2 Timothy 1:16-18 KJV The Lord give mercy unto the house of Onesiphorus; for he oft refreshed me, and was not ashamed of my chain: [17] But, when he was in Rome, he sought me out very diligently, and found me. [18] The Lord grant unto him that he may find mercy of the Lord in that day: and in how many things he ministered unto me at Ephesus, thou knowest very well.
2 Timothy 1:16-18 JB PHILLIPS But may the Lord have mercy on the household of Onesiphorus. Many times did that man put fresh heart into me, and he was not in the least ashamed of my being a prisoner in chains. [17] Indeed, when he was in Rome he went to a great deal of trouble to find me – [18] may the Lord grant he finds his mercy in that day! - and you well know in how many ways he helped me at Ephesus as well.
2 Timothy 1:16-18 Moffatt NT May the Lord show favour to the household of Onesiphorus, for many a time he braced me up; he was not ashamed of my imprisonment — [17] no, he made eager search for me when he reached Rome, and he found me [18] (may he find favour with the Lord on the great Day! The Lord grant it!). And you know very well what a help he was to me in Ephesus.
I. INTRODUCTION—CAPTIVITY
-Often from the tragic circumstances of captivity comes some of the most heroic tales. One such tale came during the Vietnam War.
Dr. Julius Segal wrote a book entitled Winning Life’s Toughest Battles in which he shared some of his observations after having worked with prisoners of war and the hostages that were in Iran. In the first chapter, he devoted much room to the idea of having friends that prisoners could talk to. He wrote that few individuals can cope with trauma alone. He noted that even the most powerful figures in the world need contact with others in the face of crisis.
In the book he told of Vice Admiral James Stockdale who spent 2,714 days as a POW in Vietnam.
On one occasion the North Vietnamese handcuffed Stockdale’s hands behind his back, locked his legs in heavy irons, and dragged him from his dark prison cell to sit in an un-shaded courtyard so other prisoners could see what happened to anyone who refused to cooperate.
Stockdale remained in that position for three days. Since he had not been in the sun for a long time, he soon felt weak, but the guards would not let him sleep. He was beaten repeatedly. After one beating, Stockdale heard a towel tapping out in prison code the letters: GBUJS. It was a message that he would never forget: “God Bless You, Jim Stockdale.”
In every episode of captivity in recent American history, POW’s and hostages have been sustained by ingeniously improvised lifelines of communication. In Vietnam, a clever tap code, in which the number and sequence of taps spelled out letters of the alphabet, became the prisoners’ chief means of communication. It was this code that sustained Jim Stockdale.
-Captivity has the capacity to bring out both the best and worst in people.
II. THE APOSTLE PAUL
A. His Final Days
-We have just read a small portion of the last words that Paul wrote. At some point prior to this last letter, he had been let out of prison by Nero. He had immediately settled back in to preaching the Gospel.
-There are some who speculate that it was during this interval that he went to Spain, where he had desired to go for quite some time. There were some connections that we are certain that he made during this time:
• He met with Titus in Crete.
• He enjoyed the company of Philemon and his new friend, Onesimus.
• He was reunited with Timothy in Ephesus.
-It is certain that he continued to pour wisdom, understanding, and grace into all of these men while they fellowshipped.
-But his freedom did not last long and suddenly he finds himself confined to a chain once more. He was arrested in Troas and hauled back to Rome and tossed back into a dungeon.
• Dark and dinghy.
• Not fit for humans to be in.
• Odors of sweat and dried blood permeate the place.
• The fear of torture hangs like a fog over it.
• The gloomy chambers of the Mamertine Prison.
-From this hole, Paul pens the words that we just read. I am so confident in the translation process that I believe that what Paul wrote in Koine Greek survives in our hands today as the Bible.
-Nero was about to take off the head of Paul somewhere around 67 A.D. The greatest New Testament missionary and church planter dies in disease-ridden and vermin-infested place. It doesn’t seem fair!
-Another thing that doesn’t seem fair is that Paul in his final days is almost alone. It appears that Luke was nearby but the mass of people that he influenced and brought the Gospel to weren’t there to help him.
-I am sure that Timothy probably was quite disturbed when he read Paul’s words of how that he was ready to be poured out like a drink offering and that his departure from this world was very soon.
-Be careful that you do not get too caught up with needing recognition and appreciation down here, your reward will be on the other side and it is crucial to keep this in mind.
-The devil loves to take some of God’s choicest servants and work their minds over in the waning hours of their life.
B. A Summary of 2 Timothy
-A brief summary of 2 Timothy can give us some insight into what Paul was feeling.
-Chapter 1 is a call to courageous living:
• We can see the feelings of an unguarded transfer of truth (1:3-4).
• We see Paul honoring Timothy’s mother and grandmother (1:5-6).
• He shows us the stuff of greatness in a life—power, love, and sound discipline (1:7).
• He adds a call to bear up under suffering with courage (1:8-12).
• He shows a treasure to be guarded (1:13-14).
• He also shows that calamity of conflict and opposition along the way (1:15).
• He concludes by showing the value of a man who chose to refresh him (1:16-18).
-Chapter 2 is a checklist of sorts for a faithful soldier:
• Be strong in grace (2:1).
• Be faithful to entrust truth to others (2:2).
• Be as brave as a soldier (2:3-4).
• Be as disciplined as an athlete (2:5).
• Be as hard-working as a farmer (2:6).
• Be as diligent as a workman (2:15).
• Be as gentle and submissive as a slave (2:24-25).
-Chapter 3 is a warning list for difficult days:
• Savage times are coming (3:1-5)!
• Be faithful in times of rampant apostasy (3:10-11).
• The days will grow more desperate as they pass (3:13).
• Honor the wisdom and authority that elders have in your life (3:14).
• Develop beliefs, have strong convictions, and love the Word (3:16-17).
-Chapter 4 is a call to preach the Word:
• Stick to the preaching plan God has for us—His Word (4:1-2).
• Do your work (4:5).
• Keep your end in sight—life is a vapor (4:6-22).
-With those final words, they executed Paul and beheaded him. At that moment, he was set free from the attachments of this life. It was painful no doubt but well-rewarded because of his faithfulness.
III. ONESIPHORUS—HELP BRINGER
-I want to draw your attention to the preceding verse in this chapter.
2 Timothy 1:15 KJV This thou knowest, that all they which are in Asia be turned away from me; of whom are Phygellus and Hermogenes.
-In contrast to the actions and attitudes of many there was one man who was kind to Paul. In the middle of all of this Paul makes reference to a man who brought great comfort to him. He was a man who helped him.
-His name means “help-bringer.” But Paul stressed that this man refreshed him in the middle of struggling with his chain.
Moffatt—He braced me up. . .
Weymouth—He cheered me. . .
Mitchell—He souled me up. . .
J B Phillips—He put fresh heart in me. . .
-We all need the ministry of refreshment and perhaps more importantly we need to be a person who gives themselves to refreshment. To do this there are some requirements that will be necessary.
A. It Is About Killing Pride
1 Timothy 1:16KJV . . . he was not ashamed of my chain.
-We all are susceptible to moments of pride that rob us from blessings. Imagine the stigma that was on Paul’s life at this time. He was a death row criminal. From all of the physical abuse he had endured, it is doubtful that his appearance was anything to look at.
-Yet Onesiphorus loved him because he brought the gospel to him and was willing to help ease the suffering that came from the chain.
-It meant he was going to have to risk. If you are going to refresh and encourage someone, you are going to discover that there is a cost involved with it.
-It is not likely that any of us will have the opportunity to refresh someone like Paul but we are surrounded with people who have their own chains that chafe, confine, and pull at them.
-Chains that don’t so much blister the skin as they erode the soul:
• Chains of failure.
• Chains of past scars and painful wounds.
• Chains of a habit that can’t be shaken.
• Chains of a violent temper.
• Chains of a poor self-image.
• Chains of unemployment.
• Chains of financial pressure.
• Chains of a past you cannot shake.
• Chains of a future you cannot face.
• Chains of depression.
• Chains of physical and emotional abuse.
-Don’t be ashamed of the chain that belongs to somebody. It is part of their identity, but most of all it is an opportunity for you to give yourself to the ministry of refreshment.
-If we are not careful we can be too big to do something small and too small to do something big. The church needs men who will kill their pride and prejudice long enough to do something for the Kingdom.
-It very well could be that God has blessed you with a heritage, a help, a gift, or the means to help someone beneath you who has a chain. Don’t get too important to help a man who has a chain. It very well could be that on the end of that chain is an apostle.
B. It Is About Responsibility
2 Timothy 1:17 KJV But, when he was in Rome, he sought me out very diligently, and found me.
-Such a ministry is also about being reliable, dependable; perhaps responsible might be the best word to use. Our age needs men who are steady under pressure and who are willing just to do their work.
-There are times that if you are going to give yourself to the ministry of refreshment, you will have to seek out opportunities to do it. The NIV renders it like this. . . “he searched hard for me until he found me.”
-Onesiphorus had a sense of responsibility about him and it motivated him to work. I have a feeling he was a man who buried himself in the work of the church.
-That is how great churches are built, by people who are willing to shoulder the responsibility and do the work of the ministry of refreshment. Great churches don’t just happen, they are populated by men and women who have great-hearts and are inclined to help somebody with their chain.
-Responsibility rings out of that passage of Scripture. He sought me out very diligently. . . He searched hard.
• This means traveling the high, stormy seas from Asia to Italy.
• This means putting life of hold for an extended period of time.
• This means leaving the warmth of family and the camaraderie of friends.
• This means getting there at your own expense to do the will of God.
-But Onesiphorus was a noble-minded and strong-hearted man who had determined to give himself to the ministry of refreshment.
-That kind of devotion will knit the hearts of people in a church together.
A mountain climber, Charles Houston, who overcame a climbing disaster in the Himalayan mountain ranges in 1953, wrote about what happens when men are concerned about more than themselves. He wrote, “When men climb on a great mountain together, the rope between them is more than a mere physical aid to the ascent. It is a symbol of men banded together in a common effort of will and strength, fighting against their only true enemies: inertia, cowardice, greed, ignorance, and all weakness of the human spirit.” (Adapted from Loyalty, The Vexing Virtue, by Eric Felten.)
-The ministry of refreshment, a call to responsibility, will pull a church together. Give yourself to it!
C. It Has Its Reward
2 Timothy 1:18 KJV The Lord grant unto him that he may find mercy of the Lord in that day: and in how many things he ministered unto me at Ephesus, thou knowest very well.
-Paul gives us a small hint when he defines the geographical location that Onesiphorus was in. . . Ephesus! Very well that he could have been one of the elders there. Paul spent three years in Ephesus and that is a long enough time to get to know someone.
Acts 20:31-35 KJV Therefore watch, and remember, that by the space of three years I ceased not to warn every one night and day with tears. [32] And now, brethren, I commend you to God, and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up, and to give you an inheritance among all them which are sanctified. [33] I have coveted no man's silver, or gold, or apparel. [34] Yea, ye yourselves know, that these hands have ministered unto my necessities, and to them that were with me. [35] I have shewed you all things, how that so labouring ye ought to support the weak, and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he said, It is more blessed to give than to receive.
-That business about the greater blessing being when one gives was like a tiny seed that lodged somewhere in the soul of Onesiphorus. I have a feeling that he was one of those men who was watering that seed with his weeping as he watched Paul board that ship that day out of Ephesus (Acts 20:37-38).
-When he heard that Paul was locked down, he decided that he had to turn Rome upside down until he could find him and brings him a ministry of refreshment! Nothing that you do for the Kingdom of God will be unnoticed by God.
-Here is the reward, perhaps, just maybe, somehow it could be that when Paul begins to develop the requirements that he would list for a bishop, an elder, that he had Onesiphorus in mind.
• Blameless
• Vigilant
• Sober
• Humble-minded
• Given to hospitality
• One that rules his own house well
• Having his children in subjection
• A good report among those who are on the outside looking in
-That is the reward of what happens to a man who is given to the ministry of refreshment, he has a life that is remarkable. He lives his life so well that it will be rewarded. That is what I want to be and I have a feeling that all of us who are the least bit spiritually inclined, you want the same thing too!
IV. CONCLUSION—SOMEONE IS DEPENDING ON YOU. . .
Those who survived the Bataan Death March did so because they had someone to lean on. After the march, the Japanese stuffed them into wretched POW camps that had horrible conditions. Hot, humid, and starving because they were being fed stale rice. Mistreated by the guards they were often beaten horrifically on the spot. Beheadings took place on a regular basis for minor infractions the soldiers committed. Under these conditions, chances of survival were often 50/50 at best. Only those who had a friend could make it.
In this camp at Cabanatuan was an army captain that everyone liked. He taught bridge to his buddies, he could tell mouthwatering tales about the best restaurants in San Francisco where he hailed from. He was a man who made the load of everyone around him lighter.
His strength came from the relationship he had with his wife. He had married a Filipino girl prior to the invasion and she became his buddy. But when the invasion took place, both of them were placed in prison. Apparently through the Filipino Underground Resistance, he was able to communicate back and forth with her while he was in prison.
One day word got to him that she had suffered a mental breakdown and had been dragged off to the psych ward. No one returned from this place and when the captain received this news, he crumbled. Two days later he was semi-conscious and just a few days later, he died. (Adapted from: Loyalty, The Vexing Virtue, Eric Felten)
-While his wife was alive, although separated by captivity, they both refreshed each other and helped each other with their chains. When that came to an end, he collapsed.
-Most of us don’t realize it, but somewhere we are on the giving end of being an Onesiphorus and the receiving end of a Paul. We refresh others and they refresh us. We cannot afford to ever through in the towel on the ministry of refreshment.
July 30, 2011
Philip Harrelson
