Giving: An Evidence of Love

Bob Ellsworth wanted me to thank all of you for praying for his family, his father passed away this past week. I think it was on Thursday. I remember right, his funeral is going to be on Monday at Moraga Valley Presbyterian Church at one o'clock, and you'd like to come. He would warmly welcome you and be glad that you're there. Bob told me that his dad, I don't know if you knew the story, his father had just come back from a golfing vacation, actually, and I got news from the doctor that some tests had come back, and he had a very aggressive form of leukemia, and if he didn't do something immediately, he wasn't going to live for a week or two, and I think he lived for three or four weeks. I forget exactly how long it was, but it was quite touching.

Bob said his dad was his best friend, and so he's lost his father and his best friend, and just pray for them and the family and for Bob, especially. It's amazing how God takes us through things, and our great confidence is because we are His children, all the events of our life, our part of His good process of conforming us into the image of His Son, making us like His Son so that we can receive from Him His great riches by faith and to the dispensers of that grace and the lives of other people. I'd like you to turn with me to Philippians chapter 4, we want to talk today, and to ending this book, the last section of this letter, on giving, because that's what this text is about. We waited until the very end of this letter to thank them specifically for their monetary gift.

They had sent a gift to him while he was in prison and Rome. This wasn't the first gift that they had sent him. They had been supporters of Paul for, since the beginning of the gospel coming to Philippi, they had begun to support him, and they did it consistently, and now this last gift that they had sent, not only did they send money, but they sent a man with the money who stayed and was his servant, and took care of his needs while he was in prison and Rome. Now he sent the paparaditis back to the Philippians with a letter of thank you, and because this letter would be read to the congregation, he waited until the final verses to thank them for the gift, because that was the last thing he wanted to impress upon their hearts.

What was significant about their giving? During this passage as Paul gives them thanks for the gift, he reveals to us some important things about new covenant giving. New covenant giving is quite unique. All of you have been victimized by a constant appeals as Christians to give money to various groups and ministries, radio and TV evangelists. If you ever get on their mailing list, you never get off, you have to change your name and change your dress. If you get on some mailing list and some slip campaigns, they come up to you relentlessly. They even use phone marketing now. I get phone calls from Christian ministries that I believe in, ministries that I give to. It's almost offensive to me that they think they have to call and try to boost me up somehow.

Marketing, marketing, marketing. That's what the church falls into today. You notice in our bulletin, we have three fundraisers. We sell them candy, baked goods and the garage sale to raise money to send people to Mexico. Well, it's urgent that you as a Christian understand what God says about giving. It's a blessing that He wants you to experience. The Bible says it's a grace. That's why we call it grace giving, because giving under the new covenant is an experience of God's grace. He pours His grace into our life and allows us to give, to be conduit through which His grace flows into other people's lives. Voltaire said Protestantism is merely a less expensive substitute for Catholicism. But of course, we are catching up instead of selling indulgences and pieces of the cross, we give away Jesus' junk and tax deductible receipts with every gift.

And it is amazing how it has become the normal pattern. If you want to raise money, you have to offer some premium. In fact, the federal government has passed laws in their code because this is such a common practice that when you give money and you get something and return, you have to deduct the giving receipt, you have to deduct from that, the amount, the market value of that thing, that premium that you receive. And as a pastor, you get lots of professional and amateur consultations on fundraising, increasing the church budget, budgeting, increasing of the church's giving base, figuring out ways to market the church, develop a pledge system, how to get money out of Christians tight hands and into the mix of the work of the gospel, make people feel guilty and transfer their guilt into giving and all those kinds of things that goes on all the time, lots of pressure.

And sometimes we have good motives, but we use poor methods because they don't amount. They don't reflect the truth about what God says in regards to how He wants us to give. God has a method and he has a way and that method and way has to be consistent with his son because you see we live after the cross. Before the cross under the law, God treated his people like little children. That's what the Galatians says. They were like little children and they had to be led around like little children. They had to be given percentages. This is how much you give. You probably think the tribe and the Old Testament was 10% it actually amounted to about 23 and a third percent and then on top of that there was nearly another 5% and various gifts that people were required to give under the law.

Because you see that that supports the government. You give involuntarily in paying taxes for your government, the God has a wonderful system under the new covenant of giving. It's giving that flushes you out. It flushes your soul and your spirit out as God pours this grace in and you pour this grace out into the lives of other people. There's great benefit and profit to it. We are a non-profit organization. Some say we should spell that P-R-O-P-H-E-T because we lack profits in the church but the fact is we are not in the business of building up wealth, we are in the business of being conduit through which the grace of God flows in order to get the gospel out all around the world, both here and around the world.

In our text today I think that what Paul does for us in a very simple short way, this may even be a short sermon, in a very simple short way he tells us three important ingredients to what grace giving is. Grace giving must be characterized by certain things. If we were to go back and look at 2 Corinthians 8 and 9 where Paul gives an extended teaching, we heard it read this morning, the major portion of it, and in that section he gives a major teaching about grace giving, our new covenant giving, which is much superior to the old covenant giving. Instead of having a debt to pay, God has flooded your life with this grace freely. By the way, according to statistics, the average church member, if you were to average them all out, people who support the church, they give 1.6, 1.6 of their income to support the work of Christ around the world, 1.6.

So if we all went on welfare or disability or unemployment and we gave a tie, 10 percent the church is giving with double. Amazing. But the fact is what God has done is his work. His work done his way never wants for his supply because he is in control of our hearts and when he is in control of our hearts, he is in control of our pocketbooks. So I don't have to give 10 percent. I can give 20 or 30 or 50 or 9 if my heart is in the hands of this Holy Spirit. And his promise is that when I give this way, giving it a way that's fit for the new covenant, it's not paying a debt, it's receiving a grace gift. That's what he calls it in 2 Corinthians chapter 8. It's a grace gift because we're sons and not slaves.

It's not a law work but a mature decision because we are mature sons and not little children. He wants you to make a decision. He wants you to give decidedly. He wants you to give out of what you've decided in your heart. Not to the latest appeal that brings tears to your eyes, although there's times when you should give like that. There's times when you should respond because you see a need that breaks your heart. I love the fact that some people's hearts are easily touched by the word of God in the truth of Christ grace. I'm glad that we have people like Frankie and Steve can't read a passage on giving without practically weeping because the Spirit has control of his heart. He's broken his heart.

And I'm glad that the way the Holy Spirit works in our lives. In our text today, notice what Paul is going to do. He's going to give us such clear understanding of three important characteristics of grace giving. See what he says to them as he writes at the beginning in verse 14 of chapter 4, nevertheless, you have done well to share with me in my affliction. Our Ember is just told him, I don't speak out of want because it's not because you gave to me now. Finally, I can eat. But rather, it gives my heart joy because it's a sign that the Spirit is working your heart because you give this gift. And he says, and you yourselves also know Philippians, verse 15, that at the first preaching of the gospel, after I departed from Macedonia, no church shared with me in the matter of giving and receiving, but you alone.

And even in Fessalonica, you spent a gift more than once for my needs, and he was only there for about a month, and yet twice they took this 95 mile trip to take an offering to the Apostle Paul. Not that I seek the gift itself, but I seek for the prophet, which increases to your account. But I have received everything in full and have an abundance. I am aptly supplied, having received from the Paparaditis, what you have sent a fragrant aroma and acceptable sacrifice, while pleasing to God, and my God shall supply all your needs according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus. Now to our God and Father be the glory forever and ever, amen. Fessalore is blessing on this passage, Father, we, as we come before you today, we come as your people, we come in the name of Christ, we come as a family.

And Father, we thank you that you have so changed our hearts that you actually fill us with a desire to give of ourselves to others, for the advance of the gospel, and to meet the needs of brothers and sisters in Christ around the world. We thank you that you've changed our hearts in that way. We thank you that you are changing us so that we are instead of being miserly and tight and only looking out for ourselves, you keep pushing us to be generous, you keep changing our heart and opening our eyes to the generosity of Christ so that we want to give, and we want to be conduit through which you produce your grace into the lives of other people. So we ask that this passage that the Holy Spirit would teach us this morning, that He would confront us where we need to be confronted, encourages, or were discouraged, and teaches where we are ignorant of your good plan for our lives, we pray.

In Jesus' name, amen. First of all, notice that in verse 14 through 16, that grace giving, new covenant giving is to be an expression of love. The primary word used in the New Testament of the love of God for His people, and our love for God and love for one another is the Greek word agape. You've heard that word over and over again, and agape at its heart, at the very heart of this word, has the implication that this is the kind of love that gives. It's the kind of love that gives sacrificially. It's the kind of love that's so heart with affection for the object of this love that when there's a need, we want to meet the need. That's what happened to us. God so loved the world that He gave. You see, that's the characteristic of agape love, the love of God.

It's the characteristic of this love when it consumes our own heart, when it takes control of our hearts. In verse 14, notice again that Paul, the emphasis here, is not on the gift, but on the fact that giving the gift was partnering with him in his affliction. He says, nevertheless, you have done well to share with me in my affliction, and you yourselves also know Philippians that at the first preaching of the gospel after I departed from Macedonia, go church shared with me in the matter of giving and receiving, but you alone. They partnered with him. That's the meaning of that word when it says you've done good, you've done good. That's not a good English grammar, but that's exactly what he means.

You've done something noble. You've done something that's beautiful when you partnered with us in our affliction. And you came to be partners with us in the gospel, from the day that the gospel came to you. In fact, if you remember, when Paul went to Philippi, and there was no synagogue in Philippi, so where could he go preach the gospel? He goes down next to a river, and he meets with some women there who are meeting and worshiping the God of Israel, and he meets Lydia there, and there the apostle Paul preaches the gospel and their hearts are so taken up by the gospel of Jesus Christ that they immediately begin to give to support his work in the gospel. This is the only church, the only occasion we know of in the New Testament where a church, where Paul received support from a church while he was there, is in Philippi.

Because the gospel so penetrated the hearts of this little band, and before long probably Luke himself, became a part of that band, and they began to support the apostle Paul. He became partners with him in the gospel. And so when he left Philippi, and you remember he left after he'd gone to prison to jail, after he'd gone to jail, he had been beaten, put in jail in stocks, God delivers him, and as he goes on his way, this jailbird, who comes to town to preach the gospel, ends up in jail, he gets out of jail, and as he leaves town, this little band of believers say, we're going to support you in this work. And so they hound Paul everywhere he goes, they send offerings to support him. He said they became partners with him, and that's what he says is significant about their giving, is their love for him, their mutual friendship.

That's the language of friendship they're giving and taking, reciprocation, mutuality. He loved them, and he gave them the gospel. They loved him, and they gave him their support. They gave him their hearts. They became partners with him in his affliction, and this is the word that he's used throughout the book. It's the word that Paul typically uses for the things that we suffer because of the gospel. He says, you were shares in my affliction, you were afflicted like me, you've gone through affliction for the gospel, and you've supported me when I've been in affliction. So even here in prison, in Rome, you support me. You even send a monetary gift to me, and you send a man, a path of diet, as one of your chief men, to come and serve me.

You see, giving, under the new covenant, is not an obligation that is laid upon you. It is an opportunity to express your love for God, for the gospel, and for those who carry the gospel to the world. We support three missionaries. When you give, and you put on your envelope that this portion of your giving is for missionaries, it goes to three primary missionaries, the George and M. Zell Fox, who are missionaries that are connected with great school of theology and ministry, and George has been a pastor for years. He grew up in India, was born there, his father was a missionary. He went back into missionary work, he's faster now he teaches, and takes care of his wife, and he's one of the most energetic men I've ever known.

He's 12 years older than me, and he has twice as much energy as I do. He teaches, constantly training, constantly wanting to get the word of God out. We support him because we love him. Then we support, we just began to support Dale and Kathy Hollenbeck, who are going this month. In fact, I can't remember the day. They may be on their way, or I think it's a couple of weeks, they're going to be going to Uganda. This young man, just out of seminary, his wife, they've been involved in mission work since I've known them. When I met them, they were already involved in preaching the gospel to lay ocean and be at the knees people in the Bay Area. Now they're going after the seminary training, both of them have gotten masters degree in the both going, they're going together to Uganda to train, and he's going there to train pastors in Uganda to give his life to this.

As we said in our office, and I had a couple of the men come down to the men and we sat and talked with him, and as he showed us the pictures of where he's going and what it's going to be like and what he's going to be doing, the thing that always strikes me about missionaries like this is, they want to go. He actually wants to go. He actually wants to go to Uganda with his wife and his little boy and live out his life in the ministry of the gospel. That's the work of the spirit. And we, because we love this man, this woman, because we love this ministry that they're involved in. We get to support them. It's an expression of our love for them. And then we support Mark Christopher, Mark Christopher and Debbie Christopher are in South Africa.

They face great opposition. Mark's been there for nearly eight years. He started a seminary, a training center there that he's training men for the ministry here and several other men. He has planted a church. He's now going out to plant another church. He faces great opposition. In fact, the South African government is about, they're threatening to take away his wife's citizenship. She is a citizen of South Africa. And he's facing all kinds of problems, but he loves to be there. He loves this ministry. He loves to preach the gospel. You've heard all these men preach the gospel. And they love it. And because we love them, we give to them. And Paul says, that is the characteristic of new covenant giving.

It is an expression of our love to those that we give to and for the gospel and for Jesus Christ. The reason I give is because I love Jesus Christ. It's an expression of our love towards him. And if it is less than that, then it is not new covenant giving. If it's an obligation that's been laid upon you, a rule that you must follow, then it's not new covenant giving. It's something inferior. Now, the thing to do is not to stop giving. The thing to do is to start giving with the right motivation. Give because of your love for Christ and your love for us people. And that's Paul's focus here. Their gift, their expression of love and friendship. And he uses the language of friendship because he wants to drive them to their heart.

What's significant to me, Paul, says is that you love me and you have demonstrated it in your support of me. Can Philippi have this unique relationship with Paul? This supporting relationship. And they continue, he says, throughout his ministry. Imagine that. They couldn't send this by mail. They had to send a courier. They had to send a messenger all the way down to Thessalonica. Paul goes to Thessalonica and it only took him a month, less than a month to get kicked out of Thessalonica. Creates the gospel. People come to Christ, Jews in the synagogue, get angry with him, drive him out of town. But during those three or four weeks, the Philippians send support. Now, you have to understand something about them.

Second Corinthians chapter 8 says they were in poverty. This wasn't a rich church. These were people, he says, they were in crouching poverty. But they delighted in giving because their hearts were controlled by a love for the gospel and Christ and the Apostle Paul. Because you see their friendship is based on something eternal. It's a triangular friendship. It's not just Paul loves the Philippians and the Philippians love Paul. Paul loves the Philippians and the Philippians love Paul because they love Christ. He's the glue because he says that you begin to love me when the gospel first came to you. When you first believed the truth of salvation in Jesus Christ, when you first began to receive the riches of God in Christ Jesus, when you first discovered that all of the riches of the wisdom of God are hidden in Christ and you begin to experience that your heart was filled with love for me.

And that's what New Covenant giving is because New Covenant giving is following the pattern of Jesus Christ that you heard this morning in 2 Corinthians chapter 8 verses 9. In verse 9, for you know, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich yet for your sake, he became poor, that you, through his poverty, might become rich. Every believer in this room is rich. You have the riches of Christ. You have the riches of Christ. That's what Paul says. Read the book of Colossians, he says, at a hundred times. Read Ephesians, and you know it's interesting to me that he wrote these books in which he just pours out his heart about the fact that all of the riches of God are in Christ and you are in Christ and these riches are yours.

And he wrote most of that while he was in prison, when he wrote Philippians and Colossians, Ephesians, you see, when he had so little, it was when he was aware of the great ness, the massiveness of the riches in Christ Jesus. And he says, the reason you are rich is because of Christ's poverty. The one who owned the universe became poor. And for a Christian, when he hears those words, if he thinks for just a moment, if you just think, if you just take a moment to think about that phrase, he who is rich became poor, that through his poverty, you might become rich. He became poor. He was on the cross, stripped of everything, hanging naked on a cross, possessing nothing in this world, abandoned by his father.

That was his poverty, you see, hanging there for you and me. And through that poverty, you became rich. He's made you rich. He's poured out the wealth of his riches into your life. And Paul says, because of our eyes being open to that, we begin to have a capacity to love one another like we never had before, that we can love people, because the degree that we would give, we would open our hands and give out of our lives because of the love of Christ that flows through us into their lives. The second thing he says here is that new covenant giving is an investment. New covenant giving is an investment. It's an investment of life. Notice what he says in verse 17, not that I seek the gift itself, but I seek for the profit which increases to your account.

He's using accounting terms here, business terms, he says, it's though we're in a partnership. And I'm glad that you invested in me because it's going to reap great profits to your account. Some of you have stockbrokers. You know how it is when a stockbroker wants to convince you that if you invest in a certain stock, it's going to reap great benefits to you. And then when it doesn't, how sheepish he is, in fact, they just completely forget about it, all the promises they made to you. Please, let me assure you that your investment in me is going to reap great profits because this is an investment of your life. Most primary concern is their benefit, not their gift. Isn't that amazing? That even in their giving to him, his primary concern is their benefit, their growth and their fruitfulness.

That's what he's been saying throughout the book. Turn with me back to chapter 1, verse 11, notice this pattern in the book. He says in verse 11 of chapter 1, having been filled with the fruit of righteousness which comes through Jesus Christ to the glory and praise of God. He says, that's why I am so grateful for what God's done for you because He's filled you up with the fruit of righteousness. And then in verse 25, He says, in convinced of this, I know that I shall remain and continue with you all. That is, I won't die and go to heaven and enter into my inheritance yet because He's going to keep me here. Why for your progress and joy in the faith? In other words, Paul is concerned about their progress.

And then if you look at chapter 2, verse 16, He says, holding fast, the word of life so that in the day of Christ, I may have caused to glory because I did not run in vain or toil in vain. Think about this for a second. Here's a preacher of the gospel. Here's someone who's been assigned by Jesus Christ to go and proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ. To go and preach the good news, to preach His word, the word of life. And Paul says, I hold fast to the word of life so that in the day of Christ, I may have caused to glory because I did not run in vain or toil in vain. I want to tell you, there is great pressure on preachers to do something other than preach. Great pressure today on men who've been called to proclaim and to teach the word of God to do something else.

And what Paul says is, I hold fast the word of life. I hold it forth. I give my life to this because I keep living in light of the fact that I'm going to stand before Christ someday. And it's only going to be this ministry for which I'm going to be rewarded. I may get involved in a lot of other things. Those things are going to bring reward, like the ministry that He's called me to. And then He says in chapter 4 verse 1, therefore my beloved brethren, whom I long to see, my joy in my crown. Now this is an expression that is going to be fulfilled when He stands before Christ. He says, you are my joy in my crown. This is my reward. And this is what He's interested in. He wants their fruitfulness.

You see, that's really the mark of ministry. It's the mark of a minister on any level where the God puts you over a kind of garden class or a high school class or preaching the Bible before the church. The mark of ministry is that what you desire is the fruitfulness of those that you minister to, that their lives would be changed. They would grow. And you see, that's what's so thrilling to Paul is the word has had such impact in their life that it has opened up their hands and they want to give, even in their property. The fact is, it is really true that nothing in your life and my life tells more about my spiritual growth. It's not the only thing, but nothing says more. Nothing tells more about my spiritual growth and maturity than my pattern of giving.

You can look at my checkbook and you can tell by my checkbook what my value system is. Messiness. You can tell what I spend my money on, what I'm, what I invest in. And Paul says it's a great thrill to me because the gospel has such impact on you that you're investing even in your poverty in the kingdom and something eternal. That's going to return eternal benefits. New covenant giving is not spending. It is investing. And that's what Luke says, that's what Jesus says in Luke 6, give and it will be given to you and it will be given to you in abundance. That's God's plan. Investing with God reaps profits for eternity. So wonderful plan. Where's your heart? Jesus said, wherever your treasure is, that's where your heart is.

Have you noticed this? Make a big investment. You pay attention to that investment. If you put a lot of money in something, you're always paying attention to that thing in which you have invested. What's the difference between investing a $100,000 in IBM and investing $100,000 in the advance of the gospel? IBM may go up or down. And when you die, you will not take any of those benefits with you. But if you invest in the gospel of Jesus Christ, if you invest in the work of the Lord for all eternity, you are going to reap the benefits. I actually learned this lesson in 1971, 1971, 30 years ago, God taught me this and the quietest of my heart, that the only sure thing there was was when He blessed me with abundance.

When I had more than I needed to feed my family and close myself and have a roof over my head, that the best thing I could invest in is the work of Christ. And it's true. The benefits come now and they come later for all eternity. And you know, if you give, if you give to this God, you're always going to be checking up on this God and His work. You're always going to be looking into what's happening with this investment that I'm making. Is the gospel going out? You bet. You bet. The gospel is going out and people are coming to Christ, people investing in the work of the kingdom around the world and it's reaping great, great benefits for all eternity. How much did you give? I had a seminary professor, in fact, Mike Moore and I had a seminary professor, a brilliant man, and he said, and I took this to heart, he said, I'll always give more than 10 percent because you're not under the law.

Start with 11 so that you understand this is grace giving. But you know, I don't even want to suggest that. You know how much you should give? Well, it just depends on how much you want to invest in eternity. Give all that you want to invest in eternity. If you give to the kingdom of God and there'll be times even when you invest in something that after you look at it, you go down the road, you realize that really wasn't the wisest investment for the spread of the gospel. But if your heart is right, it's going to reap eternal benefits. We should be wise, but sometimes we're not because we don't know all the facts. Paul is very sensitive to the danger of manipulating people. Very sensitive. In fact, in his letters, he reminds the Thessalonikans and he reminds the Corinthians themselves that when he came among them, he said, I can examine my heart.

God examines my heart and I know that I did not manipulate you. I know that I didn't wear a cloak of greed. I didn't know that I didn't come to you to try to get something from you. In fact, I refuse to take anything from you so that you would know that my motivation was not that I might get something from you. To the Corinthians, he says the same thing. In fact, look at this. 2 Corinthians, chapter 12, listen to the heart of Paul in regards to this, that he's not just trying to twist their arms or manipulate them to give more. He says, in 2 Corinthians, chapter 12, verse 14, here for this third time, I'm ready to come to you. He's been there twice a day. I'm going to come back a third time. And he says, and I will not be a burden to you.

You're not going to have to support me. I'm coming back to Corinthians, but don't worry, I'm going to take care of my own needs. For I do not seek what is yours, but you. Isn't that great? I don't seek what is yours, but you. For children are not responsible to save up for their parents, but parents for their children. And I will most gladly spend and be expended for your souls. If I love you the more, it might be love, the less. See, Paul says, my motivation is not to get anything from you. My motivation in encouraging you to give is so that you will reap great benefits. And I will encourage you. I, over the years, I've known in churches. There have been churches that have been greatly damaged by different programs that have swept through churches, investment programs.

Some guy comes along, has a stamp of approval of the pastor, the leadership, and this guy says, here's a sure thing, invest in this, and you're going to reap great benefits. And then you can really give to the Lord. And then they find out the guy was a scoundrel. It was a scam that he was just after people's money. I'm not asking you to invest in anything but heaven on earth. Invest in the gospel. Invest in the spread of the gospel. Invest in those who will give their life to the spread of the gospel. And you will reap benefits for all eternity. Paul wasn't timid about asking believers to give joyfully, faithfully, sacrificially, boldly because he knew this kind of giving, but not only mark their maturity, but it would bring great benefits to their eyes throughout all eternity.

You see, when I can value, when I can value the gospel, and I can value spiritual things more than I do material things, when I can value the kingdom of God more than I value my comfort in this life. It's a mark of maturity. It's a mark of the understanding Christ and understanding the gospel. And I can do that. Now sometimes one of the smartest things you can do is make good investments in this world so you can make good investments in heaven. Some of the best things could happen to us is we could make more money so we could give more money to the kingdom of God. But not motivated by greed, but motivated by love for Christ, love for the work of Christ around the world. Then one last thing, in verses 18 through 20, he says that new covenant giving must not only be an expression of love and investment of life, but it must be an act of worship.

Notice in verse 18, but I have received everything in full. And I have an abundance. I am amply supplied having received from a Paphroditus what you have sent. And remember back in the early chapters, he says a Paphroditus is a priest. He has come and he is fulfilling his priestly ministry to me by serving me, by bringing this gift to me and then serving me. And he says, I remember now that a Paphroditus has come and brought this gift and I have received what you have sent and then he describes it this way. He says that this gift is a fragrant aroma and acceptable sacrifice while pleasing to God. What an amazing thing that I could spend my money in such a way that it would be worship. You can't do that.

Many places. I started to mention the store too, but you know he is doing that. How can you spend your money in such a way that it is worship? Well, new covenant giving is priestly service. Roman chapter 1 says that we are to give our bodies so that everything we do with our bodies is an act of worship as a priest of God, of Christ. In Hebrews chapter 13, look with me in Hebrews 13. You might even want to underline this. Hebrews chapter 13, verse 15, listen to the light of Hebrews as he encourages these believers and these, by the way, are believers who were not known for being generous. And he says to them, verse 13, hence, let us go out to him outside the campings encouraging these Hebrews who have come to faith in Christ instead of going to the temple with a Shaqina of God as departed.

He says, go outside the camp bearing his reproach. You see, that's where they crucified Jesus camp. He identified with Christ, he says, for here in this world, we do not have a lasting city, but we are seeking the city which is to come. Through him, then, let us continually offer up instead of these sacrifices of the temple in Jerusalem. He says, let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God. That is the fruit of lips that get thanks to his name. In other words, when you praise this morning, when you sang these words of praise, and out of your heart came praise to Christ and praise to God, when that was from the heart, he says this was a sacrifice that's well pleasing to God. He hears.

He hears. Even if you were just moving your lips, but it was an expression of your heart, it's better to make noise. If it's an expression of your heart, he says this is a sacrifice that's well pleasing to God. Then he says this, and do not neglect doing good and sharing for with such sacrifices, God is pleased. You get that? Then he says, not only is our praise a sacrifice of worship, but he says doing good and sharing. In other words, giving to meet the needs of others is worship. It's priestly worship. And then the passage that you heard this morning, 2 Corinthians chapter 8, in fact, I got to have you here in there. I can't help it. 2 Corinthians chapter 8, verse 1, listen to this, he says now, brethren, remember, he's right into the Corinthians from which he has not taken an offering, he's not, they did not support him when he was there, he was careful about that, and he's writing to them about the Philippians, because the Corinthians wanted to give to meet the needs of the saints back in Palestine who were going through great poverty at this time, like the Sudanese are at this time in history, and he says he was calling on them to give and to support, and they wanted to, they had made a start, and now he wants to remind them to finish their commitment, and he says to them, we wish to make known to you the grace of God, the grace of God, and you think he's about to preach the gospel.

And yet the grace of God that he's talking about, which really is preaching the gospel, the grace of God which has been given to the churches of Macedonia, that is, in a great ordeal of affliction, there's that word again, they're being persecuted, they're being ostracized, some of them are experiencing economic effects of being Christians, they're being put on the outside, they're being considered to be people who are worthy to live in Philippi. And he says that in a great deal of affliction, they're abundance of joy, and they're deep poverty, they're abundance of joy in the gospel, they're abundance of joy in Christ, and they're deep poverty, overflowed in the wealth of their liberality, you see it's a grace, it's an act of grace, it's an exercise of grace, and he says, for I testify that according to their ability and beyond their ability, they gave of their own accord, begging.

Now you would expect, this is a biblical word, it's a biblical approach to giving begging. You see that? That this really is biblical, that there should be begging in regards to giving, but notice who's doing the begging, it's not the fundraiser, it's not the guy who comes into a local church, and many are good men, and they have programs that have been helpful, but they come in and you hire them, and for a percentage of the amount that they raise, they will raise money for you. In other words, you can hire somebody from the outside to come in and convince yourselves that you should give, and so you give them 10% to convince you that you should give something, and they say it pays, because if you don't get convinced by one of these professionals, you may only give $100, but if the professional comes in, you may give $1,000, and then he gets $100, amazing, isn't it, that we're like that?

And there's begging going on here, but the begging isn't from Paul. He says, they begged us, with much in treaty, it sounds like Paul's saying, no, you don't need to do this, you have needs yourself, you don't need to take part in this. He says, they begged us with much in treaty for the favor, the grace of participation in the support of the saints, and this, not as we'd expected, but they first gave themselves to the Lord into us by the will of God. What a church, what a work of grace in the church of Philippi. I mean, they want to give so bad that they not only give their money, they give their personnel, they send the Papaditis, one of the chief men in the church, they send him down to minister to Paul, because they knew that what Paul was doing was strategic for the gospel, the gospel was on trial in the Roman Empire.

The center of God's work was right there in that prison. Paul was going to stand trial, and they had enough sense and enough spiritual wisdom and understanding to understand that this was a key place to invest their lives, and they only had a little, they were in poverty, but they gave freely. And you know what, when you get to heaven, you're going to look them up. When you get to heaven, I mean, everybody's going to be standing in the line talking to these Philippians, what in the world motivated you to do that? The grace of God. God so filled us with an understanding of His grace that He made us rich through the poverty of Christ. We wanted, through our our poverty, to give for the advancement of the gospel.

And He says here, back in Philippians, that it is a fragrant offering, what a glorious journey. It's a fragrant offering. Now that comes out of Leviticus and Exodus and Leviticus and Exodus, it says that when the priests were to go in and offer up these offerings, that some of the offerings were to be given in such a way that there would be this smell from the cooked meat that would go up and it would enter into the nostrils of God and He would be so pleased. You know, when I go home, sometimes, and I walk through the door after a long day and I smell the food, cooking, poppies, poppies, peat, there's a lot of them. You know what, I really, a home cooked meal, roast or turkey and mashed potatoes.

You know how that is, guys? When that fills your head and it affects your heart, it makes you feel good. And He says, oh, this aroma, as you offered this offering, it was like a sweet smelling savor that went up to the Father and it enter into those nostrils and it said, we love your Son. We love your Son so much. We would give of our substance so that others could hear about Him. So that His fame could be spread around this globe. So others in this world could come to know Him the way we know Him and praise Him and know that He's worthy to give our lives to. So that others could come to know that greatness and glory of Christ, that He is the fullness of God, that all the fullness of God dwells in Him.

You want to invest in that? You want to invest in the propagation of this good news that Jesus Christ has come into the world and God has come close and the glory of God has come right down into our situation. And now He's bringing us, He's sending us out the call people to come to Him and enter into relationship, come into the very center of this triune God and live out eternity in the blessedness of the triune God. And He says, this giving, these offerings are like a fragrant aroma to the Father. They delight the Father's heart. That's God's perspective of our giving. Paul says, God loves a cheerful giver. That would mean, it doesn't mean giddiness, it doesn't mean we all stand around the giving box back there and giggle and laugh as we put the money in.

That would be different. But it does mean, it does mean that you find deep satisfaction in giving. God's enabled me to give again. He's enabled me to give, He's so changed my heart as stingy as I am and as self-centered as I am apart from the work of the Spirit. He's opened my eyes to the richness of Christ and I can give, I can give. I feel a compassion for believers who don't give because I know there's something missing, you don't understand, you don't understand the riches that you have in Christ Jesus, something missing in your perception that all when the Spirit works in you and when your eyes are opened and when you taste and see, when you drink deeply from this Christ, you can't help with you.

And then those back in Philippians, the way He closes in verse 19 and 20 says in verse 19, and my God, I like that, you see He doesn't say in our God, He says in my God, I'm the one you're giving to. I'm the one you're investing in because you believe the gospel that I preach and He's been talking in economic terms, He's been talking like their business partners, you've been investing in me and there's profit to it and He says, and I want you to know something, my God, I can't reciprocate, I can't pay you back. I don't have money, I'm in prison, I have a few scrolls and a quote and a few little things but I want you to know that my God shall supply all your needs according to His riches and glory and Christ Jesus.

See it's God's responsibility, you didn't understand this, it is God's responsibility to supply His priests with all that they need to fulfill the priestly work. You go back and read the account of the Levites, the Levites were taken care of because they did the work of God and your priests, you thought I was going to say I'm a priest, you're a priest. We are believer priests and God will never, ever keep you from having what you need to fulfill your priestly ministry, including giving. Paul himself couldn't reciprocate but since their gift had the effect of being a sweet smelling savor in the nostrils of God, Paul assures that my God will assume responsibility for reciprocity. He is going to pay you back and then he says it in this way, well wait first, think about this.

How does God supply all your needs, very emphatic here, it's very expansive. In other words, it's one thing for you to say, well I'm going to give $100 and then you get the message, well God then will pay you back $110. He says, my God will supply all your needs. Now through this book, he's been talking about their needs. He's talked about their poverty in 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 3rd, he talked about their financial poverty and Paul says he's going to supply your material needs. But in this book, he's also talked about their suffering opposition and he says God is going to supply steadfastness and joy and encouragement in the midst of opposition. He's been talking about them suffering from need so that it's manifested in their doubt and their disunity and he says, I'm going to pour out my grace and my humility.

God can give you humility even if you're a proud person because all your needs. And they manifested their spiritual poverty and their grumbling and complaining and their anxiety and he says, God is going to be the God of peace to you, he's going to rule in your heart. Paul says, my God will act for me on your behalf by filling to the full all your needs. Now they had been generous to Paul. He noticed he says here in verse 18 that he, verse 17 and 18, that he has filled, they have given him in a rich way so that he's full and overflowing. And you don't hear that very much to you. I was trying to think, do you remember the last time you heard anybody who was trying to raise money for a ministry to say, we have all we need, God has supplied everything we need.

Thank you for giving. You don't hear that much to you. The guy that's in charge of the missions department at a community Bible church in Vallejo, a gray greed, he's been, he takes class at the school of theology and I've talked him several times and he was telling me, our biggest problem is we have so much money given to missions, we're having a hard time finding enough missionaries to support. That is rare, isn't it? And don't let that out now, don't tell anybody. The Paul says, your gift has been so lavish that I have everything I need. I don't need anything more. I mean, he's almost about ready to have a good sale. Now, what does it mean that he's going to give, that God's going to give them in this way?

I mean, this is quite a statement. My God shall supply all your needs according to his riches in glory and Christ Jesus. Notice the context. The context is a word of promise to believers who are sacrificially giving to the advance of the gospel. What does he mean by this? Well, his riches in glory is the sphere from which the Father is going to lavish his riches on his own in Christ Jesus. It's from the sphere of his riches. His ineffable and eternal glory, God's riches are those riches that are inherent to his Godhood, that God is the creator and Lord of everything, nothing lies outside of his ownership. He owns everything. He doesn't just own a cattle on a thousand hills. He owns the hills and all the cattle and everything in the universe.

He says that his giving is from this riches, according to these riches in glory. In fact, notice that. It's not out of his riches. A very rich person could give you a very small gift. You could have somebody who was a billionaire and you had a need and he comes along and says, here, here's buy bucks. But it says, notice, according to. That means Kata means according to this norm. This is the standard of how he gives. This is the measuring stick by which he gives. It is in accordance with. In other words, it's fitting for his glory. God's full supply will come their way to meet every need and it's in a manner that befits God's wealth. It's on a scale of his wealth. Man, that's glorious, isn't it?

That he's going to give it away that's according to his wealth. Very Johnson Flint wrote this song, you've all heard it. His love has no limit, his grace has no measure, his power has no boundary known under men. For out of his infinite riches in Jesus, he give it and give it and give it again. Paul says in Colossians that all the riches of God are hidden in Christ Jesus, everything that God is is in Christ. And he sent Christ, he gave us Christ, he gave us Christ, isn't that something? Everything that there is, everything God owns is in Christ and he gave us Christ. This is the record that you have eternal life, this life was in his son and he, as the son, has the life. What a gift. What riches?

And he says he will share with us, he will need every need that we have according to his riches. Paul is trying to say something concrete about the eternal God and his relationship to his people. So his final words is, notice what the final words of verse 19 is. This is Paul's theme if you read his epistle. This is the theme of Paul. You could write this over every book in Christ Jesus, in Christ Jesus. All his wealth is in Christ and he's given you Christ. Because Paul has beheld the glory of Christ and the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ, as he says in 2 Corinthians, he knows that Christ Jesus is the way God has made his love known and available to us. Those riches are available in Christ.

This letter began within Christ Jesus and now he concludes it in Christ Jesus and then he noticed, after he says in my God we'll supply all your needs according to his riches in Christ Jesus, nothing else can be said, you can't add anything to that. And so Paul just worships and he says now to our God and Father, be the glory forever and ever all men. God has richly blessed us in Christ and Christ is available. God wouldn't say to you, come and drink of Christ, take hold of Christ, receive Christ, drink of Him, eat His flesh and drink His blood, He wouldn't use those kinds of invitations. Jesus wouldn't say come unto me if he wasn't available. You know what, that availability is for you believers.

The riches of God in Christ Jesus is available to you and he says he'll supply all your needs. That's why we can loosen our hands. That's why I can loosen my grip on all my possessions because I have Christ. In Luke chapter 12 verse 32, Jesus said these words, I these are wonderful words, listen do not be afraid, old flock, for your Father has chosen gladly to give you the kingdom. You know, some of you think that it's really hard to get anything from God. It's really difficult to get God to give you what you need. And here Jesus says, you know what? You don't need to fear because your Father has chosen gladly to give you the kingdom. All we can say is what Paul said in 2 Corinthians 9 verse 15, the very last verse, thanks be to God for his indescribable gift.

The pattern is this, this is my closing statement, so we're going to stop. The pattern is this, we love because he first loved us, right? We forgive because he's already forgiven us. He's in chapter 5 and we give because he's already given to us his indescribable gift. All he asks of us is to give in a way that's commensurate with the gift that he's given us. That's all he's asking. That's what he's giving us opportunity to do and that's what he's called us to do. Let's stand together and pray. Our mighty God and loving Heavenly Father, we have experienced such a fullness of your grace in our lives, you've given us so much. We cannot measure the spiritual blessings that you've brought into our lives, the forgiveness, the fullness, the spirit, your daily presence, the fact that the Holy Spirit is here to mediate the presence of Jesus in our lives every single day, having you as Father, having the spirit of adoption that cries out within our hearts, Abba, Father.

We are blessed, you've poured out your riches in our life, but we want more. We know the only way we can experience more is to give our lives, to invest our lives, our time, our energy, our finances, everything that we have in our into the kingdom, into the advance of your gospel. Father, thank you for this privilege of using us to be used by you as conduits through which your grace flows and we pray we'd be faithful stewards of this grace that you've given to us. I pray you would help me not to grow weary and well doing. God helped me to be a giver and help all of us, Father, in this church, to be givers, givers who give because of love, givers who give because we know it's the best investment in all time and eternity, and givers who give because we love to worship the Lord Jesus Christ.

Motivate us and empower us to give and to experience your great blessings we pray in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. Thank you.