Giving generously ; God's way | Eld Peng Hoe

You're listening to a message to go from acts church.

We hope this message will light up your day.

I'm going to be bringing us through some scripture and

I'll teach a little bit. So if it gets a

little bit heavy, all I can say is stay with me.

I would hope I can't really entertain you with teaching,

but I hope that the truth will liberate your mind

first and foremost, and then we'll liberate every part of

you to be so liberated for the Lord. Okay, So

two portions of scripture that I'll be referring to today

is actually from two letters that Paul wrote to different churches.

The first one, of course, is a letter he wrote

to the church in Corinth called Second Corinthians. So the

second letter that he wrote to the church in Corinth

and the second letter is one in which Paul wrote

to the church in Philippi. Okay, So I will be

breaking down both scriptures from these two letters and drawing

out some truths which I hope all of us can learn.

Uh.

There may be a lot of things that we take

home today, but I pray, with anything take home God's heart.

And that's going to be key, and that's going to

be most important.

Okay, the letters were actually written in a way.

I'm going to be teaching highlighting some scriptures from Corinthians first,

which was the letter which was written earlier, and then

I think about five or six years later, only the

letter that was written to the church in Philippi was

sent out. Okay, so it is in a way chronological. Okay, cool,

everyone with me. I will start off by reading Second Corinthians,

Chapter eight, verses one to nine. Uh, And I'm reading

from the NLT and it just it's just entitled like.

This a call to generous giving.

Okay, that's this is what's written in the Bible in

the NLT. And verse one of chapter eight, Second Corinthians

says this, Now, I want you to know, dear brothers

and sisters, what God in his kindness has done through

the churches in Macedonia. So he's writing to the church

in chrinth to tell them about what the churches in

Macedonia have been doing. And he says, he goes on

to say this, they are being tested by many troubles,

and they are very poor, but they are also filled

with abundant joy which has overflowed in rich generosity.

Wow. Okay, it's very very interesting.

And then he goes on to say, for I can

testify that they give not only what they could afford,

but far more, and they did it of their own

free will. They begged us again and again for the

privilege of sharing in the gift for the believers in Jerusalem.

They even did more than we had hope for.

Their first action was to give themselves to the Lord

and to us, just as God wanted them to do. Amen,

the Lord bless the reading of his word, and we

will be reading more portions of the scripture. Say thank

you to the worship team who has to endure two

rounds of me this morning. Okay, so I hope he

sings in. If not, you probably can repay why I'm

gonna say anyway, But let's start with.

This, Okay.

The apostle Paul actually gave an amazing account of what

generous giving looks like. And the church in Macedonia actually

excel in giving. If you read the portions of Scripture

from some other translations, you'll see that word excellent.

You all gave excellently. Actually, Paul uses that word.

Why did Paul say that the Macedonian church excel in giving.

And we know why he said that.

Because from the scripture we can gather there at the time.

That time, the Jerusalem Church which was like mother church, okay,

the church where all the initial pioneering work was done.

And then people will send out from Jerusalem to the

different parts. Okay, that's why in X chapter one, verse eight,

it says, no, eventually my spirit will come, then the

people will go Jerusalem, Samaria, and to the outermost areas.

And so Jerusalem was the main church.

But the main church was also struggling, so it was

going through a challenging, difficult time. And so the church

in Macedonia, who themselves were poor. Okay, this is not

like you're for the blingling. All the businessmen are in

the church. The church is filled with goal diamonds and

they got lots of money in the coffers. No, the

Macedonian church was also poor, but yet they never missed

the opportunity to collect funds to be given to their brethren,

their brothers and sisters in Jerusalem who needed it more

than them. And that is something amazing in which we

can learn. Because some people have said that it is

the poor who know how to give, because they know

what it is to be in one and what it

is to be in need. And really this is a

clear sign of the Macedonian Church stepping up. They gave

out of poverty. They did not give out of abundance.

They get out. They give out of their own leg

because they themselves have gone through the affliction. They themselves

have gone through different trials and challenges and difficulties.

They gave.

But the beauty of it is that they gave out

of abandoned joy. The scriptures say that, and I think

that is quite mind boggling, actually, because how when you

have nothing that you are giving everything and you are

giving it out of joy?

How does that work?

But it says they they were filled with abundant joy

because they first gave themselves to God. I think that's

a part of the scripture that sometimes we escape, we miss,

or we overlook. But the truth is they first presented

themselves to God.

They first gave themselves to God.

And when that happens, what ultimately happens in a person's

life is that our own will becomes substituted with God's will.

It becomes replaced with God's will.

When we present ourselves, when we give our all to God. Ultimately,

what we want is replaced with what God's what God wants,

and God's will is always to provide for his children

and that his church always have enough. That is the

reality of it, and that's why they could give with

abundant joy. And Paul teaches that Christian giving is really

not how little should I give, because sometimes that's the

question that we always ask, how little need I give?

Is actually how much can I give? It's always that

how much can I give? You see, Christian generosity goes

beyond what is expected, not just to give what is

expected or what is right, but to go as far

as possible. I think that it's something that we learn

even in x where we always tell people, if you

want to do something for the Lord, give your best,

give your all, go to the furthest extent, because that

is when you realize that you are no longer dependent

on your own true worth, but you are dependent on

the true worth of God in your life. And so

they rejoice in the opportunity to do so. They really

they were so happy as a poor church in Macedonia

giving to the Church in Jerusalem. And then we can

also see this, of course when we read the next chapter,

chapter nine of Second Corinthians. I'm gonna read verses six

to nine. You will see how joyful they are. And

from this portion of scripture it says this, Remember this,

A farmer who plans only a few seats will get

a small crop, but the one who plans generously will

get a generous crop. You must each decide in your

heart how much to give, and don't give reluctantly or

in response to pressure, for God loves a person who

gives cheerfully, and God will generously provide all you need.

Then you will always have everything you need and plenty

leftover to share with others. As the scriptures say they

share freely and give generously to the poor, their good

dates will be remembered forever. And therefore, Christian generous generosity

should never be about giving out of pressure and compulsion.

It's actually the opposite. It's actually giving out a pleasure.

Because it says that the Lord loves a cheerful giver.

But I know it's not always easy to give cheerfully

because the word cheerful is the Greek word hilario, which

I think I'm not if I'm not mistaken, Okay, whatever

I can remember and you get that word hilarious actually

is the ruler for hilarious. That means you're laughing your

way as you are giving. Ha ha ha ha, sometimes

with ha ha ha ha, not really meaning the ha

ha ha, but more like haha, so painful to give.

But this is not what God wants.

God wants you to really ha ha ha ha ha

and give unto the Lord. And that is what a

cheerful giver means that when the time comes in worship

service for the collection, all of us should enjoy rejoice

in it. It's not really another time a man, these

guys are twisting my arm. Ah, man, this guy's got

all sorts of needs? Or why so many offering? White,

this offering, that offering, this person not well, that person

not well?

White? Support this church? Why support that church? I know

there are a lot of needs.

Honestly, needs are never ending, and that's why we should

continuously give, because there will always be.

Opportunity to help.

True our giving, but more importantly is rejoice in it

because just as the Father in heaven loves giving good

things to his children, therefore, let us be cheerful when

we are giving, because we are giving also to one another,

and we are giving to each other, we are giving

to the body, and the body continues to be strengthened.

So remember, the Lord is not asking us to have

the resources. Sometimes that's how we come to the conclusion

or it's all about giving, means it's all about resources. No,

he's not asking us to have the resources. He's asking

us to have the attitude. The attitude is key. Giving

is not about what you have externally. It is about

what you have on the inside. And God will provide

enough for us to give if we will want to

give to a greater need and cause for His purpose.

And will I assure you of that.

Remember, giving is a form of swing, That's what the

scripture tells us. And swing always leads to reaping. When

you sow, you will rip. The mound that you sow

is the mound that you reap. No, I've read some

different articles know how farmers know when they are new

to the trade and they go out and then they

don't realize know how how much seed to sow, and

so sometimes they're always so sparingly.

Because thinking I don't know, waste the seed.

And when they start doing that, and then they realize

eventually when his harvest time, their feel is it is better.

It's like Patty, it's like, oh I got one corn here,

got one corn here. Because they did not release as

many as much seeds as they were supposed to. And

you know they learned thereafter that why why hold back?

You know, when you're sowing, the sea is so so freely,

and this is what God really wants us to do.

He wants us to sow freely so that we will

always end up ripping. And this is the gift of

Christ in God's generosity that really stimulates the gracious work

of generosity in our hearts because God was the one

who first gave. If we have any one to reference

to or to benchmark how giving should be, then we

have to look at what grace is. Because us grace

produces what is gracious in our hearts. If you understand

what grace is, you will understand how important it is

for us to be gracious in return. Really God's grace

in our life. It's a very Christian term. You No,

grace is so rich that word that really you don't

find it anywhere else in any other form of religion

in this world. But it's a very Christian term grace.

What does it mean? It means, you know, what we

don't have, what we don't deserve, we have it. And

God has given that amazing gift of grace to his people.

Amen.

So let let's have that as the background. Okay, what

generous giving can really look like. And now I want

to fast forward a few years to the letter that

now Paul wrote to the church in Philippie. Okay, so

just now we read Paul wrote the letter to the

church in Corinthians called in the church in Kaurin was

quite a naughty church, Okay, naughty as in the people

were practicing.

All sorts of funky stuff.

If you read Corinthians, both First and Second Corinthians, you

actually notice that Paul had to really almost rebuilked them

many times, not because they were practicing all sorts of

some cult. Staff know they were sexually immoral. A lot

of teaching that Paul teaches in Corinthians is very strong

because the church was actually actively practicing all these things.

But when it comes to the Church in Philippi, you

will realize that it's a little bit different. He takes

a different slant in writing because it's almost as though

he's openly acknowledging that he really has a closer relationship

with the Church in Philippi, a very very endearing kind

of relationship because chapter four, Verse one of chapter four

starts off like this, No, therefore, my beloved and long

for bredren my joy and crown, So stand fast.

In the Lord beloved.

The way he talks to them is like beloved, very endearing,

and it really portrays a very intimate, warm and loving

relationship between Paul and the Church in philipp But it

is definitely one of his favorites.

Uh. And it actually reflects in the way he writes uh.

And he is very anxious actually for this church to

continue to stand firm and continue to stay the way

that they are. He wanted them to remain as you are,

continue to do what is right is. I love reading

Philippines because it's one of those books, one of those

letters that you see the word rejoice repeatedly.

Rejoice. The joy of the Lord knows.

Everything that we are singing today is a reflection of

I believe the message that we are I'm sharing today. No,

but rejoice is the common word that you see peppered

all across Philippines. Uh. And that is what Paul is

is actually also saying, no, be joyful. Whatever that you're doing,

and you're doing it right, keep doing it. But he

also teaches about sharing and giving in Philippians, and it's

towards the end of philippiins in chapter four versus ten

to twenty, I'm going to read this portion of scripture.

Then I'm gonna break it down so that again we

get a perspective and an understanding of what giving generously

God's way can look like. Chapter four of philippiins verse

ten to twenty, and he says these are Paul's thanks.

For their gifts.

So basically this is Paul expressing gratitude to the Church

who has graciously given to him. How I praise the

Lord that you are concerned about me. Again, I know

you have always been concerned for me, but you didn't

have the chance to help me, not that I was

ever in need. For I have learned how to be

content with whatever I have. Powerfuler, I know how to

live on almost nothing all with everything. I have learned

the secret of living in every situation, whether it is

with a full stomach or empty, with plenty or little,

For I can do everything true.

Christ who gives me strength.

Even so, you have done well to share with me

in my present difficulty. As you know, you Philippines were

the only ones who gave me financial help when I

first brought you the good news and then travel on

from Macedonia. So it's lin okay, you can see the

story's link. No other church did this, even when I

was in Thessalonica. You send help more than once. I

don't say this because I want a gift from you. Rather,

I want you to receive a reward for your kindness.

At the moment, I have all I need and more.

I'm generously supplied with the gifts you sent me with epaphroditis.

They are a sweet, smelling sacrifice that is acceptable.

And pleasing to God.

And this same God who takes care of me will

supply all need, all your needs from His glorious riches

which have been given to us in Christ Jesus. Now

all glory to God, our Father, forever and ever. Amen

Again the Lord bless the reading of his word. And

so Paul says that he's glad that they had shown

care for him all this while he's actually rejoicing. You

can see that's why I say, Philippines is a book

that is constantly you see the word rejoice, praise God.

You see a repeated time and time again. And so

he's actually rejoicing in their kindness. But he also said

he did not really need their gifts. If you read

it slowly, read it carefully, read it in any translation,

you will get that sense no, And it seems to

have It's almost like he realized that when he said

that that may not have sound very right orso, and

then he goes on to tell them that all his

needs are a ready man actually so, so he's like

a bit like flip flopping a little bit. And so

when you're reading one will start to wonder, know, hey,

actually does Paul wont the gift or he don't want

the gif?

You know, you get a sense of that.

And why do you think Paul is so cautious on

this whole matter when it comes to giving. There is

a contextual background to why he behaves in that manner

or why he's writing in that manner. I believe because

you have to understand Paul is a Jew. In fact,

he is a Pharisee. He admits actually he was a

Pharisee as a Jew and really luke. Chapter sixteen, verse

fourteen actually gives you a glimpse of how the Pharisees

responded to Jesus, especially when he taught about money, because

verse fourteen of chapter sixteen says, now the Pharisees, who

dearly love their money, heard all this and scoffed at him.

This was actually after they were mocking Jesus, after he

told them, and he was teaching them about you cannot

serve both God and memon. You cannot both. You cannot

serve both God and money at the same time. And

then in their minds they're like, who is this guy,

this joker, a penniless, poor carpenter who has got no

sense of business management compared to them, to teach us

and tell us how.

To manage money. So they were actually mocking him.

But you can be the truth of the matter is

the Pharisees were also very careful and very religious in

presenting a tent of their whatever they have unto the lot.

So they do it religiously, so you can't follow them

the totally ignore money and no, no, they actually are

very religious when it comes to one tent because they

are Pharisees. So one tent belongs to God. But if

you read on, you will realize that most of the

attention is actually focused on the nine tenths of their money,

not so much on the one tenth that they or

the ten percent that they're presenting their thinking most of

the time about the ninety percent in their pockets. And

so Paul here knows very well about himself, and he

knows about his background, and he knew he was not

completely upright and totally blameless because he acknowledged that he

is a phariseem. So in fact, in Romans chapter seven,

he actually states, quite as a matter of fact, that

when he read through the ten Commandments, and when he

arrived at the ten commandment, which says you shall not

covert your neighbor's wife, which essentially says, don't desire for

what does not belong to you.

It's basically, don't be cret dealer.

Okay, He says he struggled to observe that commandment Romans

chapter seven.

I'm not making this up, is there? Romans chapter seven

Versus seven to eighty.

No, he says, I would never have known that cover

thing is wrong if the law had not said you

must not covered. But Sein used this command to arouse

all kinds of coveteous desires within me.

Let me see admitted that ai I.

So yeah, when I see my neighbor's boys want I wanted,

he's acknowledging actually that this is one uh. He probably

probably he will say, the first nine commandments, no problem,

I kept them all, but this is ten one A

bit husa why because again I'm Jewish and I'm a Pharisee,

and it's there, you know, we we want more.

Uh.

And so Paul is aware of the converteousness in his heart,

and that is why he's extremely cautious when receiving a

gift from the Philippine Church.

You see him speaking.

Like that, and he's ready to admit his old self

will not know how to handle this very generous gift.

So he's he's being honest to a certain extent. It's

a very generous gift from the church, and he's saying

that while if it was my old self, it's going

to be very very difficult. And this is the background

and the context of the whole passage. But thanks be

to God, he's able to give glory to God and

share this amazing testimony because if you read on, you

realize that he's essentially sharing a testament. He's testifying how

this coviteous man has now become a contented man.

How does that happen?

How does someone who is cotous becomes and transform into

someone who is contented? Basically, that is the miracle of

grace that Jesus can perform in a person's life. A

man who is always grabbing and one thing has been

transformed into someone who can say I've learned my lesson,

I am content And here is where Paul highlighted, there

are a couple of promises we can claim when we

learn about contentment. And I want to teach this because

I think it gives us a good perspective. Okay, a

couple of promises. Know that he's highlighting. If you read this,

just readly slowly, you'll see in there. And he says,

to a certain extent, these are promises you can claim

when you learn about contentment. Promise Number one is this,

and we love this, all of us love this. I

can do all things to Christ who strengthens us. We

love this promise. We are like, oh man, let's apply

it for everything. Is the power ka level promise, no

everything in life, no problem.

But really, if you read it.

In the present context of the scripture, you learn that

this promise is actually given to those who are poor,

those who are impowerish, those who basically don't have much,

or have very little or living with very little. Verse

twelve says this, I know how to live on almost

nothing or with everything. I have learned the secret of

living in every situation, whether it is with a full

stomach or empty with plenty. For I can do all

things to Christ, who gives me strength. Actually, if you

add one word to that promise, you will see the

meaning pop out a little bit more accurately. If you

add the word without, and he goes to say this,

I can do without all things because it is Christ

who strengthens me.

Does that make more sense? Now?

That is what it really actually means, and it gives

us a clearer perspective of this promise.

Right.

The strength Jesus gives us is the strength to do without,

to do without riches, to do without possession, to do

without money, to do without property, to do without friendships,

to do without relationships. Whatever you can put in there,

put it in. To do without family, all I need

is Jesus with me. It's powerful. How are we without

all those things mentioned above? Are we able to rejoice

in Christ Jesus? When you understand contentment and then you

are able to claim this promise, I can do all

things through Christ who strengthens me, which also means that

I can do without all those things that I covered

for that I desire for that I want. But it's

really the context of it is someone who has nothing

claiming that promise.

It's interesting when you.

Think about it, that this scripture actually has got to

do with money. Not many people realize that I can

do all things to Christ who strengthens me. About possession

about things that you have, So we use it for

everything and anything can no problem, I can do everything. No, No,

there is some context which we should understand. The second

promise is this, My God will supply all your needs

according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus. Again,

the present context is this promise is given to those

who have become poor themselves after they have supplied.

The needs of others.

That means they became poor because they helped someone else. Basically,

you have given until you have nothing left. Then you

can claim, my God will supply my needs according to

His riches in glory. So basically, when we are poor

and content, we can claim the promise of doing all

things through Christ, who strengthens us, and that God will

supply all our needs according to his riches and glory.

Poor and content.

Sometimes these two things don't go hand in hand, but

in scripture they do, and it's a very powerful thing

for us to remember. It's not in the abundance that

the Lord is looking at again, it's the attitude. So

contentment is actually at the heart of generous giving. Wherever

it is, You've got to understand contentment in all angles

of it because generous giving is about that. And when

you study what the giving really is, you actually realize

that are three parties involved. And now I want to

break it down, okay, to help us see the three

parties who are involved in generous giving. Okay, First, of course,

you have the recipient. And who's the recipient here?

Paul.

Paul is the receiver. That's why he's saying thank you

so much, thank you, thank you. You all have been

very very good.

I needed it. I don't need it because even when

I have a lot or a little bit. Also I'm okay, okay.

So Paul is the recipient, and then we have the giver,

which is the church in Philippi. And then of course

there is God. He's the unseeing party, but he is there.

So let's look at it. What does this mean? Give

mean to Paul as the receiver? Okay, let's let's go

to Paul's perspective and then we read verse ten.

I repeat this again.

He says, is how I praise the Lord that you

are concerned about me again. I know you have always

been concerned for me, but you didn't have the chance

to help me. So basically, if you read it, you

realize that the giving made Paul very happy, and he

was happy in the Lord.

And Paul was saying that after all this.

Time, he was dormant all this world, and what the

give made him feel was it made him feel like

he was blooming again. Actually, some translations you see the

word flourish and he's using what is known as horticulture language,

non language of plants. So he's saying that, Wow, because

of your giving, I am flourishing again. I'm growing, I'm

blooming like a blood, like a budding flower. And then

he goes on to say that the give confirmed his contentment.

What does he mean by that?

Because contentment is something that you either learn or you

do not learn. No one is born contented on I

mean how many or you? Uh, we're born. We're born

to complain on. Actually, sorry, that's why we cry. The

first thing we do is cry, cry is complain? Uh?

Never born like if you're born contented and quiet, I

think the doctors will sweat.

But then is the true? No one is born with it?

And you see, wealth is not measured by the your

bank balance. It's actually measured by how much you want. Okay,

I'll explain it. I will explain it. Two greatest tests

of contentment are this, okay, the two tests of contentment.

If you find yourself with too much, or if you

find yourself with too little, okay, both you can apply

the test of contentment. Both conditions are examinations of life

to see whether you learn contentment or not. Okay, let's

take the first scenario. What is it that enabled Paul

to be content when he had too little? There's a

question we have to too little? Now nothing much? And

really it is to learn how to live on your

inner resources instead of your outer resources. So, in a

practical sense, when you are in a situation where you

have too little nothing, no food, no shelter, no money,

then your inner resources are your literal physical strength to

keep on going and you are depending on that. Try

try really living on nothing, and then you realize, I

need to depend on that physical strength to keep on going. No,

do you believe that you can draw that inner strength

from Jesus when you do not have the food supply

for the outer strength.

It's a question that we have.

To ask because Jesus knew he had that when he

spent forty days in the wilderness when he had no food,

he drew from somewhere, and he drew from the reservoir

of his father's heart, knowing that he is doing what

is right, and with that he had the strength to

continue with no physical food. He had nothing. No, Okay,

he had water. Okay, he didn't go without water, that's

not humanly possible.

But he went without food. And so he understood that.

The second scenario is this, what about being content when

one has too much?

This is the flip sider. So if you need physical strength.

From Jesus inside when you have too little, then Therefore,

you will actually need moral.

And spiritual strength when you have too much.

If not, what will happen is this if you don't,

If you have a lot and you don't have strong

moral and spiritual strength, the too much will take hold

of you.

And then becomes a stronghold, then becomes a strangerhold.

So ultimately Paul is teaching us this, whether I have

got too much or too little, I don't live on

what I have got outside.

I live on what I have got on the insight. Amen.

And this is what Paul has learned to do.

That is why he says to the Philippines that even

though your gift to me is welcome, I could have

managed perfectly well without it, and I was managing perfectly

well without it. And this is Paul's interesting way of

saying thank you, but no thank you to a certain extent.

Okay, that's why.

That's why I meant by when you Really it sounds

like he's he's like, does he want the give or

does he not want the give? But he's essentially saying

thank you, thank you very much. But yeah, at the

same time, I'm all right, there's always been enough. So

what is important, And this is a very important posture

to have as a recipient of any gift. He appreciates

the concern shown by the Philippines, and he also understands

the value of contentment in his own life. It's a

very power full thing when we think about it, when

we understand giving on the whole. From the recipient's point

of view. Let's move now to the givers point of view. Okay,

giver us point of view. This is the church, the Philippians. Okay,

the church in Philippi, and Paul's language now connotes that

when we give to another part of the body of Christ,

it is not charity. If you read it, you don't

actually get the sense that is a charitable agnotis like, oh,

putting here, let me give you and let me help you,

and then you walk away. No, it's actually, in a

way an investment of their capital. If you study the

language carefully, it is not just give and then it

becomes an out of mind, out of sight, out of

mind kind of situation. Paul was actually essentially telling them

that they had fellowship with him and therefore have become

partners with him in his gains and in his losses.

He's saying that what you have done is not just

something trivial. It's actually you putting yourself into it. And

so Paul isn't just saying that the giving was it

was so good of you that you give. He was

essentially saying it was good for you to give. There's

a whole lot of difference. He's not saying it's good

of you to give, but he's saying it's good for

you to give. And so the Philippi Church, as the giver,

has ultimately made a good investment. And this is not

just an investment of their capital, but it would actually

bring interest.

To their credit.

You read it, there's a lot of accounting terms in

the in the exact language, in the great interest to

their credit. So even though in financial terms, towards the

next and they lost money, right because you have to

take money out to give, so it's like, hey, this

is outready, money out, money flowing out, and money departing

from my pockets. But yet they had gained credit, they

gained a profit. And this is how heavily accounts work.

It works different from the earthly accounts. It works in

the opposite actually to the earthly accounts. What you spend

on others is a loss here on earth.

However, you look at it the.

Meaning you take money out to buy something. But Sarah,

I'll tell you that that belongs on one side of

the accounts Okay and his money spend, But in the

heavenly accounts, when you spend on something or someone, it

becomes a credit in your heavenly account, and ultimately it

is investing treasures in heaven where the value is maintained.

And so Jesus always thought, this is how you invest

your money with the best writturns. No inflation, no laws,

no decline. But the Pharisees always cough at Jesus because

they're like, or what does this guy know about money?

He did not know how to handle money, But Jesus

did know how to handle money. And so Paul wants

the Philippines to go on giving, yet he did not

want to go on receiving.

Actually, if you read it, and so.

The message is this, I have got more than enough,

but please go on giving, because I want you to

get credit in your account. It's powerful and this is

not merely an investment because there is another very important

party who is involved in all this, the unseen party,

and that is God. Because You can't transfer money from

one pocket to the other to the other. You can't

transfer a gift from one person to the other without

God noticing. And so what would giving mean to God?

Have you ever thought about that? What would it mean

to God? Well, the assumption that we can all safely

make is whatever you do for God's children, you do

for God. And every parent knows that is true. If

someone is kind to your child, they're kind to you.

If you help Joel and Leona take care of your

cheek kids, they will say thank you very much, hallelujah,

give me some time off so that I can take

a chill.

They will feel really, really blessed.

You will feel added, trust me, And that is how

God would feel as well. If you do something right

for his children, and you are kind to his children,

he will take notice of that. And so when gifts

are transferred from one part of the body to another,

it becomes a smell that God will appreciate. That's what

the scripture means. I am generously supplied with the gifts

you send me. With apple prodetis they are a sweet

smelling sacrifice that is acceptable and pleasing to God. It

makes sense right because you read the Old Testament. You

know that Lord God loves sweet smelling stuff.

Okay.

In the Old Testament, Mayne is rose lamb, and many

of us like the smell of rose lamb. You try

roasting lamb, it's like, oh so heavenly. And when we

give to one another, it becomes a right smell, a

right aroma. Of course, something rose lam or your hotel

saw May. I don't like the soul, may but in

nice rose lamb. Okay, anyway, coming back, no, that it

just releases something within the atmosphere that smells good to God.

And so the scripture goes on to say one other thing.

It says that it is a sacrifice God can accept

that's really really powerful. Actually, it is not that God

wants us to bring him a rose lam. These may

have been the way in the Old Testament, where the

arc of the Covenant the tabernacle is basically almost like

a butcher house abatoire, where they're actually bringing animals to slaughter.

But we know that God has already given us Jesus

right amen, hallelujah. So the old sacrificers basically not acceptable anymore.

Now bring you try bringing I don't know, you try

to slaughter something for God. He was like, hey, what

are you doing.

It's not necessary, It's really done. It's ready done.

Okay, if someone you're still practicing some of this thing,

come and talk to us.

Okay, no need really done. But there are still sacrifices

that are acceptable.

If you read the scriptures and you read the New Testament,

presenting your body a living sacrifice to the Lord is

acceptable to God. You see that in Romans chapter twelve.

Giving your material possessions to someone is acceptable. You see

that in Accepted One actually, where they shared freely with

one another. It's a sacrifice that is acceptable. And one

of the characteristics of a genuine sacrifice is that it

had really caused the giver some. So the question we

have to ask is that did it cause the giver something?

You see, when they brought the animals for sacrifice in

the Old Testament, they didn't just bring and they didn't

bring one with no leg bit cha cha, look a

bit look a little bit odd, one with no They

brought the unblemish ones, the perfect ones. And so a

sacrifice has to be worth something to the one giving.

And that is why until today, the story of the

widow who gave two copper coins has remained entrench in

our Bible, and not just the Bible, actually all around

the world. People still talk about the woman who gave

two copper coins because that offering was a sacrifice. She,

out of her poverty, had put in all the livelihood

she had.

It's an amazing thing. You see.

When Jesus looks into the collection, he does not ask

what that gift will buy.

He asks what that give costs. There's a big difference.

He's not like, what a big amount and I think

I can buy, can build, build another church. No, he's like,

what did this give costs the person the giver? So

to put it in another way, he does not look

at what was put in, but he looks at what

is held back. And when you think about it, it's

a challenging tone because the other people Jesus had watched

throwing the collection, throwing into the collection on that.

Day, they gave from what was left over.

And that is the literal meaning of the word if

you read it and you study it.

Whereas the widow had given all.

That was left it's different when you give what is

left over, your spare change, your loose change, even though

it might be a big amount as compat when you

give all that is left, because all that is left

will cause a whole lot more than our lose and

our spad change. And that's the reality of it. And

so Paul is saying something here about.

The Philippines, and I'm almost done. I'm going to invite

a banner.

I hope we get a clear understanding on giving. He

knew their giving had cost them something Paon new for

the Philippine church. They really were a generous church as well.

It cost them something they had done without. That means

they had to do without something in order that he

should do with something. Basically, it was something that came

out of them and something that enriched him. And this

is why Paul was so confident that God will go

on supplying their needs looking after them, because he knew

that in their more impoverished state, now they understand contentment

themselves and therefore can claim that promise that God, in

all his riches and glory, will supply our very need.

And this is how God always supplies to our needs.

That's why Luke chapter six vers the Day says that

it's pressed down, shaken together, running over.

Remember this always our God knows our needs and he

will henceforth supply all our needs. He didn't promise to

supply all our greed, but he said all our needs.

And because of that, we can never substitute ritual for righteousness.

Sometimes we think, oh, we can be like the Pharisees.

Let's just be ritualistic about things. Let's just give this

amount and that's it. But you can never substitute ritual

for doing what is right. I've never substitute offering for obedience.

You can present it, but really, if your life is

not obedient to the Lord, it counts for nothing. And

you can never substitute sacrifice for submission. Because ultimately, how

did I begin this teaching. It's not the outside. It's

not the exterior. God's focus is not just about resources.

It is about attitude. If you want to be generous,

then God will give you the resources to be generous.

Do you believe that?

Sometimes we feel God, I will only be generous when

I have the resources, But He's saying, when you are generous,

you will therefore have the resources. It's a bit in verse,

but yet that is how the Lord works. And with

this no Poor finally ends this letter to the Church

in Philippians, Verse twenty three just reads this the grace

of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Basically,

it just means this, may the generosity of the Lord Jesus,

the grace of our Lord Jesus, who, though he was

rich here for our sake, became poor, give it all

away for us. May the grace of the Lord Jesus

be with each of you. Remember it is the gift

of Christ, in God's generosity that stimulates the gracious work

of generosity.

In our hearts.

That means if you don't derive generosity from the generous

and good God that we worship, you can never find

what true generous giving is. No one, no philanthropists in

this world, will be able to teach you what giving

really is until someone teaches you how to give your all.

And I know it's strong, I know it's not easy,

But yet I pray with this in mind, we will

understand what generous giving God's way looks like, and maybe

continue to walk step by step in accordance to His plan,

his purpose for the glory of his kingdom. Let's learn

to give not out of pressure, but give in pleasure.

Hallelujah.

We hope you've been blessed by this message. For more

information on our church, please visit as church org. We

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this week is going to be a good week. I

hit for you. God bless