We do not ask for any mystic vision; we do not ask to hear the whisper of voices, but O Lord, we do entreat you, take away the blindness from our eyes, the dullness from our hearts, the unresponsiveness from our spirits, that as the Lord Jesus would draw near in the preaching of his word, our hearts may leap within us and that we may run to greet him.
14. “Nevertheless you have done well that you shared in my distress. 15. Now you Philippians know also that in the beginning of the gospel, when I departed from Macedonia, no church shared with me concerning giving and receiving but you only. 16. For even in Thessalonica you sent aid once and again for my necessities. 17. Not that I seek the gift, but I seek the fruit that abounds to your account. 18. Indeed I have all and abound. I am full, having received from Epaphroditus the things sent from you, a sweet-smelling aroma, an acceptable sacrifice, well pleasing to God. 19. And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus. 20. Now to our God and Father be glory forever and ever. Amen.”
Today, this passage has a direct application to the sensitive topic of giving money to church ministry. As soon as you mention the topic, people will stare at the preacher with suspicion. Having heard all these false teachers, when we preach on this, people can get upset and say, “Oh, this church is also focused on getting money from people.” We rarely preach about money; we only do it when, in consecutive verse-by-verse teaching, we come across a passage where the Bible talks about money, like today. We have never preached about money because there is a need. So far, there has been no personal vested interest to focus on this topic, as you know our church officers, either deacons or myself, we work full-time jobs and do not take even one rupee from the church. Every rupee collected as a church offering in our church is audited, and at our annual members’ meeting, which is happening today, the account is submitted to all church members. So can I request you to remove all your suspicions and prejudices and come with an open mind to learn the pure truth of what the Bible tells us about giving?
Paul is thanking the Philippians who had given sacrificially to meet his needs. He thanks them in such a tactful and beautiful way. On one hand, he does not vainly praise and make them feel proud, and on the other hand, he shows his gratitude for them. In this context, he gives us one of the most marvelous and comforting promises in the Bible. Verse 19: “And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.” In the context, it’s a conditional promise. You can’t take this promise by divorcing it from what goes before in the context and claim it. This promise is given to people who demonstrate faithfulness by proper biblical giving. To those people, here is a marvelous promise from God: He on His part will supply all our needs. By failing to learn and practice biblical giving, we not only miss God’s blessings in this life that come from faithful obedience, but we also become more susceptible to the love of money, which hinders our spiritual growth and even the advancement of the gospel.
So, from this passage, we will learn four principles of Biblical giving.
1. Biblical Giving Should Be One of the First Practices We Establish in Our Christian Life.
Look at verse 14. It starts with the word “nevertheless.” This is a very important transition, because what he has said up to now might send the wrong message back to the Philippians. The Philippians, though they were poor and had their own needs, knowing Paul was in a difficult situation, had sacrificially sent food, clothing, and money. In verse 11, Paul says, “I don’t have any wants. I’m satisfied with very little.” Why? “By trusting in the hand of the providence of God in all outward circumstances and the strengthening work of Christ inside me, I’ve learned to be content in all situations.” Hearing this, the Philippians may think, “Paul didn’t need anything we sent him. We made a terrible mistake by sending this major sacrificial gift, which he didn’t want.” They would have felt very bad, and it would not have been a thank-you note at all.
So, he says, “nevertheless,” in spite of the fact that I’m content, “you have done well. You did a noble thing.” The Greek word is kalos, meaning you did something that was beautiful in its character, a lovely thing. We are studying about good works. This is a God-pleasing good work. In what? “In sharing with me in my affliction.” In my pain, difficulty, and trouble, you became partners by sending this.
See verse 15, “Now you Philippians know also that in the beginning of the gospel, when I departed from Macedonia, no church shared with me concerning giving and receiving but you only.” And verse 16, “For even in Thessalonica you sent aid once and again for my necessities.” He is not only saying, “you have done a good thing now,” but he is going back ten years and appreciating what they did then. Ten years ago when I first preached the gospel in Philippi and the church was started, you became new believers. In verse 15, notice the phrase, “in the beginning of the gospel.” You did this and established this good habit. “When I departed from Macedonia, no church shared with me concerning giving and receiving but you only.” You were the only church who supported me. “I haven’t forgotten how generous you’ve been to me when I first preached the gospel.” This was not just a one-time act. Verse 16 says, “For even in Thessalonica you sent aid once and again for my necessities.” You are continually doing noble acts of giving. He already told them in verse 10 that they would have done more, but they never had an opportunity in the intervening time.
In all this, Paul commends them for having established this biblical habit of giving at the beginning of their Christian life. Right from the start of their Christian experience, the Philippians had given. You know, Paul never asked for money. He never asks, but still, they, knowing his needs, kept sending him gifts as a gospel duty. This is because our Lord had taught that it is proper for a man who labors in the gospel to receive his support from those who believe the gospel. (Luke 10:7, 1 Corinthians 9:1-18, 1 Timothy 5:17-18).
But for the sake of avoiding the charge that he was preaching for the money, Paul chose not to receive support, and he was working with his own hands by making tents. Paul never seemed to make his needs known, not even as prayer requests, but trusted in the sovereign God to provide. But knowing his needs, these were the only church who, as if forcingly, kept giving to him. In 2 Corinthians 8, Paul says they gave liberally to him out of their deep poverty. Paul says, “What you’ve done is a noble thing, a good and beautiful thing, just like you did ten years ago when you became new believers and already started practicing faithful biblical giving.” He appreciates them for it.
So, the first principle we clearly learn from this passage is that faithful biblical giving should be one of the first things we establish in our Christian life. If we don’t, we not only miss God’s blessings of faithful obedience, but we also become more susceptible to the love of money, which will hinder our spiritual growth and even the advancement of the gospel. This could be one of the implied problems of the Corinthian church, because he had to teach them all the basics of giving. He says to the struggling Corinthian church in 2 Corinthians 11, that to preach the gospel to them, he took from the Philippian church in poverty. He felt like, “I had to rob the churches of Macedonia to support me to minister to you.” He even saw it as a sort of robbery.
One of the first lessons we learn in our Christian walk has to be biblical giving. That is the first principle. How sad that some say they have been believers for 20 or 30 years, yet they never learned that and still struggle. See, the Philippians learned from the start.
Questions are: how to give, when to give, and how much to give.
- How to give: Give like the Philippians without being pressured. Even without Paul asking, they joyfully gave. If it has to be a God-pleasing good work, you are to give from the heart, not grudgingly or out of necessity, thinking, “Oh, if I don’t give, it won’t look good.” Paul says again to the Corinthians that “the Lord loves a cheerful giver.” Paul’s joy was because that’s how the Philippians gave, not because they had to, but because they willingly and lovingly gave.
- When to give: They gave consistently when others didn’t. We are told in 1 Corinthians that we are to give on the first day of the week, “On the first day of the week let each one of you lay by in store as God has prospered him.” Some of us give weekly, some monthly; we have to do it consistently.
- How much to give: They gave generously. Paul says, “I received more than I need.” The Bible says, “give as God has prospered you.” Yes, the New Testament has not set a specific amount. Some people try to dodge God, saying, “Oh, there’s no set amount in the New Testament, so I will not give anything or give some leftover change.” Traditionally, in the church, Christians have taught that a good starting point is ten percent of your income to be given to the Lord. Many preachers teach that if the Old Testament, with its limited grace under the law, gave 10%, how much more generously we should give under grace. We believe 10% is a good starting point.
To be frank, it is not easy. It is kind of impossible for unsaved people to do this. First, to give, then to give cheerfully from the heart, then to give regularly, and worst of all, how generously. It is impossible for a natural, self-centered, self-loving man or woman to do this, as whatever he earns is not enough for a selfish person. Moreover, the natural, fleshly mind is at enmity with God. How can a person love God so much to do this? What made this group of Philippians, even out of their poverty and in the midst of all their present and future needs, give like this? Behold the power of the gospel.
In verse 14, we don’t even notice the word in the context. Paul says, “from the beginning of the gospel you supported me.” This is because when the true gospel comes with power into people’s hearts, it alone can transform a man or woman’s heart from self-centered slavery and make him or her love God. For such people, spreading the gospel and the growth of the church become more important than anything in life. That becomes a priority in the midst of all their needs. The gospel was the great concern of these people. Only the power of the gospel can break a person’s natural selfishness and make him or her give sacrificially for the gospel like this. Even without being asked, they want to give joyfully.
The problem comes when unsaved people are in the church, and they have to be forced to give. That is what these false teachers do, using all kinds of emotional manipulation to make them charged with emotion and put even their jewelry into the offering. They use every sociological manipulation, saying, “See, all others are doing it; you should do it.” Those who give more become leaders there. They give them all kinds of false promises, like, “Give 10, and God gives 1000 rupees.” This did not come about by emotional or sociological manipulation; this is by the power of the gospel.
If you sit here this morning wondering, “What is this pastor saying? 10%? Forget it, I can never give even 1%, and that too joyfully. Impossible.” You have to examine your heart. You are in an island of self-centeredness. You cannot fulfill this command until your heart has felt the power of that gospel of the grace of Jesus Christ who selflessly gave himself for us. So this is something we learn first in the Christian life.
2. Biblical Giving Should Be Given in a Church That Has Accountable, Selfless, Hardworking Gospel Ministers.
Each of the four things are important.
- Church: See how Paul says, “from the beginning of the gospel you were partners in the gospel.” Though Paul was a missionary, he was sent by a church and was always accountable to a church. When we talk about gospel work, people have only a half-idea. “You just go to some place, have a meeting, preach the gospel, ask them to come forward, and send photo prints of 10,000 people saved today.” Some of those meetings don’t even preach the true gospel; they are revival meetings or miracle festivals, all in the name of the gospel. Is that the Great Commission gospel work? Before His ascension, His great command in Matthew 28:19 was, “Go therefore… and he didn’t just say to preach… make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. Amen.” That kind of biblical gospel work can only be done by the church, not by any para-church organizations. So if you want to be gospel partners, you have to give to a church that preaches the true gospel, makes disciples, and teaches them to observe all Christ commanded. A church that has accountable, selfless, hardworking gospel ministers.
- Accountable: When we give money, there should be accountability for how it is used for the church and for gospel ministry. Notice how Paul states in verse 15, “no church shared with me concerning giving and receiving but you only.” The phrase “giving and receiving” is used for an accounting statement of income and expenses. What it indicates is that Paul was a very careful steward and that he kept accounts of all income and expenses. He maintained his accountability to the churches that supported him.
Again, that can only happen in a church context where the church faithfully appoints pastors, pays them salaries decently with accountability, uses the money for the church, and shares the accounts with the people for all the money they have given. If this one rule is followed properly in Christianity today and every Christian asks for an account of what he gave, how many false prosperity teachers can be avoided? All these false, obnoxious men would never abuse the sacred work of gospel preaching as a means to make money and become rich. Today, Christianity has become a laughingstock because people give to these false teachers and mega-churches and distant churches who force them, and they don’t even know how their money is abused, and no one asks for an account. Even the great Apostle Paul kept accounts.
- Hardworking pastors: Paul, with all his busy ministry, was working with his hands and never asked for money for himself. But when he got unasked, unexpected support, his workload decreased. He would stop making tents and devote himself to full-time ministry (you see that in Acts 18:1-11, 2 Corinthians 11:7-12). There are those who claim to be serving the Lord full-time, but they are so lazy. Many full-time ministries are in a small church, with only one sermon, a ministry in name only. Why do they need full-time ministry support? They can work. Or, if you have a big church that already supports you, why do these people come on TV and ask for money? The church should support them. They are either lazy or not hardworking. In traditional churches, you see pastors involved in politics in an organization. They have 10 or 50 pastors, and the head pastor hardly preaches or works hard. He just collects all the money, pays salaries, and takes the rest for his luxury life. So, biblical giving is to a church that has accountable and hardworking ministers.
- Selfless minister: In verse 10, Paul said he rejoiced greatly seeing their gifts. Now he says in verse 14, “You did a noble thing giving so generously.” “Okay, Paul, that’s nice to hear. How could it be so noble a good work if you didn’t need it?” Look at the amazing selflessness of this man of God. We should give to such men.
Here’s why I rejoice and here is why it is a good work: Verse 17: “Not that I seek the gift, but I seek the fruit that abounds to your account.” It isn’t that I want the material benefit in my account; it is that I want the benefit in your account. That is what makes me rejoice. He is a contented, selfless man who lived preoccupied with the well-being of others. He was not concerned about his own well-being, whether he was comfortable, well-fed, or satisfied. He’s not saying, “You did well to send me money, so I can have my needs met, and it makes me happy, comfortable, and fat.” No, he is saying, “I’m so glad you gave it, not because I seek the gift, but I seek the fruit that abounds to your account.”
He had been praying continuously for the blessing and good of the Philippians. In verse 1:9, he prays that their love would abound more and more and that they would grow in spiritual maturity, in the grace of the Lord, and in gospel graces to live with God’s blessings and peace always with them. He says, “I rejoice because I want that fruit, that profit that goes on your account.” He was not concerned with what he got. He was deeply concerned with the blessings that came to others.
Do you rejoice more in the blessing that comes to others than you do in that which comes to you? Are you content when you don’t have, but others are blessed? This is the heart of Paul. He is interested not in accruing benefits in his own life, but in seeing the people he loved blessed. He was so thrilled because it would benefit them so much. That was his joy.
So, the second principle: if we truly want to be partners in the gospel, we should take the initiative and give to a church that has accountable, hardworking, selfless, gospel ministers. This is a church focused on the true work of the gospel, on making disciples and teaching them all that Christ taught.
It is a sad state, you know, why we don’t find such churches. It is because people do not support them. Meanwhile, all these false preachers, who constantly pressure people—”if you give 10, you get 1000,” or “if you don’t give right now, my ministry will stop, a curse will come on you, God will punish you,” and so on—use emotional, hypnotic, and sociological pressures. They get all the support, and false churches are growing while true gospel work is so hindered because many faithful ministers get very little support. This is because, like Paul, they don’t ask, force, or pressure anyone. Like the Philippian church, we need to learn this practice early: take the initiative and determine to support only true gospel churches that have accountable, hardworking, selfless, gospel ministers.
True Biblical Giving Is a Divine Investment
The third principle: True biblical giving is indeed a divine investment for this life and for eternity.
False teachers take this precious truth given to biblical giving and abuse it. See, Paul says, when you learn early and give to a church with accountable, hardworking, selfless gospel ministers, “it increases to your account” (4:17). When you give biblically to the Lord’s work, you are putting money into your account in the Bank of Heaven, and it pays guaranteed high interest both for this life and for all eternity. God, in Heaven’s bank, keeps a ledger account book, and God keeps the records of the deeds of His people. Your giving like this increases your account. When you increase God’s account books, you are truly setting yourselves up for blessing upon blessing.
How? It comes out beautifully in the promise in verse 19. Generally, the scripture principle that these false preachers abuse is that when you give faithfully and generously, you will see God increasing your income. In Malachi 3:10, God invites people to test Him by bringing the whole tithe into the storehouse, promising to “throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it.” In Proverbs 3:9, “Honor the Lord from your wealth and from the first of all your produce, so your barns will be filled with plenty and your vats will overflow with new wine.” If you want God’s blessing on your earthly enterprise, then put your treasure in His hands. In Luke 6:38, Jesus says, “Give and it will be given to you.” In 2 Corinthians 9:6, the apostle Paul wrote, “Sow sparingly, reap sparingly.” The principle throughout Scripture is this: that what you sacrificially give becomes treasure in heaven, and God, in response to that, will give in return. You Philippians gave generously, and I’ll tell you, God will give back to you. And so it has accrued to your account, which will bring physical and spiritual dividends, the blessing of God. It is a principle, and we do not want to overemphasize this.
Biblical Giving Is a Pleasing Act of Worship
Fourthly, biblical, faithful giving is a God-pleasing expression of worship.
When we give to true ministers and are the reason for meeting their needs, it is a well-pleasing aroma before God. Notice verse 18: “Indeed I have all and abound. I am full, having received from Epaphroditus the things sent from you, a sweet-smelling aroma, an acceptable sacrifice, well pleasing to God.” The verbs are all increasingly emphatic. He is saying, in effect, “You have sent me more than I needed. You have met all my needs through gifts you sent through Epaphroditus, and in fact, I abound in a surplus. I am full, amply supplied.” He is completely filled up. “I have everything I could ever ask for.” He’s not without gratitude; he is overflowing with that. But his satisfaction comes not because of what he got, but because of the Philippians’ loving, sacrificial generosity, because it accrued to their benefit, to their account. And that is what thrilled his heart.
Notice what he says about what you have done by meeting my needs. Verse 18: “What you gave me was a fragrant aroma, an acceptable sacrifice well pleasing to God.” Wow! What he is really saying is: “You didn’t give it to me; you gave it to God. And it was a fragrant aroma, an acceptable sacrifice well pleasing to God. It was an expression of your pure act and a true act of worship, and it is well pleasing to God. You have greatly pleased God by doing this.”
This is Old Testament language. We are learning in Leviticus how the Jews, in gratitude, brought sacrifices. Remember the grain offering, the labor of their hands. They brought it as an expression of giving themselves, and it was a well-pleasing aroma to God, an act of worship. In the New Testament, we don’t bring animal or grain offerings, but as an expression of our worship, we give ourselves, and we show that tangibly when we give to God and his kingdom what is most valuable, our earnings we got from the labor of our hands. We say, “We give ourselves by that.” They are a fragrant, acceptable, and well-pleasing gift to God.
That’s why Paul was so grateful. His joy came not because his needs were met. His joy came because the Philippians had given God something that pleased God so much and would add to their spiritual benefit.
Ultimately, when you give biblically with these principles from the beginning—consistently, joyfully, willingly, to a church which has accountable, hardworking, selfless ministers—it not only adds to your account and benefit but is seen as a pleasing sacrifice given to God Himself. Because it is actually given to God, for his kingdom. Though he is the richest king, He has willed to build his kingdom by the grateful, biblical giving of his people, and he receives it as a pleasing aroma in his sight.
It all depends on how we give. Suppose I gave my wife a gift on our anniversary day. How would she feel if I said, “I didn’t really want to, but I hadn’t gotten you anything for quite a while, and I was feeling kind of guilty. I know that our neighbor got his wife something, and I know it’s my duty as your husband to give you something.” How would she feel? She wouldn’t be “well-pleased,” because my motive was wrong. But if I said, “Honey, you deserve even more than I can give, but I love you so much and I was thinking of how much you mean to me when I bought this,” the very same gift would be accepted as well-pleasing to her. That’s how we should give to God, out of a heart of love and gratitude, to glorify Him (4:20).
If our giving is done as an act of worship to glorify God, then we won’t want it advertised how much we’re giving. Many Christian ministries cater to the flesh when they put up plaques or memorial stones with the names of donors. The best plaque on a church building would say, “This church building was donated by five businessmen who want the glory to go to God.”
Thus, we are to give faithfully to the Lord’s work of furthering the gospel, out of a heart of worship to our Lord who gave Himself for our sins. If we do, God promises something: “And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus” (4:19).
Paul is saying, “I know you gave sacrificially when you had other needs. This may have created more needs for you, but I want to assure you that God will not be in your debt. This act was added to your account in heaven. It is a fragrant aroma, an acceptable sacrifice well pleasing to God. It will result in God giving back to you pressed down, shaken together, and running over. God will supply all your needs.”
Some may say, “Oh, it is all talking about rewards in heaven.” But I think, given the context here, “all your needs” also means material needs, the earthly needs that were created by this sacrifice of the Philippians, and would be amply supplied by God in response to this act.
To what extent will He supply? You say, “What if He gives me back only spiritual blessings and I die of hunger?” No, no, He’ll supply all your needs. And to what extent? According to His riches. Not out of His riches. If I say to a rich man, “Give me out of your riches,” he could give me 100 rupees. That’s out of his riches. But if I say to a rich man, “Give me according to your riches,” he’s going to have to give me maybe 10 crores. That’s according to, or consistent with, the amount that he has. When God gives to you according to his riches, he doesn’t give you a pittance out of them; he gives you according to His riches, His glorious riches. What a staggering promise! The God who owns the whole earth says that He will meet our needs if we give faithfully, and it is a blessed thing to know this in your experience as you watch Him do it. And all this comes with another rich phrase: in Christ Jesus. What a statement.
A man was facing a great tragedy in his life and had to travel. His rich friend came and gave him a blank check. Stunned, he asked, “Do you mean you are giving me a signed check to be filled out as I please?” “Yes, exactly,” his friend replied. “I don’t know how much you might need, and I want you to draw any amount that will meet your need.” He gratefully took the check, but he didn’t need to use it on his trip. Later he commented, “It gave me such peace, calm, and a happy feeling to know that I had a vast sum at my disposal.” Our supply is as sufficient as the Bank of Heaven, a blank check for all our needs. But how do we know the check is good and valid?
The certainty of the promise depends on God Himself. Blank checks are no good if the person who signs them is poor or fraudulent. But if the check is signed by “my God”—the God I know personally, the God who is also our Father (4:20), the God who has never in human history failed His children, the God who is impossible to lie, who is faithful, the God who demonstrated His great love for us by giving His only Son on the cross—then the check is valid and good! “He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things?” (Romans 8:32). If we meet the condition by giving faithfully, the promise is certain: our God and Father will meet all our needs. You can count on it!
Final Application
There is probably no more accurate gauge of your spiritual life than your giving to the Lord’s work. Do you give only grudgingly and under pressure? Then your worship and service to the Lord will also be like giving grudgingly and under pressure.
Are you hit or miss about your giving, doing it once in a while, but not systematically? Then you’re probably not faithful in other disciplines of the Christian life, such as prayer, Bible reading, and devotions.
Are you stingy and tight with your giving? Then your love for the Lord is probably cold and lukewarm.
Do you religiously give ten percent and take pride in it? Then you’re probably legalistic in your spiritual life, judging yourself and others by the performance of certain duties rather than by a heart of love for the Savior.
The reason your giving is a pretty good gauge of your spiritual life is that your heart is bound up with your treasure. Jesus taught, “Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Matthew 6:21). If you want your heart to be with the Lord, put your money in the Lord’s work. If you want your heart to be in this evil world, put your money in the things of the world. It’s a simple principle to state, but not so simple to implement, because it requires faith.
Giving generously also takes faith because you have to trust that when you give away your money, God is going to make up for it by providing for your immediate needs.
What if I give and then some unexpected emergency comes up?
What if I give and lose my job?
I heard of a man who was struggling with the idea of giving ten percent of his income to his church. (I believe ten percent should be the base, not the ceiling.) He told his pastor that he didn’t see how he could do it and keep up with his bills. The pastor replied, “If I promise to make up the difference in your bills if you should fall short, do you think you could try tithing for just one month?” After thinking about it for a moment, the man replied, “Sure, if you promise to make up any shortage, I guess I could try tithing for one month.”
The pastor responded, “Now, what do you think of that? You say you’d be willing to put your trust in a mere man like myself, who possesses so little materially, but you couldn’t trust your Heavenly Father who owns the whole universe!”
That’s the issue at the heart of this matter of faithful giving. Will you trust the living God who gave His Son for you by giving generously and systematically, out of a heart of gratitude, love, and worship? If you do, He promises to meet all your needs according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus.
Grace Reformed Baptist Church, Bangalore 