Who Cares? Do You?
Philippians 2:20-30
20 For I have no man likeminded, who will naturally care for your state.
21 For all seek their own, not the things which are Jesus Christ's.
22 But ye know the proof of him, that, as a son with the father, he hath served with me in the gospel.
23 Him therefore I hope to send presently, so soon as I shall see how it will go with me.
24 But I trust in the Lord that I also myself shall come shortly.
25 Yet I supposed it necessary to send to you Epaphroditus, my brother, and companion in labour, and fellowsoldier, but your
messenger, and he that ministered to my wants.
26 For he longed after you all, and was full of heaviness, because that ye had heard that he had been sick.
27 For indeed he was sick nigh unto death: but God had mercy on him; and not on him only, but on me also, lest I should have sorrow
upon sorrow.
28 I sent him therefore the more carefully, that, when ye see him again, ye may rejoice, and that I may be the less sorrowful.
29 Receive him therefore in the Lord with all gladness; and hold such in reputation:
30 Because for the work of Christ he was nigh unto death, not regarding his life, to supply your lack of service toward me. KJV
Care, It is not a very big word. Yet people grieve because no one cares for them. People commit suicide because no one cared.
People live sad lives because no one cares. And sick people die because no one cared for them enough to take care of them. The
evangelical message suffers today because not enough people care enough to take that great message of Jesus to the world. Care
is just a little word but for the lack of it the world suffers. Yet we answer questions like this. Who cares? Not my job why should I care.
It is their old Mother let their children care for them. And let the wife or husband quit caring and there is divorce. Care is needed for
everyone sometime, one way or the other. You are not exempt.
Paul was a man that cared for the church and for the people who were not yet part of the church. He was always anxious about their
well being and ever they were on is mind. He always took thought for them.
In 2 Corinthians 11 Paul listed all the hard, harsh, mean, and hurtful things he went through. And when he got to the end of that list he
said in verse 28 "Besides those things that are without, that which cometh up on me daily the care of all the churches”. In all the
agony and torment he suffered he still had the churches well being on his mind.
And that is part of his reason for writing to the church at Philippi. He cared for them but could not get to them and said I have no man
likeminded as myself that I can send to you at this time who will naturally care for your state. Let's face it people, all people need to be
cared for in one way are the other. If not Jesus would not have given gifts to the church to mature them and minister to them in the
sted of Himself.
Eph 4:11-15
11 And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;
12 For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:
13 Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the
stature of the fulness of Christ:
14 That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men,
and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive;
15 But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ: KJV
Paul went on to say that even he needed to be cared for. And one man worked himself sick trying to care for Paul's needs where
others had come up short in their duty of caring for Paul.
You are part of the church that God has put before you to care for besides being a soul winner? God gives everyone someone and
often several someones to care for. I will never forget the first person God gave me to care for. He was backslidden and again
became a drunk. My job was to care enough for him to bring him back to Jesus. He lived in a nasty dirty little trailer house, I would go
over and he would be laying drunk on the floor. I would sit down and pull him close to me and hold him up between my legs, put my
arms around him and pray and talk to him. Sometimes he would vomit on me, sometimes urinate on me, and sometimes defecate on
himself. Sometimes he would do all three. I would always get him cleaned up and get him in bed. This went on for many months. But
one day he sat beside me in church sober and saved. He died soon after he got back to the Lord and now he is in heaven.
Come to think about it I am saved because someone cared. And I am able to stay on the mission field because many people care and
support me so I can stay here caring about what God cares about, People. I can work worry free of all the things that must be done in
America to keep this ministry going because I have a lady there that cares and does all that work for me. With or with out pay she
keeps things going.
Are you the caring person God wants you to be, and are you there for who or what he wants you to be there for? You may just be that
one special person God wants to care for the flowers outside on the church grounds. Are you anxious and taking thought?
Think about it and care.