through this month of March and let me say that we preached missions conference in New York and Brother Harris had a number of faithful people who were ill and but without their commitment cards they had a $500 a month increase in their missions and and their faith promise. I asked you to get your faith promise commitment card at the end of the month. We're going to fill that out. I pray that you look at it every day when you have your time with the Lord, when you have your devotional time, that you look at it and what God would put on your heart to give this next 12 months to missions, to world evangelism. Brother Harris feels like this last year they've had $1,500 a month given toward their missions and it's already climbed up to $2,000 and he says there's a number of people who are very fateful who were out because of sickness and he feels like it would go up even past $2,000 so we're thankful for that. I feel like I've been in church with the Rays all week. Thursday night he showed a video of Neil Ray's work, and then Friday night he showed, I think it was Ben's work, and then Sunday morning, during the morning service, he showed Brother Eddie Ray's work. They're looking at taking on all families. I tried to say that Neil, and they already support Zach, I tried to say that Zach and Neil and Ben were fine, just give it all to Eddie and Marta and everything. I thought you would agree with that, and you know, but for some reason I don't think that's probably gonna happen, but I tried, you know, because that's what you would have done for me, I know. I feel that. Now, we started this Wednesday night series on missions, and the first lesson dealt with the program of missions. It's the manner of the work, the message of the work, and the magnitude of the work. Lesson 2 was the procedures of missions. And we spoke from 2 Corinthians 8, verse 7, where the church of Macedonia, those Macedonian churches, it says, And he spoke about the different graces that they had excelled in, in faith and in utterance and other graces. He says, in this grace of giving, see that you abound in that as well. We said four principles of giving to faith promise. Number one, Our ability to give is not dependent upon the size of our checking account or our bank account. Number two, God gives to us often directly proportionate to our giving. Sow sparingly, reap sparingly. Number three, we said all true giving belongs with giving ourselves. The Apostle Paul says that they gave and he witnessed that they gave above their ability. And then number four was what we give proves how much we love. He says in 2 Corinthians 8.8, to prove the sincerity of your love. So that was lesson two tonight. After we've looked at the program of faith promise and the protocol, the procedures of faith promise, let's tonight look at the portrait of faith promise. This is found in the Old Testament. I love this passage in 1st Samuel chapter one. Look there with me, if you would. Begin in verse 27. For this child, I prayed and the Lord hath given me my petition, which I asked of him. Therefore, also, I have lent him to the Lord as long as he liveth. He shall be lent to the Lord. And he worshiped the Lord there. And tonight we're going to speak about what it will take for us to continue in worldwide evangelism, worldwide missions. And I'm speaking about the concept of faith promise giving again. And I believe that it's a biblical concept. You see it through the scriptures. It's taught primarily in the New Testament. However, the Bible truth can be found in the Old Testament. It certainly is in 1 Samuel 1. So Hannah, she serves as a good Old Testament illustration. In 1 Samuel there's Elkanah, that's her husband. There's Peninnah, that's his other wife. There's obviously Hannah, and Hannah means favor or grace. And then there's the priest Eli. And so she practices faith promise in regards to her son. She asked God for a son. She trusted him for a son. She received a son. And then she returned the son back to God. And her son Samuel was one of the greatest men in the Bible. Now, notice faith promise. Faith promise is requesting something from God. Now, remember in our second lesson, in 2 Corinthians 8 verse 4, Paul said for, 8 verse 3 rather, for to their power, I bear record, yea, and beyond their power they were willing of themselves. He's bragging about these Macedonian churches. Now, remember they had suffered great affliction. And it was through their great poverty. So it means that, you know, we ask particularly. She spoke specifically, particularly about a man-child. Notice verse 11. And she vowed a vow and said, O Lord of hosts, if thou wilt indeed look on the affliction of thy handmaid. Now it's interesting that these churches of Macedonia were under heavy affliction, but she finds herself under affliction. And you may feel afflicted tonight that you really can't do much for a world of evangelism. But let me tell you something, you can if you let God get in it. Little is much when God is in it. And we see here that she says, If thou wilt indeed look on the affliction of thy handmaid, and remember me, and not forget thy handmaid, but wilt give unto thy handmaid a man child. And that's particular. I think the prayer request that Elizabeth mentioned a while ago about the school, that's a particular prayer request and God answered. I know with Christi, she's been on some interviews and she's been concerned. I don't believe some of the things she says. She says she doesn't interview well. I don't believe that. And I think she does probably quite well. Evidently, she does quite well, don't you think? She does better than she thinks. And, you know, she told me 200 applicants are going out for this job and that they've called five out of that 200. And Debbie and I and she had lunch that day and we just talked about it. But, you know, God is a God answering prayer. And when there's affliction and hardship, who better to go to? You know, Peter says, Lord, to whom do we go? And so he speaks here, or she speaks here and says, remember me and not forget thy handmaid, but will give unto thy handmaid a manchitus particularly. Then I will give him unto the Lord all the days of his life, and there shall no razor come upon his head, taking the Nazarite vow. So when we desire a particular answer, We're asking God, Lord, what do you want me to give this next year above and beyond my tithes and offerings for faith promise? What do you want me to give? Ask him in a particular way. We're seeking for a particular number. And when he tells you don't second guess the Holy Spirit. So God rejoices over giving us. exactly the answers that we ask for. Do you know that? I enjoy giving my kids what they ask for. I enjoy giving my grandkids what they ask for. And I enjoy giving gifts to people, and I don't give stuff that I don't like. Let me tell you one of the most embarrassing things I ever had in my life. Can I tell you this? This is terrible. If you ever bring it up, I'll, you know, I don't know what to say, but I hate fruitcake. If you hate fruitcake, say amen. Oh my gosh, there's two of us here. You like fruitcake? Says the skinniest guy in the room. Son, she's got you eating weight washers, you don't even know it probably. I hate fruitcake. And one year, I got a fruitcake given to me for Christmas. And my dad loves fruitcake. He loves it. So I wrapped it up and regifted it. And evidently, several other people hated fruitcake. Because that thing had been, I guess, regifted over and over and over. It came in a nice tin. And my dad said when he opened it, he said, son, that thing was rotten. I was so, I was devastated over it. And I said, Daddy, I didn't know that someone had given it to me. And I knew you loved fruitcake. And he wasn't hearing much of it, let me tell you. And he didn't say it was ruined, he said it was rurnt. And that means it's bad. Yeah, you know, that means there's no saving it. So I got him something else but anyway I don't want to give things that people don't like. When we have a pounding for people I always say don't you go to your pantry and find that can of green beans that's been sitting there for three years that you don't like. You go get something that you like, you know, go get the good stuff. And by the way, y'all do that and it's outstanding. And we're having a pounding this week for the pastor, by the way. And I know, but it's really, really good. And God delights in answering our prayers. Some years ago, Ella, she's 13 now, but when she was just 3, 10 years ago, she was at Walmart with my wife, and she saw this toy that was over $40, and she asked Debbie, she said, Granny, get that for me. And Granny says, oh, no, no, no, that's too much money. We don't have that much money. And she says, oh, Gran, yes, you do. And she said, no, no, we don't have that money. And she said, plus, if I got you that, I'd have to get Wes that, I'd have to get Annabelle that, I'd have to get Jameson that. And no, no, no. See, Granny's a fair player. I'd say I'll get it, but don't tell the other kids, okay? And you know, it's like the child who came to their grandfather and said, can I have a piece of candy? And the grandfather says, what's the rule? And he says, oh, she says, oh, I know, you have to eat dinner first. And then the grandfather says, no, that's granny's rule. My rule is if you get a piece, bring me a piece too. That's the papa's rule. And so Ella, she said, sure you do, Gran. And she said, no, Ella, we don't have the money for that. And she turned to Granny, and she says, oh, Gran, don't you wish Papa was here? And I have loved that story. And listen, I don't say no. If it's a no word to the grandkids, I say, that's something you better go ask your Granny about, because she'll tell them no in a minute. But God, He tells us no. When He does, we need to rejoice because He knows what it's about. But when He loves, He enjoys, He likes giving exact answers. And many times, He didn't give us exact answers because we don't pray particularly. She asked for a man child. God receives glory through these prayer requests when He answers. And Hannah didn't just ask for a child. She was specific. She was particular. She asked for a man child, for a boy, so she could return him to the Lord's work. And we should ask God to supply that particular amount for our mission commitment. Now, it means that we ask purposefully. Notice the latter part of verse 11. She asks particularly in the first part a man-child, and then she gives the purpose for that. Then I will give him unto the Lord all the days of his life. You see, they had not gotten liberal in that day. They didn't have women preachers. Well, Jezebel thought she was one. She thought she was a prophetess. But anyway, Hannah, her purpose was to give him back to God. And that's the purpose of our faith promise. It's not to get it to keep. It's not to get it to spend. It's God, if you'll trust me with this amount, I'll give it to world evangelism. And so her desire was that she could have a son who would serve God all the days of his life. Now, what is our purpose for asking God to supply a particular amount of money? Well there's a biblical principle concerning giving, Luke 6 verse 38, give and it should be given unto you. You believe that tonight? I tell you it's true. You cannot out give God. And he says, good measured, pressed down, shaken together, running over, shall man give unto your bosom. It says, for with the same measure that you meet with it, with all it, shall be measured to you again. Understand, you sow sparingly, you'll reap sparingly. If you sow bountifully, God says He'll bless you bountifully. Now, God will bless us as we give, but this shouldn't be the motivation for giving. James 4 verse 3 says, It's not about us. It's about the Lord. It's about world evangelism. It's about the gospel. That's what it's about. And if we make it about us, it's going to halt. It's going to stop. So understand that faith promises requesting something from God. We ask particularly we ask purposefully and then we ask persistently. Notice verse 12. And it came to pass as she continued praying. She just didn't say it. She stayed there while she was persistent in her prayers before the Lord that Eli, this is the priest, marked her mouth. He thought that she was drunk. Sometimes we ask God and then we just forget about it. But don't do that. And that's why I say you should have that prayer, that faith promise commitment card in your Bible. So when you have your daily devotions, you see it and you say, Lord, why do you want me to put on this for this next year? Now, sometimes we ask God, we forget about it. How persistent we are will reveal how important it is to us. So faith promise is requesting something from God. Then notice, faith promise is relying on God to answer. There's only one God. There's no substitutes. Now Alcana, her husband, loved her greatly and he tried to make the difference of no children. Panana would ridicule her and would probably make her feel inferior and less of a wife and woman because she had no children. She buried her husband with no children. So Hannah's husband, he was trying to meet her need. He says, have I not given you and shown you and loved you? But you know, no one can supply the need. This is something that God can do and needs to do. Only God can supply what we need. And he tells us in Philippians 4 verse 19, only God can supply what we need. He says, but my God shall supply all your needs according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus. Then 2 Corinthians 8, 8, I speak not by commandment, but by occasion of the forwardness of others. and to prove the sincerity of your love. We must trust God for the money. We must trust God for the means. We must trust God for the measure, the measure being the specific amount. So we're to trust God. Listen, Hannah didn't get Samuel and then say, I'll give him. That's not faith promise. She had him in her hands. Long before, when she couldn't have any children, she said, God is not making a deal with God. She's just saying, God, I'll vow a vow, and if you'll trust me, and if you'll provide this for me, I'll give it to you. She asked you, requested something for God, and now she's relying on God to give that. It's not a matter of us trying to figure out how we can accomplish this. It's not about crunching the numbers. It's not about working the calculator. There's no faith involved in that kind of thinking. Faith promises when God puts a number on our heart, and we trust God for that. and we commit it before we receive it. We commit it on this yellow card before we receive it. She committed her son before she received him. Faith promise is requesting something from God. It's relying upon God to answer. Thirdly, faith promise is receiving the answer. Now notice in verse 19, it says the Lord remembered her. In verse 20, wherefore it came to pass when the time was come, about after Hannah had conceived, that she bare a son and called his name Samuel, saying, because I have asked him of the Lord. Now God answers prayer. We saw that tonight, didn't we? Aren't you glad you're in church where you see God answers prayer? Can I tell you something? God answers bigger prayers than giving jobs and giving schools. God heals. God puzzles the experts and gives children when they say you have a 0, 0, 0, 0.0 percent of having a child. And then you have one. And then they say that that's a fluke. And then you have another one. We got people in our church, you don't know this, but your objects, your sermon objects, when I go out and preach, I talk about you in a good way. God answers prayer. Now, listen, God takes care of the supply of our own needs. God takes care of the sending forth of laborers. And God takes care of the salvation of souls. That's God's business. It's not my business. It's not your business. This is God's business. So, God supplies, God sends, and God saves. We just need to wait and receive the answer. So, it's requesting something, it's relying upon God, it's receiving the answer. And notice, God answers the prayer, but we must pray believing God answers our prayer. You know, there are people who, they don't pray with much convincing faith. I said this not long ago in my Sunday school. When I pray, I get red light, green light. How many know what I'm talking about, and you get that? I don't leave there wondering about it. I mean, I know when I need to stop praying, and I know when I need to persist. And I mean it's just very clear, it always has been that way with me. Now we must pray, believe that God answers our prayers. Hebrews 11 verse 6 says, but without faith it's impossible to please Him. James 1 verse 6 and 7, but let him ask in faith, not wavering, For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven by the wind and tossed. For let not that man think that he shall receive anything of the Lord." If you ask him, wavering faith, well, God, do X, Y, Z for me. God never does anything for me. He does it for pastors. He does it for the missionaries. He does it for other people. But he doesn't ever do anything for me. Let me tell you, just hang it up. That's not faith. We must pray believing God answers our prayer. And then it is faith's promise. Hebrews 11 verse 1, now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. Faith, you can't see it, but it is substance. And if we can see it, it's not a faith, we're not walking by faith, we're walking by sight. And when God supplies that which no one else can supply, our faith is increased. There's a fellow that was down fishing at the lake, and he'd been out there for all morning long, casting, reeling in, casting, nothing, not even a bite, and he finally got frustrated after about four hours and started walking up the parking lot to get his rod in the trunk, he was gonna go home, and he was mumbling and griping and complaining, there's no fish in this place, and all of a sudden, there's a guy there who landed a big bucket-mouth bass. That thing was dancing on its tail all the way across the lake. And he said, holy cow, what a big one. Look what a big one. And brought him in. Big old bass. Man, that guy grabbed his rod and said, man, there's some lunkers in that place. And he goes running right back down. Don't you be like that. Let me tell you something. God is able. And with man, this is impossible. But with God, all things are possible. Now, we're not asking that you give a million dollars. We're not asking you to be ridiculous. We're asking you to seek the Lord and to give what God puts on your heart. What's the right amount to give? Exactly what God tells you to do. You know, on these cards, there's no place for a name. There's no place for a date. It's not a legal contract. I mean, it's between you and God. So why do we have to fill a card out? So we can budget our money. So we can budget our missions money. So if we can see it, it's not faith. When God supplies that which no one else can supply, it increases our faith. You know, Dennis Allen tells that story about takes his last $10 and puts gas in the church lawnmower down in the ditch cutting. I told that story there. People laugh. Brother Harris laughed. Down in the ditch in the front of the church, he's cutting and finds a $20 bill. That's a good return on your investment, don't you think? You give 10 and give 20, I'll do that all day long. I'll take those odds all day long. Yeah. You see, God blesses your obedience, your faith. And then lastly, faith promise is returning to God. Verse 27, For this child I prayed, and the Lord hath given me my petition, which I asked of him. Therefore also I have lent him to the Lord as long as he liveth, but he shall be lent to the Lord, and he worshiped the Lord there. Now, we should return it with grace. 2 Corinthians 8-9, 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. All that we have is by the grace of God. Your school, your job, your car, your house, your food, the very oxygen in your lungs, that's the grace of God. Jesus, listen, Jesus saves us, Jesus strengthens us, and Jesus supplies our needs. He does. So we need to follow His example. We should return it with grace. And then we should return it with gladness. When I get my January giving report, I'm excited to open it. And sometimes I'll go, wow, did we look at this? And then sometimes I go, I thought we did more than that. Now we give the same amount every week and that's pledged, but sometimes we give above that for special offerings and things like that. But we should return it with gladness. He tells us in 2 Corinthians 9 7 every man according as he purposes in his heart. So let him give not grudgingly or of necessity for God loves a cheerful giver. You know the word cheerful means hilarious. So some Christians they act like some Christians they act like. It's their money. It's God's. I was preaching one time several years ago. Right here, I was preaching several years ago. It had been a few years ago. And I said, oh, I know some of you Christians. God bless your heart. You're so stingy. You're so selfish, so stingy. Oh, you're not going to have the curse of God on you. You're going to give your $32 and your 18 cents. And after the service, a man treated me kind of harsh and kind of cold. And I thought, well, maybe he didn't take his medicine this morning or something. What was his deal? And then Sunday night, he was put out with me again. And I didn't know what was going on. And I walked into the office and some deacons were there and the treasurer was there. And I said, does anybody know what's wrong with Brother Stone? So he's not acting right. He's just, he's put out with me. He's real upset with me. I don't know what I've done. And the treasurer says he gives $32.18. He thought I looked up the offering record, I guess, and targeted his amount, but he gives $32.18. Boom! Now, can I tell you something? I don't do that, but God knows. And I found out then when he was so miffed with me, and then I didn't care anymore after I found that out. I felt better about it. Some Christians act like it's their money. We should return it with gladness. We don't take it to get a widescreen TV. We don't take it to get a second car. We don't take it to get a week at the Hilton somewhere. We don't know it's God's money. And we said, Lord, we request something of you. We rely on you to do it. When we receive the answer from you, we return it to you. And we return it with the grace of God and with gladness. Notice, this is what I love about Hannah. When she got Samuel, she didn't try to renegotiate the deal with God. She didn't start saying, now God, I didn't say exactly that I'd give him. I mean in a symbolic way, I give him to you. No, no, none of that stuff. She didn't try to renegotiate with God. A grateful, obedient heart led her to give her son to serve God. And you know how she could so easily give Samuel to Eli for the work of God? You know how she could do that? You know how so easily I can put my faith promise in every week? Because I know there's more coming from where that came from. And Hannah knew that there's going to be a lot more Samuels coming down the road. That's what she knew. So a grateful, obedient heart led her to give her son. And when we give to God what He supplies, To us and for us, do we do it with a willing, obedient heart. Then lastly, we should return it, not just with grace and with gladness, but with generosity. In 2 Corinthians 9, 6, it says, but this I say, he which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly. He which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully. So the law of sowing reaping comes in play with this matter. Is God a selfish, miserly God who begrudges everything he does for us? Of course not. If we receive so much from God, shouldn't we be willing to be generous to give back to God? What's the purpose? Are you with me? To give so that others might hear the gospel. Now, her grace and her generosity gave Samuel with gladness because she knew there'd be a lot or many, many more Samuels. Everyone who is saved, every man and woman, every boy and girl can participate in faith promise giving. Everyone. Your kids got money? You should teach them to give. Not just tithes and offerings, but faith promise. The question is not whether we can, the question is whether we will. Faith promise is requesting something from God. Faith promise is relying on God to answer. Faith promise is receiving the answer. And faith promise is returning with grace, gladness, and generosity that which God's bestowed. Would you stand with me? If those of us who have been given to faith promise missions increase, Now, I don't think it's God's will to decrease. I don't see that anywhere in the Bible. And I don't know how much of an increase God may have us to give. But surely we shouldn't decrease. Surely we should increase to some degree. But if we increase what God would have us to increase, and then if others would give, and this is above and beyond your tithes and offerings, you don't rob Peter to pay Paul. But if others would get involved in this program, in the procedures of faith promise, we've seen the portrait of it tonight through Hannah. What could we do for missions? You see, we get on the Internet, we get on the television, we get on the radio. There are pod programs. There's all kinds of stuff I don't know about. And we hear the gospel all the time. But there are people still in the world and they are in darkness. I spoke a lot about China this week because of the missions conference and because our missionaries, I think all of them will be taking on for support by Anchor Baptist. Pretty sure. Matter of fact, he said that pretty much Sunday morning when the faith promise came in. But understand this, I believe this. As a matter of fact, I know this to be so. When I get to heaven, there's going to be some Chinese people that are going to come and say, hey, Brother Savage. Hey, Rick. Thank you for all that you've done to help the raise, I got saved through that ministry. I believe that. You know, years ago, I had a great burden and still do for New Guinea. And I was struggling about going there. And some of the church family thought, we're gonna lose pastor, he's gonna go to the mission field. And it was Ed Gibson who pastored the largest independent Baptist work in Okinawa, Japan. He's a missionary at BIMI years ago. He's retired now. I was a young man, I was 30. He was probably, he was up in age, he was probably 58. And, And I talked to him about it. And Ed Gibson told me this. He said, Brother Rick, if the lights go out at home, they go out all over the world. He said, you know, you need to distinguish the difference between a burden and a calling. And he said, if you're called to go to New Guinea, you need to leave this church and go to New Guinea. He said, but if you're a burden, he said, you could probably do more for New Guinea right here as a pastor than you ever would on the field. That's what he told me. When Eddie and Marta were kicked out of China 22 years ago, I think, we were trying to regroup and we didn't know. This is our first rodeo. Man, I mean, we are experts on this now. But this is our first rodeo. Eddie came in and he said, I don't know, Pastor, what do I do? You remember that talk? And he said, I could go to Taiwan. Taiwan's open. There's a large Chinese church in California. I could go work. There's all types of China, a bunch of Chinese in China, I mean, in Canada. And he says, I'm not sure what I should do. And I remember what Ed Gibson told me that years ago. I said, Eddie, are you called the Chinese people or are you called to mainland China? And without hesitating, he said, mainland China. I said, that's where you got to be. Now, let me say this. God's still calling. And you can serve God on the mission field. When Jesus comes, it won't matter who won the World Series or the Super Bowl. It's what we've accomplished for him when Jesus comes. God's still calling. And if we've been called, we need to go. If we haven't been called, we need to send those who have been called. And for those who we send that have been called, we need to pray for those who we have sent. That is the the mission of the church. Listen. This generation. Of Christian. Is responsible for this generation of sinners. And I believe that when we get to heaven. Brother. Harris gave us some of his tracks where they're no good in Tennessee. Although they were Tennessee, orange and white, which I was grateful for. But I gave Debbie some, and I took some. Everywhere we went, we went to a bathroom. We left a pile of them on the sink there. I believe when we get to heaven, someone's going to say, I went to wash my hands, I went to the restroom, and I found this gospel tract. See, we're going to have the rest of the story when we get to heaven. Only heaven will reveal the gospel tract's effectiveness. It's incredible. On and on I can go. But I want you to know, this is God's plan, this is God's program, and this church has used it for years. Over, well over 30 years. And we have missionaries and pastors everywhere because of it. Don't get passed by on this. Because I want you to know, if you do, you'll be the one that'll miss the reward. God's going to supply. But don't you want to get to heaven and see it? Let's pray. And let's take a season. Some of you may need to sit and that'd be fine. Let's pray for our missionaries, but especially those that are in China. Every Wednesday night, we're going to cry out and pray for them. Dennis, you open and ask God to bless our missionaries in China. And then after a season, I'll close. Yes, absolutely.