Welcome And Why Stewardship

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All right, I appreciate you guys um tuning in this morning. We uh, you know, you might be wondering why why an elder, why someone uh other than our main teaching team uh is coming in and teaching this morning. And I will tell you, it's like um I was at the elder board meeting and it's like a line of men. Imagine a line of men just standing up and I wasn't paying attention when they were asking for volunteers, and literally everybody else just stepped back, leaving me all by myself out

Sam Houston And A Baptized Wallet

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here. So that is by default why you've got me teaching about stewardship this morning. Um, but you know, I'm excited to get into it. We're gonna talk about Philippians 4, 15 through 23. Um, and uh and I think we're gonna have some really good discussion about um stewardship, particularly of financial resources. Um and so I want to start off talking about a guy that you guys all know well, um, Sam Houston, uh the big white statue on the way to Houston. I know many of you have driven by, like me and my family. We've stopped and actually taken pictures. Um, the thing's huge. He was born in Virginia in 1793. He served as the governor of Tennessee, commander-in-chief to the Texas Army, led in the Battle of uh San Jacinto against Santa Ana, and later served as the president of Texas and then the governor of Texas. The fourth biggest city in the USA is named after him. On the personal side, he didn't fare quite as well. He had two divorces. Uh he was well known for being a heavy gambler and a big drinker. Um at one point uh he actually lived, I think it was his teenage years, he had lived with the Cherokee Indians, and his nickname was The Big Drunk. So the guy had some challenges when it comes to personal stuff. But he remarried a third time to a devout Baptist woman. He finally agreed to be baptized in 1854 in Little Rocky Creek by a guy named Rufus Burleson, who was then the president of Baylor University and a pastor. When Rufus brought Sam Houston out of the water, he said, General Houston, now God has washed away all your sins. To which Sam Houston replied, God save all the fishes downstream. After he baptized him, Sam gave money to the church because he said that his wallet had been baptized too. When God touched his heart, he touched his wallet as well.

Gratitude For A Generous Church

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So this letter from Paul to the Philippians, I would categorize as a thank you note to the Philippians. In the spirit of the Apostle Paul, I want to thank all of you for your generosity to Coppel Bible. Over 120 families gave uh this past year to Coppel Bible. Over $1.7 million was given to Coppel Bible. And as a group, we gave over $200,000 to missions. I could go on and on and rattle off statistics that'll blow your mind. Um, as elders and the executive team, our excitement is not in the money. It's that we have a lot of people here with baptized bill folds and wallets. There's probably no more accurate gauge and barometer of our spiritual life and condition than our giving to God. That's what Jesus is saying on the Sermon on the Mount. Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Our wallets and our hearts are bound closely together. It's not a money issue, it's a heart issue. The generosity that I see at this church tells me that we have a lot of people that have a heart for God. Many of you for many, many years. I'm so thankful for that. The elders are, the staff is. Um it blows you away to think about.

Four-Part Roadmap To Philippians 4

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This passage is more than a thank you note. It contains some instruction that we can all find helpful in 2026 as we as we head into the year. So four simple points I'm going to talk about. Uh, the partnership in verses 14 through 16. We're gonna look at pictures of giving in 17 and 18, a promise, we get a promise in 19, and then a praise uh in 20 through 23. So let's dive in. So the partnership. So verse 14 starts out with nevertheless.

Partnership In The Gospel

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Now, Paul's tying back to what he has just said in verses 10 through 13. He was very appreciative of the gift that God had provided while he was in house arrest. Paul also made clear that he was content, whether they sent the money or they didn't send the money, whether he had plenty or whether he was in poverty. In other words, plenty didn't make Paul more content, and poverty didn't make Paul less content. Paul's contentment was internal, not external. However, Paul doesn't want him to think his content his contentment means that he isn't grateful. Uh he he he was grateful. He didn't want to be dismissive of the sacrificial gift that they had given. He wanted them to know that he isn't taking their gift lightly. He's not trying to disparage their generosity in any way. In 14, here he goes on to say, You have done well to share with me in my affliction. You see that he isn't dismissive. He considers them to be partners in his ministry. He says, You all did well. You did well in giving. So 14, you see the word share. You shared with me in my difficulty, my affliction. You see the same word in verse 15. You yourselves also know, Philippians, that at the first preaching of the gospel, after I left Macedonia, which is Philippi, no church shared with me in the matter of giving and receiving, except you alone. So in 14 and 15, you've got two different forms of the base word. The Greek word is quininea, to share in common, to partner together. Paul's picking up a theme here at the end that he started with the beginning of the letter. If you look in Philippians 1:5, he says, in view of your participation in the gospel. And I know just last week that's what we were talking about. That's what the teaching was about was uh our church, you sharing, uh stewarding the gospel. So, in view of your participation in the gospel, same word, uh, the quininea, from the first day until now, the Philippians have been gospel partners with Paul by sharing their financial resources with Paul. When we support a church, a ministry, a missionary, we become partners in that endeavor, gospel partners. Philippians were buying shares in Paul's ministry of the gospel. They were sharing with him, they were partners together with Paul. The partnership the Philippians had with Paul had two characteristics. And we're gonna look at that. One, their partnership was outstanding. So look in 15. You yourselves know that no church shared with me except you. They stood out, they were unique from all other churches, they were outstanding from all other churches. It goes on in 15. In the matter of giving and receiving, that's language of commerce or accounting, expenditures, receipts, debits, credits. He said, the expenditure to you, the giving to you, the expenditure to you was a receipt to me. In a minute, we'll look at a passage uh of how the Philippians were actually a poor people. So Paul said that their giving was outstanding. And again, and then here is also longstanding. So it's outstanding and it's longstanding. Look at 16. Even in Thessalonica, you sent a gift more than once. They gave immediately when Paul left Philippi.

Giving That Is Immediate And Enduring

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Paul was there for a short period of time, and they began to support Paul and supported him for uh over 10 years. The same should be true in my life, it should be true in your life and in our family's life. Faithful giving should be one of the first disciplines we establish in our walk with Jesus Christ. There's a young man I meet with every Wednesday, uh Wednesday mornings, and he asked me last week, he said, uh, I want to know about tithing and what it means and if it's important to do. I love that he asked me that question. It's a key for young believers and young couples. I know we've got a lot of young couples here in our church, um, is to establish this discipline earlier. It won't get easier, it only gets more difficult as life progresses. I think Paul must have instructed them about giving when he was there because that's why they felt led to give. They began to give immediately, but kept on giving over a long period of time. The Philippians gave immediately and repeatedly, outstanding, longstanding, early and enduring. It's a model for us in our giving, that we are partners that our giving is immediate and repeated. It's a model for us as financial partners in the gospel. Okay, so the second thing I want to look at is some pictures of giving.

Pictures Of Giving And Eternal Accounts

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To make it more practical and relevant, Paul brings it down to earth and gives us a couple of pictures of our stewardship or giving and what it looks like. So in 17, Paul gives a disclaimer. Look at this. Now that I seek the gift itself, in other words, it wasn't the money so much that excited Paul because he says, but I seek the profit that increases to your account. Think about this. Paul was more excited about the blessings that the Philippians would receive and the blessings that would accrue to them for their giving than he was himself about receiving the money. He cared more about their blessings as givers than his blessing as a receiver. He's saying, I don't even, I don't even seek to gift itself so much, but I'm excited about the profit that increases to your account. In 17, look at the language. Paul uses a picture from the world of finance to help them grasp what he's saying. Remember in 15, I said he uses credits and debits, giving and receiving. There's three more accounting references that are used right here. He says, I don't seek for the gift, but for the profit. Literally in Greek, it means fruit. But here he's talking about profit or gain. Increase refers to compounding interest or dividends. I know everybody knows about compounding interest and dividends, things that you can get, putting your money to work. So in 17th, in 17, Paul uses the word account, a word we're all familiar with, where you put your money to gain interest or dividends or some type of increase. What Paul's implying to the Philippians and to us is that when you give your money to God's work, it's like you open an account in heaven. And every time you give, you're making deposits to that account in heaven. Your heavenly bank account is an interest-bearing account. Our giving to God yields an internal rate of return, daily compounding interest, daily accumulating dividends. We can be sure that God is a meticulous bookkeeper. God keeps track of every dividend and all the interest of every account of every believer. So when he says the profit, quote, increases to your account, end quote, no one is ever poor for giving to God. Our giving to God yields interest, it yields dividends. The greatest beneficiary of your giving is you. It's not the person that you give it to, it's you. That's why when people give money, what excites me is the blessing that they are going to receive. That is why Paul's so excited here. You know, sometimes I've seen people give an anonymous gift that meets a need, and the people that receive it often turn and thank God immediately. I love that picture because that's where it came from for sure. It came from God. But but an anonymous gift is sometimes the quickest path to that conclusion. Some people think that when they give money to God's work, it's lost, but it's never lost. It opens an account in heaven that bears eternal interest and eternal reward. There's a guy named Maxie Jarman in the 1960s. Um, he was a believer that was extremely wealthy. He took over his father's companies. They were called Genesco. He grew up from 75 employees to 75,000 employees, so huge company. Sold in the 1980s for 1.5 billion. It was the largest apparel company in the USA at the time. That would be $8 billion today if you rolled that money uh forward. Maxie loved to give, gave millions to Kingdom Ministries. And at one point, the company had some financial troubles and he kept on giving. During the darkest days, a friend asked him about the millions he'd given away and he asked if he wished he'd had some of that money back. Uh he said, Of course, I've thought about everything I've given away. But remember, I didn't lose a penny of what I gave away. I lost only what I kept. The same is true, we can't we cannot lose what we give away. The safest money we ever have is the money we give away. A deposit in heaven will accrue and compound to your advantage and to my advantage. I love the song Trailer Hitch by Christian Bush. Um, I was going to try to get Keith and the team to sing it as part of worship, but they told me that it was an unacceptable worship song. Uh if you haven't heard it, it goes something like this. Everybody want to die rich. You can't take it with you when you go. I've never seen a

Sacrifice That Pleases God

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hearse with a trailer hitch. It's no secret that you can't take it with you, but you can send it on ahead. In the end, the only treasure we have is what we've sent on ahead. It's just like Jesus said lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven where neither moth nor rust destroy, and where thieves cannot break in and steal. So the question I have for you have you opened a bank account in heaven? How much is in it? When's the last time you made a deposit? God keeps a record, and God's record will follow us to eternity. When we leave this world, only what we have in that account in heaven will last. George Truett was a pastor at First Baptist Church in Dallas. Um he was the president or president, the pre predecessor to W.A. Criswell. And as the story goes, he he went with a rancher once to West Texas, and the rancher lit up a big cigar. You can just see it. Um they're looking out at the beautiful sunset, and uh the rancher pointed south to some oil wells, and he said, I own everything in that direction as far as you can see. Then he pointed east to some cotton fields and he said, I own everything in that direction too. Then he pointed to the then he pointed to the to the north, a huge herd of cattle, and he bragged and he said, I own everything in that direction. Then he pointed west and he said, I own everything in that direction too, preacher. George put one hand on the rancher and he said, Pointed up the sky, and he said, How much do you own in that direction, brother? It's a good question for him, uh, but it's a good question for us too. Make sure you have something in that direction and make sure you're making some regular deposits. So look at 18. He says, I've received everything in full, I have an abundance, I'm amply supplied. This is the gift the Philippians sent with a paper Epaphroditus that he brought 800 miles from Rome to Philippi. Something interesting is Paul never says how much the gift was. He just said, I've received everything in full. It's another accounting term, payment in full. He said, I have an abundance. One translation said he he was now rich, filled up, amply supplied. Paul's reveling in their gift. At the end of 18, Paul reflects on the gift. He says, It's a fragrant aroma, an acceptable sacrifice, pleasing to God. He's envisioning an altar where the sacrifice uh is being burned, and and that aroma is a pleasing aroma to God. So, what's it tell us that sacrificial giving is pleasing to God? Think about that. We can do something that pleases God, the eternal, infinite, majestic God, and you and I can do something that pleases God. What pleases God is a gift that is a sacrifice. It's not leftovers or the surplus, it's a sacrifice. Uh Adrian Rogers, who's a pastor and writer, said, Don't give what's left, give what's right. Don't give until it hurts, give until it feels good. In 2 Samuel 24, many of you may remember the story of David. He had sinned against God, he brought a plague, uh, and to stem the plague, he went and offered sacrifices to God. He wanted to buy a threshing floor from uh Aronah the Jebuzite. Davis per David purchased that, and that's where Solomon's temple stood. Today in Israel, the Temple Mount is actually the threshing floor of Aronah the Jebusite. And David wanted to buy it, and Aranah, he wanted to just give it to him. And David said, No, I'm paying full price. I'm not going to give God something that didn't cost me anything. Giving that pleases God is sacrificial. The stats in the evangelical churches today, I'm sure many of you have heard them. They aren't encouraging. One study I read said 17% of the people say they tithe, only 5-6% actually did. Many gave nothing. On average, 2-4% of income was given. They're not encouraging. There was a guy named Peter Marshall who was a chaplain of the U.S. Senate in the late 40s,

The Conditional Promise Of Provision

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and his quote was, You better give according to your income, lest God make your income according to your giving. When we talk about giving, the measure is not the size, but the sacrifice. Remember the widow that gave all she had, and Jesus said her gift was bigger than all the others. It's not the portion that we give, it's the proportion. I truly believe we are to give generously and proportionally to what the Lord has given us. Now, I mentioned earlier that the Philippians were poor. 2 Corinthians 8:1 and 5, we're going to look at that. Paul's writing to the Corinthians and bragging on the Philippians. I want to read this. It says, Now, brethren, we wish to make known to you the grace of God which has been given in the churches of Macedonia. Again, that's Philippi. That in a great ordeal of affliction, their abundance of joy and their deep poverty overflowed in their wealth of their liberality. I'll back up, he said, and their deep poverty overflowed in the wealth of their liberality. For I testify that according to their ability and beyond their ability, they gave of their own accord, begging us with much urging for the favor of participation in the support of the saints. And this, not as we had expected, but they first gave themselves to the Lord and to us by the will of God. Five's the key right there at the end. It says it begins by giving yourself to the Lord. The greatest gift you can give God is yourself. If you give yourself to the Lord first, it won't be hard to write a check. And it's probably going to be more than two to three percent. My s my family struggles with you in this as well. Coppel Bible, I firmly believe, is a very generous church. I think the percentage of givers in our church is off the charts. Our family wants to be generous in our giving, but what I often question is whether or not our giving is sacrificial. I wrestle with this. It's a good question for me. Um, it's a good question in a country where we have so much. Paul said your giving was an acceptable sacrifice. I'm not going to tell you all my giving is sacrificial. But I think about it and I work on it, and I pray that God will help my family and your family be faithful in it. Our giving is ultimately to God. You are not really giving to our staff or a missionary or Coppel Bible. You're giving your gift to God. Your gift is a fragrant aroma, pleasing to God. So the third thing is the promise. Let's get into that in 19. It gets better. Now, this is often misquoted. Uh many of you have heard this verse many times before, but look at it. It says, And my God will supply all your needs according to his riches and glory in Christ Jesus. It's often quoted as a blanket promise, a guarantee from God that will automatically provide you a believer for you as a believer, no matter how much you give. Or I'm sorry, no matter how you live. But but there's a conjunction that ties to the verses above, meaning the promise in 19 only applies to faithful givers. It's not a promise to every believer, but only those that take stewardship seriously. It's a conditional promise from God. At the first of 19, Paul says, My God. It's personal with Paul. Then he says, shall supply. Supply is the same as the word abundance in 18, to fill up. Since you filled me up, God will fill you up. All inclusive, physical, financial, spiritual. Now it doesn't say God's going to meet everything, every want, and need you have. I'm sorry, it doesn't mean every want that you have. It says God will meet our needs. This isn't a prosperity theology statement. God will take care of you. Proverbs 3.10, then your barns will be filled with plenty, and your vats will overflow with new wine. Malachi 3.10, bring

Closing Praise And The Greatest Gift

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the whole tithe into the storehouse, so that there may be food in my house, and put me to t to the test now in this, says the Lord of armies. If I do not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you a blessing until it overflows. Luke 6 38, give and it will be given to you. They will pour into your lap a good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over, for by your standard of measure it will be measured to you in return. In 2 Corinthians 9 8, and God is able to make all grace overflow to you, so that always having all sufficiency in everything, you may have an abundance for every good deed. I can go on and on. There's verses all over the place. Some people say, I can't afford to give. I would say we can't afford not to give. The creator and sustainer of all things, the God who inhabits eternity, stands behind this promise. Shame on us if we won't trust him. Matthew 6, 33, seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be provided to you. In 19, Paul says, God will supply all your needs according to his riches. He doesn't say, from my riches. Elon Musk could say, I'm giving you something from my riches. It could be a dollar, but according to your riches, or in keeping with your riches, that's different. God will supply our needs in keeping with God's riches. They are infinite. They can't be diminished. You can't ever out give God. In 19, all this is in Christ Jesus. God's riches are in a person all tied up in Jesus. One person said it like this: My God is the bank, shall supply is the check. All your need is the amount. According to his riches and glory is the capital, and by Christ Jesus is a signature. Update it a bit. My God is the bank, shall supply is Apple Pay. All your need is the amount. According to his riches and glory is the capital, and by Christ Jesus is a signature. So we end with a praise. Paul closes in 20. Now to our God and Father be the glory forever and ever. Amen. In all our giving, God gets the glory. When we give, we're given to something much bigger than ourselves. In 22, especially those of Caesar's household, Paul's telling them that their giving helped reach deep into the Roman Emperor's administration. And that, as we all know, obviously was big because uh because the Roman Empire changed. Christianity changed the Roman Empire. In 23, the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit, his free, unmerited favor. So to recap, Paul's lessons for us here, partnership. We're partners with the ministries we give to. He gave us pictures of giving we are depositing into an eternal account. He gave us a promise that if we faithfully and sacrificially give, God will supply all our needs and the praise, the gifts we give are pleasing to our mighty God. We've talked this morning about giving to God. Uh but if you don't know the Lord Jesus, he has something to give to you. The free gift of eternal life that he gives to you. The Christian life begins not with you giving something to God, but you receiving something from God. Receiving his forgiveness, receiving eternal life, the gift of the Lord Jesus Christ. 2 Corinthians 8 9, for you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich. It's not talking about money. When Jesus became poor, he took our bankruptcy on the cross. All our sin and spiritual bankruptcy was born by him. Through his poverty, we can become rich spiritually by putting our faith and trust in Jesus. God loves you and he wants to give you the free gift of forgiveness and life everlasting. This is what motivates my heart about giving. We can partner with our giving to bring the gospel of Jesus to anyone and everyone. Our eternal investment is our greatest privilege.