Music
Thank you Baptist Church. Thanks for coming out to our Thursday evening service. Please take your seats and open your green handles to page 46.
Take your seats.
Find a green handle and turn to page 46.
My Savior first of all page 46.
When my life work is ended and I cross the swelling tide. When the bright and glorious morning I shall see.
I shall know my redeemer when I reach the other side and his smile will be the first to welcome me.
I shall know him, I shall know him. In redeem by his side I shall stand.
I shall know him, I shall know him. By the print of the nails in his hands.
Oh the soul thrilling rapture when I view his blessed face and the luster of his kindly beaming eye.
How my full heart will praise him for the mercy loving grace that prepared for me a mansion in the sky.
I shall know him, I shall know him. In redeem by his side I shall stand.
I shall know him, I shall know him. By the print of the nails in his hands.
Oh the dear ones in glory how they beckon me to come and are parting at the river I recall.
To the sweet veils of Eden they will sing my welcome home but I long to be my Savior first of all.
I shall know him, I shall know him. In redeem by his side I shall stand.
I shall know him, I shall know him. By the print of the nails in his hands.
Through the gates to the city and a robe of spotless wine he will lead me where no tears will ever form.
In the glad song of ages I shall mingle with delight but I long to be my Savior first of all.
I shall know him, I shall know him. In redeem by his side I shall stand.
I shall know him, I shall know him. By the print of the nails in his hands.
Great singing this evening. Brother Sean Conlon, can you open us with a little prayer?
Father Evan, I thank you for this day, Lord. I just hope the community is here today, Lord.
I pray that you prepare our hearts for this day, Lord.
Help us to put away the things of the world out of our minds, Lord.
And just help us to focus on the Lord tonight, Lord.
We love you so much. Thank you for this day, Lord.
Amen. Page 179.
179.
Such love, 179.
On the first.
That God should love a sinner such as I should
yearn to change my sorrowing to bliss nor rest till he had plain to bring me night.
How wonderful is love like this!
Such love, such wondrous love.
That God should love a sinner such as I.
How wonderful is love like this!
That Christ should join so freely in the scheme.
Although it meant his death on Calvary,
did ever human talk by nobler theme,
then love divine that ransomed me.
Such love, such wondrous love.
That God should love a sinner such as I.
How wonderful is love like this!
That for a willful outcast such as I,
the Father planned, the Savior bled and died.
Redemption for a worthless slave to buy.
Who long have all in grace defied.
Such love, such wondrous love.
That God should love a sinner such as I.
How wonderful is love like this!
And now he takes me to his heart, a son.
He asks me not to fill a servant's place.
The far off country, one drinks all our doubt.
Wide open are his warms of grace.
Such love, such wondrous love.
That God should love a sinner such as I.
How wonderful is love like this!
Anybody need one? All right, well never mind then.
All right, on our front cover we have our verse of the week.
It says, He becometh poor that dealeth with a slack hand,
but the hand of the diligent maketh rich.
Proverbs chapter 10 verse number 4.
Our service times are Sunday morning at 10 30 a.m.
Sunday evening at 3 30 p.m. We'll be in Genesis chapter 42 this week.
Thursday Bible study is obviously right now at 6 30 Thursday nights.
And we're in 2 Corinthians chapter number 8.
Our soul winning times are listed below.
And right this week it's kind of been a little bit messed up.
But Brother Shawn you still doing your time tomorrow?
Yes.
Okay.
And then the new time is in there.
It's 12 p.m.
That DHAS boy is running that.
And then let's see we'll have soul winning on Sunday.
And I think Brother Richie got one save done in Eugene last Saturday or Sunday.
I think that they were having some vehicle issues or something like that.
So he just went soul winning and got somebody saved.
So praise God for that.
And we got back from our trip Monday.
We had a great trip in Spokane and we had 24 salvation's if you can believe that.
I mean it was it was pretty awesome.
So we had two soul winning times.
We had a well we had a soul winning marathon that we had our Sunday services.
So we had eight in the first half of the soul winning marathon then eight in the second half.
And then eight on Sunday during like our we only went for like an hour and a half.
So and so it was great.
It was a great trip.
We had just blessings all around.
It was it was a great anniversary and I was really happy to be there and spend some time with our church family over there.
Got a great group over there and love being over there and and preaching for them.
So we'll see our praise report.
You can see the salvation's year to date and we do have a Baptist.
We have one more baptism.
We should have one more.
I think it's added there.
OK.
Rylan did something right.
So he was even out of town.
He still did it right.
And I'm so proud of him right now.
But I still haven't read through the whole thing yet.
So let me get let me get going here.
All right.
Then let's see.
March.
Let's see.
Well that's already done.
So we did the third anniversary.
And the next thing on the prophetic calendar is April 22nd through 25th.
We have the Detroit soul winning trip.
And the deacon Corbin Russell will be preaching on Sunday the 24th at a location to be determined.
He still hasn't gotten that that confirmed for me yet.
I mean he is going to preach no matter what.
But we just haven't got the place nailed down yet.
I'll be preaching at the same day at in Boise at show the faith Baptist Church.
And we had Pastor Jones preach for us on last Friday night.
If you haven't got a chance to listen to it.
And Ryland do you have the memory card from that trip.
Did you give it to Robert yet.
All right.
That's something that needs to be remedied.
He said.
All right.
But anyway if you want to watch the sermon it's up on.
It's up on there.
The S.F.B.C. Spokane Facebook page Pastor Jones.
It's great great great ceremony preach is really helpful really relevant preaching.
So it was good.
I liked it a lot.
So I think a lot of people like that sermon.
So anyway June 1st through 4th is church camp.
And that is coming soon to a theater near you.
June 10th we have our.
There's a North East new IFB conference night.
It's going to be in New Jersey.
Keep forgetting the name of the town.
But anyway it's in New Jersey I've never been there before.
But looking forward to going to that.
It's going to be at 6 p.m. food and fellowship service begins at 7 p.m.
And I'll be preaching.
And then Pastor men will be preaching that night.
And then there's a so many marathon there it's going to be an all day so many marathon in New Jersey.
I'm flying home on the red eye and coming and preaching here in the morning.
All right.
So it should be interesting.
Did anybody not get one of these.
You don't know what they are.
Did you do the New Testament challenge.
She did too.
Oh she didn't.
But she can come up and get your prize if she wants.
Did you do it.
This Amy.
All right.
So give that to Crystal.
I would wing this.
But I think I'd hate you with it.
Yeah.
Sorry bro Sean.
You don't get one.
Two.
All right.
The last two.
So I need to know who didn't get one because.
All right.
So that's it.
That's all I handed them all out.
So anyway great job on the New Testament challenge.
Sorry it took me so long to get the prizes.
But if anybody didn't or did the challenge and didn't get a gift card just let me know and I'll take care of that.
The fish coin challenge that all get done for the people that were memorizing and everybody memorized that was going to do it do it.
All right.
That's out.
Great job for all those that did that.
And I'm going to skip through some of this stuff.
I have some other announcements here that are not in the bulletin.
So let's see.
Titus Aaron Thompson was born on March 8th.
I think it was 10 45 p.m. like 15 minutes or 10 minutes after they got to the hospital.
Almost born in the backseat of the car.
But anyway he was eight pounds weighing in at eight pounds three ounces 19 and a half inches long.
Fighting out of the blue corner.
No the first grandson first Thompson grandson.
So I'm very excited about that.
So make sure you congratulate me and Kylie.
They're recovering.
They didn't.
They got discharged from the hospital.
I think at like 130 in the morning.
So they're kind of all messed up.
But baby's doing great.
Mom's doing great.
Remy's doing great.
They're all doing great.
So very excited about that.
So and then some other some other announcements.
Memorial weekend is going to be an SF BCN Sure Foundation Baptist North trip.
That's going to be on the 28th Saturday.
So I know some people are interested in going to Blaine.
But if you're on camping then just go camping like whatever.
You just want to be worldly then you go ahead do that.
No I'm just kidding.
But I wanted to go up there and spend some time with them again and we have that place rented again.
So that'll be the 28th of May.
And so also Miss Sheila her her son Ricky passed away and his funeral services are going to be next Saturday at 10 a.m. here.
We're going to do like a celebration of life.
And then there's going to be a graveside service at 2 p.m.
And it's we'll have all that information in the bulletin this coming Sunday where it's at and stuff.
But continue to pray for their family.
It was a tragic loss and just definitely extra prayers for Miss Sheila and for Sierra and Ethan.
So the details I think were put in about if people are to bring food.
It's just only finger food right.
And not anything hot.
All right.
And so cookies if anybody wants to bring cookies for dessert.
I think there's a sign.
Is there a sign up in that.
Yeah I thought I saw a sign up.
OK.
So just sign up for that.
So 10 a.m. all the church is invited to come to that.
And if you can help out in any way shape or form I'd appreciate it.
I need a song leader and let's see maybe some ushers to help with the seating because there's a lot of guests here.
So and so definitely pray for all those guests that are coming to that are family members of Miss Sheila.
She's been praying for their salvation for a long time.
So that would be great to have some extra prayers for that.
And pray that they get saved or you know on their way to being saved with the gospel and preach the gospel at the end of the service there.
So anyway that's all I have for announcements.
Let's I think that's it.
Does anybody have anything else I can't.
I'm not thinking of.
Oh yeah.
One more thing.
Spring forward is on Sunday so don't be late for church.
I'm preaching about being late.
So you walk in late.
You're going to get it.
I'm going to have you come up here to sit in a chair with a hat on.
I was kidding.
No but just let's remember to set your your time forward.
This time I'm actually right about the day.
I think last was wrong.
So anyway.
So yeah.
Don't forget about that.
Let's sing another song will receive the offer.
Turn to page two thirty two.
Tell me the story of Jesus.
Page two thirty two.
Tell me the story of Jesus on the first.
Tell me the story of Jesus right on my heart every word.
Tell me the story most precious.
Sweetest that ever was.
Tell how the angels in.
Saying as they well.
Glory to God in the high.
He said.
Tell me the story of Jesus.
Right on my heart every word.
Tell me the story most precious.
Sweetest that ever was.
Fasting alone in the desert.
Tell of the days that are passed.
How for our sins he was.
Yet was triumphant at last.
Tell of the years of his labor.
Tell of the sorrow he bore.
He was despised and afflicted.
Homeless rejected and poor.
Tell me the story of Jesus.
Right on my heart every word.
Tell me the story most precious.
Sweetest that ever was.
On the last.
Tell of the cross where they nailed him.
Rithing in anguish and pain.
Tell of the grave where they laid him.
Tell how he liveth again.
Love in that story so tender.
Clearer than ever I see.
Stay let me weep while you whisper.
Love paid the ransom for me.
Tell me the story of Jesus.
Right on my heart every word.
Tell me the story most precious.
Sweetest that ever was heard.
Great singing tonight at this time we'll take our offering.
Brother Sean Harrington, can you bless the offering for us?
Thank you.
Lord, that you would soften the hearts of those that are coming here, and they're going to hear the gospel, Lord.
I pray that you would help them to receive it and be saved.
We pray all these things in Jesus' wonderful and precious name. Amen.
All right, would you turn with me to the book of 1 Corinthians, chapter 8.
1 Corinthians, chapter 8.
This is our custom.
We'll read the entire chapter.
Read along silently with me, if you would, beginning in verse 1 of 1 Corinthians, chapter 8.
Now, as touching things offered unto idols, we know that we all have knowledge.
Knowledge puffeth up, but charity edifieth.
And if any man think that he knoweth anything, he knoweth nothing yet as he ought to know.
But if any man love God, the same is known of him.
As concerning therefore the eating of those things that are offered in sacrifice unto idols,
we know that an idol is nothing in the world, and that there is none other God but one.
For though there be that are called gods...
Apologies.
All right, 2 Corinthians, 2 Corinthians, chapter 8.
2 Corinthians, chapter 8.
It's a good chapter, though, huh?
Yeah, amen.
I thought he was bringing me some water.
2 Corinthians, chapter 8.
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.
For to their power I bear record, yea, and beyond their power they were willing of themselves,
praying us with much entreaty that we would receive the gift
and take upon us the fellowship of the ministering to the saints.
And this they did, not as we hoped, but first gave their own selves to the Lord
and unto us by the will of God, insomuch that we desired Titus,
that as he had begun, so he would also finish in you the same grace also.
Therefore, as ye abound in everything, in faith and utterance and knowledge
and in all diligence and in your love to us, see that ye abound in this grace also.
I speak not by commandment, but by occasion of the forwardness of others
and to prove the sincerity of your love.
For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich,
yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich.
And herein I give my advice, for this is expedient for you who have begun before,
not only to do, but also to be forward a year ago.
Now therefore perform the doing of it, that as there was a readiness to will,
so there may be a performance also out of that which ye have.
For if there be first a willing mind, it is accepted according to that a man hath,
and not according to that he hath not.
For I mean not that other men be eased and ye burdened, but by an equality,
that now at this time your abundance may be a supply for their want,
that their abundance also may be a supply for your want, that there may be equality.
As it is written, He that had gathered much had nothing over,
and he that had gathered little had no lack.
But thanks be to God which put the same earnest care into the heart of Titus for you.
For indeed he accepted the exhortation, but being more forward,
of his own accord he went unto you.
And we have sent with him the brother, whose praise is in the gospel throughout all the churches,
and not that only, but who was also chosen of the churches to travel with us,
with this grace which is administered by us to the glory of the same Lord and declaration of your ready mind,
avoiding this that no man should blame us in this abundance which is administered by us,
providing for honest things, not only in the sight of the Lord, but also in the sight of men.
And we have sent with them our brother, whom we have oftentimes proved diligent in many things,
but now much more diligent upon the great confidence which I have in you,
whether any do inquire of Titus, he is my partner and fellow-helper concerning you,
or our brethren be inquired of, they are the messengers of the churches and the glory of Christ.
Wherefore, show ye to them and before the churches the proof of your love and of our boasting on your behalf.
Brother Robert, would you pray for us?
When we call the Lord, I just thank you for the chance to gather in your house here today, Lord,
and thank you for a great service.
Amen, all right, 2 Corinthians chapter number 8, and let's look at verse number 1.
The Bible says, Moreover, brethren, we do you to wit of the grace of God bestowed on the churches of Macedonia.
So that term to wit is a phrase meaning the following comes to mind,
or he wants to bring this to their minds about this church, these churches in Macedonia.
And kind of what the context of this chapter is, and even in the next chapter, next week,
is talking about giving, is talking about people giving,
and he's going to go into how some of these churches that we're giving were really poor,
and they were still giving anyway.
And this isn't talking about tithes and offerings,
this is talking about, like, free will offerings to help other people that were poor.
And so the Apostle Paul is going to go into this dissertation about the giving of these churches in Macedonia
as an example to other churches.
And obviously, I went through this in another chapter before, and I can't remember what chapter it was,
but I know that I went into detail about how the Apostle Paul took,
and actually when he was captured, he had given alms to his nation at that time,
to the poor saints at Jerusalem.
And so basically, this is kind of what he's talking about, about these churches that gave,
and then Paul took that money and went to Jerusalem to help out poor saints,
and so that's kind of basically what it's talking about.
And then the last bit of it, I want to talk about Titus,
the man of God that it talks about a lot in this chapter.
And it's kind of funny that my grandson's name is Titus,
and then I'm in this chapter where it talks about Titus quite a bit,
so I just thought I'd focus a little bit on the character of Titus,
kind of how he was, what kind of man he was,
and give you some points about the man Titus.
So anyway, so this term to wit, it's not something that we say a lot in our modern vernacular,
but anyway, he's saying brethren, so he's talking about the brothers and sisters in this church in Corinth,
and we do you to wit, so he wants the following to come to their mind
about the grace of God bestowed on the churches of Macedonia.
Look at verse 2, it says,
And in a great trial of affliction, the abundance of their joy and their deep poverty
abounded unto the riches of their liberality.
Now, so obviously he's talking about these great trials of affliction that they were going to,
but affliction and trials can make us better Christians,
and that's what I think happened with the churches of Macedonia.
I think that they had afflictions, but they also had their poor,
and so not all churches are the same.
Some churches have more money than other churches.
Some churches have more money or a bigger congregation than other churches,
and so on and so forth.
Some churches are better in some areas than other churches,
and so no church is perfect, of course we all know that,
but this church here apparently had some affliction going on,
and it says that in a great trial of affliction,
the abundance of their joy and their deep poverty abounded unto the riches of their liberality.
So even in deep poverty, I mean that sounds like they're pretty poor, right?
And so they're already going through affliction,
but it says that they had an abundance of joy.
And sometimes we think well if we just had more money we'd be more happy,
but it sounds like even though they didn't have a lot of money
and they were going through a lot of problems,
they were still had an abundance of joy in their life,
and so much that it says that it abounded unto the riches of their liberality.
Now we hear the term liberality and we think that's bad
because in modern day vernacular,
liberalism and liberals are a byword for us
because it stands for everything that we're against,
but the true meaning of liberality is the quality of giving or spending freely.
So these saints here at Macedonia that Paul's talking about,
they are liberal in the true sense of the word
and not in the fake communist, socialist, Marxist liberals that we see today, okay?
They want to take money that belongs to other people and give it to somebody else.
And in this chapter it talks about equality.
Well that's a word that's thrown around a lot
and I wonder if they stole these words to use
to make it seem like they're more Christian than we are,
but they take those words and they mean something different to them.
It's almost like Mormonism, you know?
They're taking words that are biblical words and good words and trashing them.
So if I said hey Brother Ramon's really liberal, you know,
he wouldn't take that as a compliment.
But the Bible, you know,
if you're talking about the Bible word of the quality of giving or spending freely,
you know, if I said he's got a real liberal, you know, heart,
you know, that would sound bad to modern days,
but I mean in reality what it really means is he's a giving person.
So anyway, so let's look at verse number three.
It says, for to their power I bear record, yea,
and beyond their power they were willing of themselves.
So praying us with much entreaty that we would receive the gift
and take upon us the fellowship of the ministering to the saints.
So this is the gift that it's talking about is a monetary thing.
It's something that's like an offering that's been given unto Paul to take to the poor saints.
So, and these poor saints, you know, are giving of their,
you know, they're poor, but they're giving,
these other people must be way more poor and way more destitute than they are.
But, you know, you don't have to be rich to be giving.
You know, a lot of people that are poor are more giving than people that are rich.
A lot of times people are rich because they're Scrooge's and they're stingy.
You know, that's something I would never want to be called as a sting.
You know, you're stingy.
I mean, that would hurt me.
You know, somebody thought that I was stingy.
I've been called a lot of things, but stingy is not one of them.
And I don't want to be known as stingy.
I think it's a bad reputation to someone who says,
oh, you're real tight with your money.
There's nothing wrong with, you know, saving your money and not spending on dumb things or whatever.
I'm just saying that if you're known to never help people
because it might bust into your Starbucks fund or something like that,
then, you know, you might want to be a little more giving.
And again, you don't have to be rich to give.
You can give your time.
Time is worth money.
You know, time, if you work a job, you get a certain amount of dollars per hour.
And so when you go and volunteer your time, it's your free time.
That's giving.
That's giving liberally, I think,
like helping someone work on their house or helping someone work on their car
or on their roof or painting or whatever it is.
You know, and even just people that are maybe sick or have had a surgery
and they can't clean their house and someone comes over and helps them clean,
those types of things I think are giving.
It's a monetary thing.
You just don't have maybe the money to help them do something,
but you can still put the time in to help somebody.
So it says in verse 5,
And this they did, not as we hoped,
but first gave their own selves to the Lord,
and unto us by the will of God.
So these saints here in Macedonia,
Paul says something that's pretty straightforward here.
They gave their own selves to the Lord.
See, if you want to be a giving person,
you want to be known as someone that's liberal with your giving,
you know, first you've got to give yourself to the Lord.
So if you're saved, you've given yourself to the Lord,
but at the same time, you know, some people don't act on that
or they don't realize, hey, there's other people that might need help.
And again, this isn't talking about tithing.
Tithing is just something that God asked for 10% back,
but when it's talking about giving this gift or giving it a free,
in the Old Testament they gave a free will offering.
It wasn't something they had to do.
So anything above the tithe is something that's free will offering.
So anyway, it says,
And they did this, not so as we hoped,
but first gave their own selves to the Lord,
and unto us by the will of God,
and so much that we desired Titus,
that as he had begun,
so he would also finish in you this same grace also.
So here's the first mention of Titus in this chapter,
and so we're going to get more into him as we get through here a little further,
but verse 7 says,
So he's exhorting this church in Corinth
that they should also be like this church in Macedonia,
that they would be abounding in everything.
And it's not just talking about monetary things,
it's not talking about just money,
but it says in everything,
in faith, in utterance, in knowledge, and in diligence.
So obviously our faith increases the more we're in the word of God,
and the more we learn to trust God.
Trusting God with your finances,
just talking about tithing in general,
that's a big step for some people.
They're like, this isn't adding up.
They're like, I can't afford a tithe, I'm too poor.
You can't afford not to.
You can't afford not to,
because if you want holes in your bag all the time,
you want, oh, I just bought this new car, but I can't afford a tithe,
well, you might be getting a new engine repair done afterwards,
because if you just are stingy with the things of God,
but you want to heap upon yourselves treasures on this earth,
then God will teach you lessons,
lessons that are hard to be learned,
and you're like, well, you're threatening us?
If you don't tithe, I'm not threatening you at all.
I'm just saying that God says you're cursed with the curse.
That's what the Bible says.
Now as far as free will offering, that is free will.
That is something that you can do of your own free will,
but what was Jesus like?
He gave everything that he had for us.
He gave everything,
and so what's Paul saying?
He's saying, hey, you need to abandon everything,
and that means get greater, get bigger in your faith and utterance.
Utterance is speaking, right?
And then acknowledge the things that you know and learn.
Hey, get bigger, get better at that,
get better at speaking, get better at preaching the gospel,
and in all diligence.
Diligence is working hard and making sure things get done the right way,
and in your love to us, see that you abound in this grace also.
Look at Matthew chapter 6 verse 19.
Let's take a look at a couple of verses over there.
See, this church, these churches in Macedonia that Paul is talking about,
they understand what it's like to sacrifice
even though they don't have necessarily a lot of money.
It says they have deep poverty.
So even with deep poverty, you can be a giver.
Now am I saying give more than what you have?
No, that's ridiculous.
That's what faith promise would ask.
They have these faith promise thermometers that they do at churches and stuff,
and it's like, you need to promise what you're going to give to missions every year.
And who's been in a church that had faith promises before?
Okay.
And it sounds good when they're talking about it and everything,
but in reality, you're promising to do something that you don't know that you can do.
They're like, give this amount.
If you give this amount, it's just like $52 a week or whatever.
It's like, that can be a lot if you have a big family,
you're a sole provider of that family,
and you're just like, and people get all caught up in the emotion of it,
but then when it's like, hey, you promised to do this,
when you vow a vow to the Lord, you better keep that vow.
Because, again, he's going to come after it, right?
He's going to hold you to that vow.
And so don't make vows and say that you're going to give something that you're not going to give.
That's why I think faith promises is unbiblical.
Unless you know for sure you've got the money in the bank,
don't be promising things.
Don't write a check that you can't cash.
I'll say that in the clean Christian way.
But anyway, so Matthew 6.19, look what it says.
It says, lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth,
where moth and rust doth corrupt,
and where thieves break in or break through and steal.
But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven,
where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt,
and where thieves do not break through nor steal.
For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
See, a lot of times, you know, what people are caught up,
you know, the things that they treasure in this life,
their heart is with that.
So if your treasure is in your 57 Chevy that you're rebuilding,
and you just can't wait to get that done,
I'm not saying there's anything wrong with that,
but if that's where your heart is,
then, you know, if that's where your treasure is,
that's where your heart's going to be also.
It's not going to be on the things of God.
And so we need to have our hearts on the things of God.
You know, Jesus said to seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness,
and all these things shall be added unto you.
So if we put the kingdom of God first,
and we put God's people first in our hearts and in our minds,
then all those other things are going to be added to you anyway.
So you don't need to just chase after riches,
chase after things, you know,
I can't help out because I'm saving up for this or whatever.
And look, again, it's a free will offering when you offer to do things like that.
But like if a church is going through a hard time,
or maybe they're doing some kind of special offering,
like Pastor Mendez is doing, you know,
every year he does a special offering,
and that money goes to good things.
It's going to go to the church plants over in the Philippines this year
and help with the Red Hot Preaching Conference,
and, you know, I like to help do that.
I like to help with that because it's something that's worthy,
it's something that's worthwhile,
and I know Brother Stuckey's doing great works over there, right?
And so I want to put as much money as we can behind Brother Stuckey
because I'd rather have him
than the hundred missionaries that people are supporting
and have their pictures all over their walls.
I'll take one Brother Stuckey
over their hundred do-nothing missionaries
that are mooching off of everybody
and not even preaching the gospel.
Like, oh, I shared an Adam and Eve coloring book with somebody.
Wow! Big deal!
I mean, Brother Stuckey's church over there,
they got thousands of people saved,
and they're just branching out and doing more,
and I'd rather give a gift to that church
so that I know that that money is going to go to a good cause
that's going to go to get more people saved,
more people baptized, more people learning the Word of God,
you know, better video equipment or whatever it is that they need,
and I don't think there's anything wrong
with backing and helping out other churches like that,
or what if they're in a desperate need?
You know, if a church is in a desperate need, we're going to help them.
If people from our church are in a desperate need, people have helped.
You know, a lot of people stepped up
and helped with the situation that happened with Miss Sheila's family,
and I appreciate that.
There's a lot of people all over this country that love Miss Sheila,
and they showed it by their liberal giving,
and I appreciate that, and I know that she does too,
and I just want to thank everybody for that,
because the last thing you want to do is have to worry about
those kinds of things when you're going through a big loss like that,
and so, you know, those people are going to be blessed by God
for their liberal giving,
and I'm not saying that in the bad liberal way.
I'm saying the good liberal way, right?
Let's look back at our text in verse number 8.
It says,
I speak not by commandment, but by occasion of the forwardness of others,
and to prove the sincerity of your love.
For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ,
that though he was rich,
yet for your sakes he became poor,
and that ye through his poverty might be rich.
I was thinking about this for a long time today,
and I thought, you know,
the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, how that he was rich.
Think about this for a second.
He was in heaven,
he was in the place where there's streets of gold,
he's in the place where, you know,
there's gates of pearl,
and all this beautiful stuff.
He had all, you know,
God owns the cattle on a thousand hills.
He doesn't need anything from us.
He's super rich.
He made everything.
He made the gold that we get out of the hills.
He made all the silver.
He made all this stuff.
He was, he's the richest person in the universe, right?
But as though he was rich,
yet for your sakes he became poor,
because he had to become that man that he became
in order to save all of mankind.
So he for your sakes became poor,
that you might through his poverty might be rich.
And so I've said this before,
and I'll say it again,
that we become rich when we get saved.
You know, we've gone from rags to riches.
Our sins are like filthy rags,
or I mean our works are like filthy rags,
and a lot of people trusted in their works
before they got saved,
but you know what?
He did all the works for us so that we could be rich,
so that we could have, you know,
and what's more rich than having life that's everlasting
in a beautiful place that he made just for us
so that we could enjoy it?
And look, we don't even know what we're in for,
but the promise is this,
that it's gonna be way, way,
way, way, way, way, way better than this place here.
Way better, and you know,
I can't say everything that we're gonna have
because the Bible doesn't say.
Paul, or at least I think it was Paul,
someone was caught up into the third heaven
and saw things that he was not allowed to repeat
on this earth because, you know,
God doesn't want us to know.
It's a surprise.
So one thing we do know,
we have everlasting life,
that's the benchmark reward for everybody.
But what other rewards are we gonna have?
What does that look like?
I don't know.
But you know what I wanna find out,
and I wanna earn some of those rewards
so that, you know, I'm not the least
in the kingdom of heaven.
I mean, I don't wanna be the best either,
but I wanna be somewhere in the middle, right?
I wanna be taller than most people,
but I think that's gonna be a thing.
So me and Saul will be standing side to side or whatever.
But anyway, let's look at Philippians chapter two,
and I know I've had you turn this verse a lot,
but every time I think about Jesus becoming poor for us,
I always think about these verses.
And look at Philippians chapter two verse five.
And so Paul's trying to express this feeling
that hey, remember that Jesus was rich,
he gave up heaven, he's the king of kings,
lord of lords,
and then people were spitting in his face in the end.
People were spitting in his face, ripping out his beard,
punching him, mocking him,
and he put up with a lot of stuff
and was crucified and made fun of,
didn't get to eat or drink anything
for a long period of time,
he was probably dehydrated,
you know, the tongue cleaving to the roof of his mouth,
and he did all that to make us rich.
Because he loves us.
Why does he love us?
I have no idea.
I guess because he created us
and wanted to have fellowship with us.
But sometimes I wonder why he wanted
to have fellowship with us.
I mean, I know how I am,
so I don't know why he would like me,
but anyway, Philippians chapter two verse five says,
let this mind be in you,
which was also in Christ Jesus,
who being in the form of God
thought it not robbery to be equal with God,
so he is equal with God, right?
But made himself of no reputation.
So he was a king,
you know, and obviously he was born to be the king
on this earth, but he wasn't,
he had no reputation as that.
They thought he was from a different place.
You know, they was like,
is anything good come out of Galilee?
It's like, he was born in Bethlehem, buddy.
You forgot about that, didn't you?
But, you know, some people just didn't know.
But it says of no reputation
and took upon himself the form of a servant
and was made in the likeness of men.
That's a big step down, isn't it?
That's a big demotion to be the top
and then go down and be a servant to other people.
A servant and taken upon himself,
you know, the form of a servant
and was made in the likeness of men.
You know, he did a lot for us,
and so we should have the mind that he has.
Hey, hey, we can serve other people also.
And obviously it doesn't always,
like I said, doesn't always have to be
with money or other things,
but we should serve each other, too.
When Jesus bent down with a towel
girt around him and washed his disciples' feet,
he did that and said,
this is an example to you
that you should do likewise.
And so we should be serving each other in the church
and not thinking that we're better than other people.
Look at Luke chapter nine, verse 57.
Luke chapter nine, verse 57.
It says in verse number 57,
it says, And it came to pass
that as they went in the way,
a certain man said unto him,
Lord, I will follow thee whithersoever thou goest.
And Jesus said unto him,
Foxes have holes,
and birds of the air have nests,
but the Son of Man hath not where to lay his head.
Yeah, that's pretty poor.
I mean, he doesn't even know
where he's gonna sleep from night to night.
You know, and the things,
the lesser things that he created, like foxes,
they have a hole to sleep in,
the birds of the air had nests,
and he created those things
by the power of his word,
and then he, on this earth, has no place to sleep.
So that's how poor he became.
That's about as poor as he can get.
Mark chapter 12, verse 42.
And you know, these people in Macedonia,
with their deep poverty,
still dug deep to give something special
so that somebody, some other church
could be profited by them
so that they could be helped.
We don't know that kind of poverty.
We've never experienced that kind.
I mean, some of us have probably grew up
and maybe we didn't have a lot of money or whatever,
but the deep poverty that it's talking about,
go to the Philippines and you'll see deep poverty.
Go down to Mexico and you'll see deep poverty.
Go to some of these third world countries
and see that we have it really good here.
We are like kings and riches
compared to other people and other nations.
It says in verse 42, it says,
And there came a certain poor widow,
and she threw in two mites,
which make a farthing,
and he called unto him his disciples,
Jesus, and saith unto them,
Verily I say unto you,
that this poor widow hath cast more in
than all they which have cast into the treasury,
for all they did cast in of their abundance,
but she of her want did cast in all that she had,
even all her living.
This woman, Jesus is like,
hey, come here, I want to show you something.
And this woman had put in everything that she had.
She gave everything.
And she didn't have much, did she?
So I'm sure God blessed this woman
for what she gave.
And I'm not saying go give all your money away, okay?
I'm just saying this is an example
of someone that's dirt poor,
but still is like, you know what?
I know that you're gonna watch out for me, Lord.
I want to give this.
And she was blessed in the fact
that she's written in scripture
as someone that gave everything that she had.
How many of us in here
are willing to give everything you have?
I mean, it's a big sacrifice,
especially as an example of someone that's poor
that gave everything they had.
And so rich people, to them,
they could spare money.
But to someone that's really poor
and doesn't have a lot, it's a big deal.
Let's look back in our text in verse number 10,
2 Corinthians 8, 10.
It says,
And herein I give my advice,
for this is expedient for you.
Who have begun before, not only to do,
but also to be forward a year ago?
Now therefore perform the doing of it,
that as there was a readiness to will,
so there may be a performance also
out of that which ye have.
For if there be first a willing mind,
it is accepted according to that a man hath,
and not according to that he hath not.
So, you know, if you're willing to give,
that's a great thing.
It's accepted according to what you have.
And I believe that this is talking about
that God's not asking you to give what you don't have.
He's asking you to give what you do have.
And you must have first a willing mind,
is what the Bible says.
First we have to come to the Lord,
then we have to have a willing mind,
and it's accepted according to what the man hath.
So I don't think he's asking you to give what you don't have.
I think he's asking you to give what you do have.
But, you know, I was listening to Pastor Mendez preach
the first five verses of this chapter,
and, you know, I had the advantage of listening to it,
and I thought it was really good.
But he's talking about this specific verse here,
and I think he went a little bit forward in the sermon,
but, you know, he said that sometimes we, you know,
we give because we have an abundance
and we know that we're going to get by okay.
But have you ever given something
and it does set you back some?
Like, it's like going to cause you
maybe to struggle a little bit?
And that's the kind of giving that sometimes,
you know, is going to be a blessing to you.
And look, I'm not saying,
I'm not trying to preach a prosperity gospel up here
or anything like that, or, you know,
give deep, let's do a full paycheck Sunday.
I mean, I'm not saying that, okay?
But when there is a special thing,
and, you know, sometimes, you know,
like the poor widow, she gave everything that she had.
But why did she do that?
Because she knew that God was going to bless her.
And again, I believe he did.
I don't think that she walked away
and didn't have a meal that night.
I don't think she walked away
and didn't have a place to go.
I think that God probably took care of her.
But sometimes when we give,
we give what's comfortable to us,
but do you ever give what's uncomfortable to you?
Do you ever give to where
it actually does hurt a little bit?
And I think that that's what, you know,
sometimes, you know,
if God moves your heart to be that way,
then you should be that way from time to time.
And so, because if some poor old lady
is going to put in everything she has,
then we couldn't give something
to where it might hurt us a little bit.
I think that would help us.
I think it would help our faith.
Just like tithing,
just somebody just starting to tithe
helps your faith, it really does,
because when God makes a promise,
He keeps it.
And so all you have to do is just tithe
and give your money,
and God's always going to take care of you.
He's never going to leave you,
He's never going to forsake you,
and He's going to rebuke the devourer for your sake.
That's what the Bible says.
You know, He says to prove me now,
herewith, saith the Lord.
So when you're talking about tithing,
God wants you to trust Him.
And so, also when we give alms,
basically what this is talking about is giving alms,
that you do get rewards in heaven for that.
Rewards that will never be diminished.
As long as you're giving it in the right spirit
and the right heart,
you're not being like,
well, I just want to give more than so and so
because whatever.
Well, first of all,
you shouldn't even know what so and so gave.
That should be a private thing.
Don't let your left hand know
what your right hand's doing.
If you go around bragging about what you gave
to a special offering,
then you might as well just take that money back out
of the plate or whatever,
or take it back out
because you've already gotten your reward.
So we don't want to go around bragging
about what we do.
But it says in verse 13,
For I mean not that other men be eased and ye burdened,
but by an equality,
that now at this time
your abundance may be a supply for their want,
that their abundance also may be a supply for your want,
that there may be equality.
So when, you know,
basically it's saying,
so this is the equality that's biblical.
You know, hey,
we're gonna give to another church
that's in need and hurting
or somebody that's hurting and in need,
and you know,
that's gonna equal things out
because not everybody has
the riches that we have.
You know, so when we can help,
you know, a place in the Philippines that's,
you know,
the money that we make is,
you know,
literally you'd live like a king
if you lived over there with that same amount of money.
You know, with some of the jobs that people have here.
And so it's saying,
but by an equality,
that now at this time
your abundance may be a supply for their want.
So sometimes,
you know,
we're the ones that are gonna have the abundance,
but then sometimes it's gonna be other people
that are gonna have the abundance.
And we gotta,
you know,
we gotta look at it that way.
Look at what it says in verse 15.
It says,
As it is written,
he that hath gathered much had nothing over,
and he that hath gathered little had no lack.
And this is a scripture reference to Exodus chapter 16,
and let's go over and turn over to Exodus 16.
We'll see what the context of it is.
It's talking about something that God was giving
to the children of Israel for free,
but they were supposed to do the work
and gather the manna up.
Every day they were supposed to gather,
and then what is on the fifth day,
they would gather enough for the,
or on the sixth day,
they'd gather enough for the seventh day,
for the Sabbath day,
double,
but he was telling them how much that they need to get,
but not everybody gathers at the same amount.
So if you put all of us in a field full of manna,
and we're all just going around and picking it up,
do you think that some people
are gonna get more than others?
Have you ever been to an Easter egg hunt before?
And like some of that fast kid that you hate
is just running around,
grabbing all the golden eggs,
and he's like grabbing everything
and putting it in the basket or whatever,
and like some people are just like,
oh, we got three eggs,
but that's what happens in real life.
Some people gather more in their life than others,
but should we be stingy
and hog all those golden eggs for ourselves?
Some people would say yes,
but you can only eat so many hard-boiled eggs
before you start getting sick,
so you might want to just say,
here, I got plenty.
I'm gonna give you some too.
I think that's what he's kind of talking about
is that when we have plenty,
we should be willing to distribute to other people
and help them out,
that when we're going through a hard time,
that maybe somebody else would do that for us,
and it's the reaping and sowing.
Look what Exodus 16, 16 says.
It says, this is the thing which the Lord hath commanded.
Gather of it every man according to his eating,
an omer for every man,
according to the number of your persons.
Take ye every man for them which are in his tents,
and the children of Israel did so,
and gathered some more, some less.
So, but what did he say to gather, though?
An omer for every man,
but was every person a man?
No, so like a man usually would eat a certain amount,
but maybe, you know, Granny that's 90 years old
isn't gonna eat the full omer.
So, you know, and maybe that person,
you know, has some kind of a limp or something.
They couldn't get as much as somebody else,
so basically it's saying here
that it kind of all equaled out.
Look, it says, and the children of Israel did so
and gathered some,
and gathered some more, some less,
and when they did meet it with an omer,
he that gathered much had nothing over,
and he that gathered little had no lack.
They gathered every man according to his eating.
Everybody had the amount that they needed to get by,
and so that's really what the equality is
that it's talking about,
and so we can't take the world's definition of equality
and apply that here because,
you know, basically the equality that they're talking about,
the equality that Bernie Sanders wants to have
is that, hey, you go up and work a whole bunch,
you know, you rich people
or you people that are in a different tax bracket,
as soon as you make all your money,
I'm gonna take a big percentage of it
and give it to someone who doesn't want to work,
and so that's not what the Bible's talking about
when it comes to equality.
It's not talking about that.
We should all be willing to help
in some way, shape, or form.
Some people can help more than others.
You know, some people don't have the ability
to gather the same amount of OMERS
as somebody else does,
but you know what?
We should all still take care of each other,
and I'm not talking about welfare, folks.
I'm talking about some people just have more.
Some people just have more ability,
and so, you know, God's talking about
spreading the wealth here a little bit
to help out a poor church
that's going through a hard time,
and so that's a great scripture to quote.
I never even really thought of it that way before
until I studied this chapter,
but you know, I said this in the beginning,
that all churches have strengths and weaknesses.
Some are going through persecution,
like Steadfast is going through a big persecution
right now where they actually got kicked out
of their own building for preaching the Bible.
People are like,
that's not for preaching the Bible.
Shut up.
That's exactly what it was.
The Bible still has Leviticus 20, 13 in it, okay?
So, if you're gonna get mad because he preaches that,
we'll get mad about the serial killer
that got put to death too.
Oh wait, they don't do that anymore either.
So, they have like,
where governors won't even put people
to death anymore at all.
They're just living for, you know,
that's inequality.
That's where some person shouldn't even be
breathing air sitting on death row,
you know, eating three hops and have a cot,
and they have cable television or whatever,
and they have all these rights and all these freedoms,
and guess who's paying for them?
You.
You men.
You're paying for them.
That's not right.
But all churches have strengths and weaknesses.
Some are rich, some are poor,
some are big, some are small.
There's times of plenty and times of lack,
you know, and when we can help,
not just monetarily,
but in spirituality,
we should help.
We should pray for Steadfast Baptist Church.
They're going through a hard time.
And you know what?
Next week we could be going through
the same hard time that they're going through.
And if people have their plans come to pass,
it might actually happen.
We don't know.
We're just waiting for the next shoe to drop, basically.
We never know when the persecution's gonna come.
It just comes.
You know, you put the track,
the invitation on the wrong door,
and the rainbow people show up.
How dare you invite me to church?
How dare you try to get me saved?
I'm gonna protest your church.
Like, what?
I'm protesting you because I love you.
Because you love me.
What?
I don't know.
I'm confused.
That's not what it was about, was it?
It's because they're really not as loving
as they say they are.
They're really not,
we love everybody.
They don't really love everybody.
There are certain people they hate,
just like we hate people.
But it's not okay for us to hate people,
it's just okay for them to hate people.
I don't understand that.
But it's just the way the world is.
You know, Jesus said they would hate us too.
They'd hate us if they hated him,
they're gonna hate us too.
And so we should just wear it as a badge of honor.
But there's other churches, like I said,
that are going through different, you know,
problems and different lacks.
You know, they could, you know,
this is what missionaries always say,
you know, if you can't give any money,
we just covet your prayers, you know.
But really it's like we covet your money
where there's this code word for give us your money.
We covet your prayers.
I'm not saying every missionary is like that,
but a lot of them are.
They throw around their code words, you know,
that they just pray for us, you know.
And that means please give us money
because we're poor.
But anyway, it's true.
You've been in those churches
where the missionary comes through,
they show you the sad videos,
the little kids playing in the dirt or whatever.
I'm like, we're going over to reach them.
Do you speak the language?
No.
It's gonna take us five or six years
to learn Swahili.
But while we're doing that,
will you please pay our way while we go?
I don't think that's what Paul's talking about here.
I think Paul's, you know,
he's trying to show them that they,
you know, when you have an abundance,
that's the time when you're generous with other people
because when it's your time,
someone else is gonna be generous with you.
I'm pretty sure Paul is the one
that taught the Reaping and Sowing
in the book of Galatians.
So anyway, let's see.
So, you know, I believe true equality
is helping other people
when you have the abundance,
you know, and then when it's your turn
to reap that same thing,
people are gonna help you out.
Reaping and sowing.
You know, if we faint not,
you know, we'll reap in due time, right?
That's what the Bible says.
All right, so I'm changing gears here,
and the rest of this chapter
is basically a commendation of Titus.
So Titus is a man that Paul got saved,
and he went with him,
I think in Acts chapter 15?
Anyway, I'm not exactly sure what chapter,
but he went with him,
and he went on this collection
to go give that money to Jerusalem,
but he's also going to, you know,
do battle with the Pharisees in Jerusalem.
So Titus went with him,
but he's obviously a convert of his,
but Titus is talked about very greatly
in this chapter,
so I want to cover some things about Titus.
So number one, I want to show you the care of Titus.
Look at 2 Corinthians chapter 8 verse 16.
2 Corinthians 8 verse 16.
I want to look at the care of Titus.
So the commendations of Titus
are in the rest of this chapter.
There's a couple little off verses
that I'll have you go to,
but Titus was willing,
or Titus had care for other people,
and Paul makes this very clear in verse 16.
He says,
But thanks be to God,
which put the same earnest care
into the heart of Titus for you.
So Titus, and Titus was well traveled.
He went to Dalmatia.
He went to Crete.
You know, wherever Paul sent Titus,
he would go,
and Titus genuinely cared about people.
Do you think that reading the readings of Paul
that Paul cared about people?
It's very obvious that he did.
It's very obvious that he loved this church
and other churches that he wrote letters to,
and Titus, he trained up to be like him.
You know, when we disciple people,
we should train them up,
and hopefully, if you're a good Christian,
they'll be like you somewhat.
But what we really want them to be like is Christ,
because that should be our goal,
that we should try to be like Christ
to the best of our abilities.
But it says,
But thanks be to God,
which put the same earnest care
into the heart of Titus for you.
And he's talking to the Corinthians here,
so obviously Titus is there helping them out
in some way, shape, or form,
maybe pastoring for them.
I'm not really sure,
but it says in verse 17,
we see that he was willing to come to them.
Look at verse 17.
It says,
For indeed he accepted the exhortation,
but being more forward of his own account
went unto you.
So he was exhorted to go and help them,
and he went.
And so that's a good quality
of the character of Titus.
You know, Titus was a pastor.
There's an epistle written to him
called Titus,
and he was given the instructions
of being a pastor and church planting
and other things like that,
and how he was supposed to do battle
with people,
holding fast the faithful word,
that he could resist the gainsayers.
But we're not supposed to battle with people,
you know, we're just never supposed to
get upset with people or whatever.
Number three,
Titus was praised of all the churches.
Look at verse 18.
It says,
And we have sent him with the brother
whose praise is in the gospel
through all the churches.
So, you know,
he was willing to go,
and he was praised of all the churches.
All the churches,
he had a good reputation,
and that's a good thing.
As a believer,
hey, do you have a good reputation
in other churches that you visit?
Because I'm sure people in this room
have gone and visited other churches.
How do you act when you're there?
Do you act like you should?
And, you know,
young people is what I really get concerned about.
Young singles,
when they go to visit another church,
hey, remember what church you go to
and represent,
and be, you know,
a good example to other people.
And when the pastor sees you come,
and they're like,
oh, this guy's a blessing.
This lady's a blessing.
This family's a blessing.
I'm glad they're here to visit me.
And this is the reputation that Titus had.
It says,
Titus sent him a brother
whose praise is in the gospel
throughout all the churches.
So all the churches liked him.
So there's a difference between
all the world liking you
and all the churches liking you.
If the churches like you,
you're doing well.
But if everybody in the world likes you,
then you're probably not doing a very good job.
You're Billy Graham
or one of these other charlatans.
Number four,
Titus was chosen of the churches.
He was chosen of the churches.
Look at verse 19.
It says,
That only but who was also chosen of the churches
to travel with us with this grace
which is administered by us
to the glory of the same Lord
and declaration of your ready mind.
So he was chosen of the churches
to travel with us with this grace.
So I'm guessing that this mission
to deliver this offering,
they chose Titus as one of the people
to go with them.
It says in verse 20,
Avoiding this,
that no man should blame us
in this abundance
which is administered by us,
providing for honest things,
not only in the sight of the Lord
but also in the sight of men.
So he was chosen.
Why?
Because people thought he was honest.
Isn't that what it says?
Providing for honest things,
not in the sight of the Lord
but also in the sight of men.
So God approved of him
but also the men in the church,
the people in the church
approved of him also.
And it says,
And we have sent with them our brother
whom we have oft times proved diligent
in many things
but now much more diligent
upon the great confidence
which I have in you.
Number five,
Titus was a good companion.
He was a good companion.
It's nice to travel with people
that are good companions.
You ever drove with someone
and they never talk the whole time
that you're driving with them?
They just sit there
and look straight at the wheel.
They're just like,
So anyway,
you're trying to make conversation
and they just won't talk to you?
Kind of annoying.
It's nice to have someone
that you can travel with
and you can have a good conversation
and Titus was traveling with them.
He was a good companion.
He said in verse 23,
Whether any do inquire of Titus,
he is my partner
and fellow helper concerning you,
or our brethren be inquired of,
they are the messengers of the churches
and the glory of Christ.
Wherefore show ye to them,
and before the church
is the proof of your love,
and of our boasting on your behalf.
So Paul's,
you know, he's commending him here.
He's saying,
Hey, he's my partner,
he's my fellow helper,
and he's a good companion to him.
He obviously wants him to come with him.
And so turn to
2 Corinthians chapter 12 verse 18.
We'll have a,
there's another verse
that Paul talks about Titus.
He was a good companion
and he walked in the same steps
that Paul did.
He was the same type of guy.
Paul trained him well,
obviously.
Look at verse 18,
it says,
I desired Titus,
and with him I sent a brother.
Did Titus make a gain of you?
Walked we not in the same spirit?
Walked we not in the same steps?
So this man Titus,
who Paul trained,
and he's a pastor,
you know,
he's a good man of God.
He's a good companion.
He was chosen of the churches.
He was praised by the churches.
He was willing to come to the churches.
And, you know,
Paul talks very highly of him.
And look at 1 Timothy chapter 1 verse,
or Titus 1.5,
I'm sorry,
turn to Titus 1.5.
Titus was charged to ordain and help
in other different churches.
So I kind of mentioned this,
is that they're willing to help.
And Titus was willing to go,
wherever Paul told them.
Titus was willing to help
wherever Paul needed them.
Look at Titus 1.5,
it says,
For this cause left I thee in Crete,
that thou shouldest set in order the things
that are wanting.
Not only was Titus always willing to go
where Paul sent him,
but he trusted him to set things in order
that were wanting or lacking
in these churches.
And it says,
And ordain elders in every city
as I had appointed thee.
So, Paul gave him the power
to ordain other people,
other men of God,
other pastors.
So, that should tell you something
about ordination too.
Is that, you know,
other pastors can,
pastors can ordain other pastors.
You know, that's how I was
ordained by Pastor Jimenez.
You know, Pastor Jones
was ordained by Pastor Jimenez.
You know, Pastor Anderson
ordained Brother Berzins
and Brother Mejia.
And, you know, that's how
we believe it should be done.
But people, they'll be like,
Well, how did Pastor Shelley
become the Pastor of Steadfast?
Pastor Anderson ordained him.
That church asked him
to go down there and help out.
And he did.
To his detriment,
to the detriment of his health.
And, you know,
people still run him
through the wringer over that
and all he did is go down there
and help a church that was in need.
I mean, had serious health
issues over it too.
And then, you know,
people were like,
Well, how come he could do that?
Well, he's a pastor.
He ordained someone that was,
you know, there was something lacking.
They didn't have a pastor
in their church anymore.
And so he set in order
those things that were lacking.
And so, looks to me like,
you know, a pastor can ordain
pastors in different cities.
I don't know.
I mean, that's kind of
what the Bible says, right?
Look at 2 Timothy 4, verse 10.
2 Timothy 4, verse 10.
The Bible says in 2 Timothy 4, 10.
It says,
For Demas hath forsaken me,
having loved this present world,
and is departed unto Thessalonica,
Cretans to Galatia,
Titus unto Dalmatia.
So, at some point,
Paul was on his own.
And it says in the later verse,
it says only Luke was with him.
But I don't think that
it's saying that Titus ditched him.
I think Titus was just doing
his job in a different place.
And Dalmatia is like,
where what used to be Yugoslavia
is like right across the sea from Italy.
But so, here's another place.
So Titus was in helping out with the Corinthians.
He was traveling with Paul and helping him.
He was in Crete ordaining people.
And then here in 2 Timothy 4, verse 10,
he's in Dalmatia doing other works.
So, Titus was a faithful man.
He was a good man.
He was a great pastor.
And he was a great companion.
And he was converted, number 7,
his conversion was by Paul.
Look at Titus chapter 1, verse 4.
Turn back to Titus 1, verse 4.
Here in the T-books,
you're real close to it anyway.
And Paul makes it very clear
that he's the one that got him saved.
And Titus 1, verse 4 says,
to Titus, mine own son, after the common faith.
What's the common faith?
Salvation by faith alone, right?
So, he got Titus saved.
And it says, grace, mercy, and peace
from God the Father
and the Lord Jesus Christ our Savior.
So, you know, Paul trained,
obviously trained Titus.
And he's, you know,
he's given him these great,
not condemnations, commendations
in the end of this chapter
because he's worthy, you know.
And I was giving Remy a little bit of grief
about naming his kid Titus,
but then it's like this chapter
kind of smacked me around a little bit
and I was just like, that's a good name.
Titus is a good name.
And I was like, don't name him that.
I was like trying to have him name him something else,
but hey, they were dead set.
They were fixed.
They were rooted.
They wanted Titus.
And so, you know, hopefully he turns out
to be like Titus.
I pray that all my grandchildren be saved.
I pray that all my, you know,
all my children are saved.
I pray that all my grandchildren
get saved someday.
That's what it's all about.
Because if we live our, you know,
a great Christian life,
and then everything else in your family
falls by the wayside,
then, you know, what was it worth?
You know, to gain the whole Christian world
and lose your children's souls.
Because it's important, you know,
as a grandparent, I just see, you know,
my grandchildren growing up so fast
and, you know, having one after another at seven.
You know, we're gonna have to buy a minivan
just to have them come over to the house
here pretty soon.
But, you know, I'm glad that they named him Titus.
I'm glad that we have a grandson
in the family now.
Now he has six, you know, cousins
and a sister to stick up for.
He's gonna be the mighty Tidy, you know.
He's gonna be the one that has to,
he's gonna be getting a lot of brawls probably
trying to protect those other siblings.
So, I pray that they grow up and get saved
and do great works of God,
just like Titus in the Bible here.
You know, a man that was saved by Paul,
his son after the common faith.
You know, I'd rather have my grandchildren
be my sons or daughters in the common faith
than, you know, obviously they're giving
me my grandchildren anyway.
But, you know what I'm saying?
I want my family members to be saved.
I don't want the next generation,
I've already reached my generation, my children,
but I want my children to care
about reaching their children.
And I'm gonna care and help them care.
Or else we're gonna have some problems.
There's gonna be some family disputes going on.
You know, I just want them to grow up
and love God and get saved, amen?
Number eight, he was compelled to be circumcised.
And I know that this is out of order,
but I had all these C things.
I was just on a C roll here.
So, they compelled Titus to be circumcised.
And ouch, right?
But, you know, I was just thinking about this
that they still, I don't know how much
they push it now, but they used to push
circumcision for male children when they were born.
But the Bible makes it very clear
that we don't have to circumcise
the men children anymore.
We're not living in the Old Testament.
There's no benefit to it whatsoever.
I'm not saying it was evil,
because obviously God ordained that to be the case.
But now he doesn't ordain that to be the case.
Because it doesn't matter.
Because it was a picture of your heart being circumcised,
God having a hold of your heart.
Let's look at Galatians chapter two,
and this is the last place I'll have you turn,
is Galatians chapter number two,
and we'll be done for the night.
But one thing that Titus was with Paul,
and this is 14 years after, I believe, his salvation,
verse number one, it says,
then 14 years after I went up again to Jerusalem
with Barnabas and took Titus with me also.
Yeah, so he took Titus with him also,
and it says, and went up by revelation
and communicated unto them that the gospel
which I preached among the Gentiles,
but privately to them which were of reputation
lest by any means I should run,
or had run in vain.
But neither Titus, who was with me,
being a Greek, was compelled to be circumcised.
So they're trying to get Titus to get circumcised.
And it says,
and that because of false brethren unawares brought in
who came in privily to spy out our liberty
which we have in Christ Jesus,
they might bring us into bondage.
So what are they trying to do?
These Jews want a glory in the flesh of another man
and get him to be circumcised,
but this is the New Testament.
He's Greek.
He doesn't need to be circumcised,
and even if he wasn't Greek,
he doesn't need to be circumcised.
And I know that Timothy was.
I obviously, you know, I think that that was a mistake,
and I think that Paul learned from that mistake.
But, you know, he obviously,
and maybe that wasn't a salvation thing.
Maybe it was just he was trying to reach,
you know, be all things to all men
that he might by all means save some.
I don't know if that was the motivation for that,
but obviously Timothy, you know, willingly did that,
but I mean I still don't think it was necessarily right,
but Paul wasn't perfect either.
You know, he was also doing an Azarite vow
when he got captured or whatever,
so it's like, you know, giving an offering
or whatever in the temple.
It's like, you know, so that's the trippy thing
about Paul is that he knew a lot of great doctrine.
He preached a lot of great doctrine.
He wrote a lot of great doctrine,
but then you see him in the book of Acts
like falling back into that old Judaism sometimes,
but not in this case.
It says that being Greek,
he was compelled to be circumcised.
Like basically, and it says that there were false brethren,
unawares brought in who came in privily
to spy out our liberty, which we have in Christ Jesus,
that they might bring us into bondage
to whom we gave place by subjection.
No, not for an hour.
Paul didn't even suffer these fools for an hour.
It says that the truth of the gospel
might continue with you,
and so there probably was a lot of pressure here.
These guys are seemingly brothers in Christ,
but they're really trying to Judaize everybody
and say that you have to be circumcised
and follow the law of Moses or you can't be saved.
So look at verse six, it says,
but of these who seem to be somewhat,
whatsoever they were,
it maketh no matter to me,
God accepteth no man's person,
for they who seem to be somewhat in conference
added nothing to me.
I've always liked this passage of scripture
where Paul's just like,
I don't care who they think they are,
I'm gonna make sure that the truth of the gospel
is gonna continue.
And he's making an example of these guys and said,
I didn't even suffer them for an hour.
And he called them out,
he called out Peter for dissimulating
and Barnabas was getting caught up with all this junk
and people try to glory in someone else's flesh, it's weird.
And the fact that Jews have been trying
to get people circumcised in hospitals
for years and years and years is just strange to me.
It's a strange practice
because there's nothing sanitarily or anything like that
that's necessary to circumcise your men and children.
And I'm sure that they did the right thing.
I don't know, I haven't checked yet,
but I'm pretty sure that they didn't.
But anyway, so Titus,
he was compelled to be circumcised,
but you know what, he did the right thing,
and he said, no, I'm not gonna do it.
I don't need to.
I'm saved.
That's good enough.
That was good enough for Paul,
that was good enough for God too.
So in closing, Titus was a great man of God
and I'm glad that I had a chance
to just preach about him
while during the same week that my grandson's born.
His name was Titus, I thought that was kinda cool.
He's a great pastor
with an excellent reputation with the churches,
a bona fide good fruit of Paul.
He was a home run.
You know, you call a home run
when you get someone saved,
they get baptized, they stay in church,
they read the Bible, you know,
they stay and they go soul winning,
they get someone saved.
That's the home run, right?
I'm pretty sure that's it.
So obviously Titus, you know,
hit multiple grand slams, you know,
and Paul had someone that he could trust,
someone he could send anywhere,
someone he could count on,
you know, someone that he converted,
and it was probably great to watch his own son
in the common faith do great things for the Lord.
And so we should be,
when we have children and grandchildren,
you know, we should be wanting those children
and grandchildren to do great things for God also,
just like Paul wanted to see Titus do those things.
And, you know, remember to be generous.
Even when we're lacking,
sometimes we have to give when it does hurt.
Sometimes, you know,
we need to put in a little extra effort
and do hard things, not just giving.
I'm talking about just anything that's hard.
Sometimes, you know,
we just do things out of convenience.
Well, there's a day that I could go soul winning,
but, you know, I got other stuff going on or whatever.
You know, we need to learn to sacrifice
and do things even though it's an annoyance to us
or a hindrance to our life,
and God's gonna bless us for that.
God's gonna bless us for putting him first
and he's gonna take care of the other end for us.
And when our heart is willing
and is minded toward helping others,
you know, we're fulfilling the word of God
and the will of God in our lives.
When our heart is willing in our mind
and is minded towards helping others,
we are fulfilling the will of God.
And it's good to help others.
It's not just about only soul winning.
You know, obviously,
soul winning's the main thing we do,
but, you know, helping others
when they're having a hard time
is something that we should be minded to do as Christians
and serving one another, helping one another.
All right, let's pray.
This is 2 Corinthians 8.
All right, Heavenly Father,
we thank you, Lord, so much
for this great chapter in the Bible.
Lord, I pray that you'd help us
to apply some of these things
to our lives and our hearts.
And Lord, sometimes we just wanna be
Christians of convenience
and I just pray that you'd help us to,
Lord, just reach out by faith
and even if we're lacking,
Lord, that you'd help us to abound in joy
and Lord, that we would learn to,
whatever place we're at, Lord,
that we'd be content with the things that we have
and Lord, that we'd be willing to help others
out of the kindness of our heart, Lord,
and that your spirit would direct us,
direct this church, Lord,
help us to love one another and serve one another.
In Jesus' name we pray, amen.
Amen.
The last song, page 355 in the green hymnals.
355, what a friend we have in Jesus.
Page 355.
What a friend we have in Jesus on the first.
What a friend we have in Jesus.
All our sins and griefs to bear.
What a privilege to carry
everything to God in prayer.
Oh, a peace we often forfeit.
Oh, what needless pain we bear.
All because we do not carry
everything to God in prayer.
Have we trials and temptations?
Is there trouble anywhere?
We should never be discouraged.
Take it to the Lord in prayer.
Can we find a friend so faithful?
Who will all our sorrows share?
Jesus knows our every weakness.
Take it to the Lord in prayer.
Are we weak and heavy laden?
Cumbered with a load of care.
Precious Savior, still our refuge.
Take it to the Lord in prayer.
Do thy friends despise, forsake thee?
Take it to the Lord in prayer.
In his arms he'll take and shield thee.
Thou wilt find us all is fair.
Great singing this evening.
We'd like to see you back here on Sunday morning at 10 30
and evening at 3 30.
Brother Eli, would you end us with a word of prayer?
Thank you.