1 Corinthians 16, verse number 3.
Paul writes to the Corinthian church,
and when I come, whomsoever you shall approve by your letters,
then will I send to bring your liberality unto Jerusalem.
Title for the sermon tonight is, bring your liberality.
Bring your liberality.
Now, very quickly, the context of what we're reading here is this liberality means,
what liberality means as a general term is generosity, okay?
You're being liberal with what you have, with the resources.
And in this context, it's finances, okay?
In this context, it's finances.
So what happened was, there was the brethren in Jerusalem,
and they were going through a drought.
In fact, let's read that.
Keep your finger there in 1 Corinthians 16, and come with me to Acts 11.
I just want to show you.
Come with me to Acts 11, Acts 11.
But what we have here is Paul is encouraging the Corinthian church
to support and help the brethren in Judea, or in Jerusalem, okay?
And so Acts 11, verse number 27, Acts 11, verse number 27 reads,
And in these days came prophets from Jerusalem unto Antioch.
So there was a church in Jerusalem, there was a church in Antioch, okay?
So there are certain preachers coming from one church to the other church.
And they stood up one of them, named Agabus, and signified by the Spirit
that there should be a great dearth throughout all the world.
And it came to pass in the days of Claudius Caesar.
Then the disciples, look at this, this is so important,
Then the disciples, every man according to his ability,
determined to send relief unto the brethren which dwell in Judea,
which also they did, and sent it to the elders by the hands of Barnabas and Saul.
Okay, so Acts 11 tells us the problem, okay?
There's a great dearth, there's a great drought, okay, coming onto the earth.
And here it says the disciples, those that are in Antioch,
you know, they're moved with compassion for the brethren in Jerusalem and in Judea.
And so they say, you know what, we're going to get a collection together.
We're going to help the brethren there.
How can we support them as they're going to go through this great drought, this great need?
And so, you know, and this is what I wanted to really preach about today,
and the fact that I appreciate this church so much for being able to say,
Pastor, what are some great needs?
You know, how can I help brethren in other places?
Whether that's brethren in Melbourne, whether that's brethren in Port Macquarie,
whether that's brethren on the sunny coast or wherever, you know, we interact,
or, you know, if it's a mission strip to Fiji or other missions work that we're trying to do and reach people,
you know, the fact that I have a church here as well on the sunny coast
that are willing to give of themselves to support and help other brethren,
you know, it just fills me with so much encouragement.
And it makes me want to do more.
As people are like, yeah, let's do more for the Lord, let's do more for His kingdom.
You know, even though we're two small churches, one here in the city, one on the sunny coast,
we've been able to accomplish some great works for the Lord.
And I want you to notice, though, it's so important, you know, and again,
I'm not trying to make this about money.
I'm trying to, you know, make this about taking the principles of the need of brethren
and being able to support where we can and how we can.
And so a great example, of course, of Port Macquarie, as I said,
is when some of you were like, yes, Pastor, I'll go.
You know, I'll travel, you know.
It's not so much the money, it's, you know, I'll use my time, my resources, my abilities,
you know, my voice to go there and preach and help and support the brethren.
Remember what it says in Verse 29,
then the disciples, every man according to his ability,
every man according to his ability.
And I want to make this very clear that we all have different abilities, okay?
We all have different ways that we can help.
You know, some can travel to a place like Fiji.
Some can travel to a place like Melbourne.
But then there are other times when you will not be able to do the same things that others can.
You know, like there's an example with, let's say, families, all right?
Families that are married with children.
You know, these men may not be able to do as much as men who are single, you know,
and have more time on their hands because, of course, when it comes to marriage and family,
your priority is your household.
But, you know, when you're not married, you're able to do so much more for the kingdom of God
and so your abilities are different at different points in your life.
So I want to drive that home because I don't want anyone to feel like,
oh, man, you know, I've not been able to go to like a Fiji or I've not been able to go to a Melbourne
or I've not been able to go to WA for soul winning, you know, and maybe I feel, you know, inadequate.
Don't be that way because when we choose to support the brethren,
we look at what abilities we have and some have more ability than others and that's fine.
You know, that's good. That's fine.
But we look at the abilities we have and we say, hey, how can we support and help the brethren?
And I really, I want that to be your mindset here tonight.
I say, pastor, I don't have the ability to go to place A or place B and what have you,
but what I can do, pastor, is to pray.
We need prayers, right, to further the work of this church and to do something great.
You know, we need people praying for us.
We need, you know, to be brought before the throne of grace
and if you can lower yourself and bow your knees and bow your head to the Lord and say,
Lord, I'm not able to do much as a person, but I can definitely bring this need
or I can definitely bring Port Macquarie, I can definitely bring Mervin,
I can definitely bring the missions conference up in prayer
and, Lord, I want to ask that you would equip the people that are able to get out there.
That's within your abilities and that's a blessing when you're able to help one another.
So I just want to give you the context of where this takes place,
the great dearth, the great need in Jerusalem
and the fact that the Corinthian Church are being asked to help.
The Antioch Church was willing to help
and then you've got the Corinthian Church being asked to help.
So come back with me to 1 Corinthians 16, please.
Come back with me to 1 Corinthians 16 and verse number 1.
1 Corinthians 16.
1 Corinthians 16 and verse number 1.
Let's read it from there.
So Paul says this.
Now concerning the collection for the saints.
Now I want to stop there for a moment.
So this collection for the saints, this is not your regular collection
that takes place in the house of the Lord.
Like the tithe in and the given that comes from within the church
for church operations and church business.
That's not what this is talking about.
This is for a collection for the saints.
And again, if you follow the chronology of things,
this is again referring to the brethren going through great doubts in Jerusalem.
Paul is saying, look, I've expressed to you the need,
the financial need, the financial aid of the brethren need down in Jerusalem.
So he's going to address this thing.
He says,
As I have given order to the churches of Galatia,
even so do ye.
He goes to all the churches.
I'm not just asking you guys.
I'm asking all the churches in Galatia for this collection for the saints.
Then he says in verse number 2,
And to the first day of the week, sorry, upon the first day of the week,
let every one of you lay by him in store, look at this,
as God hath prospered him, that there be no gatherings when I come.
It's the same idea.
As God have prospered him is the same idea as according to his ability.
Okay?
Because our ability, our resources, our time is something
that God may prosper with you in different areas of your life.
Okay?
So as God has prospered you, as God has allowed you to be blessed,
he says with what God has given you,
lay this collection together upon the first day of the week.
So he goes that there be no gatherings when I come.
He goes I don't want you to start collecting when I arrive.
When I finally arrive there, that's not when it's time to start collecting
for the saints.
Do that before I come.
Okay?
So it's ready to be delivered to Jerusalem.
And then he says this in verse number 3,
And when I come, whomsoever ye shall approve by your letters,
then will I send to bring your liberality unto Jerusalem.
There it is.
Okay?
The collection for the saints is for the brethren in Jerusalem
because of this drought.
Okay?
Now, again, I'm not here saying hey, guys, start flooding the church with money.
That's not my point.
I'm taking the application here.
Okay?
According to our abilities, we have brethren across Australia
with needs.
We have brethren even that are without a church.
You know, one of the blessings of going to Port Macquarie on the Sunday
was that, you know, even though Brother Rams,
what a blessing for him to pick me up and drive me there.
I mean, that's support.
That's been a blessing, right?
I mean, he wasn't there preaching, but he was there doing the driving.
Okay?
That's a way that God has prospered him, right?
That's something that he could look at his ability and say,
you know, how can I help my pastor help the brethren there in Port Macquarie?
We also had, you know, you guys know, of course, Sister Diane and Little Carol.
You know, they came from Raymond Terrace, right?
They drove two hours to support me and to support the church there
and just their presence, you know, and if the ladies are listening tonight,
I just say thank you for coming.
You know, it was a real blessing.
Just the presence and the support and the love.
I mean, this is how we can support our brothers and sisters in the Lord.
You know, I don't think this church knows the Hobbins family,
but they drove two and a half hours north.
They drove south, you know, they're more north,
and they visit our church at New Life Baptist Church on a semi-regular basis,
maybe every couple of months, because it's a long drive,
like some six hours to get there,
and they were there as well in Port Macquarie
and, again, just seeing their faces, the friendship, right,
the support, the love, it goes a long way, you know?
And so when I think about this and I think about, you know,
our church and our friends that we have out there
in different places that love our church,
you know, it's so important that we determine what our abilities are
and how can we help?
How can we help?
You know, even regarding Port Macquarie, you say,
Pastor, I can't preach, I can't...
Yeah, but maybe, maybe, you know, once a year,
you're able to get out there, for example,
and just turn up to a service and be a friend and be a support,
and if you're a soul winner, you're able to get out there
and maybe go and knock some doors, grab some from that church,
and say, you know what, let's go out door to door soul winning,
I'll show you how it's done, or something like that.
There are so many ways that we can be a blessing
and support to the brethren that have needs, all right?
So I really want us to always have this outward focus on others.
You know, I do have a focus, obviously, within our church
and the need for our church to grow and to learn God's word
and for our fellowship and our service to help this local body,
but as we're edified and we support and love one another,
we need to also have an outward view, okay?
Of course, the soul winning, go out, you know,
preach the gospel to every creature,
obviously very important that we do that,
but we must also recognise there are brethren that have needs,
and the question is, how can I support?
How has God prospered me to be a help and support to other brethren?
Now, you're there in 1 Corinthians 16,
let's drop down to verse number 7, drop down to verse number 7,
because, you know, when it comes to supporting and doing work
and I don't get a lot of pushback, most of you guys are like,
yeah, pastor, if you want to do it, I'm behind you.
Every now and again, there might be some, you know, some concerns,
but we try to work through those concerns, obviously,
and see if there's a solution
or see if it's going to damage our ministry or damage our testimony
and, you know, we're often asking ourselves those kinds of questions,
but I want you to understand that, like, generally speaking,
people are on board to do more for the Lord, okay?
And to utilise whatever, again, resources and abilities
and even financials that the Lord God has given our churches to do a work for him,
there is a reality that we read here in verse number 7
that I really want you to be aware of, okay?
And this is not just, like, airy-fairy stuff,
this is, what we're about to read here is real, okay?
And I want this church to be prepared, you know,
as we have men here that say, pastor, I'm willing to go to Port Macquarie,
I want you to understand there are going to be some complications.
There are going to be some difficulties, all right?
And it's not just going to be this wonderful, perfect thing
that takes place all the time.
Because when we're trying to do something great for God,
when we're trying to encourage brethren,
when we're trying to be a help to other churches,
this is what happens in 1 Corinthians 16, verse number 7.
Paul says, for I will not see you now by the way,
but I trust to tarry awhile with you if the Lord permits.
But I will tarry at Ephesus until Pentecost.
So he's saying, look, I want to visit you, Corinthian church,
but right now he's in Ephesus.
And he's waiting in Ephesus until Pentecost,
and this is why, he says in verse number 9,
for a great door and effectual is opened unto me.
So he says, the reason I'm staying in Ephesus for a while longer
is because a great door and effectual,
an effectual door has been opened unto him.
He said, look, there's a great chance of ministry.
There are souls getting saved here.
We're planting a church.
We're furthering the kingdom of God here in Ephesus.
So as much as I want to go and be with you, Corinthian church,
right now there's an open door and I've got to use this ability
that God has opened to do a work for him.
But then he says these words,
and there are many adversaries.
There are many adversaries.
I want this church to be aware.
I want you to be sober and vigilant, okay,
because our adversary, the devil, okay,
he is our enemy.
And do you think, do you think the devil is happy
with Blessed Hope Baptist Church?
Do you think the devil wants us meeting here this Thursday night?
No, the devil's going to throw whatever distractions,
whatever problems, whatever turmoils,
you know, he'll try to create problems on the outward to inward.
He'll try to create issues even within us,
conflicts and whatever it is, criticisms and unnecessary judgements.
The devil's going to try anything to try to stop the work
of Blessed Hope Baptist Church.
He is our adversary.
That verse that I was trying to quote was 1 Peter 5a.
Be sober, be vigilant, because your adversary,
the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about,
seeking whom he may devour.
Now, I don't know about you, brethren,
but I look at Port Macquarie and I say,
look, the Lord has opened a great door
and effectually has opened unto us.
It's not like, you know, Pastor Kevin,
when did you set your heart to go to Port Macquarie?
Never.
I did not go and, like, bang down some door.
Lord, make this happen.
It's opened.
You know, and it's the Lord's business
and, you know, when the Lord opens a door,
we have a choice to, you know, say,
well, does the door open here?
And again, you know, like Paul,
he's got a heart to visit the Corinthian church,
but he goes, I'm in Ephesus, though.
There's a door that's opened.
And now I know what that means.
Like, I wanted to be here on Sunday to preach for you guys.
Like, sit in church, I want to be here,
but a door's been opened in Port Macquarie.
Like, I can't come this Sunday.
Look, thank God I've got planes, though,
and drivers, and Paul didn't have, you know,
the modern conveniences that we have today.
And we have Internet and we have Skype
and we've got, you know, WhatsApp
and we've got Facebook
and we've got everything under the sun.
God's equipped us with a great ability to be a blessing,
not just nationally, but even internationally,
if the Lord opens such a door for us.
And so when the Lord opens our door,
regardless of how small our church is,
we need to ask ourselves, look,
are we forcing this door open
or is the Lord opening the door?
And if the Lord's opening the door,
I think we need to step through
and say, Lord, what do you have us to do?
But I want you to understand that the door's been opened.
What a blessing!
But the adversaries, there are many adversaries.
And without question,
every time our church,
and what I mean by our church,
I mean New Life, but also, of course,
many of the work that we've done,
we've done together as the two churches.
Any time we've done some type of,
like, soul-winning marathon in other cities, for example,
we've gone to Fiji or we've done something
that is not the usual, something different,
there's always, always, always been an attack of the enemy.
Always, Reverend.
You know, like, to me, I read these verses,
and like, I guess when I'm,
sometimes I'm wondering about, who are we?
Like, I think about the devil,
I think about adversaries, like,
why would they bother us?
But they do.
Because this is why,
because we're doing a great work for God.
And it really bothers the forces of darkness.
Look, I believe the devil wants that church in Port Macquarie
to close down.
You know, the devil will do whatever he can do
to try to destroy another great church.
And for us to go, you know what,
no, the Lord's opened a door,
let's go be a support.
Lord, what ability have you given me?
What resources have you given me?
How can I be of help?
And that's why, like, I'm a little concerned,
because there's a lot going on.
We've just done the Fiji,
and there's the Port Macquarie,
there's the Melbourne,
there's the trip to, in November,
to the U.S. for the conference,
and I think, oh man,
when are the adversaries going to start popping up?
Because they do. They do.
And I'm just saying this for everyone,
be prepared.
Prepare your hearts for difficulties.
Okay?
And you know what happens when difficulties come?
When the difficulties come, you'll be like,
I knew it was a bad decision to go to Port Macquarie.
I knew it was a bad decision to go to Melbourne.
I knew it was a bad decision.
I knew, because that's what the devil wants you to think.
Even though the Lord opens the door,
the devil's going to try to bring in
whatever doubts and confusion and conflict
that he can create.
The devil's so smart at doing this.
So brethren, there's a lot going on,
and I know, like, obviously a lot going on with me,
specifically, but I'm your pastor at your church,
and I want you to pray for me.
And I want you to pray for each other.
And I want you to pray for the men that said
I'm willing to go to Port Macquarie and preach,
because they're going to face adversaries.
I'm just being honest,
and I want you to be ready.
And when things get difficult,
and things get hard, I don't want you to go,
ah, just quit blessing about this church.
No, look, the devil's going to attack
the churches that are doing something great for God.
You know, the churches that are just
not doing much, maybe they're just gathering
every now and again, but they're not really doing anything
to further the kingdom.
They're not really doing anything to support
and help other churches.
The devil's going to leave them alone.
Like, there's not going to be much action
as far as adversaries go,
but the ones that try to do something for the Lord,
there are many adversaries, and the devil's just one.
Adversaries can even come within,
you know, even within the brethren.
Adversaries means enemies.
You know, and people are going to knock you down
for trying to be a help.
And, you know, like,
I hope you guys know me by now.
It's been six years that I've been pastoring this church.
I hope you know by now that I don't do this role
for power or prestige or wealth.
I do because I have a love for the people of God.
I have a love for God's kingdom.
I want to do what I can.
The Lord's blessed me growing up in a Christian home.
He's blessed me with the Bible.
He's blessed me with good churches growing up,
good doctrines that I've learned over the years,
and I want to be able to utilize what God has given me
to be a blessing to others.
And I hope you can see that
because that truly is my heart.
But I'm telling you, there are enemies.
I want to stop our work.
If you can, come with me to Philippians chapter 1.
Come with me to Philippians chapter 1.
Philippians chapter 1 and verse number 27.
Let me give you another idea
of how to identify an adversary
here in Philippians chapter 1.
Philippians chapter 1, verse number 27.
It says,
Only let your conversation...
I remember the word in the Bible, like,
your lifestyle, okay?
Only let your conversation be
as it becometh the gospel of Christ,
that whether I come and see you
or else be present,
I may hear of your affairs
that you stand fast in one spirit
with one mind,
striving together
for the faith of the gospel.
Okay.
So Paul is telling the Philippian church,
I want your life, I want your behavior
to line up with the gospel of Christ.
We know that you've been saved by the gospel, praise God.
And so we should live out that gospel.
We should be willing to see other people
get saved.
We should be willing to share that same gospel
that saved us, you know, to others.
That means, like, the gospel's real to you.
Like, not only have you been saved,
but now you say,
well, Lord, how can you utilize me
to reach other people?
Philippians chapter 1 has a lot to do with
preaching the gospel.
But then he says this in verse number 28.
I want you to be terrified
by your adversaries.
He goes, I don't want you to be terrified
by your adversaries.
Don't be afraid when the enemies come.
And so I want to preach
this sermon because we've got a lot of work
coming up for us as a church.
This has been the busiest year
of Blessed Up Baptist Church
and New Life Baptist Church combined.
There's a lot of work going on.
Praise God for it.
Maybe next year's not going to be so busy,
this year's been very busy,
and I want you to understand when the enemies come,
don't be terrified.
Don't be afraid of the enemies. Look at this.
Which is to them
an evident token of petition,
but to you of salvation
and that of God.
So what we have here,
the adversaries
are trying to stop the Philippian church
from preaching the gospel.
They're trying to stop them.
Trying to discourage.
Trying to, you know, throw a wet
blanket on the work of the Philippian church.
And when you have
somebody that is trying to stop
the preaching of the gospel,
the Bible tells us, this is
an evident token, evident, evident,
like evidence. This is evidence,
okay, of petition.
What does petition mean?
Damnation. This is
evidence that this man or this person
is unsaved.
If they're trying to stop
the preaching of the gospel
as we go out and knock doors or whatever
it is or go to public places
and we try to do a work for God,
anyone that tries to criticize
and downplay and try to stop you
and mock you, the Bible says
this is an evident token of
petition. They are damned.
They're not saved is what they are.
These are adversaries.
I want you to think about this because I don't
know what the future holds.
Is this church volunteers and gets
out there and helps the church in
Port Macquarie and maybe we do some soul
winning marathons up there, Lord willing,
you know, that people start to,
ah, what are you, what are you doing?
Trying to throw a wet blanket, what are you?
What kind of church are you and what kind of gospel
and they try to stop you. Those are
adversaries. They seek to discourage.
But this is token
evidence of their
damnation, of their petition. They're not saved.
And look, I tell you now, if
you're someone in this church
that hates soul winning,
I'm not saying you don't do soul winning.
I'm just saying you hate it and you try
to discourage and you try to criticize,
you know, then I don't want you in this
church because you're an adversary.
You're an enemy to the work that
we're trying to do here at Blessed Hope
Baptist Church.
Again, I'm not saying if you don't go soul winning
adversary, I'm saying if you're trying to stop it
and trying to discourage,
you hate it.
It bothers you.
That's an adversary.
And brethren, I just want you
to be aware that there are going to be adversaries
that pop up and
they're going to be friends and they're going to be family
they're going to be people that you think well of
and before you know it, you realize, wow,
the evident token's been
manifest. I realize now that we're never
saved to begin with.
There are adversaries all over the place.
And
but hey, don't be terrified.
Alright, like
I'm not saying this to, oh man, what's going to happen?
Just to be aware that things will happen
and then I'm not going to be fearful because I know what
God's word says and if we're
doing a good work, there's going to be persecution.
There's going to be criticism.
There's going to be adversaries that are going to try to stop the work.
But for us, that's an evident token of
our salvation because we're doing what is
right. We're doing what the Lord commands
of us.
Come back with me to 1 Corinthians 16,
the main
passage for the sermon tonight,
1 Corinthians 16,
1 Corinthians 16
and verse number 10.
1 Corinthians 16 and verse number 10.
So, you know, just for
now, I'm just telling church, we need
your prayers.
We need your prayers. Please remember,
you know, it might sound good,
you know, a pastor must have a really good life
traveling back and forth and going to
open and going to Fiji and going to the United States
and going to Philippines early this year.
It's full of Lord.
I'd rather just be at home
comfortably in my bedroom,
talking to
the kids, spending time with my wife.
I'd much rather be doing
that really, honestly.
You know, it's not, but I need
your prayers.
You know,
many of you have said to me, pastor,
you know, we don't want you to burn out.
I am burnt out.
I am stretched.
That's why we need the Lord.
You know, like, if it's in our own strength,
we can't be done. We need the Lord's strength
to make it a reality.
And I need your help. I need your support.
I need your love. I need your prayers.
I need you to realize, well, what abilities
has God given me?
You know, it's not that you're nobody.
Your soul is giving you gifts of the Spirit.
You've got something
that you can contribute to help
this church.
You know, I love, I really appreciate Brother Lez.
You know, I get off
out of the airport and I walk
for ten minutes and there it is, that wonderful car.
And Brother Lez, this is my ability.
This is what I can do to help you, pastor.
Instead of you catching the train and being stuck there in public transport
and maybe delayed
train lines or whatever it is that happens.
You know, any way
that we can help, there's so many different ways.
You know, I don't want you to limit yourself.
Think about, you know, think about yourself.
Say, what abilities has God given me?
What resources has God given me?
How can I be a help to the ministry
here at Blessed Baptist Church?
The 1 Corinthians 16 verse number 10.
So, we saw earlier
that Paul could not come
yet to Corinth because
he's in Ephesus.
So instead of him coming, he sends Timotheus
to Timothy. In 1 Corinthians 16 verse number 10.
Like, I want verse number 10 to be a reality one day
where I'm like the Paul Macquarie church.
I'm like, I'm sending Timotheus.
I'm sending Brother Tim.
Alright, he's going there
and, you know, he's come to do the work
of the Lord, you know, as also
as I also do, right?
And so I believe that's going to be a reality
very soon. But then he says this.
Let no man therefore despise him.
I'm sure you like to, I'm sure
that's important for Brother Tim. Don't despise
Brother Tim, please.
Let no man therefore despise him.
But conduct him forth in peace
that he may come unto me
for I look for him
with the brethren.
So, I want you to notice that Timothy
here, Timotheus, has the ability
to be sent by Paul
to be a blessing to the
Corinthian church. But then he says this
in verse number 12.
So here's another brother, okay?
This is Brother Apollos.
I greatly desire him to
come unto you with the brethren
but his will
was not at all to come
at this time.
But he will come
when he shall have convenient time.
I like that
Paul, like, you kind of read that
maybe, I don't know, I don't know, you might
read that as a young believer
that's kind of
you might say, well, I mean
why is that in the Bible?
Timothy can come
but Apollos
according to his will
he can't come right now.
He's busy, he's got other things on his plate.
But he said if time
opens up and he's available
he'll come when he can.
He'll help when he can.
But Timothy can help right now.
And the reason I wanted to read those verses to you
is because I don't want
you to ever compare
yourself with one to another.
Timothy should not compare himself to Apollos.
And Apollos should not compare himself to Timothy.
Right? Like, if Timothy can
go, Apollos
should not be at a point, oh man
I've really let down the brethren, I can't
come right now. It's not
his time. And I recognize
and, so when I say don't compare
I don't want you to put pressure on yourself.
And if I ever put
pressure on you, I'm
usually being sarcastic.
Okay? If I'm like
when are you going to go to Port Macquarie?
Or when are you going to go to Fiji?
Or when are you going to go to the Philippines?
I'm probably, I am joking.
I'm just throwing out there for a bit of a laugh.
I'm not trying to put pressure on you. Because I
realize our lives are all busy and our lives
are all different. Okay?
And we have different measures and
times and resources and
different responsibilities that God
has put over us.
And right now Timotheus has the opportunity
to go to visit the Corinthian church.
But Apollos has other things on and he can't
make it right now.
And I think that is so important when it comes
to service. I never want
anybody here to feel inferior
because Timothy can go
to the Philippines and Apollos can't.
Or whatever it is, right?
Whatever scenario plays out.
And I never want you to say, oh man I must be
a lesser of a church member
because I can't go to
Melbourne this weekend or something like that.
I don't want that to ever be
your mindset. Well, like we
saw earlier, you need to determine
what is my ability?
What has God given me?
How am I able to help?
Yeah, I can't get out there and preach a sermon.
Like I said. But I can get
on my knees and pray to the Lord.
Or I can put a little
bit of extra finances in an
envelope and say this is for
Melbourne or something like that. If that's
what God has blessed you with. If that's what
God's put on your heart.
Or you can say I can't go but I can be your
chauffeur like Brother Ramson was for me
on Sunday. Whatever it is, right?
How can I help?
What do I have?
Don't compare yourself one to another, please.
It's going to destroy your joy.
It's going to destroy your
walk with the Lord.
Our eyes are on Christ.
I always want you to remember, our
eyes are on Jesus Christ.
Not on another man and
not on another family.
Christ alone. And when we
compare ourselves to Christ,
we always come short of his standard.
And so there's no
like pride. There's no like
oh look what I'm doing and you can't do that.
You're not comparing yourself to that man.
You're comparing yourself to Christ and
we still have a long way to go. I still have a
long way to go. There's so much more work that
God has laid out for me and to
further his kingdom. And when all
our eyes are on Christ, we realize hey,
we're all trying to serve and help one another
in the work that God has given us to do.
Please never
become envious of another brother in the
church. You know, if they have
the ability to do something great for God,
rejoice in that. Get behind
them. Rather than thinking
oh woe is me, I can't do this.
Well what can you do?
That's my question to this church. What can
you do? Maybe you
can just keep your eyes open for the adversaries.
I'll keep a watch out.
Like who's going to criticize and I'll defend.
Blessed are Baptist Church when the adversaries
come and they try to criticize us.
You know, I never
want you to compare
and I never want you to feel pressure because
somebody can do something and you can't.
We're all at different stages of
our Christian walk. And
not just different stages, we all have different
abilities with what God has
given us. Let's continue there in
verse number 14. 1 Corinthians 16
verse number 14
It says let all your
things be done with charity.
So when we come to
serve, whatever your ability
is, do it with
charity. Do it with love.
Okay? Don't do it to show off.
I don't think this church
doesn't like that. I appreciate you guys. I really
do. I'm glad I've got nobody here
who's just high and mighty and looks down
on others. At least I don't know.
I don't think so there is.
But we do it with charity, our service.
You know, and we talk about going to
like a Melbourne for soul winning.
We do it with charity. We do it for love.
You know, we do it to support brethren,
to encourage brethren.
And it continues in verse number 15.
I beseech you, brethren,
you know the
name of, sorry, you know the house
of Stephanus, that it is the
firstfruits of Achaia
and that they may have, sorry
I can't read properly, and they
sorry, and that they
have addicted themselves to the ministry
of the saints. Alright?
So the ministry of the saints, they've addicted themselves
this house, this family, are like
how can I serve the saints?
Verse number 16 says
that you submit yourselves unto such
and to everyone that helpeth with us
and labereth.
Brethren, you know we're all fellow laborers.
You know, just the fact
that you attend church tonight, again
I say this all the time, but I know what it's like
living in Sydney. I've lived here most of my life.
I know how bad the traffic gets.
You know, it's during peak hour traffic
and then Thursday night shopping
and to be able to come to the house of the Lord and
you're here. You know what that encourages
me?
I feel encouraged. When you're here physically, and I know
it's not going to be the same as Sunday, Sunday's obviously easier to get
to for church, but when you turn up
I feel encouraged.
And it doesn't matter if it's one person,
well we want two or three gathered, at least.
It doesn't matter if it's two people
or a hundred people. I'm going to preach
the same sermon.
I'm going to preach with the same passion.
I'm going to preach with the same love
because you deserve it.
For being a support to me, I want to be a support back to you
with preaching God's word.
So we're
laborers. We labor together.
It continues in verse number
17.
I am glad of the coming of Stephanus
and for
and
You know when you come to church on a Thursday
you refresh my spirit.
I feel excited.
I get tired on the trips.
But when I get to meet the brethren and your loving
and your smile on your face
and thanks for coming pastor
and whatever it is, that sermon was a good sermon
that helped me.
You just refresh my spirit.
I feel like, man, what a great job, what a great honor
God's given me to be able to serve the brethren.
You know we had brother
Kyle from New Zealand turn up for a week here.
You know what, his words
before he left was, man, it was such a good trip
coming to Australia for the
I think it was two and a half or three weeks, whatever it was.
He felt refreshed.
And I don't know about you, but I believe
the people that got to spend time with him
felt refreshed as well.
Just having a brother from another country
want to come and visit a church like us
even though we're a small church once again
but just, there's love in New Zealand.
Doesn't that refresh like you come
or those that were able to go to Fiji
and you got to meet brethren
from the sunny coast or
from other places of Australia
brother Kyle was there again from New Zealand
or brethren from America and from Canada
and Korea
and where else, Papua New Guinea
and you get to meet the brethren
and it's refreshing, it's exciting
to see other brethren
and say, hey, we come from
all places of the world but somehow
we're all strangers, somehow we come together
for one purpose, to labour together
to serve one another
and it's like we know each other
because we're brothers and sisters in the Lord
we're working together.
I've never met you before, but I love you.
We're here striving together
for the Kingdom of God's sake.
There's nothing better than
being a Christian.
There's nothing better than serving the Lord, brethren
I'm telling the truth
because we've got brothers and sisters
all across this world
and you know what
if there's ever a need
and there was a need six years ago
for a church here
in Fairfield
and the brethren at New Life said, pastor, go down.
Go and help the brethren down there
in Sydney.
They saw the need and
when it comes to Port Macquarie
you guys are like, pastor
unless someone's got a hidden grudge or something
I was like, pastor, if we can
if God's able to use us, let's do it.
There's a need, let's do it.
It just shows me
growth Christian maturity
the charity
the love
the desire to refresh the spirits
of brethren all across
this world.
I want to keep this up
as the Lord opens the doors but
don't forget the adversaries
don't forget the devil and when those attacks
come, don't be surprised
don't be fearful, just be ready to
combat them with the full armor of God
put on, ready to fight these forces
of wickedness that comes our way.
So you know
we've got this weekend
coming up, soul winning in Melbourne, pray for it.
Pray.
Every now and again I have someone say to me
and I know they mean well, but I have someone
say to me, what's the point of going to
say Melbourne, what's the point of going
to whatever, right?
We can just go soul winning in our backyard
and yes, we can.
We can.
But I always want you to understand when I
set my heart to go somewhere
the Lord opens a door and we say, let's go there
it's to refresh
the spirit of the brethren.
That's really what it's about.
To encourage, to motivate
to show them they're loved
that you know, they've got a friend here
in Sydney, they've got a friend
on the sunny coast, you know
you can come and visit, we'll take care of you
we'll encourage you, whatever it is
and that makes such a difference.
And sometimes these people
they don't know each other, they live in the same city
and they're like minded and they get excited
but they don't know each other and sometimes these
trips allow brethren to meet one
another and then they can form their own little
soul winning groups and do something
great for God themselves
and if God willing, who knows, maybe one
day he decides to plan a church in a place
like Melbourne, I don't know what the Lord
wants, I don't know what, but I want to be flexible
I want to be open, I want to be ready
for God to utilise me to be a blessing to others.
Can you come with me to 2 Corinthians
2 Corinthians now, we've been going
looking at 1 Corinthians
2 Corinthians
obviously it's a letter that comes later
and just a reminder
the Corinthian church was a really bad church
that was a really messed up church
and so what happens is
in the first letter
1 Corinthians, which is actually the second letter
Paul's reminding them
look, get your collections together
and get it ready so we can
send it to Jerusalem
well by the time he's writing 2 Corinthians
they haven't done it
they have not done it
and so we get to this point here
in 2 Corinthians 9
and verse number 6
and you can read this chapter
in the New York Times so you can see how Paul's
addressing their laziness
he says in 2 Corinthians 9
6
this is in connection of giving to the saints in Jerusalem
he says in verse number 7
this is not your tithing
this is, again, helping the brethren
in Jerusalem
they're not doing it
they're lazy, whatever it is, they're digging the hills in
and he's trying to tell them, look
if you sow bountifully
you're going to reap bountifully
however you serve
and I want you to remember this
because obviously serving the brethren
and serving in God's work requires a lot of sacrifice
requires giving
of your time and your resources
your abilities
understand this great promise
that God will cause you to reap
bountifully
if you do much for his kingdom
he's going to give you much in return
I'm not talking
charismatic, Pentecostal here
you know the TV preachers
put your hands on the TV
and send a check for a thousand dollars
and receive this prayer
and by the end of the week
God's going to give you a million dollars
send a seed so you can be blessed
I'm obviously not talking like that
you know that God can bless
bountifully in so many different ways
of our life
but this is a true doctrine
it's just that the Pentecostals corrupt
God's word and make it all about
their love of money
but he says
you know if you give
God loveth for the chief forgiver
look at this, verse number 8
and God is able to make all grace abound towards you
that ye always have
all sufficiency
in all things
may abound to every good work
so I guess this church is having a problem
they're like I can't give because
I just don't have the
God's going to bless you
stop digging your heels in
God's going to bless you
and again I'm not trying to make this about finances
what is your ability to serve
what has God given you
what knowledge
you know
do it with charity
not grudgingly
oh man Pastor Kevin made me want to think
oh man I've got to serve now
not lovingly
cheerfully
with charity
I lost my place
verse number 9
as it is written he has dispersed abroad
he has given to the poor
his righteousness remaineth forever
now hear that minister of seed to the sower
both minister bread for your food
and multiply your seed sown
and increase the fruits of your righteousness
see that
increase the fruits of your righteousness
and this is a financial setting right here
but sometimes God will see
how you support and help and give
and is able to increase fruits
in your righteousness
in your ability to do more
to be more holy, to be more productive
for the kingdom of God's sake
verse number 11
which causeeth through us
thanksgiving to God
he says you know what
if you give of your abilities
of your resources
cheerfully God will make sure
that you bountifully receive
and as you bountifully receive
you're able to give more thanksgiving
to God
say God I've given this
I've given my time, I've given my
8 and a half hours driving to Port Macquarie
God's going to give you that back
and return bountifully
and then whatever it is, however it is
that he blesses you, thank you Lord
thank you Lord for your blessings
cause at the end of the day we want to glory
it's all about the Lord isn't it
we don't want to be like God's given me stability
I'm able to go to the Philippines and Fiji
that's pride
if you're able to do those things
you give glory to God, say God thank you
for allowing me to labor in your work
and many times that labor
in of itself is the blessing
like I said, going to Fiji was very tiring
okay
and some people
struggled to sleep, it wasn't always the best
but I think those that
went would say man that was a really good time
I really enjoyed that, even though maybe I didn't
have the best bedroom
you know I didn't even
always get to eat the best food
and like the
first day they were there brother, it was just bones
wasn't it?
remember that, it was just sauce and bones
what is this brother Ash?
anyway
but overall it was a great time
I'll never take it back, what a blessing it was
many times the blessings are just
in the service itself
it opens your heart to rejoice
and to realize boy
I might not think of myself as much
but as I'm gathered together with the brethren
they're so thankful that I'm there with them
supporting them, praying with them, helping them
loving them, fellowshipping with them
these things
many times are just self rewarding
so the reason
I wanted to end on this, the reward, is because
there is great reward, I want you to understand
there is great reward in serving the Lord
there's great reward in serving the
church, there's great reward in serving
the brethren
and look
I'm not trying to say don't focus
on our lives, I do
I've shared so many times I've shared with you
that my family comes first
my wife, my children
they're so important to me
I'm not going to sacrifice my family
for ministry
if I'm only able to be a pastor
or a good dad, I'm going to choose
being a good dad and drop the pastor
if that's
the choice that I had to make
but
so far God's allowed me to be a good dad
and a good husband and hopefully a good
pastor
hopefully, hopefully
and by the way, if you've
contacted me recently, I've got so many messages
I've fallen behind, it's been a busy week
I just say, if there's something
important, like an emergency, just call
me, if you call me
and maybe call me twice and then I know
if I see two missed calls in the same number, it must be
really important, so just saying that
but you know, there's a reward
in serving the Lord and it's the best
job I've ever had
and I really appreciate the church
I really appreciate you guys, you're not a burden to me
you know, it's a burden on the flesh
to travel, but you're not a burden
I come and my spirit's refreshed
it's exciting to be able to serve God
in this way and I want us to be excited
to say, you know what, yes
we want to grow our church locally
we want to do many things here but
there are brethren out there that don't have a church
or they feel alone
you know, and maybe we've got
online listeners and if they're listening online
and you haven't got a church, we love you here
you know, and you're not a church
member because church means
congregation means assembly, but you're definitely
a friend to this ministry and we
appreciate you
we've got brethren all across Australia
and we're blessed to be able to even have church
you know, on Thursday here
and hear some sound doctrine being taught
and like I said, there are brethren across Australia
that just wish they had a church
a decent church
not even the best church, just a decent church
that they can get themselves plugged into
and serve in
so brethren, the title for the sermon tonight
bring your liberality
bring your liberality, this has to do with generosity
figure out how you can serve
what can I do?
you know, even if it's just
tidy up after the service
you know, it's just making sure that
is there sufficient toilet papers and sufficient resources
are there tracks, are there
just the regular things that need to be done
just whatever it is, just figure it out
how can I serve and
say pastor, right now I'm too busy, I'm like a polis
I can't do much, but if you can turn up to church
that just encourages me, that's a great blessing
to see you face to face
alright brethren, let's pray
bring your liberality, let's pray