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Welcome to the Liberty Baptist 
Sermon Archives. 

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The message you're about to hear
was preached at Liberty Baptist 

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Church in Easton, MA. 
You can find out more about us 

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or contact us at my 
libertybaptist.org or just look 

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us up on Facebook. 
And now we hope that this 

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message from God's Word will be 
a blessing to you. 

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It is good to be here. 
Let me start out by saying I 

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won't be offended if you think I
have an accent, but I do not 

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have an accent. 
You're the one that has the 

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accent. 
You know what I'm saying? 

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Because if you were to say 
Marcia, that would be right, but

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not Masha. 
You know what I'm saying? 

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So anyhow, let's, if you have 
your Bibles, let's go to 2nd 

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Corinthians 8. 
Let's quit messing around here 

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and let's get right to the 
Scripture. 

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Do y'all stand for the reading 
of God's Word? 

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All right, let's go ahead and do
that. 

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Let's stand and the way it the 
reason that the that we stand at

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Berea Baptist Church in 
Springfield as they know it'll 

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be a long time before they ever 
get to stand again. 

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They they realize that so this 
is their last opportunity to 

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stretch their legs over the next
three nights. 

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Lord willing, I want to preach 
from 2nd Corinthians 8 and 

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Chapter 9. 
And there's a section in there 

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that I won't preach, but I'll 
preach mostly of these verses 

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through Second Corinthians 
chapter 8 and Chapter 9. 

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I hope that it won't be a little
bit longer tonight, but it may 

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be because I I have to lay the 
groundwork of what is taking 

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place in these two chapters and 
what Paul is doing and what he 

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is preaching to the church at 
Corinth. 

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Of course, we know that he was 
really there in Corinth longer 

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than anybody anywhere else that 
he had ever been on his journey 

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coming into Europe through 
Philippi and then Berea 

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Thessalonica. 
And eventually he makes his way 

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to Corinth. 
It's a very, you know, carnal 

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place. 
It's a very large place. 

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And but, but, but you could 
understand that Paul was 

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probably had a little bit of 
trepidation when it came to 

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Corinth, But the Lord came to 
him and said, don't, don't be 

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concerned about the, I mean, 
it's almost like what he said to

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Jeremiah, don't be concerned 
about what's taking place here 

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and what you see, there's a 
people here. 

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In other words, God wanted to 
know that no matter where you're

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at, there's a church to be 
established in this area. 

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Now years have passed and now he
is writing back to the church. 

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His second book, his 2nd letter.
We know the first one was a 

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pretty much a rebuking letter 
because of the, some things that

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were going on in the church. 
Second Corinthians is more of a 

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revival. 
And let's talk about an offering

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that needs to be taken up. 
So keep that in mind and we'll 

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look at this tonight. 
Notice in verse one of Second 

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Corinthians 8. 
Moreover, brethren, we do you to

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wit of the grace of God bestowed
on the churches of Macedonia. 

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Now the churches of Macedonia 
that's going to be like Philippi

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Berea Thessalonica. 
How that in a great trial of 

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affliction, the abundance of 
their joy and deep and their 

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deep poverty abounded under the 
riches of their liberality. 

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What a verse. 
That verse is almost like one of

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those verses in the Bible. 
You're like, is that a 

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contradiction? 
And it's not. 

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But you see words like trial, 
affliction, joy, deep poverty, 

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riches, and liberality. 
Some of those. 

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Words don't seem to go together,
but yet they do in this text. 

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Then he says, For to their power
I bear record. 

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Yeah. 
And beyond their power they were

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willing of themselves, praying 
us with much entreaty that we 

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would receive the gift, and take
upon us the fellowship of the 

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ministering to the Saints. 
And this they did not as we 

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hoped, but first gave their own 
selves to the Lord and to us by 

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the will of God, in so much that
we desired Titus, that as he had

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begun, so he would also finish 
in you the same grace also. 

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Therefore, as ye abound in 
everything, so he goes. 

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These are the things going on in
the church. 

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As you abound in these things in
the church, faith, utterance, 

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knowledge, and in all diligence,
and in your love to us, see that

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you abound in this grace also. 
Just so you'll know that he's 

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talking about an offering. 
He's talking about the money 

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that they were taking up. 
Then he said this, I speak not 

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by commandment, but by the 
occasion of the fore awareness 

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of others. 
This is interesting, he says to 

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them, to prove the sincerity of 
your love. 

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Father, we pray tonight as we 
gather around the Word of God 

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during this first night of the 
mission conference. 

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I pray that you would help me to
deliver the message in such a 

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way that it would be 
understandable. 

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That it would. 
Go into the hearts of each 

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person that listens. 
And I pray Lord, after the next 

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several nights will have a clear
understanding about the 

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principle of faith, promise, 
mission giving, what it does for

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a church, what it does for an 
individual, and what it can even

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do for a family. 
But mostly as a corporate body 

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of believers. 
I pray, Lord, that we might 

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understand the necessity, the 
importance, the conviction that 

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we should have concerning the 
offering that goes beyond the 

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locality in which we're at 
tonight. 

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And of course, that would be 
here in Easton, MA. 

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And as we send money around the 
world and see missions all 

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around the world, may we 
understand the implication as we

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are involved in what is called 
the Great Commission. 

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Help me, Lord, to present the 
message tonight in a way that 

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would be understandable. 
In Jesus name, Amen. 

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You may be seated. 
Thank you so much for standing 

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tonight and the and the and the 
reading of God's word. 

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I already messed that up. 
That won't take long sometimes 

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when you come to a mission 
conference. 

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In fact, missions is probably my
favorite meeting of the year and

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and mission. 
The reason is, is missions has 

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changed me and my wife. 
I mean, we go back to 1984 when 

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we were saved serving in the Air
Force and we had just. 

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Finally figured out about 
tithing. 

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We had just like, I think the 
Bible tells us that we're 

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supposed to tithe. 
And it was about nine months 

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later that we we were involved 
in the first mission conference 

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that I'd ever even heard about. 
I grew up in what I would 

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consider a very liberal Southern
Baptist church in the in the 

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north of Chattanooga, TN. 
Never got saved until I was in 

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the military. 
And the first time I heard about

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faith, promise, mission giving 
and the principle of it, it 

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astounded me. 
It was just, it was too much for

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me. 
And so every since 1984, me and 

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my wife have been involved in 
giving to missions through our 

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church. 
But when somebody hears about 

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faith, promise, mission giving, 
here's what a lot of times 

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people want. 
Well, can you? 

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Give me a verse. 
Can you give me a chapter and a 

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verse where the Bible says fill 
out a card and give so much 

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every week? 
Where's that? 

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At Where's that verse at? 
Well, it's it's in the Book of 

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Hesitations, chapter 12. 
No, it's not. 

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It's not in the Bible per SE 
like that where you get a 

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chapter and verse about what we 
do. 

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But I could tell you this if I 
was going to talk about tithing.

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The Bible does make that very 
clear. 

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And I can give you several 
verses in the Word of God where 

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the Bible tells us about where 
how we're to tithe through our 

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church and that 10% of our gross
income really doesn't even 

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belong. 
To us, it belongs to the Lord 

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through our church and that's 
how that's what helps us take 

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care of the preacher and the 
building and all the things that

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goes along with a a church. 
But but a a chapter and verse 

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you cannot find. 
But here's what you can find. 

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And I think that I will be able 
to prove that from the 

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Scriptures tonight. 
And that is this. 

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There is a principle of faith, 
promise, mission giving. 

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Given in the word of God and 
it's actually found here in 

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second Corinthians chapter 8 and
9 Now here's the here's the 

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principle. 
One of the principles, there's 

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several principles. 
You know when you have a a 

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principle, a precept, A 
conviction, I mean the 

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principle. 
One of the principles that is 

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found here is the principle of 
giving outside of the locality 

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of which you're. 
At meaning your ties are to go 

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to the church here and that 
takes care of the church here 

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but. 
When you talk about missions, 

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you're talking about just like 
you saw tonight and we'll see 

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over the next few nights and and
the missionaries that are around

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the world that is beyond your 
locality. 

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Where does that come from? 
Well, it comes from the Apostle 

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Paul as he goes to Corinth and 
the other churches of Aki and 

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then also in Macedonia, and he 
tells them about a problem 

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that's going on and that they 
need to help in this problem. 

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And we'll look at that. 
So, so one of the principles is 

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by faith. 
One of the principles is the 

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grace of God. 
You'll see that principle found,

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but there's that principle of 
giving outside of our locality. 

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Now some people, they just like,
wow. 

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Well, it doesn't benefit us. 
It doesn't benefit our church if

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I give the missions. 
No, it benefits the Kingdom of 

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God. 
And here's what you need to 

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understand. 
The Kingdom of God is bigger 

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than anyone church, but every 
church needs to be involved in 

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the Kingdom of God. 
And so the question before us 

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tonight on this first night of 
the mission conference is, can 

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we see a principle of faith, 
promise, mission, mission 

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giving? 
So let's look at this tonight 

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and just these first 8 verses, 
and then also look at a little 

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bit at chapter #9 and then look 
at the background of what is 

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taking place here. 
And then we'll see if we can 

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answer that question by the time
we get to the end of the sermon.

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I know that'll be a while, but 
we will get there. 

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What's the background to where 
we find ourself when Paul is 

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writing to church here in 
Corinth and talking about the 

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Macedonian churches and how that
the grace of God had been 

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bestowed upon them? 
What? 

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What is that all about? 
Well, here's what happens. 

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So the apostle Paul, a year 
before, had come to the church 

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at Corinth and he had preached a
message to them about giving to 

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the poor Saints in Jerusalem. 
I'll show you that. 

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But I've always thought that let
me ask you this question. 

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So if if wouldn't you like to 
know what the message was he 

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preached? 
I mean, there'll be times when 

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the Bible is silent, maybe about
a message that was spoken or 

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then. 
Later on maybe you can take 

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scriptures and put it with 
scriptures and because the best 

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commentary of the Bible is the 
Bible because scriptures will 

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always interpret scriptures. 
And if there's something that we

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don't know from the scriptures, 
it's because God doesn't want us

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to know, but he wants us to know
so much. 

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So anyhow, I, I was, I remember 
studying through this and 

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thinking, wow, what was the 
message that Paul preached to 

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them? 
Because if you go to Chapter 9, 

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let's do this really quick, just
a couple of verses. 

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I want you to see that a year 
earlier, before he's. 

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Writing Second Corinthians, 
Second Corinthians and including

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chapter 8-9. 
He comes to the church at 

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Corinth. 
Now we'll look at verse #1 he 

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says for As for as touching the 
ministering to the Saints. 

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So again, he's talking about 
this offering that they're going

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to be taking up. 
For the poor Saints in 

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Jerusalem, there's a famine 
going on down there. 

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And they're they're, they're in,
they're in trouble. 

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They need, they need some help. 
And Paul comes to the church at 

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Corinth and says we are going to
get involved in the offering to 

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send it to the church at 
Jerusalem, now the church at 

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Jerusalem. 
Just so you know, that was the 

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first church that was started by
Jesus Christ. 

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Jesus Christ started the first 
church and now you have this 

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church is in trouble as far as 
they have a need. 

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And so, so Paul goes for his 
touching the ministering to the 

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Saints. 
It is superfluous for me to 

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write to you. 
And again he says this, for I 

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know the forewordness of your 
mind, for which I boast of you 

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to them of Macedonia that Achaia
was ready a year ago. 

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Look at this. 
And your zeal hath provoked very

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many. 
So you get to got to got to get 

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a hold of this. 
This is so important for the 

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00:12:48,760 --> 00:12:53,360
next three nights. 
So the apostle Paul, he comes to

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the church at Corinth and he 
preaches the message that we're 

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00:12:56,120 --> 00:12:57,680
going to look at in a minute 
because I'm going to show you 

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what the message was. 
He preached. 

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00:12:59,720 --> 00:13:03,440
He preaches this message to him.
And what does those two verses 

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say? 
It says they got excited. 

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They said, yes, we want to be 
involved. 

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00:13:08,560 --> 00:13:11,240
We want to, we we want to be 
involved in this offering. 

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00:13:11,240 --> 00:13:15,920
So yes, so they got excited. 
And now, a year later, it's come

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to his attention and he's 
finding out as he's writing the 

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00:13:19,520 --> 00:13:21,440
letter. 
That even though they got 

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excited a year ago and they were
all ready to go, they had not 

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00:13:25,000 --> 00:13:26,880
performed the doing of what they
said. 

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00:13:27,560 --> 00:13:29,640
Now Paul is afraid. 
This is all through St. 

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00:13:29,640 --> 00:13:32,120
Corinthians 8:00 and 9:00. 
You can read it, but Paul 

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00:13:32,120 --> 00:13:36,800
becomes possibly. 
With a situation that he could 

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00:13:36,800 --> 00:13:40,160
be embarrassed by showing up at 
Corinth because, you know, they 

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00:13:40,160 --> 00:13:44,520
didn't have ATM cards, they 
didn't have a, you know, like a 

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00:13:44,760 --> 00:13:47,760
Western Union or being able to 
Apple. 

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00:13:47,760 --> 00:13:51,680
Pay in that amazing that you can
get on your Apple iPhone and you

247
00:13:51,680 --> 00:13:54,360
can send money to a grandson 
who's overseas. 

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00:13:54,360 --> 00:13:56,960
Like I've got a grandson 
overseas right now in the 

249
00:13:56,960 --> 00:13:59,200
military. 
But my wife said, oh, for for 

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00:13:59,200 --> 00:14:02,520
his birthday, we can just Apple 
Pay him and he's in a different 

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00:14:02,520 --> 00:14:05,200
country. 
I mean, America, it's a great 

252
00:14:05,200 --> 00:14:06,120
place. 
You know what I'm saying? 

253
00:14:06,640 --> 00:14:09,160
You got to love America. 
But they didn't have that. 

254
00:14:09,200 --> 00:14:12,400
They didn't have Apple Pay. 
They didn't have a bank 

255
00:14:12,400 --> 00:14:14,320
accounts. 
So what they would have to do 

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00:14:14,320 --> 00:14:16,360
with an offering like this, if 
they were going to go to these 

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00:14:16,360 --> 00:14:18,800
churches and they were going to 
take up these offerings, they 

258
00:14:18,800 --> 00:14:21,200
would have to send messengers, 
they would have to take 

259
00:14:21,680 --> 00:14:24,360
emissaries from each. 
Of the churches and then they 

260
00:14:24,360 --> 00:14:28,800
would collectively take the 
money to to Jerusalem. 

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00:14:28,800 --> 00:14:31,080
And that's what's going that's 
what's going to take place. 

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00:14:31,400 --> 00:14:34,000
Titus was one of the fellas. 
There's some people from 

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00:14:34,000 --> 00:14:36,920
Macedonia, there's people from 
Philippi, there's people from 

264
00:14:36,920 --> 00:14:39,800
Berea, there's people from AKI 
and they're going to be able to 

265
00:14:39,800 --> 00:14:42,320
take this offering. 
But here's the problem. 

266
00:14:42,320 --> 00:14:45,640
Paul's getting ready. 
To show up at Corinth and he's 

267
00:14:45,640 --> 00:14:48,560
heard that they have not laid 
aside like in first Corinthians 

268
00:14:48,560 --> 00:14:53,480
16 it says lay aside each week 
the offering that you're going 

269
00:14:53,480 --> 00:14:56,280
to take up there's a principle 
right there that we give faith 

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00:14:56,280 --> 00:14:59,040
promise weekly we. 
Lay it aside what God's laid on 

271
00:14:59,040 --> 00:15:00,640
our heart. 
I know some people get paid 

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00:15:00,880 --> 00:15:04,120
monthly or what everybody is, 
but Paul said every week, take 

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00:15:04,120 --> 00:15:06,600
up an offering every week. 
Hey man, we're Baptists. 

274
00:15:06,600 --> 00:15:08,680
We take up an offering every. 
Time we have charge. 

275
00:15:09,920 --> 00:15:11,680
So he said, lay this offering 
aside. 

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00:15:12,920 --> 00:15:16,800
And he said a year ago you were 
excited, you were all juiced up 

277
00:15:16,800 --> 00:15:18,320
about it. 
Now listen, there's something. 

278
00:15:18,320 --> 00:15:21,280
Listen, you got to be careful 
not to get stirred up in your 

279
00:15:21,280 --> 00:15:24,400
emotions and then don't do what 
you what God's told you to do. 

280
00:15:25,000 --> 00:15:26,520
Got to be very careful about 
that. 

281
00:15:27,200 --> 00:15:29,400
So they they were, they were all
excited. 

282
00:15:29,400 --> 00:15:31,640
They'd gotten excited about the 
offering, but now they had not 

283
00:15:31,640 --> 00:15:32,880
followed through in their 
offering. 

284
00:15:32,880 --> 00:15:37,480
But here's the deal. 
Paul left Corinth and he goes 

285
00:15:37,480 --> 00:15:41,560
down to Macedonia and he 
preaches the same message to the

286
00:15:41,560 --> 00:15:45,080
churches of Macedonia that he 
did to Corinth. 

287
00:15:46,040 --> 00:15:50,000
And they were nowhere near the 
affluent. 

288
00:15:50,000 --> 00:15:53,560
They had the affluency. 
The Macedonian churches were 

289
00:15:53,560 --> 00:15:58,640
poor in, in light of the, of the
Ki churches, including Corinth. 

290
00:15:59,200 --> 00:16:03,440
Now you can do a deep dive study
and there's a lot of reasons why

291
00:16:03,640 --> 00:16:08,120
Macedonia was under, was under 
oppression and they they were 

292
00:16:08,120 --> 00:16:10,920
poor than up at Corinth. 
There's a lot of reasons for 

293
00:16:10,920 --> 00:16:12,400
that. 
I'm not going to go into that, 

294
00:16:12,560 --> 00:16:16,320
but just just you have to take 
my word for it unless you want 

295
00:16:16,320 --> 00:16:23,680
to study it yourself. 
AKI was well off, Macedonia was 

296
00:16:23,680 --> 00:16:26,400
not well off. 
And you'll see another principle

297
00:16:26,400 --> 00:16:28,960
here. 
It doesn't matter how much you 

298
00:16:28,960 --> 00:16:33,760
have, it's where your heart is. 
And the heart of Macedonia was a

299
00:16:33,760 --> 00:16:39,400
large heart and the heart of of 
a Corinth was a stingy heart. 

300
00:16:40,040 --> 00:16:43,960
So the question becomes, well, 
what was it that he preached? 

301
00:16:44,800 --> 00:16:47,640
Because the the Macedonian 
churches were not only willing 

302
00:16:47,640 --> 00:16:51,880
to give, but they had actually 
participated in the offering and

303
00:16:52,120 --> 00:16:55,240
that Paul was receiving by the 
Gentile churches. 

304
00:16:55,240 --> 00:16:58,200
Now here's the other thing line 
of like a background. 

305
00:16:58,200 --> 00:17:00,680
So when you get to 2nd 
Corinthians chapter 8, notice 

306
00:17:00,680 --> 00:17:06,680
that Paul is using the 
Macedonian churches to try to 

307
00:17:06,680 --> 00:17:12,079
convict the Corinth church. 
They're like, hey, so he's 

308
00:17:12,079 --> 00:17:14,000
turning the tables. 
Really. 

309
00:17:14,000 --> 00:17:16,880
He's turning the tables on him. 
He says, let me tell you about 

310
00:17:16,880 --> 00:17:19,079
the grace of God that's been 
bestowed on the churches of 

311
00:17:19,079 --> 00:17:21,160
Macedonia. 
You see what? 

312
00:17:21,160 --> 00:17:24,319
You see what Paul's doing. 
So Paul will turn the table, so 

313
00:17:24,319 --> 00:17:27,079
to speak, on the Church of 
Corinth in our text tonight. 

314
00:17:27,560 --> 00:17:30,680
But before we can preach the 
text, which I'd like to do that 

315
00:17:30,680 --> 00:17:35,200
hopefully I want you to see the 
message that Paul preached to 

316
00:17:35,200 --> 00:17:40,640
the church at Corinth and to the
church at Macedonia. 

317
00:17:40,640 --> 00:17:42,320
And then I want you to show you 
the implications. 

318
00:17:42,320 --> 00:17:46,400
So you got to go to Romans 
chapter 15, Romans chapter 15. 

319
00:17:54,750 --> 00:17:58,590
It's turn left is what I was 
going to say just before. 

320
00:17:58,590 --> 00:18:01,270
So. 
Well, if I can find it in the 

321
00:18:01,270 --> 00:18:02,910
New Testament, yeah, you got 
there, brother. 

322
00:18:02,910 --> 00:18:07,310
Abel's Romans chapter. 15 And I 
want you to look at verse #28 

323
00:18:07,310 --> 00:18:11,750
Now here, this is interesting. 
Paul wrote Romans, I believe he 

324
00:18:11,750 --> 00:18:16,080
wrote Romans for from Corinth. 
But Paul wrote to the Roman 

325
00:18:16,080 --> 00:18:20,560
church, the believers in Rome, 
and he is writing to them 

326
00:18:20,560 --> 00:18:22,600
because he's going to come. 
He wants to come there. 

327
00:18:22,920 --> 00:18:26,200
Now you'll know that Paul got to
Rome, but not exactly the way 

328
00:18:26,200 --> 00:18:29,840
he'd anticipated. 
He never, I don't think anybody 

329
00:18:29,840 --> 00:18:33,480
would ever anticipate that they 
would make it to Rome strapped 

330
00:18:33,480 --> 00:18:37,120
to a Roman soldier. 
I don't think he he understood 

331
00:18:37,120 --> 00:18:40,560
that, but especially when he's 
writing he, he just says I want 

332
00:18:40,560 --> 00:18:42,840
to be there. 
So look what he says to them. 

333
00:18:42,840 --> 00:18:47,560
I want you to go at verse #24 He
says whenever I take my journey 

334
00:18:47,560 --> 00:18:52,120
into Spain, I will come to see 
you. 

335
00:18:52,400 --> 00:18:57,000
I will come to you for I trust 
to see you in my journey and to 

336
00:18:57,000 --> 00:19:00,160
be brought on my way thither 
word by you. 

337
00:19:00,680 --> 00:19:06,960
If first I be somewhat filled 
with your company, but now I go 

338
00:19:06,960 --> 00:19:10,320
to Jerusalem to minister unto 
the Saints. 

339
00:19:10,320 --> 00:19:13,280
Look up here don't read know one
more verse 25. 

340
00:19:13,280 --> 00:19:18,120
He says I want to come to you. 
I want to I want fruit that it 

341
00:19:18,120 --> 00:19:21,360
may have bear to your account. 
But he said first I've got to go

342
00:19:21,360 --> 00:19:23,320
to Jerusalem. 
I'm going to when I when he 

343
00:19:23,320 --> 00:19:26,200
sends this letter off. 
He said I'm headed to Jerusalem 

344
00:19:26,440 --> 00:19:28,640
because I'm going to minister to
the Saints. 

345
00:19:28,640 --> 00:19:30,960
What does that mean? 
That means he's taking the 

346
00:19:30,960 --> 00:19:33,880
offering. 
The offering is with him. 

347
00:19:34,320 --> 00:19:36,920
He's collected. 
He's in Corinth, There's a 

348
00:19:36,920 --> 00:19:40,440
collection of the offering. 
There's people from Macedonia at

349
00:19:40,440 --> 00:19:44,640
Ki, they're with Paul. 
They're going to go to Jerusalem

350
00:19:44,640 --> 00:19:47,480
to take this offering that 
they've taken up, that they've 

351
00:19:47,480 --> 00:19:51,360
collected. 
Now notice verse 26, and you can

352
00:19:51,360 --> 00:19:54,320
see the tie in here to 2nd 
Corinthians 8 and 9 as we look 

353
00:19:54,320 --> 00:19:57,720
at the Macedonian churches and 
the churches of Akai, which 

354
00:19:57,720 --> 00:20:00,360
would have been a Corinth. 
It says this, for it hath 

355
00:20:00,360 --> 00:20:06,040
pleased them of Macedonia and 
Akai to make a certain 

356
00:20:06,040 --> 00:20:09,760
contribution for the poor Saints
which are at Jerusalem. 

357
00:20:10,000 --> 00:20:13,440
All makes sense, right? 
But notice what it says in verse

358
00:20:13,440 --> 00:20:15,480
27. 
This is the message that he 

359
00:20:15,480 --> 00:20:18,960
preached. 
It hath pleased them verily. 

360
00:20:19,320 --> 00:20:24,400
And debtors they are, For if the
Gentiles look at this, for if 

361
00:20:24,400 --> 00:20:28,280
the Gentiles have been made 
partakers of their spiritual 

362
00:20:28,280 --> 00:20:33,720
things, their duty is also to 
minister unto them in carnal 

363
00:20:33,720 --> 00:20:35,960
things. 
Now time out, let me explain 

364
00:20:35,960 --> 00:20:39,800
this. 
So what Paul is saying here, 

365
00:20:39,800 --> 00:20:44,560
he's saying the Church of 
Jerusalem, the churches of 

366
00:20:44,560 --> 00:20:49,880
Macedonia and the churches of 
Akai, they owe a debt to the 

367
00:20:49,880 --> 00:20:52,320
church at Jerusalem. 
Why do they owe a debt? 

368
00:20:53,120 --> 00:20:55,520
Because it was the church at 
Jerusalem. 

369
00:20:56,160 --> 00:20:59,360
That was eventually how they got
saved and their churches were 

370
00:20:59,360 --> 00:21:01,040
established. 
Let me give you an example. 

371
00:21:01,520 --> 00:21:05,160
So Barnabas leaves Jerusalem. 
You can read this in the book of

372
00:21:05,160 --> 00:21:08,760
Acts. 
He goes to, he goes to Antioch, 

373
00:21:09,000 --> 00:21:14,320
all right, And Antioch, 
basically Barnabas is the pastor

374
00:21:14,320 --> 00:21:18,920
of the church at Antioch. 
He decides to go down to Tarsus 

375
00:21:18,920 --> 00:21:23,440
and to get a man named Saul who 
everybody's scared of because 

376
00:21:23,440 --> 00:21:26,680
the man's been killing 
Christians, but yet he's been 

377
00:21:26,680 --> 00:21:29,560
saved by the grace of God on the
road to Damascus. 

378
00:21:29,880 --> 00:21:33,760
He's had to be let down a wall, 
down a basket of a wall just to 

379
00:21:33,760 --> 00:21:37,240
escape those in the city who 
wanted him dead. 

380
00:21:37,560 --> 00:21:39,680
And he really dealt with that 
all of his life. 

381
00:21:40,480 --> 00:21:44,120
So he's down there. 
He doesn't know maybe what his 

382
00:21:44,120 --> 00:21:46,840
next step is. 
And Barnabas comes down there 

383
00:21:47,120 --> 00:21:50,480
and says, why don't you come 
with me to Antioch and let me 

384
00:21:50,480 --> 00:21:52,920
show you a Gentile church? 
Because God's going to get him 

385
00:21:52,920 --> 00:21:54,760
ready to be the apostle to the 
Gentiles. 

386
00:21:54,760 --> 00:21:58,280
Somebody say Amen. 
So he takes him and he becomes 

387
00:21:58,280 --> 00:22:01,200
his assistant pastor. 
And the Bible said they 

388
00:22:01,200 --> 00:22:04,240
ministered there. 
And then the Holy Ghost in Acts 

389
00:22:04,240 --> 00:22:09,040
chapter 13 says, I want the 
pastor and the assistant pastor 

390
00:22:09,280 --> 00:22:12,400
to go on the mission to go on, 
on the to be missionaries. 

391
00:22:13,000 --> 00:22:15,840
And they go to the area of what 
we would call Galatia. 

392
00:22:15,960 --> 00:22:18,360
Galatia. 
Galatia is not a city. 

393
00:22:18,360 --> 00:22:21,880
Galatia is a region. 
And there were several churches 

394
00:22:21,880 --> 00:22:24,640
that were started there. 
Well, then he comes back. 

395
00:22:24,920 --> 00:22:29,360
Paul and Barnabas come back and 
they give a report to the church

396
00:22:29,360 --> 00:22:33,000
at Antioch and they're all fired
up and they're like, man, God is

397
00:22:33,000 --> 00:22:34,680
good. 
The gospel is spreading. 

398
00:22:34,960 --> 00:22:38,080
It's even going to the Gentiles.
Gentiles are being saved. 

399
00:22:38,080 --> 00:22:41,520
Churches are being established. 
And then God said, OK, I want 

400
00:22:41,520 --> 00:22:45,320
you to do it again. 
And so Paul and Barnabas say 

401
00:22:45,360 --> 00:22:49,720
they and by the way, you'll see 
a shift in Acts where Paul 

402
00:22:49,720 --> 00:22:52,960
really be kind of comes the 
leader and he says to Barnabas, 

403
00:22:52,960 --> 00:22:56,160
let's go visit our brethren 
again and let's see how they do.

404
00:22:56,160 --> 00:22:59,560
Let's see how things are going 
and let's go check it out. 

405
00:22:59,560 --> 00:23:02,320
And then and then Paul and 
Barnabas goes and let's take 

406
00:23:02,320 --> 00:23:05,520
John, Mark and and Paul said no,
that ain't going to happen. 

407
00:23:06,760 --> 00:23:10,400
That got that kid, he he bailed 
out on us on the first journey. 

408
00:23:10,800 --> 00:23:12,720
And you know what, Paul? 
I'm more like Paul than 

409
00:23:12,720 --> 00:23:15,640
Barnabas. 
We need, we need Barnabas. 

410
00:23:15,640 --> 00:23:18,240
You know what I'm saying? 
But I'm like, we ain't got time 

411
00:23:18,240 --> 00:23:19,240
for that, you know what I'm 
saying? 

412
00:23:19,520 --> 00:23:23,040
Ain't nobody got time to wet 
nurse this kid who should have 

413
00:23:23,040 --> 00:23:25,120
been grown up by now. 
But we know. 

414
00:23:25,120 --> 00:23:27,480
Praise God. 
Paul would later on say bring 

415
00:23:27,480 --> 00:23:29,080
John Mark. 
He's profitable of either 

416
00:23:29,080 --> 00:23:29,960
mystery. 
Praise God. 

417
00:23:30,320 --> 00:23:33,280
Even old men can get God's grace
in their lives. 

418
00:23:33,280 --> 00:23:35,480
So Amen, brother. 
They can, You can learn. 

419
00:23:35,480 --> 00:23:37,960
You can. 
God can work and crust away that

420
00:23:37,960 --> 00:23:41,440
old heart, and I'm very thankful
for that too. 

421
00:23:41,680 --> 00:23:45,400
I'm not what I used to be, but 
I, I, I'm not what I, I'm what I

422
00:23:45,400 --> 00:23:46,800
used to. 
I'm not what I should be, but 

423
00:23:46,800 --> 00:23:49,960
I'm not what I used to be. 
And God's still working on me. 

424
00:23:49,960 --> 00:23:52,080
That's my favorite song. 
God's still working on me. 

425
00:23:53,360 --> 00:23:57,960
And they had a Baptist fight. 
Can you imagine 2 disagreements 

426
00:23:57,960 --> 00:24:01,120
between two of the great men in 
the Bible, Barnabas and Paul? 

427
00:24:02,000 --> 00:24:04,040
And so you know what Paul did? 
Said Well, I tell you what, you 

428
00:24:04,040 --> 00:24:07,720
take John Martin, you go One 
Direction, I'll take Silas and 

429
00:24:07,720 --> 00:24:10,480
we'll go another direction. 
And I don't have time for it 

430
00:24:10,560 --> 00:24:12,280
because I'm already running out 
of time. 

431
00:24:12,560 --> 00:24:15,600
But here's the point. 
They end up going to Macedonia. 

432
00:24:15,600 --> 00:24:18,040
They got the Macedonian call. 
They would try to go one way. 

433
00:24:18,040 --> 00:24:20,160
They couldn't go to Asia. 
They couldn't go to Bethenia. 

434
00:24:20,160 --> 00:24:22,920
Holy Ghost wouldn't let them. 
So here's here's the deal. 

435
00:24:23,200 --> 00:24:27,240
They had to travel about 600 
miles to eventually get to fill 

436
00:24:27,240 --> 00:24:29,640
the pot. 
And that's where the gospel 

437
00:24:29,640 --> 00:24:31,720
entered into Europe. 
That's where the gospel entered 

438
00:24:31,720 --> 00:24:33,600
into Europe. 
And a lady named Lydia got 

439
00:24:33,600 --> 00:24:35,800
saved, the woman of purple and 
she got saved. 

440
00:24:35,800 --> 00:24:38,760
And she said, if I've been found
worthy, why don't you stay in 

441
00:24:38,760 --> 00:24:41,280
the house here with me? 
And it was from there they went 

442
00:24:41,280 --> 00:24:45,200
to Thessalonica, they went to 
Berea, they went to eventually 

443
00:24:45,200 --> 00:24:47,800
the Corinth. 
And you know what Paul is saying

444
00:24:47,800 --> 00:24:51,480
here he goes, listen, you owe a 
debt to the church at Jerusalem 

445
00:24:52,560 --> 00:24:56,200
because and listen, if you look 
at Romans chapter 1, the Bible 

446
00:24:56,200 --> 00:24:59,880
says we owe a debt. 
Our debt that we owe is to the 

447
00:24:59,880 --> 00:25:01,680
gospel. 
That's what that what's Paul 

448
00:25:01,680 --> 00:25:04,720
said, you owe a debt to these 
people who brought you the 

449
00:25:04,720 --> 00:25:08,640
gospel of Lord Jesus Christ. 
That's the message that Paul 

450
00:25:08,640 --> 00:25:11,560
preached to chorus. 
They got all stirred up about 

451
00:25:11,560 --> 00:25:14,800
it, but they got their emotions 
stirred up, but they hadn't 

452
00:25:14,800 --> 00:25:18,280
followed through. 
He goes down to Macedonia and he

453
00:25:18,280 --> 00:25:21,640
preaches the same message. 
But then he puts a caveat on it.

454
00:25:22,200 --> 00:25:25,640
He said, he said, this is the 
message you owe a debt to the 

455
00:25:25,640 --> 00:25:28,240
church at Jerusalem. 
But let me add this to you. 

456
00:25:28,240 --> 00:25:31,440
The churches of the churches of 
Corinth, they're all fired up 

457
00:25:31,440 --> 00:25:34,960
about it and they go, well, if 
they're fired up about it, we 

458
00:25:34,960 --> 00:25:37,760
want to be fired up about it. 
Now the difference between 

459
00:25:37,760 --> 00:25:41,320
Corinth and Macedonia, like 
Philippi and Philippi was a 

460
00:25:41,320 --> 00:25:43,840
great giving church. 
I mean, read Philippians chapter

461
00:25:43,840 --> 00:25:46,720
4. 
My God shall supply all your 

462
00:25:46,720 --> 00:25:49,560
need according to His. 
Glory in Christ Jesus, don't 

463
00:25:49,560 --> 00:25:54,000
time out, don't use that verse 
unless you're a giver to 

464
00:25:54,000 --> 00:25:57,120
missions. 
Don't use it because you're just

465
00:25:57,120 --> 00:26:00,440
a charismatic, not a Baptist. 
If you do that because. 

466
00:26:00,440 --> 00:26:02,560
You got to be, you got to be a 
giver. 

467
00:26:02,920 --> 00:26:05,720
You got to be a giver to be able
to quote that verse. 

468
00:26:05,720 --> 00:26:07,800
Well, I'm not. 
Don't worry, I'll offend 

469
00:26:07,800 --> 00:26:08,800
somebody for the nights. 
Over. 

470
00:26:08,800 --> 00:26:12,400
I'm not trying to. 
So the point is, is his this, 

471
00:26:12,720 --> 00:26:14,640
that's the message Paul 
preached. 

472
00:26:14,720 --> 00:26:16,560
Then he says this, it's like 
this. 

473
00:26:16,560 --> 00:26:18,840
We are all debtors of the 
gospel. 

474
00:26:19,320 --> 00:26:24,000
And the way that we give back to
that debt is by giving back to 

475
00:26:24,000 --> 00:26:26,840
allow the gospel to go all 
around the roar. 

476
00:26:27,520 --> 00:26:30,320
And really, every year we have a
mission conference and you know 

477
00:26:30,320 --> 00:26:31,800
what? 
We'll have another one next year

478
00:26:31,800 --> 00:26:34,360
and the year after that, because
missions never. 

479
00:26:34,360 --> 00:26:37,360
Stops. 
Therefore, knowing what is going

480
00:26:37,360 --> 00:26:39,800
on, listen to this and I'm 
almost to the message. 

481
00:26:39,800 --> 00:26:43,320
Aren't you excited? 
Therefore, knowing what is going

482
00:26:43,320 --> 00:26:48,240
on here, we find a great text to
preach about the principle of 

483
00:26:48,240 --> 00:26:49,640
faith. 
Promised mission giving. 

484
00:26:50,560 --> 00:26:53,320
So while there may not be a 
verse, there is definitely a 

485
00:26:53,320 --> 00:26:57,240
principle of giving. 
So when we move into the text, 

486
00:26:57,240 --> 00:27:00,920
the problem is a year earlier 
the church had made this promise

487
00:27:00,920 --> 00:27:03,080
in giving, but they had not 
follow through. 

488
00:27:03,480 --> 00:27:06,560
The other problem was Paul had 
told other churches about the 

489
00:27:06,560 --> 00:27:10,320
excitement of Corinth and it had
made such an impact on them. 

490
00:27:10,320 --> 00:27:13,880
But thou they're not performing 
the doing of it. 

491
00:27:14,680 --> 00:27:16,360
Now let me tell you something 
about faith promise. 

492
00:27:16,960 --> 00:27:21,160
It's changed my life. 
It's changed my life, my wife's 

493
00:27:21,160 --> 00:27:23,240
life, it's changed our family's 
life. 

494
00:27:23,840 --> 00:27:27,440
I've, I've been a pastor of only
two churches in the last 35 

495
00:27:27,440 --> 00:27:29,560
years. 
Both of those I've only been a 

496
00:27:29,560 --> 00:27:31,280
member of three churches my 
whole life. 

497
00:27:31,640 --> 00:27:35,040
The church I got saved in, the 
church I pastor now, and the 

498
00:27:35,040 --> 00:27:38,320
church that I pastored in Knob 
Noster just outside of Whiteman 

499
00:27:38,320 --> 00:27:40,680
Air Force Base. 
And I believe God has blessed 

500
00:27:41,120 --> 00:27:44,400
the churches that I've pastored.
For one, one of the reasons is 

501
00:27:44,400 --> 00:27:47,000
because they've been faith 
promised mission giving 

502
00:27:47,000 --> 00:27:51,080
churches. 
Faith promise is not a pledge. 

503
00:27:52,360 --> 00:27:56,000
Faith promise is a promise. 
And there's something that's 

504
00:27:56,000 --> 00:27:58,360
different. 
It's not something that is 

505
00:27:58,360 --> 00:28:04,600
required to pay. 
Tithing is required by God to 

506
00:28:04,600 --> 00:28:07,480
pay. 
And you will never be blessed by

507
00:28:07,480 --> 00:28:11,240
God ever, until you learn to 
tithe. 

508
00:28:12,520 --> 00:28:16,480
But then when you go beyond the 
tithe, now you're given an 

509
00:28:16,480 --> 00:28:19,840
offering. 
Some people think that tithing 

510
00:28:19,840 --> 00:28:22,560
is an offering. 
No, tithing is an obligation. 

511
00:28:23,720 --> 00:28:27,680
When you give beyond your tithe,
that's an offering. 

512
00:28:28,280 --> 00:28:31,720
So what's going on in our text 
is Paul is turning the tables on

513
00:28:31,720 --> 00:28:36,480
Corinth by what the churches of 
Macedonia have been doing. 

514
00:28:36,840 --> 00:28:42,080
So the mission of the church, 
listen to this, is missions and 

515
00:28:42,080 --> 00:28:45,520
faith promised mission 
conference, and giving is the 

516
00:28:45,520 --> 00:28:49,520
business meeting of the church. 
So this is a business meeting 

517
00:28:49,840 --> 00:28:53,040
for the next couple of days. 
So let me ask you this. 

518
00:28:53,480 --> 00:28:55,600
We're not going to look so much 
tonight at Corinth. 

519
00:28:55,960 --> 00:28:58,760
We're going to look at the 
churches of Macedonia and how 

520
00:28:58,760 --> 00:29:01,960
did they give? 
That's the message tonight with 

521
00:29:01,960 --> 00:29:04,640
the background in mind. 
How did they give? 

522
00:29:05,400 --> 00:29:08,240
Well, first of all, I want you 
to look in verse one and two and

523
00:29:08,240 --> 00:29:12,120
I'll show you how they gave. 
Moreover, brethren, we you we do

524
00:29:12,120 --> 00:29:14,920
you to wit of the grace of God 
bestowed in the churches of 

525
00:29:14,920 --> 00:29:18,800
Macedonia. 
How that in a great trial of 

526
00:29:18,800 --> 00:29:22,000
affliction. 
The we're back in second 

527
00:29:22,000 --> 00:29:23,640
Corinthians chapter 8, verse one
and two. 

528
00:29:23,640 --> 00:29:26,120
This is our message. 
How that in a great trial of 

529
00:29:26,120 --> 00:29:30,120
affliction, the abundance of 
their joy and their deep poverty

530
00:29:30,160 --> 00:29:32,480
abounded into the riches of 
their liberality. 

531
00:29:33,280 --> 00:29:36,520
All right, the first way they 
gave was in poverty. 

532
00:29:37,440 --> 00:29:40,480
That don't make no sense. 
Well, a lot of things don't make

533
00:29:40,480 --> 00:29:42,800
any sense when it comes to what 
God tells us to do. 

534
00:29:43,600 --> 00:29:47,000
I mean, God tells us to tie, 
that if you go to work tomorrow 

535
00:29:47,000 --> 00:29:49,080
and you talk to somebody about 
tie, then they'll think you're a

536
00:29:49,080 --> 00:29:51,200
nut case. 
They'll go. 

537
00:29:51,400 --> 00:29:56,840
I mean, I mean, the government's
going to get their part, Amen. 

538
00:29:57,520 --> 00:30:01,160
Why doesn't God get his part? 
Render unto Caesar the things 

539
00:30:01,160 --> 00:30:03,440
that are Caesar's. 
But render unto God the things 

540
00:30:03,440 --> 00:30:05,600
that are God's. 
We always make sure. 

541
00:30:05,600 --> 00:30:06,400
Uncle Sampa. 
Yeah. 

542
00:30:06,400 --> 00:30:09,400
Whether they don't, they'll come
and get me and put me in jail. 

543
00:30:09,400 --> 00:30:11,000
Well, what do you think God's 
going to do to you? 

544
00:30:11,680 --> 00:30:13,680
You better be more afraid of God
than you are. 

545
00:30:13,680 --> 00:30:16,120
You better have greater fear of 
God than you do the government. 

546
00:30:16,520 --> 00:30:17,720
Now you better pay your. 
Taxes. 

547
00:30:17,720 --> 00:30:19,360
Let me tell you that. 
Right now I'm going to tell you.

548
00:30:20,480 --> 00:30:23,120
But look at this, this is, this 
is unbelievable. 

549
00:30:23,120 --> 00:30:25,680
They're giving, they're giving 
there. 

550
00:30:25,680 --> 00:30:28,200
There was poverty involved in 
their giving. 

551
00:30:28,960 --> 00:30:32,160
Notice that little word wit. 
Moreover, brethren, we do you to

552
00:30:32,160 --> 00:30:37,720
wit, the word wit means an 
intelligent understanding of 

553
00:30:37,720 --> 00:30:39,840
something. 
You know what Paul is saying. 

554
00:30:40,080 --> 00:30:42,600
I want you to have an 
intelligent understanding of the

555
00:30:42,600 --> 00:30:45,360
grace of God that's been 
bestowed on the churches of 

556
00:30:45,360 --> 00:30:46,600
Macedonia. 
Oh, really? 

557
00:30:46,600 --> 00:30:49,880
The grace of God. 
You want us to understand the 

558
00:30:49,880 --> 00:30:52,080
grace of God that's been 
bestowed on the churches of 

559
00:30:52,080 --> 00:30:53,440
Macedonia? 
Yeah. 

560
00:30:53,640 --> 00:30:56,280
That in a great trial of 
affliction, abundance of their 

561
00:30:56,280 --> 00:30:59,280
joy, deep poverty abound in the 
riches or liberality. 

562
00:30:59,280 --> 00:31:01,880
I'm telling you, there is not a 
commentary in the world that 

563
00:31:01,880 --> 00:31:05,000
could that can wrap their head 
around that verse. 

564
00:31:06,280 --> 00:31:09,600
So Paul here is saying to the 
church at Corinth, I want you to

565
00:31:09,600 --> 00:31:12,160
intelligently understand the 
grace of God that's been 

566
00:31:12,160 --> 00:31:15,480
bestowed on these churches 
because these churches gave 

567
00:31:15,480 --> 00:31:19,400
under deep affliction. 
And according to verse 2, he 

568
00:31:19,400 --> 00:31:23,120
still blessed them even in their
trial of affliction. 

569
00:31:23,680 --> 00:31:27,760
I don't have time to go back to 
Acts chapter 16, but it's a 

570
00:31:27,760 --> 00:31:30,280
great story on how the gospel 
got into Europe. 

571
00:31:31,840 --> 00:31:35,840
It's it wasn't an easy task. 
If you go back to 2nd 

572
00:31:35,840 --> 00:31:39,160
Corinthians 7, Second 
Corinthians 75, go back there, 

573
00:31:39,160 --> 00:31:41,760
just the verse before that. 
Notice what Paul said. 

574
00:31:41,760 --> 00:31:44,440
He's given a little bit of a 
what I'd call a testimony here 

575
00:31:44,720 --> 00:31:47,880
in Second Corinthians 75, for 
when we were coming to 

576
00:31:47,880 --> 00:31:52,600
Macedonia, our flesh had no 
rest, but we were troubled on 

577
00:31:52,600 --> 00:31:55,280
every side without were 
fightings within. 

578
00:31:55,280 --> 00:31:58,800
Were fierce. 
Nevertheless, God that comforted

579
00:31:58,800 --> 00:32:02,080
those that are cast down, 
comforted us by the coming of 

580
00:32:02,080 --> 00:32:05,640
Titus. 
And I'm just telling you it was 

581
00:32:05,640 --> 00:32:08,120
not an easy task. 
Nothing Paul did was easy. 

582
00:32:08,720 --> 00:32:12,600
Church planning is not easy. 
It's not for the faint of heart.

583
00:32:13,480 --> 00:32:18,320
I can tell you that. 
We went to Knob Noster in 1989. 

584
00:32:18,720 --> 00:32:23,000
I was 29 years. 
Old We basically started all 

585
00:32:23,000 --> 00:32:25,720
over a church plant right 
outside of right outside of 

586
00:32:25,720 --> 00:32:28,760
Whiteman Air Force Base. 
And it was no easy task, But 

587
00:32:28,760 --> 00:32:31,000
I'll tell you what, what was a 
blessing about it? 

588
00:32:31,000 --> 00:32:32,960
At least we had a building. 
It was a. 

589
00:32:32,960 --> 00:32:35,720
Small building held about 100 
people. 

590
00:32:36,280 --> 00:32:39,200
We didn't have no people, but we
had a building. 

591
00:32:40,080 --> 00:32:42,680
So I just told my wife, I said, 
well, God's just going to have 

592
00:32:42,680 --> 00:32:46,560
to help us fill up the building.
And God did, God did a great, 

593
00:32:46,640 --> 00:32:48,920
God did a great work. 
That's not the message tonight. 

594
00:32:49,200 --> 00:32:51,520
But the point that I'm making, 
it's not easy. 

595
00:32:51,640 --> 00:32:56,720
I I worked a job for FedEx for 
almost 10 years while I was in 

596
00:32:56,720 --> 00:32:58,560
Bible college when I started the
church. 

597
00:32:58,960 --> 00:33:02,480
I love FedEx because they saved 
my family from poverty. 

598
00:33:02,480 --> 00:33:06,760
They fed my family, but it was 
hard work, hard work building a 

599
00:33:06,760 --> 00:33:09,120
church, hard work going out, 
doing all the things that need 

600
00:33:09,120 --> 00:33:10,360
to be done. 
Well. 

601
00:33:10,360 --> 00:33:13,240
It was not easy for Paul to go 
into Macedonia because he had 

602
00:33:13,240 --> 00:33:16,240
the fear of unknown territory. 
They were entering into an 

603
00:33:16,240 --> 00:33:19,160
unknown territory. 
I hate going somewhere that I 

604
00:33:19,160 --> 00:33:21,560
don't have any idea what is the 
terrain is. 

605
00:33:22,000 --> 00:33:25,160
I like to know my surroundings. 
We flew into Boston. 

606
00:33:25,440 --> 00:33:28,240
I've never been to Boston. 
We came to church last night, 

607
00:33:28,280 --> 00:33:30,880
gave me a car and said go to 
this address. 

608
00:33:30,880 --> 00:33:33,240
We're out there and I'm like, I 
never been here before. 

609
00:33:34,600 --> 00:33:36,800
I don't know where I'm at. 
I don't know what I'm doing. 

610
00:33:36,800 --> 00:33:40,800
And you guys got the longest 
ramps in the world. 

611
00:33:41,240 --> 00:33:44,000
You go to a ramp on Missouri, 
you're on it for 2 seconds. 

612
00:33:44,040 --> 00:33:47,520
You're on, you're on I-44 here. 
It takes you 12 days to get 

613
00:33:47,520 --> 00:33:51,880
around the circle unknown 
territory. 

614
00:33:51,880 --> 00:33:54,800
I didn't I'm not familiar. 
I drove around all day today and

615
00:33:54,800 --> 00:33:57,680
I go I'm feeling better about 
now I can kind of see where I'm 

616
00:33:57,680 --> 00:34:00,760
going. 
Let me show you what Philippians

617
00:34:00,760 --> 00:34:02,560
chapter. 
Let me let me tell you about the

618
00:34:02,560 --> 00:34:07,200
church in Macedonia called 
Philippi in chapter 4 verse 11, 

619
00:34:07,200 --> 00:34:09,880
Paul said this to the church 
that got started. 

620
00:34:10,400 --> 00:34:13,560
Not that I speak in respect of 
want, for I have learned in 

621
00:34:13,560 --> 00:34:15,840
whatsoever state I am there with
to be content. 

622
00:34:16,560 --> 00:34:19,199
I know both how to be a bazed. 
I know how to abound everywhere 

623
00:34:19,199 --> 00:34:21,080
in all things. 
I'm instructed listen to this. 

624
00:34:21,080 --> 00:34:25,360
This is what Paul said both how 
to to be full and to be hungry. 

625
00:34:26,159 --> 00:34:29,920
We don't even really know what 
that's like both to abound and 

626
00:34:29,920 --> 00:34:32,880
to suffer need. 
And then he says this, I can do 

627
00:34:32,880 --> 00:34:34,880
all things through Christ, which
strengthens me. 

628
00:34:35,360 --> 00:34:38,760
But notwithstanding, he said to 
the church at Macedonia, this 

629
00:34:38,760 --> 00:34:41,719
kind of church, they were, 
excuse me, you have well done 

630
00:34:41,719 --> 00:34:43,679
that. 
You did communicate with my 

631
00:34:43,679 --> 00:34:44,920
affliction. 
When he uses the word 

632
00:34:44,920 --> 00:34:48,560
communicate, he's talking about 
helping financially, his need 

633
00:34:48,560 --> 00:34:51,199
time in a time. 
He said, You Philippians know 

634
00:34:51,199 --> 00:34:54,040
also that in the beginning of 
the Gospel, when I departed from

635
00:34:54,040 --> 00:34:57,440
Macedonia, no church 
communicated with me as 

636
00:34:57,440 --> 00:34:59,920
concerning giving and receiving.
But ye only. 

637
00:35:00,600 --> 00:35:03,240
For even in Thessalonica you 
sent once and again to my 

638
00:35:03,240 --> 00:35:07,040
necessity, not because I desire 
to give, but I desire that fruit

639
00:35:07,040 --> 00:35:09,680
may abound to your account. 
But I have all in the bound. 

640
00:35:09,680 --> 00:35:12,880
I'm full, having received of 
Opaphrodites the things which 

641
00:35:12,880 --> 00:35:15,680
were sent from you. 
Look at this, an odor of a sweet

642
00:35:15,680 --> 00:35:19,600
smell, a sacrifice well pleasing
to Paul, no well pleasing to 

643
00:35:19,600 --> 00:35:23,160
God. 
But my God shall supply all your

644
00:35:23,160 --> 00:35:25,760
need according to his riches and
glory by Christ Jesus. 

645
00:35:26,360 --> 00:35:29,160
In other words, the churches of 
Macedonia, even though they were

646
00:35:29,160 --> 00:35:32,360
poor, even though they were in 
great affliction, they gave to 

647
00:35:32,360 --> 00:35:35,960
Paul time and time again. 
Paul goes to them and says, hey,

648
00:35:35,960 --> 00:35:38,080
we need to take up an offering. 
They said we're in. 

649
00:35:40,000 --> 00:35:43,200
We. 
The idea is, well, we're excited

650
00:35:43,200 --> 00:35:45,720
that Corinth is in, but we're 
in. 

651
00:35:46,760 --> 00:35:50,000
Don't use these verses again 
unless you're giving to see the 

652
00:35:50,000 --> 00:35:52,400
gospel. 
They gave out of the abundance 

653
00:35:52,400 --> 00:35:54,960
of their joy. 
Look at verse number 2nd 

654
00:35:54,960 --> 00:35:58,360
Corinthians 610. 
Second Corinthians 610 Bible S 

655
00:35:58,360 --> 00:36:01,720
says as sorrowful, yet always 
rejoicing, as poor, yet making 

656
00:36:01,720 --> 00:36:04,560
many rich, as having nothing, 
yet possessing all things. 

657
00:36:06,680 --> 00:36:08,760
Giving by faith means this. 
Listen to this. 

658
00:36:08,760 --> 00:36:13,280
Giving by faith means giving in 
spite of your circumstances, 

659
00:36:14,360 --> 00:36:19,200
because the circumstances that 
were in Macedonia at this time 

660
00:36:19,200 --> 00:36:22,440
of history where they were very 
poor and God knows your 

661
00:36:22,440 --> 00:36:26,200
circumstances and I'm not, I 
would never talk about giving by

662
00:36:26,200 --> 00:36:29,440
foolishness. 
Somebody comes and says I make 

663
00:36:29,440 --> 00:36:33,920
$100 a week, I'm going to give 
$90.00 to missions that that's 

664
00:36:33,920 --> 00:36:38,080
foolish. 
And it is foolish to think like 

665
00:36:38,080 --> 00:36:40,840
that. 
But giving by faith will 

666
00:36:40,840 --> 00:36:44,600
sometimes stretch you a little 
bit if you give by faith. 

667
00:36:45,760 --> 00:36:49,080
Now can I give? 
You my interpretation of Second 

668
00:36:49,080 --> 00:36:52,440
Corinthians 8/2. 
Would that be allowed? 

669
00:36:52,520 --> 00:36:55,600
I'm going to do it anyway, so 
you might as well say yes, all 

670
00:36:55,600 --> 00:36:57,720
right. 
This is Jeff Abel's commentary 

671
00:36:58,240 --> 00:37:00,520
of Second Corinthians chapter 8,
verse 2. 

672
00:37:00,560 --> 00:37:04,760
This is how I interpret it. 
Deep affliction plus deep 

673
00:37:04,760 --> 00:37:10,960
poverty plus the grace of God 
equals no excuse for not giving.

674
00:37:13,560 --> 00:37:16,800
Giving by faith means giving in 
spite of your circumstances, 

675
00:37:17,280 --> 00:37:21,080
because the circumstances they 
were in was not good. 

676
00:37:21,800 --> 00:37:25,760
And can I say this, God knows 
your circumstances. 

677
00:37:26,520 --> 00:37:29,360
And the churches of Macedonia in
the most difficult of 

678
00:37:29,360 --> 00:37:32,560
circumstances. 
This is another amazing thing. 

679
00:37:32,960 --> 00:37:36,200
They had joy even though they 
didn't have a lot of money. 

680
00:37:37,400 --> 00:37:41,960
You can have joy without money 
and they didn't have a lot of 

681
00:37:41,960 --> 00:37:43,480
money. 
They still had a burden for 

682
00:37:43,480 --> 00:37:46,120
other people. 
They still wanted to see people 

683
00:37:46,120 --> 00:37:49,520
saved, and especially in seeing 
the gospel go all over the 

684
00:37:49,520 --> 00:37:52,760
world. 
I've been a pastor for 35 years,

685
00:37:52,760 --> 00:37:56,840
almost 36 years. 
Listen, I've seen everything 

686
00:37:57,360 --> 00:38:00,120
people think it's all about 
them, and it's not about them. 

687
00:38:00,400 --> 00:38:03,200
It's about the gospel. 
It's about the Lord Jesus 

688
00:38:03,200 --> 00:38:05,600
Christ. 
I'm AI want to give, I want to 

689
00:38:05,600 --> 00:38:07,840
be a giver. 
I want to help people in their 

690
00:38:07,840 --> 00:38:09,720
need. 
We're always taking up our 

691
00:38:09,720 --> 00:38:11,840
Wednesday night offerings. 
A lot of times will be for 

692
00:38:11,840 --> 00:38:15,160
special needs for people. 
There might be a great need. 

693
00:38:15,520 --> 00:38:17,880
We've had several in the last 
some family. 

694
00:38:17,880 --> 00:38:19,120
And I'll say something like 
this. 

695
00:38:19,120 --> 00:38:22,120
I'll say something like that, 
folks, we got a need and we need

696
00:38:22,120 --> 00:38:24,600
to raise $5000. 
And then if anybody needs to 

697
00:38:24,600 --> 00:38:27,200
come and talk to me, I'll be 
glad to talk to you. 

698
00:38:27,280 --> 00:38:29,520
And there's always that one. 
Sounds like they got to come 

699
00:38:29,520 --> 00:38:31,200
talk to me. 
And you know what I do? 

700
00:38:31,200 --> 00:38:33,920
I talk to them. 
I said, this is what it, but 

701
00:38:33,920 --> 00:38:37,360
I've been there long enough that
the church pretty much will 

702
00:38:37,640 --> 00:38:41,440
they'll they'll trust me. 
I mean, we got history together.

703
00:38:41,560 --> 00:38:44,000
And so if I say there's a need, 
there's a need. 

704
00:38:44,880 --> 00:38:48,080
I remember one time I shouldn't 
tell the story, but I'm going to

705
00:38:48,080 --> 00:38:50,680
anyway. 
So I did this. 

706
00:38:50,680 --> 00:38:53,160
There was a special need. 
I said we need to take up this 

707
00:38:53,160 --> 00:38:55,160
offering. 
And sometimes it'll take us a 

708
00:38:55,160 --> 00:38:57,280
couple of weeks, take it up. 
Sometimes we might take it up in

709
00:38:57,280 --> 00:38:59,280
a month. 
But I keep getting up over every

710
00:38:59,280 --> 00:39:01,280
Wednesday night and saying, 
well, we ain't met the need yet.

711
00:39:02,120 --> 00:39:04,640
We still need some more money, 
so why not? 

712
00:39:04,640 --> 00:39:06,680
One night I did this. 
This lady came up to me and she 

713
00:39:06,680 --> 00:39:10,840
said, oh, preacher, could you 
help me like you've helped 

714
00:39:10,840 --> 00:39:14,280
others? 
I said, well, and that's my 

715
00:39:14,280 --> 00:39:16,000
desire. 
What's going on? 

716
00:39:16,760 --> 00:39:19,200
And she told me her son couldn't
make his car payment. 

717
00:39:19,200 --> 00:39:21,520
And I'm like, well, he's a 
pretty big old boy. 

718
00:39:21,520 --> 00:39:23,400
He should be able to get a job 
and pay his own. 

719
00:39:24,520 --> 00:39:27,040
You know what I'm saying? 
These guys that you know, these 

720
00:39:27,040 --> 00:39:31,160
guys that stand on the side of 
the side of the hill on the kids

721
00:39:31,160 --> 00:39:33,840
say you need money. 
I I usually roll down in the 

722
00:39:33,840 --> 00:39:35,160
window. 
And say, hey, McDonald's. 

723
00:39:35,160 --> 00:39:38,720
Is hiring over there on that? 
Oh, you don't have much 

724
00:39:38,720 --> 00:39:41,240
compassion. 
Not not for a well bodied young 

725
00:39:41,240 --> 00:39:46,080
man who should be out working, 
getting a JOB. 

726
00:39:49,360 --> 00:39:52,760
So I said, but I told her I'd 
pray about it because I think 

727
00:39:52,760 --> 00:39:53,880
that's what a preacher should 
do. 

728
00:39:57,200 --> 00:39:58,160
So I did. 
I prayed about it. 

729
00:39:58,160 --> 00:40:00,000
And then it came to me one day 
while I was sitting there 

730
00:40:00,000 --> 00:40:02,800
praying about it. 
So I went into the financial 

731
00:40:02,800 --> 00:40:05,520
secretary's office and I wrote 
the name down of the person and 

732
00:40:05,520 --> 00:40:07,200
I. 
Put it on her desk, I said. 

733
00:40:07,200 --> 00:40:08,240
Can. 
You give me the giving. 

734
00:40:08,240 --> 00:40:09,360
Record. 
Because I don't want to know 

735
00:40:09,360 --> 00:40:11,280
what people give at the church. 
I don't. 

736
00:40:11,520 --> 00:40:13,320
You know why, brother, I'd be 
mad all the time. 

737
00:40:15,120 --> 00:40:17,920
Only person that gives as a 
financial secretary, and the 

738
00:40:17,920 --> 00:40:20,200
only thing I've really ever said
to her is, listen, if somebody's

739
00:40:20,200 --> 00:40:22,120
always been a tie, they're 
always been a giver and all of a

740
00:40:22,120 --> 00:40:23,760
sudden they quit, I need to know
about it because there's a 

741
00:40:23,760 --> 00:40:26,360
problem. 
Other than that, I don't want to

742
00:40:26,360 --> 00:40:28,480
know because I don't want to go 
around not liking people. 

743
00:40:29,600 --> 00:40:31,040
I already have enough trouble as
it is. 

744
00:40:32,920 --> 00:40:36,760
So I laid that piece of paper 
down on that the desk and said, 

745
00:40:36,760 --> 00:40:38,600
can you give me the given 
records for the last year for 

746
00:40:38,600 --> 00:40:41,160
this family? 
And so then I went back to my 

747
00:40:41,160 --> 00:40:43,680
office and I started walking. 
I was sitting there in my office

748
00:40:43,680 --> 00:40:45,960
and actually I had my back to 
the door, which I don't normally

749
00:40:45,960 --> 00:40:47,280
do, but I was working on 
something. 

750
00:40:47,600 --> 00:40:50,040
And you ever been sitting 
somewhere and you feel like 

751
00:40:50,040 --> 00:40:51,360
somebody's sitting there staring
at you? 

752
00:40:52,280 --> 00:40:55,440
So I'm there and I reeled around
in my chair and she's standing 

753
00:40:55,440 --> 00:40:59,320
there because she can't wait to 
see my face when she does what 

754
00:40:59,320 --> 00:41:02,280
she's about to do. 
And so she lays the piece of 

755
00:41:02,280 --> 00:41:06,840
paper down and she slides it 
over to me and I pick it up and 

756
00:41:06,840 --> 00:41:08,760
open it up. 
And it said $10. 

757
00:41:10,160 --> 00:41:13,680
And I said $10 a week, $10 a 
month. 

758
00:41:14,360 --> 00:41:17,120
She goes no preacher, $10.00 for
the whole year. 

759
00:41:19,400 --> 00:41:22,120
Interesting. 
So you know what I did next? 

760
00:41:22,360 --> 00:41:25,920
I made a phone call to this lady
who asked for help. 

761
00:41:26,720 --> 00:41:28,440
And I got on the phone and I 
said hey. 

762
00:41:28,440 --> 00:41:30,520
And I've mentioned her name. 
I don't want to say it out loud 

763
00:41:30,520 --> 00:41:32,720
because somebody might figure 
out who it is. 

764
00:41:32,720 --> 00:41:34,040
And I said this is Pastor 
Abel's. 

765
00:41:34,040 --> 00:41:36,720
I want to talk to you about the 
need that you said you need it. 

766
00:41:36,720 --> 00:41:38,720
She was all preacher. 
Thank you so much. 

767
00:41:38,720 --> 00:41:40,120
I knew you'd come through and 
help us. 

768
00:41:40,120 --> 00:41:42,800
I said, what time out, Time out.
I can't help you. 

769
00:41:43,840 --> 00:41:45,200
She goes, what do you mean you 
can't help me? 

770
00:41:45,800 --> 00:41:49,520
I said, well, you ask a 
question, why can't I help you? 

771
00:41:49,520 --> 00:41:53,040
I'll ask a question based on the
question that you asked. 

772
00:41:53,040 --> 00:41:55,760
And my question is, how much 
money have you given to the 

773
00:41:55,760 --> 00:41:58,400
church over the last year? 
And she goes, Why? 

774
00:41:59,720 --> 00:42:01,040
What does that have to do with 
anything? 

775
00:42:02,240 --> 00:42:04,880
I said, well, the preacher needs
to be paid. 

776
00:42:04,960 --> 00:42:06,520
You know, my family would like 
to eat. 

777
00:42:07,360 --> 00:42:11,360
We got these nice padded pews 
that we set in and we pay the 

778
00:42:11,360 --> 00:42:12,960
electric bill to turn on the 
lights. 

779
00:42:12,960 --> 00:42:15,640
And you like to sit in there and
you like to be like. 

780
00:42:15,640 --> 00:42:20,800
Warm in the winter and cool in 
the summer, I said you're a God 

781
00:42:20,800 --> 00:42:25,080
robber, and if I gave you money 
and you're robbing God. 

782
00:42:26,000 --> 00:42:29,000
I said that'd be like me giving 
a drunk a drink and I'm not 

783
00:42:29,000 --> 00:42:31,440
going to do that. 
So you need to get right with 

784
00:42:31,440 --> 00:42:33,520
God. 
Well, I never heard a preacher 

785
00:42:33,520 --> 00:42:36,120
talk like that. 
I said, well you have now 

786
00:42:36,120 --> 00:42:39,480
sister, I love you and the Lord.
I hope it all works out for you.

787
00:42:41,240 --> 00:42:45,920
Hey man, it's good and I don't 
have to say it out loud, you 

788
00:42:45,920 --> 00:42:49,160
know if you're given or not. 
Here's the second thing. 

789
00:42:49,160 --> 00:42:50,480
Now listen, let me say it this 
way. 

790
00:42:51,800 --> 00:42:53,720
Even though they gave out a deep
poverty. 

791
00:42:55,480 --> 00:42:59,840
They still gave I'm going to 
tell you in 2010, I went to 

792
00:42:59,840 --> 00:43:04,480
India and me and Brother Carl 
Boenster went together and we 

793
00:43:04,480 --> 00:43:06,760
went to the see the ministry of 
Brother Sam Thomas. 

794
00:43:07,280 --> 00:43:09,720
And brother Sam Thomas is a dear
friend of mine and we went to 

795
00:43:09,720 --> 00:43:11,840
Bible college together and I was
24. 

796
00:43:11,840 --> 00:43:15,160
I was 25 when I started Bible 
college because I got out of the

797
00:43:15,160 --> 00:43:17,600
Air Force. 
Sam was about 17 years old. 

798
00:43:17,600 --> 00:43:20,760
So we, he, he's about 8 or 9 
years younger than me and I met 

799
00:43:20,760 --> 00:43:26,760
Brother Sam in a class and I, I 
immediately my spirit just, I 

800
00:43:26,760 --> 00:43:28,480
love this guy. 
I just loved him. 

801
00:43:28,480 --> 00:43:33,360
He's just amazing and saw his 
burden for India, saw his burden

802
00:43:34,200 --> 00:43:38,480
anyhow, just so every year he 
would say to me, oh, I'm sorry, 

803
00:43:38,560 --> 00:43:41,360
let me say this. 
So when I begin, I told my wife,

804
00:43:41,360 --> 00:43:43,960
if I ever get to pastor of 
church, which the jury was out 

805
00:43:43,960 --> 00:43:47,520
when you're in Bible college, I 
said, if I ever get to pastor of

806
00:43:47,520 --> 00:43:50,320
church, my first missionary is 
going to be Sam Thomas in India.

807
00:43:51,440 --> 00:43:54,000
And sure enough, when I became 
pastor, he was still in Bible 

808
00:43:54,000 --> 00:43:56,800
college. 
I took on my first missionary as

809
00:43:56,800 --> 00:44:00,320
a pastor to a guy that was still
in Bible college because I knew 

810
00:44:00,320 --> 00:44:02,360
he was going to go back to India
and do a work for God. 

811
00:44:03,200 --> 00:44:05,640
And I, I had him come up, stayed
in my house. 

812
00:44:05,640 --> 00:44:09,440
We had him in our first mission 
commerce that I had in 1990. 

813
00:44:09,840 --> 00:44:12,240
We supported him and I still 
support him today. 

814
00:44:13,160 --> 00:44:15,280
So every year he'd call me, and 
he always called me Doctor 

815
00:44:15,280 --> 00:44:17,600
Abel's like I'm as far from a 
doctor as you can get. 

816
00:44:18,520 --> 00:44:24,560
Doctor Abels, Brother Abels, I 
need, I need you to come to 

817
00:44:24,560 --> 00:44:27,680
India, to me. 
Don't be offended, all right? 

818
00:44:27,680 --> 00:44:28,680
That's the way the guy. 
Talks. 

819
00:44:28,680 --> 00:44:30,720
I can't help it. 
You think I can help? 

820
00:44:30,720 --> 00:44:35,000
The way I'm talking from my 
southern accent, so it's OK. 

821
00:44:35,920 --> 00:44:38,320
I do it to him. 
All the time. 

822
00:44:38,320 --> 00:44:39,600
I Hey, brother. 
Doctor Abels. 

823
00:44:39,600 --> 00:44:40,720
How you doing? 
I'm like, hello. 

824
00:44:40,720 --> 00:44:42,280
How do you know my name? 
How do you know who this is? 

825
00:44:42,280 --> 00:44:43,600
Me. 
He can. 

826
00:44:43,720 --> 00:44:45,680
Because because you got the 
worst Indian accent of anybody 

827
00:44:45,680 --> 00:44:48,400
I've ever heard in my life. 
You can't have a Tennessee 

828
00:44:48,640 --> 00:44:51,800
accent and speak like a Indian. 
So every year. 

829
00:44:51,800 --> 00:44:54,200
You need to come to you need to 
come here. 

830
00:44:54,200 --> 00:44:57,720
You need to come preach our No, 
I ain't going to India, brother.

831
00:44:58,600 --> 00:45:01,160
You know what I'm saying? 
I might be from the South, but 

832
00:45:01,160 --> 00:45:04,640
I'm not going to India. 
And every year my wife, who is 

833
00:45:04,640 --> 00:45:06,560
the resident Holy Spirit of my 
house. 

834
00:45:08,520 --> 00:45:10,720
Jeff, if you don't go to India, 
you're going to be sorry about 

835
00:45:10,720 --> 00:45:12,560
it. 
Well, I'll just die. 

836
00:45:12,560 --> 00:45:18,080
Sorry, most people think I'm 
sorry anyway, but you know God 

837
00:45:18,080 --> 00:45:20,080
got a hold of my heart and I 
said you know I'm going to go to

838
00:45:20,080 --> 00:45:29,600
India. 
Let me tell you something, we 

839
00:45:29,600 --> 00:45:36,800
are rich in this country. 
I saw people walk 7 and 8 miles 

840
00:45:37,160 --> 00:45:41,240
to go to church and sit and 
Brother Sam would say to me, 

841
00:45:41,240 --> 00:45:44,160
Brother Abel's, you got to 
preach for at least an hour. 

842
00:45:44,160 --> 00:45:46,080
Now, Norm, that ain't a problem 
for me. 

843
00:45:46,920 --> 00:45:48,720
He goes, you got to preach for 
at least an hour, hour and a 

844
00:45:48,720 --> 00:45:51,160
half if you can do it. 
I got it in me. 

845
00:45:52,560 --> 00:45:56,800
He goes, because these people 
walk 7-8 miles, they'll sing for

846
00:45:56,800 --> 00:45:58,840
an hour and they won't preach 
them for an hour and a half. 

847
00:46:00,200 --> 00:46:04,480
My heart was broken. 
I, I got on my knees before God 

848
00:46:04,480 --> 00:46:07,360
and I said, God, if you'll let 
me go to India, I will leave 

849
00:46:08,000 --> 00:46:09,480
Bream Baptist Church as a 
pastor. 

850
00:46:09,480 --> 00:46:12,760
I'll go to India. 
I mean, because we're, we're 

851
00:46:12,760 --> 00:46:15,240
spoiled in America, whether you 
realize it or not. 

852
00:46:15,800 --> 00:46:20,960
We, we really are. 
I mean, we, we, we're just 

853
00:46:20,960 --> 00:46:24,000
blessed, but God has blessed us 
for a reason. 

854
00:46:25,440 --> 00:46:27,880
So anyhow, I came back from 
that. 

855
00:46:27,880 --> 00:46:29,840
I've never, I've never been the 
same, but I've never seen 

856
00:46:29,840 --> 00:46:32,880
poverty like that. 
I've never seen it on that 

857
00:46:32,880 --> 00:46:34,480
level. 
I've never seen the mass of 

858
00:46:34,480 --> 00:46:37,640
humanity like that. 
So when I came back from India, 

859
00:46:37,640 --> 00:46:42,080
the first thing that I I thought
about was that might be about 

860
00:46:42,080 --> 00:46:45,040
the way the churches of 
Macedonia were, if we could put 

861
00:46:45,040 --> 00:46:48,280
it in that context versus 
America, and that'd be kind of 

862
00:46:48,280 --> 00:46:52,960
like the churches of Corinth and
see those people, they give and,

863
00:46:53,440 --> 00:46:57,400
and, and they just, I mean, I, 
I, I got one day I was, I was, I

864
00:46:57,400 --> 00:47:00,600
was the me and brother booster. 
We're the only it's 120° 

865
00:47:00,600 --> 00:47:02,400
outside. 
They've got us in an air 

866
00:47:02,400 --> 00:47:06,160
conditioned room and them kids 
and them boys at that Bible 

867
00:47:06,160 --> 00:47:10,880
college sleep on mats and all in
one big room. 

868
00:47:11,360 --> 00:47:13,000
There was 75 of them in one 
room. 

869
00:47:13,000 --> 00:47:15,720
They slept there. 
And I went out there one day and

870
00:47:15,720 --> 00:47:17,200
there was these two boys 
standing there. 

871
00:47:17,200 --> 00:47:18,960
When they saw me, they like 
jumped to attention. 

872
00:47:18,960 --> 00:47:21,360
I'm like, no, no, no, no. 
I'm you know, I'm just just a 

873
00:47:21,360 --> 00:47:22,760
regular guy, man. 
I'm just. 

874
00:47:23,400 --> 00:47:24,880
And I said, I asked them their 
name. 

875
00:47:24,880 --> 00:47:26,880
One had a Hindu name, one had a 
Christian name. 

876
00:47:28,600 --> 00:47:32,000
So in their broken English in my
non Speaking of India. 

877
00:47:32,920 --> 00:47:34,760
Because I don't speak India 
except like this and that don't 

878
00:47:34,760 --> 00:47:38,000
count. 
I began to learn that through 

879
00:47:38,000 --> 00:47:41,400
them they could speak broken 
English and I said one had a 

880
00:47:41,400 --> 00:47:43,720
Hindu name, one had a Christian 
name and they were able to 

881
00:47:43,720 --> 00:47:46,840
communicate with me that the one
that had the Christian name, 

882
00:47:46,840 --> 00:47:50,320
like Daniel, their family had 
gotten saved before this young 

883
00:47:50,320 --> 00:47:53,400
man was born. 
This other boy over here that 

884
00:47:53,400 --> 00:47:57,440
had a Hindu name, his parents 
got saved after he was born. 

885
00:47:57,640 --> 00:48:01,080
And he was able to communicate 
to me that when his mom and dad 

886
00:48:01,080 --> 00:48:04,600
got saved, as soon as they got 
baptized, the village burnt 

887
00:48:04,600 --> 00:48:08,800
their house down and threw him 
out of the village. 

888
00:48:08,800 --> 00:48:11,160
And you know what this young man
said? 

889
00:48:11,160 --> 00:48:13,200
He's like 18 years old, 19 years
old. 

890
00:48:13,480 --> 00:48:16,880
He said, I'm going to go back to
that village and I'm going to 

891
00:48:16,880 --> 00:48:23,280
start a church. 
And I said, what? 

892
00:48:23,320 --> 00:48:25,560
And so I go back up into my room
because they were out there 

893
00:48:25,560 --> 00:48:28,200
washing their shirts. 
They were, they were washing 

894
00:48:28,200 --> 00:48:31,320
their shirts in a, in a sink, 
like a sink. 

895
00:48:32,680 --> 00:48:35,200
And they and I went back in and 
I said, brother Sam, I just met 

896
00:48:35,200 --> 00:48:37,040
two guys and he told yeah, 
that's blah, blah, blah. 

897
00:48:37,680 --> 00:48:39,280
I said, what do they have to 
what are, what are they doing? 

898
00:48:39,320 --> 00:48:42,840
What he goes, well, they only 
have one white shirt and they 

899
00:48:42,840 --> 00:48:44,520
wash it every day. 
So then go to church. 

900
00:48:46,120 --> 00:48:48,840
I, I had five white shirts with 
me on the trip. 

901
00:48:50,400 --> 00:48:53,040
I took all of except for one. 
And I said here, get past these 

902
00:48:53,040 --> 00:48:54,960
out. 
I went home and told the church 

903
00:48:55,320 --> 00:48:58,720
we sent all of those boys. 
We sent 150. 

904
00:48:58,720 --> 00:49:01,840
We bought 2 shirts for every one
of them, which was 150 shirts 

905
00:49:02,360 --> 00:49:08,520
and 75 pairs of pants. 
You know how many white shirts I

906
00:49:08,520 --> 00:49:13,960
have in my closet, brother? 
11 because I counted them before

907
00:49:13,960 --> 00:49:16,040
I came. 
My wife said the other day, do 

908
00:49:16,680 --> 00:49:19,000
you know you got 11 white 
shirts? 

909
00:49:20,040 --> 00:49:27,560
I said, I know I'm going to add 
two more, so I have 13 because a

910
00:49:27,560 --> 00:49:29,560
man of God can't have too many 
white shirts. 

911
00:49:32,160 --> 00:49:35,840
Is everybody getting this? 
They gave in their poverty. 

912
00:49:36,160 --> 00:49:37,640
You know what those people in 
India do? 

913
00:49:37,640 --> 00:49:41,120
They give. 
Brother Sam told me they, and 

914
00:49:41,120 --> 00:49:43,000
you know what they really do? 
Here's what they really do. 

915
00:49:43,040 --> 00:49:46,400
They give of themselves. 
And that what it says here. 

916
00:49:46,400 --> 00:49:47,800
Notice the next thing in the 
verse. 

917
00:49:47,800 --> 00:49:51,320
It says verse 3. 
Now we're moving along. 

918
00:49:51,320 --> 00:49:54,880
We're already up to verse #3. 
For I bear for there to their 

919
00:49:54,880 --> 00:49:57,800
power, I bear record and beyond 
their power, they were willing 

920
00:49:57,800 --> 00:50:00,000
of themselves. 
So in other words, there's power

921
00:50:00,000 --> 00:50:02,560
in their giving. 
Now not only was there poverty 

922
00:50:02,560 --> 00:50:04,440
in their giving, but there was 
power in their giving. 

923
00:50:04,440 --> 00:50:07,120
Meaning they were the type of 
people who said, Lord, what 

924
00:50:07,120 --> 00:50:08,600
would you? 
Have me to do, What would you 

925
00:50:08,600 --> 00:50:11,240
have me to give? 
That's why we say to people, 

926
00:50:11,480 --> 00:50:14,040
Hey, ask the Lord what he will, 
what he will have you to give. 

927
00:50:14,520 --> 00:50:16,280
That's a good question. 
Lord, what would you have me to 

928
00:50:16,280 --> 00:50:18,240
do? 
The kind of giving comes from 

929
00:50:18,240 --> 00:50:20,080
the heart. 
It's called a cheerful giving. 

930
00:50:20,080 --> 00:50:24,600
As mentioned in Chapter 9, the 
church in Macedonia, they didn't

931
00:50:24,600 --> 00:50:27,800
need no prompting reminding, 
they just gave. 

932
00:50:27,840 --> 00:50:31,800
The church in Corinth, they need
to be reminded their giving was 

933
00:50:31,800 --> 00:50:33,720
by faith. 
It wasn't out of pressure. 

934
00:50:34,200 --> 00:50:37,400
And here's what it means when it
says they gave out beyond their 

935
00:50:37,400 --> 00:50:40,400
power. 
They gave out of God's power, 

936
00:50:40,440 --> 00:50:43,280
meaning not they didn't give by 
their ability. 

937
00:50:43,880 --> 00:50:47,280
They gave by God's ability 
because you know, I've had the 

938
00:50:47,280 --> 00:50:49,640
power to do this. 
I have the power to do that, 

939
00:50:49,960 --> 00:50:53,000
meaning I have the ability to do
this or I have the ability to do

940
00:50:53,000 --> 00:50:55,760
that. 
And and they gave beyond their 

941
00:50:56,200 --> 00:51:01,480
ability that's given by faith 
and there the word power. 

942
00:51:01,480 --> 00:51:03,760
Here means the faculty of doing 
or performing. 

943
00:51:03,760 --> 00:51:05,920
It means moving or producing a 
change. 

944
00:51:06,400 --> 00:51:08,480
It's the idea of ability, of 
strength. 

945
00:51:08,760 --> 00:51:11,600
The exertion of power proceeds 
from the will. 

946
00:51:11,600 --> 00:51:14,560
And the key to the Christian 
life is to do the will of God. 

947
00:51:15,240 --> 00:51:18,320
And it is the will of God that 
you be involved in the principle

948
00:51:18,320 --> 00:51:20,440
called faith, promise, mission 
giving. 

949
00:51:20,440 --> 00:51:22,800
We know very clearly from the 
Scripture that God is not 

950
00:51:22,800 --> 00:51:25,800
willing that any should perish, 
but that all would come to 

951
00:51:25,800 --> 00:51:28,320
repentance. 
And therefore God wants people 

952
00:51:28,320 --> 00:51:31,040
to be saved. 
And one of the ways we do that 

953
00:51:31,040 --> 00:51:33,520
is by sending missionaries all 
over the world. 

954
00:51:34,600 --> 00:51:37,120
And you know what, America has 
become a mission field once 

955
00:51:37,120 --> 00:51:41,520
again. 
And then I want you to look at 

956
00:51:41,520 --> 00:51:45,200
number verse #4 praying us with 
much entreaty that we would 

957
00:51:45,200 --> 00:51:48,000
receive the gift and take upon 
us the fellowship of the 

958
00:51:48,000 --> 00:51:50,760
ministering to the Saints. 
Now the way I like to look at 

959
00:51:50,760 --> 00:51:55,960
this verse, I get the. 
Idea here that Paul was almost 

960
00:51:56,600 --> 00:52:01,920
embarrassed to ask them to give 
because he knew their situation.

961
00:52:02,880 --> 00:52:05,520
I remember back in 19, I have to
think about this. 

962
00:52:05,800 --> 00:52:09,200
We were building a building in 
Knob Noster and we built a very 

963
00:52:09,200 --> 00:52:12,440
nice building. 
By the glory of God, we, we, 

964
00:52:12,680 --> 00:52:15,240
you, if you get in construction,
you'll never even believe what I

965
00:52:15,240 --> 00:52:16,800
tell you. 
So we built that building for 

966
00:52:16,800 --> 00:52:20,880
$35 a square foot because we did
all the work we did and we got 

967
00:52:20,880 --> 00:52:22,440
the materials and all that sort 
of stuff. 

968
00:52:23,040 --> 00:52:24,480
So we were building this 
building. 

969
00:52:24,480 --> 00:52:26,160
We're in the middle of this 
building project. 

970
00:52:26,160 --> 00:52:29,720
I, me and my son and another 
man, we worked every day from 

971
00:52:29,720 --> 00:52:31,920
daylight to dark. 
I was never so glad when 

972
00:52:31,920 --> 00:52:35,560
daylight saving time came. 
Every time daylight saving times

973
00:52:35,560 --> 00:52:38,040
come, like it changed last week.
I get a little PTSD. 

974
00:52:38,040 --> 00:52:41,280
I'm like, because I was so glad 
because we didn't have to work 

975
00:52:41,280 --> 00:52:44,280
at 9:00 at night. 
We could be done at 5:00 because

976
00:52:44,280 --> 00:52:46,400
the contractor wanted to quit 
when it got dark. 

977
00:52:46,760 --> 00:52:47,840
I was. 
Like, oh man, I never. 

978
00:52:48,040 --> 00:52:51,640
I never thought 530 Darkness 
would be so welcomed in my life.

979
00:52:52,720 --> 00:52:55,200
And we had been working on that 
building for about 9 months. 

980
00:52:55,200 --> 00:52:57,240
And we came to our Faith Promise
mission conference. 

981
00:52:57,240 --> 00:52:59,920
And I'm in my office and I'm 
saying things like this now. 

982
00:52:59,920 --> 00:53:02,160
Lord, you know, if our people 
are giving, I mean, they're 

983
00:53:02,160 --> 00:53:04,440
giving beyond their ability. 
They're giving all this money. 

984
00:53:04,800 --> 00:53:06,120
We're just, they're giving. 
They're giving. 

985
00:53:06,120 --> 00:53:07,440
They're giving. 
Maybe we should, maybe we should

986
00:53:07,440 --> 00:53:09,640
not be too hard on them this 
year about Faith Promise. 

987
00:53:11,520 --> 00:53:17,040
And the Holy Ghost smoked my 
heart, took me to my knees and 

988
00:53:17,040 --> 00:53:20,880
said, no. 
You need to understand that 

989
00:53:20,880 --> 00:53:25,640
giving beyond your locality is 
as important now as it was when 

990
00:53:25,640 --> 00:53:26,720
you started building this 
building. 

991
00:53:28,120 --> 00:53:30,720
So I repented because I do that 
a lot. 

992
00:53:32,200 --> 00:53:35,800
I got right with God. 
We had a mission conference, and

993
00:53:35,800 --> 00:53:37,960
I want you, I want you to, I 
want you to listen to this. 

994
00:53:38,240 --> 00:53:41,200
It was the largest mission 
conference giving we'd ever had.

995
00:53:43,480 --> 00:53:45,320
You know why? 
Because they gave beyond their 

996
00:53:45,320 --> 00:53:48,440
ability. 
They gave by God's ability. 

997
00:53:49,000 --> 00:53:51,720
And that's what the churches of 
Macedonia, that's why they are 

998
00:53:51,720 --> 00:53:56,320
our example tonight and in verse
#4 and, and, and you almost get 

999
00:53:56,320 --> 00:53:59,600
the idea that Paul felt bad he 
was asking these people to give 

1000
00:53:59,600 --> 00:54:01,800
because of their situation. 
But what did they say? 

1001
00:54:01,800 --> 00:54:04,680
They petitioned Paul to receive 
the gift on their behalf. 

1002
00:54:05,040 --> 00:54:07,680
They said, we want to be a part 
of paying the debt. 

1003
00:54:08,520 --> 00:54:13,000
Only when a person understands 
they don't own themselves can 

1004
00:54:13,000 --> 00:54:16,240
you give by the grace of God. 
How is it listen this? 

1005
00:54:17,160 --> 00:54:19,840
Yeah. 
How is it that we are saved by 

1006
00:54:19,840 --> 00:54:23,800
the grace of God through faith, 
but we can't give by the grace 

1007
00:54:23,800 --> 00:54:28,240
of God through faith, praying us
with much entreaty that you we 

1008
00:54:28,240 --> 00:54:31,160
would receive the gift. 
And then in verse 5 through 7, 

1009
00:54:31,440 --> 00:54:33,720
notice this. 
And this they did, Paul is 

1010
00:54:33,720 --> 00:54:37,600
telling the church at corn this 
they did not as we had hoped, 

1011
00:54:37,600 --> 00:54:40,240
but first gave of their own 
selves of the Lord and to us by 

1012
00:54:40,240 --> 00:54:45,240
the will of God. 
This they did this they did they

1013
00:54:45,240 --> 00:54:48,200
gave they gave their money, they
gave their person. 

1014
00:54:48,600 --> 00:54:51,360
He tells the Church of Corinth 
in verse 11, look at this. 

1015
00:54:51,360 --> 00:54:54,720
This will be for tomorrow night.
Now perform the doing of it that

1016
00:54:54,720 --> 00:54:57,640
as there was a readiness to 
will, so there may be a 

1017
00:54:57,640 --> 00:54:59,560
performance also how to that 
which you have. 

1018
00:54:59,560 --> 00:55:00,760
We'll look at that tomorrow 
night. 

1019
00:55:01,040 --> 00:55:04,320
But the point is, is they 
perform the doing of giving. 

1020
00:55:05,040 --> 00:55:08,280
Even though they were in 
poverty, even though they were 

1021
00:55:08,280 --> 00:55:11,520
in affliction, they gave beyond 
their ability. 

1022
00:55:12,200 --> 00:55:15,600
And that's why in verse 7, Paul 
turns his attention back to 

1023
00:55:15,600 --> 00:55:16,920
Corinth. 
Look at this. 

1024
00:55:17,440 --> 00:55:19,720
He turns his attention back to 
Corinth and he says. 

1025
00:55:19,720 --> 00:55:23,480
Hey. 
Therefore, as you abound in 

1026
00:55:23,480 --> 00:55:28,160
everything, as you abound in 
your faith and your utterance 

1027
00:55:28,160 --> 00:55:31,640
and your knowledge and your 
diligence, and in your love to 

1028
00:55:31,640 --> 00:55:37,120
us, hey, make sure that you 
abound in this grace also. 

1029
00:55:37,120 --> 00:55:39,360
He calls the word. 
He calls the giving grace. 

1030
00:55:40,360 --> 00:55:43,320
Make sure that you do what 
you're supposed to do in this 

1031
00:55:43,320 --> 00:55:45,400
giving. 
Isn't it amazing that when your 

1032
00:55:45,400 --> 00:55:47,480
heart is right, then your giving
can be right? 

1033
00:55:48,760 --> 00:55:51,560
Sometimes in a Christian's life,
the last thing to get saved is 

1034
00:55:51,560 --> 00:55:57,760
they're giving. 
But you know what he says at the

1035
00:55:57,760 --> 00:56:01,000
end of this and I'm almost done,
verse 8, he says. 

1036
00:56:01,000 --> 00:56:04,400
Give look at this. 
He says I'm not speaking by 

1037
00:56:04,400 --> 00:56:06,200
commandment. 
In other words, there's not a 

1038
00:56:06,200 --> 00:56:09,480
commandment. 
To give an offering, there is a 

1039
00:56:09,480 --> 00:56:11,400
commandment to give to faith 
promise. 

1040
00:56:11,880 --> 00:56:13,800
But he says I'm speaking not by 
commandment. 

1041
00:56:13,800 --> 00:56:16,360
Then I like to turn around and 
go, well, the Holy Spirit of God

1042
00:56:16,360 --> 00:56:20,920
wrote this and then he says 
this, if you want, here's here's

1043
00:56:20,920 --> 00:56:25,000
the reason that you should give 
beyond your locality. 

1044
00:56:25,320 --> 00:56:28,680
This is the reason you should 
give beyond your locality to 

1045
00:56:28,680 --> 00:56:33,200
missionaries all over the world 
and going to Bridgeport, CT or 

1046
00:56:33,200 --> 00:56:35,440
wherever it might be in New 
Hampshire or Eastern 

1047
00:56:35,440 --> 00:56:38,040
Massachusetts. 
This is why we gave to this 

1048
00:56:38,040 --> 00:56:39,720
word. 
This is why we support this 

1049
00:56:39,720 --> 00:56:40,680
work. 
Listen to this. 

1050
00:56:40,680 --> 00:56:43,480
We want to What's the last words
of chapter verse 8? 

1051
00:56:44,280 --> 00:56:48,720
Prove the sincerity of your 
love. 

1052
00:56:50,200 --> 00:56:56,440
You want to prove the sincerity 
of your love, Then give in this 

1053
00:56:56,440 --> 00:57:01,360
offering that's beyond your own 
locality. 

1054
00:57:02,720 --> 00:57:06,040
Hey, church, I'm telling you, 
listen, I'm now I'm talking to 

1055
00:57:06,040 --> 00:57:07,600
the Corinth. 
I'm talking to Corinth, but I'm 

1056
00:57:07,600 --> 00:57:10,520
also talking to you and to me. 
Hey, church, I'm telling you 

1057
00:57:10,520 --> 00:57:12,520
about the poor churches who gave
what about you? 

1058
00:57:13,880 --> 00:57:16,280
There's no commandment. 
To give faith promise, except to

1059
00:57:16,280 --> 00:57:20,320
prove the sincerity of your love
for souls around the world. 

1060
00:57:20,320 --> 00:57:23,000
Pay your debt. 
Pay your debt. 

1061
00:57:24,160 --> 00:57:29,640
Everybody's got debts, I mean. 
Everybody has debts, but when I 

1062
00:57:29,640 --> 00:57:33,080
said that somebody come out and 
I don't have no debts, You don't

1063
00:57:34,320 --> 00:57:36,760
really. 
You don't have the debt of 

1064
00:57:36,760 --> 00:57:38,080
paying your light bill every 
month. 

1065
00:57:38,080 --> 00:57:39,880
What do y'all call it up here? 
We call it the light bill 

1066
00:57:39,880 --> 00:57:41,840
utilities. 
That's a debt. 

1067
00:57:42,920 --> 00:57:44,720
You know what happens if you 
don't pay that debt? 

1068
00:57:45,720 --> 00:57:49,800
Click, they turn the. 
Lights off, you have a debt now.

1069
00:57:49,800 --> 00:57:51,040
Most people don't own their 
house. 

1070
00:57:51,040 --> 00:57:52,920
I don't own my house. 
I've got people in our church 

1071
00:57:52,920 --> 00:57:54,320
that own my house, own their 
house. 

1072
00:57:54,920 --> 00:57:58,080
But I pay my house payment ever.
I pay my taxes. 

1073
00:57:58,440 --> 00:57:59,760
Don't tell me how much y'all pay
in taxes. 

1074
00:57:59,760 --> 00:58:07,640
I don't want to hear it. 
We all have debts and and and 

1075
00:58:07,640 --> 00:58:09,160
Macedonia goes no, no, no, no, 
no. 

1076
00:58:09,160 --> 00:58:11,760
We, we, we want to prove the 
sincerity of our love. 

1077
00:58:11,760 --> 00:58:14,880
We want to pay our debt. 
We want to give and and that's 

1078
00:58:14,880 --> 00:58:17,040
what that's what he's saying to 
them tonight. 

1079
00:58:17,040 --> 00:58:21,120
So giving to faith promise will 
prove the sincerity of your Lord

1080
00:58:21,880 --> 00:58:24,680
to your sincerity of your love 
towards mission and 

1081
00:58:24,680 --> 00:58:27,840
missionaries. 
Now in our church, we, we 

1082
00:58:27,840 --> 00:58:30,600
support about 85 missionaries. 
I've always wanted to get to 

1083
00:58:30,600 --> 00:58:34,520
100, but for some reason we just
can't get there because somebody

1084
00:58:34,520 --> 00:58:36,280
will come off the field or 
something like that or what 

1085
00:58:36,280 --> 00:58:38,240
happened. 
So about 85 missionaries. 

1086
00:58:38,960 --> 00:58:43,120
And, and so every, every time we
get 30 letters. 

1087
00:58:43,680 --> 00:58:46,400
And that happens probably every 
two or three weeks because you 

1088
00:58:46,400 --> 00:58:49,360
have 80 missionaries. 
We want our missionaries to send

1089
00:58:49,360 --> 00:58:52,120
us a letter at least every other
month, which I don't think is 

1090
00:58:52,120 --> 00:58:55,600
too much ask. 
And so, so we get these letters 

1091
00:58:55,600 --> 00:58:58,280
and I have an intern that that 
puts these letters together in a

1092
00:58:58,280 --> 00:59:00,920
booklet. 
And then we put that booklet out

1093
00:59:00,920 --> 00:59:04,680
on the foyer back there. 
And what they don't know is, is 

1094
00:59:04,680 --> 00:59:06,920
I'm, I'm standing out there and 
I'll, I'll stand up and say, 

1095
00:59:06,920 --> 00:59:08,240
Hey, we got a new booklet 
tonight. 

1096
00:59:08,240 --> 00:59:10,360
And I, I'll say, hey, grab you a
new booklet. 

1097
00:59:10,360 --> 00:59:12,840
And then I go back there to 
shake hands and I watch to see 

1098
00:59:12,840 --> 00:59:18,320
who gets the booklets, because 
those that really give, they 

1099
00:59:18,320 --> 00:59:21,040
want to read the letters and we 
know what's going on. 

1100
00:59:22,040 --> 00:59:25,040
So giving by giving to faith, 
promise will prove the sincerity

1101
00:59:25,040 --> 00:59:26,920
of your love towards mission and
missionaries. 

1102
00:59:28,600 --> 00:59:30,800
I want you to look at Chapter 9,
verse 2, for I know the 

1103
00:59:30,800 --> 00:59:33,760
forwardness of your mind. 
Corinth, that word forwardness 

1104
00:59:33,760 --> 00:59:36,360
means I know the cheerfulness 
and the readiness and the 

1105
00:59:36,360 --> 00:59:38,520
promptness and the eagerness you
had to give. 

1106
00:59:39,360 --> 00:59:42,280
Unfortunately, they got all 
excited, but now they were not 

1107
00:59:42,280 --> 00:59:45,440
giving. 
So the churches of Macedonia 

1108
00:59:45,440 --> 00:59:48,720
understood that they were 
debtors and they for giving by 

1109
00:59:48,720 --> 00:59:51,840
grace what an example these 
churches were to us tonight. 

1110
00:59:52,720 --> 00:59:55,440
Now I'm going to. 
Close with this story and I 

1111
00:59:55,440 --> 00:59:57,120
appreciate it. 
I won't go this long tomorrow 

1112
00:59:57,120 --> 01:00:02,000
night or Friday night, I promise
I might. 

1113
01:00:02,040 --> 01:00:10,760
OK, I don't want to lie, do I? 
So when my son was 10 years old 

1114
01:00:12,160 --> 01:00:16,120
and my son, he is what you would
call an entrepreneur. 

1115
01:00:16,760 --> 01:00:18,240
And he's been that way since he 
was 10. 

1116
01:00:18,880 --> 01:00:24,520
So I was working at FedEx and I 
came home from FedEx one day and

1117
01:00:25,040 --> 01:00:26,880
and so my son asked me a 
question. 

1118
01:00:26,880 --> 01:00:29,880
But so back in September, we 
used when I was in Nomnos. 

1119
01:00:29,880 --> 01:00:31,600
We had our mission conference in
September. 

1120
01:00:32,040 --> 01:00:34,360
Y'all have yours in November at 
church at Berean. 

1121
01:00:34,360 --> 01:00:37,200
We have ours in April. 
So this is September. 

1122
01:00:37,200 --> 01:00:42,440
And back in those days, my kids 
got $3 a week for we believe in 

1123
01:00:42,440 --> 01:00:45,760
the work program. 
We don't believe in, we don't, 

1124
01:00:45,760 --> 01:00:50,000
we don't give allowance. 
I don't believe in allowances. 

1125
01:00:50,560 --> 01:00:53,400
I believe in the work program. 
Allowance is free. 

1126
01:00:54,120 --> 01:00:58,240
Work program means you got to 
feed the dog, make your bed, 

1127
01:00:58,920 --> 01:01:01,760
take out the trash and you get 
them little check marks. 

1128
01:01:01,760 --> 01:01:04,400
You know, my wife, my wife was a
big check marker thing, you 

1129
01:01:04,400 --> 01:01:06,680
know, on the TV, on this 
refrigerator. 

1130
01:01:07,200 --> 01:01:09,040
If you do take out trash, check 
if you do this. 

1131
01:01:09,040 --> 01:01:11,080
Well, if they had all the 
checks, hey, they got $3 at the 

1132
01:01:11,080 --> 01:01:14,920
end of the week. 
And so we were in the mission 

1133
01:01:14,920 --> 01:01:17,880
conference in September and we 
come to the end of the week and 

1134
01:01:17,880 --> 01:01:20,080
my wife said, hey, have you 
talked to the kids about giving?

1135
01:01:20,080 --> 01:01:21,520
And I said, man, no, we've been 
busy. 

1136
01:01:21,720 --> 01:01:23,680
I said, I tell you what, you 
talk to Heather, I'll talk to 

1137
01:01:23,680 --> 01:01:25,120
BJ. 
That's my son Brian. 

1138
01:01:25,520 --> 01:01:27,520
So I go talk to my son. 
And I said, hey, you've been 

1139
01:01:27,520 --> 01:01:28,600
listening this week. 
Yes, Sir. 

1140
01:01:29,680 --> 01:01:32,040
You think you'd like to get 
involved in Faith Promise this 

1141
01:01:32,040 --> 01:01:32,800
year? 
Yes, Sir. 

1142
01:01:33,880 --> 01:01:35,360
That's OK. 
What what do you think about 

1143
01:01:35,360 --> 01:01:40,480
doing? 
He said $2.70 and I'm liking, 

1144
01:01:41,480 --> 01:01:44,280
well, your ties, $0.30. 
See, they know that even though 

1145
01:01:44,280 --> 01:01:45,440
they're homeschooled, they knew 
that. 

1146
01:01:48,080 --> 01:01:49,160
So you give $0.30? 
I said. 

1147
01:01:49,280 --> 01:01:51,240
Bubba, that's all your money. 
What are you? 

1148
01:01:51,240 --> 01:01:53,040
What are you doing? 
He goes well, Dad, you feed. 

1149
01:01:53,040 --> 01:01:56,120
ME3 meals a day. 
You take care of me. 

1150
01:01:56,200 --> 01:01:58,080
Is it OK if I give all my money 
to missions? 

1151
01:01:58,640 --> 01:02:00,880
And I'm trying to rebuke my son.
In the spirit of God, he goes, 

1152
01:02:00,880 --> 01:02:03,480
what are you doing? 
Leave him alone. 

1153
01:02:04,000 --> 01:02:04,920
Yes, Sir. 
I'm sorry, Lord. 

1154
01:02:05,920 --> 01:02:07,720
So he fills out to make faith 
prom every week. 

1155
01:02:07,720 --> 01:02:09,160
He'd do his work. 
Even $3. 

1156
01:02:09,440 --> 01:02:11,640
He'd take it. 
Put an envelope, $0.30 mission, 

1157
01:02:11,640 --> 01:02:15,760
$0.30 tied to $2.70 mission. 
Now don't that rip your heart 

1158
01:02:15,760 --> 01:02:18,360
out. 
It didn't mean I'm like, but you

1159
01:02:18,360 --> 01:02:21,120
got to hold them to it. 
As far as you know. 

1160
01:02:21,280 --> 01:02:23,080
Hey, we stopped somewhere to get
a coke. 

1161
01:02:23,080 --> 01:02:25,200
You ain't got no money. 
Not my, my, my problem. 

1162
01:02:28,400 --> 01:02:32,200
He didn't care. 
So now we'll Fast forward 

1163
01:02:32,520 --> 01:02:34,880
September, October, November, 
December, January, February. 

1164
01:02:34,880 --> 01:02:38,960
Five months later, I come home 
from FedEx one day and he's 

1165
01:02:38,960 --> 01:02:42,520
sitting in the he's sitting on 
the, he's sitting on the couch 

1166
01:02:42,520 --> 01:02:43,480
there. 
And he said dad. 

1167
01:02:44,040 --> 01:02:45,640
He said do. 
You care if I get a paper route 

1168
01:02:45,640 --> 01:02:46,880
job? 
He's 10 years old. 

1169
01:02:48,600 --> 01:02:51,840
What paper route job? 
There's a paper route in our 

1170
01:02:51,840 --> 01:02:54,240
area that's come open. 
And I was wanting to know if 

1171
01:02:54,240 --> 01:02:59,000
you'd take me over to the, over 
to Warrensburg And, and I, I got

1172
01:02:59,000 --> 01:03:01,560
an, I got an interview, kids at 
10 years old. 

1173
01:03:01,560 --> 01:03:05,920
He's got an interview. 
Oh, I love this kid as far as 

1174
01:03:05,920 --> 01:03:08,040
that kind of stuff. 
Anyhow, so I get in the car and 

1175
01:03:08,040 --> 01:03:10,600
I take him over the whole time 
I'm driving over there I go, I'm

1176
01:03:10,600 --> 01:03:12,240
the FedEx driver for 
Warrensburg. 

1177
01:03:12,240 --> 01:03:16,800
Just so you'll know this, I know
every business in Swarnsburg. 

1178
01:03:17,200 --> 01:03:20,240
I'm thinking, all I got to do is
walk into this place and show my

1179
01:03:20,240 --> 01:03:23,000
face and they'll go, oh, that's 
the FedEx guy. 

1180
01:03:23,000 --> 01:03:24,640
That's his son. 
They'll give him a job. 

1181
01:03:25,120 --> 01:03:28,560
So I rolled up there to that and
I said, you want me to go in 

1182
01:03:28,560 --> 01:03:30,440
with? 
He goes, no, dad, I got this. 

1183
01:03:33,080 --> 01:03:35,840
So now I start sweating, you 
know, I got sweat balls coming 

1184
01:03:35,840 --> 01:03:38,720
down my arms. 
He goes in there and you see, 

1185
01:03:38,800 --> 01:03:40,680
you see his little head. 
He's only 10 years old. 

1186
01:03:41,160 --> 01:03:42,680
And you see him talk to the 
person. 

1187
01:03:42,680 --> 01:03:44,720
They lift the thing up. 
You see him shoot back there and

1188
01:03:44,720 --> 01:03:47,800
I'm like, oh, Lord help him. 
This is his first time out into 

1189
01:03:47,800 --> 01:03:51,760
the wilderness. 
He comes back and he's got bags 

1190
01:03:51,760 --> 01:03:55,320
and rubber bands and he. 
Throws them in the back seat, 

1191
01:03:55,320 --> 01:03:57,400
slides in, shuts the door and 
goes. 

1192
01:03:57,400 --> 01:04:00,960
I got the job. 
I said OK. 

1193
01:04:01,040 --> 01:04:03,920
Then I gave him the dad's speech
all the way home, 10 miles away.

1194
01:04:04,160 --> 01:04:06,040
Now you know me and your mom 
ain't going to help you roll in 

1195
01:04:06,040 --> 01:04:08,800
papers. 
So no, you know what he is. 

1196
01:04:08,840 --> 01:04:13,040
He hired his sister, who didn't.
Give as much to faith promise. 

1197
01:04:14,760 --> 01:04:18,840
So that she got to get a job and
that those papers would come in 

1198
01:04:18,840 --> 01:04:21,240
every day at 2:00. 
He'd roll those things, put them

1199
01:04:21,240 --> 01:04:25,240
in them things and then he'd go 
out on his bicycle and he'd be 

1200
01:04:25,240 --> 01:04:27,400
gone for about an hour and a 
half, two hours. 

1201
01:04:28,600 --> 01:04:37,120
And he delivered them papers. 
And 1st month he got $75.00 in 

1202
01:04:37,120 --> 01:04:40,440
his paycheck. 
Son, I didn't have $75. 

1203
01:04:42,560 --> 01:04:45,560
And every week he'd take his, 
he'd take that allowance that he

1204
01:04:45,560 --> 01:04:49,240
got, he'd put $2.70 and 30 
cents. 

1205
01:04:49,240 --> 01:04:52,920
And then on the side, if he got,
when he got paid, he was $7.50 

1206
01:04:53,120 --> 01:04:57,800
on his tithe out of his new job.
He was loaded and he had that 

1207
01:04:57,800 --> 01:05:00,480
job. 
And then December comes and he 

1208
01:05:00,480 --> 01:05:03,880
comes home and he's got he's, he
got in his pocket and he brings 

1209
01:05:03,880 --> 01:05:08,360
out these wads of 20s and $50.00
bills and $10 bills and $1.00. 

1210
01:05:08,360 --> 01:05:11,080
Bills and $5 bills. 
And he throws it on the table. 

1211
01:05:11,080 --> 01:05:13,440
I'm saying, son, where did you 
get that money? 

1212
01:05:13,600 --> 01:05:14,960
He said, they're giving it to 
me. 

1213
01:05:16,160 --> 01:05:17,680
He said they're calling it a 
Christmas. 

1214
01:05:17,680 --> 01:05:19,640
They come, it's Christmas time. 
They're giving me Christmas 

1215
01:05:19,640 --> 01:05:21,600
bonus. 
I said, are you serious? 

1216
01:05:21,600 --> 01:05:23,080
He goes, yeah, You know, about a
month ago. 

1217
01:05:23,080 --> 01:05:25,880
Dad, I don't know if I told you 
this, he said. 

1218
01:05:25,880 --> 01:05:28,720
But I started looking at the 
people that I was giving papers 

1219
01:05:28,720 --> 01:05:30,640
to, he said. 
There's some older people out 

1220
01:05:30,640 --> 01:05:32,560
there. 
They're like 40-50 years old. 

1221
01:05:34,840 --> 01:05:38,320
Yeah, they're old, he said. 
So instead of just throwing it 

1222
01:05:38,320 --> 01:05:40,760
in the yard, he goes, I started 
putting it on their front porch,

1223
01:05:41,600 --> 01:05:43,160
he said. 
So when I drop it on the front 

1224
01:05:43,160 --> 01:05:45,880
porch, they've been opening up 
the door and saying, so we're so

1225
01:05:46,000 --> 01:05:47,680
we can't. 
We've never had a paper guy like

1226
01:05:47,680 --> 01:05:49,840
you putting on front porch here,
$20.00 for Christmas. 

1227
01:05:49,840 --> 01:05:53,680
Merry Christmas. 
He was loaded, Holy Spirit of 

1228
01:05:53,680 --> 01:05:56,800
God said. 
You think I could take care of 

1229
01:05:56,800 --> 01:06:00,080
those who give in a way they 
don't even understand? 

1230
01:06:02,800 --> 01:06:06,240
I think so. 
Thank you for listening to the 

1231
01:06:06,240 --> 01:06:08,880
sermon from the pulpit of 
Liberty Baptist Church. 

1232
01:06:09,280 --> 01:06:12,480
If this message was a blessing 
to you, or if there's any way we

1233
01:06:12,480 --> 01:06:15,600
can serve you, please let us 
know by contacting us at 

1234
01:06:15,760 --> 01:06:20,480
info@mylibertybaptist.org. 
Or you can visit us this Sunday 

1235
01:06:20,680 --> 01:06:24,400
at 800 Washington St. in Easton,
MA. 

1236
01:06:24,640 --> 01:06:27,480
May the Lord bless you as you 
grow in His Word.