Who are some of your role models?
Think about it.
Who are some of your role models?
Now, obviously, children and teenagers,
they need good role models to show them what it means to be
what? A loving husband,
a loving wife.
A loving father or mother.
In this church, young people, teenagers, children,
they need to see and have good role models for what it means to be a
faithful and active Christian church member.
Outside, in this community,
our children, young people, they need to have good,
healthy role models to show them what it looks like to make a
positive contribution to the community.
But don't we as adults,
don't we need role models to help us prepare for the next stage of our
life?
That's before us.
At various stages, as adults, we need good role models.
You know, some of you may be in your 30s.
You may need to look for some good role models that show you,
I can survive the teenage years and keep my sanity.
Right?
Because sometimes you wonder.
Some of you may be in your 40s, maybe 50s.
You need some good, healthy role models to show you how to be the good in-law
or the helpful grandparent.
You know, I have seen good role models in this church for how to be concerned about
and take care of aging parents and a spouse that is going through declining health.
We need role models for how to be good old people.
I'm serious.
Ellen Brown back there, she is a great role model for how to be an old person.
She's old as the hills, but she's happy.
She's positive.
And if, I wouldn't be surprised she didn't stand up and give it back to me.
That's the kind of old person I want to be when I'm 110 like her.
Now, role models, I'm trying to, I'm serious now.
Role models are important throughout our lives if you just think about it this way.
And role models are important for us as Christians.
That's why Paul, we're going to be in Philippians chapter 2 beginning in verse 19.
Paul seems to interrupt his flow of thought about how to live a faithful Christian life
by pointing out some things about Timothy and Epaphroditus.
But what we're going to say this morning is it's not an interruption.
Paul is being intentional in pointing out two role models for all Christians
when it comes to living a faithful Christian life.
Now, Pastor Kent Hughes in his commentary on Philippians,
he clearly shows this is Paul's intention.
What we're going to read this morning is not an interruption.
It's not a change of subject.
It's a flow.
Hughes says this,
The Apostle Paul's brief references to Timothy and then Epaphroditus
here in Philippians are not casual,
but rather are meant to capture our attention
and top off Paul's train of thought
that began in chapter 1 verse 27,
Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ.
Now in verses 19 through 30,
Paul gives flesh and blood examples of the selfless conduct
to which he is calling the Philippian church.
Here are men who live lives worthy of the gospel.
Let's read about them.
We're in Philippians chapter 2 beginning in verse 19.
I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you soon
so that I too may be cheered by news of you.
For I have no one like him
who will be genuinely concerned for your welfare.
For they all seek their own interests,
not those of Jesus Christ.
But you know Timothy's proven worth.
How as a son with a father,
he has served with me in the gospel.
I hope therefore to send him just as soon
as I see how it will go with me.
And I trust in the Lord that shortly I myself will come also.
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.
For he has been longing for you all
and has been distressed because you heard that he was ill.
Indeed he was ill, near to death.
But God had mercy on him.
And not only on him but also on me,
lest I should have sorrow upon sorrow.
I am the more eager to send him therefore,
that you may rejoice at seeing him again
and that I may be less anxious.
So receive him and the Lord with all joy
and honor such men.
For he nearly died for the work of Christ,
risking his life to complete
what was lacking in your service.
Paul is explaining his plan.
As soon as I can, I'm gonna send Timothy to you.
But now I'm gonna send Epaphroditus.
Now what I want us to see is,
this is a lot more than him explaining travel plans.
He's holding these men up as role models
for every Christian who wants to live
a faithful Christian life.
I wanna emphasize, they are role models
for every Christian who desires
to live a faithful Christian life.
Let's look at some of the qualities
that they model for us.
First, faithful Christians genuinely care
about other people.
Timothy showed a genuine interest
in these Philippian Christians.
It says, for I have no one like him
who will be genuinely concerned
for your welfare.
Timothy was genuinely concerned
about what was going on in these people's lives
because he knew them.
He had been with Paul.
It's recorded in Acts chapter 16.
He had been with Paul when the church was started.
I mean, Timothy was there from the get-go.
He saw some of these people come to faith in Jesus.
He saw how they were growing.
He knew some of them by name.
He had a personal interest in them
and what was going on.
Well, Paul planned to send him back
and help them deal with some of the problems
we've been looking at.
The main thing, their lack of unity.
It's a good church.
They're not about to just implode and fall apart,
but there are some problems.
We've already looked at some.
We'll see more later.
But Paul had confidence in Timothy's ability to do that
because he cared about them.
You see, Paul is Timothy's mentor.
He's trained him well.
Timothy knows exactly what to do
to take care of the problem,
but more importantly,
Timothy knows how to work with people.
He knows how to deal with people in a positive way
to help them see the need
and want to cooperate with him.
When it comes to dealing with issues
that involve people in every realm of life,
it's not enough just to know what to do.
We need to know how to relate to people.
As the old saying goes,
people don't care how much you know
until they know how much you care.
And that applies to just about every kind of relationship
in this world.
You want to have a more healthy home?
Love one another.
Work on, develop,
develop having good, healthy relationships.
You know, sometimes at home,
you got to deal with some touchy situations.
Sometimes husbands and wives.
You got to talk about some things
that's going to make at least one of you uncomfortable.
And with those teenagers I was mentioning a while ago,
there's a lot of issues.
Children too.
But you know, it makes a difference
when Lisa points out some
one or two flaws from time to time
because I know that she really cares about me.
She's trying to help me, for example,
not make a fool of myself
and some of the things I might do in preaching.
So I listen to her.
You know, kids, teenagers,
most every one of you,
if not every one of you,
you have parents and grandparents
and people in your lives
who truly love you and care about you.
And when they correct you,
they point out some things.
It's not to make your life miserable.
It's to help you, believe it or not.
And so if we'll work on in our home,
our relationships,
having healthy relationships,
let people know that you live with,
that you really do love them.
It will help when it comes time
to say some hard things.
That applies across the board.
That applies here at church.
It applies to work.
Some of you who are young adults,
you know, just sort of getting started well
in your business,
in your profession,
out in the world.
You may think it's all about what you know
or who you know,
all about the nuts and bolts.
And certainly competence is a necessity.
But the way you treat people
will go a long way
in determining how successful you are.
You may be a genius at what you do,
but if you mistreat people,
if you act like a fool,
if you try to just run over people,
bulldoze people,
you're gonna fail.
And it may be that some people in this room,
maybe the lights come on.
It seems that everywhere you go in life,
you have trouble.
You have trouble getting along with people.
And to this point,
you may think to yourself,
it's those people.
It's him.
It's her.
If it happens over and over and over again,
it's you.
Relationships matter.
Relationships matter everywhere.
And Paul, the apostle,
who had real authority
and could tell them what to do,
because he was speaking the word of God,
he thought it was very important
to send Timothy for this reason.
He loved those people.
He took a genuine interest in those people,
which meant he would deal with them
in the most positive,
get the job done way possible.
One thing that prevents us
from being genuinely concerned about others
is that we're too genuinely concerned
about just us.
That's why Paul gave this command back
in chapter two, verses three and four.
Look at it.
He told this to the whole church.
Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit,
but in humility,
count others more significant than yourselves.
That each of you look not only to his own interests,
but also to the interests of others.
Paul doesn't say,
don't care,
don't take care of your own affairs.
No, we have responsibility.
It's part of our Christian responsibility
to be good managers of our lives,
our homes, everything.
We've got to look out for our own interests
as part of our Christian stewardship.
But not just our own interests.
Look at it.
Let each of you look not only to his own interests,
but also to the interests of others.
But here in verses 20 and 21,
I want you to see that Paul is saying something
that at least to me is very surprising.
Look at this.
For I have no one like him
who will be genuinely concerned for your welfare,
for they all seek their own interests,
not those of Jesus Christ.
Who is they all?
Who's Paul referring to?
Well, let's recall something we've learned
in a previous study
as we've been going through Philippians.
Paul is writing from Rome
where he is a prisoner awaiting trial before Caesar,
but he's under house arrest.
He's allowed to live in his own rented home,
and people are free to come and go
for him to teach,
for them to bring him food and other necessities.
You can read about that
at the very end of the book of Acts,
at the end of Acts chapter 28.
Paul also wrote letters
to the church at Ephesus and Colossae,
Ephesians and Colossians,
and the letter to the man Philemon
while he was imprisoned here in Rome.
Philippians, Ephesians, Colossians, and Philemon.
They're the four prison letters of Paul
that he wrote from Rome.
So, when Paul says,
he has no one like Timothy,
because they all seek their own interests,
he can only be referring to two groups of people.
First, he's talking about the leaders for sure,
and most likely other members of the church at Rome.
He's under house arrest.
People can come and go.
They do.
Who will be taking care of Paul in Rome?
The church at Rome.
Obviously.
Who else could it be?
Well, it may be he's referring to some of his associates.
He named some of them at the end of his letter to Philemon.
Look at this.
At the very end, Philemon is just one chapter,
so there's only verses.
He says,
Epaphras, that's not Epaphroditus.
Epaphras, my fellow prisoner in Christ Jesus,
sends greetings to you,
and so do Mark, the writer of the gospel,
Aristarchus, Demas, and Luke,
another writer of the gospel,
my fellow workers.
Now, Paul is in prison in Rome under house arrest
for two years or more,
it says in the book of Acts.
These individuals,
and there would be more,
they would have come and gone.
It says Aristarchus, or Epaphras,
is my fellow prisoner,
but most of them had the freedom to come and go.
We can automatically eliminate Mark and Luke
as being selfish,
so selfish he couldn't send them to Philippi,
because they were faithful to the end of Paul's life,
according to Paul's last letter.
Look at this.
It's in 2 Timothy 4.
Luke alone is with me.
Get Mark and bring him with you,
for he is very useful to me for ministry.
2 Timothy is his last letter.
He's in prison another time.
He's in a real dungeon-type prison this time.
He's awaiting execution.
He knows the end's here.
This is where he said,
I fought a good fight,
I finished the course,
I've kept the faith.
He knows he's gonna die.
And there with him at the very end is Luke,
and he wants Mark to come,
because he's useful to me.
But there's one of those guys,
that's listed at the end of Philemon,
who might have been one of the selfish ones
that Paul didn't have any confidence in.
His name was Demas.
He eventually quit on Paul.
Look at this.
Again, at the end of 2 Timothy.
For Demas, in love with this present world,
has deserted me and gone to Thessalonica.
Paul's at the end of his life.
He's needing friends.
He's wanting friends.
Luke's there with him.
He wants Mark to come.
And one of the guys that he trusted,
that he invested in,
that he thought was his friend, Demas,
he took off.
Deserted him.
Paul knew what it was like
to have somebody turn their,
to have someone just turn their back on him,
to betray him, to desert him.
Here's the point we need to understand.
Paul had no one to send to the Philippian church
except Timothy and Epaphroditus,
as we'll see in a moment,
because he knew that no one else cared about that church
enough to go and help them the right way.
And the only people Paul can be talking about
are Christians in the church at Rome
and some of his own personal assistants.
Now think about that.
Doesn't that really just show us
how hard it is
for most Christians,
most of us,
to overcome our self-centered ways?
It's just so ingrained in us.
I'm going to take care of me,
mine, mine.
It's just contrary to human nature
to take a genuine interest
in other people's welfare
and actually,
with compassion,
do something to help them.
How can we overcome such selfishness,
you and me?
Well, Paul tells us the first step,
it's in verse 21, look at this.
For they all seek their own interests,
not those of Jesus Christ.
Timothy was the self-giving person that he was
because he was more concerned about
pleasing the Lord
than pleasing himself.
As Timothy thought about,
you know,
why he was on earth,
what his purpose was,
he really wanted to know and do God's will
before
just doing his own will.
That's the key for us as well.
We will never take a genuine interest
in other people
until we first have a genuine interest
in our Lord Jesus Christ.
In the book of 1 John,
the fourth chapter,
John
makes several statements
to try to help us understand
that if we really love God,
we'll love God's people.
I want you to look at an example
in 1 John chapter 4,
verses 7 and 8.
I said John 1 on the screen is 4, okay.
Beloved,
let us love one another,
for love is from God.
And whoever loves has been born of God
and knows God.
Anyone who does not love
does not know God
because God is love.
John's helping us see that
a love for God,
a love for our Lord
is a prerequisite
for developing the kind of love
that will really help us
take an interest in
other people.
So let's think about it.
If you are,
let's just be,
and let's be honest,
you'll be honest with you.
If you're just basically
a selfish person,
and some people are,
you know it's not good,
but you're just basically
a selfish person.
If you know that,
and the truth is,
you don't have a whole lot
of concern
for the well-being
of other people.
And you're even less interested
in going out of your way
to serve other people.
If that's you,
selfish,
just not all that concerned about,
don't even notice people that much.
And you're really not going to go
too far out of your way
to help anyone.
Your greatest problems
in your personal relationship
with God
because if you really
had the relationship
with Him
where you loved Him,
you'd love other people.
That's what John is saying.
So if that describes you,
talk to God about it
if it bothers you.
If you know
there is sin in your life
that you need to confess
about that selfishness,
confess it.
Change your mind.
Draw close to the Lord
and renew your commitment
to Him
to follow,
to obey Him.
It might be that you need
to just ask God
to help you to
help you to see people more.
I don't mean
actually literally see them,
but the people in your home
that you live with,
people that you work with,
people you go to school with,
to notice
when something's not quite right.
You can see it in their face.
You can hear it in the tone
of their voice.
They're acting a little bit odd.
Notice,
care enough to inquire
what's going on.
Is there a problem?
And listen.
And if you can help them,
do it.
Even if it means
interrupting your plans,
inconveniencing yourself,
and as you think about this,
always the first place
to begin is in your home.
Learn to see
in your family members
needs.
Take an interest in them.
Forget yourself
and focus on
how can I meet
my spouse,
my child,
my parents'
need.
Faithful Christians
genuinely care
about other people.
Also,
faithful Christians
display proven character.
Faithful Christians
display consistent character.
Growing,
developing character.
Look at verse 22.
But you know
Timothy's proven worth,
how as a son
with a father
he has served
with me
in the gospel.
The emphasis here
is on how
Timothy
proved his worth
to Paul
over time
by the way
that he worked
with him
like a child
with his father.
Now,
as parents,
and for some
of us in here,
we've got to think
a long ways back,
but as parents,
with children
living at home,
sometimes we ask them
to help us
do some things.
Maybe to help us
work in the yard,
clean the house,
look after
a little brother
or sister.
If you're a child,
you tell them
to do that,
you ask them
to do that,
they fuss,
they gripe,
they complain
the whole time.
You get no joy
out of it,
do you?
You don't want to,
you don't only want
to work with them
like that,
you don't want
to be around them.
And boys and girls
and teenagers,
you may not
understand that,
but when you act
like a jerk,
your parents really
don't want
to be around you.
That's a fact.
Some of them
are too nice
to tell you that,
but I'm telling you
that,
that's how they feel.
It's true.
And if that's
how they are,
you certainly
are not proud
of them
for acting
that way.
In fact,
you'd be ashamed
for somebody
to come by
and see,
know how,
that they're
that selfish,
they're that lazy,
or they're
that disrespectful.
But if you
ask your child
to help you
with something,
and they work,
they're pleasant,
they got a good
attitude,
you get a lot
of joy out
of just being
around them.
And you're
proud of them.
You're proud
to say that
your son or daughter
helps you
this way,
and it just
means more
than you'll,
boys and girls,
teenagers,
it means more
than you'll ever
know.
Paul was
a proud
spiritual father
because of the
way Timothy
worked with him
and demonstrated
a real
Christ-like
attitude
as he went
about his work.
Now,
if we're all
honest,
we've got to admit
we've got a long
way to go
to develop
true Christ-like
character.
No Christian,
no Christian
in this world
arrives
at fully
mature
Christ-like
character
as long
as they're
alive.
We're all
in some
state of
process.
But you
know,
don't worry
about that.
Christ-like
character
is a
lifelong
process
for every
single
Christian
in this
world,
including
Timothy.
Timothy's
character
development,
it began
young.
Here's the
good thing,
it began
young.
Paul tells
us,
again in
2 Timothy,
first part
of the
first chapter,
that Timothy
had a
Christian
mother and
grandmother
who influenced
him.
Timothy
had a good
start to
life.
He grew
up in a
Christian
home.
Now,
it doesn't
say anything
about a
father or
grandfather,
but his
mother was
a Christian,
his grandmother
was a Christian,
and they had
great influence
on him.
They got him
started off
right.
Let's just
pause here
and say,
every Christian
parent and
grandparent in
this room,
we need to
take note of
how Timothy
got to where
he was by
having such
a good start
in life.
The most
important thing
we can do
for our
children or
grandchildren is
to teach and
model for
them what it
means to live a
faithful Christian
life.
Now,
I know as
parents and
grandparents,
there's a lot
of things we
need and want
to teach our
children,
and that's
true.
But there's
nothing more
important for
us as parents
and grandparents
to teach and
then to back
it up by the
way that we
live, how to
live as a
faithful Christian
in this world.
You know,
Timothy was like
us in that he
didn't always live
up to what he
knew.
Isn't that true
for you?
Do you live up
to all you know
to live as a
Christian?
Don't look at
me like, you
know, you
don't know.
You know.
You know a
whole lot more
than you're
living right now.
You and me,
everybody does.
And Timothy,
he didn't, he
wasn't always the
model guy.
He had to be
encouraged.
He had to be
prodded at times
by Paul.
We learned from
Paul's letters
that Timothy
needed to be
challenged,
encouraged,
because he had
a tendency to
be shy,
hesitant,
afraid even.
Look at this.
Here's a good
example of how
Timothy didn't live
up to everything
he knew to do
and he had to be
prodded.
Look at this.
For this reason,
I remind you to
fan and to flame
the gift of God
which is in you
through the laying
on of my hands.
If the flame was
always burning
brightly, he
wouldn't have been
told that.
For God gave
us a spirit
not of fear
but of power
and love
and control.
Sometimes he
didn't have that
so he needed
to hear that.
Therefore, do not
be ashamed of
the testimony
about our Lord
nor of me as
prisoner.
What did he do?
How had he
acted?
How had he
sort of cowed
down somewhere?
But share in
suffering for the
gospel by the
power of God.
Timothy was in
some ways
unique, but in
most ways he
was just like
us.
He had the
unique privilege
of learning
from the
apostle Paul.
What a
privilege.
But he was
like us in
that he had
to be involved
in the personal
spiritual disciplines
that God uses
to develop
Christlike character
in every Christian.
He had to pray.
He had to spend
time with God
in prayer.
He had to read
the scriptures
that he had
and listen to Paul
as he taught
what we call
the New Testament.
He had to worship.
He had to be
involved in
ministry.
He needed
fellowship with
other Christians.
If you're serious
about wanting
to grow,
to develop
true Christlike
character,
then cooperate
with God
as he works
in you,
giving you
the desired
ability to do
that.
Spend time
with him
every day
in prayer.
Talk to him.
Read his
word.
Listen to him.
Get involved
in the life
of our church.
Be involved
in worshiping
God and
participate.
Prepare
before you
come.
Put your
heart into
it.
Get to
know people.
Develop
relationships.
Experience
Christian
fellowship.
Get involved
in some kind
of ministry.
Use what
God's given
you to serve
other people.
Faithful
Christian
living or
faithful
Christians
display
growing,
overall
consistent,
proven character.
faithful
Christians
are willing
to
sacrificially
serve
in
ministry.
Epaphroditus,
he was
involved in
active service
to the Lord
and to Paul.
Look what it
says in verse
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.
He was a
messenger from the
Philippian church.
I mean,
he was from
Philippi.
He was saved,
grew up as a
Christian in that
church,
and they sent
him to Rome
with a gift of
money to meet
Paul's needs.
It talks about it
in chapter 4,
verse 18,
and then to stay
there and help
Paul in whatever
he needed help
doing.
Well,
he served
sacrificially almost
to the point of
death in doing
that.
Look at this,
verse 30.
For he nearly
died for the
work of Christ.
Somewhere along
the way,
he became sick.
He almost died.
But the way
Paul describes
this,
he didn't use
his sickness
as severe as
it was.
He didn't use
it as an
excuse to
quit.
Once he got
well,
he was back
at it.
And Paul was
going to send
him home and
carry this letter
to the Philippians
with him.
Paul also
holds Epaphroditus
Epaphroditus as
a model of a
faithful Christian
who deserves to
be honored.
Look at this.
So receive him
and the Lord
with all joy
and honor such
men.
If we were
looking to send
someone from our
church on a
mission trip
to deliver money
and supplies to
a certain
missionary somewhere
in South America,
say,
and we want you
to take the
stuff and we
want you to
stay there for
a week to 10
days because
these missionaries
we're sending you
to, they've got
a project that
they really need
your help and
it's going to
really take,
you know, you've
got to put your
whole heart, soul,
mind, energy into
it.
They really need
your help.
We've got a
missions development
council to try to
coordinate all this
kind of stuff.
If we got that
request and they're
in their meeting
and they're thinking
who could we send
would your name
come up?
Some of you,
your name would
come up because
you're a faithful
Christian and they
would automatically
think of you.
But if your name
wouldn't come up,
do you want it to?
I know some people
say, nope, I don't.
But for those of you
who would say,
I want it to.
What would you
have to change?
What needs to
happen in your
life for you to
start being the
faithful Christian
that would cause
people to think
you'd be the one
to represent our
church and serve
like that?
I want to close
by changing the
subject now.
What will be said
in your obituary
about the way you
lived as a
Christian?
When we die,
somebody,
probably somebody
in your family,
at least they're
going to help,
but when you die,
an obituary is
going to be
written.
Now, I want you
to understand
something.
It's none of my
business what kind
of obituary you
have.
If you've got the
money and it costs
over $5 per column
line in Greenville
News, if you want to
spend $10,000, but
two pages about your
entire life as an
obituary, good for
you.
I think your
family is dumb as
dirt to do
something like that,
but good for you.
But of all the
things they're going
to say about you,
here's my point.
What are they going
to say about how
you lived as a
Christian in this
world?
Here's how I and
the other members
of my family 100%
agreed.
here's how I
described my
mother's Christian
life in her
obituary.
I cut and pasted
it.
Dot was a member
of La France First
Baptist Church where
she had served as a
Sunday school teacher
and assistant
treasurer for many
years.
She demonstrated a
true servant's
spirit as she always
put others before
herself and tirelessly
sought to meet the
needs of her family
and others in the
community.
Dot had a special
gift of lovingly
and patiently
caring for several
members, several
family members over
the years who
suffered from
Alzheimer's.
People in her
church, people
around that
community, everybody
in my family, 100%
of the people who
knew her would read
that and would agree
to every word.
Everybody who knew
her knew she was a
sinful person like
everybody else.
She had her flaws,
don't misunderstand.
But she lived a
faithful Christian life.
And this is just how
we described it in her
obituary.
How do you want to be
described in your
obituary in terms of
the kind of Christian
life you lived?
Well, since you're
alive right now,
regardless of what's
happened in the past,
you can, from this
day forward, you can
finish well and have
a description of being
a faithful Christian put
in your obituary.
I want to encourage you
right now.
Do you think about how
you have and are
living as a Christian?
Ask God to either help
you continue to be
faithful or get more
serious about living a
faithful life.
Christian life.
Or if necessary, call
upon Jesus to save you
and ask him to help you
to start living a
Christian life.
But bottom line,
faithful Christian
living does involve
showing genuine concern
for other people,
demonstrating consistent
Christian character over
time, and serving the
Lord and other people in
in self-giving sacrificial
ministry.
Let's pray together.
Father, show us now how
we should respond so that
we can leave here knowing
that by your grace, we're
on the path of living as
faithful Christians.
Let's just, in an attitude
of prayer, listen to the
Lord and respond to him.