 Our text this morning is 2 Corinthians chapter 9 verses 1 through 5 and the title of our sermon, Generous Giving. Generous Giving from 2 Corinthians chapter 9 verses 1 through 5. As we approach our text this morning, we find the apostle Paul once again laboring in ministry with a church at Corinth. As we work through the text, it's a beautiful text, right? These chapters are just rich, rich with instructions from the apostle here. And if you look closely at the white space between the lines, so to speak, you can you can see Paul's wisdom in how he ministers to the church at Corinth. You can see Paul's love for this church, his love for these people. You can see his care and his concern for their growth, for their edification, for their testimony. You can see the desire in Paul for this church to prosper, for them to mature, for them to grow in Christ. And more than that, the pages here just seek with Paul's love for the Lord Jesus Christ and Paul's devotion to honoring him above all. Now, this is far more, far more than simply a record of Paul's work among them for this collection, right? It's through this record, through other other records like it in Second Corinthians, that we learn through Paul's example how to love one another, how to minister to one another in the church, how to think, and how to care, how to be thoughtful, how to apply wisdom from the word of God. We learn how to conduct ourselves in the household of God, how to faithfully minister to one another as Paul does, how we should devote ourselves to the Lord, how we should love. Now, certainly in chapters eight and nine, we learn much about generosity, much about Christian giving. In fact, these chapters represent a virtual systematic theology on the subject of Christian giving. As we consider these verses, and as we consider their application to us, serves us well each time we approach this text to remember the context of this passage. There are saints in Jerusalem, and the saints in Jerusalem are really struggling, having a difficult time due to persecution, due to a lack of material resources, due to an overwhelming influx of new Christians, pilgrim Christians coming back into Jerusalem, who've left everything to follow Christ. The saints in Jerusalem are impoverished and in great need of help. Paul, desiring to remember the poor also, right, has begun a collection among the predominantly Gentile churches to provide much needed support, much needed help to the struggling, suffering saints in Jerusalem. The Corinthians has begun their part in this collection a year prior, and Paul now sends a letter ahead of him, a letter that we have in our hands this morning, by the hands of a three-man delegation. That three-man delegation is given instructions to prepare the offering, to take up the collection, to get it ready, so that when Paul comes through Corinth with other brothers from Macedonia, he can pick it up, pick up the gift, and carry it with him on to Jerusalem. Now our account began with Paul stirring us up to generous giving by way of example in chapter eight verses one through six, where Paul draws our attention to the grace of God poured out on the churches of Macedonia. The grace of God poured out on those churches results in a lavish and sacrificial display of grace fueled and God glorifying generosity, right? Grace fueled God glorifying giving. Our account continued then with Paul stirring us up to generous giving by way of exhortation in chapter eight verses seven through fifteen, where we are challenged by the apostle Paul to abound in this grace of generosity. We are to abound in this grace also. He says, I'm testing the sincerity of your love by the diligence of the Macedonians. I am testing the sincerity of your love against the ultimate example verse nine of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now in verses sixteen through twenty-four then, we are introduced to this three-man delegation that will be assisting the church with the collection. That delegation consisting of Titus and two unnamed brothers are then charged in chapter nine verse five with preparing the gift beforehand, right? Preparing the gift ahead of Paul's arrival, a gift that the Corinthians had previously promised. And now chapter nine verses one through five, we hear Paul's heart, Paul's mind expressed in the decision to send these brothers ahead of his arrival to ensure that the collection is in order. Paul gives an explanation, if you will, for why he's sending this delegation to Corinth. Paul knows that the church is willing to give. Paul knows that those members of that church in Corinth are ready to give to the collection. They have a heart to give. They have a willingness to give. He says in verse two, I know your willingness, right? Your zeal for every, for this gift, for this collection has everyone else stirred up, right? I know your willingness. But Paul has a concern here that prompts him to send these brothers to Corinth ahead of his arrival. Paul has a concern. And we find Paul's concern expressed in verse five. Therefore Paul says, I thought it necessary to exhort the brethren to go to you ahead of time ahead of my arrival and prepare your generous gift beforehand, which you had previously promised so that it may be ready as a matter of generosity and not as a grudging obligation. We see Paul's concern in verse five. Now, Paul sends the delegation ahead of his arrival to prepare the gift. The delegation goes to Corinth to prepare the collection, but they're going to Corinth not only to prepare the collection, right? They're not simply going to gather up the money that's being offered, put it in bags, roll the coins, fill out the deposit slip, right? They're not doing that alone or only. Paul here in our text knows something very tragic about our fallen hearts. Paul knows it's not only the collection that needs to be prepared. He knows their heart needs to be prepared to give as they should also not just the collection. It's our heart also that needs to be prepared. Otherwise, their hearts weren't prepared. They might tend to look toward this act of giving or look toward any act of obedience, not as a matter of love, not as a matter of generosity, but as a matter of grudging obligation. Aren't we prone often to our shame to view giving and certainly many other acts of our obedience as grudging obligations rather than as a matter of love, a matter of compassion, a matter of devotion, right? The believers in Corinth are willing to listen. It's not enough to be willing. It's not enough to be willing. It's not enough to be zealous. It's not enough to simply obey as a matter of grudging obligation. We must follow through with generous giving from the heart if it's going to be generous giving that glorifies the Lord Jesus Christ, right? We must follow through with a heart of love for the Lord Jesus Christ, from a heart of love for our brother in Christ. It's that worship, beloved. It's that obedience, that giving that glorifies God then and magnifies the grace of God in Christ. Now that generous giving, that obedience from the heart, grace field, gospel informed, God glorifying giving doesn't come naturally to our fallen hearts. That's the reality of our inward corruption, that corruption that is present within us on this side of eternity. That's the reality of our hearts. We are prone to wonder, Lord, how I feel it, right? Our hearts are prone to cool and to be cold. We are prone to a heartless religion. We are prone, apart from the grace of God in Christ, we are prone to a grudging moralism unless the spirit of God continuously blows across the flaming embers that God has lit in my otherwise cold heart, the flame would go out. But that is the grace of God in Christ to his people, amen? That he sustains us and preserves us and cultivates within us that kind of heart for him, right? A heart of love, a heart of devotion. How unworthy of God, how unbecoming of one who for whom Christ died, right? How unbecoming of that one to offer service to God as a grudging obligation. So it's with that concern in mind that Paul then sends the delegation to Corinth to prepare not only for the physical collection of the money that would be giving, but also to prepare the hearts of the Corinthians to give as they should. They're going to prepare the hearts of these people. Now with respect to our text, Paul knows that a willing heart and a prepared heart leads to a generous heart. Paul knows that a willing heart and a prepared heart leads to a generous heart. If the giving of the Corinthians isn't fueled by grace, isn't shaped by the gospel, then the giving of the Corinthians will be a grudging obligation rather than a matter of God glorifying generosity. I want us to see that concern of Paul in the text, right? The concern of Paul here in this getting is not the dollar amount. That can't be our concern either. The concern of Paul for these Corinthians, these members at this church, the concern of Paul is their heart. It's their heart. The concern of Paul is not to command their conformity to a set standard. His heart here is linked to this concern in chapter 8 verse 8 when he says, I speak not by commandment, but I am testing the sincerity of your love. I'm not going to give you a command, Paul says. Why? Because external ritualistic religion, external formalism, mere moralism aims solely at conformity to a standard. Whereas the willing heart prepared by God, transformed by grace, aims at loving the standard bearer. Paul wants them to be prepared to give from the heart. Paul wants us, brothers and sisters, this morning to be prepared to give from the heart. Paul wants us to be prepared to love from the heart, to obey from the heart, to live the Christian life for Christ from the heart. If their generosity flows from that heart, the heart of a sincere love for the Lord Jesus Christ and for his people, then their gift will be exactly what the apostle Paul hopes that it will be. Exactly what he expects that it will be, a matter of God glorifying Christ's exalting, lavish, extravagant, sacrificial generosity. And, beloved, that's the way that we need to think. That's the way that we need to think about giving to the church. That's the way that we need to think about giving to those in need. That's the way that we need to think about giving to the work of missions, giving to the cause of Christ. But that's also how we need to think about all of our obedience to the Lord, every act of obedience to the Lord. Is our obedience a matter of grudging obligation, or is it a matter of love? What is it, ladies, is your submission to your husband? Is it a matter of grudging obligation, or is it a matter of love? Is it a matter of devotion to the Lord Jesus Christ for the glory of God? Kids, is your obedience to your parents? Is it a matter of grudging obligation, or is it a matter of gratitude to God for giving you those godly parents, giving you parents? My son, do not forget my law, but let your heart keep my commands for length of days and long life and peace they will add to you. Husbands, is your sacrifice for your wife? Is it a matter of grudging obligation? You come home from work and you walk through the door, what is the condition of your heart? Is setting time aside to study and to meditate on the Word of God? Is setting time aside to evangelize, to witness the lost people, to preach the Gospel? Is that a matter to you of grudging obligation, or is it a matter of love? Is it a matter of devotion? That's Paul's concern. That's the concern of our text. I want to prove this to you from our text. Second Corinthians chapter 9 verses 1 through 5. We'll break the text down across three points. One, a willing heart. Two, a prepared heart. Three, a generous heart. A willing heart, a prepared heart, and a generous heart. A willing heart and a prepared heart leads to a generous heart. Now look with me first at the willing heart of the Corinthians in verses 1 and 2, verse 1. Paul says now, concerning the ministering to the saints. That's what Paul is calling the collection now. Not merely a collection of money, right? Elsewhere it's described as a gift. It's a fellowship with the saints in chapter 8 verse 4. It's a grace in chapter 8 verse 6. It's described as a blessing in our text here in verse 1. It's a ministry to the saints. Paul sees this collection as an act of loving service. Paul says, considering that gift, that collection, that it's superfluous for me to write to you. In other words, it's not necessary for me to remind you to give. It's not really necessary for me to exhort you to give. Why? Verse 2. For I know your willingness, your eagerness, your readiness. The word conveys the sense of an intense and evident desire. Desire for what? A desire to be a part of this effort, this collection. The word here used to describe how the Bereans received the word of God in Acts 17. They received the word with much eagerness, with much earnestness, great eagerness, great willingness. In other words, they didn't have to be prodded. They didn't have to be cajoled. The Corinthians were ready to give. They desired to give. If you think about it that way, that willingness, that's the heart of a Christian, isn't it? That's the heart of a Christian. You've turned from your sin and put your faith in Christ. If you have a new heart in him, then it's a heart where the desires have been changed. And now the desire of the Christian no longer is to serve the lusts of the flesh and to run after the course of this world. The desire of the genuine believer is to praise and worship and follow the Lord Jesus Christ. Your desires have changed and now there's a new willingness to endeavor after new obedience. New willingness, a new desire, that's the heart of a Christian. Now, when you become a Christian, when the Lord changes your heart, you have inward corruption and that heart sometimes need to be prodded, doesn't it? It's not always perfectly that way. And sometimes our hearts need to be corrected, but that is the characteristic of the heart of a Christian, a willingness, a desire to obey the Lord Jesus Christ. In fact, Paul says, verse two, I boast of that to the Macedonians. I boast of your willingness to the Macedonians that Achaia, particularly the church here at Corinth, was ready a year ago. And your zeal, your enthusiasm has stirred up the majority. Paul says, essentially, really, it's really not necessary for me to write to you about the collection, because I know about your willingness. I know that you desire to take part. Now, praise God. In our church, we have many genuinely, soundly saved people. And if you're in Christ, then we know when we preach and teach, we know that your desire from the heart is to obey the Lord Jesus Christ. So that tends to shape, doesn't it? The way that we teach, the way that we preach, the way that we interact with one another. I know your heart, and I know your heart, your desire is to obey. We just need to prepare your heart for obedience, right, with the preaching and teaching of God's Word. Now, notice the two ways here in which Paul describes this heart attitude of willingness on the part of the Corinthians. It was the willingness that he himself boasted about, and it was a willingness marked by a zeal that was contagious. Now, this is interesting, isn't it? You think about it? You meditate on these two points. First, he spends the first six verses of chapter eight boasting to the church at Corinth about the church of the Macedonia. And then here in chapter nine, he says to the church at Corinth, I've been boasting about you to them, to the Macedonians, right? I love that Paul does this. Such a good example here of cultivating love, right? Cultivating unity. And I see it happen in our church all the time, and I want to encourage you to keep that going, right? We can be talking, and I'll be talking to Robinson, and I'll say Robinson, and that brother will see Noelle walk through the lobby. That's such a good brother. I'm so thankful to the Lord for that brother, right? And then the next time Robinson's around, Noelle, he's saying, that brother rally, oh man, that's such a good brother. I'm so grateful to the Lord, that brother serving in our church. And then we'll say to Braille, right? It's love for the brothers. It's magnifying the grace of God at work in those brothers, in those sisters, magnifying the work of God among us that we would boast about one another in that way. And that's exactly what Paul is doing here, right? And in doing that, what do you do? You knit those brothers together. Our church becomes more loving. Our church becomes more unified. It's just the spirit of God at work among God's people in that way. And the result of that is this boasting in them. No, but in the work of God in them, the work of God through them, right? Let him who glories glory in the Lord. And that's what we're doing. That's what Paul is doing here. It's good to boast about what God does in the lives of our brothers and sisters. But secondly, not just a willingness about which Paul boasted that willingness marked by a desire, a zeal. There was an enthusiasm about that willingness that was contagious. So when Paul boasted that way to the Macedonians about the enthusiasm that Corinth had for the collection effort, that report, Paul says, stirred up the majority, stirred up the majority. Some that are just cold, right? Have to stoke a little harder. But this boasting, this zeal, the willingness of the Corinthian church stirred up the majority in the churches of Macedonia to give. And what was the result of that? We see the result of that in chapter eight verses one through six. We see how the Macedonians then gave as a fruit of that. They gave, motivated by the enthusiasm, by the zeal of the Corinthians. Now point one, these Corinthians were known for a willing heart. And that willing heart expressed in a zeal to be generous. Now that willing heart, that desire, that zeal for the Lord is a mark of a genuine Christian. When you are in the world, you love the things of this world. Would you say amen to that? You walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience. You walked as children of wrath like the rest. You love your sin. And walking in the course of the world, there's not an earnest zeal or an earnest eagerness. There's not that willingness to give it up. You wanted your sin either by words or sometimes just by your actions. You'll profess to hate it, but you want it. You go back to it like a dog returning to his vomit, right? A pig to wallowing in the mire. You kept going back to your sin. There's ultimately no war with sin because at the end of the day, there's no genuine desire to turn from it. The willingness is simply not there apart from Christ. There's no earnest zeal to give it up. But when that rebellious sinner, when that lost man, woman, boy, girl, when that rebellious sinner sees what an offense his sin is to God, then he longs to be free from it, right? Longs to be free from it. He hungers and he thirsts for righteousness. If all the sin that was within you was encompassed in your right arm, you would gladly cut it off to be free from it without anesthesia, right? There's a desire to be free from it. A willingness, a willingness that is the mark of the genuine Christian to be free from sin, to please the Lord Jesus Christ, to walk in holiness and to walk in righteousness. Birth within his heart by the Spirit of God is a readiness, is a willingness, an intense fervor to follow hard after Christ, to obey from the heart, to obey from the heart, and to love as you have been loved in him. Paul says it's really unnecessary for me to write to you about this because I know you're willing. I know you're willing. They are willing to give and their willingness is marked by a contagious zeal. Brothers and sisters, let that contagious zeal mark all of your devotion for Christ. Let it mark every act of obedience. Let it mark every area, your meditation on the scriptures, your prayer, your service to the brothers and sisters, your service to this church, your evangelism. Let it mark you as a Christian. I know. Let it be said of you. I know you are willing. You have a willing heart. There's a contagious zeal for the Lord about you. Now, if they're willing, think with me, if they are willing, then the purpose that Paul has in sending the delegation to them, the purpose that Paul has in mind when he instructs and exhorts them in chapter eight is to prepare them. Okay, is to prepare them to give from the heart. They're willing to have a desire. They just need to think about this right. They need to have their heart, their conscience informed. They need to understand what the word of God says. They need to put it in perspective, right? They need to think about it for the Christian willingness or desire is not enough. Not enough. We can't sit back, rest on our laurels, boasting in our willingness. Had conversations before, brothers and sisters. Sometimes it's because the person is lost where the person will say, I know I'm a Christian because I desire to do the right thing and they're living in sin. You see the problem? Willingness is not enough. You can't sit back and boast in your desire. If your desire is genuine, if it is a fruit of the spirit of God, then your desire will eventually in action will eventually in faith filled obedience to the Lord Jesus Christ, not perfectly, but in the power of the spirit, that kind of desire and that obedience marks your life. We move on to faithful obedience from the heart. You have a willingness. You have an evident zeal. But now Paul says, a moment has come to put your action, to put action to your profession. You must call your heart and mind all those reasons. Call to your heart and mind all those reasons that motivated your zeal and then follow through with great commitment, follow through with faith filled action. If the Corinthians don't move on from willingness alone to generous giving and what does Paul say about all his boasting in verse three? He says that it's in vain. He says that it's in vain. So now Paul wants to ensure then that they are prepared. Look at verse three with me. Verse three, yet he begins, even though you're willing, even though you're willing, I have sent the brethren, lest our boasting of you should be in vain in this respect, that as I said, you may be ready. You may be prepared. Now, in what way would Paul's boasting about them turn out to be in vain? In what way would Paul's boasting about them turn out to be in vain? It would be in vain if the Corinthians failed to give from the heart as a matter of generosity. If they don't give in that way, then all of Paul's boasting about them will have been in vain. It would turn out to be in vain if their giving was the bitter fruit of viewing this collection as a grudging obligation. Do you see? So in verse three, Paul says, essentially, I sent the brethren so that you may be prepared. Lest, in verse four, some Macedonians come with me and find you unprepared. Do you see? I sent the brethren so that you may be prepared. Lest when I come, I find you unprepared. Now, Paul's great concern then, verses three and four, is that the Corinthians are prepared to follow through on their commitment and to give from the heart. Look at chapter eight, one chapter back, and look at verse 10. Paul says essentially the same thing there in verse 10. He says, in this I give advice. It is to your advantage, not only to be doing what you began and were desiring to do a year ago, but now verse 11, you also must complete the doing of it, that as there was a readiness to desire it, so there also may be a completion out of what you have. You see how that fills out our understanding of what Paul means thereby, it's to your advantage. When he says it's to your advantage. We need to follow through from this willingness, this readiness, follow through with a zeal for the completion of it. We need to follow through with action. We can see this in our kids, can't we? This kind of thing, this need for preparation of the heart. Have two kids, maybe they have two daughters. One daughter says to the other daughter, can I borrow your shirt? The first reaction out of the flesh of that other daughter is no. Why? Because it's mine. Because it's my shirt. It's my shirt. But then when you call that young lady's mind and heart to reflect on the love that she has for her sister and the joy that they have in fellowship together as sisters and in gratitude for the fact that God has blessed her with giving her her sister and the relationship that they've had together and how they've grown up together and all the times they've shared together and the conversations that they've had together, right? The love that they have for one another, the love that they have for the Lord and giving them a sister, right? When you call to your heart and mind all of those things, of course, you can have my shirt. Let me give you another, right? We just need to think about it, right? We need to have our hearts prepared. We need to think. We need to put it in the right perspective. We need to think and that doesn't come naturally to us. We need the word of God to inform our heart. We need the word of God to inform our understanding. It doesn't come naturally to our fallen hearts to think in that way. We need the spirit of God at work in us. We need to be immersed in the word of God. That's a small example, small example, but there are many, many, many, many, many examples in the Christian life of that very thing where our first reaction out of our flesh is a grudging obligation to view it as a grudging obligation, right? As soon as you talk to most professing Christians about anything to do with obedience, what's their response? That's legalism. Listen, it's not legalism to obey the Lord. Don't you want to obey the Lord? If you're a Christian, yes, I have a willing heart. Okay, let's put it in right perspective then. Think about it. What has the Lord Jesus Christ done for you? Then all of a sudden the wall that just, you know, flown up in our flesh, those walls start melting away because we put it in the right perspective. We think, right? Husband comes home from work. Honey, will you take out the trash? No, I've been working all day. I'm tired, right? The first reaction in our flesh, but if you'll take a moment, brothers, and prepare your heart, use the drive home, right? To think about the gratitude that you have to God for giving you your wife, the love that you have for her, all that she does for you, right? And you just put it in perspective. Gratitude, love, you put it in perspective. And then it's like, of course, and you are ashamed because of that fleshly reaction, right? That first response that came right out of your flesh, it's a cause for shame. We should be ashamed. Now notice with me, notice with me, if they do not follow through on their commitment to give with actual giving, if their desire, their willingness does not bear the fruit of generous giving from the heart, then Paul gives them two consequences that will certainly follow. Two consequences. Verse three, our boasting of you will have been in vain. In verse four, we, not to mention you, should be ashamed, like Moses interceding with God before a stiff necked and rebellious nation. Paul stands with the Corinthians, having boasted of the grace of God at work in them, him, his ministry, his work wrapped up together with them. And he says, listen, if we do not follow through on our desire with generous giving from the heart, then we should be ashamed of ourselves. We should be ashamed. It's shameful, isn't it? Sin, disobedience, our alienation from God, do our rebellion against him, doing that, which is offensive in the sight of God, inside of the one who sees all. In his sight, we conduct ourselves shamefully in our sin, even in secret, he sees it all. It is shameful. It is shameful here in our text, not following through with love, not following through with generosity from the heart that is in keeping with the gospel, not following through on that would be shameful. The Lord says in Luke chapter 14 verse 28, listen, he says, for which of you intending to build a tower, that's willingness, right? That's readiness. That's a desire. You intend to build a tower. Which of you intending to build a tower does not sit down first and count the cost, whether he has enough to finish it. Lest, after he's laid the foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him. Why? Because it's shameful. Because it's shameful. They mock him saying this man began to build and was not able to finish. Adam and Eve, our first parents in the garden, felt the bitter pain of shame before God, didn't they? Having sinned in his sight and then entirely unable to hide themselves from the eyes of him before whom they must give an account. That's where conviction under the word of God comes from, doesn't it? Doesn't it come from shame and guilt over sin? Conviction under the preaching of God's word comes from a sense of shame and guilt over our sin. It's right that we should have a sense of shame over our sin, amen? When we don't follow through in obedience from the heart for the sake of the one who redeemed us by his blood. If we don't follow through walking worthy of the calling with which he called us, it is a shameful thing. It is a shameful thing. It's shameful. There is a sense of shame when we realize how neglectful, how disobedient, how unloving we've been, how self-involved, self-indulgent, self-absorbed, selfish we've been. It's shameful. And we recoil from shame, don't we? This world especially, they want to avoid shame at all costs. So what happens when they feel shame? When somebody in the world feels shame, they recoil from it. Even worse, what's happening? We see it all over today, don't we? Someone is shamed by the fact that they have murdered their baby, and then what do they do? They shout their abortion. They respond with a brazen attempt to suppress the truth of that shame by proclaiming it as if it were their honor. Sometimes you blame the preacher for the shame. Your preaching is too hard. Sometimes we blame the preacher for that. Calvin wrote, only those who have learned well to be earnestly dissatisfied with themselves and to be confounded with shame at their wretchedness truly understand the Christian gospel. I think that's worthy of reading again. Calvin wrote, only those who have learned well to be earnestly dissatisfied with themselves and to be confounded with the shame at their own wretchedness truly understand the Christian gospel. If you've never experienced the pain of shame, the bitterness of shame over your sin, then you've never repented of your sin. The ultimate issue is not the sense of shame over your sin. It's not the ultimate issue. The ultimate issue is what you do about it. It's what you do about it. Shame is a reality and praise God. He gives us a conscience so there can be a sensitivity to guilt and shame over sin. You should pray, God make me sensitive to the ways in which I sin against you. It's what you do about it. The issue is what you do about it. Are you trying to run from God? Are you trying to run from accountability for your sin? Are you attempting to hide from Him in the garden of delight that you have planted there for yourself? Are you trying to forget your shame or avoid your shame by drowning it in work, by drowning it in a hobby or in video games or the TV or alcohol or pleasure? Some avoid shame by brazenly asserting what they think is their right to that over which they are ashamed. You avoid shame for long enough and you'll begin to dull the sense of it. Your conscience will begin to be seared. You'll begin to feel or sense yourself moving beyond a sensitivity to sin. But it's there. The shame is there. The guilt is there sitting under the surface so to speak. For some it leads to joylessness. For some it leads to despair. It's what you do about it. What are you going to do about it? The shame for your sin, the shame for my sin as a reality, what are you going to do about it? What are you going to do about the guilt? If you are ashamed at the wretched man or the wretched woman that you've become, if you are ashamed at how you've treated your mother, your father, if you are ashamed, if you're ashamed of how you've interacted with or treated your wife, your husband, if you are ashamed of your sin, then you have a place to go with your guilt and shame. Take it to the cross, amen. We have a place to go with our shame. We have a place to go with our guilt. It's the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. Take it to the Lord Jesus Christ who bore our shame upon the tree. And then sing with the saints, right? Bearing shame and scoffing rude, in my place condemned he stood, sealed my pardon with his blood, hallelujah, what a savior. He endured the cross, despising the shame so that we might live no longer with ours. That's where joy in the Christian life comes from. Had someone tell me one time, witnessing to them, we were sort of walking through the law and talking about sin and the existence of sin and the reason that we should be ashamed of our sin. And a response to me was, where's the joy in that? There should be no joy in that ever. You offended God with your sin, there's no joy in that. But what's the good news, brother, sister, lost person, lost boy, lost girl, what's the good news? Is there joy in the cross? Take it to the cross. Plead with God for forgiveness for your sins. He'll give you a new heart. He'll put his spirit within you, cause you to walk in his judgments. That God-given sense of shame should be a powerful motivator. Paul uses that as a motivator here in the text, right? There are a host, a host of God-glorifying reasons why the Christians should zealously and fervently live in love for and obedience to the one who endured the cross for him. There's a host of reasons why we should live that way and we should be ashamed of ourselves if we don't. But we have a glorious savior. Paul would have the Corinthians avoid the bitter shame of giving like it was a grudging obligation. Paul loves them, cares for them, wants to avoid that shame, wants to avoid the thing of that shame himself. Therefore, Paul says in verse five, thought it was necessary to exhort the brethren to go to you ahead of time and prepare your blessing. That's what the word means. But send the brethren to prepare you ahead of time, prepare this blessing ahead of time, which you had previously promised that it may be ready as a matter of generosity and not as a grudging obligation. Incidentally, in thinking about this, how is it that Paul intended for these brothers to prepare them? Sends the three-man delegation ahead of his arrival. They're going to go with this letter. They've got second Corinthians in hand. You can imagine, can't you see the steam? Titus, the two other unnamed faithful brothers standing there with him reading this letter out loud to the Corinthian church. How did Paul intend for these brothers to prepare them? Well, he intended them to prepare the Corinthians through the teaching and preaching of this letter read in their hearing. How were their hearts prepared? Their hearts were prepared by Paul calling to their attention the grace of God poured out on the churches of Macedonia, chapter eight, verse one, right? That prepares our hearts. We're going to be prepared to give and we're going to be prepared to give by looking to the example of the churches of Macedonia, right? The teaching and preaching of this letter. Look at the evidence of their love and devotion and sacrifice. Consider the Lord Jesus Christ, verse nine, that though he was rich yet for your sakes, he became poor that you through his poverty might become rich. Now Corinthians, finish what you started, right? Give like a Christian. I'm testing the sincerity of your love by the diligence of others. You see, this is how they would have been prepared, how their hearts were prepared, brothers and sisters. This is how we're prepared, right? We've been listening to these sermons in second Corinthians through chapter eight, now into chapter nine. What's going on here? Praise is just to hear you. You come and it's like, I just want to sit and listen for an hour, two hours. And then you're going to go and then that's, you know, for many, many, many professing Christians, that's the Christian life for them. No, I'm a Christian. I just show up to that place one time a week. I listen to an 18 minute sermon and I go home and I'm a Christian. Is that what we're here for? No, we're having our hearts prepared. If you're in Christ, you have a willingness. The word of God then prepares you, exhorts you, challenges you, convicts you, reproves you, instructs you and now compels you, exhorts you to obey from the heart, to give generously, to witness to the loss, to love your brothers and sisters, to meditate on the word of God, to pray, to live the Christian life, to serve. That's how the brothers and sisters in Corinth were prepared. We're willing, aren't we? Are you willing? We need that kind of heart preparation. Well, a willing heart and a prepared heart leads to a generous heart, leads to a generous heart. When Paul describes the gift, literally their blessing, their blessing, he describes it either as a matter of generosity or a grudging obligation in verse five. That Greek word for generosity is blessing, eulogia. The Greek word for grudging obligation is a word that means greediness, means greediness. In other words, in verse five, Paul is not describing the two ways in which the money can be collected, either by a voluntary gift or by exacting it from them, involuntary. You're going to do it willingly or unwillingly. I'm going to get your money from you. That's not what Paul is saying in verse five, right? That's not what's being described here in verse five. He's talking about the preparedness of their heart with respect to giving. He's talking about heart attitudes. He's describing their heart. If it comes from a willing heart and a well-prepared heart, then the gift will be an act of Christian love. The gift will be sacrificial. It will be lavish. It will be great, fueled, gospel-shaped, God-glorifying Christ-exalting generosity, right? If it's not given with that heart, if they're not ready from the heart, if they're not prepared, if their heart isn't informed, then the gift won't really be a blessing at all. Not going to be a blessing. The Corinthians will give as a grudging obligation, and the saints in Jerusalem will see right through it. And the people in the church at Corinth should be ashamed of themselves, and all Paul's boasting about them are just empty words on the wind. We're talking about the heart. Paul knows that the worship, Paul knows that the love, the obedience, the devotion, the service, the giving that we offer to God is only acceptable to God when it flows from a heart that is prepared by God, right? A prepared heart is a heart that is informed by the Word of God, transformed by the Spirit of God, shaped by the gospel of God, empowered by the grace of God, motivated by the promises of God, submissive to God, right? And that is the kind of obedience, love, sacrifice, generosity that is acceptable to God. There are times in the Christian life where you don't always feel like it. We're not governed by our passions. We're not to be governed by our passions. You don't act all the time on what you feel like or don't feel like. But listen, Paul says of preaching the gospel, doesn't he? If I do it what willingly, that's right, I have a reward. But if I do it unwilling, unwilling, I have a stewardship. I should obey the Lord from the heart. There are times in my heart, shamefully, is cold or dull. Times when I don't feel like it. But I should not then sin against my stewardship, stewardship given me by God. What? Obey the Lord, obey the Lord. Obedience to the Lord Christ is not legalism. But then brother and sister, move on from the willingness, prepare your heart, stir yourself up, cry out, Spirit of God, light the fire, blow across the embers in my heart, make me from the heart, obey you for your glory as you want me to. You intend for me to give me Lord that heart, stir me up, read your Bibles, pray to the Lord. How would this or what would be shameful for us our context, this church? What would be shameful for us? Well, hearing God from his word, exhort us to this loving and sacrificial generosity, and then not giving to the work in Haiti. Hearing God from his word, exhort us to generosity, and then allowing the financial needs of this church to go unmet. Hearing God from his word, exhort us to this kind of generosity, and then a collection for a brother or sister who has a need takes a month. Prepare your heart, heed the word of God as it is preached to you, as it is talked to you, and prepare your giving, prepare your obedience, prepare your devotional time, prepare your evangelism, prepare your service, prepare to love the brothers and sisters, prepare to be a part of the life and health of this church. Prepare, right? A willing heart is not enough. He's calling us here. He's calling us to a prepared heart and then an obedient heart, a devoted heart, a worshiping heart. It's a willing heart and a prepared heart that leads to a grace, fuel, gospel shape, God, glorifying giving that is a matter of generosity and never a grudging obligation. We see that the consequence of that or the result of that in the very next verse, we get verse six. Paul says, listen, this I say, to our advantage, to our advantage, to not only be willing, but to put forth the commitment to follow through his action upon that which we are willing to do for the Lord, because Paul says he who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly. He who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity for God loves a cheerful giver. You have the promises of God to you if you do. God is able to make all grace abound toward you that you always having all sufficiency and all things may have an abundance for every good work. We have God s promise to us. We just need to act, obey, live, give, like we believe in them, like we trust him for them. Paul references the giving of the Corinthians or the giving of the Macedonian churches in Philippians chapter four. Listen to what Paul says there, Philippians chapter four verse 15. Paul says, now you Philippians know also that in the beginning of the gospel, when I departed from Macedonia, no church shared with me concerning giving and receiving, but you only. For even in Thessalonica, you sent aid once and again for my necessities, not that I seek the gift, not after your money, but I seek the fruit that abounds to your account. Indeed, I have all and abound. You know, if the Lord wanted to provide for Paul through another way, through another means, he certainly could have. He provided for Paul through this means and fruit abounded to the account of the Philippians. Paul says, I am full having received from Epaphroditus the things sent from you. Listen to how this is described. Their acts of love, their generous giving, listen to the way that Paul describes it. He describes it as a sweet smelling aroma and acceptable sacrifice, well pleasing to God. What does that call to your remembrance? Sacrifices of worship in the Old Testament. It's an act of worship. It's an act of worship. And when we give with that heart, when we obey with that heart, when we love, serve, evangelize, worship, read, meditate, pray with that heart, then it's an act of worship to God. And it rises to him like that meat burned on the altar that was a sweet smelling aroma to him, a sacrifice acceptable and pleasing to God. Then he says, and my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus. Now to our God and Father be glory forever and ever while God's people said.