{"id":26738,"date":"2023-06-15T22:00:39","date_gmt":"2023-06-16T05:00:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/philippians_2_12-18-copy\/"},"modified":"2023-05-30T13:14:49","modified_gmt":"2023-05-30T20:14:49","slug":"philippians_2_19-30","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/philippians_2_19-30\/","title":{"rendered":"Thank God For Christ-Like Messengers"},"content":{"rendered":"

Philippians 2:19-30 \u00a0Click here for Bible Verses<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Hi GAMErs!<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s passage is Philippians 2:19-30.\u00a0 Let\u2019s go!<\/p>\n

A big theme in the book of\u00a0Philippians\u00a0is humbly putting others before yourself for Christ’s sake.<\/p>\n

In chapter 1 Paul talks about how he personally wished he could depart and go to heaven, but for the benefit of his church he is committed to staying.\u00a0 Paul was putting the interests of his church ahead of his own.<\/p>\n

In chapter\u00a02:1-18 Paul talks about how Jesus put our interests ahead of his own.\u00a0 Although he was in very nature God, he took on the nature of a servant and became obedient to death, even death on a cross.<\/p>\n

Now in these verses Paul cites two more men who exemplified this same attitude of humbly putting others before themselves.\u00a0 They are Timothy and Epaphroditus.<\/p>\n

Philippians 2:19-24 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n19\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you soon, that I also may be cheered when I receive news about you.
\n20\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0I have no one else like him, who takes a genuine interest in your welfare.
\n21\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0For everyone looks out for his own interests, not those of Jesus Christ.
\n22\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0But you know that Timothy has proved himself, because as a son with his father he has served with me in the work of the gospel.
\n23\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0I hope, therefore, to send him as soon as I see how things go with me.
\n24\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0And I am confident in the Lord that I myself will come soon.<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

On verses\u00a019-24: \u00a0Remember that in Paul’s time there was no Face Time, Skype, e-mail, social media, radio or even telephones.\u00a0 So the only way to send messages over long distances was to send letters with individuals who could be trusted to deliver those messages personally.\u00a0 Here Paul indicates his hope to send his disciple and son in the faith Timothy to his church in Philippi.\u00a0 That way Timothy could let the church in Philippi know how Paul is doing and also receive news from the church that he could bring back to Paul.<\/p>\n

In talking about Timothy, Paul commends him.\u00a0 He says that Timothy has “proved himself” (v22); in other words, Timothy has shown himself to be highly trustworthy and Christ-like.\u00a0 For while “everyone looks out for their own interests, not those of Jesus Christ” (v21), Paul commends Timothy by saying that “I have no one like him, who takes a genuine interest in your welfare” (v20). Paul compares his relationship with Timothy to that between a father and a son as they have served together (v22).<\/p>\n

What can we learn from this? \u00a0When Paul needed a responsible, trustworthy messenger to send a message about himself to the\u00a0<\/strong>Philippians<\/strong>, he sent his spiritual son Timothy.\u00a0 Similarly, when God needed a responsible, trustworthy messenger to send a message about Himself to us, God sent His Son Jesus Christ.<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0Now those of us who have received and believed that message have become messengers ourselves to those who have not heard or understood. \u00a0May we, like Timothy, be known as Christ-like, credible and trustworthy messengers of the One who sent us.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Philippians 2:25-30 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n25\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0But I think it is necessary to send back to you Epaphroditus, my brother, fellow worker and fellow soldier, who is also your messenger, whom you sent to take care of my needs.
\n26\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0For he longs for all of you and is distressed because you heard he was ill.
\n27\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Indeed he was ill, and almost died. But God had mercy on him, and not on him only but also on me, to spare me sorrow upon sorrow.
\n28\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Therefore I am all the more eager to send him, so that when you see him again you may be glad and I may have less anxiety.
\n29\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Welcome him in the Lord with great joy, and honor men like him,
\n30\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0because he almost died for the work of Christ, risking his life to make up for the help you could not give me.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 25-30: \u00a0Epaphroditus was sent by the church in Philippi to Rome to take care of Paul (v25) and to bring a financial gift from the church to Paul (see\u00a0Philippians\u00a04:18).\u00a0 However, during that time, Epaphroditus became deathly ill (v27).\u00a0 It was a tough and anxious time for everyone involved.\u00a0 Fortunately, Ephaphroditus recovered (v27b).\u00a0 Paul thought it best to send him back home to Philippi, “so that when you see him again you may be glad and I may have less anxiety” (v28).\u00a0 Paul tells his church in Philippi to honour men like Epaphroditus who almost died for the work of Christ, risking his life to help Paul (v29-30).<\/p>\n

What can we learn from this?\u00a0Honour those who risk and sacrifice themselves in Christ-like ways so that the church can move forward.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Father, just as Paul sent Timothy, just as the\u00a0<\/em>Philippians<\/em>\u00a0sent Epaphroditus, thank You for every person You have sent as a messenger of Your love to me.\u00a0 Thank You for their Christ-like words and actions and for all the ways they humbly put me before themselves, to show me what You are like.\u00a0 May I show them the honour and respect that they deserve (v29).\u00a0 May I too be a trustworthy, Christ-like messenger of You to those around me.\u00a0 In Jesus’ name, AMEN!<\/em><\/p>\n

Copyright \u00a9 2021 Justin Lim. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/section><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hi GAMErs!<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s passage is Philippians 2:19-30.\u00a0 Let\u2019s go!<\/p>\n

A big theme in the book of\u00a0Philippians\u00a0is humbly putting others before yourself for Christ’s sake.<\/p>\n

In chapter 1 Paul talks about how he personally wished he could depart and go to heaven, but for the benefit of his church he is committed to staying.\u00a0 Paul was putting the interests of his church ahead of his own.<\/p>\n

In chapter\u00a02:1-18 Paul talks about how Jesus put our interests ahead of his own.\u00a0 Although he was in very nature God, he took on the nature of a servant and became obedient to death, even death on a cross.<\/p>\n

Now in these verses Paul cites two more men who exemplified this same attitude of humbly putting others before themselves.\u00a0 They are Timothy and Epaphroditus.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":26740,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-26738","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gametime-sharing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26738","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26738"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26738\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26741,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26738\/revisions\/26741"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26740"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26738"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26738"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26738"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}