0:12 Hebrews chapter 11 This is a chapter of mighty men of God, heroes of faith. We read about tremendous things that these men of God did beginning from Abel 0:31 and Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, and so on. All these people did mighty things for God and they all began in a small way. 0:49 And when we read the chapter like this, sometimes many of us sitting here wonder whether I ever will be able to achieve anything for the Lord. Who am I? I'm a 1:07 just a mere cog in the machine. Uh insignificant nobody. I'm a failure. I have no gifts, no ability. I have nothing to boast about. I have no fruits. 1:25 I've only been humiliated. And my life has been a roller coaster. It's never been steady. It's never taken off. All the time I'm being defeated, discouraged. 1:43 I don't know what to do. Sometimes people come to the end of their rope as it were. And they get so discouraged. They think that they will amount to nothing and they will not be able to do anything for the Lord. 2:01 You know, that's how exactly Sarah felt when she was 89. We read about her in the same chapter, verse 11. By faith even Sarah herself received the ability to conceive. For 89 years Sarah was thinking that she is good for nothing. 2:20 She is a barren woman. It's as if people have written her off. So also Abraham until he was 99. Even though God had promised him 2:38 at the age of 75 when God asked him to leave his homeland and go to the land that God was going to show to him, there was a period of 24 years, rather 25 years when he got Isaac. 2:56 And God repeatedly repeatedly promised him and spoke to him and confirmed the promise with oaths and all that. In spite of that, he just you know, years were just slipping by and he thought maybe I need to help God. 3:15 And then you know what happened and you know the consequence of it the last 4,000 years on this planet. And he was also totally helpless, powerless, impotent. He thought his life was over. 3:34 But we read in verse 12, therefore also there was born of one man and him as good as dead, that is Abraham, at that as many descendants as the stars of heaven in number and innumerable as the sand 3:52 which is by the seashore. You know, when we read things like this, a little spark is kindled in our heart. If God could do for Sarah at the age of 89 and for Abraham at the age of 99, 4:12 I'm still not that old. None of us are. I don't think there's anybody sitting here who is 89. I guess not. But even if you are, you know, there is a there's a promise in God's word that he can 4:29 make up for the years that are lost, the years that the locusts have eaten. You may wonder like the Israelites wondered that we read in Ezekiel, what will become of us? We have just become, 4:49 you know, skull and bones. They they saw the huge heap of all dead bodies and bones and they thought our hope is gone and all that and then God called Ezekiel and he said, "Son of man, do you think these bones will ever 5:08 live?" And Ezekiel was very honest and he said, "Lord, you know it." And then the Lord told him to speak to the bones, dry bones, dead bones. And he spoke the word. He prophesied over them and 5:26 you know the story. And they all became a massive army. They stood up. God brought back life into them, those dead bones. They came alive. [snorts] 5:43 And God is able to do that today. I was thinking of the Apostle Paul. He was a giant of a man in the new covenant. And when God met with him on the way of Damascus, you know, God humanly thinking, we think that, you 6:04 know, someone um of equal stature should be able to go and meet and encourage and pray for Saul. But God's ways, it says in Isaiah 55, his ways and his thoughts are are higher 6:24 than our ways and our thoughts just as much as the heavens are above the earth. And God sent an unknown and ordinary servant of his called Ananias. We have never heard of him before and we 6:43 never hear of him later. And God spoke to him and he told Ananias, "You get up and go to such and such a place where Saul is there. Go and just pray over him and encourage him." And he obeyed and he went and prayed for Saul and Saul received the Holy Spirit 7:02 and he the scales from his eyes fell off and he was able to see which he was not able to do for the last 3 years because of the brightness of the um light that he had seen on the way to Damascus. And you know, God blessed him in 7:19 such a mighty way through an unknown unheard of man of God. And we read such men of God. When we read of these heroes of faith in Hebrews we wonder sometimes what about me? You what about us, Lord, who are 7:38 sitting here for so many years having accomplished nothing? What are you going to do with us? Are we going to just end up like the rest of the world? Will we also go down the annals of history like all these people? One day disappear from the face of the 7:57 earth and nobody will know whether we ever existed on this earth. You don't need to think like that. You see, God God our God is called God of impossibilities. To him nothing is impossible. We read here 8:18 in the New Testament of two people whom Paul considered his spiritual sons. He said about Timothy and he said about Titus. He He called them sons. He wrote to them 8:38 when he wrote to them, he addressed them child, my child, like that. You know, they were probably half his age. And you know how much he valued them. Paul would have always according to our thing, according to his standard, 8:55 according to our thinking, we would have thought Paul would have, you know, always wished to go and have fellowship with only Peter and James and John, the apostles who saw Jesus Christ in the flesh. And probably 9:13 we might think like that that we should go and um fellowship with only brother so-and-so and brother so-and-so. What about these? Oh, they will not be of any help to me. Do we have an attitude like that? You see how much Paul valued these 9:31 junior people. We read in 2 Corinthians. 2 Corinthians 2:13 Paul says, "I had no rest for my spirit 9:54 not finding Titus, my brother. But taking my leave of them, I went to Macedonia. You see, he comes here and he's he finds Titus is nowhere around. 10:14 And he said, "I had no rest in my spirit." he says. Just because he was not able to meet this junior brother called Titus. And he felt so restless in his spirit. 10:31 He was not comforted. Rather, he was discouraged. And he says, "I had no rest for my spirit, not finding Titus, my brother." And then what happens in chapter 7, verse 6, or rather verse 5, "For even when we 10:52 came into Macedonia, he left for Macedonia from that place, and he came to Macedonia, our flesh had no rest, but we were afflicted on every side, conflicts without, 11:09 fears within, but God." Whenever you read the word but God, just pause there and see, go back to the previous verse and the following verses and see in what context it says but God. Whenever the word but God comes, there 11:27 is something that God is intervening to do. He says here, "But God, who comforts the depressed, comforted us by the coming of Titus." You see, now he found rest in his spirit. 11:47 He found joy. He says, "God comforted us by the coming of Titus, and not only by his coming, but also by the comfort with which he was comforted in you. As he reported to us your longing, your mourning, your zeal for me, 12:06 so that I rejoiced even more." You see, this junior brother Titus was able to encourage the senior apostle, a giant of a man, spiritually speaking. 12:24 He encouraged him, and Paul was humble enough to receive encouragement from this ordinary brother Titus. And also we read in Titus 3:12, 12:43 Titus 3:12, he tells Titus here, "Make every effort to come to me at Nicopolis, for I have decided decided to spend the winter there. Make every effort to come to me 13:00 at Nicopolis." he says. Why? He was so as it were attached to this junior brother Titus, that he found so much of comfort and encouragement in his company. He said, "Even when I want to um spend winter there, 13:20 I want you to come with me. I want you to be with me." Why? He valued this junior brother so much. He was not just rubbing his shoulders with you know, these top guys who were called the pillars of the church those days. 13:38 He was not so much, you know, hobnobbing with these people, but he was happy to be fellowshipping with these junior brothers. And we read of another person called Epaphras. I'm just sharing some of these characters this 13:56 morning with you, of whom we have not heard much, but they were of great help. Epaphras we read about him in Colossians. In Colossians 4:12, See, he's another man here. 14:19 Epaphras, who is one of your number, that means he must be from Colossae. A bondslave of Jesus Christ sends you his greetings. Always laboring earnestly for you in his prayers that you may stand perfect and 14:39 fully assured in all the will of God. And I bear witness that he has a deep concern for you and for those who are at Laodicea and Hierapolis. And there are others also like Luke. 15:01 We know about Luke and Demas and Nympha etc. You know, he he appreciates him so much. Even in the book of Philemon, we read Philemon 1, 15:20 Philemon is just one chapter just before the book of Hebrews. Philemon 1:23, it speaks about Epaphras again. Epaphras, my fellow prisoner in Jesus, greets you. 15:38 You see, Epaphras was also a co-worker with Paul, and he was also um a jailmate, as it were, of the Apostle Paul. He says he's a fellow prisoner in Jesus Christ with me in prison. 15:55 As do Mark, Aristarchus, Demas, Luke, my fellow workers. You see, he mentions these ordinary unheard of saints by name. And why was Epaphras there in prison? He could have easily run away from there 16:15 and disassociated himself from Paul, but he was not ashamed of Paul's chains and Paul's imprisonments. And he he felt happy to be associated with a man who was considered a criminal by society. You know, how would we feel if there was 16:36 a criminal in chains going around, like say, he's walking down the road to prison and and he's imprisoned and how many of us would go and meet such a person who is in prison? The whole society thinks about him as a 16:56 condemned criminal. But a person like Epaphras goes there to meet him. And we read of another person called Epaphroditus. That's in Philippians 2:25. Epaphroditus. Here is another man. 17:15 Philippians 2:25. It says, "But I thought it necessary to send you Epaphroditus, my brother, and fellow worker, and fellow soldier, who is also your messenger and minister to my need." See, he was there ministering to the 17:34 need of Paul in prison. He said, "Because he was longing for you all and was distressed." Distressed for what? Epaphroditus felt distressed for this reason, 17:51 "Because you heard that he was sick." I don't know who gave the news that Epaphroditus was sick. And he was so disturbed that people came to know that he was sick. You know, it's so quite unlike us. 18:11 We would like everybody to know that we are sick and we are admitted in the hospital and we send a prayer request. We want everybody to know that we are sick. They want us to come and visit us and pray for us. But this man 18:24 has a different spirit. He says, "I hope nobody knows about my sickness." And when he came to know that some people somehow discovered that he was sick, he was so distressed "Because you had heard that he was sick. 18:43 For indeed he was sick even to the point of death. But God had mercy on him and not only on him, but also on me, lest I should have sorrow upon sorrow. Therefore, I have sent him all the more eagerly in order that when you see him 18:59 again, you may rejoice and I may be less concerned about you. Therefore, receive him in the Lord with all joy and hold men such men in high regard because he came close to death for the work of Christ, risking his life 19:18 to complete that which was deficient in service to me." You see, these are you know, unknown and unheard of and insignificant, as it were, we consider them insignificant 19:36 servants of God. And there's another man called Onesiphorus. 2 Timothy 1:16. Paul writes here. In verse 16, he says, are aware of the 19:53 fact that all who are in Asia turned away from me. That means they deserted me. Among whom are Phygelus and Hermogenes. The Lord grant mercy to the house of Onesiphorus, 20:11 for he often refreshed me and was not ashamed of my chains." So, here is another brother, young brother. He It says the next verse, "But when he was in Rome, he eagerly searched for me and found me." Probably this is this 20:29 must have happened after Paul left for Rome in Acts 28. He said, "I will appeal to Caesar." He had told, so because of that Felix and um Festus, they left him undecided his case and they left him and they allowed him to go to Caesar, to 20:49 Rome. And when he went to Rome in chapter 28 of Acts, probably that was the time when this man came to know about it. Onesiphorus. And he says, "He He eagerly searched for me and found me. 21:06 May the Lord and he refreshed me and he was not ashamed of my chains." Think about it. Searching for someone who is a condemned criminal and he's put in jail and this man goes from prison to prison. I don't know how many prisons were there in Rome 21:23 those days asking for, "Is there anybody called Saul from Tarsus?" One prison says, "No." Another prison says, "No." And he keeps on going from prison to prison and finally finds in one prison he's locked up. And he goes and meets him and hugs him 21:39 and he probably gives him some refreshments and things like that and you know, the very presence of a of another brother when you are in distress can cheer up your spirit and can strengthen your spirit. 21:58 And it says here, "The Lord grant him to find mercy from the Lord on that day." Not only on him, but also on his household. Why is it? I have a feeling probably 22:16 this Onesiphorus' family was not converted. That's why he probably prays for his family also. He says, "Not only for him, may the Lord grant mercy on Onesiphorus and this family." 22:35 You see, when you help somebody, especially a discouraged brother who needs encouragement, the Lord not only blesses you, he blesses your family also. That's exactly what Paul told the Philippian jailer in Acts 16:31, "Believe on the Lord 22:53 Jesus Christ and you shall be saved." And not only that, your household also will be saved. And you know what happened that night when the jailer took him to his house, not only the jailer got converted, they heard the message at night 23:11 in the jailer's house and the whole household got converted and they they were baptized the same night. And this is the blessing of the Lord. And when the Lord blesses, it makes you rich spiritually. And there is there a couple of 23:29 uh other brothers like Onesimus in Philemon, the book just before Hebrews. Philemon, there's only one chapter, verse 10, it says, Paul is writing here now to Philemon who was 23:46 the master of the slave. Onesimus. Onesimus was a runaway slave. He had run away from his master. I don't know for what reason. The reason is not given here. Probably he was not treated properly or he stole some money and ran away or something 24:04 like that. He says in verse 10, he's writing to Philemon, he says, "I appeal to you, my child, whom I have begotten in my imprisonment, Onesimus. 24:21 He calls Onesimus his child who was begotten spiritually to Paul in his imprisonment, who formerly was useless to you, but now is useful both to you and to me. And I have sent him back to you to you in person, 24:41 that is sending my very heart. See how he identifies himself with this runaway slave who has just been converted. He identifies his very heart with this runaway slave. He says, "I'm sending my very heart, 25:01 whom I wish to keep with me, that in your behalf in behalf he might minister to me in my imprisonment for the gospel, but without your consent, I did not want to do anything that your goodness should not be as it were by compulsion, but of your own free 25:20 will." You see how much Paul values these brothers, Timothy, Titus, Epaphroditus, Epaphras, Onesiphorus, Onesimus. And one last person I would like to 25:39 um read, that is about Mark. We read about Mark the other day in 2 Timothy. He says here in verse 11, 2 Timothy 4:11, he says, "Pick up Mark and bring him with you." You know this 25:57 Mark was someone who uh deserted and left Paul and Barnabas in their first missionary journey because probably he found that you know, it was very tough being with them because of the difficulty and the hardships that these 26:16 people were going through. And he ran away from them. And when they wanted to go on a second missionary trip, there was a uh heated argument between Barnabas and Paul because of this young boy, Mark. And uh Barnabas gave him a second 26:34 chance. And because of that, you know, Mark turned around and he became useful. And Paul says here towards the end of his life, "Pick up Mark and bring him with you, for he is useful to me for service." You see, when we read of these 26:54 ordinary, insignificant men like Mark and all that who were once deserters, who once gave heart and went away, undependable, and now they have become dependable 27:11 because God has done a work in them and changed them and blessed them and made them a blessing. Sometimes you may wonder, "What will happen? I have lived for so long." Some of us probably more than 30, 40% of the people sitting here 27:31 may have lived longer than what's left for us to live. And we may be wondering, "I have come to the end of my almost end of my life. What more can I do for the Lord? I have al- almost wasted my life." 27:49 You know, Jesus, I mean, the Lord says in Zechariah chapter 4, Zechariah chapter 4, verse 10, it says, 28:15 you may wonder, "What can I do? It's too late for me. I don't have much time. And I don't have any gift, any ability." 28:33 You know what the Lord says? Start with what you have. With your little talent that you have in one particular area, that gift that you have, use it like that 28:52 widow in times of Elisha. That little oil that was there in her jar, that's all she had. And Elisha said, "That's all. That's That's okay. That's enough. You go home and pour it into empty vessels 29:10 and fill all the vessels." Supernaturally it got filled up and she sold and was able to, you know, come out of her debt. And it says here in verse 10 of chapter 4 of Zechariah, "Who has despised the day of small beginnings?" 29:28 Who has despised the day of small things? See, your friends may say, "Man, your your life is over. You can't amount to much." But you can stand up and say, "No. If the Lord blesses that little 29:46 that little life that is left for me to live, maybe another one year, a few months, God God can make it count for him. That little what you have that is blessed by God is much. And the much that is unblessed is little 30:05 when it comes to God. And it says in Joel 2:25, Joel 2:25, it says, "The years that the locusts have eaten, the swarming locusts, and the stripping locusts, 30:23 and all those things, I will make up to you for the years that the locusts have eaten." Do you hear God speaking to you? You may be discouraged today, wondering what is going to happen to me. 30:43 My life has almost come to the come to the end. And the Lord says, "Yet he can do something with those few days that are left for you. I will make up for you the years that the swarming locusts have eaten. And one last word in Haggai 31:00 2:19, it says, the last part of it, Haggai 2:19, the Lord says, "From this day consider from this day onwards, I will bless you." Take those words to heart, dear brothers 31:18 and sisters. The days that were lost in your ignorance, in your foolishness, in your carelessness, in your defeat, God is able to make up for that. And the years that the locusts have eaten, God is able to make up for that. 31:37 The small beginnings that you make is important in God's eyes. And he also says, "From this day, mark this day, 11th day of June 2017, from this day onwards, to some of you the Lord may be speaking. 31:56 Take it to heart. And confess to yourself, say within yourself, "From this day onwards, the Lord is going to change me. The Lord is going to you know, bring about a change, an eternal change. I will not be the same. I'll be a different person." 32:16 Yeah, may the Lord honor our faith. There is no secret what God can do, what he what he has done for others, he will do for us. In the body of Christ, each member is important. And nobody can think that I'm not important 32:34 and I don't need without me. [cough and clears throat] God needed in the new covenant. In the body of Christ, all of us, all the members, you know, there's nothing can stop us from becoming a useful member in the body of Christ. 32:51 Timothy was a young man. Titus was a young man. Yet they can be they could become a man of God. They could become a child of Timothy Paul could say that child true child in faith. And how did they reach? 33:11 Young people, we cannot think that, you know, I'm only youth. I cannot be useful. God needs all of us. And we can become a co-workers along with the Holy Spirit when God is building the body of Christ. And we can be useful. 33:27 You know, I was thinking one thing, you know, in the body of Christ, each member is important. We heard about Timothy and Titus and Onesiphorus and Onesimus. You know, Onesimus Onesimus was a slave. Yet he he was a useful member in the body of 33:45 Christ. Onesiphorus was a unknown, insignificant young brother. But yet he could refresh Paul. You know, what God can do when we allow like we heard, the useful vessel in the master's hand. I was thinking one 34:03 No, when I was reading about these characters and one thing that came to me, a few common things, few common characters that made them what they become was you know, one thing that I was thinking and you know, Apostle Paul could appreciate their work 34:21 and uh Like we heard, these people learned to value the godly people. You know, when we walk with wise, we will become wise. When you walk when you come near the fire, you will catch the fire. 34:40 Where are we now? Do you Do we value Do we value Do we go near the fire? And who are our friends? Who are our companions? And I believe that that Timothy and Titus and all these young people, they determined in their heart 34:56 early in their age to value the godly people. You know, Hebrews chapter 13 verse 17, it says, "Remember those who led you, who spoke the word of God to you. And considering the result of their conduct, imitate their faith." Whose 35:12 faith are you imitating, my brothers and sisters? Young people, and we become what we when we follow the godly people. And Paul says, "Follow me as I follow Christ." And these people, all of them, we heard they followed 35:29 Christ and they followed the example which God has placed. There's a burning bush God has kept in our midst. Do you see that? Do you Do you come near that burning bush so that you can catch the fire? I was thinking Psalm 106 verse 101 verse 35:46 6, where David says, "I will make the godly of the land my heroes." Who are your heroes? And these people learned to make You know, they did the small things, menial things. They did not seek for a prominence in the body of 36:02 Christ. Little little things that they did, they were faithful. One other character that I was thinking, they were faithful. All of them, Paul could say that faithful servant of faithful companion of mine, a trustworthy. 36:17 And are we faithful in our secret life so that God can use us? I believe that May God give us a desire where we can become where we want to be useful in members in the body of Christ. Like I said, s- Onesimus was a slave who could become 36:36 a useful vessel, useful in the church, useful for Philemon, useful for Apostle Paul. God can make us like that. No matter how our condition is when we go to him. Another thing that I've noticed about these people is that they are willing to 36:53 be taught. They are teachable. You young people, do you value that? There is a help that is available for you. God has given you a church, the godly people around you. Do you go to them? You know, in the new covenant, in the new testament church, at the 37:09 beginning of the church when the apostles spoke, they were cut to their heart and they said, "Brethren, what must we do?" And are we teachable? Are we willing to take help from others? Then we can become a useful vessel in 37:23 the master's hand. You know, another thing that I noticed, they were eagerly waiting to refresh and encourage. They are not seeking for a prominence. They are not seeking for coming to preach or do big big things. They are willing in to that extent where 37:40 he can search and go to the prison to refresh Apostle Paul. What a ministry we have. So many need of encouragement. So many need of refreshing. We can become a co-workers along with the Holy Spirit. Holy Spirit has come to 37:56 refresh and encourage the body of Christ. And we can do that. I believe that God has a great plan for us. Remember the the day of small beginnings. You know, that God that we don't despise and we can value and we can become a 38:14 useful like all these people. You know, when I said they are teachable, when Paul could say to Timothy, "Flee from youthful lust." And Paul could say that, you know, one more thing that I noticed about Timothy is that he 38:26 was timid, young brother. And some of us feel that we are so timid and shy and yet God can use like Timothy. I believe that God has a great plans for us. You know, says about David, he served the purpose of God in his generation. 38:42 And today in our generation, we can become a useful members in the body of Christ when we allow ourselves, when we say, "Lord, here am I." That we don't look down. Young people, I want to remind you, let no one look down on your 38:59 youthfulness in speech and conduct that we are testimony. I believe that God wants to use each one of us. And we become we can become a useful members in the body of Christ when we give ourselves completely to the Lord. May God help us. 39:14 We heard about many ordinary people and um uh not very very popular, but the it has been written very in few places about these characters whom we heard today. But they had a great uh great uh 39:33 spirit to support the godly men and they had a teachable spirit. You know, I'm I was thinking about Timothy. You know, we know he was young and he was timid, but he had a teachable spirit and Paul could teach him and he could 39:48 he could mold him to a to become a great leader to support in the spreading of gospel. That's a great example for us to learn. I want you to turn with me to 1 Timothy chapter 4 verse 12. Other brothers have read it, but I want to emphasize this again. Here 40:06 Paul is teaching uh uh Timothy to 1 Timothy chapter 4 verse 12. Let no one look down on down on your faithfulness, but rather in speech, conduct, love, faith, and purity, show yourself an example of those who believe. You know, Paul is training Timothy. 40:25 Don't think that you're immature. Don't be playful, but um take this seriously. Many time we give excuse that I'm young young, I don't have maturity. Um I can't handle this or that's how even though we may not express in our words, but my dear young 40:42 brothers and sisters, we have this attitude. Uh I excuse, not attitude, excuse that I'm young, I cannot handle. But Paul trained the Timothy and Timothy become one of the great servant of God. Some of the characters of Timothy I want to 40:58 Number one, he was a He was young and he was timid. Uh That is there in 2 Timothy chapter 1 verse uh 7. For God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but the power of love and discipline. God is I mean the Paul is telling 41:15 Timothy uh uh Paul I believe that Timothy was a timid person. That's why Paul has to tell him that don't be timid. God has not given us a spirit of timidity. Timidity, my brothers and sisters many time we are timid, we are shy. 41:30 Maybe we are worried about our capabilities. We worried about our language. My brothers and sisters, God has not given the spirit of timidity, but God has given us the uh the power and love and discipline. And I think Timothy took these things very seriously 41:46 and uh uh he had a great leader, Paul. That's why he could he could get trained under Paul. And one more thing about Timothy is chapter uh 2 Timothy chapter 2. Uh 2 Timothy chapter 3 uh verse 15. 42:05 I'm just saying how Timothy grew up. Uh 15. From the childhood you have known the sacred writing which were able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. You know, we see Timothy 42:22 spend time in reading God's word constantly and he was aware of what's written in the Bible. My brothers and sisters if we have to be strong in the Lord, if you have to support the church, if you have to support and encourage others, we 42:36 need to know God's words. And uh these days the world is so busy and tries to put us in the mold and always tells us there's no time for you to read God's word, but we can learn from this young man, Timothy. We can spend in reading God's word so that we 42:52 can be available. You know, Timothy was young and he was timid. But he heard Paul's words and he trained himself to support and he knew God's word. Okay? And how how it how it evolved. Please turn with me to uh 1 Corinthians chapter 4 43:11 verse 17. This timid person was young. But God could use him uh uh to support Paul and God could use him in his work. 1 Timothy chapter 4 verse 17. Uh it says um for I exhort you therefore, be imitators of 43:31 me. For this reason I have sent you Timothy who is my beloved and faithful child in the Lord and he will remind you of my ways which is in Christ just as I teach you everywhere in every church. That is really challenging challenging 43:46 me, my brothers and sisters. You know, it's just like this. On Sunday morning maybe elders are busy, they were in some some other part of some other part of India and they want the meeting to go on, somebody to come and share God's 43:59 word. Can they choose me and choose you? Hey, choose this brother. He can uh he can give God's word to encourage the people in the church. That's something like this. Or somewhere there's a need in Tamil Nadu, there's somewhere in the need in Karnataka, 44:13 maybe some some remote church where nobody is willing to go. Send this brother. He will go encourage the brothers and sisters there. He will get them. He will win their souls for Christ. That is the thing. Many time when we hear these 44:25 characters, we think it's not for us, it's somebody else. I'm just listening. It's not me. But my brothers and sister, my challenge for myself for you is these characters are for us to follow. If Timothy, a timid person, a young person could could 44:39 become a uh faithful servant in spreading the gospel, you and me can become faithful in spreading gospel for uh gospel for the Lord. And again it says in Philippians chapter 2 verse 19. Philippians chapter 2 verse 19. I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy 45:01 to to you shortly so that I also may be encouraged when I learn of your condition. You know, Timothy Timothy was available. He the Paul could trust Timothy. Okay, send him. He will do a faithful job. He will go encourage the brothers and sisters in 45:16 the church. So he sent Timothy and we know Timothy did a tremendous work. Later we could see that he could handle a church. My brothers and sisters, I want to stick to one character because of time, but I was very much encouraged by Timothy. He was 45:32 a timid character. He never gave excuse. As young people we have a tendency to give excuse, but today we can say Lord I don't want to give excuse for excuse for anything, Lord. I don't want to give excuse that I'm not educated. I don't 45:45 want to give excuse that I'm timid. I don't want to give excuse that I'm young. Let no one look down upon me as I am young, Lord. I want to be matured in my ways. I want to read your word. I want to be available and very important thing 45:57 is I want to be teachable. There's so many godly people in the church, Lord. I want to be under them, Lord Jesus. Timothy had a great leader and Paul trained him. He molded him. And there was no generation gap. Paul was 46:10 very old and Timothy was very young. There was no generation gap. They could have a fellowship. That's why he could mold Timothy to become a faithful servant of the Lord. Amen. You know, one of the secrets of Apostle Paul 46:24 he valued every brother and sister in the body of Christ. And I believe that's a very good attitude for all of us to have. All of us like to have fellowship with the apostles. And there's nothing wrong with that, it's good. 46:44 But what about ordinary people? See for example, Romans chapter 16. I want to also show you some sisters. So far we heard only the brothers. I want to show you some sisters Apostle Paul valued. Romans 16 is a wonderful brother 46:57 wonderful chapter where Apostle Paul refers to this brother, that brother. Greet him. See for example, verse 1. Romans 16:1. I commend to you Phoebe, our sister. She is a servant of the church. 47:16 What a wonderful sister Phoebe was. And all of you sisters if you felt only brothers have a ministry, I don't have any ministry, you can be like Phoebe. She was a servant of the church. And he said that you receive her in the Lord as become seen that your 47:33 sister in whatsoever business she had need of, for she has been a helper of many and of myself also. Phoebe helped Apostle Paul. many in the church. So all of you sisters, you don't have any excuse. 47:51 Don't say I don't have any ministry. You can be like Phoebe. Okay. One more sister we can look at. Verse 3, same chapter. Greet Priscilla and Aquila. You know, Priscilla and Aquila Priscilla 48:09 was a wonderful sister. She had a good husband and together she served the Lord. You know what Apostle Paul says about her about them? Who have for my life laid down their own necks and to whom not only I give thanks, but also 48:24 all the churches of the Gentiles. Apostle Paul was deeply thankful for Priscilla. And he's saying the church is many churches are thankful for sister Priscilla. And for sister Priscilla had a church in 48:43 her house. Sisters you can be like Priscilla. You can have a meeting in your house. Nobody's stopping you. Gather some friends and share the gospel with your neighbors and friends and relatives. And 49:01 there are many more sisters I can show you. For example, same 16 verse 8. 6:6 Greet Mary who bestowed much labor on us. Apostle Paul did not forget ordinary sisters. You say you're an 49:21 ordinary sister? Even Apostle Paul never forgot how much more God will never forget you. All of you sisters the Lord never forgets you. You have a place in the body of Christ because sisters constitute nearly 50% of the church. So if you're in touch with 49:38 the Lord, if you're having a connection with the Lord, if you're close to the Lord, the Lord will make sure that you're a blessing to other ordinary brothers and sisters in the church, and the Lord will even make you a blessing 49:51 to your apostles to refresh them. I'm so encouraged and sometime back I gave an exhortation to study the friends of Paul. How many of you take taken the trouble to study the friends of Apostle Paul? You know, today this morning we studied only few. 50:10 Apostle Paul had so many godly friends. That's the reason he was spiritually rich. He valued them. He He said, "Oh, they got converted before me." He always had a good word to say. For example, 1 Corinthians 16. We have We have said We 50:26 have spoken about it before, but in closing, I beseech you, verse 15. I beseech you, brethren, you know the house of Stephanas, that it is the first fruit of Achaia, that they were addicted themselves to the ministry of saints. 50:42 Verse 17 and 18. For that which was lacking on your part they have supplied. Verse 18, they refreshed my spirit and yours. This This family, they refreshed the spirit of Apostle Paul. You don't have to be gifted for that. 51:00 Hello. Are you listening? All of us can refresh other brothers and sisters in the spirit. What a wonderful way to live on earth, brothers and sisters. That when you have fellowship with them they get refreshed. Can you pray, "Lord, make 51:16 me like that. Maybe I can't preach like Apostle Paul. Maybe I can't preach and do great things like the apostles and the prophets and the teachers. Lord, help me to refresh somebody. Help me to encourage somebody. Help me 51:31 to just bless somebody. Help me to do some ordinary thing for them. Maybe give a smile. Maybe shake hands. Maybe make a call." Like I said, maybe call some young brother or sister home. Give them some tea. Maybe they need some fellowship. 51:49 Brothers and sisters, we can do so many things to bless the church. Like we heard this morning, do what you can. I think all of us can give tea to somebody, I think. Not only tea, some snacks also. [laughter] Yeah, call somebody who's lonely. 52:07 Maybe you call them for lunch. Or you some young brothers, you can take him to the hotel, have a cup of coffee, and bless them. Make them feel they're important. That's a good ministry all of us can have. Make others feel they're 52:21 important in the church, to the Lord. May God make all of us useful members in the body of Christ. Let's learn to value, appreciate other brothers and sisters. Say some nice word out of encouragement. 52:40 Brother, thank you for what you did. I believe many people need one small word that'll lift them, and may the Lord help all of us. Amen.
