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November, 2023 (Vol.57-No.11) |
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Preached by Dr. Gene Scott on October 8, 1989 Not because I desire a gift; but I desire fruit that may abound to your account. 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, well pleasing to God. But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Jesus Christ. Philippians 4:17-19 MANY OF THE SO-CALLED MINISTRIES that we see on television have nothing to do with Christianity. And most people who give money to those ministries do not give for religious reasons. They give for the same reason people buy lottery tickets or in the same way gamblers throw dice at a craps table in Las Vegas. People have so many wrong ideas about giving that I must repeatedly clarify the biblical Hebraic-Christian basis for giving. The problem has been compounded by the ignorance of many preachers, most of whom could not write their own names in Hebrew or in Greek. That in itself does not disqualify someone from being a preacher: Jesus chose some unlearned men as His disciples. But He had to reach outside of the original twelve to choose the apostle Paul. If He had not chosen Paul, we would not have a Christian church today. I resent the fact that so many fools on religious television have come to represent Christianity to an onlooking world that wants Christianity to look foolish. I am teaching on the subject of giving God’s way, but I begin by making a contrast with what some of the gimmick-peddlers do, to their own shame. There are too many examples to name them all. One major ministry noticed that their supporters gave less during the holidays, because people were buying gifts for their families and giving less attention to God. So that ministry would manufacture an annual Christmas “budget crisis” to tug on people’s emotions. They would print their fundraising letters in July and have them ready to mail out in time for the annual crises. Another ministry mailed its supporters rusty nails with a letter instructing them to return the nails along with their prayer requests and offerings. An evangelist promised to nail each prayer request to a large cross at their headquarters, where people would pray over them at Easter. Some ministries will send you a worthless piece of junk in exchange for your offering. Other ministries break ground on a new building whenever they have a cash-flow problem. They use construction projects as a focal point for raising money. But none of those fundraising gimmicks are even remotely religious. Yet the world and the media intimidate Christians by claiming that such antics are typical of Christianity, which is an obvious lie. All kinds of criminals can call themselves Christian, but that does not make them Christian. I have always stood on certain biblical principles of giving. The first principle is based on Jesus’ teaching in Matthew 6, where He said that we should give, pray, and fast in secret, not to be seen of men, that our Father in heaven might reward us. Jesus addressed the subject of prayer beginning at verse 5, saying, “When thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men…But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly…After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come…” That is commonly known as the Lord’s Prayer, but it is not really the Lord’s Prayer; it is the Disciples’ Prayer. Jesus never prayed that prayer, because it includes a petition for forgiveness. He needed no forgiveness, because He was without sin. But Jesus instructed us to pray it, in secret, in our closets, and with the door closed. Yet most people learned the Disciples’ Prayer by hearing it recited in public! Some people might object to my criticism and say, “But that is the way churches have always done it.” That does not make it right. The Giver of the prayer told us to pray it in secret. In Matthew 6:1, Jesus said, “Take heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be seen of them: otherwise ye have no reward of your Father which is in heaven.” In the best Greek manuscripts, the word translated “alms” is dikaiosunen, from the root word dike (pronounced dee-kay), meaning “righteousness.” Jesus was saying, “Let your righteousness be done in secret.” In verse 2, Jesus said, “Therefore when thou doest thine alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee…” Here, the Greek word translated “alms” is eleemosunen, which refers to giving. Jesus thus made almsgiving synonymous with righteousness. He went on to say, “When thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth: that thine alms may be in secret: and thy Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly.” Your heavenly reward is related to your giving in secret. This was foreshadowed in the Old Testament. In the tabernacle in the wilderness, there was a piece of furniture called the table of showbread. Twelve loaves of bread were placed on the table weekly. This symbolized our weekly giving to God out of what He has provided. The table of showbread was placed inside the Holy Place, behind a curtain, and was seen only by the Levites who were chosen by God to serve us His representatives. In both the Old and the New Testaments, giving is a sacred activity not done to be seen by others. You are not giving in secret if you let others know what you are giving. That is why I teach that people should not take tax deductions for their giving to God. Furthermore, if your motivation for giving is to receive a tax deduction, then you are trying to get credit from God while skimming off a little for yourself! There once was a preacher who appeared to be a great hero in the eyes of his denomination because his church was reputed to give a third of its budget to foreign missions. He had learned quickly that some people would not give if they were told that the church had basic expenses to meet, but they would always give for missions. What the people were not told was that the “one third to missions” only applied after the church’s administrative budget was met! Since there was almost always a shortfall, it turned out that very little money ever went to missions. But that did not stop this preacher from regularly inviting missionaries from around the world to make an emotional appeal for funds. It was all a sham, and he eventually got caught. I almost lost my faith because of preachers who did such things. But this trait is not unique to religious leaders. It is a trait of human nature, unless the power of God’s Spirit is working in an individual’s life. It is the same trait found in stockbrokers who engage in illegal insider trading, or in corrupt law enforcement officers who steal money from a drug bust. It is the same trait that exists in some of the highest levels of government agencies that have become a disgrace to America. It is the same attitude that caused Judas to say, regarding the woman who brought an alabaster box of precious ointment and poured it on Christ, “Why this waste? This ointment could have been sold for much, and the money given to the poor.” John points out in his Gospel that Judas did not really care about the poor. Judas carried the moneybag and would skim off some of the money before it ever got to the poor! That is no different than ministries that raise money by showing pictures of orphans to tug on your heart. Such ministries often collect a hefty administrative fee from the money they receive, before they send anything to the orphans. The knowledge of such abuses in the church made me determined to build a ministry supported by people who give only for the reasons God has clearly stated in the Bible. The Bible teaches us to give in order to lay up treasures in heaven, not to get something for ourselves. If the tithe is the Lord’s, as the Bible teaches, then you are not giving it to get something in return. The Lord would not even allow an Old Testament believer to pay a vow with his tithe. God allowed people to make vow offerings and He would respond to their vows, but the law specifically forbade using the tithe to pay a vow. Even though a vow is a spiritual activity, you do not have the right to use the tithe to serve your own personal spiritual purpose. The earth and the heavens above it are the Lord’s. We are merely stewards occupying His territory with His permission. God will either curse us and all that we do, or He will bless us. The condition precedent to being blessed is that we recognize His ownership. The tithe is the Lord’s, not yours. You do not really “give” the tithe; rather, you deliver it to the place where God has said to bring it. You bring the Lord’s tithes to the “storehouse,” which is the place where you get your spiritual food. The purpose of giving is to lay up treasures in heaven. That is what Paul wrote about in his letter to the Philippians. He had not wanted to go to Philippi. He had big plans to travel to Asia, but the Scripture says that the Spirit restrained him from going. So he went to Troas, where a man appeared to him in a vision at night and said, “Come over into Macedonia, and help us.” Paul obeyed and went to Macedonia with his companions. When they arrived at Philippi, a chief city of Macedonia, he and Silas were beaten and thrown into the innermost part of the prison, with their feet placed in stocks. Around midnight, they prayed and sang praises unto God, and He delivered them with an earthquake. The next day, Paul shamed the town officials for their unjust treatment, and he departed Philippi, a city in which a church would later be established. Eleven years went by and Paul was in jail again, this time in Rome. The Christians at Philippi had not seen him for all those years. But they remembered and valued the one who had turned on the light of the gospel for them, and for eleven years, they sent Paul offerings wherever he was. Paul did not use any gimmicks to get the Philippian Christians to give. He did not write fundraising letters nor mail them rusty nails. He did not start any building projects nor did he raise money to feed orphans. The Philippians sent Paul offerings simply out of gratitude for the ministry that had brought them life and set them on the certain road of faith to eternity. It is unbelievable what these Philippians did for eleven years! Paul did not need this gift, because he was in prison and probably could not even use it. Most commentaries call Paul’s Epistle to the Philippians his “joy letter.” It radiates joy because he had found people who truly embodied what he stood for. I understand the way Paul felt. I react the same way when I see people regularly attend church and give because they want to make a testimonial to the value of God’s word. I know the feeling when I see people give for the right reasons. Paul wrote this joy letter because the Philippians were the true product of his teaching. Turn in your Bible to the opening of Philippians 1 and begin reading at verse 2. Paul said, “Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ. I thank my God upon every remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine for you all making request with joy, for your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now…” The Greek word translated “fellowship” is a form of koinonia, which means “joint participation.” This word can also be used in the sense of joint participation in the faith or joint participation in the elements of the Lord’s Supper. But in this case, Paul was thanking God for the Philippians’ joint participation with him in the gospel. Paul gave thanks for their joint participation “from the first day until now.” In the original Greek text, there is a definite article in front of the word translated “now,” which is not shown in the King James Version. Paul literally said, “from the first day until the now.” It is not proper English to put a definite article in front of the word “now,” but it is proper in Greek, because Greek is a very precise language. The definite article singles out a particular event called “now” and holds it up in relationship to other events in the stream of time. The Philippians’ joint participation in the gospel was a particular kind that continued from the first day, eleven years earlier, until a specific current event. That specific event is explained in Philippians 4: the Philippian church had sent Paul an offering by the hand of Epaphroditus. And that offering, that one event in the stream of time, was like all the other “nows” in the stream. For eleven years, that church had continued to send offerings to Paul. Paul said in Philippians 4:11, “Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content.” Notice the word “therewith” is in italics in the King James Version. Italics are used to indicate words that were added by the translators and are not in the original Greek text. Sometimes the added words help the flow, but in this case, it changed the meaning. The addition of the word “therewith” suggests that Paul had learned to be content with his state, but Paul never said that. Rather, he had learned to be content whatever his state was. His contentment was not based upon his state. Paul had not learned to love his jail cell. He had learned, regardless of his state, to be content in spite of his state. Paul went on to say, “I know both now to be abased, and I know how to abound: every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me. Notwithstanding ye have well done, that ye did communicate with my affliction.” The Greek word translated “communicate” is another form of the word koinonia. Paul was saying that the Philippians jointly participated with his need. Then he said, “Now ye Philippians know also, that in the beginning of the gospel, when I departed from Macedonia, no church communicated with me as concerning giving and receiving, but ye only.” Again, the Greek word translated “communicated” is another form of the word koinonia. In his Epistle to the Galatians, Paul wrote about both sides of the giving equation, saying, “Let him that is taught in the word communicate unto him that teacheth in all good things.” Once again, the Greek word translated “communicate” is a form of the word koinonia. Paul was saying that those who have been taught God’s word should “jointly participate,” that is, share their material things, with the one who teaches them God’s word. In Philippians 4, Paul said that no other church had shared with him in the matter of giving and receiving besides the Philippian church. He continued, “For even in Thessalonica ye sent once and again unto my necessity. Not because I desire a gift: but I desire fruit that may abound to your account.” Paul did not have to conceive of some scheme to get their money. Their motivation for giving was not to receive something in return here on earth. There is a heavenly home, and there is fruit that grows there. There is a harvest for those who lay up treasures in heaven where moth and rust do not corrupt. Fruit in eternity would abound to their account because they faithfully sent their gift to Paul, who did not need it. You might ask, “Why should I give if the pastor does not need the money?” Because God’s word provides a roadmap: it tells you where to bring the tithes and offerings. You are to bring them to the place where you receive your spiritual light. Such an act is the catalyst that produces the fruit in heaven. The problem with many preachers is they do not really believe in heaven and therefore have no interest in laying up treasures there. The problem with most Christians is they do not really believe in heaven either. That is why so much of today’s preaching is focused on receiving things here on earth. Paul said, “I desire fruit that may abound to your account. 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.” Paul linked the gift from the Philippians to the burnt offering in the Old Testament. Of all the sacrifices that were offered by God’s people, the burnt offering was the most precious to God. It was a devotion offering. The Hebrew word for “burnt” comes from a word that means “to ascend.” It was used as a liturgical word to mean “to ascend for God’s pleasure.” The burnt offering makes no sense from a rational, human perspective. It was burned on an altar so that its smoke might ascend to God. Paul was God’s spokesperson to interpret the mysteries of the Old Testament types and shadows. It is Paul who taught that Christ is our Passover, interpreting the Old Testament feast day. The new life of sincerity and truth is the fulfillment of the Feast of Unleavened Bread. Here is Philippians, Paul once again takes the meaning of an Old Testament shadow and gives it its substance. The Philippian church had given an offering to the man who had turned on the light of the gospel for them. Paul’s needs were irrelevant: he could have been in a palace or in a prison. By bringing him such an offering, the Philippian Christians were releasing a fruit-bearing harvest in eternity. Their offering gave God the same joy that He received from the burnt offering! Let me reemphasize three points about this gift to the preacher who brought the light. Number one: the offering is not necessarily needed by the preacher. Number two: the giver is promised a heavenly harvest. Number three: God receives pleasure from this gift. Don’t you think God deserves to receive some pleasure once in a while? Paul went on to say, “But my God shall supply all you need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.” God will never be a debtor to those who give His way. Christians love to claim this promise, but most of them do not understand that it has conditions attached. It is only available to the one who gives, even though the recipient might not need it, in order to obtain fruit in heaven and bring pleasure to God as a burnt offering does. Only because of that motive and action will God supply all you need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus. In this series of messages, I have been repeatedly teaching the same truth about giving God’s way. Indeed, in Galatians 6:6, Paul said to share materially with the one who has taught you. The Greek word translated “taught” means to din a truth into the hearer by much repetition. I have built my ministry without using gimmicks or manipulation. I determined I would build a ministry based only upon biblical principles, or else I would not build a ministry at all! Biblical giving has no strings attached. The world is confounded when it sees that intelligent people do believe in eternal things and give for that reason. We express our spirituality and our righteousness in God’s sight by such giving. Faith is the practical art of continually hanging your body on God’s promises, unto death if necessary, because you believe He will keep His word. If God does not fulfill His promises for you during your lifetime, then you will wake up in a land where there is no conflict with His word. This church is not a monastery: God’s people are the salt that preserves this rotting world. This world is not our home, but while we are on our journey, we can rejoice in the knowledge that God takes pleasure in our giving when we give His way, with eternity in view. Reprinted with permission from Pastor Melissa Scott | November, 2023 Wingspread | October, 2023 Wingspread | September, 2023 Wingspread | August, 2023 Wingspread | July, 2023 Wingspread | June, 2023 Wingspread | May, 2023 Wingspread | April, 2023 Wingspread | March, 2023 Wingspread | February, 2023 Wingspread | January, 2023 Wingspread | | Year 2019 Wingspreads | August, 2016 Wingspread | 2016 Wingspreads | 2014 Wingspreads | 2013 Wingspreads | 2012 Wingspreads | 2011 Wingspreads | 2010 Wingspreads | 2009 Wingspreads | 2008 Wingspreads | 2007 Wingspreads | 2006 Wingspreads | 2005 Wingspreads | 2004 Wingspreads | 2003 Wingspreads | 2002 Wingspreads | 2001 Wingspreads | August, 2001 Wingspread | November, 2001 Wingspread | December, 2001 Wingspread | 2000 Wingspreads | 1999 Wingspreads | 2015 Wingspreads | Year 2017 Wingspreads | 2018 Wingspreads | Year 2020 Wingspreads | Year 2021 Wingspreads | Year 2022 Wingspreads | Year 2023 Wingspreads | | Return Home | Current Wingspread | Wingspread Archives | Contact Us | |
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