Sermon Series: Jesus-Everything We Need 

The Paradox of Giving 

Philippians 4:14-23 

CBC Bishop, 9/7/03

In a nutshell: To understand God's paradox of giving you have to understand that giving helps spread the good news; it's an investment in your future; it blesses God; and it makes us the recipient of a three-fold promise from God.

I. Introduction

A. Joke

Two friends went on an exotic vacation together to the South Pacific. While they were flying their plane, a storm came up and buffeted their little aircraft so much that they had to crash land on an uncharted South Pacific island. Fortunately, both men survived.

When they had sufficiently recuperated, one of the men went off to explore their situation. He searched all over the island to see if they had any chance of survival. He returned to his companion on the beach, screaming, "This island is uninhabited. There's no food. There's no water. We're going to die."

The other man leaned back against the fuselage of the wrecked plane, folded his arms and responded, "No, we're not going to die. I make over $250,000 a week."

At that, the first man grabbed his friend, shook him and repeated again, "Listen, there's no food here. There's no water here. We're going to die."

Totally unruffled, the other man again responded, "No, we're not. I make over $250,000 a week, and I tithe to my church. My pastor will find us."

B. The Bible talks about money

Obviously, if you looked at the sermon title in the worship folder, you know that this morning we're going to be exploring the subject of giving. And, "NO", I don't know if anyone tithe's or not in our church. That's confidential information that only our Church Treasurer knows. But the subject of giving is an very important topic for a follower of Jesus Christ to understand. But to be honest, it's not a topic that many pastors find easy to talk about-because it makes people feel uncomfortable.

But as we come to the end of our 8 month long study in this letter that Paul wrote to the Philippian church, that's the focus in this final paragraph. So, I can't avoid it. And quite frankly, I don't want to. Because the concepts that are taught here are something that God wants you and me to know. He thinks it's very important to our development as His followers. So, if you have your Bibles, I'd like to invite you to turn to the last section in the book of Philippians…chapter 4, verses 14-23.

Did you know that Jesus talked about money and possessions more than anything else during His earthly ministry? In fact, 16 of the 38 parables that He taught in the New Testament talk about how to handle money and possessions. In the 4 Gospel accounts-Matthew, Mark, Luke and John-one out of every 10 verses deals directly with the subject of money and possessions.

In fact, while the Bible contains 500 verses on prayer, and a few less than 500 verses on faith, it contains more than 2,000 verses on handling our money and possessions. So, it's obvious that God's not bashful about talking to His children about their use of money. It's a major theme in Scripture, because it has to do with our hearts and our thoughts…in other words, it's a character issue. And Jesus said…

Luke 12:34 34 Wherever your treasure is, there your heart and thoughts will also be. (NLT) . C. Philippians is a "receipt"

Now, we all know that when we buy something, we usually get a receipt showing the date it was purchased, what we purchased, and the amount of that purchase. Well, I don't know if you realize it, but the book or letter of Philippians that we've been studying together, is kind of like a detailed receipt.

It acknowledges a generous financial gift that the Philippian Christians sent to Paul while he was in prison in Rome. A young man in the Philippian church by the name of Epaphroditus had made a six-week journey from Philippi to Rome in order to deliver this special gift to Paul. And so Paul writes this letter back to the Philippian church, saying, in essence, in big letters, "RECEIVED IN FULL."

I want to read the entire group of verses as we begin this morning, and then we'll start looking at the individual ideas that Paul lists about giving…

Philippians 4:14-23 14 Yet it was good of you to share in my troubles. 15 Moreover, as you Philippians know, in the early days of your acquaintance with the gospel, when I set out from Macedonia, not one church shared with me in the matter of giving and receiving, except you only; 16 for even when I was in Thessalonica, you sent me aid again and again when I was in need. 17 Not that I am looking for a gift, but I am looking for what may be credited to your account. 18 I have received full payment and even more; I am amply supplied, now that I have received from Epaphroditus the gifts you sent. They are a fragrant offering, an acceptable sacrifice, pleasing to God. 19 And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus. 20 To our God and Father be glory for ever and ever. Amen. 21 Greet all the saints in Christ Jesus. The brothers who are with me send greetings. 22 All the saints send you greetings, especially those who belong to Caesar's household. 23 The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Amen

D. Transition

Now, contained in these verses is what I call a "divine paradox". By that I mean that what is taught here seems to contradict common sense. But the Bible does that a lot.

Illustration: For instance, Jesus teaches in…

Matt 10:39 39 If you cling to your life, you will lose it; but if you give it up for me, you will find it. (NLT)

To most people, that doesn't make any sense. -We normally think that the way to hang on to our lives is to protect ourselves. -Or the way to save our lives is to avoid dangerous situations. -Or the way to cling to our lives is to watch out for number one. That's common sense. And by going against human common sense, Jesus sets up a paradox or a mystery-something we can't explain..

Now, when it comes to giving, we have another one of these paradoxes. Simply put, the paradox is that the way to receive is to give. In other words, as you give, God will give to you.

Illustration: Now this doesn't make very much sense from an accountant's point of view. I mean, any good accountant would tell you that if you need more money than what you currently have, then you need to make it a point to hang on to what you already have. Am I right? Any good CPA will tell you that.

But giving money away makes perfect sense from God's perspective if you understand what happens when you give your money to God's work. Paul lists four specific things that happen, in these last verses of Philippians. Let me unpack those four things for you this morning…

II. Four Things That Happen When You Give

A. It helps spread the Good News

The first thing that happens is found in verses 14-16…

Philippians 4:14-16 14 Yet it was good of you to share in my troubles. 15 Moreover, as you Philippians know, in the early days of your acquaintance with the gospel, when I set out from Macedonia, not one church shared with me in the matter of giving and receiving, except you only; 16 for even when I was in Thessalonica, you sent me aid again and again when I was in need.

The first thing that that happens when we give our money to God's work is it helps spread the Good News. One of the main things that our giving does is enable individuals and groups to effectively spread the good news.

Paul praises the Philippian Christians for their generosity to him. They had stood behind his ministry and helped him financially on many occasions. And these gifts were a real encouragement to him. Paul had given his life to the cause of Christ. His life's ambition was to share the gospel of Jesus Christ with as many people as he possibly could. He realized that apart from a relationship with Jesus Christ where He is the forgiver of a persons sins and the leader of a persons life, that person is bound for Hell, for eternity. And Paul's ability to share the Good News about this relationship with Jesus Christ was dependent, in a large part, on the support he received from faithful Christians.

You see, when his resources ran low, Paul was forced to work on the side in order to supplement his resources by making tents. Now, he was certainly willing to do that, and did it on many occasions. But making tents was pretty much a one man job that confined him to one place. So, he couldn't be around people. He wasn't free to go to where non-believers were. So, the time he spent working took away from the time he could spend sharing the gospel. That's why, when he received financial support from the Christians at Philippi, he was greatly encouraged.

When you and I are faithful to give to the work of the Lord through this local church, or missions organizations, or special ministries, our gift becomes an encouragement to others who are on the front lines of spreading the good news. It enables greater fruitfulness for the work of God. Your gift makes a difference for eternity. And when it's combined with all of the gifts of this church family, a great deal can be accomplished for Jesus Christ in the Owens Valley and around the world.

B. It's an investment for your future

But there's a second thing that giving does. Look at verse 17…

Philippians 4:17 17 Not that I am looking for a gift, but I am looking for what may be credited to your account.

Giving to God's work gives you an investment for your future. Paul said that he was looking for what would be credited to their account because of their giving. Did you realize that you have an account with God? You do. You have an account with your name on it in heaven.

Jesus told us…

Matthew 6:19-20 19 "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20 But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal.

-Maybe you're saving money for a rainy day. -Maybe you're putting money away into a retirement account, hoping that the stock market comes back up! -Maybe you're saving for future education. But the eternal question is…what are you doing to invest in your future in heaven?

Illustration: While looking at tombstones in an old graveyard out in the Mariposa area earlier this year, I saw the grave of a man who had this message written on his tombstone. It was definitely written from the perspective of heaven. "What I spent, I lost. What I saved, I left. What I gave, I have."

The truth is that we can't take anything with us, except what we give. We send that on ahead of us. It is an investment in our eternity. It is an investment in our future that will be given to us as a reward when we arrive in heaven.

Illustration: I heard the story of a lady who died and went to heaven. She was a very influential and wealthy lady on earth, and she was a believer. But she gave very little to her church or any facet of God's work. As she was shown around heaven by one of the angels, she was amazed at the magnificent mansions she saw. She was getting quite excited thinking of just what was in store for her, considering she was a person of great influence and wealth on earth. When she was shown her heavenly home, she was dumbfounded. It was a shack! No bigger than an outhouse! She turned to the angel and reminded the angel that she was a person of great substance and influence. She said that there must be some mistake. But the angel replied, "I'm sorry, but we can only use what you send on ahead. I'm afraid you didn't send us very much."

Giving is an investment in your future.

C. It Blesses God.

The third thing that giving does is found in verse 18…

Philippians 4:18 18 I have received full payment and even more; I am amply supplied, now that I have received from Epaphroditus the gifts you sent. They are a fragrant offering, an acceptable sacrifice, pleasing to God.

The third thing that giving does is it blesses God. It is pleasing to God, not because He needs it, but because of what it does to us.

1. One big thing it does is it breaks the back of greed in our lives. If you want to break the power of money over you, give it away.

2. Giving also makes our character more like the character of God. God is the ultimate giver. He is the supreme example of giving. Think about this… God loved the world so much that He gave…, -not what He had left over…, -not something trivial…, -but His most precious possession -- His only Son. And Jesus loved us so much that He gave His very life to pay the penalty that our sins demanded. There was no greater sacrifice that He could have made. So when we give, we take on more and more the character of our Lord.

3. Giving also tells others, who are observing us, that our commitment to Jesus Christ is real. It shows how much we love Him. It shows how devoted we are to Him. When we give to God's work, we are declaring our allegiance to Him and to His work. We are saying that what is important to God is important to us as well. And we are further saying that all that we have ultimately belongs to Him.

4. Giving is an act of worship. Paul says that it's a fragrant offering. He's referring to the offerings that are described in Leviticus 7. If you read that chapter in the Old Testament, you'll find that certain offerings produced a fragrant aroma that all the people could smell. It was a sweet smelling sacrifice before God. And when we show that the things that are important to God are important to us, our sacrifice is pleasing and acceptable before God. It gives God pleasure.

D. It connects us to a three-fold promise

But there's one more thing that giving does. Look at verse 19…

Philippians 4:19 19 And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.

Our giving connects us to a three-fold promise. Look at the three parts of this promise in verse 19…

1. First, God promises to meet your needs. If you are faithful in your giving, you can expect God to meet your needs.

Philippians 4:19a 19 And my God will meet all your needs….

All of us want our needs met. And that is exactly what God has committed to do for His faithful children. He has committed to meet the legitimate needs and that we have.

How many needs do you think you have?

Illustration: I heard about a study this week that was done by a sociologist in 1890. He surveyed hundreds of people and he identified 16 basic needs that people felt were necessary for life.

A similar study done 100 years later, in 1990. And it found a very different result. The people surveyed in 1990 identified 98 different basic needs. It seems that the things we think we need have multiplied quite a bit in a hundred years.

Now, it could be that we have more needs today, or could be that we have more greeds today. Well, God has committed to meet our needs, not our greeds. But that is still good news! What are your needs? -Do you have legitimate emotional needs? God has committed to meet those needs. -Do you have legitimate spiritual needs? God has committed to meet those needs. -Do you have legitimate physical needs? God has committed to meet those needs. When you are faithful in giving to God, you can trust the fact that God will meet your needs.

2. Second, if we're faithful in giving, we can expect God to meet ALL our needs. Look again at the beginning of verse 19…

Philippians 4:19 19 And my God will meet all your needs…

God is not committed to meeting some of your needs, he has committed to meet all your needs.

2 Peter 1:3 3 His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.

In other words, everything you and I need to live our lives so that God is glorified in them, He has provided. Every legitimate need that you or I have, God promises to meet.

Now, a lot of times, we think we know what our needs are. But sometimes we're wrong! A lot of times what we think are our real needs, are often just surface needs. They're too shallow. And because we only see the surface, we don't understand the deeper needs. But God knows even our deepest needs. -He sees the deep needs of our soul. -He sees even the needs that we can't discern. -And He has committed to meet even those deep needs that we don't always see. And because He has proven His love for us, we can trust that His provision will go down deep to the root of our concerns.

3. Then the third part of the promise is that He will meet ALL our needs, according to His riches.

Philippians 4:19 19 And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.

Friends, God isn't stingy. In fact, God is very generous. And He delights in giving good things to His children. This is an incredible statement that Paul is making. God will meet all of our needs according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus…, not OUT of His glorious riches in Christ Jesus. There's a big difference.

Illustration: Imagine that you have a financial need, and someone contacts Bill Gates, the CEO of Microsoft, and Mr. Gates takes pity on your situation, and writes you a $100 check. Now that $100 is an amount that is OUT of his riches. But it's not according to his riches. You see, if Bill Gates took pity on you and wrote you a check ACCORDING TO HIS RICHES, one of the wealthiest men in the world would write you a check for $10 million.

Friends, that's how God gives to us. He gives to us according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus.

III. Conclusion

Something you have to know is that you can't out give God. The more you give to help along the things that matter to Him, the more will be given to you. This is the paradox of giving. This is what Jesus was talking about when He said…

Luke 6:38 38 Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you."

And as Paul elaborated on this idea with another church, he wrote…

2 Corinthians 9:6 6 Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously.

That's the paradox of giving…and it's a law of the Kingdom of God. As we give generously, we will be blessed abundantly. I put a quote on the front of your worship folders this morning that I think sums up much of what we've been considering this morning. I close with it…

We make a living by what we get out of life, but we make a life by what we give. (-James S. Hewett)

Amen.