Epaphroditus was the mailman who carried this letter from Rome to Philippi. Paul gives us a some information about the man, which we may, or may not, consider in another message. In addition to being Paul’s messenger, he is a brother, fellow soldier and companion – a co-laborer. He was apparently a Philippian, whom the church had earlier sent to carry news and supplies to Paul. After the delivery, he stayed in Rome for a while, working for, and along side, the Apostle. He may have been an invitor, bringing people to hear Paul preach. He may have been a preacher himself, taking the gospel into the suburbs of Rome. Or he may have been a stenographer – an amanuensis, penning some of Paul’s letters. He may have simply acted as a valet or butler – a servant. In whatever capacity, he caught some disease which brought him very close to the grave. He was “nigh unto death,” while struggling to serve Paul as the Philippian’s representative. And as he saw the end of his life approaching, he longed for his Macedonian friends and family. When he had recovered sufficiently, Paul tells us that he was happy to be able to send Epaphroditus home again.
But in addition to sending Epahroditus, Paul had two other things he was hoping to do – Verse 19 tells us that he was hoping to send Timothy to minister among them for a while. Then he was to return to Rome with news of the Lord’s blessings on the Philippian church. “I trust in the Lord Jesus to send Timotheus shortly unto you, that I also may be of good comfort, when I know of your state.” Paul also briefly describes his young protégé. He says that Timothy thinks like Paul about the ministry and about their mutual friends. And he puts Christ first – seeking not his own things, but the things of the Lord Jesus – verse 21. Of course the Philippians already knew this, because they knew Timothy. He was there at the very beginning of the church in Acts 16. And he visited again in Acts 19 and Acts 20, so the church knew him well. Acts 19:21 uses a word which is in keeping with my theme for this evening. After a blessed ministry in Ephesus, Paul “PURPOSED in the SPIRIT, when he had passed through Macedonia and Achaia, to go to Jerusalem saying, after I have been there, I must also see Rome. So he sent into Macedonia two of them that ministered unto him, Timotheus and Erasus, but he himself stayed in Asia for a season.” Keep in mind that Paul “purposed in the spirit” to pass through Macedonia and Achaia on what he hoped would be a trip back to Jerusalem.
Back here in Philippians, in addition to hoping to send Timothy, he himself was hoping to make a return visit to his old friends in his first European church. “I trust in the Lord that I also myself shall come shortly.” But since he literally “couldn’t get away,” he was pleased to send Epaphroditus carrying this epistle.
My theme for this short lesson tonight is to be found twice in this paragraph. In verse 19 Paul says, “I trust in the Lord Jesus to send Timotheus.” And in verse 24 he adds, “But I trust in the Lord that I also myself shall come shortly.” Twice he says, “I TRUST in the Lord.” Depending on the circumstances the meaning of “I TRUST in the Lord” changes.
Paul said that he was TRUSTING in the Lord Jesus.
When preaching the gospel, I often conclude with: “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved.” And then to reiterate the point I’ll rephrase that by saying, “Put your trust in what Jesus did on the cross.” There is a sense in which to believe on Christ for salvation is to trust Him. Some people, especially the lost, find it easier to understand “trusting Christ” than “believing on Him.” And they can REALLY get confused thinking, “but I ALREADY BELIEVE in Jesus.” For most Christians it is easy to see the difference between “believing IN Jesus” and “believe ON Jesus.” To believe on Jesus is to trust Him.
But “believing on Jesus” is not what Paul is saying here. This has nothing whatsoever to do with receiving God’s saving grace. This verse is not linked to being born again.
There are three Biblical Greek words translated “trust,” and they are all somewhat related to the word “faith.” But one word speaks of being persuaded of a truth. It emphasizes the intellectual aspect of faith. And that is the word Paul uses in verse 24. “But I trust in the Lord that I also myself shall come shortly.” “I have EVERY CONFIDENCE in the Lord that I will be able to see you soon.” The Lord’s past blessings helped Paul to believe that he’d be released to minister publicly once again. A second word is more closely related to “faith,” speaking of “having confidence” in something or someone.
But then there is the third word which is used in verse 19. Essentially Paul is saying, “I HOPE to send Timotheus that I may be comforted when he reports to me that you are all doing well.” That same Greek word is used in verse 23 where it IS translated “hope.” “Him therefore I HOPE to send presently…” “I TRUST that soon I can send Timothy to you.” This particular Greek word is translated “trust” eighteen times and “hope” fourteen times.
Now, I hope that you all are trusting the Lord Jesus in all three ways. I try to give you enough Biblical knowledge that intellectually you know that you must trust Christ Jesus. And when you intellectually know you need a Saviour, and when the Holy Spirit convinces you there is “none other name under heaven, given among men whereby we must be saved,” then I trust that your trust is in Him to save you. But this evening, I would like to emphasize the trust to which Paul refers in verse 19 – “I confidently hope.” “I trust in the Lord Jesus to send Timotheus shortly unto you.”
Perhaps that statement doesn’t seem very important in itself.
But that’s until we reflect on WHOM it is Paul is trusting. “I trust in the Lord Jesus to send Timotheus.”
I’ve been struggling with exactly how to explain what the Lord has laid on my heart. I will begin by trying to crawl in through the back window. Paul was NOT basing his hope on anything Caesar might do in freeing Paul, or not freeing him. Obviously, Paul was not saying, “I hope Nero lets me go soon, so that I can come visit you once again.” And this wasn’t about Paul’s wisdom or ability; it wasn’t about Timothy. This wasn’t a hope built on some resolution the apostle had made. “I trust IN THE LORD JESUS to send Timotheus.”
Paul didn’t refer to “the Lord Jesus” for effect; he wasn’t trying to stress his INTENTION to send Timothy. He wasn’t making a half-hearted promise, nor was he swearing. Do you think Paul ever said something like, “I sware on my mother’s grave” to do this or that? Was he saying, “May lightning strike me dead, if I don’t send Timothy your way very soon?” Did he ever “cross his heart and hope die” in order to emphasize anything? Of course not. In referring to “the Lord Jesus,” he was saying that his hope to send Timothy was rooted in Christ.
I think there is an important assumption made about Christ in this thought. Paul was saying, “I trust in the Lord Jesus’ AUTHORITY to send Timotheus in your direction.” “I trust in the Lord Jesus’ CONTROL over ALL THINGS to send Timotheus.”
Just as there are people who say they can’t see God’s sovereignty in salvation, there are people who say the Bible doesn’t teach the deity of Christ. Utter blindness – foolishness. Statements about the deity of Christ are found in nearly every book of the New Testament. And here, I don’t believe that Paul’s statement was a backhanded reference to the deity of Christ. There was nothing backhanded, or shady, or even accidental about it. This apostle is so filled with the deity of Christ that every thought of Jesus is automatically filled with it. Paul exudes the deity of Christ with his every word and deed. It oozes out of his every pore; his breath smells like the deity of Christ. Here in this verse he is saying, “I hope and trust that it is the WILL of the SON OF GOD to send Timotheus to you.”
Something almost as profound as the thought itself is what he doesn’t actually say. In verse 24 we read, “I trust in the Lord,” and here it is “I trust in the Lord Jesus.” This is not a cliche; he is not rattling off some over-used phrase. He doesn’t say, as I might have done, “I trust in the Lord Jesus CHRIST.” Paul is actually thinking about the Lord Jesus and not just sputtering out a three-word phrase.
He is thinking about the One who was “in the form of God, but who didn’t think it robbery to be equal with God.” He is thinking about the Second Person of the God head, “who took upon him the form of a servant and was made in the likeness of men.” The Lord Jesus whom Paul was picturing and invoking was the One at whose name, “every knee should bow… and that every should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” This hope to send Timothy was contingent upon the will of the Lord Jesus – King of kings.
As I just said, Paul was filled with faith in, and knowledge of, Jesus’ deity, so it is quite likely that every hope and every desire Paul ever had was considered as attached to the divine will of Christ Jesus. He might have said, “I hope to be released and to go to Spain, if it be in the will of the Lord Jesus.” When he was in Corinth he wrote to the church in Rome and said, “Whensoever I take my journey into Spain, I will come to you; for I TRUST to see you in my journey, and to be brought on my way thitherward by you…” – Romans 15:25. In this verse he uses the same word “trust,” and once again it is refers to his “hope.” And as Paul was concluding his first epistle to the Corinthians, he was talking about collecting money for the poor saints in Jerusalem. “Now concerning the collection for the saints, as I have given order to the churches of Galatia, even so do ye… Now I will come unto you, when I shall pass through Macedonia: for I do pass through Macedonia. And it may be that I will abide, yea, and winter with you, that ye may bring me on my journey whithersoever I go. For I will not see you now by the way; but I TRUST to tarry a while with you, IF THE LORD PERMIT.” Who do you think Paul had in mind when he said, “I trust to tarry with you if the LORD permit?” I am fully convinced, he was thinking of the Lord Jesus, who stopped him on the road to Damascus, saved his soul and commissioned him to the ministry. On that day he said, “Who art thou Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest… And he trembling and astonished said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?” In I Timothy 3 Paul said he hoped to see his son in the faith soon, but his hope was resting on the will of the Lord Jesus.
Conclusion:
What am I hoping to accomplish with this lesson? I am hoping that we will be more diligent in basing the things we hope to do in the will of the Lord Jesus. I am hoping that it is the will of the Lord Jesus that Mathias’ shoulder will be as good as new. I am hoping in the Lord that He will send us more visitors to our services next Sunday. I am hoping it is the will of the Lord Jesus to give the Fultons a safe journey home next week.
What I am hoping you’ll see in this paragraph that Paul based his hopes on the divine will of Christ Jesus. And I am hoping that both you and I will be more diligent in doing the same with our hopes, plans and dreams.