Two Laborers (Philippians 2:19-30)
Use this guide to help your group discussion as you meet this week.
Transcript
Good morning my name is Spencer I am one of the pastors here we are continuing to walk through the big the book of Philippians chapter 2: 19 through3 we're going to finish out chapter 2 today uh but you can go ahead and follow along there it's on page 570 in the blue Bibles that are around you if you want to grab one of those the text will also be on the screen uh so my children watch uh some some kids TV shows and most of them are just not.
Well done they're just they're not well thought out they're not they don't have good stories there's not a good story arc it's just they're poorly written it's just they're just putting you know and children are easily entertained so it's just you just put a cartoon in front of them and and it just it's fine however there are some in particularly one that's just incredible the it's just so well done it's just I mean it is the best that is out there right.
Now and do you know what the one that is that's exactly right it's Bluey it is incredible like there are there are two really incredible great things that have come out of Australia blue is one of them the second is a person and we know who that is that's Hugh Jackman it's just but it's incredible this show is like they're like 12 minute shorts they're just I mean and they're just so well done every time like every now that I'm like I'm cooking and making food.
And then I kind of look and I just I just then I just kind of sit there I'm just like do it do it I know how you're going to finish this it's so good but uh the thing that I love and appreciate the most is uh it's it's about a dog family uh and it's you know Mom Dad these two kids and uh the the person I appreciate the the animal I appreciate the most is the dad his name is Bandit and I watch Bandit and I'm like man he's such a good dad like he just gets in his kids' world and he plays with them and he uses his imagination and he teaches.
Them and Bandit's like the best dad I watch Bandit I'm just like I want to be like Bandit I want a parent like Bandit I want to be a dad like Bandit like look at him with his kids and I've seen people uh comment about this online there's like this mild like real small backlash of just people that are like I you know this just it's really not right that you know Bandit's just too good of a dad and it's Dad shaming which is the stupidest thing the dumbest response you could have to this it's like no like you shouldn't.
Look at Bandit as a dad I'm Bluey and just think he's oh he just Dad shaming it's just too hard no you should see Bandit and be like I'm stepping my game up like I want to be like that that if you see someone that's exemplary like that you should say I'm I want to be like that I want to I want to par parent like that I want to be a dad like that and that's what this text gets to be.
Today we're just we're at the end of chapter 2 and there are two men that are upheld Timothy and apodius as Paul transition transitions into chapter 3 and I just I just it's real simple guys I want to look at how he talks about these two men and I just want to see these two people as Christians and see who they are and then say I know I I want us to be like that I want to see the example of Christ that they display how I want that I want to leave a legacy like that.
So it's pretty simple that's what we're doing today I'm going to pray for us then we're going to walk through the text together and see this so heavenly father I pray that you might help us see uh two men in the text today like many other people in the Scriptures that we get to read about that we get to see uh your goodness displayed through them in a way that should Inspire us to be like them because ultimately we get to be like you and that's the hope that you would help us as we sit under the authority of your word this morning may you mold us and shape us into your image that we.
Might be a people that uh worship and Delight in you for who you are in Jesus name amen all right so we're going to pick up in verse 19 it says I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you soon so that I too may be cheered by news of you now if you read the New Testament if you're familiar with it Timothy is someone who shows up quite a bit he he is uh he shows up over 40 times in the New Testament there are two letters 1.
Second Timothy that uh two two Scriptures two letters that that Paul wrote to uh to Timothy uh we we know of his background we know of his his mother and his grandmother who left a legacy of faith for him like we we we know quite a bit about uh Timothy and it appears that Timothy is going to be sent to the Church in Philippi to the Philippians and he's going to carry this letter but Paul in this is ask he's he's uh he's excited to send Timothy.
So that he can hear news of this Church because he as we've been in the book of Philippians we've seen this that he loves the Church of Philippi he has a good relationship with this Church and he and he wants to hear how they're doing he's eager to hear how they're doing which embodies the teaching that he taught just a few verses ago when he's looking to the interest of others he cares about the Philippians he wants to know about them and he wants to receive news of them he's excited to hear how they are doing and I just appreciate the love that is bound up in that it's like a good friend that like.
If you're sitting down to catch up with an old friend and they're good friend like they're they're eager to hear all about you they they they they want to know how you're doing they keep asking questions of you as opposed to if you ever been in a conversation with someone who just you can tell they're not really listening and they're just trying to get to them so they can talk that's not this Paul is eager to hear of the Philippians and how they are doing.
And then verse 20 we get some Commendation of who he believes Timothy is and how he should be thought of as he's going to take this letter to them in verse 20 it says for I have no one like him who will be genuinely concerned for your welfare and that's just Paul bragging on his brother on his friend Timothy commending Timothy to the Church at Philippi he's like you don't understand you I've got no one on my team like Timothy he he's a dear brother who will show genuine concern.
For your welfare and I just I mean oh that we might be a people that are remembered for that to be a people that are remembered for having genuine concern for the welfare of others a few weeks ago I was at the funeral from one of our uh oldest members dobass many of you never had the pleasure of meeting dobass she was 103 when she died she uh uh was homebound by the time that our two churches came together but she left the legacy of this of this genuine care and love.
For others and you I'm not got to see this beautiful Funeral Service where her this Legacy of her family which I mean kids and grandkids and great grandkids just got up and spoke of fondly of how she just genuinely loved them how she genuinely would listen and care for them how she loved to make meals for them that she left this Legacy of just deep care for others and it's like I want that we should want that to be remembered as a people that that showed this genuine love and care.
For others that's the kind of Legacy we should want to leave and that's what Timothy is he has this genuine care for the welfare of others and then Paul continues verse 21 he says for they all seek their own interests not those of Jesus Christ and if you're kind of jumping in here it's like wait what you're bragging on Timothy and he's like Timothy's great he shows so much care for others not like these fools up here and it's like wait what and it's hard we've been in Philippians.
For a couple of months now so it's hard to think back but if you go back to chapter one that that's what Paul's referencing here in chapter one chapter 1 ver1 15 he speaks about some indeed preach Christ from envy and rivalry but others from goodwi and when we walk through that what we got to see was is that Paul is imprisoned in Rome and he's working with the Church in Rome and there seem to be some people in the Church at Rome who are uh who are preaching the Gospel and ministering.
For their own glory for their own interests for their own good and and and what Paul's doing there which for us has been a couple of months ago but just a few verses when you read the letter as a whole is a few verses ago he's pitting against these people that are not doing it for the right reasons as opposed to Timothy who has genuine love and care for your welfare but he continues verse 22 he says but you know Timothy's proven worth how as a son with a.
Father he has served with me in the Gospel which I just appreciate the depth of the relationship that he has with Timothy you see some of the family language that's bound up in this that he looks at Timothy like a son in the faith which I I appreciate that one of the things we we we speak about often here is Church family that that this is not an event that we do it's not a function that we do it's not a social aspect of Our Lives that we.
Look at each other as the family of God that we have brothers and sisters in Christ mothers and fathers in the faith in this Church we love one another like a Church family and I appreciate the the family that I get to see day in day out in our Church and we should continue to embody that so and and and and that's not the only thing that's bound up in the language of father son here it's both family but it's also both discipleship and apprenticeship.
Because in their culture Fathers and Sons weren't just family the the father was going to pass down his trade to his son so this is apprenticeship this is discipleship he's been pouring into Timothy and he sees him as a son in the faith which is something that we should want to do we should want to pour and give our lives away into others in discipleship I remember years ago when my wife and I we we graduated from college we got married I went to Seminary in Louisville Kentucky we lived there.
For five years we were part of a Church there and I remember at 23 years old just you know excited to learn as much as I could could part of this Church looking up to the different Elders that served in that Church and it's wild to me because many of those Elders I looked up to so much I'm now at their age in stage and and I'm I'm I'm excited that got to be doing the same thing that I get to give my life away and pour pour myself into others and and we have really a lot of older folks in the Church that are ready to do this as.
Well like I one of the things I appreciate it is we have some some older women in the faith that are giving their lives away and I think some of the younger women in our Church see that and I think some of yall love that and and the reality is is the more you press into this family and this discipleship that we get to have in this Church that you're not far away from being able to do that yourself to pour yourself into someone else that they might uh know Christ more.
Because you leveraged your life to give yourself away that's the relationship that we see here with with Paul and Timothy he's commending them to the Philippians in verse 23 he continues he says 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 shortly I myself will come also which we saw this earlier in Philippians but that's this just shows that Paul has this expectation that he's going to get out of his prison sentence that is going to be free.
But he says until then like I'm I'm sending my brother Timothy I'm sending s the son in the faith to go and to minister to you to care for you so that's Timothy the first person that's uphel then we get to the second apodius verse 25 I have thought it was necessary to to send to you apodius my brother and fellow worker and fellow Soldier and your messenger and minister to my need now we know a lot about Timothy because of how much he shows up in the New Testament we don't know who apodius is he didn't show up a lot in the new test he shows up twice once or once right here.
Once later in this letter so only the book of Philippians do a papitis show up so who is he what is he about and the first description that we get here is jam-packed with pictures of who he is the first one I want to point out is is when it's says your messenger so Paul calls him your messenger which means that he's a Philippian that he's from the Church at Philippi and when you get to reading later as we're going to.
See in the book of Philippians that he is he he brought a letter and he brought a gift to help Paul in his imprisonment so he is from the Church at Philippi he's a native of Philippi and also he's not just there to bring this gift he's also there to minister to Paul because as we're going to get some context here in a moment he's been there for quite a bit he's been there for for months and months and months serving with Paul serving with the Church in Rome.
So the first description we get is Messenger the second I want to point out is is this language of brother that we just saw that Paul sees him as a brother in Christ he's a part of the family of God he was a part of the local family of God in Philippi now he's in Rome he's serving there the next description I want to sit in is this fellow worker language this fellow worker Christians are seen as fellow workers and fellow laborers in Christ we're called that throughout the whole new testament that's what.
Jesus in Matthew 9 says the Harvest is plentiful but the labors are few labor worker come from the same Greek root in the New Testament that there is a harvest there are people that need the Gospel and we get to labor on their behalf you also see this later in the book of phiman as Paul is describing a few uh laborers Mark araris Deus and Luke my fellow workers that the way that uh epaphroditus is describe as someone who has given his life away to.
See the Gospel go forward to serve the Church to love others to do the things that Christ calls us to do because the Christian life is not one where we just are complacent and it's certainly not one where we're just passive recipients the Christian Life is one where we pick up a shovel and we work we labor on behalf of our God we do the work that he's called us to do we believe in Eternal things and how eternity matters and we labor in light of that reality.
So he's called a fellow worker he's also called a fellow Soldier a fellow Soldier this is also language that shows up in the New Testament as well in his letter Paul's letter to 2 Timothy in chapter 2: 3 and 4 it says share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus no soldier gets entangled in civilian Pursuit since his aim is to please the one who enlisted him that's picture of being a soldier who's devoted to the king it was the king or the emperor in their time that you serve the king in his interest wherever you are wherever you are sent Isaac to who used to be a part of our Church he's.
Matt Angela's son he's over in Germany right now serving overseas as a soldier for the US military now I I don't know exactly what he's doing there I can tell you what he's not doing he's not entangled in German politics he's not entangled in German affairs that's not what he's doing there he serves on behalf of our country in the interest of our country because he belongs to a different nation and the picture here is that when you are a Christian you belong to a a different Nation you belong to the kingdom of.
God and you serve on behalf of the King you serve on behalf of his interest you take his orders as described in his word and we do the things that he commands us to do serving on behalf of our King and that's what a paer is that's how he's described that he's a soldier on behalf of the king and right now his calling is to serve Paul and the Church in Rome but he is eventually going to go back to Philippi.
And when he gets back he's going to continue his service there he's described as a soldier he's described as a minister which is a language of assistant and servant he's ministering to Paul ministering to the Church in Rome so that is the impressive introduction that we get to epaphroditus this is who he is as a Christian labor a soldier a brother and then we get this picture in verses 26 and for he has been longing for you all and has been distressed.
Because you heard that he was Ill indeed he was Ill near to death but God had mercy on him and not only on him but also but on me also lest I should have sorrow upon sorrow so we get this picture of a papitis who gets sick near to death sick and I just I just so appreciate how he's described because he's concerned about the Philippians that at this point he's been there long enough to serve and to get sick.
For a letter to leave Rome and get all the way to Philippi for them to hear about a sickness and his chief concern is oh no how are they must be worried about me cuz y'all if I was very sick and ill and I found out that our Church was was deeply concerned for me there's a sinful part of me that would just go oh man they love me they just they care about me look at them they just I just appreciate the love and the prayer and and and I would repent of that.
And then move to where he is where he's just like oh man I just they must be worried about me they must be worried sick about me his main concern is their well-being and he was in the verge of death this is the kind of selfless friend that you go and visit who's going through chemo and they're going through chemo and you sit down with them and you talk to them and they're just immediately like how are you doing I know this must be hard I know you're worried about me I know and it's just like no no no we don't come here to talk about you no like we're not talking about how this.
Is hard for me I want to talk I want I want to love you want to serve you but your friend who is good as has this heart that's for you that's concerned about your well-being and that's a papitis he hears that his Church back home in Philippi is concerned about his well-being and he's just like oh man I just I want to tell him I want to let him know that I'm okay I mean just the the the concern that he has.
For his Church that sent him it's beautiful and I love the the the commentary that Paul gives here he says he he makes this note that I I Paul's like I'm glad I'm glad that he's okay because if he wasn't and he died I just I would have sorrow upon sorrow and this this picture just it would have deeply hurt Paul it would have been deeply sorrowful to have this dear brother and friend die he just like no I'm glad he was spared.
And then Paul continues in verse 28 it says I am the more eager to send him therefore that you may Rejoice at seeing him again and that I may be less anxious and I just so appreciate the genuine concern for others the love that's just displayed all over this like Paul is eager to send a papitis back he's like I I can't wait to send him to you him and Timothy going to go and I can't wait for you to see him.
So for you to be re you for you to be reunited because I have this anxiety about you I have this this worry about how you're feeling it's just he's concerned with their concern and he wants to be less concerned with their concerns once their concerns are lifted it's just this outward just everyone is just so deeply concerned for one another in some ways that are just beautiful this Rich love that you see all around this section and we finish it.
Verse 2930 it says so receive him in the Lord with all joy and honor such men for he nearly died for the work of Christ it's this picture he he wants to honor Timothy and apodus risking his life to come risking his life to complete what was lacking in your service to me which can feel like an odd ending to that section because a bad way to read that is I mean because he's he's risking his life doing you know what's what what you should be doing and it's like no no that's not what he's saying there what he's simply saying is is that you can't be here with me my dear Philippian brothers.
Sisters and he's just serving on behalf of you right here so we get these two pictures as we finish that number two of these uh of these two men Timothy and epaphroditus and I look at how they're described and I think man I want that like I just I want I want to be like that I want a legacy that's left like that right this is this is me on a Saturday morning as my kids are watching Bluey looking at Bandit just like just I want that like I I want to be like these men I want to be known.
For what they're known for I want to to uh to I mean goodness for the last 2,000 years Christians have read this letter and they've seen the example that is bound up in these men and and we should want that so what I want to do with just our closing time as I just want to look at kind of three overarching themes I see in these men these Christians and and we should look at this and say I actually want that too I I want to live a life that leaves a legacy that is like this.
So the first thing I just want to highlight is the genuine concern for others that we saw in verse 20 the genuine concern for others it says for I have no one like him who will be genuinely concerned for your welfare this theme shows up all over the book of Philippians a lot of the times I I mean Philippians get descri gets described as the book of the letter of joy and it is there's a lot of joy in it but it's like there's also just this genuine love that shows up all over the place.
For one another and that's a legacy worth leaving that's a life worth living one that is just so deeply concerned with others that's how we should want to live we're the primary concern it's not how am I doing but how are you doing how are they doing that's what we should want which means I mean this what this looks like is is when you have when you hear about someone else in the Church who is struggling when you catch wind that someone else is hurting someone else is in deep need and the Church has got to Rally what this is is not the thought that might come across that says oh man like I know.
I'm not supposed to help this person but I know how much time this is going to take out of my schedule and I know how much money this is going to take out of our budget but I know we're supposed to do this it's like it's it's it's pushing that away and say no I just how are they doing right like they must be so burdened they must be so worried they must be so hurting that our first thought it's just no no no how are they doing it's this outward-looking life that isn't looking to ourselves in our own interest that's the kind of life that we should live and I get to.
See this y'all I got to see Christians in our Church that that love other people one of the things I appreciate so much is over and over again I see Christians in our Church that find a way that get money to someone else and need in our Church but their name not attached to it and it's just that no I just I heard that that they were hurting I heard they had this need and I want to be able to help and it's this genuine outward looking concern this is the kind of this is the kind of discussion that you get have in group where you are genuinely locked in to.
When when someone else is sharing right they're sharing they're pouring out their life there's no cross talk happening over here there's no one on their phone that's not paying attention it's not someone who's just biting their time so they can talk no it's just this no everyone's locked in and listening because I just it's someone taking notes I've had to pray for this brother I pray for this sister I just I get so I get so excited sometimes when I hear I might share something that that's difficult in my life.
And then all 3 or four weeks later some some Christian comes up to me in our Church and just says how's that going I've been praying for that I'm like I love it that's how that's how we should think it's how we should live with thinking about others and loving others so well that we're just we're not thinking of ourselves on a consistent basis we're thinking of others that we should that I mean listen we we should live our days in a way we're thinking about other Christians.
So much so that in the morning we're thinking about our Brothers and Sisters in Christ and and the afternoon and the evening we're thinking about others it shouldn't just be the on our way to group we're thinking about those in our group it shouldn't just be as we're here on a Sunday morning that we're thinking of others that we should live our lives in a way that has genuine concern for others that's a life worth living it's a it's a much better life to give yourself to the.
Second thing I want to highlight is this faithful service that shows up throughout this section this faithful service from a PA from Timothy that were commended here and honored for their faithful service of the mission going forward and that's a life worth living some of you don't know this because you weren't here when we merged together as two churches but when Mill City and First Baptist Church of casy came together there was someone who was integral to the process who was crucial to seeing this happen and it was the interim pastor of the time Dr Ken.
So Dr Ken I mean he's been a pastor for many many decades he was the pastor at First Baptist Church of uh First Baptist Newberry for uh for many decades and then he moved back to Columbia retired and moved back to col he retired and moved back to Columbia and and he served as an interim here he brought two churches together and a pastor who served here for served for for many decades who has more Collective wisdom and experience than our whole Elder team at the time to steep back and he moved to the side in a way that was just beautiful and his membership is still here.
Because but what he does he just he gets getting called in this area to interum he shows up at this Church and then his wife Joyce served for many years Miss Joy passed away a couple of years ago and he's just still serving and he goes from interim to interim to interim I see him every now and then I'm like Dr Kim when you come home he's like I'm hope soon but I know like he'll be here for like a month.
And then he'll go on to the next Church and that's his life giving himself away to others that's a life of service that we should want to embody whether it's as as a pastor as someone who's serving as a everyday missionary and their workplace in their neighborhood like that's that's the life that we should live is one that's consistently giving ourselves away I love and appreciate uh the the missionary CT stud and the poem that he once wrote and the the refrain that shows up in this poem over and over again that's hauntingly good he says only.
When life will soon be pass only What's Done For Christ will last and it's like that's it I life is so short and it's so brief and when you're younger you think you got all the years in the world and then you ask some of our older folks it is gone like that and it's brief and we should live our lives in a way that in this brief life we are giving ourselves away in service to the mission going forward and to others it's a beautiful life to live I want to mention someone she doesn't know I'm going to mention her she probably bother that I mention her.
But miss Louise who served as a secretary in this Church since 1991 she retired in 1991 and she's been serving here for 30 whatever the math is in that three-ish years I got some of y'all weren't even born in 1991 actually probably many of you weren't born in 1991 but she has been giving herself away to this Church for decades for free just giving her time giving her energy caring for others that's a life worth living that's the kind of service we should give to Christ as a faithful Soldier as a fellow laborer we should give ourselves away in service it's worth it.
Because listen you are going to serve something you're going to serve someone you can serve Christ or you can serve yourself you can serve a career I mean there's plenty of Idols that you can that's what service is just worship there's plenty of things you can worship in place of Christ there's plenty of things you can serve in the place of Christ we're created to serve and we have a choice that we can serve Christ and see the joy that comes in that.
See the Eternal dividence that come with that and see uh people that will be standing in the Kingdom of God in the new heavens and the new Earth at the table across from us because we gave ourselves away you can live a life where after many decades of serving Christ there are people who entered the baptism Waters with you because you led them to Christ because you made it awkward and shared the Gospel with them because you loved and served them that's a legacy worth living worth leaving and a life worth living and that's the service that we should seek to embody the.
Third thing I want to point out is that they lived a life where their absence was felt with deep sorrow our absence should be felt not just noticed but felt I I I so appreciate that phrase where he says lest I should have sorrow upon sorrow like the the loss of aitis would have been felt like he would have had sorrow upon sorrow because his absence would have been felt about a year ago the brother and Pastor Tim Keller died I never got a chance to meet Tim Keller just like the many people he impacted.
But he left this Legacy where he his loss was felt across the Church in the west the kind of people that he impacted the kind of pastors he impacted the kind of writings he wrote his absence was felt there was a sorrow for the western Church in America and Europe when he passed that's a life worth living like you if you take a job in another city or you or answer the call to missions and you you go away that that absence should be felt there was a a couple here John and jley Amadeo a few years ago they were here.
For a year one year while he was in school down here and listen they could have just visited a bunch of churches and hung around for a little bit and then just you know we're not gonna be here for about a year and I mean we not as well just we're not there's no Point becoming members no they they came down here they visited they became members and they gave themselves away to this Church for a year and then they left.
Let me tell you something their absence was felt I you asked the people that were in group with them and it's like they miss them and that that that that's that's how we should live that wherever we are whever Christ puts us we give ourselves away so that when we're gone that absence is felt and that's often through the very often quiet work of serving others of of sharing the Gospel with others the things that are unseen but ultimately when you're gone it's like no I I'm I miss that brother I miss that sister.
For the way that they lived out the Gospel and it's not doing it for the wrong reasons it's not doing it for our own Glory it's not doing it for our own good is doing it for the glory of God and obedience to what he calls us to but I just so appreciate how Timothy and AAP are described In this passage and I look at that I say I want that I want that for myself I want that for our Church.
Verse 20 21 says for I have no one like him who will be genuinely concerned for your welfare for they all seek their own interests not those of Jesus Christ and what's bound up there is is that you have a choice you have your own individual interest or the interest of Christ our own interest or the interest of Christ and that's the choice that's left before us now the choice is clear right Jesus his interest which ultimately results in the interest of others.
But the problem is that's hard because if you're like me they naturally just self-interested that there's a part of us that's just the the main focus is our individual lives and our individual schedules and our individual activities and and Lasting service is hard right look genuine care for others is hard lasting service is hard it's easy to serve for a moment it's hard to give yourselves away over and over again and it's hard to live a life where your absence is felt.
Because you were so selfless and not self-interested especially because we're in an individual individualistic culture and we're we're Sinners that are part of this culture that are so individualized and this rat race of Life chasing after our own interest so it's hard it's hard to hear the example there and to say Okay I want this and the pro here here's all here's the other problem is that if you hear that example and you go I'm doing it I'm going to I'm going to muscle in and I'm going to be selfless it's like you you can't not by your own power.
But the good news of the Gospel is that we have a savior who was selfless who looked upon us in our self-interest who looked upon us and our own uh concern for ourselves and our savior showed genuine concern for us and he left heaven and he came from Earth came to Earth and he was obedient to death on a cross for self-interested Sinners Like Me And You And His selfless giving himself away went to the Cross to die for that self-interest.
So that we might die to it too and then he walks out of the Tomb to make a way for us to live a life that is new that gives our selves away to others that serves him as King in a way that leaves an impact that resounds into eternity so the way we do this is we look to Christ and we look to what he did on our behalf and we see how much our savior loved Us and how much he gave himself to us and we say I want that that's what Timothy and Aus did they looked at Christ and they said I'm giving my life away to this King the choice is.
Ours and my hope is that you choose Christ let me pray heavenly father I pray that you'd help us look to your example to what you did on our behalf that we might live a life that is so outwardly focused that dies to ourselves that we might see the Gospel move forward in the lives of others but that takes for some of us being broken of our own sin in a way that leads to Faith that changes and for all of us it takes repenting of Our Own self-interest by looking at you.
So Lord help us and help us do that in a way that lives a beautiful life with a legacy like these two men that we saw in the Scriptures today in Jesus name amen