WWUTT 019 Sorrow Upon Sorrow (Philippians 2:25-30)

Paul’s Joy in Christ and Sorrow for Fellow Saints

The Apostle Paul has said to the Philippian church that it's better for them that he remains on earth, that he could continue to teach and encourage them. But it's far better if he were to die and go be with Christ.

Now, even though that is far better for a believer to pass and go be with the Lord, there still should be a sorrow that we would experience at the loss of that brother or sister. And that's what we're going to look at today when we understand the text.

This is when we understand the text. My name is Pastor Gabe Hughes. Such a blessing to be along with you as we read the scriptures together. This has been edifying for me, and I hope that it is for you as well.

Anytime I come to the word of God is just great. I mean, as it is said through the prophet Isaiah, my word will not return to be void. So even if I'm sitting here talking to a microphone and nobody is listening, I'm still being filled up with the word of God as I speak these things aloud.

Truthfully, I know that we do have listeners. I know that you are listening because we are getting your emails, hearing your comments about this ministry, hearing the questions that you have to ask about something that you've seen in a what video.

So I thank you for that. We also know that you're telling somebody else about this program because our listenership is growing and appreciate that very much. If you would like to submit a question either about something that you've heard on this broadcast or something you've seen in a what video, submit it to our website or through our website, WWUTT .com.

You'll see the latest podcast episode on the right side of the page, and then right underneath that is the email link. That's the best way to get a question to us. Our question today is great. I love this question, which we're going to get to in the last third of the program.

It has to do with what women can do in a church that is better than what men can do. Like what can women do that they can do better than a man? That's the nature of the question. So we're going to talk about that coming up in the last third of the broadcast.

Epaphroditus Brings a Gift to Paul in Prison

But today, Philippians 2, verses 25 through 30. Why don't we go to the text and then we'll come to the The apostle Paul says to the Philippian church, 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 on me also, 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, receive him in 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 to me.

Lord, as we look at this text today, I pray that you will communicate to us through Epaphroditus' experience, some things that we can learn as a church. Thank you for giving us this word that guides us and edifies us and grows us in the knowledge of the things of God and keep us faithful to these things and submissive to the authority of the text that we read.

And we pray this in Jesus name. Amen. All right. So the apostle Paul is sending Epaphroditus back to the Philippians. And you remember who Epaphroditus is, right? So what has happened is the apostle Paul was preaching the gospel.

He's been arrested for it, was placed under house arrest, which is where he's at in Rome. He can't go anywhere, but people can still come to him and he can preach the gospel to whoever comes in his home.

Timothy is there with Paul because he's probably the one who is writing this letter as Paul is dictating it to him. So Paul has said that Timothy is eventually going to come and visit the Philippians soon.

As soon as Paul knows what's going to happen to him, what the verdict is going to be about his stay there in Rome, as soon as he finds that out, he'll send Timothy ahead of him. And that's what we talked about yesterday, verses 19 through 24, a little bit about Timothy.

The apostle Paul then talks about Epaphroditus here in this section in verses 25 through 30. So when the Philippians found out that Paul had been placed under house arrest, that he had been in prison, that he had been arrested because he had preached the gospel, they wanted to encourage him in some way.

They had also heard about Paul's plight because there were some preachers that were preaching against Paul. They were preaching down about him. It was sometimes a shameful thing to associate with a person who was in prison.

And even though Paul had been thrown in prison for doing the right thing, for preaching the gospel, there were some ministers out there who were making things difficult on Paul and probably were saying things like, oh, don't associate with that apostle.

Clearly he did something wrong because God allowed him to be thrown in jail. The Philippians didn't see it that way. And they wanted to continue to show their support and encouragement to the apostle Paul associating with him even while he was in prison.

So what they did was they took up this collection that was going to be sent with Epaphroditus to Paul. They didn't have anybody to take it. Nobody could have delivered that gift to Paul until Epaphroditus stepped up to do it.

So that's what Paul means in verse 30, where he says that he nearly died for the work of Christ, risking his life to complete what was lacking in your service to me. So the Philippians, though they grieved at hearing that Paul was in prison, they were not able to fulfill showing a service to Paul until Epaphroditus could take that gift personally to him in Rome.

And so Epaphroditus becomes the individual that's carrying the gift and is therefore also the individual who receives the response from the apostle Paul to the Philippians. And now Epaphroditus is returning to Philippi with that letter, with the letter that we're reading right here.

Epaphroditus was likely the one that then stood before the congregation and read it aloud, or it could have been handed to one of the elders of the church and the elder was the one that read the letter aloud.

But anyway, so that's some backstory as to Epaphroditus. He's one of the Philippians. He is from that church and he committed himself to service both to the church and to the apostle Paul by taking this money gift to encourage Paul in his ministry.

In the course of that journey, he almost died. Okay, so again, we'll jump back to verse 25 here. Paul says, I have thought it necessary to send to you Epaphroditus, my brother and fellow worker and fellow soldier.

And this is something I've said before, and you've heard this in the When We Understand the Text videos. The use of that word soldier, the way that we see it in the epistles is very praising of the role of a soldier.

In no way is a soldier ever degraded. That role is never degraded in scripture. There's never a way that a soldier is talked about negative in an inherent way. Like soldiers are just inherently bad people and you shouldn't be a soldier.

Scripture does not say that. Scripture is actually very praising of that role. In fact, Paul adopts that sacrifice that a soldier has and ascribes it to people who go out and preach the gospel. In this case, he is ascribing it to Epaphroditus.

This guy is, he's my brother. He is a fellow worker and he is a fellow soldier fighting not against flesh and blood. As we read about it in Ephesians chapter six, but against the spiritual forces in the dark world.

All right. And so that's the kind of work that Epaphroditus has committed himself to. Same kind of work that we would see a soldier commit himself to in laying his life down for his country. He is also your messenger.

Epaphroditus is your messenger and minister to my need. He's your messenger because he's bringing word to me about you and he is bringing word to you about me. For me, he is a minister to my need because for Epaphroditus, from Epaphroditus, I've heard about you, the Philippian church and some of the things that are going on there.

And I've been encouraged and filled with joy all the more as Paul had talked about there in chapter one and his greeting to the Philippians. For he has been longing for you all. So Paul's saying to the Philippians that this whole time that Epaphroditus has been with me, he's been longing for you.

Anything that Epaphroditus has said to me about you has been for your joy. It's been to build you up. If there is anything that is needing to be corrected about this church, Epaphroditus is doing so in love.

Don't think of him coming to me. Paul is saying, don't think of him coming to me, tattling on you guys. That's not the case at all. He longs for you. He is suffering for this church. So receive him as a person who has done that very thing, who has displayed that he has been longing for you all longing and has been distressed because you heard that he was ill.

So there is going to be some anxiousness in the Philippian church wondering, did Epaphroditus make it to Rome? Okay. Cause we heard that he was ill. Did he get the gift of Paul? Is he going to be able to come back to us?

Will we see him again? And because the Philippians had been concerned about these things, this was a distress for Epaphroditus as well. He wanted them to know that he was okay. So he, in this long suffering for the Philippians, had delivered these things to Paul and is now coming back to them with this letter.

Indeed, he was ill. Paul confirms he did. He got very sick and was even near death, but God had mercy on him and not only on him, but on me also, lest I should have sorrow upon sorrow. So God showed mercy to Epaphroditus in the sense that he healed him.

He showed mercy to Paul as well, that Paul would not have to grieve over the loss of a brother who was coming to Rome to benefit him with a monetary gift. Sorrow upon sorrow, as Paul expressed. Now, I want to tie this back in to something that Paul said previously in Romans chapter one.

Okay. I'm going to go back to verse 19. Paul says, I know that through your prayers and the help of the spirit of Jesus Christ, this will turn out for my deliverance, as it is my eager expectation and hope that I will not at all be ashamed, but that with full courage now, as always, Christ will be honored in my body, whether by life or by death.

For to me, to live is Christ. For me to live is Christ and to die is gain. If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me. Yet, which shall I choose? I cannot tell. I am hard pressed between the two.

My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better. But to remain in the flesh is more necessary on your account. Convinced of this, I know that I will remain and continue with you all for your progress and joy in the faith, so that in me, you may have ample cause to glory in Christ Jesus because of my coming to you again.

Okay. So as Paul is expressing these things here, which shall I choose? I cannot tell. Should I go be with Christ? Because that would be far better. Should I desire that the most? Yeah, yeah, yeah, I should.

Because that would be far better for me to go and be with Christ. But to remain here with you on your account, it would be better for you because I can help to continue to encourage and grow you as this apostle from, or I'm sorry, as this relationship from an apostle to a church.

So he sees the benefit in remaining on behalf of the Philippians, but the benefit for him would be to die and go be with the Lord. If truly in this experience that he's having in Rome right now would result in his martyrdom.

So even though Paul has said that, even though he has said it would be better for me to go and be with the Lord and sharing this with the Philippians so that they would understand that as well, if Paul should perish for preaching the gospel, it'd be better for him.

He gets to go be with his Lord Christ and he's no longer under the suffering of this world. Even though that's been said, it still should be a sorrow. Whenever we lose a brother or sister in the faith to death, it still should be a sorrow.

Like sometimes we talk sometimes, I'm sorry, I'm being redundant. Sometimes we talk about how funerals shouldn't be sorrowful. We shouldn't be crying over the loss of somebody. We should rejoice. It should be a happy time because they've died and they've gone to be with the Lord in heaven.

And yes, that's true, but it is still necessary for us to understand the sorrow that would be involved in the loss of a brother or sister as well. There's no sin in mourning over the loss of a brother or sister.

In fact, I would say that we should. If somebody that we know and care about in the faith has died and gone and be with the Lord, yes, that's a cause for rejoicing, but it's a sorrow also because we lose.

We lose something in having had our brother or sister taken from us. Let me read something to you from Isaiah 57. And if you've attended many funerals, you've probably heard this passage before. Isaiah 57, the righteous man perishes and no one lays it to heart.

Devout men are taken away while no one understands for the righteous man is taken away from calamity. He enters into peace. They rest in their beds who walk in their uprightness. Okay, so what is being said here is that even though when a righteous man perishes, he's taken away from calamity and he enters into peace.

It is still a sorrow for those who remain. The righteous man perishes. No one lays it to heart. Devout men are taken away while no one understands. The way that Isaiah is seeing this in the context of this passage, he is seeing righteous men being taken away and not replaced.

Basically what he's seeing is a decline in the number of righteous people as they die and go be with the Lord, and then there's not as many righteous people left. At least that's the context that we're reading about in Isaiah 57.

But what we can understand from this also and how this pertains to us in the church even now is that when a righteous person is taken away from the church, that is God actually taking away a blessing.

Follow me here on this, okay? This is the result of our sin. Even though a person is saved in Christ Jesus and will live with him eternal, they still have to die in the body, in the flesh because of the result of sin, because of sin in this world.

And so when a righteous person, when a person of the faith is taken away, God is removing a blessing from that people because of sin, because of the continuing effect of sin in this world, the fallenness of this world.

It is still necessary for us to have to die before we enter into glory. So therefore, because we would lose a brother or a sister in the faith who is a benefit to us, we should be sorrowful over that.

We should mourn realizing these are the continued reminders of sin, that death does still exist in the world. And we no longer have this righteous person with us to continue to grow us and edify us in the faith as they did when they were with the body of believers.

So there still should be a sorrow there and we would mourn the loss of a brother or sister. But yeah, I totally understand and agree with and encourage a rejoicing also because they have gone from this life to be with the Lord in glory.

So this is one of the reasons why, by the way, this is one of the reasons why I'm so opposed to contextualism. Do you understand what contextualism means? Well, it's understanding the scriptures in context.

No, that's context, but it's not contextualism. When it comes to planting churches, when you apply contextualism to planning churches, sometimes you'll have a church plant that goes up and their only focus is reaching out to 20s and 30s, 20 somethings and 30 somethings.

That's the group of people that we want to focus on on this church plant. That's who we want to draw in that our sermons are going to be centered around that, the way our sermons are delivered, the music that we do, the decor and the architecture and the way that Sunday school classes are conducted, all of the extracurriculars that we do, so on and so forth.

We are gearing toward and targeting 20 and 30 somethings to become a part of our church. I have a big problem with that. And one of my biggest problems that I have with that is that that church does not get to experience.

Well, first of all, it's opposed to the multigenerationalism that we're supposed to have as a church. The Titus 2 model that we see is older men mentor younger men, older women mentor younger women. If you don't have older men and older women, even the oldest men and the oldest women in your church, that is a loss for a church.

And you are not displaying a multigenerationalness that a church is supposed to display, valuing life from conception to natural death. I think that in a contextual church, that's not being displayed.

But here's one of the other reasons why I think that that that I'm so let me let me back up here. Here's one of the other reasons why I'm so opposed to contextualism when it comes to planning churches.

It's because that church will not experience and understand loss through death. Not that they won't experience it at all, because children could still die or somebody could die in an accident, you know, that sort of a thing.

But they will not have the oldest members of the church who are able to show a what a life of servitude to Christ looks like, like that that lifelong submission to the faith. And then what it feels like to lose that individual after a long and full life to death to go be with the Lord in glory, a contextual church will not understand what that feels like.

We as I would say that a contextual church is also failing at reaching out to the elderly, who are just as important to be included in a body of believers as anybody else. And no church really, folks, no church should be shut up, set up in such a way that we're only getting the 20 and 30 somethings.

That's our most important core group. And we're just going to let these folks go by the wayside. There are elderly that need to be ministered to as well elderly that need to be brought to Christ and elderly who are in the faith that need continued encouragement and admonishment by a body of believers.

OK, so anyway, all of that to say that even though it is a joy to see a fellow Christian go home and be with the Lord, it is also a sorrow for us because now we are lacking something. We are the Lord has taken a blessing from us that we had by having that brother or sister in the faith.

And so that is a that is a sorrow. We we mourn remembering that the wages of sin is death and that we live in mortal bodies and this world is not forever. But but if we are in Christ Jesus, we know that we will be reunited all together in glory.

So Paul says here that the Lord had mercy on him by sparing Epaphroditus. Lord had mercy even on Paul so he would not have to experience sorrow upon sorrow. I am all 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 in 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 to me. Our great God, as we read these passages today, I pray that you continue to teach us through them what it means to honor such people who commit themselves to lifelong service to the Lord, just as Paul was obedient to death, just as Christ was, and just as Epaphroditus was.

Women in the Church: Authority, Submission, and Ministry

May we all see this example in the ways that we are supposed to conduct ourselves as servants of the Most High God. And we pray and ask this in Jesus' name. Amen. 1 Timothy 2 11 says, let a woman learn quietly with all submissiveness.

So according to the Bible, a woman is supposed to sit in church and be quiet, right? She's supposed to keep her mouth shut and leave the talking to the men. Yeah, good luck with that, honey. I love you, sweetie.

All right, so that's not the meaning of that verse. Rather, it goes with the full instruction that follows. I do not permit a woman to teach or exercise authority over a man. Rather, she is to remain quiet.

The context here is church leadership, which continues on into chapter 3. Basically, a woman can't be a pastor or an elder in a church. That's no less controversial, but it's what the Bible says. And this instruction is universal to all people in all cultures at all times.

It's not exclusive to the time period in which the apostle Paul was writing this. How do we know that? Because Paul, exercising his authority as an apostle, goes all the way back to Adam and Eve with his explanation.

For Adam was formed first, then Eve. And Adam was not deceived, but the woman was deceived and became a transgressor. So because Adam was formed first, and because Eve was deceived by the serpent, a woman is prohibited from being an authority in the church.

She can teach children, and she can teach other women, and she can lead others to Christ. Priscilla did that for Apollos along with her husband, Achilla, but she can't be a pastor. Any church that appoints a woman as a pastor would be in biblical disobedience.

There are other ways a woman can find godly fulfillment that a man cannot, but the authority in the church is commanded for men to step up and lead. Was that a good explanation, love? Yes, very good, sweetheart.

Aw, thanks. And that's when we understand the text. Our question today comes from Beth in Hammond, Louisiana. She says, We love your videos and use them in our home to teach our kids. In your video entitled, Women are to be silent, which we just heard, you mentioned that there are things a woman can do that a man cannot.

Can you elaborate on that a little bit more? What are some things that I can tell my girls that they can do to glorify God that men cannot do? And personally, I'd like to know myself what I can do. Beth, thank you so much for your question.

I have three suggestions for you. Here's three things that a woman can do that a man cannot. But first, let's go back to this passage and look at it in context. This is first Timothy chapter two, starting in verse twelve, where Paul says, I do not permit a woman to teach or exercise authority over a man.

Rather, she is to remain quiet for Adam was formed first, then Eve and Adam was not deceived, but the woman was deceived and became a transgressor. OK, so that the explanation of those verses was given in the video.

Here's verse 15. Yet she will be saved through child bearing if they continue in faith and love and holiness with self-control. And that verse has to do with the first suggestion that I have for you.

Here's the number one thing that a woman can do that a man cannot. She can be a mother. Now, if I gave you that suggestion and your response was, oh, yeah, of course, of course, that's going to be your number one suggestion.

She could just be a baby factory. Yeah, that's what you're going to say. If that was the way that you responded, you've been indoctrinated by the culture to react that way. Folks, it is not a burden on a woman and it is not somehow enslaving her to become a mother.

It is the blessing of God and it is a blessing that a woman can experience that a man can't. A man simply will not ever know what it's like to carry a child in the womb and give birth to that child, even through the aches and pains of childbearing.

How does how does a mother react when she is handed her newborn for the first time? It's like all of the labor that she just put into that the pain is gone. It was worth it. And it rolls up into praise to God.

That is what Paul is saying here in verse 15 when he says, yet she will be saved through childbearing. He's not saying that women are then brought to salvation because they brought a child into this world.

No, we're only saved by faith, by grace through faith in Jesus Christ alone. That is the only way that we are saved. The salvation that Paul is talking about here for a woman is simply that it rolls up into praise to God.

She gets to experience the joy of the Lord in bringing a child into this world. And a man doesn't get to experience that. As long as a woman continues in faith and love and holiness with self-control, then those experiences as a mother roll up into praise to God.

There are things and ways that a woman can give praise to God for that a man can't. And one of those is motherhood. So that's number one. Here's number two, a number two thing that a woman can do that a man cannot.

She can show humility and submissiveness in a way that a man simply cannot do. Now again, when you hear me say that, I am not saying that a woman can submit to a man and a man can't do that. And that's not what I'm saying, but she is not called to fill a role of authority in the church over a man.

A woman is not to be a pastor or an elder or an overseer period. And I think in the context of first Timothy three, she's not supposed to be a deacon either. She can be the wife of a deacon, but she cannot be a deacon.

But a woman can show a humility and a submissiveness to those roles that a man can't show. Men are going to have to be charged to fill in those roles. Whereas a woman can be submissive to realizing that that is a role that God has designed a man to fill.

And so therefore she can show humility and a greater humility in a way that a man can't show. That is something that a woman can do. She can praise God in the role that God has called her to fill that he is not called a man to fill.

Ephesians five 21 says, submit to one another out of reverence to Christ. Now that means that men even are going to have to submit to the roles that God has designed women for. Men should not be doing what women are supposed to do just as a woman is to submit to the roles that God has designed men to fill now about those roles that women fill.

That leads me to number three. Here's number three suggestion. She can be a mentor to other women or in the case of a woman who is younger, she can be submissive to another woman mentor folks. There are things that a woman can teach another woman to do that a man should not be teaching another woman to do.

Do I really even need to give an example? Do you understand what I'm saying? That ways that women can encourage one another. And this is that Titus two model that I just had mentioned before about older women mentoring younger women in Titus chapter two, starting in verse three, older women are to be reverent in behavior, not slanderers or slaves to much wine.

They are to teach what is good. And so train the young women to love their husbands and children to be self-controlled, pure, working at home, kind, and submissive to their own husbands. That the word of God may not be reviled.

Even if a woman is not called to motherhood or being a wife, she is still a mother in a way that she will serve as a mentor to the other women in her church. There's my suggestions. And I hope Beth, that that is an edification to you and to your daughters.

Thank you for joining me today. Come back again tomorrow as we do our Friday review. You've been listening.

To when we understand the text of pastor Gabriel Hughes. Our ministry was born out of a local church and we rely on the contributions of our viewers and our listeners to keep this ministry going. Give with card or check at our website, www .tt .com.

We'll continue our study of Philippians tomorrow rejoicing together in God's truth. When we understand the text.