Phil2v19to30 PAUL AND HIS FRIENDS

(A) Introduction

Most of the books that I consulted to prepare this exposition dealt with what the passage tells us about Timothy and Epaphroditus. This is interesting and instructive but I am going to look, instead, at what it reveals about Paul. I think that letters reveal far more about the writer than about those he or she is writing about.

(B) Paul is cheered up by news. v19: I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you soon, that I also may be cheered when I receive news about you.

As I write, Christmas is barely a week away. It is a time for receiving cards. So many of them contain no news! I just receive the missive: 'Best wishes, Jim,' or 'Love Claudia.' It is very disappointing. A Christmas card is an ideal opportunity to send good news, interesting news, a few words of encouragement, appreciation or love. Now I daresay that I shall appear self-righteous but I take a lot of trouble to write an amusing and thought provoking annual letter for distribution at Christmas. I can almost hear you groan - not one of those boring, triumphalist, duplicated letters. Well, I think the worst of them is better than a card containing nothing but, 'Cheers, Kenny.' However, there are individuals who receive my letter who do not bother to read it. They will even tell me weeks after receiving it, "Haven't got round to reading your letter yet." You know that these people are not really interested in you. You don't matter to them. News of the Philippians would cheer Paul up because he cared for them deeply; they were on his heart.

I sometimes get news that cheers me up. One Christmas I got a letter from Freda who had been to see her daughter in Australia. Freda was very ill and confined to a wheelchair. She travelled alone. She felt pretty forlorn sitting by her luggage at the airport in Singapore - seemingly abandoned by the airline she was travelling with. A lady and her husband took pity on her. They were Christians too, and on their way to Australia. They made sure that Freda got where she needed to go. Freda believed that the Lord put those people there for her!

At the same time I received a little note from Emma, one of my old pupils, telling me that she was going to be baptised at Mickfield Gospel Room. That was good news! I was so pleased that Emma had made a commitment to Jesus and was prepared to publicly confess him in the way her Saviour ordained.

I used to get letters from my niece, Angela, describing her enthusiastic involvement with the Christian Union at Nottingham University. She was obviously very keen to reach other students with the Gospel. I found that heartening.

I think we should try and cheer others up. One of the ways is to just keep in touch. I am so pleased when any of my old pupils makes contact. We can visit, phone, E-mail, and write to reassure someone that they matter; that they are remembered; that we have them on our hearts. Even Paul with all his immense spiritual resources and dynamic faith in Christ Jesus his Lord needed cheering up in times of testing and uncertainty.

(C) Paul's unselfishness. v19 I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you soon.... I have no one else like him, who takes a genuine interest in your welfare. For everyone looks to his own interests, not those of Jesus Christ. ...... v25 But I think it is necessary to send back to you Epaphroditus.

None of the Christians in Rome was prepared to go to Philippi. It was a long way to Eastern Greece. They had other commitments: to business, their family and their own church. I never went to Emma's baptism because I felt that I could be ill spared from my small fellowship. I think on this occasion my loyalty was misplaced.

Timothy put the interests of Paul and the Philippians first. He may have carried Paul's letter to the church. Without Timothy's willingness to deliver it, the epistle to the Philippians might never have been written. We need to put the interest of other Christians before our own. We need to think what we can do to encourage and strengthen our brothers and sisters in Christ. Young people always raise the spirits of the old when they are prepared to associate and worship with them. I was talking to a grand old Christian couple today. They used to be very fond of a girl who attended our chapel. They treated her like their own daughter. I asked them this morning, "Have you heard anything of Leila?" "No," they replied sadly, "we haven't set eyes on her for years." Just think of the pleasure that Leila could give those elderly folk by paying them a little visit from time to time. They would make such a fuss of her! I visited an old man in a nursing home last week. He loved his former pastor and his pastor's wife. There is nothing he would like more than to see them again. It is a sad irony that those who do visit cannot cheer the heart like those who don't!

Paul put the interest of Jesus Christ first and so he was prepared to send Timothy and Epaphroditus to Philippi. Both these young men had been a help to him in his imprisonment. He says of the former: Timothy has proved himself, because as a son with his father he has served with me in the work of the gospel. v22. It was a real sacrifice for Paul to lose the company of Timothy.

It is always very hard to partially lose someone to the Lord's work. My father was too busy earning a living and serving the Lord to play with his children. I think my brothers regret the fact to this day. I never minded so much because there were other things my father gave me. (See article on My Father.) Many wives have had to share their husband with God's people and it isn't easy. There is a telling little passage in Matthew about Jesus' relationship with his family. While Jesus was still talking to the crowd, his mother and brothers stood outside, wanting to speak to him. Someone told him, "Your mother and brothers are standing outside, wanting to speak to you." He replied to him, "Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?" Pointing to his disciples, he said, "Here are my mother and my brothers. For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother." Mt12v46to48. This means that a Christian does not just have to consider the interests of their natural families but also God's family. A Christian cannot consider the interests of his own children to the exclusion of God's children.

Another sacrifice that is hard to bear involves losing a valued worker from the local church to another sphere of service. There is a tendency to say, "We need you here." Sometimes a church has to let a man or a woman go - as Paul let Timothy and Epaphroditus go. The gospel has been spread by missionaries going out from their churches to preach and teach in foreign lands. Jesus' interests are paramount.

(D) Paul gives credit where it is due.

I wonder what you think makes a good leader. I have dealt with this topic in my exposition on Phil1v27to30. I will reiterate here one of the key qualities of successful leadership which Paul displays in his handling of Timothy and Epaphroditus.

I have played cricket with three Brockley Cricket Club captains. None of them have been great strategists. Two have been very laid back and the other more of a disciplinarian. One quality they all possessed: they gave credit where it was due. They got the best out of their team by encouraging anyone who performed well. They certainly got the very best out of me by showing confidence in my ability.

Paul pays tribute to Timothy who had proved himself by serving loyally with Paul in the work of the gospel. He also says of this dear son in the faith, I have no-one else like him, who takes a genuine interest in your welfare. Paul, likewise, praises Epaphroditus, my brother, fellow-worker and fellow-soldier who almost died for the work of Christ, risking his life to make up for the help you could not give me. v30. These words of Paul must have greatly raised the morale of his two young friends.

We need to give credit where it is due. It is very mean spirited and unloving not to recognise the worth of a fellow Christian. A man with a generous spirit is one who applauds the competence and character of others. I was encouraged when my friend Ian Brown sent me an E-mail to congratulate me on my web site. I needed a little encouragement after 15 months of hard labour. I was even more encouraged from time to time by the reaction of my pupils to the assemblies that I gave. I can recall a rather scruffy old country girl coming up to me at morning break and saying, "I really enjoyed your assembly, Mr Reed. It was lovely." I was so pleased that it had done her good.

(E) Paul was optimistic by temperament.

Paul wrote, And I am confident in the Lord that I myself will come soon. v24. Paul's optimism was ill founded. He may have been released for a short time only to be rearrested. He never did return to Philippi.

I am not an optimist like Paul. If I was in prison I would never feel confident of being released. Nor would I feel confident of healing if I was sick or friendship if all alone. Optimism is not the same as faith or hope. There are things we can be confident of by faith. I believe that I will always receive help in Christian service. I have proved this to be true. God is with me when I prepare my messages, assist with the young people's work or visit the old and infirm. I am sure that God will protect me from temptation and deliver me from evil that would undermine my Christian life and witness. He did protect me throughout my teaching career. I am certain that there is a blessedness in obedience. Whenever I have consciously implemented Christ's teaching I have experienced a sense of well being.

(F) Paul was a considerate man

Paul writes of Epaphroditus, But I think it is necessary to send back Epaphroditus ....... For he longs for all of you and is distressed because you heard he was ill. vs25 and 26. Epaphroditus was homesick and also worried because he had not been able to do what his church wanted, namely to serve Paul. Epaphroditus had been seriously ill and more of a hindrance than a help to Paul and his church knew it. Paul knew that his young companion was unhappy and thought it best to send him home. He made a concession to Epaphroditus' weakness.

Sometimes it is necessary to make concessions to the weaknesses of others. I had Charlie in detention to complete his Geography project. He was not very happy about it. After he finished his project he had the additional task of sorting out his folder of work which was in a dreadful mess. He was such a pathetic specimen that he could not file work in chronological order. I knew it would take him a long time to make some sense of all the loose sheets stuffed haphazardly into his folder. So I did it for him! I cannot say that I made a habit of it but on this occasion I did concede to the weakness of one of my errant pupils. He was grateful!

I know at least two ladies who attend my church who never learned to drive because they were instructed by their husbands. One of these ladies was being given a lesson by her husband Cecil. She lacked confidence and Cecil's bristling instructions didn't help. When she pulled up behind a stationary double decked bus and asked plaintively, "What do I do now?" she received the terse reply, "Why, drive right into the back of it women." That was the last lesson Ivy took. A good teacher and pastor does make concession to a person's weakness and slowly builds up confidence. See my story, 'Two ways to help'

I love the passage in John Bunyan's, 'Pilgrim's Progress', where Mr. Great-heart and his party meet up with Mr. Feeblemind at the inn of Gaius. Mr. Great-heart invites Mr. Feeblemind to accompany them on their pilgrimage. Mr. Feeblemind replied, "Alas! I want a suitable companion. You are all lusty and strong, but I, as you see, am weak; I choose, therefore, rather to come behind, lest, by reason of my many infirmities, I should be both a burden to myself and to you." Mr Great-heart reassures him, "But brother, I have it in commission to comfort the feeble-minded, and to support the weak. You must needs go along with us; we will wait for you; we will lend you our help; we will deny ourselves of some things, both opinionative and practical, for your sake; we will not enter into doubtful disputations before you; - we will be made all things to you, rather than you shall be left behind. Good old Mr Great-heart! He got his motley band of pilgrims safe to the river.

God, himself, makes concessions to our weakness. Paul writes to the Corinthians, God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it. 1Cor10v13. None of us know the full extent to which God has delivered us from evil. Satan has not been allowed to use all his power against us. Mr Fearing in Pilgrim's Progress was a troublesome pilgrim. He lay roaring at the Slough of Despond for above a month together. He was dejected at every difficulty, and stumbled at every straw that anybody cast in his way. But Mr Great-heart testified that when Mr Fearing walked through the Valley of the Shadow of Death it was as quiet as ever he had known it before or since. He supposed the enemies there had received a special check from the Lord and a command not to meddle until Mr Fearing had passed through it. He also says this about Mr Fearing's death, "And here also I took notice of what was very remarkable - the water of that river was lower at this time ever I saw it in all my life: so he went over at last, not much above wet-shod."

(F) Paul was very gracious

Paul was sensitive to the feelings of others and he writes very tactfully to the Philippians. Not everyone is tactful. I once told the lovely Victoria off - quite sharply, I daresay. She scowled at me and said, "No wonder nobody would marry you - you've got such a violent temper." It didn't make me feel any better. I suppose it might have made Victoria feel better!

Paul had a problem. Epaphroditus was a gift from the church at Philippi. Paul acknowledges this ; he writes, whom you sent to take care of my needs. v25. Paul was returning their gift. Epaphroditus doubtless felt a bit of a failure. The Philippians may well have been rather disappointed in Epaphroditus and upset with Paul for returning him so soon. Paul makes it as easy as he can for everybody. Paul tells them that they will be doing him a great favour to receive Epaphroditus back with gladness. Paul is so relieved to be sending the young man back because he nearly lost him altogether. Paul urges the Philippians to welcome and honour Epaphroditus because he almost died for the work of Christ, risking his life to make up for the help you could not give me.v30. Epaphroditus and the church at Philippi must have been heartened and cheered by Paul's warm appreciation. It would be hard for anyone to be disgruntled and disagreeable when Paul is so thankful for Epaphroditus' efforts and God's goodness in sparing his life.

We should be careful never to make a fellow Christian feel unwanted and we should do our best never to hurt those who have both our and Christ's interest at heart.

Footnote: A lady sent me an email asking why I thought Timothy took Paul's letter to Philippi. I didn't have a very satisfactory reply! Most commentators agree with the lady that Epaphroditus took the letter. On rereading the relevant passage it is not really possible to be certain who took it. Indeed, it doesn't read as if either Timothy or Epaphroditus took it. The letter seems to be preparing the Philippians for a visit from Timothy and the return of Epaphroditus. So, perhaps, it was taken by a person or persons unknown!

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