Take your Bibles out and open up to page 493 if you've got a church Bible or 1 Chronicles chapter 29. So page 493 in the church Bible or 1 Chronicles chapter 29. All right, and we're at King David and the burden that King David had to build a temple for the Lord, the house of God. in David's day, all right? And so David, that burden began in David's heart the first time we're told about it. He reveals that by sharing it with a prophet, his name was Nathan. And it says in 1 Chronicles chapter 17, in verse 1, that, now it came to pass as David sat in his house, that David said to Nathan the prophet, lo, I dwell in a house of cedars, but the ark of the covenant of the Lord remaineth under curtains. Then Nathan said unto David, do all that's in thine heart, for God is with thee. The ark of God, previous to this, had dwelt in a tabernacle, basically a tent, all right? And so here David's sitting at his house, he's looking around, it's a very nice dwelling place that he has, a very strong dwelling place, you know, made out of cedar wood. And David looks at that and says to Nathan, he says, Nathan, I'm burdened about doing something. My burden is that we build a house for God's glory, a place to put the ark that is a, a permanent place, a place that is well built and glorious. And so he shares that, and Nathan says, go do all that's in thy heart, the Lord be with thee. But that night, God postpones the desire that David had until the next generation, which is King Solomon. And so I came to pass the same night that the word of God came to Nathan, saying, go and tell my servant David, thus saith the Lord, thou shalt not build me in house to dwell in, and it shall come to pass when thy days be expired, that thou must go to be with thy fathers, that I will raise up thy seed after thee, which shall be of thy sons, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build me in house and I will establish my throne forever. So David knows as he's burdened about it, he has a great desire that this be accomplished for God's glory, but he's not to do it, he's to wait. He's got to wait till his son matures, till his son grows up, and then as he passes the baton, of his kingship onto King Solomon, King Solomon, his son would establish that temple building. And God did give a reason for it. The reason is found in 1 Chronicles 22 verse seven. And the reason is that God didn't want a man of war like David, even though God had made him a great man of war, God didn't want a man of war to build the temple. He wanted a man of peace to build the temple. And so the Bible says in verse seven of chapter 22, David said to Solomon, my son, as for me, it was in my mind to build a house unto the name of the Lord my God. But the word of the Lord came to me saying, thou shed blood abundantly, as made great wars. Thou shalt not build a house unto my name, because thou has shed much blood upon the earth in my sight. The oldest son shall be born to thee, who shall be a man of rest. I'll give him rest from all his enemies round about. For his name shall be called Solomon, And I'll give peace and quietness unto Israel in his days. He shall build a house for my name. He shall be my son. I will be his father and I will establish the throne of his kingdom over Israel forever. Now my son, the Lord be with thee, and prosper thou, and build thou the house of the Lord God, as he has said of thee. And so David's very burdened about it, but he's gotta pass it off to the next generation of King Solomon, and he passes off the burden as well, doesn't he? He's saying, God burdened my heart about doing this, now my son, be strong, do this for the glory of the Lord. So David had that burden to build the temple. But he also, as he passed that on to the next generation, David also felt an awful responsibility to prepare God's people to build the house of God that would reflect God's great glory. And so he says in chapter 29, verse one, David said unto all the congregation, Solomon, my son, whom alone God hath chosen, is yet young and tender, and the work is great, for the palace is not for man, but for the Lord God. Can you imagine today if I was to say that we're gonna build a house for God? That's a big responsibility, isn't it? It's not, I mean, an ordinary house, we could get into that, get involved in that, because the person that's gonna live there is very ordinary, just like you or I, but as David is saying to Solomon, Solomon, we're gonna build this temple, it's not for men that we're building it. It's something that we're building for God. In chapter 22, going back in verse five, David said, something similar, Solomon, my son, is young and tender, and the house that is to be built for the Lord must be exceeding magnificent of fame and of glory throughout all countries. And I think David might be thinking like this, those idolatrous temples are pretty big. I mean, look at what glorifies the devil, look what glorifies Satan, but this is something different. This is not a house for idolatry, this is a house for God. And David is burdened about it. He says, what I desire to be seen is that it would be seen something exceedingly magnificent and of great fame that people would look at. This morning, obviously, we're not going to build a temple. in Lone Head. But you know, there is a building that we get to participate in building with our king. Just like you look at that day, David's challenging the people, support your king, get behind your king. As the king is gonna build this temple, get behind him. This morning I could say to us, you know, God desires to build his church. He is building his church and that we can support our king as well. Let's get behind him. in the work that God desires us to do for God's great glory. For the Bible says, 1 Corinthians 3, beginning at verse 9, for we are labors together with God, you're God's husbandry, you're God's building. Okay, the church. According to the grace of God, which is given unto me, as a wise master builder, I've laid the foundation, and another buildeth thereon. But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon, for other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Matthew 16, 18 is where Jesus said, I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. See, the thing is this morning, if a church is to be built in low and head for God's glory, that, there has to be a support for God's work or it won't be done. You know, and I think that'd be a very sad thing to King David as he's getting ready to pass off the scene. He's been given the, he's passed the baton on it. And I know he's got the promise of God. God is going to do it. And I can say to this morning, you've got the promise of God that God's going to do it. The King's going to do it. I will build my church. The gates of hell should not prevail against it. But there is still a great and awesome work that has to be done and, and, It could be generation after generation that goes by without doing it for God's glory, without getting it done. And so I want to challenge us this morning with things that we can see in this passage about how they supported their king. that might help us this morning to support our King fully in his work. Because I think, look at these statements that David gave. The work is great for the palaces, not for men, before the Lord God. The house that is to be built for the Lord must be exceeding, magnificent, of fame and of glory throughout all countries. And I think it's a very sad thing today that the church has sunk so low that it brings so little glory to our King. that ought to be in our hearts and say, you know what, let's pray, God, do it again. Establish something great that the world can look at and say that is glorious because that is for God. And let's pray to that end. Let's pray, ask God to help us as we come to the word of God this morning, that the spirit of God would stir us up. Father, I thank you for the opportunity that we have to come to the word of God this morning. Father, I thank you for the temple and what an awesome place to the presence of God, even the tabernacle. And Lord, it was because you were there. And I love those stories in your word where the glory of God filled the tabernacle, the glory of God filled the temple. And Father, I pray that you give us a vision as we're a first generation church seeking to be established for God's glory, that the spirit of God would stir us up to see how we can participate, how we can support our King. And I pray that, Lord, you would guide me as I speak. Father, that you please help me by your spirit to speak clearly and with your authority. And Father, I pray that our hearts would be tender to you. I pray, God, stir us up to do this work for you. It's in Christ's name I pray. Amen. All right, how to support the work of our King, all right? First of all, support this work with all your might. Support this work with all your might. And the first aspect of that I want to consider is support it with brain work. Support it by thought. You think about King David as he's getting ready to plan. There's just a lot of thought that goes into this. You know, thinking's not an easy thing. You ask the young people how glad they are to get to Friday, you know, half day. Why? Because thinking's difficult. I mean, they're constantly, as an education, the thing about education, constantly thinking and having to work through problems and sort things out and figure things out. And that's, it's tiresome. Those of us that maybe had a problem this past week, something that was difficult that we had to work out the logistics of getting it. I mean, there's times we look at that and say, well, I'm just exhausted. Why? Because I had to think so hard about it. We talk about getting a brain cramp, right? What's that? Or we're using that juice in our head so strongly that it just feels like we've overwhelmed it, right? But as David was thinking about getting this done, it says in 1 Chronicles 2, that David prepared iron in abundance for the nails of the doors of the gates and for the joinings and brass in abundance without weight and cedar trees in abundance. And David said, Solomon, my son is young and tender and the house that is to be built for the Lord must be exceeding, magnificent of fame and of glory throughout all countries. I will therefore now make preparation for it. So David prepared abundantly before his death. And I can see David thinking, I've got to get nails. I've got to get iron. I've got to get timber. I've got to get wood. And it's all a thought process. And God's giving him the wisdom that he needs. But there's an investment of time and of thought and of prayer, asking God, seeking wisdom from God to get it done. And that's not easy. You know, B&Q and Screwfix have profited greatly from our move to Auchindinny. They're so convenient. I mean, if I need something, all I got to do is run to Screwfix just a couple of miles from my house or be in Kia, not that far away. We've got the range. We've got all these places. As you look at David, what did David have? We're going to preach on Noah on Thursday night. We're getting to the story of Noah and the ark. And what did Noah have? And you think about it. They look at something. I got to build that. I got to make a tool to build that. I might need to make a tool to make a tool to make a tool to build that. Seriously. That there's a process of thought and preparation that went into that. You've heard the saying. Rome wasn't built in a day. You know, what does that mean? It means it doesn't happen right away. And so there's a process of, okay, thinking it through and figuring out how's it gonna take place? What are the logistics of it? You know, God called my family to come to Scotland back in 2005. 2005, we came in 2010. But 2005, God started making it clear, and God made it clear that he called us to Scotland. There's a process that went into that. But then God's called us, now what? Now I gotta figure the logistics of my family, selling our house, getting on the road, doing deputation. What's deputation? I read in my journal that I found as we moved, I was keeping a journal back in that day, and it says this, I contacted Pastor Hall in Green Pond, Alabama. Okay. And I'm beating around the bush. And finally, he said to me, you know, are you asking for a meeting? And I said, yes. And he said, well, you got one. And guess what? He gave me my first meeting. We stayed there for like three weeks after we went there because we had nowhere else to go. And they support us now. And I read sometimes about Green Pond Baptist Church, that's Pastor Carl Hall. And what a blessing. But I mean, you can see by that, I went home and told my wife we got our first meeting. I didn't know how it was gonna work out. You know, now God brought us to Scotland. I get over here and came over with the Dillmans, you know, and looking at a map on the living room floor saying, where's a good area to start a church? And finding Lone Head and saying, you know, that looks like a great area because the Edinburgh is growing that direction. And by the way, it's proved itself to be true. And God clearly directed to Lone Head. And then we didn't know where we're going to meet for church. We're praying about that. And I looked over at the place that's now derelict, where the primary school was, okay, the old primary. And they had the center there. They're going to charge 70 pounds for something like two hours. And this place, when God gave it to us, they charged us originally, I think 20 pounds for two hours. It's something ridiculously low, okay? And God directed us here, and then we got here, and then it's praying, how do we advertise? So we've had that thought process, and as a church, if you've been here for a while, you've been a part of that thought process, and we're thinking about, God, what do you want us to do? And logistically, as a pastor, there's times where I think, God, bring in evangelists or something. I gotta think about housing. I gotta think about supporting them and challenging the church. Hey, let's get involved in participating in giving to meet their need. And these guys, by the way, and I haven't said this, that were here, were very thankful for the love offerings they received. They received generous love offerings when they're here at our church. I praise God for that. Okay, but that's thought. You know, how are we going to get from a temporary location into a permanent location? What about the future? And this is, the church planner in me, again, I mentioned this morning, praise God, let's establish Free Baptist Church, but let's have a vision as a church and say, God, help us to start other churches. Right? Because that's what a church does. It multiplies itself. Just like this morning, we're looking at discipleship. A disciple disciples a disciple that disciples a disciple, right? It just keeps going. That's what God wants us to do. But if we come this morning, And our idea of church is that I don't have to think about the future. I don't have to plan for the future. I don't have to plan for my week, whether I'm going to be in church. I don't have to think about my relationship with God and being what I ought to be. I'm not going to be what I ought to be. Why? Because it takes thought. And so David says, you know, I've given to God with all my might. Part of that is with his thinking. with his thoughts. And so this morning, that's part of the might. The second obvious part of that is that you give of your body to work out God's work, or work in God's work, okay? And so the Bible says in chapter 22, David prepared abundantly before his death. It says in our text here in chapter 29 verse 2, Now I have prepared with all my might for the house of my God, the gold for things to be made of gold, the silver for things of silver, the brass for things of brass, the iron for things of iron, the wood for things of wood, onyx stones and stones to be set, glycerine stones of diverse colors in all manner of precious stones and marble stones in abundance. David, thought hard about it. And you might say, but he's the king. He just said, so-and-so get this, you know, so-and-so get this. That's a nice, it's kind of a nice way to be. But for David to do that, what did he have to do? He had to say, so-and-so get this. David had to not just think it out, but he had to establish it. He had a plan for it. He had to work. There was effort that David did as he prepared physically for the house of his God. It reminds me of what Paul said, and we're studying, and to Timothy, and we didn't get to it this morning, but we'll get to it next Sunday, where Paul challenges Timothy, be like a runner. No man, it's a passage, no man that woreth and tangleth himself with the affairs of this life, that's a soldier. And then it talks about no man that strives gets caught up in physical things either, okay? Talking about a runner or a participant in a race. And so Paul goes on to say in chapter four, verse seven, I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith. Paul, how much you like watching Christianity? Not at all, it bothered Paul. I mean, read this, read about Paul looking at it and going, oh, oh, and he's correcting it. Paul, do you like participating in Christianity? Yes. Paul wasn't content to sit on the sidelines. Paul wasn't sitting on the sidelines, cheering on Timothy, sitting on the sidelines, cheering on others to do the work of God. Paul was getting in there with everything he had, saying, I'm giving everything to God so that he in prison could write back to Timothy and said, Timothy, I fought a good fight. I have finished my course. I've stood, Timothy, stand. Do you know what we need today? Building God's church. People that will grab hold of God's work and say, let's do it. Let's do it. It's not, I come to church, I sit down on Sunday morning and I say, challenge me with something and give me something to think about. It's that I come to church and I've got a vision about God, what you desire us to do. You desire us to establish your church. God, you desire us to reach our neighbors with the gospel. God, you desire us to have a growing children's ministry. God, you desire us to, at some point, have a building. And after we have a building, God, to work on that building, make that building what that ought to be for God. God, what can I do? What can I do? It's on my mind. It's taking physical strength to establish what God desires to get done. We had a family that came to our church in the States. I think I know their last name still, but I won't say it. But they came and, I mean, the man was lazy. And they're living in, I think, basically their vehicle. They're almost basically homeless. And our church went way above board to help them out and get them into a house. And I remember this. I remember us working really hard. I was a teenager to move in this man's stuff and him sitting by his door in a chair because he was lazy. And I thought, you know what? You're watching me do your work. That's lazy. As a teenager, I thought that is disgusting. Jill, what is it that God would say about us and our work ethic when it comes to church? Are we content to let others carry our burden? Listen, the thing about church is everybody getting in, grabbing hold, and pushing together. And it's a great thing. We've seen it as a church, haven't we? Wonderful times. Some of the most wonderful times in our church, we've had Holiday Bible Club. Everybody's there. Everybody's participating. We've had revival meetings. Everybody's there. Everybody's participating. Everybody's shouldering the burden, saying, let's do this. That's great. But it's sad when there's people that come, and their mentality is, entertain me. Or I'm just here. I'm just here. I'm not here to work. I'm not here to get anything done. Listen, that's not our Lord Jesus Christ, is it? It says about Jesus in Mark chapter 10, for even the son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister and to give his life a ransom for many. If Jesus Christ was here this morning, he wouldn't be content to just sit, and obviously I would defer to him. He could come up here and do a much better job than me, but he would be content to serve in a humble place. He would be content to do anything that needed to be done. The Spirit of God ought to be stirring us up, saying, you know what, I got abilities, I got talents that I can use for God. They may not be great, but I'll give up my strength to the Lord. Because Jesus said, Mark 10, 42, where He said that the Son of Man came not to be ministered unto, Jesus called the disciples unto him and said unto them, you know that they which are accounted to rule over the Gentiles exercise lordship over them, and their great ones exercise authority upon them, but so shall it not be among you, but whosoever will be great among you shall be your minister, and whosoever you will be the chiefest shall be servant of all. Young people, as you think about growing up and doing something for God, it's in service. It's not achieving what you look at and say, well, that's a high place in the church. That's a place of authority. It's about investing ourselves in God's work and saying, you know what? I'm going to get tired serving God. When's the last time you got tired serving God? I mean, you had to change your schedule so that you could serve God. put extra effort. We did it actually recently. We had somebody that was evicted in our church and I mean, that's part of the ministry of our church to them. It took effort to move stuff, physically move stuff. But I mean, that's what it's about, isn't it? It's about getting involved and using the abilities that we have for the Lord. So support the work with all your might, physically and mentally. Secondly, support this work with all your heart. Verse three says, moreover, because I have set my affection to the house of my God. David, why do you want to build a building for God? You say, I love God. That's where my heart is. David, are you doing this just because you feel like you have to? No. God said to David what? Have I asked anybody to build me a house? I haven't. Why was David doing this? Was it because God said, David, do this? No, it was because David had a great desire to give something to God. Why? Because he loved God. It was in his heart. Jacob, when he got his bride finally, the Bible says about that, Jacob, if you don't know the story, Jacob went to work for Laban. And when he asked what he would want to be paid, he said, you know, I'll work seven years for you, for your daughter, all right, Rachel. And obviously there's trickery that takes place, we know the story, but the Bible says about that, and Jacob served seven years for Rachel, and they seemed unto him but a few days for the love he had to her. That's an awesome statement, isn't that neat? That's okay, seven years labor, no problem, why? Because I've got a great love for her. What will you do for God because your affection for God is so great? It's no big deal, it's all right, not a problem. Nah, it's okay. Why? Because I love God. Because I want to please God. Because I want to serve God. Did you sacrifice? No, it's not a sacrifice. Nah. Nah, because I'm doing what I want to do. See, I thought about it the other day. I get paid to study the Bible and to share the Gospel with people. Why? I mean, it doesn't get any better. Seriously, I get paid to do the work of the ministry, and I'll tell you this, if it didn't pay, I would do it anyway. I have. Back when I was in college, trust me, I wasn't getting paid for ministry, but I was in ministry. Why? Because there is in our hearts that desire to say, hey, I want to do something for God. I want to please God. So let your heart give a personal offering for God's house. Personal offering. Verse three, it says, moreover, because I've set my affection to the house of my God, I have my own proper good of gold and silver, which I've given to the house of my God, over and above all that I've prepared for the holy house. See, David was king, and as king, again, he could garner things for the house of God. It didn't cost him. It cost him thought, it cost him effort, but it was provided for, but David took of his own private wealth. what David possessed. And David looks at that and wow, God had blessed David. David was just a shepherd boy, but now he's king and God's given him riches. And David takes of those riches that he possesses and he takes him personally and says, I want to give that to God because I've set my affection upon God. This morning, what is it again that you've personally given to God? It's one thing to be burdened about and say, you know what, pastor, let's do this. Let's have this vision about establishing this. Let's pray about getting a permanent location. And yeah, it's gonna be more expensive, but let's get it. It's one thing to say that, be burdened about it. It's another thing to reach in our pocket and say, you know what, so that we can do this for God's glory, I'm gonna get involved. I'm gonna participate. I'm gonna personally invest in this because it's something that I wanna do for God. I was in Florida at Gospel Baptist Church, and I've talked about Pastor Lytle before, and maybe someday God will give us the opportunity to have him over here. Pastor Bill Whitel is kind of an unusual preacher. His sign on the church that he started back in the 1970s says, Pastor Bill Whitel, and then it says, sermons that'll knock your socks off, all right? That's not on most fundamental Baptist church signs, but it's on his sign. Because that's who he is. I mean, he really is that kind of guy. Christian cowboy, I guess, all right? But a godly guy, loves the Lord. We're at his church. And the church has a building project going on and he gets up and he gets choked up as he says this. I'm going to sell my Harley. and give the money to the building program. And now for you that you might go sell my Harley. They would go on biking, the guys in the church, motorbikes, all right, Harley. And this was a, I mean, that's a, that's something that's dear to you. If you love that kind of thing, you know, something got it provided for him. He says, you know what? I don't know how he got that bike. Maybe the church knows how he got it, but he said, I'm going to give that to the Lord. And you might think, well, wait a second. When you give, you're supposed to be real private about it. In fact, the Bible says, let not your left hand know what your right hand does when you give, and it's to be secretive. No, the Bible's speaking about not giving to be seen of men. Barnabas let people know, I'm giving, I'm selling this land, I'm giving it all to the Lord. And God was honored with that. Ananias and Sapphira did it for men's glory. They sought to, and they lied about it too, they didn't really do it. And God rebuked them for that, for lying to the Holy Spirit, but not because they said they would do this for God. You know, there might be times where it's appropriate to say, I'm giving this way to God, because God's burning my heart about it. And that's what David is doing. David is saying, you know, man, he's talking to the leaders in the church, he's saying, a burden about it, God wants us to establish His church, this is what I'm doing about it. Okay, I'm not saying to you today, give, and I'm not giving. You know, I'm gonna keep my hands in my pocket, I'm gonna hold on to everything I got, but I want you to give because God wants a church, or a temple. And as pastor, I can't stand up here this morning and say, hey, you gotta be give, and our family not give. I can't go as a missionary to a mission field and say, hey, you churches should support missions, but I don't support missions. And I'm not here to brag on myself this morning, but since I was in my teens, I've given 10% to the Lord. I've always given 10% to the Lord. That's tithes. That's what the Word of God speaks about. The tithe is the Lord. And Jacob promised God, God, if you bless me, as long as I'm close with you, a tenth is yours. But you know, beyond that, we've given emissions. Do you know when God first called us to missions, we had nothing? I've shared this story before. We had no income, but you know, within the first year, we personally took on a missionary that we knew needed to get to the field soon while still supporting missions in our home church at an amount that was similar to what a church would take a person on for, a good amount. We still support him today. In fact, we support two missionaries personally, and then we support missions here as well. Why? Because that's what we do. Why? Because we love God. By the way, if God, this is about our heart, isn't it? If my affection, the Bible says, if I love money, I don't love God. But you know, when I give to God, I freely give to God, it releases my heart, and I'm not, I don't, you know, when I give generously to God, I don't feel like God's taking it out of my pocket. This past month, we've moved house and the owner wanted some money from the deposit. You know what I said? I said, give him 50 pounds more than that. Why? Because then I feel like I'm giving it to him rather than him taking it from me. Isn't that what the Word of God says? If somebody sues you at your coat, give them your cloak also, right? Why? Because it affects your heart. God's dealing with your heart. He's not dealing with the need that person has for what they've sued you for. He's dealing with the fact that our heart gets wrapped up on things, but when we take up our things and say, hey, you know what? I wanna give to God, that all of a sudden God's got our heart as well, because they're tied up together. And that's the second thing here. Let your heart challenge others to consecrate themselves unto the Lord. Because David says, look, I'm gonna give, and then he says, who then is willing to consecrate his service this day unto the Lord? David's giving with all his heart. Now he can go, hey, You guys need to give. Get your heart in this too. We're burning about it. Let's do something for God. And so give, give. In the States, they have something that I like. We've not done it here as a church, but it's something called Faith Promise Missions. What it is, is everybody prays about what they individually ought to give to God for missions. This is beyond tithe, okay? And by the way, this idea, you can't give an offering to God unless you give a tithe. Because the tithe is the Lord's. Where in have you robbed me, saith the Lord. In tithes, okay, and offerings it says. Withholding from God. But the tithe is the Lord's. And I've heard it said, don't rob Peter to pay Paul, you know? God has us give to support the local church, but then beyond that, he wants us to give. And so we have here at our church, we've got the Kellys that we support and their ministry to the addicts. And I'm pointing back there because we've got a brown box that's the offering box. We've got the globe, that's our missions giving. Anything that's put in the globe goes to support the Kellys in their work in Ireland. Okay? But in the States, they have this thing called Faith Promise. Again, what it is, everyone prays about, God, what would you have me to give? And then they fill out a pledge form. They don't sign their name. It's anonymous. But they say, you know what? I believe God would have me give this amount, and I'm pledging to give this amount to missions this year. So the church could get those pledges, look at their missions budget, and say, you know what? We could praise God, we could take on two more missionaries. Or we could take on three more missionaries. That's a great thing. But everybody has to be faithful to what they said to God. God, this is what you want me to give. And guess what? There's gonna come tight times where you look at it and go, I can't do that. I can't afford to give. Listen, you can't afford not to give. That's the honest truth. Today, if you don't know as a believer, the joy of giving, you don't have financial liberty either. The word of God is so clear about it. It says, give, and it shall be given unto you good measure, pressed down and shaken together, and running over shall men give into your bosom, for with the same measure that you meet with all, it shall be measured to you again. Luke 6, 38. New Testament. Not Old Testament, New Testament. I understand it was before the death of Christ and the gospel and all that, but hey, that's New Testament. If we haven't figured it out, God desires us to say, hey, I wanna, it's from the heart, isn't it? And that, we're gonna get into that in the rest of our study this morning. It's from our heart saying to God, God, you got my heart, therefore you have my wallet. God, I'm burdened about it and I'm praying about it and desire it to be done. God, I'm going to participate in that for your glory. Support his work with all your heart. Let your heart be inspired by the King's giving. Verse six through nine says, Then the chief of the fathers and princes of the tribes of Israel and the captains of thousands and of hundreds with the rulers of the king's work offered willingly. Okay, I'm gonna apply this in a way maybe you're not thinking right now, but they looked at what their king had given, and they said, if our king gave that, guess what? I'm gonna give. You'll be glad to hear this this morning, your pastor is not your king. Who's our king? Jesus. Can you be inspired this morning by what Jesus gave? Can't you? Man, our heart's really cold this morning if it doesn't stir us up a little bit to think about what our King gave. You know, there's inspiring things at times in life. I love inspiring things. There's this kid, Isaiah Bird, you gotta look him up. Isaiah Bird was born without legs. He's, I think, nine, 10 years old right now, and he plays American football, all right? You see him walking on his hands and on his nubs out there to play football. This kid's inspiring. He goes, hey, I was born this way. He doesn't quit. He doesn't make excuses and say, I can't. I can't. That's inspiring to me. I look at that and say, what am I quitting at? Why can't I achieve something? Listen, when we look at our Lord Jesus Christ, it ought to inspire us. Because we stop and we say, you know what? Jesus didn't hold back anything. See, this morning I mentioned 10%. You might go, Pastor, it's 10%. Listen. Jesus Christ took everything that he had and he gave everything for us, everything. Okay, Jesus held nothing back, nothing. And the word of God says, hereby perceive we the love of God because he laid down his life for us and we ought to lay down our lives for our brethren. Why? Because he laid down his life for us. Why should I sacrifice physically? And it's in a day of persecution. Why should I risk my own life? Like Onesiphorus that we saw in Sunday school that went in to minister to Paul in a prison where he could be also arrested because of Christ. And that's why the word of God says in 2 Corinthians 8, 9, for you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes, he became poor. that he through his poverty might be rich. See, Jesus Christ was in heaven and the glory of heaven. He had everything. And he became a pauper. I don't know what carpenters made back in the day, but I don't think they made very much. He's in a poor family. Joseph possibly died in some point in Jesus's life. So maybe he and his brothers and sisters had to help support their mom. Remember at the cross, he committed Mary to John. Physically, he was poor. He entered into the poverty of our humanity as deity. All right, why? So that he could give, why? Because he loves us. Jesus, why did you sacrifice so greatly? And again, I feel bad as pastor that I'm so poor at presenting the sacrifice of Christ and what Christ did, because in reality, if we understood what he did, can you imagine what he thinks about what we've given back to him? What if King David gave so much and then the guys go, oh, you know, I got a, I got a 10 P in my pocket. There you go. No, the King gave everything. I mean, he sacrificed greatly. Can you imagine again this morning what the Lord thinks about us? And I'm not just speaking financially this morning, everything about us and what we give to God, time, energy, effort, concern, worry, whatever. God here. Or is it us saying, you know, God, You are worthy, I give of my heart. The hymn says it well, we're seeing it a little bit. I gave my life for thee, my precious blood I shed, that thou might's ransom be, and raised up from the dead. I gave, I gave my life for thee, what hast thou given for me? I gave, I gave my life for thee, what hast thou given for me? My father's house of light, my glory circled throne, I left for earthly night, for wandering sad and lone. I left, I left it all for thee. Hast thou left aught for me? I left it all for thee. Hast thou left aught for me? I suffered much for thee, more than the tongue can tell of bitterest agony to rescue thee from hell. I've borne, I've borne it all for thee. What hast thou borne for me? And I have brought to thee down from my home above, salvation full and free, my pardon and my love. I bring, I bring rich gifts to thee. What hast thou brought to me? You know, as we think about it this morning, our heart ought to support God's work with all our might, mentally, physically, but then all our heart. Say, it's not, I don't, I don't, I'm not involved just because it's what I got to do. I'm involved because I want to. Lord, it's my heart this morning. And then thirdly, support this work with all your soul. Okay, support this work with all your soul. The soul is where your will gets involved. The soul is where that decision maker is, that song that we sing, I've decided to follow Jesus, no turning back. It's a song about the will, it's that I have purposed. And I'd ask you this morning, with regard to that, have you surrendered your life to the Lord? Has there been a time in your life that you look back at and say, you know, God spoke my heart about salvation, but there's also a time where I said to God, God, I give up, I surrender. God, if it dishonors you, it goes. If it honors you, it comes. God, wherever you want me to go, God, whatever you want me to do, whoever you want me to be around, God, I want what you want. I surrender. It's that will, that chooser choosing. Why? Why should we choose? Because there's a need that must be met by God's people. Verse 6 says, then the chief of the fathers and princes of the tribes of Israel and the captains of thousands and of hundreds and the rulers of the king's work offered willingly and gave for the service of the house of God. See, as it was time, as it was time to build it, they came and they said, we want to participate. It's our decision that, yeah, that is something that we also wanna do. We got asked this morning, could the temple be built without God's people participating? And the answer is no. And see, the thing about it is, in our day, how are we gonna reach our neighbor? How are we gonna establish a church? How is it gonna get done? It's not gonna get done unless there's people that say, my will is to do it. I've decided that I'm gonna seek to establish something. I'm gonna give with my will, my desire. I'm gonna participate by my will and by my desire. Because you know what? There's times where you might be praying this way and asking and saying, God, please meet that need. God, please meet that need. God, please meet that need. And God goes, you meet the need. And then we gotta decide. There's been times like that. I could share a couple stories in particular where I've prayed and I asked God to meet a need and God said to me, you meet it. And we got to be ready to say, God, I want to participate. I'm not just praying. It's one thing to pray and ask God, God establish a church in low net. It's another thing to say, God, I'm going to do that. I'm going to participate in that because there's a need that must be met by God's people. and because God only wants a willing offering. Verse nine, it says, then the people rejoiced for that they offered willingly because with perfect heart, they offered willingly to the Lord. See, David was king. What could David as king have done? David could have said, God wants us to build a temple and so tax. David didn't do that. David said, God wants us to build a temple. So guys, it's an opportunity to participate willingly. It's an opportunity to dig in and say, I'm going to give and participate in this. You know, if you think this morning, I've spoken about tithing and offering and stuff. If you think God demands that, you might as well not give. That make sense? If you think this morning that it's God reaching in your pocket and taking your money, and you've got to do it, and that's what God's heart is about it, you've got it wrong, and you might as well not give because God doesn't want that kind of an offering. It's not an offering, is it? The Bible says in 2 Corinthians 9, 7, every man, according as he purposes in his heart, so let him give, not grudgingly or of necessity. God doesn't want me to give like this this morning. Oh, you know, I hold on to it here. That's mine, but God wants it so, all right, you know. And then God has to somehow, you know, reach down and, you know, pull it out of our hands. And when he takes it, we're so sad because he's got it. That's not it, is it? God wants us to say, hey, God, you want my life? Here it is. God, you want my time? Here it is. God, you want my effort? Here it is. God, you want my finances? God, here they are. You use them as you see fit because you're God. And by the way, I want to get to it. Next Sunday I will, Lord willing. And that's David saying to God, we have given generously to you. We have given abundantly to you, but God, we have not given you a single thing because God, everything that we have is what you gave to us. What do you have today that you say, that's mine? God can't have that. Wait a second. It's God's. He gave it to you. It's God's. It's his. And so what does God desire this morning? God wants me to give with my might. That means effort. That means energy. God wants me to give with my heart. That means I love him and I want to do this for him. And he wants it willingly so that I'm saying, God, it's yours. And again, I'm not as pastor this morning, just speaking financially, it's about us. It's about us. And that's coming up, I think, in our text as well as we end here this morning. So those three aspects we've got, okay? We've got might, we've got heart, and we've got soul, will, okay? Those three things, they come together under spirit. Support this work with all your spirit, okay? Because you give by might, by heart, by choice, it makes it a great joy to give to God. That's spirit, 2 Corinthians 9, 7. Every man according as he purported in his heart, so let him give, not grudgingly or of necessity, for what? God loveth a cheerful giver. You know, offering time in a church ought to be the happiest time. It should be. We don't pass a plate in our church. We might when there's more people and it's not, you know, it's a little less, what's the word, direct, you know, type thing. And we get a larger church. I think offering plates are a great thing. I think that plate ought to pass in front of us and we ought to think about you've got, it's the first day of the week, I want to give back to you according to how you've prospered me. That's a worshipful time. It is part of worship, us giving to God. And you know what? God loves a cheerful giver. You ever get excited because you've given something to God? These people looked and they rejoiced at their offering. Verse nine, then the people rejoiced for that they offered willingly because with perfect heart, they offered willingly to the Lord. You know, it's a wonderful thing. And those of you that surrendered your life to the Lord, you got excited about it. You told somebody about it. They came back from camp and they said, hey, praise God at Christian camp, the Spirit of God spoke to my heart and I gave my life to the Lord to do whatever He wants me to do. And I'm excited about it. Why? Because I offered willingly. My heart finally bowed before God. I finally understood that He is Lord. And listen, that's what salvation is too. Part of the joy of salvation is I give up, I surrender. And the heart gets excited, why? Because they find out what that means. This morning, you exercise your will against God, you don't want to let your heart be affectionate towards God, and you don't want to give any effort to God. It's not a happy place. It's not a place of joy. It's not a place of peace. It's not a place of contentment. It's a place of wrestling with God. But when the Spirit of God works in our hearts, say, hey, get behind the work of God. And we do these things. There is a joy in our spirit because we're giving to God's work. We rejoice in the offering. We rejoice in the offering of others. It says, and David also rejoiced with great joy. Why? Because the temple is gonna be built. See, one of the reasons as a church, we'll get excited someday as the Spirit of God is working our church And everybody's on board, and they're saying, Pastor, we're just excited about the work of God. We want to invest in the work of God. We want to do more for God. We're pressing with you in this. We're thinking about it, too. We're trying to figure out what God wants us to do. Why does that get so exciting? Because we look at it and go, it's going to happen. It's going to get done. What is bothersome is when it's that toilsome days of, let's get there. Let's get behind God's work. But when everyone gets behind it, it's time to rejoice. Because it's gonna be done. It's gonna get done for God's glory. Let's think about it this morning. If it's a question this morning of giving with all your might, have you succeeded? I mean, think about it. What have you put into God's work? How much thought? How much effort? You know, we've got to stop and think. You know, if we want to do this like they did, they built the temple, they got it done. How did they do it? They got behind it with all their effort. I mean, they're straining into it. They got behind it with their heart. So it wasn't just, ah, I don't really care. If it gets built, great. If not, no big deal. They're burdened about it. Why? Because they really desired this to be for God's glory. It's different, isn't it? It's different than just, oh, who cares? My heart is in that. I'm burdened about that. God, I'm burdened about you building your church. I'm burdened about the fact that my neighbors are going to hell. I'm burdened about the fact that Scotland has so few that are obeying God. Is your heart in it? What about your will? Is it God? No, nope, nope, nope. You're not going to get my money. You're not going to get my... You're not going to get me. I'm not going to get saved! I'm going to exercise my will against you. Or is it God? I need you. I want you. I choose you. God, whatever you want. If it's my pocketbook, God, you've got it. If it's my... If it's my time, you've got it. If it's my affection, God, you've got it. Because God, I surrender my will. If that's the case, you'll know the last point. Your spirit. How excited are you about God's work? Isn't that a good way to test it? Because if you're behind it in those three things, where it is might and heart and will, guess what? You'll be excited. If you're not excited, you're not moved by the work of God, you're not in it. It's done. Hasn't happened. You might say, it might be because you're not saved. It might be because you're not surrendered. it might be because you're not invested in God's work. But if you get the first three, the third is a given that you'll give with joy to God's work. Let's pray and ask God to bless his word to our hearts this morning. Father, I pray that the Holy Spirit, Father who helped me as I preached, I know he did. Father, I pray that the spirit of God would speak to our hearts this morning. There is a great work to be done. It's not my vision. It's not my dream. I'm not like King David. Jesus Christ, you are the king. And Lord, it's your church. And I feel badly that you're working so hard on your part, but we're doing so little to help you. And I pray this spirit of God, give us grace to get it. If we're not going to work at it, if we're not going to give our heart, if we're not going to choose to do so, We're gonna miss the blessing, the joy, and we're not gonna see it done. But Father, by your grace, we can get it accomplished. We need your help to do it, and I pray, oh God, would you help us. But Lord, we want to do that for your glory. So I pray, spirit of God, take the word of God deep into our hearts, even now. It's in Christ's name I pray, amen.