WWUTT 032 Our Every Need (Philippians 4:14-18)

In Philippians 4 .19, the Apostle Paul says, My God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.

In Christ, we have been given everything that we need for life. And as members of the body of Christ, we become the instruments that God will use to provide for one another when we understand the text.

This is When We Understand The Text. My name is Pastor Gabe. Blessing to be along with you as we study the book of Philippians together.

Actually, as we come to a conclusion of our study of the book of Philippians, we will finish our study this week.

I had toyed with the idea of maybe next week doing a few topical things before we jump headlong into Colossians.

So that may be next week. Every podcast episode, therefore, would be a different subject next week.

That may be how next week will go. This week, we are answering questions related to conspiracy theories.

So I have another conspiracy email that I will be responding to toward the end of this broadcast. Again, you can submit your questions by going to www .utt

.com. The email link is there on the right side of the page. Hey, as we come to the text today, we're looking at Philippians 4, verses 14 through 20.

Why don't we first come to the Lord in prayer? Our gracious Heavenly Father, we thank you so much that we can call you

Father. We have been adopted into the family of God through Jesus Christ, our Lord, that we might become the children of God.

And we can call you Father, our benevolent, our all -loving provider, looking out for our every need.

And we know that you are providing for us in Christ Jesus. You love us so much that you let us know your mind through your word.

And so I pray that as you are supplying for our every need, that we're taking these words today and we're writing them on our hearts.

It is helping us to know our Heavenly Father better and worship you the way that you deserve to be worshiped.

So by the power of your spirit, give us these things today. Give us our daily bread as we seek to know you more.

And we pray this in Jesus' name, amen. Philippians 4, beginning in verse 14.

Yet it was kind of you to share my trouble. And you Philippians yourselves know that in the beginning of the gospel, when

I left Macedonia, no church entered into partnership with me in giving and receiving except you only.

Even in Thessalonica, you sent me help for my needs once and again. Not that I seek the gift, but I seek the fruit that increases to your credit.

I have received full payment and more. I am well supplied having received from Epaphroditus the gifts you sent, a fragrant offering, a sacrifice acceptable and pleasing to God.

And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.

To our God and Father be glory forever and ever. Amen. I may actually be including that verse 20 in with tomorrow's lesson instead.

So we'll be looking primarily at verses 14 through 19. Right at the beginning of this section, the Apostle Paul says, yet it was kind of you to share my trouble.

Yet. All right. Because remember yesterday, our verse that we concluded with, the popular but often misapplied verse,

Philippians 4, 13, I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. And the Apostle Paul in context is saying that whether I am in plenty or I am in,

I'm in dire straits and I'm in need. It is God who strengthens me.

It is the power of Christ who gives me, that gives me my strength.

It comes from not, not any monetary offerings. Okay. None of these things are what strengthens me.

It's, it's Christ. I do all things through Christ who gives me my strength. So even though the

Apostle Paul has said, it's not money that I needed because Christ is supplied for my every need.

In verse 14, he says, yet it was kind of you to share my trouble. So he doesn't want to sound like he's blowing off the

Philippians gift here. He's not saying that, that, uh, Hey, you know, thanks, but no thanks. Right.

He's truly appreciative of the Philippians thinking about him and collecting that offering and sending it with Epaphroditus to Rome so that it would help

Paul in his continued ministry efforts there to spread the gospel. It was kind of you to share in my trouble.

And Paul is not just saying that as a platitude. He's not just saying, yeah, but thanks for thinking of me anyway. I mean, he is, he is including the

Philippians in this mission work that he's doing the blessings of God that are upon the Apostle Paul. He's also including the

Philippians in we've seen his inclusion of the Philippians in his work throughout this letter, various places where he has said, uh, he has expressed thankfulness for how they have longed for him.

And likewise, he longs for them also, and that they should rejoice together in what is being accomplished, that they are doing this missions work with him.

So he's including them in this kindness. It was kind of you to share in my trouble.

And you Philippians yourselves know that in the beginning of the gospel, when I left Macedonia, no church entered into partnership with me and giving and receiving, except you only, even in Thessalonica, you sent me help for my needs once and again.

Now, this kind of gives us a little bit of insight as to some things that were going on in Acts chapter 17.

Remember that in Acts chapter 16, this was where the Philippian church got planted. And we talked about this, you know, whatever this was 30 something episodes ago, when we started our study of the book of Philippians, we see the

Philippian church get planted in Acts chapter 16. Okay. And then in chapter 17, when

Paul and his missionary brethren go from there on into Amphipolis and, uh, and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica where there was a synagogue of the

Jews. That's act 17 one. Now it doesn't say there that their missionary journey was provided for by the

Philippians. We come to that understanding based on what Paul is saying here in Philippians four versus 15 and 16.

So as they went from Philippi and went on their way to Thessalonica, it was the gifts that were collected by the

Philippians that helped them on that missionary journey. And no one else was supplying for them at that time, except for the

Philippians. Now that route that included Philippi, Amphipolis, Apollonia, and Thessalonica, this was a section of road that was called the ignition way.

And these four cities and others were separated from one another by about a day's journey on foot.

And so that journey that Paul and his missionary brethren were taking as they continued to spread the gospel as they went was being provided for by the

Philippians. Okay. And so Paul is giving them credit here for this gift that they've sent to him in Rome and also for the gifts that they've given to him previously.

Even in Thessalonica, you sent me help for my needs once and again.

Not that I seek the gift. Okay. He says in verse 17, not that I seek the gift, but I seek the fruit that increases to your credit.

So in receiving this gift that you are giving to me, it's not because I need the money.

It's not because I'm taking it because I want the money. But primarily the reason why

I am accepting this gift is because it is to your benefit. All right.

I mean, I mean, all of that selflessness that ties into everything that we've seen in this letter so far, do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility, count others more significant than yourselves.

Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others, which the apostle

Paul said in Philippians two verses three and four. So that continued selflessness that he is displaying with the

Philippians comes out even in the reception of this gift. I'm not accepting this gift for me because as I said previously,

I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I know how to be brought low and I know how to abound in any and every circumstance.

I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me.

So as I seek this gift, as I receive it from you, it's not because I need it.

It's not because I, you know, desire money. Okay. I'm accepting it because I seek the fruit that increases to your credit.

This is for your benefit. God is producing fruit in you by my receiving this gift.

Another way that that's worded. I seek the fruit that increases to your credit. I have a footnote in my Bible and maybe you have it in yours.

Another way that's worded is I seek the profit that accrues to your account.

In other words, I, I'm not seeking this to profit myself. I'm seeking the profit that benefits your credit in the heavenly registry.

All right. That's what the apostle Paul is saying here. I seek the fruit that increases to your credit.

I have received full payment. Now, now there's, I think there's a double meaning in that in verse 18, where he says,

I have received full payment. He is saying that, uh, I've received everything that you intended to send to me through Epaphroditus.

I got all of it and more, the blessings that come from God as well. I have received full payment and more.

I am well supplied having received from Epaphroditus, the gifts you sent a fragrant offering, a sacrifice acceptable and pleasing to God.

And this is old Testament language that the apostle Paul is using here to describe the gift that the

Philippians sent to him in Genesis 8 21. We read that, uh, after the ark had landed at Mount Ararat and Noah and his family came off and the animals came off and everything.

First order of business was Noah built an altar to God and he sacrificed on it.

And it says that as the smoke lifted to the heavens, it was a pleasing aroma to God and God's wrath was abated.

Okay. So after purging the earth of sin through the flood and with Noah's sacrifice, uh, that the wrath of God was satisfied by a fragrant offering.

Christ is also described in the new Testament as a fragrant offering. So the apostle

Paul is using that language even to describe the monetary gift that the

Philippians are giving to Paul. It is a fragrant offering now under Christ that the sacrificial system no longer applies.

We've done away with that in Christ, but the principle behind, uh, that such a, such a monetary gift is still there.

That same principle is still there. It is, it is given as a sign of costly devotion, just as one would sacrifice an animal on an altar before God.

It is a sign of costly devotion. So the Philippians monetary gift to the apostle Paul is a sign of their costly devotion.

And folks, I want to tell you that you need to consider your monetary contributions to your church the same way.

Now, if you follow, when we understand the text with any regularity, if you've watched all of our videos, which up to this point, there's like 80 plus videos now, you know that we have one on tithing and you know that I'm not a tithing guy.

I do not command my church congregation to give 10 % of their income every month.

Now, when we have new members that come into our church, they'll ask us, sometimes we'll get asked how much money should

I give in the offering plate? And I'll tell them if you can make 10%, that's a good benchmark to aim for.

So if you can give 10 % of your income, please give that much. But I understand there are some couples that cannot do that.

My wife and I, when I first became a pastor, we were one of those couples. There was no way that I could have given 10 % of my income and still have called myself a good steward with that which the

Lord had given to me. I would have gone into debt with those people that I owed money to like student loans, car loan, some of those kinds of things that I owed before I even became a pastor.

There was just no way that we could give 10%. Becky and I did not have cell phones.

We didn't have cable. We were just getting by on the bare minimum and still did not have 10 % that I could have contributed to the offering plate.

So there are some times and there are some couples that absolutely cannot give 10%. But we are not commanded to give 10%.

It's not in the Old Testament or the New Testament. The Old Testament system of 10 % was taxes in a system of theocracy.

That was what the tithe was. It was taxes. So the Old Testament system of giving was not even the tithe in the

Old Testament. It was freewill giving. It's always been freewill giving. So even in the New Testament, we are commanded the same.

The Apostle Paul says this in 2 Corinthians 9, starting in verse 6. The point is this.

All right. So here's the point of giving of giving it all to your church, which you should do.

You should absolutely give to your church. In fact, your first giving should go to your church before you give to any other parachurch organization.

Give where you are being fed. Support your church with your with your offerings.

OK, but the point is this. Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.

Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.

And God is able to make all grace abound to you so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work.

So we give according to what is in our heart to give. But it is not a tithing system.

Now, don't hear me say to you, oh, you, Pastor Gabe says I don't have to give 10 percent so I can stop doing that.

If you can give 10 percent, please give 10 percent. But don't feel like you're some under you're under some kind of legalistic obligation to give 10 percent of your paycheck every single month.

God loves a cheerful giver, not one who is giving reluctantly or under compulsion, but with a cheerful heart.

So give 10 percent cheerfully. So, anyway, all of that to say that we do need to give to the church.

And when we do, it is a fragrant offering. It is a sacrifice, acceptable and pleasing to God.

It is a gift of costly devotion, just as what the

Philippians gave to the Apostle Paul. My God, Paul says in verse 19, my

God will supply every need of yours according to his riches and glory in Christ Jesus. So here essentially is what the

Apostle Paul is saying. Just as I know I can do all things through him who strengthens me, because in every circumstance

I've learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. It is Christ who gives me my strength.

It is Christ who supplies for my every need. Therefore, I know my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.

This is just that continued shared work that the Apostle Paul is doing and is including the

Philippians in. I love 2 Peter 1, verse 3. His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire.

For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue and virtue with knowledge and knowledge with self -control and self -control with steadfastness and steadfastness with godliness and godliness with brotherly affection and brotherly affection with love.

For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our

Lord Jesus Christ. For whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins.

Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to confirm your calling and election.

For if you practice these qualities, you will never fall. For in this way, there will be richly provided for you an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our

Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. In Christ, we are provided for our every need so that we are fully satisfied.

The apostle Paul knows this and he includes the Philippians in this as well.

Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again. Rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone.

The Lord is at hand. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.

And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Why? How? Because Christ has provided for us our every need.

And we know that. We are assured in that. That brings us comfort and we have peace with God.

Our Lord God, as we come to the conclusion of the study of this today, I pray that you provide for us our every need.

We know that our every need is provided for us in Christ Jesus. Lord, deal with us bountifully so that we might be able to bless others.

And we might also be able to bless the church with our giving, providing for the church that it might continue to do ministry.

We know that the church is provided for in every way in Christ Jesus, but help this be a blessing that accrues to our account, that we give to the church a pleasing offering, a pleasing sacrifice unto the

Lord. We pray and ask these things in Jesus name as you continue to sanctify us in Jesus name.

Amen. It's commonly understood that we're supposed to tithe 10 % of our income and give it to the church.

Now is that 10 % of the gross or 10 % of the net? Where is this command in the Bible that talks about tithing anyway?

The answer might surprise you when we understand the text. Hebrews 7, 4 through 6 records that Abraham gave a tenth of the spoils from war back to the

Lord. By his example, the Levite priests were to collect from the Israelites a tithe or 10 % to support their needs.

It's debated as to whether or not this implies we should be giving 10 % of our income to the church. Another viewpoint says that was only a practice in the

Old Testament. First 10 % goes to God. Now, I know the arguments. I know the arguments. Well, tithing is

Old Testament law. If you're here tonight and you're that person, I'm glad you're here. Two things about you that that tells me.

Number one, you're stupid. Number two, you don't read your Bible. Really now? Let's take a look at that.

In Genesis 14, Chedorlaomer, king of Elam, sacked Sodom and kidnapped Abram's nephew Lot. At that time,

Abram was yet to be called Abraham. Having heard the news, Abram took 318 men, rescued Lot, and seized their goods.

Abram then met with Melchizedek, king of Salem and priest of God Most High, and Abram gave him a tenth of his gain.

Then the king of Sodom told Abram to take what he had recovered, but Abram replied, I have lifted my hand to the

Lord God Most High, possessor of heaven and earth, that I would not take a thread or a sandal strap or anything that is yours, lest you should say

I have made Abram rich. I will take nothing but what the young men have eaten and the share of the men who went with me. See, the concept of tithing started as a pagan practice.

A conqueror would give ten percent of the plunder to the king or pagan god of his choice, swear loyalty, and receive a blessing.

Abram wouldn't do any such thing. Instead, he gave it to a priest of God, showing that his loyalty was to the

Lord only. And that's the only time Abram did that. God did not command him to, and then scripture never records him doing that again.

Fast forward to the Law of Moses, when the Israelites were told to pay a tithe to the Levitical priests, since that would have been the priest's only source of income.

But that wasn't the only tithe that they had to pay. When you add up all of the required giving from the books of the

Law, it comes up to be more like 25%. See, Israel was a theocracy, and tithes were taxes.

That's something that a lot of today's preachers don't seem to understand when it comes to the subject of tithing. Malachi chapter 3, verses 8 through 10.

Will a man rob God? You bring the devoted things to God, he'll bless the rest. If you don't, you're under a curse.

Sorry, Mr. Ed, that's not what those passages are saying at all. What we should take from the subject of tithing isn't that we should give 10 % of our income to the church.

It's actually that we should pay our taxes. In Matthew 17, Jesus pays his taxes and tells the disciples to do the same.

Later in Matthew 22 is where Jesus famously said, Render unto Caesar that which belongs to Caesar, and to God that which belongs to God.

In Romans 13, the Apostle Paul says that because all governing authorities have been established by God, therefore we need to pay our taxes.

Nowhere in the New Testament is the church ever commanded to tithe. Not one time. God's pattern for giving in the

New Testament is not the tithe. But here's the thing. God's pattern for giving in the Old Testament was not the tithe either.

God's pattern for giving has always been freewill giving. He simply says to give.

2 Corinthians 9, 6, and 7 reads, The point is this. Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.

Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion.

For God loves a cheerful giver. It is important to give to the church. Mentioned in Acts 11, 1

Corinthians 16, 1 Timothy 5, and other places. But giving also means helping those in need.

1 John 3, 17 says, If anyone has the world's goods and sees a brother in need yet doesn't help him, how does

God's love abide in him? Let us not love in word or talk, but in deed and in truth.

1 John 2, 6 says to walk as Jesus walked. When it comes to the subject of tithing, that means pay your taxes.

When it comes to the subject of giving, it means to give the Lord everything, time, talent, and treasure, just as Christ gave us everything.

And that's the truth about giving, when we understand the text. Our videos on our website, www .utt

.com. It is also there that you can submit a question to this program. We spend the last third of the program taking questions from listeners and from viewers, and we'd like to hear from you.

www .utt .com. Click on the email link and send us an email.

I'm not going to spend a lot of time answering this question because we're almost to the end of the program anyway, but this comes from Kevin in Illinois, and he says,

Dear, what do you have a video on aliens? Do you think that aliens are real?

How would we preach the gospel to aliens if they are real? Do I have a video on aliens?

No, we do not have a video on aliens. I've thought about making one though, because the question does come up.

I've actually received this question more than once. Do I think that aliens are real?

Of course I do. They're mentioned in the Bible, Ephesians 2, 9. So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God.

All right, all joking aside. No, I do not believe in beings from another world.

I don't think they've visited our planet. I don't even think that they exist. So therefore, since they do not exist, there is no reason to have to answer the question.

How would we preach the gospel to aliens if they are real? We're not going to preach the gospel to any beings from another world.

I remember there is a local Christian radio station in our area here, and there's an apologetics program that they used to air on Sunday morning.

I don't know if they still do this or not, but during one apologetics program, they talked about aliens for the entire half hour.

Not one passage of scripture was ever mentioned, but they speculated on whether or not they would have to preach the gospel to aliens if they came from another world and landed here on Earth.

Folks, this is irreverent, silly myth stuff. OK, First Timothy 4, 7, which says have nothing to do with irreverent, silly myths, but rather we are to train ourselves for godliness.

We do need to be equipped to know how to share the gospel, but we don't have to prepare ourselves for sharing the gospel with beings from another world.

We simply need to know the good news, which is the message about how

God is reconciling all things to himself in heaven and on Earth through the person and work of Jesus Christ, making peace by the blood of his cross.

Jesus Christ died on the cross for our sins. He rose again from the grave so that all who are in him do not have to fear death, but will live forever with our creator

God. That is good news, and that needs to be our focus in sharing that news with the world.

We remind the believers in that, as well as preaching that to lost souls. First Corinthians 4, 6, the apostle

Paul said, do not go beyond what is written. So let's stick with what we know. Thank you,

God, that what we can know has been given to us in your word, in the name of Jesus.

Amen. You've been listening to When We Understand the Text with Pastor Gabriel Hughes. We feature dozens of videos covering a wide range of biblical topics viewed by thousands around the world each day.

These videos are free for anyone to use for ministry purposes in your church, youth group, Bible study, or to share on social media.

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Thank you for listening. Tomorrow we'll continue in Philippians rejoicing together in God's truth when we understand the text.