WEBVTT 00:00:00.560 --> 00:00:05.120 We are continuing our series through the book of Philippians. 00:00:05.280 --> 00:00:05.919 Sorry. 00:00:06.240 --> 00:00:08.720 To live is Christ is the name of our series. 00:00:08.880 --> 00:00:16.079 And our text for today comes immediately after one of the most beautiful descriptions of Jesus in all of Scripture. 00:00:16.320 --> 00:00:32.799 Paul has shown us the humility of Christ, the one who he he thought he was, he was the one who I'm sorry, the one who though was in the form of God, humble himself, took the form of a servant, and became obedient even to the point of death, even death on a cross. 00:00:32.960 --> 00:00:38.960 Then Paul turns to the Philippians and essentially said, Now live in light of that. 00:00:44.000 --> 00:00:45.759 Hold fast to the world of life. 00:00:45.920 --> 00:00:50.320 Let the gospel that you believe actually shape the way that you live. 00:00:50.640 --> 00:00:55.679 And this morning, Paul is going to show us what that actually looks like. 00:00:55.920 --> 00:00:59.679 But before we jump into the text, let's go to the Lord in prayer. 00:00:59.840 --> 00:01:01.439 Let's bow our heads. 00:01:02.079 --> 00:01:04.159 Father God, you are amazing. 00:01:04.319 --> 00:01:06.400 You are holy, holy, holy. 00:01:06.560 --> 00:01:07.760 And you are good. 00:01:09.040 --> 00:01:20.000 Lord, I pray that your words would go deep into our hearts, causing us to respond in worship to you, and that a heart of worship would lead us to share your message with others. 00:01:20.480 --> 00:01:27.760 To see that you are working through our lives in the way that we love to serve and love one another. 00:01:28.079 --> 00:01:31.680 Father, I pray that your name would be exalted through the preaching of your word. 00:01:32.239 --> 00:01:36.879 For you were you are worthy to be praised forever and ever and ever. 00:01:37.680 --> 00:01:40.079 We pray all these things in Jesus' name. 00:01:40.319 --> 00:01:40.959 Amen. 00:01:41.359 --> 00:01:47.120 Okay, let's turn to the book of Philippians, chapter 2, starting in verse 19. 00:01:47.920 --> 00:01:49.760 And I'll give you guys a moment to get there. 00:01:49.840 --> 00:01:56.799 But as we read that passage, we might initially think that Paul is simply giving the church some travel plans. 00:01:57.120 --> 00:02:01.040 Timothy is going is going here, Hippophydus is going there. 00:02:01.280 --> 00:02:06.079 Paul hopes to visit later, but Paul is doing something much more significant. 00:02:06.480 --> 00:02:10.159 So let's read that together, starting in verse 19. 00:02:11.680 --> 00:02:19.039 I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you soon, so that I too may be cheered by news of you. 00:02:19.360 --> 00:02:24.400 For I have no one like him who will be genuinely concerned for your welfare. 00:02:25.039 --> 00:02:29.120 For they all seek their own interests, not those of Jesus Christ. 00:02:29.759 --> 00:02:38.000 But you know Timothy's proven worth, how as a son with a father he has served with me in the gospel. 00:02:38.719 --> 00:02:48.879 I hope therefore to send him just as soon as I see how it will go with me, and I trust in the Lord that surely I myself will come also. 00:02:50.400 --> 00:03:00.560 I have thought it necessary to send you to send to you Epaphroditus, my brother and fellow worker and fellow soldier and your messenger and ministry, minister to my need. 00:03:00.879 --> 00:03:06.719 For he has been longing for you all, and has been distressed because you heard that he was ill. 00:03:07.199 --> 00:03:10.719 Indeed he was ill, near to death. 00:03:11.039 --> 00:03:21.439 But God had mercy on him, and not only him, but on me also, lest I should have sorrow upon sorrow, I am the more eager to send him. 00:03:21.919 --> 00:03:28.319 Therefore, that you may rejoice at seeing him again, and that I may be less anxious. 00:03:28.639 --> 00:03:32.879 So receive him in the Lord with all joy and honor such men. 00:03:33.360 --> 00:03:42.240 For he nearly died for the work of Christ, risking his life to complete what was lacking in your service to me. 00:03:45.599 --> 00:03:51.520 Paul described the humility of Christ in those amazing lines in verses 5 through 11. 00:03:51.599 --> 00:03:57.759 Then in verses 12 through 18, he calls the Philippians to live in light of what Christ has done. 00:03:58.000 --> 00:04:02.159 And now Paul does something incredibly incredibly helpful to us. 00:04:02.400 --> 00:04:09.199 He gives us two flesh and blood examples of what a Christ-shaped life actually looked like. 00:04:10.560 --> 00:04:19.279 Because sometimes we can talk about humility, sacrifice, and service and putting others before ourselves, and those things remain somewhat abstract. 00:04:19.600 --> 00:04:26.720 But Paul, in a sense, says, Do you know what it looks like when somebody actually lives like that? 00:04:26.879 --> 00:04:31.360 Look at Timothy and look at Epaphroditus, which is this is what this whole thing is about. 00:04:31.519 --> 00:04:43.360 Now, these are two ordinary men whose lives have been so shaped by Jesus by Jesus Christ that they begin to reflect the very pattern that Paul has been describing through this chapter. 00:04:43.519 --> 00:04:48.480 Christ humbled himself, Christ took the form of a servant, Christ gave himself for others. 00:04:48.639 --> 00:04:51.040 Those are the three things that we have gone through so far. 00:04:51.279 --> 00:04:58.399 And when the gospel takes root in us, that same mind of Christ begins to reshape the way that we live. 00:04:58.720 --> 00:05:09.759 So here's the truth that I want us to keep coming back to this morning, and that's this that the mind of Christ is made visible in the life in a life spent for others. 00:05:10.319 --> 00:05:15.600 The mind of Christ is made visible in a life spent for others. 00:05:15.839 --> 00:05:21.519 And Paul begins showing us that kind of life in Timothy, and then he speaks of Epaphroditus. 00:05:22.000 --> 00:05:27.120 And we already know what he said about himself being poured out as a drink offering. 00:05:27.199 --> 00:05:28.399 We talked about it last week. 00:05:28.560 --> 00:05:32.959 So let's dive into the text and we're gonna go through it in two simple points. 00:05:33.279 --> 00:05:34.240 Two simple points. 00:05:34.399 --> 00:05:40.879 The first one is that a Christ-like life genuinely seek the good for others. 00:05:41.199 --> 00:05:46.240 A Christ-like life genuinely seeks the good of others. 00:05:46.480 --> 00:05:52.959 And number two, a Christ-like life willingly spans itself for others. 00:05:53.199 --> 00:05:58.160 A Christ-like life willingly spans itself for others. 00:05:58.399 --> 00:06:01.120 Now let's look look with me at verse 19. 00:06:01.519 --> 00:06:07.360 And we're as we're working through through that first point, genuinely seeking the good of others. 00:06:07.519 --> 00:06:16.319 And he reads, I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you soon so that I too may be cheered by your news, by news of you. 00:06:16.720 --> 00:06:24.560 Paul is writing this letter from prison, as we know, and and he doesn't know exactly what is going to happen to him at this point. 00:06:31.839 --> 00:06:33.759 He does tell them that at the beginning. 00:06:42.480 --> 00:06:45.360 He wants to hear that they are standing firm. 00:06:45.600 --> 00:06:51.040 And so Paul says, I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you soon. 00:06:51.439 --> 00:06:53.839 Even that little phrase is worth noticing, right? 00:06:53.920 --> 00:07:00.079 Because he says, In the Lord Jesus, Paul has plans, Paul has desires. 00:07:00.560 --> 00:07:10.399 Paul knows what what he would like to happen next, but his plans remain underneath the Lordship of Jesus Christ. 00:07:10.639 --> 00:07:15.920 Again, he says, I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you soon. 00:07:16.240 --> 00:07:21.519 Now, while I was writing this sermon, I started thinking about my own life before I moved to America. 00:07:21.680 --> 00:07:23.839 And this is a little interesting bit, right? 00:07:24.000 --> 00:07:32.480 So there's a couple of things that people say back in Nicaragua that I never really thought much about while I lived there, but they were just part of how people talk. 00:07:32.720 --> 00:07:46.160 When you would greet somebody with a simple, hi, how are you, though in Spanish, people would respond by saying, Bien, gracias a Dios, which literally translates, I'm good, thanks be to God. 00:07:46.639 --> 00:07:47.680 This is super common. 00:07:47.839 --> 00:07:49.839 You ask anyone, hey, how are you doing? 00:07:50.000 --> 00:07:50.399 Thanks. 00:07:50.639 --> 00:07:52.480 I'm doing well, thanks to God. 00:07:54.079 --> 00:08:04.480 Or when somebody would like to tell you something about what they're planning to do, they would say, I'm going to visit my family next week, or I'm hoping to start a new job this week, or we're going to do this or that. 00:08:04.720 --> 00:08:10.639 And then at the end of their plans description, they would say, If God wills it. 00:08:11.199 --> 00:08:13.199 If God wills it, we'll do these things. 00:08:13.439 --> 00:08:15.360 If that's what God wants, that's what we're going to do. 00:08:15.439 --> 00:08:16.399 And people just say that. 00:08:16.480 --> 00:08:17.920 It just kind of rolls out of the tongue. 00:08:18.000 --> 00:08:20.879 And growing up, I honestly didn't think much of it. 00:08:20.959 --> 00:08:23.199 And I actually thought it even a little corny. 00:08:23.600 --> 00:08:26.399 Like, why do we have to say that after everything? 00:08:26.560 --> 00:08:27.600 Why do people say that? 00:08:27.759 --> 00:08:33.200 Even like the most like you know, strange people that you would think would say things like that. 00:08:33.279 --> 00:08:34.000 They do say it. 00:08:34.240 --> 00:08:39.440 But the more that I thought about it this week, the more I realized that there's something beautiful about that kind of language. 00:08:39.679 --> 00:08:48.399 Because whether the people saying it were consciously thinking about it or not, there's a deeple, a deeper biblical idea underneath. 00:08:48.559 --> 00:08:51.679 You see, my country, Nicaragua, was conquered by the Spaniards. 00:08:51.759 --> 00:08:56.720 The Spaniards were largely Catholics, and then that influenced the culture at large. 00:08:57.120 --> 00:09:04.480 So over time, people started picking up little things that became just part of the of the general vernacular, some things that people say. 00:09:05.919 --> 00:09:13.039 But that is what's so interesting because everything remains under the lordship and providence of God, and that's what they were taught, right? 00:09:13.200 --> 00:09:17.759 So James actually says something very similar in James 4, 13 to 15. 00:09:18.000 --> 00:09:29.279 He warns us against confidently saying, Tomorrow we're going to go here, we are going to do this, we're going to make money, as though tomorrow belonged to us. 00:09:30.240 --> 00:09:36.240 And then he says, Instead, you ought to say, if the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that. 00:09:37.519 --> 00:09:39.440 And that's not fatalism. 00:09:39.519 --> 00:09:40.879 We shouldn't be super depressed about it. 00:09:41.120 --> 00:09:44.480 Like, oh man, like I'm just going to think about dying all the time. 00:09:44.960 --> 00:09:48.960 No, it doesn't mean that it also doesn't mean that Christians shouldn't make plans. 00:09:49.200 --> 00:09:51.519 Paul certainly made plans. 00:09:51.840 --> 00:09:53.519 We just read one of them. 00:09:53.840 --> 00:09:55.440 He wants to send Timothy. 00:09:55.600 --> 00:09:57.360 He hopes Timothy will return. 00:09:57.519 --> 00:09:58.960 He hopes to hear good news. 00:09:59.120 --> 00:10:01.679 Paul has a plan, but listen to how he says it again. 00:10:01.840 --> 00:10:04.960 He says, I hope in the Lord Jesus. 00:10:05.120 --> 00:10:11.600 Paul makes plans with an open hand because his plans remain ultimately underneath the Lordship of Christ. 00:10:11.919 --> 00:10:14.960 And maybe there's something in there for us. 00:10:15.120 --> 00:10:28.000 We can fill our calendars, we can make plans, we can think about next week and next month, next year, but the Christian lives, I'm sorry, but the Christian lives with this quiet confession underneath it all. 00:10:28.480 --> 00:10:31.679 That if the Lord wills, we will do certain things. 00:10:31.919 --> 00:10:34.320 If the Lord wills, we will do certain certain things. 00:10:34.480 --> 00:10:42.080 My life belongs to Christ, my future belongs to Christ, and whatever he has for me, I want my life to be spent for him. 00:10:42.399 --> 00:10:46.159 That is what Paul is communicating, and that is how we ought to live. 00:10:46.320 --> 00:10:49.279 Now, the person Paul hopes to send is Timothy. 00:10:49.519 --> 00:10:52.480 Look at what he says about him in verse 20. 00:10:52.639 --> 00:10:58.320 For I have no one like him who will genuinely be concerned for your welfare. 00:11:00.320 --> 00:11:02.240 And that's an incredible statement. 00:11:02.480 --> 00:11:05.519 Because Paul has encountered a lot of people in his travels. 00:11:05.679 --> 00:11:10.080 He's traveled with people, he's planted churches with people, he suffered alongside people. 00:11:10.240 --> 00:11:17.440 And yet, when Paul thinks about somebody to send to Philippi, he says, There is nobody quite like Timothy. 00:11:17.679 --> 00:11:18.960 That's high praise. 00:11:19.120 --> 00:11:24.879 This is the Apostle Paul we're talking about, the second most influential man in the history of the world, only after Jesus. 00:11:25.200 --> 00:11:27.759 So why not because why why? 00:11:27.919 --> 00:11:37.200 Not because Timothy is the most charismatic preacher, not because Timothy has the biggest personality, not because Timothy has the most impressive resume. 00:11:37.360 --> 00:11:43.440 This is all a callback to everything that we went through over Titus, because Paul points to his character. 00:11:43.679 --> 00:11:45.279 Remember the Titus series? 00:11:45.519 --> 00:11:51.600 God is far more concerned with the character of a person than with the charisma of a person. 00:11:53.200 --> 00:11:56.000 That word genuinely matters. 00:11:57.600 --> 00:12:01.600 Timothy doesn't simply know that Christians are supposed to care for one another. 00:12:01.759 --> 00:12:06.000 Timothy actually cares about people, it's part of his character. 00:12:06.240 --> 00:12:12.639 Their burdens matter to him, their spiritual condition matters to them, how they grow in faithfulness matters to him. 00:12:14.159 --> 00:12:20.799 And there's a difference between appearing concerned about people and genuinely caring about them. 00:12:21.600 --> 00:12:24.720 It is possible to ask somebody, How are you doing? 00:12:25.039 --> 00:12:28.559 and really just be waiting for an answer and making like a passing comment. 00:12:28.720 --> 00:12:32.960 It is possible to say, I'll pray for you, and never actually praying for someone. 00:12:33.360 --> 00:12:39.519 It is possible to serve someone while secretly hoping they notice that they're serving them. 00:12:39.840 --> 00:12:45.440 It is possible to do something generous and still make the whole thing about ourselves. 00:12:46.399 --> 00:12:49.200 But that's not what Paul sees in Timothy. 00:12:49.440 --> 00:12:51.759 He sees genuine concern. 00:12:52.159 --> 00:12:54.720 And then Paul tells us why that is so remarkable. 00:12:54.879 --> 00:13:03.120 If you look at verse 21, for they all seek their own interest and not those, not those of Jesus Christ. 00:13:03.840 --> 00:13:20.159 Now, if you've been with us through Philippians 2, that language should sound familiar because if we go back to verse 4, we remember that Paul's talking and says, Let's each of you look not only to his own interest, but also to the interest of others. 00:13:20.399 --> 00:13:28.639 So after he's just told the church and Philippi, hey, this is how you ought to be, he says, I'm gonna send you a guy that is exactly like I told you you should be. 00:13:32.639 --> 00:13:39.919 Paul said, Look to the interest of others, and then he points at Timothy and says, Here is a man who actually does it. 00:13:42.799 --> 00:13:44.399 Those two things are connected. 00:13:44.639 --> 00:13:54.000 When Timothy genuinely cares for the people of God, he is seeking the interest of Christ because these are the these are Christ's peoples. 00:13:54.159 --> 00:13:57.200 Christ loves his church, Christ gave himself for his church. 00:13:57.440 --> 00:14:04.159 So you cannot separate devotion to Jesus from the way that you treat people who belong to Jesus. 00:14:04.639 --> 00:14:11.759 You cannot separate the devotion you say that you have to Jesus with the way that you treat people who belong to Jesus. 00:14:12.080 --> 00:14:17.360 Sometimes we make following Jesus Christ far more mysterious than it needs to be. 00:14:18.240 --> 00:14:19.919 We make it too complicated. 00:14:20.480 --> 00:14:23.519 It's as simple as just loving and serving. 00:14:26.559 --> 00:14:28.559 We ask, what does Jesus want me to do? 00:14:28.639 --> 00:14:29.679 How can I serve Christ? 00:14:29.759 --> 00:14:32.879 How can I live a life that matters for his kingdom? 00:14:32.960 --> 00:14:36.399 And sometimes the answer is sitting three rows away from you. 00:14:38.080 --> 00:14:43.759 Sometimes seeking the interest of Christ looks like noticing the person who's hurting. 00:14:44.000 --> 00:14:47.919 Sometimes it looks like making a phone call, sending a text. 00:14:48.080 --> 00:14:50.080 Sometimes it looks like bringing a meal. 00:14:50.159 --> 00:14:54.480 Sometimes it looks like listening when you'd rather be talking. 00:14:54.720 --> 00:14:58.879 Sometimes it means giving up an evening because somebody needs you. 00:14:59.039 --> 00:15:05.759 Sometimes it's as simple as noticing that you hurt somebody's feelings and just simply say, like, hey, I'm sorry that happened. 00:15:06.559 --> 00:15:10.320 I'm not I'm I'm gonna try my hardest to not let that happen again. 00:15:12.559 --> 00:15:18.639 Sometimes it means praying faithfully for someone who may never know how often you have carried their name before the Lord. 00:15:21.519 --> 00:15:29.039 Those things might never put your name on a stage, nobody may applaud you for them, but Jesus sees them. 00:15:29.679 --> 00:15:42.480 He sees your quiet faithfulness because a Christ-like life genuinely seeks the good of others, and that kind of concern doesn't appear overnight. 00:15:43.759 --> 00:15:45.279 Look at verse 22. 00:15:45.759 --> 00:15:53.759 It reads, But you know Timothy's proven worth, how as a son with a father he has served with me in the gospel. 00:15:55.200 --> 00:15:57.200 I love Paul's language here. 00:15:57.519 --> 00:16:00.080 You know his proven worth. 00:16:00.559 --> 00:16:11.679 Timothy's character has been tested, his faithfulness, his faithfulness has been observed, and people had watched his life long enough to know that man is genuine. 00:16:11.840 --> 00:16:14.799 When he says that he cares, he truly cares. 00:16:15.360 --> 00:16:25.039 And that's important because Christian maturity is not just something that we claim about ourselves, it must be visible over time. 00:16:25.279 --> 00:16:27.120 It must be visible over time. 00:16:27.360 --> 00:16:37.279 You can say that you're humble or you want, you can say that you're a servant, you can say that you love people, but eventually life will give you an opportunity to put your money where your mouth is. 00:16:37.919 --> 00:16:45.679 Eventually, somebody will inconvenience you, eventually, somebody will disappoint you, somebody will hurt you, somebody will it will cost you to serve somebody. 00:16:46.480 --> 00:16:49.600 Eventually, nobody notices anything that you do. 00:16:50.320 --> 00:16:55.600 And in those moments, what is actually inside of us begins to come out. 00:16:56.639 --> 00:16:59.440 And Timothy had been through those moments. 00:17:00.320 --> 00:17:08.559 And Paul could say, You know this man, you have seen his character, you have seen his faithfulness, and you have seen his concern for others. 00:17:08.799 --> 00:17:15.279 And then Paul says, As a son with a father, he has served with me in the gospel. 00:17:16.240 --> 00:17:19.119 And the final word there is in the gospel, right? 00:17:19.759 --> 00:17:29.279 Timothy isn't building Timothy's kingdom, he's not out there to get his own popularity or just trying to do nice things or caring for people to, you know, elevate his name. 00:17:32.160 --> 00:17:44.319 Paul isn't building Paul's kingdom, they are serving together for the advancement of the gospel of Jesus Christ, and that's ultimately what makes this kind of life possible. 00:17:44.880 --> 00:17:47.839 Knowing what is the why. 00:17:48.400 --> 00:17:53.599 Because if my life belongs to me, then every interruption feels like an inconvenience. 00:17:53.839 --> 00:17:59.680 If my life belongs to me, then serving someone else feels like I'm taking something away from me. 00:18:00.160 --> 00:18:05.599 If my resources belong to me, then generosity feels like a loss. 00:18:06.160 --> 00:18:09.920 When you're generous, you feel like ah I just lost some money. 00:18:11.039 --> 00:18:16.000 If my reputation belongs to me, then I need to be recognized by what I've done. 00:18:16.240 --> 00:18:19.519 But if my life belongs to Christ, it's the complete opposite. 00:18:19.839 --> 00:18:24.880 My time belongs to him, my resources belong to him, everything belongs to my gifts. 00:18:26.960 --> 00:18:35.440 We can go from what do I want to how can what Christ has given me be used for the good of someone else? 00:18:36.000 --> 00:18:42.160 How can what God has given me be used for the good of someone else? 00:18:42.559 --> 00:18:44.240 That is the mind of Christ. 00:18:44.480 --> 00:18:46.160 Remember how this chapter began? 00:18:46.559 --> 00:18:54.079 He says, Do nothing from selfish ambition or concede, but in humility count others more significant than yourself. 00:18:54.480 --> 00:19:02.240 And then Paul told us, told us, have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus. 00:19:03.119 --> 00:19:12.240 Timothy shows us what happens when that stops being something written on a page and starts becoming a pattern in someone's life. 00:19:12.880 --> 00:19:17.519 The mind of Christ is made visible in a life spent for others. 00:19:17.680 --> 00:19:19.920 And Timothy shows us that. 00:19:21.119 --> 00:19:26.880 He shows us that a Christ-like life genuinely seeks the good of others. 00:19:28.240 --> 00:19:35.839 But Paul isn't finished giving us examples because genuinely genuine concern doesn't remain merely a feeling. 00:19:36.000 --> 00:19:39.440 Eventually, love becomes costly, it costs us something. 00:19:39.759 --> 00:19:44.880 And for that, Paul turns our attention to another man in this mission. 00:19:45.119 --> 00:19:49.359 His name is Epaphroditus, which brings us to our second point this morning. 00:19:49.599 --> 00:19:54.079 A Christ-like life willingly spend itself for others. 00:19:54.319 --> 00:19:56.640 Willingly spans itself for others. 00:19:56.960 --> 00:19:58.160 Verse 25. 00:20:10.960 --> 00:20:16.880 Now, Epaphroditus is a very interesting character here because we don't really know much about him. 00:20:17.279 --> 00:20:19.039 He's not one of the 12 apostles. 00:20:19.200 --> 00:20:21.599 We don't have a book of the Bible named after him. 00:20:21.839 --> 00:20:24.400 We don't have a record of great sermons he may have written. 00:20:24.480 --> 00:20:26.160 We don't have like a ton of quotes, really. 00:20:26.240 --> 00:20:28.240 We don't have hard, we have hardly anything. 00:20:28.480 --> 00:20:31.039 And yet, listen to how Paul describes this man. 00:20:31.200 --> 00:20:36.480 He says, He is my brother, he is my fellow worker, he is my fellow soldier. 00:20:37.200 --> 00:20:45.279 And now Paul gives us the scripture, the picture of someone standing shoulder to shoulder with him in the struggle for the gospel. 00:20:46.319 --> 00:20:51.039 And finally, he says, Your messenger and minister to my need. 00:20:51.599 --> 00:20:55.359 The Philippian church had sent Epaphroditus to Paul. 00:20:55.599 --> 00:20:59.279 Remember, Paul is imprisoned, and this church loves Paul. 00:20:59.519 --> 00:21:05.279 They want to care for him, they want to support him, so they sent one of their own to minister to Paul. 00:21:05.440 --> 00:21:07.920 And the man they send is Epaphroditus. 00:21:09.359 --> 00:21:11.279 Notice what Paul doesn't mention. 00:21:11.359 --> 00:21:16.400 He doesn't tell us how talented Epaphroditus is or how gifted of a preacher or charismatic. 00:21:16.799 --> 00:21:21.279 Paul instead describes him by his relationship to his service. 00:21:21.519 --> 00:21:27.119 He called him his brother, worker, soldier, messenger, and minister. 00:21:27.839 --> 00:21:34.720 His life had been intertwined with the lives of the people of other believers because he was willing to serve them. 00:21:34.960 --> 00:21:40.319 And somewhere along the way, that service became incredibly costly for Epaphroditus. 00:21:40.559 --> 00:21:42.079 Look at verse 26 and 27. 00:21:42.240 --> 00:21:49.200 He says, For he has been longing for you all and has been distressed because you heard that he was ill. 00:21:49.359 --> 00:21:52.000 Indeed, he was ill near to death. 00:21:52.240 --> 00:21:55.519 Epaphroditus almost died in this whole thing. 00:21:56.160 --> 00:21:59.599 Whatever illness he experienced was not mine, or Paul said that he was near. 00:22:00.240 --> 00:22:00.720 To death. 00:22:00.880 --> 00:22:03.440 But then there's something in verse 26. 00:22:03.599 --> 00:22:06.319 What is Epaphroditus distressed about? 00:22:06.960 --> 00:22:09.839 He's not primarily distressed because he's sick. 00:22:10.160 --> 00:22:13.759 He's distressed because they heard that he was sick. 00:22:14.000 --> 00:22:16.000 He's not stressed out because he's sick. 00:22:16.160 --> 00:22:21.920 He's stressed out because the people in Philippi heard that Epaphroditus was sick. 00:22:22.240 --> 00:22:28.000 This man has nearly died, and he was worried about the people back home worrying about him. 00:22:28.559 --> 00:22:30.240 And there it is again. 00:22:30.480 --> 00:22:33.920 The very thing that Paul has been talking about through this chapter. 00:22:34.160 --> 00:22:39.279 Let each of you look not only to his own interest, but also to the interest of others. 00:22:39.920 --> 00:22:44.000 Even in his suffering, Epaphroditus is looking outward. 00:22:44.160 --> 00:22:46.000 His concern is for others. 00:22:46.240 --> 00:22:51.759 And church, that's where the second example takes us a little bit further than the first. 00:22:52.000 --> 00:22:54.960 Timothy shows us genuine concern. 00:22:55.119 --> 00:23:00.400 Epaphroditus shows us that genuine concern eventually costs us something. 00:23:01.200 --> 00:23:08.319 Because biblical love is not just a sentiment, it's not just something that we decide to feel in that moment, or it's just an emotion. 00:23:08.559 --> 00:23:11.680 It's not just feeling compassion for someone. 00:23:11.839 --> 00:23:14.160 It's not just saying, I care about you. 00:23:14.559 --> 00:23:18.799 Eventually, love moves, it does something. 00:23:19.039 --> 00:23:21.680 Love serves, love's sacrifice. 00:23:21.839 --> 00:23:26.799 We have that example in Christ, and that is exactly what is happening to Epaphroditus here. 00:23:28.720 --> 00:23:31.680 Paul describes what happens next in verse 27. 00:23:31.920 --> 00:23:42.799 He says, But God had mercy on him, and not only on him, but also but on me also, lest I should have sorrow upon sorrow. 00:23:43.519 --> 00:23:45.440 I love Paul's language here. 00:23:45.759 --> 00:23:47.920 God had mercy on him, he said. 00:23:48.400 --> 00:23:54.400 Paul doesn't treat Epaphroditus' recovery as something that God owed him, owed him because he had been faithful. 00:23:57.599 --> 00:23:59.279 He nearly died doing it. 00:23:59.440 --> 00:24:03.440 And when he recovered, Paul says, of course, he didn't say, of course he recovered. 00:24:03.599 --> 00:24:05.599 Luke, all the good things that he's been doing. 00:24:05.680 --> 00:24:06.640 No, he doesn't do that. 00:24:06.720 --> 00:24:09.440 He says God had mercy on him. 00:24:09.920 --> 00:24:18.240 And Paul says God had mercy on him too, because losing Epaphroditus would have would have brought Paul's sorrow upon sorrow. 00:24:19.920 --> 00:24:22.880 And that's a wonderfully human statement. 00:24:23.599 --> 00:24:25.279 Wonderfully human statement. 00:24:25.519 --> 00:24:35.599 Sometimes we imagine Paul as this like theology, theological machine who simply moved from one ministry assignment to the next one, plant the church, plant the church, plant the church. 00:24:35.920 --> 00:24:37.839 But Paul loved people. 00:24:38.880 --> 00:24:43.920 The prospect of just potentially losing Epaphroditus hurt him. 00:24:45.279 --> 00:24:46.400 Notice something else here. 00:24:46.559 --> 00:24:49.279 Paul doesn't pretend that Christians don't experience sorrow. 00:24:49.440 --> 00:24:52.000 Faith doesn't make suffering painless. 00:24:52.240 --> 00:24:56.960 Trusting God's sovereignty doesn't make us stop grieving. 00:24:58.160 --> 00:25:03.839 Paul knows that Christ is Lord, and Paul knows that to die is gain. 00:25:04.799 --> 00:25:07.039 He said that in chapter 1. 00:25:07.759 --> 00:25:14.160 And yet, Paul can still say, if my brother had died, I would have experienced tremendous sorrow. 00:25:15.359 --> 00:25:17.599 Those things are in contradiction. 00:25:19.440 --> 00:25:24.000 Christian hope doesn't eliminate grief, it changes the way we grief. 00:25:24.240 --> 00:25:26.000 It changes the way we grief. 00:25:26.319 --> 00:25:27.599 Verse 28. 00:25:28.640 --> 00:25:37.440 I am the more eager to send him, therefore, that you may rejoice at seeing him again, and that I may be less anxious. 00:25:37.680 --> 00:25:39.839 And that I may be less anxious. 00:25:40.000 --> 00:25:42.720 Again, everybody's looking towards everybody else. 00:25:42.960 --> 00:25:53.440 The Philippians care about Epaphroditus, Epaphroditus cares about the Philippians, Paul cares about the Epaphroditus, Paul cares about them so much, cares about the Philippians so much, he's willing to send Timothy. 00:25:54.000 --> 00:25:57.680 And you can kind of see the community the gospel is producing. 00:25:58.079 --> 00:25:59.839 Nobody's at the center. 00:26:00.079 --> 00:26:06.640 They're looking towards one another, they're carrying one another, they're concerned for everyone else but themselves. 00:26:08.319 --> 00:26:12.880 And all of it is happening because Jesus Christ is at the center of it all. 00:26:13.039 --> 00:26:14.880 Remember what I said at the beginning of this series? 00:26:15.039 --> 00:26:19.119 I said, if you look at the book of Philip as a circle, everything points towards the center. 00:26:19.279 --> 00:26:26.559 At the beginning, points towards the kenosis, the middle of the kenosis or the hymn of Christ, and then everything else points back to it. 00:26:28.079 --> 00:26:31.440 It's beautiful when you go line by line and you start seeing that. 00:26:31.519 --> 00:26:33.680 It's like, okay, okay, I see it. 00:26:33.839 --> 00:26:38.480 Paul is making a reference to what he said before, which is a reference to Christ altogether. 00:26:39.119 --> 00:26:42.319 That's what a Christ-shaped church looks like. 00:26:42.480 --> 00:26:44.640 We're always looking at the interest of others. 00:26:44.720 --> 00:26:50.880 Now, in verse 29, it says, So receive him in the Lord with all joy and honor such men. 00:26:51.200 --> 00:26:52.799 Honor such men. 00:26:53.440 --> 00:26:56.559 Every culture has people that it teaches us to honor. 00:26:56.720 --> 00:26:59.599 We honor celebrities, athletes, successful people. 00:26:59.839 --> 00:27:04.880 We honor people with enormous platforms and millions of viewers and followers on social media. 00:27:05.119 --> 00:27:07.359 We're seeing that now even more and more and more. 00:27:07.440 --> 00:27:12.400 We think that because somebody has millions of followers, then what they say must be true. 00:27:14.960 --> 00:27:21.119 If we're not careful, the church can begin borrowing the world's definition of greatness. 00:27:21.359 --> 00:27:25.200 We can become impressed by the same things the world is impressed by. 00:27:25.359 --> 00:27:28.960 But Paul says, You want to know who the church should honor? 00:27:29.680 --> 00:27:31.440 Look for the servants. 00:27:32.400 --> 00:27:34.400 Look for the servants. 00:27:35.440 --> 00:27:38.559 Look for the people who quietly spin themselves for Christ. 00:27:38.720 --> 00:27:40.559 Look for the people who carry burdens. 00:27:40.720 --> 00:27:42.240 Look for the people who show up. 00:27:42.400 --> 00:27:45.440 Look for the people who serve when nobody's watching. 00:27:45.599 --> 00:27:49.759 Look for the people who aren't asking what's in this for me. 00:27:50.000 --> 00:27:54.799 But instead are asking, How can I serve Christ by serving his people? 00:27:55.359 --> 00:27:56.960 Honor people like that. 00:27:57.200 --> 00:28:01.119 You meet someone like that, shake their hands and just be like, you know what? 00:28:01.359 --> 00:28:02.559 I see you, bud. 00:28:05.759 --> 00:28:06.400 Why? 00:28:08.640 --> 00:28:09.759 Verse 30. 00:28:10.000 --> 00:28:17.440 For he nearly died for the work of Christ, risking his life to complete what was lacking in your service to me. 00:28:18.480 --> 00:28:21.440 Epaphroditus puts his life on the line for the work of Christ. 00:28:21.519 --> 00:28:27.200 Now Paul isn't telling every Christian that faithfulness requires recklessness. 00:28:27.680 --> 00:28:41.599 But he's showing us something about the value Epaphroditus placed upon his own effort, upon his phone, I'm sorry, upon his own comfort compared with the work of that Christ has given him. 00:28:41.759 --> 00:28:48.319 He's sacrificing his comfort to go out there and do the things that God has called him to do. 00:28:48.960 --> 00:28:51.279 It's not the same for us. 00:28:51.680 --> 00:28:57.759 Most of the time, we live at a time and the day and age where comfort is just normal. 00:28:58.480 --> 00:28:59.920 We live in comfort. 00:29:00.640 --> 00:29:02.480 It's our natural state. 00:29:02.880 --> 00:29:06.160 So how do we push out of that boundary? 00:29:07.039 --> 00:29:09.680 That's a question we all must wrestle with. 00:29:10.000 --> 00:29:16.079 Following Jesus has had become more important to Epaphroditus than protecting his comfortable life. 00:29:16.400 --> 00:29:22.559 Sometimes it means putting aside what I want because love requires me to consider what you need. 00:29:24.640 --> 00:29:30.640 And when that happens, we begin to understand what Paul has been teaching us through this entire chapter. 00:29:31.279 --> 00:29:40.319 Because before there was Timothy, before there was Hipphroditus, before there was Paul willing to pour himself out, there was Jesus. 00:29:41.119 --> 00:29:45.920 The one who emptied himself by taking the form of a servant. 00:29:46.480 --> 00:29:54.480 The one who humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. 00:29:54.960 --> 00:30:02.079 Church, Jesus did not merely tell us to span ourselves for others, he spanned himself for us. 00:30:02.319 --> 00:30:04.480 He's given us that example. 00:30:05.759 --> 00:30:10.640 This is why we cannot just simply say, you know, try harder to be more like Epaphroditus. 00:30:10.960 --> 00:30:12.079 That's not the gospel. 00:30:12.240 --> 00:30:18.400 The gospel is that when we were living living for ourselves, Christ gave himself for us. 00:30:18.640 --> 00:30:30.160 While we were dead in our sin, in our trespasses, where we were just living like children of this world, he still died for us while we were still sinners. 00:30:30.799 --> 00:30:39.039 And now united to him, loved by him, forgiven by him, and transformed by his grace, we are learning to live differently. 00:30:39.119 --> 00:30:41.839 We serve because in Christ He already has. 00:30:42.319 --> 00:30:49.519 We don't sacrifice to earn our praise and place in his family, we sacrifice because he has already made us his own. 00:30:55.440 --> 00:31:00.240 And slowly, as the gospel changes us, we start asking. 00:31:21.599 --> 00:31:25.519 Now, let me close this morning by telling you a little story about a guy named Augustine. 00:31:26.000 --> 00:31:36.559 Augustine lived more than 1600 years ago, and today we remember him as one of the most influential theologians and pastors in the history of the church. 00:31:36.799 --> 00:31:38.799 He was an early church father. 00:31:39.039 --> 00:31:41.039 But Augustine didn't start there. 00:31:41.279 --> 00:31:45.839 In fact, for much of his early life, Augustine lived for Augustine. 00:31:46.000 --> 00:31:48.240 He was incredibly intelligent. 00:31:48.480 --> 00:31:56.799 So he was ambitious, he wanted success, he wanted recognition, he wanted to pursue relationship and pursue sexual pleasure. 00:31:57.119 --> 00:32:02.000 He pursued different philosophies and ways of understanding the world. 00:32:02.319 --> 00:32:12.079 And all the while, Augustine was searching for something that could not satisfy him, something that could finally quiet his heart. 00:32:13.200 --> 00:32:14.640 That's what he was searching for. 00:32:14.799 --> 00:32:19.039 His mother, Monica, was a Christian and for years prayed for her son. 00:32:19.839 --> 00:32:24.079 She pleaded with God for him, but Augustine kept running and running and running. 00:32:24.160 --> 00:32:29.920 He kept searching, he kept looking for life everywhere except in Christ until eventually God stopped him. 00:32:30.319 --> 00:32:36.079 Augustine describes this moment as he was sitting at a garden and he was overwhelmed by the conflict within himself. 00:32:36.240 --> 00:32:38.480 He felt terrible for the life that he'd been living. 00:32:38.559 --> 00:32:39.599 Nothing would satisfy him. 00:32:39.680 --> 00:32:40.880 He was horrible. 00:32:42.559 --> 00:32:45.200 He knew the life that he was living could not satisfy him. 00:32:45.359 --> 00:32:47.359 He knew that he needed to surrender to Christ. 00:32:47.599 --> 00:32:53.759 And yet he struggled to let that go and build, and he wanted to build something around himself. 00:32:53.920 --> 00:33:02.559 Then he heard the voice of a child nearby repeating the words that sounded like this: Take up and read, take up and read, take up and read. 00:33:03.680 --> 00:33:05.200 And he says, You know what? 00:33:05.440 --> 00:33:06.559 I will take up and read. 00:33:06.640 --> 00:33:24.079 And he opened his Bible and his eyes fell upon Romans 13, which read, Let us walk properly as in the daytime, not in sexual immorality and sensuality, but put on the Lord Jesus Christ and make no provision for the flesh to gratify its desires. 00:33:27.359 --> 00:33:31.680 And God used his word to break through Augustine's resistance. 00:33:32.160 --> 00:33:41.839 The man who had spent years trying to find life by satisfying himself, by doing what he wanted to do, by only caring about himself, surrendered himself to Christ. 00:33:42.000 --> 00:33:50.480 And then years later, Augustine would look back over all of that searching and write one of the most famous lines that he wrote in his book of confessions. 00:33:50.720 --> 00:33:58.079 He says, Our hearts are restless until we rest in you, referring to God. 00:33:58.960 --> 00:34:06.000 Augustine discovers something that our world desperately needed to hear: that a life spent on yourself will never be enough. 00:34:06.319 --> 00:34:16.960 You can spend your entire life trying to satisfy yourself, more money, more comfort, more recognition, more experiences, more success, nicer things, more possessions, more attentions. 00:34:17.119 --> 00:34:20.800 You can build your entire life around the question, what do I want? 00:34:23.199 --> 00:34:25.519 And you may even get some of it. 00:34:25.920 --> 00:34:33.119 But eventually, you'll discover that the human heart was never designed to find ultimate satisfaction in itself. 00:34:33.199 --> 00:34:36.320 And if you keep listening to that, it will lead you away. 00:34:37.119 --> 00:34:38.880 We were made for God. 00:34:39.280 --> 00:34:43.199 And when Christ takes hold of a person, something begins to change. 00:34:43.360 --> 00:34:46.960 And the question slowly stops being, how can I get more out of this life? 00:34:47.119 --> 00:34:53.840 And becomes, How can I use this life that God gave me and belongs to Him for His glory? 00:34:54.559 --> 00:34:57.280 That's what we have seen through Philippians 2. 00:34:57.440 --> 00:35:05.760 Jesus gives himself, Paul pours himself out, Timothy looks to the interest of others, Epaphroditus risks himself for the work of Christ. 00:35:05.920 --> 00:35:11.840 And this is what happens when the mind of Christ takes root in the people of Christ. 00:35:12.639 --> 00:35:20.880 So, church, perhaps the question we need to leave with this morning isn't just, am I serving enough? 00:35:21.119 --> 00:35:22.320 That's the most obvious one. 00:35:22.480 --> 00:35:23.199 Am I serving enough? 00:35:23.360 --> 00:35:24.159 Am I doing enough? 00:35:24.320 --> 00:35:26.079 The question is deeper than that. 00:35:26.320 --> 00:35:29.760