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2 Corinthians 8, the Bible reads in verse 1, 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, paying us with much a treaty that we would receive the gift, and take upon us the fellowship of the ministering to the saints. So he's talking about a very poor group of people in the churches of Macedonia that were very generous. Even out of their deep poverty, they wanted to give to help out with other people who were in need. They wanted to minister to saints that were in need and give alms unto them. Now if you would, keep your finger here in 2 Corinthians. Let's go to Philippians, chapter 4, because when he talks about the churches of Macedonia, Philippi is one of the cities in Macedonia. So in Paul's epistle to the Philippians, he brings up the fact that they had been a generous and a giving group of people. In the book of Philippians, chapter 4, verse number 15, it says, Now ye Philippians know also that in the beginning of the gospel, when I departed from Macedonia, which Macedonia is northern Greece, what we would consider today the country of Greece, the northern part is called Macedonia, Philippi is located there, he says, No church communicated with me as concerning, giving, and receiving, but ye only. For even in Thessalonica ye sent once and again unto my necessity, not because I desire a gift, but I desire fruit that may abound to your account. But I have all in abound, I am full, having received of Epaphroditus the things which were sent from you, an odor of a sweet smell, a sacrifice acceptable, well pleasing to God, but my God shall supply all your need according to his riches and glory by Christ Jesus. So here's a poor church and they're being generous with what they do have. They're giving to Paul. When Paul was in need, they're actually sending him finances. They're sending him money to keep him preaching, to keep him going. They're ministering unto his need. And the Bible is saying that that was a sacrifice that was acceptable and well pleasing to God. It was an odor of a sweet smell in God's nostrils. And he's saying that because they supported him financially, they would have some fruit to their account. Basically, God's going to reward them for the fruit that the Apostle Paul brought forth in his missions and preaching and winning people to Christ and starting churches because they were part of it by being a financial blessing to him. Now, a lot of people think like, oh, well the Apostle Paul, he just worked a full-time job and he didn't take any pay or anything as a preacher. Well, really? Because all throughout the New Testament, he's thanking people for sending him money and for paying his bills. Now, there were times when he would do his trade of making tents to supply his own needs. And specifically, he talks about doing that where? In Thessalonica. He writes to the Thessalonians and talks about how he didn't take anything from them and how he worked night and day where he's doing his day job and he's out preaching. But yet here in Philippians, he talks about that even in Thessalonica, they sent him money to help him out. Now, the doctrine that's out there that says that preachers should not get paid is a false doctrine, okay? And it's all throughout the Bible that those who preach the Gospel should live of the Gospel. Now, obviously when you start a church and the church is small, you often have to work a side job. I started out working a side job. In fact, I was not a full-time pastor until the year 2013. And I started the church in 2005, okay? So do the math. The first four and a half years, I didn't get paid at all and then I was half and half for a while. Now, I'm a full-time pastor. But there are people out there who say that pastors should not be paid. The Bible teaches the opposite. First of all, the apostle Paul was not even a pastor, okay? He was not even qualified to be a pastor because to be a pastor, you have to be the husband of one wife and have faithful children. Well, the apostle Paul was not married nor did he have children. Therefore, he's not qualified to be a pastor. But guys in the Bible who were pastors like, for example, the apostle Peter and the apostle John were both married and had children. In fact, the apostle Paul specifically states that out of all the apostles, and we know that there were at least 82 apostles besides the apostle Paul because Jesus chose 12 and then he ordained 70 other also. So there were at least 80 some apostles and the apostle Paul brings up the fact that only he and Barnabas were unmarried. All the rest of the apostles were all married. So whether it's Peter, James, John, Andrew, you name it, they were all married. And even the unnamed apostles were all married except Paul and Barnabas, okay? So the average apostle was married, okay? And guys like Peter and John, they were married, they had children, and you say, well, but I'll bet you they worked a side job. Oh, really? Because Peter's job was what? What was Peter's fishing? And didn't Jesus specifically tell him to stop fishing? Okay, Jesus told him, hey, from henceforth thou shalt catch men. He forsook the net. James and John, what about them? They forsook the net, they forsook fishing, they forsook business, and they served Christ full time. Okay, and in fact, when Peter gets backslidden in John chapter 21, he goes back to fishing. And Jesus comes to him and stops him from fishing. And basically says to him, look, lovest thou me more than these? And of course has to come and correct him and Peter's sad because he got busted fishing. Okay, why? Because he's supposed to be preaching full time, okay? So it's okay for a pastor, missionary, preacher to have a side job like the apostle Paul made tense. But in general, God's plan is that they that preach the gospel should live of the gospel. Nothing could be clearer in scripture. I don't care what the Mormon church says, you know. That's what the Mormons love to say. Oh, yeah, you know, you guys preach lies because you're being paid. Well, that's funny because the Mormon prophet lives in a multimillion dollar home. So he must be getting some money from somewhere. I don't think he's working a side job. All the guys at the top in Mormonism are filthy rich. Okay, yeah, Joe preacher down at the Mormon church isn't getting paid because he doesn't even write his own sermons because the sermons are provided to him from the mother church and they rotate these guys through. And guess what? Their preaching is lame and boring because you get what you pay for, amen? So anyway, let's go back to 2 Corinthians chapter 8. So we saw that the Philippians were known for their generosity. And isn't it interesting that the poorest church is known for being the most generous? That doesn't quite make sense, does it? Nobody else is communicating with Paul as concerning giving and receiving except the poorest church. The church is in Macedonia. I mean, look at what he says here in verse 1. 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 I mean, these people are going through a bad time. They're in a great trial of affliction. The abundance of their joy and their deep poverty, not just poverty, deep poverty. There's poverty and then there's deep poverty. These people had a lot of joy and a lot of poverty. How does that work? Well, guess what? Riches don't make you happy. Riches do not bring you real joy and happiness in your life and so the poorest people were the happiest people here. They had an abundance of joy and they had deep poverty and it abounded unto the riches of their liberality. Liberality means that they're giving, they're generous, they're very generous. 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. Now what does that mean, praying us with much entreaty? It means that they offered to give Paul money and they said, hey, we want to support your ministry and he basically told them, no, you guys need to keep your money, you guys are poor, hang on to your money. They had to beg him to take the money and then in this passage when they're talking about helping out the poor saints at Jerusalem, there were saints at Jerusalem that are struggling financially, they're poor, they wanted to give alms to those saints at Jerusalem and they're telling the apostle Paul, hey, here's our contribution, we want to help out the poor saints at Jerusalem and Paul's telling them, no, no, no, put the checkbook away, you know, put your money away. Why? You guys are so poor, you know, yea, the people in Jerusalem, they need financial help but not from you guys but they basically insisted and they prayed him with much entreaty that he would receive the gift. Okay, these people were generous people, they wanted to give and so he's using them as an example to the church at Corinth about how the churches of Macedonia had been so generous. 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. In so much 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 you abound in this grace also. He's saying, look, it's great to abound in faith, okay, it's great to abound in utterance. What does utterance mean? Utterance to utter means to say something. If you utter something, it means you say it. But when the Bible talks about utterance, it's specifically talking about speaking the gospel. Like the apostle Paul said, for me that utterance may be given unto me, then I may open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel. So he's saying, look, you guys are abounding in utterance. What he means there is you're abounding in soul winning. You're abounding in speaking the gospel, opening your mouth, preaching the gospel. You're abounding in faith, you're abounding in soul winning, you're abounding in knowledge. I mean, you guys know the Bible. You're abounding in diligence, meaning you guys are hard workers. And he's saying, you abound in love, you love us, so abound in this grace also. He's basically saying, you know, you need to learn to become a generous person, is what he's saying. Now this passage in 2 Corinthians chapter 8 and 9, it's not talking about tithing. It's not talking about giving to your local church. What this is actually referring to, it's talking about giving to the poor or supporting basically a missionary or something like that. Because when they're helping the poor saints in Jerusalem, this would be what the Bible calls almsgiving. Right? Where you're giving to the poor, helping out somebody who's struggling and going through a hard time. And then the apostle Paul, obviously we know they were generous and they gave to him to help him continue his preaching the gospel and missions abroad. So he's saying, you need to learn to be generous. He says in verse 8, I speak not by commandment, but by occasion of the forwardness of others and to prove the sincerity of your love. What he's saying here is, this isn't a commandment. You don't have to do this. It's not required. It's a free will offering. Okay? It's up to you if you want to help out. That's why he told them when they first offered to help out the saints of Jerusalem, he turned them down. Right? He said, no, no, no, no. And they had to with much entreaty pray him that he would receive the gift. He felt guilty even receiving it. Okay? Because they were so poor. Because it's not required, but he's saying, look, I'm not speaking this by commandment. It's not required of you to give extra or to give to the poor, to give to missions. But he's saying I'm using the forwardness of others just to kind of provoke you to emulation, just to show you an example of, hey, here's what the churches in Macedonia are doing. You guys could do the same thing. You guys should learn to be generous. Look what he says in verse 9. This is a key verse. For you 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. Okay? Look, the love of money is the root of all evil. I don't care what these modern versions have changed that verse to say. The King James Bible has it right. The love of money is the root of all evil. You know, they changed that, and it's often pointed out as a problem in the King James. A little problematic translation there. No, the King James got it right. And they say, well, what in the world does, you know, murder or rape or whatever, what does that have to do with the love of money? The love of money is the root of all evil. Let me explain to you what that means. If you have a root and you plant that root in the earth, a certain plant is going to grow, right? I mean, if I'm pulling weeds and I pull the weed but I don't remove the root and the root's still there, that root is going to produce what? A plant. And that plant's going to bring forth fruit. That plant is going to multiply. Pretty soon you're going to have weeds everywhere, right? So the root produces something, okay? The root produces a certain type of plant. But money, the love of money, is like this universal root that promotes all kinds of evil. It's the root of all evil. All evil grows from this root, the love of money. What does that mean? That means that if you are a person who loves money, you will be drawn into many divers and hurtful lusts, the Bible says. The Bible tells us in 1 Timothy 6, and if you would turn there, keep your finger here and go to 1 Timothy 6. Because I want you to understand this important truth about the love of money. It says in verse number 6, but godliness with contentment is great gain, 1 Timothy 6 verse 7. For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. And having food and raiment, let us be there with content. But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, watch this, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition. The Bible says they that will be rich, they that want to be rich, they fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts. Do they just fall into that one lust, the lust for money? No, many lusts, because it's the root of all evil. So he says here, they fall into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition, for the love of money is the root of all evil, which while some covet it after, they have erred from the faith and pierced themselves through with many sorrows. But thou, O man of God, flee these things. The love of money is the root of all evil. I mean, think about it. Long before anyone ever lusts for fornication or adultery, they love money. I mean, think about it. The love of money is something that can even affect a little child who's not even to the age yet where they're thinking about fornication or adultery or those type of adult things. You know, even a little child can fall into the love of money, and if they do, it becomes the root of all evil, okay? It will lead into all these other divers, foolish, wicked lusts. It will destroy people's lives. Let me tell you something. If you love money, you either are a wicked person or you're on your way to becoming a wicked person. You are on the path to becoming a wicked person or you are already a wicked person. You must eradicate the love of money from your heart. You must learn not to love money. You need to be like Jesus, okay? He made himself poor to make others rich, right? He did not love money. He did not seek wealth and money and carnal things. You know what? This is so poisonous, the love of money, that the Bible lists this amongst the things where people will be thrown out of church. Drunkenness, fornication, covetousness. Now look, what is he talking about there? I mean, obviously everybody at some point covets something or thinks a thought of coveting something. Coveting is just when you desire something that's not rightfully yours, if you desire something that doesn't belong to you. But you know the covetous people that God's talking about getting rid of? He's talking about these people where all they can talk about is just getting a better house, getting the next car, the next boat. They brag about their portfolio, their stocks and bonds. Look, there are people who become obsessed with money and all they care about is making money. All they care about is riches and wealth. And you know what they do? They flash their fancy brand names. They drive their fancy car. They've got the fancy purse, the Dooney and Burke or whatever, you know. What's the fancy brand? Gucci. What is it, folks? Come on, you worldly, money-loving, carnal ones out there. You've got to be out there somewhere. Come on, tell me. What? Louis Vuitton, Coach, Versace, Polo, Marco. So, you know, they've got to have the Rolex watch and they've got to just make sure that everything's a name brand. And you know, have you noticed how fast kids pick up on this? Where all of a sudden kids just have to have the name brand. They have to have the two – when I was a kid, they wanted these Air Jordans that were literally hundreds of dollars in the 80s. You remember that? Those super expensive shoes? Weren't they like hundreds of dollars even back then? You know, and I can remember as a kid, you know, wishing to have the Reeboks and the Nikes and the Converse. Nope. Pay less shoe source. And, you know, I went to school in my basketball shoes. Pro Wings was the brand. Pro Wings was not cool. You know, you want to get the Levi's? Nope. Wrangler. You know. You got the rustle – or like rustler. Yeah. Yeah. There we go. It wasn't even Wrangler. It was like a step down rustler. Yeah. When your pants are named after somebody who steals cattle, you know, that's a step down from Levi's. Okay. You know. And I – you know, you want to get your – you got to get your name brand pants where they have the label of the pants where the belt can go under the label. Just so you can make sure everybody sees the label even when you got the belt in. Huh? Who knows what I'm talking about? Yeah. And I remember when we were kids, we really wanted to have the – what was it? The one with the little lizard on it? Izod. Izod. You know, you want to have the – who knows what I'm talking about? The Izod. Well, we had like a ripoff version of it in my house. Le Tigre. It was like instead of the little lizard, it was like a little tiger. Who knows? Did anybody have Le Tigre? All right. Yeah. You know the struggle. But, you know, when we were growing up, you know, boy, it's infectious amongst kids of just, you know, you got to have the, you know, the – all the girls wanted to have the guest jeans and the, you know, you want to have the Levi's and the Converse and whatever, you know, whatever the name brand. But it's all vanity. All is vanity, right? Hopefully, when you became a man, you put away childish things and you're not just trying to show off your expensive shoes and your expensive belt and your expensive – you know what? The Bible specifically prohibits women from wearing costly apparel. Did you know that? You know, when the Bible says modest apparel, everybody thinks that means just make sure your skirt's not too short, make sure you're not wearing a low cut top. And obviously, that's part of modesty. But actually, what modesty primarily means is not expensive. If I said I live in a modest home, I drive a modest car, I wear modest clothing, it actually is referring to not having the gold and the pearls and the costly array. We are not to conspicuously consume goods as this world does and just to show off all the fancy expensive clothes and jewelry and fancy cars and fancy house and all this stuff. Hey, it's not of God. And I know this isn't popular in America, the land of consumerism, but you know what? Look, I'm all for you living in, you know, suitable accommodations, a nice house for your family. I'm all for you wearing durable clothing. I'm all for you driving a reliable vehicle. But you know what? There's no reason for this over the top consumption and just showing off these super expensive clothes, cars, houses and stuff. It's carnal, worldly and vain and wrong. And if you desire to be rich, shame on you because they that will be rich fall. They fall into temptation and a snare. A snare is a trap and into many foolish and hurtful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition for the love of money is the root of all evil. Hey, if the love of money is the root of all evil, then that means if I get around somebody who's a money-loving person, I should just think, well, this person's on a road to a lot of evil places. I don't want to be friends with people that just constantly talk about how rich they are and constantly just talk about what they're going to spend all their money on and brag about their money and so forth. I don't want anything to do with people like that. Why? Because they're going to rub off on me. Because you know what happens when you start hanging around with people like that? You start thinking, man, my house isn't nice enough. Right? Man, my car's not that nice. Man, my clothes aren't that nice. That's how you start to feel. Even if you're a godly person, when you get around people who are bragging and constantly comparing finances and all the fancy things, you start feeling like you got to keep up with the Joneses and we got to keep that spirit out of our church. We got to keep that spirit out of our lives and we need to be people who are humble, modest people who love God and seek first the kingdom of God. There's more to life than meat. There's more to the body than just raiment and we shouldn't just live this carnal life that's just all about having fancy things and eating at the fanciest restaurants and the red carpet and the limousines and stuff like that. Hey, you know what? If you do a little something like that for fun every once in a while, great. But you know what? You shouldn't require those things. You shouldn't brag about those things. And you should not seek those things. Seek the kingdom of God. And you know what? Hey, I've sought the kingdom of God in my life and I've noticed that God will sometimes allow me to eat fancy meals. Sometimes somebody will give you a fancy gift or you get to go nice places. You know, God, if you seek first the kingdom of God, God will bless you more than you think and you'll get to enjoy some nice things. But you know what? I live in a humble house and I thank God for it. I thank God for my small, humble home. In fact, I've never been more thankful for it in my life since I haven't been there in three months because right now our house is under construction and so we're staying in other places. And you know these places that we're staying because we're staying in these just short term rental houses because the insurance company is paying for us to stay in these rental houses and they're bigger than our house and I'm sure that they cost more money than our house, but you know what? We'd rather be in our house. We just want to go home to our house because you know these fancy schmancy houses and neighborhoods, they're not all that they're cracked up to be anyway. Just get out. You know what I mean? And look, I'm not saying to live in a slum. I'm not saying you should live amongst roaches. I'm not saying you should drive a piece of junk vehicle, but I am saying that you should have things that are practical. Have a practical home, a practical vehicle, practical clothing, and a sensible pair of shoes and not all this fancy schmancy look at me everybody. Let me just show off to everybody garbage. You know what? That is wicked and carnal, covetous. I don't want to be around it. I don't like it because I know what it leads to. So what's the harm? Well, the harm is where it leads. And you know what? That's why the casino is one of the most wicked places that there is. People act like, oh, what's the big deal about gambling? What's wrong with gambling? I'll tell you why. Because it is the gateway drug to everything else, everything else wicked in this world. You go to a place that's all about the love of money. It's all about making a quick money without earning it. Boy, you are just on a dark path, my friend. And who knows where you're going to end up going on that dark path. It all starts when you walk into that stupid casino. It all starts when you put money into that slot machine or sit down at that poker game or that blackjack table or the roulette wheel. Hey, run screaming in the other direction because the Bible says, thou, O man of God, flee these things. Flee them. Run away. Get away from that stuff. Don't go near the casino. You know, oh, it's a cheap hotel room. Get a hotel room somewhere else. It's not worth saving a couple bucks to stay in Circus Circus or Harrah's or whatever. Talking Stick Resort or Wild Horse Pass or whatever these casinos are around here. It isn't worth it. Don't even go near it because it's just this gateway to everything wicked that there is. Stay away from it. You know, I'd rather be like Jesus. I'd rather be like Paul. I'd rather be like the church at Corinth. Paul said, I know how to be abased and I know how to abound. Everywhere and in all things I'm instructed both to be full and to be hungry. Both to abound and to suffer need. I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me. I've learned in whatsoever state I am there with to be content. You want to show off to me your fancy clothes, your fancy house, your fancy car? I am not impressed. It just tells me that you're carnal. Woe unto you rich, the Bible says. He said, blessed are the poor. He said, well, he said, poor in spirit. You're talking Matthew and I'm talking Luke. He said, blessed are ye poor. Period. Okay, because I'm talking a different gospel. The Luke gospel, not the Matthew gospel because he preached that sermon two different times and he preached it two different ways. So yeah, Jesus did talk about the poor in spirit but you know what else he talked about? Just blessing the poor. Period. Hath not God chosen the poor of this world? Rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom which he has promised to them that loved him. But ye have despised the poor. Do not rich men oppress you and draw you before the judgment seats? Do not they blaspheme that worthy name by the which you're called? Hey, God blessed the poor of this world. And look, again, I'm not saying for you to live in deep poverty. I'm not saying for you not to have durable clothing and a comfortable house. But I'm saying this conspicuous consumption and this covetousness and desire to be rich is wrong and is not from God. And you need to eradicate that from your heart or you are going to go some dark places in life. Well, I've seen people, I'm thinking of people right now that I could name for you. People that were godly Christians and they were zealous about soul winning and they wanted to even be pastors. And I'm thinking of multiple examples of guys that were very dedicated and then they started making a lot of money and then all of a sudden that's just all they wanted to talk about was making money. All they wanted to talk about was their business and making money and then next thing you know they're not even going to church. They're not going to church anywhere. I'm thinking of two different guys that have been out of church for years because they just got into the love of money. That's the only reason. Everything else was fine. That one thing pulled them out of church because you cannot serve God and mammon. No man can serve two masters. He'll either love the one and hate the other or else he will hold to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon. Well, I can. No, you can't. Well, I'm the exception. No, you're not. You serve God or you serve mammon. You decide. We make money because money is something that we need to exist in this world, right? We go to our jobs. We work and we make money so that we can pay the bills and support our families. But we don't live to make money. Money is a means to an end. Money is not the end. Money is just something we use and we don't desire just to be some two or three person family living in some giant palace. It doesn't even make any sense, folks. Why would you want to clean all those rooms? It's one of these gigantic palaces, gigantic houses. Oh, it's so wonderful. Yeah, I don't want to mow that giant lawn. You want to clean that giant house? You know what? What good is it to the owners thereof except the beholding of them with their eyes? Oh, wow. Just go tour model homes. I've done enough of that for two lifetimes. My parents used to do that as a hobby. I don't know why. But anyway, I digress. 2 Corinthians chapter 8, he said in verse 9, what a powerful verse. For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ that though he was rich, how was he rich? Well, he's up in heaven, streets of gold, right? I mean, he's up there and yet he made himself poor that ye through his poverty might be rich. You know, Jesus was not walking around rich. You know, I've heard TV preachers and prosperity preachers try to say, oh, yeah, Jesus was rich his whole life. His very first baby shower gift was gold. And that was just the start, you know, the gold, frankincense, and myrrh, and it just went from there. I mean, he says rich, royalty. Wrong. Yeah, he did get some fancy baby shower gifts, okay? You know, when he was a couple of years old, the wise men came and they brought him the gold, frankincense, and myrrh. But you know what? Throughout his life, what about when somebody said, Lord, I'll follow thee whithersoever that goes. And he said, well, the foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests, but the son of man hath not where to lay his head. And he's like, oh, all right, let me think about it. I'll get back with you whether I want to follow you. He didn't even have a certain dwelling place. He's like, I don't even know where I'm staying tonight. And you know what the Bible talks about? Women who ministered unto Jesus of their substance. Jesus relied on charity from women. Okay, oh, that's so demeaning. That's because Jesus was not filled with pride. Jesus was meek and lowly. He didn't do, well, I'm going to do everything myself. I'm going to pay everything myself. Hey, Jesus had these women, it says, that ministered unto him of their substance. People gave offerings unto him. And he basically relied, you know, he went around preaching and teaching. He was not a carpenter, folks. Not in the Bible. Okay. Now, I'm sure that he grew up doing that with Joseph and he was trained in that. But you know what? From the time he was 30 until the time he died on the cross, he was doing nothing except just full-time preaching and ministering. I mean, that's obvious. Anybody who reads the Bible can see that. I'm sure he grew up doing that, but he wasn't, like, you know, working eight hours at his carpentry job. And then, all right, let's go out and do some preaching on the side. Moonlighting. No, that's not what he did, folks. That's not what the Bible teaches. Okay. So Jesus did not seek after the wealth. But didn't Jesus get to eat some nice food and drink some nice drinks? Yeah. Because remember, he was even criticized for that, for him eating and drinking. Because a lot of the big Pharisees and Sadducees and people, they would have him over to their house and wine him and dine him. Because of the fact that he was so famous and popular preaching that he got to eat some fancy meals. So that's a perfect example of a guy who's not seeking riches at all. He doesn't care about riches at all. He doesn't even have his own house. He's just relying on the charity of other people. He's serving God the Father full-time. And yet, God the Father treated him to some fancy meals. Because every good gift and every perfect gift is from above. Anytime I get to eat a fancy meal, it's because God allowed me to eat that fancy meal. But you know what? I'm not going to sit there and go out and want to make a bunch of money so that I can sit there and just eat filet mignon all the time. And sit there and go to the fancy restaurants where you have like four waiters hovering over you. Look, I've eaten at restaurants like that when I got a gift card. And every once in a while somebody gets me a gift card. And I go to the restaurant where there's four waiters and I'm just like, you know, snap my finger on his head. You know, yes sir? You know, I've eaten at a couple places like that. Praise God. But you know what? I don't go out and spend my money on stuff like that. I'm not going to desire that. I'm not going to pay for that. But if somebody wants to give me a gift card, it's like cool. So that just goes to show you how God can bless you with some fun things in total moderation. You know what I mean? But not like you're just Joel Osteen and you've got your multi-million dollar house, a bunch of swimming pools and tennis courts because you're speaking lies. Because you are teaching things which you ought not for filthy lucre's sake. Folks, this is a pet subject of mine. It is. This is a subject that I love to preach about. That's why I'm not even doing very well at getting through this chapter because I'm just stuck. I am stuck on verse 9 because this subject is so important to me. This is a key subject in our lives. The love of money is so damaging. You know, I just preached on it a few months ago when I was down in Houston, Texas. I preached about the deceitfulness of riches. To make you think that it's going to make you happy and make you think that you can take it with you and just to deceive. It's a lie, folks. It's not going to make you happy. It's not going to give you what you want. Do not be deceived by riches. Okay. This is a pet subject of mine. And let me say this too. There are people out there who get rich by being honest and working hard and they get rich just through hard work and being honest. I'm not saying that all rich people are bad. Because there are some people who work hard and they make a ton of money and they just get rich through hard work. But you know, a lot of people get rich through being dishonest. Okay. But let me just explain something to you folks. Okay. There are a lot of people who out in the business world, they make a lot of money and they get rich. Okay. Great. Through hard work. But let me tell you something. There's no such thing as a rich preacher who is serving God. Period. Period. Because if you go out in business and get rich and make a ton of money through business, it's like, okay, you worked hard. You were successful. You started the right business at the right time. That can happen, folks. It is impossible to become filthy rich as a preacher if you're doing right. It doesn't make any sense, folks. How could I strike gold when I'm on the payroll of the local church? Now look, I'm all for pastors getting well compensated. You know, let the elders that rule well be kind of worthy of double honor. Don't muzzle the ox and trail out the corn. But when you see a rich preacher, I'm not talking about middle class. I'm talking about rich. Just mark it down 100% of the time, false profit. False profit. And look at all the false profits of our day and look at their bottom line. T.D. Jakes, Joel Osteen. Look, Kenneth Copeland, I don't even think he's a millionaire. He's a billionaire. He claims to have over a billion dollars. Okay. I mean, T.D. Jakes, filthy rich. Joel Osteen's filthy rich. Rick Warren. You name it, Ed Young. Ed Young's church is paying him I think like a million dollars a year salary or something. I mean, these guys, Ed Young is one of these phony mega church pastors in I think Fort Worth, Texas. Is it Houston? Yeah. Somewhere in Texas, Ed Young, he's the guy who did like Absalom. Put the bed on the roof and everything. Remember that? So that's another sermon. But the point is that, you know, you look down all these false profits, man, they're just laughing all the way to the bank. Filthy rich, phony preachers. It isn't right. It could be right for someone in the secular world to make a lot of money. If they don't set out to just desire to be rich and love money. But, you know, they just happen to really make it in business. They work hard. They made it. Okay. That happens. But not to a preacher, folks. Not buying it. It's garbage. Look, I'm not taking a vow of poverty, but God did not call preachers to be wealthy. Are we better than Jesus? Are we better than the apostles? And look, I know that it makes sense to be able to support your family. I get that. But not to be rich. It isn't right when they're pulling up in all the fancy cars and they got the Lexus and they got, you know, $100,000 vehicle. I mean, look, there was a pastor that used to be around here in Phoenix. He drove a Jaguar and it said, God's man, as the license plate. Pastor of a church in this town. God's man in a Jaguar. What do you think the chances are that he's preaching the truth? Why are you driving a Jaguar? Is that the appropriate vehicle? You need to get on the full of an ass, buddy. That's not the appropriate vehicle for a man of God to drive a Jaguar. You know, you drive a sensible, humble vehicle. You know what I'm saying? You know, a couple of times when I was out of town preaching, I'd go to the rental car company. And guess what kind of car I booked at the rental car company? Economy. Compact or whatever. Maybe I'll splurge and get mid-sized if I have a lot of luggage. But every once in a while, you know what? I get the upgrade, the free upgrade. Because we're out of economy. We're out of compact. We're out of mid-size. Here's a convertible. And then I get to live that high life for a day or two, you know? I got the top down. I'm driving in a bright yellow convertible or whatever. But you know what? I actually enjoy it because it's just a rare little fun treat where you booked economy and they throw you into... Who's ever had that happen where you booked economy and they threw you into something fancy? One time, Pastor Dave Burzins and I, before he was Pastor Burzins, we went to Washington, D.C. because I was going for work. This is back when I worked a full-time job back in 2008. We went to this Ron Paul rally in Washington, D.C. because I had some business over there anyway. So I was like, hey, let's go to this Ron Paul rally. I'm going to combine it with work and it's going to be cool. It'll be like a free trip out there because it's a work trip. And we went there and we get to the rental car place and the guy at the rental car was real cool. I'm like, man, hook us up with something cool. And he's like, I got something for you. He's like, I got something for you. He put us in like a gold SUV. He put us in what was obviously his dream vehicle, you know? So we're like, cool. You know, we were rolling around in like a gold excursion. You know, ask and ye shall receive, amen? You know? If you get the right person behind the counter, you can just ask for an upgrade. But you know what? You think I'm just going to go there and just spend five times as much so I can drive a fancy car instead of just driving something Hyundai? You know what my dream car is? My dream car is a Hyundai. I'm not kidding. My favorite car that I ever had was a Hyundai Sonata. After 350,000 miles, the thing just, the engine just exploded. Who was with me when it exploded? Anybody? Wasn't anybody with me? Scott. Is Scott in the sound room? Scott, stick your head out if you're here. No, I'm kidding. Is he back there? There he is. Scott, were you with me when the? I wasn't on that trip. Oh. You just wasted like 30 seconds of the sermon. And you weren't even there. All right. Anyway. All right. I'm going to force myself to come back to 2 Corinthians 8. But look, folks, that's important what I just preached, though. About the love of money. Super important. Go back and count how many verses I used. That was a lot of Bible. So let it not be said I didn't preach the Bible. I just didn't preach a lot about 2 Corinthians 8. Okay. But let's go back to this chapter. It says in verse 10, 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 you have. Now, up to this point, you might have wondered, you know, why is the apostle Paul kind of just telling these people that they need to give and be generous if it's optional, if it's not by commandment, if it's something that we're supposed to do out of the goodness of our heart, and he's just using Macedonia as an example. He seems like he's coming out a little strong, though, doesn't he, in this chapter? Well, here's why. Because they had been forward a year ago. So a year ago, they talked really big about how they were going to pitch in financially. They had talked a big game about how, oh, yeah, we're willing to help out financially. We want to help out those poor saints in Jerusalem, or we want to give financially. We want to contribute to Paul's ministry. So he's saying, okay, now it's time to put your money where your mouth is. Now, let's see the performance of it, not just being forward or wanting to talk about it. He says in verse 12, 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. He's saying, look, God doesn't expect you to give something that you don't have. If you don't have it, you're not expected to give, you know. He says, you know, it's just, he wants us to be willing to give what we have. He 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. What's he saying here? He's saying, look, when you have extra and somebody else needs it, give it to them. And then down the road, you're going to need something, and they're going to have extra, and you're going to get paid back, is what he's saying. You know, it's going to come back around you. This is how friendship is supposed to work, right? With our friends, you know, they need something, we help them out, and then when we're in a jam, they will help us out. You know, this is something that is, again, a very important subject to me. I think this is really important. There have been times in my life, back when I was working in the business world with my secular job, where I was making a lot of money. I was doing really well financially. And during that time, I tried to be generous and help people out, or, you know, try to be the one who steps in and pays the bill or takes care of something or whatever, because I thought to myself, you know what, someday I'm going to be in need, and I'm going to call on these people to help me out, you know, because I'm helping them out. And that's what he's saying. You know what I mean? Like, you help people out when you're doing well. You have two coats. You impart to him that hath none, and then when you need help, you ask for it. And, you know, you're not always just take, take, take, and maybe you're not always give, give, give, because you might go through a period where you need some help. And, you know, that's how I try to be with my pastor friends, too. You know, if their church needs something or if they need something, then our church tries to help them out, and then basically, you know, that's who we would call upon. You know, we've never been in a bind financially, but if we ever were in a bind financially, we'd have a ton of friends to call on and say, hey, man, I need some help. I'm in a bind, right? You know, you think about this. When you get in a bind, who do you go to when you're in a bind? You go to your friends, right? Who do you go to when you're in a bind? You go to your parents. How many, you know, I'm not going to ask for a raise of hands, but in your own mind, how many of you have ever been in a bind financially and you called your parents and said, hey, I didn't ask for a raise. I said I did not ask for a raise of hands, okay? But, like, God bless you. I see those hands, you know, and I've done it, you know, but the point is, you know, look, if I get in a bind, if I were in a bind financially, I would call my parents. My parents are like, uh-oh, no, I'm just kidding, because my parents listen to my sermons, you know, but, you know, I'd call my parents and say, hey, mom, hey, dad, you know, can you help me out here? Who do you call when you're in a bind? But, you know what that requires? Me not having burned my parents. You know what I mean? People, they dishonor their parents, they burn their parents, they treat their parents bad and then, guess what, that lifeline's not there for them. And you know who I'd call besides my parents? If I didn't call my parents, you know who I'd call? My friends. But you know what that necessitates? Me having friends who I've done nice stuff for in the past, who I've been a friend to I've been a friend to in the past, because a man that hath friends must show himself friendly. So, you know what, I could call on my siblings, I could call on my parents, I could call on my friends, I could call on my church friends or church family or other churches. Why? Because I haven't burned these people in my life. But then there are people who just burn every bridge in their life. They burn their parents, they burn their siblings, they burn all their friends, they burn all the people at work, they burn all their church members, or they don't even go to church, and then you know what they end up doing? Standing on the corner with a cardboard sign, because nobody will help them. They don't have anybody in their life that can help out and get them back on their feet. You say, well how are these people supposed to get a job? How are they going to get a shower? How are they going to have the right clothes? But this is why you need to not burn key relationships in your life. Because then when you need help from your parents, your siblings, your cousins for crying out loud, you know, your friends, your church, your aunt, your uncle, guess what? Those people will let you use their shower and they'll give you the clothes and they'll help you get back on your feet, right? Look, there are a lot of people who could show up on my doorstep, people that have done stuff for me, man, if they showed up on my doorstep, yeah, I'll buy them a hotel room. I'll take care of what they need, you know? Or even people who haven't done anything for me, but I just respect them as people who love the Lord, people who serve the Lord, hey, you're a servant of the Lord, you love the Lord, yeah, let me help you, let me do everything I can for you. But then there are people who just burn every relationship in their lives. Folks, instead of loving money, are you listening? Use your money to be a blessing to other people. And if you have an abundance of money, then use it to serve the Lord and be a blessing to other people. You know what, when you're in a time of need, people will be there for you. And treat your parents well, treat your family well, treat your church well, treat your friends well, and then you'll have a safety net. But you know who wants to be your safety net? The government. They don't want you to look to church, friends, family, they want to be your church. They want to be your family. They want to be your everything, the state. And you know, when we hear about equality nowadays, you know what that means to the world? If we stepped outside these four walls and started talking about equality, it means all the wrong things, folks. See, equality to them means, oh, the government's going to come at gunpoint and forcibly confiscate from the rich and give to the poor. Is that what the Bible's teaching? You know, the Bible's teaching people to do it of their own heart. If at first there be a willing heart, hey, God loveth a cheerful giver. Not by constraint, but willingly. God loves a cheerful giver. Not at gunpoint, communism, where the government is taking from the rich, giving it to the poor, this Marxist, socialist, communist garbage. That's what they think when they hear equality. Or when they hear equality out there, they think, oh, men and women are the same. Men and women are not the same, folks. Now we are equal of value, but we're not equivalent, like you could swap one for the other. Men are men and women are women. Or oh, equality, that's for the homos. Oh, equality, let's have a socialist, liberal, utopia, communist regime. No, folks, when the Bible talks about equality, you know what that means? That means that if you have two coats, you give one to the person that has none. And then there's equality. But it's done voluntarily. And so that's why he said, and look down at your Bible here, I'll wrap this up. He says in verse 13, but for I mean not that other men be eased and ye be burdened. He's like, look, I don't want other people just sitting on easy street and you guys are in a financial bind. That's not what I want. 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. Where is that written, folks? That is written back in the book of Exodus. And this is one of my favorite miracles that nobody ever talks about. I've never heard a sermon on this miracle except the one that I did a while back. And this is a cool miracle that nobody talks about it. When God made the manna come down from heaven, everybody went out and gathered the manna. Remember how they had to get up every morning and gather the manna? And when the sun got hot, it melted away. Well, here's what the Bible says, that when they went out and gathered the manna, he that gathered much had nothing over and he that gathered little had no lack. What that means is that they all went out and gathered a bunch of manna and when they measured it, everybody had an omer. An omer is a certain measurement. So basically one guy is just like, oh man, I'm starving, I'm going to load up. He's loading up, loading up, loading up, loading up. He gets back, measure it, one omer. Okay, other guy gathers a little bit, comes back, an omer. So I did a sermon a couple years ago where I preached about what that means and why that was. It was called an omer for every man. But that's what the Bible is saying here. That was a symbol of the fact that God wants us to be content. God wants us to be neither poor nor rich. He wants us to basically have what we need. And so equality there. That's the kind of equality that's biblical. And so an omer for every man, he that gathered much had nothing over, he that gathered little had no lack. You know what? Here's a way that I illustrate this miracle. You ever go to those Mongolian barbecue places? My wife always knows when I'm hungry because she says, I can tell you're hungry because you preached so much about food tonight. Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaketh. But you know those Mongolian places, like there's YC's Mongolian barbecue or Jenga's Grill is another good one. You know how you load up all the raw food, right, and you're like pressing it down and trying to jam it in there, trying to get your money's worth, right? And then you turn it in. And then they cook it on that big hot stone and then they give it back to you. And it's a lot smaller when they give it back to you because it kind of cooks down. So if you want a full bowl, you really got to jam it in there, right? Who knows what I'm talking about? All right. So think about this. There's no miracle involved though. So some people end up with more or less. But imagine this. What if I just went in there and just put in a really modest portion and then turned it into the guy? And then what if you're just like jamming it in, jamming it in, turning it into the guy? And then you put the bowl back and they both have the exact same amount of food in it. That's basically the miracle that God performed with the omers of manna. So I'm going to cut it off there as far as this chapter. But we need to make sure that we are generous people. Don't be a cheapskate. Don't be a skin flint. Don't be a tightwad. Don't be a person who's just selfish and you just think about yourself and making money and you're just envious of the fancy things. Look folks, life is not about those things. And if your life is about those things, you live a pathetic life. Your life should be about spiritual things, not carnal things. Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer. Father, thank you so much for this great chapter, Lord. Help us to be like the Macedonians where we are generous, where we want to help other people, we care about other people, we want to contribute financially to the Gospel going forth where we're not just trying to hang on to every dollar, nickel nipping, penny pinching type of tightwad people, Lord. Help us to use money as a means to an end, but help us never to make a god or an idol out of money. And in Jesus' name we pray, amen.