Open your Bibles if you would
to Philippians chapter two. The name of the message is, I
struggled with what to call this message and I just decided to
call it Christian love. Christian love. Now remember,
Paul is a former Jew. Epaphroditus is a Greek. Timothy is a Greek. Silas, as
far as we know, was a Jew, I believe. But these folks would have nothing
to do with each other if they weren't brethren in Christ. The Jews would have nothing to
do with the Gentiles. Greeks, Romans, whatever, didn't
matter. And the Greeks, I didn't realize
this until I read a book series. The Greeks and Romans, they did
not like each other. They did not like, remember the
Romans conquered the Greeks, kept their language, but conquered
them militarily. And at one time, Greece had a
very large empire. But here they are. Two Jews and two Greeks ministering
in the gospel. Actually, Timothy's not with
them. Timothy's in Ephesus, I believe, at this point. So look at this in Philippians
chapter two. We'll continue our study here.
In this letter written by Paul, well, he was under arrest. Most commentators don't really
specify whether they think that Paul was at this time still under
house arrest or if he was actually imprisoned in a prison. It doesn't matter, does it? We
know that he was under guard constantly, 24 hours. We know that from the first chapter. He was in Rome, he was bought
there for preaching the gospel. And here we go, let's read verses,
actually we're gonna read verses 24 to the end of the chapter. So Timothy is in Ephesus. Oh no, Timothy, no, I'm sorry,
Timothy's with him. Oh my gosh, what am I saying?
Timothy's with him, because he was either going to send Timothy,
and then he decided to send Epaphroditus. So Timothy's with him. So there's
two Greeks and two Jews together if Silas is with them. Folks
who would never get along. Oh my. But We're seeing verse
25, Paul calls, which we looked at last week and the week before,
Paul calls Epaphroditus, my brother, my companion in labor, my fellow
soldier, and your messenger, because Epaphroditus was sent
by the Philippians with a love offering to Paul to help him
with his needs. And notice that in verse 25,
he tells the Philippians, Now this letter is going to go back
with Epaphroditus to Philippi. He tells them that Epaphroditus
is ministered to my needs. We're going to see what that
is in verse 30. He's ministered to his needs. Look at verse 30.
Because for the work of Christ he was nigh unto death. not regarding
his life to supply your lack of service toward me." Now, see
that lack of service there, toward me? When I first read that years
ago, and up until yesterday, I thought what he was kind of
giving them a little rebuke there. John Gale brought out something.
He's not rebuking them. Because remember earlier he said
he thanked them for what they gave him? He says in the Greek, what's
being bought forth is there's such a distance between them,
they can't help him at that time. But they send Epaphroditus and
he's helping them in the time that they can't help Paul. I
was like, oh my gosh, that makes total sense, doesn't it? So he's not rebuking them when
he says, you're lack of service. He's just saying, you can't.
Sister, it'd be like if I was in Oregon visiting Norm, and
you wanted to send something to me. Or you wanted to help
me if I was having trouble out there. But then you send someone
to help me out. That's what Paul's saying, is
you can't help me right physically where I am. but whoever you're
going to send will. Isn't that amazing? And I'm like,
oh, that makes sense. I've been reading it wrong for
years. Isn't that funny how the Holy Spirit corrects us in our
learning? It's wonderful. And I was just
rejoicing because I understood what he's saying then. Yeah,
it's amazing. God is so good to us. So he's
not rebuking them there. No, he's just saying, you're
too far of a distance to help me. But Epaphroditus, look at
this, he was nigh unto death. He helped me, even despite him
being so sick, he was neighbor to death. That's what the Greek
means in there. The nigh means a neighbor to death. And he still
just kept pouring himself out. Oh, my. So let's read here, let's
read what the Holy Spirit has set before us here in verses
24 to 30. And remember, as we read this,
look at the affection, the Christian love. That's why I finally named
it this. Look at the affection that flows
out of these words. It's absolutely incredible. And
then remember again, Paul's a Roman. He's a Roman, but he's also a
Jew. He had nothing to do with the Greeks. And here's the prophet
Isaiah the Greek, and he loves him. Timothy, he loves him. See, Christian love, true Christian
love, there's no barriers. There's no racial divide. We're
one in Christ. We're one in Christ. It doesn't
matter the pigmentation of our skin. It doesn't matter where
we were born. I'm born in Canada. You can all
accept me. It's wonderful. Right? But, you see what I mean? It doesn't matter where we come
from. It doesn't matter what state we're in. Rich, poor, or
in the middle. It doesn't matter. We're in Christ. Look at the Christian love here.
This is amazing. Look at the care and concern. But I trust
in the Lord that I also myself shall come shortly. So Paul's
desiring to send them either Timothy or Epaphroditus to preach
the gospel to them, to say, Paul's doing good, he's okay. Yet I
suppose it necessary, look at that, look at the care he has
for the Philippian church. I suppose it necessary to send
to you Epaphroditus, my brother. Oh, the affectionate, and companion
in labor, and fellow soldier, but your messenger, and he that
ministered to my wants. So not only is he dear to you,
my dear brothers and sisters, he's saying in Philippi, but
he's dear to me, Paul's saying. He ministered to my wants. We're gonna find out he did that
even near to death. What love of Paphroditus show
for Paul, right? Oh, it's amazing. And think of
the love we have here in Christ. It's absolutely incredible. That's
the same love they had for one another. It's just, it's amazing. Look at this. For he longed after
you all, and was full of heaviness, because he had heard that he
had been sick. And he's longing for them. Oh
my. For indeed he was sick, nigh,
that means neighbor in the Greek, unto death. But God had mercy on him, and
not on him only, but on me also, lest I should have sorrow upon
sorrow. I sent him therefore the more
carefully. So after prayerful consideration, He's gonna send
Epaphroditus back. More carefully, that when you
see him again, he may rejoice. They're gonna see their pastor
again. He'd been gone for a while. They're gonna see him again. Oh my, I don't know. Maybe he
was gone for a year. Maybe he was gone for six months.
I don't know, but he was gone for a while. He longs to see
them. They long to see him. Look at this. That ye may rejoice
and that I may be less sorrowful. We're going to look at what that
all means too. Receive him therefore in the Lord with gladness. Look
at that. Receive him in the Lord and hold such in reputation. Because for the work of Christ,
the gospel, he was nigh unto death, not regarding his life
to supply your lack of service toward me. So look at verse 26,
we're gonna get right into this. We see a paradise that's full
of heaviness for the brethren at Philippi. They're concerned,
he's full of heaviness, he wants to be with them, and they're
concerned for his welfare. Why? Because they're knit together
in love, beloved, in Christ. They're knit together in love. People who would never have anything
to do with each other in their natural state. Jews wanted nothing
to do with Gentiles, did they? Call them a bunch of dogs. Look
at the love they have for one another. All those, all those
discriminations, all those prejudices are gone. Oh my. And the reason Paul deemed
it was necessary, we see, to send Epaphroditus back to the
Philippians was because Epaphroditus was longing to be home. Look at this, verse 26, for he
longed after you all. Again, the Greek construction
of this word shows that this was not an occasional yearning. He wasn't going, oh, I really
miss him and then getting back to the work. This was a continuous
yearning. Similar to what you hear us preachers
say, when we're away, we're thinking about you all. I'm praying for
Travis when he's going to preach. I'm praying for you all. My heart's
here and my spirit and my body's somewhere else. I'm going to
Oregon in May. My heart will still be here. My oh my. This is what happens. So he's longing for them. The
word's full of heaviness. They're from a Greek word. used
only two other times in the New Testament. And you know when
they're used? When the Lord's in Gethsemane. Listen to this,
Matthew 26, 37. And he took with him Peter and
the two sons of Zebedee and began to be sorrowful and very heavy. Same Greek word. And then, Mark 14, 33, And he
taketh with him Peter and James and John and began to be sore
amazed and to be very heavy. Same Greek word, heavy there
is the same Greek word is longing. This is a continuous yearning. Think of that with the Lord.
Think of his prayer in John 17 when he prays to be back with
the Father. Our Lord was here redeeming our
eternal souls, and he had a yearning to be back with the Father. Isn't that amazing? And where
he is, what? We will soon be afterwards, right?
When we depart this world, whoosh, right with him. To be absent
from the body, be present with the Lord. Oh, it's amazing, beloved. The Greek word finds its origin The idea of not at home. He wasn't at home in Rome. His heart, his heart was with
the Philippians. This world is not our home. We're
just passing through. The Lord came down here to redeem
his people, and then he went back home. Isn't it wonderful? It's wonderful,
isn't it, sister? It's wonderful, I'll tell you. Makes your heart
just leap for joy, I'll tell you. Oh. So we see, then, that the
heart of Epaphroditus was not at rest. He's laboring for the
Lord, but his heart's not at rest. He's resting in Christ,
but his yearning in his heart is to be home. to be with the
dear folks that God had called him to pastor. My, oh my. And we see here, again, the reason
for the restlessness was that he was concerned that the Philippians
had heard of his illness, and they were concerned over their
messenger. Remember, they sent him to Rome. So not only is he their pastor,
but he's been sent as a messenger. And now they're concerned, oh,
he got sick. Well, we sent him. But what a miracle, divine grace.
Think of this, that had been wrought in the hearts of these
Greeks who had recently came out of paganism. They'd recently
come out of idol worship, beloved. And look at the Christian love
in their hearts now for each other. That wasn't there before. There are new creatures in Christ.
They've been born again by the Holy Spirit of God. Washed in the precious blood
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now they have a love for God
they didn't have before. They have a love for the gospel
they didn't have before. They have a love for Christ they
didn't have before. And they have a love for one another they
didn't have before. That's a miracle of grace, isn't
it? Oh, it's wonderful. I'll tell you, it's just amazing.
They come out of paganism, and here they are now. They're worshiping
the Lord Jesus Christ. Trusting Him. And you know who
works this love in us? The Holy Spirit of God. It cannot
be mustered up. It cannot be mustered up. God
works this in us. It's the love of God shed abroad
in our hearts, beloved. It's wonderful. Oh my. He works this love in us where
now we love the gospel and we love the Lord and we love one
another, we love the scriptures. It's truly amazing. Listen to
verse 26 in the Greek literal Bible. Since he was longing after
you all and being deeply distressed because you heard that he was
ill. He was distressed because they
were concerned for him. He didn't want them worrying.
He wanted to say, I'm okay. See, they didn't have cell phones
like we have now. They didn't have email like we
have now. You send a letter, it's gonna
take a little while to get where you want it to go. Oh my. Now let's read verse 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. See
the words nigh unto in the Greek, this tells us how near Epaphroditus
was to death. Again, in the Greek it means
just next door, neighbor. Oh my, he and death, I think
it was Gale said, he and death were next door neighbors at this
time. But, marvel at how God has appointed a time for all
of us to die. For every man, woman, and child,
we have an appointment to die. The scripture declares, and it
is appointed unto men once to die, but after this, the judgment.
Hebrews 9 verse 27. And if it's our appointment to
die, we will not recover. But if it's not our appointment
to die, we'll recover. And God not only has mercy on
Epaphroditus, but we see in the text He spared him from death, but
also had mercy on Paul, lest he should have sorrow upon sorrow. What does this show us? This
shows us that Paul wasn't on the mountaintop, like false preachers
always say, bouncing around saying, well, oh yeah, look what's happening. David, we know, got depressed.
Paul's sorrowful here. Oh my, this is real Christian,
isn't it? My, now there's sometimes we
are. We are way up sometimes. And I'm thankful for those times.
You're just full of joy. But there's also times when we're
in the valley. But never forget, God's always
with us. And even whether we're in the
high, parts of the valley, on top of the mountains or the valleys,
we keep looking to Christ, don't we? That's the key. That's the
key, beloved, when you keep our eyes on Christ. Oh my. My, oh my. So lest one affliction,
him being in prison, and another affliction, if Epaphras died,
would cause sorrow upon sorrow. That's what that means. The sickness of Epaphroditus
would have filled Paul with sorrow and concern. He loves him, he's
his brother. He's probably asking the Lord
to spare him. And had he died, it would have
greatly, what Paul is bringing forth here is that had he died,
it would have greatly increased my sorrow. And then Paul would have been
concerned on top of that. See, this is amazing. You start
looking at these verses a little deeper than just reading them,
right? You know, this is why I love verse by verse, because
we learn so much. Think of this, too. Not only
is he concerned for Epaphroditus, but he's also concerned for the
church. Because then they'd be without a pastor, wouldn't they,
Brother Travis? And that'd bring even more sorrow. See, God had mercy on Paul, on
Epaphroditus, and on the church at Philippi, didn't he? My, oh my. And then we see in verse 28 that
Paul has a love for the Philippians, even though he will-look at this
love, man-even though he will greatly miss Epaphroditus. Epaphroditus
has blessed him. And he's going to greatly miss
Epaphroditus. He desires that the Philippian
brothers and sisters be comforted by Epaphroditus' return. Because
you know he's going to preach the gospel. He's going to preach
the gospel to them, isn't he? He's going to preach Christ crucified
to them. Right? But also they love him. He's their preacher. He's their
pastor. Look at this. Verse 28, I sent him therefore
the more carefully, so prayerfully, that when you see him again,
you may rejoice that I may be less sorrowful. And then look
at verse 29. Receive him therefore in the
Lord with all gladness and hold such in reputation. We see Paul
here tells the Philippians to receive Epaphroditus. to receive
him with all gladness, even though he's ministered to me and I'm
going to miss him, he's saying, receive him with gladness. I'll
rejoice when he comes back. Calvin brings forth that Paul
employs the word all, look at this, receive him therefore the
Lord with all gladness. Calvin brings forth that Paul
employs the word all to mean sincere and abundant, genuine
joy, genuine gladness. Be happy he's coming back. He's
coming home. Be sincere in receiving Epaphroditus. Again, he's their pastor. He's
been a great source of joy to the apostle because he's ministered
to his needs. But he knows he's going to be
a great source of joy to the Philippians, doesn't he? And they're to receive him with
gladness. Sincerity. Joy. Oh, my. The Greek word for gladness
in verse 29 means to rejoice. Rejoice. It means joy, rejoicing,
gladness. So he exhorts them, and at the
latter part of this verse, he exhorts them to hold him to hold
such in reputation. Just honor him. They hold him in high esteem. That's what that means. Just
hold him in high esteem. He preaches the gospel faithfully
to them. Hold him in high esteem. That's all that means. Hold this
faithful pastor in the highest esteem or estimation. Then look at verse 30. Because
for the work of Christ, he was nigh unto death, not regarding
his life to supply your lack of service toward me. So even
though Paul's in chains, he's still laboring for the Lord,
isn't he? Because he's preaching. He's having people come. They're
talking about the Lord. He's probably having people come.
He's preaching the gospel to them. We know the Lord saved
some of them Patorian guards, didn't he? And word spread through,
we saw that in chapter one, word spread through the Patorian guard
that he was in there unjustly, didn't it, Brother Travis? He
was being held unjustly, just preaching the gospel. And then
some of them believed by the grace and mercy of God. It's
wonderful. Again, we see God's providential
hand at work, placing Paul in Rome. There's some lost sheep
among the Praetorian guards. They have to hear the gospel,
don't they? Imagine being chained to a pillow for six hours. Brother
Brian, and we were pagans, and we're saying we're both chained
to this guy, and he just getting there preaching. You're gonna
be hearing stuff, aren't you? It don't matter if you close,
you can't close your ears, you're a soldier. You gotta stay there
like this. Oh, it's what, Paul loved it. He had a new group of people
to preach to every six hours. He loved it. Four watches a day. Oh my, I love it. I love how
the Lord puts his people in the place where they're going to
hear the gospel, all by his divine providence. Oh my. So we see before us in these
verses, starting all the way with verse 19 in this section
here, The testimony of the love that Paul has for the brethren
at Philippi and the love that he has for Timothy and Epaphroditus.
We know Silas as well. He loves all these. He loves
the brethren. He has a genuine love for them.
Just like we have for one another, beloved. Isn't that amazing? The same love we have for each
other, the same love we have for the gospel, the same love
we have for the Lord Jesus Christ, is the same love they had shed
abroad in their hearts. It's absolutely amazing. And
notice the concern for each other too. The love and concern for
each other. It's genuine. And again, it's worked in us
and in them by God, the Holy Spirit. He'll always point us
to Christ, right? Scripture says he won't speak
of himself, he'll always point us to Christ. And remember this
too. This is amazing. I was thinking
about this. We're being conformed to the image of Christ. And if we're being conformed
to the image of Christ, we're going to grow in love, aren't
we? For one another. For Christ, for the gospel, to
God. Isn't that amazing? Look back before you were saved. and look back and think, did
I love God's people? No. We didn't, did we, sister?
No. Now, they're the most wonderful
people in the world, aren't they? They're fellow sinners saved
by grace like me. We found our people, beloved. We're all different personalities.
We come from all different places. We have all different pigmentations
of skin, but we're born again by the same
Spirit of God. We have the same faith. We have
the same Father. Oh, we have the same Redeemer. And we're washed in the same
precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ from all our sins. Isn't
it wonderful? Oh, it's so wonderful. I'll tell
you what, it's amazing. And now we have a genuine concern
for each other. So let us remember what's brought
here before us. This is a wonderful model of
the primitive church, right? Well, the church is always being
God's people, but the New Testament church, right? This is a picture
of us, picture of the love that God works in his people for number
one for our great head right the lord jesus christ he's the
head of the church isn't he oh yeah he's the head and we're
the body and then he cements he cements the members of his
body together henry used to say by
the the cement is his blood i like that Oh my. And then we're cemented together
in love too, aren't we? It's absolutely amazing. And we have this union in Christ
that we didn't have before we were saved. We're new creatures. We're born
again by His power, by the power of God the Holy Spirit. And we have a oneness in Christ. And may the world know whose we are. We're the Lord's. We're the Lord's by choice, and we're the Lord's by purchase.
Isn't that amazing? Oh my. It's wonderful. We're the church of the living
God. One mind, one heart. That's a heart for Christ. And
God's people want to attend to the things of God, don't we?
We desire to hear the gospel. We desire to hear about our Lord
and Savior. And marvel at what the Holy Ghost
has recorded here in this blessed chapter. Marvel at what he's
recorded before. Let's go back up to verse 5.
Marvel at what's recorded here by God the Holy Spirit. We're
finishing this chapter now, but let's do a little review, just
a few verses up. Marvel at what's being put before
us, the personal humbleness of the Lord Jesus Christ. He's God,
the Word of God in heaven. Oh my, look at, marvel at this.
The Holy Spirit has recorded this for us. May we exalt the
Lord Jesus Christ over what's presented to us here. Let this
mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus. who being in
the form of God thought it not robbery to be equal with God.
That speaks of his eternality in heaven. Who being in the form of God,
again, thought it not robbery to be equal with God, but made
himself, look at this, of no reputation. Look at the humility.
And took upon him the form of a servant who was made in the
likeness of man. That's his incarnation. And here's
his great work. And being found fashioned And
being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself and became
obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. What humility
is set before us. Remember, as we've been going
through this chapter, one of the things we've been saying
is humility always leads to unity. So we have the great example
of Christ. And then in this chapter we have the example of Paul,
Timothy, Epaphroditus. Sinners just like us, saved by
grace, but we see their Christian love, don't we, for one another.
It's absolutely amazing. And those verses, I'll tell you,
verses 5 to 8, they fill the believer with joy. We marvel
that God himself became a man and shed his precious blood to
redeem us from all our sins. Marvel at the Lord Jesus Christ
took upon him the form of a servant was made in the likeness of man
Then he humbled himself and became obedient death even the death
of the cross to save cross to save us from our sins That's
amazing Now what love is set before us there the everlasting
love of God So our love for each other and our love for Christ
and our it comes from above and He came from above. He is love
incarnate, isn't he, for his people. Oh my, God manifested
his love for his people by sending his only begotten son into the
world to save us from our sins. Oh my, it's amazing. The Holy
One dying for the ungodly, that's me. Oh, and this love that the Lord
Jesus Christ has for his people, we can't comprehend what's the
breadth and the length and the depth and the height of this
everlasting love. We just can't. But we believe
it, don't we? By the grace of God. And it passes
all knowledge, doesn't it? Oh, let us seek strength each
day from the Lord, looking wholly to Christ and Him alone. For
we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works,
which God hath before ordained, that we should walk in them.
My, oh, my. Let we who are the redeemed Lord
walk through this world confident of our safety in Christ, in our
covenant head, the Lord Jesus Christ. And let us walk confidently
in Christ, not in anything we do, but in Christ. Oh, our salvation's
complete. Our redemption's complete. The Lord Jesus Christ himself,
God in the flesh, died in our room and place. So let us, by the grace of God,
do all things without murmurings and disputants, that we may be
blameless and harmless to the sons of God without rebuke, that
we may hold forth the word of life, which is Christ. made a
crooked and perverse nation and generation, whom we shine as
lights in this world. To God be the glory and honor
and praise for saving our souls. He's so merciful. Brother Travis,
can you close us in prayer?