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Philippians 2:25-30, 25 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, 26 because he was longing for you all and was distressed because you had heard that he was sick. 27 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, so that I would not have sorrow upon sorrow. 28 Therefore I have sent him all the more eagerly, so that when you see him again you may rejoice and I may be less concerned about you. 29 Receive him then in the Lord with all joy, and hold people like him in high regard, 30 because he came close to death for the work of Christ, risking his life to compensate for your absence in your service to me.
I love hero stories, men and women who against all odds survived or gave up their lives in the line of duty for a great cause. I have two hero books in my library. Historian Paul Johnson’s book is simply named Heroes. He recounts the lives of men and women like Alexander the Great, Lady Jane Grey, Lincoln and Lee, Churchill and Reagan. The other book is by British author John Pollock titled Fistful of Heroes. It includes the biographies of John Newton, William Wilberforce, Stonewall Jackson, William Carey, John and Betty Stam, and other believers who left their stamp on the history of the church; some of them were killed in the line of duty.
Here in Philippians 2 are a couple of Christian heroes, men who served the apostle Paul in Rome, a dangerous place where no Christian was safe. God includes these two men to illustrate what it means to be like Christ, to esteem others above self, to serve without grumbling and complaining, to shine brightly in a dark, twisted world, to hold forth the Word of Life to lost people wherever they are!
Last week we looked at Timothy and the blessings of a faithful man. He was Paul’s right-hand man. His heart was in it. Remember, Paul said while others seek after their own interests and not those of Christ’s, Timothy was genuinely concerned for God’s people. He served faithfully with Paul in the gospel ministry.
INTRODUCING EPAPHRODITUS.
Epaphroditus was named after Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of love, charm, and beauty. This hero of the faith truly was a charming soul, a precious servant of Christ. He’s not very well known. In fact, all we know of him is in these verses 25-30 and in chapter 4 verse 18, where Paul refers to the generous gift the Philippians sent by the hand of Epaphroditus, “I have received from Epaphroditus what you sent, a fragrant aroma, an acceptable sacrifice, well-pleasing to God.” We don’t know when he came to Christ, if he’s married, has kids, or how old he was. But he’s a blessing to those around him. Paul even says in verse 29, “Hold men like him in high regard.” Just as Timothy gives us a pattern of a faithful man, Epaphroditus gives us a pattern of one who willingly left the comforts of home to risk his life serving Christ by ministering to Paul. May God fill our church with many people like Timothy and Epaphroditus.
The church in Philippi sent this faithful man Epaphroditus on an 800-mile, two-month trip to Rome to bring this offering to Paul. That’s about going from here to New York City or for Luther, who also was sent on a trip to Rome, from Wittenberg to Rome. For Luther it was one of the most disappointing episodes in his life, a city that reeked with religious corruption. That wasn’t the case with Epaphroditus. His church in Philippi loved Paul and sent this faithful man to take their gift to him in that Roman prison. He took the gift to Paul and somehow picked up a deadly illness along the way or while there. Word got back to Philippi that he was so sick he might die. Then word came back to Rome that the Philippians had heard and were deeply grieved. Epaphroditus recovered and Paul insisted he quickly return to Philippi, probably carrying this letter with him.
Let’s look at the kind of man he was and let his life motivate everyone in this room in our service for Christ. We’ll look at his spiritual identity, his near-death experience, and his high honor.
EPAPHRODITUS’ SPIRITUAL IDENTITY.
Philippians 2:25, 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;
Paul describes Epaphroditus in five ways – not an elder or leader, possibly a deacon, but definitely a servant of the Lord, all packed into this one verse.
My Brother.
Paul loves this description of other believers. One author said we sometimes use “brother” when we can’t remember the guy’s name. “Brother” means from the same womb, and here are these two men, one a Jew, one a Gentile, but both born of God’s Spirit with life from above. Born again believers are all in the same family, brothers and sisters together for the cause of Christ, in God’s forever family. We have one elder brother Jesus Christ, born of one Spirit through one gospel message, trusting Christ as our Lord and Savior, believing together in His perfect life and substitutionary death on the cross where He bore our sins, believing in His resurrection, ascension, and return at any time. We have one Father who loves His children with an everlasting love. We are united in Him. We love and care for each other and we’re concerned about each other’s well-being, just like brothers and sisters normally do.
Paul refers to Epaphroditus as “my brother!” Paul has no elitism in his heart. I love this about Paul. He doesn’t constantly remind us that he’s an apostle and deserves special treatment. No kissing his toe. I think Epaphroditus felt very comfortable with Paul.
My Fellow Worker.
Each one of these descriptions takes us a little higher. Not just a brother, but we serve and work together for our Lord. The church is a team of fellow workers. And Epaphroditus was Paul’s fellow worker. Here’s one of those often unseen, behind the scenes, unrecognized person who rolls up his sleeves and gets busy serving Christ in whatever way they can, whether noticed or not! This is how Paul describes the house of Stephanas in 1 Corinthians 16:15-16, “You know the household of Stephanas, that they were the first fruits of Achaia, and that they have devoted themselves for ministry to the saints, that you also be in subjection to such men and to everyone who helps in the work and labors.”
This week many of you will serve someone else. You’ll read Scripture with your family or your spouse. You may visit someone in the hospital. You may give an elderly man a gospel tract as you leave Walmart. You may prepare for our luncheon. You teachers will spend time this week preparing to teach those youngsters or oldsters. You forgo some other activity to pour your heart into preparing, praying, maybe giving a good book to a brother or sister to read. We are fellow workers! Isn’t that good? Workers together for the Master! We are a body, working together for God’s glory, each one gifted by the Spirit for the good and blessing of the body.
My Fellow Solder.
Wow! To be called by Paul as “my fellow soldier” must have blessed the sandals right off Epaphroditus’ feet! Not just my brother, my fellow worker, but being in the trenches together fighting the good fight of faith! Hendriksen writes, “A worker must also be a warrior, for in the work of the gospel one encounters many foes.” Are you aware of this? Remember Paul’s exhortation to Timothy.
2 Timothy 2:3-4, Suffer hardship with me, as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. 4 No soldier in active service entangles himself in the affairs of everyday life, so that he may please the one who enlisted him as a soldier.
We are fellow soldiers, side by side in the army of the living God! Satan and his cohorts are deceiving the nations, seeking to destroy the testimony of Christ and the gospel on this planet. He seeks to devour you and me, if not with false teaching, then with discouragement, trying to get our focus off of Christ. We are at war. We’re in a battle for truth in a world of darkness, a twisted, perverted generation!
John Gill wrote, “The life of every believer is a warfare; he is always engaged in a war with sin, and Satan, and the world; and is often called to fight the fight of faith, to contend earnestly against false teachers for the faith once delivered to the saints…under the great Captain of his salvation, Jesus Christ, under whose banner he fights.”
But we’re not alone – we have fellow soldiers, fighting side by side, together in the trenches. Church history is full of times when false doctrines rise up and bands of brothers in Christ, fellow soldiers, gather together to fight the onslaught of unbelief and false doctrine. The Princetonians Charles Hodge, B. B. Warfield, and J. Gresham Machen were fellow soldiers who fought liberalism 100 years ago. Fifty years ago John Whitcomb and Henry Morris fought evolution, and now Ken Ham and others have joined that battle. Jay Adams and many others fought secular psychology bleeding into the churches in the 70s and ever since. We are fighting today for a high view of God, the sufficiency of Scripture, genuine conversion, refuting the nonsense of the Word of Faith Movement and the health and wealth boys. Do you remember when Kenneth Copeland executed judgment in the name of Jesus against the Covid-19 virus to be gone from our nation? Foolish. Satan is relentless and we all need to take up the full armor of God and stand firm against the wiles of the devil!
Your Messenger.
Back to verse 25, Epaphroditus was a trusted messenger. The church entrusted their financial gift to him. Messenger here is the word apostolon which mainly means sent one. It is typically used of the office of an apostle but simply means one who is sent on a mission and is trusted to fulfill that mission. The Philippian church sent Epaphroditus with this financial gift to Paul.
Your Minister/Sacred Servant.
Epaphroditus’ fifth spiritual identity is minister or sacred servant. The word “minister” has the picture of bringing a spiritual sacrifice. It was used of priests serving in the Jewish temple, so it’s more than serving. It’s sacred serving. It is different from serving in the Elks or Moose or some other community club. It is serving the body of Christ – a sacred service with spiritual value. You are serving saints!
So, Epaphroditus traveled to Rome to help meet some of Paul’s needs. A need is something that if you don’t have it you won’t be able to get the task done. Almost everywhere this word is used in the New Testament, it speaks of a financial need. Paul needed money for rent (Acts 28:30, “He stayed two full years in his own rented quarters.”) He needed food and clothing, writing materials and other supplies, so the Philippians sent this gift to meet Paul’s needs. Philippians 4:19, “ My God shall supply all your needs in Christ Jesus.” We have the privilege of sending money monthly to Steve and Merri in Lithuania, Victor and Oksana in Belarus, and now the Krazeks in Poland. What a privilege we have to be part of their ministries, to be involved in helping to meet their needs.
So there is this charming Epaphroditus – Paul’s brother, fellow worker, fellow soldier, messenger, and sacred servant! But now we see that he almost died carrying out his mission.
HIS NEAR-DEATH EXPERIENCE.
Philippians 2:26-27, because he was longing for you all and was distressed because you had heard that he was sick. 27 For indeed he was sick to the point of death, but God had mercy on him, and not on him only but also on me, so that I would not have sorrow upon sorrow.
This highly valued soul got deathly sick in Rome! Back home they heard and were deeply concerned. If we sent one of our young men to help out Steve Davis in Lithuania and then we heard he contracted a deadly disease, we’d be deeply concerned too. So Epaphroditus was distressed for the Philippians, concerned that they were so concerned for him! That word distressed is the same word used of Christ’s distress in the garden when he was praying to the Father facing the ordeal of the cross. It was strong. Plus, Paul had sorrow on sorrow, heavy sorrow! But meanwhile God had mercy on Epaphroditus and raised him up – verse 27, “But God had mercy.” Every time we recover from an illness it is God’s mercy. We really deserve to suffer and die. So our health is a praise to God’s mercy.
But why didn’t Paul just heal Epaphroditus? He was an apostle and could do signs and wonders (2 Cor. 12:12)! True, the apostles did have the power to heal, but never willy nilly or at their desire, but subject to God’s will. The fact is “by his stripes we are healed” doesn’t mean physical healing in this life. Yes, every believer will eventually get a brand-new body just like Christ’s body, but in this life believers get sick and, let’s face it, everyone eventually dies. Sometimes people think sickness or disease or accidents or cancer or dementia shouldn’t come to obedient, God-honoring believers. False! We aren’t entitled to health and wealth like Paula White and others teach. Epaphroditus’ situation here in Philippians proves that’s wrong teaching. Epaphroditus got sick and almost died. He came “to the point of death,” almost touching the doors of death.
Seeing Paul’s response to Epaphroditus’ illness gives us another lesson. Paul’s sorrow on sorrow shows that natural affections, natural emotions like grieving and sorrow, are normal for believers. Even the great apostle Paul had deep sorrow. Paul told the Thessalonians, “We grieve but not as those who have no hope” (1 Thess. 4:13). Martyn Lloyd-Jones says the Christian is never above natural feelings, “Mortifying our sin doesn’t mean trying to kill feelings which are natural, implanted by God.” Here’s the man Paul with affections on things above, but also with feet always on the ground. Even Jesus wept at Lazarus tomb. You can explain that any way you want, but He did weep. A hymn based on Psalm 103 says, “Mindful of our human frailty, Is the God in whom we trust; He whose years are everlasting, He remembers we are dust.”
God may use sickness to discipline us, but certainly not always. Remember that man born blind in John 9:2 and onlookers asked, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents that he was born blind?” Jesus replied, “Neither!” His blindness was in God’s good providence so that God’s works might be displayed in him. God allows sickness, illness, all kinds of physical problems in these sinful bodies as opportunities to glorify Him!
Notice that beautiful phrase in verse 27 says, “But God had mercy.” God did eventually bring healing to Epaphroditus. God is able to do that, but it is because of His mercy. We can say that all recovery from illness is God’s mercy. And God will be merciful to us when we come to our exit from this life. We are in the tender mercies of God all the time. Heaven is all mercy; hell knows no mercy. Hell has no one to care for you, ask about you, offer you relief from the punishment you deserve. No mercy in hell; pure mercy in heaven. God’s mercy should be enough to drive any lost sinner to Christ. Ephesians 2:4 says, “But God, being rich in mercy.” In God’s rich mercy He saves sinners, and sometimes in His mercy He restores us to health.
A BROTHER DESERVING HIGH HONOR.
Philippians 2:28-30, Therefore I have sent him all the more eagerly so that when you see him again you may rejoice and I may be less concerned about you. 29 Receive him then in the Lord with all joy, and hold men like him in high regard; 30 because he came close to death for the work of Christ, risking his life to complete what was deficient in your service to me.
Paul sent Epaphroditus back to Philippi as soon as possible to alleviate any unnecessary concern on their part. He may have sent this letter to the Philippians with Epaphroditus. Let’s wrap this up with three observations from verses 28-30.
- We should all find great joy in the ministries of other believers. Paul urges the Philippians to rejoice in verse 28, and then he adds, ”receive him with ALL joy.” Extend to him a most joyful welcome in the Lord! Joy is the spiritual measure of a Christ-honoring church.
- We should highly appreciate men and women like Epaphroditus – those who pour out their souls and their very lives in service for the sake of our Lord Jesus Christ. First Thessalonians 5:13 says, “Esteem them very highly in love because of their work.”
- We should not shrink back from risking even our lives for the sake of Christ. The word “risking” means to hazard, throw aside, even gamble. Some early believers formed groups called the parabolani (similar word as “risk”) who cared for the sick, imprisoned, even those dying to be sure they were given an honorable burial.
Epaphroditus is a biblical hero. He risked his life for Christ and His people as a brother, worker, warrior, messenger, and minister to Paul’s needs. Martyn Lloyd-Jones’ final comment on this passage is so good.
“Let us all be certain that as fellow soldiers we keep rank, we never falter or fail, and whatever the demands may be, whatever the cost, we shall be ready at any moment, yea even unto death, to stand and to fight for our glorious King, the Lord Jesus Christ.”