 Today we're in Philippians chapter 2. We're going to look at verses 19 through 30 as we continue our verse by verse study here in The book of Philippians and what I'll do is I'll begin at verse 19 and I'll read to verse 24 And then we'll move into verse 25 and then we'll conclude at verse 30 We're looking really at qualities of one who serves the Lord and we have two examples that we'll be looking at a Young man by the name of Timothy and a second individual by the name of the papyriditis and so Begetting at verse 19 reading to verse 24 Philippians chapter 2 Paul writes, but I trust in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you shortly that I may That I also may be encouraged when I know your state For I have no one like-minded who will sincerely care for your state For all seek their own not the things which which are of Christ Jesus But you know his proven character that as a son with his father. He served with me in the gospel Therefore, I hope to send him at once as soon as I see how it goes with me But I trust in the Lord that I myself shall also come shortly And so Paul here is speaking in verses 19 through 24 of a visit a visit that a young man by the name of Timothy Will soon make to the church. I Want you to notice how he begins here notice how he says I trust in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy in Other words though. He is planning on sending Timothy. He gives us some insight He doesn't want to presume on the Lord and that's why he says I trust in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy You see Paul knew something that many people need to learn. I need to learn this I need to continually learn this though he might have plans the Lord may have different plans And he didn't want to give the impression that he was directing his own path That's why he's saying I trust in the Lord Jesus to send him to you. I'm not in other words directing my own path I'm waiting on the Lord I trust in the Lord that he's part of this that he wants me to do this in Proverbs 16 verse 9 It says a man's heart plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps And so Paul knew that his plans had to be Submitted to the Lord and that's a good thing for all of us as believers Though we may have plans that we make we need to submit those plans to the Lord because God may have something for us That is better than he always it's always better than our own plans But he may have something for us that we just don't see and so rather than making choices and doing things on our own We submit those plans. We say Lord I'd like to do this or I'd like to go here I'd like to whatever and I just want you to open those doors if it's of you and if it's not please Lord I ask in Jesus name, would you please make it so clear that you're closing the door that I don't presume presume on you and do Something that you're not in I'm asking you to do that for me. I'm asking you to direct my footsteps You know, he wanted to do something for the Lord He wanted to send Timothy so that Timothy might do some ministry, but at the same time he submitted to the Lord You see a similar kind of thing in the book of Acts in chapter 16 in Acts chapter 16 verses 6 through 10 It says when they had gone through Phrygia and the region of Galatia They were forbidden by the Holy Spirit to preach the word in Asia After they had come to miss you they tried to go into Bethany, but the Spirit did not permit them So passing by miss you they came down to Chino. Oh, I'm sorry. That's my version They came down to Troy's and a vision appeared to Paul in the night A man of Macedonia stood and pleaded with him saying come over to Macedonia and help us Now after he had seen the vision immediately We sought to go to Macedonia concluding that the Lord had called us to preach the gospel to them Paul had a desire to go where the gospel had yet to be preached and he desired to go into these various regions But every time the Holy Spirit put a door there so that he couldn't enter in and then finally the Spirit says no What I really want you to do is to go into this this region and that's how we need to do it And that's why Paul says I trust in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you shortly. I'm submitting my plans to him So that I know that I'm in the center of his will If you take notes James says something in chapter 4 verses 13 through 15 He says listen you who say today or tomorrow. We will go to this or that city spend a year there Carry on business and make money Why you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes Instead you ought to say if it's the Lord's will we will live and do this or that if it's the Lord's will So we don't presume on the Lord we submit to the Lord and we give him our plans and we say Lord I think you're in this I desire to do this Lord, I want to buy this house. It looks like the door is open. I can make the payments It looks like it's something we can do and But I'm submitting this to you I've had people approach me saying I have a great opportunity to buy a house. It's in another city or another state and I was just wondering what you think about that and I and I always say basically the same thing The very first thing I normally ask is this where you're gonna go to church and They'll say things ordinarily. I've heard this many times. Oh, there are a lot of great churches there And I'll say really and which ones have you sought out which ones are you familiar with what church? Will you go to? Well, you know, we'll find that out when we get there And I always have a difficult time with that because that demonstrates to me that you're not seeking the Lord You want a house now? There's nothing wrong with one in a house But I want a house that is built by somebody that's gonna make that house last and it's got to be something more than just a house That I live in I want something that's everlasting and therefore I asked the one who's the architect of those things that are everlasting To lead me to the right place to dwell. I want to make sure that when I move or where I go There's a place that I can learn of the Lord and serve God So it's not an afterthought for me. It's the first thing that I'm concerned about where am I gonna go and grow in The Lord where am I gonna go to receive of Christ because though the house might be a great deal right now? I don't know that that's the place. I'm supposed to be submit your plans to the Lord and ask the Lord to direct your footsteps He'll make it very clear. So Paul says I trust in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you shortly In order that I might be encouraged when I know your state So Timothy is going to come but Timothy as Paul's representative is going to have a tremendous responsibility And so he's saying I'm going to send him there because he's going to receive a report and bring it back to me And so as his representative he has tremendous responsibility And so in the verses that follow we're going to get some insight into the kind of man Timothy was and I see in these things here not only in the life of Timothy But also in the life of the pathroditus the qualities of somebody who is serving the Lord Jesus Christ And I think what we can learn from these things some very practical things Now as we look at this I want you to notice something this portion of the letter of Philippians is really in many ways What has been referred to as a letter of recommendation? It's a letter of commendation It's a letter of introduction if you will or reintroduction and many times letters of Commendation or introduction were written in the early church you see that in 1st Corinthians 16 verse 3 When I arrive I'll give letters of introduction to the menu approve and send them with your gift to Jerusalem There were times that there would be letters of commendation letters written so that when somebody would show up That person who's showing up is actually going to be trusted by those who are receiving him Because during that day there were people who were going from house to house from church to church and sometimes they were bringing Doctrine that really wasn't acceptable And so Timothy is really going to be going there as a representative of Paul and so Paul is making sure that they're aware of that This man Timothy who is really my protégé really somebody I'm mentoring somebody that I trust It's going to be coming to you and I want you to know that I'm sending Timothy in order that he might be able to bring to me a Report and so he's saying that and he's saying I'm sending him so that I might be encouraged when I hear how you were doing now We need to remember that Paul cared deeply for them, but he couldn't personally come you see Paul was incarcerated at that time So he sends one who shares his concern He sends one who would be referred to as my genuine or my true son in the faith And we're going to be looking at him and seeing some things about him that can help us as we grow in our knowledge of Jesus Christ too Now when he says I trust in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you shortly That I also may be encouraged when I know your state He goes on to say for I have no one like minded who will sincerely care for your state I have no one like minded the first thing I want to point out is that this is one who sincerely cares You see Paul loved the Philippians and As somebody who loved the Philippians he wants somebody there ministering to them who shares that kind of love He wants somebody that loves the way that he loves He wants somebody who shares the same concerns Paul has on their behalf He wants somebody who has a spiritual maturity and a great desire to be of service to those whom he ministers to Now I want to get practical with you as I look at this because there are things that you can see in here that can Help you and will also give you some insight into ministry. I Would say to you that today it's rare to have somebody serving alongside of you in ministry who actually loves the sheep. It's rare Sadly for some a position in ministry can be a stepping stone to something that they think is even greater or better many years ago Over 20 years ago, I Approached my pastor Chuck and some people and in leadership and I said, you know I'd like to have an assistant pastor's conference a Conference where the assistant pastors of Calvary Chapel gathered together. This is a long time ago and can be instructed in the ministry of assisting And so I went about seeing if we could put something together and discovered that there was really at that time Little or no interest in doing something like that There wasn't really a response of those who were assistant pastors at that time And so I was wondering I wonder why that is not, you know Something of interest to people and I was speaking to another pastor and he says you want to know why The assistant pastors are not responding to an assistant pastor's conference and I said I'd like to hear why He says it's because they don't want to be assistant pastors. They want to be senior pastors and the idea of them coming to an assistant pastor's conference isn't as as as You know, isn't something that they'd like to do as much as have Themselves coming to a senior pastor's conference and I think that in some ways at that time that may have been Very true There are a lot of people who look at ministry as being a stepping stone to something else So they begin by doing something small not because they enjoy doing that Which is small not because they enjoy doing it and not being noticed knowing that their commendation comes from god But because they're hoping that in doing that small thing somebody will notice and give them something else and then give Them something else and give them something else until ultimately they get the keys to somebody's office and and they're a full-time minister So it's not really as if they've got a heart to serve It's really a stepping stone to something greater and there are numbers of people who are like that who don't understand That the greatest in the kingdom is the servant of all Who don't understand that it's a better thing just to enjoy the things that god gives to you and to do them Faithfully and allow the lord to do what he wants in your life Sometimes we strategize our own lives and we want to do something more that we think is greater And we don't have an understanding that to be a servant is what god has called us to be Our church was Maybe two years old at the time two and a half years old We used to meet in a small industrial building in the city of ontario on grove street We had we had offices there and we had wednesday night and we had sunday night services there And after an evening service i'll never forget this we only had 120 chairs that were placed out there And when we had people in bible study because they were not locked down when people would get up and scoot out You know the chairs would be moved all over the all over the little hall there And so you know we would have to straighten them all out again for the next time we were going to meet there And so it was a young man who approached me after the service and was speaking to me and he was telling me I want to serve the lord here. I want to be used by god And and i said is that right well talk to me about it And i'll never forget i was in the back of the hall and i started going through every row One at a time straightening all the chairs out To making sure that they were you know in order and straightened out He followed me through the entire hall as i straightened out every one of the chairs He never picked up one of those chairs He never helped one time Because he was so busy wanting to be a servant that he wanted to tell me what it means for him to want to be a Servant and i think that a lot of times people get caught up thinking you know to be a servant of the lord Is to to be well respected or to have authority or to be able to have an officer to receive some kind of salary or to have Your name in a bulletin or or whatever it may be some people think that a position in ministry is a stepping stone to something else there are those who Get into the music ministry and and it's really for them not ministry at all for them It's a stepping stone to a recording contract It's not that they have a desire to go out and sing in the name of jesus christ for whatever it may be odin's been involved in music ministry for as long as i've known odin Odin is a great musician a great vocalist has been for as long as i've known him And he's done a lot of worship ministry and a lot of service and he used to travel with friends and they go off and do ministry And it was because they wanted to serve the lord jesus christ not so that they'd receive a paycheck because often They didn't receive a paycheck. They're not receiving one tonight either, but they they they often Didn't receive a paycheck got to thank you very much in a hot dog And they would drive sometimes odin's told me all the way up to san francisco in that area there and their little Volkswagen van or whatever and they wouldn't even get gas money To come back because people were trying to capitalize on the jesus movement and the jesus music and they were getting these jesus freaks So they could bring kids into the church and and have them listen to mustard seed faith or whatever and and they were doing that Kind of thing But there were people at that time like odin and so many others who were there just Serving jesus and not for the paycheck, but that's not always true and it's not that true today as it used to be There are many people who who audition who want to do music in churches because they see it as an entry way Into becoming a recording artist So there needs to be a sincerity There needs to be a sincerity in serving the lord and a sincerity in loving the people And paul wanted someone who sincerely cared for the people. It's a blessing. It's a blessing when a minister Can recommend somebody who truly loves others paul and second carinthians chapter 8 verses 16 and 17 Said i thank god who put into the heart of titus The same concern i have for you For titus not only welcomed our appeal But he is coming to you with much enthusiasm And on his own initiative I thank god because god put into the heart of titus the same concern i have For you For me in this ministry when somebody is serving alongside of me and others My great heart and great desires that they will love you That they will love the sheep not just a position Not just an office not just a title But they will love the sheep And that's what timothy was like timothy Sincerely cared for their state Now a second thing and this is something you might not even notice In verse 19 when he says i trust in the lord jesus to send timothy a second thing about him Is an insight that i get because this is one who is going to be sent by paul Which tells me there's a relationship between timothy and paul Where timothy is under orders he's one who is submitted to the apostle paul Again if you're going to be used by the lord You need to have a heart that is submitted to biblical authority There are quite a number of people who do not have a heart that's submitted to authority They say well god speaks to me just like he speaks to you And this is what we're going to do and this is how we're going to do it And if you don't like it that's too bad you're quenching the spirit in my life Well timothy wasn't like that i've discovered something a long time ago If somebody is faithful in that which is least they'll be faithful in that which is much If you ask somebody to do some very small thing and they and they do the thing you ask them to do I can trust them to do something else that might require a little more faithfulness And and a little more maturity, but if they'll do this small thing Then i can trust them to do a greater thing If they don't modify the request if they don't just change it around and say well you asked for this But i brought you that instead because this is really better than what you asked for I may have a reason that i asked for this Specific thing because there's a particular reason for it that i don't have to tell that person for I simply want them to get what i asked them, but if they go out and modify and change things They're showing me something about their character. They're not faithful in that which is least And i get careful with people like that I really believe that authority and being submitted to authority is something very important There's a story found in the book of matthew chapter 8 It's a story that relates to the city of capurnium and a certain centurion who had a servant who was ill And the centurion has come to the lord jesus christ and he's speaking to him concerning this servant who is very ill And and he wants jesus christ to To to heal his servant and and jesus says to the centurion i'll come to him And and the centurion says no you don't have to do that I'm not worthy that you should come under my roof, but he speaks to the lord jesus christ in this way He says i am a man i also am a man under authority Having soldiers under me and i say to this one go and he goes and to another come and he comes And to my servant do this and he does it I too am a man under authority. What are you saying centurion? I'm saying that i know the chain of command i know how authority works And i as a roman centurion a man who is responsible who is over A hundred soldiers i understand authority if i say to somebody go he'll go if i say come he'll come i'm a military man and i understand authority in the military And i've looked at you jesus and i know that you too are under authority And so i know i can trust you and all you need to do is speak a word and my servant will be healed Because you have authority lord i am not worthy that you should come under my roof It's what he says speak but a word and he will be healed and jesus looking at him understands that this man knows something of authority And how the kingdom of god operates And he says i haven't even seen faith this great in israel This is a gentile who understands proper authority I haven't even seen a jewish individual who has that kind of understanding and so timothy is going to be sent Because timothy is somebody who's trusted And timothy doesn't see himself as being equal to paul He sees himself as being a servant to the lord as he ministers alongside of paul and fulfills the request that paul might have for him He says again in verse 21 he says i'll seek their own and not the things which are of christ jesus Now When it says i'll seek their own Not the things which are of christ jesus we can ask ourselves a basic question And well who are you referring to when you say i'll seek their own Well, all we need to do is remember the first portion of the book of philippians And we need to remember that there are those that are building their own kingdoms that paul has been speaking about remember in chapter uh chapter one In verses 15 through 17 how How paul had said some indeed preach christ even from envy and strife and some also from good will The former preach christ from selfish ambition not sincerely Supposing to add affliction to my chains, but the latter out of love knowing that i'm appointed for the defense of the gospel Those all who seek their own are the ones who are building their own kingdoms So in contrast to those who are building their own kingdom timothy has a different heart than those people because he's not seeking his own interests now Another element of the quality of timothy and a minister is the motives are pure You see some enjoy the attention they receive for doing the things that they do But timothy saw the things of jesus christ knowing that the reward would come From him some people love attention They desire it they crave it even spiritual things they want to be seen for and known for they want to be known They seek the limelight they seek the attention of others they desire it even demanded When i was in high school, i believe i was a junior And we had to go into the pool And so All of us in gym class All of us were in the pool and we shared the pool obviously with the freshman and the sophomores and And the seniors and and i can still remember as i was in the pool there and There was a freshman who had come in who was standing on the high dive And as this young kid this 14 year old boy was standing on the high dive He started yelling to the coach and he started yelling coach look at me. I'm going to jump Coach look at me. I'm going to jump and he was jumping up and down in the high dive Screaming across the pool to the coach who was on the other side Coach look at me. I'm going to jump No, I was a junior at that time. I started hoping he'd fall let alone jump You know jump and shut up get in the water be quiet and you're making a fool yourself Look at me. Look at me. I've never forgotten that There are people who are like that 14 year old even though they're Adults in in ministry. Look at me. Look at me. I'm going to jump Look at me. You need to see me pay attention to me When you greatly desire the attention of man That's a very dangerous place to be When you do ministry to be seen by men you receive reward from that man from those men They seek other things But timothy was one who sincerely sought the things of the lord He didn't want the attention. He wasn't seeking that he wanted to do the things for the lord. So From the lord, he'd receive his reward It's what we read in colossians chapter 3 verses 23 and 24 Whatever you do work at it with all your heart as working for the lord not for men Since you know that you'll receive an inheritance from the lord as reward. It is the lord christ You are serving And so the motives of service are pure. You don't do it for attention It's been said the most beautiful thing that you ever hear Is your name on somebody else's lips People like that attention But you have to die to that you have to die to that Now in verse 22, he gives us a fourth thing In verse 22, he says you know his proven character that as a son with his father He served with me in the gospel as a son with the father First he's got what you call a proven character Character is formed through pressure And is revealed over time Character is tested through time and experience Because under trial character is revealed There was an old saying as eyes growing up That related to sports They would say sports builds character Sports doesn't build character Sports reveals character It doesn't build it. It reveals it. What are you willing to do? In order to get your goal is revealed in sports. That's why so many of these athletes You know have you know asterisks behind their name now They might have hit those home runs, but they did it when they were juiced They didn't do it honestly. They didn't do it with integrity They didn't do it right Because the sport did not Create a fashion character. It simply revealed what was inside of them all along and that's what happens under pressure Your character is revealed What you do when you're under pressure shows what you really are It's been said if you if you kick a vat of vinegar vinegar is going to spill out If you kick a vat of apple cider apple cider spills out whatever's in the vat under pressure is going to be exposed And so character is demonstrated over time Through the pressures and trials of life And this is a young man who had a proven character And his character was proven by the manner in which he served Timothy had remained faithful to god and in his service to paul even under pressure Now as you study the life of this young man named timothy you see that he had disadvantages that would have worked against him You read concerning the fact that he was naturally shy You see that he was relatively young That he was often in poor health and he was under constant opposition These are things you see in first and second timothy when paul is writing and encouraging him because he's young therefore He's saying you're not god isn't given to us a spirit of fear. You're a timid man He hasn't given us a spirit of fear. He's given us a spirit of power loving a sound mind timothy You need to understand and then you say let no man despise your youth Or drink a little wine for your your frequent infirmity. See he was under constant opposition We know that because he was a young man in in a culture that that valued the older And so what he had were a lot of disadvantages and in those pressures He he demonstrated what he really was in your pressures. You demonstrate what you really are That's what happens and so he says he has a proven proven character He's remained faithful to the lord and he's remained faithful to me For timothy to even see paul in prison took courage because by coming to see him Timothy would be under the scrutiny of rome They would know that this was a man identified with paul who was in prison for preaching this message of the gospel And so for timothy to come and see him would have required tremendous courage on his part When paul was writing in second timothy chapter one verse eight He said to timothy do not be ashamed of the testimony of our lord Nor of me his prisoner But share with me in the sufferings for the gospel According to the power of god timothy Instead of being ashamed Served paul like a son Would serve his own father A son has a loyalty to a father That is unmatched When there's a true and genuine love relationship between the two I think it is absolutely absolutely tragic When you see a father and a son who don't love one another Or a father who has a problem with the son And it's public There's a show on uh on on television. A lot of you have seen it I used to watch it a few years ago when it first came out. I really don't watch it anymore But it's about a son and a father who work in orange county choppers And some of you have seen it paul jr. And his father And it is sad It's really sad to see how his father paul senior treats his son paul jr Just the attitude he has towards him and his desire to see him fail And there's just so much and I've I've seen some recent episodes. I think two of them And um the part of the reason that I've done so is because um um paul jr Has reportedly Recommitted his heart to christ and I wanted to see how he was How it's going for him and you're gonna see it on that show And I remember in the earlier days when he had a language problem and all kinds of other things that he was going through And I wondered is this his light shining and so I put it on to watch to see how paul jr Was and to see how his father is competing against him and to see how his father is Speaking of him and what his father has done and and that the pain it just breaks your heart It's sad to see a father who doesn't love the son But when you have a son that loves the father and the father loves the son you have a loyalty that is unmatched unmatched Because the son will serve alongside with the father in a genuine way without a desire to take from that father Anything that belongs to the father but rather as a son who is honoring the father They'll do whatever they can to make sure that that father is cared for I have two sons who are like that with me Two sons my son david and my son joseph are extremely loyal to me their father And I thank god for those sons. I thank god that they love me the way that they do And and I trust them with everything. I trust them with my life. I trust them with my heart And a son's loyalty the father is unmatched You see timothy has come to faith in jesus christ through paul And timothy has traveled extensively with this man And timothy saw firsthand the life that paul lived And and he heard the consistency of the message that he gave And that's why paul could commend him in first carinthians in chapter four verse 17 paul said for this reason i'm sending to you timothy my son Who my love who is faithful in the lord? He will remind you of my way in christ jesus which agrees with what I teach everywhere in every church So he's not ashamed of me, but he serves like a a son serves a father So I will send him he says in verse 23 as soon as I see how it goes with me Now moving into epaphroditus He says in verse 25 i considered it necessary to send to you epaphroditus my brother fellow worker and fellow soldier But your messenger and the one And the one who ministered to my need Since he was longing for you all and was distressed because you had heard that he was sick for indeed he was sick almost under death But god had mercy on him and not only on him but on me also Lest I should have sorrow upon sorrow therefore I sent him the more eagerly that when you see him again you may rejoice And I may be less sorrowful receive him therefore in the lord with all gladness and hold such men in esteem because For the work of christ he came close to death not regarding his life to supply what was lacking in your service to me And so verse 25 through 30 speaks of epaphroditus Epaphroditus is only mentioned in this particular letter Epaphroditus is the one sent by the philippians who brought financial aid to the apostle paul And as you look at verse 25 it reveals that he had remained behind a minister with and to the apostle But according to verse 26 he had gotten ill and he had to return to philipi So paul is writing to commend his service so that he's not viewed as a coward or an apostate And so as he's writing concerning him notice how he speaks of him first He speaks of him in verse 25 as my brother In other words, he's my brother in the lord Timothy is a son because he came to faith through paul But epaphroditus is a brother who has gotten right with god through some other minister So he's my brother second. He's my fellow laborer In other words, we work together in the field of that belongs to god We work together in the ministry of the gospel of jesus christ. He's my fellow laborer The third thing he is is my fellow soldier We are involved in spiritual warfare And so this is an individual who's been alongside of me It's a picture of a wounded comrade in arms who's been sent home from the front lines to rest and to recover One of the things we need to understand and this is something that I think the church needs to return to because sometimes we forget it Is that we're in spiritual warfare And it's been said that the church is the only organization that has a tendency of shooting its own wounded And that's probably true to some degree And epaphroditus could have been looked down on because he's returned to the philippians He's returned to them and and paul They might have thought that he abandoned paul. So paul has to write a letter say no, he's returned because he's my brother He's my fellow soldier. He's been faithful. He simply got ill So don't look down on him. He didn't abandon me at all But here we are in spiritual warfare and he's a fellow soldier. He's somebody who's a comrade in arms He's somebody that cares about the things of the lord and in the midst of all of the things that we've gone through together He's somebody that I've grown to love and respect very highly. I appreciate him I appreciate the fact that he hasn't abandoned me. I appreciate the fact that he remained behind to care for me I appreciate the fact that he represented you He brought the gift that I needed for my needs and all he brought that and I'm thankful to god And therefore I commend him because he's a fellow soldier in the spiritual war that we are waging I I have discovered that not everybody understands spiritual warfare. Not everybody realizes they're even in it But when you have somebody who understands spiritual warfare There's this relationship that develops between you two that is Is is really a very solid and very powerful bond that you have with that individual You share things you either you share your life and you share the love of christ In a way that is so unique to spiritual warfare It's so unique to christians And you develop relationships that are based on things that are extremely spiritual There's just nothing like it when you minister alongside of somebody and together you see the lord brings somebody into the kingdom of god There's nothing like it when you have people during our church services Who are praying so that the word of god goes forth and touches lives There's there's nothing like it to know that you have people right now praying for you praying that god will move Even right now there are people praying right now in the back room For this church service that god will move in our lives. There's nothing like that And paul had a relationship with this man that he wanted them to know about He said this is one who's a spiritual soldier alongside of me But verse 25 says but he's your messenger and he's the one who ministered to my need You have cared for my physical needs. You took care of my necessities and he's the one who brought them Now in verse 26 and 27 it says since he was longing for you all and was distressed because you had heard that he was sick Indeed he was sick almost unto death But god had mercy on him and not only on him but on me also lest i should have sorrow upon sorrow He desired to return home because he missed you But he also had to go home because he was ill And he didn't like the idea that you were overly concerned for him He got nil while serving the lord Some people think that ministry is easy and fun and painless Ministry is fulfilling And sometimes it is a lot of funds But it's never been painless. I promise you that and it's never been really easy Because ministry relates to pulling people out of the clutches of satan And when you actually go out and do that you become a target A target that the enemy will go after and sometimes he does so With a force and a violence that you can't even imagine There are so many illustrations of this but one comes to mind that we all understand In the life of pastor greg lorry greg is a reserved man I've known pastor greg for a long time for many years For many years And I can tell you that greg is a great guy loves the lord his wife kathy is an absolute doll They're jewels in the kingdom of god. They're tremendous people and I have Nothing but the highest respect for greg lorry I admire him like I admire a few people because I see him As a man who's consistent in his quest to bring glory to jesus christ And he is somebody that that I respect and have respected since he was a young man He began really ministering when he's around 17 years old And he's been in the ministry for probably 40 years And he's a young man now. He's around 57 58 years old He's been in the ministry for over 40 years serves the lord faithfully and I have watched god use him In many many for many years When he began the the summer harvest ministry and and when so many hundreds into the thousands of people began to show up And you've seen thousands of people over the years who have received christ answered invitations. He's given You begin to wonder when is the enemy going to take notice and do something? When is the enemy going to do something? Because greg has become somebody that is doing great damage to the evil kingdom So When his son had that tragic accident and lost his life In the life of greg I can say this I think honestly and openly There are very few people that he really loves with all of his heart And christopher was one of them Probably his closest friend And to lose his son Was a blow that very few people could have handled to be honest with you It was something beyond And and the the letters that were coming to the editor about christopher The things that were being said about him and the things that were said about greg lory When all that went down they were published in the orange county register and I read several of them And they said oh the kid was speeding in basically we're saying he got what he deserved You know that accidents happen And the crushing pain that that man went through when he lost his son Was was very very terrible and all who knew him and all who love greg had broken hearts broken hearts For the pain that that man went through And yet what was he doing? Almost immediately because the accident occurred just before the summer harvest. What did he do? He went up and preached the gospel He went out and shared the gospel And he gave messages from a broken heart and still to this day does It's one of those things that you're not going to heal over You're going to continue carrying a wound the rest of your life and you know it It makes heaven a lot more beautiful a great place to go Because your treasure's there christopher's this treasure and so to return to one day go and see him It's going to be a glad reunion It isn't painless guys Ministry is not easy It comes at a cost It comes at a pain that that many people will never understand It comes with accusations It comes with trials It comes with hurt It comes with disappointment It comes with a cost that you couldn't understand When my friend Randy Walls who's the pastor of Calvary Chapel upland Approached me almost 20 years ago now and said to me I want to go out and plan a church I feel that god has called me to be a senior pastor And I desire to be Set free to do that Randy could tell you this is a true story He was on staff with me and he was in my office and he approached me and he said that I want to go out and I want to pastor. I want to be a senior pastor and I can tell you the truth You won't probably understand this when I say this, but I looked at him and I said you don't know what you're asking for And I cried I cried Not because my dearest and best friend wanted to leave No, of course not. He's we still see each other more than we should We're very dear friends always will be But I looked at him and I said Randy you don't know what you're asking for Jesus one time was approached by His men and they said Actually the mother their mama said Grant my request that one might sit at your right hand and the other at your left in your kingdom You remember Jesus's response to that request You know not what you are asking for Are you able to drink of the cup that I am going to drink? Oh, yes, lord. We are able No, you're not You don't understand what you're asking for You don't know I've been in the ministry for 37 years. That's a long time. I'd say 37 years And I know what it's like to have your face on somebody's dartboard Where they really don't like you And they say things about you that are unfair and untrue and extremely painful And they do it because they love you. They'll even tell you that I love you. So I'm telling you the truth Say I love you. I want to pop you in the head I had a guy approach me one time who said my ministry is keeping speakers humble and I want you to know how bad your message was And I said raw that is so painful Why do you have to say things like that to me? It hurts me Terrible. No, that's true That's true That's just ministry I've shared in pastors classes if you want to be in the ministry develop a thick skin Because sheep may not be that bad, but they certainly do bite And they are they are more than willing To to chew on you as much as is possible and blame you for everything that they've done They do And so you have to have a thick skin in ministry And you have to have a heart that is right with the lord and it isn't as easy as it appears. Yeah, it's a blast I love it. I could do nothing else But it came with a cost It came with a cost When a lot of people are putting their heads on the pillow at night going to sleep people like me and other pastors like me are praying for them And praying for the church and praying for the problems praying for their kids Praying for them families praying for their lives We pray like that. We do that. That's my life. I've been doing that for 37 years Where people will walk up to you and they'll say my wife just left me my son just died My dad went home to be with the lord I've been in the front of the of the church and I've had someone walk up and say can you pray for me My mom died two days ago. Then the person next to me says will you pray for me? We're getting married and then somebody after comes after and says, oh, you know, bless the lord I just want you to want you to know that that that we're pregnant Then somebody else comes and says I want you to know that my wife just ran off with my best friend One after another and and you at one moment your your your eyes are tearing up because somebody is so hurt And then the next person comes up who's so happy And you feel like a schizophrenic and I don't mean that in a bad way and I'm not And I'm certainly not trying to be insensitive what I mean is it's it's it's swings from one point to another in in in One second like one second One person is saying I just am rejoicing in the lord and the other one is saying I'm broken hearted And it's in the same conversation in a 25 minute period in between services And that happens most every time I go out to speak After the church services The people who walk up to you and not walking up saying I just want to talk to you about you know Football and stuff they're talking about things that matter They're talking about their lives and the things that they're going through and the pain that they're experiencing And I'm losing my house or I lost my job or I don't know what I'm going to do That's ministry And so it isn't easy And when somebody says oh, I want to be a minister It isn't something that you go into lightly This is someone who got ill serving the lord Ministry can be hazardous it even can be life threatening And and many who have served the lord in ministry have paid the ultimate price and in the case of epaphroditus He had gotten ill while serving the lord It was a severe illness. I want you to see that it almost resulted in his death And his pain was compounded when he knew that his friends at home were concerned For him Paul says in verse 27 indeed he was sick almost into death god had mercy on him Not only on him, but on me also less. I should have sorrow upon sorrow Therefore I sent him the more eagerly that that when you see him again you may rejoice And I may be less sorrowful Receive him therefore and the lord with all gladness hold such men in esteem Because of the work of christ he came close to death not regarding his life To supply what was lacking in your service toward me He almost died But god was merciful and he recovered And that blessed epaphroditus he gave him opportunity to serve the lord to serve paul as he did so Now I should say this quickly. It doesn't make you less spiritual if you get ill Sickness is the result of the fall and it strikes both the believer and unbeliever alike You see there's a doctrine that was very popular and I believe it's still held by many That basically states if you're a christian you should never be Sick because only those who are in sin or have no faith have illnesses And and we called it the positive confession movement and and all you need to do is declare You know promises from the scripture But the bottom line is is that even believers can get ill and in second kings 13 verse 14 It speaks of a prophet by the name of elisha and it says elisha was suffering from the illness from which he died When paul was writing to timothy in first timothy 5 verse 23 He said stop drinking only water use a little wine because of your stomach and your frequent illnesses In second timothy chapter 4 verse 20 It says I left trougham as sick in my leaders Epaphroditus was somebody who served the lord with all of his heart, but he had gotten neal while doing so But god had mercy on him and he recovered and he finally says receive him With gladness and hold him in esteem because god Is using him and he served the lord totally He lived a life that was full on for the lord jesus christ And that's the kind of man you ought to respect Not the individual who has all the outer trappings But the man who is or the woman who is Yielded completely over to serving the lord in whatever capacity they have the ability to do so Whether it's somebody who Is is a great mama who's caring for the kids and raising children who are going to serve jesus Or whether it's a man who travels as an evangelist It really doesn't matter if they're serving the lord faithfully and doing all that they can you hold them in high esteem Because these are individuals who are doing the work of ministry and serving christ It is a fallacy and it is a problem when we begin to establish Criteria that makes certain people more important than others The pastor of the church is not more important than the member of the church who's sitting in the pew I am no more important. I know that and so do you Than anybody else in this church We are all sinners saved by the grace of god just doing what god has called us to do to the best of our ability I've been called by god to do what I do and I want to do it faithfully You have been called by god to do what god called you to do And you do it faithfully and god gives us the reward. That's the key. May we serve him faithfully