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Timothy the Proven Envoy - PH58-02
Advanced Bible Doctrine - Philippians 2:22-24© Berean Memorial Church of Irving, Texas, Inc. (1976)
Please open your Bibles to Philippians 2:22-24. We are looking at the second of the three examples of mental
attitudes in Christian service. The first we had was in verses 17-18 which was the apostle Paul himself. The quality of spiritual maturity
which he reflected was readiness to give one's life with joy to make Bible doctrine known. Our second example of mental attitude in
Christian service is Paul's associate Timothy. We have looked at the fact that Timothy was indeed a very unique type of envoy. But
he was also, as we shall see in this session, a proven envoy. Timothy exemplifies the quality of spiritual maturity of willingness to
be in an obscure position, while yet, being zealous in the Lord's service. Some Christians are quite willing to be zealous in the Lord's
service, providing they are in something of the limelight. Timothy exemplifies the quality of being number two, three, or four, down the
line in obscurity, and yet, serving with complete zealousness and 100% devotion.
Paul, we have seen in verses 19-21,
is planning to send Timothy to Philippi to be able to report to the believers there concerning Paul's situation, and then to be able
to report back to Paul concerning the spiritual condition of the believers in Philippi. Paul says, "Timothy is a unique worker of all those
who are in Rome because only he genuinely cares for the spiritual needs of God's people in terms of making it the top priority
of his life. Everyone else around me here in Rome seek their own things."
Christians who do seek their own things, as always, tried to justify that by pointing to the failures, real or imagined, in others.
Remember that anytime you do that, you're simply indulging your old sin nature and its lust patterns. When people no longer want to
be part of something that is a thing that God is doing, the way they cut themselves out is by bringing up attacks upon other believers
in order to justify what is pure outright desertion.
Demas
Paul knew what that was. Lest you might think that Paul is referring to people
who were finks from the word go, I want to correct that impression in this session. We have a man of whom Paul could speak almost
in identical terms that he could speak of Timothy. This man's name was Demas. We have him referred to in the Scriptures, for example,
in Colossians 4:14 where the apostle Paul includes Demas's name with, of all people, the famous Dr. Luke in the
greeting to the Colossian. Paul says, "Luke, the beloved physician and Demas greet you. Obviously, Demas stood very high in
the staff of the apostle Paul to be included in such a greeting with such a man as Dr. Luke. Furthermore, when we come to the Book
of Philemon, we again see that Demas was a very significant worker. In verse 24, Paul says, "Mark, Aristarchus, Demas, Luke, my fellow
workers." He sends greeting from Demas as one of his associates in the Lord's work, and obviously a highly esteemed one.
However, this zealous man who was a member of the team is also referred to once more in one of Paul's writings in 2 Timothy 4:10.
After asking Timothy in verse 9, "Do thy diligence to come shortly unto me," Paul at this point in writing 2 Timothy
is now in his second Roman imprisonment. He has been freed from the one that he was in when he wrote the Book of Philippians.
The second Roman imprisonment ended in his execution. Paul now knows that it's all over for him, and that he will be executed. The Lord
has made that clear to him, so he wants to see Timothy once more. Paul says, "Timothy, get here just as quickly as you can, will you?"
In the very process of saying that, another thought comes to Paul's mind. It is a thought of another man that he highly esteem one time, and who
was a key personality in the work with him–this man Demas. So he pens a note of why he wants Timothy so urgently–because Demas is
not there. Timothy's presence would not have been so urgent if Demas had been there. So he says in verse ten, "For Demas has forsaken me,
having loved this present world, and is departed unto Thessalonica. Demas just went off into worldliness. I doubt the Demas quit attending
church. I doubt that Demas quit being a church worker. I doubt that Demas stopped being active in some local operation.
Demas obviously had a lot of prestige if he could walk into a place and the people said, "Demas is
on the staff of the apostle Paul." Right away he would be held in high esteem anywhere he went. You may be sure that Demas
loved this present world. This is the Bible's way of saying that he fell into indulging lusts of his old sin nature which the
world has dignified. And the word in the Greek is "age." He loved this present "age." The concepts and the lusts of our society,
as expressed and summed up in the old sin nature, are the things that Demas gave indulgence to.
So lest you would think that for one
moment that you, who are zealous participants in the ministry at Berean and are members of the team, are not being faced with the kind
of defection that Timothy faced or that Demas took part in, you better think again. Paul, when he talks about a man like Demas,
is talking about the highest quality type of Christian worker. Here in the case of Demas, it overwhelmed a functioning church member,
and he deserted the apostle Paul.
So a spiritual leader, of course, cannot prevent defection from the work, because that is the result
of the individual's own negative volition. But I do know that that Christian is going to dignify and justify and defend it–that it's
going to make things better for himself, if nothing more. However, the truth of the matter is that there is no justification for
deserting a post of duty to which God has called you.
Timothy
So the apostle Paul indeed found Timothy to be a very dear and a unique type of person
to him, particularly in Rome where he found nothing but the Demas types surrounding him–those
who were seeking their own things, meaning pursuing the things of the old sin nature appeal. However, Paul also had his Timothy types–the
people that you could always count on in the Lord's work. These were not the erratics who were moved by fancy and vested interests.
Paul had the type who did not treat him disrespectfully. One of the first signs of a defector is that he starts treating the pastor-teacher
disrespectfully in what he says to him and the way he acts toward him. People who are the Timothy types, who were really moving the kingdom of God
forward in this work, are the types who are not disrespectful to the pastor-teacher. They may not like him; they might not admire him; and, they
may not always agree with him, but they treat him with respect.
The Timothy types were not resentful of the strong leadership that Paul gave either, and the command presence.
One of the signs of the old sin nature indulgent type is that he starts calling the pastor-teacher a dictator. When the
pastor-teacher is exercising the authority of the teaching gift that God has given him, and put him responsible for in that local church, the
person who is calling him a dictator is
a dangerous person. That is a person who is indulging the lowest qualities of their old sin nature. You play the fool's role
to get yourselves in compatibility with people of that type.
The Timothy type is not likely to leave the administrator (the communicator) in the lurch.
That's what Demas did to Paul. But Timothy was not the kind who just walked off and said, "OK, I leave all of the job on your shoulders.
I leave you with the work to do." He didn't leave him to carry on alone. The Timothy type is not the one who seeks attention by creating
burdens. Have you ever had children who get into trouble just because they want to get attention? That's how some Christians are. They're
just little babies who are still wanting to get attention in one way or another. They put a burden on a pastor-teacher unless he's got the
internal stamina and maturity to take it in stride, and not to crumble.
The Timothy types don't go around trying to circumvent the directives of the pastor-teacher authority with their supposedly superior judgment.
So I'm happy to say that Paul had his Timothy types. That's why when he describes Timothy here, he has quite a few verses about him. So we look
at Timothy in this session a little more in the role of being a proven envoy, not a hot shot fly-by-night who's coming along with promise;
but, a man who's been out in the field in battle in combat who has proven himself.
So in verse 22, Paul says,
"But you know the proof of him, that as a son with a father, he has served me in the gospel."
It begins with the word "but" which in the Greek is the Greek word "de."
Let me tell you something about the Greek word "de." It's a very common word, and it will help you to understand something about biblical
interpretation if you understand this word. It has two main uses. One is what is called a continuative use. That is, it just ties two
things together. So we translate it into English as "but;" "in the next place;" "and;" "now;" or, "even;" All of these are words just to tie two
ideas together.
It may be of several kinds of ties. One is to add a repetition to an idea for emphasis. You'll find this in Philippians 2:8: "And being
found in fashion as a man, He humbled himself and became obedient unto death (and then there's a repetition), even the death of the
cross." It is adding a continuation of the thought, but in the form of repetition. The repetition is how Christ became obedient unto death, then
it describes that death in another way (in a repetitious way), "the death of the cross." So one way of adding the continuative use is by repetition.
Another way is to make a transition to a new topic. We have an example of this in Acts 6:1: "And in those days, when
the number of the disciples was multiplied, there arose a murmuring of the Grecians against the Hebrews," and so on. This initial word
"and" is the Greek word "de." It is making simply a transition to a new topic.
It has been talking about the apostles being beaten and commanded to be silent, and then it transfers to a new subject which is the
internal strife in the local church between the Hellenistic women members and the Hebrew women members, and so on. So the word "de"
indicates a continuation, but in the terms of going to a new subject.
"De" is also used to give an explanation or to make an addition.
We have this illustrated in John 3:19: "And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men love darkness rather than
light because their deeds were evil. It's the first word in the sentence (which is translated into English as "and")
which is the word "de," that little particle, in the Greek. The idea is a continuation in terms of making an addition–adding something
more to whatever is being said.
This word "de" is used also in an adversity sense, or in a contrasting sense, such as "but;" "however;" "yet;" or,
"on the other hand." ...
In Matthew 6:15, we have "but," in contrast to what was said in verse 14. In Matthew 5:22, we have "but" in contrast to what was said in
verse 21.
Well the "de" in Philippians 2:22 here is of this first type, the continuative type. It is specifically in this sense–that it
is making an addition. He's adding something more to the ideas that he has presented about Timothy in verses 20-21. So we translate
it as "but." What Paul adds, in his continuation of the narrative about Timothy, is that the Philippians have from personal
experience known about Timothy's willingness to serve modestly, and his devotion to the cause of making doctrine known. They have known,
by personal experience, what kind of a man Timothy was. We have this in Act 16:1, Acts 16:12, and Acts 20:4-6. So when we
start off with this word "de" ("but"), Paul is continuing his narrative about Timothy, and he is specifically signaling that he's going to
add something more about this man to them.
He does that with the word, "you know," which is our friend "ginosko."
"Ginosko" is the word that means you gain knowledge through your experience. These Philippians had been under Timothy's ministry
in the past, so they had learned about him from observation. It is present tense–continuous intake of understanding about Timothy as he
was with him. It is active voice–the Philippians' own observations. It is indicative–a statement of fact. What they had learned by
experience he calls "the proof" which is "dokime." "Dokime" is a word that refers to a proof that is the result of having put something
to a test, and found the thing to be genuine. This word is talking about having passed the test successfully. This word is not talking
about conclusions which are based on guesswork; assumptions; superficial impressions; or, one's prejudice. It is a genuine testing
so that you know you have a genuine article.
So Paul was saying, "But I want to add to what I've already said about Timothy, that
I can remind you Philippians that on several occasions, you have had direct contacts with Timothy, and you have found him to be a genuine
article. He has proven his worth." "Of him" refers here to Timothy when he says, "But you know the proof of him." Timothy, in other words,
had proven to be a certain kind of spiritual leader among the Philippians. What was that?
Well, he was a HICEE communicator of doctrine. That's what he was. He was a HICEE communicator and teacher. Timothy proved
to be devoted to the spiritual well-being of the Philippians above his own interests. Timothy worked for the Lord's glory, so he was
willing to be under Paul's authority rather than to be out on his own. This conclusion about Timothy, however, could only have been
reached as the result of an extended contact with his ministry. Some people, as a matter of fact, who listen to Timothy talk the first
time might not have been very impressed with him. Sometimes you might even come across your right pastor-teacher as God moves you through
life from one place to another. You might actually walk into a church and hear your right pastor-teacher the first time and not be impressed
with him at all.
Professional Ministers
I want to warn you that it takes time to be able to evaluate a communicator of doctrine. There is so much capability in
putting up smokescreens on the part of professional ministers that it is absolutely unbelievable. Unless you are aware of the fact
that a calculating preacher can get up and put on a performance (an entertainment program) for you–any number of secondary things that
will make you feel like you've had a rosy glowing experience with God, you will think that somebody is a genuine communicator of the
Word who is nothing but a clown. It takes time to get the total picture of sound doctrine, and to realize whether a pastor-teacher is indeed
being a genuine pastor-teacher or not. Sometimes your own frame of reference is so weak and wrong that you will look at a person who is a genuine
teacher of the Word, and you will not be impressed with him.
This is exactly the experience of the Lord Jesus Christ. No one could have been
more right than the Lord. Yet, the people that He spoke to had such a defective frame of reference that they rejected His teaching and
murdered Him. As he spoke to them, what was the problem? He made their minds uncomfortable with His divine viewpoint.
They were not used to this from whom? From their rabbis. When they walked into the synagogue, the rabbi stood up; he opened
the Word; and he taught them. The rabbis were giving false instruction.
When Jesus came along with the right thing, these people had such a distorted frame of reference, they decided to kill Him for
saying those things. They concluded he was wrong and God was not pleased with Him.
So I want to tell you that it goes both ways. You may walk in and some preacher may seem to be a hot shot in a sermon or two that you hear.
It's not really too hard to make an impression in one or two sermons, provided you don't preach in the same place all the time. It's harder
to make an impression if you have to talk to the same crowd all the time. But if you can move to a different crowd, you can use the
same sermon; you polish it up the second time around; you know where the jokes are; and, you know how to move into it. You
can really make a message that just awes them.
In the long haul, the impressive force of personality will often prove to be very shallow. You will discover that he's a robber of your divine
viewpoint. That's why he has to keep moving to different congregations and different groups to speak to, so he can keep up the level of his high
impression of being something.
Before you make a decision concerning whether a speaker is worth listening to and that you have received something, remember that, like with
Timothy, it takes a while to do it. The genuine pastor-teacher communicator does more than talk; he does more than tell
emotional stories; he does more than be entertaining; and, he does more than turn a clever phrase. If you're impressed by that, with
somebody who can do that, you may not realize that you have been robbed of divine viewpoint all the while that you had a marvelously
entertaining time.
When I was a student at Baylor University, they had a visiting speaker on the campus–a religious leader of some repute, and one of the
signs that some of the students had put up to advertise his presence to speak to a student group was, "Dr. So-and-so is funnier than Bob Hope."
The point was that all of us as students were to say, "Funnier than Bob Hope? Well, I should go hear him speak."
How would you like to be a good communicator of the Word, and going to speak to a group, and they announce you that you're funnier than
Bob Hope? That seems very natural to human viewpoint, but it's offensive when you understand what is at stake in divine viewpoint knowledge,
and what kind of a person it takes to be able to give that to the people of God.
Most of the sheep are so rebellious that they don't even
want to be taught. They're quite willing to have somebody give them a bunch of nonsense so that they don't have to listen and learn
the Word. But you can't evaluate a pastor-teacher's ministry until you have literally been under his teaching for months. So don't
you ever pass judgment on any speaker you've ever heard unless you have heard him for months. Don't you ever listen to somebody on
television and say, "Isn't that a marvelous speaker?" You don't know anything about him until you have been able to listen to him for
months, in and out. Then you can begin to judge and evaluate whether he's putting out genuine stuff or whether it's just a hot shot
fly-by-night operation.
If you're a church hobo, wandering around from church to church picking speakers, I'm going to guarantee you
one thing. All you're going to get is speakers. You're not going to get divine viewpoint. There are plenty of Christians who are church
hobos. They look in the paper at the religious page every week to see what the titles are of the sermons; who's going to be where; and,
who the speaker is that's coming in. The hobos always want to find a new scene because they have a negative attitude toward teacher,
teaching, and technique. The church mavericks get what they're looking for–hot speakers.
So the Christians are usually offered, in most places, short-term, hit-and-run, one night stand spectaculars. But God's plan is for a
Christian to find his right pastor-teacher, and then to stick with him. I don't think that your right pastor-teacher is right for
you for only a time. Your right pastor-teacher, in that respect, is like your right parents–the people you were born to. Those happen to
be your right parents. Fortunately, that's a choice that God makes. Therefore, we don't make any mistakes on that one. The parents
you have are your right parents, and they're always your right parents.
So your right pastor-teacher is, in effect, your father in
the faith. He is your parent who is taking care of you. Many a Christian is out there as an orphan and doesn't realize it because he's
in the wrong church with the wrong pastor-teacher. He abandoned his true spiritual father–his true spiritual parent. He thinks that he's going
on having a wonderful time in the Lord; serving; and, storing rewards in heaven. The goofball is going exactly no place. Satan is having
a field day with neutralizing his spiritual gifts by causing emotion to dominate his soul and piling callouses on the facets of his
soul.
So you've got to be very careful about evaluating speakers in the pulpit, and judging your relationship to them. It has to be
a careful, long-range decision. You have to listen, and you have to listen over a period of months. When you make your decision that, "This
is my right person," next week, it's not going to be the wrong person when he says something that bugs you.
And two years from now, it's not going to be your wrong person, and ten years from now, it's not going to be the wrong person.
So when you abandon
your right spiritual parent, you abandon everything, just as you do when you abandon your true physical parents. If you neglect your
own pastor-teacher and actually run around listening to all the hot shot one-night-standers, that's just about comparable to spiritual
adultery. You're running around on your pastor-teacher, and you are guilty of violating God's order of devotion and loyalty to the person that
he has put in authority over you. So just keep running around listening to this speaker and that speaker. But just be aware of the
fact that you're paying a big price when you do it. What I'm saying is that you should avoid yielding to all the appeals that you hear
to go hear the special pulpit personality of the various types.
Well, what kind of types are these that you'll be tempted by? Well,
there's always the main speaker with the novel English accent who's full of cute quips and devotional challenges for the colonials.
He loves to tell you how he's been sitting over in England, sitting in his flat, meditating during the Battle of Britain. And then
the rest of the evening he shares the great things that God brought to him where the bombs were falling all around him. With his delightful
British accent, the colonials just sit and melt in the seats. They go home and they feel, "Isn't that a wonderful speaker?" We are
forever being given the British-accented speaker as the voice of the archangel. Avoid him.
Think twice before you run to hear the master of prophecy who has just come to town with the latest insights on the significance of
666 on Kissinger's license plates. He has advertised in the paper that he has found 666 on Kissinger's license plate. Here is the significance
of this man who has studied prophecy all his life. You go hustling out: "Here is the guy, and he's got it."
He's going to tell me where the Chinese are going to cross the Euphrates River. He's just made a survey: "I have to hear this." So you
run out to the hot shot one-night-stander who is going to teach you. You run around on your true pastor-teacher. You've exhausted yourself
going to the one-night hot-shot, so that next Sunday, you have to stay home and rest up.
Or you may be tempted to go out to hear about the self-crucifixion expert who comes to town as the guru of the spiritual lifestyle.
So you go to this conference on the crucified life, and you bring your own nails and hammer, all ready to go to work to have a wonderful
time on yourself, learning how to crucify yourself for Jesus. Just look in your papers today. You'll find where the self-crucifixion and the
self-denying life type meetings are being held to advance you spiritually.
Or how about the sporty youth speaker who bounces out there on the stage in his deck shoes; his toothy grin; his mustache; and, his
open collared shirt, clapping his hands and saying, "Oh, I just feel good. The Lord is so wonderful. Isn't it great? How many of you
are happy, happy, happy?" You sit there, and you've brought your poor dumb kids to sit there because it's great. This youth leaders is going to
speak. You're just eating it up. You're just so excited.
Do you know why you're excited? Because you read his sermon titles in the paper.
You read this one, for example, "From the Penitentiary to the Pulpit." He says, "I used to be a criminal. I used to do such terrible things.
God took me from that to the pulpit, and here I stand before you." Your kids have a wonderful time. That's why you came. You saw that title.
Or maybe you heard this title: "Elephant Feet on your Air Hose." He says, "Your whole life is being squelched.
I'm going to tell you how to express yourself. God has a very wonderful plan for your life. And if you will decide to get into that plan,
you'll get into it." No, you won't. You're running around, and your right pastor-teacher who could really tell you how to get spiritual
air down through your hose. Instead, you're running around listening to clowns. You're impressed with his title.
How about this title? "Popcorn, Peanuts, and Pornography." Wouldn't you rush out to listen to that one? That's one that will move the cockles of
your heart. What verse in the Bible could talking about "Popcorn, Peanuts, and Pornography?" I can think of a few. So you rush out because you
were impressed with the title.
Here's another one: "Bloated, Belted, and Burped."
That one certainly could teach you something about God's viewpoint, couldn't it? Someplace there's a great kernel of spiritual
truth there. So let's run out here. Here's a youth leader who's got his collar open. He's running around with his deck shoes and they squeak
a little bit. He sways back and forth, and he walks back and forth as he preaches. He's got a microphone on his lapel. That's
the sharpest thing. That's like Walter Cronkite.
Or maybe you've heard this title: "Habits that Rot your Socks." That's a good one. Do you
want to rot your socks? There are habits that cause you to do it. "Come out tonight, and I'm going to tell you about the habits." You may not
care about your socks, but you like to hear about habits like that.
That stuff is going on all of the time.
Most Christians are such a bunch of asinine idiots that they're actually running and attending these meetings because of
titles like this of some hot shot youth speaker. Avoid them.
Or there's the type of world traveler who has circled the world eight times. He has just returned from the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem with his
handkerchief still wet from Jewish tears. He has analyzed the salt, and he has discovered some very significant things for you. He's going to
share these things that he has accumulated from his world travels. You're going to rush to hear this clown speak because he's traveled someplace.
Anybody can travel any place. This is ridiculous–the appeal that I have gone someplace and I traveled someplace. People will rush out to
listen to you.
Of course, if you want to hold your stomach in place, by all means, avoid the husband and wife team who put on a program together of
sweet rapport and of nauseous exhibitionism of themselves as they advise you about sex, marriage, and potty training for the children.
They have just a wonderful team of experts with a fantastic rapport between them. Be sure you skip the meal
before you go to that one.
I would suggest you give second thought to rushing off to listen to the seminar specialist with his breathtaking
string of human interest stories, and his grocery list of steps for solving all of your personal problems.
That is one of the biggest appeals. All of these have a kernel of some truth to him. They have a little smattering of something useful. They
have just a snag of something that can be a contribution. But you sit through an evening of giving your attention to the wrong
person. After it's all over, you've forgotten most of it. You've been entertained. All of these are entertaining, and that's
all you've gotten out of it. But you've lost the devotion; the sense of loyalty; and, the personal esteem for yourself as a member of the
royal family of being loyal to your right communicator.
Of course, one of the greatest appeals today is the miracle healer who advertises
just having raised himself from the dead, following a fantastic case of athlete's foot all over his body, mostly on his brain. That
has great appeal. As I sat and listened to one of these clowns on Los Angeles television with Paul Dirks this summer, Paul would keep
looking at me and shaking his head and saying, "John, can you believe this guy?" This character was going
through his multicolored altar; the flashing lights; and, his golden horn. Then he would come out in the robes of an Old Testament
high priest, and he would preach and speak. I was listening very carefully. The guy was a marvel. He said absolutely nothing, yet
I got all excited with what he was saying. He just wooed me emotionally with meaningless words.
Avoid that kind of hot shot one-night stand–all these types.
Most Christians really specialize in these one-night-stand types.
Because they are dumb sheep, they think that they are receiving something marvelous–some marvelous spiritual help and benefits.
I want you to remember one thing about all these types–all these perfect personality specialists of one kind and another that churches
bring in, and that lazy preachers bring in so that they don't have to prepare and teach their people all of these things themselves like
they're supposed to be doing.
One of the things I want you to remember is that these people always leave town. So I don't care how long the meeting lasts, whether
it's a weekend binge or whether it's going to be a whole week or ten days of orgy. The time is going to come when they're going to leave
town, and you're going to walk back into your little local church, and you're going to face your pastor-teacher communicator that God has related
you to. That is where it's going to be at for you. What you have spent your previous days in and chasing the star personalities is
going to be gone and worthless. If you've got any Christian sense of honor and decency, you will have a little bit of chagrin that
you are able to be pulled in to that sort of deception; that sort of shallowness; and, that contemptible attitude toward the communication
that God has provided you with.
I'm not saying that there are not times when the Word of God and some phase of the Word of God can
be very ably presented–some factor of information by somebody who is an expert in a certain field, and who has an expertise in a
limited area, and it is worth bringing him in for you to listen to and learn something from. But for the general instructor of
the Word of God, your pastor-teacher is your finest hope. You will have your finest hours with him, not with these one-night-standers
who come through town to deliver something spectacular to you on one basis or another such as we have described. When you're a knowledgeable
informed Christian, you will know what special meanings are worth your attending, and you won't have to worry about them.
So stay away from these hot shots. Save your attention for your right HICEE communicator. His no-nonsense no-fanfare feeding of your soul is going
to store riches in heaven for you, even if you're not smart enough to see it.
Timothy proved himself to be a consistent faithful communicator
of Bible doctrine with the people in Philippi. But even Timothy, as he has proven himself to be a good communicator, could not teach
people very much in a one-night-stand situation. Even Timothy could not be a one-shot preacher and do much good. For you to get up,
even if you are a good communicator and you know your job, and try to give something to people in a one-night-stand shot is just ridiculous.
Short-term speaking engagements are better left to the clowns who are the popular pulpit people with their clever titles and their
impressive stage performance. Don't run around on your pastor-teacher, folks. It's displeasing to the Lord, and it will not advance your spiritual
knowledge. It will lead you to the temptation of abandoning your right place; your right person; and, your right teacher.
That's what it'll will do. If you play around, you'll get led astray.
God is not going to hinder you from doing this. Please remember
that. God is not going to override your volition, but he'll let you plod along and do whatever you wish with yourself; your capacities;
and, your abilities. He'll let you invest your spiritual gifts where you choose, and do what you please with your money. But what He would
have done, He will not shove down your throat. That's how God is dealing with this. He gives you the opportunity to go ahead in
the spiritual life. He gives you the person who is the right one who will carry you through. He'll give you the one who understands
his gift and the burden of that gift, and the responsibility it carries to the degree that he will not be afraid of his congregation
and he will not be their patsy. He will take command of his sheep because he's going to take care of them. But he will never be able
to override the volition of his sheep. God doesn't do it. Your pastor-teacher can't do it. You can go just as far astray as you wish.
So the apostle Paul looked at Timothy
and he thought of his experiences with the Philippians. He reminded them, "You know this man. You know from personal experience. You who have
watched him, and you know that he is a proven genuine communicator of the Word of God." This was because Timothy had indeed performed under
the authority of the gift that God had given him. He was not conning people. He did not prostitute it. He did not substitute all the
gimmickry that the professional preacher goes into, and which he gets used to doing.
Paul says that Timothy has been a proven vessel. The
reason for this is that Timothy has been a respecter of authority. Paul says, "That as a son with
a father." The word "that" is "hoti." "Hoti" is used in two ways. It introduces an object clause after certain verbs like "seeing;"
"knowing;" "thinking;" "saying;" or, "feeling." We translate it as "that." We have an example of this in Philippians 4:15. Or it can be a causal
particle. It's introducing the cause for something. We say, "For that," or "because." We have this in John 5:27 and 1 John 4:18.
In this case, it is this first use of "hoti," introducing after the verb of knowing an object; a statement; or, a conclusion.
Paul says, "That," introducing something about Timothy. Then he says, "As," and that's the Greek word "hos." "Hos"
can be a relative adverb indicating manner, which it does here:
"That even as a son with a father." Or, it can be a conjunction in a temporal sense, meaning "while" or "when." Or, it can be in a
purpose sense" "in order that." What he is speaking of joining with him is a son with a father. The word "son" is not the Greek word for "son."
This is the Greek word "teknon." It is very important for you to notice this. Actually, the word should be "child" because it has
the Greek word "teknon." The Greek word for "son" is "huios."
"Teknon" connotes the idea
of giving birth to someone. It expresses the "being born" part of the relationship of the offspring. That connotes the fact that you are
dealing with a child– someone who needs to be trained and molded; that is, someone who is under authority of his parents and those who
represent his parents. The word son is a different word in the Greek. When you use "son," you're talking about the position of an offspring
that he has in the family, and it stresses the privileges of that position. It's the dignity of that position. It doesn't stress the
fact that here is someone who has to be told what to do–someone who has to be controlled and governed and directed. When it
uses the word "son," it's thinking more in terms of an adult position.
So this word here in Philippians 2:22 is the word "teknon." It is not the word "huios." It is a very important difference. It's the child.
Timothy's relationship to Paul was as to a father, "pater," which comes from a word that means to nourish; to protect; or, to uphold. Timothy
was under the authority of Paul. Timothy was trained by Paul. This does not mean that Timothy was led to the Lord by Paul. This does not mean
that Paul was Timothy's spiritual father. Timothy was probably a believer when Paul arrived in Timothy's hometown. That's what the Scriptures
indicate. He had already become a believer because of the training of his mother and his grandmother. Timothy was so related to Paul that he
was under Paul's authority, and he was under Paul's training. 2 Timothy 3:10 tells us that Paul had very ably and very capably
trained Timothy, so that Timothy knew all of Paul's doctrine. That's what parents are supposed to do–to train their children
(Ephesians 6:4, Proverbs 22:6). A father trains his children so they can act on their own. Timothy had learned from Paul that the power
of God lay in the Word of God (Hebrews 4:12).
So today, what do we do? Well, we train preachers to do a lot of Mickey Mouse stuff–public
relation programs such as we've been describing in order to get the people out. So pastors, because they've been trained like this,
resort to that kind of gimmickry and that kind of manipulation of mass emotions. The average church is just one mass of emotional manipulation.
Pastors lack the concept of the HICEE technique; they lack preparation to use it; and, they lack the devotion to use it.
Pastors are slaves to doing what the old sin natures of a congregation demand of them. Because they're doing that, they don't have much
time to study, and less to teach.
So this satanic tactic is everywhere. It is hard to beat. Do you know why? Because this kind of gimmickry
and public relation stuff fills churches, and that's hard to argue with. You need somebody who has the spiritual insight
to say, "Wait a minute. Nobody fills churches like the Roman Catholics do." Then you say, "Wait a minute. Does that mean that the Roman Catholics
are right?" Far from it. So you say, "Well, wait a minute. My Protestant church is full, but that's meaningless, too, isn't it?" Right.
"What do I have to do?" Well, you've got to go back to doctrine. No matter whether your church is full or empty, that decides what is pleasing
to God.
So Christians with a pastor-teacher who is free of delusions and of practicing deceits upon them of the professional ministry
would be wise to stand by that pastor-teacher in a very realistic way. Satan, I guarantee you, wants to crush him. The time may come,
when the Lord, in one way or another, may even remove him.
Dr. John E. Danish, 1973
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