may hear in these words Christ himself speaking to us as if it is Christ who says to you and to me, I will very gladly spend and be spent for you. Though the more abundantly I love you, the less I be loved." And in order that we might hear these words as expressions of Christ's love to us, I would like for us to think in the moments that remain just on how Paul reminds us of Christ in these words. Look at them again, okay? Behold, the third time I am ready to come to you, and I will not be burdensome to you. For I seek not yours, but you. For the children ought not to lay up for the parents, but the parents for the children, and I will very gladly spend and be spent for you. Though the more abundantly I love you, the less I be loved. Would you think with me, first of all, on how Paul reminds us of Christ's action. in these words. Note what he says, I will very gladly spend. I will very gladly spend. We find in the setting of our text that Paul compared his relationship to the Corinthians to the relationship of parents to their children. In verse 14, he points out the parental obligation to lay up for their children. Or in other words, it's the obligation of parents to lay aside financially all that is necessary to provide for their children's needs and then to spend what they've laid aside specifically for their children. In our day, that's not always such an easy task to perform, especially when children have the notion that they need so much more than they actually do. It seems, doesn't it, that children today can hardly imagine living without a cell phone, or their own computers, or the latest fashions in clothing. Children should note that however short they think their parents fall from such a standard of what they think they should provide for them, the likelihood is very high that most of what parents manage to make is applied either directly or indirectly to the well-being of their children. That's something I'm afraid that children usually don't realize or appreciate until they become parents themselves. And we see then from our text that Paul adopted this parental obligation and he made it his own standard toward his converts. I will spend for you, he says in our text. And this was true not only of the Christians at Corinth, but of all Paul's converts throughout the Gentile world. I love the way he expresses the same sentiment of our text to the Thessalonians. When he tells them, 1 Thessalonians 2, verse 8, So being affectionately desirous of you, we were willing to have imparted unto you not the gospel of God only, but also our own souls, because ye were dear unto us. What a heart Paul had for those to whom he ministered. And I think the text illustrates to us exactly what Paul has in mind when he expresses his willingness to spend. He was willing to impart all that he had up to and including his very soul for them. What a tremendous challenge He places then for us as believers that they might be affectionately desirous of each other, willing to spend or impart their own souls for the well-being of others. I can't help but wonder at times if it's the lack of this kind of heart toward others that keeps many churches cold and may keep us from bringing in the harvest that the Lord Jesus Himself said is before us. reminded of a saying that I see in my doctor's office when I have occasion to visit the doctor. There's a postcard mounted on the wall. I never have forgotten it. I think it's probably more common than I realized. And it goes something like this. Nobody cares how much you know until they know how much you care. Now, there's something to be said for that. And I think Paul is demonstrating in this epistle, this second epistle to the Corinthians, just how much he did care for them. Oh, may we rise to the challenge then that Paul's example sets before us. But now what I want to do is come to the text and view it from a higher plane. In his action of spending himself or his converts, I say Paul reminds us of Christ. And we can say in this respect that Christ has spent himself for his people. And just as in the case of Paul, this action of spending involved the imparting of his very soul. So, in a higher sense, in the case of Christ, we can say that he spent himself through the pouring out of his very soul. So, we read those familiar words in Isaiah 53 and verse 12, he hath poured out his soul unto death. I find it interesting that the Greek word for spend that's found in our text is translated by the English word spend on just two other occasions. We read in Mark chapter 5 verse 26 of a certain woman who had suffered many things of many positions and had spent all that she had. And we read again in Luke chapter 15 and verse 14 of the prodigal son who spent all that he had and then began to be in want. And in both cases, there was an emphasis not only on spending, but in spending everything. Paul was willing to spend everything. Christ, in fact, spent everything. No higher place or price could be conceived by God than the pouring out of Christ's life through His blood. What more could He spend? He could create worlds of silver and gold by the power of His word, but those couldn't avail for our redemption. They are but corruptible things. No, nothing short of the spending or the pouring out of His precious blood could avail to redeem us. Do you realize, dear believer, how valuable that makes you to God? We sometimes find it difficult, don't we, to consider ourselves valuable to God, especially when we're so much aware of our own sins and our shortcomings? We know that the gospel teaches us that our sins are imputed to Christ, His righteousness imputed to us, but it seems that we are so often aware of the strength of inbred sin that yet abides in us that it seems impossible at times to see ourselves as valuable to God. It becomes difficult for faith to grasp because of our awareness of our own unworthiness. You should consider, however, that you do great dishonor to God by failing to see yourself as valuable to God. That dishonors Him. There's no mark of humility to stew in your own sense of unworthiness. The value of something can be gauged by the price that was paid for that something. And what price was paid for you? The price of Christ's own blood. He's paid a very high price to bring about your standing with Him, even the blood of His Son. And so we must, therefore, count ourselves to be righteous in Christ if we would honor Him and have respect toward that which He has spent for us. But we can go a step further and say that not only has Christ spent Himself for His people, but He continues to spend for His people, even today. He spends His prayers on you. He intercedes for you, interceding on your behalf that your salvation will be brought to the uttermost, pleading the merits of His blood for you, that all that has been purchased by the blood will be applied to you. That's a good argument, you know, to use in prayer. Lord, we seek Thee for the blessings that have been purchased by the blood of Thy Son. We seek Thee for the blessings that You were willing to spend such a high price in order to gain for us. He also spends his power on you, ordering all things providentially for the sake of his elect. He works all things together for your good. He spends tireless energy watching over you at all times, all the while protecting you from yours and his enemies, subduing you more and more to himself. So Paul's action reminds us of Christ's action. Here, the text is Christ's word to you, I will very gladly spend for you. But not only does Paul's action remind us of Christ's action, but consider with me next, secondly, that Paul's openness reminds us of Christ's openness to his people. Our text, you see, presents to us both an active element and a passive element. I will very gladly spend, Paul writes. There's the active element. I will very gladly spend and be spent for you. There's the passive element. Paul is saying, in effect, not only that he would exert all his effort toward the good of the Corinthian Christians, but also he would be open and accessible to them. He's saying, in essence, use me. I'm at your service. Use anything and everything that I have. I place myself at your service to be spent by you as you direct. You know it's one thing when parents visit the shopping mall, or maybe more to the point these days, spend time on Amazon shopping for their children. You enter the stores or you visit the website and you study the merchandise with your children in mind and you choose for them such things as you think will contribute to their happiness and well-being. That's what it means to spend for them. But if you were to hand your children the cash or the credit card, so to speak, all that you had on hand, and were to say to them, now you go and pick out for yourself such things as you need and want and use this cash or this credit card to buy them, now you're being spent for them. You're placing all that you have at their disposal. And in this manner, Paul opened himself to his converts. I will very gladly spend and be spent for you. Well, on a higher plane, of course, this reminds us of Christ's willingness to be spent for His redeemed ones. This openness or this accessibility is revealed to us by what took place immediately following Christ's atoning death on Calvary's cross. We read in Matthew 27, verse 51, how the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom. That veil is what divided the holy place from the most holy place in the temple. Up until that time, there was only one person, the high priest, who was allowed to enter the most holy place, and even he did not have free and open access to it. He could only enter into that room once a year on the Day of Atonement. We are told that this rending of the veil in the temple took place after Christ had cried with a loud voice and had yielded up the ghost. I think that these two verses in Scripture demonstrate the truth of our text. So we read in Matthew 27, verse 50, Jesus, when he had cried again with a loud voice, yielded up the ghost. In that verse, Christ has spent himself or his people. Then in verse 51, the very next verse we read, and behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from top to bottom. That verse shows us that now the way of access is open to Christ, and he is willing now to be spent by his people. Of course, that truth is stressed a number of times by Christ himself. when he says in John 14, verse 13, and whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. And again, two chapters later, John chapter 16, verse 24, hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name. Ask and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full. Oh, don't those verses teach us the wideness of Christ's openness to his people? He throws the doors to the throne room of heaven wide open, and He invites us to approach Him freely and openly and even boldly. They demonstrate also His willingness to be spent by His people. He invites us to ask what we will, and that for two reasons, because His Father is glorified in Him when we avail ourselves of Him, and because He would have our joy to be full. Now, it's not my purpose this afternoon to go into the various reasons why we may not receive some of the things we ask for. We know that if we ask amiss, he will not grant us what we ask. But rather than dwell on those things, let me rather point out that there are things that are never denied to us each and every time we approach Christ. We are never denied grace each time we approach His throne of grace. His grace comes to us as an open account that we can access at all times, so long as that throne remains a blood-sprinkled throne, we will never be able to spend it all. How could we spend up His grace or His favor when its value is infinite through the blood of Christ? This in turn means that we will never be denied cleansing. We will never be denied forgiveness. So long as Christ's character is unchangeable and he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness, then he will always allow himself to be spent for us in those realms. He'll never deny us his attention. 1 Peter 3 and verse 12, for the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous and his ears are open unto their prayers. You spend any time at all in the book of Psalms, then you have seen the truth of this text manifested again and again. The psalmists have the freedom to praise God, to petition God, sometimes even to complain to God. They approach him at times with their souls filled to overflowing with the sense of his goodness. They approach him at other times in deep anguish and distress of soul, and in each and every case, they are never denied his attention. Even during times when he seems afar off, he is still actually very near at hand. Job demonstrates that to us. So Paul reminds us of Christ. In our text, Paul's action reminds us of Christ's action. Paul's openness reminds us of Christ's openness. Consider with me finally, briefly, Paul's demeanor reminds us of Christ's demeanor. And by Paul's demeanor, I'm referring now to the elements that make up that demeanor. I'm referring to his feelings, his attitude, his affections. Our text makes it clear to us that underlying Paul's willingness to spend and be spent was this feeling of gladness. Look again at the words. I will very gladly spend and be spent for you. Oh, there was no reluctance on the part of Paul. There was no hesitation on Paul's part to spend and be spent. Our text further indicates to us that this gladness was due to the affection that he felt for the Corinthians. A love which grew in fervor as time went on, underscore the phrase, the more abundantly I love you. Do you see how our text paints the picture for us of Paul's demeanor? His action toward them, his openness to them, came from a fervent and growing affection for them, which enabled him to serve them with gladness and abundant love. And perhaps the greatest marvel of the text is found in the fact that Paul's gladness and affection toward the Corinthians did not depend on their response to him. His love for them was unconditional and full and free. So we read, the more abundantly I love you, the less I be loved. You know, when I look at those words, I lose sight of Paul. The light of Christ shines through those words with such brilliant radiance that Paul becomes lost in that light the way the flame of a candle is lost in the sun. We read of Christ in Hebrews 1 and verse 9, that thou hast loved righteousness and hated iniquity, therefore God, even thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows. Anointed with the oil of gladness, the very term Messiah means anointed one. And we know that Christ was anointed with the power and the unction that were necessary for the fulfillment of his ministry up to and including his atoning death. But underneath that anointing of enabling power was this anointing of gladness. so that we may conclude that even though he was a man of sorrows as he visited this sin-sick and sin-cursed world, yet he lived and died gladly as our covenant had. He spent himself gladly for us. He opens the doors of heaven gladly to all that will avail themselves of him. And must we not conclude that the very moment his love was strongest, as it were, as he hung suspended between heaven and earth, nailed to a cross, he was loved least by his people? You ever thought of that? We know that Christ loved us by going to that cross. But here's an interesting thing to ponder. How much was Christ himself loved when he hung on that cross? Those that had been nearest to him had forsaken him. His enemy surely felt no sympathy for him, but rather mocked him. If he be the king of Israel, let him come down now from the cross and we will believe in him, Matthew 27, 42. And as the crowning point to his penal afflictions for our sins, his father's love, which had been his portion throughout the ages, even that was taken from him. Truly Christ can say that he has spent himself for his people, though the more abundantly he has loved, the less he has been loved. How can we not then look at such a manifestation of love? and fail to marvel at it. In a day such as ours when families divorce and dissolve, I think we've developed in our culture an understanding for some of these things, which is not to say that we condone divorce and the splitting up of families, but when we hear stories of cruelty and neglect and abuse, we come to understand how one party may fall out with another party, especially when there's no positive response to love, but instead there may even be a response of cruelty and hatred. We come to understand it somewhat, don't we? and yet Christ's love is stronger. His love and loyalty remains constant in spite of what may be our lack of response to it. He loves us fully, he loves us freely, and he loves us constantly. He loves you no less for your failures. He could love you no more because of your successes. Oh, how we should therefore bask in his love. Enter into the joy of it. Let faith affirm this day that Christ will very gladly spend and be spent for you because he abundantly loves you. And as you bask in that love, you'll be transformed by it. Paul certainly was. And like Paul, you'll find yourself willing to spend and be spent fully and freely in such a way that you too will come to remind others of Christ. Oh, may God bring it to pass then in each of our lives that we'll reflect the boundless love of Christ through our willingness and desire to spend and be spent the way Christ was. for His name's sake. Let's close then in prayer. Let's all pray. O Lord, as we bow in Thy presence now and bring this meeting to a close, we pray that the Holy Spirit would minister the reality of truth to our hearts, and may we know and appreciate in fuller measure what is the breadth and length and depth and height and to know a love that passes knowledge. And, O Lord, may our lives be transformed by it, so that we, too, may be enabled in Thy power to remind others of our Savior. For we pray these things in Jesus' name. Amen.