Trust you found your place in the book of Philippians. Philippians chapter number two. Philippians chapter two. And I'll be reading from verse 19 down to the end of the chapter. Philippians chapter two and verse number 19. The Bible says, But I trust in the Lord Jesus to send Timotheus shortly unto you, that I also may be of good comfort when I know your state. For I have no man like-minded who will naturally care for your state. For all seek their own, not the things which are Jesus Christ. But he know the proof of him that as a son with the Father, he hath served with me in the gospel. Him, therefore, I hope to send presently, so soon as I shall see how it will go with me. But I trust in the Lord that I also myself shall come shortly. Yet I supposed it necessary to send to you Epaphroditus, my brother, and companion in labor, and fellow soldier, but your messenger, and he that ministered to my wants, For he longed after you all, and was full of heaviness, because that he had heard that he had been sick. For indeed he was sick, nigh unto death. But God had mercy on him, and not on him only, but on me also, lest I should have sorrow upon sorrow. I sent him therefore the more carefully, that when he see him again, he may rejoice. and that I may be the less sorrowful. Receive him, therefore, in the Lord with all gladness, and hold such in reputation. Because for the work of Christ, he was nigh unto death, not regarding his life, to supply your lack of service toward me." Let us pray. Heavenly Father, we thank you so much for your amazing love. your grace, mercy bestowed upon our lives. We thank you that you would send your son to shed his blood on a rugged cross so that we can have life and have it more abundantly. Heavenly Father, we ask tonight that as your word goes forth, that your word would challenge our hearts, encourage us, motivate us to be closer drawn to you, to be more like you. Dear Lord, I pray that you would help us and you'd use your Holy Spirit to open our hearts, our minds, our understanding, and to receive your word with gladness. I pray that if there's someone here under the sound of my voice who does not know you as he's our personal Lord and Savior, that tonight will be a night of their salvation, and that every believer's heart will be stirred and challenged to serve you in a greater capacity. Thank you once again for this time, but give me the words you'll have me to say. May there be a source of strength and encouragement to each one here. will thank you and praise you for it. In Jesus name I pray. Amen. Thank you so much for standing. You may be seated. We've been looking at this book in the word of God, Philippians, a letter, an epistle written by the apostle Paul to the church at Philippi. And we've been looking at it long enough to be able to recognize that The Apostle Paul had a supernatural joy, an unspeakable joy. Here he was in prison under the authority of the Roman gods, the Roman authority, not for doing anything that was wrong, but for serving God, for loving him, for doing what God had called him to do and doing it with such passion and vigor and enthusiasm. And while from a human perspective we might think that Paul's reaction would have been one to moan and to gripe and to sulk, to complain to God, here he was, as it were, going into an extra gear and just being even more passionate, even more joyful about the things of God. This is not a long book, a long epistle by any means, but as you read this epistle, and as I've studied it for some time now, and looking at it and preaching expository through it, verse by verse, word by word, you get an insight into the Apostle Paul's heart. You get some insight into what drove him. What caused him to not only have this joy, but to maintain this joy. What caused him to be able to demonstrate it in a real and practical way to the lives and to the people that he came across. And what jumped out at me as I've been looking at this book and studying it is that the Apostle Paul, he loved the Lord. He loved God. He never got over his salvation. The fact that on a Damascus road or when he was on his way to destroy God's people, God got a hold of his heart and turned him around. He loved the Lord. But not only did the apostle Paul love the Lord, but he loved the church of God. He loved the people of God. You see that over and over in his writings that he had this love for the Lord and this love for the Lord translated to manifest itself in a love for people. We know that he had the opportunity through the leading of the Holy Spirit of God to be able to plant churches in various cities in Asia Minor. And he didn't just plant these churches and abandon them even though he went from another town to another town. But these people became a part of who he was. He had them in his heart. He loved the church. He loved this vehicle, this organism that God himself, Jesus had established and commissioned to go into all the world and to evangelize the world, to preach the gospel to every creature. He loved God's people. He loved the church. In my short few years here of pastoring, I've come to the realization, and sadly so, and in many ways I'm here tonight probably preaching to the choir as is normally said, that many people don't take the church and being a part of a church as a member seriously. But we all must recognize that the church is a body of believers. It is a family as was preached this morning. I found it very insightful and instructive that the message this morning goes so much in sync with what I'm preaching here tonight. and you would know that from the fact that I'm preaching here expository that this could not have been planned by me but it surely was planned by the Holy Spirit of God that the church it is a body of believers it is a it is a body that is put together the Bible says in first Corinthians chapter 12 that God has set in the body such as please him you are a member of a local church you are not there by accident You are not there by happenstance, by chance. A church is a body. A church is a family. And in being a family, in order for it to be a productive family, it ought to be, get this, an active working family, amen? All of us here tonight, by evidence that I can see you, You have been born into a human family. And there's just certain things that a healthy family does. Let me tell you some things that a healthy family does. And I don't mean healthy from a physical standpoint, even though it's a good thing to have your health. But I mean healthy from a standpoint of good relations, good communication. But a healthy family talks to each other. Amen? A healthy family communicates. A healthy family, here's something that a healthy family does as well. A healthy family likes to be around each other. A healthy family sits together. Maybe sometimes we might tend to maybe conclude that maybe Shiloh and I might not be all that healthy sometimes. Sometimes we're just literally scattered too far away from our brethren. A healthy family talks to each other. A healthy family sits together. They like to be around each other. They're not sitting in isolation from each other. They are family. A healthy family works together. A healthy family cooperates. A healthy family looks out for each other. Why? I got your back. You got my back. Why? We are family. And oftentimes, in too many churches, which is a family, churches often function like a dysfunctional family. Why? Nobody talks to each other. Nobody wants to sit next to each other. Nobody wants to work together. But a church is a family. The Apostle Paul, he treated these saints of God as his family. In his writings, you hear very little about Paul's brother from a human perspective. But you hear about his brother in Christ. His son in the faith. Why? He loved the church of God. No wonder he had this joy. No wonder he had a joy that seemed to be bubbling over. Because he loved the Lord. He loved the Church of God. I want to give you a number of things here tonight. Four things, very briefly. In what I've entitled, Powerful Evidence of Selflessness. When you recognize that Paul's joy was rooted in his love for the Lord and love for people, you realize that he was a very unselfish person. And let me tell you something about joy. The people who are the happiest, who have the most joy, they are not all about themselves. We see in these verses that I read, powerful evidence selflessness. Not only in the life of the Apostle Paul, but in the people who surrounded him. Why? I firmly believe that he impacted their lives. His testimony, his love for the Lord, his love for people rubbed off on them and they demonstrated as well powerful evidence of selflessness. The first thing I want you to notice is that in this demonstration of selflessness, of unselfishness, there was a concern for the saints. A concern for the saints. Look at verse number 19. Now, remember where the Apostle Paul is. Remember that he is bound in prison. Even if not literally, he is under the care and the guise of someone else. And in verse number 19, he says, just after mentioning in verse 18 about joy and rejoicing with him, he says, But I trust in the Lord Jesus to send Timotheus shortly unto you, that I also may be of good comfort when I know your state. For I have no man like mine that will naturally care for your state. Here he was, bound in prison and he's more concerned about what's happening to the saints at Philippi who are outside of prison than he is about his own state. He wanted to be at ease. He wanted to be aware of what was happening to them in their spiritual walk with God. What was happening in their lives? How were they doing? Were they still serving God? Were they still loving God? That's what he was thinking about when he was in prison. Not his own bumps and his own bruises, but their spiritual well-being. He said, Timothy, I want you to go and find out what's happening to them. mentions here in verse number 25. Says, yet I suppose it necessary to send to you Epaphroditus. Ultimately he made a decision that Timothy, I want you to go but for some other reasons I'm going to send Epaphroditus first. He was concerned for the saints. As a believer, as a member of this particular family here in Ramsbury, Nevis in the West Indies. Are you concerned about the Saints? Are you concerned about your brethren's well-being? One of the things that is sadly missing in churches and over the years, it's not a one-time thing, but I feel it has probably affected churches, and not just this one, but concern for each other, is the fact that, in many times, trust has eroded. One of the things to be able to develop good relationships, which the Apostle Paul clearly had with those around him, he was close to people, whether he was thousands of miles away from them, they were concerned about him, he was concerned about them, they had to develop trust, developed trust. And one of the things that has happened in churches that has affected the closeness of the church family and the church, the closeness of the people as a community of believers, is that trust has been eroded. Oftentimes this is because individuals and church members have not been confidential. dependable with people's information. Someone has trusted you and shared something of concern and something private. And rather than being confidential and recognizing this person has demonstrated some faith and trust in me, and that has and taken and shared with another person. And as we say in Little Levis, he's gone around the island, and people's trust has evaporated. And they say, never me again in this thing called church. Gossip has destroyed the fabric of hope. a good, healthy family should function. Trust is important in any family. Trust is important in your own personal family. And trust is important in the family of God. I want to encourage every single person here tonight. Be trustworthy as a member of this family. Brethren, as a church, there are certain things that are shared in church that should not go outside of these walls. If you're not a church member, I am not sharing it with you. And even if you're a church member, if you are not known to be confidential, sorry, I cannot discuss it with you. Concern for the saints. requires a development of trust, an establishing of trust. Brethren, pride yourself in being somebody who can be confidential. Not everything that goes in your ear has to come out of your mouth. Let it be known that, listen, when I tell that person something, it will stay there. as relationships can never be healthy. There was concern for the saints. Paul was able to have good relationships with his brethren. Why? Because it was a development of trust. But this thing is a two-way street. Here's what else has to happen. There has to be a decision to be transparent. Now these two things go together. Listen, I understand from a human standpoint. Listen, I'm not telling anybody anything about me because I don't want my information all around the world. But when there is an establishment of trust, there has to be a decision to be transparent. You say, Pastor, why is it important for me to be willing to share certain things about myself with someone else? I could give you several reasons, but here is one for your own benefit. Accountability. Accountability. Listen, there are things about yourself. If you want to keep yourself from falling and keep yourself from sin, you need to be accountable to someone else. You need to be accountable as to where you went last night. Where are you going to go tomorrow? Who are you going to be hanging out with? What kind of music are you listening to on your iPod? What are you doing when no one else is watching? What are you looking at on your computer? Someone ought to be able to call you and ask you, hey, what are you doing right now? And you not be replying, hey, it's none of your business. Why? Because we are a family. can you imagine? Listen, I shudder to think of what will happen. Can you imagine if in my own household, I went into my son or my daughter's bedroom and they told me, daddy, go back outside. What I'm doing here is not your business. Listen, that's a frightening proposition. Those are my children. And so in a church, we are a family. Your business, to a big extent, is my business as well. No, I'm not talking about gory. I'm not talking about certain things. I'm saying that what you do affects me. What I do affects you. I have to be accountable to you, and you have to be accountable to me. That's what being a family is all about, brethren. It's important to be involved in other people's lives. I'm not talking about for the purpose of being nosy. Listen, some people never find a story that they don't want to be a part of. I'm talking about, as the Apostle Paul, being involved in people's lives for their spiritual benefit, for their well-being. A decision to be transparent. By the way, let me caution. Not everybody in a church, not everybody in a family, has the level of maturity to be able to handle certain things. So I'm not here proposing that everybody in a church has to share everything about themselves with everybody. No way, no how. You better get some spiritual maturity, some spiritual wisdom about who you could tell what, and who could handle what, and who will not betray your trust. but you have to be able to identify who those people are. And if a church does not have individuals with whom you can share certain things and know that this person is gonna help me spiritually in my walk with God, listen, that church is in a sad, sad place. Why? Because a church is a family. Paul, he had concern. for the saints. But here's something else that is clearly evident in these verses. Paul and the individuals around him, they had a compulsion to serve. You find it in several verses. In verse number 22, notice, he's here speaking of Timotheus and he says, who's also Timothy. He says, but ye know the proof of him that as a son with the father, He had served with me in the gospel. When you are selfless, when you are unselfish, you have a desire to serve God. Amen? A desire to serve God. He speaks of Epaphroditus, who was another son in the faith. He first saw him as a brother. Look at verse 25. I suppose it necessary to send to you Epaphroditus, my brother. Look at this, my companion in what? Labor. He worked together. He was a servant, fellow soldier. When you're part of a family, here's something that also manifests itself. You want to do your part. Amen. You want to do your part to work, to serve for the good of the family. You're part of Shiloh Baptist Church. There is something for you to do. And you should have a desire to do something. That's what being a family is all about. And brethren, one of the things that I trust happens here at Shiloh Moor is this thing of initiative. Not waiting for somebody to ask you. Look around and see what needs to be done and jump in and do it. Why? This is your family. Take initiative. Volunteer. Brethren, here's something simple and practical. When an event takes place, whether it's a women's ministry meeting, whether it's a special production or whatever it is, things don't happen by magic. You come in and you see tables set up, a floor clean. there were items hanging around. Listen, nobody just snapped their fingers and boom, it has appeared. It's required work. So, when you walk in at the time of the event at 659 or 7 o'clock and you see things wonderfully arranged, recognize somebody had to do it. and you go home, remember somebody had to clean up. Somebody had to break it down. Somebody had to restore it how it was after. That requires servants. It requires service. Ask God for a servant's heart if you don't have one. I tell you, when you do that, you will experience real joy. Brethren, being a part of a church family is so much more than just showing up on Sunday morning and Sunday night and Wednesday night. So much more than that. And you look around at the people who are full of joy and serving the lord with vigor and enthusiasm and passion they have gotten involved in ministry and service and laboring for the cause of christ the apostle paul and those around him demonstrated this attitude of selflessness. They had concern for the saints. They had a compulsion to serve. But thirdly, they had care for the shepherd. Now, look at verse number 25 in the latter part. Speaking of Epaphroditus, Paul says, but you are messenger. and he that ministered to my wants." Now here you have the apostle, the one who ministered to them through the word and mentored these young men, Epaphroditus and Timothy and others. And they in turn ministered. Paul used here not even the word, his needs, but ministered to his wants. Now I'm glad that this is expository preaching because the pastor said this morning that he's not the pastor so he's glad but I'm the pastor and I have to preach this and I'm preaching it why because it's in the Bible not for my benefit but we are instructed as pastors to preach the whole counsel of God And it's a biblical principle that a church ought to take care of its pastor. And here's another reason to preach this. And many pastors shy away from this because you can understand it's very easy to see it as self-serving. But that's why I'm glad I'm just preaching verse by verse to Philippians. Because I just have to preach it as it's written in the Word of God. But here's what else I would tell you. If I were not the pastor, and I were a church member, I would want to be a blessing to my pastor. Why? Because I want God's blessings on my life. And brethren, I say this with all humility, I have done that. When I was not the pastor, I did my best to help out the pastor, make the life of the pastor easy. Why? Because God would bless me. And has blessed me, I know as a result of doing that. Because it's a biblical principle. A church and its people will be blessed. for being a blessing to the man of God. Here's another thing that, as I thought of this, I realized. Oftentimes, the reason why people don't value their pastor or they don't take care of their pastor is because they don't value them. Oftentimes in this thing called Christianity, you have to look at life through spiritual lenses. You have to look at things from a spiritual standpoint. And when you place a value on something, you are willing to take care of it. When you look at the pastor and you say, you know what? As a result of this pastor preaching the word, line upon line, precept upon precept, listen, I'm closer in my walk with God. My children are serving God. My family is loving God. My marriage is being strengthened as a result of my spouse and I drawing closer to God. Listen, you cannot put a price tag on that. And what happens is many people don't recognize how valuable those things are and they don't recognize that those things come about as a result of a man of God who will stand up and preach the word of God without fear or favor. And so because there is not a place of value, then I don't take care of it. I don't do everything that I can to actually make it even easier for him to be able to do that. People pay for what they value. And I don't say that meaning that everything in terms of value is in terms of money. I don't want you to ever think that. But I'm simply saying it's a biblical principle from the word of God to take you for pastor. I don't have time tonight to tell you of the damage that has been done and continues to happen in the work of god and to to churches even around the region here in the caribbean because of a failure of churches to take care of the man of god irreparable damage in so many instances you look at our society and you look at where we are listen i can trace that to churches and people not taking care of god's servants You look at this passage and you see Epaphroditus and Timothy and Luke, who we know was with Paul. They took care of the apostle Paul and God blessed their lives. Finally, not only do we have a concern for the saints, a compulsion to serve, a care for the shepherd, but notice their lives were characterized by sacrifice. over and over through these verses you realize that Paul, here he was having his own personal needs but yet he was willing to forget about himself and let Epaphroditus and Timothy leave him to go hundreds of miles to look out for other people he was willing to sacrifice for his own benefit, for the benefit of someone else. Here's something about serving God. It is mandatory that we are called to sacrifice. Sacrifice something. I want you to look at the verses here so that you recognize that I'm not making this up. Look at verse number 28. And he's speaking here of Epaphroditus. says, I sent him therefore the more carefully that when he see him again he may rejoice and that I may be the less sorrowful. Paul says, I'm so much concerned about your own well-being. I'm here sorrowing even though I have Epaphroditus who's ministering to me. But I'm not happy because I don't know how you are doing. So I'm willing to give him up for your benefit. Look at what he continues on and he says in verse 29, receive him therefore in the Lord with all gladness and hold such in reputation. You know what he's saying? When you see somebody serving God with passion, listen, praise them. Thank God for their service. Thank God for their sacrifice, for their labor of love. Hold them in high regard. Look at verse 30, because for the work of Christ, he was nigh unto death. not regarding his life, to supply your lack of service toward me. Epaphroditus showed this characteristic of sacrifice. He was not even concerned about his own well-being, and he was sick unto death, but he was so sacrificial, he was concerned about the apostle Paul and giving of himself for the apostle Paul's benefit. The Christian life is characterized by sacrifice. I would have to admit to you that my family moving here back to Nevis was a sacrifice. I don't say that patting myself on the shoulder. I'm only saying that as a reality. But here's what happens while you make the sacrifice. Because when you weigh in the balance, the benefits to your life, if you were to stay where you were and you compare it with the benefits of impacting lives for Jesus Christ, you come to the conclusion that it is worth it. Amen. And you make that decision because you've done some assessment. and this sacrifice from a human standpoint may look like something big, but when I look at the eternal benefits, listen, it is a no-brainer. And you're motivated, most importantly, by the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ. And no sacrifice could ever compare to what he did when he went to the cross. and lay down His life so that you and I can have life and have it more abundantly. If the cross doesn't motivate you, I would conclude you've lost your joy. If the cross doesn't motivate you to sacrifice some time, to sacrifice your talent, to sacrifice your treasure for the cause of Christ, you've lost your joy. because it is motivating, it is inspiring. Hey, I got it, Jesus, I'm so glad of what you did, but I could never repay you, but I surely ought to try to give up some time, to give up some conveniences, to give up some resources, why? I'm a part of this precious family of God. Paul and his friends, they were driven. Why? Because of their love for God, their love for God's people. And as a result, their joy was not impacted and influenced by all the things that were happening around them. It was constant because of the joy that has been placed in their hearts, and it flowed out. with a love for the Lord and a love for other people. Thank God for the family of God. Amen. Thank God for the church of God. It's his vehicle. It's his program that he has established to fulfill his will on earth. And believe it, brethren, God will provide. And God will has promised his presence, his provisions, and his power to see the job done. And so I trust that you and I, that we can have this attitude of cooperation and partnership and working together to build the kingdom of God. And I tell you, we may not have as much money that we like, we may not have as much resources, but we can have the joy of the Lord, amen? And that's something that money can't buy. And you were here this morning, you can see all these two messages go right together, hand in hand. Because when God is for you, who can be against you? And so many people out there, they have all the money in the world and they're still jumping off bridges and jumping out of buildings and slitting their wrists. Why? Because they don't have a joy that came from God and a joy that this world cannot give. joy that this world cannot take away.