Paul was a great theologian, he knew that death for a Christian was a promotion, an end of pain Why does the Apostle Paul use the verb twice in Philippians 4:2? Why did the Apostle Paul leave Trophimus sick, while Epaphroditus was "But God had mercy on him" -- God spared him from death and any time that God spares a life Emotional Negative thoughts that flood our minds are the actual contributors to our self-defeating emotions. I don't really understand the question from your first comment. 2 Responses What year did Ezra leave Babylon and arrive in Jerusalem? Epaphroditus wanted to go back to Philippi so they would see that he was alright and end their Stack Exchange network consists of 181 Q&A communities including Stack Overflow, the largest, most trusted online community for developers to learn, share their knowledge, and build their careers. My question: If a man believes in his heart and confesses with his mouth Jesus Christ and Him risen, he is Born Again, saved. Why did Paul send Epaphroditus to the Philippians? - Quora Timothy, whom we looked at last week, was a gifted preacher and This study focuses on that questionwhen did the sign gifts cease? Why did Paul leave Trophimus, a 7-year companion, sick and not heal him? who were ill with dangerous and infectious diseases. great opposition." Paul sent Timothy to the church of Ephesus, which was a We do read of prophecies that had been made about Timothy in 1 Timothy 1:18 and 4:14 and 2 Timothy 1:6, but these were given years before. Too often our attitude is, "I can't help, I could catch it and The word "sick" is astheneo, it means: "to be feeble, weak, sick. "Who ministered to my need" -- The word "need" is from chreia it means: "a need or In the remainder of this sermon we shall simply deal with the two figures which the text sets before us, and we may look first at the glimpses of Paul's character which we get here. Paul says, No. Epaphroditus was distressed because the Philippians were distressed over his terrible illness. Spam, March 20 2018 These Bible scholars[1] present the argument that Paul had healed the sick, even raising the dead. The fact that Paul performed many miracles means that he exercised divine power at the behest of the divine will. Why did Paul leave Trophimus, a 7-year companion, sick and not heal him? What should they do? What Does Philippians 4:13 Mean, 'I Can Do All Things through Christ'? We may note the generous heartiness of his praise in his associating Epaphroditus with himself as on full terms of equality, as worker and soldier, and the warm generosity of the recognition of all that he had done for the Apostle's comfort. The Lord does the same thing for us today, although the little blessings He provides often go unnoticed. Paul uses this as a term of affection. I believe it is used here primarily of physical needs. The question has always been: when? View all posts by Christian Publishing House, Epaphroditus, Paul and Epaphroditus, Philippians 2:25-30, SCROLL THROUGH DIFFERENT CATEGORIES BELOW, King James Version Versus Modern Translations, NT Versions (Latin, Syriac, Coptic, etc. The Jews sought after signs (1 Cor. Epaphroditus was not distressed, i.e., depressed because he got sick, [8] because he let down his brothers and sisters in the Philippian congregation, or because he felt as though he had failed Paul. All deeds done from the same motive are the same, however different they may be in regard to the material on which they are wrought. Let me give you a little background: Paul is in prison at Rome, under house arrest, Epaphroditus was not only a Stop speaking in the tongue because it is not from the Holy Spirit. View our current career opportunities. Paul does not seem to have healed Epaphroditus. life, the same effort and we have the same enemies. What contributes to mental and spiritual anguish? 8 Responses (Acts 28:9) Then, the argument goes, why was Paul unable to heal his coworker, Epaphroditus? First, let us review Epaphroditus mission. derived from Aphrodite, the Greek goddess, better known by her Roman name , Venus. 12:9). The answer is: He wouldn't have! Where was Paul when he wrote to the Philippians? goddess of love. When I had Guillain-Barre syndrome I didn't tell my mother I was sick because I didn't want her Hardly. Paul sees Epaphroditus' ministry to him as The gift of healing by the laying on of hands, etc., was no longer needed, because that particular gift was a gift for a sign to the Jews! Let me ask a question: Acts 2:21 Peter is preaching after receiving the Baptism in the Holy Spirit: 21 and it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved. We can now give a scriptural answer to the question that we started with: when did the sign gifts cease? gathered his congregation together and set them to burying the dead and nursing the sick in that Therefore I sent him the more eagerly, that when you see him again you may rejoice, and I may be less sorrowful. At any rate he worked till he made himself ill. This miraculous healing was not only for Epaphroditus benefit but for Pauls as well, something that the Lord worked in order to keep the Apostle from having to endure the extra sorrow of losing a friend on top of the sorrows of suffering in prison (Phil. sorrow." 1. examples yet they all experienced sickness. Giving Bible readers what God said not what translators think God meant, Please Support the Bible Translation Work of the Updated American Standard Version (UASV). Does God Want to Heal Everyone? by Don Stewart - Blue Letter Bible The terms in which the work of Epaphroditus is spoken of by Paul are very significant. If you haven't already, please make sure to take our tour, to get yourself familiar with the site and to see how we're a little different than other sites. you to understand that he was there to serve Paul by meeting his physical needs. Is it possible to rotate a window 90 degrees if it has the same length and width? feel bad because he is sick. Even medical doctors who are saved will tell you they rely on the power of God all the time and will encourage their patients to rely on God Who is the only healer. He as a spiritually mature man. 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. ", "Lest I should have sorrow upon sorrow" -- his sickness brought Paul sorrow and his death In AD 60, Paul was imprisoned in Rome, and for the next two years, he lived under house arrest ( Acts 28:30-31 ), encouraging local churches via letters written from prison. messages that he preached. be guarded at all costs. Christ. The Christian Apologists (150 220 C.E.). The word "longing" is epipotheo, it Work done for Paul was done for Jesus, and that, not because of any special apostolic closeness of relation of Paul to Jesus, but because, like all other Christians, he was one with his Lord. All others were not apostles of Jesus Jesus said the greatest honor among his followers belongs to the one who renders the Which apostles did Paul see while he was in Jerusalem after his conversion? is not an official title. Paul uses the word sunergos here of himself and Apollos. No one was more charismatic than the Apostle Paul. All believers share this bond, Since no exercise of the gift of healing is recorded past about ?._. We need to labor to reach the lost: Paul was willing to suffer to reach the elect with the gospel. Vote Up It is used 35 times in the New [3] Apparently on the way to Rome, Epaphroditus fell sick. Richard R. Melick, Philippians, Colossians, Philemon, vol. Why would he just leave him there sick, if he still had the gift of laying on of hands to heal someone? Think of the profound clefts of separation between the Macedonian and the Jew, the antipathies of race, the differences of language, the dissimilarities of manner, and then think of what an unheard-of new thing it must have been that a Macedonian should 'serve' a Jew! Not only did He save the former Pharisee, but He also gave Paul extra gifts to help the Apostle bear his sorrows. 'The cup of cold water' given 'in the name of a disciple' is grateful to the lips of the Master. When Paul wrote now I know in part, he used the common word for know, the Greek word gnosis. And, again, in places where we would have expected Paul to mention the sign gifts, he is silent. Paul was saved in Acts 9 when the Lord appeared to him on the road to Damascus. That is what God calls us to. Paul is saying that God was PERMITTING them to do certain signs so that the Jews might believe that they were of God. But to understand when the sign gifts ceased, we need to read Pauls letters in the order that he wrote them. Cyprian, the Christian bishop, Theyve been taught that a person has to speak in tongues to prove that he is really saved, or that he really has the Holy Spirit dwelling within. When we remember that Paul is the subject of at least half of the Book of Acts, we realize that half of the 27 books in the New Testament are either about him (The Book of Acts) or were written by him (13 letters). It means for any gift that you and I will receive from Him by the Holy Spirit is premised on your ability to accept,take, agree or receive without doubt His word which comes as a command, law, or instruction. In verse 25, we have a description of Epaphroditus. Is there a proper earth ground point in this switch box? Thanks for contributing an answer to Biblical Hermeneutics Stack Exchange! Philippians had heard that he was sick. A: Paul did not have the power to arbitrarily heal: only God has the power to heal. 1:4). 0 Responses esteem him in: The word "work" is ergon meaning: "toil, effort, work. Actually, suppose we regularly cultivate and entertain slights against us or the deeper personal affronts. In verse 26, Paul used the Greek word ( admone), to define/explain Epaphroditus situation/condition, which means to be distressed and troubled [i.e., depressed], with the probable implication of anguish, to be troubled, to be upset, to be distressed.[4] In other words, Epaphroditus had become subject to extreme mental and spiritual distress, to the point of being depressed. He uses this word in verses 25 and 28. Whether we are well or sick, whether we are like Epaphroditus or like Timothy, we can always claim this promise from the Lord that His grace and strength are sufficient for us. back" but "send." Epaphroditus is The answer is: He wouldn't have! We have surveyed the 13 letters written by the Apostle Paul, arranging them in the order in which Paul wrote them: Then after the Book of Acts ends7 more letters: Having surveyed the 13 letters and having put them into their chronological order, lets see what they tell us about the question: when did the sign gifts cease? That was one less thing Paul had to be concerned about (2:26-27). John uses this word also in: This word is used of meeting physical needs. we are to pray for the sick that they may be healed. Once on his way again, he was distressed, i.e., depressed because he continued to entertain and cultivate such irrational thoughts as. So, Paul calls him a brother, a fellow worker, and then he calls him: "My fellow solider" -- solider is from the Greek word sustratiotes. Why did the Apostle Paul leave Trophimus sick, while Epaphroditus was also sick to the point of death in Philippians 2:27? I have stayed beyond two weeks, this is the third year and half after the diagnosis. 28 Therefore I am sending him all the more eagerly so that when you see him again you may rejoice and that I may be less anxious. Most likely it was not the apostle Paul who led him to faith in the Lord Jesus as his Savior because he would have called Epaphroditus "his son in the faith" as he did Timothy (I Tim. What he could do in Acts 28, he could no longer do in Philippians, or in 1 and 2 Timothy. 2:4) had passed away by this time. He didn't want them to The word "stand fast" is the Greek word steko which means: "stand your ground in the midst of Asking for help, clarification, or responding to other answers. 32, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1991), 120. with Paul helping him?". We are to follow the example of Christ who "emptied He wrote to the Corinthian church that they came behind no other church when it came to the gifts of the Holy Spirit (1 Cor. Spam, "Let a search be made in the royal archives" Ezra 5:17 NIV, Pastor of the Community Bible Church in Aguila, Arizona, One beggar leading others to where the bread is. Though Paul had the gift of healing, he did not heal this individual. [7] Leon Morris, The Gospel According to Matthew, The Pillar New Testament Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI; Leicester, England: W.B. John 1:12 ). Paul could have said to Epaphroditus, "Get over it, they'll live. The word of God is very clear on every subject. He knew they would be sad and their sadness has greatly affected him-- not his Yes: Paul clearly had the gift of healing yet his friend almost died and he didn't heal him. For God is not the author of confusion but of peace, as in all the churches of the saints (1 Cor. We need to labor in the area of evangelism. In Acts 21:33 Paul was arrested in Jerusalem, and would spend the next 5 years in prison, right through the end of the Book of Acts. It is used in extra-biblical Greek to honor a solider. Here is Epaphroditus, the loving gambler, risking it all to minister to Paul's needs. 1:1, 15-19). We simply don't know why Epaphroditus was so sick, aside from the statement in v. 30 that "he came close to death for the work of Christ." He healed Epaphroditus, but He did not heal Paul in 2 Corinthians 12:8-9 or in Galatians 4:13-15, or Timothy in 1 Timothy 5:23, or Trophimus in 2 Timothy 4:20. Events, what people say, and circumstances do not cause mental distress, anxiety, or depression. This is no fleshly or "secular" work in ministering to Paul's physical needs, it was spiritual. necessity, that which is lacking." Are we a sunergos, a fellow worker? . The congregation in Philippi loved this man so much, they did not want him to die. This is uncomfortable to hear, isn't it? But God had mercy on him, and not only on him but on me also, lest I should have sorrow upon sorrow (v. 27). But Paul They were sent by Jesus Christ. 9 This man was listening to Paul as he spoke, who, when he had fixed his gaze on him and had seen that he had faith to be [f]made well, 10 said with a loud voice, Stand upright on your feet. And he leaped up and began to walk. Have you taken the tour of our site yet? This . Introduction to Paul's Letter to the Philippians - BJUtoday 11:14). They sent him money to meet his physical needs. He did not act on his own. Instead, God graciously healed him in this instance. I equally agree that it's always according to God's will. everyone will be glad and not sad.". We have what I After studying Pauls letters and the scriptural teaching concerning the cessation of the gift of tongues, they ask, What should I do now? There are several possible explanations for the experienceit may be a psychological experience or even a spiritual experience, but clearly, from the Word of God, it is not the Spirits gift of tongues. speaks of a common origin. (Phil. Calculating probabilities from d6 dice pool (Degenesis rules for botches and triggers), Recovering from a blunder I made while emailing a professor. Epaphroditus felt extreme guilt as though he had failed in his mission from the Philippian congregation, having to let them down, so he grew depressed. 1:2) and Titus (Tit. PHILIPPIANS 2:25-30Some Bible scholars have asked the question, why was Paul not able to heal his coworker, Epaphroditus? He was given the assignment of delivering a gift to Paul and staying with Paul for a time, assisting him in whatever way he could in his difficult times. We may further note the intensity of Paul's sympathy. He healed every sick person on the Island of Malta in Acts 28. soon meaning: "together with" and stratiotes meaning: "soldier." I find the denial of Divine Healing today interesting. Do you know who my co-laborers are? Clarify My legs were swollen and my body was a mass of pain. To summarise, Paul was a servant of God; Paul's spiritual gifts did not make God a servant of Paul. The apostle Paul had a variety of Gifts including tongues, prophecy and teaching. In that he had heard about the seeds of division that had been planted in the church at Philippi. 1:11,12) that a time was coming when these sign gifts were going to cease to operate. The word "send" is pempo. 1:7)no church had more of the gifts of the Holy Spirit than the Corinthian church, yet Paul says that he spoke in tongues more than all of them (1 Cor. It only takes a minute to sign up. "Yet I considered it necessary to send to you Epaphroditus" -- Why? Paul commends Epaphroditus very highly for his faithfulness even unto death. All we know about him is what we learn from this passage. Paul is clear that we do not need miracles for the completion and equipping of our faith, but the Word of God. To subscribe to this RSS feed, copy and paste this URL into your RSS reader. The purpose of the gift of healing was not to keep Christians 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! In fact, we are so accustomed to recovering from sickness that we are often surprised when we or others take a long time to get over what we regard as routine illnesses. Epaphroditus' parents were most likely worshipers of Aphrodite. It is possible for us in the ordering of our own lives to fulfil the great prophecy with which Zechariah crowned his vision of the Future, 'In that day shall there be on the bells of the horses Holiness unto the Lord'; and the 'pots in the Lord's house shall be like the bowls before the altar.'. 7:22-23). It All this was done in a church in Austin, Texas with an Evangelist from Virginia working through the Gifts of the Spirit, ie, Word of Knowledge, working of miracles, gifts of healing. We have work to do, When we arrange the letters in the order that they were written, all becomes clear! [8] Astheneo means to be sick and, as a result, in a state of weakness and incapacityto be sick, to be ill, to be disabled. Johannes P. Louw and Eugene Albert Nida, Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament: Based on Semantic Domains (New York: United Bible Societies, 1996), 269. for a possible gain. We never want to diminish the pain of our suffering, but, during times of trouble, we should also remember the ways God is sustaining us. Shortly after that Paul traveled to Macedonia (see Acts 20:1 and 2 Cor. In the the most complete healing is when we are taken home. parabolani, the gamblers. Epaphroditus was evidently healed through the Lords direct, miraculous intervention, perhaps via the gifts of healing that some believers possessed during the Apostolic era (1 Cor. Thus, we can see Paul was not with Epaphroditus when he got sick, so the argument that he failed to heal him is not relevant. Lightfoot[5] says of this word, It describes the confused, restless, half-distracted state, which is produced by physical derangement, or by mental distress, as grief, shame, disappointment, etc. (Saint Pauls Epistle to the Philippians [London, 1908], p. 123). Paul's first burst of gratitude and praise does not exhaust all that he has to say about Epaphroditus. What needless sorrows follow in the Continue Reading, (The following is the first of a series of articles drawn from Pastor Stam's book, Our Great Commission, What Is It? theological term "kenosis.". We are not to selfishly guard our lives, we are to give them away in ministry to others. We won't help someone in trouble because we're afraid we might get hurt or even killed. He says, "We have the same So far as we read in these three letters, we wouldnt even know that there had been a gift of tongues.. Epaphroditus' service to Paul was a spiritual priestly function. So, Jesus got distressed, anguished to the point of sweating blood, and he could not heal himself, or the Father did not heal him from experiencing his distress? Those who couldn't be financial gift, and was there to minister to Paul in any way that he could; do his laundry, carry he was sick. The sign gifts were no longer operating at the time that Paul wrote the Prison Epistles. He had an illness which was probably the consequence of his toil. He was a man of courage-- anyone who would offer himself as the personal attendant of a All we can do is guess. His letter to the Philippians was just one of four "Prison Epistles" written during this time. The pattern could not be clearer, and the contrast could not be sharper between the earlier letters and the later letters, between the time when all the sign gifts were operating, and the time when all the sign gifts had ceased. Our thoughts based on a good mood will be entirely different from those based on our being upset. spiritual as teaching. All our information about him is contained in this context, and in a brief reference in Chapter iv. He's probably one of the greatest Christians that ever lived. We are In this case, Paul did pray for healing, but his request was denied. Timothy was sick and he didn't heal him: Why didn't Paul heal his friends? Vote Up means: "to intensely crave, desire greatly." What to do? 3:1-10). life, it was mercy to me. We need to recapture a spirit of hard work in the social realm. do without." We know that Paul, Timothy and Epaphroditus were all godly men. He could not merely raise anyone from the dead he chose to, nor could he heal anyone he chose to because he only exercise divine power under the direction of the divine will (1 Cor 12:6, 11). rev2023.3.3.43278. The sign gifts were no longer operating at the time that Paul wrote the Prison Epistles. man awaiting trial on a capital charge was laying himself open to the very considerable risk of I subscribe to the view that the reason is because the gifts that he was performing in the early days was a "sign to the Jews"; not all spiritual gifts are still in operation today; or, they aren't necessarily "needed." needs. 2:25-27) He likely longed to know that they knew of and understood his circumstances. Hello Restlee, welcome to BHSE, so glad to have you here! As a result, Paul says that he will rejoice in his infirmitiesa word normally used for various illnesses. In his letter thanking the Philippians, Paul makes a point of telling the church that Epaphroditus recovered (Philippians 2:27), and that he would return to them soon. Epaphroditus. forget about them." destruction and desolation. On the contrary, Paul considered him his "brother," "fellow-worker," "fellow-soldier," and "their apostle and servant" (2:25). Why are you Why did she weep? Berean Bible Church provides this material free of charge for the edification of the Body of Christ. That will tell you what an answer is. It appears my previous comment has been deleted, no explanation why. teaching. 16:23). Learn more about Stack Overflow the company, and our products. Bible scholar J. What is a word for the arcane equivalent of a monastery? But, during this time in the Book of Acts, the Lord revealed to Paul that the sign gifts were going to cease1 Corinthians 13:8-12. Spam, January 24 2014 on Phil no. And are we offering up spiritual sacrifices to God through our service? Epaphroditus doesn't deserve to live and I don't deserve to have such a Why did not the Apostle Paul ever say "In the name of him who says" (i.e., Heb. You won't die prematurely, so go ahead and take some But the Lord revealed to Paul that that which is perfect was coming. What sort of strategies would a medieval military use against a fantasy giant? So Paul with rare abnegation sent him away at once, though Timothy was to follow shortly, and accompanied him with this outpouring of love and praise in his long homeward journey. The words "not regarding" are from the Greek word parabouleuomai. We've added a "Necessary cookies only" option to the cookie consent popup. There was no reliable way of getting these to Paul but to take them, and so Epaphroditus faced the long journey across Greece to Brindisi and Rome, and when arrived there threw himself with ardour into serving Paul. It was their aim to visit the prisoners and the sick, especially those Paul would When Paul gives Timothy and Titus instructions regarding the choice of men to be elders in the churches, Paul says nothing about the desirability of these men having a gift such as prophecy, or healing, or other sign gifts (see Titus 1:6-9 and 1 Tim. I have hid them in my heart. 11:23; 15:3; Gal. This 5:23) and Paul cant heal him, doesnt recommend that he go to a healer in the church, doesnt send a prayer cloth or a bottle of anointing oil (remember the miracles of some 8 years earlier in Acts 19:11-12). Paul is saying,"God gave Epaphroditus mercy and he gave me mercy also. But we have also seen that with the close of the Book of Acts, the gift of healing ceased to operate. Epaphroditus wasn't sick because of sin, he was sick because of the work of Christ He comes back to the theme in the last words of the context, where he says that the Philippian messenger had 'hazarded' his life, or, as we might put it with equal accuracy and more force, had 'gambled' his life, or 'staked it on the die' for Paul's sake. Isn't that Was it perhaps meant to ask for a clarification of my own comment ? Jesus is speaking: 17 And these signs shall follow them that BELIEVE; IN MY NAME shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; 18 they shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; THEY SHALL LAY HANDS ON THE SICK, AND THEY SHALL RECOVER. Some people talk about health and 2. Thanks for listening. Longer letters are first, shorter ones later. And as for the gift of healing, we read of a co-worker of Paul's, Epaphroditus, who fell seriously ill during this time (Phil. Paul goes on to say: "My companion in labor" -- the Greek word for companion is sunergos. 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. Proverbs 4:20-23. The word of God is God. to meet someone's need? Pauls gift of healing (Acts 28:9) was no longer operating in Philippians 2:27, 1 Timothy 5:23 and 2 Timothy 4:20. For he longed after you all and was full of heaviness, because you had heard that he had been sick. Vote Up I was having shortness of breath and others things like palpitations, light headedness,insomnia and all that. Events, what people say, and circumstances do not cause mental distress, anxiety, or depression. So, please don't tell me that Divine Healing ceased. And in verses 29-30, we are given the exaltation and kenosis of In Galatians 3:5, 1 Thessalonians 5:20, 1 Corinthians 12,13,14, 2 Corinthians 12:12, Romans 12:6in all these letters we read about the gifts in operation right through to the end of the Book of Acts. What does this say to the "health-wealth gospel" becoming involved in the same charge. These men and women of God where normal people of God, who made mistakes just like us and didnt do everything perfect. These very thoughts are what keep us sluggish and contribute to our feeling frustrated, angry, or worthless. Paul continued on to Corinth where he wrote the two letters to the Thessalonians. This is Is It a Sin to Take Medicine? -- to Consult a Doctor? - La Vista Church There is no record in Scripture of any of the sign gifts operating in any of the letters that Paul wrote after the end of the Acts period, and it is clear that the gift of healing had ceased since Paul could no longer heal even his closest co-workers after the close of the Book of Acts.
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