Open your Bibles, if you would,
to Philippians chapter 2. The name of the message is Brethren
and Companions. Brethren and Companions. We'll continue our study in this
book of Philippians. We're going to read verses 24
to 30 together. And our text for today will be verse 25, but I wanted
to read the context of the verse for us, just to put in context
what we're reading here. Verse 24 to 30. "'But I trust
in the Lord that I also myself shall come shortly.'" This is
Paul writing this to the church at Philippi. "'Yet I suppose
it necessary to send to you Epaphroditus, my brother and companion in labour
and fellow soldier but your messenger and he that ministered to my
wants. For he longed after you all and
was full of heaviness because that he had heard that he had
been sick. Now Epaphroditus was sent by
the Philippian church to Paul in Rome to let him know, to let
him know the situation in Philippi and how the saints are doing.
So they sent him there. But Epaphroditus went there,
told Paul, but got sick. And we're going to see that in
the text. Near unto death. The Greek word for when it says
he was nigh unto death, the Greek word for nigh is neighbor. So
he was close to death. He was close to death. But the
Lord spared him. And we'll see. Look at verse
26. For he longed after you all and
was full of heaviness, because that ye had heard that he had
been sick. For indeed he was nigh unto death. In the Greek,
he was neighbored to death. He was near death. But God had
mercy on him, And not only on him only, but also on me, lest
I should have sorrow upon sorrow. So remember, Paul's under house
arrest. So he's saying, the Lord had mercy on Epaphroditus, who's
a fellow companion and a brother, right? And so Paul's saying,
lest I have sorrow on top of the sorrow I already have of
his death. Because when a brother or sister
that's dear to us goes home, We're happy for them, but we
have sorrow. We're happy for them because
they enter into the joy of the rest of the Lord, don't they?
But for us, we won't see them again until we pass and go to
be in the presence of the Lord with them, all by the mercy and
grace of God in Christ. He says, I send him, therefore,
the more carefully that when you see him again, you may rejoice. that I may be the less sorrowful. And the Paphrodite is a preacher
of the gospel, too. So, they're going to get to see
him and hear him preach again, and they're going to rejoice.
They're going to rejoice. Receive him, therefore. Receive him, therefore, in the
Lord with all gladness and hold such in reputation, because for
the work of Christ he was nigh unto death, not regarding his
life to supply your lack of service toward me. Now Paul again has
told the Philippian saints that he desires, remember we saw in
the last couple weeks, he desires to send Timothy to them. But man plans, as brother Tim
James says, man plans and God disposes, right? And we make plans, we make plans
for the future, we don't even know if we have the future. But
each day we live looking to Christ, don't we? I'm not saying don't
make plans, I'm just saying you can make plans and say, Lord
will it. Because we make plans and God disposes, right? He does
whatever He pleases. Whatever happens in our life
happens according to His will and purpose. And then when, like
what you went through, Brother Steve, and Dan and Kathy too,
when you go through those circumstances, you come through them praising
God for mercy and grace, and you see how he carries you through
it all, how he takes care of us. It's just absolutely amazing. Now we see in verse 25 that Paul
sends Epaphroditus back to them. He was sent by the Philippians
again to tell Paul how the Philippian church was doing. Remember, Paul
and the Philippians had a close bond. He was the instrument that
the Lord used to establish the church in Philippi, which is
Macedonia, which is Macedonia. It was the first European church,
if you want to call it European, the first church in the Europe
area. It was a colony of Rome. It was
actually called Little Rome because it was so much like Rome, but
just in a smaller version. And so Paul goes there and preaches
the gospel, and the Lord saves His lost sheep, he brings his
lost sheep. He's already saved them on Calvary's
cross. They're born again by the power of God, the Holy Spirit,
given faith to believe on Christ. And this wonderful church starts
there. Starts there, isn't that amazing?
It's absolutely incredible. And he becomes sick. Apophrodite becomes sick and
close to death we see in the text. But God has mercy on him
and on Paul, lest Paul, again, would be even more sorrowful.
Even more sorrowful. But remember, this sickness was
on, it was all according to the providence of God. And I'll never
forget when Steve called me, after you got your diagnosis,
Steve, and you called me, and I could just hear the joy in
your voice, you know, that your cancer was, it was gone. And all that happened according
to God's providence and grace, and then to see you giving glory
to God. And I know you had given glory
to God either way. But it's so neat to see that
and to hear that. It's so encouraging. And it encourages
all of us because we all are going to go through sickness
and sorrow and sadness. And so this we see is very encouraging. The Lord had mercy on Epaphroditus. Now he'd been just as merciful
taking him home, wouldn't he? But it was his will and purpose
that Epaphroditus would go back to Philippi and preach to the
saints there. Oh, my. Let's read verse 25 again,
and then I'm going to read it in the Greek literal Bible. Or
actually, in Weiss's translation, he's a Greek scholar, and I'll
read his translation of this verse, but first, let's read
what it says in the scripture right here. It says, "'Yet I
supposed it necessary to send to you, Epaphroditus, my brother
and companion in labour, fellow soldier, messenger, and your
messenger, and that he ministered to my wants.'" Now, listen to
this in Weiss. Greek interpretation of this
verse. But after weighing the facts, I considered it indispensable
to send to you Epaphroditus, my brother and fellow worker
and fellow soldier, but your ambassador, to whom you entrusted
a mission. Isn't that amazing? He was the
Philippian church's ambassador to go to talk to Paul. I love
this. It just brings out, right? Whom
you entrusted a mission, and he who in a secured way ministered
to my needs. So they send him as an ambassador
to Paul, and he's ministering to Paul's needs as well. It's
amazing. It's amazing. Now, remember,
Paul used the example of Christ, right? He used the example of
Christ, and in verses 1 to 5, and then further down, further
down, he goes even more in this chapter about, like we've been
talking about, humility leads to unity, right? Epaphroditus is an example of
a man that heeded what Paul said and wrote. And Paul uses him
as an example that way. Notice he calls him his brother,
his fellow worker, his fellow soldier, and he ministered to
my needs. You know, I never noticed that
in this verse till I was putting this message together. Those
four things. Isn't that amazing? We're brethren,
we're fellow soldiers, we minister together for the furtherance
of the gospel, and you are my companions while we go through
this life. Isn't that amazing? It's absolutely
incredible. And we are companions together.
We seek a better country, don't we? This isn't our home. And we know it's not our home
just by talking to people about our king. And you find out fast,
this ain't our home, is it? No. We're just passing through,
as the old hymn writer wrote. Let's go back up to verses 1
to 5. Again, Epaphroditus, he's the
next example which Paul brings forward and also illustrates
in his life the exhortations that Paul gave in verses 1 to
5 for the Philippian believers. He's an example of that by the
grace and mercy of God, of course, in Christ. Only because he's
been saved and redeemed by the precious blood of Christ and
born again by the Holy Spirit of God. That's the only way we
can have these things because it's Christ who works in us,
isn't it? Without him, we can't do nothing. He told us that. Oh, my. But look at this. Look
at this exhortation. Remember, there's beginning to
be rumblings in the church. Pastor Blaise probably told them,
well, yeah, there's a few things going on in the church. And look
at this exhortation in verses 1 to 5. If there be therefore
any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship
of the Spirit, if any bowels and mercies, fulfill ye my joy
that ye be like-minded. Epaphroditus is a fellow soldier. He's like-minded with Paul. He's a fellow preacher. Number
one, he's a brother. You guys are my brothers, and
you ladies are my sisters in Christ. We're called the brethren. Right? Look at this. If there
be any fellowship of the Spirit, and if any, bows and mercies,
fulfill ye my joy, that ye be like-minded, having the same
love, which is the love of God shall broaden our hearts, which
is a foreign love for us, being of one accord, look at the unity,
right? He keeps speaking of unity, like-minded,
one accord and one mind. How do we have unity in Christ
and by looking to Christ? Disunity starts from voices outside. Oh my. Or even inside sometimes. My oh my. Where they're not united
with the brethren. Now look at this. And again,
by the grace of God, Epaphroditus is a man who's living, trying.
How do we live the Christian life? Vicki was singing a song yesterday
that we used to sing years ago. And it's from the Old Testament. How do we practically live Christian
life? Well, we live justly in Christ,
right? But we try to live before the
world in Christ. And the only way we're just is
in Christ. And we walk humbly before our
God, right? Which is what Paul's exhorting
them to do here. Right? And we love mercy. Don't we? We love mercy. We love
mercy. Mercy comes to us in and through
Christ. And we, as a result of receiving
mercy, we seek, we want to give mercy. We're not the same as
we used to be. And then again, to walk humbly
before our God. My, oh my, beloved. It's looking
to Christ and walking through this world. It's not a formula that you find
in a book. Not a book written by sinners. But isn't this amazing that here
Paul is, and he's telling them, be of one accord, be of mine,
which is be united. And we see that even in our study
in Acts, don't we? We see that in our study of Acts,
where they're united. And then look at this. Let nothing
be done through strife or vainglory. Vainglory is one person vaulting
themselves above the others. I keep telling you all that I
am no better than any of you. We are all on the same ground,
saved by the same grace, redeemed by the same blood of Christ,
born again by the same Spirit, the Holy Spirit of God. There
is no hierarchy in this church. We are all looking to Christ. Look at this, let nothing be
done through strife, contention. Where does contention come? When
there's not unity, when there's no humility. Then I'll tell you
what, contention will come where there's no humility. Look at
this. But in loneliness of mind, I
love this, each esteeming other better than themselves. Esteeming
each other better. Better. Isn't that amazing? And then look not every man on
his own things, but on every man of the things of others.
That's just putting others before yourself. That's all that is. And then let this mind be in
you, which was also in Christ Jesus. And we know that that's
the mind of servitude. Because he submitted himself
to the Father's will. He humbled himself. Right? He who was equal with God became
a servant. Submitted himself to the Father's
will. Not my will, Father, but thy will be done. Oh my. So now, now every born again believer
in the Lord Jesus Christ is called a brother or a sister. Look at
this verse again. Paul calls, there's four things
in here that Paul calls Epaphroditus. We're going to look at three
things today, Lord willing. Yet I suppose it necessary to
send to you Epaphroditus, my brother. We're all brothers and sisters
in Christ. My brother. And companion. In labor. That's for the gospel. And fellow soldier. But your messenger who ministered
to my wants, he ministers. How? Well, by preaching Christ,
by talking about our King with Paul, Paul's under house arrest. Probably went there and had fellowship
together. And it would have been sweet.
How do we know that? Because it's sweet when we get
together, isn't it? Oh, it's wonderful. Now, Epaphroditus
was not Paul's brother in the flesh. No. But he was his brother in Christ. And we see the word brother in
our text. You know, the underlying Greek
word, I looked this up, for brother, literally means from the same
womb. It speaks of a common origin. It speaks of a common origin.
It speaks also in the Greek of a common level. We're all the same. Sinners saved by the grace of
God in and through Jesus Christ our Lord. The great apostle, you know what
Paul's doing here? The great apostle Paul is putting
himself on the same level as Epaphroditus. Brother, we're leaders in the
church, but we're no different than anybody else. We're all
the same. And we're actually servants of
the church, first and foremost. You're pastor, I'm to be a servant
to the church, first and foremost. And how do I serve? By preaching
the gospel to you. By being there with you, going
through things, right? Together. We love each other. It's absolutely amazing. My oh
my. So here Paul puts himself on
the same level as Epaphrodites. This is the Apostle Paul, who
wrote multiple books in the New Testament. He says, Epaphrodites
is my brother. My oh my. my oh my he was the philippians
messenger to paul but more importantly to paul he was his brother oh my let's read that verse again
philippians 2 25 yet i supposed it necessary to
send to you epaphroditus my brother again brother, and companion
in labor, and fellow soldier. But you're a messenger, and he
that ministered to my wants." You see what we see here? All
earthly distinctions, whether one's rich or poor, whether one
has a higher standing in society, all earthly distinctions are
leveled. They're leveled, beloved. There's
no little hill over here for one person, little hill over
here. We're just a bunch of sinners saved by grace. So this literally, brethren here,
levels any earthly distinctions. My oh my, it's wonderful. It
places all who are in Christ, rich, poor, nobility, or peasantry,
wise or unlearned on the same level. Brothers and sisters in
Christ, sinners saved by grace in and through Jesus Christ our
Lord. One might ask, what level? Well,
you know what it does? It places believers on the highest
level. We don't feel that way, but we're heirs, beloved. We're
heirs in Christ. I like what one commentator said,
and I think it was John Gale. We're part of the noble family
of God. We're aristocrats. We don't feel like it, do we?
But we are in Christ. Isn't that amazing, sister? When
I read that, it just knocked my socks off. Because we surely
don't feel that way. But we are heirs, aren't we?
According to the Father's grace and mercy. It doesn't matter
what we have or don't have here. It doesn't matter at all. If
we have Christ, we have everything. All our spiritual needs, right?
All that a sinner needs is in Christ. Praise his mighty name, he saved
us. Oh, let us rejoice that he saved our souls, beloved. God
did that. Isn't that wonderful? Christ
did that, willingly. He left the glories and splendors
of heaven, motivated by his everlasting, and I mean, I was talking to
Zane this week, everlasting, unchanging love. It doesn't change. Even before we knew him, he loved
us. and he loved us from eternity.
My, and he manifested that love. Christ manifested the Father,
manifested the Holy Spirit, manifested that love by sending Jesus Christ
into this world to save us from our sins by his doing and his
dying in our room and place. That's amazing. And God is fully satisfied. Christ
said, it's finished. God's satisfied. And here we
are, born-again, blood-washed believers, rejoicing in Jesus
Christ. God himself saved us. My, it's
incredible. And as a result of that, we're
brothers and sisters in Christ. Oh, my. All believers are on
the highest plane, namely in heaven, in heavenly places. It says we sit in heavenly places
in Christ already. It levels off all earthly distinctions,
beloved. And we who are the born-again
blood-washed people are but sinners saved by grace in and through
the Lord Jesus Christ. This world is not our home. We
seek a better country. And think upon this. As far as our heavenly citizenship
is concerned, this means that we are all heirs in Christ. Our
citizenship's in heaven. We're heirs. in Christ. Now we know how important citizenship
is, and the Romans did too. To be a Roman citizen was extremely
important. It was an honor and a privilege.
Just like being a citizen of any sovereign nation in this
world is a privilege. It's a privilege. Now the Greek word for brother
literally denotes a fellowship of life based on identity of
origin. Think of this. We're all members
who are born again of the family of God. We're identified. Our origin is identified. Our
salvation, Christ is the author and the finisher of it. Our regeneration,
God the Holy Spirit is the author of that. And our salvation was
planned and purposed by God the Father from eternity. My, oh my. We're members of the
same tribe, beloved. We're the born-again, blood-washed
people of God. We're fellow countrymen, do you
know? We may come from all different countries in this world, but
we have fellow countrymen, citizens of heaven, from every tribe,
kindred, tongue, and nation. Now just let that, just let that
sink in. Isn't that amazing? It's absolutely incredible. And
again, in Hebrews it says we seek a better country. We seek
a better country. Heaven. The land called heaven. And you know why it's heaven?
Because Christ is there. Heaven wouldn't be heaven without
Christ, would it? We get to behold the Lamb of
God forever. praising him and worshiping him
saying where there is a lamb that was slain he's slain for
my sins praise his mighty name oh what comfort that can give
us and you know we're of the same nature now we're born again we who are truly
the the people of God are born again by the Holy Spirit of God.
I told you last week of a fellow that I met, he says, I met him
again this week. And I asked him, when were you born
again? He's supposed to be an ordained
minister. When were you born again? Well, I was born when
I was little, and then I had a bad disease, a bad thing when
I was little, and I was spared, so I guess I was born again then.
I said, and Zane was with me, I said, that's what it means
to be born again. And I had the privilege of witnessing
to him about salvation in Christ alone, but you must be born again. We have the same nature. I was
talking to Vicki, I am not the same man I used to be. I'm a different person. Praise,
I'm thankful because none of you would have wanted to be around
me back then. But we all come from the same
quarry of humanity, don't we? We can remember what we were
and who we were, but praise God, now we're saved, now we're washed,
now we're redeemed by the blood of the Lamb, born again by the
Holy Spirit of God. Isn't that exciting? Wonderful,
beloved. It's wonderful. We're part of
the same family. We've been born again by the
Holy Spirit of God. We have Christ in us, the hope
of glory. And we see ourselves as family,
don't we? Last week, I said, I got a bunch
of older brothers again. I got older sisters I never had
before, big sisters. I love it. I got moms and grandmas. And I even have younger brothers
and sisters that I never had before. Isn't that wonderful? I was telling
Carolyn, I look at Barbara and Kevin, and the other, my little
brother and little sister. Isn't that wonderful? And we
love each other. It's amazing. Absolutely incredible. You know, and think of this too.
We're all bought by the same blood. Right? Scripture says we're bought
with a price, doesn't it? I'm only gonna get to one. I'm
only gonna get to one thing today. We're stuck on brethren right
now, brothers. But I was planning on doing three. It ain't gonna
happen. So, but think of this. We're family. We have the same
nature now, because we're born again. We have the same Father. Right? We have the same Savior. We're born again by the same
Spirit. And we're washed from all our sins by the same Savior
and the same blood. The precious blood of the Lord
Jesus Christ. He cleanses us from all our sin,
doesn't he? Isn't that amazing? I'll tell
you why. Bought and were purchased and
redeemed by the same blood. the blood of Christ. Think of
that, Brother Brian. He shed his blood to redeem us,
to purchase our eternal souls. And you know, like a hymn writer
writes, we were on his mind, beloved. You ever think of that? I'm crucified with Christ, nevertheless
I live. Yet not I, but Christ liveth
in me. In the life that I now live,
I live by the faith of the Son of God who gave himself for me. Who loved me. Loved me first.
He first loved us. Loved me and gave himself for
me. Galatians 2.20. Loved me with an everlasting
love. It's true, beloved. And gave
himself for me. And we can personalize that,
can't we? Paul personalized it, didn't he? Christ did that for
me. The unworthy one, the sinner,
the sinless one did that for us. And now we're brothers and
sisters. Do you know that we probably
would not have wanted to be around each other before we were saved? And now I don't want to be with
anyone else. How do you explain that? How
does the world explain that? I had a lot of good friends growing
up, people I knew, and I really cared about them. We watched
out for each other, but it was nothing to what we have here.
It was nothing to what the family of God has in Christ. It's absolutely incredible, beloved.
We're so blessed. My oh my. Another Greek scholar
brought forth that this word came to designate a fellowship
of love. The word brethren, or brothers,
and this word This word is translated in the Greek New Testament 226
times as brethren. It's translated brother 113 times,
and it's translated brothers seven times. It's used a lot. It's used a lot. So this Greek
scholar said it comes to designate a fellowship of love equivalent
to or bringing with it a community of life. We're a community of life. We're
living in this world, aren't we? We're going through similar
things. We have a community of life,
life in Christ. And he says, which we have in
Christ, beloved, we're beloved of the Father, as we are bought
with the same blood, the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. Isn't that amazing? We have now
a family. that we didn't have before. We
have now a community that we didn't have before. And this community and this family
will be together forever, in eternity, where we'll have perfect
love. We think our love is special
now. We'll have perfect love for each other in glory. Think of how much you love your
bride, brother, who's the same. You're gonna love her even more
in glory. Isn't that amazing? That's amazing. Think of how
much you and Carol and brother Barb love each other. As a mom
and a daughter, you're gonna love each other even more in
glory with a perfect love. Isn't that wonderful? the love we have for each other
will be magnified even more in glory. We can't wait, can we? Get rid of this body of death,
a body of sin. Oh, praise God for his mercy
and grace. Brian, can you close