Address—H. Short
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Sing together hymn #30 in the back of the book #30 Rest of the Saints and glory the laborers. Bright reward. How constant sounds before me.
Forever with the Lord.
Wrist through the toil of Jesus.
For Saints there doth remain.
And endless rest and precious.
Arrest from sin and pain.
With someone start #30 in the back please.
My soaring.
Thou shalt be where in heaven?
God bless the grass and trails today.
Yes, face and rain and glory.
When you rest your day when I don't see.
Here's what will cause.
Story.
To the Church while I do it all the way to you.
I want to start Jake's eyes.
Where God in chapter in Hebrews we had in concluding.
Hebrews.
Chapter 13.
And we just are.
Going to.
Seek to benefit from the first chapter and the rest of the Epistle to the Hebrews.
And have that benefit manifested in our lives, the changes, whatever they need to be in our lives.
But in this I just want to read in Hebrews.
Chapter 13.
Here we have.
Here have we no continuing city.
By him therefore.
Verse 16.
And by him, therefore, let us communicate. That's what's on my heart this afternoon.
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The thought of communicating or giving.
Here, and the passages that we will be considering as to their doctrine. It would involve a giving of our money that isn't at all on my heart this afternoon. I don't even want you to think about it.
Unless the Spirit of God would be working with your conscience about it. But that's not what's on my heart. What is on my heart is that let us communicate, and I assume most all of us understand. It's the thought of giving. It isn't the thought of talking with one another, although that might be involved in communicating.
But it's the thought of giving of ourselves, and I have a special.
People in mind.
That I want us to be exercised in our life, to be sure.
That we give to these people.
Let's go to Jeremiah 39 and you will see.
Who are on my heart.
In Jeremiah 39, we know the captivity has taken place in God's people.
Lost the land and it says in verse 10 but the guard captain of the guard.
Left of the poor, of the people which had nothing.
I'd like to turn to Revelation Chapter 2.
These are just.
Verses to establish in our thought the Saints of God.
Revelation Chapter 2.
And in verse 9.
I know.
Thy poverty and then in chapter 3.
And in down in verse.
17.
Thou art.
Poor.
Now I'd like to turn back to Romans.
Chapter 15.
And this will begin our exercise as to what's on my heart.
Before we read from Romans chapter 15, I just want to establish in a heart that we have read about two assemblies and we've read about the Old Testament sayings who were disguised by God for various reasons, some by unfaithfulness, some because of faithfulness, but for whatever the reason was, they were all.
Described.
As.
Poor. And that's sad, isn't it? I mean, when you think that.
In our thoughts here on Earth.
If there was some dignitary.
You wouldn't expect some king, some president?
You wouldn't expect his children to be described as poor.
But here are the children of God, and they're described as poor.
I don't. I'm not so interested in determining why they are described that way, just simply that they are described as poor.
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And then in Romans chapter 15.
He says, the apostle says.
In verse 26 in the middle of the verse.
Make a certain contribution for the poor Saints. Now that's what's on my heart this afternoon. We have the rest of our life to live.
And I would hope that we would go away from these meetings with a determination that as much as life in me, as much as lies in you, that the rest of our lives are going to be devoted to making a certain contribution to the poor Saints. You know, that's long been a burden on my heart.
Because.
You know, I someone, I don't know who it was. They sent me a a poem. I don't know if Mr. Darby wrote it. It's said to have been found in his Bible after his death.
And it called the servants pathway, and in it the burden in this poem is that a servant of God.
Would be found much amongst the poor, and one of the thoughts in this poem is that if you aren't found there.
If you choose to.
Cast your lot with the wealthy.
Your master, the Lord Jesus.
Might pass you by on his way to the dwellings of the poor.
And I am not talking beloved.
Some of you have.
Gone through every other lands, and you have described to me their poverty.
But I'm talking about the poverty of the Saints of God.
Right here in this room.
For whatever reason that poverty might exist, we are.
A poor company that has nothing at all. Or we have Christ.
With all my heart is that as you view.
Your brethren.
Someone said our conference or conference I that recently, in regards to the gathered scenes, they said something like this. There's nothing for the eye to see.
That isn't right.
You know what there is for the eye to see. And what the eye does see. The Lord isn't in the midst if there aren't two or three gathered together into his name, and so those two or three of us who are gathered together unto his name.
By the Spirit of God.
And Christ, honoring that work of the Spirit, takes up His place in their midst, honoring the work of the spirit, honoring His name.
And but there needs to be the two or three and that's what people can see and so when you look at these two or three.
You might say, well, I'm not sure if this is what I want to make my life's contribution to.
I'm just not sure if I want to spend the rest of my life contributing to the poor Saints and I want to encourage you to do it.
I want to encourage you today, not try to figure out the cause of the poverty.
Poverty doesn't usually come. Spiritual poverty doesn't come.
By being occupied with Christ.
We don't exist today in our reduced numbers because of our faithfulness to the Lord.
But whatever the reason for our poverty, the desire of my heart.
00:15:03
Is that each of us will make be willing to make this contribution for the poor Saints.
You know the Lord Jesus. When Judas had the bag, we had a little bit about that in our readings. The other disciples saw them go out, and one of the conclusions they drew was that the Lord had sent him out to give something to the poor. Now they wouldn't have concluded that if that hadn't been the habit of the life of our Lord Jesus Christ.
He gave, we'll see it. He gave his life and he gave his substance.
For the poor.
And the disciples who were close to him concluded that that's why Judas went out.
It would be nice, wouldn't it?
If others could look at our lives.
And think of US.
Us as living lives, contributing to the four Saints. Well, there was a reason, you know, This has come upon my heart and those of my brethren with, with.
Bear mind, I get frustrated sometimes because.
I can't remember where anything is in the scriptures, but I am.
I have the impression in my heart and in my mind and I know it's a fact. We will look at it, some of it.
At how much of the New Testament scriptures, how much time Paul spends occupying our thoughts with this contribution for the poor Saints at Jerusalem, he gives us chapters on this thing and you know.
Hear them talking about.
There's something deeper in Paul's thinking.
The monetary assistance to the poor in Jerusalem, that of course is it. But what he had before him, the value he placed on that contribution to the poor sayings, was going to be its eternal consequences it was going to produce.
Reward for the beloved Saints who contributed to the poor things it was going to cause, the Jewish Saints.
Poor Jewish Saints, it's going to cause their hearts to be cemented to those Gentiles who had been grafted in into their place.
The apostle views it through God's eyes and so that's why I believe he gives so much time and occupies our thoughts. So much with this ministry of giving and again.
I'm not talking about money. In our circumstance, it may be.
The Lord will speak to your heart about.
What our brother Bob spoke about or somebody next door. But I'm talking about you in your life making a contribution to the poor St. Let's go down.
In Romans 15 and toward the end he says in verse 30. Now I beseech you, brethren, for the Lord Jesus Christ sake, and for the love of the Spirit.
That you strive together with me in your prayers to God for me, that I may be delivered from them that do not believe in Judea, and that my service which I have for Jerusalem, may be accepted of the Saints. Well, there was more purposes than one for the apostle going to Jerusalem. I'm not saying that. But he had this ministry, and he he asked the Saints to pray that the unbelieving ones who were there.
Would not stop this ministry from being accomplished. My brother Don spoke after the meeting when we were talking a little bit about we have no continuing city. And the king went out and he built a city, and he named it after the name of his son, You know his his. He built Nineveh in Babel too, and Babylon two and those cities as far as men were concerned.
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We're continuing cities. They were cities that these men who were unbelieving were building and they had in their mind, as the scriptures say, that we are going to be here forever.
And both of them opposed Jerusalem, God's center, God's city.
And today, that's what I see. We are faced with a city that unbelief has built and it's going to try to get you and me.
To forget our contribution to the poor things, take it away from us and give cause us to live for this city that it tells us is worth living for. In our instances, it's Babylon. That's where the church ends up.
But it's not worth living for. It's not worth living for. Well.
Let's go now to.
First Corinthians.
Chapter 15.
I.
No, I want Second Corinthians.
And let's go.
To chapter 8.
Here he takes up.
Some more about this contribution for the Poor Saints.
And he says in chapter 8. Moreover, brethren, we do you to with of the grace of God, bestowed on the churches of Macedonia, when you think about the grace of God.
As a Saint of God, I'd like you to think about that provision by God that will enable you to be what you are.
And here were some Macedonians, Saints, and grace had been bestowed upon them, and it hadn't been.
Bestowed upon them in vain at every moment of our life that we live.
That is a contradiction to what the grace of God has made us as His sons and children.
The grace of God for that moment has been been bestowed upon us in vain. God expects us to come to the throne of grace, to obtain that help that it would enable us to be, as Mr. Brown used to tell us what we are. Well, here were some in Macedonia, and the grace of God had been bestowed upon them on the churches of Macedonia, and here was its effect.
How then, a great how, that in a great trial of affliction, the abundance of their joy, and their deep poverty?
Oh.
That's contrary to our hearts, isn't it?
All over our city they introduced gambling into Iowa and 1St went up the signs of people rejoicing because they've been very made rich, you know, That's our heart.
I go to a Barber shop in our little town and for some reason that Barbara, he's a nail too. He likes to watch those.
The giveaway programs on television.
What you call them?
Anyway, it's where you win stuff. And I watch them. I watch these people and whatever they answer a question when something they jump up and down, they're so happy because they've won something that they think has made them rich. But I've never heard Beloved of anyone having great joy and deep poverty that didn't know the Lord Jesus Christ.
As their savior. That's what the grace of God can do for us, beloved. It can lift us above our circumstances. It can cause us in our deep poverty to have great joy in thinking of us as poor Saints, beloved.
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We can be happy. We can be happy for Saints if we're willing to contribute And so it says here.
How that in a great trial of affliction and abundance of their joy and their deep poverty. Now notice this abounded unto the riches of their liberality.
Here was the last people if you were going to conduct a.
What they call it when they want you to collect money for some clause, they would have passed by Macedonia. They wouldn't have gone through those dwellings of those poor people because they said maybe we'll make a collection somewhere else and drop some money off for them. But out of their deep poverty, they made a contribution.
We read of it in the end of Philippians. Perhaps we'll look at it a little later, but they, when other assemblies had more money, had more resources to give to the Apostle, the Philippians saying we're giving out of their depoverty. This has been a very, very great encouragement to me.
Even as late as right now.
What do we have to give our brethren?
I say hello if I got a few small fishes.
That's all I've got, and if anybody's going to get fed, you'll have to multiply them.
The Lord says to us, brethren, I know you have the poverty.
I know you're not a company that is blessed with great gift.
I know you have.
Many who are far more gifted than you are gone.
But what I want from you is to give from your deep poverty.
And you won't have a lack. Sometimes we say I can't do anything. Oh yes you can. The Lord Jesus doesn't have one member in his body that's dead or doesn't have a function. But sometimes we don't exercise ourselves as to why am I here, I don't think.
Understand.
Well, I went by the, I think the ping pong table. There's something walking. A little bit ago I heard those kind of shouts and whatever they were playing, the voices of those young folk. And I said, oh Lord Jesus, such energies they have.
Tap them for the poor Saints. Don't let the the world get those energies. Don't let them be carried off into Babylon, where they become eunuchs in the Kingdom of Babylon, fruitless for God. And so young friends, when you look at the assembly home or you look at the Saints of God.
They may be poor, but they're worthy of your life's contribution.
And you say I don't have anything to give. Yes, you do. Might be.
Wiping the tables off after dinner or sweeping the floor.
I don't know what it might be, but you have something to contribute to the poor things. Well, these folks, they, they insisted on Paul taking money from them and he didn't want to take it from them.
But they said in verse 3 poured to their power. I bear record, yeah, and beyond their power they were willing of themselves, they said. Paul said no, no, don't tell us no, Paul, don't tell us no, he said. But you can't. Would that be too big a burden? We'll decide that, Paul. We'll decide that. But a willing spirit that was here to take up the 'cause they said we're poor.
00:30:04
But our beloved brethren in Jerusalem are poor yet, and we're going to give to them. And not only did they give to them, but they gave to the apostle himself. And so they had to force him, praying us in verse four with much entreaty, 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 had hoped, but first gave their own selves to the Lord.
And unto the will of God. It isn't that the Lord said we didn't know, hoped that they would give themselves to the will of God. They didn't. He didn't hope that they honey. But they had committed themselves, their own selves, to the Lord and unto the will of God. And it changed their lives, beloved. It changed their lives, naturally speaking. They weren't driving down the street of their city, looking at the Billboard and wishing that they could win the Lotto. No, they said, we don't have anything but what we do have.
We're going to give to the poor St. We're going to live our lives for the will of God. If that were true in my life, if that were true in your life, would our lives be quite different? Young ones, as you contemplate the future and what you're going to do with your life, it isn't wrong to make plans. We have to make plans. You know, I came from a family that we never made plans.
It's been a lifelong.
Affliction.
That I've had to discipline myself about something like the Cretians, but we didn't make plans until we decided to do it. And then we didn't make any plans, we just tried to do it. And of course everything is kind of confusing that way. So it isn't that God would discourage you from making a a life plan.
Young sisters.
I think about you a lot.
They go around, I know that.
Naturally speaking.
If your life's plan and desire were to be a wife and a mother.
It could look pretty difficult.
Some of the reason, beloved, is because some of the young men.
Have looked at the poor Saints and made the decision.
They are not worth.
Making my life contribution for.
And there lured away.
To cities that don't have foundations. But supposing you have that desire, I just would encourage you.
To define your.
Activities of life.
To that which would contribute.
To your life as a wife and a mother.
Should the Lord grant you that desire?
I hope you kind of understand what I'm saying, young man.
We use a lot. We use now. This is why this is how I was raised.
I doubt.
If I got paid on Fridays to Friday.
I doubt in my unconverted days and I can't say I've done a lot better.
Since but the Lord is helping me.
One little word could.
When I got my paycheck, there was only one purpose for it, and that was for fun. Now I don't mean as a believer.
I that isn't in my mind anymore. But I I mean, I don't.
Well, it's just all I want to go back to. This thought is.
How many times have you said we had a lot of fun?
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I have a lot of fun too. I think that would be an alright word for me to you.
But it's not a pursuit of my life.
And that's don't make having a lot of fun the pursuit of your life. I I try to encourage younger ones and families enjoy the things in nature as they cross your path, but don't make them the pursuit of your life.
Don't make them the pursuit of your life. Make your life's pursuit a contribution to the poor Saints. Well, so let's go on.
Here.
The apostle tells them that the Saints in Macedonia had given themselves, and when they did that, they insisted on making their life's contribution to the poor Saints, and they did it out of their poverty. And that that increases me because I I live with the sense that.
Well, we're just poor. We don't have much to give, but let's give it anyway and don't. Yeah, I used to think when I worked in the laboratory and.
I used to try to invade ideas and thoughts, I guess, to justify my getting out of the laboratory because I didn't like my job. And so I try to think, well, you know, if I went somewhere else, maybe I could make more money and I'd have more money to give to the Lord.
He wouldn't let me get by with that.
And these Philippian Saints show us that. Do you think there has been? Do you think the Corinthian Saints who were wealthier?
Ever gave more than the Philippian Saints did? I love it.
That poor widow, she cast in more than they all and it's a funny.
Funny, it's a it's just weights and just balances up there, beloved, and the Lord has got it all interest in all. It's all weighed out perfectly and let him determine the value of your contribution to the poor thing.
Well, we don't need money to make contributions to the poor things. We need hearts that have given themselves up to the will of God. I enjoy that in Hebrews.
We've had it pointed out to us sometimes. On other occasion, characteristic word to characteristic words in Hebrews is let us. What's that mean?
It means that if you're a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, you've got a life and a nature in this rib cage. That's just saying, let me out. Let me live, Christ, Let me take control of the members of this body. And it's just wanting to get out. And the only way you can keep it from getting out is to damn it up and hinder it from flowing out. That's Christianity, beloved, It isn't. Do I have to? It's just let me do it. Let us.
Contribute, Let us communicate, Let us go forth. Well, let's go on, he says. Let's go down to. We shouldn't forget verse 9. For you 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. Think of that, beloved. I often think of it.
He is so enriched us.
He so enriched us.
It doesn't matter who you are either.
You know, I I kind of feel the other day we had.
Moved to one of my sons and they had some of the Saints there. And then I looked at my son and daughter-in-law and their family and.
In the Saints that were there, I don't even remember who they were.
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It's a contrast.
To my home.
Before the Lord Jesus came into my life.
He's enriched me in this life.
I've worked in homestead.
To the homes of wealthy people.
They were just this poor.
If I was.
We used to think I knew there was a West side of Des Moines. I had never ventured over there until I wanted to clean their carpets, but.
I was kind of surprised.
That's high town, but it wasn't long working with those dear people, and I came to love them too.
Then I discovered there's as poor as we were. Their hearts were empty without Christ, and they were worse shaped because I used. I used to at least think that if I could get a new motorcycle or another car, I could at least be happy. But they didn't even have that.
And they had their new stuff and they still weren't happy. They are really miserable people. But beloved, the Lord Jesus has become poor to enrich us.
Any and you know he's done so much for you and me and gathering us to his precious name.
There are so many believers that so exceed us in so many, many things.
Fervency of spirit effects and love, devotedness the energies in the gospel. They so much exceed us in so many things.
Do you think it was because of our diligence?
Our faithfulness to the Lord that he said. I'm going to gather you to my name.
He's enriched this beloved.
And it cost him everything to do it. Shouldn't we appreciate that? Shouldn't it 'cause this is the cause, Shouldn't it cause an effect in our lives to want to enrich our brethren to?
So he is the example, the supreme example given to our hearts. Then he says to the Corinthians, think of this.
Verse 13 I I mean not that other men be eased and you'll be burdened.
It was such a difficult letter for the apostle to write to the Corinthians.
He loves them so much, and I don't know if he wrote and maybe the Galatians epistle, but I don't know if he wrote an epistle that's so rinsed his heart at first epistle. He loved it so much that he was so afraid in his earnest desire to help them out of this condition they'd gotten into, that he was going to stumble them. And you know he's talking to them about giving.
And here they were so wealthy and there were the Philippian Saints, so poor. And he says to them, you know.
I don't want to put a big burden on you if I could speak in our language, he said.
I don't want you to cash and I don't even know what I'm talking about, but I've heard these words and I think you some of you know what I'm talking about, he said. I don't want you to cash in too many bonds or.
Withdraw some of those investments.
That it be a burden on you, but I would like it to be exercised about contributing. It was beautiful because they had been exercised about doing this. Let's go on to Chapter 9, for it's touching the ministry to the Saints. It is superfluous for me to write to you, for I know for the forwardness of your mind for which I boast of you to them of Macedonia.
That IKEA was ready a year ago and your zeal has provoked very many.
Here a year ago, he had been up there in Macedonia and he had boasted of the Corinthians willingness and readiness to give. And they dragged. They dragged their feet. We've had those experiences in our lives, haven't we? Let's go over and visit Bloomington next next week.
00:45:20
And next week comes and we didn't get it done.
And then another week.
And another week, many years passed by and we still haven't gotten to that little assembly that we have a desire to go and encourage them. But one thing after another, we just didn't get it accomplished. And the apostle, he had told the other Saints about the Corinthians, he said They really have a desire to help out the poor thing.
They want to make a certain contribution to the poor things, and he had boasted about that to them in that Wonderful Beloved.
That we might boast.
To others about our brethren.
Sometimes I think we're almost afraid to say something good about something. Some brother. I discovered that he had someone else had been meaning to pray for the Saints of God, and I thanked him for it and he got upset.
How did you find out about it? I said. Don't get upset if you had committed adultery. I had heard it long ago.
Beloved, let's not be backward in.
Saying something to our brethren about our brethren who have been an encouragement to us. Paul and Mote made this boast, but now he had gotten himself out on the limb. And then he says.
If they hadn't, they hadn't done this. They hadn't fulfilled it yet. And maybe something in your life, you've had that in your mind, you know, it is this kind of a serious thing.
To have unfulfilled desires in our life for the Saints of God. I have seen some rather serious.
Things happen to.
Brethren who maybe they were going to come to prayer meeting when they didn't have such workloads.
But as they approached the day when the workload wouldn't be there.
Something came in to their life and they were never able to fulfill that desire.
Well, I'm just saying this is that the desire is good, but let's not leave it unfulfilled.
You know what, any of you rather than coming up after this meeting and saying then when are you going to come to?
I want to come, but sometimes you can only be one place at a time anyway, that he says to them. If I come, if they have Macedonia, come with me and find you unprepared. We that we say not ye should be ashamed. In this same confident boasting he made this wonderful boast of the Corinthians. And he's saying.
I'll be embarrassed.
If there isn't this collection ready to send to Jerusalem.
Then he thought it was necessary in verse 5 to exhort the brethren, that they would go before unto you and make up beforehand your bounty. Now here were some that the apostle said that as you go ahead and go to court, we're going to come, but we want you to go ahead and and and stir them up and provoke them. In the first epistle it said they were to lay by in store. In new translation it says at home.
On the first day of the week.
Who is tending to look at that? But it's a nice thought, Beloved. If you intend to make a contribution for the poor Saints, the place to begin is at home. That's where they lay by and store on the first day of the week. At home? Mr. Darby's translation bears that out.
00:50:15
I want to talk to you who are younger.
Especially it's a good thing.
To lay by your contribution at home.
There's where you might say this contribution is going to be generated. It's where it's going to eventually come from your home. So you say, I like to do something for the Lord.
But I I don't have any particular gift.
Let me suggest something to you young friends.
Young boys, young girls.
I'll say it this way. Young daughters, young sons.
After supper, when you look over at mom and you see her tired.
Say mom, why don't you just go and relax? I'm going to do the dishes for you tonight.
I just enjoy our God, Brother Bob said. The Lord Jesus took up little children.
Our God. I enjoy getting this from cases, Father.
Someone gave him a meal. He noted that the calf was tender and good.
That's how the Lord is looking at your life.
Make your bed this morning.
We're going to be so surprised when we get home the Lord.
His eyes are in every place beholding the good.
Isn't all the verse, but that's what's on my heart. He's beholding the good.
Maybe nobody sees at all that.
You did something.
He has.
It can be so simple and so every day. That's what I enjoy.
And love about Christianity.
Began at home, laying by its store at home. But then he said, But this I say, He which sow aspiringly shall also shall reap also sparingly in verse 6. And he which soweth bountifully shall also shall reap also bountifully.
In this life, you know.
People.
So it's Haggai, isn't it? I think.
Where they labored and they put it in their bags and ran out faster than they could put it in because it was bags with holes in it. And they had sought their own portion in this life and they never got it.
And you won't either.
If you sow in the Lord's things.
One seed.
Either one seed.
But if you saw.
To the world bushels.
You're not going to read anything.
Save your life.
And you'll lose it.
Save your life and you'll lose it.
Then in verse 7 every man according as he purposeth in his heart, that's what we had, it begins. And I and I love that about Christianity.
It begins in the heart, but it can't be confined there.
If the Spirit of God is working in our hearts, it's going to have to come out in our lives.
00:55:10
It's just the fact.
If the Spirit of God is working in our hearts, it's going to come out in our lives. And you know.
It will come out in our attitude. One way it will come out is in our attitude to the Saints, the poor Saints. You know, the proverbs. It speaks about a lot about the poor, and they're not.
They can't hardly get friends.
Because this world has been formed under its God and under its Prince.
On the principle.
You're going to have to give something if you get something.
Beloved, how wonderful to have our lives set free, to be set free from the ******* of this world that will use everything you have, all of your energies, all of your talents to advance itself and then leave you to die in the ditch.
And then a David comes along and gives that young man life.
Well, that's what's happened to us, beloved. The Lord has given us life. Now let's not waste it. Let's give it on behalf of the poor Saints.
As much as you've done it to one of the least of these, you've done it unto me.
So when we talk about contributing to the poor things, we're talking about giving our lives up to the Lord.
You touch them, you're touching him. And beloved as we close this meeting.
Let's not have only renewed desires.
But couple it with virtue and power.
And fulfill the doing of it.
Give our lives.
The contribution to the poor?
Saints.
Our father.