Philippians 2:19-30

Tonight we'll be teaching on this text, and it's an interesting text for a lot of reasons, because it's more narrative than some mysterious meaning.

! We look at this text and there's so much going on there, but it's not like chapters 1-2 up to verse 18.

It's really more narrative than some esoteric theology, where we're looking for, well, what does this mean?

And it's pretty clear. You can read it.

And what he says is that he hopes to see the Philippians soon, and that he's going to send Timothy and Epaproditus to him.

So, we can read that, and pretty much that's what it's saying.

And it's interesting because the last time I taught, I taught on something that was kind of similar to it, where it was really just straightforward.

This is what the Bible says. It's not like we really have to do some cross-references and look all over Scripture to see what this means.

And so, I think because of that, maybe I'm prone to believe that God is trying to teach me something, that I make these really short and simple and sweet texts.

I pass over them a lot of the times.

And I really like the bigger ones that you have to look all over and understand, well, what does this text mean?

I think that's kind of what the Lord's trying to teach me, is that I enjoy these big theoretical texts, but when it comes to very straightforward Scripture that you don't really get around, because you can't really interpret it five different ways.

It means what it means. Don't grumble. You can't interpret that.

Well, I think Paul might be saying when it comes to when you're in the church, don't grumble, but when you're outside, it's okay, or whatever.

Like, it's not like that. It's just very straightforward.

And so, this is the second time.

So, I get this text, and I'm wondering what God's trying to teach me.

And it's not wrong for us to search for these bigger texts and to like these texts that have a lot going on there.

It's not wrong, because it's good.

We're actually commanded to search the text for deeper meanings.

There's so much going on in Scripture, and we're commanded to look into it.

But it is wrong if we start putting the scale, or we start saying,

okay, well, these are the more, like, bigger texts, like 27 through 30 of chapter 1,

but then these verses in 14 through 18 aren't that important, because it's straightforward.

But, kind of in, like, Christian circles, we tend to do that.

We easily kind of put a balance and a scale and see, well, this text means more,

because we can really examine it more.

And the reason why this is so hard is because it's like simple texts reminding people that it should be really above these texts,

that we should have these down, that these are basic Christianity points.

We should have these points down.

And it should be something that we're still trying to cover,

but the truth is that we still all struggle with being humble.

We all still struggle with not grumbling.

And for someone to say, well, you're not really giving those texts enough attention that they need,

it's kind of like reminding a college student about the golden rule,

which is something that you learn when you're in preschool.

And it's kind of humbling.

It's like, well, I know not to put others before myself, but I learned that in preschool,

so why are you reminding me of that now?

And so we have pride.

And the truth is that our pride hates being reminded that we so oftentimes neglect the small,

simple things that we're commanded to.

And so kind of the best way that I can illustrate this in my own life is that

if you've ever learned a really, really simple, basic truth to Christianity later on in your life

and you realize that you probably should have known that a long time ago,

for me that was, I don't think it was until a year ago that I understood that

the reasoning why Jesus needs to be born of a virgin.

I just didn't understand that.

I always just kind of accepted it.

I was like, okay, yeah, Jesus is born of a virgin,

and that's the way things are.

And then when I realized, oh, he needs to be born of a virgin so that he's completely pure and free from sin.

And then I realized, well, I can't let anyone know that I just figured that out

because then they won't think that I'm some like theologically solid rock who knows everything.

Like I can't do that.

I just have to play it off cool.

And yeah, I knew that the whole time.

So the thing is that there are a lot of things that we pass over in Scripture.

So we read this, and I think our natural kind of, if you were to read this in your own time,

if you were to read this on your own, and we read this, we're kind of going to read this and keep going.

It's not like you're going to spend 30 minutes just looking at this text and trying to understand,

well, what does it mean?

How does it apply to my life?

And so on.

We're probably going to move on to chapter three.

But the thing is that we move, we tend to pass over things consciously or subconsciously.

And there's a lot of examples that we can go into this.

And so that's where we're going to kind of go tonight.

Really, I can give a couple examples of these that are going to be kind of tough.

But we neglect the simple things that either Jesus says or Paul says or someone says that we're just not being faithful to.

I'm going to list off three.

It is better to give than it is to receive.

That's something that's very basic, can't get around it, and it means what it means.

But so many of us have such a hard time grasping that truth and really living it out in our lives.

It almost seems like we like to take these truths and we know them,

but then keep going and learn the more complex things.

Another thing would be love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.

And that's something that we know is true.

We know it's true because it's a very simple, straightforward text.

But how often do we live that out in our lives?

If someone hates you where you're at right now, we're definitely probably not going to turn around and love that person.

Someone that might be making fun of us or whatever.

It's just that's a simple truth and somehow we pass over that because it's not necessarily deep.

Another one, and I think this one's really timely, is 1 Timothy 2, verse 1 through 2.

1 Timothy 2:1–2

You don't have to turn there, but he says,

Real talk.

we cannot, for most of the people,

if you're in the South, most of the people

cannot stand the recently re-elected

president.

And if you don't believe me, then you should

have been on Facebook the day after the election

day.

So much of it blew up.

There's not a single

status that wasn't about that.

People are so frustrated, and if you grew up in a Christian

home, probably your parents still

kind of were on that same side of

definitely not, at least, I'm not

going to say as far as how much we may go into it, but

we definitely don't pray and intercede

for President Obama.

I can't remember the last time that I was

in my house, and my parents

and my family were like, well, let's pray for President

Obama. We really need to pray and

intercede for him. It's a simple

thing like that. That is so simple,

but somehow we make it this very, very

complex thing.

And unfortunately, a lot

of those comments were from a lot of Christians,

from a lot of people who would say they're Christians.

And so we're looking

no different from the world in that.

So why do we do that?

The truth is that pride has caused us

to blatantly pass over

simple truth that's in God's Word.

And God's Word, as much

as we love it,

and as much as we say we love it, is

so inconvenient to our lives.

It is really tough

for us to follow. We deal with these inconvenient

texts like pray for, like honor

the emperor in 1 Peter, or

pray for kings, make intercessions

for them.

And we make it this very

complicated theoretical,

theological

truth. They're like, okay, well, this is what he meant

in this context, and we really need to probably look at the

Greek root of that and understand, well,

what's Paul actually talking about here?

And it's very straightforward.

Paul is saying, you need to make

intercessions and pray for the king.

And our king in this country is

at least President Obama.

And so we kind of, what we do is we kind of

insulate ourselves from these

tough truths like loving your neighbor,

or loving your neighbor, loving your enemies,

praying for kings, praying for

Obama, and we turn into this complex

theoretical jargon, and we

insulate ourselves by that so we don't have

to follow that truth out.

And so

it's a phenomenon, actually, that

was very common in Jesus' time.

The best example that I can give from this

is Luke 10, 25

through 37. So

if you want to turn there, we're not going to read all of it,

but just so you can get kind of equated with the

story, what's going on here.

So

in Luke 10,

Jesus is

talking to his disciples,

and then someone walks up,

and this lawyer walks up to him

and asks him, he says,

what must I do

to

wait, sorry, let me turn to it, actually, I'm going to kind of look at my notes.

Okay, so he says,

what is written, he says,

what shall I do to inherit eternal life?

And so we know the story, Jesus says,

what is written in the law, how do you read it?

And so he says,

you know, I should love my neighbor,

I should love the Lord my God with all my heart, soul, and mind.

And Jesus says, you've judged correctly.

And so

I'm going to give a little excerpt from Martin Luther King Jr.

He wrote this in one of his books called Strength to Love.

He kind of wrote about this,

and he called this phenomenon of where we

overanalyze something, and we don't act on it.

He called this

the paralysis of analysis.

So

we know the story,

we know that

this lawyer is talking to Jesus,

and he says,

teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?

So Martin Luther King Jr. picks up right here,

he says,

the ethical concern of this man

is expressed in a magnificent little story

which begins with a theological discussion

on the meaning of eternal life

and concludes in a concrete expression

of compassion on a dangerous road.

Jesus is asked a question by a man

who had been trained in the details of Jewish law.

Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?

The retort is prompt.

What is written in the law?

How readest thou?

After a moment,

the lawyer recites articulately,

thou shalt love the Lord thy God

with all thy heart

and with all thy soul

and with all thy strength

and with all thy mind

and thy neighbor as thyself.

Then comes the decisive word from Jesus,

thou hast answered right.

This do and thou shalt live.

Desiring to justify himself

and to show that Jesus' reply

was far from conclusive,

the lawyer asked,

and who is my neighbor?

The lawyer was now taking up

the cudgels of debate

that might have turned the conversation

into an abstract theological discussion.

But Jesus, determined not to be caught

in the paralysis of analysis,

pulls the question from midair

and places it on a dangerous curve

between Jerusalem and Jericho.

He told the story of a certain man

who went down from Jerusalem to Jericho

and fell among robbers

who stripped him,

beat him,

and departing him,

left him half dead.

By chance,

a certain priest appeared,

but he passed by on the other side.

And after that,

a Levite also passed by.

Finally,

a certain Samaritan,

a half-breed

from a people

with whom the Jews

had no dealings,

appeared.

When he saw the wounded man,

he was moved with compassion,

administered first aid,

and placed him on his breast

and brought him to an inn

and took care of him.

Who is my neighbor?

I do not know this man,

says Jesus in essence.

He is anyone to harm you

or neighborly.

He is anyone who lies in need

at life's roadside.

He is neither Jew nor Gentile.

He is neither Russian nor American.

He is neither Negro nor white.

He is a certain man,

any needy man,

one of the most numerous

Jericho roads of life.

So Jesus defines a neighbor,

not in theological definition,

but in a life situation.

So,

that's the most amazing thing

about Jesus,

is you have this lawyer

who's trying to trap Jesus

and just talking about

theology for a second.

Well,

let's just talk about,

you know,

Jesus,

what do I need to do

to inherit eternal life?

He's like,

you know,

I've done those things,

what else?

And Jesus doesn't allow him

to get away by asking the question,

who is my neighbor?

He doesn't allow it

because he knows

this lawyer is trying to

insulate himself

from action.

And the unfortunate thing

is that

we're kind of in the same place

as that lawyer.

This lawyer kind of wants

this new revelation from Jesus.

Yes,

he's trying to test him,

but he also wants

a new revelation from him.

Who is my neighbor?

Tell me something

I don't know right now.

And Jesus doesn't let him do that.

And the thing is that

we want that new revelation

all the time.

We want to know what's next.

We want to learn more

and it's good

and that's great.

We want to learn more

about the Bible.

But the truth is

is that

what we don't want to learn

is we don't want to be faithful

to the things

that we already know.

We want to learn something new

from a pastor,

a book,

a sermon,

anything.

But we definitely

don't want to

take a break from those things

and leave everything else

and just ask God

what are the things

you've taught me lately

that I'm not being faithful to

right now.

We don't want to be faithful

to those things.

It's much easier

to keep going

and learn new things

than it is

to be faithful to things

that we already have.

And the reason why

we do this

is because we fooled ourselves

into believing

that we can separate

intellectual knowledge

from belief

and obedience.

We believe that we can

separate the two,

that we can divorce them,

but they're never meant

to be like that.

And so,

you're kind of wondering

how that is going to apply

to the text tonight.

I promise I'm going

somewhere with it.

But,

so tonight,

the direction that we're going

is tonight we're going

to look at two examples

of men

who love Christ

so much

and they love

the Philippians

more than themselves

and why that matters

to us.

I'm really excited

about it.

I'm going to pray for us

before we get started.

Father,

thank you so much

for tonight.

God,

I pray that your spirit

would be here

actively working

in the hearts

of everyone

who's in this room.

Father,

what I'm

so afraid of

is not things

running poorly

or not running smoothly,

but God,

what I'm afraid of most

is us coming here

and leaving unchanged

because we haven't

met with you tonight

and you haven't

been here with us

and we haven't

invited you in

to change our hearts.

So,

Father,

would you please

change our hearts

tonight by this text?

We know that your word

is powerful.

There is nothing

wise that I can say

because your power

doesn't rest

in so-called

eloquent wisdom

but God,

it rests in your power.

And I pray that

it would be here

tonight

actively working

in the hearts

of everyone here.

And we ask this

in Christ's name

knowing that you're

going to do it.

Amen.

Okay.

So,

Philippians.

If you've been here

so far,

it's a very encouraging book.

It's a very encouraging book.

But,

every single one of us

is going to say,

every one of us

is lying

if we say that

this book has not

been difficult

to swallow.

There's a lot

in here.

That,

there's a lot

of difficult themes

that are running

through Philippians

so far.

And there's a lot

of difficult verses

that I just wish

were not there.

Let's deal with

the first problem.

Is that Paul

is imprisoned

for selling

Girl Scout cookies?

No.

He's preaching

the gospel

and he's in prison

for that.

But don't worry.

We get that privilege

too of suffering.

Paul hasn't just

left us

to not partake

in that.

He's allowed us

to.

Verse 29

of chapter 1

if you're following

that.

So those are

two things.

Paul is imprisoned.

We also get to

suffer.

What else?

Tell me more

good news.

Well, Paul says

to live is to be

like Christ

and to die

is much better.

That's hard.

Even though we

just say it

so flippantly.

That's verse 22

of chapter 1.

So those are

three things.

And then finally

another point

that I could list

would be

don't be selfish.

Don't look to

your own concerns

but look to

the needs

and concerns

of others

above yourself.

And don't grumble

while doing it.

So these are

tough pills

to swallow.

These are tough

verses.

If we're just

saying this has

been flowers

and sweet tea

the whole time

then we're

lying to ourself.

So let's just

be real with that.

These are tough

texts to follow

with.

And so I think

the camps that

we fall into

is we read this

and we either

say that's

impossible

and that's

nice

but it's

impossible.

We can't

follow this.

Or we say

that is a

beautiful text

and we become

hopelessly

idealistic

and we don't

even really

take the time

to apply it

to our lives.

We just kind

of say

that's a great

text to read.

And so I think

because most of

us find ourselves

in that camp

unless you are

so holy

that you're

doing all

these things

perfectly right

now.

We're finding

that these

texts are hard

to live out.

And so I

think that

there's a

reason why

Paul pauses

here.

If you're

familiar with

scripture at all

you kind of

know that

verse 19

through 30

that's kind

of out of

place.

Usually Paul

will write a

letter and

then he'll

add this bit

at the very

end.

So look

at Galatians,

Ephesians,

Colossians,

Timothy,

all those

books.

And this

is kind

of out of

place because

we usually

call these

travel plans

or greetings

or shout

outs.

But it's

right in the

middle of

the book.

Literally

right in the

middle.

And I don't

think it's

just because

Paul just

got sidetracked.

I think he

puts it there

for a reason.

I think because

God has his

inspired hand

on Paul in

this.

The reason

why I think

that is

for a lot

of reasons.

I'm going

to go on.

But obviously

he keeps going

in chapter 3

so there's a

reason why

he pauses

here and

he gets

narrative on

us.

He doesn't

really do

that in a

lot of his

other letters.

So the two

themes of

Philippians so

far have

been,

the first

one has

been stand

firm and

have unity

amongst the

body.

And then the

second one

would be look

to the interests

of others

ahead of

yourself by

looking to

Christ as

that model.

And so we

said that's

tough.

Those are

tough things to

follow.

And the

thing is I

think he

stops because

he wants to

give examples

of men who

are doing

this.

He doesn't

want us to

get discouraged

and bogged

down or to

become hopelessly

idealistic and

not follow through

with this.

I think he

wants to stop

here and give

examples of

men that are

doing this.

It's almost

like Paul is

saying,

hey stop.

It's not

hopeless.

I know this

is big and

I know this

is a lot

going on but

you don't

have to lose

hope by such

heavy things

that are going

on in this

text.

I think

Paul is

saying just

pause for a

moment.

I promise you

this is not a

lost cause.

I'm not wasting

my time.

I'm not wasting

your time with

something that

you can't do.

Paul pauses

here because

he's going to

give examples of

guys who are

doing this.

He's already

given the

example of

Christ.

And so

ultimately

Christ is our

example.

Timothy and

Epaphrodite

are going to

get to them

and they're

great guys but

they are not

our goal.

They're not our

motivation.

They're not

our motor.

They're not

the end goal

of things.

And so

Christ is.

We kind of

clay went over

that not too

long ago when

he went through

verses 5 through

11.

So Christ is

the reason that

we're doing

this.

He's our aim.

He's our goal.

If you're not

waking up and

Jesus is the

motivation for

why you are

living a godly

life then we

need to reassess

and reevaluate

what we're doing.

And so

here's why I

say that.

I promise

I'll back

that up.

I think Paul

is pointing

these guys

for a specific

reason.

I don't think

it's random.

So you can

be the judge

of that.

I think

there's a lot

of similarity

in language

in verses

3 through

4 of

chapter 2

and then

in verse

21 and

so on

in this

text.

So

Philippians

2,

3 through

4,

it says

do nothing

from selfish

ambition or

vain conceit

but in humility

count others

more significant

than yourself.

Is it

coincidence

that

Timothy

in verse

21 is

seeking the

needs of

other people?

He says

this same

language.

He says

for they all

seek their

own interests

but not

those of

Jesus Christ.

Timothy

has proven

his worth.

So Timothy

is doing

that.

Epaphroditus

he also

sought the

needs of

others so

much that

he almost

died by

risking his

life.

life.

He almost

died

risking his

life there.

It's not

a coincidence

that Paul

urges the

unified church

body in

verse 27

and then

goes on to

say that

Timothy is

caring more

about the

affairs of

the church

than his

own life

in verse

21.

It's not

a coincidence

that Paul

says to

live is

Christ.

That is a

tough thing

to say.

He says

that in

verse 21

of chapter

1.

And then

Epaphroditus

nearly died

for the

sake of

the gospel.

I don't

think it's

coincidence

that he's

placing these

verses right

here.

And the

thing is

that a lot

of times we

read scripture

with skewed

lenses.

We read

Philippians and

we say that's

beautiful, let's

talk about it,

let's have

discussion groups

about it,

but I don't

want to live

this out because

it's just too

hard, it's

unrealistic.

And the

thing is that

that is common

and paralyzing.

All of us

face that.

That's very

common.

And it's

very paralyzing.

It paralyzes

us from

doing any

work.

And I

think that's

why Paul

places these

verses here so

that we don't

become paralyzed.

So, it is

so vital for

us to be

around men

and women

like Timothy

and Epaphroditus.

If we don't

do that, let's

just say we

just take this

and we just

cut out that

verse, man,

we're going to

lose sight that

the Bible was

intended not

just to be

picked apart

and talked

about, but

it was to be

lived out every

single day.

It's vital that

we surround

ourselves with

godly men and

women who are

striving for the

gospel for the

long haul.

people.

I want to surround

myself with

those men.

I know that

y'all do too.

I know that I'm

not alone in

that.

I think a

very dangerous

thing that we

could do as

believers is we

could make this

perilous assumption

that one day we

will arrive, that

we will be one of

these men and

women who are

standing firm in

the faith, who

are here for the

long haul, but

we're not

surrounding

ourselves by those

people.

I think that is

a perilous thing

to fall into.

Say that, you

know, I'm just

going to coast

into holiness.

I don't think

there's a single

person, I could

ask every single

person here, do

you want to turn

from Christ in

40 years?

No one's going

to say no.

Everyone's going

to say, man, I

want to be here

for the long haul,

I want to be in

it for the long

run, that we

want to surround

ourselves, but the

thing is that we

believe that we're

just going to coast

into that because

we're not

surrounding

ourselves with

those people.

We believe that

as we get older,

we're going to

coast into

holiness and

we're going to

get farther and

farther away from

heresy, from

apostasy, from

all those things,

just because of

the fact that

we're getting

older.

And I think

that's a really

dangerous assumption

to make.

And here's why I

think why.

I'm going to

read something that

John Piper wrote

in his book called

The Roots of

Endurance.

So he says,

how my mind has

changed.

As I complete my

50th year as a

professing Christian,

I feel the

urgency of

endurance more

than ever.

I used to think

differently.

I used to think

when I was in my

20s and 30s that

sanctification had a

kind of cumulative

effect that at

50, the likelihood

of apostasy would be

far smaller than at

30 or 40.

In one sense, this is

true.

Surely growth in

grace and knowledge

and faith helps us

to no longer be

taught to be

children tossed to

and fro by the

ways and carried

about by every wind

of doctrine as

in Ephesians 4.

He says,

I see more

clearly now that

even after the

years of such

growth and

stability, shocking

coldness and even

apostasies are

possible.

This is John

Piper.

I'm not saying

he's the greatest

man to ever walk

the earth, but

this is someone

that a lot of us

would say, this is

a godly man that

I would love to be

surrounded by.

He's saying this.

He says,

and I have known

moments of horrifying

blankness that made

me realize my utter

dependence on the

mercies of God

being new every

morning.

He says,

perseverance is a

gift.

That I will wake

up and be a believer

tomorrow morning is

not finally and

decisively owing to

my will, but to

God.

I have known too

many mornings on

the precipice to

think otherwise.

That I have been

snatched back every

time is sheer

mercy.

The human will

cannot be

depended on,

because in the

crisis of faith,

it is precisely

that same will

that is weak and

failing.

So John Piper

even knows himself

well enough to

say that I don't

trust myself to

make it to the

end.

I need Christ.

And so Paul

gives this example

of Timothy.

I just want to

take a second to

look at the

character of

Timothy.

I think

Timothy is an

excellent example

of someone who

has such endurance

that John Piper is

talking about.

And the thing is

that Paul is

writing this about

Timothy, but not a

lot of people, if

you've read 2

Timothy, not a lot

of people followed

Paul to the very

end.

So Paul is executed

in 2 Timothy,

probably after he

wrote that letter.

Turn to 2 Timothy 1,

if you would,

real quickly.

Okay.

So this is the

final book from

Paul right before

he's executed.

And then, like we

said, the end of the

book usually has

travel plans, what's

going on in his life,

kind of like small

updates, kind of more

narrative.

But 2 Timothy has a

completely different

theme.

Imagine someone writing

their last letter to

you, most likely,

knowing this is their

last letter before

they're about to die

for the sake of the

gospel.

I would key in so

much to hearing what

they have to say.

And so, it's kind of

this very unsettling

theme that's going

through 2 Timothy,

that Paul is talking

about.

The truth is, is that

many have actually

abandoned Paul.

I'm going to point out

a few ones.

Verse 15, you are

aware that all who

are in Asia turned

away from me, among

whom are Phygelus and

Hermogenes.

So, all of Asia has

turned away from Paul,

or at least the

believers that he

knows.

All of them have

turned away from Paul,

specifically these two

guys, Phygelus and

Hermogenes.

And then turn to, flip

the next page, chapter

4, verse 9.

Okay.

So he says, do your

best to come to me

soon, for Demas, in

love with this present

world, has deserted

me and gone to

Thessalonica.

Crescens has gone to

Galatia, Titus to

Dalmatia.

Luke alone is with

me.

Get Mark and bring

him with you, for

he is very useful for

my ministry.

Demas, I want to

just, who is this

guy?

He left Paul, because

he's fallen in love

with the world.

And the thing is, if

you do a word search

on Demas, he's

actually someone who's

been mentioned in

Paul's letters before.

Where is he familiar

from?

Colossians 4, verse

Colossians 4:14

14.

Really quick.

So, he says that

Demas has left

him.

And then he says,

this is before he

wrote that, in

Colossians.

So, kind of given

the same orders of

his travel plans, he

says in verse 14, he

says, Luke, the

beloved physician,

greets you, as does

Demas.

kind of listing off all

these people.

He says, he lists

Demas as someone who

was actually with him,

laboring for the

gospel.

One more place is in

Philemon 1, verse 24.

Philemon 1:24

So, he's giving more

commands at the end of

this book, and he

says, Epaphras, my

fellow prisoner in

Christ, Jesus sends

greetings to you.

So, we're talking

about prison here.

Like, he's listing off

his prisoners.

So, he says, Epaphras,

my fellow prisoner in

Christ, Jesus sends

greetings to you.

And so do Mark,

Aristarchus, Demas, and

Luke, my fellow

workers.

So, this is a guy who's

in prison with Paul.

We're not talking about

a guy that, when the

going gets rough, I'm

going to peace out.

Like, he's not like

that.

He's not, this is not a

guy who was just here

because Paul is doing a

lot of cool things.

He's doing miracles, and

he agrees with them, and

he's there.

But as soon as things

get tough, he backs

out.

That's not Demas.

Demas, that's not him.

This is the guy who's

been in prison with

Paul, and probably

through a lot worse.

And then at the end of

his letter in 2nd

Timothy, he's fallen

in love with the world,

and he's left Paul.

So, if that's not

unsettling, that we can

be in prison for

Christ.

And that doesn't mean

anything.

It's like, man,

and so the truth is

that we don't know if

Demas comes back.

He might.

He might have come

back.

But as far as we're

concerned, as far as we

know in Scripture, there's

no indication that he

does.

It's kind of this

unsettling thought that you

can be in it and around

people and not endure, and

not be this example that

Paul's giving in

Philippians.

And so, Timothy stays.

And as far as we know, so

does Epaphroditus.

Is Timothy flawless?

No.

Timothy's not flawless, man.

He's, in fact, a majority

of 1 Timothy that Paul

writes to Timothy, I mean,

it sounds good because it's

a book, but it's also

because Paul's writing this

to Timothy as instructions

to Timothy.

Here's some of the things

that's going on with

Timothy.

Timothy is most likely

backing down from

preaching the gospel, so

Paul says, don't back

down from preaching the

gospel.

Preach it boldly.

And then he's not being

above reproach, and so

Paul's saying, be above

reproach.

And it's possible he's not

tolerating dissension and

ungodly teaching in his

church.

Timothy was a pastor in

Ephesus, and so he's got a

lot of cultural influence

on him.

And so, Timothy's by no

means flawless.

He's got a lot that Paul

is instructing him on, and

Paul is asking him to stand

true to his teaching.

But the truth is that

Timothy endures.

God uses flawed, broken

life to be an encouragement

to the Philippians in this

text.

Not just the past two

chapters, but because he

doesn't intend those things

to just be theoretical.

He gives this example of

broken, flawed Timothy, and

Epaphroditus, who I'm sure

he's got a long list of

things.

But he gives this example of

these guys that are living

this out.

And the question is, why?

Why does Paul, Paul does

this, and God puts this there

because God has never intended

his word to solely be

theoretical.

He, God has always intended

to be applied to our love

and not just our minds.

And so, the thing is, is

that as, if we read

Philippians like it's a

biology experiment to be

dissected, pulled apart,

studied, and philosophized

over, and that's it, we miss

the point completely.

So, it's kind of nice that

we have this pause here

because Paul is writing this

letter, he's giving all

these hard things, and I

can imagine Paul just

kind of saying, I know

this is tough, I know this

is tough, but I'm going to

give an example of this.

And Paul is saying, don't

miss the purpose of these

two chapters.

Don't miss the point of

it.

Don't overanalyze this, and

just let this be theory.

This needs to affect your

life like it's affected

Timothy and Epaphroditus.

So, if you're kind of

sitting here, and we've

been reading through

Philippians, and we've

been talking about it in

our discussion groups, and

you've kind of gotten

discouraged because there's

so much going on, and it

almost seems impossible to

live this out.

Don't be discouraged.

Paul is begging us, don't

be discouraged.

Here are two guys who you

know.

Jesus is someone who we've

heard about, and we read

about, but these are two

guys that we know.

And so, he's giving

first-hand examples of

Timothy and Epaphroditus.

And so, we want, every

single person in this room

wants to be like Epaphroditus

and Timothy.

We want to endure to the

end.

And the question is, and

how do we do that?

If we've got so much here in

the text that Paul is giving

us, and then we've got this

example of Timothy and

Epaphroditus, and I definitely

don't feel like a Paul and

Epaphroditus, or Timothy and

Epaphroditus all the time.

I don't feel like, I wonder

what I would do in these

situations that Timothy was

put in.

And I think it has two

responses for that.

How do we keep this when we

know that, Lord, we're prone

to wander.

I'm just as capable of sin and

apostasy as Demis is.

And if we tell ourselves that

we're not, we're fooling

ourselves.

And so, I'm going to finish

out, actually, what John

Piper says here in the next

page.

He says, that is my cry.

He says, let your goodness,

O God, bind my heart with a

chain to you.

Seal my will to yours with an

unbreakable application of your

eternal covenant.

Is this the way that Christians

should pray?

Keep me.

Preserve me.

Defeat every rising rebellion.

Overcome every doubt.

Deliver me from every destructive

temptation.

Nullify every fatal

alignment.

Expose every demonic

deception.

Tear down every arrogant

argument.

Shape me.

Incline me.

Hold me.

Master me.

Do whatever you must to keep

me trusting you and fearing you

until Jesus comes or calls.

So, I think we keep that by

crying out to God.

I think it always starts in the

heart.

If we go straight to hands after

this, like if we just go straight

into applying this to our lives

and just thinking of practical

ways that we can do this, that we

can be a Timothy and a

Paphroditus, we're going to burn

out.

You will not make it.

Because we're focused so much on

our actions and we're not

focused on our hearts.

And so, I think along with that

cry that John Piper is talking

about, it has to start in our

hearts.

It has to start when we go home

tonight and just thinking about,

Lord, I want to be kept by you.

I want to be all these things that

you're talking about in these

first two chapters of Philippians.

I want to be like Timothy and

Epaphroditus, but I need you to

keep me.

And so, that's our text for

tonight.

The thing is that we need to

surround ourselves with godly men

and women.

And Nathan said this a few times

is that it is so important that

we do more than just hang out with

college students.

It is so important that we get

around people with families.

It is important that I get around

Chris and his family and that I get

around to see them, how they

operate.

It is so important.

We need someone like that in our

life.

We need to not just see them on

Sunday, but we need to be there

around their lives to eat with

these families, to break bread

with them.

And so, as we're concluding this

out, this is such a nice pause for

our discussion groups tonight for

just where we're at because we have

really important questions to ask

ourselves.

There's two questions, or there's

three questions that I say, okay,

just think about.

Because that first part of tonight

where I'm saying that it's easy to

pass over what we're reading so far

in Philippians.

It's easy to pass over this part

because it's a narrative.

But the question is that with the

knowledge that you know, knowledge is

a very great thing, but it's also a

dangerous thing, and everyone will

tell you that.

And the question is, is what you're

learning here, what you're learning

tonight, what you're reading from even

your own time in the work, is it

leading to a knowledge that puffs up

like Paul talks about in 1 Corinthians 8?

Is it leading to a knowledge that

puffs up, or is it leading to a

knowledge that builds up in love?

Our knowledge is worthless if we don't

have love.

So what are we doing with that

knowledge that we already have?

You can see Timothy and Epaphroditus

love Paul, and they love the

Philippians.

They're great examples.

Christ is our ultimate example, but

these are great examples.

The next question is, are you being

faithful to the revelation that you

already have?

Or are we passing over these simple

truths the Bible has made very clear

to us?

Non-negotiable truth.

And are we looking for a new

revelation instead of being faithful

to those things?

Man, a practical way in my life is

sometimes I have to just stop

listening to sermons from like John

Piper or John MacArthur or Matt

Chandler.

I have to stop because I just like

to listen to those things, and I

don't even think about the fact that,

God, am I even being faithful to

those things?

Am I just stocking up knowledge

because it's what I like to do?

And then, man, kind of a more deeper

question is, have Jesus' words and

Paul's words, have they lost their

original intention to be lived out

in your life?

And they're merely just words on a

page that we are just analyzing and

studying, and they have no application

in our lives.

Those are good places to start.

Let's just be thinking about those as

we're worshiping Christ through our

musical worship and as we get to talk

to each other tonight.

I love getting to be in these

discussion groups because what I've

loved is having guys and girls in the

group that I get to know their name,

I get to talk about this, but then I

get to pray for them, and we get to ask

each other, man, what's going on in your

life?

Like, you're telling me what's going on.

Like, just tell me something so I can

pray for you.

That is what I love so much about it,

and so let's take this and let's ask

ourselves those questions as Wes comes

up and as we break out into discussion

groups.

Let me just pray for us.

Heavenly Father, you are so good to us.

God, you have not just left us following

a rigid and dogmatic religion that means

nothing to us, that has no impact on our

lives, but God, you have given us truth,

and you've given us men to look to and

women to look to that can encourage us

to live this out.

Father, thank you that you love us more

than any one of us in this room will

ever understand, and I know I will never

understand it.

God, I beg you to change my heart over

this text.

Would you please change the hearts in

this room over this text?

God, I just pray that tonight we would

just pause and, God, invite you in to

change our hearts, maybe in just a small

way, Father, but God, I just pray that you

would change our hearts before we try and

start changing our actions.

We love you, and you are so good to us.

We pray this in Christ's name.

Amen.