This is our second message in our series "Because We Have Been Given Much" which is our theme for our 2006 Budget emphasis. Last week we looked at how our giving is a response to God’s provision for us. We saw how that the best motive for our giving is because we have been so wonderfully supplied by God. Our giving says "Thank you" like nothing else. Today we want to look at the other side of that. When we give in response to God’s supplying all that we have then he in turn gives back to us and meets the needs we have in life. Our text for today says, "And this same God who takes care of me will supply all your needs from his glorious riches, which have been given to us in Christ Jesus." (Phil. 4:19)

Last week I got an e-mail reminding me that last Monday was the first meeting of the ASU men’s basketball Assist Club. It was almost 12:00 so I asked Ross if he wanted to go. He asked, "How much is it?" I said, "$5.00 but I only have three so I’m going to need to borrow $2.00." He checked and he could cover us both. Well, we get there and I ask someone how much it is and they say "It’s $7.00." So I check with Ross and he has $4.00 that he can give me. In all of this we see Deloris White who comes up and says she has two places for us and she says the meal is $8.00. Still looking at Ross, he says he can cover us both. Then when we sign in the person at the desk asks if we are members and we say "No." Then she says, "Well for non-members the cost is $10.00." It was at that point that Deloris just solves the problem and hands me a $20.00. So my $2.00 need grew to a $7.00 debt. But I figure it was just a fulfillment of God taking care of his people by having Ross and Deloris supplying all my needs! That is what happens when you give to the budget of First Baptist Church. God gives to you and you take care of the needs of this church by sharing your resources here!

As we said in our messages last month the book of Philippians is a thank you letter for a gift Paul was given by the church. Paul wrote a letter to the Philippians because they had sent him numerous offerings, and he wanted to say thank you to them. In verses 10–19 of Phil. 4 he uses words that refer to their giving numerous times. In fact Paul find is hard to talk about the Philippian church without referring to their giving. In saying thank you Paul gives us one of the most comprehensive promises in the entire Bible. Phil. 4:19 is one of those verses that covers so much in just few words. That is why it is a rich promise for so many people. In this verse God says he will meet all your needs. So then, why do people have needs? We see a lot of people, including Christians, who have tremendous needs. Why aren't their needs being met? God says he'll meet all your needs, and yet I see needs in our church that aren't being met. What's the problem?

The answer is that God's promise to meet our needs is based on the premise of giving. This promise does not apply to every person, not even every Christian, because with every promise there is a premise. God says, "If you do this, then I will do that." Many people want to take the promise of verse 19 and apply it to their lives while avoiding the premise of verse 14-18. But you cannot claim verse 19 unless you're doing what verses 14-18 discuss.

In this letter, Paul thanks the Philippians for their sacrificial gifts and assures them that because they gave sacrificially, God will take care of their needs. The premise of the passage is this: We must be generous to others. This is a fundamental biblical principle. Proverbs 11:25 says, "The generous prosper and are satisfied; those who refresh others will themselves be refreshed." Jesus said in Luke 6:38, "If you give, you will receive. Your gift will return to you in full measure, pressed down, shaken together to make room for more, and running over. Whatever measure you use in giving—large or small—it will be used to measure what is given back to you." Paul said the same thing when we looked at 2 Cor. 9:6, "Remember this—a farmer who plants only a few seeds will get a small crop. But the one who plants generously will get a generous crop."

The premise of this promise is we must first be generous with others. God is not obligated to meet our needs if we're not obeying his commands. In fact, we block the flow of God's blessings by being stingy. It is just a very basic principle of Scripture and life that God honors our giving in proportion to our generosity.

Paul gives us three reasons why we should be generous. First, he says giving is an encouragement to others. In Philippians 4:14-16, Paul says, "But even so, you have done well to share with me in my present difficulty. As you know, you Philippians were the only ones who gave me financial help when I brought you the Good News and then traveled on from Macedonia. No other church did this. Even when I was in Thessalonica you sent help more than once."

The Philippian church was not a wealthy church. Yet they were a very generous and giving church. We know of two deliberate ways that they gave. They gave to the Jerusalem relief fund and they gave to Paul’s ministry regularly. The church was though a poverty stricken church. We are not certain as to the causes of their poverty but Paul mentioned the severe degree of their poverty in our passage from last week. He told the Corinthians that they gave in a time of severe trial and extreme poverty (2Cor. 8:2). The words describe the most desperate kind of poverty. Yet, they were richly generous. Paul says "You gave to me when nobody else did, and it encouraged me."

Did you ever receive a gift that encouraged you? Last Sunday night as I was going to a committee meeting one of our youth stopped me and handed me a few dollar bills folded together. He said, "I wasn’t here this morning and wanted to give my offering. Will you take it for me?" I said "Sure." The idea that a young person with all that they have on their mind would stop and say here is my offering was a tremendous encouragement to me! Someone else told me how that even in a time of financial difficulty they had made a commitment to give and how good it felt to do that. Giving is encouraging. Both the one giving and the one receiving are blessed.

Our giving is an encouragement because when we give we share in the vision and ministry of others. Paul in Philippians 1:4 says, "You are partners with me in ministry." Even though he was in Rome over 800 miles away, the Philippians, they were supporting him financially. When you give to the general budget of First Baptist Church you are sharing in the vision and ministry of this church. Not all of us can lead music, serve in the Care Center, teach, preach, lead University students, go to the mission field. But whenever we support others in ministry, we become partners in ministry.

The Philippians had a reputation for being generous for they gave more than they could give. When I read things like that I think, That church had a reputation for giving that lives on 2,000 years later. Will this church have a reputation that will last 2,000 years? What are we going to be known for? How wonderful to be known as a generous church, because it's an encouragement to others.

Paul also says giving is an investment in the future. In Philippians 4:17 he says, "I don't say this because I want a gift from you. What I want is for you to receive a well-earned reward because of your kindness." Paul says giving benefits the giver as well as the receiver, and the giver will receive a reward. The word reward in Greek is a banking term that literally means "accumulated interest." In the NASV, it reads, "I seek for the profit which increases to your account." Paul is saying that while he appreciates the gift what he really wants are the results that will come to them because of their investment in his ministry.

We may not fully understand it but God pays interest. Jesus said a hundredfold will be returned to those who give for the gospel's sake. A hundredfold is 10,000 percent interest. I don't know a bank in the world that will give you those rates. Jesus says, "I want you to receive the reward for your giving." God is recording everything. The Bible says when you give a cup of cold water in Jesus' name, it's written down. Each time you're generous with your family, friends, church, and unbelievers, it's rewarded. Your generosity is an investment, and the bank of heaven pays interest.

Suppose I went to a bank and asked, "How much interest have I accumulated?" My banker replies, "How much have you deposited?" I tell him, "Well, nothing." He responds, "Mr. Tippit, the rule is you don't get any interest if you don't make an investment." That's the rule in the Christian life too. You will store up treasure in heaven by giving to and investing in others.

First Timothy 6:18-19 Paul advises Timothy to tell those who are wealthy to, "…give generously to those in need, always being ready to share with others whatever God has given them. By doing this they will be storing up their treasure as a good foundation for the future so that they may take hold of real life." God's bank never goes bankrupt. We are going to spend more time on that side of eternity than on this side so why not make the investments we can now!

Paul goes on to say that giving is a sacrifice to God. In Philippians 4:18, Paul writes, "At the moment I have all I need—more than I need! I am generously supplied with the gifts you sent me with Epaphroditus. They are a sweet-smelling sacrifice that is acceptable to God and pleases him." Paul tells them that because of you I have more than enough. So whatever you give to me you are actually giving to God. He says that their gift was of the highest quality and the greatest personal sacrifice.

In the Old Testament the priest would take an offering and lay it on the altar in the Temple, and it would create steam that the whole community could smell. In Philippians 4:18, this is the analogy Paul is using. A sacrificial giver is a beautiful person. You love to be around them. They are like a savor. Paul says that giving is an act of worship, just as important as singing, praying, or teaching. Notice that Paul says their gift was "a sweet-smelling sacrifice that is acceptable to God and pleases him." He's saying the gift he received was equivalent to a gift from God. When the Philippians sent him money, God accepted it as a sacrifice. The most pleasing thing you can do for God is give sacrificially because it is done in faith, and without faith it is impossible to please God.

Jesus taught that when you give somebody something to drink, when you cloth the naked, when you feed the hungry, when you visit someone in prison, that's like doing it for God. Every generous act can be done as a sacrifice to God regardless of how small. Any time you have a spirit of generosity, it is an encouragement to others; it is an investment in eternity; and it is a sacrifice pleasing to God. Now, that's the premise, which always comes before the promise. You can't claim verse 19 unless you're doing verses 14-18. This is an incredibly important principle.

What Paul insures is that because of our giving, God, in turn, promises to meet all our needs. Philippians 4:19 says, "And this same God who takes care of me will supply all your needs from his glorious riches, which have been given to us in Christ Jesus." This verse is the believer's insurance policy, for it guarantees God will care for you.

I want to divide this verse into three phrases. First, notice the source of the promise. It says the "same God who takes care of me." He's talking about a personal God, not some big impersonal force. Jesus said when you pray, say, "Our Father." He is an intimate heavenly Father. As a result, he is aware of all your needs. He knows your financial, mental, physical, health, and relational needs. He is a caring, consistent, capable Father, and he promises to meet all your needs. The Bible says those who trust and delight in him and put their faith in him, our heavenly Father will care for them.

God is the source for meeting our needs but the scope of the promise is huge. God will not merely meet a few of your needs or many of your needs; he will meet all your needs. Notice it doesn't say God might meet your needs. It doesn't say God may meet your needs. It says he will meet your needs. It's a guarantee. Paul is saying if you are a consistent, generous giver, God will take care of your needs. If you've met the premise, you can count on the promise.

There are many people who misuse this verse, though. This verse is not an invitation to be lazy and irresponsible. In addition, God does not promise to cover all your wants, whims, desires, and cravings; he promises to supply all your needs. There's a big difference between needs and wants. There's a huge difference between needs and wants. God does not guarantee to provide all your luxuries. God is interested in your having your needs met. The Bible does not say, "My God shall supply all your greed."

God has promised to provide for all legitimate needs. That covers a lot of material. Do you have a financial need? If you are a faithful giver, you have every right to ask God to meet your financial needs. If you're not a faithful giver, then you need to change that in order for this promise to apply to you. If you're not doing the first part of giving then the promise is ineffective.

How about physical needs, health needs, relational needs, emotional needs, any kind of need? It's all there. My God will meet all your needs. If that's true, what does that leave for me to worry about? Nothing, because God assumes the responsibility of meeting his children's needs. If you're a child of God and you're meeting the premise, you can count on his promise.

We saw that the source is God and the scope is that he will supply all our needs. Now, what's the supply? The supply is according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus. Paul says God's bank will never go bankrupt. He has unlimited resources, which is exemplified by many of Jesus' miracles. Remember how Jesus took five loaves and two fish and fed five thousand people with it? That's the kind of resources he has at his disposal. My God will meet all your needs according to his riches. The NLT uses the word from his riches. The better translation is found in the NASV that says, "according to" his riches and there’s a big difference.

Bill Gates is one of the wealthiest men in America. He is the multibillionaire who founded the Microsoft Corporation. If Bill Gates, who has unbelievable resources, wrote you a check for $1,000 and said, "Here, this is my gift to you," he would be giving to you from his riches. But if he gave you a blank check and said, "Whatever you need, I've already signed it," that would be according to his riches. God will meet your needs according to his riches. That means God gives the faithful believer a blank check that is signed in the name of Jesus Christ. His name is on the dotted line. "My God will supply all your needs according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus."

If you let the truth of this passage grasp you, your life will be revolutionized. If I had to summarize this premise it is that giving guarantees God's provision. Because of this promise we should have absolutely no worries about the future in terms of financial needs; God will provide for our needs because we are meeting the premise. This applies to our church. Almost 10% of every dollar you give goes away from our church to serve others in our state, our nation and around the world through what we call the Cooperative Program. Others give a same percentage to the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship. There is no other church in our area that gives more and there are very few in our state that gives more. You can know that we are following as a church the premise and are trusting God to fulfill the promise by supplying the needs of this church through you!

We talk often about the ministry our church has on Huntington St. The ministry is growing and has outgrown their space twice. They will need at some point in the future to have their own building. One Monday morning early last year Roy Cooper came into staff meeting and handed me this plastic bag with money in it. He told our staff that unknown to him one of the children had become so convinced that the ministry needed a building that he had gone around the area and collected cans and sold them. He brought the sack to Roy and told him he wanted to be the first to give so they could have a building of their own. Roy, as well as all of us, at the meeting was deeply moved. He went on to tell us that this little guy was doing this all most every week so he could have something to give.

Why did he do that? "Because he had been given much." Oh, not materially but because others from this church cared enough to reach out to him with the gospel and with compassion. His response was to give and to keep on giving. One little boy loves his church so much he is willing to go out and collect cans to have something to give. If he can do that then can’t we who have so much do so much more? As you make your commitment to our budget for this next year do it saying "Thank you!" to God and then knowing that because of your giving he will meet all your needs. Because I have been given much, I too must give!

Sunday, November 13, 2005

Dr. Bruce Tippit, Pastor

First Baptist Church

Jonesboro, Arkansas

btippit@fbcjonesboro.org