It is for sure the first giving must be self, for if self is held back nothing will be given. These Macedonians were so eager to be out and out for Christ that they, without any constraint, gave themselves to the Lord. They who do this always give themselves to the church. To be a part of the Lord's church in those days meant persecution and even death. Nowadays people run to join a church, seldom attend, and give nothing. Why? They are still in possession of SELF.
These people of Macedonia knew that the will of God was for them to give themselves to the church, and to the preacher. They said, "We will give ourselves to this preacher who has brought the Word of the Lord to us; he shall lead us. We shall give ourselves to him and to the church."
It is the will of God that you who love Christ must love also His church and His preacher. A church brought to you the Word of God, and you are sustained by the church and the faithful messenger of the church.
The sum of what I have said is this: let those of us who are the bondslaves of Christ keep together, and fulfill our vows more than ever, and so prove continually that we have given ourselves to the Lord, and .to His people, and to His preacher, by the will of God. Thus shall God be magnified, Christ glorified, His church blessed and increased, and the whole world bettered because we FIRST gave our own selves to the Lord.
I thank our Lord Jesus that He has given us some of the saints of God who have FIRST given themselves to the Lord. I stand in amazement as they sacrifice and give over abundantly of all that they are and have. It is a privilege to be the pastor of these precious sheep of His pasture.