One of the greatest challenges I've faced in
my life is when God tests my faith by directing
me to give money to help other people. Because
here's what happens with me. I think to myself,
if I give away that money, who's going to take
care of me? The issue is, how do you choose peace
when you're afraid God won't provide for you?
That's today. Welcome to this edition of Living
on the Edge with Chip Ingram. We are an international
discipleship ministry devoted to helping Christians
worldwide live out their faith for the glory
of God and the benefit of all people. Well, we're
nearing the end of our series, I Choose Peace,
How to Quiet Your Heart in the Chaos of Life.
For these last two programs, Chip will illustrate
how acts of compassion and generosity can strengthen
our dependence on God and experience even more
of the peace He's given us. So if you're ready
to learn how to put that into practice, here's
Chip with his message, In Tests of Faith. Well,
we are going to go on a little journey together.
And if history, in my experience, is... any indicator
of the future. Some of you will literally mark
this weekend in this room as a major turning
point in your life because we're gonna give you
the final installment on contentment. We're gonna
give you the last secret, the last part. But
at the end of this service, I hate it when people
sneak things up on you. At the end of the service,
I will give you an opportunity to make a very
specific decision. And that decision will activate
the faith component. in this process of contentment.
And many of you will take it and you will experience
peace and contentment and the beginning of a
journey in your Christian life that most believers
never experience. And so it's a little bit of
a heavy morning, but it's one of those great
opportunities. So I want to pray for you and
pray for me as we begin. Lord God, I pray that
you would fill me afresh with your spirit. that
you would open people's hearts and minds not
to hear my voice but to hear yours. I ask that
I could be clear, that you would give me a sensitivity
to what you want to say, and then, Lord, I pray,
would you give us the grace and the faith and
the courage to believe that what you say is true
to the point of acting on it. In Christ's name,
amen. Number one on the checklist by way of review
is that we need to understand contentment is
learned, Philippians 4, 10 to 13. There is a
secret that it can be learned and you can actually
be at peace regardless of circumstances being
good or bad. Checklist number two from the Philippian
church we learned that greed must die before
contentment can live. That was verse 14 to 18.
And the way that greed dies is by developing
personal compassion. We learn we give our wants,
give up our wants to meet some other people's
needs. It's by a generous spirit where we begin
to release the very thing, money, that can consume
us. And third, it's by developing an eternal
perspective. Coming to believe and understand
that spiritual decisions and financial decisions,
instead of being in two different camps, are
literally connected at the hip. Third thing in
our checklist we need to remember is that our
treasure both reveals and directs the affections
of our heart. Matthew 6, 21, Jesus would say,
wherever your treasure is, what's valuable to
you? Wherever your time goes, wherever your energy
goes, wherever your money goes, wherever your
talent goes, wherever your treasure is, your
heart is like connected with a chain. to your
treasure, and if your treasure goes there, it
reveals where your heart is, but also has the
power to direct it. Different times in my life
I've realized that I needed to shore up some
priorities or I needed to work on an area in
my marriage with one of my kids. And here's the
thing, try this. I started putting my treasure
toward that area. I put my time, my money, and
my treasure toward my wife for a season. And
it's amazing how God changed my heart. Or I put
my time and my treasure and my energy toward
one of my kids going through a tough time and
I saw my heart follow. Your money, your time,
Your talent always reveals and directs wherever
your heart is. Peace is great. I mean, we all
want it intellectually. The way to get there
is very counterintuitive. The way to get is to
give. And that raises a problem. You know, some
of you are thinking to yourself, becoming more
generous and being more compassionate. That's
good, except I got a stack of bills this high.
I got tens of thousands of dollars in debt. If
I actually took serious what you said last week,
who's gonna take care of me? Who's gonna pay
my bills? You know, I got needs. There's college,
there's retirement. You know, is this like church
stuff? Does this really work? Who's gonna take
care of me? That's the problem. And what I wanna
suggest is God has a solution, and the solution
is at the very end of Philippians chapter four,
it's verse 19. And in verse 19, He says, and
my God, Paul says to this Philippian church,
will meet all your needs according to his riches
in Christ Jesus. If you will, pull out a pen
and underline the word my God. That's the who
behind this promise. And then I want you to underline
all your needs and put a circle around all. It
doesn't say finances, does it? This is a generous
church. They don't have a lot of money. They
love Paul. They see what's happening and they've
got some wants, but they see he has a bigger
need. So they give financially to him and he
looks back to him and says, you know, it's what
you've modeled is how people learn contentment.
And then almost to reassure me, he says, here's
what I want you to know. When you're generous
like that, when your priorities in order and
you're afraid, I want you to know my God, personal
God, not the force. Not some invisible set of
factors that operate, but a very personal God
who loves you. What's he going to do? He'll supply
all your needs, your spiritual needs, your emotional
needs, your financial needs, your relational
needs. How? He's going to do it according to
the glorious riches, what's in Christ. And so
the promise he gives them and he gives us is
God's provision. God's provision. God says if
you learn to live this radical give rather than
get, compassion and generosity, he says, I'll
tell you what, you relax and I'll take care of
you. I'll make sure you have what you need to
take care of you. But with every promise, there's
also what I call a premise. And there are three
conditions here. In other words, my God will
supply all your needs according to his riches.
You can say, oh, that's great. I mean, God's
faithful, he's big, and I've got needs. He'll
take care of those. But some of you have said
to yourself, well, wait a second. I've been in
church for a while. I've read the Bible some.
I've tried this. It doesn't work. Okay? I mean,
down deep. You never say it out loud. It's not
like you go to a Bible study and say, hey, I
don't think verse 19 of chapter 4, I don't believe
that one. You don't say that at Bible studies.
But down deep in your heart, you're praying,
and you say, you know, I'm praying, and God's
not providing. I've got needs, and I've got a
bill over here, and I've got a problem over here.
He's not doing it for me. I like to suggest that
sometimes we get needs and wants confused. If
you've got enough to eat and you're warm, God
says, really, that's all you need. I mean, that
doesn't have 401K. It doesn't mean you own your
own home. It doesn't mean you have a second car.
It doesn't mean you have all the fanciest clothes.
And, you know, we say that intellectually, but
unconsciously in America as standard of livings
go up, up, up, up, up, what we do is... We make
a little bit more money, and the window of our
expenses go up, and we start thinking that God
has promised that we always live at this level
all the time, and something happens, and we say,
hey, God, what's the deal? When I was in seminary,
I had a very interesting experience. I think
God takes you through things before you teach
him. And so I'm going to school full -time, working
full -time, and I'm on this straight commission
job where I make about $900 a month. And back
in 1980, that still wasn't very much money. Family
of five. I mean, you're living tight. And so
every now and then, I was in a straight commission
job, and if someone didn't pass their physical,
I didn't get my commission. And it would be like,
oh, man. And then I'd have my rent, and I'd need
some food, and I didn't have any money. And we
were digging quarters out of the backseat and
praying and begging God and claiming Philippians
419. You know, and I could give you, I could
stand up here for an hour of stories of how God
provided and built my faith. I could tell you
the story of a time where a good friend who went
to be a missionary from India, and, you know,
you've got to figure if God prompts him, he knows
what's happening over here. By the time they
decide to send you some money, it goes all the
way overseas, and you get this. I mean, I didn't
have enough money for rent. A guy failed his,
you know, medical, so I couldn't get the commission.
I get a $500 check. from a missionary in India.
When missionaries are sending you money, you
know God's hearing you. But no matter where you're
at, you can get thinking, and I love to hear
those stories, but we can confuse needs and wants.
And we had a particular situation where I think
God wanted to teach us a big lesson. And there
was a lady upstairs in our apartments, and her
husband walked out on her, and she had a brand
new baby, and then a little boy the same age
as my older boys. And I was, you know, just like
you, getting up in the morning, reading my Bible,
and this outrageous thought came to my mind.
She's going to get kicked out of the apartment.
Chip, you and Teresa, you should pay her rent.
And I said, surely you jest, God. I said, you
know, I've figured it out. When we pay our rent,
we'll have $10 left in the bank. Chip, I want
you to pay her rent. And, you know, sometimes
when people get up and they're pastors and you
think they're real obedient and real holy and
they make these outrageously sacrificial, I argue
with God a lot. So, I mean, I said, no. I don't
think this is a good idea. I think this is my
imagination. This could not be the Holy Spirit.
I mean, when you get thoughts that help other
people or are highly sacrificial, bring glory
to God, I mean, well, I guess they're probably
not from you. And so about the third day, finally,
I give in and say, okay, God, I mean, this is
a reluctant giver. I'll do it. And, you know,
my heart went out to her. So we took all our
money out of the bank and we paid for her rent.
And so, you know, about nine days later, our
rent's due. And I'm thinking, okay, Philippians
419, you're going to supply all my needs. My
rent's due. My rent's due. Gabriel, do we have
a communication problem up here? I mean, no money
comes. It's the first time in my life. I mean,
I've seen miraculous things happen now for about
two years. There's no money. Next day, I get
a three -day grace period. No money. Third day,
I got to pay. Today's the day or it's late. Now,
God, your reputation. What are you doing, Philippians
419? Does this work or not? I'm really pretty
upset. And I'll never forget walking. And, you
know, it's a little tiny. It was a government
-subsidized little housing project. And I remember
walking to our little living room. And I looked
and I saw not an expensive at all but a TV. And
I thought, hmm. TV, is that a need or a want?
Want. Then I looked over at a stereo system that
I'd had for a few years and actually went on
a basketball trip to Hong Kong. It was pretty
nice. Is that a need or a want? And then I thought,
you know, when I was a paper boy, I saved all
my silver dollars and the silver dimes. And back
in the 80s, remember when silver got real valuable?
I thought, you know something? Maybe God has
supplied all my needs and I'm asking him for
something. And I shared it with my wife, and
we loaded up in our car my TV, my stereo, my
silver dollars, my silver dimes. Teresa went
back, and she didn't have any real expensive
jewelry, but she had a couple three nice rings
and a couple necklaces, and we went to a pawn
shop, and we turned in everything we could and
got about $447 or something. And we paid our
rent and had enough money for food for that month.
And you know what I learned? I learned often
God has supplied our needs, but we unconsciously
tell him at what standard of living he has to
come through. You know, God, I can't do that
because I have to make that car payment, and
you have to have that late model of car. God,
I can't do that, or I would really follow you
except I have this house payment. And so everyone
has to own your own home, right? You're taking
your home with you to heaven, right? And you
have to live in this neighborhood with this zip
code with... The Apostle Paul is going to say,
if you're serious about contentment, you need
to be serious about God's promises. And he said
there's three conditions about verse 19. Condition
number one, this is not for unbelievers. This
is written to a church. Notice, he will supply
according to his riches in Christ Jesus. I mean,
I didn't come to Christ until I was 18. God does
not commit himself to meet the needs of those
outside of Christ. You're listening to Living
on the Edge, and Chip will be back in just a
minute to finish today's talk. But quickly, this
program is only possible because of the generosity
of listeners like you. Consider supporting us
today by becoming a monthly partner. Learn more
by going to livingontheedge .org. That's livingontheedge
.org. And thanks for doing whatever God leads
you to do. Let's rejoin Chip now for the remainder
of his message. The second condition is I don't
believe this passage is for all believers. I
don't think every Christian can claim this. I
don't think my priorities can be out of whack.
I can be disobedient in major areas of my life,
especially my finances, and claim this verse.
This verse is written to who? The Philippian
church who are doing what? They're sacrificially
giving. up of their wants to meet a need in Paul's
life. And the answer is, my God will supply all
your needs according to his riches in Christ
Jesus for people like you who are doing what?
Have their priorities in line. Third condition
is I think this is only for believers who've
chosen to walk by faith evidenced by sacrificial
giving. God will meet the needs of his children
who say, Lord, I want to obey you. I'm sacrificially
giving them my money and my time and my talent,
and I'm out here on the edge, and if you don't
catch me, I'm in trouble. He says, I'll always
catch you. I'll always catch you. And so the
way that you unlock the promises of God is by
faith. It's by trusting. Would you jot down,
we'll probably get to it yet again, but jot down
Hebrews 11 .6 in the corner of your notes, if
you will. Because more than anything that God
wants to develop in your heart, in your relationship,
it's not activities, it's not external morality,
it's not how much money you give or how much
you serve in the church. It's not trying to figure
out how you can... Figure out some little formula.
What he wants to develop in your heart more than
anything else is a son or a daughter or a student
who says, I love you, Jesus, and I evidence my
love by you that when you say it, I obey it,
and I trust you even when I don't feel like it
because I believe that you are good and I believe
that you are real and I believe that you're true.
Without faith, it is impossible to please God.
For he that comes to God must believe two things.
One, it says that he is, that he exists. And
second, he's a reward. of those who diligently
seek him. Did you ever think of God as a rewarder,
as a good God who's for you and loves you and
wants to bless you and is longing for each of
his children to take a step of faith so he could
bless? God promises he'll take care of you. And
the evidence of our pile of debt is often an
evidence that I have to have immediate gratification.
The evidence of our overextension with our time
and our finances is trying to get contentment,
trying to get satisfied by all the stuff out
there. And over against that, God says, the more,
more, the get, get, the bigger, bigger, the acquire,
the acquire, the gotta have, the gotta have is
an empty dead end. But he says, if you'll learn
to release, if you'll learn to trust, if you'll
learn to walk with me, I'll satisfy all your
needs. Now let's talk about how that works, because
there is a principle here, as some of you are
thinking to yourself, you know what, I'd like
to believe this, but my experience is I'm not
sure it's worked out for me. And there's an axiomatic
principle behind this promise, and it's in the
Old Testament, it's in the New Testament, it's
from the life of Christ, it's in the character
of God, it's from Genesis to Revelation, there's
an axiomatic principle all the way, a kingdom
principle about how God has set up life. The
world and the world's system goes this way, this
kingdom principle goes this way. It's called
the law of the harvest. The law of the harvest.
Some have called it the law of sowing and reaping.
Others, the law of reciprocity. The law explained
is in Luke 6 .38. It's from the very lips of
Jesus. It is not a financial passage, although
it applies there. In Luke 6 .38, Jesus gives
the law of the harvest. He says, give. and it
will be given unto you. Good measure, pressed
down, running over, shaken together, over into
your lap, for whatever measure you give. And
the measure means, you know, whatever size. You
know, if you use a cup, if you use a bucket,
if you use a 55 -gallon drum, whatever measure
you use to give, in the same measure, it will
be given back to you. Law of the harvest. The
world says, get, get, get, acquire, acquire,
acquire, more, more, more. As you acquire and
get, then you will be significant and strong
and powerful and secure. And God says, no, just
the opposite, give. And it'll be given unto you.
Good measure. In fact, shaken, it's a picture
of someone who shakes something to make room
for more. So he explains that the kingdom principle
is give so that God might bless. It's illustrated
throughout nature. Jesus in John 12, 24 says,
unless a grain of wheat fall into the earth and
die, It remains by itself alone. But if it dies,
it brings forth much fruit. I mean, it's just
an agricultural picture, but God has made. The
creation declares the glory of the Lord. You
can take one or two seeds of wheat, stick it
to the ground. It seems like the height of the
foolishness because you could take 10 or 12 and
you could grind them up and make at least one
little piece of bread and eat it. But instead,
you take one seed and you put it into the ground
and then you put dirt over it and you give it
away. And then in a season, you never reap in
the same season that you sow, it grows up and
what comes out of it? Hundreds and hundreds of
seeds of wheat. Give and it will be given unto
you. Good measure, pressed down, running over.
It's explained in nature. It's applied to Jesus.
Follow along as I read Philippians chapter 2.
What does Jesus do? What does he give in order
for God to exalt him? Beginning at verse eight,
it says, and being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the
point of death, even death on a cross. What did
he do? He gave his life. He was the grain of
wheat that went into the ground. What's the result?
Verse 9, therefore God highly exalted him and
bestowed on him the name which is above every
name. That at the name of Jesus every knee should
bow of those who are in heaven and on earth and
under the earth and that every tongue confess
that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God
the Father. The law of the harvest, the secret,
final secret of contentment is that the way to
receive is to give. We see it in nature. We see
it in the life of Christ. And then in Luke 9,
24, from the lips of Jesus, he applies it to
us. In verse 23, he says to a large multitude
of disciples, if any one of you want to follow
after me, be my disciple, be my follower, you
need to take up your cross, instrument of death,
deny yourself, and follow me, how often? Anybody
know? Daily. And then verse 24. For whosoever
would seek to save or keep his life, get, will
lose it. But whoever would give his life would
find it. Now, at this point in time, the looks
on your faces, I always love it when this happens.
There is a conflict and dilemma between your
brain and your heart. Because some of you are
thinking through some of the implications. And
your brain is going. Luke 6, 38, that's the principle.
It's as clear as a bell. I see it in nature.
Farmers use it all the time. You know what? Philippians
2, it's true of Jesus. You know that Luke 9 passage?
I mean, that is black and white. That's not like
interpretation. This is an axiomatic kingdom
principle, the law of harvest. And then you're
thinking to yourself, oh my lands, I would have
to think completely differently about how to
do life. So can I just get you, let's take it
one step at a time. Do you buy, okay? Do you
at least intellectually buy that the Bible teaches
this? This would be kind of yes. This would be
no. This would be, I don't move my head in church,
dude, okay? Well, if you intellectually buy it,
then here's what I'd like you to do. Let's go
to the next page, and I want to walk through
the process. of how this actually works in a
regular person's life, not a missionary, not
a pastor, not some famous spiritual person. I
want to walk through how the law of the harvest
acts. works in ordinary people's lives so that
as you begin to live in a different way, you
will have supernatural stories. Aren't some of
you like tired of hearing stories of, you know,
a quarterback from the NFL sent that guy $1 ,000,
and a missionary sent him $500, and boy, I could
tell you the time where five bags of groceries
with only the kind of food with wheat flour and
meat and cheese, and no one knew we had any need.
Why do you think I get those stories? because
God is a rewarder of those who do what? Step
out by faith. Faith does what? Often counterintuitively,
you give when you're thinking to yourself, only
an idiot would give right now. I mean, that's
what I told God. Lord, excuse me, but I have
both brain cells working. I have like my rent
plus $10, and you're asking me to give it to
this lady. It's very nice. Why don't you give
it to her? And he said, I'm going to through
you. The question I want to know is, do you trust
me to take care of you? And my answer was, maybe.
And so I didn't feel like it. Don't over -spiritualize
this. I didn't feel like it. I didn't want to
do it. I just obeyed. And then God provided.
This is Living on the Edge with Chip Ingram,
and you've been listening to part one of Chip's
message in Tests of Faith from our series, I
Choose Peace. Chip will be back shortly to share
some helpful application for us to think about.
What does it mean to be at peace? Is it having
a thriving career, happy household, financial
security? While many strive for these goals,
they often bring only short -term satisfaction,
leaving us seeking more. In this 12 -part study
in Philippians chapter 4, Chip explains where
this attitude of discontentment comes from and
the ways it steals our peace. Stay with us to
learn how to move beyond temporary calmness and
develop a lasting, peace -centered life that
comes from God. If you've missed any part of
this series, catch up anytime at livingontheedge
.org or wherever you listen to podcasts. Well,
before we go on, Chip's back in studio with me
now. And Chip, I can see you want to jump in
here for a second and share something with our
listeners. So why don't you go ahead and do that?
Thanks, Dave. I want to talk to those of you
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again is chip to close out this program with
a few brief thoughts today this let me remind
you that this didn't come easy for me and it
doesn't necessarily come easy for you in fact
When God begins to grow your faith, I find that
often he tests us and he gives us opportunities
to step out and then he comes through. And it
doesn't mean you feel like giving. It doesn't
mean like there's some big emotion. In fact,
obedience is what brings joy to the heart of
God. It's Jesus said, he that has my commandments
and keeps them, he it is that loves me. In our
next broadcast, we're going to talk a lot more
about the specifics of this whole idea of trusting
God, especially as it relates to give beyond
what we're normally used to giving. Whatever
God is speaking to you about with regard to your
finances, maybe it's just basically tithing.
Start today. Trust him. He will provide. Can't
wait, Chip. Well, as we close, do you want to
deepen your connection to God amid your busy
life? Then take Chip with you by subscribing
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next time as Chip wraps up his series, I Choose
Peace. Until then, this is Dave Drewy saying
thanks for joining us for this edition of Living
on the Edge.