The Right Attitude Pt 3

Would you join me in prayer on this Sunday morning to worship you in song, to study your word, to fellowship with you, your joy, Lord, relationship with you, and salt, Lord, serving you, reflecting you. I want to reflect the Holy Spirit work in us and live in us in our stead. Lord, we're justified. We thank you, Lord.

When those things come up, we thank you so much for that, Lord. Touch hearts right now, Lord, each of our hearts. May we just look to you, Lord, just feel your presence. Let's enter in. It's our spiritual. To be saved, we are saved. We ask for your strength to be that which you have. It's kindness, your forgiveness, your grace, and your mercy.

Lord bless you all. Let's have a little fellowship. Take over some announcements. Welcome to Calvary Chapel. I'm glad that you have joined us this morning. A few announcements to take note of over on the left-hand side of your bulletin are the things that go on throughout the week, different studies to get plugged into, so please take note of that. In the middle section of your bulletin,

a reminder that Grief Share started up this last Tuesday, so that goes on on Tuesday nights. Men's breakfast coming up this Saturday back in the Agape room. Come join us for some fellowship and some food together. And then also at the end of this month is Holy Week, and I'll be getting Holy Week services that will be going on throughout the community. But as far as here, that Wednesday night, March the 27th,

we're going to have a special night of worship that evening, so plan to come join us. For that, as we just take a little time to reflect and worship the Lord in that week, that really the whole world is kind of looking at Jesus that week, whether they want to or not. So we're going to take a little extra time to do that. So those are the things that are going on.

If you would make sure that your mobile device is silenced. And for our responsive reading this morning, we are going to be in Psalm 70. Psalm 70. For this portion of the service, we'll be looking at the New American Standard Bible. If you need a copy, I didn't get it turned on yet. If you need a copy, there should be one in a row around you. And as you're turning to Psalm 70, if you are able,

please stand in the honor of the reading of God's Word.

Found it. I will read the odd verses if you will follow along with Glenn and the even verses. Psalm 70, for the choir director. The Psalm of David, for a memorial. O God, hasten to deliver me. O Lord, hasten to my help. Let those be ashamed. Let those be humiliated who seek my life. Let those be turned back and dishonored who delight in my hurt. Let those be turned back because of their shame who say,

Aha, aha. Let all who seek you rejoice and be glad in you. And let those who love your salvation, let God be magnified. And if you'd read verse 5 with me. But I am afflicted and needy. Hasten to me, O God. You are my help and my deliverance. My deliverer, O Lord, do not delay. And Father, we are those that love your salvation. And so, Father, we say, let God be magnified.

And so, Father, as we spend time in your Word this morning, would you teach us what we need to learn? Father, would you open up our hearts, open up our eyes, and open up our minds for what it is that your Holy Spirit wants to teach us this morning? We pray these things, Lord, in Jesus' name. Amen. You may be seated. And if you would, step in your Bibles to the book of Philippians, chapter 2.

Philippians, chapter 2.

We had a great week down in Arizona this last week at the Pastors and Leaders Conference down at Calvary of Tucson. It was a blessing to be able to go down there. It was a refreshing time. Great to just take in, be around other church leaders. And then we got to do something kind of special Tuesday night. There was a Franklin Graham crusade that was coming through.

And it was going to be in Tucson. Tuesday night. And so we got to go see the Franklin Graham crusade. They shut everything down at the conference early that day so that we could go. And it was just amazing to hear the worship, to hear the message that oddly enough was presented in both English and Spanish. It's the first time I've been a part of a service where they have somebody speaking English,

and then after a few words, the guy translates it into Spanish. So that was kind of an interesting experience. But the craziest thing is that at the end of this message, he offers the opportunity for salvation. And it was at a college baseball field. And the entire infield was just full of people that wanted to receive the Lord. And so it was just a really cool experience to see that,

to see God's Spirit is still at work. And I think sometimes we can forget that in the world that we're in because we only hear all of the bad things that are going on in the world. But there are good things, and God's Holy Spirit is absolutely moving. And it was a really good thing to see that. So. But now we're back. And we're back to Philippians chapter 2.

Now we had said that the theme of Philippians is joy, and that every chapter in the book of Philippians teaches us a different lesson about joy. Chapter 1 taught us that joy comes from having the right perspective, or the right viewpoint on life. Chapter 2 has been teaching us that joy comes from having the right attitude. And we said that there were two attitudes we started with.

There was an attitude of humility, of which Christ is our greatest example. And then the last time that we were together, two weeks ago, we saw that the right attitude was an attitude of obedience. Because Paul said, you obeyed in my presence, and now it's even more important in my absence. And he told us a handful of things about obedience. He said that obedience means that you will work out or live out your salvation

as God is at work in you, both to will and to do. That obedience meant doing all things without grumbling and complaining. And an attitude of obedience meant holding fast, to the word of God. And he wanted them to hold fast to the word of God, because it would mean that he had not run in vain. And that sort of segues us into this next section, because the last part of the right attitude part three,

is that we are going to see examples of those who have had the right attitude. Actually, there's going to be three examples that we're going to see. We're going to see the example of Paul, the example of Timothy, and the example of Epaphroditus. So let's look down in chapter 2, at verse 17, and we'll read through the rest of the chapter, and then we'll go back and make some comments.

Starting off in verse 17, it says this, But even if I, meaning Paul, am being poured out as a drink offering upon the sacrifice and service of your faith, I rejoice, and I share my joy with you all. You too, I urge you, rejoice in the same way, and share your joy with me. But I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you, shortly, so that I also may be encouraged when I learn of your condition. For I have no one else of kindred spirit who will genuinely be concerned for your welfare.

For they all seek their own interests, not those of Christ Jesus. But you know of his proven worth, that he served with me in the furtherance of the gospel like a child serving his father. Therefore, I hope to send him immediately. And as soon as I see how, things go with me and I trust in the Lord that I myself also will be coming shortly. But I thought it necessary to send to you Epaphroditus,

my brother and fellow worker and fellow soldier, who is also your messenger and minister to my need. Because he was longing for you all and was distressed because you had heard that he was sick. For indeed, he was sick to the point of death, but God had mercy on him, and not only on him, but also on me, so that I would not have sorrow upon sorrow. Therefore, I sent him all the more eagerly, so that when you see him again, you may rejoice, and I may be less concerned about you.

Receive him then in the Lord with all joy, and hold men like him in high regard, because he came close to death for the work of Christ, risking his life to complete what was deficient in your service for me. Three examples. Of having the right attitude. The first one that we'll look at is the example of Paul. And Paul gives us the example of rejoicing in suffering.

Rejoicing in suffering. It starts off like this. It says, but even if I am being poured out as a drink offering upon the service and sacrifice of your faith. Now Paul starts with an image here. Remember he had said, I want you to hold fast to the word so that I will have not run in vain. Because even if I am being poured out as a drink offering. Now this image that he gives to us was an image that first of all meant something to

the pagan people, but it also meant something to the Jewish people. Because both the pagans and their sacrifices and the Jewish people and their sacrifices both had what was called a drink offering. And when they would offer a burnt offering upon the altar, they would take wine and they would pour it on top of the offering so that as it was burned, there was an extra libation offered with the offering. And Paul views himself and the blood that he may or may not shed in his sacrifice, in his giving of his life for the work of the gospel, he views it as a drink offering.

He says, even if I am, present tense, being poured out as a drink offering. You see, Paul, remember, was writing this from prison. And as he was writing from prison, he was awaiting trial before Caesar. And as he was awaiting trial before Caesar, it could go one of two directions. It could either go positive, and he could be let go, or it could go negative and he would be offered upon the altar of sacrifice.

Interestingly enough, Paul is set free after this particular trial, but he will be imprisoned again. And in the book of Second Timothy, the very last words that we have of the Apostle Paul, he says, and I am already being poured out as a drink offering upon the sacrifice of Christ. Paul was well aware. He was well aware of what may happen in his life because of the suffering that he had lived through.

Remember, if you read through the book of Acts, you read about all of the suffering that Paul went through for the gospel of Jesus Christ. It's kind of interesting because that was one of the themes of one of the sessions that we had while we were down in Tucson, leading in the midst of suffering. And Paul gives for us here a beautiful example of what it looks like to lead in the midst of suffering. Because as he was in the midst of suffering, even if he's being poured out as a drink offering, he says something, he says, I rejoice.

Now, I've never been through suffering quite like what Paul's going through at this point in time, but I have been through some things in life. And one of the things I find about myself is that when I go through difficult times, one of the most difficult things for me to come to is to rejoice. Because in the midst of that, sometimes it's really hard to do that. But you know, I think it took to this point in time in Paul's life for him to be able to say, even if I'm being poured out.

Even if I'm being poured out as a drink offering, I rejoice. Because he knew the reason why he was being poured out on a drink offering is because he had preached the gospel to the Philippian people. That's what he means when he says on the service and sacrifice of your faith. He says, I rejoice. I find joy in this. As a matter of fact, I think that the New King James even translates that, I am glad

and rejoice with you all. That's the mentality, that's the attitude that Paul had as one of rejoicing in the midst of suffering. As a matter of fact, not only is he rejoicing, but notice what he says in verse 18. He says, you too, I urge you, rejoice in the same way and share your joy with me. I want you to rejoice in my suffering and you share your joy with me.

Now, it's a really basic statement that Paul makes, but really the question I have is, how can he live that way? How can you have that kind of the attitude? How was Paul able to say, I rejoice in my sufferings, and as I was praying through this, I came up with one thing. Paul was a bond servant of Christ. Paul was a bond servant of Christ. You may remember in our beginning of the study of the book of Philippians, the very first

couple of verses, it says, Paul and Timothy, bond servants of Christ. Now, you may remember the tip of the book of Philippians, it says, four reasons why Paul was a bond servant of Christ. Two, because his job was a bond servant of Christ. For two, because Paul was a bond servant of Christ. Three, because there was a time when he believed his word not the faith of any person, his

And as we define bondservants, I actually went back in my notes to make sure that I had this correctly. The definition of a bondservant is this. One who is devoted to another, listen, at the disregard of one's own interests. Let me put that to you in really basic language. His life was wrapped up in the service of Christ. You see, he had come to a Christ, which is why he was able to say,

for me to live is Christ. And to die is a game. David Guzik in his commentary said this. Again, the theme of joy. Not joy that is based on the circumstances of life, but a joy that is in the fact of a life totally committed to Christ. You see, my friends, we can find joy in the midst of suffering. We can rejoice in our suffering when we begin to understand that we are bondservants of Christ

and our lives are wrapped. We are wrapped up in Him because the lives that we live on this earth are short. The lives that we live on this earth are but a moment in comparison with eternity. And one life will soon be past. Only what's done for Christ will last. And if I begin to view myself as a bondservant of Jesus Christ, then all of a sudden my life becomes much less precious to me.

I start holding it with an open hand instead of a closed hand. Instead of saying, Lord, protect me from everything that could possibly hurt me, I say, Lord, use me however you want. You can sustain me for whatever comes. Because I understand that there is rejoicing in the midst of suffering when I know that I am living as a bondservant of Christ. And I would be absolutely remiss if I did not point out

the only reason why Paul was able to have the heart of a bondservant of Jesus Christ is because he had a relationship with Jesus Christ who rejoiced in his sufferings. We're told in the book of Hebrews that for the joy that was set before him, he endured the cross, despising the shame. How can you live a life of rejoicing in the midst of suffering? Well, you should be in a personal relationship with the suffering servant himself.

And so Paul gives us the example of rejoicing in suffering. Number two is Timothy. He gives us the example of faithfulness. Notice what it says in verse 19. But I hope in the Lord Jesus to send, Timothy to you shortly, so that I also may be encouraged when I learn of your condition. If you don't know who Timothy is, let me remind us all who Timothy is. Timothy was a companion of Paul,

a young man that on Paul's second missionary journey, the very missionary journey when he established the church in Philippi, he came to the city and he said, there's this young man named Timothy, and he was well spoken of by the brethren. And he said, let's take Timothy with us. So they became friends. They brought Timothy. Paul and Silas brought Timothy along with them

and they began to train him as a servant of God. They began to disciple him as a servant of God. And Timothy not only became a companion of Paul, but he became the most trusted companion of Paul. As a matter of fact, Timothy is the one who is alongside Paul in the writing of this epistle itself. He was Paul's faithful friend, Paul's faithful disciple. He says, I hope to send Timothy to you so that I may be encouraged,

because he wanted Timothy to bring back word of how things were in Philippi. And why is he going to send Timothy? Verse 20, for I have no one else of kindred spirit who will genuinely be concerned for your faith. I love this because this young man, Timothy is referred to something. He's referred to one who is a kindred spirit with Paul, of like soul or of the same soul as Paul.

In other words, he's just like Paul is in the way that he thinks. He's just like Paul is in the way that he handles ministry. He says, I don't have anyone else that I trust like Timothy. Why? Because he will genuinely, and if you're an underliner, you might underline that word genuinely. He will genuinely be concerned for your faith. That word genuinely means sincerely or faithfully.

You see, Timothy was a faithful servant. And when it came to his concern for the people, when it came to his concern for people in general, he was incredibly faithful because he was the real deal. He was sincere. He was genuine. He was faithful. It's everything about who he was. It's everything about the way that he lived his life. He was faithful to the word of God.

He was faithful to his companion, Paul, and he was faithful to the people that were around that were around him. He was faithful. He was faithful to love. He was faithful to serve. He was faithful to teach. He was faithful to correct, even though that wasn't a very natural thing for him to do because Timothy was a very nervous, timid sort of person, but he was faithful to all of those things.

That's why Paul said, I'm going to send Timothy to you because I don't have anyone else that's of the same kind of soul that I am, that is like souled as me because he is genuine. He is faithful in his concern for your welfare. And can I just say one small thing here? It's not in my notes, but I absolutely want to point it out. Are you faithful in your concern for other people?

Are you faithfully concerned for the people that are around you? We live in a world that has become very me-centered, and we've become very cut off from everybody else. I noticed this when we were on an airplane because I have these sweet noise-canceling headphones, right? They're amazing, and I can turn on my show and on my phone, and I can completely shut out the entire world that's around me, which on the second leg of the flight home was a really beautiful thing because there was a beautiful little newborn baby right behind me that was not wild about flying.

And I was so glad that I could be like, boom. That's the little noise it makes when I turn them on. Headphones on, 13 hours remaining. I'm like, praise Jesus, right? And I turned my movie on, and I had no idea that that baby did not want to be flying with us. But as we were flying, I began noticing something. I began noticing that everybody, by and large, had a set of headphones on.

And they were all very similar to mine. Some of them were the big ear-muffed kinds like mine. Some were the little earbuds that people put in. But it has caused us all to be very separated from each other. I suppose it's a little something that's generational because AirPods are a big thing, and headphones are a big thing, and we like to listen to what we want to listen to

without regard to what anybody else might think about it. But what I have found is that that mentality has carried over into the way that we live our lives. And we live our lives concerned about me. And it's not even always because we don't want to care about anybody else. It's because we have been trained to care about me and what's in front of me right now.

And I think that we need to be faithful in our concern for other people. And in our concern for the people that are around us. I am always amazed that the most simple thing is what most people want from me. They just want to know that I know. They want to know that I care. And that's what people want from you. That's what people need from a genuine believer in Jesus Christ.

From a faithful believer in Jesus Christ. They need to know that you faithfully and genuinely are concerned about them. Because there is nothing that speaks the love of Jesus Christ more to the people that are around us than your awareness that they need someone in their life. Paul said, I don't have anyone else that's like-souled like me who will genuinely be concerned for your welfare.

Why? Verse 21. For they all seek their own interests, not those of Christ Jesus. He said, verse 22, but you know his. Proven worth. That phrase proven worth is kind of interesting. The word proven means character which has been proven after having been tested. Isn't that great? Character which has been proven after having been tested. In other words, in his life, Timothy was put to the test.

He was put to the test in ministry. He was put to the test by Paul. He was put to the test by God's word. And when he was put to the test, he was proven to be a man of character. He was proven. And his proven worth spoke for itself. Because undoubtedly, when Paul sent Timothy and said, I'm sending Timothy to you, everybody knew, now that's a man we can trust.

Now that's a man who is faithful. He said, his proven, but you know of his proven worth that he served with me in the furtherance of the gospel like a child serving God. Serving his father. He said he proved himself over and over again. The way that he proved himself was in the way that he worked in the gospel. He says, therefore, I hope to send him immediately

as soon as I see how things go with me. And I trust in the Lord that I myself also will be coming shortly. Now, again, I asked myself a question. Timothy clearly is a faithful man because Paul said, he's of the same soul, the same mind, kindred spirit with me. He is genuine or sincere or faithful. And he is a man of proven character, one who has been put to the test and passed the test.

So here was my question. How can we be men and women who are faithful like this? How can we follow this example and have this attitude that obviously brings joy into our lives? How can we be faithful? And all I could think was, faithful. Faithfulness begins in the small things. Everybody wants to prove themselves faithful in some big way, right? We all want to be able to prove ourselves faithful

in some way that everyone notices so that we can say, so that someone will say about us, look at what a faithful person that is. But the problem is, if we're never faithful in the small things, we will never be faithful in the big things. Because if I am not willing to say, I will always do this, then I can never always do this. And there are lots of small things where we, as believers in Jesus Christ, need to learn to be faithful.

You know where faithfulness starts? Faithfulness starts in your devotional life with Jesus Christ. I've heard people say this before, well, I don't really take having a devotional life too seriously. Isn't that really legalistic? I'm like, I don't know. Would you call talking to your wife legalistic? I mean, it doesn't seem like it, like a legalistic thing to me.

It's just what you do with people you love, right? It'd be like saying, well, I would text my friends, but that's awfully legalistic, isn't it? I would have a relationship with them, but that's awfully overbearing, isn't it? No, it's called being a friend, right? Well, Jesus is our best friend, and he's done everything in the world to declare his love to us,

and now I just want to return that love. And if I'm going to be faithful, it starts with the small things. It starts with having a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. In my devotional time. That's why I think what we're doing this year is of the utmost importance. I want you to know, I didn't say it, but again, remember that on the inside flap of the bulletin

is our yearly reading plan that we're going through right now as the church, and I bet we're in the month of March, right? Now, social media is really good, especially Facebook, because it pops up all of these, like, past things, right? All of these, hey, you posted this this many years ago. Well, I make goals for myself every year. And usually around March, I do sort of,

okay, a quarter-of-a-year review, right? How are we doing so far? And so a memory popped up a couple of weeks, or a week or so ago about my quarter-year review. And this was what I wrote, basically. I'm working out, but I'm still eating brownies. So I'm getting fit, but I'm also kind of getting fat. It's kind of multitasking. I'm going to put that one in the win column, right?

And sometimes when you get to the quarter of the year, you're like, oh, man, yeah, I mean, sometimes I read the Bible, sometimes I don't really read the Bible. And, oh, I've kind of failed. And you know what happens to us when we get off track on something like Bible reading is we go, I'm just going to give up. I've already failed. I missed three days, right?

And so I'm so far behind, I'll never catch up, and we just give up. Listen, if you have been failing in your Bible reading, you know what the best thing that you can do is? Start today, right? What's today's Bible reading? Let's look at it. Today's Bible reading is you, what is today? Today's the 10th. So tomorrow's Bible reading is a little bit out of Mark 12

and Deuteronomy 14, 15, and 16. So if you have failed and you're like, I haven't read for the last month, then tomorrow you need to start in Mark 12 and Deuteronomy 14, 15, and 16 and get back to being faithful. Because sometimes we use unfaithfulness as a reason why we're just not going to do it anymore. That wasn't that big of a deal anyway. Yeah, it is. Because you can't do anything about yesterday.

Make a decision about today. Don't let the unfaithfulness out of you. The unfaithfulness of yesterday prevents you from being faithful today. Because if we're not faithful in the small things, we'll never be faithful in the big things. You know what else you need to be faithful in? You need to be faithful in the small things in your marriages. Maybe you quit taking your wife out.

Maybe as a wife you've stopped really being there for your husband and supporting your husband. Whatever it is, get back to doing the little things. I've done some marriage counseling with couples before and they're like, we've just drifted so far from where we were. Tell me what you used to do. And they'll tell me what they used to do. And I'm like, well, why don't you start doing that again?

You know what? That's not a bad idea. And we need to hear that sometime. You know how I know that? Because Jesus in one of the churches, to one of the churches in the book of Revelation said, get back to doing your first works. Get back to being faithful. Some of you need to learn to be faithful in the way that you serve in church. And I'm going to hit this again when we get to Epaphroditus.

But I'm here to tell you right now, we have a problem in churches and I'm not just talking all the churches out there, sometimes in this church, of people being faithful and being faithful to do what you said you were going to do. And it's a problem. And what I really hate more than anything is when people say, yeah, those teenagers. I'm like, you know what?

I have less trouble with the teenagers being faithful than I do the adults sometimes. And this is not Ryan trying to come down hard on people. This is just me saying, this is reality. And you guys are my family and I got to tell you the truth. Sometimes the adults are the least faithful. Because you get busy. And I get that. But we need to be faithful in the small things.

Because being faithful in the small things is what causes us to be faithful in the big things. So brothers and sisters, if you want to follow the example of Timothy, who was genuine, like-minded, and proven, start being faithful in the small things and then start stepping into the bigger things and continue to be faithful. One of the biggest lessons I have learned in ministry is this. God doesn't care about my success.

He cares about my faithfulness. We judge things entirely wrong in this culture. In the culture of the church today, we judge how successful a church is based on how many people go there. I would say that that's not true. We judge a pastor based on how big his congregation is or how big his following is. We judge a Sunday school teacher based on how many kids get saved in their class.

You know, we judge on all of the wrong things. And I'm here to tell you right now, God does not care about your success. Don't get me wrong. He wants to see fruit in your life. But the fruit He's looking for in your life is faithfulness. And I've shared this before. And you know how I know this? Because one of the greatest prophets in the Old Testament was a man by the name of Jeremiah.

Jeremiah was called the weeping prophet, somebody that I've always had a great deal of a heart for. He was known as the weeping prophet. And you know that Jeremiah did not have one single convert. That's what God told him was going to happen. He goes, Jeremiah, look, here's the deal. You're a young dude, but you've got to have a strong heart because I'm going to send you to a people

who are not going to listen, a people who are not going to pay attention, a people who are going to continue to rebel, and I need you to faithfully preach to them anyway. And he never saw any fruit from his labor. And yet he is referred to as one of the greatest prophets of all time. Why? Because he was faithful. God is looking for faithful people, people who will continue to do what they've been called to do

even when it's hard, even when it's hard. And so, number one, we saw the example of Paul with his rejoicing in suffering. Number two, we see the example of Timothy, and that is faithfulness. Number three, we see the example of Epaphroditus with sacrificial service. He says, But I thought it necessary to send to you, Epaphroditus, my brother, my fellow worker,

my fellow soldier, who is also your messenger and minister to my need. I love the way that Paul refers to Epaphroditus. First of all, the name Epaphroditus is kind of weird. It's kind of a fun name. You know what the name Epaphroditus means? This doesn't really do a whole lot for us, but it is kind of cool. His name means charming. Isn't that kind of neat? That's what his name meant.

And honestly, for Paul, he was a pretty charming guy, right? Because notice how Paul refers to him. He said, I thought it good to send to you Epaphroditus. First of all, he refers to him as his brother. And I love this. And this is a good reminder for us in the body of Christ that as fellow believers, we are not just fellow believers, we are brothers and sisters in Christ.

Paul said, My bond to him is so tight that I look at him as my brother. But he's not just my brother. He refers to him, second of all, as his co-worker or his co-laborer, one that he worked alongside. And I'm here to tell you right now, as somebody who has put in a lot of hours on job sites, you become really close to the people that you work with the most.

I remember the summer that we worked seven days a week from July the 5th until August the 4th. 15th, I think, like every single day, 10 hours a day with the exact same group of guys. And I'm here to tell you right now, we got to know each other really well. They got to see me in my good, my bad, sometimes my ugly, and every now and then I had to apologize because they knew I was a believer in Jesus Christ.

Sometimes I didn't act like one. And I think, honestly, the best thing that I did for them was to occasionally have to say, I'm sorry guys, that wasn't the right way for me to respond to that. Because they respected me because of it. But they were my co-workers. And they were right there beside me through thick and thin. And that's what we should be as believers in Jesus Christ.

We are family, but we are also co-laborers. We're working together towards a common goal of getting the word of God out to the people of God. Right? And so he refers to him as my brother, my co-worker, but then I love this third one, and my fellow soldier. My fellow soldier. Because there's a battle. Brothers and sisters, we need to remember there's a real battle that we're facing.

And we face that battle with fellow soldiers. I'm reminded again of that series that I watched, Band of Brothers, and that's exactly what those guys were. They were brothers. You know why? Because they fought together. They fought together through the most difficult of circumstances. And because of that, because of facing a common enemy together, they had a common bond that could not be broken.

And he said, not only is he my brother, not only is he my fellow worker, not only is he my fellow soldier, but he is your minister, or your messenger and minister of my need. I think it was a New Living Translation that put it like this. He is your ambassador to whom you entrusted a mission. You think Paul regarded Epaphroditus in a pretty good light? I think he did.

You know why? Because Epaphroditus was a man who served sacrificially. How do I know that? Let's look at the next verse. Because he was longing for you all and was distressed because you had heard that he was sick. For indeed, he was sick to the point of death. Whatever happened with Epaphroditus while he was with Paul, perhaps on his journey to Paul, was something really dangerous that took place in Epaphroditus' life.

As a matter of fact, it says that he was sick to the point of death. Now, we need to remember that the sickness that this Epaphroditus, that this charming one went through, was not a sickness that was as a result of persecution. His sickness was as a result of over-exertion. And isn't that kind of interesting? He served so sacrificially that he ultimately became sick because of it.

Now, I'm not saying you need to go out and work yourself nearly to death. There's actually a balance that we need to have in all of that. That's why God gave us a Sabbath. But that is the kind of sacrificial service that Epaphroditus rendered in his desire to get out the Word of God and to minister to guys like Paul. And as a matter of fact, his sacrificial service was so great

that not only was he sick, I want you to notice again what it says in verse 26, because he was longing for you all and was distressed because you had heard that he was sick. Can I just tell you, that's uncommon, right? Epaphroditus was not concerned that he was sick. He was concerned that the people of Philippi had heard that he was sick. In the midst of his sickness, he's still concerned for the people

because he doesn't want them to be worried for him. Brothers and sisters, that is the heart of a sacrificial servant. That even in the midst of sickness, he's more concerned about the people that he serves than he is for himself. When we talk about flying in the face of who we are, flying in the face of who we are as humans, right? Talk about flying in the face of who we typically act like.

That's sacrificial service. He goes on to say, for indeed, verse 27, he was sick to the point of death, but God had mercy on him, not only on him, but also on me, so that I would not have sorrow upon sorrow. Therefore, I sent him all the more eagerly so that when you see him you may rejoice and I may be less concerned about you. I want you to notice what he tells them that they should do with Epaphroditus.

Therefore, receive him in the Lord with all joy and hold men like him in high regard. I love this because Paul recognizes in Epaphroditus this sacrificial service. Paul recognizes the kind of man that he was. Paul recognizes the sort of service that he had rendered not only to the people of Philippi, but also to Paul. And he says when he comes back, you should receive him.

The idea is to receive him with open arms and hold men like him in high regard. The Amplified Bible translates it like this, appreciate and honor men like him. Brothers and sisters, can I just go ahead and tell you that when we see someone like that in our midst, someone who serves sacrificially like that, they deserve all the respect. They deserve all of the honor that you can give to them because they have sacrificed their lives for a purpose.

He goes on to say, why should they receive him in the Lord? Because he risked his life for the work of Christ. He risked his life for the work. It's amazing. It's amazing that he was able to serve that way. And so again, I started thinking, what is it about him? What do we need to learn about sacrificial service from him? And this is what I wrote on this one.

Sacrificial service comes down to making decisions about what's important. Sacrificial service comes down to making decisions about what's important. And I want to point this out again, and that's that we don't live in a culture of sacrificial service right now. It's not a part of who we are in general right now as people. As a matter of fact, we live in a culture right now

of service of convenience. We serve when it's really convenient for us. We serve when it fits into my schedule. And as long as nothing else comes up that I would rather do, I will continue on in that area of service. But if something comes up that I would rather do, I will probably choose that. If something comes up that seems more pressing to me at the time,

I will probably choose that. If it gets harder than I want it to be, I will probably choose that. If it begins to mean that I have to sacrifice my own personal time, then I will sacrifice the service instead of serving sacrificially. And I say this because this is who we are as people. And it's what continues to be promoted by the world. And this, I would tell you,

is why most people don't live with joy in their lives. This is why most people actually are genuinely unhappy in the way that they live their lives. Because they're living their lives to please themselves. We're living our lives to please ourselves. And here's the problem with living a life to please ourselves. I'm never pleased. I will never have enough. I will never do enough to make myself happy.

I will always think I need the next new thing. I will always think I need the next new experience. I will always think I need the next new toy. I will always think I need the next amount of rest. I will always think I need the next new thing. When really joy comes from serving God sacrificially. You know how I know? Because these guys continued to do this. And they lived a life of joy.

Paul, as he's in prison, is writing a letter where the word joy is used multiple times throughout the letter. The word rejoicing is used over and over again. Why? Because there is joy in serving God sacrificially. Because when you lay aside yourself, just like Jesus did, and you serve God for the purpose of the gospel, you are filled with a joy that is unexplainable.

I've seen it happen in my own life over and over and over again. When I say yes to myself, I am saying yes to unhappiness. Oh sure, there may be momentary pleasure. But in the long run, I go, but I'm still just not happy. When I say no to myself and I say yes to Jesus and I serve him sacrificially, I find that the joy overflows. I can tell you story and story and story and over again

about going out of my way to do something that my flesh absolutely did not want to do and seeing the joy that accompanies it. Because when you truly serve God in the way that he calls us to serve him, in that sacrificial sort of way, there is joy that's unexplainable. It's unexplainable. But listen, it comes down to making decisions in our lives. It comes down to making decisions

about what's most important. I promise you, if you would give me just a short moment to see the decisions that you make in your life, I can tell you what's most important to you. I can tell you what is the most important thing in your life because that's what you will always choose over anything else. The most important thing is what you will always choose the most.

Because it's, it's the most important thing to you. And I have a question for you. If you truly examined yourself and the choices that you make, what would you say is the most important thing in your life? Because that's probably what dominates you. It's actually potentially what's the idol in your life. See, Epaphroditus knew what was the most important to him.

And that was serving Jesus Christ in a way that was sacrificial to the point where, in the midst of his sickness, he said, I really need to get back to the people of Philippi because they're really concerned about me. And I need to go back and serve them so that they know that I'm okay because I don't want them being worried about me. Man, what a different way to think. What a different way to think.

Now again, as we wrap this up, before we get to communion, I want to point something out to you. I don't want this to become a system of legalistic things that you do. Okay, now I've got to try really hard. I've got to try really hard to rejoice in suffering I've got to try really hard to be faithful. I've got to try really hard to serve sacrificially because if you try really, really hard

to do those things, you'll probably really, really fail. And you'll probably really, really fall flat on your face. Because the moment that you make yourself a brand new resolution, you're going to be like me, right? I'm working out a little bit. I'm also eating really bad things. So I'm kind of getting fit and I'm kind of getting fat. I guess I'm multitasking?

Quit making the next new challenge or the next new promise. Do this. Pour into your relationship with Jesus Christ. Because as we pointed out before, Paul could rejoice in suffering because he had a relationship with the suffering servant. He had a relationship with that suffering servant. And as he had a relationship with that suffering servant, it no longer became something

that he had to do. It became something that he got to do. Because it no longer was something he was trying to work up in his flesh. It was something that the Holy Spirit was producing inside of him. Because we are told that His divine power has given to us everything that we need for life and godliness through the knowledge of Him who called us. And so you want to learn

to rejoice in suffering? Have a daily active relationship, an abiding relationship with the suffering servant. If you want to be faithful, then you need to have a relationship with the one who has been faithful to us. The example of faithfulness. Because that's exactly who God is. As a matter of fact, Paul will go on to tell us in 1 Timothy, even, no, excuse me,

it was John in the epistles that John wrote. He said, even when we are faithless, He remains faithful. So if you want to be faithful in the little things, start with the smallest thing possible and just have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Find yourself in a place where you have an abiding relationship with your Savior, and you will find that faithfulness is what naturally flows out of you.

Why? Because the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness. Okay, it's faithfulness. Say it loud. It's faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Right? It's that fruit that the Spirit produces in our lives. Brothers and sisters, it's the life that we should live, but it's not something that you have to work up in yourself. It's something that is produced

by your abiding relationship with the vine. And if you want to learn to serve sacrificially, which, by the way, we need to learn that. We absolutely need to learn that because I'm telling you, a love of God is the fruit of the Spirit. It's not something that you have to work up in yourself. It's something that is produced by your abiding relationship with the vine.

I love this church. I love this body, but every now and then I see it. I see that sometimes the convenient is chosen with the sacrifice. The convenient is chosen over truly serving God sacrificially, and this isn't a beat the saints thing. This is just a being honest thing. Sometimes I see it in me. If I want to serve sacrificially, then I need to be in an abiding relationship

with the one who serves, sacrificially as a matter of fact so sacrificially that he laid aside his glory and he came down and dwelt among us and became obedient to the point of death even the sacrificial death of the cross brothers and sisters Jesus loves us so much and he has a plan to give us joy in our lives but the only way that we can have that joy is by having the right attitude an attitude of humility an attitude of obedience an attitude that follows these examples of men who had an abiding relationship with Jesus Christ amen I'd like to invite the worship team to come on up because this morning is communion Sunday we were unable to do it last week so we picked it up this week I want to spend just a couple

of moments talking to you about communion in just a moment the ushers are going to come down and they're going to hand out the elements there will be two cups that they hand out that are stacked together the bottom cup will have the cracker and the top cup will have the juice but let's talk about what those things are because they're very important to us as believers in Jesus Christ as a matter of fact this is one of the things that Jesus gave us that we were supposed to continue on with as believers in Jesus Christ as a memorial that cup that we are excuse me the bread that we are about to partake of Jesus referred to as his body he took that bread and he broke it and he said this is my body which is broken for you take and eat

while we understand that we don't actually eat the body of Christ we do remember his body that was broken for us we do remember the sacrifice that he made that he endured the scourgings that he wore the crown of thorns on his head that he took the nails in his hands and in his feet and that his side was pierced all so that you and I could ultimately be healed from sin and as we partake of that cup we are reminded that that cup represents the blood of the new covenant that blood of the new covenant that ultimately forgives us from sin and we are reminded of the blood that he shed for us the blood that flowed as they whipped his back the blood that flowed down his cheeks from the crown of thorns in his head the blood that flowed from his

side when they pierced him and he died of that broken heart the blood that we are told that is enough to cover our sins and every time we do this we are told we declare the death of Jesus Christ because we do this in remembrance or literally in memorial of him so as we do so we are told in scripture that we are to partake in a worthy manner so if you are here this morning and you are not a believer in Jesus Christ then the first step you need to take in order to partake in a worthy manner is you need to get into a real relationship with Jesus Christ and that requires confessing your sin and accepting Jesus Christ as your savior admitting that you are a sinner and asking him to forgive you of all of those sins and he'll come into your heart

and he'll make you brand new and fill you to overflowing with that Holy Spirit for those of us that are believers in Jesus Christ the way that we partake in a worthy manner is to allow Christ to examine our hearts because as we go throughout the month there's lots of things that come up there's sins that we struggle with there's things that we battle with and we need to deal with those things we need to confess them we're told in 1 John 1-9 that if we confess them we confess our sins he's faithful and just to forgive us of our sins and to cleanse us from all of our unrighteousness and so as the worship team sings this last song and as the ushers are handing out the elements I would just ask you to allow the Lord to search your heart

to see what's going on in there to see if there's things that need to be done business that needs to be done between you and Jesus do that business so that then we can partake together as a family the family of God celebrating the bond of unity that we have with God to the blood of Jesus Christ Amen Father we come to you and Lord we thank you for your body that was broken for us Lord broken so that we could be healed and Father we thank you for your blood that was shed for us Lord the blood that's enough to cover all of our sins and Lord may we always be in mind of the great sacrifice that you made for us and may that sacrifice be the love that we respond to in every aspect of our lives Father we thank you and we praise you in Jesus name

let's partake and if you'd bow with me one last time Lord thank you for your word Lord I pray that it would continue to be a lamp to our feet and a light to our path be with us as we go out from here may your Holy Spirit continue to move through our hearts Father we thank you for who you are in Jesus name Amen Be blessed