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We'll start reading verse number one. It says, Moreover, brethren, we do you to wit of the grace of God bestowed on the churches of Macedonia, how then in great trial of affliction, the abundance of the joy and their deep poverty abounded into 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, and so much that we desired Titus that as he had begun, so he would also finish in you the same grace also. So in verses one through six, the apostle Paul is basically prefacing what he's about to admonish the church at Corinth by giving him an example of other churches and what they have done. So what he's basically going to do, he's talking about these churches in Macedonia. Now, what are the churches in Macedonia? Well, if you study the book of Acts, primarily in Acts chapter 16, you see that Paul goes into Macedonia, and specifically within that region, you find out that there's the church at Thessalonica. You find the Bereans there in Macedonia, and you find the church at Philippi as well. So these are specifically the churches that he's referring to, and he's using them as an example of what he's going to be teaching them in the coming chapter. Now look at verse number two, it says, how that in great trial of affliction, the abundance of their joy and their deep poverty abounded unto the riches of their liberality. So what do we see him saying here first and foremost? Look, these people are poor, they have no money, but even in the midst of their poverty, they still were able to be generous. Now you say, well, it doesn't say generous, but it says they're riches of their liberality. You see that word liberal or liberality simply means to be generous. Now today, we wouldn't necessarily use that word to mean generous, you know, when we think of liberals, what do we think of like Democrats or, you know, in Christendom, when we think of liberals, we think of the liberal fund center with the guy who, you know, has purple lights and, you know, like Lancaster Baptist Church, you know, liberal churches like that, they have the rock and roll and they have the drums and they have the woman making love to the mic when she's doing a special. Need I say more? You obviously know what I'm talking about. So that's what we think of when we think of liberal, but in essence, what it really means is just to be generous, okay? The Bible tells us the liberal soul shall be made fat, and he that watered shall be watered also himself. Now specifically, what I believe, the church I believe he's referring to in these verses is not Thessalonica, is not the Bereans, I actually believe he's talking about the church of Philippi, the Christians found therein. Now hold your place there in 2 Corinthians 8, go to Philippians chapter number 4, and I'm gonna show you why I believe that he's referring to them. Look at Philippians chapter 4. Now the Christians found at Philippi are actually a very mature breed of Christians, okay? We find that in chapter 2, he tells them that they've obeyed not so much, or excuse me, as much as in his absence, so much as also in his presence. So we see that they're able to be obedient and be mature Christians even in the absence of Paul. And a lot of what it says in the book of Philippians is really in praise of these people at the church of Philippi. In chapter 4 verse 13, he says there, I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me, notwithstanding ye have well done that ye did communicate with my affliction. Now ye Philippians know also that in the beginning of the gospel, when I departed from Macedonia, no church communicated with me as concerning giving and receiving, but ye only. Verse 16, for even in Thessalonica ye sent once and again unto my necessity, not because I desire a gift, but I desire a fruit that may abound to your account. But I have all and 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 we see there that he tells them, look, the only church that really communicated to me when I took off from Macedonia, or the people from Macedonia, was you guys, the church at Philippi. Now the word communicate means to give, that's what it's talking about. We often relate that word to imparting information, but that is in the context of information. You can use that word communicate in regards to imparting financial needs or resources that a person may need. You're communicating unto them, you're imparting unto them that which is needed. Now go to Galatians chapter six if you would, Galatians chapter six. So keep that in mind with the church at Philippi, that's a great praise to give someone. He's like, man, no one else has helped me out during this time, but you guys did. And he's like, I didn't desire a gift, but I desire fruit that may abound to your account. So what does that tell us? That tells us that when we give to a specific need, we're not necessarily sacrificing, are we? What are we doing? We're actually investing in something. Because the Bible says there that I desire fruit that may abound to your account. So what he's saying is that as you give, you're actually investing into eternal things, and you're actually gonna receive a return from that later on in the future. So don't ever see giving as a sacrifice. You may have to sacrifice now, but in the latter end, you know what it is? It's an investment. It's something you're gonna receive dividends based upon that sacrifice or that investment that you made. Look at Galatians chapter five, or excuse me, chapter six, verse number five. It says here, for every man shall bear his own burden. Let him that is taught in the word communicate unto him that teacheth in all good things. So he's not telling him, go up to the preacher right afterwards and say, hey man, you did a great job. You did a fantastic job, that was a great sermon. He's actually referring to the carnal things. When Paul the apostle says, we've given to you spiritual things, how shall we not reap carnal things? That's what he's referring to there as far as communicate unto him that teacheth in all good things. Verse seven, be not deceived, God is not mocked, for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh of the flesh reap corruption. For he that soweth to the spirit shall of the spirit reap life everlasting. Now we often use those verses in regards to sin or bad decisions that we make in life or when we're trying to get someone not to make a bad decision, but really it's in reference to communicating. It's the giving, it's the investing in someone's life. It's the giving to the needs of someone else. Look what it goes on to say, verse nine, and let us not be weary in well doing, for in due season we shall reap if we faint not. As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith. Now go to Acts chapter 16, Acts chapter 16 here, I'm gonna show you that this is actually played out in the apostle Paul's life. So we see there that at Philippi he said, hey, you guys are the only ones that communicated to me, and then you see the principle that he teaches there in Galatians chapter five, he says you need to communicate to those who have taught you the word of God, and look, whatsoever man soweth, that shall he also reap. We shall faint in due season, or excuse me, we shall reap in due season if we faint not, and he's giving them these principles of saying, hey, when you're investing, don't worry, you're gonna reap that later on. So keep that in mind, okay? When you sow, when you communicate, you will reap in due time. That's the principle that he's teaching there, right? Now look at Acts 16, verse number six, Paul speaking here, he says, now when they had gone throughout Fergia in the region of Galatia, and were forbidden of the Holy Ghost to preach the word in Asia, after they were come to Messiah, they assayed to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit suffered them not. And they passing by Messiah came down to Troas, and a vision appeared to Paul in the night. There stood a man of Macedonia, and prayed him, saying, come over into Macedonia and help us. Now remember, what's in Macedonia, Thessalonica, the Bereans, Philippi, verse 10, and after he had seen the vision, immediately we endeavored to go into Macedonia, assuredly gathering that the Lord had called us for to preach the gospel unto them. And what's the result of that? Church was being started, people getting saved, the church at Philippi getting established, so he said, what does that have to do with anything? Well, what happens later on? When Paul is in need of something, who was there to help him? The church at Philippi. So what happened there? He sowed the gospel there, he answered the call, right, to the Macedonian calls they would call it, for them to say, hey, come over and help us. He went over and gave the gospel, and what happened years later? Years later, we see the church at Philippi helping Paul. So what's the principle that we learned there? Hey, make sure we do good to all men, but especially to those of the household of faith. Why? You just never know what you might reap after that. You know, that's why it's good that when we go soul winning, you know, we have this attitude that, hey, we want to go there because we love the people, we want to see them saved, and you just never know who you might win to Christ. You might win your future wife, amen? Then you'll reap some good stuff after that, marriage. You know, you might reap a person who goes all in for God, growing in the Lord, comes to church, becomes a soul winner, becomes very faithful, and who knows, maybe they might win one of your family members. I mean, you got to think far ahead when it comes to these things. You know, it's never in vain to win anybody to Christ, first and foremost because we understand that people get saved, they're no longer going to hell, they're going to heaven, but there's other things that take place even after that. You know, you never know, the person you might win to Christ may end up encouraging you and helping you when you're going through a hard time in the future. So just as Paul helped those in Macedonia. He won them to the Lord, he obeyed God and went there and preached the gospel. Later on, they were actually the ones who ended up helping him in his needs. And look, that's a good principle to teach us to show us that our labor is not in vain in the Lord. And look, even if you never see any of that this side of eternity, you will see it in eternity. But there could be possibly opportunities where you might even see some of that reaping here in this life. And look, some of the best relationships you'll have are Christians, obviously, you know, the people you went to the Lord, the people you're serving God with. Those are the best relationships you'll ever build here on this side of eternity. You know, who cares if they're Mexican and you're Mexican? Who cares if they're white and you're white? Who cares what race they are? If they're in Christ, they're going the same direction that you're going in. That's one of the best friends you can have. Some of the best friends... Look, I don't... Does anybody Guatemalan here? No one's Guatemalan here. I feel so alone, you know. No, I don't. You know why? Because some of the best friends I have here are not even Guatemalan. Oaxacan, that's not the same, right? Hey, you know what? In Hispanic culture, Mexicans and other races, they don't get along. I don't know if you guys knew that. Do you guys know that? Raise your hand if you know that. All right. I mean, they beef it like a lot. Don't you dare call a Mexican a Guatemalan. That's like insulting to them, you know? And they're just like, I can't believe you got... But you know what? In Christ, who cares about that stuff? The only difference between Ulysses and I is just the shade of her skin. He's darker and I'm lighter, amen? We both got beards. Mine's longer. No, I'm just kidding. At the end of the day, in Christ, it doesn't matter anymore, you know? I can make friends with anybody from any race as long as they're in Christ. And some of the closest friends that I have are in Christ here. But you say, what's the principle? The principle there is the law of sowing and reaping. I'm sure Paul didn't think ahead and think, oh, you know, these people are going to help me out financially one day when I'm in need of something. He was just going out there with the motive of preaching the gospel, seeing them saved, and it eventually turned out to benefit him in the long run. And the church of Philippi, they benefited from that as well. Go back to 2 Corinthians, chapter number 8, 2 Corinthians, chapter number 8. So he's using these churches in Macedonia as an example. He's like, man, these people gave, they sacrificed. They went beyond their power to give. And he's not just saying this just for any reason. He's trying to teach the church at Corinth, hey, you need to give, you know? This is a great example here. And I'm getting ahead of myself, but, you know, it's okay to use people, churches as an example who are doing greater works than us as an example. You know, we ought not to look at another church who's doing greater works than us and be jealous of that. Or look at another church that's winning a lot of people to Christ or they're bigger than us, or you fill in the blank and feel threatened by that church. You know, that has to cause you to be challenged. That would encourage you to say, hey, if they did it, surely we can do it. If that pastor can be used like that, surely we can be used as that as well. You see, we should never have this mentality of competition where we want them to fail just so we can succeed. I mean, they can succeed and we can succeed, why not? There's enough success to go around, amen? Even if it's an old IFP church. I want old IFP churches to succeed if they're soul winning, if they're doing right. I don't want them to fail. I don't want them to just die. If they can just get right with God, start winning souls to Christ, amen. Because you know, at the end of the day, the most important thing is seeing people saved. That's what's most important. Not to glorify ourselves, not to glory and say we're the best church in Los Angeles. You know, we want to be the best church in Los Angeles, but if there's another good church out there, amen to that. Now look at verse number seven, it says, 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. So he's kind of priming them, you know, this church in Macedonia, you know, they gave beyond their power. Hey, just like you're abounding in faith and utterance and knowledge and in all diligence, what is he telling you? He's like, you're abounding in these things, that's great, but you know what, abound in this grace also. Now what is he referring to when he's talking about disgrace? Well grace is referring to favor, okay, and specifically it's showing favor to someone and that's why they are giving of their resources. You know, you give of your resources to someone who you're favoring, right? And that's what he's talking about, but I like what he says there in verse number seven, he says, Abound in these things. So first of all, he talks about faith, all right, and that's something that we ought to abound in as well. What does it mean to abound? It means to grow in, okay, to multiply in, it's faith. Now when we first get saved or even before salvation, excuse me, we all have a measure of faith, you know, and thank God that he doesn't expect us to have a great amount of faith in order to get saved. He just expects us to place whatever faith we have in Christ Jesus, that's it. Now after we get saved, we should grow in faith. What is faith? It's the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen, it's the ability to say, you know what, I believe God can do this and guess what, because I believe it, I'm gonna act upon my belief and therefore reap the benefits of his promises, all right. Now the Bible tells us, go to Romans chapter four, I'm gonna read to you from Romans chapter one, verse 17, it says, for therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith as it is written, the just shall live by faith. You know, if you have small faith today, your faith, it doesn't have to stay there. You can have great faith, you can grow and abound in faith. If you are a weakling of a Christian and you're constantly scared of persecution, you don't know if you can handle the hardships, well you know what, you can grow out of that. You can go from faith to faith. You know why? Because the Bible tells us that faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God, obviously that's in regard to salvation, but that's also true even after we're saved. As we read the word of God, we begin to have faith that God can do it and guess what, we step out in faith. And then when God fulfills that promise, whatever it may be, maybe it's a need, you know that increases our faith. And we wanna be the kind of people that have great faith, okay? And we're not limited in regards to that, we can have great faith, but it's up to you to take risks. You see, we need a church, we need Christians specifically, you know, especially men who are risk takers. They're willing to take risks and what do you need to take risks? You need to be willing to say, you know what, I might fail or I might succeed and if I fail, then I fail, I just move on. But we have a society today of men who are afraid to fail. They're scared of failing because people might mock them, well let them mock, just move on. Better to try something and fail than never to try it and regret that you never tried or succeed at failing, right? Better to try it and fail than to never try anything and look down 20 years and say, man, I wish I would have tried, I wonder what would have happened if I would have just attempted to be a pastor or I would have attempted to done X, Y, and Z, whatever it may be, I wonder what would have happened. I don't wanna wonder. I wanna say, hey, I'm gonna try it, if it works, hey man, if it doesn't, well, at least I got a story to tell later on, at least I got another illustration for my sermon later on when I talk about failure or succeeding. But we can't be afraid to fail. And look, when it comes to the promises of God, all the promises of God and Him are ye, the Bible says. So you can rest assured that if you obey God, you're gonna get the fulfillment of that promise and what would that do? That will increase your faith. Now another thing that really increases our faith in the Bible is when we read it and we learn new things. Obviously we believe the Bible's the word of God, we believe it's inspired and preserved, it's indestructible, infallible, but there's times when you read the Bible, you're like, you're reading a story that you think you already know and then you learn something new. You're like, wow, that just increases my faith even more. Or how about times when you read the Bible and you come across passages you don't understand and you just have faith, you know, I don't understand what that's saying but I have faith that it's true and what happens, years later, you begin to realize, okay, now I cracked the code, I know what it means. You know what that does? That increases your faith. So we want to be the people whose faith is constantly increasing. Look at Romans chapter 4 and verse 18, it says, who against hope, talk about Abraham, the father of faith, who against hope believed in hope that he might become the father of many nations according to that which was spoken, so shall thy seed be. You know what they call that? They call that tenacity. Who against hope believed in hope. You know, against all odds believed in, believed that it can be done. And being not weak in faith, he considered not his own body now dead. When he was about 100 years old, neither yet the deadness of Sarah's womb, he staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strong in faith, giving glory to God and being fully persuaded that when he had promised, he was able also to perform. I like what it says in verse 19, he's like, he's not weak in faith, he didn't even consider his own body dead. He's like, I know I'm old, but I'm not even going to think about that. If God said it can happen, it's going to happen, it's going to get done because he said it can get done. The Bible says in Hebrews 11, verse 1, now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen, for by it the elders obtain a good report. Verse 5 says, by faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death and was not found because God had translated him. For before his translation, he had this testimony that he pleased God. For without faith, it is impossible to please him. For he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. If there's a motive that you can have to increase your faith or to exercise faith, number one is because, you know, to be risk takers so we can be successful. But number two is so we can please God. Because anything that's not of faith is sin. So it's not like you have an option. It's not like, well I'm just not going to try, I'm not going to have faith. Okay, then you're not pleasing to God. Okay then you're sinning then, because anything that's not of faith is sin. So it kind of places you in a position where you have to exercise faith. You have to have faith in God because if not, you're not pleasing unto the Lord, okay. Now go with me if you would to Ephesians chapter six. So he says abound in faith, then he says abound in utterance. What does it mean to have utterance? Well to utter something means to speak, okay. So utterance is the ability to speak. What is he saying there? You need to learn how to talk. You need to learn, and specifically in context he's referring to communicating the gospel, alright. Giving the gospel, now there's many applications we can take to this, but primarily we're referring to preaching the gospel. You know what that tells me is that you ought to be growing as a soul winner, okay. Grow as a preacher of the gospel and don't ever think you've arrived. Well I already know how to win people to Christ. You know, I know how to win people to Christ and I've been doing it for 11 years, but I want to keep learning. If I can go with someone that can teach me something new or a different way that they do something, I want to learn from that. And look, at the end of the day, you don't know as much as you think you know. You know, before we started the Spanish classes, I thought I was pretty good. I'm fluent, I don't need Spanish, but you know what, when I compared myself to Brother Eddie, I was like, man, I don't know any Spanish. And as I go to those classes, you know, this Tuesday we had a class and he, you know, he's teaching the accents and what they're called and I remember thinking to myself, okay, I get it. And then he went into something else and was like, I don't get it. You know, but then I realized how much I really do not know. So wait, but let me ask you, should I just say, well, you know, I already know how to talk in Spanish. I don't need that class. No, you know, I should be like, do I know Spanish, I'm going to take it so I can become better at Spanish. You know, especially if I'm going to be preaching in Spanish, you know, tomorrow I'm preaching in Spanish. It's not going to be very refined. I'm just giving you a warning, right, Brother Eddie? He writes down everything I say and then he, that's his material for the following Tuesday, what not to say. I'm just kidding. I said feria on Sunday, I don't know, Sunday morning, Sunday night. That was like his main point. He's like, I want to talk about the word feria. It's not a word. And he's like, by the way, how many did not know, did you know that was not a word? Those were Spanish speakers before he said it? Okay, I'm not the only one. Good. All right. Feria is not a word. It's like fair, to pay a fare. And then it became basically, they just, you know how sometimes Spanish people, they just turn English words into Spanish words? Let me give you an example. When they want to say catch something, they say catchale. Or when they say, hey, you know, I'll see you later, they say ate watcho, watch, you know? So that's not proper. And he, in fact, it's not only not proper, Brother Eddie says it's barbaric. Barbarism. He's like, you're speaking like a barbarian is what you're doing. So needless to say that I'm not going to say feria anymore, you know, I don't want anybody to call me a barbarian. I'm just kidding. But you know what? I'm glad I'm learning these things. You're like, oh, but doesn't that bother you? No, it makes me better. Because I want to speak better Spanish to preach the gospel, to preach the word of God, and that takes, you know, showing me the wrong things that I'm saying in order to arrive to that point where I want to get to where I can speak properly. But you know what? That's the same thing with sowing. Don't think that you've arrived at sowing just because you've memorized many verses or you got your thing down pat. Be willing to sharpen that sword. Abound in utterance, okay? Now Ephesians 6 18 says praying always with all prayer and supplication in the spirit and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints. And for me that utterance may be given unto me that I may open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel. So part of that opening your mouth boldly obviously comes from being filled with the spirit, but he balances that out when he says abound in utterance. You need to grow. You need to learn, okay? Now as a preacher, pastors, or guys who want to learn how to preach, this is important as well. You need to learn how to abound in utterance, to be able to communicate the word of God, to be able to preach. Not just preach hard, but preach correctly as well. As far as the doctrine is concerned, even your deliverance, these things are important, okay? Now you don't have to be novel when you preach. That's not what I mean by growing in utterance. You know what novel means? It means like something that's new. You want to sound unique, okay? That's not necessarily important. You know, you can preach exactly what the Bible says and still be a blessing to the people, okay? Look, tonight, I'm not teaching you anything novel. Everything's basically from the word of God. You probably already know it. I'm just reminding you of these things. So not every sermon has to be a novel thought, okay? It could be simply a repetition. When I say grow in utterance or abound in utterance, it's just the ability to communicate the word of God. Know what the Bible says, you know? You say, well, you know, if I'm not novel, you know, people are not going to like my sermon. Well, phooey with them. Who cares? You think I care if anybody likes the way, you know, the new truths that I teach or if my sermons are boring or not? I can care less. I can give a rat's toe about what anybody cares about my preaching. You know why? Because I know I'm preaching from the Bible. And everything that is preached from the Bible is good. So if I just repeat what the Bible says, I'm in good standings. You say, well, you're not in good standings with me, but I'm in good standings with the Lord. So who cares what you think? You know, who are you? You know, we need to abound in utterance and grow and say, look, I want to make sure that I'm a preacher that is able to correctly communicate the word of God so that people can understand it. You know, I need to know doctrine so I can teach properly what the Bible actually says. But grow in utterance. The Bible tells us in Proverbs 16, 23, the heart of the wise teacheth his mouth and addeth learning to his lips. See, it's all in this matter of learning. We need to constantly be learning. Everyone learns at a different pace, but we need to be learning, okay? And look, part of learning is being told that you're wrong. I hate the fact that Brother Eddie's telling me that I'm wrong in my Spanish. I hate it. But you know what? I like it. You know why? Because it's going to help me to grow. It's going to teach me. And look, in that Spanish class, I'm always asking him questions. I'm like, say that again. I don't understand. Tell me again, you know, what does this word mean? You know, and even if I get it wrong, why? Because I want to learn. And so part of the learning process is being told that you're wrong or else how are you going to grow out of that wrong state? You need to be told that you're wrong. Now go to 2 Peter chapter 1. So he says there to abound in utterance. He tells us to abound in faith. He tells us to abound in knowledge. This is important as well, amen? To grow in knowledge, to understand certain things. The Bible tells us in Hosea 4 verse 6, my people are destroyed for lack of knowledge Because I was rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me, seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children. Now, what does it mean to have knowledge specifically in regards to the Bible? Well, knowledge of the Bible to be able to cause it to be relevant to the things that are taking place today. For example, the sons of Issachar, the Bible says, had understanding of the times. But later on, you see that the definition of that is when they understand, they have an understanding of the times according to God's word. You see, people could have wisdom of this world, but it doesn't mean anything if they don't understand what the Bible says in regards to that subject or that topic. So we have to, when we grow in knowledge, we have to know what the Bible says and relate it to current events, relate it to current things that are taking place. Because the Bible is timeless, okay? It's the word of God is quick and powerful, sharpening the two-edged sword, it's alive, it's relevant today. But what do we have there? We have pastors who think they know the Bible, and they're preaching about things of times past that no one even knows about. Talking about the movie house. What's a movie house? Does anybody know what a movie house is? You know, we call it a theater. You know, talking about the dance hall. What's a dance hall? I mean, as far as I know, they call it a club today. And I'm not saying you have to learn modern terms, but there's certain things that people don't necessarily struggle with anymore, because it's not relevant. But does that mean the Bible's not relevant? No, absolutely, it's relevant, okay? And it will always be relevant to the issues and the topics of today. We need to grow in that knowledge, okay? We can't look at the world around us and say, well, you know, the Bible doesn't say anything about that. No, you're just not studying the Bible, because the Bible has something to say about everything. And if it doesn't talk about it specifically, it will give a principle that you could apply to that specific thing, okay? Because the Bible is powerful. So grow in knowledge. You know, in our discipleship books back in the day, they used to say, when you read the Bible, it's not about information, it's about inspiration. No, it's wrong. It's about both. The Bible inspires, but we're supposed to get information as well, okay? We need to learn what the Bible says. And you know, the Jack Howes crowd of yesteryear was the crowd that basically would downplay knowledge. He would downplay knowledge of the Bible. And if you had spiritual conversations about details regarding the word of God, they would kind of like look down on you for that. That shouldn't be the case. You know, we ought to be ready scribes, understanding of the word of God, know what the Bible says, because that's what's right on the side of the Lord. So he says to abound in faith, abound in utterance, abound in knowledge, and also abound in diligence, okay? Now, what is diligence? The ability to be consistent. How can you be successful in life? By being diligent. Not by being talented, not by being gifted, but by being consistent, diligent. Someone who is diligent will surpass someone who is talented by miles and miles. Why? Because someone who is talented and gifted, I'm not saying being talented and gifted is bad. Someone who's talented and gifted has a propensity to depend upon their talent and their giftedness to advance in life. And that's not what's going to help them. But someone who is diligent has the consistency and the character to study, to practice, to make things right in order to advance in life. You see what I'm saying? So someone who's talented and gifted obviously has natural abilities, whereas if someone who's diligent understands they don't have those natural abilities, therefore they will do their due diligence in order to gain those abilities and it adds character. Look at 2 Peter 1, verse 5 says, and beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, knowledge temperance, to temperance patience, to patience godliness, to godliness brotherly kindness, to brotherly kindness charity. Now out of all these qualities, he says in the very beginning, verse number 5, giving all diligence. What does that mean? You're supposed to be diligent and adding to your faith virtue? Be diligent to add knowledge? Be diligent to temperance? All these components require one thing, diligence. How can I be successful in life? There's a lot of keys to becoming successful, but the main thing is this, be diligent. You're learning a new language, be diligent. You want to know the Bible, be diligent in reading it. You want the power of God in your life, pray diligently. You want whatever it is that will make you prosper in this life, be diligent. You want to succeed at your job, be diligent. Consistency will always favor you. Then he says abound in love and grace, and of course we talked about that. That's in reference to being favorable to others, to helping others financially. Now go back to 2 Corinthians chapter number 8, 2 Corinthians chapter number 8. Look what he says here in verse number 8, he says, I speak not by commandment, but by occasion of the forwardness of others and to prove the sincerity of your love. So what is he saying there? He's like, look, he gives the example of the Macedonians, those in Macedonia, how they gave. He gives the example of saying, hey, you're growing in all these areas, you need to grow in this love also and abound. But then he says, look, I'm not speaking by commandment, I'm speaking by the forwardness of others. What does he mean by that? Well, he's saying, I'm not commanding you to give, okay? Now this is important because it is a commandment to give our tithes, but anything above that cannot be commanded. But we have churches today that do that, don't they? They command their people to give above and beyond their tithe, okay? And that's wrong. You know, that should be given out of the abundance of the heart, out of the generosity of their heart. But the only thing that Paul says right here, I'm not speaking by commandment. He says this, I'm speaking by the forwardness of others. Now what does that mean, forwardness? Forwardness simply means a person who's basically taking the initiative. He goes, I'm speaking by the initiative of others. Those in Macedonia, I didn't command them to give to me, but because of their forwardness, they just went ahead and did that. And let me say this, the quality of forwardness is very important as well. What is that? Initiative. Not being told what to do, just doing something even before you're even told to do it. Either in church or at your job. Initiative is very important, why? Because it shows that you can think for yourself. It's good to take orders, amen? Because there's an authority structure, but you can actually advance greater in life, not just by diligence, but by taking initiative. Seeing the problem, seeing the need, and what? Taking the lead, that's right. You see the need and you take the lead. It's not you see the need and you go find someone to take care of the need to take the lead. No, you see the need, you take the lead. That's what he's talking about. He goes, look, I'm speaking about the forwardness of others. I'm just using those in Macedonia as an example, all right? They're ready. That's why in verse three he says, for to their power I bear record, yea, and beyond their power they were willing of themselves. What is he saying? He's trying to use those at Philippi to provoke those at Corinth to give. He's like, I'm not commanding you, I'm just showing you their example. Now this is where I wanted to get to in the very beginning. You know, the Bible tells us in Hebrew, go to Romans chapter, or excuse me, go to Hebrew chapter 10, Hebrew chapter 10. It's okay to provoke churches to do great works, and it's okay for churches to provoke us to do great works. That's a-okay, amen? Because at the end of the day, what's the result? Doing great works. All right? Look what the Bible tells us in Hebrews 10, 24, and let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works. You see, the Bible tells us over and over again about this word provoke, provoking into good works. You think of, you know, Paul when he's talking to those at Rome, and he said that basically the gospel came unto the Gentiles for to provoke Israel to jealousy, right? Now people will say, see, I mean, there you go, that's why they're going to get saved later on because they're being provoked to jealousy. Are they really being provoked to jealousy though? I mean, are they like, they're like, oh man, these Christians, they got the true God, Jesus, no, they think Jesus went to hell and stayed there and is burning in his own excrement. You know, they're not necessarily being provoked to getting right with God. Provoking, that's what it means. It means to cause them to do something, to take an action, okay? Now, when we see someone doing something that's more than us, that shouldn't intimidate or threaten us, that should motivate us, okay? And look, we ought to use the forwardness of others to provoke us to do great works. I'm looking at the example of Faith Word Baptist Church in Tempe, and you know what? I'm not like, oh man, I could never attain to that. You know what I'm like? I'm like, if they can do it, we can do it too. I want to do great works. I want to see lots of people saved. I mean, right now, I think we're at like 1,900 souls saved. No, I'm sorry. I think it's over 1,900. I think we need like two weeks' worth of salvation, and I think we hit 2,000, amen? But you know what? I don't want to do greater works than that. So I'm not looking at Faith Word Tempe or any other church on a movement and say, man, they're like our competitors. No, I'm looking at them and saying, man, I want to do great works just like that. And look, there's a church whom we've provoked to do some soul-winning, amen? And I thank God for that. I praise the Lord for that. Oh, you know, but they don't like you. Who cares? I got people here who like me. I don't need anyone else to like me. I mean, I think you guys like me. I hope you do. You know, who cares about that? But if we can provoke a bigger church to start getting excited about soul-winning, amen? My wife was telling me she had a conversation with someone. They're like, yeah, in our church, I don't know what's going on, but everyone's like soul-winning is becoming exciting in our church again. They said, I've never seen soul-winning in our church as I've seen it today, he said. They're like, people are practicing with one another. They're going out. They're preaching the gospel. Yeah, but they're preaching. Who cares? Yeah, but they love the Jews, and who cares? Let them love the Jews. That's what they want. You know, send them a copy of the March of the Zion conference or March of the Zion DVD. Who cares? Now, look, if they come to us with that subject in mind, then I care. I'm not going to be like, oh, it's all right, you know, the Jews, yeah, I believe they're good. No, we're not going to compromise on that, but when it comes to this matter of soul-winning, that's the most important thing. And don't try to nitpick every single church who's actually trying to go in the right direction either. Yeah, but I mean, how hard does he preach? Probably not very hard, but obviously he's preaching hard enough to cause the people to go soul-winning. Because you know what gets people to go soul-winning? It's not, can you go soul-winning? It's like, you can go soul-winning. You can go preach the gospel, you lazy bum. It's hard preaching that moves people to soul-winning. What's wrong with you? You don't love souls? You got to get out there and preach the gospel, and it's just like, let's go do it. So obviously they got to preach somewhat hard to get people to mobilize and go do it. But at the end of the day, you know, the forwardness of Faithful Word Baptist Church has provoked them to go soul-winning. And I said it months ago, I said, look, if these churches will never talk to me ever again, but at least to go soul-winning, that, I'm fine with that. Oh, but you know, your friends, my friends right here, you know, yeah, my father and my mother and my brethren right here, they do the little Lord, you know, this Faithful Word Baptist Church. This is my family, okay, Mexicans, Brazilians, tell me again, Turkey, Turkish. We got Alex, Romanian, there you go. You know, this is fine right here. But you know, you're just being proud. I say that as humbly as I can, I'm thankful for that. Because in all reality, Faithful Word Baptist Church of L.A. can't do it all. Now, we'll do it like we're the only ones that can do it all, and we're going to continue to work hard. And you know what, I'm all for healthy competition, amen. You know, I'm all for reaching our potential and going beyond that, beyond our power like the church in Macedonia, okay. I'm all for that. But at the end of the day, if another church is doing it, amen, because you know what, souls at the end of the day is what matters. Seeing people saved is what matters. You're just like, well, are you going to like, you know, what are you going to say if you run into them? If they tell me that that's what they're doing, I'll be like, man, that's awesome, that's great. I'm happy for that. Are you going to tell them to join the movement? Nope. Because they're not going to want to join the movement. Well, then they're not one of us. But you know what, they're preaching the gospel. Okay. And that's a-okay with me. That's fine in my books, and it should be fine in your books as well. So our goal, obviously, you say, what about, you know, other churches that are preaching and repenting your sins? Well, that pastor can go to hell, amen. You know, I hope he never goes soul-killing. Because if he tries to go soul-killing, he's going to go soul-killing. He's going to make people two-fold more a child of hell than himself. So I'm not concerned about them. You know, we'll preach hard against them, and I'm not concerned with them going soul-killing. I hope they stick to their visitation hours. I hope that's what they do on Saturdays for the rest of their life, is just go visit. You know, and go drop off a cup and a track and, hey, we missed you card, or whatever. Stick to that, that's fine. Because you're preaching the wrong gospel. But those who are preaching the right gospel, man, if we can, by the forwardness of faith board Baptist church, provoke them to go do great works. I think that's great. And that's what Paul is trying to do here. He's trying to provoke them by that example. Look at verse 9. 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. So now he brings up the example of Christ. He said, hey, Jesus, you know, though he was rich, he became poor, so that ye through his poverty might be made rich. The Bible tells us in John 15, 13, greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends, 1 John 3.16. Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he lay down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. Go to Ephesians chapter 1, Ephesians chapter 1. I mean, Paul's like priming them right now. He's just like, hey, Macedonia, you guys are growing, hey, Jesus became poor for your sakes. Ephesians 1 verse 7, it says, whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins according to the riches of his grace, the Bible says. Now, let me get off on a little topic here, because people will use this verse in 2 Corinthians chapter 8 about Jesus being poor for our sakes that we may be made rich to teach a false doctrine called the prosperity gospel, okay? Now what is the prosperity gospel? Well, those who hold to this basically will teach that financial blessings and physical well-being is the will of God for your life. And they'll tell people, hey, you know, give to these causes so you can have an increase in material wealth. Now that's a false doctrine, okay? My brother Jordan preached on this a couple weeks ago on the prosperity gospel. It was great, but it's a garbage gospel is what it is. It's a garbage doctrine. It's basically false teachers and prophets who are greedy of filthy lucre who have found the avenue of Christianity to basically spew all their garbage to make money off of people, make merchandise off of people. Now go with me to 2 Peter chapter 2. We're gonna talk about this for the remainder of the sermon. You know, these people who preach this obviously don't take into account that Jesus Christ was poor. Yeah, but he did so he could be made rich. Well, what about the apostles? You know, they were poor too. What about Paul who sold tents? You know, he wasn't necessarily rolling into Bentley Camel to get from point A to point B. These people were not rich. They did not have lots of money. Yet these pastors, like the preachers of L.A., they're like, well, that show doesn't exist anymore. But they do. You know, Pastor Noel Jones over in L.A. who takes three offerings and one mandatory $20 offering. Mandatory. They tell you it's $20 on the plate. I went there with a friend of mine before I was saved, and I'm like, do I really have to, Tony, I was like, Tony, I don't have $20. Are you gonna throw me, what in the world is gonna, what's gonna happen? But these guys are wicked, they're vile, they are the false prophets that the Bible talks about. They encompass, they enthrall what a false prophet is because they're doing it for money. Look what 2 Peter chapter 2 verse 1 says, but there are false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you who privately shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them and bring upon themselves swift destruction. Well, you know, just pray for Noel Jones so he can get saved. No, the Bible says he already denied the only Lord that bought them. I mean, any saved person with any sense of their, with any material in their brain will know that someone who denies Christ is going to hell. Well, the Bible says that these false teachers, they deny the only Lord that bought them and bring upon themselves swift destruction, okay? Verse 2, and many shall follow the pernicious ways by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of, and through covetousness shall they with fain words make merchandise of you whose judgment now of a long time lingereth not and their damnation slumbereth not. You see, these wicked, false bastards of the gospel, what are they doing? They are basically teaching this false doctrine simply to make money. They will damn millions of people to hell knowingly just so they can make a lot of money. Joel Osteen is a perfect example of this, okay? Rick Warren, perfect example of this. The Preachers of L.A., perfect example of this. These guys are rolling in like lowriders with the hundred spokes and the zzt, zzt, zzt, you know, that costs money. And they're making merchandise, yeah, but they're preaching Jesus, yeah, but here's the thing is, they're not preaching them correctly, okay? And no pastor should ever be rich. No pastor should ever be rich. But that's like, you know, God's blessing on their life, no pastor should ever be rich. The Bible clearly teaches us that and speaks and condemns greatly when someone wills to be rich. Skip down to verse 14, it says, having eyes full of adultery, by the way. You look at Noelle Jones' track record, sleeping around like crazy with the women in his church. No, he's not married. So what does he do? He just fornicates with all the ladies in his church and he's known as being the playa, you know, pastor or whatever. Why? Because he has eyes full of adultery. They cannot cease from sin, well, you know, maybe they could be reformed, they can't cease from sin. Beguiling unstable souls and hard they have exercised with covetous practices, cursed children which have forsaken the right way and have gone astray, fallen away of Balaam, the son of Bozor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness. So it's not like they just like money. They love money. And the love of money is the root of all evil. So they equate financial increase to spirituality. Now, go with me if you would to 1 Timothy, chapter 6. 1 Timothy, chapter 6. You know, and these blind sheep that follow, they're like, oh, I want the Bentley too. I want Mercedes too. I want to get rid of my cancer. And they're just like, well, throw money in the plate and that'll happen to you. And if it doesn't happen to you, it's because you're not right with God. Paul was stoned, beaten by his own countrymen. Was he not right with God? You know, Jesus Christ was scourged. He was beaten, smitten of God. His beard was plucked. They did the worst to him. Does that mean he was not right with God? Look what the Bible says in verse 6. But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into this world and are certain that we can carry nothing out. And having food and raiment, let us therewith be content. You see, God does not withhold riches, physical riches as far as money is concerned to like, because he wants to punish us. He does it for our good. You know why? Because godliness with contentment is great gain. You know, the happiest people are not the richest people. The happiest people are content people. People who are content with the things that they have, okay? And they couple that with godliness, makes for a great life, amen? It says there in verse 9, but they that will be rich will fall into temptation and a snare, 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, which while some covet it after, they have erred from the faith and pierced themselves through with many sorrows. But thou, O men of God, flee these things and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness. Now, these false teachers are not just in those type of churches. They're in independent fundamental Baptist churches, too. You have Pastor Jack Treiber of North Valley Baptist Church, who's basically the Baptist Joel Osteen. He's the Baptist, oh, I'm sorry, Paul Chappell is the Baptist Joel Osteen. Jack Treiber is like the Rick Warren or whatever. You go to North Valley Baptist Church, you feel like you step into a golden museum. It's like, I mean, they have pianos for days, and anybody who goes there, unless they're lying to you, they'll tell you everyone's dressed to impress, okay? I mean, I've told this story plenty of times, but my brother-in-law said that even when he went there, a guy came up to him from their Bible college, their faggoty little Bible college, and he said, he said, oh, man, that's a nice tie, and he grabbed the tie and looked at the brand and said, oh, wait, never mind. I would have been like, nice face, never mind. They just broke your nose, you know? But that's what that church and that college are known for, okay? And Jack Treiber says it himself from the pulpit that he likes to shop. He's like, I enjoy shopping, you know, for my ties and stuff, like, what? Look, you know what a man likes to do? They have a list of what they want, they have tunnel vision, they go into that store, grab it, here's the money, I'm out of here. I hate shopping. You know, it's just like, hmm, what do I look good in, I think, what, this or this? We don't do that. This is fine. There's a goal around my neck. You know, can I tie it? It's good to go. You say, well, what kind of people do that kind of stuff? Covetous people. Oh, you're just judging, yeah, I am. That's spiritual judge with all things. And look, you even, if you don't believe me, okay, don't take my word for it, listen to North Valley Baptist Church, KNVBC, during the month of December, they have something called the bucket offering, where they tell their church members and bus ministry to raise up thousands and thousands and thousands of dollars. I mean, he has his own radio show and he's just like, you know, people are donating 700 bucks. Oh, that's great, that's great and everything, but you know, it would have been nice, like a thousand or something, you know. People donate like five bucks, hey, that's good, hey, you know, you could have made it 10 or 100 bucks. Because they're at such a deficit every single year, which is sinful. You know, they're at a deficit every single year that they have to print on the money of every single person, Christian, who follows them in the country to get them out of debt. Why don't you sell four of your pianos along with all six of your 10 LCD screens and the water fountain, boot some of the faggots out of your Bible college and you have enough money to pay off the deficit. But see, here's the thing, at the end of the day, he doesn't want to, why? Because he's greedy, a filthy, lucre. You say, well, brother, we're not at a deficit at all. We're trying to get rid of all the money, but before the year ends, amen? What are you going to spend it on? Soul winning? Seeing people saved, tracts, materials to give out to new believers, paying the rent, doing things that matter? Like, you're not going to buy yourself a new suit? What for? This one's fine. If this rips, then I'll probably get a new one. But I have had like five suits for the last five years, I think I'm good to go. Well, don't you want Armani? No, I don't want Armani. I'm good with what I have. I'm content. Yeah, but don't, you know, razors, don't you need razors? No, I don't need a razor. I save money on not shaving, okay? Look at verse 17, charge them that are rich in this world, that they be not high minded nor trusted on certain riches, but in the living God who giveth us richly all things to enjoy. So there's people who are going to make money, but you know what, the people who make money, don't be high minded. Make sure you're eternally minded. Make sure you're investing in the right things. And people will say, well, see, he gives us richly all things to enjoy. So that's why we got to have money and Bentleys and nice houses and all these nice things. Well, let's keep reading. Verse 18, that they do good, that they be rich in what? Good works, Jack, you're supposed to be rich in good works. Ready to distribute, willing to communicate, laying up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life. He's like, I don't agree with you calling out Jack Treeber like that. Why? I don't even think Jack Treeber's saved. Because he always has a bunch of devils working for him, a bunch of sodomites, pedophiles, these wicked people. And then, you know, aside from that, he defends them. He lies to defend them. To defend a wicked pedophile sodomite, you're wicked. Not even the most backslitting Christian that I know would be willing to defend a pedophile. But it says there that they're supposed to be rich in good works, ready to distribute, willing to communicate. But that's not him. He's willing to receive. I'm telling you, listen to the month of December. I'm not joking. They have their Christmas music. You play their Christmas music. And every couple of minutes, he comes on, bucket list, $100 today. For what? And then you go on his website, and he's talking about like the street that he wants to buy. We're talking about having this street to do great works for God. For what? There's streets all around. Why don't you just use those? It's wicked. It's wicked. Laying up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come that they may lay hold on eternal life. Now go to 3 John. We'll finish here because I'm already out of time. You know, the Bible tells us that we're supposed to be rich in faith. You know, the Bible says that he's chosen the poor of this world to be rich in faith. Faith is the greatest valuable substance that you can have because at that point, you have access to God who has access to the cattle on 1000 Hill, who has access to all the gold and silver. You see, I want money, but I want money to further the work of God because it takes money to run the ministry. Well, see, that's what we want to afford too, but I'm not trying to buy a street. I don't want to buy a fountain, you know, that spews out water. What for? You know, we sing the song, there is a fountain, amen? Be content with that. What do you want money for? So we could see more people saved because we're not concerned with the things of this world. We're only concerned with the things of this world that help us propagate and propel the spiritual things of that which is eternal. That's what should be important to us, not money. The Bible tells us in 3 John 1, the elder unto the well beloved Gaius whom I love in the truth. Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth, for I rejoiced greatly when the brethren came and testified of the truth that is in thee, even as thou walkest in the truth. And they'll use this verse and say, see, he wants us to prosper. But see, here's the thing, prospering is not always in relation to finances. Prospering just means succeeding. Can't you prosper without money? Absolutely. You can prosper without money. Look, I know people who have a lot of money, but their marriage is horrible. Their children have gone to the devil. But they have a bunch of money in the account. You know, I don't consider that prospering. No, but you know, they got like, you know, thousands of dollars at their disposal. Yeah, but their marriage is crappy. They don't even like talking to each other. You know, at least me, you know, we barely got any money in the account. And guess what? I get along great with my wife. When I go home at night, my wife's smiling at me. We're laughing, we're talking, we're holding hands. We're kissing on the cheek. No, just kidding. You know, we get along. That's better than the thou. You take your million dollars. I'll take this. I'll take a home where my children respect me. I'll take a home where my wife reverences me. You take all your thousands of dollars and you can go to hell with that. I'd rather have a good marriage, great children, and a great church. Because that's the stuff that the life is made of. So prospering, the thou mayest prosper and be in health even as thy soul prospereth. Now when it means prosper, it just means to prosper in the sense of doing well, succeeding. And I'm not saying having money is bad. Don't get the wrong idea. You ought to prosper at your job. You know, it's good to get a raise, amen. But the thing is, are you trying to make money to be rich? That's where the line is drawn, okay? I'm done because I have way more scripture to go through, but we're already out of time. So what's the message today? Well, the message is this, is, you know, examples are important. We ought to look for examples. And look, in a smaller scale, look for examples in the church whom you would like to emulate, you know, and be like. And use them as an example to provoke you into good works. Let's use churches as an example of doing good works. You know, let's continue to be a church that is forward, okay, that is constantly provoking others to do good works and do soul winning. And let's keep preaching on these prosperity gospel preachers who are greedy of filthy lucre. One person I forgot to mention was Paul Chappell. He's another wicked person. Oh, you know, that, you're just judging. He owns all kinds of houses, all kinds of vehicles when pastors are not to be, how does he get that? Where are you getting all that from? But no one questions it because, you know, he's prospering, it's God's favor on him. It's like saying that God's favor is on the Jews, that's why they're making money. No, Satan's favor is on the Jews because of all their pedophilia and pornography and all the wickedness of this world, they're prospering because of Satan. That's not from God. Don't attribute God to their wickedness. That's Satan. Hezekiah has another word of prayer. Father, we thank you so much for your goodness, thank you for your word. Help us to prosper, Lord, help us to be successful. And Lord, we do need money, but the money that we need is to feed our families, to pay the rent, to take care of those temporal things so that we can do spiritual things. And I pray, God, that your favor would continue to be upon our church here. We're thankful for all that you've allowed us to do. We don't deserve it, Lord, but we have a great God and we're thankful for, faithful we're Baptist Church of Tempe who has invested in our lives and in our church here so that we may do good works. I pray, God, that you'd allow us to continue to do it for decades to come. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. Amen. Amen.