And that brings up a point which I try to mention from time to time. If you are looking for something new every time that you come to the house of God, I fear for you. That kind of attitude makes you ripe for heresy. Despite its 1500 pages, there is a finite amount of material in the Word of God. Your pastor’s mind is relatively small, and yours is not much larger than his. Many Bible subjects are important enough to be taught over and over again. And after twenty years and 4,500 lessons and messages, limits are going to be reached. You will eventually begin hearing the same subject and perhaps even the same message again. Don’t be angry. Then putting shoe on the other foot, when the preacher feels that he always has to find something new, or some new way of saying something old, then he is headed for trouble too – if he’s not already there. One of the primary reasons that most pastors never stay in any one place longer than 5 years is due to these two things.
So as I say, you probably won’t hear anything new this morning. Timothy is a man about whom we hear a lot in the pages of the Word of God. But consider this: I don’t think that we ever hear a word from his own lips or his own pen. Everything which know of him comes from the lips and pens of others. Whereas some people might think that this some sort of tragedy, let me assure you that it is not. And neither is it a tragedy if you never reach the spot-light. This world needs people like Timothy as much as it needs head-liners like Paul. Timothy may have been as important to the ministry of Paul as Barnabas or Silas. Timothy was an help, meet and fitting perfectly to the ministry of the great Apostle to the Gentiles. Certainly, David knew what it was to be in the spot-light, but he honestly said on behalf of all the Timothys, Marys, Aquilas and Priscillas in the world, “I had rather be a doorkeeper in the house of God, than to dwell in the tents of wickedness.” It is better to be a mere doorkeeper in the house of God, than to be a big fat spiritual drone in a huge religious hive.
As we have seen, Paul has sent his salutations to a great many people there in Rome. Now he mentions a few people who are with him in Corinth, and Timothy is one of them. Paul adds that Timothy is a “sunergos” (soon-er-gos’) – he was one of Paul’s fellow-laborers. Timothy was a companion of Paul in the work of the Lord.
But let’s go back to the beginning.
There are thousands of teenagers who are not particularly proud of their fathers. Sometimes, they have good reason, but that still doesn’t relieve them of the responsibility of love and respect. Neither should their opinions of their parents affect what they believe about their own worth. The only thing that we know about the father of Timotheus was that he was a Gentile – a Greek. We don’t know how Timothy felt about his father, but it shouldn’t have affected his spiritual life at all. Apparently it didn’t. His father may, or may not, have already passed away by this time, we can’t be sure. And he may or may not have been a Jewish “Proselyte of the Gate.” In contrast to the “Proselyte of Righteousness,” who made a complete surrender to the Lord, which included circumcision and all of the other rites and ceremonies of the Jews, the “Proselyte of the Gate.” only superficially worshiped and served the Lord. Did he become a proselyte in order to marry this Hebrew girl, or did she and her family sin in marrying this Greek? Did he become a proselyte at all? We don’t know. It doesn’t really matter what Timothy’s father did or did not do; it certainly was not a reflection upon the son.
I don’t suppose that there is any father, or grandfather, among us this morning, who would not be delighted to have his child become as notable a servant of the Lord as Timothy became. And by the way, father and grandfather, don’t let your ancestry keep you from being all that you can be for the Lord.
Timothy shows us that ancestry means little, but family can mean a lot. In his second letter to Timothy, Paul reminisced, saying, “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 also.” There can be no doubt about the importance of a father, at home, who loves and serves the Lord Jesus. But when there is not, or when the family is spiritually divided and only mom alone attends God’s house, she must not think that her dedication to God cannot have a positive influence on her children. And when her testimony is strengthened by those of others, such as her mother, so much the better.
We see in Paul’s statement, that the faith of Timothy, which was the foundation of this character and his service for the Lord, was the result of the godly influence and teaching of his mother and grandmother. Lois and Eunice made sure that the scriptures put into Timothy’s young head. And I seriously doubt that it was a watered down child’s version, because I’ve never heard that anything like that existed until some time in the last couple of centuries. He probably had the Septuagint – the Greek version of the Old Testament. His mother and grandmother undoubtedly told him of the faith of Abraham, Jacob, David and Daniel. He was taught the laws of Moses, the prophesies of Christ, and the histories of Israel. And when Paul came along with the news that Jesus of Nazareth fulfilled the types and prophecies of the Old Testament, the heart of young Timothy was prepared. Later Paul told him, “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 Jesus.”
How important it is that we create an atmosphere in our homes where the seeds of the gospel can sprout and flourish at the time when the Lord see fit to plant them.
I wonder if Paul had recently been hurt by someone who made a profession of service and faith. Then when something came a long and tested that person the man turned and ran, returning to the vomit of his former life. I have had dozens of such people in my ministry, and I’m sure that nearly every pastor could say the same. These people say that they know that sovereign grace is the true doctrine, but they leave and join an Arminian church. They say that the Baptists have the true doctrine and the pure gospel, but eventually they join some other kind of assembly. They once said that they believed the Lord would soon return, but after a while they changed their mind. Or what is worse, they professed to have repented of their sins and put their faith in Christ Jesus, but later they renounce, or at least ignore, their confession and return to their sins. Perhaps having recently experienced one of these people Paul thought about Timothy, remembering that his faith was as hot and genuine as the sunshine on a July afternoon. Actually, there are scriptures which indicate just what I described. II Timothy 1:13-15 – Timothy, “hold fast the form of sound words, which thou hast heard of me, in faith and love which is in Christ Jesus. That good thing which was committed unto thee keep by the Holy Ghost which dwelleth in us. This thou knowest, that all they which are in Asia be turned away from me; of whom are Phygellus and Hermogenes.” Then there is II Timothy 2:15-18 – Timothy, “study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. But shun profane and vain babblings: for they will increase unto more ungodliness. And their word will eat as doth a canker: of whom is Hymenaeus and Philetus; Who concerning the truth have erred, saying that the resurrection is past already; and overthrow the faith of some.” Timothy was not one of these people, who pretended faith, and pretended doctrine, only to deny it later on.
However, that doesn’t mean that his faith was not without flaws, and that it couldn’t have been strengthened. I look at Timothy and Joshua in much the same kind of light. They were good men, with every intention of serving the Lord with all their might. They believed God, and believed in the omnipotence of God. They believed the Word of God and the doctrines which they had been taught. They believed that the Lord would eventually bring to Himself all the glory that was prophesied. But both these men were not so convinced of themselves and their ability to bring glory to God. For example, over and over again, the Lord spoke to Joshua telling him not to be afraid. But this military commander of Israel appears to have been afraid. That didn’t keep him from leading the nation after Moses’ departure, nor did it keep him from facing enemy after enemy. But when he took his eyes from the Lord, he wavered and worried. So over and over again the Lord encouraged him: “Be strong and of a good courage.” “Only be thou strong and very courageous ….”
When Paul wrote to Timothy, “let no man despise thy youth, it leaves the impression that Timothy was self-conscious about his age. We need to remember that age and respect went hand in hand in their society. It still should, but I’m afraid that age doesn’t have the same meaning and impact that it once did. As Timothy was trying to give the gospel to grey-bearded and white headed Jews, they may have turned in disgust away from him because he was but a youth. Not only was he teaching what they thought was heresy, they said that it was because he was a know-nothing kid.
Young people, if you are looking for a Biblical motto to use for the next few years, you could do worse than to take I Timothy 4:12. “Let no man despise thy youth; but be thou an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity.” Make sure that you are a worthy example of what it is to believe God, and practice what He tells us. Obey God’s Word and live godly lives, without the taint or hint of sin. Be kind and loving, helpful and generous – fervent in charity, faith and purity. Learn to live under the leadership of the Holy Spirit. Later Paul wrote to Timothy: “Wherefore 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 mind. 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.” Maturity is not an age; it is a condition of fulness and completeness. There is no reason that any of us couldn’t be more mature than the number of candles on our cake.
Other aspects of his character were very important. I think that Paul was dealing with character in I Timothy 1:18 – “This charge I commit unto thee, son Timothy, according to the prophecies which went before on thee, that thou by them mightest war a good warfare; Holding faith, and a good conscience.” A good conscience is a very real part, or at the very least a mirror, of a good character. A good conscience means that he hasn’t had to silence, dull, or sere the testimony of his heart to his head. It means that despite the temptations that he has faced, he has followed the Lord, and done God’s will. A good conscience means that he knows in his heart that he is still fit to bring glory to the Holy God.
Paul was dealing with character in I Timothy 6:11 – “But thou, O man of God, flee these things; and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness. Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called, and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses. I give thee charge in the sight of God, who quickeneth all things, and before Christ Jesus, who before Pontius Pilate witnessed a good confession; That thou keep this commandment without spot, unrebukeable, until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ.” In another place, Paul again spoke of character – “Thou therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.”
But it was to none of these things that Paul referred here in Romans 16.
Timothy went to school under the ministry of Paul. And as he learned, he shared. He shared in Paul’s church and evangelistic services, probably singing and ushering. He heard and received the lessons just as did the heathen and openly hostile Jews, but Timothy compared what he heard with the Word of God and believed. He shared in Paul’s travel, hunger, suffering and persecution. Eventually he became a workfellow in preaching and teaching, in witnessing and evangelism. He learned how to deal with people, both friends and hostiles. He learned how to teach with patience and how to preach with boldness. He carried his share of the load, even when it wasn’t the same load as his mentor.
At this point in this life, Paul could call him “a workfellow.” Later he became the pastor and perhaps had “fellow-laborers” working with him. Historians seem to agree that Timothy became the pastor of the Baptistic church at Ephesus. And eventually he died there as a testimony to – as a martyr for – his Saviour.
Now, let me close with this observation: The Lord designed that the office of Apostle be temporary – important but temporary. There were twelve or thirteen Apostles – special ambassadors for the Lord Jesus Christ. And when the last died – when John died, their office came to an end. But the office to which Timothy was called, perhaps less important at the time, has proven to be more important in the long-term. The Lord is still in need of Timothys. The world still needs Timothys even though it doesn’t realize it. This church, our church needs a Timothy or two. What is going to happen to us, when the Lord calls this pastor away?
We need young people – repentant, surrendered young men, who love the Lord and the Word of God. We need young people willing to put their goals and emotions on the altar of Christ. We need young men willing to put their hearts and minds to the task of learning how to minister – how to serve the Lord. Are you a child of God by faith in Christ Jesus? Are you sure? Is your life still yours enough to give back to the Saviour? I mean is it still free from sin enough, and unencumbered enough to be serviceable? Then give it to Christ; give it to the One who gave His life for your salvation.