The Unknown Bible - Pastor Bevans Welder

Timothy and Epaphroditus

Phil 2:19-30

1-13-08

Paul had a number of very faithful companions in the ministry – here he mentions two of them, Timothy and Epaphroditus – each is a big help to Paul in his ministry to the Philippians – we are going to see what he says in this text about them

Timothy

Paul was in Rome [a prisoner] – he couldn’t get to the Philippians but wanted to 23-24 – so he told them that he was going to send Timothy later – for several reasons

19 – Paul was concerned about them – he wanted to know firsthand how they were doing - it is the pastor’s heart to be concerned for the well being of the flock and to be comforted when the news is good – he knew Timothy would do this job well for him

20 – Sending Timothy was like being there himself – they were likeminded and Paul knew that Timothy would care for them the same way Paul would have done if he could have been there himself – that is a wonderful consolation

21 – Timothy’s principal concern was doing what the Lord wanted him to do [rather than doing what he wanted to (seeking his own)] – so Paul knew that Timothy wouldn’t take advantage of them or of him in order to do something that would benefit Timothy rather than that flock

22 – Timothy served with Paul as a son with his father [son Timothy, 1 Tim 1:2; Acts 16:1-3] – they were very close to each other in the ministry – therefore Paul had a lot of confidence in Timothy and a lot of love for him

Epaphroditus

Whereas Timothy was like a son, Epaphroditus was like a faithful servant or a right hand man

25 - He was a close brother in Christ – what we have in Christ through our spiritual birth brings us closer to each other than our natural birth does to our natural siblings, oftentimes

He was a companion in labor – so he was not afraid to work – he wasn’t there as a groupie – the ministry takes a lot of work and it takes men who are willing to work to help out – as a man’s ministry grows like Paul’s did, more men have to preach, to deal with souls and deal with the physical aspects of the ministry – women have to help, too, just like they helped Jesus and Paul

He was a fellow soldier – you build camaraderie with men with whom you fight the fight of faith [like soldiers in the Armed Services] – and there are enemies in the ministry that must be fought – we have an adversary who wants to divide us and who wants to keep us from reaching the lost with the gospel and the saints with words of edification – and he wants to discourage us and interfere with our loving relationship with our Savior because he is jealous [he has people that serve him well but they don’t do it out of the kind of love that Jesus has for us or that we have for Jesus]

He was a faithful messenger – Paul wrote this letter from Rome and Epaphroditus was the one who actually took the dictation and penned the words – evidently he was the one who also hand delivered this epistle – he could relate to the Philippians the things Paul wanted to tell them just as if Paul had been there to do it himself and he could report back to Paul on how things were really going with the folks [an honest appraisal]

He was a minister – when Jesus instructed his disciples on the ministry he told them [Matt 20] that the way to be great in the ministry is to serve – and Epaphroditus was a servant to Paul who nearly died [v. 27] because of the neglect for his own well being to be sure that Paul had everything he needed and all the help he needed [v. 30] – he was one who really bore the burdens [Gal 6:2] – Paul was a prisoner still and so he had no way to support himself – therefore Paul depended on the Lord’s provisions at the hands of other men and churches [Lk 6:38; Phil 4:15-16] – when a church couldn’t supply the need [1 Cor 16:17; Phil 2:30] someone had to make it up and Epaphroditus was the one doing it for Paul at this time – furthermore, he clearly had the same heart for the Philippians that Paul did [v. 26]

As a result of Epaphroditus’ wonderful character, Paul encouraged the Philippians to rejoice in the coming of Epaphroditus [v. 28-29] and to esteem him well [v.29] – the temptation would have been for them to feel slighted because Paul himself couldn’t come [v. 23-24] and to be disappointed that they had gotten some “second-rate” minister – to have Epaphroditus come to them was to have a most satisfactory visitor