Loyal to the Faith

Loyal to the Faith

“Loyal to the Faith”
(2 Timothy 1:13-18)
Series: Faithful to the Finish Line (2 Timothy)

Rev. Todd A. Linn, PhD

Henderson’s First Baptist Church, Henderson

I invite you to join me in 2 Timothy, chapter 1 this morning (page 800; YouVersion).

While you’re finding that, I mentioned last week the book and now the move, “The Insanity of God,” a movie about missionary Nik Ripken and his interviewing Christians about their being persecuted for their faith and suffering for the Gospel; their stories and the inspiring stories of others. It appears there will be a special one-day encore presentation of the movie this Tuesday at 7 PM. It’s only showing the one evening and only at Showplace Cinema 16 on the West side of Evansville. It is a special encore presentation that also features Q&A session with the Ripkens and International Mission Board president, David Platt. So if you are free and you can see the movie, it’s this coming Tuesday evening, 7PM, Showplace Cinema 16 on Pearl Drive on the West side of Evansville. The rest of us will have to wait for the DVD and we’ll be sure to get a copy for our church library.

Well, we left off last time at verse 12 where Paul was writing that, despite his being persecuted and despite his suffering for the Gospel he says, “Nevertheless I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that He is able to keep what I have committed to Him until that Day.”

And we all sang a verse of that great hymn, “I Know Whom I Have Believed.” That was a special moment, your singing that chorus a cappella last week. That hymn talks about the things we don’t know, like how the Spirit moves convincing men of sin, or the uncertainties of life, good or ill, what we may face, but we know Whom we have believed.

I read recently about J. A. Alexander, the Princeton theologian and gifted linguist of the 1800s. There was a translation of the New Testament during his time where the translators had inserted a preposition, the preposition “in,” they inserted that between “I know” and “Whom” so that the new translation read, “I know in Whom I have believed.” J.A. Alexander didn’t like that and he had crossed through the preposition in his manuscript. His wife later commented on this. She said, “My husband was not willing that so much as a preposition would separate his soul from his Savior.”

That is so important because you and I may bump around a great deal and we don’t know what will happen to us in the future. The writer of that hymn talks about the mysteries of life, how the Holy Spirit moves, and whether we will face good times or bad times. There are many mysteries God permits in this fallen world. Today, news media will report on the 15-year anniversary of the tragic terror attack on the Twin Towers, September 11th, 2001. Among other things, that tragedy is a reminder to us of the brevity of life and the uncertainty of tomorrow.

We may not know what will happen to us in the future, but we know this: we know Whom we have believed and we are persuaded that though we may slip and fall and sin and disappoint, HE IS ABLE, He is able to lift us up and make us stand, to keep, to guard what we have committed unto Him and we will stand fast and faithful on that last day.

He has been faithful to us, we will be faithful to Him. Faithful to the finish line. More on that faithfulness and loyalty to our Lord in the verses to follow.

Please stand in honor of the reading of God’s Word.

13 Hold fast the pattern of sound words which you have heard from me, in faith and love which are in Christ Jesus.
14 That good thing which was committed to you, keep by the Holy Spirit who dwells in us.
15 This you know, that all those in Asia have turned away from me, among whom are Phygellus and Hermogenes.
16 The Lord grant mercy to the household of Onesiphorus, for he often refreshed me, and was not ashamed of my chain;
17 but when he arrived in Rome, he sought me out very zealously and found me. 18 The Lord grant to him that he may find mercy from the Lord in that Day—and you know very well how many ways he ministered to me at Ephesus.

• Pray.

Introduction:

Tomorrow Michele and I will be married 29 years. Hard to believe. Some of you have been married twice as long and I praise God for that. I was reading recently where Tony Evans was talking about men and their wedding anniversaries.

He was saying that we men usually do our best to remember that day and get our wives flowers or take them to dinner, something like that. And he was noting the contrast with how that one day stacked up against all the other days. He was noting the irony that many of us men make a big deal out of what we do for our wives on that day, but not so much on all the other days. In some cases we make such a big deal of the anniversary day it’s as though we say, “Okay, did that. See you next year.” He says, “Any woman I know would gladly trade in an annual anniversary day for a consistent 364 days a year that were faithful and consistent…she’s looking for something ongoing rather than just one big thing a year.”—Tony Evans, Book of Illustrations.

This is the kind of faithfulness and loyalty our Lord seeks from us. We may feel good about ourselves when we do some big thing for God, one day where we resisted temptation, or shared the Gospel, or read our Bibles, or spent a few minutes in prayer. And we may feel like, “Look how much I love You, Lord!” And our Lord is looking for faithfulness and consistency, not just one day a year, but 364 days a year. He’s looking for something ongoing. Our love relationship with Jesus is like a marriage, a day-by-day journey in loyalty to our Lord, our Lord who is the real love of our lives.

This passage is about loyalty, loyalty to our Lord and the faith that we embrace. It’s about loyalty to the Gospel and those who share the Gospel, loyalty to our Christian brothers and sisters.

So I want to talk about that this morning, being, “Loyal to the Faith.” First:

Be Loyal to the Word of the Gospel [13-14]

Here is Paul writing to Timothy, Paul in a Roman dungeon prison, knowing he is facing certain death any day now. And he writes to his young “son in the faith,” his mentor Pastor Timothy in Ephesus, he writes about what is most important for Timothy to remember as a follower of Jesus Christ: Be loyal to the Word of the Gospel.

13 Hold fast the pattern of sound words (this is a synonym for the Gospel; Gospel truth) which you have heard from me, in faith and love which are in Christ Jesus.

Hold fast. Don’t let go. Embrace. Stick to it.

The word “pattern” there is like a permanent sketch. The sketch is static and constant and is not to be altered. It is a permanent sketching defining the contours, shape, and limitations of the thing itself. The sketch may be filled in and enhanced, but only such that it does not change the sketch itself, but rather gives clearer expression to the sketch.

It’s kind of like those coloring books I recall from my early childhood. There were these coloring books filled with white pages of black sketches upon each page. There would be sketches of some object or person, a barn yard, a fireman, something like that. You were not to alter the sketch, but you were to fill it in by coloring whichever colors you chose. So when you were finished the sketch was the same, but it had your markings on it. So there may be one sketch and 5 or 6 different boys and girls use the same sketch and add to it their own color. Each had the child’s “mark” on it.

Paul refers to the Gospel in verse 13 as “the pattern of sound words.” The Gospel is the permanent sketch. Timothy was to hold fast to that pattern, the Gospel sketching. He was not to alter it. He was free to “color it,” if you like, speaking his words in his way, in his accent, with his experiences, and illustrations, and so on. He was free to change the way he preached the Gospel, but he was not free to change the Gospel. He was not allowed to “color outside the lines,” changing the picture into something different from the original sketch. Does that make sense?

You see, God uses all kinds of different messengers and methods and means—but there is but ONE Gospel. And no one is permitted to change the Gospel. No one is permitted to “color outside the lines.”

There are clear lines, limitations to Gospel truth. Truth, in and of itself, is that way. 2 plus 2 will only equal 4, no matter what. That’s mathematical truth. You may not like that. You may wish that 2 plus 2 equaled 6 or 7, but truth will not bend.

The Gospel is truth. It will not bend. If you don’t like the truth of the Gospel, you may reject it, but you cannot bend it. You can’t make it say something it isn’t saying. You can’t mix the Gospel with some other ideas and thoughts such that the Gospel changes and becomes unrecognizable, like a sketch in a coloring book. It’s a sketch of a dog and, rather than coloring in the dog, you try to alter the sketch and draw through the pattern, trying to change the dog into a house. You can’t do that. Truth itself cannot be altered.

Someone close to me posted this statement on his Facebook page. He wrote: “You can’t believe in nothing and you cant believe in everything. What do you believe?” Well, think about that. It’s a correct statement, isn’t it? “You can’t believe in nothing—because that would be to believe in something!—You can’t believe in nothing and you can’t believe in everything.”

Truth statements applied to religion and philosophy are mutually exclusive. If one religion says, “There is no god but Allah,” and another says, “There is no other name than the name of Jesus,” you can’t believe both and be correct. Only one can be true. To try to embrace both as true would be to try to re-design or re-draw a sketch, to change, to alter it. You can’t mix the one with the other.

Think of a prescription you get from the doctor. On the outside of the bottle it reads: “Don’t take this medicine with this other medicine.” Or, “Don’t mix with this, or that.” And in some cases if you try to take it along with this or that, you will die. There’s the Gospel. It is true. Don’t try to take it with this or mix it with that, trying to mix it with this religion or that philosophy. To mix it is to alter it and, like mixing prescriptions, the result will prove fatal.

The phrase “Sound words” there in verse 13 is similar to the way we use the word “Sound” in reference to a “Sound mind” or “Sound health.” In fact, the Greek word translated “sound” there is the word from which we get our English, “Hygiene.”

“Sound,” Healthy, and health-producing. Here is a reminder that doctrine keeps us healthy. Doctrine is good. Good words. Good minds. Good health. You want to be spiritually healthy? Sound words; doctrine. Want to be spiritually nourished? Sound words; doctrine.

Hold fast all of this, Timothy! Embrace the truth of the Gospel! Don’t mix it with anything else. And the manner of “Holding fast” is important, also. Paul says to do this “in faith and love which are in Christ Jesus.” We must live out the truth of the Gospel in faith and love, standing for truth in loving ways. Gospel truths are worked out in our faith and love.

14 That good thing which was committed to you, keep by the Holy Spirit who dwells in us.

The “good thing,” translated elsewhere as “the good deposit,” is another synonym for Gospel truth, the precious doctrines of the Gospel, the Gospel in its fullest sense. It is God, Man, Christ, Cross, Resurrection, and our Response. This is the “good thing.”

What Paul writes here in verse 14 is very similar to what Paul says to Timothy at the end of his first letter, at the very end of it, chapter 6, verse 20—you can see it like a page over on the left—chapter 6, verse 20: “O Timothy! Guard what was committed to your trust…”

Very similar to what Paul says here in verse 14, “That god thing which was committed to you, keep (or guard),”—and how are we to do this?—“Keep by the Holy Spirit who dwells in us.” The way we guard the Gospel is by relying on the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit guides us to stay faithful to the Gospel!

It is the Holy Spirit who alerts us to wrong teaching. Have you ever noticed that? Maybe you read something in a book, or you hear one of your teachers at school, or someone on a video clip or on TV, and they say something and you’re like, “Wait a minute! That isn’t true! That goes totally against what the Bible says.” Well, that’s the Holy Spirit within you altering you to false teaching. The Holy Spirit is guiding you, helping you to “Keep” or “Guard” the “good thing” of the Gospel.

Be loyal to the Word of the Gospel. Now, the other side of the coin.

Be Loyal to the Workers of the Gospel [15-18]

So now Paul is like, “I’ve been encouraging you, Timothy, to “Keep on Keepin’ on,” to be faithful to the finish line, well let me talk about some folks who haven’t been so faithful. Let me talk about some folks who are not so loyal. Let me talk about some who reject us on our Christian journey and some who refresh us on our Christian journey.

A. Some Reject Us (15)

15 This you know, that all those in Asia have turned away from me, among whom are Phygellus and Hermogenes.

Now remember that the “Asia” mentioned in the New Testament is not the continent of Asia. It was a Roman province in which Ephesus was located. It is our modern day Turkey.

So Paul says, “All those in Asia,” in this particular Roman province, “all have turned away from me.” What Paul says here is a bit like what Paul will say later in chapter 4, verse 16: “At my first defense no one stood with me, but all forsook me…” which is probably a reference to Paul’s preliminary hearing before Caesar.

In fact, in chapter 4 Paul writes that only Luke is with him (2 Timothy 4:11) and all the others have forsaken him. He says, “Demas has forsaken me, having loved this present world, and has departed for Thessalonica—Crescens for Galatia, Titus for Dalmatia. Only Luke is with me (2 Timothy 4:10-11).” Then he mentions this guy named, “Alexander the coppersmith” and he says, “Alexander the coppersmith did me much harm. May the Lord repay him according to his works. You also must beware of him, for he has greatly resisted our words (2 Timothy 4:14-15).”

There were folks who had rejected Paul. Apparently they had become ashamed of the Gospel and ashamed of Paul’s chains, not wanting to be identified or associated with him, fearing perhaps they too would be locked up in a dungeon and executed for their faith in Christ.

Paul mentions a couple guys by name here in verse 15. “All in Asia have turned away from me, among whom are Phygellus and Hermogenes.” Those guys just sound like a couple of losers, don’t they?! Phygellus and Hermogenes! They rejected Paul.

I’m not sure we should conclude that Paul feels greatly hurt by Phygellus and Hermogenes as though he were feeling sorry for himself. He seems rather to be simply stating the facts. He has been calling for faithfulness and then gives a couple examples of folks who were not faithful as if to say, “It happens, Timothy. All the more reason to guard that good deposit committed to you, keep it by the Holy Spirit who dwells in you.”

But if Paul were greatly hurt by the actions of Phygellus and Hermogenes—and all the others, for that matter—he could always bow his head and close his eyes and smile as he remembers Timothy, the one who brought him such joy, like back up in verse 4, “I want to see you again, Timothy, so I can be filled with joy!”

See there are some on our Christian journey who reject us and there are some on our journey who refresh us.

B. Some Refresh Us (16-18)

Paul could remember Timothy as one who “refreshed” him and he could also remember another source of joy and encouragement, a guy by the name of Onesiphorus.

16 The Lord grant mercy to the household of Onesiphorus, for he often refreshed me, and was not ashamed of my chain;

Isn’t “Onesiphorus” a cool name?! His name means “Bringing profit,” or “Useful.” That’s just such cool-sounding name, “Onesiphorus.” You just know that guy’s going to be an encourager, a “refresher!”

The Bible says says in Proverbs 17:17, “A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for (times of) adversity.”

I’m grateful for Christian brothers like Onesiphorus! I’m grateful for encouragers in the faith. There are too many discouragers in our world, aren’t there?! Too many “Debbie Downers” and “Negative Nancys.” We need more encouragers.

Onesiphorus is one of those encouragers. Paul says, “he often refreshed me,” and that probably means that Onesiphorus was just an encouragement when he was there, just who he was, his very presence conveyed refreshment! I mean, in the ancient world, if you were in prison the guards were under no obligation to feed you or clothe you. So when Onesiphorus showed up—man, what an encouragement to Paul!

Paul adds in verse 16 that Onesiphorus was “not ashamed of (his) chain.” He didn’t fear being associated with the Apostle Paul. In fact, he went looking for Paul. He left Ephesus and went to Rome looking for Paul. Verse 17:

17 but when he arrived in Rome, he sought me out very zealously and found me.

He didn’t know where Paul was, but he wasn’t afraid to ask. So think of this:

Onesiphorus leaves Ephesus, takes a ship, sails to Rome, and goes from one prison to the next, looking for Paul. Dangerous. Nero persecuted Christians. Blamed the great fire of Rome in AD 64 on the Christians. So Nero’s got spies out all over the place looking for Christians. But that didn’t stop Onesiphorus, Mr. “Bringing Profit,” Mr. “Useful.”

Little wonder Paul writes in the last verse of chapter 1, verse 18:

18 The Lord grant to him (Onesiphorus) that he may find mercy from the Lord in that Day—and you know very well how many ways he ministered [to me] at Ephesus.

Onesiphorus refreshed and encouraged people everywhere he went; from Ephesus to Rome! He as a traveling refresher.

So Paul says, “The Lord grant to him that he may find mercy from the Lord in that Day.” I like the way the New Living Translation puts this. Paul says, “May the Lord show him special kindness on the day of Christ’s return.”

Here’s a Todd Linn paraphrase: “May the Lord refresh him for the way he has refreshed others.”

Proverbs 11:25 says, “He who refreshes others will himself be refreshed.”

Are you a refresher? An encourager? Does the room “light up” when you enter it? Or when you leave do people say, “I’m glad she’s gone!”

May God help us to stand faithful and true, holding fast the pattern of sound words, holding fast to the pure Gospel and standing unashamedly with our brothers and sisters—not as discouragers, but encouragers on the journey.

Would you bow for prayer?

We’re moving into God’s invitation time. This is the invitation. God’s invitation to respond. We have heard God’s Word. Every time we hear God’s Word we respond.

There is an invitation every week, whether there is a traditional “coming forward” or whether we respond where we stand. Nothing in the Bible says it has to be done one way or other. But when God speaks, He invites us to respond by obeying His word and being faithful to what He says. That is the invitation. And we all choose how we will respond to God’s Word.

So remember that the invitation is not simply some time when we watch others “go forward” or something. God’s invites every single one of us to respond to His Word. How will you respond this morning?

First, it may be that some of you need to be saved. God is offering to you “the pattern of sound words,” the Gospel, sound words that you may have sound, spiritual health. Hold fast, embrace this pattern of sound words, this “good thing” being offered to you.

God grants you the power to be saved from sin this morning. God saves us “not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which is given to us in Christ Jesus.”

In a moment we’re going to sing a hymn and we’ll sing:

But drops of tears can ne’er repay
the debt of love I owe.
Here, Lord, I give myself away;
’tis all that I can do.

If we believe in Him and live for Him, we can be sure that He “has abolished death” and that he “brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.”

If you trust Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, then death is not the end, but merely the end of a beginning. You will pass on from this broken place to a perfect place. Trust Christ this morning and be saved. You can pray a prayer like this one:

“Lord Jesus Christ, I admit that I am weaker and more sinful than I ever before believed, but, through you, I am more loved and accepted than I ever dared hope. I thank you for paying my debt, bearing my punishment and offering forgiveness. I turn from my sin and receive you as Savior.”

Others of you, are you loyal to the Word of the Gospel? Do you love the pattern of sound words, not seeking to mix it with some other teaching, but taking it straight like a good medicine.

Are you faithful to share the Gospel? God will grant you and me opportunities to show our faithfulness to Him but sharing the Gospel today and this week. Not just one day of the year like an annual wedding day celebration, but all 365 days of the year.

Some of you may wish to recommit your faithfulness and loyalty to the Word right now. You want to show your faithfulness to the Lord who has been faithful to you. You want to recommit to Him, endeavoring to faithfully read His Word every day, study it daily, memorize it, meditate upon it, proclaim it, teach it, share it. Not just one big time every once in awhile, but faithfully, every day of the year, beginning today end every day this week.

Just pray, “God, help me be faithful to hold fast the pattern of sound words” and read it daily and love it every day of my life.

Loyal to the word and loyal to others, being an encourager, not a discourager.

Some of you may want to pray, “God, help me never to be like a Phygellus or Hermogenes. I don’t want to abandon You, or Your Word, or other Christians. God, by way of Your Holy Spirit, keep me on the right path. And help me be an encourager to others, a bright light to others, that I may build them up and refresh them. May I be like Onesiphorus, a refresher for Jesus Christ.”

Each of us responding right now in prayer, and right now in praise, as we begin to sing in a moment, and all of this we ask in Jesus’ name, amen.

I’m going to invite you to stand and sing. If you need to come forward for any reason—you want prayer or you’re not sure of your salvation, or you want to be baptized or join the church—to my left and to your right, a minister will be available to you. Rich, Matt, Ken, will be standing.

Let’s respond to the Word in praise.

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