 Okay, good morning, everyone. Welcome to a new week and a new session. Let's begin this time with the work of prayer. So maybe any one of us can please lead in prayer. Let's go ahead. Our Grace is Heavenly Father. We thank you for this beautiful day. A beautiful morning, Father God. Within your presence, Jesus. Father God, this time, Father God, as we are going to study your Word, God. We ask you, Holy Spirit, your leaders and guidance, and bring us to the truth which you have for us, Lord. And Father God, we submit, Pastor Paul, to your mighty hand, as he is teaching us, Father God, leading Father God, and give him a new revelation so that it could come into us, Lord Jesus, through him. We commit all decisions to your mighty hand, all the students to your mighty hand, Jesus. In Jesus' name, we pray. Amen. Amen. Amen. Right. Okay. So we are in 2 Corinthians. Last week, we closed at Chapter 6. So Chapter 5, we looked at how the Apostle Paul spoke about the ministry of reconciliation, how the Lord Jesus, you know, one person died for all. And he spoke about how we are all as believers, reconciled unto God because of what Jesus did on the cross. And so basically the reason why Paul was bringing that up was he, you know, we know that his first letter was stern. So he was trying to also make them understand that in my sternness, I want us to be reconciled, not only to each other, but to God as well. Right. In Chapter 6, he talks about a few of his hardships, a few of his challenges that he went through. But he also talked about very importantly not to be yoked with unbelievers. Right. And we listed out the things that happens when we are yoked with unbelievers. Paul says, you know, we will end up, you know, when we're yoked to unbelievers, we will, you know, their character will come into us. We will, we will, how can light and darkness stay together? How can, you know, uses that word Belial? How can, you know, the Holy Spirit dwell and how can we worship other gods and idols when the Holy Spirit is dwelling inside us? So he very sternly says, do not be yoked with unbelievers. Right. So he ended the chapter on that. Let's get into Chapter 7. Let's do as much as we can. You know, we have quite a few chapters left, but let's do, let's begin from Chapter 7. Now, in Chapter 7, the Apostle Paul is again, feel free to stop me whenever you have questions. But I'm just going to keep teaching. And if you have questions, please stop me. Right. So Chapter 7, Paul begins to talk about his joy. In the previous chapters, Paul's, you know, he's been talking about many things, right? So chapter in 2 Corinthians, we see that he's sobered down, he's no more upset, he's not angry, he's not bringing much of exhortation or rebukes. But then in Chapter 7, he begins to encourage the church to take action. Right. So let's look at what he says. Verse 1, therefore having these promises, beloved, let's cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness and the fear of God. So Paul is calling the believers and he's saying, okay, as believers, we must take responsibility to free, to purify, to distance ourselves from anything that contaminates us. That contamination could be body, mind, spirit. Right. So anything that can take us away from God. Now we have to take that responsibility. Right. So again, he's saying, as believers, we cannot be passive, but we need to take action. Right. We have to say, okay, this is something that is not right. So I have to renew my mind. I have to make sure that I don't fall into this temptation or I don't let any wrong filthiness or sin enter my mind, my body, my spirit, my soul. This responsibility is for us as believers. Right. Because this, what Paul is saying is, as believers, later on, we'll talk about the weapons of our warfare as well. Well, but as believers, sometimes, you know, we may have this wrong notion that, okay, the Holy Spirit is in me. I, even if I sin, I can always go by and ask for forgiveness. Yes, God is, God will forgive, but with the Holy Spirit inside us, Paul is giving us this responsibility and saying, we must stay away or cleanse ourselves from filthiness of the flesh and the spirit and perfecting ourselves and holiness and the fear of God. Let's look at Romans 8.13, for if you live according to the flesh, you will die. But if by the spirit, you put to death the deeds of the body and you will live. Right. Now, with the enabling and the guidance of the Holy Spirit, we cleanse ourselves and we are aware that all the things that defile us, that is the flesh and the spirit, and we ask the Holy Spirit to bring revelation, to bring wisdom, to bring strength. And again, another important thing is our choices. Right. So sometimes, you know, the Holy Spirit is there, but we end up making the wrong choices. We will fully choose to sin. Right. So we must stay away from that. Right. Thirdly, we put an effort with the help of the Spirit to follow through decisions consistently, meaning when we have made a decision to, you know, to live responsibly, to live in holiness, pleasing in the sight of God, we must be consistent. Right. So many a times, you know, we become believers and the first six months of the first year, we are, you know, always praying, fasting because it's new and we are enjoying that communion, that fellowship. But what happens after three years, four years, you know, sometimes it becomes monotonous. Supposing, be consistent. Right. In, in ours, in ours pursuit for God. Let's go down. Let's go to us to open your hearts to us. But we have wronged no one. We have corrupted no one. We have cheated no one. I do not say this to condemn for I have said before that you are in our hearts to die together and to live together. So it's, it's a plea of reconciliation again here. You see that Paul is urging the Corinthians saying, you know, to draw near to him, to be open, to be transparent and to receive him and his team and the ministry that they are doing. Right. Now remember the first letter Paul had to write and he said he's, he's, he's defending his apostleship. Right. But after all of that, the first letter, you know, he also visits them. And then later on, he says, no, I'm not going to visit them because, you know, they were saddened. I was sad. And, you know, he didn't want to visit them. But here he's saying, open your hearts to us. But draw to us, draw near to us in the sense that be open, be transparent and receive the ministry. When we say ministry basically means receive our corrections, receive our exhortations. Why? Because it is for your good. Right. So Paul is following that up by saying we have not wronged, meaning to be unjust, to do wrong morally, socially, physically. We haven't wronged anyone to, we haven't corrupted. Right. So we didn't lead people away from holiness. Our pursuit was every one of us to be holy and to grow and be matured in Christ. And three, we haven't cheated anyone. Right. Remember in chapter one, Paul talks about the right of an apostle and how even though he had the rights, he didn't use that rights. And he's openly saying, yeah, we haven't cheated anyone. We haven't, you know, done any to defraud or taken advantage of people. We haven't said you give so much money, give so much, you know, give your land or give these things and God will bless you. We haven't done any of that for our own selfish gain. So this is a very important lesson for us as ministers. Right. When we involve in ministry, we must make sure that we don't wrong anyone. We don't corrupt and we don't cheat. Right. And here Paul is reiterating this fact to the Corinthian believers that even to the point of death, they are, you know, the church and the believers are in his heart. So this is a bold claim. Now imagine this. The first letter they was, he was, you know, rebuking and shouting and saying, but here he's saying, even to the point of death, you will be in our hearts. So it's such a wonderful declaration and a wonderful ministry that he is, you know, ministering to these Corinthian believers. Then he goes on verse four, four through 12. Okay, let's look at four to seven first. Great is my boldness or speech towards you. Great is my boasting on your behalf. I am filled with comfort. I am exceedingly joyful in all our tribulations for indeed when we came to Macedonia, our bodies had no rest. But we were troubled on every side. Outside were conflicts, inside were fears. Nevertheless, God who comforts the downcast comforted us by the coming of Titus. And not only by his coming, but also by consolation with which he was comforted in you when he told us of your earnest desire, your mourning, your zeal for me. So that I rejoiced even more. Now, when we look at the character of the Apostle Paul, you know, all of us may have different pictures. But here we see that the Apostle Paul was bold, but he was also timid. He says, no, I come to you in humility. I'm not coming in my own to the Romans. He says, I'm not coming on my eloquence or speech. I'm not coming with my intellect. I'm coming in humility. But he's also bold where he says to the Galatians, you foolish Galatians. He was bold and correcting, but then he was equally bold in boasting about the people, the believers, especially the ones in Corinth. So he's declaring here in verse four, I am filled with comfort and I'm exceedingly joyful in our tribulation. He's saying, now, when we know that when he went into Macedonia, he knew that there's going to be trials, tribulations, and there was. There were a lot of challenges when he went there. They tried to kill him. They persecuted. They beat him. But he's saying here that, you know, in this tribulation, they found they were filled with comfort and joy. So who gives this comfort and joy during times of tribulation? So there's so much of challenges, physical challenges, mental challenges. Your spirit is so downcast. People are persecuting you on every side. Paul is saying, I'm filled with comfort and joy. Why? Because this is the work of the Holy Spirit. The Holy, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, and Paul was flowing in the fruit of the Spirit. We're saying, are there problems? Yes. Are those problems big and challenging? Yes. I'm filled with comfort and joy because of the fruit of the Spirit. And this is such an important lesson to us. You know, when things are going all right, it's very easy to praise God, to be comforted, to be joyful. But what about when things are not going fine? What about when people are persecuting, people are ridiculing, people are, you know, looking down upon you? Or things are not going the way we have planned. We ask the Holy Spirit, Holy Spirit, fill me with joy, fill me with comfort that I may, even through this season of challenge, I can know that you are a comfort and joy. Right now, the best thing is we have access, right? The same Holy Spirit that the Apostle Paul had is working even now. Right? So here's something very interesting also. In verse 5, he says, for indeed, when we came to Macedonia, our bodies had no rest, but we were troubled on every side. Outside were conflicts, inside were fears. Now you see this balance there? Paul is saying, I was filled with comfort and joy in tribulation. But here in verse 6, he's saying, outside were conflicts, inside were fears. Right? Now, Paul was anxious because when he went into Macedonia, on the way to Macedonia near Troas, he could not find Titus. So he continued along. The plan was he take Titus and go into Macedonia, but he could not find. So Paul was little anxious. Right? Oh, where is Titus? Right? And here he says, you know, the Apostle Paul, he experienced fear in his heart. Right? He says there, inside were fears. He did not hide the fact that he also faced fears. There was stress, there was anxieties, there were things that were happening to him. Paul was secured in his identity in Christ. So he was willing to be open and willing to, you know, let the believers know, hey, I go through the same things. It's not that I don't have any fear or because, you know, I write to you, I also go through that. But when I depend on the Holy Spirit, God empowers me. And because of this dependence on the Holy Spirit, the Apostle Paul did these great exploits for the kingdom of God. If you look at it in a natural sense, you know, history says that the Apostle Paul was a shot bald man in his old age. Not very charming. Very, you know, thin, very, you know, most of the time going on fasting and bruised, beaten up. It is not very good looking that people would, he was not the, even though he was the commander of the temple guard in his early 30s, but now this is way later, many, many years later. Right? So there was nothing very great to look upon him. But Paul is saying my dependence was on the Holy Spirit. So here's another important lesson as believers. You and I, you know, when God begins to use us, whether in past total ministry as worship leaders or apostles and evangelists, whatever God is calling us to do. As we grow up, sometimes we feel that, hey, I can't share with anyone my fears, my doubts, because what will they think? Right? Now, here's, here's what Paul is saying. Being an apostle, being somebody who's so strong in the faith, started all these churches, done wonderful miracles. He's saying, inside your fears, he's selling the church. Right? So you and I, even if we as, you know, we may be 10 years, 20 years in ministry, when we go through challenges, when we go through difficulties, get help. You don't have to say, oh, what will people think? No, our identity is cry in Christ is who we are. So we don't have to fear what people will think. What if they don't come to me, come to our church? Because, you know, I am fearful or I have done this wrong. No, be open, be willing. And that's what the apostle Paul did. Now, Paul later on, Titus comes, right? Titus arrives and Paul was greatly comforted. Right? He received. So for Titus, what happened was Titus went to Corinth and he came back. And the, and the believers somehow Titus, you know, Titus tells Paul that, you know, the believers have read the letter. And now they were deeply sorrowed. They were deeply burdened and they've asked and they have, you know, they are repented. And now Paul, they greatly want to meet you. They want to see you. This is so emotional. Right? Remember Paul, he comes. He sees them briefly. He comes back and he says, now I'm not going to visit them. I better write a letter to them. But so he writes first Corinthians. Right? And then now after they read that Paul Titus is coming back with a report saying, Paul, they were all read your letter. They all understand. They have lamented. They have repented. Now they want to see you. And the apostle Paul, this was a great rejoicing for him. Right? And you see the heart of the apostle Paul here. In when, you know, especially after that first letter, he was later on, we'll see, you know, he was probably a little fearful whether they will take his corrections or whether they would just turn away from it. But all of them in the church, you know, repented. And they wanted to see Paul. Because the first visit was not very pleasant. They wanted to see him. And Paul is so rejoiced and happy with that fact. And verse eight, for even if I made you sorry with my letter, I did not regret it. Though I did regret it, but I perceive that the same episode made you sorry, though only for a while. Now I rejoice, not that you are made sorry, but your sorrow led to repentance. For you are made sorry in a godly manner that you might suffer loss from us in nothing. For godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation, not to be regretted, but the sorrow of the world produces death. Now, it's a wonderful right. Paul is, he's, he's telling the Corinthian believers, I regret the way I wrote it, but I also don't regret it. Because if I hadn't said that, now I see that you're all turning to repentance. You're all turning. And that is more joyful than anything else. Right. Look at what he says. Yeah. A quick recap about the sequence of events which led to the strong letter that Paul wrote. Right. Now, first thing, things were not good spiritually and morally in the church in Corinth. Right. Now, in an attempt to get them back on track, Paul writes this harsh letter. Then he makes an unplanned visit. Right. That unplanned visit makes things worse. Right. Now, after that failure of the, of the first visit, Paul decides not to visit Corinth again, but to send, but he sent Titus to them with a strong letter of rebuke. Right. Now, here's what happened. Paul was worried how the Corinthians would receive that letter. And Titus came back saying they have received it. We are correcting themselves. And Paul is talking about godly sorrow. So if you see here, godly sorrow, what does it do? Godly sorrow leads to repentance and life. Godly sorrow leads to conviction of sins. Godly sorrow leads to hope and provides options for change. Right. So there are two kinds of sorrows in the world. There's godly sorrow and the sort of worldly sorrow. Right. Godly sorrow, the sort of the world leads to death, leads to condemnation, leads to more hopelessness. Right. But you and I, even though we sin, we can go back to God and say God forgive us because godly sorrow leads to repentance and life. There's conviction of sins and there's a hope for things ahead. Right. And so it's such a joy. And Paul is saying this letter that I've sent you has made your sorrow, made your sorrow, not just a sorrow of the world, but it was a godly sorrow where you all have decided to turn from your wrong ways. You have repented of your sins and you're willing to change. That is what godly sorrow does. Right. Now when people correct us, when people, you know, when leaders, I think that's a question. Okay. Mangi, you've raised your hand. Thank you, sir. Yes, sir. It's about the godly sorrow and the worldly sorrow because we also, we hear, say, holy anger and worldly anger. What do they call it? Godly anger. Godly sorrow and worldly anger because we have the truth. We know the truth and we have the Holy Spirit in us. So when we get convicted of sin, we will repent because we know the way. And those of the world, even though they might be convicted of their sin and the wrong things they're doing because they don't know the way. They don't know the word. They will kill themselves. So why not call it just sorrow or the soul and just anger and then the difference is the knowledge we have. So please, can you please explain more? Yes. Yes. That's a really good question, Mangi. Now, when we say world in all through in the Bible, the word world is referred to the things that are not of the spirit. So here you've got sorrow brought by the Holy Spirit, meaning conviction. So when we pray, as believers we pray and we feel sorrowful, it leads to repentance and that is a Godly sorrow. Now, as you said, Mangi, they don't have the Holy Spirit. They don't understand what is happening. Now, let's look at this example. Look at death. A simple thing which every human being will have to face. What is the difference in death for believers? What was the difference with death with unbelievers? Now, when you see both of them, both places there is mourning, there is sadness. There is sadness. There's a loss of a loved one. Both places, whether they believe Jesus or don't believe Jesus, there is sadness. Now, what is the second step? The second step is there is a hope in terms of believers. Why? Because of the knowledge of the truth of God's word. We know that, hey, this person knows Jesus and to be absent in the bodies, to be present with the Lord and one day we will see each other. There's a hope. But is there sorrow, pain, bereavement? Definitely, yes. But here, there is sorrow, pain, bereavement, but that is leading not to a place of hope, but is leading to a place of guilt, condemnation, fear, doubt or anger. So, if we see the difference, godly sorrow always leads to some kind of a hope, but the worldly sorrow is most often going to, it's not going to bring any hope for the future. Now, how do we know that? Because you and I have the Holy Spirit as a assurance. So there are many times, there are many people that I know of who are unbelievers, people from other faiths. They've lost their loved ones. But even now, I'm talking about 10 years, 10 years down the line, they still feel sorrowful, but they feel this hopelessness. I don't think I can ever see them again. I know of somebody who has lived with this guilt for many years, during the end moment of his mother's life, he was not there for his mother. He was busy working and doing all this, and finally his mother passed away. But even now, that guilt is there. See, worldly sorrow brings guilt, condemnation. But godly sorrow brings hope, brings comfort. Now, is there comfort in the worldly sorrow? Could be. Some of them can just overcome it. They're strong in their mind, they overcome, they go ahead. But here, when we see the difference, it's very important to understand that this whole comfort joy, like how Paul was saying previous to this, comfort, joy, strength, hope, all of this comes only from the Holy Spirit. So the reason he's talking about a worldly sorrow, these are things that the world cannot offer. But this is what God can offer. That's why it's called the worldly sorrow. The world can offer, there may be friends who can comfort you, but what about when they're gone? What about the friends, the friends go home? But that comfort is not going to be there when we're alone at home. Nobody's there. We have somebody who we can look at. We can look at the Holy Spirit. Wonderful example here by Sayyid also. Peter versus Judas's reaction after both sinned is a classic example of godly and worldly sorrows. Yes. So we look at Peter. He did a very bad mistake. Actually both Peter and Judas did the same thing. Judas did it for money. Peter did it for free. Judas said, you give me money, I will betray. Peter said, I will betray. But both sinned, both betrayed, but you see the difference there. What godly sorrow did was brought him to repentance. Worldly sorrow got him to guilt, condemnation, over and over again led to suicide. Worldly sorrow leads to death. Now when we say death, it may not be only physical death. There's a spiritual death. There's no life in the spirit anymore. Meaning there's no joy, there's no comfort, there's no peace. So Mangi, to look at it, one thing we must understand that sorrow is there. Sorrow will be there, whether we are believers or unbelievers. As human beings, we all will face sorrow. But how we react to those sorrows, those situations, those seasons will determine whether we have godly sorrow or whether we have worldly sorrow. Look at even what you said about anger, holy anger and worldly anger. Holy anger will result in, again, change of heart, change of, look at what Moses did. And there are many places, right? Moses, when he came down from that mountain, he was so upset to see that idol. What did he do? He broke that idol with the Ten Commandments and he crushed it into pieces and put it in, mixed it in water and made them eat it, drink it. Those are extreme. But that has got the anger. But what happened after that? It resulted in many people turning back. Now what if Moses went there and said, okay, this is done. Please don't do this. Next time, you know, it's not good. I'm sure if they carried on on the way, somewhere in between, they would have done it again. But we don't see an account after that. After that, we don't see an account where they built a calf and they said, begin to worship. No, we don't see an account of that. So godly anger will always lead towards God. But the worldly anger will lead us away from God. Godly anger will lead us to holiness and to righteousness. But worldly anger will lead us to sin and death. So there's a difference there. So that's why it's called godly and worldly. Maggie, I hope that gives some kind of clarity to your question. Yes, first. Thank you. Thank you. Okay, let's carry on. Okay, so we see here Paul lists down eight qualities that he observed in the Corinthian believers because of God. He says they were diligent. They were clearing of oneself, meaning they were giving a reason. And there was indignation. There was fear. There was vehement desire, a zeal, a vindication, meaning clearing of blame. And they were proving oneself to be clear. Now it goes on verse 13. Therefore, we have been comforted in your comfort and we rejoice exceedingly more for the joy of Titus because his spirit has been refreshed by you all. For if in anything I have boasted to him about you, I am not ashamed. But as we spoke all things to you in truth, even so our boasting to Titus was found true. And his affections are greater for you. He remembers the obedience of you all. How it filled and trampled you in the effort of rejoicing, having confidence in doing everything. This Paul is sending this. Now the letter is like the buks. It's interesting to think of this. It's nice to tell them how they have wished you to the Lord's table like this. You know, with the help of its food. He's really repeating the first letter. But he's sending Titus and he's saying, Titus, these people are very good believers. I have boasted to Titus. It says there, right? I boasted about you. So he was, he was, you see, Paul is not saying he's written the letter all the wrongs and correcting them, rebuking them. But Paul is not saying Titus go to this church and, you know, I started this church on the second missionary journey. Now they are doing everything wrong. Go and correct them, rebuk them nicely, give this letter to them, read it to them, make sure they follow it. He doesn't do that. He was 14, it says, for if in anything I have boasted to him about you. He's saying, oh, this Titus, meaning by sending Titus, he stole the church and Corinth are wonderful believers. They are flowing in the gifts of the Spirit probably and go and encourage them. And they are, you know, they're a wonderful church. He's saying all that, but I can only picture Titus if he had opened the letter and kept reading it. It would have been the opposite. But Titus rejoices after receiving the good report because his Paul, sorry, Paul rejoices after receiving the good report from Titus because his boasting was not incorrect. So when Titus came back and said they are changing, they've received him and have loved him, they've honoured Titus, they've so much of love and affection, they've treated him, Paul is saying, see, I told Titus that I have boasted about you all and I'm correct in my boasting. All this resulted in the restoration of Paul's confidence in the Corinthian believers. Yes, a very, very wonderful, important lesson for us as believers, right? Not everyone are perfect. We all go through challenges. We bring correction, but always, always look to, you know, especially when you're working as a team, don't always look at the negative in a person or in their ministry or the things they're doing. Look at what God can do in their lives. Look at what they are as believers, what God has called them. Paul is not saying, you know, he didn't list out to Titus. You know, these people are not having communion properly. These people are doing this wrong and that wrong and they're asking this division within the church. They are eating food, sacrifice to idols. They are getting unwillingly yoked with unbelievers. They're doing this and that, nothing. Paul just boasted about the church and said, go Titus, meet them, correct? Just give them this letter. And when Titus comes back, Apostle Paul says, I'm glad. What I boasted about you in Titus, that is Titus, what I have said is true. So it's such a beautiful lesson that we can all learn. Now let's go into chapter eight. And chapter eight, Paul is suddenly changing his talk, right? He's moving to another subject. He's talking about financial giving and generosity to the Corinthian church, right? Now we know that the church in Jerusalem was a huge church. They were very poor. They were going through financial situations. And he mentions that in 1 Corinthians 16, he says, you know, concerning collections, he says this, right? So he continues on that note. He's saying, what kind of giving the Apostle Paul saw in the churches of Macedonia? Now the churches of Macedonia were cities such as Philippi, Thessalonica, and Beria. So if you look at the map here, Macedonia, okay? Akhaya was a part of it, right? So some of them say that even Corinth was part of Macedonia, even though there was this little diversion here. So Corinth is here, Athens. So Paul was going from Corinth to Macedonia. He was going to Macedonia. And you see that distance there, right? So in Macedonia, what happened? There were these churches, Philippi, Thessalonica, and Beria. Remember Beria? People, the Berians always ask questions. So we know that there's a church planted there. But we don't have a letter written to the church in Beria. So he's using them as an example of giving. And here's what he starts off in verse one onwards. Brethren, we make known to you by the grace of God bestowed on the churches of Macedonia, that in great trial and affliction, the abundance of their joy and their deep poverty are bounded in the riches of their reality. For I bear witness that according to their ability, yes, beyond their ability, they were freely willing. Now the believers in the region of Macedonia, again, they were not very rich. They were also financially poor. But Paul saw the grace of God operate in their lives. Now, the church in Philippi, Thessalonica, when we read those letter cells, always thank you, received it. Thank you for the blankets tell. We didn't have much. The church in Macedonia. But grace of God knew the importance of giving. To the begpaw said, Paul, you can, please, receive it. Receive these gifts. Now, five is interesting. Not only as we had hoped, but they first gave themselves to the Lord and then to us by the will of God. Look at that. They first gave themselves to the Lord. Now, as believers, here's an important lesson that we must learn. Financial giving is very important. But what did the Macedonian church do? In their little, they first gave themselves to the Lord. They said, God, I come under your subjection, your will, your purposes. They gave themselves to the Lord and then out of that relationship, they gave unto God. Out of that relationship for God, with God, they gave to the ministry. Now, sometimes as Christians, we may think, okay, if I don't go to church, it's okay. If I don't live a holy life, that's okay. But I will give so much money to the children's home. I will give so much money to a destitute home. I'll give so much money to the church building fund. I'll give so much to the church. I'll go once every six months. Put a huge offering. God will be pleased. God is not pleased. God is not a God who wants our money. It is God. God is the one who gave us that. God wants us to first give ourselves to the Lord. And so, whether we give... During Jesus' time, the Pharisees came and they gave their offerings so that everyone could see the Pharisees, the Sadducees, the rich people. Then there was a poor widow who came and just put one coin. What was the difference? She gave herself to the Lord and she said, God, what I have, I'm giving you. That is more insane. I'll give how much ever I want to give to God. They're giving from their abundance to God because it's far removed and detached from the way they live their lives. What is leading to God is when our heart is fully surrendered to His will, to His plans, His purposes. And then when we give, there is beauty in that. There is blessings in that. So never compensate giving to God to our holy life and our living. I can't say I'll give so much money every two months or I'll bless so many pastors every month and they will pray instead of me. I'll pray for 10 minutes, let them pray for me. That's not going to work. First, give ourselves to the Lord and out of that relationship, out of that fellowship, we'll come out giving. And God is pleased with that kind of money. Let's look at 6 and 7. So we urge Titus that as he had begun, so he would also complete this grace in himself but as about faith and knowledge and all religions and in all your love for us, see that you are about this grace. So Paul is saying, Corinthians, I thank you and I am pleased to have you. I see changes in you but as about everything, your faith and your knowledge and your religions in the way you have changed, in the way you have received me and in changing your receiving word, all this we see the grace but I want to also see the grace of God or bound even in the number of giving. So here's a biblical way of, sometimes we look at ministries and say, we're always looking for money. Yeah, it could be. This is the way to do things. But remember, when we give, it should be out of the abundance of our heart. We will give to God, grumbling, murmuring. It's better not to give because God says, God loves a cheerful giver. And you can see it turn around. When we give to God out of whatever we have, it's not how much. It's with what heart we're giving. You see that when God blesses, nobody can stop those blessings. People will recognize, people will bless. There was eight onwards. I speak by command but I'm taking the sincerity of your love by the diligence of others. For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that He was it for your sake. He came for it. And that through His poverty, He came for it. And in this, give advice. It is to your advantage not only to be doing what you've been and as I do here, but now also complete the doing of it. That is, there was greatness to desire it. So there also be a completion of what you have. So He's saying, okay, Paul is not commanding the believers but he's exerting the believers to be sincere in their giving, to be sincere in their love, to other saints, to other ministries, to other believers as well. Two points here and then we'll take a break. He asked the Corinthian believers to the eagerness of the Macedonian church to give despite the poverty, they did not have much, yet they gave their all. That's so wonderful, right? They did not have much but whatever they had, they gave. And that must be our heart's desire also. As believers, we may not have much but what is little when we give it our all, when we say, God, this is what I have. I'm giving to you. Bless it. God will multiply it. God will bless it. Now God knows what is our all. We don't have to explain to God, right? God, this is my budget, this is, this is. And finally, so I'm giving all. No, we don't have to explain. God knows that they didn't have much. They gave their all. The man of the Lord Jesus gave himself to us. The Lord Jesus had everything, yet he emptied himself for us. Right? And so he brings out these two things. They didn't have much. The Macedonian church, they gave them all the same way. The Lord Jesus, they had everything but he emptied himself for us. Right? So let's take a break. We'll come back at 10 o'clock and continue with this.