Title: Model Servants (Part 1)
Text: Philippians 2:19-24
Date: May 26, 2024
Introduction: You can generally tell something about a person by his friends and by his enemies. Paul had plenty of both. We know that he had lots of Jewish opponents and he had more than a few Christians who didn’t care for his style of ministry. Paul also had numerous friends in many places (witness the long list of names in Romans 16).
Who are your friends? Suppose a man from Mars watched you for a month, how would he answer that question? Your friends are important because all of us tend to become like the people with who we associate. If you hang around complainers, pretty soon you’ll start to complain. If your friends are selfish, their attitude will rub off on you. However, if your friends are positive, uplifting, and encouraging you will be that way too. Howard Hendricks says that a Christian man needs three men in his life, a Paul, a Barnabas, and a Timothy. Paul represents your spiritual mentor. Barnabas represents a close friend, and Timothy represents a disciple who looks to you for leadership. We need mentors, friends, and disciples to be well-rounded Christians.
In our text, we consider one of Paul’s friends, young Timothy. His name means “honoring God,” “in God’s honor,” or “honored by God.” He indeed was a model servant. Timothy was perhaps Paul’s closest friend. Paul refers to him as “my true son in the faith” (2 Timothy 1:2). Paul mentions Timothy in the opening of six of his epistles and he addresses two other epistles directly to him. Raised in a mixed home with a Jewish mother and a Greek father, Timothy became a Christian. Paul then employs him repeatedly in the early development of the church. Over time, Paul came to trust Timothy so completely that he became a kind of stand-in for the apostle, his right-hand man who represented Paul when he himself couldn’t go to a certain city or church. One writer says Timothy was FAT-faithful, available, and teachable! So, in this heartfelt commendation of Timothy, let’s consider two aspects of Timothy’s example:
I. Timothy’s
II. Timothy’s
Larry Gipson
First Baptist Church-Oneonta