In this sermon, the speaker discusses the principle of giving and the importance of not being greedy. The speaker emphasizes that while it is good to be diligent and gather more, it is crucial not to hoard what is not needed. The children of Israel were taught to be balanced and equal in their gathering of manna. The sermon also highlights the concept of giving what is over and above what is needed and how it is a principle of equality. The speaker concludes by emphasizing that the ultimate gift is God's son, Jesus, and after giving, one should thank God for his unbeatable gift.

We'll begin with verse 5, 2 Corinthians chapter 9, verse 5. I thought it necessary, therefore, to beg the brethren that they would come to you and complete beforehand your aforeannounced blessing, that this may be readied thus as blessing, and not as got out of you. But this is true, he that sows sparingly shall reap also sparingly. And he that sows in the spirit of blessing shall reap also in blessing, each according as he is purposed in his heart, not grievously, all of necessity, for God loves a cheerful giver. But God is able to make every gracious gift abound towards you, that having in every way always all sufficiency, ye may abound to every good work according as it is written, he hath scattered abroad he hath given to the poor, his righteousness remains for ever. Now he that supplies seeds to the sower, and bread for eating, shall supply and make abundant your sowing, and increase the fruit of your righteousness, enriching in every way unto all free-hearted liberality, which works through us thanksgiving to God. Because the ministration of this service is not only giving us the measure of what is lacking to the saints, but also abounding by many thanksgivings to God, by glorifying God through the truth of this ministration, by reason of your subjection by profession to the glad tidings of the Christ, and your free-hearted liberality in communicating towards them and towards all, and in their supplication for you full of ardent desire for you, on account of the exceeding grace of God which is upon you. Thanks be to God for his unspeakable free gift. We mentioned yesterday afternoon that these two chapters, 2 Corinthians 8 and 9, are very unique chapters, because in these two chapters the Apostle Paul deals with this matter of giving. We often think that giving is practical, yes, but we do not consider it as something spiritual. And yet you find in this whole letter to the Corinthians, which is marked by the one word spirituality. In this book, the Apostle Paul deals with life, deals with ministry, deals with fellowship, deals with warfare, deals with authority, deals with man as they sit before God. In other words, the Apostle deals with all these important things, and we know that life is intensely spiritual. If it is not spiritual, it is not life. Ministry is very spiritual. If ministry is not spiritual, it is not ministry at all. Fellowship is spiritual. If it is not in the spirit, it is fellowship. not fellowship. Warfare, of course, is spiritual. It is not striving against flesh and blood, but against principalities and authorities. And the arms of the warfare are not fleshly, but powerful according to God. Of course, authority is spiritual. There is no such thing as authority merely as a position. It is a spiritual thing, and in order to be man according to the mind of God, he has to be a spiritual man. No doubt about that. And listed among all these things, you'll find Paul use one-sixth of that letter dealing with this matter of giving. Why? Because giving is very spiritual. It is as spiritual as life, as spiritual as ministry, as spiritual as fellowship, as spiritual as warfare, as spiritual as authority, and as spiritual as man. It is not in any sense less spiritual than all the other things, all the other aspects. It is on that equal basis that they matter. So brothers and sisters, I feel very much burdened in one thing and that is, if only the Lord was sure that giving is nothing mechanical. Giving is very spiritual. And if we can see the spiritual nature of giving, then it will really put us on a different realm as it were, when we look at this matter of giving. And yesterday we deal with the subject of the grace. We find that giving is a matter of grace, because Paul, in chapter 8 and chapter 9, we find that he begins with the grace of God. How the grace of God is bestowed upon us. And out of that bestowing of the grace of God comes of that gracious spirit of sharing in practical means. And this practical means is in turn called this grace. Not this grace, but this grace. It is called this grace. And then of course, as we return to the end of chapter 9, we find he ends up with thanks unto God for his unspeakable gift. Again, the word thanks we know in the original is grace. Grace the unspeakable. So the whole matter of giving begins with grace and it ends up with grace. It begins with the grace of God bestowed and it ends up with grace as ending. And you know, it is all in this area of giving. Now of course we will not go back and cover the whole ground, but I think yesterday we were rather hurried at the very end. So I would like to go back just a little bit before we go into what we will share here this evening. And that is in this matter of the principle of equality. We read yesterday in chapter 8, verse 14. That on the principle of equality, in the present time your abundance for their lack, that their abundance may be for your lack, so that there should be equality. According as it is written, he who gathered much hath no excess, and he who gathered little was nothing short. Now of course, the scripture that is quoted is found in Exodus and it is concerning this gathering of manna. When the children of Israel traveled through the wilderness, God rained manna from heaven to them day by day. Every day, manna will fall upon the Jews. So the children of Israel had to get up pretty early to gather their daily portion. The children of Israel will all rise up early in the morning before the sun gets hot. And there they will go out and gather this manna on the Jews. Now some people may be stronger, or some people may be faster in their action. And some people may be weaker and naturally slower in their action. Or some may be grown up and others may be children. So you find that as they gather this manna, some gather more and some gather less. Some gather more than they will need for the day. More than their portion of eating. And other people gather not enough for their daily portion. So the scripture says, after they have gathered all this manna, it will be all measured by one omer. It will be gathered and then it will be measured by an omer. Everyone is to get an omer on the one hand and on the other hand according to his measure of eating. So those that gather more than an omer will give up what is in excess to those who have gathered less, so that there will be equality. Everybody will have what he or she will need. Now that is the background of the principle of Jesus. Now brothers and sisters, here you find the Lord is trying to teach us certain things. The Lord is trying to teach us that we shouldn't be greedy. We shouldn't gather more and keep for what we do not need. Here we can gather more. If we are diligent, if we are strong, if we are fast, certainly we will gather more. But we cannot eat up all that we gather. There will be leftover. And we shouldn't keep the leftover for the sake of greediness, because if we keep it, you know, wrong will come. It wouldn't be able to be tested. So the Lord is teaching the children of Israel not to be greedy. Not that not to be diligent, but not to be greedy. We should be diligent, but not greedy. Now if you are diligent, certainly you will gather more. And how can you be diligent and not greedy? By giving away. Giving away that which is over and above what you need. Then on the other hand, it teaches us not to be lazy. Now the children of Israel, they all go out to gather the manna. Now suppose someone gets lazy and will not go out, and think while somebody else will gather more, and certainly I will have my share. He wouldn't have. He wouldn't have. You'll find that everybody went out to gather manna. So it is neither greediness nor laziness. But it is balance. It is equality. So dear brothers and sisters, this is also a principle of giving. Why should we give? What should we give? How should we give? We give what we have. We give what is over and above what we need. We give what the Lord has enabled us to gather more. And as we give to those who are in need, who knows that one day we will be in need, and our brothers and sisters will give, supply us with their abundance. So you'll find that in this matter of giving, it is on the principle of equality. Now we will move on to chapter 9 this evening. In chapter 9 you'll find, well first of all I have to say that different versions translate the word Eulogia in different English words. Now in the Darvish translation, and I have to say it is according, very strictly according to the original. Now in Darvish translation you will notice in verse 5 and verse 6, complete beforehand you are afore announced. Now in some of the Bible you'll find it's bounded. Or some even say gift. Or some even say generosity. But the word in the original is blessing. Blessing. But this may be read as just as blessing. And some of your version will say as bounded. Or as bountiful gift. But in the original it is as blessing. Then in verse 6, He that sows sparingly shall reap also sparingly, and he that sows in blessing shall reap also in blessing. Four times you'll find this word blessing is used in this chapter. And again we have to say, the use of that word here is very unusual. Just like the word grace is used in a very unique way in these two chapters. So we would like to hear this evening on the blessing. Not only the grace of giving. But here you'll find the blessing of giving. Now what is the meaning of this word blessing in the Greek? Eulogia. Eu means well. Eu, well. Logos means a word. In other words, the word blessing in the original means good speaking well. And because it means speaking well, it means praise. It means praise. And this word is used in the New Testament in several different ways. The first way of the use of this word of course is praise. Praise to God. And for instance you'll find in Revelation chapter 5, in Revelation chapter 5, verses 11, verses 12 and 13. And here you'll find the voice of many angels and the living creatures and the elders and tens of thousands and thousands of thousands stating with a loud voice, worthy is the land that has been slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and blessing. Now the word blessing here means praise. And every creature which is in the heaven and upon the earth and under the earth and those that are upon the sea and all things in them heard I say, to him that sits upon the throne and to the land, blessing and honor and glory and might to the ages of ages. Now the word blessing used in these two verses means praise. Praise be unto God and unto the land. Just like power be unto God, riches be unto God, wisdom be unto God, strength be unto God, honor be unto God, glory be unto God, communion be unto God and to Christ. So here the meaning is praise. And of course you'll find again in Revelation 7 you'll find the same use of this word. In verse 12, Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and strength to our God to the ages of ages, amen. Praise be unto God. That is the first use, the first use of this word blessing. And then the blessing has a second meaning. It means an invocation of benediction. An invocation of benediction, of blessing. A kind of benediction. And you'll find that in Hebrews chapter 12. Hebrews chapter 12 verse 17. So we know that also afterwards desiring to inherit the blessing, he was rejected for he found no place for repentance although he sought it earnestly with. Here you'll find the meaning that Esau, Esau sought for that blessing, that benediction from his father but he couldn't get it. He was not able to get it. And also you'll find the same use in James, in James chapter 3 verse 10. James chapter 3 verse 10. Out of the same mouth goes forth blessing and cursing. It is not right my brethren that these things should be done. You'll find out of the mouth come out blessings. That is benediction, benediction. Invocations of blessings. That is the second use of this word. And the third use of this word is to give thanks. To give thanks. For instance in 1 Corinthians chapter 10. 1 Corinthians chapter 10 concerning the cup, verse 16. The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communing of the blood of the Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communing of the body of the Christ? And here you'll find the cup of blessing which we bless. Which we give thanks for. So this is the third use of this word, blessing, to give thanks. And then fourthly, blessing means a benefit is to us. You give something to somebody and that something benefits that person. And this is called a blessing. A blessing. And of course in this particular thing we find it is used in 2 Corinthians chapter 9. Because here you'll find in sending a gift. In sending a contribution. Monetary help to the poor in Jerusalem is a blessing to the poor in Jerusalem. So that they may be benefited with the contribution. And of course in Ephesians chapter 1 verse 3 that is the same use of it. Thank you unto God who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heaven in Christ Jesus. And in Romans chapter 15 verse 29 Paul said that I may come unto you with the fullness of the blessing of Christ. You know in these places you'll find the word blessing is used as a benefit bestowed, given. So that you will be profited by it. But anyway you'll find these are the four different uses of the same word blessing. But as you read 2 Corinthians chapter 9 you will discover that the word is used in a very unusual way. It is included in the different meanings that we have just shared. And yet you'll find it is used in a most unusual way. So for instance verse 5 And complete beforehand your foreannounced blessings. Now we know that in 1 Corinthians chapter 16 Paul mentions in his first letter about this matter of collection for the poor saints in Jerusalem. You know at this time the saints in Jerusalem were in poverty. Now they were in poverty probably because of persecution. Because their properties, possessions were taken away by their enemies. And they suffered a great deal. And the saints in Jerusalem were in poverty and were in deep need. And Paul heard about that. And God gives him a burden. To share this burden with the churches that he was ministering unto. So evidently here you'll find with the church in Corinth to share with them this burden of supplying the need of the poor saints in Jerusalem. And when Paul shared that burden with the Corinthian believers you know what they did? They responded so wholeheartedly. Because of the blessing of the grace of God upon them. They have received much from God. They were not in any way behind anybody in gifts, in knowledge, any other areas of life. God has blessed them so much. So when Paul shared this burden with them they immediately responded with their whole heart. They considered it as a blessing to give. They considered it as a privilege that they might give to the poor in Jerusalem. They might share something with the poor in Jerusalem. So they promised Paul they would do it. And with their whole heart. But unfortunately even though at the moment they were very much in it and expressed their full hearted willingness of giving and it was really a blessing. But somehow after a year. Well maybe to be exact you know it's less than a year. But probably it goes from one year to the second year. So therefore it is said after a year. Nothing much was done. When Paul wrote 1 Corinthians and when he wrote 2 Corinthians probably there was a gap of six months off. So he wrote to the Corinthians, reminded them in 1 Corinthians of that collection and yet they didn't seem to go so much for it. So here you'll find in 2 Corinthians 19 then and again. But anyway you'll find when they first promised to give it was a blessing. It was a blessing. Now another thing sisters. Giving is not only great. Giving is blessing. If we only know giving is great. Then we will not look at it as if it is law. You know often times we give as under the boundaries of law. And for that reason there is no joy in giving. Instead it is full of fear and trembling. Now that is not right because giving is great. And if it is great, oh it is a joyful thing to give. It is not a thing obligated but it is a privilege to give. And the same thing is true. Remember giving is not a curse. It is a blessing. It is a blessing. We need to see that giving is a blessing. Oh how we bless the Lord that he should bless us so abundantly over and above that we need that we are able to give something to those who are in need. Now that's a blessing. The Lord has blessed us. Now we want to bless our brothers and sisters. Therefore giving is called. Therefore announced even though at that moment it was a blessing. There was always the possibility of either giving as blessings or as a torture. The Corinthian believers when Paul shared with them his burden, you know, oh the first love was in them and they gladly and joyfully and with generosity and they consider it as a privilege that they may share with the poor in Jerusalem. It was a blessing. But again, and nothing was done. And here Paul said, I don't want to force you to give. Yes you have promised but I don't want to force you to give. If I force you to give it is as if I try to wring it out of you and it will become almost like a torture. I want you to give as blessings. So here you'll find the second, it moves a little bit further. Giving is blessing and giving should be given as blessing. Not as somebody tries to, you know, get it out of you. And that will be too bad. Brothers and sisters, look at Christianity today. Giving is almost like a torture. That's not right. Paul said I don't want to do you to do it as if I'm trying to get it out of you. I don't want you to do it that way. Because if I do I will deprive you of the blessing of the Lord. God loves the fearful. He does not want to squeeze every penny out of you. No, he doesn't want to do that. So dear brothers and sisters, giving should be given as. Then thirdly you'll find he moves on to say, He that sows sparingly shall reap also sparingly, and he that sows in blessing shall reap also in blessing. Now this is very, very peculiar way of. We know that the metaphor is the sowing and the reaping. Now if you sow something you'll reap the same thing. If you sow wheat you'll reap wheat. If you sow care you'll reap care. If you sow in the flesh you'll reap the flesh. If you sow in the spirit you'll reap the spirit. You reap what you sow. Physically this is so, spiritually this is so. And if you sow much you'll reap more. If you sow less you'll reap less. It is a physical law and it is also a spiritual law. But of course there is another thing. You sow so much and you reap much more. That is also true because you sow a seed and you reap a harvest. So here you'll find there are two things here. One is you reap what you sow. The other is you reap more than what you sow. Now the sparingly here of course is easy to explain. In other words if you just sow a few seeds, then you will reap, your harvest will not be very full. Maybe a few handful. Now if you sow generously, then of course you will reap a whole field of harvest. But I believe what is said here is more than just matter of quantity. I believe there is a sense of quality. In other words if you sow sparingly, that is to say if you sow greedlessly, unwillingly, as if it is something getting out of you, you don't want to do it, but you sow with a narrow heart. You sow as little as you can. Now if you sow in that kind of spirit, you will reap somehow. Now if you sow in blessing. Now what does it mean to sow in blessing? I think it's very good if you look, if you have a Dahlia Bible, you'll find she has a footnote there, which is very helpful. She said, Blessing, the sense is plain, though the word is unusual. I note it in view of verse 6. It is the spirit in which a man gives. As God gives freely to bless, so ought we. And such as so give, shall so reap. Sowing blessings simply means you give as God gives. You give in the same manner, in the same spirit as God gives. When he gives, he gives freely to bless. He does not give because he cannot help it. We beg, and beg, and beg, and beg him, and finally he says, All right, have it. No, he doesn't. He never gives in such a way. You'll find that God gives willingly. And he gives freely. And he gives in order to bless us. That is the way. That is the spirit of giving. And here it is the same. Giving is sowing. Oh, brothers and sisters, when it comes to the time of famine, you know it is a very difficult decision for the farmers. They have some seeds. But it is the time of famine. Now should they just keep these grains for them and for their family during the famine? Or should they take these grains and sow them on the field? Now that's a difficult decision. If they take these grains and sow them in the field, they may go hungry for certain days. But if they keep them and use them up, they may eventually be starved to death. Now, brothers and sisters, here you'll find God says, Giving is sowing. The farmers go out to sow, especially in the time of scarcity. Probably when he's sowing, he's sowing tears. He has to, as it were, harden his heart to pass these seeds away. It seems like he's letting things be displaced, disappeared. But no. The farmer knows. He knows that it is not lost. It is sown. And because it is sown, one day he will reap what he sows. He may sow just a grain, and he may reap a hundred. For the sake of the present, he may have to starve a little bit. But ultimately, he will be full. Now, some people are so short-sighted. Oh, they hold on to these few grains and say, I cannot part with it. And if you hold on to these few grains, to eternity only few grains, decrease. If they are not sown, they will never grow. They will never multiply. And, brothers and sisters, here you'll find the blessing of giving. Because if you give, it is sowing. And, of course, when you sow, again, it depends on how you sow. Do you sow greedishly, bludgeoningly, unwillingly, or do you sow joyfully, fearfully? And if we sow only the Spirit of the Lord, brothers and sisters, God will give you an abundance. Many can testify. The more they give, the more God gives to them. So, first of all, let's remember, giving is the blessing of giving. And blessed are those who know such blessing. God does not want to deprive us of this. That's the reason why Paul wants us here with the Corinthian believers. He does not want them to be deprived of this grace and such blessing. You remember in chapter 8, he mentioned this, didn't he? In chapter 8 of 2 Corinthians, he said in verse 7, You see, the Corinthian believers were greatly blessed by the Lord in many ways. They abound in every way, in faith, in word, in knowledge, in diligence, in love. So Paul said, may you abound also in this grace. He does not want to deprive them of this grace. He does not want to deprive them of this blessing. Brothers and sisters, I hope that our whole concept may be finished. Consider giving. Feel giving as sowing. Going from verse 8 to the end, it is the second part of that chapter. The first part deals with the blessing of giving. And the second part deals with the blessing after giving. After you have given, then what blessing will come upon you? Number one, verse 8. The God is able to make every gracious gift abound towards you, that having in every way always all sufficient faith, you may abound to every good work. He says, God is able to make every grace abound towards you. Isn't it true? That our God is the God of all grace. Our God is always willing to give. Our God is able to give abundantly. Our God is able to give every gracious gift in every way. That is our God. But sometimes our capacity is limited. God is infinite. His grace is infinite. His giving is infinite. It is always abound and overabound. But our capacity is limited. We limit God's... We limit God's grace. And we all know that. Now how can we give God a better opportunity? You know, giving enlarges our capacity. As we give, our capacity before God is extended. So immediately you'll find God is able to make every grace abound towards you. God doesn't have a chance before. He wants to show His grace to you but you are so close. You are so shut up. There is no room. Your capacity is so restricted. But by giving, it opens the way for God to, as it were, pour forth. That is why it is reaping. It is reaping. Because if you sow, then you reap. In sowing, your capacity is enlarged and God is able to make every grace abound. You'll find in this verse the word every is used three times. God is able to make every grace abound to you. That having in every way, always are sufficient, ye may abound to every good work. Think of that. The giving here is only some physical thing. And yet the grace that abounds towards us is in everything. You may not be lacking in financial things but certainly everyone is lacking somewhere. You may not be lacking physically. You may be lacking spiritually somewhere. Or you may be lacking physically and you may have more abundance spiritually somewhere. Or both. There is always that need. That need that must be met by the grace. And brothers and sisters, here you'll find in this practical giving, the door is open for God to pour down not just physically, to all sufficiency that you may be able to do every good work. What is the meaning of the grace of God? Is the grace of God given to us just for us to enjoy? Certainly not. The grace of God comes upon us that we may do every good work. And of course, good work in the scripture means to do the will of God. So you'll find in Ephesians chapter 2 we are told that we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for the good work that has before prepared for us to do. God has a work for us to do. God has His will for us to fulfill. Now how can we fulfill God's work? By His abundant grace. It's only by His abundant grace that we are able to fulfill God's will in our life. For where comes that abundant grace? His abundant grace comes when you give. When you give. The more you give, the more He will give to you. This is not only true physically, this is also true spiritually. And I have to put it around and say this is not only true spiritually, many believe that, but it is also true physically. Not in the sense that because we are thinking of reaping more, therefore we sow. Not that. Not with that kind of mentality, no. That would be a bargain market, you know. When we sow, we sow in the spirit of blessing. We want to bless others. But if we bless others, God is virtuous. Now. According as it is written, He has scattered abroad, He has given to the poor, His righteousness remains forever. Now He that supplies food to the sower and bread for eating shall supply and make abundant your sowing and increase the fruit of your giving is right. You know there is one word in the scripture that is translated differently in our version. That is Matthew chapter 6 verse 1. Matthew chapter 6 verse 1 says take heed not to do your own before man to be seen of them otherwise you have no reward with your Father who is in the heaven. Now the word alms in the original almsgiving is righteousness. Take heed. Do not do your righteousness before man in order to be seen by them lest you have no reward with your Father which is giving is right. Because it is something right in the sight. It is something acceptable to Him well pleasing to Him. Why? Because it is in accordance with God. God is one who loves to give and therefore giving is something that is in harmony with His way. So it is called right. He who gives his righteousness remains for ever. And God will not only give Him the increase of earthly things that He may not be lacking physically but God will also give Him the fruit. Oh brothers and sisters how we need this kind of righteousness. You know Christ is our righteousness. We have no righteousness of our own. Our righteousnesses are all as guilty as said the prophet Isaiah. We have no righteousness. Christ is our righteousness. We are claimed with Christ. But if you read the book of Revelation chapter 19 you find that when the marriage feast of the Lamb is coming then the bride has made herself ready. How does the bride make herself ready? She is given white shiny linen and the white shiny linen is the righteousnesses who can attain the wedding feast of the Lamb. Those who are not only clothed with Christ and their righteousness but also having the righteousness that is the garment that you have to wear to attend the wedding. You remember that parable? When the king had a big feast you know and invited all the friends to come in they came and yet one of them did not have that formal. And how he was passed out. And we are told that it was the custom of that time. If a noble man of a king was going to have a large feast and when the guest came he had all these formals ready for the guest. Not the guest prepared the formals himself. He had all these formal dresses for the guest and the guest just put them on to attend the feast. And here came one who considered his own dress as good enough. He despised the formals that the master had prepared. Brothers and sisters who is able to attend the wedding feast of the land? Those who have the right. Now what are the righteousnesses of the saints? It is given. It is given. In other words it is great. It is great. And yet you have to put it on. You have to put it on. If you put it on you are worthy to attend. If you don't put it on you won't have it. Great is death. So brothers and sisters even this matter of giving is great. It is great. But you have to do it. When you do it it becomes righteousness. And these are the righteousnesses of the saints. Not because we are better than everybody else. Not because we can do it. We cannot. It is great. But when we allow the grace of God within us and let it be done. Let it be put on. Let it come forth. So after all it is good. We cannot boast of anything. You know. Even when we reward you know there is a difference between gift and reward. Gift is something freely given. It does not depend whether you deserve it or not. It depends on the one who gives. And reward, well we will say reward depends on the one who receives it because he deserves to be rewarded. Certainly it depends on the one who receives it. And yet there is no contradiction. It is gift given that makes us. It is just like our God. What he does, he does like God. Because he is God. Therefore you will find the blessing in giving is of course it is not limited to giving. But giving is included in this matter called the righteousnesses. Now number three. Number three you will find in 2nd Corinthians chapter 9 verse 11. Enriching every way unto all free-hearted liberality which work through a thanksgiving to God. Because the ministration of this service is not only filling up the measure of what is lacking to the things but also abounding to many thanksgivings to God. That glorify God and in their supplication for you. Full of ardent desire for you on account of the exceeding grace of God which is upon you. You will find in giving. Number one. God is glorious. Many thanksgivings will go up to God. People who receive they know that it is the grace of God that makes you give. Do not think that you can give. You cannot. Not because you give you want people to thank you. Oh if people only know that. If anyone gives it is because of the abundant grace of God in that person. So if anybody who receives want to thank, thank God. Thank God. Thank God that such grace come upon so and so that you can give. So here you will find God is glorified. God is glorified. Oh brothers and sisters how we are mistaken in the whole matter. We give as it is from us and people receive as it is. We give in order that we may be praised and people after they receive they have to praise us otherwise we won't give. The whole matter is not giving is spiritual. It is the goodness of God. And when the poor in Jerusalem will receive the gift that God's grace will manifest so strongly among those Gentile believers that they are willing to share the material wealth with us. The power of the gospel of Jesus. Who is able to bring the Gentiles and the Jews together as one family? The gospel of Jesus Christ. It is glorified by God. And number two of course those who receive their need is supplied. After their need is supplied they pray to God for those who give. In other words they ask a lot of that. And brothers and sisters remember if someone who receives and is blessing God and is blessing you before God you receive more than three times the whole thing. All around you. All around you. God you and people. And you'll find all around enter into this. So finally Paul concludes this subject of giving. He says thanks be unto God for his and the word thanks is grace. Grace be unto God for his grace of God restored and now grace it goes back. Thanks. Glory to God for his unspeakable gift. Now what is this unspeakable gift? Know that this unspeakable gift is God's son. God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son. And his only begotten son is God's unspeakable gift. Why? Because we can never explain it. We can never exhort it. When God gives he gives his only son. And in giving his only son he gives his all. So freely so liberally. We can never never forget that. After we have given we thank God. You know if we do not know the grace of God. After we have given ah we sit there and say after you have given you say thanks be unto God for his I haven't done anything. No. He has done it all. The secret of giving. Do you think you can give? Nobody can. You think you are generous? You can give? You can give mechanically. Yes. But to give to give as God did to give in the spirit of blessing when you think of Christ. When Christ heals your heart you are able to give as God and give so brothers and sisters do remember this. Our Lord Jesus is it is not you who gives it is Christ who gives. Do not think that in other area of your life you say it is not I it is Christ. In the area of giving it is the same thing. And that's the reason why the Bible says Christ all in all. In this area of giving it is Christ. It is Christ. It is Christ that enables you to give. It is because of his giving you are able to give. It is because of his life in you that you can give as you give. Oh praise God. In this most practical down to earth thing you find and that's the way Paul our Heavenly Father our hearts do bow before thee oh how we pray that with man it is impossible with God all things. Lord for this that we try to strive into giving by ourselves as that rich young ruler he discovers but Lord we do not mean to go away sorrowfully because with us it is impossible but with thee all things are possible. So Lord we just open ourselves to thee and say Lord fill our hearts with thy grace and enable us to give as thou wouldst and be glorious.