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0:20 All right, welcome to day three in our march through the Book of Philippians. 0:23 I'm going to read it in context again, Philippians 2 22 and following. 0:27 But you know Timothy's proven worth, how as a son with a father he has served with me in the gospel. 0:33 I hope, therefore, to send him just as soon as I see how it will go with me, and I trust in the Lord that shortly I myself will come also. 0:40 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. 0:48 For he has been longing for you all, and has been distressed because you heard that he was ill. 0:53 Indeed, he was ill, near to death. 0:56 But God had mercy on him, and not only on him, but also on me also, lest I should have sorrow upon sorrow. 1:03 I am all the more eager to send him, therefore, that you may rejoice at seeing him again, and that I may be less anxious. 1:10 So receive him in the Lord with all joy and honor such men. 1:13 For he nearly died for the work of Christ, risking his life to complete what was lacking in your service to me. 1:19 Day three is this, verse twenty-five. 1:22 Paul says, I thought it necessary to send to you Epaphroditus, my brother, fellow worker, fellow soldier, your messenger, and minister to my need. 1:30 One of the things that we've been talking about a lot in Philippians 2 is that Paul made disciples. 1:34 The great commission is to make disciples. 1:36 So the last time I was on, I said, Can you really be one if you've never made one? 1:41 And are you making disciples? 1:42 Paul didn't just make one disciple. 1:44 Paul had a very deep bench. 1:47 That Paul had disciples, a bunch of disciples, upon disciples. 1:50 Now, he had a very significant relationship with young Timothy, but Timothy was not his only disciple. 1:55 He says, I also find it necessary. 1:57 I'm going to send you one of my other guys, Epaphroditus. 2:00 Now, the only place we see any words about aphroditis are right here in Philippians chapter two. 2:05 But what I want you to see is there was a second layer because leaders are constantly discipling people. 2:11 This is what disciples do. 2:13 They make disciples that make disciples that make disciples. 2:16 And so listen, man, if you had a need and you reached out to me, I could send you some dudes. 2:22 I could send you Jeff and Mike and Kyle and Garrett and Sean and Big Kelly. 2:26 I could send you a bunch of guys. 2:27 I could go on and on and on because, not that, listen, I mean there's nothing special about me. 2:33 I've just been in the disciple-making business because I'm a follower of Jesus for a long time. 2:38 And so Paul sends Epaphroditus, and I want you to see the kinds of things he says about Epaphroditus. 2:44 He uses one, two, three, four, five different descriptors of this man. 2:50 First of all, he says Epaphroditus is his brother. 2:54 That means that they are united in Christ. 2:57 That the Bible says that, man, we have a, we have a we have friends that stick closer than brothers. 3:03 That what's crazy is the blood of Jesus is actually thicker than your blood that it is, than your own relatives. 3:10 I mean, listen, I've got a brother and he's the absolute best. 3:13 He he is Russ Martin is one of the godliest men I've ever met in my life. 3:16 But by the grace of God, because I'm in the family of God, I've got dozens, maybe if not hundreds, of brothers in Christ that stick close to me in a time of need. 3:26 Are you that kind of brother? 3:27 He says he's a fellow worker. 3:29 You know what a Paphroditis does? 3:30 He gets stuff done. 3:32 He's a GSD kind of guy. 3:34 He gets stuff done. 3:36 He doesn't just have good intentions, he doesn't make excuses, he makes a difference. 3:40 Are you the kind of person that gets things done? 3:44 Are you the kind of person that other people can count on you that if you say you're gonna do it, you show up and you do it? 3:50 He also says this he said Epaphroditus is a fellow soldier. 3:55 You know what this means? 3:56 Paul is saying part of the reason I can trust Epaphroditus is this man. 4:00 He he has gone to war before. 4:02 He's got my back, he's taken a punch for me. 4:05 He is in the fight. 4:08 Kyle talks about this all the time. 4:10 He he says that we need foxhole brothers. 4:13 Well, the context of a foxhole brother is that you are at war. 4:18 And so when you dig a foxhole, make sure you always dig it for not just you, but for some other brothers to be in there to be at war with you. 4:26 He says that apaphroditis is your messenger. 4:30 You see, he knows that apaphroditis is just going to carry the mail. 4:34 I say this all the time when I preach here at 1122. 4:37 I am not the messenger, I am just the mailman. 4:39 I don't write it, I just deliver it. 4:42 Do you have the kind of brothers around you that you could trust to carry the good news of the message of the gospel of Jesus Christ? 4:49 And then the last way that he describes apaphroditis, he says this, is he is also a minister, that he actually has a heart, that he cares about the needs of people. 5:03 So as you are making disciples and surrounding yourself with other disciples, may you always surround yourself with men who are brothers and fellow workers and soldiers and messengers of the gospel and ministers to that need.