 The title of our sermon this morning is Giving from the Riches of His Grace. Giving from the Riches of His Grace. This is part three in our text, 2 Corinthians chapter eight verses one through six. And we come again this morning now in the third part of this series in this brief text, 2 Corinthians chapter eight verses one through six. We come again to consider Paul's instruction to the Corinthian church regarding Christian giving, regarding Christian giving. So Paul has begun a collection in all the churches for the relief of the impoverished destitute poor needy saints in Jerusalem. He's working as he's making his way through Galatia and now through Macedonia and into Achaia as we've talked about in the historical background. He's working with local churches. He's working on a local church level in the collection of this gift. He is admonishing local churches, exhorting local churches to give. In 2 Corinthians chapter eight and chapter nine, he's specifically addressing the local church that is in Corinth. In 1 Corinthians chapter 16 verse one, Paul tells the church at Corinth that when they come together, when they gather together on the first day of the week, on the Lord's day, that each one of them is to lay something aside as each one has been prospered or as Paul would say later, lay aside something according to what each person has. This collection is considered a function or a part of the efforts or the function of the local church. It's a local church effort. It's a part of their worship on the Lord's day. They are called to give and they're called to give in the context of their local church, called to give to the local church and then the local church takes up the offering and the offering, the gift goes out from there. It's one of the reasons that we as a part of our order of service have a call to worship through giving. It's a part of the worship of God's people. We don't set that aside. We don't put a box in the lobby for that reason. We add it. We include it as a part of our worship of God. It's the practice of the church to give. It's the practice of the church to worship the Lord through their giving and all of that is done as an effort or a function of the local church. We've taken care so far in studying this passage together. We've taken care to distinguish this as specifically Christian giving. Christian giving. This is as distinct from or distinguished from mere human philanthropy or basic human kindness. Just giving in general or worldly giving, specifically I've said we were considering here a theology of Christian giving. There are several reasons for making that distinction. One reason among several is that our giving has a distinctly Christian purpose. Our giving has a distinctly Christian purpose. We give for the purpose of furthering the cause of Christ on this planet. One distinct purpose, amen. We want to give to further the cause of Christ, to further the gospel. When you give, when you give, you are enabling the preaching and teaching of the gospel from this church through giving. You free men from being entangled in the affairs of this life so that they may give themselves to prayer in the ministry of the Word. When you give, you provide for tracks being printed and sermons being shared and evangelism taking place. It's not that you're employing us to work for you per se. You might think twice about the amount that you give if that were the case. If this were a performance you were paying me to preach to you. Maybe many of you would reconsider how much you gave. It's not for that. It's not in that sense that we give. In the sense that you are freeing us, freeing us to concentrate on the full-time job of preaching and teaching, that you are freeing men to concentrate on the Word of God and to pray as we've been instructed to and called to do. It's not in light giving the tents in the Old Testament. We've looked at those passages before. The Levite, the priest who was not given an inheritance among the people, the Levite and the priest were provided for by the tithe of the people, by the giving of the people. When you give, it enables that work here to go on. When you give, it enables us to press the light of the gospel of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. It enables us to press that gospel into this dark world in every way that we can think of or imagine. We need to be thinking and imagining ways in which we can do that using the gifts the blessings of the Lord has given us. From the radio program to social media to printing tracks to producing content to the building. We have a building because we believe that it furthers the cause of Christ in the preaching of the gospel in this area in which we've been planted. We have needs to provide for this. We have responsibility to provide for it. We need to put sermons out. We need to pass out tracks. We need to produce material. It enables us to plant churches. Your giving enables us to support missionaries. We need to give as much as we can to plant as many churches as we can as often as we can in as many places as we can as often as the Lord would allow. We need to do that as much as we can afford to do as much as we can. We need to put out as many missionaries as we can afford to put out. We need to do that as often as we can. We need to plant as many churches as we can plant. Another distinctly Christian purpose that's intimately connected with preaching the gospel is caring for the poor. Another distinctly Christian purpose. In Galatians chapter 2, Paul relates his interaction with the pillars in Jerusalem at the Jerusalem Council. He says that they were there primarily to discuss justification by faith alone in Christ alone. In other words, they're setting the gospel. They're making sure the gospel is set straight in light of the onslaught or the assaults of these Judaizing false teachers that were spreading their heresy throughout local churches. They were there in Jerusalem to discuss the gospel, justification by faith alone in Christ alone. On that basis, those who were thought to be pillars in Jerusalem gave Paul and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship. They should preach the gospel among the Gentiles, and at that time, you can read that in Galatians 2, Acts 15, they expressed their desire that Paul, those churches should also remember the poor, the very thing that Paul said he was also eager to do. Specifically, this collection in 2 Corinthians chapter 8 is for the poor believers in Jerusalem. The giving should be just as readily given for those in need in your own church as well. Certainly, they weren't neglecting the needs of those in their own church. However, you could think that a distinctly Christian purpose for giving would be to give to anyone who had need. Doesn't Paul tell Timothy, do good to all, especially those who are of the household of faith? In fact, Christian giving is a test, Paul says, of our Christ-like love. In 2 Corinthians chapter 8, verse 9, Paul exhorts them to give to prove the sincerity of their love. It is loving to give, and specifically, it is loving like Christ to give. In chapter 8, verse 24, Paul says there, prove your love through your giving. And listen, when we give, when we give faithfully, your money, your possessions, they accomplish more when put to this use than they will put to any other use that you can imagine. When you give, and when you give faithfully to the cause of Christ, to the cause of the gospel, then it will accomplish more than if you were to use it anywhere else and that infinitely so. It does more good. It leads to greater blessings. It secures a better end than your money put anywhere else. We have to ask ourselves, right? Do we believe this? Do we believe it? This is an investment in heaven. It's an investment in eternity. It says that our treasure is in heaven, and we believe it, that not only is Christian giving distinguished by a distinctly Christian purpose, but Christian giving is distinguished by a distinctly Christian source, by a distinctly Christian source. Paul says that Christian giving is a testimony, if you will, of the grace of God. It's a response to and a display of the grace of God in the gospel. In verse 9, chapter 8, verse 9, we're going to consider that Jesus Christ gave for our sakes. We'll come back to this verse again and again. You know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that you, through his poverty, might become rich. We're to consider what Jesus Christ gave for our sake. But also, it's a work of the grace of God in accord with the gospel. Paul says in verse 1, moreover, brethren, we make known to you the grace of God bestowed on the churches of Macedonia. He says essentially, I draw your attention to the working of God's grace among these believers. Look at how they gave. Look at how they gave. This is a testimony and evidence of God's grace at work among them. So Christian giving is distinguished by a distinctly Christian purpose. Christian giving is distinguished by a distinctly Christian source. Thirdly, Christian giving is distinguished by the glory of God, a distinctly Christian end, a distinctly Christian aim, the glory of God. God is glorified when his grace produces such love, produces such joy, such sacrifice, such giving that it transcends our earthly and temporal circumstances. God is glorified when his grace produces such fruit that it transcends earthly and temporal circumstances. And that giving is an expression of our faith. It glorifies God. When our giving is an expression of trust in his word, of our trust in his promises, it glorifies God. And we see that displayed in the example that Paul says before us in the churches of Macedonia in verse 2, where in verse 2, in a great trial of affliction, the abundance of their joy and their deep poverty abounded in the riches of their liberality. In other words, like we talked about last week, right, that the diamond of God's grace displayed in a setting that magnifies the glory of his grace, right? These believers, our brothers and sisters in Macedonia, gave in such a way, in such circumstances, that it magnified the grace of God in Christ, right? Crushing joy in the midst of affliction and a wealth of generosity in the midst of crushing poverty. It's not what you would expect in those circumstances. But in that way, it magnifies the grace of God. We magnify the grace of God. Our giving magnifies the grace of God. We glorify God when we don't act like the world when it comes to our money, when we don't act like the world when it comes to our possessions, when we don't view money and possessions, the way that the world views them. When we don't cling to them with clenched hands like the world often does, right? We glorify God. We magnify his grace to us when we view our wealth, when we view our money, our possessions, in the way that the Lord here is calling us to, when we view that in light of the grace that has been shown to us in the gospel. In doing that, we again, we express through our giving that he is our treasure, that heaven is our home, that we believe his promises, that we have an inheritance, eternal riches in him where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. So in our first sermon then on this text, we look at the historical context of this collection, this gift, this work of God's grace in the churches of Macedonia, and then the connection that Paul makes between giving and the grace of God. Last week in point one, we considered the display of his grace in verses one and two. This week in point two, Paul lays out the work of his grace in verses three through five. Look beginning with me at verse one. Paul says there, moreover, brethren, we make known to you the grace of God bestowed on the churches of Macedonia. We draw your attention to this work of grace among these believers in these poor impoverished churches of Macedonia. That, verse two, in a great trial of affliction, in the midst of this affliction, the abundance of their joy and their deep poverty abounded in a wealth of generosity, right, abounded in the riches of their liberality. For verse three, notice the actual working of his grace in the actual giving of the people. Verse three, Paul says, I bear witness that according to their ability, yes and beyond their ability, they were freely willing. They were, verse four, imploring us with much urgency that we would receive the gift and the fellowship of the ministering to the saints. Not only as we had hoped, but they first gave of themselves to the Lord and then to us by the will of God. Now from verses three through five, I want you to consider with me how the grace of God begins in the heart, compels the will, and then leads to action. This is not a static or a mystical or a superstitious understanding of grace. This is wonder working grace, right? This is supernatural divine empowerment. This is a work of God in the heart of man. This is a work of God. That work of God, the grace of God begins in the heart of a genuine believer. It compels the will, and it leads to action. Now first, I want you to see beginning in verse three that the grace of God begins its work in the heart. Paul says in verse three, I bear witness. I give personal testimony that according to their ability, yes, and beyond their ability, they were freely willing. Notice first the attitude of their heart. They were freely willing. The willing heart here is expressed in the fact that they gave not only according to what they could afford, but they gave more than what they could really afford to give. That freely willing is exemplified or evidenced by the fact that they gave not only according to what they could afford to give, but more than what they could really afford to give. It didn't mean that they were reckless or that they gave with abandon, but they gave more than it was sacrificial giving. In other words, they gave more than what would be expected of them. They're giving exceeded what might be considered normal under normal expectations. It was sacrificial. In other words, there was a genuine self-denial in their giving. Now remember, Macedonian churches were poor. These were poor believers. They gave from self-denial. They gave sacrificially. Their generosity was sacrificial. Why? Because the giving heart, this is the connection we want to make here, the giving heart isn't tied down by what you have or by what you don't have. Those two things need to remain somewhat distinct. This is not related specifically to what you have or what you don't have. This is related to the condition of your heart. It's related to the condition of your heart. The grace of God that produces such a wealth of generosity, that grace begins its work in the heart. Now that heart attitude expressed in a single Greek word translated there in verse 2 or in verse 3, freely willing. You have an ESV or an NASV says they gave of their own accord. That's what the word means. It means that no one coerced them. They gave in a way that expressed their heart. They gave in a way that expressed their devotion. Devotion to the Lord, devotion to the gospel, devotion to their brothers and sisters. No one manipulated them to give. No one had to strong arm them. They gave of their own accord. They were loving, compassionate, gracious givers. Now if anyone, if anyone could have used a lack of money as an excuse not to give, it would have been the Macedonians. If anybody could have used that excuse, it would have been the Macedonians. They were poor believers, impoverished believers. And yet they are the ones here who are set forth as an example of sacrificial giving. They have nothing yet they have every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places with Christ and they possess a wealth of generosity. Now why is that? Why is that? The work of God's grace in their heart, in their heart. It begins in the heart. They are a generous people, not because they have much in the way of material wealth, but because God had begun a work of grace in their heart. Giving doesn't begin with what's in your wallet. Giving begins with what's in your heart. For the Macedonians, what was in their heart was a wealth, a wealth of generosity, a wellspring of generosity that overflowed in riches, the New King James says, riches of liberality, a wealth of generosity. That begins in the heart. At the end of the day, if you think about it in this passage, we don't know how much they gave. We don't know the amount that they gave. Paul doesn't tell us that. We're not talking about dollars and cents here. Makes sense? We're talking about the heart. This is a spiritual issue. It's a heart issue. It's not a, you don't understand how many bills I have due at the end of the month issue. It's a heart issue, a spiritual issue. It's not a, you don't know how little I have in my pocket issue. It's a heart issue. It's a spiritual issue, not a dollars and cents issue. The churches of Galatia, we don't know how much they gave either. They may have given them a larger amount than the churches of Macedonia. We don't know how much the church at Corinth eventually gave. The church at Corinth was wealthier, was a wealthier church in a wealthier area. Maybe the church at Corinth gave more. Maybe the church at Corinth gave less. But no one in terms of material or amount, right? But no one, no one out gave the Macedonians. It's the issue here, isn't it, of the widow's might in Luke 21. You think about that connection, right? The widow's might in Luke 21. And the Lord saw, as he was standing there in the temple, the Lord saw the rich putting their large gifts into the treasury, and they would throw the coins into the copper pots and they would clang around so everybody heard how much they were giving. And then he saw this poor widow put in her two mites, and the Lord remarked that she put in more than all. The rich out of their abundance, the Lord says, but she gave so much because she was giving out of deep poverty. She gave of all that she had. She gave more than them all. Here we see the same example in the giving of the churches of Macedonia. Paul is connecting, he's connecting this kind of generosity. He's connecting this kind of heart, this kind of love, this willingness to sacrificially give, this display of love, this display of compassion, devotion to the Lord, devotion to the Lord's people, devotion to the Lord's cause, and he's connecting that kind of generosity with the work of the grace of God in the heart of the believer. This is a work of grace in your heart, you see? Now let me give you a few examples about how we see this connection, how this is connected directly to the condition of our heart. Turn with me to Romans 15. Romans 15, Paul is making this connection. It's a heart issue. It's not a dollars and cents issue, it's a heart issue. Romans 15, and look down at verse 22. Verse 22, now Paul plans to visit Rome and he's explaining that at this point he's been hindered from coming to them. He says in verse 22, for this reason, Romans 15, 22, I also have been much hindered from coming to you, but now no longer having a place in these parts and having a great desire these many years to come to you, whenever I journey to Spain I shall come to you, for I hope to see you on my journey and to be helped on my way there by you. If first I may enjoy your company for a while. Now what does he mean? They're in verse 24 and he plans to be helped on my way there by you. Means they're going to give to support him. They're going to give to support him. Now you could say, every time I turn around, Paul is preaching about money, trying to get his long arm in my short pocket. You could have that art attitude, right? That's not what's going on here. This is the work of ministry. This is the Lord's apostle. The gospel is being preached and this church should support Paul and his work. There's an expectation there. Paul even tells the Philippians, right? This poor Philippian church, that's one of the churches of Macedonia, who is a poor church. He tells that church who provided once and again for his need. He tells them, doesn't he, not that I seek the gift, but what? I seek the fruit that abounds to your account. Paul is saying himself, listen, it's not as much about the money as it is about the fruit of preaching the gospel, right? The fruit of the grace at God. It works through that gift to further the cause of Christ. Paul is concerned about the cause of Christ here. And so he asks the church at Rome to help. Verse 25, but now I'm going to Jerusalem to minister to the saints. He's going to take this collection. He's going to serve these poor brothers and sisters in Jerusalem with this gift. Verse 26, four, because it pleased those from Macedonia and Achaia, to where Corinth is, to make a certain contribution for the poor among the saints who are in Jerusalem. It pleased them. That's part of this heart attitude. In connection with being second Corinthians chapter 8, verse 3, freely willing, it says here that these churches, this church in particular, was pleased to give it. They were delighted to give. It wasn't a begrudging duty to them. It was their delight. It was an act of love. It was an act of compassion. Verse 27, it pleased them. The word is eudaqueo, eudaqueo, it means to freely give. It's a synonym for that word, meaning freely willing in second Corinthians chapter 8, verse 3. It means freely given. It pleased those from Macedonia and Achaia to make a certain contribution for the poor saints who are in Jerusalem. Interesting there, in verse 26, if your word may say a collection, you have a New King James that says contribution, that word is actually coinonia, a word that means fellowship. That's interesting, isn't it? That this collection is considered a fellowship. We're going to hear Paul refer to it the same way in our text in Second Corinthians. This is a fellowship. They in their giving are fellowshiping with, they're having communion with the Lord in His work and the Lord's people in their giving when they contribute, which they're very pleased to do, to this collection effort for the poor saints in Jerusalem. It's a fellowship. They have this viewpoint, this view of it. In verse 27, it pleased them indeed and notice what Paul says now, they are their debtors. They're their debtors for the Gentiles had been partakers of their spiritual things. Their duty is also to minister to them in material things. That's interesting, isn't it? That it's both delight and we're commanded to do it. The Christian is commanded to give, but the Christian is pleased to give. That's interesting. Paul makes this very same connection in Second Corinthians chapter nine. Turn back there with me and look at Second Corinthians chapter nine and look at verse 12. Second Corinthians chapter nine, verse 12. This connection between duty and delight, this connection to our heart in the act of giving, Second Corinthians chapter nine, verse 12, where Paul says for the administration of this service, speaking of the giving of this collection, not only supplies the needs of the saints, but it also is abounding through many thanksgivings to God. It glorifies God. This work, this collection, this giving glorifies God and many thanksgivings going up to God. Verse 13, while through the proof of this ministry, the evidence of this ministry and the gift, they glorify God for the obedience of your confession to the gospel of Christ and for your liberal sharing with them and all men. Interesting isn't it? The proof of this ministry, the evidence of this ministry is that they glorify God for the obedience to your confession, the obedience of your confession to the gospel of Christ. In Second Corinthians chapter nine, Paul calls this giving, this generosity and obedience to the gospel and obedience to the gospel and it makes the same connection in chapter eight, verse eight. Look at verse eight with me. I speak not by commandment, in other words, I'm not commanding you to give a specific amount. I'm not commanding you in this to give a specific amount. I'm not speaking to you by commandment, but I am testing the sincerity of your love by the diligence of others. Look at verse nine, for you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ that though he was rich, yet for your sake, he became poor that you through his poverty might become rich. Not a command here, but a test of your love, but a test of your love. That test of your love is your obedience to the gospel. The Lord Jesus Christ says, a new commandment I give you, no new commandment I give you, but a new commandment I give you to love your brothers, right? They'll know that you are my disciples, by the way, that you love one another. In verse 24, Paul says, therefore show to them, show to the churches the proof of your love and of our boasting on your behalf. Wow, right? Paul considers giving then, considers this gift, this act, a test of our love. That's a heart attitude. All of this connected back to the grace of God at work in the heart of the believer. When the believer loves the believer gives, and Paul considers giving here a test of our love. How much I give is an expression of how much I love. That adds a lot of weight to giving, doesn't it? A tremendous amount of weight. If you think about it in these terms, we are way outside the bounds of looking at giving is merely shelling out 10% way beyond that, way beyond considering the tithe as a mere 10%. Way beyond conceiving of giving and taking what we make portioning off 10%. I've done my duty and that's it, way beyond that. Now we're looking at what we give as a proof or as an evidence or as a test of our love. And Paul is saying, prove how much you love by what you give, how you give. He's saying consider the gospel. Consider the Lord Jesus Christ that though he was rich for your stakes became poor, that through his poverty you might have eternal and immeasurable riches in him. Consider the gospel in how you give. So now no longer a mere raw, you could say, maybe even you could do that coldly or heartlessly a 10%. We're talking about consider how you give from the heart because giving is a matter of the art. Giving is a matter of the work of the grace of God in the heart of the believer. Not a mere begrudging duty. Not a heartless ritual. I'm just going to, I'm convicted of thinking about these things, I'm with you right now in this, but I'm just going to set up auto draft out of my account so I don't think about it. It's just going to pull that right. We're way beyond that. We're way beyond that. We're considering how we demonstrate our love in the way that we give. We're demonstrating our understanding of the gospel of Lord Jesus Christ and how we give. And now the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, our understanding of what has been given to us in the gospel becomes the benchmark or becomes the standard by which we express our gratefulness to God in our giving. Our giving becomes an expression of our understanding of the gospel. In chapter 8 verse 12, he says, for if there is first a willing mind, it is accepted according to what one has and not according to what he does not have. In other words, freely willing. We should be pleased to give it a willing mind. And notice it's accepted according to what he has and not according to what he doesn't have. That widow gave more than anyone else gave, and yet she gave two mites. The Macedonians, no one out gave the Macedonians, but the Macedonians were poor. We're not talking about dollars and cents here. We're talking about an attitude of the heart. Chapter 8 verse 13, I do not mean that others should be eased and you burdened. There should be a willing mind. It shouldn't be burdensome to you, but by an equality that now at this time your abundance may supply their lack and that their abundance may also supply your lack, that there may be equality. As it is written, he who gathered much had nothing left over and he who gathered little had no lack. So how much I give is an expression of my love for, my devotion to, the free grace of God given to me in the gospel, so much so that Paul characterizes it as obedience to the gospel, as my submission to the gospel, my willingness, my heart attitude when I give. The measure with which Christ is freely given to me in the gospel. The measure with which God's grace has been poured out to me becomes the standard, right? Becomes the measurement by which I am to evaluate my willingness to give. In light of that, I should be willing from the heart to hold everything with a completely open hand and be willing to freely give whatever is necessary for the cause of Christ. The Macedonians considered all these things, right? If we take Paul's instruction from 2 Corinthians chapter 8, the Macedonians considered all of these things and Paul described them as freely willing, right? They had a wealth of generosity. This heart attitude, this heart attitude, a result of the work of God's grace in the heart of the believer. The gospel had so impacted them that it generated within them a wealth of generosity, a generous heart. This is the reality that this kind of generosity, this giving begins with the grace of God at work in the heart of the believer. Look with me at 1 John chapter 3, another example of this, 1 John chapter 3 and look there with me at verse 16. This is where talking about sacrificial giving gets uncomfortable, doesn't it? Difficult. We need to consider these things together. 1 John chapter 3 verse 16, by this we know love, John says, because he laid down his life for us, therefore we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. But notice what he says here, whoever has this world's goods and sees his brother in need and shuts up his heart from him, in other words, he's not freely willing, but he now has shut up his heart from him. How does the love of God abide in him? My little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth, and by this we know that we are of the truth and shall assure our hearts before him. If our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart and knows all things. Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence toward God and whatever we ask, listen to this promise of God in verse 22, whatever we ask we receive from him because we keep his commandments and do those things that are pleasing in his sight. And this is his commandment that we should believe on the name of his son, Jesus Christ and love one another as he gave us, excuse me, as he gave us commandment. In other words, the Lord is connecting the freely willing heart attitude of the giving believer to his love. This is an expression of love, way beyond conceiving of our giving as a mere 10%. Way beyond that, 10% is a good starting point. It's a good starting point. That was the law given under Moses. That 10% was an example that we saw in Abraham before the law. We saw in Jacob before the law. We saw under the law in Moses. We saw commended by the Lord Jesus Christ and Matthew 23. That is a starting point. This is where we have to seriously consider what we are going to commit to when we give. 10% is a mere starting point. This is connected to the gospel. It's connected to the grace of God shown to me in the gospel. Paul says it's a test of the sincerity of my love. It's an evidence of my love for the Lord and an evidence of my love for others. We consider these things. We've got to remember that people died making a pretense of this. Acts chapter 5, Ananias and Sapphira, the Lord killed them for making a pretense of this kind of thing. This is serious business. Serious business. This is not money-grubbing. You hear that on a routine basis. If you're out witnessing, you hear it routinely. I don't go to churches because all they do is ask for money. The guy gets up there and prays, you're visiting with us today. Here we are. Listen, we're preaching verse by verse through 2 Corinthians. You came at its point when we got to this chapter in 2 Corinthians. We're preaching this with a clear conscience before God that we are under this instruction and want to honor the Lord in these things. Because we believe the gospel here. This is not this is not Creflo Dollar making some appeal for a lear jet. We're not we're not consuming your giving on our own lusts around here. It's not what we're doing. This is an appeal to love. Love the Lord Jesus Christ. This is an appeal to love the cause of Christ, to love the gospel. This is an appeal to consider the grace of God in Christ to you. This is an appeal to count him worthy in our giving to give to the cause of Christ because he is worthy. Not that we seek the gift, but we seek the fruit that abounds to your account. How will we respond when we consider these things? There are churches to plant. There are missionary there's missionary work to be done way beyond, way beyond our budget here, which is something we consider now on a regular basis, which needs to be met, which needs to be provided for way beyond that way beyond that. We have a group of men here who are very strongly considering or are called to Christian ministry. I meet with them every Saturday morning who are laboring in the Lord and desire pastoral ministry. The Lord, I believe, is raising them up for that purpose. We need to plant churches with them. We need to put them on the mission field. We need to get them out preaching the gospel. We need to send them from this church with support so that they cannot be entangled with the affairs of this life, but so that they can be set aside to prayer in the ministry of the word so that the gospel gets preached so that people get saved. We have to lay elders here essentially by vocational elders. It would be great, wouldn't it, to make them full-time elders if they would so desire that good work. We need to send every single man the Lord raises up. We need to do everything gospel-centered that we can do for the sake of Christ. And we need to give to that work so that we can do it. Now Paul laid out for us the example of the Macedonians in just such a way in chapter 8 and chapter 9 that he gives us things to consider as we think through how we're going to give as an evidence of our understanding of these things or in accord with our commitment to these things. Here are some things to consider as we think about our giving. Chapter 8 verse 3, I bear witness that according to their ability, yes, and beyond their ability, they were freely willing. We should consider in our giving that from the heart we are freely willing to give in accord with our ability and freely willing to give sacrificially, to give to the point of stealth denial. How can I display my commitment to the Lord, my devotion to the Lord, my devotion to the Lord's causes, my devotion to my eternal inheritance, which is not on this planet. How can I express my devotion to these things by denying myself in giving? I'm going to give in such a way that expresses self-denial, that I have denied myself, have taken up my cross, and I am following him. Chapter 8 verse 7, where Paul says, as you abound in everything in faith and speech and knowledge and all diligence, and in your love for us, see that you abound in this grace also, in this grace of giving, in this grace of generosity. Is my giving, is it from an abounding heart attitude of generosity? Does it express a wealth of generosity, or does it express miserly hoarding of my own possessions to consume on my own lusts, right? What does this say about my heart attitude? What I give, what does it say about my heart attitude? Am I abounding in this grace of generosity? Chapter 8 verse 8, Paul says, I speak not by commandment, but I am testing the sincerity of your love by the diligence of others. Is the way that I am giving, proving the sincerity, the thoroughness, the depth of my love for others, my love for the Lord's church, my love for the Lord's work, my love for the Lord? Am I proving the sincerity of my love in my giving? Consider this from chapter 8 verse 9 where Paul says, you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, that you through his poverty might become rich. With an understanding of that which has been given to us in the Gospel, with Christ as our example, how does my giving measure up? Am I giving from that understanding? Am I giving from that heart, that mindset? Chapter 8 verse 12, for if there first is a willing mind, is my giving with a willing mind? According to, he says there, what you have, not what you don't have. In other words, he's talking about percentage. We're not talking about dollars and cents here, but according to what you have is your giving commensurate with what you have, not expecting you to give according to what you don't have. You don't need to give anything to the church on credit. That makes sense, okay? Chapter 8 verse 13, not in a way that is burdensome to you. In other words, you can't meet your own needs. You've given so much, you can't provide for yourself. If anyone does not provide for his own, he is worse than an unbeliever. He's an infidel, doesn't Paul say. So don't give in such a way that you yourself are not taken care of. You take care of yourself and give freely. Chapter 9 verse 2, I know your willingness about which I boast of you to the Macedonians, that Achaia was ready a year ago, and your zeal has stirred up the majority. Do you give in such a way that someone else would be stirred up to faithfulness, stirred up to devotion, stirred up to willingness by your example to give? Paul is using here the example of the Macedonians to stir us up. Their example, the implications of their example are not lost on the Corinthians. They're going to complete their collection. Their example, the implications of their example shouldn't be lost on us. Paul is calling us, he's saying, listen, I draw your attention to the grace of God that was poured out on the churches of Macedonia. So brothers and sisters, let us consider their example as Paul is calling the church at Corinth to do. And according to their zeal, according to their devotion, according to their example, let us abound in this grace also. Do you see? So when you give and when you make a commitment to give, when you consider how much you're giving, how much you will give, how much you're going to commit to give, consider is your example such that someone else would be stirred up to love and good works by your faithful zealous giving? Make sense? Chapter nine, verse six, do it with this understanding. He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly. He who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. He's talking about giving there. When you give, give with this understanding that if you reap sparingly, in other words, if you give sparingly, you're going to, or if you sow sparingly, you're going to reap sparingly. The blessings to you will be sparing. There is a direct connection, isn't there? We see that throughout Scripture. There's a direct connection between our giving and the provision and the blessing of God. There's a direct connection between those two things. Certainly between our giving and the grace of God in Christ, shown to us in the gospel, certainly. He poured out lavish grace upon us such that we have eternal riches with Him, but not just there here, now. And if we will give with that attitude, the Lord is saying, right, this is Luke chapter six, verse 38, give, and it will be given to you. Now that's a promise from God. Give and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, it will be put back into your bosom. Put back into your bosom for with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you. In other words, if you sow sparingly, you will reap sparingly. If you sow bountifully, plentifully, then you will reap plentifully, right? This is a promise from God. There's a direct connection. These things, these texts all connected, in Malachi chapter three, when he tells the children of Israel that you've robbed me, right? In what way have we robbed you, God? Well, you've robbed me in tithes and offerings. What does the Lord charge them to do? He says, bring in the tithe, bring tithes and offerings into the storehouse, right, into, we could say in our application, into the church. Bring in your tithes and offerings and what does the Lord promise to do? He says, test me in this and see if I don't open for you the windows of heaven and pour out on you such a blessing that there won't be room enough to contain it. We could say certainly if that, if the extent of that is spiritual blessing, then amen. Thank you, Lord. I have eternal riches in heaven and Christ. Luckily, there's also more than just that. My God, Paul promises, right? Paul says, my God shall supply all your need according to his riches by Christ Jesus, right? So we're going to do that with this understanding when you consider giving your commitment to giving, how much you're going to give, what you're going to give, consider these guidelines, consider these texts. Chapter nine, verse seven, he says, God loves a cheerful gift, I can see. So let each one give as he purposes in his heart. You got to decide that you got to, it would be so much easier, wouldn't it? You could say one way to look at it, just take a percentage, just 10%. I could apportion 10%, my duty is done, and that's it. It leaves it, we can. I'm not saying that's what Christians do when they consider giving their 10%, right? We give as an act of worship. We worship in every Sunday when we give our 10%. But if you're not careful, we're not being considered, we're not thinking of worshiping the Lord through our giving, then we could, couldn't we? Apportion off our 10% in a thoughtless, heartless, ritualistic kind of way without considering these things. What Paul is doing here is Paul's not giving a percentage with respect to giving above the tithe, this giving for the poor saints in Jerusalem. He's not giving us a specific amount as a requirement. What is he asking us to do? He's asking us to think about the gospel. He's asking us to think about all that's been given to us in the gospel. He's asking us to think about with a heavenly mindset, right? With our eyes fixed on eternal and unseen things in the heavens. He's asking us to think about these things, to ponder them in our hearts and minds, to consider them and then determine from our own heart, from our own mind, determine what it is that we should give, to mentor it to what we have, but sacrificially denying myself in it in such a way as to be zealous, to prove the sincerity of my love, to prove my zeal for the Lord and His cause, we should consider how much we're going to give, right? We have to wrestle with those things. He says in verse seven, let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly, right? When you think about these things in this way, it's back to Romans 15, it's a delight. It pleased them, right? It pleased them to give it this way, not grudgingly or in necessity, for God loves a cheerful giver. We should give cheerfully. Chapter nine, verse eight, God is able, listen to this promise, God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you always having all sufficiency in all things may have an abundance for every good word, just loaded up the adjectives to express to us that our God will take care of us in this, amen? We have no reason whatsoever to doubt, listen, it is irrational to doubt him in this. Chapter nine, verse 15, in accord with your obedience to the gospel, right? He says in verse 13, well, through the proof of this ministry, they glorify God for the obedience of your confession to the gospel of Christ and for your liberal sharing with them and all men and by their prayer for you, who long for you because of the exceeding grace of God in you, thanks be to God for his indescribable gift. Now by the working of God's grace in their heart, this has had such an impact on the Macedonians that they became the benchmark for giving. They become examples of generosity. They become examples to us of gracious Christian giving. They're raised for us here in our text as standards by which we evaluate our giving. Now, having begun in the heart, right, having thought of giving in this way, notice then how the grace of God compels their will in verse four, how the grace of God compels their will in verse four. Paul says, imploring us, they implored us, they begged. That's what the word means, right? They begged us with much urgency that we would receive the gift and the fellowship of the ministering to the saints. Paul hadn't compelled them or strong armed them or manipulated them or coerced them. Paul certainly wouldn't do that. They pleaded, they begged. There was an enthusiasm and it was all entirely based on how they viewed giving. There was a work of grace in their heart. They saw things in this way and then their response was to beg for the joy, beg with much urgency for the joy, for the grace of the fellowship of the ministering to the saints. Now, interesting here, they begged verse four for the grace of fellowshiping. That's what that means. It's not that we would receive their gift of money for the saints in Jerusalem. That's not what it's talking about in verse four, right? They begged with much urgency for the grace, for the grace of fellowshiping with the saints in serving their brethren. In verse one, the grace of God is at work in them to produce this generosity. Here it's the grace of God that they desire. On one side, the grace of God is producing that generosity in the heart. On the other side, they are begging, pleading for the grace of God in this fellowship. He calls it a fellowship just like in Romans 15, right? He calls it a fellowship, this coinonia. They're asking for this, they're begging, pleading for this grace. They view it as a grace of God to give in this way. And so they want to get in on it. They don't want to be left out from it. They understood that there were blessings from God associated with their giving. They didn't want to miss out on that. So that motivates their will then. Their understanding of these things, that heart attitude, the work of grace in God, the grace of God at work in their heart, motivates their will and they plead to be included. They plead to give. Finally, the grace of God at work in the heart of the genuine believer compels the will. What happens when heart and will are in alignment leads to action. Verse five, and not only as we had hoped, in other words, beyond what we had hoped for. Even beyond what we had hoped for, they first gave themselves to the Lord and then to us by the will of God. First there is not as much meaning chronologically as it means of first importance. Themselves is front loaded in the text. It's moved forward for emphasis so that literally it's but themselves they gave first, right? Of first importance they gave themselves. This is self surrender. It's devotion. It's saying, I am going to give all that I am to who he is. And certainly that would include my possessions, what's been given to me, right? Whatever little money I have, whatever little possessions that I have here. We are exorbitantly wealthy by comparison. We should give from that because we are devoted to the Lord. They gave of themselves first and then to us Paul says by the will of God. All of this was by the will of God. They didn't hold anything back. Nothing was held back. You could say in a very feeble comparison that having given themselves, they freely gave their possessions. The Bible say that having delivered up his own son for us, how much more also will he freely give us all things, right? Certainly using the example of the word Jesus Christ as our example. The giving of God the Father as our example. And we devote ourselves, meaning certainly we will freely give free giving, freely willing. We will freely give certainly our money also. So what we've seen in their example, they were exceedingly generous. They were freely willing from the heart. They begged with zeal, with urgency to get in on the grace of that fellowship of serving the saints in Jerusalem and nothing was held back. Not even themselves, certainly not their money or their possessions. Paul attributes all of this generosity to the grace of God in verse one. So it was not only then as we had hoped, Paul said, but well beyond what we had hoped for. I think with me, how was this observable? Paul says, I give my personal testimony. I bear witness that this is how they gave, according to their ability and beyond their ability. How would this have been evident in their giving? Well, certainly considering the poverty of the Macedonians, that would have been evident in how much they gave. But Paul would have shown up to take their collection. He was like, wow, you guys sacrificially gave to the saints in Jerusalem. Paul, so when he saw their gift would have been, it would have been beyond his expectations, the amount that they actually gave, right? So the size of the gift would have been beyond what they had hoped for. And then the extent of their giving, it was more than just money. They first gave it themselves. So the amount of their giving was generous. And the extent of their giving was generous. We need to consider that when we choose, when we decide, when we purpose in our heart how much we're going to give to gospel ministry through this church. The amount of our giving and the extent of our giving. All this points to the fact that there is something here far more important to these brothers and sisters in Macedonia, far more important to them than what they owned. Something far more important to them than this life, this world, personal causes, personal desires, personal ambitions. They saw this world as it is, as passing away, as fleeting. They saw that which is unshakable, that which is eternal in the heavens, that which lasts. They saw what was most important. This is the gospel, isn't it? Those who understand this, those who see the world in this way give, in a way that gives testimony of that profession. This world is not all there is, all that there is. This world is passing away. You are made with a never-dying soul. And as long as you persist in consuming the common grace of God shown to you in the air that you breathe and the clothes on your back and the roof on your house, the roof over your head, the job that you have, the provisions that you have, as long as you continue to consume those things on your own lusts and for your own pursuits, for your own indulgence, and you rebel against your Creator, the one who provides all those things for you, as long as you continue in that rebellion, as long as you live in that way with that view of this world, that all of these things are here for you. You live according to your own desires. You live life for yourself. As long as you continue to live with that perspective, you will one day die and stand before God to give an account. He has appointed a day on which he will judge this world. And he has given evidence of that by the man whom he's appointed, by raising that man from the dead. You will stand before him and give an account. Why don't you turn from your sin? Why don't you give in this way? Why is this heart, this heart a foreign thing to you? Because you're blinded to the truth. You're blinded to the world as it really is. There has been a veil that has existed over your eyes, over your ears. You can't see it. You need to pray, cry out to God to lift the veil, to unstop your ears so you can see the world as it really is. You have a never-dying soul, but you have sinned against God. You will die in your rebellion and be cast into hell unless you turn from your sin and entrust yourself to him. And putting your faith and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ, you can be forgiven of your sin. You can be adopted into the household of God as a son and be co-heirs, co-inheritors with Christ. If you're a genuine Christian, then you give as an expression of seeing that reality, of seeing the world as it really is. Your giving, your generosity is a testimony of that fact. It can also be an evidence of unbelief. It can be an evidence of faithlessness. Brothers and sisters, let's consider how we give. Paul calls into that in point three on your notes, the pursuit of his grace in verse six. We saw the display of his grace. We saw the work of his grace. We see the pursuit of his grace in verse six. So then Paul says in verse six, we urged Titus then that as he had begun, so he would also complete this grace in you as well. All this instruction wouldn't be lost on the Corinthians. It can't be lost on us. We understand these things. If we believe these things, if we profess faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, then we will share in this grace. We must, brothers and sisters, we must abound in this grace also. We will fellowship in this grace. You know the example here, the way that Paul lays it out in 2 Corinthians chapter eight, not intended by Paul here to shame the Corinthians, but it certainly has some of that effect, doesn't it? If I've not considered giving in this way, if I'm not currently giving with that kind of heart or that kind of intentionality or that kind of worship, with that kind of mindset from that heart, I should be convicted by these things. And it is convicting, this text is convicting. Well, that conviction should then fuel or give expression to cries of repentance and cries of love and devotion to the Lord Jesus Christ should give expression to or compel us to reorder our thinking, reorder our understanding of these things in light of the gospel and should compel action. We want it to have that effect. We want to abound in this grace. It starts in the heart. It starts with what we know, how that changes our heart, transforms our thinking, renews our mind, and then should compel our will and lead to action. So how are you doing on this? Is this your heart? If it is your heart, praise God. It is the work of the grace of God. If it's not your heart, then what are you and I going to do about it? Let's pray and ask for the Lord's help in it, amen.