That just gave us, was a particular
blessing to me. In verse nine, he said, Thou
art my servant. And something that I really liked
that wasn't there is the word if. Thou art my servant if. And he said, I have chosen thee,
but I don't find anything about if. Not cast thee away, he said,
fear not, for I am with thee. But he doesn't say if, if you
do this or if you do that. He just says, fear not, I am
with thee, be not dismayed. In verse 13, for I, the Lord
thy God, will hold thy right hand, saying unto thee, fear
not, I will help thee. Not I will help you if you do
something, but this is a promise, I will. healthy. Verse 14, fear
not thou worm, Jacob, and ye men of Israel. I will help thee,
not if you do this or that. It's a promise. I will help thee,
saith thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel. That was a blessing. Would you turn back to Second
Timothy, chapter one? While you're turning there, Jeff
and Rachel Sullivan had a child yesterday. or day before yesterday,
I can't remember which, but he's having some, was it yesterday?
Monday, I'm sorry, Monday. But the child is having some
trouble right now. I'm not real sure what it is. And Charles
is his name and he's in intensive care at Central Baptist Hospital.
So remember that family. Second Timothy, chapter one,
I've entitled this message Onesiphorus. Onesiphorus. God the Holy Spirit
was pleased to inspire Paul to make mention of Onesiphorus in
this letter to Timothy. Let's read those verses again.
Paul says, The Lord give mercy unto the house of Onesiphorus,
for he ought to refresh me and was not ashamed of my chain.
But when he was in Rome, and Rome was a very big place, they
didn't have cell phones, they didn't have anything like that. There's a lot of cells in Rome,
but he went all over the place to find his cell, find out where
he was staying. When he was in Rome, he sought
me out very diligently and found me. The Lord grant unto him that
he may find mercy of the Lord in that day. And to how many
things he ministered unto me at Ephesus, thou knowest very
well. What a special man. Now, Paul
was a man the Lord had blessed in an unusual way. He was used
by God to expound the gospel more than any other man. And
this brought him to great trouble because of his preaching of the
gospel. Look in verse 11 of this chapter. He says, Whereunto I
am appointed a preacher and an apostle and a teacher of the
Gentiles for the witch cause. I also suffer these things. I'm in prison right now because
of my preaching of the gospel. I'm suffering these things. Now, Paul says in verse 13 to
Timothy, Timothy holds fast the form of sound words. Now, evidently, Timothy had a
tendency to not hold fast the form of sound words. Timothy
was a timid type of person because Paul said, be thou not ashamed
of the testimony of our Lord. Timothy had a tendency to be
ashamed. So Paul is. Confronting him about
this, encouraging about this, don't be ashamed of the testimony
of our Lord, you hold fast the form of sound words which thou
has heard of me in faith and love, which is in Christ Jesus,
and he tells us what that form of sound words is. Look back
up at verse eight. Be not thou therefore ashamed
of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me, his prisoner, but
you be a partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the
power of God." Now, here's the testimony of the Lord. There's
not a more important passage of scripture in the Word of God
than right here. Here it is. He saved us. That's our thing
to believe, isn't it? He saved us. and called us with
an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to
his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus
before the world began, but now is made manifest by the appearing
of our Savior, Jesus Christ, who hath abolished death, and
hath brought life and immortality to life through the gospel, whereunto
I am appointed a preacher, and an apostle, and a teacher of
the Gentiles, for the which cause I also suffer these things."
This is why I'm in prison. Nevertheless, I'm not ashamed,
for I know whom I believed, and I'm persuaded that he's able
to keep that which I committed to him against that day, that
you hold fast the form of sound words which thou hast heard of
me in faith and love, which is in Christ Jesus." And then he
says in verse 14, that good thing which was committed unto thee
keep by the Holy Ghost which dwelleth in us. Now, I say to
every believer, saying this to myself, that good thing that
was committed to thee, what's that? the gospel. What a sacred trust that the
Lord would commit to you that which is most precious to him. That's a humbling thought, isn't
it? That good thing that was committed
to thee, if you're a believer, God committed that which is most
precious to you. What a sacred trust to commit
this to you. Now, that good thing which was
committed to thee, keep. Watch over. guard over, and the
only way you can do it is by the Holy Ghost, by the Holy Spirit. You know you can't keep. If the
Lord doesn't enable me to keep that good thing, I certainly
won't do it. Oh, that good thing keep by the Holy Ghost which
dwelleth in us. Verse 15, This thou knowest,
that all they which are in Asia be turned away from me, of whom
are I jealous? Now he says, you know what happened
in Asia? Now these were people who professed
to believe. They professed to believe the
gospel. They professed to love the Lord Jesus Christ, but they've
left. And how this must have hurt Paul,
I guarantee it crushed him to see these people leave. He says,
all those that were in Asia, they've left me. If I was put
on trial for preaching the gospel, And you wouldn't want to be identified
with me. It'd hurt me. I'd want you to identify with
me. These people wouldn't do that with Paul. Look over in
1 Timothy 4, verse 10. He says, Demas hath forsaken
me, having loved this present world. Look in verse 14, Alexander
the coppersmith did me much evil. The Lord reward him according
to his works, of whom be thou where also, for he hath greatly
withstood our words." And look at this, at my first answer,
when I had to stand up for what I believed, at my first answer,
no man stood with me, but all men forsook me. I pray God that
it might not be late to their charges. Pretty much sounds like
what Paul said to the Philippians. Turn over to Philippians chapter
2. Now, Paul had a lot of heartache with people. Philippians chapter
2. A lot of disappointments. Verse 19, Philippians chapter
2, verse 19. 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, listen to this. I have no man, like-minded, who
will naturally care for your state. For all seek their own,
and not the things which are Jesus Christ's." Isn't that a
sad verse of Scripture? Paul said, I don't have anybody
I can trust but Timothy. All seek their own, and not the
things which are Christ Jesus's. Now, my sister was up here this
week. And I was visiting with her, and she made this statement.
She said, you know, truly, the generation we're living in is
the me generation. I thought, yeah, it is. But you
know, it's always been that way. All seek their own back in Paul's
days and not the things which are Christ Jesus. And you can
be sure that these things hurt Paul deeply all day that in Asia
be turned away from me. They didn't want to be identified
with me. They were ashamed of me. And when I was thinking,
and I thought, if Paul, if he thought about me, I wonder what
things would come to his mind. You know, I wonder, I wonder
if I'd be one of these people. I just, I just thought what,
what pain that brought on him. I mean, everything wasn't rosy,
obviously. Now back to our text, 2 Timothy chapter one. He talks
about all those that be turned away from him, of whom are five
jealous and homogenies. He names a couple of them. Now
he mentions this man, Onesiphorus. The Lord give mercy unto the
house of Onesiphorus. His name means a bearer of profit,
or a bringer of profit, or a bringer of benefit that we don't know
what this man did for a living. It's not likely that he was a
preacher, but he had a family because the Lord, or because
Paul prayed for his house. But what a blessing this man
was to Paul. Now look what Paul prays for
in verse 16. He says, the Lord give mercy
under the house of Onesiphorus. He doesn't say, may the Lord
pay back this man for the kindnesses he showed me. He doesn't say,
may the Lord reward him the way he's treated me. He doesn't say
anything like that. He said, the Lord grant mercy
unto the house of Onesiphorus. Now, there are two words that
have a very similar meaning. But I am always aware of my need
of these two things, mercy and grace. mercy and grace. Oh, how I need mercy and grace. Grace is God's unmerited favor. Now, the reason for grace, I
told this to the class today, the reason for grace is God. It's not found in you. God doesn't
give you grace because you need it. He gives you grace because
he's gracious. That's his nature. Oh, he delights
in grace, and I need the Lord to give me grace. I need him
to give me unmerited favor. I need him to give me grace to
believe, grace to repent, grace to abide in Christ, grace to
know Christ. I am in need of grace, and I
need mercy. Mercy doesn't so much have to
do Grace, God gives you grace because he's grace, gracious
and mercy has something to do with the misery of the one who
needs it. Lord, I need mercy, have mercy, have pity, have compassion
upon me. Mercy and grace. Now, Omesiporus, like you and
me, needed mercy and needed grace and how I need the mercy
and grace of God. I'm so sinful. I'm so powerless
before my sin and so miserable because of that. I need mercy
and I need grace. Now, what greater thing could
Paul ask for him to have to miss it first? I mean, it's the greatest
thing you could ask for him. He didn't say paying back according
to how well he's treated me. That's what we would think. Look
how they treated me. Now you reward them accordingly.
But that's not what Paul asked for for this man. He asked for
the greatest thing he could ask for him for. Mercy. You and I'd
rather you pray for me and that more than anything else. Mercy. Well, don't you want to pray
that you're enabled to preach? Yeah, but I want this more. Mercy.
Don't you want us to pray that you'll be enabled to what? Mercy. Mercy. Pray that the Lord had
mercy on me. And I pray that the Lord will
have mercy on you. That's the great need. Mercy. Now he goes on to talk about
this man, this bearer of benefits. Look what he says. The Lord give
mercy under the house of Onesiphorus, for he oft refreshed me. It's a good thing to be refreshed. Encouraged. rather than disappointed and
discouraged. How many times have people disappointed
you? Plenty. How many times have you
disappointed yourself? I'm more disappointed in myself
than I am in you. But what an encouragement it is when someone
refreshes you. He oft refreshed me. He doesn't
tell us what it was, but he oft refreshed him. Let me show you
a couple of scriptures that use this word. Turn to 1 Corinthians,
chapter 16. 1 Corinthians, chapter 16. Verse 15. I beseech you, brethren, you
know the house of Stephanus, that is the first fruit of the
Kiai, and that they have addicted themselves to the ministry of
the saints. Well, that's a good addiction,
isn't it? They've addicted themselves to the ministry of the saints,
that you submit yourselves unto such and to everyone that helpeth
with us and laboreth. And I'm glad of the coming of
Stephanus and Fortunatus of Caius, for that which was lacking on
your support they supplied, for they have refreshed my spirit
and yours. Therefore, acknowledge ye then
that are such. They refreshed him and encouraged
him in so many different ways. Now, I want to show you what,
turn to the book of Philemon. I think this deals with refreshments
as much as anything else. Philemon. Now, Paul is writing on behalf
of this runaway slave, Philemon, and he says in verse 8, Wherefore,
though I might be much bold, Philemon, verse 8, I might be
much bold in Christ to enjoin thee that which is convenient,
yet for love's sake. I'd rather beseech thee, being
such and one as Paul the agent, now also a prisoner of Jesus
Christ, I beseech thee for my son Onesimus, whom I have forgotten
in my bonds." Now, you're familiar with the story. This man had
run away from Philemon. He was a slave, and he ran away. And somehow, in God's providence,
he came into contact with the Apostle Paul. And God saved him
through that meeting. What a blessed thing. And now
Paul is sending him back to his master. And he's saying that
his master had the right to kill him. A runaway slave, his master
had the right to do anything he wanted to him, but he's beseeching
him in behalf of this man. He says, Yet for love's sake,
verse 9, I beseech thee, being such a one as Paul the aged,
now so a prisoner of Jesus Christ, I beseech thee for my son Onesimus,
whom I begotten in my bonds, which in times past was to be
unprofitable. but now profitable to thee and
to me, whom I sent again, that thou therefore receive him, that
is, mine own bows, whom I would have retained with me, that in
thy stead he might have ministered unto me in the bonds of the gospel,
but without thy mind would I do nothing, that thy benefit should
be not as it were of necessity, but willingly. For perhaps he
therefore departed for a season, that thou shouldst receive him
forever, not now as a servant, but above a servant, a brother
of the love especially to me, but How much more to thee, both
in the flesh and in the Lord, if you count me therefore your
partner receiving as myself? If he hath wronged thee, or owed
thee aught, put that on mine account." And that's what a type
of the gospel right there. That's what the Lord said regarding
us. Anything they owe, you put it on my account. Paul says,
I, Paul, have written it with my own hand. I will repay it
now. Albeit, I don't say to thee how
thou owedst unto me thine own self. Besides, I love the way
he says this. If you owe me your life, you better do it. That's
pretty much what he's saying. But then he says, yea, brother,
let me have joy of thee in the Lord. Refresh my bowels in the
Lord. What a refreshing thing for Onesimus
to forgive him or Philemon to forgive him and to receive him.
You know, giving a cold cup of water for Christ's sake is refreshment. When all he did to refresh Paul,
we're not told, but he certainly refreshed him often with acts
of kindness and encouragement. Wouldn't you like to be a man
just like this? Wouldn't you like this to characterize you?
Onesiphorus. Back to 2 Timothy, chapter 1. The Lord give mercy unto the
house of Onesiphorus. For he ought to refresh me, and
he was not ashamed of my chain." Now remember, Paul was chained
and imprisoned for preaching the gospel. And we see what it
was he was preaching. He preached, God saved us. And
he called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but
according to his own purpose and grace which were given us
in Christ Jesus before the world began. Sovereign grace. That's
what he was preaching. And he said, I'm in chains because
of this. And he says, don't be ashamed of my change. Evidently,
Timothy had a tendency to be ashamed. That's why I said, be
not thou therefore ashamed of the Lord, nor of me, his prisoner.
Don't be ashamed of the gospel. Well, Onesiphorus wasn't. Now,
when I was thinking about this, don't be ashamed of the gospel.
What? What is there to be ashamed of? You know, I'll be honest
with you. I'm being honest. I hope I am.
By the grace of God, I hope I'm telling the truth. By His grace,
I'm proud of the gospel. The gospel we believe is a gospel
worthy of God. Now, I'm ashamed of all the stuff
that goes on in the name of religion. I'm ashamed of that, but I'm
not ashamed of the gospel. I'm proud of the gospel. This
gospel glorifies God. It exalts the Lord Jesus Christ.
It saves me. I'm proud of this gospel. I'm proud of the gospel of the
Lord Jesus Christ. I really am. I'm proud to be
identified with it. I'm not talking about being proud
of myself. I'm not proud of myself, but
I sure am proud of the gospel, I believe. It glorifies God.
Don't be ashamed of the gospel. Paul said in Romans 1, 16, I'm
not ashamed of the gospel, for it's the power of God unto salvation
to everyone that believeth, to the Jew first and also to the
Greek. Now, don't be ashamed of the gospel. If somebody's
being hurt. If somebody's being, it's
costing them to preach the gospel, I want to get right in there
with them by the grace of God. I want to be identified with them. If
somebody's suffering for Christ's sake, I want to get right there
with them. That's what he's telling. Don't you be ashamed of the testimony
of the Lord. Now, on Ness Empress, he was
not ashamed of my chain. Verse 17, but when he was in
Rome, and that was a big city, he sought me out very diligently. and found me, he was persistent in his refreshing
of Paul. It would be easy to be in Rome
and give it a couple of days and look as much as you can and
just give up. I mean, this is a big city. How am I ever going
to find him? But he was persistent. He kept
searching until he found him. I want to be persistently a refreshment. In that sense, he sought me out
diligently until he found me. And then down into that latter
part of the 18th verse, he says, And how many things he ministered
unto me at Ephesus thou knowest very well. And hear his prayer
for him once again in verse 18. The Lord grant, graciously bestow
unto him that he may find mercy of the Lord in that day. He's speaking of the day of judgment. The same day he was speaking
of in verse 12 of chapter one, when he said, I know who I believe
that I'm persuaded that he's able to keep that which I've
committed to him against that day and that day of judgment. What do you want on the day of
judgment? What do you want when the Lord
returns? I was listening to a man preach. And he made this statement. It's
almost kind of funny to me because he said, when the Lord returns,
I sure want him to find me preaching. And I thought. I mean, my flesh thinks that,
yeah, it would be kind of nice for the Lord to come find me
preaching or witnessing or reading the Bible or praying or something
like that. But what do you want of the Lord on Judgment Day?
That I might find mercy of the Lord. in that great day. Paul did not say regarding Onesiphorus
on the Day of Judgment, I want him to be rewarded for all the
good that he's done, but oh, that he might be granted mercy. I repeat, is there anybody that
needs mercy more than me? I hope I've got some people that
would fight me over that and say I do. That's the way every single
one of us ought to feel. No one needs mercy more than
me. Sovereign mercy. I need the kind
of mercy that saves me. That doesn't say I'll
save you if. I'll have mercy on you if you
do this or you do that or if you straighten this up. I need
mercy that just flat out saves me. Pure, free, sheer mercy. I need mercy grace. That's a
good word. Those two words go together.
I need mercy grace. I need grace mercy. I need grace,
mercy, and I need mercy, grace. That's the kind of grace I need.
That's the kind of mercy I need. And that's what he's asking for.
He says, oh, that he might find mercy on that great day. This is a thought that occurred
to me about my personal need. of mercy and grace, and I needed
the Lord Jesus Christ. Because when you say you need
mercy, when you say you need grace, what you're saying is
you need Christ. I need the Lord Jesus Christ.
I need Him as a prophet. Because I can't know the mind
of God. I can't know that He'll have mercy on me. I need him
to bring a word to me. I'm ignorant. I need him to speak
to me because I can't figure out the mind of God. I don't
know what's right. I need the word of God. I need
him as a prophet. I need him as a priest to represent
me. I can't come to God in my own
because of my sinfulness, because of my present sinfulness. I can't
just come waltzing into God's presence. I need him to come
for me as my priest. Oh, how I need him as a priest
to represent me before this holy God. I need him. I need him as
a king. You know, this is something that
just I feel like I've just kind of got a hold of this in the
last couple of weeks. When I thought of the kingship of Christ and
the fact that he reigns, I think of his sovereign rule over everything.
And indeed, he does rule everything. But here's where I really need
him as a king. I need him to rule over me. I
need him to rule over my spirit. I need Him to cause me, by irresistible
grace, to do His will. Not asking me if I'll let Him,
or saying He'll do it if I do this. I need Him as a King to
rule and reign over me, and cause me to do His will. I love that
scripture in Psalm 65, for, Bless the man whom thou choosest, and
cause us to approach unto thee. That's what I need Him to do
for me. I need Him to cause me to approach unto Him. Now, as
fine a man as old Nessie for us was, or however you say it,
it's driving me crazy to keep saying his name, but that's a
lot of syllables for a name. But as fine a man as he was,
what was it that Paul asked for him? Mercy. Mercy. Not by works of righteousness,
which we have done. But according to his mercy, he
saved us. Now, let me show you one other
scripture about mercy. Turn to Ephesians chapter 2.
This is on my mind again because we looked at this in the class
today with the young people. And you have he quickened who
were dead in trespasses and sins, wherein in times past you walked
according to the course of this world, according to the prince
of the power of the air, that spirit that now worketh in the
children of disobedience. You were controlled by the devil,
among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in
the lust of our flesh. fulfilling the desires of the
flesh and of the mind. And we were by nature the children
of wrath, even as others. We were just like everybody else,
but God. There's a best definition of
grace you're ever going to find. But God, who is rich in mercy
for his great love wherewith he loved us even when we were
dead in sins. quickened us together with Christ. By grace you are saved, and hath
raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places
in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come he might show the
exceeding riches of his grace and his kindness toward us through
Christ Jesus. For by grace are you saved."
Can you say in your heart to that, Amen? You know that so,
don't you? For by grace are you saved. I know that. Through faith. And that's not of yourselves.
It's the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast.
For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works.
which God hath before ordained, that we should walk in them."
And that's the mercy that Paul was asking for Onesiphorus. That's
what he asked for, mercy. Now, here's two sides of Onesiphorus,
and I want to have both of these sides. First, a man who desperately
needed mercy. I never want to leave there,
do you? May God keep me there. And second, a man who refreshed. A man who is not ashamed of Paul's
chain. One who is a persistent helper,
a true servant. Now, if you want to find somebody
to imitate, here is a man to imitate. Onesiphorus. May God make us a bunch of Onesiphoruses. Let's pray together.