Beyond Our Power: Faith Promise Giving

I'm excited tonight. We've uh going to be looking very uh intently at 2 Corinthians chapter 8 and 9. If you will go ahead and uh two chapters that are very fundamental in understanding about faith promise. Uh as we look to these chapters tonight, it's going to be impossible to preach both of the chapters, but I'd like to bring out just some lessons here about faith promise. Now kind of recapping on Sunday morning I preached about the uniqueness of the gospel and we looked about um our the importance of not neglecting that unique gospel and God wants the gospel to get out. Then Sunday evening where you talked about uh five greatest from the great commission and just wanting to encourage that we would be obedient and not um in unbelief disobey the Lord but that our walk might be obeying the gospel preaching and getting that out believing that God can use each and everyone.

And tonight I'd like to focus in on uh beyond our power. Is it possible to give beyond our power? And uh I'd like to start reading in 2 Corinthians chapter 8:es 1-9. The Bible says this. 2 Corinthians chapter 8 verses 1-9. Moreover, brethren, we do you to win of the grace of God bestowed on the churches of Macedonia. Now, before we continue, that that phrasing that the Apostle Paul uses uh when he says, "We do you to wit of the grace of God." That's kind of that's not the way that we uh nowadays speak. And I was reading through that. I'm like, hm. We do you to wit of the grace of God. Basically, what that means, it's not complicated.

It means that we want you to know. So, Paul is relating here about the grace of God. And the example that he is using is now the church of Macedonia. He goes on in verse number two. He says, "How then in a great trial of affliction, the abundance of their joy and their deep poverty abounded unto the riches of their liberality. For to their power, I bear record. Yay, and beyond their power they were willing of themselves, praying us with much intreaty, that we would receive the gift, and take upon us the fellowship of the ministering to the saints." And this they did, not as we hoped, but first gave their own selves to the Lord and unto us by the will of God.

In so much that we desired Titus, that he as he had begun, so he would also finish in you the same grace also. Therefore, as he abounded in everything in faith and utterance and knowledge, and in all diligence, and in your love to us, see that ye abound in this grace also. I speak not by commandment but by occasion of the forwardness of others and notice to prove the sincerity of your love. Now verse nine is the last we'll read before prayer. It says for ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ that though he was rich yet for your sakes he became poor that ye through his poverty might be rich.

Let's pray. Father, as we have read this text, I ask your blessings upon our reading here. And as we float throughout chapter 8 and chapter nine, and I pray that you'd help me to be able to transmit the lesson or the message, the sermon that you've laid upon my heart. Father, for many, Faith Promise is nothing new. Perhaps there are some here that are new to Faith Promise. Lord, whether um they each person here knows or doesn't know, I pray that you would use this message to encourage and to challenge. And Father, that Ohana Baptist Church might grow even more through just simple personal obedience to the gospel and understanding that you have a plan that we can participate uh through faith promise in souls being saved around the world.

Lord, I ask that any decision that's made tonight that might you might glorify you. Lord, I give you all the glory, the honor, and the praise for it's in Jesus name I pray. Amen. And amen. Now, Faith Promise Missions is something that is very precious to my heart as a missionary because not only are we supported through Faith Promise Missions, but also we teach our people faith promise missions. And perhaps if there's someone here that was not here on Sunday, let me go ahead and just mention this. We are missionaries serving in Brazil. I had the privilege of going to Brazil when I was seven and uh that was 40 years ago and for 40 years have been uh living in Brazil minus the times furlow and also my Bible college and whatnot here in the states but very grateful for faith promise.

Faith promise is something that my parents um not only practiced but they also taught and so I as I was growing I understood that faith promise was a way. Now, someone would ask and say, um, brother Charlie, is faith promise the only way to support missions? And I would say that it's not the only way necessarily, but it is an excellent way to fulfill our responsibility as believers. Now, as we go back, Acts 1:8, I mentioned it on Sunday. I'll go ahead and mention it now. uh when Jesus Christ told his disciples, "And ye shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost has come upon you and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem and unto Judea and Samaria and unto the uttermost parts of the world."

The word that he uses there is not you will be witnesses in Jerusalem and then in Judea and then in it is simultaneous. And the way that we as Christians can fulfill that is specifically through faith promise. So we hear of missions giving often our minds goes straight to the dollar to the budget. We kind of calculate to fit what we can fit into our uh our budget and see. But there's a point and and we're talking about faith tonight. Okay. Now, I'm a firm believer that each one of us needs to manage well our finances, okay? And I'm not and I I'm going to repeat this throughout the lesson or the sermon tonight.

We're not talking about a prosperity gospel. We're not promising that if you give X amount of dollars, the Lord's going to double it back to you, okay? And we're not talking about an offering that you calculate to exactly the specific amount because it fits in the budget. God is honored when you and I walk by faith. Okay. Now, what does faith look like? Well, each one of us has to live our own faith. It's impossible that I would live anyone else's faith. And so, whenever you are seeking God's will about your faith promise offering, it has to be by faith. And to put the idea of faith promise into one simple sentence, it's by faith.

I promise to give X amount of dollars per week, per week or per month to world missions. Now, as Pastor Surface has repeatedly uh affirmed, that is something between you and God. As I believe on the uh the the uh commitment sheet, there's not a place where you will sign your name, where someone will come and and um um here we are in Portuguese again, uh will uh require that of you if you do not fulfill that. It's a promise between you and God. So this evening I would like to first of all we're going to see the basis for faith faith promise giving and uh real giving starts with the heart. After that in second place we're going to see the beauty of faith promise giving because when fa grace is the motive then giving becomes joyful voluntary partnership with the gospel.

It's a beautiful thing when we understand what we're doing. And thirdly, we'll see the bounty of faith promise giving. God is not trying to drain his people, but he wants to teach each one of us to sow. And then he uses, he supplies the seed for the swer, multiplying that seed that is given that we might abound to every good work. So the message of Stephen is very simple. First of all, grace is the basis and we'll see that joy is the beauty and God's supply is the bounty. So if faith promise giving is not built on pressure or emotion, what then is faith promise giving built on which brings us to our first point.

First of all, the basis for faith promise giving. Now, kind of bringing us up to speed, and I'm sure many already know the context of of what Paul is saying here. Um, they were taking up an offering for uh the brethren in Jerusalem that were needing assistance. And he's using Macedonia as an example. But you know the irony is as he goes through chapter 8 and chapter 9 he not only used the example of the church in Corinth to challenge the Macedonians he is now using the Macedonians to challenge again the church at Corenth uh because of their gifts. So notice what he says in verse number one. He says moreover brethren we do you to wit or we want you to know of the grace of God bestowed on the churches of Macedonia.

Well, first of all, we find that grace in the heart. Giving begins with God's grace in our surrender. Now, we hear of grace. We talk of grace. We sing of grace. But sometimes it's good just to stop and kind of reflect on God's grace. Paul did not introduce this as the generosity of the Macedonians. He introduces it as the grace of God bestowed on the churches of Macedonia. So church, grace does not just save us. If you were here for Sunday school, uh Titus chapter 2, it brought out that grace also teaches us how to live. And so the circumstance of the believers of Macedonia were facing, they were not favorable.

And sometimes even going through um a bountiful time, we would be willing to give more abundantly. But it's during those hard times. Notice in verse number two, he says here, he says, "How that in great trial of the affliction, the abundance of their joy and their deep poverty abounded unto the riches of their liberality." Now the circumstances here were not favorable to giving. But yet here we find that grace produced liberality. God is not after your money first. You know who God wants first? He wants you. God wants you. He wants your heart. He wants you more than he wants your money. You say, "Well, does God need my money?"

Well, to be honest with you, God doesn't need your money. You say, "Where does the Bible say that?" Well, one that we refer to often is Psalms 50:10. Okay? The Psalmist, he declares this, "For every beast is mine." And he says, "And the cattle upon a thousand hills." Now, going back to the capuccino, Pastor Surface mentioned the cappuccinos. Okay, if you're here Sunday, you understood. If you're here tonight, you understood also uh that you take it home and then you fill it up with change and you bring it back and that money will be invested in the building project in Brazil. Okay, the building project, I'm excited about it.

We're going to be building an auditorium for 240 people. Okay, it's going to be a large auditorium. And then on the side, we're going to have a building that will have four huge classrooms uh for children's ministries, for every ministry that we need. And then during this the week, it's going to be for our Bible seminary. Uh we're going to have a fellowship hall. We're going to have a a kitchen. It's it's going to be a beautiful structure that will continue to allow the ministry there to grow and and um to continue to expand for God's glory. You say, "Brother Charlie, how in the world are you going to build it?"

So, um the figure that we we got from the builders, it's going to cost around $400,000. Say, "Well, that's a lot." Well, it's a lot for me, but it's definitely not even scratching the surface for a building that size here on uh Hawaii or even on the mainland. Okay, but it's still a lot of money. Someone asked, "How in the world are you going to get it?" I don't know. But you know what I'm asking God to do? I'm asking God to seal sell some of his cattle. I mean, he owns the cattle on a thousand hills, right? But here's the thing. God doesn't need our money. So he's what he wants. First of all, he wants you and I to present ourselves.

And that's what the Macedonians did. They were not giving themselves to Paul. Did you notice in verse number five? It said, "And this they did not as we hoped for, but first gave their own selves to the Lord and to us by the will of God." And so, first of all, the basis of faith promise giving. If you're new to it, let me um affirm to you tonight what God wants is you to understand. He doesn't need your money, but he wants you. And once you give yourself to him, they were not giving themselves to Paul. They were giving themselves to the Lord. Don't give yourself to a Baptist. Give yourself to the Lord and say, "Lord, I understand that everything that I have, everything that I am belongs to you and it is for you."

So the basis for faith promise giving is grace in the heart. Second of all the model is Christ. Did you notice in verse number nine it says for ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ that though he was rich yet for your sakes he became poor that ye through his poverty might be uh rich. Now think of this. Jesus Christ voluntarily left all the splendor, all the glory, all the worship, all the authority of heaven and he took upon himself flesh so that by his sacrifice we might be made rich. Say, well, how in the world are we made rich? Well, first of all, forgiveness. Boy, that's a great richness that we find in Jesus Christ.

forgiveness of sins. Not only that, righteousness. Do you know what it is to be declared righteous by God through faith in Jesus Christ? Well, we can work all of our life and yet our righteousness are as filthy rags. And so when we think of all the riches that God has given us through salvation, forgiveness, righteousness, adoption, adoption, and then eternal life, just to mention four this evening. What a precious savior. And what grace has been shown to you and I. You know, it's no wonder that when he gets down here to chapter 9 and verse 15, if you want to turn over with me real quick, it's a very short verse, but notice how he finishes this thought of chapter 8 and chapter 9.

And he says in verse number 15, "Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift." We did we don't give to be saved. We give because we are saved. What Christ did for us is completely beyond description. It is so great that if we start describing it, we lack words. It it is an unspeakable gift. The cross measure is the measurement of grace and grace then becomes the motive for our sacrifice. Now the following phrase was found written in Jim Elliot's journal. Uh for anyone who does not know, I'm sure almost everyone is familiar with the name Jim Elliot. Jim Elliot was a missionary uh with uh some of his friends that went down to Ecuador and on January the 8th, 1956, they were murdered by the AA Indians.

Okay. And so Jim Elliot at the time, according to my calculations, he was only 28 years of age, left behind a wife, uh kids, and uh very tragic. There were five missionaries that were murdered, martyed by the Indians there. And uh they were going through his stuff and they found in his journal this phrase. He said, "He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose." Now think of that. Perhaps many have heard the phrase before. A young man 28 years old who felt called to minister to these Indians. They go, they set up plans finally and they try and make several contacts with them by the air and then comes the day they land and just a few days after landing there and won't uh give you all the detail of the story but end up being killed because of their faith.

If you were to ask today Jim Elliot and obviously we can't, was it worth it? You see, Jim Elliot and the other men, Nate Saint and those that were with them, they had already decided that because their lives belonged to God, they wanted Christ to be glorified. They had already, as the Macedonians, presented themselves completely to God. He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose. When grace is the basis, then something beautiful happens. giving stops stops feeling like loss and it starts feeling like a true privilege before God. So the basis for faith promise giving according to uh 1 Corinthians chapter 2 Corinthians chapter 8 we find here grace begins in the heart.

Not only that our example and the highest example is what Christ did for us. Now let me quickly go on to the beauty of faith promise giving in chapter 8:es 3 and 4. He says this for to their power I bear record yay and beyond their power they were willing of themselves praying us with much intreaty that we would receive receive the gift and take upon us the fellowship of the ministering to the saints. So the beauty of faith promise giving is that it's joyful voluntary partnership with the gospel. Did you notice in verse number two or actually three it said for to their power I bear record. Yay and beyond their power they were willing of themselves praying us with much intreaty.

In other words, he said the Macedonians were insisting in and praying us with much insistence or intreaty that we would receive the gift, taking upon us the fellowship of the ministering to saints. You say, "Brother Charlie, it's because they had a lot." No, we've already seen that their liberality was not because they had an abundance, but because they understood that it was their responsibility in a way to joyfully participate in ministering to others. Real mission giving is not something you are dragged into, but it's something you are drawn into. Now you may never ever have the privilege of going and preaching or going and sharing the gospel in a village in Africa but you know what through faith promise giving you can have a part in the gospel being preached in that village.

Dear brother Charlie, do you have any testimony of personal faith faith promise giving? Now I do. Now faith promise giving and once again I want to recap. It is a commitment that you will make those who will be making their commitment that you commit x amount and that is amount that you have prayed about that you have sought God's will and that's amount that God gives through you for the purpose of the gospel being taken beyond where you personally can go. But at times in in this particular um personal illustration, I remember back in Bible college and uh Bible college whenever I came up to Bible college, my dad gave me a ticket.

He gave me $500 and said, "Son, that's what I can help you with." And so we headed up to the States and uh true story, left Brazil on December 24th, 1998 to come to Bible college. And uh my mom even forgot about that. We were talking about this about three or four uh weeks ago. She's like, "Oh my goodness, I didn't remember you left on Christmas Eve." It's like, "Yeah, you know the reason why I left on Christmas Eve because plane tickets are cheaper on Christmas Eve or at least were cheaper." And so that was for me was a memorable uh uh Christmas. So, we flew in. Listen, I am very grateful for my parents.

Of course, they're uh dad's already in heaven. Mom's going to be coming Friday night, by the way. Hey, you'll be able to meet her. She's excited to talk to her today. She's excited to be able to come. And speaking of Friday, I've already got good coffee and I'm going to have regular Joe also. Okay. So, good coffee is a coffee that I picked up on Monday. All right. Delicious. Fantastic. I've already tasted it. And then we got the regular Brazilian Joe and that's like jet fuel. Okay. So, uh come Friday and we're going to have a wonderful time and then the girls are going to be making the the chocolate and whatnot, but I I will stick with the coffee.

But anyway, uh getting back to the purpose and what I'm saying. Uh as I was in Bible college, there was we were having a mission conference. There was a missionary that came through to Russia. And uh he was he was presenting an opportunity uh that that God had allowed them that come up for them to purchase a building. And uh man, I in Bible college, I didn't have two nickels that could rub together. I mean, it was like just survival. I survived on ramen noodles. Okay. But I was I was praying during the mission call. I said, 'Lord, would you please allow me to give something towards that building in Russia and I'm praying about that mission conference starts Sunday and obviously working full-time job Monday working mission conference at night.

Tuesday go to work and boss we we finished a sale. So, I worked as a uh we sold medical equipment central and South America. And Tuesday, he called me into his office. He said, "Charlie, we made a good deal, made a good sale. Just wanted to uh let you know I'm going to be giving you a $200 bonus." Okay. Praise the Lord. You know, immediately the Holy Spirit reminded me, Charlie, you've been praying about this. And you know where those $200 were invested? I have an investment in a building that that missionary is still on the field, still holding services in Russia in the building that I invested in.

You say, "To whose glory?" To God's glory. Now, I will tell you this. My $200 didn't buy that building. All right? But my little bit with others little bit with other little bit. Listen, investing for God's glory, it's a joyful voluntary partnership in the gospel. You say, "Well, why? Why is that?" Well, that I might go. Well, the gospel might go where I personally am not able to go. 2 Corinthians chapter 9 and verse 7. As he continues, I'm going to skip down to uh chapter 9:7. won't take the time to read it all, but you will notice that it is in the context of what he's saying. In verse 7, he says this.

He says, "Every man according as he a perfect in his heart, so let him give, not grudgingly or of necessity. For God loveth a cheerful giver." You see, missions giving is fellowship. You might never cross the ocean, but you can help send a messenger across the ocean. Romans chapter 10. Turn with me briefly. And everyone, I'm very grateful for Romans 10:13. I'm pretty sure that most here tonight could quote Romans 10:13, which states, "For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved." Verse number 14, it says, "How then shall they call on him and whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard?

And how shall they hear without a preacher?" Now notice the beginning of 15. And how shall they preach except they be sent? As it is written, how beautiful are the feet of them that bringeth or preacheth the gospel of feasts and bringeth good tidings of good things. And friends, in order to preach, they must be sent. It has been said, faith promise is not a bill you owe. It is a blessing you choose. So first of all it's joyful or actually uh we we found it is a voluntary participation. We find that it is uh joyful voluntary participation in the gospel. Not only that it multiplies thanksgiving and glory to God.

Now through supporting missionaries let me give you a couple of personal testimonies. God wants to be glorified throughout the earth. And God is glorified when souls are saved, lives are changed. Those who once were drunk, take for example a man by the name of Jose Vienna. Okay? He was a young man that my dad led to the Lord. I say young, he was probably in his 30s when dad led him to the Lord. He was a drunk and uh you could see him around town laying I mean just completely life destroyed. Um he had because of his drinking uh he had had several accidents on the job site and uh just his health was not good.

He he was his life was destroyed. But God allowed my dad to lead Jose Beis Viana to to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. Well, I remember he became dad's um right-hand soul-winning partner and they would soul win and soul win and soul win. He went to the Bible uh institute and ended up graduating and became a very faithful layman there in the church. Today he's close to 70 years old. I'd say probably around 65. still single but he serves as a lay preacher pastor in neighboring works and he has blessed churches all around whenever pastors need to leave. He is a man that is firm on the Bible. He is a man of conviction who takes the church preaches while that pastor is out and then when he returns you say why do you say that?

Well, the only reason that Joseph Petis Vienna today and he's getting up in age talked to him right before he came back to the states and he was just rejoicing that a missionary had gone led him to the Lord and that now he is able to invest in lives for the glory of God because of a missionary going. Not only that, notice in in 2 Corinthians chapter 9 11 through13, he says, "Being enriched in everything to all bountifulness, which causeth through us thanksgiving to God. For the administration of this service not only supplieth the want of the saints, but is abundant also by many thanksgivings unto God.

Whilst by the experience of this ministration, they glorified God for your professed subjection unto the gospel of Christ and for your liberal distribution unto them and unto all men. Did you notice there it rep uh several times he speaks of thanksgiving unto God? Well, I can attest to the fact that where missionaries go lead people to the Lord, those people not only glorify Christ through transformed lives, they also are grateful for those who contributed for missionaries to go. I think of um we call him Uncle Cleir. Okay, Uncle Cleir is uh a man uh in our church currently. uh he and his wife, precious couple, uh loves the Lord and uh he loves the United States and every time that either American goes down or we come up, he's like, "Please let the churches know how grateful we are.

He's an amazing soul winner. Loves the Lord." He is grateful. And that gratitude, not sure if you've ever thought about this, but those people who are led to the Lord also pray for those who support the missionaries. You say, "Why is that?" Well, it's a way that we can participate individually, but as a church in a work, the work of God, where other churches doing the same thing, teaching their people to do the same thing, can go throughout all the world preaching the gospel, and you and I can have a part. It multiplies thanksgiving and glory to God. And where many believers often it's easy to miss.

God never asks us to give so that we will be emptied and diminished. But he teaches that graced giving carries a harvest. And so as we give, notice what he promises here in 2 Corinthians chapter 9:8. He says, "And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that ye always having all sufficiency in all things may abound to every good work." And then also in verse number 10, he says, 'Now he that ministereth seed to the swer both minister bread for your food and multiply your seed sown and increase the fruits of their righteousness of your righteousness. I'm sorry. So the bounty now we've seen the beauty, the thanksgiving and the glory that God receives through our giving.

Now the bounty of faith promise giving God supplies more seed to the giver so the giving can continue and increase. Basically it's Lord what do you want me to give? What do you want to give through me? That which I would not be able to give if it were not by faith. And pastor has encouraged it. I encourage we need to pray about that commitment. And once God lays an amount on your heart, we need to be willing to let that go through us instead of keeping it for God's glory. Why? Well, you say, "Brother Charlie, if I do give that, then what will happen?" According to our text and the example that Paul is using the church in Macedonia, he confirms to them in verse number eight.

And God is able to make all grace abound toward you that ye always having all sufficiency in all things. Often times we think, you know, um so here that we might have all sufficiency in all things. So he's talking about money. So in other words, if I give then it's guaranteed that God will give to me. And the actual the fact is no, what he promises is to give us the sufficient what we need. But you know what the growth he says is this. He says, "He that ministerth seed to the swore both minister bread for your food. multiply your seed and increase the fruits of your righteousness. God doesn't just command the sewing.

He provides the seed. Faith promise giving is learning to give where God can say, "I can get the resources through that believer." Can God trust you with the amount that he is laying on your heart? And when we see, Lord, you're faithful. Everything that I have belongs to you. The example Jesus Christ gave me was that he left all for me. Lord, I know that you are glorified when people are saved around the world. I know that you have commanded me to be witnesses not only where I'm at in Jerusalem, in our Jerusalem would be Honolulu and uh around the world and I can participate and be obedient to that.

Now I would like to affirm this faith promise missions giving does not take away our personal responsibility to get the gospel out where we are. Don't think that by giving to faith promise missions then we are relieved of our responsibility because we are supporting others to go. God wants each one of us as believers, as Christians to be faithful witnesses. But at the same time, he enables us to through grace giving, through faith promise giving give so that souls are saved around the world. Now, bountiful swing produces bountiful spiritual harvest. Did you notice in verse number six? He says, "But this I say," and I've already read it before.

Chapter 9, 6, he says, "He which sweethth sparingly shall reap also sparingly, and he which seweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully." Now, what Paul is saying, he's not he's not preaching a Vegas style Christianity, okay? Give a lot, you'll get a lot. He's not saying that. But he is teaching a principle, a spiritual law of sewing. First of all, you cannot harvest where you never sow. And second of all, the size of the sewing affects the results of the harvest. Now, as I had mentioned before, oftentimes people think of receiving back as financially reaping money. And often God does bless those who give financially.

And one thing I have found and I have proven go you can't outgive if God. You cannot. It's impossible. I have tried. It does not work to outgive God. However, Paul affirms that there will be an increase of the fruit of your righteousness in verse number 10 and an enrichment of thanksgiving to God in verse number 11 through13. And we've seen those verses. So this is not a promise of greed. This is a promise of greater usefulness. So brother Charlie, then what do I do? Having prayed about it, commit to it. God enriches givers so they can keep abounding in good works and the end result is worship for our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

So coming down to a conclusion church faith promise giving comes down to a very personal moment between you and the Lord. This is not what you think someone expects you to give. It's not what you think the pastor wants you to give. It's not what you think someone. It's between you and God. You have prayed about it. You see the necessity and you look and you see, Lord, I'm going to trust you to provide this weekly or monthly that you will provide that money and I will give it for missions. Paul said the Macedonians had the secret. Their secret was first of all, they gave themselves to the Lord. That's the first invitation