Sermon Tone Analysis

Gods Supply Line.doc

SD20

October 28, 2007                                                                                             File E

The Joyful Christian part 11

The Promise of God’s Supply

Philippians 4:14-19 (read later)

 

Joy in giving!

Christmas will soon be upon us—some look at it as an opportunity to renew relationships with family and friends…give gifts to cherished people—Others see it as an opportunity to get whatever they can—hoping that they will get the item on their wish list…

 

Jesus said, “it is more blessed to give than to receive…”

      Was He just pulling our leg or is there a central truth that we are missing in our culture...where the most important thing is the big “I”

 

There is a verse here in Philippians that brings us up short…

      we glory in the words and claim them as our own…a promise from God…But then we come up against life’s difficulties…financial worries and relationship shortages…and we doubt…if God promised to supply all my needs…how come all my needs are not met???

      How come I suffer financial set-backs

 

God's promise to meet your needs is v. 19 "And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus."

God says, "I will meet all your needs."

Then why do people have needs?

A lot of Christians have tremendous needs.

Why aren't they being met?

Is God a liar?

Is His promise not valid?

The answer to the question is that this promise is not for everybody.

It is not applied to every person, even every Christian.

With every promise there is a premise.

There is a condition that

God says, "If you do this, I will do that."

People want to take the v. 19 promise and apply it to their lives while avoiding the premise of v. 14-18.

You cannot claim v. 19 unless you're doing what v. 18 talks about.

The context is Paul is talking to a group of Philippians saying "Thank you.

You have given sacrificially.

And because you have given sacrificially, God is going to take care of your needs."

This is Paul’s Thank you note as he ends this great letter…on Christian Joy---and the most joyful people in the world are Christians who have learned the joy of giving…

      The Philippians were an example…

(Lest you think I am trying to get bigger offerings I was sure to take the offering before this message)

 

*The Premise found in vv.14-18 is this: I must be generous to others.*

Proverbs 11:25 "A generous man will prosper; he who refreshes others will himself be refreshed."

When you're generous to others, God is going to be generous with you.

Luke 6:38 "Give to others, and God will give to you...The measure you use for others is the one God will use for you."

You be generous and God will bless you.

It is the principle of looking out instead of looking in---it is seeing what you can do rather than what can be done for you

It is the principle of lifting others…being a generous soul…

 

Ella Wilcox (poem)

/“There are two kinds of people on earth today,/

/Just two kinds of people, no more, I say./

/Not the good and the bad, for tis well understood/

/That the good are half-bad and the bad half-good/

/No! the two kinds of people on earth I mean/

/Are the people who lift and the people who lean”/

 

If you expect God to meet your needs you need to be responsive to Him in using you to meet the needs of other people!

God wants to use you!

The Philippians had been generous with their giving to help Paul in his mission…and both the giver and receiver were benefited…

 

Paul Gives three reasons for being generous:

 

*1.

My Giving Encourages Others  vv14-16 (read it)*

 

When you give:  (reslts of giving)

1.

You broaden your scope of influence

Philippians 1 tells us that they had become “partners with Paul in the ministry”  Whatever you give to  without motive or return you become a partner with…

Giving allows me to broaden the influence of my life beyond myself…and extend it through the ministry of others…

 

2.

Giving makes us like Christ—he is the greatest giver in the universe—God so loved that He gave…Christ gave sacrificially!

The Philippians had a reputation for generosity.

*2 Cor.

8*, Paul calls them an example for the rest of the world.

They gave out of their extreme poverty.

They gave more than they could give.

The church had such a reputation for giving that 2000 years later we still know about them.

God loves to bless those kind of people!!!

This was a church tat overflowed with a joyful heart…I just bet their gatherings had a lot of laughter in them…because God loves a cheerful giver…

 

*2.

My Giving is an Investment in the Future  v.17*

“It brings forth fruit that abounds to your account…”

 

Jesus told us to store up treasure in heaven…

      You know how yo do that?

By not hording it on erath…

            Because what you get here you lose there and what you lose here you get there!

What you give you get and what you grasp to yourself you lose!

What shall it profit a man if he gain the whole world and lose his own soul?

When you give you invest in the future of your life and the life of everyone you influence:  your children and your grandchildren and the people who God has placed in your life!!!

 

Invest your time and money in the lives of people---people who are going to heave and invest in getting people to heaven…

      They will be waiting for you…use your money and influence to get the message out to many people…the economy of the Kingdom of God is not measured in balance statements…it is measured in souls…

      The measure of your gift to the Lord—financial or otherwise cannot be measured by the scales of earth…there is an account in heaven and it has your name on it and you are investing in your future by how you live life today…

      Do you live life generously—or stingy!

Tightfisted!!!

            Hold loosely to this life!!!

He who would gain his life must lose it and the one who loses it for His sake will gain it and all of heaven too!

      Do you believe in heaven???

You would never know it by the way we hold so tightly to the things of this earth

 

*3.

My Giving is a Sacrifice to God  v.18*

"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 most pleasing thing you can do for God is sacrificial giving.

It is done in faith and without faith it is impossible to please God.

Jesus Christ was a total sacrificial giver.

When you are most like Christ, you are sacrificial in your giving, generous, sharing.

And it pleases God.

Paul says the gift the Philippians sent to him is a fragrant offering and acceptable sacrifice to God.

The gift they sent to Paul is equivalent to a gift to God.

How could he say that?

Because Jesus said it.

"In as much as you have done unto the least of these, my brethren, you have done it unto Me."

It's just like doing it to God.

Every act of generosity in your life can be done as a sacrifice to God.

/(IMarriage—illus, so grateful to God and he says show yoru gratitude by giveni it all to your spouse)/

 

That's why Paul said it's so important to become a giver.