2 Timothy chapter 1. The title of the message is,
God's Distinguishing Affliction. God's Distinguishing Affliction. Here in 2 Timothy, we'll be looking
at verses 15 through 18 this morning. The Apostle says, This
thou knowest, that all they which are in Asia have turned away
from me, of whom are vigilious and homogenous the Lord give
mercy unto the house of Onesiphorus. For he hath oft refreshed me,
and was not ashamed of my chain. But when he was in Rome, he sought
me out very diligently, and found me. The Lord granted unto him
that he may find mercy of the Lord in that day. And in how many things he ministered
unto me at Ephesus thou knowest very well. God's distinguishing
affliction. Now the Apostle Paul has thus
far in this letter to his son in the faith, Timothy, this young
pastor, he encourages him to boldness. to boldness and steadfastness
in the testimony of the Lord Jesus Christ, of the preaching
of the gospel. If you look over in verse 8,
he says, 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. And in verse 13,
he says, Hold fast. the form of sound words which
thou hast heard of me in faith and love which is in Christ Jesus."
He's encouraging the Apostle in the time of affliction, in
the time of suffering, to hold fast with boldness the Gospel
of Jesus Christ. Don't be ashamed. Don't be ashamed
in the time of affliction of the Gospel of Christ. Hold fast
the Gospel of Christ. And this earnest, passionate
exhortation comes out of time of great affliction and confusion
in the church. I want us to see the scene here.
See the reason for this letter being written to Timothy was
to encourage him in the gospel because of affliction. The apostle Paul, the great apostle,
the man used most of God in the early church. The apostle was
used of God greatly to establish the churches of the Gentiles. He says, I labored more abundantly
than they all. He wasn't bragging. What he was
doing was stating the truth. God had used him greatly, more
than any other apostle. The apostle Paul was used. And
now, the great apostle had been put in chains. The great apostle
had been arrested. He says, back in verse 11, he
says, Whereunto I am appointed a preacher, an apostle, and a
teacher of the Gentiles. For the witch cause I also suffer
these things. Suffer being in chains. And he
tells Timothy this. You hold fast, even though I'm
in chains. Even though that the church is
set in confusion. You hold fast. You see, it appeared
as though the Jewish rulers had won. It appeared as though that
the church that was flourishing and adding to daily such as should
be saved was now in a state of apostasy. Do you see how fast
things turn around? Do you see how fast and furious
it seems that circumstances change? This circumstance, the church
was flourishing. Imagine this, one preaching and
5,000 were added. That's amazing! Amazing! These
things were simply astonishing what was happening. The world
was being turned upside down. And now, it all seemed to stop. The apostle had been arrested. He'd been put in chains. Seemed
as though the Jewish rulers had won. Look at this in verse 15. This
thou knowest, that they which are in Asia be turned away from
me. Timothy, being a pastor of the
church of Ephesus, lived in Asia. He was quite aware of what was
going on around him. He was quite aware that people
were jumping out of the church Just as fast as they jumped in.
They were like rats going on a sinking ship. They were jumping
off. They were apostating. They were leaving by the droves.
Paul says, All they that are in Asia have forsaken me. Timothy knew this. He no doubt
knew this to be a truth, that a great number who professed
faith in Christ, who seemed to be fellow laborers in the Gospel,
now because of the chains of the Apostle Paul, forsook Him,
and forsook the preaching of the Gospel for fables. Fables. In chapter 4, he warns
Timothy of this. He says in verse 2, he tells
Timothy, you preach the word, you be instant, ready, in season,
out of season, reprove it, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering
and doctrine. 4, a time will come when they
will not endure sound doctrine, But after their own lusts they
shall heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears, and they
shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned
unto... What? Fables. These men were
turning. These people that the Apostle
believed to be preachers of the gospel. These men that he... gave credence to. These men that
said, hey, this is my fellow laborer, this is a preacher of
the gospel, they now had left him alone. They forsook him. Now some of the church, no doubt,
fled because of fear of being associated with the apostle.
If you were afraid of being associated because they could arrest you
for just being associated. And some men no doubt feared
this. And I'll tell you, if you can't
identify with that, then you're not human. You're some greater man than
I am because that can happen to us. It happened to Peter, didn't
it? He denied to even be associated with the Lord for fear. of being
tortured with Christ. Some were fearful of being associated
with Apostle Paul, but others, desiring the preeminence in the
church, used the chains of the Apostle Paul to teach their own
doctrine. They used this opportunity. They
used this time of confusion to exalt themselves. And notice
these two men personally mentioned, and I don't know if I'm pronouncing
their names right, so if, you know, you speak Greek or something,
then, you know, don't even correct me. I don't even want to be corrected
about it. Vigilius and Hermogenes, I guess. But these two men are named specifically
here. These were chief men in the revolt
in Asia. They were even thought by some
to be among the 70 disciples that the Lord Jesus Christ sent
out. Now the Apostle Paul, because of this betrayal, was no doubt
had a broken heart. If you've ever been betrayed
by a friend, then you understand his condition. The apostle had
a broken heart. And this was not just friends
in a physical sense. I have lost physical friends,
or earthly friends, and it's been painful. But I tell you,
the worst pain in the world is to lose a person who professed
faith in Christ, that you thought was a dear friend, I've had a
dear friend that the only bond that we had was the gospel. The only foundation for our friendship
was the gospel. And I've had my friend turn from
me and turn from the gospel that we loved so much, that he professed
to love. There is no pain like that. That's
a very difficult affliction. These were supposedly brothers
in Christ. Yet this suffering of Paul and
this apostasy of the church in Asia was no hindrance to the
Word of God. Did you hear that? It was no
hindrance to the Word of God. If you look over in chapter 2
in verse 8, the Apostle says, wherein I suffer trouble as an
evildoer, even unto bonds. But the Word of God is not bound. The Word of God is not bound.
You see, the Word of God in trouble is not bound, it is free. And
matter of fact, all the affliction that happens to every believer
is rather not for the hindrance of the gospel, but for the furtherance. Furtherance of the gospel. Believers
in Jesus Christ, the suffering and affliction that we face in
this world is not meaningless. It has a purpose or you would
not suffer it. God does not send suffering in
a meaningless way. It is always with a divine purpose. A divine purpose. The Word of
God. The church must learn this, that
the Word of God did not depend on the freedom of the Apostle
Paul. The Word of God did not depend
on whether the Apostle was bound or free. The Word of God was
not bound, even though the Apostle Paul was. The Word of God is not bound,
neither does the Word of God suffer loss because of our suffering
for it. Matter of fact, in Isaiah chapter
55, verse 11, the Lord says, My word goes forth out of my
mouth and shall accomplish whereunto I send it. God's word is not
hindered. How often has the church of Jesus
Christ been so attracted to one man or another? And then, when
that man suffers, they are in chaos. Isn't that so? We think that the gospel is dependent,
and if this man dies, or if this man's moved, or if this man has
trouble, or if that man has trouble, then the whole kingdom suffers.
No, it doesn't. It doesn't. The kingdom of God
is not dependent on one man. It's not dependent on God's,
not even on any of God's creatures. It is dependent upon God. Sometimes the church gets the
Corinth syndrome. And they say, I'm of Paul. I'm
of this man. I'm of that man. Well, I like
this man. He's better than this man. And
so when that man is caught in some kind of trouble or is removed
of God, the church is brought into such confusion and disarray How many even today boast of
pastors long gone and lament that there are no more of them?
And yet they're all over. God still has His men. What's
the problem? The problem is they're focusing
on someone who's already dead. They think the gospel is dependent
upon that man that's already passed. That's not so. So then they in rebellion refused
to sit under any other man of God. These fail not only in obedience
to the plain word that says, Forsake not the assembling of
yourselves together, but they are also the cause of much discouragement
and painfulness to the body of the Lord Jesus Christ that He
purchased with His own blood. God, I pray that you would make
us faithful servants, no matter our affliction. No matter our
affliction. We should be faithful servants
because the Word of God is not bound. The Word of God does not
depend upon a man. It depends solely upon God. And
we should be obedient to God regardless of how we feel or
our circumstance. Now there has been and there
will be in the church much afflictions. The Scripture tells us that we
should inherit the Kingdom of God. How? Through much affliction
we should enter into the Kingdom of God. Much affliction. Yet
these afflictions must come, and I tell you, they are ordained
of God. This affliction on the Apostle
Paul was ordained of God. And it has a specific purpose.
It will not hinder the Gospel, but rather it will prove it and
purify the Church. That's what afflictions are for.
To prove the church. Now, there has been, there is
now, and there will always be wheat among the chaff, among
the wheat. There will be, and there always
is, are goats among the sheep. There will always be those who
profess faith in Jesus Christ and those who actually possess
Jesus Christ. true believers and false professors. See then, that God uses this
matter of suffering of the saints, these piercing trials, in order
to make a great distinction, a separation. The imprisonment of the apostle
Paul was due to the hatred of the Jews, the injustice of the
Romans, and yet, above all these second causes, we know this,
that it was by the sovereign will of God that Paul be put
in chains. It was by the sovereign will
of God that the church of Asia should turn away from him, And
that these that are believers should be revealed to be faithful. Isn't that what happened? He
was in chains. These two men, these great apostates,
had left him. But yet, what did this affliction
do to the other man, Onesiprus? It only proved his faithfulness. And that's what God does with
trials. Now the apostle writing to Corinth,
concerning their exaltation of men. He tells us that every man's
work will be made manifest and revealed. How? So as by fire. And this is not talking about
that last day of judgment that our work will be revealed. He's
talking about in this dispensation of grace, when the trial and
fire of affliction, when it comes, It will prove what's truly there. It will prove us. Prove what
sort of work is in each man. Now the same gospel seed this
morning that I preach to you is sown to all men. But upon
which ground it lands, I have no idea. I cast this seed at
a venture. I tell you to hold fast, to believe
on Jesus Christ, to trust Him, to rest your soul on His blood
and righteousness. But where that lands, I have
no control. It is not my job to put it in
your heart. It's just my job to throw it.
And then where it lands, I don't know. Some of it today is going
to land on the wayside hearer. And these are quickly manifested.
You that hear me, and when you walk out the door, it's gone.
Well, see, what happened is the Word hit your hard heart, Satan
grabbed it and took it away, and you won't ever have any fruit
of it. So those are easy to spot. But
there are some who hear on what he calls stony ground. These
are ones that have just a small hint of dirt on top. They're
superficial hearers. These hearers, they hear the
gospel and it soothes their conscience for a little while, or they use
it as a means to appeal to men, make themselves look better. These kind of people change their
habits, change their appearance, change their relationships. These
type of faith, they spring up fast and go away just as fast. I don't know if you've ever seen
sometimes the weeds, how fast the weeds pop up in the yard.
It don't take much. Don't take much earth. I got
some, I got some grass and man, I can't get grass to grow. I'm
trying. I'm trying to get the grass to
grow. Now the weeds, I don't have to spend much time on the
weeds. They just pop up. But I'll tell you what, if I
leave them alone in the hot sun, it won't be long and they'll
be dried out. Why? They don't have any depth
of earth. They have no roots. They don't
last long. And so it is with the stony ground
hearer. They hear the Word, but soon
as they hear it and tribulation comes, fire comes, trouble comes,
where'd they go? Where'd they go? They can burn
up. They burn up. They're like the
dog returning to his vomit. They're like the hog returning
to the mire of their sins. These are like the men, man with
the evil spirit that left him and when he goes out of him,
he comes back and he's clean and he's swept and he's garnished
and everything looks good. And he takes seven more spirits,
more wicked than he was, and his last state is worse than
his first. Have you seen men like that? I have. I've seen
men do that all the time. Come in, oh, weeping, crying,
oh, sin, oh. And then next thing you know,
they're right back to where they started. Worse than the first. And there are others who hear
it on thorny ground. And these are like these two
men here. Vigilious and homogenous. These men are the thorny ground
hearers. These who hear the Word, they
seem to be of the same vine as true believers. And yet when
affliction arises, the vines of the world come in and choke
out the fruit. The thorns of this life, the
love of this world, they cause them to yield No evidence of
grace, no evidence of life, other than their vain words and profession. I tell you, if all you've got
is a profession, you've got nothing. That's all you've got is words.
Words are cheap, aren't they? Anyone can say words. But I'll
tell you, when trial and affliction comes,
and the world takes precedent, you can know this, because you
don't have any life. All true life, all spiritual
life that comes by the grace of God will bring forth the evidence
of life. The fruit of the Spirit, love,
joy, peace, meekness, gentleness, faith, temperance, kindness,
all of these fruits of the grace are graces of God. They come
from the Holy Spirit that dwells inside of a true believer. And
everyone who receives the seed of the gospel on the good ground,
Jesus Christ said they will bear much fruit. Well, how is this fruit grow? Through much tribulation. Does anybody need patience? Scriptures tell us that tribulation
worketh patience. Does anybody need more faith,
love, joy, peace, How do these things come? Through much tribulation. And what affliction and suffering
that causes the stony ground hearers to fade away as the weed
scorched in the desert sun, the affliction that causes the thorny
ground hearer to be choked out and become useless, is the same
affliction that causes believers to grow in the grace and knowledge
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Is this not the same affliction?
The apostle was in change. There's the affliction. The church
was in chaos. What did it do for these two
men in Asia? For two men, it caused them to
go away. What did it do for this other
man? It caused him to draw near. You see? Same affliction. But
yet the affliction has a purpose. God uses it to prove the truth
of our hearts. In John chapter 15, our Lord
tells us that He is the vine and His Father is the husband. I'll read it, John chapter 15.
He said, I'm the vine and my father's the husbandman. Every
branch in me that beareth not fruit is taken away. And every
branch that beareth fruit, he prunes it. Cuts it. Cuts it back. Cuts the dead leaves
off of it. Why? So that it may bring forth
more fruit. You see why afflictions come?
Afflictions come so that we might grow. So that we might grow. O believers, see the afflictions
of God are not for your destruction, but therefore are pruning away
of the dead leaves of our works and flesh, so that we should
bear more fruit unto God. See what affliction that the
apostle caused many to turn away, it caused this other man to serve. Look at that in verse 16. The
Lord give mercy unto the house of Onesiphorus, for he oft refreshed
me, and was not ashamed of my chain. But when he was in Rome,
he sought me out very diligently, and found me. And this man was
not ashamed of the gospel, and he was not ashamed of God's man.
Matter of fact, it was hard for him to get to the Apostle Paul.
Notice that. He sought me out diligently. It's not that he
could find me easily. This work and labor of love in
the gospel is never easy. How many times have we said,
well, you know, if the Lord wants me to do things, then He's just
going to plow the road for me and everything's going to go
smooth. But if one little thing comes in the way, then that means
God didn't want me to do it. That's superstitious nonsense.
That's not so. When you desire to do anything
in the service of God, I promise you there are things going to
come up. There are always things that are going to come up. Onesiphorus was one that did
not forsake Paul, and he was not ashamed of his chains. He
remained faithful to refresh the apostle in his bonds. Is
this not the heart of every true servant of God? This is always
the result of the gospel of God's free grace, is that we would
be gracious. That's the result. That's what
it yields. The message of works yields nothing
but pride. Grace yields humility. Grace never genders pride, but
rather humility and humbleness of service toward God and His
saints. Affliction causes us to be brought low into the dust
so that we may serve one another. Now there are men who boast of
the knowledge of grace. But if they're not gracious,
I'll tell you what, there's something wrong with that. Grace does not
elevate pride. Grace always abases. Spurgeon
said this, just because a man blows a horn real loud doesn't
make him a great hunter. They used to use those horns
in hunting and somebody would have a horn, but that didn't
mean they were a great hunter. He said before honor is humility. and before a pratting fool, but
a pratting fool shall fall, and when he falls, very few will
hurry to pick him up. A long tongue generally has a
short hand. We can all tattle away from the
battle, but many fly when the fight is nigh. It is a shame when many talk
of grace, but produce so little of it. We should be the most forgiving
people because of how much we've been
forgiven. We should be the most abased
people on the face of this earth. and esteem everyone else higher
than ourselves. What does this? Affliction. We won't do this ourselves. God
must abase us. He must humble us. You remember that rich man who
came to the Lord Jesus boasting of his desire, Lord what must
I do to inherit eternal life? And Jesus at once knowing his
design was not grace but merit, Jesus said sell all you have,
give it to the poor, follow me. Now that man selling his stuff
had nothing to do with eternal life. What was Christ doing by
this affliction? He was proving what was in the
man's heart. He was proving that Christ was
not first. Even so does God by trials prove
what's in our hearts. He proves by affliction either
our love and faith towards Christ or our love for this present
evil world. That's what He does. The chains of Paul would prove
the false profession of these two men and prove the faithfulness
of another. May God even so now prove us
of what sort we are. I pray that none of you would
be deceived as to whether you are a child
of God or not. This is the purpose of affliction
in the hands of God to prove us, like He did the nation of
Israel in the wilderness to prove what was in their hearts. Therefore,
you who believe on Christ, be strong in the grace, not that's
in you, but that is in the Lord Jesus Christ. This is how we
can endure any persecution, is by the grace that is in the Lord
Jesus Christ. Let us endure affliction as we
have been chosen for it. Let us forsake this world and
all its treasures so that we might be found in Christ alone. May God ever make us faithful
to love and serve one another under heavy burdens, even as
our Lord bore our sins in His own body on the trees. Even so
should we bear under and serve one another. In affliction, let
us gird up the loins of the truth by the belt of the gospel. Let
us be ever vigil and faithful. Let us be bold in the words of
grace and in the ministering of the gospel and for his saints. Believers seek not the preeminence
among God's people, but rather take the lowest place. Believer, be sure of this truth,
that all affliction is of God, and it will not hinder His Word,
but it will divide. It will divide the chaff from
the wheat. It will separate the dross from the gold. As it was in the affliction of
Job, even so it is with us. Satan determined affliction on
Job for his destruction. But God determined it to prove
his salvation. Praise God for afflictions. Praise God for afflictions. Because he always means this
for our good and never for our destruction. I tell you what,
I would, I pray by God's grace that I would be found faithful
in times of trouble. May God humble us and keep us
before his feet. I pray God will bless this to
you.