Timothy, an Example of a Service-centered Life

“I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you soon so that I too may be cheered by news of you.  For I have no one like him who will be genuinely concerned for your welfare.  For they all seek their own interests not those of Jesus Christ.  But you know Timothy’s proven worth, how as a son with a father he has served with me in the gospel.  I hope therefore to send him just as soon as I see how it will go with me, and I trust in the Lord that shortly I myself will come also.” –Philippians 2:19-24 (ESV).

“I have no one like him,” wrote Paul of the younger preacher Timothy as he planned to send him on a journey to the church at Philippi.  What a commendation coming from his teacher and mentor whom Timothy considered as a father and Paul, in turn, termed Timothy his ‘son in the gospel.’  Scholars generally agree that the letter to the church at Philippi was written about 62 A. D. when Paul was a prisoner in Rome.  The salutation of the letter says it is from “Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus’ (1:1).  As we learned in the study of Acts, Paul, though imprisoned, was in his own ‘hired house,’ and even though guarded by a Roman soldier from the Praetorian Guard, he could have visitors.  Timothy was with him when he wrote the letter to the church at Philippi and was to be sent shortly by Paul, probably to bear the letter, and certainly to encourage and teach the Philippian Christians.  In the letter, Paul is optimistic and thankful, even from prison, stating: “”I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel, so that it has become known throughout the whole imperial guard and to all the rest that my imprisonment is for Christ.  And most of the brothers, having become confident in the Lord by my imprisonment, are much more bold to speak the word without fear.” (Phil. 1:12-14). Observing this attitude in Paul, his mentor, it follows that Timothy would have been greatly influenced by his optimism.  Paul had heard from Epaphroditus when he took a love offering to Paul from the church that there was some division in the fellowship.  Paul was interested to know how the church at Philippi fared, and was sending Timothy to them.  Timothy had a genuine concern for the people’s welfare, what we sometimes call ‘a pastor’s heart.’  Until Paul himself could be freed from prison with the possibility of visiting the church at Philippi again, he was sending Timothy as Christ’s representative.

What we know of Timothy we learn from Acts and from several of Paul’s letters.  He was instructed as a child by his mother Eunice and his grandmother Lois.  He was born in Lystra of a Jewish mother and a Greek father.  He was converted to Christianity on Paul’s first missionary journey (Acts 14:6-23) and was referred to several times as Paul’s ‘child in the faith’ (1 Cor. 4:17; 1 Tim. 1:2; 2 Tim. 1:2).  Of the thirteen letters written by Paul in the New Testament, seven of them have both Paul and Timothy listed as authors in the salutation:  2 Corinthians, Philippians, Colossians, I and 2 Thessalonians and Philemon. In addition, Paul wrote two letters to Timothy.  I Timothy was written to him when he was at Ephesus serving as pastor of that church.  He encouraged Timothy to “know how one ought to behave in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, a pillar and buttress of the truth” (I Tim. 3:15).  In the second letter to Timothy, Paul urges his protégé to minister in the spirit, “not of fear but of power and love and self-control” (2 Tim. 1:7) and to never “be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord” (1:8).  Paul asked Timothy to visit him in prison, to come before winter and bring his winter coat, and to brings scrolls and parchments so Paul could study (see 2 Tim. 1:4, 4:13, 21). Hebrews 13:23 speaks of Timothy’s imprisonment and release.  To have an older, dedicated mentor is a good experience for a younger Christian.  Paul’s ‘son in the gospel,’ Timothy, had a good example to follow and he proved himself faithful.  To God be the glory.

A Living Sacrifice for God, or True Dedication

“I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.” –Romans 12:1-2 (NKJV).

What is a living sacrifice? Paul wrote to the Christians at Rome that they should, through the mercy (redeeming love) of God, be willing to present to Him their bodies as a living sacrifice. Dr. Warren W. Wiersbe in his commentary on Romans calls this Paul’s “therefore” of dedication, being totally committed to God. God does not want nor need a dead sacrifice; He wants our bodies as a “living sacrifice.” The spiritual era of offering a lamb or dove for a sacrifice is past; Christ Himself gave His own body as our sacrifice for sin. Now God wants us in total surrender, a living, moving, active, thinking, responsible person, holy (pure and sacred, sanctified), one that can be acceptable to God. This is our “reasonable service” to Him and carries the idea of spiritual worship. Every day, therefore, should find us in service to God, yielded to Him, praising Him, serving Him. Before we turned to the Lord in faith and received His forgiveness, we gave little thought to being holy and acceptable to God. But, in our new relationship with God, our body becomes His temple; He indwells us: “For to me, to live is Christ” (Phil. 1:21). “Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from Godm, and you are not your own? For you were bought with a price; therefore glorify God in you body and in your spirit, which are God's.” (I Corinthians 6:19-20). The use of the strong verb “present” carries with it the idea of committing once and for all—as in a marriage ceremony the bride and groom promise to commit themselves from that day forth to each other, so the Christian pledges himself to God.

Then Paul turns in his teaching on the “therefore of dedication” to two more strong verbs. “Donot be conformed to this world.” To be “conformed to” the world is to take on the identity, shape and characteristics of the world; to be no different than those who have worldly ways. To be “transformed by the renewing of your mind” is to undergo a complete change, a metamorphosis. The same Greek word was used for “transfigure” when the disciples Peter, James and John were on the mountain with Jesus and He was changed, transformed, before them and became illuminated with a heavenly glow. Our minds are renewed through Bible study and prayer. An excellent way to begin each day is in the transforming power of God’s presence. Yield to Him and dedicate your body, mind and spirit to Him for His use during that day. In that way, the world cannot put it into its misshapen mold. Yes, you have already yielded that once-for-all time to Him. But just as we need physical food daily to nourish our bodies and sustain good health, so we need a daily transformation of body, mind and will to God’s purposes and plans. Pray to undergo daily this transforming experience.