Testing. All right. That's good. All right, 2 Corinthians chapter 8 this morning is where we're going to be. It's a message that I've preached before and so I am re-preaching this morning. So it might sound familiar to you some of what we look at, but hopefully it'll be refreshing to your heart and a good reminder to us today. It's a reminder I need as I come into the new year. I want to be praying about what God wants me to give, and it'd be a good time for us as a church to say, you know, we give to God through missions, we give to God through the church offering. As we come into the new year, just be praying about, God, what are you having to give? You know, that's an important thing, isn't it? Shouldn't we consider today, you know, God would have us to give to him. We just come through Christmas and, you know, we bought some nice things for one another and friends and family and enjoyed receiving some nice things. But to think, you know, today that God does appreciate it when we, with a heart that's right with him, give to him, that that's something that pleases to God. Now, I've lost who this quote is from, but it's a commentary on this passage. And specifically, as you get down to verses, Ooh, eight and nine. I speak not by commandment, but by occasion of the forwardness of others and to prove the sincerity of your love. And then it speaks about Christ and uses Christ as an example. We're going to look at the text and see what it says. But a commentator speaking about that. Says it's also noteworthy that with regard to Christian liberality or giving or what we're going to call grace giving There are no rules laid down in the Word of God I remember hearing somebody say I should like to know exactly what I ought to give yes to your friend No doubt you would but you're not under a system similar to that by which the Jews were obliged to pay tithes to the priest if there are any such rule laid down in the gospel, okay New Testament It would destroy the beauty of spontaneous giving and take away all the bloom from the fruit of your liberality. There's no law to tell me what I should give my father on his birthday. There's no rule laid down in any law book to decide what present a husband should make to his wife, nor what token of affection we should bestow upon others whom we love. No, the gift must be a free one or it's lost all its sweetness. Yet this absence of law and rule does not mean that you are therefore to give less than the Jews did, but rather that you should give more. Because if I rightly understand, what's implied in the term Christian liberality is to be according to the example of Christ himself. Our text really gives the Christian law of liberality, and it quotes, For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich. That is to say, we should give as we love. You know how much our Lord Jesus Christ loved by knowing how much he gave. He gave himself for us because he loved us with all the force and energy of his nature. And then he asked the question, why did that woman break the alabaster box and pour the precious ointment upon Christ's head when it might have been sold for much in the money given to the poor or when she might have kept her ointment for herself? She gave much because she loved much. I commend to you that rule, give us your love and measure your love by your gift. And I think that, oh, I almost thought of who that was, what commentator that is. Ironside, I think, is who that is. But anyway, I mean, that's good, isn't it? I mean, it's talking about, it's not, oh, I've got to give, you know, any more than you've got to come to church or you've got to read your Bible or you've got to pray. No, I mean, we ought to do those things because we love doing those things and those things please God, whom we love. And so, and there's some precious practical ways that we can challenge ourselves with this idea of what, I think the Bible would properly, or this could probably be called from the Bible grace giving, or giving by God's grace, and what God wants us to do with that. So let's pray and ask God to guide and direct us in this time. Father, we thank you. For the time that we get to look at the Word of God and come again to 2 Corinthians chapter 8, right in the heart of the best passages really in the Word of God about this idea of giving by grace. I pray the Holy Spirit of God would guide me as I speak. I pray, Father, you give us ears to hear this morning. Be grudging an opportunity to speak to our hearts So I just pray right now that everybody in their heart would honestly say to God God if there's something that you want me to to give In response to what the Word of God says today that we give it and father. I don't think it'll be financial I think it'll be first what we see the Macedonians doing and that's giving themselves to God and And Lord, if we're not there, if we've not given ourselves to you, we're not going to give of our resources to you. And so I just pray that the Spirit of God guide me as I speak, help us as we listen. And God, above all, may you be glorified. Thank you for your help this morning. It's in Christ's name we pray. Amen. All right, so grace, the grace of giving, and we're gonna break it down into the two ideas. Looking at it, okay, looking at the grace of giving, then fast forward to putting on the grace of giving, all right? Looking at the grace of giving and then putting it on. So let's look at it first. First of all, It's grace from God, okay? We're talking about giving, but it's grace from God. Look at what it says in verse one. Moreover, brethren, we do you to wit, okay? We don't say that today. I mean, mom and dad didn't say in instructions this week. We do you to wit, all right? But it means we want you to know, okay? We want you to know something of the grace of God bestowed on the churches of Macedonia. Okay, that sounds good, isn't it? I mean, well, God gave grace. How did God give grace? What's it speaking about? But you know what? He could have said this. We want you to know how much the Macedonian believers have given to the work of God. Do you know if he said that, he would have said the same thing? But he's pointing out that it wasn't that he's trying to emphasize how much these Macedonians gave, but the fact that they gave by God's grace. In other words, it wasn't what these believers did, it was what God did through these believers. It was what God accomplished. I've talked about it many times with regard to grace, but grace is like grease. It's that which makes it possible for those rusty or heavy or incredible parts to move freely and move easily when it should be very difficult to move them because it has that grease in there to move it. You might look at it and say, well, I can't get it. All right? Or whatever excuse that we've got. But you know, God's not asking us today to look at what we can do. He's asking us to look at what He can do. See, in the future, we hope as a church to buy a building. How's that ever going to happen? Well, how has it happened for other churches? People got burdened about it, and the church gave beyond their means to do it. Seriously? Yeah, seriously. I mean, that's how it's happened. I mean, people got burned about it, and they're so desirous of pleasing God that God allowed them to give beyond their means to be able to do something that they couldn't do. I mean, that's the example throughout Christianity and times where there was a great need. God's people met the need. How? Because God gave grace to meet the need. It's God. You know, you and I, if you're saved today, it's only because of God's grace. Salvation today is impossible. If you're here today and you're not saved, I would tell you it's impossible for you to get saved without God's grace. See, grace is what makes it possible for somebody that is an unbeliever to become a believer. It makes it possible for somebody that's in sin to be set free from sin. It's grace. It's what allows us to be sanctified today. Titus 2.11, the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared unto all men, teaching us that denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present world. It's the grace of God instructing our hearts and saying, look, you need to change. You need to be right. You need to be holy. Just like the grace of God that brought salvation appeared to all men. It brought us to salvation. It brought us to sanctification. And here, the grace of God would bring us to giving. And so again, what have I given to God by grace? And we're going to look specifically at it in this message this morning. It's not just speaking financially. It's not just what can I give from my pocketbook to God, it's what can I give to God by grace. You know, it's only by God's grace that we can give as God desires us to give. And so he's telling them, he's telling them, I want you to know that this church in Macedonia, he's writing to the church in Corinth, but he's telling them about the church in Macedonia where he was. He said, these guys have given generously. by God's grace. And so he's gonna bring that illustration out. Now, it's grace from God. The second thing about it, as we look at it, it's independent of circumstances. In other words, one excuse would be, I can't, and God's grace answers that by, well, it's not you, it's God. The other is, I can't because of this. I can't because of this. I can't because of this. And so here in 2 Corinthians chapter eight, it takes away excuses that these Macedonians could have had. They could have said, you know, God, we can't give because we're poor. And we just, you look in my, you know, I don't know what they had back then, my purse, you know, and there's nothing in there. How can I give? I don't have anything to give. And yet the word of God says, We'll get to that one in a second. First, he's going to start with persecution. It's another excuse they could have had. It's a time of suffering. Maybe I don't have anything because I've been suffering. People have taken it. I've lost my job because I'm a Christian. But here's what it says in verse two. It says, how that in great trial of affliction, the abundance of their joy. Okay, now we're gonna, this is gonna tie into giving, this idea of joy in giving, but how that in great trial of affliction, the abundance of their joy. And see, they could have been, ah, we're being persecuted, and, ah, you know, they just let it steal their joy, because persecution is a joy robber, isn't it? I mean, isn't it? If I'm being persecuted, shouldn't I be, you know, sad and down in the mouth, and looking gloomy, because, ah, it's so rough, you don't know what I'm going through. That's what you think. And yet, the Word of God tells us in Nehemiah 8.10, For this day is holy unto our Lord, neither be ye sorry, for the joy of the Lord is your strength." Ah, it's tough, you know, it's rough, and we're getting into persecution for Christianity. I can't give. I can't give. You know, and they could have let it steal their joy, but you know what? Oftentimes, you read the Bible, those that suffer were those that rejoice. We were listening last night, again, I've mentioned that we're listening to Hudson Taylor on Audible, and they went to an area that they knew there was persecution, and the guys in the boat, they told them, look, they're gonna kill you if you try to go to that city. And on the way there, the wheelbarrow pushers that had them in their wheelbarrows, they got scared, and they stopped pushing them and said, you're going to have to get out and find somebody else. And they had two guys that came along and did take them into the city. And then they were beset by a mom, and the throat of Hudson Taylor is being crushed, and he's crying out to the guy he's with. He's saying, remember, basically, we ought to rejoice because we're counted worthy to suffer for Christ. And he's reminding them of what took place in the Bible stories, like the Apostles Acts 5.41, "...they departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for its name." 2 Corinthians 9.7, I'm sorry, going back to Nehemiah 8.10, "...for this day is holy unto our Lord, neither be you sorry for the joy of the Lord is your strength." See, Satan's a joy robber. He wants us to be depressed. He wants us to be discouraged. He wants to steal our joy. But those Macedonians, they're suffering for God, but it says, how that in great trial of affliction, the abundance of their joy. There was a joy that was there in their hearts despite that, and you know what? It allowed them to give. because they weren't going to let Satan steal their joy. 2 Corinthians 9, 7 says, every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give, not grudgingly or of necessity, for God loveth the cheerful giver. If we can't get excited about giving, why not give? God doesn't want us today to think, well, oh, I got to give. We're hearing it again. I have preached on it recently. But oh, we're hearing it, and oh, I don't like the idea of thinking about giving. But wait a second. God loves a cheerful giver. He loves a person that is excited about being involved in his work through giving. And so we could be going through a trial today But we often think, well, I can't give because I'm suffering. Well, the abundance of their affliction abounded unto their joy. And then it says, their deep poverty abounded unto the riches of their liberality. And that's what I was speaking about when I said they were poor. And they weren't just a little bit poor. They were greatly poor. Their deep poverty abounded unto the riches of their liberality. It's kind of like after the war took place, James Stewart went back into, The country, and I can't remember exactly what country he was in, Budapest, where's that? Hungary. He goes back into Hungary, and goes back to a bombed out church, and the believers are all gathered there, and revival's still taking place, he preaches, and those poor people gave him buckets full of cash, because cash was, it was worthless. But I mean, they just, they gave abundantly, even though they're suffering. And it's like that. Their due poverty abounded unto the riches of their liberality. Luke 21.1, Jesus sitting at the temple, he looked up and he saw the rich man casting their gifts into the treasury. He saw also a certain poor widow casting in thither two mites, and he said, of a truth I say unto you, that this poor widow hath cast in more than they all, for all these have of their abundance cast in unto the offering of God, but she of her penury hath cast in all the living that she had. And there were some rich people, and they would bring their bucket of change, I suppose, and maybe a lot of small coins that would make a lot of noise, and they'd pour them into it and make a great show of their giving. And yet, the Lord looks, and he sees this lady. And by the way, it's neat in the Word of God when it speaks about God's sight. I was reading my Bible this week about on the cross, there are people that are standing around the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ, and it says, and he looked upon them. And then he committed John and Mary to one another. But he sees that. He saw who was there, identifying with him and his crucifixion. He saw this widow woman taking and giving everything. And there's a saying, a quote that says, man's extremity is God's opportunity. And she sacrificially gave, she's just saying, that's it, I've got nothing. And we would say, lady, you can't give because if you give that, you've got nothing left. Hudson Taylor, again, go back to his story. There's a story where he goes up to a sick woman's bed. The husband's there pleading with them to do something for their family. She's going to die, and she needs medicine. And he bows his head to pray, and he can't pray because He's convicted. He's got a coin in his pocket, but it's a big coin. If he had a little coin, he'd give her half of it. But it's a big coin. It's all the money he's got. And his rent is due, and he's got to get food. And the man goes, man, if you can do anything for us, give us something. And the verse popped into his mind, give to him that asketh thee. And he took it out and gave it to him. He said, it's everything I've got. He got home, and in the post, I don't know the whole story, but there was a glove, a woman's glove. in an envelope and there was no, the writing was smudged and the outside of the envelope couldn't read it. He opened it up and inside the glove, there was a coin that was worth five times, something like that, more than the coin he had given away. And you say, ah, God wouldn't work in my life in that way. Why not? See, why can't we trust God? And isn't that it a lot of times is I'm not willing to trust God, nor do I want to really let that go and give that to God. I mean, but you look at this widow woman, and Jesus didn't look at her and say, ah, dear woman, don't give, or, you know, maybe you picture her with tears in her eyes and a trembling lip, you know, as she lets that coin fall. I think she was giving, the way the Bible says, she was giving with joy to the Lord. She was just thankful she had something to give. And God knows that he was gonna meet her need. Hey, who is it that meets our needs anyway? If it's us, we're not rightly related to our source of provision, are we? If I'm today dependent upon the fact that I trust my bank account, am I rightly thinking about my finances? No, I trust in God. I say, God, that's what I got. Help me use it for you. Help me be wise. I've got to be wise. If I mismanage what God's given to me, I'm going to have trouble. I'm going to have debt. But God is faithful. God can help me get out of debt, and God can help me use my money for Him. But when I rightly look at it, you know, God's provided for me, then I start using it the way God wants me to, and I use it for Him the way He wants me to. And so, these people, they don't look at it and say, well, I'm poor. I can't give to God because I'm poor. Well, wait a second. Their deep poverty abounded unto the riches of their liberality. And so, poverty is not an excuse. Persecution is an excuse. And the third thing is unwillingness is just an excuse. I mean, if you think about it, why don't you give? Why don't you give to God's work? Why don't you get invested in missions? We got the missions quote back there. Why aren't you participating in that? You know, if it's because I won't, then isn't it an issue of our will versus God's will? It's just, I mean, unwillingness is just an excuse. It's not a reason, if that makes sense. Because get what it says, verse three. For to their power I bear record, yea, and beyond their power they were what? They were willing of themselves. They look at it and say, I want to give, and God, I want to give beyond my means. And wow, that'd be a prayer to pray. God, help me to be able to give beyond what I can give, if that makes sense. God helped me to give more than possible. I mean, if people really examine my finances, they look at it and say, I don't know how they can give this much, but God helped me to give beyond my means to give. I'll give you an example. George Mueller. George Mueller lived by faith. George Mueller didn't have an income. George Mueller just had what God sent into his ministry through prayer. He didn't take, even when he'd go to speak, he wouldn't take love offerings, right? It was all by faith. That's how he started. That's how he maintained it. It was always by faith, just trusting God to provide. But George Mueller, I don't know the exact amount, but it was a lot of money that passed through George Mueller's hands. And guess what? I think it was the majority of it was given away to missions. He supported greatly Hudson Taylor's China Inland Mission. He was heavily invested in missions. And to be honest, he couldn't have walked the walk of faith that he was walking without being that way. without properly using what God gave for God's work. That's why as a church, we want to, as a church, make sure when we have the speakers come in, we don't begrudgingly give them a token. We give them, when a speaker comes, our church is very generous. From the church's pocketbook, what we give to God's servants, because that honors God, that pleases God, and God meets our needs as a church that way. But we ought to think of that individually as well, that when these people come, we give because God, also gives to us, and we'll see that coming up. But I mean, that's part of it, isn't it? But it has to be us saying to God, God, I want to give. I want to give. I want to give beyond my means. Samson, right? How did he walk off with the city gates? You ever think about that? I'd like to see that, because that's not possible. See, Samson did things he couldn't do. Samson pushed on those pillars. He bowed his head before God. God, give me back my strength one more time. But it wasn't his strength, was it? He began to think it was. God help us from doing that and doing something. And then God helps us do it. And then we think, oh, I did it. No, it's God by His grace. But Samson, I mean, he had incredible power. From whom? God. And so I would say to us this morning, you know what? God may allow us to give beyond our ability to give. And we ought to pray, God, help me to give beyond my means. Help me to do that because I'm willing. You know, back when God was working my heart and calling me to preach, I prayed and I said to God, God, if you'll give me the ability, I'll surrender to preach. You know what God convicted me about that night, if you know my testimony? It's not that all of a sudden that night God convinced me I had the ability. God convinced me that He doesn't need my ability. You know? I mean, is God dependent upon us today? And you might sit on your hands and say, oh great, then I don't have to give. No, wait, that's not the answer. That's kind of like, shall we continue and send that grace man bound? Paul says, God forbid, should I continue to not give so that God has to do it miraculously? You know, filling the offering box in the back miraculously? You know what I'm saying? I mean, it's both and, isn't it? It's me saying to God, God, I'm willing, I want to participate. I can't do it, but God, I'd like to be able to give you more. God, would you help me to do that? And see, that would be a great prayer for us to pray about God's work. God, we need to give, and God, I want to give, but I can't do it except by God's grace. And then we see as well that the grace is passionate, okay? It's grace from God. It's independent of circumstances. and the grace is passionate. Verse four says, praying us with much entreaty that we would receive the gift and take upon us the fellowship of the ministering to the saints. All right, Paul's there at Macedonia and you can see Paul knows their poverty. He knows that maybe what, you know, very specifically who he's looking at, he knows they don't have much. And they're tight. I mean, it's just week after week, they're just barely getting enough. And yet these people say, and they say to Paul, Paul, please take this. And Paul says, no, I can't take that. You guys, you need that. You've got needs here at home. Isn't that what this text tells us? Praying us with much intrigue, they begin to beg and say, Paul, please take this, please take this and distribute this among those believers that have a need. And Paul, we want to participate in meeting their needs. God's going to meet our needs. I mean, you can almost hear what's taking place in the dialogue because they're pleading with Paul to give. You know, as you think about giving to God, don't you want to give something that costs? Do you really want to give to God something that is cheap? We just had Christmas, right? Maybe there's someone very close to you that you love, and you get them something very obviously cheap and junky, and you give it to them. It's almost funny, because they probably laugh and go, really? Okay, all right. And if they're a very gracious person, you know, hopefully they're going to accept that. And with gratitude, understanding, maybe it's a really tough year or something. I'm not saying we got to give nice things to people, but isn't it true that we look at like the person and think, you know, what do I want to give to somebody like that? And God, God knows what we have and God's given us what we have. Okay, and we're going to, in the message, we're going to get to that point of God totally knows that our ability in that regard, inability, okay? But shouldn't it be something that we look at and say, God, this isn't something cheap. This is something that is cost me to give to you. Remember David, when the angel was killing people, because David had numbered the people, and God sent this death angel that was killing people, and he gets to that threshing floor of Aaronah, and the death angel's hand is stopped, and David wants to worship God. And Aaronah says, here, take my oxen, take my threshing stuff, and make a altar and worship God. And David said, no, I'm gonna buy it, because I don't wanna offer God that which costs me nothing. Do you think you'd be a little bit embarrassed about what you've given to God? And I'm not just speaking financially. If you saw God today, God would look at it and say, why? I gave so much to you. Why didn't you give back to me? Why weren't you generous? Why weren't you interested in giving? The grace giving is passionate. It's like, no, I want to get involved. Pastor, it's not a burden if we have a building fund. It's not a burden for me to pray about what God wants me to give. It's not a burden for me to pray about what God wants me to give to missions. It's not a burden for me to pray about what God wants me to give to meet the needs of the local church. It's not a burden. I like that, and I'll pray about that. I'm going to ask God, God, what would you have me to give? I want to participate. Why? Because I love God, and I want to get excited about giving to God. David always gave God things of value. Remember, he thirsted, he wanted water from the well in Bethlehem, and his mighty men broke through. They got the water from the well, brought it to their, not king at that point, but to David, and David took it, and he, what? Poured it out to the Lord as an offering to God, because it was so valuable, because men had hazarded their lives to get it. He offered it to God rather than drinking it himself. You know, God desires us to look at our life and say, God, I want to give you things of value. It's passionate. And then this grace secures God's plan. And here's the whole point of what Paul's saying, because notice in verse five, this they did not as we hoped, okay, not as we expected, but first gave their own selves to the Lord and unto us by the will of God. Paul says, all right, this financial thing is secondary. They didn't give as we expected them to give. They first gave themselves to the Lord, okay? They first stood up for God themselves and gave themselves to God, and then they gave financially. You know, God is not up in heaven today worried because he's got such great financial needs and has no ability to meet them. God says in his word, Psalm 50 verse nine, I'll take no bullock out of thy house, nor he goats out of thy fold, if he is hungry. For every beast of the forest is mine, the cattle upon a thousand hills. I know all the fowls of the mountains, the wild beasts of the field are mine. If I were hungry, I wouldn't tell you, I would not tell thee, for the world is mine, and the fullness thereof. So what did God want? Or what does God want? You know what God wants this morning? He wants your heart. And perhaps you've never realized, or maybe you have, how tightly your heart and your finances are tied together. The Bible says, for where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. If your treasure's in material things or financial things, that's different, isn't it, than your treasure being God? Is God your treasure this morning? Romans 12, one, I beseech you, therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies, a living sacrifice, wholly acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. Shouldn't it be the day that as Bible believers that understand that Jesus Christ died for us on the cross, he shed his blood, he rose from the dead, and he lives eternally, that he is King of kings and Lord of lords, and that we answer to him and to him alone. Shouldn't it be our desire today to set ourselves in his hands and say, God, I take my hands off my life. I take my hands off of everything. God, I give myself to you. Shouldn't that be our heart today? And if that were the case, wouldn't God then also have access to our finances, to use our finances as he sees fit? Do you understand what I'm saying? It's not that God expects us to give all our finances to him, but he ought to have access to everything financial in our lives. We ought not go buy things that we don't need and things that we just lust after and mismanage the resources that he's entrusted to us. We're stewards. The resources that we have are God's. And so my resources, though I don't give everything to God, God has control or ought to have control over everything that I have, and I ought to pray about things I purchase. How can I complain to God and say, God, you're not meeting my needs if I'm mismanaging the money that he's given to me? But when that is right, and I'm doing the will of God, God is excited, not because he's got control of my finances, he's excited because he has control of my heart, and that's what he desires. And so that's why, verse six, this grace is admirable, okay? And it's developable, okay? Two things there, it's admirable, admirable and developable, verse six, insomuch that we desire Titus as he had begun, so he would also finish in you the same grace also. It's admirable. Paul lifts it up and he says, Corinth, Macedonia is doing a great job in grace giving. And we desire Titus to come and help you develop in your giving. Do you get it? It's developable. It's admirable. Now, if the Apostle Paul, okay, greatest, we could arguably say, greatest man of God in the New Testament era, okay, it's unlikely, I don't think there'll be anybody that would rival Paul, except for the Lord Jesus Christ, in a sense. Does it make sense? Mighty man of God says, he looks at the church in Macedonia and says, this is a key grace. All right, let me ask you, was Paul interested in money? Was Paul burdened about getting rich off of the church? Was he a charlatan? No. Do you know what Paul was? Even though giving is biblical and giving is right, we studied this, we studied through the books I and II Corinthians, Paul didn't receive from the church, not because he couldn't, he could have, but he didn't so that nobody would say that what he put down in the word of God was just for his own benefit. So Paul's not, Paul's not trying to get rich. So why is Paul exalting this grace? It's because of what we just saw, because the heart is so connected to finances that you'll see it in just a second, we'll talk about it. Finances are symptomatic to the reality of our heart. How we use what we have financially, it reveals a lot about what's going on in the inside in our relationship with God. And so that's an important thing. You've heard it said, Show me a man's checkbook and I'll show you what he loves, right? Isn't that true? Yeah, yeah, the things that we love, we put money into it. So a drunkard's love for alcohol, you'd see a lot of alcohol in his checkbook. A gambler, a love for money is what it is, it's money lust, you know, you'll see that in his checkbook. Or a contrary, if you see somebody with a love for God, you ought to be able to look at their checkbook and say, wow, you know, they've given generously to the cause of Christ because they love that. Right. I mean, it ought to be it ought to be that way. So we think, you know, what what is there in my life if I say what do I give the most of what I have for other than legitimate, absolute needs? OK, my disposable income, put it that way. What is that used for? You know, we find we find it's used for what we love. OK. And so it's admirable. Paul lifts it up and says, okay, giving to God is admirable. And so I'm exalting that. And so that's, that's looking at it. Okay. That's understanding. It's not dependent upon you. It's grace giving. It's not, there's no excuse other than unwillingness. And that's just an excuse. And it's admirable. Okay. Something that, we ought to have in our lives. So last, okay, this is where it gets really practical. Let's put on the grace of giving. Okay, let's put it on. How? Well, it's to be learned. We got to learn it. Verse seven. Says, therefore, as ye abound in everything, in faith, in utterance, in knowledge, and in all diligence, and in your love to us, see that ye abound in this grace also. Okay, what's there in that verse? What graces are there? What does Paul speak about? By the way, these ought to be things that you look at your life and say, I want to add those things to my life. Faith, Right? We walk by faith. I'd be stronger in my faith today than I was yesterday. I'd be growing in my faith. Right? Utterance. What's that? Speaking. Right? The first time I preached, I didn't, I'm not saying I preached well today, but I didn't preach this well. Well, the first time I spoke, you know, that's something that's learned, right? Getting up in front of people and sharing the Word of God or sharing the Gospel verbally. That's not something that comes immediately to a new believer. I just got saved and now I can perfectly witness to somebody and share the Gospel. No, it's learned. And Paul's looking at it and saying, you learned that. Knowledge, okay, that's understanding. Did you understand all the Bible when you first got saved? No, there's a process of education. All diligence, that's learned. Your love to us, love for those in ministry that God's put over us. That's not certainly natural. I mean, that's something that's learned, that we love those that God has put over us in ministry. But then what's he say? See that you learn this grace also, right? You got those other things, praise God for them, but Paul says, don't neglect this. Don't neglect this. So you gotta learn it. You gotta learn it. You know, how are you gonna learn? My wife, I got her a bike for Christmas, right? Mountain bike. She can still ride it. She hadn't ridden a bike for a while. My kids were kind of surprised. Wow, mom can ride a bike. Well, I mean, she learned that, didn't she? How did you learn to ride a bike? You got on it, right? And mom and dad pushed you and held on to you and then eventually started letting go and letting you go a little bit on your own. And that's what it is. That's learning. How do you learn to give? Give. Isn't that it? I mean, that's really practical this morning. How am I going to learn to give? I got to give. I got to give. I got to begin to trust God with my finances and give. So it's got to be learned. It must be loving. It must be loving. It's a grace of charity. Verse 8, I speak not by commandment, but by occasion of the forwardness of others and to prove the sincerity of your love. Wow, what a statement. Oh, come on. Paul really said that? He said, I want to test the sincerity of your love, church. I'm going to test it by what you give to God. He's not going to expect it. He's going to test it by challenging them to give to God. If they took it up, though, he's saying, then you love God. I want to prove it. Does that make sense? It does make sense. Here's why. When my wife and I first started dating, And we had a great friendship. And we had so much fun when we were dating. But our first official date, other than some fun things that we did, I took her to an artist series at Bob Dylan's. It was like a Shakespearean play or opera. To be honest, I don't really remember what we went to see. And probably because I was so focused on the fact that she was with me. But I was praying about what to get her. I didn't want to get her flowers. A lot of guys got their dates flowers. It's just too romantic and too serious. So I got her a stuffed flounder, that fish from that Disney movie, and gave her that for our date. And it was just fun. But imagine me there up above that waterfall, sunset, The day we got engaged, getting down on my knee and opening up a bag and handing her a flounder, Disney characters saying, will you marry me? It doesn't work. It doesn't. I couldn't convince her that I sincerely loved her, unless what? I gave her something of value that showed the seriousness of my heart towards her. Is that a good illustration? I think it is. How can I say, God, I really love your work. I'm so excited about what you're doing at Free Baptist Church. And God, I'm so interested in being a part of it that I don't give anything to support your work. But I love it. And I love you. Do you see what I'm saying? And I'm not here this morning trying to build the coffers. God's blessed us. We've got enough money in the bank. It's fine. It's not about what we've got in the bank. In the future, I believe God can use what we've got for his glory, OK? I'm not worried this morning that we're not going to meet our needs as a church. It's not about that. It's about what the Bible says that it's connected to our heart with God. And it's God's money. And so as God's mouthpiece here today, standing up here having the privilege of preaching, I am standing here with the authority of God for God's sake saying, you know, don't rob God. Don't neglect to give to God. Don't waste what he's given to you. And it's not to your benefit to rob God. It's not in any way going to bless our church or help us individually to be stingy towards God. It's actually contrary to that. And see, that's why Paul is so interested in it. It's because it does impact the heart, but it has to be from love. It has to be today, not again, oh, I've got to give. No, no, it's do you really love God? Because if you do, shouldn't you want to give to God? And then it must be like Jesus, okay? It must be like Jesus. It's a grace of identification. For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich. All right, get it. King of heaven. Did Jesus need to beg in heaven and say, please, please, I need this and you've got to give this to me? Everybody out of worth, out of worthiness to God, if I could put it that way. God possessed everything. He's the Creator. But you know, what did Jesus do for you? You know what Jesus did? Jesus emptied His heavenly bank account and gave it up. to come to earth to be born into a carpenter's home. I don't imagine that that was a very wealthy home that Jesus grew up in. You know, when he was in his ministry, he said the son of man had not where to lay his head. He was homeless. He slept out a lot of times or slept at other people's houses. Why? Guess what? For you. Yeah, I mean, didn't he do that for us? He gave up his position, he gave up his power, he gave up everything. Shouldn't we stop today and say, you know what? Really, I should give to Jesus. Jesus gave up everything for me. If I was up here preaching biblically that God wanted us to give 90% of our income to him, you know what? There's a biblical reason I should say it should be 100%, and that's really what God expects, but we can't do that, because how are we gonna meet our needs? We can't do that. But that's why I say God ought to have access to 100%. Again, I don't waste God's money. I'm a steward. Not because I'm in ministry, but because I'm a Christian. The resources that I have, God's given to me. I gotta use that for God's glory. And so, what percent of that does God then want me to give back to Him? To give to Him? And because if I'm going to be like Jesus, I ought to do that. You know, if I could illustrate it this way, my wife actually had the flu this past week, towards the beginning of the week. But you know, you can treat symptoms. You can treat the fever. You can treat the body aches. You can treat the nausea, right? You can treat it, but you can't cure it. but you're treating symptoms. You know, money is symptomatic. My giving is symptomatic, again, to my heart for God. You know, I don't believe when Jesus said to the rich young ruler, go take everything that you have, give it to the poor, then come and follow me, that he was dealing with the fact that the bank account was a problem. What's he dealing with? The fact that that young man had a heart that cared more about things than he did about God. It was a God to him. And so Jesus dealt with it. And that's how closely money is tied into our heart. And that's why, again, if I'm gonna be like Jesus, I give it all to him to use how he sees fit, and that brings glory to him. So identify him with Jesus. It must be chosen. Chosen, okay, we're getting close to the end. There's a few things left here. But verse 10, it says, herein I give my advice, for this is expedient for you who have begun before, not only to do, but also to be forward a year ago. Okay. And the point is this, we'll look at what he's going to say in the next verse. Okay. But he's saying there was a point in time this past year where the conviction of God worked in your heart and you decided I need to give. It was a conviction. Okay. Do you see it? And, uh, and so he's reminding of that. He's, he's looking back with him and saying, I know that you communicated to me that you desire to participate. Okay? Now that's important. And here's why. If you don't ever decide to do something, will you do it? No. If you don't ever decide, that's why, you know, you might be sitting here today and you're not saved and you haven't decided to be saved. You're not going to get saved until you decide. Isn't that true? There might be another area of obedience that the Spirit of God is speaking to your heart about. You need to do it. How do you do it? You decide, I'm going to do that. Right? It's important. Back in the Western days, as they would blaze a trail. You know what blazing a trail is? It's taking an axe or a hatchet and notching a white slash on a tree. So that other people can follow the same trail by those white splotches on the tree. It's called blazing a trail. Why is that important? Because if it gets dark or foggy or whatever, you can find your way back. You know what we need? Because here's what will happen. I decided to give to God. Well things are really tight, I can't give. Things are really confusing, I can't give. Wait a second. If God wants you to give, give, right? Because that's what you know God wants you to do. I decided. It's like my favorite saying, never doubt in the dark what God's shown you in the light. Go back to the point where it was clear and say, no, that's what God wanted me to do. That's what I need to do. So I'm not all confused, wondering what should I do. I know what I should do because God made it clear. And so Paul is reminding him, hey, remember that? You're burdened about it. Now watch this. That's one thing. Conviction, that's good, but that's pointless if you don't do anything. I'm convicted and convinced I should read my Bible, but I don't take the time in my day to read my Bible. I'm convinced I should go to church, but I don't take the time to go to church. I'm convinced I should be pure, but I don't take the time to get rid of the impurity out of my life so that I can honor God. What's the point? And so Paul says, hey, you're convicted about it, but you gotta act on it. Verse 11, now therefore perform the duty of it, doing of it, that as there was a readiness to will, so there may be a performance also out of that which ye have. See, because God's not impressed today by my convictions, what God wants is my obedience. Isn't that it? It's not enough to say, I've decided to read my Bible. I've decided to do this. It doesn't matter what I've decided. What matters is I've done what I've decided. I've put it into action. And so God desires that we not just think about it, but that we do it. You know, our church here today is only here because people in the States, because that's where our support's from, not only decided by conviction, I'm going to invest in missions, but they actually put it into practice. And I think, I honestly believe this, if we were to go back to how this church is even here, how it exists, and we were in those churches and saw what people there sacrificially give to the work of God, and they do give sacrificially so that we could be here doing what God's called us to do, that would be a bit of shame to say, here we are, we're a church that's supported by giving, but do we really give as God desires us to give? Are we giving to God? And last thing here, okay? It must be willing. It must be willing. Verse 12, for if there be first a willing mind, it's accepted according to that a man hath, and not according to that he hath not. Okay, it's like this. God wants us to be willing. He's not interested in how much we give, necessarily. It's accepted according to that a man hath. and not what he hath not. And so what does God want? Even the kids. My kids participate in giving. They participate weekly in giving. Why? Because that's what we should do. Because we love God and we want to honor God and we ought to please God. I teach that to my kids and my kids, by the way, and let me just brag on my kids, my kids get beyond, I know at times, anything that I've ever encouraged them to give. All right? As a pastor, I'm not ashamed of my giving. I'd be happy to show you my giving, what I give to God. I give well beyond my means to the work of God. And you know what? I wouldn't be without that, because if you don't give, God's not gonna meet our needs. Given it shall be given unto you, pressed down and shaken together, shall be given into your bosom. You'd be surprised today what God by his grace can help you to give, can help you to give. And if you trust him with that, you'll get to see God provide. And without that, it's no wonder you've got financial problems. It's no wonder you're burdened about your finances. It's no wonder it's not working out, and it's like you're putting money into pockets with holes, because it's what the Bible says. But when God has first place in our finances, then He has first place in our heart, too. And it's critical. And if I can have kind of what I hope to be our dream church in the future as far as what we desire to see God do with our ministry. You know what it'd be? It'd be a church that is very burdened to give. Very burdened. Why? Because it's so critical to our hearts. If we're not giving church, God doesn't have our hearts. I mean, that's the biblical truth about it. But when God gets our heart, he gets our finances, and it's used for God's glory, isn't it? And that goes back to how are we ever gonna get a building? If we'll pray about it and honor God with our finances, we can see God provide the resources for us to get a building. And we can support more missionaries. We support the Kellys. You know what? We ought to support the men's home. How can we just sit and go, we know about the men's home. They got needs. There's 20 guys staying there. We get to meet the Kellys' needs. We don't give to the men's home. There's no money that we've given to those men. But we could. What about the Britons? And they're coming to start a church down in England. What about them? But how can we give to missions when we don't give to the church? And I'm just putting it out there. If we don't first give to God through our local assembly, how can we then say, well, I'm going to give extra? It's tithes and offerings is what it is. And so anyway, practical, practical, but I believe critical. And I think obviously the Bible backs that up. And I know it's what God put on my heart to preach today. I preach it to myself as well. And pray God speaks my heart about giving more this next year. Let's pray. Father, I pray that the Holy Spirit would speak to our hearts. Give us grace to let the truth of your word seek in deeply. And we're thankful for the word of God. And certainly, Father, there's truth here. I believe convicting truth. And so I wouldn't be surprised if the Spirit of God is speaking to somebody's heart today. But there's a battle, isn't there? Lord, we've got to surrender our will. And Father, it might be somebody needs to make that decision to get saved, and they need to do that and get saved. I pray they would. Father, maybe somebody needs to follow the Lord in believer's baptism, or needs to follow the Lord in church membership, or church attendance, or holy living. Father, get right with God, and get rid of sin. And Father, I just pray for victory. We're coming into 2018. We talked about some practical ways that we could be better Christians. I pray, God, make that decision to honor God. It's in Christ's name we pray, amen. And then let's stand in sync, please. I got to turn this off and...