Giving from the Heart
Key Passage: 2 Corinthians 9:1-9
Date: June 7, 2024
Second Corinthians chapter number nine. I feel like the Lord has me preach on this area. Maybe just for the internet we call it grace giving, or really you could title it giving from the heart. I praise the Lord; I believe this is a very giving church.
I am thankful for that. So I am not coming because of an issue or a problem, or even maybe a giving campaign. We are not there right now. Now, I will say, as we get closer to building that building, we will probably be there. So I do not hide that from you. We will be there. By the way, praise the Lord that the debt on the property is coming down. I think the last time I checked, around 120 or something like that. Praise the Lord, it is coming down.
So those days are coming, but I just felt like the Lord wants to focus a little bit on this saying of grace giving. God can really use this area of giving to grow you. God really does not need our money; it is not like he is short on money. But he can use that to grow you, and really, he likes to use this area to grow us.
So I felt like the Lord just had us focus a little bit on this area tonight: Giving from the Heart, Grace Giving—how do you want to title it? We will read a little bit more than typical at the beginning tonight, and I will probably just read, and I will stop and comment here, explaining a little bit as we go. We are in 2 Corinthians 9. We will start in verse number 1 of God’s Word. If you are able to, would you please stand as we read God’s Word together tonight? Second Corinthians chapter number 9, and verse number one of God’s Word. If you are there, would you say, amen? Good, good. By the way, you are doing awesome. It seems like you are moving up a little bit. I like that. I do not like empty rows anywhere, but if they are going to be empty, praise the Lord, in the back, amen. I like it. You are moving up. That is a great thing, and praise the Lord for that. I like it. It is a good thing.
Verse number one: “For as touching the ministering to the saints, it is superfluous for me to write to you.” Let me stop and explain. I think he is speaking of an offering that they made for the poor saints that were in Jerusalem or Judea. Chapter 4 talks about it a little bit; Romans 15 talks about it a little bit. I believe that is what it is talking about. He says, look, you are good at that. It is a little over the top, if you will, for me to mention this to you, but I am going to mention it anyway, that type of thing. He said, you are doing great in this area, but I want to mention it to you anyway. This is what he is speaking of there.
Verse number two: “For I know the forwardness of your mind, for which I boast of you to them in Macedonia, that Achaia [that is the capital of Corinth] was ready a year ago. And your zeal hath provoked very many.” He is saying, I have boasted, I bragged on those over in Macedonia about the church at Corinth. Man, you are just ready to give. And he said, I have told other people about it, and it has provoked them; it has encouraged them to get involved in this grace giving also.
Verse number three: “Yet have I sent the brethren, lest our boasting of you should be in vain in this behalf; that as I said, ye may be ready.” He said, I have sent some people ahead of time because I have been bragging on you, and I do not want to be embarrassed about this to you. I want you to fulfill what I have been bragging on you about, right?
Verse number four: “Lest haply if they of Macedonia come with me and find you unprepared, we (that we say not ye) should be ashamed in this same confident boasting.” He said, man, if I come and you are not ready, you are not prepared, I am not going to say you, but me too—we are going to be embarrassed about this deal. Okay, all with me on this? Just kind of get the context here a little bit.
Verse number five: “Therefore I thought it necessary to exhort the brethren, that they would go before unto you, and make up beforehand your bounty, your offering, if you will, whereof ye had notice before, that the same might be ready as a matter of bounty, and not as of covetousness.” He said, I want it to be just kind of abounding, it is plentiful, and not covetous. I think a little bit of Paul’s coveting—not that I am coveting you to give more, you know, that type of thing. And so that is just kind of the context.
Now, really, we get into the heart of the matter, if you will, in verse number six. “But this I say, he which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he that soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully. Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver.” And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work. As it is written, I believe he puts that in there because he is quoting from Psalm 112, verse number nine. So he said it was written in the Old Testament: “He hath dispersed abroad, he hath given to the poor, his righteousness remaineth forever.” Wow, that is pretty awesome—forever. And just for a little bit tonight on this matter, grace giving, grace giving from your heart.
Would you pray with me that God would just grow us a little bit more for him tonight? Father, thank you that you have given us. I believe, Lord, this church is a giving church, and it is so wonderful, Lord. I thank you that we have been able to do so much because of that, and we praise you. Thank you, Lord. Thank you for just sending the $300 down to the man that is having a tough time in the hurricane, and Lord, all those things because your people give. Thank you, Lord, for that. Give us wisdom. Help us to see it as you see it, and Lord, grow us in this matter. Lord, help us be conduits through which you can minister to many, many people in this area and abroad. Father, even in this area of giving, help us to have your mindset on the subject. Help us to rightly divide. And Father, we will thank you and brag on you for what you do. And Lord, we ask for these things in the name of Jesus. We pray. Amen. Thank you so much for standing. You may be seated.
The Bible really mentions three types of giving. Many of you know this; we are going to review a little bit. Do not lose me during the review time, if you would. First of all, there is this matter of giving called tithing. It is 10% of all thine increase. Tithing—it is a matter of things that are already the Lord’s; it is not ours. I just read a couple of verses for you about this subject here. Leviticus 27:30: “And all the tithe of the land, whether the seed of the land, or the fruit of the tree, is the Lord’s: it is holy unto the Lord.” It is not mine; it is not yours. This is an interesting fault I could not prove. People that have studied agriculture… We speak in tongues sometime around here. I am pretty good at it. I tell you what, I do not mean to on purpose either, but it just happens. Sometime I wonder why God called me to preach. It is proof of the pudding right there. I mispronounce about half my words. Anybody can say amen right there. I will agree with you on that, no problem there at all. But those that study agriculture, some have said fruit trees, or you can really kind of boil them down to basically ten types of fruit trees. Now that is interesting. God said you can eat of anything in the garden but one. That will be a tithe or a tenth even from the beginning. By the way, it says in the middle of the garden, first fruits giving you, but the tithe is the Lord’s.
Since we are on the subject, look over Malachi 3, and you will know it, Malachi 3. If somebody says, “Turn to Malachi 3,” everybody says, “No, he is going to preach on tithing.” But let us look at it very briefly. We are trying to move on, just kind of reviewing a little bit at the beginning before we get to grace giving. But over here, Malachi 3, there are several verses on the subject of tithing. We will start in verse number 8 right there. Malachi 3, in verse number 8. Malachi, the last book of the Old Testament, Malachi 3, and verse number 8. Look what it says right there. He says, “Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings.” Now let me just stop for a minute here and explain. Notice he does not say you are stealing from me. Stealing is one thing. Stealing is if someone breaks into our house tonight while we are at church. I always think if anybody ever breaks into my house, though no one to break into it: Sunday morning, Sunday night, Wednesday night, you know. But I have alerted my dog Dixie. Hey, you will be on extra guard Sunday morning and Sunday night when… you know, that is my guard dog, you know. Well, that is stealing. They break in when you are not there; they steal. Now, if somebody, they walk up behind Brother Frank because he is so well-dressed, they can tell he is a multi-billionaire, you know, by his dress, you know, that Brother Frank picked out this morning, you know, and they put a gun up to him, they say, “Buddy, give me your millions”—that is robbing. They are mugging you, if you will; they are robbing. You are inside the house; they go inside the house, they put a gun to your head, “Give me that”—that is robbing, a little different there, see? And God is saying, “Hey, you are putting a gun to my head and you are taking what is mine.” Well, you do not give you guys.
Let us keep reading. Verse number nine: “Ye are cursed with a curse.” Wow, that is pretty strong language. “For ye have robbed me, even this whole nation.” Bringing all the tithes into the storehouse. Now that is interesting. He does not say that about offerings; he says about tithes. I believe that tithes ought to go to the house of the Lord, which is the church. First Timothy 3:15 tells us that. By the way, I do not give it a certain thing in the church; that is just general offering, tithes to the storehouse, the Lord’s house, the church. “That there may be meat in mine house; and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there should not be room enough to receive it. And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground, neither shall your vine cast her fruit before the time in the field, saith the Lord of hosts.”
Now, just tithing. You understand there, if I do not tithe, I am not giving God what is His; it is already His, and I am robbing Him if I do not give it to Him. And just something else about tithing: it is the first fruits. It is the first fruits of all thine increase. Proverbs 3:9 and 10: “Honour the Lord with thy substance, and with the firstfruits of all thine increase: So shall thy barns be filled with plenty, and thy presses shall burst out with new wine.” Remember the children of Israel? They were entering into the promised land, and what did they take? The first city. What was it? They marched seven times around it. It was what? The first one. Do not take of it. Achan took of the accursed thing. Problems arose there. I mean, they were under curse when they went and fought at Ai. Thirty-six men died. See? All those are pictures. God’s law for tithing is before the law, during the law, and after the law. Well, I will not take time to get into all that.
Second type of giving, second type of… I need to slow down, right? Blah, blah, blah, blah. That is all, folks. Amen, you know. Every once in a while I crack myself up. What about that, you know? Number two type giving, amen. Number two type giving. We are trying to get this kind of review done quickly. It is alms deeds. We read about that this morning at the beginning of Matthew chapter number six. Alms deeds is, I mentioned this morning, when you are giving to someone that is poor typically.
Now, Brother Josh has been on me near men’s prayer meeting. He shook my hand at the beginning of men’s prayer meeting, and he said, “Now, Pastor, I heard this morning that when you shake your hand, there is supposed to be twenty bucks in there.” And I want to say, “Where, Brother Josh? Where is it at? You are supposed to be putting it in there,” you know? He saw it other ways, though, you know? But that is where you are helping the poor. You are helping an individual. Acts 3, in verse number two. Remember Peter and John went to the temple and the lame man there. Acts 3, in verse number 2: “And as Peter and John went up together into the temple at the hour of prayer, the ninth hour, they saw a certain man lame from his mother’s womb, whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple which is called Beautiful, to ask alms of them that entered into the temple.”
Verse number 3: “Who seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple asked alms.” That is something you are giving to the poor. Acts 10, verse number 12, talking about Cornelius, how he helped the nation of Israel: “A devout man, and one that feared God with all his house, which gave much alms to the people, and prayed to God always.” It is a wonderful thing, alms deeds. Matthew 6 talks about doing things for the needy, for the poor.
Then there is a type of giving called offerings. Offerings. The Bible never tells us how much that is, whether it be 10% or whatever. It is up to each individual, however God leads you to do. Offerings—it is over and above your tithe. It is special offerings. It does not necessarily have to be here at the church house, but it is offerings. I would suggest you give some. Faith promise would be a good way of giving an offering. We always, when we get there, we talk about over and above your tithe. It is just whatever God leads you to give. We just had a special offering a couple weeks ago for Family Harvest Days. That is a special offering; that is over and above your tithe. Some of you are giving extra for debt retirement for property payment or debt—the land over there—that is a special offering. This morning in Sunday school, we gave a special offering for Lucas. He is in choir at the college he goes to, and they are trying to make a trip down to where the hurricane is to sing for them and to help their ears and all that stuff. And we gave a special offering in there for that. And that is just special offerings. It could be…
My wife, I am a little mad at her about an issue. We went to a preacher’s meeting. She is like, “Oh no, what is this about?” We went to a preachers meeting, Bible Literature Missionary Foundation, and they had a special conference. So we went down there, I think Monday night, and they were raising money to print Bibles. And she said, “Well, we won’t give more to that,” you know. And I said, “Hush, hush, I do not want to hear that right now,” you know. And praise the Lord, she is a great giver, and she does not mind giving by faith. And honestly, that is a blessing. I never have to worry about, “I have got to talk her into this.” No, she is always talking me into it: “Let us do more, more, more,” you know. That is a great thing. But that is an offering, and even not really necessarily through a church, but just offerings, special offerings that God leads you to give. Those are offerings over and above your tithe. And I think I have already mentioned, but offerings really do not start until you have already given your tithe. Tithe is the Lord’s. And see, then I give offerings to Him over and above that, however He leads to give.
Now, really, he is talking about offerings, and this can kind of go in the category of alms given to the poor in Jerusalem and offerings here in 2 Corinthians chapter 9. Now, we are just going to kind of go verse by verse for just a moment here. Would you jump down to verse number six of 2 Corinthians 9? Second Corinthians 9, in verse number 6.
He says there, “But this I say, he which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully.” Can I put it maybe in just simple terms? You give small amounts, you get back small amounts. You give big amounts, you get back big amounts. Not just physically, though that is part of it, but it could be spiritually; it can be rewards in heaven. And not necessarily—not necessarily, though if the Lord leads, for sure I would be grateful and thankful for it—but it may not even be to this church. It may be to a poor individual you know of. But he spoke talking about offerings, and they were giving to the poor saints in Jerusalem. A little bit later on, they were very poor over there, severe persecution. Many could not work because of the persecution and so on and so on. But you give small, you reap small. You give big, you reap big. See, that is a biblical principle.
We usually teach this in foundation class when we cover this area, this subject. God gives to who? Help me out. Anybody remember that? God gives to givers. We get that from Luke 6:38: “Give, and it shall be given unto you; pressed down, shaken together, running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again.” If you use a toy box shovel, you know, there is little plastic, if you use that to shovel out, God says, “Oh, I will use the same shovel to measure back.” If you use a regular old shovel, you know, just a flat one around, you use that, just to, you know, however long that handle is, and you shovel out, God says, “I will use that shovel to shovel back.” If you use the snow shovel to shovel out, God says, “I have got a snow shovel too,” you know, amen. That is what he is teaching. God gives to givers, and that is a biblical principle. You have heard it said, and it is true: you cannot outgive the Lord.
Our finances have been blessed so much, honestly. Years ago, I went to a conference, and they really got on this thing about tithing a little bit, and I had never really heard some of the things they taught, and they were right about tithing on all thine increase—I mean, everything, you get a gift card, whatever. And we went home and said, “Hey, we are going to make some changes,” and we made some changes. And boy, it just seemed like that, and then we began to give more. We are trying to get—we are actually giving more than 10% a month now to faith promise, amen. But we try to give more and more and more every month. And, you know, you are like, “Oh man, it seemed like that is when God began to bless more.” And that is a biblical principle, and God gives to givers. You say, “Are you a little embarrassed to preach on a subject like this?” Not at all, because I want you to be blessed. I never forget years ago when God wrote it down to my heart, I went to visit a widow in the hospital, and she is just a sweet, sweet lady, and she said, “Pastor, I have my tithe check.” And I said, “My goodness, I am giving a tithe check. This widow is in the hospital, I am getting a tithe check.” And the Lord said, “Paul, you do not believe what I said in my Word.” I said, “Okay, Lord, I will take it.” That is true, and God took care of that lady. And so I do not feel bad about it because it is the best thing for you and me both.
Now, let us keep going. Let us look at verse number seven, verse number seven here, verse number seven of 2nd Corinthians 9. And God’s word there says, “Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly.” I have got to give this up, or of necessity. Somebody is standing over you with a steak—you better give. You cannot be a member of this church unless you do. No, no, none of that stuff. No, no, no, no. Not grudgingly, not of necessity. “For God loveth a cheerful giver.” We will mention that in just a second here. But let me just say a word about this thing from your heart, as it purposeth in his heart. Now, I am confessing a little bit here about the other night when my wife nudged me and she said, “Hey, why don’t we give a little bit more of this thing here,” you know? My heart was already telling me that. My heart was already there. Man, I liked this. This is—man, printing Bibles and getting around the world. His word will not return unto him void. Man, that is awesome. They just printed thousands for the Ukraine, and they showed these pictures of these missionaries at this conference, and “Thank you for sending these Bibles over here,” and it has made an impact around the world, and these different places. They showed this video of just Bibles getting out all around the world. Man, that does something to your heart. They knew what they were doing; I mean, they had it playing, they were on the ball, you know. And so my heart was already there, and then my wife—she hit me real hard. She hit me hard. I will tell you what, okay, maybe not that bad, you know?
But see, my heart was already there, but you know the problem? My head was doing other things. You know what my head does? I mean, I can be detailed, and I know where things are supposed to go and all that. And my head was saying, “Well, we have this, this, this, this, this, this.” But the heart, as it purposeth in his heart. You know, the Lord likes to work through our inside, through our heart. And he said, “Let him give.” Every man—it is going to be different. Do not compare. Do not let anybody else know what you are doing and all that other stuff. But it is as it purposeth in his heart. And God speaks to your heart. He says, “Hey, that person down the street there, they need a little help.” And God speaks to your heart, “Won’t you help them out a little bit?” Our head says, “Well, they live in America. They are healthy. They can work.” And there is some truth to all that. Do somebody have a head like me? Anybody out there like that? Yeah. By the way, if they are sitting on the street corner and all that, I do not give them money. I often take it to McDonald’s or whatever, you know, but I am not going to give them money because that money is going to be used so often—I do not know—but so often it is going to be used to go get another bottle or so on. But however it is, in your heart, God speaks to your heart, “Won’t you do this?” For this widow, for this widower, or whatnot, you know. And my head says, “But believe God.” And God says, “No, as it purposeth in his heart.” See, giving from the heart. And it is amazing when God really speaks to your heart. And God says—and sometimes we do not even have it—but God has to be speaking to your heart. God says, “I can handle that. I can take care of this thing.” And give as it purposeth in my heart.
Just a moment here. Let us talk about this: God loveth a cheerful giver. How many have already heard that “cheerful” means hilarious? How many of you have heard that? Yeah, I think pretty much everybody has heard that. I am not against it; it is true. But can I say this? When I started off giving back in the day—and I am not saying I have arrived, I am not for sure at this thing—but can I be honest with you? For probably years, I gave the tithe, not cheerfully, but out of obedience. I do not think if I gave out of obedience at that point in my life, I would have grown to be able to give cheerfully. Do you understand what I am saying? I hope that over the years God has matured me more, and I enjoy it, and I do. I am sure I have my flesh and my head, you know, but for the most part, I like it; it is a blessing to give. There are times I will resort back to my own fleshly ways, you know, especially when my life is elbowing me hard. You know what I am talking about there? You are going to go to heaven and want to watch the replay of that, are you not all now? I tell you what, that is for sure. We were talking this afternoon about there going to be instant replay in heaven. You are going to be able to watch these things, you know, how it really happened. And it was not that bad. Praise the Lord, I have a wife that encourages me to give. Well, at least I can make it sound good, amen. I mean, I am preaching right now; I do not have to tell the truth, right? You know, come on now, you know. Where was that at? Boy, I got off subject. I saw the look, so I am like, whew, you know.
But maybe you are not there. Well, I am not going to give. I cannot give cheerfully. Well, you are probably never going to get there to give it cheerfully. I remember one time in Sunday school—I think we were talking about that—and a person came up to me and talked to me later and said, “Boy, that was me for years. And I am glad I gave out of obedience, and then God has grown me, and I enjoy it more.” God loveth a cheerful giver, and God grows you to that.
But this thing about just giving from the heart. As far as I can remember, I did not study it out this week, but as far as I remember, there is only one time in the Bible where there is an offering taken and God has to say, “Whoa, that is too much.” Man, that would be a good day for a pastor. Woo! I like that. I mean, that is… And really, if you look over in Exodus, we will look at it real quickly here. Exodus chapter number 35. There is actually an offering in the Bible where they had to say, “Stop giving. Too much.” The ushers are taking it off the top and putting it in their pocket. Do not give any more. No, that is not what happened. Exodus 35 is when they are building the tabernacle. And it is what is called a free will offering, and they are giving it willingly. It is not like a certain amount that is required or tithe mandated, all those things. But do not you see this? It is just a wonderful thing. Look at Exodus 35. We will start verse number four.
Verse number four: “And Moses spake to all the congregation of the children of Israel, saying, This is the thing which the Lord commanded, saying, Take ye from among you an offering unto the Lord: whosoever is of a willing…” What is the next word? Heart. Heart. They are giving from the heart. “…let him bring it, an offering of the Lord; gold, silver, and brass, and so on.” Look in verse number 21, would you please? Verse number 21: “And they came, every one whose heart stirred him up, and every one whose spirit made willing, and they brought the Lord’s offering to the work of the tabernacle of the congregation for all his service and for the holy garments.”
Look in verse number 29, verse number 29: “And the children of Israel brought a willing offering unto the Lord, every man and woman whose heart made them willing to bring for all manner of work which the Lord had commanded to be made by the hand of Moses.” Look what happens. Chapter 36, in verse number five. This is—wow. This is an amazing verse in all the Bible right here. Here it is: “And they spake unto Moses, saying, The people bring much more than enough for the service of the work which the Lord commanded to make.” And Moses gave the commandment; they caused it to be proclaimed throughout the camp, saying, “Let neither man nor woman make any more work for the offering of the sanctuary.” So the people were restrained from bringing. That is amazing. What happened when the heart got involved? And they are giving from the heart. And every man purposeth in his heart, so let him give.
As God leads your heart, a little bit, we get this thing of offering and grace giving. It is after all God has done for us. I was headed toward eternity, going to burn in hell forever and ever, going to the devil’s hell, and he shed his blood on the cross of Calvary. I mean, he came down and became a man, and he gave his own blood to purchase my personal redemption. He saved me. Everything I had, he gave it to me. By the way, someone said, when God gives you something, hold it with an open hand. Everything you had, God gave it to you. My wife—He gave her to me. I won’t say it, I won’t say it. My son, my daughter, my grandchildren, everything God has given me. He gave it to me—a wonderful marriage up until this point. No, I am joking about all that. I mean, God has given me everything, and surely I ought to be willing to give back to Him. His heart. Has every man a purpose in his heart, so let him give. Lord, it is Yours; you just tell me how to direct it. It is a matter of heart.
Now, let us go on to verse number eight, would you please? Verse number eight, verse number eight of God’s Word. And God finishes all: “God loveth a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work.” One of my favorite verses in all the Bible. It does apply to everything because he puts all those superlatives in there—all things and so on—but the context is about giving. And he says, now God is able to make it where you can do those things that he led your heart to do. Now, out of grace—grace. Really, he begins this subject about this offering over in the prior chapter, chapter eight. Would you look over there very quickly? And he uses a church in Macedonia as an example of this grace giving.
Would you go over in chapter number eight very briefly here? Just a couple of verses. Are y’all still with me out there? I know it is not the most pleasant message a pastor preaches on giving tonight. Man, I am staying home next Sunday night, you know. But God can grow us all through this thing. He really can. And God gives to givers. And we will get to the last verse here just a minute. I do not want to jump up ahead of myself. But chapter number eight, look at verse number one. Church of Macedonia here: “Moreover, brethren, we do you to wit of the grace of God bestowed on the churches of Macedonia: How that in a great trial of affliction, the abundance of their joy and their deep poverty abounded unto the riches of their liberality.” The church in Macedonia, they were not filthy rich and everything going wonderful. No, they were in a great trial. They were in poverty, and yet they gave by God’s grace. That is what we are talking about.
Verse number three: “For to their power I bear record, yea, and beyond their power they were willing of themselves; Praying us with much intreaty that we would receive the gift, and take upon us the fellowship of the ministering to the saints.” And that church at Macedonia, it was not when they had all that money in abundance that they gave. It was in their deep poverty. How did they do that? By God’s grace. He purposed; He spoke to their heart, and they purposed in their heart to give, and God’s grace enabled them. That is a wonderful way to live. Very pleasing to the Lord because it is a life of faith. Faith is the thing that pleases Him; it has got to be involved to please Him. But it is giving as God works in our heart, and it is not by our means, our ability, our blood—“I make this much,” and all. No, it is by His grace. This church was very poor, Macedonia—trials and afflictions and deep poverty—and yet they gave over and above their power. See, now, by grace, by grace. Grace giving is not really a matter of how much you can give; it is a matter of how much God can give through you. And friend, I am not necessarily just talking about giving to our church, but just giving as God leads you. It is a matter of being a conduit through which His grace can flow.
He can trust people. We were a young married couple in L.A., you heard me say it many times, Lower Alabama. And we had a little one. John was born, and the church we were at was building a building, bought some land, building a building. And the pastor came up with this crazy, crazy idea. Y’all are on board all of a sudden here; I can see that, you know. He called it, and he did it, I think twice while we were there. He called it “Give It All Sunday.” I am talking about a whole paycheck. Well, man, what about 10%? Do not add any zeros behind that thing, buddy. Come on now, you know. We made—and I mentioned this before—we made $125 a week, plus I think they gave us $50, I think it maybe went up to $60 a month to help with rent we were at, and they paid for our gas in our vehicle. And that dirty, rotten scoundrel up there is talking about giving it all. Well, what about if your check was $125 a week? Would you give it all? I think he would, actually. And we said, “Well, here goes.” And we felt led of the Lord, and we did that, just really, you know, as in 1995, something like that. That is when you could buy a gallon of gas for a nickel. No, it was not quite like that, you know. I am not sure how much it was. But, you know, we did that, and God took such good care of us. I forget so many details, so I called my wife today about it. She did not know what all I was going to say tonight, you know, but she was like, “No, I did not.” But I was trying to, because I forget so many details, but just how God—and she said this on the phone this afternoon. She said, “You know, during that time, this really seemed like we never worried about finances. It just seemed like some way God…” I remember one time we lived in a trailer—those things, why, trailers—and you know trailers, everything in trailers is unique and weird, you know? I mean, this trailer back here, you try to replace just an outlet, a socket—it is not normal; it is different; it is a trailer, you know? Everything is different.
And the hot water heater went out in that trailer, and it was a small unit, and it had to fit into this one section that was wider but smaller. I mean, just a unique hot water heater, and, you know, those things—they are proud of their hot water heaters. I mean, they want a ton of money for it, you know. And it just happened. An older lady in the church was getting rid of a hot water heater. She was just giving it away to anybody who wanted it, and it was the exact hot water heater we needed. I mean, thing after thing, God just always took care of us. We were driving one of those wonderful cars. I am sure some of you know what I am talking about. Wherever, once in a while, when you turn the key, it did not crank. So you get a screwdriver out and you cross those wires over on the starter. Anybody know what I am talking about? How many have ever done that before? Yeah, yeah. I mean, and here is the thing: a wife with a little child, it is just not good when she is driving that car, and she has to get out underneath the hood, sparks, you know, and finally crank. Anybody not talking about all those things? Yeah, yeah. And praise the Lord for a wonderful wife, even though I have made those comments tonight. But actually, because she was stronger in that area than me, and I appreciate it. But anyway, during that time, we upgraded cars. You are like, “How? I do not know how you put that down on paper; there just does not make any sense.” But it was kind of the beginning of our stepping out in just grace giving. My wife—she did not know what I was going to say. She said, my wife, she had been saved for a while; she was probably a much better Christian than I at the time. But she said this this afternoon, she said, “Man,” she said, “I was still getting out of the world at that time. Man, God was growing us so much during that time.” And it is so good for us just to be armed with what we really could, but watching the grace of God make it all happen. Grace giving—that is what we are talking about.
Would you bow your heads and close your eyes? I am going to ask two questions, and this first one is going to sound—oh, it may be odd to you. I am not asking for you to give something in the offering plate tonight when I ask this question. I am not asking about it at all. But I am going to ask: Would you give your finances, your wallet, to the Lord? Not to me, no, no, no, no. Not necessarily to Brother Chisgar, Baptist Church, no, no, no. But would you give your wallet, your finances, your money to the Lord? I mean, just holding it with an open hand: “Lord, it is Yours. You direct. I am going to give my finances, our finances to You. It is Yours, Lord.” That is a major decision, but I am asking tonight. You say, “You know, preacher, the Lord spoke in my heart. I just want to give Him my finances.” And I am giving it to the Lord tonight. Heads bowed and eyes closed. No one looking, no one looking. But you say, “Preacher, I am going to give my finances to the Lord.” That is a great thing. Oh, it is a wise decision. That is a wise decision. What a great, great decision that is. He can take so much better care of it than I can. You can. That is a wise decision. Thank you so very much. You put your hands down.
Maybe you are here tonight. One more question. We are done. You say, “Preacher, I am going to ask the Lord to help me grow in this area of grace giving.” And I am asking, “Lord, would You help me to grow in this area of grace giving?” Lord, would You help me to grow in that area of grace giving? If that is you tonight, that is my prayer to the Lord. Lord, help me to grow in this area of grace giving. Just raise your hand, preacher, that is me. Would you ask the Lord that? God bless you. God bless you. I am with you, friend. I am with you, both of those. God bless you. Thank you so very much. You put your hands down. Would you please stand tonight? We are going to have a word of prayer, and let us just come to the Lord. Maybe tonight there in the invitation you just come say, “Thank You, Lord. You have been so good. You have been so good.” Someone mentioned in Sunday school this morning: If you make—I think it was $37,000 household income or more—you make more than 70% of the people of the world. $37,000 household income. If you make more than that, you make more than 70% of the world. God has been so good to us. Maybe just come and thank Him tonight and praise Him. Give Him your finances and grow me in this area. Would you do that? Father Lord, we love You. You have been very good. I am spoiled rotten, Lord. Thank You for Your goodness to us. Help us to grow and glean from Your Word tonight. Lord, grow our Christian life for You even through this area. Lord, we are excited about Your grace enabling. Help us to listen to how You direct our hearts. And Father, we will thank You for what You do. We love You, Lord. And in Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.
Would you just come say, “Thank You, Lord. You have been so good to me”? I missed one verse. Would you look this way? We missed that last verse. You want to go back over there? Get your Bible. I know you are standing, but get your Bible there real quick. We will get that last verse. It is just a statement or two. It is that last verse. Second Corinthians 9, verse number 9 right there.
Second Corinthians 9:9: “As it is written, He hath dispersed abroad, he hath given to the poor, his righteousness remaineth forever.” Someone said it this way: You give up that which you cannot keep to gain that which you cannot lose. That is what he is teaching. Glad you are in church on a Sunday night. Glad you are here. We even got the last verse in there. What about that? I will tell you what, and glad you are here. Appreciate you. Praise the Lord for a great, great church family. Just awesome. Just awesome. Your workers, your givers. I am not mad that you are just preaching the Bible tonight, you know. Your givers and your soul winners, and praise the Lord for great, great people. You can understand my hillbilly language. That is a good thing; that is necessary, you know. And glad to be a part of it all. And glad you are in the House of the Lord tonight. And praise the Lord for these new folks in the choir. What about them? And Brother Bill and Miss Patty. Yeah, that is great. They are going to sing a duet next Sunday together. I am looking forward to that, and that would be a blessing. I appreciate it. I am glad to inquire. Brother Stout, thank you for being with us. We appreciate it all day long.
Original File: Pastor Paul Chisgar - Giving from the Heart - Sunday PM 10232022