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All right. Amen. Second Corinthians chapter number eight. So chapter number eight and nine really go hand in hand. So we spent the last couple of weeks talking about rewards, dealing with Paul, talking to the, uh, the Corinthian saying, Hey, you know, when I wrote you guys that letter, I realized it made you sorrow. And it kinda, he basically said, I have had a little regrets at first, but you know, it was to your better. And we talked about how allowing the word of God to step on our toes is a good thing for us. We ought to take correction, learn from it and grow. And so with that in mind, in chapters eight and nine, he deals with the subject of abounding and how to move forward. Really how do we fuel the mission of the church, which you hear me say a thousand times a week, right? Edify the brethren, evangelize the lost. It's as simple as that. Now real quickly, just to start off, look down at verse number eight. So Paul says, I speak not by commandment, but by occasion of the forwardness of others and to prove the sincerity of your love. So I want you to notice that word there forwardness. Okay. Now go over to chapter number nine and look at verse number two. So chapter nine, verse number two, he says, for I know the forwardness of your mind for which I boast of you to them of Macedonia, that IKEA was ready a year ago and your zeal has provoked very many. Okay. So go back to chapter number eight now. So we're going to call this a forward mind. How do we take a forward mind, which basically means a eager mind. Okay. Have you ever been very eager, very zealous for something and just, but yet maybe found yourself a little stuck? Like how do I turn this energy into production? How do I turn this feeling of zeal and urgency into action and get results? Okay. Well, if you've ever wondered that you're going to find the principles between chapters eight and nine. So don't let the, let the chapters there put a division in your mind because it's one continuous thought eight all the way to the end of nine. So we're just going to go ahead and take care of all of it. And that's going to give us four points. And we're going to start off with verses one through six. Okay. Verses one through six are going to give us principles for giving. Okay. Because if you want to have a productive use of that urgency, okay, that zeal that you have, you have to learn to be a giver. And I'm not just talking about money. Okay. You guys know me. I try to stay away from talking about that as much as possible. However, money does make the world go round. Okay. Without money, we can't do what we do without money. We can't buy invites. We can't keep the lights on things of that nature. Um, so that, that, that is a thing. However, this chapter is much more, um, intuitive, much more in depth on giving than just the dollar than just money. Okay. And so we're going to learn about that. So he starts off with the first six verses dealing with principles for giving. Let's go ahead and take a look at it here. Well, he says in verse number one, moreover, brethren, we do you to wit of the grace of God bestowed on the churches of Macedonia. Okay. Now let me just also start off by saying, okay, these aren't the most sought after chapters in the Bible to preach. And I'm reading this and I've read this countless times. I don't even know how many times I've read this. I'm like, can I just get to chapter 10? Right. I just want something to scream about and to get, you know, on my high horse about, but you got to go through the full counsel of God game. Again, this is some, some meaty stuff here, but when you break this down and you really internalize it, it is nothing but blessings to you. I'm telling you that is, that is what you're going to get out of this. Okay. So this is more of a brethren. We do you to wit. What does that mean to wit? When you see that in the Bible to wit? Well, it's like saying indeed. Okay. Or it's like saying that's to say, or namely, or that is, okay. So he's basically saying indeed, okay. More of a brethren. We do you to wit of the grace of God bestowed upon the churches of Macedonia. So what you're going to find him doing here, and he's basically saying, Hey, guess what guys, the churches in Macedonia, the Christians over there, okay. Though they're poor, when you look at their giving record, you're going to be astounded. Hey, you're going to be blown away by that. So he's kind of using that to prompt them to follow through. With what they said they were going to give earlier in the letter. Cause remember Paul's goal here, when you combine first Corinthians, second Corinthians, it's more than just getting them off of their sins. Okay. It's, it's Paul trying to get the Jews away from the mindset of, okay, we're Jewish Christians. We got to just stick together over here. Okay. The Jewish Christians in Jerusalem, okay, nearing 70 AD have found themselves now in poverty. They are in trouble. They are in want. Okay. So Paul's got this idea. Well, Hey, the Greeks, they've got plenty of resources. They've got a lot of extra money and abundance. So I'm going to take from them to bless the Christians in Jerusalem. And it's a brilliant plan when you put it together, because what is Paul doing? He's edifying the brethren. He's saying, Hey, you guys, you Jewish Christians, you need to let go of that. I'm a Jew y'all, you know, I'm a Jew and everything's about the Jew. Okay. And likewise to the Gentiles, he's trying to get them off of that and looking at them like, Oh, you know, Oh Jew. Right. And he's trying to get them to understand the simple fact that in Christ, there's neither Jew nor Gentile and giving is one thing that will allow you to put yourself down here and others up here. Okay. And obviously Christ gives us that example. So he's using the Christians in Macedonia to basically say, Hey, look at what these guys have done. Look at what they've pledged. Look at the help that they're giving. Hey, look at verse two. He says, and how that in a great trial of affliction, the abundance of their joy and their deep poverty abounded onto the riches of their liberality. And he said, well, how can that be? How can their deep poverty and their not being able to give much, but giving something abound to liberality? How can that make them free? How can that advance them? I thought if you were really blessed in Christ, you would have 10,000 people in a private jet and kind of like these preachers on TV. Yeah. Guess what? You don't find that in the Bible. Okay. This is the Christianity that you find in the Bible. If you're going to take a stand on truth and be true to the truth, then guess what? You're going to have people coming after you and you're going to suffer some things from time to time. And that is the situation that the obviously the Philippians and those in Macedonia in that region had found themselves in verse three. He says, for to their power I bear record. Yea, and beyond their power, they were willing of themselves. So he's like, Hey, I want you Corinthians to look at the willingness that the Macedonians had. They faced deep poverty, but yet they still had this forwardness. They still had this eager desire to give what they could to support the mission. Verse four, praying with us in entreaty, that we would receive the gift and take upon us the fellowship of the ministering to the saints. So what is the main principle here that he's already highlighted of giving was being willing. Okay. When you study the subject out in the Bible, God loves a cheerful giver. So I always tell people, like, if you're bitter, if you're upset, don't give. Okay. Don't give your time. Don't give your energy. You need to kind of pull back, regroup, figure out the root cause of that bitterness, deal with that bitterness and then move forward. Okay. And of course, does the Mormon church do that? Did the JDubs do that? No. Okay. They say, Oh, new person. Great. Fill this out. You know what this is? This is a deposit form. We're going to take 10% starting next paycheck, and you will pay every cent of it. Okay. I was at a home not too long ago and I was listening to these people. These were some higher ups in the Mormon religion and they were, first of all, they were talking about something that just blew me away. This has nothing to do with the sermon, but I already brought it up, so I might as well just finish the story. They were talking about how happy they were that they had basically caused a divorce in one of the wards around here and found someone better for a woman. Okay. So they were happy with that and they were like, yeah, since we got rid of that loser, you know, this, that couple's been doing really well and their ward, you know, the giving is starting to be better. And they were just talking about how, like, you know, we really need to hunker down here in these words and figure out who's slipping through the cracks and is not blessing God with the tie. You know? And I just thought to myself, like, why am I hearing this? Like, I'm, I'm, I'm not even related to this conversation and I'm fuming. I'm like super upset because it's like, that is the exact opposite of the principle that God teaches us. Okay. God wants us to be cheerful. Here you have an example of Christians that are in deep poverty and yet they want to help the saints that are over in Jerusalem. Okay. Because they want to, that's what God wants. But no, no, you get these religious organizations that rise up and they're like, no, you're going to pay. And if you don't, God's mad at you and so on and so forth. And it's just not the way that God is. Okay. Look at verse number five. And this they did not as we hoped, but first gave their own selves to the Lord and to us by the will of God. So I want you to see that there. Okay. This is not just a focus on money, but a giving of self. Okay. Giving yourself to the things of God. Look at verse number six, insomuch that we desired Titus that as he had begun, so he would also finish in you the same grace also. And so Paul saying here, basically to start off that these are principles and giving that you ought to do it from the heart because it's joyous because it's genuine. Not because you want to look cool in front of other people. Not because you're just hoping to get rich. Oh, I'll give you 10,000 and God will give me 10 million in return. It doesn't always work like that. How is that a sacrifice? That's more of like a gambling thing. I like a bet. You know, that's how people treat Christianity. Like it's the horse races. Okay. Study. Okay. What's the best church? Oh, there's that thoroughbred church right there. Okay. Yeah. Yeah, I got it here. You know, I'm going to give them this and I'm going to get the most in return. And of course when that doesn't happen, what do you think does happen? Well, people get better. Hey, that's typically what happens. Well, I thought if I were to give God this, like the preacher said that my life was going to get better and I was going to get 10 times and I haven't. That's typically what happens. And then they get mad at God. You go knock on their doors and now you've got a mess on your hands that you have to deal with. Okay. So verses one through six, quick principles on giving. And that is basically that it is from the heart. Okay. It is supposed to be genuine. Whether you're giving your time, whether you're giving your advice, whether you're giving yourself, whether you're giving money, it should be from the heart because you believe in the vision. Now, let's look at the purpose for giving here in verse seven all the way to verse 15. So he says this, therefore as ye abound in everything in faith, in utterance and knowledge and in all diligence and in your love to us see that ye abound in this grace also. So again, this encompasses everything. Okay. Not just money. I've told you guys this before. I used to go to a Baptist church over in Washington. I kind of quote unquote grew up in this. It was the one where they told you that, you know, if you didn't do enough work, you're going to go, you know, have a horrible eternity. They, every single sermon that they would preach was about money. Hey, everything. I mean, they couldn't open up a page in the Bible and not bring up the tithe and the money. And that was just the focus. And of course, I didn't realize that as a child, you know, when I went back many years later as an adult and then I picked it up and was like, okay, you know, this, this guy doesn't care about us, doesn't care about the people. It's all about money. Okay. But what is Paul saying here? What's the purposes? What are some of the purposes behind giving? Well, some of the foundational things is that we abound in everything. Okay. That we're making forward progress in what? In faith. Okay. In utterance and knowledge and in all diligence. Okay. What's diligence? It's being very particular. It's reading a passage of the Bible and doing a thorough audit. Okay. Realizing, Hey, do I understand this? Am I doing all this stuff? Okay. That's what he's saying there in diligence. He says, and in your love to us, see that you abound in this grace also. So again, we don't want to become a people that doesn't have grace. Hey, because guess what? God had grace on us for all of sin and come short of the glory of God. Okay. For by grace, are you saved through faith? So we ought to have that one to another. So you're going to see the giving of yourself to the things of God and fellowship, which we're going to do a whole thing on fellowship in a couple weeks. Hey, those things go hand in hand. I'll tell you this right now. Okay. If you do not have fellowship, it is going to be very, very difficult for you to grow in the Lord. Okay. So I mean, ask a lot of these, these, the faithful guys that we have that listen online, you know, our chat, we love our online listeners. You know, they support us, they pray for us, they help us. They're always there, you know, and they will tell you a lot of times, those that don't have a fellowship to go to that this is what they have. And this is where they get that from and that this has helped them, you know, and so you'll see that in Christianity, you know, when people are just like in this for the fame or they're just in this because they saw maybe a documentary or something, you'll often see those people at some point fade out because they've not fellowship. They've not understood that fellowship is very, very important if you want to give for the purpose of abounding. Okay. Again, more on that later. I just wanted to kind of touch on that because it's here. Look at verse number eight. He says, I speak not by commandment, but by occasion of the forwardness of others and to prove the sincerity of your love. So they had talked a big game prior to this and said, yeah, we'll go ahead and give to the saints in Jerusalem. And so Paul had basically tested them and he wants to know if they're going to follow through with that verse nine for you know, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich yet, for your sakes, he became poor that ye through his poverty might be rich. Okay. And that's the thing, you know, we ought to have the attitude that if we have an abundance in resources and somebody else has a need that we're willing enough to say, Hey, you know, let me help you out here. Let me, let me, let me give unto your necessity because that's what Christ did for us. We have a need. Okay. Because without him, we can't get to heaven. We cannot have eternal life. So what did he do? Well, he brought himself down and died. He became poor so that we could be calm, rich, not monetarily obviously, but rich as in new life, new man, all of the stuff that he's already touched on in the prior chapters of verse 10 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. So again, he's reminding them, Hey, I know a year ago, you guys began to make preparations to send your liberality on to Jerusalem. Okay. And he's basically going to wind up saying, I know that you're going to follow through with this verse 11. 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. Okay. So again, you know, we ought to be the type of people again, that if we say that we're going to do something, we got to follow through and actually do it. And that's what he's calling upon them to do. Saying you guys a year ago said you were going to do this. Now it's time to follow through. Now it's time to actually go forward with that. Okay. But here, here's the other thing. Think about this. Okay. Think about all the chapters up until this point, all the rebuke. I mean, Paul has done a good job at just coming out of, Hey, all this stuff you guys are doing is wrong. And now he's like, Hey, you know, now it's time to be a giver, right? At no point in time was he like, you lost all your rewards in heaven. Okay. You lost your salvation. You have to get re-saved or reborn again. No, he's like, Hey, pull your head out of the sand. Okay. Get right and start moving forward. That's it. That's the idea. You said you're going to do this a year ago. Let's go. It's time to move on. Okay. So look at verse 12. He says, for if there be first a willing mind. Okay. That's the key. If there be first a willing mind. So if you have a willing mind to do something, how do you not kill that? How do you take that and actually make something productive of it? Says this, here's what you have to realize about this willing mind. Look at the rest of the verse. It is accepted according to that a man hath. And not according to that he hath not. Okay. How many people have heard the opposite of that? How many people have heard? Well, you know, you guys need to get better jobs and get better education so that you can give more to God so that he can give more to you. Right? No. If you have a willing mind, if you're in deep poverty like them in Macedonia, I want you to understand that God can use you. That's the point here. That is what he is saying. Look at verse 13, for I mean not that other men be eased and he burdened, 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 equality. And that's the, that is the biggest purpose in giving so that none of us are lacking. Okay? Because when one person's lacking or one group is lacking and the other is in abundance and there's this unwillingness to cooperate, this resistance to share, what's going to happen is pride starts to beef up and that pride starts to rise. And then you start having clicks and a click here and a click there. And the next thing you know what happens, you've got divisions. And then what follows that first Corinthians chapter one, then you've got the heresies and then you've got all these problems. And then you wind up on that clock, similar to what we talked about this morning. So look at verse 15, he says, as it is written, he that hath gathered much had nothing over and he that hath gathered little had no lack. Now I don't let uncle Sam use these verses on you. Okay? I've heard politicians try to use these verses in this chapter to say, this is why we need a progressive government. Then this is why we're raising the tax on the billionaires. It's like, no, anything you do to the billionaires hurts us. Hey, everything they say is a lie. They're commie ideas, they're progressive policies. All of those things are designed and you guys know this to keep you down, to keep us financially dependent and ignorant. We get that here. This is a totally different system here. Okay? This is talking about us giving ourselves giving because we're doing it from a joyous heart and being generous or genuine rather and you get the idea. Okay? So verses one through six give you basically an outline of principles for giving versus seven through 15 are the purpose for giving. Okay? It's so that no one's lacking so that we all have what we need to go forward and it demonstrates what it demonstrates love. Okay? What did Jesus say? You know what you do to one of the least of these you have done to me and we ought to take that serious. Now we're going to look at verses 16 really all the way deep into chapter nine and these are policies in giving. So look at verse 16 so you got your principles for giving purpose for giving. Now we're looking at policies and giving look at verse 16 and he'll explain this says, but thanks be to God, which put the same earnest care into the heart of Titus for you. You know, you start studying Titus. Okay? What's on Titus's mind? How to be a go giver. Okay? How to be a giver. What can I do? You want me to go here, Paul, you want me to go here, bring this to them. And Paul or Titus is like, like being a runner. Okay? And he cares for the saints. He's willing to sacrifice his own time and his own life essentially to bring need on to the churches. Look at verse 17 says for indeed he accepted the exhortation, but being more forward of his own accord, he went on to you. And we talked about that several weeks ago, but look at verse 18 and we have sent with him the brother whose praise is in the gospel throughout all the churches and not that only, but who was also chosen of the churches to travel with us by this grace, which is administered by us to the glory of the same Lord and declaration of your ready mind. So again, the thing that keeps coming up over and over and over in these two chapters is your mindset. What is the Christian mindset? It is to get better. It is to move forward. It is to always be a bounding, but first in order for that to happen, there has to be a willing mind. Okay? And what has to happen next? You have to be willing to give of yourself. You can't just be like, I want to see, you know, 80 people save and not give time and not give energy and not give yourself to that. You know, that's why last year I decided, you know, I'm going to start this thing called March Madness where we go soul winning every day. And I just said, you know, it was survived 31 days. I'll do it in April. I'll do it in May too. And then I did in June and I thought I was going to drop dead because for me, I work more than full time hours. So by the time June comes my job, I mean, it's like I'm getting off at seven o'clock, seven 30 and I'm running around trying to find doors. It's a hundred degrees out. I'm like, this has got to stop. This has got to stop, man. I'm done. And so I was telling Evan, like, all right, we're at the end of this month already. I'm like, we're taking a break, going back to normal schedule and then I'll do one more. Okay? One more, one more in May. And then I'll show now if I was full time, I would just go all the time. But that wouldn't be much of a challenge, you know, because it would have all day to do it. But it's a challenge for me, obviously, because I work full time and I like my job. I like that. I don't want to change that subject for another day. But that's the point, right? If we want more, if we want things to change, we got to put some stuff into action. But it all starts with a ready mind. Okay? It all starts with a ready mind. And then it starts with, Hey, can you give, what are you going to give to make that happen? Okay. Let's see here. Look down. Verse 21 says, providing for honest things, not only in the sight of the Lord, but also in the sight of men. And of course, we're not doing these challenges to be getting praise from men. Okay? Obviously we're doing this because we know that our time on earth is limited. We know that resources are limited and people are dying and going to hell. And if we don't do something about it, who will? That's, that's the bottom line. That is what has to be done. So we have to be willing to give in that regards, given that respect, if you want to be effective. Verse 22, and we have sent with them our brother whom we have oft, oftentimes proved diligent in many things, but now much more diligent upon the great confidence, which I have in you. And I mean, this here is really a principle to be preached another day. Okay? If you want more responsibility, you want to start a ministry, you want to be used in a capacity like this guy they're bringing up here. Okay? The way you do that is by allowing yourself to be proved by being diligent, okay? Following instructions, being faithful, being loyal. You guys know the drill. Look at verse 23. This is whether any do inquire of Titus. He is my partner and fellow helper concerning you or our brethren be inquired of. They are the messengers of the churches and the glory of Christ. It's kind of funny how he has to put that in there, right? Because these guys are known for messing with people, right? You can just kind of see it. It's implied everywhere. And so he's like, Hey, if anybody's like, Oh, what's this Titus guy doing here? You know, what about this other guy? What's up with him? Is he saved? Is he this? Is he that Paul saying, Hey, just give him a break. Hey, they're with me. They're approved. They've been proven diligent. Just let them do their business. Let them help you. Verse 24, Wherefore show ye to them and before the churches, the proof of your love and of our boasting on your behalf. So even though again, guys, they've got all these problems, okay? They've got all the problems that we've dealt with over the last couple of months. What does he say right here? Okay. He says before the churches, the proof of your love and of our boasting on your behalf. So even though they had all these issues, Paul still sought the good that they did have and the potential that the Corinthians had. Remember, they had a good zeal. The bad part is it just wasn't really according to knowledge. Okay, now let's head over to chapter number nine because this thought goes right through here. Okay, so look at verse number one. It says for us, touching the ministering to the saints. It is super, um, super furious for me to write to you. That word means unnecessary. Okay? That's what that means. He's saying, he's saying, hey, look, when it comes to the ministering of the saints, it's unnecessary for me to write unto you. He says in verse two, for I know the forwardness of your mind. Now I'll be honest, like sometimes I'll be reading straight through like first Corinthians and I'll just read through second Corinthians, like in one blast, you know, and sometimes I'll be so tired that my mind will just write forward or I'm sorry, froward, right, which is the opposite of being forward because of all the problems they had. So my mind is just like they're froward meaning immature, not wise, but no, it's the opposite. Okay, he says, for I know the forwardness of your mind for which I boast of you to them of Macedonia. That IKEA was ready a year ago and your zeal half provoked very many and your zeal half provoked very many. And that's the good thing about our zeal. If we can take our zeal, which starts with a ready mind, okay, and we could put that into action by giving. So you take the idea and that burning desire, that urgent thing that you have, you take that and you say, well, how can I give something to make this happen once you do that? Okay, then you've got that ball rolling and that zeal, okay, that zeal is observed by other people and these other people will then want to come on board with that program and do likewise. Okay, and that's another whole, you know, reason we started March Madness soul winning every day is to provoke others. I've had people write and say, Hey, you know, I don't even have a church I could go to, but I'm gonna go so winning every day and they're doing it and they're doing a great job. Okay, that's a good thing. That is a great thing, not for our own glory, but to promote the things of God. Okay, now look at verse number three. He says, Yet have I sent the brethren, lest our boasting of you should be in vain in this behalf, that as I said, ye may be ready. So he's complimenting them, right? And then he's reminding them. He compliments, then he reminds them, you know, so he's kind of like, Hey, don't forget, though, you guys said you're gonna give, so make sure you follow through with it. Verse four, I'm sorry, verse. Yeah, look at verse four. It says, less happily if they of Macedonia come with me and find you unprepared. We that we say, not ye should be ashamed in the same confident boasting. So again, he's trying to make sure that they understand to just follow through. Okay, again, you got a ready mind. What can you give? Actually go forward. Take that step. Okay, and give what you can, not necessarily monetarily, but whatever it is that you're thinking, Hey, I want to get better at reading the Bible. I want to get better at sowing. I want to get better at communicating with other people. Okay, those are good desires. Now, what are you going to do about it? You're just going to keep saying, I have this desire. Are you actually going to give up something to have that happen? Look, if you're like me and you're naturally a quiet person, okay, I don't like talking in front of people. I don't like talking to people. Yeah, when I was coming back from Vancouver, this guy in the airport had a shirt that said it's two people outside for me. And I thought I need to get that shirt because that's me. Okay, but I also had this crazy desire many years ago to be a pastor and to want to go and tell people the truth about Jesus Christ and about salvation. You know what I had to do? I had to give up. I had to give up that security. I had to give up that shell, that shy guy of me and actually just say, Oh, well, I guess people are going to have to deal with me because that's more important to me than my own security case. So that that's kind of what he's bringing up here. Hopefully that kind of makes sense. Verse, where are we at here? Verse five says, therefore, I thought it necessary to exhort the brethren that they would go before unto you and make up beforehand your bounty where of you had noticed before that the same might be ready as a matter of bounty and not as of covetousness. And again, that's just his way of saying, Hey, look, okay, you guys have this right mindset to give, not because you're trying to receive things, right? He's like, this is not a covetous type thing. You're doing this because you love God. You're doing this because you love the brethren. You're doing this because you want the cause of Christ to grow again, the exact opposite of the prosperity gospel movement. Their whole thing is give to get, give to get. Whereas the Bible's like, Hey, just give because other people need to get. Okay. And then of course we know that God will always bless us on the back end, but we don't want to turn that into a covetous thing like, Oh, I'm going to give it because I hope I need that five car garage house. You know, that's wrong. That's not the way we should be. All right. So we've got so far, we've got principles for giving the purposes for giving policies and giving here. And now the last one, and we're getting close to being done starting at verse six to the end of the chapter, which is promises and giving, okay. Promises in giving. Look at verse number six. She says, but this I say he, which so with sparingly shall reap also sparingly and he would so with bountifully shall reap also bountifully. Here comes Kenneth Copeland. Here comes Betty Hinn. Here comes your TV preachers. Boy, they love that verse, don't they? You write a check for 10 grand and I guarantee the Bible even says you're going to get double, possibly even triple that. Okay. That's not what this is talking about. That is definitely not what this is talking about. What he's saying is if this is your heart, does your mindset like, you know, you're just going to give a little bit of your time, a little bit of this, a little bit of that. Well, don't expect a landslide in return. Okay? That is what we ought to understand about this. Okay? This is the promise and giving. But look, you give your time like you say, you know what? I'm going to come to church. You know what? I'm going to read the Bible. You know what? I'm going to pray for these guys. You know what? I'm going to give this. Guess what? God is going to bless that. Verse seven, every man according as he hath or as he purposeth in his heart. So let him give not grudgingly or of necessity for God loveth a cheerful giver. Okay. What a lot of these churches do. Okay. You need, you better give me that 10% and that's the minimum. Okay. That was Old Testament, New Testament. Jesus died on the cross and gave us at this dispensational, you know, eternal life. Okay. And that's more than they had in the Old Testament. So you really need to give the tithe plus a lot more. Am I the only one in here that's heard that message? If so, well, we need to have a talk in the office here. I'll show you some videos. Okay. That message is unfortunately alive and well today. And it is false. It is definitely false. Okay. But every man according as he purposeth in his heart. So let him give. Not grudgingly or of necessity. Okay. Again, what are these other organizations do? Well, you have a necessity to give and you better just learn to love it. Okay. You can't do that to people. You can't tell people that you're creating an army of people that learn to hate God because of that game. No, do it because you love the work that's being done. Do it because you love souls. That's the whole point. God loveth a cheerful giver. Verse eight and God is able to make all grace abound toward you. He didn't say God is able to make and he is able, but he is not saying and God is able to make all dollars and pounds abound to your bank account. Okay. But that's how people read this and God is able to make all grace bound toward you that you always having all sufficiency and all things may abound to every good work. The problem is we have our idea of what is sufficient and God has his idea of what is sufficient and if we don't solve those two things, okay, we can become better because some people like, well, in order for me to be sufficient, I got to have four cars. I need to have that jet ski. I need to be a millionaire and they've just got this materialistic list of things that they need to be sufficient and God's like, hey, you got clothing, you got food, you got shelter, you got the brethren, you're good to go, man. Get your butt out there and go tell somebody how to be saved because it's almost done down there, right? That's, that's, that's where we're at. Now look at verse number nine, as it is written, he hath dispersed abroad, he hath given to the poor, his righteousness remaineth forever. Okay. But the prosperity guy is like his righteous bank. Yes. Yeah. The bank of righteousness, right? And they just always want to talk about the dollar. Okay. But no, it's his righteousness. The remain of forever. God takes care of his children. That is a fact that has been proven over and over again. There's no record anywhere in the world of God failing anyone at any point in time ever. Verse 10, we're getting close to being done. So promises of giving the right here. Verses six through 15 verse 10 says, now he that minister seed to the sower both minister bread for your food and multiply your seed sown and increase the fruits of your righteousness. Let's read that one more time. Now he that minister seed to the sower. So who is that? Who ministers seed? Who gives seed to the sower? Well, who's the word? Well, Jesus is the word, the word of God. He is the one, as you read, as you study, he's giving you knowledge and giving you wisdom and giving you a ways to teach the word of God so that you can then sow those seeds and give, that to other people. So he says, now he that minister seed to the sower both minister bread for your food. Okay? So the same one who's giving you your spiritual food is the same one that's going to make sure that you get your bread for food and multiply your seed sown and increase the fruits of your righteousness. Now you might think, okay, well, things are getting really bad today and we knocked on a hundred doors and we didn't get anybody saved. But again, we have no idea. You have no idea a seed that you planted, what that could turn into. You have no idea a year later, six months later, you have no idea how God can use that to grow that exponentially. Okay? So don't ever come back and be like, you know, and it's hard. I do it sometimes too. You're like, ah man, you know, this just sucks out there and everybody's, you know, against God. It sure seems like that someday, but you're still having an impact. Just you taking the truth and warning people, just you being willing to do that. Okay? That has ripple effects in the eternal world. That's what that does. Remember everything that we do, it's not just physical, okay? It transcends physical reality and goes into the spiritual. We are at spiritual war right now with people. And when we can understand this truth here, hey, the same one that's giving you your spiritual food is the same one that's going to multiply that. You might not see it now. You might not see it till you get to heaven, but it is a promise in giving. When you give yourself, you give this word to other people. Guess what? You're going to get something in return. It's a fact. It's a promise. It's a guarantee. Look at verse 11 being enriched. This is a good use of the word enrich here. You're not like enriched bread or something says being enriched in everything to all bountiful ness, which causes through us Thanksgiving to God again, right? I mean, how many times do we have somebody out knocking doors and they give some seed to give the word of God and all of a sudden things click and they're thankful and they're they're they're happy now because you took the time to give them that truth. Okay. It leads to Thanksgiving of God, which leads to praise and discipleship and everything else we talked about. Verse 13 says, wiles by the experiment of this ministration, they glorify God for your professed subjection unto the gospel of Christ and for your liberal distribution unto them and to all men. So even though the Corinthians man, they had a lot of stuff wrong. Okay. They still had that zeal and they still had that earnest desire. To be forward in their mind to give. Okay. And Paul's reminding them the value in that it's not for, you know, just temporary right now, which you're giving lasts for eternity. Okay? Remember, we want to store up treasures in heaven where no one can steal. No one can break in and take those things. Moth and rust does not corrupt those things. That's the that's the whole intention here and the entire goal verse 14 he says, and by their prayer for you, which long after you for the exceeding grace of God and you thanks be unto God for his, and there it is, unspeakable gift. So at the end of the day, right? Are we thankful for that unspeakable gift? Okay. You know what that is? That is salvation. That thing that we did not have to work for. We heard the word of God. We're saved. We're preserved in him forever. Nothing could ever change that. So that's how he seals off the promises and giving game. We ought to be a people that give, not grudgingly, not out of necessity. Oh God. Oh man, I this guy needs 100 bucks. I've got to a fine here. You know, this is my duty and being a Christian. You don't have that attitude. That's your attitude. Just walk away and even just go away. You just don't even give because it's not worth it. Okay? You're not helping the cause. Learn to love people and guess what? Everything else will fall into place. So hopefully, you know, these kinds of things make sense. But if we could just condense this down, I mean, the goal is for us to be able to have a forward mind, a mind that says, you know what? I need to move towards the goal. Not just be a people that talks just, Oh, we're going to do this. So we're going to do all these wonderful things and then we never do anything. Okay? No, we're not going to be that type of people. We're actually going to take that seal and we're going to take that ready mindset and we're going to say, what can we give? Oh, I can give up some of my time to go tell somebody I can give up some of my insecurities to break through that, you know, that that shell to go and explain this to a person or, you know, I'm going to actually take a stand on the situation that someone's coming at me with. Yeah. And of course, you know, money does play a role in this as well. We we've talked about that. We understand that game. That's not what this is entirely about. It's really about how to take your zeal and turn it into results. Okay? And the way you do that is by looking at your goals, at what you want to do and saying, what can I give to make that happen? Okay? And of course this is all geared towards the spiritual. He's not like, Hey, you want to be a millionaire? You know, you need to give up two hours a day in the morning. You need to wake up at four and, you know, eat nails and chew some gravel. Okay? Like a real tough guy. And then, you know, go do flutter kicks in the river for an hour. Now that's, you know, that's, that's just not the way it is. Okay? We all know that. But there's plenty of people out there that will make you think that's how you get to get ahead in life. Hey, no, you get ahead in life by taking that zeal, making sure it's according to knowledge, saying, Hey, what can I give to get this ball rolling and to get some results? I've got a, an idea here. I want to be wiser. Okay? Can you give up an hour? Can you give up 10 minutes? Can you give up some time to study a past? You know what I mean? Think about what God's laid on your heart. Okay? What can I give up now to make that happen? And he has promised that he will reward accordingly in that. And it's not a million dollar check. It might be for some of you. I don't know if it is. You owe me a truck. Okay? You owe me that $80,000 truck down in that lot over there at Northwest Motorsports with a six inch lift. And I want the decent one. So, and of course, I'm just kidding. I'm sure somebody will clip that. And that's all he's all about money. But no, not true. Only partially about money. With that being said, let's go ahead and bow our heads and have a word of prayer. Thank you so much, Lord, for this church, for everything that you've done for us and continue to do for us. Lord, I just pray you use us greatly this week. Bring us back safely on Wednesday. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen. All right, we're gonna have one more song and then we'll be dismissed.