- Alright, Philippians For Beginners, lesson number five, title is The Mature
Christian Rejoices in Trial. If you're following along in your Bibles, chapter two of Philippians,
beginning in verse 14. So, from his prison cell in Rome, Paul writes a letter to
the church in Philippi, which he established and
which he was very proud of, very proud of that church. And to these brethren who
are remaining faithful and fruitful in good
works, he sends a message of encouragement, and the
message is to continue pursuing spiritual
maturity and the blessings that come from spiritual maturity. And he breaks down this idea
of Christian spiritual maturity into specific virtues and practices that they ought to cultivate. And so, he says, mature
Christians therefore, they stand firm when they are faced with trial or temptation. Mature Christians imitate
Christ in all that they do. 'Course, we've covered this
already, just a little review, he's talked about that already. Today, we're going to examine
another one of these exhortations to spiritual maturity and
that is rejoicing in trial. So, let's go to chapter
two, beginning in verse 14. He says, do all things without
grumbling or disputing. Do all things without
grumbling or disputing. Oh, boy. [chuckles] We just arrived at my address. [laughs] We need to remember that
Paul has just explained how he manages to rejoice even though there are some who are
preaching the Gospel with the express purpose
of trying to provoke him to jealousy and envy of their success while he languages, languishes in prison. So here, he lays out the basic attitude for everyday, successful living. He says, do all things, not
just the things you like to do, do all things, he says,
without grumbling or disputing. Interesting words. Grumbling means to mutter
or to murmur or to complain, seeing the negative,
pointing out what annoys us and sharing that with other people. Usually, muttering includes a charge against those we think responsible for what we disagree with. Now, the problem with grumbling
or complaining is twofold, and we're talking in the,
I mean, in life in general, but in the Church. First of all, it poisons the atmosphere. Since nothing is perfect to begin with, it's easy to point out
faults and weaknesses, and spoil whatever good there may be about a person or a situation. I mean, it's easy to find what's not good. About ourselves, it's the
easiest thing in the world to find all the places
where we fall short, and it's easy to find
that about other people. Grumbling also is, it's contagious, because it appeals to man's
fleshly and sinful nature. Grumblers usually form a complainers club, [chuckles] and they impose their negative attitude on those around them. And it's, people like to join that club, the complainers club. Nothing kills the momentum of a good idea or impetus to make necessary changes than constant grumbling
from the complainers club. I've known many deacons and
hard workers in the Church, or even elders who just, at
some point, they just say, okay, this is just, you
know, this is not worth it. I can't go on anymore, I'm
so tired of being criticized for every little thing. You do one thing in the
Church, you got 500 critics. And I don't blame them,
it's a discouraging thing. It's one thing if you're
being paid a million bucks to do something and people
criticize you, okay, fine, you got your million bucks, be quiet, take your money, go home. But if you're doing something
and you volunteer to do it, out of the goodness of your heart and for the love of the
Lord, to serve other people, and they complain about
you, that's, that's a heavy, that's a very heavy burden. And then, he talks also about disputing, disputing, questioning, second-guessing. Now, there's nothing wrong
with asking a question or trying to understand or
better understand a situation, or something that's asked of us. You know, I need more
information to be sure I know what you want me to do, that's fine. But in this case, however, the questioning is part of the grumbling and complaining. So, Paul is referring
to what people who doubt or refuse to submit do in their resistance to something or someone. They challenge or question
or resist the authority, the necessity, the fairness
of what may be taking place in the, in the Church. Or they reason against the thing that they are complaining about. Now, remember, the context
in which Paul exhorts them to avoid this type of behavior, okay? He's not just throwing
this out in a vacuum. In verse 12, he has told them
to work out their salvation in fear and trembling. In other words, mature
Christians understand that in their walk of faith with the Lord, there will be an effort by
Satan to undermine their belief through various trials and temptations, even direct attacks on their souls. You know, when he says,
work out your salvation in fear and trembling,
it's not fear and trembling of the Lord. He's on your side, He's on our side, I'm not afraid of the Lord. No, he said fear and trembling
because there are people out there who want to destroy you. Don't be naive. Christianity's a serious business. It's life and death stuff. Fear and trembling because
some have fallen away or succumbed to temptation
and they've lost their salvation as a result. So yeah, of course, be afraid, be serious about your faith, your soul. So, in view of this, Paul instructs them not to play into Satan's
hands by grumbling or questioning various aspects of their Christian experience, especially when facing
opposition or trials and personal suffering on
account of their faith. It's always keep your
eye on the ball here, it's always about our faith, okay? For example, doubting God's love when suffering or on
account of one's faith. You do something right, you
do something for your faith and it blows up in your,
blows up in your face. And he's saying the natural human tendency would be, well, God, why
did you do this to me? Well, God's not doing that to you. God's not the one that does
bad things to hurt you. It's the evil one that does that. God may permit it, He'll
permit it to happen, to test your faith. Or complaining about the difficulty or the inconvenience of
various types of service or conduct required of us. Or various complaints or questions concerning the conduct, the sincerity, the value, the authority
of fellow Christians, especially those who are responsible for teaching or leadership in the Church. Favorite pastime in the church, yeah, let's chew on the elders. [laughs] Let's have lunch and chew
on the elders for a while. So, this type of conduct or attitude actually undermines the development of spiritual maturity in the Christian. Those who grumble and
dispute are not usually the ones we look to for
encouragement or leadership or an example of Christian maturity. It's not the complainers club
that are usually in charge of doing the heavy lifting in the Church. He goes on, verse 15 and 16, he says, so that you, you know, don't do this, don't grumble and complain,
so that you will prove yourselves to be blameless and innocent, children of God above reproach in the midst of a crooked
and perverse generation, among whom you appear
as lights in the world, holding fast the word of life, so that in the day of Christ, I will have reason to glory because I did not run in
vain nor toil in vain. So, in these verses, Paul explains how those who avoid these
things will be viewed and the rewards awaiting
not only those who refrain from this type of behavior,
but also, for the one who taught them how to
be mature in Christ, meaning himself. So, another word here for innocent, you know, he says, be
blameless and innocent. Another word for innocent,
very interesting, in the Greek, another way to
translate it is to be unmixed. When we think innocent, we think, I didn't do anything
wrong, I'm not guilty. But when we, when we
hear the word, unmixed, that sheds a whole new
light on the attitude. The idea is that even though
Christians are in the world and constantly come into
contact with worldly ideas and people and activities, they remain unmixed,
you know, water and oil? Unmixed, the Christian
doesn't kind of mix in with the world, manages
to be among the world but doesn't get mixed into or influenced or affected by the world. So, he says, this conduct
coupled with the fact that they also obey
and proclaim the Gospel produces light in the
dark world of ignorance and sin and death. So, in verse 16, Paul
rejoices in this fact, because it means that his
work, as a teacher and mentor as well as his personal suffering for the cause of the gospel,
will not be for nothing. Let's face it, he's given
everything in his life, his health, his wealth, his freedom, he's in jail because of his role as a, as an apostle, he's given everything. You know, when they say
the team left everything on the field, well, he's left everything on the battleground, and he's saying, if you people succeed, meaning, if you people are successful in maturing as Christians
and you remain faithful, the comfort to me is my life
hasn't been a waste of time. Your success helps me suffer the things that I'm suffering because
I didn't work in vain, I didn't preach in vain, I didn't teach you in vain, my time was not for nothing with you. Verse 17 and 18, he says, but
even if I am being poured out as a drink offering upon the sacrifice and service of your faith, I rejoice and share my joy with you all. You too, I urge you,
rejoice in the same way and share your joy with
me, verse 17 and 18. So, even though Paul was confident in his imminent release,
we talked about that in chapter one, he was
in jail twice in Rome, so, this is the first
time and he really felt he would win his case once
he came before the Emperor and so on and so forth, he really felt he was going to be released. So, even though he was confident
of his imminent release, he looks to the future and his probable end as a martyr. He sees the writing on the
wall, things are not going good, he may win his case here,
but he sees the tide is shifting against
Christianity in the capital and he foresees trouble ahead. And so, he's thinking, if there's
trouble with Christianity, the first to go are
going to be the leaders, and he's one of the leaders. So, in Jewish worship, a drink offering, what he mentions here, in Jewish worship, a drink offering of wine was poured out on the side of the altar. And this represented the
fruit of man's work or labor that was offered to God,
that was the symbolic way that it was done. So, Paul says that he rejoices in the fact that his work, or
ministry, on their behalf is and will probably be
offered up in the future through martyrdom, he's going
to be a sacrifice offered because of the work,
because of this church. And he encourages them to share his joy that God would grant him
this final opportunity to serve and glorify them. He's thinking, boy, if
I die for the faith, it's the best thing that
God could have used me for, as a martyr for the, for the faith. Now, it's interesting that
he uses the drink offering, you know, you pour something out. He uses the drink offering
imagery of poured-out wine because as a Roman citizen, his execution would be by decapitation. Because it was against the Roman law to crucify a Roman citizen. Now, Peter, when he was
executed, was crucified, and history tells us he
was crucified upside down, not wanting to be crucified
the same way that Jesus was, and others were, other
Christians were crucified, or they were impaled on posts and, and covered with tar and set on fire, you know, to serve as
lanterns in the gardens of the Emperor, it was a horrific death. But because Paul was a Roman citizen, they were not allowed to
execute him in this way, and so, his execution would
come through decapitation, and the idea is when you're decapitated, there's a gush of blood that comes out, obviously, when your head is cut off. And so, he makes the imagery,
the wine, the red wine is poured out, and I'm
going to be poured out. So, there's a kind of a parallel there, imagery between the sacrifice
and the type of death he thinks that he may
experience in the future. Alright, so, Paul leaves the lofty vision of his, his probable
martyrdom in the future, and he returns quite
abruptly, in this passage, to matters at hand, namely, some information about
two of Paul's coworkers, Timothy and Epaphroditus, both examples, both of these men, examples
of mature Christians. So, he's talking about high things, my possible death in the name of Christ, and then, almost like whiplash, he comes back and says,
oh, and by the way, let me tell you about
Timothy and Epaphroditus. After all, it's a letter. [chuckles] He's sending a letter and
he's giving information in the letter. So, we go to Timothy, before we read, let me give you a bit of
information about Timothy. Well, we first encounter
Timothy in Acts, chapter 16, while Paul was on his
second missionary journey. Timothy was from Lystra,
this was northern Galatia, which is modern-day Turkey, and Timothy was part of a church that Paul had established
around 49 to 53 AD. Timothy's mother, Eunice,
and grandmother, Lois, were Christians, his father was not. His father was Greek,
he was an unbeliever. Timothy joined Paul in 51
AD and, along with Luke, was one of Paul's closest
traveling companions. He ministered to Paul
while Paul was in prison, as we see here in the book of Philippians, and he seems to have
been a kind of timid man, not an aggressive, go-get-em type of guy. He was a timid man, he didn't
deal well with confrontation, and he often had stomach
problems, stomach issues, ulcers, you know, queasy stomach. Find that, about that in 1 Timothy 5:23. He was commended into ministry by Paul and the elders of the Church, and eventually, Paul sent
him to the church in Ephesus, to work with that group of people. So, now that you know
a little about Timothy, let's read verse 19. He says, but I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you shortly, so that I also may be encouraged when I learn of your condition. Remember, Paul expects to be released, but this has not yet happened. His intention is twofold
in sending Timothy. Number one, to bring them
the news of his release and what condition he's in,
you know, no phone calls, no email, no nothing. If you wanted information,
you had to write it down and somebody had to carry
it on foot a thousand miles. So, communication was slow. Secondly, he wants to send
Timothy to bring information, and secondly, to assess their situation and bring news back to
Paul about the Philippians, how's the church doing,
ask people, meet with them, find out how everyone is doing, and then, bring that
information back to me. So, Paul's hope is that
Timothy will both bring and return with good news
that will encourage everyone. So, let's read. He says, for I have no one else, speaking of Timothy now,
for I have no one else of kindred spirit who will
genuinely be concerned for your welfare, for they all seek after their own interests,
not those of Christ Jesus. But you know of his proven worth, that he served with me in the furtherance of the gospel like a
child serving his father. Therefore, I hope to send him immediately, as soon as I see how things go with me, and I trust in the Lord that I myself will also be coming shortly. Paul, here, describes Timothy as one who cares about the Church, specifically, the Philippians,
as much as he does. They're equally yoked in their concern for the welfare of the
Philippian brethren. He contrasts Timothy
with the preachers that, remember, he talked about the preachers who were just preaching
out of jealousy and envy, for money, whatever, he
compares Timothy's attitude to these guys that we've
talked about in the past. He compares Timothy with
the preachers he spoke about in the first chapter, that's it, men who preached for gain
or to provoke jealousy and envy in Paul. Timothy, he says, on the contrary, is not like these men. Having faithfully served with Paul and considered by Paul
not simply a coworker but a beloved son serving his father, very much like Jesus served the Father, Timothy serves Paul. This person that Paul loves as a son, who is a faithful and
mature Christian worker, will be sent to encourage them, as a, as soon as Paul has definite news about his release from prison, which he thinks should be soon. You know, I've said it before, it's just so amazing, it's so human! People read the Bible and
they, they see way up there in the sky, it's, he's
writing, he's in jail, he thinks he's going to be released, but the wheels of
justice turn very slowly. We're not talking about days, we're talking about months and months. It's looking good but it may not be 'til the fall and we're only in February, that type of thing. So, he says, I'm going to
send, I'm writing to you, I'm going to send you some news
about what's going on with me and what I think's going to happen, and Timothy's going to deliver the letter, and I want him to find out what's going on with you people! And then, he's going to come back and bring that news back to me, and that way, you'll be encouraged, knowing that I have hope to be freed, and I'll be encouraged
because he'll bring news back from you guys that you're doing okay, that you're hanging in there, that you're being faithful. So human, so natural. So, in the meantime, so, he's sending, he
wants to send Timothy, and Timothy will come
back, but in the meantime, he's going to do something else. In the meantime, he's
going to send Epaphroditus, 'cause he wants Timothy to stay with him until he finds out what happens legally, and that may take some time. So, we're going to find
out about Epaphroditus. Epaphroditus, this brother,
sometimes referred to by the contracted form
of his name, Epaphras, so, Epaphras, Epaphroditus, Michael, Mike, you know, Epaphras, Epaphroditus, the name means handsome,
not Mike, Epaphroditus-- [man laughs]
Means handsome, is referred to as one who first preached to the Colossians, Colossians 1:7, and was sent by the Philippian church with a gift for Paul and to find out about his circumstances. So, Epaphroditus, he comes
from that area, Philippi, and he brought a gift, money, to Paul while he's in jail,
bringing some news from them and wanting to get news from him. Now, we don't have a lot of information about Epaphroditus other
than his appearance here with Paul and a reference to him as one of the early missionaries who may have planted the church in his home city of Colossae. You know the letter to the Colossians? Well, the Colossians were in Colossae, and Epaphroditus was from Colossae. So, we believe that he's the one that planted the church there, not far from Ephesus. So, let's read a little
about him in Philippians. He says, but I thought it necessary to send you Epaphroditus,
my brother and fellow worker and fellow soldier, who
is also your messenger and minster to my need. So, Timothy has to stay until he finds out what's going to happen with me, but in the meantime, I'm
going to send Epaphroditus to give you news, alright? So, Paul's going to wait until
he has definite information before sending Timothy,
he sends Epaphroditus at the same time, saying,
thank you for the gift that you sent from him. Again, not much personal history or historical information
in the Bible about this man, but the little we do have points to a very good picture of
a mature Christian servant. Note, listen, in just one passage, note what Paul says about
him in one verse, verse 25. He calls him a brother in the Lord, so, he belongs to the Christian family. He calls him a fellow worker, a helper in the task of preaching
and teaching the gospel. He calls him a soldier, someone to carry the fight on with Paul. He calls him a messenger,
not a messenger boy, but a duly-appointed
commissioner sent by the Church for a specific task. He calls him a minister. He was specifically
sent by the Philippians to serve Paul's needs while in prison, not simply sent to deliver a gift of money for his support, big difference. So, Paul adds an explanation concerning Epaphroditus' return. Apparently, he was sent
to stay and help Paul in his work, but shortly
after his arrival in Rome, Epaphroditus fell seriously ill. The news of his near-fatal illness got back to the Philippians somehow, and they began to worry, not
knowing of his condition, whether he survived or not. Today, we call the
hospital, this is Mr. Smith, I'm calling about Mrs.
Smith, she's in Room 322, is she out of surgery? Yes, she's in recovery,
everything went well, thank you very much. In those days, it wasn't
like that, obviously. The news took months. So, we read in 2:26, he says, because, speaking of Epaphroditus, 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 on him only but also on me, so that I would not
have sorrow upon sorrow. 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. In a way, Paul was giving
up any further service or comfort that Epaphroditus
could have provided him by sending this brother back sooner with this letter, not
wanting them to suffer any more anguish and
anxiety about his condition. Note that Paul says that
God healed Epaphroditus since he was at the point of death. Apparently, no doctors or manmade remedies had been able to, to work on him. So, Epaphroditus goes
with the gift of money, he's supposed to be there to
help Paul and to do stuff. Instead, he falls deathly ill. Verse 29 and 30, Paul
says, receive him then 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. So, Paul sends him back
with an exhortation to the Philippians to
receive him with honor, why? Because he risked his life
to carry out the tasks they sent him to complete. And receive him with joy
because God saved him. Paul was encouraged by him
and the Philippians' choice of him for this mission, and
this mission was justified. In other words, you chose the right guy. It was a long trip
between Philippi and Rome, very long trip. Things did not go the way
that they had planned. Epaphroditus delivers the
gift, he stays to minister, he returns when Paul is
free, that was the plan. Instead, he delivers the gift,
he falls ill, nearly dies, and when he's healed, Paul
sends him straight back. But with God's help, nevertheless, even though the plan didn't go as planned, they had reason to rejoice, because Paul received their gift and is due to be freed soon than expected, and Epaphroditus is safe from death and returns home safely. So, Paul, in encouraging the Philippians to strive for spiritual maturity notes that one mark of a mature Christian is the lack of complaining and arguing in dealing with various challenges associated with living among unbelievers in a fallen world, or
carrying out Christian service in ministry, and we have
examples of it here, don't we? He then provides examples
of Christian maturity as embodied in two of his coworkers, Timothy and Epaphroditus, who each, without grumbling
or negative questioning, carried out their ministries in such a way that God was honored,
the Church was edified, and non-believers were exposed
to the light of the gospel. So, excuse me, so far in his letter, Paul has demonstrated that
cultivating spiritual maturity requires that Christians stand firm, you want to be mature, you
want to be considered mature as a Christian, has nothing
to do with your age, although, there should
be some parallels there. But if you want to be
mature as a Christian, you need to stand firm in the faith, imitate Christ in action and reaction. You know the old thing,
what would Jesus do? That's a pretty good
guideline, what would Jesus do? And rejoice in times of trial. In the passage describing his imprisonment and future martyrdom, and then talking about Epaphroditus' illness,
it's amazing to realize that Paul uses the word
joy or rejoice six times. [chuckles] Imagine how many
times he'd used those words if things were going well! Alright, so, we're going to stop there as far as the, studying the text. One lesson, you know when you
usually try to draw a lesson or two, some practical things? Just one lesson, okay? Ministry is never without
trials, there's a lesson. As far as we know, Paul
was never persecuted or made to suffer because
he was a Pharisee. As long as he was a Pharisee,
nobody persecuted him. He didn't suffer. He didn't lose any money,
didn't lose any sleep. He was held in high regard,
he was promoted, encouraged. He was a man on the way up,
so long as he was a Pharisee. It was after his conversion
and, more importantly, when he began to minister by speaking out concerning that Christ,
that the pushback came. So, the more effective
and fruitful his ministry, the greater the trials and
obstacles and persecution became. Listen, when they have to
kill you to shut you up, the world is paying
you the best compliment on the effectiveness of your
ministry and your witness. [laughs] If they have to
kill you to shut you up, you're doing something right
as far as Christ is concerned. I don't mean being executed as a criminal. I mean if they have to, you know, violently put you down because you're just
being way too effective as a Christian, you're
doing something right. This is why both Paul in this section and Peter, in the book
of Acts 4:23 and 24, and then in 5:41, both
Peter and Paul rejoiced when threatened with death
because of their ministry. They weren't masochists,
they weren't like, oh, yeah, boy, I'm going to get whipped,
you know, I like that. No, no, no. No, they knew that they were
getting to the other side because there was pushback. So, the lesson for us today is that we shouldn't be surprised or discouraged or give in to whining or second-guessing God when our efforts to improving ourselves
or doing something good for someone else, or serving
the churches some way, when these efforts are met
with personal difficulties, or in gratitude, or indifference, or unfair accusations, or
all kinds of roadblocks, that's normal! That's normal. The moment a Christian
makes an effort to grow, to expand his or her service, to give more time and effort
or money to the Church, this is a threat to the evil one. This is a threat to the enemy's spirits that Paul talks about in
Ephesians chapter six. They don't like us succeeding. They like us kind of lukewarm and quiet and not move around too much,
not make too much noise, don't rock the boat, yeah. They don't want the gospel spread, so, any effort to do so
will be opposed by them. And unfortunately, many
times, the opposition doesn't come from outside the Church, it comes from inside
the Church, from whom? Well, the grumblers and the complainers. Why are we spending so much
money on evangelizing over here? Why are we having this gospel meeting? Whatever, you know, we're
going to expand the building so we can have more people. Oh, no, that's way too much, we'll never do it, it'll never work! Oh, if I, oh, if I could have money for every time somebody said
to me, it'll never work! [chuckles] We'll never be able to do that. The opposition don't
want people to believe, so, they will fill the road to belief with all kinds of obstacles, temptations, false teachers, hypocritical Christians. They don't want Christians who are sitting on the bench to get into
the game playing offense, and their most subtle and
vicious and powerful attacks are reserved for Christians
who want to mature, who want to become more like Christ. So, our chances of meeting
and overcoming our enemy in our efforts to mature in Christ will greatly increase if we
know that there is an enemy! And he will attack. If you decide that you're
going to, you know, I'm going for it, I
don't like where I'm at as a Christian, I'm going
to take the next step, whatever that next step
is, you can be sure that you will hit opposition. Now, on the other side, we need to remember, God equips
us for the eventual attack. He provides us His word,
He provides us His spirit, He provides us the Church, and He intervenes, so we
don't become overwhelmed. For example, in the passage
that I, we just read, God saved Epaphroditus from death, because his death may
have overwhelmed Paul and the Philippians at that time, when he was nearing the end of a long and difficult time in prison, it might've just been
one thing just too many that would crush him. So, Paul rejoiced and
encouraged the Philippians to rejoice despite these trials, because they knew that their suffering was caused by an inservice
to the gospel of Jesus. They suffered as He suffered. God was with them and helping
them bear under these trials. Their rejoicing was a
witness that the spirit was in them as Christians
and was exceedingly greater than the evil spirit
that was in the world, that caused their suffering,
what does John say? The spirit that's in you
is greater than the spirit that's in the world. There's a spirit in the world, and he is against and opposes faith. But there's spirit within us that which is, wishes
to proclaim the faith, and do the works that
God has put before us in order to do, to lift up
the name of Jesus Christ. In the end, they're rejoicing in the midst of trial signaled that even though they may
have lost the physical battle, they won the spiritual war. And that's our battle. We're small, Christians,
we have a small voice. We don't have a very big stage. Some Hollywood actor wants
to shout out some obscenity about something, his face
will be on the front page of the new, or her face
will be on the front page of the newspaper, all over
Facebook and whatever, a gazillion hits. You want to say something
that's actually true, [chuckles] from God, yeah, yeah, you don't, they don't give you the time of day. Brothers and sisters, it isn't by accident that all the platforms
that control communication are held by non-believers. This is why, again, I'll plug Bible talk, this is why, and Bible talk
is not the only ministry, but ministries like
Bible talk, we push back, we use their platforms to push back with a message of faith,
with the message of Christ. Okay, that's our class for today. We're going to keep right
on going 'til we finish. Thank you for your attention.
