Living Like Timothy: Examples of Christ-Likeness

Well, it's good to be here. Glad to be able to be sharing with you and continuing in our study back in uh the book of Philippians. I know we prayed already, but you probably know by now I'm much more comfortable speaking after opening in prayer. So, let's let's just go to prayer. Father, Lord, we thank you for your word. Um we thank you for the just the the things that we are taught through that so that we know how to live. And Lord, as we look at it from a little bit different angle by looking at examples, Lord, would you guide us? Would you um work this within our hearts that we can take home what we've learned tonight that we may apply it that we may love one another more that we may see the importance of concern for the spiritual wellbeings of the brothers and sisters that are sitting next to us.

Lord, would you guide me as I speak in your word? I pray this in your holy name. Amen. I give an example or I have given an example one time before and I couldn't remember if I'd given it here or just in the Sunday school class, but it fits so well. I was as I was thinking through my passage that I was assigned to teach tonight. I wanted to tell the story again. But this story that I wanted to share goes back a number of years when uh my wife and I were helping mentor atrisisk kids. We had a program that we started through our company uh that we would reach out uh to the kids through aimmanu elementary and we would take in at risk kids and and mentor them us and the other engineers in my office.

And so my wife and I for quite a number of years mentored these two children a boy I I had a boy she had a girl. They weren't related. And we would get together and uh go out and do things together and try to encourage them um just with life and and help direct them the best we could. And uh they are at risk kids and so uh they are difficult at times and there was one time where we were with the two of them and the the girl was was being difficult and I was doing my best to get her under control and bring her around and get her to behave and nothing was working and and I got frustrated and I scolded her and I told her I said hey I said you're a Hawaiian princess you need to act like it.

And I was shocked at the response I got because I said that and immediately she snapped up to attention and she she raised her hands up here and she she started to kind of do this regal walk and uh and and and and she spoke well after that and it probably lasted maybe 15 20 minutes but we'll take what you can get. Right? but just just a total change. And and what had happened is that at some period of time in her young life, someone had explained to her how we view Hawaiian royalty and that we and that we see it as something that has dignity and something that the people at that time had character and they cons had concern for others and they were self-sacrificing in their their care for the

people and and she knew that and she when I made the connection between her and that suddenly she had a picture of what we were trying to get her to do this whole And once she had that picture and and liked what that image brought about and recognized that she was connected to it, well, then there was a total change. And the example brought her along. And examples of people that that live as we should live are so helpful for us because they help us to see exactly what that is that we're being called to. God has given us a great example. He has given us the example of his son. But we realize that our Lord Jesus while he was fully human, he's also divine.

And that's something that you and I are unable to attend to. So like our young student that we were mentoring, we read, we need real human examples, real human examples of what Christ likeness is. Examples that show us what we will be like if we will take the commands that we've been given in these passages seriously and apply them to our lives. We need examples of Christ's likeness to encourage us and to motivate us into putting these things into practice. And our text for tonight and into the next passage in a couple weeks and Pastor Wayne will take that one are examples. Examples of how to live.

And we need those because up until this point, the Holy Spirit has given to us through the Apostle Paul some very large commands. In chapter 1 27, we got the first large one where we were told or commanded to live a life that's worthy of the gospel of Christ. Chapter 1 27 says only let your conversation be as it becometh the gospel of Christ. You that alone is enough to really grab our attention and say well we we need to we need to live rightly in this world something worthy of this unbelievable the gospel truth that we have that we've been rescued from sin and brought into the family of God. so that he would bestow blessings upon us as as loving one of his children.

And then Paul expounded on that and and told us how we are to live in that manner. And he says um that we are to uh live or our lives are to be in a a way that we are united together, you and me, united together having the same love. That we are to strive together for the faith of the gospel. that we are not to be afraid of the opponents of the gospel and we are to endure suffering for the sake of Christ. That is then how we live with our lives worthy of the gospel of Christ. Then in chapter 2 verse 5 we get the second of three major commands. And the second one is in 2:5 chapter 2 verse 5 where we're called to have the mind of Christ.

Now to do that, to have the mind of Christ, we need to live as he lived and have that great humility that he had. Christ being God was made of man of no reputation. He was made a servant in the likeness of man. And then the divine son of God lived humbly amongst humanity, amongst fallen men and women. To have the mind of Christ was to also have a mind that is set on the obedience, complete and full obedience as as Christ modeled in obedience even to the point of death. To have the mind of Christ was also to have the confidence of a future glory. Our Lord Jesus lived knowing that the that there was future blessings that awaited him because of his obedience.

And so during the time of suffering, he would have looked forward uh to that reward that was awaiting for him in future glory, which is then how we are to live. Not focused on this world, but living with the confidence of what our future glory is to bring. And then we got the third command a couple weeks ago from Pastor Instner in chapter 2 where we are to work out our salvation. The third of the three big commands we've been given so far is that we are to put intentional effort towards our salvation. Now our salvation is fully from God by faith. But but we are commanded then to work out what we have become through faith.

And as pastor pastor Ener noted so well a few weeks ago, the result of working out is that we are not to murmur and not to dispute, not to grumble and not to have the disputes amongst each each other. And so just in our study of Philippians so far, our Lord has given us some very high standards to live to to live worthy of the gospel of Christ to have the great humility and obedience of Christ and having his mind and to work out our salvation. And yet even after you and I have sat and heard these commands, let me ask you this. And you heard it two weeks ago from Pastor Aner not to grumble, but have you grumbled?

I saw a quick headshake. In the last two weeks, have you grumbled? Probably a lot, right? Probably grumbled not too long after pastor answer told us not to grumble, right? And so the the question that comes up under these great commands is is are we giving are we being given standards that are too high because we trip up so fast? And the answer is no. And the proof of that answer to being no is that God in this next couple of passages has given us three wonderful examples of people who are like us but yet who took these standards seriously and then were changed used by God. And not only were they used they were changed by God's word so that they could they could even find joy in some of the greatest difficulties of life.

And so these commands are possible and these men are examples to us. And ultimately these three men that we're going to look at in this lesson in the next are are really those shining lights amongst the crooked and perverse generation that we were called to be in chapter 2. And these shining lights then are the Apostle Paul and Timothy and Apaproditis. the three men that are mentioned at the end of chapter 2, which is kind of interesting because we get this description of these men at kind of an odd part of the of the letter. Paul starts giving a description about what he's going to do uh when he gets a chance and and and how he's going to send Apapraditis back to them.

But that kind of thing usually comes at the end of a letter. And here it's coming right about in the middle. And what I think has happened is that the is that the Holy Spirit understanding that he's laid out the commands for us and now wants to give us examples to encourage us to follow in these commands now gives us these three wonderful examples of men that are seeking to do this and and what their lives are like to encourage us in this way. Not only to encourage us but for us to encourage one another. And so let me read you this passage for that we have for tonight of the first two examples that we're going to look at and hopefully to encourage us in our obedience of God's word.

So in Philippians chapter 2 I'm going to look at verses 19- 24. Philippians 2:es 19 through 24. It says, "But I trust in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy 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 Christ Jesus's, which are Jesus Christ, sorry. But we know the proof of him, that as a son with a father, he hath served me in the gospel. Him therefore I hope to send presently as soon as I shall see how it will go with me. But I trust in the Lord, I also myself shall come shortly.

And just as a reminder, Paul writes this when he's in in prison. And while he's in prison is it has encouraged other men to go out and start preaching the gospel boldly. Some from a good heart, but some to actually cause him more trouble. So he's he's already under a difficult circumstance in jail. And now there's guys that are outside the jail preaching in some manner. I'm not sure exactly how this works out, but in some manner that's caused him more trouble. and and ultimately what's happening is is Paul's uh possibly could be put to death through this imprisonment. And so it's a it's a serious time.

It's a great trial. And what we see in this is that Paul has with him now two close companions, Timothy and Apaproditis. And Paul here speaks of them and their plans. And what we see in this group of friends that are here together during Paul's great trial is that they have call that they have taken the call to work out their salvation with intention. And in looking at this short description of what he's going to do, we can actually pick up several attitudes that we can follow in our efforts and how to live as we've been called. And so let's look at the first example here with Paul. He's going to be our shortest example, but he says some things about himself that really uh sets the standard that's going to flow out of Timothy and Apaproditis as well.

And what you see in Paul in his first statement is that he has a mindset that fully uh realizes that God is sovereign in all things. What I mean by that is that Paul lives in full confidence that God is ruling over every part of his life. And you pick it up right there in verse 19. He says there, "But I trust in the Lord Jesus to send Timothus." Now you and I when I when we read this this idea of he's trusts in the Lord Jesus, we just might think it's this little idiom that he that he drops in there of no meaning. But the reality is if you study Paul's writing, what you find is that that's how Paul thinks.

He truly does think in that manner. And we pick it up in his writing and in his actions. He he sees the the Lord governing all aspects of life. Everything that he does is governed by the Lord. All his hopes, his activities, his his desires are ruled over by the Lord. But that doesn't bother Paul, it actually brings him great joy because he has a good God. He has a good savior. And so while the Lord rules over everything and he he says he's going to send Timothy uh if the Lord basically would allow but he's okay with that because he knows that if Timothy goes or if Timothy doesn't based on what the Lord would allow to happen it's still good.

He has a good God and so he's confident in that and so he's he's he's confident because of the Lord's sovereignty. Now you've seen Paul speak about this already in the book of Philippians. He notes that the believer's sanctification is powered by God in chapter 2:13. But he even notes it regarding believer salvation in chapter 129. In chapter 1 29, he says, "For unto you it is given in behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake, Paul sees the sovereignty of God all over everything over their over their the aspects of their their their suffering, but also over their actual belief.

It that was given to them by God. And that's a difficult thing to talk about and we can argue about how that actually plays out. But but the reality of that and this is really what I want you to catch. The reality of of that understanding of Paul and the sovereignty of everything, what it does for Paul is it produces in her or it grounds him in his trials and produces a joyful anticipation for what this God who rules over everything will do. And it is in that kind of mindset that Paul can say things like for to me to live is Christ and to die is gain. I mean to die is gain. Think about that. Who would say that?

To die is to gain when we come to the end of our lives and we don't usually think in that manner. But Paul so so confident in the sovereignty of God, so confident that his God is good and is going to bring about what is good. When he looks at the aspect that hey, I may die because of this trial. They may execute me because of the of what what's going on here. He's like, it's okay because my God is good and there will be a gain in that. And he has no fear. The sovereignty of God just completely grounds Paul and and has just a joyful anticipation of whatever the future will bring. This then is the example to us to have that same mindset that confidently believes in the sovereignty of God in all things.

This wonderfully frees us up to live within faith. When you understand that God truly rules over all things and that you have a good God who wants to work out things for good, you are confident in your actions. When your actions are set to glorify God, you don't have to second guessess what you're doing because he's going to work in that. That's a great freeing truth. But it also opens up the ability to follow the other trait that we see within Paul. Let me pick that up in the second part of that verse. He says, "That I also may be of good comfort when I know your state." The whole purpose of bringing this up is that Paul has concern for the Philippians.

You know, they had sent him Apaproditis to encourage him and to take care of him and and Paul's response to that is that that he just loves them so much. He wants to reach out to them to see how they're doing. But he can't do it because he's in prison. And so what he's going to do, he's going to send his best man to go to reach out to these people. Paul is so taken with the Philippians and so uh has such a love for the Philippians that he's willing to uh send out Timothy to find out to bring back word of their spiritual condition. And this is going to be difficult for Paul because Tiki is as we're going to find out later on has been one that will work greatly for Paul and greatly supports Paul.

But ultimately Paul's desire is more for the Philippians than for his own personal need. So the second aspect we see in Paul and sending Timothy is that he has a true love for other believers and and that love is focused on how they are doing within the Lord. Paul then has the mindset that God is sovereign in all things but he also has that love for others and that love is based on their spiritual or focused on their spiritual well-being. Now, Timothy, we'll take up the rest of our our evening here and and has the rest of the couple verses. And it's within Timothy now as we look at how Paul describes Timothy that that this idea of trusting in the sovereignty of God and love for others really comes out.

And realize that Timothy is just a little Paul. He's expressing what Paul already has. And what you find or what we're going to find in this is that is that Timothy has this this unbelievable care, unbelievable desire to see other brothers and sisters in the Lord be spiritually grounded and grow in their faith. So he goes and he describes Timothy and he says that he is the only one who will naturally care for your state. There's probably other men that Paul had that were like this. This is just the only one available right now. And and so he says, "Yes, Timothy." But but uh care in the in the Greek means to be anxious or to worry.

The word that we're being translated into care here means to be anxious or to worry. And figuratively, it means to go to pieces. And when it's paired with that word naturally, what this is saying is that Timothy has an unmistakably real and deep care for the Philippians. He cares about their spiritual conditions. Very deeply, in fact. I was thinking of this when I was studying and I was reminded of a time where my wife and I had this kind of care come out of us how we kind of went to pieces over care to Legoland in California. I I was trying to remember. I think my uh company actually took us over there and so we had the opportunity to break off and go to Legol land there in California.

And that was exciting for us because at that time our kids really loved Legos. But our daughter was only about three or four at the time we went. And make a long story short, what happened is we got there, not too long after we got there, we lost our daughter. Yeah. I had no idea where she was. And like any dad, I took off and I start running Legoland and I'm running with all my effort and I'm no shame screaming out my daughter's name and I'm stopping anybody who for some reason I thought might know where my daughter's at. And I'm just trying my best. I'm basically going to pieces in care or out of my care for my daughter that's missing.

Long story short, we find our daughter at the lost and found and she's clue clueless that there's any problems. She doesn't know that. She stressed us out incredibly. And my wife and I committed to a life of of exercise after that because we died running around that park. But that Timothy, that's Timothy's care for other believers. And it's natural for him. It's not like Paul has said, "Hey, Timothy, I have a new duty for you. I want you to cover that." And Timothy's like wells up within himself. Okay. Yeah. Now, raw raw, I'm going to take this. No, Timothy just has it. Timothy is a man has that that has has put into practice what we've been called to do here.

He has been deeply affected by God's word and he has made it a pattern of self-sacrificing himself for others within love. He has set a pattern of his life of denying himself and and taking on the mind of Christ and being concerned for others. And it has grown within him so that now he is this great help for Paul where he has this deep care for other believers. He wants you to see. He wants to see them succeed in the Lord. He wants to see them walking right before the Lord. He wants to see them being the light within the community and and shining forth the gospel so that others may come in as well, too.

But Timothy is not only this way in his care, but he's he's this way in his focus because he's single-minded. In verse 21 it Paul continues to speak of them and he says for all seek their own the others uh not the things which are Jesus Christ. For Timothy he did not seek his own but his focus or was what was on the things of Christ. And as I studied this passage, I to be honest found this aspect of Timothy the most convicting because the reality is we often evaluate things in light of our own interests and what we think is best but not what Jesus desires. It's so easy to do but not for Timothy.

Timothy evaluated the needs based on the things of the Lord Jesus. And that comes from that singlemindedness towards the things of Christ which unfortunately we often times miss because we tend to evaluate things on what we believe is best. I was reminded just a couple months ago I had a a got to catch up with an old friend of mine, somebody I've known since I was uh young. um we weren't friends until after I became saved and then he was a a friend recently after after I came to faith. But it was fun to kind of get together with him and to catch up. And his mom had recently passed away. And so we were talking about that.

And he told me a story about his mom. I want to share this to to build up this this idea of this single-minded towards Christ, but but he he shared this story about his mom that I hadn't realized before. I hadn't known. And my friend, his dad passed away when he was in like that pre-teen time and he had a much younger sister. But what I didn't know and he told me is that when his dad had passed away that the elders within the church that they were at came to his mom and told her that she didn't have to work. the the the deacons or elders of the church came and talked to her and they told her that they would provide her money to pay her bills and that they would make sure that her property and her home on the outside were taken care of so that she can continue to raise her two her two children and be a mom.

And he just shared that with me. It really impressed me because this thinking goes against how we commonly think, but it is in line with the things of Jesus Christ because in God's word, it's it's stated that the women are called to care for their children and they're to take care of the home. And since her husband was no longer there, she also had to take into the take into account the uh education of the children in God's word and to go to work. she wouldn't be able to focus on that like she would if her husband was still alive and providing and she was staying home and and taking care of the kids.

And this church was following in line with what God has or Christ has called for because a body of believers is called to care for widows. And the women within the church that have lost their husbands or don't have husbands or family to take care of them and they have kids, the church called upon to provide for them. And in providing for them, we don't just take care of their physical needs, but with then we allow the women, the moms to live out what they have been called to do that if they're working, they wouldn't be able to live out as if they unless the church had provided. But how often do we think of that?

How often do we think in that matter? How often do we come across the the single mom and then and then start talking to her about going to school or or developing a skill or or something that she needs to do to now be self-sufficient. That being self-sufficient is is not at the core. And I'm not saying there's anything wrong with that per se, but but if that's the focus, then we we've missed the true focus, which is what Christ has called for the mom to be. You know, my friend's mom, she didn't take the offer that the church gave her. Her husband was self-employed, and so when he passed away, she took over control of the business and she ran it.

And to be honest, she ran it very well. She was very successful. But as she got older, she regretted it. And because my friend's younger sister, while she has grown up to be a wonderful woman, she's a doctor and she's actually does quite well, uh, she denies Christ. She does not follow Christ. And her mom regrets it because she wasn't around to shepherd the heart. She wasn't around to encourage her in the Lord. She wasn't around to answer the questions and to be there during those rebellious periods. She lost the opportunity as a mom to pour into her daughter's life. And this all comes from the fact that we put our she put her personal desires of wanting to be the one who could take care of family above being sub being humble I guess and taking the help and then being the mom that she's called to be within scripture.

And that's just one example that I give. But I give that well I give that because it's personal for me. But I I get that just to kind of get the idea across that we need to look past past what we think is the correct answer and then evaluate it according to God's word and make the right answer in line with what is true with Christ, what Christ Jesus has called us to be. This was Timothy's attitude. How wonderful this would be to have this kind of leader within I mean we have it but how wonderful it is to have leaders like this within the church that has that that focus that sees past the human desires and past the cultural influence and sees into what is in God's word and says this is how we're going to go.

Yeah, it's countercultural. Yeah, it looks crazy to the world. Yes, we have to rely on the sovereignty of God because we don't know if we can make it going this way. But this is the way of Christ and this is the way we'll go. And this was Timothy an unbelievable example for us. And then the third thing that we see in Timothy's care is that is that he was he was humble and he had this submissive attitude towards service within the kingdom. And we pick that up in verse 22. It says, "But you know the proof of him of Timothy that as a son with the father, he hath served me in the gospel." Timothy with taking on the mind of Christ is humble in his service and he submits his desires to Paul for

the purpose of the kingdom and in the in the original language this is a word it's so wonder because uh the common word for for son in the Greek is wos but Paul uses tekknon which is little child he doesn't call Timothy necessarily a son he calls him a little child to a father the image of of Timothy's humble service and it's not a belittling of his ability to work. But the the image is of this child that wants to come outside with his dad and is excited to get his toys and then come as the dad's working, bring his toys to the dad and kind of try to get in there as much as he can and support as much as he can because whatever the dad's going to work on, the the child is like, "Yeah, I want to help you on that."

And Timothy's desire to see the the the the the kingdom grow is to be so submissive, so humble in his service that he's like this child that's like, "Paul, where do you want me to serve? Where do you want me to go?" And boy, did Paul use him. Paul sent him all over. Uh we we finished our first and second Timothy study. He was in Ephesus and Paul had sent him there. A difficult place to minister and yet he went. a willing submissiveness, but a willing sub submissiveness that was was focused on the Lord. He is submissive not just to Paul, but he's submissive to Paul to work with Paul for the gospel.

And this is something I wanted to kind of note regarding this submissive kind of attitude because sometimes we we see these submissive commands within scripture and we in our business minds picture this like a a boss employee idea which is not the submissive idea within scripture. Submissiveness within scripture is is a willingness submiss is a willing submissiveness that's governed by a desire for Christ and for the kingdom. You see this in the call for women to be submissive to their husbands. It's willingly given, but it's done as to the Lord or as in the Lord. Colossians 3:8, Ephesians 5:22.

And same thing with servants and their submissiveness to the masters. It's as as unto Christ or as to the Lord. Colossians 3:23, Ephesians 6:5. It's that love for Christ that drives that willing submission because it's I'm going to submit and in this way we're a better team and in this way we're more effective for Christ. And so Timothy's love for Christ is ultimately what drives him and re and it's reflected in this great love and this humility and this single-minded focus and desire to see the kingdom and the gospel go out. Timothy heart led to a genuine care for believers to a single-minded focus focus on the things of Christ and ultimately it led him to that self-sacrificing service for the gospel of Christ.

Timothy then is our example. We have Paul, but we have it in in in more clarity within Timothy. That's what we're called to be to live in this manner of loving others to this extent. And I wanted to looks like I'm going to go over just a little bit, but I was studying this and at the same time I've been reading some Baptist history and I wanted to share something with you guys because I can preach this and it's hopefully hitting your hearts and hitting your minds what God's word says here. But I sit in the pew, too. I get hungry too. I know I want to go eat after, right? And I go and I eat and I forget.

And I want to I want to bring something else out to hopefully get us to think and to want to now love one another within this church in the manner that is pictured here within Timothy because that's ultimately the calling is to love one another in this manner. that kind of concern for each other, a single-mindedness uh towards Christ and wanting to love each other so that we grow in our spirituality, so we grow in our righteousness. And what I want to share is a covenant in the 1600s, 1700s, 1800s, late 1800s, it starts to change. Early 1900s, it it changes. But in these earlier years from the 1600s, this first several hundred years of history of the Baptist church, it's different than how we are now.

They had a commitment within the body to each other far greater to be honest than I think I've seen in in any church I've actually been a part of. and to be a member. And Pastor Wayne was talking about being membership and and and as Baptist churches, you membership requires baptism um and that confession of faith and that was the same thing at this period of time. But in addition to membership, what was required was an agreement to a covenant. And I'm going to read part of that covenant to you. There's eight points. I want to read six points. This is the covenant that every single person in the church was adhering to.

And it's a it's a ultimately a a covenant of expression of love and commitment towards one another to looking after one another to make sure each other is built up in the Lord. See, the early Baptist church didn't see the pastor as big as we see today. They saw him as the one who preaches, not the one who comes in and and tries to counsel everybody like we do now. What they saw is the body as a whole, you and me, counseling one another constantly and looking out for each other, making sure we're not tripping up in sin, making sure we're walking righteously and doing that within love. So, let me read to you what they agreed to.

And this was common. New people coming into the church would agree to this. And the church as a whole would recite this periodically. And this is what they would promise. They said, "We do promise and engage to walk in all holiness, godliness, humility, and brotherly love as much as lith in us, to render our communion delightful to God, comfortable to ourselves, and lovely to the rest of the Lord's people. We do promise to watch over each other's conversation, to watch over each other's lives, and not suffer sin upon one another so far as God shall discover it to us or any of us, and to stir up one another to love and good works, to warn, rebuke, admonish one another with meekness according to the rules left to us of Christ in that behalf.

Point number three, we do promise to pray in special manner for one another, but for the glory and increase of this church, for the presence of God in it, for the pouring forth of his spirit on it, and for his protection over in his glory. Verse four or part four, we do promise to bear one another's burdens, to cleave to one another, to have fellow feeling with one another in all conditions, both outward and inward, as God and his provision shall cast any of us into. Number five, we do promise to bear one another's weakness, failings, and infirmities with much tenderness, not discovering, not telling anybody uh outside the church, nor within, unless according to Christ's rule and the order of the gospel provided in that case.

Number six, we do promise to strive together for the truths of the gospel and purity of God's ways and ordinances to avoid causes and causes of divisions, endeavoring to keep the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace. This was the agreement of believers in the church to hold. And all it is is just a reflection of what scriptures called us to and what really Timothy and Paul modeled for us. And so I just ask that as you go away tonight and we'll have a brief discussion time, but as you go away tonight, think on this and look to encourage others in the faith. Look to encourage those that you think might be stumbling a little bit and come alongside lovingly and say, "Hey man, are you struggling here? Can I help you? Can I help you walk rightly?" And just just look to watch out for each other because ultimately that's what we've been called to