The Generosity of God

Wow. I didn't pay for that introduction. Thank you, Pastor Brit, for your kind words and what an honor it is to be here this evening. I think about the kingdom of God and how amazing it is that you can walk into a church you've never been in before and feel the same anointing and his presence hovers so near. Aren't we blessed tonight to feel his presence in this room? Hallelujah. It is indeed an honor to be here. And what I love about your pastor and this church is the level of excellence that you all give to the kingdom of God and to your community. We were able to walk through the new coffee shop. Beautiful. Amazing. I think the church should be the best place in town from top to bottom. Hallelujah. And I give honor to the first family here. I give honor to you, the wonderful saints of this local assembly.

Our text tonight is Hosea 14:4. We're going to read this here tonight. I just want to say this before we get started. I know you don't know me. I don't know you. But we've got one shot to do this. So, are we going to work together? Can we do that? If we're going to work together, why don't you put your hands together for Jesus? Yes. Hallelujah. Hosea 14 verse number four. I will heal their backsliding. I will love them freely for mine anger is turned away from him. When you look at that word there, I will love them freely. That word uh when put back in its original language, it really comes to mean without limit with all my heart. Or one translation puts it like this, my love will know no bounds. In other words, my love is boundless. You can't measure my love.

And so tonight with the help of the Holy Ghost after prayer, study thought I want to preach to you tonight from this thought. The generosity of God. The generosity of God. Would you lift your hands one more time? Let's pray together and ask that the Lord would speak to us from his word. Lord Jesus, God, I am a weak, frail vessel of clay. I need your anointing to preach through me tonight. God, I pray tonight you would touch every ear, every heart that we would be ready to receive your word tonight. In Jesus' name we pray. And everybody shout in Jesus name. You may be seated.

When I think about our world and the it's amazing as we're not it's not inate in us to be generous people. But there are things that come to life. Often it's hardships, struggles, a lot of work that creates something in us that wants to give back. You see this among uh members of alumni associations of colleges and universities and and they build these uh ginormous endowment funds, millions even billions of dollars that are amassed in these endowment funds for for the perpetuity of the university or the college or I'm from Arkansas and our claim to fame is the Walmart uh corporation, the Walton family. And if you go to northwest Arkansas, the entire region has been built really by the Walton family. There is one of the most incredible uh American Museum of Fine Arts uh in in all the US. There there's um some of the greatest uh restaurants. There's that now they've gotten into um uh off-road uh biking and all of this stuff. They're building ski lifts for bikers to take their bike up these these hills and ride them down. And they're spending millions of dollars. They've put in uh a a hospital and they've now put in a a med school. And it's it's actually hundreds of millions, even billions of dollars that that they're putting into this community. And and we see it, I'm sure, uh not too far from here, you could see the effects of the generosity of of a family or an organization.

But but what what blows my mind is is even though people can be generous and can help amass great amounts of money for an organization or a cause or or a a campaign or a community or or an institution. Can you imagine if if humans can do that? How much more does God want to be generous to his people? You know, it it just amazes me when I think of God, I think of God as a in a multiaceted way. I think of God like like you would take a a a a stone or a gem or a diamond and and you and you cut away and you you see these facets and and when you turn it in the light, the light uh reflects and you see maybe the brilliance uh of of that stone and it's reflecting the sun and you continue to turn it and and that's the way I see in in some ways that's The way I see our God, he is multiaceted in nature. A and generosity is one of those facets of God's nature. Generosity is not something that God does. Rather, it is who he is. He is generous.

Now, don't worry. Tonight, I'm not really here to talk about money. I promise that's not what this is about. In fact, it it it as I was praying and preparing and studying uh for this message, it just hit me that that here we are, we think we're so generous and we're so giving and yet our God is the most generous. The generosity of God is overwhelming. It is it is staggering to think how much God gives and especially how much he gives to those who are faithful, those who are in covenant relationship with him, those gathered here on this midweek. Hallelujah. I WANT YOU TO KNOW YOU SERVE A GOD WHO IS A generous God. The scriptures describe him and and the psalmist said in Psalm 86:5, "For thou, Lord, art good and ready to forgive and plenteous." Somebody say, "Plenteous." Plenteous in mercy unto all them that call upon thee. The scripture describes God as plenteous, plenteous in mercy. The uh the Apostle Paul says in Ephesians 2, "But God who is rich in mercy for his great love wherewith he loved us." He is rich. Look at your neighbor and tell them, "My God's rich." Hey, you don't have to have a rich uncle, a rich grandpa. You don't have to be rich because you know a God who is rich. Rich in mercy. Jesus said these words in John 10:10. I am come that they might have life and that they might have it more abundantly. I tell our congregation at home, when you read in the English uh translation of your Bible words like more abundantly, you just know that that has greater meaning. It means so much more than you can even fully understand. TO THINK THAT GOD HAS A LIFE THAT IS MORE ABUNDANTLY GIVEN TO ALL OF US. HE IS ABUNDANT. PLENTEOUS, RICH, ABUNDANT. And then I love what the Apostle Paul writes in Ephesians chapter 1 in and verse number seven, he says, "In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace, wherein he hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence. He has lavished toward us in all wisdom and prudence. Do you love that language? Listen to that. He has given us redemption through his blood, forgiveness of sins, and riches of his grace, wherein he hath lavished toward us. So he's plenteous. He's rich. He's abundant. He's abounding. He's he's one that lavishes. In fact, 1 John 3:1 says this, "See what great love the Father has lavished on us that we should be called children of God." The Psalmist said this in Psalm 103:1, "For as the heaven is high above the earth, so great is his mercy toward them that fear him." Yeah. For the as the heaven is high above the earth. We we don't even know we don't even know how to measure how far heaven is above the earth. Oh hallelujah. And then to think that his mercy is so great that he compares it to the distance from earth to heaven. That tells me that our God is boundless. He is plenteous. He is rich. He is abundant. He is abounding. He is lavish. And he is boundless.

There's another word that you will find throughout scripture. And that word is freely. Freely. It's found in our text tonight in Hosea 14. It's found uh in Genesis 2 where God says, "Of every tree of the garden, thou mayest freely eat." Adam and Eve, I want you to freely eat of every tree in the garden. And then in Matthew chapter 10, Jesus said, "Freely ye have received, which means God gave freely. And then our text tonight, I will love them freely. And then Paul says in Romans, being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. Brothers and sisters, I want you to understand tonight, we are serving a God who is a generous God. We're serving a God that says, "I want you to eat freely, and I want to give you grace freely, and I want to give you love freely, and I want to justify you freely." What a God we serve. What a God WE SERVE. OH, HALLELUJAH. HALLELUJAH. HALLELUJAH.

From the very beginning, God revealed his generous nature at creation. He did not just make a world. He made a good world. at after each creative act. After he created the animals, after he created the oceans, after he created earth, after he created man, he called these things good. And he even knew that it wasn't good for man to be alone. So, he created woman. AND NOT ONLY DID GOD create the parrot and the peacock and and create the sun and the moon and the stars and create the Himalayan mountains and and the Amazon BASIN AND AND NOT ONLY DID HE CREATE THE Mississippi River and the Rocky Mountains and and create the hills of of NORTHERN ALABAMA, BUT HE ALSO SAID IT'S NOT ENOUGH JUST TO CREATE SOMETHING GOOD. I WILL SUSTAIN WHAT I HAVE CREATED. NOW, I understand that that some people BELIEVE THAT GOD JUST kind of created all this and threw his hands up and said, "Now, you run with it. Do what with it what you want." But but I don't I don't subscribe to that type of view of God. I see a God who is in involved in humanity. I see a God who sustains humanity. BUT NOT ONLY DOES HE SUSTAIN IT, listen to this, he takes pleasure in it. In fact, God, if I could say it like this, when he looks at his creation, when he looks at you and he sees you faithfully serving him, loving him, coming to church, uh living a holy life, reading your Bible, praying uh uh daily and and COMING INTO HIS HOUSE, GIVING of your of your finances, giving of your time, when he sees his creation that is is doing what they have been created to do. He He is He IS SO PLEASED BY THAT. HE TAKES SUCH GREAT PLEASURE AND DELIGHT in that that he says, "You know what? I'm going to satisfy them. I'm going to bless them with good things." Oh, hallelujah.

Hey, I understand you may have had a hard day today, but God is still good. I understand you may be going through a sickness in your body, BUT LET ME TELL YOU, I KNOW THE GREAT PHYSICIAN. I KNOW THE GOD WHO IS GOOD AT HEALING. I mean, think about what Jesus said. He said, "You you're an earthly father, and if your son asks for bread, are you going to give him Are you going to give him a stone? Or or if he asks for a fish, would you in turn give him a snake? HE SAID, "AND YOU'RE CARNAL. YOU'RE EVIL. And you know that if your son asks for bread or if he asks for fish that you're going to give him something good." AND HE SAID, "IF YOU KNOW HOW TO GIVE GOOD GIFTS TO YOUR OWN CHILDREN, HOW much more I'm going to tell you all the way from Arkansas to Alabama, that was rolling over in my mind, in my spirit to tell this CHURCH TONIGHT, HOW MUCH MORE, HOW much more, HOW MUCH MORE WILL YOUR FATHER IN HEAVEN GIVE GOOD GIFTS TO THOSE WHO ASK HIM. BROTHERS and sisters, WE SERVE A GOD WHO IS GENEROUS. WE SERVE A GOD WHO DELIGHTS in giving good gifts.

JAMES SAID THIS, "EVERY GOOD GIFT AND EVERY PERFECT GIFT IS from above." Well, I thought I did it with my own ingenuity. I thought my intellect did it. I thought pulling up myself by my own bootstraps is why I'm where I am. I thought I had THE CHARISMA. I THOUGHT I HAD THE CONNECTIONS. I THOUGHT I KNOW I KNEW WHO TO TALK TO. NO, EVERY GOOD GIFT AND EVERY PERFECT GIFT COMES FROM ABOVE. OH, I wish you'd lift those hands and lift that HEAD TOWARD HEAVEN RIGHT NOW AND JUST ACKNOWLEDGE ONE MORE TIME. I KNOW WHERE MY HELP COMES FROM. I KNOW WHERE GOOD GIFTS COME FROM. I KNOW WHERE BLESSINGS come from. Oh, hallelujah. It comes from above. It comes from above. From our God. A God who is generous. The go. Oh, I hope tonight there's some way that in my limited way that I could expand your thinking and expand your mind to understand just how generous our God is. You see, he is plenteous. He is generous.

Paul says this in 2 Corinthians chapter 9. God is ABLE TO MAKE ALL grace abound toward you. All grace abound, multiply, increase, greater than what you think you need. In fact, Paul says in Romans 5, "Where sin abounded, where sin increased, grace did much more abound, look at your neighbor and tell them much more." Much more abound. We serve a God who is generous in grace. Now, I understand some of you, your pastor said, and some of you here tonight are first generation, but but there's some of you here tonight, you've been here a long time, and you've got roots in Pentecost, and you've got family and and so you've been here a while, and you've seen that person who's who's come in and prayed through and then gone back out and come back in and gone back out and and and you see them and and it'd BE EASY TO LOOK AND SAY, "MY GOODNESS, what in the world can't why can't they get it together. Good. Here they come again. Here they come again. But can I tell you tonight that every time they come back to this altar? Every time they come back TO THIS ALTAR, GOD DOESN'T SAY, "WELL, I'M SORRY. THAT'S THE LAST TIME. I'VE RUN OUT OF GRACE. THERE'S NO MORE GRACE. IT'S ALL IT'S ALL YOU'VE USED ALL YOU'VE GOT. YOU'VE USED ALL YOU CAN GET." NO. NO, NO, NO, NO, NO. OUR GOD ABOUNDS in grace. Oh, I know. I know we look pretty good at church. I KNOW WE LOOK PRETTY PIOUS RIGHT NOW. BUT CAN I TELL YOU SUCH WORSE? SOME OF YOU, WE'VE ALL DEALT WITH THE EFFECTS OF SIN. WE'VE ALL HAD TO DEAL WITH AN OLD CARNAL ROTTEN FLESH THAT WANTS TO PULL US IN THE WRONG DIRECTION. BUT ONE DAY WE CAME TO A HOUSE OF GOD AND THE HOLY GHOST BEGAN MOVING IN OUR SPIRIT AND HIS GRACE BEGAN FLOWING FLOWING FLOWING. OH, is there anybody thankful for the grace of God? ANYBODY THANKFUL FOR HIS GRACE? God is generous in grace.

He's generous in mercy. The psalmist said in Psalm 103, "THE LORD is merciful and gracious, SLOW TO ANGER and plenteous in mercy." I'm going to tell you, I needed his mercy. There's been some times when I didn't deserve it. I wasn't worth it. I knew I didn't deserve it. But I just said one MORE TIME, GOD, I NEED YOU TO HAVE MERCY on me. God, I KNOW I'VE MESSED UP. I KNOW I'M NOT PERFECT. I KNOW I could have done it better, BUT GOD, JUST ONE MORE. WOULD YOU JUST GIVE ME MERCY ONE MORE TIME? BUT I'M HERE TO tell you, WE SERVE A GOD WHO IS GENEROUS, WHO IS PLENTEOUS IN MERCY. Jeremiah says this in Lamentations 3, it is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed because his compassions fail not. I'm telling you, it's a fail not. kind of compassion. They are new every morning. Great is thy faithfulness. Great is thy faithfulness. He is plenteous in grace, generous in mercy. He's plenteous, oh hallelujah, in love.

Jeremiah 31:3. Yay. This is God speaking to a BACKSLIDEN NATION. YAY, I have loved thee with an everlasting love. Oh, I know, Israel. You're fragmented. You're broken. You've been scattered. You're like seeds scattered all over the known world. But I want you to know, I'm speaking through MY PROPHET JEREMIAH. I WANT YOU TO KNOW THAT I HAVE LOVED YOU WITH AN EVERLASTING LOVE. CAN I tell you tonight that God loves you with an everlasting love. Paul says in Ephesians 3, "You may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and the length and depth and height and to know the love of Christ which passes understanding or knowledge THAT YE MIGHT BE FILLED WITH ALL THE fullness of God." Paul prays that those people in Ephesus could even just comprehend, the breadth, and the length and the depth and the height of God's love. And I I I I I'm thankful that he prayed that for us, but I don't think we've really realized it. I don't think anyone in this room can truly understand, can truly measure the love of God. It's so great. It's beyond our comprehension. But Paul says, "I know you're finite. You're limited. It's hard. But I want you to try to comprehend the love that God has. the love that he gives. The psalmist said in Psalm 145, "The Lord is good to all and his tender mercies are over all his works."

We serve a God who is benevolent. He is benevolent. Acts 14, Luke says this, "God did good and gave us rain from heaven and fruitful seasons." He's talking to Jews who are away from God, filling our hearts with food and gladness. He's a benevolent God. He's not a God that's sitting in heaven and looking down his nose to see when you mess up so he can beat you over the head. He's a benevolent God. That means when he sees you fall, he wants to help you get back up. When he sees you make a mistake, he wants to forgive you. Because we're talking about the generosity of God.

You know, there are two parables in particular, and there are more, but these are the two that God gave me that really speak to the nature of God's generosity. The first parable is the parable of the workers in the vineyard in Matthew chapter 20. We read where these workers come into the vineyard and some come in the morning, some come in the afternoon, but there's a few workers that come at the close of business day. And the the husbandman of the vineyard, the owner, he starts handing out paychecks. And the person who got there in the morning looks over at the person who got there right before the close of day. He sees what they got and becomes upset. His heart is filled with rage as he sees that they got the same amount that that that they received. And and and this is what the owner of the vineyard says. Don't I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Are you envious because I am generous? You see, the parable illustrates the carnal response to seeing God's generosity to someone whom we deem as unworthy or not deserving divine generosity. It's easy for us. We think, "Well, we've been here 20 years. How come they come in and they've been on drugs and they've been strung out and here they come to God. Then before we know it, they're pulling up in a new vehicle." And well, I know Alabama must be way different than Arkansas. Surely no one thinks like that. But where I am there's there's you know sometimes it's like how how are they how are they how is that happening for them? Can I tell you that's the nature of God. It doesn't matter if you get here in the evening time or you're here in the morning. It doesn't matter if you were here 20 years ago or ONE MONTH AGO. GOD IS A GENEROUS GOD. It's his nature. And he rebukes those WHO GRUMBLE BY BASICALLY SAYING, "I'M JUST GOING TO DO WHAT I want to do with my money."

Paul says this in Romans 9. He says, "I will have mercy ON WHOM I WILL HAVE MERCY." He's speaking of God. I I'M GOING TO HAVE MERCY. YOU DON'T GET TO CHOOSE WHO I get to HAVE MERCY ON. YOU DON'T GET TO CHOOSE WHO I BLESS. I WILL BLESS WHO I WANT TO BLESS. I MEAN, JONAH STRUGGLED with this. Think about it. He spent three nights in the belly of a big fish. He He was so irritated THAT GOD WOULD SEND HIM TO NINEVEH THAT HE GETS SWALLOWED UP AND THEN HE GETS VOMITED OUT ON THE LAND. He goes to Nineveh and THEN HE GETS MAD AT GOD BECAUSE GOD used Jonah's words to save the Ninevites. Right. Right. And Jonah says this. God is gracious and of great kindness. EVEN JONAH HAD A struggle with the idea that Ninevites, pagans, heathens could be saved because God is gracious and of great kindness. I'm talking about the generosity of God.

Let me give you one more parable here tonight. I'm coming. I'm I'm a lot closer to being done than you think. Let me give you the second parable that that that speaks to the nature of God's generosity. It's the parable of the prodigal son found in Luke chapter 15. The prodigal son had the same problem that most of us have. He wanted instant gratification. He said, "Give me what belongs to me now." I know you're not dead yet, but I want to go ahead and enjoy it now. And the father did that. He gave him his inheritance. And the boy goes out. The man, we don't know how old he is, but he goes out, he wastes the money on riotous living. He parties it away. He spends it away. And what does he do? He finds himself at the bottom of the barrel. I mean, it doesn't get any worse for a Jewish guy than to be in the pigsty looking face to face with the oink. I mean, it just doesn't get much what's much worse than than being bogged down. Now, I'm not going to go into deep detail here, but when I was a kid, we had pigs. I don't know why my dad did that. I I'm not sure what possessed him, but for some reason, we had pigs for a season. And and can I just tell you, it was the nastiest, stinkiest thing you have ever encountered in your life. Can I tell you that the mud right in the middle of July when there wasn't rain, the mud in that pig pin was about a foot and a half deep. I remember there was time we had I don't know why we went out there. Well, I do know we entertained ourselves by chasing those pigs, but we we would go out there and we'd wear rubber boots and it would come up almost to the top of those rubber boots and you would almost be dry heaving, but you were having a good time chasing lazy pigs. I'm talking hogs, really. They're big old things. But can I just think ABOUT IT? HE ENDS UP in the worst place you could be. And in that moment, he says, "You know what? the servants in my father's house have it better than I have it here. And he he comes up with a plan. It's a good plan. It's a it's it's the right plan. He says, "You know what? I'm going to go back to my father's house and I'm not going to be asked. I'm not going to ask. I'm not going to request to be brought back as a son. Just bring me back as a servant and I'm going to go to my father. I'm going to tell him I'm willing to just be called your servant. You don't have to call me your son anymore. But what he doesn't know is the father has been living on the porch of that house, looking out day in day out. Oh, I wonder when he's going to come back. I wonder when my son's going to come back home. He's not he's not overcome with with the duties of life and bogged down, but but he's on that porch. He's got anticipation. He's got hope. Can I tell you tonight, if you've got a weward child, there's hope. Can I Don't leave the porch. Stay on the porch. He's looking out and all of a sudden the outline, the silhouette of his son on the horizon and and he sees and THAT'S MY SON. AND HE GOES RUNNING FOR THAT SON AND HE opens up his arms and he embraces that son. And what does the father do? He says, "Oh, servants, come here. I want YOU TO GET THE BEST ROBE FOR MY SON, and I want YOU TO GET NEW SHOES FOR my son, and and and get the the signate ring. Get the the authority, the the the name. I want YOU TO HAVE I WANT HIM TO HAVE MY name again. I WANT HIM TO HAVE THE AUTHORITY THAT COMES WITH BEING my son." AND AND AND THAT FATTENED CALF THAT WE'VE BEEN WAITING to eat, I WANT YOU TO GO AHEAD AND GO AHEAD AND SLAUGHTER THAT FATTENED CALF right now. Put it on THE SPIT AND WE'RE GOING TO HAVE A PARTY. And the son says, "I'm not worthy to be called your son anymore. Just make me one of your servants." But oh no, no, you are my son. I don't know. Maybe maybe while they were sitting around eating fatt and calf. Maybe while the music was playing and everybody was celebrating. I don't know. But maybe the words of the Old Testament prophet Micah started going through that son's mind. He remembered those words, "Who is a God like unto thee that pardoneth iniquity and passeth by transgression of the remnant of his heritage?" He retainth not his anger forever because he delightth in mercy. He will turn again. He will have compassion upon us. He will subdue OUR INIQUITIES. THOU WILT cast all their SINS IN THE DEPTHS OF THE SEA. In that moment, that prodigal son, that wayward son, understood the generosity of the father.

But like always, there's the faithful son who's standing on the sidelines. His brow is furrowed and he's got a scowl on his face. He sees what's happening and he's displeased and upset because he's been good. He's been faithful. He's been he's been right there doing what he was supposed TO DO. BUT HIS FATHER SEES THE THE LOOK ON HIS FACE AND he says, "Son, thou art ever with ME AND ALL THAT I HAVE is thine." IN OTHER WORDS, HEY, FAITHFUL SON, EVERYTHING I OWN IS ALREADY YOURS. CAN I tell you, IF YOU'RE FAITHFUL IN GOD'S HOUSE and you see THE PRODAL COME BACK, DON'T GET DISGUSTED. DON'T GET UPSET. Don't get mad. DON'T GET ANGRY. WHAT YOU NEED TO UNDERSTAND IS EVERYTHING THAT'S IN THE FATHER'S HOUSE ALREADY BELONGS TO YOU. IT'S ALREADY YOURS. YOU NEED HEALING, he's got it. YOU NEED SALVATION, HE'S GOT IT. YOU NEED A MIRACLE, YOU NEED BLESSINGS, IT BELONGS TO YOU ALREADY. OH, I think I could dance when I when I START THINKING ABOUT HOW GOOD GOD IS AND HOW GENEROUS HE IS AND HOW HE PROVIDES FOR HIS FAITHFUL.

And and when we start thinking about the generosity of God, it should it should bring something up in our spirit. There should be a wellspring unleashed when we think about how good he is. It's like what the psalmist said in PSALM 8. WHEN I consider thy heavens and the work of thy fingers, THE MOON AND THE STARS WHICH thou hast ordained, what is man that thou art mindful of him, and the son of man that thou visitest to him? When I consider what you've done, when I consider how great you are, how majestic, how powerful. When I consider this this God and then I think about him becoming Emmanuel, God with us. When I think about a God that would come down to earth and make himself flesh and dwell among us and visit us, I can't help but just say, "What is man? How on earth could you how on earth could you do such a great thing? But here's the deal. When you start thinking like that, and I encourage you to do it, because when you start thinking about how good God is and how mindful he is and how he's so great, yet he comes down and is so personal, it should it should create a question in you. Like the psalmist said IN PSALM 116, "WHAT SHALL I render unto the Lord for all his benefits toward me?" When I think about how good he is, when I think about the generosity of God, what can I render unto him? I can't ever pay him back. I will never have enough money to pay him back. But what I can do is I can start doing what I can do. I can praise him. I can love him. I can be faithful to his house. When it's time to give my offering, I GIVE MY OFFERING freely when I get paid. And I It's no it's not a struggle to give him his portion. It's not a It's not a I don't I'm not I There's no ARM TWISTING HERE. WHEN I THINK OF HOW GOOD HE IS AND HOW GENEROUS AND HE IS, WHAT SHALL I RENDER to the Lord for all his benefits?

Can I tell you tonight that there are blessings that come with being generous? Hallelujah. There are blessings that come with being generous. I want to give you three of them tonight. Psalm 112, Proverbs 11, and Proverbs 22. Are you ready? We're almost done. Three three things, three blessings. Psalm 11 or Psalm 112 SAYS THIS, "GOOD will come to those who are generous and lend freely, who conduct their affairs with justice." The first one, good will come. Everybody say, "Good will come." Good will come. You're generous, good will come. Here's number two. Proverbs 11:25. A generous person will prosper. A generous per Oh, but I I I only got this much. You want more? I'm gonna tell you, I I grew up in a family where this was this was my grandmother and my grandfather's way. My grandpa Holmes, he told his wife, my grandmother Agnes, he said, "Agnes, if there's not food left over in the dishes, you didn't cook enough food." That's just the way my grandparents were. If there's not leftovers, you didn't cook enough. Well, I know that's hard for some of us here tonight, but but I like to go to places like that. Hallelujah. I mean, my goodness, when Jesus fed 5,000 and 4,000, he had leftovers. Now, I don't really like leftovers, but I do want to know that there are leftovers. SO, A GENEROUS PERSON will prosper. You want to prosper, be generous. Woo! I think I could shout. Hey, that that's not a burden for me. I'm Hey, I want prosperity in my life. Do you know that's a biblical term? Prosperity. It's okay for the CHURCH TO BE PROSPEROUS. IT'S OKAY FOR YOU TO BE PROSPEROUS. SO GOOD COMES TO GENEROUS PEOPLE. PROSPERITY COMES TO GENEROUS PEOPLE. AND here's the third one. Proverbs 22:9. The generous will themselves be blessed. Good's going to come. Prosperity's going to come. And blessings are going to come. Hallelujah. When I think of his generosity, It puts something in me. It stirs something in me. God, I want to give back to you.

This is what the Apostle Paul said in Romans 12. He said, "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, HOLY, ACCEPTABLE UNTO GOD, which is your reasonable service." I love the way one translation puts it in view of God's mercies. In view of God's mercies, offer yourselves a living sacri when I think of the generosity of God because mercy is is his generosity. It's one of his currencies. When I think in view of his mercy, or if I could say it like this, in view of his generosity, I want to offer up myself and give him everything. Hallelujah.

And here's the final. Here's here's the grand finale. Everybody say grand finale. The ultimate expression of God's gener generosity is this. Romans 8, he that spared not his own son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things? The ultimate expression, the generosity of God is that Jesus, God made flesh, would lay his life down. Oh, hallelujah. WHEN HIS HANDS WERE NAILED TO THE CROSS, when his feet were nailed to the cross, WHEN HE WAS HOISTED UP, suspended between heaven and earth, made a mockery, his body was beaten, and his flesh was broken, and blood and water flowed from his side, and his and his and and his brow was beaten and crushed with thorns and and he was stripped of his CLOTHING AND LEFT NAKED. AND ASHAMED. It was the ultimate expression of God's generosity because he loved you before you loved him. He gave his life before you could ever present your body a living sacrifice because on Calvar's cross was the greatest act of generosity. Stand with me all over this world. FOR GOD SO LOVED THE WORLD THAT HE GAVE HIS ONLY begotten son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life. Hereby perceive we the love of God because he laid down his life for us. But after that, the kindness and love of God, our savior toward man appeared, not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his grace, he saved us by the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost, which he shed on us abundantly, generously through Jesus Christ our savior.

If you're here tonight and you're thankful for Calvary. If you're here tonight, you need a little more mercy. You need grace. Maybe you're here tonight and you're struggling. People around you may not even know the struggle you face. Can I tell you all you have to do is slip up that hand and just say, "God, I I need some more mercy. I God, I need your grace tonight, God. Lord, I need you tonight. And when you start saying those kind of words, let me tell you, you're going to feel the floodgates open. You're going to feel the the showering of his grace and his love and his mercy and his forgiveness. Come on, let's just lift our hands right now. They're going to sing. Let's lift our hands right now and let's receive the generous nature of God. Come on. Let's receive his generosity. Let's receive his love, his grace, and his mercy. God, how you come on, lift it up. Lift it up. Open your mouth and express it back to him. He loves the sound of your praise. He loves to hear you.