Section 4
a drink offering upon the sacrifice and priestly service of your faith. Because I am in prison, I have no way to come to you. If I were at liberty to do so, I would visit you immediately. Since I am not able to come, I shall send Timothy, one whose experience of Christ makes him full of concern for the churches and the saints." I wish to emphasize again and again the crucial point that the genuine experience of Christ will always cause us to care for the churches and the saints.
I have often said that if we have good fellow ship with the Lord in the morning, we shall be eager to meet with the church in the evening. This is another indication that the real experi ence of Christ always turns us to the church and results in a care for the saints.
Paul's concern for the churches and the saints came out of his experience of Christ. The real concern for the church will always proceed from the experience of Christ and the enjoyment of Christ.
No doubt, both Timothy and Epaphroditus were younger than Paul. In verse 22 Paul says of Timothy, "But you know his approvedness, that as a child with a father he has served with me in the gospel." The Greek word rendered "approved ness" means approved worth, proof of having