Dear friends, you always followed my instructions when I was with you. And now that I am away, it is even more important. Work hard to show the results of your salvation, obeying God with deep reverence and fear. For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him. Do everything without complaining and arguing, so that no one can criticise you. Live clean, innocent lives as children of God, shining like bright lights in a world full of crooked and perverse people. Hold firmly to the word of life; then, on the day of Christ’s return, I will be proud that I did not run the race in vain and that my work was not useless. But I will rejoice even if I lose my life, pouring it out like a liquid offering to God, just like your faithful service is an offering to God. And I want all of you to share that joy. Yes, you should rejoice, and I will share your joy.
Phil 2:12-18
I told you in the last Gem that I would make the links for you to what went before this passage and what comes after it. But that was a few days ago now, the reason being I have had cataract surgery and it took longer to sort out than predicted but now we are ready to do just that.
In the last Gem I gave you this list of the pericope headings from the New Lliving Translation.
- Greetings
- Thanksgiving and Prayer
- The Advance of the Gospel
- To Live is Christ
- Christ’s Example of Humility
- Lights in the World
- Timothy and Epaphroditus
Take note that in the section titled Thanksgiving and Prayer, Paul mentions the Philippians partnership with him in the Gospel. In the section titled The Advance of the Gospel, Paul hints at potential parochialism with some preaching the Gospel with impure motivation. In the section headed To Live is Christ Paul tells the Philippians and us to live as citizens of heaven, conducting ourselves in a manner worthy of the Gospel. Paul begins the next section (periciope) with these words.
Is there any encouragement from belonging to Christ? Any comfort from his love? Any fellowship together in the Spirit? Are your hearts tender and compassionate?Then make me truly happy by agreeing wholeheartedly with each other, loving one another, and working together with one mind and purpose. Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves. Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too. You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had.
Phil 2:1-5
Following that we have That Majestic Passage which tells us exactly how to have the mind or the attitude of Christ. It is so long ago in the context of the Bible Gems because it took me so long to unpack all the gems in it. But you have to admit the example of Christ to demonstrate humility, working in unity, not being selfish and thinking of others as better than yourselves is the best example possible. That is the message from the pericope titled Lights in the World. Are you seeing now how it all runs together. Remember that Paul didn’t put the chapter breaks in. The text was run together letter beside letter without word breaks. Furthermore, Paul did not add subtitles to the pericope (titled sections) because they were not there in the text. They were a much more recent addition and I have shown you already how they are divided and titled differently between each published version of the Bible.
NOW, having said all that, let’s look at the section titled Timothy and Epaphroditus. I have given it to you below, divided differently and highlighted with a purpose. You can also look at the following Bible Gems where I have dealt more throughly with the the division of the text in Paul’s letter to the Philippians.
Bible Gem 1911 – Rightly Dividing the Next Section (Phil 1:12-30)
Bible Gem 1912 – Dividing Paul’s Letter (Phil 1:12-30)
Bible Gem 1920 – Rightly Dividing Philippians 2:1-30
Bible Gem 1921 – Rightly Dividing the Text can make a World of Difference (Phil 2:1-30)
Timothy
If the Lord Jesus is willing, I hope to send Timothy to you soon for a visit. Then he can cheer me up by telling me how you are getting along. I have no one else like Timothy, who genuinely cares about your welfare. All the others care only for themselves and not for what matters to Jesus Christ. But you know how Timothy has proved himself. Like a son with his father, he has served with me in preaching the Good News. I hope to send him to you just as soon as I find out what is going to happen to me here. And I have confidence from the Lord that I myself will come to see you soon.
Phil 2:19-24
Epaphroditus
Meanwhile, I thought I should send Epaphroditus back to you. He is a true brother, co-worker, and fellow soldier. And he was your messenger to help me in my need. I am sending him because he has been longing to see you, and he was very distressed that you heard he was ill. And he certainly was ill; in fact, he almost died. But God had mercy on him—and also on me, so that I would not have one sorrow after another. So I am all the more anxious to send him back to you, for I know you will be glad to see him, and then I will not be so worried about you. Welcome him in the Lord’s love and with great joy, and give him the honour that people like him deserve. For he risked his life for the work of Christ, and he was at the point of death while doing for me what you couldn’t do from far away.
Phil 2:25-30
I wonder why Paul chose to talk about TImothy and Epaphroditus. Surely it is because they exemplify all of those linking elements above. Paul has been on a roll talking about the same attitudes from the beginning of his letter until now. Notice I didn’t say from the beginning of Chapter One to the end of Chapter Two because chapter divisions were never in Paul’s mind. In Indonesia we produced The Unbounded Bible Version without chapter breaks or section divisions. We just let the text run on as it was meant to do. As it tumbled out of Paul’s mind. Many people said that was so helpful to picking up on the flow of the New Testament so much easier. That my friends is exactly what Eugene Peterson did with his second edition of the Message, but the readers of that second edition rejected it. Why? Because it didn’t have the chapter and verse references in it! How were they going to find the verses without the chapter and verse references. They didn’t realise the treasure Eugene Peterson was giving them. If you ever come across a version of the Message Bible with no verse references buy it, or beg, _____, or borrow it. [Notice I didn’t type steal. You shouldn’t do that because it proves you don’t have the mind of Christ.
Humility is not thinking less of yourself, it’s thinking of yourself less. Â
If you want honesty, be honest. If you want a caring person, be caring. If you want humility, be humble. If you want ____, be it.
Obstacles won’t destroy your vision, but your attitude will.
Ian Vail