Good Reasons to Give
Philippians 4:14-19

A church business meeting was being held and the subject of giving arose. The members were debating the importance of giving when a man arose and said:
“I want to tell you about my son. When he was born into this world, he cost us money, a doctors bill and a hospital bill. Through his childhood days, he cost us more money, clothing, food, doctor bills, and presents. Through his high school days, he cost us even more money, more clothes, car insurance, and a lot of Big Macs. Shortly after graduation, our son became seriously ill and God saw fit to take him home to heaven, and now, He doesn’t cost us a cent. The man paused to let that fact sink in. Then he sternly said to the members of his church, "Brothers and Sisters, if your faith is not costing you anything, you may be sure it is dead!”
Do you know that it in our very nature to give? We know that it is right to give and it gives joy to give. Why is that? Because we are made in the image of a giving God. God is giving, and we who are made in that image have a heart to give as well.
Whenever you make a decision, you want to know what the benefits of that decision are. You want to be sure that the benefits outweigh the cost. If you are going to buy a car, you test drive that car and find out the options that it has. You buy it if you believe that the benefits outweigh the cost.
If you were going to buy a house, you look through the house, get it appraised. You want to know if the house has termites, has water damage, so that the price you pay for the house will not be greater than the benefits. You want the benefits to outweigh the cost.
If you are going to get married, you know there will be costs involved. There will be ups and downs, but overall you would like for the benefits to outweigh the cost.
Today I am going to dare speak about a subject that many have great skepticism toward: sacrificial giving toward God’s work. Why should you give? What is the reason for our giving?
“It’s Your Choice to Rejoice,” and one of the ways we choose to rejoice is we choose to be givers and not takers. Do you want to rejoice? Then believe and practice this: “It is more blessed to give than to receive.” You see, there are two kinds of people in the world, givers and takers. What kind of person are you?
Have you ever experienced fear over your finances? Is it your goal to be a millionaire? Is it God’s will for you to be a millionaire? Is it your goal to be poor? Is it God’s will for you to be poor?
Because God has given Himself to us there are some good reasons we have to give. Take heart to the following benefits of giving to the Lord’s work:
By giving… 1. We FELLOWSHIP with others, v.14-16
The Philippians in giving to the Apostle Paul was a way to fellowship with Paul in his imprisonment. The word fellowship is translated “communicate” in verse 14,15. Paul had gone to Philippi, was beaten and thrown into a dark, inner prison. The earthquake came, and the jailer was miraculously saved. This rough, tough, violent, fearful man was changed by the Spirit of God. Paul left Philippi for Thessalonica, then Berea, then Athens, then Corinth, then Ephesus, then Jerusalem. All along the way, the Philippians remembered Paul’s ministry with gratitude and sent gifts to him along the way. Each time they gave to this missionary, they were demonstrating a partnership in the Gospel with the one to which we give. We must maintain our missions giving because not many churches have this as their focus.
“No church communicated with me as concerning giving and receiving, but ye only.”
What is Paul saying? Missions giving churches are in short supply. No other church gave to Paul like the Philippians. Today there are still not many churches that give to missions. I dare not be in that number!
We are supporting the Theo and Esther Kisavi family in Kenya, East Africa. They have started a number of churches and recently have started an orphanage for children who have AIDS. We are partners with Theo.
We are supporting the Vitaly and Alexandra Keller family in St. Petersburg, Russia. Recently, they have established a church, and we are partners with them in their new church.
We desire to support the Mossman family to Cameroon, West Africa.
I am privileged to be in fellowship with other Christians in various parts of the world! How exciting to be part of something that never sleeps. Yes, we leave this place and close the doors, but our church lives on through the lives of our missionaries 24 hours a day!
2. We INVEST in eternity, v.17
“Not because I desire a gift: but I desire fruit that may abound to your account.”
When we give toward the needs of God’s servants, we invest in eternity and will gain eternal reward.
What is Paul saying? The Philippians in a spiritual sense had opened up an account with Paul. They gave to him time and again and received dividends for their giving. Our giving is an investment into eternity. Paul desires that their earthly investment would bear dividends for all eternity Giving is a way to lay up our treasure above, where moth and rust doth not corrupt and where thieves cannot break through and steal. Do you know what makes a person happy?: a good investment. When a person makes a good investment it gives joy. When someone invests in a stock or mutual fund and it gets great returns, that person is happy, no doubt. No matter how good an investment is down here, you will leave it behind eventually. When we give toward God’s work, we will bear the blessing throughout all eternity. There will be an eternal return of interest on our earthly investment. There will be dividends throughout our days here and in heaven.
Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also (Matt.6:19-21).
Let me apply this to our giving to our local church. Now, the Lord does not need our money. If you are hesitant to give or feel that you should not give to this church, then don’t. If you do not believe in what we are doing here, then you should go to a church where you can give, however. God’s work is building up His church. Giving to the local church is vital to our spiritual growth and health. However, I will say that your giving to this church is a good spiritual investment, because it goes directly to getting out the message of Jesus Christ. I will also make this commitment to you as your pastor:
? We will not beg for your money. We will not tell you how much you have to give.
? We will not invent a crisis to manipulate you to give.
? We will not use guilt as a motive for you to give.
? We will trust the Lord to provide for our church.
? We will seek to build up those who come to our church into mature believers and then trust God to work in people to give as He puts into their heart.
? We will teach what the Bible teaches about giving: That you give CHEERFULLY, ABUNDANTLY, PROPORTIONATELY, to this work so we can do more in getting out the Gospel.
I believe that giving to our church is an investment into eternity. Your giving buys Sunday School material, pays the rent so we can meet in this place and so preach His word, and do the work of the ministry, helps buy food for our homeless ministry, buys tracts, and helps us go on the radio to preach a Bible message each Sunday night. We will not know the result of our giving until we see the Lord someday. If you love the Lord and believe God wants you in this church, then give as you purpose in your heart to give.
3. We PLEASE our God, v.18
Phil. 4:18; But I have all, and abound: I am full, having received of Epaphroditus the things which were sent from you, an odour of a sweet smell, a sacrifice acceptable, wellpleasing to God.
Our SACRICIAL GIVING PLEASES God.
Paul says that he had received a payment from the Philippians in full. Our giving is like a sacrifice we give to God. When we sacrificially give to God, we please Him. Do you know when you are happiest? When you are pleasing God. You see, God made you to please Him and when we please Him, we will be satisfied and fulfilled.
Now, if you do not have money, does that mean you cannot be a giver? NO. You can give your time, your love, your hand, a cup of cold water. God does not look at the amount of the gift but the amount of the sacrifice. That is what the widow with her mite teaches us.
Mark 12:43,44, That this poor widow hath cast more in, that all they which have cast into the treasure: For all they did cast in of their abundance; but she of her want did cast in all that she had, even all her living.
We are a royal priesthood offering spiritual sacrifices. The giving of our finances to the work of God is one of the spiritual sacrifices we make. Giving physical things is a very spiritual endeavor. Giving is a litmus test of our faith.
Let me apply this to giving toward a Christian in physical need. It is good to help someone who needs help, to heal the hurting, and bind up the bleeding. When we give of ourselves to help the hurting and meet the physical needs, it is pleasing to God, a sacrifice acceptable. You do not have to give money to be a giver, either. You can give your life, like the believers in Philippi:
2 Cor. 8:1-5 The Philippians had given to the saints in Jerusalem out of their deep poverty in the midst of great trial and affliction. This poverty was the deepest kind imaginable. They had hit rock bottom; they were in danger of starvation, yet they were able to give something. In the Roman Empire, they paid high taxes, high rent, and high prices for food. Times have not changed. This kind of sacrifice is unusual in our day of luxury and greed.
Another example of one who gave as a spiritual sacrifice was George Muller. George Muller was touched with the condition of the many orphans and street children in England in the 1830s. He decided to gather as many as possible each morning for breakfast and then to teach them Scripture for an hour and a half. As his burden grew, he began praying about establishing an orphanage, and finally one evening, he came to a verse that moved him mightily:
“Open thy mouth wide, and I will fill it.” Psalm 81:10 He wrote, “I was led to apply this scripture to the orphan house, and ask the Lord for premises, one thousand pounds and suitable individuals to take care of the children.” God provided all of those things a few months later and Muller opened the doors for the orphans of Bristol, England. There was one thing he forgot to pray for: ORPHANS, and so none came. He had prayed for rent, materials, equipment, and laborers, but he forgot to pray for orphans! He went home that night and prayed, and the very next day he received his first applicant. Within a month 42 children sought admission. Through the years that followed, buildings were constructed, up to 2,000 orphans were cared for at one time every day by faith, and Muller testified to 50,000 specific prayers being answered. The primary goal of the orphanage Muller had was that God might be magnified and provide for all their needs only by PRAYER and FAITH, without asking anyone. Throughout the years Muller’s faith was greatly tried. Often Muller did not have a single penny in the houses to feed the children. “This morning, I had asked the Lord, if it might be, to prevent the necessity of our selling things so we could feed the children.” That afternoon a lady from London brought a package with money in it from her daughter who had sent it several days before. Many times he said, “The funds are exhausted.” But not once did these words hold true over night. Resources were often depleted during the day or after the evening meal, but when the next day there was always enough.
4. We GUARANTY God’s Supply, v.19
Here is a promise from the Living God. He guarantees to supply our need but the promise comes with a premise. The promise does hinge on a condition. What is the condition to God supplying all of our need? It is that we are generous. God guarantees to supply ALL of our needs according to His riches in glory. The cord of generosity must be used to plug into this divine guaranty. God promises to meet all of our NEEDS, not our GREEDS. He has not promised to meet our WHIMS, our LUXURIES, our CRAVINGS.
Find a need and meet it, see a hurt and heal it.
Here is a promise with no limits.
A. There is no limit to the SOURCE of the promise: “MY God…”
He is the infinite God who provides our needs. He is infinite in all of His attributes, His love, His grace, His mercy, His power, His knowledge, His wisdom. Let me ask you, is Paul’s God YOUR God? This God of Paul who provides can be your God. He provides!
You remember the story of Abraham offering his son Isaac upon the altar. Behold the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering? Isaac asked. And Abraham said, My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering. Abraham’s God who provided a lamb for a sacrifice can be your God, who supplied Jesus to be the lamb of God for our sins.
How about the story of Elijah who was living beside a brook that was nearly all dried up. Then the voice of God rings out to the prophet, “Arise, go to Zarephath, I have commanded a widow woman there to sustain thee.” He goes as God said, and there he meets a poor woman getting ready for her last supper. Make me a little cake first, the prophet declares, and so her little bit of oil and meal did not waste throughout all the days of famine. My friends, Elijah’s God can be your God.
Read how God healed Job, and how God provided for Ruth, and how God called the prophet Jeremiah. Job’s God, and Ruth’s God, and Jeremiah’s God is the One True God and He can be your God!
B. There is no limit to the SCOPE of the promise: “Shall supply ALL your need…”
Paul says that God will FILL TO THE FULL all the needs that you have. There is no limit to our needs, and there is no limit to our God meeting our NEEDS. We humans are a bag of needs, and a heap of misery, yet God is able to supply ALL of our needs. This speaks of your physical needs, your spiritual needs, your emotional needs, and your financial needs. How will God do this?
C. There is no limit to the SUPPLY of the promise: “According to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.”
Do you know what that means?
Imagine if Bill Gates was a Christian and he was in our church this morning. Mr. Microsoft says, “I want to give you a gift OUT of my riches.” He writes a check for $1,000.00. But if Mr. Gates says, “Here is a gift ACCORDING to my riches” he would sign over to you a blank check! That is the difference between OUT of and ACCORDING to!
Count the treasures of the ocean and they do not compare with the riches of our God in glory. Cast your eyes to the starry host and to the vast unsearchable universe, and its size does not compare to the infiniteness of our God. His riches in glory have no limits. These are unsearchable riches. Now consider the birds of the air, the pigeons in the park and the lillies of the field and see how God meets their needs.
How can you plug into this promise? By being a generous giver to those who are serving God.
These are some good reasons to give toward the work of our Great God:
He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things? Rom. 8:32
Yes, we have good reasons to give!