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May 03, 2020

Givers

Passage: Philippians 4:14-23

Preacher: Steve Lombardo

Series:Relentless Joy

Detail:

A few years ago when I was just out of seminary, I learned that one of my favorite professors was going to be visiting my church. That made me nervous, so I spoke with my dad, who had been a pastor for many years and still is a pastor now. My dad said, “Steve, did you know that every Sunday the King of kings and Lord of lords is at your church?” Then he dropped the mic and walked out.

That’s true. Jesus is with us today. Even though we’re not together, I want to try to engage with you. But there’s a discipline to listening and I want God to speak to you this morning. We’re going to be talking—surprise, surprise—about the Bible. We’re Village Bible Church, so it’s good that we use the Bible as our textbook to reveal the story of what God is doing in the world.

If we were to sum up the Bible in three words, it would “God with us.” This Book is the story of God being with us. From the creation to the fall to the flood, the story is about God having a relationship with people and taking steps to maintain that relationship through an ongoing connection.

In Genesis 12, God called Abram to be the father of a great nation—Israel—so that He might have a relationship with all the nations of the world. Then in Exodus, God took His people Israel out of slavery in Egypt, leading them with a cloud by day and pillar of fire by night. Those were evidences that He was with them.  The prophets of the Old Testament proclaimed the coming day when God would be fully with us and where His law would be written on our hearts. The psalmists also wrote songs about God being with His people. Psalm 23 says:

1 The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. 2 He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. 3 He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake. 4 Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.

God with us is the story of the Bible. When we get to the New Testament, this intensified as God stepped into the world as the God-Man Jesus Christ. John 1:14 says, “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us…”   Jesus was a man, but more than a man. He healed people, giving sight to the blind and causing the lame to walk. He even raised people from the dead. Then He went to the cross to die at the hands of the Romans to pay for the sins of His people—your sin and mine. Then He rose on the third day and is now alive today. So God is with us now. Then at the end of the Book, in Revelation, we read of the coming day when Jesus will return to rule and reign over us, His people. We certainly look forward to that day when God will fully be with us.

To sum up this Book in one word, it would be: Jesus—Emmanuel, God with us. There are a couple implications from this story of the Bible. First, it means we can have a relationship with Him. It’s not just a religious idea that God is with—something historical to study and confess. Rather, it’s relationally true. Because God is with us, we can have a relationship that brings us eternal life. This not only involves our future destiny, but it means we can have joy in our current life. It’s the best possible life, even in the midst of storms and darkness and despair.

That’s the emphasis of the book of Philippians. We’ve been studying this letter Paul wrote from Rome in which he spoke of the joy he had, even though he was rotting in a prison cell. Usually people are put in prison for scary reasons. But if we had asked Paul, “Why are you there?” he would have told us, “Well, I started a church. I love people and I love God.” Those don’t seem to us like good reasons to be in prison. Maybe his church quilting ladies were quilting a body bag for someone? I don’t know. But it was tough to be there, knowing he hadn’t done anything really wrong. If he knew he deserved it, it would have been easier. Yet Paul knew he was there because he was serving God by planting churches and saving souls. Still, he was able to write to one of those churches, the church in Philippi, about the joy he had in his heart despite his circumstances.

Like Paul, you might find yourself in a place that could bring sadness or even despair. But because God is with us, we too can have joy. We see in Paul’s letter that the people in Philippi were givers. They had been able to send a gift to Paul while he was in prison. This was one of the reasons Paul felt such joy. These were believers who had been with him back when the church was first started.

So today we’re going to look at four characteristics of these givers. I want to challenge us at Village Bible Church to be givers as well. We’ll begin by reading Philippians 4:14-23:

14 Yet it was kind of you to share my trouble. 15 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. 16 Even in Thessalonica you sent me help for my needs once and again. 17 Not that I seek the gift, but I seek the fruit that increases to your credit. 18 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. 19 And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus. 20 To our God and Father be glory forever and ever. Amen.

21 Greet every saint in Christ Jesus. The brothers who are with me greet you. 22 All the saints greet you, especially those of Caesar's household.

23 The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit.

Be different. Go against the status quo.

First, these believers in Philippi were different. We see this in verses 14-15: “It was kind of you to share my trouble.” What trouble? “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.”

This church was different. Paul was overjoyed because this church had had his back from the start. That’s why he could write in Philippians 1:3-5, “I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy, because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now.” These were the Christians who supported Paul after he left Philippi.

He had first gone to Philippi, where Lydia and the jailer had come to Christ. After leaving there, Paul went on to Corinth. He wrote to that church in 2 Corinthians that he was being supported by the church in Philippi. We read in 2 Corinthians 11:8-9, “ I robbed other churches by accepting support from them in order to serve you. And when I was with you and was in need, I did not burden anyone, for the brothers who came from Macedonia supplied my need. So I refrained and will refrain from burdening you in any way.”

As we see, not all the churches supported Paul, but Philippi did. They went against the status quo. That was a big deal, because Paul’s life depended on care of other people. The only way he would have been fed in prison was through the gifts of others. He was cared for by outsiders such as Epaphroditus, who came to him from Philippi.

When my wife and I began ministry, we went to Virginia to plant a church. We thought it would be great to start a church in the middle of nowhere out of nothing, by God’s grace. We raised support;  it was one of the most joyful things every month to get those support letters in the mail. Often these supporters from back home sent a card or note along with their checks. But these gifts were our very lifeline. I had dragged my wife out of her home state for the first time in her life. She was pregnant when we left for the East Coast. where we didn’t know anyone. We didn’t know the roads. We didn’t know the culture. But that support—those checks and letters—helped get us through what turned out to be a difficult time.

I can’t speak to every situation in which you might find yourself in times that require things to be different. Some people are refusing to comply with the government’s rule that we should wear masks. I don’t know if that’s really something worth going to the mat for. But as a pastor whose calling is to share the gospel of Jesus Christ, I would say your first priority should be to follow Jesus Christ as your Savior and Lord. That’s the most important way we should be going against our culture. It might even go against your family.

Remember that Jesus told us in Matthew 7:13-14, “For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.”  When we trust in Jesus Christ, in His life and death and resurrection, we will be different. We will go against the status quo. Once we begin to understand that He is our Savior and once our affections are changed by Him, then we begin to make Him Lord of our lives in an ever-increasing manner. Our sanctification “rachets up” and we become more and more like Jesus as we walk with Him. We become different and we give differently. “No one supported me like you did,” Paul told the Philippians. Being different can be a hard thing, but it’s part and parcel of the call of Jesus Christ in our lives.

“The Last Dance” is a story my family has been watching on ESPN2—that’s the clean version, in case you’re looking for that. It’s the story of the Chicago Bulls in the ‘90sand it has helped me relive my childhood. I had parents who loved Jesus and who were different from the status quo, yet I had a group of friends who went to the Chicago Bulls’ games in the old stadium, when Michael Jordan was in his second or third year. One day they asked my parents if I could go with them to a certain game. My parents said no and they didn’t mention that they had been asked. They knew I was scheduled to do a service at the local nursing home the same evening as the game. The next week at school my friends asked me where I had been that night. They were talking about the wonderful basketball game they had seen. They went on and on about Michael Jordan. “Where were you, Steve? You were invited to go with us.”

I can look back on that now as a parent and see that they were shaping me, helping me to see that some things in life were more important than basketball games. Their choice to be different was to help me be able to go against the status quo. Now, I will say I’ve never forgiven them for that and I never will. Seriously, I can understand what they were trying to do.

The life of a Christian is a different life, a life that goes against the flow. The Philippians were people who understood that so they became Paul’s lifeline through their giving.

Be diligent. Follow through with your commitments.

Look at Philippians 4:16: “Even in Thessalonica you sent me help for my needs once and again.” Paul said they took care of him—and they did it more than once. They followed through. We don’t see that Paul told the church in Thessalonica about this. We read in 1 Thessalonians 2:9 and 2 Thessalonians 3:8 where Paul told them, “I have not burdened you by taking offerings from you for my support. I’ve taken care of my own needs.” What he didn’t say was that behind the scenes were these faithful Philippian Christians. You might wonder why he said this to the Corinthian church and not to the church in Thessalonica. I think it’s because he wanted to get a reaction from the Corinthians. His attitude toward the Thessalonians was different.

So we can see from this how the Philippians kept giving. There was an earnestness to their generosity.

Can I just speak to you as part of the Village Bible Church family? Of course, if this doesn’t apply to, you’re welcome to keep listening. Before this season we’re now in, we were in what we called our “All In” campaign. Our purpose was to raise funds, as a body, in order to better steward what God has given us in our campuses—here in Sugar Grove, Aurora and Plano. There were updates needed to be made, parking lots that needed repaved and other renovations that were long past due. Maybe you pledged, as our family did, to give to the Lord’s work in this way. It was exciting and challenging to be a part of it. But now you might not be able to fulfill your pledge. I just want to say to you: that’s okay. This is not a legalistic burden. The generosity the Philippians showed was not something to be lorded over those who did not show it. If you’ve lost your job or are facing an uncertain future so you can’t fulfill what you had hoped a few months ago, we understand. Be encouraged. God loves a cheerful giver, so give what you can cheerfully.

Don’t let this type of giving become a burden to you. Your family is your first priority. Take care of their needs. We read in 1 Timothy 5:8, “If anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for members of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.” But if you are able, be diligent. That applies in all of life, not just in our “All In” campaign. We must be faithful to follow through with our commitments.

Don’t be like the farmer whose favorite cow had  twin calves. There was a black calf and a white calf. The farmer was so overjoyed because this rarely happens. So he and his wife decided to give one of the calves to the Lord. It was a blessing they didn’t see coming. They planned to feed both calves the same and then take them to market. At that point, one of them would belong to God. Sometime later, the farmer came to his wife, all distraught. “What happened?” she asked. “Why are you so sad?” He said, “The Lord’s calf died.” “What?” “The Lord’s calf.” “I thought we hadn’t decided whose calf was whose.” He said, “Well, it was the white one. I’d always assumed the white one would be the Lord’s calf. That was the one that died.”

Times might be hard, but we are encouraged by the Philippians to be diligent to follow through, even in times of difficulty. We’re all in this season together.

Be discerning. Giving is part of worship.

We need to be different; we need to be diligent, and third, we need to be discerning. Giving is part of worship. Look at Philippians 4:18: “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.”

Paul went from the language of accounting to the language of the sacrificial system—a fragrant offering, a sacrifice that is pleasing to the Lord. He then mentioned our buddy, Epaphroditus, the man from the church in Philippi who brought the gifts to Paul. We read in chapter two that he also stayed with Paul, during which time he had gotten sick. Now Paul was sending him back to the church in Philippi with this letter.

If you think about it, the gifts Paul was given were phenomenal. I think there were three different ways the Philippians had given to Paul. First, they gave prayer. They “had his back.” Not only that, they had sent people, including Epaphroditus, one of their own members, who then stayed a long time with Paul and evidently risked losing his life to illness.

Then finally, of course, they sent provisions. It’s similar to what we refer to today when we speak of giving our time, treasure and talents. We give out of all He has given to us, which is what the Philippians did as well. Paul called this an act of worship.

How is generosity an act of worship? Worship means putting God in His rightful place in our hearts—first place. We read in the Scriptures that God is a jealous God. He’s not jealous like a jealous boyfriend about his girlfriend in high school. He’s jealous because He deserves first place, the place He should inhabit. That goes for your heart and my heart. He should hold first place, so worship is putting God in that rightful place.

Generosity reveals our hearts. It shows where our hearts are. Jesus said in Matthew 6:21, “Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” Generosity reveals your heart and your heart is the place where you worship God, where you have your priorities in order—or not.

Be discerning. When you give, it’s a part of worship. That’s important and it’s why there are over 2,000 verses in the Bible about giving. There are 500 verses about prayer, 500 verses about faith and 2,300 verses about money and possessions. Why? Because those things are so important? No, it’s because this reveals something about our worship, about our hearts. Eleven out of the 39 parables Jesus told were about money and possessions. That’s one-fourth of the sermons Jesus gave. What if one-fourth of our sermons at Village were about giving? How long would it take you to turn in your membership card?

It’s so important because it reveals your heart. Be discerning. Giving is a part of worship.

Be done. Stop trusting in things that cannot supply your needs.

Lastly, be done. Stop trusting in other things besides God to take care of you and supply your needs. Look at verse 19: “And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.”

The way I used to read this verse was to emphasize the “need” part. Stick with me here. Here’s how I would normally read it. “And my God shall supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.” The emphasis was on the needs part. I actually think the better way to understand this verse, and the better part to emphasize, is to put the emphasis on the word “God.” “My God shall supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.” My God will do it. He’ll be the one. He’s the answer. He’s the provision.

The focus is not on the needs and it’s not even about the riches He can bring to you to help you in your need. Maybe they’re just little wants. He owns the cattle on a thousand hills. He can pay your bills—right? He can take care of your mortgage payment. The emphasis isn’t on our need; the emphasis is on God being the provision.

Sometimes God might not alleviate our needs. How do I know this? Earlier in Philippians 4:12-13, as Cisco talked about last week, Paul says: “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.” He’s learned contentment when he’s hungry and when he has a lot. There were evidently times when God didn’t supply all his needs in the way we think He would.

The point is that God Himself is the provision. God can pay the mortgage according to His riches, but He might not. But He is still enough. He might bring an end to the jobless drought you’re in, but even if He doesn’t, God is enough. He is the provision—the answer.

Seven things we depend on that will let us down.

The problem is that we depend on other things to supply our needs, don’t we? Let me give you seven examples. I went out with my mask this past week and talked to people—six feet away, of course—and I asked 100 people what they depended on to supply their needs. Just kidding.

7. A car

You might have a wonderful car today, but I can guarantee you it will let you down—especially if you’ve had the “check engine” light on for a couple weeks. There’s coming a day when it’s not going to get you from point A to point B. How many of you—raise your hands out there—have had your check engine light on for more than a week? How many for more than a month? How many for more than six months? I see you out there. That’s unbelievable. How could you do that? Your car will let you down. 

6. Friends

The sixth thing we depend on to supply our needs are our friends. But we learn early on in life—maybe in junior high—that friends are fickle. They can fail us. They can leave. They can sell us out. They can bite us in the back. Friends can’t be counted on to supply our needs.

5. Church

How about number five—church? By church, I’m not talking about God. I mean the people and relationships we have in church. Let me just say, as a pastor at Village Bible Church, we will let you down. I will let you down. I don’t mean that as a promise; I’m just telling you that as a reality. There’s no such thing as a perfect church. By God’s grace, Village is a healthy church. It’s a wonderful church. But it’s not a perfect church. You’re not going to find a perfect church. And if you do find the perfect church, don’t join it because then it won’t be perfect any longer. I mean that in the most loving way possible. How many of you know that not everyone in church is a Christian? Some of the deepest wounds can be inflicted through church-related situations.

4. Family

What about family? Our kids, our spouses. Maybe it will surprise you to learn that they were not created to supply you with all your needs. They can’t bear that burden. Your wife cannot bear all your needs. Your husband cannot bear all your needs. Your kids cannot be your answer to your relationship problems with other adults. They cannot stand under the weight of suppling your needs.

3. Money

How about this one? How about money? We’ve talked about this already. We’ve heard it said, “More money, more problems.” I’ve always been of the opinion I’d like to try that more-money part. I’d like to see what those problems are like. No, money never has the power to satisfy us. After the sermon, go to Ecclesiastes 2 and see what one of the richest men who has ever lived thought about riches. Solomon tried to spend as much money as he could to get as much pleasure as possible, to supply all the needs he had in his heart, but it didn’t work. He was never satisfied.

Think about it. We get used to whatever we have around us. If we suddenly got a billion dollars, our surroundings would change, our experience of life would change, but after some time we would just get used to that and would be back in the same boat as we were before the money came. Money cannot satisfy us.

2. Government

Number two—government. Someone has said that politics is the religion of those who do not believe in God. If you don’t believe in God, there has to be another high authority and power. What is the highest one on earth? It’s the government. If this virus has shown us anything, it’s shown us that the government cannot supply all our needs. I am thankful for our government and leaders. We’re commanded in Scripture to pray for them. I’m thankful for the country we live in and I know people are doing all they can to help during this time. But their power only goes so far. The government cannot be depended on to supply all our needs.

1. Self

Then the number one answer to what can supply our needs is—you guessed it—self. “I’ll depend upon myself. If I can’t depend on anybody else, I can depend on myself.” You might depend on your smarts. You were the smartest in your class. For as long as you can remember, you’ve been able to depend on your personality. You can talk your way out of anything. You might depend on your abilities. But there’s a problem. All those things will go away. Over time, they will all diminish. It’s the law of nature.

 Just this last week we were playing a trivia game before the service and I saw a picture of me from college. Man, I was a good-looking guy. If you saw that picture, you would understand how I got my wife Stephanie. She was beautiful and yeah, I wasn’t too bad. Ministry takes a toll on you. If I was depending on my looks, they would have failed me. Not only your looks, but your strength will fail you.

Jack LaLanne was one of the most fit men on the planet and he lived to a ripe old age. He died in his 90s. But at that point he was a shell of the man he once was. He couldn’t punch his way out of a wet paper bag at the end. His strength failed him. You will fail yourself. Be done with that! Be done with trusting in the things that can never satisfy, the things that can never supply all your needs, turning once again to our God, the Lord Jesus Christ.

Verse 20 says, “To our God and Father be glory forever and ever. Amen.” In conclusion, get with God’s program. Be different. Give in a generous way, in a different way, in a diligent way. Keep giving, even though others fall to the wayside. Not only that, be discerning, realizing your giving is an act of worship. Worship in your giving. And finally, be done with having faith in things that can never supply your needs. Instead, have faith in the God Who gives.

“For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son.” That’s the program—God with us. God came and gave His Son, Who gave His life on Calvary for your sin and mine, so that whosoever believes in Him would not perish but have everlasting life (John 3:16). Get with His program of giving.

Back when I was in seminary, my wife Stephanie and I would go to a little church in Evergreen Park on the south side of Chicago and I would preach. Back in that day, our personal offering each week was $25. I was a full-time student in seminary, preaching at this little church, and my wife worked at a gym. She was six or eight months pregnant with Tre. We had very little money in our checking account, yet we usually gave $25 each week. Then at one point Stephanie told me, “Hey, I don’t think we’re going to make it this week. We have some outstanding bills; the checks haven’t come through and there are other bills coming. We’re probably going to overdraw our account.” I said, “Well then, let’s just hold off and not give any offering this week.” We headed to church and on the way Stephanie and I talked a little more about that. She said, “If we can’t trust God for $25, how can we trust Him with our eternal souls? We’re trusting Him with our lives. We’re trusting Him with our family’s life. How can we not trust Him with 25 bucks?” I said, “Yeah, you’re right. Write the check.” So we wrote the check and gave it in the offering. After the service, the treasurer, a little old lady, came up to us and said, “The church met last week and we decided to increase your pay by $50 each week.” Then she handed me the extra $50 for that week. We were blown away.

Now some people might think that was just a coincidence, but there are no coincidences with God. Things happen for a purpose. God took our $25 and doubled it to $50. He blessed our socks off. Actually, it was almost a slap in the face because we were not trusting Him at first. Thankfully, we made it under the wire and trusted Him for it.

We are a church that is different. We are a church that is giving diligently. Behind the overall mission of the church there are individual stories like that, like God doubling $25 to $50. We need to be trusting Him in everything.

A church could tell you, “Hey, you’d better do that with all your money, because God will do that every time. He’ll bless you by doubling your money. Just give.” No, that’s not what we’re saying; we are not preaching a prosperity gospel. We are saying, “Be a giver, like the church in Philippi, because giving is what our God does. For God so loved the world that He gave.”

This then is how we have relentless joy. Giving is the key to our life of joy. Jesus even said, “It is more blessed to give than to receive” (Acts :35)   Do you believe it? If you do, then today enter into giving like never before. 

Village Bible Church  |  847 North State Route 47, Sugar Grove, IL 60554  |  (630) 466-7198  |  www.villagebible.org/sugar-grove

All Scriptures quoted directly from the English Standard Version unless otherwise noted.

Note: This transcription has been provided by Sermon Transcribers (www.sermontranscribers.com).