You Can’t Out Give God

Philippians 4:14-23

We live in America. And one of the unalienable rights that we enjoy is the pursuit of happiness. There is no doubt that we, as Americans, have certainly focused on that right. We do pursue our own happiness. The real question is this: Are we happier as a result?

Now there is nothing wrong with pursuing happiness. There is nothing wrong with wanting to have our needs met. Of course, if we trample over other people in order to find happiness or have our needs met, that’s another problem. Apart from that, however, there is nothing wrong with wanting to have our needs met or even asking God to meet our needs.

Is there a secret to having our needs met? There is this idea in our society that the secret of having our needs met is to focus on ourselves. Look out for No. 1. To thine own self be true. Take care of yourself. And so it goes. Does this work?

I do believe there is a secret to having our needs met. And it goes against the commonly held wisdom of our culture. In fact, it is what I would call a divine paradox. By that I mean one of the teachings of Jesus that seems to contradict all common sense. It is much like the teaching of Jesus that says those who seek to save their lives will lose them while those who lose their lives for his sake will find them. To most people, that doesn’t make any sense. We normally think that the way to save our lives is to protect our lives. The way to save our lives is to guard our lives. The way to save our lives is to watch out for our lives. Isn’t that what most people think?

The secret to having our needs met is much like that. It is the secret of receiving from God. And it is a law of the Kingdom. Simply put, the way to receive is to give. It is a law of giving and it states: You Can’t Out Give God! As you give, God will give to you. It is summed up in this little rhyme –– "There was a man, some thought him mad, the more he gave, the more he had." If we would like to have our needs met, then we must learn to be generous givers. It’s a paradox, but it is a law of the Kingdom. The way to receive is to give.

Now this doesn’t make very much sense from an accountant’s point of view. If you need more money than you have, the way to get it is not to give away some of what you have. Anybody can tell you that. They would think you’re crazy. It doesn’t make sense. And I would agree. Looking at it from a natural point of view, they are right. But looking at it from a supernatural point of view, it makes great sense. It makes a lot of sense when we look at it from the perspective of the Kingdom. And it works!

The sad thing is that many, if not most, Christians never experienced the reality of this because they never give significantly. Oh, they may toss in a few bucks here and there, but they never give regularly, consistently, and significantly. As a result of this, they never experience the real blessing of God.

One of the things that we need to focus on as we look at giving is verse 19: And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus. This is the promise that God makes to us. It is a promise to meet our needs. But the promise to meet our needs is contingent on what comes before in the preceding verses. So let’s look at some of the reasons why we need to give as well as what the result of our giving will be.

There are many reasons why we need to give. Let’s look at three that are found in our text today. Firstly, we need to give because of...

It should be obvious that when we give we are meeting a need. One of the main things that are giving does is enable Christ’s followers to more effectively spread the good news.

Paul praises the Philippians Christians for their generosity. They had stood behind his ministry and helped him financially and otherwise on many occasions. This was a real encouragement to him. He had given his life to the cause of Christ. His life’s ambition was to share the gospel of Christ with as many people as he possibly could. His ability to do that was dependent, in part, on the support he received from faithful Christians. When his resources ran low, he was forced to work on the side in order to supplement his resources. He was certainly willing to do that, and did it on many occasions, but the time he spent working took away from the time he could spend sharing the gospel. So when he received support from the Christians at Philippi, he was greatly encouraged.

When we are faithful to give to the work of the Lord through the local church, our gift becomes an encouragement to others. It enables greater fruitfulness for the work of God. Your gift makes a difference. It alone cannot do all of the work, but when added together with all of the gifts of others, a great deal can be accomplished.

We need to give because of what it does for Christ’s followers. We need to give because of what it does for Christ’s Church. It meets a need and becomes a great encouragement. There is another reason why we need to give. Secondly, we need to give because of...

Did you know that your giving was an investment? Paul said that he was looking for what would be credited to our account because of our giving. Did you realize that you have an account with God? You do. You have an account in heaven.

Jesus told us that we should lay up treasure in heaven, not just on earth. There are certainly many people that are making investments for their future on earth. People save money for a rainy day. People put away money into retirement accounts, hoping that the stock market continues to go up. But few people really invest in their future by laying up treasure in heaven.

I heard of a man who had a message written on his tombstone for those who passed by to read. It was written from his perspective in heaven. It read: "What I spent, I lost. What I saved, I left. What I gave, I have." The truth is that we can take anything with us, except what we give. We send that on ahead of us. It is an investment in eternity. It is an investment in our future. It is a reward waiting for us in heaven.

Have you been laying up treasure in heaven? Have you been investing in your future by giving to the Lord’s work here and now? Our giving is recorded and rewarded.

I heard the story of a lady who died and went to heaven. She was a very wealthy lady on earth. She was a Christian, but gave very little to her church. As she was shown around heaven by one of the angels, she was amazed at the magnificent mansions she saw. She was getting quite excited thinking of just what was in store for her, considering she was a person of great influence and wealth on earth. When she was shown her heavenly home, she was dumbfounded. It was a shack! She reminded the angel that she was a person of great substance. She said that there must be some mistake. But the angel replied, "I’m sorry, but we only get to use what you send on ahead. I’m afraid you didn’t send very much." We need to give because it is an investment in our future. And thirdly, we need to give because of...

Our giving blesses God. Our giving is an act of worship. It is a sacrifice of thanksgiving and praise to God. It is pleasing to him, not because he needs it, but because of what giving does in us.

Giving does something significant in our lives. One big thing it does is to break the back of greed. If you want to break the power of money over you, give it away.

Giving also makes us more like God. God is the ultimate giver. He is the supreme example of giving. God loved the world so much that he gave, not what he had left over, not something trivial, but his most precious possession –– his only Son. And Jesus loved us so much that he gave his very life. He sacrificed his all. There was no greater sacrifice that he could make. So when we give, we become more like our Lord. Giving produces the character of God in us.

Giving also testifies of our commitment to Christ. It testifies of our love for him. It testifies of our devotion to him. When we give, we are declaring our allegiance to him and to his work. We are saying that it is important. And we are further saying that all that we have is his. In the Old Testament, they were told to give the first fruits to God. Giving the first fruits was symbolic. It meant that the whole was God’s. When we give God the first fruits of our income, we are declaring that everything that we have has been given to us by God, and that it is all his.

Giving is an act of worship. Paul mentions that it is a fragrant offering. He is referring to the offerings described in Leviticus 7. The offerings there produced a fragrant aroma that all the people could smell. It was a sweet smelling sacrifice before God. When we give out of a thankful heart, our sacrifice is pleasing and acceptable before God. It gives God pleasure.

Now, if we will become faithful in our giving, we can expect God to pour his blessings into our lives. And what does he promise? He promises to...

God’s promise to us is to meet our needs. We said at the outset that all of us want our needs met. And that is what God has committed to do. He has committed to meet the legitimate needs and that we have.

How many needs do you think you have? I heard of a study done by a sociologist in 1890 in which people surveyed identified 16 basic needs that were necessary for life. A similar study done 100 years later yielded a quite different result. The people surveyed in 1990 identified 98 different basic needs. It seems that the things we think we need have multiplied.

Could be that we have more needs today, or could be that we have more greeds today? God has committed to meet our needs, not our greeds. But that is still good news. What are your needs? Do you have legitimate emotional needs? God has committed to meet those needs. Do you have legitimate spiritual needs? God has committed to meet those needs. You can trust God to meet your needs. Additionally, you can trust God to...

God has not only committed to meet our needs, he has committed to meet all our needs. In 2 Peter 1:3, we are told that God has given us everything we need pertaining to life and godliness. In other words, everything we need to live in this life, he has provided. Everything we need to live for Jesus, he has provided. God will meet all your needs.

We think that we know our own needs. But sometimes we are wrong! Often, our analysis of our own needs comes up short. Many times we do not see our deepest needs. But God truly knows our needs. He sees the deep needs of our soul. He sees even the needs that we can’t discern. And he has committed to meet even those deep needs that escape us.

Sometimes we don’t understand why we are going through some of the difficult situations that come our way. I believe that God could be working in many of those situations for our own good. He could be using those situations to meet some of the deepest needs in our lives. Many times we learn the most profound lessons through the difficult times, lessons we would never learn any other way, through hard times that we would never choose for ourselves. But God is at work. He is at work to meet all our needs. And finally, you can trust God to...

God is not stingy. Our God is a generous God. And he delights in giving good things to his children. We’re told that he will meet all of our needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.

He did not tell us that he would meet all of our needs out of his riches. He told us that he would meet our needs according to his riches. There is a vast difference between the two. If Bill Gates were to write you a check for $10,000, he would be giving to you out of his riches. But if he were to give you a signed blank check, he would be giving to you according to his riches. That is how God gives to us. He gives to us according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus. We are made joint heirs of the Kingdom. We share in the riches of heaven.

You see, you can’t out give God. The more you give, the more will be given to you. This is the essentially what Luke 6:38 teaches us. But we are also told in 2 Corinthians 9:6 that if we sow sparingly, we will reap sparingly, but if we sow liberally, we will reap liberally. This is a law of farming, but it is also a law of the Kingdom. As we give generously, we will be blessed abundantly.

Do you want to have your needs met? Then give generously. God will meet your needs. He will meet all of your needs. He will meet all of your needs generously. You can’t out give God.

Copyright © 2001 J. David Hoke. This data file is the sole property of the copyright holder and may be copied only in its entirety for circulation freely without charge. All copies of this data file must contain the above copyright notice.

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