We are NOT only human!

Philippians 2:19-30
Big Idea: Timothy and Epaphroditus are living examples of having the same mind of Christ.
Aim: To stop us hiding behind “we are only human” as a reason not to strive for the mind of Christ.

Intro: I am only human. (373)

I was talking with a Swedish pastor the other day. We were discussing this book Philippians as we are both in
love with it and are equally challenged by it’s call to, in light of the gospel, live a humble life without and
grumbling and complaining. The call of the Bible to Christians is a high one.

As we were talking about this, my friend said to me, “Ben, I have preached the gospel in many places in
Sweden. And I have held out this high calling to people. And do you know what the most common response I
got from people was?”

I replied “No!”

He said, “That while people know this is what the Bible and the gospel calls us to do, they say this ‘We are only
human.”

We are only human… What do you think they mean by that? Don’t they mean this: Yes, we see the high call in
the Bible in response to the gospel. BUT… it’s not realistic, is it.

We are only human... No one could ever be expected in reality to love their enemies and pray for those who
persecute them. No one can ever really be expected to seek the Kingdom of God above all things, or to put
Christ first, above everything else.

We are only human… These are impossible goals, because we are only human. We are flawed and we always
will be flawed. I have tried to change. But now I realise that I can’t. And maybe to be honest I don’t want to
anymore. I am only human…

We are only human… Can you relate to that kind of thinking? I can. And it seems to be really common in
Swedish churches. Have you ever said it? Have you ever thought it?

And it seems like in Philippians chapter 2:18-30 Paul expects the Philippians and us, to be thinking like this.
Because what he does in these verses in challenge this idea within us with real life examples of people who are
only humans, but at the same time model the life Paul is calling the Philippians and us to!

But before we do that let’s quickly remind ourselves what precisely the call has been in Philippians so far.

Context: What Paul has called us to in Chapter 2. (404)

Chapter two of Philippians revolves around a song in verses 5-11. And that song is all about Jesus. It sings of
our God and Saviour Jesus Christ, who was fully God and yet He veiled His glory for a time as He became like
us. And as a man he became a servant of men and God, and ultimately died on a Roman cross, to save us from
our sins.

King Jesus became like us, and while He never sinned He died as a sinner in our place, so that we might
become like Him. Now those who trust in Him, and receive His forgivenness through faith and obedience, are
God’s adopted and beloved Children.

That my friends is a great song.

But remember my friends, that Paul was saying that if this song is your song, it demands a change in the way
we live. And Paul appies this in two ways.

First from verses 3-4:

“Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves,
not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.”

Then in verse 14:

“Do everything without grumbling or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure.”

So, if we believe that Jesus has humbled Himself for us, then we are to be humble ourselves. If Jesus put our
interests before His own, we are to put the interests of others before ours.

And if Christ, did all that without ever grumbling, we are to cease all our complaining to. Instead we are to do
everything in a way that honours Christ and in that way shine for His glory.

What a glorious and high calling. And we shouldn’t expect anything less from a glorious and magnificent
gospel!

But then we say, yes that sounds so nice Paul, but… We are only human.

And Paul, almost seems to read our minds, because he now gives us two people as an example of what Christ
is able to do in “only humans” just like you and I.

So, we are going to look quickly at these two people under these two headings:

1) Timothy – the selfless son

2) Epaphroditus - the brave postman.

Then we will look at three applications:

A. Identify – Christ in others.

B. Celebrate – Christ in others.
C. Emmulate – Christ in others.

So the first person Paul introduces to us is…

1) Timothy – the selfless son. Vs 19-24 (349)

Timothy has been working with Paul for a number of years. We actually know quite a lot about him from the
Bible. We know he was raised in a household of faith who embraced the teachings of Christianity. He was
taught the scriptures from an early age, from his mother and grandmother. And as a young man he joined Paul
on his ministry journeys, in planting churches. And after this he goes on to be sent by Paul to be the lead Elder
of the church in Ephesus.

And he is with Paul at this stage of his ministry in Rome. And we are told in verse 19 that Paul wants to send
Timothy to visit the Philippians. And look at the high praise Paul lays upon young Timothy.

First in verse 20 Paul says he shows “genuine concern” for the Philippians. Not a fake concern by someone
pretending that they care to look good. But a real heart felt love and concern as Paul has. In Timothy’s love for
the Philippians, he shares the mind of Paul.
Secondly, in verse 21 Timothy is not like many of the other Christians around Paul in Rome. Because they “seek
their own interests,” but Timothy “seeks the interest of others and those of Christ!” In this Timothy is modelling
the mind of Christ in the song.

And finally in verse 22 “Timothy has proved himself worthy.” You see Timothy has followed Paul on his
missionary journey for a long time. Through the good times, when many people were coming to Christ. And
also through the bad, when they faced imprisonment and even beatings. It’s easy to look like a good Christian
when things are going well. But when they get tough, often the real us comes out. And Timothy again and
again has stuck with Paul, even as other abandoned him because the cost of the gospel was too high.

Timothy is an example of someone who is living their life “worthy of the gospel.”

Don’t we want to be like Timothy? Genuinely loving, selfless and steadfast.

And then we have…

2) Epaphroditus - the brave postman. Vs 25-30 (401)

We can easily take for granted the challenges in delivering a letter in the first century, especially if you were
delivering a large sum of money like we see here in Philippians. We can write letters, pop them in an envelope,
stick on a stamp and send them on their way. Well, actually today it’s even easier isn’t it. We send a sms or an
email. We can even send money instantaneously via swish or bank transfer.

You would have to be physically strong to carry the money, probably heavy coins. And also, you would have
been a possible target for thieves on the road, so you would have to be able to handle yourself. With no
planes, trains or automobiles even small distances to us today would take you away from friends and family for
months at a time. And taking into account the dangers to your health, being a postman in the first century was
no small task.

But Epaphroditus sees the challenges and takes up the challenge! “Paul in in need, I will go!”

It is no wonder Paul give him such high praise. He calls him a “brother, co-worker and soldier.” In verse 25.

And it appears the journey was indeed dangerous to his health as we see in 26 and 27 that he almost died. We
don’t know what the issue was, many commentaries suggest it may have been disentary, brought on by the
journey.

Epaphroditus risked his life for Paul and the gospel.

It may have been that he was supposed to stay on and serve with Paul. But because of his illness was no longer
strong enough to be a help. So Paul sends him back, not in shame though, but in honour. Look in verse 29 and
30: “Honor people like him, because he almost died for the work of Christ.”

Epaphroditus risked his life for his suffering brother and for the gospel, and like Timothy also demonstrated a
“life worthy of the gospel.”

Don’t we want to be like him? Brave, willing to take personal risks for others and the gospel…

Paul is saying to the Philippians and to us, look what the gospel, what King Jesus can do with “only humans”
when they trust in Christ!

So, what do we need to do with this? Well, lets look at those three applications…

I think the first thing we can do is…

 A. Identify – Christ in others. (356)
We need to keep an eye out in other brothers and sisters lives to see Christ at work in them. Who is showing
you a glimpse of the qualities of Christ in how they live their lives? Who are your role models in the faith?

Maybe you have a few? Let me tell you about a few examples I have in my life.

I want to be like John Tindal a retired pastor who knows His Bible so well and who is filled with joy and deep
godly wisdom.

I want to be like Jayne Dalton, a radical example of simple yet outrageous generosity to all who are in need.

I want to be as adventurous for Jesus as Rob Dalton, Jayne’s son, who is a trained emergency paramedic, who
lives on a shoe string budget and travels the world setting up emergency rooms and giving out wheel chairs
along with Bibles in the poorest parts of the world, a person who seek the Kingdom first!

I want to be as solid and dependable as Daf Merion Jones, a previous pastor who trained me, who you could
rely on to tell you the truth and be there for you as you battled daily with your sin.

Ultimately, I want to be like Christ. In all the different ways I have seen Christ revealed in the Bible and in each
of these peoples lives. If Christ has done it in these “only humans” He can do it in me as well!

The danger is, that we look at their lives and think they are special. That they are more than human. That they
are not like us who are only human. But that is a lie, a lie of Satan. The same Spirit of God is at work in them as
in you. They struggle with sin just like you and I.

We need to identify good role models in the faith, like Timothy and Epaphroditus to remind us God still works
in the lives of “only humans” just like us.

The next thing we need to do as Paul tells us in verse 29, is to

B. Celebrate – Christ in others. (433)

When was the last time you saw yourself grow in Christ? Did you see it this morning?Or this week
even? Probably not. You see, watching our growth in Christ is more like watching an apple grow. You
can stare at an apple on a tree very hard for a very long time and not see it grow. It is growing but
it’s inperceptable to the human eye, right? But if you come back week after week, then you will see
the difference. So hopefully if we look back a few year in our Christian walk we can see growth.

But even then it’s hard. That’s why we need to learn to get good at encouraging one another in the
growth in Christ like character we see in them. We are to honor and celebrate each other when we
see eachother grow in Christ.

We are as Paul says in Romans 10:12 “Outdo yourselves in honouring one another!” We are to strive
to do our best in celebrating the Christ like things we see in other peoples lives. This is not easy for
us to do. It’s so easy to see things to grumble and complain about in others. But Paul here is saying
practice honouring others so much that you want to be better at it than anyone else!

And there is plenty of things to honour in our small little church even now.

I want to praise Jesus for Emil, who did not consider life Jönköping something to be grasped, but
became like a humble Gothenburger for the sake of the gospel. It was not easy to leave that life and
start a new one here. Wow thank you brother for modelling Christ to us!
I want to praise Jesus for Inger who put our needs before her own when she cooked that amazing
lunch for us the other week. All that wonderful gluten free pie! Wow, thank you Inger for modelling
Christ to us!

I want to praise Jesus for Sophia, Mr. Svedin and Zoe for tacking the dishwasher on our behalf at
Open House and here after our after service fikas, without being asked. Wow thank you for serving
us without grumbling and modelling Christ to us.

I want to praise Emelie my wife, for taking the kids out during the service, to teach them the gospel,
and to allow you to listen and me to speak, even when she wants to listen herself. Wow, thank you
for your sacrifice for the church and modelling Christ to us!

And there are more among us to.

And finally we need to…

C. Emmulate – Christ in others. (165)

We do need good living examples in our lives. Often we need to see a truth modelled in the flesh before we
really know how to do it. That is why God gave us a community when He planned how to help us grow. And
when we see good behaviour modelled to us we need to emulate it.

And as we do we need to trust that Christ is at work in us for His glory and our good. So we need to believ that
Jesus can change us. Remembering that the same power that raised Christ from the dead is at work in our
mortal bodies. And that change ultimately is Christ in us, not just done by our sheer will power.

We might not be able to change just by trying hard. But we can hinder our growth by not trying or not trusting
that God is at work in us.

So identify, celebrate and emulate, the good examples of Christ in others.

To non-Believers listening: I know plenty of bad examples of Christianity!

(366)
But if you are a non-Christian here today, let me speak directly to you for a moment. Maybe as I am
talking about good Christian examples you are thinking; “I know a few bad examples.” Maybe you
have had a bad experience of church. And you have said, “If that is what a Christian is like, then I
don’t want to have anything to do with them!”

And you know what I completely get it.

But as Christian, I can say the same thing when I look out at any other worldview. I have met many
arrogant, rude, bullish, pig headed atheists who seem to mock Christians at every opportunity. And I
have met people of many other faiths who were bitter and angry and dismissive and judgmental.
Christianity does not have the monopoly on judgmentalism. And you know what they make me want
to not listen to them to.

But I have also met many people of other faiths and of no faith as well, who are kind and welcoming
and friendly and who are willing to discuss our differences with respect. People who I can’t just write
off as fools. Those are the kind of examples I need to examine: The best examples the opposing
views have to offer.
Yes, there are plenty of bad examples of Christianity. But you know what? There are plenty of good
ones too. And I guess that is why you are here. Maybe you know at least one Christian you look at
and say, “There is something about them I cannot deny? They are the real deal, they are genuine.
And I wish I could just ignore the fact that they are Christians, but to be honest, that seems to be the
real reason they are who they are. They have something I want and maybe, just maybe it is Jesus.”

If you want to explore Christianity for real, ask that person, what makes them tick? Why are they
that way? Why does Jesus make such a difference to them?

If you are not a Christian here today, let me encourage you to explore the best examples you know
of what Christianity can do in a persons life.

Conclusion: Believe what Jesus can do in you! (84)

Don’t believe the lie suffocating the Swedish church today. Let’s identify, celebrate and emulate
when we see Christ at work in others. You are not only human. You are human with Christ in you.
And let’s not sell Him short. Instead let’s strive with all our hearts and minds to be more like Jesus.

“Being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until
the day of Christ Jesus.”

Amen?

Amen.

Let’s pray!