SPEAKER_01
0:20 All right, day four, as we continue. 0:22 Philippians chapter two, verse 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. 0:38 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. 0:47 For he has been longing for you all and has been distressed because you heard that he was ill. 0:52 Indeed he was ill, near to death. 0:55 But God had mercy on him, and not only on him, but also on me, 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. 1:08 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. 1:20 First of all, once again, I want to I want you to see the deep relational nature of Paul's mode of disciple here. 1:29 He's like, I love this guy so much, and when he got sick, man, I was anxious, even though Paul says be anxious for nothing. 1:36 He'll he'll say that in two chapters. 1:37 He says, This had me stressed out because if something would have happened to Epaphroditis, I would have had sorrow upon sorrow. 1:44 So listen, man, as we are making disciples, man, we're not making puppets. 1:48 We've got to care more about how people are doing than what people are doing. 1:52 And so they are deeply tied together at the heart level. 1:55 But I want you to see Paul's instructions to the church at Philippi. 2:00 He says, Listen, man, I'm sending you a gift. 2:02 I'm sending you a Paphroditus, and you're going to be pumped to s to see him too. 2:06 And in verse 29, I think is so key in today's culture. 2:09 He says, So receive him in the Lord with all joy and honor such men. 2:16 Let me double-click on that. 2:18 We are called to honor such men. 2:21 What it means to honor is to show respect. 2:25 Honor means to revere. 2:27 Honor means to praise. 2:30 Honor means to hold someone in high regard. 2:34 So let me ask you this. 2:36 What has happened to our culture? 2:38 When did we trade in honor and respect for cynicism and criticism? 2:43 I mean, 99% of what you see online is that cynicism and criticism. 2:50 And what shouldn't be happening in the body of Christ is honor and respect. 2:55 Now, of course, there is accountability and we encourage one another and we point out blind spots and we help get the log out of our own eyes so that we can get the speck out of our brother's eye. 3:06 But that goes a lot better when your lead foot is to honor. 3:11 So let me ask you, who do you honor? 3:14 Are there men in your life that are honorable? 3:17 And the command is that you would receive him in the Lord with all joy and honor such men. 3:23 Well, a lot of times we honor people in our hearts. 3:26 We have positive feelings, we revere them in our hearts, but I don't know that you can praise somebody in your heart. 3:32 No, no, no. 3:33 What we need to do is to say it out loud. 3:37 I dare you today to honor an honorable man. 3:41 Write him a letter, write him a note, write him an email, send him a text, not simply a thank you for what you do, but bestow honor upon them. 3:53 Maybe it's your dad, maybe it's a pastor, maybe it's a godly man that has poured into your life, maybe it's your coach, maybe it's your boss. 4:00 And I know what you're probably thinking. 4:01 You're like, well, I'm not gonna do that. 4:03 That might be weird. 4:04 And he knows how I feel, does he? 4:06 Have you bestowed honor upon him? 4:09 You see, nonverbalized gratitude and non-verbalized honor is worth it. 4:15 One of my friends, H.B. 4:17 Charles, um, somebody was asking him one time as a pastor how he keeps his ego in check. 4:24 And Pastor H.B. 4:25 Charles, godly, godly man, pastors of church here in Jacksonville, and he's a world-renowned preacher. 4:31 He said, the number of pastors that I know, they are not they are not drunk on compliments, they're starving for some encouragement. 4:42 Hey, let me just echo this in a world that does nothing but criticize and throw cynicism, may we be a group of men. 4:51 Way may one of the ways that we push back darkness is that we honor such men. 4:58 So today, before you do the next thing, pull out your phone. 5:02 If you're driving, pull over your truck, stop, pull out your phone, call somebody, text somebody, write somebody, and bestow honor among such men.