The Biblical Riches of Giving for Gospel Ministry Pt 3
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What is your greatest need this morning?
Think of the one need in your life, that if that need was met, your life would be impacted the most! What is is?
Financial debt- What if, this morning, I could write a check for every one of you and totally erase all of your financial debt? Would meeting that need impact your life at all? Is that your greatest need this morning?
Physical health- What if I could I could somehow cure COVID, or take away cancer, or get rid of some other incurable disease or physical ailment you are struggling with? If you could be restored to pristine health, or your loved one could be restored to pristine health would that impact your life the most? Is that your greatest need this morning?
Significant other- Is a relationship your greatest need?
Children- Is having a child or having more children your greatest need?
What is your greatest need?
19 And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.
Paul makes this statement in the context of giving for gospel ministry and it has been taken out of context so many times and has been used to manipulate people to give money time and time again. So this morning we are going to look at this verse and ponder what Paul is telling the Philippians about giving. And how verse 19 is one of the biblical reasons for giving to gospel ministry.
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.
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.
Before we make some careful remarks about what Paul is trying to say in this verse, and how it has been used out of context in the past, lets carefully examine what the text actually says.
Philippians 4:19 (ESV)
19 And MY GOD will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.
And MY God
Why does Paul say MY God and not OUR God? This is a very deliberate word choice. Look down at the next verse, verse 20
20 To our God and Father be glory forever and ever. Amen.
To OUR God and Father be glory. Why does Paul say MY God in v. 19 and OUR God in v. 20?
Paul is highlighting the personal nature of his relationship with God. I think Paul is a bit overwhelmed with the financial gift of the Philippians.
Paul recalls the days of sitting in Roman prison and the struggles that God allowed him to face:
Being alone:
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.
Having less than enough:
11 Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. 12 I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need.
And yet now, according to the wise providence of God, the Philippians had sent Paul a gift and it was an overwhelming expression of love and worship and Paul is marveling at the provision of HIS God.
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.
MY God, according to HIS wise providence, has supplied my need in a jail cell in Rome- and the implication is- Paul is confident that HIS God will supply the needs of the Philippians as well.
Illustration: Wednesday night talking to the teens- 15 passenger van needed to get them all to camp in the summer. My response: “Pray about it.” Why? MY God is a big God. He can, if He chooses, provided for that kind of need. God provided for this building didn’t he? I lived through that. I saw the mighty hand of God! I saw the visible finger of God moving over a period of 15 years to making this church building a reality. MY God can provide for this need as well.
Paul is making it personal! MY GOD will supply your need. Just love Him, just serve him, just joyfully obey him- and just like he has provided for my need time and time again, he will do the same for you Philippians- he will do the same for you Faith.
Philippians 4:19 (ESV)
19 And my God WILL SUPPLY every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.
πληρόω- future, active, indicative- will, in the future at some unspecified time, supply or literally fill up every single one of your needs.
The illustration of this word is the idea of filling up a vessel or a container until it is completely full, full to the brim and overflowing. God will (future tense) supply or fill up all the way to the top, every need of yours.
The Letter to the Philippians VIII. Thanks for Gifts from Partners (4:10–20)
The future tense does not set a date when God will meet all your needs. God’s provision will always be on time, but his time may not be our time.
God will supply, in his own time and according to his own wise providence, your needs.
Philippians 4:12 (ESV)
12 I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and NEED.
God let Paul experience need for a while in prison! That means Phil. 4 :19 does not teach a health and prosperity gospel.
What is the prosperity gospel? If you will give to God, you will be healthy, wealthy, and wise. You can’t out give God. If you give, you will never experience need every again. If that is true how can Paul say in 4:12 that God allowed him to learn the secret of facing NEED?
The answer is that God’s promise is future tense- He will supply, in his own time and according to his own wise providence, your needs.
Illustration: God waited 15 years to supply us with the finances to construct this building. I can remember praying, “God we need a new building. We can only grow so much in the basement of a split level house. God provide for this need!” And He did, exceedingly abundantly above all that we could ask or think. But, it took 15+ years. He will supply, in his own time and according to his own wise providence, your needs.
God’s provision for your need includes both this present life and the future time of final consummation.
God WILL fill up every need of yours- both now
14 Yet it was kind of you to share my trouble.
God used the Philippians to meet Paul’s need in prison.
And most importantly your needs that matter throughout eternity.
21 who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself.
This really begs the question of our next point- what is your need?
Philippians 4:19 (ESV)
19 And my God will supply EVERY NEED OF YOURS according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.
Need- that which is lacking and particularly needed / a necessary thing.
I want you to see from other NT uses of this word, that NEED is not only limited to physical/financial needs.
Mark 2:17 (ESV)
17 And when Jesus heard it, he said to them, “Those who are well have no NEED of a physician, but those who are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.”
Luke 15:7 (ESV)
7 Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who NEED no repentance.
Romans 12:13 (ESV)
13 Contribute to the NEEDS of the saints and seek to show hospitality.
Philippians 4:16 (ESV)
16 Even in Thessalonica you sent me help for my NEEDS once and again.
Hebrews 5:12 (ESV)
12 For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you NEED someone to teach you again the basic principles of the oracles of God. You NEED milk, not solid food,
Revelation 22:5 (ESV)
5 And night will be no more. They will NEED no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever.
So when you read in Philippians 4:19
Philippians 4:19 (ESV)
19 And my God will supply EVERY NEED OF YOURS according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.
Don’t automatically insert- financial needs. This is not saying that if you give to gospel ministry then God is going to line your pocket books.
And this brings us back to our original question- what is your greatest need in life? We asked that question at the beginning of the sermon? Money, health, relationships, children, friendship?
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 confident that God will do the same for the Philippians.
BUT, God does not supply every luxury of yours according to his riches in Christ Jesus. God does not supply every want of yours according to his riches in Christ Jesus, but every NEED of yours in Christ Jesus. Sometimes, our definition of what we need and God’s perfect understanding of what we need are two different things.
Friends, what is your greatest need in life?
Can i suggest that the Bible says it like this- your greatest need in life is to know Christ!
3 And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.
First of all- your greatest need is to know Jesus as your Lord and Savior. Do you know Christ personally? Have you received Him, have you believed on Him for eternal life? If not- your greatest need is to know Christ. I invite you believe on Him today!
Second, if you know Jesus as your Savior, guess what your greatest need is? It is to know Jesus! To know Him deeper in order to become like Him. This is the goal of God in your very salvation.
29 For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.
This thought is foundational to the culture of what we are trying to do here at Faith. At the heart of our disciple-making culture is Christlikeness.
Faith Baptist Church exists to equip and inspire believers for Christlikeness unto the abundance of the glory of God.
You could say it like this:
Faith Baptist Church exists to equip and inspire people to know and become like Jesus unto the abundance of the glory of God.
Our desire is for everyone in the church to enter into a disciple-making relationship with another person in this church to study God’s Word and grow together- and the goal is to become like Jesus for the glory of God.
Your greatest need is to know Christ and to become like Christ more and more.
Don’t believe me, listen to Paul:
7 But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ.
8 Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ
9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith—
10 that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death,
11 that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.
And God graciously works in you, filling up every need of your to accomplish exactly that end.
How does this all relate to giving?
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!
12 Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned—
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 listen 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 the 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!
1 We want you to know, brothers, about the grace of God that has been given among the churches of Macedonia,
2 for in a severe test of affliction, their abundance of joy and their extreme poverty have overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part.
3 For they gave according to their means, as I can testify, and beyond their means, of their own accord,
4 begging us earnestly for the favor of taking part in the relief of the saints—
5 and this, not as we expected, but they gave themselves first to the Lord and then by the will of God to us.
6 Accordingly, we urged Titus that as he had started, so he should complete among you this act of grace.
7 But as you excel in everything—in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in all earnestness, and in our love for you—see that you excel in this act of grace also.
I think that is how giving is connect in Phil. 4:19
19 And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.
Joyfully live for Christ. Follow Him in order to be like Him. Love Him and Obey Him in every area of your life including giving. Why? Because for those in Christ Jesus, God will graciously fill up to the top, in His own timing and according to His own wise providence, every true need you have in your life.
Including transforming your heart to make you into a gracious cheerful giver.
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.
Illustration: 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.