In that case, it can lead to destructive depression, mood slumps, our self-worth plummeting, our body feeling sluggish, our will to accomplish even the tiniest of things is not to be realized, and our actions defeat us. Some scholars also believe that before news of this illness reached Philippi, the Philippian Christians may have thought that Epaphroditus had proved unreliable because of his delay in returning to Philippi. 1:14). Our thoughts based on a good mood will be entirely different from those based on our being upset. All references have been taken from the New King James Version. The Lord warned that experiences can be deceiving: Many will say to Me in that day, `Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name? And then I will declare to them, `I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness! Not only did He save the former Pharisee, but He also gave Paul ext Epaphroditus' service to Paul was a spiritual priestly function. do without." Why does the Apostle Paul use the verb twice in Philippians 4:2? I waited several days until I began to get better before I let her know I was build ourselves and the church up while battling all that come against us. everyone will be glad and not sad.". Therefore, Paul sent Epaphroditus back with his letter to the Philippians so that they could stop worrying and rejoice too (2:25-30). The Philippians would want to know, "what are you doing back? Stop speaking in the tongue because it is not from the Holy Spirit. God healed me completely and perfectly today. He healed every sick person on the Island of Malta in Acts 28. Perhaps Paul said this precisely because the Philippians might be tempted to judge Epaphroditus for being ill, concluding that he was being chastised by God for some secret or even scandalous sin. It was actually unusual for people to recover from serious illnesses, and we get a glimpse of this reality in todays passage. Paul could not heal Epaphroditus (Philippians 2:25-27) "Yet I thought it necessary to send to you Epaphroditus, my brother and fellow-worker, and fellow-soldier, but your messenger and he who ministered to my wants. The order of these first six books is: In Acts 21 Paul was arrested and remained a prisoner through to Acts 28, and beyond. Why wasn't Pauls companion healed that day, I have no clue. Timothys return from Macedonia mentioned in Acts 18:5 is also reported in 1 Thessalonians 3:6. But when we turn to the letters written after the Book of Actsthe 4 Prison Epistles, and the 3 Pastoral Epistles, we find that the sign gifts either arent mentioned at all or we seeas with the gift of healingthat they were no longer operating in Pauls life. apostolic delegate. God healed me of heart disease. emptied himself. They had prophesied in Jesus name, they had cast out demons and done miracles in His name. Paul used this word in: It is a strong inward desire for the Philippians. Amen. That is what God calls us to. Paul He was sent by them, he was their The word "receive" means: "to receive to one's self. parabolani, the gamblers. To subscribe to this RSS feed, copy and paste this URL into your RSS reader. Apart from Acts arguably Luke or Paul wrote it and Paul wrote the others - does anyone else say Paul could do miracles? Here is Epaphroditus, the loving gambler, risking it all to minister to Paul's needs. He heals according to His will today. Bible scholar J. See Peter and John's comments in Acts 3:12. his return to Philippi. Asked January 21 2014 "Who ministered to my need" -- The word "need" is from chreia it means: "a need or Paul had to do a very trusted voice to help Epaphroditus offset his irrational thinking and replace it with rational thoughts, resulting in Epaphroditus actually changing his mood. Epaphroditus emptied himself and Paul tells the Philippians to Epaphroditus means: "belonging to or devoted to Aphrodite." Epaphroditus but passes across the illuminated disc of the lantern for a moment, and we have scarcely time to catch a glimpse of his face before it is lost to us. He modeled the kenosis, he means: "to abase, naturalize, to make of none effect, of no reputation." others. 'The cup of cold water' given 'in the name of a disciple' is grateful to the lips of the Master. Three relate to his relationship with Paul and Isn't that Tongues is a written, spoken language, not mere blabbering in the air, which even Paul himself said was utterly useless and just mere cacophony). But he suns himself in the thought of the Philippians' joy, and in the hope that some reflection of it will travel across the seas to him, and make him, if not wholly glad, at any rate 'the less sorrowful.'. 2 Responses If you check take that Tour, and read other Q's, A's, and comments, you'll notice we're a group of people from numerous religions and beliefs, not needing anyone telling us who's right and who's wrongjust discussing what we see in Scripture. (Acts 28:9) Then, the argument goes, why was Paul unable to heal his coworker, Epaphroditus? First, let us review Epaphroditus mission. The summary of the whole thing I have written here is that if you believe in the word of God all things are possible. He had the heart of a servant-- he was most likely a deacon. There were only 14 apostles in the official sense, the 12 plus Paul and June 11th 2000, I came to the Lord, He healed me of lung cancer, irreversible nerve damage caused by my lifestyle and replaced 3 discs in my lower back that were gone: vertebra rubbing vertebra. It is all the words that we say to ourselves all the time. Therefore, this thinking is the key to our relief. But, what happened? esteem him in: The word "work" is ergon meaning: "toil, effort, work. John 1:12 ). Perhaps over-exertion in travel, or perhaps his Macedonian constitution could not bear the enervating air of Rome, or perhaps Paul's prison was unhealthy. All through the Book of Acts we read of tongues, the gift of prophecy, the gift of healing, etc.for example, tongues and prophecy in Acts 19:6, the gift of prophecy in Acts 21:10-14, the gift of healing in Acts 19:11-12 and 28:8,9, etc. adherents? James (Gal. This morning we are going to look at the kenois of Epaphroditus who is much like us, he is a Vote Up In Philippians 2 we read of a healing that God did after the gift of healing had ceased to operate: Yet I considered it necessary to send to you Epaphroditus, 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. that the account of the sickness and recovery of Epaphroditus is such as to lead us to suppose that he was not restored by miracle; and he infers that the power of healing the sick was conferred on the apostles only occasionally, and did not depend at all on their will, since, if it had, there is every . He was sent there to serve Paul Those who work in the nursery are my fellow-laborers, they take care of your If so, then what I meant was that God working a certain miracle through a particular individual in a specific situation, is not quite the same as God hinting that He will, from that moment forward, constantly perform miracles for anyone, and at any given time, through that person. Intense negative thinking will always lead to at least a minor depressive episode or mere painful emotion. What should they do? All we can do is guess. Philippians had heard that he was sick. This is no fleshly or "secular" work in ministering to Paul's physical needs, it was spiritual. We don't We are co-laborers. It Epaphroditus was at the door of death. The Name: Epaphroditus was a common name, a shortened form of it is Epaphrus, used in Indeed he was ill, near to death. Paul was quick to send So theyve learned to speak in tongues, but when they see from Scripture that this gift is not in operation from the Lord today, they can at last cease their effort to prove their salvation and start to walk by faith and not by sight. In our ministry, we (my wife and I) operate in the Gifts of the Spirit almost every Sunday and Wednesday. A trustworthy member of the congregation at Philippi, Macedonia, who was sent with a gift to Paul, then a prisoner at Rome (c. 60-61 C.E.). Is it possible to rotate a window 90 degrees if it has the same length and width? Medical practice is from God but cannot take the place of God to them who believe. 0 Responses The close of the Book of Acts was also the close of Gods dealings with the nation of Israel for now nearly 2000 years. someone who would represent the church well. He was an apostolic delegate. He did not act on his own. Everybody feels bad so Paul says, "You've got to go back so In this case, Paul did pray for healing, but his request was denied. We need to stop trying to Interpret the scriptures by the intellectual and allow the Holy Spirit who is in you give you the Revelation Spiritually. Not only did He save the former Pharisee, but He also gave Paul ext God's sparing of Epaphroditus' life was a tangible expression of His abundant grace to Paul. We can make some deductions about Epaphroditus from what we see in this passage. (2 Timothy 4:20), The power to heal was present in Paul's ministry as described in the book of Acts, 8 At Lystra a man was sitting who had no strength in his feet, lame from his mothers womb, who had never walked. "Yet I considered it necessary to send to you Epaphroditus" -- Why? "lovely or charming." 12:9). they also may know the joy of loving the Lord Jesus Christ." He was in the second place the minister to Paul's needs. Please don't tell me that Miracles have ceased because Salvation is the Greatest MIRACLE that can happen in any persons life. "Almost We have no reason to suppose that Epaphroditus took part with Paul in his more properly apostolic work, and the fact that the purely material help, and pecuniary service which most probably comprised all his 'ministering,' is honoured by Paul with these lofty designations, carries with it large lessons as to the sanctity of common life. Theoretically Correct vs Practical Notation. Calculating probabilities from d6 dice pool (Degenesis rules for botches and triggers), Recovering from a blunder I made while emailing a professor. Paul mentions Epaphroditus again near the close of his letter: "I have received full payment and have more than enough. Since no exercise of the gift of healing is recorded past about ?._. What year did Ezra leave Babylon and arrive in Jerusalem? The gift of tongues, prophecy and knowledge during the Acts period were only in partthey were incomplete, they did not communicate the full knowledge that the Lord had to reveal. 61 ( Acts 28:8 ), it may be that the special apostolic gift of healing (cf. This gives us the manner in which the Philippians should receive him and why. This word is also used in: This "business" is chreia, it refers to taking care of their physical needs. Weak in the faith is another use. 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. Here Paul writes of the gift of tongues, the gift of prophecy and the gift of knowledge (see 1 Cor. mercy that any of us live. Vote Up It comes from two It is here in Ephesus during Acts 19 that Paul wrote 1 Corinthianssee I Corinthians 16:19. Since then till now I have not allowed the healing scriptures to depart from me. and suffering, and given a choice, Paul preferred death: But if Epaphroditus would have died, Paul would have lost a good friend and this would have Possibly there were in Philippi some sharp tongues and envious spirits, who needed the exhortation. co-laborer with Paul, but with God. To summarise, Paul was a servant of God; Paul's spiritual gifts did not make God a servant of Paul. Consider the Book of Mark chapter 16 verses 17-20. Epaphroditus did not invoke a certain claim to be healed or visit someone with the gift of healing. The power of working miracles, like that of foreseeing the future (comp. This may be the most important message you ever read. And, again, in places where we would have expected Paul to mention the sign gifts, he is silent. That wonder-workering saints are not miracle-mills? The reason why Paul didn't heal Trophimus is because he no longer had the 'gift' of healing.
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