God Loves The Cheerful, Are You Cheerful?

Father, Lord, thank You for everything. Lord, literally everything. We thank You.

Thank You for every provision. Thank You for every breath of air that You've given us. Thank You, Lord, that we can have our minds in proper order this morning.

And Lord, if we don't, You're in the business of renewing the mind. You're in the business of getting us to think Your thoughts, to live in Your ways. You're working in us to will and to work for Your good pleasure.

Lord, we're thankful we can be a part of Your good pleasure. Lord, that You've chosen us, that You've saved us. Lord, that You've ransomed us.

Lord, that You delight to use such weak vessels. Father, we're just very grateful. Lord, we want to be all the more grateful.

Lord, give us a greater degree of thanksgiving of rejoicing in just Your many, overflowing, abundant mercies. And so I just ask You to help me as I preach Your Word, Father, that this would go in the right direction to different ones' hearts, even my own heart. Lord, that what is spoken on would have life.

Lord, that this wouldn't be a dead word, Father. And so I just ask for Your strength. And Lord, we look to You for help to speak with the strength that You supply so that in everything, You will be glorified.

I pray this in Christ's name, Amen. Well, have you heard this saying before? First time. What's after that? First time.

Quickly. What's after that? No, no, no. If it's a second time, I would encourage you.

You've got something to work on there. First time quickly. Secondly, cheerfully.

I don't know who taught my wife and I that saying, but we use that saying in parenting. You expect your child is going to obey you the first time. That they're going to obey you in a quick manner.

You don't say, come, and then they go and take a detour and grab five toys on the way. You don't sit there and think, wow, they really respect me today. That's not how you feel.

And then the third item is cheerfully. Cheerfully. You want your kid to come with a cheerful heart.

Now, I'm not here to talk about parenting this morning. But as I was looking at a passage at Don Don, you know what, I think that very saying, first time quickly, cheerfully, actually has some biblical basis. And which of those three is the hardest? First time quickly or cheerfully? Yeah, cheerfully.

You can get a kid to come the first time. You could get an adult to do something the first time. You could get them to do it in a quick manner.

But the difficulty is the attitude, right? This internal attitude of cheerfulness, right? An eager joy in the midst of obedience. That to me is the hardest one. The most difficult part of this.

Now, someone in the Bible told their children this saying. It's not worded in the exact same way, but you find the same ideas there in the Scripture. Who was this person? This person, let me give you a hint, they had many children.

They were a father to many children. These children lived in different places. He had some kids who were young, some children who were old.

Who's this person? He came along to his kids, and in essence, he told them, first time, quickly, cheerfully. Who is that? Paul. The Apostle Paul.

So turn to 2 Corinthians 8. These were not biological children. If you're unawares, the New Testament, Paul talks about being a father of people in the spiritual sense. And ultimately, we as Christians are children of God.

So 2 Corinthians 8. 9. I've been struck in these last few weeks by Paul's statement that God loves... You want to be and act in a way that God loves. That's what I want. I want more of the love of God in my life.

Paul actually comes along and says God loves something. God loves a cheerful giver. God loves the Christian to be cheerful.

Cheerful. So that's been on my mind. I want us to consider that in 2 Corinthians.

Now, there's a lot we could read, but I want to mainly focus on, in a moment, in chapter 9, verses 6 and on. And that is because, if you see how verse 6 starts, Paul says, the point is this. So Paul goes on and explains what his point is.

So rather than look at everything in detail prior to that, we're going to look at what his point is. And now the headset did... See, I want to mainly look at verse 6 and on because Paul says the point is this. Right? I like Paul.

Paul's very... He'll give a teaching. He'll talk about something. Then he'll hone in and say the point is this.

Right? You kind of summarize what you're talking about and you help people in that way. But what was happening, the church body had to have a gift prepared to be picked up and taken for relief of the saints. Right? And we read in Romans 15, it's the saints in Jerusalem.

And so you have believers in Macedonia. You have believers in Ikea. And they're preparing gifts to be given.

And the Macedonians already had their gift ready, but those at Corinth, they did not have it ready. And so Paul is actually writing to them to make sure that when he gets there, everything is set in order. And Paul, you get the sense here, he expects them to respond the first time in a quick manner without delay.

And you see in chapter 9, verse 1, he says, verse 2, For I know your readiness of which I boast about you to the people of Macedonia, saying that you would have been ready since last year and your zeal even stirred up most of them. But I'm sending the brothers so that our boasting about you may not prove empty in this matter so that you may be ready as I said you would be. And then he says in verse 4, this is chapter 9. Otherwise, if some Macedonians come with me and find that you're not ready, we would be humiliated.

Wow. To say nothing of you for being so confident. So he's saying say nothing of you, meaning how are you going to feel? I know how I'm going to feel.

Paul's saying I'm going to be humiliated. To say nothing of you for being so confident. So I thought it was necessary to urge brothers to go on ahead to arrange in advance for the gift you have promised so that it may be ready as a willing gift and not as an exaction.

And then he goes on and he explains some points right after this because he wants it to be willing. He wants it to be a cheerful gift. But Paul expects when someone says they're going to do something, that they're ready, right? We're going to give this gift.

He has every expectation that they say they're going to give this gift by X amount of time, but the gift is actually going to be ready. And with this church, there's a hesitation that that's actually going to happen. And so Paul actually writes, I take it as hesitation.

And so Paul actually writes to them a letter to make sure that they are on top of things to keep him from being humiliated and to keep them from being humiliated as well. They needed a reminder. And it sounds like this gift, I mean, he's talking about a year here.

It sounds like they had a long time. And you know how stuff's going on and you're getting something ready and you can kind of drag your feet and getting something done. So that could be understandable.

They need a reminder. Paul didn't want this gift to be ready his second trip around. He wanted it ready the first time they came.

Right? And he didn't want to get to town and have to wait. Well, Paul, we're glad you're here, but you know, we need another month. Can you just hang around another month? No, he wanted to get into town and be ready the first time.

He wanted to get into town and he wanted to have it ready quickly. All ready to be prepared for that gift to be taken. He says anything less would bring him shame.

And he uses the word humiliation. Have you ever been humiliated as a parent? Never happened before? It's happened to me. You know, you expect something out of your kids and then they do something publicly that's very humiliating to you, right? That's what Paul's feeling with his kids right here, his spiritual children in the faith.

Now, if you're just like with a parent, Paul has a command, he has an expectation, but he realizes in telling them to get ready for this gift, there's a danger, right? There's a danger. And what is that danger is these people might be ready on time, they might be doing it quickly, but what might be lacking? Something that is very precious to God might not be there when they give that money over, it might not be given in a cheerful way. And that's a pretty significant thing for Paul.

Paul wants all three of these things to be reality, not just they're quick, not just the first time, but he wants them to have a cheerful heart. And so let's read verses six and on. He says, the point is this.

Now, we're going to look at this. He gives some logic here that's actually, and I'm going to argue, the logic he gives here should actually create in you a greater degree of cheerfulness that will then lead you to give, whether that's financially is here or your time, your energy, everything, to be dying to self and all in for serving others. He says in verse six, the point is this, whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.

And then he says this, each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion for God loves a cheerful giver. And then he says, and God loves a cheerful giver and God is able to make all grace abound to you so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work. And then he says, as it is written, he has distributed freely.

And if you go back and look at this Psalm, the he there is not the Lord, it is the believer. He has distributed freely. He has given to the poor.

His righteousness endures forever. Then it says, he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness. You will be enriched in every way to be generous in every way, which through us will produce thanksgiving to God.

For the ministry of this service is not only supplying the needs of the saints, but is also overflowing in many thanksgivings to God. By their approval of this service, they will glorify God because of your submission that comes, your submission that comes from your confession of the gospel of Christ and the generosity of your contribution for them and for all others. Paul's saying a lot right here.

We're gonna look at this. I know I'm just reading it. It can be hard to pick everything up.

Contribution for them and for all others. While they long for you and pray for you because of the surpassing grace of God upon you, thanks be to God for this inexpressible gift. Thanks be to God for this inexpressible gift.

So as God's children, how cheerful are you? How joyous and eager are you, believer, in the area of giving of yourself, your time, your resources, your energy? Are you caught in any, what's one of the common ruts that any of us can get caught into? It can be, we can get caught into the rut, kind of like what Max shared a few weeks ago in the Lord's Supper. Just like with the Lord's Supper, you can get caught in the rut where you're doing the Lord's Supper, you're taking the elements, but it's not a reality. You can do that with the singing, right? You're singing the songs today and it's just kind of the words are not, there's no reality, there's no cheerfulness there.

You know what, in James it says, it talks about cheerfulness. What does it say at the end? He who is cheerful should do what? What's an expression of cheerfulness in the book of James? He who is cheerful should sing. Would you like to sing for us today, brother? It's interesting.

There's an outward expression. You know, you tend, I mean, if someone is really a cheerful person, you tend to be able to recognize that from the external thing. I mean, if I go around and I'm just gloomy and doomy and I say I'm cheerful, it's going to be pretty hard to believe that I'm actually cheerful.

Now, let's just think for a moment, this word cheerfulness, you see that right there in verse seven. God loves a cheerful giver. Well, what is cheerfulness? Well, Paul does something to define cheerfulness that we will often do.

He defines it by telling us what it is not. What cheerfulness is not. He says giving should not be done reluctantly.

What is reluctantly? If you're reluctant, that means you're hesitant. Right? You feel some sort of guilt. You feel some tight grip.

You're not free in what you're doing. Right? The guy with the gun to the head who needs to call and tell someone to take money out because he's a hostage is doing that reluctantly. Right? He's forced to do it.

It's under compulsion. And that's the second word. Paul says, nor should it be done under compulsion.

Well, what's compulsion? Pressured, right? Dragged into it. That's one of the things when I came to GCC that I so appreciate and I appreciate to this day is that we do not pass an offering plate around. I cannot tell you how impactful that was when I started coming to this church and there was never an offering plate.

Because I remember growing up as a kid, that was always one of the dreaded times. It's like, oh, they're going to have someone seen us on and they're going to pass a plate around and what are you going to put into the plate? And then people are looking around at people and even though Jesus says not to let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, I mean, I've appreciated that. That whatever one is giving, there's not this external pressure.

That's what Paul says. You don't want people giving under compulsion. You don't want them being dragged into it.

So what's cheerfulness? It's the opposite. It's giving freely, gladly, with eagerness because you want to, not because you have to. I mean, as kids, how many things I did because I had to do it? I mean, most of the kids are in the back, but some of you kids, you might be here listening to me right now and it's totally under compulsion.

You're very reluctant. I've seen some kids, they get away with sitting in the right spot where their parents are on this side. They sit and they sneak a little earbud in their ear.

Their parents can't recognize it. And the kid's just listening to something during the service. I mean, what's that say about the heart? That's not, there's no rejoicing in God.

There's no cheerfulness in the Lord Jesus Christ. You can come out of that. You can have great joy in the Lord like we do.

So cheerfulness. Yeah, what kind of child of God are you? When your father gives you a command, do you obey it cheerfully or are you reluctant? Is there anything right now you're reluctant to obey the Lord and that the Lord wants you to do? Right? Maybe he's burdening you to go downtown and get involved in evangelism. Maybe he's burdening you to go to the nursing home.

I don't know what it is. Maybe he's burdening you to invite someone over in the church. Is there any sort of reluctance there that's happening? Well, what Paul shares here in verses six and on, I hope will destroy that reluctance and give you great cheerfulness in the midst of these acts of service towards one another.

I think what Paul's sharing, obviously if he wants them to be a cheerful giver, if the pitfall is they just do it externally but nothing internally, well, Paul's going to be sharing truths that should bring about joyful obedience. And I think that's exactly what he does in verses six and on. He gives truths there that if you and I understand, if we're gripped with, we're going to have a joyful obedience.

And so let's look at this. If you just got here, 2 Corinthians 9. He says in verse five, I want this generous gift not as something you feel forced to do. That's what, I think this is the footnote in the ESV, another version mentions being forced to do.

He says I want you to be ready as a willing gift and not as an exaction. And then you get to verse six. Verse six, the point is this.

As you can say, Paul has about four or five things under his one point that he points out. We're going to look at those. And as we do, I hope you will be gripped with the truths Paul shares that will then produce a joy in you about rightly understanding God, right? And now you're able to cheerfully serve the Lord because you rightly view God, right? That's really what it's going to come down to.

If I can't cheerfully give of myself, the problem is my view of the Lord. If I'm reluctant to serve the Lord, it shows I'm actually reluctant to believe some truth about God that is true in His Word, right? That's really the root of it, is a reluctance to embrace truths about our God and His character. If we can't follow through with obedience that He calls us to, that's the root.

It's a view of the Lord. And that ultimately is rightly called. It's a sinful.

It's sinful when you view someone in an incorrect, inappropriate, and unbiblical way. But Paul here, he says, here is the point. So Paul, first thing here, pretty simple.

Verse six, if you sow sparingly, if you just sow a little, you are also going to get back what? A little. You give a little, you're gonna get back a little. Then he says it in the way that we would want to imitate.

Whoever sows bountifully, what will happen? They will also reap bountifully. You give much, receive much. I mean, Paul's just saying, this is how God operates.

I don't feel like that's how God operates. Okay, you don't feel that's how God operates. How do you then diagnose what's going on? Is the problem with you or is the problem with the Lord? If the Lord says there's a certain way He operates, and I don't witness that in my life, do I fault the Lord or do I recognize I'm either not interpreting right what the Lord means, that could be the problem, or the issue is me, right? I would say the issue would be one of self-accountability.

The problem is us. Some believers, you might hear this, you struggle to relate. It doesn't match what I've personally experienced.

The faults, not the Lord's. Listen to this, a similar verse in Proverbs 11, verse 24. One gives freely, yet grows all the richer.

Another withholds what he should give, and what happens to him? He only suffers want. Okay, so that's Paul. Paul's sharing this truth.

This is how God operates right here. He shares that right there in verse six. That's point one under Paul's main point.

If you give freely, you're going to grow all the richer. And you say, I do not experience that in my life, brethren. The problem is not with the Lord.

Problem is not with the Lord. And yes, I'll explain more as we go. Maybe I'll just add that right now.

Paul mentions here, oh, what verse was it? Paul mentions somewhere in here, he makes the statement that at certain points, where is it? That you're providing for someone and you have an abundance, but at certain points, you don't have the abundance and others are providing for you, right? Paul makes that statement in here. I can't pick which verse it was, but I can be abundantly giving and there be a season where it seems like there's not an abundance, but it doesn't mean God isn't still overflowing. It just might be going in a different direction to others who are now giving to me.

And now I'm still being sustained by God's flow. It's just not always as abundant for the individual. So Paul obviously is not saying here, there's always this financial abundance that the Christian is going to be experiencing in the midst of sacrificially giving.

God might bring them in a season where they have little, but God overall is still overflowing and is going to provide for that believer. So secondly here, if it's true that if you give much, you receive much, you like me would be reading Paul and you're thinking to yourself, well, then what do I give? I mean, I want to enter in and I'm calling this a cycle. I want to enter into this cycle where you're giving and God is providing and you keep giving and it's just this cycle.

And you know what? Christians, they get in that cycle in their life and they can get ejected from that cycle. And they might not even recognize it. They get in the cycle of faith and trusting the Lord and then all of a sudden they take an exit one day without even recognizing what's happened in their lives.

So you're thinking, what should I give? I'd be a fool to pass up on this. Well, Paul then answers that. Verse seven, each one must give as he has decided in his heart.

Right? God wants you and I to make a decision in our heart. The God who, look at verse 16 in chapter eight, thanks be to God who put into the heart of Titus the earnest care that he had. I love that.

Titus, why do you have such earnest care for these brethren? God put it into my heart. Why did you feel burdened to give that to me? God put it in my heart. I mean, it was God.

Do you know what Philippians 2 says? He works in us to will and to work for His good pleasure. So God puts things in our hearts. And then what happens? We give cheerfully.

There's a desire there from the Lord. And so that's what he says in verse seven. The second point under the main point.

And then, so far Paul's made this first point, give much, you receive much, don't hold back. Secondly, give cheerfully, choose willingly and gladly what to give. Right? So he's not putting them under pressure.

And then thirdly, this would then make us wonder, well, how, I mean, how is all this even possible? When it sounds like some crypto ad on YouTube, this is just totally unsustainable. It's not gonna last. It's not gonna last.

Well, God, the Paul now shows why this is a sustainable model in verse eight. And he starts it with an and. God loves a cheerful giver.

And then he affirms to them. And God, which ultimately, the greatest cheerful giver is the Lord. God is able to make all grace abound to you so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times.

You guys see that? God is able to make all grace. So having all sufficiency in all things at all times. And that's pretty broad.

You may abound in every or all good works. All good works. This is sustainable because the Lord is the one providing.

I can go plant as much seed as I can because I have a seed supplier who's got an infinite supply. And he's gonna make sure to keep allocating seed to me to be able to continue to sow that seed. Paul says God is able.

If this is about the ability of God, right? So much in the Christian life is can I step out in faith and trust the ability of God? Can I have confidence in his word and his ability to do what he has said? That's the Christian life. This is life of faith. I mean, Paul's saying you can't out give God.

Paul's saying you will never give more than God will give back. Paul's saying you can't outmatch the generosity of God. I mean, if I really believe I can't outmatch the generosity of God, then I would be all the more generous.

You see, believing that will lead to generosity and cheerfulness because you know the Lord is gonna provide and he's put these desires in my heart. This isn't something under compulsion. This is from the Lord.

And if it's from the Lord, he will see to it that all will be supplied for. I mean, honestly, it's like Tim said years ago at Fatty's. I remember the statement.

If you really believe that your giving is gonna store up treasure in heaven, we would be people who give all the more. If we really, I mean, storing up treasure in heaven. Like if that's really true, which it is, we should of all people model that in our lives.

And I think our church is very much in this cycle to some degree. And it's a beautiful thing to witness this faith and trust in the Lord and His provisions. Now don't misunderstand this.

This is not the prosperity gospel, right? This has nothing to do with the prosperity gospel. What's the money for that God provides for the Christian? And this is the thing, to answer this question, the first thing you're gonna ask is, does Paul authoritatively interpret what he means in the context? If Paul does, then we've got a good sure word. And guess what Paul does? Paul does not leave us hanging.

When he talks in verse 10, look at verse 10, he talks about God supplying and giving an increase. Look at verse 11. You will be enriched in every way.

And what is the reason for? Why is the Lord gonna keep enriching you and giving you resources? Paul authoritatively interprets what the reason is, right there. To be what? To be generous in every way. In other words, what's Paul saying? The Lord is resupplying your supply for you to be generous, meaning to keep on using those resources to give to others, to help the needs of others.

I mean, that's how Paul interprets it. This is really important to get because I think some people, they miss that. They start in a way building their own kingdom, not being as generous, and no wonder the cycle ends.

And they start to, what will happen to the supply? The supply line. Well, the problem was, as supply was coming in, it was getting designated to things that the Lord did not put designation stickers on and it got sent in a wrong direction. So Paul says, you will be enriched in every way.

Here the reason is, brother, sister, it's so you can be generous in every way. I mean, God gives you more so you can give more. It's incredible.

R.G. Laterno. Laterno University is a very good university near Longview. It was founded by a Christian industrialist who invented earth-moving machines.

He built a massive business. But what set him apart, it wasn't just that he had all these great ideas and these innovations. No, he was a man of God who gave.

He famously said, which I think others had famously said this. I don't think this is original to him. He said, I shovel it out and God shovels it back, but God has a bigger shovel.

At one point, Laterno was giving 90% of his income and living on 10%. And it wasn't a gimmick, it was a conviction. And the more he gave, the more he seemed to receive.

He built universities, funded missions, supported countless ministries around the world. All right, that's just one example from modern history of a man who lived out what Paul was saying here. And yes, because the amount of wealth, he lived it out in a greater scale than most might.

Same thing with George Muller. He didn't hoard, he gave, he sowed, and God kept supplying him with seed. So are you hearing, Paul? There's a cycle that you can get in.

There's a cycle. You sow generously, you reap generously, you're enriched, and you give again. And it just keeps going.

You give, you receive, you give again. And that's honestly, that's what you find with the church of Philippi, right? Paul says to them, no one from the beginning of the gospel partook in giving and receiving except you only. And they've done that from the first day until now.

And Paul's confident they're gonna keep on doing that. I mean, this one church supporting Paul continually in giving and receiving. Remember, that's where he says in chapter four that he doesn't seek the gift, he seeks the fruit that increases to their account.

There's treasure, there's eternal treasure that's happening here for those at Philippi. I mean, Paul's saying, get caught up in this. Get caught up in this cycle of storing up treasure in heaven.

So are you in this cycle right now in your life? I think it's more difficult for us to recognize whether we are or we're not because of where we live. Because the amount of wealth, the amount of riches, the amount of all these things, it's harder to maybe pinpoint, am I even in this cycle? Am I just kind of over here and I give to certain things, but am I actually in this cycle of giving to such a degree of myself, my time, my resources, my energy, my heart, everything I've got unto the Lord, where I just keep seeing the Lord supplying, supplying and He gives more and I keep giving and it's just this ongoing cycle. Imagine you're a young farmer during a famine.

You have one sack of grain left. You could try to eat it and keep it going to survive, maybe a few more days, a few more months, or you could plant it. Now the planting can feel very risky.

It's all one has. He plants it because he knows what God has promised. I realize in making that statement right there, some people, that sounds like the prosperity gospel.

Brethren, don't miss what Paul's saying in these chapters because of the heresy of the prosperity gospel. Please don't, it's just like with the Holy Spirit. Don't let people take the Holy Spirit away from us as Christians.

So planting feels risky, it's all he has, but he plants it because he knows what God has promised. That's what Paul's saying. Giving might feel like losing.

And if it does, then you won't do it. You'll be compulsive. But when you start to view God right, it now becomes a cheerful, eager endeavor.

Your view of God changes the heart and now it's only natural to enter into this cycle because you know my Father won't fail. And guess what happens? Once you started to see the Lord providing for you in the midst of that cycle, you don't want to get out of it, right? I mean, it's like when I got saved, I remember getting saved out of a background of all sorts of lust and I just realized, I have to believe I never have to go back to this stuff again. I've got to believe God's power is such I don't ever need to go click on those things ever again.

And you know what? The more time goes on and it goes on and you haven't gone back, it emboldens you to believe the Lord's promises really are true. The same thing in this area. Same thing in all sorts of areas in the Christian life.

You're going to be tested. You got to maintain this trust in the Lord. It's like the parable Jesus said, one buried his talent, he lost what he had, but the one who used it was given more.

Why? The point was never to preserve what you have, just to multiply it for God's kingdom. Think of the widow of Zarephath in 1 Kings 17. I mean, imagine a widow, you're gathering sticks in a drought stricken land.

You just have enough flour and oil to make one final meal for yourself and your son. Then you're going to go die. And Elijah, the prophet of God, he shows up.

Hey, can I use that last bit? It's kind of like the Lord, right? Putting something in your heart. We have this intention of using these things in this way and then God puts it in your heart. You need to do this with that.

You can maybe fight it a little bit. You know what? If this is what the Lord wants me to do, this is exciting. It's not what I would expect.

It's actually kind of out of the ordinary, but God is a supernatural God. You know, we looked at grace group. You know, those believers in chapter eight who were giving abundantly, they were also severely suffering at the same time.

Their response was totally unnatural. It was supernatural and that's what the grace of God does and so this widow, she chose to trust the word of the Lord through Elijah. She gives what little she has and in return, her jar of flour never ran empty the entire time of the famine.

Her jug of oil did not go dry. It's incredible. Why? Simple, God gave His word and God is not a liar.

I mean, it's not complicated, but it is in one way. We complicate it. But that was the lady's entry point to the cycle.

You got a little left and the Lord says, use it in this way and she did and she found that Elijah was no liar. He was rightly representing the Lord. Well, another thing that Paul mentions here that should make us cheerful is in verse nine and 10.

He mentions a righteousness that endures forever and then he says at the end of verse 10, and increase the harvest of your righteousness. I think Paul's still driving home his main point in verse nine by quoting Psalm 112 and it's not about God if you look at it in this context. It's about a righteous person.

He says he has distributed freely. He's given to the poor. What's the result? What's the result? His righteousness endures forever and there's different ways people interpret this, but I think as many commentators say, it just means when you give, God ensures this righteous action has a lasting impact.

Your generosity, it doesn't vanish. It produces something that endures, that lasts. It has eternal value, brethren.

If I really believe that these acts of righteousness endure forever, if I really believe in verse 10, the increase, the harvest of your righteousness, if I really believe as Philippians 4 says that I don't seek the gift, but the fruit that increases to your credit. If we really believe that, if we really believe there's eternal rewards, if you really believe there's treasure in heaven that moths and thieves cannot take, they can't destroy, Lord help us. Our part is to faithfully give of ourselves our energy, our time, our resources.

God's part is to bring the growth, right? Paul said in 1 Corinthians, I planted, Apollos watered, God gave the growth. We don't have to worry about that. God will give the growth.

We must be faithful in what he's called us to do. And then another thing under Paul's point right here, well, actually in verse 10 again, he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing. I mean, it's not one of those statements like you're uncertain about the guarantee of it, right? It's pretty positive.

Now in chapter eight, whose example does Paul bring in? Who became poor that for our sakes, we might be rich? The Lord Jesus Christ. Right, you see that in verse nine. You know of the grace of the Lord Jesus, though he was rich, yet for your sake, he became poor so that by his poverty, you might become rich.

Well, Paul brings that up again here to close the point. He says the point is this and he's bringing in these thoughts and he brings in the Lord Jesus again, right there in verse 13. He mentions supplying and overflowing and thanksgiving to God.

Then he says in verse 13, by their approval of this service, they will glorify God. And what's ultimately going on, Paul? They're going to glorify God. What's really happening when they're giving sacrificially in this way? What's really going on? They're going to glorify God because you're submitting the submission that comes from your confession of the gospel of Christ.

Hear that? They're submitting to the gospel. They're believing what Christ has done is death, burial and resurrection. They're believing that he regenerates people from the dead and he gives them new hearts.

They're submitting to that. And as they're confessing the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, this is one of the overflows, right? This is one of the overflows of the gospel of Christ. And he says in verse 15, thanks be to God for his inexpressible gift.

I mean, the more you and I just recognize this is so indescribable. This is inexpressible that God would slaughter his own son for me. That all these other things seem so small.

It's like, how could I grumble at the Lord's lot in my life? How could I not be cheerful in the midst of doing this? When God gave his son this indescribable gift. And so yes, Paul wants them to be motivated by the gospel. The more you and I see Christ, the more we will be transformed from one degree of glory to the next.

And you know what he said in chapter seven of this letter? He said, they're going to bring holiness to completion. And he quotes Old Testament, New Covenant promises. And it's through those promises that we bring holiness to completion and we purify ourselves.

Well, one of those areas we need to be purified in is this place of the heart where we become more cheerful people. Are you bringing your holiness to completion through the fear of God and becoming more of a cheerful Christian? Having a greater, eager joy in serving the Lord. That's what he wants of us.

He wants us to have that. This is all brought by the Lord. You know, there's these videos online and it says this is a sponsorship.

And they say, you know, without our sponsors, we could never produce these videos, you know, because we won't have money and we got to go get a real job, right? I mean, no sponsorship, sorry. Maybe that is a real job. Especially if you sell jewelry online.

That's definitely a real job. You know what? If the sponsor pulls out, they might be right. The channel can't survive.

You know what? The Lord is sponsoring this endeavor and He will never pull out. He's not going to pull out, brethren. And He's never going to go to us and say, well, you need to do something in your life that's not pleasing to Me.

You know, that goes against your conscience. He's never going to have that in what His demands are for sustaining this endeavor. This isn't a gamble.

So, Paul's giving these truths. And if you actually believe all of these truths, if you really believe there's an infinite supply, if you really believe God is giving you so that you can give and with eagerness, continue to give and help others, and if you really believe God has given you His only Son, if you really believe He's going to keep giving you seed and there's this seed store that is an infinite supply and your name is there and you can go get that, if we really believe all of that, that should make us all of a sudden really joyous and cheerful and realize this is really actually exciting. You know, I mean, you go get, you know, our kids don't understand finances.

A lot of our kids at certain ages don't understand finances, right? And you go give the kid a credit card. And I mean, when did your kid even understand what a credit card was? Here cash is, here credit card is. And if you go tell them they can go use that and it's going to keep being supplied.

I mean, they're going to feel free about that. Now, their will will not be to do things that are pleasing to you. They're going to probably waste a lot of money on candy.

But that freedom they feel that we have a Father who's providing and He's given us access. Brethren, we've got to be like that with the Lord. He's given us every reason to trust Him.

If after hearing these truths, He who supplies seed to the sower will supply, will multiply, will increase. If after hearing these truths, you still feel reluctant than what's really going on. Like I said, at root, it's unbelief.

You doubt God's promise to supply. You're treating God like an unreliable supplier. You don't think He'll come through.

You don't think He's going to deliver what you need. So you're not going to do what He's going to ask. You're not going to get into the cycle of supply.

You're not going to have an overflowing cheerfulness in your heart. That's not faith. That's fear.

And it reveals what we truly believe about God. When 8.14, Paul says, your abundance at the present time. Oh, this is the verse I meant to refer to earlier.

He says, your abundance at the present time should supply their need. And then he says this, so that their abundance may supply your need. Meaning you're not abundant at some point, but you're still getting supplied.

And he says that there may be fairness. As it is written, whoever gathered much had nothing left over and whoever gathered little had no lack. Now, well, let me just read this example since we're low on time.

Deuteronomy 15, take care lest there be an unworthy thought in your heart. An unworthy thought in your heart. And you say the seventh year, the year of release is near and your eye look grudgingly on your poor brother and you give him nothing.

And he cried to the Lord against you and you'd be guilty of sin. What was going on there? In Israel, every seventh year, there was a year of release when debts were forgiven, right? And if someone had borrowed money and they couldn't repay it before that year, the lender would cancel the debt. So imagine a poor person, they come asking for help, but it's near the seventh year.

So the temptation is to say, well, I'm not going to get my money back anyways, because it's about to be near the seventh year. So I'm just not going to give it all. And the Lord warns Israel against such a selfish thought.

You see, a thought came in their mind, right? We have thoughts, right? It's like in John, if anyone has this world's goods and sees his brother in need and closes his heart, how does God's love abide in him? Has that verse ever hit you? I'll never forget when some of the young guys wanted to borrow my green minivan and go all the way to the Passion Conference up north. And they asked me to borrow my minivan. And I remember my heart just closed like a piece of concrete.

And I went home. I didn't have peace. God wouldn't let me have peace.

I had this world's goods. Was their need legitimate? Of course their need wasn't legitimate. I can really, no.

No, see, okay, it was legitimate. And even if it wasn't, I had a bigger need to grow in my love for them. And so I let them use the van.

And you know, an hour, two hours into the drive, the van breaks down. I got to go grab a part. I got to... Did I do that all with the greatest cheerfulness? When I got there with that part to a mechanic in the middle of nowhere who's going to rip me off and charge me a lot more and I didn't want to fight him over it.

Was I sitting there just joyful at the plundering of my goods, serving the brethren? I was not. I did not rightly represent the Lord. For the joy set before me endured the cross, brethren.

He goes on in Deuteronomy. You should give to Him freely. Your heart, don't be grudgingly when you give to Him.

And then listen to this, brethren. He gives a reason why you shouldn't be grudgingly. You know what that reason is? It's the same reason Paul keeps giving.

Because this the Lord your God will bless you in all your work and in all you undertake. Wow, I can actually give to them and God's got my back. God's going to give in abundance and supply and not leave me lacking.

Don't be grudgingly. Why? The Lord will bless you. Well, what do you want? Do you really want whatever the blessing of God is on your life? Another thought here in closing.

Reluctance giving hurts. It hurts people because it's not loving. You know, if you asked me to help you move and I got there and you asked me just straight up, said, brother, why did you help me move today? Why? If I said I felt delighted to come and help you move today.

You won't be hurt. But if I say, honestly, I felt forced. I wanted to be at home laying on a couch, not moving your heavy couch up the stairs.

I got back problems. I mean, Paul had some eye problems. Paul had a lot of health problems.

That didn't stop him from serving. What does that communicate? It communicates I don't really love you. Notice that's right where Paul's at in chapter eight.

Look at verse eight. Do all this. Prove by the earnest of others that your love is what? Genuine.

He goes on in verse 24 of chapter eight. Same thing. Give proof before the churches of your love.

You see, so this isn't complicated. If you really believe the love of God for you, if you really believe, if I really believe, this is very challenging for my own soul, if I really believe God's love for me, God's provision for me, that will lead me to have a cheerful, eager joy in my own life. And that will be expressed in being sacrificial of my time and energy and financial resources and everything I've got for the serving of the brethren.

And I'm going to be in a cycle where God is going to keep sustaining it. He's going to see this as a worthy venture, a worthy endeavor, right? And that's what we have going on corporately. That's why we can boast and say, look, the Lord's meeting our needs.

He's providing. Well, why? We're seeking to do the will of God. We're seeking to give to the needy, to the poor.

We're seeking to take the gospel to the world. We're seeking to meet the needs of those even right down our street. And we can trust the Lord.

So brethren, another thought to think here. If you say, well, James, I'm actually, I don't feel cheerful. That doesn't mean that you force yourself to feel cheerful right before you give.

The point is you being cheerful in that state will lead you to cheerfully give. You got to get that. You get that? God loves a cheerful giver.

You see God's love for you and you're overflown with cheerfulness. Your giving now comes out of cheerfulness. It's not, I feel bad.

I feel compulsive. I feel nothing. Let me go and now give something.

No, the cheerfulness leads to that. Amy Carmichael rightly said, you can give without loving. You can give without loving, but you cannot love without giving and giving cheerfully.

Meaning if love is there, serving others automatically happens. Well, we have a few minutes. Let's see what else I should mention.

Brethren, God isn't measuring the amount you give as much as the cheerfulness of your heart. Do hospitality without what? Grumbling. You know, this is not just God loves a cheerful giver.

God loves you being cheerful as a Christian all the time. Let me, yeah, let me prove that to you. Deuteronomy 28, 47, because you did not serve the Lord your God with joyfulness and gladness of heart.

And you know what's amazing? He says, because of the abundance of all things. The abundance of all things, His abundant provision should lead them to serve the Lord with joyful and glad hearts. God rebuked Israel not just for failing to serve, but for not serving with a joyful, cheerful, and a glad heart.

The same logic, you know, is what Paul is saying here. Think of Romans 12. The one who does acts of mercy is to do them with what? Cheerfulness.

What about 1 Peter? Shepherds are to shepherd with what type of a heart? Shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight, not under what? Compulsion, but willingly as God would have you. And you know how we know God loves a cheerful pastor? Because Hebrews 13, he says, let them do this without groaning. The Lord doesn't want any of your shepherds to be groaning.

The Lord wants all of us to have a cheerfulness. Then we're rightly representing God. Then that cheerfulness is going to rub over on you guys.

And that's the danger when you get churches that are legalistic. They create laws dogmatically and teach them that the Bible doesn't teach. You do not have cheerfulness there.

You've got biting and devouring one another. You've got destruction. It's horrible.

So brethren, are you cheerful? I'm not as cheerful as I'd like to be in my life. I can tell you that. I don't have the eager joy that I should have.

What do I need? I need to be more convinced about everything Paul says here about God's abundant supply, about God's character, about God's indescribable gift, about the gospel and what he has done for me and his son. If you don't see God right, that's the issue. You see God's abundance, it's going to produce some cheerfulness.

Paul is also just making it clear here, God is not reluctant. God is not reluctant. What does Philippians 4 say? My God will supply all of your needs according to his riches in Christ Jesus.

And he's obviously demonstrated that right there in verse 15. Thanks be to God for his inexpressible gift. So brethren, I am very grateful for you all and all the sacrificial giving that you guys have done and over the years and displaying this and living this out.

May God help us to all the more be such a church and be such individuals in such a cycle in our own lives. Because when we do, we're showing rightly the heart of the Father. We're showing who our God is.

My last point, what's the longest feast you've been to? In the Bible, what's the longest feast? Was it six months? Ahasuerus in the book of Esther? Could that feast continue on for more than six months? Why couldn't it? I mean, it'd be insupportable. All the food, the money, people got to go to work, right? People need to go to work. You know what Proverbs 15, 15 says? The cheerful of heart has what? A continual feast.

You realize, Christian, you and I can be in one long feast. A continual feast. Because unlike Ahasuerus, we have our God who's richly providing all of our needs.

And we can be cheerful and it's a feast. If we're begrudgingly, it's not a feast. It's going to feel miserable.

It's not going to be exciting. We've got a lifetime guarantee of continual supply that actually works. Proverbs 15, 13, a glad heart makes a cheerful face.

By sorrow of heart, the spirit is crushed. Proverbs 17, 22, a cheerful heart brings good healing. Is anyone cheerful? As I said, express that with seeming.

Wow, may the Lord give us more cheerfulness. Well, let's pray, that's all I have. Father, Lord, we thank You so much.

Lord, for Your promises and Your Word. Lord, help us to rightly, test isn't the right word, but prove. Prove Your promises to be true.

Lord, we test something we think might break. Is this product really at its final stage? Lord, Your product really is at its final stage. And so, Lord, help us all the more to prove You for being who You are.

Lord, I pray You'd make that real in my own life. In a greater way, Lord, how can I get deeper into this cycle of generously serving and giving of self, time, energy, of everything, Lord, for the interest of others, for Your kingdom, for the things of God. And Lord, for us to just experience Your supernatural provision and You providing every one of our needs according to Your riches in Christ Jesus.

Lord, I pray You would help us be a more eager and cheerful church. Lord, the only way is the more we see You and the more we see Your character. So, Lord, show us Christ.

Show us more of Your Son. Lord, grip us with more of what He has done. Him and all His poverty coming down, becoming a servant, becoming a slave, and dying the death we deserve.

Father, we thank You for Your Son. Lord, be with us now as we fellowship and interact going into the next meeting. We pray this in Christ's name, amen.