May we never underestimate the privilege we have to sing, nor underestimate the miracle that God has performed in our hearts, to give us a song to sing, amen? We return once again to our verse-by-verse study of Second Corinthians. And so I would invite you to take your Bibles and turn to Second Corinthians, chapter eight, we're going to look at the first eight verses this morning under the heading "Marks of a Faithful Financial Steward." I must say that it is one of the great burdens of my heart, to see my precious church family grow in the grace and the knowledge of Christ. I have a profound sense of urgency, especially now given the persecution that I know is coming our way. And one of the things that we must do is understand the word of God first of all, and then live it. Otherwise, we forfeit blessing in our life. And so for this reason, this passage is of immense importance. Because we are all to be faithful financial stewards of what God has given us. 

Let me give you a little context here before I actually read the passage. The context here is the need to collect money for the impoverished saints in Jerusalem. You will remember that the first converts to Christianity were Hellenistic Jews that had come to Passover in Jerusalem. And they had been scattered from all over the Gentile world. Many different languages were spoken. So these were pilgrims, who were part of the Diaspora, who came to Jerusalem to celebrate the day of Pentecost. And of course, when they were there, you will recall, that they witnessed this amazing miracle of all of these Galileans speaking about God presenting the gospel in their own languages. In fact, we read about this in Acts two we read "'And how is it that we each hear them in our own language, to which we were born? Parthians and Medes, and Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea, and Capadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the districts of Libya around Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretens and Arabs--we hear them in our own tongues, speaking of the mighty deeds of God.' And they all continued in amazement and great perplexity saying to one another, 'What does this mean?'" And if we follow the historical narrative of that account, we read how Peter preaches this amazing sermon, calling them to repentance. Many of them came to repentance and were baptized that day. In fact, we read that 3000 souls were saved that day, and were baptized in the mikvehs that were all around the temple there, the cleansing waters that were available. And then more were added. Later on in Acts chapter four and verse four, we read how the church grew by 5000, more referring to the men, if you add the women, and maybe some of the kids we're talking a lot of people. And they were utterly astounded at what had happened. Moreover, they were blown away by the news of the gospel and who Jesus really was. And so naturally, when you come to Christ, what do you want? More teaching, more fellowship, more worship. The problem was, there was no place to stay. All of these people in Jerusalem and where do you stay? And many of them that were staying with their Jewish relatives, and now they're immediately ostracized. The inns there weren't like Motel Six. They were filthy. Very few of them, very expensive. So what did they do? Well, they moved in to the homes of other Jewish believers in Jerusalem. These people were already poor. They were already living in poverty due to Roman taxation at that time in history. And now many of them begin to experience persecution, they lose their jobs. Of course, Jesus promised this would happen in John 16 verse two, he said, "'They will make you outcasts from the synagogue, but an hour is coming for everyone who kills you to think that he is offering service to God.'" If we go back to the narrative that describes what happened in the first century at Pentecost, we read this in Acts two beginning of verse 44, "...and they began selling their property and possessions and were sharing them with all, as anyone might have need. Day by day continuing with one mind in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they were taking their meals together with gladness and sincerity of heart, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord was adding to their number day by day those who were being saved." I mean, this was the Great Awakening in Jerusalem. chapter four, verse 32, "And the congregation of those who believed were of one heart and soul, and not one of them claimed that anything belonging to him was his own but all things were common property to them." So you can just hear the heart of love and a willingness to do everything that they can to minister to their brothers and sisters in Christ. In verse 34, of chapter four, we read this, "For there was not a needy person among them, for all who were owners of land or houses would sell them and bring the proceeds of the sales and lay them at the apostles' feet, and they would be distributed to each as any had need." So that's the context. 

The problem is, eventually the resources ran out. Now, what are you going to do? So Paul, takes up a collection. In fact, we first read about this collection in First Corinthians 16, we studied that. And then because of the false teachers in Corinth, he wasn't able to deal with this. And now he's coming back to it once again and addressing that situation in his second letter. And that brings us to our passage here in chapter eight, beginning in verse one. Let me read this to you. "Now, brethren, we wish to make known to you the grace of God, which has been given in the churches of Macedonia, that in a great ordeal of affliction, their abundance of joy and their deep poverty overflowed in the wealth of their liberality. For I testify that according to their ability, and beyond their ability, they gave of their own accord, begging us with much urging for the favor of participation in the support of the saints, and this, not as we had expected, but they first gave themselves to the Lord and to us by the will of God. So we urged Titus that, as he had previously made a beginning, so he would also complete in you this gracious work as well. But just as you abound in everything, in faith and utterance and knowledge and in all earnestness, and in the love we inspired in you, see that you are bound in this gracious work also. I'm not speaking this is a command, but as proving through the earnestness of others, that sincerity of your love also." 

Paul also knew that, by virtue of the fact that these Gentiles and Macedonia were giving so sacrificially to these Jews in Jerusalem, this would help unite the church because they had been enemies in the past. But we must understand that this was also a test to the Corinthian believers, and frankly, to all believers. You see, one of the greatest measures of spiritual maturity, in a Christian is our attitude toward money and material things, and our devotion to generous, sacrificial, faithful and consistent giving to the Lord's work. Jesus said, “Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” And how we spend our time and how we spend our money betrays the treasure of our heart, does it not? Christians with no habit of prayer, Christians who have no desire to have an intimate communion with the Lord and secret devotion to Him, who have no appetite for his word, who have no burden for the lost, who just kind of live for themselves, will know nothing of this kind of stewardship. Instead, their appetite will be for entertainment, and material things and the pleasures that those things can afford. You show me a stingy Christian, one that lacks discipline when it comes to money, one that is impulsive, and lazy, and self-indulgent and abuses credit. And I'll show you a selfish Christian who is bereft of holiness and power and discernment and blessing. I'll show you a worldly, cultural Christian, whose life bears little resemblance to the transcendent holiness of Christ. Too many believers today love money more than they love God. I was reminded of Solomon's testimony, the wealthiest man that ever lived. He said this in Ecclesiastes 5:10. "He who loves money will not be satisfied with money, nor he who loves abundance with its income." I was reading the other day, that his name is Elon Musk, the Tesla guy, is worth $185 billion dollars. For 10 years, back in the 80s, I counseled primarily wealthy people, down in Brentwood. Most of them were Christians, lots in the music industry, Christian music industry, a lot of athletes and people like that. Most of them were fabulously wealthy. I remember one lady had a $2,500 a month budget just for her clothes; had a guy who would want to meet Nancy and me at the airport in the evening to jump on his jet to fly to Florida to eat dinner. Which by the way, I never did do. But you know what? These people were miserable. Most people who come into a lot of money end up being destitute eventually. In fact, I was reading that 70% of lottery winners go bankrupt. 1/3 go bankrupt within the first three to five years. And then their lives are marked by depression and drug and alcohol abuse and estrangement from family and friends and on and on it goes. 

And many Christians today unfortunately, trust in the riches more than Christ. They know nothing of what it means to lay up for themselves treasures in heaven. They spend all of their money on themselves. Therefore, they hold to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power. Now remember, biblically, and we're going to see more of this as we go on for a few minutes here this morning, God honoring giving isn't necessarily determined by the amount you give, but by your attitudes. It should be seen as a joyful privilege, not an obligation, an act of worship, an act of love, an act of devotion to Christ. And it should always be sacrificial, it should be generous; proportionate to your ability to give. It should be voluntary; it should be regular and so forth. And biblically, our first priority is to support our local church, and those who lead within the church and serve within the church. We read about this in First Corinthians nine six through 14 and First Timothy 5:17 and other passages. And then the second priority is to meet the needs of the poor primarily within the church. But you know, our flesh can find 1000 reasons to spend our money on ourselves, right? I mean, we are hopelessly biased in our own favor, let's just all admit it. And as a result, we forfeit power. We forfeit God's blessing. But beloved, you can never outgive God. Jesus said in Luke 6:38, "Give and it will be given to you. They will pour into your lap a good measure pressed down shaken together and running over, for by your standard of measure, it will be measured to you in return." And Paul said in Second Corinthians nine verse six, "He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Each one must do just as he is purposed in his heart, not grudgingly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able tomake all grace abound to you, so that always having all sufficiency in everything, you may have an abundance for every good deed.'" And certainly, this is my heart's desire for each of you. 

So, as we come to chapter eight, we learn much about the proper attitudes we should have and the actions of a faithful steward. We must remember that all we have belongs to the Lord. We're merely stewards of it. In fact, we read of this and Deuteronomy 10:14, "Behold to the LORD your God belong heaven and the highest heavens, the earth and all that is in it." So as we look at this text, I want to do so under three real basic categories, three marks of a faithful financial steward, we're going to see number one, that generous giving is a joyful act of selfless love, regardless of circumstances. Secondly, we will see that generous giving is a voluntary act of worship proportionate to one's ability. And then thirdly, generous giving is a privileged act of worship, that reveals one's devotion to Christ and others. So let's look at this first little point in the simple outline: generous giving as a joyful act of selfless love, regardless of circumstances. Notice verse one. Paul says to the Corinthians here, "Now, brethren, we wish to make known to you the grace of God." In other words, the divine enablement that moved the people in Macedonia, as we're going to see, to give so sacrificially--"...we wish to make known to you the grace of God, which has been given in the churches of Macedonia." By the way, Macedonia was the former realm of Alexander the Great, it was now in ruins; the Romans had plundered to that area, the people were living in extreme poverty. That area would have included the churches of Thessalonica, the church at Philippi, the church at Berea. 

And he goes on to say in verse two, "...that in a great ordeal of affliction,"--ordeal can be translated great trial, a great test of affliction. Affliction, referring to a state of extreme adversity and distress--"...in a great ordeal of affliction their abundance of joy and their deep poverty overflowed in the wealth of their liberality." In other words, the gift of God's grace had impacted them so profoundly that they had an overwhelming sense of love for Christ, to see him glorified, and to love other people in need, their brothers and sisters in Christ. And that's what empowered them to give the way they did. That is what Paul is saying, they imitated Christ who dwelled within them. By the way, generous, sacrificial giving is always a manifestation of a transformed heart. It is generated, and it is sustained by the internal workings of God's grace. Their treasure was in heaven, not on Earth. They were, they were fixated on eternal things, rather than temporal things. They look beyond their own needs. They were motivated out of selfless love, not selfish greed. Think about it, for yourself, when you get your paycheck or when you get, as we did yesterday, another check. Well, I don't know what it's called some kind of check from the government. You know, I think we all we got $1,200, I guess that's what you all get. It amazes me, we're what $17 trillion in debt. And, you know, I wish I had one of those printing machines, right? We're 20 something million in debt, 27 trillion, okay--well see, I've lost count. But anyway, when you get your money like that, what do you say to yourself? Do you say, "Oh, thank you, Lord. I'm humbled by the resources that you have given me, and I realized that I have a stewardship responsibility. Help me to wisely spend my money to use it, ultimately, for your glory. Yes, I've got basic needs. But Lord help me to know how to invest my money for your kingdom purposes. I want to lay up my treasures in heaven. I want to give generously as a joyful act of selfless love. Regardless of my circumstances."  Is that your attitude? Or is it rather, "Good now I can get..." fill in the blank. And you're already what? $100,000 in debt $200,000 in debt. What's your mortgage? What's your credit card?

Well, this was the heart of the impoverished and persecuted Macedonians. You read about it for example, in Philippians 1:29. We read, "For it has been granted for Christ's sake, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake." They were suffering. You remember in Acts 17 that the Jews whipped up a mob to run Paul and Silas out of Thessalonica. Again, Macedonia. In First Thessalonians, Paul described the kind of affliction, they were enduring. We read in chapter one, verse six, "You also became imitators of us and of the Lord, having received the word in much tribulation with the joy of the Holy Spirit, so that you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia." By the way, I hope we will be an example to the persecuted saints in America and around the world in days to come. Also, in First Thessalonians two, verse 14, we read, "For you, brethren, became imitators of the churches of God in Christ Jesus that are in Judea, for you also endured the same sufferings at the hands of your own countrymen, even as they did from the Jews, who both killed the Lord Jesus and the prophets, and drove us out. They are not pleasing to God, but hostile to all men." So, Paul was using them as an example, they gave out of their abundance. The term could literally be translated "over abundance," a state of being more than full, a surplus of what? Of money? No, they didn't have a lot of money, a surplus of joy. And their deep poverty. It could literally be translated "according to the depth of their poverty." "Overflowed," it says, "in the wealth of their liberality." "Wealth" is interesting--"ploutos" in the original language. It's often translated "riches"-- a term that typically, in the New Testament, denotes spiritual resources, not so much money. Too often people think, well, if I give God a 20, he's going to give me a 50. It didn't work that way. In Ephesians one seven, Paul speaks of the "riches of His grace." Verse 18, "the riches of the glory of our inheritance."  Chapter two, verse seven, "The surpassing riches of His grace, and kindness toward us in Christ Jesus." In chapter three and verse eight, Paul was called to preach to the Gentiles, "the unfathomable riches of Christ." And in Ephesians, chapter three, beginning of verse 16, Paul prays that he would grant you, you saints in Ephesus and by implication, all of us, that he would grant you according to the, here it is, the word, "riches, the wealth of His glory, to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in the inner man, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith." Folks, money can't buy that. That's what we need far more than money. "And that you being rooted and grounded in love may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth, and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ, which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God. Unto Him was able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us." 

So again, these beggars, in Macedonia, they had virtually no money. But in their deep poverty, they had so much more. The unfathomable riches of Christ. So in other words, it was out of that surplus, the spiritual wealth that was in their souls, that they gave. Verse two again, "in the wealth of their liberality." Liberality means the sincerity of their heart. Now bear in mind, some of these people were slaves in Macedonia. Most of them lived in poverty. Yet they gave sacrificially, they gave generously, which is always a mark of an unselfish heart, devoted to Christ. Their love for Christ and their brothers and sisters in Christ exceeded their love for themselves. They rejoiced in the opportunity they had to bless others to honor Christ, to invest in the kingdom. They knew that it is more blessed to give than to receive; they understood that. They knew that God would reward the reward them infar greater measure than the amount of money that they gave, which was probably not a whole lot. But it was sacrificial, and oh, that honors the Lord. And they knew that God would supply all of their needs according to His riches and glory in Christ Jesus. I trust this is the attitude of your heart. 

So generous giving is a joyful act of selfless love, regardless of circumstances. Secondly, generous giving is a voluntary act of worship, proportionate to one's ability. Notice verse three. "For I testify that according to their ability, and beyond their ability, they gave of their own accord." I want you to understand they were not commanded to give a tithe of 10%. By the way, that is fine to do. That's a good benchmark. I think for most of us, that doesn't come close to being sacrificial. And certainly, we can do that. But you must understand that is not a New Testament commandment. Christian giving is always voluntary. Nowhere in the New Testament is a fixed amount or a percentage required. People will say wait, wait, wait, wait, tithing was commanded in the Mosaic Law, and even before the law existed. And unfortunately, that reasoning is flawed. There is no God given command to give a specific amount prior to the Mosaic law, not one. All offerings in the period before Moses were voluntary, including by the way the tithes that Abraham gave to Melchizedek, and the tithes that Jacob gave. In fact, Abraham didn't give a 10th of everything he owned to Melchizedek. It says in Hebrews seven four that he gave a 10th of the spoils he had taken in battle. Now there did exist, some required giving. Prior to the Mosaic Law, we know that Pharaoh, for example, in the days of Joseph, levied a 20% tax on his people during the years of abundance, to store up food. But what we see is tithing is basically taxation. And it was a requirement under the Mosaic Law, necessary to support the theocracy, just like we pay taxes to support our government. From the book of Genesis, to the giving of the Law, all the way through the days of Jesus and beyond, in the New Testament, Scripture only reveals two types of giving. Number one, required giving, which is taxation, or tithes given to the government. And then secondly, free will giving. 

Let me give you a little background. In the Old Testament, there was taxation under the Mosaic law for the theocracy, as I mentioned, that was required giving. And there were essentially three kinds of tithes that amounted to about 23% of what you had, in addition to some other taxes. First of all, 10% was to be given to support the priests and the Levites, in charge of the religious life of Israel and the government. And then secondly, there was another 10% that was required to support the social and religious life of the nation, including the rituals and the funding of the feasts in Jerusalem and so forth. And then third, there was a tithe every third year for their social services or their welfare system, like we have in our country. And then there were other various forms of taxation, like they had a land, a Sabbath tax or Sabbath rest tax. They had a a special tax, that was a profit sharing for people that where they would not harvest the corners of their field, they would leave that for the poor and so forth. But you must understand that tithing wasn't considered giving under the Mosaic law. It was taxation; it was a required gift because the tithe didn't belong to the people, it belonged to the Lord. Repeatedly in the Old Testament, we read "the tithe is the Lord's." So you can't give what already belongs to someone else, right? In fact, if you failed to give back to the Lord that which was due Him, you're robbing God. We read about this in Malachi three, "Will a man rob God? Yet you are robbing me. But you say how have we robbed You?" And He answers "in tithes and offerings. You are cursed with a curse, for you are robbing Me, the whole nation of you. Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, so that there may be food in My house. And test Me now in this," says, the Lord of hosts, if I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you a blessing until it overflows."

So that was consistent with the taxation under the theocracy. And when the people failed to pay their  taxes, their tithes, not only did it violate God's law, but it disrupted the entire religious system of the nation that would ultimately bring glory to God. If you didn't have a tithe, the priests would have had no means of support to do all that they did. They would have had to have abandon their priestly functions and take up farming just to survive and so forth. Moreover, the poor and the strangers would suffer severely. Because you see, the tithe included portions of their crops, as I mentioned. And by the way, it also included certain portions of their animals that would be brought to the temple treasury. And this was crucial to supply all of the needs of the temple ministry, which by the way, provided assistance to the poor and to strangers. So tithing, that is taxation under the Mosaic law, should not be confused with the freewill giving the people gave out of the goodness of their heart, as an expression of their love to God. And even in the Old Testament, free will offerings were always spontaneous. They were always proportional. They were always voluntary and sacrificial. And there was never any frequency or specific amount stipulated. 

So you must understand the New Testament teaches the same thing. There's two kinds of giving. There's required giving which is taxation. And we render unto Caesar what is Caesar's. And then there's free will giving. First Corinthians 16 two, "Put aside and save as he may prosper." Second Corinthians eight three, "Give according to your ability and beyond ability they gave of their own accord." That's where we're at today. Second Corinthians nine seven "Each one must do just as he has purposed in his heart." And as I said, as Jesus put it, in Mark 12:17, "Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's."  And in Romans 13 one we read, "Let every person be in subjection to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except from God and those which exist are established by God." Verse four, "For it is a minister of God to you for good." Verse six, "For because of this, you also pay taxes. For rulers are servants of God, devoting themselves to this very thing. Render to all what is due them, tax to whom is taxes due, custom to whom custom, fear to whom fear, honor to whom honor." So bottom line he's saying, don't cheat on your taxes. Sowe've got to be careful that we don't arbitrarily transport certain aspects of Old Covenant law into the New Covenant. Don't place yourself back under the law that Jesus came to fulfill, if I can put it that way. Romans 6:14 through 15 tells us how we're no longer under the law. By the way, it's interesting, the Mormons are required to give 10% of their gross income, and they look at your tax records to make sure you do so. Well, that makes sense because they're a cult. They're trying to earn their way to heaven. That's one of the ways you do it. By the way, again, to give 10%, or whatever percentage you come up with it, you know, that it's good to have something like that. But for the most part, when people talk about, well, you need to give your tithe, you need to give your 10%. I don't know about you, but that's not very sacrificial, for me, probably not for you either. 

Alright, so how much should we give? Well, how much do you love the Lord? How much do you think you should give? The answer, by the way, is in verse three, "For I testify that according to their ability, and beyond their ability, they gave of their own accord." Now, some will say, well, now wait a minute, in Mark 12, in the story of the widow's mite, she gave everything she had. Well, come on, folks. I mean, surely that isn't what God expects, right? Of course not. That's foolish. By the way, be very careful. That text has nothing to do with financial stewardship, nothing to do with giving. While that's common, that is an interpretation that is completely foreign to the narrative. Let me digress for a moment. 

In that context, the whole passage, is warning about judgment upon the corrupt religious leaders of Israel, who were even deceiving widows with these false promises of Jewish legalism. And part of that included this idea that the more you give, the more God will give to you. It was their variation of the same old prosperity gospel that is being preached today, the same type of thing. There's no indication in Jesus' story, that that woman even loved him, that she was a believer. No indication of what her heart was really like, no mention of that, no commendation for the amount she gave; no mention of any principle of giving in the whole story. But what is clear is that she, like many others, was a woman that was completely duped by these greedy religionists that God condemned with the harshest of warnings. They were religious predators, just like we have today. Greedy phonies that cause people to claim promises that God never made for their own ends. So don't use the story of the widow's mite as a lesson in stewardship. 

So how much should we give? Well, you need to discern that. Discern the will of God in your own family, give in proportion to what you have, out of your love for him; your desire to invest in the kingdom. Notice how this attitude manifested itself with the Macedonians. Again, verse three, four, "I testify that according to their ability, and beyond their ability, they gave of their own accord, begging us.." I love that, "...begging us with much urging for the favor of participation in the support of the saints and this, not as we had expected, but they first gave themselves to the Lord and to us by the will of God." So here we see the third principle, and that is, that generous giving is a privileged act of worship that reveals one's devotion to Christ, and to others. I'm always so encouraged along with the rest of the elders, and the deacons, and deaconesses, henever there's a need in this church, all we have to do is put out a phone call. And all you'd have to do is make one phone call, you know how the great mind works at Calvary Bible Church--within about 30 minutes the whole church knows, and we just, we've got plenty, we've got enough, thank you for meeting this need. That's really a real testimony of God's grace in the lives of the folks at Calvary Bible Church, certainly proven devotion to your love for Christ. What a privilege it is to give. 

But you see, first, you must give of yourself there has to be an intimate relationship, a passionate love for Christ, otherwise, you're not going to give that way. I mean, think about our children and our grandchildren. When they have a need do we begrudgingly say, oh, okay, I guess here you go. No, we want to lavish blessing upon them. If you're giving is stingy, if it is sporadic, or if you give no thought to the privilege that you have to worship the Lord in you're giving, folks your heart is not right. Let me take you to Romans 12 verse one for a moment. Paul there says, "Therefore I urge you brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship." You see, our total surrender to God must not be seen as some onerous obligation, but a joyful, willing sacrifice, motivated out of a neverending sense of gratitude that we have for what he has done. 

By the way, that imagery would have been so powerful--this idea of a living in a holy sacrifice. These people were used to seeing sacrifices, even to the pagan gods. It was bloody, and they would burn up the animals and the aroma would ascend to the pagan gods and all of this type of thing. So they knew that Paul was referring to something here far greater than just a casualrelationship with God. Paul was calling on the people, by the mercies of God, to present everything that they had. In fact, when he used the word "present," it is a term that was often used in the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Old Testament, a technical term describing a priest placing a sacrifice on the altar. Well, what are we to present? He says, "your bodies." In other words, the totality of who you are as a person, the sum of your humaneness. You see, worship has always included sacrifice. But it's really interesting, isn't it? The form of the sacrifice is different. In the Old Covenant, the offering was of dead things. All right? Dead sacrifices in the new covenant. The offerings are living sacrifices. In the Old Covenant, you make a sacrifice, in the New Covenant, you are the sacrifice. You see the difference? So we are to be a living sacrifice; living carries the idea of just this voluntary nature, the voluntary nature of the act; acontinual, decisive, habitual commitment to give all that we are to Christ, to surrender everything to him. But it's not only to be living, it's to be a holy sacrifice. In this context, it means to be set apart from the world. Set apart from all of our dreams and ambitions, to put our agenda over here, make Christ the agenda; a voluntary surrender of all we are. 

But even as in the Old Testament, the sacrifices were to be without spot and blemish. That's how we are to be as we come before the Lord. This is the kind of sacrifice that is acceptable to God, that is pleasing to Him. Beloved, if I can put it this way. If you are not giving the total sum of your being to God in your life, you're just not being pleasing to Him. And you're certainly not going to have a godly predisposition to be the kind of steward that would honor him and bring blessing and power into your life. You see, he's not interested in some external religion. He wants all of you. He wants you to love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul with all your mind. Well, this is what Paul witnessed among the Macedonians. And that's what he was telling the Corinthians, guys, men, women, look what they did. This is how we need to be. 

Verse six, "So we urged Titus that as he had previously made a beginning, so he would also complete in you this gracious work as well." Verse seven, "But as you are bound in everything, in faith and utterance..." By the way, utterance here is "logos," it refers to doctrinal truth, as you are bound in faith and doctrinal truth, the word "logos," the word is the truth in knowledge, which carries the idea of being able to apply the truth to your life, to live it out. So again, "But just as you are bound in everything, and faith and utterance and knowledge, and in all earnestness and in the love we inspired in you, see that you are bound in this gracious work also. I am not speaking this as a command." See, again, he's not commanding them to give a tithe that or a specific amount or whatever. No, "but as proving through the earnestness of others..." that'sreferring to the model of the Macedonians, "proving through the earnestness of others, the sincerity of your love also." 

Beloved, these are the marks of a faithful financial steward. Learn these lessons well. And in closing, may I challenge you to examine your heart in this, knowing full well, that because of your flesh, you are going to be hopelessly biased in your own favor. Just admit that, confess that, and ask the Spirit to help you to get beyond that. And then examine your finances. How you give, talk with your spouse about it, let's be honest, let's talk with our kids about it. Let's make sure that we are honoring the Lord in this way, not out of duty, but out of desire so that we won't forfeit blessing. And my goodness, with everything happening in our country, dear friends, there is no telling what type of persecution, we're going to experience. We're trying to build a war chest here, to be able to continue to help people as we have. And as we do that are in need. We don't know what's coming down the pike. Some of us may lose our jobs. Some of us may end up in jail. We don't know. But we're going to need to come together as the first century saints did. And we do so with joy, to watch God prove himself powerful on our behalf. So let's take these things very, very serious. Okay. Let's pray. 

Father, thank you for these eternal truths. Help us to not only grasp them intellectually, but Lord, help us to make them the priority of our heart so that we can honor you in this very important aspect of our lives. I pray in Jesus’ name and for his sake. Amen.