Let us turn again to God's Word
in the chapter that we read and directing you this evening to
words that we find here in Philippians chapter 2 verse 19 following,
I'll read from verse 19 to verse 23 Paul says, But 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
like-minded 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 Murray. I want to try to say something
with regards to this man Timothy and his character. It's interesting
because here we see that it is very much a personal letter that
the Apostle is writing as he addresses the church officers
and the members there in the church at Philippi and in the
second chapter of course we have the most profound of doctrine
as he speaks of the person and the work of the Lord Jesus Christ
there at verse 6 following great doctrine is to be found in that
passage we've looked at those verses on previous occasions
and yet all this great doctrinal truth is set in a chapter that
in many ways is a very practical chapter. He makes mention of
Christ and his humiliation humiliation that we witness in the coming
of Christ in the incarnation he mentions all of that in the
context of exhorting these people to lowliness of mind and to humility
and then he goes on and speaks of certain individuals he doesn't
just speak of Timothy subsequently at verse 25 he goes on to make
mention of Epaphroditus I thought it might be profitable to consider
something of what he says here in the passage I just read concerning
Timothy in particular and see the immediate context here our
text in verse 19 begins with that conjunction but but he says
I trust in the Lord Jesus to send Timotheus shortly unto you."
Clearly then, there's a contrast with what he has said in the
previous verse. In verse 17, "...yea, if I be
offered," he says, "...upon the sacrifice and service of your
faith, I joy and rejoice with you all. For the same cause also
do ye joy and rejoice with me." But I trust in the Lord Jesus
to send Timotheus shortly unto you." Surely there in verses
17 and 18 he is aware of the possibility of his own departure,
even his own death. He speaks of being offered, or as the margin says, poured
forth if I be poured forth upon the sacrifice and service of
your faith he is using this language that really speaks I suppose
of a libation a drink offering as it were and we have those
drink offerings mentioned in the Old Testament Scriptures
remember our Jacob there in Genesis 35 when we see him at at Bethel,
where the Lord appears to him as he sleeps, having taken one
of the stones for his pillow, and the Lord appears to him,
the angels of God ascending and descending upon the ladder, and
the Lord got himself there at the top of that ladder. It's
Bethel, it's the house of God, it's the gate of heaven. And
after that we're told how Jacob set up a pillar in the place
where he talked with him even a pillar of stone and poured
a drink offering thereon and poured oil thereon. It's the same sort of thing that
is being spoken of here in the 17th verse, if I be offered,
poured forth, a libation, a drink offering And we see something
similar in the experience of David there towards the end of
his life in 2 Samuel 23 as he yearns for a drink from the well
at Bethlehem. And we're told how three of his
mighty men go at the cost of their lives to obtain that drink
for him. And what does David do when they
bring water from the well? He pours it out. as an offering
before the Lord. Well, here with Paul, you see.
He will pour out his life as he engages in this work that
the Lord had called him to. Pours out his life, as it were,
in the ministry of the Gospel. Pours out his life, really, in
the service of these believers at Philippi. In Acts chapter
16 he was the one of course who first took the gospel to them
and established the church amongst them. And now in the opening
chapter he speaks of being in a strait betwixt two. He has
a desire to depart and to be with Christ which is far better. Nevertheless he says to abide
in the flesh is more needful for you. He is so mindful of
them and and their needs but how he will
quite willingly expend his life in the service of the Lord Jesus
Christ he speaks here at the end of verse 17 of joy and rejoicing
and he says then for the same cause also do you joy and rejoice
with me he wants them to rejoice with him however we see quite
clearly that he doesn't really desire his own way It's not what
he wants. He's more concerned with regards
to what they want. As he says at verse 4, look not
every man on his own things, but every man also on the things
of others. He's more concerned with what
will be for their good, but ultimately of course his great concern is
that God's will should be done. It's the will of God that is
paramount. or doesn't the Lord teach us in the petitions of
the Lord's prayer amongst other things we are to pray thy will
be done thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven and so he
trusts that the will of the Lord will be done it's interesting
that that passage in the epistle of James remember there in in
James chapter 4 at verse 13 go to now ye that say today or
tomorrow we will go into such a city and continue there a year
and buy and sell and get gain whereas you know not what shall
be on the morrow for what is your life It is even a vapour
that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away. For that ye ought to say, If
the Lord will, we shall live, and do this and that. If the
Lord will. And this is Paul, you see. What
is he doing? He's living the life of faith.
What does he say here in verse 19? I trust in the Lord Jesus
to send Timotheus shortly unto you, And then he says at verse
24, I trust in the Lord that I also myself shall come. Short
life. It's a life of trust. It's a
life of faith in the Lord. But there are those who in all
this man's labours are his associates. And there are those who are supporting
him in his ministry. And we really see the greatness
of Paul's concern for these Philippians in that he will send to them
such a man as Timothy. He will send this man. I have no man like minded, he
says. you will naturally care for your
state for all seek their own not the things which are Jesus
Christ but you know the proof of him that as a son with the
father he hath served with me in the gospel and so to try to
say something for a while with regards to this man's character
now I'm aware of course that he was called to do a specific
work like the apostle Paul was an apostle, but we're not saying
Timothy was an apostle, but he's an apostle's associate, he's
associated with that ministry, he's called to this ministry,
and Paul does address those pastoral epistles to him in 1st and 2nd
Timothy, and there, when he writes to Timothy, he does make mention
of the manner in which he is to conduct himself. For example,
in 1st Timothy chapter 3, verse 14 he says 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 Jesus
Christ all those things that he has learned those things that
he's been instructed in now He's a minister, yes, and yet also
here in the context we see that he's a wonderful example of what
Paul has been saying previously. At the beginning of the chapter,
fulfill ye my joy, he says, that ye 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.
Isn't Timothy a wonderful example of that? The exhortation that
Paul is given in those opening verses is what was practiced
by this man Timothy. So there's a more general application. Yes, he was one who was a minister
associated with the Apostle and his preaching of the Gospel,
but also one who is an example to all believers. And so, as I said, I just want
us to look a little while at something of his character. First
of all, to say something with regards to his sympathy, how
he would sympathize with the Philippians. I have no man like
mine, he says, who will naturally care for your state. he has a certain sympathy with
Paul himself he uses his expression like-minded
the margin here in the pulpit bible says so dear unto me but
it's interesting the word that we have and it's rendered like-minded
in the text it's one of those compounds two words really wedded
together and it literally means an equal soul. It's the word
for soul but then also this idea of an equal soul or the same
soul. I have no man of the same soul. I like the way Gell expounds
it. He says Timothy's soul was knit
to Paul's. and they had as it were but one
soul in two bodies he was a second Paul in the pulpit this is how
closely he is related in the spirit to the apostle and the
work of the apostle he was so sympathetic to the apostle Paul
and we see how that Paul obviously thought very highly of this young
man because he commends him time and again to the various churches
as he writes these different epistles in 1st Corinthians chapter
4 verse 16 I beseech you be ye followers of me he says for this
cause have I sent unto you Timotheus who is my beloved son and faithful
in the Lord who shall bring you into remembrance of my ways which
be in Christ as I teach everywhere in every church." Oh, there's
such a relationship between these two men. And again, when he writes
to the church at Thessalonica, he speaks again of Timothy. there in 1 Thessalonians 3, wherefore
when we could no longer forbear we thought it good to be left
at Athens alone and sent Timotheus our brother and minister of God
and our fellow labourer in the gospel of Christ to establish
you and to comfort you concerning your faith. Paul obviously highly esteems
him, he feels himself to be at one with this man he's a faithful
friend of the Apostle and he can entrust these things to him
but he doesn't only have sympathy with Paul being like-minded being
as it were of an equal soul he also has sympathy with the Philippians,
he will naturally care for you I have no man like-minded who
will naturally care for you." Why? Was he not there, involved? In the ministry of the Apostle,
when first he preached amongst the Philippians, the record is
there in the 16th chapter of the Acts, and we see Timothy's
name mentioned in the opening verses, then came it to Derbe
and Lystra, And behold, a certain disciple was there, Nantimotheus,
the son of a certain woman, which was a Jewess, and believed that
his father was a Greek, which was well reported of by the brethren
that were at Lystra and Iconium. Inward Paul hath 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 Greek. And then we see in the following
verses of Korah, of course, how Paul is directed, called over
to Macedonia, and Timothy is now in the Parthenon. He was
there at the beginning then when they first preached amongst the
Philippians. And this word naturally will
naturally care for your state as the idea of him being honorable
and sincere. He has such a love for them.
Paul's commendation then is such that
he recognizes in this man one who is going to show some sympathy,
some empathy to those Philippians, addressing himself to their various
needs. And he speaks also of his sincerity,
his dependence. In verse 21, all seek their own,
he says, not the things which are Jesus Christ's. Timothy is
different, different to so many others. All seek their own, says
the apostle. In some ways that might sound
rather a strange saying, rather a hard saying. Doesn't the psalmist
say somewhere, I said in my haste, all men are liars. We know how we're to be careful
with regards to rushing to judgment. All seek their own. not the things
which are Jesus Christ. Look at the language again that
we find in the epistle of James. James warns against such a hasty
spirit. Wherefore, my beloved brethren,
let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath,
for the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God.
What are we to make of this? Well, we have to remember, of
course, that Paul was aware of many false
teachers amongst the churches and warns against the false teachers,
he speaks particularly to the Corinthians of those false apostles
and he speaks very hard words as he condemns them for their
false teachings in 2nd Corinthians chapter 11 verse 13, such are
false apostles deceitful workers transforming themselves into
the apostles of Christ no marvel for Satan himself is transformed
into an angel of light how the apostle is very much aware then
that there are those who have crept into the churches and he
is saying quite clearly that Timothy is very different to
these when he writes to Titus in one of his pastoral letters
look at what he says there in Titus chapter 1 verse 10 there
are many unrulers and vain talkers and deceivers especially they
of the circumcision whose mouths must be stopped who subvert whole
houses, teaching things which they ought not, for filthy lucre's
sake. For all seek their own, he says,
not the things which are Jesus Christ's. We're not to think
that this is an absolute statement. He's simply recognizing what
was happening amongst these infant churches. He had been so instrumental
in first taking the gospel into these various places and seeing
churches established, but then so soon the devil was active
and false teachers were coming amongst them. And this is why
he wants to send Timothy to Philippi, to guard against these things.
It's not an absolute statement, we have to remember that. So
I suppose in that sense, it's wrong to equate his words with
the words of the psalmist. I said in my haste, all men are
liars. He's not speaking hasty words.
He's speaking careful, deliberate words, is the apostle. We have
to remember something of his own experience. And he makes
mention of that, doesn't he, in the opening chapter. Many of the brethren, verse 14
in chapter 1, many of the brethren in the Lord waxing confident
by my bonds, this is one of his prison epistles, are much more
bold to speak the word without fear. Some indeed preach Christ
even of envy and strife. Some also of goodwill. The one
preached Christ of contention, not sincerely supposing to add
affliction to my bonds, but the other of love, knowing that I
am said for the defense of the gospel. What then? he asked,
what then? notwithstanding every way whether
in pretense or in truth Christ is preached and I therein do
rejoice yea and will rejoice oh he is so conscious and so
aware of those who opposed him but not Timothy Timothy's character
is very different Timothy is so sincere in the
love that he bears towards the Apostle. Again, the language, writing
now to Timothy, in 2nd Timothy chapter 4, he
says that my first answer, No man stood with me, but all men
forsook me. I pray God that it may not be
laid to their charge. How Paul at times felt himself so
alone. No man standing with him there
when he is answering the first charge at Rome. But Timothy was
one who was so trustworthy and so dependable. All seek their
own, not the things which are Jesus Christ, but you know the
proof of Him. that as a son with the father he hath served with
me in the gospel." Oh, the Lord Jesus Christ Himself during the
course of His ministry does He not give warning of those who
would be false teachers and false apostles and false pastors? There
in John chapter 10 Verily, verily, says the Lord, I say unto you,
he that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth
up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber. And now the Lord continues, the
thief and the robber cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill,
and to destroy. I am come that they might have
life, and that they might have it more abundantly. Paul could say again, writing
to the Corinthians, I seek not yours but you. He's not seeking
to make merchandise of the Corinthians. He's only desiring their spiritual
good. And here is one who is so like
unto the Apostle. There has once sold, as John
Gill says, there has once sold these men. what a spirit we see
then in Saul in Timothy his sympathy, his sincerity,
his attachment to the Apostle and what of his service when
it was real service he says you know the proof of him and the word that we have here
to prove as regards to testing metals in a crucible. That process
for the purifying of the ore, that there might be the removal
of all the impurities. And how is that done? By the
application of heat. This is how this man has been
proved. when Paul writes to him in those pastoral epistles he
tells him make full proof of thy ministry or what exhortations
he is giving to Timothy and he speaks of the sort of man that
he was remember how in 2nd Timothy there in the opening chapter
He remarks on his mother and his grandmother. When I called
to remembrance, he says, the unfamed faith that is in thee,
which dwelleth first in thy grandmother Lois, and also in thy mother
Eunice, and I trust in thee also. And so, as we see there in chapter
3 of that same second epistle, he remarks to us, Paul, on what
he had learnt even from his childhood. From a child that was known the
Holy Scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith
which is in Jesus Christ. All Scripture is given by inspiration. of God, and is profitable for
doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness,
that the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all
good works." Timothy then, he was a man who had been proved,
a man who had been prepared, he was a faithful servant, and
he's sending this man Timothy to minister amongst the Philippians. His ministry was not in any way
just a theoretical ministry, Timothy, it was not just a notional
faith that he had, it was a real faith. And he will certainly
be able then to fill, as it were, the shoes of the Apostle himself. Remember how Paul speaking of
his own ministry to the Corinthians says of God who also hath made
us able ministers of the New Testament not of the letter but
of the Spirit. Well the same was true of Timothy. His was real service. He know
the proof of him that as a son with the father he hath served
with me in the gospel. Real service. but also it was
very humble service he served not Paul but he is
really serving God together with Paul as a son with the father he serves with Paul and they are, each of them together,
seeking to do the service of God. And all this points us,
doesn't it, ultimately to the Lord Jesus Christ. Even the Son
of Man, Christ says, came not to be ministered unto, but to
minister, and to give his life a ransom for many. Oh, the Lord
Jesus Christ is that one. It was the pattern to them all,
the pattern that they had to follow. Remember how the wise man in
the book of Proverbs speaks of the true friend that friend who
loveth at all times and is a brother born for adversity well this
was Timothy but that friend who sticketh
closer than a brother, ultimately it's the Lord Jesus Christ, isn't
it, that's being spoken of in the Proverbs? And in all of this
passage we see the Lord Jesus Christ as that one who is really
the great pattern. Let this mind be in you which
was also in Christ Jesus, he says at verse 5. and the following
verses. And he goes on then of course
to make those tremendous doctrinal statements concerning the great
mystery of the Incarnation, and the remarkable work that the
Lord Jesus comes to accomplish by His humility, His obedience
unto death, even the death of the cross. And so ultimately
whilst we're considering something of the character of of Timothy
we have to look beyond Timothy and we have to recognize it was
the grace of God in the soul of this man as he was formed
and fashioned a faithful servant not of the Apostle but of the
Lord Jesus Christ himself I trust in the Lord Jesus he says to
send Timotheus shortly unto you that I also may be of comfort
when I know your state for I have no man like minded who will naturally
care for your state for all seek their own, not the things which
are Jesus Christ 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 me." Or the heart of the Apostle, the heart of Timothy
himself and the ministry that these men are exercising, all
rooted and grounded in the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ. All that we might learn then
from what the Apostle has to say with regards to his fellow
labourer, one who was so dear unto him, one who was really
one soul with him. May the Lord be pleased to grant
that we might be favoured with such a spirit ourselves. Amen.