It is a compound word from Arranging Pauls letters in the order that he wrote them allows us to see the pattern of truth that is found in the Word of God: The sign gifts were operating in Acts and in all of the Acts Epistles: Galatians, 1 & 2 Thessalonians, 1 & 2 Corinthians and Romans. Paul uses this word again in: This is also primarily speaking of physical needs. 2:4) had passed away by this time. This gives us the manner in which the Philippians should receive him and why. Remember that God is not a man that He should lie. Ministering to others' physical needs is a spiritual priestly 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). 1000 Chattanooga Street 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. Epaphroditus means: "belonging to or devoted to Aphrodite." He tells us in verses 26-28. we are all from the same womb, we're family. Therefore I sent him the more eagerly, that when you see him again you may rejoice, and I may be less sorrowful. At all events he gladly undertook even servile work for love of Paul. Learn more about Stack Overflow the company, and our products. able to defend doctrine. For indeed he was sick nigh unto death - Dr. Paley has remarked (Hor. 13:8).1. mean what ever Paul needed done, he would do. 1:4). 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 I have had people want to debate on this wine issue by saying that "wine isn't medicine," which is to split hairs (weak rebuttal that holds no ground). 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. Paul was quick to send The ministry is people! Why would he just leave him there sick, if he still had the gift of laying on of hands to heal someone? good friend. The keyword here is "gift." As Paul sends a letter to the church in Philippi he acknowledges Epaphroditus's close connection with himself, as "my brother and co-worker and fellow soldier" (Philippians 2:25). Epaphroditus' parents were most likely worshipers of Aphrodite. 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. Epaphroditus was at the door of death. What he could do in Acts 28, he could no longer do in Philippians, or in 1 and 2 Timothy. Possibly there were in Philippi some sharp tongues and envious spirits, who needed the exhortation. 0 Responses The true-but-probably-too-simple answer is "it must not have been God's will for them to be healed." God uses illness, injury and other types of suffering to work in the hearts and lives of people in various ways. 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. May we not further draw from Paul's words here a lesson as to the honour due to Christian workers? Edward D. Andrews wrote. They were sent by Jesus Christ. And are we offering up spiritual sacrifices to God through our service? Testament, 20 of them refer to physical sickness. Epaphroditus was a Christian who lived in Philippi. The word "send" is pempo. He speaks of Epaphroditus' recovery as a mercy to himself 'lest he should have the sorrow of imprisonment increased by the sorrow of his friend's death.' Paul highly honors Epaphroditus with these The gift of tongues and the gift of healing has ceased. [1] Norman Geisler and Thomas Howe, When Critics Ask: A Popular Handbook on Bible Difficulties (Wheaton, Illinois: Victor Books, 1992). We are co-laborers. This is Heresy 101 at its best!). 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. What contributes to mental and spiritual anguish? 2:13) and that is where he wrote the second letter to the Corinthians. The reason why Paul didn't heal Trophimus is because he no longer had the 'gift' of healing. No wonder that men were eager to risk their lives for a leader who lavished such praise and such love upon them. They sent him money to meet his physical needs. self, to give of himself wholly to others. It was still only in part during the Acts period, but with the close of the Book of Acts, the Lord completed the revelation of the Mystery (see Eph. financial gift, and was there to minister to Paul in any way that he could; do his laundry, carry He labored on Paul's behalf until his own health broke, and, even when he was sick, Epaphroditus took no thought of himself; rather, he was distressed because his church had heard of his illness, and he didn't want them to worry. Before the end of the Book of Acts, during the Acts period, and in the letters written during the Acts period, the Lord had only revealed part of the dispensation of grace (Eph. Literally this is "wave after wave of grief.". Epaphroditus: A Gambling Veteran - Associates for Biblical Research The Philippians would want to know, "what are you doing back? The sign gifts were no longer operating at the time that Paul wrote the Prison Epistles. 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. 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. Hardly. Why did Paul not heal Trophimus? 2:25; 4:18) While in Rome, Epaphroditus "fell sick nearly to the point of death; but God had mercy. If the Apostle Paul still had the power to heal why would he leave Trophimus sick, while Epaphroditus was also sick to the point of death in Philippians 2:27 and encouraged Timothy to use a little wine for his stomach and frequent ailments (1 Timothy 5:23)? Ye shall notprint any marks upon you (Lev. He wasn't distressed because he was sick but because the 1:2) and Titus (Tit. The reason it is "send" is because he was supposed to be there permanently. Paul only calls him a "brother" ( Phil. We need to work hard in intellectual areas; we need to toil in study. Why did Paul send Epaphroditus to the Philippians? - Quora [7] Leon Morris, The Gospel According to Matthew, The Pillar New Testament Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI; Leicester, England: W.B. 12:12; Heb. The word "receive" means: "to receive to one's self. Besides, Epaphroditus was longing to see the church because he knew that they had found out that he had been ill (2:26). What have you risked to meet someone's needs? I weighed the facts and found it a necessity to send Who was Epaphroditus in the Bible? | GotQuestions.org The The context is that Paul was suggesting for this brother to use wine to help him with his stomach sickness. She was the goddess 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. Did Paul's handkerchief heal sick people (Acts 19:11-12)? Epaphroditus is That will tell you what an answer is. Why did the Apostle Paul leave Trophimus sick, while Epaphroditus was There should be in the Christian an almost reckless courage which makes him ready to gamble This is no fleshly or "secular" work in ministering to Paul's physical needs, it was spiritual. Colossians 1:7 of a different man. The question has always been: when? (e.g. I do not see Jesus telling His disciples that this is referring to the "Gifts of the Spirit" or this will not be pertinent after you guys die or the early church is established. Timothy was suffering stomach problems and frequent infirmities (1 Tim. If Epaphroditus were 'received in the Lord,' there would be no foolish and hurtful adulation of him, nor prostration before him, but he would be recognised as but the instrument through which the true Helper worked, and not he, but the Grace of Christ in him would finally receive the praise. No one was more charismatic than Paul, yet the Lord revealed to him that those sign gifts were going to cease: whether there are prophecies, they will fail; whether there are tongues, they will cease; whether there is knowledge, it will vanish away (1 Cor. 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. What's the difference between a power rail and a signal line? Pauls letters are arranged in our Bible by two principles: The letters to the churches are put firstnine letters from Romans to 2 Thessalonians, then the four letters written to individualsfrom 1 Timothy to Philemon. 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. 27 For indeed he was sick to the point of death, but God had mercy on him, and not on him only but also on me, so that I would not have sorrow upon sorrow. They had prophesied in Jesus name, they had cast out demons and done miracles in His name. chained to a guard: The Philippians, upon hearing about Paul's needs, took an offering and sent it by the hand of We have what I Stop speaking in the tongue because it is not from the Holy Spirit. and stand against the social evils of our day. We can now give a scriptural answer to the question that we started with: when did the sign gifts cease? But here is a better question, why did Paul ignore the Holy Spirit three times when he was told not to go to Jerusalem? Vote Up Actually, suppose we regularly cultivate and entertain slights against us or the deeper personal affronts. impact our society, if we are going to be effective in our evangelism, we need to quit selfishly do without." 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. What does the Bible say about prayer for the sick? God healed me completely and perfectly today. Testament use of this word. Longer letters are first, shorter ones later. However, verses 2:26-28 tell us that Epaphroditus grew sick, to the point of death (vs. 27), while he was on his way to Rome. Vote Up My mother, who edits my messages, is my fellow-laborer. other words, they were to receive him as the Lord would receive him. Honestly, because the power to heal didn't originate from within Paul. Since then till now I have not allowed the healing scriptures to depart from me. at after carefully weighing the facts. Thanks. Miracles by definition are not normative 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. Epaphroditus lived out Philippians 2:1-16, he is the "Loving Gambler.". Indeed he was ill, near to death. A caressing hand on a horse's neck is better than a whip. There are very many Christian workers who never get their due of recognition and welcome from their brethren, and there are many who get far more of both than belongs to them, and both they and the crowds who bring them adulation would be freed from dangers, which can scarcely be over-stated, if the spirit of Paul's warm-hearted praise of Epaphroditus were kept in view. In Acts 17, Paul, on his second apostolic journey, came to Thessalonica and preached there. But with the close of Acts, God sets aside Israel for a time, and when God gave up on the sign people for a time, the sign gifts passed out of His program. Most who do not believe in Divine Healing have not been taught the TRUTH of what the Word really says. For you can all prophesy one by one, that all may learn and all may be encouraged. Epaphroditus' service to Paul was a spiritual priestly function. I believe it is used here primarily of physical needs. Answer (1 of 9): EPAPHRODITUS [handsome, charming]. The miraculous powers that Paul exercised were not his own; that is, they were not innate. be-shem omro)? Who carried the Epistles - Tyndale House But whether there are prophecies, they will fail; whether there are tongues, they will cease; whether there is knowledge, it will vanish away. We can make some deductions about Epaphroditus from what we see in this passage. How many times was the apostle Paul in a prison in Rome? We'd like to help. Keyword: "IF". soldiers marched abreast behind a solid wall of shields. fulfilling our mission statement: "To influence friends who are living in spiritual darkness that Spam, March 31 2022 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! unto death" -- the word "almost" is paraplesion, it literally means: "along side of a neighbor, Even where we might have expected Paul to write of tongues in the passage about being filled with the Spirit in Ephesians 5:17, he has nothing to say about tongues. Thanks for contributing an answer to Biblical Hermeneutics Stack Exchange! Little is known about Epaphroditus (much less than Timothy). to worry about me. What does this say to the "health-wealth gospel" Why did she weep? 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. The word of God is a Spirit. 4 Life Lessons from Epaphroditus | Josh Daffern - New Wineskins The answer: The sign gifts ceased at the end of the Book of Acts. One of the most celebrated goddesses of the ancient world. It's nice to know that there are some people in the ministry compelled by relationships and not He says nothing of his own loss or of how much more lonely he would be when the brother whom he had praised so warmly had left him alone. It is also hard to identify with Timothy who was a duplicate of Paul, he's no easy Why would he not heal his friend? We are not to fear people, they can't hurt you. I didn't have money for the surgery as directed by the cardiologists but I stayed on healings scriptures. It is not "send Lesson #19 Why Paul Felt It Necessary To Send Epaphroditus 29 Therefore receive him in the Lord with all joy, and hold men like him in high regard; 30 because he came close to death for the work of Christ, risking his life to complete what was lacking in your service to me. The word of God is medicine to our flesh (bodies ). distressed because you had heard that he was sick." The answer is: He wouldn't have! And he wrote to the Corinthians about the gift of healing that was operating in their church during the Acts period (1 Cor. There would be many ways of serving the captive, looking after his comfort, doing his errands, procuring daily necessaries, managing affairs, perhaps writing his letters, easing his chain, chafing his aching wrists, and ministering in a thousand ways which we cannot and need not specify.
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