Welcome to a firm foundation presented by Princeton Ministries with Dr. Ken Smith. This is Carol Smith, Ken’s wife. Please enjoy.

Would I find a heart that is pliable to the things of the Lord? Or has the world been battering you? And day after day, like small coats of varnish, undetected, your heart has gotten harder and harder, so that if I were to look at your spiritual heart, I would look at something that was hard. Where a spiritual rigamortis had set in, Lord Jesus came to die that our hearts of stone might be made pliable. And I know of no other place where our hearts can be made pliable than from God’s word. And that’s the reason that we are studying from the book of Philippians. Today we will be looking at three people who are discussed in verses 17 through the close of the chapter. Hear God’s word. Paul is speaking, and he says, yes.

And if I am being poured out as a drink offering on the sacrifice and the service of your faith, I am glad and rejoice with you all. For the same reason you also be glad and rejoice with me. But I trust in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you shortly, that I also may be encouraged when I know your state. For I have no one like minded who will sincerely care for your state. For all seek their own, not the things which are of Christ Jesus. But you know his proven character, that as a son with his father, he served with me in the gospel. Therefore, I hope to send him at once, as soon as I see how it goes with me. But I trust in the Lord that I myself shall also come shortly.

Yet I considered it necessary to send to you Apaphroditus, my brother, fellow worker and fellow soldier, but your messenger and the one who ministered to my need, since he was longing for you all and was distressed because you had heard that he was sick, for indeed he was sick almost unto death. But God had mercy on him, and not only on him, but on me also, lest I should have sorrow upon sorrow. Therefore I sent him the more eagerly that when you see him again, you may rejoice, and I may be less sorrowful.

Receive him therefore in the Lord with all gladness and hold such men in esteem, because for the work of Christ he came close to death, not regarding his life, to supply what was lacking in your service towards me, our God and our father, we ask that by your word that you would soften our hearts, make them pliable. Pliable like the heart of Paul was pliable like the heart of Timothy was pliable like the heart of apaphroditus. Help us, Lord, even now, by your word that you would soften our hearts that they might work and function for the good of the body. In Jesus name, amen. My son Nathan, about one year ago, said to me, dad, I want to be a newspaper boy. I said, well, that’s great. That’s quite an undertaking.

Do you know, Nathan, that to become a newspaper boy, you’re going to have to get up about 530 every morning and get this pile of newspapers. You’ll have to put them in your bag. They’ll be more than you can carry. You’ll probably have to do it in two trips. And you’ll have to make sure that newspaper is placed right on the front ledge of this home. And at the end of the week, you’re going to have to go and collect. You’re going to have to keep records. You’re going to have change. There are going to be people who are going to like your service, and they will say, what a great newsboy. And there will be people who get the same service and are going to say, I don’t want this paper. Nathan, there’s a lot to being a newsboy.

What do you want to do? Well, I want to be a newsboy. Well, if any of you have had the experience of a son who wants to be a newspaper boy, you also know that in the first two weeks of that new experience, the father becomes a newspaper boy. And so for the first two weeks, 530 up, I got. Had to go and wake Nathan. He didn’t have an alarm clock. We went out and we picked up those papers, and it was heavy. There was no way that he was going to be able, a year ago, to lift that bag. So there I was at quarter of six, carrying the bag, and the first few houses, I had to take him and show him exactly where to place the newspaper.

But he also saw that there was the New York Times that was just dropped off out at the end of the driveway. Why do we have to take it all the way to the front door? And then there were the first collections, and I had to walk with him step by step. Nathan, when you go to the door, you knock, you say, my name is Nathan Smith. I’m your newsboy. I’ve been delivering your paper all week, and now it’s time to collect. And that’s why I’m here. Well, all he did was want to become a newspaper boy, and yet there were all of these tasks that were part and parcel of becoming that profession. Do you remember when you first became a Christian and you said, I want to become a Christian. I want to follow Jesus Christ?

Did anyone say to you, well, if you want to follow Christ, here’s a few things that you have to consider. You have to learn how to put yourself aside, and you have to learn to do the things that Christ wants you to do. You’re going to have to learn what it means to humbly walk before your God. You’re going to have to learn what it means to think about others more than thinking about yourself. And also, there’s that lesson. Don’t forget this obedience. You want to be a Christian. Obedience is important to being a Christian. And that tongue of yours, there can’t be any murmuring, no complaining, no arguing, because if you want to be a Christian, then you have to follow the example of Christ. You have to learn to put on Jesus Christ.

Did anyone tell you that when you first became a Christian? Or did they say to you, God has a wonderful plan for your life, and all you have to do is put your trust in Jesus, and from this day forward, the plan takes over? Well, if you’re like me, that was somewhat akin to how I came into the kingdom. It never occurred to me that there were going to be responsibilities that were part of being a Christian. I simply thought, well, I want to be a newsboy. I’ll go and be a newsboy. I want to be a Christian. I’ll be a Christian.

But it never occurred to me that there were actually pieces to the christian faith that the Lord would begin to teach and instruct and day by day, month by month, year by year, that I would be different because of the things that I had learned through God’s word and Jesus Christ. Well, we ask ourselves, yes, I want to be a Christian. But how? We all know that it is by the power of God at work in us and that we will never be able to achieve anything if it is not God who is at work in us. But the apostle Paul, being very practical and being the instructor to us, that it is God who’s at work in us gives us a way of beginning to understand how it is that we practically can walk day by day with our Lord.

And the way he does it is in Philippians, chapter two, verses 17 through 30. He presents three examples. People. People that you can look at, people that we are able to read about in scripture. He says that there are three people that I want you to look very closely at their walk. Are you having a difficult time understanding what it is that God wants you to do. Then you look at these three people, and they are examples to you of the way you should behave, of the way you should act, that you might grow in Jesus Christ. Now, the three people that he presents are, first of all, Paul himself, the apostle. In these verses, he presents Timothy, who’s a young minister, and he presents a man by the name of Apaphroditus, who is a layman of whom little is known.

Well, he tells us, do you want to seek after God? Then follow me, Paul, in verse 17, he says, yes. And if I am being poured out as a drink offering on this sacrifice in service of your faith, I am glad and rejoice with you all for the same reason you also be glad and rejoice with me. Paul says, do you want to know what it means to seek after God? Follow my example. You say, well, what is that example, Paul? Well, it’s my life. My life is literally being poured out like a drink offering. And you can see it in the way I walk, you can see it in the way I talk, you can see it in the way I interact with people, that my life is being poured out for other people. He uses the word offered or poured out.

Now, this is in relation to the pagan custom of the way that sacrifices were offered. The pagan, roman or greek, would come, and they would present an offering. They would bring it to a priest. The priest would kill that calf or animal, and then he would place it on the coals of the fire as the person would watch their offering being burnt. At a certain point after it had been consumed in the fire and had turned to Ashen, he would then take a second offering. It was called a libation offering. It was a glass of wine or some mixture. And while his primary offering was being consumed, the pagan would come and take this drink offering, this libation, and he would pour it on the burnt offering.

And as soon as it would touch that burnt offering, in the midst of the heat of the coals and the fire, that libation, that poured offering would immediately turn into steam. And as soon as it touched that offering, it seemed to disappear in a misty cloud. The primary offering was the meat offering. It was the secondary offering, which was the libation, or that which was poured out. We read in verse 17 Paul saying, I am being poured out as a drink offering on the sacrifice. And we ask, what is the primary sacrifice that Paul is pouring himself out upon? That sacrifice is the service of your faith. The apostle Paul believed that the work that was going on by the people of the church, the people in Philippi, that was the primary offering that was being given to God.

He saw his work as pouring himself upon that offering that was being extended by the congregation, and that they could see how he poured himself and gave himself for them. And I think in the same way the church today, and the role of a minister, the role of a congregation is that the Lord would look down from heaven and he would see his congregation, a group of faithful people who love the Lord, who are a primary sacrifice, who are giving of themselves in so many ways for the honor and glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. And the work of the minister is to pour himself upon that offering and to be able to give as an example that congregation would see, follow the example, and that together the drink offering, the primary offering of the church, would be presented to the living God.

How much, in contrast that is to the picture that is often presented of the church today. So often we come to the church looking at the minister, wanting to know what great deeds he has accomplished this week for the kingdom of God, placing him upon some white steed, sending him out into the fiftham to make sure that order is at all, is at peace. And as the close of the service and the benediction is declared, the congregation would slap his white stallion and say off, come back next week and tell us what great deeds you have accomplished. No, we have it exactly reverse. The work of the pastor is that he might mount all of the congregation upon their white steeds.

That you might go into the world and that you might be encouraged, that you might follow even the example of those who are in place in leadership. Paul saw himself as an example, and he poured himself out as a drink, offering a sacrifice upon the service of their faith. The Lily foundation. Several years ago did a study, and they spent some $500,000. They studied 5000 people of 47 denominations. It took them three years. The question that they were asking is, what qualities do people look for in their pastor? What is it that people want from a minister? They found, number one, humility, the willingness to serve without regard for a claim. Number two, honesty. And number three, a christian example of how to live the christian life.

I could have told them that for less than $500,000, because that is exactly what we are learning in these verses. That it is the example, that it is the honesty, that it is humility that the Lord asks of those who would lead his people. Now, the second person that Paul points our attention to is the person of Timothy. Timothy who was a young man. Paul met Timothy in Lystra in Asia Minor, and he brought Timothy with him on many missionary journeys. In Philippians 219 through 22, we find that there are four qualities that were at work in the life of Timothy. Do you want to seek after God then? Are these qualities at work in your life? First, in verse 20, he says, I have no one who is like minded.

The first quality of Timothy was that he understood clearly the gospel of Jesus Christ. He understood the priorities. He understood the importance of evangelism. He understood the importance of missions. He understood the importance of outreach, always reaching out, always striving to make contact with that world that is lost, that world that does not know Jesus Christ. Paul says, there’s only one man that I’ve met, Timothy. He’s like minded. He understands what it’s all about, and he keeps his eye on those priorities. Secondly, we read in the latter part of verse 20 that Timothy will sincerely care for your state. Timothy was concerned about other people. Their problems were his problems. And whatever he could do to help, he was involved. Third, in verse 21, for all seek their own, not the things which are of Christ Jesus. Timothy had a unique quality.

He was not concerned about himself. He was not primarily focused on his own advantage, but rather he was concerned for Jesus Christ. That was his primary concern. What does Christ want me to do? How does Jesus want me to behave? And in the world of Paul, he said there was no one who he could find who was like minded with him, but rather that they all seemed to seek their own and not the things which are of Christ Jesus. Verse 22. But you know his proven character, that as a son with his father, he served with me in the gospel. Timothy knew how to work.

He knew how to do the tasks that the Lord had called him to Paul, if I could capsule his message that he wants to communicate to his church, that is, learn to be concerned about other people more than yourself. Can you imagine Paul in Rome wanting to get back to Philippi? And in Rome there were christians. There’s a christian church. Undoubtedly. Paul must have asked some people from that christian community. I’ve heard about Philippi. I need word to be brought to them. Will someone go? Will you go to Philippi for me? We don’t have recorded for us that conversation, but I think it went something like this. You’re a Christian here in Rome. Will you go to Philippi? I have urgent information that must be brought to Philippi. Will you go? I can hear someone saying, no, I can’t go.

The journey, it’s too far. It’s too long. I hate traveling. Do I have to fly? No, not me. He turns to another. Will you go to Philippi? Well, is there anything in it for me? Do I get a commission? Who pays the per diem? Are you paying or do I have to pay? No, this is too chancy. There’s no success that’s guaranteed in this trip. No, I can’t go. I can imagine someone else being asked, will you go to Philippi by the apostle Paul? Will. You know, Rome is really where I have my roots. This is my home. You’re asking me to do too much. As a matter of fact, I have a ministry here. And if you could just see all the things that I’m doing here in Rome you’d never ask me to go to Philippi.

Yeah, but I’m asking you, will you go? He says that he could find no one to go. The only one he found was Timothy. Timothy, who was like minded, who was concerned more for the people at Philippi than he was for himself. And so he’s sending Timothy. We look at our televisions and learn about the lifestyles of the rich and famous. That lifestyle which is so preoccupied on self. I was reading recently about a man by the name of Leculius. Leculius was a wealthy Roman and he was known for his self indulgence. He owned some 5000 robes, to say nothing of the meals that he would often throw for friends. Sometimes he would spend as much as $5,000 one meal that they might come and enjoy supper with him. Well, one occasion, he had prepared a superb banquet.

And one of his helpers asked, who will be your guests tonight? And Leculius replied, Leculius will eat tonight with Leculius. And how much of our own lives is spent upon our own self indulgence? Upon the things that I want, the things that I think I need? How little is spent thinking about others? Well, if we would follow the example of Timothy, we would learn to think about others. It has been said that great civilizations last approximately 200 years and that they go through this movement. They go from slavery to spiritual faith. From spiritual faith to courage. From courage to liberty. From liberty to abundance. From abundance to selfishness. From selfishness to apathy. From apathy to dependence. And from dependence back to slavery. Where is it that we are today as a people full of courage? Or are we self indulgent?

Well, there is a third person that Paul wants us to learn something from. His name is Apaphroditus. Epaphroditus was a layman. His name is almost unknown in scripture, and yet he is deserving of the highest honor that Paul can bestow. It’s as though Paul is presenting Epaphroditus for a nominating committee. I can just imagine if Paul were to do that. Ladies and gentlemen, delegates, I have for you a man who you all know, a wonderful man, a family man, a man of courage, a man who is like minded with me, a man who loves that which is right. A man who is our governor. You know him as our vice president. I now present, in nomination for the presidency of the United States, Apaphroditus. Well, that is the sense that Paul is speaking about this man, Apaphroditus.

He says, ladies and gentlemen, there is a man who is my brother in Jesus Christ. He is a fellow worker. There is a man who is a fellow soldier. This man has been sick unto death. This man. You should learn something from his name, Apaphroditus. And I present him to you as a man who is deserving of the highest esteem that you can give. He refers to him as my brother. Paul had such an affection for Epaphroditus. It has been said that Lenin can make men comrades, but only Jesus Christ can make men brothers. And Paul felt that Apaphroditus was his brother in Jesus Christ. He felt that he was a fellow worker, someone who labored side by side in the efforts of Paul for the ministry. I think if anything is needed today is greater. Fellow workers for the kingdom of Jesus Christ.

We need people who will work in reforming our culture, christians who would be committed to presenting the cause of Christ in areas like pornography and abortion. There are so many areas where we have neglected. And now it is time for fellow workers to rise up from the congregation of Jesus Christ and begin the task of repairing the walls that have been broken down. There is a great need for christians who would have intellectual concern, who would write letters to editors, christians who would speak out in loving ways, Christians who would speak of Jesus Christ in the context of this world. There’s a need of fellow workers in the field of evangelism, of going and telling people what Jesus Christ has done. Apaphroditus was a fellow worker. He was willing to labor for Jesus Christ as a soldier.

Apaphroditus knew that he wrestled not against flesh and blood, but rather against principalities and powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this present age. Remember going through pilot training. One of the things that we would learn is formation flying. Formation flying was to be used as you would go on approach for various missions, and you would learn that your life depended upon the lead pilot. And you would keep your eye upon a fixed point in the lead plane, and then you would select a second point that would be in reference to a second plane. And all that you did, all of your concentration, was to maintain the distance, the speed between that point and that point. And you never took your eyes off of either of those two points because your attention was constantly focused.

You had no idea where that lead plane was taking you, but you kept your eyes on the lead and a point of reference. The lead and a point of reference. As the church of Jesus Christ, we are called upon to keep our eyes upon Jesus Christ, who is in the lead, to make sure that all of our direction is taken from him. But at the same time, we need reference points, we need others around us that we might keep our eye on the lead and a reference point. A lead and a reference point. And so, as Christians, we keep our eyes focused on Jesus Christ. But we also look to people like Paul, like Timothy, like apaphroditus, that we might always have a point of contrast.

And I would ask you, as followers of Jesus Christ, those who are seeking after his kingdom, do you have your eye upon the lead Jesus Christ, and are you able to see from amongst the congregation enough points so that you can fly in formation, so that you know your mission? And as you look at Christ and you look at what other people are doing, you don’t suddenly find out, I looked at this plane and it’s back here. Oh, my. It’s hard for me to keep my eyes on the lead in a plane that’s back there.

And as Christians, your behavior, your example is part of what would make a church strong, for we need to follow the examples because they are reference points for us, the Timothy’s, the Apaphroditus, and the Paul’s, to see that we are constantly focused upon the lead of Jesus Christ. If you would truly seek after God and truly be known by him, and keep your eyes upon Christ, but also know, Christians, that your place in the formation is responsible for keeping other christians following Christ, let us keep our eyes fixed on him. And may your example and my example be one of encouragement, be one of strengthening, be one that is complementary to the leadership of Jesus Christ. Let us pray. Our God and our father, we thank you for the example of these men. Timothy Epaphroditus, Paul.

Father, we realize they are simply men, but men who have been placed in scripture as examples to us, Father. Help us to be like them. Help us to grow to be more and more like these examples who themselves were seeking to follow the leadership of Jesus Christ. Help us, Father, to see that as our eyes are upon Christ, we are also greatly encouraged or we are greatly discouraged as we look to the example of one another. We ask that you would make each of us an encouragement to one another, that we might go in unity, that we might accomplish the mission that our leader, Jesus Christ, has called us to, and we would give you thanks in his name. Amen.

Thank you for listening to a firm foundation presented by Princeton Ministries. This programming is supported by you, the listener. You may go to our website, princetonministries.org or send your donation to Princeton Ministries Post Office Box 2171, Princeton, New Jersey 8543. That’s Princeton Ministries Post Office Box 2171, Princeton, New Jersey 8543. The Lord bless you and Dr. Smith looks forward to hearing from you. We would like to thank Rones Web Development company for making this webcast possible. You can find their link at the bottom of our website, princetonministries.org.