The Right Reception of Saints

Back to the book of Philippians. We find ourselves in chapter
2. The passage that we’ll be considering is there in your
bulletins with places for notes. I know that many of you pray
for me as I prepare. Pray for any of us who preach
and teach. And I certainly sense that this
week. I know that there probably, though,
is perhaps even a tongue-in-cheek amusement in how we come to passages
such as this wondering how on earth I’m going to make something
edifying and practical out of this that seems to be, as we
said a couple of weeks ago, one of those pastoral glosses. I believe there is a message
here for us. Several weeks ago, we talked
about the tendency to live a casual Christian life. And we talked
about the need not to live a casual Christian life, but to live an
aggressive Christian life. I guess in my mind, I likened
that to a scene earlier in my youth. I had had occasion here
in Colorado to go rafting in the Colorado River when I was a teen. And for anybody who’s
ever done it, it is an experience for all of the senses. You almost wish there is a sixth
sense so that you could know what’s coming. It is a wild ride
for sure. So you can imagine my disappointment
upon moving and relocating to Arizona to go to school years
ago and being invited to go rafting down the river and getting to
the river only to discover that the rafts were not the great
big rafts like you see in the Colorado, but the little ones
that you lay on in the swimming pool. And the river had no rapids. It was just a slow, meandering
stream. And that’s the image that comes
to my mind when I think of most people and how they live their
Christianity. It’s not an all senses, all engaging
endeavor. It’s a slow ride down a meandering
river. And nowhere, perhaps, is that
more evident than in how we relate to one another. What we really
need is perspective. What we really need is to be
able to look at each saint and to see where God has taken them
and what God has done with them. Or, as the great Puritan John
Brown, his perspective was, what would they be like without the
grace of God? John Brown saw a prisoner on
his way to the gallows and said, there but by the grace of God
go I. That’s what we need is perspective.
And that’s what Paul calls his church to, his perspective. To look at each saint with the
perspective of God’s eye. Let me go back, if we could,
and set the context. Paul, you know, has been kind
of tipping back and forth between whether he’s going to be in prison
forever and maybe even martyred. Or whether he’s going to be released,
which is his hope and his desire. I believe that ultimately he
was released, at least for a time, and to be able to even go and
minister to this Philippian church. That’s his desire. And that’s
what he kind of tips back and forth. And he’s OK either way.
He’s OK for the Philippians sake. He’s OK for his own sake. He’s
OK for the gospel ministry sake. He’s fine either way. Either
way, God wants to use him. He’s fine. And that’s what he
says at the end of verse 17 and 18 of chapter two. Even if I’m
being poured out as a drink offering. Even if that is my lot in life.
I’m OK. But given that scenario, he desires
to minister further to the Philippians and the Philippians were evidently
expecting this kind of ministry, as you’ll see in a moment. And
so Paul says, I hope, I would really love to be able to send
to you, Timothy. I really want to be able to send
to you a bona fide elder, a shepherd, someone who can go and watch.
There are no apostles to send. In fact, as we went through that
passage, there are very few. There are very few to send at
all. outlined there last week is the
need of kindred servants in ministry. Those who really love the Lord
and have a like minded care and who have a focus that is on Christ
and on Christ’s program, not on their own, and who have a
service that is likened to their a son serving his father. Those
eager to serve God. That’s what Paul said he lacked. There just weren’t that many
to send. He couldn’t afford to send Timothy. Not right now.
And there wasn’t anyone else. And so Paul does what a good
shepherd would do. And in his resourcefulness, he
makes do in the moment with what he has. Some would say that Epaphroditus
is second best. So be it. So be it. Epaphroditus didn’t fit the bill
of Timothy. He certainly wasn’t an apostle.
Perhaps he wasn’t even an elder or a pastor. But he was exactly
what the Philippians needed. If you would, look at verse 25
of chapter 2 with me as we read. But I thought it necessary to
send 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 he was sick. For indeed, he was sick
to the point of death, but God had mercy on him and not on him
only, but also on me, lest I should have sorrow upon sorrow. 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. 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.” Here’s
how the scene unfolded. The Philippian church perhaps
even made a promise, a commitment to Paul, but at the very minimum,
they probably just had that like minded spirit. They had heard
the gospel from Paul. They believed in the Christ that
he preached. Many of them came to Christ.
The gospel began to flourish there in Philippi. When Paul
came to minister to them, he was always well received. And
as I said, perhaps they even made a covenant, a commitment
to participate in Paul’s ministry and to support it. We know that
the Macedonian churches, among whom certainly was the Philippian
church, were said to have been privileged partners. Second Corinthians
8. Those who counted it such a high
privilege just to be able to give monetarily to Paul’s ministry. And so perhaps they need some
kind of a commitment. And they couldn’t all go to Rome
to minister to him. Maybe there were those that wanted
to go on what they call now a short term’s mission trip and be with
Paul and serve alongside of him. And now he’s in Rome and they
can’t hardly do that, not easily. They still want to give to his
ministry. And so they take up a collection
and they send it with. a gentleman named Epaphroditus.
And Epaphroditus goes and along the way, he takes this lengthy
journey. He serves alongside of Paul.
And we don’t know when or where or even how, but he took sick.
Somehow, the Philippian church hears of it. And now they are
in a dither. They’re concerned about Epaphroditus,
who was the emissary of a concerned church for a pastor who’s concerned
for them. Are you tracking? There is all
this love and concern one for another. And so the Philippian
church hears about Epaphroditus who’s sick. And guess what? Epaphroditus
gets all worried and concerned about his church, is concerned
about them. That’s a little bit of the background. Look at verse 25 again. I thought
it necessary to send you Epaphroditus. He had hoped to send Timothy.
That’s what he said earlier, and he even hopes to come to
them in person. That’s his desire, his heart’s
desire. He believes, I think, in faith that he’s going to be
released. But it’s necessary that he send
to them Epaphroditus. This Epaphroditus has been confusingly
identified with a number of different people. There is a individual
named Epaphras in Colossians mentioned in chapter one, verse
seven and four, verse twelve, thinking that this Epaphras is
the shorter name, the abbreviation of the longer name. The problem
was Epaphras belonged to the Colossian church. We even believe
that he was a pastor, an elder. Both of those names were very
common. And so to pick up Epaphras and send him to Philippi and
then turn around and send him to Rome, desiring to send him
back with some kind of a deep relationship with the Philippian
church just doesn’t it just doesn’t hold water. This is a different
man entirely. We don’t know a lot about Epaphroditus,
but we do know some things. What do we know about Epaphroditus?
He must have been some kind of a leader on some level in the
Philippian church. They sent him and they entrusted
a great deal of money with him and a great ministry because
it wasn’t just a drop off. He wasn’t just making a deposit
to the apostle. He was basically sent there to
minister alongside with the great apostle. It’s not like you send
just any knucklehead, right? They probably picked out the
most choice servant. to send to work alongside the
Apostle Paul. Many of you who know, we’ve talked
about missions and talked about those kinds of things. You know,
one of my desires, one of my dreams and goals as the church
grows is to one day not only have missionaries, but to have
a missions liaison, someone who actually, you know, people think
they have a missions program if they have a missionary that
they send a check to every once in a while. That’s a missions
program in most churches, in my opinion. And I believe, well,
my conviction from Scripture is that we ought to have a missions
relationship. There ought to be a missions
liaison that organizes times of going and serving this missionary,
serving alongside of him, serving them, particularly the missionaries
and their family. going and actually ministering
to them and with them. The church needs a missions liaison,
and in a sense, that’s what Epaphroditus was. He was a missions liaison. He went and he rolled up his
sleeves and he didn’t just bring a check, but he brought himself
and he said, OK, Paul, what can I do? What can I do? He had been
commissioned by the Church of Philippi to bring that monetary
gift, but also to be his assistant. And in the midst of serving in
that capacity, he had somehow become dangerously ill. We know
that from this passage. the friends of Philippi. We don’t
know how, but somehow they had heard about this illness. And
that day there were a great trafficking of information and somehow they
had heard about Epaphroditus and his illness. Epaphroditus
then learns about the concern that the Philippians have for
him and that they were almost beside themselves, thinking that
there they had caused this almost. In the midst of their concern,
God almost miraculously, but graciously restores Epaphroditus
to health. And upon his recovery, he immediately
begins to long for his home church, not just to go home, not to quit
the ministry as others had, but to go and to be with his church. I think what happens here, is
kind of a transformation of ministry. The Philippians said, you know
what? Here’s our best guy. We’re going to send him. And
Paul, serving alongside Epaphroditus and sees him recover, Paul says,
you know what? The best place for you is? The best place for
you is back with your church. You’re valuable to me here. You’ve
been a faithful servant of God. But you’re a servant and a leader
and a godly man. And the best place for you is
to go back. To go back to Philippi and to
serve. Epaphroditus was sent by Paul
back to the church of Philippi. And he sent back with this letter. As one said of him, this good
man, brought across the sea through manifold dangers to minister
to the aged apostle, to cheer him by undertaking with him some
portion of the work through God’s providence he is prevented from
doing personally, is now returned to his church. I thought it necessary
to send you Epaphroditus. That’s what Paul says. And he
does so for three reasons. Look at him briefly. This isn’t
the major portion. Don’t write any. Well, you can
write what you want. But he thought it necessary to
send them Epaphroditus for three reasons. First of all, the first
two are very closely intertwined. Look at verses 26 and 27. I thought
it necessary to send you Epaphroditus because he was longing for you
all and was distressed because you had heard that he was sick.
He was heart sick because they were worried for him. The reason why Paul deemed it
an utter necessity to get Epaphroditus back to the Philippians was because,
number one, Epaphroditus’ heart was there. He was longing for
his home church. It’s a beautiful picture. His
heart was not at rest. He was stirred up, agitated. He was longing and it speaks
of a deep and abiding longing. He couldn’t get it out of his
system. It likely kept him awake at night and pensive throughout
the day because of his church. The reason for this restlessness,
the reason that he was longing for them was the concern that
the Philippians had on his behalf. They were so worried and so concerned. There have been a lot of guesses
as to the nature of Epaphroditus’ illness. It’s totally irrelevant,
totally unimportant for our purpose. We know that it was in connection
with the work of the Lord. Paul says as much. Somehow he had become sick. Was
it due to overexertion? We don’t know. We do know that
he had lost almost every ounce of his strength. He was very
near death. It had been brought right to death’s door, as it
were. But there’s no proof, as some
suggested, that he was exposed to some horrific persecution,
that he was stoned almost to death. There’s no indication
of that whatsoever. I think it was a sickness, an
illness. Somehow that his evangelical
labors, his serving alongside of Paul, he had become sick. either in his attendance upon
the apostle there in that house arrest. And sometimes we know
that when we’re suddenly exposed to a new group of people, especially
if they’re little, they just bring a whole new host of sicknesses. Somehow, Epaphroditus had gotten
sick. And in his desire to bring this
Philippian gift to the apostle and to serve alongside of him,
he took ill. But Paul deems it so necessary
to send Epaphroditus to him because of his longing for his church. Paul says, pardon me, look again,
if you would, at the passage that if he hadn’t, if God had
taken Epaphroditus, that Paul would have had sorrow upon sorrow. That’s how sick Epaphroditus
was. He was almost dead. And it would have been sorrow
upon sorrow for Paul. Not only the sorrows of imprisonment
and the sorrows of his own ministry being impinged by that imprisonment. The sorrow by the indignity of
it all. But to lose a faithful brother
like this in the midst of his service on the Apostle’s behalf
would have been sorrow upon sorrow. But there’s a third reason why
Paul wanted to send Epaphroditus back. Not only because Epaphroditus
missed his home church and he was worried that his illness
had upset his church, but for the joy of all concerned. Paul said, we’re all going to
be much more joyful if we can get Epaphroditus back there with
you. I’ll be more joyful because you’re happy and Epaphroditus
is happy. And Paul isn’t just being a diplomat
here. I believe he really believes
this in his heart, that he desired joy for everyone concerned. Look
at verse 28. 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. This separation. from Epaphroditus had brought
grief to the Philippians and grief to Epaphroditus, and in
a sense, grief to Paul. Paul says, I desire for joy’s
sake to send him to you. And then in this letter, he writes
an exhortation on his behalf and a commendation for Epaphroditus. Look at verse 29. And we’re just
about to the part where it begins to apply to you and I. Therefore,
verse 29, 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.” When Paul has to say, and it’s in
the imperative, Paul gives them a command, receive him. Perhaps
there were some that would be less than enthused at seeing
Epaphroditus come back. After all, they had sent him
not just to take a gift, but to go be Paul’s helper. We told
you to go help Paul. We’re certainly glad you’re better,
but what are you doing here? Perhaps there was even some alienation.
Perhaps we know that there was division in the Philippian church.
Perhaps there was a perception that Epaphroditus had now taken
sides, which he had not, as you’ll see in a minute. As one said
in reading a section carefully with its detailed exhibition
on 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 bit of doubt whether the Philippians
in welcoming Epaphroditus, for whom they cherished a warm and
tender affection. Might not have at the same time
in their hearts, a certain feeling of disappointment, that’s what
you get from this passage, you do. Why does Paul have to say
anything? Why doesn’t he just send Epaphroditus
back? Why does this have to be part
of the record that is preserved for posterity for all time? He goes on and says it may be
that they had asked the apostle that if he should still be prevented
from personally visiting them, to send one of his most trusted
helpers for a season. And when Epaphroditus, one of
the members of their own congregation, was sent back as some kind of
deputy for Paul, certainly a measure of disappointment might have
been felt. Oh, it’s just Epaphroditus. What
they wanted was Paul. They might have settled for Timothy
or perhaps some other big name in Christendom. And that still
is a prevailing attitude in our day, isn’t it? Trey and I know
the difficulty. that there are some that are
only happy if they can talk to the senior pastor, whoever that
is. And that was the case here. What
they really wanted was Paul. If they couldn’t have Paul, Paul’s
in jail. Send us number two. We want Timothy. And they were likely very disappointed.
And to see Epaphroditus, Paul wanted to straighten them out.
Paul wanted to turn their hearts and their minds. He wanted to
correct their thinking. Here was a shepherd in their
midst. So true is that statement. A
prophet is not without honor except in his own country. It
was true of Christ. It’s true of me. It’s true of every shepherd,
really. In Denver, I’m known just still as Little Ronnie. Paul says, not only receive them,
but hold them in high regard. Hold him in high regard. It means
to hold one dear, to esteem them, their value as precious and to
hold them accordingly. And what we get from that is
that they hadn’t done this so far. What they had in their midst
was a diamond in the rough and they didn’t even know it. They
thought he was good enough to send to Paul, but not good enough
to minister in their midst. To esteem is often used in Scripture
of the personal preciousness of those who are held in honor. It’s used in Luke 7, 2 of the
centurion’s slave who was highly regarded The centurion loved
his slave. He highly regarded him and he
treated him accordingly. The same word is used in 1 Peter,
which book we studied for a long time. Coming to him is to a living
stone which has been rejected by men, but which is choice and
precious in the sight of God. Paul said, you know what? This
brother is precious. He’s precious in the sight of
God. The problem is he’s not precious in your own. Epaphroditus
in the church in Philippi was undervalued. They didn’t see
him as he really was. They didn’t see him as God saw
him. They didn’t see him as Paul saw him. And that’s the purpose
of this exhortation. Paul was saying that respect
should be shown to this man. Respect should be shown to those
who have proved themselves willing, if necessary, to surrender their
own lives to Christ. That’s what was in this brother’s
heart. Look at what it says as the passage goes on. Risking
his life. Again, we don’t know exactly
what transpired. But this is an interesting phrase. receive him in the Lord with
all joy, hold men like him in high regard, because he came
close to death for the work of Christ, risking his life, which
means he knew it. Did he have some pre-existing
condition? Something the insurance company
wouldn’t cover? Something that left him compromised regarding
his health? Something that he knew was going
to be a difficulty? Perhaps, literally it says that
Epaphroditus was reckless with his life. It’s a gambling word.
We might say in our day and age, he stuck his neck out. He went
out on a limb to minister to the Apostle Paul. He played the
gambler with his life. you know, through many conversations
that we’ve had, that I’ve always wrestled with that fine line
between faith and irresponsibility. And that’s a very fine line.
And finally, after wrestling with it for about 20 years, I
came to the conclusion that that fine line is different for every
man and it’s different for every family. There are families that
are comfortable living in a particular way and there’s other families
that, you know, want to gather everything and keep things much
closer to the vest. live much more responsibly. That’s for every man, every family
to sort out on their own. For Epaphroditus, it was faith. He went out in faith. He knew
of his condition. He knew of his preexisting condition.
He knew that it might cost him his life. And the service of
the Lord was more important to him. It wasn’t irresponsible. But to use that language isn’t
wrong either. He rolled the dice. He gambled with his life and
he won. He trusted the Lord and he won.
This illness, said one, is directly traceable to his devotion to
the Master’s service. This sickness that Epaphroditus
somehow contracted He contracted it in the way, in the path of
duty, in the midst of serving the Lord. Paul doesn’t tell us
definitively what the nature of the sickness was or what the
character of it was or what the cause. Simply that it was contracted
in the course of serving the Lord. And get this. And this little
phrase at the end has been so misunderstood. So as to believe
that Paul was laying blame at the Philippians? Look at it again. He came close
to death for the work of Christ, risking his life, rolling the
dice to complete what was deficient in your service to me. This is
what makes me believe there was some kind of an agreement, perhaps
some kind of a promise. Maybe some glowing and enthusiastic
response at one of Paul’s missions meetings there in the church
of Philippi. They said, you know what? We can’t wait. We’re going
to have a bunch of us come roll up our sleeves and serve with
you. Paul doesn’t intend to blame
the Philippians here. Epaphroditus had come all this
way to do what they as the community couldn’t do. to travel to Rome,
to help Paul with his needs. Many would have come if they
could. They just can’t. As I said, my desire one day
is to have a missions liaison program to complete what the
church cannot possibly do in its entirety. To go and to serve. To take as many as can go with
them. To complete what’s lacking. That’s
what Epaphroditus was doing by himself. And you say, so what is Epaphroditus
and Paul and the church of Philippi have to do with me in the slightest? How on earth can you make something
practical out of this? Just this. Just this little point. When Paul says, hold men like
him in high regard, I think that is an enduring principle of Scripture.
And I think it’s one of those enduring principles of Scripture
that in our meandering down the river on our swimming pool rafts,
we forget to do. We forget to hold men like him
in high regard. In our casual Christianity, we
forget to live aggressively, to look for those about us In
whom the grace of God is abundant and to express our appreciation
to them and for them. And so in our closing minutes.
I want to look. I want to look at what was this
man like? When it says that we’re supposed
to hold men like him in high regard, what was he like? First
of all, For the right reception of saints, God would have us
show honor to those who are in God’s family. How much we take
for granted, how much do we take for granted of God’s gifts to
us, our food? How much do we take for granted
in all of the blessings that God gives to us, the air that
we breathe and the freedoms that we enjoy, but probably nowhere
More do we take for granted than our brothers and sisters in Christ,
God’s family. We just assume that everybody
is as godly and as gifted as they ever were. And what we lack
is perspective. We forget to see beyond where
they are now. We forget to see where God brought
them. Or we’re so prone to forget it. We have this tendency to
take everything for granted. Do you think that, well, if not
these saints, there would be another group of saints? God
owes me. Instead of being exceedingly
grateful and thankful for the fact that we have a family in
Christ for whom Christ died and in whom God has done an abundant
amount of work and is not finished yet. I thought it necessary to send
you Epaphroditus, my brother. And this is the Apostle Paul. And some would say that he stoops
all the way down to calling him his brother. Not the case. Paul
elevates Epaphroditus to his own level. And he says, he’s
my brother in Christ. And in Christ, we’re all one. This brother that he mentions
is a brother who is a Christian. Epaphroditus was not in any way
related to Paul in a human sense. It means literally from the same
womb. Paul isn’t talking about an earthly
birth. He talks about a common origin. And what this great apostle does
is put himself on a common level with this humble brother in Christ,
just a servant. Just a servant that isn’t even
respected by his own home church. Paul elevates and says, this
is my brother in Christ. One said it this way. And so
it is that Christianity levels off all artificial and earthly
distinctions and places all rich and poor, nobility and peasantry,
wise and unlearned on the same level. It places all believers
on the highest plane. It levels off the distinction
between nobility and peasantry, abolishing both so far as our
heavenly citizenship is concerned and creates an aristocracy of
which are all members. We’re all brothers. We’re all
in God’s family. There has been a work of God
in each of our lives. And for that, we should be thankful. Paul says that we should hold
each other because we are brothers and sisters in Christ in high
regard, the highest regard. When I say we live a casual Christian
life, as I said, no more is that true that in how we relate to
one another, we take each other for granted. When was the last
time you flipped through the phone book and thanked God by
name for every saint on the page? We should. Paul says this brother is a member
of the same spiritual family. With God as my Father in Christ,
Paul says this word brother, he uses it so abundantly, you
almost begin to overlook it in this epistle. Listen to this.
More than any other epistle. And to the Philippians, I think
what he’s doing is trying to model and make a point Look,
you are my brothers and this, too, is my brother. And in that
we have a special and precious blessing and bond. Chapter one,
verse twelve, I want you to know, brethren. Chapter one, verse
fourteen, most of the brethren trusting in the Lord because
of my imprisonment. Philippians three, one, finally,
my brethren. Rejoice in the Lord. Philippians
3.13 Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of
it yet. Philippians 3.17 Brethren, join
in following my example. Philippians 4.1 Therefore, my
beloved brethren. Philippians 4.8 Finally, brethren,
whatever is true. How sweet,” said one. How sweet
a term for Christian fellowship is this. How suggestive of lofty
dignity, of precious privilege and holy character. It brings
before our minds at once the family of God and all of the
sweet and elevating affections to which the new birth gives
rise. And I ask you, do you hold your brethren in high regard
Do you pray for them? Do you treat them with dignity
and respect? Do you listen to them? Do you
care for them in practical terms? Do you serve them? Whatever graces
you see at work in their life, instead of envying them, do you
long to be like them? Do you seek to model your life
after that particular grace? That’s what Paul means when he
says, hold them in high regard. He doesn’t mean just throw a
party for them. Do you ever write them a card? Do you ever say, you know, I
appreciate what I see in you, my brother. Thank God for this
saint, Lord. I thank God for him for what
you’ve done in his life. I’m telling you, we don’t do
it enough. We don’t do it enough. Paul says, men like him in high
regard. And the first thing in view is
that he is a brother. Secondly, and it doesn’t look
like we’ll make it much past this. For the right reception
of saints. God would have a show honor to
those who are all those who are in God’s family, but secondly,
those who labor in God’s work, those who labor in God’s work.
Not only does he call Epaphroditus, a brother, he calls him a fellow
worker. And we know. We know because nothing else
is ever said about Epaphroditus. He was nowhere near on the same
level as Paul with regards to productivity. He wrote no New
Testament books. We don’t know him as pastor of
any church. We don’t know him as accomplishing
anything great from a human perspective. But Paul says, you know what?
This brother was great. He was a fellow worker. He got
down in the trench with me. He was a fellow worker in the
cause of the gospel. That’s what Paul’s doing when
he says work. That’s what Paul implies there. He’s not talking about making
tents. He had toiled, said one, and
striven in the gospel and in no common way, but at Paul’s
side, whether at Philippi in the past or now recently at Rome. This was not a term that Paul
threw around lightly. You know that there are people
that Paul said, you know what? This brother is not a fellow
worker. There were at least three names
that we looked at that Paul said, you know what? They’re all but
worthless to me. There were men that Paul would
say, do not lay hands on this brother too quickly. You don’t
even know what he’s like. But there were some, through
experience, through a lengthy season of serving alongside of
them, that Paul gave the title, the high and noble title, fellow
worker, apollos. Apollos was a fellow worker.
Aquila and Priscilla, Aristarchus and Clement and Mark and Onesimus
and Timothy and Titus and Tychicus, all of whom are mentioned as
fellow workers. Paul says, you know what? Epaphroditus,
he heard the call. He heard the call. He availed
himself. He was what we used to call faithful,
available and teachable. He got there. He showed up. He
signed up, he showed up and now he’s being used of the Lord.
Paproditus had heard the call and that opportunity was given
to him and he labored in the Lord’s service. In some capacity, we don’t even
know, he engaged in some form of ministry there in Rome, conducting
with some degree of efficiency his Christian work, this calling
to which had come to him. You know what? That is the calling
for the household of faith, isn’t it? It’s as if the Lord says
to each one of us, go into my vineyard and work. And that’s
exactly what Epaphroditus did. There are some that would make
excuses, but I don’t know how to cultivate grape plants. I
don’t know how to do this. I don’t know what to do with
the grapes when they’re ripe. All kinds of excuses. Epaphroditus
was faithful, available, teachable. He went. And in the final analysis
said, there goes a faithful fellow servant. And Paul says, you know what?
We’re supposed to appreciate those. And I’m telling you, in
this body alone, there are so many that if you spent time today
greeting everyone who is a fellow worker. You’d run out of daylight. There are many fellow workers
in our midst. There are many who have rolled
up their sleeves and are exercising their giftedness and serving
as unto the Lord in whatever way God has equipped them. The
problem is we don’t hold them in high regard. There are one
or two, maybe five that we will recognize from time to time I’m
usually the first and sometimes, unfortunately, the last that
people hold in high regard. People know Galatians 6.6, the
one who has taught the word is to share all good things with
the one who teaches. Those Scriptures are abundantly
clear. 1 Timothy 5.16, the elders who
rule well are to be considered worthy of double honor. But you
know what? Here’s an interesting passage.
Turn to 1 Corinthians and we’ll close with this. 1 Corinthians,
chapter 16. Here’s another one of these.
He doesn’t call him as such fellow worker, but here’s another one.
faithful, doing what he can, rolling up his sleeves, serving
the Lord as unto the Lord in whatever capacity the Lord dishes
to him. Look at verse 15 of chapter 16.
Now, I urge you, brethren, you know the household of Stephanas,
that they were the firstfruits of Achaia and they have devoted
themselves for ministry to the saints. Doesn’t every church
know a family like this? We have them. We have a number
of them. the household of Stephanas, this group of people that devoted
themselves for ministry to the saints. They’re the first ones
to bring a meal. They’re the first ones to send
a card or to make a phone call. He doesn’t call them the pastors. He doesn’t say the elders, Stephanas
and the rest of his family. Now, I urge you, brethren, You
know the household of Stephanas. Look at verse 16. And that you
be in subjection to such men and to everyone who helps in
the work and labors. I rejoice over the coming of
Stephanas and Fortunanus and Achaus, because they have supplied
what is lacking on your part, for they have refreshed my spirit
and yours. Therefore, acknowledge such men. And I’m telling you, we don’t.
Not in a great deal. We hold a few in high regard.
But we don’t look so broadly. We don’t look at the giftedness.
We don’t look at how people are being used by the Lord. We don’t
look at their faithfulness. We don’t look at their availability.
We look at a few gifts and we elevate those wrongly. We elevate
titles wrongly. We never look. We never see with God’s eyes.
We never see the household of faith and thank God for that.
Not often enough. We don’t look at those who labor
in God’s vineyard as fellow workers and thank God for them, because
the church would be dead without them. The church would be dead
without the fellow workers. There’s no way the Apostle Paul
could have done it all on his own. There’s no way that I can.
We should pause this week and look about us. And thank God
for what he’s put in our midst by way of Christian fellowship.
And thank God by name for those saints. And thank God specifically
for how he’s using those individuals in our midst. We’re remiss if
we don’t. Can I even say we’re sinful if
we don’t? I think that’s what Paul was getting at. Is that
the Philippians had overlooked this brother. They had belittled
him. And it was a gift of God. Let’s
examine our hearts. Our Father God, we pause and
we bow before you. And we want to get off this meandering
river. This casual Christianity that
so often enables us by its very character to take for granted
the precious gift of brothers and servants in our midst. Give
us this week to meditate upon these things and the rest of
this passage and to take these things to heart and to look at
our own hearts and to consider how we might more faithfully
acknowledge the grace of God in our own midst. Grant us this
grace, Father. It’s in Jesus’ name that we pray,
Amen.