Shalom everyone. I would like you please to open your Bibles. We are continuing in our study in the book of Philippians. So please open the book of Philippians and the chapter that we are dealing with today is Philippians chapter 2 and we are going to read from verse 12 to verse 30. Let me read this passage if you follow me please and let's see what the Lord has to teach us. Very important chapter here in Philippians chapter 2. So Paul, Shaul is writing and he's telling now to the Philippians he says well for my beloved as ye have always obeyed not as in my presence only but now much more in my absence work out your own salvation with fear and trembling for it is God which worketh in you both.

To will and to do of his good pleasure Do all things without murmuring and disputing that ye may be blameless and harmless the sons of God without rebuke in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation among whom ye shine as lights in the world. Holding forth the word of life that I may rejoice in the day of Messiah That I have not run in vain, neither labored in vain Yea, and if I be offered upon the sacrifice and service of your faith I joy and rejoice with you all for the same cause also do ye joy and rejoice with me but I trust 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 naturally care for your state For all seek their own Not the things which are Jesus the Messiah But ye know the proof of him That as a son with the father He has served with me in the gospel Him therefore I hope to send presently so soon as I shall see how it will go with me.

But I trust in the Lord that I also myself shall come shortly. Yet I suppose it necessary to send to you Apaphroditus, my brother and companion in labor and fellow soldier, but your messenger and he that ministered to my wants. For he longed after you all, and was full of heaviness, because that ye had heard that he had been sick. For indeed he was sick nigh unto death. But God had mercy on him, and not on him only, but on me also, lest I should have sorrow upon sorrow. I send him, therefore, the more carefully, that when ye see him again ye may rejoice, and that I may be the less sorrowful.

Receive him, therefore, in the Lord with all gladness, and hold such in reputation. Because for the work of Christ, he was nigh unto death, not regarding his life to supply your lack of service toward me. And I'm stopping here at the end of the second chapter of Philippians. You remember, brothers and sisters, that when the apostle Paul, when Shaul wrote this letter to the brethren in Philippi, He was in prison in Rome. What a sight to see. Here's a man that is in prison writing to believers at the city of Philippi because apparently he received a report that there was a problem in this local assembly.

And we saw already in the first chapter of the book that he was greeting them that he actually was telling them a little bit about himself and about the fact that he was in bonds. Do you remember what he said in chapter 1 and verse 7? Even as it is meant for me to think this of you all, because I have you in my heart inasmuch as in, that as both in my bonds and in the defense and the confirmation of the gospel, ye all are partakers of my grace. He's writing to them and he says, listen, even though you are having a fellowship with me, you are partakers in my grace, even though I am right now in prison in Rome.

And in the second chapter, of course, he was writing the second point that he wanted to mention to them. And in the second chapter, we said that in the second chapter, the theme is Yeshua as our example. As chapter one, Yeshua showed his humility and he became the believer's life. But in chapter two, Yeshua is the one that become for the believer as the example. And it is so wonderful to see how much example our Lord Yeshua the Messiah have been for us in his life and his death in his humiliation when he died for us on the tree. And so chapter 2, in the first 11 verses, which we have covered in a previous ministry meeting, he has set before the brothers and sisters in the first 11 verses the fact that Yeshua became an example to the believers.

And you remember in the first four verses he wanted them to fulfill his joy to be like-minded, verse 2. To have the same love one towards another and to be of one accord and of one mind. You remember this is verse 2 of Philippians chapter 2. He said, let nothing be done through strife, verse 3. Vainglory, but in lowliness of mind, let each esteem other better than themselves. Look at the standard that the believers are called to live their lives. Why? Because if we don't have others on our mind, if we don't have others to esteem others higher, if we esteem only ourselves and exalt ourselves, we cannot be a help to others.

And the whole thought here in the second chapter is the importance of Yeshua the Messiah to be for us as an example. He's our life in chapter 1, and he's our example in chapter 2. And so, in verses 5 to 11, we talked about the humility and the exaltation of Yeshua the Messiah. You remember what he said, let this mind be in you which was in the Mashiach Yeshua, verse 5. Brothers and sisters of Philippi, we can say brothers and sisters here locally right now, let this mind be in you which was in our Lord Yeshua, Jesus the Messiah. And then he gave the example of the Messiah, who being in the form of God, thought of not robbery to be equal with God, but he made himself of no reputation.

And he took upon him the form of a servant, and he was made in a likeness of men. And being found in a fashion as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. And we talked about the seven false steps downward that Yeshua took, which brought about our salvation. It was necessary for God the Son in the person of Yeshua, the Messiah of Israel, the Savior of the world, to come down to this world to become a man and to humble himself and to go all the way to the cross. There God punished him, the just, for the unjust in order to bring the Philippians, you and I, to God.

He was the just one. We are the unjust one. And so now, after he had such an amazing example in the work of Yeshua the Messiah, Jesus Christ, then God highly exalted him. And you remember we read verses 9, 10, 11, therefore God have highly exalted him. And he gave him a name which is above every name, that the name of Yeshua, the despised name, every knee should bow. Every tongue will confess that Yeshua, the Messiah, is Lord, adorned to the glory of God, the Father. Such a wonderful thing. You see, humility brings an exaltation. If one exalts himself, God will humble him. And so now the Apostle Paul continues.

And in the next verses, which we read today, verses 12 to 16, he now gives us three examples of three men, like you and I, who also learn somewhat from Yeshua, their Messiah, their Lord, their Savior. But before he gives an information about these three men, namely, Paul, Shaul, Timothy, and Epaphroditus, Paul, a Jewish man, Timothy, whose mother was Jewish and his father was a Gentile, and Apaphroditus, who was a Gentile, who was a goy from the nations of the world. He brings an example from the Hebrew of the Hebrews, namely Paul, with Timothy and Apaphroditus, three men who were part of a redeemed company, and he gives an example how it is possible with the Lord's help to be an example.

But before he talks about these three men, himself, Timothy, and Epaphroditus, he's requesting, he's desiring humility from the brothers and sisters in the local assembly in Philippi. And he desires humility and meekness from you and from me. And he's writing to them, notice in verses 12 to 16, and he says in verse 12, he says, Wherefore, wherefore, it always takes us back to what happened before, Therefore, wherefore, because of the example that we have in our Lord Jesus the Messiah, in our Lord Yeshua HaMashiach, wherefore, he says, my beloved, verse 12, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.

Now, I'm sorry to say that many times I heard so many views about this verse. People say, you see, you have to work out for your salvation. In order to be saved, you've got to work, you see. It's not only God sent the Messiah, Yeshua, to die for you on the tree, on the cross to save you, but you need to do something yourself in order to have salvation. But, beloved brothers and sisters, read the text. Look at the words. Know the whole counsel of God through his word. He doesn't say he work out for your own salvation. But he says work out the existing salvation that you already have.

You see, if you look to chapter 1 again, in verse 1, Paul said, when he was writing this letter, he said, Paul and Timothee, the servants of Yeshua the Messiah, To all the saints in the Messiah Yeshua, which are in Philippi, with the overseers and the servants. He called them saints, set apart for God. You cannot be half saint and half not. You cannot be set apart for God, a person that had been already redeemed or half redeemed. You either belong to the Lord or you not belong to the Lord. And that's why He's saying to them, He's calling them, notice in chapter 2 and verse 12, He says, My beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now, beloved brothers and sisters of the local assembly at Philippi, how much more now in my absence work it out, your salvation, which you already have with fear and with trembling.

In other words, what he's really saying here in this verse 12 to these saints in Philippi, he says, I want you to work out, I want you to perform, I want you to achieve an outcome of your salvation. If you are saved and you belong to him, if you are saints, chapter 1 and verse 1, well, work it out in your lives. Work her out among yourselves. You see, he was talking collectively to the whole local assembly. And apparently, there were frictions. Like sometimes we have friction between each other. There were misunderstandings. Like sometimes we have today. Whether it is here locally or in many places, in many congregations and church groups, where you have friction among the people of God.

They are saints. They belong to the Lord. But it's another thing. It is to work it out. To live together as saints. To bear with one another, to help each other. And so he's telling them, work out what you already have. You are saved, you are redeemed, you are saved. But prove it in your lives as you gather together, as you meet with each other. How do we conduct ourselves with one another? So he doesn't tell them, work out for your salvation. But he says, work out the salvation that you already have. But do it with fear and with trembling. What does that mean? You know, we have to deal with God.

I mean, is God really in our lives? We cannot be believers that carelessly conduct ourselves towards one another. It's terrible to see believers fight. Believers hurt each other. Don't have the reverence to the Lord, the fear of God, which is the beginning of wisdom. The reverence towards the things of God. God is not pleased with it. And you know what? God disciplined his own children. He disciplined his own people. And that's why there ought to be respect and reverence to the Lord in our dealing with each other. There got to be respect and honor to the Lord and also in the way that we deal with each other.

Now notice that he says in the next verse, in verse 13, he says, listen. For it is God which works in you both to will and to do of his own good pleasure. You see, it's not a matter of up and down in a believer's life. It's an in and out. God works in us. And he wants to work in us his own good pleasure. Not our own pleasure, but his good pleasure in the lives of the believers. And so he's saying, you notice how quickly we learn here. Where he said, work out your salvation with fear and trouble, for it is God, which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.

Not our pleasure, but his good pleasure. You know, in a relationship in the Philippian local assembly, apparently they must have had some friction among some of the believers there. And instead of gently and graciously dealing with each other, apparently there must have been some problems. Later on you'll find out that he was mentioning there were apparently some two sisters in chapter 4, Eodias and Cintias. He asked for them to have the same mind in the Lord. Apparently it's not only the brothers who sometimes fight, sometimes the sisters are having disagreement and argument with each other and discomfort with each other. And he's just looking at the local assembly, the local congregation, and he says listen God works in you not as he was God works in you both to will but not also to will also to do of his good pleasure you know God wants to do something in a life of his own people he didn't only save us so we will have ticket to go to heaven and we can do what we want here in this world no he saved us so when that we will live for him and be a testimony for him in this world and specifically when we relate to each other you know we are part of a family all believers are part of the family of God it's just like a natural family you know you have husband and wife and children and if the children are bickering always fighting with each other and if the husbands and wives don't treat each other in the right way.

It destroyed the whole testimony of a good healthy family. Now does that mean that the children are not the children of. The parents because they fight with each other? Of course not. Does that mean that the husband and the wife are not married because they argue? Of course not. They are still married, they are still family they are still part of this unit but it sure is better when there is harmony among this family. There is a blessing among the people of God in a local assembly and so he's saying to them God is working both to will and to do of his good pleasure you know this expression his good pleasure if you just turn for a second to Hebrews chapter 13 look what the writer to the Hebrews said to the Hebrew believers in chapter 13 and verse 20 and verse 21 he said to them in verse 20 now the God of peace Elohei ha-shalom, Elohim, Elohei ha-shalom that brought again from the dead our Lord Yeshua this great shepherd of the sheep through the blood of the everlasting covenant make you mature, perfect to every good work to do His will.

Working in you that which is well pleasing in His sight through Yeshua the Messiah to whom be glory forever and ever Amen you see the Philippians were mostly Gentile believers and they and the Hebrew believers were both part of the family of God but both needed to be exhorted to seek to do the pleasure of the Lord and you remember what Paul said in Romans 8 and verse 28 for we know that all things work together for good to them that love God to them who are the called according to his purpose And notice verse 29 of Romans chapter 8. He says, For whom he did foreknew, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among his brethren.

You see what God really wants? He wants that you and I will be conformed to the image of Yeshua, the Messiah. And we have to ask ourselves the question many times, am i like the Messiah Yeshua in some small way and that's what he's exhorting the Philippians to do God want to work his good pleasure that you and i will be conformed to the image of his son so now he's telling them notice in verse 14 and after he says work out your own salvation God is working in you to do his good pleasure then he says in verse 14 do all things without murmuring and disputings oh brothers and sisters I don't know about you how many times if I don't do it publicly I do it privately murmuring and disputing somebody say that murmuring is an emotional complaint and that disputing is a mental complaint in Hebrew we call it Tlunot and Mezimot Leitlonen means to complain, to murmur this is the history of our forefathers as well in biblical time, you can just read how many times our people of Israel have murmured, there was no water they murmured, there was no bread they murmured, they murmured against Moses, against Aaron, against God.

And it's not only our people Israel believers in these days are just much the same murmuring and complaining about the things that you and I are able to do so and he's saying, listen brethren he's saying to them, do all things don't murmur don't always murmur don't always complain not always disputing it's almost like in order to cause a friction and a problem why? What benefit to the Lord and to the Lord's people is that we are murmuring and we are disputing always. Why not take the wrong like our blessed Lord Yeshua the Messiah? When he was reviled, he reviled not against, but committed unto him the Judges righteously.

Why we have so many problems is because we have constant murmuring, constant disputation. Paul wrote to the Corinthians in 1 Corinthians chapter 10 and verse 10. And he said to the Corinthian believers. He said, neither murmur ye as some of them also murmur and were destroyed of the destroyer. It's a terrible thing to murmur constantly. And he says, listen, do all things without murmuring, without disputing. I remember when I was studying the book of Genesis and how there was a disputation between the herd men of Lot and the herd men of Abraham and you know Abraham was a man of God and you know what he said to Lot Abraham Avinu he says Lot let us not fight we are brethren we are brethren you want to go to the right take go there I'll go to the left you want to go to the left I'll go to the right let us not murmur let us not complain let us not fight what a beautiful example Abraham was you might say Abraham Avinu our father Abraham was molded by God to become his servant that's why he's called the father of all believers what an example we have with Abraham and Shaul Paul going to show us here about himself and about Timothy and Epaphroditus in a moment but he's giving first of all requests from the brothers and sisters in the local assembly in Philippi brethren listen do all things without murmuring and without disputation or disputing.

And then he says in verse 15 we are called to give a testimony to the world around us you see He says in this verse 15, he says that ye may be blameless and harmless children of God without rebuke in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation among whom ye shine as lights in the world. You see, he's telling to the brothers and sisters in Philippians, listen, you are living in the midst of this world. And the only Yeshua that the world can see is in you the way you behave, brothers and sisters of the city of Philippi. And if you have disputation, and murmuring, and fighting, and exalting yourself, and not being humble as before the Lord, you see you are not going to be able to give a testimony to this world, as he's calling it, a crooked and perverse generation.

And no wonder people look at the believers in many ways when they behave like this. They say, you first deal with your own problem. Don't tell me about this Yeshua, this Jesus, if you yourself don't be in certain example for me. Why would I come to your midst when there's constant friction around you and fighting and disputing and murmuring? And instead of building each other up, why would I want to be here? I can go to any other club. And that's why Paul said that you may be blameless and harmless, the children of God, without rebuke in the midst. Now that teaches us that we are not exhorted now to go to a monastery and shut the door.

We are right in the midst of this world. Most of us go to work with unbelievers. Most of us go to school with unbelievers. Most of us go to business and all kind of things in this world with unbelievers. But the believers are called to be, as it says here, blameless, harmless, children of God without rebuke in the midst of this crooked and perverse generation. And the believers, the assembly, the believers are called to shine as lights in this world. Let your light so shine. Yeshua said that when someone is going to look at us and hear about it, they will glorify your Father which is in heaven.

Yeshua said in Jonah, I am the light of the world. He is the light of this world. And He is exhorting us to be light, to be shining for Him here in this world. Let me just read what He said in the Gospel of Matthew 5, verse 14 and 15. And 16, in the Sermon of the Mount, Yeshua said, Ye are the lights of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle and put it under a bushel, but on a lampstand that it give light unto all that are in the house. Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father which is in heaven.

This is so amazing. And here's the appeal of Paul. Now again, brothers and sisters, he's in prison. What is amazing here is that he's in prison and he's telling to people who are free, encouraging them and challenging them, requesting humility from them in their lives. And you and I need to adhere to it as well. And so now he gives us those examples. And so you notice from verse 16 all the way to verse 30 he gives us three wonderful examples of men just like you and I who have learned from their master in some small way from Yeshua the Messiah and so he began first of all with himself and Paul that is Shaul he present the example in some way about himself And so in verses 16 to 18, he speaks about himself and you notice what he says in verse 16, holding in humility the word of life until the day of your word will come.

And so he says, verse 16, holding forth the word of life. What is the word of life? You know, we have in our hands, you might say, and in our hearts, the word that gives life. The word of life, the word of God that we have in our hands, the Holy Spirit that dwells in our hearts, is the information that we receive of the fact that there is a hope and life in the person of Yeshua, the Messiah, beyond the grave, beyond this world. And he's saying, hold what you have, the word of life, that I may rejoice in the day of Christ, that I have not run in vain, neither labored in vain.

He's encouraging them and he said to them listen brothers and sisters what you have been taught what God has used me to teach you hold this word of life in order to give me joy and rejoicing in the day of Mashiach, in the day of Christ that I may not run in vain, neither labor in vain, he says I have labored I've come to Philippi I've shared with you the gospel with the Lord's help I've served you there established a local assembly at the city of Philippi and I would love to see some fruit from your life that's what he was really saying to them because there is a day coming and the day is called the day of Christ the day of Mashiach Yom HaMashiach we must distinguish this from the day of the Lord the day of Jehovah that we have in other passages specifically in the prophets the day of the Lord has to do with judgment behold the day of the Lord come it has to do with God going to judge this world in righteousness at the tribulation period.

But the day of Christ the day of Mashiach is a day that has linked us with rewards that the believers will receive in a soon coming day and Paul is saying listen, you hold forth the word of life, be true to what you understand, seek to be humble and work among yourself, build yourself up and be a blessing to each other that I may rejoice that one day when the Messiah is going to come and to reward me, I will get that reward. Then he says that I may not run in vain, neither labored in vain. In other words, all the labor that I put and all the running that I've done in serving the Lord, I want to have reward.

And not so much to occupy with your word, but I want to see fruit for God in your life. Philippians, he's saying to them. So one day when he's going to reward me and he's also going to reward you, you will have a reward from him because the day of the Messiah, he's going to give to his own people the rewards to be used for the messianic kingdom and therefore he said to them that i may rejoice in the day of the Messiah and i don't want to just run in vain for no fruit for the Lord and that expression the day of Messiah you can see that it's found also in chapter 1 and verse 6 if you turn your page back it says being confident of this very thing that he which had begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus the Messiah Yeshua HaMashiach notice what he said a bit later on in verse 10 of chapter 1 that ye may approve things that are excellent that ye may be sincere and without offense until the day of Mashiach, the day of Christ Yom HaMashiach you see he wanted them to be rewarded in a future day where God will say.

Well done, good and faithful servant. You will notice this expression about well done, good and faithful servant mentioned in other passages in Scripture. In Matthew chapter 25, verses 14 to 23, the Lord gave gifts to people to use here on earth and when He comes back, He wants to see how did they labor? How were they faithful in what they were doing? And then he's going to say, enter into the joy of the Lord. Simchat Adonai, Simchat Elohim, the joy of the Lord. You know, you and I are going to stand one day before the Lord. We must all appear before the judgment seat of the Messiah. There he's going to burn everything that had been for the flesh, Everything that had been for the enemy, everything that was not for him, you're going to burn it.

But the only thing that will remain is that which we have done for the Messiah. Every service you have done for him, every humility that you have been taking, that you and I have been learning from the Messiah, that will be reworded in the day of Mashiach, the day of Christ, Yom HaMashiach. And so you continue, notice that in verse 17 and 18, he says, Holding in humility the word of life will produce joy not only for the future, but also for here and now. And that's why he says in verse 17, Yeah, and if I be offered upon the sacrifice and service of your faith, I joy and rejoice with you all.

Now, now. Verse 18, the same cause also do ye joy and rejoice with me. Now. In other words, beloved brothers and sisters, when we hold forth the word of life in humility, when our attitudes are not pride and ego and self-will, when we learn from Yeshua the Messiah, there is a promise of rejoicing and rewards in the future, in the day of Mashiach, but not to wait only for that time. There is even a rejoicing and a blessing in the soul here and now. You notice he used this expression, offered upon the sacrifice. If you go, we're not going to turn to it now, in the book of Numbers, the book of Bamidbar, in the wilderness in Hebrew.

In chapter 15, when the Lord was teaching Israel about the sacrifices, one of the offerings there was a pouring of an offering. It's like it's called a drink offering. So after you will lay down the sacrifice upon the altar, you will put upon it what you call a drink offering. You'll pour out into that sacrifice that you would pour. And Paul is giving an example from Old Testament, being Jewish, knowing his Hebrew Scripture, understanding the Tanakh. He's now giving us an example and he says, listen, if I be like this drink offering, pour out as a sacrifice, in verse 17, upon the sacrifice and the service of your faith.

I joy and I rejoice even now. You know, it is amazing to see how Paul wanted to so much participate in the service of the believers. For him, it was when he saw the brothers and sisters serving the Lord, it gave him such a joy. He said, I'm willing to, Paul, what else can I help you with to enhance your ministry, your service for the Lord? What else can I help you to enhance your relationship to be built up and building each other and being edifying one to another. He was willing to be such a servant that he's willing to be poured out upon their sacrifice.

If they made a sacrifice for the things of the Lord, he's willing to be the drink offering more and above to be poured out for the sake of the believers in Philippi. And so he gave an example of himself. Beautiful. There is joy and reward even now. Verse 17. I joy, and then he says, verse 13, the same cause, you also joy and rejoice with me now. In other words, when he suffered and they participated in his challenges, for them it will be a joy even right now while they are participating with him. So he gave an example of himself. Then he moves on, beloved brothers and sisters, and he gave not only the example of himself in his humility, but he also gave Timothy's example.

And Timothy is a very interesting younger man that Paul met on his first missionary journey. By the time we get to Acts chapter 16 and verses 1 to 4, Timothy became a believer and now Paul wanted Timothy to serve with him in the gospel. He circumcised Timothy because his mother was Jewish and not his father and he wanted Timothy to be a testimony to the Jewish community wherever they go because they always went to the Jew first. So he circumcised him and he took Timothy to be with him as a servant and a messenger in the gospel. And then we read, according to the Scripture, that Timothy was collaborating with Paul in the gospel.

And everywhere he went, Timothy was with him. And that's why you notice even this book of Philippians, he says, Paul and Timothy as servants of Yeshua the Messiah, chapter 1 and verse 1. So now he's giving the example in chapter 2, verses 19 to verse 24, the example of Timothy as a humble servant of the Lord. And so he began in verse 19, Paul planned to send Timothy to Philippi to know how they are doing. It says, and I trust in the Lord Yeshua to send Timothy shortly unto you that I may be of good comfort when I know your state. I want to know how you are doing, brothers and sisters.

I'm going to send my co-laborer by the name of Timothy. And I want to know how you are doing. Timothy is a trusted servant who served with Paul faithfully. In verse 20, we notice that he was like-minded with the apostle Paul. They had the same goal, the same vision, the same mind. That's why they have accomplished so much. He says in verse 24, I have no man like-minded who will naturally care for your state. You know, Timothy had the heartbeat of Paul. Paul had the heartbeat of Timothy. Paul cared for the Philippians. Timothy cared for the Philippians. And he was like-minded. Can you imagine how wonderful when two people are walking together and serving the Lord together and have the same mind, the same goal, the same purpose, especially when they are serving the living God, serving Yeshua, the Mashiach.

Can you imagine how beautiful it is to see it? And Paul trusted Timothy. And then notice what he says in verse 21, how sad. What a statement to say in verse 21. For all seek their own, not the things of Jesus the Messiah. Paul had many companions around him but he was really looking around and pointing to Timothy he says look he's like-minded and then he's saying you know all seek their own not the things of Yeshua the Messiah you know when I read that passage imagine how it must have felt for the Apostle Paul when he was in prison and only a few really cared for him And the reason that he was in prison is not because of anything wrong that he had done.

The only reason he was in prison is because he was testifying of the person and the work of Yeshua, the Messiah. Like, you remember John, Yohanan, he was on the island of Patmos. It says, for the word of God and for the testimony of Yeshua, the Messiah. Here is Paul in prison. And he says, all seek their own, not the things of Jesus the Messiah. It's kind of sad to think of how he felt, abandoned by so many. He was alone, a lonely man, serving his master, Yeshua the Messiah, oftentimes misunderstood by their brethren, by his people, by false brethren, by all sorts of people, and yet he continued to faithfully share the message and work and build the body of Messiah.

Yeshua the Messiah, we read about him at the end of chapter 7. Every man went to his own house. John 7, 53. Chapter 8, verse 1. And Yeshua went to the Mount Of Olives. So you know where he went? He went to Har Hazetim, the Mount Of Olives. There he prayed and he spent time with his father. Alone. Everybody left him. Everybody had a place to go. Everybody had a home to go to. But as far as Yeshua the Messiah, there was no place for him where to lay his head. Foxes have holes. The birds of the air have nests. But the son of man have nowhere to lay his head that's what he said of himself in Matthew chapter 8 Paul said all seek their own not the things of Jesus Yeshua HaMashiach but Timothy was such a comfort for him he is like minded and then he said in verse 22 he said but ye know the proof of him that as a son with the father he has served with me in the gospel Paul called Timothy his son it may very well be that the Lord used Paul to lead Timothy to know that Yeshua is the Messiah and that's why he's becoming a son in the faith he was not his physical son because he didn't have him physically but nevertheless Timothy was for him like a son and he said he was like a son with the father he has served with me in the gospel it's so nice to see that when everybody abandoned him there was one man that constantly stayed beside him and supporting Timothy never sought to be exalted he never sought to seek the place of Paul.

Timothy was, somebody called him, he was second fiddle we don't all have to be the big machers sometimes we can be just a servant and there's nothing like that it's so much pleasing to the Lord when we just serve him faithfully Timothy was such a man and so we read brothers and sisters in verse 23 and 24 that Timothy will be sent by Paul to Philippi him therefore I hope to send presently so soon as I shall see how it will go with me but I trust in the Lord that I also myself will come shortly unto you so Paul said I'm going to send this man I want to know so much how well you are doing and I care for you so much Philippian I'm going to send this man all seek their own but this is a servant of mine he was with me like a son with his father I'm going to send him to see how well you are doing.

And so now we learn from Timothy. And may God help us to be like Timothy. Like this young man who accepted the Messiah, become part of the family of God and wanted only to serve the people of God. He was like a messenger of Paul. Wherever he wanted him to be going, he was going one place to another. He was a faithful servant of Paul but servant of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah he was co-labor with Paul in the service of the gospel well we have Yeshua the Messiah in chapter 2 verses 5 to 9 we have the apostle Paul Shaul in chapter 2 verses 16 to 18 we have the servant Timothy in Philippians chapter 2 verses 19 to 24 and just let me close with the final servant that is mentioned here in verses 25 to 30 and I want also to notice here is a Hebrew of the Hebrew Shaul Paul here is Timothy whose mother was Jewish and his father was not Jewish and now here is Apaphroditus who was a Gentile a goy all together serve the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob serve our Lord Yeshua the Messiah among the body of believers wherever they were first of all notice verse 25 Apophadizos was Paul's brother Paul's laborer and Paul's fellow soldier he was a very balanced believer you see what we read here and yet I suppose it's necessary to send to you.

Apaphaditus, my brother, number one, and secondly, companion in labor, and thirdly, and a fellow soldier, but your messenger, and he that ministered to my wants, or actually to my needs, or to my necessities. He was now thinking of sending back this man by the name of Apaphaditus, who came all the way from Philippi and to Rome to give to the Apostle Paul the gifts that the believers in Philippi gave to him. Now you see, Paul, though he was Jewish, though he was Hebrew, though he was Israeli, he's never exalted himself. He always looked at other believers as common brothers and sisters in the Messiah and he's calling him those three things.

Look how beautiful. He's calling my brother, Achie. We are brothers and sisters in the Mashiach he says then secondly he said he is my companion in labor he works with me in the labor, in the work of the Lord he is my co-labor but then he added and he said he is also my fellow soldier you know a soldier fight and a fellow soldier when you are in a fight it's nice to have other fellow soldiers with you of course they don't fight with guns and with swords and with knives they are fighting the fight of the Lord with the power of the Spirit of God and it's so wonderful to see this balanced brother he is a brother he is a fellow worker and he is a fellow soldier he is not only a brother when things are suitable for him and when there is time coming and there is a need to fight for the Lord and he says ok listen we are brethren but let you go on your own I don't care how things are going to be with you.

But when there was a fight for the Lord and to stand for the Lord, he stood with him. And when there was labor to do and work to do, he don't say, listen, I'm coming next thing. And the next time I'm not going to be able to come. You see, I can't help you today or I can't help you tomorrow. Sometime when it suits me, I'll do that. No. He was fellow brother. He was fellow servant. He was fellow soldier. He was serving with the apostle Paul. Beautiful to see. And yet, here's a Jewish man, and here's a non-Jewish man. Both are saved by grace.

Both are brought in on the basis of the finished work of Yeshua the Messiah into the body of Christ, the body of Messiah, and they both are serving together. Then you notice now what he said. In verse 26 and 27, Apophadus was a caring believer. He was not only a balanced believer but he had a care for the people of God and so we read look at this it's amazing when you read that he says for he longed after you and he was full of heaviness or full of sorrow because that ye have heard that he had been sick in fact it says in verse 27 it says notice for indeed he was sick nigh unto death but God had mercy on him and not on him only but also on me lest I should have sorrow upon sorrow you know what he's saying he's saying when Apophadize came he took all this journey to arrive to Shaul Paul to give him the gift from the Philippians he got sick and he was so sick that he may have died and so the Philippian brothers and sisters in the local assembly heard, oh, Apaphroditus got sick.

And you know, Apaphroditus was full of heaviness. Why he was full of heaviness? Because you heard that he got sick. In other words, he was wishing that they would not even hear that he got sick. He didn't want anybody to know. He didn't want to make much of it. He just was so humble servant of the Lord that he didn't want to make a big noise, you know, I got sick. But the brethren heard about it and Paul's saying to them, he says, he was so heavy because he heard that you heard that he became sick. And so finally, beloved brothers and sisters, Apophadias, not only that he was a balanced brother, not only that he was a caring brother, but verses 28, 29, and 30, Apophadias was a blessing to the people of God.

And listen to that. It says here in verse 28, 29, and verse 30, it says, I send him therefore the more careful that when ye see him again ye may rejoice and that I may be the less sorrowful. Receive him therefore in the Lord with all gladness and hold such a one in reputation because for the work of the Messiah he was nigh unto death not regarding his life to supply your lack of service toward me. In other words, he was such a blessing to the people of God that he came all this journey from Philippi to Rome in order to supply the needs of Shaul Paul in prison.

And as it says here, that he recommend him. You know, Paul said to them, he says, Receive him, brothers and sisters of Philippi, I'm sending him to you. Receive him in the Lord and with gladness and hold such a one in reputation. Now, it is interesting. What does he mean, hold such a one in reputation? Does that contradict chapter 2 and verse 7, where Yeshua said he made himself of no reputation? The thought of reputation, recognize him. He's a servant of the Lord. Recognize him as a servant of the Lord. Respect him and recognize what he has done for the Lord because he's not only a balanced brother and a caring brother, he's a blessing to the people of God.

And that's the encouragement that we have here from Apophadus as well. And so, beloved brothers and sisters, the second chapter of the book of Philippians really deals with the fact that the Messiah is the example. And then we have Paul, Timothy, Apophaditus as an example as well. And if they have learned from Yeshua, don't you think that you and I should learn from Yeshua as well? So I'm going to close with this remark here that is found in verse 2 and 3 of Philippians chapter 2. Fulfill ye my joy that ye be like-minded having the same love being of one accord and of one mind let nothing be done through strife or vain glory but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves.

Look not every man on his own thing, but every man also on the things of others. That's the lesson that we learn here from Philippians chapter 2. Well, brothers and sisters, may the Lord help us to be a little bit, just a little bit, like Yeshua. Somewhat like Paul. A little bit like Timothy. A little bit like Epaphroditus. May the Lord help us to learn from these men and above all, to learn from our Lord and Savior, Yeshua HaMashiach.