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Philippians 2:17-30 · Providence Baptist Church - Sermons

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Good morning, CFC. Go ahead and turn with your Bibles to Philippians chapter 2.
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! We're going to be starting in verse 17.
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And for those who are paying attention to bullets, and we're supposed to start in verse 19, but I called an audible, so hopefully I'm invited back.
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Let's see.
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Yeah, we'll be in verse 17.
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And before we actually read from there, I just wanted to read a brief quote, because I think it sets the stage well for what we're about to read.
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This quote is from John MacArthur, and he says,
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Philippians 2, 17 through 30, presents three men whose lives are exceptional patterns for godly living.
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These three, Paul, Timothy, and Epaphroditus, were together in Rome at this time.
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Paul was a prisoner in his own rented quarters.
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Though chained to a soldier, he was free to carry on his work unhindered, Acts 28, 16.
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And Timothy, the apostle's son in the faith, 1 Timothy 1, 2, had been with him for some time.
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Epaphroditus had been sent from the Philippian church to bring financial support for Paul and to minister to his needs.
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The men were knit together geographically, spiritually, and ministerially in a common cause.
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Each was passionately devoted to the Lord Jesus Christ, not consumed with his own interests.
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For the Lord's sake, each had risked his health, his freedom, and even his life.
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So let's now read our passage, and I'll trust that you'll see some of those themes we just read there emerge and be woven into the text.
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But again, our text is Philippians 2, starting verse 17.
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And Paul writes,
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Even if I am to be poured out as a drink offering upon the sacrificial offering of your faith,
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I am glad and rejoice with you all.
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Likewise, you also should be glad and rejoice with me.
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I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you soon,
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so that I too may be cheered by news of you.
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For I have no one like him who will be genuinely concerned for your welfare.
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For they all seek their own interests, not those of Jesus Christ.
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But you know Timothy's proven worth,
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how as a son with a father, he has served with me in the gospel.
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I hope therefore to send him just as soon as I see how it will go with me.
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And I trust in the Lord that shortly I myself will come also.
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Verse 25.
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I have thought it necessary to send to you Epaphroditus,
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my brother and fellow worker and fellow soldier,
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your messenger and minister to my need.
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For he has been longing for you all and has been distressed because you heard that he was ill.
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Indeed, he was ill near to death.
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But God had mercy on him, and not on him, but also on me,
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lest I should have sorrow upon sorrow.
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I am the more eager to send him, therefore,
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that you may rejoice at seeing him again,
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and that I may be less anxious.
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So receive him in the Lord with all joy and honor such men.
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For he nearly died for the work of Christ,
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risking his life to complete what was lacking in your service to me.
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So a quick outline here, and don't worry about writing these down,
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because I'll repeat them later, but we just have four points this morning.
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Point one, Paul, Timothy, and Epaphroditus are going to serve as an example
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or a paradigm of everything Paul has exhorted the Philippians to be so far.
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We'll talk about what that is.
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Point two is that these three men knew and loved each other,
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as well as the Philippians.
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Point three, we are called to be relational because the Trinity is relational.
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And point four, the gospel undergirds everything.
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And then we'll close with some application.
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But I just want to lay those out so you get an idea of where we're going.
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But really briefly, I also want to summarize where we're at so far in this text.
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What has happened so far in this epistle to the Philippians?
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So Paul writes with thankfulness and joy to the Philippians,
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quote, because of their partnership in the gospel, Philippians 1.5.
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His prayer for them is that they would abound in love more and more with knowledge and all discernment
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so that they may approve what is excellent, Philippians 1.9-10.
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Paul then explains the joy it is to suffer in prison
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while knowing that it is advancing the gospel of Jesus Christ, Philippians 1.12-30.
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Paul then exhorts the church of Philippi, saying,
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quote,
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Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ
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so that whether I come and see you or am absent,
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I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit,
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with one mind, striving side by side for the faith of the gospel.
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That's Philippians 1.27.
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And Paul explains that the key to this worthy life,
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this life that is side by side, consisting of one mind and one spirit,
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is humility, as exemplified by our Lord himself,
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in Philippians 2.1-11, who came down in the form of man.
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So in light of Christ's personal work,
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Paul calls the church of Philippi to continue in the work of sanctification,
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which is the work of God, Philippians 1.6.
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And an outflow of this is doing all things without grumbling or questioning,
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but rather sacrificing oneself with gladness and rejoicing.
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Philippians 2.14-18.
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So this is my very quick summary of what we have covered so far in this epistle.
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You might be wondering, okay, Christ is our great example of humility, joy,
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righteousness, obedience, etc.
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But what does it look like for a sinner or a community of sinners to replicate Christlikeness?
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Why is this passage that we're about to read included?
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It seems somewhat out of place.
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So this leads me to my first point.
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Point number one, Paul, Timothy, and Epaphroditus are an example or a paradigm
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of everything Paul has exhorted the Philippians to be so far.
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So like I said, this text seems out of place.
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Why might I say that?
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Because normally when you read a Pauline epistle,
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he's going to put something personal and logistical like this text towards the end of his epistle.
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And yet this is right smack dab in the middle of Philippians.
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So if you accept that the section is not out of place, which I don't think it is,
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then the best justification of Paul writing verses 19 through 30 right here
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would be to tie it into what has already been said.
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Paul commands the Philippians that they should be glad and rejoice with him, 2.18.
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Notice the repeated command within our main body.
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Paul says the Philippian church should, quote,
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rejoice at seeing Epaphroditus again in verse 28,
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and that they should receive him in the Lord with all joy, in verse 29.
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Paul also commanded the Philippians to do all things without grumbling or questioning, in verse 14.
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So think about Epaphroditus.
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It is mentioned twice that he almost died, verse 27, verse 30.
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And Epaphroditus willingly risked his life to serve Paul and ultimately Christ.
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Does that not sound like a man, somebody who does things without questioning or grumbling?
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How on earth could you willfully sacrifice yourself to the point of death and serving another while grumbling and questioning?
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Those things don't compute.
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You cannot.
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So clearly, Epaphroditus is a good example of a soldier, verse 25,
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who takes his orders and obeys them diligently without thought of self.
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Of course, we see Paul in 2.17 expressing the same selfless attitude.
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He joyfully sacrifices himself for the benefit of the other's faith and the glory of God.
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In Timothy, the text says it all, there is no one like him who will genuinely be concerned for the Philippians or others.
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Welfare, verse 20.
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So Paul emphasizes humility throughout this epistle.
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Paul's greatest argument for humility being necessary is our Lord's own humility
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and coming down and form a man, as I mentioned earlier, 2.8.
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No one is a greater example of humility than Christ, but still, by God's grace,
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the Philippian church was given other examples of humility in Paul, Timothy, and Epaphroditus.
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Timothy submitted himself to Paul as a child submits to a father.
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A very humbling thing to do.
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And again, both Paul and Epaphroditus, that's going to happen a couple times today,
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and Epaphroditus show their humble qualities and their willingness to die for the work of the gospel.
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So Paul sets himself, Timothy, and Epaphroditus up as examples of humility,
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of joyful serving, and so on to be followed.
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So now we see how this text fits with the flow of Paul's epistle.
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So what can we learn about these men from this text?
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And this leads me to point number two.
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So point number two, these three men knew and loved each other as well as the Philippians.
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These three men knew and loved each other as well as the Philippians.
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It goes almost without saying that this text is highly relational.
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I say almost because it is easy for us to imagine Paul in his ivory tower
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writing all his brilliant epistles to the churches.
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I mean, after all, how could he have time to write so much?
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Unless he had his tea, his desk, his lampstand, no distractions like pesky people.
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Right? Gosh, they're the worst.
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No. I mean, we forget that Paul was a traveling missionary and he loved people.
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He loved the church.
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He went all over the place from Jerusalem to Asia Minor to the Greek Peninsula and to Rome.
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He was in prison and still showing concern and care for the churches that he was a part of that he helped planted in writing this epistle.
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But the point is that Paul knew these people and came alongside them, not choosing to just send letters from an ivory tower.
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He was not on his own island, but in relationship with the body of the church.
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We see this relational aspect in a few ways within our text.
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Paul calls Timothy his son and they served together.
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Verse 22.
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Paul relies on Timothy as indicated by the fact that Paul intends to send him.
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After he learns more of his own situation, he's going to send Timothy to Philippi.
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So he relies on Timothy.
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That's verse 23.
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Paul calls Epaphroditus his brother, his fellow soldier, his fellow worker, and minister to Paul's own needs.
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Verse 24.
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So again, notice that relying language.
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Paul relies on Epaphroditus, not just Timothy.
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And notice how all those descriptions are relational.
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My fellow soldier, my fellow brother.
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These men knew each other.
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This relational aspect does not just cover Paul, Timothy, and Epaphroditus, but also each of their relationships to the Philippian church.
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Paul wants to send Timothy so that Paul may be cheered by news of the Philippians, 219.
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Timothy genuinely cares about the Philippians, 220.
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And Timothy is known by the Philippians, apparently, since he has a, quote, proven worth, verse 22.
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And Paul wants to come to Philippi to be with the church, the people, verse 24, right?
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It's not just a organization, but a people group.
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And Epaphroditus has been longing for the Philippian church, in verse 26.
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Paul wants to send Epaphroditus to the church because he expects they will rejoice at seeing him, verse 28.
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And he expects this because they obviously know Epaphroditus, who is from Philippi.
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So this may have seemed like overkill, but clearly Paul writes in an overtly relational manner.
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There is something here that he wants the Philippians to notice, and us by extension.
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I think he is reaffirming the trustworthiness of these servants by highlighting their Christ-like characteristics.
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This can be deduced by noticing how they love one another.
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The Apostle John tells us,
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Whoever says he is in the light and hates his brother is still in darkness.
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Whoever loves his brother abides in the light, and in him there is no cause for stumbling.
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First John 2, 9-10.
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So this issue of loving others is imperative and cannot be overstated in gospel ministry.
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Further, I think Paul is showing the necessity of such love and servanthood within the church.
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Notice that phrase in 2-21.
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For they all seek their own interests, not those of Jesus Christ.
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Who are these they that Paul is speaking of?
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So Paul is in Rome, he is in prison there.
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So he must be talking about the Romans, right?
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The Roman church.
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Sadly, Paul could not find anyone in Rome where he was imprisoned that looked out for the interests of others rather than themselves.
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Previously, Paul had exhorted the Philippians to look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others in verse 4 of chapter 2.
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And this sounds like Jesus, who assumed people loved themselves and commanded people to love their neighbors.
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Matthew 22, 39.
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So Paul is assuming that they will look after their own interests.
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He is not worried about that.
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But rather, he is worried that they will remember to look after the interests of others.
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But now we see he is surrounded by people who seek their own interests.
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And one of the resulting problems is that they are useless for the ministry.
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And ministry is at the very least the outflow of loving God and loving neighbor faithfully.
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So contrast Timothy, Epaphroditus, and Paul with these Romans that Paul speaks of.
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And it becomes abundantly clear why those two whom Paul desires to send are the ones that he wants to send.
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So Paul wants every Christian to understand his or herself in light of being a part of the body of Christ.
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A community with interrelationships.
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They all know each other.
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This relational aspect is deeply theological, which leads me to the third point.
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And this one will be quick, but really important.
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And I'm going to go through it slowly because it's about the Trinity.
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And anybody who's ever studied that, you know you're one breath away from heresy.
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If you mess up your sentence.
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So I'm going to go slow but quick.
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So point number three.
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We are called to be relational because the Trinity is relational.
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We are called to be relational because the Trinity is relational.
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Have you ever wondered why God appoints leaders?
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Why he calls his followers to join the church community?
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After all, why can't we just find our own caves and worship God where we can be free from the temptations and troubles of this world?
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Isn't it God who sanctifies?
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Why do I need an elder?
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Why do I need people?
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Why do I need a church?
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Right?
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Well, a lot could be said to answer that objection.
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I did want to focus on the fact that the Trinity is relational.
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Even before the world was created, we see the Trinity, three persons in one divine essence, communicating with one another or relating.
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Genesis 1.26 says,
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Then God said,
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Let us make man in our image after our likeness.
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Paul tells us that the Holy Spirit is constantly searching everything, even the depths of God.
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1 Corinthians 2.10.
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Which means a lot of things.
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But one thing is clear.
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God the Spirit has a significant relationship to God the Father.
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Likewise, God the Son obeys the will of God the Father, John 6.38, and sends God the Spirit to help his disciples, John 14.16.
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The Trinity is the basis for the church's inner relationships.
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He's building this case from the Father, the Son, and the Spirit and their relationships to one another and saying,
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Thus, likewise, so it be with the church.
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Right? That's the theological underpinning of this.
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Jesus asked the Father in his prayer in Gethsemane.
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He says,
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Keep them, the church, in your name, which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are one.
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That's Christ's prayer to the Father.
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Son speaking to the Father.
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Let us be one.
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Let them be one, even as we are one.
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John 17.11.
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He later adds,
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That sounds like the unity and the oneness and the love that Paul is expressing in Philippians, doesn't it?
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We worship God by imitating him in the things that he has called us to imitate him in.
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Some call these the communicable attributes of God.
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But just a brief list, some examples here that I think are prevalent throughout Philippians.
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We are to love because God is love.
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We are to be humble because God is humble.
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We are to be meek because God is meek.
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We are to be gracious because God is gracious.
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And we are to be relational because God is relational.
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And so on and so on.
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So now you're starting to see more of the beauty and the purpose behind Philippians 2.17-30 and Paul's epistle.
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In that text, we see three men and their relationship to one another along with the Philippians.
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These are God-honoring relationships shaped by obedience.
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And these relationships are only possible because of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
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Which leads me to the final point, point number four.
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The gospel undergirds everything.
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I don't know about you guys, but I always hear Clay reading in his Scottish accent, the KJV with the gird.
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You know, gird up your loggings.
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You know, the way he says that.
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The gospel undergirds everything.
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Point number four.
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So Paul is willing to sacrifice himself for the Philippians' faith.
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Chapter 2, verse 17.
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That is gospel language, right?
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For their faith, their faith in the gospel, the gospel of Jesus Christ.
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Then we learn what Timothy is doing with Paul.
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He is serving with Paul, quote, in the gospel.
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Verse 22.
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Likewise, Epaphroditus is a fellow soldier of the gospel, fellow worker for the gospel, and a minister of the gospel to Paul's needs.
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And Paul sends him as a messenger of the gospel to the Philippians.
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Chapter 2, verse 25.
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A messenger of news about Paul, to be sure.
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But I think more importantly and more primarily, a messenger of the gospel.
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We have mentioned that Epaphroditus nearly died.
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But what did he nearly die for?
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Well, he nearly died for, quote, the work of Christ.
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Verse 30.
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Which could also be rephrased as the work of the gospel.
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Epaphroditus is serving the mission of Christ, which is to preach the gospel.
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And being about the work of fulfilling the great commission, which we see in Matthew 28, verses 16 through 20.
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But I want to highlight the amazing unity and oneness that these three men have together.
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Because we often forget the hostilities that existed during this time.
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Paul is a Hebrew of Hebrews, a zealous Pharisee, which we're going to see later in Philippians chapter 3, verse 5.
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Timothy was half Greek and uncircumcised, which to a pre-converted Paul would have been an anathema.
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And Paul, of course, circumcises him later in Acts 16, 1 through 5.
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But just understand the tension that would have existed there from a worldly standpoint.
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Half Greek, uncircumcised, to a Hebrew of Hebrews, a zealous Pharisee, circumcised one, right?
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Timothy would have been an anathema.
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And we know little about Epaphroditus, but he was almost certainly a full-blooded Greek, being a native of Philippi.
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And the fact that his Greek name was a very common Greek name, and it meant, quote, favorite of Epaphrodite.
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Epaphrodite, sorry, mispronounced that.
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This all matters because we know that Jews and Gentiles did not get along.
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And even within the Greek world, there was much disunity, division, hate, all kinds of hostilities.
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And if you don't know what I'm talking about, just go read about some of the Greek city-state wars sometime,
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and you'll realize how much the Greeks hated each other.
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Right?
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I mean, there's all kinds of division going here, not just between Paul and Timothy and Epaphroditus,
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but even within Timothy and Epaphroditus being from different regions.
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It would not necessarily have gotten along.
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Yet, despite all these factors that normally would have been reason upon reason for these three men to reject one another,
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they love one another in unity and oneness because of the gospel.
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Paul writes, quote,
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There is neither Jew nor Greek.
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There is neither slave nor free.
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There is no male and female.
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For you are all one in Christ Jesus.
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Galatians 3.28
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He also says that believers share, quote,
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One body and one spirit, one hope, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all.
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Ephesians 4.4-6
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So these men were willing to be faithful to God,
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and as a result, they were able to stand side by side in the faith.
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They were not arguing and dividing over tertiary issues that Nathan talked about a few weeks back.
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Right?
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Doctrines that they matter, but they don't.
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Right?
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I mean, you don't let them divide you.
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So in closing, I want to offer four simple applications that I think come right from this text.
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Now let me say that I'm really thankful that our church practices these things that I'm about to prescribe.
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So these are offered as encouragement to continue in the good work, right, that we should joyfully participate in.
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So application number one.
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We should be known by our active love for one another.
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This can mean house visits, meal trains, helping one another with projects, serving one another, listening well, and so on.
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I'm so thankful our church is characteristically doing those things.
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I love all the interactions on Slack, despite the trolls we have.
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You know who you are.
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It is a joyful and humbling thing to see how everyone in the church comes together to serve one another.
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It can be a very convicting thing when I'm tired and don't want to, but I see everybody else jumping in on Slack.
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But that's application number one, active love.
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We should be known by our love for one another.
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Application number two.
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Paul commended and endorsed Timothy and Epaphroditus because of their character and faithfulness to God and the gospel.
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Not their skin color, not their nationality, not their socioeconomic status, or so on.
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We live in a world where people are being picked for jobs, positions, and rewards not based on competence nor merit,
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but arbitrary categories like the ones I just listed.
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Let's continue to be a church that considers scripture our only plumb line in picking leaders to shepherd the flock.
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Let's avoid the socio-political mess that the world is entangled in and be salt and light
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by sticking to the biblical measurements of faithfulness, character, and integrity to God and the gospel.
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Look at 1 Timothy 3, 1 through 7 if you want to see what I'm talking about sometime.
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It's the heart of a man that matters.
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In application number three, let's honor those whom God has appointed as faithful leaders for us.
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Paul tells the church of Philippi in verse 29,
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Honor such men.
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I'm so thankful that we have so many servant leaders in our church.
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And I'm not talking about the elders exclusively, although they're certainly and especially in view.
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But let us rejoice at any righteousness, any good doing, any honorable thing that might be found.
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Later on in his epistle to the Philippians, Paul writes,
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Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure,
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whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable,
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if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise,
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think about these things.
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Well, you have learned and received and heard and seen in me.
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Practice these things and the God of peace be with you.
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Philippians 4, 8 through 9.
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So let's honor those who are faithful.
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And number four, final application.
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We rejoice and honor such things because such things are of Christ.
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We are to honor and love and praise Christ.
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Hebrews 1, 3 tells us,
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Christ is the radiance of the glory of God, the exact imprint of his nature.
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And he upholds the universe by the word of his power.
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After making purifications for our sins, he sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high.
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Christ was humble, joyful, kind, servant-hearted,
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to the point that he willfully poured himself out as a sacrifice for our sins.
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And he did this without grumbling or questioning.
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Though if anybody has right to, it's the innocent son.
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Right?
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But yet he submitted to God, the Father.
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There's none who compares to our righteous, perfect Lord and Savior.
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He came down in the form of man, poured himself out as a drink offering,
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bore the wrath of God, bore the cup that we deserved,
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that we might be reconciled to him for the sake of our faith.
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So the gospel undergirded everything, not just for Paul, Timothy, and Epaphroditus,
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but the gospel of Christ.
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Christ was about the work of the gospel,
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about bringing good news to the captive,
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proclaiming liberty to them.
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So we want to be about this work,
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as Christ is our great example of this work,
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and worship him in doing so.
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Let's pray.
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Amen.