 I'm going to take this passage before us and actually share a few things about being a father that you see through the Apostle Paul's relationship with Titus. And as I was looking at this passage just last night, I was going through the passage again, my notes and all, I began to see some things that I think are, you know, they're going to be casually mentioned. I didn't put them in my notes, but there are things that apply to us as fathers. We'll see this in a moment. So let's begin reading here in 2 Corinthians chapter 8. We're going to look at verses 16 through 24. And so I'll begin reading at verse 16 and read to the conclusion of the chapter and we'll get into our study. 2 Corinthians chapter 8, beginning at verse 16, Paul writes, But thanks be to God who puts the same earnest care for you into the heart of Titus, for he not only accepted the exhortation, but being more diligent, he went to you of his own accord. And we have sent with him the brother whose praise is in the gospel throughout all the churches. And not only that, but who was also chosen by the churches to travel with us with this gift, which is administered by us to the glory of the Lord himself, and to show your ready mind, avoiding this, that anyone should blame us in this lavish gift which is administered by us, providing honorable things, not only in the sight of the Lord, but also in the sight of men. And we have sent with them our brother whom we have often proved diligent in many things, but now much more diligent because of the great confidence which we have in you. If anyone inquires about Titus, he's my partner and fellow worker concerning you, or if our brethren are inquired about, they are messengers of the churches, the glory of Christ, therefore show to them and before the churches the proof of your love and of our boasting on your behalf. So Paul has been exhorting, as you know the context of this, let me reiterate, remind you of some things. Paul has been exhorting the church to make good on their promise to help the poor. The church had made a commitment to send relief to those who were poor in the church in Jerusalem. Paul was exhorting them to make good on the promise that they had made to send that gift. Now as he had already said, they originally had volunteered to give help over a year before, or at least close to a year. Though they had made the promise, they were yet to fulfill it. And so Paul in verses 10 and 11 had said that they had the desire, but now it was time for them to keep their promise. Now as we go through this in verse 20, I want you to notice something because this is going to be something important to see. Paul tells us that their gift is going to be generous. He expects the gift that they're sending to be generous. He called it lavish. That word lavish there means abundant or exceedingly generous. They had had almost a year to prepare, so Paul anticipated a large amount of money to be sent. He had been speaking and concerning the churches in Macedonia, and he had used them as an example because the Macedonian churches had suffered affliction and were experiencing deep poverty, but he had pointed out that they were very generous. And so he had used this information to encourage the Corinthians that they might also respond generously. So if the Macedonians had been generous, it makes sense that the Corinthians would also be. So seeing that he anticipated a large monetary gift, plans had to be made in order for it to be delivered. The distance between the two cities from Corinth to Jerusalem, rather, the distance between the two cities is around 7 to 800 miles. It would take several days for that money to arrive. It could sometimes be dangerous as well as fact that it was a great sum of money. And so because Paul knew that the love of money was a root of all kinds of evil, and he knew that more than one professing believer had given in to greed, he wanted to safeguard it. He wanted to make sure that the money that was pledged to be sent would be safeguarded in all because he knows that money can actually draw people, it can entice people, the greed within us can do so. And he would have remembered one of Jesus' former apostles by the name of Judas who had the problem with greed. Remember in John chapter 12 verses 5 and 6 how Judas asked, why was this fragrant oil not sold for 300 denarii and given to the poor? And John says this, he said not that he cared for the poor, but because he was a thief. He had the money box and he used to take what was put in it. So Paul knew that the offering being taken to Jerusalem had to be safeguarded because a large sum of money could be tempting. And those who carried and delivered the money needed to have impeccable character. As an apostle, as a spiritual leader, Paul was careful to do things properly. He already made it clear that he wanted the ministry, his ministry to be beyond accusation. Remember in chapter 6 verse 3 of 2 Corinthians how he had said, we give no offense in anything that our ministry may not be blamed? Well because of this he appointed qualified men to handle the transportation of the gift. And he begins with verse 16, he begins with Titus, someone that they already know. They're already familiar with him. I'll share a couple of things about him as I introduce this teaching today. When you look at Titus in the Bible, Titus came to faith in Jesus Christ through the ministry of the apostle Paul. This chapter 1 in verse 4 opens with the words to Titus my own son after the common faith. Now I mentioned to you that in the writings of Paul there are only two people that he ever calls his own son or genuine son. One was Titus, the other was a young man named Timothy. And so he called him his own son, his son in the faith because Titus had come to faith through him, came to faith in Christ through his own ministry. When you look at Titus you see that he isn't a Jew. You'll see that Titus actually was a Gentile that's made clear in Galatians chapter 2 verse 3. Eventually as he was maturing as a believer he became a pastor and he actually pastored a church in the island of Crete. Now in this particular letter Paul mentioned Titus several times. Titus had gone to Corinth, had met them, even had grown to love them. In 2 Corinthians 7.13 that verse tells us that the Corinthians had refreshed his spirit. So he's speaking of Titus, Titus has a relationship with these people in Corinth and Paul is referring to those things. Now notice in verse 16 how he says, thanks be to God who puts the same earnest care for you into the heart of Titus. Same earnest care. The word earnest means to give all diligence in accomplishing, promoting or striving after anything. This earnest care is the same kind that Paul received for the Corinthians. And this kind of earnest concern for ministering to people comes from the Lord. It's more than human empathy, it's more than human compassion, it's more than simply liking people. He's speaking concerning this as from God. This is the kind of care that Paul had and this is the kind of heart that Titus has. And this comes from the Lord. The kind of care that Titus had was a spiritual care, a concern for people, a concern for people to know the Lord Jesus Christ. It was a concern for people to have a relationship with God and Paul said that Titus had the same earnest care as he had because Paul had that desire and so did Titus. So Paul wanted everybody to know the Lord and it would appear that Titus had the same kind of heart. He wasn't a rival seeking for attention. He wasn't attempting to draw people to himself. He wasn't placing himself above Paul. He wasn't fighting to become well known. Instead, he had the same earnest care that Paul had for the Corinthians. The Bible makes it very clear. Titus loved the church and because he loved the church he could be trusted. He could be trusted by Paul to carry this money, but he also could be trusted by the body of Christ because it was God to put the same earnest care for them in his heart. Again that love for them wasn't self generated. It was a love that God put in his heart. Now as their spiritual father, Paul loved them and he rejoiced to know that Titus did too, a father, the love of a father. As I was going through this, it came to mind that there are certain things that you see in Paul that gives us an insight into the love of a father. Paul was protective for them. Remember in 1 Corinthians in chapter 4 in verse 15, remember how there Paul said, though you may have 10,000 teachers, yet you have but one father. I begot you in the gospel. Paul had a love for the Corinthian church, the kind of love that a father has for his own children and as a father he had a protective concern for them. Every father has a protective concern, every genuine father I should say has or should have a protective love for their children. It's something that we should have for those that God has gifted us with, our babies. And we're protective in many ways and Paul was very protective. He did not want anyone taking advantage of them. In chapter 11 of 2 Corinthians verse 2 he says to them, the church, I'm jealous for you with a godly jealousy, I promised you to one husband to Christ so that I might present you as a pure virgin to him. We have that protective interest, that protective love. The false teachers were entering into Corinth and were beginning to undermine the relationship Paul had with these people and these false teachers were saying things about him making various charges against him that he has to actually respond to through the entire book. All of these different charges of how he didn't love them, how he didn't care for them, how he wasn't honest with them, how he wasn't good looking. In the whole nine yards, I mean this is a man who was in love with the church that wasn't in love with him. And yet he still had a love for these people, yet he had a love for the Corinthians and his concern was to protect them because false teachers were creeping in, were undermining the work of God in them and any true pastor and every true father wants to make sure that the children are taught properly, kept safe in the things of the Lord because that's our responsibility. I've told my kids in the past, I've said to them it matters not to me if you become real rich in life, if you do great, give me some, but if you don't, doesn't matter to me because what I want from you isn't money. What I want from you is something deeper. What I want for you is to know the Lord and not be deceived by false teachers. Every father understands that. That's why I gave my children devotions every morning. That's why I taught them to pray when they were in a high chair. That's why I would hold a little hand when they were a year old sitting in a high chair just before they ate. That's why I'd hold their little wrist, I'd loosely hold their wrist and I'd say we're going to thank Jesus and I'd say a very simple prayer. I'd say thank you Jesus for this food, amen. I began that when they were infants, when they were babies. I prayed for them when they were in the crib. I prayed for them when they were in the womb. I pray for them now because that's what fathers do. We protect them. We give them the word of God. We love them. We lay our lives down for them because they're their fathers. Forgive me, I get emotional, I shouldn't, ah who cares. But I'm pouring my heart out about this with you. I don't care if my children are rich, I hope that they're well off, I don't want them borrowing money from me. But I don't need what is theirs. I need them and there's a difference. Every father knows that. Every father's heart beats for the welfare of their children. Every father who loves Jesus wants their children to love Jesus too. And what Paul is doing, and you may not know it, is when he's saying, you know, though you may have 10,000 teachers, and yes, every person in this room has one teacher after another telling you what to believe and think about God. Everyone who's a believer has somebody influencing you about what you should think about God. All of you do. We all do. We all talk to somebody after a church service. And many times there have been, after church services, there'll be people saying, well I don't agree with that and I don't agree with this and there's an influence going on and sometimes it's simply because the person who doesn't agree isn't doing what they're supposed to do. Oh, I don't agree with that. I remember a lady in our fellowship who wrote me a letter many years ago now and she said, Pastor David, you wouldn't know me. I gave my heart to the Lord in your church a few weeks ago. I wanted to tell you that I came to a Wednesday night Bible study and you were teaching through Corinthians and you shared concerning the sin of homosexuality. And she says, I was a lesbian and I was with my partner in church and I was listening to your Bible study and I went home with her because they were living together. She says, and I went home with her and when I went home with her, we began to talk about, we heard that night. And my partner said to me, oh, that's his opinion. That's just what he believes. She says, but I told her, no, that's what the Bible says. He said exactly what it says and she said, that means that what the Bible says that I'm doing is wrong. She says, I have to do something with my life. And so she wrote me a couple, two, three weeks after she'd come to that Bible study, she said, I want you to know I gave my heart to Jesus Christ. I've moved out from my relationship with this woman and I'm going to follow Jesus Christ. See, that's what I'm here to do is to share the truth with people to set them free. That's what you do. And but there's always people say, oh, no, that's just his opinion. That's just what he thinks. And that's why pastors can be protective. I'm jealous for you with a godly jealousy. I don't want your minds to be corrupted by falsity because people's opinions are not the same with what Scripture says inspired by the Spirit of God. And that's how Paul was. And that's what fathers do. That's why you wash your children with the water of the Word. That's why we give them devotions because when they sin, which they do, when they sin, they'll be sinning against what they know is true. It's one thing for me to sin in ignorance. It's another thing for me to sin against the truth. And so what I tried to do with my children is I tried to give them the Word of God so that they would have a foundation of what is right, what is wrong. This is what we ought to do. These are the things God would have for us. That's why I did that. Did I expect to raise perfect children? Of course not. They're like their mom. No, of course not. I wish they were. But no, they've got sin natures. And that's that that's what a father's love is. And and Paul was a father in the faith to tide us. He said he's a genuine guy. He's a real follower of Christ. He is my son in the faith and he's commending him. But as a father, he speaks concerning him in that way. And Paul is blessed to have that. Now it's interesting to note and I want you to see this in verse 16. Again, he says God puts the same earnest care for you into the heart of Titus. The same earnest care is the love that Paul had. He put the same kind of love I have. He said for you, he put that same kind of love into the heart of Titus. It's the same kind of love. And this kind of love for the church seems to be rare today, even in the ministry. It can be difficult to find assistance that have this kind of love for the sheep. But when you read your Bible, you'll see that Paul was blessed to have at least two sons like this. Because in Philippians chapter two, verses 19 through 22, Paul said, I trust in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you shortly, that I also may be encouraged when I know your state. For I have no one like minded who will sincerely care for your state. For all seek their own, not the things which are of Christ Jesus. But you know his proven character that as a son with his father, he served with me in the gospel. Titus had the same earnest love in his heart for them as Paul did. Paul laid up for the children. Fathers are supposed to lay up for the children. If you look at chapter 12 for a second, verse 14, Paul says, now for the third time, I am ready to come to you and I will not be a, I will not be burdensome to you. For I do not seek yours, but you. For the children ought not to lay up for the parents, but the parents for the children. I'm not asking you to care for me. As a father, I want to care for you. My children know that about me. If I take one of my children out on occasion, we do not often. But if I take one of my children out for a breakfast or for lunch or a dinner, they can't pay for my food. I won't allow it. I don't allow it. And they're blessed in that and I'm ripped off. So I take them to McDonald's and cheaper places. I just have never been comfortable with them doing that. The father ought to lay up for the children, not the children for the father. I ought to take care of them. I don't ask them to take care of me. And that's how I am with my kids. You know, as long as dad's with you, I'll take care of you. Even if you're in your 40s and you've got several kids of your own already, I'll still take care of you. Why? Because that's what fathers do. We care for our children. We love them. We take care of them. And God put that earnest care in the heart of Titus, the same kind that Paul had for him. And it is very hard to find people who will love the sheep just because. I'll be honest with you, and this may not sound the way it should. Second service, I may not say it or make them come out better. But sometimes sheep can be very difficult. Sometimes the sheep in the body of Christ, you know, they're not scary, but they do have teeth. And every once in a while, they take a bite. And they can hurt. And they can injure. And sometimes they take great pleasure in that. How do you remain loving people who can be so mean? How? It's God who puts that love in your heart. It's the Lord who puts that love in your heart. Raising your children, those of you who are parents, know that there are seasons, perhaps, in your children's life that they didn't like you very much. And sometimes you didn't like them very much. Let's face it. You may say, I love you, but man, I don't like you. And there were times that I would have a friction with my own children where I would think, man, I better go to the office and stay there. I'll put a bed in the office. I don't want to come home. Marie, you take care of them. There are times that you could get so frustrated with them. And they're difficult, and kids can be. Well, so can the church be. And if God doesn't put that love in your heart for them, that I will not give up on you love. I will not quit on you love, well, that's the kind of love that comes from God. That's the kind of love that's in a pastor that will hold fast, even when the people are very difficult, even when the people can be very mean. It takes that kind of love to pastor a church, not a sentiment, not an emotion, but a spiritual love. And he says, thanks be to God who put the same kind of earnest care, that great desire, that passionate love. Thank God who put that same care in the heart of Titus. And he cared for them. Now, with that said, that means that in carrying the money, as he's going to bring in the gift from Corinth to Jerusalem, that would simply mean that he would not be inclined to steal the money that he had been entrusted with. It says in verse 17, for he not only accepted the exhortation, but being more diligent, he went to you on his own accord. And so this is like a father's influence, if you will. Paul's love was so lived out in front of Titus that Titus saw the things that his father would do. His father in the faith, and not only did he see that, but he began to own that himself. It says here that he accepted the exhortation. The exhortation was for Titus to go and finish receiving the offering for Jerusalem, which is pointed out in verse 6. And that is something that might pass by us without us noticing. You see, as a man of God, and a man under orders, Titus saw the example of his father and accepted the exhortation, his father in the faith and accepted the exhortation to do this. Many of the lessons that I've learned over time as a man, the lessons that I learned from my own father were not lectures. They were the way he was. People who know me know that I am a family-oriented person. I love my wife. People who know me know that. And that's just the simple fact that people are aware of with me. But I can tell you this, my dad never taught me how to love. My dad never gave me a lecture on love, not a single time. As a matter of fact, in my life, I don't think my father ever used the word love for me more than a handful at the most. I'm exaggerating if I say five. He may have said, I love you, son, once or twice in 51 years of life with him. My dad didn't use the word. And the other day I was speaking to John. Marie and I do this Friday night kind of Q&A. And John is the one who does the interview and all and asks the questions. And as we were talking, I said to him, as I'm thinking, I don't remember my dad ever one time in my life saying, I love you to my mom, not one time. I do not remember one time my father walking up to my mom and holding her and saying to her, I love you, not one time. Can you imagine that? 51 years. And I never heard my father say, I love you to my mom, not one time, not one time. He showed very little affection in public, very little. My mom was more, she'd kiss his face and he'd kind of laugh, but that would be about it. I never saw that. I never heard that. And yet my dad is my model. Why is that? Because my father was 100% faithful to my mom because my dad was sacrificial for my mom because my dad worked long hours to bring home pay, to pay medical bills and make sure that I had shoes on my feet and food on a table. And I learned what love is. Love is not simply saying it, but it's doing it. And you can learn by watching. And that's what I did. And I'm sure that with Titus, Titus saw what Paul was like and began to know what love does and how love is. God put that love in his heart and he loved them. And Paul can say that he's like a son to me and he has accepted not only the exhortation but he learned from my example. In ministry, it's of utmost importance for assistants to follow through with directions. That requires spiritual maturity. It requires trust. It requires humility. It's important to note that Paul did not see him as a qualitatively lesser minister. He saw Titus as a fellow laborer, a brother in Christ in 2 Corinthians 2.13. He had said, I had no rest of my spirit because I found not Titus, my brother. But still in the kingdom there is authority that's wielded and yielded to. And the fact that he accepted the exhortation shows that Titus was authorized by Paul because Paul is making it clear that Titus is somebody they can trust because he does. He was acting on the request of Paul and shows that he's a man under orders but it also shows he's eager. He didn't have to be requested to go. He would have gone on his own. That's what he says in verse 17. Notice, being more diligent, he went to you of his own accord. He personally owned the concern of Paul and he went on his own accord. He wasn't a novice. He didn't need instruction on how to care for somebody. This love for them motivated him to desire to see him. And no doubt he expected the church to still be kind and loving as well as generous. He had an urgent care, a desire to minister that came from within his own heart. And that reveals that he had the heart of a pastor, an office that he one day came to hold because he served as I mentioned a moment ago on the island of Crete because Titus chapter one, verse five says, for this cause I left you in Crete that you should set in order the things that are wanting and ordain elders in every city as I appointed you. So he was a pastor in ancient Crete and this loving concern made him a good man to perform this task. In verse 18, and we have sent with him the brother whose praise is in the gospel throughout all the churches. Not only that, but who was also chosen by the churches to travel with us with this gift which is administered by us to the glory of the Lord himself and to show your ready mind avoiding this that anyone should blame us in this lavish gift which is administered by us providing honorable things. Not only in the side of the Lord but also in the side of men. And we sent with him, with them our brother whom we have often proved diligent in many things but now much more diligent because of the great confidence which we have in you. So let's look at this for a moment. Paul sent two men with Titus who were recognized as spiritual men. You see that in verses 18 and 22. They came with Titus to receive the offering for the Jerusalem church. By sending these two other men, Paul was exercising wisdom. He's safeguarding Titus as well as himself from accusations of financial wrongdoing. So let me share a couple of things with you about this. Wisdom in handling church finances is of utmost importance because the love of money has been the downfall of many a minister of the gospel. When Paul was writing concerning the qualifications of a bishop, an overseer, a pastor, in 1 Timothy chapter three, verse three, as well as verse eight, speaking of bishops and deacons, leadership in the church, he said they are not to be greedy for money. We see in 2 Timothy chapter four, verse 10, we see a mention of a man named Demas. And Paul had spoken of him because you see Demas in other books of the Bible who was a traveling companion and fellow worker with Paul. And yet the last time you see Demas's name mentioned in scripture is in 2 Timothy four, verse 10, when Paul said, Demas has forsaken me having loved this present world and it's departed for Thessalonica. He forsook me, he abandoned me and he went to the world. That's the last thing you hear about Demas. The love of the world was in his heart. Money, the love of money, not money itself, money's a tool that can be used for good. But the love of money, the greediness to have, to obtain, to keep, to use for your own pleasure has been the downfall of many a minister. And the handling of God's money is intended to be done so with integrity. When you have integrity and you handle the things of the Lord with that kind of heart, it will safeguard you. It safeguards us from the sin of greed. It also safeguards us from the temptation to steal from God. Because every minister needs to know that the money belongs to God and that the money that comes in should be used to glorify him. Now this is for those of you who may be interested, others may not be, but I'll just say this briefly to you. For those of you who may be interested, I take this very seriously, this kind of passage, and so I wrote this out just to let you know. For many years now, several years ago, we voluntarily hired an independent auditing firm to oversee our use of any financial gifts our church receives. We did not do it because we were forced to. We did it voluntarily. I made a choice years ago. We're gonna hire an outside firm and I want them to come and go through the books with a fine tooth comb and they do that. Our auditors review our expenditures on a quarterly basis. They help us to remain financially accountable. They review our financial policies. They review our procedures. They give us advice. They give us direction in our internal controls in order to safeguard this church from even the appearance of misappropriation. We've been doing that for years to take care of the money, to make sure that none of us uses it improperly, just to let you know. We are aware of that and some people, some people think, well, you know, I see this all the time. This is the world I live in. People will write things on Facebook about pastors. They're all greedy and they're all bad. That's just from Marie. There are others who will write things, but I see that in Facebook quite often. You know, armchair theologians and spiritual experts. I see that all the time. And they say, oh, you know, these ministers are thieves and if you have a larger church, that means you have a larger amount of money and therefore they probably are stealing so much. I remember somebody who was saying that I was getting some kind of dividends from having a bookstore and all of that. You know, they thought I was getting money from the bookstore and things. They think that we do that. I mean, they think that we're ripping off and we're not. We don't do that, but that's what some people will think and some people have said over the years. You know, so for us, we take financial accountability very seriously and that's what we see here. These are men that he trusted. And let me share a couple of things about them. First in verse 18, he speaks of a brother whose praise is in the gospel throughout all the churches. This is a man of impeccable character. He's known as a sincere believer. In Proverbs 22, one, you might wanna mark this, Proverbs 22, one, a good name is to be chosen rather than great riches. This man was a man of impeccable character. He was known as a sincere believer. And second in verse 19, he was chosen by the churches to travel with Paul with the gift. In other words, he was recognized as being qualified to do this based on his integrity. Now, when it says he was chosen to travel, this puts the Corinthians, puts in the Corinthians personal responsibility. They made that choice. It says in 1 Corinthians chapter 16, verses three and four, when I arrive, I'll give letters of introduction to the men you approve and send them with your gift to Jerusalem. If it seems advisable for me to go also, they will accompany me. So they were ones you approve. Now notice in verse 19, he says this gift is administered by us to the glory of the Lord. So one, Paul recognizes himself as one who administers as a steward of God's finances. A steward is one who's responsible for someone else's goods. And Paul knew that the finances belonged to God and that he was simply an administrator. Haggai chapter two, verse eight says it like this, the silver is mine, the gold is mine, says the Lord of hosts. So he'd been given responsibility for these things and he did it as service unto the Lord. And then second, he knew that he was to do it in a way that brought glory to the Lord. That speaks of accountability to avoid stumbling anyone or any accusation of misuse. He was avoiding any offenses that result in criticism or scandal. I don't know if any of you have seen a page. I wish I could remember the name, but maybe it's better that I don't. But I think it's called something like preacher's sneakers or something like that. Has anybody heard of that? Raise your hand if you have, okay? One or two. There are well-known preachers. This guy has just taken pictures of well-known preachers he'd go to here and he began to notice there's sneakers, there's the tennis shoes. And so what he did, it's actually a page, something like preachers with sneakers or something, John. Preachers in sneakers and sneakers, preachers and sneakers. Anyway, John sees it all the time. He has his shoes in there. No, but they'll show, and if I gave their names, which I won't, they're well-known, $800 tennis shoes and even more and even more than that. Thousands, sometimes thousands of dollars worth of tennis shoes that they're preaching in, that's the kind of stuff that you have to watch out for. That's the kind of stuff you have to watch out for. Taking God's money and using it in ways that stumble people. Even if you have the ability of 40, even if you have an outside source of revenue, even if you inherited lots of money and you could spend it in any way you want to. I was taught by the word of God in my pastor to not live in an ostentatious way, not to live above the people, not to be somebody that runs around trying to look in a certain way and using God's money to do that. And that requires integrity. That requires a sense of not wanting to stumble people, of not causing people to be stumbled because of the things you may be free to choose to do, yet it causes somebody else to be stumbled. He didn't want to cause any scandal. He did not want to cause any criticism to be given to the minister of the gospel because when the minister of the gospel is criticized, the gospel is also criticized. So he needs to avoid any offenses that result in criticism or scandal. Notice how he says in verse 19 that they're to show your ready mind. You have a zeal, an inclination. This refers to their eagerness to care for the poor to encourage them to give. They had not yet given, they had only promised to give. So he's saying you need to make good on your promise. You have a ready mind, but you need to finish what you desire to do. And then he says in verse 20, avoiding this then anyone should blame us in this lavish gift which is administered by us. Now he's already spoken of that in verse four because his detractors could accuse him of taking money from the poor. And seeing that he had put together a trusted team it safeguards him from accusation. His companions could bear witness that the money collected was all intact. And seeing that the Corinthians trusted these men, Paul's honor would be safeguarded. Now again, notice how he speaks of a lavish gift. That's an incentive to be generous. They had almost a year to collect the finances. So a large amount should be given. They had yet to make good on their promise. They had simply promised, but they had yet to make good on it. And then finally, he says providing honorable things, not only in the sight of the Lord also, but also in the sight of men. This is a way of making it clear that his motives are pure. He's aware of how people judge him and he's aware of his need to be honorable. That's something that every minister, by the way, every Christian really should be aware of. But I especially as a minister, I'm aware of that because people do see me and they do watch me. And no, I'm not paranoid. Sometimes even paranoid have people watching them. But I do have, you would be surprised. I have been surprised at where I've run across people from our church. And I mean it in a good way, a supermarket or on a plane. Or I've run across people from our church in places that surprise me. They'll walk up to me often. And they'll say, hi pastor, I go to your church. It happens every week in one form or another, almost every week. I'll have someone walk up and say, I go to your church. I've been on planes. I've been sitting on planes flying from here to another state, sitting on the plane. And I'm talking to somebody and somebody has walked up and said, excuse me, is that pastor David? I've listened to him on the radio. I've been in other states where I'm going through, what do you call it, through the line, the check-in to get on my plane. And I've gone through and I've had people who have shook my hand as I've walked on to the plane. You know, guys who are standing there at the door when you're entering into the plane. And they say, I was with you this morning, this Sunday morning, I came to the first service and I saw you. I've had, I've told you this story before, Marie and I were in Ontario, we're gonna fly somewhere. And we're stressed to be there on time. And our plane, our flight got canceled. And I'm thinking, oh no. And I said, well, what plane do you have that's flying out that we could make it to New York or wherever it was that we were going. And they said, well, you'll have to go to LA. And I'm in Ontario. And I said, LA, yes, you'll have to go to LA at least at this time. And I'm starting to calculate, if I get there at this time, that means I get off the plane, I'm gonna go to the pulpit immediately after, no time to even, you know, and I'm frustrated. I got frustrated and I'm going. And when I get frustrated, I get quiet. I don't get loud, I get, the opposite. I just get real quiet. And I'm just standing there, fuming. I'm thinking, I can't believe this, Jesus. I can't believe this. And he and I are having a conversation and I'm saying, you know, Jesus, you know, I gotta, I can't believe this. And I'm walking one step at a time until I finally get to the table there, the desk where the woman's gonna give me a ticket to or information about flying out of LA. And when I get upset, I start breathing hard. And I get to the, she goes, hi pastor David, I go to your church. Hi, how are you doing? Praise the Lord. And God says, hypocrite, hypocrite. So I've learned over the years, I've learned these things that who I am has an influence on others. And to be aware of who I am and the things that I can do because you never know who you're gonna run into. You never know. I've had people walk up to me in supermarkets and the first thing they do is look in my basket to see what am I buying, to see if I've got some booze. So I learned to hide it. No, I give it to Mary, she has it under her jacket. No, I mean, I've learned. I've learned these things over time. You can be a great example without even knowing you are because you don't know who's noticing. You don't know what's going on. And so what we're supposed to do is we're supposed to keep our motives pure. And we need to make sure that our hearts are honorable because people do make judgments. And when you're careful to bring honor to the Lord first, you can gain respect of others. In Proverbs 16, verse seven, it says, "'When a man's ways please the Lord, "'he makes even his enemies to be at peace with him.'" So we safeguard ourselves against accusations. We avoid the appearance of evil. We desire to please God as well as men. We don't wanna cause people to stumble. Our lives impact others. We need to be aware of what they are seeing. And then he says again in verse 22, "'We have sent with them our brother, "'whom we have often proved diligent in many things, "'but now much more diligent "'because of the great confidence we have in you.'" This is another brother that's referred to. Notice he's one often proved diligent in many things. His reputation was faithful consistency over time and trial. You see, some people start out well but they don't remain on fire. They begin well but they don't finish well. Disappointment or affliction enters their life. They lose zeal. They lose their love for the Lord. That this is a man who remained consistent over the course of time. And the church was a witness to his diligence and his faithfulness. And that made him a good choice. And then finally, verse 23, "'If anyone inquires about Titus, "'he's my partner and fellow worker concerning you, "'or if our brethren are inquired about, "'they are messengers of the churches, "'the glory of Christ. "'Therefore, show to them and before the churches "'the proof of your love and of our boasting on your behalf.'" As a partner in ministry, he's above reproach but he's greatly trusted. All of these men have God's seal of approval. Welcome them warmly as they come to you. Receive from you the gift you've prepared because you can trust them. And then finally he says in verse 24, he's saying as you receive them graciously, you're demonstrating your love for God and your love for me. You also are revealing that you're worthy of my boasting about you. Remember in chapter seven verse 13, Titus discovered that they were loving believers while you're gonna discover that these men are too. Receive them affectionately, give them the honor that they should receive. I really believe, and I'll close with just a basic thought. I really believe in showing proper respect and honor to those who serve the Lord. I really do. I thank God for all the servants that God has given to us to serve alongside of us here in this fellowship. I thank God. I don't see one person's ministry as less than somebody else's. We all have something to do and all of us are intended by God to do those things faithfully with the best efforts that we can put into it. Not because we're somehow earning some kind of spiritual rewards by themselves that we do, but because we love the Lord and that's why we do what we do. And so when I've had people come to our fellowship from outside, people from different ministries, we always show them honor. We show them respect. Why? Because they represent the kingdom of God. Sometimes people wonder how come I loved and showed so much respect for my pastor, Chuck Smith. I showed him respect because of my love for him, but I showed him respect because he represented the kingdom. I showed him respect because he had influenced my life for the good and therefore I ought to show respect to the one who has influenced me like that. I should give honor to where honor is due and I respected him in that way. So in ministry to me, men of God and women of God are to be highly respected for the work that they do. The labor that they do is very long. Sometimes it's always selfless and sometimes it's not even noticed or unrewarded, but people like myself, I will notice those things in people and I'll say, you know what? I will show you the respect that is due to you because you're serving my king and I love you for it and I appreciate what you've done and I appreciate how you impact me and how you influence me. And so that's how it was with my pastor, Chuck. I had so much respect for him and I was very graced by God in the last many years of his life to be able to spend time with him, to travel with him, to visit with him, to do so many things, to grow in my love for him and I learned so many things just by speaking to him. I have a picture in my office of my pastor and me and my pastor, Chuck, and me and I've pointed it out to people. I said, I can tell you what's going on in this picture though I don't remember the conversation. I can tell you what's going on because if I showed you the picture, you have Pastor Chuck and when Chuck would answer a question, you would always kind of put his hands together, he'd clasp and he'd put them on his chest. That's what he would do. Or he would peel his thumbnail when he talked to you. And he just, those were two of his habits. And so he's leaning back in a chair and he's got his hand on his chest like this and I'm leaning forward. And I've told whomever has seen the picture. I said, I can tell you what just happened even though I don't remember the situation. I can tell you what just happened. I said, look at his body language. You can see that Chuck's leaning back. His hands are on his chest. He's answering a question. He's telling me something. And now look at the way I am with him. Kind of, you know, like I was his sheep and he was my shepherd and he was speaking to me words of wisdom from the word of God by the spirit of God. I said, I can see I'm learning something from my pastor. It's my favorite picture that I have of me and Pastor Chuck where he's sharing with me what was deep in his heart. And Paul is simply saying, honor these men, respect them, you can trust them. Titus, he has the same kind of love for you that I have. God put it in my heart and he put it in his heart. And a man who loves you like that, you should respect and you should listen to and you can trust because this man will not steal from you because he's a son with a father and even as Paul was a father to that church, he was a father to Titus and Titus would follow his influence because as a father he had laid in him spiritual foundations for a righteous life. You can respect that man and you can respect these others who are with them because I trust them, show them honor, you can trust them too. And that's how it ought to be in church, don't you think?