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Galatians Chapter 6, I'd like to read verse 1 through to verse number 10, and we'll be looking at verse number 6 this morning. Brethren, if a man is overtaken in any trespass, you who are spiritual restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness, considering yourself lest you also be tempted. Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. For if anyone thinks himself to be something when he is nothing, he deceives himself. But let each one examine his own work, and then he will have rejoicing in himself alone, and not in another. For each one shall bear his own load. Let him who is taught the word share in all good things with him who teaches. Do not be deceived, God is not mocked. For whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. For he who sows to the flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap life everlasting. And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all, especially to those who are of the household of faith.

Let's pray. Father, we come to You now asking that You would make clear to us Your Word and that You would send the Holy Spirit to open our eyes, our hearts, that we might receive Your Word and that we might obey it, and that we might love Your law, and that it might be the meditation of our hearts both day and night. We ask this in Jesus' name, Amen.

So, we've been considering in this section of Galatians life in the Spirit and the practical demonstration of what that looks like. It looks like restoring someone overtaken in a trespass. It looks like bearing one another's burdens and, by that, so fulfilling the law of Christ. But today, it looks like sharing, which is another word for giving, is what the intention and meaning of that word is.

Now, this is an awkward sermon for me because the passage says to us that him who is taught in the word share with him who teaches in all good things. If you haven't worked it out yet, I'm the guy that teaches. Tom's one of the guys that teaches, and you are the guys that receive teaching. And when a sermon is talking about our relationship, it can prove to be quite awkward. But it is awkward not just for that reason. It is also awkward because of the common abuses that are found today and the stigma that is upon Christianity due to prosperity preachers and their false gospel. And this is a problem greater than we would perhaps like to realize, and we probably don't realize how much we actually react to that teaching as well.

But for the sake of illustration, let me share with you. I brought something to show and tell this morning just to share with you something. On Sunday, the 15th of July 2018, on the second page of the Solomon Islands' main newspaper called the Solomon Star, this one here, it was featured in the main page, this is the second page of that newspaper, a man who is most common for this false teaching called Kenneth Copeland. And he made a trip to the Solomon Islands, and by God's good providence, we found out a week before we were going to the Solomon Islands, a couple of weeks before. And so what happened was we were so concerned for the welfare of these people because they received the word so well.

Let me give a little example. If I would street preach, there would be somewhere between a hundred to two hundred, sometimes more than that, people standing around for an hour, hearing the gospel, asking questions afterwards, coming saying, "Give us all the material we have," inviting people back to Bible studies at our place, and they would come in, and they would hear more. And so you just want to get this picture here of what's going on here. Here is a very, if we could say, receptive people to the things of God and of the Word of God. And Natalie and I had been ministering there for about a year; we planted a church there, and we had done frequent missions trips following that just to see how they are all doing.

And so we organized a mission trip with a couple of us from the church, and we realized after the fact that we had booked our flights that Kenneth Copeland was flying in on his 54 million dollar jet with Jesse Duplantis, with Jerry Savelle, and they were going to pack out the Nelson Tamas Stadium, which is the biggest stadium in Honiara, and they were going to teach the prosperity gospel, and we were troubled by that. So yours truly, one of the main instigators of this reason for the newspaper article, printed out gospel tracts with these guys' heads on the front saying, "Beware of false teachers," and in there was full of quotes of what they have said, followed with biblical quotes so that we might warn the people.

I was wondering whether I should share this with you, but at least you know I'm a bit of a wild man. John the Baptist was one of those guys, and Elijah, in case you haven't read your Bible. Anyhow, so we prepared some ten thousand or so of these pamphlets, we flew in, and we hit the streets, street preaching, evangelizing, giving these things out, sharing with these people. Now, you have to understand, there's only about a hundred and ten thousand people in the city of Honiara, and in our time there, we had passed out more than a hundred thousand gospel tracts. This trip, we passed out ten thousand or so of these gospel tracts, and they spread far and wide. So people like, "Give one for my uncle and for my auntie and for my cousin," and whatever.

This led to some public preaching in the main town, which got the other prosperity friends very frustrated, the locals, which led to a bit of a disturbance in the city, which resulted in this newspaper article saying, "Campaign disturbed," with Kenneth Copeland's face on it. The reason why I share this with you is to just make it clear to you that I'm not that guy. I'm not that guy that wants to milk you of your last dollars, and neither is Tom, but just that we understand which side on the fence we stand regarding this.

We do not believe that a sign of spiritual maturity is someone's wealth. We do not believe that God's will for every single person is that they would have more money than they can use and handle. We believe that the Bible teaches us that we need to take heed and beware of covetousness because one's life does not consist in the abundance of the things that he possesses. We believe that the gospel of Jesus Christ doesn't say, "If you come to Christ, and God will give you all this money," therefore people start coming to Christ for the sake of having money. You could just imagine how influential this is in a third-world country.

We understand that Paul the Apostle was a man who was poor yet made many people rich, and having nothing, he yet possessed all things. But we also believe that the Bible teaches us that money is not evil, but the love of money is the root of all evil, and while some men covet after the love of money and pursue money, they are pierced through with many sorrows. We believe that God has just chosen the poor in this world rich in faith, but we also believe that God will supply all our needs according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.

We also believe that the Bible teaches us that to whom much is given, much is required, and so that if you are faithful with the little, God will then most likely entrust you with more. And although with this is not the idea of "you sow a dollar, God gives you a dollar," but we do believe in sowing and reaping, and that if you give to the Lord, God will give in return. He may not always meet what you give to Him; you might give Him finances, He may not give you finances back, but He will give in return. God will reward you; He will bless those who give of themselves and of what they possess to the Lord.

And this sermon is an awkward sermon because of the abuses and because of the stigma that exists, but as I said also because of our relationship to you as elders and the fact that this passage is about sharing with those who teach you the Word of God. We want to be known and acknowledged as Pope Pius acknowledged of John Calvin. This is what he said of John Calvin: he said, "the strength of that heretic," we don't want to be known by the heretic part, "but the strength of that heretic consisted in this, that money never had the slightest charm for him." And I believe that should be true of every minister of the gospel, that money should not have the slightest charm for him. He should not be greedy of gain, as the Bible teaches us; in fact, that's part of the qualifications of a minister, that he is not greedy of filthy lucre, of money, or of possessions, but one who serves humbly the Lord and His people.

And despite the awkwardness of this sermon, I am going to this morning not shrink from declaring to you the whole counsel of God because, at the very least, I want you to leave this place knowing that in this pulpit, the Word of God is sounded. Every passage of the Word of God, as we come to it, we will teach you the Word of God as people who stand before you as God's servants and God's ministers of His Word. I have nothing good to say to you from my own heart that is just corrupt as yours, but the Word of God has some good things to say on every subject, and we do well to teach you by the authority of this book.

And so, I'll talk to you this morning about the preciousness of this passage and the necessity of this passage for our church here at Camden Valley Baptist Church. And it is my prayer that this morning, God will give you a vision of how finances can serve His kingdom for the glory of His name and for the advancement of the gospel. As a church, it is our desire to grow past these walls into other spaces, to have more elders that are supported and are on staff. We want to see men and women raised up to go in and serve as missionaries, as evangelists, people that can go out and tell others about the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. We want to see more things happen, more churches planted, maybe even the establishment of more institutions, good institutions, perhaps schools or theological training institutions, and other things like this. And it's my encouragement to you to help you see this morning that money is a part of that, and that God has entrusted us with money as stewards, not for building bigger barns, but for storing our treasures in heaven where moth and rust do not corrupt, and thieves do not break in and steal.

The text begins by describing the relationship between the pastor and his people, and the passage says this: it says, "Let him who is taught in the word share in all good things with him who teaches." You see the two people that are here: there is the one who is taught in the word, and there is the one who teaches the word. This is the way that God has arranged things in His church. There is such thing as official Christian ministry. In the early church, there was a distinction between, as it were, the people and the preacher, not distinction in terms of the preacher was any more important than the people or things like this, but understanding that there was a role and a responsibility that God had given to some elders and teachers to shepherd the flock by the preaching of the word. And there was a formal distinction there because there is someone here that is called the one who teaches, and there is another one in the assembly called the one who is taught. Not to say that elders don't learn anything or can't be taught anything, but God is making it clear here as to the specific duties and responsibilities of each.

And the word "taught" is the word to catechize. The idea is that there are those who are being catechized, those that are being instructed, and there are those that are catechizing, those that are doing the teaching and the proclamation of this truth. And this is vital because the Christian religion, established by our Lord, the Christian faith, is a religion that's marked by teaching and instruction and has the importance of teaching and instruction at its very heart. It's often that we forget this. Christian religion, or Christianity, is not primarily meant to be ceremonial. Its main thing is teaching and preaching and proclamation. It is not without its ceremonies, but preaching and teaching is the major instrument of the Word of God that God uses for the establishment of His church and for the building up of the Saints.

It is through the Word of God that souls are regenerated and that men and women are converted. As Peter says, "that you are born again by the Word of God which lives and abides forever," and he goes on to say in verse 25, "and this word by this word the gospel is preached unto you." Paul says in 1 Corinthians that the message of the cross is to them that perish foolishness, but to us who are being saved, it is the power of God. What is he simply trying to say here? He's trying to show that the gospel is the power of God unto salvation. What is the gospel? It is the evangel; it is the sharing of the good news of the message. What is news? It is a report; it is a declaration; it is a statement of fact. "Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God," and the means by which people are saved is through the proclamation of the Word of God.

But also, the means by which the Saints are edified and strengthened and sanctified is by the Word of God. "Sanctify them through Your truth," says our Lord Jesus, praying, "Thy word is truth." Ephesians 4:11-12, God gives gifted teachers to the church for the building up of the Saints, for the edification of the body of Christ, so that the Saints can be equipped for the work of the ministry. God has appointed pastors and teachers in the churches so that by regular teaching, instruction, rebuking, warning, exhortation, you can go from milk to meat and grow up in your faith and be strong Christians that understand who God is and what He expects from our lives.

Paul is so adamant about this that when he is telling young Timothy to preach the word, he reminds him of the fact that the Word of God is sufficient. He says that "all scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable." This word is profitable; this word will benefit you for doctrine, for correction, for reproof, for instruction in righteousness, that you, the man of God, the woman of God, you may be perfect, that is, complete, fully equipped for every good work, so that by this word you might be all that God wants you to be for His kingdom and for His glory and for His honor, and so that you might stand complete on the day of judgment before Him, knowing that you have been shaped and molded by His word.

And so, Paul, right after that chapter where there's no chapter divisions in the Bible, you know, in the original text, it goes straight on and says, "I charge you, therefore, Timothy, before the angels, and I command you that you preach the word, and you be instant in this, in this preaching, in season and out of season. You reprove, you rebuke with all longsuffering and doctrine, for a time will come where they will not endure sound doctrine, but they will heap to themselves teachers having itching ears." But Paul says to Timothy, "you continue to proclaim the Word of God because it is through the Word of God that men and women will grow up into godliness. It is through the Word of God that they will know God as their Savior and as their Lord and as their king, and it's through the Word of God that they will be built up in their faith."

And the Christian pastor is that primary minister of the word to the congregation. It is the preacher's duty to make known the revelation of God. His labor is a labor of teaching and preaching. It is part of our calling; in fact, that is part of our qualifications, that we must be able to handle the Word of God effectively in such a way that we can both reprove and convince those who contradict. And if anything gets in the way of the proclamation and the preaching of the Word of God, the Bible teaches us that deacons should be appointed to take over those other matters so that we might give ourselves to the ministry of the Word and prayer.

It was Philip Ryken who said this; he goes, "Teaching the word, this is as simple and as clear a job description of the gospel ministry as there is. These days, ministers are tempted to perform many other jobs. They have become salesmen, businessmen, musicians, entertainers, comedians, janitors, anything and everything except preachers. But a true minister is nothing more and nothing less than a minister of the word. The center of any gospel ministry must be the exposition of Holy Scripture."

And it's important for you to understand this, to understand that the primary duty and burden laid upon us by God is to preach the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ and to make known to you the mystery of His will and of His word by the faithful exposition of the scripture. We are those that are to catechize, as it were, the congregation, to teach and instruct you in your faith. And in this passage of scripture, the thing that stands between the pastor and the people is the Word of God.

Look at this text that it says here; it says that "him who is taught in the word share in all good things with him who teaches." You see, the relationship is built on a receiving of the Word of God. This is fundamental to our relationship together as pastor and people. You should expect coming to church week in, week out; you should expect in all of our Bible studies that you receive the Word of God, that what comes in our relationship or between our relationship is the authority of scripture. This is vital; it is important for us to grapple with that and to wrestle with that. It is foundational to our relationship.

I hope that you think I am a nice guy, but this is not what should make your relationship with me the primary thing. You should come here and desire to hear the word, hear the Word of God. You should leave here knowing you've been instructed by the Word of God. You should know that when I call the minister and once I mean, you know, need help, he's going to give me the Word of God. You should know that if there are friends and family that I want him to meet, I know that he's going to proclaim to them the Word of God.

There's a sense in which the relationship, yes, maybe personal and affectionate, and yes, nice and lovely and all these things, but the primary thing about why you should attend Camden Valley Baptist Church is not because I'm nice; it's because you have a confidence that from this pulpit sounds out the Word of God. And if this church grows in such a way that I may not be able to maintain very intimate and personal relationships with each one of you, I pray that you will still see the value in sitting under the Word of God proclaimed week after week after week, that you might be built up in your most holy faith.

There's a relationship here between the one who is taught the Word and the one who teaches the Word. But Paul, instructing those who receive the Word, that is, the Galatian churches here, he says that this relationship is a relationship of sharing. Paul's instruction to the church is this: you share with those who share with you the Word, those who proclaim God's Word to you, we, and make known to you the truth of God and speak the Word of God into your life and have a calling from God to do so and have been appointed by the church to do so. He is simply saying to them, you share with them.

The word "share" is where we get the idea of fellowship with, but the idea there is partnership. This is more the emphasis that this word is taking at this point. Yes, it is sharing, that is, giving, but it's giving in a relationship of partnership. They share with you the Word of God, and he's saying you now partner with them; you share with them. Now, when Paul uses this word, he primarily uses it in terms of possessions and of supplying their needs.

Now, I have no problem if some of you go hunting, and you bring me back a nice deer or something like that; I'll make use of it, I really will. But you know, maybe not every future minister there would like to eat some of that game meat. But the point being, Paul's purpose here is supply. You see, they supply you the word; they supply you the most precious thing this side of eternity, so that you might be built up in your holy faith. And he says, "You now supply them. Look after them. They have needs; they have families; they have responsibilities. They give of their time, of their energy, of their labors to make sure that what you get is meat, sustenance, healthy, building you up, good stuff." And he's simply saying to them, "Now supply them in return. Minister to them in this way."

Now, this is not limited to money, as I said; it's a supplying of all things necessary. And in their day, that would be more common with livestock and all this kind of stuff, but it can also include help and care and support in other areas and in practical ways. But what Paul is trying to get at is, give what is yours so that they might be supplied. Therefore, what Paul is saying here is primarily that this issue is not an issue of payment. I'm afraid this is a horrible thing that's rampant in many churches today, as if the ministry is a job. It is a labor, and it is a work, and yes, in one sense, a laborer, the Bible says, is worthy of his hire, so in one sense, it is a job. But understand this: it is a calling, and whether the minister receives something or he receives nothing, he should say, "Woe is me if I preach not the gospel," because necessity is laid upon me, as Paul says.

And it's amazing how Paul says here, don't—it's not about payment in regards to the fact like we're paying you to do your job. This is not what it's about. This is about sharing; this is about partnership; this is about joining hands with your ministers as they proclaim to the Word of God. This is about being one with them in the work. This is about seeing that the possessions that we have, when given, are given in a sense of partnership, not in terms of, as it were, cold payments. And I hope to demonstrate this as we just move along a little bit here, but Paul wants them to understand their responsibility and their relationship in this text.

I'm gonna just quote a few passages to you to help you see the significance of this. When Jesus sent out the seventy, He said, "Eat and drink such things as they give you, for the laborer is worthy of his wages." In 1 Corinthians chapter 9, "You shall not muzzle the ox while it treads out the corn." You know the muzzle you put on the mouth of the ox so he doesn't eat all your corn? He's saying, don't do that to the ox. He's plowing your field; let him eat as he goes along. Let him receive the supply of your supply as he's going along and doing the work. "Don't muzzle the ox that treads out the corn." And he says, "If we have sown spiritual things to you, is it a great thing if we reap your material things?" See what Paul's saying here? There's a relationship here. We are sowing spiritual things; we should be able to reap material things. And he says, "Even so, the Lord has commanded that those who preach the gospel should live from the gospel." You know what that's trying to say? That it is important that those who preach the gospel should be supported in such a way that they can live preaching the gospel, and that in preaching the gospel, they might be supplied by the gospel that they preach, as in God's people partnering with them.

"The elders who rule well are to be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in teaching and preaching. For the Scripture says, 'You shall not muzzle the ox when it treads out the grain,' and 'The laborer deserves his wages.'" And so, the illustration is relevant. You go out to work; you work; you come home, and over the course of the fortnight or whatever it is, you receive payment for your work. I don't believe Jesus is saying now it's like a job, but what I think He's saying, it's like a job in this sense: that it is ordinary that the person who works, whether he does it freely or not freely in that sense, receives reward for his labors.

And this partnership is one of the most glorious partnerships that Christians need to understand and get a hold of. If you want to turn to Philippians chapter 4, we're going to look at this together. Philippians chapter number 4, and I want you to see with me in verse number 15 what Paul says here, just the—this is a church that gave to the needs of Paul, and this is how Paul responds. In Philippians chapter number 4, verse 15, it says, "Now you Philippians know also that in the beginning of the gospel, when I departed from Macedonia, no church shared with me concerning giving and receiving but you only." I love it. He didn't go around trying to raise funds and supports and quickly could give me money before I go. Paul's like, "I'm going. God's called me to go." And even though it was just one church that supported, praise God for that, all right?

So, "No church shared with me concerning giving and receiving but you only. For even in Thessalonica, you sent aid once and again for my necessities." Listen to what he says here now, "Not that I seek the gift, but I seek the fruit that abounds to your account. Indeed, I have all and abound. I am full, having received from Epaphroditus the things sent from you, a sweet-smelling aroma, an acceptable sacrifice, well-pleasing to God. And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus." What is Paul saying here? Well, he's showing them here that this is partnership. When the Philippians gave to Paul, they were partnering with Paul. And Paul goes on to show how glorious this is because he says in verse number 15, "No church shared with me concerning giving and receiving but you only." And they gave, and Paul says, "It's not that I want the gift or I'm seeking the gift, but I'm seeking," what did he say? "The fruit that abounds to your account." You know what he's saying? Every dollar that was sent to supply my need as I proclaim the job of the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, as I was going around making Him known and planting churches, his fruit that abounds to your account. You weren't there with me when I was there preaching in this city; you didn't see the converts perhaps that came as a result of my ministry. But this is not about just me receiving gifts; this is about you participating in the glory of the evangel going out and people being built up in their faith. And Paul says that is direct fruit to your account.

That's glorious. But he goes on to say, not only that, there's the glory of fruit that abounds to your account; he says, but there's also the glory of the satisfaction of the minister. Paul says, "I'm full; you supplied my need. I'm satisfied. I'm full. I'm not having to worry about whether I'm doing tent work this week more than the other week, whatever it may be." Although he was more than willing to supply his own need and did at times, but he was full. But more than this, the other glory of it is this is called in this passage of scripture a sweet-smelling aroma and an acceptable sacrifice to the Lord Jesus Christ, to God. Isn't that glorious as well? That that money is not only fruit that abounds to your account, it not only satisfies Paul and his needs, but it satisfies God so that it ascends as a fragrance to heaven, and God smells it as well. This is partnership in the gospel. This is what I've called my people to be part of.

And the other glory is that the promise to those who provide for the needs of others is that God will provide for their needs. The glory is that as you participate in the work of the Lord by giving that to the cause of Jesus Christ, you can be sure that "my God shall supply all your needs according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus." This is the glory of partnering in gospel work alongside gospel ministers in the Church of Jesus Christ for the spreading of the gospel.

Now, this glory of sharing and participating is at the heart of the Christian gospel itself because at the heart of the Christian gospel, we have the Father who sees the need of His people, broken in sin, sheep gone astray, people under His wrath, awaiting His judgment, and the Father gives His Son, that which is most precious to Him. He gives His Son for their redemption, for their saving, so that they might be supplied with that which they need, which is salvation. And at the heart of the very Christian message is that our forgiveness and our salvation and all that we have from God to us is a gift, a gift of God supplying our needs so that we might be saved, that we might be regenerated, that we won't be made alive, that we might have the Holy Spirit, that we might have the word, that we might grow in grace, that we might have a church, that we might have a family of God and a household of faith, all because God said, "I'm going to give." That's at His heart. And in mercy, He condescended to supply for our needs so that we might be full, full of His grace, full of His love.

And He brings sinful man into partnership with Him through the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ so that we are now united to Him. And Paul uses this very theme to encourage the churches of Macedonia, the churches of Corinth, to give to the need of the poor saints of Jerusalem. He says, "You know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, although He was rich, yet for your sakes, He became poor, that you through His poverty might be made rich." The riches that you have in Christ Jesus is because God was willing to condescend in mercy, in the person of His Son, and save us from our sins. And what he's simply saying: you're not willing to condescend to help the poor saints of Jerusalem? You see, where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. And we know that God treasured the redemption of His people because He sent His Son, His greatest treasure, to redeem us from our sins. It was the proof of it.

And so, the challenge comes to us: do we value Christian ministry and the word of proclamation? How precious is this moment to you? That's a really important question to ask. How precious is this moment to you? How precious are the moments when your ministers make known to you the Word of God? How important is it to you? How important is it that the Word of God continues to run and has free course in this congregation and in other places and in the world beyond us? How important is it to you? Well, where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

How important is the proclamation of the gospel and the building up and the equipping of the Saints? I'm afraid that our generation has produced many Christians that are consumers and not participants and contributors to the work of the gospel. The ideologies of the world have infected our hearts. The compromise of preachers, as I mentioned, like Kenneth Copeland, a prosperity gospel, has caused us to be so insecure about leaving that which is giving, that which is precious to us, so that the work of God can go on.

It quite sadly is, most Christians take like years to work out whether or not this is even a true Church of God. And then they go on and move to another Church of God, and then work out that one, and whatever it may be. You know, it's just how it is. There's a lot of distrust in the world today. But the beautiful thing is that you are not ultimately responsible for that. Do you understand that? We are not responsible. We are responsible to give to the needs of others and to the work of the Lord. We must be careful, yes, no doubt about where we put our money. I'm not saying not to be, but we don't put our money in such a way that we keep a string attached to it, and you know what I mean, and oh, get it back. We've got to trust God with this stuff. We have to believe that God is bigger than corruption. There's corruption everywhere, but we have to believe that God is bigger than this, and that God will get His work done. And we need to be willing to see the importance and the value of Christian ministry in the proclamation of the gospel in such a way that we're willing to part with that which is dear to us in order that the work of God might go on.

We always find money for the things that we value, you know. Latest technology, ad-free YouTube—it's going to get awkward—Spotify accounts, and Netflix, internet. We pay thousands and thousands of dollars to put our kids through good education, and all these things are fine and good and are important. But how valuable and important is the spiritual education of your life and your family? How important to you is the proclamation of the gospel in this community, not just the increase of education around the state, but the increase of the proclamation of the gospel around the state, that our state and our city and our country might know that there is the Lord Jesus Christ who rules and reigns in heaven?

Ministry is work; it is labor. Prayer, sermon prep, sacrifice, time, energy, Bible study, counseling, evangelism—look, I could give you a 20-minute TED talk, if you like, but those of you who know what meat tastes like won't be back. And some of you will never grow in your faith if you just get shallow. So, we are called as ministers to labor in the work, and it is my prayer that God will transform the way you think of your secular work so that when you rise up in the morning and you go to work, don't be so narrow in your vision just to think, "I'm going to go to work and supply for my wife and for my children." I want you to think also of the household of faith. I want you to think of the kingdom of God. Quite frankly, that might invigorate the way that you work. That might cause you to take steps of faith in your workplace and realize, "You know what? I'm partnering with God for His kingdom and for His glory."

You don't need to be a pastor or a missionary to serve God. Have you ever heard of R.G. LeTourneau? Put your hand up if you have heard of R.G. LeTourneau. One. Okay, look him up when you get home. Nice few YouTube video clips that might help you there. R.G. LeTourneau was the guy who basically invented earth-moving machines. He was an engineer who was famous and responsible for earth-moving machines, and he was so effective in what he did that apparently, it even helped win World War II because the use of machines helped move logs and all these other things and clear the ground and runways and all this stuff.

Now, R.G. LeTourneau was a Christian. He was a Christian, but he used to treat his faith and business as separate worlds. But one day, he had a major business failure, and he was in major debt. And R.G. LeTourneau said, "No, I'm gonna—I'm going to partner with you, God." They called him "God's businessman." Basically said, "I'm gonna partner with you, God." It was—he was contemplating pastoral ministry; he was contemplating missions. And one day, he was praying with his pastor, and his pastor said to him, "You know, God needs businessmen as well as He does need pastors and missionaries." And so, R.G. LeTourneau told God that he would be a businessman for God, and he consciously partnered with God in his business. And God prospered his business to the point that he and his wife said, "You know what we're gonna do? We're gonna reverse tithe." What does that mean? Yeah, think—think what it means. He said, "We only need to really live off ten percent of our money. We have plenty; God's prospering us." Right? They got to the point where ten percent was plenty. They didn't start that way, but they worked that way. They worked up; they worked up, and they got to the point where it's like, "Ten percent is plenty, so you know what we're gonna do? We're gonna give 90 to God."

This they did freely. No one commanded them to do it or whatever it was. They felt led of the Lord to do such a thing. And I'm not even saying this is a universal rule for everyone, but I'm just trying to help you understand this—get the attitude of this person. "We're gonna partner with God, and we're gonna build the kingdom of God. We're gonna live off the ninety—ten percent, and we're gonna give the 90 to God." And you can only imagine what God did with R.G. LeTourneau. He founded university institutions; he did things; he supported gospel work throughout the world. Missionaries were well-funded and supported through his ministry. They built a church, and God used them for the kingdom of God.

He said these words: "It's not about how much of my money I give to God, but how much of His money I keep for myself." And he said this: "They say you can't take it with you." He said, "But I can send it on ahead and have it waiting to my credit when I get there."

Just think—think about not just supporting one pastor at Camden Valley Baptist Church. Don't think like that; you're thinking too small. Think about supporting multiples pastors, church plants, missionaries, institutions established for the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. And I say this to say, as Paul said, "We do not seek the gift, but the fruit that abounds to your account." We want the sweet aroma that ascends to heaven through the sacrifice of His people to satisfy God and to be as God has called you to be, stewards of His kingdom and of His work.

Let's pray.