Introduction:
A drunk was miraculously converted at a Bowery mission. Prior to his conversion, Joe had gained the reputation of being a dirty wino for who there was no hope, only a miserable existence in the ghetto. But following his conversion to a new life with God, everything changed. Joe became the most caring person that anyone is associated with the mission had ever known. Joe spent his days and nights hanging out at the mission doing whatever needed to be done. There was never any task that was too lowly for Joe to take on. There was never anything that he was asked to do that he considered beneath him. Whether it was cleaning up the vomit left by some violently sick alcoholic or scrubbing the toilets after careless men left the bathroom filthy, Joe did what was asked with a soft smile on his face and with a seeming gratitude for the chance to help. He could be counted on the feed feeble men who wandered into the mission off the street, and to undress and tuck into bed men who were too out of it to take care of themselves.
One evening, when the director of the mission was delivering his evening evangelistic message to the usual crowd of still and sullen men with drooped heads, there was one man who looked up, came down the aisle to the altar and knelt to pray, crying out for God to help him to change. The repentant drunk kept shouting, “Oh God, make me like Joe! Make me like Joe! Make me like Joe! Make me like Joe! The director of the mission leaned over and said to the man, Son, I think it would be better if you prayed, “Make me like Jesus.”
The man looked up at the director with a quizzical expression on his face and asked, “Is he like Joe? In this message Paul named 5 several areas of life in which you and I should be examples.
1. Example of God’s Use of Young People
• To Save Israel in Time of Famine – It was through Joseph that God provided Israel a means to survive famine. He was seventeen when sold as a slave to Potiphar. Genesis 37:2.
• To Deliver Israel from the Philistines – As when God used David to defeat Goliath.
• To Lead Israel to it’s Greatest Heights – God had David appoint his son Solomon to be the third king of Israel. When Solomon became king he thought of himself as a child.
• To Restore Judah to the True Worship of God – When Josiah became king, he was only eight and according to 2 Chr 34:1-2, he was a good king. When sixteen, he sought to serve God, and when he turned 20, he instituted religious reforms throughout Judah. When he turned 26, he restored the temple, and the Passover.
• To Prophesy to the Nations – Speaking of Jeremiah, who tried to escape his prophetic call, but God told him not to say I am young, that He would be with him (Jer 1:7-8)
• To Bring the Savior to the World – which he did through Mary, who was but a young virgin.
• To Proclaim the Gospel to the Lost – Referring to Timothy, selected by Paul to join him on his journeys. Who must have been quite young, for it was over twenty years later that Paul tells him don’t let anyone put you down because you’re young.
It should be evident that God often used young people to accomplish great things! I believe He can do much through young people today, but what kind of young people can He use?
2. Be an Example in the Word
Paul warned him that because he had no long record to establish credibility, he would have to earn the respect of his people. The Greeks, as did most cultures, subordinated youth to age. If a man did not have age, he would have to earn respect. To offset that youthfulness, Paul exhorted Timothy to be an example of those who believe.(example)means “pattern,” or “model.” By so doing, he would gain the respect of his people. Paul lists five areas in which Timothy was to make every effort to be an example to the church.
A. Be an Example in Speech
• In Matthew 12:34–37, Jesus warned, For the mouth speaks out of that which fills the heart. The good man out of his good treasure brings forth what is good; and the evil man out of his evil treasure brings forth what is evil. And I say to you, that every careless word that men shall speak, they shall render account for it in the day of judgment. For by your words you shall be justified, and by your words you shall be condemned.
• A man’s speech reflects what is in his heart. All types of sinful speech must be avoided by a man of God. That includes any deviation from truthfulness, as Paul makes clear in Ephesians 4:25 when he says, “Therefore, laying aside falsehood, speak truth, each one of you, with his neighbor.” Nothing more surely reveals a sinful soul and more swiftly destroys a leader’s credibility than lies. Absolute honesty is essential for one who speaks on behalf of the “God who cannot lie” (Titus 1:2; Heb. 6:18), and who hates lying (Prov. 6:16–17; 12:22). Ephesians 4:26 forbids angry speech, verse 29 impure speech, and verse 31 slanderous words. Such speech reflects an impure heart. To be called an excellent minister, one’s speech must be “good for edification according to the need of the moment, that it may give grace to those who hear” (Eph. 4:29).
B. Be an Example in Life
• Second, Timothy was to be an example in conduct. A disciple of Christ is required to be a model of righteous living who manifests his biblical convictions in every area of his life. A biblical message paired with an ungodly lifestyle is nothing but blatant hypocrisy. Worse, people will tend to follow how the man lives, not what he teaches. On the other hand, a godly life brings power and authority to a man’s message.
• Scripture is replete with exhortations to godly living. James writes, “Who among you is wise and understanding? Let him show by his good behavior his deeds in the gentleness of wisdom” (James 3:13).
• Peter had much to say on the subject: “Like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior”
1 Peter 1:15 “Keep your behavior excellent among the Gentiles, so that in the thing in which they slander you as evildoers, they may on account of your good deeds, as they observe them, glorify God in the day of visitation”
1 Peter 2:12 “Keep a good conscience so that in the thing in which you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame” (1 Peter 3:16).
C. Be an Example in Love
• Third, Timothy was to be an example in love. Biblical love is far different from the emotion our culture calls love. It involves self-sacrificing service on behalf of others regardless of how one feels.
• In John 15:13 our Lord said, “Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends.” That verse sums up the essence of ministry as self-sacrificial love. The excellent minister gives his time and energy to the people he is called to serve, devoting his whole life to seeing them strengthened and built up in the Lord.
• No personal sacrifice is too great, as Paul noted in Philippians 2:17: “But even if I am being poured out as a drink offering upon the sacrifice and service of your faith, I rejoice and share my joy with you all.” He could readily say, “I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I do my share on behalf of His body (Which is the church) in filling up that which is lacking in Christ’s afflictions” (Col. 1:24).
• His love was so great for those he served that he was willing to love even if that love was not returned. He reminded the Corinthians of his love for them (2 Cor. 2:4; 11:11) and even adds, “I will most gladly spend and be expended for your souls. If I love you the more, am I to be loved the less” (2 Cor. 12:15)? His love for the church made him feel the pains of suffering all the time (cf.. 2 Cor. 1:5–11; 6:4–10; 11:23–29; 12:7–10).
• Paul reminded the Thessalonians that we proved to be gentle among you, as a nursing mother tenderly cares for her own children. Having thus a fond affection for you, we were well-pleased to impart to you not only the gospel of God but also our own lives, because you had become very dear to us. For you recall, brethren, our labor and hardship, how working night and day so as not to be a burden to any of you, we proclaimed to you the gospel of God. You are witnesses, and so is God, how devoutly and uprightly and blamelessly we behaved toward you believers; just as you know how we were exhorting and encouraging and imploring each one of you as a father would his own children, so that you may walk in a manner worthy of the God who calls you into His own kingdom and glory. (1 Thess. 2:7–12)
•In Philippians 2:25–30, Paul commended Epaphroditus, who, like the apostle himself, had nearly died from his strenuous service in the cause of Christ. And since an excellent minister works with eternity in view, he sees the sacrifices of love he makes as small.
D. Be an Example in Faith
• Fourth, Timothy was to be an example in faith. Faith here does not refer to belief, but to faithfulness or unswerving commitment. A disciple of Christ consistently faithful. He does not swerve off the track; he does not deviate from his course. “It is required of stewards,” Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 4:2, “that one be found trustworthy.”
• This essential virtue of loyalty separates those who succeed in having a powerful influence from those who do not.
E. Be an Example in Purity
•Finally, Timothy was to be an example in purity. refers primarily to purity in the area of sexuality, both in actions and in the intentions of the heart. Nothing so ravages a ministry as sexual impurity. That is certainly evident in the list of standards for an overseer who is “above reproach.” Heading that list is the requirement that he be a “one-woman man” (1 Tim. 3:2).
•Leaders are especially vulnerable in that area, since it is a priority area of qualification, and thus a common avenue of attack by Satan. An excellent minister must heed Paul’s admonishment to Timothy to “flee from youthful lusts” (2 Tim. 2:22).
•Anyone who is not able to set a pattern of godly virtue in those areas does not belong in church leadership. Since a leader’s life sets the standard for others to follow, an unqualified leader inevitably lowers the standard of godliness in the church.
Conclusion:
Agnostic - More recently, the Christian walk of Will Houghton, a preacher who became the president of Moody Bible Institute during the 1940s, played a large role in the conversion of an agnostic who was contemplating suicide. The skeptic was desperate, but he decided that if he could find a minister who lived his faith he would listen to him. So he hired a private detective to watch Houghton. When the investigator’s report came back, it revealed that this preacher’s life was above reproach; he was for real. The agnostic went to Houghton’s church, accepted Christ, and later sent his daughter to Moody Bible Institute.
