SPEAKER_00: The Apostle Paul writing to the Christians in the city of Philippi, an affluent city, a Roman colony, a church that the Apostle Paul planted, a group that he was close with.
SPEAKER_00: We see the very tender affections that they had with each other coming out in different ways through this letter.
SPEAKER_00: We pick up in verse 19.
SPEAKER_00: I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you soon, so that I too may be cheered by news of you, for I have no one like him who will be genuinely concerned for your welfare.
SPEAKER_00: For they all seek their own interest, not those of Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_00: But you know, Timothy's proven worth, how as a son with a father he has served with me in the gospel.
SPEAKER_00: I hope therefore to send him just as soon as I see how it will go with me, and I trust in the Lord that I shortly, that shortly I myself will come also.
SPEAKER_00: I have found it necessary to send to you Epaphroditus, my brother, and fellow worker and fellow soldier, and your messenger and minister to my need, for he has been longing for you all, and has been distressed because you heard that he was ill.
SPEAKER_00: Indeed he was ill, near to death.
SPEAKER_00: God had mercy on him, and not only on him, but on me also, lest I should have sorrow upon sorrow.
SPEAKER_00: I am the more eager to send him, therefore, that you may rejoice at seeing him again, and that I may be less anxious.
SPEAKER_00: So receive him in the Lord with all joy, and honor such men, for he nearly died for the work of Christ, risking his life to complete what was lacking in your service to me.
SPEAKER_00: This is the reading of God's powerful, perfect word of God.
SPEAKER_00: Join me in prayer.
SPEAKER_00: Father, we thank you for how you used the Apostle Paul's life, Lord, in his writing, his imprisonment, his friendships.
SPEAKER_00: Lord, these gospel teams that literally just shook the early world, Christian world with the power of the cross.
SPEAKER_00: Would you please this day shake us, move us, change us with the power of the cross.
SPEAKER_00: We pray, Jesus, in your name.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: After some very picturesque language that we saw earlier in this epistle, this letter to Philippi, even in chapter 2, the incarnation of the Lord Jesus Christ, how the Son of God left heaven, all the glories of heaven to come to this earth, to die on a cross, to be raised from the dead, to ascend to God, as we read about this amazing, the most glorious word picture, I suppose we have in Scripture of the mission of Jesus Christ for people like us.
SPEAKER_00: And then we saw last week how because all that happened, Christ came, he is now working in us by his Spirit to will and to do God's work in our lives.
SPEAKER_00: And that's powerful when we open up to it.
SPEAKER_00: Some have said, well, isn't this passage we're looking at today rather mundane?
SPEAKER_00: I mean, doesn't it sound like a travelogue?
SPEAKER_00: You know, Paul's itinerary?
SPEAKER_00: Well, maybe yes and no.
SPEAKER_00: I mean, he's very practical, he's sharing his plans.
SPEAKER_00: But let me say that there's a lot more to it.
SPEAKER_00: There's some rich truth in this passage.
SPEAKER_00: What we've been saying to this point in our study of the book of Philippians is it's all about advancing the gospel.
SPEAKER_00: This morning we're looking at how the gospel is advanced through gospel teams.
SPEAKER_00: God uses teams.
SPEAKER_00: We're going to see that.
SPEAKER_00: First point this morning out of the text: gospel teams meet real needs.
SPEAKER_00: Now, the city of Philippi, the church in particular, Philippi, was not a particularly needy city.
SPEAKER_00: As far as Paul's letters go, this maybe was a little bit less needy.
SPEAKER_00: I mean, they weren't perfect.
SPEAKER_00: We've seen that already.
SPEAKER_00: They had some issues, but it was a fairly healthy church.
SPEAKER_00: And yet, even in this chapter, half of the chapter is devoted to needs.
SPEAKER_00: Let's look, first of all, at Paul's needs himself.
SPEAKER_00: Paul had physical needs in prison in Rome.
SPEAKER_00: Being in prison in Rome in the first century was not like being in prison in the United States today, where a prisoner's basic needs are met by the state.
SPEAKER_00: Back then, they would need the help of family and friends for food, for clothing, for reading material.
SPEAKER_00: I mean, that's why we find Paul asking at different times, would you please bring me these materials?
SPEAKER_00: It was very different.
SPEAKER_00: And the church at Philippi, these were the Christians that gave a very generous financial gift to Paul, knowing that he was in prison, so that he could have these things, these basic necessities.
SPEAKER_00: I mean, this was not just, you know, a little, a little, you know, above and beyond.
SPEAKER_00: This was a huge gift to Paul.
SPEAKER_00: He had physical needs, but he also had emotional needs.
SPEAKER_00: Verse 19.
SPEAKER_00: He says, so that I too may be cheered by news of you.
SPEAKER_00: Paul had emotional needs, just like us.
SPEAKER_00: He cared deeply about these friends back in Philippi.
SPEAKER_00: And he was encouraged by the good news he had already received, but he was eager to hear more.
SPEAKER_00: All right, think about a friend who's very close to you, that maybe doesn't live here in the city.
SPEAKER_00: Somebody who lives at a distance.
SPEAKER_00: And today we're spoiled, right?
SPEAKER_00: I mean, some of us have FaceTimed over the Atlantic Ocean.
SPEAKER_00: That's kind of crazy, right?
SPEAKER_00: I mean, I never saw that in my day when, you know, as a kid.
SPEAKER_00: There's all these things that you can do today.
SPEAKER_00: But of course, back then, you could go weeks, you could go months, you could go years not knowing how your friend or your family member was doing.
SPEAKER_00: And so Paul is saying, I can't wait to get the next report about who you, my dear Christian friends, are doing.
SPEAKER_00: When I do, I pray that my heart will really be cheered by that news.
SPEAKER_00: You know, a good report can do wonders for the soul, right?
SPEAKER_00: A good report?
SPEAKER_00: If some of you have gotten a good report recently, maybe a good health report?
SPEAKER_00: Maybe a good uh review at work.
SPEAKER_00: I mean, something that, or just news about your friend or a family member, uh, a an answered prayer for health.
SPEAKER_00: Something that just like, wow, you know, like I do, how that can just lift up your soul.
SPEAKER_00: Isn't that something?
SPEAKER_00: I mean, it can change your day.
SPEAKER_00: Wow, I'm just so grateful to hear that news.
SPEAKER_00: Well, that was true for Paul.
SPEAKER_00: That was true for the Philippi.
SPEAKER_00: The Philippians also had needs.
SPEAKER_00: They were very concerned about Paul's welfare, we see.
SPEAKER_00: They were also concerned for their fellow member Epaphroditus.
SPEAKER_00: Paul says, he has been distressed because you heard that he was ill.
SPEAKER_00: Now we're going to talk about that more later.
SPEAKER_00: He says later, Paul says, that you may rejoice at seeing him again.
SPEAKER_00: When you care deeply for other people, your emotions are stirred.
SPEAKER_00: The Philippians were anxious about Epaphroditis because he went on this long journey and they heard that he was quite ill, almost died, and they couldn't wait to get an update on that, on him.
SPEAKER_00: Our emotions are stirred by the people that we love deeply.
SPEAKER_00: Gospel teams.
SPEAKER_00: The Apostle Paul was a team member with Timothy, with Epaphroditus, and the three of them worked closely together on real needs, spiritual, physical, emotional needs.
SPEAKER_00: It made me got me wondering this week.
SPEAKER_00: I wonder what real needs will be met today, March 7th, by the gospel team at Alexandria Presbyterian Church.
SPEAKER_00: I was thinking about so many gospel teams that we have in this church.
SPEAKER_00: I was thinking about the greeters.
SPEAKER_00: Thank you, greeters.
SPEAKER_00: You're a warm, sincere smile and welcome is not just a token.
SPEAKER_00: It matters.
SPEAKER_00: It means a lot.
SPEAKER_00: Thank you, greeters.
SPEAKER_00: As deacons are meeting today with mercy partners, as elders, the elders' day began early this morning.
SPEAKER_00: We interviewed a couple new members before the first service.
SPEAKER_00: As elders meet and interview, as elders pray with many people today, as shepherding teams and members pray for others, as lay counselors check in with their clients today.
SPEAKER_00: The list goes on and on.
SPEAKER_00: Those of you that prepare the fellowship, the coffee and refreshments.
SPEAKER_00: God does his gospel work through gospel teams.
SPEAKER_00: He always has.
SPEAKER_00: And I suppose he always will.
SPEAKER_00: Let's say a little bit more about these gospel teams, just going deeper.
SPEAKER_00: About Timothy.
SPEAKER_00: Paul probably met Timothy on his first missionary journey.
SPEAKER_00: We read about it in Acts chapter 14.
SPEAKER_00: And so Paul was impressed at the gospel change in Timothy's life.
SPEAKER_00: Paul took note of how his mind and his heart opened up, how teachable he was, how humble he was.
SPEAKER_00: You know, you can't really teach somebody that's not humble.
SPEAKER_00: If they're not humble, they're not teachable.
SPEAKER_00: In order to be teachable, you've got to be humble.
SPEAKER_00: You got to know that you don't know a lot of things and to be open to that.
SPEAKER_00: Timothy was kind of like a rock star to Paul.
SPEAKER_00: And I don't think Timothy was all that impressive on the outside.
SPEAKER_00: We read about Timothy that Paul at one point prays for him because he was timid.
SPEAKER_00: I I don't think Timothy was this really confident, extroverted, you know, kind of, this guy really knows what he's doing.
SPEAKER_00: You know, he just follow him because you know he you think he knows.
SPEAKER_00: I don't think that was Timothy.
SPEAKER_00: I think Timothy was probably an introvert.
SPEAKER_00: I think Timothy Timothy was very humble.
SPEAKER_00: I think Timothy was very teachable.
SPEAKER_00: I think Timothy, therefore, was very usable.
SPEAKER_00: We talk about that a lot at APC.
SPEAKER_00: The most important quality in a ministry leader is character.
SPEAKER_00: It's not their giftedness, it's not their competency, it's not their personality.
SPEAKER_00: The single most important thing that you possess and or I possess that God can really use and bless is your character.
SPEAKER_00: Twenty-four different times Paul mentions Timothy in his letters.
SPEAKER_00: I mean, by far more than anybody else.
SPEAKER_00: Listen to this, this is what the text says.
SPEAKER_00: I have no one else like in verse 20.
SPEAKER_00: This is what it says in the Greek.
SPEAKER_00: I have no one else like souled.
SPEAKER_00: S-O-U-L-E-D.
SPEAKER_00: Like my soul.
SPEAKER_00: I have no one else on this earth whose soul so connects with my soul.
SPEAKER_00: And vice versa.
SPEAKER_00: We have the same concerns.
SPEAKER_00: We have the same passion for the same things, the same things that matter to us, the things that we think about, the things that we pray about, the things that we work for.
SPEAKER_00: Do you have somebody like that in your life?
SPEAKER_00: I mean, it's a wonderful thing if your spouse is.
SPEAKER_00: But hey, I've been a pastor for a long time.
SPEAKER_00: I know many, many marriages.
SPEAKER_00: That's not the same.
SPEAKER_00: It's not there.
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
SPEAKER_00: Pray for it.
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, pray for it.
SPEAKER_00: Pray that you and your spouse would be so like-minded.
SPEAKER_00: But don't, even if you have a great marriage and you you're like-souled with your spouse, don't stop there.
SPEAKER_00: I think every woman needs another woman.
SPEAKER_00: I think every man needs another man who's like-souled.
SPEAKER_00: Your hearts connect over the same things.
SPEAKER_00: Hopefully, especially the things of God.
SPEAKER_00: The kingdom of God.
SPEAKER_00: That's what Paul's saying about Timothy.
SPEAKER_00: That's the first thing he says.
SPEAKER_00: He's like my it's like my soul.
SPEAKER_00: The things that we go to our knees and pray about.
SPEAKER_00: Secondly, he says, who takes a genuine interest in your welfare.
SPEAKER_00: Now, when he says your, he's talking about the Philippians.
SPEAKER_00: Timothy cares about you, Christians, and Philippi.
SPEAKER_00: Like nobody I know.
SPEAKER_00: The person who doesn't see you as a project or a problem to fix.
SPEAKER_00: Nobody likes to be a project.
SPEAKER_00: Nobody likes to be a problem that has to be fixed.
SPEAKER_00: I mean, the people that we're going to connect with most are the people that we feel not only get us, but the people that really love us and really care for us.
SPEAKER_00: They ask how we're doing and they don't do a drive-by.
SPEAKER_00: They actually stay there to hear the answer.
SPEAKER_00: And they engage in conversation.
SPEAKER_00: We all need a few people like that in our lives who take a genuine interest in us.
SPEAKER_00: Thirdly, he says, Timothy's concern for serving Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_00: It seems to me that oftentimes it becomes clear along the way who is being served, whether it's Christ or you.
SPEAKER_00: Ministries maybe not in the name of Christ, really.
SPEAKER_00: You know, when we get in ministry and we do things for appearances, to be noticed, to be recognized, to serve our own ego.
SPEAKER_00: I mean, don't we have to confess to that stuff sometimes?
SPEAKER_00: Because of the flesh.
SPEAKER_00: And we just have to say, God, please forgive me.
SPEAKER_00: I want my life and my service to be about Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_00: That's what Paul says about him.
SPEAKER_00: Timothy's concern for serving Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_00: And fourthly, he said, Timothy had, who had proven himself, this is what the Greek says, his proven worth.
SPEAKER_00: This is a verb that was coined from the verb to put to the test.
SPEAKER_00: What he's saying is, Timothy had been put to the test many times over.
SPEAKER_00: Paul says, I've seen him in action.
SPEAKER_00: I've seen how God has used his life for his glory.
SPEAKER_00: This is a man of character.
SPEAKER_00: As I said earlier, character is what matters most.
SPEAKER_00: Did you ever hear that definition of character?
SPEAKER_00: The character is who you are when nobody's watching.
SPEAKER_00: When you know you're not doing it for appearances, whatever you're doing.
SPEAKER_00: You're not doing it for credit.
SPEAKER_00: You're not doing it to be noticed.
SPEAKER_00: You're doing it just because it's the right thing to do.
SPEAKER_00: And you're serving, you're doing it out of service to God.
SPEAKER_00: That's what this is about, what he's saying to Timothy.
SPEAKER_00: When my concern is not for my image or my reputation, but for God's glory and for the good of that other person.
SPEAKER_00: Then Paul says this about Timothy, as a son with a father, together in the gospel.
SPEAKER_00: That's probably the pinnacle of Paul's admiration for Timothy.
SPEAKER_00: Timothy, you you really are like my own son.
SPEAKER_00: I'm so encouraged to see how God has worked in your heart.
SPEAKER_00: I'm so encouraged to see how God is using you in gospel ministry.
SPEAKER_00: Paul just says all this.
SPEAKER_00: Teams work when teams pray.
SPEAKER_00: When teams don't pray, teams don't work.
SPEAKER_00: Jack Miller taught me that a long time ago.
SPEAKER_00: I never really I never heard it before.
SPEAKER_00: And I grew up in the church, I prayed, I I saw teams and I was a part of teams.
SPEAKER_00: It it never sunk into me like that until Jack said told me that one day.
SPEAKER_00: Teams work because teams pray.
SPEAKER_00: What does that mean?
SPEAKER_00: Let's break that down a little bit.
SPEAKER_00: I'm not talking about the prayer at the end of your Bible study or your C of G or having a session, an elders' meeting, or a deacon's meeting, and taking most of the time to discuss the work, try to fix the problems.
SPEAKER_00: You know, sometimes that happens, no doubt, in churches for an hour, two hours, three hours, or four hours, and then at the end of it, you know, you just have this little short prayer.
SPEAKER_00: What's that about?
SPEAKER_00: Let's be honest.
SPEAKER_00: I'll tell you what that's about.
SPEAKER_00: Lord, we think we've got this figured out.
SPEAKER_00: And now we're just going to ask you to bless it.
SPEAKER_00: Would you sign off on this?
SPEAKER_00: Hey.
SPEAKER_00: Don't expect much blessing.
SPEAKER_00: In your marriage?
SPEAKER_00: That's true.
SPEAKER_00: In your family?
SPEAKER_00: In your ministry teams, whether it's the worship team, whether it's the deacons, the elders.
SPEAKER_00: You know, I mean, as an example, I've told you, I've told you guys before this, right?
SPEAKER_00: The elders have been doing this for a long, long time.
SPEAKER_00: The first elder, all we the first hour we get together is just to study the word of God.
SPEAKER_00: The second hour, all we do is pray.
SPEAKER_00: We start business in the third hour.
SPEAKER_00: And God has honored that.
SPEAKER_00: God has absolutely honored that.
SPEAKER_00: What does that look like in your gospel team ministry?
SPEAKER_00: I'm not saying you have to do it for an hour, but what I am saying is that if whatever ministry you're involved in, if prayer is just something you tack on at the end, you're not doing it.
SPEAKER_00: Paul modeled this with Timothy, with apaphroditus, and the fruit was in his ministry because of that.
SPEAKER_00: Let's talk about Ephroditis.
SPEAKER_00: A Gentile from the city of Philippi.
SPEAKER_00: When he heard that Paul was in prison, he volunteered to take the Philippians' financial gift to Paul.
SPEAKER_00: Now you might think, well, that's nice.
SPEAKER_00: Well, wait a minute.
SPEAKER_00: That was an 800-mile trip.
SPEAKER_00: Okay?
SPEAKER_00: On foot, with a lot of money, there would have been the danger of robbers, just the fear exhaustion of the trip.
SPEAKER_00: And on the way, Epaphroditus got very, very ill and he almost died.
SPEAKER_00: And yet, where did it start?
SPEAKER_00: It started in a church.
SPEAKER_00: I don't know.
SPEAKER_00: You know, there's a really good chance that the church at Philippi was about this crowd.
SPEAKER_00: They didn't have mega churches.
SPEAKER_00: Most of their churches were fairly small.
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, frankly, I was surprised this morning the first service.
SPEAKER_00: It was a big crowd for spring forward.
SPEAKER_00: I don't think this church was as big as the first service crowd.
SPEAKER_00: There's a good chance that this church was about this size.
SPEAKER_00: And the need is made known to the church.
SPEAKER_00: The Apostle Paul, our dear friend, is in prison in Rome 800 miles away.
SPEAKER_00: And he has needs.
SPEAKER_00: Who is going to step up and volunteer for that mission?
SPEAKER_00: And if Aphyroditis says, what?
SPEAKER_00: I will.
SPEAKER_00: I'll go.
SPEAKER_00: You're talking about several months' commitment of just disrupting the rest of his life, whatever is going on.
SPEAKER_00: While traveling, he got very sick, almost died, but God healed him.
SPEAKER_00: And Paul sends Epaphroditus back to Philippi to carry his letter and to report to them.
SPEAKER_00: Three things specifically, Paul says about Epaphroditus.
SPEAKER_00: He's my brother, he's my co-worker, and he's my fellow soldier.
SPEAKER_00: When Paul said he's my brother, that was a radical concept at that time that he wrote.
SPEAKER_00: In the Roman culture, your brother was not somebody 20, 30 years younger than you.
SPEAKER_00: Your brother was slaves and owners didn't mix.
SPEAKER_00: All right?
SPEAKER_00: They didn't socialize.
SPEAKER_00: Male, female.
SPEAKER_00: Christianity turned the world upside down with this idea of Christian brotherhood.
SPEAKER_00: That the cross breaks those barriers.
SPEAKER_00: And that's the good news.
SPEAKER_00: He's my brother.
SPEAKER_00: Doesn't matter what the differences are in age or nationality or background.
SPEAKER_00: Secondly, he's my co-worker.
SPEAKER_00: We've talked about that.
SPEAKER_00: Thirdly, he's my fellow soldier.
SPEAKER_00: Do you know the Romans, at least as far as I understand through history?
SPEAKER_00: The Romans were the first army to march side by side in war.
SPEAKER_00: Before that, they fought individually.
SPEAKER_00: I mean, the army could go out, but the Romans really, you know, right?
SPEAKER_00: They conquered the world, didn't they?
SPEAKER_00: They fought side by side with their shields.
SPEAKER_00: You know, when the arrows that with pitch with fire would hit come, you know, they all had these shields together, and they just, it was, they were a fearsome army.
SPEAKER_00: Side by side, that's how they fought.
SPEAKER_00: No doubt why they were so victorious.
SPEAKER_00: So you know where this is going.
SPEAKER_00: Church of Christ, is this how we fight?
SPEAKER_00: Because we do have to fight the enemy.
SPEAKER_00: Is this how we fight?
SPEAKER_00: Side by side.
SPEAKER_00: Somebody said one time years ago, I wish I could get it out of my mind, but I can't.
SPEAKER_00: The church is the only army in the world that shoots its own wounded.
SPEAKER_00: Unfortunately, that's happened far too often.
SPEAKER_00: We shouldn't be shooting our guns at each other.
SPEAKER_00: We're on the same team.
SPEAKER_00: We're in the same army.
SPEAKER_00: We ought to be side by side.
SPEAKER_00: That's how gospel victories come about.
SPEAKER_00: When we serve and think and act as gospel teams and we pray together.
SPEAKER_00: I've been thinking this week about the APC's partnering with so many kingdom ministries over the years.
SPEAKER_00: Because we have a lot of gospel teams here.
SPEAKER_00: Cherilagua, not far from here.
SPEAKER_00: So many of you have been ministering there in that community with those Hispanic kids for years, and just had such an impact.
SPEAKER_00: Thinking about the market project that Dorothy Taft started, doing a great work.
SPEAKER_00: And Uganda, and just the vision, the work, the ministry for the nations that started within the last two years.
SPEAKER_00: Right here, ESL for so many people that are coming from other nations.
SPEAKER_00: Young Life, crew, so many of these ministries, countries that we've partnered with in such depth.
SPEAKER_00: Rwanda, Cameroon.
SPEAKER_00: For years we partnered with Cameroon, missionaries there, the Congo, Japan.
SPEAKER_00: Later this month we're going to hear from Dan Iverson.
SPEAKER_00: That's one of the probably the most fruitful, prosperous ministries in the PCA is the work that God has done in Japan over all these years under the leadership of Dan Iverson.
SPEAKER_00: Australia.
SPEAKER_00: The list goes on.
SPEAKER_00: Gospel teams partnering in kingdom ministry.
SPEAKER_00: That's how God works, arm in arm.
SPEAKER_00: I'm excited about the changes that are happening.
SPEAKER_00: There's a lot of change that's happening at APC right now.
SPEAKER_00: I think this, I I see, I see more change happening now than I have in a long, long time.
SPEAKER_00: I see I see more people being touched by the gospel than I ever have.
SPEAKER_00: Praise God.
SPEAKER_00: But I was I wasn't thinking about that primarily.
SPEAKER_00: I I see, I think programmatically, strategically, there's gonna be a lot of change.
SPEAKER_00: I think that's gonna help us to maybe be more effective.
SPEAKER_00: One of the areas is in the area of missions.
SPEAKER_00: You know, Pastor Josh is now devoted to being a pastor with missions.
SPEAKER_00: We and we have a new missions chairman, we have a new missions elder, and we have people like uh Dorothy Taft and Elder Nagy who have been doing this forever.
SPEAKER_00: Thank God for these teams.
SPEAKER_00: But we're gonna we're praying that we're gonna go deeper.
SPEAKER_00: You know how you do missions with a church of 500 is not how you do it with 50.
SPEAKER_00: When you're a smaller church, it's just kind of easier to do because you're small and you only have a few missionaries anyway, and everybody seems to know what's going on.
SPEAKER_00: We just notice that that's we we need to get better at this.
SPEAKER_00: At really educating the congregation of these mission partners, who they are, how can we pray for them?
SPEAKER_00: More trips back and forth.
SPEAKER_00: I mean, uh thank God for all the trips that have happened.
SPEAKER_00: But we don't want to we don't want to get lazy.
SPEAKER_00: How can we have the most fruitful gospel teams that we can have?
SPEAKER_00: In missions, outreach, evangelism, worship, you name it.
SPEAKER_00: Would you pray?
SPEAKER_00: Would you pray for us, the elders and the deacons?
SPEAKER_00: That God will show us how to do that?
SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna close with just the gospel victories.
SPEAKER_00: This one might surprise you.
SPEAKER_00: You might be thinking, okay, well, wait a minute, the gospel victories, how many people came to Christ in Philippi?
SPEAKER_00: Is Paul going to give us numbers?
SPEAKER_00: No?
SPEAKER_00: Listen to this.
SPEAKER_00: Verse 28.
SPEAKER_00: I will be less anxious.
SPEAKER_00: How about that for a mission report?
SPEAKER_00: I will be less anxious.
SPEAKER_00: And you might think, wait a minute.
SPEAKER_00: You know, is that are those the kind of missionary letters you get when you support missionaries?
SPEAKER_00: Thank God for your prayers.
SPEAKER_00: I'm less anxious.
SPEAKER_00: Truth be told, I think I think some of us might say, well, do I really need to continue supporting that person?
SPEAKER_00: But Paul's not embarrassed to say it.
SPEAKER_00: Because of your prayers, because of your love, because of your financial gift, because I've seen how God is using Epaphroditus in my life, because of how God's using Timothy in my life, and yours, do you know what?
SPEAKER_00: I am less anxious.
SPEAKER_00: I think that's awesome.
SPEAKER_00: That's real life.
SPEAKER_00: That's what happens when gospel teams are ministering.
SPEAKER_00: Knowing that Epaphroditus will be reunited with his church family, knowing that Epaphroditus was healed physically, Paul says that you may rejoice at seeing him again.
SPEAKER_00: What Paul's doing in his mind, he's thinking, I see it.
SPEAKER_00: I can't wait till Ephroditus gets back home to Philippi, and all of you see him, give him a big hug, welcome him back, and just thank God for how God has worked.
SPEAKER_00: We're going to close on verse 30 because it's pretty powerful.
SPEAKER_00: For he nearly died for the work of Christ.
SPEAKER_00: This next phrase, risking his life to complete what was lacking in your service to me.
SPEAKER_00: Now let's start with that last line.
SPEAKER_00: I know you all meant well, and I thank you for your prayers.
SPEAKER_00: I thank you for your money, but you could only do so much for me.
SPEAKER_00: You didn't make the 800-mile trip.
SPEAKER_00: You didn't put your life in danger, like Epaphroditus did.
SPEAKER_00: He's not putting the others down, he's just saying that Epaphroditus went way above and beyond.
SPEAKER_00: But he risked his life to complete this work.
SPEAKER_00: In the Greek language, this is a compound word, para.
SPEAKER_00: Para, the prefix, means to come alongside.
SPEAKER_00: But the rest of the word is it was parabolani.
SPEAKER_00: Parabolani.
SPEAKER_00: Balani is in the Greek means a risk taker.
SPEAKER_00: A gambler.
SPEAKER_00: Think of a gospel gambler.
SPEAKER_00: You probably never heard that term before.
SPEAKER_00: Well, taking incredible risk for the sake of the gospel.
SPEAKER_00: I mean, putting your own life maybe in jeopardy.
SPEAKER_00: Going way out of your way in terms of time and effort, whatever.
SPEAKER_00: In the early church, there were societies of women and men who were called, guess what, the parabolani.
SPEAKER_00: They didn't call them the deacons or the mercy committee.
SPEAKER_00: They called them the parabolani.
SPEAKER_00: They ministered to the sick, imprisoned.
SPEAKER_00: Back in the city of Carthage in 252 A.D., a massive plague hit that city.
SPEAKER_00: Alright?
SPEAKER_00: We're all paying attention these days, right?
SPEAKER_00: The coronavirus, well, this hit that city much harder than we've seen the coronavirus hit anybody yet.
SPEAKER_00: Much harder.
SPEAKER_00: Cyprian, the bishop, showed great leadership with these bands of Christians taking care of the sick, burying the dead, even the unbelievers.
SPEAKER_00: The historians report that by and large the unbelievers were not doing this.
SPEAKER_00: You know what the unbelievers in the city were doing?
SPEAKER_00: If they had the means, they got out of the city.
SPEAKER_00: If they had the means, they got as far away from Carthage as they could get to protect themselves.
SPEAKER_00: The historians marvel at how God used the Parabalani to come in and take care of very sick people, knowing that they were exposing themselves to this virus.
SPEAKER_00: Many people got saved.
SPEAKER_00: Many people came to saving faith in Jesus Christ as they watched with their own eyes.
SPEAKER_00: These people loved like they had not seen people love.
SPEAKER_00: Burying the dead, exposing themselves to danger.
SPEAKER_00: Again, it was a great contrast to how many of the non-Christians who literally threw the corpses out of the city.
SPEAKER_00: And as much as possible, their servants did that.
SPEAKER_00: Put that corpse and wrap it up and take it out and get rid of it.
SPEAKER_00: Many vacated the city.
SPEAKER_00: The parabolani were a great example of gospel teams.
SPEAKER_00: What happens when Christians, when Christians express the love of Christ?
SPEAKER_00: Express the love of Christ in such tangible, practical ways.
SPEAKER_00: Real needs.
SPEAKER_00: It doesn't get any more real than when you have an out an epidemic like that.
SPEAKER_00: Well, we're coming to the table in a moment.
SPEAKER_00: Who's the ultimate risk taker?
SPEAKER_00: Who's the ultimate parabolani?
SPEAKER_00: You know.
SPEAKER_00: His name is Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_00: Let me take you back to before the incarnation when he was in heaven with the Father.
SPEAKER_00: Because we talked about this two weeks ago, right?
SPEAKER_00: Paul brings it up in Philippians.
SPEAKER_00: When Jesus said, I will go.
SPEAKER_00: You know, it was great that Epaphroditus said, I will go.
SPEAKER_00: But apaphroditus is uh the going doesn't save you.
SPEAKER_00: What saves you is when Jesus raised his hand and said, I will go, Father.
SPEAKER_00: And why did he go?
SPEAKER_00: Out of love.
SPEAKER_00: For you.
SPEAKER_00: If that doesn't melt your heart, you're either not listening, or the Holy Spirit is just not working in you.
SPEAKER_00: If you're listening and the Holy Spirit is at work in you right now, it will melt your heart.
SPEAKER_00: God made him who knew no sin to become sin for you, so that in Christ you might become the righteousness of God.
SPEAKER_00: You have a home in heaven forever.
SPEAKER_00: Because Jesus Christ, the ultimate risk taker, said to the Father, I will go into this sin-cursed world, and I will go not only at the risk of catching this deadly spiritual virus, but I know that I will contract this deadly spiritual virus.
SPEAKER_00: But I will go.
SPEAKER_00: And that's why we come.
SPEAKER_00: That's why we come to worship, and that's why we come to this table in just a few moments.
SPEAKER_00: Because Jesus is the power of Balani, like no other.
SPEAKER_00: Would you pray with me?
SPEAKER_00: Father in heaven, our hearts are filled with awe and reverence and gratitude and thanksgiving.
SPEAKER_00: Holy Spirit, I pray that you would touch every heart here this morning.
SPEAKER_00: Let no heart be unmoved by this.
SPEAKER_00: Holy Spirit, would you pour out the Father's love on us?
SPEAKER_00: That our hearts would open widely to receive this pouring out of the Father's joy and the Father's love over his children, saved by grace, saved by the mission of the Son Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_00: Father, thank you for sending your son.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus, thank you for taking on yourself that the most deadly of all diseases, viruses spiritually.
SPEAKER_00: Knowing that you were going to get this spiritual, sick, deadly virus.
SPEAKER_00: You came because you love us.
SPEAKER_00: And we will never be able to repay you.
SPEAKER_00: But what we can do is believe and receive you.
SPEAKER_00: What we can do is lay down our lives for you.
SPEAKER_00: Make us the parabolani in this city in new ways, I pray.
SPEAKER_00: In Christ's name, Amen.