Lesson for March 8, 2020
The Book of Philippians
Chapter 2:19-30
Verses 19-24
“But I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you shortly, so that I also may be encouraged when I learn of your condition. For I have no one else of kindred spirit who will genuinely be concerned for your welfare.For they all seek after their own interests, not those of Christ Jesus. But you know of his proven worth, that he served with me in the furtherance of the gospel like a child serving his father. Therefore, I hope to send him immediately, as soon as I see how things go with me; and I trust in the Lord that I myself also will be coming shortly.”
Philippi was without a pastor at the time of this writing because their pastor Epaphroditus had gone to take support funds to Paul in Rome and had fallen ill to the point of death. The believers in Philippi were spiritually mature believers for the most part and could survive spiritually for a time without Epaphroditus. However, Paul was apparently concerned that some may not continue to advance to super-grace and beyond, so he was going to send Timothy as their interim pastor until Epaphroditus could return to them. Remember that there were a lot of false teachers, such as the Judaizers, traveling throughout the region and infiltrating the local churches.
So that I also may be encouraged means tranquillity of soul. Paul needed to have peace or comfort in his soul with regard to the Philippian congregation and their continued spiritual growth. The Greek word for encouraged is “eupsucheo,” which meanstranquillity of soul or a relaxed mental attitude. Paul had spent a lot of time in Philippi teaching and developing a doctrinally sound local church and he wanted to make sure that did not change. So, he took the proper steps by sending Timothy to the Philippians.
Timothy was the only qualified person to send at that time. This tells us that Timothy was a spiritually mature believer himself and qualified to assist these believers in their spiritual growth into super-grace and ultra-super-grace. Paul knew that Timothy would fill in the gap until Epaphroditus was able to return to his ministry in Philippi. Timothy had the gift of pastor-teacher, was a spiritually mature believer who had probably reached super-grace and could assist the Philippians in their advance. He could answer their questions, clarify certain doctrines and encourage them through his own experience with Paul. Paul had the right man at the right time to send, which was all part of God’s plan to provide additional doctrine support to these positive believers who wanted more.
For I have no one else of kindred spirit who will genuinely be concerned for your welfare.For they all seek after their own interests, not those of Christ Jesus refers to the reversionistic believers in the church at Rome. The church at Rome was made up of a lot of reversionistic believers. Therefore, there was no one in the church of Rome at that time that Paul could send to the Philippians. Since Epaphroditus was critically ill, he had been unable to return at that time.
But you know of his proven worth, that he served with me in the furtherance of the gospel like a child serving his father. Therefore, I hope to send him immediately, as soon as I see how things go with me; and I trust in the Lord that I myself also will be coming shortly. The Philippians had met Timothy before when he traveled with Paul and had come to know and respect Timothy’s ministry. They had the opportunity to observe Timothy as a young man and his faithful service to Paul. They observed him learning from his spiritual father Paul. Knowing his proven worth indicates that these believers in Philippi knew that Timothy had continued in the ministry and had been taught by Paul. Therefore, he was qualified to come to them and lead them in their continued spiritual growth. (Acts 16)
So, Philippi would have an interim pastor to take care of the church until their pastor Epaphroditus returned. Just as soon as it was cleared up whether Paul was going to be released or not, he was going to send Timothy. Paul anticipated that he would soon be released from prison and would be free to make a fourth missionary journey, but he would also make a trip throughout all of the churches and he would come to see the Philippians.
Verses 25-27
“But I thought it necessary to send to you Epaphroditus, my brother and fellow worker and fellow soldier, who is also your messenger and minister to my need; because he was longing for you all and was distressed because you had heard that he was sick. For indeed he was sick to the point of death, but God had mercy on him, and not on him only but also on me, so that I would not have sorrow upon sorrow.”
This has to do with God’s will for Epaphroditus getting back to his own congregation. The word “necessary” is simply another way of stating their need for a permanent pastor-teacher. Epaphroditus was a fellow believer, not a relative. Brother is used to indicate that we are all in the Royal Family of God at the point of salvation. Paul had the gift of apostleship; Epaphroditus had the gift of pastor-teacher; they were fellow communicators of doctrine. And by messenger and minister is meant one who communicates doctrine.
Epaphroditus bought a monetary gift to Paul, but he also brought true Christian fellowship and encouragement to Paul. The large monetary offering brought by Epaphroditus took care of all of Paul’s material needs, while the personal presence of and fellowship with Epaphroditus took care of a very definite need in his life, a spiritual need—companionship, a fellow human being with whom he can talk. Spiritually mature believers, including those in the ministry need encouragement and companionship like all believers. So, Paul was not sure that Epaphroditus would recover and be able to travel back to Philippi, but he did recover and was able to return. We do not know if he and Timothy went together or separately.
Verses 28-30
Therefore, I have sent him all the more eagerly so that when you see him again you may rejoice, and I may be less concerned about you. Receive him then in the Lord with all joy, and hold men like him in high regard;because he came close to death for the work of Christ, risking his life to complete what was deficient in your service to me.” The interesting thing here is that Epaphroditus doesn’t want his congregation to be unhappy about his situation. His congregation had been very unhappy because they had heard that he was dying. But he had the right attitude about death as a spiritually mature believer. He knew that if he died, he would be absent from the body and face to face with the Lord. Therefore, during his critical illness he was not concerned about dying because of dying grace. What concerned Epaphroditus was that he was causing these believers grief by dying. He was totally thoughtful of others as an expression of his love for them.
God still had a purpose for Epaphroditus’s life, and the fact that Paul could not heal Epaphroditus indicates that there were temporary gifts like healing, tongues, miracles, apostleship that were eventually discontinued. Paul and Epaphroditus were together in Rome, their rapport was phenomenal. Epaphroditus had been a spiritual blessing to Paul, even as Paul has been to Epaphroditus.
Paul’s gift of healing had been removed. Paul was given the gift of healing to establish the fact that he was an apostle. Both the gift of healing and miracles were used to establish Paul’s authority as an apostle. They have now been discontinued since Paul’s authority was well established. Temporary spiritual gifts were designed to establish the authority of apostles, evangelists, prophets and pastors before the New Testament Canon was completed and circulated. But once the New Testament Canon was completed and circulated [A.D. 96] all temporary gifts were permanently withdrawn and have not functioned since the first century. (Hebrews 2:1-4)
The Philippians held Epaphroditus in the highest regard as a pastor-teacher and his teaching was going to bring them to ultra-super-grace. There are certain ingredients of a good congregation. A good congregation identifies the pastor whose doctrinal teaching they can follow and then they place themselves under his spiritual authority. Submitting to his spiritual authority in teaching and church policy is essential. A good congregation has consistent positive volition toward learning and applying accurate Bible doctrine. A good congregation has good academic discipline under the ministry of God the Holy Spirit. A good congregation has thoughtfulness of others, and recognition of the privacy of the priesthood of others. A good congregation follows the pastor in his spiritual advance in reaching the various stages of spiritual adulthood. Through spiritual growth and progress, a good congregation comes to be blessed of God based on the capacity they have developed. And they have a relaxed mental attitude about their blessings because they recognize the source. A good congregation means their pastor will be highly rewarded in eternity, which glorify Jesus Christ forever.
Because he came close to death for the work of Christ, risking his life to complete what was deficient in your service to me. This is not a rebuke as it may appear but is an expression of love for the Philippian believers. The deficiency here is not money; they had sent a large amount. The deficiency was their personal presence in Rome with Paul. The Greek word for service in this verse is “leitourgia,” which means ministering to one another. Epaphroditus did the job of representing the church at Philippi beautifully, taking up the slack for their personal presence not being able to be there to minster to Paul. Since the congregation could not come and spend time with Paul, they had sent their best representative. Now Paul was returning their gift of Epaphroditus back to them.