Examples of Christians in the Joy of Unity

Paul explains that the passage from verse 19 to 30 is not about deep theology, but about simple examples of being a Christian and finding joy and unity through humility. He emphasizes the importance of submitting our minds to Jesus and doing things for others without murmuring or complaining. He uses the examples of Jesus, Paul, Timothy, and Epaphroditus to show how humility and service lead to unity and joy. Paul also mentions the need to work out our salvation by demonstrating transformed behavior without complaining. He highlights his own sacrificial rejoicing and how he fears wasting his labor. He encourages others to have the same sacrificial and selfless attitude of service. verse 19 down through verse 30 does not really have a whole lot of doctrinal issues. It doesn't have a whole lot of deep theology in it. It's just very simple and straight to the fact. And Paul puts it here, as a matter of fact, to show us the examples of being a Christian and how to have this humility and this joy that produces unity. If you remember in chapter 1 of Philippians, Paul says the single mindset. He said, for me to live is Christ and to die is gain. Everything about Paul's life was centered and focused on God. Jesus Christ that began a good work in us will be able to finish it, to accomplish it. And he came to chapter 2, in order to have that single mindset, we have got to submit our mind to Jesus Christ. We've got to recognize Him as Lord. He is the One that God has given that name, Lord of lords and King of kings. And so he says, therefore, we need to strive for one another. Quit looking at ourselves. Quit being selfish. And start doing things for others. And we're to do it without murmuring, without complaining, without griping. We are to do it with joy in our hearts. And he gave us the greatest example of that, which is Jesus Christ. But how many of you are kind of like me, and sometimes when you see things that Jesus Christ did, and He shows us in a human body, in a fleshly body, that it can be done, but how many of you are like me and we just kind of say, well, He's still God, right? You know, He's still God. You know, when it said that Jesus Christ did everything on this earth, was tempted in all points as we are yet without sin, right? And then we have problems sometimes going a few minutes without sin. And we like give up that excuse. Well, you know what? None of us, we can't go without sin, and only Jesus could do it because He was God. And so I believe that for giving us this example of God, who thought it not robbery to be equal with God, but made of Himself no reputation and humbled Himself, and became obedient even to the death of the cross, Paul knows that the readers are going to say, you know what, yeah, but that's Jesus Christ. That's God, right? And so he gives us three examples today. He takes three ordinary human beings and shows us what does humility and service and unity look like. How does all of this seem to work out? You remember the statement in Matthew 20 and verse 26 that Jesus Christ said. He said, but it shall not be so among you, but whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister. The principle of greatness rises out of sacrifice. You want to be great, it comes with sacrifice. Why is America one of the greatest nations? Because of sacrifice. Look at our wars. Look at our fights. Look at the ones that we have lost in order to give us what we have. And so today we're going to look at three examples. Paul, Timothy, and Epiphroditus, and all three of these are examples of servanthood that leads to unity in the body of Christ, and that unity is the foundation for joy and rejoicing. Joy and rejoicing are mentioned all through this book. But remember, Paul is where? He's in prison, right? He's chained to a Roman guard. He's riding back to the church at Philippi. And in this context that we have here in this passage of Scripture, it's showing us the importance of humility. And that when Jesus Christ became a sacrifice, when He sacrificed Himself, what did God do? God exalted Him to greatness and gave Him a name above every name, that at the name of Jesus, may every one bow and confess. He also tells us that it's our responsibility to work out our salvation. Work out our salvation has to do with demonstrating a transformed life of behavior. We saw last week, you cannot work for your salvation. You cannot work to keep your salvation. You cannot work to better your salvation. You are saved by grace through faith alone. Period. But then we are to work out. We're to prove that we're saved. We're to show people what God has done for us. And this behavior, he says, to do all things, all things without murmuring and disputing. Only then can we become blameless and harmless without rebuke in this very perverse and wicked nation. Humbly working out our salvation through the power of God in humility without complaint. That is the content. Working out our salvation without complaint. Without murmuring and grumbling. And then we see Paul gives a demonstration. And he starts with himself. You say, man, what arrogance, right? To use yourself as an example of humility. But Paul was a perfect example of humility, right? And he commanded. He said, if you can't follow anybody else, follow me because I'm following Christ. And so Paul was assured of his relationship with Jesus Christ. He knew he was doing what he was supposed to be doing, what God had called him to do. He knew he was in the will of God. And when you look at Paul, and you look at Timothy, and you look at Epaphroditus, you see that all three of them have this sacrificial, this humble, this selfless attitude of service that we are to exhibit. And if these human beings can do it, then guess what? You can too. And I can too. And so Paul gives us a visual picture of what it looks like to work out our salvation as God performs it to completion. Notice what he says in chapter 1 and verse 6. Being confident of this very thing that He, God, Jesus Christ, which began a good work in you, will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ. So let's dive in this morning to these three men, these three examples of humility, of service, of sacrifice, of similarities, and look in real life, real situations, real things that are going on, and see how did they work out their salvation. The first one we see, Paul. Paul, and I call him the sacrificial rejoicer, because he's rejoicing. He tells us here in this passage of Scripture that I rejoice, and not only me, but you rejoice. And why was he rejoicing? He was rejoicing because of the sacrifices that he made. He tells us in chapter 2 and verse 16, he says, holding forth the word of life that I may rejoice in the day of Christ that I have not run in vain, neither labored in vain. Paul's heart is seen in this verse. Notice what he is doing. His whole life is about the Word of God. His whole life is about Jesus Christ. Everything that he does is focused on the gospel of Jesus Christ so that when Christ returns, guess what? You will have your place in eternity because of the message and life of Paul. And he says, I pray that all of my labor and everything I go through is not in vain. Paul ministered out of a healthy fear. He had a healthy fear. He feared that when he got to that time of judgment, that time that he stood before Jesus Christ, that guess what? People may have come up and the Lord say, well, Paul, you wasted this year of your life. Paul, you wasted this opportunity. You didn't take advantage of this situation. And Paul was constantly afraid of the judgment seat of Christ. So what did he do? That fear drove him to present and to hold out the Word of God. Paul ministered out of a passion, a zeal, a compelling fear that unless he gave his maximum effort, unless he continued to avoid, everything would crumble. When was the last time you gave everything that you had thinking that the ministry of Kentucky Missionary Baptist Church rests upon your back? That one action or inaction could all of a sudden bring everything that God has built down. That's Paul's mentality. Paul is going and starting these churches and he's saying, man, if I don't do it, who's going to do it? And so, man, he was committed. There was that fear that was there. Paul knew God. Paul knew God had gifted him and put a gift within him and prepared him and God had revealed to him what he needed to know. And so Paul wanted to work fully. And Paul wanted to do it very, very well. We see in Paul this sacrificial rejoicer. We see his personal sacrifice that he speaks of in verse 17. He says, Yea, and if I be offered upon the sacrifice and service of your faith, I joy and rejoice with you all. For the same cause also do you joy and rejoice with me. Now this is a unique deal here because he says, Yea, and if I be offered upon the sacrifice and service. That word offering literally means to be poured out. And that's what Paul is saying. Paul is referring to himself as a drink offering. Now, what is a drink offering? Most of us today, we have heard of sacrifices a little bit. We know a little bit about the Jews when they would bring a lamb or they would bring a goat or they would bring a pigeon, right? And they would bring it down to the temple or the tabernacle or whatever period of life they were living. And they would come and they would kill that animal. The priest would take that animal and then he would go and prepare it. And he would go and sacrifice it and go through the motions. We kind of know, but none of us in this day and time really fully know or comprehend everything about what was taking place at a sacrifice. But one of the parts of the sacrifice was known as the drink offering. And in the ancient world of sacrifice, and actually both the Jewish and the pagans would offer these drink offerings on their sacrifice. And it would typically happen after the animal was brought to the altar and had been killed and then burned up. This was kind of the very final topping of the sacrifice. When all of the carcass was just about burned up and just about gone, then they would come and they would take this either wine, sometimes they would use water, sometimes they would use honey, but the majority of the time, most times in every situation they used wine, they would take that out and they would pour it over the sacrifice, the drink offering. And this was kind of the final act of the sacrifice that was there. And what would happen is you've got this meat that was on the altar and all of a sudden it is very, very hot and it's being consumed. And when that wine hit that heat, what would it do? It would immediately evaporate and go back into the air. And what it did was it actually pictured this idea of this sacrificing rising up to the nostrils of God in order that He might receive this sacrifice as a sweet-smelling aroma of the sacrifice that was given on behalf of this individual. And so it was the completion of the full sacrifice. In 2 Kings 16 and verse 13, it says, And He burned His burnt offering, His meat offering, and poured His drink offering, and sprinkled the blood of His peace offering upon the altar. And so here's a verse of Scripture that shows us, once this sacrifice is about done, He pours this drink offering there. You go on over to Philippians 2.17 and Paul says, Yea, and if I be offered a drink offering, if I be poured out upon the sacrifice, I rejoice. Now something else that's neat about this is because this is a first-class condition. We mentioned this before in chapter 1. But really, instead of saying if, because what this means is, is that this is actually happening and occurring in the life of Paul right now. So it's really not an if situation. It's not really if I pour my life out, but really what Paul is saying is since I'm being poured out. Because his life is presently, right now, being as a drink offering. You see the picture now? Since I am being poured out upon the sacrifice and service of your faith. Paul is not looking to his death. So many commentators and so many people say, well, Paul's looking forward to that day that he'll die. This is in present tense. This is not looking into the future. Paul is imprisoned in Rome right now. He doesn't know if he's going to live and die. He's hoping to be released. We've already seen that in Philippians. He's hoping to go back to Philippi, but he don't know. His life is already being poured out as a sacrifice right now. And it will be culminated in his death. Paul is chained to this Roman guard 24 hours a day. He has no privacy. He cannot even imagine the abuse that might be taking place on the Apostle Paul. And he sees himself, his life, as being poured out as an offering to please God. That's personal sacrifice. That's personal sacrifice. When he's willing to give his life on behalf of someone else. We saw that example in Jesus Christ, didn't we? Who thought it not robbery to equal the God, but did what? He became the sacrifice for us. Even the death of the cross. But notice his preeminent sacrifice. Not only was it a personal sacrifice, but it was preeminent sacrifice. What did he sacrifice? Look at what he says here in verse 17. He said, "...Yea, and if I be offered upon the sacrifice and service of..." Whose faith? Your faith. Who's he writing to? He's writing to the church at Philippi. Now, this is pretty cool right here, because Paul is being poured out as the sacrifice, and he's doing it on the back of the sacrifice of the church at Philippi. The drink offering was the last thing. He says, I'm being poured out on your sacrifice. Talk about humility. Paul's in prison, and Paul is saying, you know what, you as a church in Philippi, you're having to make sacrifices also. You're living for God. Remember in chapter 1, verse 29, there was preachers that was preaching for contention. There was problems that was going on. They were suffering hardship. They were suffering persecution. They were giving and sacrificing of their selves. And Paul said, guess what, here you are worried about me. I'm down here in prison, but I am just a drink offering on your sacrifice. Your sacrifice is why I am here sacrificing to begin with. How in the world could Paul say this? Well, back in chapter 28 and verse 29, he says, "...in nothing terrified by your adversaries, which is to them an evident token of perdition, but to you of salvation and that of God. For unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on Him, but also to..." what? "...suffer for your sake." And so Paul is saying, guess what, my life is the sacrifice, but guess what, your life is the sacrifice. You're having to make sacrifices also. You're having to give of yourself. You're suffering. You have opponents. You have opposition. I have my fight, but you have your fight. And then notice what he says in chapter 1. "...having the same conflict which you saw in me, and now here to be in me." The Philippian church was going through the same stuff Paul was going through. They just wasn't in a Roman prison tied to a Roman guard, but they were making sacrifices. And so remember, what is the theme of this chapter? The theme of chapter 2 is unity that is brought about because of humility and service. And so when you think about the context that's here, in Philippians 2 and verse 4, Paul said, look, not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others. Now, back up a verse. When you back up to verse 3, what did Paul say? Let nothing be done through strife and vainglory, but in lowliness of mind, let each esteem others better than themselves. Do you see the humility there? You see, he's not worried. He's saying I'm not focused on me here in prison. He says I'm sacrificing just like you're sacrificing. He's esteeming them. They're sacrificing. He's noticing what they're going through. And so this character of Paul, this humility in Paul, what is the service of faith? He says I've sacrificed on the service of your faith. What is the service of their faith? The church at Philippi, they are preaching. They are teaching. They are proclaiming the living Jesus Christ. The word service is actually the Greek word that we get the English word liturgy. You know what a liturgy is? A liturgy is a sacred service. It's a religious service. It is a priestly service. And Paul was looking at the church of Philippi and he says guess what? You are giving a religious sacrifice. A religious liturgy. You are giving of yourself to show and to preach Jesus Christ. But guess what? Not only was it a personal sacrifice and a preeminent sacrifice, but it was also a pooled sacrifice. Here's what I mean by that. Look at what he said. You really can't look at this as being a greater or lesser sacrifice. Who was sacrificing the most? The church at Philippi? Who was suffering for the name of Jesus Christ? Or was Paul suffering the greatest who was locked in prison for serving Jesus Christ? Which is the greater sacrifice? And if you try to figure it out, guess what? You're looking at this whole passage of Scripture wrong. Because what's he trying to say? He's trying to say it's both of our sacrifices. It's both of our sacrifices. According to the customs, the sacrifice was laid onto the altar. And once it was laid onto the altar, the One who brought the sacrifice was the One that poured out the drink offering as the final element of that one sacrifice. And so Paul is really saying here, you and I together are offering to God the sacrifice of our life. We are offering ourselves. It may look different, but guess what? It's both sacrifices. The experience of joy is found in the highest expression of Paul's life. Giving himself as a sacrifice. See, I've said this over and over and over. Joy is not in spite of. We're not to have joy in spite of anything. We are to have joy because of. Because of. Because of. And that's the difference of joy and happiness. The greatest joy comes during the greatest sacrifice. Jesus found joy when what? He died on the cross. That's where His joy, His greatest sacrifice was where He found the greatest joy. Where is Paul? He's in Roman prison not knowing if he's going to be beheaded or not. And what does he say over and over and over? I joy, I joy, I joy. I rejoice, I rejoice, I rejoice. Joy comes when it's the greatest sacrifice. Remember chapter 1. Paul said for me to live is Christ and to die is gain. Either way, whether I live or whether I die, guess what? I'm Jesus's. And whether I live, I'm going to live for Jesus. Or whether I die, I'm going to be with Jesus. But guess what? Jesus is the end of life or death. Philippians 2.18 says, For the same cause also do you joy and rejoice in me. Paul's joy and rejoicing was not in spite of, but rather because of. Since he is being poured out as a drink offering. He says since he is being poured out as a drink offering in verse 7, Upon the sacrifice and service of your faith, I joy, and you rejoice with you all. Ultimate joy comes from the ultimate offering of one's life to the will of God. It isn't just service God desires. God doesn't want just service. God wants humble service. God wants humility. Uncomplaining service without murmurings or disputings. He wants us to quit looking at we're in competition. And we're not in competition with nobody. We're not in competition with the church down at the road. We're not in competition with each other. What are we doing? We are all sacrificing for Jesus Christ. Their sacrifice is different than our sacrifice. But guess what? We're all making sacrifices. And so now we move to the sacrificial rejoicer. Now we see that Paul, as he sacrifices his life upon the back of the Philippian church's sacrifice, then he turns and gives us Timothy, the humble rejoicer. He shows us that this sacrifice comes with humility. Notice what he says in verse 19, But I trust in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy shortly unto you, that I also may be of good comfort when I know your state. For I have no man like-minded who will naturally care for your state, for all seek their own, not the things which are Jesus Christ. But you know the proof of Him that as a son with the Father, He has served with me in the Gospel. Him, therefore, I hope to send presently so soon as I shall see how it will go with me. But I trust in the Lord that I also shall come shortly. You know, examples are great. I'm a visual person. I like examples. I like for somebody to show me how to do something, and then I mimic what they're doing. And then what happens? Not every time can you mimic right, right? Because not every single situation works out exactly the same. I don't know how many times Brother Donald has shown me some stuff. Over and over and over. But then what happens? When I go to do it, it doesn't look and act the same way Brother Donald did it, right? And so examples are great though. They show us the principles and the duties that the Word of God can be done. They prove that you can live out the Bible. You can go to Jesus Christ. I mean, you look at the life of David. Even after everything that David did, the New Testament records that David was a man after God's own heart. Can you imagine that you can commit adultery? You can commit murder. You can lose your kingdom. Everything can go bad and you can still be a man after God's own heart. See, the Bible shows us over and over in these examples that it can be done. In verses 1-16 of chapter 2, Paul lays out these principles of living in humility. And he uses Jesus Christ to show the unity. Not only was there unity in Jesus Christ, this humility led to unity in the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. They all was acting for one purpose and one purpose only. The redemption of mankind. And guess what? Then we got drawn into that unity when we accept Jesus Christ as our personal Savior. And we're told, we're commanded by Paul here to live humbly without complaining. We're to be working out our salvation with fear and trembling. In essence, we're simply to be like Christ. We're to look like Christ. We're to act like Christ. We're to talk like Christ. He says, look not on your own beings, but others. Now this section is pretty straightforward. There's no way to misinterpret what he is saying here. It's pretty much to the point. And now he gives Timothy an example of a wonderful servant of Christ and an example of what we can do and that it's also possible. If Timothy can do it, then I can do it. If Timothy can do it, you can do it. So look at what he says about Timothy. He says in verse 19, But I trust in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy shortly unto you, that I also may be of good comfort when I know your state. For I have no man like minded who will naturally care for your state. For all seek their own, not the things which are Jesus Christ, but you know the proof of him that as a son of the Father, he has served with me in the gospel. Him, therefore, I hope to send presently, so soon as I shall see how it will go with me. But I trust in the Lord that I also myself shall come shortly. So go back to verse 19. Notice it says, But I trust in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy unto you, that you may be of good comfort when I know your state. When you look at this, Paul was all about relationships. When you read Paul's letters, you see relationships. Not only relationships with the church that he's writing the letter, but relationships with individuals that he has as part of his ministry. He always mentions individuals that are either at that church or individuals that are traveling with him. Paul's life was built around relationships. And Timothy, he says, is going to come and see you shortly. When you look over in chapter 1 of Philippians, we're introduced to all of this love and compassion of the people of Philippi. Paul cared for these people. Paul loved these people. Paul desired. In chapter 1, he says, I plan on coming to see you. I'm in prison, but guess what? My itinerary, as soon as I get out of here, I'm coming to see you guys. I want to see you. Paul was not worried about fellowship. Paul was worried about spiritual progress. He wanted to come see them. Why? Because they're suffering persecution. In chapter 4, there's two women that are fighting and bickering and everything else. Paul's wanting to straighten out and make sure that they are growing spiritually. Look at what it says there in verse 27. Only let your conversation be as it becometh the gospel of Christ, that whether I come and see you or else be absent, I may hear of your affairs, that you stand fast in one spirit, with one mind, striving together for the faith of the gospel. It wasn't about fellowship. It was about growth. It was about growing with Jesus Christ. Now look what it says in chapter 2 and verse 1. If there be therefore any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any vows of mercy, fulfill you my joy that you be what? Like-minded. All of one accord and one mind. Notice that when Paul talked about Timothy, we see a spiritual similarity. A spiritual similarity. Look at verse 20. He says, For I have no man like-minded who will naturally care for your states. You know what that like-minded actually means? It literally means equal soul. Equal soul. In other words, what he's talking about is two souls propped together with the very exact same center. Two minds, two bodies, two spirits, fused together as if they're one. Paul says when you look at Timothy, you see me. When you look at me, you see Timothy. We're just alike. Wow! Talk about unity. Talk about sacrifice. Talk about humility. Talk about their... And so this spiritual union is possible. As church members, it is possible for you and I to become to look like each other. To look like Jesus Christ. So when somebody sees you, they see Jesus Christ. When somebody sees me, they see Jesus Christ. Paul said it happened here with Timothy. Paul wanted progress. They also wanted unity. He says in chapter 4 and verse 2, I'll beseech Jodeas and beseech Syntych. That they be of the same mind in the Lord. He wants these two ladies to bring accord instead of discord. He wants these two ladies to get along. Y'all can get along. You can happen, but what happens? You're going to have to humble yourself and you're going to have to make some sacrifices. Both of you. And so Timothy, Paul is wanting their spiritual growth to happen. But then notice verse 20. He says, For I have no man like-minded. And then the next phrase is, Who will naturally care for your state? For all seek their own, not the things which are Jesus Christ. Notice in this pastoral similarity, he says naturally. And that means genuinely. There's something a little different about a pastor's heart than anybody else. You may not know this and you may not understand this, but wrapped up in this office of a pastor, it's not about being a ruler. A pastor that is a good pastor that is a shepherd cares for his flock. He loves them. He cares for them. He is discreet. When they come to him and they share with him, he is discreet. See, there's just something different about a pastor than everybody else. And Paul is telling the church at Philippi that he could trust Timothy. I can trust him with even the most delicate situations. He's going to handle it properly. He's going to do it with discretion. He's going to do it. As a matter of fact, we know that Paul has already sent Timothy to Corinth, right? What was wrong with Corinth? Man, they had schisms in their church. They had divisions where people were following this one and following that one. There was lawsuits. They had church members that were suing each other. There was immorality. They had people that were sleeping with their mother-in-laws. And I mean, it was just a mess. And what did he send? He sent Timothy to Corinth to straighten all of that out. And so he had faith in Timothy that this pastoral similarity in the Philippian church with all of their possibility of divisions and things that was going on. And so there was this spiritual unity. There was this pastoral unity. But then there's this family similarity. This family unity. Look at what he says in verse 22. But you know the proof of him, that as a son with the Father, he has served Me in the Gospel. As a son with the Father. Paul is speaking of his and Timothy's relationship. And he spiritually likened it to a physical family. Timothy was devoted to his spiritual father. Paul was not Timothy's physical father. He was his spiritual father. He's the one that came with him. As a matter of fact, if you go back to Acts 16, when Paul started the church at Philippi, who was with him? Timothy. Following along. Listening along. When Paul asked Timothy to do something, what does he do? Yes, sir, Father. He obeys. He's respectful. He does it. And so we see this family unity that is there. In verse 23, look at what Paul said. Him, therefore. Timothy, this son, this family, this spiritual likeness of me, this pastoral likeness of me, this family likeness of me, I hope to send presently so soon as I shall see how it will go with me. I want to send him, but I've got to wait just a minute because Timothy's needful for me. So let's go a little bit longer. I can't send him right now, but I'm going to be sending him. There's something different about being in the presence as opposed to a letter. A call. A text. The second best thing though is to send someone. Paul said if I can't be with you, then I'm going to send Timothy. But what did he tell us in chapter 1? I hope to be with you. So I'm not going to send Timothy yet because I'm going to wait and see what decisions are being made because I would really like to travel with Timothy. I love you and I'm so concerned. I want to be there. But if I can't make it, if it don't happen very quickly, then I'm going to send Timothy to you. And then we come to verse 25. Yet I suppose it necessary to send to you Epaphroditus. Listen to all these titles. My brother, my companion in labor, a fellow soldier, but remember that word of contrast? But he is my brother, my companion in labor, my fellow soldier, but he is your messenger and he that ministered to my wants. If you remember, Epaphroditus was a member at Philippi. And when you understand the context of what was going on, Philippi, when they heard that Paul had been arrested and that Paul was in jail, Philippi was concerned about Paul. And so what did they do? They gathered up an offering. They collected some money and they said, Epaphroditus, will you take this offering to Paul? He's going to need it for lawyers. He's going to need it for other things. Take this money to Paul and check on him for us. And so Epaphroditus was sent to Paul to bring money and to minister to help Paul with whatever things that he might stand in need of. That's what was going on with Epaphroditus. And so with Epaphroditus, we see this selfless rejoicer. And notice in this selflessness, we see fellowship. Look at what he says. He said, yet I suppose it necessary to send to you Epaphroditus, my brother, my companion, laborer, fellow soldier, but your messenger, and he that ministered to my wants. When you look at all these terms brother, companion in labor, fellow soldier, Epaphroditus was an extraordinary man. He was an amazing man. He was unselfish. He was sympathetic. He was compassionate. He was humble. He was all of the things that Paul and Timothy were. All of the things that Jesus Christ was. But yet, he was a servant. He was courageous. He was a godly man. And he built a strong bond with Paul. And he worked fairly alongside of them. And they did share with each other. And he said we were even combatants in this Gospel of Jesus Christ. He fought alongside of me. He wasn't ashamed of the Gospel of Christ. When he came into Rome and to Paul, he didn't try to hide his identity or anything else. And in spite of all of these qualities, and in spite of the fact that he is my brother whom I love, in spite of that he's my co-worker whom I need, he is my fellow soldier that has fought the battle with me, I'm sending him back to you. It's necessary for him to come back to you. Now that's kind of weird, right? If he is doing all of this for Paul and it's so profitable for Paul, why in the world is Paul sending him back to the church at Philippi? Look at what he says in verse 26. For he longed after you all. Oh man, poor Epaphroditus got homesick, didn't he? He got homesick. He missed all the people at Philippi. So Paul's going to send them back. Now wait, keep reading. He longed after you and was full of heaviness. That word heaviness is a unique word because it describes a confused, restless, half-distracted state produced by physical derangement and mental distress. He was so homesick, he was so missing the people at Philippi that he was distracted and he couldn't even concentrate on what he was doing for worrying about the people at Philippi. That's what he said, right? And so man, he's getting so homesick, it's making him sick. But now I don't stop there. Look, he keeps going. Because why was he longing after them? Why was he distracted and mentally disturbed? Because that you had heard that he had been sick. Why was Epaphroditus at this point of missing them to the point of sickness? Because they had heard about him. They were missing him. He said, you have heard that I've been sick. When was the last time you got completely disoriented, completely restless, totally distressed because you knew somebody was feeling bad about your situation? That's what Epaphroditus is doing. He's not eating. He's not taking care of himself because he's worried about the others. When was the last time you got that way about somebody else? Or maybe your distress was directly related to the fact not that you were having a difficult situation, but that you were having a difficult time with your situation. See, that shows you the depth of love. That shows you the bond between Paul and Epaphroditus and the church at Philippi. Unfortunately, when we look at our society today, when we look at our world and what we live in today, we're more concerned with things than we are people. Amen? We're more concerned about things than we are people. We're more concerned about possessions than we are relationships. So what happens? We get upset. We get mad. We get a heaviness. We get physically and mentally disturbed and distracted when things don't go right for us. Right? Oh, preacher, this happened. Please pray for me. Right? My air conditioning went out. My radiator went out. My transmission went out. You know, with things, we get stressed and messed up. But how often do we ignore things that other people are going through because we're so wrapped up in ourselves? See, Epiphroditus is an example of fellowship. What is fellowship? Fellowship is two or more people in the same boat going the same direction. In other words, if you get tired, I'm going to row, but we're going the same direction. When you're not tired, we can row together. But guess what? We're going to make it to our goal. We're going to make it to our destination. And so we don't see that in our society today. But look at verse 27. He says, For indeed He was sick, nigh unto death. Now, we don't know if it has to do with the relating of this. We don't know if He caught a disease. We don't know what caused His sickness. But Paul is saying not only was He almost mentally half-distracted in heaviness worrying about you, but He literally did almost die. He was near death. But, contrast, God had mercy on Him. Wow. Mercy. Mercy. Word had gotten back to the Philippians through a messenger, through some traveler, through somebody it doesn't say, but the Philippians had heard that Epiphroditus was sick and that he was nearly dying and that he was near death. And they got so upset. They got so grieved. Then, somehow or another, Epiphroditus heard that they were worrying about him. And so what did he do? He starts worrying because they're worrying. You ever got to worrying because one of your brothers or sisters in Christ was worrying? Epiphroditus, read this Scripture here. He's not upset because he was near death. Not at all. He's upset because they're upset. They're thinking Epiphroditus is upset. Look at what he says in verse 27. For indeed, he was sick unto death, but God had mercy on him. God spared him. In the brush with death, God spared him. Would you please notice and understand that any time God spares any one of us from death, it is mercy. The wages of sin is death. All of us were born deserving to die for all of sin and come short of the glory of God. But when we don't die, that is God's mercy. God showed him mercy. And Paul said, guess what? Not only did He show him mercy, but He showed me mercy also. Well, how did He show Paul mercy? Because Epiphroditus was so important in the life of Paul that guess what? If he would have died, Paul says, I would have had sorrow on sorrow. Man, I'd be grieving so much. But God knew I was going through enough here at Rome without having to grieve the death of Epiphroditus. So see, Epiphroditus found mercy. Paul found mercy. And so, the mercy of Paul. You know what would have happened if Paul and Epiphroditus would have died? He would have sorrowed. He would have grieved. He knows what that word means. It's wave after wave after wave of grief. Sorrow after sorrow after sorrow. But then look at verse 28. I sent him therefore... And notice this, the more carefully that when you see him again, you may rejoice in that I may be less sorrowful. Now, Paul is rejoicing instead of having wave upon wave of sorrow and grief. Paul is rejoicing because Epiphroditus is alive. And guess what? He's fixing to see an Epiphroditus back to Philippi so that they'll quit worrying. And that they will rejoice. But notice what it says. It says, he doesn't say, I send him therefore the more reluctantly. Go back, what was Epiphroditus? He was a brother. He was a fellow laborer. He was a fellow soldier. He is important to the life of Paul. Paul says, I'm not sending him back to you reluctantly. No, as a matter of fact, what am I doing? I'm sending him back the more carefully. I'm sending him back eagerly to you. Why? In order that when you see him again, you may rejoice. And if you're rejoicing because Epiphroditus is ok, then guess what? I'm going to be able to rejoice and relax just a little bit knowing that you know everything is ok. You see the circle that's here? It all started, the Philippian church heard that Epiphroditus was sick unto death. They get worried. Word gets back to Epiphroditus that Philippi is all upset because they're afraid that you're going to die or almost die. And so what happens? They get upset. Now Epiphroditus gets upset because they're upset and they're grieving and they're hearty-hearted. Paul gets upset because Philippi is there. And so everybody is upset. You see this circle? It's never-ending worrying and caring for each other. Remember Philippians 1 and verse 8? Paul said, For God is my record, how greatly I longed after you all in the bowels of Jesus Christ. You remember we talked about that gut, that wrenching that Paul cared for the church at Philippi when we were in chapter 1? You remember that? Down deep in his gut, he hurt and longed for Philippi. And now what's happening? Philippi is upset and they're hurting because they heard Epiphroditus was sick. Epiphroditus was worrying because they were worrying. Paul had this gut that he didn't like none of them worrying. He didn't like none of them spending his time. And so he says, Guess what? I need to get you back to Philippi. In chapter 2 and verse 3, he says, Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory, but in lowliness of mind, let each esteem others better than themselves. Paul didn't send them back and say, Guys, y'all need to grow up. Epiphroditus didn't die. He's ok. Y'all need to know, what's he doing? Because sometimes the letter just don't work, does it? Sometimes when you call the chick on somebody, what do they say? How are you doing? I'm fine. You alright? I've done the same thing to you guys, that I get mad about when you do it to me, right? You call, you text, you check on Lisa. How's she doing today? Better. She's doing better, right? Well, she's better than yesterday, but she may be throwing up. She may not be able to get out of the bed. She may be over wearing her vainglory. You know, a lot of stuff is going on. A lot of stuff is happening. But what? She's better, right? And look, Paul is not saying, grow up, get over it. No, he is worried. Because Epiphroditus is worried. Because Philippi is worried. And so what? He says, we just need to stop all this worry. I'm going to send Epiphroditus back to Philippi. So that I know when y'all see them, when y'all touch them, it's going to be a relief, because you don't know what's going on. But when you see Lisa back, right? Then you're going to say, hey, she did it. It's better than just hearing or doing. Look what he says in verse 29. Receive him therefore, and this is the faithfulness. Receive him therefore in the Lord with all gladness and hold him in such reputation. Notice the faithfulness of this servant. He says, hold him up. Receive him. Take him back. And honor this guy. Epiphroditus. Why in the world? He almost died. He's homesick. He's wanting to leave Paul there in Rome. Why in the world would you honor him? Why in the world would you hold him in respect? So Paul tells them. Because they're going to be surprised when Epiphroditus shows up with this letter. Because for the work of Christ, for the work of Christ, he was nigh unto death. We don't know what disease he had. We don't know what sickness he had. We don't know what was going on. But why was he in Rome? He went to Rome to take money from the church of Philippi to Paul. To minister and to help Paul. So guess what? He was doing the work of Christ. Right? He was doing the work of Christ. And Paul says, while he was here doing the work of Christ that you sent him to do, he got sick. He got sick. He was nigh unto death. But guess what? Not regarding his life to supply your lack of service to me. In other words, and this is real cool and I'm fixing to close. That phrase regarding his life is real cool. It's real cool, because here's what it is. It's a very interesting verb. It's a verb that is connected to the noun which means dice. What is the first thing you think of when you hear the word dice? Gambling. Right? That's what the verb means. The verb form means to roll the dice. The noun is dice. The verb form is to roll the dice. It means to risk a gamble. To risk a gamble. To play the gambler. To expose oneself to danger might be the best way. And what it's saying is, as Paul said, he risked his life. He gambled his life. Doing some research. The word parabola came to have some very interesting usages. In the days of the very early church after the New Testament era, there was an association of men and women who got together and took the name the parabolini, which meant the gamblers. They took as their hero Epiphroditus who gambled with his life and it was their aim and their mission to visit the prisoners. To visit the sick. Especially those with infectious, dangerous, communicable diseases. It was their mission to unhesitantly, unflinchingly, and boldly proclaim the Lord Jesus Christ in every environment without any hesitation. And they called themselves the parabolini, the gamblers. With Epiphroditus being their leader. Let me just get real bold with you this morning. And I know I've gone over time, but listen to me. This is very, very important. When was the last time you made a sacrifice for someone else? When was the last time you gave up something for the unity of the church in Christ? When was the last time you risked your life for the Gospel of Jesus Christ? I put in the bulletin, and I put it there so that hopefully you will pray. Because we're in this ministry together. But me and Brother Austin and several others are going next week. Leaving out Sunday night or Monday morning of next week and going down to Mexico. To the people that I have come too dearly to love and appreciate. And I don't go down there for fellowship. I go down there to watch their spiritual growth. And I've watched these guys as they have taken into these rural areas. And they've taken them to build churches. And Wednesday night, I've been honored Wednesday night to speak as the money that y'all gave to help build, they have now got their auditorium, their worship place, their church built. And they've opened up their worship area. And I'm going to preach their dedication service. And I'm going to get to see new faces that they've reached out to this year. New people that wasn't there last year. But guess what? Every time I go and every year I go, I have people say, you know what? I wouldn't be crossing that border. Do you know you're risking your life, you know? And you're going down there. And guess what? Drug cartels looking for that church band that says Kentucky Missionary Baptist Church because they know we're probably going to have money or goods, right? So you're risking your life. But guess what? We do it for the gospel's sake. We do it for the gospel's sake. And so that's what we all need to be doing. In 2020, even me, I'll admit, has messed us up. When it comes to risking our lives. But listen, it's not our lives. Remember, that God had mercy. Never forgot us didn't die. And so far, I've returned from every single trip. And Lord willing, guess what? I'll return from this trip. If not, then to die is what? Dang it, I'm going to be with Christ. And you're going to be able to know, guess what? He died doing what He wanted to do. Serving Jesus Christ. Preaching the gospel. I get to preach Friday night. Or Saturday night to a group of young people. Last year, you talk about our comfortable churches here. We're not even half full this morning. I'll go down there on Saturday night. Friday and Saturday night, we'll have a youth conference. We will have a building a third this size. And we'll have over 200 people there. We'll have people so packed in that building. We'll have people standing outside of the windows. We'll have people with the doors wide open. No air conditioning. None of that. And at the end of the day, people there listening, wanting to hear the gospel of Jesus Christ. And guess what? We're doing all this together. You may not get off work and go. I understand that. But some of you can help financially. Some of you can help with your prayers. Some of you can do other things. But the thing is, is guess what? We are ministering together. We're doing this together. And it's all sacrifice. You're going to have to sacrifice this Sunday without me. That may not be a sacrifice. That may be a joy, you know, that I'm not here to preach. And so, Dad's going to preach for you. I told him so that way he don't cut you any slack. He's going to fill in for me the Sunday I'm gone. But everybody's going to have to sacrifice. But we're doing it for what? The work of Christ. The work of Christ. As we stand and as we sing.