Latest / Prophecy Watchers / Does the Bible Command Christians to Tithe? | Studies with Stearman

Transcript

Does the Bible Command Christians to Tithe? | Studies with Stearman · Prophecy Watchers

• 0:03
  Speaker 1: Welcome to Studies with Stearman. Join us as we look
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: deeper into the Bible. Strengthen your faith with us even
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: as we see the day approaching. And now, here's Gary.
• 0:17
  Speaker 2: We're going to be looking at 2 Corinthians chapters 8
• 0:22
  Speaker 2: and 9 today. I've said it over and over again
• 0:27
  Speaker 2: since we started in 2 Corinthians that you can't outline
• 0:32
  Speaker 2: this book. And the more I look at it, the
• 0:34
  Speaker 2: more I see that you shouldn't even try. Because this
• 0:38
  Speaker 2: is a message from Paul's heart and he just sort
• 0:41
  Speaker 2: of ricochets off of a lot of different subjects.
• 0:46
  Speaker 3: One after another.
• 0:48
  Speaker 2: There is an order there, but it's not the usual
• 0:51
  Speaker 2: order of outline that you see. 2 Corinthians starts out
• 0:57
  Speaker 2: by Paul giving thanks to God in answer to the
• 1:01
  Speaker 2: prayers concerning all the troubles they had had in Asia Minor,
• 1:07
  Speaker 2: in southern Greece, Achaia, Corinth. He then moves on to
• 1:13
  Speaker 2: the fact that he had planned on doing certain things.
• 1:16
  Speaker 2: God had changed his plans. He talks about what a
• 1:19
  Speaker 2: comfort it was to have Titus do work for him.
• 1:23
  Speaker 2: So he goes into a little bit of his travel schedule,
• 1:26
  Speaker 2: a little bit of talk about Titus. We've looked at
• 1:29
  Speaker 2: all of these things. He talks about his motivation for
• 1:33
  Speaker 2: the ministry. He talks about the Corinthians themselves. And he
• 1:39
  Speaker 2: makes a heartfelt appeal to the Corinthians that they should
• 1:42
  Speaker 2: reconcile all their inner strife and argumentation. Also, while you're
• 1:48
  Speaker 2: doing that, he said you should separate yourself from the
• 1:50
  Speaker 2: unbelievers in your area and listen to what Titus has
• 1:55
  Speaker 2: to say.
• 1:57
  Speaker 3: Well, on we go.
• 2:00
  Speaker 2: Suddenly turning on a dime, after all of Paul's heartfelt
• 2:05
  Speaker 2: pleas for an end to the strife of the Corinthians,
• 2:10
  Speaker 2: he turns to the subject of Christian giving. He turns
• 2:15
  Speaker 2: to the subject so quickly that if you were riding
• 2:18
  Speaker 2: in a car it would spin your head. He goes
• 2:22
  Speaker 2: into chapters 8 and 9, they're all about all the
• 2:25
  Speaker 2: aspects of Christian giving. And you would think that Paul's
• 2:29
  Speaker 2: entire life was devoted to fundraising. I mean, Paul is
• 2:33
  Speaker 2: a fundraiser par excellence and uses all of the little nuances,
• 2:40
  Speaker 2: tricks of the trade, little references, etc.
• 2:43
  Speaker 3: To get people to open the old pocketbook.
• 2:47
  Speaker 2: And we go through chapters 8 and 9 which we'll
• 2:49
  Speaker 2: be covering today, you get to chapter 10 and boom,
• 2:52
  Speaker 2: we turn on a dime again. And Paul begins to
• 2:56
  Speaker 2: defend his apostolic authority And so we just reel to
• 3:01
  Speaker 2: and fro in this letter.
• 3:03
  Speaker 3: And we do so emotionally.
• 3:07
  Speaker 2: And the beautiful thing to me about this is that
• 3:09
  Speaker 2: Paul is an ordinary guy. He is subject to, like
• 3:14
  Speaker 2: passions as we are, to use a King James expression,
• 3:18
  Speaker 2: he's not above it all. He's quite often rocked by
• 3:22
  Speaker 2: emotion back and forth. And he is into the ministry
• 3:28
  Speaker 2: of all the way. In other words, he is willing
• 3:31
  Speaker 2: to take a little pain where necessary. Now let's read
• 3:35
  Speaker 2: chapter 8. Moreover, brethren, I'm going to read this in
• 3:42
  Speaker 2: the King James and then we'll begin a little exegesis
• 3:46
  Speaker 2: of what he's saying. Moreover, brethren, we inform you to
• 3:51
  Speaker 2: wit of the grace of God bestowed on the churches
• 3:53
  Speaker 2: of Macedonia. Now Macedonia is in northern Greece and up
• 3:58
  Speaker 2: around where Philippi is, Thessalonica. So he's now talking about
• 4:04
  Speaker 2: taking up the offering in Macedonia. Verse 2, how that
• 4:09
  Speaker 2: in a great trial of affliction the abundance of their
• 4:12
  Speaker 2: joy and their deep poverty abounded under the riches of
• 4:14
  Speaker 2: their liberality for to their power, I bear record, yea,
• 4:18
  Speaker 2: and beyond their power they were willing of themselves. In fact,
• 4:23
  Speaker 2: they went beyond what we expected. praying us with much
• 4:27
  Speaker 2: entreating that we would receive the gift and take upon
• 4:30
  Speaker 2: us the fellowship of the ministering of the saints. And
• 4:32
  Speaker 2: this they did not as we had hoped, but first
• 4:35
  Speaker 2: gave their own selves to the Lord and unto us
• 4:38
  Speaker 2: by the will of God insomuch that we desired Titus,
• 4:43
  Speaker 2: that as he had begun, so he would also finish
• 4:47
  Speaker 2: in you the same grace also.
• 4:51
  Speaker 3: Now, the way this thing.
• 4:53
  Speaker 2: Starts out is that Paul is exhorting, it's almost like
• 4:57
  Speaker 2: he's staging a little contest here. He's exhorting southern Greece
• 5:02
  Speaker 2: to give out of a heart as big as the
• 5:05
  Speaker 2: northern Grecians gave. He wants the Achaeans to match the
• 5:10
  Speaker 2: Macedonians' offering. And you say, wow, what kind of manipulation
• 5:15
  Speaker 2: is this? Well, it's not really manipulation. This is Paul's
• 5:20
  Speaker 2: heart's in the matter of raising money for the saints
• 5:24
  Speaker 2: back in the Jerusalem church. As we proceed along through
• 5:27
  Speaker 2: chapter 8 we discover that Paul has just an ache
• 5:31
  Speaker 2: in his heart.
• 5:32
  Speaker 3: For the poverty in Jerusalem.
• 5:35
  Speaker 2: It's really odd when you stop and think about it
• 5:37
  Speaker 2: that in the early church the original church in Jerusalem
• 5:41
  Speaker 2: was the one that had more trouble than any of
• 5:43
  Speaker 2: the other churches. The Jerusalem church was persecuted, hounded, It
• 5:49
  Speaker 2: was continually under threat by not only street violence and
• 5:55
  Speaker 2: not only the Roman army but also the Pharisees. The
• 5:59
  Speaker 2: Jerusalem church had a lot of difficulty in keeping membership
• 6:04
  Speaker 2: and in raising money. So they were impoverished, they were
• 6:07
  Speaker 2: essentially a church that had been reduced to a poor
• 6:12
  Speaker 2: neighborhood and had been reduced to taking money from outsiders
• 6:18
  Speaker 2: just to stay alive and to stay active. And so
• 6:22
  Speaker 2: this is what's on Paul's heart as we go into
• 6:24
  Speaker 2: 2 Corinthians chapter 8. He's thinking about the impoverished church
• 6:29
  Speaker 2: back in Jerusalem. First verse, moreover, brethren, we do you
• 6:36
  Speaker 2: to wit, that is, we inform you of the grace
• 6:38
  Speaker 2: of God bestowed on the churches of Macedonia. The grace
• 6:44
  Speaker 2: of God This is worth talking about for a moment
• 6:48
  Speaker 2: because the word grace, charis in Greek, before the dawn
• 6:55
  Speaker 2: of the Christian era had been a secular Greek word.
• 7:03
  Speaker 2: Charis in secular Greek spoke of an outward grace. For example,
• 7:09
  Speaker 2: beauty or loveliness or charm or kindness or goodwill. gratitude, delight, pleasure,
• 7:17
  Speaker 2: think of any good thing you can think of. And
• 7:21
  Speaker 2: the Greeks, going all the way back to Periclean Greece
• 7:25
  Speaker 2: in the 6th century BC, used this word grace, charis,
• 7:31
  Speaker 2: as a way of expressing that which was good, that
• 7:35
  Speaker 2: which was fine, and that which was noble. Now they
• 7:38
  Speaker 2: were so detailed in their thinking that they divided graces
• 7:41
  Speaker 2: into three levels, the good, the.
• 7:43
  Speaker 3: Fine, and the noble.
• 7:45
  Speaker 2: And so The Greeks and the Greek philosophers used the
• 7:48
  Speaker 2: word grace in a way entirely different than we use
• 7:53
  Speaker 2: it today. Today we think of the grace of God
• 7:58
  Speaker 2: as the passion of God to share His goodness with others. God,
• 8:06
  Speaker 2: the self-existent God, the God who transcends time and space,
• 8:13
  Speaker 2: is a God of love.
• 8:15
  Speaker 3: And it is his passion to share.
• 8:19
  Speaker 2: His goodness with others. This is the astonishing thing about
• 8:24
  Speaker 2: Christianity in particular, because Christianity took this word in Attic Greek,
• 8:31
  Speaker 2: that is secular Greek, and by the time it was
• 8:35
  Speaker 2: transliterated into Koine Greek, the Greek of the Bible, grace
• 8:39
  Speaker 2: came to mean an entirely different thing than it had
• 8:42
  Speaker 2: ever meant before. Now instead of meaning the good, the fine,
• 8:47
  Speaker 2: and the noble, and the pleasant, and the beautiful, and
• 8:49
  Speaker 2: all those wonderful graces, now it means the passion of
• 8:55
  Speaker 2: God to share His goodness with others. Now Paul uses
• 8:59
  Speaker 2: grace in this way in verse 1. Moreover, brethren, we
• 9:04
  Speaker 2: do you to wit of the grace bestowed on the
• 9:07
  Speaker 2: churches of Macedonia. We want to tell you all about
• 9:11
  Speaker 2: the grace bestowed on the churches of Macedonia. the Macedonians
• 9:17
  Speaker 2: in northern Greece were under the Roman thumb. At the
• 9:23
  Speaker 2: north end of the Aegean Sea along the Roman trade
• 9:26
  Speaker 2: routes there were Roman cities and encampments. The trade routes
• 9:33
  Speaker 2: were patrolled by Roman centurions. If you were a Jew
• 9:40
  Speaker 2: or if you were not in the good graces of
• 9:43
  Speaker 2: the Roman Empire you had problems. you would have problems
• 9:48
  Speaker 2: making and keeping money. The taxation was heavy, duties of
• 9:51
  Speaker 2: all kinds. As a result of this, the Macedonians up
• 9:57
  Speaker 2: in northern Greece were not wealthy.
• 10:00
  Speaker 3: Off at all.
• 10:01
  Speaker 2: They were not nearly as financially well off as the
• 10:05
  Speaker 2: southern Greeks down around Corinth. And so Paul is using
• 10:09
  Speaker 2: this as an illustration of giving. If you've noticed, I
• 10:17
  Speaker 2: never quote-unquote preach on the subject of tithing. Well, I
• 10:21
  Speaker 2: don't believe in tithing. It's an Old Testament legality. We
• 10:27
  Speaker 2: don't take up an offering. We don't have collection plates here.
• 10:33
  Speaker 2: I don't say that with pride, it's just simply a
• 10:36
  Speaker 2: matter of functionality. To me it reflects the New Testament
• 10:41
  Speaker 2: idea of grace. Because giving should not be a matter
• 10:46
  Speaker 2: of law and it should not be a matter of
• 10:49
  Speaker 2: some form of arm twisting or an artificial system of
• 10:55
  Speaker 2: motivations that make you give, but rather you should give
• 10:59
  Speaker 2: in the same way that God gives. Oh, God gives? Yes,
• 11:03
  Speaker 2: God really does give. In fact, He outdoes all of
• 11:08
  Speaker 2: us in His giving. And that's why I started out
• 11:11
  Speaker 2: with this idea of grace, because Grace, under the new definition,
• 11:20
  Speaker 2: grace is God's passion to share His goodness with others.
• 11:27
  Speaker 2: And He has given out of a heart that none
• 11:29
  Speaker 2: of us can even imagine. The things that He has
• 11:31
  Speaker 2: given us. He's given us absolutely unlimited eternal life when
• 11:41
  Speaker 2: we didn't deserve eternal life. He has given us Things
• 11:45
  Speaker 2: we can't even imagine yet because we haven't fully realized them.
• 11:50
  Speaker 2: Right now our concept of grace is all bound up
• 11:54
  Speaker 2: in our concept of faith.
• 11:57
  Speaker 3: We believe what the word tells us.
• 12:00
  Speaker 2: We believe that God is able to out give us
• 12:04
  Speaker 2: all and so Paul uses that as the way to
• 12:07
  Speaker 2: kick off if you will a fundraiser among the Corinthians.
• 12:13
  Speaker 2: Saying I want to tell you about the grace of
• 12:17
  Speaker 2: God bestowed on the churches of Macedonia. How that in
• 12:20
  Speaker 2: a great deal of affliction, how that in a great
• 12:25
  Speaker 2: trial of affliction, the abundance of their joy and of
• 12:28
  Speaker 2: their deep poverty abounded under the riches of their liberality.
• 12:32
  Speaker 2: The people of Philippi, the people of Thessalonica, Berea, all
• 12:38
  Speaker 2: those people up there just gave out of an intensely
• 12:45
  Speaker 2: motivated heart. He says in verse 3, Now Paul again
• 12:49
  Speaker 2: is raising money to go back to the Jerusalem church.
• 12:50
  Speaker 2: This is around the time of the third missionary journey
• 12:53
  Speaker 2: and Titus and Luke and And others are traveling up
• 13:18
  Speaker 2: and down the Grecian peninsula over into Asia Minor.
• 13:24
  Speaker 3: They are on a mission of help for the church
• 13:31
  Speaker 3: in Jerusalem.
• 13:34
  Speaker 2: Verse 5, And this they did not as we had hoped,
• 13:37
  Speaker 2: but first gave their own selves to the Lord and
• 13:40
  Speaker 2: unto us by the will of God, insomuch that we
• 13:42
  Speaker 2: desired Titus That is, he had begun so he would
• 13:47
  Speaker 2: also finish in the same grace also. You can study
• 13:56
  Speaker 2: 2 Corinthians just by watching the word grace. It appears
• 14:00
  Speaker 2: over and over and over again. Grace is a reciprocal thing.
• 14:07
  Speaker 2: Grace is God's passion.
• 14:09
  Speaker 3: To give.
• 14:12
  Speaker 2: Then is translated into the hearts of men as men's.
• 14:15
  Speaker 3: Passion to give.
• 14:19
  Speaker 2: And you can't out give God, of course. As Paul
• 14:24
  Speaker 2: went around on his third missionary journey he was collecting
• 14:28
  Speaker 2: this offering for the Jerusalem saints.
• 14:33
  Speaker 3: Think about this.
• 14:34
  Speaker 2: This is a revolutionary idea. Had never happened before this
• 14:38
  Speaker 2: probably in the annals of Judaism, certainly. Here we find
• 14:46
  Speaker 2: mission churches sending an offering to help the mother church,
• 14:50
  Speaker 2: which is backwards to what.
• 14:52
  Speaker 3: You usually see.
• 14:53
  Speaker 2: You usually see the mother church sending money out to
• 14:57
  Speaker 2: the missionary churches. This is just the opposite. So Paul's
• 15:02
  Speaker 2: day in the foreign field was in supporting In Paul's
• 15:07
  Speaker 2: day the idea was to support the home church. Now
• 15:12
  Speaker 2: as we have seen, Paul was not yet able to
• 15:15
  Speaker 2: come to Corinth. He was dealing with all these problems
• 15:18
  Speaker 2: by letter. And now in this letter he sends some
• 15:24
  Speaker 2: instructions about how to give. I mentioned a minute ago
• 15:29
  Speaker 2: that we don't preach tithing.
• 15:32
  Speaker 3: The tithe is.
• 15:35
  Speaker 2: Translated from the Hebrew word asur, which means one-tenth, or
• 15:39
  Speaker 2: to give a tenth, is a legality.
• 15:45
  Speaker 3: Actually, the truth is.
• 15:49
  Speaker 2: The tithe in the days of the full observance of
• 15:55
  Speaker 2: the Jewish law was in three parts. You would tithe
• 15:59
  Speaker 2: roughly 30% of what you had. The first tenth would
• 16:03
  Speaker 2: be monetary, the second tenth would be your cattle, and
• 16:08
  Speaker 2: the third tenth would be your crops. And so every
• 16:13
  Speaker 2: good Jew gave not just a tenth tithe of money,
• 16:17
  Speaker 2: but also a tenth tithe of crops and animals. You
• 16:24
  Speaker 2: might give a lamb, you might give.
• 16:29
  Speaker 3: Something like chickens, whatever. You might give a grain tithe,
• 16:38
  Speaker 3: various kinds of grain, barley, wheat, so forth.
• 16:42
  Speaker 2: And so when you talk about tithing, you're really talking
• 16:44
  Speaker 2: about giving 30%. So just keep that in mind as
• 16:48
  Speaker 2: you drop your offerings into the offering bowl back there.
• 16:54
  Speaker 3: We do have a bowl.
• 16:56
  Speaker 2: And people who come here for the first time often
• 16:59
  Speaker 2: ask us why we don't take up an offering. Well,
• 17:01
  Speaker 2: we We just have that bowl back there, and that's
• 17:04
  Speaker 2: a matter of convenience. It wouldn't have to be there,
• 17:08
  Speaker 2: but it's just a matter of convenience.
• 17:09
  Speaker 3: You need some.
• 17:10
  Speaker 2: Place to give. And we do believe in giving, not tithing.
• 17:19
  Speaker 2: The giving idea is the idea of grace. You know,
• 17:24
  Speaker 2: I hadn't planned on this, but I'm going to turn
• 17:26
  Speaker 2: back to Ephesians for a minute. And There's a good
• 17:30
  Speaker 2: illustration of what I'm talking about. If you go back
• 17:35
  Speaker 2: to Ephesians, it begins with the idea of God having
• 17:41
  Speaker 2: given to men. Ephesians chapter 4 verse 7 says, but
• 17:50
  Speaker 2: unto every one of us is given grace according to
• 17:55
  Speaker 2: the measure of the gift of Christ. And there's that
• 17:59
  Speaker 2: word grace again. Grace has the idea of passionate concern.
• 18:06
  Speaker 2: Grace is not a static idea at all. Grace is
• 18:10
  Speaker 2: always doing something. Not for itself, but for somebody else.
• 18:16
  Speaker 2: So Paul writes here, but unto every one of us
• 18:19
  Speaker 2: is given grace according to the measure of the gift
• 18:22
  Speaker 2: of Christ. Wherefore he saith, when he ascended up on high,
• 18:26
  Speaker 2: he led captivity captive and gave.
• 18:28
  Speaker 3: Gifts unto man.
• 18:32
  Speaker 2: Now he that ascended, what is it but that he
• 18:35
  Speaker 2: also descended first into the lower parts of the earth?
• 18:37
  Speaker 2: He that descended, the same also that ascended up far
• 18:40
  Speaker 2: above all the heavens, that he might fill all things.
• 18:43
  Speaker 2: And he gave some apostles, some prophets, and some evangelists,
• 18:48
  Speaker 2: some pastors and teachers for the perfecting of the saints,
• 18:51
  Speaker 2: for the work of the ministries. So here the idea
• 18:55
  Speaker 2: of giving is not monetary. He did give gifts. Some
• 19:01
  Speaker 2: of these gifts are in the form of church leadership.
• 19:03
  Speaker 2: Some of these gifts are in the form of opening
• 19:06
  Speaker 2: doors in certain places. But the idea of giving is
• 19:12
  Speaker 2: inseparable from the idea of grace. Grace is always in
• 19:16
  Speaker 2: a giving mode. And this is what Paul is writing
• 19:22
  Speaker 2: to the Corinthians who were very worldly, very secular people.
• 19:32
  Speaker 3: They were cool.
• 19:35
  Speaker 2: In that they had a society that they just thought
• 19:40
  Speaker 2: was the best society on planet Earth and they were
• 19:44
  Speaker 2: perfectly willing to live within that society and not extend
• 19:48
  Speaker 2: themselves outside of it. Which is one of the problems
• 19:52
  Speaker 2: of being cool. You're just satisfied with the way you
• 19:55
  Speaker 2: are and don't bother me, I'm cool. But Christianity is
• 19:59
  Speaker 2: more of a heated enterprise, if you will. It has
• 20:03
  Speaker 2: a heart for giving and for activity. Back to 2
• 20:08
  Speaker 2: Corinthians chapter 8 verse 7 Therefore as ye abound in
• 20:23
  Speaker 2: everything faith, utterance, knowledge all diligence and your love to
• 20:30
  Speaker 2: us see that you also abound in this grace also.
• 20:39
  Speaker 3: That word grace.
• 20:41
  Speaker 2: I hope after today, and by the way we're talking
• 20:43
  Speaker 2: about fundraising here and we're talking about Christian giving. Usually
• 20:47
  Speaker 2: those are subjects you'd rather avoid. But in this context
• 20:51
  Speaker 2: they become almost a joyful enterprise. Because the whole thing
• 20:56
  Speaker 2: starts with God, He gives to man and then men
• 21:01
  Speaker 2: pick up this fire and they transmit it to other
• 21:06
  Speaker 2: people and so this This idea of giving becomes something
• 21:10
  Speaker 2: that you don't have to be forced into, but rather
• 21:15
  Speaker 2: you deeply desire to be part of this movement. And
• 21:20
  Speaker 2: so Paul says, therefore, as you abound in everything in faith, utterance, knowledge,
• 21:23
  Speaker 2: and diligence in your love to us, see that you
• 21:26
  Speaker 2: abound in this grace also. I speak not by commandment,
• 21:31
  Speaker 2: but by occasion of the forwardness of others and to
• 21:33
  Speaker 2: prove the sincerity of your love. He says, I'm not
• 21:39
  Speaker 2: speaking of legalities here. I'm not talking about the tithe.
• 21:44
  Speaker 2: You are not legally bound to give 10%.
• 21:48
  Speaker 3: But rather, I'm speaking on the occasion of the forwardness
• 21:52
  Speaker 3: of others.
• 21:53
  Speaker 2: I want to just show you what other people have done,
• 21:55
  Speaker 2: and I want to urge you to operate in that
• 21:58
  Speaker 2: same way. And this is a marvelous thing. to be
• 22:04
  Speaker 2: part of this whole flow of giving that proceeds from
• 22:07
  Speaker 2: God and then comes down to men and then proceeds
• 22:10
  Speaker 2: to other people. For you know, he says in verse 9,
• 22:14
  Speaker 2: for you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ
• 22:16
  Speaker 2: that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he
• 22:20
  Speaker 2: became poor, that ye through his poverty.
• 22:25
  Speaker 3: Might be rich.
• 22:28
  Speaker 2: And herein I give my advice, for This is expedient
• 22:31
  Speaker 2: for you who have begun before, not only to do
• 22:34
  Speaker 2: but also to be forward.
• 22:37
  Speaker 3: A year ago. In other words, I want you to
• 22:42
  Speaker 3: move it up a notch. I want you to be more.
• 22:44
  Speaker 2: Aggressive, is what he's saying. In the way that you
• 22:49
  Speaker 2: reflect God's grace. We have a tendency as human beings
• 22:57
  Speaker 2: to be highly introspective. We look out for number one.
• 23:03
  Speaker 2: We look out for what's going on in our own lives.
• 23:06
  Speaker 2: We tend to fuss about ourselves, our own difficulties.
• 23:11
  Speaker 3: All of us do.
• 23:13
  Speaker 2: We tend not to look outward. And the whole thrust
• 23:17
  Speaker 2: of 2 Corinthians 8, besides Paul's fundraising for the Jerusalem church,
• 23:23
  Speaker 2: he's trying to jumpstart these people and show them that, look.
• 23:31
  Speaker 3: Your spiritual.
• 23:34
  Speaker 2: Life, literally your spiritual life, can be measured by the
• 23:42
  Speaker 2: way you affect the.
• 23:43
  Speaker 3: World around you, including monetarily, by the way. And especially monetarily.
• 23:54
  Speaker 3: And I can... Just say, whoops, we're reaching for our
• 23:57
  Speaker 3: wallet now. Yeah, it's still there. Okay, good deal.
• 24:03
  Speaker 2: When you start talking about giving money, there's a reflex action.
• 24:08
  Speaker 2: And I have the same reflex. Whoops, somebody's trying to
• 24:11
  Speaker 2: take my money. Well, the apostles understood that. And what
• 24:19
  Speaker 2: they were trying to do was loosen up the wallets,
• 24:24
  Speaker 2: but not in the traditional way. Not the way that
• 24:26
  Speaker 2: it's usually done, but rather by showing what God has done.
• 24:31
  Speaker 2: And if you have a true appreciation for what God
• 24:34
  Speaker 2: has done and is doing, then giving will be like
• 24:39
  Speaker 2: breathing to you. You'll just simply desire to give. And
• 24:44
  Speaker 2: this is the absolute truth. And when I hear somebody
• 24:49
  Speaker 2: preaching the tithe, it always bothers me because In my
• 24:54
  Speaker 2: opinion the tithe is a way of getting out of
• 24:56
  Speaker 2: giving money because you only have to give 10% of
• 24:59
  Speaker 2: the tithe. And particularly the very wealthy would love the
• 25:05
  Speaker 2: tithe because hey, I could cough up 10% like there's
• 25:09
  Speaker 2: nothing there. But if you're poor, 10% may be a
• 25:13
  Speaker 2: really tough thing to give. So the tithe can be
• 25:17
  Speaker 2: used as a way of almost getting out of Christian giving.
• 25:21
  Speaker 2: which may go way beyond the tithe. Verse 10 again,
• 25:29
  Speaker 2: he says, And herein I give my advice, for this
• 25:38
  Speaker 2: is expedient for you who have begun before, not only
• 25:41
  Speaker 2: to do, but also to be forward, to be aggressive.
• 25:45
  Speaker 3: A year ago.
• 25:47
  Speaker 2: Now, therefore, perform the doing of it, That as there
• 25:51
  Speaker 2: was a readiness to will so there may be a
• 25:54
  Speaker 2: performance also out of that which you have. Paul is
• 25:57
  Speaker 2: saying here they should carry through with that which they
• 26:00
  Speaker 2: have pledged to give. Now Paul is not going to
• 26:06
  Speaker 2: collect money at this time. In other words when he
• 26:09
  Speaker 2: writes this letter it's prior to the time when people
• 26:12
  Speaker 2: will actually be coming by to collect the gift. And
• 26:19
  Speaker 2: so what he's doing basically is Laying the groundwork for
• 26:23
  Speaker 2: the gift which will be given. He says in verse 12,
• 26:30
  Speaker 2: for if there be first a willing mind, it is
• 26:34
  Speaker 2: accepted according to that a man hath and not according to.
• 26:38
  Speaker 3: That he hath not.
• 26:43
  Speaker 2: No one is supposed to give according to what he
• 26:47
  Speaker 2: does not have. Paul says, I am not trying to
• 26:50
  Speaker 2: squeeze blood out of a turnip here, to use our
• 26:53
  Speaker 2: contemporary phrase. I'm not trying to get you to give
• 26:55
  Speaker 2: something you don't have. But you should have a willing mind.
• 27:00
  Speaker 2: Now he has said up here in verse 8, and
• 27:04
  Speaker 2: I want to refer to that again, he says, I
• 27:07
  Speaker 2: want you to prove the sincerity of your love. Agape love,
• 27:16
  Speaker 2: that is the Love that is unmerited, the love that
• 27:21
  Speaker 2: is freely given with no expectation of return is the
• 27:27
  Speaker 2: guiding principle of giving. But you have to prove the
• 27:34
  Speaker 2: sincerity of your love.
• 27:38
  Speaker 3: I mean, it's not enough just to say I love you.
• 27:43
  Speaker 3: It is.
• 27:46
  Speaker 2: The proof that people seek. We all and don't tell
• 27:52
  Speaker 2: me you don't, we all seek proof from other people.
• 27:58
  Speaker 3: We all do.
• 28:00
  Speaker 2: You may extend your grace to someone. Love your brother,
• 28:03
  Speaker 2: you're great and wow, it's terrific to have you around
• 28:07
  Speaker 2: but at the same time you watch that brother to
• 28:10
  Speaker 2: see how he performs.
• 28:12
  Speaker 3: We all do. We all watch each other. Let's face it,
• 28:16
  Speaker 3: we do. We're human. And not only that, the.
• 28:18
  Speaker 2: Apostles watched each other too to see how they performed.
• 28:23
  Speaker 2: And if they weren't up to snuff, somebody would be
• 28:25
  Speaker 2: very quick to tell them. Like the time that, for example,
• 28:29
  Speaker 2: Paul backed Peter up to a wall and said, Peter,
• 28:34
  Speaker 2: you have really been messing up here because you've been.
• 28:41
  Speaker 2: Non-kosher with the Gentiles until the Jews come to town.
• 28:44
  Speaker 2: Then when the Jews come you go back to eating
• 28:46
  Speaker 2: kosher so as not to offend them and you're living
• 28:49
  Speaker 2: a double life and you really need to think about
• 28:51
  Speaker 2: this because you are basically spitting in the eye of God.
• 28:56
  Speaker 2: You are denying the grace of God. And so Paul
• 29:00
  Speaker 2: had this set to with Peter when Peter couldn't prove
• 29:05
  Speaker 2: the sincerity of his love to God. took courage to
• 29:12
  Speaker 2: do that. It often takes courage to prove the sincerity
• 29:17
  Speaker 2: of your love.
• 29:18
  Speaker 3: 8.12.
• 29:23
  Speaker 2: If there be first a willing mind, it is accepted
• 29:26
  Speaker 2: according to that a man hath, and not according that
• 29:28
  Speaker 2: he hath not. We're not going to make you give
• 29:31
  Speaker 2: what you don't have. For I mean not that other
• 29:38
  Speaker 2: men be eased, and ye be burdened.
• 29:42
  Speaker 3: I don't want to place a burden.
• 29:44
  Speaker 2: On anyone, he says, but by an equality that now
• 29:48
  Speaker 2: at this time your abundance may be a supply for
• 29:51
  Speaker 2: their want. That their abundance also may be a supply.
• 29:57
  Speaker 3: For your want. That there may be equality.
• 30:07
  Speaker 2: You know, it's a fact that you can't find the
• 30:11
  Speaker 2: concept of fairness in the Bible. There's a lot of
• 30:16
  Speaker 2: talk these days about fairness. Things have got to be fair.
• 30:24
  Speaker 2: Wouldn't be fair if we made this person do this
• 30:26
  Speaker 2: and this other person... was not forced to do that
• 30:30
  Speaker 2: same thing. And fairness seems to be the principle by
• 30:35
  Speaker 2: which society is measured these days. You can't find the
• 30:37
  Speaker 2: concept of fairness in the Bible, but we do have
• 30:42
  Speaker 2: something like fairness carried to a higher level. Here in
• 30:47
  Speaker 2: the 14th verse he says, but by an equality that
• 30:51
  Speaker 2: now at this time your abundance may be a supply
• 30:54
  Speaker 2: for their want, that their abundance... also may be a
• 30:59
  Speaker 2: supply for your want. That there may be equality. We're
• 31:05
  Speaker 2: not talking exactly about fairness here, we're talking about reciprocity.
• 31:12
  Speaker 2: Acted through the love of God. In other words, the
• 31:15
  Speaker 2: love of God will produce an equality is what he's
• 31:20
  Speaker 2: saying here. Verse 15, as it is written, He that
• 31:31
  Speaker 2: had gathered much had nothing over, and he that had
• 31:36
  Speaker 2: gathered little had no lack.
• 31:41
  Speaker 3: It is a.
• 31:43
  Speaker 2: Deeply ingrained principle in the Bible that fairness transcends human thought.
• 31:56
  Speaker 2: If you attempt to.
• 32:00
  Speaker 2: Develop a theology of fairness you'll always fail because you
• 32:06
  Speaker 2: can never penetrate the mind of God. God creates an
• 32:10
  Speaker 2: equality but it's an equality that's way beyond the understanding
• 32:14
  Speaker 2: of man. And that's basically where Paul is going with this.
• 32:20
  Speaker 2: If I hear somebody say that's not fair I immediately
• 32:25
  Speaker 2: ask on what level is that not fair? And then
• 32:30
  Speaker 2: there can be one level after another level after another
• 32:38
  Speaker 2: of rationalization until the individual is complaining makes the point
• 32:43
  Speaker 2: that truly he has been cheated and that's the way
• 32:46
  Speaker 2: it is in the world. In the Biblical idea of
• 32:50
  Speaker 2: equality you go straight to the level of God. You
• 32:56
  Speaker 2: don't argue one level after another level after another level
• 32:59
  Speaker 2: because It is God who executes what we call fairness.
• 33:05
  Speaker 2: And it comes through what we call grace. God's passion
• 33:09
  Speaker 2: to share everything.
• 33:10
  Speaker 3: He has with man. Is that fair? No.
• 33:15
  Speaker 2: I mean, I can't give anything back to God at all.
• 33:17
  Speaker 2: I don't deserve anything He's given me. So I can't
• 33:21
  Speaker 2: complain about fairness because I can't go to the level
• 33:25
  Speaker 2: that God operates. He operates at a level so far
• 33:28
  Speaker 2: above me that all I can do is say thank
• 33:32
  Speaker 2: you God for your grace. And that idea should come
• 33:40
  Speaker 2: into your mind just almost as a reflex. Every time
• 33:42
  Speaker 2: you see the word grace in the Bible, grace is
• 33:46
  Speaker 2: what God gives that we cannot possibly return. But if
• 33:51
  Speaker 2: we appreciate what He's doing, then we will attempt.
• 33:55
  Speaker 3: To return it wherever possible.
• 34:01
  Speaker 2: Even if it may be just a bit inconvenient from
• 34:04
  Speaker 2: time to time. Verse 16, But thanks be to God
• 34:11
  Speaker 2: which put the same earnest care into the heart of
• 34:13
  Speaker 2: Titus for you. For indeed he accepted the exhortation, and
• 34:17
  Speaker 2: being the more forward of his own accord, he went
• 34:20
  Speaker 2: on to you. And we have sent with him the
• 34:24
  Speaker 2: brother whose praise is in the gospel throughout the churches.
• 34:32
  Speaker 2: Titus and his companion had this grace in their hearts.
• 34:38
  Speaker 2: The giving was to be for the glory of God.
• 34:41
  Speaker 2: Whatever we give should be for the glory of God.
• 34:55
  Speaker 2: And I'm thinking about this and this is a very complicated.
• 35:01
  Speaker 3: Idea.
• 35:04
  Speaker 2: Because money for us is just the bedrock of functionality.
• 35:15
  Speaker 2: You sort of measure your life by monetary transactions of
• 35:19
  Speaker 2: various kinds.
• 35:21
  Speaker 3: And yet the.
• 35:21
  Speaker 2: Bible asks you to go way, way, way beyond that
• 35:25
  Speaker 2: basic idea and think of money as the flow of
• 35:29
  Speaker 2: God's grace. And Paul even uses the expression that you
• 35:38
  Speaker 2: should prove your love for God by the proper use
• 35:46
  Speaker 2: of your money.
• 35:51
  Speaker 3: Well how do I do that? Somebody needs to write
• 35:53
  Speaker 3: a book.
• 35:54
  Speaker 2: How to prove your love for God through money. About
• 35:58
  Speaker 2: 12 chapters, 185 pages, be a nice little book. But
• 36:06
  Speaker 2: the book wouldn't do the trick. You can't write this
• 36:10
  Speaker 2: stuff down. Because we're talking about a deeply held affair
• 36:16
  Speaker 2: of the heart here. And it's amazing, 2 Corinthians is
• 36:21
  Speaker 2: Paul's most passionate writing. It's no different when it comes
• 36:29
  Speaker 2: to the idea of giving. He's really, really talking here
• 36:34
  Speaker 2: about giving. doing what God has already done. God gave,
• 36:43
  Speaker 2: therefore you give.
• 36:46
  Speaker 3: And there's no logic trained to it. It's your heart.
• 36:52
  Speaker 3: How can I match what God did? Somebody tell me. No,
• 36:57
  Speaker 3: you've got to figure this out yourself. How are you
• 37:01
  Speaker 3: going to do that?
• 37:10
  Speaker 2: Verse 20, avoiding this that no man should blame us
• 37:13
  Speaker 2: in this abundance which is administered by us. Paul said,
• 37:19
  Speaker 2: I'm going to be blameless by the way. We're going
• 37:23
  Speaker 2: to be honest in the use of the money we
• 37:26
  Speaker 2: collect from you and in the way we handle it.
• 37:30
  Speaker 2: Verse 21, providing for honest things not only in the
• 37:33
  Speaker 2: sight of the Lord but also in the sight of men.
• 37:37
  Speaker 3: No effort.
• 37:39
  Speaker 2: Or at least little effort, is going to be made
• 37:42
  Speaker 2: to tell how the money is used. But there should
• 37:45
  Speaker 2: be presentation of some tangible evidence that money is used
• 37:50
  Speaker 2: to give out the word of God and the results
• 37:53
  Speaker 2: of the money can be in some way documented. As
• 37:58
  Speaker 2: Paul goes on, he gets into this subject. Paul, the
• 38:03
  Speaker 2: great apostle, he says... Providing for honest things not only
• 38:08
  Speaker 2: in the sight of the Lord but in the sight
• 38:12
  Speaker 2: of man. It's got to be obvious that the money
• 38:17
  Speaker 2: is being used for the purpose for which it is given.
• 38:19
  Speaker 2: This is part of the idea of God's grace. God
• 38:25
  Speaker 2: gave gifts to man. We give gifts in the same
• 38:31
  Speaker 2: way that God gave gifts.
• 38:33
  Speaker 3: Absolutely. Openly.
• 38:38
  Speaker 2: Verses 22 and 23, we have sent with them our brother,
• 38:41
  Speaker 2: whom we have oftentimes proved diligent in many things, but
• 38:44
  Speaker 2: now much more diligent upon the great confidence which I
• 38:48
  Speaker 2: have in you, whether any do inquire of Titus, he's
• 38:51
  Speaker 2: my partner, fellow helper concerning you, or our brethren to
• 38:55
  Speaker 2: be inquired of. They are messengers of the churches in
• 38:59
  Speaker 2: the glory of Christ. Paul says you can trust Titus.
• 39:05
  Speaker 2: You can absolutely trust this man. It's going to make
• 39:09
  Speaker 2: a good report. You can trust me. In fact, the
• 39:16
  Speaker 2: money's not going to be delivered by just one person.
• 39:18
  Speaker 2: It's going to be delivered by a group of men.
• 39:20
  Speaker 2: And we find this principle all the way through the
• 39:24
  Speaker 2: New Testament. That when they did fundraisers, they sent a
• 39:28
  Speaker 2: group of trustworthy men to do it. Verse 24, wherefore
• 39:33
  Speaker 2: show ye to them and before the churches the proof
• 39:36
  Speaker 2: of your love and of our boasting on your behalf.
• 39:41
  Speaker 2: Paul's asking for proof here of their love. You know
• 39:46
  Speaker 2: if you really mean business there will be more than
• 39:49
  Speaker 2: just verbiage There will be proof of your love. Love
• 39:55
  Speaker 2: has to be proven. Remember the old story? A guy
• 40:02
  Speaker 2: writes a letter to his girlfriend, you know, I'd swim
• 40:05
  Speaker 2: the deepest river for you. I'd scale the highest mountain
• 40:09
  Speaker 2: for you. I'd crawl across the burning sands of the
• 40:13
  Speaker 2: desert for you. He finishes his letter and.
• 40:18
  Speaker 3: Love, Brian. P.S. I'll be over Wednesday night if it
• 40:22
  Speaker 3: doesn't rain. An old joke.
• 40:28
  Speaker 2: But it's the idea of proving your love. May I
• 40:36
  Speaker 2: say God proved His love? How did He do that? Well,
• 40:40
  Speaker 2: He sent His only begotten Son. The Son was raised
• 40:44
  Speaker 2: from the dead and And did the son stop there?
• 40:48
  Speaker 3: No, no.
• 40:49
  Speaker 2: He gave gifts to man. And he's still giving gifts
• 40:53
  Speaker 2: to men. It is in the sphere of his continual
• 40:59
  Speaker 2: giving of these gifts that we give gifts. We're just
• 41:07
  Speaker 2: part of a larger program because God gives us gifts
• 41:11
  Speaker 2: and we give gifts to others. And that humble little
• 41:16
  Speaker 2: glass jar back in the back is just a little
• 41:20
  Speaker 2: it's just a medium of exchange, if you will. Chapter 9,
• 41:26
  Speaker 2: verse 1, for as touching the ministering to the saints,
• 41:30
  Speaker 2: it is superfluous for me to write to you, for
• 41:32
  Speaker 2: I know that the forwardness that is the willingness of
• 41:37
  Speaker 2: your mind, I know the willingness of your mind for
• 41:40
  Speaker 2: which I boast of you to them of Macedonia and
• 41:45
  Speaker 2: Achaia was ready a year ago and your zeal hath
• 41:49
  Speaker 2: provoked very many. So I've told other people about your enthusiasm.
• 41:58
  Speaker 2: Paul is using a little bit of motivational study and
• 42:04
  Speaker 2: action here. He knows the people and he's saying I
• 42:09
  Speaker 2: have bragged about you to other people.
• 42:11
  Speaker 3: Oh you have? Terrific!
• 42:16
  Speaker 2: And he probably didn't do it in a phony attempt
• 42:19
  Speaker 2: to pump them up. He bragged about their actual accomplishments.
• 42:26
  Speaker 2: Yet have I sent the brethren lest our boasting of
• 42:29
  Speaker 2: you should be in vain in this behalf that as
• 42:32
  Speaker 2: I said you may be ready lest happily, that is
• 42:35
  Speaker 2: lest by chance if they of Macedonia come with me
• 42:39
  Speaker 2: and find you unprepared we that we say not ye
• 42:45
  Speaker 2: should be ashamed at this same confident boasting. He said
• 42:47
  Speaker 2: I wouldn't want to be embarrassed having boasted of you
• 42:50
  Speaker 2: people that if some Macedonians come down when we collect
• 42:54
  Speaker 2: the offering that you don't come up to standard. He
• 42:58
  Speaker 2: said I wouldn't want you to be embarrassed. So he
• 43:00
  Speaker 2: does use little psychological helps here and there, just reminding them. Yes,
• 43:06
  Speaker 2: there is a flow here from God through man to
• 43:12
  Speaker 2: other man.
• 43:13
  Speaker 3: But you wouldn't want to be embarrassed, would you? No,
• 43:17
  Speaker 3: of course not.
• 43:19
  Speaker 2: Verse 5, therefore I thought it necessary to exhort the
• 43:21
  Speaker 2: brethren that they would go before unto you and make
• 43:25
  Speaker 2: up beforehand your bounty, whereof ye had noticed before that
• 43:29
  Speaker 2: the same might be ready as a matter of bounty and.
• 43:31
  Speaker 3: Not of covetousness. Motivation.
• 43:44
  Speaker 2: Got to give out of the right motivation. And that's
• 43:47
  Speaker 2: what Paul is continually trying to develop in the early churches.
• 43:57
  Speaker 2: But I say, verse 6, but this I say, he
• 44:02
  Speaker 2: which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly, and he which
• 44:07
  Speaker 2: soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully. And of course this
• 44:12
  Speaker 2: goes back to the Old Testament. It goes back to Proverbs.
• 44:16
  Speaker 2: It's mentioned in Galatians. It's also mentioned in the teaching
• 44:20
  Speaker 2: of our Lord. The idea of sowing and reaping is
• 44:25
  Speaker 2: something that does not escape the eye of God. We
• 44:30
  Speaker 2: don't know how this works. God gives gifts to men.
• 44:36
  Speaker 2: He expects us to give gifts in the same spirit that.
• 44:40
  Speaker 3: He gives gifts.
• 44:42
  Speaker 2: And somehow God knows whether or not we're doing this.
• 44:46
  Speaker 2: I don't know how he knows, but he does. And
• 44:51
  Speaker 2: he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully. Every man,
• 44:55
  Speaker 2: verse 7, according as he hath purposed in his heart,
• 44:59
  Speaker 2: so let him give, not grudgingly or of necessity, for
• 45:02
  Speaker 2: God loveth.
• 45:03
  Speaker 3: A cheerful giver. I know people who have mastered the
• 45:09
  Speaker 3: art of cheerful giving. And there is.
• 45:12
  Speaker 2: Nothing like it. In fact, there is no greater gift
• 45:16
  Speaker 2: than giving appropriately. There is no greater gift to yourself
• 45:22
  Speaker 2: than giving appropriately. God loves a cheerful giver because He
• 45:28
  Speaker 2: realizes that you have finally caught on to what He's
• 45:32
  Speaker 2: doing when He gave. You have translated it into your
• 45:37
  Speaker 2: own life and now you are giving appropriately. to others
• 45:41
  Speaker 2: in the same way God gave to you. Now this
• 45:44
  Speaker 2: can be money we're talking about, but it can be many,
• 45:47
  Speaker 2: many other things. It can be time, it can be service,
• 45:51
  Speaker 2: it can be ministry in the personal sense. Verse 8,
• 45:57
  Speaker 2: and God is able to make all grace abound toward you,
• 46:00
  Speaker 2: ye always having all sufficiency, and all things may abound
• 46:04
  Speaker 2: to every good work. As it is written, he hath
• 46:07
  Speaker 2: dispersed abroad he hath given to the poor, his righteousness
• 46:12
  Speaker 2: remaineth forever. Now Paul's writing a letter here. The first
• 46:19
  Speaker 2: part of this letter was kind of an apology. I'm
• 46:21
  Speaker 2: sorry I was so tough on you people. I realize
• 46:24
  Speaker 2: that you're living in a world that is very challenging.
• 46:27
  Speaker 2: So Paul opens with a series of apologies, of compliments,
• 46:33
  Speaker 2: a kind of a motivational speech, and then bang, he
• 46:36
  Speaker 2: shifts over to money.
• 46:39
  Speaker 3: Giving. Offering.
• 46:42
  Speaker 2: And you think, wow, he's really changed the subject in
• 46:45
  Speaker 2: a hurry. But in a sense he has not. Because
• 46:48
  Speaker 2: the concept of giving is woven into the concept of
• 46:53
  Speaker 2: Christian blessing in general. That is the life of the body.
• 47:00
  Speaker 2: God is able to make all grace abound toward you.
• 47:04
  Speaker 3: Grace.
• 47:06
  Speaker 2: God's passion to share His gifts with men As it
• 47:11
  Speaker 2: is written, he hath dispersed abroad, he hath given to
• 47:15
  Speaker 2: the poor, his righteousness remaineth forever. Now he that ministereth
• 47:20
  Speaker 2: seed to the sower, both minister bread for your food,
• 47:24
  Speaker 2: and multiply your seed sown, and increase the fruits of
• 47:29
  Speaker 2: your righteousness. Paul is quoting from Psalm 112 here, and
• 47:34
  Speaker 2: that psalm calls for the man blessed who fears the Lord.
• 47:41
  Speaker 3: And gives to the poor, it calls.
• 47:44
  Speaker 2: That particular man blessed. The man who fears the Lord
• 47:51
  Speaker 2: and gives to the poor. We are to share with those.
• 47:56
  Speaker 3: Who do not have as much. How do we do that?
• 48:03
  Speaker 2: Well very often the Lord will just absolutely open an
• 48:06
  Speaker 2: opportunity right in front of you. I'm sure many of
• 48:08
  Speaker 2: you have had this experience. You see a need, And
• 48:13
  Speaker 2: right there at that point in time the light shines
• 48:17
  Speaker 2: down on you and you can either dodge the light.
• 48:22
  Speaker 3: Or you can bathe in the light.
• 48:24
  Speaker 2: Psalm 112 says that the man who fears the Lord
• 48:29
  Speaker 2: and gives to the poor will be especially blessed. His
• 48:34
  Speaker 2: righteousness remaineth forever. Now he that ministers seed to the
• 48:39
  Speaker 2: sower both minister bread for your food multiply your seed
• 48:43
  Speaker 2: sown and increase the fruits of your righteousness being enriched
• 48:46
  Speaker 2: in everything to all bountifulness which causes through us thanksgiving
• 48:51
  Speaker 2: to God. For the administration of this service not only
• 48:56
  Speaker 2: supplieth the want of the saints but is abundant also
• 49:01
  Speaker 2: by many thanksgivings unto God. Is abundant also by many
• 49:08
  Speaker 2: thanksgivings unto God.
• 49:10
  Speaker 3: You see.
• 49:12
  Speaker 2: When you give, it will cause people to thank God
• 49:16
  Speaker 2: for you. But it's God who will get it. the
• 49:20
  Speaker 2: praise and the glory. If somebody thanks God for you,
• 49:25
  Speaker 2: they are nevertheless thanking God. The administration of this service
• 49:31
  Speaker 2: not only supplieth the want of the saints, but is
• 49:34
  Speaker 2: abundant also by many thanksgivings unto God.
• 49:39
  Speaker 3: Whilst by the experiment.
• 49:40
  Speaker 2: Of this ministration, and that's good Jacobean English, what it's
• 49:45
  Speaker 2: saying is the experience of your service. While by the
• 49:53
  Speaker 2: experience of your service they glorify God for your professed
• 49:57
  Speaker 2: subjection unto the gospel of Christ and for your liberal
• 50:00
  Speaker 2: distribution unto them and unto all men and by their
• 50:03
  Speaker 2: prayer for you which long after you for the exceeding
• 50:08
  Speaker 2: grace of God in you, thanks be unto God for
• 50:14
  Speaker 2: His unspeakable gift. Giving is a grace. We are not
• 50:21
  Speaker 2: commanded to give the tithe. It's not to be done
• 50:25
  Speaker 2: under law. God asks us to give a grace according
• 50:29
  Speaker 2: to our circumstances. Some Christians should be giving more than 10%.
• 50:36
  Speaker 2: Some don't have enough money to give 10%. We're not
• 50:41
  Speaker 2: speaking judgmentally here. We're talking about giving as we are
• 50:46
  Speaker 2: able to give. And Paul caps off the whole subject
• 50:51
  Speaker 2: by saying in verse 15, thanks be unto God for
• 50:58
  Speaker 2: his unspeakable gift. Regardless of how much you're giving, you
• 51:02
  Speaker 2: cannot give like God gives. It is an unspeakable gift.
• 51:08
  Speaker 2: It is an incalculable gift. And all giving proceeds from
• 51:15
  Speaker 2: what God has done down through man and outward toward
• 51:20
  Speaker 2: other men. There is no way to calculate it. Even
• 51:25
  Speaker 2: though people try to calculate tithes and offerings, very often
• 51:29
  Speaker 2: people are, and this is done in many modern churches,
• 51:32
  Speaker 2: one's tithes and offerings are kept in a computer file.
• 51:37
  Speaker 2: And oftentimes they are compared with one's annual income to
• 51:42
  Speaker 2: calculate a percentage thereby to judge whether or not you
• 51:47
  Speaker 2: are living up to the tithe. And I can't believe
• 51:51
  Speaker 2: churches would do that, but some do. It amazes me
• 51:55
  Speaker 2: because giving is incalculable. The gift of God is unspeakable.
• 52:02
  Speaker 2: The gifts of man are incalculable. We give as we
• 52:06
  Speaker 2: are able, we give as we are led of the
• 52:09
  Speaker 2: Holy Spirit.
• 52:12
  Speaker 3: You know, the.
• 52:14
  Speaker 2: Lord left the heavens. Our Lord left the heavens. He
• 52:18
  Speaker 2: left all glory. He came down as a missionary to
• 52:21
  Speaker 2: this world. He came not only to live, but to
• 52:25
  Speaker 2: give His life for you. He came to die on
• 52:30
  Speaker 2: a cross. He came to be brutally killed in order
• 52:35
  Speaker 2: that you and I might have eternal life. He made
• 52:39
  Speaker 2: His soul a sacrifice for sin, for you and for me.
• 52:45
  Speaker 2: In the book of Hebrews it says He did this
• 52:48
  Speaker 2: for the joy that was set before Him. That's Hebrews 12.3.
• 52:52
  Speaker 2: He did this for the joy that was set before Him.
• 52:57
  Speaker 2: He's a wonderful, glorious Savior. We don't want to bring
• 53:02
  Speaker 2: Him down to a low level. We don't want to
• 53:06
  Speaker 2: try to figure him out, to reduce him to a
• 53:09
  Speaker 2: mathematical formula like 10%. We don't want to reduce this incredible, incalculable,
• 53:17
  Speaker 2: unspeakable gift to mere mathematics. But we do want to
• 53:23
  Speaker 2: reflect the gift. This idea is the very apex of giving.
• 53:31
  Speaker 2: God has given gifts to man. How do you respond
• 53:36
  Speaker 2: and react to this in your own life? Now having
• 53:43
  Speaker 2: said this, we come to chapter 10, which we'll go
• 53:48
  Speaker 2: into next week. And I want to mention before we
• 53:51
  Speaker 2: close that there is a whiplash change of subject as
• 53:56
  Speaker 2: we go from chapter 9 to chapter 10. Suddenly Paul
• 53:59
  Speaker 2: stops talking about the tithes, the offering, the gift. And
• 54:05
  Speaker 2: he begins to talk about his own apostleship and he
• 54:09
  Speaker 2: begins to prove that he is a worthy apostle of the.
• 54:14
  Speaker 3: Lord Jesus Christ. What's Paul doing here?
• 54:20
  Speaker 2: What Paul's doing in 2 Corinthians is writing at the
• 54:22
  Speaker 2: level of the heart. He is just letting it all
• 54:26
  Speaker 2: hang out in this book unlike any other writings that
• 54:31
  Speaker 2: we have of his. Unlike any other book in the Bible,
• 54:34
  Speaker 2: I think, this is a passionate discourse.
• 54:38
  Speaker 3: From Paul that comes from his very heart. There were
• 54:43
  Speaker 3: people calling Paul a coward and a false apostle. And
• 54:48
  Speaker 3: he felt compelled to defend himself.
• 54:51
  Speaker 2: And so right after he's talking about collecting money for
• 54:55
  Speaker 2: the Jerusalem church, he quickly turns to a defense of
• 54:59
  Speaker 2: his own apostleship with the same passion And the same
• 55:03
  Speaker 2: level of reasoning that we always see in an epistle
• 55:07
  Speaker 2: from Paul.