Lessons on Giving

Lessons on Giving

Philippians 4:10-23

Paul ends the letter with a big “thank you” to the Philippians. They were not a perfect church. They had their issues. But they were a giving church. Paul experienced their personally and it meant a lot to him. This morning as we finish the book of Philippians were going to consider some lessons on giving that we can glean from this church.

1. The gifts we give cannot satisfy the human heart (11-13).

A. Paul makes it clear that he is content without their gifts.

In verse 11 he says he is not in need.

He doesn’t mean he is not lacking in some physical areas. He was in jail. Obviously he lacked some things.

Paul had learned to be content in whatever situation he found himself in. He shares six different states he had been in throughout his life:

Brought low

Made to abound

Plenty

Hunger

Abundance

Need

There were times when he had more than he needed and there were times he didn’t even have enough food to eat.

He’s telling the Philippians that he would be content with or without their gifts because he had learned to be content in Christ.

He was not always content. Through his life experiences as a disciple, he learned how to be content. 2 Corinthians 12:7-8 describes a point in Paul’s life when he was not content. He sought the Lord on three different occasions. He wanted the Lord to remove something from his life so he could be content. The Lord spoke to him saying “My grace is sufficient for thee.” As a result of hearing from God Paul was able to say in 2 Cor. 12:9-10, “I glory in my infirmities” and “I take pleasure in my infirmities.” Paul learned this virtue.

Paul learned the godly way to react when prosperity or poverty came his way. When prosperity came he did not get self-centered. He did not allow his comfort to keep him from being and doing what God expected. When days of poverty came he did not spend his time complaining or blaming God for it.

It should be mentioned that Paul experienced to a greater degree both realities more than most of us ever will. He went from being praised to being persecuted most of his adult life. He was honored by the church on one day and incarcerated by the government on the next. He was loved, he was hated. He was rich, he was poor. His life was consistently inconsistent. Yet he learned to be content with what each day brought forth.

B. It should never be our goal to buy someone’s happiness.

Only God can truly satisfy a person. Each of us have to learn satisfaction in the Lord Jesus. Verse 13 is not about accomplishing great things for Jesus. It means we can be content in Christ no matter what circumstance we find ourselves in.

This true for:

Our husband/wife

Children

Friends

It is a tendency for us to try and fix people by meeting every physical need they have. We don’t want people to be unhappy, so we give, give, give. We’re fighting a losing battle.

Christ is all anyone needs to be content.

The truth is Christ is all we have.

If you’re trying to buy someone’s happiness, you’ll go broke. What you buy will:

Get eaten

Break

Get sold

Go out of style

When we give, we should keep in mind the purpose of our giving is not to satisfy the human heart. Only Christ can do that.

2. Giving can be a great way to encourage people (10).

A. Paul rejoiced in the Lord because of the Philippians giving.

There are heartbroken people who are content in Christ.

You can be content and broken hearted.

You can have joy and still be hurting.

You can be crying and at the same time satisfied.

The Christina life is not a continual mountain top experience. There are valleys. People need encouragement. Sometimes encouragement comes through a gift.

What a blessing to be used by God to cause someone to rejoice in the Lord!

That is the goal of giving. The goal is not to get folks to praise us. Paul was thankful for the Philippians, but he rejoiced in the Lord!

If we are a giver people should know that we are only givers because of God. They need to know without Him we would be:

Greedy

Grumpy

Selfish

When the Christian gives a gift the goal should be to p[point people to the ultimate giver, God.

B. The Philippians gave when they were able.

They had helped Paul early in his ministry. But there was a time when they did not give. Paul says in verse 10 that after a length of time they revived their gift.

The word “revived” means “to flourish again”. It describes a plant that after some time of being dormant has bloomed again. Why did the Philippians stop giving?

Maybe they didn’t have the means

Maybe Paul was too far away

Maybe they weren’t aware of any needs Paul had

We don’t know why. All we know is they had been giving, they stopped for a while and now they were giving again. Their love for Paul had remained but their giving had been paused.

Let’s think for a moment about our personal giving.

God will at times give us the means to give. We should give when have the resources to do so.

God will at times give us the opportunity to give. We should give when we the Lord opens the door.

God will at times give us the desire to give. We should be sensitive to the Holy Spirit.

Illustration: I had an old book by DL Moody. I loved it. It was a hardback book from the 1800’s. There was a man who saw it and wanted to buy it from me. His father was a preacher, and his favorite preacher was DL Moody. I didn’t want to sell it. I loved that book.

After I told the guy no, I got convicted. What would the book do in my office? It would just sit there. What would it do for this man?

He would get the joy of giving a unique gift to his father.

His father would add a classic book to his collection.

I gave him the book. He was extremely happy.

There will be times when we cannot give. Why not give while we can see the encouragement our gift brings?

3. Giving displays the kindness of the Lord (14-16).

A. The Philippians reached out to Paul in a time of trouble.

Ten years earlier Paul had first preached in Philippi and traveled throughout Macedonia preaching the gospel. He preached in Thessalonica and worked a job there to make ends meet. Those were difficult days, but the Philippians helped ease the burden by helping Paul financially.

Paul knew this. He kept up with who gave and what they gave. He had not forgotten about their faithfulness. There was a time when they were the only church giving financially to the ministry of Paul.

What they had done recently proved that they truly loved Paul. They sent a messenger from the church across the Sea to Rome. They sent money and supplies with him to give to Paul. That was a 600 mile trip!

Paul was on house arrest and he was required to pay his own rent. What would have happened if he could not pay the rent? He would have probably been thrown in a Roman prison.

It would be easy to forget about a preacher 600 miles away in jail. They didn’t. They showed kindness to Paul. Their kindness was the fruit of the Holy Spirit.

B. We should respond to others with kindness because we have experienced the kindness of the Lord.

I think about all the saved folk in Philippi. The Bible lists several people who were saved there. I think particularly about Lydia.

Lydia was a businesswoman who owned a large house. It appears she was a wealthy and an influential woman. By God’s grace Paul preached and she was saved. She was a member at the church in Philippi. I don’t think she would have forgotten about Paul. God used Paul in a mighty way in her life. She probably was one of the reasons the church had not forgotten about him.

We have received wonderful gifts from people who have very little. Paul was a poor man. He didn’t have a lot of worldly things to give people. He had a calling from God. He gave himself to the Lord. He gave himself to the church. The Philippians didn’t forget that.

Who are some people who may have given of themselves to us in a spiritual way?

Mother

Grandfather

Friend

Pastor Deacon

Lydia was worth more on paper than Paul. But Paul had given her something she could not buy. He gave her the gospel. Don’t forget about the people who have invested spiritually in your life!

4. Giving shows maturity in the Lord (17-20).

A. Paul sought the blessing of the Philippians (17).

He said “not that I seek the gift”. As much as the gift blessed Paul he was interested more in the benefit it gave the church. Notice he says, “I seek the fruit that increases to your credit.” That means the gift they gave was an investment they would receive a return on. They would be blessed for anything accomplished through the work of Paul. They supported him. When people were saved through Paul’s ministry, they had a part in it.

Some of us need to learn to allow people to bless us. Don’t let pride keep you from accepting gifts.

When they ask what you want for Christmas make a list!

When your kids want to buy lunch, let them.

For some it’s harder to receive than it is to give. I remember a phrase people used to use when I was first saved. They would say “Don’t rob me of my blessing.” They’d be trying to do something for you, and you wouldn’t let them. They’d say, “Don’t rob me of my blessing.”

The truth is sometimes we’re like Peter when he wouldn’t let Jesus wash his feet. It may feel awkward to let someone bless you. Allow it because God will bless them for it.

As we grow in the Lord He will transform us into givers. Being a giving person is proof we are maturing. It should be expected of every Christian. If we are already a giver we should not discourage others from it. It’s the natural order of the Christian life.

B. Giving is an act of worship (18).

Paul describes their gift as:

A fragrant offering- in the OT when an offering was accepted by God was said to be “sweet smelling” (Lev. 1:9)

A sacrifice- What are the sacrifices of the New Covenant? Hebrews 13:16 says “Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God.”

Pleasing to God- accepted by God.

In the OT the animals sacrificed represented the livelihood of the people. We live in a different day and culture. In our day the best representation of our livelihood is money. That’s why we give money to the Lord. When we give of our finances to the Lord with a pure heart it is an act of sacrificial worship that pleases Him.

Mature Christians recognize this.

No one has to beg them to give.

No one has to promise them recognition to give.

They give because they are mature in the Lord.

C. Mature Christians know what they receive from the Lord is far greater than what they give to Him (19).

Notice Paul didn’t say “I’ll pay you back.”

He said, “God will pay you back.”

He told them two things:

1) God would supply all their needs. In the same way God had provided all of Paul’s needs He would provide for the Philippian church.

The interesting thing is God was supplying all of our needs before we gave Him anything.

When we were lost, He was supplying our needs.

When we were doing nothing for Him at all He was supplying all of our needs.

There is not a person in here whose needs are not supplied this morning.

2) He will supply those needs according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.

That means the blessing of God upon His people is consistent with the immeasurable wealth of God.

Our gifts reveal our level of wealth. God’s wealth is immeasurable therefore His gifts are incredible. We’ll never be able to give God so much that He can no longer afford to bless us for it.

We can’t outgive God.

This excites Paul. He breaks out into worship in verse 20. He says “To our God and Father be glory forever and ever. Amen!”

We give God eternal praise because He is worthy!

We can’t give Him too much praise!

We can’t give Him too much anything!

Because God give us:

Eternal life

Eternal health

An eternal home

Eternal Joy

Eternal fellowship

Eternal rewards

The greatest investment we can make is in the kingdom of God. We will get a return on it.

But more than anything we must give ourselves to the Lord.

We must bow our knee to Christ.

We must be saved.

Have you given yourself to the Lord through:

Repentance of sin

Faith in the finished work of Christ

Calling on His name for salvation