WEBVTT 00:00:05.799 --> 00:00:12.660 2 Corinthians chapter 9 verse 6. Now some of 00:00:12.660 --> 00:00:15.439 you who are observant might be saying to yourself, 00:00:15.740 --> 00:00:17.660 well the last chapter we covered was chapter 00:00:17.660 --> 00:00:23.780 7. And you would be correct. But to save some 00:00:23.780 --> 00:00:26.739 time, we're just going to look at a few verses 00:00:26.739 --> 00:00:29.379 in chapter 9 and talk about what's going on. 00:00:29.480 --> 00:00:32.539 Now that can be your homework this week. You 00:00:32.539 --> 00:00:34.880 can go back and you can read in 1 Corinthians 00:00:34.880 --> 00:00:38.840 chapter 16. There are the first few verses. And 00:00:38.840 --> 00:00:41.460 then you can flip over and you can read 2 Corinthians 00:00:41.460 --> 00:00:45.920 chapter 8 and chapter 9. And they're all dealing 00:00:45.920 --> 00:00:49.100 with this same topic. And that is an offering 00:00:49.100 --> 00:00:52.039 that the people of Corinth have been working 00:00:52.039 --> 00:00:55.719 on gathering to help the people of Jerusalem. 00:00:56.320 --> 00:00:58.240 That's what's being covered. And that's what's 00:00:58.240 --> 00:01:00.850 talked about. in chapter 8, and he continues 00:01:00.850 --> 00:01:04.310 on in chapter 9. And so just to save time from 00:01:04.310 --> 00:01:06.090 reading through all that, there's not really 00:01:06.090 --> 00:01:09.769 a lot to break down too much verse by verse. 00:01:10.030 --> 00:01:13.650 And so we're just going to combine these two 00:01:13.650 --> 00:01:16.909 chapters into these three short verses here and 00:01:16.909 --> 00:01:20.650 talk about what's going on. So 2 Corinthians 00:01:20.650 --> 00:01:29.000 9, verse 6. Remember this. The person who sows 00:01:29.000 --> 00:01:34.079 sparingly will also reap sparingly. And the person 00:01:34.079 --> 00:01:39.000 who sows generously will also reap generously. 00:01:39.760 --> 00:01:44.200 Each person should do as he has decided in his 00:01:44.200 --> 00:01:49.120 heart, not reluctantly or out of necessity, for 00:01:49.120 --> 00:01:53.000 God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to 00:01:53.000 --> 00:01:57.040 make every grace overflow to you. So that in 00:01:57.040 --> 00:02:00.760 every way, always having everything you need, 00:02:01.040 --> 00:02:05.040 you may excel in every good work. Let's pray. 00:02:06.159 --> 00:02:08.319 God, we thank you for this simple instruction 00:02:08.319 --> 00:02:11.879 that Paul gives to the people of Corinth. And 00:02:11.879 --> 00:02:14.020 dear Lord, I believe that this instruction is 00:02:14.020 --> 00:02:17.280 good for us too. So I pray that you would help 00:02:17.280 --> 00:02:21.419 us to be generous, to be cheerful givers. to 00:02:21.419 --> 00:02:23.740 be your people that do good works, to help others 00:02:23.740 --> 00:02:27.879 when there is a need that arises. I pray that 00:02:27.879 --> 00:02:29.840 you free us from the worries and the distractions 00:02:29.840 --> 00:02:33.139 and the thoughts of this world. And I pray that 00:02:33.139 --> 00:02:35.180 in these few minutes that your Holy Spirit will 00:02:35.180 --> 00:02:38.539 take these words and just plant them in our heart. 00:02:38.580 --> 00:02:41.840 Let us think on them, dear Lord. Let your Spirit 00:02:41.840 --> 00:02:44.620 recall these words to our mind at the times we 00:02:44.620 --> 00:02:47.560 need them. And I pray that these words would 00:02:47.560 --> 00:02:50.610 shape... how we live and how we sow and how we 00:02:50.610 --> 00:02:53.870 give. And I ask these things in Jesus' name. 00:02:54.449 --> 00:02:59.270 Amen. Now at the end of 1 Corinthians, in the 00:02:59.270 --> 00:03:02.229 last chapter, chapter 16, I think it's the last 00:03:02.229 --> 00:03:07.090 chapter, Paul says, look, you guys need to work 00:03:07.090 --> 00:03:10.300 on helping out the people in Jerusalem. And he 00:03:10.300 --> 00:03:13.020 begins to talk about that in chapter 8. He begins 00:03:13.020 --> 00:03:15.780 to talk about this gift that they have supposedly 00:03:15.780 --> 00:03:18.379 been working on for some time, for about a year 00:03:18.379 --> 00:03:21.620 now. And Paul starts off by saying, look, I have 00:03:21.620 --> 00:03:25.680 told the people of Macedonia how good you guys 00:03:25.680 --> 00:03:28.520 are doing, and I also want to tell you how good 00:03:28.520 --> 00:03:31.180 that they're doing. Now, he points out in chapter 00:03:31.180 --> 00:03:34.460 8 the poverty of the people of Macedonia, that 00:03:34.460 --> 00:03:37.469 they have suffered some kind of affliction. But 00:03:37.469 --> 00:03:41.050 nonetheless, they are willing and ready and eager 00:03:41.050 --> 00:03:43.930 to give to support others, even though they don't 00:03:43.930 --> 00:03:47.090 have. They are eager and they're begging Paul, 00:03:47.210 --> 00:03:50.189 essentially, don't take this blessing from us. 00:03:50.229 --> 00:03:52.330 You ever heard anybody say that before? Maybe 00:03:52.330 --> 00:03:54.729 you've said it before. You want to help somebody 00:03:54.729 --> 00:03:56.830 out and you try to help them and they say, no, 00:03:56.969 --> 00:03:59.310 I can't take that from you. And you say, look, 00:03:59.509 --> 00:04:02.729 don't take, this is my blessing to you. Maybe 00:04:02.729 --> 00:04:05.090 somebody said that to you or you said that to 00:04:05.090 --> 00:04:08.460 somebody. I just shared with y 'all, I think, 00:04:08.500 --> 00:04:10.659 a great example of that when we went to New Orleans. 00:04:11.340 --> 00:04:14.379 And one of the very people we went to serve handed 00:04:14.379 --> 00:04:17.279 me a wad of money. It was $40 that he wanted 00:04:17.279 --> 00:04:19.920 to give back to our ministry. And some would 00:04:19.920 --> 00:04:21.860 say, how could you take that man's money? He 00:04:21.860 --> 00:04:24.860 ain't got anything. Well, if this is what's on 00:04:24.860 --> 00:04:27.600 his heart, which is what we see in his scripture, 00:04:27.800 --> 00:04:32.240 if his heart, if his desire is, even in my poverty, 00:04:32.439 --> 00:04:36.050 I want to be generous to help others. Well, that's 00:04:36.050 --> 00:04:38.410 what the scripture calls us to do. And that's 00:04:38.410 --> 00:04:41.329 exactly what Paul says of the Macedonians. And 00:04:41.329 --> 00:04:43.370 that's what he's calling the people of Corinth 00:04:43.370 --> 00:04:46.089 to do. Now, if you go back and you read these 00:04:46.089 --> 00:04:49.189 two chapters, I'm not really sure exactly what 00:04:49.189 --> 00:04:53.029 Paul's, what he's going for here. Maybe he's 00:04:53.029 --> 00:04:55.829 just stating some simple facts. You know, hey, 00:04:55.889 --> 00:04:59.269 Macedonia did good. Hey, you need to do good. 00:04:59.269 --> 00:05:01.769 Or maybe he's trying to spur them on a little 00:05:01.769 --> 00:05:04.420 bit. Hey, look at these people up in Macedonia. 00:05:04.459 --> 00:05:06.120 They've done pretty good. Now, don't you think 00:05:06.120 --> 00:05:07.600 you can probably do a little better than that 00:05:07.600 --> 00:05:09.600 or maybe at least do as good as them? I don't 00:05:09.600 --> 00:05:12.720 know. If Paul was trying to spur something on, 00:05:12.879 --> 00:05:15.660 as you read on, he says, hey, look, you know, 00:05:15.680 --> 00:05:18.160 I've been telling them about all this big offering, 00:05:18.339 --> 00:05:20.660 this gift y 'all are working on. Some of them 00:05:20.660 --> 00:05:23.160 just to come down here and see it. So y 'all 00:05:23.160 --> 00:05:25.079 better make sure that everything's ready. It 00:05:25.079 --> 00:05:27.379 sure would be embarrassing for you, Paul says, 00:05:27.579 --> 00:05:30.680 if they were to come, if we were to come. and 00:05:30.680 --> 00:05:32.439 you ain't going to have much to offer to the 00:05:32.439 --> 00:05:36.300 people in Jerusalem. Now, I don't know if Paul's 00:05:36.300 --> 00:05:38.060 kind of trying to give them a hint, a little 00:05:38.060 --> 00:05:41.240 nudge. Maybe he's just stating facts, and there's 00:05:41.240 --> 00:05:45.300 no ulterior motive that he's got going on. But 00:05:45.300 --> 00:05:47.920 nevertheless, that's the conversation that's 00:05:47.920 --> 00:05:52.319 going on here in 2 Corinthians 8 and into chapter 00:05:52.319 --> 00:05:57.279 9. And the main point being this, is that we 00:05:57.279 --> 00:05:59.920 don't have to look very far around us to see, 00:06:00.439 --> 00:06:02.939 that there are people in need, that there are 00:06:02.939 --> 00:06:06.920 brothers and sisters in Christ in need. And the 00:06:06.920 --> 00:06:10.060 point that Paul makes is, is that when you have 00:06:10.060 --> 00:06:13.220 an abundance and there is somebody else that 00:06:13.220 --> 00:06:18.019 doesn't have enough, then it's our duty, it's 00:06:18.019 --> 00:06:22.199 our privilege, it's our call by Scripture to 00:06:22.199 --> 00:06:26.199 try to help those who do not have from those 00:06:26.199 --> 00:06:28.899 who do have. And that's what Paul is talking 00:06:28.899 --> 00:06:31.579 about. And that's what we see alluded to here 00:06:31.579 --> 00:06:34.879 in these verses that we read tonight, where he 00:06:34.879 --> 00:06:36.819 says, remember this. Now, this is good instruction 00:06:36.819 --> 00:06:40.160 for us too. Now, we're not necessarily called 00:06:40.160 --> 00:06:42.939 to send money to a specific thing as they were 00:06:42.939 --> 00:06:45.879 here in Jerusalem. There are many, many, I think, 00:06:45.899 --> 00:06:48.100 opportunities that we may be able to give. And 00:06:48.100 --> 00:06:50.300 I'm not talking about as a church. I mean, sometimes 00:06:50.300 --> 00:06:52.959 as a church, sure. But even individually, just 00:06:52.959 --> 00:06:55.399 in our daily life. And these words are good for 00:06:55.399 --> 00:06:58.870 us to remember when he says, Remember this, the 00:06:58.870 --> 00:07:02.050 person who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly. 00:07:02.129 --> 00:07:05.470 Now, if anybody in here has ever planted a garden, 00:07:05.610 --> 00:07:08.990 if you plant a small garden, guess what? You're 00:07:08.990 --> 00:07:11.769 going to produce a small amount of crops. If 00:07:11.769 --> 00:07:16.889 you plant a big garden, you're going to produce 00:07:16.889 --> 00:07:21.250 a large amount of crops. Now, the benefit to 00:07:21.250 --> 00:07:23.889 a small garden is, well, it don't take nearly 00:07:23.889 --> 00:07:26.410 as much work. You don't have to work as hard 00:07:26.410 --> 00:07:29.139 at it. It's easy to get out there, do the work. 00:07:29.180 --> 00:07:32.639 It's easy to pick what grows. A big garden, though, 00:07:32.779 --> 00:07:35.560 it takes a lot of work, but the reward is worth 00:07:35.560 --> 00:07:38.240 it. Because if you plant a big garden, you're 00:07:38.240 --> 00:07:41.339 going to have an abundance, more so than most 00:07:41.339 --> 00:07:43.639 people can eat. Most of the people I know who 00:07:43.639 --> 00:07:46.420 plant a big garden give a lot of it away. They 00:07:46.420 --> 00:07:47.959 share it with their neighbors. That's a good 00:07:47.959 --> 00:07:51.879 thing to do. That's a great thing. And I guess 00:07:51.879 --> 00:07:53.680 city folks don't do that because they don't have 00:07:53.680 --> 00:07:55.990 gardens. But you see that here at this church 00:07:55.990 --> 00:07:58.769 all the time. It's not uncommon when gardens 00:07:58.769 --> 00:08:02.329 are growing that people will come in with sacks 00:08:02.329 --> 00:08:03.870 full of stuff and sit them back there on the 00:08:03.870 --> 00:08:05.889 table and say, hey, I brought squash today. I 00:08:05.889 --> 00:08:08.410 brought peas today. I brought whatever it is 00:08:08.410 --> 00:08:12.009 today. That's a good example of people who have 00:08:12.009 --> 00:08:14.850 an abundance who are sharing with others who 00:08:14.850 --> 00:08:18.149 may not have an abundance. And that's what Paul 00:08:18.149 --> 00:08:23.769 says. Those who sow sparingly will reap sparingly. 00:08:24.680 --> 00:08:26.819 So we need to be generous, not just with our 00:08:26.819 --> 00:08:29.180 gardens. It's not just talking about our gardens. 00:08:29.540 --> 00:08:32.279 I think it's talking about everything we have. 00:08:32.480 --> 00:08:36.000 In particular, I suppose finances would be probably 00:08:36.000 --> 00:08:38.700 more specifically what it's talking about. But 00:08:38.700 --> 00:08:40.879 maybe there are other materialistic things we 00:08:40.879 --> 00:08:43.580 have other than finances. But realistically, 00:08:43.879 --> 00:08:46.799 most everything we have is a result of finances. 00:08:47.500 --> 00:08:50.700 And so the question is, are we tight with what 00:08:50.700 --> 00:08:54.889 we have? Do we hold on to it? Or are we freely 00:08:54.889 --> 00:08:58.669 giving to help others? And we have to think about 00:08:58.669 --> 00:09:02.629 that. We don't want to be hoarders. We want to 00:09:02.629 --> 00:09:05.289 be those that if we have, then we're not stuffing 00:09:05.289 --> 00:09:08.850 it under our mattress and going in there and 00:09:08.850 --> 00:09:11.870 counting it every day. And we know when one bill 00:09:11.870 --> 00:09:13.850 is gone out from under that mattress, we lay 00:09:13.850 --> 00:09:15.350 on it at night and we say, man, I'm laying a 00:09:15.350 --> 00:09:16.870 little lower tonight. I think somebody took a 00:09:16.870 --> 00:09:19.370 $100 bill out from under there. Some people are 00:09:19.370 --> 00:09:21.429 just that tight with their money. They're just 00:09:21.429 --> 00:09:25.730 that stingy. And they've been blessed, but they 00:09:25.730 --> 00:09:28.669 don't use what they've been blessed with to in 00:09:28.669 --> 00:09:31.409 any way help somebody. Or maybe they do help, 00:09:31.509 --> 00:09:34.990 but just with the bare minimum to get by. And 00:09:34.990 --> 00:09:36.789 what Paul is calling us to here, and I think 00:09:36.789 --> 00:09:38.970 what God calls us to, obviously through the Scripture, 00:09:39.230 --> 00:09:42.870 is if we've been blessed, then we need to bless 00:09:42.870 --> 00:09:45.850 others when we have opportunity and the means 00:09:45.850 --> 00:09:51.299 to do so. He says in verse 7, Each person should 00:09:51.299 --> 00:09:57.240 do as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly 00:09:57.240 --> 00:10:02.860 or out of necessity. What does God want us to 00:10:02.860 --> 00:10:07.320 do? He wants our heart to be right. He wants 00:10:07.320 --> 00:10:10.559 us to give with a good heart. He wants us not 00:10:10.559 --> 00:10:13.120 to come to church and say, well, I'm at church, 00:10:13.200 --> 00:10:16.360 and I guess the offering plate is coming around. 00:10:16.600 --> 00:10:20.070 I guess I should give something. Because the 00:10:20.070 --> 00:10:21.950 Bible talks about giving, and I don't really 00:10:21.950 --> 00:10:24.350 want to, because I want to buy this new thing, 00:10:24.450 --> 00:10:26.649 or I want to save for this, or I want to keep 00:10:26.649 --> 00:10:29.029 this for a rainy day, or whatever reason, excuse 00:10:29.029 --> 00:10:32.269 that we make. God doesn't want us just to say, 00:10:32.309 --> 00:10:34.389 well, I don't want to give this, but I'm supposed 00:10:34.389 --> 00:10:36.409 to, so I'm going to give it. God doesn't want 00:10:36.409 --> 00:10:39.710 us to give reluctantly. He says he doesn't want 00:10:39.710 --> 00:10:43.879 us to give out of necessity. God wants us to 00:10:43.879 --> 00:10:47.019 seek him and his word and to grow in him and 00:10:47.019 --> 00:10:49.820 to experience his grace and to love other people 00:10:49.820 --> 00:10:53.240 like that he loves people. And then when we see 00:10:53.240 --> 00:10:56.919 that there's a need, it's not a reluctant give. 00:10:57.259 --> 00:11:01.179 It's a, oh no, this person has a need. This person 00:11:01.179 --> 00:11:02.639 needs some food. I'm going to give them some 00:11:02.639 --> 00:11:05.940 food. Hey, I hear the church is collecting sleeping 00:11:05.940 --> 00:11:08.480 bags. Man, I want to help these people. They're 00:11:08.480 --> 00:11:09.980 laying out in the cold. They don't have anywhere 00:11:09.980 --> 00:11:12.200 to sleep. They don't have anything to eat. I 00:11:12.200 --> 00:11:14.139 want to buy some sleeping bags. I want to put 00:11:14.139 --> 00:11:16.840 $20 in the pot. I want to put $100 in the pot, 00:11:16.919 --> 00:11:21.559 whatever it is. God wants us to love those that 00:11:21.559 --> 00:11:24.320 we are serving. He wants us to give. He wants 00:11:24.320 --> 00:11:28.220 our heart to be right. And so if you give reluctantly 00:11:28.220 --> 00:11:30.820 right now, then that's something you need to 00:11:30.820 --> 00:11:33.690 pray about. We need to pray and say, okay, God, 00:11:33.870 --> 00:11:36.509 maybe there are times in our life where we don't 00:11:36.509 --> 00:11:40.070 want to get rid of that money. We just don't 00:11:40.070 --> 00:11:42.590 want to give to that ministry. And we say, golly, 00:11:42.629 --> 00:11:45.049 I just gave to this ministry, and now this other 00:11:45.049 --> 00:11:48.149 ministry wants money, and now the roof is going 00:11:48.149 --> 00:11:49.389 to have to be repaired, and they're going to 00:11:49.389 --> 00:11:51.750 be asking for more money, and, well, I don't 00:11:51.750 --> 00:11:54.629 give enough. Okay, well, if that's your heart, 00:11:54.690 --> 00:11:57.190 so be it. I mean, I'm not telling anybody what 00:11:57.190 --> 00:11:59.149 to give or how much to give or what to give to. 00:11:59.230 --> 00:12:02.639 That's between you and the Lord. I had somebody 00:12:02.639 --> 00:12:05.320 ask me one day about our church. Oh, are they 00:12:05.320 --> 00:12:06.980 pretty good givers, your people? I said, I don't 00:12:06.980 --> 00:12:09.139 have a clue what anybody gives. Why would you 00:12:09.139 --> 00:12:11.200 even ask a preacher that? I don't have a clue. 00:12:11.279 --> 00:12:13.200 But that told me where that person's heart was. 00:12:13.480 --> 00:12:15.340 The first thing they said to me is they said, 00:12:15.440 --> 00:12:17.019 oh, they said, what do you do at the church? 00:12:17.159 --> 00:12:18.259 I said, well, I'm the pastor. They said, oh, 00:12:18.360 --> 00:12:20.059 you make the big money. I said, what about your 00:12:20.059 --> 00:12:21.879 people? Are they pretty good givers? I was like, 00:12:21.899 --> 00:12:28.320 dude. But that's where some people's hearts are. 00:12:29.519 --> 00:12:31.700 I don't have a clue what nobody gives. If you 00:12:31.700 --> 00:12:33.240 are ever wondering, I don't look at nothing. 00:12:33.379 --> 00:12:35.139 You, Sonny, can vouch for that. I don't ask. 00:12:35.460 --> 00:12:40.039 Zero information. Zero information. Because if 00:12:40.039 --> 00:12:42.200 you want to give, that's between you and the 00:12:42.200 --> 00:12:45.159 Lord. If the Lord calls you to give, then praise 00:12:45.159 --> 00:12:47.919 the Lord. If he doesn't cause you to give, that's 00:12:47.919 --> 00:12:52.019 between you and the Lord. God wants us to give 00:12:52.019 --> 00:12:56.259 from the heart. And if that means giving to 17 00:12:56.259 --> 00:12:58.480 different needs that come up throughout the year, 00:12:59.240 --> 00:13:03.620 then so be it. That's between you and the Lord. 00:13:04.259 --> 00:13:07.200 But what the Lord wants is for our heart to be 00:13:07.200 --> 00:13:10.799 right. And if our heart's not right, then we 00:13:10.799 --> 00:13:12.940 need to pray that God would help change our heart. 00:13:13.580 --> 00:13:18.779 Because it says that God loves a cheerful giver. 00:13:19.659 --> 00:13:22.779 Not a stingy giver, not a reluctant giver, not 00:13:22.779 --> 00:13:26.159 a giver out of necessity, but God loves a cheerful 00:13:26.159 --> 00:13:29.779 giver. So we're not earning God's favor. We're 00:13:29.779 --> 00:13:31.759 not earning God's favor. It's not like God's 00:13:31.759 --> 00:13:34.440 got a thermometer in heaven with our name on 00:13:34.440 --> 00:13:36.879 it, and every time we put some money in there, 00:13:36.980 --> 00:13:40.179 that thermometer goes up until we've reached 00:13:40.179 --> 00:13:44.539 the top of it, until we're hot. Boy, God says, 00:13:44.639 --> 00:13:47.539 all right, they're ready to go. They put a 20 00:13:47.539 --> 00:13:49.600 in here and a 100 in there, and they put 500 00:13:49.600 --> 00:13:51.919 in one day, and boy, they're really doing good. 00:13:52.039 --> 00:13:55.940 That's not how God works. God would rather us 00:13:55.940 --> 00:13:59.720 put two cents in with a pure heart, then put 00:13:59.720 --> 00:14:03.440 a million dollars in reluctantly. Because that's 00:14:03.440 --> 00:14:06.899 what God looks at. God loves a cheerful giver. 00:14:07.879 --> 00:14:12.240 And there is great blessing when we give from 00:14:12.240 --> 00:14:15.120 the heart. Listen to what he says in verse 8. 00:14:15.539 --> 00:14:18.440 And God is able to make every grace overflow 00:14:18.440 --> 00:14:22.639 to you, so that in every way, always having everything 00:14:22.639 --> 00:14:27.559 you need, you may excel in every good work. Now 00:14:27.559 --> 00:14:29.789 he says grace here, but... But I think he's just 00:14:29.789 --> 00:14:32.649 talking about blessing in general. That when 00:14:32.649 --> 00:14:37.029 we give, God takes care of us. He gives us what 00:14:37.029 --> 00:14:40.309 we need. Now, I'm not one of those folks that 00:14:40.309 --> 00:14:42.730 believes that the Bible teaches that, boy, if 00:14:42.730 --> 00:14:45.330 you give a bunch of money to God, then God's 00:14:45.330 --> 00:14:47.409 going to give you a bunch of money back. Now, 00:14:47.409 --> 00:14:48.950 I'm not saying he doesn't do that sometimes. 00:14:49.330 --> 00:14:51.789 I'm not saying that God doesn't bless us in that 00:14:51.789 --> 00:14:54.940 way sometimes. But I'm also not saying that the 00:14:54.940 --> 00:14:57.460 Scripture guarantees that, boy, if you put $100 00:14:57.460 --> 00:14:59.700 in the plate today, you'll get a $1 ,000 check 00:14:59.700 --> 00:15:01.299 in the mail next week out of the blue. Maybe 00:15:01.299 --> 00:15:04.840 you will. I don't know. But I know that God blesses 00:15:04.840 --> 00:15:07.460 us in whatever way He chooses to, and maybe that's 00:15:07.460 --> 00:15:11.279 materialistically, or maybe it's not. But God 00:15:11.279 --> 00:15:14.019 provides what we need, and sometimes provides 00:15:14.019 --> 00:15:18.379 abundantly above and beyond what we need. And 00:15:18.379 --> 00:15:21.779 for what purpose? So that we can excel in every 00:15:21.779 --> 00:15:24.330 good work. Well, what's a good work? We just 00:15:24.330 --> 00:15:26.570 talked about one of them tonight. If it's giving 00:15:26.570 --> 00:15:31.850 to other people who are in need. Now, maybe there's 00:15:31.850 --> 00:15:34.090 been times in your life where you were reluctant 00:15:34.090 --> 00:15:36.470 to give. I suspect if we're honest, we've probably 00:15:36.470 --> 00:15:39.350 all had some times where maybe there was some 00:15:39.350 --> 00:15:41.450 ministry or maybe there was some person on the 00:15:41.450 --> 00:15:44.250 street and you were reluctant to give for whatever 00:15:44.250 --> 00:15:46.330 reason. You said, I don't know about that person. 00:15:46.370 --> 00:15:47.629 I don't know what they're going to do with the 00:15:47.629 --> 00:15:50.360 money. I don't know about this thing at the church. 00:15:50.460 --> 00:15:51.919 I don't know if I want to give to this. There's 00:15:51.919 --> 00:15:55.039 probably been times in our life that we have 00:15:55.039 --> 00:16:00.019 been reluctant to give. But in my experience, 00:16:00.279 --> 00:16:03.340 and I would venture to say probably in everybody's 00:16:03.340 --> 00:16:07.480 experience, I don't know of any time that I have 00:16:07.480 --> 00:16:10.620 ever made the decision to give that afterwards 00:16:10.620 --> 00:16:13.679 I felt worse giving. Now, I've had times that 00:16:13.679 --> 00:16:16.519 I didn't give or didn't help somebody that was 00:16:16.519 --> 00:16:19.039 in need. And man, that's a hard thing to have 00:16:19.039 --> 00:16:21.080 to live with when you pass somebody by and you 00:16:21.080 --> 00:16:24.100 think, man, should I help that person? And you 00:16:24.100 --> 00:16:27.440 don't help that person. But I venture to say 00:16:27.440 --> 00:16:30.799 that for most of us in here, for those times 00:16:30.799 --> 00:16:33.799 that we do help, that we don't go away saying, 00:16:33.919 --> 00:16:37.620 man, I wish I hadn't helped that person. We just 00:16:37.620 --> 00:16:40.200 don't do that because there's great blessing 00:16:40.200 --> 00:16:43.240 in knowing that we've done the right thing. And 00:16:43.240 --> 00:16:45.039 that's what Paul's calling the people to here 00:16:45.039 --> 00:16:48.259 in Corinth. He's saying, look, there's a need 00:16:48.259 --> 00:16:51.600 among the people in Jerusalem. And you have an 00:16:51.600 --> 00:16:54.539 abundance. You have an ability with what God 00:16:54.539 --> 00:16:57.379 has blessed you with to be able to help these 00:16:57.379 --> 00:17:00.399 people. And so through the blessings that God 00:17:00.399 --> 00:17:03.279 has given you, give back to those who are in 00:17:03.279 --> 00:17:06.660 need. And know that when you give from a good 00:17:06.660 --> 00:17:10.759 heart, that God is going to take care of you. 00:17:11.400 --> 00:17:14.789 His grace is going to shine down upon you. There's 00:17:14.789 --> 00:17:17.390 going to be a great blessing that you receive 00:17:17.390 --> 00:17:22.430 from God. And that's good instruction for us 00:17:22.430 --> 00:17:26.670 today. That God wants us to be a cheerful giver. 00:17:27.470 --> 00:17:30.450 What better example do we have to give than Jesus 00:17:30.450 --> 00:17:34.210 Christ? He gave his life so that our sins could 00:17:34.210 --> 00:17:37.809 be forgiven. And that's our example. That's the 00:17:37.809 --> 00:17:41.059 one that we look to. We are only forgiven through 00:17:41.059 --> 00:17:44.079 Jesus Christ because he has given his life for 00:17:44.079 --> 00:17:47.339 us. So that when we repent and ask for forgiveness, 00:17:47.440 --> 00:17:51.240 our sins will be forgiven. And so when we receive 00:17:51.240 --> 00:17:54.519 such a great grace and such a great blessing 00:17:54.519 --> 00:17:58.339 from God, then that should motivate us to be 00:17:58.339 --> 00:18:02.440 able to bless those we come in contact with in 00:18:02.440 --> 00:18:05.759 whatever ways we may be able to bless them. Let's 00:18:05.759 --> 00:18:10.000 pray. God, we thank you for this good word. I 00:18:10.000 --> 00:18:11.940 pray that you would help us to be a people that 00:18:11.940 --> 00:18:16.420 give from the heart. Maybe sometimes we do and 00:18:16.420 --> 00:18:19.019 maybe there are some times that we don't, dear 00:18:19.019 --> 00:18:22.240 Lord. Maybe there are times that we are greedy 00:18:22.240 --> 00:18:25.700 and that we are reluctant and that we are selfish. 00:18:26.759 --> 00:18:29.180 So I pray that you would help our hearts to change, 00:18:29.299 --> 00:18:33.720 that we wouldn't give out of necessity or from 00:18:33.720 --> 00:18:37.339 an unwilling heart, dear Lord. But that through 00:18:37.339 --> 00:18:39.640 your word and through Jesus Christ, our hearts 00:18:39.640 --> 00:18:42.579 would change in such a way that we would have 00:18:42.579 --> 00:18:46.839 a heart and a desire to give to help others in 00:18:46.839 --> 00:18:49.700 whatever way we can. So help us to take these 00:18:49.700 --> 00:18:53.299 words of Paul and learn from them tonight. And 00:18:53.299 --> 00:18:56.859 help us, dear Lord, as individuals and as a church, 00:18:56.920 --> 00:19:00.200 be a given church, dear Lord. We pray that you 00:19:00.200 --> 00:19:03.660 continue to meet our needs. And help us to have 00:19:03.660 --> 00:19:06.160 an abundance so we can continue to help the needs 00:19:06.160 --> 00:19:09.759 of others. And I ask these things in Jesus' name. 00:19:10.299 --> 00:19:10.779 Amen.