Review: 

• Paul is writing this letter from where? Prison in Rome. 

• Why is he in prison in Rome?  For sharing the gospel.  

• Who is he writing to? The believers in Philippi (modern day Greece). 

Last week we saw Paul’s plea for the Philippians to live others-centered lives. The force of his argument rested on Jesus’ own example of radical humility. 

This week we’re going to see Paul give two examples of guys who were quintessential others-centered disciples of Jesus. 

One of them is Timothy, who was Paul’s personal disciple and young sidekick. 

The other is Epaphroditus, who was another faithful brother in Christ and a messenger who Paul sent to deliver this very letter we are reading. 

Our text last week contained one of the most famous passages in the New Testament, the part about the humility and exaltation of Jesus. 

• It’s the one that begins, “who, being in the form of God didn’t count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant…” 

• And then it ends with…  “that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father…” 

Today, we come to the very next section which coincidentally is one of the more obscure passages in the New Testament.  You won’t find this one on bumper stickers or coffee mugs. But, it’s in these verses that we get a window into what a humble life devoted to Jesus looks like.  There are some passages that tell us, and there are other passages that show us.  This is the latter.  

And honestly, passages like this have become some of my favorites because they allow us to be a fly on the wall and observe relational dynamics between early believers.  It’s fascinating and inspiring and I think you’ll really be encouraged by the Word of God today. 

Philippians 2:19–30 (ESV): 

19 I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you soon, so that I too may be cheered by news of you. 

So, right off the bat, notice: it’s like we’re eavesdropping on a personal conversation.  He’s not preaching at them; he’s just giving them the itinerary. 

And yet, if we zoom in and consider WHY he is saying what he’s saying, we discover some applicable truths. 

For example: 

Why does Paul say he ‘hopes in the Lord Jesus’ to send Timothy? Why not just say ‘I hope to send Timothy’? Because his entire life is surrendered to and controlled by the will of God.  

Paul spoke like this a lot. 

• In fact, in verse 24 he says, he ‘trusted in the Lord’ that he would be able to visit them also. The intention belongs to Paul but the ultimate outcome is the Lord’s. 

• He said a similar thing to the Corinthians in 1 Corinthians 4:19, “I will come to you shortly, if the Lord wills…” 

• In Acts 18:21 he says, “I will return to you again, if God wills…” 

• This idea echo’s Jesus’ own posture. Remember what He said in the Garden of Gethsemane? Matthew 26:39 Not as I will, but as You will 

I point this out, because this is the appropriate way for a believer to speak about future plans.  We speak about what we would like to do, we pray and ask God for what we would like to do, but we acknowledge that the ultimate decision is up to Jesus Christ.

Well, in this case, Paul made his intentions clear: he wanted to send Timothy to the Philippians, so that Timothy could bring back a positive report for Paul and cheer him up when Paul heard how the Philippians were doing.  

This gives us a sense of how invested Paul was in their development in Christ.  In chapter 1 he said it was his prayer that their love would abound more and more.  

I would just pause and ask, “is that our heart towards other believers?”  Do we have a genuine desire to see others grow in Christ?  

Do you know that helping others grow and mature in Christ is part of your primary mission on this planet? 

To be sure, it’s exactly half of your primary mission, as given by Jesus:

• Matthew 28:19–20 (ESV): 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

The imperative to make disciples is accomplished by a twofold process: baptizing and teaching. We might expand that to mean, ‘helping people come to know Christ, and helping people continue to grow in Christ.’   

Ask yourself: Does my heart beat for helping people come to know Christ and continue to grow in Christ? 

Paul’s heart certainly did, and for that reason, he wanted to send his very best to the Philippians, and the very best he had was Timothy.  

20 For I have no one like him, who will be genuinely concerned for your welfare. 

This is where we start seeing Timothy as an example of the others-centeredness Paul described in our passage last week. 

Back in the early parts of the chapter, Paul said his desire for the Philippians is that they would do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than themselves.  He said, let each of you look not only to your own interests but also to the interests of others. (2:3-4) 

Then, after giving the ultimate example of humility (Christ himself), he now gives a human example: Timothy.  

He says, ‘this guy is like nobody else I know.  He really, genuinely cares about people. If I send him to you, I’m confident that he’ll be concerned about your welfare’. 

21 For they all seek their own interests, not those of Jesus Christ. 

Who are ‘they’?  Presumably, Paul is referring to the other believers around him.  

He’s saying, the others are just not as selfless as Timothy.  

Not that they were bad, per se, but just that they weren’t as devoted to the interests of Jesus Christ for their lives. 

Timothy was.  He was in a league of his own. 

This is a little sad, isn’t it?  We’d hope that ALL believers would be concerned about the interests of Christ rather than their own… but that’s simply not the case.  

Would you agree that many followers of Christ today are still living with a degree of personal agenda instead of being 100% devoted to Christ and genuinely concerned about others’ needs over their own?  

I believe God wants to raise up more Timothys from our ranks.  

22 But you know Timothy’s proven worth, how as a son with a father he has served with me in the gospel. 

No wonder Paul has so much confidence in him––he had watched his life up close and had personally mentored him.  

He says Timothy was like a son to him.  

• In 1 Timothy 1:2, he refers to him as his “true son in the faith…”

• And in 2 Timothy 1:2 he calls him “my beloved son”. 

Acts 16 describes the time when Paul first met Timothy, and it gives us a sense of the kind of guy Timothy was…

• Acts 16:1–3 (ESV): 16 Paul came also to Derbe and to Lystra. A disciple was there, named Timothy, the son of a Jewish woman who was a believer, but his father was a Greek. 2 He was well spoken of by the brothers at Lystra and Iconium. 3 Paul wanted Timothy to accompany him, and he took him and circumcised him because of the Jews who were in those places, for they all knew that his father was a Greek.

• This may seem like a strange detail, but it’s significant because it tells us that Timothy, who was probably a young adult at this point, was so sold out for Jesus that he was willing to go through the ritual of circumcision, not because he had to in order to be saved, but just so that there wouldn’t be any unnecessary barriers to him sharing the gospel with Jews.  

• That is pretty radical.  

• What would we be willing to do for the sake of reaching others with the gospel?  What discomfort and inconvenience would we endure in order to see souls get saved?

• Timothy had endured a lot. 

That’s why Paul could say, “he has served with me in the gospel”.  

The key phrases there are “served” and “in the gospel”.  

We already know that servant-heartedness is a premium character trait in the church. In the introduction of the letter, Paul referred to himself and Timothy as servants, and we’ve been harping on this theme for the past couple weeks. 

In the church, one of the markers of maturity is servanthood.  

• We don’t measure maturity by how much someone knows or how gifted they appear to be… because that’s not how Jesus measures it. 

• Jesus said, “the greatest among you must be the greatest servant” (Matt. 23:11), and when we look at His life, that’s exactly what we see. Jesus was the greatest servant ever.  

So when Paul is giving Timothy’s credentials, he says, “he served with me”.  

And not only did he serve, but he served “in the gospel”.  

That is another mark of maturity: Gospel-centeredness.  Because to be gospel-centered is to be eternity-focused.  And it takes great maturity to get our eyes off the temporal things around us and focus our energy and efforts on eternal things instead.

As a little detour: What is the gospel?  The gospel is the good news that you can have eternal salvation from sin by placing your trust in Jesus Christ’s death and resurrection.  

• 1 Corinthians 15:1–4 (ESV): 15 Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, 2 and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. 3 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures,

That is the centerpiece of the gospel message.  

When we teach people to share the gospel, we often use a helpful acrostic to help them remember key components.  I’ll paste a link to that acrostic at the bottom of the sermon document, and it is also on the homepage of our website.  

Anyway, for all of those reasons, Paul knew that Timothy was the one he wanted to send to these believers, both to encourage them and to bring back a report for Paul.  

23 I hope therefore to send him just as soon as I see how it will go with me, 24 and I trust in the Lord that shortly I myself will come also. 

Again, notice the posture of Paul here. “I hope… I trust…” There’s no ‘name-it-and-claim-it’. He doesn’t say, “I declare, in Jesus name, that I’ll be out of this prison in no time and standing among you…” 

He simply lays out his honest desires and surrenders to the Lord’s will. 

But here’s a question: how did he get this message to them in the first place?  How was he able to communicate with the Philippians to let them know he hoped to send Timothy?  They didn’t have phones or email.    

Verse 25 tells us… 

25 I have thought it necessary to send to you Epaphroditus my brother and fellow worker and fellow soldier, and your messenger and minister to my need, 

So in the meantime, Paul sent another guy: Epaphroditus, carrying this very letter that you and I are reading.  

And actually, it would be more accurate to say Paul was sending Epaphroditus back to the Philippians. Because in chapter 4, we are told that they had sent Epaphroditus to Paul to deliver gifts, probably in the form of financial aid.  

So it makes sense that when Paul wants to get a letter back to the Philippians, he sends Epaphroditus back with the letter. 

But again, Epaphroditus is more than just a messenger; he is himself a stellar example of humble servanthood. And Paul goes out of his way to point this out. 

But the relationship Paul had with Epaphroditus was slightly different that his relationship with Timothy. 

While Timothy was something of an apprentice, Epaphroditus was more of a co-laborer.  That’s the impression we get. 

Look at the words he uses to describe him: 

“Ephaproditus… my brother and fellow worker and fellow soldier…”

Notice how all of those relational terms convey a side-by-side relationship, not a top-down relationship. 

Let me just pause and say here: every believer needs a few Epaphroditus’ in their lives.

Yes, everyone needs a Paul in their lives… a mentor… someone who is ahead of you in the faith, who can advise you and speak into your life. 

Yes, everyone needs a Timothy… someone you are pouring into. Someone you are helping to follow Jesus. 

But equally, everyone needs an Epaphroditus. 

I’m talking about…  

• Brothers or sisters in the faith who we can confide in and trust.  Who we can simply refer to as ‘friends’.  Not as a superior or as an understudy… just a side-by-side friend.  

• ‘Fellow workers’, who are passionate about making disciples of Jesus just like we are. 

• ‘Fellow soldiers’, who are willing to stick by us in the battles we face.  

If you don’t have each of these categories of relationships in your life, pray and ask God to give it to you, and begin taking active steps.  One simple way to build these types of key relationships with other believers is to simply stick around after church and begin having conversations with people you could potentially see fulfilling those roles in your life. 

As we wrap up, we see more of Epaphroditus’ character described by Paul…  

26 for he has been longing for you all and has been distressed because you heard that he was ill. 

Is he an amazing friend or what?  He was more concerned about the Philippians being worried about him being sick than he was over his own sickness. 

And apparently this was no ‘common cold’… 

27 Indeed he was ill, near to death. 

We’re not told what was wrong with him, but whatever it was was threatening to take his life… yet he was concerned about his church back home.  He missed them. 

But God had mercy on him, and not only on him but on me also, lest I should have sorrow upon sorrow. 

Paul says, ‘I’m so glad he recovered, because his death would have been so incredibly sorrowful’.  

28 I am the more eager to send him, therefore, that you may rejoice at seeing him again, and that I may be less anxious. 29 So receive him in the Lord with all joy, and honor such men, 30 for he nearly died for the work of Christ, risking his life to complete what was lacking in your service to me.

Honor such men.  

That’s really what this section is about, isn’t it? 

What type of men and women do we honor in the church? 

What type of men and women are we elevating and striving to be like? 

According to Paul, it should be those who are humble and servant-hearted like Timothy and Epaphroditus.  We should honor and uphold the sort of character traits that make someone willing to go all in for Christ no matter what it costs them.  The sort of people who are looking not to their own interests, but to those of Jesus Christ.  

Specific examples from our church?