Philippians chapter 2. It's been a while since I've done something like this. Back when I first became a youth pastor, a long time ago, 1996 I think it was, the pastor told me when he asked me to be the youth pastor I wouldn't have to preach for quite a while. A month later he had me in the pulpit. He wasn't telling me the truth, obviously. I preached for 15 minutes, but I was so sick to my stomach before I got up there, it was ridiculous, and I was like that for months. I just want you to know I didn't throw up today, I was fine, okay? But Philippians chapter two is where we're gonna be in. On March 26th, my wife, and I think just my middle daughter, Verity, are gonna drive, it's a Saturday, they're gonna drive out to see their grandchildren. I'm not gonna be able to go, but they'll stay with them when I get there Saturday evening, Sunday, Monday, and then come back Tuesday the 29th. Now, when I say that, you're all looking at me probably wondering why I'm giving you my family's plans for the future. Because really the only people that would be interested in that, besides myself of course, would be my wife and Barry, who get to go see our grandchildren. and her nieces and nephews, and of course, my grandchildren. As soon as they find out, they'll be counting the number of sleeps they have till Grandma gets there. And it's gonna be very exciting for them, but for you guys, it's like, huh, whatever, I'm glad you'll get to go. In a way, it's sort of like Philippians 2. If you look at it, the surface of this passage, it almost looks like Paul's giving travel plans for Timothy Epaphroditus. But of course it's much more than that. Otherwise it wouldn't be in the Word of God. It's here for our benefit and for the Philippians' benefit. So we're going to look at the examples that Paul gave us. The example of Timothy in verses 19 through 24. Then the example of Epaphroditus. in 25 through 30, and then afterwards, we'll look at why I think Paul wrote this and told us about this. So let's have a word of prayer and then we'll begin. Lord, we do thank you for this day. We thank you for the message this morning. We thank you that you died on the cross for us and His Lord paid the penalty. We praise you for that. I pray now that you'd be with us during this time. Be with me and let me be your vessel. I pray that the Lord and the Holy Spirit will work in our hearts. In Jesus' name, amen. Okay, so Philippians chapter 2. verses 19 through 24 first. Before I read that, I'm just going to give you a little background from Timothy. Most of you probably know this, but he was a native of Lystra from the province of Galatia. Eunice was his mother, who was Jewish. His father was Greek, most likely a pagan and unbeliever. According to 1 Corinthians 4 and 1 Timothy 1, we see that Timothy was led to Christ by Paul, probably on his first missionary journey. Both Timothy's mother and his grandmother, Lois, raised him in the word of God, especially, well, the Old Testament, of course, not the New Testament that's being written. And from my reading, I believe Timothy was probably educated by his father in Greek learning and culture, which is probably why he was not baptized when he was young. It's interesting how God finds the perfect person to bring his plans to fruition, but along with Timothy's spiritual maturity and his combined Jewish and Greek heritage, that made him uniquely qualified to minister the gospel with Paul to the Gentiles. And by the time I wrote this book of Philippians, Timothy had been his almost constant companion for about 10 years. And how was Timothy involved with Paul? In many different ways. Timothy, along with Silas, joined Paul in Corinth. He was sent to Macedonia with a man named Erastus, which, that's the only time you see that name, to collect an offering. He was with Paul on his return trip to Jerusalem. We saw that in three chapters in Acts 18, 19, and 20. Paul was associated with many of the writings of Paul, Romans, Second Corinthians, Philippians, Colossians, both epistles to the Thessalonians and Philemon. And one of the commentaries told me and commented that Timothy served as Paul's troubleshooter in Corinth, Thessalonica, Ephesus, and Philippi. So we see that Timothy was faithful, and dependable in every way. And he looks like he's qualified to be an example or a model for the Philippians to emulate. Matter of fact, the Philippian church was well acquainted with Timothy. Back in Acts 16, we see that Paul and Timothy are together. Timothy is baptized, or not baptized, circumcised by Paul. And later that chapter, Paul receives a Macedonian call, and Paul and Timothy and Silas go to Philippi, where they begin that church. So Timothy was at this church at the beginning. So let's look at verses 19 through 24. We'll read it, then we'll go through it verse by verse. Verse 19. But I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you shortly, so that I also may be encouraged when I learn of your condition. For I have no one else of kindred spirit who will genuinely be concerned for your welfare. For they all seek after their own interest, not those of Christ Jesus. But you know of his proven worth, that he served me in the furtherance of the gospel like a child serving his father. Therefore, I hope to send him immediately, as soon as I see how things go with me. And I trust in the Lord that I myself also will be coming shortly. So, verse 19, Paul tells us immediately, but I hope the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you shortly. And he tells us why, so he will be encouraged when I learn of your condition. It seems a little bit selfish that Paul is sending him so he can be encouraged, but since we all know the character of Paul, we know that isn't true. But not only Will the Philippians be encouraged by Timothy's coming? When he reports back, it'll be encouraging to Paul himself. And we know that's going to be a while, because it's approximately, from Philippi to Rome, 800 miles. And they don't get there in, I don't know, what would it take us today, 14 hours or 12 hours or something? I think it takes, from what I read, it takes approximately six weeks to, get from Philippi to Rome or vice versa. So we're talking 12 weeks of travel plus the amount of time that's there before Timothy can come back and report to Paul, but he's looking forward to it. Because Paul wanted the Philippians to accept Timothy without hesitation, Paul gives them a brief profile of this dedicated servant of Jesus Christ. Now, this seems I don't understand why he does this sometimes, or actually in two cases, because he did the same thing in Philemon. When we were going through Philemon in high school, Sunday school, he's sending a Nesimist back to Philemon. And he's telling him, he's encouraging him to do right, even though he says, I know you're going to do right. Matter of fact, I know you're going to go above and beyond. And it's like the same thing here is with Timothy. Timothy is the right person. As a matter of fact, in verse 22, Paul states, if I can find it here real quick, but you know of this proven worth. Timothy, I mean, the people of Philippi already know his proven worth. But he's gonna say it to him anyways. I guess it's sort of like us with fellow workers or kids. We expect them to do right, but we still encourage them to do right. So anyways, in verse 20, Paul states, and this is amazing, For I have no one else of kindred spirit who would genuinely be concerned for your welfare. That is an amazing statement. This tells us that Timothy's character is on par with Paul's. I have no one else. Wow. That's high praise coming from Paul. And when you look at the phrase kindred spirit, it means there's, it means one soul or equal souls. So it's like, They're on the same page in every single way. Paul wasn't belittling anybody else, like Praphoditus or Luke, who's been with him, or he just has Timothy, who's like nobody else that he's had. In the second part of verse 20, it states, who will genuinely be concerned for your welfare. Now, since Paul states there, I have no one else of kindred spirit, we pretty much know that everything that's being said of Timothy is also the same thing that Paul is. So, we know that like Paul, Timothy is generally a concern for the welfare of the Philippians. This expresses a strong feeling for someone or something, almost to the point of being burdened. It's obviously, the word concern there is positive. It's based on the love and trust in God's sovereignty. We know that when we're concerned with people, or about people, that sometimes we get negative emotions with that. This is the way it is. In this case, when we trust in God's sovereignty, those negative emotions are limited and bounded by joy in the good sovereignty of God. Whereas if you look at chapter four, verse six of Philippians, where it says, be anxious for nothing, it's the same word, except it's the negative. That's where there's fear and doubting God's sovereignty, instead of having the negative emotions, you know, boundaried by the grace and sovereignty of God, it's pretty much running free reign, it takes over. So Timothy, like Paul, was a true shepherd, who had great concern for the welfare of their sheep. In this case, the church at Philippi. Verse 21, for they all seek after their own interests, not those of Jesus Christ. So it doesn't actually say anything about Timothy, but what is not said is true. In this case, Timothy here is single-minded. His interests are in Jesus Christ. In direct contrast to those in Rome. The question is, who is the they? Because verse 20 is, of course, talking about Timothy, and then all of a sudden Paul inserts the word they when he brings this up. I don't really know who it is. I thought, well, maybe he's talking about Demas, but I don't think Demas in 2 Timothy we see Paul states that Demas, you know, went for the world. But that's probably five or six years after this from what I saw. And it's certainly not talking about Epaphroditus, or Silas, or Luke, or the people that have been working with Paul. So, best I could say, it's probably talking about maybe the people way back, not way back, but back in chapter 1, in verses 15 and 17. It says, some, to be sure, are preaching Christ, even from envy and strife. And then talking about the same group of people in verse 17, The former proclaimed Christ out of selfish ambition rather than from pure motives, thinking to cause me distress in my imprisonment." Now, that sounds like they're preaching, and Paul says they're proclaiming Christ, but it sounds like they're doing it out of their own interest there. Now, I'm not sure if that's who Paul's talking about, but I know for sure that the important point here is that it's not Timothy. Timothy's interests were in Jesus Christ. Then verse 22, it says, So, proven worth describes that this character has been tested and proven. And it's actually saying that the Philippians already knew that. And we see this word used often. One example is 1st Timothy 3.10 by Paul, where Paul states, talking about his deacons, they must first be tested to see if they are beyond reproach. And then the second part of verse 22 says that he served with me, and the serve there is talking about in the service of the Lord. You know, when we look at that, we have a tendency, I think, to skip the word with. You probably might read it He served me in the furtherance, excuse me, of the gospel like a child serving his father. But that's not the case. It says he served with Paul. It's obviously Paul's a senior and Timothy's a junior and probably being trained to take over Paul's position or Paul's leadership, I should say. But Paul himself describes them both in Philippians 1.1 as bondservants of Jesus Christ. Then in 1 Corinthians 16.10, he says, they were doing the Lord's work. So he was in service with Paul. And then 23 and 24, the end of this section says, therefore, I hope to send him immediately as soon as I see how things go with me. And I trust in the Lord that I myself also will be coming shortly. So Paul's going to send Timothy, but then of course, he qualifies it immediately with his next sentence. Paul needs Timothy's help a little while longer. I'm not sure how long it took or before he went, but we know that Paul's prison service, prison service, probably was doing that too, prison term, I guess the best way to say it was about two years in length. So obviously this is probably somewhere after the first year, because after he sends Timothy, he's got at least three months before he can get out of prison, and he will. He states he's going to be getting out of prison soon, as we saw in verse 24 there. So Paul needed Timothy's help just a little while longer, but another thing we learned from Timothy in this is that he was available, and he was willing to do whatever Paul asked of him. So a man like no other for Paul, of one soul, willing to serve, concerned about the church just as Paul was. Then we come to Epaphroditus in the next 25 through 30, and before I read that, what do we know about Epaphroditus? Basically, what we know about Epaphroditus is in the book of Philippians. We don't know anything about his family or his personal background. We don't know how he was converted. We don't know how long he was a believer. We don't know how he was serving the church, whether at Philippi or in Rome or some other church. There's no really record of his accomplishments. We know he's not like Paul or Timothy. We know he's not an elder. All we do know is that his name means belonging to Aphrodite or favored by Aphrodite, who was the Greek goddess of love. In Roman culture, that was Venus. They guess he was probably born and educated in Greek culture, which makes sense. His name later came to mean loving or lovely. I'm sure he appreciated that more after he was a believer as opposed to favored by Aphrodite. So let's read verses 25 through 30 and learn what Paul tells us about him. But I thought it necessary to send to you, Epaphroditus, my brother and fellow worker and fellow soldier, who is also your messenger and minister to my need, because he was longing for you all and was distressed because you had heard that he was sick. For indeed, he was sick to the point of death. But God had mercy on him, not on him only, but also on me, so that I would not have sorrow upon sorrow. Therefore, I have sent him all the more eagerly so that when you see him again, you may rejoice, and I may be less concerned about you. Receive him then, O Lord, with all joy, and hold men like him in high regard, because he came close to death for the work of Christ, risking his life to complete what was deficient in your service to me." So, Paul states that he's going to send Epaphroditus to Philippi and then reveals five characters, I mean five characters, five titles that reveal his character, not five characters that reveal his character. Let's get that right. Five titles that reveal his character. The first three involve his relationship with Paul and the second two deal with his relationship to the church of Philippi. So the first one we see is my brother. but I thought it necessary to send you Papadias, my brother. And here it's, we know that Paul and Papadias spent much time together, serving the Lord, which helped them develop an abiding friendship and camaraderie, but it's more than that. I know we think spirits are brothers. We're all brothers and sisters in Christ. I hope so anyway. But what's interesting is that brotherhood was a new concept in that time. When you think about it, The ancient world was sharply divided. You had Greeks and Romans, Jews and Gentiles, which we've been hearing quite a bit about during the morning. Small, privileged ruling class called the aristocrats. Average working citizens called the plebeians. We have citizens and soldiers, not shoulders, and slaves and free. There wasn't anything that united all the branches of this greatly polarized society until Jesus. Into that greatly polarized world came the gospel of Jesus Christ, and with it, Christian brotherhood. People became believers, they became new creatures in Christ. And this affected the way they looked at each other. Think about it. all the divisions of the Roman world were potentially within the church. In homes, the churches were. All those social, national, and religious backgrounds were simply being overlooked by the Christians in the early church. Of course, that shouldn't be a problem with us today either. So, my brother, next we have my fellow worker, Coworker doesn't sound like much until you realize it's a coworker of Paul. Then it means a whole lot. Epaphroditus came to Paul with the church's gift. If you go back to 418, it tells us, but I have received everything in full and have abundance. I am amply supplied, having received from Epaphroditus what you have sent, a fragrant aroma an acceptable sacrifice while pleasing to God. So Epaphroditus came to Paul with the church's gift and to help Paul in whatever way he could. This is the idea of an affection partnership. We see this 13 times in the New Testament, of which 12 times it's by Paul. As a matter of fact, another example in the Book of Philippians, is chapter four, which I think Pastor Jim might have referred to when he introduced us to us, or somebody did, I can't remember. It says, Yodia, I'm not sure if I pronounced that right, and I urge Syntyche to live in harmony with the Lord. Indeed, true companion, I ask you also to help these women who have shared my struggle in the cause of the gospel, together with Clement, also, and the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are in the Book of Life. So there was many there that he included in that group, including Epaphroditus. Then lastly, we have my fellow soldier. The idea here is that Paul and Epaphroditus fought side by side. Lycos, they were in a spiritual warfare. In fact, they could, they had to actually see the demons themselves in action. They were both spiritual warriors in the service of the Lord Jesus Christ. It's a war. Ephesians 6.12, which you're all familiar with, says For our struggle, or in this case, their struggle, is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. So he's a brother, a fellow worker, and a fellow soldier. And then he tells us his relationship to the Church of Philippi. First one we see there. I don't know where I am. There I am. who is also what I thought necessary to send you, Epaphroditus, my brother and fellow worker and fellow soldier, who is also your messenger and minister to my need. So the first one there is messenger. Messenger comes from the same word that yields the word English apostle. In this case, it's not talking about the apostles like the 11 disciples or the Apostle Paul. It means sent one. So, Epaphroditus was an apostle in that he was a sent one from the church at Philippi to serve Paul and to take the love offering that they had taken for Paul. And then we have your minister. You know, periodically I think about giving you the Greek word, you know, in memory of Pastor Jim. Well, not in memory, but in honor, I should say. But if I try to explain this, or pronounce it, it would just be mumblings. And I'm told that I mumble enough, so I thought I would just skip that part. But it has a broad range of meanings and applications. In the public sector, it was used of a public official who was so passionately dedicated to his duties that he discharged them at his own expense. I don't see that today. or of someone doing a service of special importance, also in the public sector, so he or she was highly respected and honored by his fellow citizens. In the New Testament, it's commonly used as of service to the Lord. We see that in Romans 15, 16, where Paul's describing himself this way, to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles, ministering as a priest, the gospel of God. So Paul was giving Epaphroditus high praise. Really, he was considering Epaphroditus the MVG, the most valuable gift that came to Paul from Philippi. He was self-giving, tireless, sacrificial, and a humble servant of the highest caliber. And I believe that Epaphroditus And the Church of Philippi sent, no, when the Church of Philippi sent Epaphroditus to minister to Paul, that they didn't know how long Paul was gonna be in prison. They figured he'd be there as long as Paul needed him. Or if he got out of prison, maybe he could serve him longer. It was like indefinite as far as they're concerned, and I believe as far as Epaphroditus was concerned. So this decision, excuse me, Paul was making to send Epaphroditus back to the church at Philippi was very difficult for him. So he felt obligated. They had to tell him why he was sending him back. Probably so they wouldn't be wondering if he failed. And we see that in verses 26 through 30. So 26 states, because he was longing for you all and was distressed because you had heard that he was sick. You know, I'm, for the most part, God has really blessed me with health. Lately, I feel like I'm falling apart, but for the most part in my life, God has blessed me with great health. I don't get the flu very long, and, you know, I didn't even get COVID. That's not really right, is it? Thank the Lord. But, When I do get sick, man, I am a big baby. Thank the Lord my wife loves me. You know, she takes care of me, brings me things that I need when I whine and complain. Paphroditus is nothing like that. What it says here about him is absolutely amazing. I mean, it says here that because he was longing for you all and was distressed because you had heard that he was sick, for indeed, he was sick to the point of death. Here's a man who's close to dying, and he finds out that his brothers and sisters back at ascending church are concerned about him, and that concerns him more than his own health. That's pretty rare. That's a spiritual giant. I know, we think of others often as we should, and we should, but how often do we do it when we're under a horrible, not horrible, but we're under a test or a trial or deathly sick as he was in this case. Reading between the lines, I sort of get the idea that At some point here, Paul didn't think he was going to make it. But when we get to the next part of verse 27, God had other plans. For the second part of verse 27 says, But God had mercy on him, and not on him only, but also on me, so that I would not have sorrow upon sorrow. Now, what I was wondering was, Paul exercised the gift of healing as an apostle. If you remember, when he got shipwrecked and he was on the island of Malta, I think the leader's name of the island was Publius, Publius was his name, and his father was ill. So he healed his father, and then, of course, what happens once you heal one person, everybody that's sick or ill or diseased comes to him, and Paul healed them all. So when they left, a couple days later, the entire island was healed. And then in Ephesus, in Acts 19, verse 11, it says this about Paul. Guy was performing outstanding miracles by the hand of Paul. After that, it even states that they were taking handkerchiefs and things that Paul had and taking it to people who were sick and laying it on them and they were being healed. Sort of reminds me of Peter's shadow healing people. So, why didn't he heal Epaphroditus? I am sure he wanted to. I am sure he asked God to let him. But maybe the time of apostolic healing is over. Obviously, it was not in God's plan for Paul to do it. God was gonna do it. And we know that then and today, when God spares a person from death, it's always a reflection of His mercy. I mean, as we've been going through Luke, and when you read the other Gospels, you see a lot of times when people cry out to Jesus, they're not saying, heal me from my leprosy, they're saying, they're crying out for mercy. An example would be Luke 17, the Ten Lepers. Jesus' Master had mercy on us. So God showed mercy to Epaphroditus and healed him, and not only was it showing mercy to Epaphroditus, it was showing mercy to Paul. Because if Epaphroditus would have died, I'm sure it would have been a real deep, long-lasting grief that Paul would have had for Epaphroditus. but he saved Paul from, at the end of that verse says, so that I would not have sorrow upon sorrow. Then, in verse 28, we see this unselfishness of Paul, it says, therefore, I have sent him all the more eagerly, so that when you see him again, you may rejoice, and I be less concerned about you. This was Paul's idea to send him. Epaphroditus didn't ask to go back. I'm guessing that even after he was healed, he was going to continue serving Paul. But Paul told him, no, it's better that you go back. Paul knew that his loss of Epaphroditus working with him and helping him would be their gain, and their joy in having Epaphroditus home in their fellowship would bring Paul relief. Then we see in verse 29, Paul selflessly exhorts the Philippians to receive him then in the Lord with all joy. So it's like Paul saying, God used him greatly in serving with me and in helping me. Now it's your turn. That must have been an awesome reunion. I figured they probably had a Pi Fellowship. They had Epaphroditus give his testimony of how God healed him, and everything that was working through him and Paul. And then the end of verse 29, Paul tells the people of Philippi to Hold men like him in high regard. And verse 30 tells us why. Because he came close to death for the work of Christ, risking his life to complete what was deficient in your service to me. So the Philippians couldn't come and serve him because they were in Philippi. So Epaphroditus did that for them. And that word risking there means to throw aside, which speaks of voluntarily hazarding one's welfare and thereby exposing oneself to danger. So Epaphroditus had total disregard for his own welfare, so he continually put his life on the line for the work of Christ. To the point where probably he and others thought he wasn't gonna make it. But God had mercy. So, what we see here is Papadetius exemplifies the spirit of sacrifice for the sake of Christ, listen to this, that involves no public acclaim, no prominence, no high office, no great talents or gifts. None of that stuff's listed. He wasn't a preacher, a teacher, or a leader. He was a self-giving, tireless, sacrificial, and humble servant of the highest caliber, which we saw. He was thinking of others and not himself. He had total disregard for his own welfare, so he continually put his life on the line for the work of Christ. Timothy and Epaphroditus. So why did Paul give us these examples? I think if we go back to a few things that have been mentioned by, first of all, Brother Phil, back in Philippians chapter one, verse 27 tells us, Only conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come to see you or remain absent, I will hear of you, that you are standing firm in one spirit with one mind, striving together for the faith of the gospel. Our lives should exemplify what we believe, teach, and preach. I finished this like a week ago, and I go over and I go over and I go over and I tweak it. And I realized, yesterday I put down this stuff and read in my paper, believe, teach, and preach. And I go, oh man, I'm preaching. Well, I didn't sort of, I did put me in a conviction. And after that, Paul initializes the call to unity. And then Brother Andy spoke in chapter 2, and we see unity mentioned again in verse 2, and looking at verses 2 through 4, it says, I think we've seen that in both of them. And verse four, do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also the interests of others. And then, of course, we have the perfect example of Jesus. I'm just going to read verses 7 and 8 to remind us of that. But Jesus emptied himself, taking the form of a bondservant and being made in the likeness of men, being found in the appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on the cross. And then we had Pastor Ernie who looked at, I think, 12 through something like that. You got the verse 14, do all things without grumbling and disputing. We all hate that, but it's there. Why? So that you will prove yourselves to be blameless and innocent. Children of God above approach in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you appear as lights in the world. Going along with 127. Holding forth the word of life, verse 16, so that in the day of Christ I will have reason to glory, because I did not run in vain, nor toil in vain. So, Paul wanted to look back at his ministry and see that all of his efforts were worthwhile. Those truths that Paul stated from chapter 1 up to verse 18, where he started talking about Timothy's example and Epaphroditus' example, are seen in the lives of Timothy and Epaphroditus. We just went through several of them. You know, we hear that saying, do as I say, not as I do. I was just telling Austin before the church that I've said that to my kids before and then apologized, or maybe it was apologized right before I said that, but when they were younger, but I think Epaphroditus and Paul were able to say do as I say and as I do. So looking at Timothy and Epaphroditus, it's like we had two categories of servants. Timothy had the observable gift and talent that was obvious, the way Paul was training him and he was serving, then he became an elder, because we know that from 1st and 2nd Timothy. He wasn't perfect, but he helped Paul as a troubleshooter, as we saw, he helped Paul in starting churches. And then we have Epaphroditus, who... exemplified the spirit of sacrifice for the sake of Christ, but involved no public acclaim, no prominence, no high office, no great talents or gifts." And then we see that, of course, the positive things, including thinking of others and not himself, and total disregard for his own welfare. So he continually put his life in the line for the work of Christ. So, I started picturing this is what happened to Epaphroditus. He was like a lot of us. All of us, I should say. We attend church. We worship God. Somewhere along that line, the need came up to send somebody to help Paul. Take the gift to Paul. And the Holy Spirit prompted Epaphroditus' heart that he should do this. And he obeyed. and volunteered to take the church's gift to Paul and serve him the best way he knows how. So if the Holy Spirit's tugging at your heart to follow Paphroditus' and Timothy's example, we just need to obey. And then maybe you're in a group that says, that's not for me. I just like coming once in a while. That's probably not anybody here, of course. But, you know, I think you need to be careful and examine yourself. I think somebody has the attitude, as the pastor said this morning, that you have to be careful. Examine yourself and make sure that there's been a time in your life where you repented of your sin and confessed your sin to God and asked Him to save you. I think a lot of people think, you know, doing good works, giving to the church, giving to charity, going to church. Being a good worker at work, good employee, saves you, but it doesn't. It's only the blood of Jesus Christ that can save you. And I think Philippians 2, verses 9 through 11, A good way to close is this, for this reason also, God highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name which is above every knee, so that at the name of Jesus, every knee will bow, of those that are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. So it's every single person that ever lived is gonna have to do that. They're gonna bow their knee, and they're gonna confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. Either they're gonna do it here on earth, and make Him their Savior and Lord, or they're gonna do it at judgment. Let's pray. Lord, we do thank You for this day, we thank You for this time. We pray You work in our hearts, in Jesus' name, amen.