Good morning.
My name is Matthew Capone, and I'm the assistant pastor here at Shine Mountain Presbyterian Church,
and it's my joy to bring God's word to you this morning.
Special welcome if you are new or visiting with us.
We're glad you're here, and we're glad you're here not because you are filling a seat,
but because, as I say every Sunday, we are following after Jesus together as one community,
and we are convinced as we follow after him that there is no one so good that they don't need God's grace,
and no one so bad that they can't have it.
And so we're glad that you're here because God has something to say to everyone,
and everyone needs to hear what God has to say in his word.
And so that's why we spend this time looking at everything that God has to say to us.
Now, I know that many of you have faced an incredible challenge this past week,
and that was the incredible challenge of cooking a turkey.
Now, if you cook turkeys, you know there's lots of things that can go wrong.
You can undercook them and make some of your guests sick.
You don't want to do that. You don't want a dirty bird.
Or you can overcook them and give your guests the unpleasant experience of eating dry bird.
And there's lots of different tricks that you can use to try to make sure you're hitting the right spot,
but there's only one real fail-safe.
There's only one way to know exactly and precisely whether you've cooked your bird enough,
but not too much.
And that is the great modern miracle of the instant reed thermometer,
which you can use.
And, of course, you have to know the right places to put it in the turkey, right?
You have to have some skill in using this.
But if you know what you're doing,
this is your fail-safe method of making sure you don't mess up your turkey.
Now, we are in the book of Philippians.
And if you've been with us, you know we've been going through it for a while.
And we are now at the very end.
We're in the last section.
This is our last sermon on Philippians.
And we have covered a lot of ground.
If you've been with us, you know that we've talked a lot about the gospel.
We've talked a lot about the partnership that comes with the gospel.
And then last week, really two weeks ago,
we talked about the joy that comes from the gospel.
And these are all the things that Paul wants to emphasize.
He wants to tell this church in Philippi over and over again.
And we've talked about the fact that this is a letter.
It's a letter that's written from Paul, who's in prison at the time,
and it's written to a church.
And this church is very much like our church.
And we have talked once before about the logistics of this letter.
So when we talked about Timothy and Epaphroditus,
remember Epaphroditus was a man who was in the Philippian church,
and he visited Paul.
And he visited Paul for two reasons.
One was just to help him, to assist him.
Paul is under house arrest.
He can use all the help he can get.
It's great for him to have a companion, someone to be with him.
But the other reason he came was to deliver a financial gift.
These folks in Philippi had learned that Paul was under house arrest.
They knew his needs.
They were concerned for his needs.
And so they took up a collection of money,
and presumably some other things,
and sent them to him because they cared about him.
They wanted him to know how much they cared about him,
and they also wanted him to be provided for.
They wanted him to have everything that he needed.
And so as we come to the very end of this book,
we're going to find Paul's thank you note.
This is his thank you note to the Philippians for what they've done for him,
what they've given to him, and the ways they've sacrificed.
And so Paul, as he always does, never just says something or thanks someone,
but he uses it as a chance to teach.
And so in this very end, Paul is going to teach about money.
And what we're going to find out is that money is the instant read thermometer of our spiritual lives.
There's many different ways we can try to understand where we are spiritually.
But it's money that Paul presents here as a great test,
a great way to know instantly what is true of our hearts.
This is what we saw in our preparation for worship when we read from the Gospel of Matthew,
that we can have treasure in heaven or treasure on earth.
And so we're going to see three tests here of money.
First, we're going to see a test of our joy.
Second, a test of our partnership.
And third, a test of the Gospel.
A test of our joy, a test of our partnership, and a test of the Gospel.
We're in Philippians chapter 4, and we're starting at verse 10.
Remember that this is God's Word.
And God tells us that His Word is more precious than gold,
even the finest gold,
and that it is sweeter than honey,
even honey that comes straight from the honeycomb.
And so please read with me now, starting at verse 10.
I rejoice in the Lord greatly that now at length you have revived your concern for me.
You were indeed concerned for me, but you had no opportunity.
Not that I am speaking of being in need,
for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content.
Verse 12.
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.
Verse 13.
I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.
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.
Verse 16.
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.
Verse 19.
And my God will supply every need of yours according to His riches in glory in Jesus Christ.
To our God and Father be glory forever and ever.
Amen.
Greet every saint in Christ Jesus.
The brothers who are with me greet you.
All the saints greet you, especially those of Caesar's household.
The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit.
Lord, please pray with me as we come to this portion of God's word.
Dear Father in heaven,
we thank you that you do strengthen us
and that you do provide everything that we need in Christ Jesus.
And so we ask that you would do that for us this morning.
That you would help us as we listen to your word.
You'd help me as I try to speak your words.
That all of us would hear from you and be changed by you.
We ask this in the name of your son.
Amen.
If you remember from two weeks ago,
we talked about joy and the fact that it is the strike anywhere match of the Christian.
And so it's something that we should be able to have regardless of our circumstances.
Happiness is tied to our circumstances.
Joy is tied to what is not our circumstances.
Things that cannot change.
It's tied to everything that we have in God through Christ.
And so Paul starts out with this again.
Remember in verse 4 he had said,
Rejoice in the Lord always.
And now in verse 10 he says,
I rejoice in the Lord not always this time but greatly
that now at length you have revived your concern for me.
You were indeed concerned for me but you had no opportunity.
And so Paul brings up this topic of joy again.
And his joy it seems at first comes because the Philippians have sent him this gift.
But there's a problem because if his joy comes from the sending of the gift,
it means it must be tied to his circumstances in some way.
And so Paul eager to make sure that the Philippians know that his joy is not rooted in money
gives an immediate qualification here in verses 11 through 13.
Yes, I rejoice.
But it's not because of the money.
I rejoice because you were concerned for me.
And then in verse 14 because they share his trouble.
And the reason he doesn't take joy in the money
is because he has learned a secret.
He's learned this secret in verse 11 of being able to handle multiple circumstances.
That there's this skill when it comes to having money.
That a skill that applies not just to not having enough
but having more than enough.
That being rich is in some ways just as challenging as being poor.
Because we can either trust God or we can trust money.
If we trust God, we'll manage and control our money.
If we trust money, our money will manage and control us.
If we trust God, we will manage and control our money.
And so in the midst of this gift, Paul wants them to know
that regardless of their circumstances, money is not the source of their joy.
There's a skill.
There's a skill for the rich and for the poor.
Paul has experienced both, we find out.
He's been brought low and he's abounded.
He's had plenty and he's been hungry.
But in all of those circumstances, he hasn't let his joy rest on what his financial state is.
He's learned this secret and he knows that it's a challenge for everyone.
This is an instant read thermometer,
not just for people who have a lot of money,
but people who don't have enough.
It's a challenge for everyone to not find joy in the resources that we have,
but the joy in what God has given us that we cannot lose.
I have a friend who immediately after he graduated from college became a ski instructor
here at Keystone in Summit County here in Colorado.
So this was his first job out of college and his paycheck week to week was dependent on
who signed up for lessons, you know, whether it was a private lesson,
which he would make more money on, whether it was a group lesson.
He had to figure out living expenses in this ski town.
And so he had a lot of variables from week to week financially about how things would go for him.
And one day he had a big break.
So there was a group of executives.
There was a CEO and all his executive team, his vice presidents,
who came to Keystone and they decided this was going to be their business retreat.
They were going to spend all this time together.
This would be a time for them to bond and plan.
And they were going to spend the entire morning all taking private ski lessons.
And they would then meet back up in the afternoon to debrief, have time together.
They were going to actually have time with their ski instructors
and do the business that they had before them.
Now my friend, his name was Camper.
Camper was assigned vice president of a company.
This was at the time a billion dollar company.
And he had a bad feeling right away.
This vice president was an older man.
He was not in great shape.
He had never skied before.
And so Camper thought to himself,
here's this powerful man who has everything.
And I'm going to ask him to put really slick things on his feet
and then ask him to get on a slick surface.
And so they got out and started the lesson.
And this man became instantly frustrated.
He became angry.
And about 20 minutes into the lesson,
he just rips his skis off and he throws them down on the ground.
Just says, I am finished.
His wife is standing there, by the way, just completely embarrassed.
And so he walks away, but he walks up to my friend first
and he takes a $100 bill and he shoves it into his hand.
He said, here, this is for you.
My friend said, I can't accept this.
You didn't enjoy it.
You only spent 20 minutes of your three-hour lesson.
And I'm going to get to ski by myself on the slips for the next three hours.
And I'm still going to get paid.
So I can't accept your money.
You take it.
You didn't enjoy the lesson.
You go.
So the man looks at him and he said,
when you have as much money as I do,
then you can say no.
And he shoved the $100 bill in his hand and walked away.
And so on the one hand,
we have someone who knows how to abound, who has plenty.
And yet there's security.
Their worth, their identity is found in their money.
This is someone who, though they have no need,
they don't know what Paul talks about here.
They don't know how to be content in every situation.
They don't know how to do all things through him who strengthens them.
Instead, this is someone whose money was where they tried to find their joy,
their meaning, and their identity.
And so when anything challenged that, a ski lesson that went wrong,
a ski instructor who didn't want to say yes to their tip,
that was what they turned back to, their money.
On the other hand, you had someone whose income would fluctuate week to week,
who could really use $100 to buy groceries
as he's trying to figure out his post-college life
being a ski instructor here in Colorado.
And yet this is someone, my friend, who has great faith.
And so he's not willing to take this $100 because that's not the source of his joy.
Even as he's trying to figure out how he's going to support himself
and make it week to week,
that is not what he looks to for his security.
And so Paul here is speaking both to those who have a lot of money
and those who do not.
Both the man who shoves the $100 bill into someone else's hands
and says, you don't get to say no to that,
and the person who takes it.
There's a skill to knowing that our joy
doesn't come from our material circumstances.
It comes from God.
And so that's why Paul says he rejoiced in the Lord greatly.
He's grateful for this gift that the Philippians give to him,
but it is not the source of his joy.
And so both the rich and the poor have the challenge
of taking confidence in their things rather than God.
If you're rich, you have the temptation to be confident in things rather than God
should make you smug and numb and insulated.
If you're poor, you have the temptation to take confidence in things rather than God,
making you anxious and fearful and grasping for money.
But Paul here is telling us that there is a different way,
that there is joy that comes in trusting in God and others.
And it's not just something that people outside the church need to learn and grow in,
but us inside the church as well.
So my friend Camper, he went skiing for the next three hours,
but he still had to show up at this lunch.
So there was a lunch where the ski instructors and this executive suite
were going to get together at the bottom of the hill.
And so he went, he had his time skiing, felt terrible.
This man had just completely belittled him, dehumanized him.
And so he walks into the lunchroom.
And the vice president makes a beeline for him.
And he said,
Camper,
I treated you terribly earlier.
I was frustrated because I couldn't ski,
but I shouldn't have talked to you that way.
I shouldn't have treated you like that.
Will you forgive me?
My friend said,
he said,
yes, I'll forgive you.
And then this man said,
I believe in Jesus.
And he's been doing a great work in my life.
My friend said,
yes, I believe in Jesus too.
And he's doing a great work in my life as well.
And so both the rich and the poor
were able to reconcile there
and walk away with a joy that they did not have before.
The man who took confidence in his wealth,
even he was someone who was following after Jesus,
but he still struggled with what Paul is talking about here.
He struggled with the skill of,
as we see in verse 12,
knowing how to abound.
He was still learning how to have a lot of money.
And my friend,
Camper,
was still learning the skill of how to be brought low.
But both of them together had access to God's grace.
This Christ president was not so bad
that he couldn't have God's grace.
And my friend,
Camper,
wasn't so good that he didn't need it.
But both of them needed to grow
and were growing
in learning this secret,
the test of joy.
That their joy comes not from their
financial circumstances,
but from their status in Christ.
And so that's what Paul is telling us in verse 13
when he says,
I can do all things through him who strengthens me.
This is a widely abused verse.
There's a,
Stephen Curry you may know
as the most valuable player
at several points in the NBA.
And he's famous for having Philippians 4.13
written on his sneakers.
In fact,
I believe the story is
that Nike refused to take his sneaker deal
because of it.
So he went to Under Armour
and then Under Armour went to the bank.
This passage
is not about shooting basketballs.
Philippians 4.13
is not about being able to drop threes.
But instead,
Paul is saying
that he can do all things
through God who strengthens him.
In other words,
he can do everything
that we've seen in the last two verses.
He can face
every circumstance
because it's God
that strengthens him.
He knows how to handle wealth
and he also knows
how to handle poverty.
And so his joy
does not come from either one.
In other words,
I can find joy in all things
through him who strengthens me.
I can bear up
under any circumstance
through him who strengthens me.
That is not the source
of my joy.
And so joy comes from,
as we talked about two weeks ago,
trusting God and others.
Trusting God and others here
rather than money.
And so money is the test
of our joy.
It's also the test
of our partnership.
You notice that Paul says here
in verses 10
and then in 14,
he finds joy
in their concern for him.
In verse 14,
it was kind of you
to share my trouble.
And you, Philippians,
verse 15,
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.
In other words,
this is a partnership
kind of church
and they have shown
their partnership
by partnering financially
with Paul.
We find out in a different letter
that Paul wrote
in 2 Corinthians 8 and 9
that this church,
the churches in Macedonia,
and he's probably talking
about the Philippian church,
at least includes
the Philippian church,
it might include others,
is known for their generosity.
He uses them as an example
for other churches.
Look at these Philippians
who know how to be generous.
Be like them.
And so,
they are practicing
everything that we saw
in Philippians 2.
Remember in Philippians 2,
Paul deals with their disunity
by saying,
look not only
to the interest of others.
Excuse me,
look not only
to your own interest
but also to the interest of others.
Do what Jesus did.
And we applied that then
to the problem of unity,
but here it applies
financially as well.
The church in Philippi
did not look
only to their own interest
financially,
but they were looking out
for the interest
of others as well.
They were looking out
for the interest of Paul.
And so here they're modeling
being question people
rather than answer people.
The church in Philippi
is asking.
They're trying to figure out
what Paul's needs are
and then seeking to meet them
and we find out
they've more than met them
later in this passage.
But then Paul,
and we'll talk about this
in a minute in verse 17,
is not interested
in the money
they're giving them.
He's interested
in their spiritual growth.
And so Paul and this church
are a beautiful model
of each of them
looking out
for the needs
of each other.
But we're also
seeing a key truth here
which is that finances
are part of our partnership.
Paul thanks them
for their partnership
at various times
in the letter,
sometimes for their partnership
just in suffering
and being with him,
their partnership
in working side by side.
But here their partnership
is explicitly financial.
They are giving him
what's most precious to them.
They're giving him
some of their financial resources.
They're giving him gifts.
And so if we are,
as we talked about
in our very first
sermon on Philippians,
if we are seeking
after the treasure
together,
then we're also willing
to give some of our treasure.
If we're seeking
after the treasure together,
the great treasure
of the gospel,
then we're also going
to be willing
to give our treasure
to others along the way.
I had a friend
who in his senior year
of college,
there's lots of college
stories here,
year after college,
year of senior year
of college,
he went to a conference
with a bunch of other
college students
and he listened
to a speaker
and this speaker
was at the time
near the top
of one of the largest
consulting firms
in the nation,
if not the world.
And this man
was a Christian believer
and so he was giving
a talk about
finding joy
in God
rather than money.
And he was very open
during this talk
at various points.
He said,
you know,
if you want afterwards
you can come up
and you can ask me anything.
My friend listening
to this talk
was very cynical.
He thought,
this man has nothing
to tell me
about finding joy
in God
rather than money.
He works for a major
consulting firm.
He has all the money
he could ever need.
What do I have to learn
from this man?
He has nothing to say to me.
And so my friend
was very bold
and he went up
after the talk.
He said,
well,
this man said
we can ask him anything
so I'm going to
take him up on the offer.
And so he started out
with a very light
and easy question.
He said,
you said we could
ask you anything
so I just want to know
how much money
do you make a year?
This man said,
yes.
I did say you could
ask me anything
so I'll tell you.
It varies year to year
based on how
our firm performs
but I make
usually it's high
six figures,
low seven figures.
So this man was averaging
about a million dollars
a year.
So my friend said,
okay,
I'm going to ask you
another question.
How much of that
do you give away?
The man said,
well,
I'm going to start
with how much
my wife and I
live off of.
We have a house,
we've paid it off.
We have two cars,
we've paid it off.
We've put our kids
through college.
You know,
we're near the end
of our career.
So we live off
about $30,000 to $40,000
a year.
And so my friend
then asked him,
okay,
well,
how much do you
give away?
He said,
we give away
the rest of it.
My friend,
thinking that he
was going to
show this man
for the scam
that he was
and reveal that he
had nothing to share
about money,
actually walked away
not just humbled
but encouraged
and he thought
as he walked away,
I wish that there
was a way of knowing
that there are more
people like that
in the world.
And then as he
watched this man
for the rest of the
weekend,
he said,
I could tell that
this was a man
who was filled
with joy
because he
trusted God
rather than money
and so he managed
and controlled his money
rather than letting it
manage and control
him.
Now,
most of us don't make
high six figures
to low seven figures
a year,
but the point is this,
this man knew
the secret
of looking not only
to his own interests
but also to the interests
of others.
He wasn't going to the
poor house over his giving
but he also wasn't
taking his money
and using it to find
his security
and his worth.
He wasn't storing
all of it away
as a way
of investing everything
in case something
went wrong.
I'm sure this man
had saved
for retirement.
I'm sure he had
what he needed
set aside
but this was a
partnership kind of man.
This was a man
who looked not only
to his own interests
but also
to the interests
of others
and so that's what
Paul is telling us
here as well
that our money
is not just
the test,
not just the instant
read thermometer
on our joy
but it's also
the test
of our partnership.
If we are truly
going after
the partnership
with one another,
going after the treasure
then we will share
our treasure as well.
And so money
is our test
of our joy,
a test of our partnership
but it's also a test
of the gospel.
Paul tells us
in verse 17
that he doesn't
seek the gift
primarily.
It is useful
for him.
They have met
needs of his
but that's not
his primary interest
in their giving to him.
Instead,
he seeks what he calls
the fruit
that increases
to your credit.
This again
is what we talked
about in chapter 1
of Philippians
that they would
increase and grow
that their faith
and their love
would abound
more and more.
And then he tells us
that he has received
full payment
that this
has been a fragrant
offering to God
that this giving
is a sign
that the gospel
has been at work
in their lives.
Not only does it show
that they're finding
their joy
in the right place,
not only does it show
that they're partnering
fully,
but it shows
that they understand
the gospel
at a fundamental level.
These are people
who have understood
the fact
that God provides
for them.
They know
what Paul tells us
in verses 13 and 19.
They know
that they can do
all things
through God
who strengthens them.
And then they know
in verse 19
that God will supply
every need of theirs
according to his riches
and glory
in Christ Jesus.
And so because
these people
have had trust
in God,
that has resulted
in them.
The fruit
of their trust
in him
is that they've given.
And so the point
is not
that we need
to give more
to God
or others
to prove something
to him
or earn something
from him.
Instead,
the point is
the more
that we understand
that we have
nothing to prove
to God
and nothing
that we can earn
from him,
the more
we will find
ourselves
naturally
being generous
to others.
That as Paul
looks at the lives
of the people
in Philippi,
he sees this giving
as fruit
of God's work
in their lives.
And so it reveals
what is already true,
that they understand
the gospel,
they understand
what God is doing
and what he's done
for them,
and so it frees them up
because they trust God
rather than money,
because they manage
and control their money
rather than letting
their money manage
and control them,
the very natural,
intuitive,
logical next step
is simply that they
would be generous
with the people
around them.
Many of you
have probably already
gone out
and bought Christmas trees,
and those of you
who haven't
will probably do so soon.
And the one thing
I find fascinating
about Christmas trees
is that they always
look so symmetrical.
I'm not sure
how they do that
on Christmas tree farms,
but if you go out
in nature,
if you're out
in the wilderness,
you will be
very challenged
to find a symmetrical tree.
If you haven't
thought about that before,
the next time you're out
somewhere that's not
in a well-manicured
neighborhood
or a Christmas tree farm,
just go out
in the wilderness
and look at a tree
and see if you can find
one that's exactly
the same on either side.
And if you do,
just go onto a different side
and you'll realize
you were wrong.
Now there's a lot
of reasons that trees
grow differently
on different sides,
but one of the primary
reasons is the way
that the sun works.
So the sun is brightest
when it's in the southern sky.
We know that.
That's why people like
to get out early
in the morning
before it's too hot.
And if the sun is brightest
in the southern sky,
then it only makes sense
that the branches
of the tree
that are on the southern side
are going to be
longer and fuller.
Because the tree
knows what's right.
It knows that the sun
is the source
of its life.
And so it knows
that the more
it points itself
towards that,
the more it's going
to be able to grow.
And the more it grows,
the more it points
itself towards that.
And so what Paul
is telling us here,
and he tells us
that this is the fruit,
is that the more
that we know
that God
is the source
of our life,
the more we know
the truth
of verse 19,
the more we will
find ourselves
growing towards him.
And the more
that we find ourselves
growing towards him,
the natural result,
the natural growth,
the natural fruit
will result
in our generosity
to others.
And so Paul
is not
preaching a
prosperity gospel
here.
He's not saying
the more you give,
the more you'll get.
In fact,
he's telling us
that he's experienced
poverty before.
But instead,
he's telling us
the more
that we understand
God
and his provision
for us,
the more that we know
that not a hair
can fall from our heads
without him knowing,
the more we will
look to him
and the less
we will look to money.
And so Paul
ends
where he began
in this letter.
Remember,
he began by telling them
he wished them
to have grace
and peace.
Grace,
the forgiveness
that comes from God
because Jesus died
even though he didn't sin
so that we could live
even though we do.
And then he ends
in the same way
in verse 23,
the grace of the Lord
Jesus Christ
be with your spirit.
And so God
has looked out for you
not only in the past,
not only in the grace
that he gives you
by what Jesus did
when he died
on the cross,
but that means
he's also looking out
for you in the present.
And so you can hope
and trust in him
as we wait now
for the future.
We can trust him
with our lives
because he looks out
for us,
not just in the past,
not just in the future,
but in the present.
And so we can grow
more and more
as we look to him
as our source of life.
Please pray with me.
Dear Father in heaven,
we thank you
that not a hair
can fall from our heads
without you knowing,
that you are
the source of our life,
that you provide
everything that we need.
We ask that you
remind us of it again,
that you'd pour out
your spirit on us,
that you'd grow us,
that we would grow
more and more
towards you
and also grow more
in our generosity
towards others.
We ask all these things
in the name of your son.
Amen.