modern Christendom and sees the whist drives, dances, etc. arranged in order to raise

funds for Christian work, one is appalled and realizes that those who do these things can

have absolutely no conception of the truth of the wonderful context we are studying. If a

believer wants something back for his gift to the Lord--he had better not give it in the

first place, for in any case it ceases to be a gift to Him.

Paul now gives his Christian advice (judgment) to the Corinthian church. They had

been among the first to start a collection among themselves a year before. Let them now

complete it. It was vitally important that they should have a willing mind (readiness

R.V.) for without this, giving is of no value. The amount must be decided by their

financial resources (verses 10-12).

It was a question of proportion rather than a fixed sum. On the surface the widow's

two mites looked a very mean gift to put into the treasury. But, said the Lord Jesus, "she

hath cast more in than all they which have cast into the treasury; for all they did cast in

of their abundance, but she of her want did cast in all that she had, even all her living"

(Mark 12: 43, 44). In this gift, small though it was, she had given everything she had,

and the Lord who watched the donors took note of this. We should remind ourselves that

He still does. God is never in any man's debt and the blessing that generous believers

receive from Him outweighs all their giving, and in any case, as we have seen, all that we

have is really His, and this includes our money. Let us constantly avail ourselves of the

privilege of giving generously to the Lord Who has bought us by His supreme love and

We are examining the section of the epistle, namely chapters 8: and 9:, which

deals with the question of Christian giving in terms of money. The Corinthian church

amongst others had started making a collection for the poor saints at Jerusalem, but

somehow the work had got held up and now the Apostle Paul urges them to complete the

task. He tells them that Titus would visit them to finalize this, together with two other

unnamed brethren (verses 18 & 22). Titus did not need any urging to go. He had already

conceived deep affection for the believers at Corinth on his previous visit (verse 17).

Who are the two brothers whom Paul does not name? The fact that he does not name

them means that we cannot know them for certain, but both were well known to the

various assemblies. The former one the Apostle says his `praise in the gospel is spread

through all the churches' (18) and of the latter, `we have many times proved earnest in

many things' (22). They were obviously two faithful and earnest Christians who could

be relied on to handle possibly a large sum of money. Note Paul's wisdom in appointing

two men where money was concerned, to avoid any adverse criticism of