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Please find your seats, grab your songbooks, and we're going to turn to page number 412. Tonight we're going to be singing Onward Christian Soldiers. Find your seat, grab your songbooks, and let's sing it out on the first. Onward Christian soldiers, marching as to war, With the cross of Jesus, going on before, Christ the royal master, leads against the foe, Forward into battle, see his banner go. Onward Christian soldiers, marching as to war, With the cross of Jesus, going on before, Let's sing it out on the second. At the sign of triumph, Satan's host of plea, Onward Christian soldiers, on to victory, Else foundations quiver at the shout of praise, Brothers, lift your voices, loud your anthems raise. Onward Christian soldiers, marching as to war, With the cross of Jesus, going on before. On the third. Like a mighty army moves the church of God, Brothers, we are treading where the saints have trod, We are not divided for one body weath, One in hope and doctrine, one in charity. Onward Christian soldiers, marching as to war, With the cross of Jesus, going on before. All right, on the last, let's sing it out. Onward then ye people, join our happy throng, Plant with ours four voices in the triumph song, Glory, lot, and honor unto Christ the King, This through countless ages an angel sing. Onward Christian soldiers, marching as to war, With the cross of Jesus, going on before. Great singing. Welcome to Verity Baptist Church. Let's open up on a word of prayer. Father God, thank you for these people, Lord. Thank you for giving us the ability to come today on Wednesday night. I pray that I sing and glorify you, and I pray that you bless the preaching and the service to come in your holy person whom I pray. Amen. All right, please turn your songbooks to page number 180. Page 180. We're going to be singing Isn't the Love of Jesus Something Wonderful, page number 180. On the verse. There will never be a sweeter story, Story of the Saviour's love divine, Love that brought Him from the realms of glory, Just to save a sinful soul like mine. Isn't the love of Jesus something wonderful, Wonderful, wonderful? Oh, isn't the love of Jesus something wonderful, Wonderful it is today? Proudly says the universe around me, Reaching to the farthest soul away, Saving, keeping love that was around me, That is why my heart can truly say, Isn't the love of Jesus something wonderful, Wonderful, wonderful? Oh, isn't the love of Jesus something wonderful, Wonderful it is today? You guys are singing great. Let's sing it out on the last. Love beyond our human comprehending, Love of God and Christ, how can it be? This will be my theme and never ending, Great redeeming love of Calvary, Isn't the love of Jesus something wonderful, Wonderful, wonderful? Oh, isn't the love of Jesus something wonderful, Wonderful it is today? Great singing. Amen. All right. Well, let's take our bulletins tonight. We'll look at some announcements. It looks like we have a lot of our people back from sickness, so praise the Lord for that. And hopefully everybody's feeling better. If you need a bulletin, raise your hand and one of our ushers can get one for you. If you need a bulletin, just put your hand up and we'll get one for you. The verse this week, Ephesians 5, 33, Nevertheless, let every one of you in particular, so love his wife, even as himself, and the wife see that she reverence her husband. That's a good verse there. You open up your bulletin, you'll see our service time, Sunday morning service, 10 30 a.m. We do invite you to be with us back in church on Sunday morning on the Lord's day, of course, and then our Sunday evening service, 6 p.m. And we are glad you're here for the Wednesday evening Bible study. If you look at our sowing times, our main sowing times on Saturday morning at 10 a.m., and then we have additional sowing times on Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays, or excuse me, Thursday, Fridays, and Sundays at 2 p.m., Saturday at 10 a.m. We'd love for you to join us for any of those. We, of course, are a family integrated church, but what that means is that children and infants are always welcome in the service. We don't separate children from their parents for any reason. We do have mother-baby rooms and daddy rooms available for your convenience. So if you have a child that's being distracting during the service, or if you need some privacy, we'd encourage you to use those rooms as needed. If you look at the announcements and upcoming events, we're going through a series called Happily Ever After, and we're learning about the Christian home principles for marriage, and having children, rearing children, all those things. And, of course, we had the funeral service on Monday for Tara Barrett, and that went very well, and praise the Lord for that. And then we have a teen activity this Friday, March 18th at 7 p.m. Don't forget about that, and we'll have a good time there for all of you that have teenagers. We're welcome to be a part of that. Vision offering is on Sunday, March 27th. You should have an insert in your bulletin about the vision offering. We want you to make sure you look through that, read all of that, make sure you're aware of what's going on in regards to that. And then, of course, we've got choir practice and orchestra practice for Easter at 5 p.m. Homeschool group, they've got P.E. class tomorrow morning, March 17th at 10 a.m. And then, of course, you've got the cleaning crew. We appreciate your faithfulness there. And there's other things there for you to look at. One thing is to make sure you have your cell phones off or place them on silent during the service so that they're not a distraction to anybody. If you look at the back of the bulletin, birthdays and anniversaries for the month of March, we had Montel Johnson, Jr.'s birthday on March 15th, and today is Miss Ajana's birthday on March 16th. Praise report, money matters, all those things are there for you to look at, and I think that's it for all of the announcements. So let's go ahead and take our song books, and we'll go to page number 174. 174. And we'll sing, my Jesus, I love thee, I know thou art mine. 174. Let's go ahead and sing it out on the first. 174. My Jesus, I love thee, I know thou art mine. 174. For thee, all the follies of sin, I resign. 174. My gracious Redeemer, Savior art thou. 174. If ever I love thee, my Jesus lives now. 174. I love thee because thou hast first loved me, and purchased my pardon on Calvary Street. 174. I love thee for wearing thorns on thy brow. 174. If ever I love thee, my Jesus lives now. 174. All of thee in life I will love thee in death. Raise thee as long as thou let this be breath, and say when the death do hold on my brow. If ever I love thee, my Jesus lives now. 174. Let's sing it out together. 174. On the last in mentions of glory and endless delight, I'll ever adore thee in heaven so bright. I'll sing with the glittery crowd on my brow. If ever I love thee, my Jesus lives now. Amen. Good singing. We'll have the guys come up and help us with the offering at this time. And let's go ahead and bow our heads and have a word of prayer. Heavenly Father, Lord, we do thank you for allowing us to gather together today. Lord, we pray that you'd bless the offering. We ask that you would meet with us as we open up your word to study the Bible together. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. recovery from from the hospital and he texted me today saying that she's being moved to a different facility for rehabilitation which is good and Lord we just pray that you would continue to help her to recover and be with Jeff Lord help him to be doing well with the stress he's dealing with we asked also for Miss Crickett's sister Eileen who broke her femur asking that you would help her to adjust to that and to recover quickly and we pray for brother Ray and Miss Denise Anderson both Lord that you'd give Miss Denise healing and recovery from her surgery or ask for the Ray as well that you just help him Lord it and be with him and we asked for Joshua Castellum jr. praying for a surgery miss Edith praying for her son's surgery on March 14th asking that it would go well also praying for Josh Josh's grandmother's foot to be healed Lord we just pray that you put your healing hand in regards to that we asked for Miss Michelle Scott praying for their for her daughter's father-in-law and all his medical tests to come back with positive and good results Lord and we pray that you would be in that Lord and help him in regards to that we pray for the Salvadoran for his health for the Brandon for his general health as well and Miss dogma for her pain that she's dealing with and for her son-in-law's test results to come back negative and with the with the proper results of the right results they're looking for you pray for a little you arrest see that you'd help her to continue to be healthy and strong or we ask for all these individuals we pray that you'd put your healing hand over them that you'd help them with their pain that you would recover them we ask that you give wisdom and and and discernment to the the different doctors and nurses that are dealing with these individuals and Lord for the ones that are waiting on test results we pray that the results would come back as what they're asking for and what they're wanting Lord we pray that you would just heal them and help them we also pray for the ladies in our church that are expecting from Miss Ruby and Sarah Miss Lindsay and Miss Rebecca Miss Casey and Miss Esther that you give them healthy pregnancies and healthy babies with no issues no complications but we also pray for these that are praying for their family members miss Christine Ortiz praying for her family and friends and mr. Nicole Johnson praying for her family and also having a praise report that her prayers have been getting answered and just praising you and acknowledging you in that we pray for the Salvadoran brother Brandon for their family as well Lord we ask for these individuals that you would help them and be with them in regards to these different requests that they have but we also pray for these that are asking for the salvation of friends and family Keith Grivas praying for the salvation of the Alkema family specifically for Eric Amy Luke and Tina also for his new supervisor glory and his neighbor Isaac asking for all these to be saved brother Montel praying for his grandparents salvation also praying for his mother's salvation Lord we got news that she got saved and praise the Lord for that Lord I want to acknowledge you in regards to that also miss Isis praying for the salvation of her dad Ezio and brother Ron praying for his mom and his family's salvation and or miss dogma praying for her son-in-law's salvation Lord we ask for all these individuals and Lord we pray that you would help them we pray that that a soul winner would be able to communicate the gospel clearly to them that the Holy Spirit would work in their hearts and their minds to come to the place Lord where they'd be willing to receive the gospel Lord and we ask that you would do what needs to be done in their lives to accomplish that and Lord we also pray for these that have requests in regards to their walk with you brother Salvador praying for his faith and brother Brandon for his personal faith and it's dogma for her walk with you Lord asking that you would strengthen these individuals and help them we're also praying for the financial needs brother Salvador asking for his finances and work and brother Brandon for his applications that he's put in for work that they would come back with favorable outcomes Lord and praying for his upcoming driving tests as well and asking that you would help in regards to those things and what we pray for our church we ask that you continue to keep us strong and keeping the main thing the main thing Lord we pray for our prison ministry that you'd bless it and our church plants in Manila and Pampangan be cold Lord that your place bless those locations we ask that you would help our church stay healthy and strong and what we ask that you meet with us tonight as we open up your word also pray for these that have unspoken requests for miss Denise Anderson and Evan Smith who both have unspoken requests as Mary Filson and brother Salvador have unspoken requests Lord we pray that you would answer their requests according to your will and Lord we ask that you'd meet with us tonight as we study another portion of scripture together and our Wednesday night Bible study help us to learn and draw close to you in Jesus name we pray amen let's open us to 2nd Corinthians 8 2nd Corinthians chapter 8 if you need about put your hand up and I'm not sure might bring your Bible 2nd Corinthians chapter 8 if you need about keep your hand up notice will come by 2nd Corinthians 8 we're in the entire chapter as our custom 2nd Corinthians 8 beginning verse number 1 moreover brethren we do you to wit of the grace of God bestowed on the churches of Macedonia how that in the great trial of affliction the abundance of their joy and their deep poverty abounded unto the riches of their liberality for to their power I be record yea and beyond their power they were willing of themselves praying us with much entreaty that we would that we would receive the gift and take upon us a fellowship of the ministering to the Saints and this they did not as we hoped but first gave their own selves to the Lord and unto us by the will of God in so much that we desired Titus that as he had begun so he would also finish in you the same grace also therefore as he had bounded everything in faith and utterance and knowledge and in all diligence and in your love to us see that you abound in this grace also I speak not by commandment but by occasion of the foreness of others and to prove the sincerity of your love for you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ that though he was rich yet for your sakes he became poor that you through his poverty might be rich and here and 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 now therefore perform the doing of it that as there was a readiness to will so there may be a performance also out of that which you have for if there first be a willing mind it is accepted according to that a man hath and not according to that to that he hath not for I mean not that other men be eased and ye burdened but by inequality that now at this time your abundance may be a supply for their wants that their abundance also may be supplied for your wants that there may be equality as it is written he that had gathered gathered much had nothing over he that had gathered little had no lack but thanks be to God which put the same earnest care into the heart of Titus for you for indeed he accepted the exhortation but being more forward of his own accord he went unto you we have sent with him the brother who's praised and is in the gospel throughout all the churches and not that only who's also chosen of the churches to travel with us with this grace which is administered by us to the glory of the same Lord and declaration of your ready mind avoiding this that no man should blame us in this abundance which is administered by us providing for honest things not only in the sight of the Lord but also in the sight of men who we have sent with them our brother we have oftentimes proved diligent in many things but now much more diligent upon the great confidence which I have in you whether any any do inquire of Titus he is my partner and fellow helper concerning you or our brethren being quiet of the are the messengers of the churches and the glory of Christ wherefore show you to them and before the churches the proof of your love and of our boasting on your behalf let's pray heavenly father thank you for this evening God I thank you for our church Lord and from us here I say please give us ten hearts of the message Lord I say please read our pastor to strengthen them and film your spirit we love you in Jesus name pray amen amen all right we're there in second Corinthians chapter number eight and if you would I'd like you to keep your place there in second Corinthians 8 but turn back with me to the book of Romans Romans chapter number 15 keep your place in second Corinthians 8 that's our text for tonight but if you go back past the book of first Corinthians into the book of Romans Romans chapter 15 if you remember from last week we talked about the fact that the two chapters that we find ourselves in chapter 8 and chapter 9 they're a pair of chapters that deal with generous giving the the subjects of chapter 8 chapter 9 have to do with giving and they specifically have to do with a special offering that the Apostle Paul was taking for the poor Saints in Jerusalem in Romans 15 we saw this verse last week or these couple of verses last week but I want you to see him again just to be reminded in verse 25 it says but now I go unto Jerusalem this is Paul speaking to minister unto the Saints for it had pleased them of Macedonia and Iki to make a certain contribution referring to a special offering or a donation for the poor Saints which are at Jerusalem so here we are told that Paul has taken on this special offering for the poor Saints which are Jerusalem and he's telling the church at Rome about the churches in Macedonia and Iki and how they how they are giving this certain contribution if you remember from last week and go back to second Corinthians 8 we looked at the first five verses of second Corinthians chapter 8 and we saw how the Apostle Paul used the churches in Macedonia as an example of generous giving he was speaking to the church at Corinth about the churches in Macedonia and explaining how they gave and he was using them as an example what we're going to see in tonight's sermon we're going to go from verse 6 right where we left off all the way through the end of the chapter verse 24 and we're going to see not an example of generous giving like we saw last week but we're going to see an exhortation for generous giving because what the Apostle Paul does in verse 6 he now shifts gears in verses 1 through 5 he's giving the Corinthians an example of a generous church and in verses 6 to 24 he now begins to exhort them or to encourage them that they should be a generous church and again I mentioned this last week and I want to mention it again it's interesting to me that in 2nd Corinthians chapter verses 8 and 9 we find the Apostle Paul dealing with the subject of a special offering that he is taking and we happen to be here on Wednesday night a couple of weeks before we take our special offering on March 27th I believe the Lord worked that out I can tell you that I didn't work it out and I would not have been able to figure that out but God must want us to learn about these things and to be encouraged in regards to these things I want you to notice there in 2nd Corinthians chapter 8 and verse 6 notice how he begins he's shifting his focus now to the church at Corinth he's going to speak to them and try to exhort them and encourage them to be generous in their giving in verse 6 he says in so much that we desired Titus that as he had begun I want you to notice these words so he would also finish in you the same grace also now I want you to notice how he uses the word grace and he's been using this word throughout the the the chapter here if you notice in verse number one he says moreover brethren we do you to wit the word wait if you remember means to know or to have knowledge he says we do you to wait or we want you to know of the grace of God bestowed on the churches of Macedonia and then here in verse 8 he says that he would also finish in you the same grace also now usually when we use the word grace we use it in regards to salvation we talk about the fact that we're saved by grace through faith the word grace simply means to receive something you don't deserve it is a gift but here he's using it in the context of they're giving a gift they're giving an offering they're bestowing the the they're they're they're practicing and working within the grace and he says that he would finish also in you the same grace I want you to notice those two words same grace also notice verse 7 therefore now why don't you notice what he says he says as ye abound in everything so he's looking at these Corinthian churches he says look you abound in everything he says what what what's everything what's he talking about notice he begins to talk about different areas of their Christian life he says you therefore as you abound in everything he says in faith and utterance and knowledge and in all diligence and in your love so I want you to notice he's telling the church of Corinth hey I'm glad that you abound in everything what do you abound in in faith what does that mean it means to have an unwavering trust in the Lord he says you abound in utterance what is that a reference to that's a reference to soul winning to preaching the gospel the fact that these people were opening their mouths boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel he says you abound in knowledge the word knowledge is they're referring to an understanding of scriptures these people I want you to notice they had great faith they had great trust in the Lord they had a great utterance they were a soul winning church like brother Matt said on Sunday night about our church we're a soul winning church and praise God for that they they were abounding in their utterance and and and he says they abounded in their knowledge they understood the Bible they understood scripture and in all diligence they abounded in their diligence they were not just a soul winning church but they were a serving church they were soul winners and they worked they were being diligent in the ministry having to do with their work ethic he says and in your love that has to do with your care and affection towards someone so once you notice Paul says hey I'm glad he says therefore as you abound in everything he said I'm glad you're a growing church you're a church that is growing not necessarily he's saying talking here about the fact that they're growing physically but that they're growing spiritually they're abounding in their faith they're abounding in their utterance they're abounding in their knowledge they're abounding in their diligence they're abounding in their love but then he says this notice the last part of verse 7 he says see that ye abound in this grace also so he says look I want you to see when he says the word see there he's referring to the fact that I want you to pay attention to I want you to give attention to the fact that you abound in this grace also what is he referring to remember when he says this grace it's the same grace he's referring to back in verse 6 so he would also finish in you the same grace also here's what he's saying Paul is teaching these people that in the Christian life giving is part of discipleship you can say well I read my Bible every day praise the Lord I hope you do and I hope you're growing in knowledge you can say I go soul winning every week and I'm a faithful soul winner praise the Lord you should you the Bible says you should open your mouth boldly and make known the the preaching of the Word of God you should have utterance to preach the gospel and I hope you do and I'm thankful the fact that we have many people in our church that are faithful soul winners and I hope you're growing in that I hope you're growing in your faith I hope you're growing in your diligence I hope you're growing in your love but look if you're growing in all these areas you say I'm three to thrive Sunday morning Sunday night Wednesday night I read my Bible I pray I'm a solar but I don't give then you're lacking in your Christian growth because giving is part of the growth in the Christian life and he says look I'm glad that you're abounding in everything but he says see that you abound in this grace also he said make sure you don't skip the the part of giving when it comes to your growth in your discipleship go keep your place there in second Corinthians 8 if you would go with me to the book of Luke the gospel according to Luke Luke chapter 3 Matthew Mark Luke John Luke chapter 3 we saw this several weeks ago when we were in Luke 3 but I want you to see it see God does not want you to just be this this unbalanced Christian always whenever I think of this idea that I'm trying to explain to you right now I always think of job where the Bible tells us that he was a perfect and an upright man and the word perfect does not mean that he was sinless or without fault the word perfect if you know we've talked a lot about it because the word comes up a lot in the Bible simply means to be complete or to be whole and the Bible says about job when it says that he was perfect it means that he was balanced in all his areas he wasn't lacking in any one area he was faithful to church his faith for the soul but he's also giving and he was reading his Bible and he was praying and and doing all those things and in your Christian life and in my Christian life we should want to be perfect we should want to be whole and complete and not be lacking in any area and if you're lacking in the area of giving you're not right with God you need to get right with God because of course Jesus taught that where your treasure is that we talked about last week there where your heart be also and if your treasure is not with the things of God then it shows that your heart is not with the things of God in Luke chapter 3 and verse 10 we have John remember when John the Baptist came on the scene and he had all these new converts John chapter 3 and verse 10 the Bible says and the people asked him and this is the new converts asking John the Baptist saying what shall we do then they're saying what should we do we just got saved they just got baptized John baptized them and they're saying now what what should we do and notice he says I preached a sermon about this there's three different groups that ask what shall we do and he gives three different answers to these different groups and I'm not gonna repeat that sermon but in verse 11 he says the Bible says he answered and sayeth unto them he that hath two coats let him impart the word impart means to give or to bestow to him that hath none and he that hath the meat the word meat means food he says let him do likewise so I want you to notice that here you had new converts and they asked what should we do and John says learn to give learn to be generous why because that's part of discipleship that's part of Christian growth and you need to see I'm not talking about the Church of Corinth I'm talking about this church right here Verity Baptist Church you need to see that ye abound in this grace also that you are balanced in your Christian life that you are giving to the things of the Lord go back to 2nd Corinthians chapter 8 so he says look Corinthians I've given you an example of the church's Macedonia and he says I want to give you an exhortation in regards to your giving and he begins by saying you need to abound in this grace also because this is part of the Christian life this is part of discipleship you have to get involved in giving because this is part of being a follower of the Lord Jesus Christ then what the Apostle Paul does is he gives them five different exhortations five different encouragements in regards to giving and I'll give these to you as quickly as we can tonight and if you're writing down notes I would encourage you to write these things down on the back of your course the week there's a place for you to write down some things why don't you notice first of all that Paul exhorts them regarding the proof of their giving why don't you notice that he gives them an exhortation he encourages them in regards to giving and he does it in regards to the proof of their giving and this goes back to the same idea we were just talking about but I want you to notice there in verse 8 second Corinthians chapter 8 verse 8 he says I speak not by commandment we're gonna come back to that phrase in a little while he says but by occasion of the foreness of others he says this and to prove the sincerity of your love see Paul says look when you give you actually will prove the sincerity of your love because giving is the greatest proof of love and and it goes back to the same idea what your treasure is there where your heart be also if you're not giving to the things of God then you're not in love with the things of God he says look Corinthians I want to encourage you to give because remember he's already talked to them about this in 1st Corinthians we're gonna look at that later on and he and they did not follow through we're gonna talk about that but now he's trying to encourage them he says look here's a reason why you should give to prove the sincerity of your love you say you love the Lord Jesus Christ you say you love God and the people of God and the Church of God and the work of God well he says well why don't you put your money where your mouth is and prove it he says to prove the sincerity of your love skip down to verse 24 notice what he says in verse 24 wherefore show ye to them and before the churches he says the proof of your love he says you want to show the other believers that you love God you want to show to them before the churches the proof of your love he says then give to the special offering he says why that ye may that ye may show the proof of your love now go back to 2nd Corinthians chapter 8 in verse 8 because we're gonna walk through this in order but I just want you to see verse 24 there because he mentions the proof of your love but I want you to get the context of verse 9 again in verse 8 he says I speak not by commandment but by occasion of the foreness of others and to prove the sincerity of your love he says here's a reason why you should give to prove the sincerity of your love here's a reason why you should give as proof of your love for God and the people of God and the work of God then he says in verse 9 he says here's the greatest example of giving and love or the fact that love produces giving verse 9 he says for ye know here's our word again 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 see he's telling them I want you to give he says to prove your love because there's proof in giving when you give to something you're proving that you love it and he says the greatest example of that is the fact that Jesus who when he was rich yet for your sakes became poor that ye through his poverty might be rich he says the greatest example of giving because you love is the Lord Jesus Christ here's the most famous verse in the Bible you know it John 3 16 for God so loved the world notice that he gave you because the truth is this that you can give without love but you cannot love without giving and he's Paul says I want to encourage you I want to encourage you to give and I want to say to you Verity Baptist Church about our upcoming vision offering you say pastor Jimenez why would you encourage us to to give well I'm I'm not any better I'm dead sure not better than the Apostle Paul and if the Apostle Paul is gonna give us reasons to give then I'm just gonna copy his reasons you know why you should give you know what I should give to prove our love for God the proof of giving is the sincerity of our love go to 1st Chronicles chapter 29 in the Old Testament you've got the one and two books they're all clustered together for a second Samuel for a second Kings for a second Chronicles we saw these last week but I want you to see them again first Chronicles 29 do me a favor when you get there put a ribbon or a bookmark there because we're gonna leave first Chronicles 29 and we're gonna come back to it so I want you to be able to get to it quickly first Chronicles 29 and look at verse number three first Chronicles 29 3 notice what David said he says moreover because I want you to notice how consistent the Bible is about this idea of love and giving moreover because I have set my affection to the house of my God what's affection it is a feeling of love it is a feeling of being close or caring about something he says moreover because I have set my affection to the house of my God David says because I love the house of my God because I love the people of God because I love the work of God he says I have of mine own proper good of gold and silver which I have given to the house of my God over above all that I've prepared for the holy house he says look I've set my affection and because I have a love for the house of God he says I have given to the house of God say why here's why because there's proof in your giving it proves the sincerity of your love how you spend your money proves what you love how you spend your money proves the things you care about and Paul here in a very kind way is telling the church at Corinth why don't you put your money where your mouth is you keep telling me about how much you love God and how much you love me and how much you love the people of God and the work of God and how much you love the Saints in Jerusalem and how thankful you are for everything that's happened he says we'll prove it he says I speak not by commandment but by occasion of the foreness of others and to prove the sincerity of your love he says the proof of your love is what I'm looking for I want you to know this secondly tonight you go back keep your place there in 1st Chronicles 29 and go back to 2nd Corinthians chapter 8 look at the second reason he gives them there in verse 10 the first reason we saw it in verse 8 the proof of their giving in verse 9 he gives the greatest example of giving in love the Lord Jesus Christ then in verse 10 he gives us the second reason you're writing him down he exhorts them Paul exhorts them regarding the performance of their giving first he exhorts them regarding the proof of their giving secondly he exhorts them regarding the performance of their giving notice verse 10 he says and herein I give my advice for this is expedient he says this is suitable for you this is good for you this is appropriate for you this is expedient for you notice who have begun before not only to do notice what he says I don't want you missus but also to be forward a year ago now I want you to notice Paul said look this is expedient for you what I'm telling you it's good for you he says you who have begun before he said you already started to give and started to want to give not only to do he says but also to be forward a year ago you said what is he talking about here's what Paul's talking about Paul saying a year ago when I was with you and we were talking about this thing he said some of you committed to give towards a special offering and then Paul says and you didn't now here's what's interesting you know how did they do that I don't know maybe they showed up on a special day they called it a vision offering and they handed out communication cards and people wrote down what they were going to commit to give in the month of April and what they were going to commit to give in the month of May and what they were going to commit to give in the month of June you say where'd you get that idea well we got it from Paul Paul had these people commit to give a certain amount he said you committed to give and you were forward to do it a year ago he said but you never did it you never actually gave what you committed to do notice what he says in verse 11 now therefore perform the doing of it that there was a readiness to will so there may be a performance also out of that which he had see Paul says look you got to perform and you're giving and look I don't know I don't look at the numbers and look at the names and I have no idea who commits to give and and that's between you and God but I would not be surprised if over the years there have been people at our church that have committed to give a certain amount at the vision offering and never fell through with it you say how do you know well I just know human nature if they did it to Paul I'm sure they do it to us you say well well you know pastor that's that's me I promised to give us her amount last year and you know what should I do perform the doing of it follow through with your commitment decide to do what you said you've done see Paul says hey here's a reason to give you gotta give because of the proof of your giving but he says you gotta give because of the performance of your giving if you've committed to give if you wanted to give if you made a commitment and said you were going to a year ago and you never fell through he said do it now he said do what you're supposed to do do what you committed to do keep your word by the way it's just good character to keep your word to do what you say you're going to do or what you said you're going to do he says perform the doing of it he said just do it just do it then I want you notice in verse 12 he gives a third reason the first reason is the proof of their giving to prove the sincerity of their love the second reason is the performance of their giving to follow through with what they've committed to do why don't you notice the third reason Paul exhorts them to give he exhorts them regarding the power of their giving notice verse 12 he says for if there be first a willing mind it is accepted according to that a man hath and not according to that he hath not now we talked about this verse last week when we were going through the first five verses but I want you to just know notice again the power of their giving the word power is used by the Apostle Paul in verse number three I want you to see it there second reading this eight verse three remember he says for to their power I bear record he's talking about the church in Macedonia and beyond their power they were willing of themselves when he talks when he's using the word power here he is referring to their ability and now he begins to talk to the church at Corinth about their ability or the power of their giving their ability to give notice what he says again in verse 12 for if there be first a willing mind it is accepted according to the that a man hath and not according to that he hath not you say what is Paul referring to what does he explain to this church of course here's what he's telling them he's telling them you are not expected to give what you don't have he said God does not expect you to give what you don't have he says it is accepted he said when you give it is accepted according to that a man and not according to that a man hath not so he says don't worry about trying to give more than you have to give he says you're not expected God doesn't expect you Paul says I don't expect you none of us expect you to give what you don't have he says but God does expect you and I want you to understand this in fact go go back to 1st Corinthians chapter 16 if you would just flip back to 1st Corinthians 6 because here's the thing you'll find if you ever do public speaking or a lot of public speaking obviously do a lot of public speaking my job my main primary job you'll find that you can often say the same thing in different ways and people take it differently you can make the exact same statement and flip them around and put the positive first and negative second or the negative first and positive second and they feel completely different when Paul says hey you are not expected to give what you don't have that's reassuring to us I mean when we say you don't say amen because you don't want to sound like a cheapskate but you know when I say those words you're like well praise God you're not expected to give what you don't have hallelujah you're not expected to give what you don't have praise the Lord well here's the flip side to that you are expected to give what you do have yeah I'm not expecting to give what I don't have true but you are expected to give from what you do have 1st Corinthians 16 look at verse 1 1st Corinthians 16 1 now concerning Paul says this is when he spoke to them a year ago remember he's speaking to them about this offering a year ago by the way Paul brings up a yearly offering you say why are you making why are you keep you know making it sound like the vision offering so you so some of you will stop criticizing me you take a yearly offering you make us take commitments and well it sounds a lot like the Apostle Paul so thank you for the compliment 1st Corinthians 16 1 now concerning the collection for the Saints as I have given order to the churches of Galatia even so do ye upon the first day of the week notice he says let every one of you lay by him in store I don't want you to miss that lay by him in a store what does that mean that means preparation that means being purposeful they were so because remember they're not expected to give what they don't have but they are expected to give from what they do have and what that means is that you're supposed to take what you do have and then prepare and purpose in your heart to lay in him by store what does that mean that means that you're gonna take some of the money that you do have and you're gonna purposely set it aside and say I'm not gonna spend this I'm not gonna spend this at a restaurant I'm not gonna spend this on Starbucks I'm not gonna spend this on whatever entertainment or toys that I want why I'm gonna lay it aside for the Lord upon the first day of the week let every one of you lay by him in store what am I supposed to lay by him in store notice as God has prospered him that there be no gatherings when I come process look when I get there I don't have to preach a vision offering sermon I've already wrote you first Corinthians he says why don't you just purpose and prepare in your heart why don't you just decide that you're going to get now you're not expected to give from what you don't have but you are expect to get from what you do have he said let every one of you lay by him in store as God has prospered him here's what I know about you God has prospered you first chronicles 29 if you would go back to first chronicles 29 you say well I don't have much well here's what I know and I don't need to know you to know this about you whether you have much or not much at all whatever you have whatever you have came from God anything you have was given to you by the Lord this is what when I preach on the subject of giving and everything here the vision often comes around this probably one of my favorite points that I like to make every year and it is this that when we give back to God we simply give back to God from what God first gave us first Chronicles 29 look at verse 14 remember David he's preparing a special offering there's another special offering for those of you that are critical of special offerings here we have a special offering for the temple the house of God first time is 29 14 but who am I David says I love this I love this verse but who am I and what is my people that we should be able that we should be able remember the power to give they gave to their power and beyond their power he says who am I and what is my people that we should be able to offer so willingly after this sort don't miss it for all things come of thee David looking up at heaven looking up to God and saying who am I that I should be able to offer so willingly after this sort he says because I know that all things come of thee and of thine own have we given thee the truth is this whatever you give in the vision offering is between you and God but here's what I know whatever you give was given to you by God God has given you the power to get wealth that you so I went off to work and I earned that money because God let you wake up because God gave you strength and intellect and the ability and God gave you a job and God allowed you to live in the United States of America Paul exhorts them regarding the power of their giving you're not expecting that look don't misunderstand me you're not expected to give what you don't have I hope that makes you feel better but the flip side is this that you are expected to give from what you do have you are expected to prepare and lay aside and on purpose give back to the Lord why you say why as as as a testament to the fact that everything you have came from God everything I own was given to me by God everything you own was given to you by God whatever income you have whatever increase you have God gave it to you and when we give back to God we simply give back to God of thine own David says have we given thee go back to 2nd Corinthians chapter 8 2nd Corinthians chapter 8 why don't you notice Paul he's exhorting these Corinthians on the subject of giving him he thinks about he speaks about the proof of their giving it proves the sincerity of their love then he talks about the performance of their giving that they should perform that which they have committed that there was a willingness to give a readiness of mine and maybe the Holy Spirit of God is is speaking to you even maybe tonight and and in and trying to tell you hey there's a certain amount that I'd like you to give there's certain sacrifice I'd like you to go I'd like you to strike yourself a little bit I'd like you to give to your power and beyond your power and here's what I mean I'm here to tell you if the Holy Spirit of God is moving you to give don't fight against it perform the doing of it why would I do that because God gave it to you anyway because is the one that has given you the power to give I want you notice fourthly tonight Paul explains the proof of their giving the performance of their giving the power of their giving then he talks about the parity of their giving you say what is that well the thing when you get to three points that all start with P you just got to keep going you know what I mean the word parity means equality you can look it up if you don't believe me in reference to an amount status or character it means equivalence or similarity Paul speaks to them of the parity of their giving or the equality of their giving and I want you to notice what he make what he says and the point that he makes in second Corinthians 8 and verse 13 he says for I mean not he says look look God has given you the power or the ability to give I'm encouraging you to perform what you've already committed to give and I'm telling you that it's the proof of your love for God he says but I want you to understand this verse 13 for I mean not that other men be eased and you burdened he said I'm not trying to put more on you than other people I don't want it to be easy for others and a burden for you verse 14 but by an equality that now at this time your abundance may be a supply for their want that their abundance also may be a supply for your want that there may be what is this word equality I want you to notice when the Apostle Paul here speaks about an equality he is not referring to an equality of amount but easy referring to an equality of sacrifice he says look I'm not looking he said I'm not I'm not asking you all to give a certain amount because the truth of matter is if I got up here at the vision offering time and I said look we're asking everybody to give $50 well for some of you that might be very difficult and for others of you and many of you that would be laughable and if I said hey you know we want everybody here give $1,000 want everybody give $1,000 well for some of you that would be impossible and for some of you that would be doable we could get up and say well we want everybody to give $5,000 everybody very we can just give $5,000 here's the point Paul is not asking and we are not asking that everyone give the same amount because everyone's power or ability is different he says we don't want equality and amount but here's what we want equality and sacrifice remember we talked about last week that they gave to their power and beyond their power they stretch themselves it means they hurt a little bit it means they felt it you say what do you mean in regards to quality here's what we mean we want it to hurt the same whatever gift you give we wanted to hurt you you say well I only gave $500 well well hopefully it hurt it is not just you being a cheapskate hopefully it hurts as much as the person that donated $5,000 because what it hurts you or how it hurts you has more to do with your ability than anything suppose look I mean not that other men be eased and ye burdened he says I want equality but by an equality that now at this time your abundance may be a supply for their one and their abundance also may be a supply for your one that there may be equality either I want us not equal giving amounts but equal sacrifice I want us to sacrifice equally I want us to stretch ourselves equally and look the truth of the matter is that the only person who knows that is really you and God and your spouse but you should honestly look up to God see if you look up to God with this mindset and this is why one of the things we ask during the the vision offering we don't ask a lot but what we ask is that you actually pray that you take time to pray about what God might have you to give this has been a theme with our vision offerings would you take time to pray would you consider praying about what the Lord may lead you to do why here's why because I believe that if you genuinely looked up at God and said God everything I have you gave everything I have came from you every good gift is from above what is it that you would like me Lord would you lead me to know that we might have equality parity in our giving the truth is this we do want a hundred percent participation we want everyone who calls Verity Baptist Church their home to give at the vision off and you say why here's why because if you're not giving you're not part if you're not participating it's not hurting you at all we want equal sacrifice but we realize that means different amounts for different people and only you know that only God you know that in the Lord knows that now I want you to notice in that context I mean not that other men be eased and you burdened but by an equality that there may be equality in that context he says in verse 15 as it is written by the way let me just remind you this is not my vision offering sermon I'm just preaching verse by verse through the book of 2nd Corinthians I don't know if you notice singer in these 815 as it is written he that had gathered much had nothing over and he that had gathered little had no lack now I want to just take a moment and explain that because if you notice numbers 15 he says as it is written whenever you see Paul say as is written he's quoting from the Old Testament and Paul specifically here is quoting out of the book of Exodus I like you to go there because I want you to see this Exodus chapter 16 you have of course the book of Genesis and then the second book in the Bible is the book of Exodus Paul says as is written he that had gathered much had nothing over and he that had gathered little had no lack what is that a reference to because remember he's saying this in the context of equal sacrifice we want to hurt equally we want to feel it equally we mean not that that other men be eased and ye be burdened we want to have equal sacrifice equality in the vision offering Paul saying in this special offering then Paul brings up this Old Testament example he says it's kind of like as it is written he that I gather much had nothing over and he that I gathered little had no lack you say what is that a reference to remember when the children of Israel were in the wilderness and God don't miss this God was supplying their needs by having manna come down from heaven remember that story God was supplying their needs by having manna come down from heaven they were supposed to go out every day and they were supposed to pick out the manna and that God was applying now there's lots of applications there one is an application of salvation of course Jesus is the bread of life that came down from heaven another is an application of discipleship and Bible reading because the Bible is the Word of God is the bread of life Jesus is the word man should not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeded out of the mouth of God and in the same way that they were supposed to go out and gather the bread every day we're supposed to go out and gather the bread of life the Word of God every day there's lots of applications there but here's the here's the application that Paul's using Paul is saying remember when the children of Israel would have to go out and gather the manna and God they would say God is providing our needs because God brings down the bread from heaven every day for us to eat but here's what Paul is trying to explain even when you go to work even when you go and you work and labor and you get a paycheck and you make money and whatever he's a that is still God providing that bread for you that income came to you from God God gave you that job God gave you that sale God gave you that bonus God gave you that race that was given to you by God and he says it's interesting Paul would say it's interesting how when the manna would fall and the men would go out to gather what was needed for their family he says by the way God was providing that and by the way God is providing that for you now Exodus 16 16 he says this is the thing which the Lord hath commanded gather it every man according to his eating and Omer the word over is referring to a measurement he says I want you to go out and gather according to his eating or according to how much he's going to eat that's what it means now you would imagine that some people eat more than others he says this is the thing which the Lord hath commanded gather it every man according to his eating he says an Omer for every man so here's what they were supposed to do they were supposed to count the people that were in their house well you know I've got my wife and my six kids that's eight of us so we can go out and gather eight Omer's worth but maybe a young couple say well it's just me and my wife then and we don't have any children we just got married well they were supposed to go out and gather two Omer's worth and and maybe they were a couple with a couple of kids they were supposed to go out and gather four Omer's worth they were supposed to go out and gather an Omer's worth for every person Exodus 16 16 this is the thing which the Lord had commanded gathered every man according to his eating an Omer for every man notice according to the number of your persons according to how many people in your family how many people you're trying to feed he says take ye every man for them which are in his say in his tents and the children of Israel did so so the children of Israel were told hey count how many persons there are in your tents according to the number of your persons take ye every man for them which are in his tents and then go out and gather an Omer per person verse 17 and the children of Israel did so and gathered now notice some less or excuse me some more some less why did some gather more and some gather less because some had bigger families and some had smaller families maybe there was some single guys that didn't have a wife or children they they went out and they gathered an Omer and you gathered more Omer's based on how much family you had now here's the thing look at verse 18 and when they did meet so when they got home and they took out the measuring cop and they meted and measured how much they had received notice and when they did meet it with an Omer he that got gathered much had nothing over and he that gathered little had no luck they gathered every man according to his eating here's me saying God gave them exactly what they needed they went out and they're like well this seems like eight Omer's worth and I've got a wife and six kids and this kind of seems like eight Omer's worth that they got home and they actually measured up they're like wow it was exactly eight Omer's so God went out and provided this manna they went out and gathered a lot if they felt they needed a lot and gathered little if they didn't need that much and when they went back and counted out it was exactly what they needed and here's what Paul is saying Paul is saying look just like God was providing the income for the children of Israel God is providing your income and whatever God has provided here's what I know it's what God feels you need God has given you what you need so well I would like to live in a nicer house well God obviously doesn't agree God has given you what you need at this time for your life he's provided for you what you need and here's what Paul is saying Paul says look aren't you thankful that God does not give the same amount but he gives the same sacrifice aren't you thankful that God doesn't just say well I'm gonna give X amount of dollars to the single guy and I'm gonna give the same amount of dollars to the guy with a wife and six kids aren't you thankful that God as your family grows and as your needs grow allows you to make more he says that's God that's not you that's God he says what God does not give equally but he gives equally based on what is needed and then Paul says so make sure when you give that you don't give back equal amount but you give back equal sacrifice as is needed someone said it this way you should make sure you're giving is proportionate to the blessings that God has given you the income that has given you the increase that God has given you if God has given you much you should give much you should make sure that you're giving is proportionate to the blessing of increase an income that God has given you last God makes the blessings of your income proportionate to your giving? You might want to think about that one. You say, I gotta, you know, when it comes to time, I gotta give God 10% of my income? Well, I can't do that. I can't afford that. Okay, well, what if God decided to give you 90% of what you give? Because, look, God is in control of all of it. Anything you have came from God anyway. God is gonna give you what you need. So Paul says, hey, God gives us what we need. So let's make sure we give what's needed. Let's give equally. Let's have equal sacrifice. He talks about the proof of their giving, and the performance of their giving, and the power of their giving, and the parity of their giving. Then I want you to notice quickly, and I'm gonna run through these verses real fast. In verses 16 through 24, he talks about, and I'm gonna pull out a truth in these verses, but let me just quickly give you the full context. Paul shifts gears, and he starts talking about financial accountability. He talks about the fact that he's gathering all this money from all these churches for the special gift, but he says, look, we are doing our due diligence to make sure that the accounting and the financial accountability is being taken care of. Notice verse 16. He says, but thanks be to God, which put the same earnest, notice this word, care, into the heart of Titus for you, for indeed he accepted the exhortation, but being more forward of his own accord, he went unto you, notice verse 18, and we have sent with him the brother whose praise is in the gospel through all the churches, and not that only, but who was also chosen of the churches to travel with us. I want you to notice what he's saying. He says, we sent Titus, and we sent the brother that you guys chose, who was also chosen of the churches to travel with us with this grace. What's the grace? It's the offering. With that money, notice what he says, verse 19, which is administered by us to the glory of the same Lord and declaration of your ready mind, avoiding this, that no man should blame us in the abundance which is administered by us. He's talking about the fact that we sent Titus to deal with this grace, this money, and we also sent this other guy, this brother, which was chosen of the churches to travel with us with this grace. Why did we take the time to put checks and balances, to have two guys take this money together from different churches? He says, why did we do this? He says, avoiding this, verse 20, that no man should blame us in the abundance which is administered by us. He said, I didn't want anybody to blame us of stealing anything. I didn't want anybody to blame us in this abundance which is administered by us, verse 21, providing for honest things. We would say transparency, not only in the sight of the Lord, but also in the sight of men. And we have sent with them our brother, whom we have oftentimes proved diligent in many things. He's like, we're sending people we trust, not just anyone. Our brother, whom we have oftentimes proved diligent in many things, but now much more diligent upon the great confidence which I have in you, whether any do inquire of Titus. He is my partner and fellow helper concerning you or our brethren to be inquired of. They are the messengers of the churches and the glory of Christ. Wherefore, show ye to them, and before the churches, the proof of your love, and are boasting on your behalf. I want you to understand something, okay? In verses 16 to 24, Paul takes the time to talk about the fact that he has chosen faithful men, people he trusts, people he has proven to administer the offering, the abundance of the grace given unto us, that there might be no man should blame us in the abundance which is administered. And let me just say this, echoing the Apostle Paul, we too at Verity Baptist Church highly take professionalism in regards to the financial accountability of this church. We are highly professional here when it comes to regarding the receiving of the offering and how it's received and how many people need to be with the offering at any given time and there's never a moment ever where any one person is by themselves with the offering. There's always multiple people and from different ministries overseeing the receiving of the offering, the putting away of the offering, the counting of the offering, the depositing of the offering, how the offering gets deposited, how it gets counted, how it gets tracked, and how it gets accounted for. And I'm not gonna take the time to go through all of these things but I will tell you this, I spent some time not too long ago speaking to a professional in regards to this and I went through and walked them through. It was a long conversation. I walked them through every step that we take here at Verity Baptist Church in regards to the offering and the response was, I think you might have the most financially secure church in the country. This is what a professional said to me and I appreciate it, you know, and he said, you'd be surprised is the kind of garbage that a lot of churches do. And I'm just here to tell you something, we take these things seriously and you men that help receive the offering and count the offering and deposit the offering and those things, please, I understand it's a job that's not often seen for reasons. We understand that and it's a job that's not often acknowledged but I want you to know that we appreciate you and we want you to take it seriously. The Apostle Paul took the time here to say, look, I put, he said, the offering count, I mean, the offering counters in Paul's ministry got a shout out in 2nd Corinthians 8. He said, I chose Titus because I trust him, because he's faithful, because he gets the job done, he says, and Paul says that no man should blame us in the abundance which is administered by us. And to be very honest with you, the men that have been chosen at our church to help us with the counting and depositing all those things, we've chosen them because I trust them, we've chosen them because they've been proven, we chose them because we want to provide for honest things, and to be very honest with you, they're chosen that no man should blame this guy for the abundance which is administered by us. And that there's all sorts of checks and balances and ways that we make sure that counting and double counting and making sure that what got to the bank, what was counted here and it's locked and bags with locks and all sorts of things and safes and all sorts of procedures that we have in place. And I want to say thank you to those of you that help us with that and I want to encourage you to keep up the professionalism. Because as our church grows and as we're more blessed with these finances, we need to make sure that we're taking it seriously and that we can look up to God and say we are being mindful to be honest and provide accountability with the money that's being brought into this ministry. And I can tell you right now if some IRS agent ever showed up here and said we want to see the books for whatever years we are willing and ready to pull out whatever receipts and everything is completely accounted for and tracked and we spent a lot of time and effort doing that. And I don't talk a lot about that but Paul's talking about it so I just want to let you know it's a big process that we have here at our church and we take pride in it and not in a negative way but we take pride in the fact that we want to be professional with the finances and make sure that it's taken care of. I don't know if you know this, go back to 2nd Corinthians 8, but you know that the church, Joel Osteen's church, and of course this is a church with like mega church, you know, but they were in the news a while back because they had lost ten thousand dollars. Ten thousand dollars in cash and I don't know how you know how you lose ten thousand dollars but they'd lost ten thousand dollars in cash and it was this big ordeal and they had to report the fact that they lost it or whatever years ago. And then years later, not so long ago, it was reported that they found ten thousand dollars and they were remodeling one of their bathrooms and they took down a wall and they found that the money was behind a wall and of course that means that there's some shit something shady going on there and I would start with that guy Joel, you know, but you know I'm just thinking to myself like you lose ten thousand dollars and you find ten thousand dollars behind a toilet when you're remodeling like this is this whole thing is weird. I'm just telling you we've checked all the toilets and we are taking the finances seriously. Go back to 2nd Corinthians chapter 8. We talked about the proof of their giving, the performance of their giving, the power of their giving, the parity of their giving, their equality. Let me give you a last one. It has to be a P. Paul exhorts them regarding their predisposition towards giving. I say what do you mean? Their willingness to give. Why don't you notice it's a theme that he has in this in this book. Notice, go back to verse 2 just real quickly. 2nd Corinthians 8 verse 2. How that in a great trial of affliction, this is referring to the Church's Macedonia, the abundance of their joy and their deep poverty abounded unto the riches of, notice their liberality. You see the word liberality? That's the same word that you and I would say generosity. They were generous. Verse 3, for to their power I bear record, yea, and beyond their power. They were, notice this word, willing. Willing of themselves. Notice in verse 8 he says, I speak not by commandment. Here's what he's saying. Paul says, I'm not commanding you to give. He said, you don't have to give to this offering. And you say, why is Paul saying that? Here's why he's saying it. Because he's not commanding them to tithe. Look, the tithe is the Lord's and the tithe belongs to God. But the Bible teaches that there is a tithe and there is an offering or a free will offering. We are to tithe 10% of our increase, not income, increase. That's what the Bible says. You say, why is that? Here's why. Because your increase is not only your income. Somebody gives you $500, you didn't earn that but you should still tithe off it. So we are to tithe of our increase, why? Because to acknowledge that it came from God and as obedience to our Father. But then the offering, that's a free will offering, we choose to give. Now here's the interesting thing about it. God does command you to give an offering. Remember in Malachi chapter 3, he says, you have robbed me. Wherein have we robbed thee? And tithes and offerings. So God expects you to give an offering but he doesn't command when you should give an offering. So Paul says, look, I'm not commanding you to give to this special offering. And let me say to Verity Baptist Church tonight, I am not commanding you to give to the vision offering. That's between you and God. I speak not by commandment. Look, let me just be very honest with you. You don't have to give. And, you know, don't ever, I hope I never hear these words where people say, well I just felt like pastor was guilting us and manipulating us. You know, most of the time when I preach on giving, I spend more time telling, you know, spend more time explaining to you that you don't have to give than that you do have to give. Because this is a free will offering. I speak not by commandment. Verse 12, he says, for if there be first a willing mind. See, it's a free will offering. It's something that you have to decide you want to do. Verse 19, and not that only but who was also chosen of the churches to travel with us with this grace which is administered by us to the glory of the same Lord, the declaration of your ready mind. See, he speaks to their predisposition towards giving. He says, you don't have to give. And I, look, I want to be clear, you don't have to give. I said it last week, I say it every year around this time, we want happy money. We don't want, we don't want you to give grudgingly. We don't want you to give and be all bitter and angry about it. We don't want you to give and it's like, and they're like, are you gonna put it in or not? We gotta go. Look, if you love money that much, keep it. Thy money perish with thee. It's, it's, it's, it's corrupt. It's a tool that God gives, allows us to have in order to accomplish things that need to be done. But what we're looking for is those that are willing. Now, I do pray that there'll be many of you who are willing. Because here's the thing about Verity Baptist Church, and I'll just be honest with you, my wife and I were talking about this not to, just, just a couple days ago. But we often hear these stories, these pastors love to tell these stories. You know, I heard of this pastor recently telling a story how they want to build a building and they were trying to save up money for this, you know, property and then something happened and, and they were able to get it for like cents on the dollar, you know, because it was like given to them or somebody made a special deal with them where they were able to get it for a lot cheaper. I recently heard a story from about a liberal pastor who was trying to buy like a 50 million dollar building and it somehow worked out where they were able to buy it for 10 million dollars and it's this great thing. And I'm just here to tell you something. Those stories, they're nice and they're encouraging, but that's, none of that has ever happened at Verity Baptist Church. Everything we have, we worked for. Everything we have, and look, I'm not, if somebody wants to donate a million dollars tomorrow, praise the Lord. Are you listening? I'm not against taking it. I'm just saying, thus far, we started in a living room. We moved into an 800 square foot building that had to be remodeled. We outgrew it and moved into a 1,600 square foot building that had to be remodeled. We grew, outgrew that and moved into a 4,200 square foot building that we kind of got kicked out of. And, no, we didn't get kicked out, I'm just kidding, you know, but they didn't have to be remodeled. And, and, and then we moved into this building and it was 5,400 square feet and it had to be remodeled. Then we grew, but you added a thousand square feet, another thousand square feet. Right now we have 12,000 square feet and here's what I'm telling you, everything we've ever done around here has been because of you. Because of our people, not any one person just throwing down millions of dollars or giving us some property, but because of our people being willing to burden the sacrifice and to say, we'll do our part. It's not a lot. You're not expected to give from what you don't have, but you are expected to give from what you do have. It's not a lot and I'm willing to suffer. I'm willing to have it hurt. I'm willing to give to my power and beyond our power. And again, if somebody gives us some ring donation, praise God for it, I'm just not counting on it. Because I'm counting on you and I hope you're counting on me and I hope that we as God's people can come together as a congregation and say, we're willing. We're willing. We understand we don't have to, but it's a willing mind, a ready mind, a free will offering to prove the sincerity of our love. Our heads are now in a word of prayer. Heavenly Father, Lord, I do thank you for our church. And we've obviously had big donations and the Lord has blessed us with people who have donated large amounts, but just nothing that big like a free building or free land has ever been offered to us and that's okay. We're not looking for that. It's just anything we have, it's been you working with your people, their willingness to give and their generosity and their willingness to sacrifice and their willingness to donate and I thank you for that. And Lord, I pray you'd help us. I pray you'd help us this vision offering to prove the sincerity of our love, to perform the doing of it, to give equally, to realize that you're the one that gives us the power to give. Lord, help us to have a willingness of mind. In the matchless name of Christ, we pray. Amen. We're going to have Brother Moses come up and lead us in a final song. I just want to remind you of your part of the homeschool group that there is PE class tomorrow at 10 a.m. so don't forget about that. If there's anything we can do for you, please let us know. We'll have Brother Moses come up at this time. Please turn your songbooks to page number 97. Page number 97. We're going to be singing I Need Thee Every Hour, page 97, and let's sing it out on the first. I need Thee, oh I need Thee, every hour I need Thee. Oh, bless me now, my Savior, I come to Thee. I need Thee every hour, save Thou nearby. Temptations lose their power when Thou art nigh. I need Thee, Lord, I need Thee, every hour I need Thee. Oh, bless me now, my Savior, I come to Thee. I need Thee every hour, enjoy Your pain. Come quickly and abide, Your life is vain. I need Thee, oh I need Thee, every hour I need Thee. Oh, bless me now, my Savior, I come to Thee. Let's sing it out on the last. I need Thee every hour, most holy one. One day clean underneath, Thou blessed Son. I need Thee, oh I need Thee, every hour I need Thee. Oh, bless me now, my Savior, I come to Thee. Great singing. Can I please, Brother Graham, pose us some more to prayer? Father God Almighty, thank You for this day and for being together here. Your message, I thank You for this destruction. Please let it guide our decisions. Bring us back to Your polling on Saturday and Church on Sunday. In the name of Jesus Christ, I pray, amen. Amen. .