The Right Reception of Saints, Part 2

Turn back again to Philippians 2. We pick up in
a verse that we were considering last week. And by way of just a brief review,
Paul, as you know, had been vacillating with the thought and even with
the emotions of the possibility of being released And upon his
release, one of his chief desires was to go and to be with the
Philippian church to minister to them again. But he was equally
fine with the possibility that he was going to be martyred.
He was already under house arrest, as you know, and very possibly
to suffer an imminent execution at the hands of the Roman soldiers.
In verse 19, Paul says, I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy
to you shortly so that I may be encouraged when I learn of
your condition. And so there was this desire to minister to
them however he could. Namely, by getting one of his
primary helpers to them, Timothy, well acquainted with the Philippian
church, with Paul on a number of occasions, building them up,
undergirding them, teaching them, instructing them. And so, in
a sense, Timothy was a very likely choice, a likely replacement
for Paul if he couldn’t come. Unfortunately, Paul had other
plans for Timothy. Look again at verse 19. We’ll
pick up a few of those. I hope in the Lord Jesus to send
Timothy to you shortly so that I may be encouraged when I learn
of your condition, the heart of a true shepherd desiring to
know what is the state of his flock, regardless of how far
spread they were. The sad part of it, though, was
that he had no one else, he says in verse 20, of kindred spirit
who would genuinely be concerned for your welfare. He had a lot
of saints there in Rome There certainly had been a lot of people
through Rome helping Paul at various times. There certainly
were names, big names that had come through and even had currently
been associated with Paul. But Paul says that for a number
of reasons, there just isn’t anyone else of kindred spirit.
There isn’t anyone else with that like minded care for the
Philippian church. And it was a sad statement. For
they all seek after their own interest. and not those of Christ
Jesus. And we saw several weeks ago
when we consider that passage that that’s not unlike even the
day in which we have. That’s what prevents so many
people from serving in so many capacities. If you cut right
to the quick, the bottom line is they are not seeking after
the Lord’s interest. They’re seeking after their own.
Verse 22, it goes on to speak of Timothy, but you know of his
proven worth that he served with me in the furtherance of the
gospel like a child serving his father. And so we had that single
minded focus we looked at of Timothy, focused on Christ, focused
on Christ’s desires and goals and plans. And then we had that
duty minded service mentioned in this verse, like a child serving
his father, using that natural illustration of the the duty
and the honor of a child serving his father. And what a natural
illustration for Paul to use of Timothy, his child, his son
in the faith. And so what we realized is that
Paul couldn’t send Timothy. And so he does go, in a sense,
to the next best thing in choosing Epaphroditus. And for that, we
picked up in verse 25. And if you would just read along
with me, beginning in verse 25 of chapter two. 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 only on him, but also on me, lest I should have sorrow
upon sorrow. Therefore, I have sent him all
the more eagerly in order that when you see him again, you may
rejoice and I may be less concerned about you. Therefore, receive
him 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.” As we said, Paul had
desired to send one of his chief servants in Timothy. He was not
able to do so. He had no one else to send. And
so he turns to Epaphroditus. Epaphroditus had been sent to
Paul from the Philippians. I told you last week that it’s
my desire one day maybe even sooner than we realized, to have
a missions liaison, somebody who actually goes and serves
with the missionaries that we support. That actually goes and
works alongside them and ministers with them and to them. And that’s
what Epaphroditus was. He was the missions liaison for
the church of Philippi. That’s what he is. And all Paul
does is say, you know, look, in seeing this brother at work,
In seeing his great value to me as an apostle, I recognize
his value to the local church there in Philippi. And what Paul
does is send him back. Now, we knew from looking at
it that there was a distinct possibility that the church in
Philippi was going to be disappointed. Number one, they didn’t see Paul.
They wanted Paul. They wanted the chief apostle.
to come and visit them. They wanted the pastor of pastors,
the greatest evangelist, the greatest pastor the church has
ever known. Who wouldn’t? I mean, if Paul
was available to preach our 10th anniversary celebration next
September, I’d get Paul too. Paul wasn’t available. A little
matter of chains around his ankles and wrists. He was under house
arrest and he couldn’t leave. And so if they couldn’t have
Paul, well, then give us Timothy, send us, send it. We want a superstar
is what we want. And there was probably a little
bit of pride built into the Philippian church to think that they could
demand that kind of a presence, that kind of an audience. I just hope John MacArthur has
patience with me when I send him my letter asking him to preach
the 10th anniversary. And so there was paproditus.
And it’s very possible that the Philippian church, they saw him
coming over the hill and it’s like, what are you doing back
here? We sent you to minister to Paul
and now you’re coming back? Had he quit like so many others
had done to Paul? Had he abandoned the faith and
the ministry? Had Paul not found need of him? Had he become a burden to Paul
in some way? Some suggested that. I don’t believe that that was
the case. As I pointed out last week, we know a pretty good deal
about Epaphroditus just from this one little letter. He was
some kind of a spiritual leader in Philippi. We don’t know that
he was a formal elder, a pastor, but he had been sent by that
church to bring some degree of monetary gift to Paul, a substantial
amount. and to be his assistant, to minister
to him, to serve him. We’ll see in a minute. In the
midst of that service, he becomes dangerously sick. Contracted
some disease or captured some flu. Whatever it was, brought
him literally to the point of death. His friends in Philippi
heard about that sickness, and they become concerned and alarmed
about their dear brother and friend. And then Epaphroditus,
upon mending Here’s of the Philippians concern for him. And so everybody’s
concerned. Paul’s concerned about Epaphroditus,
who’s concerned about Philippians, who are concerned about Epaphroditus.
And so it goes. God heals Epaphroditus and upon
his healing, Epaphroditus just is longing to go back and care
for his church. I believe that that is the heart
of the pastor coming out in him and Paul recognized it as such. I thought it necessary to send
you Epaphroditus for three reasons. We reviewed these from last week. Epaphroditus, bottom line, he
missed his home church. What a beautiful thing the church
is. What a glorious thing to have
the saints gathered in a local place. I mean, what saint wouldn’t
long for their home church? That’s the right and pure thing
to do. Epaphroditus, bottom line, missed
his home church. It was a good thing. And he was
worried that the news of his illness had upset the church.
It’s the second reason that Paul desires to send him back. But
there’s a third, and that is for the joy of everybody concerned,
Paul wanted Epaphroditus back there. Look at verse 28. Therefore,
I have sent him all the more eagerly in order that when you
see him, you may rejoice and I may be less concerned about
you.” Epaphroditus’ own concerns would be alleviated upon a visit.
Paul’s concerns would be alleviated because Epaphroditus was now
there calming the hearts of the Philippians and certainly their
hearts would be calmed. But Paul sends Epaphroditus with
a little note. The little note bears this little
title for all eternity. The Epistle to the Philippians.
And in that Epistle to the Philippians, he writes these words in v. 29. An exhortation to the Philippian
church that Epaphroditus brought with
him. Look at v. 29. Therefore, receive him in
the Lord with all joy. There’s no doubt as Epaphroditus
came over the top of the hill, if there was a hill, there’s
no doubt if he came over the top of the hill that there was
going to be some rejoicing. Certainly, they would be happy
to see their brother in the Lord back with them. Certainly, they
would be happy to learn that he was alive and well and able
to travel and return to them. There would be some joy. But
maybe there would be just a A touch of bittersweet joy in that. Wait
a minute. We sent you to minister to Paul.
Who’s ministering to Paul now? Who’s taking care of him? We
sent you on a mission and now you’re back with us. Receive
him 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. One pastor, by way of review,
he said that in reading this section with its detailed exhibition
of the character and feelings of Epaphroditus, it is difficult
to resist the impression that on some ground, which he does
not state, Paul felt a little doubt. whether the Philippians
in welcoming Epaphroditus, for whom they cherished a warm and
tender affection, might not at the same time have in their hearts
a certain feeling of disappointment. You see that, don’t you? It may
be that when they asked the apostle that if he should still be prevented
from personally visiting them to send one of his most trusted
helpers for a time, Paul answered that question with his explanation
of why he couldn’t send Timothy. And when Epaphroditus, one of
the members of their own congregation, was sent back as some sort of
Paul’s deputy, a certain measure of disappointment most surely
was felt. Epaphroditus, it seems from Paul’s
glowing and enthusiastic report of Epaphroditus, Paul is building
him up And it certainly seems that he was undervalued or misunderstood
there in Philippi. Jesus said it well, a prophet
is not without honor except in his own country. And such was
the case, I believe, with Epaphroditus. The apostle was basically saying
no more than this, that the church was to respect him and receive
him. that he had proven himself. He
had shown himself faithful to the Lord when dozens had fallen
by the wayside. I believe what Paul is doing
is setting a shepherd in their midst. Whether there were already
other shepherds, that’s all well and good. The more, the merrier. I’ve said before, if every man
in the church were to become an elder, that would be a good
and a glorious thing. But this brother had proven himself
and Paul wanted him to know that he risked his life. It’s that
language we looked at last week and just by way of brief review,
it is the language of the gambling hall. He literally gambled with
his life. We would say it in different
terms, he stuck his neck out or he risked his neck for the
sake of ministering to Paul on behalf of the Philippians. He
gambled with his life. We began last week to consider,
though, when Paul says in part of his exhortation to receive
him in the Lord with all joy and hold men like him in high
regard. The honest admission was that
we don’t tend to do that. We pick out a few. Usually those
that, you know, occupy the the upfront ministries, the visible,
the The ones with titles and things like that, we honor them
most often. I am most honored by this congregation. But the ones we leave off are
the Epaphroditus’s. And the church is built by Epaphroditus’s. The church only succeeds by those
that labor like Epaphroditus. And so when Paul says that we
are to hold men like him in high regard, Paul calls us to a right
reception of saints as well. Not just the pastors of the church,
not just the senior pastor, whoever he is, but we are to receive
men like him and to hold men like him in high regard. What
is he like? We began this last week. God
would have us show honor first and foremost to those who are
in God’s family. Paul calls him my brother. The
brother who is a Christian, a fellow Christian, a son of God, a child
of God and part of the family of God, he is to be most honored
by us. And we as Christians ought to
look beyond and to see where God has brought people and to
see God’s grace at work in their life, fitting them for the kingdom
of heaven, fitting them for eternity, even as we say. The word literally means from
the same womb and it speaks of a common origin, a common birthplace. And Paul, what he does here is
he doesn’t come down to Epaphroditus’ level. He elevates Epaphroditus
to his own. He says, this is my brother. We are part of the same spiritual
family. There’s no doubt that the Philippian
church had high regard of Epaphroditus, he was probably their chosen
servant sent to go and minister. So they viewed him as a brother.
He was certainly a brother in their midst and they viewed him
highly. But Paul says, you know what? You don’t you don’t view
him highly enough. You don’t know how valuable this
brother is to me and to God and to his kingdom, to his work.
He’s a member of the same spiritual family. God in Christ is our
father. Paul used that word more often
in the Philippian epistle than any others. Was it possible that
he was trying to cultivate that brotherly mindedness in the Philippian
church? I think so. Robert Johnstone again said of
this word, how sweet a term for fellow Christian is this. How
suggestive of lofty dignity, precious privilege, holy character. It brings before our minds at
once the family of God. And all the sweet and elevating
affections to which the new birth gives rise. And I tell you, and
I said this last week that we don’t appreciate our Christian
brothers enough. We don’t appreciate our Christian
family enough. We take it for granted. We tend
to take it for granted. But Paul says there’s another
element to this brother that you take for granted and God
would have us show honor in our right reception of saints, not
only to those who are in God’s family, but those who labor in
God’s work. And now Paul draws the circle
a little bit tighter, but not much. Because in a very real
sense, We’re all called to be fellow workers. And to a degree
that you are a child of God and you’ve placed your faith in Christ
and you have rolled up your sleeves to serve in whatever capacity
you can, according to your giftedness and according to your abilities
and opportunities, then you are a fellow worker. Paul calls him a fellow worker
in the cause of the gospel. And here, too, he elevates Epaphroditus
to his own level. He doesn’t say, here I am, Paul,
the worker, and then I have all these drones about me. This was
a fellow worker. This was alongside of Paul doing
some of the same things that Paul was doing. Paul used that title On numerous
occasions, not just carelessly, but he saw a great many people
as fellow workers. And that’s why I say in this
church alone, there are dozens and dozens of fellow workers,
those who have rolled up their sleeves and are serving Christ
in what they do. Epaphroditus, said one, had heard
God’s call and he had heeded that call. Just as opportunity
was given to him, he labored in his father’s service. In Rome,
he evidently engaged heartily and efficiently in Christian
work under the apostles’ direction. It’s not like Epaphroditus had
his own agenda. of the household of God should
be, according to the will of their father, full of holy and
beneficent activity to every member of the family of the father.
His command is, son, go work today in my vineyard. That’s
God’s command to all of us. And so one who ignores that command
is seen as negligent. in the use of their giftedness.
He is viewed as that individual that goes and hides his talent,
that coin, under a rock. We can’t not serve Christ. We can’t afford not to honor
Him with our deeds and with our work and with our efforts in
whatever capacity we can. We can’t all preach, not every
Sunday anyway, But we can all serve the Lord
in some capacity. It’s an interesting observation
this past week, the privilege of going back and reviewing and
restudying all these notes. Fellow worker is almost exclusively
a word that Paul uses. Only one time, 13 times in all
the New Testament, only one time does anyone else use it and that’s
in 3 John. Third, John 8. Almost all of them are used by
Paul, which is just a striking observation. This is not an arrogant,
you know, little dictator running around the countryside preaching
the gospel. This is a man who was trying
to develop the church and was selfless in doing it and recognizing
everywhere he went the giftedness of others in their own exercise
of grace, in the exercise of their own giftedness. Even in this very epistle, he
speaks of Clement and even those sisters who were quibbling there
in Philippians chapter four, which we’ll come to eventually.
But he mentions Clement and the rest of my fellow workers. There
were a great many hosts, a great many servants exercising their
giftedness. I took you to 1 Corinthians 16
last week. Don’t turn there. today, but
in 1 Corinthians 16, it’s a striking passage. I urge you, brethren,
verse 15, you know the household of Stephanas, that they were
the firstfruits of Achaia, that they had devoted themselves for
ministry to the saints, that you be in subjection to such
men and to everyone who helps in the work and labors. for I
rejoice over the coming of Stephanas and Fortunatus and Achaus, because
they have supplied what was lacking on your part, for they have refreshed
my spirit and yours. Therefore, acknowledge such men.”
Stephanas was one that was overlooked as well. And that’s what makes
me say that we don’t honor those who serve among us enough. We honor the chief servants But we don’t often walk up and
acknowledge what others have done. Do you know the recording
of the sermons? I was reading one of the reports.
1,100 people downloaded it. Well, we don’t have 1,100 people
in this congregation. You don’t have 1,100 friends. There are people in countries
I couldn’t even pronounce that have downloaded these sermons
all because of the faithfulness of one brother. And there are
all kinds of other ministries, music ministries and teaching
ministries. And how often do we ever just
walk up and say, you know what, brother? Thank you for your work. Thank you, sister, for your efforts. Thank you for doing what you
do. We don’t do it enough. How often do we pray for them?
How often do we thank God for them? How often do we utilize their example in
examining our own hearts and lives? There’s a third observation here,
a right reception of saints. God would have us show honor
to those who are in God’s family, to those who labor in God’s work,
to those who fight in God’s army. They fight in God’s army. Look
at what he calls Epaphroditus thirdly there in verse 25. My
brother, my fellow worker, my fellow soldier. It’s a war. It’s a war to which the child
of God is born into. You are born into God’s family
also as a soldier. And I think the three terms here
are meant to form a kind of a climax. He’s one with me in faith. He’s
one with me in work. He’s one with me in warfare.
This is a guy who I want in the trench with me, Paul says. He
is a fellow soldier in this great conflict known as the Christian
life. And he’s fighting a good battle.
And you people in Philippi need to know this. This is a good
soldier. Maybe they thought that he’d
be helpful to Paul. Maybe he thought that he’d maybe
organize his sermons and put everything in files and neatly
do everything. That’s not who Epaphroditus was. Epaphroditus
wasn’t an administrator. Epaphroditus wasn’t a paper shuffler.
Epaphroditus was one who carried a weapon. Epaphroditus was one
who was out there in the trench with Paul fighting the battle. Think of the foes. that Epaphroditus
must have faced as a fellow soldier in Rome. He faced the Judaizers
that dogged Paul’s steps everywhere he went. He faced the Greeks
and the Romans, the mockers, those who hated Christ without
ever having fully even grasped Him. He encountered the foes of emperor
worshipers, those who thought their earthly king was God. He faced the foes of the sensualists
of their own day, the hedonists that just thought life was all
about and only about pleasure and pleasing themselves. He also
faced the rulers of darkness and all of those things. Epaphroditus
was in battle. And I think the frightening thing
for us is so many of us, as we remember, we meander down this
stream on our raft. We take a casual approach to
Christianity, a casual approach to church, a casual approach
to life. And we forget that all the while
there are snipers all about us, that we are in a battle. We have a target on our back.
And the devil has marksmen that can’t wait to take us out. Epaphroditus
was there preaching the gospel. in Rome, and he very likely had
to encounter all the contempt and strife and difficulty and
peril that Paul faced. But as you can conclude, I think
it’s just and fair to do that as you look at Epaphroditus and
his commendation by the Apostle Paul, you can conclude that he
was never ashamed of the testimony of Christ. It didn’t cause him
to shrink or to hold back his report. He was there with Paul in all
the danger, in all the conflict. One who had met the adversary
in his defense of the gospel. He was a good soldier. Paul uses that imagery elsewhere.
Turn, if you would, to 2 Timothy. 2 Timothy, chapter 2. Paul uses
that same imagery. And I get the understanding that
when you went through ministry 101 with the Apostle Paul, you
knew how to dismantle your weapon and reassemble it. You knew how
to shoot. You knew how to fire. You knew that you were in a war. Paul said to Timothy, 2 Timothy,
chapter 2, verse 3, suffer hardship with me. You’re not coming to
a picnic, Timothy. You haven’t been in a picnic,
Epaphroditus. Brian Pettit isn’t in a picnic. He sent out an email yesterday,
117 degrees. So quit whining about 87. Every believer, said one, and
preeminently the believer who is also a minister of the Gospel,
is a soldier of the Lord Jesus Christ. He is enlisted under
Him as the captain of salvation to contend against the powers
of evil and therefore hardship of some sort is inevitable. Suffer hardship with me. as a
good soldier of Christ Jesus. Paul says it’s inevitable. If
you are a Christian and you sign up to serve the Lord, it’s inevitable
you’re going to suffer. No soldier in active service
entangles himself in the affairs of everyday life. And here came,
you know, the guilt. Here came, uh-oh. Because I began
to think of these last two years. No soldier entangles himself
in the affairs of everyday life so that he may please the one
enlisted to him.” And then I began to read on. Because as I read
that, I’m thinking, oh no, I was entangled in the affairs of everyday
life for the last three years. One said it this way, a noble
or excellent soldier of Christ Jesus belonged to him and engaged
in warfare and he must not shrink back, but be willing to suffer
hardship Which in this connection means even more than to rough
it as soldiers do. And so we’re to be disentangled from
the world, but as one clarified, he said, a similar disentanglement
is needful to a Christian warrior from everything that might keep
him at a distance from his divine master or him, impede him in
his service that he is called to render. A good soldier, said another,
will keep himself free from every entanglement and bend all his
energy on winning the commendation of his captain. We do not infer
that the minister is forbidden to use a secular calling as a
means of support, if need be. Remember, Paul was a tent maker,
but I remember that precious passage that as soon as I think
it was Timothy and Silas came, Paul was freed up. Paul had his
priorities straightened out that as soon as he could, he would
get about the work, the chief work of the gospel ministry. Turn, if you would, to Second
Corinthians, chapter 10. Second Corinthians, chapter 10. Paul uses this imagery as well
here that we are in a battle, this is war and you’re in it.
And if you have professed faith in Christ to a very great degree,
you are a soldier already, whether you have your weapon loaded and
are prepared for battle or not. Look at verse three, for though
we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh, for
the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but are divinely
powerful for the destruction of fortresses. We are destroying
speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge
of God. And we are taking every thought
captive to the obedience of Christ. And we are ready to punish all
disobedience whenever your obedience is complete. Here you get a picture
of what it means and who it is we’re to appreciate. There are
a great many saints, even in this room, who are good soldiers
in the fight. They’re good soldiers in the
battle against evil. If you want to think quite simple.
The Christians said one is a man of war going forth to conquer,
going forth, conquering and to conquer that triple foe, the
world, the flesh and the devil. There are those faithful saints
in our midst who go to battle against the world and worldliness
every day. They take good, strong stands
at work. You hear of them. You pray for
them from time to time. Do you ever stop and thank God
for their faithfulness? Do you ever express your gratitude
for them in the use of God’s grace in fighting the good fight? Not only the world, but the flesh.
There are those, those saints in our midst that have overcome
the most gripping of sins. Sometimes you’ll hear about it
in their testimony, but not out of a boastful spirit. You’ll
hear them let on, but only in quiet tones what the Lord has
brought them through. They have fought the good fight.
Do you ever thank God for that? Do we pause and thank them? Lord,
thank You for Your sustaining grace in helping them. Helping
them to change and to be different. And to walk differently. To walk
as a child of God. Thank You for my fellow soldier. Not only the world and the flesh,
but the devil. The devil would like to vex and
harm and sidetrack and derail each one of us. And there are
those that have fought a valiant fight thus far by God’s grace
in exposing the evil of the world and exposing false teaching in
reading widely and deeply and digging in deeply into theology
and doctrine and exposing it for the garbage that it is. And do we thank God for them?
Do we thank God? that the weapons of warfare that
are not fleshly, but they’re spiritual, have been utilized
with great effectiveness and that we’re the benefactors of
that. And how good it is to have them in the trench down in there
with us. We need to be thankful. We need to hold men like them
in high regard. One pastor said it this way,
in a world which loves darkness rather than light, an effort
to shine light will of necessity bring hatred and opposition so
that the laborers have also to be soldiers. As under good Nehemiah,
when the repairing of the walls of Jerusalem, the builders had
every one his sword girded by his side, and so he built. And so it must also be with those
who are raising up the walls of the spiritual city of God.
The modes of opposition are different under different circumstances,
but the spirit of keen hostility is never lacking. And thank God
for those fellow soldiers of yours who don’t give up and they
don’t succumb to the battle. Fourthly, In this right reception
of saints, God would have a show honor not only to those in the
household of faith, God’s family, to those who labor in God’s work,
to those who fight in God’s army. Fourthly, to those who serve
God’s people. I mean, how much more simple
could it get? God wants us to look around and to appreciate
those that he’s placed in our midst. He calls Epaphroditus
your messenger and minister to my need. There are a great many
that took a serious left turn here. The word for messenger
is apostolos. You heard it. That’s where the
word apostle comes from. But Paul here isn’t deputizing
Epaphroditus as the 13th or 14th apostle. He’s just not doing
that. He’s just using the word that
literally means to send. You are a messenger, a sent one. He, Epaphroditus, came to Paul
as an ambassador, as it were, from Philippi on a mission. Not
an official apostle, but that’s not the only thing he calls him.
He calls him a minister. And that’s what I want to focus
on. Because in our day and age, a minister, boy, that very few
that fit into that category. And it’s always minister with
a capital N. Oh, you know, whenever I do a
funeral, what do you want to be called? Minister. The very
right reverend. The word here, the interesting
thing is the word here, liturgos, is where we get our word liturgy
from. And I want you to hear how the word is used in Scripture,
because there is an elevation to this service. This isn’t just
common services and just the changing of a tire or changing
the oil on your car. One who would do those kinds
of things necessarily. Hebrews 1.7, of the angels, he
says, who makes his angels wings and his ministers, same word
there, a flame of fire. Hebrews 8.2, a minister in the
sanctuary and in the true tabernacle which the Lord pitched and not
man. Hebrews 8.6, of Christ, but now
he has obtained a more excellent ministry, laeturgos, by as much
as he is also a mediator of a better covenant. In fact, in chapter
one of Luke’s Gospels. Remember how that scene opens
where he’s going in to the very holy of holies. The priest as
a servant. And it says that when the days
of his priestly service were ended. That same word. Latergos. Acts 13. While they were ministering
to the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, set apart from
me Barnabas. And Saul. And so there is an
elevation to this work. This is elevated work. This is
priestly work. And you know what? It’s your
work. Not just my work. This is the
work that we’re all called to do. One pastor said it this way. It’s the term. It is from the
term where liturgy is derived, originally used of a public official
who was so passionately dedicated to his duties that he discharged
them at his own expense. Don’t get any big ideas. The
word often described doing a service that had an aura of special importance. In the New Testament, it was
commonly used of service to the Lord. That’s what we’re all called
to. We are all a kingdom of priests. It is the priesthood of all believers
and everything that we do can and should be rendered unto the
Lord as a service pleasing to Him. A.W. Tozer some years ago said
it this way, the layman, and he put it in quotes as if to
say whatever that means. It’s not a biblical word. The
layman, quote unquote, need never think of his humbler task as
being inferior to that of the minister. Let every man abide
in the calling wherein he is called in. His work will be as
sacred as the work of ministry. We’ve said this before. I’ve
quoted this before, but never in this particular context where
everything that we do can be done as unto the Lord. And in
that sense, a ministry. It is not what a man does that
determines whether his work is sacred or secular. It’s why he
does it. The motive is everything. Let
a man sanctify the Lord God in his heart and he can thereafter
do no common act. All he does is good and acceptable
to God through the Lord Jesus Christ. You know what he says?
It doesn’t matter what your task is at church. It doesn’t matter
what your gift is. You say it’s feeble and small
and unimportant. Not in God’s kingdom. Not if
your heart is right, not if you’re doing it as unto the Lord, and
that’s exactly what he says Epaphroditus had done. And we need to look
about us. We need to look around and we
need to see those that are doing their, even if it’s just setting
up chairs, they’re doing it as unto the Lord. And do we ever
thank them? Do we appreciate them? Do we recognize them? Paul did. Paul recognized Epaphroditus
sent just to bring this mundane little gift and to kind of help
Paul however he could. But Epaphroditus didn’t look
at that. I get the sense that when Epaphroditus came, he held
this gift in both hands. He knelt down on his knees and
he presented it as to an altar to this beloved apostle on behalf
of the Philippian church. And then he stood up and he said,
how can I serve you? How can I help? What can I do? There’s a fifth. In the right
reception of saints, God would have a show honor. First of all,
to those who are in God’s family, to those who labor in God’s work,
to those who fight in God’s army, to those who serve God’s people.
And fifthly, and this one is one that you could easily gloss
over. Except it’s at the heart, the core, structurally speaking
of what Paul says, and that is those who care about God’s people. Not just who care for God’s people,
but they care about them. They care how they affect their
fellow saints. They care how they come off.
They care what the other saints think of them. I know that we
can get too caught up in times worrying about what people think
about us, trying to seek people’s approval. And I’m not trying
to say that you are to submit to somebody in their extra-biblical
or un-biblical expectations of you. I’m not saying that at all.
But do we even care how we come off to other people at times?
Epaphroditus did. Look at the passage, verse 26.
He was longing for you all and was distressed for the simple
fact that the Philippians heard he was sick. He was concerned
about their concern. He was longing for them and longing
for them all. I get the sense that Epaphroditus
was one of these impartial people. He wouldn’t be drawn into the
controversies. He wouldn’t pick sides. He wouldn’t
be part of a faction or a group. He was loved by all. But all
sides were pulling at him and Epaphroditus wouldn’t budge. And here he is in Rome, absolutely
distressed, literally distraught. You want to hear how strong a
word this is? Listen. The only two places,
other two places it’s used is in the Gospels. The book of Matthew. Then Jesus came with them to
the place of Gethsemane. And he said to his disciples,
sit here while I go over there to pray. Jesus knelt to pray
and he took with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee and began
to be grieved and distressed. How upset was Epaphroditus? Just as distressed as Christ
was in the garden. Epaphroditus was grieved over
the stress that he had placed on his precious church. Luke adds in that same context,
how distressed was Christ? Luke 22, 44, being in agony,
he was praying very fervently. His sweat became like drops of
blood falling down on the ground. Now, I’m not saying that Epaphroditus
had that physical manifestation to his grief. But the only other
place that this word is used is right here. Outside of the
Gospels, Epaphroditus was absolutely distressed. The Philippians hear
of Paul’s need. They collect money. They send
Epaphroditus. He overworks himself in Rome,
falls ill almost to death. The Philippians hear about it.
He hears that they’re nervous about him. He recovers and immediately
he longs to go back because of their concerns. He can’t wait
to relieve their concerns. The Scripture says in Matthew,
If you have a brother who has something against you, sometimes
we get into this vein of thought. We would just plow through life
careless and indifferent and callous to the feelings of our
brothers and sisters in Christ. We can’t do that. And there are
those. There are those in our midst
that are so sensitive. I can’t tell you how many phone
calls I received in the course of my shepherding this church
where people will call and they apologize. Oh, Pastor, what I
said and you know, half the time I don’t even know what they’re
talking about. And they’re so sensitive that they might have
offended you. You get the calls, too, I know.
There are those that actually live in such a careful way. They live because they care about
God’s people. They live because of how they
come off and how they have been perceived. They care. We all
need to care and we need to appreciate those who live like that so sensitively. Where would the church be without
people like that? It kind of keeps the church in
some kind of harmony, doesn’t it? To know that there are people
like that that are so delicate and so fragile and so caring. It’s a good church. It’s a great church. People that
serve, people that care, people that are laboring, people that
are fighting. And many of you do recognize and acknowledge
those people. All Paul says here is do it more.
Do it more. Look about you. Look around and
see those that are serving and laboring and fighting and caring
and love God and love them for it. Let’s pray. Our merciful God, we thank You
for Your Word. We thank You for Your Word to
us. It calls us to look around our own little church and to
recognize the Epaphroditus is in our own midst. That we have
such a tendency to neglect and overlook, take for granted. May
it not be here at Providence, may it be a church that eagerly
looks and thanks God and thanks the saints in your service. Father,
we thank you and praise you for your word. We ask your blessing
on our day in Jesus name.