SPEAKER_01
0:20 All right, we're wrapping up. 0:22 Day five. 0:22 I'm going to read it again, Philippians 2, 22, and following. 0:25 But you know Timothy's proven worth how as a son with a father he has served with me in the gospel. 0:31 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. 0:39 I have thought it necessary to send you Epaphroditus, my brother and fellow worker and fellow soldier, and your messenger and minister to my need, for he has been longing for you all, and has been distressed, because you heard that he was ill. 0:51 Indeed he was ill, near to death. 0:54 But God had mercy on him, and not only on him, but on me also, lest I should have sorrow upon sorrow, I am more eager to send him, therefore, that you may rejoice at seeing him again, and that I may be less anxious. 1:07 So receive him in the Lord with all joy and honor such men. 1:11 Before I read the last verse, let me ask you Did you do the thing yesterday? 1:15 Did you honor your wife? 1:16 Did you honor your husband? 1:17 Did you honor your mom or dad or whoever it is? 1:20 Honor such men. 1:21 And then the verse we're going to double click on, verse 30. 1:25 For he nearly died for the work of Christ, risking his life to complete what was lacking in your service to me. 1:33 So as I was praying over this, this struck me that aphroditis nearly died for the work of Christ. 1:41 And I began to think, have I ever nearly died for the work of Christ? 1:48 As I think about it, I've had several run-ins, particularly internationally. 1:53 One time I was leading a mission trip of high school kids, and this Rastafarian high dude with a machete went nose to nose with me on the streets of Jamaica, and I thought he was going to chop my head off or something, but he didn't. 2:05 One time I was uh leading a mission trip in Uganda, and there was a group of Islamists that tried to take over the compound, the Christian orphanage that we were in, and we we fought them off, and that worked out okay. 2:17 And one time I was confronted pretty angrily by a witch doctor in the Amazon in Brazil. 2:22 We got nose to nose, and it was pretty aggressive. 2:26 But I don't know that I've ever nearly died for the sake of Christ. 2:30 Now I've had my fair share of persecution online and that kind of thing, and that's not not a ton of fun. 2:35 But as you read what was normative in the first century for a disciple, is that disciples of the first century, like Epaphroditus and like Paul, and like all the disciples, what was normative is they were willing to put their life on the line for the sake of Christ. 2:52 In fact, and in fact, in the book of Revelation, chapter 12, the Bible says, and we, the church, will overcome by the blood of the Lamb and the word of our testimony, and they love not their lives even unto death. 3:06 So let me ask you if the standard in the New Testament was to put your life on the line, and if Haper died, it's nearly died for the work of Christ, are you even doing hard things for the cause of Christ? 3:21 The reality is most of us don't. 3:24 Most of us don't take chances, most of us don't stick our neck out there for the sake of Christ. 3:28 Heck, most of us don't even open our mouths. 3:31 Have you ever wondered why? 3:33 If Christ rules and reigns in your life, if Christ is the king of your heart, sitting on the throne of your life, and he has commanded us to push back darkness, to therefore go and make disciples of all nations, to stand on the truth of the word of God, to stare down the devil of hell himself and to gird up our loins and 3:51 dress ourselves in the armor of God and stand firm against the devil and his evil schemes, then why don't we? 3:57 I can tell you why. 3:59 One of the reasons is fear. 4:01 We're just scared, man. 4:03 We're scared that people won't like us. 4:06 I mean, one of the things we're most scared of is we're scared about the applause of man. 4:11 And Paul's gonna write in Galatians 1.10, am I now trying to win the approval of man? 4:16 For if I were trying to win the approval of man, I cannot be a servant of Christ. 4:20 So make your choice. 4:21 Which one are you gonna go for? 4:23 The applause of man or the approval of the one true God. 4:27 Another reason we don't do this is because we just love comfort, that we are allergic to discomfort. 4:33 We we swim in a sea that spends billions of dollars a day to try to get us to just be the most comfortable that we can. 4:41 And there is nothing in the scripture about following Jesus that says that we are to pursue comfort. 4:48 You see, if we're going to follow Christ, do not be surprised when this world hates you. 4:54 And may we be willing to put our life on the line for the sake of Christ. 4:58 And if we're willing to nearly die for the work of Christ, then surely we're willing for people to not like us, for people to say evil things about us. 5:07 You know, Jesus addresses this, and he has really good news. 5:11 In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus says, Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 5:19 Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. 5:27 Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were born before you. 5:36 Men, may we be the kind of men that love not our lives even unto death for the work of Christ.