The part of the chapter that I wanted to focus on there in Philippians chapter 2 is looking
at verse 25.
It says,
Yet I supposed it necessary to send you to Paphroditus, 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 they had heard that he had been sick.
For indeed he was sick not 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 ye see him again ye 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.
And the title of my sermon comes from the last verse, there in verse 30, where it says
not regarding his life.
So the title of my sermon is not regarding his life.
And I think in the world that we live in today, in our culture, and just being a man, being
a woman, being anybody, we regard our lives as very precious.
We have a lot of desires, we have a lot of things that we want to do.
When we look at the word regard in the dictionary, it says attention to or concern for something.
Some of the synonyms are consider, care, concern, thought, notice, heed.
So when it's saying he didn't regard his life, meaning he didn't care for his life,
he didn't consider his life, he didn't have thought and notice and take heed for his life,
he thought things were more important than just his life.
Now of course the Bible says that we should take care of ourselves, that we should make
sure that we're doing good things, but he regarded other things more important than
his life.
He was focused on Christ, because for the work of Christ he was nigh unto death, not
regarding his life, meaning he wanted to serve Christ.
You know I think of my own life, and I think of the lives of a lot of people, there's a
lot of things that just sound great to do, a lot of things that would be fun to do.
I want to have a big house, that would be fun to do, who doesn't want a really big house?
You know me personally I grew up playing golf, I would play golf every day, it's a lot of
fun, I enjoy it.
You know it would be fun to travel the world, it would be fun to have some cool job where
you just did fun things all day, you didn't have to necessarily work really hard, it would
be fun, you know I like to play board games a lot, and as growing up sometimes we try
to come up with our own board games, you know that takes a lot of energy, it takes a lot
of effort.
I'm a software developer, sometimes I have a lot of desires to just create software programs,
create websites, do fun things, things that aren't sinful, things that aren't wrong, just
things that you know interest me, or things that I consider would be fun to do.
You know confessing the fact that I grew up playing a lot of video games, I thought they
were a lot of fun.
I would spend hours and hours on the computer or playing the video game systems, you know,
and just kind of wasting away, just regarding myself, things that I like, the pleasure of
this world.
But let's go to Genesis chapter 45, go to Genesis chapter 45, we'll see the first time
that the word regards meant in the Bible, we gotta understand this word, the Bible says
in Psalms 66, if I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me.
So if we want God to hear us, if we want God to be pleased with us, we can't regard iniquity
in our lives, we can't regard iniquity in our heart.
When we know that the Bible says something's wrong, we can't just decide, well I just really
like this, you know, fornication, maybe watching sinful things, wicked things that we shouldn't
watch, movies, TV shows, things that we know that are just wrong, cause they have all kinds
of fornication, they have all kinds of things that we shouldn't be looking at, lying, you
know, people that just don't even want to have children, they just, you know, they get
married and they have the ability to, they just say, oh I'm gonna forsake having children,
or forsake following God's commandments, you know, not because I wanted to follow Christ,
but just because.
I just want to live a selfish life.
There's a guy that I work with, and he's like, all children are awful, I never want to have
children, they're just gonna ruin your life, and you know, then I can't go drink with my
buddies whenever I want, and I can't just go on the weekend and play softball, and I
can't just have, just, I can't just live my dream.
He thinks living the dream's not, you know, doing what the Bible said.
You know, maybe people that just drink all the time, or drink alcohol, people that say,
you know what, I know the Bible says that's wrong, but I'm just gonna regard that in my
heart, I'm just gonna keep that, you know, I'll follow a lot of the commandments, but
that one, I'm just gonna keep that one.
Well, the Bible says if you regard iniquity in your heart, the Lord won't hear you.
The Lord's not interested in, you know, hearing somebody that's just gonna reject his word.
Just like a parent, when you give them a command, you give them some task, and they're not gonna
do it.
A lot of times, you don't really care, you're just like, you gotta do this one task, you
know.
I don't care that you follow nine of my commandments, I want you to do it all.
I told you to clean your room, and wash the dishes, and mow the yard.
You can't just do one of those, and your parents will be pleased with you.
You gotta do them all.
The same thing with the Lord Jesus Christ.
Look at Genesis chapter 45 verse 20, or look at verse 19, back of one verse.
Now thou art commanded this duty, take you wagons out of the land of Egypt for your little
ones and for your wives, and bring your father and come.
Also regard not your stuff, for the good of all the land of Egypt is yours, and the children
of Israel did so, and Joseph gave them wagons according to the commandment of Pharaoh, and
gave the provision for the way.
Now this is the first time that the word regard is mentioned in the Bible.
In the story, it's when Joseph is down in Egypt, and he sends for his father and his
brethren to come live with him in Egypt.
And they said, look, don't regard your stuff, don't take care or consider your houses, and
all your extra video game system consoles, and your clothes, and all your books and everything.
Just come down.
We've got it.
We'll take care of it.
You know, it's kind of prophetic to the Lord, don't regard all this stuff in this world,
God will take care of you.
Seek the Lord.
He'll give you all your needs.
Go to Matthew 22 though, I want to look also at the first time regards mentioned in the
New Testament.
Matthew chapter 22, it's the first book in the New Testament.
We make it, the Bible makes it clear that we aren't to regard sinful things, but even
just things that aren't sinful, you know, sometimes we need to just, if you want to
be a disciple of Christ, if you want to actually follow in his footsteps, you can't regard
your life.
Now the Bible says being his son, going to heaven, it has nothing to do with living a
good life or following all the commandments.
It says all you have to do is believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.
But after you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, your life's not over.
And the Bible says, if you can tend you in my word, then are you my disciples indeed.
The Bible says the only way you can be a disciple of Christ is if you're not willing, if you
don't regard your life.
If you're not thinking, well, I want to do this and I want to go do these things and
I want to travel the world and I want to have this job and I want to just sit on my,
you know, rear and just watch TV and video games and do all these things, you're not
going to be Christ's disciple.
You can't regard your life as the most important thing if you want to be Christ's disciple.
You have to value other things more important, like Christ himself.
And we'll get, we'll get a little closer there.
Look in Matthew 22 verse 16, and they sent out unto them their disciples with a Herodian
saying, master, we know that thou art true and teach us the way of God and truth, neither
carest thou for any man, for thou regardest not the person of men.
Now I think the Bible is really consistent when he uses the word regard.
It's just to not consider, not to take care of, not take any E to.
The Bible says that God is not a respecter of persons.
He doesn't care if you're rich, if you're poor, if you're tall.
He doesn't care what color skin you are.
He doesn't care where you came from, male, female, everybody's the same unto the Lord.
He doesn't regard any persons more better than the other, but if you follow his commandments,
that's where the defining factor is.
How much you regard your life as more important than following the commandments of God, that's
where the deciding factor is.
Those that would believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and be saved, that's going to divide
the, you know, the wheat from the chaff.
I mean, you're going to decide heaven or hell, but then again, once you're saved, there's
still going to be a division.
There's going to be division between those that want to follow God's commandments and
those that don't want to follow God's commandments.
So if we want to be Christ's disciple, we need to be like Epaphroditus.
So go back to Philippians chapter 2, I might have told you to keep your finger there.
We're going to look in verse 25, I think there's five things here that give us a way to be
like Epaphroditus, to be one of Christ's disciples, a way that we cannot regard our life.
He says in verse 25, yet I suppose it necessary to send to you Epaphroditus, my brother.
I think the first thing in a way that people sometimes regard their life is their family.
I think family is probably one of the biggest things that people have a hard time letting
go of or not regarding to follow Christ.
Go to Luke chapter 14, go to Luke chapter 14.
You know, when it comes to family, it's a touchy subject.
It's something that everybody has, everybody has strong emotions, everybody has strong
feelings.
If we look in the Luke chapter 14 and verse 25, the Bible says, and there went great multitudes
with him and he turned and said unto them, if any man come to me and hate not his father
and mother and wife and children and brethren and sisters, and his own life also, he cannot
be my disciple and whosoever doth not bear his cross and come after me cannot be my disciple.
For which of you intending to build a tower sits not down first and counteth the cost,
whether you have sufficient to finish it.
The Bible makes it very clear that if you want to be Christ's disciple, you have to
consider Christ better than anybody.
Your mom, your dad, your wife, your brethren, your sisters, and even your own wife.
Christ is above all.
Now the Bible's not saying here that you literally, like, you need to just hate your brother and
be mean to him and hate your mom.
He's saying in comparison that it's not even a choice, that you would, you would just,
you would just disregard your family, you would disregard a spouse, you disregard anyone
for Christ.
You're not going to let anybody get in the way of you and Christ, of you fulfilling Christ's
purpose in your life.
Now unfortunately, some people have to go through this.
It could be a spouse, it could be a brother, it could be a sister, it could be a child,
it could be anybody.
And the Bible's making it clear, look, if you do want to be Christ's disciple, you can't
let family get in the way.
And I think family is one of the hardest things for many people.
Go to Ruth chapter 2, turn with me to Ruth chapter 2, I think it's a really good point
there.
And I'll read for you in Matthew chapter 6, it says, no man can serve two masters, for
either you will hate the one and love the other, or else you will hold to the one and
despise the other.
You cannot serve God and man.
You can't, you can't love your wife the most and Christ the most.
You can't love your child the most and Christ the most.
You can't love two people the most.
There's an order.
And the Bible's saying, look, if you're going to serve, if you're going to serve two masters,
you can't.
It's impossible.
You're going to prefer one over the other.
And if you want to be Christ's disciple, you have to prefer him above all, above your brothers,
your family, even your own life.
I'll read for you one other place.
There was a guy that came up to Jesus and he said, Lord, suffer me first to go and bury
my father.
But Jesus said unto him, follow me and let the dead bury their dead.
I mean, even this guy, he's like, look, I just need to go bury my dad.
That's a sacred time.
I mean, you know, I love my dad very much and if he were to pass, I would want to be
there at his burial.
I think that's a really important thing, but Christ is saying, look, let the dead bury
their dead.
You need to follow me now.
The time is short.
You know, just get on the program with Christ.
It doesn't mean that you can't go to a funeral, you can't go to your family's funeral, but
he had an opportunity, the Lord Jesus Christ was right there in front of him.
He needed to take it.
And sometimes when we take the opportunity for Christ, it might have a conflict with
our family.
It might have a conflict with a family situation.
It might be where, hey, I could go on this mission trip or I could stay here and go to
my dad's funeral.
Now, what would be the decision?
I mean, you know, that sometimes would be a hard decision for most, but if you want
to be Christ's disciple, no matter what life circumstances are happening, you're going
to choose Christ.
You're going to always go for Christ.
You're not going to regard your life.
Ruth chapter two, look at verse 10, then she fell on her face and bowed herself to the
ground and said unto him, why have I found grace in my eyes that thou shouldest take
knowledge of me, saying I am a stranger?
And Boaz answered and said unto her, it hath fully been showed me all that thou hast done
with thy mother-in-law since the death of thine husband, and how that thou hast left
thy father and thy mother in the land of thine activity, and art come unto a people which
thou knowest not heretofore.
The Lord recommends thy work, and a full reward be given thee of the Lord God of Israel, under
whose wings thou art come to trust.
Now the story of Ruth is an interesting story.
We see some children of Israel, they travel into Moab, and they marry some daughters of
Moab.
Ruth is one of those daughters, and then they die, and there's no man left for them.
But the wife, the mother-in-law, she wants to come back into the children of Israel,
she wants to come back into the land, and she brings her daughter-in-law Ruth with her.
Not because she really wanted to, she kept saying, go back to your family, go back.
And Ruth's like, no, I'm going to be with you, I'm going to be with the Lord's people.
She chose Christ over her family.
She left all.
She left her family, she left her father, she left her mother, she left the land that
she grew up in.
I mean, sometimes it's really hard if you meet people that grow up in a small town,
and they just live there their whole lives.
The idea of them leaving after becoming an adult is just ludicrous, I mean, they don't
want to do it.
They're like, I've been here, I know here, I'm comfortable, I just want to stay here.
But Ruth had a decision.
You know what, I'm going to go with you and follow Christ.
I'm going to go with you and serve the Lord.
But you know, there's a lot of people that aren't going to serve God today because they're
not willing to move.
They're not willing to leave their family.
They're not willing to leave the land that they grew up in.
I know a friend, really smart guy, really intelligent person.
He believes the King James Bible is the word of God.
He believes salvation.
He believes pretty much every doctrine I do.
But you know, he's unwilling to move from the area that he lives in because his whole
family's there.
He's comfortable.
He grew up there.
He has a good job.
I mean, he's got it going and he's not going to move because he doesn't want to lose his
family.
He doesn't want to lose that camaraderie.
He doesn't want to lose that fellowship, but you know what, at the end of his life, he's
going to suffer loss because he didn't decide to serve Christ because he's not going to
do big things for Christ.
And it doesn't mean that you can't do big things for Christ in your area, but sometimes
you need to move to an area where you're going to be encouraged.
Iron sharpened with iron.
If you're in an area where there's no good church and you're not going soul winning and
you're not being exhorted, you need to move to a place that you can be exhorted.
You need to go to a church that's going to teach you the Bible.
That's going to encourage you to go soul.
That's going to believe the gospel.
There's a lot of churches out there, but unfortunately most of them are good anymore.
They're not preaching the word of God.
They're not faithful to the Bible.
They're not preaching salvation by faith alone.
They've corrupted themselves.
They're false prophets.
The Bible says there's many false prophets.
There's way more false prophets than men of God, and we need only believe what the Bible
says.
Go to a first Corinthians chapter seven, there was a guy in the Bible named Abram and the
Lord's son and Abram give thee out of thy country and from thy kindred and from thy
father's house unto a land that I will show thee.
Don't tell me that it's unbiblical to move away from your family.
Don't tell me that God doesn't sometimes want you to leave the land that you grew up in.
I mean, a prophet's not without honor saving his own country.
Why?
Because many times we need to just move to a new area and follow God's will.
Many times in the Bible, it's God's will for a person to move and to live in an area that's
righteous, to live in an area where they can do great things for God.
Or maybe, you know, as the disciples, they held up in Jerusalem, they needed to go out
and preach the word of God to other nations and to others.
They had to leave family.
They had to leave their father and their mother, and sometimes it's not comfortable.
Sometimes it's not fun.
You enjoy the comfortability of having your family there, having your brother, having
your mother, but when it comes to serving Christ, if you purpose in your heart, I want
to be Christ's disciple, you can't put your family above Christ.
It doesn't mean you can't live by your family or maybe your family goes to your church.
That's great.
That's a blessing.
I don't want to downplay that as being bad or something, but when it comes to making
the decision for serving Christ, you can't let anything get in your way if you want to
be Christ's disciple.
You want to be like a Papaditis not regarding his life.
First Corinthians chapter 7, look at verse 32.
But I would have you without carefulness, he that is unmarried cared for the things
that belong to the Lord, how he may please the Lord.
But he that is married cared for the things that are of the world, how he may please his
wife.
There is no difference also between a wife and a virgin.
The unmarried woman cared for the things of the Lord, that she may be holy both in body
and in spirit.
But she that is married cared for the things of the world, how she may please her husband.
Now marriage is a great thing.
The Bible lifts up marriage as a wonderful thing.
Two people coming together being one flesh.
But even in marriage, sometimes it can be a distraction for serving Christ.
And you know, one of the realities of the Bible is marriage is not forever.
Marriage is not eternal.
Marriage is not something that's going to keep you going for the fall of eternity.
It's just like your life.
It's a vapor.
It vanished of the wave.
And now it serves a purpose.
It's one of the best things.
I mean, my wedding day is one of the greatest things that has ever happened in my life.
I love my wife.
It's very biblical.
If I want to be a pastor someday, if I want to be a preacher and have my own church, I
have to have a wife.
I have to be married to one wife.
I have to have children.
That's great.
But there's a lot of examples in the Bible where their spouse stopped them from serving
God or slowed them down or caused them to do wicked things.
Just look at the first story, Adam and Eve.
Eve gave Adam of the fruit of the tree, of the knowledge of good and evil, and he sinned.
We see that many times that our spouses can bring us down and get in our way of serving
Christ.
You know, the Mormons might teach that marriage is forever and you're going to be eternally
married.
That's not biblical.
That's not true.
Go to Micah chapter 7.
Micah chapter 7.
In the Bible, there's a lot of times when the children of Israel, they mess up in marriage.
It says in Deuteronomy chapter 7 verse 2, and when the Lord thy God shall deliver them
before thee, thou shalt smite them and utterly destroy them.
Thou shalt make no covenant with them, nor show mercy unto them.
Neither shalt thou make marriages with them.
Thy daughter thou shalt not give unto his son, nor his daughter shalt thou take unto
thy son.
For they will turn away thy son from following me, that they may serve other gods.
So will the anger of the Lord be kindled against you and destroy thee suddenly.
The Bible says, you know, that we shouldn't be married unto an unbeliever, that we shouldn't
be married and yoked up with someone that's not a believer in Christ because it'll bring
us down.
The Bible says in the Old Testament when he's telling the children of Israel to come into
the land to dwell, they shouldn't marry the heathen, all these other nations, all these
other people, because when they would marry these women, they would turn after their gods.
They would stop serving the Lord Jesus Christ.
They would offer sacrifice unto Molech.
They would pass their seed through the fire.
I mean, we're talking about the worst kind of abortion.
I mean, putting their children in the fire to burn them.
But that's what happens when you marry a heathen.
That's what happens when you marry someone that doesn't want to follow Christ, that doesn't
share in the same, you know, doesn't have the same desires that you do.
They're regarding their life more important than Christ.
We see that even not just marrying an unbeliever, but just anybody.
Our spouse sometimes can get in the way of serving Christ and we shouldn't let that happen.
Now obviously, as a man, you should be, you know, leading your wife, you should be encouraging
her, you should be, you know, guiding her and doing those things, but if it really comes
down to it, if you have to choose, hey, am I going to go soul winning this week or am
I not because my wife doesn't want me to, I'm going to serve the Lord.
I'm going to choose at the end of the day, I'm going to serve Christ.
Now I'm going to make sure that I'm as accommodating to my wife as possible, that I'm saying, look,
I'll spend time with you, I'm going to cherish you, I'll do something with you, but I'm going
to do this.
I'm going to go, you know, this day or for these hours, I'm going to go soul winning
because I'm going to serve Christ rather than just, you know, care for, care for my wife.
The Bible says when you get married, you care for your spouse.
I mean, it's just natural.
You just love the person, you just got married to them and you know, love's not a choice,
or love's a choice.
It's not an emotion.
Love isn't just, well, I like you, you look cute, let's be friends, let's get married.
No, love is when you choose, I'm going to love this person no matter what, whether they're
good, bad, no matter what happens, that's what love is.
God loved us when we were sinners.
There's so many people that God loved that will never love him back.
As a spouse, as a husband, as a wife, we are to always love and cherish our spouse.
But when it comes down to it, if you have to choose between serving Christ or caring
for your spouse, you got to serve Christ, if you want to be his disciple.
We shouldn't let anything stop us from preaching the gospel, even if your spouse didn't want
to, even if your spouse didn't like it, even if they're going to be angry with you.
You know, you're going to get a lot more respect from them if you say, hey, I'm going to do
this, but then make it an accommodating time.
Don't just make it like, well, I know you really wanted to go shopping with me or go
spend time with me or go to the picnic or do this thing at 10, that's when I'm going
to go soul winging.
No, I mean, obviously you should be accommodating, you should try to pick a time that works out
and say, hey, I'm going to spend time with you, I'm going to do things you like, I'm
going to take care of you, but you shouldn't just forgo soul winging, you shouldn't forgo
going to church, you shouldn't forgo reading your Bible, you shouldn't forgo doing any
of the things of the Word of God because your spouse doesn't want you to, because it's not
popular, because you might fight about it, because they might not be as zealous as you
are.
Maybe they might get more zealous than you are eventually.
You know, there's been a lot of times where me and my wife, we were both more zealous
about the things of God in different areas or different times, and you know, it's one
of those things, marriage is a lifetime.
It's not just a quick sprint, it's not a 100 yard dash, it's a marathon, and so you
got to sit there and encourage each other and edify each other, and I guarantee if you're
serving Christ, if you're doing things that are right, it's only going to better your
spouse.
It's only going to want them to give more respect unto you, to honor and cherish you
even more.
It might seem like it's a tough decision in the moment, but when you look at it in the
rear view mirror, when you look at it in hindsight, you'll be like, I'm so glad I did that.
I'm so glad I was a good influence on my spouse.
You know, I started going to church and then they started coming with me.
I started going soloing and then they started going soloing.
I started reading my Bible and then they started reading the Bible with me.
I started praying more, they started praying more with me.
You can encourage your spouse and do great things, but you shouldn't let it stop you.
And you know, sometimes when you have a spouse that's not wanting to do the same things,
it's tough.
That's why you're always going to come to the Lord.
Not regard your life as more important.
Get in the Word of God.
He'll give you the courage, He'll give you the strength.
The Bible says, he that finds it his life shall lose it, and he that loses his life
for my sake shall find it.
At the end of the day, you might think, oh man, I gave up all my dreams.
I'm never going to be a professional golfer.
I'm never going to be a movie star.
I'm never going to travel the whole world.
I lost my life.
No, you'll gain it.
Because in eternity, you'll have so many rewards, you'll have crowns, you'll have a mansion
that the Lord built up for you.
If you serve Christ with your life, you'll find it.
And you'll say, that was so much more beneficial.
That was so much more, you know, of eternal value.
All that other stuff was just vanity.
It didn't matter.
It was just wasting my life.
There in Philippians chapter 2, you don't have to turn back, but the second point I
want to make is he called Epaphroditus his companion and labor.
So I think the first point is that family, a lot of times, will stop us from, you know,
serving Christ.
We'll regard our family.
We'll regard those emotions.
We'll regard our spouse, our brother, our sister, or whoever, we'll regard them and
not regard Christ above them.
But the second way, I think, is in a career.
He said he was his companion and labor.
And those laborers were not, you know, making tents.
Paul said that he made tents.
No, it wasn't preaching the gospel.
It wasn't doing the things of Christ.
You know, but a lot of times a career is going to get in the way of you doing that.
Go to Matthew chapter 4.
Now the disciples, after Jesus Christ had, you know, been taken by the Pharisees and,
you know, that he had been crucified, they didn't know what to do.
They've been, they kind of messed up Peter, I mean, he denied the Lord three times, and
now they're kind of wondering what to do.
And in John chapter 21, Simon Peter said to them, I go fishing, they say unto him, we
also go with thee.
They went forth and entered into a ship immediately and that night caught, they caught nothing.
Now Peter, he just goes back to his job.
He says, I've been with the Lord Jesus Christ for these years.
We've been preaching the gospel nonstop.
We've been raising people from the dead.
We've been healing diseases.
I watched Jesus Christ be, you know, the multitude and walk on water.
I walked on water.
And guess what he does?
Well, I'm going to go fishing.
I'm going to go back to my secular job, but in Matthew chapter 4, when Peter met the Lord
Jesus Christ, look at verse 18, it says, Jesus walking by the Sea of Galilee saw two brethren.
Simon called Peter and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea, for they were
fishers.
And he saith unto them, follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.
And they straightway left their nets and followed him.
Now Peter might have been a great fisherman.
You know, he might have been one of the best fishermen.
He could have been at the top level.
He could have been the CEO of fishermen.
You know, I mean, he's the greatest.
But Christ is like, forsake that.
I want you to become a fisher of men.
Peter had to make a decision.
Am I going to just continue in this career?
Am I just going to continue where I'm comfortable?
Am I going to continue in the trade that I grew up in or am I going to do something different?
Am I going to follow Christ?
Am I going to be a fisher of men?
We shouldn't let our jobs get in the way of serving Christ.
Now the Bible commands us, you know, to provide for our house, to work very hard, and even
unto unbelieving masters who live, you know, working in the secular world, we have to have
to eat somehow.
Not everybody can be a pastor, not everybody can be an evangelist.
We've got to have people that go and work eight hours a day or 12 hours a day or six
days a week or whatever.
We have people that work really hard.
There's nothing wrong with that.
But we shouldn't let that determine our lives.
If we're going to regard our lives and say, well, I just want to be some great CEO.
I just want to be this great man and have this big job.
I want to, you know, I want to be a doctor.
I want to be a lawyer.
I want to be an architect.
You know, one of these degrees that takes years.
I mean, to become a doctor, to become a lawyer, to become like some of these high degrees
takes years of study and dedication and effort.
And then they go and they work 80 hours a week, 60 hours a week.
They don't have time for church.
They don't have time for the things of God.
They don't have time to raise a family.
They don't have time to read their Bible.
That shouldn't be the decision that we make.
We should try to choose to serve Christ first and then we find a job that fits with that.
Find a career that fits with that.
Find something that is going to accommodate to that.
We shouldn't first pick our job and to say, well, now I can go to this church because
I only have Tuesdays from three to four afternoon.
Well, I'm not going to go to church because there isn't any church on Tuesday at three
in the afternoon.
Why don't you get a job that's going to let you come to church?
I'm not going to let my job get in the way of me coming to church.
I'm not going to let it get in the way of me going soul winning.
I'll lose my job in a heartbeat if I have to skip church.
I mean, if I have to skip church, my job is going away.
I don't care.
That's why, you know, that's why when I was thinking for a job, I didn't want to get in
the retail business.
I didn't want to work nights and weekends.
I didn't want a job that was going to travel all the time, where I couldn't be there with
my family, where I couldn't be there at church, where I couldn't do the things of God.
I'm going to let God be my first priority.
If I want to be his disciple, what if Peter had decided to just keep fishing?
He decided after Christ had risen, what if he just kept fishing?
Would he have been Christ's disciple?
If you continue in my word, then are you my disciple indeed?
If you want to be Christ's disciple, you got to continue.
You got to keep striving forward.
You can't stop.
You can't quit.
You can't decide, hey, you know, this job is more important to me.
My life is more important to me.
How am I going to get that really big house on the hill if I don't have this big high
paying job?
You know, they're putting a lot of pressure on me.
I got to go make all these trips.
I got to do all these things.
Hey, I'll, you know, clean toilets if I have to.
Now I'm not saying you should and I don't want to.
I'm not going to get that job, but I'm not going to decide to let my career determine
how I'm going to serve God.
I'm going to decide I'm going to serve God and then I'm going to try and find a job that's
going to be accommodating to that.
Go to John chapter 6.
Why lay treasure up on earth?
The Bible says, Luke chapter 12, I'll read for you, Jesus had a parable and he said,
the ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentiful and he thought within himself saying,
what shall I do?
Because I have no room where to bestow my fruits and he said, this will I do.
I will pull down my barns and build greater and there will I bestow all my fruits and
my goods.
And I will say to my soul, soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years.
Take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry and God sent in them, thou fool.
This night thy soul shall be required of thee.
Then whose shall those things be which thou hast provided?
So is he that layeth up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.
And he said unto the disciples, therefore I say unto you, take no thought for your life,
what shall you eat?
Neither for the body, what ye shall put on.
The life is more than meat and the body is more than raiment.
In this parable we see a rich man.
He's got so much money, he has so much money in the bank, but then guess what happens?
The Lord takes his life and then he has nothing.
We never know when we're going to die.
We never know when the Lord might take us and if we're just laying up treasures for
ourselves on the heaven or on earth and we're not rich toward God, we're going to suffer
loss at the end of our lives.
We shouldn't lay up treasures on this earth.
What is life more than meat?
I mean life is way more than just eating and drinking and being merry.
There's eternal consequences.
There's things, there's eternal rewards.
We should be mindful of those things.
You know, I think of this man, it'd be like if you wanted to take a bath, you know, and
you got the bathtub and you start running the water and you never put in the plug.
He just let it keep running down the drain.
That's what it's like storing up money on this earth.
It's just going away.
It has no value.
You're never going to get there.
It'd be like putting money in a sack with a hole in it.
I mean you just keep putting money in the sack and it just keeps falling out.
It's worthless.
It's pointless.
Why do that?
It'd be like if you had your house and it was going to be demolished tomorrow, it's
going to be destroyed.
Someone's going to come and destroy it because, you know, you're going to build a new one.
And it's like, you know what, before they destroy it, I'm just going to paint all
the walls again.
What's the point?
If it's going to get knocked down, if it's going to get destroyed, why waste your time?
Why waste your time on the things of this earth?
Why chasing, you know, money, chasing houses, chasing the goods of this world?
We should chase the things that are eternal about it.
Souls for Christ.
Things that we can lamp treasures on this earth.
Jesus said, then he saith unto the disciples, the harvest truly is plenteous, but the labors
are few.
You know, the reality is there's not many that would say, well, my life, you know, isn't
as important as serving Christ.
I'm going to serve Christ first.
They're not willing to not regard their life and that's why there's few labors.
There's not many labors.
There's a lot of people saved.
There's a lot of people that have believed in the Lord Jesus Christ.
They're going to go to heaven when they die, but they're not as a disciple because
they care for their life more.
They care for their family.
They care for their career.
Bible says in John 6, when I return in verse 27, labor not for the meat which perisheth,
but for the meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the son of man shall give unto
you.
For him hath God the father sealed.
Then said they unto him, what shall we do that we might work the works of God?
Jesus Christ is saying, look, why would you labor for meat that's going to perish?
Why would you labor for the things that are just going to go away, that are just going
to be thrown in the trash, that are just worthless?
We should labor for the things that are going to endure into everlasting life.
What's going to endure into everlasting life?
Souls.
Souls of Christ.
There's so many people out in this world that are dying and going to hell and they're
going to burn forever.
What's more important?
You having a steak dinner tonight or saving somebody from eternal fire?
Saving somebody from burning forever?
That's way more important.
Do you care?
I mean, just imagine if we were in this room or you're in a big area with hundreds of people
and they were all hungry, they were all starving and then someone just sat before you a feast,
just an endless buffet of meat and veggies and they said, you know what, I'm going to
give you a special card and you can eat of it, but I'm also going to hand you an endless
number of cards and anybody you give them to, they can come and eat.
What if you just decide, I'm just going to go and eat them myself because I'm starving.
Wouldn't it be more important to start handing them out to getting other people to get to
the feast?
Labor not for the meat that perishes.
If you have the bread of life, if you believed in the Lord Jesus Christ and you've been given
the bread of life, don't you want to give it to others?
Or are you just sitting there saying, I don't care.
I'm not going to go labor.
I've got the bread of life.
Why do I care if they're starving, if they're hungry, if they don't have anything, if they're
going to burn forever?
That's regarding your life more important than theirs.
Regarding your life as more important and not really even just your soul, just your
physical life.
Just your vanities.
What's more important, you traveling or people dying and going to hell.
You're not Christ's disciple if you care more about the things of your life.
If you regard your life more important, go to 2 Timothy chapter 2, we'll go to my third
point.
I'll read to you one other place that says, I have planted Apollo's water, but God gave
the increase.
So then neither is he that planteth anything, neither he that watereth, but God that giveth
the increase.
Now he that planteth and he that watereth are one, and every man shall receive his own
reward according to his labor.
For we are laborers together with God.
He are God's husbandry, he are God's building.
God calls us to be laborers.
He calls us to work for him.
Why do you want to work for some man, some corruptible guy, for some corruptible crown,
for the meat that perisheth?
We should be serving someone that's going to give us a good reward, something that's
going to last for forever.
Christ will reward us according to our labor.
Why would I want to serve somebody if they're not going to give me anything that's worth
anything?
I mean, if I'm not going to give a good reward, why would I serve them?
I'm going to serve the guy that's going to give me the best reward.
That's why you shouldn't choose your career over serving Christ, because you don't want
all, oh, I got all this meat on the earth, but it perished and I have nothing in eternity.
How about the guy that was starving and missed a couple of meals, but now he has a bunch
of rewards in heaven.
That's so much greater.
Revelation chapter 2, it even talks about all the churches, it says that thou hast labored.
Talks about laboring.
It's, we need to labor, we need to work hard, but I'd rather work as hard as I can for Christ.
You cannot serve two masters, for either you hate the one and love the other.
When the Bible makes it clear that I can't love my secular job and serving Christ at
the same level, I'm either going to love serving Christ or I'm going to love serving
my job more.
And if you want to be Christ's disciple, you can't regard your life, regard Christ first.
So we see a family, we see a job, these are things that people sometimes will just forsake
the Lord.
They don't want to serve God.
They wouldn't have the great job.
They wouldn't have a lot of money.
They wanted to be around their family, but when he called the Paphroditus, he said his
fellow soldier, there's a lot of people that are not willing to fight.
You know, the Christian life is a fight.
It's a battle.
2 Timothy chapter 2, look at verse 2, and the things that thou hast heard of me among
many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also.
Thou therefore endure hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ, no man that worth entangle
himself with the affairs of this life, that he may please him who hath chosen him to be
a soldier.
Look, if you're not going to regard your life, if you're going to be called a soldier, you
can't be in the affairs of this life.
You can't entangle yourself with all the things of this world.
If you're caught up in the things of this world, if you're caught up in the secular
job, if you're caught up in the secular family, if you're caught up in all these things, you're
not going to be a good soldier.
You know, when a soldier, when he's on the battlefield, he can't be thinking about his
job and thinking about his family and thinking about other things.
He's not going to fight well.
He's going to be standing there.
No, he needs to be looking for the enemy.
He needs to be looking, you know, down the battlefield.
He needs to be guarding himself, protecting himself, advancing, fighting, warring.
It's a battle out there.
And if you want to be a good soldier of Jesus Christ, you can't be thinking of all the other stuff.
That can't be what's on your mind constantly, that can't be what's affecting you.
You can't regard your life, you've got to be willing to fight.
You can't just lay around and just hope people get saved.
I mean, you know, I don't just lay around and think, oh man, a whole bunch of people
are going to, you know, get saved and come to church tonight because I laid on the couch
all day.
No, you've got to go out there and work hard.
You've got to preach the gospel.
You've got to share the gospel and you've got to talk to people.
Go to John chapter 10, when Paul's talking to Timothy, he gives him all kinds of stuff
about fighting.
He says, fight the good fight of faith.
Lay hold on eternal life.
And he says, you can't serve two masters, you will hold to the one or despise the other.
Why don't we hold on to eternal life?
Hold on to the things that are of eternal value.
As in, this charge I committed to thee, said Timothy, according to the prophecies which
went before on thee, that thou by them mightest war of good warfare.
This life is a battle.
This life is a war.
There's Satan out there.
He wants your soul.
He wants to destroy your life even after you get saved.
He just wants to destroy anything and everything.
It's a battle.
He's trying to kill everybody in this world.
He's blinded the eyes of them that believe not, that if our gospel be hid, it's headed
to them that are lost.
The only way someone's going to get saved is by us going out and preaching the gospel.
Satan's trying his hardest to make sure that you'll never come across this book, that you'll
never hear the gospel.
So we've got to know that we're in the fight.
We've got to go out there and preach.
We've got to be steadfast, not regarding our lives, but regarding others more.
John chapter 10, where I had you turn, look at verse 15, as the Father knoweth me, even
so I know I the Father, and I lay down my life for the sheep.
And verse John 3, I'll read for you, hereby proceeding the love of God, because he lay
down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.
Jesus Christ, when he was on this earth, he wasn't coming in to fulfill selfish desires.
He wasn't going to see how good of a carpenter he could be.
He wasn't going to see how good of an athlete he could be.
He wasn't going to try and be a king.
No.
What did he do?
He just went out and preached the gospel, night and day, every day.
His brethren said, you're beside yourself.
Just take a rest.
Stop.
He forsook his mother.
He forsook his father.
He forsook his brethren.
He just went out and preached the gospel, day and night, performed miracles.
He preached unto the poor.
He just worked every day.
He just served every day.
What does it mean to lay down your life?
He wasn't regarding his life.
He wasn't trying to lay treasure on this earth.
He didn't have a job for, I mean, three years of ministry, except for preaching the gospel.
He didn't have a secular job.
He was just going out and doing the work of God.
He was living up the gospel, as the Bible would say.
He wasn't regarding his life.
He was just laying down his life.
We have to lay down our lives for the brethren.
We have to be willing to say, hey, maybe it's not as important for me to do all the things
I want.
Maybe I need to help my brother fulfill his purposes.
Maybe I need to encourage them.
What would be a practical example of this?
I don't know.
Maybe there's some guy in your church that's a really good preacher and you say, you know
what?
If you want to go preach the gospel in one of these foreign countries, I'll pay for you
to go.
That would be a practical way for you to say, hey, I'm going to lay down my life.
It's not as important for me to go.
Maybe it's more important for him to go because he's such a great preacher.
He's so hard worker.
You know, find the guy that's laboring every day, every night, preaching the gospel.
Somebody say, I want to support you.
You know, there's a lot of people, a lot of elderly people, a lot of older people.
They couldn't travel across the world and, you know, go on their two feet.
I'm not saying that you shouldn't do good things and you shouldn't preach the gospel
yourself.
I'm just saying, if you're going to lay down your lives, you're going to say, hey, is it
more important for me to succeed or him to succeed?
And if we want to not regard our lives, we want to be Christ's disciple.
We need to decide it's not important for me to succeed, it's important for them to succeed.
Jesus Christ, he didn't look at his 12 disciples and think it's more important for me to be
the best soul winner.
It was more important for them to be the best soul winners, for them to go out and preach
the gospel, for them to do the great works.
He laid down his life.
He got on his hands and knees and he washed their feet, is what Jesus Christ did.
What about John the Baptist?
I mean, did he go out and just live some great life?
No!
He was clothed with, you know, camel skin, he ate locusts and honey, he just preached
the gospel.
He was trying to lay down his life for Christ.
He must increase, but I must increase.
So the fourth way, go to Mark chapter 1.
So we see that family is going to stop you from serving Christ sometimes.
We got to put that aside.
We got to put our careers aside and decide, you know, it's not more important for me to
be some rich guy and have this great career.
No, it's more important for me to labor for Christ.
We see that, you know, a lot of people aren't willing to fight.
It's a battle out there.
It's going to be hard.
Fighting is not fun sometimes, but if we want to fulfill the purposes of Christ, we got
to be willing to fight.
My fourth point is he said that he was your messenger.
He said, but your messenger is what he said unto Paphroditus, meaning what?
He wasn't preaching his message.
He wasn't preaching his words, he's just a messenger.
He's just delivering someone else's message.
He's delivering someone else's words.
In Proverbs 29 the Bible says, a fool uttereth all his mind, but a wise man keepeth it in
till afterwards.
You know, a fool, he just wants everybody to hear what he has to say.
He wants you to read his book.
He wants you to hear all the great stories that he had and all the things that are about
him.
Let me tell you how smart I am and let me tell you how I know.
That's a fool.
A fool's going to utter all his mind.
But you know, a man of God, he's going to be a messenger.
He's not going to be one that utters his mind.
He's going to utter the message of the Lord.
He's going to utter God's words.
Amen.
Matthew chapter 11, for this is he of whom it is written, behold, I send my messenger
before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee.
I talked about John the Baptist.
He's considered the greatest man to ever live, born among women.
Why?
Because he came to just be a messenger.
He came to just preach the Word of God, that believing in the Lord Jesus Christ, you shall
receive the mission of sins.
Look at Mark chapter 1's parallel passage, in the beginning of the Gospel of Jesus Christ,
the Son of God, as it is written in the prophets, behold, I send my messenger before thy face,
which shall prepare thy way before thee.
The voice of one crying in the wilderness, prepare ye the way of the Lord.
Make his path straight.
He didn't say prepare ye the way of John the Baptist.
No, prepare ye the way of the Lord.
It was always about Christ.
He's always preaching about others.
He's not putting himself more important.
He's preaching Christ.
Look at verse 7, and preach, saying, there cometh one mightier than I after me.
The latchet of whose shoes I'm not worthy to stoop down and I'm loose.
I indeed have baptized you with water, but he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost.
Look, he preached, but it wasn't his message, it wasn't his words, he was just the messenger
preaching God's words.
You want to be a great man of God?
It's not your sermon, it's not your ideas, it's not your parables, no, it's God's parables.
It's God's message.
It's Jesus Christ's sermons.
That's what the power, it's not my words, the power of God is the Gospel.
The Gospel is what has power.
The Gospel is the word of God, and faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God.
Not by hearing my idea of how you could get saved, maybe.
I've got to preach the word of God if you want to get saved.
Now of course we should expound and explain the Bible and put it in plain speech, but
the word of God is what has the power.
That's what's going to get somebody saved.
Go to 1 John chapter 1, and this is prophetic of Malachi chapter 3, which says, Behold,
I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me and the Lord, whom you shall
seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight
in.
Behold, he shall come, saith the Lord of hosts.
God constantly sends prophets, and there is messengers.
He would just say to them, just speak my words, don't diminish the word, don't add to it,
just preach exactly what I told you to say.
And they would just come, that's just a messenger, he's not speaking of himself, he's just preaching
the word of God.
You know, it takes somebody that's really humble to decide, you know what, I'm not going
to give you my ideas, I'm not going to give you my opinions, I'm just going to give you
God's opinions.
I'm just going to give you God's ideas.
I'm not going to regard my life as more important, it's God, it's Christ, that's what I'm going
to preach unto you.
1 John chapter 1, That which is from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with
our eyes, which we have looked upon in our hands have handled the word of life, for the
life was manifested, that's Jesus Christ, and we have seen it and bear witness and shown
to you that eternal life was with the Father, and was manifested unto us.
That which we have seen and heard declare unto you, that you also may have fellowship
with us, and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with the Son Jesus Christ.
And these things write unto you that you have joined me before.
This then is the message which we have heard of him and declare unto you, that God is light
and in him is no darkness at all.
God's prophets, God's disciples, God's men, they're delivering a message, what's that
message?
It's God's word, it's the gospel, it's Christ, they're just preaching Christ and him crucified.
That's the power of God, it's not me, but you know, if you're regarding your life, if
you're regarding your words, you're not just going to speak God's words, you're going to
speak your own and that's going to be a fool, a fool is going to utter all his mind, but
you know the man of God, he's just going to speak God's words.
Go to Deuteronomy chapter 18, when it talks about Jesus Christ it says, For he whom God
hath sent speaketh the words of God, for God giveth not the Spirit by measure unto
him.
He's talking about Jesus Christ saying, look, Jesus Christ only spake the words of God.
He wasn't speaking of anything else.
Romans chapter 10 says, Then who hath believed our report?
So then faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God.
It's not important for you as the messenger to decide if they believe it or not.
It's important for you to not diminish the word.
Look at Deuteronomy chapter 18 verse 20, But the prophet which shall presume to speak
a word in my name, which I have not commanded him to speak, or that shall speak in the name
of other gods, even that prophet shall die.
The Bible says in the Old Testament when there was a prophet that would come and he's just
going to speak of himself, he's just going to speak his words, he's not going to preach
the word of God, that he should die.
If he's going to presume to speak a word and say, well, this is what God said, but it's
not what God said, it's what he said, he's just making it up, or he's thinking himself
more important than God, he's worthy of death, and you know, there's a lot of prophets out
there that are presuming to speak a word in the name of the Lord, and they're worthy of
death, and they might not die today or tomorrow, but they're going to spend an eternity in
hell for being a false prophet, for not believing in the Lord Jesus Christ, presuming to speak
words in his name.
Go to John chapter 16, and I think one of the practical applications of this, which
I grew up in and it just makes me sick, is all these people get up and they're going
to show their personal testimony of how they came to the Lord Jesus Christ.
They're like, oh man, I was in the drugs, and I was in the gangs, and I did all these
wicked things, and then one day I decided to get right, and I got to church, and now
I'm saved because I stopped doing drugs.
I mean, I can't tell you how many times every week someone gets up and they tell some kind
of story like that.
That's not the gospel, that's not how you get saved, it's not turning from sin, it's
not giving up a wicked life, it's the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ,
for by grace are you saved through faith, and that not of yourselves is the gift of
God, lest any man should boast.
You know what, they're boasting in themselves, they're saying, look what I did, I gave up
drugs and I gave up sin, and now I'm serving Christ, look how good I am, look at all these
things.
You know, I used to think, it was weird, but you think those people are going to win the
most people to Christ.
You know, they've got this powerful story of how they found Christ and that caused them
to want to turn away from sin, and I didn't really understand what they were saying, they
were preaching a lordship or a workspace salvation, you know, because they kind of mix it together
and make it real confusing, but that's not what God wants you to do, He wants you to
just be a messenger, just preach His message, don't preach your message, preach His words.
Look at John 16, for I get many things to say unto you, but you cannot bear them now.
Howbeit when he the Spirit of truth is come, he will guide you into all truth, for he shall
not speak of himself, but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak, and he will show
you things to come, he shall glorify me, for he shall receive of mine and shall show it
unto you.
The Bible says even the Holy Spirit, He's not speaking of himself, He's just preaching
Christ.
If the Holy Spirit is only going to preach Christ, how much more should the man of God
just preach Christ?
I mean, just preach His words, just be His messenger.
I love it so many times, I heard Pastor Anderson in an interview, he's like, I'm just telling
you what the Bible says, I don't have an opinion, it's not my opinion that matters, it's what
the Bible says.
That's a good philosophy, that's the right attitude.
It doesn't matter what your opinion is, it doesn't matter what you think, if you want
to be the man of God, if you want to not regard your life, just preach His word, be His messenger.
Going to my last point, it's Matthew 26.
He called him, he's the one who ministered to my wants.
He ministered to my wants.
So Papparditis, this guy is not regarding his life with his family, he's not regarding
his life with his career, he's willing to fight, he's willing to preach God's words,
not his message, he's your messenger.
Not only that, he's willing to put down all selfish desires, all selfish ambition.
Matthew 26, one of my favorite places in the Bible, Jesus Christ, he knows he's about to
be crucified, and he's praying, he says he went a little farther and fell on his face,
sorry, verse 39, and he went a little farther and he fell on his face and prayed, saying,
O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me.
Nevertheless, not as I will, but as thou wilt.
You know, that's the attitude of Christ, even the Lord Jesus Christ subjected himself under
the Father.
And that's why Jesus Christ is the perfect role model for men, for women, for children,
for everyone.
As a man, we see that Christ laid down his life for the church, but even as a wife, Christ
was subject and obedient under God the Father, just as a wife is supposed to be subject under
her husband.
It says in Titus chapter 2, that women are to be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good,
obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed.
Now that's the opposite of feminism today, feminism, they want to give all these rights
to women.
It sounds all good, they want to make things equal, but what do they really want?
They just want to get a job, they just want to have their voice heard, they just want
to not bear children.
Well, those are all things contrary to the word of God, that's contrary to God's scriptures.
If you want to not regard your life as a woman, you need to decide, you know what, I'm just
going to be a keeper at home, I'm just going to be subject unto my husband, I'm going to
be a servant.
I mean, the Bible said in Genesis that he made the woman as a help-meat under her husband.
You know, Christ, he didn't decide, well, I'm God, so I get to make all the rules.
No, he subjected himself unto the Father, and even as he subjected himself, why is need
to be obedient unto their own husbands?
They need to subject themselves unto their husbands and not determine, my life's more
important than him.
Why can't I have a job?
Why can't I have a career?
Why can't I be the one?
Well, why don't you be subject unto your husbands, the Bible says, following God's words.
Not about fulfilling your selfish desires.
You know, it might be cool, it might sound fun, talk about the whorish woman in Proverbs.
She is loud and stubborn, her feet abide not in her house.
These feminists, they want their voices heard, they want everybody to hear what they have
to say.
No, that's the voice of a harlot, the one that's loud and stubborn.
The Bible talks about a godly woman in 1 Peter being meek and quiet spirit.
They're not going to just be blabbing and uttering all their words.
They're going to be preaching God's words.
They're going to be subject unto their own husbands.
For a second time, let's go to Ephesians chapter 5 and we'll finish the Philippians 2.
The Bible talks about women and it talks about wisdom and it gives a female attribute.
It says in Proverbs 8, it says in talking about wisdom, I will speak of excellent things
and the opening of my lips shall be right things.
Verse 8, it says all the words of my mouth are righteousness, there is nothing forward
or perverse in them.
A woman, she needs to be speaking things that are right, not having perverse things, opening
her mouth with wisdom as it would say in Proverbs 31.
When it talks about the proverbial woman, about this great woman, it says that when
she opens her mouth though, it's in wisdom.
She's not going to be loud and stubborn, she doesn't want to have her voice heard, she's
going to lay down all her selfish ambitions and she's going to just follow the word of
God.
But when she does open her mouth, it's going to be with wisdom.
It's going to be preaching the gospel, it's going to be getting people saved, it's going
to be preaching the law of God.
Ephesians 5 verse 25 says, husbands love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church
and gave himself for it.
If you love Christ, you're going to love your wife.
I mean that's how Christ laid down his life for us.
Love is not an emotion, it's a choice.
I did preach that a wife and a husband could get in the way of serving Christ, but that's
not to diminish marriage, that's not to diminish the fact that you serve your spouse.
It's just the priority of things.
Christ is number one, but then number two is still going to be your spouse.
I mean if you're going to have good priorities, you're going to have Christ number one, but
then you're still going to love your spouse.
Christ wants you to be a subject on your husband.
Christ wants the husbands to love their wives, to cherish them, to take care of them, to
be their example.
And I'll finish with this verse, Philippians 2 says, look not every man on his own things,
but every man also on the things of others.
Now it's a key word also, because the Bible, you know, when it's talking about Epaphrodisiacs,
he says he did not regard his life, title of the sermon, right?
Not regarding his life, not regarding your life with your family, don't let your family
get in the way of serving Christ.
Be willing to move, be willing to forsake relationships, don't let your career get in
the way of serving Christ, don't be chasing money, don't be chasing mammon, don't be chasing
the big house, chase Christ.
Chase the labor that doesn't perish, but things that are in eternal life.
Be courageous and fight, don't just be lazy and lay around, don't regard, you know, your
desire to just sleep and have fun and do these things, no, go out there and fight.
It's tough, it's hard, but we shouldn't regard our life.
We shouldn't be seeking our words, but God's words.
We should lay down all of our selfish desires and care for others.
It says, look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others.
We should still take care of our lives.
We should still, you know, take care of our spouse and make sure that we're providing
and doing good things.
But when it comes to priorities, you got to have Christ first and all these things will
be added unto you.
Seek first the kingdom of God and all these things shall be added unto you.
And we need to have the attitude of Christ that's not as I will, but as thou wilt.
It's not more important for you to do what you want, it's more important to do it for
God and wants you to do.
Let's close in prayer.
Thank you Jesus for this chapter.
Thank you for the example of Epaphroditus, that he could be called your disciple, not
because he just did what he wanted, but because he was not regarding his life.
Because even unto sickness, even unto death, he was not regarding his life to supply a
lack of service for the church, to supply a lack of service for Paul.
We need to decide whether or not we're going to put you first and lay all of the things
aside.
We want to be Christ's disciple, we have to get our priorities straight, we need to focus
on Christ.
Thank you so much for your free gift of eternal life and that we have the opportunity to serve
you.
In Jesus' name we pray, amen.