The sermon by Jason Dohm focuses on Philippians 2:19-24, where Paul expresses his intention to send Timothy to the Philippian church to assess and encourage their spiritual state. Dohm highlights the relationship between Paul and Timothy, emphasizing Timothy's proven character and their like-mindedness in the gospel. The sermon underscores the importance of trusting God for the future, knowing and impacting the spiritual state of fellow believers, and the value of sustaining gospel partnerships over time. Dohm stresses the role of the Holy Spirit in the Great Commission, which involves making disciples who, in turn, make more disciples. He encourages Christians to evaluate their involvement in this process, both in receiving and giving spiritual guidance. The sermon concludes by urging believers to emulate the care and dedication exemplified by Paul and Timothy in advancing the gospel.

The sermon text today is from Philippians 2, 19-24. I'll start our reading in verse 12. Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling For it is God who works in you both to will and to do for his good pleasure Do all things without complaining and disputing, that you may become blameless and harmless children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding fast the word of life, so that I may rejoice in the day of Christ that I have not run in vain or labored in vain. Yes, and if I am being poured out as a drink offering on the sacrifice and service of your faith, I am glad and rejoice with you all, for the same reason you also be glad and rejoice with me. But I trust in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you shortly, that I also may be encouraged when I know your state.

For I have no one like-minded who will sincerely care for your state, for all seek their own, not the things which are of Christ Jesus. But you know his proven character, that as a son with his father he served with me in the gospel. Therefore I hope to send him at once, as soon as I see how it goes with me. But I trust in the Lord that I myself shall also come shortly." Our God, thank you for this letter that you had Paul write. Thank you for the Philippian church, God, that you had redeemed.

We can be encouraged now a couple thousand years later. So please bless Jason. Give him words of wisdom, Holy Spirit. Please bring thoughts to his mind that you would have him say to us, that it would be encouragement to us, that people would know your gospel as well and be saved. Help us.

Give us ears to hear the truth of Your Word. In Jesus' name, Amen. The title of the sermon this morning is Paul, Timothy, and Continued Care. I believe that's the thrust of the text, is the ongoing care provided by these two brothers in the Lord who have been laboring together for a long time for the Gospel. And they just keep on caring for this Church at Philippi.

So it really is a beautiful picture of how God cares for us through various ones of His people. Last week we completed a section that was all about conduct worthy of the Gospel of Christ. That section started in chapter 1 verse 27, and then it continued all the way through our text last week. There's conduct that is worthy of this glorious Gospel, and so Paul wanted to teach the Philippians about it, and So he's really commented on that, or developed that theme at length. And last week he really fleshed it out in a very practical way.

Verse 14, Paul says, do all things without complaining and disputing. So we found out that conduct that is worthy of the Gospel is not only about what we do, it's also about how we go about it, how we do it. So we are to do all these things without complaining and disputing. And the point of that is that we would shine as lights in the world. So here we are, We are the Lord's people.

We are in a dark world. Nothing distinguishes itself in the dark world like light. God has put His people here as a gift and a blessing to those who are perishing in darkness. He sends light. He gives His people as a gift in the dark world.

So that's what all this doing things without complaining and disputing is all about. That's what conduct that is worthy of the Gospel is all about. It's being given as a gift by God to the world. This week we have a change of subject, sort of, when I say sort of I will get back to that. It definitely has a connection to what he has been talking about.

But now we shift to being given insight into the lives of two disciples. We're going to be told about two disciples. This week we'll be looking in depth at Timothy, a son in the faith to the Apostle Paul. Next week we'll be looking at Epaphroditus, and there's important things for us to be learned from a study of both of these men. So as we go to the text, let's go to the text in prayer.

God, I Thank you for the body of Christ. It is a glorious thing to be offered terms of peace through the work of your Son Jesus Christ. To be given eyes to see and ears to hear and to grab a hold of Jesus' work and find ourselves at peace with you. But even beyond that, you have brought us into a family. We are not alone in our salvation, but there is a like, precious faith that we enter into.

And we are given fathers and mothers in the faith, we are given brothers and sisters in the faith, we are given people to live life with and share the encouragements and discouragements of life with. Thank you for that. God, I pray that you would use this text to help us love each other well. That we would be found caring for each other deeply and from the heart. Maybe so in Jesus' name.

Amen. So I'm organized a little differently this week. I typically like to just follow the text and go little by little, just subdividing the text. This week I'm going to pull out just five points from the text. But to keep us focused on the words of the text, hopefully you still have your finger in Philippians 2.

I'd like to read our text again just for the sake of repetition and letting our eyes fall on these words again. So I'll be reading Philippians chapter 2 verses 19 through 24 where Paul writes, But I trust in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you shortly, that I also may be encouraged when I know your state, where I have no one like-minded who will sincerely care for your state. For all seek their own, not the things which are of Christ Jesus. But you know His proven character, that as a son with His Father, He served with me in the gospel. Therefore, I hope to send him at once as soon as I see how it goes with me.

But I trust in the Lord that I myself shall also come shortly." I like to pull five points out of that text. I don't claim to be able to exhaust the text with these five points, but these are the five points I'm going to make. So here they are. Number one, point one, trusting in the Lord for the future. If you're taking notes on the handout and you're filling in blanks, it's future.

Trusting in the Lord for the future. Here in this text we have bookends. Right at the very beginning of our text and right at the very end of our text We have almost the identical words. Verse 19, But I trust in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you. And almost those same words in verse 24 at the very end.

But I trust in the Lord that I myself shall also come shortly. What's in view? The future is in view. Paul is speaking of future events, but he does not presume that these things, these future things, are under his own control. He knows that all things future, all things present, all things future, and all things that were in the past, are under the control of King Jesus.

King Jesus rules this universe, every atom in it. He moves each atom as he decides in his own time, at his own pleasure. Paul knows this and it's reflected in how he speaks of the future. Turn in your Bibles to James 4. James chapter 4.

I believe we see in Philippians chapter 2, Paul putting into practice what James teaches in James chapter 4. Turn there. James chapter 4. I'll be reading James 4, 13-16. Come now you who say, today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city.

Spend a year there, buy and sell, make a profit. Whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a very little time and then vanishes away. Instead, you ought to say, if the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that.

But now you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. So James sets before us a hypothetical man saying a hypothetical thing. He's talking about what he's going to do next year. He's going to go to such and such a city, and he's going to buy and sell when he's there.

He's going to make a profit, then he'll come home. And James rebukes this hypothetical man, and He says, next year you don't know what's going to happen tomorrow. The reason you don't know is because you don't control it. God controls what's going to happen tomorrow, let alone what will happen next year. So for you to just say presumptuously, presuming that you know or that you control any of these things, A year from now I'll be doing this, is arrogant boasting.

He calls it arrogant boasting. Then he says, that's evil. It's evil to speak of the future as if you control these things, because you're nothing and God is everything. That's what James is communicating when he says, life is a vapor, it's here today and then it's gone. In a second of time your life will be over.

You are Nothing. God is everything. You control nothing. God controls everything. So be careful about how you speak about things future because the universe has a king who's moving around the atoms at his at his pleasure and You shouldn't presume to know how he wants to move around the atoms, and what he would be pleased to do.

Paul, looking at the future and considering his hopes, has said, This is not a rebuke of looking to the future, and it's not a rebuke of having hopes. It's not a rebuke of making plans. We should look to the future. We should have hopes for the future. We should make plans for the future.

But in doing these things, Paul tempers his speech. He's careful about how he speaks of these things, knowing that it is King Jesus who really controls what will happen. And So he tempers his speech, and so should we. It is very well worth noticing how we are speaking about things future. So James teaches it, and Paul models it.

In other words, we see Paul doing what James is teaching. Is that good enough for you? That is plenty good for me. If the Apostle James teaches it, and the Apostle Paul does it, then I think we should take our cue and be careful about how we speak of things future, so that we don't speak in a way that reflects arrogant boasting. Because James says, that's evil.

That's point number one. Trusting in the Lord for the future. Paul has these hopes for the future, but he's careful about how he speaks of the future, not wanting to arrogantly boast. Number two, knowing and impacting the state of brothers and sisters. So If you're taking notes, filling in blanks, it's impacting state, knowing and impacting the state of brothers and sisters.

Look at verse 19. Paul says, But I trust in the Lord to send Timothy to you shortly, that I also may be encouraged when I know your state. So Paul is sending Timothy for a very express purpose, to know their state, to understand the condition of the flock, to know how they are doing. Now next week we will be studying Epaphroditus. Epaphroditus is at least a member, maybe a pastor, we don't know.

He's part of the congregation at Philippi. He's part of this local church. And they've sent him to encourage Paul and actually to supply his needs. This is what we're going to find out next week. So they have a member of this local church who's been there and obviously, undoubtedly, he has reported to Paul the things he knows about the state of the church.

But that is not the same as Timothy's assessment. It's not to belittle the information that Epaphroditus is able to offer about the condition of the church. But that is to say that Paul and Timothy, as we're learning in our text this week, have a very special, close relationship. Timothy's assessment is a different thing altogether from a report of facts that you might get about a local church. Paul wants to send his proxy.

A proxy is like an ambassador, somebody that you would send in your place, who knows your mind, and will be able to make the assessment you would make if you could do it in person. That is what is happening here. Timothy has been with Paul for more than a decade. I don't know how many sermons he's heard Paul preach, but it's probably in the hundreds, maybe the thousands. They've been together for a decade, and Paul is preaching a lot, and Timothy is with him a lot.

They've been in hundreds, if not thousands, of private conversations. Timothy knows the mind of Paul. Timothy knows Paul inside and out. He knows how he thinks. He'll be able to go be part of this local church for a period of time and make the assessment that Paul would make if he was there in person.

But This doesn't end with just knowing their state. He does want to know their state, and he trusts that Timothy will be able to go and make the assessment he would make. But it continues in wanting to impact their state. He wants to actually have an effect on their state. He wants to move them from where they are to where they are plus ten.

In other words, progress. Where they are plus a mile. Look at verse 20. So verse 19 says he wants to know their state. Verse 20 says, where I have no one like-minded who will sincerely care for your state.

So This is not the care, it matters to me. That's one way we would use the word care. I care about that. That matters to me. This use of the care goes well beyond that like healthcare.

What is healthcare? Healthcare is someone actually doing something to improve your state. This is the kind of care that is in view here. So he does want to know their condition more accurately than he already does. So it is information gathering, but it's not only information gathering.

He wants to send Timothy to care for their state, to move them forward, to help and improve them, and to help them make progress. If they're well, Timothy is going to go and help them be great. If they're struggling, he's going to go and help them be well. Wherever they are, in whatever state they find themselves, Timothy is being sent in order to advance them, to help them make progress. There are two passages that demonstrate how Paul and Timothy worked together to help churches make progress.

So note these two passages. First, listen to 1 Corinthians 4 verse 17. It's only one verse, so I'll probably be off it by the time you get there, but it's first Corinthians 4 verse 17 Paul writes For this reason I have sent Timothy to you Okay, so Paul had sent this is years earlier years before the letter to the Philippians Paul had sent Timothy to the church at Corinth. So it's the same apostle sending the same son in the faith to a local church to help them make progress. For this reason I have sent Timothy to you, who is my beloved and faithful Son in the Lord, who will remind you of my ways in Christ as I teach everywhere in every church." So in this one verse, there is a lot there in that one verse, 1 Corinthians 4.17, Paul says who he is, he gives us who Timothy is, and he gives us what he will do.

In other words, what is the purpose for sending him? Who is he? He says, well, he's beloved. Paul loves him. So he's sort of the best asset.

He's the best Paul can send. Here's a guy who works with me that I love, I'm sending him to you. What else? He's a faithful son in the Lord. So he's a faithful man, he's a proven man, that's in our text in Philippians.

So he's faithful and he's a son in the Lord. Paul is his spiritual father. We actually see Paul saying that Timothy is his son in the faith many places in Paul's letter. So that's who he is. He's beloved of Paul, and he's a faithful son of the Lord.

And what will he do? He'll remind them of Paul's ways in Christ, as Paul teaches everywhere in every church. In other words, the things you'd hear from me, you're going to hear from Timothy when he comes. I am going to be reminding you through sending Timothy of my ways in Christ. In other words, how I as an apostle live before the Lord.

And the things that I teach in every church, everywhere in every church, I'm teaching a common set of things, and you're going to hear them from Timothy. That's why I'm sending him. Now turn to 1 Thessalonians 3. So that was the first verse that shows how Paul and Timothy worked together to help churches make progress. It was 1 Corinthians 4.

Now we're going together to 1 Thessalonians chapter 3. Of course it hasn't been in the distant past when We were studying this text by text, so this will be very familiar. 1 Thessalonians chapter 3, we're going to read verses 1 and 2 and then 6 through 8. Therefore, when we could no longer endure it, we thought it good to be left in Athens alone, and sent Timothy, our brother and minister of God, and our fellow laborer in the Gospel of Christ to establish you and encourage you concerning your faith. So remember the context.

The Gospel has come to Thessalonica through Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy. They've immediately encountered persecution and been whisked away for their own safety. Paul wanted to go back, but couldn't go back, and so he sends Timothy. This might be the first instance, it probably is the first instance, of him sending Timothy back to a local church because he's unable to go personally. He wants to go personally, he can't go personally, so he sends his best.

This is Paul sending Timothy. We have the same thing here in 1 Thessalonians chapter 3. He tells them who Timothy is, and then he tells them why he wanted Timothy to come to them. Who is he? He is a minister of God and he is our fellow laborer in the Gospel of Christ.

What is he going to do? Verse 2. He is going to encourage them concerning their faith. He's going to establish them. So Paul has been sending Timothy, he's been dispatching Timothy to churches for a long time and for very similar reasons.

Now look at verses 6-8. We're still in Thessalonians 3, verses 6-8. But now that Timothy has come to us from you and brought us good news of your faith and love, and that you always have good remembrance of us, greatly desiring to see us as we also to see you. Therefore brethren, in all our affliction and distresses, we were comforted concerning you by your faith. For now we live if you stand fast in the Lord." So in verses 6 through 8 we see that Timothy actually did bring back a report.

He did bring back the information that he had gathered from being among them in the church. It was a good report. Their faith and their love was flourishing. What was the result? Paul's encouragement.

So this has lots of overlap with our text. Paul is not just giving in sending Timothy to be an encouragement. He is getting. So Paul is looking for profit from this. He is not solely motivated by profit, but in his giving he is also looking to get.

He is looking to profit. And what is the profit? Well, he's encouraged by the report. In fact, look at verse 8, For now we live if you stand fast in the Lord. I mean, that means, like, the good report breathes life into us.

Paul is reinvigorated for the work by the good report of their faith and love. So he does give. He sends his best resource, his most cherished resource, His son and the faith that he loves and trusts and needs by his side. But he's willing to send him back to churches, but he wants something in return. He wants a good report of faith and love, and when he gets it, he's reinvigorated for the work.

For now we live if you stand fast in the Lord." That's just like our text back to Philippians chapter 2, the second part of verse 19, that I also may be encouraged when I know your state." He says that about sending Timothy to Philippi. That's why I want to send him to you. I want the encouragement of understanding your state, of getting a good report. Listen to Proverbs chapter 25 verse 25. As cold water to a weary soul so is good news from a far country.

It's clear that in 1 Thessalonians 3 and Philippians 2, Paul is looking for cold water for his weary soul. He's in prison and he's looking for good news, a good report that will reinvigorate him for the work. It's cold water to a weary soul, so it's good news from a far country. Proverbs 25, verse 25. So Paul and Timothy are the farthest thing from hit and run evangelists.

A hit and run evangelist would be someone who would come, give you a track, move on, you would never see them again. I'm not saying that that's never appropriate. I'm just saying that is not the pattern of Paul and Timothy. They'll bring you the Gospel, and they'll spend and be spent for you, and they'll be writing you letters 12 years later. This is the more normal pattern for Paul and for Timothy.

They'll spend and be spent for a long period of time. They'll continue their care for you years and years and years after they bring the Gospel to you. They will be finding ways to help you make progress. This should be our pattern. We are trying to do outreach, we are doing outreach, we are in various places doing evangelism, but our pattern should be, we bring the Gospel, and when there are converts, ten years later, we're finding ways to help those converts make progress.

That was point number two, knowing and impacting the state of brothers and sisters. Paul and Timothy, they do want to know their state, but they actually want to have an impact on it. They want to move them forward. Point three, the uniqueness of like-minded partners in the Gospel. What we find out here in our text is that those don't grow on trees.

In other words, that's just a saying that means, hey, there's not an overabundance of this. Paul didn't have an overabundance of this. It is unique when you find a particular like-minded partner in the Gospel like Timothy was to Paul. It is a precious treasure. Paul is sending Timothy to know their state and to impact their state.

So who is Timothy? I want to run you through just some data points that we learn about Timothy from other places in the New Testament. I want to start by just making a point about Acts chapter 14. In Acts chapter 14, it's Paul's first missionary journey. He's in Lystra, a city, and he heals a crippled man, and eventually he is stoned and left for dad.

Do you remember this story? Paul comes to this city, Lystra, he heals a crippled man, and one thing leads to another. Before you know it, he is being stoned and left for dead. He doesn't die, but he gets up and he walks right back into Lystra. Now Timothy is never named in that text.

You don't find Timothy anywhere in Acts chapter 14. We meet him in Acts chapter 16, and we find that Timothy is from Lystra. In Acts chapter 16, it's Paul's second missionary journey. It's two or three years later, so it is not that much longer, and it is the same city. Now, you know if a man had brought the Gospel to your town, the Gospel did not exist in Youngsville, and a man brought it here, and there were converts, and he was almost stoned to death.

He was left for dead, but he didn't die. Would we be talking about this two years later? You betcha. This is still in the memories and on the lips of the converts in Lystra. So we don't know if Timothy had any first person part in what happens in Acts chapter 14, but we know that He lives in a city where this has to be a famous story.

It has to be. And that he is a convert there. When we meet Timothy in Acts chapter 16, actually let me just read it. Acts chapter 16. Listen to this or you're welcome to go there if you'd like.

I'll be reading Acts chapter 16 verses 1 through 5. Then Paul came to Derbe and Lystra, because it's Timothy's town. And behold, a certain disciple was there named Timothy, the son of a certain Jewish woman who believed, but his father was Greek." So Paul meets Timothy in Lystra. His mother is Jewish, his father is Greek, his mother is a believer. Verse 2 Timothy was well spoken of by the brethren who were at Lystra and Iconium.

Paul wanted to have him go with him and he took him and circumcised him because of the Jews who were in that region for they all knew that his father was Greek. And as they went through the cities they delivered to them the decrees to keep which were determined by the apostles and elders at Jerusalem. So the churches were strengthened in the faith and increased in number daily. So do you see what's happening here? They're carrying a letter from city to city, a letter from the church in Jerusalem.

Because the question had come before the church in Jerusalem, do you have to be circumcised to be saved? And the answer is a resounding No, you do not have to be circumcised to be saved. So they're carrying this letter, but Paul has Timothy circumcised. They're carrying a letter that says you don't have to be circumcised. But Paul has Timothy circumcised anyway because everyone in the region knows Timothy's mother is a Jew and his father is a Greek and him not being circumcised is a stumbling block.

It is an obstacle that prevents Jews from hearing Timothy out. They can't hear what he says because he's not circumcised. So, does Timothy need to be circumcised? No. But is it an obstacle in Timothy's efforts to minister to the Jews, yes, Saint Paul has him circumcised.

And we see here in Acts chapter 16 that Timothy has a reputation and it's a good one. He's known by the believers in Lystra and Iconium as being a faithful disciple. He has a good reputation among them. This is where we meet Timothy. Then in Acts 16, Paul and Timothy are in Philippi, and then in Acts 17 they are in Thessalonica, and then they are in Berea, Philippi, Thessalonica, and Berea, all being in the region of Macedonia, and then they go to Athens, and then in Acts 18 they are in Corinth, and they are actually in Corinth for 18 months.

And so now, fast forward, and it's more than a decade later and they are still working side by side. They have been working together to advance the Gospel in various places among various churches and they are still working together more than ten years later. So, with that is the backdrop on who Timothy is. Back to our text in Philippians chapter 2. Verse 20 says that he is like-minded.

Paul says Timothy, the son of the faith, is like-minded. The NASB translates it as a kindred spirit. When you look at the Greek lexicon, I think that's even preferable. Both translations are fine. I think that one is even preferable.

He is a kindred spirit. He thinks like Paul. He feels like Paul about the Lord's people. He sacrifices like Paul for the churches that have been established through their preaching of the gospel. He's happy to spend and be spent like Paul for the Lord's people.

He's like-minded. He's a kindred spirit. Listen to 2 Timothy chapter 3, verses 10 and the first part of 11. 2 Timothy 3, 10 and the first part of 11. Paul writing to Timothy says, But you have carefully followed my doctrine, manner of life, purpose, faith, long suffering, love, perseverance, persecutions, afflictions which happen to me." So Paul is recounting their history together.

What characterizes Paul and Timothy's history together? Well, it's characterized by Timothy's carefully following Paul in these different categories of life. Doctrine, manner of life, purpose, faith, long suffering, love, perseverance, persecutions, afflictions. Timothy is carefully following Paul. So in our text he says, like a son serves his father, Timothy has served me in the Gospel, in advancing the Gospel.

Verse 22, as a son with his father, he served with me in the Gospel. Not he served me in the gospel. That's probably true in many ways. I'm not sure we could object if Paul had said, he served me in the gospel. I'm sure, Tim, I'm sure Paul was giving the directions much more often than not.

So it would have been okay to say that, but it's not what he says. That's the point. It doesn't say he served me in the gospel. It says that he served with me in the gospel. They were partners in the gospel.

There's another place where Paul calls Timothy a fellow laborer. And this unique relationship that God had given the two of them allowed them to labor together in profound and unique ways. So we should see how Paul and Timothy worked together over a long period of time. We should see their like mindedness and we should covet what they have. We should desire what they developed.

We should desire the longevity and we should desire the like-mindedness because that's where the fruit is, brothers and sisters in advancing the gospel here's where the fruit is longevity working together for a long period of time not flavor of the week not flavor of the week but working together like keep keeping going charting a good direction and then like going in that direction together, pulling together in the same direction on the rope for a long period of time that's where the fruit is. Like-mindedness, one accord, all becoming more and more conformed to the pattern of scripture so that our thinking, our feeling, our willing to sacrifice for the Lord's people is all growing in the same direction. So we can say we're kindred spirits here. That's where the fruit is in advancing the gospel. Longevity and like-mindedness, We should covet that.

We should strive for that. That's what Paul and Timothy have. Listen to what Jesus says to his disciples in John 15, verse 15. The Gospel of John, chapter 15, verse 15. Jesus says this.

It's actually a very amazing verse. Jesus would ever say this to any of his disciples. Jesus says, no longer do I call you servants. They only ever call Jesus one thing in the gospels. They call Him Lord.

Lord. So this is mind boggling. We're only in the first phrase. We got to the first comma. I can't go past it yet.

I just want to pause on that. How astounding it is that Jesus says, No longer do I call you servants. For a servant does not know what his master is doing. But I have called you friends for all things that I heard from my Father, I have made known to you." What is Jesus communicating there? He is communicating that in this sense, they are friends and not servants.

The servants aren't made privy to the mind of the Master. The servants are there just to follow the instructions, but Jesus is saying, you are a lot more to me than that. You do need to follow my instructions, but I'm letting you in on the mind of the Master. I'm going to tell you why we're doing what we're doing. Everything that my father has told me, I've told you, so you would know about the workings of my household.

You'll be to me a friend. I've let you in on my mind." This is the relationship that Paul has with Timothy. Timothy is not just a guy to carry out his instructions. Is he carrying out Paul's instructions? Sure he is, but he is so much more than that.

Paul is not just his master. Paul has made Timothy his friend and he's let him in on the family's mind. He's a son in the faith and Timothy knows why they're doing what they're doing at all times. He does. Paul tells him.

Paul wants to bring him along so that it will be everything that Paul is. Did you get that? Paul wants to bring Timothy along so that Timothy becomes everything that Paul is. Think how multi-dimensional that is. That's so much more than just someone who will do what you say.

That's another class altogether. That was number three, the uniqueness of like-minded partners in the Gospel. Number four, point four, an example of practicing what has been preached. So if you're filling in blanks, practicing, preached. An example of practicing what has been preached.

It is true that Paul wants and intends to send Timothy just as soon as he finds out what's going to happen to him. That's verse 23. He says, just as soon as I find out how it is with me, I want to send him. In other words, when I know the disposition of my own circumstances, as soon as I know that I want to send him to you. And That's all true, but at the same time, Paul is up to something else also.

What is he up to? In verse 2, he's called the Philippian believers to like-mindedness. In verse 4, he's called the Philippians to look not only to their own interests. And Timothy is serving as a concrete example of these things. He's saying, Timothy and I are like-minded.

He has called them to like-minded us in the same chapter. But just a few verses back, be like-minded. Timothy is like-minded with me. He has called them to not look only to their own interests, but also to the interests of others and he's declaring in this passage about Timothy he's not like all those others who look to their own interests not to the things of Christ. Timothy is the one who will sincerely care for your state.

Timothy will look to your interests. Timothy will set aside his interests and look to yours. Timothy is set forward as a concrete example of things that he's calling the Philippian believers to. Verse 22, Paul says, you know his proven character. So this is not a theoretical example, this is a well-known example.

Timothy is known among the Philippians, and his character has been tried and true. So as Paul calls them to like-mindedness and to look to the interests of others, look at Timothy. You've seen him up close. You know what he's like. When we're taught truth, nothing brings it home.

Nothing helps us get it like a concrete example. Isn't that true? This takes it out of the realm of the classroom and helps you understand what it looks like. Okay, it is good to learn the facts. But you get it, okay, when there's a concrete example of it.

You're teaching a daughter Little bits about what it means to run a household, right? But that can't be classroom stuff. You need to be able to point to that the lead, the leader in that household, the one who's running the household, that mother, and say, do you see how your mother gives careful, disciplined attention to this and how it makes our household hum? Now, when you're training a daughter to run a household, when you can point to mom and say, her care of this makes our household home. Like, as you're learning to run a household, you keep your eyes on her because she's a pro.

Nothing brings it home when we're learning things like having a concrete example. Paul is giving them a concrete example. That was number four, an example of practicing what has been preached. Timothy is practicing what has been preached and he's able to give them this concrete example. Point five, our last point.

Sustaining the gospel from generation to generation. So if you are taking notes on the handout, filling in blanks, sustaining the gospel. Sustaining the Gospel from generation to generation. The Great Commission is fulfilled when our evangelism turns into discipleship. Meaning the Holy Spirit enters into our sharing the gospel of Jesus and causes someone to be born again.

You can't do that just by sharing the gospel. The Holy Spirit has to enter into that and raise the dead. That's how people get saved. He commands us to preach the gospel. And when we preach the gospel, sometimes the elect are there.

He's chosen from the foundation of the world, and the Holy Spirit is there to give them eyes to see and ears to hear. And a faithful gospel preaching is mixed with the work of the Holy Spirit and someone is born again. And then you begin to teach them all things that Jesus has commanded. These are all elements of the Great Commission. The Great Commission is fulfilled when that happens, so that we make disciples who make disciples who make disciples who make disciples.

It's terrible to think that the Great Commission is just evangelism. But it's still not good to think that the Great Commission is evangelism and then discipleship. You're still not there. We're there in our thinking about the Great Commission when it includes making disciples who make disciples. A key part of discipleship is helping new believers or new were believers understand how to enter into this themselves and become participants in the Great Commission as well.

The Great Commission is making disciples who make disciples who make disciples who make disciples. And so on and so forth until Jesus comes back. When Jesus comes back there's going to be a bunch of disciples because He leads His people into this work. So we know that's true. Listen to what Paul writes to Timothy.

Chronologically, probably this letter to Timothy was written maybe five years after the letter to the Philippians. That's not certain, that's what scholars think. So probably Paul is writing to Timothy after writing to the Philippians. 2 Timothy chapter 2 verses 1 and 2. Paul writes to Timothy, You therefore my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.

And the things that you have heard from me among many witnesses commit these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also. I'm going to read that second verse again. The things that you have heard from me, the things that Timothy has heard from Paul, commit these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also. So let's count branches on the tree here. So you have Paul who is teaching things to Timothy, but not just to Timothy, it's in the presence of many witnesses.

In other words, Paul was teaching a bunch of people, Timothy you are one of them who received this deposit. So we have Paul, now we have Timothy and the many witnesses and they are to commit these to faithful men. So Timothy's instruction is I commit these things that I have been teaching you that you learned from me to faithful men. So we are to the third branch on the tree now, to Paul, to Timothy, to the faithful men that he's teaching, that they may be able to do what? Who will be able to teach others also.

So you have four generations and I'm not speaking about ages here. I'm just talking about the progression of the gospel. It's Paul and then students who become teachers, successively. Timothy was a student who Paul brought into teacherhood. Timothy is supposed to identify faithful men and they'll be his students who he brings into teacherhood.

And so on and so forth until Jesus returns. There are four generations so to speak of gospel preaching here but it's intended to be repeated infinitely, and on and on and on where the student becomes the teacher who teaches the student to teach. Is that confusing enough? The student becomes the teacher who teaches his students to teach, and so on and so forth, until Jesus comes back. A man at Men's Bible study said, this is a model for sustainability.

He's right, that's exactly right. This is God's model for sustainability. This is how the Gospel successfully makes it until Jesus' return. The student becomes the teacher and teaches the students to teach. Train the trainer.

Every Christian in the room should be assessing this. Where am I in this progression? Am I being discipled? Am I discipling? Am I training those I'm discipling to be able to teach?

Pass on the faith? And then when you've assessed, like where am I, the next question is where should I be? Have I been just a learner for too long? Now we're lifelong learners. We're never done in the school of Christ.

We're never done. We're always learning in the school of Christ. So you'll always be a learner. But the day better come where you're not just a learner. Where you're also taking the things that you've been faithfully taught and teaching.

Where am I and where should I be in this progression? And of course, especially parents, this is our duty. Especially parents. We are not done with the discipleship of our children until they are ready to disciple others. Evangelize and disciple others.

We are nowhere near done until they are ready to train trainers. Applications. That was point five. Sustaining the gospel from generation to generation. This is how God's plan for it.

Applications. Number one. Let's start where we just ended. If you're a Christian, look upstream and look downstream. Here's what I mean.

Upstream is where you got the gospel and those who are helping you make progress. As a Christian and what I'm talking about, when we look upstream, we're looking to where we got the gospel from and the people who are helping us make progress. And we're looking downstream. And by that I mean, people we're giving the gospel to and people we're helping to make progress in the faith. If you've been in the faith very long, you should be able to look both upstream and downstream.

There's a problem. If you look upstream, and like, yeah, somebody gave me the Gospel years ago, but there's really no one meaningfully helping me make progress in the faith, that's a problem. That is not good. I've been in the faith for more than three decades now. I still have people who are helping me make progress in the faith.

I can look upstream and name names. You should be able to look upstream and name names. I can look downstream. There are people I'm giving the gospel to and that I'm tasked with helping make progress while I am a pastor. That should go without saying.

At least I am preaching sermons. At the very least. Hopefully it goes far beyond that. So we have looked upstream and we have looked downstream. Does any of that need to change?

This is the point of application. Does any of that need to change? Do I need to strengthen what I see upstream? Do I need to go ask Some people who are further ahead than I am for help in making progress in a critical area. That might be true.

When I look downstream, am I the source of the Gospel for enough people? If not, why not? Converts who are newer to the faith than I am, who haven't been brought as far as I've been brought, am I investing and pouring into their lives? God means for it to be that way. Number two, if you're a Christian, in what ways are you making an effort to know and impact the state of your brothers and sisters?

If you're a Christian, in what ways are you making an effort to know and impact the state of your brothers and sisters. Do you know their state? You'll not impact their state if you don't know their state. Are we paying attention to how each other is doing? Do we know?

Or are we way too superficial and on the surface? And am I spending and being spent? Last week, one of the precious things about the text for last week, was to talk about Paul rejoicing in being poured out as a drink offering on the sacrifice and service of their faith. In other words, he sees them living lives as living sacrifices and he is saying what a privilege to be a part of that. He is counting that as a source of joy for himself.

It is my joy to spend and be spent for you to be poured out as a drink offering and see you become a living sacrifice. This is meant to be a source of joy for us. It is meant to be a great privilege of our lives to spend and be spent for each other. God wants that for us. And we'll find joy in it as we do it.

If you're a Christian, in what ways are you making an effort to know and impact the state of your brothers and sisters? In other words, are you pushing them forward? God, I thank you for this text. I pray that you would give us a life together that looks in many ways like the sweet relationship that Paul had with Timothy, that Timothy had with Paul, that you would give us the longevity and the like-mindedness together so that we would see great fruitfulness in our partnership for the Gospel. I pray in Jesus' name, Amen.

Thank you.