Good Morning, my name is Forrest Tilger and I serve as one of the Elders here at Verse By Verse Fellowship. If you are joining us for the first time, welcome, and if you have been here more than once welcome.

 In the summer at Verse By Verse, we change things up a bit. We have our Elder Series where the Elders of the church have the opportunity to preach. Last summer we went through First Timothy and this summer we are going through Second Timothy. Now I have searched my bible and I can’t find a third Timothy so I don’t know what we will do next year. Don’t worry Tony already has all of next year planned out.

This morning we are in Second Timothy chapter one verse fifteen to chapter two verse two for a total of six verses. Six very important verses in a very important book that is part of the most important BOOK. When I was given the task of preaching these verses the question that was repeated over and over again in my mind was “What is the focus of this passage?” I knew the author, the Apostle Paul. I knew who the letter was written to, Timothy who is Paul’s son in the faith. I knew when the letter was written, approximately 67AD. I knew the location, Rome and I knew Paul’s circumstance, that he was a prisoner soon to be executed. I knew all the facts. The question that I had was “Paul why are you writing this letter to Timothy,  “What is it that you want Timothy to know?

The more that I read the passage and prayed the clearer the answer became and the answer is found in the passage itself.

Paul’s focus is not on the harsh treatment that he is experiencing as a Roman prisoner,  His abandonment and isolation, His focus is not on the importance of discipleship although he knows that soon Timothy’s teacher will no longer be able to teach him. So what is the focus? I believe Paul is telling Timothy that he needs to find faithful men and to train these men just as Paul trained Timothy and lastly to teach these men to be the next teachers, preachers, and evangelists of Christ and for His church. 

This morning, this message is for those who call themselves Christian.  For those who put their trust not in themselves but in Jesus Christ for their salvation and their righteousness. Those who follow Christ,  and who are no longer living for themselves but for Christ. If that is you this morning, then this message is for you! Now, if you are here this morning and that is not you, don’t worry, I have a special message for you as well.

The title of this sermon is A Faithful Follower of Christ.

Please write this down for number one of your outline.

1. A Faithful Follower of Christ is not focused on their circumstance. (verse 15,16) 

Our example is Paul himself. We know that Paul is in a Roman prison at the time of his writing and he could make that the focus of his letter. He could write about the harsh treatment he is receiving at the hands of the prison guards. He could write about the conditions of his confinement that his prison cell is cold, wet, and dark. 

For the Apostle Paul, his focus wasn’t his circumstances. Why is that? Paul understood that this world was not his home and that for Him to live is Christ, and to die is gain. Paul did not focus on his circumstances but he focused on the God who was over his circumstances. The God who creates life and gives us breath. The God who owns every beast of the forest, the cattle on a thousand hills, all the birds of the hills, and all that moves in the field. The God who knows when a sparrow falls to the ground. A God who has commanded us to walk by faith and not by sight. Paul could ask the question “Lord, why am I here?” but Paul does not. That is a reasonable question to ask and it’s a question that we ask ourselves all the time. “Lord why am I going through this circumstance?”. For some the circumstance may be a loss. The loss of a family member or a close friend? For others, it could be a hard marriage and the question is “Lord why are you allowing me to be in this marriage?”  Maybe your circumstance deals with your health or sickness and every day you are reminded of the pain that you are in.  I recently heard this saying “When your world is small, your problems are big” and I believe this is true but I would change it up. When your God is small your problems are big but when your God is big, well then your problems, your circumstances, your suffering, your heartache, whatever it may be that you are going through, they are small. For Faithful Followers of Christ, our focus should be Him, not our circumstances.  

Please write this down for number two on your outline:

2. A Faithful Follower of Christ Listens to the WORD, not the World

We read the following  in 2 Timothy 1:15

You are aware that all who are in Asia turned away from me, among whom are Phygelus and Hermogenes. “

Paul tells Timothy that ALL who were in Asia turned away from him. Then Paul mentions two of those men Phygelus and Hermogenes. Little is known of these two men and this is the only reference of the two of them in scripture. We don’t know much about them, but here’s what we do know.  We know, that Paul and Timothy knew them. We know that they were with Paul at some point but they turned away from him. The Greek word for turned away means “to turn away from, to turn your allegiance of someone” or “to desert”.  Both of these men have Greek names, the name Phygelus means “a little fugitive”  and Hermogenes means “born of Hermes.” Hermes is a Greek deity, the son of Zeus and he is regarded as “the divine trickster”. So we have these two men the “a little fugitive” and “the divine trickster” and they desert Paul. Why did they desert? 

I believe that reason is found in verse 16 where Paul references Onesiphorus and tells us: “Onesiphorus, for he often refreshed me and was not ashamed of my chains.” My sense is that shame played a role in their turning away from Paul. In chapter one Paul mentions being ashamed three times and here not explicitly by implicitly Paul ties “being ashamed” to these two men. 

Shame is very powerful and the WORLD uses SHAME. The WORLD uses shame to make people sit down, shut up, and fall in line with what the WORLD says is true. But for a faithful follower of Christ, the WORD is our truth. The WORD It’s what we stand on. It tells us who God is and who the Son of God is. In Romans, Paul says  “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.”  

As Faithful Followers of Christ, we know that  “the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.” For the faithful follower of Christ, we listen to the WORD, not the WORLD. 

Listen to the words of Jesus  “For whoever is ashamed of me and my WORDS in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him the Son of Man also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy Angels” 

Now Listen to me! This WORLD is not our home. This WORLD and the forces of this WORLD want to chew you up and spit you out. It wants to keep people deceived and make Believers ineffective. This WORLD tells you what is good is evil and what is evil is good, This WORLD  promotes what is false and it makes what is false seem true. It will deceive, manipulate, and distract. It wants to occupy your time and use all of your talents and for you to spend all your treasure on this WORLD every last cent. But the WORD tells us  “not to put our treasure of this world in things that moth and rust destroy and things that thieves break in and steal”  and as Faithful Followers of Christ, we must listen to the WORD, not the World!

Please write this down for point number three of your outline.

3. A Faithful Follower of Christ Prioritize Others not Themselves

Now we get to meet Onesiphorus, and the more time I spent in these six verses and the more I learned of Onesipherus, the more I love this man.  By the time this sermon is over, you will see why I said that and I believe you will feel the same way.

In Second Timothy chapter one verses 16 & 17 we read:

“May the Lord grant mercy to the household of Onesiphorus, for he often refreshed me and was not ashamed of my chains, but when he arrived in Rome he searched for me earnestly and found me”

His name Onesipherus is Greek and it means “bring profit” Now his name tells you everything you need to know about him.  He is a “profit bringer”!  We only hear about him in Second Timothy and his name is only mentioned twice in all of the bible. But he truly lives up to his name and is a profit-bringer.

Paul says that when Onesiphorus arrived in Rome he searched for Paul earnestly, in Greek the meaning of “search” suggests “to seek, to strive after” and “to seek in order to find.” It means to search for a purpose and a determination. 

Have you ever done that? Have you ever searched for someone with purpose or determination? Have you ever had to search for a lost child? Have you ever had to search for two sons at Disneyworld? Right after your wife asks you to watch them while she takes your daughter to the restroom? I have and I went from being a dad at Disney on vacation to being Liam Neeson in the movie “Taken”. The search was on and I had purpose and I was determined. I was controlled on the outside but on the inside, my fight or flight was activated and I was in a fight to find my two boys. I knew they hadn’t gone too far but I need to tell you if there is one thing that Disney World has, it’s kids a lot of them. Countless boys the same size as mine and all of them wearing Mickey hats.

 In my search, I turned a corner and sure enough there they were,  both of them frozen standing in front of an army man from Toy Story, he was a little taller than me and he looked like he was made out of plastic. They were looking up at that soldier, mouths wide open,  it was a beautiful sight. My search was a success. Onesiphorus was on a search as well.  His search was successful and he found Paul. Paul says that not only did Onesiphorus search earnestly for him, but that he was not ashamed of his chains, and that he often refreshed Paul. That same shame that caused everyone who was with Paul to turn away from him did not stop Onesiphorus. Shame did not stop Onesiphorus and shame did not stop Paul. Paul was not ashamed and he did not fear death, Paul believed “for him to live is Christ, and to die is gain” “ and shame and fear did not stop Onesipherus from searching earnestly for Paul. Now we need to understand that Paul was in prison during this time and would soon be martyred for his Faith. During the writing of Second Timothy, being a Christian or being associated with Christians was dangerous. The Roman Emperor Nero blamed Christians for the great “Fire of Rome” which took place in 64 AD. Nero used that fire as a pretext to begin Christian persecution. He killed children and women, burned Christians, used them as torches to light up streets, and ordered Christians to fight lions in the Coliseum. Nero was evil and he persecuted the church. It was not safe to have church in people’s homes so they met in the catacombs outside of the city. Yet in the face of all this danger, we find a Faithful Follower of Christ, Onesiphorus. He did not let fear stop his search. He searched earnestly for Paul and once he found him, he ministered to him. What a true Faithful Follower of Christ. Christ said “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”  After Onesiphorus finds Paul he ministers to him not just one time. Paul says “he often refreshed me”. Onesipherus did not prioritize himself he prioritized others. May we be known as a church that serves others. We have many ministries that allow Faith Followers of Christ to serve. For those who are serving thank you and for those who are not, please pray and ask the Lord to help you find the ministry where you can serve others.

You can put this down for number four in your outline:

4. A Faithful Follower of Christ has a Pattern of Consistency

We read this in verse eighteen “may the Lord grant him to find mercy from the Lord on that day!—and you well know all the service he rendered at Ephesus.”

This Faithful Follower of Christ not only searched earnestly and ministered to Paul in Rome. Paul also tells Timothy “you know well the service he rendered at Ephesus”. Onesiphorus had a pattern of consistency. He was a faithful follower, he was a consistent follower of Christ. He was someone that you could count on, he was a man that could be trusted, and he was reliable. If Onesipherus attended Verse By Verse Fellowship he would be at church every Sunday. He would be a part of Iron Men’s Ministry, He would be at Wednesday night service, and he would be a member of a Small Group. He would be active in Missions and Outreach. Are you seeing a pattern here? Now I need to speak to all the men here today. In Chapter 2 verse 2 Paul instructs Timothy to entrust Paul’s teaching to faithful men. When Paul says Men he means Men. 

So Men, listen up! If you are a faithful follower of Christ does this sound like you? Is church a priority in your life? Are you a man of your word? Do you follow through on your commitments? Or, is your passion, your work? Does your calendar revolve around your hobbies, your TEAM, your CAR? Does your wife see your pattern of consistency to the church? Do your children see it? If those questions give you pause, or if I have touched a nerve. Good!  Now I have your attention. Men, one thing that I have noticed about the enemy is that he loves to run interference. He loves to put things in front of us to distract us. He wants men to spend our time on the things that interest us. Our talents on things that make others notice us. Our treasures on the things of this world. 

One of the roles of an Elder is to help men. To help men mature in their faith. Help men to grow in Christlikeness. Help them to see what is truly important. My prayer for the men of Verse by Verse Fellowship is that we would pray and ask the Lord to help us identify what are the right priorities and what are the distractions. Then for the congregation that we live lives with a pattern of consistently serving. 

Please put this down for number five on your outline.

5.  A Faithful Follower of Christ Will be Rewarded.

Again in verse eighteen “may the Lord grant him to find mercy from the Lord on that day!”

Paul’s prayer for Onesiphorus is the Lord will allow him to find mercy from the Lord on that day. Tony mentioned ‘That Day” last week. It’s a day of judgment and it's so profound that Paul calls it “That Day”. That Day is a very important day in history. For some, it will be a day of terror, a day of judgment. For others, For Faithful Followers of Christ, it will be a day of joy. A day they receive their rewards. I know that Christians have differing views on rewards and what the value of those rewards will be “On That Day”. I know one thing, I do know that the Apostle Paul saw the value of those rewards and wrote about those rewards, Paul says that these rewards are eternal. These rewards will be given to us by our Lord Jesus Christ. Let me stop and focus on those two facts. Your reward will be given to you by the LORD JESUS CHRIST. THE KING OF KINGS and the LORD OF LORDS! I have a hard time imagining this scene, being in the presence of Jesus Christ Glorified and receiving a reward. I can’t picture it but I know it’s true and the reward He gives, it’s eternal. I don’t know how many of you have watched the 2024 Olympics. There are many that compete but there are a few that receive a reward. These Olympians have spent countless days training, preparing for one single moment and a chance to win a reward. But that reward they win, it’s not eternal. That reward is useless in the Kingdom. The reward we receive for the King of Kings and Lord of Lords on “THAT DAY” is eternal. You can’t lose it, it can’t be stolen, and it will never be destroyed. How do you spend your time, your talents, and your treasure? Are you investing in rewards that are temporal? Investments that have no value in the Kingdom? Your time on the cares of this world? We are here for a short period of time and once our time is up, it’s up. There’s no rewind, another round, no do-overs? Faithful Followers of Christ understand what rewards are truly important, what rewards are truly valuable, and what rewards are eternal.

Okay, the last point of the outline, number six.

6. A Faithful Follower of Christ shares the Gospel.

Paul writes “You then, my child, be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus,  and what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men, who will be able to teach others also”

Paul encourages Timothy, his child, and his son in the faith. Paul knows that his time on earth is short and that his race is ending. Paul needs to pass the baton to Timothy. Then Timothy can run the race and Timothy can find faithful. Paul tells Timothy to teach these faithful men what Paul taught him. Timothy runs his race then passes the baton. We call this discipleship.  Christ had the masses, He had his followers, He had His Disciples. Just like Christ, Paul also had disciples and Timothy was one of them. Paul had invested his time into Timothy, teaching Timothy sound doctrine, and helping Timothy to mature in his faith. Paul invested his talents into Timothy.  The wisdom, the knowledge, and the learnings that Paul had he gave to Timothy. One of the talents that Paul shared with Timothy was evangelism. Jesus commanded His disciples to evangelize right before he left for heaven, Jesus said “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” We call this the Great Commission. For Faithful Followers of Christ, we have a role in the great commission. There might be some here this morning that have never heard the Gospel. You have no understanding of how important the Gospel is or what it means. For the Faithful Follower of Christ, we have been called to Preach the Gospel, we are called to teach the Gospel, we are called to Guard the Gospel, We are called to Stand on the Gospel, We are called to Trust the Gospel, and we are called to Live the Gospel. 

So, let me do as I am called to do and share the Gospel this morning. For believers, we refer to the gospel as the good news but before I share the good news, I would like to talk about God and share the bad news. 

In the book of Revelations the very last book of the bible in chapter four we are given a glimpse into the throne room of heaven. This is what the Apostle John saw. 

“And around the throne, on each side of the throne, are four living creatures, full of eyes in front and behind: the first living creature like a lion, the second living creature like an ox, the third living creature with the face of a man, and the fourth living creature like an eagle in flight. And the four living creatures, each of them with six wings, are full of eyes all around and within, and day and night they never cease to say, “Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come!”

 The Bible teaches that God is Love, that God is Supreme, that God is Sovereign, that God is Merciful, that God is Just, that God is all Powerful, and that God is all Knowing, but there is only one attribute that is repeated three times and that is that God is HOLY. This repetition should make the reader and make us understand that the God of the bible above all His attributes, He is Holy.

 Now the bad news. We are not holy, on the contrary, every one of us is a sinner. Because our first mom and dad, Adam and Eve disobeyed God, that introduced sin and not just sin, but sin and death. When we are born, we are born sinners. The bible says  “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God”. You may say “Well that doesn’t apply to me because I’m right with God and after all, I’m a good person.” 

The bible says:

“None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good,”. All those who will die in their sins will spend eternity in a place that was created for Satan and the fallen angels, hell.

Did you know who talked about hell the most in the bible? Jesus, Jesus said that hell is a place where the worm never dies, hell is a place of eternal torment, of unquenchable fire. In hell people will be weeping and gnashing their teeth, it’s a place of utter darkness and a place for which there is no return. Hell is a place that does not relent and offers no release, and hell is real. This is the bad news.

Now the Gospel or the Good News. The Bible says that.

 “God so loved the world,  that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life”

Jesus was born of a virgin and without original sin and for thirty-three years that He walked this earth, He lived a perfect sinless life. This perfect sinless Jesus was crucified, He died on a cross and was buried in a tomb. He didn’t stay in that tomb. We read about an encounter between the resurrected Jesus and one of his disciples named Mary who went to that tomb and found the tomb empty this is found in John chapter 20.

“ But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb, and as she wept she stooped to look into the tomb. And she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had lain, one at the head and one at the feet. They said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.” Having said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing, but she did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?” Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.”  Jesus said to her, “Mary.” She turned and said to him in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means Teacher). Jesus said to her, “Do not cling to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to my brothers and say to them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’” 

Jesus lived the perfect life that you could not live, Jesus died on the cross for your sins, and Jesus rose again and now He sits at the right hand of God the Father. This Jesus, he is coming back on THAT DAY.

Lastly, the Bible says:

“if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart, one believes and is justified, and with the mouth, one confesses and is saved” and that “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved” 

That my friends is the Gospel! If you are here today and trusting in your good works, your righteousness, if you’re telling yourself, “I’m good”, you are not. God is Holy and we are all sinners in need of a savior. The prayer of the men and women of Verse By Verse Fellowship is that you would call out to Jesus Christ, ask for forgiveness, and become a part of this church.

Before I close, If you are a faithful follower of Christ share the Gospel. This world needs to hear the Gospel, this city needs to hear the Gospel, and this church needs to be known as a place where the Gospel is preached and the Gospel is lived.