Galatians 6:6-6:10

Jehovah Jireh, Lord, we know you are the owner of the cattle on a thousand hills.

We know that it is your desire to bless your children. Lord, we confess that what we have as a gift is a trust from you.

And Lord, we also know that it is our privilege to be part of your kingdom work here on earth.

We consider truths today that you enable us and you bless us and you call us to be generous with what you've given to us, that it would be done for your church, for your glory.

We pray as Jeff teaches this afternoon that we would see these truths in Jesus' name.

Amen. Amen. There is a kind of sowing that causes you to reap again and again and again for the rest of your life and even for all eternity.

Sowing and reaping, such an important part of the scriptures. We know that salvation is not based on what you sow as if you would earn the reaping of eternal life.

Rather, salvation is a gift and the book of Galatians is very clear about this. And yet there's a transition in Galatians 5 verse 13 to guard against kind of an overreaction which would turn into kind of a lawless form of living.

Hey, if we're saved already by grace through faith, that does not mean that we should just sow to the flesh because the flesh will not save.

In verse 13 it says, only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh.

Being saved by grace through faith means you have eternal life locked up, but that doesn't mean you are now just set free to sow to the flesh.

The opposite is true. Rick was here back in 1979, 1980 when you were meeting at the school.

And this property, which one of our lawn guys is just mowing right now, so you'll hear the lawn mower going.

This used to be a cornfield or some kind of farm, right? Yeah. And they were meeting just across that street and they decided they needed a property and they walked.

The stand says when they walked it, actually they had to do it in boots because all of this was kind of submerged and they brought in a bunch of fill to make this property.

But this small group of believers together pooled their resources, their financial resources and bought a plot of land from, from a farmer.

And then they brought in a bunch of dirt and they hired crews to build this building that we now enjoy.

What they sowed, we reap the benefits of. In the same way, it was only about two years ago when a young man from Africa named

Hamilton came walking in to this sanctuary on a Sunday morning and said, who's this new guy in the back?

Little do we know that he comes from Malawi of all places and has traveled to the

United States to study at Cairn University. And we get to know him and for a year he's in our congregation.

We minister to him, he ministers to us. There's this brotherhood and then he goes back to Malawi and just after being there for six months, the

Lord lays on his heart to, to open an orphanage. And because of this partnership that we have in the gospel, we began to take an offering.

Just Christmas of 2023 and before you know it, we've raised enough money to fund the orphanage and he names the orphanage after Cornerstone Church.

But come Easter, they're still short two systems, a solar system to provide electricity and a well to provide water.

And so on Easter Sunday, we bring that need to the congregation. And after first service, a lady comes up to me and says, how much money do you need to finish this?

I tell her the number and she says, consider it done. She's willing to give to finish the orphanage and then other people give and now we have a gift ready to go to finish the orphanage.

Listen, church, when we're old, because now we're all young, right? When we're old, why are you coughing over there,

Bob? When we're sitting on our rocking chairs on the front porch talking about the good old days, how the

Lord used us to build an orphanage in Malawi, we'll be talking about how John Laskin flew over in September of 2024 and got to take those giant scissors and cut the red tape.

How are you going to get those on the plane, by the way? The giant scissors? Yeah, just prayer.

Just stuff them in your back pockets. How John went and we consecrated, we dedicated this orphanage to the

Lord, the cornerstone safe house in Malawi. I see you all are smiling while we're even just talking about this, right?

Because there is a joy that goes with giving and the joy will not only last until we give up the ghost, but for all eternity.

What a thought. For all eternity, we will be delighting in what we were so privileged to get to do in the giving of our resources to build this church.

I think within a year or two, I believe we'll have something built right next door to this building and we'll talk about how we had to endure the

New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection worried about a long -eared bat. The long -eared bat will be famous in cornerstone memory.

But do you see what I'm doing here? I'm reminding us of our story because we will delight in it on earth and then for all of eternity.

And these memories matter. It's a part of our shared history as a people. It's part of what makes us a family that the shared experiences that we've gone through, even bad times.

Hey, remember the argument we once had about a projector on the wall and whether we should pull down the screen or have reflective paint?

How silly we were to argue about that, you know? But even that becomes a part of our joy because we can now laugh about it.

And it's just life, right? The more you share life together, the more you sow together for a purpose, the greater your joy.

Those who sow in tears will reap in joy. Psalm 126 .3

talks about that. We'll get to it as we study. But let's open to Galatians chapter 6 verses 6 to 10 today.

And John, would you mind reading for us that passage? Galatians 6, next page, verses 6 to 10.

Thank you. It wasn't making any sense. Let the one who has taught the word share all good things with the one who teaches.

Do not be deceived. God is not mocked. For whatever one sows, that will he also reap.

For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption.

But to the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. And let us not grow weary in doing good.

For in due season we will reap if we do not give up. So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone and especially to those who are of the household of faith.

Amen. When I was studying this passage, I began to think that this is talking primarily about financial resources.

This passage. When I came to that conclusion by looking at, from verses 6 to 10, the connection of thought, a few other clues that I saw in the text,

I thought to myself, I'll bet the modern commentaries no longer talk about finances in this passage.

And I made a little note in my journal where I was taking notes with this prediction. The commentaries will think this has nothing to do with money.

Only good things like sharing benefits of a teaching.

So I open up Matthew Henry, a commentator from the 1600s. Yes. In reference to this, our children went to faith

Christian school. Yes. Do not worry about what this is, but he was teaching when we study and we work.

So it's the same thing, you know, you talk about finances, but it also is in the things we study, the things we work on.

Don't get worried doing it. That's right. Don't grow weary. Yeah. That's good.

Thank you. So in the commentaries, I was expecting that modern commentaries would not attach this to money.

Why? Because of the prosperity gospel. Who here knows what the prosperity gospel is?

You guys have, who here has turned on TVN, Trinity Broadcasting Network on TV? It is an overemphasis on this principle and an overstated physical promise related to the reaping.

So what the prosperity gospel teacher does on television is say, so into this ministry, the amount that you give will result in the amount of blessing.

So if you give $50, you could expect to receive tenfold what you give. And if you give $1 ,000, your seed gift of $1 ,000, then you'll receive tenfold back.

And it's a, it's a manipulative fundraising tactic.

It's abusing the scripture to try to fleece the flock. And what ends up happening is the prosperity teacher on television will live in a multi million dollar home and they will replace their private jet with a more modern private jet.

And so, yeah, my private jet. That's what I'm trying to say, Rick. I'm doing,

I'm going to prosperity with this church. Let's go. Yeah. So Kenneth Copeland famously is approaching $1 billion in net, net wealth.

But it's not that he invented a new product like ShamWow and earned it in the marketplace.

He provided no product except his own Ponzi scheme. As people try to get blessed by giving to him, his promises, if you sow into my ministry, you will reap financial blessing.

So they're pouring. And it's really the very poor who tend to fall for the scheme because they feel like,

I got no other option. Maybe this will work. And so the rich get richer and the poor get poorer.

The prosperity preacher is fleecing the flock. And it's very, very often very uneducated people who are not familiar with the scriptures who see this on television and they sow their seed.

Instead of paying their mortgage bill, they send $1 ,000 to Kenneth Copeland. And so it goes.

That's the danger of prosperity theology. So I thought commentators would be guarding against that and really emphasize that this is not only finances.

But to my surprise, all of the commentators that I read actually did interpret this as relating to money as the primary thing.

The Bible knowledge commentary was that way. So that said, we do have to guard against prosperity theology, but you also have to guard against missing this principle.

Because prosperity gospel took a true principle and twisted it for the gain of a preacher, the financial gain of a preacher.

But what is actually happening here is the connection between how we sow in this life, often financial sowing, and what we will reap in this life and in the one to come.

There is some connection there. Paul makes that connection. So what is that connection? That's what we need to study.

Let's say a person decided that they would not give money to the church.

Instead, they would save up all their wealth. And when they die, they would leave it to their kids and churches and good charitable causes.

What's the problem with that manner of thinking? My thought is when they die, they can't benefit from it anyway.

There's no sacrifice in that. They have to leave it behind. The person dying is not sowing anything through the course of their life.

And there's no benefit in this life or in the one to come because, hey, you had no choice but to leave it behind to somebody.

There's no sacrifice in that. David would say, when offered a land for free in order to make a sacrifice,

I will not offer a sacrifice that costs me nothing. There is something beautiful about giving to the point where there is sacrifice involved in it.

There was a very wealthy man in Jerusalem one day who put in a sizable amount of money clinging into the tin of the offering box in the temple.

But there was also a widow who put only one small mite into the offering box.

And the Lord Jesus noticed that offering and not the first. He said about the people who gave out of their excess, they gave what they could spare.

But she gave the last mite that she had to live on. That beautiful picture of sacrifice, being willing to, and she couldn't really have supported herself on a mite, but she was entrusting everything she had to God.

That was her hope. Her trust was in the Lord. And it was that faith, not that you have to give every dollar that you have.

That's not the point of the story of the rich young ruler in Matthew 19. In Matthew 19, the rich young ruler, his hope was in his wealth and in his own goodness and God tested his heart to see if he would be willing to sell everything and give it to the poor.

And the young man went away sad. He wouldn't obey the command of God in flesh, God incarnate, because he was greedy.

He treasured as well. The Christian should be wise in how we invest for the kingdom, providing for our families.

The Bible even says you should leave an inheritance for your children. So that's hard to reconcile with the rich young ruler and the widow's money.

But the principle there is actually consistent. It's that you should have the willingness to give everything back to God because it's all his.

And now he says, okay, this heart of yours is pure before me. This is what I give to you to steward.

Now you see yourself not as an owner of your possessions, but a steward of what

God is entrusting to you. And you must now be found faithful. And that includes investing.

Matthew 25, you could, the one buried what was entrusted to him because he thought that the ruler was harsh and he wanted to kind of protect himself, but Jesus did not commend him.

The one who invested that and returned on his investment, what do they hear? Well done, good and faithful servant.

You have been faithful with a little, I will put you in charge of much. So the stewardship that we have does include investing and giving, leaving inheritance for our children, being wise with the money that we have.

But what matters is that the heart behind your giving is for the sake of the kingdom.

Everything we do with our money should be for the sake of building his house.

And my title here is build his household. That could include building up your own family and providing an inheritance for your kids.

That includes giving to an orphanage in Malawi and to our missionaries at the ends of the earth building here.

Very many aspects, but everything we do should have that one purpose in mind that this money is

God's and I'm a steward to build his household. So there is great benefit to the one who contributes.

Financial contributions seem to be primarily in view here to building the household of faith.

And there can be a time to give to unbelievers in need as well. We'll get to that in verse 10. But Rick, could you pick us up here at verse 6?

Galatians 6, 6. Let the one who has taught the word share all good things with the one who teaches.

Very good. So if I'm teaching this morning and you come up to me on a

Sunday and say, hey, something that we learned, bless me in that way. In some way, you would be sharing a good thing.

Why do I say that this has primarily to do with financial resources?

The answer is in the contrast within the verse and Paul's use of the teacher in first Timothy 5, 17.

You have a parallel kind of verse there. So the first is verse 6. Let the one who has taught the word share all good things with the one who teaches.

The contrast is the one thing with all good things. And Matthew Henry puts it this way.

While ministers are sowing to other spiritual things, they should reap their carnal things.

So the contrast here is between a teacher of the word, a minister who has a certain lane, a very narrowly defined lane.

He's the teacher of the word. But in contrast to returning to him only spiritual things, which is included in the word all, what's implied by that is not only spiritual, but as Matthew Henry says, carnal things.

That's the linguistic reason in verse 16. The contrast between the teaching narrowly of the word and the sharing of all good things, not just spiritual, but the idea of carnal things as well.

Filthy lucre, as another translation will use the term for money. Money comes into play at this point.

Turn with me to 1 Timothy 5, 17. And Judy, would you like to read 17 and 18?

Yeah, yeah. You can read it right off the notes. Okay.

In verse 17, we're at 1 Timothy 5, 17 and 18. Notice that here there is a particular person who labors in preaching and teaching.

That's the same concept as you have in Galatians 6, 6. Let the one who is taught share all good things with the one who teaches.

All good things has a particular modesty to it. That it's not going to glorify money the way a prosperity huckster would do.

Right? There's other aspects as well. And in the same way, look at 1 Timothy 5, 17. Let the elders who rule well be considered worthy of double honor.

Do you see that it doesn't say receiving financial pay? It uses a more modest term, double honor.

What would the double honor be? Spiritual receiving of encouragement.

You should receive, you should honor your pastors, your ministers, the teachers and preachers.

Right? But what does he mean by double honor? Well, he actually goes on to explain it in verse 18.

For, that word gar in the Greek grounds the previous thought. So it's not a disconnected thought, but it's giving an explanation for why they should receive this double honor, which will tell us what the double honor is.

For the scripture says, you shall not muzzle an ox when it treads out the grain.

And the laborer deserves his wages. So now we see what's in view there.

It's that the church ought to financially support, give wages to a minister who labors in preaching and teaching.

If they could devote themselves full time. Now there is a pietist strain in evangelicalism, which says preachers should never receive money from the congregation.

But the problem is that often leads to the shipwreck of the pastor that they supposedly support, because what happens is he's laboring so much to earn a living.

And it's not against bivocational pastors that can work as a model. But often what happens is the church stagnates because the pastor is being, he's burning the candle up both ends.

He's not able to devote himself to a sermon preparation. John MacArthur famously spends 10 to 20 hours a week on a sermon.

And then he teaches multiple times a week. He could not write the books he writes and pour himself into the ministry of the word to the level that he has if he was also working 40 hours a week at the

Sunoco or at Costco, right? It's just an obvious thing. And the Bible, and so despite the pietism of people who are too spiritual for this, this is what the

Bible actually says. Now we are blessed in this church because this brother already earned a living in an entire career and then as a second career is ministering here and doing this without pay.

And that's just a blessing to the church because he's already provided for himself and for his family.

No, God provided for me. Amen. Amen. And you were the instrument that he used to do that.

Good. Jeff. Yeah. Just got a thought. As the ox treads and cracks the grain, as he treads, that's why they use the ox to break the kernels of the grain open to be able to develop the flower.

So also will the preacher supply the finished word of God. It's as though the word is a grain of knowledge.

Yes. And the preacher cracks it open and we're able to step on that. Yep. The exegesis comes in that form.

Yeah. There is a work to expository preaching. Tim and John and I were talking before, what would happen if somebody got in a car accident or was sick and Tim has to teach today and John and I aren't here, right?

But he didn't have time to prepare. He would open the word of God and do his best to exposit, right?

That's okay to do because in the circumstance, you might take a larger section and just kind of read it. But there's something to what

Bob said. That time in the study where you open Matthew, Henry, and the Bible knowledge commentary and all of the online ones on Bible Hub, and you just get everybody's sense of it so that you're not just winging it, you're cracking the grain.

You're spending time. There's a work to that. And preachers have to be devoted to it the same way a painter is devoted to putting paint on a wall or a lawnmower out here is putting in the work.

Preachers need to see their work that way. And that is what is happening here in verse six. Let's move on.

There is a qualification. Those who rule well. Oh, yeah. Yeah.

It's not even every elder. You can have a great elder, but he's not the one who is primarily gifted as the

Sunday morning preacher, right? Or someone who teaches throughout the week. Yeah.

So it's ruling well. Yeah. And that's why the word honor is associated with it, that you're recognizing that there is a gifting and all glory to God for that.

Okay. Oh, one other point before we move on to verse seven. I wanted to bring up George Mueller. George Mueller recognized and modeled for the evangelical church that all giving comes from God.

He got to the point where he didn't even bring it up. He wouldn't ask for money. He wouldn't raise money.

But one morning, the kids don't have bread. They don't have milk. And the milkman just feels prompted by the spirit to go by the orphanage and say, hey,

I've got some extra bottles here. Do you guys need this this morning? And sure enough, the Lord provided and answered prayer.

Remember the story of George Mueller as one who recognized everything that we have comes from God anyway.

He is an incredible model of faith. Now, that doesn't mean that his paradigm of not ever mentioning fundraising should be applied to our missionaries because the scripture makes it very clear that there is fundraising in the church.

Paul literally requests of the Corinthians that on the first day of the week, they set aside an offering that he was going to bring to Jerusalem for a certain mission, relief of the poor in Jerusalem.

Paul, if Paul, if it's not unspiritual for Paul to request funds, then the

Mueller principle isn't supposed to be imposed on the missionaries, right? Amen. I've seen that in missions where people are too spiritual to ask for funds.

And then next thing you know, they're off the field because God didn't do for them what he sovereignly did for Mueller.

Well, maybe Mueller's particular gift of faith and the way God worked in Mueller was not meant to be the paradigm for every missionary.

Make sense? When I was a missionary in Kensington, we would send out a monthly newsletter. We would just tell what's happening.

We didn't really need to ask much for money, but we trusted that God would move in the hearts of people.

And we were missionaries for 12 years, from 2004 to 2016. And I can testify for 12 years, sending out a monthly newsletter, we never missed one paycheck.

And the money would come from people that we hadn't seen for a decade or for five years. Just when the account got down to nothing,

God would provide. And somehow for every month that I was a missionary to the inner city, all my needs were met.

It's just God. He will provide everything that this church needs, whatever he calls us to do, where God guides, he provides.

So if you're supposed to be doing what God is calling you to do, he'll find a way to fund it. And if he doesn't fund it, then guess what?

That's his sovereign will not to do it, right? We have to be just keeping everything with that open hand.

So Mueller's a great example of this. Chapter six, verse seven. Carol, I think we're up to you.

Don't be misled. Remember that you can, you can't ignore God and get. Okay.

The overreaction to the prosperity gospel would be what to throw the baby out with the bathwater and say, there's no connection between what you sow and what you reap.

Remember Psalm chapter one, blessed, blessed is the man who does not walk in the council of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers.

But his delight is in the law of the Lord. And on his word, he meditates day and night. Whatever he does prospers.

Doesn't it say that someone not so the wicked, they're like chaff that the wind blows away. Therefore, the wicked will not sit in the assembly of the righteous for the

Lord watches over the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish. This is not teaching work salvation.

What it's teaching is that the Christian who's been regenerated by grace through faith. Now what that person does still matters, still matters.

One of my favorite verses is second Corinthians four 17. So Joe, would you mind turning with me?

Or you actually don't even have to turn. You can read right on the paper. Second Corinthians four 17.

For this, for this light, momentarily eternal way.

Awesome. Paul's talking about suffering there and he calls it a light momentary affliction.

How could he call suffering light and momentary? You know, when you're going through Parkinson's or through some, um, some struggle, it doesn't feel light, right?

Bob, with, with your back or with the surgery you told us about that you once had didn't feel light at the moment, right?

But you mentioned that it's light and momentary for God, but not in the moment for the one we were praying for today.

Yep. Yeah. Second Corinthians one talks about how we're now able to comfort others with the comfort we received when we went through what they did.

It's a special grace now that you can comfort someone because you've walked that road. Yeah.

Someone who's been a foster child will be able to talk to a current foster child a lot better than someone who has it.

Someone who has a certain affliction, they, they know how to minister to people with that same affliction.

So if even suffering has an eternal reward, is it not also the case that the good things of this life will make a difference for all eternity?

What we sow, this verse is telling us Galatians six, seven, do not be deceived. God is not mocked.

How would God be mocked? In the book of Zephaniah chapter one, they were mocking

God saying, God will not do anything good or bad. God's irrelevant.

He's it's the view of the deist. He's just the divine watchmaker who sets the world in motion and he doesn't care.

He's just distant, not involved. And what we do has no effect.

God is not mocked that way because what you sow, whatever one sows that he will also reap.

God is not mocked. The principle of sowing and reaping is still in effect, even though salvation is by grace apart from works.

Let's read verses eight and nine. I think we're up to you, Barbara. Galatians six, verses eight and nine, the one who sows to please his sinful nature from that nature will reap destruction.

The one who sows to please the spirit from the spirit will reap eternal life. Let us not become weary in doing good, but at the proper time, we will reap a harvest.

We will not give up, do not give up. When I got on the plane to fly back from Wisconsin a couple days ago,

I sat down next to a gay Buddhist, a gay

Buddhist. Doesn't God have a sense of humor? And we talked the entire flight from wheels up to wheels down, never stopped.

We covered everything from politics to sharing the gospel and religion, the prophecies of the Old Testament.

We were the opposite human beings. One thing I noticed when I got on the plane was his mind was a bit confused.

He couldn't figure out which was the airplane window seat or the aisle seat.

And so he was sitting in mine and I had to explain to him how it worked. We sat down in the chair.

His hand was very shaky. It might have been a Parkinson's kind of disorder or something like that. I guess he's 70 something years old.

PhD, so very smart. University of Pennsylvania kind of guy.

Lives in that kind of ritzy part of Philadelphia. Lived there his whole life.

Been married, which I call gay marriage a mirage because marriage must have two complementary parts that are distinct from one another.

In God's, the ezer connecto in a help meet implies that there are different differences in a corresponding way.

So if someone is marrying a mirror image of himself, it can't be marriage because there's no difference in a corresponding way.

So it's not marriage, it's a mirage. But point being, he's gay and a

Buddhist. He has spent his life sowing to the flesh. He talked about all the money that he's made and how he's traveled on every train in the

United States. And he flies to different places to go with his husband to these gay bars and places like that, these different destinations around the world.

Sows to the flesh. Now he's nearing the end. If he just reaches the average life expectancy of a man, he has till he's 78.

But if he has the strength, 70 years, he has 80 or maybe 90, but very unlikely that he'll make it to 100, right?

That's just the reality of this life. We're all just passing through. He sows to the flesh and now he's seeing his body reach that point of corruption.

And the thing that really, I think, resonated with him the most of the things we talked about on the plane was eschatology.

I just delighted in telling him about where I was going to be in a trillion years. I use that phrase, a trillion years, because he was a materialistic

Buddhist, meaning he thought when he died, there'd be some kind of karma that his spirit would go out into the world and make things better because he sowed to the blessing of others all his life.

In his mind, he's very moral, so much more moral than a wicked Trump voter.

The most wicked person in the world is anyone who would vote for Trump. And Trump himself is the antichrist to this man.

See, this man has a religion, it's secular modernism and liberalism. But as to his eschatology, in his materialistic worldview,

I realized he thought that this all evolved and now it's running out, entropy.

So in a trillion years, he had to admit that this planet in his worldview is nothing but a cold, dark ball of lifeless matter.

The sun will have lost its energy, the earth will have lost all its life, and there is nothing left even of his karma.

And as we talk more of this, he seemed very disturbed by this thought because Buddhism can offer no eternal reward.

There's nothing to be reaped for the things you sow. This is what this verse is talking about.

For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption. But listen, guys,

I get pains in my body at 46. I get lower back pains. What I try to think about when

I feel those pains and when I see, yeah, I've got some gray hair up here. Put a little just for men in the beard just to make sure it's not too gray, right?

What I try to think about is each sign of aging, of an impending death one day is something in which

I should delight because it means my reward is one day closer. This life is the period of suffering for the reward.

And Paul talks about this in 1 Corinthians 15. If it was only for this life that we were living, we ought to be pitied more than all men because Christians like Paul are putting their lives on the line.

They're being beaten and mistreated. That's how Christians are treated all around the world.

So our view of this life is that we're sowing to a life to come.

And the approaching death that all people are aware of, unless the rapture happens first, which is still very possible before we go, those should be signs of a coming glory.

Something that even themselves can bring us a certain level of joy. Hey, I've been running my heart out.

I've been running well. I'm excited for the day I die. What does Paul even say in Philippians 121?

For to me, to live is Christ, to die is gain. You sow to the spirit and you reap the joy of the

Lord. The book of Philippians is the most joyful book in the Bible. It mentions joy at least eight times in the context that I'm writing about on Thursdays.

Consider Russell. What's that? Consider Russell. Yeah. Yeah, Russell. He had the joy of the

Lord yet was with ALS completely confined, could only barely move his head and yet filled with the joy of the

Lord because he had sown to the spirit. And now he's in perfect joy for all eternity. A trillion years from now, he's still walking and leaping and praising

God. Yeah. So this verse then says, but the one who sows to the spirit will from the spirit reap eternal life and let us not grow weary of doing good for in due season we will reap if we do not give up.

The other danger is kind of the Habakkuk syndrome. Remember Habakkuk? He was living righteous in a wicked and perverted generation.

And he says, God, how is it that though the wicked always prosper and the righteous are always kicked in the dirt?

They're always in the gutter. There's only a few righteous in the remnant left. And so why are we the ones suffering and they're the ones getting rich?

Why is Bill Gates on a yacht while the faithful Christian is in an orphanage in Malawi?

God, how does this fit? And God says, give it time. I'm going to send the

Assyrians. I will judge. Judgment is only delayed. It's not forgotten. They will reap what they sow.

And those who sow to eternal life will reap what they sow, faith in Christ and the benefit of eternal life if we do not give up.

Habakkuk was on the verge of giving up. And many Christians, even Paul at one point, says in 2 Corinthians 1 that there came a point where he despaired even of life itself.

He just wanted to die. That's how bad his suffering had gotten at one point. But he rallied that faith, trusted in the

Lord and made it through. Lastly, verse 10. So then while we have opportunity, let us do good to all people and especially to those who are the household of the faith.

Very good. The household of the faith. Christians are the primary, although not exclusive, recipient of our giving, whether giving our time, our talents, or our treasure.

We build an orphanage in Malawi. I would not have asked our church to build that orphanage, to fund that orphanage, if it wasn't

Christian. Even though a humanitarian effort like that would have some value,

I would have saved us up for an opportunity that was under the banner of the name of Jesus Christ. But by God's grace,

Hamilton is doing this in the name of Christ. And it is a Christian orphanage. Because of a verse like this, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone.

Now, that's a caution as well. If you see a non -Christian in need, are you supporting their lifestyle if you give them a jump on the side of the road?

Now, when I was talking to the gay Buddhist on the plane, I was very respectful. And I made sure multiple times

I said to him, hey, listen, I respect you. I use that term respect as he bears the image of God.

I respect him. I affirm positive things he said. Oh, yeah, I agree with you about that. I think we shouldn't have gone into the war in Iraq.

That's my view in 2004. In hindsight, it doesn't seem that there were weapons of mass destruction.

I'm not going to just argue with him. And then I'm going to say, I affirm this particular thing we agreed. So in the conversation,

I try to treat him, and all of you do this as well, with respect and dignity as a fellow image bearer.

If somebody has a need and they're not a Christian, if we have opportunity to help, we should do that.

Yes, Bob? I'm also a retired addictions counselor.

Yes. And of course, I'm always asked for money. And one of our principles is never, ever give, especially addicts, money.

If they need bus fare, commit to the mission. If they need bus fare to get to Camden, you take them to Camden.

Yes. Or you get on the bus with them. Yes, I'm so glad you said that. That's been our principle for years.

Money is not the issue here. I used to debate this with a beloved sister in Christ.

She was of the opinion, if anybody asks, panhandlers ask you for money, you should give it, without asking a question.

I don't believe that. Having been in Kensington, I believe that giving out money indiscriminately to panhandlers is likely supporting addiction.

Sure. More than likely. It goes into the liquor, for the most part. Yes. If you want to help, give to an organization, a

Christian organization, that helps people in that situation. And then you're being more productive.

I think buying somebody food, though, is a great thing. And if you take the time and walk over to the

Wawa with them, buy them a sandwich, share the gospel with them. But don't put a $20 bill in their pocket.

Because there is such a thing as when helping hurts. Famous book about this.

And it is really what the government has done in their great society of Lyndon Johnson is not helping.

It's replacing the father with the state and destroying the family. And now you're hurting rather than helping.

Lastly. One small hint. You will find that probably the majority of the people that are asking you for money, if you agree to go buy food for them or go, they'll turn you down.

Right. Very true. So the application. Commit, or just hearing this scripture again today, perhaps recommit to being a generous contributor to the household of faith.

We didn't get into tithing today. Whether a Christian should give 10%. My view is that we're not under the law of Moses, but it should be a guide as there's a general equity of the

Old Testament. If Israel was required 10%, Malachi 3, they didn't bring their tithes and therefore

God would withhold blessing. If that's what they were required, we should look to the general equity of that as a general guy.

So I would think that Christians should give 10 % of their paycheck. But maybe perhaps more if they have the ability, but being wise in how you steward your funds to make sure you have an inheritance laid up for your children.

Proverbs teaches about that, um, to do the best you can with the finances that you were getting.

And by the way, there's this huge movement in our culture for gambling now. Such a huge industry.

And a lot of Christians, I know it's no problem to play, you know, the sports book, bet on games.

You'll win some, you'll lose some. Yeah, it'd be not, not a problem. If that money was your money, but if you look at it as God's money, everything you have is a stewardship to take a risk where the house gets a percentage that the investment there is likely to be a net negative.

So it's a bad stewardship to participate. And that's how Christians always viewed it for 2000 years that gambling was a sin.

It was a vice. And now it seems like it's no big deal. It used to be outlawed.

You can only have casinos. There was one in Louisiana and then down the shore in Atlantic city, Las Vegas. Now you can just gamble right there on your phone.

It's a culture that's departed from Christian ethics to, you know, the previous kind of more pagan ethics.

So just as a reminder, Christians should not be gambling because it's God's money. You don't gamble with what belongs to God.

So just a side point there. So together we are able to build an orphanage in Malawi.

Amen. Isn't that a great part of our shared history together? We fund missionaries all around the world.

Praise God that we're able to do that together. We hope to build a new sanctuary here and perhaps build a new church one day.

I would love to see this guy as a senior pastor a decade from now at some point in another church, you know, just like we launched

Ben after some time, but hopefully we keep them as long as we can. As the call of God is on your life, who knows what

God would do? Keep planting churches. All of these things are possible only to the extent that the household of faith is motivated to build up the household.

That's financial giving. Cornerstone has been incredibly blessed by generosity.

This church, I mean, if you look at our budget and the giving over the last three years, especially what a giving church we have, we should thank

God for that. It means that this principle is something that we all live and do in our life and practice, not just in the hearing of the word.

Can we pray? Lord, Father God, we are just awed by the reality that as you give us and as we are obedient and willing to give back, that it blesses you.

And in this way, Lord, we can do a service even to you and to your church, to your kingdom.

We say thank you, Lord, that you use us in this way. So, Lord, as we respond and as we give, we pray,

Lord, that the things that we do, the opportunities that we have are always, always for your glory, not for ours.

We pray in Jesus' name. Amen. By the way, is it gambling for somebody?