Please take your Bibles and open up the Philippians chapter 4. We're going to be looking at verses 14 through 20. In our time in God's word here today, Philippians chapter 4. I'm glad to be here this morning. If we've never met, my name is Bruce. I'm one of the pastor's here, I'm the guy that adds elderly to the elder team.
And usually at this time, on a Sunday morning, I'm over in the revival room; we have a Bible class that I'm a part of. And you might notice in your bulletin, we're starting a new series next Sunday on the book of Habakkuk, a very interesting book, that's going to be very helpful in the days ahead. We've titled the series “God's GPS for Troubling Times.” And so, it's very helpful, very practical, very interesting. You're all welcome to come and be a part of it. How many of you saw the Isaiah scroll that we had here last weekend? Yeah, a number of you did, there's a good chance that we're going to have a Habakkuk scroll in there while we're studying the book of Habakkuk. So, you can come and see that, as well. I'm very excited about that series.
I'm very excited about what we're going to look at here today, because this is going to really help us as we come to the end of the year, and we think about an end of the year offering. And, as we think about launching out into a new year, this passage is going to really help us to do it, because we're going to talk about the Bank of Heaven, the Bank of Heaven here today. And before I was a pastor, I was a banker. For fourteen years, I worked in the banking business; I worked in management positions in local and regional offices throughout LA and Orange County. And what that means is that I spent most of my days talking to people about money and possessions, things like cars and boats and houses. But I'm not here today as a banker to talk to you about investments or mortgage rates. Thank God, Amen. We're glad to hear that. I'm here as a pastor to talk to you about the Bank of Heaven. While I was in banking, I had a real interest in learning all that the Bible has to say about money and possessions. And I found out that it says an awful lot, way more than we could cover in a long series of sermons. But we're going to look at this passage today as one example of what the Bible teaches on this important topic. So, I want to start by reading the text for us. And I want to invite you, in honor of God's Word, to stand as I read God's Word for us here this morning. Philippians 4:14-20. Apostle Paul writes.
Yet it was kind of you to share my trouble. And you Philippians yourselves know that in the beginning of the gospel, when I left Macedonia, no church entered into partnership with me in giving and receiving, except you only. Even in Thessalonica you sent me help for my needs once and again. Not that I seek the gift, but I seek the fruit that increases to your credit. I have received full payment, and more. I am well supplied, having received from Epaphroditus the gifts you sent, a fragrant offering, a sacrifice acceptable and pleasing to God. And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus. To our God and Father be glory forever and ever. Amen.
Amen. You may be seated. Here's Paul thanking the Philippians for the financial gift that they had sent him while he was in prison in Rome. That's what he kind of casually refers to as my trouble in Philippians 4:14. Now, what's exciting for me, especially as a former banker is in this passage, he uses some banking terminology. You'll notice in Philippians 4:15, he talks about giving and receiving. Those are bookkeeping terms. That's like picturing a ledger. And there's one column for everything that's coming in, and the other column for everything that's going out. That's giving and receiving. And then in Philippians 4:17, he talks about the fruit that increases to your credit. That word “fruit” could also be translated “profit”. And it's talking about the divine interest that accrues to the account of the one who's giving. And so, he's talking about the Bank of Heaven here, really. And he's using banking terminology as he describes it. So, as he talks to them about their gift, and as we look at what this church did that faithfully supported the apostle Paul, and the advance of the gospel and the promises that they received as a result of all of this, we're going to learn some important lessons for us, not only individually, but as a church, because he's talking here to a church, and what they did together as a church. And I think you're going to find this very interesting and, in some ways, even maybe excited to see what they were doing, and how God responded. And it's going to be important for us. Like I said, as we think about taking a year-end offering, which we're going to do at the end of the service, and as we think about launching out into 2024. So, let's take a look at the text. And let's look at Philippians 4:14-18.
And for this section, you can put it down for this is number one on your handout: You want to “Invest in the Bank of Heaven.” Invest in the Bank of Heaven. As Paul expresses his thanks, he reveals four characteristics, or four principles of giving that were demonstrated by the Philippians, and provide a model for us, this is what it looks like to really invest in the Bank of Heaven. And let's look at what they did. Let's identify those principles. And the first one will be in Philippians 5:14 and 15, where he says, “Yet it was kind of you to share my trouble. And you Philippians yourselves know that in the beginning of the gospel, when I left Macedonian no church entered into partnership with me and giving and receiving, except you only.” So here would be the first principle: You need to “Give as gospel partners.” Give as gospel partners. Paul says there in verse 14, it was kind of them to do what they did, or that in other words, he's saying you guys did good. You did well in sharing with me. And what they did was share as verse 14 says, and verse 15, says; they entered into a partnership with him. And both of those words come from a word that we're familiar with, it's usually translated fellowship. It's the Greek word Koinonia. They were sharing with him, they were entering into a partnership with him, that speaks of working together as a partner, and specifically working together to advance the gospel. And that was what the Philippians did. And right from the very beginning, if you go back to Philippians 1:3-5, Paul brings this up right there. He says, I thank my God, and all my remembrance of you, always, in every prayer of mine, for you are all making my prayer with joy because of your partnership in the Gospel, from the first day until now. So the Philippians saw themselves in a partnership with the Apostle Paul to advance the gospel, and their giving was a part of them participating in that partnership. We give, or you could say, we invest in the Bank of Heaven, because we're in a spiritual partnership, where we have a purpose of advancing the gospel. And, actually, we're partnering with God, because that's his purpose, to advance the gospel. We give because we want the gospel to ring out. And that's the way we should think about our giving. I'm giving to participate in seeing the gospel advance, here and around the world. And that advance happens largely as we see it in the New Testament, through the planting of churches.
Paul had planted this church in Philippi. And now they're supporting him in the planting of other churches. Our church here was planted by Compass Bible Church, down in Aliso Viejo, and we're looking to plant the church in Long Beach. That's how the gospel advances. As the Gospel goes out, people get saved, churches are formed. That's what we want to be a part of. Our giving, our investing in the Bank of Heaven is partnering together for the advance of God's work. I mean, how exciting is that? You can give your money to a lot of things. And I'm sure this last month, you've been hearing from a lot of people who want you to give them all your money and to advance their cause, and they're going to give their reasons why you should? Well, what we're seeing here is that, as you give to God, as you give through the church, you're helping to advance the gospel. And what more exciting thing could there be to invest in than that, you didn't want to talk about an exciting investment that's going to bear fruit for all eternity. This is the opportunity for you to be making a good and eternal investment. So, we see them as giving. And one of the principles of investing in the Bank of Heaven is giving for the purpose of partnering in the advance of the gospel. Look at another thing here. Let's read Philippians 4:15-16. He says, “Then 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. When in Thessalonica, you sent me help for my needs once and again.
So, here's the second principle: We want to “Give at every opportunity.” Give at every opportunity. This is the kind of giving that God is commending. The Philippians are being commended here. And they're providing an example for me. And what we see is that they gave at every opportunity. In fact, if you just look back at Philippians 4:10, Paul says this, “I rejoiced in the Lord greatly that now at length, you have revived your concern for me”; you were indeed concerned for me, but you had no opportunity. There are times when you don't have the opportunity. But whenever they had the opportunity, they took advantage of it. They got involved. We should always have the concern to see the gospel advance. And whenever we have an opportunity to give, to support that, to participate in that, that's what we should do. That's what we should do. The very design of the church allows for a regular flow of giving. As we meet every week, we think about the church, we come here to worship. To hear the Word provides an opportunity for us to give as well. We also have other special times of giving, which is probably what Paul's referring to here with the Philippians. And we can think of things that we have given to special things, extraordinary things like a new building. You remember this thing called the “Double-Double” program. You guys remember that? Yeah, this is the fruit of that, that right here sitting here in this building, in these nice, comfortable chairs, in this nice, comfortable room. It was the result of the giving during the Double-Double program.
We also have special opportunities to give to missions. And we've done that through the years. We've taken special offerings, or we've made special gifts to our missionaries. We're supporting some missionaries in Uganda, Sufficiency of Scripture ministries, Shannon Hurley. And earlier this year, we sent them $100,000 to help them build a new building in Uganda. We thought we were building a building here, we got some money, well, let's help them build a building in Uganda. And so that's the kind of thing you do. And you also can give, especially and specifically towards a church plant. Those would be some extraordinary things that we might do when the opportunity comes up. We want to be ready; we want to take advantage of every opportunity. And you'll notice that the giving and receiving there in verse 15, that indicates that the Lord's keeping an account and there is an accountability. It's his money that we're working with. And he wants us to be accountable. And he is keeping an account of their giving, the Philippians’ giving, just like he is of you're giving, our giving. He's keeping an account. And the Philippian church was doing outstanding in this whole matter of giving and receiving.
When Paul left Macedonia, which is where Philippi is, he went to the next region known as Achaia. And a major city there in Achaia would have been Corinth. And the Philippians sent support to him there. We know that because, in Acts 18:5, it says that Timothy and Silas came from Macedonia with money for the apostle Paul. That's further supported in 2 Corinthians 11:9, where he was there in Corinth. They had gone back to check on these other churches that had already started. And he's there in Corinth, and he had to make tents to support himself. And then they showed up with the gift from the churches in Macedonia. And now he was able to give himself full time to the preaching of God's Word. And he says there that even before he left Macedonia, while he was in Thessalonica, they had sent multiple gifts to him there.
And Thessalonica was the next stop down the road for the apostle Paul. If you read the book of Acts, in Acts 16 and 17, he is in Philippi. And then he goes to Thessalonica. And the indications are that he wasn't in Thessalonica for very long. But somehow during that short period of time, maybe a few months at the most, they had sent multiple gifts to him to support him there. So, right off the bat, they are involved, taking advantage of the opportunity to participate in advancing the gospel.
That's something we need to think about. We need to think about, and be looking for opportunities to give, and not just when we get around to it. This should be something that we want to do, want to be involved in. And when you realize the interest that is mentioned in Philippians 4:17, a spiritual profit that you're going to earn from the Bank of Heaven, as you invest in it. Then why wouldn't you want to give it every opportunity?
You know, when I was in banking, and we were offering investment tools to the people, some people went, it was a good deal, they wanted to take advantage of every opportunity they had to invest in, to get the best return on their investment. And we were there to try to help them to do that. And there were a lot of people very eager to take advantage of good investments. There's no better investment than the Bank of Heaven. And we should want to take advantage of every opportunity to invest in it. We don't want to be reluctant in giving, but we always want to be looking, we always want to be ready to give. This is what God is commending about the Philippians. But if you're going to live like this, you’ve got to organize your life towards this purpose.
So, you’ve got to ask yourself to begin with, what is it I'm really living for? What am I live in for? Apostle Paul made it clear back in Philippians 1:21 what he's living for. He said, for me to live is this, the interactive part of the sermon for me, to live is Christ. And if you were to read that, literally in the original language, it would read “for me to live Christ.” That's what it's all about. And when he's talking about sending Timothy to them in Philippians 2, he says, I want to send Timothy to you. Here's why: Philippians 2:24, I have no one like him, who will be genuinely concerned for your welfare, for they all seek their own interests, not those of Jesus Christ, whose interests are you seek and whose interests are we seeking? After we seek after our own interests? Are we seeking after the interests of Jesus Christ? That's what's going to make the difference? You're not going to hear a sermon like this and go home and say, yeah, one of my resolutions for 2024 is I'm going to give more money. Probably not going to happen. You're going to have to make some changes; might have to make some changes in your lifestyle. If you want to give more and give more frequently, you're going to have to answer some questions about what really matters the most to you. I don't think any of us are going to come to the end of our life and say, you know, I wish I hadn't given so much money to God. We're not going to be standing there saying that. So, let's take advantage of every opportunity to give to him now. And let's think about how we need to make changes to our lifestyle so that we can do that.
And that leads us to a third principle that comes out of Philippians 4, and that's found in verse 18. He says, “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.” So, here's a third principle that comes out of what it means to invest in the Bank of Heaven. And that is to “give sacrificially.” Give sacrificially, he talks about there. He's received a full payment, and more, which means he's been well supplied by their gifts. In fact, he's saying I've got an abundance based on what you have sent me. The Philippians didn't have much, but they gave generously because they gave sacrificially. And that brings up an important point, it doesn't matter how much or how little you have. All that matters is how much do you desire to see God glorified. And you want to partner with him in his purposes. The Lord Jesus brought this out in Luke 16:10, and a passage where he was talking about giving. And, in fact, in Luke 16:9, he says, “And I tell you, make friends for yourselves by means of unrighteous wealth, so that when it fails they may receive you into the eternal dwellings.” So, you're making an eternal investment. You're going to see the people that were affected by your giving in heaven. And then he says this Luke 16:10, “One who is faithful in a very little is also faithful in much, and one who is dishonest in a very little is also dishonest in much.” And so the point there is not a matter of how much you have, it's a matter of are you faithful with what you have. That is the point. Luke 16:13 says, “No servant can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.” The Philippians didn't have much, but they were faithful with what they had. In fact, the Bible indicates that the Philippians were very poor.
Look with me at 2 Corinthians chapter 8. All the churches of Macedonia are set up as an example for faithful giving. This is what it looks like. Paul is writing to the Corinthians. He's trying to encourage them in this aspect of their Christian life, their church life, and he's using the churches in Macedonia as examples which would include the church at Philippi, and the church at Thessalonica, the church at Berea. Some of the churches we might be familiar with from reading through the book of Acts. Philippi would have been one of these. And listen to what he says starting in verse 2 Corinthians 8:1. Second Corinthians 8 says, “We want you to know, brothers, about the grace of God that has been given among the churches of Macedonia.” That's an important statement. This was a result of God's gracious work in their lives. This is evidence of God's grace at work in a person's life. For in a severe test of affliction, their abundance of joy and their extreme poverty have overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part. So, he's trying to say, hey, things are not going well for the people in Macedonia, they are experiencing a test of affliction. And if you remember Paul's history going through those cities, he basically got run out of every one of them. In fact, in Philippi, he got asked to leave after he'd been beaten and spent a night in jail.
And so, you think of this is the guy that stirs things up? And they're getting rid of him? What do they do to the people that are still living there? What are they going through? What's it like for them? Well, he calls it a severe test of affliction. And their abundance of joy isn't affecting their joy, because the God's grace is at work in their hearts. They're so thankful for what they have in Christ, they're willing to endure the affliction. And they are living in extreme poverty that might be part of the affliction. They've lost their jobs. They've had things taken from them. But all of that has overflowed in a wealth of generosity. So, these aren't like rich people who are just writing checks and sending them to Paul, these are people that are living in extreme poverty. And yet, they're giving generously because they're willing to make sacrifices for what matters. Going on in 2 Corinthians 8:3, it says, “For they gave according to their means, as I can testify, and beyond their means, of their own accord.” They wanted to do this. In fact, the indication here is that maybe Paul was telling, hey, you don't need to give this much. I understand you're going through a rough time. You don't need to give this much. I don't want to put a burden on you. But 2 Corinthians 8:4 says, they were “begging us earnestly for the favor of taking part in the relief of the saints.” They're begging us. I don't know too many pastors that have had that problem where people in their church are begging them. No, no, no, we want to give more. That's what these people were doing. They were begging. And here's the key to the whole thing, 2 Corinthians 8:5, “and this, not as we expected, but they gave themselves first to the Lord and then by the will of God to us.” They were all in with the Lord. And so, they're going to give as much as they possibly can.
And that should be inspiring to us. I think that's the point of it being here. He's trying to motivate the Corinthians, hey, look at what these people are doing. Look what God's doing in their life. God could do this in your life. He's trying to encourage them to do this. They gave themselves all they had to the Lord and they wanted to use whatever they had for his purposes. That should encourage us to see that kind of commitment from people living in those kinds of conditions.
This is a sign of a true disciple. Someone who gives like this, in Luke chapter 14, Jesus puts it like this as he talks about the commitment and what it means to be one of his disciples. And Luke 14:33, he says, “So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple.” Renounce all you have. That doesn't mean you give it all away. That doesn't mean you walk away from it. It means that you transfer it all over to the Lord. Lord, I belong to you, and everything I own belongs to you, it's all yours. I give it all to you. Unless you're willing to transfer it all to him, Jesus says, “you can't be my disciple.” And see, there might be some people wanting to hold some things back for themselves. You need to think about what Jesus is saying here. He say, no, you need to turn it all over to me, and then see yourself as a steward, as a manager. And you're going to use it in the ways in which I want it used. Here, from now on, I'm calling the financial shots in your life. That's what it means to be a follower, a disciple of Jesus Christ, that I'm all in with him. You know, there are a lot of people right in the fence. They’ve got one foot in with Christ and one foot in the world. And it's got to be the worst place in the world to be. Because you can't really enjoy Christ, because you know, you're not all in with him. He can't really enjoy the world because you know, there are things you shouldn't be doing. It's a terrible place to be. But that's where a lot of people live. Jesus is saying, you need to renounce everything; you've got follow me.
And that's currently what the people in Philippi we're doing, which is also a sign of a regenerated heart, a born again heart. This is what the born again person wants to do. In Luke chapter 19, we read the account of Jesus and Zacchaeus. You might remember that account. Zacchaeus, he was a tax collector, so he was a Jewish man who collected taxes for the Romans. So that made him not very popular with the Jewish people. In fact, he would have been considered a traitor; people hated Zacchaeus. And you might remember the account of him because you know the song, he was a wee little man, and he climbed up into a sycamore tree for the Lord. He wanted to see right. Guys, remember this at nine o'clock on Sunday morning, you guys out there, okay, here we go. And the Lord called him down out of the tree and went home with Zacchaeus, which shocked everybody. Zacchaeus is like the least likely guy in Jericho to get saved, the least likely guy that the Lord would want to spend time with, but as Zacchaeus got saved that day, and here's what it says in Luke 19:8 says, “And Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, ‘Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor. And if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I restore it fourfold.’” Which is kind of an understatement, because who hadn't he defrauded? If I have defrauded anyone of anything, I restore it fourfold; the law required twofold. He says I'm doubling up for four. That's the mark of a regenerated heart. And Jesus says, “Today salvation has come to this house.” And this is the evidence of it. The generosity, the giving of the Philippians. What we're saying is that the Philippians are demonstrating what a mature church looks like. And even the way they got the gift to Paul in Romans, he was on a short trip from Philippi to Rome, and you're not jumping on a plane and fly in there in a few hours. Who knows how Epaphroditus had to get there, who delivered the gift to him. But we're told something about Epaphroditus back in Philippians chapter 2. Take a look at this with me. Philippians 2, starting in verse 25, where the Apostle Paul talks about this man Epaphroditus, the man who brought the gift to him from Philippi. He says, “I have thought it necessary to send to you Epaphroditus my brother and fellow worker and fellow soldier, and your messenger and minister to my need.” What a string of titles. That is for verse 26. “He has been longing for you all, and has been distressed because you heard that he was ill.” So, the Philippians are distressed because they heard that Epaphroditus is sick, Epaphroditus is distressed because they're distressed. What a heart this guy has. And he says in Philippians 2:27-29, “Indeed he was ill, near to death. But God had mercy on him, and not only on him but on me also, lest I should have sorrow upon sorrow.” So, he says, “I am the more eager to send him, therefore, that you may rejoice at seeing him again, and that I may be less anxious. So receive him in the Lord with all joy, and honor such men.” Well, why honor Him? Verse 34, he nearly died for the work of Christ, risking his life to complete what was lacking in your service to me. He nearly died getting this gift to the Apostle Paul. Now that could be a reference to the illness that he suffered. Or it could be, it's a dangerous trip to go from Philippi to Rome, carrying a lot of money with you. And he may have encountered people who want to rob him of that money. Who knows what he might have gone through? It says that he risked his life. Literally, he rolled the dice on his life in order to get this gift to Paul. That's just another evidence of the sacrificial nature, we've got to do this, Paul, don't stop us, we're begging you. And we'll send Epaphroditus, who will risk his life to get this to you.
See, this is the kind of mentality, this kind of heart that we have to have, if we're going to really be investing in the Bank of Heaven. I think this might be a good time just to pull the car over and listen to what Jesus says about this issue, and to realize how serious it is. I had lots of conversations with people in the bank about their money and their investments; those were serious conversations, we're talking about their money. This is something that they took very seriously. Well, Jesus takes this very seriously too. Let me just read you some verses that indicate that. Matthew 6:24, we read this earlier in Luke, but I want to read it again. “No one can serve two masters. for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.” Can't be done. People might try to, but it just cannot be done. And Matthew 16:26 offers a penetrating question, says for “what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul?” Or what shall a man give in return for his soul? Those are rhetorical questions with an obvious answer. What is it profit a man gained the whole world and lose the soul. It profits him nothing. In fact, it's a great big loss. That's how serious Jesus takes it.
In Matthew 19, we have the encounter of the rich young man who comes to Jesus. And Jesus says, you know, after the man assures him that he's been a good law-abiding person, and he wants to go to heaven. Jesus says, Okay, this is what you’ve got to do. You’ve got to sell everything you own and give it to the poor. And I'll give you treasures in heaven. And follow me. Which, by the way, is a good deal. So, you're telling me, if I sell everything I own and give it away, you're going to give me treasures in heaven; I'll take that. But you know that the fact that this guy didn't do it, because he didn't want to give up everything he owned. And so, Jesus said to his disciples in Matthew 19:23-24, “Truly, I say to you, only with difficulty will a rich person enter the kingdom of heaven. 24 Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.” Yeah, because they're going to have to give some things up, and they might not want to do that.
And then one last example. It would be Luke 12:13-15. We read, “Someone in the crowd said to him, ‘Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.’ But he said to him, ‘Man, who made me a judge or arbitrator over you?’ And he said to them, ‘Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.’” But that should be on the headlines of the Orange County Register right there. Your life does not consist in the abundance of your possessions. And then in Luke 12:16-20. And he told them a parable, saying, “The land of a rich man produced plentifully, and he thought to himself, ‘What shall I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops?’ And he said, ‘I will do this: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink,” play golf buddy, or something like that. “But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’” The answer to that is not yours. So, Luke 12:21, “So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.”
These are serious things. You know, Jesus spoke more about money and possessions than heaven and hell combined. And that's because the choice is not between the ultimate, choice is not between heaven and hell. The ultimate choice is between heaven and this world. A lot of people are thinking, yeah, heaven and hell, I want to go to heaven. Well, how about if it's heaven and this world? That's a different issue. And my experience, fourteen years of banking, almost thirty-three years of pastoring, what you think about money and possessions, of what you do with them, may be the very best indicator of where you are really at with the Lord. It's a great indicator for the Philippians. And Paul was greatly encouraged by them. We should want to follow their example. They gave his gospel partners they gave with every opportunity they gave sacrificially.
And there's one more characteristic going back to Philippians chapter 4, one more characteristic of their investment in the Bank of Heaven. And it's important to note this and to notice that Paul is commending them for this in verse 18. He says, “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.” So, here's the fourth principle: “Give as an act of worship.” Give as an act of worship. Here, Paul uses Old Testament sacrifice language. He's talking about a sweet-smelling fragrant sacrifice. And this is one that pleases God. That's the way it's spoken of all through the Old Testament, it talks about the sacrifices that were acceptable to God. And if you did it this way, it would be a sweet-smelling aroma to God. No, this is worship, that giving is an act of worship. And it's high praise. There's no higher praise to be told that you did something that pleases God. I mean, to think that we could do anything that would be pleasing to God is an amazing thing. But here, we're told that what they did the offering that they presented was pleasing to God. This wasn't just an act of sympathy on their part where they felt bad for Paul, hey, guys, he's in prison, let's send him some money. Let's help them out. That wasn't what it was all about. For them this was a genuine offering presented to God as an act of worship and for his glory. This is an act of spiritual worship. We want our giving to be pleasing to God. And I would hope that we do want our giving to be pleasing to God, then we must give as gospel partners, we must give it every opportunity. Must give sacrificially. We must give us an act of true worship, not just out of religious duty, and not like the Pharisees, but for people from people who really love the Lord and want to give to him. This is what it is to lay up treasure in the Bank of Heaven.
And just to read you a couple more verses from the Lord Jesus. This is from the Sermon on the Mount. Matthew 6: 19-21 says, “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust[a] destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” You know, for a long time, I read that last verse, verse 21, and thought that sounds backwards. I would think it's wherever my heart is, that's where I'm putting my treasure. But Jesus notes, wherever your treasure is, that's where your heart is. So, people who want to say my heart is with the Lord, but they really got their treasuries on Earth. They're confused.
This is what it is to invest in the Bank of Heaven. You might say, these are pretty strict requirements. Yeah, banks have strict requirements for deposits and investments. But these are strict requirements. But you can do it with confidence because of the promises that God gives to those who truly invest with him. And that takes us back to Philippians 4, and to the verse you're probably most familiar with, verse 19, which is, “And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.
So, here's point two. If the first one is to “invest in the Bank of Heaven,” the second one is to “trust in divine interest.” We're investing in this because we know the return that we're going to get on our investment. Giving to God pays dividends. We saw in verse 17, it says, giving to the Bank of Heaven accrues interest to your account. That is taught all throughout the Scripture. Just to read you a couple of references to that, just to show you that this isn't something out of the blue here in in Philippians 4, but way back in Proverbs 11:24, it says, “One gives freely, yet grows all the richer; another withholds what he should give, and only suffers want.” The one who gives freely grows richer, actors are experiencing that spiritual profit that comes in Proverbs 19:17. Because another similar statement, it says, “Whoever is generous to the poor lends to the Lord, and he will repay him for his deed.” There's a statement from God as to what he will do. And again, in 2 Corinthians in that section where Paul is talking to the Corinthians, encouraging them in their giving, he says this in 2 Corinthians 9:5, he says, “God loves a cheerful giver.” And then it says this in verse 6, the point is this, “whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.” God gives interest. He repays with interest to those who truly invest with him. And here's a statement, I love this in 1 Timothy 6:17-19, which says, “As for the rich in this present age, charge them not to be haughty, nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy. They are to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, thus storing up treasure for themselves as a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is truly life so that they may take hold of that which is truly life.” You want to experience the fullness of the abundant life that Christ comes to give? You want to lay up a treasure as a foundation for the future. This is in instruction on how to do that, because God recognizes that. And God responds to that. Now, Philippians 4:19 makes a powerful statement. And I want to just take some time here and unpack it. This is the exciting part. Okay, I know you might be feeling it a little bit from the previous verses, this is the exciting part. This is the part that gets you really worked up and happy. I want you to notice that the verse starts with the word “supply”. And you notice that I hate to be like a grammar nerd at this point. But that's an important word that is telling us of what he says here in verse 19, is connected to what he just said in verses 14 through 18. This is a promise that's connected to what he's already commended in the previous verses. This isn't a stand-alone verse that you can just pull out and apply to any situation. This is God's promise to people like the Philippians. There's the connection right there. And there's a further connection made. You see the word supplied in verse 18 and verse 19, is going to talk about supplying. There's a definite connection going on here with this verse and the previous verses and then look at what he says. Let's just go basically word by word, he says and my God. This is Paul giving his testimony here, in a sense, just as God had supplied for him through the Philippians, so God will provide for the Philippians. And his provision, it's always perfect, always perfect in terms of when it comes, how it comes, how much comes. That's God's nature to provide for his children.
You might remember in Matthew 7:9, the question was, Jesus said, “If a son asks his father for a loaf of bread, Father's not going to give him a stone.” Father loves his children, and he wants to give good things to them. That's what we're talking about. My God is going to do something here. And we can trust him. It says, my God will supply. You’ve got to love the wills and the shells in the Bible, because they're talking about statements of things God will do, you can count on this. He will supply. Not maybe, not perhaps, not we'll see, who knows? No, he will supply. We're not told how he's going to supply but we are promised that he will provide. And the word “supply” we've kind of talked about this, just to think about what that means. It means to fill to the full where there's nothing lacking. God will supply our need can never exceed his supply. I mean, this is a statement of fact, here, my God will supply. Spurgeon said, if this God will supply, you will be supplied. You can count on it.
Psalm 23:1 let's do this interactive thing again, The Lord is my shepherd. Sounds like he will supply right, because I shall not want; he will supply for every one of my needs. And Psalm 34:9 says, “Oh, fear the Lord, you his saints, for those who fear him have no lack!” There's no hesitancy on God's part, to supply what his people need. And in fact, it says that He will supply every need every need. That's all your needs. Not some, not few, not most. This is God's guarantee that he will do this. He meets our needs, but not our greed. You know the verse in James says, you asked me you don't receive because you asked for to spend it on your own desires. He's not into fulfilling all of your desires. He's not into fulfilling all your wants, but he does promise to meet your needs. He’ll meet the needs of the moment. And he knows best what that need might be. And so, it's important to think about that, because I think that a lot of the time our giving is hindered by the belief that our security really depends on our money. Better to trust God for your deeds than your money, which can disappear overnight. Better to trust God. Matthew 6:33 says, “Seek first His kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things,” all the things you need, “they'll be added to you.” They will be added to you. That is a true statement. You say of course it's true, it's in the Bible. Yeah, it's it isn't the Bible. And of course, it's a true statement. Jesus said it. Yeah, yeah, that's true. But I can say, based on all these years of walking with the Lord, I know it's true, because he has never let me down. I've let him down plenty of times; he has never disappointed me. Better to trust him than your money.
And here's where it gets really exciting. He will supply every need of yours according to his riches. That's an important statement there. He supplies according to, he supplies by the measure or standard of his riches, not just out of his riches. He gives in proportion to his riches. He gives in a way that is representative of his riches. And to me that's an amazing statement. Because if you think about what that is saying, you know, a billionaire could give you twenty-five cents out of his riches, but if he gave according to his riches, he might give you $25,000. That would be a gift proportionate to the man's wealth. Well how rich is God? How rich? Way rich! He has infinite riches. And he's not trying to be cheap with his children. He supplies, which means he gives all that we need, and more. And again, in that passage in 2 Corinthians 9 where Paul's talking to them, encouraging them to think about their giving, he says this in 2 Corinthians 9:8, this is a verse you want to have highlighted, underlined, starred, memorized, this is the verse you want to remember. It says, “And God is able,” and this listen to how many times there's an all in here, “And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work.” Or you set your heart on serving the Lord, he's going to provide what you need to do that. He has unlimited financial resources. So, we can say this. And this is an old truism that God's work done, God's way, for God's glory will never lack God's provision. If we're committed to doing God's work, and we're committed to doing it his way, not just any way we want to do it, but we're committed to doing the work the way he says to do it, and we're doing it for the right reason, for his glory, you can count on him providing.
The Philippians provided for Paul out of their poverty, God will provide for them out of his riches, according to his riches. And the key to really trusting this promise is found in the security of God's riches, which is found in the location of it, because its core to his riches, which are in glory in Christ Jesus. Glory is a word that we often associate with heaven. Everything about heaven reflects God's glory. We refer to it as a place of glory. We talked about people dying, and they've entered into glory, they've gone to heaven. These riches are in heaven, it's the Bank of Heaven. They're safe. These riches are safe from recession. They never lose their value. There are no thieves or moss or rust that can get at them. And beyond that, not only are they in glory, now he is at the Bank of Heaven. They are in Christ Jesus. He's like the manager of this bank. All the riches of heaven are at the disposal of God's son to distribute to his church. All the riches are under his administration. And here's the good news. He loves his church. He loves his church; he's got all the riches of heaven, there in glory. And he's free to distribute that to the church which he loves. That's an exciting promise, given to people who were faithful to give, that's something you can trust in. God's have been faithful to meet our needs here at Compass HB from his riches. Amen. Yeah, he's been very faithful to us. We don't want to ever take that for granted. We don't want to ever presume on his riches. We must invest as he's instructed us in verses 14 through 18. And we can trust that he will provide. He will provide.
You know, the bank that I worked for, they would periodically come up with these little marketing catchphrases, you know, that you would hear on the commercials and see them on billboards. And I'm pretty convinced that the people in our marketing department lived in a cave somewhere; they didn't ever talk to like real people. Because some of the these things that they came up with, they were not very helpful. Like, I remember one time they came up with the little slogan that said, “We're your bank for life.” No, before that, even they said, “We're the bank you don't have to think about.” In other words, just bring all your stuff to us, we'll take care of it. You don't need to think about it anymore. Yeah. I can't tell you how many customers I had told me, I'm thinking about you. Thank you. Appreciate that. And then the one that was maybe my favorite was your bank for life. In other words, bring all your stuff to us. We'll take care of you for the rest of your life. That was big. They made a big deal out of this. They even had golf towels with that slogan on there, “We’re your bank for life.” I still have that towel on my golf bag. And they're not my bank for life because that bank doesn't exist anymore. So, their golf towel is just a reminder of me, don't put your trust in men. Put your trust in God. The Bank of heaven has this over its doorway, verse 22, “our God and Father be glory, forever and ever. Amen.” We'll be your bank for eternity. And you can count on that. Ultimately, it's all about God's glory. We glorify him. He gives to us so that he receives the glory. It's all about God's glory. And because of how good God has been to us, we wanted to take a special yearend offering as an act of worship, as an expression of our thanks to him, and as an expression of our commitment to advancing the gospel to the glory of God as we launch into the new year. And so, we're going to take an offering now. And if you're here visiting with us today, we don't want you to feel obligated to give to this. That's not what this is about. This is for those of us who consider this our church family, this is an opportunity for us to give as an act of worship to the Lord and how good he's been to us. And so, the pastors are going to come forward this time though. The music team is going to come up, and I'm going to pray and then they're going to take the offering. And we'll sing a couple songs. Let's pray together.
Father, we are thankful for the instruction of your word, clear instruction, seen through the example of the Philippians of what it means to really invest in the Bank of Heaven, and great encouragement to do that. What an encouragement the Philippians are to us, to see their willingness, their commitment, their desire to see the gospel advanced and to see your name glorified. And they will or what great promises they received from you, that you would meet all of their needs. Are we know that we can live in that same promise as we give faithfully to you. And so, Lord, as we give now we want to give just simply because we're thankful for all that you have done. And because we want to see this message of the gospel continue to spread far and wide, as far as it can. We want to be involved in that, we want to partner in advancing the gospel. So, Lord, we pray that you'll take this offering and that through it all, your name will be glorified, for we pray in Jesus’ name, Amen.