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Rev Graham Harrison           Sunday July 25th a.m. 1999

Timothy - 2 Timothy 3:10-15

ëBut thou hast fully known my doctrine, manner of life, purpose, faith, longsuffering, charity, patience, Persecutions, afflictions, which came unto me at Antioch, at Iconium, at Lystra; what persecutions I endured: but out of them all the Lord delivered me. Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived. But continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them; And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesusí [2 Timothy 3:10-15].

So they came eventually to the city of Lystra and all went well at Lystra, indeed you might say it was one of the great success stories of the Acts of the Apostles. Paul and Barnabas they both spoke, Paul was the chief speaker and that in one sense was the trouble because the people were amazed at what was happening. There were miracles being performed and one miracle in particular was most significant. There was a man who was lame, crippled, never walked in his life and Paul looks at him and sees that he had faith to be healed, and tells him to stand up and walk. And he does more than that, he stands up and he leaps. People are amazed and somebody makes the suggestion: ëYou know there is only one explanation for this. This is a divine intervention.í Of course that was true, it was ó but they went wrong. They said these two men are the gods come down to earth. Then they used, well the Authorised Version uses the Latin names of Jupiter and Mercury, in the Greek it is Zeus and Hermes. They called Paul Hermes or Mercury because he was the one doing most of the speaking and Hermes, Mercury, was supposed to be the messenger of the gods. They thought that they were greatly favoured ó ëHere are these two beings, these divine beings, two of the gods come down to earth and they have come to our town. How privileged we are! What can we do? We must offer sacrifice!í

So they went, they got an ox, they were going to kill it. They got garlands of flowers, they were going to offer sacrifice to Paul and Barnabas. Paul and Barnabas did not want this because they knew that they were not gods, they were just men. It had been a divine intervention, it had been the very grace and power of God that was at work. So Paul and Barnabas they run out amongst the crowd. They say, ëYou must not do this! Stop this sacrifice and put all this business away. We are ordinary men like you, this is the work of God, the living God ó not vanities, not empty things that you are worshipping and that you call by these different names ó but worship Him.í Eventually they were able to restrain the people.

But then before very long some Jews moved into the town who had come from the previous place, Antioch, where Paul and Barnabas had been preaching and from which they had to flee. They stirred up the people, presumably they spread rumours and all sorts of suggestions about them and what had been a spirit of good will and acceptance, it turned right round and they began to persecute Paul and Barnabas. Indeed they stoned Paul and they thought that they had killed him and they dragged him out of the city and left him for dead. But by the grace of God he was not dead, he got up, went back into the city and the next day, incredibly, he and Barnabas went on to another city preaching the gospel and then back again over the same route that they had followed to these places that had so opposed them. They had left behind them in those places little churches of believers and they went there to strengthen them. Eventually they went back to Syrian Antioch where the whole missionary journey had started.

But you see something had happened in that town of Lystra. There had been a young man, his name was Timothy, he had been converted. His mother was a Jewess, his father, who many of the commentators suggest was probably dead by this time, had been a Greek; so it was a mixed marriage. Timothy was converted, he was only a young man, a teenager ó we do not know exactly how old he was but people suggest that probably he was in the mid or upper teens. He was converted and Paul and Barnabas moved away and it must have been a year or more before eventually they came back to this same town of Lystra ó you read about it in the sixteenth chapter of the Acts of the Apostles. ëThen came he to Derbe and Lystraí ó and now you meet Timothy for the first time ó ëand, behold, a certain discipleí ó and that in the Acts of the Apostles is a way of saying that this man is a Christian óëand, behold, a certain disciple was there, named Timotheus, the son of a certain woman, which was a Jewess, and believed; but his father was a Greek: (Timothy) was well reported of by the brethren that were at Lystra and Iconium. Him would Paul have to go forth with him; and took and circumcised him because of the Jews which were in those quarters: for they knew all that his father was a Greekí [Acts 16:1-3].

That began the connection between Paul and this young man, Timothy. He became one of Paulís ó not simply travelling companion, but he became one of his most trusted colleagues. A man who would be sent on difficult and delicate errands by the Apostle Paul, trying to pick up the pieces in trouble that had come in some of these New Testament churches and Paul more than once speaks exceedingly highly of him. Then when you come almost to the end of 2 Timothy, 2 Timothy chapter four, there is a verse which is very simple and in one way it is very moving, the last but one verse of the chapter. Paul writing the epistle is languishing in prison in Rome. He is going to be executed ó this is it, this time! So he writes this final letter to Timothy: ëDo thy diligence to come before winterí. The winter is coming on, he has made request for a cloak, he has asked for some writing materials to be brought to him because he still wants to be able to write to the churches in such time as God allows him to remain on this earth ó but here he is writing to Timothy: ëDo thy diligence to come before winterí. We do not know whether Timothy was able to get there in time, whether he was able to renew actual fellowship with the Apostle Paul before Paul was martyred under the cruel emperor Nero or whether perhaps he died before Timothy was able to arrive. We do not know.

But there you might say are the two extremes that span the spiritual life of Timothy, as we are told of it in the New Testament. There is another reference almost at the end of the epistle to the Hebrews and there is found a little bit of good news that is passed on almost at the end of Hebrews thirteen: ëKnow ye that our brother Timothy is set at liberty; with whom, if he come shortly, I will see youí [Hebrews 13:23]. So obviously Timothy there had been in prison and now he had been released again but more than that we do not know. Some of these other characters that I have been preaching about on Sunday mornings, these lesser known individuals in the New Testament, it has not been difficult in the matter of two or three minutes to read to you all the Biblical references that concern them. But I could not do that with Timothy, he is mentioned so frequently. Again and again in the Acts of the Apostles and then if you were to turn to a number of the letters that the Apostle Paul writes, you will discover that the name of Timothy, sometimes along with Silas or Silvanus, is associated with that of Paul not just in the greetings at the end of the letter but as he writes the letters and sends them to people. Then in some of the actual letters to churches timothy is mentioned ó sometimes of course he is the man perhaps who would have actually taken the letter to that church. He is especially privileged because he is the recipient of two letters that in our New Testament, two letters that were directed to him individually by Paul ó 1 and 2 Timothy, as we call them. So the New Testament really has quite a lot to tell us about this man, a man who was so highly esteemed and regarded by the Apostle Paul.

Now I have taken you back to Acts chapter fourteen because that, I suggest, tells us the background of the conversion of this man Timothy. He must have heard Paul preaching. You see there are a number of places in those two epistles to Timothy in which it becomes quite clear that he is actually the son in the faith of the Apostle Paul. In other words Paul was his spiritual father. Paul had been the man that God had used in order to bring the gospel to this man with such power that it resulted in Timothy being converted. So there was that Barnabas to the city of Lystra, his hometown, that Timothy was converted. Some of the commentators again suggest that it had been to the home of Timothy, or Timothyís mother and grandmother, that Paul was taken after having been stoned and left for dead. There overnight presumably he recuperated before moving on the next day. But you can imagine, can you not, the impression this man must have made upon Timothy. And the impression, you might say, that believing the gospel must have had upon Timothy in the light of all this background. There he was, he had seen miracles performed. He had heard this wonderful preaching of the Lord Jesus Christ from the Apostle Paul.

Then he had seen how people can be so fickle ó one moment they are all for you, then the next moment or a few days later they are believing any sort of story about you and they have turned on you and they have turned viciously and they persecute you. He must have had it impressed upon him from those very early days that if you are going to be a Christian you are not going to have it easy, there may even be physical persecution, you very life might be at risk. In fact when the Apostle Paul and Barnabas come back to these cities where these churches were and they seek to confirm them in the faith, they say that: ëwe must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of Godí [[Acts 14:22]. You must have noticed in that third chapter of 2 Timothy almost a repetition of that ó Paul writing to Timothy: ëYea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecutioní [2 Timothy 3:12]. So that was something that was impressed upon the mind and the heart of young Timothy ó that to be a Christian might well bring trouble and affliction. It was against that background that this man was converted.

But Paul tells us in that second epistle to Timothy and chapter three, something of the actual family background. He tells us that; ëfrom a child he had known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesusí [2 Timothy 3:14-15]. If you go back to the first chapter of 2 Timothy this is how Paul mentions Timothyís mother and grandmother: ëGreatly desiring to see thee, being mindful of thy tears, that I may be filled with joy; When I call to remembrance the unfeigned faith that is in thee, which dwelt first in thy grandmother Lois, and thy mother Eunice; and I am persuaded that in thee alsoí [2 Timothy 1:4-5]. You can fit that all together and you can begin to build up the picture of what happened there in that town of Lystra as there was the preaching of the apostle Paul, the healing of this crippled man and then the persecution ó this grandmother she was converted, Lois, a Jewess. And here daughter Eunice, she was converted and then Euniceís son, Timothy, he was converted. Of course he had been brought up as a Jew even though his father was a Greek and his mother had taken care to teach him the Scriptures: ëAnd that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesusí [2 Timothy 3:15]. That is something of the background of this man Timothy.

I think it shows us a number of very important things. It shows us, you might say, the importance of instructing children in the things of God. When Timothy was eventually converted, what a blessing it was that he had all this scriptural background. He had known the holy scriptures ó that would have meant the Old Testament, of course, because they did not have the New Testament then. He would have known the holy scriptures, his mother had taught him the scriptures. Probably taken him along to the synagogue and there as well he would have been instructed in the scriptures, but especially his mother she would have taught him the way of God from the word of God ó even though she herself was not yet converted, nor was her mother yet converted. But she knew that this was the word of God, she wanted to impart it to her son and she did so. So Timothy knew the scriptures ó but still he was not converted.

Then comes the Apostle Paul and he preaches and Timothy, following his grandmother and then his mother, is converted. It teaches us a number of things, does it not? It teaches us the importance of instructing children in the things of God but it tells us that something more than that is needed. Here was a teenager and I am sure that he would have put any one of us to shame with his knowledge of the Old Testament. He would not have been able to quote chapter and verse, of course, because it was not written in that way. That was a subsequent convenience that somebody hit upon. But if you had started to quote a verse to him in the Hebrew Old Testament, he would have said, ëAh, yes! That is the prophet so-and-so.í He would probably be able to tell you what came before and what came after ó just as had been the case, of course, with the Apostle Paul as well ó schooled in the Scriptures. They became part of his very being and then when God came to him and the grace of God took hold of him, well, what an advantage it was that already this man knew the holy scriptures. And now through faith in Christ Jesus he had salvation ó the salvation that those O ld Testament scriptures had been promising and had been foretelling. Now it was something that he knew.

So you see it is a blessing to be taught the word of God ó but more than that is needed. A work of God is needed in peopleís hearts. They need to be converted, they need to have more than that formal, correct knowledge of what it is that God has revealed in His word. It needs to be something that they experience. Have you experienced it? Many of you know Godís word ó maybe not as well as Timothy knew it but you know the elements of the gospel. But have you experienced them? Has God come to you? Has God met with you, God dealt with you? Maybe with you as it was with Timothy, the need for conversion as well as for instruction. There you see here is this young teenager, mid teens, maybe upper teens ó there he is, he is converted.

Here is a little church in Lystra and when Paul comes back to it in a year or soís time, he discovers that everybody is talking about these young men. Paul meets him and perhaps Paul knew actually on the first visit that this man had professed conversion but now he sees that there is something special about him. He sees that the hand of God is upon him. So in that sixteenth chapter of the Acts of the Apostles he comes to Derbe and Lystra and: ëa certain disciple was there, named Timotheus Ö Which was well reported of by the brethren that were at Lystra and Iconium. Him would Paul have to go forth with himí [Acts 16:1-3]. Paul said, ëI want this man to work with me in the gospel. I can see that he is a man of gift and ability granted him by God and I want him along side me. By the grace of God I can do something with this man.í So he obviously puts it to Timothy and you can imagine the poor young fellow must have been overawed and perhaps overwhelmed by the possibility. ëMe accompanying you, an apostle, and these other mature Christians that are with you!í ó and Paul insisted, ëYes!í Then perhaps Timothy would have thought, ëWell, you know it is hard enough being a Christian here in Lystra. I remember what they did to Paul twelve months ago, when he first came here. What if that is the story as we go on? The world is a hostile place, they do not like this new-fangled religion of Christianity. They are against it; they hate it, they persecute Christians.í

It must have been something that Timothy had to weigh up very seriously but eventually he says, ëYes!í and they have some sort of service. Something special happens in that service, the blessing of God comes upon men of God and they utter prophecy over him as they lay hands upon him. There is a special spiritual gift that is bestowed upon him. Paul as he writes this second letter to Timothy reminds him of this: ëWherefore I put thee in remembrance that thou stir up the gift of God, which is in thee by the putting on of my hands. For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mindí [2 Timothy 1:6-7]. It is a reference perhaps to 1 Timothy 4:14: ëNeglect not the gift that is in thee, which was given thee by prophecy, with the laying on of the hands of the presbyteryí. So there at the beginning of his public service of God some particular blessing of God came upon this man.

I am reminded of the story of George Whitefield. You remember George Whitefield ordained at twenty-one years of age, the bishop of Gloucester broke canonical law in ordaining him at that age ó he was too young ó but he knew what he was doing and he went ahead and did it. Then George Whitefield preached his first sermon in the church of St Mary De Crypt where he tells us ëI was baptized and also first received the sacrament of the Lordís supper. Ö As I proceeded, I perceived the fire kindled, till at last, though so young, and amidst a crowd of those who knew me in my infant childish days, I trust was enabled to speak with some authority. Some few mocked, but most for the present seemed struck; and I have since heard, that a complaint has been made to the bishop, that I drove fifteen mad the first sermon. The worthy prelate, as I am informed, wished that the madness might not be forgotten before next Sunday.í (George Whitefieldís letters p.19). What had happened was that God had save the fifteen persons, they had been converted.

You see there was the blessing of God upon this man Timothy. It must have been there in measure before hand because he was so well spoken of by all the brethren there in Lystra and in Iconium. So the hand of God was upon him. Then before Paul takes him with him he realise that he has got a problem. Here he is he is a man from a mixed marriage. His mother was a Jewess but his father was a Greek and his father, presumably had not allowed Timothy to be circumcised as was the requirement of the Old Testament for Jewish boys. Paul realised, ëWherever I go my practice is to begin with the Jews. I go into the synagogue, I preach there, they are the ones most likely, humanly speaking to believe the promises of the Old Testament and I am acceptable because I am a Jew. But if this man, who as far as his mother is concerned is a Jew, is not circumcised, they will not accept him. So he circumcised him. It was a matter of expediency. It was not absolutely necessary but in order for the furtherance of the gospel, he deemed it expedient to do this.

There is a very interesting case that occurs also concerning circumcision in the second chapter of Galatians. Paul there refuses to circumcise a man, Titus. All the Jews said, ëHe ought to be circumcised!í Paul said, ëNo! He is a Gentile. He does not need to be circumcised and I am not going to circumcise him just to satisfy your prejudices! You do not have to become a Jew in order to be a Christian.í So Paul would not circumcise Titus ó but he did circumcise Timothy and that was not because he bent his principles to suit the mood of the hour. In the one case it was perfectly in order to circumcise Timothy because he was racially a Jew. But in the case of Titus he would not do it because that would have been tantamount to saying: ëWell, in order to become a Christian, you have to become a Jew first. To Paul that was a denial of the gospel. So there is no inconsistency here; he takes Timothy, he circumcises him and so there is not going to be any difficulty on those grounds at any rate as far as the Jews are concerned in the subsequent ministry of the Apostle Paul and Timothy

So begins this quite amazing story of how Timothy accompanies the Apostle Paul. In one sense he is so often his right hand man. In the early years of course he played a subordinate role. For example when they come on to the city of Philippi, where you remember Paul and Silas were thrown into prison, they were beaten and God sent that earthquake and released them ó you know the story later in Acts chapter sixteen ó but you do not read of Timothy there. I think that they kept him in the background. It was Paul and Silas, the older men, that were there in a prominent position. But before very long you discover that, yes, what Paul is doing is using Timothy to minister to the churches. From Philippi they go on to Thessalonica and a church is established there and again the usual story ó opposition and trouble and so they send Paul and Silas and Timothy on to Berea and eventually Paul goes down to Athens. But what he does he sends Timothy back to Thessalonica because he wants to find out how are things there in the church. Are they standing? They are going to know great persecution ó are they standing firm, are they being deviated from the truth? So Timothy takes the letter that we call 1 Thessalonians to the church there, at Thessalonica. Eventually he meets up with the Apostle Paul and gives him a very encouraging story of how well things are going there in Thessalonica.

Again and again P aul seems to have done things like that. In fact this first letter that Paul writes to Timothy finds Timothy in Ephesus. Why is he there? Verse three of chapter 1 tells us: ëI thank God, whom I serve from my forefathers with pure conscience, that without ceasing I have remembrance of thee in my prayers night and day; Greatly desiring to see thee, being mindful of thy tears, that I may be filled with joyí [2 Timothy 1:3-4]. In other words, here is this church, an important church, and a big church at Ephesus and there are all these pressures on it. There are these strange teachings trying to force their way into the church ó Paul is not able to stay there, he has to go on. ëTimothy I am going to leave you here. I am sure that you will be able to guard them against the intrusion of these errors. You will be able to establish them in the faith.í Well, that in effect tells us what a high opinion the Apostle Paul had of this man, Timothy, that he was willing to entrust, say, the church at Ephesus to his care. Again and again you discover this sort of thing happening in the life and the experience of Timothy.

But what sort of man was he? Well I mentioned to you that he must have been just a teenager when he was converted and when he started on the service that he was to render God in travelling with the Apostle Paul and becoming a fellow preacher of the gospel. He was a young man and in actual fact you might say that is a thing in his favour. We live in a day, do we not, when all the emphasis is on youth? People like me we are over the hill, rapidly going down the other side and you need to be young. But you see there is a down side to that as well. You get a young man and some of the old fogies say, ëWhat does he know about life! He has not got any experience! Let him stick around a while, we will teach him a thing or two!í It is not an uncommon attitude, is it, and that would have been the sort of thing that would have been said about Timothy. In fact in these letters that Paul writes to Timothy, well Paul says: ëLet no man despise thy youth [1 Timothy 4:12]. You may be a young man but God has called you, God has equipped you, God is using you. So do not let them put you down and say that you are only a young man, we are going to ride roughshod over you. You stand up, not for yourself, but stand up for the position to which God has appointed you as a servant of God. ëLet no man despise thy youthí.

In fact at the end of 1 Corinthians where again the Apostle Paul is going to have Timothy come to Corinth with all the trouble that was in that church, this is what he said: ëNow if Timotheus come, see that he may be with you without fear: for he worketh the work of the Lord, as I also do. Let no man therefore despise him: but conduct him forth in peace, that he may come unto me: for I look for him with the brethrení [1 Corinthians 16:10-11]. In other words ëHe may be a young man, but he is my companion, he is the Lordís servant. God has used him ó do not put him down. Do not despise him.í Perhaps the problem of his youth was accentuated by the fact that I do not think that he was normally a ëwell-maní. He does seem to have suffered from rather a lot of illness. There is a verse in 1 Timothy: ëDrink no longer water, (it means literally do not drink water only) but use a little wine for thy stomach's sake and thine often infirmitiesí [1 Timothy 5:23]. Obviously you can deduce from that verse that here was a man who was frequently ill. Presumably he had some sort of gastric trouble, I do not know what they would have diagnosed him as having today but frequent recurrence of stomach trouble and here is doctor Paul saying ó perhaps he has consulted with doctor Luke to get a bit of medical advice ó ëThat water is contaminated. Do not just drink water only. Drink a little wine for thy stomach's sake.í I once heard a man say, ëYes, what he meant was rub it on the outside!í But I do not really think that was what Paul was saying.

But the point is here is a man, he is a young man, he is a man who frequently is ill and there is something else you can say about him as well. He is not a pushy man, not a forceful man, not the man who walks into the room and everybody suddenly starts respecting him because there is a forcefulness of character about him. Indeed if you have to describe Timothy by temperament and character in that sense, you probably say there is something a bit timid about him, retiring, he does not come and impose himself upon a company of people. So, for example, Paul says: ëThou therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesusí [2 Timothy 2:1]. Or back in the first chapter he has put it like this: ëStir up the gift of God, which is in thee by the putting on of my hands. For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind (or of self-control). Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner: but be thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the power of God; Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy callingí [2 Timothy 1:6-9].

You get the message there do you not? ëTimothy, you need to stand firm! You need not to be so retiring and timid. Do not let them ride roughshod over you. Do not be ashamed, God has not given you the spirit of fear. You may have the reputation of being timid Timothy but remember what you are. Remember that you are the Lordís servant and you are proclaiming the work and the words of the Lord. Therefore act accordingly. You fit all those things together ó a young man, a man who does not enjoy the best of health, a man that is not a forceful personality ó and if he came to you and said, ëI feel called to be a preacher!í You would probably say, ëO forget it. You are not the sort that God usesí. But he was ó and maybe there is a warning to us there. God does not naturally go for the all-American hero ó the man with bulging muscles and a dominant personality and all the rest of it ó and say ëAh yes, that is the sort of man I want!í Yes, He may use them, but He does not choose them for that. When God calls a man, God equips that man. He may still have all these, from a human point of view, deficiencies, but if God has called him, God will equip him and he will be there to serve God ó and serve God is what Timothy undoubtedly did.

So as Paul is there, not dying, but waiting to be put to death ó Timothy is the man that he wants. ëDo thy diligence to come before winter.í ëCome to me Timothy, I want to see you again. I want not just the things that you will bring, I want to encourage you but I want you to encourage me. There is a beautiful verse, or a series of verses, in the epistle to the Philippians that perhaps gives us an insight as to why it was that Paul would have wanted Timothy to have been with him if possible, as he faced martyrdom: ëBut I trust in the Lord Jesus to send Timotheus shortly unto you, that I also may be of good comfort, when I know your state. For I have no man likeminded, who will naturally care for your state. For all seek their own, not the things which are Jesus Christ's. But ye know the proof of him, that, as a son with the father, he hath served with me in the gospel. Him therefore I hope to send presently, so soon as I shall see how it will go with meí [Philippians 2:19-23]. Is that not a wonderful commendation? It is rather sad that he had to say this about some of the other people with him: ëI have no man likeminded, who will naturally care for your state. For all seek their own, not the things which are Jesus Christ's.í Ah, but it is different with Timothy! ëYou know the proof of him, that, as a son with the father, he hath served with me in the gospel. Him therefore I hope to send presently.í I can trust him, he is a man who has proved himself, he is a man who will not seek his own, he will seek the things of Jesus Christ. He is a man who will serve Jesus Christ. That is Timothy.

So when Paul is facing execution there in the arena, or wherever it was, in Rome ó ëI want to see Timothyí he says. ëIt would be such a help if I had him with me.í So he writes 2 Timothy and at the end of it he asks Timothy to come. Whether or not he got there we do not know; it does not matter. God knows and the great thing is that here is this man, a man who in many ways played what some people might call a subordinate role ó yet a man who was a very ordinary human being, the sort of weaknesses that many of us can identify with ó yet a man of God. A man greatly used of God. A person such as you and I ought to be ó and by Godís grace can be.

Amen
 

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