Ch. 1 & 2 teaches stewardship and never mentions money. Five times in those two chapters God tells what he expects of man--"he is to have dominion," He is to replenish," "he is to subdue," "he is to dress," and "he is to keep." Nowhere is it said that man is to own anything. The Holy Spirit's stress in the story of creation is to make God's ownership and man's stewardship so plain that they can never be missed nor misunderstood. While in these Scriptures there is no mention of money and yet you will find some 700 references to money in other Scriptures.

Today a financial crisis threatens to limit most of the ministries and missions of the churches. Personal and church indebtedness never has been as great a crisis as it is today. A recent survey revealed that 33% of born-again adults cannot get ahead because of financial debts. Churches have lost as tithers most of two generations of adults who do not understand that when you give your life to Christ you also give your possessions. Today only 3% of Christians tithe, and he average church member gives only 2.5% of income to God's work. In fact, of the 3400 members of Immanuel Baptist Church more members give nothing in the offering than those who give something. This misunderstanding concerning the stewardship of money can and must be corrected as committed Christians learn the truth from God's Word.

God knows we Christians have limited financial resources in a world of unlimited needs. Many consider the church just another fund-raiser. Of those who do give some give reluctantly and only out of a sense of duty. Some who give money hope that giving money will substitute for their failure to give themselves and their time and talents. Most are unaware of the desperate spiritual needs that the church can meet. By contrast, committed Christians consider giving a privilege, an expression of their total commitment, a way to show their love, and a way to meet needs in Christ's name. Giving is loving.

To be a Christian is to recognize Christ's Lordship and to acknowledge His ownership. Once we accept these facts the problems with our money seem to be less difficult. This final lesson on "Managing God's Assets" focuses on the stewardship of money. The Life Question is, Why should I give money to God?

The Lesson Bible Truth is that Christians are to support financially Christ's ministry thru His churches.

The Life Outcome is to help us give financially to Christ's ministry according to God's standards.

It is not altogether unlikely that a wrong attitude toward money stands between more people and their relationship to God than any other one thing. The man who consistently undertakes to

The occasion for Paul's challenge to the Corinthians to give was the offering he was promoting for the poor Jewish believers in Jerusalem. This is commonly called the Jerusalem collection. Paul's driving passion was to win the Gentiles to faith in Christ. Closely related was his desire to overcome Jewish opposition to the mission to the Gentiles by finding ways to promote unity among Jewish and Gentile believers. One of his most ambitious projects was the offering from the Gentile churches that he planned to take to Jerusalem. Paul mentioned this offering in 1 Cor. 16:1-4; 2 Cor. 8-9; and Romans 15: 25-33.

The Church of Jerusalem was the mother church of all churches, but she was poor, and it was Paul's desire that all the Gentile Churches should remember and should help the church which was their mother in the faith.

In 2 Cor. 8 Paul told the Corinthians about the joyful and sacrificial giving of the Macedonian Christians. He emphasized that they gave eagerly and voluntarily, although they themselves were poor and persecuted. Macedonia was the northern Roman province of Greece. Paul's reference was to the churches of Phillipi, Thessalonica, and Berea. This was basically an impoverished province that had been ravaged by wars and even then was been plundered by Roman authority and commerce.

Paul appealed to the Corinthian believers to add generous giving to their other graces. Jesus' self-giving is the supreme example of the kind of love for which Paul was appealing. He pointed out to the Corinthians that their giving would help some who had great needs at that time.

The Judean Christians were facing difficult economic circumstances. No doubt many believers settled in Jerusalem after the first Christian Pentecost, and many others came to faith in Christ in those days. Judean Christians were not wealthy. As the Jerusalem church grew so did the number of widows and other needy people, which overburdened the relief fund. To make matters worse, in the middle to late A.D. 40's a famine struck the area. Soon the church in Judea needed help.

Paul and Barnabas made an initial famine relief visit recorded in Acts. 11:29-30. At that time the Jerusalem church expressed the hope that Paul and the Gentile believers would continue to remember the Judean Christians. Paul was eager to do that. Later he promoted this offering among Gentile churches throughout the Roman empire.

In Corinth Paul probably promoted the Jerusalem collection on his first visit because only about a year later the church in 1 Cor. 16: 1-4 asked for his advice on how to raise money for the offering. Paul stated what he had already told the Galatian churches. Each person should set aside a sum of money weekly "in keeping with his income." In this way no collection would have to be taken when Paul arrived. The Corinthian believers probably had the means to give or Paul would not have asked them to set aside an amount of their income for the offering. They were not necessarily wealthy, however, because contributions had to be set aside each week, not all at once.

During the interval between Paul's writing 1st and 2nd Corinthians, interest in the offering seems to have waned in Corinth. Part of Paul's purpose in writhing 2 Cor. was to rekindle the believers commitment to complete their initial pledge. Paul began his plea with the example of the Macedonian churches, who considered giving to be a privilege. Paul used comparison to stir the Corinthian believers to greater zeal.

The Macedonian believers' poverty was deep and could have been offered as a reason for not giving to help others. Yet their trial and their poverty had welled up in rich generosity. What caused the Macedonian churches' generosity? Paul pointed to the grace God gave them . Grace caused them to be generous. The Macedonian churches did not have the financial means the Corinthian churches had. Yet the Macedonian churches had experienced God's grace, His undeserved kindness and mercy. When we experience grace, it opens our hearts in gratitude to God and in rich generosity toward needy people.

God's grace impacted the Macedonian churches' giving in several ways. First, grace enabled the members to give sacrificially. They did not only give what they were able to give, which was all the Scriptures required. The Macedonian believers according to 2 Cor. 8:3 gave beyond their ability. They sacrificed their own well being to help. Second, grace motivated the Macedonian believers to give voluntarily. They didn't need Paul to ask them to contribute. The phrase entirely on their own indicates that they were not coerced; they took the initiative. Third, grace allowed the Macedonian Christians to view giving as a privilege. They didnot simply ask whether they could help. In Vs. 4 they urgently pleaded, literally "begged," for the privilege of sharing in this service to the saints.

Apparently Paul was reluctant to accept money from people who were in deep poverty. The Macedonian believers did not consider contributing to be a burden or a mere duty, however. They called giving a privilege and asked Paul to allow them to participate in the offering.

Why do we hold so tightly to what really is not ours? The money we earn comes from God as does every other good and perfect gift. God gives us life, breath, and the gifts and abilities we need to live productive lives. When we come to Him in worship, we are celebrating not what we are doing for Him but what He has done for us. Giving is not something additional we do for God. Giving expresses our gratitude for all God has done for us. We deserve judgment and wrath for our sins, but God does not treat us as our sins deserve. Instead, He gives us mercy. People who truly see God's love for sinners will welcome the privilege of giving to Him by giving to His people and others who are in need. Giving is a privilege.

In these next verses we will see that the Macedonians had first given themselves to the Lord and to whatever was His will. Paul urged Titus to complete collecting the offering he had begun earlier in Corinth. Paul challenged the Corinthians to add the grace of generous giving to their other areas of excelling.

The phrase "not as we hoped" does not mean that the Macedonians had done something that Paul had hoped they would not do. Instead, "They went beyond his hopes for them," or "They did more than we had hoped." In what ways did the Macedonians do more than Paul hoped for when he said they first gave their own selves to the Lord? Their giving of themselves was first in time as well as first in importance. Yet, the Macedonians" initial commitment would not have surprised Paul. It was what he expected. What impressed him about the Macedonians seems to have been their renewed total commitment as expressed in their sacrificial giving and also in that they gave themselves to the apostolic messengers by the will of God.

In addition to giving themselves, they had placed themselves undeservedly in the apostles hands for the service of Christ, and regarded this submission as a matter of supreme importance. The crowning point of their generosity was their complete self-surrender.

Several points are implied in Vs. 5: (1.) Giving ourselves to Jesus Christ is the basis for all Christian stewardship. (2.) This commitment is renewed and expressed when we obey a challenge to do His will in some sacrificial way. (3.) Giving is not a substitute for, but an expression of, total commitment. (4.) Giving money must be accompanied by giving ourselves in personal service.

Turning from the example of the Macedonians to the Corinthians in Vs. 6-7, Paul told of plans to send Titus to finish what he had begun at Corinth. Paul wrote In 2 Cor. 8:16-17 that Titus was eager to complete the collection of the offering in Corinth which Titus had initiated on an earlier visit to the church. Paul called this offering a grace in both Vs 6 and 7. The word used here of an act of Christian service in response to having personally experienced the grace of God. Paul said to the Corinthians, Ye abound in every thing. He specifically listed faith...utterance...knowledge...all diligence. These were areas in which some of the Corinthians had boasted. Paul also included their recent claim of your love to us. A.T. Robertson felt there was "kindly irony in this allusion." Paul was gently reminding them of the areas of which they had boasted, and he was urging them to add to these the grace of giving which focuses on others needs and this becomes the channel of God's grace to them.

In 2 Cor. 8 Vs. 8-9 Paul did not command the Corinthians to give, but he gave them an opportunity to show the genuiness of their love. He reminded them that the ultimate example of total self-giving is Jesus Himself.

In urging the Corinthian Christians to fulfill their pledge to give, Paul refused to compel them. He could have been more demanding, as he had the apostolic authority to do so. Instead he strongly suggested it.

Paul encouraged the Corinthians believers to view their giving as a demonstration of love. He urged them to match their love "with the earnestness of others." Paul wanted to test their love's genuineness by comparing their actions with other contributors such as the Macedonian Christians. Perhaps he felt the Corinthian believers would be embarrassed by their lack of liberality in light of the Macedonian Christians' generosity.

Paul wanted more than the people's financial support. He wanted them to grow spiritually. He could not coerce their response to his plea. The Corinthian Christians had to arrive at a higher spiritual level. Today we show maturity by caring for others' needs at cost to ourselves.

The apostle of grace would not revert to legalism to compel the Corinthian believers. Rather, he reminded them of Christ's "grace" toward them. he urged them to consider Jesus' graciously giving Himself for them. Jesus left His riches in glory for the poverty of he cross so the Corinthians might be saved. He now calls us to love and to serve others in self giving servanthood.

Paul used the metaphors of poverty and riches for Christ's work to help his readers see that they could respond to God's grace by sharing their resources with others. They should have appreciated Jesus' sacrifice and should have been motivated to love others in return.

In Vs. 10 Paul reminded the Corinthian believers of their earlier eagerness to give. In the previous year they were the first to give to the collection. They had responded quickly to the needs of their fellow believers who were experiencing persecution and poverty. The Corinthian Christians had been more than mere participants in the general offering. They had expressed a strong desire to help, Paul's statement is a positive testimony of the church's good intentions.

In Vs. 11 Paul exhorted his readers to complete their commitment. for some reason they had not given all they had committed to give. The destitute believers needs had not been met. Having started well, the Corinthian Christians had failed to finish.

In the early days of he Jerusalem church, the new Christians shared their goods with one another. When some of them suffered a lack of food or basis necessities, other believers sold their possessions to meet the needs. Paul wanted the Corinthian believers to complete their "eager willingness" to help others. In doing so they would follow the first Christians' example.

Paul did not insist that the Corinthian Christians give more than they were able. He had said in 1 Cor. 16:2 each should give as God had prospered him. Paul taught proportionate giving. The Macedonians had given far beyond their limit, yet Paul did not insist that the same kind of sacrifice from the Corinthians. He emphasized their "willingness." If their hearts were right, God would approve their giving. In 2 Cor. 9: 7-8 Paul wrote, "So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of a necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work. Jesus said in Matt. 10:8 "Freely ye received, freely give." Be sure and read 2 Cor. 9 this week. It completes today's lesson.

One cause of the Corinthian Believers' problem may have been their own financial difficulties. Paul acknowledged that they may not have had an overabundance of funds to share. None of the churches could be considered wealthy. Yet those who were able should have been willing to help meet the needs of others who were in distress.

Paul suggested that as the Corinthian Christians' gifts would help care for others' immediate needs, the Corinthian believers might be in more serious need themselves in the future. They would benefit from other churches' gifts. The goal was "equality." The O.T. quotation with which Paul concludes this passage in Vs. 15 is a quote from Exodus l6:18 which tells when the Israelites gathered the manna in the wilderness, although a man gathered little, or much, it was enough.

"Count your wide conquests of sea and land.

Heap up the gold and hoard as you may;--

"All you can hold in your cold, dead hand

Is what you have given away."

SOME HAVE WANTED TO STUDY THE BOOK OF REVELATION. IN FEB., MARCH, AND APRIL WE WILL SPEND 11 SUNDAYS IN THE BOOK OF REVELATION. LEAVING THE RESURRECTION OF JESUS FOR EASTER SUNDAY. I AM LOOKING FORWARD TO THIS STUDY.

A.V. DAUGHERTY JANUARY 30, 2000.