This is the manuscript of the second sermon in the "What Giving does for You" series of sermons on stewardship leading up to Thanksgiving. As you have seen in the ads on television and in the stores, we have already started the Holiday Season. That time that we both give and receive. I want us to be thankful for not only what we receive, whatever it is, but also thankful for the opportunity to give. The Bible teaches the concept of stewardship, in which we are responsible to God for all that we are and have. To truly be responsible, we must not only graciously receive, but we must generously give.
Scripture Reading:
Philippians 4:14-20 NIV Yet it was good of you to share in my troubles. Moreover, as you Philippians know, in the early days of your acquaintance with the gospel, when I set out from Macedonia, not one church shared with me in the matter of giving and receiving, except you only; for even when I was in Thessalonica, you sent me aid more than once when I was in need. Not that I desire your gifts; what I desire is that more be credited to your account. I have received full payment and have more than enough. 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. And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus. To our God and Father be glory for ever and ever. Amen.
Introduction
As you know, last week I started the series "What Giving Does for You" because as we are now in the holiday season of Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year, I want us to be thankful for not only what we receive, whatever it is, but also thankful for the opportunity to give. Today’s sermon like the series is titled "What Giving Does for You"
Here’s the text for today.
Philippians 4:17 NIV Not that I desire your gifts; what I desire is that more be credited to your account.
Paul’s letter to the Philippians has been called the epistle of joy. He wrote from a prison cell to express his gratitude for their fellowship and partnership with him in the gospel ministry. They had sent a gift to meet his pressing needs, and this had made it possible for him to concentrate on sharing the good news of God’s love even as a prisoner. As a matter of fact, His imprisonment had served to advance the gospel.
Philippians 1:12-14 NIV Now I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that what has happened to me has actually served to advance the gospel. As a result, it has become clear throughout the whole palace guard and to everyone else that I am in chains for Christ. And because of my chains, most of the brothers and sisters have become confident in the Lord and dare all the more to proclaim the gospel without fear.
While Paul thanked them for their gift he said that he knew that even if they hadn’t sent it the Lord would take care of him.
Philippians 4:10-13 NIV I rejoiced greatly in the Lord that at last you renewed your concern for me. Indeed, you were concerned, but you had no opportunity to show it. I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do all this through him who gives me strength.
So when he wrote them, he was thinking more in terms of the benefit that giving brings into the hearts and lives of the givers.
Philippians 4:17 NIV Not that I desire your gifts; what I desire is that more be credited to your account.
You see, Satan wins every time when he makes us think that God is trying to take something from us to somehow impoverish us by teaching us to be givers. In fact, that is remarkably like the deception he used with Eve when he made her making her think that God was holding out on Adam and her.
Genesis 3:1-5 NIV Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?” The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’ ” “You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman. “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
Satan will also twist the text from last week.
Matthew 6:19-21 NLT “Don’t store up treasures here on earth, where moths and rust destroys them, and where thieves break in and steal. Store your treasures in heaven, where moths and rust cannot destroy, and thieves do not break in and steal. Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be.
Satan will twist it in a way that makes it look like Jesus or more specifically the church, is using scripture as a gimmick for receiving an offering or getting people to give for a special project. That is not what Jesus was saying, nor is it what Paul was saying in our text for today. Like I said last week, God is no pauper. He is not a thief. He is not a beggar standing outside the store asking for money. Our gifts do not enrich him. Listen to what it says at;
Psalms 50:7-12 NIV“Listen, my people, and I will speak; I will testify against you, Israel: I am God, your God. I bring no charges against you concerning your sacrifices or concerning your burnt offerings, which are ever before me. I have no need of a bull from your stall or of goats from your pens, for every animal of the forest is mine, and the cattle on a thousand hills. I know every bird in the mountains, and the insects in the fields are mine. If I were hungry I would not tell you, for the world is mine, and all that is in it.
The greatest need is our personal need to be givers.
Have you ever stopped to think about the benefits of being a generous giver? That is what I want to talk about for a few minutes today
Here at Christ Church, we are big on giving to ministries here in Los Angeles, and throughout the nation and world. We even have Mission Sunday, the third Sunday of every month, where we take an offering over and above our regular offering that is targeted for missions and ministries locally and internationally. This generous giving gives us the privilege of entering into partnerships with God’s servants here at home and around the world (Phil. 4:15; 3 John 8).
Here’s what Paul wrote to the Philippians
Philippians 4:15 CEV My friends at Philippi, you remember what it was like when I started preaching the good news in Macedonia. After I left there, you were the only church that became my partner by giving blessings and by receiving them in return.
And John wrote
3 John 5-8 CEV Dear friend, you have always been faithful in helping other followers of the Lord, even the ones you didn't know before. They have told the church about your love. They say you were good enough to welcome them and to send them on their mission in a way God's servants deserve. When they left to tell others about the Lord, they decided not to accept help from anyone who wasn't a follower. We must support people like them, so we can take part in what they are doing to spread the truth.
Through our gifts, we have the privilege of going to many different places and ministering in the name of Jesus Christ. Through our gifts we can participate in surgeries in Christian hospitals. We participate in the gospel being preached in foreign lands. We provide meals and shelter to those in need here in Los Angeles. We can have a ministry to the homeless. We can care for orphans and for the aged, through our giving.
Giving generously also places us in a position to receive the blessings promised to the tither.
Malachi 3:10-12 NIV Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the Lord Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it. I will prevent pests from devouring your crops, and the vines in your fields will not drop their fruit before it is ripe,” says the Lord Almighty. “Then all the nations will call you blessed, for yours will be a delightful land,” says the Lord Almighty.
Again this is not a gimmick to get you to give. Remember God doesn't need your material resources. He wants you to receive the benefits of giving.
Now, let's get one thing straight, God does not promise riches to those who faithfully tithe and give generously. What He promises is to bless them and to meet the needs of their families.
He may do this in a number of ways through the Holy Spirit;
He may help us by making us immune to high-pressured advertising.
He may help us to resist impulsive buying.
He may help us to find better bargains.
He can help us to be better money managers.
And in some cases, people can testify to the fact that God has blessed them with additional income.
Here's the promise again this time from
Malachi 3:10-12 CEV I am the Lord All-Powerful, and I challenge you to put me to the test. Bring the entire ten percent into the storehouse, so there will be food in my house. Then I will open the windows of heaven and flood you with blessing after blessing. I will also stop locusts from destroying your crops and keeping your vineyards from producing. Everyone of every nation will talk about how I have blessed you and about your wonderful land. I, the Lord All-Powerful, have spoken!
Generous giving increases our capacity to receive both the blessings of God and the favor of others
Luke 6:38 NIV Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”
The first word in that verse, “Give” is both a command and an invitation. The rest is the promise. It tells us how God will bless us and how other people will also bless us.
For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”
This great principle is true in the business world, in family life, and in every other area of life. The more you give, the more you will increase your capacity to receive.
Generous giving gives us the privilege of entering partnership with God’s servants here at home and around the world. Generous giving increases our capacity to receive both the blessings of God and the favor of others and, generous giving increases our feelings of security with God.
2 Corinthians 9:6-10 NIV Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work. As it is written: “They have freely scattered their gifts to the poor; their righteousness endures forever.” Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness.
The principles of good farming and gardening apply in the realm of the spirit as well as in the realm of agriculture. Those who are stingy with their seed will reap a small harvest. Those who sow an adequate amount of seed have the hope of an abundant harvest. Those who give generously can expect the blessings of a gracious God to be upon the work of their heads, their hearts, and their hands.
God is the great giver. He gave His best
John 3:16 NIV For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
And scripture tells us that God loves those who imitate him.
Ephesians 5:1-2 NIV Follow God’s example, therefore, as dearly loved children and walk in the way of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.
The Great Giver will not let those who imitate him suffer want and poverty.
Ephesians 3:20-21 NIV Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.
As we give we should see ourselves as channels through which his blessings can flow to others.
Conclusion
Jesus taught that “it is more blessed to give than to receive”
Acts 20:32-35 NIV “Now I commit you to God and to the word of his grace, which can build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified. I have not coveted anyone’s silver or gold or clothing. You yourselves know that these hands of mine have supplied my own needs and the needs of my companions. In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’ ”
Like I said last week the most important thing in our giving is our motivation.
1 Corinthians 10:31 NLT So whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.
Colossians 3:23-24 NLT Work willingly at whatever you do, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people. Remember that the Lord will give you an inheritance as your reward, and that the Master you are serving is Christ.
God has an eternal reward for those who are motivated to serve Christ.
Even seemingly small acts of service don't go unnoticed by God.
Matthew 10:40-42 NLT “Anyone who receives you receives me, and anyone who receives me receives the Father who sent me. If you receive a prophet as one who speaks for God, you will be given the same reward as a prophet. And if you receive righteous people because of their righteousness, you will be given a reward like theirs. And if you give even a cup of cold water to one of the least of my followers, you will surely be rewarded.”
The wisest thing we can do is to try giving ourselves away. Let us first give ourselves to God. Let us give ourselves, our time, our talents, our energy, and our words of affirmation and encouragement. Let us determine to be contributors to the well-being of those around us rather than just being consumers of God’s blessings.
Sovereign Lord, we want to learn to imitate you. We want to be able to walk away from the petty things that the world tempts is with. Lord, help us see the needs that are always around us. Give us a more kind and gracious heart, that we might be of some use to those who are around us so that we are not fixated upon our own desires.
Thank you that we have a joy that the world cannot rob us of; we have a treasure that the world cannot take from us; we have something that it is not in the power of man or devil to deprive us of, and that is the joy of the Lord which is our strength.
Amen.
Sermon Audio
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