Fellow Workers, Fellow Soldiers

Maybe you've heard the phrase, the Chinese dream. China's supreme leader, Xi Jinping, started promoting it as a slogan in 2012 as a part of his rise to power. And it was an expression of the desire to see the country transformed, especially to see hundreds of millions of people taken from poverty to more of a middle class situation. He connected it to what he called the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. And I have to say that living in China the last 20 years, it has been something that's just incredible to behold. When I first went to China, there were no private cars. Every car was a taxi or a government vehicle. Everyone else was on bicycles. If you go there today, it seems like a race to keep up with who's got the newest and the best car. Students at that time couldn't afford to go to McDonald's with you. You couldn't invite a student to go with McDonald's. They'd be embarrassed. They had zero disposable income. They couldn't afford to go there. Half the country at that point was living on less than $5 a day. So she's slogan really did capture the dreams of a generation. Now, of course, he was borrowing, right? He was borrowing the concept of the American dream, and it wasn't on accident. After the opening of China to the West in the 1980s and 1990s, Chinese people were drinking in American media like a fire hose. When I first went there in 1997 to study at a university campus in the evening time, Students would go to the one room on the hall where they'd have a little television and they would cram in 20 or 30 people and they would be watching Growing Pains. Okay, now if you've never heard Kirk Cameron dug into Chinese, it's a funny thing to behold. I would join. The reason they were so fascinated, you know, many of you are like growing pains, what's that? You know, it's just a sitcom about a middle class American family doing middle class things. Well, that captured their minds and their hearts. I mean, they just couldn't get enough of it. Helen Wong, in her book called The Chinese Dream, describes their perception this way. American middle class people live in a villa with a two-car garage in the suburbs. In front of the house, there's a green lawn. They have two to three children and a dog. The husband goes out to work and the wife stays at home taking care of the children. On weekends, they drive their SUVs to the countryside for barbecues and camping. Now, I don't imagine any of those things in that list are all that special to us here. Maybe we just take them for granted, right? Well, a couple of decades of material prosperity has been flowing into China, not for all, but for many. And the dream remains strong. Of course, you don't stop at a villa, right? It'd be better to have two or three. And the SUVs are being replaced by Teslas and Hummers. trips to the countryside or giving way to trips around the globe. I think probably the hardest thing to communicate about China is that it's kind of just like the United States in many ways at this point. We share the same dreams. And that means something significant for the two largest populations of Christians in the world. It means that you and I and our Chinese brothers and sisters are surrounded by, swimming in the waters of, constantly listening to the siren song of health, wealth, and happiness. You don't have to do anything for it to be the default. It's the unnoticed operating system of our lives, and it updates automatically. Stay safe. Keep yourself marketable. Protect yourself at all times. You only live once. There's a better future out there for you and for your children. Now here's the challenging part. Not all of that is wrong or bad, right? There's nothing wrong with houses, suburbs, lawns, children, or dogs. Nothing wrong with SUVs or barbecues or camping. And many of those phrases I just named, taken the right way and in the right context, they're just human desires. They're things that Christians are not against. And at the same time, they represent what I believe to be the greatest challenge facing individual Christians in the church today. I think more dangerous than a response to LGBTQ or CRT, more dangerous than compromising on biblical authority or sexual ethics, more dangerous than false teaching or church conflict. All of those things we can identify pretty easily and have a response to. The greatest challenge that you and I face as Christians living in the most affluent of times and the most affluent of countries is that we will become comfortable, secure, confident, and focused on making our lives just a little bit better year by year by year. We can keep our Christianity on the side. We can have it in a little box like a little plant that we water once a week. We separate it from the rest of our lives. It's still there, just dimmed, just diminished. The Apostle Paul wrote the book of Philippians as a thank you letter to a supporting church, but he didn't fill it with nice sounding phrases and platitudes. He does write to say thank you, but more than that, he wants to challenge the church with a greater vision of Christian faithfulness. He wants to call them to strive side by side for the faith of the gospel. call them to press on towards the goal to win the prize for which God had called them heavenward in Christ Jesus. The last thing he wants for them is to grow comfortable, to coast, or to compromise. We're going to look this morning at a section of the book that might be easy to overlook. It's something of a travelogue, some details of comings and goings. Paul needs to write to this church to tell them which of his associates are coming to them. They're expecting Timothy, but he's going to send to them Epaphroditus instead. So some details here of why. But in Paul's mind and in God's mind, nothing is wasted. And so what this travelogue really presents us is an illustration of the Christian life that he's been presenting. The main idea of our text this morning, if you're taking notes and I encourage you to do that, is this. The joyful Christian. should view themselves as a sacrifice, a servant, and a soldier of Christ. The joyful Christian should view themselves as a sacrifice, a servant, and a soldier of Christ. I'll say it one more time. The joyful Christian should view themselves as a sacrifice, a servant, and a soldier of Christ. And it's my prayer that you and I, as we study this text this morning, will get a fresh vision of what faithfulness looks like, as well as joy. So let's think, number one, about a sacrifice, a sacrifice. We'll read again verse 17 and 18 of chapter two. Even if I am to be poured out as a drink offering upon the sacrificial offering of your faith, I am glad and rejoice with you all, Likewise, you also should be glad and rejoice with me. Now, what's just happened? If you let your eyes fall back, the last couple verses, Paul has just finished exhorting the church to work out their salvation with fear and trembling. We talked about sanctification, this need to grow in the likeness of Christ progressively as Christians. And as he does so often in this letter, he links what he's saying to the day of Christ. He says he wants to be able to say on the day of Christ that he hasn't run or labor for nothing because they stood firm. He could say that his work was not wasted. And this makes him think again about his circumstances here in verse 17. Oh yeah, I'm imprisoned. I'm on trial. My life is hanging in the balance. I might die here soon. That's what he's referring to in verse 17 when he says, even if I'm to be poured out as a drink offering. Now a drink offering, it was one of many offerings in the Old Testament. We might read about in the book of Leviticus, the book of Numbers, in addition to the first fruits of the harvest that they would offer as a grain offering. or in addition to the sacrifice of an animal that was a sin offering, an offering to God for their sins, Numbers 15 tells us that there was a drink offering. So they would take wine, about a quart of wine, and they would pour it on top of the offering as it's on the altar there. It's an additional offering on top of the offering, so a required sacrifice. But in the Old Testament, it's not entirely clear exactly what the drink offering means. We're told that it's a soothing aroma to the Lord, but we're not told exactly why. But when we get to the New Testament, very interesting, Jesus picks up this image of a drink offering at the Last Supper. Remember there, he takes a cup of wine with his disciples. And he says to his disciples, this cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood. Now, really interesting, because the cup, which has the wine in it, the red wine that's symbolizing his blood, is one that they're about to drink, just as you and I do when we take communion together. But he wants them to understand that for him, it's something that he pours out. His life is the wine that is poured out for them. And that's the thing that you and I have to understand if there's going to be any hope of us going to heaven. It was necessary for Jesus to die. Sin requires death, and after death comes judgment. We stand before the Lord, and if you and I stand before the Lord in our sin, all of us have, then we are going to be condemned by God and we are going to spend eternity separated from him in eternal conscious torment. That's going to be the reality for every single person in this room unless there is a substitute for our sin. Unless someone takes our place in losing their life for sin. Now why could Jesus do that? He could do that because he had no sin of his own. He's the only human being who ever lived that never had sin and so never deserved the judgment of God. The most important thing that any of us could understand this morning is that if we're gonna go to heaven, we are going to have to place our faith in Jesus and have him take our place in dying a death for sin. I was at a park last night And I met a Buddhist man, a fascinating story, came about 10 years ago as a refugee from Burma. And as we were talking about the gospel a bit, he said, you know, I really think we're talking about the same thing. The point is for us all to get along in the midst of whatever we believe about God. And I told him, that's where I just can't agree with you. The most important thing for any of us is that we be reconciled to God. And friends, there's only one way to do that. We need to turn away from our sins and we need to trust in Jesus. If you haven't done that, if you're here this morning and you haven't believed this good news about Jesus, I encourage you to talk to someone today. I'd love to talk to you after the service. Really, it's so much more important than anything else we could talk about this morning. Now, Paul is not saying here that he's like Jesus and that he can pay for our sins. He's saying that Jesus pouring out his life as a sacrifice is the model that Paul takes for his life. It's how he thinks. It's the pattern of his life. So look, he says, even if I'm poured out as a drink offering upon the sacrificial offering of your faith, I'm glad and rejoice with you all. This is so interesting. It's the double sacrifice, just like the Old Testament. The grain offering or the sin offering with an offering on top of it. Well, he says the Philippian church, that the fruit of his ministry is like an offering before God. And then he thinks, especially if he dies, he's that extra drink offering poured on top of it. That's what makes Paul glad and rejoice. He thinks they should be glad and rejoice too. Does that make sense? Wait a minute, what? That's not exactly the American dream or the Chinese dream, right? I mean, think about what he's saying there. In his mind, he takes his life in his hands, in a cup, and he pours it out. He says, if this brings glory and honor to God, wonderful. This is Paul's dream, think about that. The great metaphor of his life, spilling his drink, I take this precious thing and I pour it out in the service of my Lord. And you know, by the way, this isn't just something that Paul had at this one kind of fervent moment in his life. You go all the way to the very end. Second Timothy, the last writing we have, we assume it's the final imprisonment of Paul, that he doesn't escape from, that he does get killed. What does he say? For I have already been poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come. I've fought the good fight, finished the race, I've kept the faith. There's a question for us this morning. Do you view your life as a sacrifice? You might ask, do I have to? I mean, maybe that's just Jesus and Paul. Well, Romans 12.1 presents it as basic Christianity. Beloved, in view of God's mercy, offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God. This is your spiritual act of worship. Now, how do we do that? What does this mean? Well, you start by realizing that you don't have anything that is your own. We don't have anything, after all, that we haven't received, right? Your very life, your days, all a gift from God. You take your life and you just say, I'm just going to offer it back to you, Lord. This keeps you from living like a person, walking around, trying not to spill their drink. You know, standing for Christ in your workplace might cost you a promotion. It might cost you your job at some point, but that's okay as a drink offering. Spending your free time on building relationships with non-Christians might open you up to disappointment and even betrayal, but that's okay as a drink offering. Your involvement in a local church viewed from the perspective of a drink offering, it's just one long continuous pouring out of yourself for the good of others. So do you view yourself as a sacrifice to be poured out? Kids, do you? Young people? Married people? Are you focused on pouring yourself out for the good of your spouse? So we're to view our lives as a sacrifice. That's the first thing that we see in this text. But I want us to see a second way that we're supposed to view ourselves as Christians, and that's as a servant. So let's keep reading there in verse 19. I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you soon so that I too may be cheered by news of you. For I have no one else like him who will be genuinely concerned for your welfare. For they all seek their own interests, not those of Jesus Christ. But you know Timothy's proven worth, how as a son with a father he has served with me in the gospel. 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. So this little section is about Timothy. He's a traveling companion of Paul. He was converted, and Paul's first missionary journey becomes one of his closest partners in ministry. At times, he's the one who stays behind. When Paul gets run out of town ahead of the law, Timothy will stay there to work with the young believers to help form the church. Other times, he's kind of the one sent as the messenger to other churches to check up on how they're doing, including at least once to the church in Philippi here. I think the church in Philippi is actually hoping that Paul is going to send Timothy. They're probably going to be a bit disappointed at first that Timothy can't come. But Paul is explaining that he hopes to both send Timothy soon and come himself if he's released. I think there's one observation we could make here about prayer and planning. Any planners out there, any of you like to plan? The fact that Paul is an apostle doesn't mean that he knows the future. Do you notice that here? God is working through him to write inspired scripture, but that doesn't mean that Paul has any kind of infallible read on his circumstances. I mean, he says twice there, I hope, verse 19, I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you soon. Verse 23, I hope therefore to send him. And then at verse 24, he says, I trust that I'll be able to come. He doesn't know what's going to happen. But then notice, how does he hope? And how does he trust? See that little phrase there, in the Lord Jesus? And he trusts in the Lord. You know, those aren't throwaway lines. He's not trying just to sound spiritual here. He means that he places his desires, his hopes, his plans in the Lord's hand in a really conscious way. His hopes and his plans don't stand alone. In the Wednesday men's study, we've been working our way through the book of James. There's that really great passage in chapter 5 where James says that we shouldn't be boastful saying we're going to go to this city and that city and do business and make money. Rather, we should say, if the Lord wills, we will do this or do that. Same idea here. Nothing wrong with hoping. Nothing wrong with planning, as long as you look out on the future and realize that you have no idea what is going to happen. Only the Lord knows. So make your hopes and certainly make your trust in Him. Back to Timothy, Paul's partner in ministry. See there in verse 22. He says, as a son with a father, he has served with me in the gospel. What does it mean to serve in the gospel? What does it mean to be a servant-hearted Christian? I think there are three lessons we can take from Timothy. So number one, number one, you care about others. Verse 20. Why does Paul say Timothy is unique? He says, I have no one else like him, or that could be better translated, I have no one like-minded like him. How? Well, being genuinely concerned for your welfare. Cares about your welfare. Timothy gets it. He understands that the point is not how the traveling band, the traveling missionary band is doing. That doesn't matter. It doesn't matter how he himself is doing. What matters is how are the churches doing? That's all Timothy seems to care about. He cares about others. My brother John was converted as an adult about 10 years ago. He says that we had a pivotal conversation one time that I can't remember. He was a compulsive gamer at that time. He would play video games nonstop. One time I'd kind of seen him there in front of the computer, I think for something like 12 hours. He says that I looked at him and said, you know, John, you are what you care about. I don't remember saying that. I think the spirit maybe spoke to him. I thought it was me or something. You are what you care about. It led him to lay down the controller and pick up the Bible. It's true, though. You know, we're defined, you and I, by what we care about. Well, Timothy, all he cares about is how others are doing, their welfare. Makes him like-minded with Paul. Makes him like-minded with Jesus. So again, we gotta ask ourselves a question. Well, what do we care about? What do you care about, friends? You care about the spiritual well-being of other people? You should? Are you investing in other people spiritually? Are you praying for others? Spending time with others? You might say, look, Mark, I'm not qualified to disciple anybody. Well, what if we redefine discipling others as just trying to do them spiritual good? That could be a great definition just to lock in your mind. What does it mean to disciple someone? Trying to do other people good spiritually. Trying to encourage them in their Christian walk. That's something that we all can do. Who could you encourage spiritually? Even just this next week, how could you do that? That's the first mark of a servant. They care about others. But notice a second thing we're told about Timothy. This time it's something we're told by contrast there in verse 21. That's that you don't seek your own interests. Paul says they all seek their own interests, not those of Jesus Christ. We were talking at sermon prep on Thursday about wonder who the they are and how they would feel about being called out in scripture this way. They all seek their own interests. I don't know who they are, but apparently Paul looks around and he sees a lot of self-seeking. He sees a lot of selfish ambition, a lot of self-centeredness. And that might sound really bad to us until we stop and reflect and realize that that's the default setting of our lives, right? I mean, I wake up in the morning, I want to get my coffee, I want to get my breakfast, and I'm basically hoping that nobody in my family gives me a hard time about anything. Seeking your own interests comes as natural as breathing to a fallen human being. What Timothy is doing is supernatural. The interests he cares about are the interests of the Lord, the interests of Jesus Christ, his name, his word, his honor, his church. I wonder what you think about Jefferson Park Baptist Church. Do you like it here? What do you think about the building? Do you like this sanctuary? I feel like the temperature is a good setting this morning for us. You like the music? The selection of music, do we kind of have it right here, the best of the 70s, 80s, and 90s, and today? Do we have that going on? Or the 1700s, 1800s, whatever. The preaching? You think it's OK? I mean, are we hitting the right balance of theology and application? Sermons too long? Kids don't answer that. Too short? Just right? Are you being served well by the programs? Are they meeting your needs there? How about the community? Do you feel like people here are friendly, but not too friendly? You know, those are not unimportant questions. But I hope you can see that if those sorts of things become the most important questions to you, they really take you down a path towards self-seeking, right? It's really easy in society because you and I go through our entire week just looking as consumers for where we're gonna get the best service. So easy to come in here and kind of have the same attitude. Well, if you want to be a servant, you just show up with a whole different set of questions. You're rolling up your sleeves here, and you're saying, how can I serve the interests of Jesus Christ here in this place? His body, His church. I'm His servant, so I'm about Him. So caring about others, number one, not seeking your own interests, number two. Notice a third aspect of servanthood that Timothy teaches us here, and that's proven worth, proven worth. Verse 22, Paul says that they know Timothy's proven worth, and how as a son serving with a father, he has served with him in the gospel. What does he mean by proven worth? Well, he means, I think, that this other-centered, caring about others, not seeking his own interests, but the interests of the Lord, kind of serving, is something that Timothy's shown over time, right? It wasn't just once for a little while, kind of a burst of spirituality at that one time in our life five years ago. No, Timothy's been doing it for a long time. This has become his reputation. Timothy, yeah, proven worth, a servant. Young people, I have to say that this is something worth aiming for in life. What do you want to do with your life? You know, there's so many things that society is going to tell you to get on your resume, some different pieces of paper, you know, and there are so many things that even in your youth are being told to you that are important. How many likes you get on Facebook, how many views the things you post on Instagram are. I don't think proven worth, there's no way to even show that on Instagram. It's just not going to be, there's no way to make a TikTok video about proven worth. This is the kind of reputation you want to have. The kind of name you build for yourself is someone who serves and serves and serves and is there for a long time. This is why you and I need the older saints in the church, people who were here 10 years ago, 20 years ago, 30 years ago, that we can just learn from them what it looks like to persevere in serving. So this is our profile of a servant. Cares about others, not their own interests, over time to a place of proven worth. All right, we've seen the Christian life viewed as a sacrifice and a servant. I want to consider finally this third view of a soldier. Point number three, a soldier. Let's pick up the text in verse 25. I've thought it necessary to send to you Epaphroditus, my brother, 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. Indeed, he was ill near to death, but God had mercy on him, not only on him, but on me also, lest I should have sorrow upon sorrow. I'm the more eager to send him, therefore, that you may rejoice at seeing him again, and that I may be less anxious So receive him in the Lord with all joy and honor such men for he nearly died for the work of Christ, risking his life to complete what was lacking in your service to me. Epaphroditus was a member of the church in Philippi. been the one chosen to take this monetary gift to Paul. Remember, Paul desperately needs it. He's in prison. He and Timothy have no way to support themselves. They're going to rely on money from churches to be able to eat and live. This mission is not an easy one, okay? It's at least 700 miles over land and maybe at least 80 miles over sea for Epaphroditus to take what I assume would have been a bag of coins that he would have to protect from robbers, so an arduous journey. And somewhere along the journey, Epaphroditus gets very sick. You can see there in verse 27, it says, indeed he was ill, near to death. We don't know the details of the sickness. We know that in the ancient world, when people got very sick, usually they died. Just think about what life was like before antibiotics, okay? So very dangerous. I'm saying that he got sick on the journey. I'm taking that from Verse 30, for he nearly died for the work of Christ, risking his life to complete what was lacking in your service to me. So don't get confused by that last phrase. He just means, Paul just means he needs that monetary gift. The Philippian church knew that. They were trying to get it to him. And this relied on Epaphroditus completing the job. Well, Epaphroditus didn't turn around when he got sick. He didn't stop. And he really could have died. Now, the Philippian church won't know what has happened. Apparently, Epaphroditus knew maybe a messenger had gone back to tell them that he was very ill. But they won't know how the whole thing turned out until they get this letter. That's the anxiety that Epaphroditus has. Now, we don't know if Paul has worked with Paphroditus before. He isn't mentioned anywhere else. But don't miss this description in verse 25, because it's precious. My brother, fellow worker, and fellow soldier. Now, the first is just what Paul would call a brother or sister in Christ, right? A brother in Christ. The second is a smaller group. His fellow workers are those that join in his mission. That's a special group, but the third group is even smaller. He only twice uses the phrase fellow soldier here and in Philemon 1, talking about archivists. But Paul does say to Timothy that the Christian life should be thought of as soldiering. He says that in 2 Timothy 2. He says, join with me in suffering like a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No one serving as a soldier gets entangled in civilian affairs. but rather tries to please his commanding officer. Paul says Epaphroditus was a fellow soldier because he endured hardship in his unswerving commitment to pleasing his commanding officer. You know, I wonder if you view the Christian life as warfare. Think of yourself as at war. It clearly is. Our battle is not against people. It's not against flesh and blood. It's against our own flesh, our own sinful nature. It's against the world system that's opposed to God, and it's against what the New Testament calls the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. But there's no question that it's a battle from beginning to end. And if you're going into a battle, you better go in intending to be a good soldier, braced for the conflict, ready for it, clear on who the commanding officer is, understanding what we're fighting for, willing to endure hardship, and not focused on civilian affairs. There are civilian affairs to be attended to, that's sure. There's housework to do and bills to be paid, schedules to be maintained. But a soldier resolves not to be entangled in them. not to let them keep him or her from their duty. Can't keep us from the battle. What we're given here is the picture of a good soldier. And Paul wants the Philippian church to look at Epaphroditus and go, oh, yeah, that's supposed to be what we're like. Not focused on civilian affairs. You know, tomorrow, June 28th, is a special day in church history, June 28th, 1810, Adoniram Judson was a young man attending the general meeting of the Congregational Churches in Massachusetts, when at a lunch afterwards, he met a young woman named Anne Hasseltine. She was the daughter of a pastor. She was 21 years old. He was smitten by her dark eyes and her curly hair and her vivacious manner. It was only about a month later that he writes an astonishing letter to her father asking her hand in marriage. But it includes his intention to go abroad as America's first foreign missionary. Listen to what he writes to Anne's father. I have now to ask whether you can consent to part with your daughter early next spring to see her no more in the world. whether you can consent to her departure to a heathen land and the hardships and sufferings of a missionary life, whether you can consent to her exposure to the dangers of the ocean, to the fatal influence of the southern climate of India, to every kind of want and distress, to degradation, insult, persecution, and perhaps a violent death. Can you consent to all this for the sake of him who left his heavenly home and died for her and for you, for the sake of perishing and immortal souls? for the sake of Zion and for the glory of God. Imagine receiving that letter as a father talking about your daughter. Adoniram Judson was a good soldier, and I don't read a missionary just to insinuate that we should all be missionaries. That's not my point at all. It's somehow more clear, perhaps, in the extremes. to see things that are true to be true of all of us. But I wonder when you read that if you think that the soldier metaphor is more fitting for men than for women. But listen to what Anne, sorry Anne, she's one of my heroes. Listen to what Anne Hasseltine at the age of 21 writes in her journal. I have at length come to the conclusion that if nothing in Providence appears to prevent I must spend my days in a heathen land. I am a creature of God and he has an undoubted right to do with me as seems good in his sight. I rejoice that I am in his hands and that he is everywhere present and can protect me in one place as well as in another. He has my heart in his hands and when I'm called to face danger, to pass through scenes of terror and distress, he can inspire me with fortitude and enable me to trust in him. Jesus is faithful. His promises are precious. Were it not for these considerations, I should, with my present prospects, sink down in despair, especially as no female has, to my knowledge, ever left the shores of America to spend her life among the heathen. Nor do I yet know that I shall have a single female companion. But whether I spend my days in India or America, I desire to spend them in the service of God, and be prepared to spend an eternity in his presence. I couldn't be better stated. If there ever was a good soldier of Christ Jesus, Ann Haseltine Judson was. Go get Sharon James' biography, My Heart in His Hands, and be blessed. Now look, I know that Paul, Timothy, Epaphroditus, I just added to it two foreign missionaries. Very easy for us to say, yeah, that's for special people. That's not for me. But what did Anne say there? Whether I spend my days in India or America, I desire to spend them in the service of God. That is for every child of God, my friends. It really doesn't matter if you're young or old or in the middle. It doesn't matter what you do for work, whether you're a school teacher or a farmer or an electrician. Life is war because heaven and hell are real. So is the battle between the forces of darkness and the kingdom of light. So there it is. Illustrations of the Christian life. Your job description and mine. A sacrifice, a servant, a soldier. Now, it would be easy to finish this passage with a rousing call to Christian service. And I wonder if that would be the right way to finish. Those are good things. If we did that, I think we could miss something essential here. You know, all three of these images are real, but they are sobering, humbling, challenging. May we assume that they're a bit depressing in some ways? Well, what's the attitude with which the apostle faced them? Look back there at verse 17. Even if I am poured out as a drink offering on the sacrificial offering of your faith, I am sobered. No. Humbled? No, he didn't say that. Challenged? No. Depressed? Certainly not. Paul says, I am glad and rejoice with you all. Oh, and by the way, you should be glad and rejoice with me. Why is Paul glad? Why does all this prospect of sacrifice and serving and potentially suffering, why does it make him rejoice? I'm quite sure that modern psychology would render a diagnosis here, not take note from him. Men in jail facing capital charges who are glad and rejoicing are either in denial or not in full possession of their faculties. But of course, Paul knows what he's saying. He remembers with joy that his Savior did not hold on to position or to privilege, but became obedient all the way to the point of death. He, Jesus, was a sacrifice who himself was filled with joy because of what was set before him. Paul follows a Savior who was a servant. What did Jesus say about himself? He didn't come to be served. but to serve and to give my life as a ransom for many. And Jesus was the very best of soldiers, was he not? You remember him setting his face like flint to go to Jerusalem, knowing what awaited him there? He had to go and defeat the forces of sin and death for you and I. He was the very best of soldiers. And he did defeat his enemies. They all fell before the Son of God. Paul is glad because he gets to follow in the footsteps of Jesus. He's also glad because by faith in Christ Jesus, his victory is also ours. So he knows that to live is Christ, to die is gain. And so that is why we say that the joyful Christian should view themself as a sacrifice, a servant, and a soldier. Brothers and sisters, don't miss the joy. And that right there is the key to something way better than the Chinese dream or the American dream. It's the joy of a relationship with our Savior Jesus Christ and the promise we have that he has gone ahead of us to prepare a place so that eventually we could be with him in heaven. a place of eternally increasing joy. Let's pray together.