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Don-t-Forget-to-Have-Fun-as-You-Grow-Up · INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living

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  Speaker 1: Everyone wants to grow up. In children's literature, no one
• 0:04
  Speaker 1: longed to grow up more than Pinocchio, that little wooden puppet.
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  Speaker 1: Most of us are familiar with Disney's version of Pinocchio,
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  Speaker 1: but you may not even know the original author, a
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  Speaker 1: man named Carlo Khalady. In his classic story, Pinocchio doesn't
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  Speaker 1: just want to be a real human boy, he also
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  Speaker 1: wants to grow into a mature man. His journey from
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  Speaker 1: a lazy, selfish, and lying marionette to a flesh and
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  Speaker 1: blood boy is fraught with all kinds of dangerous consequences,
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  Speaker 1: having a nose that grows, being transformed into a donkey,
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  Speaker 1: and even being swallowed by a shark. By the way,
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  Speaker 1: it wasn't a whale as in the Disney movie. And
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  Speaker 1: though Pinocchio makes a wish to be real, he doesn't
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  Speaker 1: realize that becoming truly human entails more than transforming wooden
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  Speaker 1: joints into flesh. His wooden and childish will must be
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  Speaker 1: whittled into a selfless, industrious, and truthful heart and mind.
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  Speaker 1: And when this happens, and thankfully it does, Pinocchio becomes
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  Speaker 1: a real boy, well on his way to maturity. Much
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  Speaker 1: like Pinocchio needed to learn what it took to become
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  Speaker 1: a real human being. We who are already flesh and blood,
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  Speaker 1: have the same task before us. Becoming real women and
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  Speaker 1: men of Christ does not imply growing old, but growing up,
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  Speaker 1: allowing God to whittle our lives into an image that
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  Speaker 1: resembles Christ. With that illustration in mind, we are ready
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  Speaker 1: to turn in our bibles to Philippians Chapter four. I
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  Speaker 1: want to read for you verses ten through nineteen. So
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  Speaker 1: find your bible and turn with me to chapter four
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  Speaker 1: of Philippians, beginning at verse ten. But I rejoiced in
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  Speaker 1: the Lord greatly that now at last you have revived
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  Speaker 1: your concern for me. Indeed, you were concerned before, but
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  Speaker 1: you lacked opportunity. Not that I speak from want, For
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  Speaker 1: I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am.
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  Speaker 1: I know how to get along with humble means, and
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  Speaker 1: I also know how to live in prosperity in any
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  Speaker 1: and every circumstance. I have learned the secret of being
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  Speaker 1: filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need.
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  Speaker 1: I can do all things through Him who strengthens me. Nevertheless,
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  Speaker 1: you have done well to share with me and my affliction.
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  Speaker 1: You yourselves also know Philippians, that at the first preaching
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  Speaker 1: of the Gospel after I left Macedonia, no church shared
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  Speaker 1: with me in the matter of giving and receiving, but
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  Speaker 1: you alone, For even in Thessalonaika, you sent a gift
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  Speaker 1: more than once for my needs. Not that I seek
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  Speaker 1: the gift itself, but I seek for the profit, which
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  Speaker 1: increases to your account. But I have received everything in
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  Speaker 1: full and have an abundance. I am amply supplied, having
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  Speaker 1: received from epaphroditis what you have sent of fragrant aroma
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  Speaker 1: an acceptable sacrifice, well pleasing to God. And My God
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  Speaker 1: will supply all your needs according to His riches in
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  Speaker 1: glory in Christ Jesus. It's been a while since we've
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  Speaker 1: been together, and I have a question to ask you.
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  Speaker 1: How are you coming along with your anxiety addiction? Oh
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  Speaker 1: some of you have already forgotten huh oh. Or maybe
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  Speaker 1: you're doing better. That's great. I think this was a
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  Speaker 1: better time for me now that I have declared the
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  Speaker 1: simple statement out of the middle of Philippians four. Worry
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  Speaker 1: about nothing, pray about everything. You know. I think the
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  Speaker 1: latter part of that is easier than the first part.
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  Speaker 1: I think it's a little easier to say I'm praying
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  Speaker 1: about it than to admit I've stopped worrying about it. Somehow,
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  Speaker 1: they seem to sort of fit together, or at least
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  Speaker 1: they have for a long long time of our lives.
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  Speaker 1: May be somewhere between the cracks that thought of not
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  Speaker 1: worrying has gotten lost between. I'd like to change, and
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  Speaker 1: I just don't think I have it in me. I
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  Speaker 1: just don't think I can pull it off now without
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  Speaker 1: desiring to insult anyone. If that is your excuse. The
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  Speaker 1: simple fact is you're showing your immaturity. I'm showing mine.
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  Speaker 1: In fact, the longer I live, the more I realize
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  Speaker 1: the battling life is not with age but with maturity.
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  Speaker 1: It's not growing old. We're sort of involuntary victims of that.
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  Speaker 1: We don't have a choice. It's growing up, isn't it.
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  Speaker 1: That's a challenge. We have nothing we can do to
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  Speaker 1: stop the passing of time. Jesus said, who of you,
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  Speaker 1: by worrying can add one inch to your stature or
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  Speaker 1: to your height? He could just as easily have said,
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  Speaker 1: who of you, by worrying can subtract one day from
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  Speaker 1: your age? You can't so worrying doesn't in any way
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  Speaker 1: affect age. Age is a matter of fact. Maturity is
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  Speaker 1: a matter of choice. It's a matter of choice. I
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  Speaker 1: kind of like the words of the venerable Old Baseball
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  Speaker 1: of alumnus Satchel Page. He asked the real question when
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  Speaker 1: he asked, how old would you be if you didn't
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  Speaker 1: know how old you are? Isn't that a great question?
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  Speaker 1: Some people are old when they're eleven, and some people
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  Speaker 1: are vibrant and full of zeal and diligence in their seventies,
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  Speaker 1: in their eighties. We're not talking about age is the
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  Speaker 1: battle worth worrying over. We're talking about attitude. Attitude. Charles
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  Speaker 1: Schultz scored again when in his Peanuts cartoon, he portrayed
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  Speaker 1: Lucy to Schroeder at his keyboard. She said, I dread
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  Speaker 1: getting old. Will you love me when I'm old and crabby?
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  Speaker 1: Schroeder responded, you don't have to be crabby, you know.
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  Speaker 2: I know that.
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  Speaker 1: She answered back, but it's hard to change, he said,
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  Speaker 1: not if you change gradually, Lucy, you could be nice
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  Speaker 1: in the morning and crabby in the afternoon, to which
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  Speaker 1: she responded, but I'd still be old all day. That's true.
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  Speaker 1: That's true. Old. But it's a choice of whether you
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  Speaker 1: want to be crabby old, But it's a choice of
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  Speaker 1: whether you want to be mature, isn't it? Scripture is
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  Speaker 1: replete with commands to grow up. You know that very
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  Speaker 1: little in comparison said about aging, but a lot about attitude,
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  Speaker 1: a lot about growing up. For example, we are no
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  Speaker 1: longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves,
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  Speaker 1: and carried about by every wind of doctrine. But we
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  Speaker 1: are to grow up in all aspects unto him who
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  Speaker 1: is the head, even Christ Ephision's four fourteen and fifty.
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  Speaker 1: Here's another one, like newborn babes, long for the pure
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  Speaker 1: milk of the word, that you may buy it grow
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  Speaker 1: first Peter two, verse two. And another one that may
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  Speaker 1: be the best of the bunch is Hebrews five, the
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  Speaker 1: end of the chapter. In the beginning of chapter six,
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  Speaker 1: solid food is for the mature, who, because of practice,
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  Speaker 1: have their senses trained to discern good and evil. Therefore,
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  Speaker 1: leaving the elementary teaching, let us press on to maturity.
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  Speaker 1: Isn't that great? Let's grow up. Let's leave the ABC's
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  Speaker 1: the let's leave the little building blocks of childishness. Let's
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  Speaker 1: take responsibility for our actions. Let's discern evil before it's obvious.
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  Speaker 1: Let's let's act like life really isn't as it is.
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  Speaker 1: Let's let our attitudes soar though our circumstances may lag.
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  Speaker 1: What is maturity? That's a tough thing to get your
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  Speaker 1: arms around, kind of like hugging shamou. You know you
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  Speaker 1: can only get a part of it, and and so,
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  Speaker 1: at the risk of too being too general, let me
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  Speaker 1: take a bite here and there and see if I
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  Speaker 1: can help us understand what maturity is. I've written some thoughts.
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  Speaker 1: It is consistently moving toward being developed. It is living
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  Speaker 1: one's life relatively free of adolescent behavior. That is, being
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  Speaker 1: responsible for one's own actions and motives. Speaking on this
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  Speaker 1: recently and ahead of man hand me his own definition,
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  Speaker 1: which really isn't bad. Maturity is a developed and discerning
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  Speaker 1: competence as to how to live appropriately and how to
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  Speaker 1: change rightly? Is not good? How to live appropriately and
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  Speaker 1: how to change rightly? Well? How has it expressed? How
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  Speaker 1: do I know when I'm around a mature person? What
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  Speaker 1: are some levels that I can gauge in my own
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  Speaker 1: life that tell me I'm growing up, not just growing older? Well,
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  Speaker 1: here are few. When our concern for others outweighs our
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  Speaker 1: concern for ourselves, we're maturing. Kind of do your own
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  Speaker 1: little checklist. Okay, here's another. When the presence of danger
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  Speaker 1: and evil is felt before it's obvious. Another when there's
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  Speaker 1: more than knowledge, there's wisdom. When there's more than strength,
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  Speaker 1: there's stability. When there is more than high ideals, there
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  Speaker 1: is the discipline to carry them out. When there is
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  Speaker 1: not only an understanding of the tasks of life, but
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  Speaker 1: a willingness to share the responsibility of those tasks, And
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  Speaker 1: the list goes on and on. Somebody wrote it this way.
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  Speaker 1: He listed four things. Maturity is the ability to do
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  Speaker 1: a job, whether you're supervised or not, to finish a
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  Speaker 1: job once it started, to carry money without spending it,
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  Speaker 1: And last, but not least, the ability to bear an
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  Speaker 1: injustice without wanting to get even. I figure three out
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  Speaker 1: of four ain't bad. If you're doing pretty good with
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  Speaker 1: three out of those four, if you're on your way
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  Speaker 1: to all four, you're on your way to maturity. We
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  Speaker 1: never arrive, we'll never attain at all. Life is continued
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  Speaker 1: eating away at those things. Building stare steps toward the
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  Speaker 1: ultimate goal of being what we ought to be. I'd
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  Speaker 1: state one more, being willing to change once I'm convinced
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  Speaker 1: that correction is in order. I find that as we
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  Speaker 1: get older, folks, we get a little more rigid, get
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  Speaker 1: a little more brittle, a little more defensive. Worry about nothing,
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  Speaker 1: pray about everything. That is the same as we've stated
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  Speaker 1: it earlier. That still works even when it comes to aging. Now,
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  Speaker 1: what is interesting to me when you turn with me
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  Speaker 1: now to Philippians four for another study, if you will,
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  Speaker 1: In this wonderful chapter, we're working our way rapidly toward
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  Speaker 1: the end of the book. When you come back to
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  Speaker 1: this scene, you have to remember, Paul is two years
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  Speaker 1: before death. He's in his sixties. If my figuring is correct,
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  Speaker 1: he's in his mid sixties. Now. That may old to
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  Speaker 1: some of you, and it may seem young to others,
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  Speaker 1: But the point is he's near the end of his life,
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  Speaker 1: and the man is modeling a wonderful maturity. In fact,
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  Speaker 1: his opening words in verse ten of chapter four are
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  Speaker 1: the words that have formed the recurring theme of the book.
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  Speaker 1: I rejoiced, He's back at it again. He's still laughing
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  Speaker 1: at life. He's still enjoying the challenge of living. He's
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  Speaker 1: not wrapped up in the frozen tundra of pessimism. He's
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  Speaker 1: not immobilized by negativism. As a matter of fact, if
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  Speaker 1: I read these ten through thirteen verses correctly, I can
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  Speaker 1: pick out four characteristics of the man maturity. The first
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  Speaker 1: one I see in verse ten. He is affirming. He
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  Speaker 1: is affirming. He says, I rejoice in the Lord greatly
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  Speaker 1: that now, at last, you have revived your concern for me. Indeed,
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  Speaker 1: you were concerned before, but you lacked opportunity. I think
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  Speaker 1: Paul reflects the opposite experience of most people. Most of
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  Speaker 1: us have opportunities, but we lack concern. The apostle says,
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  Speaker 1: of the Philippians, you were concerned, but you lacked an
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  Speaker 1: opportunity to meet my needs. Isn't that affirming? He isn't
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  Speaker 1: present among them, He hasn't been for years, and yet
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  Speaker 1: even though they have been separated by time and by distance,
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  Speaker 1: he speaks affirmingly of them. He says, you have revived
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  Speaker 1: your concern for me, and I knew you still were
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  Speaker 1: concerned for me when we didn't see each other face
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  Speaker 1: to face. Isn't it easy absent from other people to
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  Speaker 1: think they think the worst of us, Whereas a mature
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  Speaker 1: person affirms other people says, I know you've been thinking
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  Speaker 1: about it. I know you still believe in me even
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  Speaker 1: when you don't hear from me. And the implication is,
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  Speaker 1: I want to thank you. He's affirming. Second, he's contented
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  Speaker 1: verse eleven. Not that I speak from want, for I
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  Speaker 1: have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am. Well,
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  Speaker 1: there aren't many people that say that Paul's one of them.
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  Speaker 1: Doesn't matter, doesn't matter. The temperature of the weather, doesn't matter,
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  Speaker 1: the depth of the ocean, doesn't matter, whether it's stormy
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  Speaker 1: or sunny, doesn't really matter whether I'm liked or disliked.
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  Speaker 1: I've learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am.
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  Speaker 1: Many people are thermometers. A few people are thermostats. Paul's
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  Speaker 1: a thermostat. A thermometer does nothing more than register surrounding situation,
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  Speaker 1: and does so in red states. What is a thermostat?
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  Speaker 1: Regulates the surroundings It's set, and that's the way things are.
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  Speaker 1: I love this about the apostle. Some of you read
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  Speaker 1: these words verse eleven and say, I'd love to have
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  Speaker 1: the gift of contentment. But it's not a gift, it's
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  Speaker 1: a learned skill. I have learned to be content. I
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  Speaker 1: don't know if you paid attention to the words of
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  Speaker 1: the prisoners of war as they described coming out of
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  Speaker 1: the war their feelings. Several of them made a very
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  Speaker 1: mature statement. They said, we learned after a few hours
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  Speaker 1: what it took to survive, and we just adapted to that.
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  Speaker 1: That's contentment. We didn't eat our heart out because we
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  Speaker 1: weren't free. We didn't sit around whining and complaining in
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  Speaker 1: solitary confinement because our plane was shot down or they
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  Speaker 1: captured us. We decided this is the plan and we'll
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  Speaker 1: go with it. Contentment doesn't mean I don't care what happens.
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  Speaker 1: Contentment is a sense of self sufficiency. I'm at peace
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  Speaker 1: in Christ's sufficiency, knowing that Jesus Christ is on the throne,
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  Speaker 1: and knowing that I'm not out of his control. I'm
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  Speaker 1: satisfied to be where I am. When I was a kid,
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  Speaker 1: they used to advertise contentment by picturing cows in the
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  Speaker 1: Carnation Milk company. You remember that they called them contented cows.
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  Speaker 1: Old boss who was standing there swishing her tail, big
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  Speaker 1: utters eyes at half mass ears flopping almost like she's
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  Speaker 1: ready to fall over. And it's said, our cows are contented.
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  Speaker 1: We got all the milk from these calm, contented cows.
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  Speaker 1: The Apostle is a contented man, if you please, He's
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  Speaker 1: not intense. His day doesn't begin with the rising of
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  Speaker 1: the sun and the rehearsal of a list of worries.
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  Speaker 1: His day begins with the reminder, good morning, Lord, you
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  Speaker 1: are in control of these hours that I'm about to
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  Speaker 1: live in my conscious surroundings. Be honored. I have learned
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  Speaker 1: how to do that, says the Apostle. And it takes time.
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  Speaker 1: It takes a few years, it takes losing, takes some
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  Speaker 1: discovery of some techniques that work. You know that he's
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  Speaker 1: affirming he's contented. Third, he's flexible verse twelve. That's part
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  Speaker 1: of the reason he's contented. Now look carefully at this
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  Speaker 1: twelfth verse. I know you've read it, Christian friend of mine,
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  Speaker 1: I know you've read it a lot, But please pay
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  Speaker 1: attention to the extremes. I know how to get along
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  Speaker 1: with humble means, and I also know how to live
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  Speaker 1: in prosperity in any and every circumstance. That's the extreme.
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  Speaker 1: Folks in any and every circumstance. I have learned, he
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  Speaker 1: says it again. I've learned the secret of being filled,
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  Speaker 1: and I've learned how to go hungry without whining and grumbling.
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  Speaker 1: Both of having abundance and of suffering need. We would
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  Speaker 1: say today he has flex he knew how to handle it.
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  Speaker 1: It's great to be around people like this. He was
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  Speaker 1: not uncomfortable in the penthouse, nor did he grumble under
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  Speaker 1: spartan conditions. Can you say that? Let me tell you
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  Speaker 1: something about yourself that you don't think. I know. It's
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  Speaker 1: true of most, especially those in the family of God.
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  Speaker 1: You're more comfortable with less than more. How many Christians
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  Speaker 1: do you know who are really comfortable in great affluence?
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  Speaker 1: Some of you are thinking, try me, try it. I
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  Speaker 1: show you. But how often we feel the need to
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  Speaker 1: apologize when things are real good, or when you can
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  Speaker 1: afford to buy a new car every year, or when
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  Speaker 1: you have some of the finer things of life. We
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  Speaker 1: act as though we need to be ashamed of it,
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  Speaker 1: or to keep it a secret so nobody will find
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  Speaker 1: out lest they think the wrong thing about us. Shame, shame,
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  Speaker 1: shame on those who have much. Where did we get
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  Speaker 1: that idea? The apostle says, I know how to live
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  Speaker 1: in prosperity, and I know how to suffer loss. Flex flexibility,
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  Speaker 1: it's a mark of maturity, and don't take one without
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  Speaker 1: the other. Those extremes are all part of the spectrum
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  Speaker 1: of the Christian life. The mark of immaturity is a
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  Speaker 1: lack of balance, is an inability to flex when things
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  Speaker 1: are tough or when things are great. Furthermore, he's confident
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  Speaker 1: I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.
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  Speaker 1: I mentioned earlier that Paul was self sufficient. This is
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  Speaker 1: a better way to put it. He was Christ sufficient.
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  Speaker 1: Here's what he meant. I can do all things because
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  Speaker 1: of Him who keeps on pouring his power into me.
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  Speaker 1: I meet him in the morning, he walks with me
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  Speaker 1: during the day. I counseled with him on a regular basis.
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  Speaker 1: Living Bible says, I can do what everything God asks
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  Speaker 1: me to do with the help of Christ, who gives
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  Speaker 1: me the strength and power, and I don't think. All
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  Speaker 1: through the day. He kept reminding people that he was
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  Speaker 1: doing that because Christ gave him the strength. It wasn't
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  Speaker 1: a phony piety. He just lived his life through the
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  Speaker 1: strength of Christ. This is what he encountered. That is
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  Speaker 1: what he accepted. That is what he encountered, And this
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  Speaker 1: is what he accepted. Wonderful, affirming, contented, confident living. This
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  Speaker 1: is the absolute secret of confidence verse thirteen. Look at
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  Speaker 1: it again. Leave out the word him, and substitute the
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  Speaker 1: truth if you're that honest. In case it isn't, Christ,
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  Speaker 1: I can do all things through drugs. I can do
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  Speaker 1: all things through the right contacts. I can do all
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  Speaker 1: things when I have the job I want. I can
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  Speaker 1: do all things through money. I can do all things
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  Speaker 1: through good health. I can do all things with that
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  Speaker 1: final degree. Once I get that educate that that education,
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  Speaker 1: I can do it all wrong. None of those things
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  Speaker 1: pour power into you. Only Christ fits that spot. Doesn't
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  Speaker 1: mean we don't need others either. That's that's a that's
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  Speaker 1: a misapplied the truth. We don't live independent, invincible lives,
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  Speaker 1: never needing anyone else. On the contrary, the passage goes
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  Speaker 1: on to show how he links himself with the Philippians.
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  Speaker 1: He needed some things they could provide. He was out
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  Speaker 1: there in the on the in the trenches, on the
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  Speaker 1: forefront of battle, and the Philippians stayed for the stuff
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  Speaker 1: and supplied the supply line was there. He's a realist.
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  Speaker 1: Let me show you you have done well to share
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  Speaker 1: with me and my affliction. You yourselves know Philippians that
• 25:12
  Speaker 1: at the first preaching of the Gospel after I departed
• 25:15
  Speaker 1: from Macedonia, no church shared with me in the matter
• 25:18
  Speaker 1: of giving and receiving, but you alone. That's quite a statement.
• 25:23
  Speaker 1: He left the Philippians after a period of time, and
• 25:28
  Speaker 1: they stayed compassionate. Let's list this for them personal compassion
• 25:34
  Speaker 1: verses fourteen and fifteen. You've done well to share with me,
• 25:38
  Speaker 1: they spontaneously responded, out of compassion. I love that quality,
• 25:43
  Speaker 1: don't you. You don't have to make a need exaggerated.
• 25:50
  Speaker 1: You don't have to overdramatize the fact that this is
• 25:57
  Speaker 1: this is a difficult time for you because you've got
• 26:00
  Speaker 1: these Philippian like people who meet the need. What a great,
• 26:04
  Speaker 1: what a wonderful way to live. I hope you were
• 26:08
  Speaker 1: your good times in case you happen to be and such.
• 26:11
  Speaker 1: I hope your good health. I hope your fine occupation
• 26:17
  Speaker 1: or not all that all these things aren't just turned
• 26:20
  Speaker 1: into benefits for you. I hope you've begun to see
• 26:24
  Speaker 1: the power of compassion, Like the good samaritan who stopped
• 26:28
  Speaker 1: and helped the brother who are the the man different
• 26:32
  Speaker 1: from his nationality, who was abused and dying personal compassion.
• 26:39
  Speaker 1: There's a sense of spontaneity, and look, they were all alone.
• 26:43
  Speaker 1: Nobody else gave like the Philippians gave you alone. Second,
• 26:48
  Speaker 1: there was financial generosity sixteen and seventeen. Even in thessala Nika,
• 26:53
  Speaker 1: you sent a gift more than once for my need.
• 26:56
  Speaker 1: You know why he says it like that, because Philippi
• 26:58
  Speaker 1: and Thessalaonaika were competitive cities, and usually thessal Aonaika came
• 27:03
  Speaker 1: out on the economical top It was a richer city.
• 27:07
  Speaker 1: Even when I moved to Thessalonaika, you kept giving to
• 27:12
  Speaker 1: my needs. It occurred to me that this is what
• 27:15
  Speaker 1: a missionary would face if he happened to move from
• 27:18
  Speaker 1: South Vietnam to Hawaii. Wonder how many would keep supporting
• 27:25
  Speaker 1: or wonder how many would start writing, boy, I'd like
• 27:29
  Speaker 1: to be a missionary in Hawaii. Even in Thessalonaika, you
• 27:34
  Speaker 1: gave time and again you didn't misread or misjudge me.
• 27:43
  Speaker 1: You you sent a gift more than once for my needs.
• 27:49
  Speaker 1: I mean, as spiritual as you may like it. People
• 27:55
  Speaker 1: have to have money to survive. The most godly can't
• 27:59
  Speaker 1: live on it. They can't just make it without assistance.
• 28:05
  Speaker 1: It's like Sophie Tucker said on her sixty ninth birthday,
• 28:08
  Speaker 1: to quote of Grate Theologian. From birth to eighteen, a
• 28:12
  Speaker 1: girl needs good parents. From eighteen to thirty five, she
• 28:16
  Speaker 1: needs good looks, from thirty five to fifty five, she
• 28:20
  Speaker 1: needs a good personality. From fifty five on, she needs cash.
• 28:26
  Speaker 1: He needs cash, and don't let anybody tell you otherwise.
• 28:32
  Speaker 1: No matter how godly a person may need, he needs cash,
• 28:36
  Speaker 1: needs money. And that's what he's talking about. Not that
• 28:41
  Speaker 1: I seek the gift itself. And you know, the skeptical,
• 28:46
  Speaker 1: the cynical hear that and say, oh yeah, I've heard
• 28:49
  Speaker 1: that before. Not that I seek the gift, but I
• 28:52
  Speaker 1: seek the prophet. It's the old story when they say
• 28:54
  Speaker 1: it's not the money, it's the money. Not here, he said,
• 29:00
  Speaker 1: in all honesty, under the inspiration of Holy Spirit, I
• 29:03
  Speaker 1: don't seek the gift. I seek the prophet that will
• 29:06
  Speaker 1: come to you when you give. I believe when a
• 29:10
  Speaker 1: congregation believes that they are most responsive to the needs
• 29:15
  Speaker 1: of the flock, when you really believe that the leadership
• 29:21
  Speaker 1: of the particular church you attend and are a part of, says,
• 29:25
  Speaker 1: in all honesty, it isn't that we're trying to fleece
• 29:29
  Speaker 1: the flock. We're trying to help educate you in what
• 29:33
  Speaker 1: really living is all about. That you'll become generous. Happiest
• 29:40
  Speaker 1: people I know are not necessarily the richest. The happiest
• 29:43
  Speaker 1: people I know are the most generous. Some are rich,
• 29:47
  Speaker 1: some are poor, most are in moderate income. But they
• 29:52
  Speaker 1: learned the profit of being generous. So he speaks of
• 29:58
  Speaker 1: financial generosity, personal compassion, financial generosity. Third sacrificial commitment Verse eighteen.
• 30:08
  Speaker 1: I've received everything in full, and I have an abundance.
• 30:13
  Speaker 1: How would you like to get a letter from a
• 30:15
  Speaker 1: missionary that said that, wouldn't that be a great change.
• 30:18
  Speaker 1: I've got plenty, I have an abundance. I think more
• 30:28
  Speaker 1: of them than we ever believe. Would write that, if
• 30:32
  Speaker 1: it were ever true, that's the confidence I have in
• 30:36
  Speaker 1: those people who serve Our Lord in places removed from us.
• 30:41
  Speaker 1: The tragedy is that so few can say it, would
• 30:47
  Speaker 1: it be great to be like the Philippian Church? Wouldn't
• 30:51
  Speaker 1: it be great for this ministry to be able to
• 30:54
  Speaker 1: say we have so amply supplied. I've been so amply
• 31:01
  Speaker 1: supplied through the fragrant offerings, even the sacrificial giving, well
• 31:07
  Speaker 1: pleasing to God that we have come to the place
• 31:12
  Speaker 1: where our needs are negligible. The giving is just overwhelming.
• 31:19
  Speaker 1: We have been burned. We have been burned. The tragedy
• 31:24
  Speaker 1: to me that if I were in a talk show
• 31:27
  Speaker 1: or a question answer time and someone were to ask me,
• 31:29
  Speaker 1: it's the tragedy of the ministry today, I would say,
• 31:33
  Speaker 1: because of a very very few who have ripped off
• 31:37
  Speaker 1: the saints, all of us suffer from misunderstanding, from being
• 31:42
  Speaker 1: misunderstood because a few have raised the suspicion of the public.
• 31:48
  Speaker 1: Most in the ministry live under the shadow of being
• 31:52
  Speaker 1: money grubbers, when in fact most are not. It almost
• 31:58
  Speaker 1: makes you defensive, makes me a little angry that that
• 32:03
  Speaker 1: that kind of spirit prevails, because I think if it didn't,
• 32:06
  Speaker 1: I believe there would be an overwhelming sense of trust
• 32:10
  Speaker 1: on the part of those in God's family with their riches,
• 32:15
  Speaker 1: with their goods. Okay, wonderful nineteenth verse wraps up our time.
• 32:20
  Speaker 1: My God shall supply all your needs according to His
• 32:24
  Speaker 1: riches in glory in Christ, Jesus Look closely. You've read
• 32:28
  Speaker 1: the verse a lot as a Christian. Look again, my God,
• 32:35
  Speaker 1: your needs his riches. Let that sink in. This is
• 32:44
  Speaker 1: a a wonderful statement my God, my dear Christian friends
• 32:52
  Speaker 1: in PHILIPPI will supply all your needs according to his riches.
• 32:59
  Speaker 1: Isn't this interesting? The Church is not writing this to
• 33:03
  Speaker 1: Missionary Paul. Missionary Paul is writing this to the Philippians,
• 33:08
  Speaker 1: and he's encouraging him. Let me tell you what I've
• 33:11
  Speaker 1: learned living by faith, says the apostle, that I have
• 33:15
  Speaker 1: a God who is so great out of his and
• 33:18
  Speaker 1: according to his incredible riches, he supplies all the needs.
• 33:27
  Speaker 1: That's why the man can write such affirming and contented
• 33:31
  Speaker 1: and flexible words as he does. Now. Once again, I
• 33:37
  Speaker 1: want to tell you something that I think is true
• 33:39
  Speaker 1: of you, even though you may not think I know it.
• 33:43
  Speaker 1: I think you want to be mature. I can hardly
• 33:48
  Speaker 1: remember meeting anyone in my life who made plans each
• 33:52
  Speaker 1: day to stay immature. Let's see, how can I be
• 33:56
  Speaker 1: childish today? We don't do that. We want to grow.
• 34:00
  Speaker 1: We want to be responsible, we want to shoulder our
• 34:02
  Speaker 1: part of the load. We want to think positively. We
• 34:05
  Speaker 1: want to live like this thing appears in the text
• 34:09
  Speaker 1: of Scripture. How can I do it? How can I
• 34:13
  Speaker 1: get beyond my selfish syndrome? How can I get out
• 34:17
  Speaker 1: of that tight radius of me? Myself? And I? Let
• 34:25
  Speaker 1: me give you three places to look? Will that help?
• 34:29
  Speaker 1: Look within and release? Now, that'll help you like to think?
• 34:38
  Speaker 1: You like to think deeply? Some of you do. Spend
• 34:42
  Speaker 1: some time this very day looking within. Probe around. See
• 34:50
  Speaker 1: if you snag at any spot on your inside where
• 34:54
  Speaker 1: you stopped being a giver when you became more selfish.
• 35:03
  Speaker 1: Look down inside and spot something you're holding onto that
• 35:09
  Speaker 1: that is sort of yours and release it. Let it go,
• 35:18
  Speaker 1: So let it go. Look within and release. You can
• 35:24
  Speaker 1: do all things through Him who strengthens you. You can
• 35:27
  Speaker 1: do that second look around and respond. Try it now.
• 35:45
  Speaker 1: Don't start with something super extreme. Start small. I'm not
• 35:49
  Speaker 1: asking you to hang glide over the devil's triangle that
• 35:53
  Speaker 1: that's not the place you need to start. Just start small.
• 35:58
  Speaker 1: Look around your family, look around the place where you work,
• 36:05
  Speaker 1: Look around your neighborhood, look around the family that you
• 36:11
  Speaker 1: fellowship with in church. Respond. Don't even wait for that
• 36:17
  Speaker 1: person to say I really could use your help right now.
• 36:29
  Speaker 1: Good model to follow is the apostle. He saw a
• 36:33
  Speaker 1: need and he responded. You know these work together. When
• 36:38
  Speaker 1: you look within and release, you find yourself with some
• 36:41
  Speaker 1: time and some energy, and you look to be able
• 36:43
  Speaker 1: to respond. I know some people who respond in simple ways.
• 36:50
  Speaker 1: They respond with notes of encouragement. I've been the recipient
• 36:54
  Speaker 1: of many of them, more than I deserve. I have
• 36:57
  Speaker 1: a file full of them, to which I occasionally return
• 37:01
  Speaker 1: for encouragement. Just a note that says thank you for
• 37:06
  Speaker 1: and there'd be a simple statement signed. That's an unselfish
• 37:11
  Speaker 1: person that does that. It writes that kind of thing.
• 37:15
  Speaker 1: Outside of that person's world, that person gets into my world.
• 37:21
  Speaker 1: I know some folks who have taken upon themselves the
• 37:23
  Speaker 1: delight of helping a couple through school, or a student
• 37:28
  Speaker 1: through his education or her education. Just quietly do it.
• 37:33
  Speaker 1: They just send the check. They have it on their heart,
• 37:36
  Speaker 1: they send it. That's part of the way we made
• 37:38
  Speaker 1: it through seminary. A man cared enough to regularly send
• 37:43
  Speaker 1: our tuition, and I hardly knew him outside of himself.
• 37:50
  Speaker 1: He responded wonderful mark of maturity. The only time he
• 37:55
  Speaker 1: was a little ticked at me is when I took
• 37:57
  Speaker 1: a lot of time to thank him. I've told you
• 37:59
  Speaker 1: I don't want you to say just take your time
• 38:01
  Speaker 1: to thank me. I thought, okay, okay, just keep sending
• 38:06
  Speaker 1: the checks. No, I didn't say that. I said I
• 38:09
  Speaker 1: won't do that. I won't keep Look within and release,
• 38:13
  Speaker 1: look around and respond. Here's the here's the big one.
• 38:16
  Speaker 1: Look up and rejoice. Sometime every day, look up and rejoice.
• 38:24
  Speaker 1: Find something that brings you joy, good health, a good job,
• 38:34
  Speaker 1: a wonderful answer to prayer, h a child whose attitude
• 38:42
  Speaker 1: is changing. Somebody said the other day to me, a
• 38:46
  Speaker 1: great statement. We are never happier than our least happy child.
• 38:52
  Speaker 1: There's a lot of truth in that. That's why some
• 38:55
  Speaker 1: of you, I can tell you got unhappy kids. And
• 39:01
  Speaker 1: how great it is when there's a change in their spirit.
• 39:05
  Speaker 1: Look up and rejoice, God, thank you for making that happen.
• 39:08
  Speaker 1: Thank you for changing the heart of my adult child.
• 39:14
  Speaker 1: I rejoice Lord that you've kept me strong through this
• 39:17
  Speaker 1: and the flu is all around, and you've preserved me
• 39:20
  Speaker 1: through it all right. Thank you for the break and
• 39:22
  Speaker 1: the fever. I rejoice that you have given me a
• 39:25
  Speaker 1: place to worship. I rejoice in my adult fellowship. I
• 39:28
  Speaker 1: rejoice in my support group, and on and on the
• 39:31
  Speaker 1: list goes. Something happens. Jean Hendrix has written in her
• 39:37
  Speaker 1: book Afternoon Living is not a spectator sport. No one
• 39:44
  Speaker 1: at any price is privileged to sit in the stands
• 39:46
  Speaker 1: and watch the action from a distance. Being born means
• 39:51
  Speaker 1: being a participant in the arena of life. Her opposition
• 39:56
  Speaker 1: is fierce, and winning comes only to those who exert
• 40:03
  Speaker 1: every ounce of energy, rather than waiting for someone else
• 40:12
  Speaker 1: to make you happy, determined with the help of the
• 40:16
  Speaker 1: truth in this Book of Philippians, to be independently joyful. Hey,
• 40:25
  Speaker 1: we pause for a few moments of reflection, just right
• 40:28
  Speaker 1: where you find yourself. Just bow your heart. This hasn't
• 40:35
  Speaker 1: been meant to mock anyone. I know. Circumstances for some
• 40:40
  Speaker 1: are the next thing to tragic, And if the truth
• 40:43
  Speaker 1: were known, you could almost say it's borderline calamity. But
• 40:49
  Speaker 1: I am a strong enough believer in God's sovereignty to
• 40:52
  Speaker 1: say that even there he's present. I'm not ready to
• 40:56
  Speaker 1: say that he sits in heaven idly spending his time
• 41:00
  Speaker 1: making you miserable. No, that's heresy. But he is touched
• 41:04
  Speaker 1: with the feelings of your weakness and your loss. I
• 41:10
  Speaker 1: can't solve all the riddle, the Rubik's cube of wrong
• 41:16
  Speaker 1: and right. I can't explain why God is silent and
• 41:20
  Speaker 1: lets a job lose it all, but I know that
• 41:25
  Speaker 1: he does, and occasionally it touches somebody today. But how
• 41:35
  Speaker 1: mature the man was when he said I have received
• 41:38
  Speaker 1: good from the hand of the Lord. Cannnot receive hardship
• 41:43
  Speaker 1: as well? Shall we praise him only for his blessings? No?
• 41:56
  Speaker 1: Could it be? And you're growing older, you have sort
• 42:01
  Speaker 1: of put your maturity on hold and begun to revert
• 42:07
  Speaker 1: to childhood in your actions. To go back to that list.
• 42:13
  Speaker 1: Could it be that that life has sort of had
• 42:20
  Speaker 1: to revolve around you for you to find any sense
• 42:24
  Speaker 1: of joy? Could it be that you were giving has
• 42:30
  Speaker 1: dropped off out of just a little spirit of suspicion,
• 42:33
  Speaker 1: or maybe some selfishness or just lack of planning. Hear
• 42:41
  Speaker 1: the plea in my voice, Please accept the pure motive
• 42:48
  Speaker 1: of my words. I invite you to grow up to
• 42:55
  Speaker 1: join the band of the faithful who have decided life
• 42:59
  Speaker 1: is greater than my own immediate circumstance. It's broader than
• 43:04
  Speaker 1: my own needs. Ask the Lord to help you with
• 43:09
  Speaker 1: this matter of being more affirming, flexible, contented, confident. If
• 43:20
  Speaker 1: you need help in prayer, or you need someone to
• 43:22
  Speaker 1: talk with you about this person of Christ pouring himself
• 43:25
  Speaker 1: in you, if you need to know what it means
• 43:27
  Speaker 1: to be a Christian, I invite you to the prayer
• 43:29
  Speaker 1: room today. Come today, somebody maybe to pray with you.
• 43:35
  Speaker 1: It's a big, lonely world and you need at times
• 43:38
  Speaker 1: of encouraging arm around your shoulder. Thank you, Father for
• 43:44
  Speaker 1: the multiple needs that we find ourselves in, and that
• 43:48
  Speaker 1: many times when we must confess we're at a loss
• 43:53
  Speaker 1: to explain why. But in the midst of the needs
• 43:57
  Speaker 1: and without knowing why, you come in like a flood.
• 44:00
  Speaker 1: And you are such a good, caring father. Forgive us
• 44:05
  Speaker 1: for the wasted days of cynicism and pessimism, for suspicious
• 44:11
  Speaker 1: spirits and reluctance to respond. Thank you for being so
• 44:19
  Speaker 1: gracious to us as a people. For health, for good eyesight,
• 44:28
  Speaker 1: for the ability to hear and enjoy the sounds of
• 44:33
  Speaker 1: music and the loveliness of art. Thank You for the
• 44:39
  Speaker 1: joy of forgiveness that comes through the person of Jesus Christ.
• 44:46
  Speaker 1: We commit ourselves to him anew and afresh as we
• 44:51
  Speaker 1: approach the end of this grand Letter of Joy. We
• 44:57
  Speaker 1: do so in the name of Jesus, our model and
• 45:01
  Speaker 1: our master. Amen.
• 45:06
  Speaker 2: The preceding message don't forget to have fun as you
• 45:09
  Speaker 2: grow up was copyrighted in nineteen ninety one, and the
• 45:12
  Speaker 2: sound recording was copyrighted in two thousand and eight by
• 45:15
  Speaker 2: Charles R. Swindall, Inc. All rights are reserved worldwide.