Transcript: Abounding Grace Part 2
Prepared from the audio, so small errors are possible.
The world is like a map that sets men on the path of destiny. The word of God transforms. It revives and rebukes. It builds conviction even in the hearts of men. And just like the woman at the well, when men encounter the spirit and the word of God, there's an exchange and revelation of identity. Weaknesses are exchanged for strength, and greatness is made out of ordinary men. I will never be tired of telling you that God has predestined you for greatness. You must believe this. There is a seed of greatness on your inside. You must believe this.
A promise of greatness on your inside. You must believe this. There is no smallness in God's plan for your life as a believer. There's no toiling in God's plan for your life as a believer. There's no suffering in God's plan for your life as a believer. I want to break you out of that spot where you can no longer think small. The presence of God does not just make the difference. The presence of God is the difference. So join us at the experience when men encounter God and lives are transformed. Last week, Sunday, I thought on the subject of abounding grace.
Sir. Part one. Yes sir. Today we'll do part two. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Lord. Part two. How many of you were blessed on Sunday? It was a powerful meeting. Glory to God.
Let's start with our opening scripture. From last week, second Corinthians chapter nine and verse eight. Can we read it together everybody? God is able to make all grace abound towards you that you always having all sufficiency in all things may have an abundance for every good work. And we were able to open up this scripture on Sunday. If you've not listened to the part one of that teaching, I would encourage us to please get that teaching and listen to it. Glory to God. Glory. Get that teaching. And listen to it.
Can we read it together everybody? Go back to the New King James version. My concern in the part two of this teaching is how does Paul arrive at the promise of all grace? Now, we've already done some justice to the subject of God is able. The subject of to make all grace and the subject of all grace abounding towards you. Now my concern in this part two particularly is how does Paul arrive at the promise of all grace? Now please follow the progression very carefully because verse eight begins with the word hand. Is that not so? Yes sir. And the word hand is very important.
Because hand is a conjunction. Hand joins what Paul is about to say with what he has already said. Hand is a conjunctive word. Are you with me? It means that we cannot lift the promise of verse eight out of the conversation that began in verse six. Because verse six is where the context begins from. Is that okay? And so when we studied and stayed in verse eight, and we all prayed and we all saw the promise and we all rejoice in the promise, and you saw what God was saying, you have to pay attention to how it begins because it begins with hand. Hand is a conjunctive statement. Do you understand what I'm saying?
So when Paul says, and God is able to make all grace abound towards you, he is continuing a thought. A thought that it began earlier on in the scriptures. That means something has already been said, an action has already been described, and a principle has already been established before Paul arrives at the promise of all grace. And so the best way to misunderstand scripture is to pick a thought out of context or a verse out of context and try to build a doctrine on that verse, removing it from the context of the word it was used. Do you understand what I'm saying? For instance, we use this scripture a lot. I can do all things. Philippians chapter four, through Christ that strengthens me. Is that much so? And then a lot of believers use that scripture to mean there is nothing I cannot do.
Do you understand what I'm saying? Yes, sir. There is nothing I cannot do. They face impossible situations, I can do all things. They face possible situations, I can do all things. And I'm not against that, by the way. I'm not against the holy spirit picking a scripture and lightening the meaning of that scripture into your heart. But you must understand the contextual definition of a scripture even if you are to get a prophetic meaning from that scripture. You still must understand what is the contextual explanation of this scripture because a verse is in a context, and you must understand the pretext and the post text to know the context. So you cannot pick a text out of the context and build a doctrine around it or a theology around it.
It wouldn't do justice to the text. And so we can come and assume that how all grace abounds towards you is that you pray more or that you fast more because God is able to. So we can prophesy. We can do all these things. Is that not so? Yes, sir. And we would not have done justice to it because we'll not be living out the experience of the scripture because that is not what the scripture says. So if you go back to that I can do all things, you found out that the context is actually Paul describing a state of existence where it can abound and abase. It knows how to abound and abase. It knows how to live in comfort and discomfort.
Paul is basically saying that, listen, it's not as though I'm in need. I know how to live when I have ex... Give me amplified version. I think it's amplified version that does justice it. Watch this. I know how to get along and live humbly in what? Difficult times, and I also know how to enjoy abundance and live in prosperity. So in difficult times, don't I become sad. I don't become sorrowful. You can't tell that I'm going through something because look at my face.
Paul says, I'm as joyful in difficult times as I am joyful in abundant times. Do you understand what he's saying here? Paul is saying, I am a joyful person. My joy is of the spirit. It says in any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing life. Whether I am well fed or whether I'm going hungry, you would not see me going hungry and complain against God. I'm saying, God, why did you put me here? My faith is stable in all circumstances. Whether I have an abundance or I am in need, it is in this context that the next verse now follows. It says, I can do all things.
So what is the all things? To abound and to abase. You see that now? That is contextual explanations of scripture that you must know. Even if you're gonna pick a scripture to your own context specifically, you still must understand the contextual explanation so that you're not misusing scripture. Because you can have a message but not have a passage. And if your message does not have a passage from scripture, we can doubt the authenticity of your message, especially if you start going outside the jurisdiction of scripture, outside the allowances of scripture. We sing glory to God. We sing glory to God. We sing He says, I can do all things in the context of the whole things because I know how to abound and to abase.
Do you understand scriptures? Yes sir. So let's go back to our chief scripture. So I was saying that that verse eight, you can therefore not build a theology around how all grace comes without studying the context of the scripture. Because many a times, the problem with believers is that we claim many promises in scripture that are within conditional statements. And we pick the promise and begin to prophesy the promise, whereas the condition of the promise is not a prophecy. Do you understand what I'm saying? But because of how we are trained, we just pick what looks good and begin to prophesy it over our lives. Whereas, this thing can be attached to a condition. For instance, you can't just begin to prophesy that I'm gonna live long.
There's a condition to it in scriptures. In fact, everywhere living long comes in scripture. A condition is attached. I will not die but live to declare. So the guarantee that God is involved in my longevity is to the end that I am declaring the glory of God. It means if my life does not serve to declare God's glory, there's no reason why God should be committed using that scripture as your basis. Do you understand what I'm saying? Sir. Homor your father, your mother, you know that's one? Yes, sir.
That your days might be long. We can disagree in honor. Honor your father, your mother doesn't mean do everything they say. But many a times they can be wrong. But we can disagree in honor. So you wouldn't see a child who is behaving any how he wants to behave to father and to mother disrespectfully and rudely and then... No. No. No. Understand the boundaries of the promises of scripture are sometimes within conditional statements, and you must read the entire context to find the condition.
That's how an intentional believers live. It's why I tell you that in scriptures, you find promises and principles and prophecies. A fourth thing you find is patterns. Because patterns can also show you principles. In other words, there might not be a principle defined primarily word for word in a scripture. But you can see a story in scripture and see another story in scripture and another story in scripture. And in all those stories, you see a pattern. The pattern then defines the principle. Do you understand what I'm saying? That this person did this and got this.
The Bible does not emphatically say, if you do this, you will get this. But you see this person doing this and getting this. Another one comes and does this and gets this. Another one door... You get my point now? You see a pattern lining scripture. And from that pattern, we can establish a principle in how God deals with men, in how God operates with men. So we go back to verse eight, and then we now begin to study the context of the conversation. Then you have to arrive at verse six. And in verse six, Paul now starts to speak.
And he says, this I say to you. So this is a new line of thought that Paul is starting now. This I say to you. He says, he who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Next verse, verse seven, so let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity for God loves a cheerful giver. Verse eight, and God. Do you understand what I'm saying? And God. So do you see the progression there? In verse six, Paul is talking about sowing.
In verse seven, Paul is talking about giving. And then in verse eight, Paul starts talking about God making all grace abound. Sowing, giving, abounding grace are all inside the same conversation. The promise of all grace has a posture or a condition, and that condition is given. Verse six reveals what happens in your hand. You sow. Verse seven reveals what must happen in your heart. You propose and then you give cheerfully. And then verse eight reveals what God makes happen towards your life as a response. He makes all grace abound.
That your hand is involved. Your heart is involved. And then the ability of God enters the equation. Are you with me? You release the seed, you relieve it with the right heart, and then God causes grace to abound towards you. And I think Paul is deliberately calling giving sowing because he wants you to understand what happens to what leaves your hand. It is given he's talking about, but he uses the terminology of sowing. Because when a farmer places a seed in the ground and then he plants the seed in the ground, that farmer does not stand there mourning and weeping because the seed has disappeared from his hand. Yes, sir. Yes, sir.
Yes, sir. That farmer understands that even though the seed is no longer with me, it has entered into a process. The seed is no longer in my hand, but the potential inside that seed has been committed to the law of harvest. So what left the farmer in one form has the capacity to return in a multiplied form. Yes, sir. That's why he uses the concept of sowing. He eventually says giving, but he first begins by making you understand what happens when you give. It is like a farmer that is sowing. That farmer is not weeping because he lost something. He understands.
There's an understanding that the farmer has. Are you with me? Yes, sir. So a a farmer can have a mango, and then he can say, or corn. Let me use corn. Or maize. You know why I'm using maze? Because it applies exactly here. Praise God. Praise God.
It's one of those fruits that you cannot eat and have. Yeah? You understand what I'm saying? Is that... That's exactly how the seed... That's exactly how a giving looks like. Because if I use a mango, you can eat a mango then have it. And that you can still plant what is left. Is that not so? Yeah.
Stay with me. Stay with me. So Paul deliberately calls giving sowing because he understands what happens to what leaves your hand. That is how scripture teaches us to seek giving. That your your your... What you're giving leaves your possession, but it has entered into a spiritual process. It is the understanding that a giver must have. It's the understanding that a sower must have. It has become seed. What happens to the to the money isn't really your your your concern, especially when you give.
What happens to what you have given is not your business. The money can be used to pay for a bill in church. It can be used to invite a minister and bring a minister over. It can be used to buy a land or buy a property or purchase an equipment or support the preaching of the gospel or care for the needy Or advance the work of God generally. That is not important to you. What is important to you is that heaven recognizes that money has been sown. A seed rather has been sown. Something has been given. Substance has left you. Do you understand what I'm saying?
Yes, sir. And Paul says, the measure of the sowing affects the measure of the harvest. He says, he who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. That a farmer cannot place two seeds in the ground and then become angry when he comes back to meet harvest commensurate to the two seeds he has planted. You wouldn't expect to see a forest having planted two seeds. Do you understand what I'm saying? That the harvest always responds to what was sown. Say it with me. The harvest always responds what was sown. Paul is saying that if your sowing is constantly small, constantly reluctant, constantly restrained, you are determining something about the harvest you should expect.
That's what Paul is saying there. But if your sowing is bountiful, if your sowing is generous, if your sowing is released with faith, you are also determining something about the harvest that can return to you. Then verse seven now enters into the heart posture of the giver. It says, so let everyone give as he has proposed in his heart. That God is interested in what leaves your hand, but is also interested in the act that it leaves, in the posture of the act that is given. Are you with me? Paul says you must propose in your heart. That giving has to be intentional. Giving has to be deliberate. Are you with me?
That you have thought about it. You have prayed about it. You have decided about it. You have prepared for it. That's been of purpose in his heart. You have prepared for it. You have decided. You have proposed that this is leaving me. This I am sowing. This I am giving.
That's the reason why as a man of God, I'm very cautious as to receiving from people who I discern that their heart has not purposed to release what they brought. Glory to God. Glory. Yes. Paul says the posture of your heart is that there has to be a purposeful commitment to what is given. So that you don't give and then regret that you have given. Then don't give at all. It's not pressure. Are you with me? In fact, he he had referenced that later on.
But he starts by saying, if as you have proposed, not grudgingly. It means grudging giving is a non purposeful giving. That when it is difficult for a man to give cheerfully, it is because he has not purposed in his heart. That's the reason why the man gives and then he still is regretting days after he has given. Then don't do it. Don't do it at all. Paul says, not of necessity. That means don't just feel committed to give because the thought needs something. That's the meaning, not of necessity. Do you understand what I'm saying?
Yes, sir. Oh, wanna buy a microphone? Wanna buy this? Wanna buy a land? Oh, come and give. And then that is why you are giving, not because you have proposed in your heart to give. And so the giving now is grudging because it's like somebody is forcing you to do what you don't want to do. So a man of God who teaches giving of something that a believer has to do compose really has left the manuscript of scripture. Because in verse six, Paul says, sow. But in verse seven, Paul now says, listen, it's not just sowing, how you come matters.
That the hard posture of the one who is giving matters. And you'd rather not give than give grudgingly. Keep what you want to give and eat it yourself, but do not give to God and then be grudging about it, and then hold a grudge about it. Give only because you're responding to inadvertently, not because your heart really wants to give, not because your heart really intends to give. Somebody brought something to me from time ago and said I want to give this. And the thing was so valuable, I said no, I'm not going collect this from you. You know what? I receive it but take it back. He said no apostle. I decided before I left home that I'm not going back with it.
That's proposed in your heart. Do you understand what I'm saying? Yes, sir. It should be intentional. It should be what now? Intentional. There should be moments when you sit down and say, I'm giving this towards the work of God. I'm deliberately releasing this. This is I've chosen to participate in what God is doing. You know what?
Consistently, I will contribute this. Consistently, this will be my giving pattern. Consistently, I will sow this out of the seed. And Paul says that the sower should give cheerfully because God loves a cheerful giver. There's a way a man can give and his heart is fighting what his hand is doing. That his hand releases it, but his heart is complaining. That he gives and immediately he gives, he begins to regret it. He give because he feels connered, because he feels pressured, because he feels embarrassed. Paul says that the heart should agree with the hand. Are you with me?
Yes, sir. That the man has seen the privilege of participating in the purposes of God, and there is joy in him because God has given him something he can give to his work. There's joy in him. And Paul has dealt with the seed. That the measure of sowing and the hack of the giver. Is important. After dealing with that, he then says God is him. The hand there joins the action of the giver to the ability of God. Do you see that? Yes, sir.
That you have sown and God is able. You have given according to what you have proposed in your heart and God is able. What left your hand has become a seat and God is able. You have participated in the work of God in giving and God is able to make all grace abound towards you. That means the language of abounding grace appears inside the teaching of giving. The promise of all sufficiency in all things appears inside the teaching of giving. The promise of having an abundance of every good work appears inside the teaching on giving. Enrichment and liberality appear inside a teaching on giving. Paul is showing us that giving creates an environment in which the abundant supply of God finds expression in the life of a believer. That's what Paul is showing us.
So some people want to shout about verse eight. Whilst ignoring verses six and verses seven. Some people turn off the moment the preacher has to talk about giving. But turn up when the teacher has to talk about grace. Whereas, there is a context to that conversation. They want all grace to abound, yet nothing leaves their hands. They want sufficiency in all things, yet they have never never trained themselves to sow. They want abundance for every good work, yet every resource that enters into their hand is consumed upon themselves, upon their family. They want God to multiply seed, yet they keep eating everything that was meant to become seed. The God who makes all grace abound is speaking to source.
The God is who makes all grace abound is speaking to give us. Are you with me? Yes, sir. That's why in second Corinthians chapter nine and verse 10, that same scripture, when you read down to verse 10, look at verse nine. Let's read verse nine again. As it is written, he has dispatched abroad, he has given to the poor, his righteousness endures forever. Next verse, then it says, now may he who supply seed to the sower and bread for food, supply and multiply the seed you have sown and increase the fruits of your right... Oh my God. Please stay with this increase the fruit of your righteousness. We're gonna come back there.
That all grace abounding. Are you with me? Yes, sir. Paul is using another language to describe what is happening there. That there is an increase to the fruit of your righteousness. You're not seeing that. The believer is already righteous, but that your righteousness should have fruit. Your righteousness should have result. Do you understand what I'm saying? And the Bible says that God is able to increase the result of a man's righteousness.
Oh my God. Do you remember in Isaiah chapter... Oh, it's two verse one. Yes. For Zion's sake, I will not hold my peace. And for Jerusalem's sake, I will not rest. Read the next line together. I've taught on this before severally. I'm not gonna speak much on this. Go back to that scripture.
So there is a righteousness that is a believer already has in God. We're not saying that your giving gives you righteousness. Any that which is that is error. Are you with me? Yes. But there are results that should come out of a believer's life of the fact that you have become righteous. The Bible says God is able to increase the fruits of your righteousness. And look at the context. He supplies seed to the sower, bread for food. And when that happens, what what happens again?
It multiplies the seed you have sown and then increases the fruits of your righteousness. I'm going somewhere with this. Stay with me. Are you still with me? So the soul understands that everything entering my hand is not for immediate consumption. That some of what I have is bread. Some of what I have is seed. If you consume the bread, you have been fed. If you consume the seed, you have eaten what should have multiplied. You have eaten what should have become all grace.
Are you with me? Yes, sir. Please understand what Paul is teaching. That giving makes room for grace to abound. That giving gives your resources or places your resources inside the law of sowing and reaping. That giving creates a harvest for the believer who has given. That giving produces fruit that can abound to your account. That giving becomes a memorial before God. Giving positions a man for increasing sufficiency and enlarge his capacity for every good work. That's what the Bible says.
Something happens when a man releases his substance towards God. That your giving speaks, that your giving is remembered, that your giving becomes seed, that your giving entered into a love multiplication. And the God who sees the seed is able to look at the life of the giver, identify the grace that is required for his next season, and then make that grace abound towards him. That is what the Bible is saying. So verse six, showed us the seed. Verse seven, showed us the heart. And verse eight, showed us the God who responds with abounding grace. You sow bountifully. You give purposefully. You give cheerfully, and God makes all grace abounds towards you.
Let me show you something in Philippians chapter four from verse 10. I want us to do it in Tivity. We're gonna read to verse 16 before we go back to the NKJV in verse 17. It says, my heart overflows with joy when I think of how you demonstrated love to me by what now? Your financial support of my ministry. I told you, it doesn't matter what the giving entered. What matters is that the believer gave. That's what mattered. Paul is saying that your giving entered into my ministry to financially support me. For even though you have so little, you still continue to help me at every opportunity.
Next verse. This is Paul speaking. I'm not telling you this because I'm in need. For I've learned to be satisfied in any circumstance. So any man of God who begins to manipulate people to give especially because he has a need, you are not following scriptures. The pattern you are following is not of God. Because a man of God can be in his house and then sit instead of things in his house, doesn't have money to feed his children, and they come to church angrily talking to the members. You don't give toward this work. No. No.
No. No. No. Your heart is corrupted already. Paul says, I'm not telling you this because I'm in need. So the teaching on giving cannot therefore be a response to a need that you have as a man of God. Do you understand what I'm saying? Yes sir. Even for I have learned to be satisfied in any circumstance. You see, and the problem with a lot of men of God that makes them hold back on teaching giving is because they don't want people's attention drawn from the central idea of why we give.
A lot of people are insecure, and so they believe that if I teach giving, people might think I'm teaching this because I have a need. But Paul is teaching the same, and he said I'm not teaching this because I have a need. No. Understand this. Don't you think that I have a need is why I'm teaching this. It says listen, I know what it means to lack. I know what it means to experience overwhelming abundance. I'm trained in the secret of overcoming all things, whether in fullness or in hunger. And I find the strength of Christ's explosive power infuses me to conquer every difficulty. Next verse.
I find that the strength of Christ's explosive power infuses me to conquer every difficulty. Are you with me? Next verse then says, you've so graciously provided for my essential needs during these seasons of difficulty. Not because I asked for it, not because I need it, but you've so graciously provided for my essential need. Paul is speaking. He starts by saying, first you provided for my ministry, then he's saying you provided for my essential needs. Next verse. It says, for I want you to know that the Philippian church was the only church that supported me in the beginning as I went out to preach the gospel. You were the only church that sold into me financially. Verse 16, the Philippian church.
And when I was in Thessalonica, you supported me well over a year. I was preaching in Thessalonica. The ones I'm preaching to did not support me. Oh my God. This is a message to a man of God. Who feels I'm laboring over a people? No. No. No. No.
The bible never says we're reaped where we have sown. Paul was going about the work of ministry in Thessalonica, but the Philippian church for a year were sending to the ministry to ensure that everything the ministry needs is supplied. Are you with me brothers and sisters? Yes, sir. Now go back to the verse 17 in NKJV. I want us to go back to NKJV here. I want us to read this together everybody. What's the first line? One, three, go. I see thee.
Pause. Don't you think that I seek the gift that you give to me? Mm-mm. That's not what I'm after as a man of God. I'm only after the gift you brought. I'm only after the size of the gift and what the gift is. He said, I seek the fruit that abounds to your account. That's what I want you to see. I told you to hold that fruit of righteousness. Because you see Paul using the same language he used for the Corinthian church.
Now to the Philippian church. That is an account that giving causes to abound. You see, Paul is saying that, listen, I'm not commending you because I need your gift. I'm commending you because what I desire is the fruit that abounds to your account because you have given. What I desire is the all grace that abounds. So what is the fruit that abounds? All grace. Look at how the amplified classic puts it. Do you have... Yeah, the amplified classic.
No matter I seek or I am eager for your gift. But I do seek and I'm eager for the fruit which increases to your credit, the harvest of blessing that is accumulating to your account. Yes, sir. He said, that's what I'm eager to see. So when I see you giving, I'm not excited because you gave something to me. I'm excited because I understand what is happening. Go back to the NKJV. Do you understand what is happening here? Yes, sir. Paul is saying, I understand what is happening.
That's why I'm excited. I know that as you give, grace is abounding. So I'm excited to see that someone is giving. There is no harder. Yes, Lord. Yes, Lord. Yes, Lord. Oh. Yes, Lord. You are lucky.
Listen. Continue verse 18. Verse 18. Philippians, it says, indeed, I have all and abound. I am full having received from a predators the things sent from you. What has it become? A sweet smelling aroma. Watch this. An acceptable sacrifice, well pleasing to who? God.
But who did they give it to? So it didn't matter that it was for his ministry. It didn't matter that it was for his needs. What mattered is that they gave to God. It left their hand and became a seed. And Paul is now interpreting what they did. He saying this thing you have done has become a sweet smelling aroma, an acceptable sacrifice, well pleasing to God. Look at the next verse. Please look at the context now. And my God.
So you cannot pick this out of a context. This also has a context. Look at abounding grace here. And my God shall supply all your needs. That's abounding grace. All sufficiency in Christ. All sufficiency in Christ. Grace to abound because certain men gave. If you don't like what I'm teaching, you are not a believer. That's the meaning.
It means you don't believe in scriptures. I've not said a single thing that is my idea. I've not said a single thing that is my idea. My responsibility as a teacher of scriptures is not to come and excite you, it's to show you scriptures. It doesn't matter what my personal preference is her or my bias is her. As long as it is truth from scripture, my responsibility is to teach it no matter how uncomfortable it makes me feel. Because this is truth. How many believers say, my God has applied all my need. My God has applied all my need. My God has applied all my need.
Because we've turned what has a condition into a prophecy. Yes lord yes lord you are the king there is no other Yes, Lord. Listen, Hebrews six ten, the amplified version of the Bible says, God is not unjust. God is not so unjust. To forget your work and the love with which you have shown for his name. In ministering. To the needs of the saints. God's people as you do. It is God is not unjust to forget it. The Bible called it the work.
That giving is a work of righteousness. And God is not unjust to forget the work. I told someone I give for a living. He doesn't look at me as though I was a fool, I said it's a work. You say I work for a living, I say I give for a living. Both of them are works. God is not unjust to forget the work. It's what the Bible says. God remembers what leaves your hand for his name. God remembers what leaves your hand for his name.
For your glory. I'll do anything just to see and be all due past my king for your glory. I hope to anything God remembers. Giving creates memorials before God. It speaks long after the immediate moment of the release has even passed. Are you with me? Yes, sir. Remember when Israel gave to us the tabernacle in Exodus 35? The Bible says, everyone whose heart was stirred and everyone whose spirit was willing brought the Lord's offering. Everyone whose heart was stirred.
Everyone whose spirit was willing. Everyone whose heart was... That's the principle of giving. It's not compulsed. Everyone whose heart was stirred. Remember the heart Paul speaks about? Yes, sir. Everyone whose heart was stirred. Everyone whose spirit was willing, they brought the Lord's offering. He brought the Lord's offering.
The Bible says men and women brought gold, brought silver, brought bronze, brought precious stones, they brought fabric. The Bible says they brought every material required for the work. They brought gold, they brought silver, they brought everything required for the work, came from the men and women whose heart was there. In fact, verse one. Verse one. God was the one who told Moses. Gathered all the children of Israel, said to them, these are the words which the Lord has commanded you to do. Next verse, watch. The Lord has done what? Commanded.
It is a command, but everyone whose heart was stirred, whose spirit was willing. The fact that it was a command from God did not make God force them. So there is never a context that men are forced into giving, that men are manipulated into giving. Never a context. It is based on the length and the extent and the depth of your understanding as a believer. Glory to God. Look at verse three. Verse four, Moses spoke to the children of Israel saying, take from among you an offering to the Lord. Whoever is of a willing heart, let him bring it as an offering to the Lord. Gold, silver, bronze.
Verse 22 then says, They came, both men and women, as many as had a willing heart, brought earrings, nose rings, necklaces, gold. Every man who made an offering of gold to the Lord. The emphasis is a willing heart. As many as had a willing heart. In verse five, the Bible says the people gave until Exodus 36 verse five records that the craftsman told Moses that the people bring much more than is enough for the service of the work. The people bring much more than enough for the service of the work, which the Lord has commanded us to do. Moses had to restrain them from bringing more. Those whose hearts were willing. Moses have to tell them, we have enough for the service of the Lord. We have enough for the work of God.
There's no need for you to bring anymore. Everyone whose hearts was willing. You mean these people could have given all along, yet they did not until they heard from Moses. This is what the Lord has commanded. You don't understand what I'm saying? It means we must not assume that people by their prerogative. We must not even think that the refusal to give means somebody does not want to give. Sometimes they just don't know. Yes, sir. And the moment the man of God come to say, this is what the Lord has commanded, then somebody whose heart is steered, somebody whose spirit is willing, Somebody whose spirit is willing.
And the work was completed. Verse 34 says that the cloud covered the tabernacle of meeting and the glory of God. Exodus four thirty four. Now when the work was completed, the cloud covered the tabernacle of meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. They are giving prepared a dwelling for God, and the glory of God filled what giving had helps to build. They released their substance and a structure arose in their midst that hosted the manifest presence of God, And God honored their giving with his presence. All grace abounds. You see the same pattern appearing when David and Israel prepared the temple in first Chronicles chapter nine. Bible says David gave from the national treasury. And then he gave from his own personal treasure.
Because in his own words, he said, I have set my affection on the house of my God. Even the leaders gave willingly. The people were rejoicing because they had offered willingly to the Lord. That's what the Bible says. Look at that. It says, I have given to the house of my God over and above all that I have prepared for the holy house, my own special treasure of gold and silver. Because you need to read down, you see the people giving. The people rejoicing because they gave. My my God. And when they were done, David now prayed.
He says both riches and honor come from you. He says you reign over all. He understood that everything that they had first came from God. He knew. He knew that they are giving was a grateful return from what his hand has supplied. They knew. At the close of that chapter, Solomon sits upon the throne. The people submit to him. The Lord exalts him exceedingly in the sight of Israel. And when Solomon was dedicating the temple, In second Chronicles, you read from chapter five to chapter seven.
The people also brought sacrifices again in such abundance that they could not be counted, the Bible says. When Solomon finished praying, the Bible says, fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering and sacrifices and the glory of God filled the temple. Again, you say the same pattern. In fact, the Bible says, the priests could not enter because the glory was so intense. The Bible says, all of Israel had to bow their faces to the ground and worship. Once again, you see scriptures preaching sacrificial giving within the atmosphere of the manifestation of the glory of God. That sacrifice rose from the earth and fire answered from heaven. I think the perfect example of this is Elijah. Remember Elijah? In first Kings chapter 18, when you read from verse 30 to verse 38, you look at what the Bible says.
The Bible says, then Elijah said to all the people, come near to me. So all the people came near to him and he... Do you know the story here? This is when he was facing the prophet of Baal because he had been farming in Israel for many years. Farming in Israel for many years. And king Ahab had asked of him on many occasions to come and tell him that because king Ahab suspected that the famine was there because of him in the first instance. Do you know what famine means? Farming means that there is no food, there's no water. It means that the soil is so dry that nothing planted can grow because there is no water. If there is water, then there is hope that something can grow.
The Bible says rain had not fallen for how many years? Rain had not fallen. I want you to see something here. I'm going somewhere well. That means they were in short supply of what? Food. Of habitation. Of plantation. And of water. Because rain had not fallen.
And then he called the prophet of Baal. And the reason for this is because the people had entered into apostasy. Their heart had deviated from God. They've left the holy God of Israel. And because of this, there was famine. In recompense to their actions, They've set the idol of Baal and have raised all of them to Baal. And Baal now I even had prophets under the leadership of Ahab and Jezebel. The people had rebelled completely against God. Elijah called everyone and says, you have turned your heart against your God. If Baal be Baal, let us know.
If God be God, let us know. There's no point choosing sides. There's no point sitting on the fence. There's no point having no idea where to sit in the camp of Baal or in the camp of God. You can't be in two places at any time. Yes, sir. And then he told them, you know what we'll do? Let us both call to our God to send down fire. Whoever God can send down fire is God. Then the prophets of Baal began, and they tried every single thing that they could try.
Did every single thing they could do. Cut themselves, pierce themselves, bled themselves out, open that Baal would answer them. Do you know these people had so much confidence to take on the bet? Because the consequence of the bet is that whoever loses will be slaughtered. How many of you will jump on a bet that the stakes is your life without being absolutely sure that you will win. So the prophet of Baal were not stupid. They weren't idiots. They were somewhat confident because maybe they've seen with God before. But there's no other God like God. And after all their calisthenics, after all their gymnastics, after every storm that they have put, there was silence in the heavens.
Baal was nowhere to be found. They knocked and knocked and cried and cried. You are the king of kings and lords. Of not, you are the king of kings. You are the lord. Listen. Elijah stood somewhere and was laughing at them, mocking them. And when it was time for Elijah to show whether God, the God of heaven is God, in verse 30, Elijah said to all of them, come near to me. I'm not ashamed of this. This that I'm about to do and show you is not done in secret.
Have you ever wondered why he said come near to me when what was about to happen was fire? It should have been move far away. But he tells them, come near to me because every action he was about to do in bringing about the coming of the fire was instrumental. And he wanted them to see what he was doing because there was a message in everything. Do you understand what I'm saying? And the first thing that he did in ensuring that fire came from heaven was that he repaired the altar of the Lord that was broken down. I want you to see the progression here. The first thing Elijah did was to repair the altar of the Lord. Before Elijah asked for fire, he repaired the altar of the Lord that was broken down. The broken altar represented Israel's broken relationship with God.
Because Israel had abandoned the God of Israel, Yahweh. They have turned towards Baal. So their national problem was deeper than the absence of rain. The greatest crisis they had was a broken altar, broken fellowship, broken communion, broken intimacy. So rain could not fall on the land. And for rain to come, for the glory to be manifested again, the altar had to be restored before the people. So Elijah was calling Israel back to covenant alignment with God. He was showing them something that is a process by which the glory of God honors a man. First, repair the altar. My God.
First, repair the altar. Many people want the fire of God. They want the power of God. They want the provision of God. They want the intervention of God, but their altar remains broken. Prayer has become inconsistent. Worship has become casual. Obedience to God has become a selective thing that they do. Sacrifice upon the altar has disappeared completely. And God is being asked to respond to an altar where nothing has been placed, a broken altar, a destroyed altar.
And Elijah is teaching here that the restoration of divine manifestation often begins with the restoration of the altar. I can teach on this. I can just stay here and teach. An altar is the place where something is surrendered to God. It is a place where ownership is transferred. That's what an altar is. It is a place where self will is laid down. It is a place where a man says, this belongs to God. It's a place where a man says, my my life belongs to God. I laid down my life to God.
That's what an altar is. And the first thing that he did was to tell Israel, return back to your maker. That is what he was doing here. Return back to your maker. But if fire is what you are looking for, let me tell you how fire comes. Return back to your maker. It says in the beginning, God. You cannot leave God away from the beginning and be asking for glory. It doesn't work that way. Fire responds first to a restored altar.
And next, Elijah now took the... Let's go and read it. Elijah took 12 stones according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob to whom the word of the Lord had come saying, Israel shall be your name. You see, if you don't understand the history and the historical context... I was teaching a group of people about context in biblical interpretation, and I told them that context is not only pretext and posttext, that the historical context can sometimes be important in understanding the vast of study and the vast of interest. Yes, sir. And this is one of those instances. Because if you don't understand the historical context and what is the state of the nation Israel, as at this point in time, you would not know the significance of what Elijah is doing. Are you with me brothers and sisters? At that time, the nation of Israel was already politically divided.
At that time, there was already the Northern Kingdom Of Israel and the Southern Kingdom Of Israel. There was already a division of the Northern tribes and the Southern tribes politically, each having his own king, his own kingdom, his own laws. Are you with me? Yes, sir. Yet Elijah still built an altar with 12 stones. In other words, he's saying that before God, Israel was still a covenant people called by his name. That's why the bible says that he took 12 stones. To the number of the tribe of the son of Jacob to whom the word of the Lord had come saying, Israel shall be your name. So the number 12 was very important in them being named Israel. So this was Elijah communicating to these people, reminding them of who they were.
That barren worship had corrupted their identity. It had corrupted their behavior. It had corrupted their sense of identity. They have forgotten who they were. So Elijah picking 12 stones is a reminder to them that Israel shall be your name. You have been called another name by reason of your apostasy, by reason of your heart drifting away to Baal. Are you with me brothers and sisters? That's the reason why the altar was built that way. Israel shall be your name. That the significance of the 12 stones is a reminder of Israel's covenant identity.
Israel shall be your name. Every genuine altar therefore calls a person back to divine ownership. And when you give to God, when you restore broken altars, when you come back to God, one of the things that happens is that you are acknowledging that your life and everything that is in your hands came from him, and you are identifying with God. You are saying, I belong to God. You are saying, I am made in the image of God. Do you remember when they came to Jesus and they asked Jesus, should tax be given to Caesar? Or should it be given to God? And Jesus asked them a question, whose image is not currency? And they looked at the currency and found that it was Caesar's image that was there. And Jesus said, give unto Caesar what belongs to Caesar, and then give unto God what belongs to God.
So the question is, what belongs to God? Because Jesus did not directly answer it. But inside of that response, there was an answer. To mean that if Caesar's image is on it, then it belongs to Caesar. If God's image is on it, then it belongs to God. And guess who is made in the image of God? The Bible says, so what Jesus is saying therefore is give yourself to God. That was what Elijah was doing when he says Israel is their name. He was reminding them again of their identity that you belong to God. This is who you are.
This is your identity. It's what a broken heart adores when it is restored. It brings a mark into the reminder of who his life belongs to. Do you understand what I'm saying here? Thank you, Jesus. Let's continue. Then with the stones, he built an altar in the name of the Lord, and he made a trench around the altar large enough to hold two sails of seed. Next verse. And he put the wood in order and cut the bull in pieces. And laid it on the wood.
Elijah cut the bull in pieces and laid it on the wood. This was the burnt sacrifice. In the old testament, the burnt offering was wholly placed upon the altar and then it was consumed by fire. It carries a picture of total surrender that nothing was held back for the person who is offering it. Now when you check within the last testimony of scripture, the sacrificial system points us towards Christ because Christ was the one that offered himself completely to God. Ephesians five and verse two, the Bible says that Christ has given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet smelling haramer. So Jesus became the perfect sacrifice. He surrendered himself to the will of the father. Holy. Are you with me?
Now that same pattern of total surrender now reaches the believer in Romans chapter 12 verse one when the bible says, now therefore present your body a living sacrifice. I beseech you therefore, brethren, present your body a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. So Christ gave himself for us, and now we place ourselves before God. We give ourselves to God. So for that reason, when we've given ourselves to God, it means we've given everything that we own to God. That's the meaning of the bull placed holy. That means there is nothing left. They didn't remove any part for themselves. Do you understand what I'm saying? They didn't cut the intestines.
Say, we will use the intestine to do No. The sacrifice was placed holy to mean he he he has everything. And when the believer understands that this is how you are meant to come to God, offering yourself holy in like manner, you realize that there is nothing therefore that you have that does not belong to God. Because if you are on the altar, then your money is there. You can't come to the altar and leave your money at home. And leave your time at home. And leave your gift at home. And leave your skill at home, and leave your energy at home, and leave your reforms at home. No. No.
No. No. No. If you've come before God on the altar and you say that I give myself away, you are biblically saying I give myself and everything that I own. I come holy to God. Do you understand what I'm saying here? Yes, sir. Giving is the expression of the altar. Every time you release something valuable towards God's purpose, you are declaring that the resources does not own you. You are placing something from your life upon the altar.
You are saying God's purpose is greater than any authority that this thing can have over me. Let's continue. We are getting to where I'm going. Caught the bowl in Pithis and laid it on the wood and said, fill four water pots with water and pour it on the burnt sacrifice and on the wood. Next verse. They did it. Then he said, do it a second time. In other words, they took four water pots. Four. Yes, sir.
Do you know what a water pot was? In those days, it's a large container. A large oval shaped water pot. Are you with me? And they took four of those large shaped oval pots and brought it and poured the first one on the bowl. The second one, the third one, the fourth one. When they were done, he told them a second time, do it again. And they went and gathered four water pots again and brought it and poured it again. And when they were done, he says do it again. A third time.
The question is why? Somebody haven't seen it yet. Remember that I told you that this event was happening during a severe drought. That means water was in short supply. Stay with me. That means rain had not fallen for many years. Stay with me. The land that suffered without rain for years. Ahab and Obadiah had searched through the land for grass, for water, because animals were dying. There was no water to drink.
Scripture does not tell us where the water that Elijah used was obtained. Yet the setting still makes it very clear. That water was a significant resource because it was scarce. And in the scarcity of water, Elijah told them, go and get four water pots full. It was the reason why they gathered. Because there was no water. It was something people could die for, fight for, kill themselves for. And what he told them was spoilt. Imagine people who will have to fight for water. Looking at Elijah as he was wasting water.
Okay. The first one is okay. Then they don't do it again, and they go and get four water pots again. And pour... I can imagine the hunger in the hearts of people that are there. My God. It tells them do it again the first time. It gives you a powerful picture of sacrifice because sacrifice often looks like a waste to someone who cannot see the purpose of the altar. Yes. That's what happened when Mary poured an expensive perfume on the feet of Jesus.
People were also asking her, what a waste. What a waste. That's how sacrifice always looks like when given to God. It always looks like a waste. You mean something is in short supply and you are giving it like that. It's not as though we have so much of this thing and you take it and you go and give it and you see hunger. But the wise know that it's not a waste. Sir, the wise know. The wise know. There are times you will give towards the work of God.
And someone who doesn't understand your revelation will consider that division and excessive. Yes. I mean, you could have used that money for yourself. You would have preserved your own comfort. You would have chosen convenience. Yet you have seen something greater than immediate consumption of what you have. You have seen the altar. You have seen the purpose of God. You have seen what God is doing. You have seen what must be made possible through your sacrifice.
You have seen abundant grace that can be added to your life. You have seen areas of short supply where grace must be added. So it makes sense to give. But someone who is outside of that scope will look at you and say what stupid division is this? What stupid division is this? In fact, will tell you, ah, my brother, this money you want to give, what if you do this and do that and do this instead? You say, it came to my heart to give, but I think if I do this and do that, you know, I will be able to gather this and gather that, and then God is impressing it upon your heart. You say, no. No. No.
No. I know that God is impressing all my heart, but look at it now. This morning I want to give now. If I just buy this investment now, and if I buy this investment, I I will not have more. In fact, will even have more to now give, ah, than giving this one that I have right now. But there's a prompting in your heart. Some way to obey is better than to sacrifice. Not because sacrifice is against God's will, but because sacrifice according to your own definition of what it is is against God's will. So in that context, you're investing and you're bringing it later is not what sacrifice is. Your obedience to the prompting of the spirit is better than your thoughts.
Do you understand what this is? Because that was what that was what Saul was doing when he was taught to kill all the animals and kill everything that was there. He he went and gathered some for himself and said, the reason is because we can take from this one. He said, no. No. No. You have been better off obeying God than using your intelligence to come and plan and say, if I do this, if I put this here, if I if I strategize, when God is lending upon my heart. The second significance of that water is this, especially because the water was poured three times. Using four water pots each time it was poured. That means that the sacrifice was being soaked with water.
The wood was being soaked with water. Water was running around the altar. The trenches were being filled with water. Are you with me? It means that by the time Elijah prayed, every natural possibility of an ordinary fire had been removed. It means there is no way you would see fire on that altar and think somebody lighted it. Are you with me? That means the second significance of the water is that it made human manipulation impossible. It made it obvious that this is God. That's what I mean when I say something of God.
What Elijah was doing was making it so obvious that, citizen, we are removing everything that might make it seem as though a human did this. He said soak the burnt offering. Soak the wood. Soak everywhere with water. Pour it again. Pour it again. Pour it again. And when they were done, says, now we are ready. No one can doubt. And I'm standing here only because you may...
Listen. I'm standing here only because the song is saying, there are many reasons I could have been standing. But listen, the whole... There is no other natural explanation again. All the defenses have been broken up. Every helper I could have called has blocked my number. Everybody I could have reached. Do you understand what I'm saying? Everywhere help could have come from. They've told us in the hospital.
There is no cure. There's no way. This one is about to die. Three months and he's dead. When that happens, don't give up. Remember Elijah saying pour the water. Pour the water. But when human cannot help. Place to hit, to coincidence, to human skill, to trickery. You couldn't say, maybe, maybe, may...
Oh my god. That this guy was sacrificing, but at the same time was making it impossible for man to help. It shows you what happens when we sacrifice. It means we are bringing down our defenses. We are saying, god, if you don't help me now, there is no other place help can come from. The Bible says, vain is the help of men. And there are times God will tell you, pour the water. And you are you are pouring the water, but you know you still have two more water somewhere. God will say, take that one and pour it to. The storehouses are empty, all the storehouses are empty, God now says a hand.
Now watch. Now watch. Listen. Listen. Listen. The problem with many believers is that they've not allowed themselves to get to that place where God is their only option. They they they they feel somewhat unsafe when there is nothing and no one that can catch you but God. So we are believing God, but we still have... I'm trusting that God will help me. That one.
That one. Poet too. Poet. You say, ah, but we'll give them towards this thing. He said, but we still have a saving poet too. Abora, this one now is for this poet too. And when they've emptied all the reserves, all the reserves, then Elijah says, now let us wait and see. Now let us wait and see. The water that they were pouring intensified the impossibility. Elijah was basically saying that when this fire falls, everyone will know where it came from.
They will know. It removed every alternative explanation until the manifestation could only be attributed to God. That's what sacrifice does. Sacrifice can take a man beyond the place where his result can be explained by convenience. It can. It can. It can bring him into a place where his dependence upon God becomes visible, where when the result comes, you know this this is grace. This is grace. This is grace. Something of God is inside this.
This can't be attributed to man. Do you understand what I'm teaching you here? That guy has obeyed an instruction that natural calculation would have rejected. He has placed himself in a position where the only the faithfulness of God can explain what follows him. When I was getting married, I was giving like a fool, giving sacrifices. Somebody told me, said, Apostle, you should save. You have a big event coming up. I said, I have a big event coming up. I should give more. I look so stupid, but I understood something Elijah knew, There are times you empty the water pots.
Yes. Listen. Listen. When Elijah poured all the water finished, in verse 36, he said, let it be known this day. Let it be known this day that you are God in Israel. You are God in Israel, and I have done all these things at your word. Let it be known. The the God. Word word the Melted the stone. My god.
Who are the mountain before Zerubbabel? Who are the mountain before Zerubbabel? Hear me? Hear me? It says, it consumed the dust. The Bible says, it licks up the water. Do you know what trenches have? Trenches are deep holes where water has poured. The Bible let the fire licked it up, dried it completely. Or make it obvious that only the hand of God has done this.
Only the hand of God has done. Oh my God. Something that only God can do is happening in your life. You hear me? You hear me? When you read throughout the whole testament, you see the fire of God always appearing around accepted sacrifice, around divine manifestations. In Leviticus chapter nine verse 24, the bible says fire came out before the Lord and consumed the burnt offering. It wasn't the first time, and the people fell on their faces. It wasn't the first time. In second Chronicles seven verse one, the bible says when Solomon had finished praying after the decreement of the temple, fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifice.
Every time people gave of themselves, you see a dimension of glory, fire, power. In fact, the people back to God. When the people saw the fire of God, the Bible said they fell on their faces and they cried, the Lord is God. The Lord is God. That was the purpose of the manifestation. The fire did not come to make Elijah look powerful. The fire came to reveal God. It came to restore the people's hearts back to God. That was the purpose of the fire. Hear me?
It means the highest purpose of sacrifice is the revelation and the glorification of God. We give so that the glory of God can advance, so that the kingdom of God can advance. The house of can function. People can be reached. Ministers can be supported. Needs can be met. Christ can be revealed. When we finance what makes God known, we are participating in the fruit of that manifestation. Fire fell. Hearts returned, and the rain came down.
Listen to me. I have seen the manifestation of this in my life as a person. I have seen abundant grace and multiplied grace when I give. I've seen people come tell me that they notice measures of increase in the anointing. And they begin to ask me questions like, what did you do? How did you pray? I didn't pray any better. I didn't fast any better. But I can tell you that I give. I pray consistently.
I live a fasted life. But I tell you what continues to increase is my giving. What continues to grow in leaps and bound is my giving. Many ways that grace can be multiplied. Bible says grace and faith be multiplied through knowledge. But the bible also says that grace abounds when men give. I told you that meetings like the manifest conference, what happens is this, there are distributions of graces. A wise man therefore begins to give into a meeting such as that. Understanding that grace abounds. The wise man begins to sacrifice.
The wise man doesn't come carelessly. It's what Saul told the servant when the servant suggested that they go meet a prophet. Saul said, how do we go to a prophet? Empty. It's not because the prophet needs something. Understand? It is because there's a principle of abounding grace. What he had was bread, a muscle of bread. He said we have a muscle of bread because it's not... Oh, thank you, precious holy spirit.
We have a... That's all we have right now. Then let's go. And upon getting there, they came there looking for hangers on a lost donkey. Saul went back a king. Abound on grace. That woman was about to eat her last food and die. And then she met a prophet. This same Elijah. And the prophet told him, bring the food you want to eat now.
And it looks so crazy. How do you expect me to give? This is the last thing I want to eat. She says, no. Don't worry. Bring it. And she served the prophet the last food that she wanted to eat and all grace. The undoing of several believers would be their self self centeredness. Self absorbedness. Their self absorption, really.
Their self centeredness. This will become the undoing of many believers. That woman as well saw that the prophet would always pass by her house, and she discerned that this was a man of God. She said immediately to her husband, let us make a room for this man. Let's create space. Let's make it comfortable. If we cannot give money, let's give our substance. Let's give a portion of our house. Let him have a place to rest. They had no intention, but the principle is that as we give, grace must be multiplied.
There must be abundant of grace. And the question is, where is grace in short supply? That was when the woman was asked, what do you want? She said, I don't really want nothing. But it is not in the nature of grace to look at a man's life and not find what is missing. Even when you don't know. Even when you don't know. Sometimes when we give, the abundance of grace that comes is not financial. It's not money. Sometime it is wisdom that keeps on increasing because you'll find out you just keep on making foolish mistakes.
So where grace has to abound is in the area of wisdom. It's in the area of wisdom. Where grace has to abound, I showed you several dimensions of grace on Sunday that there are different areas where as we give, grace can abound. So we undermine the teaching of giving when we think that the only thing giving does is give you more money. No. And I think that the pastor are to blame for that because of this imbalance teaching. So the believer comes and says, I've given a 100 naira, I'm expecting 1,000 naira. I've given 10,000 naira. I'm expecting 100,000 naira. Look at that very poor mathematics with God.
I don't wanna share testimonies right now. Because sometimes when we share testimonies like this, if not received very well, they can even do more damage than good. So let's stay with scriptures. Manifest compliment is coming. Wise people don't do as though it doesn't concern them. Millions of money has already been spent. And the conflict has not even come. The need keep on being met. The Lord supplies our needs according to the riches and glory. We have no need for anything.
God is our source. Do you understand what I'm saying? Yes. But as wise people, Paul says when I'm excited when you give, it's not because I need your gift. Because I understand that there's a fruit that must be added to your account. I understand. I understand. That as you give, God is committed to your life. Yes. Yes.
Rise up on your feet and let us pray. Thank you for listening. We believe you've been blessed. To be a part of this vision, you can connect with us on YouTube at Disciples Television, on Instagram at dcnations, and on Telegram at dcn media channel. We love you. Stay blessed.