Philippians 4:2-23, Do You Have the Secret?, Dr. John B. Carpenter

Philippians chapter 4, reading from verses 2 to 23, hear the word of the

Lord. I entreat you, Odiah, and I entreat Sentechi, to agree in the

Lord. Yes, I ask you also, true companion, help these women who have labored side by side with me in the gospel together with Clement and the rest of my fellow workers whose names are in the book of life.

Rejoice in the Lord always. Again, I will say, rejoice let your reasonableness be known to everyone.

The Lord is at hand. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God, and the peace of God which surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.

While you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, practice these things and the God of peace will be with you.

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. Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation

I am to be content. I know how to be brought low and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance,

I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need.

I can do all things through Him who strengthens me. 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 receive full payment and more. I am well supplied, having received from Epaphoditus 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 and glory in Christ Jesus.

To our God and Father be glory forever and ever. Amen. Greet every saint in Christ Jesus, the brothers who are with me greet you, all the saints greet you, especially those of Caesar's household.

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

Lord add his blessings to the reading of his Holy Word. Well, about 10 years ago,

I was overweight, if you can believe it. I am again. And I was swimming at the

Y when I stopped and asked Adam Jones, he was the coach of our swim workout, and he's the owner of the brick store in Danville, for the secret, what's the secret of losing weight?

He said, burn more calories than you take in. The secret is that there is no secret.

Don't eat more calories than you need. Now, people often think there's a secret to success, doing well in school or being a good athlete or having plenty of money, a secret to getting out of debt, secret to being prosperous.

People in Singapore, and I think probably in Chinese culture in general, look for secrets to making their kids successful, make them good students, give them a head start in school so they get better grades, so they can get eventually a better career, so they send them to abacus lessons, music lessons, tutoring, enrichment, they call it.

They have enrichment centers in Singapore. You send your little kid there to get enriched. That's after school. All that kind of stuff is very popular there.

They're looking for the secret to success. Some athletes look for a secret, a new piece of equipment or a new technique or steroids to give them an advantage.

People look for a secret to being successful in business. But in all these, the real secret is no secret.

Work hard. Study long hours. Run those miles. Lift those weights.

Practice. Do the work yourself. Keep the business open. Keep hustling.

Dave Ramsey sells the secrets of being debt -free, but his secret is no secret. Stay out of debt. Don't spend beyond what you make.

Pay off your car. Don't take out loans. Get more income. If you have to, eat beans and rice, rice and beans.

Still, we love secrets to give ourselves what we think, what we hope is a shortcut, a new strategy so we can work smarter, not harder.

The secret, of course, is that you need to do both. In 2014, a former pastor named

Sean Hyman published the biblical money code. He claims his code is woven into Scripture and is the secret that has helped him going from earning only $15 ,000 a year to giving away over $50 ,000 a year.

That's probably actually from being paid like a pastor to being paid like a guy selling the secret to get rich. Okay, that's probably what's really going on there.

But Hyman promises that he's found, what he's found will allow you to, quote, unlock vast amounts of wealth safely and ethically.

I have to admit that I did watch his hour -long video or read his book, but I did read a synopsis, and I was pleasantly surprised that it wasn't all nonsense.

The money code actually means following the advice of Proverbs 14, verse 15, the naive will believe everything, but a wise man looks well into a matter, so his secret is really no secret.

Before buying a stock or a business, don't just believe what you're told. This makes a lot of money.

Investigate. Look into it yourself. Is this business really profitable? That's actually just good sense.

And then he says, to handle money well, we have to, he says, unlove money. The secret to getting rich, he says, is that you shouldn't want to get rich.

At least don't let that be what you love most of all, what you live for.

Now, maybe that really is a secret. Well, here in Philippians 4, we see secrets to happiness, to success.

There are seven secrets here. First, live harmoniously. Second, don't worry.

Be happy and pray. Third, think right. Fourth, practice.

Fifth, be strengthened. Sixth, trust that God supplies. And finally, give.

Well, secret number one, in verses two to three, live harmoniously.

Particularly live harmoniously with the church, with other believers. Paul entreats, meaning to appeal too strongly, like to beg, to plead, but in a brotherly kind of encouraging way, to live harmoniously.

He appeals to two women there, Eodia and Syntyche, I assume the E is pronounced, to agree in the

Lord. Now, apparently, they disagreed about something. We don't know exactly what it was, but they appear to have had a falling out.

Their relationship has been disrupted, and Paul appeals to them both. Now, imagine this is a public letter, and it's sent to the church of Philippi, and they read this out loud.

And there's Eodia sitting over there on one hand, and there's Syntyche sitting over there on the other hand. They don't talk to each other, and their names are read out like that.

Paul, by the apostle Paul, I appeal to you, Eodia, Syntyche, agree in the Lord. So, now the whole church is a witness that they've been called to agree in the

Lord. Now, surely both of them would have insisted, I'm right, she's wrong. It's her problem. But now both are appealed to.

Before the whole church, you make the first move, get your relationship right, live in harmony, agree in the

Lord. Now, that may mean that they can still disagree over whatever they disagreed about, how to decorate the church's meeting place, what kind of food to serve at the love feast, maybe some business deal they had together and it didn't go well, something they did together that ended badly, or whatever it is.

But what they have in common as Christians should be enough to let that go. They agree on the gospel.

They agree on who Jesus is. They agree that whatever they used to count as gain, they now count as loss for the sake of knowing

Christ Jesus their Lord. So, that agreement should overcome whatever other disagreement they might have.

Then in verse 3, Paul appeals again for harmonious relationships. He asks someone here called true companion.

Now, this could be a proper name. We really don't know. Is this somebody's actual name? Pronounced Seizgus? Or is it just a way of describing someone who's a true companion?

It really doesn't matter in the end because whoever he was, if he's Mr. Seizgus, he was indeed a true companion.

And so, he appeals to him to help those two Christian ladies reconcile their relationship. And all these people, plus Clement, who actually became a very prominent leader apparently later, these people were

Paul's fellow workers, literally genuine yoke fellow, like two oxen yoked together.

I know we don't see that in America. I don't know what I can analogize it with. But you can imagine two oxen yoked together, pulling side by side some plow or something like that, or a cart.

So, they're yoked together and they're working together, and that's the way these people have been with Paul. And so, he appeals to them.

Keep working together. All of them have united by having their names written by God. That's the implication.

Their names are written. Who wrote it? Well, God did in the Book of Life. God has a book in which the names of people that he will give eternal life have been written permanently.

It's not pencil. He's not going to erase it. Now, since their names are written there, they will live in eternity together, so they should be able to live harmoniously here and now.

That shared, ultimately great reality should be enough to unite them now.

Iodia, Syntyche, get together. Knowing your names are forever written in the Book of Life is a secret to living harmoniously.

Now, many modern Christians think that they have avoided the problems with having disrupted relationships, at least in the church, by simply having no real relationships at all.

That's a secret to it. At least at the church, no genuine yoke fellow.

I mean, is there anyone at the church you think, well, I'm yoked to that person? I'm tied to him or her. We're working together.

We're pulling together. We don't always pull in the same direction, but we're together. Is there any kind of things like that? A lot of people go to church.

They don't have any sense of that. They say they have a relationship with Jesus, but they have no need for anything like meaningful relationships with other believers.

You know, there's only two sets of footprints in the sand, remember? There's no church. So it's easy not to have relationship problems with other people in the church when all you do is have a little small talk before and after the singing and preaching show.

You know, nice weather, spring, good this year, allergies, whatever. Their secret, their secret of avoiding relationship problems, disruption, is to keep your relationships with other church people so shallow, so superficial, you don't ever have to worry about having relationship problems.

You know, like you go to a movie, you don't worry about having a falling out with the other people in the theater because you just don't talk to them.

But we see here in Philippians 4 that the other people in church should know you. They should be people with whom you agree in the

Lord, true companions, people who labor with you side by side, fellow workers, true yoked fellow, saints with whom you have come to believe.

God has written their names in the Book of Life. You've heard their confession. Maybe you've actually seen their baptism and you've seen their life, and so you have evidence that gives you reason to conclude that God has predestined them.

He's written their names in the Book of Life, and it will be there forever, and you will be there with them.

And you're both together God's people, and you know them. And in fact, you know them so well, you can even get irritated at them sometimes, have a falling out with them, and need to be reconciled.

And that kind of relationship is what we call membership. And here we are appealed to lovingly to have that kind of meaningful membership.

Christians need to be members of churches where they're known by true companions, yoked fellow, where they're yoked to people, where they can be appealed to.

The secret is meaningful membership. Secret number two is don't worry, be happy, and pray.

Philippians is known as the Epistle of Joy. This is amazing. You think it's written by a guy from prison, or whatever.

It's the Epistle of Joy. We see why right here. Verse 4, rejoice in the Lord always. Again, I will say rejoice.

I feel like I've heard those words before. He tells us how here. What's the secret to rejoicing?

First, be reasonable. In verse 5, let your reasonableness be known to everyone.

This is also a tip on how to have those harmonious relationships. Be reasonable. Give some.

Don't always insist your own way. Don't always have to go to the restaurant you want to go to, or watch the show you want to watch. It means having an uncomplaining readiness to accept other people and to submit oneself to their needs.

A while ago, I had an interaction with people who believe that the King James Version only is God's Word in English.

That, they insist, is the only true translation, and every other one is a corruption.

And very quickly, if you ever deal with such people, you realize how completely unreasonable they are. You can show them.

You can bring up all kinds of errors in it, but you can show them without a doubt, for example, that the Greek word for Passover is wrongly translated in the

King James Version once as Easter. Were they really celebrating Easter in the

Book of Acts? I don't think so. But they'll just say, well, the KJV is right. Be reasonable.

And such people in such churches are often contentious, they're dividing, they're arguing over everything, they're majoring on the minors, and they also appear always to be very miserable.

I've never seen a King James -only person who looks like a happy person. They don't. They're just miserable people.

Because the kind of person always is...because that's what's at its root, really, is not anything about they've looked into the facts, done the history and the research, and concluded this is the best translation.

No, what it is is that this is the one I like, and I must always get what I like. And somebody lives that way, it's just miserable to get along with.

And their leaders are often prone to divorce. In fact, two of their major leaders have been divorced twice, and it's probably their fault because they're miserable, contentious people.

Well, we are to be different from that. To me, he says, forbearing, like your reasonableness, that's forbearing, is patient, that is putting up with some differences, not over sin, not over truth, but differences of opinion about things.

Easy to get along with, not the type that will demand his own way, or get angry or sullen if everything isn't done exactly as he demands, and then storm off in protest when it's not, if it's not.

Reasonable people know that even when they're right about some things, about some minor thing, like how to do a door around the building, how to take up the tiles, what color to paint a

Sunday school room, or what song to play, within reason, of course, that often it's not reasonable to argue over that.

Even if you're right, if you live that way, you'll be happier.

So don't worry, be reasonable and happy. Don't worry, be happy, because, in verse 5, the

Lord is at hand. That means that first, well, He's here, He's near, now, in our midst, and He sees us, and is with us, and isn't that more important than whatever quibbles you might have, you know, which team is the best, or you know, what to do about the floor.

So why are we being so irritated about disagreements over paint colors, how to take up a tile, song selection, within reason, of course, but come on, you know, be reasonable.

And also the Lord is near because His coming is near. It is at hand. So close, it looks like you can almost reach out and touch it, because it could happen at any time, and so be happy about that, rejoice, and let that keep all the little things that often disrupt relationships in perspective.

James says a similar thing in James chapter 5, verse 8. You also be patient, establish your heart so it's firm, for the coming of the

Lord is at hand. So be anxious about nothing, in verse 6.

A lot of verses in this chapter you've probably heard many times, maybe memorized.

Don't worry, be anxious about nothing. Mr. Perry told of how he was hospitalized, apparently near death, he says, for ulcers.

Back in the 1950s, he was in his 30s then. The doctors told him that he was worrying himself to death, and so he says he resolved this, be anxious about nothing.

And so, instead of dying in the 1950s, he lived until 2022, an extra 62 years.

That's pretty good, isn't it? Tack on an extra 62 years of your life to 95 years old. Worrying kills you early, so don't do it.

Don't be dwelling on what could go wrong, or even about little things that already have gone wrong. I don't know how, personally, okay,

I've got to preach to myself here. I have a bad problem sometimes getting, not so much worrying, get agitated, get irritated, just get wound up about something, or whatever it is, get so agitated about some little thing.

Paper jam in the printer, the phone won't play audio, whatever it is, get so, and then a little while later, what was it so wound up about?

It's not worth it. I should know better. I need to learn Mr. Perry's secret, be anxious or agitated about nothing.

And then a little verse 6, don't be that way, but, strong contrast, everything by prayer and supplication.

Not by worrying, not by agitation, but by prayer and supplication.

Or supplication means petition, by requesting. I don't think he means that you literally have to go around praying all the time.

It means, though, that always through life have a prayerful attitude, ready to turn to the

Lord at any time, and trust Him with the problems instead of getting agitated or worried or angry over it, like I do.

Pray about it. Prayer is the general word there for speaking to God, and he says petition, that is asking.

Do everything by asking God. So don't look down on asking God, even for little things.

Don't think, well, God takes care of the big things, but I've got to take care of the little things. And then you get, like me, you get agitated about it when the little things don't turn out like you want.

Don't be that way. Maybe something you're tempted to worry about, whether everyone will be okay in your family, or your loved one will be safe, or your children, maybe healing for some sickness, money for your needs, you're kind of dead, or some other problem you're dealing with, relationship problems.

Instead of being agitated or worrying about it, let your requests be made known to God. Ask God about it.

Then thank God for what He's already given. Count your blessings. Count them one by one. Don't be disappointed about so many things that haven't gone as you expected, as you wanted, whether family, or career, or business, or friends, or church.

None of that is as fulfilling as you had hoped. Don't be like that. Look at the good things

God has given, and in your prayers, thank Him for them. Sing songs of thanksgiving.

This is why one of our regular meetings is our prayer meeting. We meet every week for the main purpose of letting our request be made known to God.

We have any prayer meetings, we have any needs, you need anything to pray for, and we pray for each other. That's one of the secrets for success.

And if you do this, you rejoice, you be reasonable, you pray with thanksgiving. Then in verse 7, the peace of God will guard your hearts, where your affections, that is your loves, where your soul is, the center of yourself, and your minds, where your thoughts come from.

So if you entrust God with everything, then God's peace will protect you, guard you.

There, the word is like a garrison of soldiers protecting a fortress. Imagine that, a wall, a fortress, barbed wire, and there's soldiers with machine guns.

That's what God's peace will do, but where God's peace will be between you and all these other things that can trouble you.

Your heart and your mind is being besieged by the world, the flesh, and the devil, to be depressed, to be worried, to be agitated, to be greedy, to be discontent.

But if you will let your requests be made known to God, thank

Him for what He's given, then you get the blessing of having your heart and your mind protected by God's peace.

What's called in the Old Testament is shalom, the inner wholeness of a fulfilled person.

But first, to have the peace of God, you have to have peace with God, to be reconciled to God.

Reconciled with God because what Jesus has done for us, that He's borne God's right anger at our sins, the main threat to our peace.

We have all those other things that agitate us, the world, the flesh, and the devil, but the main threat first is God's own anger at us for our sins.

But Jesus has dealt with that anger so that He, God, can no longer be angry at us.

He's no longer against us. He's reconciled. We're at peace with Him. That reconciliation with God gives you the satisfaction of tranquility within, so peace with God gives you the peace of God.

And so your heart and mind is secure. Secret number three is to think.

Think about the right things. Many people's problem is that they're constantly thinking about the wrong things, where their money's coming from, about the next step of their career, or how am

I going to get this or that, what so -and -so is doing, maybe their show's on TV, how the culture is being corrupted, or politics is not going their way, the election may not turn out like they want, everything is going wrong, the latest outrage.

Here at verse 8, He tells us what to think about. What do you think about?

Whatever's true. So don't waste your time worrying about what might happen. Think about what is.

God's Word is truth. Whatever is honorable, like heroes in the

Bible or church history, doing noble things, loving God and others, sacrificing themselves, inspirational examples, like Paul writing from prison about how he rejoices and is content in every situation.

Think about that. Don't spend so much time of your life wrapped up in controversies, looking how bad the world is.

Now there's some conservative media, it really just thrives, I think it's their business model, it thrives on catching your attention with the latest outrageous thing.

This crazy thing has been done and you want to join with them and their outrage and focus on that, how horrible that is.

Maybe the latest man who thinks he's a woman, go won a woman's race somewhere or whatever perversion or whatever is happening.

Just join together and be outraged by it and just constantly focusing on that kind of thing.

So be careful that you don't overfeed yourself on that, that you become obsessed with the culture war.

Put before yourself inspiring examples, whatever is just, standing up for civil rights, for protection for the most vulnerable, the pre -born now, whatever is pure and that excludes a lot of Hollywood stuff, doesn't it?

Whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, that is like love, that draws you to be loving, that is attractive to your heart, whatever can be commended, that is spoken well about.

Focus on positive things. I sometimes make fun of Caleb but yeah, okay, you should often focus on the positive and the encouraging.

Anything that is excellent, an excellent musical performance, a great voice, an excellent athlete or excellent team, a great example of godliness, and just an excellent person, an excellent deed someone's done, sacrifice for God and for others, a scripture that fills you with awe, anything that is worth praising.

Think about those things. Now sure, you will have to sometimes deal with the ugly and the discouraging and the outrageous, but then make sure you come back to the excellent and the perfect and making sure that you are regularly looking into and thinking about the

Word of God is one of the best ways to do that. We're here to help you think right so that you focus on the true and the lovely and the pure and the good and the commendable.

Secret number four is to practice. You know, this isn't just theory.

We're not just here for the rhetoric and the slogans and the nice thoughts. We're here to change the way we live.

He tells them in verse nine, what you have learned, what you've received, what you've heard and seen in me, practice those things.

Over a decade, we taught a group of former members who came from an old church together of the importance of membership and giving and other things like that, and they never argued with the words.

They never disagreed with the words, but they treated them like music, like a nice tune you enjoy.

You like listening to it, but it doesn't change you. It just kind of entertains you.

They didn't practice them. Paul says practice what you've heard, received and heard and what you've seen.

Of course, we don't have the Apostle Paul with us in person to learn from and to see, but we have his words here inspired by the

Holy Spirit and through them he is teaching us and we should receive his word and we should be able to see it lived out in each other's lives.

There should be people here you can look to it and see. This is what this scripture, he or she lives it out, and then we put it into practice.

And if we do that, then the God of peace will be with you.

Secret number five is to be strengthened. He says in verses 10 to 13, he has learned the secret.

There it is, the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. The secret is being strengthened by God.

Now today, most people just want to learn the secret to plenty and abundance. Okay, the secret to being hungry and needy, that they don't want.

But plenty and hunger, abundance and need. Like the guy studying the money code, a lot of people today just want the secret to be prosperous, to acquiring vast amounts of wealth.

But Paul is saying God strengthened him for good times and bad. A secret to being strengthened by God is to be willing to be strengthened to poor and hungry and insulted and disliked or alone.

Paul is happy in verse 10 that the Philippians have, he says, revived their concern for him. He means that they've taken advantage of an opportunity of expressing their practical need for him by sending him some kind of gift.

You know, money and food and clothes and books and whatever. He says that the expression of concern, that the care package they've sent him, they sent him something, has made him rejoice.

It's the letter of joy again. Not that he's really in need, in verse 11.

In other words, he's saying, I love the thing you sent me, whatever it was. Not that I really needed it. He's trying to be thankful for it.

I'm happy you sent it to me, not because I'm desperately in need of it, because of me, because my need was met, because of what it says about you, that you thought of me, because of the fruit of the

Spirit. He's not desperately depending on them for sending them something to keep him alive or to lift up his feelings off the floor.

He already felt cared for, he already is content, but he's glad they sent him something because it says a lot about them, what kind of people they are now.

Now, what kind of, what kind of man, what's the secret of a man chained up to a

Roman guard in prison, far away from home and friends, facing a possible death sentence, and he feels content?

Not that I need anything. Here, chained to this guard in the prison, facing a possible death, getting my head cut off.

I'm content. I don't need anything. How is that possible? How can you be like that? In verse 12,

I know how to be brought low. This is the secret. Can you be brought low? And I know how to abound.

I'm brought up high. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need.

Notice that he's not saying what many people want, that he's learned the secret, the Bible code of how never to be brought low, how to keep a pocket full of money and never be arrested or rejected or hungry or cold again.

He doesn't say that, no. Those are the kind of secrets the world wants to know. The charlatans, prosperity preachers are selling people.

There isn't any such secret. And those who are looking for those kind of secrets, the code to unlock vast amounts of wealth, even if they're never chained to a guard, are never put on trial, they never miss another meal again, they won't still not be content.

They'll be miserable with all their stuff. Paul's secret was that he could somehow be chained up, hungry and cold or free and well -fed and warm and yet be content and happy either way.

Now comes that very popular verse on posters with triumphant athletes, maybe the championship quarterback who just won the

Super Bowl with a great performance, proclaims it, I can do all things through him who strengthens me.

That's the secret. God strengthens him. But remember God strengthens him and us not just to be on top, the winner of a race, the championship team, the

American Idol, the popular singer or the preacher, the wealthy, successful, healthy, prosperous person in the huge house and the nice cars.

He also strengthens us to be at the bottom, to be low, to be scoffed at, to be called a bigot because we won't call evil good, to be rejected because you're a

Jesus freak or whatever, to be to lose a job or a friend or even, God forbid, a loved one to death.

To be a beautiful letdown, painfully uncool, the church of the dropouts, the losers, the sinners, the failures and the fools.

Oh what a beautiful letdown. God can give us the strength to do all things, even to be a loser.

Secret number six is that God supplies our every need. Of course that means that if God hasn't supplied it, you don't really need it.

He thanks the Philippians in verse 14 for sharing in his trouble, for fellowshipping, is that word koinonia again?

Being a partner with him, participating with him in his need. Want a fellowship? Let's fellowship in our needs, fellowship in our hunger, fellowship in our failure, fellowship in grief.

They didn't just say to him, you know, we feel sorry for you, Paul. Send him a note. Sorry to hear, Paul, you're in prison.

Too bad. But they did something and they came shoulder to shoulder and helped him meet those needs.

He commends them in verse 15 for again partnering with him in the spread of the gospel by giving to him. In second

Corinthians he holds up these same people, these Philippians. He's trying to teach the Corinthians how to be givers. He says, you want to know how to be a giver?

What a good example, positive example. Somebody who's excellent and great. The Philippians, they're the ones, they know how to do it.

They didn't just talk a good game. They gave. They put their money where their mouth was.

You know, love is spelled M -O -N -E -Y.

Even when Paul went to another city, when he moved away from the Philippians, went to Thessalonica, he says that they continued to send him money.

In other words, when they weren't getting immediate benefit from it, they continued to give him gifts. He says in verse 16, once and again.

In other words, over and over they were taking up offerings and giving it to him. And here

Paul is lavishing praise on them for doing that. Of course you say, well, why wouldn't he? Of course he is.

He's getting the money. Just be cynical about it. It's all about him. But he's saying, I didn't really need your money.

Says verse 17, not that I seek the gift. That's not what I was most concerned about. You're giving me money.

I could have got support somewhere else. I seek the fruit, the fruit of their faith, the fruit of the

Spirit, that you be more like God. And that appeared, that manifested, that showed up in your gift, in your money, the money you gave.

And that giving, that increases to your credit. And he encourages them, encourages us to give because it produces fruit that proves we're becoming more like the

Lord. And that increases to our account. He says that he wants them to give money, not because he simply wants the money so he doesn't have to spend his time making tents, that kind of thing.

No, he wants them to give to him so they will have fruit. You need to have fruit in your life.

And one way you do that is by giving. First, the fruit that by giving they become givers, like God, who is a giver.

You can't become like God without giving. So if you want to bear more of the fruit of being like God, then give.

Giving is a spiritual discipline. It's like Bible reading or church attendance or prayer. Give. Also with the gift they gave,

Paul could do more ministry. The gospel could be spread more, less time making tents, more time spreading the gospel.

And so they gave to make that possible. So they have participated, but they've been partners with him in spreading the gospel.

The fruit that the Word of God bears then increases to their account. God sees those gifts just like the sacrifices in the

Old Testament and is pleased with them. You ever read, like through Leviticus, this pleasing aroma going up to the Lord?

Hear that pleasing aroma comes from the money, not from the fat on an altar. It comes from the gift.

And in verse 18, notice first he says he's well supplied by their generous gift, and then the second half of the verse he compares their gift as a fragrant offering.

Oh, it smells good. Sacrifice acceptable and pleasing to God. The money basket doesn't make us much of a smell for us, but to God it does.

It smells good to him. This is why we have an offering as part of our worship. It's not just a tradition we forgot to reform.

It's not just a practical way for us to get money to pay our bills. You know, we got to pay for the lights. If that's all it were about, you know, why not, we could just, why not send you a bill in the mail once a month or whatever.

Your dues. Here's your dues for being part of our club. That's why a lot of clubs do that.

Why don't we do that? Why don't we take up filthy money when we come together? Because giving is an act of worship.

It's done like these Philippians out of love. It's a partnership, a koinonia in the gospel. It's an offering to God that makes first you generous, like God, so it makes you like God, and then makes

God pleased. Smells good to God. Secret number seven then, implicit in the six, we've already been talking about it, is to give.

Give offerings like the Philippians did to Paul because they unlock the secret of God's supply.

In verse 19, another poster verse in this chapter, God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.

Another popular poster verse. Notice that God's supplying is according to, that is, the principle of God's giving to us is according to, by the rate of how rich the glory of Christ is.

That's a lot of giving. And it is reserved, God's giving like that, is reserved for those who give those fragrant, pleasing, generous offerings, participating with fellow

Yoke fellow, other members of the church. The great secret to getting God to give to you is no secret.

God's supply is for those who, like God, supply.

And when he does, in verse 20, to him be all the glory.

But do you have the secret? Well, there's seven of them here, but there's really one big secret that unlocks all the others.

The one that makes us saints, holy ones, made holy because we are in Christ Jesus.

God sees us clothed in Jesus's righteousness and not our our religion.

Remember the dogs, the evil workers, telling us to do religion and to trust in it, and that'll clothe us in our righteousness.

No, that's not the secret. The secret, the big secret, is the secret that brings us together to greet each other, not as co -audience members in a singing and preaching show, but as companions who labor side by side, true

Yoke fellow. It's the secret that makes us not worried and happy and praying, our minds lifted up and our hearts guarded, living differently, content and well supplied and giving.

It's the secret that allows us to practice all of this and gives us peace with God so we can have the peace of God.

That secret is no secret. So that last verse, the grace of our

Lord Jesus Christ, amazing grace, how sweet the sound that saved a dog, an evil worker like me.

May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit.