Today on Fellowship in the Word, Pastor Bill Gebhardt challenges you to become a fully functioning follower of Jesus Christ.
What's interesting is, another thing, our giving to missions is needed, but it's not necessary. See, that's what Paul told them. Is he happy that they gave him something? Yes. Was it needed for him? Yes. Was it necessary? No. Paul already said, I won't be content. If you sent it, great.
If you didn't, great. I'm good either way. And that's the truth when it comes down to our giving to missions. Our giving to missions is needed. Is it necessary?
No. Thank you for joining us today on this edition of Fellowship in the Word with Pastor Bill Gebhardt. Fellowship in the Word is the radio ministry of Fellowship Bible Church located in Metairie, Louisiana. Let's join Pastor Bill Gebhardt now as once again he shows us how God's word meets our world. By the way, when I think of Paul, I think that he was shipwrecked, beaten, beaten with rods, stoned and left for dead, imprisoned in snake pit. Now there's a picture of contentment.
Think of this, though. He's in his mid to late 60s and he has probably walked somewhere between 4000 and 6000 miles in his ministry. Walked.
I could imagine that maybe very content walking through Turkey, Greece. Paul says, yeah, I'm content. All these things that have happened because I learned the secret, he says, of all of it. You see, it marks a certain spirituality. Hold your place here and go with me to First Timothy. First Timothy.
Chapter six. And verse six, Paul says this, but godliness actually is a means of great gain. Notice then when it's accompanied by contentment. In other words, he's saying, you want to know what the mark of spiritual maturity is?
Godliness. Contentment. See, it's a great gain to be content.
That should mark us. If you think you're a spiritually mature believer and you're not content, you're not a spiritually mature believer. You just think you are. You see, you just think you are. Paul says, no, I said, but if you can do that, it'll make you content. Now watch. Verse seven. For we have brought nothing into the world, so we can't take anything out of it either.
Just a reminder. Paul realizes something. What makes you really content? Stuff.
You just love stuff. The more stuff you have, the more content you'll be. Paul says, you know, that's kind of shortsighted because the point will be when you leave, you're not taking any stuff with you. And there are actually people who are really upset as they're approaching death because they can't take their stuff with them. You don't get to take your stuff. I mean, you get to take some half suit that the funeral home puts on the front of you. You get to take that with you.
You don't get stuff. You brought nothing into the world. You're leaving with nothing. But Paul's saying, when I leave, I'm leaving with contentment.
And by the way, when you write Second Timothy, that's what he says. I have fought the good fight. You see, I'm content.
They're going to behead me in probably just a few weeks or months, but I'm OK. You see, I'm content. He said, if we have food and covering with these, we would be content. He said, this stuff doesn't mean much to me. Jesus approached that on the Sermon on the Mount and said, why do you worry about what you're going to wear, what you're going to eat? Why? Your father knows what you need.
You see, why are they seek first his kingdom? And guess what? Not only will he add it to it, but guess what? You'll be content. So you have to ask yourself. And by the way, when you see since the covid has begun, the amount, the amount of pharmaceuticals that are being sold to Americans. Because of their anxiety, stress, worry and fears is unbelievable.
And what does it tell you? They're not content. We're not content.
I need something else to sort of make me content. Paul says, well, there is something else now back to the Philippian passage. Now, when you see this, it's interesting to me that he said, I know how to get along in humble means and also know how to live in prosperity.
In any and every circumstance, I've learned a secret of being filled, going hungry and having an abundance and suffering need. That word contentment is interesting. It's a Greek word that means a certain city or town in Greece.
They call certain towns. This word we call contentment. It means a town that doesn't need any imports into it to self-sustain itself.
It doesn't need anything from the outside to sustain itself as a town or city. And Paul saying that's what you and I can be. You see, he's not saying I deny it. Paul never said I don't want any I don't want to prosper because when he did, I was he said I was content. He said, but if I don't prosper, I'm still content.
It has nothing to do with my contentment. It's kind of an interesting thing. Now, what's interesting about it, too, is that as he goes on here and he says he says this particular thing. He said, verse 13, the key to it all, I can do all things through him, he said, who strengthens me. It's a secret. That's a secret.
What's your secret? Jesus. Why are you content at Jesus? You mean under any circumstances?
Yes. Well, they're going to behead you. I'm content. You see, that's what Christ offers you and I contentment. Think about it from this point of view, if you have the Lord, what could you have any more than that at all?
You have everything. And by the way, for those of you who are materially inclined, of which some of you probably are. When you die, absent the body, present with the Lord, what are you going to inherit? Everything.
And I don't mean, you know, a little farm on the North Shore and having it. No, I don't mean that. I mean everything that's in the created universe. You're a joint heir with Christ and it's all his. So if that gives you that excites you that you're going to inherit everything, you're going to. Frankly, it won't matter much, I don't think I if you've got Christ, I got everything. I don't need anything more, but you and I are described as joint heirs with Jesus Christ. He said, I do that.
I count on his strength. You see, that's the way this works. I have true contentment. That's clearly one of the things that's missing in the church today. The evangelical church in America, in particular, is a discontent group, unlike any other time in our history. I think for the first time in our history, when you read about the church, we have always been described as believers until these last few years as sheep.
And that's a great description because it's biblical. All of us like sheep have gone astray. We he is our shepherd. He is the good shepherd. We are sheep. Now, when you think of the twenty third song and you're talking about the good shepherd, Jesus Christ here in the twenty third song, he he talks about his relationship with the sheep. And if you used one word to describe the sheep, what would it be? Content. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside the still waters, his rod and his staff. They comfort me.
See how that works? They're content. We're not called sheep anymore. What you see a lot of people calling us now, especially people right on the subject, we're called shoppers. Evangelicals are now called shoppers. And the idea is we shop. We shop for our spiritual lives, just like we shop at Wal-Mart or on Amazon. We're looking for the best deal for us.
We are shoppers and the whole megachurch entity in the United States counts on that. The idea is they give you what you're looking for. And if you don't get it there, you'll say, I don't think I like that. I'm going somewhere else. I want to go until I find what I want. One of the reasons for that is we're not content. There's no real contentment that we have. Now, what's interesting is another thing, our giving to missions is needed.
But it's not necessary. See, that's what Paul told them. Is he happy that they gave him something? Yes. Was it needed for him? Yes. Was it necessary? No. Paul already said, I don't be content. If you sent it, great. If you didn't, great.
I'm good either way. And that's the truth when it comes down to our giving to missions. Our giving to missions is needed. Is it necessary?
No. When I first came here years and years ago, we had an early missionary banquet at a local hotel, and the speaker was Paul Van Gorder, who was with Daily Bread, a very good speaker, and he was speaking on missions. And I never forgot what he said at all. He said, and usually a missions speaker at a missions conference is one of those, I'm going to make you feel so guilty that that'll make you give money.
He didn't do that at all. What he said was interesting. He said, God is going to evangelize this world with Fellowship Bible Church or without Fellowship Bible Church. But wouldn't it be great to be part of what God's doing? He's exactly right. See, that's the case and this works.
It's needed, but it's not necessary. God's still God. God is still going to do what God's going to do. It's a privilege for us to be part of what God's doing. If you go back all the way to the Book of Esther and Mordecai, Esther's living in the royal palace and Mordecai writes to her.
And it's an interesting thing. He says this to her. He says this to her. He said Mordecai told them to reply to Esther. Do not imagine that you're in the king's palace and you can escape any more than all the Jews.
The idea of the plan was to eliminate and kill all the Jews. He said, discussion in the king's palace, you might not be able to escape. For if you remain silent at this time, he said, relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place and you and your father's house will perish. God will deliver his people.
That's what he's saying. But you're in the royal house. So he says, and who knows whether you have not attained, he said, this royalty for such a time as this. You need to be part of this.
You need to talk to the king on behalf of your people. But if you don't, God will deliver them. You see, it's the same thing. Our support of missions is needed, but it's not necessary, but it's important for us. Secondly, our giving, fourthly, our giving to missions should be very intentional. Look at verse 14. He says, nevertheless, he said, you have done well to share with me in my affliction. You yourselves also know, Philippians, that at the first preaching of the gospel and after I left Macedonia, no church shared with me in the matter of giving and receiving.
But you alone. For even in Thessalonica, you sent a gift more than once to meet my needs. Notice how intentional their giving was. Paul just had led them to the Lord.
He moved on to Thessalonica and they're sending Paul gifts to keep him going, to spread the gospel. Our giving or even individually should be intentional for the spreading of a gospel around the world. First John three, 17 and 18 says this. If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, he said, how can the love of God be in him? Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue, but with actions and truth. Galatians 6 to carry each other's burdens and in this way you fulfill the law of Christ.
It's intentional. We should be people that if we see needs, we meet needs. That's what we would do. When you think of world missions, one of the things we've decided to do the best we could over these last several years is we wanted to support what I'd call multiplication ministries around the world. In other words, these are ministries where you get a lot more bang for your buck of people who are going to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ. For a long, long time now, we've supported Dallas Theological Seminary. They train the men. They send them out all over the world. A lot of their students are international.
Ranjit is international, went back to Delhi. We support Dallas. But since then, we've taken on the support of Moscow Seminary. Moscow Seminary has a Dallas grad as its president and he's training Russians to go into Russia and bring the gospel to the Russian people. We also support Jordan Seminary in Jordan, and then a Dallas graduate who has Jordan Seminary. And he's training Muslims who are now Christians to go into the Muslim world and to lead Muslims to Christ. Well, that's great. That's multiplication. Now we find out that they're going to start a seminary in Delhi, in India.
And so we're going to support that. What do these seminaries, especially Moscow, Jordan, and Delhi, they have everything they need. Gifted, dedicated teachers, students that are converted, growing in grace, gifts of pastor, teachers, and evangelists. What do they lack? Money. They lack money.
That's all they lack. You see, and so what? Why are we here? We're here to send people.
And the idea is the best we can do to make our contribution to help them spreads the gospel in Jordan, in Russia, in India. And just imagine what that would be like. You heard Rajeev said there are 35 million people in metropolitan Delhi. Can you imagine that? I mean, New York City is just a little shanty town.
It's not even close. How many of those you think are born again people? Very small group. How great is the need to share the gospel of Jesus Christ? Unbelievably needed in that country. See, that's where we come in. That's the part that we do. That's what we do whenever we send.
That's what makes it so important. And lastly, our giving to missions will be honored by God. Notice how he picks this up. He says in verse 17, not that I seek the gift itself, but I seek for the profit which increases to your account. There he's telling them again, that's why I have joy. God's going to put this in your account. You see, that's important to God. He said, I'm not doing it for me.
I don't care about that. But for you, Jesus said, where your treasures are, put your treasure ahead of yourself. Put your treasure in heaven, not on earth.
That's exactly what Paul was saying. He said, but I have received everything in full and have an abundance. I am amply supplies, having received from Epaphroditus what you have sent. Then he says this, a fragrant aroma, an acceptable sacrifice, well pleasing to God. And my God will supply all your needs according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.
Wow. When you give the world missions on your own, God says that's a sweet aroma to me. That's a phrase of his. Certain sacrifices to him are sweet aroma. The sweetness of the aroma is what the sacrifice accomplishes. You see, the death of Jesus Christ on the cross was a sweet aroma to the Father. It's unbelievably agonizing for Christ. But why was it a sweet aroma?
It gave human beings an opportunity to be saved and spend eternity with God. That's a sweet aroma. He said it's well pleasing to God. These are one of the things you want to know. I want to do something to please God.
Here it is. He said that's a sweet aroma. And then he said, my God will supply all your needs. And even more. You've heard this many times, but I'll say it again.
You cannot give God. But I wish that was a lesson everybody learned. But some of us are so skeptical.
Some of us are like toddlers. And our favorite word when it comes to our resources is mine. Mine. Mine. First of all, you have to realize it's his, his.
It's not mine. But the point of it is, listen to what scripture says. Here's what Jesus said in Luke 6. Give and it will be given to you. A good measure pressed on, shaken together and running over. He said it will be poured into your lap. He said, for with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you. Jesus said if you give this much to God, God gives this much back to you. God just looks for conduit.
Someone he can work through. And so this whole idea that, you know, and now I have to say this just as a warning. Some of you think this way so much. You're thinking, wait a minute. Are you telling me that the Bible teaches that if I give, I can make more money? OK.
If you think that way, you're not going to make more money. God will see right through that. He'll understand your motivation. But the point of it is, that's exactly what God is saying.
Look, I want to give it to you. Jesus said, shaken, pressed down, into your lap. 2 Corinthians chapter 9. And God is able to make all grace abound to you so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work. That's the blessing of God.
Why? In 2 Corinthians you find out because they gave to the spreading of the gospel. That's an important thing. Our giving to missions glorifies God. That word glorifies the word doxa. And it means the weight of something. God is pretty weighty, you see. And whenever we give to God that way, he demonstrates his weight. When we give the missions, we demonstrate how much God's weight carries with us. If this is well pleasing to my father, I'll be glad to do it.
You see, that gives him glory. And so, having said these things, that our giving to missions needs to be revived and our giving to missions should be a great joy to us and our giving to missions is needed but not necessary. Our giving to missions should be intentional and our giving to missions will be honored by God. Those are all really important things. Now, I want to say something else though as a pastor.
I'm really proud of a lot of you. Very much so. I mean, in the past we had yearly programs for missions and all those things. And that's all been in the past because of COVID now. We didn't have anything like that. One of the concerns we had in the beginning from over a year ago was simply the concern, what will happen to our missionaries? Nothing. You people just kept giving to missions. Didn't change at all.
Just stayed its course. That's pleasing to God. That makes me feel great as a pastor. No one reminded you. No one said anything.
You weren't, you know, no one was warning, nothing. You just gave. I think that's a wonderful thing. You know, it's a thing that makes you feel really good as a pastor. And so this last year, it's gone in a very God-honoring way. Now, for the rest of you, if you've never given the missions this morning, I'm just challenging you to examine your own heart and ask yourself the question, why?
Why don't I? See, it's very important to the spreading of the gospel around the world. And it's simple. To be saved, a person needs to call on the Lord. To call on the Lord, a person has to believe. For a person to believe, they have to hear. And for a person to hear, there has to be a proclaimer to tell them.
And if there's a proclaimer, someone has to send them. That's you and me. We're the senders when it comes to the gospel around the world. Let's pray. Father, I lift up Ranjit in that terrible situation in India right now.
It'd be unimaginable to us as Americans to go through what these people are going through right now. But I do realize also, Father, that you can use these unbelievably adverse circumstances to share Jesus Christ, the hope of the glory of Christ. I pray for Ranjit and his church and all believers in India that they use this opportunity to be able to demonstrate what it means to first know Christ and secondly, to proclaim him to those who desperately need it. Father, I thank you that we have a relationship with him and other missionaries all over the world. I thank you, Father, that they're going where we can't go and they're proclaiming the same Lord that we love with all of our heart. Father, I thank you that we have been faithful over these last years, always faithful to be able to support the gospel around this world. May we continue to do so for our good and for your glory in Christ's name.
Amen. That's OnePlace.com, and you can listen to Fellowship in the Word online. At that website, you will find not only today's broadcast, but also many of our previous audio programs as well. At Fellowship in the Word, we are thankful for those who financially support our ministry and make this broadcast possible. We ask all of our listeners to prayerfully consider how you might help this radio ministry continue its broadcast on this radio station by supporting us monthly or with just a one-time gift. Support for our ministry can be sent to Fellowship in the Word 4600 Clearview Parkway, Metairie, Louisiana 7006. If you would be interested in hearing today's message in its original format, that is as a sermon that Pastor Bill delivered during a Sunday morning service at Fellowship Bible Church, then you should visit our website, fbcnola.org.
That's fbcnola.org. At our website, you will find hundreds of Pastor Bill's sermons. You can browse through our sermon archives to find the sermon series you are looking for, or you can search by title. Once you find the message you are looking for, you can listen online, or if you prefer, you can download the sermon and listen at your own convenience. And remember, you can do all of this absolutely free of charge. Once again, our website is fbcnola.org. For Pastor Bill Gebhardt, I'm Jason Gebhardt, thanking you for listening to Fellowship in the Word.
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