Opening Text:           “So likewise ye, when ye shall have done all those things which are commanded you, say,  We are unprofitable servants:  we have done that which was our duty to do.”                                        (Luke 17:10)

 

What are the three principle duties of a Christian?

 

First: Care for Others

A.                                                     Care for the Jew                (Romans 15:27)

B.                                                     Care for the Church           (2 Corinthians 11:28)

C.                                                    Care for the Preacher         (Phil. 4:10 and 2 Cor. 11:32-33)

D.                                                    Care for the Saints       1 Corinthians 12:25 and Phil. 2:17-24)

 

Why do we care for others?

A.                                                     Because many times there is no one else to do this work.

                        Timothy          “But I trust in the Lord Jesus to send Timotheus shortly unto you, that I also may be of good comfort, when I know your state.  20For I have no man likeminded, who will naturally care for your state.”

                                                                                                                              (Phil. 2:19-20)

                        Epaphroditus  (Phil. 2:25-30)

A.                                                     Because it makes people’s spirits rejoice

                                    “But I rejoiced in the Lord greatly, that now at the last your care of me hath flourished again; wherein ye were also careful, but ye lacked opportunity.”                                                                             (Phil. 4:10)

A.                                                     Because it is like Christ to care for others in their time of need

                                    “Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.”       (I Peter 5:7)

A.                                                     Because it will make your soul to flourish like a garden

                                    “And if thou draw out thy soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul; then shall thy light rise in obscurity, and thy darkness be as the noonday: 11And the LORD shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in drought, and make fat thy bones: and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not.”                    (Isa. 58:10-11)

 

Second: Prayer for Others

 

A.                 Pray for Everything

“Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.”              (Phil. 4:6)

 

                        Prayer should be the constant in a Christian’s life, not a variable.

 

A.                 Pray for Strength

            “For I know that this shall turn to my salvation through your prayer, and the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ,”                                      (Phil. 1:19)

 

                        Many Christians are going through difficult places.  Paul wrote this letter from a dungeon.

 

A.                 Pray for Healing

“And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him. 16Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.”                      (James 5:15-16)

 

A recent study has found that prayer is proven to be effective in healing people.

 

Third: Share with Others

 

“Holding forth the word of life; that I may rejoice in the day of Christ, that I have not run in vain, neither laboured in vain.”                                           (Phil. 2:16)

 

Why do we hold forth the Word of Life?

Why do we proclaim the gospel of Jesus?

 

A.                 For the furtherance of the gospel...

                                    “But I would ye should understand, brethren, that the things which happened unto me have fallen out rather unto the furtherance of the gospel; 13So that my bonds in Christ are manifest in all the palace, and in all other places;    14And many of the brethren in the Lord, waxing confident by my bonds, are much more bold to speak the word without fear. 15Some indeed preach Christ even of envy and strife; and some also of good will: 16The one preach Christ of contention, not sincerely, supposing to add affliction to my bonds: 17But the other of love, knowing that I am set for the defence of the gospel. 18What then? notwithstanding, every way, whether in pretence, or in truth, Christ is preached; and I therein do rejoice, yea, and will rejoice.”                           (Phil. 1:12-18)

 

A.                 People are in darkness and need the light of Christ...

“That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world;”                                                            (Phil. 2:15)