2 Corinthians 9.1, For it is superfluous for me to write to you about this ministry to the saint. For I know your readiness, of which I boast about you to the Macedonians, that Achaia has been prepared since last year, and your zeal has stirred up most of them. But I have sent the brethren in order that our boasting about you may not be made empty in this case, so that, as I was saying, you may be prepared. Otherwise, if any Macedonians come with me and find you unprepared, we, not to speak of you, will be put to shame by this confidence. So I thought it necessary to urge the brethren that they would go on ahead to you and arrange beforehand your previously promised bountiful gift, so that the same would be ready as a bountiful gift and not affected by covetousness. Now this I say, he who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Each one must do just as he has purposed in his heart, and not grudgingly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that always having all sufficiency in everything, you may have an abundance for every good deed. As it is written, He scattered abroad, He gave to the poor, His righteousness endures forever. Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness. You will be enriched in everything for all liberality, which through us is producing thanksgiving to God. For the ministry of this service is not only fully supplying the needs of the saints, but is also overflowing through many thanksgivings to God. Because of the proof given by this ministry, they will glorify God for your obedience to your confession of the gospel of Christ and for the liberality of your contribution to them and to all, while they also By prayer on your behalf, yearn for you because of the surpassing grace of God in you. Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift. Lord, You came into this world and did so much for us. Lord, after going to the cross on our behalf and rising on the third day and ascending back to your Father in heaven, you sent your apostles to teach us. And Lord, we pray now that by your Spirit you will take this teaching and apply it to our hearts. That you will change us, that you will make us more useful servants. In your name we pray. Chapters 8 and 9 are viewed by most, and I think correctly so, as a distinct section of this letter. Distinct apart from the first seven chapters and chapters 10 through 13. It was now four to five years since Paul had originally come to Macedonia. Remember, he came to Philippi and met with Lydia and those women, and this Philippian jailer. And then he went to Thessalonica, and then to Berea, and then to Athens, and finally to Corinth. And he spent 18 months in Corinth. Now it's five years later. Now during his first 18-month stay in Corinth, five years prior, his relationship with them was good, but then it began to suffer after he had left and gone to Ephesus. Largely because of this issue of failure to discipline a man who was engaged in habitual sin in Corinth. And even though the relationship had become somewhat fractured, Paul writes he had maintained his confidence in them. Now, there were many problems in Corinth. Remember what a pagan city this was when he first came there. And it was still largely pagan. But when they finally acted to discipline the sinning member, Paul's confidence was shown to be correct. So in chapter 8, when Paul first began to discuss this matter of the collection with the Corinthians, he wrote this. I'm going to go back to 1 Corinthians chapter 16, if I might. Because that tells us the Corinthians had heard about this collection and had asked to share in this ministry. And Paul told them on the first day of every week, 1 Corinthians 16, 2, to each set aside something on the first day of the week. So that they wouldn't have to take a collection the next time he came to Corinth. He doesn't want the collection to be taken while he's there. He wants them to take it and have it ready when he gets there. And this is why he had sent Titus and the other two brothers ahead. To kind of finalize all of this. Now, by the time 2 Corinthians is written, which is about a year later, after 1 Corinthians, the Macedonian churches were now requesting that they have the privilege of getting in on this contribution. They wanted to take part in the relief of the Judean saints, the Jewish saints in and around Jerusalem. And Paul here now describes the Macedonians as still in a great ordeal of affliction, the beginning of chapter 8. And yet, he says, despite their affliction, their poverty, their generosity overflowed. So these people didn't have a lot. They were under persecution in Macedonia, and yet they had raised considerable contribution to this effort despite their poverty, he says. Now Paul wanted to see the same attitude of heart in the Corinthians. And at first they had expressed such an attitude. But apparently they hadn't followed through as he had hoped they would. The collection in Corinth by this time was lagging. So Paul's now using the example of the generosity of the Macedonians to motivate the Corinthians to kind of rekindle their enthusiasm for this giving. Their initial enthusiasm to contribute had apparently not been manifested in actual giving. Equally important at this time, as we read from Ephesians chapter 2, Paul was seeking to establish harmony between Gentile and Jewish Christian churches. They'd been separate peoples for how long? 1,500 years. Separate in every way. Under the law of Moses, the Jews weren't even allowed to eat with the Gentiles. We recall what happened. Peter was afraid that the Jewish believers would come up from Jerusalem to Antioch and see him eating with Gentiles. They couldn't just rid themselves of laws that were now obsolete, the Jewish Christians. Now one writer says, Paul's state of mind at this point is one of embarrassment. at the Corinthians not having followed through on their contribution. He has concerns about their willingness to contribute to support these needy Jewish brethren. So Paul sends Titus and two others. We talked about that last week. To help revive their spirit of giving. But to get this collection taken care of before Paul got there. Now we talked last week. Paul didn't identify the two others. But Acts 16, as we saw, gives evidence that Luke might have still been in Philippi in Macedonia. Acts 19, 22 indicates Timothy and Erastus were then ministering in Macedonia. Acts 20, verses 2 through 6, we see that there would be other Macedonians who were among those who eventually accompanied Paul. So Paul was going to go from Macedonia to Corinth and then back through Macedonia on his way toward Jerusalem. And three Macedonians, Sopater of Berea and two men of Thessalonica, went with him. So there were three men, at least, of Macedonia in that group that then traveled to Jerusalem. We don't know who the ones were, though, who went to Corinth. But Paul here is clearly laying some pressure on these people. And at the same time he's saying, look, this has to come from your heart. So it's kind of almost a paradox here. He's admonishing them, this can't be grudgingly given. Now there's a great difference, obviously, between giving under compulsion or a sense of obligation or to gain some honor or credit, on the one hand, and then just giving from a heartfelt desire to help people and to honor God. Well, Paul wanted to see such giving hearts in them. Look at verse 7 of chapter 9. Each one must do just as he has purposed in his heart, not grudgingly, not under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver." Now if you hate to part with what you're giving, obviously that's not falling into the cheerful giver category. Look at 821. Paul's desire was that there be a collection that was honorable in the Lord's sight and also that was seen as honorable in the sight of men. Didn't want there to be any doubt about what was happening here. Now in chapter 9, Paul then continued to exhort the believers in Corinth to be generous from the heart. It is superfluous for me to write to you about this ministry, because I've already told you about it. You've already expressed enthusiasm about it. Corinthians had known for some time about this collection. The effect of the Corinthian readiness to get involved in this actually had stirred up the Macedonians. That's what he says here in verse 2. I know your readiness, of which I boast you about the Macedonians. Namely that Achaia, which is where Corinth was, has been prepared since last year, and your zeal has stirred up most of them. So the Corinthian zeal stirred up the Macedonians. Now the zeal of the Corinthians seems to be waning. The contribution is lagging. And now Paul seeks to use the zeal of the Macedonians to stir up the Corinthians. It was clear to Paul that at this point the Corinthians were in need of some encouragement, so to speak, in order to bring their participation in this collection to completion. So he says, I've sent the brethren. Now think about this. He's sending these guys ahead to kind of work on them. To lead them in the right way. I've sent the brethren in order that our boasting about you may not be empty in this case. So that, as I was saying, you may be ready, you may be prepared. Otherwise, if some Macedonians come with me and you're not ready, we and you both will be put to shame by this." So again, he's putting pressure on them and at the same time telling them it's got to come from the heart, cheerfully. A desire to want to give is how this began. They even made a beginning of setting aside some money for the collection. But it isn't the same as finishing and following through. It isn't the same as having everything ready when Paul gets there. So Paul had sent the three-man delegation to finalize the collection. He didn't want to, and I've mentioned this before, he did not want to personally participate in gathering the money. He didn't want to touch them. So he says, verse 5, I thought it necessary to urge the brethren that they go on ahead to you and arrange beforehand your previously promised gift, so that the same would be ready as a bountiful gift and not affected by covetousness. What's he mean by covetousness there? What's his concern there? Yeah, he's concerned they want to hold on to their wealth and not part with it. So to ward off the possibility of Paul or the Corinthians being ashamed of their failure to give, he thinks it's necessary to send these three brothers. Now think about this. He seems to be saying, I'm confident in your giving spirit. I'm confident you will follow through on your promise to contribute. But let's not take any chances. So that's Paul's viewpoint of the Corinthians and how he's going to deal with this. He's kind of both giving them a nudge and at the same time trying to push them to right motives. Now beginning in verse 6, Paul lays out for us some principles for Christian giving. And the first one is very familiar to us. Verse 6, he who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly. How many times do we hear this in Scripture? Quite a few, actually. We'll read a couple of them. And he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Now in the Old Testament, they saw this in terms of material goods. Crops, whatever. You give away crops, you give away this to someone, and it'll come back to you. We're talking about spiritual blessings now. Farming, size of the harvest though, is determined by what? The amount of seed you throw. More seed you throw and properly care for and get rain, bigger the crop. Here's Proverbs 11, 24. I'll read it. There's one who scatters, and yet increases all the more. And there's one who withholds what is justly due, and yet it results only in one. Galatians 6, 7, Don't be deceived, God is not mocked. For whatever a man sows, this he will also reap. Now hear what he says, verse 8, For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption. Why? Why would he reap corruption if we sow to our flesh? That's right. That's right. And the flesh is hostile to God. Those who are in the flesh are hostile to God. And our sowing to ourselves is to indulge ourselves, to be selfish. The one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. So the point is that we do things that will help us to grow spiritually. And God promises that if we are giving from the Spirit, that we will grow spiritually. This is always about sanctification. Are you more like Christ today than you were yesterday? Well, we all should be. That's the call for every believer. And he says in verse 9, Galatians 6, Let us not lose heart in doing good, for in due time we will reap if we do not grow weary. It's easy to grow weary in service to God and fellow man. So he says, while we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who are of the household of faith. And understand, Paul is relating this to our spiritual growth. And we are always either growing or we are declining in godliness. What the Corinthian converts would sow here by way of their giving to the Jerusalem saints would bring a spiritual benefit to them. We know there's a different kind of joy in giving to somebody who is in need than there is when we just simply maybe have a little bit of a windfall. It's a different kind of joy. It's an inner joy. It's a spiritual, godly joy. and this bountiful reaping that Paul hopes to see in the Corinthians. In other words, he knows that by their giving from the heart, they will grow in Christ. And he wants to see their bountiful sowing result in that kind of spiritual growth. He's seeking a voluntary gift, not one made from his pressure. Each one must do as he has purposed in his heart. That's the second time I've read that. Not grudgingly, but under compulsion. That statement may seem a bit contradictory, doesn't it, to the whole tone of what Paul's written in the first five verses at least, and really the whole tone of this part of the letter. But their gift must be motivated by a desire to give. So, if you don't have that desire, what do you need to do? Where can you get that desire, Ron? So what do we do? Pray. We ask Him. We ask Him to make our hearts like this. We pray because He can give us a heart to give. Paul wants all believers to be motivated by a desire to give out of love and compassion for others. In this case, faraway brethren whom they'll never meet. You know, we at least have pictures and we get letters from those to whom our mission money goes. These people, they would never see them. If they give solely because of pressure from Paul, Their contributions will be made, as Jim said, grudgingly. They'll be grudging. And the whole purpose of the project, the whole purpose of this collection was for the benefit, materially even, of the Jewish Christians. But from the perspective of these Gentile believers, it was a whole other purpose. It was to help them to grow in godliness, to grow in the faith, to grow in Christ. He draws here on what's the Greek rendering of Proverbs 22, 8. Here it is again. He who sows iniquity will reap vanity. Sin for sin. And the rod of his fury will perish. But look at verse 9. He who is generous will be blessed, for he gives some of his food to the poor. When we give, you know, it doesn't matter who notices, because God does. And He knows exactly what's in our hearts. And you know who else notices? It's the recipients of the gift. Paul's going to talk about them here in a minute. But it's not difficult to see why God delights in a cheerful giver. Why would He delight in a cheerful giver? Why would God love a cheerful giver? It is coming from your heart, but what is God? He is a giver. You know what He's given us? Life, breath, air, oxygen, provided all the food. And then He sent His Son to die for us. What did we do? What did we do to earn any of that? And we could make a list of the things He's given us a lot longer than the short one I just gave us. He is a giver. That's what He is. He gives. And He desires to see that quality of Himself in His people. Desires to see this godly quality restored in people who fell because of sin and became selfish. See, our inclination was always selfish. We know it's right to give, but why do we know that? Because God has shown us that. Remember when Adam fell, our whole nature changed. And we were all born with a desire to serve only ourself. We need this gift from God. A desire to give. A desire to give out of love and compassion and a desire to please God. And His desire that His people be a generous giving people, we see it all through Scripture. all the way back to the days of Moses. I'm going to read it again from Deuteronomy 15, 7. Here was part of the law He gave them. Mount Sinai. If there is a poor man with you, one of your brothers in any of your towns in your land, which the Lord your God has given you, you shall not harden your heart, nor close your hand from your poor brother. But you shall freely open your hand to him, and shall generously lend him sufficient for his need in whatever he lacks. Beware that there is no base thought in your heart, saying, The seventh year, the year of remission, is near, and your eyes hostile toward your poor brother, and you give him nothing because of covetousness. then he may cry to the Lord against you. And it will be a sin in you to withhold from one in need. You shall generously give to him, and your hearts shall not be grieved when you give to him. Because for this thing the Lord your God will bless you in all your work and all your undertakings. You see, God does not change. This was God's way back when Moses stood on the east side of the Jordan River. This was God's way when David was writing the Psalms. This was God's way as Paul is writing this letter to the Corinthians. It was God's way when he wrote to the Galatians because he writes that same thing, truth from God, in all these places. And so does Jesus say this. We'll look at it in a minute. God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that always having all sufficiency in everything, you may have an abundance for every good deed. God will provide to us so that we may give. A giving heart is a blessing from God, and God blesses a giving heart. I guess I already said this. All men are born with a desire to serve self, to gratify self. It's the grace of God, Paul says here, verse 8, that moves men to now seek the good of others, to contribute generously for the benefit of our brethren, particularly of our suffering brethren. Even when the giver himself is without great means. Or even in poverty, as were some in Macedonia. The Macedonians were blessed with this desire to give in their poverty, Paul says. So they were able, even in that situation, to abound in generosity, even though they didn't have much. See, it isn't the total amount. It's the giving of yourself, what might be used for yourself. It's the self-sacrificial nature of giving. I mean, that's what love is, the self-sacrificial giving of yourself for the benefit of another without regard to the worthiness of that other person and without regard to any benefit to yourself. That's what Christ did on the cross. So Paul says to the Corinthians, look, you too have been blessed with this desire to give, with this contentment, and your economic situation was better. So this should move you to be like the Macedonians and contribute abundantly. And to reinforce this exhortation, Paul quotes now from Psalm 112, verse 9. As it is written, he scattered abroad, he gave to the poor, his righteousness endures forever. Psalm 112, 9. He has given freely to the poor. His righteousness endures forever. His horn will be exalted in honor. That's how the New American Standard renders that psalm. But Psalm 112 celebrates the blessedness of one who gives out of his awe and reverence and love for the Lord and for others. He speaks of such a person as an example of one who abounds in good works. It isn't the total amount of the giving. It's the heart behind the giving that makes an abundance. So under the old covenant, there's always blessings, material blessings for obedience and curses for disobedience. So under the old covenant, such a person was blessed by God with material prosperity if he was a giver. It was a mark of God's righteousness working within him. But under the new covenant, the blessings of God are much greater to the cheerful giver. They're spiritual blessings. Yeah, I know you can't get your hand on them, but you know they're so much greater than a few dollars or some earthly material thing. And in verse 10, Paul applies this thought here of Psalm 112 to the Corinthians. He's saying, in effect, if you'd modeled your lives on Psalm 112, I wouldn't even have to write this letter to you. And the same truth, folks, applies to us today. He who is given freely to the poor, his righteousness endures forever. That's a big deal in God's sight. Now in verse 11, I'll read 10 and 11 together because they go together. He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness. Now again, he's not saying you can be saved by your giving or your good works. He's saying that those who've come to Christ, this is how they live and manifest themselves as godly, Christ-like people. And there's rewards. There's blessing that comes back to you. You will be enriched, verse 11, in everything for all liberality, which through us, now look at this, is producing thanksgiving to God. How's that happening? How is our giving to somebody else producing thanksgiving to God? It's really fairly simple. When you receive a gift, What's your first inclination? Be thankful to two people, right? To the one who gave you the gift and to God, who's really the giver of all gifts. Paul cites Isaiah 55.10 here, again from the Septuagint. And here's the Greek rendering of the Hebrew version of Isaiah 55, 10. For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return there without watering the earth, and making it bare and sprout, and furnishing seed to the sower and bread to the eater, So will my word be which goes forth from my mouth. It will not return to me empty without accomplishing what I desire and without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it." Our giving has a cumulative effect. There's an effect in us, there's an effect in the in the donee, and it all results in thanksgiving to God. Hosea 10-12, sow with a view to righteousness, reap in accordance with kindness. Let me read that again. Sow with a view to righteousness, reap in accordance with kindness. Break up your fallow ground, for it is time to seek the Lord until He comes to rain righteousness on you. What Paul's saying here, what he's showing us, is that this great generosity of the Macedonians was the fruit of the grace of God at work in them. That's why he's looking back to these Old Testament passages. He showed here that God would do the same kind of work in the Corinthians. He would enrich them with a harvest of righteousness. God will continue to bless the giving person. It may not be in our bank accounts, probably won't be. I think that's an unbiblical principle, frankly. But our objective here is Christ-likeness. That's the objective of one who's come to Christ, is to be more like Him, to be conformed to His image. And at the same time to serve and love the brethren, and to serve those in need. So God When he looks upon the giving person, he will continue to bless the giving person spiritually and with the means and opportunity to be gracious to others. What Paul promises to the generous giving person is not wealth in return, but all that you need to do his work. It's interesting, you know, when Paul says our citizenship is Not here. Our pilgrim's here. Our citizenship is in heaven. This is the kind of thing he's talking about. As we do earthly things, things with a material nature, God is working spiritually in us. And this is a perfect example. Through the exercise of generosity, thanksgiving to God will be produced. You ever think of it that way? I mean, we're thinking about addressing the needs and helping with the needs of these people. And they're thinking, thank you, Lord, just as we do when we receive a blessing. Philippians 2.30. That's pretty close to where we are, if you want to turn there. There's two passages here. Paul draws on Old Testament language here in describing the provision of monetary gifts as your service. As your service. Philippians 4.18. I'm going to begin reading in verse 15, Philippians 4, 15. You yourselves also know, Philippians, that at the first preaching of the gospel, after I left Macedonia, no church shared with me in the matter of giving and receiving but you alone. For even in Thessalonica you sent a gift more than once for my needs, not that I seek the gift itself. but I seek for the profit which increases to your account." They receive the profit of their giving to Paul. But I've received everything in full and have an abundance. I am amply supplied having received from Epaphroditus what you have sent. And here's what he calls it. Their gift to Paul, he calls a fragrant aroma, an acceptable sacrifice, well-pleasing to God. God sees all of this. He sees our hearts. He's not, for a second, for a microsecond, blind to or unaware of what is happening in the world He created, and especially in His people. Paul regarded Christian giving not only as service to those in need, but as an act of service to God, a fragrant aroma, well-pleasing to God. In Jesus' words in Matthew 25, 40, I don't know how we'd ever forget these. When you did it for the least of these, my brothers, you did it for me. Giving is this one place uniquely where God works both materially and spiritually among people in different groups. Now he says, verse 13, and not only will they give thanks to God, thanks to you, not only will you spiritually grow, your generous giving will be a blessing to them such that, what will they do? They will give glory to God in response. Your giving leads to others giving glory to God. And isn't that what we are called to? Isn't that why He made us? The ultimate purpose of this collection, and of all Christian service, is the glory of God. This isn't just some minor off-to-the-side issue for believers, for the church. In your giving, you're seen by the recipients, not only as speakers of the Word, but they see you as doers of the Word. And their response will be to glorify God. by their gift, the Corinthians, the Macedonians, the Philippians, will provide these Jewish Judean Christians with a basis upon which to give glory to God and thanksgiving to God. And this doctrine remains true as to all godly giving and to all godly service. People will respond in this way, not only to your money, but to your service to them. We get these letters from Africa all the time. And many contribute, and many participate in the sending of clothing, and people contribute in different ways. And what do we do? We get letter after letter after letter from kids who can't even write, who don't know a word of English. But you can feel the joy and the thanksgiving in them in these letters that they send us. We try to read them when we get them. All of this is recognizing and glorifying the true source of the blessings. One writer said this, when we opt out of giving, we opt out of the privilege of meeting human needs and also deny ourselves the honor of promoting God's glory. When you give, you promote the glory of God. Particularly when you give to a brethren who will himself or herself give glory to God. And not only that, one more blessing Paul mentions here. The recipient of the gift, of your gift, will respond to your giving hearts with prayers on your behalf. They get the gift, they glorify God, they thank you, and they pray for you. Go out and read those letters we get sometimes. We keep them all out there, don't we? They're all still there. while they also, verse 14, by prayer on your behalf, yearn for you because of the surpassing grace of God in you. This is what the church is supposed to look like. And I am blessed that it does look like that here in many ways, in many ways. Paul recognizes, I mean, look at all of the different blessings that flow from one gift. given cheerfully and in the name of God, in the name of Christ. He recognizes here the great gift of God that is a giving heart. And we see here, I think it's clear by now in this passage, Paul shows us God's design for the interrelationships of his people. You see, he tells the Corinthians, look, it may be you who's going to be in need of this gift next time. That's true for all of us. There's the joy in giving, there's the joy in receiving, and all of it glorifying God. But the point is that God is glorified in all of this. So he teaches us here that all Christian giving is carried out, he uses this term in verse 15, it's translated different ways, but he describes it in light of God's indescribable or unspeakable or inexpressible gift. giving arises out of a gift of God that can't even be described, can't even talk about it accurately. And so he says we ought to give with a cheerful heart as an expression of gratitude to God and of concern for and fellowship with the recipients of our giving. Such extension of kindness through giving does something else. It establishes a bond between the giver and the receiver. Mail goes back and forth from here Some down around Pittsburgh, by the way, some missions we found. There's things that all of you folks contribute to. And we've got bonds between this church. They don't know any of us personally in most cases. As far as Africa, local, both. Giving establishes bonds. That bond is manifested in prayer for one another. They're separated by distance as they were. How far did we say it was from Corinth to Jerusalem? Almost. Almost 1,900 miles. And yet this bond, they're separated by distance, they're separated by culture, and now there's this fellowship. All beginning with this visible expression of their hearts in this money that they give and receive. And the recipients of the gift perceive the outworking of the grace of God in the graciousness of the giver, so that both giver and receiver see God's grace. And that's what we do when we get one of these. When somebody sends a card of thanks, you know, you're looking and you realize this is God's domain here. This is God they're thanking. This is God we're thanking. And there's this chain reaction of harmony and unity and thanksgiving and fellowship. So with all of that wrapped up in what Paul says, he thanks God for this indescribable, inexpressible gift. So chapters 8 and 9 are this self-contained unit in which Paul was seeking to stir these believers in Corinth to complete this collection. Not from compulsion, but from a genuine heart desire. And along the way, He's taught us all these things. He never deviates from the truth that God saves sinners by His free grace. He doesn't save us through our works of giving. But our giving is evidence of the work of God's grace in us. Our good works are confirmation of His having given us new life. They're not the cause of our salvation. Well, was Paul successful here? How did they respond? Turn to Romans chapter 15. He wrote this letter, we believe, a few months later. He wrote it from Corinth to the church in Rome. Romans 15, 25. He says, but now I'm going to Jerusalem and serving the saints. Hopes to come back. For Macedonia and Achaia have been pleased to make a contribution for the poor among the saints in Jerusalem. Corinth, as I said, is in Achaia. Yes, they were pleased to do so, and they are indebted to them. Now look at this. For if the Gentiles have shared in their spiritual things, they are indebted to minister to them also in material things. This bond between Jew and Gentile believers. And so Paul's confidence that the Corinthians would give from their hearts to the poor and needy saints in Judea was rewarded. It was ultimately rewarded. Gift would show the goodwill of Paul and his co-workers toward the Jewish believers in Judea and elsewhere. So they'd be believed when they preached Christ. And of at least equal importance, this gift from Gentile converts to be given to Jewish Christians was a tangible expression of the reconciliation that God had effected between these two groups. And this was so important in the first century. And so their giving, in this instance and in all instances, was to the glory of God. who had called Jew and Gentile believers into one body in Christ. Let us pray. Heavenly Father, we marvel at the outworking of your plan of redemption. We can only stand in awe as we see the manner in which you work through your people, the manner in which you help us to grow in godliness and Christlikeness, the way in which you work through those of your people who have much to aid those who have little and bless both in the process and glorify yourself. And so, Lord, we thank you for what you've taught us here. We pray that you'll impress this teaching on our hearts and help us to hold it near, that we might understand that our calling here is to bring glory to you in all that we think, do, and say. In Christ's name.