James Richards

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Sunday Morning Service

Jeremy Richards

Copalis Community Church

23 March 2025

Bible References

• Philippians 2:19-24
• 2 Timothy 4:19

Audio MP3 PDF

Encouraging other people to live a sacrificial life in service for other people similar to that life Jesus Christ lived for us. And now he's going to kind of switch gears, start talking about some people and working towards the conclusion of the book of Philippians. So we're going to be in chapter 2, verse 19 and this section has to do with Timothy. Timothy. So we're going to talk a little bit about Timothy today.

So in Philippians, chapter 2, verse 19, 24 and then we'll go ahead and pray together and lift up the prayer request for the people also together as a group. So in chapter 2, verse 19, Philippians but I trust in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you shortly that I also may be encouraged when I know your state. For I have no one like minded who will sincerely care for your state. For all seek their own, not the things which are of Christ Jesus, but you know his proven character, that is a son with His Father. He served with me in the Gospel.

Therefore I hope to send him at once as soon as I see how it goes with me. But I trust in the Lord that I myself shall come shortly. So let's pray together. Oh Father, we do come before youe throne of grace, Lord, for the individuals lifted up today, O Lord, trusting in youn guidance and you'd protection, trusting in the wisdom that yout've given people to care for their circumstances, oh Lord. But we do also just lift up your spiritual work in their lives, oh Lord, that during this time of physical difficulty, Lord, there would be an increase in spiritual strength, Lord, as they in their unknowing state look to you that you would answer them and provide and care for them.

We do ask, Lord, and for us here Lord, in this time, Lord, we do just ask that you open our hearts to understand your gospel, Lord, and to see in the life of Timothy something we could emulate in Jesus name. Amen. Okay, Paul in verse 19 of chapter 2 with Timothy is going to speak to us and to the Philippians regarding the situation he has found himself in. He's going to talk about Timothy, but the reason he is going to talk about Timothy is because of how Timothy is acting compared to the rest of the people that he is around. It says in verse 19.

But I trust in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you shortly that I also may be encouraged when I know your state. For I have no one like minded who will sincerely care for your state seek their own, not the things which are of Christ Jesus. Paul in different parts of his writing expressed A deep sense of regret that people do not continue with him in the ministry that God has called him to. I think if you're a parent or maybe have been involved in ministry, we see this continually, right? As a parent, we sometimes have children and the children make decisions to go other places, to far flung places and looking for other things.

And there's a sense of regret that we have as parents that they left, they went looking for their own thing, but we reconcile with it. They're looking for their own position in life or sometimes in business. We have people that we trained up or that we were investing in their lives, and they make a decision, no, I'm going to pursue my own career path and this and that. And there's a bit of regret that comes along with that. A little hurt is with that.

But Paul sees himself in a different position. He sees that he is focusing and moving forward on that thing which is higher than any other calling, the spreading of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. And he assumes that other people should have the same framework or point of view that he has. He sees that this is the most necessary thing in existence, preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ. And when people leave him, there is a deep sense of hurt that he has.

If you remember in his original ministry journey, that John Mark went with them in that ministry. But during that time, for whatever reason, John Mark left Paul. That hurt Paul so much that later on there was a division over them because Paul would not bring him back into that fellowship that he once had with them. We also see this happening over again in two Timothy, this feeling of regret that others don't view the ministry in the same. He says to Timothy in 2 Timothy 4, 9, it says, be diligent to come to me quickly, for Demas has forsaken me, having loved this present world and has departed for Thessalonica, Crescens, for Galatia, Titus, for Dalmatia.

Only Luke is with you. Get Mark and bring him with you, for he is useful for him in ministry. He also says in one place that in Rome that all who forsook him. But there is one bright spot in his life, one continuing light and encouragement to him in view of all of these individuals leaving him in desperate situations for their own thing, and that is Timothy. Timothy wants to maintain this relationship with Paul, and Paul leans on him and respects him.

So we're going to look at everyone else at different times, seems to have abandoned Paul. But Timothy is that bright spot in Paul's life. We have to look. Timothy was not necessarily an astounding individual. He was a young man that lived in a place called Derbe or Lystra or close to Iconium.

He was an individual that had a godly heritage. We see that in 2 Timothy that Paul is convinced that Timothy has a genuine faith. That was also evident in his mother Eunice's maybe, or his grandmother Eunice wondered in both his mother and his grandmother. But Paul takes this individual Timothy after he visits and shares the Gospel in Derbe and he brings Timothy alongside with him. In Paul's ministry.

There is the necessity. Because Timothy has a Jewish mother and a Greek father, he would not be welcomed in the Jewish community to minister there unless he was circumcised. So Paul takes Timothy as a young man and circumcises him. I think before we start, it's astonishing that there were and have been a lot of young men in the world since that time. Right.

Timothy chooses a course of direction that not only encourages and builds up probably the most important faith journey, the most important ministry of any individual besides Jesus Christ. Timothy encourages that individual in that person's ministry, magnifying his ministry. Timothy gets two books written about him in the Bible. Timothy is given authority to minister in situations that are far beyond his own ability that he possesses as a person. On the shoulders of Timothy rests an immense amount of purpose in the Bible.

A young man chosen out of probably a not too great situation of parents that were probably not super exalted in their own community. But Timothy receives a tremendous amount of attention and authority from Paul. He makes a big difference in the world. And so you and I as Christians are still looking at the life of Timothy when so many other people's flame has sparkled and gone out. And so I think there are some things for us to learn here about the life of Timothy.

What was it in him that made it so that his life was such an encouragement was used beyond his years? We see just a little bit about him in chapter four of First Timothy. It says, let no one despise your youth. We see that Timothy is a young man. You see that also he may be plagued with some physical illnesses that Paul has to deal with.

Not necessarily a person that you would think would become a leader of the church and encourage others. But here we have Paul's testimony about him. In chapter 2 of Philippians, verse 19 it says, But I trust in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you shortly, that I also be encouraged when I know your state. Here we first of all see that Timothy is a trusted aid to Paul, that in sending him out. Paul trusts that Timothy will be able to accomplish those things.

That job for which Paul sends him, you and I have to trust people, right? We trust people, or at least we think we can trust people. But oftentimes that trust is betrayed. I'm amazed at the ministry that I worked with that Gabe is now working with. Gabe Parker, the amount of trust that they put on young people.

So this ministry at the time that Stacy and I worked there, had World War II knot ships. They were called the small cargo ships. And the strange thing is almost nobody who worked on those ships had any maritime experience prior to working with friendships. And so this group of unexperienced people were doing everything. And so we had young people that come out of not even working environments, out of high school and college coming into this working ministry, loading ships and driving ships and being trusted with a tremendous amount of responsibility.

Sometimes that trust produced an amazing effect on young people that they handled it and excelled in it and were able to do things which was astonishing in light of their experience. And here we see that Paul trusts Timothy to send him to other people. This is a part of Timothy's growing okay, so he is being sent on a mission to the Philippians to know what is happening in their church, to know whether they have been faithful in the situations they have experienced. Paul says in verse 20 of chapter 2, for I have no one like minded who will sincerely care for your state. Paul says, look, there are others, but I have no one like minded who is in line with my mind for you.

We see that mind over in First Timothy, the end of it. In chapter 11, Paul speaks of Timothy. It says, but you, O man of God, flee these things, these carnal things, this desire to be rich and pursue righteousness and godliness, faith, love, patience, gentleness, fight the good fight of faith. Lay hold on eternal life to which you were also called and have confessed the good confession in the presence of many witnesses. Here Paul had had an impact on the life of a young man.

And his encouragement was to flee the covetousness and carnal nature that surrounded him in the place that that he lived, the things that you and I also struggled with. Instead, his goal was not to encourage him to pursue carnal things, but to set his sights on things that were spiritual, to pursue the things that were spiritual, and that his fight would not be a carnal one, but a spiritual one. We see a little bit earlier that Paul encourages him to be like a soldier whose only desire is to please the one who called him into service. Paul was the witness of this young Timothy who made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses. This good confession we see is the same confession that Jesus Christ made before Pontius Pilate.

Pontius Pilate asks him, are you a king? Jesus says, yes, I am a king, but my kingdom is not of this world. If it were of this world, my soldiers would fight. But he declares plainly this good confession. My kingdom is not of this world.

My kingdom is not of this world. You and I are tempted to make our kingdom one here. Stacy and I had a hard day yesterday. Our kingdom was, in our viewpoint, broken, crushed. We had almost 300 acres out in Hum Tulips where we could do whatever we want with it.

The most beautiful property along the Hum Tulips River. And it was finally sold and the new owners came to take possession of it. And the hurt to feel that being taken away, even though we're still going to use it, it's just not the same. But there's a need to be a confession in the light of all those things that carnal people seek. There has to be a good confession that Timothy made.

My kingdom is not of this world. It belongs to a heavenly kingdom. The reason that Timothy's viewpoint coincided with that of Paul Paul is they both confessed that they were pilgrims only walking through a temporary land, that that which they were striving for was a different land, that one across the Jordan, that heavenly place we can't walk in a similar viewpoint with Paul if our kingdom is of this world. Let's go back to Philippians, we'll continue.

Paul says in verse 20, I have no one like minded who will sincerely care for your state. Timothy was willing to invest his life in the lives of people that he really had no necessity to be involved in, no real benefit to be involved in. And yet because his kingdom was one in advance, he was serving Paul but also Jesus in caring for these people. In verse 21 it says, for all seek their own, not the things which are of Christ. For all seek their own, not the things of Christ.

But Timothy, in contradiction to that, was focused on the things of Jesus Christ. In verse 22 he says, but you know his proven character, that as a son with his Father, he served with me in the Gospel. You can't help but going through the book of first and Second Timothy to recognize the affection that Paul has for Timothy, that that affection is expressed to him over and over again. In calling him my son, I was a father to him, my son. That he, though he didn't have his own children, took Timothy as a son.

And as a result of that, we see that Timothy is given much authority in the body of Christ in the churches that Paul was planted back in. Chapter 4 of 1 Timothy, it says, let no one despise your youth, but be an example to believers in word, in conduct, in spirit, in faith, in purity. Till I come, give attention to reading. Do not neglect the gift that is in you which was given to you by prophecy with the laying on of the hands of the eldership. Meditate on these things.

Give yourself entirely to them, that your progress may be evident to all. Take heed to yourself and to the doctrine. Continue in them. For in doing this you will save both yourself and and those who hear you. So here we see that Timothy made a good confession that he decided to follow Paul in the ministry, but also that he was given a gift for that ministry through the laying on of the hands of the eldership.

We were talking in Sunday school about the gifts that are given through Jesus Christ to individuals. The gifts including the be an apostle or prophet, evangelist, teacher, a helper, giver of gifts. That Timothy was given a gift to accomplish that ministry which he was given. As a result, he's given the ability to minister to people. We see in chapter five that he's given the authority to minister to old men and to young men, to women and to young women and widows, that he has given this gift.

He was given this gift and gave him the ability to minister to people through the gift, the laying on of hands. But one of the things that we see that Paul encourages him in verse 13 says, Till I come, give attention to reading, to exhortation, and to doctrine. Later on in Second Timothy, Paul encourages him to preach the Word in season and out of season, always preaching the Word. We've been reading personally in Two Chronicles, and I shared a little bit yesterday about the life of Asa Asa, king of Judah, maybe two or three generations from Solomon. And he and his son Jehoshaphat turned back to the Lord after a period of spiritual decline in the southern kingdom of Judah.

But one of the things that exemplified their ministry was the attention to preaching and teaching God's Word that had fallen out of practice in the land of Judah. And so Jehoshaphat sent preachers and teachers throughout the land to preach and to give people the understanding of the law. We see that Josiah, after an amazing period of spiritual decline, goes back and sends out Levites to preach God's word. We see that Ezra came into the picture and one of his specific duties was to teach people God's law. They recognized that even though there was a physical victory, a political victory over certain kinds of evil, unless the benefit comes into the hearts of people, that political victory will evaporate quickly.

Unless the hearts of people are changed, any victory will disappear. Any change will disappear. And so here Timothy is encouraged to give attention to reading, to exhortation, and to doctrine. As now a person who is not so young and having given my life up to this point to encouraging people through reading God's Word, through teaching and preaching, I can honestly say that it was not necessarily a pretty road or a fun road. I had the experience when I was about 20 years old.

I shared twice a week and then sometimes, sometimes during the weekends also, and it was pretty ugly, honestly. Some of the people that have been in church long enough can testify about that also that it's not necessarily a pretty road to give a young person the ability to share. But as an individual who has now walked and to be able to look and experience the results of what reading and preaching and teaching does to those around you, it would be my encouragement to every young man to set your sights on reading, preaching and teaching. The benefit that has come to my family as a result of daily reading to them and trying to explain the law to them has made the difference and set my family and so many other people's in this congregations, it's made a difference in their lives that will never leave them. And so Paul is saying to Timothy, look, don't neglect that ministry.

Whatever things you may lay off and not be able to do because of whatever time constraints you have, make sure it's not this one. I'm going to try that one more time. People only have so much time and there's things that we got to lay down because we can't handle them all. What I'm trying to tell anybody after having walked a road a certain amount of time, make sure the one that's laid down as a young man is not the reading of God's word. Make sure the one that's not sacrificed is preaching God's word to those around you.

Make sure it's not the exhortation you can give to someone else. Other things can leave, but make sure it's not that one. If you expect your family to be different, there has to be something different. You do as a person. You can't be the same as everyone else and expect your children or family to be different.

You can't walk the same road and expect to go somewhere else.

Paul spent his time encouraging a young man. And as a result of that encouragement, the young man went a different direction. And as a result, we have the books of first and Second Timothy. As a result, we have the ministry of Timothy to a group of people because he accepted that exhortation, put it into practice, and proved it to be true in his life that that calling was sure.

It says in chapter two of Philippians, for all seek their own, not the things which are Christ Jesus, but you know, his proven character. There is a son with his Father. He served with me in the Gospel. After seeing so many people go their own way, do their own thing. The one bright spot in Paul's life at this time was Timothy, someone who received his doctrine, put it into practice, and now was still walking with Paul, serving Paul and others in Christ's Gospel.

As a result, in verse 23, it says, Therefore I hope to send him at once as soon as I see how it goes with me. But I trust in the Lord that I myself shall come shortly. So to close, I would like to say that God still needs individuals like Timothy supporting people in the gospel, that Timothy's time, for a certain amount of time was supporting Paul. But Paul was actually in that time preparing Timothy for the ministry that God would give him in that time period. And so my hope is that we would put into practice these.

These things that Paul encouraged Timothy. And I believe that as a result that our own ministry and the fruit that comes from it will be enlarged and fruitful as a result. I can definitely look back in my own personal life at the amount of selfishness that I put into practice. And those things that laziness and selfishness are not things that I'm glad that I did. But I can look back at those things which were spiritual and biblical.

And I am so glad. I am so glad that my children at least have some foundation in the things of God. I am so grateful that they're not. Even if they're not serving Christ, at least they have some understanding of how spiritual things work. Okay, let's pray.

Oh, Father. Lord, we do come to youo, Lord, just if anything, Lord, I thank youk, Lord, for moving in the hearts of individuals in this church, Lord, in this community, Lord, to follow youw, Lord. And as we encourage other young men, God, give them a heart to walk in your ways. Lord, I ask in Jesus name, Amen.