2 Corinthians and chapter number 9. I'm going to kind of use this as a jumping off place. This little piece of paper right here is one of the most important decisions financially you're going to make, okay? And so I want to stress to you how important it is as a church. I did the same thing at my church for years and years and years. I had 40 years under my belt, okay? And every year, you know, you kind of get this general consensus from the congregation. Oh, well, you know, what do you want to know that for? It's between me and God. Well, you know, it's great for you to say that, but when the treasurer's writing the checks and there's $500 less than needs to go out, it's no longer between your pastor and God. And so it's a commitment that we make. You're not going to get a done in the mail. I don't think brother Shepard's going to come and knock on your door and say, you haven't put your money in for missions. It gives the church number one, the advantage of knowing how much help they can supply for the mission field. And secondly, knowing that that money that's going to the mission field is not going to keep you from paying your building payment and paying the light bill. You know? You say, well, if I don't put my money in, the church has got plenty of money. Well, they may have for a month or two. But at some point, paying a light bill you don't have the money for will dwindle whatever you've got. See what I'm saying? How many of you are online? Some of you look at me, you don't know anything about finances. Okay. Just let me help you tonight. Finances is a phenomenal thing if it is done right. And I believe that God has the preeminent place in our finances. So tonight I'm going to show you some things that the scripture says, show you what happens as a result of people obeying what the scripture says, and then I'm going to challenge you to just trust God a little bit. My wife can attest, February the 19th, 41 years and 41 and a half years ago, I drove right through your town on a cold winter's afternoon and it was ice. When we got up to where the big curve is up there on the 475, there were cars doing this and I looked at my wife and I thought, we have got to be the dumbest people on the face of the earth. I went because several families said, you know, we're interested in a Bible study and maybe starting a church. And that was the first service in a living room we had for Hope Baptist Church. Well, I'm really glad that we were able to do that. To be honest with you, I was hoping we would never go back again after that first service because of the roads and the conditions. But for the next several months, I drove back and forth from down near Hillsborough, Ohio every Sunday morning and up that way, and we'd stay all day, preach in the evening, and I'd head back to a job I had to report to at five in the morning. And several times through there we drove through snowstorms. And you say, what are you trying? I'm not trying to get you to feel sorry for me. I'm just trying to tell you that nothing in life comes without some difficulty. Nothing in life comes without a challenge. Nothing in life comes without, if it's possible to use it this way, a price tag. Even serving God is going to cost you something. Now, let me help you. You're going to gain more than you ever lose. And if you don't believe that, drive that same little route tomorrow. And as you get up around exit 8 up there, take a look off to the right, and that wasn't there. God was wanting to do that. You know, I got to be a part of that. I could still be stuck in Hillsborough, Ohio. working an hourly job, maybe retired from that job, but the opportunity to be a part of something that's bigger than you could have ever imagined. So what are you talking about missions? Do you understand some of these people may be responsible for a revival that sweeps through the nation God has called them to? Some of these missionaries that you already support or that you're going to support may be responsible for winning some tribal chieftain's son to the Lord who will then step into the role of governing a tribe. Do you understand the possibilities of what God can and has in the past accomplished through missions? I was reading about Patton this morning, just a little bit, going to the New Hebrides Islands and burying his wife as she passed away there, could not stand. Among the cannibals, they had to set up almost every night, one or the other, all night long, to make sure the cannibals didn't attack them. Buried his wife, and I think it was three or four or five weeks later, he buried his infant child. What a waste. It took him years to even get to what we would assume to be first base in evangelizing these peoples. But boy, he becomes a pioneer missionary's example to this day because God blessed and turned the tables. And these missionaries are going to take that risk, but they're going to need some help. They're going to need some help. You know it costs money to have plane tickets to go back and forth. It costs money to zigzag up and down the country. They may not be able to drive the vehicle you drive here because the roads are not quite what they are in some countries compared to what they are here. Their groceries may be a little different in expense than yours are here. And so many of those things we take for granted. We've learned to live within our budget. But let me ask you a question. What if tomorrow, and boy, this is not too much of a what if. There's an election coming up. What if prices tripled in the next six months? I could name you about 12 countries that that's happened to in the last five years. What if gasoline went to nine or $10 a gallon? That'll never happen. I remember when it was almost there. Aren't you glad we're living in the bounty of where our country, not only what our country is, but where it is right now. America, God shed his grace on thee. And I believe with all my heart, one of the reasons America is still not below water, still above water, is because of what's being done by God's people through this country for foreign fields. So don't back away from that. But I want to talk to you tonight about this opportunity that is before us. I want to take you here to 2 Corinthians chapter number 9, and let me just set the stage for you. He's talking to the Corinthian church. I'll tell you what we know about the Corinthian church. They weren't very spiritual, right? As a matter of fact, several times he just basically just comes right out with it and says, you're carnal. I mean, I could get up tonight and just look at you and say, you guys are backslidden. You don't love the Lord. I'm not going to do that because I don't know. You probably know more about me than I know more about you. But he had the audacity to stand and say that and he could make those judgments. Are you ready? Based on what was in the offering plate. You say, well, I don't think you can judge somebody's spirituality by what they give. I think to a point, you're right. But I think at some point, you should be able to determine how much they love the Lord by what's in the offering plate. Now, I don't get a lot of amens. I rarely have anybody run the aisles. I have never had anybody speak in tongues while I was preaching about money. So I'm not expecting it. But I want you to understand, I'm trying to be a help to you, okay? I'm trying to be an encouragement to you. That same little lady sitting back there can tell you what it's like to live in a fallen down house because you can't afford anymore and your husband no longer has the good paying job that he had and in the middle of winter it was at least 15 below zero. I remember on a Saturday night years ago and I got a five gallon can because that's all the money I had and went out and bought five gallons of fuel oil because we were out of fuel oil to heat our house. I'm not looking for your sympathy. I'm just trying to tell you that just because God's in a thing doesn't mean you're not going to go through some valleys. And those valleys are good if you can look back and realize I'm not there anymore and it was God that made the difference. Sometimes God puts us in some valleys and some dark places not because he wants us to be there and not even because there's judgment in our lives. Sometimes he puts us there so we've got a benchmark. so that somewhere down the road we can look back and realize how good God has been. Some of you look back to before you got saved. Is your life better tonight than it was then? Well, aren't you glad you can remember at least enough about being unsaved to rejoice in what it means to be saved? And I submit to you that finding it's not the only reason, but that's why we're here. So forgive me. That's why we're here is to try and get some money into the pockets of people so they can get overseas and get their families settled in and be able to buy the drugs when they get sick that are five times what they cost here. All of those things have to be done. Your government operates real well because they don't tell you. They just raise the taxes. Missionaries can't do that. So here we are, and Paul calls in as an example, it is interesting, a church or a group of people that had been decimated by poverty. Okay. Notice if you will, he uses the Macedonians as an example. Matter of fact, you go back to chapter eight and read just a couple of verses here to set the stage. Moreover, brethren, we do you to wit. We want you to know about this. We do you to wit of the grace of God bestowed on the churches of Macedonia. How many of you remember the Bible story about the Macedonian man that comes to the apostle Paul? He said, what did he say? Come over and help us. And wasn't that the message of the Macedonian man? And the apostle Paul says in the book of Acts, immediately we endeavored, which means we took off the next morning. It's ironic to me because as you read through there, the first woman he comes to is a crazy woman. And the second Macedonian he meets is another woman, not the Macedonian man. And the third experience in Macedonia is they get thrown into jail and beaten. How many of you understand you'd probably be questioning, are you sure it was Macedonia? And somewhere in the midnight hour, the Bible says they sang praises to God. And I've had people say, well, you know, they must have been great Christians. Nah, maybe. I tend to look at the scripture a little more through my own carnal eyes, forgive me. Brother Walt, I believe somewhere in the midst of those whippings and those beatings, of that guard and keeper beating them and cursing them, somewhere in that, I think the Apostle Paul started to laugh. And I think he looked over at old Silas and Silas said, you've lost your mind. They've beaten you so hard, it's over with. And I think Paul looked at him and he said, no. He said, I was just thinking. You know, we come over here looking for the Macedonian man. We meet a crazy woman. Then we meet another woman. That can't be the Macedonian man. And he said, you know, I thought I recognized that jailkeeper. Because by the end of the night, the jailkeeper comes in and says, what must I do to be safe? Come over into Macedonia and help us. Sometimes there's difficulty getting there. But Paul now uses these Macedonians. He said, Moreover, brethren, verse number one of chapter eight, we do you to win. We want you to know about the grace of God bestowed on the churches of Macedonia. As far as we know, the first one formed was through that Philippian jailer in Philippi. How did in a great trial of affliction, the abundance of their joy and their deep poverty? Wow, what had happened, that equation there abounded unto the riches of their... Underline it, liberality. For to their power... In other words, all they could do, I bear record, yea, and underline it in your Bible, beyond their power, they were willing of themselves praying us with much entreaty that we would receive the gift and take upon us the fellowship of the ministering to the saints. You know what Paul said? These people who were saved and lived in deep poverty. I don't even want to live in poverty. I don't even want to live near the poverty line if I can try to help it. But they lived not just past the poverty line. They lived in deep poverty. And you know what Paul said? Hey, let me tell you about giving. I'm going to preach to you tonight about the most generous people I know. They were the poorest people I ever met in my life. It's kind of funny, because I think we're probably all a lot alike, that we think, boy, if I get ahead, when I get this raise, if I can get some more hours at work, if I get the bonus, if so-and-so gets elected, I'm going to... But you don't get it. You have to start where you are. And the glory of these people, the illustration of these people is that where they were in deep poverty, they said, we can help. We can help. And so here, Paul dealing with the Corinthian church. The Corinthian was, as far as we know, a very wealthy, affluent society. Their city was great. It's still part of it. It's still there today. You can walk through the ruins and see the old storage, and then see Acrocorth, and then see the lower city, which is a booming metropolis. Still there to this day. But Paul calls on these Corinthians and says, listen, you need to learn to let God be a part of your financial resources. And if that worries you, I want to tell you what happened to the Philippians, the Macedonians. In deep poverty, they gave and gave again. The illustration tonight, do you understand God says a lot of things about money? And it would be unfaithful to any preacher. You say, well, my preacher never preached on money. Because he's probably afraid of you, and I'm not. And you say, well, you just want my money. I don't want a dime of money you got. Okay. Well, you think I made, I don't care what you're made out of. I know this. I breathe God's air. I walk on his planet. I enjoy his sunshine. I'm getting off really cheap as far as I can figure it. When I get sick, I pray. Listen, I've been around people with COVID haven't had COVID. Go figure. How's that happen? I don't know. Just happens. I'm trusting the Lord. I have a mask. I don't know where it's at, but I have one. And I'd be willing to wear it. I'm not adamant about it. I'd be willing to wear it. If it freaks you out, I'll put it on. That's fine. But if I get COVID, it's not going to be because I wasn't wearing a mask. Okay, you write it down. If I get COVID, it's going to be because God wanted me to get it for whatever reason. I'm trusting him. You say, well, I'd be afraid of that. Well, it scares me to death to think I might get COVID. But I also realized this, if a mask can keep me from getting COVID, God's sure a whole lot bigger than a mask. He's a whole lot more capable than a mask ever was. I'd hate to think, I never have figured out which side on the mask goes out, the color or the, you know, wouldn't you hate to get COVID and have the doctor go, it's blue side in idiot. You were inviting the germs. You should have turned it around. How do you know? How do you know? Paul says to the Corinthians, listen, if you want to learn how to give, if you want to learn how to get God's blessings on your finances, Look at the Macedonians. And he goes on and tells the story. So I want to, if I can, look at chapter 9, verse number 1. We're going to go into the context. I'm going to brush through here as quickly as I can. I just want you to write these things down. I want you to watch the growth that he promised through learning to give to the things of God. For as touching the ministering to the saints, it is superfluous for me to write unto you. Aren't you glad Paul was a notch above the average college graduate? Somebody says big words in that Bible. That means the guy that wrote it is smarter than you. I would think that if he was dumber than you, you wouldn't want to read it. What's superfluous? It means more than too much. Okay? It's superfluous for me to write unto you, for I know the forwardness of your mind. For which, because of the forwardness of your mind. You know what forwardness of mind is? You've got it already figured out. Anybody ever been talking to you and you were forward in your mind? You stopped listening because you've already figured it out. Husbands, when you're talking to your wife, okay, you got to help me here. I get through a lot quicker if you're helping me. I know you know what I'm talking about. Ladies, when you're talking to your husband about the clothing store and all that good stuff, the sales that you saw, the forwardness of your mind. I know that, he says, for which I boast of you to them of Macedonia. Who's the folks of Macedonia? Folks we just talked about. So these people in poverty who gave and gave and gave so that the Corinthian church eventually heard the gospel. A church was built in Corinth and now Paul goes to the church in Corinth and says, you know what? I've been bragging about you to the folks in Macedonia. Boy, talk about putting me on the spot. Yet I have sent the brethren. Well, let me finish the passage I'm reading there. That Achaia was ready a year ago, that's where the church here is in Corinth, and your zeal hath provoked very many. I'll tell you what I believe about the Corinthians. I believe they were well off. I think they had a fine metropolis, and again, have been there. It's all ruins now, but it's gorgeous ruins. I guess if ruins can be pretty, they're gorgeous. You can still walk through. I've actually looked at the jail where the Apostle Paul was probably jailed, and all of those things are still there in the Old City, but it's all rocks, okay? You understand there's no sign that says jail. It's just a big rock here and a fallen down rock over there and a couple of slabs here, and this is it. But Paul said, I'm trying to teach you how to give. And he said, I use Macedonia as an example because he said, Achaia was ready a year ago and your zeal hath provoked very many. In other words, you made a promise you were going to do something for the Lord over a year ago. And I used you as an example to other places, even Macedonia, and they've stepped up to the plate. Now then, you know, you're going to make me a liar. And so I'm writing to you. Yet have I sent the brethren, lest our boasting of you should be in vain in this behalf, that, as I said, ye may be ready. Why? Because I'm going to come to collect it. This is Rick Siles' version here, RSV, very popular version of the scripture. Because I'm coming to pay you a visit, and I really would hate to come, because I'm bringing the Macedonians with me. The ones who gave out of their deep poverty. The ones who gave when they didn't have to give. The ones who had to sacrifice greatly to get the gospel to you. I'm bringing them with me because you live in the fine city. You live in the high towers. You live in the grandeur of wealth. And I told them that you had promised to give. But I thought I better warn you. Why? Because after all, you're Corinthians. So he warns the Corinthian church and the great thing that gets their attention to provoke them is I'm bringing the Macedonians with you. The worst thing is to run into somebody who does more for God with less than you do. That's humbling. It's easy when I don't know what anybody else gives to put my thumbs in my lapel and say, Lord, You know me. And usually when you say that, the Lord will say, yeah, I know. Yeah. And look at this guy right here and he's in poverty and he's doing a whole lot more. God's always trying to provoke us to do more in all part of our life. But in money, in this context, you say, well, I don't like, you understand God's always trying to provoke us to be more because he has more for us to do and more things to give us and more desires to be a blessing to us. God's never trying to put, listen, you don't go to prison in God's economy. God takes care of his people, but he stretches them. How many of you ever took a child and made them put money in a piggy bank? Okay. You know, kid cry. He got him, you got a quarter and you make him put it in a piggy bank. And he's, you know, always think of something that you want when you got a quarter and he cries and he squalls. You said, no, no, you don't put that. You know why you were doing, you were the mean who should have been put in jail for child abuse. No, you know what, you're trying to teach him that there were some values that if he got a hold of would benefit him in life. Can I say to you there are some spiritual truths that if you can get a hold of will benefit you spiritually. And one of them involves just being a generous person, being a giver. He said, lest happily, if they of Macedonia come with me and find you unprepared, that we say not ye, he said we would be ashamed, but that we say not, but ye, ye should be ashamed in this same confident boasting. In other words, I don't want you to be embarrassed when they find out people that are as rich and wealthy and affluent as you are, can't even give what they've given by sacrifice out of poverty. You know, somebody came in, sat down next to you, and you leaned over and said, you know, I gave $1,000 last week. And they said, well, I only gave $5. You'd probably think, pfft. And then if you heard the rest of the story, but my husband died unexpectedly two years ago. And after we paid off all the debts, there wasn't enough. I live off of a fixed income and I have a sick mother that I'm still taking care of. You understand after the story comes out somehow, your pride can kind of, it's kind of like one of those balloons, it goes. I don't think anybody is here to look at your bank statement. It's not my interest. I'm not trying to get you to give what I think you should give. I'm trying to get you to give what you could be pleased with under any circumstances. Remember the Lord looking at that little widow lady that put in two mites? Now, you know, you can find different people who say this is how much that was, but I think the most I've ever seen was the value of that was about a quarter. And Jesus was watching them walk by, watching the rich and the affluent, the long white robes and the gowns and the chief greetings that they use one with another, the pride and the arrogance. And a little lady walked by and dropped those two mites in and he stopped the show. And he said, I've not seen what, so much money? No, he'd seen much of money. He said, I'm not seeing so great faith. You want to please God? It's not your money. It's your faith. But now before you turn me off, the greatest test of your faith involves your money. So it stands to reason at some point, if you want God to increase your faith, it's going to affect in some aspect, either your income or your output. He's going to put you in a place that's between a rock and a hard place. Why? You say, well, why would I give? Because it's not you trusting in your wealth at some point that you realize, and you know what? God can take me down below the poverty line and still take care of me. God can take me, listen, I can live like a king and not have any money in my pocket. Those things are possible and doable. And he said, I'm bringing the Macedonians with me. I'm worried because, you know, I know how you guys are. You talk a big talk. So I wanted you to know I've kind of been boasting about you and you know you might want to get on the ball. And then he starts in verse 6 and this is where I want to go for the next 10 or 15 minutes and you'll have it all again if you didn't get it last year. But this I say, he which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly, and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully. Every man, according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give, not grudgingly or of necessity, for God loveth a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work. As it is written, he hath dispersed abroad, he hath given to the poor, his righteousness remaineth forever. Now, he that ministereth seed to the sower, both minister bread for your food, and multiply your seed sown, and increase the fruits of your righteousness, being enriched in everything. Would you underline those few words? Being enriched in everything to all bountifulness. You want God to make you rich? Start giving. Didn't he say enriched to what? Bountifulness. What is bountifulness? It's giving, right? It's Thanksgiving, right? The land of bounty. We're going to see the horn of plenty and all that kind of stuff. We're there, aren't we? We talk about America being the land of bounty. He said, listen, I believe that you are the ones that have enough to be bountiful. And the truth is, God's concern and what makes God see you as being rich is not what you got in the bank. It's what you gave away. Go back to the little lady with two mites. God's watching my life. He's watching how I handle my finances. He's watching what I do with what comes to me. He's seeing what I'm doing. He's not saying you can't do that. Somebody said, well, if I knew that, I'd just never have anything. I beg to differ, but there's no way I can prove that to you. I'm just going to enjoy what God's done for me, all right? Well, preacher, you know, if you just keep giving and giving, you won't have anything left. I started with no income. I worked for two and a half years for a church. You say, why would you do that? Because they couldn't afford to support a pastor. When we came full, we gave then. I gave on what I made. I gave after I became the pastor. We've given all the way through and it's none of your business what I give today. But I'm not ashamed of it. Not at all. But I tell you what we found, even when we didn't have enough after we gave, God supplied our need. I've preached in two communist countries. I preached, I think I said the other night, 14 countries in Europe. I've been, I mean, God's just taken us everywhere, not because we had a desire to go. God's just been good and blessed and said, here's what I want you to do. I never believed anybody could enjoy life as much as I've enjoyed life. God has been good. I'm saying my wife's sitting back there and you know what wives are like, they know. She can attest to the fact that there are times we live without insurance. We lived without being able to pay. We had to go get fuel oil in a five-gallon bucket just to get through. You say, weren't those terrible times? Well, at the time, they were terrible times, but we were on the ladder. The Lord was helping us get up that ladder, and God has taken us way beyond what you ever thought. I'm not rich. I'm not wealthy. I'm not trying to give you that impression. I don't want to be rich. Rich people pay a lot of taxes. You know what I want in life? I just want to have enough. Can I help you? I can't think of a day in the last 20 years where I haven't had enough. I couldn't tell you tonight if my life depended on it. What's in the bank? I couldn't tell you what I've got in savings or any of that. I can't tell you. I have no idea. You say, what? It doesn't matter. Have God. Have God. God takes care of those things. But notice what he says, and here's the point tonight. Write these things down. These people had the ability to give because they had sufficient. You don't give out of your abundance, you give out of your sufficiency. That's where you start this process. Look at verse number... let's see here where I want to go. I want to go to verse 7 and 8 again and we'll start right here. Every man according as he purposeth in his heart. You make a decision. So let him give not grudgingly or of necessity for God loveth a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound towards you that ye always having all sufficiency in all things may abound to every good work. God may not make you rich, but he said he will promise that you always have enough. You say, well, preacher, does that mean you got anything you want? No, there have been times I wanted something I didn't have enough money. Can I tell you what that means? It means God didn't want me to have it. Because He promised always to give me sufficiency. Right? There have been times I just thought, wildly, boy, that would be nice, and God gave me the sufficiency. I didn't have to make the decision. I said, boy, wouldn't it be great? And then there it is. God takes care of it. It's not about me moving figures around and moving from say it's about me doing what God wants me to do with the money he has entrusted to me trying to be my best to be faithful and generous with that and then realizing that I don't know the future. He does. And I don't know what I really need. I know what I like. But I don't always know what I need. He does. And he promised you ready for this to give me all I needed so that I would be sufficient. Wouldn't it be nice to die with enough? You want to put something on your tombstone? You don't have to put on there, this guy was worth six gazillion dollars. You want to know who the rich man is? Put on the tombstone, this is a man who never found a day or a place where he didn't have enough. That's a wealthy man. George Mueller, I love to tell a story about George Mueller. George Mueller gave during his lifetime, and this is from the records he had the orphanage in Bristol, England. I visited there several years ago and got this information while I was there, so it was worth the trip. He gave during his lifetime approximately 81,490 British pounds. That's what he gave away. You say, how much is that? Beats it far out of me. I have no idea. I just know it's 81,000 pounds, and I know a pound is worth more than a dollar. So at least you can do that kind of math during his lifetime, which was, by the way, years and years ago. Well, what does that mean? Well, here's how you can contrast it. When he died, they came in and amounted to what his estate was worth, and his estate was worth 169 pounds. So whatever this is, he wasn't even worth this much. So now we know something about George Mueller. Either he was robbing banks, or God saw him as a conduit to do more for others. You say, what if a guy died in poverty? Well, maybe. During his lifetime, it was estimated that he fed for free, in his orphanages that he himself supported, 122,683 children. So he died with, somebody told me the other night this was right around $225, I don't know. You say, well what a poor man. His life influenced the lives of nearly 200,000 children in the course of his existence. He distributed at his own expense 500,000 Bibles that he had printed and 250,000 New Testaments and also paid for the education of some preachers to the tune of 1,424,000 pounds. Now, let me ask you a question. Was he rich or was he poor? You look at his bank account, 124 pounds. Listen, when you die, how much do you need? I don't think he was laying there in a casket going, oh man, I don't even have enough money. I think when you go down that path that God has for you, you always have enough. And when you come to the end of it, there doesn't have to be anything superfluous. There just has to be enough. And a lot of smiling faces saying, boy, what a blessing. You say, who was he? Just an obscure guy, but his house is still protected under British law. His orphanage is still there under British law. You can't touch it. You can't tear it down. Why? He still stands as a beacon to the entire nation of this is what can happen if you'll just be generous. He said you've got some sufficiency. Number one, you give out of your sufficiency. What does sufficiency mean? If I say I have sufficient, it means I have enough. It doesn't mean I have extra. How many times have you ever told the Lord, if you give me this much, I'll give you this much. That's not how God works. God says here's the need. You got that much? That's all I got. That's not what I'm asking. Are you sufficient? You begin with your sufficiency. Hello? I know this is not good Baptist preaching. You know, you could have been Episcopalian or something. I give out of my sufficiency. You say, well, what does that mean? That means, okay, I got my check. My bills are paid this week. I've got $25. Then you've got $25 that you can do something for God. You say, well, I'd be embarrassed. Why? If the guy that had 20 million gave all he had, he wouldn't be any different than you if you gave the $25 that you have. You give out of your sufficiency. God's not asking you to go out on the limb. I pastored long enough and know a lot of those guys that go out off on a limb, saw it off, you never see them again. I'll give this much if you're still around in 10 years, which you won't be. And that's kind of the way that that works. God wants you to take a look at your sufficiency. He gave out of his sufficiency, verse 7 and verse 8. Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, out of that sufficiency, so let him give, not grudgingly or of necessity, for God loveth a cheerful giver. You see, if I only have to give what I got, I can be happy about it. Well, what does that mean? Well, it means I got my paycheck, I paid my bills, and I got $14 left. I don't have enough to go around the world. Well, then we're not going around the world. But I can give to God, and I still don't have to cry about it, because I did get all my bills paid and all that worked out. I give out of my sufficiency. Now, I'm going to help you. It's not talking about tithing tonight, but I believe tithing is a part of this, too. Boy, I just ruined the whole message right there. Did you ever have after missions conference, somebody stops tithing and gives the missions? Let me help you. If you're a member of a church, you have an obligation to a local assembly. I just want you to know that. Okay? Well, I think we should give the missions. Well, I'll just have them send you the light bill next month. Okay? See? Or the bill to turn the air conditioner on in the summer. Somebody's got to pay that. Well, we have plenty of money. We won't if everybody becomes like you. I think you give. You take care of your house, don't you? If you've got extra, you can go paint your neighbor's house. That's all right. But keep yours up to date, too, because, you know, the neighbor's property will devalue if you don't take care of yours. So anyway, that's extra freedom, charge anything you give because you've got enough to give. That's not an amount. That's not a surplus. That's not something that knocks somebody's eyes out. It's I've paid my bills. I've paid my tithe. I've done what I need to do. I only have this much left. And God says, you want to give demissions? That's where you give demissions. Out of that surplus, out of that sufficiency. And he says here, every man according as he purposes his heart, so let him give, not grudgingly or of necessity, for God loves a cheerful giver. First of all, I learn to give out of what I have. Faithfulness to God with money, I learn, brings blessings. I give out of my sufficiency. I take what I have and I say, God, I have enough to give this much. You don't have to make promises you can't keep. Okay? What's that song says? If just one cup of water I place within your hands, just one cup of water is all I demand. Sometimes we're concerned about impressing other people. See, if I've got $2 and I give $2 to the mission, that's not going to knock anybody's eyes out. Yeah, but everybody in heaven's watching. It's because God said, look at how much faith they just gave everything they have. You know what you do when you have given everything you have? You trust God. Because you have nothing else to trust. So the idea is always to give out of that sufficiency. I have always enough to do the right thing and to do good. Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give. Now, here's the parameters. Not grudgingly. If I've only given what I've got, I don't have to give grudgingly. Right? You say, well, yeah, but it's not going to knock anybody's eyes out of there. It doesn't matter. I'm giving what I have to give. I don't have to begrudge it. I've got it. I'm giving it. Not grudgingly. Just keep reading because it goes on. You ready? We're not giving grudgingly or of necessity. That means it's not my tithe. You understand your tithe is obligatory? God said, you tithe. You say, I don't believe in that 10% thing. Neither do I. I don't even think tithe is 10% in the Old Testament. If I read correctly, there were three separate tithes and maybe another half tithe. You ought to go back and do some study. I think that Jew was responsible for about 30% of his income. Aren't you glad we just tithe? Well, we don't have to argue about it, but you're wrong. Okay. There was a tithe that was collected once every three years. There's a tithe that collected once a year and another tithe that was collected once a year and another tithe collected at the harvest. You figure it yourself. 10, 10, 10 and a half or a third. So we're not here to split hairs tonight. Let's stay with the 10%, all right? I'm afraid I'm going to lose you. We've got enough to give. We've got enough always to do good if I just am responsible for what I have and not what I don't have. Verse number nine, they had enough to give and be happy. As it is written, he hath dispersed abroad, he hath given to the poor, his righteousness remaineth forever. In other words, no effect on your character. If I'm just giving what I've got, it doesn't affect me and I don't have to be sad about it. Why? I've got another paycheck coming this next week. Okay. I'm not going in debt that I'm going to have whatever I've got here. If I give whatever I've got, if I give according to what I have, I've paid my tithes. I've got this much left and you know what? I'm going to give all of it. I'm going to give some of it. I'm going to give part of it, but no matter what, it doesn't bother me because I've got another check coming next week. I may extend my faith sometimes. Sometimes God may put me in a place where I feel like, well, maybe I'll just give everything. Or maybe, you know what, I'm not saying it's a set amount, I'm just saying it's enough to be able to give and still be happy. That's what they were doing. Number three, down in verse number 11, it's enough to be generous in the eyes of others. Look at verse number 11, he says, being enriched in everything to all bountifulness would cause us through us thanksgiving to God. You know, if you only give $17.53, You say, well, what is that? That's nothing. But wouldn't it be all right if you got up on Wednesday night and said, I gave God everything I had? Sounds a little different, doesn't it? You say, well, I wouldn't want to brag. Trust me, $17.50 is not bragging. And saying, I gave everything I had is not bragging either, because that's exactly what you gave. They had enough to be generous. They had enough to give and be happy. They had enough to be generous in the eyes of others. Trust me, we're not always going to be talking about $17.55. Why? Because this process is a process where God gives back and then multiplies and then adds. I submit to you, if you're faithful, we've given the $17.55 at some point, you're going to be given $2,000 or $3,000 because God will show you, I'm taking care of you. Someone told me years ago, God's not interested in what you can give to God, and he's not interested in what he has to give to you, he's interested in what he can give through you. Through you. It's amazing what God would give through you if you just get your mitts off of it and let it go. Someday they're going to deduce how much you were worth. And they're going to look at your bank account and they're going to determine, but wouldn't it be much better if at that point your family knew, well, he'd had a whole lot more than that if he'd hung on to what he had. But there are missionaries on the field here, people in a church over here, there's things going on over here. Things have happened over here because he gave and he gave and he gave and he gave and he gave. When your children stand around your casket, would you rather they say, boy, he left us enough money to buy a new car. Or would you rather they say, well, he was good as a father and he left us a little bit, but oh, he did so much for the cause of Christ. Enough to be generous in the eyes of others. A good way to do that is to give all. Because all is arbitrary, right? But all is all. Number 11, be thankful, enough to be thankful for God's grace and giving. God loves a cheerful giver. God loves a cheerful giver. See, that may be the reason some of us only have $11.54. Because if we had $11,054, we couldn't be real cheerful about giving that. So some of you that are sitting in the pew saying, well, if God ever gives me, no, you won't. You need to start while you got a little bit. Give the little bit, pass the little bit around, get the little bit full, and then as God blesses, Trust me, George Mueller, I'll guarantee you didn't give all that money away at one time. You say, how do you know? Because I know ain't nobody got that much grace. I'll tell you what he did. He gave a little bit here and he gave a little bit here and then God gave him a little more and he gave that away. You know, we talked about those that had addicted themselves to serving the Lord. You can get addicted. to doing the things for God, especially when you know everything I give, He's going to take care of me. He's going to put it back. Learn to give. Learn that you've always got enough to do good. Learn that you've got enough to give and be happy. You've got enough to be generous in the eyes of other people. You've got enough to be thankful for God's grace in giving. Boy, I'm glad tonight we're not standing here with our little bowl waiting for somebody to give us some rice. I'm talking to people tonight that have enough to give. I don't care what level you're at financially, you've got enough that you could give something and it wouldn't affect your life drastically. Listen to me, one third of the world's population don't have anything near that amount. You and I are blessed. We're not only in a wealthy nation, we're in the wealthiest of nations. We're not only in a blessed country, we're in the most blessed of all countries. To whom much is given, much is required. Trust me, we've got enough to give and be thankful we could give. I'd rather give and say, boy, I'm glad I had that to give than to be on the other side. Number next, our giving. Our giving helps to supply the needs of others. Did you ever get phone calls? I get phone calls all the time. They always want me to help somebody. I get calls from organizations I can't even pronounce. We're trying to help these poor underprivileged. We need you to help us. You know what I enjoy? I tell them, listen, I give all my money to God. They don't call back very often. You know why? You can't compete with God. I give what I have to the Lord. I pass it along to Him. Well, you don't care. If you don't think I care, let's just do a comparison. I give what I have to the Lord. There is enough for us to supply the needs of others. Let me help you. I have nothing, no problem with other charitable organizations. Honestly, I don't. But you're in a charitable organization right here that takes care of poor people, takes care of homeless people, takes care of people without jobs, takes care of people who's in the hospital and can't pay. That's the job of a local church. I don't believe that. Then look at how many people show up for the first time because grandpa had to go to the hospital last week. We don't have no money to pay for his operation. Why do they come to church? Because church is the charitable organization. You're on the interstate, you probably have just like we did. I had the same story at least 15 times in the course of my ministry. I was on my way to my father's funeral. Went to the funeral up here. I just didn't have enough money, enough gas to get home. I'm thinking, you know, you're in Ann Arbor, and you got back to Toledo and ran out of gas. Didn't you know? You know, I mean, it's a gallon. But they come through. Here's the irony of it. I've written it down. I've got a spare tire, and I've got a couple things in my trunk. I'll leave those with you if you just loan me this money, and I'll come back and pay you. Well, I could take the tire and stuff, I was getting a collection of tires and stuff. And they never came back. You understand, somebody that would lie to you and steal from a church is not somebody that needs help financially. They need help spiritually. That's it. I'm not talking about just every little guy that comes by. We have to meet those needs. But I've got enough to meet the needs that I know are genuine needs. and they show up all the time. If we just give the way we're supposed to give, let me say this, we've got enough to cause other people to be joyful and to glorify God. When somebody comes with a genuine need, and we've been there, haven't you? Have you ever had a need? You said, God, I just can't. And somebody walks up and hands you something unexpected. Somebody every once in a while at Christmas time, people used to, I'm not pastoring anymore, this doesn't happen. He used to give me an envelope, and he'd say, pass this along to somebody in need. And I'd just take it in my coat pocket. And I'd just stand around and look. Rarely did I get beyond the service. Sometimes on a Sunday morning, I had to wait till Sunday night. I'd just be standing there, looking around, shaking hands, and he's got a patent on his shoulder. And somebody would walk by, and I'd just reach in my pocket, and I'd say, here. He'd say, how much did you get? I had no idea. It's not important, is it? It doesn't matter how much it costs, right? Because if I just said, hallelujah, thank you. I had something to meet a need. I had something to be a help to somebody. You said, well, I could have taken it myself, I guess. I guarantee you, I probably needed it every once in a while. But it was given to me for that purpose of passing it on. Do you understand what God's given you, whatever is left over, whatever? You can give out of that and know that when you do, I've had several occasions where a mom or a dad would get tears in their eyes, they'd start running down their face. They'd say, thank you, preacher. And I said, well, no, I didn't do that. Somebody just wanted to be a help. And they told me to find somebody and be a blessing. And God told me, you're the people. And I've seen him go out the door no longer crying, but praising God. That's the end result, isn't it? Not saying, thank God for the preacher, but thank God for his generosity and his kindness. Those things can happen. They realized that they could cause others to thank God, and in so doing, those others would pray for them, even though they were unknown. I'll guarantee you those people that I was able to pass those little envelopes to, and those people that we've been able to help who were desperately in need, while no names are circulated, I'll guarantee you they get on their face before God and they say, God, whoever that was, Lord, whoever it was that helped us pay that medical bill, whoever it was that made it capable for us to go and be in this, whoever it was, God, would you bless them? You realize there are people praying for other people they don't even know tonight only because they were generous and gave. Hey, let me ask you, how many people prayed for you because of what you got in the bank? I thought so. If they took you to the hospital tomorrow afternoon with major heart problems, and the word went out around the church, who would pick up the phone and go, who is that? Who is that? What if they said, is that the person that, or if they called the preacher and they said, preacher, who is this? I said, listen, you ought to be praying for them. They're very generous people. We need to be kind because recognizing the fact that we can cause other people to glorify God and rejoice, we can cause other people to thank God so much that they would pray for you. Sometimes being generous is not me getting some kind of satisfaction that I've got a lot of money. Sometimes handing out money and being generous to people and giving to missions is just the opportunity to realize that somewhere somebody's praying for me. Somewhere somebody's praying for me. I've walked into people through the course of the last 40 years just at random. It seems like every time I get a chip on my shoulder, God sends somebody along to knock it off. And usually it's somebody I don't even know. I've walked up to people in churches in California and had a little old white lady. I remember like it was yesterday. She looked just like my grandmother. Walked up and she said, I've been praying for you ever since you came to preach here last year. Why? See, God has a way of paying you back with interest. You say, well, you know, she didn't give you any money. Yeah, but I wonder how many car wrecks I wasn't in. I wonder how many planes didn't crash. I wonder how many good meals I got to enjoy because some little lady on her knees said, God, would you bless that creature? Listen, when you learn to give, you put yourself in a place where you may not need the money you think you needed because God can meet your needs without money. And do it in such a way that you praise God and thank God for His people. When all is said and done, there was a symphony of thanks. When all was said and done, the scripture says here that they together rejoice with you. I give. And when I give, maybe all I have, it's going to cause me some anxiety, no matter what it is. But when I give and let go of it, there's an immediate sense of gratification that says, thank you, God, that I'm not on the receiving end, that I can be on the giving end, that I'm not living in poverty, that I have enough to give some away. Thank you, God, that I'm on this end of it. And the guy that collects it says, thank God, there's something in the plate. And he goes and counts it, and he comes and tells the preacher, and the preacher says, thank God, there's some money in the bank. And they sit down and they write the check, and he goes halfway around the world to a missionary, and he says, thank God, there's money for me to get the Bibles that I need. And then he gets the Bible, and he puts them in the hand of some convert, and the convert gets born again and says, thank God, I got saved. Many thanks, that's what he says. Thanks all the way around the world. And it may never get back to you. until the day of reckoning. But doesn't the Bible say God's going to open the books? You know, when I was growing up, people had businesses that kept books. They'd tell them where their pennies and nickels and dimes and dollars were going. Wouldn't it be wonderful if the Lord could open the books and say, huh, I see here you gave the last penny you had years ago to that missionary. Would all the people affected by that please come? Wouldn't it be wonderful to shake hands with the people that all you gave was just your surplus for the week? All you gave, your bills were all paid. You gave money you'd probably blown somewhere anyway. But now then there's a line that forms. And behind them are the people that they influenced for Christ. And behind them are the people that were children of those that they influenced for Christ who got saved. You never know how long that line may be. And I submit to you that it's not going to be nearly so hard for you to regret all that stuff that you gave. You're going to be rejoicing in the things of the Lord. Our perspective on missions need to change. Margaret Clarkson was a lady who was somewhat handicapped. She grew up in the Toronto area, but was taken far north in Canada. And you know, you go much further north in Canada, you're in the boonie, boonie land. And she went up there to live and she talks about the isolation, the depression, all of the things that were there. She was handicapped and she felt like God wanted her to be a missionary and she couldn't go because of her handicap. And she just got an attitude, but she still loved God. And one day through her tears, she sat down and she wrote a song. I'll tell you the words of this song. So send I you to labor unrewarded, to serve unpaid, unloved, unsought, unknown. To bear rebuke, to suffer scorn and scoffing, so send I you to toil for me alone. So send I you to bind the bruised and broken or wandering souls to work, to weep, to wake, to bear the burdens of a world weary. So send I you to suffer for my sake. So send I you to loneliness and longing with heart of hungering for the loved and known, forsaking home and kindred, friend and dear one. So send I you to know my love alone. So send I you to leave your life's ambition, to die to dear desire, self-will resign, to labor long and love where men revile you. So send I you to lose your life and mine. So send I you to hearts made hard by hatred, to eyes made blind because they will not see, to spend though it be blood to spend and spare not. So send I you to taste of Calvary. She wrote that hymn, and as a result, there were hundreds and hundreds, I'm sure, called to the mission field. John W. Peterson wrote a cantata around that song. I saw it done years ago in Springfield, Missouri. This is one of those rest of the stories, though. She realized one day that because of her hurt and her suffering, she had painted a very dismal picture of the call to missions. True, we are called to lose our lives if need be. But in 1963, she sat down and added to it, so send I you by grace made strong to triumph or hosts of hell or darkness, death and sin. My name to bear and in that name to conquer. So send I you the victory to win. So send I you to take to souls in bondage the word of truth that sets the captive free, to break the bonds of sin, to lose death's fetters. So send I you to bring the lost to me. So send I you my strength to know in weakness, my joy in grief, my perfect peace in pain, to prove my power, my grace, my promised presence. So send I you eternal fruit to gain. So send I you to bear my cross with patience, and then one day with joy to lay it down. To hear my voice, well done, my faithful servant. Come share my throne, my kingdom, and my crown. As the Father hath sent me, even so send I you. Two completely different thought lines. But I tell you what made the difference. She came to the place in her life where she realized that the giving and the giving and the giving was something that was not insignificant. But it became insignificant because she allowed all of her thoughts about what she couldn't do to weigh down what she could do. And she looked at what being fettered and handicapped had prohibited her from doing, and she wrote a true song, nonetheless, that has touched hearts all across our country. But she realized that's not the way life's supposed to be. And she sat down and began to pray till God changed her mind, and she saw what a blessing it was. Not just for a missionary to go, but for her to have to deal with the life she had to deal with. May I close with this thought tonight? I will never know what you give to missions. I'm not interested beyond this point. I have done right now what I believe God wanted me to do. It's up to you. And it's not about, well, I did what I was told. It's about, here's the passage, oh, taste and see that the Lord is good. I've given you what the scripture said tonight. And I can just say this, been there, done that, still plugging along. But I will say this, I have tasted and I have seen. God is far better than I ever would have imagined that he would be or could be. I have no regrets of one day, one hour, one dollar, one dime. I'm thankful he has been abundantly gracious to me at every point and place in my life. Don't be afraid to launch out by faith and say, God, what do you want me to do for the cause of missions? Would you bear with me just for a minute? I apologize. for going probably way much longer than you wanted to be here tonight, but if it would change one heart and one life, it would bring one in line with the possibilities of what God has. One little boy, one little girl who'd say, God, I want to be a part of missions. One day God may use them halfway around the world as a missionary or maybe just to be an example to someone like that. Can I encourage you over the next several days as you come through Missions Conference, pick up one of your church's forms. And put it down by your bedside and kneel and say, God, what do you want me to do? Lord, what do you want me to share or to sacrifice? Lord, I don't want to be presumptuous and foolish, but I want to be obedient and I want the blessings of God in my life. Lord, I want to be able to tell maybe one day friends, loved ones, wife, husband, kids, grandkids, I want to be able to tell them about the good things God's done in my life because I set aside my own ambitions and decided to do what God would have me to do. Make it a matter of prayer. Be honest and earnest about it in your prayer. And trust Him. Trust Him when He leads. And I promise you, He will not lead you Maybe into the valley, but certainly through the valley when it's all said and done.