Good afternoon. If you could please open up your Bibles to the second book of Timothy, 2nd Timothy, and we'll be in chapter 1. So far in this series on keeping the heart, we've been looking at all different types of men, but we've really spent a lot of time really looking into the lives of giants, men like Joseph and Josiah and even other really well-known men, but impossible to miss, you could say bad examples, men like Solomon when he fell or Lot. And the last time, if you remember, actually the last two times, we were looking at the life of John the Baptist. And if you remember, Christ himself made that statement that among those who were born of women, there has not arisen a man greater than John. You know, here was a man who was prophesied before his coming, and he shows up as a key figure in all four of the Gospels. But today we're gonna be spending time with a man who's very much obscure and he's tucked away. here in these final verses of the Apostle Paul's letter to Timothy. And he's mentioned just twice in the entire Bible. But what you find is his life actually reflects the outworking of what we've been learning in the book of Revelation. In fact, he was a member of one of the churches. He's a member of the church in Ephesus. And his life really shows us how we ought to live in hard times, in hard seasons. And so when it's unfashionable or even dangerous to be a Christian, this man is a man who kept his heart with all diligence. You're going to see that today. He was unashamed of the gospel, and out of his heart flowed the issues of life. And I'm going to read for us from verse 8 in chapter 1 of 2 Timothy down to the end of the chapter. Therefore, do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me, his prisoner, but share with me in the sufferings for the gospel according to the power of God, who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began. but has now been revealed by the appearing of our Savior, Jesus Christ, who has abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel, to which I was appointed a preacher, an apostle, and a teacher of the Gentiles. For this reason, I also suffer these things. Nevertheless, I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that he is able to keep what I have committed to him until that day. Hold fast the pattern of sound words which you have heard from me in faith and love which are in Christ Jesus. That good thing which was committed to you, keep by the Holy Spirit who dwells in us. This you know that all those in Asia have turned away from me, among whom were Phygelus and Hermogenes. The Lord grant mercy to the household of Onesiphorus, for he often refreshed me and was not ashamed of my chain. But when he arrived in Rome, he sought me out very zealously and found me. The Lord grant to him that he may find mercy from the Lord in that day, and you know very well how many ways he ministered to me at Ephesus. Well, let's pray. Heavenly Father, we do come before you this afternoon. Oh Lord, these are your people, the purchase of your blood, and I just pray that they would be blessed and encouraged. Lord, that you would open up your word to us now and get glory for your name, amen, amen. Well, the context of 2 Timothy is really fascinating because the apostle has now come to the end of his course and he takes up the quill for the last time and he's writing from prison. This isn't house arrest like at the end of Acts 28, but this is his final, his valedictory letter. And he's writing 1,000 miles away from Ephesus and he's sitting in this Roman prison In this cold, dark prison, you could imagine how hard it is because later in the letter, as he's signing off, he asks Timothy to do his best to come before winter. And when he comes, could you please bring the cloak so I could be warm? It's not like our modern-day prisons. And you can imagine how harsh the conditions were and the food, how meager it was, how dim. the light was, and how the vermin would have been very plentiful in conditions such as these were. And he knows he's gonna die very shortly, and we know that because three times, we just read it twice, but three times in this letter, he makes reference to that day. He has his eyes fixed on a day that is coming, the revelation or the appearing of Jesus Christ. And so that's what's big on the apostle's mind. Well, what's the big deal? Why is he even in prison? Well, a year or two earlier, the Emperor Nero had burned down Rome and then he ended up blaming it. on the Christians, and since then a good number had already been martyred, but now he's got this trophy, he's got the Apostle Paul, who is the known leader of the Christian movement. And so anyone associating with the Apostle Paul is guilty, he's gonna be guilty by association, just by simply being a friend. And a visit could cause massive problems, life-threatening problems. And so this whole letter really in 2 Timothy is really an injunction to Timothy to be bold, to be courageous. And what's fascinating is to motivate Timothy in this direction, he doesn't go to the Old Testament and say, look at David, how he slew Goliath, or remember Daniel in the lion's den. But his exhibit A, if you will, of what courage looks like and what he wants Timothy to actually emulate is found in a man by the name of Onesiphorus. And I wanna ask, have you asked yourself this question today, do you aspire to be a brother or sister like this? Because that day is coming. And while the same things that are said about Onesiphorus be able to be said about you or to be said about me. And so, before we get to this man, Onesiphorus, what's fascinating is that the Apostle Paul gives an amazing contrast here. He says, Timothy, don't be like this. If you look at verse 15, he says, this you know, that all those in Asia have turned away from me, among whom are Phygelus and Hermogenes. And you can imagine the Apostle Paul For years, he's been accustomed to hardship and difficulty. But what really hits you in this last letter is really the hardship of abandonment that he's facing. And there's this emotional strain of having brothers. being ashamed of him and his bonds. And that's what he's telling Timothy, please don't be ashamed of me in my current situation. After decades of pouring himself out and helping others, now he's in this position where he stands in need. And two men in particular, Hermogenes Vigelis and Hermogenes are called out. And there's not a mention of them being heretics. They're not called out for heresy. And they're possibly good brothers in every other respect. They probably had good doctrine, maybe kind men. But when the weather turned foul, they were not to be found. Likely, these men were prominent men, maybe even bold, but now the bullets are flying. and Paul can't find them. Because remember, it was costly. There was a massive risk in being a Christian and of course, in being a Christian associating with the Apostle Paul. This isn't like our modern day where you get sent to Facebook prison or Twitter jail for three days and you come out on top and you're victorious. This is much, much higher stakes than what we face. Men and women were literally being canceled, physically being canceled. And what you notice is, sadly, these men, they turned out to be cowards. They were sinning by omission, as you could put it, by not doing their duty. The thing that they should have done, they did not do. And right now, I'm going through a book called Gulag Archipelago by a man named Alexander Solzhenitsyn. And he's trying to explain how in the world could a cancer like communism spread as it did so rapidly across an entire nation, 11 time zones, a massive swath of territory. And what he saw clearly, why was communism so easily spread, almost unimpeded? Listen to what he says. He says, well, every man always has handy a dozen glib reasons why he is not right to sacrifice himself. And of course, in Christian circles, we don't normally call it cowardice. We call it other names like wisdom and, hey, you've got to be prudent. And we take the edge off of this criticism of cowardice. I don't know if you were as shocked as I was when we were going through Revelation 21. I'd read it before. But to see cowardice or cowardly at the top of the list, of the people that don't enter into the kingdom of God, ahead of people that fornicate, ahead of witchcraft, lying, and murder. It's a sin. And there's often a misunderstanding, right? Because both the coward and the man who's courageous, they both experience fear. It's not that the courageous man doesn't have any fear and just goes down the course, but the difference really is is that the coward He gives way in the face of fear. And of course, Timothy is a man who seems to be of a much more timid, maybe countenance, you could say, than the Apostle Paul, but he's also called to courage. He's not excused on account of his disposition. Rather, what you find in the book of 2 Timothy is that more than half of this book is actually this commanding to be courageous and to not back away in the face of difficulty. So much more because of his disposition, perhaps, to be more timid. And so there's something that I just ask each of us to consider as we're going through this today, and this is it, that the worst day to develop a spine is the day that you need one. Westerners, we really don't have a sense of what it costs, right? We haven't really been tested all that much, have we? And so the question I would have is that if we're already intimidated to live as Christians when the weather is fair, what will we do when the weather turns foul in the very, very near future? I think Jeremiah, he kind of asked the same question of his own people back in the day when he said, if you have run with the footmen, and they have wearied you, how will you contend with horses? And so just a question for all of us, you know, are there areas in your life right now where you need to make a break from fear? You might be fearful. I may be fearful, but giving way to fear, that's where we can often succumb to cowardice. And so are there areas where you need to allow those first buds of courage to really come out and hopefully flower, blossom, and produce fruit at some point in the future? And so there's the Apostle Paul. And he's there, you could imagine, in the courtroom. I'm not sure if they were the same kind of courtrooms, but you could use your imagination. And the call goes out. Will anyone testify on behalf of this man? Crickets. Not a sound. He's left alone. He's condemned to death. And he's sitting now in a prison. But what's amazing is that out of the deafening silence, perhaps a few weeks or a few months later, emerges this man in verse 16. Look at this, it's so beautiful. It says, the Lord grant mercy to the household of Onesiphorus, for he often refreshed me and was not ashamed of my chain. But when he arrived in Rome, he sought me out very zealously and found me. We have a book at home, it's an old book, and it's a book by the name of Faithful But Not Famous. And it's about the founder of the French Reformation. It was a man by the name of Jacques Lefebvre. And you don't really know him, but if I say that name, he's largely lost, even to those that are reformed. And this man, what he was, was a professor in the Sorbonne University in Paris. And out of studying the Word of God over and over, he finally came to a position of understanding the Word of God, of what it meant to be born again. He came to the Reformed faith. And very quietly, but very consistently, this man would disciple his students. And he, of course, because of his teaching, he ended up becoming terribly persecuted. But there was one particular student, his name is William Farrell, William Farrell. And this man, by his teaching, brought him out of Roman Catholicism to the Reformed faith. Well, years later, if you know anything about Reformed history, Farrell, he put the fear of God into a mild-mannered Calvin. who was more inclined to study than to preach. And Calvin was on his way one time, he was going to pass through Geneva on his way to Strasbourg, where he had this plan of just basically spending the rest of his days in writing and quietly, you know, just there, maybe in the ivory tower. doing all of his things, and of course, Pharrell started off with some very gentle appeals. Hey, brother, you should consider staying here in Geneva and helping us. Well, thank you, brother, but I think I'm gonna continue on to Strasbourg. Well, when that didn't work, Pharrell, this redheaded wild man, shouted down all of his reasons, and he says, may God curse you and your studies if you do not join me here in this work that God has called you to do. Well, Calvin, writing about this experience years later, he says, by this imprecation, I was stricken with terror that I desisted from the journey which I had undertaken. And so he ends up, of course, staying in Geneva, and we know the rest is history. But with good reason, of course, Pharrell and Calvin are remembered, but not very many people remember Jacques Lefebvre. He was a man who was faithful. but he was not famous. Well, why is this important? Because I think a lot of us, we love our heroes, don't we? Much of the Lord's work, though, if you go down through the ages, is done in quiet. It's done by men and women, just like the one we're reading about here, men and women like you that are just laboring faithfully in obscurity. You're unknown, unheralded, but faithful. And this is the key. And so God, Look what God sees. If you go down through history, it's a beautiful thing. Sometimes you see of all that God has done of people laboring quietly in homes, in huts, in cottages, small churches, hospitals, in prisons. in the far reaches of the world. And just as Onesiphorus finds his name engraved in this book, we're reading about him now, 2,000 years later. Those same people, their names are engraved in another book, the book of life. It's a wonderful thing. And what a day of surprises that day that Paul's talking about here is gonna reveal. Here's a man, Onesiphorus, we know he's a family man. It talks about the fact that he has a household And here he is, he's traveling all the way from Ephesus, 1,000 miles, and he's come now to Rome, risking his life and his freedom to minister to the apostle in his greatest time of need here. And you're not gonna find Onesiphorus maybe out in the Agora, open-air preaching or anything like that, but he's doing the thing that God has outfitted him to do. And it's a big question. Has God outfitted you to do something? Maybe quietly, maybe there's risk or there will be risk associated with it in the future, but it's something that you're gonna do faithfully even though nobody ever really sees it. You see, you wanna keep your heart with all diligence in the quiet service of God. And just to the young men, to the young women, again, don't develop a spine. the day that you need one. That day is soon upon us, and the time to live boldly for Christ is right now. Don't be like Hermogenes and Phygelus, but be like the man we have here before us, Onesiphorus. You know, he's a man who stood out because he took a risk. And all that the apostle encourages Timothy, timid Timothy, in this letter is already something that Onesiphorus, this man, had already grasped. You know, in the first part of the chapter, of chapter one, it says, for God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. Therefore, do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me, his prisoner, but share with me in the sufferings for the gospel according to the power of God. And so, what were the things that he did that caused the Apostle Paul to write so glowingly about him? Well, there's four things that we see. And again, this man's life is contrasted against all the others on the side of the scale that forsook him. And what we notice is this, in verse 16 it says this, is that he often refreshed me. This is a pattern of life. that this man had. He would often refresh the apostle. These were men that went way back from probably Paul's time when he was in Ephesus. And so this was his manner of life. And this word, refreshing, he was someone who cooled me off when things were hard, hot, when the flames were burning. Along came Onesiphorus. And he was a comfort to me. What a ministry. What was it that he did? It doesn't say he brought this or he gave me that. You know, one thing I would probably emphasize above all else is that there's a power in a refreshing countenance. Do you have a refreshing countenance? You know, it's likely it wasn't what the brother brought, but it's the life that he exuded from being with Christ that was the refreshment to Paul's soul. That was number one. He often refreshed me. And then the second one, it says, he was not ashamed of my chain. As we've seen, he had a lot to be concerned about. There was a lot loaded into that statement because he was literally putting his life at risk. And then it says, number three, he sought me out very zealously. Not just zealously, but very zealously. It's almost like as soon as he got off the boat, He started to make inquiries. He started looking for me. He wasn't just one of those guys that said, well, I tried, and then went around doing his own business. But everywhere he would go, visiting prisons, asking, and I'm sure word would get around, why are you asking about the Apostle Paul? He's in prison. Do you have anything to do with him? All these types of things. But he wasn't about to give up until the fourth thing that we see. It says that he found me. He found me. And what tears must have flowed at that happy reunion? Can you imagine? Paul, you have a visitor. There he is in the prison. All the more beautiful, you can imagine as the door opens and Onesiphorus comes in, his friend from a thousand miles away to minister to him. This is a man who had courage. He was selfless, he was zealous, and he was loyal. And so, just a thing to reflect on. What is it to be a refresher? Just ask yourself, are you a refresher? Are you a refresher in your home? or as a husband, or as a wife, or maybe as a child in the home, a young person, young boy or daughter. Are you a refresher in your community? You know, someone who brings light and joy, refreshment. You know, how many problems in the Christian life would be swallowed up if more of us were refreshers? The simple, unheralded, unadorned ministry of simply being a refresher. Well, a good way to measure it is to look at your countenance and the words that you speak and what happens when things go wrong. These are good measures of whether or not this is true of you or me. And of course, we're all different. Sometimes we're the ones that are in need of refreshment, right? And sometimes we need to be the ones that are giving refreshment. Some of us are more out there, are more, you know, people-oriented. But that's not really what I'm talking about here. I'm talking about a general countenance that you have with a purpose that you go about to actually refresh other people. Because even this recent weeks, I was able to talk to two different families that are going through utter turmoil. And you wouldn't know, not in this church, but you wouldn't know unless they let you in. You know, on the surface, everything is going fine, but it really got me thinking, you know, how many people around me, how many people around us are suffering from any number of maladies I'm not talking about physical sickness, but just a number of different things, whether it's broken relationships, debilitating sickness, maybe crippling loneliness or overwhelming depression, people that are just groping in the darkness, maybe even believers that are going through a time of difficulty. And you can come along and be a refreshment to them. You can purpose to be a friend like Onesiphorus. who was often refreshing to the Apostle Paul. Maybe it's to a family member or to somebody in your neighborhood. Well, in verse 18, yeah, verse 18, look what it says about this man here. It says, the Lord grant to him that he may find mercy from the Lord in that day. And you know very well how many ways he ministered to me at Ephesus. There's a lot in this single verse right here. And you can almost feel the fervency of the apostle here as he's writing, as he scratches these words down in his cell. And this is the apostle's prayer. This is another prayer. We heard one prayer this morning. And this is another prayer here that's binding on earth. that it may be bound in heaven. He has that authority as an apostle. And he's looking to that day. Well, how do we know that Onesiphorus was one of these great keepers of the heart that we come across in scripture? Well, we can look at the pattern of his life. And this is the thing here, is that Paul is asking the Lord to remember this man for good, not because of some random act of kindness that he just pulled off, but this was the tenor of his whole life. Notice what it says here, how many ways he ministered to me at Ephesus. Everywhere he went, every time he could, and maybe it wasn't only to the Apostle Paul, but this was a man who was just pouring himself out. And what a crown this quiet service will be on that day. One commentator put it like this, he says, by this sympathy, so practical, he proclaims, I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ. Our deeds tell where our heart is. And is it not deeds rather than words that Christ judges by? Do you do all that you do? under the light of that day, meaning that day that is coming when you and I will give an account before our Lord. And so you may not be regarded as a preacher or a well-known orator or have a following or anything like that, but you can still have a heart like the man that we're reading about, faithful but not famous. And so we don't know anything about this man in terms of a word that he uttered, what he did for a living, what he prayed, none of his writings, anything like that. None of that is kept for us, but the Lord preserved his example for all ages, for us to look into it, for people like you and me who can purpose to follow in his example of being a refreshing, faithful, diligent, self-forgetful follower of our Savior. And so this is the thing that we want to remember. I just want to close with this important thought here, that this was a man who was like his master in so many different ways, like the Lord Jesus Christ. And if you look at the parallels, look what happens here. He breaks onto the scene when all hope is lost, so to speak, like Christ. There's Paul languishing in a cell, and then a knock on his cell door. You have a visitor. And here comes a man to refresh his soul. He was not ashamed of Paul's state in his chains when everyone else was. Just like Christ was not ashamed to call us brethren. This man is not ashamed to be associated with Paul. Even at great expense, he travels that 1,000 miles But Christ went further, didn't he, than a thousand miles to come to be with us. It's amazing what Christ did, not only traveling from third heaven, the distance is immeasurable and calculable, but I'm talking about who Christ actually was, and he humbled himself to become a servant. It's amazing to think about it, to the point where Isaiah says, Emmanuel, his name shall be called Emmanuel, God with us. The greatest humility ever. And of course, when Onesiphorus, he arrives in Rome, he seeks Paul out very zealously. Well, who has been more zealous than Christ in seeking out our salvation? You know, here's a man who comes and he visits Paul in the prison cell, but what does the psalm say about Jesus and prison cells? It says, for he has broken the gates of bronze and cut the bars of iron in two. There's even greater zeal exerted by our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ to save sinners like you and me. Do you remember that day? Do you remember that day when Christ broke in and saved you? It's amazing to think about how good he has been And not only that, but he found me. Just like Paul says, and he found me. And this is who Christ is. He will leave the 90 and nine to find the one. And then finally, is there anything more refreshing than to sit at the feet of Christ, even when the world that we're living in right now is in tumult and unsteady, uncertain, but we have a place that we can come and we can be refreshed and clothed in our right mind, so to speak, by fellowshipping with Christ and to be His, not just for a day, but forever. This is the goodness of God. God is so good, and so that would be my only thing here this week as you go about your days. Think about this. Could you be a refresher to somebody? Look around you, and perhaps it's an unsaved neighbor, maybe it's someone in your family. Who knows? You know your situation, but you're not only being like Onesiphorus, But guess who you're really being like? You're being like the Lord Jesus Christ when we go about our days to be faithful and to be refreshers to one another's souls. Amen, let's pray. Heavenly Father, we do come to you here and thank you for all that you've done for us in sending your son, Lord. Look at all you've done. When we were undone, Lord, when we were in the prison, when we were without hope, when all hope was lost, There you came, Lord, you cut through those bars and you have done all that you've done for us. So here we stand in grace here today. Lord, we pray that as stewards of your grace, that we would disperse this grace to others. Lord, that we would be like this man, Onesiphorus, unheralded, but Lord, that we would be faithful and that we would live in light of the day that you have appointed when you will come again. to judge the living and the dead. Help us to be found faithful and to be those that hear well done. You good and faithful servants enter into the joy of the Lord. Amen. Amen.