The Philippian church sent Epaphroditus to Paul while he was in prison. Having heard of the hardships he faced far away, they arranged for someone to care for him and gathered the support he needed. Pastor David Jang, founder of Olivet University in the United States, understands this decision as an expression of love through which they responded to the grace they had received and shared in the mission of the gospel. The partnership portrayed in Philippians takes concrete shape when a community accepts a shared responsibility to care for someone who is suffering.
The Gospel Partnership That United the Philippian Church and Paul
To understand their devotion, we must first consider how this relationship began. Paul obeyed the call to come over to Macedonia, and the gospel he proclaimed gave rise to a new community. The sermon connects this beginning with the guidance of the Holy Spirit, drawing attention to God’s purpose in carrying the gospel across geographical boundaries. The grace that had entered the lives of the Philippian believers became good news they were called to share with others.
People from different backgrounds, including Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth, came together in the gospel. Faith in and love for Christ united people whose social standing and wealth differed. Their individual lives were different, but they now had a mission to share. As this community welcomed the gospel into everyday life, its members began to participate in the ministry Paul was carrying out.
The Philippian church trusted Paul from the earliest days of the gospel’s proclamation among them, offering material support, prayer, and encouragement whenever he faced hardship. That relationship endured even when imprisonment restricted his work. The believers regarded his difficulties as something they, too, were responsible for addressing. Their shared profession of faith deepened into a commitment to respond to another person’s needs.
Paul, in turn, gave thanks for their devotion and prayed that their faith would grow and that they would bear the fruit of righteousness. Even as he received their help, he kept the community’s growth close to his heart. Gospel partnership is a relationship rooted in the grace we have received, in which we help bear one another’s suffering and share in one another’s calling. The relationship between Paul and the Philippian church shows us that those receiving help can also pray for others and strengthen their faith.
The Love Behind Sending Epaphroditus and the Meaning of the “Good Work”
The decision to send Epaphroditus reveals the depth of this relationship. The Philippian church gathered what Paul needed and sent someone to help and encourage him in person. Because they themselves faced difficult circumstances, their giving required real effort. Those who connected Paul’s ministry with their own lives offered their time and resources, taking part in the spread of the gospel.
Sending someone also expresses the devotion of the community behind that person. Epaphroditus’s service carried with it the prayers of the believers who remembered Paul and the support they had gathered together. As Paul preached the gospel, those who cared for him were sharing in the same mission. The labor of those who proclaimed the Word and of those who supported that ministry came together in the love of Christ.
Pastor David Jang interprets the “good work” in Philippians as a commitment to sharing the gospel in response to the grace received from God. Such action begins with the love already given to us. Having experienced grace, the believers attended to Paul’s needs and accepted a share in the responsibility of bringing that love to others. As we consider what we give and how much we share, we are also invited to ask whom our help serves and what mission it supports.
The sermon also connects this good work with a life that continues to bear the fruit of righteousness until the day of Christ Jesus. Paul desired to see the believers grow as they shared the grace they had received, becoming a community that brought glory to God. As we respond to the needs of others, our own concerns and choices gradually change. Through the practice of love within our circumstances, we come to understand more deeply the significance of professing a shared faith.
This perspective invites us to examine our commitment in daily life. When we decide to help someone, keeping that promise may require us to rearrange our time and resources. As we listen carefully to another person’s needs and take on the responsibilities we can carry, love takes the form of concrete effort. To remember the grace we have received is to allow that love to shape our everyday choices.
The Gospel’s Continued Advance During Paul’s Imprisonment
The news of Paul’s imprisonment raised questions about how his mission would continue. A man who had traveled freely to proclaim the gospel was now confined to prison. Yet even there, Paul shared the gospel with those who guarded him. He was sustained by the conviction that the Lord was carrying the mission forward even while his own movements were restricted.
The sermon finds the basis for this confidence in the power of the gospel given by God. Paul looked for the gospel to advance even through his imprisonment. Though there were places he could no longer go, he could still proclaim the Word to the people he encountered where he was. His faith invites us to recognize the responsibilities entrusted to us today, even in the midst of difficult circumstances.
Paul’s desire to communicate this confidence also expressed his love for the Philippian believers and his wish to strengthen their faith. Even while he was in prison, he wanted them to trust the power of the gospel more deeply. As the church cared for his needs, Paul encouraged its members with the hope he had discovered in his confinement. Here we see a partnership in which the one who suffers and those who offer help grow together in faith.
This same focus was evident when others acted out of envy and rivalry toward Paul. He rejoiced that Christ was being proclaimed instead of putting his own reputation and circumstances first. Even amid obstacles and the troubling responses of others, Paul held fast to the purpose for which he lived.
When recognition and comparison begin to preoccupy us as we work with others, this passage invites us to examine our own priorities. Can we rejoice in the fruit of another person’s work? Can we bring the same commitment to work for which our own names receive no recognition? The confession that Christ is at the center shapes the way we regard our fellow workers. Reflecting on Scripture in light of Paul’s joy guides us to make pleasing God the purpose of our service.
“To Live Is Christ” and the Hope of Resurrection
This guiding conviction remained even when Paul faced the possibility of death. In Philippians 1:21, he confesses that to live is Christ and to die is gain. In these words, Pastor David Jang sees both Paul’s devotion in offering his life to Christ and the hope of resurrection that looks beyond death. Paul wanted whatever life remained to him to be devoted to the Lord’s will and glory.
The hope of resurrection is closely connected to our reason for living today. Amid uncertainty about life and death, Paul never let go of the conviction that his life was for Christ. He could not know all that lay ahead, but he knew clearly for whom he lived. This faith sustained his commitment to proclaim the gospel while imprisoned and his desire to see the believers stand firm.
When we work alongside others, we cannot know exactly when or how our efforts will bear fruit. To sustain a partnership over time, we need to remember the grace we have received and the mission we share. As we consider how our work helps others, we can faithfully fulfill the part entrusted to us. Our hope in Christ sustains the relationships and choices of our daily lives.
Such choices may begin with listening a little more carefully to someone’s circumstances. We can reach out to someone we have been meaning to contact, share the responsibilities of a task we have taken on together, and speak about our own struggles when we need help. When we understand one another’s needs and each offer what we can, we begin to see how the community can move forward together. In these moments, remembering the grace we have received finds expression in the time we give and the actions we take.
This is the love embodied in Epaphroditus’s visit to Paul. The Philippian church shared in Paul’s suffering and mission because they wanted the gospel they had received to reach others. Their choice invites us today to ask where the grace we have received is leading us. How are my prayers and efforts reaching into the daily life of the person I have promised to stand beside?
Dr. David Jang has proclaimed the gospel in various regions of the world through field missions and digital media ministry, and as the fruit of that ministry, many people devoted to the Great Commission have been raised up. Based on this missionary vision, Olivet first began as a small church school for missionary training. Later, in order to provide more systematic theological education and cultivate missionary leaders, Olivet Theological College and Seminary was established in Los Angeles and Seoul in 2000.
As the school grew, Dr. Jang officially founded Olivet University in San Francisco in 2004. In the diverse and dynamic environment of San Francisco, Olivet expanded its educational fields beyond theology to include music, journalism, art and design, and technology. The university also strengthened its educational capacity by recruiting faculty members, including Dr. William Wagner, and in 2005 moved to the former UC Berkeley Downtown Extension campus, further solidifying its foundation as a university.
In 2006, Dr. Jang transferred the presidency to Dr. David James Randolph in order to focus more fully on missionary work, while continuing to lead global missions as International President. Olivet University later received institutional accreditation in 2009, added a language education college and a business college, and continued to grow as a Christian educational institution for world missions by expanding its degree programs and international partnerships.
