Epaphroditus - a True Man

Introduction: What Makes a Real Man?

0:03 This sermon was preached on Sunday morning, July 26th, 1981, at the Trinity Baptist Church in Montville, New Jersey. Now, as I have already intimated, will you turn, please, to Philippians chapter 2, and follow as I read, beginning with verse 19, through to the end of the chapter.

0:25 Philippians chapter 2, beginning with verse 19. But I hope in the Lord Jesus, to send Timothy shortly unto you, that I also may be of good comfort when I know your state. For I have no man like-minded who will care truly for your state. For they all seek their own, not the things of Jesus Christ.

0:54 But you know the proof of him, that as a child serves a father, so he served with him. He served with me in the furtherance of the gospel. Him, therefore, I hope to send forthwith, so soon as I shall see how it will go with me. But I trust in the Lord, that I myself shall come shortly.

1:15 But I counted it necessary to send to you Epaphroditus, my brother, and fellow worker, and fellow soldier, and your messenger and minister to my need, since he longed after you all, and was sore troubled, because he was afraid of you. But you had heard that he was sick. For indeed, he was sick, nigh unto death. But God had mercy on him, and not on him only, but on me also, that I might not have sorrow upon sorrow.

1:47 I had sent him, therefore, the more diligently, that when you see him again, you may rejoice, and that I may be the less sorrowful. Receive him, therefore, in the Lord with all joy, and hold such in honor, because for the work of Christ he came nigh unto death, hazarding his life to supply that which was lacking in your service toward me.

2:18 As we come to the study of the word of God this morning, I want to lay before you what may appear to be a rather strange question. And the question is this. What do you think, what do you think makes a real man?

2:40 What, in your estimation, as you sit here this morning, constitutes one of the male species, what we could rightly call a real man?

2:55 I ask this question of all of you in general, but I think particularly of the boys among us this morning, all of whom have an ambition someday to come out of this world, the state of being called a boy, and to become a man. Now, in your head, what will you be when you are a man? How will you know that you have arrived at manhood? What constitutes one of the male species of adult age a person that we can really call a man?

3:32 Is it when he can clasp a marble between his lips? And look out from his leathery face and underneath his cowboy hat, squinting at the setting sun as he overlooks his herd of horses? Is that what makes a man? Well, if you look at the Marlboro ads long enough, you'll think that's what a man is.

3:59 Or is it being able to sprout some hair high enough on your chest that when you open your collar it'll spill over and splash on some brooch or chaps or musk oil cologne and have a real macho look about you? Is that what it means to be a man? Or is it being able to belt down a six-pack of bud with the boys? Is that what makes a man?

4:28 Let me speak to you young men who are out of boyhood and half-wearing between being boys and men. What in your minds will constitute you a man? Is it being able to make all the eligible young ladies turn their heads when you walk by because of your wasp-like waist, your broad Herculean shoulders, and your rippling biceps? Is that what makes a man?

4:57 Is it being able to afford right up-to-date clothes, nice-looking car, and always having a wallet full of tens and twenties? Is that what makes a man? What in your minds is a man?

5:13 Well, all of these things that I have mentioned at best are sickening caricatures, or at worst, they are downright perversions of what constitutes someone a real biblical man.

5:34 If you want to know what manhood is, manhood as God intended it should be, manhood as the grace of God alone can mold you, mold and produce it, then consider carefully what is said in this passage about this strange, funny-named man called Epaphroditus. For in reality, the things said about Epaphroditus contain almost every principle of what constitutes a member of the male species of adult age a true man in God's,

6:15 a true man in God's estimation. And over the next couple of Lord's days we're going to study what God the Holy Ghost has said about this man, Epaphroditus. All that we know about him for certain we know from these verses, verses 25 to 30, and a brief reference made to him in chapter 4. That's all we know about him.

Background of Epaphroditus and the Philippian Letter

6:39 But in that brief account of this man, I say, God has given to us some of the most fundamental principles of what constitutes true, godly, Christian manhood. Now if we are rightly to understand the passage, we must first of all sketch in some of the basic facts with respect to this man, Epaphroditus, and how he ever ended up in this letter of Paul to the Philippians, and just exactly how all of this fits together. You will remember, I trust, most of you who have been with us, in our previous studies, that Paul wrote this letter from Rome. He was a prisoner of the Roman government.

7:23 Not because he picked someone's pocket or robbed a bank, but he was a prisoner for the cause of the gospel of Jesus Christ. While he was there at Rome, his case being handled, the disposition of the Roman government not yet clear with respect to whether he will live or die, the church at Philippi sends this man, Epaphroditus, as their representative, as their envoy, as their delegate, to minister to Paul, and in particular to bring some gifts that would answer to the needs of Paul. We learn this from chapter 4 in verse 18. I have all things and abound,

8:07 I am filled, having received from Epaphroditus the things that came from you. So Paul is at Rome, he has a measure of liberty as a prisoner, we must not think of him shut up in a 3x6 cell, but a Roman soldier is chained to his arm continually, and though he has some house liberties, he is relatively confined, and in that situation, Epaphroditus comes with these gifts from the people of God at Philippi. But in the process of ministering to Paul's needs, Epaphroditus becomes critically ill. Verse 27 tells us

8:51 he was sick near unto death. Verse 30 tells us that he hazarded his life, he came near unto death. So whatever his sickness was, and whatever the hazarding of his life was, Epaphroditus came very near to the door of death itself. Now word concerning this condition of Epaphroditus gets back to the church at Philippi.

9:21 How it got back, we do not know. We can make guesses, but your guess is probably as good as mine. But news reaches them that their beloved brother and official representative who went to Rome to carry their gifts to Paul and to minister to him and with him came to the very door of death. Well this so agitated and disturbed the hearts of the Philippians, and Paul and Epaphroditus are aware of that agitation and disturbance that Epaphroditus himself almost becomes distracted knowing that his dear congregation at Philippi is near distraction.

9:59 And so the apostle Paul in the light of his present circumstances purposing to send Timothy as soon as they hear about the disposition of the Roman government hoping himself to go to Philippi says in verse 25 I counted it necessary, he came to a sober conclusion after reflecting upon all of the facts that the best thing to do with Epaphroditus in order to ease the pressure upon the spirits of the Philippians in order to have a first hand report of his own well being and the well being of the apostle is to send Epaphroditus back to them in person. Well that is sketching in some of the elementary facts

The Structure of Paul's Description of Epaphroditus

10:43 concerning this man Epaphroditus. Now as we come to the text itself everything that is said about him in this passage breaks down very obviously into three categories of thought. We have first of all a description of the man Epaphroditus verse 25 then we have the reasons for his being sent back to Philippi verses 26 to 28 and then thirdly in verses 29 and 30 we have the manner in which he should be received by the Philippians. This morning we will take up only that first division of the apostles thought namely

11:27 the description of the man sent back to the Philippians. Look at the language of verse 25. But I counted it necessary to send to you Epaphroditus my brother and fellow worker and fellow soldier and your messenger and minister to my need. Now it's quite obvious is it not that the description of this man Epaphroditus has two fundamental categories.

12:00 First of all he is described in his relationship to Paul. Paul writes saying he is my brother my fellow worker and my fellow soldier and then he is described in terms of his relationship to the church at Philippi he is your messenger and minister with respect to my need. Now bound up in that very simple two-fold relationship of Epaphroditus to Paul and to the Philippians there is a gold mine of instruction as to what constitutes

Epaphroditus: My Brother (Relationship to Paul)

12:44 true manhood. Consider now these things that are said about Epaphroditus. In his relationship to Paul he is called first of all his brother. Now what makes a man another man's brother?

13:02 Brothers are those who by virtue of common parents share in the unique relationship of family intimacy and privilege. Being born in a family of ten children I have two brothers and seven sisters. Now what constitutes Eric and David my brothers is that we share common parents and by virtue of that common parentage we have entered into the uniqueness of family intimacy and family privilege. Now in what sense could Paul identify Epaphroditus as his brother?

13:46 On the surface of things this doesn't appear as an amazing statement but when we dig beneath the surface it is one of the most amazing things Paul could do in describing Epaphroditus as his brother. You see the name Epaphroditus is taken from the name of one of the Greek goddesses, the goddess of beauty and love, Aphrodite. And in all likelihood, though we cannot prove it from the scriptures, Epaphroditus could well have been given this name because his own parents were worshippers of the Greek

14:30 goddess of love, of sex, and of beauty, Aphrodite. But whether that is so or not it is quite certain that coming from the place that he came from, Philippi, having the name Epaphroditus that he was a Gentile by birth and probably brought up in the midst of the pagan worship of this goddess of beauty and of love. Now who was the man who wrote the letter? He was Paul, originally Saul of Tarsus. By

15:05 breeding a Jew, by upbringing and all of the influences upon his character, he was not any ordinary Jew. According to the third chapter of this very letter he was a member of the sect of the Jews who prided themselves not only in being the chosen ones but the chosen among the chosen. And there was a time in Paul's life when if you had introduced this man Epaphroditus to him, maybe you were passing on the street and said, oh hello Saul of Tarsus, I'd like you to meet my friend Epaphroditus. You know what Paul would have done?

15:46 The moment he heard the word Epaphroditus, he would have understood immediately that this was a gentile dog in his estimation who came in all likelihood from a family that worshipped pagan gods and Paul would probably have turned away upon the very mention of that name and spat right in front of this man. So filled was this Pharisee with Pharisaic pride and with the prejudice of his position as being part of the superior chosen nation that the last word he ever would have used of Epaphroditus is brother. He would have

16:29 had other epithets. Gentile dog. Unclean commoner. But brother?

16:38 No, no. A Pharisee like Paul would use that word only of a fellow Jew and possibly only of a fellow Pharisee. Brother was a term he would never use of a gentile and yet he says I thought it necessary to send him back to you and the first word he uses to describe him with reference to his relationship to himself is not just brother in the abstract but he says my brother. Now how in the world did that ever come to pass? What brought

17:16 these two men into a relationship of family intimacy? Into a relationship of filial brotherly love fraternal love and concern. When you see it was the gospel that was the great instrument to take these two men who naturally would have been poles apart in perspective on life in general, in perspective on God, morals ethics, everything they would have been as far apart as east is from west and yet now Paul says my brother and you know what spanned that great chasm? It was

18:00 the work of God in Jesus Christ. This proud Pharisee had been brought to the place where he was humbled by the knowledge that in spite of his impeccable breeding in spite of all of his training, in spite of all of his activity and he gives us an account of this in chapter 3 and in passages such as Romans 7 he came to the discovery that he was a vile polluted unclean hell deserving sinner and he stood condemned and stripped and naked before almighty God undone unclean and

18:44 outcast from the presence of God. And if Aphrodite had come to the same discovery, the gospel that had leveled Paul leveled him and if Aphrodite had come to accept the indictments of scripture upon himself as a sinner, as one alienated from God as one a stranger to grace and then they had both come to discover a common provision for their sin in the person and work of Jesus Christ in this third chapter of this very letter Paul could say I count everything but loss for the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord and when the apostle Paul

19:29 and when Aphrodite in the consciousness of their sin came to that mutual discovery of God's only provision for sinners in Jesus Christ, they were then both brought through different circumstances at different times but nonetheless in a common experience of grace they were brought to the place where they cast themselves helplessly undone believing and penitent at the feet of Christ and in the language of Galatians 3.26 now we are all the sons of God through faith in Jesus Christ and then

20:13 Paul goes on to say and in Christ there is neither Jew nor Greek no longer does he hear the word Epaphroditus and want to spit upon the pavement but now he hears Epaphroditus fellow sinner fellow discoverer of the grace of God in Christ fellow penitent fellow believer he is my brother bound to me and I to him in bonds that even death cannot sever and you see no man begins to be a man until he is brought

20:56 into the fellowship of the brotherhood of the people of God no woman begins to be a true woman until she too is brought into the family of God and is able to address those fellow family members as her brothers and her sisters in Christ and you see it is this that makes any true church a source of amazement to the world in the world the world loves its own kind and the word brother is used very freely in our day everyone who has a cause and has someone who shares that cause is called a

21:40 brother in that cause but oh the hatred the venomous vitriolic hatred to those who do not share that cause in our day we have many groupings of people delighting to use the term share it is cut off and regarded with animosity but oh what a marvel a true church is any true church where there are found together men and women of diverse backgrounds racially culturally educationally religiously differing perspectives by nature upon the vast spectrum of all of the concerns of life sitting here this morning I could begin if I had the time

22:24 just at random picking up out different ones and without embarrassing people by mentioning names say do you know that this one was addicted to such and such a crippling vice this one was a follower of such and such a cultic leader this one was follower of such and such a man made religion tremendous diversity of backgrounds tremendous diversity of personal experience but what is it that has brought us together in this place this morning is it not that we have come to a common discovery of our need as sinners a common discovery of God's only provision for sinners in Jesus Christ and a common experience

23:09 of repentance and faith that has brought us broken and helpless to the feet of Christ pleading for nothing but mercy and it is that which has brought us into this intimate family relationship so that we delight to call one another my brother we delight to address one another as brother and as sister not as a little cliche not as some kind of a saccharine terminology but because that word alone expresses something of what we feel and know and have by virtue of our common spiritual parentage

23:53 we have been made the sons and daughters of God through faith in Jesus Christ what makes a man a true man no man begins to be the man God intended him to be until he is in Christ and becomes part of the brotherhood of faith just as surely as no woman can begin to be the woman God intended her to be until she becomes a sister I do not mean that she puts on a habit and takes a vow of chastity and of poverty but she comes becomes a sister in the bond of faith in the Lord Jesus

Epaphroditus: My Fellow Worker (Relationship to Paul)

24:36 but then he goes on and he describes Epaphroditus not only as my brother but he uses another word he calls him my fellow worker this is a word the apostle used in Romans 16 3 with respect to that couple that were very dear to him and often found in his companionship salute Prisca and Aquila my fellow workers in Christ Jesus now contrary to the thinking of many the ministry is a task involving arduous labor a dear preacher friend of mine was embarrassed when his

25:20 son said to him daddy if you ever stop preaching will you have to go to work now let's hope that when the little boy asked the question what he had in his mind is will you have to go to work at a job such as other men have to work at but in the minds of many the question is taken at face value they don't regard the ministry as a labor if you got the gift of gab spend a few minutes getting a few thoughts together and just let it spill out but that's not the view the apostle had of the work of the ministry he called Epaphroditus his fellow worker or fellow laborer now remember the mission of Epaphroditus according to

26:03 chapter 4 in verse 18 one of the primary tasks assigned to Epaphroditus was to deposit these gifts with the apostle Paul but when he did he didn't then take a six week tour of Rome and have an extended holiday after he had brought the gifts he so entered in to the task that the apostle himself was performing in prison receiving people ministering to them and then probably joined the ranks of those others at Rome referred to in chapter 1 who were preaching Christ out of pure motives

26:47 and as the apostle saw Epaphroditus so imbibe his own vision his own zeal and passion for the spread of the gospel he could think of no other term to describe his activity but that of a fellow or co-worker with me here was a man who shared the apostles view of truth the goals and methods by which the apostle was concerned to propagate that proof and so he calls him my living companion in labor now again though only those who work

27:31 directly with the apostle in the strictest sense could be called his fellow laborers the word of God is clear that every person who embraces the privileges and the demands of the gospel becomes a laborer in the cause of God's truth our blessed Lord Jesus Christ was marked by arduous labor my father works hitherto and I work I have glorified thee on the earth having accomplished the work which thou gavest me to do and working diligently at one's appointed task is so fundamental a

28:15 Christian duty that according to 2 Thessalonians chapter 3 a Christian who will not labor at his God given task is to become the subject of church discipline there's not a shred of indication in 2 Thessalonians 3 that those who are called disorderly and who are to become the subjects of church discipline were guilty of flagrant immorality there is no indication they were guilty of heterodoxy that they were guilty of some gross deviation from the fundamental truths of the gospel Paul says if any man will not work

28:59 let him not eat you see the gospel that makes men brothers and calls them into a fellowship of common life also binds them to a common task and that task is to work and to labor to do the will of God as the will of God is revealed in the scriptures when the apostle would describe this tremendously godly man Epaphroditus it is not beneath his dignity to describe him as a worker a fellow worker the apostle knew nothing of a sanctity or a piety that brought

29:43 a man into an attitude of indifference or detachment from labor and from work the pervasive teaching of the word of God is that God is glorified when each believer in his appointed sphere of responsibility does whatever his hand finds to do with all of his might as unto the Lord and not as unto men now do you see why I introduced the whole exposition this morning with the question what is a man in our day one gets the distinct impression of all of the models set forth of what true manhood is that it is something far removed from the mundane far

30:27 removed from the slog and the faithfulness of simply sticking to one's task without any glamour and yet this man Epaphroditus is called fellow laborer but then the apostle goes on and we must hasten if we are going to cover all that he says about him he calls him his fellow soldier his comrade in arms and again this is a term the apostle uses of another he uses it in his letter to Philemon Philemon and verse 2 Philemon coming after Timothy

Epaphroditus: My Fellow Soldier (Relationship to Paul)

31:10 and Titus and unto our sister and to Archippus our fellow soldier now why did the apostle use this term my fellow soldier well it could be that because the Christian life in general is likened unto a warfare and every believer is likened unto a soldier Ephesians chapter 6 put on the whole armour of God an exhortation directed to all believers indiscriminately in a peculiar way the work of the ministry was an intense spiritual warfare

31:54 and perhaps the clearest statement in concentrated form expressing this reality is 2 Corinthians chapter 10 beginning with verse 3 though we walk in the flesh we do not war according to the flesh for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but mighty before God to the casting down of strong holds casting down imaginations and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God and bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ look at the vigour of the language we do not war according to the flesh the weapons of our warfare

32:38 are not of the flesh mighty before God casting down of strong holds casting down imaginations bringing into captivity that's all vigorous military terminology that speaks of a very real warfare a warfare in which the weapons are not fleshly carnal weapons not guns and bullets and swords and knives and bombs and missiles but they are the spiritual weapons of prayer the sword of the spirit which is the word of God and the enemies are the enemies of ignorance men's ignorance about themselves men's ignorance about God men's prejudice their prejudice towards God their prejudice towards

33:22 truth men's pride that cuts them off from facing realistically the depth of their need from embracing humbly the only provision for their need the enemies are ignorance error prejudice pride self righteousness rebellion and Paul says God has armed us to the teeth with spiritual weapons and we go out to do hand to hand combat with his enemies until we brought every thought captive to the obedience of Jesus Christ now he says in this task given to me Epaphroditus has proven himself a fellow soldier a comrade in arms and when Paul used

34:06 the term he did not mean a soldier in name and uniform only but he meant a soldier down to every cell of his being for a soldier worthy of his name in his uniform has an element of holy recklessness about him when the chips are down he's prepared to risk life itself for the cause to which he has committed himself now the apostle had that spirit you remember we studied verse 19 two lords days ago Paul said and if I am poured out as a drink offering in serving the advancement of the Christian life of you Philippians I rejoice he had that element of recklessness about him he could say to the Ephesian elders in Acts 20

34:50 24 I do not count my life dear to myself he said my life is expendable the cause of God in truth is not expendable but I'm expendable on another occasion you remember when he told them that he was prepared to die they're crying weeping hanging on his neck or they're having a real fuss he says why me to weep and break my heart I'm prepared not only to go and suffer at Jerusalem I'm prepared to die now that's the kind of soldier Paul was now a soldier who when he hears the crack of the rifle finds his adrenaline pumping through his veins and every nerve and faculty is alert and he's prepared

35:35 to throw if necessary even his life away to destroy the enemy how would he feel in the presence of a coward who with the crack of a rifle runs for the nearest foxhole who with the sound of a shell burst trembles and becomes paralyzed with fear how would such a soldier feel in the presence of one of that strength he would never call him fellow soldier the reason the apostle called Epaphroditus fellow soldier is given right in this text look at the language he uses down in verse 30 because for the work of Christ he came nigh unto death and the word in the original translated hazarding his life

36:20 is a word that is taken from what we would say the gambling world he threw his life down as the gambler stakes his money upon a bet and Paul said there was in this man Epaphroditus that element of holy recklessness he was willing to stake his very life that he might fulfill the cause to which he was appointed by you Philippians that's why he called him a fellow soldier he had that same spirit of the apostle Paul that regarded the service of Christ as of supreme importance sparing name

37:04 reputation personal plans and ambition these things meant nothing one thing mattered the name the glory the cause the truth the triumphs of the Lord Jesus Christ in this conflict with the enemies of truth and of righteousness what's a true man a man who can stand with his fellow sinners and let out a string of oaths and prove he's a big shot no the man who as a soldier can stand in that office with foul oaths and earn the respect of those fellow workers and rebuke his fellow workers

37:48 for their foul mouth and make it stick because his life is blameless for them that's a soldier that's what a man is the young man who can go into that high school in which every fellow school mate has his lecherous eye upon every square inch of every girl that walks by and who will dare to be pure in the midst of moral filth when the pressure comes to shoot up and to pop pills and the pressure comes to get high when everyone's passing the joint around out in the school yard or down in the locker room to rear back and behind legs

38:32 and say no that's manhood not sipping a cup of coffee and bragging and comparing your highs manhood is found in this element of Christian soldiery fellow soldier one who with me has become so enamored with Jesus Christ the captain of the Lord's host so taken up with the glory of doing his will and pleasing him verse 30 because for the work of Christ that's the thing that had captured Epaphroditus

39:16 he had been captured by Christ and to please him to serve him to go to battle for his name's sake was all that really mattered now you say well isn't that stretching things a bit to say that that ought to be the spirit of all believers isn't that something special for those in the ministry well listen to the language of 1 Corinthians 16 13 addressed to all believers indiscriminately watch you military term stand fast in the faith military term quit you like men be strong that call to a

39:59 military like allegiance to Jesus Christ and his truth comes to all believers though there must be an intensification of those graces of military discipline and loyalty to Christ and those who would stand as it were at the front lines and help direct the troops of Christ that element must be present in every true disciple of the Lord Jesus who is indeed by his discipleship enrolled in the army of the Lord of hosts what's a true man a true man is one who can rightly be called brother who can be called fellow

Epaphroditus: Your Messenger and Minister to My Need (Relationship to Philippians)

40:43 worker fellow soldier but now very quickly notice the description of this man Epaphroditus with respect to his relationship to the church at Philippi and only two things are said about him he is called your messenger and your minister to my need now what do those two words mean the word messenger is the word commonly translated apostle and basically the word apostle means one commissioned and sent a delegate an envoy and this word used in this context points not to Epaphroditus being an apostle with a with an upper case

41:27 capital A he was not one of those specially chosen for the unique task of those foundation stones of the church Ephesians 2 and verse 20 but he was a messenger a sent one of the church of Philippi in other words he was not an earnest dedicated Christian who in a local periodical picked up some information that Paul was in need and said oh well I ought to respond to that need I've got a few extra shekels in the bank and then went around and got a few Christians to show an interest in his cause and took up a collection and ran up he was no freelance Christian worker

42:11 he was one officially chosen and designated by the church at Philippi for this task you see the bible does not recognize this element of freelance every man doing what his spiritual impulses tell him to do there is a structure of authority taught in the word of God Christ the ultimate head and king and lord over his people but he has instituted his church and he has deposited the keys of discipline and government in his church and this man Epaphroditus had learned what it was to be

42:55 subject to his brethren and though he was no doubt a leader perhaps one of the elders in that assembly one of the deacons what his official capacity was we do not know except that he was a proven man and he was a chosen man chosen by that church as its messenger and then Paul describes him as minister to my need and this is the same family of words that we found in 2.17 upon the sacrifice and service of your faith it's used frequently in this epistle this family of words 2.17 2.30 4.18

43:33 and probably has the overtones of priestly service he was your appointed messenger and in coming with your gift according to chapter 4 Paul says your gift was a spiritual sacrifice an odor of a sweet smell acceptable to God and whether we understand the word in its more general sense one who renders official service or more specifically one who renders official priestly service this much again is clear he was a man who had a designated mission to perform and the reference point of that mission Paul says was his need

44:17 he was messenger and minister of the Philippians for my need and what was Paul's need well his need was material that was the elementary need and they responded to that need but he had greater needs than that Paul was not afraid to make it known that God had made him a social being he speaks of his loneliness he says in another epistle God who comforts those that are downcast those that are in the dumps those that have the blahs comforted me by the coming of Titus he says always cast down but not defeated not down but not knocked out well you see this man's need was not

45:01 to be met only in material gifts it was to be met in a companion of like mind and like heart one who could heal and empathize and sympathize with the apostle in the concerns of that great enlarged heart which beat so passionately for the advancement of the cause of Christ well what does that say to us about the man Epaphroditus well it tells us some very vital things about what constitutes a true man you see a true man is a man who's learned how to submit to the authority of others Epaphroditus was the messenger of the church at Philippi he was subject to its

Qualities of a True Man: Submission, Trustworthiness, Sensitivity

45:45 government and oversight and in this passage he is obviously subject to the apostle Paul said I judged it necessary to send him and there's no indication that Epaphroditus debated with him you see if you've not learned what it is young men graciously to accept the structures of authority God has put over you you'll never become a true man a true man is not the independent law unto himself caricature that is promoted in our own day that's why it's so vital that you boys and you young men and you teenage fellows learn how to embrace from the heart the government

46:29 of your father and your mother don't tolerate it as a necessary evil embrace it as a wonderful blessing from God God says that the tragedy of bastard children is that they have no father who will care for them enough to discipline them Hebrews 12 Paul in that passage I'm sorry the writer to Hebrews in that passage says we are all partakers of the discipline of God if we're the sons of God for what son is there whom a father does not chastise if you are without chastisement then are you bastards illegitimate children that no man is willing to come forward and claim as his own and therefore a child left

47:13 without discipline is left alone under the curse of being a bastard child now is that what some of you want the curse of being bastards nobody who claims you and loves you enough to discipline you that's not the way to manhood teenage young man young boys that's not the way to manhood the way to manhood is to have your character molded and shaped by a hearty embracing of the discipline that God puts over you furthermore it's indicative using these words messenger and minister here was a man who had earned credibility as being trustworthy with a dangerous

47:57 and important mission why did the church choose Epaphroditus not to get rid of someone they couldn't count on in a crunch because Epaphroditus had no doubt again and again in lesser responsibilities in the language of our Lord having been faithful in the little things the church recognized here is a man worthy of being entrusted with this great responsibility of being the bearer of our gifts to the apostle and ministering to his needs what does it mean to be a man it doesn't mean that you

48:40 learn how to manipulate with your mouth it doesn't mean that you learn how to calm people into the conviction you're something you're not and become adept at selling yourself and when you do you've sold a bogus product to become a true Christian man is to earn the credibility of being trustworthy that means boys when mommy says take out the garbage you take it out and you don't dump one little bit of it outside the garbage bin and if you do you take the time to pick it up and put it in the bin and when mommy and daddy see that in emptying the garbage you do the job thoroughly and you're

49:25 worthy of that trust you're gaining some credibility with mom and dad you say pastor that's ridiculous a little thing like you remember how they tested the true soldiers among the 30,000 in the days of Israel's warfare don't you God said to Gideon too many men 30,000 we're going to separate the men from the boys and I can just imagine what happened that morning when news went through the camp 30,000 we're going to hand pick a real commando group and I can imagine those soldiers polishing their spears loosing up their muscles getting ready to throw their javelins polishing up their armor and on the way out to what they

50:09 thought was going to be the proving ground Gideon says well fellas let's pause and have a water break then he watched how they drank their water and God says no need to go out and see who can throw the javelin the farthest and with the most accuracy I know who the true soldiers are those who could forget for a moment that they were soldiers and get totally preoccupied with quenching thirst and act as though there were no danger they're disqualified but those that lapped their water in such a way as to indicate that they did not forget they were in the midst of danger they're the true soldiers you see it was their actions in the little things that were the index of their

50:54 true character he that is unjust in little the scripture says is unjust in much and this man Epaphroditus could be called messenger and minister not only because he had learned submission to authority but because he had earned credibility in the accumulation of a pattern of faithfulness furthermore it was evident that they sent him because he had tremendous sensitivity to people I can't wait to get into the passage I won't do it this morning because our time is just about gone but this amazes me we have to allude to it or we'll miss the point Paul says I'm sending him back why

51:39 because having heard that you heard that he was sick he's so upset that you're upset that he's on the verge of distraction that's exactly what he says verse 26 he longed after you all and was sore troubled and that word sore troubled means he came to the point of insanity mental distraction because you heard that he was sick now what an amazing statement Epaphroditus is so sensitive to people that when he hears that the Philippians are upset that he's sick he gets heart sick because he's no longer sick and he wants them to know what his true condition is you talk about empathy you talk about sensitivity

52:23 you talk about getting in the other person's skin and feeling as he feels and seeing as he sees that's the measure of a man macho hair chested musk smelling brute over the feelings of women and treats them like play things hops in and out of bed and never bats an eyelash that's an animal that's not a man and God calls them animals and that's what God calls a man who'll violate women and not even blink an eye

53:08 a man is someone who has enough sensitivity to say if I violate a woman take her virginity I rob her of that which nothing can give back to her I will not so help me God that's a man that's a man the man is the one who growing into manhood thinks someday I'll be a father I'll be a father how will I feel if I pour my life my prayers my efforts

53:53 all that I am is a man under God pour it into molding not a famous person not a beautiful woman not a beautiful man as the world counts them but a sane responsible man or woman of God who will count God God's will God's glory the praise of Jesus as their great concerns in life how will I feel if I give myself to mold such a person and that person turns from everything I have sought under God to make them how will that affect me well begin to

54:36 learn that now young man get into the skin of your mom and your dad and seek to feel as they feel that's a man that's what Epaphroditus was like he could get into the skin of his dear Philippians and so feel what they felt that Paul says look as much as I need him here if I keep him here it's going to give me a heavy heart so I'm going to send him back to increase your joy and to lessen my sorrow what an amazing passage of scripture but that's exactly what he says he said I got to get this monkey off my back this fellow's so distracted he's so taken up with you Philippians his heart so entwined with yours hundreds of miles

Conclusion: The Grace of God Makes a True Man

55:20 away but you see true Christian manhood shrunk the miles and gave this man a heart that beat with the heart of the Philippians are you becoming a man feeling as others feel seeking to get inside their skin well much more could be said but our time is gone what's a true man well we're getting a little picture are we not I know what some of you are thinking oh you say Pastor Martin if that's what a true man is why try aren't some of you sick of coughing out you know what that basically is that's the language of the wicked servant

56:04 remember what he said oh I knew you were a hard master reaping where you did not sow in other words the unfaithful servant said you know you're the kind of man that goes on out to a field you never put any seeds in it you never cultivated it you never fertilized it you never watered it and yet you seek to get a harvest now that's what some of you say you say oh that's standard that's too high God doesn't put any seeds in grace God won't cultivate and fertilize those seeds of grace to make me that kind of man you better stop accusing God of being a hard master some of you fellas that's a cop out the reason you cower from a standard like this is because you don't want to pay the price of self denial and rejection

56:47 totally of the world's standards to become the man that God says you ought to be and that his grace can make you if God can take a man from a pagan idol worshipping home by the name of Epaphroditus and make him a man like that he can make that kind of man out of any man in this place he can do that with any woman in terms of making her what a true woman is it is the grace of God in Christ that made Epaphroditus what he was the bottom line of this is not breeding culture background education it's grace grace and grace there is a fullness of grace in

57:31 Jesus Christ to raise up in this hedonistic irresponsible self centered thumb sucking age and oh that God will raise up a host of them in this very assembly but my friend your only hope to become a man like that is in the grace of God that is in Christ and if you are in Christ there is no reason for your not pressing after this standard of manhood spend more time on your knees with a passage like this praying that God by the spirit will mold you into this kind of a man of whom it can be said with due allowance for the

58:14 differing relationships and circumstances my brother my fellow worker my fellow soldier messenger and minister to my need let us pray our father we are so thankful that we have in your words such a breath and height of revelation of your mind and your will for men we thank you for this portion for this man Epaphroditus

58:58 whom your grace made into such a noble man a nobleman not by birth or breeding but by the disciplines of grace and we pray that the same grace that worked in him may work mightily in us that in our generation we may yet see men of the stripe of Epaphroditus taking their places in every section and segment of society becoming strong in the church true leaders in their homes and we pray as well that you will raise up a host of true women that you will deliver

59:43 people from the clutches of all of the false standards that have so cursed this generation and grant that we may see the beauty of godliness and aspire to know that godliness by your grace our father seal the word to our hearts we thank you for the privilege of being together singing your praises of considering together the word of truth may that word be sealed to our hearts may the blessings of your grace attend us as we leave this place this morning may the remainder of this day be such as to find each of us in

60:27 communion with yourself in joyful fellowship with our families our brothers and sisters in christ and crown the day with your presence as we gather again in the evening and to your name and to your name alone be praise honor and glory through jesus christ our lord amen