An Example for Giving

Transcript

GR 645
6/12/1983
An Example for Giving
Philippians 4:14-18
Gil Rugh

Philippians and the Fourth Chapter, we come to the closing sections of Paul’s Epistle to the Philippians, and in our last consideration together we focused on the matter of contentment and being content in Christ. Apostle Paul shared out of his own personal experience, how he knew contentment, real inner contentment, satisfaction in peace in Christ in every circumstance and in every situation. It’s interesting to study the life of the Apostle Paul, to see the different aspects of his character. One of the things that is striking to me about Paul is that as we talked about contentment and satisfaction in Christ we are not talking about complacency. He was a man that was driven to carry the Gospel. He was motivated by a desire for excellence in his ministry and in the ministry of others. He had a very demanding ministry.

Remember that he and Barnabas disagree over whether John Mark ought to accompany them on another missionary trip because John Mark had not demonstrated the ability to persevere on the previous trip and so important to see as we look at Paul that there is a difference in being content and in being complacent. We have some Christians who are complacent in their service for Christ and they misinterpret it as contentment. Being content in Christ, satisfied in him, having that inner confidence, and trust that God is doing what is right in every circumstance and situation. You know at the same time that driving motivation to excel on our service for him, to carry the Gospel to more and more, to minister the word more effectively, to be more effective in our service for him.

Paul had speak of contentment in the context here of material needs and material provisions so that when he speaks about contentment in the context immediately of Philippians 4 he is talking about satisfied with abundance and satisfied in poverty. The point being that material things should not affect the contentment of the believer whether God has blessed you with great wealth or God has chosen you to keep you in great poverty. Either way you can have complete contentment in your relationship with Jesus Christ. Now that’s different than the way the world views contentment today. The attitude of the world is that the more you have the more happiness you will have, the more contentment that will be yours. Now I expect that in the world. From the standpoint the world needs something to drive it on, to keep it going, the happiness and contentment has to be just over the next hill otherwise they lose any reason for living, the reason to be.

For us as believers we find our reason in Christ, in our contentment and satisfaction in him. In verse 13 when Paul said I can do all things through him who strengthens me. The immediate context of that verse is living in any kind of material situation. I can be content because of the strengthening power of Christ in my life. That’s what enables me to be content. That does not mean I don’t work as hard as I can. That does not mean that I don’t strive to be successful. It means that my contentment is not tied to my worldly success or accomplishments. Now in the same context Paul is continuing on to talk about the gift that he has received because you remember that was what he picked up with in verse 10, that the Philippians had demonstrated their love and concern for Paul by sending him a material gift.

Now Paul uses that to talk about his contentment. He wants them to understand even though he greatly appreciates their gift, that gift has done nothing as regards to his contentment. He was content in Christ before he received the gift. He was content in Christ after he received the gift. The gift did not have any bearing on his contentment but he did appreciate the gift greatly and now beginning with verse 14 he focuses again on his appreciation for the gift but the real significance of that gift missed an important section because it focuses in on the place of material things in our service for Jesus Christ and what giving is all about for us as believers and here is another area where believers get confused because the way the world looks at giving and what giving really is for the believer are two different things.

So just as contentment for the believer focuses in circumstances and things, for the believer it centers in Christ. So for us in the realm of giving the motivation and reason in giving for the unbeliever is totally different than the reason and purpose in giving for the Christian. And we find in this section that what we do with our material thing is a very significant part of our worship. Again we have become distracted. We think of worship as coming together in a place like this and doing certain things and that can be part of our worship. But Paul in effect is going to tell the Philippians that a major part of their worship in being pleasing to God was in what they did with their material things particularly in giving a gift to him.

Let’s have a word of prayer before we look at these verses. Father, we praise you for the provision of your word today. We praise you for the revelation that you have given to us in this portion of Scripture. Lord as we talk about the matter of giving our desire is that we might come to see giving from your perspective that we might handle our material thing in a way that truly is worshipping you in a manner that is acceptable. We pray to you Lord in Jesus’ name, amen.

Verse 14 starts out nevertheless you have done well. The nevertheless again brings the contrast. The fact that Paul had learned to be content in every circumstance did not mean that he did not appreciate their gift or that their gift was relatively unimportant. You know it really didn’t matter whether you gave the gift or not because I am satisfied. I am content in Christ. Well, that can come across in a way that the Philippians could sit back and think well we might just as well not have done it. And Paul was just as content without it why did we bother doing it. So the nevertheless brings the contrast here.

Even though I am content in Christ whether you sent a gift or not you have done well to share with me in my affliction. The gift was very important. You have done well. That word well the word that means excellently, nobly, good. One translator translated it you did a beautiful thing. The way we might express it today. It was something beautiful, something excellent, something noble, something that spoke well of them. So nevertheless in spite of my contentment in Christ you did excellently, nobly in sharing in my affliction.

Now that word to share, we have seen it a number of times in our study in the New Testament, the word koinonia or koinonikon. We talk about koinonia groups today. Usually they are small groups that enabled believers to have more interaction or fellowship with one another. We think of the word fellowship usually when we think of this word. It means to share together with someone, to be a partner with someone and it really demonstrates the closeness of the bonds that Paul felt with the Philippians. You have become a partner together with me in my affliction.

Now they didn’t come and share in the prison cell with the Apostle Paul. What they did was sent money or material things to Paul and Paul said you became a partner with me. You shared together with me and my affliction in a way of expressing the fact that it took much of the burden from Paul and they carried it too. They shared his affliction and suffering because we can be sure that when this gift came from the Philippians it was a tremendous encouragement to Paul to know that the Philippians were joined together with him in his ministry and in his suffering, and a good reminder for us the impact that our giving has as we gift under the Lord’s direction. It’s you to make us a partner or a sharer together in the ministry of the word of God and in effect we share the burden of that ministry, the suffering, affliction. This word indicates, the word used of tribulation often used of the coming tribulation like the great tribulation that is coming. So the sorrows, the heartaches, the burden they shared when they became involved in a physical material way with the Apostle Paul.

Look back in Chapter 1 of Philippians wherein verse 3 Paul said I thanked my God and all my remembrance of you. Then he prayed for them always. Note verse 5, in view of your participation; that word participation same word we have translated to share over in Chapter 4 koinonia or koinonikon. You became a partner together with me in the Gospel from the first day until now. So in their sharing in the ministry of the Gospel one of the keys ways that they did that was in the giving of their material things. When they gave and supported the ministry of Paul, supported him, they were sharing in the ministry of the Gospel, they were sharing in the afflictions and suffering that came to Paul as a result of the ministry of the Gospel. So we see that what we do with our material thing binds us in a bond together as servants of Jesus Christ. That’s why I believe that our finances are such an important part of our lives in our ministry.

Those who do not become involved in a material way in the ministry keep themselves in a distance. They don’t really become part and parcel of what is happening and that is to their loss as Paul will make clear. We are partners who share together in the Gospel as in the suffering, the afflictions and the trial that come as a result of the ministry of the Gospel. One of the ways we join together is what we do with our material things in the finances that God has given to us. So you shared together with me in my affliction.

Now verse 14 again back in Chapter 4 that only is a great encouragement to realize that the Philippians had become part of the Apostle’s ministry and this special way ought to be a great encouragement to them. They had fellowship together with him. One of the keys ways we have fellowship together is in our giving. We think of fellowship is of having someone sits down and talks with him but you know the Philippians are separated by miles and miles from the Apostle Paul and yet they are having fellowship together in the biblical sense because of what they are doing with their material things.

Verse 15, he goes on and chose that the Philippians are unique and you yourself also know Philippians and just note there he calls them Philippians. Only two other times that Paul addressed the people he is writing to that way. Once when writing to the Galatians and another time when writing to the Corinthians where he calls them by name Philippians, Corinthians and Galatians. Here it denotes the closeness. There is an attachment here as he speaks. You know Philippians that at the first preaching of the Gospel after I departed from Macedonia no church shared with me in the matter of giving and receiving but you alone at the first preaching of the Gospel. He is talking about when he first preached the Gospel in Macedonia which was about 10 years previous to the writing of this letter.


So 10 years before Paul penned this letter to the Philippians he had carried the Gospel into Macedonia and you remember in Acts Chapter 16 Paul having been forbidden to go into Asia had a vision and there was a man from Macedonia exhorting him to come to Macedonia with the Gospel. And so Paul responded and went from Troas over into Macedonia northern part of Greece with the Gospel and that’s where Philippi is located. It happened 10 years previous. So Paul had carried the Gospel to them. That’s the first preaching of the Gospel in their region. That’s when the Gospel is carried for the first time into the region of Macedonia.

No church shared with me in the matter of giving and receiving but you alone. Now there is a remarkable insight. Paul came into Macedonia and preached the Gospel then he left Philippi travelled to some other cities and down into Thessalonica, down into Corinth out of Macedonia into the region of Achaia where Acrocorinth is located. You know what Paul says no other church became a partner with me, fellowship with me in the matter of giving and receiving but you alone. Now that’s amazing here is the Apostle Paul carrying the Gospel to these people for the first time and yet those who had been part of parcel of his ministry alone the Philippians church undertook to help meet the needs of that ministry and he commends them greatly for it. That word shared, no church shared with me. The same we have up in verse 14 to share, to be a partner, to have fellowship with me.

The Philippians were a unique church. They had joined themselves to the Apostle Paul in his ministry in a special way. Now you remember that in our last study we look back into Second Corinthians Chapter 8 where Paul told the Corinthians that the churches of Macedonia were characterized by a deep poverty. Philippi would be included in that and yet they had taken upon themselves to share in the Apostle Paul’s ministry because they had been the beneficiaries of the Apostle Paul’s ministry. Paul had ministered the Gospel to them. They had come to believe in Christ through his ministry and they joined in supporting that ministry.

Verse 16 of Chapter 4, even in Thessalonica you sent a gift more than once for my needs. Now you note in verse 15 he says after I departed from Macedonia no church shared with me. Now when he left Macedonia that would take him down into Achaia where Corinth is located but even before he left Macedonia while he was in Thessalonica the Philippians sent a gift to him. Thessalonica is not too far from Philippi, still in the province of Macedonia. Even before he left Macedonia the Philippians had sent to him. Note for even Thessalonica you sent a gift more than once for my needs.

Now you know what’s remarkable about that Paul only spends about three weeks in Thessalonica less than a month, three Sabbath days. And yet within that time period the Philippians had sent material support to him on at least two occasions. Now you see how they had become so in enthralled, wrapped up in his ministry that they wanted to be part and parcel of it, and this is the way they could. We don’t realize what we do with our material things joins us in such an intimate personal way in a ministry. But the Philippians had become involved in Paul’s life and ministry in a very personal way and that manifested itself in what they did with their material things.

Now turn back to First Thessalonians, just past Philippians, Galatians, First Thessalonians Chapter 2, the letter to the Thessalonians obviously is written to the believers at Thessalonica as Paul just referred to in Chapter 4 Philippians. Note First Thessalonians Chapter 2 verse 9, you will see what Paul, how Paul’s ministry went at Thessalonica. First Thessalonians 2:9, for you recall brethren our labor and hardship are working night and day so as not to be a burden to any of you we proclaim to you the Gospel of God. Look over in Second Thessalonians Chapter 3 verse 8, nor did we eat anyone’s bread without paying for it but with labor and hardship we kept working night and day so that we might not be a burden to any of you.

There’s Paul’s pattern for ministry at Thessalonica. He didn’t take money from the Thessalonians but he took money from the Philippians to minister the Thessalonians. Paul did the same thing at Corinth. Turn back to Second Corinthians Chapter 11, Paul indicates when he left Thessalonica and came down to Achaia where Corinth is located, ministered to the Corinthians. He would not take money from the Corinthians either but he did take money from the churches in Macedonia particularly from Philippi. Look in Second Corinthians Chapter 11 verse 7, or did I commit a sin in humbling myself that you might be exalted because I preach the Gospel of God to you without charge. Note what he says in the next verse I robbed other churches taking wages from them to serve you and when I was present with you and was in need I was not a burden to anyone for when the brethren came from Macedonia particularly Philippi they fully supplied my need and in everything I kept myself from being a burden to you and will continue to do so.

One other verse Chapter 12 of Second Corinthians verse 13, Paul says he treated the church at Corinth in an inferior way because he would not take wages from them. Verse 13, for in what respect were you treated as inferior to the rest of the churches except that I myself did not become a burden to you, forgive this wrong. No, Paul did take support from churches in his ministry, from believers but he did not take it directly from the ones he was ministering to at the time, why? What was he doing? He was taking the Gospel to Thessalonica for the first time. You know what happens he is going to carry the Gospel there for the first time and he starts off by saying in order to support myself here I will need you to give me some money. What does that do? That raises red flags. Is he here to raise money or is he here to carry a message about a person?

What about the Corinthians? What would have been the question about them? Here is somebody here out to get money. So what did Paul do? He didn’t accept money from the area that he had gone to evangelize. But he took it from the churches that he had just evangelized and just started. So he preached the Gospel at Philippi and those people became believers. He left Philippi and went to Thessalonica, wouldn’t take any money from the Thessalonians but he took money from the Philippians as they sent it to him. He left Thessalonica and went down to Corinth, wouldn’t take any money to the Corinthians but he would take money from the churches in Macedonia. Why? No question there.

When he is preaching in Corinth no question among the churches in Macedonia what’s his motivation. So it’s to keep any question out of his ministry. I think the pattern is still good and healthy that where we carry the Gospel there ought to be no question about the motivation of means. To me that’s one of the reasons that we would give support to someone evangelizing in new area. Now that area is evangelized then Paul does establish the principle. And now he is writing to the Corinthians that those who benefit from the ministry ought to support the ministry. Now they were doing with Paul the Philippians had benefited from his ministry, they were supporting his ministry even in another area. When in new areas those people are supported from other places until that work is established and there is no question of motivation.

Come to Philippians Chapter 4 again you gain an appreciation for the Philippian church as Paul writes about their uniqueness but what about the gift. Paul says you will become a partner with me as that is the most important thing about our giving that I can say that when you give to support my ministry we have become partners together in the Gospel and in sharing the burdens of this ministry. I believe that’s important and that’s significant. But that’s not the most important thing that happens in giving. That’s not the greatest benefit to you in your giving.

Verse 17, Paul says not that I seek the gift itself but I seek for the profit which increases to your account. Now here Paul makes a statement that is abused and misused but the truth of it still stands that when believers give biblically under the direction of the Holy Spirit the person who benefits the most is the person who gives. And note that when I give biblical under the direction of the Holy Spirit I profit the most from that giving. Now that I mean I give a million dollars to one who is ministering the word and say boy you really profited but he didn’t profit as much I did because I profit directly in the spiritual realm where the great profit really is. So Paul says not that I seek the gift itself but I seek for the profit which increases to your account. Note what he is saying, I am so glad for your giving not because I am seeking your gift or even need because I am desirous of your growth and development in the Lord and it is profitable for you to give. Even for Paul that sounds a little bit shaky but its true nonetheless.

Now I ought to note here I have drawn your attention several times when we go through the section Paul uses current commercial term from his day, commercial language, financial language of accounts of interest, of profit and almost to draw their attention to fact of how we are oriented. We think we are new our day to think about profits and loss and interest and so on. Paul knew that his readers thought the same realm. So he pulls it to the commercial realm and he talked about back in verse 15 he was already was doing this. At the end of verse 15 when he says the matter of giving and receiving or the account of giving and receiving would be the exact accounting language you would use for debit and credits in an account, the account of giving and receiving.

Now he says not that I seek the gift but I seek for the profit. Here is the word we had translated matter back in verse 15. This profit, this interest, the fruit that accrues to your account. The word account is the word translated matter back in verse 15 not the word profit, the word account. I seek for the profit, the fruit that increases or accrues to your account. There is a fruit; there is an interest if you will. Back in Chapter 1 verse 11, Paul says having been filled with the fruit of righteousness or the profit of righteousness that which accrues to you as a result of righteousness. Now here is something else fruit that is grown in them, profit that accrues to them to their account. So what happens they give to the Apostle Paul, what happens? They get the interest, the profit in their account. It is credited to their account by God.

What happens? Verse 18 I have receipt everything in full and have an abundance. I am amply supplied having received from Epaphroditus what you sent. Now you get the idea Paul really got something substantial here. We don’t have any idea what the size of it was. But Paul says it is more than adequate. I have more than enough. I have everything in full and have an abundance. I am amply supplied. Now you read that and go back and read Second Corinthians 8 the church that sent this that is characterized by overwhelming poverty. You think maybe some of those people were sitting back saying I sent too much. If he has got abundance and I am living on a shoestring maybe I over did it. No, Paul didn’t say that. What did he say?

I have received from Epaphroditus what you sent what is a fragrant aroma, an acceptable sacrifice, well pleasing to God. That’s the heart and the center of biblical giving. It is a sacrifice of worship offered to God and that is why the giver always profits more than the recipient. Worship God in an acceptable and I am pleasing to him there is nothing in the material realm that compares to that. That’s what life is all about, for me to be pleasing to God. And Paul says that you have offered a sacrifice, not to Paul but to God. No, Paul says I have received it; I have everything in full and abundance I am amply supplied, how? By your sacrifice to God, not offered to me but offered to God.

You see it has taken a major leap now for being a partner with Paul to being a worshipper of God. It was really a sacrifice offered to God, really part of their worship. That is what it is. And note the language a fragrant aroma. That’s an interesting statement. It is the same expression used back in Ephesians Chapter 5, turn back a couple of pages. Ephesians Chapter 5 verse 1, therefore the imitators of God as beloved children and walk in love just as Christ also loved you, note here, and gave himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God. Note that last statement, as a fragrant aroma. Note what Paul says to Philippians that your sacrificial gift was a fragrant aroma to God even as the sacrifice of his son was. Tragic that we have fooled what we do with our material things down to the mundane level when God elevates it to the level of the sacrifice of his son.

Now keep in mind the comparison here. I realize the sacrifice of his son was redemptive. The point of comparison is that both are called a fragrant aroma to God. Something that is well pleasing to God and so you see what God does, he elevates what we do with our material thing to the realm of sacrifice and says that as a believer priest I offer a sacrifice that is a pleasing aroma to him just as Christ did when offered himself. Why it is so important that we use our material things wisely, that we give them wisely because we are in the realm here of being pleasing to God of worshipping God in an acceptable manner. I am not saying therefore if you give more you will be more acceptable. I am saying if you give biblically under the direction of the Holy Spirit then your giving is a fragrant aroma to God.

He also calls it back in Philippians picked up this language then I want to look at some other passages. A fragrant aroma and an acceptable sacrifice, an acceptable sacrifice, that’s amazing that I take my material thing I give them to another physical person or entity and it is acceptable to God. That is amazing. Paul is the one who got it. Paul was the one who was going to spend it and yet it was acceptable to God. He accepted it. It was well pleasing. The old terminology here use of sacrifice. They get the picture here. It comes from the opening chapters of Leviticus where there you have the voluntary offerings given, not sin offerings, voluntary offerings and they are given out of a heart of response to God. They are offered in a way that is acceptable to him; they are well pleasing to him.

Look back in Hebrews 13 which you have and we don’t have time to develop this morning is in the context here and the whole book of Hebrews develops it. Jesus Christ is the high priest. All who come to believe in Jesus Christ as personal savior and recognize him as God’s sacrifice for sin and trust him as their savior are cleansed and forgiven for their sin. They are brought into a personal relationship with God. They are made priests before God. So every person who is a believer in Jesus Christ is a priest before God. Now one of the key responsibilities of a priest is to offer sacrifices that are acceptable to God. So the New Testament speaks about sacrifice is offered by us as believers.

In Hebrews 13 and verse 15, through him then, through Christ, let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God that is fruit of lisp to give thanks to his name and do not neglect doing good and sharing for with such sacrifices God is pleased. So here you see what we say with our lisp doing good and sharing. They are not things done primarily for other people. They are sacrifices offered to God. So I must be careful that I don’t lose perspective on what I am doing with my material things. I say well why should I give to him, why should I give to them? I mean I don’t agree with everything anyway. Well, if you are giving to me you ought to keep it. You are giving to this church you ought to keep it. You are giving out of a desire to offer a sacrifice to God and be pleasing to him, you ought to give. That’s the issue. I give not because it is good for you; I give because I want to worship God acceptably in a way that is well pleasing to him.

Now I give to needs. Paul had needs, the Philippians gave, but the primary factor here is not the need. The primary factor is to worship. Paul says I have an abundance. I am amply supplied. Should they have given less, no why? They should give everything that God wants them to give so that their worship is acceptable to him. Look over in First Peter just after Hebrews, James, First Peter Chapter 2 verse 5. I should tell you that I planned on preaching this message on this section before we had our stewardship program but I thought some of you would misunderstand and the Lord worked it out well that we didn’t get that far along anyway. I am glad to be able to preach it after we have determined and prayed and given and just a reminder to us of what is entailed in our giving. I didn’t give to this church because there was a great debt to take care of. The Lord uses that but ultimately what are we doing? Giving as a sacrifice offered to God to be well pleasing to him.

First Peter Chapter 2 verse 5, you also as living stones are built up, note here, as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood. That’s what we are as believers a holy priesthood. What are we to do as a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. That’s the pattern. I give but it is a sacrifice offered to God through Christ that’s part of my ministry. That’s my purpose as a believer priest, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. Romans Chapter 12 verse 1, it puts it in a way that we are well familiar with where Paul says I beseech you therefore brethren by the mercies of God that you present your bodies a living a holy sacrifice acceptable to God which is your spiritual service of worship so my entire life, my whole body, is to be presented to God as a sacrifice acceptable to him. You see my whole becomes in that realm.

That’s why we as believers have all of our activities lifted from the realm of the mundane to the realm of the eternally significant. Everything I do with my body is to a sacrifice offered to God, what I say with my mouth, what I do with my hand, how I treat others, what I do with my material possession, all has to be in the realm of a sacrifice. You go back and read the Old Testament sacrifices and the sacrificial system. It had to be done in the way that God instructed, in a way that was acceptable to him and you note that repeated emphasis in each of these sections. Acceptable to God, acceptable to God, you offer sacrifice that is acceptable to me but not to God, what have you done? Nothing. So often we get down into that realm.

I want to do that what is acceptable to you. I lose sight of who I am really worshipping. You are not worshipping me, I am not worshipping you. I am worshipping God and whether my sacrifice is acceptable to you or not has nothing to do with anything but whether it is acceptable to God or not has everything to do with everything. You see what Paul has done as he talks about their giving. He says o I am contend in Christ but I greatly appreciate your gift. It was a great aid in encouraging Paul and his ministry and helping him to more effectiveness I take it in ministry by freeing him up for more time to minister and less time to make tents. When you get right down to it, that’s not the basic issue. The basic issue is the people of God functioning submissively to God so that in their giving they are worshipping God acceptably. That’s crucial. That’s key.

If I have had a fault and I have had many of them I need to say that quickly, one of them some of you have brought up is true. I have not spoken enough about money and its place in Indian Hills and as we have prospered and become more prosperous perhaps we have failed in a key area of sacrifice. That’s why the experience of recent months are so exciting. You see as a people submitted ourselves to God in this area. You realize that God has given us potential and blessing far above what we were utilizing. It was there before but it was not being put to use in the way that it could be. It is there before perhaps; perhaps God blessed you with new material things that enabled you to give more. But perhaps we were not worshipping as we should have been in this area.

I have to constantly ask myself what I am doing in my worship of God in this area. What are you doing? I am going to take offering at the end of this service. What would it be your motivation in giving? How did you plan what to give today? What was the deciding factor for you? Do you really see it as a part of the worship or are they going to pass the bag, I ought to put something in and everybody ought to pay for their seat. That’s not the issue. The issue it is part of our worship of him and we want to do it in a way that is pleasing and acceptable to him.

Let’s pray together. Father, how privilege we are to belong to you through faith in Christ. Lord, how privileged we are to give to you our material things, things Lord that you have blessed us with. Lord, you have provided for us in such a gracious and an abundant manner for everyone of us. Lord, we have more than we deserve obviously. Lord, we desire to use wisely and honorably what we do have. Father that it might be testified of us that we have done excellently, we have done nobly in the use of our material things that we have indeed given what is a sacrifice acceptable and well pleasing before you. May we be a church, a body of believers Father who worship you even in this way. We praise you for it in Jesus’ name, amen.