Euodia and Syntyche: Coming Alongside When Christians Divide

Let's turn our Bibles to Philippians chapter 4. Philippians chapter 4 as we continue through our study in Philippians and I've got just two verses. I'm going to read four verses because I want a little bit of a lead in, a lead out as well, but I'm primarily responsible for two verses here today. And Philippians 4 verse 1 it says, Therefore my brethren, dearly beloved, long for my joy and my crown. So stand fast in the Lord, my dearly beloved. So Paul's writing to his dearly beloved. These are people that are close and special to him. These are his joy and his crown. These are people he led to the Lord, he brought to Christ.

And so they mean a lot to him. And then he goes into verse 2 and he has to deal with kind of a problem, a beseechiotious, a beseechnecteci, that they be the same mind in the Lord. And I treat thee also true, O fellow, help those women which labor with me in the gospel, with Clement also, and with other my fellow laborers whose names are in the book of life. Rejoice in the Lord always, again I say rejoice. We love that verse number four, and we quote it quite often. But in the context of the verse, he's dealing with a little bit of a problem as well. And so I want to talk about that as we look at this section of Philippians chapter 4.

And the first thing I want you to see is the characters that are involved. When God puts somebody's name in the Bible, there's a reason. They're either, he put them there to be famous for all eternity, to be remembered as Mary, the mother of Christ, or Rahab, the harlot, or whatever else it might have been. And so they're either famous or infamous. There's somebody that is really bad, and God wants us to remember them as well. But when he puts their name there, we ought to pay attention to that. They're a person, an individual. And sometimes we'll know a lot about them. You know a lot about Timothy, you know a lot about Paul, Moses, and other characters in the Bible.

And sometimes all we know is their names. But even that can be significant. And so as you look at the characters listed here, I want you to look first of all at their names. In Proverbs 22, 1, it says, a good name is rather to be chosen in great riches and in loving favor rather than silver and gold. In Ecclesiastes chapter 7 and verse number 1, a good name is better than precious ointment in the day of death and the day of one's birth. And so your name means something. It has a literal meaning. Every name has a meaning to it. My name, Wayne, is the idea of a wagon master. And the guys who would lead the wagons across America into the West, that's what my name means.

And it's kind of significant that I am the wagon master of the church as well, leading the church and the journey of life. And every name has a literal meaning, and I would encourage you if you've never done to look it up and find out what it is. Sometimes it'll be really exciting, and sometimes you'll think, oh, my son Caleb, we named him after the Bible character. We thought that was a great name, and it is. And we looked it up, and the first time we looked it up, it said it meant loyal. And then I looked it up in the Hebrew language, and the name Caleb means dog, literally. And you wonder about the first Hebrew mom that called her kid dog.

You know, she'd stand at the doorway and say, dog, get in here and eat. You know, dog, get in there and clean your room. I don't know why she did that, but that's what she did, and so our son is dog. And so sometimes names have very significant meanings, and sometimes they don't. And I think it's good to know what your name means literally, but what's more important is what does your name mean when people hear it. When your name is said, what do people think about you? Now in the Bible times, names were more significant. They were chosen for a reason, and often even they were changed later in life to identify that person and their character and who they were as well.

And so these names, I think it's always good to look up what the name means in your Bible when you're given a name. And so the first name we have is Jodeas, which can be a woman's or a man's name, but we do believe this is a woman. And her name means good or prosperous journey, and also sweet and fragrant. Good or prosperous journey, and also sweet or fragrant. And I think the significance of this verse is, first of all, remember, these are co-labors of Paul. And as we look at their name, the first thing I thought of was in 3 John 1 5-6, it says this, Beloved, thou dost faithfully whatsoever thou doest to the brethren and to strangers, which have borne witness to thy charity before the church, whom wilt thou bring forward on their journey after a godly sort, thou shalt do well.

And so perhaps this was the kind of woman that was always trying to help people on their journey in life, maybe help missionaries bring them forward on their journey, maybe to help other Christians in bringing them forth on their journey. And perhaps that was something about her character that we see was somebody who's always trying to help people on their journey in life. And it also meant sweet or fragrant. In 2 Corinthians 2, verses 14 and 15, it says, Now, thanks be unto God, which always causes us to triumph in Christ, and make manifest the savor of his knowledge by us in every place. For we are unto God a sweet savor of Christ in them that are saved and in them that perish.

You know, Jesus is a sweet savor of our salvation, not just our savior, but a sweet savor or sweet smell as well. And you and I, when we're around Christ, you know, if you're around somebody who's wearing a lot of perfume, when you walk away, you smell like that perfume, right? You pick up that savor, that smell. And when you've been around Jesus, people are going to know that as well. And so when I read about this lady, I think maybe she was somebody who was always helping others on their journey. She was somebody that was always saying, how can I bring you forward in your journey? Whether it was a spiritual leader, a missionary, or evangelist, and helping them and doing that.

And I want to encourage you, like with these letters. These letters, when you write to these missionaries, you are encouraging them. And you're helping them to move forward in their journey. Or other times, you're just helping some Christian in their journey in life as well. And she was somebody that was known for spending time with Jesus. She was just a sweet lady to be around. But something went wrong. And we'll look at that in just a moment. And then you have synecdoche. And synecdoche means fortunate or good fortune. Fortunate or good fortune. I want you to go back to Acts chapter 16. You remember when Paul first went to Philippi.

In Acts chapter 16, you remember the story in verse number 16 through 19. Acts chapter 16, verses 16 through 19, it says, it came to pass as we went to pray a certain damsel, possessed with the spirit of divination, met us, which brought her masters much gain by Susanne. So she was possessed by a demon. And she was known for fortune-telling. And then the same followed Paul and us, and cried, saying, These men are the servants of the Most High God, which show unto us the way of salvation. Now she wasn't doing this in a positive way. She was mocking them. And then in verse number 18, And this did she many days, but Paul, being grieved, turned and said to the spirit, I command thee in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her.

And he came out the same hour. And when her masters saw that the hope of their gains was gone, they caught Paul and Silas and drew them into the marketplace out of the rulers. And then Paul and Silas were cast and beaten and cast into jail. Remember that's how the Philippi church started. Okay, what drew me to this is her name. Her name means fortunate or good fortune. And I don't know this, I'm just conjecturing. I think that's okay to do with scriptures as long as you realize it's your mind, it's not the Word of God, it's not inspired. But I wonder if maybe Senecte was this girl. We don't know her name from Acts chapter 16.

She was a certain damsel. So we have no name to go with her. Perhaps she was known as the good fortune, the lady who used to tell fortunes. And perhaps that's who it is. I don't know that for sure, but she is somebody who God changed her life. And so these are the two ladies that were having a conflict between them. We don't know what that conflict was, but there was some kind of problem going on between them. And so back in Philippians chapter 4, Paul says, I beseech you, Odias, in her journey in life and being a sweet fragrance, I beseech Senecte. And perhaps she was the one who had gotten saved out of that fortune telling and demon cast out.

He says, I beseech the two of you to be the same mind and the Lord. Now there's one other character that's named here in this passage, and that's in verse number three. And I treat thee also true yoke fellow, help those women which labored me in the gospel with Clement also and with other my fellow laborers whose names are in the book of life. Now we don't know who the yoke fellow was, and we'll talk about that in just a minute, but we do know we do have the name Clement. And Clement's name means mild or merciful, mild or merciful. And I wonder if he called on Clement because he knew this was a guy that was mild and merciful and would be the best person to step into that situation to try to help them resolve it.

You know, when you got two people have a conflict, sometimes they need a mediator. Sometimes they need somebody to come alongside both of them and take the emotion out of the situation and help them to resolve the issue, whatever it may be. And perhaps that's why he called on Clement, because he was a man that was mild in manner. He was a man that was merciful. In Galatians chapter six, verses one and two, it says, brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such one in the spirit of meekness, considering thyself lest thou also be tempted, bury one of his burdens, so fulfill the law of Christ.

So it seems that maybe Clement was the kind of guy that could come into that situation without being judgmental, without being harsh, but in love and concern and compassion, come in there and say, how can I help the two of you to resolve this issue? And sometimes that's what God calls us to do, is to step in a situation and be that mediator and be that one that can come into that situation and help work through those issues that are there. And so we have these three people, all we really know is their name, but their names do have some meanings here. Perhaps that meaning was also part of their character.

But then look what he says in verse number two against. He says, I beseech, you know, Yodus, and I beseech Synecdoche. He uses the word twice. Instead of using it once, I beseech Yodus and Synecdoche. He uses it for each of them because he's begging them. He's coming alongside. That's what the word beseech means. It means to come alongside. In second John chapter one and verses five and six, it says, I now, I know, I now I beseech you the lady, not as though I wrote a new commandment unto thee, but that which we had from the beginning that we love one another. And this is love that we walk after his commandments.

This is the commandment that as you've heard from the beginning, you should walk in it. So we see here, he beseeches this lady in first John and second John. He's listen, God has called us to love one another. And it's like Paul, what he's doing here, he's not, he's not down on his knees begging as much as he is just coming alongside and say, listen, ladies, why are you fighting? Why are you upset with each other? Why are you having this conflict that's spreading out to the rest of the church as well? In fact, it was, it was gotten so bad that Paul all the way in Rome had heard about it. And so he said, listen, I'm coming alongside of you, not in judgment, not in rebuke necessarily, but just say, what are you doing?

What are you doing? And this is not what love is all about. You see, we don't know what divided them. We don't know what the problem was. But I can tell you this, Christians have problems with each other. And sometimes as a pastor, you're dealing more with the problems between Christians than you are dealing with trying to reach the world for Christ. And one of the things that will divide us as Christians, well, one of those things that will divide us is personalities. Go over to 1 Corinthians chapter 3, 1 Corinthians chapter 3, 1 Corinthians chapter 3 and beginning with verse number three, it says, for you are yet carnal, for whereas there is among you envy and strife and divisions, are you not carnal walk as men?

So what was causing these divisions? For while one sayeth, I am a Paul, another I am a Paulist, are you not carnal? Who then is Paul? Who is a Paulist, but ministers by whom you believed, even as the Lord gave to every man? I have planted Paul's water, but God gave the increase. So then neither is he that planted it, neither he that watereth but God that giveth the increase. Now he that planteth, he that watereth, that one, every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labor. For we're labors together with God, you're God's husband, you're God's building. And sometimes our divisions are caused by personalities.

Well, I like that preacher because he's more compassionate. Or I like this preacher because he's a better teacher and he really gets down deep in the word of God. Or I like this guy over here because, you know, I like Paul because he's got really good illustrations. But I like Peter because he's got passion when he preaches. And sometimes we get divided over personalities within the church. Not just in the pastors, but even within the church, we get divided by that. Or sometimes we get divided over issues. Turn over to Romans chapter 14, Romans chapter 14. Now there's a time to take a stand for doctrine, but too often our division is not about doctrine.

It's about preferences. It's not about convictions, but about what we like or what we want. In Romans chapter 14, beginning with verse number one, it says, him that is weak in the faith receive you, but not to doubtful disputations, not to division. For one believeth that he may eat all things, and another who is weak eateth herbs. And let not him that eateth spice him that eateth not. And let not him which eateth not judge him that eateth, for God hath received him. Who art thou that judges another man's servants, whose own mastery stands or falls? Yea, he should be holding up, for God is able to make him stand.

One man esteemeth one day above another, and another esteemeth every day alike. Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind. He that regardeth today regardeth not the Lord, and he that regardeth not today to the Lord he does not regard it. He that eateth eateth to the Lord, and he that giveth thanks God thanks, and he that eateth not to the Lord he eateth not, and giveth God thanks. But none is livid to himself, and no man dieth to himself. And often what happens in the church is we get divided over personal preferences rather than true convictions in the Word of God. And this person, well they like that kind of music, and I like this kind of music, or that person dresses this way, and I dress that way, or this person, and we get divided over issues that God says this is not what we're talking about, this is not what's important here.

And it causes division. Or sometimes it can be over social, economic, and cultural divisions. Look at 1 Corinthians chapter 11, and look at beginning of verse number 18, 1 Corinthians chapter 11, and beginning of verse number 18, it says for first of all when you come together in the church I hear that there be divisions among you, and I partly believe it. For there must be also here heresies among you that they which are proved may be made manifest among you. When you come together therefore in one place is not to eat the Lord's supper, for in eating every one taketh before another his own supper, and one is hungry and the other is drunken.

What have you not houses to eat and drink in, or despise you the church of God, and shame that it have not? What shall I say to you? Shall I praise you for this, and this I praise you not? Essentially what was happening is that there was a social economic divide, and the people that could afford steak they were eating at this table, and the people that could only afford hot dogs they were eating over at that table. And there was a division over social economic backgrounds, and cultural differences as well. And then sometimes the divisions are generational. In Psalms chapter 78, verse number 4, it says we will not hide them from their children, going to the generation to come the praise of the Lord, and his strength and his wonderful works that he hath done.

And sometimes as older Christians we look at the young Christians, well you're not very mature in the Lord. Well they're still young. You weren't very mature in the Lord when you were that age either. And sometimes we look at them and say, well that's not how we did it in my generation. Instead of helping them to take the Lord into their generation. And what happens is we get division within the people of God that causes strife within the church. We don't know what divided these two ladies up. We don't know why they were upset with each other. Maybe it's been personality issues. Maybe one didn't like what somebody else said, or maybe one of them felt like the other one ignored her and got mad about that, and that happens as well.

But for some reason these two were divided, and it seems like it was beginning to affect the church as a whole where people were taking sides for one or the other, where it was dividing the church also. And we've got to be real careful that we don't divide the church over issues that God says we should not divide over. There's a time to come out and be separate. There's a time to take a doctrinal stand. But I have found over the years that most issues that divide churches are not about doctrine. They're about preferences. And they may be very, very strong preferences, and they may be things that are part of your tradition, but we have to be careful that we don't cause division.

And that's what was happening here. So we don't know the reason why, but Paul had to almost beg them to get this settled. In 1 Thessalonians 4, verses 9 and 10, it says, But as touching brother to love, ye need not that I write unto you. For you yourselves are taught of God to love one another. Indeed, you do it towards all the brethren which are in all Macedonia. But we beseech you, brethren, that you increase more and more. I beg you, don't be satisfied. You can love even more. And whatever the issue, whatever the problem, set it aside for the sake of the gospel. Get over your issues with each other and get back into the love of God for one another.

You ought to increase more and more. John chapter 13, verses 34 and 35, turn over there. John chapter 13, verses 34 and 35. The Bible says, A new commandment I give unto you, that ye love one another, as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that you are my disciples, that you have loved one another. You know, command is not something you do because you feel like it. We think of love, well, I feel love towards that person, so I'm going to act in love towards them. But God doesn't say anything about feeling love towards them, he says about acting in love towards them.

You're not going to love everybody the same way. You're going to find that some people you're going to click with better than others, and that's okay. But ultimately, we are to love all the brethren. We are to love all the people of God, and to practice that love. And it's not something that you have to be begged for, it's something that should be automatic in our Christian life. In fact, in John chapter 14, and verses 15 through 17. John chapter 14, verses 15 through 17. Did I read 15 through 17 just now? John 13, I'd rather read that, just read that a moment ago, a new commandment I give unto you.

But look at verse 15 through 17. If you love me, keep my commandments. And I will pray the Father, he shall give you another comforter, that you may abide with you forever. Who is the comforter? Holy Spirit. Do you know what that word comforter is in the Greek? Same root word as the word beseech. I will give you someone who will come alongside of you. I beseech you, I come alongside of you, that you would get along with each other, you said in Philippians chapter 4. And that's exactly what the Holy Ghost wants to do in our lives, the Holy Spirit wants to do. Look at verse number 16. He will give you another comforter, that you may abide with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not.

Neither knoweth him, but you know him, for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you. I think it's interesting, Paul chose the same word beseech, that we get that word comforter from, to remind us that that's the Holy Spirit saying to you, you need to get over this. You need to get this worked out. You can't have division happening. And back in Philippians chapter 4, he says, I beseech you, Odeus, and I beseech the next day, that they be the same mind and the Lord. Turn over to Philippians chapter 2 and verses 1 through 5. If there be any consolation of Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of spirit, if any bowels and mercies, fulfill you my joy, that you be like-minded.

Having the same love being of one accord of one mind, let nothing be done through strife or vainglory, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves. Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others. Let this mind be in you, which was in Christ Jesus. Folks, this is the key here, is we need to be like-minded. We need to come to the mind of Christ in these division areas. Instead of getting mad at each other, getting upset with each other and causing division, we ought to seek for unity and love in how we treat each other and acceptance. And so we don't know what they were upset about, but we do know the kind of things that do cause division in the church.

And so the same commandment would apply to you and I, and the only way to have unity is to have the mind of Christ, to have that love, that grace, that mercy that Jesus had for us. And going back to Philippians chapter 4, in the next verse, verse number 3, it says, and I entreat thee also. Now these are terms, beseech and entreat. They sound synonymous, do they not? Kind of like the same idea, and they are somewhat synonymous, but they are also different. When you see words in your Bible that sound synonymous, but they're different words, God is not trying to impress you with his vocabulary. He chose those words very deliberately.

And so in this next verse, he says, I entreat thee. Now in this verse, he's not talking to Iodius and Synecdoche. He's talking to his true yoke fellow. He's saying, and I think the reason he doesn't name this person, whoever they might be, because really he's talking to all of us in the church. He's saying, listen, you in the church, you should not be tolerating this and acting like there's no big deal. You should not be encouraging it. And by the way, you encourage things like this, not only by taking sides, but you encourage it just by listening. When somebody starts complaining to you, when you listen, you're giving fuel to their fire.

And you got to be careful of that. And so he's saying, listen, don't inflame this. Don't keep beating those flames up and keep this going. I want you to deal with it. Look at First Thessalonians chapter four and verses one and two. First Thessalonians chapter four and verses one and two. Furthermore, then we beseech you, brethren, and exhort you by the Lord Jesus that as you have received us how you ought to walk and please God, so you would abound more and more. For you know what commandments we gave you by the Lord Jesus. See he said, abound more and more in love, abound more and more in these things.

This is what we need to be working on. This is what we should be known for. The word yoke fellow, it's the idea of being yoked together. You all know what a yoke is with those big wooden things they put on the cattle or the donkeys or the horse when they're pulling the plow or some other farm equipment. And to be yoked together. Now in Deuteronomy chapter 22 and verse number 10, it says thou shall not plow with an ox and an ass together. Don't put an ox and donkey together. And that's often what causes our problems. Listen, don't be stubborn like an ox, a mule, and don't be dumb like an ox. You know, Bible says in Psalms 32 9, be not ye as the horse or as the mule, which have no understanding, whose mouth must be held in with a bit and a bridle, lest they come near unto thee or as dumb as an ox.

Psalm 73 verse 22, so foolish was I and ignorant. I was a beast before thee. What happens is we get stubborn, don't we? Something happens and we just kind of dig in and say, I'm going to have it my way. We get stubborn. Or sometimes I deal with people and I think, why are you even fighting over this? It's stupid. Don't be dumb. God says, don't be like the mule that gets stubborn and don't be like the ox that just gets stupid and dumb. In Isaiah chapter 1 verses 2 and 3, it says, Hear, O heavens, and give ear. A word for the Lord has spoken. I have nourished and brought up children and they have rebelled against me.

The ox knoweth his owner and the ass his master's crib, but Israel does not know my people does not consider. He says, even the ox and the donkey are smarter than you. They know their master. And I'm telling you, this is not what you should be doing. And sometimes we just get stubborn. I got hurt. I'm going to be mad. I don't like what they're doing, so I'm going to, you know, and we just get stubborn. We just get upset about things that don't really matter in the long run with the gospel. So he says, I entreat thee, also true yoke fellow, help those women which labor with me in the gospel. Go to 1 Corinthians chapter 3 again, 1 Corinthians chapter 3, and look at verses 7 through 9.

1 Corinthians chapter 3 and verses 7 through 9. So then neither is he that planteth anything, neither he that watereth, but God giveth the increase. Now, he that planteth, he that watereth are one, and every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labor. For we are laborers together with God, ye are God's husband, ye are God's builders. And we need to realize this, folks. It's not about me. It's about him. And we need to be fellow laborers. When we get upset with somebody else, we're saying how I feel is more important than how you feel. That's what we're saying. And he's reminding them, wait a minute, we're fellow laborers with the Lord.

We're yoke fellow. And I love the way he ends verse number 3. He says, and with other my fellow laborers whose names are in the book of life. In Luke chapter 10 and verse 20, the Bible says, notwithstanding this, rejoice not, that the spirits are subject unto you, but rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven. He said, listen, you're saved by grace just like I'm saved by grace. We're all sinners saved by grace. Go over to 1 Corinthians chapter 6, 1 Corinthians chapter 6, and look at verses 1 through 11. 1 Corinthians chapter 6, and begin with verse number 1. Are any of you having a matter against another go to law before the unjust and not before the saints?

Do you not know that the saints shall judge the world, and that the world shall be judged by you? Are you unworthy to judge the smallest matters? Know you not that you shall judge angels? How much more still things that pertain to this life? If any have judgments of the things pertaining to this life, set them to judge who are least esteemed in the church. He says, even the lowest person in the church can judge things better than the unsaved can do it. I speak to your shame. It is so that there's not a wise man among you. Know not one that shall judge between his brother, but brother, go into law with the brother and that before the unbelievers.

Now therefore is utterly a fault among you because you go to law one with another. Why do you not rather take wrong? Why do you not rather suffer yourself and be defrauded? It's better to put up with a sin than make an issue over it. Nay, you do wrong and defraud, and that your brother. Know you not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived, neither fornicators, nor adulterers, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abuse themselves with mankind, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor violators, nor extortioners shall inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you.

But you are washed, but you are sanctified, but you are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus by the Spirit of God. If God can forgive you, you can forgive him. You're both forgiven by the grace of God. And Paul just reminds him of that. I think he reminds us of the same thing. So I want to challenge you. Be careful of divisions. Hurts are going to come. Problems are going to happen. Disagreements are going to happen because we're all different backgrounds. We were raised in different traditions. We have different things that we've always done it this way. We have different cultural backgrounds.

We have all these things that make us different. And yet we have one thing that brings us together, and that's Christ. He says, Iodias, Synecdoche, and these were prominent women in the church that were used by God to help people on their journey. They had a sweet fragrance that you knew had been with Jesus, and whose lives had been changed like that young lady who was possessed by demons, and God saved her from that. And he said, listen, that's the grace of God. So why are you upset with each other? And why are you causing that division? Let's find unity. Let's practice love. Let's show grace.

Let's show humility and not insisting it has to be my way or the highway. And I think that's what Paul is saying. I love how it goes into verse number four, rejoice in the Lord always as they rejoice. Hey, let's get over this and let's have a good time. Let's rejoice. So I hope this challenge, these two verses will challenge you like they've challenged me as we continue through this study. I have three questions that we're going to do in the discussion time here. The first one is, what would you like your name to mean? So when you gather in your groups, you can maybe share, I know what my name means literally.

If you know that, maybe share it with the group. But more importantly, what would you like people to think when they hear your name? What would you like people to think when they hear your name? When Paul named these two ladies, everybody in the church knew who they were. And everybody had a picture in their mind of that, those two ladies. So what do you want your name to mean? And then secondly, what is the best way to come alongside of someone when there's a problem? So when you have an issue with somebody, when you have a problem with them, how can I come alongside of them? Rather than becoming adversaries, how can we come together and say, let's work through this issue together?

Let's resolve this together. And so talk about how you can do that. And then thirdly, how can we avoid having issues with fellow Christians? How can we avoid having these issues that divide us? What can we do? I think there's a lot of answers that can come there. I really want you to think about that. What is going to help keep us from division and help keep us in unity, even when we don't always agree on everything? And so we'll divide up into groups here. So the group leaders, if you'd stand up at this time, if you're one of the group discussion leaders, if you'd stand up here. And so we've got four different groups here. You can gather with one of them. If you have to leave, we understand that. But I hope that you'll stick around and take some time to discuss it as well. And so find one of those groups and answer these questions together. So you're dismissed to do that right now.