How to Get God to Supply All Your Needs (Philippians 4:14-23) | Pastor Roger Jimenez

amen all right over there in philippians chapter number four and of course like uh i announced this morning we are finishing up the book of philippians uh today we have spent the summer going verse by verse chapter by chapter through the book of philippians in a series called rejoice and every uh time we've been in philippians i've reminded you that the book of philippians is a book about joy it is a book about learning how to rejoice it's about jesus and it's about the joy that can be found in uh jesus and in these uh four short chapters the word joy appears six different times and the word rejoice appears ten different times in these verses so we're learning about how to rejoice and today we're coming to the to the very end we've spent 14 weeks in uh this study and it's been 14 weeks and 15 sermons because one of the weeks i preached on uh out of philippians on sunday morning and sunday night so we spent a lot of time thoroughly going through these chapters and going through these verses and we're going to finish up to this morning here at the end of philippians chapter number four and in this passage uh the apostle paul and we're going to deal with verses 14 through 23 but i feel like we need to back up to verse 10 just to get the context i preached through uh verses 10 11 12 and 13 already but i want you to see the context in verse 10 the apostle paul says this but i rejoice in the lord greatly he says that now at the last your care for me excuse me your care of me hath flourished again wherein ye were also careful but you lacked opportunity the apostle paul is writing to the book of philippians or he's writing the book of philippians to the church at philippi and he is telling them that one thing that he's rejoiced about is the fact that they are caring for him he says your care of me had flourished again he says wherein we you were also careful but you lacked opportunity the idea here that paul is saying he's saying that uh he's glad that they've been providing for his needs and what the what the church at philippi has done is that they've financially uh given to the ministry of the apostle paul and he says i rejoice in that i rejoice that you're that at the last your care of me had flourished again he says i'm thankful that you are helping uh to provide for my physical needs and to provide for the ministry needs now in that context he talks about what we talked about last week being content in verse 11 he says not that i speak in respect of want for i have learned in whatsoever state i am there with to be content i know both how to be a based and i know how to bound everywhere and in all things i am instructed both to be full and to be hungry both to abound and to suffer need i can do all things through christ which strengtheneth me and we went through and looked at those verses in detail last week then he says this notwithstanding ye have well done that you did communicate with my affliction so here's what he's saying he's saying i'm glad that you have provided for my physical needs through giving and through this special offering that they gave to him and he says though i'm content uh uh either way and that's where we get the the passage in verses 11 12 and 13 that great passage on contentment he says i'm not speaking in respect of juan he said i'm i'm content either way i'm i'm happy either way but i am thankful that you have uh done your part to care for me and i flourish again and then in verse 14 he says notwithstanding ye have well done he says even though i'm content either way what you've done is a good thing that you did communicate with my affliction so he's telling them you know the fact that you've given is a it's a good thing it's good that you have given to the work of the lord then he says this in verse 15. he says now ye philippians know also that in the beginning of the gospel when i departed from macedonia no church communicated with me i want you to notice these words he says as concerning giving and receiving but ye only and what the apostle paul is he's talking to them about the fact that they have given to him they've given to his ministry uh he's he's going to talk about uh the fact that they've given and he's received from them and really that's how he ends this book with a little discussion here on giving so this morning as we end the book of philippians uh we're going to look at four reasons for that the apostle paul brings up to the church at philippi why it was good that they gave to his ministry that they gave to the work of god four reasons why we should give or financially support the ministry now let me just say this and uh you know uh as a as a disclaimer uh we have spent the last 14 weeks 15 sermons studying the book of philippians so if you're here this morning and you say oh of course you know i go to church and the pastor's going to preach about giving you know the pastor's going to preach about the word of god and we've been going verse by verse through the book of philippians on sunday mornings and we've been looking at every subject the apostle paul brings up and he brings up this passage and you know if you come to our church money is not something we bring up a lot money's not it's it's it's not something we talk about a lot not something we give a lot of priority to but when the word of god brings it up we're going to bring it up and i'm giving you a disclaimer but i'm not giving you an apology i'm not apologizing for preaching the word of god this is what the apostle paul wrote in philippians so this is what we're going to deal with in the book of philippians but i do just want to give some context that this is not something we talk a lot about but but it is something the bible talks about and it's something that the apostle paul uh deals with here in the book of philippians this idea of concerning giving and receiving why it was good he said i rejoice that he supported the ministry why it was good and i want to give you this morning four thoughts in regards to why you should financially support the work of god why you should get financially invested in the work of god i want to give you four thoughts on the back of your course of the week there's a place for you to write down some things and look down at verse number 16. he says for even in thessalonica because remember he said i'm glad that you support it he said i'd be content either way i'm happy either way i've learned both to abound and to be a base i i can i can abound i can suffer need he said i'm good either way but i appreciate the fact that you've supported the ministry he you say why paul why is it good that they should give to the work of god he says for even in thessalonica verse 16 he sent once and again unto once you notice these words my necessity he said you have sent once and again unto my necessity you say pastor why should a bible-believing christian uh not only be part of a local church not only be faithful to the house of god not only get involved in serving and soul-winning and those things why would should we get financially invested in the work of god why should we give towards the work of the lord and quite uh frankly or practically you should give because there's a necessity for giving there are needs that need to be met the apostle paul said he sent once and again unto my necessity keep your place there in philippians chapter four that's our text for this morning go with me if you would to the book of acts acts chapter number 20. matthew mark luke john acts acts chapter 20 and if you start at the beginning of the new testament matthew mark luke john acts acts 20 there's a very practical reason why you should give to the work of god because there's a financial need to have the work of god acts 20 and verse 33 and and you know we could spiritualize it and and we will and i'll give you some spiritual reasons here in a minute but that's not the first thing that the apostle paul brought up he said i'm glad that you gave and they might ask why why are you glad we gave paul and he says well because you sent once and again unto my necessity he said i'm glad that you gave because we needed it he said i'm glad that you gave because there was a need for uh uh the funding of the work of god acts chapter 20. look at verse 33. notice what he says this is the apostle paul again he says i have coveted no man silver or gold or apparel paul says i don't the word covet means to to greatly desire or to envy or to lust after he says i have not desired any man silver or gold or apparel he says yea ye yourself know that these hands have ministered notice what paul says unto my necessities paul says you know that when i needed to the apostle paul was what you would call by vocational sometimes churches would support him financially but sometimes they didn't and when they did not support him he didn't just go home and and quit the ministry he uh would make tents he worked and and he provided for his own needs and here he says i have coveted no man's silver or gold or apparel he says yeah ye know that these hands have ministered unto my necessities and to them that were with me today verity baptist church has a pastor that is a full-time minister of the word and we've got several staff that work full-time for the church but for some of you that maybe are are newer to our church or you weren't here from the very beginning i would like to let you know or maybe just remind you that the first four four and a half years of this church uh there was no full-time staff i worked a full-time job i worked a full-time job as we as we started this church my wife and i started this church in our living room 11 years ago and i'm thankful to be able to say to some extent like the apostle paul i have coveted no man's silver or gold or apparel yeah ye know ye yourselves know that these hands have ministered unto my necessities and to them that were with me notice verse 5 he says i've showed you all things how that's so laboring ye ought to support the weak and to remember the words of our lord jesus and i want you to know again the apostle paul says i don't want your money that's what he's saying he says i have coveted no man's silver and he says you know that i've worked and i've worked a secular job in order to do the ministry you know i didn't get into the ministry for for money that's what the apostle paul is saying and that's what i would like to echo as well but then he says this he says but it's good that you've given and you say why paul notice the last part of verse 35 he said remember the words of the lord jesus how he said it is more blessed to give than to receive you say why should we give to the work of god because it's a good thing it's good to give to the work of god you're more it's more blessed to give than to receive you say why here's why because there is a need in ministry there is a need for the work of god to go forth you say what kind of need keep keep your finger just right there in acts we're going to come right back to that part of the bible but go with me to the book of malachi last book in the old testament malachi chapter three and let me just uh say this uh you say what is the necessity for giving we should give to the house of god because of the necessity for giving what is it well here's the necessity you give to pay for the ministry there are costs associated with ministry malachi chapter 3 are you there look at verse 10. it's the last book in the old testament should be fairly easy to find malachi chapter 3 verse 10. once you notice what the bible says this is one of the famous tithing passages it says bring ye all the tides into the storehouse i want you to notice that word house there into the storehouse he's talking about bringing the tithe into the storehouse and of course in the old testament this was more of an agricultural society so when they gave 10 of their increase they weren't bringing checks and cash they were literally bringing 10 percent of whatever they grew or 10 percent of whatever cattle they had and here he says bring you all the ties into the storehouse why god why do you want us to bring the tithe into the storehouse he says that there may be me in my house the word meat means food but god says look there's cost associated with having ministry that there may be meat in mine house and by the way in the new testament you have to turn there but in first timothy 3 15 we're told that the house of god which is the church of the living god in the new testament the house of god is the church of the living god and malachi 3 we're told hey bring your tithes into the storehouse that there may be me in my house god says in the house of god he says improve me now herewith saith the lord of hosts if i will not open you the windows of heaven and pour you out of blessing that there shall not be room enough to receive it see you say why should we give here's why because there's a necessity for giving you say what's the necessity uh when you give you pay to support the ministry do you know that it costs money to turn these lights on it's not like we show up here you know at six in the morning on a sunday morning and we just say lord please turn these lights on there's a company that charges us to turn the lights on there's a company that charges us to to to be able to meet in this facility there there are costs associated you say i thought we'd get a little more spiritual we'll get a little spiritual but sometimes we need to get just a little practical do you know that there are costs associated with the ministry it costs money to rent a building it costs money to turn the lights on it costs money to run the air conditioner it costs money we're going to celebrate next week our family and friend day and after family and friend day we're going to have hamburgers and hot dogs we're going to grill back here and we're going to provide a free lunch for everybody but let me tell you something that's not just going to fall out of the air it costs if somebody has to go to costco and buy those things and purchase those things we're going to give out mugs we're gonna give out suckers we give out all sorts of things we have all sorts of activities uh around here all the time we never charge for any of them you say how do you pay for it we pay for it from the giving of god's people why because when you give you supply the needs of the ministry it costs money it costs money to run a church it costs money to uh reach people with the gospel you say you know uh we go out there and preach the gospel yeah well you give out these dvds you give out these booklets you give out these uh nice invitations it costs money to print those things so paul says hey you know you should give you should give to the work of god and if you don't that's okay i've coveted no man silver or gold or apparel he says i've learned to be content but you see he says you should give why because of the necessity because you sent once and again unto my necessity because there's a cost associated with running ministry because it costs money to run the church and that's how it's paid god says bring the tithes into the storehouse that there may be meat in mine house so we give why to pay for the ministry but let me just say this as well go if you kept your place there in acts go go with me in the book of first corinthians first corinthians if you have your finger in acts ax romans first corinthians and again you know i i maybe preach a sermon like this once or twice a year and every every every time i preach them like this i always say the same thing and and i say it because i believe it you know sometimes when i was a young girl preacher i'm so young preacher right you're not agreeing when i was a younger preacher i used to be a little more hesitant about preaching i don't preach about money a lot in fact it's it's very rare that we preach about money around here at all and i would say in comparison to most preachers i mean you go to the average church and they're talking about it's a point in every sermon you know every single sermon they're talking about money and every time that they take an offering they're uh giving a little mini sermon on money and you don't we don't get that here and again if it's your first time here just just know that that is not the case of verity baptist church but you know i used to be a little more hesitant about preaching about money and people would think like you know because you you would think yourself like isn't it kind of a little self-serving you know you're on staff you work full-time for the church and you're going to teach the church to give but you know what i've realized is this that as a pastor of the church it is my job to teach the whole counsel of god and if i don't teach you what the bible expects of you then who is who's going to teach you if the pastor fails to teach you the word of god then who's going to preach to you the word of god and teach you the word of god you say why should we give you should give to pay for the ministry but let me just say this as well you should give to pay for the needs of the minister first corinthians 9 look at verse 9. first corinthians 9 and verse 9 notice what the apostle paul said he said for it is written in the law of moses this is a command that god gave in the old testament he says thou shalt not muzzle the mouth of the ox that treadeth out the corn god said if you've got an ox and you put him out in the field and he is uh treading the corn he is plowing the field he is doing work he is out there working he says while he's out there in the field working then uh you allow him if he's if he's uh uh in the field and there happens to be some corn there or something that he can eat you you allow him to eat he says the ox you allow him to eat while he's performing the work that he's doing he said he says muzzle not the mouth of the ox that treadeth out the corn the idea of muzzling the ox is that here's what god says i don't want you to put an ox out in the field and then cover his mouth so that he can't just freely eat as he's working he's saying if he's working feed the ox now notice you say well why would god say this that's what paul says verse 9 for it is written in the law of moses thou shalt not muzzle the mouth of the ox i try without the corn why did god say this is god some sort of uh animal rights advocate was god you know the founding member of peta paul says does god take care for oxen and obviously the bible teaches that we shouldn't abuse animals and those things and i'm sure that's part of it but paul says did god add this to the mosaic law only for the benefit of the animals verse 10 or saith he it all together for our sakes and here's what paul says paul says god gave us this principle not just to help the ox but just to help all of us to teach us a principle he says or did he say this to teach us all a biblical principle he says for our sakes no doubt this is written he says god gave us that principle to teach us something what did he teach here's what he taught that he that ploweth should plow in hope and he that thresher than hope should be partaker of his hope if we have sown him to use spiritual things and and here's what i want you to understand here's what he's saying if someone is working here's the principle you said what does it mean thou shalt not muzzle the mouth of the ogs that try without the corn here's what it means if someone's working you ought to pay them if someone's working you ought to provide for their needs if the alex is out there and he's bringing a a a a a a a fruit and he's producing fruit as a result of his work he's helping you bring in a harvest then let him partake of that harvest thou shalt not muzzle the mouth of the ox that treaded out the corn he says look if somebody goes out and and and starts uh a business and oftentimes and we've got i think we've got 12 or 13 business owners in our in our church and i'm happy about that and i think that's great and i think a lot of these business owners you know if you talk to them you'll realize they started out and they started a business and when they started out they put in a lot of hours and they probably still put in a lot of hours and there was a lot of risk to the work that they did a lot of personal risk i mean they're putting stuff on credit cards they're putting they're taking stuff out of their savings they're they're investing into a business you say why they're doing it in the hopes that at first there's a a risk to them but he but if they plow they should be able to plow and hope that's what he says in verse 10 he says he that ploweth should plow and hope and he that thresheth and hope should be partaker of his of this hope he says if somebody goes out and starts a business and starts working and starts a lot of risks to themselves and a lot of financial sacrifice for themselves they might do that but there there's a hope or an expectation that when they start to be successful then the business will be able to provide for their needs and what god is saying he's saying look in in the spiritual work needs to look at the payment of the ministry and of the pastor in the same way look at verse 11 he says if we paul is saying as a spiritual leader if we have sown unto you spiritual things is it a great thing if we shall reap your carnal things he says look if if the man of god is sowing spiritually he said it's not it's not a great thing that he should reap your carnal things what does that mean here's what it means if the pastor's providing for your spiritual needs the church of supply uh for uh should provide for his physical needs i don't think you should be saying that you're the pastor well then who's gonna say it look at verse 14. now in verses 12 and 13 he explained about how this is how it worked in the old testament the old testament priests lived off of the tithes that came into the house of god and then verse 14 he says even so he says in the same way in what same way in the same way that the old testament priest lived off the tides that came into the house of god he says even so that means in the same way the spiritual leadership in the new testament should live off the tithe that comes into the house of god in the new testament he says even so hath the lord ordained that they which preach the gospel should live up the gospel look the bible teaches that if the minister is providing for your spiritual needs if there's staff that is providing for the spiritual needs then it's not a great thing that their physical needs would be paid for and by the way you've heard me say this before but i'm going to say it again you don't pay the pastor to do spiritual work you know people say oh we pay the pastor to preach you don't pay the pastor to preach you don't you don't and you say what's the proof here's a proof four years of preaching sunday morning sunday night wednesday night when nobody paid me a dime i would do this for free i did it for free you say oh we pay the pastor to preach you don't pay the pastor to preach you don't pay the pastor to do counseling all week long i do counseling and i'm happy to do counseling you don't pay me to do counseling i'm not like some secular therapist and by the way there are churches where you want to counsel the pastor it's fifty dollars a session you know one hour a week fifty dollar session and sometimes i feel like i should charge maybe people think it's more serious but i don't i don't charge for counseling you know some pastors charge for weddings i'm doing four weddings this this fall i've done 15 weddings or something in in my uh ministry some pastors you know doing weddings is like a part-time job i get calls every week from people saying you know not every week but on a regular basis we get calls saying would you do this wedding would you do a wedding and i'm constantly telling people nope i only do weddings for our church people i don't charge for weddings i don't charge for funerals i don't charge for counseling i don't charge to go pray with you at the at the hospital when you're in the hospital we don't you say why because you don't pay the pastor to do spiritual work you couldn't pay the passage of spiritual work i mean when you when you come to church like this and the word of god is preached and it transforms your life and it helps your marriage and it helps you raise your children what are you going to do i'm going to pay you 20 for that that's an insult you say well what do we do if we don't pay the pastor you don't pay the pastor you provide for his physical needs if he's working if he's out there working and he's we're doing a spiritual work and he's investing in you and he's helping you then is it a great thing if he shall reap if we shall reap your carnal things look if you've been coming to verity baptist church and you've been growing and you've been learning and your life has been changing and you've been transforming and you're a better wife and you're a better husband and you're a better dad and you're a better mom and you're a better employee if you're better at life because you're doing it the way god tells you to do it if we have sown unto you spiritual things is it a great thing that we shall reap your cardinal things even so hath the lord ordained that they which preached the gospel should live of the gospel go to first timothy chapter five first timon chapter five you find the t books they're all clustered together first second thessalonians first second timothy titus first timothy chapter five you say why should we give to the work of god well because of the necessity why because there's a need to pay for the ministry and there's a need to pay for the ministers you you provide for the needs of the minister that he might be able to do the work of god and by the way that includes the staff i won't take the time to show it to you but you can go to acts chapter 7 and see how the spiritual leadership was overwhelmed with the amount of work that needed to be done not spiritual work just secular work of of of dealing with the tables and making sure that the widows were being dealt with and all those things and what they do they hired seven full-time staff people to work to do the daily administration you say why do we pay the staff to come in here and and and set up for uh family and friend day and and and and do inventory and and purchase supplies and buy the toilet paper and buy the paper towels and make sure the buildings are clean and and and and you know post the sermons why do we pay them to do all those things here's the bottom line and again maybe you want a spiritual answer but i'll just give you the real answer so that i don't have to do it you say oh that's kind of that's kind of you know arrogant well you know i spent a lot of time with you on monday night helping you with your marriage i spend a lot of time with you on tuesday night i spend a lot of time with you on wednesday night my wife spends a lot of time uh every week uh council nobody pays her nobody gives her a paycheck to be meet with ladies and talk ladies and look we'd love to do it i'm not complaining i'm just i'm i'm not complaining i'm just explaining to you that there is if you expect somebody to be there to help you with your life praise the lord but if they're helping you with your spiritual needs then you how to help them with their physical needs that's what the bible says first timothy 5 17 let the elders that rule well that's the pastors be counted worthy of double honor by the way don't get this idea like oh the pastor needs to just be living at poverty level now obviously false profits taken to an extent i mean when you're driving the you know the ferrari and you're flying in the private jets you know that's that's obviously covetousness but the bible says that the elders that roll will be counted worthy of double honor especially they who labor in the word and doctrine for the scripture saith does this unfamiliar thou shalt not muzzle the ox and tread without the corn look the ox if the ox is working feed the ox what are you saying and the laborer is worthy of his reward you say why did they hire those staff people in acts chapter 7 what was the reason here was the reason the apostle said that we might give ourselves unto prayer and the word of god that we might do the work of the ministry the work of god you say well why should we give why should we financially give to the work of god you should give because of the necessity for giving because it costs money to run a ministry because there are bills associated with running a ministry but you should also give to pay for the needs of the minister because if people are working spiritually to help you then you should provide for their physical needs go back to philippians chapter four philippians chapter four you say well why do you have to say that because paul said it why do you have to say that first you know honestly if i was writing a topical sermon that is not the first point i would have brought up you say why did you have to say that uh first because i'm preaching ex expositorily through the book of philippians and that's what paul said first he said you gave time once and again to my necessity paul said look there's a necessity in ministry and you should give to meet the needs of the ministry but then he gives a second reason not only should we give because of the necessity of the game by the way uh staff and and pastors and evangelists and people that are full-time they should tithe too they should invest in the work of god as well we should give because of the necessity the need of giving let me give you a second reason you should give because of the investment of giving notice what paul says in verse 17. he said not because i desired a gift he said i'm not saying this because i i need your money or i want your money positive i've already told you i've learned to be content he says not because i desired a gift he says this but i desired fruit that may abound to your account do you know that there's an investment in giving when you give to a soul-winning bible-believing church you are investing in the work and in the fruit of that church he says he says i don't desire a gift but i do desire fruit that may abound to your account go to matthew chapter six first book in the new testament should be fairly easy to find matthew chapter six see you say uh pastor you know you flew out to ohio this week brother oliver and i fell out to ohio he preached on friday morning i preached on friday night and we were able to minister to some people and help some people and after the service talked to people he said wow that sermon really helped in this area in that area and and hopefully we invested a little bit uh to help that church grow and some of those people to grow and you say oh you're going to get rewards for that in heaven but here's what paul says paul said and by the way we went out salt winning i had somebody saved out there in ohio and uh brother all right uh somebody says out there you say oh you went out there so you're gonna get rewarded for that uh uh in heaven but here's the truth though you will get rewarded for that as well you say pastor you get up and you preach these sermons and they go on youtube and sometimes they get a thousand views or 5 000 views or 20 000 views and they're helping people and and you're going to get rewarded for that in heaven but when you when the church provides for the needs of the staff to be able to minister in that way paul says i don't desire a gift i desire fruit that may abound to your account you get to partake in that you get to partake and invest the fact that 11 years ago there was no church in this area that was preaching the gospel that was outsold winning now 11 years later we've got a hundred i think yesterday we had and we were out of town and my wife's not feeling well and i think our church had 94 soul winners that went up and knocked doors and preached the gospel and the fact that you financially invest into a church that has motivated and mobilized an army of soul winners to go up and preach the gospel you know what you get rewarded for the work you did but you also are invested in heaven you get fruit that may abound to your account when you give it is a it is a investment in spiritual things matthew chapter 6 look at verse 19. matthew 6 19 the bible says lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth where moth and rust doth corrupt and where thieves break through and steal and i'm not against them the bible's not against you having nice things i want you to have nice things i hope that your soul will will be in health and prosper like john the apostle said and and i don't think there's anything in the world with you uh you know running businesses and investing and doing those things but here's what he's saying he's saying hey don't make that your life's focus lay not up for yourselves choices upon the earth don't make that your focus in life you say why because that is temporal it's going to be destroyed where moth and rust does corrupt and where thieves break through and steal he says but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven we're neither mock nor rust doth corrupt and where thieves do not break through nor steal see paul said when you invested into the work of god he says not because i desire to give but i desired fruit that may abound to your account our church supports uh brother stucky out in the philippines full time started two churches start kind of in the process of laying the foundation maybe for for a third one and we've got a group as he's putting together and and trying to help and organizing them for assault winning and uh things like that and you say oh that's brother stuck all the way in the philippines but when this church supported him financially we sent him out and we continue to support him financially you know what we get rewarded for that in heaven that's fruit that may abound to your account to my account in heaven why because that's not only a necessity for giving there's also an investment in giving we are laying up treasures in heaven go back to first timothy i meant to tell you to keep your place there i'm not sure if i did or not but go back to first timothy we were just there first timothy chapter six keep your place there because we're gonna leave it and we're gonna come back to it first timothy chapter six there's a story of a pastor that lived in the late 1800s and mid lived up to the mid 1900s by the name of george truitt and he had a ministry in dallas texas and out in dallas texas at that time and i'm sure even now there was a lot of rich ranchers a lot of rich ranchers that went to his uh baptist church that he pastored and there's a story about pastor george truitt that he was out having dinner one one day with one of the rich ranchers from his church and ranchers took him out to the balcony of of of his house and he said he said look in that direction and he looked in that direction he said as far as your eye can see in that direction i own all that and he said look in that direction as far as you can see in that direction i uh i own all everything in that direction he said i own everything in that direction he said i own everything in that direction he said as far as your eye can see behind the house i own everything in that direction he said i own everything as far as you can see in all these directions and the story says that george stewart said but how much do you own in that direction lay not up for yourselves treasures upon the earth lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven first timothy 6 and verse 17 says charge them that are rich in this world by the way that's you if you're an american in 2021 you're rich in this world that they be not high-minded nor trust in uncertain riches but in the living god who giveth us richly all things to enjoy you know it'll change if you're sitting here this morning i don't like the sermon i don't like sermons on giving it'll change your view on giving when you realize that it is the living god who giveth us richly all things to enjoy everything you have god gave you it is god that gives us the power to get wealth verse 18 that they do good that they be rich in good works notice what paul tells timothy to tell those that are rich in this world he said that they do good that they be rich in good works notice ready to distribute the word distribute means to deal out or or give out and this is not some sort of a you know liberal democratic socialist where they're going to steal it from you and distribute it but we as god's people when god blesses us because it is god that giveth us richly all things to enjoy we should be ready to distribute willing to communicate the word communicate there is the same idea as the word to commune meaning to share our wealth and our possessions you say why would i do that verse 19 laying up in store for themselves the word in store means saving or putting away a good foundation against the time to come you know you you can't take anything with you from this world to the next but you can send it ahead you can lay out for yourselves treasures in heaven you can lay up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come that they may lay hold on eternal life you can invest in that which is eternal you can invest in that which is spiritual you can invest in that which will last forever there was a missionary by the name of jim elliot who was martyred he said this he a famous quote of his is this he says he is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose you say why should i give you know you should give because of the necessity of giving just quite frankly quite practically because it costs money to run a church you should give because of the necessity of the ministry and you should pay for the needs of the minister but you should also give because of the investment because when you invest yourself in the work of god and you you lay uh you you abound the bible says paul says that there is fruit that they that may abound to your account in heaven god is keeping track of everything that was done in your body the work that was done in your body and he's going to reward you for that in the in the millennial reign and part of that is going to be what you did physically by going soul winning and preaching the gospel but part of that also has to do with you supporting the work of god and getting dividends based off spiritual investment in the things of god the truth is this when you give when you give to the work of god on earth you get credit in heaven and the work of god is furthered on earth when you support the church financially the work of god is is is is is moved forward here on earth but you're the one that gets credit in heaven paul says not because i desire a gift but i desire fruit that may abound to your account keep your place there in first timothy go back to philippians 4. so why should we give well you should give because of the necessity of giving why should we give you should give because of the investment of giving number three this morning why we should we give we should give because of the sacrifice of giving see paul says that giving is a sacrifice that is acceptable and well pleasing to god notice verse 18. he says but i have all and abound i am full having received of the fact varieties the things which were sent from you he says i reason right now i'm full he said i'm not in need he said because i've received the gift that you sent through a paper diet remember prophet died as we learned about the papriditis that he almost died on the way to see paul remember paul had to send him back but if preparedness came because he brought the special offering to the apostle paul he says but i have all and abound i am full having received of aphroditus the things which were sent from you he says an odor of a sweet smell a sacrifice acceptable well pleasing to god see when you give to support the work of god that that gift is a sacrifice that is acceptable and well pleasing to god it's a sacrifice that you give to god you say i'm giving this to the church no no you're giving it to god through his church go back go go to second corinthians chapter eight i think you kept your place in first corinthians if you kept your blades in first corinthians go to second corinthians you can keep your place in second korean things because we're gonna leave it we're gonna come back to it and you should also be in first timothy i think second corinthians chapter number eight by the way let me just say this god does everything on earth through his local new testament church you say i want to serve god you serve god through his church i want to be faithful to god you're faithful to god through his church i want to give to god you give to god through his local new testament church we give you see paul says you gave paul says you gave to my necessity he said i'm about i about i'm full he said thank you for the gift that you brought from epaphroditus but he said i want you to know that it was a sacrifice well and acceptable to you paul no he says to god you gave to god now i want to point out the fact that it was a sacrifice and by the way let me just say this giving is a sacrifice when you start when you give you are sacrificed in 2nd corinthians chapter 8 look at verse 1. moreover brethren we do you to wit the word wit means to become aware of the grace of god bestowed upon the churches of macedonia how that in a great trial of affliction by the way the churches of macedonia macedonia is a location where the city of philippi is located in we're literally talking about the church of philippi he says how that in a great trial of affliction these people were struggling financially the abundance of their joy don't miss that that's what we've been talking about joy cheerfulness and their deep poverty these people were very poor but it abounded unto the riches of their liberality though they were poor they were generous notice for to their power that means to their ability to their strength i bear record yea and beyond their power they were willing of themselves praying us with much entreaty that we should receive the gift that's a reference to the offering and take upon us the fellowship of the minister ministering to the saints see it is true that when you give it is a sacrifice you are sacrificing something by the way do you know that god is a god that desires sacrifices i mean have you ever read the old testament all over the old testament he said i want you to sacrifice this sacrifice sacrifice that you say yeah we don't live in the old testament so we don't have to sacrifice oxen and cattle right we live in the new testament so therefore god wants you to sacrifice something else he says he says i beseech you therefore brethren by the mercies of god that you present your bodies a living sacrifice he said i don't i don't want your ox and he said i want you i want all of you and by the way that includes your finances when you give to the work of god you're not giving to the church you're giving to god into sacrifice there's a sacrifice that is well pleasing to god you don't have to turn there you can say right there in second corinthians where i'm going to show you something here in verse five but in first corinthians 29 3 we have uh excuse me first chronicles 29 3 we have david who is sacrificing and giving for the work of god in the old testament here's what he said he said moreover because i've set my affections to the house of my god i have of my own proper good of gold and silver which i've given to the house of my god over and above all that i prepared for the holy house see here's the point giving is a sacrifice that is well pleasing to god you say why why is it well pleasing to god to god here's why why should you give why should you give we should give because of the need we should give because of the investment but we should give because of the sacrifice you say why would i want to sacrifice because when you sacrifice to god you give an acceptable and well-pleasing sacrifice to the lord you say what does that do it proves your love for god you ever heard this phrase put your money where your mouth is i love god i love god i love jesus okay well your checkbook should show that your bank account should show that you know the bible says where your treasure is they were your heartbeat also you can tell me all day long you love god you love god you love god but you know what when you choose to prioritize the work of god to give to god first to give proportionally a percentage to the lord when you choose to put god first hey god says now you've proven that you love me you say show that to me in the bible you're there in first corinthians eight look at verse five remember we saw in verses one through four that it was a sacrifice that they were willing beyond their power they were willing of themselves and to their power in deep poverty out of their liberality why is that important why is the sacrifice important here's why verse 5 and this they did not as we hope but first notice first gave of their own selves to the lord before they gave financially to the lord they gave themselves to the lord here's the truth you can give without loving but you cannot love without giving in fact love is always love is always represented in in in a gift that's one of the most famous verse in the bible john 3 16 says for god so loved the world not for god so loved the world period just you know take my word for it no for god so loved the world that he gave see when we give it is the proof when we sacrifice it is the proof of our love and this they did not as we hope but first gave of their own selves to the lord and unto us by the will of god in so much that we desired titus that as he had begun so he would also finish in you the same grace also therefore as he abound in everything and faith and utterance and knowledge and in all diligence and in your love to us see that you abound in this grace also don't miss that he said i want you to abound in everything in faith and utterance and knowledge and in diligence he said i want you to abound in faith that's your your your walk with god utterance that's your soul winning knowledge that's your discipleship diligence that's your service he said i want you to serve in the house of god i want you to go soul winning with the house of god i want you to be faithful to the house of god but he said see that ye abound in this grace also he said don't do all those things and then not give look at verse 8 i speak not by commandment but by occasion of the forwardness of others and to don't miss it prove the sincerity of your love so why should you give because it's the way that god said you prove that you love him it is a sacrifice that is acceptable and well pleasing to god why because it proves your love for god you say i'm just going to keep all the money for myself then that just proves who you love invests all my money in and at the bar well that just shows us who you love you're where you invest your money tells us what you love so make sure that god is the priority make sure that god gets his proportion make sure that god gets his percentage let me give you a fourth one this morning go back to philippians chapter 4. philippians chapter 4. paul's given us reasons why we should give and again you say pastor are you preaching the sermon because the church is in trouble financially no i'm preaching this certainly because we're in philippians you don't like it take it up with paul we spent 15 sermons going verse by verse through philippians and we're going to finish up the chapter the book right now why should you give because of the necessity of giving why should you give because of the investment of giving why should you give because of the sacrifice of giving see there's financial need for the ministry and the ministers of the of of the house of god and there's an investment you invest into the gospel and you invest eternally and you get credit in heaven and there's fruit that may bound to your account and it proves it's a sacrifice that proves your love but there's a fourth reason and paul left this one at the end i see i would have put this at first paul put it at the end and paul smarter than i am i know because this is kind of a selfish reason paul says let me let me uh uh try to convince you through logic why should we give paul because it costs money to run a church and paul says okay that didn't work you're too hard-headed for that you don't care he said well let me let me uh try to uh uh try to convince you spiritually because there's an investment it's a spiritual investment fruit that may abound to your account but then it's almost like paul says oh you guys some of you are carnal you don't care about that either then he says let me let me try to appeal to you through emotion it's because it's a sacrifice so a sacrifice that is acceptable and what please unto god it proves your love for god and paul says oh some of you are too callous that's not something that resonates with you someone says so then paul says okay well let me resonate to your flesh you know what you should give to the house of god because there's a promise of giving look at verse 19. philippians 4 19 but the word but connects the thoughts in verse 18 to the verse to the thought in verse 19. if you remember the thought in verse 18 was that giving is a sacrifice so paul says i realize that giving is a sacrifice but he says i realize that giving is a sacrifice he says but the idea is that even though giving is a sacrifice there's a but here he says but my god shall supply all your needs according to his riches and glory by christ jesus see there's a promise associated to giving you know that god promises to meet the needs of givers this is a verse that christians like to quote my god shall supply all your needs according to his riches and glory but wait a minute wait a minute god did not make that blanket promise to every believer there are some promises that god made to every believer i will never leave thee no for safety that's a promise that he made to every believer but this promise is not a promise he made to every believer this is a promise that he made to believers who support his work who financially give to support the ministry paul says fine if you won't do it because you love god if you don't do it because you love souls if you won't do it because you're just logical and it's needed maybe you'll do it because god has promised that he shall supply all your needs according to his riches and glory see god promises to meet the needs of givers go to matthew go back to matthew chapter 6. matthew chapter 6. we saw these verses already uh i'm going to look look at verses a little bit after the verses we saw verse 19 and 20 but i want to read verses 19 and 20 just to give you the context remember we saw this matthew 6 19 laid out for yourselves treasures upon the earth where moth and rust doth corrupt where thieves uh break through and steal but lay up for yourself treasures in heaven we're neither moth nor rust doth corrupt and where thieves do not break through nor steal that's the context of verse 31 therefore take no thought saying what shall we eat or what shall we drink or where with all shall we be clothed notice therefore is a connecting word therefore means for that reason for what reason again verses 31 32 33 are not just talking to every believer he's saying when you lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven he says therefore take no thought saying what shall we eat or what shall we drink or where with all shall we be clothed for after all these things to the gentiles seek god says i know you know i know you need these things i know you need to eat i know you need to drink i know you need clothes for your heavenly father know it that ye have need of all these things he says but seek ye first the kingdom of god and his righteousness and all these things all what things all the things that i have need that i know that ye have need of all these things the clothing the drinking the eating and all these things shall be added unto you you know that god makes a promise he promises that when you give when you give to the work of god he promises to meet the needs of the giver i won't have you go back there but in malachi he says prove me he says prove me if i will not open you up the windows of heaven and pour you out of a blessing god says i promise to meet your needs if you put me first seek ye first the kingdom of god you can't do that without doing it financially see god promises to meet the needs of the givers but let me just say this it gets better go to luke if you would matthew mark luke god promises to meet the needs of givers and god also promises to surpass the generosity of givers you've you've seen these verses i've shown them to you in the past but let's just look at it you know that you can't out-give god god promises to surpass whatever generosity you give luke 6 38 give and it shall be given unto you luke 6 38 here's what god says give and it shall be given unto you good measure pressed down and shaken together and running over shall man give into your bosom for with the same measure that ye meet god says the same measuring cup that you take to give to me with the same measure that you meet with all it shall be measured to you again god says you can't out give me i will surpass your generosity i will get i'll always think it's funny people say oh i don't think that there's any tithing in the in the new testament okay well i disagree with that i don't think you've read and stated the bible but let me just say this if you don't think there's any tithing in the new testament great give 20 give thirty percent why is it always that everybody wants to tell you that there's no tithing in these testimonies because they want to give less than ten percent yeah right if there's no tithing new testament hey last time i checked everything got harder in the new testament you heard that it had been said you know that should not come in adultery i say unto you look on a woman to lust after her he says he says don't even hate your brother in your heart he says look we're supposed to do more in the new testament so if you don't want a tithe okay don't tithe give more because god says give and it shall be given unto you good measure pressed out shaken together running over shall men give into your bosom for with the same measure that you meet with it shall it be measured to you again god says i'll surpass your generosity now please hear me out hear this go to second corinthians if you would i'm not a prosperity preacher telling you up here you give you know a thousand you saw a thousand dollars in our ministry you're gonna get 10 000 back that's a lie but you know that god doesn't care about money the bible says that he owns the counter a thousand hills he owns a car on a thousand hills he owns the gold in every mine he uses gold to pave the roads in heaven that's how much he cares about money but god knows you and i care about money because we're gentiles in our flesh we're saved people but even in our flesh we we worry about money because we have need of certain things because we need to eat and drink and be clothed and god says i don't care about money but i i can control some things i can give some things that money can't give i mean here's here's what i am telling you when you give god promises to surpass your generosity now he may surpass that financially and bless you financially god does that all throughout the bible we see where god bless people financially i think that those are very unique people that god blesses financially because to bless you financially he has to be able to trust you financially sometimes people get money and as soon as they get money when they were broke when they didn't have a car when they were poor they were like oh about jesus as soon as they get some little job he's like i can't go i can't go to church i got to work make it a dollar above minimum wage you're going to quit on god for that you sell out didn't cost much to sell you out they gave you a quarter above minimum wage and you quit church got god says hey you put me first financially and maybe i can bless your marriage maybe i can bless your children maybe i can bless your testimony maybe i can bless your legacy see there's some things that money can't buy i'd rather prove my love to god and say god it's not much you can have it and god says with the same measure that ye meet with all it shall be measured to you again ii corinthians 9 verse 6 but this i say he which soul sparingly shall reap also sparingly look i'm just showing you this verse i just think it's funny people don't like it when you talk about the money in bible but the bible talks a lot about money god says if you're cheap with me i'll be cheap with you that's what he says but as i say he has so sparingly so reap also spiritually and he that soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully you're bountiful you're generous with my house i'll be generous with you every man according as a purpose within his heart so let him give not grudgingly or of necessity for god love of the cheerful giver look he says i don't want you to do with a bad attitude you don't have to turn here proverbs 11 verses 24 25 says there is he that scattereth and yet increases and there is that withholdeth more than his meat but tender to poverty you know what i've learned i've learned an amazing thought to me i sometimes i watch uh uh christians and even in our own ministry here and in other ministries that i know of and i watch people who are just generous with their finances they just give they give and they give and they give and it just seems like god just keeps blessing them like as much as they give god just continues to bless them and give them back but yet that's what the bible says there is he there is that scattereth distributed gives away and yet increases and there is that it doesn't want to be generous doesn't want to give more than is meat to some extent we all have to withhold but we shouldn't do more than is suitable or proper but it tends to poverty god says when you when you're like this god says you end up being poor and yet you watch people that they just scatter they're generous with their time with the treasure with their talent and god seems to just bless them the liberal soul shall be made fat and he that watereth shall be watered also himself why because god promises to surpass the generosity of givers go back to philippians chapter four we'll finish this up and we're finishing up the book by the way and we're finishing up the series by the way so why should we give four reasons let me appeal to your logic there's a need there's a financial need to give the the the we give to support the ministry and we give to provide for the needs of the ministers let me appeal to your spiritual side because there's a spiritual investment because there's fruit that may abound to your account because when you give to the work of god on earth the work of god continues on earth and you get the credit in heaven because there's a sacrifice to giving let me appeal to your emotional side because our sacrifice is a acceptable and well-pleasing gift unto the lord that proves our love for god but when all else fails let me just tell you what paul said you should give because there's a promise to given because god promises to meet the needs of all givers and in fact not only does he promise to meet the needs he promises to surpass your generosity because my god shall supply all your needs according to his riches and glory so here's the question i have for you don't please don't answer this out loud some of you're like oh praise the lord do you give to the work of god do you have a plan to systematically regularly prioritize a percentage a proportion of your income to god to the work of god to support the ministry if you don't you should if you don't you should god says i will supply your needs i will surpass your generosity i will make sure you're taken care of and i will meet and bless you in ways that you couldn't even imagine then the apostle paul ends the book in verse 20 through 23 he says now unto god and our father be glory forever and ever amen salute every saint in christ jesus the brethren which are with me greet you all the saints salute you chiefly they that are of caesar's household by the way the church at philippi had given to the ministry of paul paul was in prison but yet while in prison he had gotten caesar's household saved and that was fruit that may abound to their account then he ends and says the grace of our lord jesus christ be with you all amen let's buy our heads in our word of prayer heavenly father thank you lord for the book of philippians thank you for this great book these four chapters with so much truth in them lord i pray you to help us to apply all the things that we've learned in this book but lord i pray that you would help us supply specifically what we've learned today about giving help is to get invested because there's a physical need there's spiritual investment there's an emotional proof and there's a promise lord help us to give to give not grudgingly to give cheerfully in the matchless name of christ we pray amen

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Published: Sun Sep 05 2021