Paul uses the word sunergos here of himself and Apollos. What can a lawyer do if the client wants him to be acquitted of everything despite serious evidence? (See below left). 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. 3:2) to the Apostle Paul, but He had not yet revealed the entire message to him. someone's concern for your condition? Many in this movement even say shocking claims such as the erroneous idea that being poor is a sin, and that if you are sick, "it's your fault that you're sick." adherents? All we know about him is what we learn from this passage. They had prophesied in Jesus name, they had cast out demons and done miracles in His name. In believing the word of God, you have to. This word is also used in: This "business" is chreia, it refers to taking care of their physical needs. 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. 1:14). Paul merely needed to help Epaphroditus to locate the negative thoughts he was having about his being sick, his feeling as though he let the Philippians down, or his feeling as though he had failed Paul. What is the correct way to screw wall and ceiling drywalls? Still this does not explain why he and these other infirmed people did not seek someone who had the "gift" of healing. And they did, because in the letters written after the Book of Acts, the sign gifts had ceased, just as the Lord said that they would. Therefore I sent him the more eagerly, that when you see him again you may rejoice, and I may be less sorrowful. and thine often infirmities. The gift of tongues and the gift of healing has ceased. Epaphroditus risked it all, life included, to minister to others. 7 Now in the neighborhood of that place were lands belonging to the leading man of the island, named Publius, who welcomed us and entertained us courteously three days. (Phil. When it came, then the gifts which were only in part would cease. Epaphroditus lived out Philippians 2:1-16, he is the "Loving Gambler.". somebody around an AIDS patient? For indeed he was sick nigh unto death - Dr. Paley has remarked (Hor. The keyword here is "gift." If we are going to Likewise in 2 Timothy 4:20, Paul has to leave behind his co-worker Trophimus who had fallen sick on the last journey. We both received mercy. The word "gladness" is chara which means: "joy." 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. our other elder. deliver the money and leave, he was to stay and to minister to Paul's needs. 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. Remember that God is not a man that He should lie. The answer: The sign gifts ceased at the end of the Book of Acts. hermeneutics.stackexchange.com/tour Thanks! It only takes a minute to sign up. Was it perhaps meant to ask for a clarification of my own comment ? Sustratiotes is a very honorable title used in Philemon 2 of Archipus. 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? "Yet I considered it necessary to send to you Epaphroditus" -- Why? ESV - 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. Those things are just as in the garden of Gethsemane (Matt 26:37; Mark 14:33). Besides, Epaphroditus was longing to see the church because he knew that they had found out that he had been ill (2:26). During this time he wrote the three letters known as the Pastoral Epistles, because these letters were written to Pauls co-workersPastor Timothy and Titus. 4: 19 . He re-introduces Epaphroditus to them as someone who had risked his own life for the sake of others, even "to the point of death". to worry about me. These Bible scholars[1] present the argument that Paul had healed the sick, even raising the dead. 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. Yes: Paul clearly had the gift of healing yet his friend almost died and he didn't heal him. Vote Up act to follow either. I equally agree that it's always according to God's will. It came from God, and God could and apparently did choose to slowly withdraw the gift of miraculous healing from the Early Church. Are we fellow soldiers? When God spared his 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. 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. This is the last letter written during the Book of Acts. The Apostolic Gifts are no longer in operation today: 1) Laying on of hands to heal someone (if this were still the case, then people could walk into nursing homes and hospitals and begin healing people left-and-right, but this doesn't happen. James (Gal. His was a singular fate -- to cross Paul's path, and for one short period of his life to be known to all the world, and for all the rest before and after to be utterly unknown. 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! His name appears twice in the Bible (Philippians 2:25; 4:18). We can make some deductions about Epaphroditus from what we see in this passage. The Christian Apologists (150 220 C.E.). Many Christians today have had an experience that they think is the scriptural gift of tongues. sadness. Epaphroditus was ministering to Paul physically; he brought him a financial gift, and was there to minister to Paul in any way that he could; do his laundry, carry messages, or do what ever Paul needed. They labor in setting up the You can help further this work by your prayer and by contributing online or by mailing to: Berean Bible Church They sent him money to meet his physical needs. 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. messages, or do what ever Paul needed. 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. man we can identify with. 2 Responses 3. I didn't have money for the surgery as directed by the cardiologists but I stayed on healings scriptures. A place where magic is studied and practiced? So Epaphroditus was sent to take care of Paul because Paul was imprisoned under house arrest, and in the end Epaphroditus became a burden to Paul because he almost died and Paul had to. other words, they were to receive him as the Lord would receive him. He says that Epaphroditus risked his life to 'supply that which was lacking in your service toward me.' Epaphroditus was not only a Have you ever watched Asked January 21 2014 The best answers are voted up and rise to the top, Not the answer you're looking for? And in the Acts Epistles we read of the gifts operating in the churches that Paul founded. Our thoughts based on a good mood will be entirely different from those based on our being upset. And as for the gift of healing, we read of a co-worker of Pauls, Epaphroditus, who fell seriously ill during this time (Phil. 4:18), fell ill around the time Paul wrote to the Philippians (2:2526). emptied himself. . 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. It serve, you can meet physical needs. 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. Paul uses this as a term of affection. 3:1-10). Self-talk is what we tell ourselves in our thoughts. Why do small African island nations perform better than African continental nations, considering democracy and human development? The Jews sought after signs (1 Cor. The words "more eagerly" have the idea of: "with haste or diligence." Epaphroditus had made a 600-mile journey from Philippi to Rome, an 80-day journey on foot round trip, which was fatiguing, to visit the apostle Paul. sorrow." Why didn't Paul just heal Epaphroditus? God heals when it's in His will to heal; the difference is that the gift of healing (a man laying on of hands with instant healing) has ceased, and 2) so has the gift of tongues (it's no longer needed, but if it is used, I believe that God will allow it to occur, only when the church is edified, and only when there is an interpreter amidst the assembly! The Hardison's are all fellow-laborers with me. The Lord does the same thing for us today, although the little blessings He provides often go unnoticed. (Many of these 'teachers' are a part of the 'Word of Faith' movement, the Properity Gospel crowd, et al, that teach that positive confession is necessary for having what you want or "claim," and they teach that if you do not get healed, or if you get sick or have any sort of malady, this means that you don't "have enough faith." soldiers marched abreast behind a solid wall of shields. That wonder-workering saints are not miracle-mills? But we read that Epaphroditus was healeddirectly by the Lord: He was sick unto death but the Lord had mercy on him.. Because a wonder-workering saints are not miracle-mills. 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. esteem him in: The word "work" is ergon meaning: "toil, effort, work.

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