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Grace, mercy and peace be to you from God our Father, and
from our Lord Jesus Christ.
When Timothy comes, see that you put him at ease among you, for he is doing the work of the Lord, as I am. So let no one despise him. Help him on his way in peace, that he may return to me, for I am expecting him with the brothers.
Prayer:
Dear Lord Jesus, send us your Holy Spirit, to me that I may preach well, and to
all of us that we may hear well. Amen.
Our
sermon today, for those of you who weren’t here last week, follows on from last
week, where I preached on the first part of the text from 1 Corinthians which I
just read. This particular passage shows the wonderful relationship between
Paul as a pastor, and God’s people of the church. Last week, we reflected on
the way in which Paul described himself as a traveller. He wants to be
with God’s people there in the city of Corinth, after he has been in Ephesus,
and after going through Macedonia. Like many pastor, and many Christians, Paul is
a traveller, he goes from place to place, never quite knowing where Jesus is
going to lead him next, but he trusts that Jesus will be with him to guide him
and lead him.
Paul
also tells the Corinthians that wherever he goes, it will only happen if the
Lord permits [1 Cor 16:7]. Paul doesn’t know where he is going, but Jesus
knows where he is going.
Paul
also says that while he wants to stay for a while in the city of Ephesus, because
a wide door for effective work has opened [v 9] for him. Jesus has opened the doors
of people’s hearts there to hear the Word of God and to believe the Gospel. And
this means that for Paul he has much work to do. The work belongs to Jesus, and
all the energy behind the work, the effectiveness, belongs to Jesus.
And
lastly, Paul says that there are many adversaries [v 9]. Even though a wide and
effective door has opened there are also many adversaries, many opponents,
many enemies. Why? Because the devil only bothers those who don’t belong to
him. When Jesus wins a victory among a group of people, the devil is robbed of
his people, and so he sometimes bites back. But this is only to make us run back
to Jesus, and to be closer to him, knowing that there will be a time in the future
when Jesus will rescue us from every heartache and sorrow and problem on this
earth to be with him in heaven and to see him with our own eyes for the whole
of eternity.
So
today’s sermon is “part two”. Today we are focussing on the next few verses of
the reading, which says:
When
Timothy comes, see that you put him at ease among you, for he is doing the work
of the Lord, as I am. So let no one despise him. Help him on his way in peace,
that he may return to me, for I am expecting him with the brothers.
Last
week, we were reading about how Paul tells about his own life as a pastor
and apostle. But this week we read about how Paul instructs and teaches the
congregation there in Corinth how to receive this young pastor Timothy, who
is about to come and visit them.
So we’re
going to look at three things in our sermon today:
I.
Paul tells the church that Timothy is doing to work of the
Lord.
II.
Paul tells the church that Timothy is doing the same work as
himself.
III.
Paul tells the church how to treat him.
And
so, may the Holy Spirit bless us in my speaking, and our thinking and hearing
today, so that we may believe this word of God and live it out.
So let’s
come to our first part, where:
I.
Paul tells the church that Timothy is doing the work of the
Lord.
We
read: When Timothy comes, see that you put him at ease among you, for he is
doing the work of the Lord, as I am. He says: He is doing the work of
the Lord.
What
do you know about Timothy? Well, first of all, there are two books in the bible
that are named after him, not because he wrote them, but because they were addressed
to him. There are four letters that Paul wrote to pastors—1 Timothy, 2 Timothy,
Titus and Philemon—and these four letters contain wonderful teaching and advice
which spells out how we should conduct our ministry. Actually, this is a useful
thing for us all to remember, because today, there’s plenty of books and
seminars and conferences that are held about how to make pastors successful and
dynamic leaders. But what is often forgotten is that the bible itself has its own
teaching about how to be a pastor and how to conduct ourselves as pastors.
It’s not for us to make it up—it’s not our ministry, the ministry
belongs to Jesus.
We
pastors can be a disappointing lot, sometimes! We often fail to meet people’s
expectations, because of this reason or that. There’s no such thing as a
perfect pastor, except for Jesus, and they crucified him! But what is
important about a pastor is not whether he is like this, or like that, or even
whether we like him personally, but that, as Paul says, he is doing
the work of the Lord. This is an amazing thing that Paul says!
Paul
says that Timothy is doing the work of the Lord, because he knows that
he is speaking the word of the Lord. Sometimes a pastor might like to change
this or that, but actually, it’s not up to him at all, but it is up to Jesus.
He is the one who is doing the work, the pastor simply speaks Jesus’ word.
An old pastor once told me this wonderful little motto: I am nothing, I have
nothing and I can do nothing, but I have a Saviour is all, who has all, and can
do all. It’s a bit like what Jesus said to Paul: My grace is sufficient
for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness [2 Cor 12:9].
So
what is it that Jesus told his apostles to do before he ascended into heaven?
He said, Go and make disciples of all nations [Mt 28:19]. How?
What should they do to make disciples? Two things: First, baptising them in
the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and second,
teaching to observe all that I have commanded you [v 20].
Do you see how Jesus sends his apostles out to teach! I remember
hearing a sermon once where the pastor was talking about where Jesus was
teaching his disciples a few days before he died on the cross. The pastor said:
What do you think Jesus is going to do, when he knows he’s going to die at the
end of the week? He dedicates himself to one thing—teaching, teaching,
teaching!
After
Jesus gives this task to his apostles to teach, what then does he say? Behold,
I am with you always to the end of the age. He says: when you go and do this
work, it’s not going to be your work, it’s going to be my work.
And I am going to work with you, and I am going to be with you,
and I am going to be right here clothing you all the power of the Holy
Spirit that you need for each day and for each task.
In his
first letter to the Thessalonians, Paul writes: We also thank God constantly
for this, that when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you
accept it not as the word of men but as what it really is, the word of God,
which is at work in you believers [1 Th
2:13]. Can you see how God’s word
and God’s work go together? He says that you received our words as the word
of God, and that this word of God is at work in you believers.
This
is why Paul says in our reading today that Timothy is doing the work of the
Lord.
I’d
like to read a wonderful quote from Martin Luther about this, where he is speaking
to parents, encouraging them to have their sons trained for the ministry. He
writes [LW vol XLVI, “A sermon on keeping
children in school”, p 223-225]:
There is no dearer treasure, no nobler thing on earth or in
this life than a good and faithful pastor and preacher. Just think, whatever
good is accomplished by the preaching office and the care of souls is assuredly
accomplished by your own son as he faithfully performs this office. For
example, each day through him many souls are taught, converted, baptised, and
brought to Christ and saved, and redeemed from sin, death, hell, and the devil.
Through him they come to everlasting righteousness, to everlasting life and
heaven, so that Daniel says well that those who teach others shall shine
like the brightness of the firmament; and those who turn many to righteousness
shall be like the stars for ever and ever [Dan 12:3]. Because God’s word and office, when it proceeds aright, must
without ceasing do great things and work actual miracles, so your son must
without ceasing do great miracles before God, such as raising the dead, driving
out devils, making the blind to see, the deaf to hear, the lepers clean, and
the dumb to speak. Though these things may not happen bodily, they do happen
spiritually in the soul, where the miracles are even greater, as Christ says in
John 14[:12]: He
who believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works that
these will he do. If the single believer can accomplish these things
working independently with individuals, how much more will the preacher
accomplish working publicly with the whole company of people? It is not the
man, though, that does it. It is his office, ordained by God for this purpose.
That is what does it—that and the word of God which he teaches. He is only [the
instrument through which it is accomplished. Now if he accomplished such great
things spiritually, it follows that he also does bodily works and miracles, or
at least gets them started. For how does it happen that Christians will rise
from the dead at the Last Day, and that all the deaf, blind, lame and other
sufferers of bodily ills must lay aside their ailments?...It is not because
here on earth, through God’s word, they have been converted, become believers,
been baptised and incorporated into Christ?
Do you
see what Luther is saying here? When the word of God is spoken, the
resurrection of your bodies on the last day has just kicked off. You can’t see
it now, but when you rise from the dead, and all your aches and pains and
sorrows have all melted away like wax, then you’ll see it. Then you’ll look
back and realise just how powerful God’s word was, when to the world, all it
looks like is that there you are in church sitting on your backside. We come to
church to cease from all the work you do, so that God can work on you.
God’s
word—God’s work! They go together. If only we had the eyes to see it!
The
second thing, we’re going to look at today is that:
II.
Paul tells the church that Timothy is doing the same work as
himself.
Paul
writes: He is doing to work of the Lord, as I am. He also says: Help
him on his way in peace, that he may return to me, for I am expecting
him with the brothers.
Sometimes
people say: I don’t care much about the apostles, I only care about what Jesus
says. This doesn’t really work, because Jesus is the one who sent the
apostles. And Jesus said to them: Whoever hears you hears me [Luke 10:16]. The
only thing we know about Jesus is what the apostles told us. Jesus didn’t actually
write anything down himself. The whole of the New Testament is the writings of
the apostles. Actually, the Gospels of Mark and Luke were not written by apostles,
but by their close friends. Mark and Luke wrote down what they knew about Jesus
from the apostles. The reason why the New Testament was all brought together is
because it was the teaching of the apostles. On the day of Pentecost, after
the fire and the wind came down, and after 3000 people were baptised, what did
they do? It says: They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching [Acts 2:42]. And this
is what we come to do in church.
And so
Timothy also comes to the church in Corinth, not teaching his own ideas, or having
the spirit of the age as his teacher, but the apostles as his teachers. John
writes in his first letter about himself and his fellow apostles: We are
from God. Whoever knows God listens to us; whoever is not from God does not
listen to us. By this we know the Spirit of truth and the spirit of error [1 Jn 4:6]. Now
why can John here be so black and white? Because he remembers the words of
Jesus: Whoever hears you hears me.
So
when it comes to our pastors, what are they supposed to do? Well, Paul wrote to
Timothy: All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching,
for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of
God may be complete, equipped for every good work [2 Tim 3:16-17]. So
when our pastors, whether it’s me or someone else, speak the word of God—to convict
us of our sin and to comfort and strengthen us—we should listen
to it, believe it, trust in it, and live by it.
But
also Jesus gives another warning. He says: Beware of false prophets [Mt 7:15]. So if a pastor
teaches you something that is not God’s word, then you shouldn’t
listen to it, you shouldn’t believe it, and you shouldn’t trust
in it, and you shouldn’t live by it! At one point, the high priests in
the temple told Peter and the other apostles that they were forbidden to preach
in the name of Jesus. Well, they did it anyway—and they said: We must
obey God rather than man [Acts 5:29].
So let
me tell you something very important. We are all baptised Christians, and that
means that because of God’s word and promise, he has given his Holy Spirit to
all baptised people who believe in him. Paul says: To each is given the
manifestation of the Spirit for the common good [1 Cor 12:7]. What
this means is that if you think I say something that isn’t right and isn’t from
God’s word, you’ve got to come and tell me! Don’t keep it to yourself,
because you might be the only person that the Holy Spirit uses in our
congregation here to change my mind and correct me for the benefit of everyone.
Remember that. Pastors should never expect anyone to obey them—but if it’s
God’s word, then we must believe it.
And
so, we’re an Apostolic church. I don’t mean the church denomination called the “Apostolic
Church” down the road! I mean that we devote ourselves to the apostles’
teaching. We have the apostles as our teachers, not ourselves, not the
spirit of our time. Paul says about Timothy that he is doing the work of the
Lord, as I am.
The
last thing we’re going to look at from our reading is where:
III.
Paul tells the church how to treat young pastor Timothy.
I’m
not going to say too much about this! Paul says three things: Put him at
ease among you. Let no one despise him. Help him on his way in peace.
Put
him at ease literally means: Let him be without
fear among you. It’s a terrible thing when a pastor lives in fear!
It’s
important also for we pastors to realise that we are here to seek the sheep for
Jesus, and not the fleece for ourselves.
Now
today is exactly 6 months before Christmas Day. And you might remember that
John the Baptist was 6 months older than Jesus, so often at this time of the
year, Christians remember the birth of John the Baptist. And John gives us a
good picture of something very important. He points to the Lamb of God who
takes away the sin of the world [John
1:29].
God
gives two things to the church. He gives a Messiah, and gives you a pastor to preach
the Messiah. However, sometimes people want a two-in-one package. They ditch
the real Messiah, and they want their new pastor to be their Messiah instead.
This doesn’t work, because sooner or later they’ll realise that he doesn’t
measure up, and then they’ll want to crucify him too! Sometimes, this happens in
the church. Instead of wanting a shepherd, people want the sheepdog instead!
But
Paul gives three simple instructions to the Corinthians: Put him at ease
among you. Let no one despise him. Help him on his way in peace.
Let’s
leave it at that, and let’s pray that our dear Lord Jesus would bless our time
and our future together as a congregation and me as your pastor with his
blessing. God bless you! Amen.
And
the peace of God which passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds safe
in Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.
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