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[Music] turn your ear to heaven and hear the noise inside the sound of angels of the sound of angel's songs and all this for a king we could join and sing all to christ a king constant how divine this song of us will rise oh how constant how divine this love of us will rise we'll rise turn your gaze to heaven and erase a joyous noise yes the sound of salvation come the sound of rescued ones and all this for a king angels joined to sing or for christ our king [Music] he is [Music] is crazy [Music] [Applause] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] how infinite and sweet this love so rescuing oh how infinitely sweet this great love that has reading as one we sing [Music] [Applause] hallelujah [Music] is [Music] la la la la la la la [Applause] [Laughter] [Music] a joyful sunday to all beloved and yes we can have joy in christ in spite of your circumstance because it's within us it's not dependent on circumstances on things and people and i trust that you are experiencing that joy in jesus christ let us pray father we thank you for your grace in our lives it's all by your work lord and there's nothing lord god in us that is good and everything that is good is because of you lord jesus and we bless you today and lord we turn over this time to you now god continue to speak to us even as we close the book of philippians this morning in your name we pray amen so beloved we are going to end to close philippians today turn your bibles to philippians chapter 4 beginning in verse 4 thing now before we get into the text i remember many years ago cindy loper had a hit song with the title money changes everything it was such a hit for it did hit a very important chord in the hearts of the masses and that is truth be told it's all about money though it's not true that money changes everything it does impact and influence for good or for bad for better or for worse yes i know people will say it depends on the person pastor it's true it depends on the heart of the possessor if the person's hearts greedy and covetous you will recognize that by the way they live you will know them by their fruit by the lack of peace and joy in their lives by the broken relationships caused by it and by sleepless nights and ulcers we just look at that last week paul telling us how he learned to be content and the true christ he can be content with whatever situation and circumstance he finds himself in and that he is at peace with that beloved you cannot buy peace you cannot get true peace from pills nor from people and places nothing that money can buy only true and in christ jesus our lord in john 14 27 jesus said peace i live with you my peace i give you i do not give to you as the world gives see as the world gives this peace that christ gives the world cannot give it to us so as we close philippians today we see paul's joy as he's thankful to the lord for the church and how he recognized the maturity that was evident in the support of him not only spiritually but financially and yes we're gonna talk about money also today now i know the mention of the word money in the context of the church triggers some negative reactions from some believers but mostly from non-believers and i understand why mostly it's due to the over emphasis on money in churches christian television and the reported abuses and misuse of finances by ministers of the gospel has really put the subject of financial giving in a bad light so here in calvary chapel we are careful when we talk about uh money and handle uh this subject like what paul said in second corinthians 8 20 to 21 we want to avoid any criticism of the way we administer this liberal gift for we are taking pains to do what is right not only in the eyes of the lord but also in the eyes of men you see we want the world to see to know that we are people of integrity especially in that area of money of finances so we provide our church a financial report and invite them to check it out wanting to be transparent to them now having said these things with all the abuses and mishandlings of money matters it does not mean that we stop giving all together the bible does say a lot about giving and and here in our passage this morning paul did acknowledge that particularly the church's financial support for him you see beloved is either money is your master or money is your slave for money is a bad master but a good slave it's either you are controlled by it or you control it and use it for good and godly purposes for the kingdom's cross and the philippians the philippine church rather did the latter let's start reading verse 14 yet it was good of you to share in my troubles moreover as you philippians know in the early days of your acquaintance with the gospel when i set out from macedonia not one church shared with me in the matter of giving and receiving except you only for even when i was in thessalonica you sent me eight more than once when i was in need not that i desire gifts what i desire is that more be credited to your account so paul was really appreciative of their support he said it was good of you to share in my troubles in other words by their giving they made themselves partners with paul because true partnership beloved uh sticks together not only when everything is sunshine but even through storms that's the relationship the philippian church had with paul back in chapter one four to five remember paul said in all my prayers for all of you i always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now here in verse 15 paul recalled again their partnership when he was still in macedonia and when he went to thessalonika he said they sent him aid again and again when he was in need now one might think wow the philippine church must be well off that they can support paul financially they must have a big budget well wrong i can prove to you that they didn't have much second corinthians 8 1-5 tells us this and now brothers and sisters we want you to know about the grace that god has given the macedonian churches in the midst of a very severe trial their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity pride testified that they gave as much as they were able and even beyond their ability entirely on their own they urgently pleaded with us for the privilege of sharing in this service to the lord's people and they exceeded our expectations they gave themselves first of all to the lord and then by the will of god also to us when paul wrote this to the corinthian church there was a severe famine in jerusalem and the church in jerusalem was hit very hard they were experiencing financial difficulties that paul encouraged them to help the church there he mentioned how the churches in macedonia has already sent some money and guests who were the macedonian churches the macedonian churches included the churches in pilipai berea and thessalonica they were not wealthy christians themselves they they lived in poverty beloved but they were still generous in fact the words in verse two of uh first second corinthians eight says extreme poverty it means rock bottom destitution the word describes almost a beggar was absolutely nothing and has no hope of getting anything and paul says they were in the midst of a very severe trial what caused that is because of the christian faith most probably they may have lost their jobs or been excluded from the trade guilds because they refuse to have anything to do with idolatry but here's what's remarkable their circumstances did not hinder them from giving in fact they gave joyfully and liberally remember the lord jesus says it is more blessed to give than to receive in acts 20 35 i wonder what is our excuse when it comes to giving to the lord's work second corinthians 8 7 tells us that giving is an act of grace oh i love that it's an act of grace paul says this grace of giving if we have experienced the grace of god in christ jesus who is full of grace then we'll have no problem giving generously to the lord's work in other words when you're full of god's grace you will be a generous giver and no the issue is not the amount the issue is the heart filled with joy in giving a heart filled with thanks giving unto the lord the macedonian churches needed no prompting or reminding as did the church at corinth they were more than willing to share in the collection in fact uh in second corinthians 8 4 they pleaded to be included in the giving wow they pleaded it's like can we give two can we give two they did not much but because they've experienced the grace of god in christ jesus and knowing that their fellow brothers and sisters in jerusalem are suffering they want to give they want to participate in this giving you see they saw giving as a privilege it is a privilege to give listen true christian generosity cannot be measured by how much one has to give often those who are have less are more generous with what they have remember the poor widow in luke chapter 21 verses 2 to 4 it says he also saw jesus also a poor widow put in two very small copper coins truly i tell you he said this poor widow has put in more than all the others all these people gave their gifts out of their wealth but she out of her poverty put it all in she had to live on the ward poor means popper she was she was not just poor she was destitute she was in this poverty and jesus knew she had given all the money she had ooh notice how it caught jesus attention and giving honor to the poor woman what moved him jesus was not moved because she gave it was how she gave jesus moved by how she gave understand this god has a different value system than we use we think ten thousand pesos is worth more than one thousand now in practicality i know yes but that's not always the case with god jesus said i tell you the truth the poor widow has put in more than all the others in his eyes the woman's gift outweighed the rest to god it's not the size of the gift that matters it is our heart now think about it when you pay your taxes does the bir care if you give grudgingly or willingly joyfully or sadly no all they interested is in is you pay up but it's not so with the lord paul wrote in second corinthians 9 7 so let each one give us his purpose in his heart not grudgingly or of necessity for god loves a cheerful giver that world cheerful means hilarious hilarious giving is that grudgingly it's like oh should i give again beloved if that is the attitude don't give god does not want our giving to be grudging reluctant regretful giving with complaining or under compulsion under compulsion because someone has made us or manipulated us into giving but to give gladly beloved to glee to give joyfully lovingly acknowledging god's abundant grace in our lives that we give because it's all his in the first place and the philippian church when they gave it was of grace and not pressure they gave because they wanted to give and because they had experienced the grace of god it's been said that and i quote grace not only frees us from our sins but it frees us from ourselves the grace of god will open your heart and your hand end of goat i must say how thankful i am to jesus that our church is full of grace why did i say that because it's a generous church and i can stop thanking the lord for you beloved church you truly have demonstrated the grace of god in your life by your giving notice paul says in verse 17 not that i desire your gifts what i desire is that more be credited to your account what is paul saying first said not that i'm looking for a meaning he never begged for money or tried to manipulate them to support him for the lord is able to provide for his needs he mentioned that in verse 11 go back to verse 11 he said uh he said i am not saying this because i'm in need but i learned to be content he said that see but he's thankful but it's not looking for their gift it's not trying to manipulate them it's sad and tragic actually when preachers today would put guilt trip on people so that they could give the manipulation that is happening beloved that's wrong and that's evil you see and then paul said but i'm looking for what may be credited to your account meaning paul's motivation in receiving the gift was that there might be spiritual fruit or profit and that good for them they have become part of that in other words supporting paul is supporting the work of the lord and what what's paul's work to preach the gospel and you see why the philippian church supported police because they shared paul's vision it's not just because they have a good relationship with paul but they shared in his vision of bringing the gospel to the ends of the earth they're a mission-minded church they are committed to world evangelism supporting paul showed their interest and eagerness in missions you see to see people trust christ and disciple beloved is the ultimate end of all christian missionary effort when we give to the lord's work it's like depositing money in god's bank and that man is going to draw interest in the salvation of souls therefore beloved invest wisely in the lord's work put your money where it's going to earn the most spiritual profit so to speak and that means then be wise in where you give and to whom you give because not all who ask for money in the name of the lord is legit for there are so many today who are just fattening themselves so to speak all for their selfish gain in person colonies chapter 2 4-5 it says paul wrote on the contrary we speak as those approved by god to be entrusted with the gospel we are not trying to please people but god who tests our hearts you know we never use flattery nor did we put on a mass to cover up greed god is our witness said paul but this is a televangelist do not all who please money to spend to the people say starving from farming or buy something minister related but ends up using it to build a multi-million dollar home or to buy his own private jet be careful of so-called minister of the gospel begging for your wallet so they can furnish their air-conditioned dog houses and i'm not kidding i'm not kidding i've heard about this from a very popular christian uh show that this wife of this founder was bragging about um you know having her dog her dogs having an air-conditioned dog houses i was like wow that is wrong now is it wrong to be rich no is it wrong to own a private jet no but it is when they came as a result of flattery deception and manipulation agreed nothing wrong to be blessed materially but to use religion or christianity as a business to fill his or her pockets for surface gain certainly is wrong many years ago there was even this we learned that this guy who was taking pictures of our ministry uh at the boulevard we have children's ministry there and he was taking pictures and of it and he would send it to uh the states and saying that that's his ministry wow so that he could you know receive support from from whatever church that he belonged to but taking pictures of our ministry and claim it to be his wow that is serious beloved but those grace-filled gifts those love-motivated gifts how does the lord see them he see he sees them rather as worship to him look at verse 18 it says i have received full payment and have more than enough i'm amply supplied now that i have received from apopraditis the gifts you sent they are a fragrant offering an acceptable sacrifice pleasing to god you see that's how god looks upon our giving and it's well pleasing in his sight when we give with the right heart with the right motives and these terms paul used come out of the old testament when they describe the sacrifices that worshippers offered to god you see paul is saying that when you give your giving to god not to the pastor not to the church not to a missionary organization but to god himself is an expression of worship that he accepts and then let's move on verse 19 and my god will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in christ jesus what a great promise but listen promise to whom for all professing christians no for those who support the lord's work many believers would encircle underline mark down this verse and claim it to be theirs but remember the context paul said this to the philippian church who partnered with him in the gospel those who supported him financially for the ministry that's to whom this promise was given to these philippians were not wealthy people but gave from their meager resources as if paul is saying to them my god will reimburse you church he will supply all your needs since you supplied for my needs god will supply yours notice god will meet all your needs not all your wants what do we need basically beloved food clothing shelter and other things which are necessary for living and he promised to graciously and generously meet those beloved tell you what and this is my testimony my wife and i's testimony we've been here in dumaguete for 26 years and i can tell you how faithful the lord is how faithful you see it's wanting to say god is faithful from my mind kind of like a theoretical idea than when you actually experience it because by the mercies of god he had shown to us how faithful he was one of the things i think you've heard me say this before the first thing rather that i asked the lord when he was calling us to move from manila to dumaguete was the first question was this lord are you able to provide for us lord are you able to provide for us because we didn't have any relative here what if we run out of money and we have a one-year-old daughter and and it's like you know what if we run out of money where we go where should we go to borrow money from and so on and so forth but but that's the first question i said lord will you able to provide and and of course the lord always leads me back to his word and his promise that i will take care of you i just obey me son trust me in this trust me in this and and by god's grace we we went and we have been here for 26 years and he is faithful truly faithful he has provided us even more than we ask nor imagine and so paul is saying hey guys you have been faithful in giving to the lord's work in partnering with me god will supply your needs and notice it says and my god will meet your needs according to what look at the text to its glorious riches in christ jesus wow that's the source the glorious riches in christ jesus would you doubt his provision how can i doubt his provision when our father in heaven owns everything right and he's given us an access to his riches in christ jesus our lord now by the way beloved riches doesn't just mean material but spiritual riches think about it what do we have in jesus a love and failing mercy is new every morning hope unwavering joy abounding peace that passes all understanding strength empowering his presence comforting his beauty and fading wisdom guiding light that keeps shining forgiveness cleansing heaven waiting arcing coming you see this and more in christ we are rich in grace because of jesus because our loving father is a god of grace he gave us the most precious gift of all and that is his one and only son john 1 14 tells us that jesus came from the father full of grace and truth in john 1 16 from the fullness of his grace we have all received one blessing after another you see his fullness feels our emptiness his grace is sufficient beloved in all our weakness in all our limitations in all our inabilities and our inadequacies in him is our sufficiency colossians 2 10 says you have been given fullness in christ in other translation you are complete in him wow think about that you are complete in him really he he completes us no man can do that nothing no material things on earth he completes us also in john 1 16 says we receive one blessing after another we receive one blessing after another if you're reading from the king james version it says grace for grace from the new living translation one gracious blessing after another from the living bible blessing upon blessing hipped upon us oh no matter beloved how it's translated literally in the greek it has the idea of wave after wave after wave listen have you been out in the ocean and you see the waves especially when it is high tide just just keep coming and keep coming and keep coming keep pounding and pounding bella but this is the picture we have here of god's grace it never stops coming to us through jesus christ and in jesus christ oh i love it beloved next time you go down in the seashore and see the waves hitting the the shore just remind yourself that's god's grace it just keeps coming keeps coming keeps coming it's not dependent on who you are or what you have done it's all because of christ you see this grace keeps coming and keeps coming in christ the fullness of his grace is available to us today there's grace for living there's grace for the married and family life there's grace for your work there's grace for your studies there's grace to stand temptation there's grace to overcome problems there's grace to be his witness you see so paul knowing this fully paul experienced this grace personally could not contain himself that he burst into dexology look at verse 20 to our god and father be glory forever and ever truly all glory belonged to god alone who loved us and gave his son for us and then greet verse 21 all god's people in christ jesus the brothers and sisters who are with me send greetings all god's people here send you greetings especially those who belong to caesar's household paul speaks of greetings from caesar's household not only were the roman soldiers getting saved which i've mentioned before but also some of nero's own family had come to the sabian faith of christ and this was fine until nero turned against the christian faith and even murdered and burned uh to death members of his own family who had become christians in around 64 a.d the point that paul is making again is that the work of god continues on even in prison the provision of god in any circumstance and thus beloved do not worry rejoice in the lord because the lord will continue his work in spite of and then finally the grace of the lord jesus christ be with your spirit amen paul ends his letter with grace he started with grace ends with grace and that's what the christian life is it begins with the grace of god continues with the grace of god and ends with the grace of god working in us and thus all that is in between our salvation and glorification is because of the grace of god in christ jesus there's joy there's peace there's contentment because of our lord jesus christ everything is because of him through him in him for him i want to close i read from pastor tony clark's story i love this illustration a man died who was extremely wealthy his ill was or rather his will was full of art pieces very expensive art pieces and this man had a son who had died before him a son whom he loved and this son would have been his only heir soon after the death of the wealthy man a public auction was held that included the valuable art pieces people came from all over the world because of those works of art over a thousand people gathered to participate in the auction the auctioneer began the auction by offering up for sale a portrait painted by the deceased sun it was rather plain painting not at all like the other expensive art pieces and the floor opened for bids but there weren't any nobody wants to buy it after what seemed like a long silence a little old man walked down the aisle as he neared the front of the room the auctioneer recognized him he had been the servant of the wealthy man he meagerly and almost shamefully offered a couple of dollars from his pocket for the portrait the deceit son painted and the auctioneer hit his gavel and said sold and the many people in the room shifted with excitement you know preparing for the main part of the of the of the selling to begin but much to their surprise the auctioneer hit the gavel again and said auction is over and the room filled with loud chatter and confusion wondering why the auction is over and the auctioneer went on to explain in the will of the master the instructions specially said to offer for sale the painting drawn by his son first and that whoever gets the painting of his son gets the whole art collection the master had decided well in advance that whoever loved his son and accepted him could not only have his son's work but all the other benefits that belong to the father wow that's what god did beloved whoever has the son his son has life even eternal life whoever has the son has all the riches of god in christ jesus paul understood this he knew this he experienced this that's why he had such indescribable joy and beloved you can have to when you believe in the lord jesus christ father we thank you for your son you have given us your greatest and your best gift ever we thank you lord that you have even drawn us to you open our eyes and see our need of a savior and now we are found because you found us lord through your son jesus christ thank you for the forgiveness of our sins thank you for the eternal life thank you for your grace after grace after grace that you have poured upon us because of jesus and us we are recipients of that grace lord we help us by your grace to be gracious to be merciful as we have received our recipients of your forgiveness that we would be extending forgiveness thank you father bless your people now as we meditate upon these truths in jesus name amen