A Double Plan for Encouragement 11-15-2020

A Story of God’s Mercy

Many years ago, I became acquainted with Dr. Charles Fogg.

He was retired, but had pastored our Salem Evangelical Church near Fred Meyer and Applebee’s Restaurant.

Charles and Doris Fogg had two boys, and at one point, one of the boys became very ill.

Ill enough that his parents feared for his life.

And Dr. Fogg earnestly prayed “Lord spare him, take me”.

A prayer, many a parent has prayed in dire times over their children.

The child got better, and Dr Fogg got bitten, by a baby Rattle Snake.

The venom of a full grown Rattle Snake, is not as concentrated and poisons as a baby Rattle Snake.

Dr. Fogg got sick, very sick, and eventually his kidneys failed.

He lived out his life, with dialysis due to the kidney failure.

As far as Dr. Fogg was concern, this was fare trade for his son’s life!

I’m never quite sure what to think about peoples stories of their bargains with God.

Some I doubt, some I truly believe.

But I share this story of mercy, because it shows God’s mercy in answered prayer and a fathers mercy in offering his life for sons.

Paul's double plan for encouragement.

Today, we are going to finish looking at chapter 2 of Philippians and see how Paul had two plans to encourage and strengthen the people at Philippi.

Let’s read again the remainder of chapter two from verse 19

Philippians 2:19–30 NIV

19 I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you soon, that I also may be cheered when I receive news about you. 20 I have no one else like him, who will show genuine concern for your welfare. 21 For everyone looks out for their own interests, not those of Jesus Christ. 22 But you know that Timothy has proved himself, because as a son with his father he has served with me in the work of the gospel. 23 I hope, therefore, to send him as soon as I see how things go with me. 24 And I am confident in the Lord that I myself will come soon. 25 But I think it is necessary to send back to you Epaphroditus, my brother, co-worker and fellow soldier, who is also your messenger, whom you sent to take care of my needs. 26 For he longs for all of you and is distressed because you heard he was ill. 27 Indeed he was ill, and almost died. But God had mercy on him, and not on him only but also on me, to spare me sorrow upon sorrow. 28 Therefore I am all the more eager to send him, so that when you see him again you may be glad and I may have less anxiety. 29 So then, welcome him in the Lord with great joy, and honor people like him, 30 because he almost died for the work of Christ. He risked his life to make up for the help you yourselves could not give me.

What was Paul’s plan?

To send Timothy!

Why?

So he can be cheered, when Timothy reports back to him about the Philippians

We can see that in verse 19

Philippians 2:19 NIV

19 I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you soon, that I also may be cheered when I receive news about you.

So, Paul wanted the Philippians to be cheered by news of

what is happening in his life,

Paul’s coming release or punishment etc. and also

to be cheered, encouraged himself

by the report Timothy will bring back to him about them.

But why send Timothy:

1)Paul has no other people he can send

2)Timothy genuinely is concerned from the Philippians

we can see this in vs. 20

Philippians 2:20 NIV

20 I have no one else like him, who will show genuine concern for your welfare.

3)Others are self focused not Christ focused like Timothy is

4)But Timothy was worked for Paul

shall we say Apprenticed with Paul closely, like a son, learning his fathers trade

That comes from verse 21 & 22

Philippians 2:21–22 NIV

21 For everyone looks out for their own interests, not those of Jesus Christ. 22 But you know that Timothy has proved himself, because as a son with his father he has served with me in the work of the gospel.

So, Paul had a pretty good list of reasons for wanting to send Timothy to Philippi and back.

I wounder how many of us would be willing to go where God says to go?

Go, . . . . .could be to the Congo, or

it could be across the street.

Willing to go

Are you available to God, even though others won’t or can’t serve Him?

I was very pleased and not surprised to be assigned to Dallas again at the close of Annual Conference Tuesday night.

But how would I respond if out of the blue, they had read my name with some other place?

that is a scary thought.

our hearts and lives are set on you

and this place but being in the

itineracy, raises the risk that

we could be asked to go elsewhere.

That just might bring a crisis of will

a crisis of willingness.

Genuinely Concerned

Do you have the slighted concern for others to come to Christ,

and if so how much?

Does your concern for others, show it’self in any way?

Timothy had genuine concern for the Philippians, which made him a great candidate for

being sent to minister to them.

God Focused

How many of us have too much self focus and

not enough God focus.

It will affect your choices,

your thoughts,

your actions,

and your life story.

Father help us to honestly answer that question to you right now!

Am I self focused, or God focused?

If God is speaking to you about your focus,

talk to Him in prayer, or

nail something to the cross right now as the service continues.

The worst thing about putting a challenge on a congregation is that sometimes,

those with broken spirits, will falsely convict themselves of every sin listed,

whether they need to or not.

Can you be God focused and yet

have a hobbie,

a trade,

a skill.

Can you be God focused and still like to

read adventure novels

science fiction or

any number of other things?

Of course you can have other knowledge, other interest,

Paul was a tent maker, that is how he funded his ministry when others were not funding it.

But he was always God focused.

John Wesley used to stress to his preachers to be men of the Book, meaning the bible.

He asked one of his preachers how his studies were going in Greek or some other subject, and the man answered I am ONLY a student of the Book. Meaning the Bible.

Wesley had to explain, he meant his Methodist pastors to be focused on the bible,

not that the bible was the only book they read.

They needed to read other materials also.

A bit of advice given one young pastor was to get a hobby because there will be days as a pastor that you can’t find one thing you accomplished or completed and having a tangible hobby would help with those frustrating feelings.

Our life story will tell others if we are God focused or self focused.

others may be able to see it better than we can.

Good Apprentice

Timothy was like a son to Paul

learning how to minister to people

how to deny-himself and give to others

Are we,

you and I learning better how to live the Christian life?

Do we have leaders we are learning from?

Do we share the gospel with anyone?

Is anyone learning from us?

Are we working on our apprenticeship in Christ and is anyone

apprenticing with us?

Next we come to the summation of Paul’s plans.

Philippians 2:23–24 NIV

23 I hope, therefore, to send him as soon as I see how things go with me. 24 And I am confident in the Lord that I myself will come soon.

Paul is confident that he will see them, the Philippians soon, but he doesn’t want Timothy to leave and visit them until, he knows what the court is going to do.

It is hard to predict how long a court will take to handle a case and make a decision.

So Paul has come up with a plan “B”

To Send Epaphroditus to them first.

Evidently, Epaphroditus came from Philippi, they sent him with a gift to take care of Paul’s need for food, clothing, writing materials and whatever else Paul might need while he was in a Roman prison.

Without outside help from friends and family, many prisoners died in Roman prisons.

I have no doubt that after bringing the money, Epaphroditus stayed on to do whatever else he could for Paul.

I can say that because of the glowing worlds Paul used to describe him

Philippians 2:25 NIV

25 But I think it is necessary to send back to you Epaphroditus, my brother, co-worker and fellow soldier, who is also your messenger, whom you sent to take care of my needs.

Paul calls him:

my brother

co-worker

fellow soldier

and your messenger

That is your angel

whom you sent to take care of me.

Paul said those glowing things about Epaphroditus.

Oh Father, may we too have such close bonds with our brothers and sisters in Christ!

Amen? Amen!

There are some other reasons to hurry up and send this guy

The Philippians were very worried about him

They heard that he was very sick.

Philippians 2:26 NIV

26 For he longs for all of you and is distressed because you heard he was ill.

I remember as a little boy, who grew up knowing he was adopted,

specially chosen by my new family and loved by my first family

I remember hearing that parents who give up children for adoption, often feel bad about it.

I was distressed for them, and determined that I wanted to let them know that I was ok with being adopted.

Epaphroditus felt sick that his friends heard he was not well, and he longed to tell them in person that he was ok.

How sick was Epaphroditus

Philippians 2:27 NIV

27 Indeed he was ill, and almost died. But God had mercy on him, and not on him only but also on me, to spare me sorrow upon sorrow.

Epaphroditus almost died.

Why didn’t he die?

Two reasons

God had mercy on Epaphroditus and

God had mercy on Paul.

During Pam’s cancer fight

people tried to comfort me.

One thing I heard was the God would not take her

because I needed her,

that my ministry would suffer if i lost her.

In my mind, I thought,

I’m not that special,

if God heals her, it will be because He thought it was best for her and

I thought, if God takes her home, it will be because He thought it was best for her.

Yet here Paul is claiming that part of God’s mercy in Epaphroditus case

was due to how Paul would have suffered losing this precious servant of God

while he was serving Paul.

That gives me pause to think,

Could Dr. Fogg be right

in God’s mercy, He healed their son

and afflicted Dr. Fogg?

It certainly adds credibility to Dr. Fogg’s story of Mercy on his son.

Back to Pauls story

Epaphroditus almost died

The Philippians heard about his illness and it was painful news to them

Paul is acknowledging their pain hurt him so

Philippians 2:28 NIV

28 Therefore I am all the more eager to send him, so that when you see him again you may be glad and I may have less anxiety.

Sending Epaphroditus back to them will be a win win.

Everyone will be relieved.

And Paul finishes up this chapter giving instructions of how to receive, how to honor Epaphroditus who was, as it were their ministering angel they sent to meet Paul’s needs.

Philippians 2:29–30 NIV

29 So then, welcome him in the Lord with great joy, and honor people like him, 30 because he almost died for the work of Christ. He risked his life to make up for the help you yourselves could not give me.

His description sounds to me, like

how we should honor missionaries who go to help spread the Gospel in

places we can’t

or won’t go ourselves.

Summing it up

Paul sent these two men

to encourage the Philippians.

Timothy was Paul’s understudy

his son in the ministry and

he had a love for the Philippians and wanted to go but

But Paul didn’t want to part with him,

until his court problems were settled

who knows how long that will take

So his plan “B” was to send this other man

who though not the same great minister as Timothy

was dear to them

longed to see them

So Paul presumably sent both men to them,

first Epaphroditus

and then Timothy

All to encourage them

A convicting question is,

how much effort do we put into encouraging our fellow Christians?

Do you and I ever think of a plan “B” when it comes to encouraging others?

What did we learn about God’s mercy today?

Apparently, one of the reasons God grants mercy us and heals

is for others sake.

That helps me know that if I am giving reasons to God for the healing I am requesting

it’s OK to include our feelings

it’s OK to tell God how sad losing them will make us feel.

Let’s Pray.