Ye had heard that he had been sick - "In this passage," says Dr. Paley, "no intimation is given that the recovery of Epaphroditus was miraculous, it is plainly spoken of as a natural event. This instance, together with that in the Second Epistle to Timothy, Trophimus have I left at Miletum sick, affords a proof that the power of performing cures, and, by parity of reason, of working other miracles, was a power which only visited the apostles occasionally, and did not at all depend upon their own will. Paul undoubtedly would have healed Epaphroditus if he could; nor would he have left Trophimus at Miletum sick, had the power of working cures awaited his disposal. Had this epistle been a forgery, forgery on this occasion would not have spared a miracle; much less would it have introduced St. Paul professing the utmost anxiety for the safety of his friend, yet acknowledging himself unable to help him, which he does almost expressly in the case of Trophimus, Him have I left sick; and virtually in the passage before us, in which he felicitates himself on the recovery of Epaphroditus in terms which almost exclude the supposition of any supernatural means being used to effect it. This is a reverse which nothing but truth would have imposed." Horae Paulinae, page 234.

he longed.

Philippians 1:3,8 I thank my God on every remembrance of you...

Philippians 4:1 Therefore, my brothers dearly beloved and longed for, my joy and crown, so stand fast in the Lord, my dearly beloved.

2 Samuel 13:39 And the soul of king David longed to go forth to Absalom: for he was comforted concerning Amnon, seeing he was dead.

Romans 1:11 For I long to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift, to the end you may be established;

2 Corinthians 9:14 And by their prayer for you, which long after you for the exceeding grace of God in you.

full.

Job 9:27 If I say, I will forget my complaint, I will leave off my heaviness, and comfort myself:

Psalm 69:20 Reproach has broken my heart; and I am full of heaviness: and I looked for some to take pity, but there was none; and for comforters...

Proverbs 12:25 Heaviness in the heart of man makes it stoop: but a good word makes it glad.

Isaiah 61:3 To appoint to them that mourn in Zion, to give to them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning...

Matthew 11:28 Come to me, all you that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

Matthew 26:37 And he took with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and began to be sorrowful and very heavy.

Romans 9:2 That I have great heaviness and continual sorrow in my heart.

1 Peter 1:6 Wherein you greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, you are in heaviness through manifold temptations:

ye had.

2 Samuel 24:17 And David spoke to the LORD when he saw the angel that smote the people, and said, See, I have sinned, and I have done wickedly...

John 11:35,36 Jesus wept...

Acts 21:13 Then Paul answered, What mean you to weep and to break my heart? for I am ready not to be bound only...

Romans 12:15 Rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them that weep.

1 Corinthians 12:26 And whether one member suffer, all the members suffer with it; or one member be honored, all the members rejoice with it.

Galatians 6:2 Bear you one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.

Ephesians 3:13 Why I desire that you faint not at my tribulations for you, which is your glory.

July 11. "For it is God which Worketh in You" (Phil. Ii. 13).
"For it is God which worketh in you" (Phil. ii. 13). A day with Jesus. Let us seek its plan and direction from Him. Let us take His highest thought and will for us in it. Let us look to Him for our desires, ideals, expectations in it. Then shall it bring to us exceeding abundantly above all that we can ask or think. Let Him be our Guide and Way. Let us not so much be thinking even of His plan and way as of Him as the Personal Guide of every moment, on whom we constantly depend to lead our every step. …
Rev. A. B. Simpson—Days of Heaven Upon Earth

Copies of Jesus
'Do all things without murmurings and disputings; 15. That ye may be blameless and harmless, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom ye are seen as lights in the world, 16. Holding forth the word of life.'--PHIL. ii. 14-16 (R.V.). We are told by some superfine modern moralists, that to regard one's own salvation as the great work of our lives is a kind of selfishness, and no doubt there may be a colour of truth in the charge. At least the meaning …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

Paul and Timothy
'But I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy shortly unto you, that I also may be of good comfort, when I know your state. 20. For I have no man like-minded, who will care truly for your state. 21. For they all seek their own, not the things of Jesus Christ. 22. But ye know the proof of him, that, as a child serveth a father, so he served with me in furtherance of the gospel. 23. Him therefore I hope to send forthwith, so soon as I shall see how it will go with me: 24. But I trust in the Lord that …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture