All right, we're in Philippians chapter two. I hope that you have discovered now that the book of Philippians is a very practical book. In fact, Paul is exhorting the Philippians and instructing them on how to live their Christian life. This instruction in Christian living actually began in chapter 1. Take a look back at Philippians chapter 1 and verse 27. And it says there, only let your conversation be as it becometh the gospel of Christ. That is, let your behavior be consistent with the gospel. Let your behavior be according to that high standard called the gospel of Christ. Now, it's interesting that if our behavior is to be lofty, matching the standards of the gospel, it must be lowly. In order to have high conduct, we must have lowly conduct. Now, most of you know, I play a little bit of golf or used to play more than I play now, but the game of golf is often thought of, Brother John, as a game of opposites. And if you want the ball to curve left, you must swing your club to the right. If you want the ball to go high, you must hit down on it. If you want the ball to go far, you relax your muscles rather than tighten your muscles. And to live a high Christian life, you must live a lowly Christian life. The disciples came to Jesus one day and they asked, who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven? And Jesus called a little child unto him and he set the child in the midst. And Jesus said, Verily I say unto you, except ye be converted and become as little children, you shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. Whoso therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven. On another occasion, Jesus was teaching and listened to what Jesus told his disciples. He said, But he that is greatest among you shall be your servant. And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased, and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted." That's Matthew 23, 11. So you see how living the Christian life is almost like a game of opposites. If you exalt yourself, you will be brought low. But if you humble yourself, you will be exalted. Now, in living our Christian life, especially in the church, We are not to demand our own way, so as to cause disputing and discord, but we are to strive together, Philippians says, in unity for the sake of the gospel. That was again in Philippians 1.27. Now, Just because we live a lowly Christian life does not mean that we live a spineless Christian life. There's quite a difference, especially when it comes to those who oppose Christ. When Satan lifts up his hand to hurt us, when the world draws its sword against us, we stand courageously. And it says in verse 28, chapter one, verse 28, in nothing terrified. by our adversaries, so we are ready to courageously suffer if need be for the cause of Christ. Now, the key word in the Christian life is humility. The Christian is not haughty, but humble. He is not selfish, but selfless. The Christian is not proud, peremptory or puffed up. But he is meek and mild and modest. I hope you notice that alliteration in all that. See how I'm learning to preach with alliteration. The Christian is not a tyrant, but a servant. He is not domineering, but submissive. The Christian does not have the mind of Satan, which said, I will be lifted up. But he has the mind of Christ, which said, I will be made low. You will not find the Christian bitterly murmuring against God, as we saw a couple of weeks ago, but you will find the Christian rejoicing in the providence of God in his life. At home, in his employment, and in his church, the Christian will do all things without murmurings and disputings, in Philippians 1.14. Also, the world walks a crooked and perverse path, in Philippians 1.15, but the way of the Christian is straight and pure. The world stumbles around in darkness, but the Christian stands as a light in a dark world. But now this morning, I want you to see from our text that a Christian also offers himself up as a sacrifice unto God. Now, whatever we are as Christians, we are ultimately sacrifices unto God. Our lives are not our own, but they belong to him, and he will do with us as he pleases. Now, before we consider our text this morning, I want to refer you to a verse in Romans chapter 12 and verse 1. Most of you probably know this by heart once you glance at it. But Romans 12 verse 1 says, I beseech you, therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living, what? Sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service or worship. But notice what Paul says back in our text now in Philippians chapter 2 and verse 17. He says, Yea, and if I be offered upon the sacrifice and service of your faith, I joy and rejoice with you all. Now, this statement by Paul is a little confusing to us who are far removed from the Jewish ceremonies and the Jewish economy, but under the Mosaic law, the Jews were required to offer up animal sacrifices daily in the temple. And they would bring their lambs, you remember, and their goats and other animals, and they would slaughter them and they would lay the carcasses on the altar. And this was their sacrifice unto God. All of this was a picture, of course, of the pouring out of the blood of Christ, who was the true Lamb of God. But not only did they burn the lamb on the altar, but they also brought what they called a drink offering, and they brought wine and poured out the wine over the carcass on the altar, and then the body of the animal and the wine which was poured out was burned up as a pleasing sacrifice unto God. Now when we come to verse 17 of our text, chapter 2 verse 17, Paul refers to two sacrifices that are figuratively laid on the altar. Now the first sacrifice that is laid on the altar is the sacrifice of the Philippian Christians. It says, Yea, and if I be offered upon the sacrifice and service of your faith, you see. So you see that the Philippian Christians are here pictured as a sacrifice laid upon the altar of God. The Philippian Christians have adopted the Christian faith and this Christian faith may be characterized as service and sacrifice. So he refers to the sacrifice and service of your faith. Now, when we take up the Christian faith, we not only volunteer for service unto God, but we also volunteer to climb up on the altar of sacrifice. If need be, we shall be burnt on the altar. Many Christians, through the centuries, have laid down on the altar of sacrifice. Missionaries give up the comforts of home and move to places like India and Thailand, Brother Camp, and they climb up on the altar of sacrifice. Christians have been beheaded and burned at the stake and crucified for their faith. And no doubt, the Philippian Christians in our text were also suffering persecution for Christ. And so Paul refers to their sacrifice and service. But there is another sacrifice pictured in verse 17, and that other sacrifice is Paul himself. Paul says, if I be offered upon the sacrifice and service of your faith, In other words, if I be offered on top of your sacrifice. So Paul says you are being offered as a sacrifice unto God, and if I be offered on top of your sacrifice, then I rejoice. Now, the word offered here means to be poured out as a drink offering. So Paul pictures the Philippians as being a sacrifice laid upon the altar, ready to be burned, and himself, perhaps, as the drink offering, to be poured out over the sacrifice, and then to be also burned up as a sweet savor unto God. My, my. When we adopt the Christian way of life, we offer ourselves as a sacrifice unto God. Now, how different this is from the perspective that most have of the Christian life. Most take on the Christian life thinking that God will now serve them, you see. But Paul says when you become a Christian, you offer yourselves as a sacrifice unto him. Many say that Christianity means health and wealth, when in fact it may mean sickness and poverty for Christ. But whatever sacrifice he calls on us to make for him, it is great joy to do so. Paul says, I joy and rejoice with you all. You see, they're all laid on the sacrifice, on the altar as a sacrifice. And Paul says, I joy and rejoice with you all. For this cause also do you joy and rejoice with me. Well, you see how Philippians is teaching us so much about Christian living and how God's way of living is the opposite of what we thought. God's kingdom operates by a different set of principles, and it is our duty to let our conversation be as it becometh the gospel of Christ. Well, now that Paul has told us some of the great principles of Christian living, he is now going to give us two personal examples of Christian living. He's going to tell us about Timothy, and then he is going to tell us about Epaphroditus. So first we have in our text the example of Timothy, and it says in Philippians 2.19, But I trust in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy shortly unto you. Now, the first time that we hear of Timothy in the scriptures is in Acts chapter 16, verses one through three. Why don't you go ahead and turn there? And this was the occasion when Paul had embarked on his second missionary journey. Now, you might remember on his first missionary journey, who is the young man that Paul took with him, took a young man by the name of John Mark, John Mark, and John Mark was his helper. But in the middle of that work, John Mark, for whatever reason, went home and Paul was not happy with him for leaving the work. So when it came time for Paul and Barnabas to head out again to revisit the churches, Barnabas wanted to take John Mark, you remember? But Paul did not think it was a good idea to take John Mark again. So Barnabas and Paul split up and went their separate ways. Now, Paul took Silas with him that time, but when Paul and Silas came to Derbe and Lystra, He met another young man by the name of Timothy. Let's take a look at this, Acts 16, verses 1 through 3. It says, Then he came to Derbe and Lystra, and behold, a certain disciple was there named Timothy. The Greek, of course, is Timotheus. I'm going to call him Timothy. That's the way we know him. The son of a certain woman, which was a Jewess and believed, but his father was a Greek. which was well reported of by the brethren that were at Lystra and Iconium him Paul would have go forth with him and took and circumcised him because of the Jews which were in those quarters for they knew all that his father they knew all that his father was a Greek now we're gonna learn several things here about Timothy in these three verses first we learned that Timothy apparently lived in or around Derby and Lystra, or at least we suppose he did. And we also note in that text there that he was a disciple. That is, he was a disciple of Christ. He was learning of Christ day by day. That's what a disciple is. A disciple is a learner, one who follows Christ and learns of him. So Timothy apparently was learning day by day and following Christ. His name was, in the Greek, Timotheos. Now, everybody knows what theos means in the Greek, right? It means theos, God. And teneo means honoring. So Timothy's name, Timotheos, in the Greek, meant honoring God. He had a nice background. His mother was a believer, and in fact we learn from 1 Timothy chapter 1 in verse 5 that both his mother Eunice and his grandmother Lois were women, it says, of unfeigned faith. In other words, sincere faith, sincere piety. We also find from Acts 16 that Timothy was well reported of, it says, by the brethren. That's in chapter 16, verse 2. Whenever Paul would meet with the churches, the people would tell Paul good things about Timothy. So apparently the church saw the call of God upon Timothy and they reported this to Paul. Now, Timothy's mother, you might remember, was a Jew and his father was a Greek and Timothy was uncircumcised. So he followed his father's footsteps and was not circumcised, and Paul took Timothy and had him circumcised. Now what is interesting about that is that Paul did this in Acts chapter 16. Now you say, what is so remarkable about that? Well, in Acts chapter 15 Paul had just convinced the other apostles at the Jerusalem Council that circumcision should not be required of Gentiles for salvation. And then in Acts chapter 16 Paul had Timothy circumcised. You see circumcision was a matter of liberty. You could be circumcised or not. It had nothing to do with salvation. All that was determined in Acts chapter 15. They were not required to circumcise the Gentiles. But Paul didn't want the controversy. Paul didn't want the Jews rejecting Timothy because he wasn't circumcised. Now circumcision did not make Timothy acceptable to God, did it? But it made him acceptable to the Jews, and this was consistent with Paul's philosophy of ministry. In 1 Corinthians 9, verses 19 through 23, listen to what Paul says there. He says, For though I be free from all men, in other words, I don't have to do what they say, yet have I made myself servant unto all that I might gain the more. And unto the Jews, I became a Jew. In other words, I did all the things that the Jews wanted me to do, that I might gain the Jews to them that are under the law as under the law, that I might gain them that are under the law. But look next, it says to them that are without law as without law. Being not without law to God, but under the law of Christ, that I might gain them that are without law to the weak, I became as what? Weak, perhaps that's referring to eating things that are no longer forbidden. Those that are weak felt that they could eat certain things and couldn't eat others. And Paul says, to the weak became I as weak that I might gain the weak. I am made all things to all men that I might by all means save some. And this I do for the gospel's sake. Now, missionaries do this all the time. They adopt the culture of those to whom they wish to preach the gospel. Missionaries move in with them, they eat the same foods, they wear the same clothing, they undergo the same inconveniences in order to win them to Christ. So what we learn about Timothy here is that he was willing to be circumcised for the gospel's sake. Now, Timothy had the freedom to remain uncircumcised, but he laid down his freedom for the furtherance of the gospel. Now, when we come back to our text here in Philippians, Paul tells us more about Timothy, you have to remember that Paul is under house arrest in Rome and he wants to send someone to Philippi to see how his converts there are doing. So let's see what we can learn about Timothy from our text. We learn, first of all, in Philippians 2, 19, I believe it's Philippians 2, 19. Yes, that Paul believed it was God's will to send Timothy to Philippi. Take a look at Philippians 2, 19. Paul says, But I trust in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy shortly unto you. Now, from that, you sort of gather that Paul has learned that great doctrine of not my will, but thine be done. Remember how Paul intended to kill Christians, but then God struck him down and said, no, love them. Paul intended to go to Asia, but then God gave him a vision to go into Macedonia. So Paul cautiously says, I trust in the Lord Jesus. to send Timothy shortly unto you. Now, this reminds me that we also should qualify everything by the will of God. And Miss Grace is a good example of that. She often says to me, I will see you next Sunday, Lord willing, Lord willing. And I think that's what Paul is saying here when he says, but I trust in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy shortly unto you. Secondly, we learned that Timothy was the only one whom Paul trusted for the work. Look at verse 20. Paul says, For I have no man like minded who will naturally care for your sake. That is. I care deeply for you there at Philippi, but I can find no other man with the same care and concern except for Timothy. And that's a strange statement, isn't it? Surely there were many good men whom Paul knew in the churches of Asia Minor and undoubtedly some good preachers. But apparently there were no great men like Timothy. Now, there are many preachers, preachers are a dime a dozen, aren't they, Brother Camp? There is a preacher on every corner. But is there a preacher that preaches the word of God and also cares for your soul? Such a man is a rare man, and Paul could only find one such man, and his name was Timothy. And I want you to notice here also that Timothy was a man who naturally cared for their state. Do you see that in the text? There was a sincerity about Timothy. His ministry was not pretense, but it was real. Timothy was a man with a tender heart. His care and concern came naturally to him, it says. God made him that way and he was so disposed to love and care for the people of God. Note here that it is best when God has naturally disposed us to our ministry. It is God who equips us and makes us suitable for his works. And when we consider a man for the work of the gospel ministry, we consider those gifts and natural dispositions which God has been pleased to give him. And it seems that God had given Timothy a natural, it says, a natural disposition for loving and caring for the people and for ministering to them. What is remarkable to me here is how rare a thing it is to find a man who is so well suited naturally for the ministry. It makes him a very remarkable man and it distinguishes him from the others. And you will notice here that Paul could find no other man except Timothy who would naturally care for their state. But we find in our text that the thing that really distinguished Timothy was that Timothy did not seek his own interest. But rather, he sought the interest of Christ. Look at verse 21. It says, for all seek their own, not the things which are Jesus Christ. Now, when Paul says all seek their own, surely there were some other men who also served Jesus Christ. So this is a general all. It means this is the general principle. Surely there were some good ministers, there were some who sought the things of Christ, but compared with those preachers who sought their own interest, good preachers were very rare. And it seems that there were none who compared to Timothy in this grace. Now we learn from this that it is a very great sin to prefer our own interest over the interest of Christ. Our way is not to be preferred, but His way is to be preferred. His things are to be preferred over our things. Now, many today prefer their own ease and their own comfort over truth and over holiness and over duty. And it is true of many Christians, and it is true of many preachers. But also note of Timothy. that Timothy learned the gospel under Paul as a son to a father. Do you see that in verse 22? It says, But ye know the proof of him that as a son with the father he hath served with me in the gospel. Now, back in those days, it was almost a sure thing that the son would learn the trade of the father. But let me just ask a question here this morning, you men. How many of you men are practicing the trade of your father? Not one person. It's not quite true in our culture like it was then. I suppose there are too many options today, especially here where we live. But back in those days, it was almost a sure thing that the son would do the same employment as the father. If the father was a fisherman, then the son would learn from the father and the son would be a fisherman. Even Jesus learned carpentry under Joseph. And it seems that Timothy learned the gospel ministry almost as a son to Paul. Timothy met Paul just before Paul went to Philippi for the first time. And so probably Timothy was with Paul in Philippi when Paul made converts down by the riverside. You remember who Paul met at the riverside? What was her name? Lydia. When Lydia was converted, it is likely that Timothy was there, or at least close by. When Paul and Silas were beaten and thrown into prison, it is likely that Timothy was observing on the sidelines. And Timothy learned the gospel ministry at the feet of Paul as a son, it says, would learn from his father. But also note that Timothy kept himself available to Paul for the gospel ministry. It says in verse 23, him therefore I hope to send presently. Now it seems that Timothy was available for service. He was on call. Now, you know, sometimes a doctor is on call, isn't he? The doctor goes to bed at night, but he leaves his phone on the night table just in case he is needed in the middle of the night. And apparently Timothy was on call He waited on the call of Paul and he was ready to go if Paul said to go. It seems that Timothy was not otherwise employed. He was not entrenched in other matters that would make him unavailable for the gospel ministry. And this would teach us that if we hope to be in the gospel ministry, it is good to be unencumbered. If God says go there, it is good not to be tied down here. And Timothy was available to go to Philippi, it appears, at Paul's request. Now, notice that Paul said, I hope to send Timothy presently in verse 23. Now, Paul didn't say, I hope Timothy will be available. I sure hope Timothy will agree to go. I hope Timothy is not otherwise engaged, but rather Paul knew that Timothy would go on his command. The only contingency seemed to be Paul's circumstances. Timothy stood on ready and Paul said, let's see what happens to me. Let's see how it will go with me, and then I will send Timothy to you if they execute me. Remember, Paul is in Rome in prison. If they execute me, then Timothy will come to you. And if they let me go, then both Timothy and I will come to you. Notice how Timothy placed himself at Paul's disposal as a son to a father. Timothy told Paul, I will go where and when you tell me to go. Do you see how Timothy is a wonderful example of a Christian and a Christian minister at that he esteems others better than himself? He is not thinking of his own things, but of the things of others. He has put his life on hold. for the gospel of Christ. See how he put himself on the altar of sacrifice for Christ. But then we come to the second example of gospel living and Paul refers us to a man by the name of, can anyone pronounce it? Epaphroditus. So we have the example of Epaphroditus and the first thing I want you to notice about him is that Epaphroditus was an apostle, it says, of the Philippian church. Now, let's read it. Philippians 225. Yet I supposed it necessary to send to you Epaphroditus, my brother and companion in labor and fellow soldier, but your messenger. Now, Epaphroditus was a member of the Philippian church. And then they sent him on a mission. They sent him to Paul with gifts and with money for Paul's support. And so Paul refers to Epaphroditus as their messenger. The word is actually apostolos, which means a sent one. Now, Epaphroditus was not an apostle in the same official sense that Paul was an apostle, but he was a general apostle in the sense that he was sent out by the church on a mission. But also notice about Epaphroditus that he had a very lovely name. Has anyone ever paid attention to Epaphroditus' name? It's Epaphroditus. Now you should be recognizing a name there. Anybody ever heard of Aphrodite? Epaphroditus is sort of a related to that name Aphrodite. It was a common name at the time, and it came from the root Aphrodite. Aphrodite, of course, was the Greek goddess, and the name means lovely and charming. And when you put Ep on the front of Aphrodite, you have Epaphroditus. Or in this case, well, Epaphroditus, yes. And when applied to a man, it means handsome and charming. And it certainly appears that Epaphroditus was such a man, certainly in character. He was very lovely. But notice that Epaphroditus was a minister to Paul. Now, when the church at Philippi sent him out with gifts for Paul, Epaphroditus was sent as a minister to Paul. And that is how the word is translated. This is the word liturgos, liturgos in the Greek. It means a little bit more than just a servant. It means a public servant. So Epaphroditus was sent on behalf of the church to minister to Paul while he was imprisoned in Rome. So Epaphroditus went on behalf of the whole church. Now, I want you to notice the affection which Paul had toward Epaphroditus. Epaphroditus, it says, was Paul's brother and his companion in labor and fellow soldier. Apparently, Epaphroditus became more to Paul than just a bearer of gifts. Epaphroditus didn't just drop off the gifts and wave goodbye to Paul. Rather, he stayed to attend to Paul in whatever way he could. But more than that, he labored with Paul. Whatever work Paul could do, Epaphroditus assisted him in it and he engaged in the work. And even more than that, Epaphroditus became a fellow soldier. He took up the battle, he picked up the sword and went to war with Paul. I'm going to hurry on here. We learn more about Epaphroditus. Epaphroditus became sick while he was attending Paul and while he was laboring with him and while he was fighting the gospel fight. It says in verse 27, for indeed he was sick near unto death. Now, let me say here that sickness is a calamity that is common to man. It comes on good men and it comes on evil men. It even comes on those who are serving in the ministry, doesn't it, Brother Camp? We might ask the question, why didn't the Apostle Paul heal Epaphroditus? The Apostle Paul healed others. Why didn't he heal Epaphroditus? You might remember that occasion where Paul was preaching along late into the night and a young man fell out of the third story window. And they found him dead, apparently, on the ground below. And Paul bent over him and he was raised to life again and healed, apparently, on the spot. But Paul did not heal Epaphroditus. The miracles of Paul were for the confirmation of the gospel. Everyone understands that miracles in the Bible were not just for the miracle itself, but it had a purpose behind them, and it was to confirm the message, you see. And they were never used for his own benefit. They were never used at his own discretion, but always at the discretion of God. Paul had no independent authority to heal anyone. The healer was not Paul, but the healer was always God. And if anyone is healed, it is by the hand of God and not by the hand of Paul or any other man. Notice that Epaphroditus was ultimately healed, but he was healed by the mercy of God and not by the power of Paul. Let me hurry on here. Epaphroditus had great care for the church at Philippi. Look at Philippians 2.26. For he longed after you all and was full of heaviness because that ye had heard that he had been sick. I want you to see how Epaphroditus, when he was sick, he was full of heaviness because they heard he was sick. Does everyone see that? Epaphroditus would have preferred that the church not be troubled and sorrowed about his sickness. His heart was heavy because their hearts were heavy. Epaphroditus could have moaned and groaned about his own troubles, but instead he was worried about the troubles of others in the church. Now, when you find a man who is consumed with his own troubles, who magnifies his own illnesses, who cannot get outside his own hurts and difficulties, then you found a man who cannot minister to others. Epaphroditus was not such a man. I'm almost to the end here. Epaphroditus was a last, I think lastly, yes, lastly, was on his way back to the church at the time of the writing of this epistle. Epaphroditus was a true servant. He went where he was sent. Now the church sent him to Rome, so he went. Then Paul sent him back to Philippi, and so Epaphroditus went back. It seems that his life was not his own. Rather, it belonged to God to be used as necessary. Our text says that Epaphroditus did not regard his life. Do you see that in chapter 2 and verse 30? Epaphroditus did not regard his life. Isn't this the message of Philippians? Let your conversation be as it becometh the gospel of Christ. Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus. In lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than themselves. Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others. Do all things without murmurings and disputings. See how Epaphroditus is a good example of Paul's instructions to the Philippians. Now, lastly, and this will take one minute, Epaphroditus was to be held in high esteem by the church. Take a look. It says, Receive him. Therefore, this is in verse. Twenty nine, receive him, therefore, in the Lord with all gladness and hold such in one reputation. Those who are servants of the Church are to be held high the same. Those who make themselves low are to be held high, and Paul encouraged the Church to highly regard the servant Epaphroditus.