Winning the Battle of the Mind Pt 3

Good morning. Would you all stand with us? Happy Mother's Day to those of you who are mothers, and have a blessed day, you ladies that aren't, and you men that aren't mothers, too.

Join me in prayer, would you? Father, we thank you for this opportunity to gather this morning, Lord, to worship in song and to study your word. And, Father, we just ask that you would just strengthen us with your might, Lord, as we desire to live for you, to look to you, to trust in you, Lord, to love you, to honor you, Lord. You're worthy of our praise this morning, Lord.

The grace that you give. Mercy be my debt.

The grace that you give. Your love that has no bounds. Your grace, your mercy.

God's riches at Christ's expense. Thank you, Lord, that acronym for grace. It's heavy duty, Lord. May be seated. I am accepted for saying.

I am accepted for your spirit. Father, that's our. We look to you to make us what you'd like us to be and want us to be, Lord. Give us that yielding desire to serve you, to come to you just as we are, to trust you in those areas of our life that are difficult, Lord, where we have to step out in faith, Lord. We thank you for your love, your mercy, your grace, your sovereignty, Lord.

You're so good. We thank you, Lord. Make time.

Never change.

Make time.

Praise your God.

Praise God. Thank you, Lord. Thank you, Lord, for being our strength and for your grace and that unfailing love, Lord. No matter what, you love us. You love us so much that you do that work in our hearts to draw us closer to you. Those things that we don't enjoy going through at times, Lord. But we know all things work together for the good for those who love God and are called.

As you're drawing us closer into your image, as you're, Lord. So, Lord, we just ask. We ask for your continued strength that we may be faithful, Lord. Give us the strength. Just strengthen us with your might. And we just want to praise you and worship you, Lord. And thank you.

Oh, truly, Lord, without you, we have nothing. And, Lord, it seems like as we're singing these songs this morning, as we're worshiping you, your love is mentioned quite a bit. Of course, you expressed your love toward us and giving your son to die on the cross for us. Your grace and your mercy that you've extended upon us, Lord. That unfailing love, Lord. We need you, Lord.

Would you all stand?

And as Jesus said in John 15 there, as he is speaking with the disciples, he stresses abiding, abiding in him.

He said, I am the vine, you are the branches. The father is the husband. Abide in me. And we know, Lord, as those vines that are connected, those branches that are connected to the vine, that's our source of life and strength, Lord. And we know that you do that pruning, too, as we yield and as we abide in you, that you will do that work and you'll prune, you'll cut us back where we need cut back,

which will, in turn, help us be more fruitful and grow more. And we thank you for that, Lord, as you do your work in our hearts. We praise you, Lord Jesus. As I bear the spear.

As I.

As I.

Yes, Lord, that is the cry of our heart and the prayer of our heart to abide in you. Oh, thank you, Lord. You are our sustenance, our strength.

Just as you were Paul and Peter's and all those, those apostles and all those early believers. Strength. You're ours to do today because you're the same yesterday, today and forever. And as you minister to them, you're ministering to us. You're leading and guiding us today in each area of our life as we yield to you, Lord. Thank you, Jesus. Please bless our time in your word.

Anoint Pastor Ryan with the power of your Holy Spirit to bring forth your word with your power. And would you fill us afresh this morning with the Holy Spirit just to overflow us with your Holy Spirit in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. Let's have some fellowship.

Morning. If you could begin to find your seat. Grab your bulletin. We'll get ready to go over some announcements.

Welcome to Calvary Chapel. I'm glad that you have joined us this morning. If you take a look at your bulletin, as always, on the left-hand side, those are the things that are going on throughout the week. So please take note of those. Also, just a reminder about VBS. I don't know if my wife's making an announcement about that. She's not here, so apparently not.

That's coming up, though. Fellas, we have a men's breakfast this coming Saturday, so come join us for that. Good. Time of food and fellowship. Also, there are a couple of conferences coming up. Every year, Wellington and Emporia, Calvary Chapel's both put on some conferences. And so June 1st over in Wellington, that conference is 8 to 430. And it's going to be several of us, again, Calvary pastors from the area.

They're going to be speaking there. And so come join that. Free conference. So just come check that out. And then June 6th through the 8th in Emporia, there's a prophecy conference, again, that several of us pastors are going to be speaking at. And it also is a free conference, so you just have to provide your lodging. I think they even provide meals for you.

You just have to find a place to stay while you're up there, but it's always a good time to fellowship together. So check that out as well. Also, I'm going to invite Erica to come up because she's going to share about a little fundraiser that's going on. A little breakfast in the back. All right. We just wanted to let you know that we've made breakfast back in the Agape room.

So when you're done with church, if you'd like to come by and have a little snack before you leave. And then that is to raise money for the kids going to camp this summer. So VBS is the week before camp. So I'm really praying that maybe some of our VBS kids that are like neighborhood kids will end up getting to go to camp this year. I'm going to be trying to talk with people's parents about sending them.

And so that'd be really wonderful. It costs $2.25 per student. So all the funds that we can get to help them out and not have to have any neighborhood kids pay to go to camp would be wonderful. And we just appreciate it. If you're not able to, if you didn't bring cash today, like anytime you want to just put money in the offering box, just probably label it that it's for camp.

And that would be wonderful. Thank you so much. All right. Thanks, Erica. Okay. Very good. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. If you would make sure that your mobile device is silenced and for our, what's going to be a unison reading this morning, um, we'll be looking at Psalm 42, Psalm 42, looking at

the new American standard for this part so that we sound the same. If you need a copy, there should be one in the row around you. And as you are turning to Psalm 42, if you are able, please stand in the honor of the reading of God's word.

And my, my reading buddy is out of town this weekend and I forgot to snag him. I forgot to snag someone. So it's just going to be all of us reading together. It'll be fun. We'll all join together in reading Psalm 42 for the choir director, a mascal of the sons of Cora as the deer pants for the water brooks. So my soul pants for you. Oh God, my soul thirsts for God, for the living God.

When shall I come and appear before God? My tears have been my food day and night. While they say to me all day long, where is your God? These things I remember and I pour out my soul within me for I used to go along with the throng and lead them in procession to the house of God with the voice of joy and thanksgiving, a multitude keeping festival. Why are you in despair?

Oh, my soul. And why have you become disturbed within me? Hope in God. For I shall. Again, praise him for the help of his presence. Oh, my God, my soul is in despair within me. Therefore, I remember you from the land of Jordan and the peaks of Hermon from Mount Mazar. Deep calls to deep at the sound of your waterfalls. All your breakers and your waves have rolled over me.

The Lord will command his loving kindness in the daytime and his song will be with me in the night. A prayer. A prayer to the God of my life. I will say to God, my rock, why have you forgotten me? Why do I go mourning because of the oppression of the enemy as a shattering of my bones? My adversaries revile me while they say to me all day long, where is your God?

Why are you in despair? Oh, my soul. And why have you become disturbed within me? Hope in God, for I shall yet praise him. The help of my counsel. My countenance and my God. And so, Father, we do praise you that we can find our hope in you. And Father, as we get into your word this morning, I pray that we would find our hope in the truth of what your word has to tell us.

And so, Lord, minister to us by the power of your Holy Spirit, we pray in Jesus name. Amen. You may be seated. And if you would open up in your Bibles to the book of Philippians chapter four. Philippians chapter four. We'll be picking up in verse 10. But today we come to the book of Philippians chapter four. We come to not only the last study that we have in this series on the winning the battle

of the mind, but we also come to our last study in the book of Philippians. And so we've said that each chapter in Philippians has taught us a lesson about joy. And the one that Philippians chapter four is teaching us is that joy comes by winning the battle of the mind, because most of the issues that we face either begin in our mind or really even all completely take place in our mind. And the enemy knows.

And the enemy knows that if you if you want to mess with someone, you really mess with the way that they think. And so Paul has been teaching us several lessons, seven of them all together. We'll look at the last two today about winning the battle of the mind. And so we pick up in verse 10 of chapter four. And this is what it says. It says, but I rejoiced in the Lord greatly that now at last you have revived your concern

for me. Indeed, you were concerned before, but you lacked opportunity. Not that I speak from want, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am. I know how to get along with humble means, and I know how to live in prosperity in any and every circumstance. I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance

and suffering need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me. And so the next lesson. Lesson number six, ultimately, that Paul has taught us about winning the battle of the mind is that if we want to win the battle of the mind, we have to learn to be content. We have to learn to be content. I actually find that this is one of the great struggles of our culture today.

Contentment. As a matter of fact, doesn't it seem like our economy is sort of built on people not being content that you need the next new thing that you need the newest of the styles, the newest of the toys. The newest of the, you name the thing that, that in order to be happy, you need more than what you have right now. If a little bit is good, then a lot is better, right?

And so because of this, Paul makes sure that we understand that contentment is a really important thing for us to learn. If we are to win the battle of the mind. Now, these next two lessons are set on a backdrop of the giving of the Philippian people to Paul. The focus of this morning's message has nothing to do with. Giving it's the backdrop that it sets upon Paul speaking to these Philippian people said

I rejoiced in the Lord greatly that now at last you have revived your concern for me and dirt. Indeed, you were concerned before, but you lacked the opportunity. Remember the reason why Paul wrote this letter is because an offering had been sent by the hand of a man named Epaphroditus. Paul was in prison in Rome. And the Philippians. People who were grateful for Paul and his ministry and had supported him in the past, but lost

track of where he was figured out that he had been imprisoned in Rome. And so they took up a collection. They took up an offering, probably not only a monetary offering, but perhaps an offering of things that he may need. And they sent them to Paul and they sent him to Paul by the hand of Epaphroditus. And so when Paul receives this blessing from them, this gift from them, he is so grateful for the

love that they have. For him and the love that they have shown in a very tangible and practical way. And he says, I'm glad that the Lord has revived your concern for me. Not that you ever lacked the concern, but you only lacked the opportunity. He says, I know that you always cared, but now you've been given the opportunity to show you care in a very practical sort of way in my life.

But then he goes on because he wants to make sure they understand his desire. The desire is not the gift that they're going to give him or the gift that they have sent him because he's learned a lesson in life. He says, not that I speak from want, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am. Paul says, it's not that I'm telling you any of these things because I have some sort of a want in my life.

I want you to notice he didn't use the word need. He said, it's not because I am speaking from a place of want, because I have some sort of a need. He says, I have learned something in my life. I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am in. There's two words in that verse I would like to point out to you. And the first word is the word learned.

The word learned in that context speaks of an entrance into a new condition. In other words, he says, I have come to learn. Because Paul, as great of a man as he was, as great of a man of God as he was, it was not natural to him to be content. Because it's not natural to any of us to be content. It's actually the exact opposite of our nature. It ultimately goes back to the fall of man.

If you think about it, what was one of the great issues that Adam and Eve faced when they were in the garden? They were not content. They had every tree in the garden that they could eat from. But what one tree were they hanging out by? The tree that they were not supposed to eat from. You know why? Because a lot of times we don't care. What? What we can have.

We only care about what we can't have. Right? Because contentment does not come naturally to us. We see this play out in every aspect of our life. Have you ever noticed that you get a brand new car and it has all of these great features, but then you see somebody with a similar car that you have and theirs has more features on it. And you're like, oh man, I wish my car had fill in the blank here.

Right? I wish it had the features that that car had. Now, why is that? Well, because we struggle with being content. I always use this example. Why do you think they come out with a new phone all the time? Five phones ago, I was like, how much more can a phone do for us? But they keep coming out with another one. Why? Because they know people are not content with what they have and they will buy the brand new one.

I think about that with so many things that we have in life. We, we're, we struggle to be content with those things because it doesn't come naturally to us. And Paul says, I have learned to be content. I tell you that because it is a process in our lives. It's not something that we arrive at easily. It's not something that we arrive at on our own. We're going to find that it's actually something that is the work of Jesus Christ in our lives,

but it is something that we need to learn. I say that because of two things. Number one, I think it should teach us to be patient with ourselves, right? I think one of the biggest issues that we have as believers is that we're not always very patient with ourselves. We think I should, I should be where I'm supposed to be right now. Forgetting that my entire nature is the opposite of where I want to be.

And so it's going to take me some time to get there. And so when I find myself being discontented with the things that I have, I can go, Oh Lord, why am I not where I'm supposed to be yet? He says, because it's going to take some time because you're in a learning process, a process of becoming who I want you to be. And so we have to learn to be content. So number one,

it should teach us, but number two, it should spur us on because it is something that we should be learning. Too many people are content with where they are right now. Like I'm, I'm happy with where I am in my stage of life right now. Even if that means I've not grown, even if that means I'm just happy to be saved. The only place you should never be content is in your walk with Jesus Christ.

You should always want to be drawing closer. And so you are in a learning process. Be patient with yourself because it's a process, but don't give up on it because it's a process. Keep digging deeper. Keep learning because as long as you're on this side of eternity, there will be learning that needs to be done. Paul says, I have entered into a new condition because I have learned to be content.

Now in just a moment, he's going to tell us the things he's become content in, but I want you to know something. You don't learn to be content unless you have to learn to be content. Have you ever noticed that? Like that's one of the problems we have in the Western culture is that everything is available at our fingertips all the time. Every pleasure is available to us.

Every food is available to us. Every everything is available to us. And so everything about our world is the opposite of contentment. He says, I've had to learn that, but I've reached this condition of understanding. It's okay to be content. So the number one thing he tells us is, first of all, I have learned. And what's he learned? He's learned contentment.

Now this word content is kind of an interesting word. It means, independent of external circumstances, independent of external circumstances, just on its base level. That's what that word means, which is really an interesting way to look at life. Because if you are truly independent of external circumstances, you, you really are content because it doesn't matter what you have or what you don't have.

It doesn't matter whether you're healthy or whether you're not healthy. It doesn't matter whether you are living in the lap of luxury or as Paul is living in prison. You can be content. You can be content because you are independent of external circumstances. And I think that's an interesting thing because in our world, our external circumstances seem to equal everything to us.

And so at its base level, the word content means that. But when you dig a little bit deeper, you realize that this is a word that the Greek Stoics, and I'm reading this out of the Kenneth Weiss word study. It says the Greek Stoics used this word as a word for self-sufficiency and contentment. And if you think about Stoicism and what it is at its nature, it means being independent of external circumstances, right?

Having a contentment within yourself. And so the Greek Stoics would read this word and they would say, ah, he's reached that place. He's reached that place of complete self-sufficiency. And if we're not careful, that's what we try to become, right? Well, I don't need all of these things. I'm happy with myself. But Paul's not using this in the aspect of being,

of being sufficient of himself or having competency of himself, because you see Paul's independence from external circumstances did not come from his self-sufficiency. It came from his God dependency. And we see that and we'll get to it in just a moment when he says, I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me, right? Or, or as this translation says, all things through him who strengthens me.

We find that it's actually a God dependency. How do you come to a place where the external circumstances no longer affect who you are? Well, you come to that place, not by having a self-sufficiency, but by realizing that everything that you need and everything that you have ultimately comes from God. Anything on top of his salvation, your relationship with him is just gravy on top of the mashed potatoes, right?

It's just a little something extra. And that's what God does for us is he blesses us with that contentment. But I'm here to tell you right now, this balance, this battle of contentment is a major battle in the minds of Americans today. We struggle to be content with our jobs. We struggle to be content with our finances. We struggle to be content with our homes.

We struggle to be content with our cars. We struggle to be content in our marriages. We struggle to be content in our churches. We struggle to be content with our kids, all of it because we live in a world of comparison. and comparison is the thief of contentment because comparison is the thief of joy. And so he says, I have learned to be content. He goes on from there in verse 12 to say this,

I know how to get along with humble means and I also know how to get along in prosperity in any and every circumstance. I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need. He goes through a list of things. Did you take note of that? He goes through a list of four things where he's learned. He says, I've learned to get along with really humble means.

In other words, to be abased, I think is the word that's actually used there perhaps in the King James and what that word actually means. It means to be brought low. He goes, I know. I know what it's like. And I've learned to be content in a place where I've been brought low because of the financial situation that I'm in. And yet I've also learned to be content in prosperity.

Now I'm just going to camp out here for one quick second. Okay. I bet you're thinking to yourself, of course you can learn to be content in prosperity. Really? Have you ever talked to somebody that's really prosperous? They're some of the least content people in the world because they're some of the most stressed out people in the world. You know why they're some of the most stressed out people in the world?

Because they have more to lose than anybody else does. And they're not content. It's an amazing thing to talk to people with a good deal of money that don't have Jesus because they are always stressed about what's going to happen with their money. And so there really is an aspect of learning to be content. Listen, even in prosperity, because at some point in time,

when is enough enough, right? I follow a lot of pro athletes and I find it interesting when a pro athlete plays on a team that they really like and they've just won a championship with that team and they're like, but that guy's going to need a payday. That guy's going to need him. I'm like, that dude makes, $5 million a year to play a game that he started playing when he was five years old.

And now he plays on a team where he wins championships and he needs a payday. Really? At what point in time is enough enough? See what I mean here? Paul says, I've learned to be content in humble means and in prosperity. He says in any and every circumstance that covers like all of the situations that come up in life. All of the difficulties that come up in life,

kind of like being in prison, which is where he's writing this from in any and every circumstance. I've learned what it is to be filled and to go hungry. I've learned what it is to have abundance and to suffer need. And in all of those things, I love it. He says, I have learned the secret that that word learned is a different word than the one we saw in the verse before.

The one of the verse before meant, uh, an entrance into a new condition. This word learn means the unveiling of a mystery, which is why the new American standard translates it. I have learned the secret. It's like there was this mystery, right? This, this underlying mystery that you can be content in anything that you can be content in no matter what's going on in your life,

good, bad, or ugly and having a whole lot of money or having no money in being, having a full belly and having an empty belly. I can do that. I can do that. I can do that. I can be content in any of those things because there's this mystery that was underlying everything. And now I have learned it. The mystery has been unveiled. Well, how was the mystery unveiled?

Look at the next verse. I can do all things through him who strengthens me. I can do all things through him who strengthens me. Now, this is one of the most taken out of conversation. This is one of the most taken out of context verses in scripture. Perhaps the only other verse that's taken out of context more than this is the one that says, wherever two or three are gathered in my name,

I am there in their midst. But this was taken out of context. So this is the power lifter verse, right? This is, this is the Superman. This is a super athlete verse. This is the, this is the verse that tells me I can do all things. I'm going to run through that brick wall because I can do all things through Christ. I mean, you can't, you might not survive, but you can sure try.

Right? And so it's oftentimes taken out of context, but what does it mean? Well, let's first of all, look at the direct context because what are the verses before say, I have learned the secret of being content. What is the secret? What is the mystery that was unveiled to him about being content? I can do all things through him who gives me strength. Listen,

we have to understand this isn't the power lifter verse. This is the, there's no food on the table verse. This is the, I didn't get the job verse. This is the life. Isn't turning out the way I thought it was going to verse. And I can still find my joy in Christ because I still have my contentment in Christ because I can do all things through him who gives me strength.

And so what are the all things? Well, in the direct context, it's contentment. It's the contentment that says I can turn off social media and not look at everybody's filtered pictures of their vacation and be content with my own life. And what I have in front of me today, I can turn off social media and quit looking at everybody's brand new house and the remodel they just did on their house and be content with the old bathroom I have sitting in front of me today.

Or the newly remodeled bathroom you have sitting in front of you today. It's, I can shut off the opinions of the world and be content with my marriage the way that it is today because I can do all things through him who strengthens me. See, that's the context of it. It speaks of contentment. Again, I would tell you most of our nation, I don't know about our world,

but most of our nation is living an incredibly unhappy life. Meaning that they also have no joy in their life because all they do constantly is wish they had more. And Paul said, I've learned the secret and the secret is not nearly as mysterious as it sounds. I found out that the secret is in Christ because I can do all things through him who strengthens me.

Now, that's the direct context of the verse. I don't think it's wrong to add a broader context to the verse because I think the broader context of the verse and I got this out of the Bible knowledge commentary is that not only does it speak of finding our contentment in what we have through Christ who strengthens us, but it also implies that we can do anything that God wills us to do through his strength that he gives to us. I do think that this is a powerful verse, but it has more to do with living in. Obedient life unto Christ than it does being able to do some feet that's going to impress the rest of the world.

See, if anybody knew what it was to have to live out the will of God in the most difficult circumstances possible, it was Paul. Because remember every missionary journey that Paul took, what would he do? Well, he would start off in a synagogue, right? And when he would start off in a synagogue ministering to the Jewish people, they would reject him. The Jewish people would.

And so he would go out and start ministering to the Gentile people. And so, emotionally, he's dealing with rejection. And I just want you to know, I'm going to give you a window into a pastor's heart. Rejection is hard. We all deal with it sometimes, but it's a really hard thing. And Paul dealt with that on an almost consistent basis. And so he would go out and he would minister to the Gentiles.

And when he was ministering to the Gentiles, either some of the Gentiles would not like what he was saying because it was shutting down the business of the idols, or the Jewish people, people would come along and be opposed to him and create persecution against him. And then he would face not only emotional stress from being rejected by people, but physical persecution. And he had learned that he could continue to give out God's word and to live in obedience to what God had called him to do through him who gives him strength. Which is why Paul said, the love of Christ constrains me.

To continue to give out the gospel. Because he had learned that he could do all things through him who gives him strength. What is, what is God wanting you to do in your life? What is the will of God for you that you find you don't have what it takes to do? Perhaps it's overcoming a life dominating sin. And you're going, I don't know if I'm ever going to have victory over this sin because it's always there.

It's always present. Listen, you truly can do all things through him who gives you strength. Because, it's God's will for you to have victory and he'll give you everything that you need to have victory. Perhaps it's healing a broken marriage and you're going, Lord, I don't know if this thing's ever going to be healed, but you can do all things through him who gives you strength.

Perhaps it's just finding that joy in a job that you don't like. And God says, you can do it because I'm going to give you everything that you need. Maybe it's even healing a broken relationship with a loved one. And God's calling you to either confess what you have done wrong or to offer forgiveness to the person that has wronged you. And you say, Lord, I don't know if I can do that.

It says, yes, you can, because you can do all things through him who gives you strength. That's the broader context is that it fits into anything that God has willed you to do in your life. He wants you to live out in your life. So that's the all things. The second thing is, the second phrase that I'll point out to you is that it's through him. Remember how we said that that word content,

the Stoics used it to speak of self-dependence and of competency within yourself, self-sufficiency. Well, here we are reminded that it's not self-sufficiency. It is godly sufficiency. It's not self-confidence. It is God confidence. And that's that contentment that comes. And then it says through him who strengthens me. That phrase strengthens me. He literally means infuses me with strength.

Now, now I want you to picture this. I've been thinking about this this week with that phrase strengthens me and that it means to infuse with strength, right? This is, this is how I picture this because I like to put things into pictures because that's the way my brain works is, is I picture me every morning saying, Jesus, I need your strength and him giving me like a little IV of just him infusing everything that I need into me, right? Like, like it's some sort of Marvel movie or something like that.

And when it's done, I'm like, Oh God, it's right. And then you can go out and do what God's called you to do. Not some crazy thing, but living the way that God has called you to live. I know that's not, that's not physically what actually happens, but spiritually speaking, that's the picture he gives to us here is that he actually infuses you. He fills you with everything that you need to live as God has called you to live.

I can do all things through him who gives me strength. And so if we want to win the battle of the mind, lesson number six is that we need to learn to be, to be content and now we come to lesson number seven. Notice what it says in verse 14. Nevertheless, you have done well to share with me in my affliction. You yourselves also know Philippians that at the first preaching of the gospel,

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 for my, not that I seek the gift itself, but I seek for the profit, which increases to your account. But I have received everything in full and have an abundance. I am amply supplied having received from Epaphroditus, what you have sent 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.

Lesson number seven of winning the battle of the mind is that we need to rest in God's provision. We need to rest in God's provision. Again, we look at this backdrop of the giving of the Philippians people. The first thing he says is you've done well because you've constantly shared with me in my affliction as he has been in need. They have shared, shared with him.

He says, you yourselves know Philippians that at the first preaching of the gospel, after I left Macedonia, no church shared with me in the matter of giving and receiving, but you alone, you were one of the most faithful churches in the way that you gave to me. They had a great history of giving. And he said, but I want you to understand something. There are great benefits in giving because it's not that I seek the gift.

I don't, I don't want your money, but I do want you to have the blessing that goes on. Along with giving notice what he calls it. Verse 17, not that I seek the gift itself, but I seek for the profit, which increases to your account. What does that mean? Well, I think that there's, before we get to this last part, I do think that there's an important lesson for us to pay attention to.

Anytime you give to any kind of work of ministry, whatever fruit comes from that ministry is given to your account. Let me give you a, for instance, just because she was just up here sharing about it. Let's say you go back there and you eat a little breakfast. You throw a few dollars into the can and you help send a little kid to camp. And that little kid goes to camp and they receive Jesus as their Lord and

savior. And then they go on to live a life of serving the Lord and giving to the Lord and perhaps even being in ministry themselves. Do you realize that all of that gets credited to your account because you threw a few dollars into the jar? A lot of you came a few weeks ago. Maybe it's too, a few months ago. I remember how long ago it was when we did the basketball fundraiser for the,

for the folks that are going on the mission strip in a few weeks. And you, and you gave money to that. And so that's going to help some people go down to Guatemala. And when they get to Guatemala, they're going to do some work in the ministry. They're going to, they're going to help give medicine to some people. They're going to help feed some people. They're going to help build some things.

And in all of it, they're going to be telling them about the love of Jesus. Let's say some Guatemalan folks get saved while they're down there. And then they go and they start spreading. The gospel to the people that are around them. All of that, that all gets credited to your account. And so it's a beautiful thing when we give to the work of the ministry, because God will never be out given,

right? And he'll always take care of us because he credits all of those things to your account. Can you imagine? There's this great song from the nineties. It was called, uh, thank you for giving to the Lord. Anybody remember that song? And, and it goes, this, this guy has a dream. Then he goes to heaven and he sees all the people, right? There's all these people that come up and talk to him.

And, and he never met any of them. And he goes, I didn't do anything for any of these people. And they're like, every time you gave it ministered to me. And now we're the fruit of what you've done. See, that's what he's saying there. And so there's this great blessing that anytime you give to the work of the ministry, I don't care what ministry it is. There's a great blessing that comes.

And so why, why do we give what we give? Because ultimately we want to see the fruit of God's work in people's lives. But it also means that you need to be aware of who you give to, because there are some folks that are giving some money to some pretty bad things. And then you find out that there's not good fruit that's being produced. There's bad fruit that's being produced.

And so you should check into who all it is that you're giving money to, because it's added to your account. Notice what he says in verse 18, but I have received everything in full and I have an abundance. I am amply supplied having received from Epaphroditus what you have sent. Now I want you to notice how he, he refers to their gift. It is a fragrant aroma and acceptable sacrifice.

Well pleasing to God. The language that Paul uses there about the gift that they had given to him is that of a sacrifice from the old Testament. You see in the old Testament, when you brought what was called a, a, a burnt offering to the Lord, a whole burnt offering to the Lord, you would bring an entire animal and it would be slain and it would be put up on the altar and the entire animal would be burned. It would all be burned.

It's just an, it's just an offering. It's an offering of joy to the Lord, right? Because of your fellowship with him, because of, of the great things that he's done for you. And we're told in scripture that every time that offering was offered, it was like a sweet smelling aroma into the nostrils of the Lord. That's the exact same verbiage that Paul uses here in speaking of this gift that

the Philippians had given to him. He was so thankful for anything that they gave because I have so much abundance because I received the gift that Epaphroditus brought and it did so much for me. It's like a sweet smelling aroma and acceptable sacrifice. And it was well pleasing to the Lord. Again, that means that every time you give to the Lord in any shape or fashion,

however you intend to do it, the Lord's heart is so blessed. But usually the one reason why people struggle with letting go of money is because they fear if they're going to be able to take care of themselves. And Paul reminds them of one of the most beautiful, beautiful truths in the book of Philippians in verse 19 when he says, and my God will supply all your needs according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus. My God will supply all your needs according to his riches and glory in Christ Jesus.

Do you know that finances are one of the greatest worries that most people have? We talked about it a little bit last week. When we talked about anxiety and anxiousness and worry, but finances are one of the greatest worries that we have right now as a culture. As a matter of fact, if you click on most news agencies right now, one of the major stories that they'll always talk about is where we are with inflation and jobless numbers.

Right. And, uh, you know, my philosophy has always been invested in inflation because it's always going up. Right. And so, so that's a terrible joke. Clearly none of you got it. Um, anyway, um, everything's just so much more expensive. We went to the store twice this weekend and I think I, we, we bought three weeks worth of groceries in money and brought home half of a

cart full of stuff, right? It based on what it used to be. And so people worry about money. And do you also know what one of the greatest stresses on relationships is? It's money. Most couples find themselves arguing about money more than anything in the world. And one of the things that dominates the minds of people is how am I going to make money? That's why 50 cent made a movie called,

get rich or die trying, right? If you talk to anybody that lives in really, really bad circumstances, they will tell you the one thing that they want to do is get out of those bad circumstances because they need to make money. Right? And so everybody worries about how we're going to pay for things. How am I going to pay for college for my kids? How am I going to pay for a wedding for two daughters?

That's what I think about sometimes. How am I gonna, how am I going to afford to retire one day? How am I going to afford to pay the bills? This month? How am I going to afford to buy the groceries? How am I going to afford to do all these things? And we worry about it. And then it comes along and God says, Hey, I want you to give to this. And we're like, how am I supposed to do that?

I don't know how I'm going to do all these other things. And God says, just try me because my God shall supply all of your needs according to his riches and glory in Christ Jesus. There's a great story in the old Testament. Second Kings. I think it's, it's chapter four about the prophet Elisha and he goes and there's a widow as he goes and ministers to this widow.

She has very little meal left to make the little cakes that matter of fact, you probably just read this story. If you're going through the Bible with us to make these cakes, right? And so he says, make some for me first and then you make a cake for yourself. She just had enough oil and flour to, to make one. He said, make one for me and then you make some for you.

And she goes, but that's all that's left. He says, trust me. And so she does. She makes him a cake and gives it to him. And do you know that she did not run out of oil and flour for the rest of the drought at that particular point in time? Why? Because my God shall supply all of your needs according to his riches and glory in Christ Jesus. Do you remember the story of Jesus and the feeding of the 5,000?

Jesus says, disciples come to him and say, Hey, there's a whole bunch of folks out here and it's getting kind of late in the day. I think you need to send them home to go get some food. He said, why don't you feed them? They said, all we've got is five loaves and two fish. He says, bring them to me. And he prays and he blesses them and he starts handing them out.

And all of a sudden, one thing leads to another 5,000 men plus women and children are fed and not just fed. They're glutted. That's the sexual word. In other words, they were like, like they just done. God got done. Eat some, barbecue, right? And they're like, I couldn't eat anymore if I tried to. And there was still 12 baskets of leftovers. Why? Because my God shall supply all your needs according to his riches and glory

in Christ Jesus. The Bible is full of stories like this. There's another great story about George Mueller. You guys know who George Mueller is. If you want to read a great biography, find any biography about George Mueller. Fascinating guy. He ran orphanages way back. Back in the day, back in the late 1800s, early 1900s. He ran orphanages over in Europe. And one,

one day there was no food. And his determination was he was never going to ask for money. He was going to live on faith. He was going to live believing that God would always provide because he believed what this verse said. So one morning they got up and they got all these kids live in there. And the ladies that do the cooking said, Hey, George, we have a problem.

There's, there's no food for breakfast this morning. He said, that's okay. He said, that's okay. Have all the kids come and gather at the dining room table. And we're going to pray over the meal that God will provide. And so everybody gathered around the dining room table, still no food. And he says, let's bow our heads and thank God for the meal that he's going to

provide. And about the time that they bowed their heads to pray, there was a knock at the door. And as the knock at the door came, he went to the door and there was a milkman standing there. And he said, Hey, listen, my milk truck just broke down and I can't get all this milk delivered. I noticed that you, you are an orphanage. Is there any way you could use all of this?

And he says, Oh, that would be fantastic. So they bring all this milk in. And then he sits down to pray again. At least I got some milk to drink now, right? He sits down to pray again and a knock at the door comes. And so he goes and answers the door again. And the bread man says, I have all of this leftover bread. That's just going to go bad. And I saw that you're an orphanage.

I was wondering, could you use it? And he said, absolutely we could. So they bring the bread in. And so they had breakfast that morning. Why? Because my God shall supply all of your needs according to his riches and glory in Christ Jesus, who is the supplier of everything that we need. It's my God, my God, who owns the cattle on a thousand Hills, my God, who created everything.

Don't you think he can provide? Don't you think he can help you pay that bill? Don't you think that God is going to take care of everything? Everything. That you need. It's been quite some time back now. Let's see what was about 10 years ago. And, uh, we were just, we were broke. That was all that there was to it. And it was summertime. And our air conditioner went out in our house and we were like,

well, you know, I'm way too hot blooded and too hairy to not have an air conditioner. So, so, uh, so we call the air conditioner guy over and he goes, okay, we got to order this part. And it's going to be, I think it was like $325 or something along those lines. Well, we were having a garage sale. At the same time. I don't think I need to ask you. Do you know how much we made at the garage sale?

$325. I'm not joking. That's a true story. It's just what God does. He provides, right? Because he is our source. My God shall supply all of your, but I want to point out the next word needs all of your needs. It's important that we take note of the fact that it's all of right. Like that's an all encompassing words, all of, but it's, all of our, all of our needs.

And a lot of times God has to get down to the place where we say, Lord, what are my wants? And what am I? What are my needs? Because maybe it's not that God's not providing for me. It's just that he's not providing for what I want. He's only providing for what I need. But brothers and sisters, we can always trust in God's provision. He says, my God shall supply all of your needs.

According to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus. I want to point out something. It doesn't say from his riches. It says according to, or in accordance to his riches. But let me explain the difference. If I went to Warren Buffett today and said, I need some money, I need $10. And he gave me $10. That would be him giving it to me from his riches. Right? But if I went to Warren Buffett and I was a really good friend of his,

and I said, Warren, I need some money. And he gave me a million dollars. That would be in accordance to his riches. Does that kind of make sense of the difference between the two? God doesn't just give us like, oh, well you just need to scrap. Here's a scrap. No, he takes care of us. Right? Like exceedingly abundantly all above all we could ever ask or think.

And so we can find our rest. We can find our joy in the Lord, even in circumstances, where we're going, Lord, I don't know how that bill is going to get paid, but I'm going to trust in you because you've made a promise. All of a sudden you can find some joy in life again, right? Because you, you've been there. Surely most of us have been there where we've worried about how we're going to pay for something.

And how much does that overwhelm every single thought that you have and suck all of the joy out of your life. But if we can learn to trust that he's our provider, it restores that joy. Brothers and sisters, if you're a believer, if you want to win the battle of the mind, if you want to find joy, then begin to trust in God's provision. Well, now we come to the closing of the book, the benediction.

And this is what it says. Verse 20. Now to our God and father be the glory forever and ever. Amen. Greet every saint in Christ Jesus. The brethren who are with me. Greet you. All the saints greet you, especially those of Caesar's household. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Three things I want to point out to you quickly about this benediction.

Number one is to God be the glory, whether it be Paul's ministry, whether it be the joy that they have in their life, whether it be the contentment that they've learned to find whatever it is to God. Be all the glory. And our lives should be lived in such a way that to God be all the glory. Because when grace is at work, the only one glorified is none other than God.

To God be the glory. The second thing I would point out to you are these greetings. He says, first of all, greet every saint in Christ Jesus. And I like to point this out to us as many times as I can. If you hear this morning and you've accepted Jesus as your Lord and Savior, you are a saint. Or a saint. Ryan, I'm no saint. I've never done anything miraculous.

Me neither. But the Bible says I'm a saint. It says I've been set apart unto God. And that's who you are. Because you're in Christ Jesus, you're a saint. Like old J. Vernon McGee says, there's only two types of people in the world. There's the saints and there's the ain'ts. Right? Because you're either in Christ or you're not in Christ. And if you're here this morning,

you're a saint. He says greet all the saints in Christ Jesus. And the brethren who are with me, they greet you. All the believers that are around me all the time, they greet you. Probably Timothy and Luke who tended to be with Paul quite a bit. But he goes on from there. And verse 22 is an interesting verse. Because it says all the saints greet you, especially those of Caesar's household.

Now I find that to be an interesting sentence that Paul uses there. Because that would indicate that there are now saints in Caesar's household. Where's Paul right now? He's in Rome. Where is he? Under house arrest. Who's he talking to every day? Well, probably guards that are oftentimes in Caesar's household. That means that as he is chained to a guard, you know he's like,

have you heard about Jesus? Right? And he starts talking to him about Jesus. And one by one, those guards start getting saved. And then they take that word into Caesar's household. And they're like, this crazy dude, you are never going to believe it. He's a short little freaky guy. But I mean, that guy has been telling me some truth and it has absolutely changed my life.

And that's exactly what was taking place. And now all of a sudden there's saints in Caesar's household, right? The word of God can't be chained and it knows no bounds. And then he closes with his famous words. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Because true joy comes from knowing real grace. Amen. Let's all stand. Hey, I forgot to say it during announcements,

but happy mother's day. I got, we've got something for all you moms. Um, uh, all. And I know mother's day always ends up there. There's always like, oh, um, there's hard things about mother's day. Some, some have lost mothers. Some have tried to be mothers and cannot be mothers. Some have wayward kids. And so ladies, y'all do so much, you know? And, and I've always said that I have to be a mother.

I have to be a mother. I have to be a mother. I have to be a mother. I have to be a mother. I have to be a mother. I have to be a mother. I've always said that I have my mom and then I have my extended moms, right? And some of them are moms and some of them are just ladies I've known throughout my life. And they've played a role in my life as a mom. And so if you're a lady here this morning,

I want you to know you're probably playing a role in someone's life that you maybe don't even realize. Uh, you're kind of mom away from mom for them. And so we, we just want to celebrate you ladies and, uh, and appreciate you guys. And so make sure that you see the ushers afterwards. They've got a little gift for you, a little gift certificate, uh, so you would enjoy some goodies.

So, uh, we, we appreciate who you are. So would you, would you bow with me? Father, we come to you and, uh, Lord, I just thank you for who you are. Father, I thank you for the promises of your word. And I just ask that you would minister to our hearts as we go out from here. Father, may we find our rest in you. May we trust you and truly know that through you,

contentment, provision, joy is all ours because of you who gives us strength in Jesus name. Amen. Be blessed Lord for your love, for your grace, your mercy and your sovereignty. Would you go before now and just bless our day, this mother's day for all the mothers and, and, and that you would just bless our week. Go before order, strengthen, and we give you thanks in Jesus name.

Amen. The Lord bless y'all.