High Risk, High Yield Living

Holy Spirit, which today God is infusing through his body. He always has, but we haven't always received. But timelessly he has spoken through his written word. And if you'll turn with me to Philippians chapter four, we'll get into our study this morning and we need to move along in order to have time for communion this morning. Philippians 4:10 Our I rejoice in the Lord greatly. You're not there yet, are you? I rejoice 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 complain of want. For I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content. I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound in any and all circumstances. I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and want. I can do all things in him who strengthens me. Let's say that last sentence together. I can do all things through him who strengthens me. And 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. For even in Thessalonica you sent me help once and again. Not that I seek the gift, but I seek the fruit which increases to your credit. I have received full payment and more. I am filled, having received from Epaphroditus the gifts you sent. A fragrant offering, a sacrifice acceptable and pleasing to God. And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches. In glory in Christ Jesus to our God and Father be glory forever and ever. Amen. How would you like to receive a 28% return on your investments? See some heads lifting up legally? In fact, I just had well, not just, but not too long ago I had a very reputable person from a very reputable company tell me that some investment for my personal retirement that he was recommending had shown a 28% return on investments over a number of years. And of course, being an honest businessman, he said now there is some risk. And of course the risk could be substantial in that some of the companies that we would invest in may not make it. But I just like you figure 28%. Have you ever seen a graph of 28% next to a graph of 6.25? It does an awful lot to motivate you to take a risk. I figure I can retire when I'm 60 and buy CBN or something, send missionaries all over the world with Just a little bit of that. But checkup day came just recently. And rather than a 28% gain in my money, in the first period of this investment, I lost 4.5%. So what else is new, right? Risk taking is part of life. The higher the risk, the higher the yield. The higher the risk, the higher the yield. When I was in Mexico City last April as part of the Missions conference and so on, visiting with Lisa Anderson, I encountered a pastor, probably about 50 years old, sort of an unassuming and quiet man, who was just about to move to Miami beach and take a Presbyterian church. And you think, well, typical, you know, pastor gets near the end of his ministry and goes someplace where he can retire. But here was an unusual circumstance in that this pastor was leaving a very well established and quite fruitful ministry in Richland, Washington, the state of Washington, where he was over a rather significantly impactful ministry in that area. They had a school, they had missionaries going out. They were seeing people affected regularly in their services and so on, and ministry happening in the lay people. 1500 or so people involved. He was leaving that church and moving to Miami beach, where he was taking a church that had less than 200 members, half that number attending. And the only thing they had going for them was the fact that they had about a seven million dollar piece of property on which their church sat right next to the beach on the strip. I've never been to Miami beach, but apparently right there where property values are enormous, that's the only thing the church had going for it. Dead church all the way through. The first thing that he did, acting as the pastor of that church, was to sell the property. Why would a man leave Washington in a beautiful area where his kids had grown up and family lived, and move to Miami beach and sell the only real asset that he had because God had called him to take a risk. And he knew that the only way that that church would survive and in fact begin to be victorious in ministry was to get off the beach and into where the people were. And he knew the only way that he would be able to continue in blessing under God was to walk in an attitude of faith where he was willing to take a risk. Beloved, all growth comes through risk. There's no advancement, there's no victory apart from taking a risk here. This morning I look around and I see a businessman in our fellowship who'd been working for a company for a number of years, finally came to the point where he realized that he was on a circular kind of a treadmill, and that if he didn't do something and take a risk. He could spend the rest of his life simply going through a rigid kind of discipline and routine, and it really ended up nowhere. And so without a whole lot of money and a whole lot of knowledge as to what was to come next, he stepped out and established a business. Now that business is employing some other people in the community and God's prospering it. You see, risk is involved. Bruce and Kathy Bain are leaving the security of this fellowship and their friends and their family and moving nearly 3,000 miles away. It's a risk, to be sure, but without risk, there's no growth, there's no advancement, there's no change unless you take a risk. You see, the Bible says that without faith, it's impossible to please God. We're looking at a portion of scripture today where the church demonstrates for us what it means to take a risk. And I find it fascinating to see that the mark of a healthy church. Remember what it was 12 weeks ago. We said we were going to look at the marks of a healthy church and a joyful Christian life, and we're going to end on those two things today as we conclude our study in Philippians. But the mark of a healthy church is the fact that it can take a risk and trust God, even when it doesn't know what the outcome of that risk is going to be. Equally fascinating, beloved, is the fact that the church of which you and I have been part over the years, down through the centuries, has been absolutely afraid to take a risk. What are the seven sacred words of the church? We've never done it that way before. Right? There's what I call a second law of church dynamics. You know the law of thermodynamics, don't you? The second law? Any system left unto itself will always move toward disorder. Well, the second law of church dynamics is that any church left to itself will always move toward order and further and further down to where nothing moves. And it's exactly the reverse of the law of thermodynamics. The church is afraid to step out. It's afraid to risk. And a church sits on a beach, and what was once a ministry that was reaching the community has died off because the church wouldn't risk. It wouldn't turn itself outside of itself and reach out. As we look at this today, we're going to see that this church was willing to risk and it had to do, of all things, with resources and money. I appreciate Blaine and Fred sharing the last few weeks, and I don't know if you all noticed this. But they each took one or two verses so that when it got down to the money part, they'd let me speak on that. Blaine tried to narrow his down to three or four words last week, but it didn't. But I'm not at all hesitant to share on this subject today. And really, we're not just going to talk about money. We're going to talk about risk. For the Philippian Church, it had to do with. Now, let's look first of all at what kind of a risk they were willing to take. You see, Paul in Acts 16 and 17 tells us how the church was started. If you want to know what happened in Philippi, read Acts 16. That's how the church started. You remember, that's when he was thrown into jail and then was brought out by a miracle of God. And the church was established and they ministered and stayed some time. Well, then they went on down from Philippi to Thessalonica and Berea and eventually Athens. It was when they left, they had nothing to take with them. They had no particular fund that was supporting their ministry. They had no church to support them in terms of a formal commitment. But what they did was Paul left, and it said that when he got there, he was in need. That is to say, one of the charges that kept coming against Paul was that you're in this for the money. You're an apostle who just wants to pad his pocket. And Paul was constantly fighting that accusation. And so when he got to Thessalonica, you know what he refused to do? He refused to accept any money from the church that he was planting there. And it got to. And if you read it carefully, you'll see that he was really hurting. And he tells us in Second Corinthians. Turn with me to chapter 8, 2 Corinthians 8, that the church in Macedonia, which is really the province, as it would be the state of Pennsylvania, well, Macedonia is the province and Philippi is the city. Ok, In Second Corinthians, chapter eight, we want you to know, brethren, about the grace of God which has been shown us in the churches of Macedonia. For in a severe test of affliction, their abundance of joy and. And their extreme poverty, that's a real combination. Have overflowed in a wealth of liberality on their part. For they gave according to their means, as I can testify, and beyond their means, of their own free will, begging us earnestly for the favor of taking part in the relief of the saints. You see, the church at Philippi in Macedonia was looking for a way to bless the saints that were under hardship, and particularly Paul. If you flip over a couple pages to Second Corinthians, chapter 11, you'll see that they sent down to Paul their offerings, Verse nine. And when I was with you and was in want, that word means poverty. I did not burden anyone, for my needs were supplied by the brethren who came from Macedonia. So there it is. The church in Macedonia, that is Philippi, sent down to Paul and the saints money. And what was their condition? What do we read in 2nd Corinthians 8? Out of what? Their own poverty. But they were joyful in it because it was a poverty not of spirit. In their spirit, they were joyful. But times were very difficult then. We know little of the economics. Poverty in their definition is different from poverty in our definition. They just didn't have a lot to throw around, folks. They were just making enough to meet their needs, and they gave out of that. And they took a risk. Now, what was the risk that they took? All right, let's look at it and consider it together. The risk that they took was that this Paul really was in it for the money. And they didn't know what was going to happen when he got down there to Thessalonica. And one of the things that you see when it comes to risk, brothers and sisters, in the kingdom of God, is you don't always know what's going to be there. You don't have any assurance of what's going to happen with the money that you give. Some of you here today have been burned by giving money to a ministry that turned out to be a false ministry. Some of you are afraid to give because you don't know where that money is going to go once you let go of it. And that's true. When you put the money in the box, you're saying, God, I give it to you. And then you trust the leadership of this church to seek God as to where it goes, you don't control it. And the church at Philippi didn't control it. They simply gave it. And they said, we give it to God through you. Paul North Way Christian Community People invested in the early days, they had no idea if the church would ever get off the ground. Eden Christian Academy. I remember those first few months, several months, actually, no one really knew. Was Eden Christian Academy going to be a viable school? And we go from church to church and you just talk to people. Well, I think it's a great idea. I'm just going to kind of watch and see what Happens to it, no guarantee that it would succeed. I want us to look for a few minutes at what risk? What are the characteristics of taking a risk? First thing was. Let's look in your scripture now. Verse 15, the Philippian church. In Taking a Risk, they were the first to do it. They did it in the beginning. Look at verse 15. You yourselves know that in the beginning of the Gospel, when I left Macedonia, no church, and so on. All right, they were first. There's something about being the first to take a risk that's really exciting. Remember the first time the space shuttle Columbia was launched? Remember the first time you sat in front of the TV and watched that thing come out of the sky like a rock? And at the last minute, the landing gear came down and you just wondered, remember that first time? And now if they can get it up, it's no big thing for it to come down, right? Remember the first time you drove a car by yourself? I bet your dad does. Taking a risk, the first time is always the crucial time. Once you get past that, it just seems to be a little bit easier. It's always a little easier to follow along. It's always a little easier to get on the bandwagon once it's rolling. The second characteristic is that the church was the only one to take the risk. They were the only ones that were willing to pour their resources into this ministry of the Apostle Paul and the churches in Thessalonica. Ever have someone evaluate. I mean, have you ever done this? Perhaps you look at something and say, that's a great idea, but I'm not sure. Some years ago, we had an outdoor ministry at north park, which we called Vision 77. I remember we had 35 churches come to the initial informational meeting. Pastors and some representatives were listening and kind of sorting out. Well, you know, it sounded really good to them. Out of that 35, six agreed to be part of it. Maybe it was eight. And out of that eight, three agreed to contribute some funds in order to secure the park permits and all the sound equipment and all the trailers and everything. Three ended up participating financially out of the 35 that listened to what we had to say. You see, it's difficult to take a risk if no one else around you is doing it, isn't it? It's difficult because you don't have the security of thinking, well, if they go down, I'll go down with them. You don't have the security of knowing that, gee, when it gets tough, what am I going to do? And that's really the third characteristic is persevering. Persevering, persevering in the risk. Oral Roberts, the other, a few months back, was here at the Charismatic Conference downtown. That was the first time I ever heard Oral Roberts in person. And he shared about the tremendous undertaking it was to build that City of Faith Hospital and Research Center. $150 million to erect this huge structure and do all that was necessary to supply it and so on. All the hassles, Remember all that that he got into. But what he stood up and said that really caught my attention was this. He said, I knew it was a struggle going through it, but what I didn't realize was how long afterwards I'd continue to struggle just to see it continue. In other words, the Lord didn't tell me that I wouldn't only need $150 million to get it started, but I need $50 million a year to get keep it going. And you know something, brothers and sisters? The Lord may call us to enter into some things that don't bear fruit the first year or the second or the third. But we keep by God's leading. We continue to stand with it. We persevere in taking that risk. And as we do, we begin to see God turn things around. Fruitfulness begins to happen. Look what it says. For even in Thessalonica, you sent me help. How often? Once. And again, some translations read several times. So there he was down there in a distant area. He wasn't seeing things happen. Remember at Athens. In fact, we don't even know that a church was established at Athens. But the people kept giving and kept giving and kept giving. We support some missionaries, beloved that if you look at it right now, they're in training. They're not really producing fruit in the sense of being out in the mission field. But we're going to persevere in our support because we believe that in God's timing, fruitfulness is going to be the net result. What happens when you don't see that minute, when you don't see that return right away? What do you think happened to Oral Roberts after that? What do you think is happening right now? Boy, is he getting criticized again. There's always criticism. There's always the people say, you shouldn't have done that. If you build, you shouldn't have done that. If you don't build, you shouldn't have done that. If you go out someplace and to establish a work, maybe you go into the inner city. You shouldn't have done that. You should have left it to the inner City people. If you don't go in, you should have done that. You're sitting out there as a suburban church. There's always somebody when you take a step of faith that's going to say, you shouldn't have done that. Or if it was right, how come you're struggling now? If that was really God, why aren't you being blessed? Ever have that? If that was really the Lord, I love those kind of people. If that was really the Lord, Doubt and pressure, that's the hardest time. It's after you've stepped out and taken a risk and it doesn't happen. Right? Isn't that the hardest time, Lord? I thought you said to do this and I've invested in it and nothing's happening. Where are you? You didn't tell me that it wouldn't happen tomorrow. I don't like this. And you know something, beloved? It's in those times that thelipsis, the affliction, the pressure of God is at work to shape your character. Those are the times in the end, that do more to make you who you are in Jesus than any other time. It's when you step out and take a risk for God and nothing happens because God is watching it and he's going to fulfill his word. If you'll persevere, are you willing to take a risk today? Now, we could go on. Secondly, that was the high risk. This is the high yield part. We could go on and talk about the rewards and I'm going to have to condense this this morning for the sake of our time in communion. Let me just name them. They are all in the Scriptures beginning in verse 17. Here's some of the rewards that they reaped the church at Philippi. Paul's personal fulfillment. Do you know that Philippians is a thank you note? How do you like to get a thank you note like this from somebody? Right? That's what it is. He started out to acknowledge the gift and he ends up by acknowledging how wonderful this gift, their support had been to him. So Paul's personal support. It's such a blessing to see these people come back from their mission training in the mission field and say, I would just thank God for what he's doing. I just feel so much a part of that, that personal fulfillment. Secondly, look at verse 18, would you? I have received full payment and more. I am filled. There it is. Having received from Epaphroditus the gifts you sent. A fragrant offering, a sacrifice, acceptable and pleasing to God. You see, your offerings, beloved, are to God. It's God's joy and blessing. The Greek word. There is a picture of the burnt offering being raised up, the pleasing aroma to God. Do you know when you put the money in the box, you're giving to God, you're not giving to men, you're giving to God. And what pleases him is that when you put that money in response to his leading by faith, that's an acceptable and pleasing sacrifice to God. I think one thing that we don't do enough of here, and I take responsibility for this, is that we don't acknowledge that enough. We trust that God is blessing you and we know that he is. But I don't know how else I can tell you God is pleased. And the basic giving posture of our community is a good one. And I believe God is pleased. The next thing we see is they're blessed. Now here's where the whole. If you're doing theological charts and graphs, this matter of giving, if you're moving along and you're pleasing God, you're serving your brothers and sisters and the ministry in general, this particular one is the one that shoots off in that you're blessed. And really the whole thrust of the prosperity message that exists, and I'm not against the prosperity message, but the thrust of it is that you're blessed if you give. I don't think that's the right thrust. I think it's true, but it's not the right thrust. It's true. Look at what he says. Would you please just check this verse 17. Paul says, not that I seek the gift, but I seek the fruit which increases to your credit, beloved, as you give, as you take a risk in faith. It's as though. And those are accounting terms in the original language, it's as though God marks the ledger. And I heard someone say something that I really appreciated. When God marks the ledger, beloved, he is a debtor to no one. God is a debtor to no one. And he is quick to see that you get return on investments in the kingdom. I believe that they may not always be where you think they're coming from. It may not always be that you're going to get a hundred dollars back if you give 10. But in your heart God's doing work and he's a debtor to no one. And in time he'll provide for you. Because look what it says. Paul says in verse 19, my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus. What that is saying is simply this. To the degree to which they had poured out themselves to the ministry, to the work, to that degree. My God will supply all of your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus. We could go on about that verse. What that's saying is, folks, that when God needs to give something, there's not going to be any shortage. Remember I said last week how vast the universe is? Do you think of, does God ever have a day when it doesn't look like things are going to balance out in the checkbooks of heaven? He's not going to be short when it comes to you you that he's going to supply all of your needs according to those glorious resources. But the greatest reason to give isn't just what you get. It's this beloved. The greatest reason to take a risk is that it's the only way I know to maintain a cutting edge in the Christian life. Growth only comes by extending yourself. I whack a tennis ball sometimes and one thing I know is that I only get better when I play with people that are better. I also know how much they love me to play with me, right? You know that's true in the natural realm. You only get better when you're extending yourself, right? And whatever it is, it's the same in the spiritual realm. If you don't take risks, if you don't extend yourself, there's no way that for long you'll maintain the cutting edge of your faith. There's no way that you'll resist the second law of church dynamics. You'll begin to get fearful and stilted and you won't move out. And it won't be long before you'll see your own life is just beginning to be a repetition of the same old things. And beloved, it's pouring out that makes the difference. People say, well, I want to be a mature believer in Jesus. I want northward to be a mature church, a holy church. Do you know something? I am thoroughly convinced that maturity, holiness and everything that has to do with being a godly people, measured not by how much you know about the Bible or how pure you think your sin life is, it's by the measure of what you pour out. Because you see, God's not in the self holiness self realization business. He's in the holiness by pouring out business. Because Jesus poured himself out. His self expenditure was the measure of holiness. Remember Mary of Bethany who had that little jar of oil that was worth 300 denarii and she took that $300 bottle of perfume, as it were, and broke it and poured it upon the Lord Jesus and washed his feet with her hair. I want to tell you something, beloved. It's that pouring out that God says is the mark of maturity. He said, I'm going to have that woman remembered all through eternity because of her act of pouring out. The secret of corporate health as a church is to pour out, pour out to risk in faith. Now, let me conclude I'm out of time. But I want to say, look at verse 13. The only kind of church that can pour out is a church that it is made up of people who are content. And contentment only comes. By the strength of God being imparted to us. Paul said, I've learned in whatever circumstances I am to be content. Are you content today? I don't know many people that are really content. You know what the word means in the Greek? It means sufficient. I have sufficient supply. And I contend with you this morning that you can't get that through materialism. We all know illustration after illustration of people, people who've tried to amass enough wealth to be sufficient. But you know what happens the more you get what the more you want. Because of the fear that somehow that what you have isn't enough and someone else can come along and take it from you. Or that if you have a collapse, it just is so true it's not even really worth spending much time on. Contentment doesn't come from that Contentment comes. Sufficiency comes by being infused with strength from God. Why is that such a platitude for us, but such a reality for Paul? Why was Paul, who had been through prisons and beatings and deprivations and starvations and struggles, why was he able to say, I can do all things, I'm sufficient in all things through him who strengthens me. Why was this? It was real to him. And yet to us we just quote the verse and struggle on it. Let me give an illustration to conclude. Here's what I think it means for God to be sufficient. It wasn't long ago, maybe a year or so, that we were in the north park and running around and my little daughter Amy and David were having a race. And Amy's pretty tall and she can run pretty well. And Jonathan, maybe it was two years ago now. Jonathan was trying to keep up, but at that point he was three and a half. And, you know, he wasn't sure which way his legs were going to go, but he was heading after her. And I could see that it was going to be a pitiful disaster. I mean, in terms of this race, he was going to come in you know, a turtle's last. So I went trotting up beside him, picked him up and put him over my back and had his arms in front here. And we started running to catch up to Amy and David, who were up, gee, 30 yards ahead of us. And I'm running along and, you know, got 35 or 40 pounds on my back. Trotting up to him. I can remember Jonathan whispering. He said, we can do it, dad. We can catch him. Last night, as I was just meditating on how to transmit, what it means to draw on the strength of God in all circumstances is this. God is doing the running, and all we have to do is hold on. We can do it, Lord. You run, I'll hold on. Will we be a church, beloved, that will take risks by the strength of God, or will we turn around and circle our wagons and just simply keep looking at them? Neighbor's wagon. I believe the Lord's calling us on. I believe he's calling you on in your personal walk. And the promise is that you can do all things through him who strengthens you. And our God shall supply all of our needs according to his glorious resources in Christ Jesus. Let's pray. Lord Jesus, we want to come now and present ourselves before you in a time of communion, Lord. A time when we just reaffirm that our arms are around your neck, Lord, that we are trusting in you to be all that we need to be, Father. And that we, as your church, would learn what it means afresh, Lord, to take a risk, A risk of faith to move on God in pleasing youg and extending youg kingdom. Thank youk, Holy Spirit. Thank you, Lord. As you have your head bowed, we're going to be receiving communion. Communion is God's provision, beloved. It's his table being extended to you. The deacons and the other servants will be bringing the elements by. But I need to ask you today before you receive communion, the only condition that God puts forth is that you have received the provision of his life in his son, Jesus, for the rebellion and the sin that exist in each of us. If you've never opened to the love of God today, you can do that right now. It doesn't need to be a big spiritual experience. You can simply say, father, I receive the forgiveness of sins in Jesus. Today I want to begin my life with you. Today I want to take a risk, God, and leave what I have and embrace something new. Who is there today that says, I know I need to take a new step of faith with the Lord Jesus. I want to know you today, if that's where you are today, let me acknowledge that this is just a beginning point with you, all right? This is all I'm going to do. I just want you to look up right now and let our eyes meet, if that's the desire of your heart today. I want to take a step of faith in following Jesus today. Is that why you're looking at me? God's love is saying, you come, you come. He loves you today. Just let her eyes me. Is that why you're looking at me, sir? Just put up your hands just so I know, okay? I don't want to embarrass anybody, but I just want to know. I want to agree with you. I. I want to take a step of faith today. Is that why you're looking at me, sir? Right here? Is it? No. Would you just put your head down? Okay. Thank you. Let her eyes meet. Okay? I want to take a step of faith, a risk today to follow Jesus. Anyone else today that would look this way? I don't want to miss you. Slip up your hand. No need to be afraid. This isn't. Yes, okay. God bless you, too. Anyone else today? Just look this way. All right? As communion comes. Now, if you're just working this out before God, when you take these elements, you say, God, I'm receiving life today in Jesus Christ. Deacons, would you come and serve us now, please? Fred.