Spiritual Realities of a Generous Life – Philippians 4:10-20

Speaker: Gary Peters

Passage: Philippians 4:10-20

AN ENCOURAGEMENT TO STAY THE COURSE

Today is my and my wife’s 45th wedding anniversary. And I didn’t say that so you would clap. I have a story I want to tell you that I always tell people. Of the forty-five years, probably forty-two of them have been really great. I’m more in love than I was on September 8, 1979, but the fact is, there have been rough patches along the way.

I’m going to use this analogy because I pedal a road bike for exercise. We used to live in California, and I would ride by Stanford University up the hills towards the redwoods. I would ride this one hill back when I was in much better shape, and it had these switchbacks that wound back and forth.

The first couple of times I rode it, I didn’t know where the end was. I’d be pedaling and asking the Lord, Please give me another gear. I’m in my last gear, pedaling and pedaling, and I’d see another bend and think, Okay, I’m at the end. Then, Oh no, it’s another switchback. Maybe there’s a little lull, and then there’s a climb, and then another little lull, and there’s a climb.

Really, that’s marriage, and that’s life. But for some of you in this room today, you need to be encouraged that you’re on a switchback. It may not be in your marriage, it may be in your job, it may be in your relationship with the Lord, but you’re in a switchback, and you don’t know where it’s going to end.

Trust me: if you continue putting one foot in front of the other, line upon line, precept upon precept, you’re going to be alright. Faithfulness is what God is after in your life.

You say, Well, I’ve only known the Lord a month. Hopefully, in forty years, when I’m in Heaven looking down, it will have been forty years and a month because you’ve been walking with Him. And that’s how He builds our lives.

Everybody starts at the same place. We all start with, I need Jesus in my life. I need a savior. God is interested in faithfulness in our life. And the only way you’re faithful is by putting in one week, then another week, a month, and then another month, and then a year. Pretty soon, you’re able to look back and say, God has been faithful even when I was faithless.

If you can wait and crest the top of that hill, you’ll see it’s not all drudgery and pain and agony. There’s a lot of good in this life, too, but we can’t really experience it in the true sense.

If you want to know what love is, you have to know Jesus first. How can you truly love somebody you don’t know? And you can’t really love somebody till you love God first because that person you think you love will disappoint you, and you’ll disappoint them. That’s the way it’s supposed to be because if not, they become an idol in your life.

So, get your eyes off of that person and onto Him. It’s line upon line. Just keep pedaling. Be encouraged. Sometimes, it stinks; sometimes, it’s hard. Sometimes you can’t catch your breath, but just keep pedaling. Just keep doing that. Ride through those switchbacks, and eventually, you’re going to crest the hill and get to ride down, and that’s the fun part.

I want to encourage you. Let’s stack some days of faithfulness together. Stack some days together, then some weeks together, then some months together, then some years together. Then you’ll be able to look back and say, Look at what God has done in my life by the faithfulness of the Almighty. John says, When I am faithless, He still remains faithful. He cannot deny His own, so trust Him in that. 

TWO ANNOUNCEMENTS

Two more things I want to mention before we get started, and these are for all the guys. Men, if you want to do something incredible for your marriage, go to the Men’s Retreat. It’ll change your life. I promise you, you’ll not be the same. It’s the best thing since sliced bread. Seriously, I’ve been doing ministry for decades, and it is the best men’s ministry thing I’ve ever tried. If you want to know how to love your wife better, love God better, love your kids better, and be a better person, then go to the retreat.

Second, we start Men’s Bible Study and Women’s Bible Study in two weeks. Those will change your life also, and not because I’m teaching. We’re doing the life of David. It may take us two years to get through his life, but I encourage you to take the time to develop the consistency of studying Scripture. Okay, shameless plug over. I don’t care if I took five minutes to do a shameless plug for those two things. They will change your life, guys and ladies.

Today I’m going to share our annual message on stewardship with you. Yeah, I’m the old guy, so I get to share it, and I can say things and get away with it. When somebody’s new and says this stuff, it’s like, They don’t have any life experience. How do they know about that? Trust me, this is stuff that I’ve tried to live for the last fifty years of my life.

PHILIPPIANS 4:10-20

Turn with me to Philippians chapter 4. I’m reading from the New American Standard Version. We’re not in the Book of Revelation today; we’re going to take a Sunday off. They like me to do the one-offs because I would say crazy things in Revelation, and then Dustin would have to come and clear up everything I say.

“But I rejoiced in the Lord greatly, that now at last you have revived your concern for me; indeed, you were concerned before, but you lacked an opportunity to act. Not that I speak from need, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am. I know how to get along with little, and I also know how to live in prosperity; in any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need.”

Then comes a verse that is so taken out of context that it makes me sick. Sometimes we put it on eye black and a football field. It’s Philippians 4:13: “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me”. I believe that’s true in every circumstance, right? But it’s not necessarily just so I can lift a greater weight or run over a linebacker when I’m running the football.

How many of you have ever heard that verse in context? If you truly want to know what a verse says, read the verses before it and read the verses after it. As a matter of fact, read the chapter it’s found in. 

Let’s continue. “Nevertheless, you have done well to share with me in my difficulty. You yourselves also know, Philippians, that at the first preaching of the gospel, after I left Macedonia, no church shared with me in the matter of giving and receiving except you alone; for even in Thessalonica you sent a gift more than once for my needs. Not that I seek the gift itself, but I seek the profit which increases to your account. But I have received everything in full and have an abundance; I am amply supplied, having received from Epaphroditus what you have sent, a fragrant aroma, an acceptable sacrifice, pleasing to God”.

The next verse is also taken out of context so much of the time. Verse 19: “And my God shall supply all your needs according to His riches and glory in Christ Jesus. He’s talking to givers. He’s talking to people who have been faithful in giving to Paul, and he says, Now I know God can do this for you because He’s done it for me. And finally, verse 20 says, “Now to our God and Father be the glory forever and ever. Amen”.

SPIRITUAL REALITIES OF A GENEROUS LIFE

The first thing I notice in these passages are those two verses I’ve held dearly in my heart. I’ve quoted them and used them, and I believe God has blessed my life because of them, but they’re in the context of this passage of stewardship. I want to talk to you this morning about the spiritual realities of a generous life. 

There are things that are promised to us when we’re generous. I’m not just talking about our money; I’m also talking about our talents. Some of you are sitting on talents. Some of you need to use them for the Kingdom. Benjamin Franklin said, A word to the wise should be sufficient. If you’re sitting on a talent you’re not using for the Kingdom because you don’t think it’s good enough, don’t do that. God says to use it. 

The other thing we’re promised is our time. Everybody has twenty-four hours. Aren’t you glad that everybody has the same amount of time? It’s not like somebody who is super productive gets twenty-six hours; they just know how to manage time better than we do.

There are realities that God wants us to use in our lives that we need to understand. Many times, these verses are misquoted, but let’s look at them in the context of stewardship.

PRACTICE GENEROSITY

“But I rejoiced in the Lord greatly, that now at last you have revived your concern for me; indeed, you were concerned before, but you lacked an opportunity to act”.

The first aspect of stewardship is that we have to partner in the practice of generosity by taking available opportunities to do what God has called us to do. Opportunity is a set time or an occasion. There is this continuum of time, and right now, you have an opportunity to do this. That’s what Paul is saying. He says, You did it before, and I see you revived it again because you have an opportunity to revive it now that the need is being presented to you.

From this day forward, you now have the opportunity to do what God has called you to do, and that’s to be generous. You have no excuse. You now have opportunity. I’m not trying to put you on a guilt trip. That’s what Paul is saying. Generosity is the outcome of a life surrendered to Biblical principles of stewardship. 

For some of us in this room, it’s a regular act to join the partnership of giving, the tithe, the special offering, and sometimes alleviating, as in Paul’s case, a specific need. We don’t know exactly what his was, except he needed funds to promote the Gospel. He was traveling around. Paul was bi-vocational, but there were some places he couldn’t be bi-vocational, so he had to have resources.

If God brings the opportunity, guess what? There’s the availability of grace, whatever the need may be. Suppose God is asking you to knock a sin off. Quit it. Stop it, He says. There’s grace for you and me to stop it, to quit it. 

If you grit your teeth and say, I’m going to quit this by myself, guess what you’ll do? You’re probably going to keep doing it. But try to avail yourself to His grace and see what happens.

God, I can’t forgive that person. I can’t release that person. I can’t do what’s right. I can’t walk in Your goodness and Your mercy. But I release myself because, God, on my own I want to do this sin. I want to walk in this thing. But now I’m releasing You to do it through me.

Guess what? That’s when grace comes. He says He gives grace to the humble. The humble are the ones who say, I need help. That’s what humility is. I need help to walk in Your forgiveness. I need help to walk in the principles of generosity. I need help. 

James says God gives grace to the humble, but He’s opposed to those who try to do it on their own. How many want to be opposed to God? Not me. Because He always wins. He may take us around a mountain a few times, but He’s going to win. And He’s not begging for this. He’s not asking you under compulsion to give. He’s saying, Here’s the resource you have. Now, give Me the opportunity to use that.

2nd Corinthians 9:7 says, “Each one must do what he has decided in his heart…” I love that Pastor Greg always says, Here’s the need we have as a church. Go home, pray about it, and ask the Lord what He wants you to do. Now, let me add this: sometimes the Scripture has already told you what to do, so maybe find out what He’s told you and then do that. Pray about it.

The verse goes on to say, “…not reluctantly or under compulsion or in response to pressure. For God loves a cheerful giver”. The Greek is this: God loves a person whose heart is in their gift. I wish I could say that every time I’ve given to anything, it’s just been, Oh, this feels so good. I just love this so much. Here God, You can have it. But the fact is, He’s asked for it, and it’s His anyway.

LEARN THE SECRET OF CONTENTMENT

Let’s move to the second aspect of stewardship, and this is where I really want to spend some time for a moment. “Not that I speak from need, for I have learned the secret of being content in whatever circumstances I find myself in”.

Oh man, does anybody struggle with contentment besides me? What is contentment? There are numerous definitions, but I love that the root literally comes from the word to breathe.

I need to chase a rabbit for a minute and tell you this story. Years ago, we were having our first child. We’ve gone through the classes, and I’m feeling like I know how to do this. Then it’s time, and Karen is breathing and I’m telling her to breathe when the anesthesiologist literally pushes me out of the way. He says, You are worthless, and he just pushes me out of the way because I was more nervous than she was. I’m hyperventilating, and I’m going to pass out while she’s trying to push a child out.

We joke about it now, but this anesthesiologist said, Get out of my way, and he helped deliver the baby because I didn’t know what I was doing. Second baby I was a champ, though. I was awesome at that.

Contentment is the release of pressure by breathing. It’s the pause of God. It means to ward off harassment, torment, vexation, or intimidation by setting up a perimeter so that you know the parameters to operate in. Contentment gives us the borders of how we are to live.

The older I’ve gotten, the more I realize the goodness of God’s commands in my life when I was younger in my faith. I would say, Man, He’s just ruining all my fun. This doesn’t seem like it’s any good. But He’s putting parameters in my life so I know how to operate. He releases me to operate within those parameters.

Guess what? Life is still good. Life is fun. It’s supposed to be. It’s not all drudgery, pain, and agony when I stick to the parameters that God has put around me and allowed me to walk in. Most of the time, I wake up and go, What’s God got for us today? That’s just my personality. I’m just like, let’s do something for Jesus. I just want to walk in what He’s asking me to. 

But God puts parameters in our lives. Contentment is that parameter. Contentment means I can operate in all of this and enjoy it. And it’s not like, Oh, I’m afraid I’m going to miss God. I know where and when I bump up against the boundary lines. 

I’ve had young people say, Pastor Gary, how far can I go with my girlfriend? When they ask me that question, I say, Too far already. Because if you’re asking that question, you’ve gone too far already. Sometimes, we know where the line is and are right up against it. But as we realize God’s goodness and walk in contentment, pretty soon it’s like, I don’t want to get close. I don’t want to walk in that.

THE BENEFIT OF GOD’S PARAMETERS IN OUR LIVES

When our son was about two, we realized we gave him too much freedom. So we literally closed off some doors in the house. We gave him his bedroom, the hallway, and the living room, and he operated in those parameters perfectly. But when we’d open our bedroom, there’d be that awful quiet, and then the baby powder has been dumped on his head, or some of the toilet paper has been rung out of the toilet roll.

God puts parameters in our lives to protect us, not to shame us or be a downer.

Paul says, The mystery or secret of contentment comes by learning that peace does not come with provision, possessions, having little or having a lot, being hungry or starving.

I would venture to say most of us in this room have not experienced true starvation. I’ve been to Haiti and other developing countries where people are starving, literally not knowing where their next meal is going to come from. The thing is, Paul has experienced that, and he says, All of that doesn’t matter. I’m content with knowing I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. It’s in that context that He strengthens me.

How many of you need contentment in your life? Being at peace with your lot in life is not complacency. It’s not having a drive, but you’re just a couch potato. I believe God takes our drive under the auspices of the Holy Spirit and drives us into His goodness and mercy, and we operate in the sphere of influence we’re supposed to.

I had somebody after the first gathering come up and say, I’m a driven person. Does that mean I shouldn’t have a drive? No, not at all. We need driven people in the Kingdom, but they should be driven for His Kingdom, not for the accumulation of things to make themselves look good and feel good and have stuff so that they can say, Look at me.

There’s a passage in Psalms that has been just rolling around in my head over and over and over. It says, “The Lord is the portion of my inheritance and my cup…”. Now you need to understand this: in the Jewish understanding, the land meant everything to them. It still should and does. To a true Jew, land means promise fulfilled.

David goes on to say, “The measuring lines have fallen for me in pleasant places. Indeed, my inheritance is beautiful to me”.

I’m not worried about being rich, I’m worried about God giving me the inheritance He has for me. Guess what? It’ll be different than yours, and that’s okay. You’ve heard me say it a million times in the six years I’ve been here, but when you get to Heaven, you’re not going to ask God, God, why did you do that for Susie and not for me? You won’t care when you get to Heaven because you’ll see Him face to face.

THE PRINCIPLE OF RECIPROCITY

Let’s go back to our core passage and the principles of stewardship. Paul says in Philippians 4:17, “Not that I seek the gift itself, but I seek the profit which increases to your account”. The third aspect of stewardship is this: it releases the principle of reciprocity.

How many have ever heard of NATO or the North Atlantic Treaty Organization? If a NATO country is attacked, everyone else that is part of NATO joins in their defense. That’s why there was all this talk about Ukraine, Poland, and others not being NATO members, but they want to become NATO members. Why? So that the other countries will protect them. 

Paul is saying this, I don’t seek the gift. I seek the profit you’re going to gain by having reciprocity. And guess what? God is the greatest person in the entire civilized universe. He is the greatest non-created being there ever has been. You have the better part of this bargain. You give, God says, and it’ll be given back. And not just given back, but it’ll be pressed down, shaken, pressed down some more, and then it runs over. That’s reciprocity, and all I did was give. 

I don’t give to get. I’m not giving my money, time, or efforts so that God will owe me. I’m giving because He tells me to, and when I do it with a pure heart, my gift is pressed down, shaken, and returned, running over with abundance. That’s God’s nature and character. It’s so much greater.

God tells us to trust Him with the first fruits. In Proverbs 3 it says, “Honor the Lord from your wealth, And from the first of all your produce; Then your barns will be filled with plenty, And your vats will overflow with new wine.”

Pastor Dustin and I were talking about this. He said the true understanding of first fruits is the idea of giving to God before you have any other fruits. It means He owns it all, and you’re giving Him the first fruits.

SEED TIME AND HARVEST

It’s the same principle of seed time and harvest out of Genesis 8:22. Do you realize when you plant one little seed of corn, out comes this giant corn stock? From the corn stock, you would get four to six ears of corn with multiple kernels. That’s the principle. You plant the little bitty seed of the crop, and you get the ear of corn and the shock of wheat. That’s what God’s promised.

He says for those in Genesis and the rest of this planet, there’s going to be a time to seed and a time to harvest. Some of you are in the seed time. Some of you are in the growing time. Harvest is coming, but it’s not here yet. Just keep planting the seeds. Let somebody else water it. Let God bring the increase.

Paul says in 1st Corinthians 8:9 that we just need to be faithful in planting seeds. Who brings the increase? God does.

God also says to test Him with this principle of reciprocity. I don’t know of any other place where God says to test Him. As a matter of fact, most of the time, it’s a sin. In Malachi 10 it says, “Test me with your tithe and offering”. God is saying, Test Me and see what I will do. You say, Well, I don’t have ten percent faith. Start giving three percent. Start giving God something.

In Luke 6, it says, “Give and it shall be given”. Acts 20 says, “It’s more blessed to give than to receive”. 2nd Corinthians 9:6 says that if you sow sparingly, you’re going to reap sparingly. That means if you sow a little bit, don’t expect to reap a giant harvest. By faith, we plant.

Paul says, I don’t seek the gift. See, it can almost be one of the reasons I don’t like to talk about giving a lot. It seems almost self-serving in church: you give because my salary depends on it. That’s not what I’m saying. Paul is saying, I don’t seek the gift. I seek the profit that’s gained by giving. 

My pastor’s heart is this, I don’t seek your gifts. Matter of fact, I don’t know what anybody in this church gives. I don’t have a clue. I don’t want to know. Pastor Greg’s the same. We don’t want to know because it’s between you and God, but we seek the profit you’re going to gain by giving. Now we have accounting. There are people who know, but not us.

THE FRAGRANCE OF THE KINGDOM

On to our last aspect of stewardship. Philippians 4:18 says, “I have received everything in full and have an abundance; I am amply supplied, having received from Epaphroditus what you have sent, a fragrant aroma, an acceptable sacrifice, pleasing to God”. 

A couple of weeks ago, Pastor Greg talked about the stench of Sodom’s sin rising up to Heaven. You know what? There are stinky people in the world. How many have been married to one? How many work with one? How many live by one? How many have one in their family lineage? They’re stinky. People do a bad thing, and it makes them stinky.

There have been many times I’ve known somebody who’s bitter, and then guess who they sit next to at church? Someone else who is just as bitter. It’s a fact; bitterness draws people. We can have the aroma of the fragrance of Christ, or we can be stinky.

There are two things in Heaven that God keeps for us: our tears and our prayers. Think about it; He bottles up your tears. He knows you when you are heartbroken. And He holds on to your prayers. Paul is saying to the church in Philippi, Your giving is aroma. Hoarding brings a stench. Generosity brings a pleasing aroma.

2nd Corinthians 2 says, “Now He uses us to spread the knowledge of Christ everywhere, like a sweet perfume. Our lives are a Christ-like fragrance rising up to God. But this fragrance is perceived differently by those who are being saved and by those who are perishing”.

That’s why you don’t always have to open your mouth and constantly preach to somebody. Sometimes you walk into the room and bring a different fragrance. Some people won’t like you and they won’t even know why they don’t like you, except they’re perishing, they smell like death, and you smell like sweet perfume.

And then what Paul says in Philippians 4:19 is, “And my God will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus”.

CLOSING TAKEAWAYS 

Here are some closing takeaways.

Everyone in this room has an opportunity to start, to increase, or to continue your generosity. I don’t know where you are in that continuum. You say, Well, I don’t know where to start. Start somewhere. Trust God with your resources. It’s your place to start to increase. For some of us, it’s time to step up to the next level. For others of us, God is saying, Just continue, and I’ll give you more opportunities.

What my wife and I have done for years is when we get paid, ten percent goes straight into the storehouse. This is our conviction. Then we support other ministries. We support a missionary in the 10/40 Window, where there are hardly any missionaries. We support two or three ministries that minister to kids in either trafficking or caretaking and educating.

We support other ministries. That’s our offering. And we’ve done it line upon line, precept upon precept. Every time there’s an increase in income, there’s an increase in our giving. Guess what? You can’t outgive God. It just happens that way. The test is this: are we going to be stingy? Start, increase, or continue. 

I want to share this one story. Paul says, “Now concerning the question about the money that is being collected for God’s people in Jerusalem…” There had been a prophetic word that said there was going to be a famine in Jerusalem. So you know what the church did? They started taking an offering before the famine hit. There are crazy prophetic words, but I love that kind of prophetic word. 

Paul expects us to follow the same procedure he gave to the other churches in Galatia. The principle is that on the first day of the week, each of you should put aside the money God has given you. Because if you don’t, when Jesus comes, you’re going to be scrambling to try to get it together. Have a systematic way of giving your resources to the Lord. 

When I started riding my bike, I rode like ten miles, dying. Then I’d add fifteen, then I’d add another, five, then another, till you get up like two thousand five hundred and thirty miles a day. You don’t just start out by doing something all the way. You start systematically.

Learn to be content by embracing your circumstances. Easier said than done. You may be going through some stuff where you don’t have a lot to be encouraged about, where you have to trust God. Has anybody ever been where you don’t have, as my dad used to say, two nickels to rub together? That’s when the test comes. But you learn. You learn to be faithful in that, and you’ll watch God bring contentment into your life.

The third thing is this: God doesn’t need your gift, He wants your heart. However, we also understand that the Kingdom is financed through the generosity of God’s people. By the way, Vintage, so many of you are so faithful. I bless you. I bless your generosity. Trust the process. You will sow, and you will reap. It’s the principle of reciprocity. God will supply all your needs.

And lastly, let’s not be stinky people. Let’s be a fragrance. When I walk into the room, I want people to smell Jesus. I’m serious. Maybe it’s because I’m older, but sometimes I picture my funeral and the people eulogizing me. I hope they say, Gary loved God with all of his heart. He was faithful to his calling, and he wasn’t stinky all the time. That’s what I want. I want people to be able to say that not because of me, but because of how I followed Christ. God bless you.