Philippians #11 Ministers of God

INTRODUCTION Phil. 2:19-30.

Read Philippians 2:19-30, look for a theme?

There isn’t really a theme.

The letter takes a strange intermission that looks an awful lot like a closing or conclusion.

In reality it is not.

Paul is not even half finished with all that he has to say.

In this section of scripture that takes us to the end of chapter 2, there isn’t really any doctrine.

There isn’t really any instruction either.

What then is there for us to glean from this passage?

I think then it is critical that we look at this passage for far back first, and when we do we see a fellow minister.

Therefore, as Paul describes Timothy, we see admirable qualities that benefit any who are in ministry.

And since we are all to be involved in ministry, these qualities described are there for us to see, learn from, and apply to our own lives.

2 Corinthians 5:18 ESV

All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation;

Furthermore, the Lord gave gifted men to the church in order …..

Ephesians 4:12 ESV

to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ,

The first point of consideration is that character matters.

CHARACTER MATTERS

What is the definition of character as it pertains to personal qualities?

Character is defined as the mental and moral qualities distinctive to an individual.

Character defines who you are.

Someone once said, your character is who you are when no one is looking.

It has also been said, that if we could see all the inner thoughts of one another, we probably wouldn’t like one another.

Charles Spurgeon offered those famous words, “If any man thinks ill of you, do not be angry with him, for you are worse than he thinks you to be. “

Our problem is that we come into Christianity having been conformed to this world.

And just for the record, the world never stops in its efforts to conform you to its image.

Who are the three participants involved in our sanctification?

Thus the Lord is at work in us to will and to do for His good pleasure.

Which is why we are also commanded to put forth effort of our own that we might be transformed by the renewing of your mind.

In addition as previously mentioned, the Lord has gifted to the church, spiritually gifted men, to come along side others and help them on their spiritual journey toward Christlikeness.

So the conforming process is an all out effort, a church wide effort if I will, and that defines discipleship.

Discipleship builds character.

We see this process of sanctification alluded to in this passage of scripture as Paul extols the character qualities of Timothy. What positive chaaracter qualities are listed?

Paul the aged disciple, discipled young Timothy.

Notice the language Paul uses to describe Timothy.

Kindred spirit.

Proven worth.

A son who serves his father.

These are all terms that describe the intended outcome of a discipleship relationship.

Paul set out to disciple Timothy, to shape his character, and has had a great deal of success.

As a kindred spirit of Paul’s, Timothy had a great concern for the welfare of these Philippian believers.

Timothy demonstrate a selfless character quality.

And this is essential if you are going to be involved in ministry.

Ministry demands that you have a deep love and concern for the welfare of those to whom you have the privilege to minister to.

One key to this is to recognize that these have been placed in your care by the Lord.

His desire then is for the one who ministers, to carry out that ministry in the very fashion he would have.

I have been thinking a lot about this, and have concluded it is no accident that each of the studies I am working on all contribute to my understanding of sanctification.

What kind of people do we generally enlist for tasks in the church?

The qualified, the intelligent, hard working, committed.

But what kind of people does the Lord enlist?

In Genesis for example, we are looking at the life of Abram.

Abram was a mess, a pagan idolater who was willing to throw his own wife to the dogs in order to save his own neck.

But God patiently, and with compassion and understanding, kept turning Abram the exact direction that the Lord wanted him to go.

Abram holds up in Haran, YHWH removes the obstacles and moves him forward.

Abram runs to Egypt, YHWH brings him back.

Abram throws Sarai away, YHWH restores her to him.

YHWH was at work in this pitiful man’s life, shaping him, mentoring him, leading him to salvation.

Then there were the disciples.

When Jesus was arrested 9 of them went into hiding.

While Jesus was on trial, 1 of them denied Him.

When Jesus died, none of them came to care for His body.

And to top it all off, they lost all hope.

But then, during that period of time after the resurrection and before the ascension, Jesus patiently and kindly and with great compassion reveals Himself to them.

He restores them, commissions them.

He calls Peter aside and makes sure Peter understand that he is still the guy in spite of all of his failures.

I point this out to say, discipleship is not without its troubles.

And we too must have the patience and compassion that we see in Jesus.

Like Timothy, we must have a genuine concern for the welfare of those we have the privilege to minister to.

Next we see a contrast, in verse 21 there are those in ministry that are in it for all the wrong reasons. What are some of the wrong reasons people get involved in ministry? (not necessarily staff positions)

There are many wrong reasons, but the scripture boils it down to this, their own interests.

Some of those in ministry, don’t really love their people, they love themselves.

They love the lime light.

They love the money.

They love the prestige.

And none of those things are the right reason to be in ministry.

Those things are not of Jesus Christ.

PAUL THE SELFLESS

Paul exhibited all the qualities that are desirable in a servant of God involvedin ministry.

What would you say was Paul’s greatest character asset when it came to carrying our the ministry?

Primarily, he was selfless.

He was more concerned for the welfare of others than he was for himself.

In this we see how the Lord had conformed Paul to the image of Christ.

We spent a few weeks talking about Christ as the humble servant.

And when we look at Paul, we see those same qualities.

Paul had such a concern for the churches and the lost that he poured his life into ministry.

Paul was all in.

And Paul inspired that in others around him.

The word Paul chose in verse 20 that is translated concern, is a strong and serious word.

The idea behind this word is that you are looking out for danger that might rise up.

Paul certainly demonstrates this on a continual basis.

Paul was always concerned and on the look out for false teachers.

Paul warned the Ephesians in Acts 20:29

Acts 20:29 ESV

I know that after my departure fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock;

False teachers abounded, many of them Judaizers.

These would sweep in after Paul left a place and immediately begin to fill their heads with works and law.

Paul had such a love for his churches that he was not afraid to chastise them when they were led astray.

Galatians 3:1 ESV

O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? It was before your eyes that Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified.

Galatians 3:3 ESV

Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?

Folks, that is love, genuine love.

Genuine love is willing to say the hard things and confront error.

The most unloving thing the apostle could do would be to say nothing.

These are just a few examples that help us to understand the selfless servants heart that was Paul.

This is why he longed to visit those established churches.

This is why he wrote these letters to them.

But more than all of this, these things define a disciple.

Define what it means to be a disciple?

A disciple is a dedicated follower of Jesus Christ who helps to make dedicated followers of Jesus Christ who help to make dedicated followers of Jesus Christ.

This is what Jesus did, and that defines true discipleship for us.

This was the life of Paul.

We see it in Timothy.

We see it in Titus.

We see it in Epaphroditus.

All of these were mentored by the apostle Paul.

And all of these went on to have the same attitude in themselves that was in Paul.

This is critical to the future of Christianity.

We saw this first in Jesus.

Jesus took those raw untrained men, and turned them into well equipped disciples.

They in turn went out and did the same.

And just as a side bar.

Paul rejected John Mark.

John Mark defected and left the work Paul and Barnabas were involved in.

Later when Barnabas wanted to bring John Mark, Paul refused.

This led to the break up of that mission team.

What does John Mark’s story of defection and later usefulness teach us? Acts 13:1-13; Acts 15:36-41; 2 Tim 4:11.

But guess what, Barnabas, and we believe Peter also, stepped in and continued the discipleship of John Mark.

John Mark, or better known as just Mark, wrote the gospel according to Mark, which was the memoirs of Peter.

Furthermore, Paul later saw his value, and requested that John Mark come to him.

There have been endless speculations, was Paul wrong for rejecting John Mark?

I don’t know, but I do know this.

John Mark belonged to the Lord Jesus Christ, and Jesus made sure, the Father made sure, that the good work that was begun in him was brought to completion.

The point is this, not any one of us can impact everybody.

In this world of ours where churches are driven by numbers, it might do us well to focus less on how many, and more on how much.

How much can I pour into another person, even just one person.

How much can i teach them.

I got over numbers a long time ago.

In my opinion, if we will focus on the quality of discipleship, the quantity of followers will take care of itself.

TIMOTHY THE SERVANT

As Timothy grew spiritually, Paul could speak of his proven worth.

Proven worth comes from one Greek word.

It carries the idea of testing for the purpose of proof.

Ok, like there are tests you can apply to precious metals that will reveal their true value.

Some silver coins are 100% silver, but some are 90% silver.

To the naked eye, you can’t tell the difference.

It is only when the metal is tested that you can be sure.

This is the idea of this Greek word.

Timothy had been tested over time, probably many times, and proved his worth as a servant.

Specifically, Timothy proved himself a true douleou.

Douleou is a form of doulos.

Doulos means slave.

Timothy proved himself a slave of Jesus Christ.

Being a good slave contains certain character qualities, list some.

First, there is humility.

Slaves are humble servants who do only that which is desired by their master.

This takes us back to what we talked about previously, discipleship.

You see none of us take on this posture naturally.

We have to be taught and molded by another who also understands these things.

The apostle Paul uses the word slave to describe himself in Romans 1:1, Phil 1:1, and Titus 1:1.

But also in Phil 1:1 Paul includes Timothy.

Paul and Timothy, slaves of Jesus Christ. LSB.

Under the tutelage of the apostle Paul, Timothy had become a genuine slave of Jesus Christ, not just is position, but in practice.

All of us are slaves to Christ is position.

We have all been bought with a price.

Therefore we belong to Him, He owns us.

Thus Paul writes, therefore glorify God in your body.

You are a slave, and a slave has only one role, to honor his master.

That is our position.

Every single believer is such.

But in practice that is another matter.

In fact, most Christians spend most of their lives, doing their own thing with little consideration for what their master desires.

But as we grow, as we are taught, and discipled by those who understand this, we too begin to be transformed into a slave of Jesus Christ in practice.

In other words we learn to serve at His pleasure.

It doesn’t happen naturally, and it doesn’t happen in a vacuum.

It must be intentionally taught.

Paul had done just that and could say of Timothy, he served with me as a son serves his father.

Literally the Greek reads, like a child his father.

Serving isn’t in the Greek.

But, this clause leans on the previous one where we read he served.

So in the Greek it reads, he served as a child his father with me.

This is an important distinction.

Paul is not saying that Timothy served me.

He is saying in very specific terms, he served Christ with me, as a slave.

That is such an important principle.

Many churches suffer when a pastor leaves.

Life groups suffer because a leader leaves.

But that should never be the case.

But what happens is that people begin to serve to please the pastor or the leader.

Then when that person is no longer present, it all falls apart.

But if the leadership is doing it’s job properly, then serving Christ never suffers because it was always about Christ.

I have heard pastors say do it for me please.

I get it, they are using their position to affect a positive outcome.

But the better means, is do it for Christ, because Christ will always be there.

We also mustn’t miss, their serving together was for the furtherance of the gospel.

In the Greek culture this word simply meant to strike forward, to move in a positive manner.

When applied to the gospel, it teaches us that these two did not just work, but were focused in their work.

And their focus was pushing forward the gospel.

They were all about gospel ministry.

This is our purpose.

But let me define gospel ministry for us.

Gospel ministry is all efforts involved in promoting the gospel.

First and foremost, gospel ministry is about sharing the gospel.

But it would also include all of those support ministries that make sharing the gospel possible.

Giving helps send the gospel around the world.

Teaching others, helps prepare them to share the gospel.

Even child care benefits parents so that they can be taught.

Laying a foundation in the pre school department is an important aspect as well.

Who knows, you may be shaping the next John MacArthur or Charles Spurgeon.

So to be sure, gospel ministry is sharing the gospel, but also much more.

This was the man Timothy had become.

Timothy was perfect and certainly was not always this man.

In fact, in the pastoral epistles addressed to Timothy, it would appear that Timothy struggled with some of these issue.

Even in 2 Timothy, the last letter in the NT written by the apostle Paul, Timothy needed a good deal of encouragement.

Timothy could be timid.

Timothy may have been a worrier, to the point he made himself sick to the stomach.

Paul instructs Timothy to take a little wine to calm his stomach.

And all of this is ok, because the truth is, there are no perfect servants.

All of us have our weaknesses and imperfections.

But the one who disciples understands this and seeks to build those weaknesses up in the one being discipled.

There may be some of that in this letter, a building up of Timothy for future success.

But in spite of Timothy’s flaws, Paul saw his worth.

So much so that he could send Timothy on a mission to the Philippian church and it get accomplished.

This too is a mark of Christ likeness in the believer.

Jesus could say at the end of His life, I have glorified you Father, having accomplished the work you gave Me to do.

Paul could send Timothy with confidence, knowing Timothy would do his best to carry out the mission.

Next we come to Epaphroditus

EPAPHRODITUS THE SERVANT

Epaphroditus was a leader from the church in Philippi.

His name means handsome or pleasant.

He had come to Paul from Philippi with a gift for Paul from the church.

It appears as though Epaphroditus intended to stay and serve the apostle during his imprisonment.

But while serving Paul, Epaphroditus got sick and grew deathly ill.

He nearly died.

As a result of his illness, Paul is sending him back to Philippi to ease their concern for him.

The letter instructs the church to receive Epaphroditus as a hero and not a failure.

Paul has some great words concerning Epaphroditus as well. What qualities do we see in Epaphroditus?

First Epaphroditus was a brother to Paul.

Not a brother by birth.

But a brother by the new birth.

This reminds us of our connectedness.

We are a family.

We became brothers and sisters through our salvation which is illustrated for us in a couple of way.

For starters we were all born again in and by the Spirit.

We have the very same Spirit living in each one of us.

We have one Spirit, and are one people, one Church, a family of brothers and sisters by spiritual birth.

But also, the Bible teaches that we were all adopted by God into His family.

Both illustrations point to the same end, but illustrate it in different ways and emphasize specific truths.

As an adopted child of God, we have the same inheritance as Jesus.

In fact, we are joint heirs with Christ.

All that is His is also ours because we are all children of God.

That makes us all brothers and sisters.

Second, we see that Epaphroditus was a fellow worker.

As I looked at this text is struck how Paul uses different words and terms in describing these two men.

That tells me it is worth our time to investigate the meaning of the words.

Fellow worker comes from on compound Greek word.

The root word is ergo, which simple means energy or work.

The prefix sun, adds to the meaning, it means working together.

This is such an important principle.

The work before us is too big for any one of us.

In truth, it is so big it requires the combined efforts of us all.

This is why every single believer received a spiritual gift at the moment of the new birth.

These gifts, given is unique measure to each and every one of us, help to equip us for our part in the greater effort.

We all have a role to play.

Paul understood this.

This is why he was so highly motivated in discipleship.

Some water, some plant, and I would add that some support, but the Lord causes the increase.

Ultimately, and this is really incredible, yes we are fellow workers with one another, but of even greater importance we are a fellow worker of the Lord.

Have you ever thought about it that way, Jesus Christ chose to not just include us, but use us in some incredible ways to accomplish His mission.

What a privilege we have.

What an incredible responsibility.

We have been entrusted with the greatest message the world has ever heard.

We have been given the greatest work the world has ever seen.

And just for the record, at the end of the day, how many houses I built, how many homes you wired, how much product you sold, will matter little compared to what you did with the work the Lord prepared for you to do.

Third, Epaphroditus was a fellow soldier.

The Greek word translated fellow soldier literally refers to one who is engaged in an arduous task.

This term reminds us the ministry is part of spiritual warfare.

Paul would say of himself at the end of his life, I have fought the good fight.

Every time we engage in gospel ministry, we are engaging the enemy.

When we share the gospel with an unbeliever, we are in reality trying to steal a lost soul from the clutches of Satan.

This is why we are instructed to put on the full armor of God.

Most of the time when this is preached, it is addressed to all believers that they are in danger of Satanic attacks.

And yes it was written to the whole church and to all of us.

But honestly, I see this as more related to those Christians who are actively engaged in the battle.

Satan is not omnipresent, and neither are his demon cohorts.

They are limited by time and space.

So it only makes sense that they would concentrate their efforts on those who pose the greatest threat to the kingdom of darkness.

It never really dawned on me until this study, but actually the gospels support this thought.

I have been taught since day 1 in school, that there was more visible demonic activity during the ministry of Jesus than at any other point in time.

Could it be because they understood that if Jesus went to the cross and came out of that grave, their defeat was assured?

I think so.

Paul also wrote, all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.

Now that seems to imply that those Christians who are not, will not.

It might explain why the American church has been persecution free for so long.

The truth is, the church in America has been on the decline for well over 50 years now.

My conclusion is that for the most part the American church is of little threat to the kingdom of darkness.

Oh, that isn’t true of every body, but certainly it is true of a lot.

Epaphroditus was a soldier, Paul was a soldier, and we are to be soldiers.

And soldiers make war.

We should make war.

The goal of the Great Commission is to bring defeat to the kingdom of darkness.

Every time a person is born again, they are delivered from the kingdom of darkness and made part of Christ’s kingdom. Col. 1:13.

Soldiers are prepared.

This is why Paul wrote Ephesians 6:10-20, in order to make sure that we are prepared for battle.

We need Bible study, that equips us to wage war.

For the instruments of our warfare are not fleshly.

If you are going to fight in a spiritual war, then you have to be equipped spiritually.

2 Corinthians 10:4–5 ESV

For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ,

Do you see that, we can even be engaged in spiritual warfare as we teach fellow believers to make every thought captive to obey Jesus.

Primarily, our weapons in this war is the word of God, the truths of the gospel.

The gospel is the rock upon which Christ will built His church.

And Jesus went on to promise that the gates of hell could not stop the gospel.

Epaphroditus was engaged, he was prepared, and we should be as well.

Next we see that Epaphroditus was an messenger.

Literally, he was an apostellos.

The Greek word is from the same root for apostle, and it means messenger.

That really says a lot about his character.

Epaphroditus was a sent one, one who could be trusted.

Paul could trust Epaphroditus to carry out a mission which involved the delivery of correspondence.

That is particularly import for us today.

Had he failed, had he lost the letter, we might not have it today.

Messengers were extremely important in that day as there was no real mail service.

Last, Epaphroditus was a minister.

This is one of several types of servants in the Greek language.

For example, diakinos, deacon is a servant.

This is leitourgos, and it describes a special kind of servant, one who renders specific service.

In other words, a servant that was dedicated to a particular task.

And that task could be anything.

The servants at the gate into the High Priests housing complex was a dedicated servant, that was her job.

Epaphroditus was dedicated to the needs of Paul.

In prison Paul was very dependent upon Epaphroditus.

It was the only way a prisoner could survive.

The Roman prison system did not provide anything for those in custody.

Family or friends had to supply all the prisoners needs.

More than likely Epaphroditus was that guy for Paul.

But I am sure it was more than that as well.

Like Timothy, Epaphroditus was of great benefit to Paul.

But Paul’s concern for the Philippian church compelled him to send Epaphroditus back to them.

We see how highly esteemed Epaphroditus was in the eyes of Paul in verse 27.

Paul would have had sorrow upon sorrow had Epaphroditus died.

When Greeks stack emotional words on top of one another like in this case it is meant to convey the deepest emotion, in this case sorrow.

This just demonstrates how much Paul depended upon those who served alongside Him.

The last thing Paul mentions about Epaphroditus is that he risked his life to complete the task for which the church sent him.

Epaphroditus was all in.

I wonder where he learned this?

My guess is from Paul who was also all in.

It really is the call on all our lives.

To love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength is to be all in.

CONCLUSION

This was a difficult passage to teach because of the lack of doctrine.

It is was more difficult than a narrative, because at least in aa narrative you have some outlined purpose.

This being more like a personal letter made it difficult to draw out what was for us.

In the end, we have examples.

We have the example of Timothy, Epaphroditus and Paul.

Three stellar examples of ministers.

And that ought to encourage us.

I say that because they weren’t always what they are in this letter.

What is the most important principle when we compare these three ministers to each other?

Paul was a Pharisee of Pharisees.

A blasphemer and murderer of Christians.

He persecuted the church to the fullest extent.

He obviously had a lot of good qualities.

He was zealous, committed, hard working, and all in.

But in his sinful state, those qualities manifested themselves in sinful ways.

Timothy was of a mixed race spiritually speaking.

His father was a Gentile and his mother a Jew.

But she and her mother became Christians at some point.

At any rate, Timothy was not raised as a Jew.

We know this because he was not circumcized.

He was raised learning the truths of Christianity.

And when Paul entered his life, everything began to change.

We know Timothy had character issues, he wasn’t a strong personality.

Then there was Epaphroditus.

We know nothing of his background.

We can assume that being a Gentile of the times that he was idolatrously pagan.

But that too changed.

This is one of those pictures in scripture that proves again what great things our God can do through imperfect vessels.

Paul became the greatest evangelist church planter the world has ever known.

Timothy was entrusted with the church at Ephesus and served as their pastor.

Epaphroditus was a leader in the church at Philippi.

All of which just reminds us how great our God is.

When we are willing to place ourselves at His disposal, as instruments of righteousness in His hands, He can and will do great things.

That should encourage us, for we too are