PAUL’S "BROTHER"
PHILIPPIANS 2:25-30
04/27/95
One of Ben Franklin’s many discoveries was that plaster sown in fields would make plants grow better. He shared this discovery with his neighbors only to be mocked. They argued that plaster would have no affect on grass or grain.
Not one who liked to argue Franklin let the matter drop and said no more about it. Early the next spring he did however go and planted some gain. Along a path which ran along his field, were he knew would be traveled by his neighbors he traced some letters with finger, he put plaster and then sowed seeds in the field.
After about a week or so the seeds began to sprout up. His neighbors were very much surprised to see, in brighter green then all the rest of the field the writing "This has been plastered". Ben Franklin did not need to argue any more with his neighbors about the benefits of plaster for the fields. For as the season went on and the grain grew, these bright green letters just rose up above all the rest until they were a kind of bas-relief in the field -- "This has been plastered".
I use this to illustrate the point that rather then argue what Mr. Franklin knew to be true, he simply proved his point by example. Because in reality that is the way people really tent to believe anything, through example. We may extol the virtues of being a Christian, we may argue the truth of the Christian faith until we are blue in the face, but if our example does not match up with our claims, no one is going to take us very seriously. We need to live are faith if we hope to win anyone to Christ.
Now last week we spoke of an example of a Christian that we could all follow and that was a man that Paul called his "son". Today I want us to look at another shall we say "ordinary" Christian by the name of Epaphroditus. Now like Timothy he was just like you and me. He was not an apostle in the sense that Paul was, he was not one of the original twelve, he was not even a Jew. Yet we can learn very much from his example.
Now till this point in the book of Philippians we have seen how Paul presents Jesus as the pattern which we should follow. He then tells us of the power and hows of following that pattern. Then we see in Timothy and the man Epaphroditus, that it is indeed possible to follow the pattern of Christ. We see that people just like us can make a great impact on others for the Lord Jesus Christ.
Our passage today comes from page 1018 in your pew Bibles. We are once again in Philippians. We will be looking at chapter 2 verses 25-30. Reading starting with verse 25;
"Yet I considered it necessary to send to you Epaphroditus, my brother, fellow worker, and fellow soldier, but your messenger and the one who ministered to my need; since he was longing for you all, and was distressed because you had heard that he was sick. For indeed he was sick almost unto death; but God had mercy on him, and not only on him but on me also, lest I should have sorrow upon sorrow. Therefore I sent him the more eagerly, that when you see him again you may rejoice, and I may be less sorrowful. Receive him therefore in the Lord with all gladness, and hold such men in esteem; because for the work of Christ he came close to death, not regarding his life, to supply what was lacking in your service toward me."
Now here we have the only mention of this man in all of Scripture. And there are eight things which I would like to point out to that we can learn about this man Epaphroditus. As I stated earlier he was just an ordinary guy. Serving the Lord in his local church. And I am quite sure that it never entered his mind that people would be talking about him almost 2000 years later. Yet because of his service to the Lord, he we are talking of this man.
Now those eight things. First he was a spiritual leader of at the Church of Philippi. In our passage he is called "their messenger" which as we will see literally means, "apostle" thought not in the sense in which Paul was an apostle. Secondly, we can see that he was commissioned by the church to bring a gift to Paul. We will talk more on this later. Thirdly, while in Rome we see that he became very sick, almost to the point of death. The forth thing, his brothers and sisters in Christ had heard of his illness and had become concerned for his welfare. Number five, he in turn became alarmed at that concern, not wanting them to worry. The sixth thing we can see in our passage is that God through his abundant mercy restores his health. The seventh thing he wishes to return home to relief any fears they have concerning his health. And finally, Paul sends him back to Philippi, beseeching them to welcome him and show him honor.
So those are the facts which we can gather from our verse concerning Epaphroditus. In looking over those facts we can come up with some conclusions as to what kind of guy this Epaphroditus is. The facts speak of him as being a Balanced Christian, and burdened Christian, and a blessed Christian.
Let us begin by looking how Epaphroditus was a balanced Christian. We see this first of all in the fact that Paul calls him his brother. Now it is certain that this was not Paul natural brother. Even though the word "brother" here literally means "from the same womb", Paul’s point however was that they were brothers in the family of God.
Paul of course was a Jew. He was as the Scripture state a Pharisee among Pharisees. Paul was Hebrew through and through. Epaphroditus on the other was a Greek gentile. Before accepting the Lord as his saviour he was most likely a pagan among pagans. So these two individuals come from totally opposite backgrounds, yet Paul here states that he is his brother.
Now while they did not share the same nature mother, they did share the same heavenly Father. They were brothers in the faith. As Paul stated in Philippians 1:5 "for your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now,"
By calling Epaphroditus his brother Paul affirms the fellowship they had in the gospel. He affirms the fellowship they had in Christ Jesus, but being in the family of God. And those of us here today who have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, also share in the family.
We to have "come from the same womb". That womb being the saving grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now many of us here have come from different backgrounds. Some are from here in New York, others such as myself and (who), are from other areas, (We have yet to figure out where ?? is from). But we can call one another brothers and sisters in the Lord, and that is how it should be.
The second way in which we see that Epaphroditus is a balanced Christian is in the fact that Paul calls him "fellow worker"
Perhaps Paul has in mind what he states in Philippians 1:12 when he speaks of the "furtherance of the Gospel".
This what he and Epaphroditus labored in. Presenting the gospel to as many people would listen. They shared in the work of telling people of the good news of Jesus Christ, that he died for our sins, was buried, and on the third day arose from the dead to give eternal life.
Epaphroditus was a worker for the Lord much like we saw Timothy was last week. He was thee helping Paul, lending his service. He was one of many ministers in the church. Not just letting Paul do all the work but he shared in the work, as a true minster of Christ will.
It is sad to see so many Christians with so many talents yet will not use those talents in laboring for the Lord. To many Christian waiting for some else to do the work God wants them to join in on.
The next thing I want to mention that shows us the Epaphroditus was a balanced Christian is the fact that he was "a fellow soldier". He was on the front lines of battle with Paul. In Phil. 1:27 Paul speaks of "striving together for the faith of the gospel". Fighting for the faith of the gospel.
In the book of Eph. Paul speaks of you we are at war with, who it was that he and Epaphroditus as well as us, are at war against.
Ephesians 6:11-13 "Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand."
One of the big issues with President Clinton during the election was the fact that he did not serve in the Vietnam war, in fact he did what he could to avoid it. Now a allot of people had a hard to with that, especially those who did serve. Now both those who did and did not serve enjoy the same freedom which this country offers.
Christian’s to enjoy the privilege of worshipping the Lord, fellowshipping with other believers, receiving daily guidance from the Holy Spirit. But how do you think the Lord views those who will not get into the battle. There are Christian who simply go through motions of worship but who refuse to join the battle. They just stand and watch others do the work of the ministry, while enjoying the benefit brought by those involved in the battle. We all need to be fellow soldiers as we realize that our enemy will not lay down his arms, there will be no call for peace with the forces of darkness.
So Epaphroditus was a balanced Christian as seen in the fact that Paul calls him his "brother", "fellow worker", and "fellow soldier". And we too need to be balance Christians. WE too need to be all of these things.
We cannot afford to lay to much emphasis on any one of these things. Some folks concentrate on fellowship so much, that they neglect the furtherance of the gospel, of they forget we are at war. So get so caught up in evangelizing that the people within the fellowship suffer. So are so much into looking to find demons in every closet that they neglect one another, and forget they are called as "fellow workers" in the furtherance of the gospel.
So we need to be balance Christian, and not neglect any of these things.
The next thing which are eight facts reveal about Epaphroditus was that he was a burdened Christian. Like is contemporary Timothy he cared about others, placing them ahead of himself.
To begin with he was concerned about Paul. When the church at Philippi heard that Paul was a prisoner in Rome, they decided that they would send him a gift, to encourage and help him. Now it was Epaphroditus who volunteered to take this gift to Paul.
Now we need to realize that he did not just hop on a plane and fly to Rome. In volunteering to bring the gift to Paul it would mean an 800 mile journey. Think of traveling from here to Chicago by foot. This would take about a month if he walked all the way, and a little less if he took a ship some of the way. A months travel one way to bring this gift to Paul. (I will say he obviously did not travel with Children).
And as we see from what Paul stated previously he not only brought a gift to Paul but he was a gift to Paul. He stayed there to help Paul out in wonderful way.
So we see how unselfish this man was in his service to the Lord, in his concern for Paul.
Now our passage also points out the fact that he was very concerned about the church in Philippi. In ver. 26 we read;
"since he was longing for you all, and was distressed because you had heard that he was sick."
You see Epaphroditus was concerned about these people because he did want them to worry about his health. So he was not burdened with his own problems, but burdened with concern about the people he loved. About the people back home who were worried about him.
What is so wonderful about this section of Scripture is that we see everyone not concerned for themselves but concerned for others. Paul’s concerned about the Philippians, and Epaphroditus, The Philippians are concerned about Paul and Epaphroditus, Epaphroditus is concerned about the Philippians and Paul. Timothy is concerned about Paul and the Philippians, and certainly about Epaphroditus. Every cares not about themselves but about others. And that is what having the mind of Christ is, that is what it is to live in Philippians 1:21, "for me to live is Christ"
Now I will commend most of you for your concern for each other. As we all need to be burdened Christians, not for ourselves but for others. And most of you are concerned for each other. But some of us, have what I would call selective concern. We concern ourselves with those whom it is easy to be concerned. We are all concerned about Grandma Couse because she is one of the sweetest Christian woman you ever want to meet. But we need to be concerned, we need to be burdened Christians toward everyone. Not just those we like, not just those think deserve it. But concern for all those who are our brothers and sisters in Christ.
We need to be unselfish ministers just like Paul, Timothy and Epaphroditus.
The last thing which our eight facts reveal concerning Epaphroditus is that he was a blessed Christian. Can you imagine going through life never being a blessing to anyone.
Epaphroditus was a blessing to Paul. We have already seem that he not only brought gift to Paul but was a gift to Paul. He worked along side Paul, ministering to him and with him. He did not even let his illness stand in the way of being a blessing to Paul.
He was also a blessing to his home church. Paul tells the church to welcome him and honor him when he arrives home. Think of the stories he would tell them. Think of how he could instruct them and teach them after spending time with Paul. He brought honor to their church through is service and sacrifice.
Epaphroditus is also a blessing to us. Because by his example we not only know how we should act but we know that through the grace of God we are able to act according. He shows us it is not impossible to have the mind of Christ. He shows that is quite possible to live in Phil. 1:21, "for me to live is Christ" and that we do not have to live in.
Philippians 2:21 "For all seek their own, not the things which are of Christ Jesus."
So as you look at the life of this man let him become a blessing to you.
So in conclusion, as we have looked at the life of Epaphroditus as revealed to us in Philippians, and also the live of Timothy as revealed to us throughout the New Testament, the thing I believe we need to realize is that these are just ordinary people. People like me and you. Yet they realize the importance of living in Philippians 1:21, living for Christ, instead of living in Philippians 2:21, living for ourselves, putting ourselves first.
You see as I stated at the beginning of this sermon, Jesus is our pattern. He is the example given to us in Philippians 2:1-11. And Paul tells us of the power we have working in us, the power of God. As Paul writes in Philippians 2:12-13 "work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure."
Thought His Holy Spirit God wants to work through us.
And in both Timothy and Epaphroditus we see that power at work. They show to us that it is possible to have the mind of Christ, it is possible to say to me to "live is Christ."
We need more Timothys, we need more Epaphrodituses. I challenge you all today to live by the pattern of Christ, use the power of God that is at work in you, let us show others by example what a Christian ought to be.
SHALL WE PRAY
