Good Works Are Fueled by Abundant Grace

Please turn your Bible to 2nd Corinthians chapter 9 Preaching text for today is 2nd

Corinthians chapter 9 verse 8. I will read verses 6 through 11

I'm preparation for the preaching of the word Please stand when you have that 1st

Corinthians chapter 9 beginning in verse 6. These are the words of the Lord The point is this whoever sows sparingly will also reap

Sparingly you ever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully Each one must give as he has decided in his heart not reluctantly or under compulsion for God loves a cheerful giver

God is able to make all the great all grace abound to you So that having all sufficiency and all things at all times you may abound in every good work as it is written

He is distributed freely. He has given to the poor his righteousness endures forever He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply to multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your

Righteousness, you'll be enriched in every way to be generous in every way which through us will produce

Thanksgiving to God Amen You may be seated Dear my father.

We thank you for your word. We thank you for the rich promises You give us and here you have promised abundant grace to fuel good works

We pray that you would indeed encourage us to good works through this great promise of abundant grace in Jesus name.

Amen So last week we open up this sermon series

Titus 2 14 about your purpose being for good works that Christ Jesus has redeemed you from all lawlessness

To make a people for his own possession purified for good works Now here we have this promise.

There's abundant grace for good works Many people are scared to put their hands to difficult things

Remember good works are not just those works that Are outward works of charity that God has not called all people to it also includes those things that he has called all people to Simple obedience and resisting temptation

How do people find it difficult either in resisting temptation or doing? Good works that he has called them in particular to because they do not feel that they have everything

Necessary in order to do that. I think these good works this Endurance of this trial rather than caving in might be something for someone else but that is not what

God God has called me to because Because he has not supplied me enough for it.

He has not given me enough This is not a sufficient reason to not pursue good works because God has promised

Abundant grace to those pursue good works This is the case here in 2nd

Corinthians We have a people the Corinthians who have pledged to give to the Jerusalem collection

Paul Collecting much money to give to the poor in Jerusalem and he has spoken to various churches encouraged them to Pledge to give to this collection and now they have the

Corinthians have but the Corinthians have not yet given and so he's encouraging him Encouraging them that when he comes when

His associates come to receive funds that they be ready Not simply based on Their current level of anxiety and fear not based on that at all

But rather based on what God is able to do for them that he will supply Everything that is needed so that they do not need to approach this collection with trepidation

With an overabundance of caution with great fearfulness, but can give abundantly knowing that God Gives abundantly

Knowing that 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

God has promised this to the Corinthians and he's not only promised it to the Corinthians. He has promised it to us

That and he has not just promised us for material collections of wealth. He has promised this for us in every good work

You may notice that this passage has quite the rhetorical character to it I'll read it again and God is able to make all the grace abound to you

So having said all sufficiency in all things at all times you may abound in every good work now there is a slight disadvantage in reading this in English if you were reading this in Greek you would notice that all these descriptions begin with pawn, you know, this is the

This is the prefix that you see a lot of times in English to mean everything or all right.

What is a pandemic? It's a disease. It's everywhere. What is a panacea? It's something that cures all things.

What is a Panorama, it's a view of everything Right. And so that is happening every single time here now in English if you talk about plural things you

You say all right all things when you speak about singular things you say every and all in every don't necessarily

Sound as similar as pawn and pawn, right? So if I were to translate this not for accuracy of meaning keeping singular and plurals but rather for Preservation of rhetoric.

I might translate this first this way and God is able to make all grace bound to you

So that having all sufficiency and all things at all times. You may abound in all good works

All all all all all we've just got a bunch of all's here. Let me count them

All grace all sufficiency all things all times all good works five of them

And so consider each of these it's been able to make all grace abound to you.

This is all kinds of blessings this includes material blessings

In fact, that is exactly what's in mind here in 2nd Corinthians it is financial blessings.

He is able to make financial blessings Supply you with what you need for good works

This is also the case for spiritual blessings through the spirit someone feels like they don't have enough patience they don't have enough joy

They don't have enough endurance these are things that God can and has promised to give

It also speaks of All sufficiency so it is not just that he will give these categories categories of blessings

But rather that he will give it in the appropriate measure He will give enough of it this word for sufficient is the word that's translated elsewhere as content

You know, it is having enough to be happy with your condition First Timothy 6 6 says but godliness with contentment is great gain, right?

This is the same word that's being used here godliness with sufficiency is a great gain knowing that God has given enough

Because he has given enough a couple chapters later in 2nd Corinthians 12 9

It says my grace is sufficient for you. This is the same root just an adjective instead of a noun

My grace is sufficient for you for my power is made perfect and weakness

So here he talks about his grace being sufficient again a few chapters later God doesn't just give every category of blessing.

He gives it in the appropriate measure. He gives it abundantly He makes that grace abound to you and then beyond all sufficiency it speaks here of All things so this is every kind of need that you may have

Every kind of situation doesn't matter if it's a situation with yourself in your own sin Doesn't matter if it's a situation in your church

Doesn't matter if it's a situation with your children It doesn't matter if it's a situation with your parents or with your siblings or whatever the case is in all things and at all times

So this is not just sometimes all times you know the

Just like the wedding vows, you know say in sickness and in health, etc, etc, right like this is this is the promise that God is making at all times

He's not gonna. He's not gonna withhold his hand in the hard times He is going to give you abundant grace even in the hard times

You may abound in every good work So all good works that ought to be done are things that he will

Give you abundance for all good deeds On the back of the bulletin

I've gone ahead and described that out there for you and not Intentionally it sort of rhymes says blessing quantity needs seasons and deeds

So if you wanted more syllables to really make it rhyme say blessings quantity needs in every season and deeds

Something like that the Lord has the Lord has promised with Rhetorical power in this verse that he will give all grace with all sufficiency in all things at All times for all good works.

This is what he has promised now Think about all the prop all the excuses that people tend to make when they are called to something difficult

Doesn't matter whether there's dealing with a current trial that they can't avoid But ought to engage in without complaining doesn't matter if it's

Temptation that they need to resist doesn't matter if it is something that is

Some extraordinary good work that God has called them to that. He wouldn't call someone else to in similar circumstances

For example missions work or something like that, right? Think about the different the different excuses people make right?

They might say that they lack the spiritual qualities They lack the patience for this. Well, God has promised patience.

He gives the fruit of the Spirit This is something that is available in the Christian life. This is not something where you can say

Oh God has just not given me this Maybe you don't have it at this moment, but he has promised it if it is needed

And so this is not a sufficient excuse might say. Oh, I'm too broken for this.

That's a common way of phrasing things a Lot of times this is a

Euphemism for sinful I am too sinful for that Well, God has promised for you to give you everything you need to resist temptation

So don't just appeal to brokenness, you know as some euphemism for for sinfulness

God will give you the strength to resist temptation. He has made you a new man. You're a new man in Christ Jesus You might say oh

I'm too emotional to handle this once again, this is very Euphemism for lack of self -control a lot of times that people will use these words that could mean something good

But often our euphemisms for something bad a lot of times emotional means a lack of self -control And so people say well,

I can't do this good work because God has not He I'm too emotional of a person. Well, God will grow you in self -control.

God will grow you in self -control Might say he's not giving me enough wisdom God gives generously to all who ask without reproach according to James 1 5 he will give you the wisdom you need

Think about the way people box them in selves into with these spiritual categories Right putting putting labels on themselves a lot of people will do those spiritual gift inventories to find out what their spiritual gift is

Not understanding this first right because how is this how is this working is as you do the good work?

God gives you what you need. He gives you the gift for it, right people imagine Okay, he gives me the gift for it first and then

I know what I'm supposed to do No, is this putting it backwards and so people will do the little spiritual gift inventory

They'll fill out the checklist and they'll say ah, I am gifted for this thing And so when you encourage me to do that thing or there's this big hole in the church this need that needs to be filled

I know that I can't possibly be the one to fill that because I've already filled out my spiritual gift inventory

And that's not my spiritual gifting right that that puts these backwards. God gives you the thing to fill the need not

Beforehand so that you would know what needs you want to fulfill people do this also not just with a

Spiritual gift inventories tend to be a little more innocent There's also something called the Enneagram which has roots in witchcraft and stuff

But these are these are promoted by churches churches will promote the Enneagram, right? It's if you've never heard of the

Enneagram before it's like a personality test like Myers -Briggs, right? And people will really box themselves into a corner, you know, there's

I forget how many personality types maybe nine or something like that So I I think it goes up at least a nine

Sign, okay. So yeah, and they'll say well, I'm a nine and so therefore, you know, I can't do this kind of thing or You know,

I have to have the office It's all the way at the corner or else, you know If I'm if I have too many interruptions or if people need me to not much then this will not be

This will not be good for me now certainly God has made different people with different kind of personalities and there are things that are that Certain people are better equipped for but if you box yourself in so hard to a certain kind of personality type such that God couldn't

Grow you to deal with different kinds of trials Then you're really telling God you haven't promised all grace for all situations for all needs, you know

And and think about the person who very frequently labels himself an introvert Oh, I can't be called to this particular action because I'm too much of an introvert

Proverbs 18 one says Hugh seeks isolation Whoever seeks

Isolation seeks his own desire. He breaks out against all sound judgment Okay a lot of people justify all kinds of sinful isolation because they have put themselves in the little box of I'm an introvert, right and I'm nine.

I'm an ENTP that's a that's a Myers -Briggs one, right or my spiritual gifting is singing and so you can't you can't really call me to much else those excuses

Insufficient excuses think about people appeal to their physical assets, right? They say I don't I don't have enough in order to be able to to give

Right, you know, I've I heard someone recently say this was just yesterday Friend of mine online.

I saw him say that I didn't have enough to give and still like until I started to give

Right, and I thought man, that's exactly what this verse is talking about That's exactly what this verse is talking about God will supply don't

Don't appeal to an overabundance of caution Think about the the selfish excuses people make right?

I need to take care of myself first, right and And ignore the things that God has actually called them to someone else will do it

I've done my part all kinds of ways people justify these things people talk about their seasons of life, right?

Like Oh God can't call me to this. This just isn't the season of life Now there might be some validity to this there certain times where you're incapacitated for certain things, but But God has promised us in all times

And so you should be willing to step out in faith on the occasions that call for it

Knowing that he has promised us in all times All right. Some people might say

I'm too young. I'm too old a Lot of people will make excuses for things based on having young kids

Because we live in a culture where people typically don't have many kids The idea is that having young kids is a very short stage of their life, right?

If you if you have many kids as people did through most of history having young kids is that like a pretty long season of?

Life, so it's not something where you can just say. Oh Well, I'm going to I'm gonna step out

I'm gonna be you know on the on the sidelines for this season because it's just a short season

Right if the if what's been normal through all of human history is it's actually a long season, you know kids needing naps

Etc. Right or not. I'm not really reasons to be on the sidelines So all times right all times not just oh those times when you don't have a young child all times

God has promised us Think about the excuses that come from cowardice right like oh,

I'll fail I'll burn out this won't accomplish any good God God has promised

Matthew 633 says six seek first the kingdom of God His righteousness all these things will be added to you seek first the kingdom of God all these things will be added to you

Seek that first a lot of people are trying to seek the gifting the abundance first and Then they will seek the kingdom seek the kingdom first and then the abundance will be given

This is very different than the gods of this world. You know the gods of this world Do not have any meaningful promise of grace

They all call you to difficult things, right? You think of their religions, you know, Islam will call you to pilgrimage, right?

You've got to do the Hajj. That's one of the pillars of Islam, right? You're not a real Muslim if you haven't Kevin done the

Hajj right and Even even atheistic religion right secular moralism calls you to difficult things.

It calls you to care for the poor but Are there promises of grace in these things?

Atheism has no promise of grace Maybe some religions do but they never make good on that promise

They can't because they do not have the true God that is able to give you abundant grace But God is able to give you abundant grace and why is he able to do so?

Because Jesus Christ on the cross has purchased abundant grace He has not only

Died for our sins so that we would not Have to look at good works as some kind of way of paying down a debt

We couldn't pay down a debt through good works rather He has given us his righteousness so that good works are not are not something that's happening from this like eternal place of deficit where You're just further burden buried under this under the despair of Impossibility, but rather he has given us his righteousness in order that we have the freedom to pursue these things without a

Possibility of failure, there's no there's no way we could lose righteousness because it's not our righteousness

It's his righteousness the good works that we do are not for the sake of righteousness Right. They are for the sake of his name for his glory and so through Jesus Christ Paying that penalty

He has given us the freedom to pursue good works But then on top of that he has by his great merit

So this is an addition to paying the sacrifice paying the penalty. He has merited Abundant grace the work of the

Spirit within us in order that we would have every Blessing that is needed

I'd like you to consider some of the words from Matthew 11 Matthew 11 verse 25

Excuse me. I'll start at verse 27 says the following all things have been handed over to me by my father and No one knows the

Son except the Father and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to Reveal him. Okay, so he says

God the Father has given me all things And then how does that relate to knowing knowing the

Father except the Son and the one that the Son chooses to reveal him to? Well, how do you have access to all those things to all grace that has been given to the

Son you have it by knowing The Son it is through the Son that we have access to abundant grace apart from him as our mediator

We would have none of this He says come to me all you who labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest

Take my yoke upon you and learn from me for I am gentle and lowly in heart You will find rest for your souls for my yoke is easy and my burden is light

If you ever wondered how he can say that sort of thing when the Christian life calls you to very difficult things

Calls you to endure persecutions. It calls you to It doesn't call you to mediocrity.

It calls you to Great acts of charity and kindness calls you to resisting temptation with a willingness to chop off your own hand

Poke out your own eye The way of Jesus Christ He has called us to to difficult things and he is he has made it clear that if you are not willing to Leave it all behind and do the difficult thing that you are not fit to be a disciple

How is it that he can then say? My yoke is easy and my burden is light are not those at odds with one another

The answer was found in that previous verse all things have been given him by the

Father and He has revealed these things To those whom he has chosen to in other words

His yoke is easy and his burden is light because he has given everything that is needed in order to do it

All right, if you had a journey that you had to travel a thousand miles or something like that Right, you would say oh that's too difficult.

That's why it way too difficult, but if you're given Fast vehicle or an airplane suddenly it's this is not a difficult thing

So it's not that the task is small that Christ has called us to it's not that it's not in some ways

Inherently difficult it is that he supplies Abundant grace because he is the good mediator who gives us all grace from the

Father So he is a kind master unlike other masters

That the world has to offer that still call you to difficult things, but do not give abundant grace

He's promised to to give us whatever is needed to endure in every temptation first Corinthians 10 13

Says that he will always provide the way of escape in order that we may be able to endure it that There is all there's no temptation that you will undergo that is not common to man that he will not give you sufficient grace for God is not a miser

He is not Pharaoh telling you make bricks and then not giving you straw

Okay, he's not Ebenezer Scrooge Giving you a little piece of coal so that your hands don't freeze up and you can't write with your pen

Right, and so you barely have enough to do the task He has given abundantly he is the same

God who gave enough manna so that those who gathered more those who gathered less all had enough

That is the God we serve and so think about how he has called people do this

Maybe you know people in your own life who have found abundant grace as they have trusted God in pursuing good works

Hebrews 11 8 says by faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place

That he was to receive as an inheritance and he went out not knowing where he was going

Abraham didn't know where he was going. He didn't know what he had Whether or not he had enough for the journey.

He knew that the God who called him had enough for the journey I was speaking with a friend of mine recently who is very

Very gifted in understanding scripture also a very Very meek soul very

Very self -controlled in a lot of ways a lot of a lot of people look up to a lot of people know him Well, if I mentioned his name some of you might know him, but he is not pursued eldership at his church for a long time because because of fear of What that would mean for his circumstances whether or not he'd be able to balance it with family everything else, right and His business because he runs his own business.

He was telling me was Was going worse and worse and worse and in all this he decided to step out in faith and start pursuing

Eldership at his at his church and suddenly his his business has turned around and God has supplied him with everything that is needed

This is not it's not guaranteed that it will happen the exact same way every time But you know talk to believer after believer after believer.

They have they have stories about this You know, I know multiple people who when they first heard the call from scripture to give gave not knowing where the money would come from to pay the bills and Had the exact amount or close to the exact amount come in some miraculous way, you know, either through their tax return

I've heard multiple people. That's not a story. I've just heard from one turn I've I've heard multiple people get a surprising number and their tax return such that they had everything that was needed

This has been this is something that many believers have experienced think about just the

Common Situation if you have been in the Christian faith for a while, then hopefully you've been obedient to God in Telling others about the gospel and if you have you know that first time you do it

It might be with a lot of fear and trepidation that once you do it Start developing more courage and so God gives the courage that is necessary and he grows you in that So even if you haven't experienced any kind of more miraculous abundant grace

You've probably experienced as you have obeyed God and the ways that he has called you that he has given you enough to be able to do it he gives abundant grace and Consider what happens when we are when we choose not to pursue

Those good works that God has called us to what are we saying about God? Consider the parable of the talents

What the man say when the master showed up and he hadn't invested like he was supposed to have invested

He said you are a hard man Wanting to reap where you did not so wanting to gather where you scattered no seed

Right, and so he was saying I didn't invest because I didn't think I would have enough to be able to do this

Because you are a hard master you are not a good master God is a good master what happens to the one who calls

God of evil master He is cast out into outer dark outer darkness that's what happens at the end of the parable suddenly the the metaphor is lost and it's no longer a story about a

Servant and a master and suddenly is about a man being cast into outer darkness because he has not

He has called the master and evil master by refusing to pursue the good works that he has been called to This is what happens when you when you do not pursue those good works that you have been called to Whether they be the things he's called everyone to resist in temptation, you know avoiding sin whether it be

Extraordinary good works. He may have he may be calling you to These are things that These are things where if you do not

Obey, if you if you say that you have not given me enough you will not give me enough

You are calling God a hard master. You are making yourself someone fit for outer darkness

Let us not do that. Let us trust that God is a Good God who will give abundantly consider also

What this means for preachers as they preach, you know a lot of preachers

Hate talking about this passage. I mean most the time when this passage comes up people are talking about financial giving right?

They're not necessarily applying it as broadly as I am right now, which is which is good. I mean, that's that's usually what you would

Yeah, that's a very reasonable thing to do I'm not suggesting that's not reasonable but a lot of people don't want to preach about giving because they either feel that's too selfish or they think

I Don't want to saddle these people with heavy burdens Because God may not give them enough.

So it's not just a matter of you trusting God All right. It's also a matter of the preacher trusting God. And so if I call you to hard things

It's not because I want to lay heavy burdens on you. It's because I trust the Lord to provide abundantly to you now if people

Understand the situation as this is just something I either have enough for right now or I do not then they would see the preacher who calls them to greater things as laying heavy burdens on them

But if they understand the way this verse works is that he gives you what is needed for the thing in the thing in all things

Then you understand that that preacher is just encouraging you to good works

He is not trying to lay heavy burdens on you. He's trying to encourage you in faithfulness That you might be able to yeah, just enjoy the the rich rewards that the

Lord gives When we step out in obedience now

When it says here God is able to make all grace abound to you Notice that able is expressing a qualified willingness, right?

God is willing to make all grace abound to you But it is not something that happens apart from Apart from the work, right?

This is in every good work So the goat there has to be a pursuit of good works and it's not just in every work

It is in particular Good at works Right. So this is where most people have trouble with this where a lot of people have experienced failure and they wonder is

God not true To his promise because they do not understand the difference between what is a good work and what is just a work

Okay, so it is important to be pursuing good works Good works are not things that are just done out of any kind of sense of sincerity

Good works are the things that God has called us to in his word. They are warranted by his word you consider all kinds of works that people do to Prop themselves up with self -righteousness.

You can think about someone like Martha who's missing the main point, right? Doing a lot of you know, quote -unquote good works, but really she's missing the one thing that is required to sit at the feet of Jesus You can imagine people with zeal and no knowledge who are pursuing something thinking that it's good when it is

When it is not good at all, you know giving to false teachers how many people Have given to false teachers

Thinking that God will supply everything that is needed and then you know This is this is a one thing that irks me a little

I know that there are a lot of people in Evangelical circles who recognize the errors of prosperity preachers and they hate the fact that Prosperity preachers call people to get to them to get rich off them and promise that God will supply everything needed

If they do give well, the problem isn't the promise that God will supply everything needed

I mean sometimes, you know, they're they're giving specific numbers and that's a problem, right? They're saying oh if you give me this much money, you will get this much money from God Okay, that God's not guaranteeing anything like that, but he has guaranteed that in every good work.

He will supply Everything that is needed. And so if it is an appropriate amount God will supply it.

There's nothing wrong with promising that God will give enough that is what this verse is saying and so those who would out of a concern for the poor and a hatred of false teaching

Simply reject this promise is is knee -jerking too far in the wrong direction. It's missing the the promise of God He will abundantly supply for every good work, but it has to be a good work

Okay This is not something that as promises you give to false teachers God has called us not to participate in their wicked works by giving to them by shaking their hand by hosting them with hospitality so that we're we're promoting them as Good teachers.

Those are references the second John by the way if you want to look that up later You know those people who

Also think that they're doing some good good work by doing some kind of pilgrimage.

You know, I'm always struck by stories I've heard about people going to monasteries with like a lot of Stairs and then crawling up the stairs on their knees and thinking that this good work is something that God will bless

No, the God has not promised abundant grace for for just works. It is for good works, right?

you consider the There's the common parable about the

Or the stereotype of the woman who's at the church that has the special music, you know churches that have special music that's where it's not congregational singing but one person singing to everybody else and she comes every week to the pastor says

Pastor God has called me to sing this song, you know, and it's it's not a good song.

She's not good at singing it right there can be like a Totally out there sense of what

God has called you to it's not every kind of subjective sense of calling that we're talking about here

There is a place for a sober consideration of what God is calling you to Consider this

Romans 12 30 for by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than you ought to think

But to think with sober judgment each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned

All right each with the measure of faith that God is signing this is talking particularly in the context of teaching now there are some things that God has promised in a

More certain way than he has promised other things right the fruit of the Spirit, right? If you lack patience pray to God for patience if you lack self -control pray to God for self -control

These things are are guaranteed in a very certain way to the one who really seeks them, right?

greater ability to teach Greater ability to Certain kind of levels of being gifted for certain kind of ministry.

It's not something that God has abundantly Guaranteed in the same way now if he is calling you to something and there are gaps

He will fill them in but keep in mind this verse This is not saying, you know throw caution to the wind no sober consideration of what

God has gifted you for Consider those things that he is Guaranteed to supply with certainty and those things that he is not guaranteed to supply with certainty

But he will give if the need arises for them So Romans 12 3 again

Each everyone among you not Not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think

But to think with sober judgment each according to the measure of the faith that God has assigned so consider consider

What God has called you to in light of who he has made you but not in light of your lacks that he can fill okay, he can fill what is needed if you look to a situation and you see that something's needed and You you have some deficiencies that God could fill

You know, and there's no one else that God has called to this step out in faith, but that doesn't mean, you know consider yourself higher than you ought because because of this verse and Falsely understanding this to mean that God will give you everything you want.

It's not everything you want It is everything you need for good works Consider also 1st

Peter 4 10 as each has received a gift use it to serve one another as good stewards of God's varied grace

Right gift is God's grace is varied It is not the same for every person when we're talking about that kind of gifting now

He will make all grace abound right grace is a gift. He'll make all categories of things abound

But it will be for what is needed in this time You don't get to decide what is needed

God decides what is needed and there's a sobriety of judgment and a wisdom That you can employ in order to determine that so let me give you some examples and a lot of this does really a lot of the best examples are in ministry because that is the kind of Work that God has not called everyone to some of these things we're talking about are things that God has called everyone to You know resisting temptation, etc

Some things are things that God has not called everyone to and ministry is a good example of that so let me give you some examples of where I know of Situations where people have pursued what they thought was a good work

God did not bless it and they wonder why and they feel jaded and think that this promise doesn't apply and then they have problems in the future stepping out in faith right obviously, there's the

There's the common situation of the the woman preacher who who feels called to preach right?

Even the scripture specifically says, you know, do not permit a woman a teacher have authority of her man In first Timothy 2 so you can go directly against God's command and you wonder well

Why didn't he give me the grace sufficient to do these things? Well, he is he has specifically forbidden it You know, there's also

I knew a missionary who? Went out on the mission field had a lot of difficulties.

This is a common story, too You probably know people like this had a lot of difficulties Because they were not equipped with what they needed to be equipped with by the church

Because they were trusting God to fill in everything the way that they wanted rather than following his means that he had provided to the church

For them to be equipped for the work of missions. I His mission had not gone well

He had come back to the US gotten a job and I asked him whether or not his church had sent him out or if he

Had gone out on his own and he said well I don't think you should ask your church because I actually did ask my church and they said no and it was really discouraging

And so here he has no confirmation of the the counsel of others these things that God has called us to have right and he expects

God to bless that work and surprised it didn't bless that work, right? I Consider also the the common situation where the pastor feels called to ministry, but he doesn't have the funds for it

And so he has his wife work to provide for him reversing the roles that God is assigned so that the man rather than being the provider

The woman is being the provider for the man to go into ministry and it's just this constant struggle with finances

You know, he's trying to trust this promise wondering why God isn't giving the finances for it when he has promised all grace in this context about material blessings in this context about finances when

The way that he is pursuing finances is by reversing the roles that God has given There are a lot of people who have

Gone into ministry at very early ages in a way that I consider very unwise it's really common to have this tract where you go to Bible school then you go to seminary and Then you go right into the right into a church.

So without having any real -world experience, you know You're you're not learning a trade. You're not learning anything that would be

Useful elsewhere going off into ministry. I've met so many people who have had this circumstance and been fairly jaded by their by their situation later when they

Feel that they don't have what they need in order to obey God So consider consider what is what is happening in that circumstance where someone is trying to and the reason they do this often is because You know, they're young they're zealous they want to trust

God they want to go off into the ministry because you know I'm gonna just trust

God that he's gonna provide what is needed for this But what has God said about the work of ministry?

First of all, you have the the title elder, okay Is someone really an elder in their in their 20s?

You know, it's got to mean something if it means something If it means something at all then then let the pattern of Scripture speak to it

When do the priests enter the priesthood 30? When did Jesus start his public ministry 30 think 30 is a much more sensible age

Rather than someone being an elder in their early 20s sometime like that So you have that you have that title that has to mean something you have the pattern of Scripture you also have the

The Demonstration of the gifting that is required right first Timothy 3 requires that this person be one who manages its own household

Well, this is not just that there be no marks that disqualify him It's that he has proven that he can manage a household.

Well, right if you do not have Much of a household to manage.

How are you even able to demonstrate the qualifications of first Timothy 3? And so people are pursuing ministry without without Pursuing the things that would demonstrate their calling to ministry their qualifications for it and they expect

God to bless us consider You know Jesus if he's not going into public ministry until 30 and it says when he was 12 and he went into the temple

And said I must be about his father's business that he went home and was obedient to his father I mean that suggests that he is working around the house that he is learning

Joseph's trade, etc For a significant time up until he's 30 Paul He's incredibly gifted with ministry.

He's incredibly gifted with the Scriptures, but he had learned a trade in order to yeah in order to be able to work and especially if you believe what

Scripture says about the importance of Educating your sons and teaching them. I don't think it's enough to Yet count on someone else to do this task.

You really should see the norm and Keep in mind. I'm just talking about the norm You should see the norm as you having something to be able to pass off to them

Trade wise right and if that's if that's the norm you see in Scripture and throughout most of history, right then

Is it really wise to? Bypass all of that not do anything that would demonstrate qualifications not do anything that would equip you to be able to pass off An education that would be profitable to your own son, but rather count on others to do it

Right if if you were doing all that, why would you expect? God to bless this ministry with everything that is needed

Right. So so many people think they are pursuing a good work Are surprised when it's not abundantly provided for and then question

God's goodness now This is not to say that he doesn't abundantly provide even in those circumstances there are a lot of times when we are unwise

We err and he is still incredibly gracious to us, but there's no

Guarantee for works in general, right? There's only guarantee for what is truly a good work.

What is something he has actually There's something that he's actually called you to so Yeah, it's not that you should not that you should doubt

Whether or not God is good. You should doubt whether or not the work is good. I Say this a lot when

I'm talking about the talking about money in ministry right a lot of people Scripture is clear, right?

One of the things that I often Talk about when I'm talking to other ministers is that God has called us to to minister

Freely, but that's not saying the minister can't be supported, but he's called us not to charge People for the gospel or he's not not the charge for biblical teaching as many people do and Jesus said this in Matthew 10 8 freely you see freely give 2nd

Corinthians 2 17 For we are not like so many peddlers of God's Word, but as men of sincerity

It's commissioned by God in the sight of God. We speak in Christ Okay, so you've got multiple you've got many passages that forbid the selling of God's Word But when

I point this out to people one of the first things they go to is well this work wouldn't even be possible If I did not sell it right, how would

I I wouldn't have the money if I didn't sell it first of all once again You can easily ask for support.

I'm no one is saying you can't ask for support It's not like there's no other channel But if God isn't supplying abundant grace if you're not selling it if you have to disobey him in order to make it happen

Then maybe it shouldn't happen at all Like just let this be a sign that this is not a good work

So there just needs to be a recognition that yes if God is not

God is not supplying everything. There's a reason to go back and question Whether or not this is actually something that God has called you to once again not saying it won't be difficult

Just saying that these are reasons to question whether or not this is truly a good work You know if I if I put a solar panel on the north side of my house, and you know

It's not really doing much. I don't have my house doesn't have the power it needs. I'm off the grid, right? And I want to make it solar -powered, but I have all my panels on the north side of the house

I'm like these solar panels didn't work the company lied to me They said they were gonna charge my house enough, and they're not well

I'm not using the solar panels right right they need to go on the south side of the house So it's not this promise doesn't works people are using it wrong because they're not pursuing good works

They need to be informed by God's word to pursue. What is truly. There's truly good works and so one of the things that you should realize that you need to grow in here is to Grow in a maturity of discerning.

What is actually a good work? What kind of things you should consider you should consider the?

God's glory what would be good for his glory you should consider needs that God's people have

Right as you see those needs as you see What would most glorify him that will let you know this is a work that needs to be done

That is something that God would supply abundantly for Okay, so that is that is one thing that you can do

Just as an illustration of this It's not a it's not a perfect illustration, but the

I was talking to people recently about how a lot of young wives will often

Cook for their husbands a lot of cookies right this is something I experienced early on in marriage something other people have experienced early on in marriage right they like they're

They want to cook for their husbands, and so they're always cooking desserts But what the husband really wants is like steak you know or Some other kind of food.

It's like why why doesn't he appreciate this? No, look at look at what's actually needed.

Don't just assume that what you want is what's needed right? What is what is actually needed? Consider your obligations right the

Corinthians had made an obligation here They had made an obligation to Paul by pledging that they were going to give to this collection

And so that's a signal that this was a good work that Paul is calling to me And he's not going above and beyond What is reasonable he's not going above and beyond Sound doctrine to call them to give in the circumstance in part because they have pledged this matter so consider your obligations

One thing that happens with a lot of people especially in those circumstances I was talking about before with ministry a lot of times people are thinking about Spiritual things and they're neglecting their natural obligations that God has given

Right There's a common phrase about sacrificing your children on the altar of ministry right you're that is a more primary obligation that you have your children

So you should you should make sure that they are cared for the way they need to be cared for You should make sure that all your natural obligations are settled

Some people think that well the Great Commission is how God produces new children in his kingdom

And so that gives me a license to neglect Duty towards children in my own in my own life because I'm work watching out for the children of God No consider all your obligations.

These are things that also lets you know what what good works are and Consider what things has

God more certainly promised and what things may be variable given his varied grace, right?

So he's promised grace, but he's promised it will be varied grace on some things

Right when it comes to the fruit of the Spirit when it comes to patience when it comes to endurance comes to joy

When it comes to self -control, those are things where to not have them is

Sinful to have them is good Right, and these are things where if you if you lack those

God has guaranteed that your pursuit of them will result in them right that in coming to him asking for them

They will be given other things are more varied right it has to do with teaching ability, but it has to do with languages, you know a lot of people have gone into once again gone into missions without a

You know young zealous thinking that this is what they have to do in order to truly serve God They have no idea if they have any kind of capacity for learning a second language

They're just they're just going out there doing it You know, this is something where there there's room for exploration of whether or not

God has given this varied gift In order to in order to pursue that kind of work

So look for Look for opportunities to serve Don't don't just wait for them to come to you and then decide right

Proactively be if you want to train to be able to know what kind of good works are be actively looking for good works

Do we talked last week about how that is our purpose? You should be actively looking for good works

Remember that phrase last week from that one Puritan it was The Christian life should be a studious prosecuting of good works studious prosecuting of good works

You should be looking for them and not Not trying to avoid them and wait wait for them to come for you and then like dodge them when they when the opportunity comes

It's a lot of people do but actively actively looking for opportunities and then take advantage of those opportunities a

Lot of times people have trouble with this passage in part because they hear it saying

God's gonna call you to something Really huge and incredible and you're not going to know whether or not he's gonna give enough but you just got to step out there in faith

Usually this is not how it works. Okay, he calls us to small things that are not especially risky

So that we have practice in discerning good works so that we have practice in doing them and seeing

God provide Okay, it's very rare that God amps it up all at once. Okay, he trains people for more and more mature behavior

He trains them for more and more Yeah good works and this will build confidence in you that you are that you are discerning correctly so that on that day when he does call you

Something even greater even more difficult whether it be a trial whether it be some act of charity you would be ready to discern

Yes, this indeed is what God has called me to Hebrews 5 14 says but solid food is for the mature for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil

Solid food is for the mature those who For those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to discern distinguish good from evil

Okay, if this is something that takes practice part of the reason why God does not call there's many reasons

But part of the reason why God does not call younger believers to certain Good works is because they do not have the practice to be able to distinguish whether or not they are good works so Be practicing this gift of discerning and you practice it by looking for the opportunities and Taking the opportunities when you see them and you discern and if you learn that, you know

This wasn't really a good work that gives you information Maybe you learn Wow God really did abundantly provide in that good work and that gives you more confidence that God is always there for you and pray pray for good works

Pray for the ability, you know, don't pray to pursue your own passions Just like James says, you know, don't pray to pursue your own passions to build up yourself in righteousness

Don't pray doubting doubting whether or not God is able or willing to to give you all graces necessary he will give you all graces necessary and Pray with pray for pray for courage right courage to step out in faith and trust the

Lord that he will provide abundantly Courage is not something that it is something that we can grow in and Practice does build up courage yet.

It is not something that is just so guaranteed that it does not require prayer Paul when he writes the

Ephesians, he tells him to pray for him that he would be courageous when he proclaims the gospel

Not even Paul who's probably more courageous than I don't know Maybe any other man that we see in Scripture other than Jesus Christ himself maybe one of the most courageous people in all of history and He is asking that they pray for courage because it's not a given to him that he will have courage on that occasion

So he will not he's not certain that apart from prayer He would have courage to do the good work when the time comes

So he prays for courage to pray for the courage to step out in faith to do good works you know, this is like I said, this is something that you build up in right the

Person who does the tightrope walk across Niagara Falls, right? That's not the first time that they go across the tightrope

Right. They've they've practiced elsewhere before and they've learned They've learned what they're able to do you will as you look for opportunities to do good works as you take opportunities to do

Good works as you God gives you more difficult trials even you will learn What is good and what he is supplying you for consider this passage from Proverbs Proverbs 11 24 one gives freely yet grows all the richer another withholds what he should give and only suffers want

One gives freely yet grows all the richer another withholds what he should give and only suffers want why do people withhold, you know

Why would the Corinthians withhold what they could give to the Jerusalem collection? Why do people not step out in faith and trust

God they think that they will have more if they withhold But many who withhold suffer want they don't have enough even in their situation where they withheld but those who give

Many of them who give grow all the richer and this is what

God has promised to his children God has promised That he will make all grace bound to you

So having all sufficiency in all things at all times you may abound in all good works