The Biblical Riches of Giving for Gospel Ministry Pt 2
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This morning I want to preach a timely and I think providential message on the subject of giving. I don’t go out of my way to preach about giving. In fact I normally only talk about it as I am naturally preaching expository through a book. This year God worked so that we could address this subject right as I am also encouraging everyone to give to our grace giving fund for 2022. So I pray that God would use this text to stir each one of us up to love and good works in the area of giving.
Followers of Christ ought to love to give towards gospel ministry.
What are the Biblical reasons for giving towards missions?
I. Giving for gospel ministry produces a loving concern for others.
I. Giving for gospel ministry produces a loving concern for others.
10 I rejoiced in the Lord greatly that now at length you have revived your concern for me. You were indeed concerned for me, but you had no opportunity.
II. Giving for gospel ministry creates a spiritual partnership with others.
II. Giving for gospel ministry creates a spiritual partnership with others.
14 Yet it was kind of you to share my trouble.
15 And you Philippians yourselves know that in the beginning of the gospel, when I left Macedonia, no church entered into partnership with me in giving and receiving, except you only. 16 Even in Thessalonica you sent me help for my needs once and again.
III. Giving for gospel ministry increases eternal reward.
III. Giving for gospel ministry increases eternal reward.
17 Not that I seek the gift, but I seek the fruit that increases to your credit.
IV. Giving for gospel ministry accomplishes spiritual worship.
IV. Giving for gospel ministry accomplishes spiritual worship.
Philippians 4:18 (ESV)
18 I have received full payment, and more. I am well supplied, having received from Epaphroditus the gifts you sent, a fragrant offering, a sacrifice acceptable and pleasing to God.
But I have received all and I am oversupplied; having received from Epaphroditus the gifts you sent,
Notice the descriptive words Paul uses to describe the gifts from Epaphroditus!
A. The Descriptive Words of Spiritual Worship
A. The Descriptive Words of Spiritual Worship
1). A Fragrant Offering
1). A Fragrant Offering
The quality of something that affects the mind with an odor.
There are pleasant things that affect the mind with a sweet fragrant odor.
The point is when you graciously give for gospel ministry it is like the fragrance of freshly baked chocolate chips cookies to the Lord. God loves when you give this way!
2). A sacrifice acceptable and pleasing to God.
2). A sacrifice acceptable and pleasing to God.
θυσίαν δεκτήν, εὐάρεστον[2]τῷ θεῷ.
an acceptable sacrifice, well-pleasing to God.
Giving for gospel ministry is one of the ways we can offer spiritual sacrifices of worship to God!
This comes right out of the Biblical teaching that every believer is a spiritual priest before God- we call this the priesthood of the believer.
B. The Biblical Teaching of the Priesthood of the Believer
B. The Biblical Teaching of the Priesthood of the Believer
1). The priesthood of the believer is only possible because of the priesthood of Christ (Heb. 10:1-18).
1). The priesthood of the believer is only possible because of the priesthood of Christ (Heb. 10:1-18).
1 For since the law has but a shadow of the good things to come instead of the true form of these realities, it can never, by the same sacrifices that are continually offered every year, make perfect those who draw near.
The Mosaic law and its sacrificial system were only a shadow or a picture of the true reality that God would one day provide a better sacrifice. Because the OT sacrifices were only a shadow they could never make the participants perfect- they had no power to forgive sins.
2 Otherwise, would they not have ceased to be offered, since the worshipers, having once been cleansed, would no longer have any consciousness of sins?
OT saints should have realized this, because if those sacrifices had made them perfect, they would not need to offer them continually. Truly forgiven people no longer bear the consciousness of their sins.
3 But in these sacrifices there is a reminder of sins every year.
The act of offering sacrifices over and over again should have reminded people that their sins could never be forgiven through the sacrificial system.
Why was that? Why could the OT sacrificial system never truly forgive people’s sins?
4 For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.
Mere animal blood was not a sufficient sacrifice to remove our sins. In fact it was impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.
6 in burnt offerings and sin offerings you have taken no pleasure.
So if offering a sacrifice of animals was insufficient, what kind of a sacrifice is sufficient to take away our sins?
5 Consequently, when Christ came into the world, he said, “Sacrifices and offerings you have not desired, but a body have you prepared for me;
The only sufficient sacrifice for our sins was made possible through the incarnation- the in-fleshing of God as a man. God prepared a body, a human body made of flesh and blood just like ours, for Jesus as our Messiah.
When Jesus came into the world a Messiah his purpose was to perfectly do the will of the Father.
7 Then I said, ‘Behold, I have come to do your will, O God, as it is written of me in the scroll of the book.’ ”
What was the will of God the Father for Jesus his son? Why did God prepare a body for Jesus to function as our Messiah, as our Savior?
10 And by that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.
The will of the Father, the reason He prepared a body for Jesus, was for Jesus to be our perfect sacrifice. God had no pleasure in the sacrifice of bulls and goats, but through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all- believers have been sanctified! Do you know what the word sanctified means? It means to make holy. The only way for our sins to be forgiven is through the perfect sacrifice, the offering of the body of Jesus Christ. This alone is able to sanctify us- to make us holy.
Nothing else will do!
11 And every priest stands daily at his service, offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins.
That is why the OT priests had to stand daily- there work was never finished. They had to offer repeatedly the same sacrifices over and over again- because they were powerless to take away sins.
But Jesus offered a far better sacrifice!
12 But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God,
Jesus is both priest who offers the sacrifice and He Himself is the sacrifice for our sins. His perfect sacrifice had to be offered only once, and then Jesus could sit down at the Father’s right hand because His work was finished. What were the words Jesus cried out on the cross as He gave up his spirit? “It is Finished!”
What kind of power was there in the perfect sacrifice of the body of Jesus?
14 For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.
My friends if you have received God’s gift of salvation through faith in Jesus Christ, the Bible says that you are perfected in the mind of God. Positionally, you have been declared righteous. The righteousness of Christ has been imputed to you. And your sins are fully forgiven- God no longer counts them against you!
17 then he adds, “I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more.”
It is not that God has divine amnesia. God does not actually forget your sins in that he no longer remembers them. But, because of the perfect sacrifice of God, because God’s justice has been fully satisfied and his wrath for your sins fully appease in the blood of Christ, God no longer counts your sins against you!
7 “Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, and whose sins are covered; 8 blessed is the man against whom the Lord will not count his sin.”
13 And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, 14 by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross.
This is what I mean when I talk about the Priesthood of Christ. If Christ had not functioned for us as our Great High Priest, if Christ had not offered his body as our perfect sacrifice, then none of us would be afforded the privilege of being believer priests. But because of Christ’s priestly work on our behalf the most ordinary Christ is afforded the most extraordinary privilege imaginable.
Refutation-
Any attempt to add to the priestly sacrifice of Jesus is the antithesis of the gospel.
18 Where there is forgiveness of these, there is no longer any offering for sin.
If you are depending on any other offering for your sin you are not believing the true gospel. Catholics transforming the Lord’s Supper into a sacrifice that supposedly secures grace for the sinner / attempting to offer up good deeds as a supplement to secure grace / flat out thinking that you are not in need of the sacrifice of Jesus!
2). The significance of the priesthood of the believer is our access to God (Heb. 10:19-25).
2). The significance of the priesthood of the believer is our access to God (Heb. 10:19-25).
The most extraordinary privilege imaginable is direct access to Almighty God!
19 Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus,
Therefore- because of the priestly work of Christ on our behalf- the most lowly Christ has confidence to enter the holy places. The holy of holies was a place on the High Priest could enter but once a year on the Day of Atonement. But now by the blood of Jesus, and
20 by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh,
Every believer exercises the highest privileges of priesthood, we have been granted access to the very presence of God!
21 and since we have a great priest over the house of God,
22 let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.
No one has greater access to God, no one has a higher standing in God’s presence, than the most ordinary Christ because of the work of our great high priest!
This truth- the priesthood of the believer has some powerful implications for our church.
23 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful.
With such a high priest, and such a sacrifice, and such privileges- we must remain faithful to Christ!
24 And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works,
One of the implications of the priesthood of the believer is we are expected to act as priests for each other- not in the sense of the removal of sins (only Christ can do that), but in the ministry of encouraging and exhorting one another to love and good works.
I need you to function as a priest on my behalf before God! I need you to go before God, to enter the holy places with confidence and intercede on my behalf. That is the fulfilling the role of a priest- to represent someone before God. When we pray for each other we rightly exercise our privilege of priesthood. I need this ministry for you and you need this ministry from me. It is one of the ways we stir up one another to love and good works. The second way we do this is through regular assembly.
25 not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.
Intercessory prayer and purposeful regular in-person meetings are vital to our role as priests of encouraging and stirring each other up to love and good works. How often should we assemble? More and more as you see the Day drawing near!
3). As believer priests we are to offer spiritual sacrifices of worship to God.
3). As believer priests we are to offer spiritual sacrifices of worship to God.
We are all believer priests. Every Christian has the privilege, because of the forgiveness of our sins through the sacrifice of Christ on the cross, to enter into the very presence of God. We can all draw near to God because of Christ’s work on our behalf. And as we draw near to God as believer priests one of the things we ought to do is offer God spiritual sacrifices of worship! This is the function of a priest!
Christ sacrifices has already satisfied God’s justice and wiped away our sins, but there are other kinds of sacrifices we can offer to God. What are they?
Present our bodies for God’s service
1 I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.
Spend ourselves on behalf of others
17 Even if I am to be poured out as a drink offering upon the sacrificial offering of your faith, I am glad and rejoice with you all.
Sharing the Gospel
16 to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles in the priestly service of the gospel of God, so that the offering of the Gentiles may be acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit.
Good deeds and sharing what you have with others
16 Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God.
Sacrifice of Praise
15 Through him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name.
We must think about our giving as another opportunity as believer priests to offer up to God spiritual worship!
18 I have received full payment, and more. I am well supplied, having received from Epaphroditus the gifts you sent, a fragrant offering, a sacrifice acceptable and pleasing to God.
When believer-priests give sacrificially to God’s servants and God’s work, their offerings are a delight to God!
What are the Biblical reasons for giving towards missions?
It produces a loving concern for others
It creates a spiritual partnership with others
It increases eternal reward.
It accomplishes spiritual worship.
V. Giving for gospel ministry abounds in you because of the glorious riches of God’s grace.
V. Giving for gospel ministry abounds in you because of the glorious riches of God’s grace.
Sacrificial giving is not something that comes naturally to anyone. Every person enters this world corrupted by the sin-nature. Every person is born a sinner and eventually chooses to sin. A large part of being corrupted by sin works itself out in selfishness. We are self-centered people by nature!
1 What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you? 2 You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask.
Selfishness is such a part of our nature as people corrupted by sin that when Paul commands us to have the mind of Christ list to how Paul defines such a mindset:
3 Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. 4 Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.
This is the antithesis of natural corrupted sin-nature. Genuine giving for gospel ministry is not something that comes naturally. It is actually something that God must work in us and enable in us so that we can give- sacrificially, cheerfully, willingly! So when we give, our giving is made possible because of the glorious riches of God’s grace working in us changing us from selfish to selfless!
I think that is what Paul is getting at in v. 19.
19 And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.
Supply every need of yours-
Certainly Paul is speaking about physical needs in this verse. Paul is marveling over how God has supplied his needs even in Roman prison, and he is certain that God will do the same for the Philippians.
This is not health and wealth prosperity gospel. This is not the teaching of “you can’t out give God.” Paul is suffering in a prison cell as he writes this. If you give to gospel ministry that does not mean you will never face suffering. It does not mean that if you give to gospel ministry God will make you healthy, wealthy, and wise. It does mean that God will wisely supply your every need in Christ Jesus.
And I think Paul has in mind not only physical needs, but spiritual needs as well.
8 And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work.
God will not necessarily make you rich or give you an easy life so you can give more. But, what God will do is abound his grace to you and cause you to have all sufficiency in all things at all times! God will graciously change you so that your sufficiency will be less and less on earthly things, and more and more on Christ- in order that you might abound in every good work.
10 He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness. 11 You will be enriched in every way to be generous in every way, which through us will produce thanksgiving to God.
Example: I used to want to amass enough money to buy land far out in the country so that I could isolate myself from the rest of the world and its problems. I don’t want to do that anymore. I am fine with a smaller house, I want to be near people, I want to be in the community that I pastor- because I want to reach people with the gospel. Who did that work in me? God’s grace did!
VI. Giving for gospel ministry is glorifying to God.
VI. Giving for gospel ministry is glorifying to God.
20 To our God and Father be glory forever and ever. Amen.
20τῷ δὲ θεῷ καὶ πατρὶ ἡμῶν
Now to our God and Father
ἡ δόξα εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων, ἀμήν.
(be) THE GLORY forever and ever, AMEN.
End of the letter:
21 Greet every saint in Christ Jesus. The brothers who are with me greet you. 22 All the saints greet you, especially those of Caesar’s household. 23 The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit.
Followers of Christ ought to love to give towards gospel ministry.
What are the Biblical reasons for giving towards missions?
It produces a loving concern for others.
It creates a spiritual partnership with others.
It increases eternal reward.
It accomplishes spiritual worship.
It abounds in you because of the glorious riches of God’s grace.
It is glorifying to God.