WEBVTT 00:00:00.432 --> 00:00:03.233 Well, good morning, Valley View. 00:00:03.233 --> 00:00:06.865 We're continuing our study of the book of Philippians. 00:00:06.865 --> 00:00:09.132 So if you have a Bible, you want to go ahead and turn there. 00:00:09.132 --> 00:00:14.199 If you don't have a Bible slip out any time we have them out in the Connection Corner, note taking outlines are there as well. 00:00:16.100 --> 00:00:19.100 We're going to wrap up chapter two today. 00:00:19.932 --> 00:00:25.699 I was asked this week by someone and I had mentioned this at the men's breakfast, but someone asked me, hey John, what are you? 00:00:25.699 --> 00:00:26.699 We know you like to read a lot. 00:00:26.699 --> 00:00:30.632 What are you reading for fun, I thought I read everything for fun. 00:00:30.632 --> 00:00:31.600 It's all fun. 00:00:31.600 --> 00:00:34.000 But I know what you mean by that. 00:00:34.000 --> 00:00:39.399 And I was a little embarrassed to admit, but I went ahead and said, well, I'm reading a book about serial killers. 00:00:39.399 --> 00:00:41.100 I know it sounds weird. 00:00:41.100 --> 00:00:42.165 It's a little embarrassing. 00:00:42.165 --> 00:00:42.765 I thought. 00:00:42.765 --> 00:00:52.200 In my defense, I thought it was primarily a book about how lead poisoning, in the 70s, especially in the Pacific Northwest, led to a lot of challenges. 00:00:52.200 --> 00:00:57.500 But the main one was serial killers was the prominent position of this author. 00:00:57.500 --> 00:01:05.465 And so I was thinking about that and the odd connection to another book I had been reading about narcissists. 00:01:05.465 --> 00:01:19.365 Of course, narcissists, you know, are people completely self-absorbed, can never admit wrong, not even possibly conceive they might be wrong, don't receive correction well, and some of you are going, I know a few those. But no elbows right now, okay? We may have those traits. 00:01:19.365 --> 00:01:21.165 That doesn't mean we're all full blown narcissist. 00:01:21.165 --> 00:01:29.900 Point being, as I thought about having read both those kind of odd books, there's an interesting connection about those that really stood out to me. 00:01:29.900 --> 00:01:38.365 And it's that none of us would ever recommend anyone look to either of those people as a person to follow in life. 00:01:38.365 --> 00:01:41.033 Those are the worst of the worst in society. 00:01:41.033 --> 00:01:41.865 You would never go. 00:01:41.865 --> 00:01:47.599 You know, there are some redeeming attributes about serial killers and narcissists that maybe we could look to and follow it. 00:01:47.599 --> 00:01:51.132 No, you would say run from that kind of person. 00:01:51.132 --> 00:01:54.299 Literally stay far away from that kind of personality. 00:01:54.299 --> 00:01:56.500 Never follow anything about them. 00:01:56.500 --> 00:01:57.865 Worst of the worst. 00:01:59.365 --> 00:02:05.299 Which raises the question for us today in that Paul is going to address, then who should we follow? 00:02:05.299 --> 00:02:07.865 We know who not to follow. 00:02:07.865 --> 00:02:11.265 But look, everybody's going to follow somebody. 00:02:11.265 --> 00:02:13.432 It sometimes we do it on purpose. 00:02:13.432 --> 00:02:18.165 Sometimes we do it by accident, led along without realizing it. 00:02:18.400 --> 00:02:21.699 The question for each of us to wrestle with, who am I going to follow? 00:02:21.699 --> 00:02:24.000 Who am I going to pattern my life after? 00:02:24.000 --> 00:02:27.900 Who am I going to look to for wisdom, advice, direction? 00:02:27.900 --> 00:02:32.699 Paul today to the Philippians is going to commend to them two people in particular. 00:02:32.699 --> 00:02:37.500 It's a young church and especially a young church needs examples. 00:02:37.500 --> 00:02:39.300 And Paul says, here's two people. 00:02:39.300 --> 00:02:40.566 I'm going to send them your way. 00:02:40.566 --> 00:02:43.900 Follow them, model them, model your life after them. 00:02:43.900 --> 00:02:45.400 We all need that. 00:02:45.400 --> 00:02:50.066 And what we're going to see in today's passage are ten qualities of the commendable person. 00:02:51.300 --> 00:02:53.066 I know you're thinking the ten point outline, John. 00:02:53.066 --> 00:02:54.032 You're struggling to get through three. 00:02:54.032 --> 00:02:54.599 Don't worry. 00:02:54.599 --> 00:02:55.800 I'm going to keep it moving. 00:02:55.800 --> 00:03:03.566 We'll get through all ten and we're going to do something a little different here at the end of the service today as well, to build on that. Ten qualities of the commendable. 00:03:03.566 --> 00:03:09.300 So let's start by just reading our passage here in Philippians chapter two, verse 19 through 30. 00:03:09.300 --> 00:03:11.932 I'm going to read the whole section to set up these ten points. 00:03:11.932 --> 00:03:17.099 I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you soon. 00:03:17.099 --> 00:03:20.165 So that I too may be cheered by news of you. 00:03:20.165 --> 00:03:27.900 For I have no one like him who will be genuinely concerned for your welfare, for they all seek their own interests, not those of Jesus Christ. 00:03:27.900 --> 00:03:30.900 But you know, Timothy, his proven worth. 00:03:31.000 --> 00:03:32.566 How is a son with a father? 00:03:32.566 --> 00:03:34.900 He has served with me in the gospel. 00:03:34.900 --> 00:03:38.733 I hope, therefore, to send him just as soon as I see how it will go with me. 00:03:38.733 --> 00:03:42.599 And I trust in the Lord that shortly I myself will come also. 00:03:44.265 --> 00:03:53.832 I have thought it necessary to send to you Epaphroditus, my brother and fellow worker and fellow soldier, and your messenger and minister to my need. 00:03:53.832 --> 00:04:01.133 For he has been longing for you all, and has been distressed, because you heard that he was ill. 00:04:01.199 --> 00:04:04.233 Indeed, he was ill near to death. 00:04:04.866 --> 00:04:21.665 But God had mercy on him, and not only on him, but on me also, lest I should have sorrow upon sorrow, I am the more eager to send him therefore, that you may rejoice at seeing him again, and that I may be less anxious. 00:04:21.899 --> 00:04:36.365 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. 00:04:38.065 --> 00:04:41.699 So Paul commends these two individuals to them. 00:04:41.699 --> 00:04:48.199 Timothy. Epaphroditus, these are people you should look to and follow. 00:04:48.199 --> 00:04:51.199 Now let's look at these ten qualities that he highlights. 00:04:51.199 --> 00:04:54.600 What are the ten things that we see in here. We could list more. 00:04:54.600 --> 00:04:55.865 We could summarize some. 00:04:55.865 --> 00:04:58.300 But these are ten that stood out to me. 00:04:58.300 --> 00:05:04.065 First is that Timothy in particular is devoted. 00:05:04.065 --> 00:05:05.233 He is devoted. 00:05:05.233 --> 00:05:07.365 Look at how he describes Timothy in verse 19. 00:05:07.365 --> 00:05:13.100 I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you soon, so that I may be cheered by the news of you. 00:05:13.100 --> 00:05:16.300 For I have no one like him. 00:05:18.065 --> 00:05:26.699 Timothy is devoted in such a way that he stands out above the rest, and you've seen this in various settings. 00:05:26.699 --> 00:05:27.365 Many of us. 00:05:28.600 --> 00:05:32.665 Maybe it's at work, maybe it is in ministry, maybe it's in sports. 00:05:32.665 --> 00:05:37.000 A lot of people just kind of tend to be at similar skill levels, and then they'll come along. 00:05:37.000 --> 00:05:42.533 Someone who really stands out stands out above the rest. 00:05:42.533 --> 00:05:47.699 Paul here, when he uses this word, I have no one like him. 00:05:48.165 --> 00:05:50.600 It's real similar to a word we used earlier. 00:05:50.600 --> 00:05:57.132 I think it was over in chapter two, verse two, where he said, complete my joy by being of the same mind. 00:05:57.132 --> 00:06:04.766 We talked about how that word was similar to this idea of maybe like a soulmate, same- souled, linked at the soul. 00:06:04.833 --> 00:06:09.065 And this still uses that key idea of soul, but it's like sold similar. 00:06:09.065 --> 00:06:17.399 So that's again this idea that we are so lined up in the way we approach ministry and the way we approach life that no one else quite gets it. 00:06:17.399 --> 00:06:20.233 Paul is saying like I do, but Timothy. 00:06:22.733 --> 00:06:36.600 I remember when we served in ministry on the college campus at U of L, Julie and I served there and plenty of kids passionate about sharing with Christ with others, plenty of kids passionate about living for Christ rather than for the world. 00:06:36.600 --> 00:06:41.432 But there was this one guy, Matt, who stood out above all the rest. 00:06:41.432 --> 00:06:46.632 I mean, he was the preeminent leader on the campus, and he wasn't even trying to lead. 00:06:46.632 --> 00:06:55.065 He was just so infectious in his enthusiasm and personality, his energy, his drive to tell others about Christ. 00:06:55.065 --> 00:07:00.199 And that ministry flourished almost solely because of him. 00:07:00.199 --> 00:07:04.199 Of course, Jesus working through everyone and the Holy Spirit. 00:07:04.199 --> 00:07:04.932 But he stood out. 00:07:04.932 --> 00:07:06.533 We had no one else like him. 00:07:06.533 --> 00:07:09.432 We had no one else, and everyone else was great. 00:07:10.500 --> 00:07:13.365 But he stood out as far above the others. 00:07:13.365 --> 00:07:22.899 He was devoted at his very core, and making sure these students on this campus are reached for Christ. 00:07:23.733 --> 00:07:25.065 Paul says this about Timothy. 00:07:25.065 --> 00:07:26.699 That's the kind of person you want to look to. 00:07:26.699 --> 00:07:28.600 Someone who's devoted, someone who cares. 00:07:28.600 --> 00:07:36.865 That's something I pray for here at Valley View when I pray for our new members, I think we want people who are fully devoted followers of Jesus Christ. 00:07:36.865 --> 00:07:39.600 We don't want to just be kind of partway halfway in. 00:07:39.600 --> 00:07:41.233 And I get it, if that's where you are. 00:07:41.233 --> 00:07:45.333 But for our members, for our people who have said, this is my church, I'm all in. 00:07:45.333 --> 00:07:47.333 We want fully devoted followers of Christ. 00:07:47.333 --> 00:07:50.600 That's where you experience your spiritual life to the fullest. 00:07:50.600 --> 00:07:52.000 That's where life flourishes. 00:07:52.000 --> 00:07:55.000 The most joy is to be found devoted. 00:07:55.266 --> 00:07:56.132 That's who we look to. 00:07:56.132 --> 00:07:58.199 So that's the first quality that he points out here. 00:07:58.199 --> 00:08:03.632 Devoted. Second is genuine, someone who has genuine concern. 00:08:03.632 --> 00:08:14.065 He says this about Timothy in verse 20, for I have no one like him who will be genuinely concerned for your welfare. 00:08:14.199 --> 00:08:18.300 And look, that's what everyone wants in someone that you are seeking to follow. 00:08:18.300 --> 00:08:22.865 You want people around you who are genuinely concerned for you. 00:08:24.399 --> 00:08:27.300 There are some who are genuine but not concerned. 00:08:27.300 --> 00:08:30.033 There are some who are concerned but not genuine. 00:08:30.033 --> 00:08:32.533 You want the two together genuinely concerned. 00:08:32.533 --> 00:08:35.265 We looked at this when we studied Romans chapter 12, verse nine. 00:08:35.265 --> 00:08:41.299 Let love be genuine and you know the difference. 00:08:41.299 --> 00:08:46.365 One of the worship songs the students sing is fake love. 00:08:47.133 --> 00:08:49.500 This world is full of fake love. 00:08:49.500 --> 00:08:51.832 We want the real thing. 00:08:51.832 --> 00:08:57.799 This world is full of people pretending to love you and care about you, but they don't. 00:08:57.966 --> 00:08:59.932 This world is full of fake love. 00:08:59.932 --> 00:09:02.533 We want genuine love, genuine concern. 00:09:02.533 --> 00:09:07.365 That's the kind of people you want to pursue and be around and here's the hard thing about genuine love. 00:09:09.332 --> 00:09:13.700 Sometimes that requires us to do the thing we wouldn't want to do. 00:09:13.732 --> 00:09:19.932 Sometimes that requires that we say to one another, I see this in your life, and this isn't good. 00:09:19.932 --> 00:09:22.799 Genuine love requires truth. 00:09:22.799 --> 00:09:35.299 You can't avoid truth if you really love someone now, the truth should be delivered in gentleness and kindness, not as a stick to hurt someone with. 00:09:36.365 --> 00:09:40.700 But it's done in love to say you are not experiencing God's best in your life. 00:09:40.700 --> 00:09:44.600 If you continue down this path that is part of genuine love. 00:09:44.600 --> 00:09:47.700 Genuine concern is not just avoiding truth. 00:09:47.700 --> 00:09:49.399 So genuine. 00:09:49.399 --> 00:09:50.799 This is Timothy. 00:09:50.799 --> 00:09:53.633 This is the kind of person to follow someone who loves genuine. 00:09:53.633 --> 00:09:57.566 Number three is that we should be Christ centered. 00:09:57.566 --> 00:09:58.765 Look at verse 21 again. 00:09:58.765 --> 00:10:00.265 I have no one - 20 and 21. 00:10:00.265 --> 00:10:10.600 I have no one like him who would be genuinely concerned for your welfare, for they all seek their own interests, not those of Jesus Christ. 00:10:11.666 --> 00:10:20.399 If you're following anyone, it should be someone who is Christ centered, but not as a show for their own interest. 00:10:20.600 --> 00:10:26.399 Paul has pointed out here a couple of times, there are those who preach the gospel out of selfish ambition. 00:10:26.399 --> 00:10:31.966 They're even in ministry primarily for their own sake, which is sad to say. 00:10:32.399 --> 00:10:34.966 It does happen. 00:10:34.966 --> 00:10:38.000 One member of the church, when we were talking about narcissist told me. 00:10:38.000 --> 00:10:39.865 He said, yeah, I've met a narcissist. 00:10:39.865 --> 00:10:43.765 In fact, I got to know him in Bible college. 00:10:48.000 --> 00:10:49.932 It's sad to say, but it's true. 00:10:49.932 --> 00:11:01.865 Some preach the gospel out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but who you should follow is the one who has Christ at the center of their life, Christ at the center of all that they do. 00:11:01.865 --> 00:11:05.133 They're making it about him, not themselves. 00:11:05.133 --> 00:11:06.633 Christ centered. 00:11:06.633 --> 00:11:10.732 Number four is that he should be proven. 00:11:10.732 --> 00:11:12.765 Someone you're seeking to follow should be proven. 00:11:12.765 --> 00:11:15.799 You could add the word tested, proven, tested. 00:11:15.799 --> 00:11:23.100 You want to follow people who've been through some stuff and come out of it better and stronger. 00:11:23.332 --> 00:11:27.299 They've experienced some hard things in life. 00:11:27.765 --> 00:11:30.133 Look back at verse 22 here. 00:11:30.133 --> 00:11:33.133 You know, Timothy's proven worth. 00:11:33.432 --> 00:11:42.533 How as a son with a father he served with me in the gospel, not only Timothy, but if you look down at verse 29, receive him in the Lord with all joy. 00:11:42.533 --> 00:11:48.832 This is about Epaphroditus, honor such men, for he nearly died for the work of Christ, risking his life. 00:11:48.832 --> 00:12:00.799 He's been through some stuff, he's been through some hardships, he's been through some challenges, and you've seen him come through him still trusting Christ, still growing, not cursing the Lord and giving up on him. 00:12:00.799 --> 00:12:03.466 Because I had a hard thing in my life. 00:12:03.466 --> 00:12:05.700 He's been proven and tested. 00:12:07.033 --> 00:12:13.200 This was a significant debate in the early church, first couple hundred years of the church. 00:12:13.200 --> 00:12:18.732 They went through the seasons of persecution, but then reprieve. 00:12:18.732 --> 00:12:23.432 Roman government would persecute them, but then they'd back off depending on who was in power. 00:12:23.432 --> 00:12:37.932 And what would happen during the persecution is a whole lot of people would be killed, but also a lot of people would get to the point of martyrdom but deny their faith to get out of martyrdom, to escape being a martyr. 00:12:39.500 --> 00:12:51.899 And so and by the way, many of the Christian leaders came to see that the person most likely to in the moment, in the heat of the battle, in the moment when it's been put to them, either deny your faith or be killed. 00:12:51.899 --> 00:12:56.666 The person most likely to deny their faith in the moment is the one who was most adamant that they never would. 00:12:57.899 --> 00:13:00.033 I will never-- remember Peter with Jesus. 00:13:00.033 --> 00:13:01.633 I will never deny you, Lord. 00:13:01.633 --> 00:13:04.066 Now you're going to three times, never. 00:13:04.066 --> 00:13:08.799 Oh, just a few hours later. 00:13:09.265 --> 00:13:12.232 The big debate, though, was what do we do with these folks? 00:13:12.232 --> 00:13:21.899 Persecution waves over and these folks start coming back around the church, many genuinely feeling bad that they denied their faith. 00:13:21.899 --> 00:13:22.500 What do we do? 00:13:22.500 --> 00:13:25.500 Do we let them back in or not? 00:13:25.932 --> 00:13:27.633 There was a big debate. 00:13:27.633 --> 00:13:30.633 Some said no way, not ever. 00:13:30.899 --> 00:13:32.633 That shows that they weren't truly Christian. 00:13:32.633 --> 00:13:35.066 Others said, you know what? 00:13:35.066 --> 00:13:37.799 I wonder what I would have done in that moment. 00:13:37.799 --> 00:13:43.299 And some people have asked me before, what would you do if someone came in and said, Deny Christ or die? 00:13:43.299 --> 00:13:44.533 And I said, I hope. 00:13:44.533 --> 00:13:47.166 I hope God will give me the strength to do the right thing in that moment. 00:13:47.166 --> 00:13:47.899 I hope, I pray. 00:13:47.899 --> 00:13:51.732 I also know sometimes I try to get out of the hard thing. 00:13:51.732 --> 00:13:54.000 Lord, would you give me the strength in that moment? 00:13:54.000 --> 00:14:02.865 Okay, huge debate, but what the person you want to follow as best as you can is the person who it is proven, who is tested, who has shown they know how to endure. 00:14:02.865 --> 00:14:07.133 They've been through the hard thing, they know what it means, and they're still turning to Christ. 00:14:08.432 --> 00:14:15.865 Proven. Tested. Number five, we want someone who is willing to be accountable. 00:14:17.166 --> 00:14:26.166 Someone who doesn't have a problem submitting to accountability, someone who doesn't have a problem of having a spiritual authority over them. 00:14:26.166 --> 00:14:37.432 In fact, someone who understands the value of that, who relishes that, the value of having a mentor, the value of having someone older than you to pour into you, someone who has wisdom. 00:14:37.432 --> 00:14:46.899 If you look at how Paul describes Timothy in verse 22, he says, proven worth how as a son with a father, he served with me in the gospel. 00:14:46.899 --> 00:14:48.899 It's a clear pecking order here. 00:14:48.899 --> 00:14:52.200 He-- Paul’s the father in the relationship, Timothy's the son. 00:14:52.200 --> 00:14:55.033 Timothy is the one who is to submit to Paul's direction. 00:14:55.033 --> 00:14:57.100 But listen, I love how he describes this here. 00:14:58.700 --> 00:15:02.600 He also says he served with me in the gospel. 00:15:03.432 --> 00:15:12.299 I think those are some of the best and probably the best mentoring type relationships where there is this side by side element, rather than just that. 00:15:12.299 --> 00:15:15.000 You'll do what I said top down element. 00:15:15.000 --> 00:15:17.799 We're serving together, we're sharpening one another. 00:15:17.799 --> 00:15:20.365 We're actually learning from one another. 00:15:20.365 --> 00:15:23.133 An older person is encouraged by the enthusiasm of the young. 00:15:23.133 --> 00:15:25.832 The young gets the encouragement, the wisdom of the old. 00:15:25.832 --> 00:15:27.000 We work together that way. 00:15:27.000 --> 00:15:31.000 That's why at the men's retreat, the leader there kept hounding over and over again. 00:15:31.000 --> 00:15:32.799 You got to be intergenerational. 00:15:32.799 --> 00:15:34.666 Older men have got to be around younger men. 00:15:34.666 --> 00:15:37.166 You've got to be sharpening one another. 00:15:37.166 --> 00:15:39.899 It works both ways. 00:15:39.899 --> 00:15:44.700 And Timothy shows I'm willing to say I don't know it all. 00:15:44.700 --> 00:15:51.066 I can follow the leadership of another and a good follower will make a good leader. 00:15:51.066 --> 00:15:54.033 That's the kind of person you want to look to follow yourself. 00:15:54.033 --> 00:15:56.100 Someone who's not above that. 00:15:56.100 --> 00:15:58.332 They can take the second stage seat. 00:15:58.332 --> 00:16:00.033 It's okay. They're okay with that. 00:16:02.799 --> 00:16:03.566 Accountable. 00:16:03.566 --> 00:16:04.200 Number five. 00:16:04.200 --> 00:16:11.932 Now number six, someone who is willing to go, willing to serve. 00:16:11.932 --> 00:16:15.066 If you look at verse 23, this is hinted at in this verse. 00:16:15.066 --> 00:16:18.432 I hope, therefore to send him just as soon as I see you, I will go with me. 00:16:18.432 --> 00:16:20.399 I trust the Lord, that shortly I myself will come also. 00:16:20.399 --> 00:16:23.533 Timothy was already known for being sent places. 00:16:23.533 --> 00:16:29.500 The book of first and second Timothy were written to Timothy, who was in Ephesus working to serve the church. 00:16:29.500 --> 00:16:30.299 There. 00:16:30.299 --> 00:16:33.600 Timothy was seen as someone who's I'm ready to go. 00:16:33.600 --> 00:16:34.265 Send me out. 00:16:34.265 --> 00:16:37.100 Where do you need me? I'll go. 00:16:37.100 --> 00:16:40.765 And we need to have that kind of mindset, that kind of heart, that kind of attitude. 00:16:40.765 --> 00:16:43.765 Like in Isaiah, where who can we send, Lord, here I am. 00:16:43.765 --> 00:16:45.832 Send me --that willingness. 00:16:47.166 --> 00:16:50.166 And by the way, that's scary, right? 00:16:50.700 --> 00:16:57.600 A lot of times we we don't necessarily want to put ourselves out there that far and go, yeah, Lord, I'll, I'll go wherever you send me. 00:16:57.600 --> 00:17:04.200 Oh, Lord, I'd like to pray about wherever you might present to me and see if that's best for my plan for life or not. 00:17:04.200 --> 00:17:05.299 That can be hard. 00:17:05.299 --> 00:17:07.000 It can be scary. 00:17:07.000 --> 00:17:09.365 He might call you to go somewhere. 00:17:09.365 --> 00:17:13.732 In fact, he probably will call you to go somewhere that you wouldn't have chosen on your own. 00:17:13.732 --> 00:17:15.766 And you know what that may mean. 00:17:15.766 --> 00:17:18.965 Most of us think he'll want me to go to the jungles of Africa. 00:17:18.965 --> 00:17:19.232 No. 00:17:19.232 --> 00:17:21.599 He may just want you to go across the street. 00:17:21.599 --> 00:17:22.833 That might be scarier. 00:17:22.833 --> 00:17:26.665 Actually, it might be easier to go off to Africa than to that person across the street. 00:17:28.665 --> 00:17:30.000 But we've got to be willing. 00:17:30.000 --> 00:17:31.633 Let there be a willing heart. 00:17:31.633 --> 00:17:33.299 That's the kind of person you want to follow. 00:17:33.299 --> 00:17:34.432 Where you see that about him. 00:17:34.432 --> 00:17:37.232 What is it, Lord? I'm ready. Let's go. 00:17:37.232 --> 00:17:39.465 Willingness to go now. 00:17:39.465 --> 00:17:43.965 Number seven, you want to follow someone who is trustworthy. 00:17:43.965 --> 00:17:45.299 The qualities of the commendable. 00:17:45.299 --> 00:17:48.299 Someone who is trustworthy. 00:17:48.400 --> 00:17:54.566 Now, the whole occasion of this letter having been written was that it part for us who Paul mentions here? 00:17:54.566 --> 00:17:59.333 The first half is talking about Timothy, the second is about Epaphroditus. 00:17:59.400 --> 00:18:08.133 The whole occasion of the letter is that the Philippians apparently put together a financial gift and sent it to Paul through Epaphroditus. 00:18:08.133 --> 00:18:10.400 And so you can look over on your own later. 00:18:10.400 --> 00:18:13.799 Chapter four, verse 18, he says, thanks for the gift from Epaphroditus. 00:18:13.799 --> 00:18:14.432 I appreciate it. 00:18:16.865 --> 00:18:23.465 What this shows is that Epaphroditus was trustworthy because he wasn't taking him a cashier's check. 00:18:23.465 --> 00:18:28.500 He was taking gold coins a thousand miles. 00:18:29.099 --> 00:18:30.500 This guy was trustworthy. 00:18:30.500 --> 00:18:32.032 You could put that money in his hand. 00:18:32.032 --> 00:18:36.165 And, you know, every penny penny would get to Paul. 00:18:36.165 --> 00:18:41.566 We knew this about him with utmost confidence. 00:18:41.732 --> 00:18:43.799 You want to follow someone who is trustworthy. 00:18:43.799 --> 00:18:52.700 And the more I serve in ministry, the more that's a pretty hard and fast line for me in terms of people I'm serving with in leadership. 00:18:52.700 --> 00:18:54.932 Do I trust them or not? 00:18:54.932 --> 00:18:59.099 Of course, we all, especially if you're new to church, there's going to be areas of growth. 00:18:59.099 --> 00:19:00.599 Trust is going to be one of them. 00:19:00.599 --> 00:19:03.266 But what if I'm serving side by side? 00:19:03.266 --> 00:19:08.799 We've got to be able to trust one another to trustworthiness. 00:19:08.799 --> 00:19:10.665 Can I trust your word? 00:19:10.665 --> 00:19:16.200 I've served with people, said one thing to my face and they turn around, say the exact opposite to someone else an hour later. 00:19:17.232 --> 00:19:18.299 What are we doing? 00:19:18.299 --> 00:19:20.365 What are we doing here? 00:19:20.365 --> 00:19:20.900 Not here. 00:19:20.900 --> 00:19:22.165 I'm not talking about here. 00:19:22.165 --> 00:19:25.165 Trustworthy. 00:19:25.599 --> 00:19:26.900 Now trust takes time to build. 00:19:26.900 --> 00:19:27.865 We all know this. 00:19:27.865 --> 00:19:31.299 It can be lost quickly and it takes a lot of time to build. 00:19:31.299 --> 00:19:36.665 So you've got to be patient with those, especially who are new in the faith immature in the faith. 00:19:36.665 --> 00:19:38.333 We're going to do dumb things. 00:19:38.333 --> 00:19:40.032 We're not going to do everything right. 00:19:40.032 --> 00:19:42.732 It takes time. It's small decisions. 00:19:42.732 --> 00:19:43.799 10. 00:19:43.799 --> 00:19:47.365 The one who is faithful in a little thing will also be faithful with much. 00:19:47.365 --> 00:19:53.532 But we stay committed and we keep persevering to become trustworthy. 00:19:54.665 --> 00:19:59.099 And now the next one, trustworthy and transformed. 00:20:00.599 --> 00:20:05.900 You want to follow the person whose life has been transformed by Jesus. 00:20:05.900 --> 00:20:10.400 They have a pre-Jesus story and you wonder, is that even the same person? 00:20:10.400 --> 00:20:18.066 The guy who spoke at the men's conference, Tim Brown, kept talking about that. Guys, I've done everything and I've tried it twice, and I tried to get as good as I could at it. 00:20:18.066 --> 00:20:20.000 And that's no longer who I am, he said. 00:20:20.000 --> 00:20:23.532 I pray often that my kids don't remember the angry person that I was. 00:20:25.799 --> 00:20:26.833 Transformed. 00:20:26.833 --> 00:20:29.532 Here's how we know this, Epaphroditus. 00:20:29.532 --> 00:20:32.532 We just know it by his name. 00:20:33.000 --> 00:20:33.700 His name. 00:20:33.700 --> 00:20:38.066 If you look at it, you've probably heard of the Greek goddess Aphrodite. 00:20:38.066 --> 00:20:39.299 Epaphroditus. 00:20:39.299 --> 00:20:50.633 You hear her name in his name, which means likely his parents would have been worshipers of Aphrodite, or at least Greek gods in general, naming their own child after a Greek god. 00:20:51.299 --> 00:20:54.865 By the way, it probably meant something It probably meant something like beloved of Aphrodite. 00:20:54.865 --> 00:20:57.299 Aphrodite was the goddess of love and beauty. 00:20:57.299 --> 00:21:01.266 It probably meant something along the lines of handsome. 00:21:01.799 --> 00:21:02.799 So he's label. 00:21:02.799 --> 00:21:04.932 He's lived with that label his whole life. 00:21:04.932 --> 00:21:06.700 I am favored of Aphrodite. 00:21:06.700 --> 00:21:08.799 I'm la... I'm handsome. 00:21:08.799 --> 00:21:11.099 That is what has been given to him. 00:21:11.099 --> 00:21:12.099 That is the legacy. 00:21:12.099 --> 00:21:14.400 That is the spiritual legacy that has been given to him. 00:21:15.732 --> 00:21:28.432 But here's the key phrase to remember because he's not living that out now, he's living as a Christ follower now, fully devoted, committed, risking his life for the sake of the cross. 00:21:29.833 --> 00:21:32.965 And here's the key phrase to remember because I don't know what your background is. 00:21:32.965 --> 00:21:43.165 I don't know what spiritual legacy you were given or not given, but your past, both the decisions you've made and the things maybe others have given you or done to you. 00:21:43.165 --> 00:21:46.165 It doesn't have to define you. 00:21:46.432 --> 00:21:48.532 Epaphroditus didn't let it define him. 00:21:48.532 --> 00:21:50.766 I guess this is who I'll always be. 00:21:50.766 --> 00:21:53.299 And he even kept that name. 00:21:53.299 --> 00:21:55.266 Your past doesn't have to have to define you now. 00:21:55.266 --> 00:21:57.532 It may help describe you. 00:21:57.532 --> 00:22:00.833 Oh, I see why he's that way now. If I had been through that. 00:22:00.833 --> 00:22:02.700 Yeah, I would struggle with that too. 00:22:02.700 --> 00:22:04.700 But it doesn't have to define you. 00:22:04.700 --> 00:22:07.833 He didn't have to stay a worshiper of Greek gods. 00:22:07.833 --> 00:22:11.700 He trusted that Christ could move in his life and he could be transformed. 00:22:14.932 --> 00:22:15.700 Trustworthy. 00:22:15.700 --> 00:22:17.099 Transformed. 00:22:17.099 --> 00:22:21.566 Number nine, the kind of person you want to follow is honored and valued. 00:22:21.566 --> 00:22:25.500 Look at verse 25 and the way that Paul describes Epaphoditus. 00:22:25.500 --> 00:22:32.266 In fact, he uses five different honorary titles honorifics here, which, by the way, is unparalleled in Paul's letters. 00:22:32.266 --> 00:22:34.032 He doesn't do that for anyone else. 00:22:34.032 --> 00:22:40.165 There are other places where he does give a number of titles. Here, lumps them together, heavy collection. 00:22:40.766 --> 00:22:52.032 I have thought it necessary to send to you Epaphroditus, my brother, my fellow worker, my fellow soldier, and your messenger and minister to my need. 00:22:52.032 --> 00:22:54.965 Each of these titles we could unpack for a while. 00:22:54.965 --> 00:22:56.299 I'll mention one. 00:22:56.299 --> 00:22:58.299 How many of you like to go to Sunergos Coffee? 00:22:58.299 --> 00:23:02.400 Anybody like to go to that local Louisville coffee shop? 00:23:02.766 --> 00:23:04.833 That's the same word here as fellow worker. 00:23:04.833 --> 00:23:08.032 That's actually a Greek word that they used to name that coffee shop. 00:23:08.032 --> 00:23:18.000 Sun with Ergo, works- working together, fellow worker, I see him as someone side by side in the work. 00:23:18.000 --> 00:23:21.333 And this next title, fellow soldier has that idea as well. 00:23:21.333 --> 00:23:28.833 In fact, it would have been a technical term to describe someone that you served arm in arm, side by side with in battle. 00:23:30.400 --> 00:23:43.700 And by the way, in terms of people who have the deepest connection personally in life, there's usually no one more deeply connected than someone who served side by side on the battlefield. 00:23:43.700 --> 00:23:52.032 This kind of title, especially as Colby talked about in a Roman colony where we had a lot of veterans, former Roman soldiers, settled there. 00:23:52.032 --> 00:23:55.865 This is a title that would have meant a lot to them. 00:23:56.333 --> 00:24:01.500 In fact, we know that that whole city of Philippi really valued titles. 00:24:01.500 --> 00:24:02.833 Let me tell you how important I am. 00:24:02.833 --> 00:24:04.365 Here's my title. Here's another title. 00:24:05.865 --> 00:24:08.633 And he's saying to them, this is a guy you need to follow. 00:24:08.633 --> 00:24:10.766 This is a guy that Paul respects. 00:24:10.766 --> 00:24:14.400 And look, if you want to know who to follow, who are other people following? 00:24:14.400 --> 00:24:16.099 Who are other people valuing? 00:24:16.099 --> 00:24:17.732 Who do other people honor? 00:24:17.732 --> 00:24:20.732 That's the kind of person to look to. 00:24:21.732 --> 00:24:25.465 And now the last one here, number ten. 00:24:25.700 --> 00:24:28.099 You want to follow the person. 00:24:28.099 --> 00:24:34.333 And this is what we're all called to do is to walk by faith, follow the person who walks by faith. 00:24:34.900 --> 00:24:36.833 And we saw that modeled in Epaphroditus. 00:24:36.833 --> 00:24:38.532 Look back at verse 30. 00:24:38.532 --> 00:24:46.432 He nearly died for the work of Christ, risking his life to complete what was lacking in your service to me? 00:24:47.232 --> 00:24:50.500 Epaphroditus was willing to take a risk for the sake of the gospel. 00:24:50.500 --> 00:24:55.000 Just traveling with money in that day and age would have been very dangerous. 00:24:56.732 --> 00:25:00.599 He didn't just hop on the interstate and dash there quickly. 00:25:01.400 --> 00:25:10.099 No, no, no, this would have been a journey primarily by foot, and there would have been people ready to relieve you of your cares and goods at any moment. 00:25:11.099 --> 00:25:17.665 Not only that, but he's a Christian, going to see Paul in prison in Rome, in prison for his Christianity. 00:25:17.665 --> 00:25:20.299 There's a lot of risk in that. 00:25:20.299 --> 00:25:23.400 All of life as a Christian is full of calculated risk. 00:25:23.400 --> 00:25:24.200 All of life is. 00:25:24.200 --> 00:25:27.200 There's no escaping risk. 00:25:28.400 --> 00:25:33.032 We're called to walk by faith, even in things that are risky. 00:25:34.099 --> 00:25:36.200 Even when we served in missions. 00:25:36.200 --> 00:25:40.365 You know, you want to you know that there's some risk involved in moving overseas. 00:25:40.365 --> 00:25:47.133 And we went to about the safest place you can go to do missions in our mind probably was Fiji in the South Pacific. 00:25:47.133 --> 00:25:50.099 And you think, yeah, John, big risk for the gospel there. 00:25:50.099 --> 00:25:57.099 But look, I remember one day sitting in my office and I hear wailing, the deepest wailing you could hear. 00:25:57.099 --> 00:26:09.200 And I look out the window down from our house at the bus stop, and a mother is pulling her daughter out from under a car who had just been ran over and she was dead, nine years old. 00:26:11.865 --> 00:26:13.732 Risk is everywhere. 00:26:13.732 --> 00:26:16.465 You're never going to escape it. 00:26:16.465 --> 00:26:21.099 800 people a year die on the interstates in Kentucky. 00:26:21.099 --> 00:26:22.333 Just driving to work. 00:26:22.333 --> 00:26:24.465 Just another day. 00:26:24.465 --> 00:26:25.500 Risk is everywhere. 00:26:25.500 --> 00:26:28.932 The question is, will we walk by faith, not avoid risk? 00:26:28.932 --> 00:26:30.000 We walk by faith. 00:26:30.000 --> 00:26:35.133 And I'm not talking about living so recklessly that you're throwing your life away. 00:26:35.133 --> 00:26:37.500 You know what I'm talking about. 00:26:37.500 --> 00:26:38.566 We don't walk in fear. 00:26:38.566 --> 00:26:40.232 We walk by faith. 00:26:40.232 --> 00:26:43.232 So huge difference. 00:26:43.799 --> 00:26:47.700 These are the kind of people you want to follow when you see these qualities in someone. 00:26:47.700 --> 00:26:49.333 That's the kind of person to go. 00:26:49.333 --> 00:26:50.333 I want to be like them. 00:26:50.333 --> 00:26:51.732 How do I get time around you? 00:26:51.732 --> 00:26:53.000 What can I do? 00:26:53.000 --> 00:26:56.000 How can I get around you? 00:26:56.000 --> 00:27:03.000 And I want to do something a little different at the end of the service today, because Paul has commended to them two people. Timothy, and Epaphroditus. 00:27:03.000 --> 00:27:07.400 I want to commend someone to you right now, in just a second. 00:27:07.400 --> 00:27:12.566 I have someone come up and speak to you, to speak to all of us, to speak to me. 00:27:12.566 --> 00:27:20.333 Someone who is respected in the church, someone who is proven, someone who is trustworthy. 00:27:20.333 --> 00:27:22.465 We could go down this list of qualities. 00:27:23.633 --> 00:27:26.400 We just wrapped up our previous fiscal year. 00:27:26.400 --> 00:27:27.465 Quick update on that. 00:27:27.465 --> 00:27:38.566 We did end up voting the new budget in, and I asked that folks give to help us finish off the year in the in the positive if possible. 00:27:38.566 --> 00:27:47.766 And we did end up $50,000 short of our need for last year total at the end of the day between expenses and giving. 00:27:47.766 --> 00:27:49.200 And that's a lot. 00:27:49.200 --> 00:27:54.865 Okay, that's not ideal, but I looked back at the previous year. 00:27:55.432 --> 00:27:58.833 The previous year, we ended up$213,000 short. 00:27:58.833 --> 00:28:00.865 So that was a big improvement. 00:28:00.865 --> 00:28:03.200 That's a big praise, right? 00:28:03.200 --> 00:28:05.432 Yeah. 00:28:05.432 --> 00:28:06.865 We're always looking for something to praise. 00:28:06.865 --> 00:28:08.232 That's a big praise. 00:28:08.232 --> 00:28:09.165 That's an improvement. 00:28:09.165 --> 00:28:11.700 That's pointed the right direction. 00:28:11.700 --> 00:28:20.532 But given that this letter, the occasion of this letter was through a gift I thought it would be, this would be a good moment because there's no one more passionate about giving in our church than Larry Peercy. 00:28:20.532 --> 00:28:25.665 And so, Larry, if you don't mind coming up, he's agreed to just share with us for a couple of minutes about his passion. 00:28:33.000 --> 00:28:36.299 Thank you Larry. 00:28:40.799 --> 00:28:46.932 Well, he said I had 5 to 10 minutes, but it looks like I've got about 1 or 2 minutes. 00:28:49.200 --> 00:28:58.532 But I'm going to I'm going to sort of jump into the middle of my, testimony about, giving and tithing. 00:28:58.965 --> 00:29:05.299 I started, teaching Sunday school when I was 20 years old. 00:29:05.299 --> 00:29:12.799 And of course, in teaching, you run across some things that, you probably have to deal with. 00:29:12.799 --> 00:29:22.932 And I started coming under conviction because we were not tithers we gave regularly to the church, but we didn't tithe. 00:29:22.932 --> 00:29:25.732 And I began to feel this conviction. 00:29:25.732 --> 00:29:36.633 And a few years we decided, some of you may have belonged to a church that passed cards around to make a commitment for the budget. 00:29:36.633 --> 00:29:41.266 And, we did that, and we committed to tithe for a year. 00:29:41.299 --> 00:29:53.232 And and so we set into that year, and we we started tithing, but we had three little kids and we weren't making a whole lot of money. 00:29:53.232 --> 00:29:58.665 And so before long, we were getting behind in our tithing. 00:29:58.965 --> 00:30:05.500 And I remember at the end of the year, going to the bank and borrowing money to catch up my tithe. 00:30:05.965 --> 00:30:08.965 And so I said, this isn't working. 00:30:09.066 --> 00:30:12.066 And so we went back to just giving. 00:30:13.865 --> 00:30:20.700 In 1966, in October, we got transferred to Somerset, Kentucky. 00:30:20.932 --> 00:30:23.365 And so I knew we were going into a new church. 00:30:23.365 --> 00:30:25.932 And we're going into a new situation. 00:30:25.932 --> 00:30:49.099 And so Sharlett and I prayed about it, and I told her, I said, we're going to start tithing, but we're going to write the check to the church first, and then we will if if we're not able to pay the bills, I'll call the people myself and tell them that they'll be first next month to get their money. 00:30:49.099 --> 00:30:59.400 And, you know, I guess I didn't really know that I was stepping into God's plan for giving. 00:30:59.766 --> 00:31:19.900 At that time, I don't think I knew that there was, about 30 references in the Bible to firstfruits, and so but there was a couple of verses in the book of Haggai that got a hold of me, and they really dealt with me. 00:31:19.900 --> 00:31:28.965 And I want to read those to you in Haggai, chapter one, verse six, he says, you've sown much, but harvest little. 00:31:28.965 --> 00:31:32.700 You eat, but there's not enough to be satisfied. 00:31:32.700 --> 00:31:39.500 Invest in verse nine, he says, you look for much but behold, it comes to little. 00:31:39.500 --> 00:31:43.365 And when you bring it home, I blow it away. 00:31:43.766 --> 00:31:48.599 That probably hasn't ever meant anything to you. 00:31:48.599 --> 00:31:55.066 But what that said to me was, this is exactly what's been happening to you. 00:31:55.633 --> 00:32:01.200 You like you can't make enough to to please God with your giving. 00:32:01.200 --> 00:32:05.299 If you take care of all your other needs first. 00:32:05.333 --> 00:32:12.099 But when we started writing the check to the church first, we never did. 00:32:12.099 --> 00:32:18.299 I never did have to call anybody and tell them that they were going to get paid the next month. 00:32:18.299 --> 00:32:34.532 During this time in Somerset, I was teaching again and I had a visitation partner and we would go out, visit people that had visited the church and, that his name was Ray Carroll. 00:32:34.833 --> 00:32:41.032 He was an All-American football player at the University of Kentucky during the Bear Bryant years. 00:32:41.032 --> 00:32:49.932 And he was big, he was an offensive lineman and he was bold. 00:32:49.932 --> 00:32:52.400 And I learned some things from him. 00:32:52.400 --> 00:32:58.266 He would go knock on the door, and if you didn't answer, he'd go around, knock on the back door, he would knock on the windows. 00:32:58.266 --> 00:33:02.865 He'd holler, and and if you were home, you had to come answer him. 00:33:02.865 --> 00:33:12.566 And the first thing he'd want to know is, if you were a Christian and, you know, I was struggling to ask you if you went to church, you know, but he said, are you a Christian? 00:33:12.566 --> 00:33:14.532 And then he'd say, are you baptized? 00:33:14.532 --> 00:33:16.266 Have you been baptized? 00:33:16.266 --> 00:33:18.932 And then he’d say, do you tithe? 00:33:18.932 --> 00:33:32.200 And I remember him saying over and over, you know, if you don't tithe, you try it for three months, and if you don't believe in tithing after three months, you come tell me and I'll give you your money back. 00:33:32.200 --> 00:33:38.665 Now, I never did get bold enough to get to that point, and I never felt like God was telling me to do that. 00:33:38.665 --> 00:34:01.532 But I did learn some things through this period of time, and one of the things I learned was that, I was at peace now because I felt like that I was totally, totally, willing to follow God. 00:34:01.532 --> 00:34:10.500 And I don't know if it's been that way with you, but with me, the money, I guess, was the hardest thing for me to deal with. 00:34:10.500 --> 00:34:14.599 And when I got there, then I felt like that I was right with him. 00:34:14.599 --> 00:34:18.699 And then I started noticing some other things. 00:34:18.699 --> 00:34:20.400 God met all of our needs. 00:34:20.400 --> 00:34:33.000 I mean, I learned that God could meet your needs just as easy by decreasing them as he could by giving you more money. 00:34:33.000 --> 00:34:40.465 And so what happened was we would get to the end of the month and we were we still had money. 00:34:41.000 --> 00:34:48.833 And and then I started seeing some some contests won and some different things. 00:34:48.833 --> 00:34:51.300 Money coming in from other ways. 00:34:51.300 --> 00:34:59.565 And the first thing I knew was that I was I we were able to give more than a tithe and we enjoyed giving. 00:34:59.565 --> 00:35:01.132 We were excited about giving. 00:35:01.132 --> 00:35:16.699 And one of the things that we noticed is that I didn't get upset when the preacher was talking about money, you know, you know, you hear people say, if you do any visiting, then you hear people say, every time I go to church, they're talking about money. 00:35:16.699 --> 00:35:18.166 Well, it didn't bother me anymore. 00:35:18.166 --> 00:35:23.699 I, I told the pastor he can preach on tithing every Sunday, you know, that's fine. 00:35:23.699 --> 00:35:25.233 It's what touched our hearts. 00:35:25.233 --> 00:35:29.699 And it's what got us, right with the Lord. 00:35:29.699 --> 00:35:38.233 There's some other things, and I know we don't have a lot of time, but, I remember learning that giving was God's idea, wasn't ... 00:35:38.233 --> 00:35:40.065 it wasn't the church's idea. 00:35:40.065 --> 00:35:42.233 Wasn't the preacher's idea. 00:35:42.233 --> 00:35:50.065 It was God's, back in Genesis four Cain and Abel brought gifts to God. 00:35:50.766 --> 00:35:53.532 So how do you think they learned that? 00:35:53.532 --> 00:35:55.800 Well, they must have learned it from their parents. 00:35:55.800 --> 00:36:05.465 And maybe it was when God was walking with Adam and Eve in the cool of the day that, he told them about that. 00:36:05.465 --> 00:36:10.065 But but I learned that that was God's plan. 00:36:10.065 --> 00:36:12.132 I learned that God owns it all. 00:36:12.132 --> 00:36:14.365 You know, we're just stewards. 00:36:14.365 --> 00:36:25.432 There's a passage in, in, And I won't read it because I'm sure you're familiar with it, but it's in Malachi that says, Will a man rob God? 00:36:25.666 --> 00:36:30.199 And that used to really bother me because I wondered, how can we rob God? 00:36:30.900 --> 00:36:40.766 I mean, if God can take five loaves of bread and feed 5000 people, he if he needs some money, he could zap up some money really easy. 00:36:40.766 --> 00:37:08.699 You know how, how can how can we rob God and and and then it was much later that I guess God gave me that insight that that what, what he was talking about is that we were robbing God of the privilege of blessing us, because God wants to bless his children. 00:37:10.166 --> 00:37:21.365 And but God is totally holy and he cannot abide sin. 00:37:22.432 --> 00:37:39.965 So if we're disobedient in any way, we're outside of of of God's blessing because God, God doesn't change. 00:37:39.965 --> 00:37:53.465 And I know these verses, I've read to you are in the Old Testament, but that passage in Malachi is only two pages away from the New Testament. 00:37:53.465 --> 00:38:02.032 And in my Bible, it's only four pages away from where Jesus himself said, I didn't come to do away with the law. 00:38:02.032 --> 00:38:04.833 I came to fulfill the law. 00:38:04.833 --> 00:38:10.565 And it was Jesus who said, you know that it's more blessed to give than receive. 00:38:10.565 --> 00:38:21.465 It was it was Jesus that that kept talking about, the things that that, we're supposed to do with money. 00:38:21.465 --> 00:38:30.266 He told 38 parables in, in the gospels, and 16 of them have to do with money and finances. 00:38:30.266 --> 00:38:30.599 So. 00:38:30.599 --> 00:38:34.365 So what do you do with your money is important. 00:38:34.365 --> 00:38:42.199 And I believe that that God wants us to return his tithe. 00:38:42.199 --> 00:38:43.699 We can't pay a tithe. 00:38:43.699 --> 00:38:45.300 We can bring the tithe. 00:38:45.300 --> 00:38:47.432 Everywhere in Scripture talks about tithing. 00:38:47.432 --> 00:38:50.432 It talks about them bringing the tithe. 00:38:50.699 --> 00:38:58.233 I believe that, tithing was a part of the law, but I believe that tithing is a part of grace too. 00:38:58.233 --> 00:39:12.065 And Jesus raised the bar on every area that they dealt with above the law when he said, even if you're just angry with a person, you're guilty of of murder. 00:39:12.065 --> 00:39:14.565 So so he he raised the bar. 00:39:14.565 --> 00:39:20.199 And I think that that tithing is just simply telling God, yeah, I trust you. 00:39:21.166 --> 00:39:38.599 And and yeah, I'll bring it first because it doesn't take any faith to give the tithe after after you've taken care of all your own needs and still have money left over, there's no faith involved there. 00:39:38.599 --> 00:39:48.065 For the farmers that were bringing the grains and their cattle and their sheep, to give the first took an act of faith. 00:39:48.065 --> 00:39:51.833 And and without faith, you can't please God. 00:39:51.833 --> 00:40:00.400 So I would encourage you to look look carefully at what God's Word says about giving and about tithing. 00:40:00.400 --> 00:40:04.699 And I believe that, you know, God obviously doesn't need our money. 00:40:04.699 --> 00:40:07.500 I mean, it's not about God about to go broke. 00:40:07.500 --> 00:40:12.932 And if you don't, turn loose of some money, he's going to he's going to suffer. 00:40:12.932 --> 00:40:14.365 That's not it at all. 00:40:14.365 --> 00:40:15.500 It's about us. 00:40:15.500 --> 00:40:19.500 It's about what we need so that God can bless us. 00:40:19.500 --> 00:40:23.699 And I challenge you to let him bless you in this way. 00:40:23.699 --> 00:40:24.065 Thank you.