The Character of Timothy

Introduction

I am becoming more and more convinced that God’s plan for growing His church both numerically and spiritually is through a process of mentorship or what the bible calls discipleship. We looked at the type of relationship that Paul and Barnabas had and how Barnabas sought to Mentor Paul. In Acts 16, we are introduced to a new character in our story: Timothy. Timothy is destined to become a central figure in the ministry of Paul and the Church moving forward but no one would have known that at the time.

According to verse one, Timothy was a disciple. One definition for a disciple is an adherent who accepts instruction given to him and makes it his rule of conduct. Timothy was the kind of young man who wanted to learn, do what was right and follow the pattern of what he was taught.

Mentorship is intended to be multigenerational. 2 Tim 2:2 “And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also.”

Paul

Timothy

Faithful men

teach others

The Christian life is meant to be a life of reproducing. Life continues on this planet because parents decide they are going to have children. Paul wanted to reproduce himself spiritually on this earth, so he chose to mentor or disciple other men. Paul’s relationship was exactly like that. Consider the fact that he calls Timothy his son multiple times:

1 Tim 1:2 “Unto Timothy, my own son in the faith: Grace, mercy, and peace, from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord.”

2 Tim 1:2 “To Timothy, my dearly beloved son: Grace, mercy, and peace, from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.”

I want to draw a lesson from the life of Timothy as a disciple of Paul that even those who do not come from ideal circumstances can be used by God in great ways. This morning we are going to do a little bit of a character study on Timothy to see what kind of a young man he was. We are asking the question, What kind of man was it that Paul chose to be his disciple?

Timothy was a believer

Acts 16:1 “Then came he to Derbe and Lystra: and, behold, a certain disciple was there, named Timotheus, the son of a certain woman, which was a Jewess, and believed; but his father was a Greek:”

Most likely, Timothy was saved on Paul’s first missionary journey when he came through Lystra. This is the same city that Paul had been stoned and everyone thought he was dead until he got up and walked out of the city. It has been 5 years since that first visit to Lystra and Timothy is a young man actively seeking to serve God in his church. At this time, he is probably between 18-21 years of age.

It is important for us to understand a little bit about Timothy’s background if we are to understand wha type of man he was. In 2 Tim 1:5 “When I call to remembrance the unfeigned faith that is in thee, which dwelt first in thy grandmother Lois, and thy mother Eunice; and I am persuaded that in thee also.” we see that Timothy’s Grandmother and his mother had also both been saved and had raised him in the scriptures.

2 Tim 3:15 “And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.” I believe that even before this family was saved, his Jewish grandmother and mother were diligent about teaching him the word of God. I know this isn’t my message on the home but there is a tremendous example being set here for Parents that we should be teaching our children the scriptures. We cannot delegate our role as parents to the church, or the school. Those institutions are only there to come alongside and help us not to replace us. Timothy knew the scriptures.

1. Those scriptures taught that all men are sinners. Psalm 14:1-3 “The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, There is none that doeth good. The Lord looked down from heaven upon the children of men, To see if there were any that did understand, and seek God. They are all gone aside, they are all together become filthy: There is none that doeth good, no, not one.”

2. Those same scriptures according to Paul are able to make thee wise unto salvation. They spoke of a coming Messiah who would die for our sins. Isa 53:6 “All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned every one to his own way; And the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.”

3. Those scriptures also taught that salvation is by faith in Jesus Christ. 2 Tim 3:15 “And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.” Gen 15:6 “And he believed in the Lord; and he counted it to him for righteousness.”

Timothy was a believer in Jesus Christ. He knew he was a sinner in need of saving and that he could never be good enough to save himself. Timothy placed his faith or trust in what Jesus did for him on the cross in dying for his sins and rising again and God forgave him of all his sins.

Timothy had a heritage of faith passed down to him. Maybe your grandma used to take you to church or your parents invested so much in your life trying to get you on the right path. The challenge here is to be like Timothy who shared that faith with his grandmother and mother. There is a disconnect in generations today. We are so individualistic that we write off what our parents believed without ever really examining why they believed what they believed. Timothy didn’t do that; Timothy carried on the heritage of faith.

Timothy came from a broken home

Acts 16:1 “Then came he to Derbe and Lystra: and, behold, a certain disciple was there, named Timotheus, the son of a certain woman, which was a Jewess, and believed; but his father was a Greek:”

Nowhere in this text or any of the letters written to Timothy that his father was saved. In fact Luke mentions Timothy’s father only because he is highlighting the fact that Timothy came from a mixed ethnic background and a mixed spiritual background. The Greeks would have worshipped their pantheon of gods who were immoral, selfish, flawed creatures just like the humans who worshipped them. When you come from a home with two different spiritual backgrounds, that can’t help but have an influence on you.

Spiritual tensions- Sometimes if the parents aren’t devout, this isn’t as much of an issue; but there are always going to be issues when the different faiths conflict on requirements. In Timothy’s day, it was highly looked down on for the wife to have a different religion than her husband.

Struggle with identity- One author I read who had a Jewish Father and an Episcopal mother chose to follow Hinduism because being a Christian would betray his father and being a Jew would betray his mother.

Sense of loss- because they feel the tension between the parents they can easily feel like they are not tied to the family as a whole or a heritage.

Sense of being an outsider- because they don’t belong to either group, they feel ostracized. In cultures as dynamically opposed as the Jewish and Greek culture, this issue is destined to play an important role in who Timothy was.

There is a broader lesson to be learned from this point: no matter how broken your background is, God can still use you to do great things. Marriages all over America are broken by abuse, selfishness, divorce, immorality, and abandonment. But those things do not have to be chains that hold you down. In Christ, your identity and value are determined by the love and value that Christ has put upon you. Those things don’t define you. In fact, they may strengthen you. But Timothy was a devoted follower of Jesus Christ no matter how much baggage and brokenness he brought with him.

Timothy had a good reputation among the believers in multiple surrounding areas

Acts 16:2 “Which was well reported of by the brethren that were at Lystra and Iconium.”

This phrase well reported of means to be affirmed favorably by firsthand experience. This reputation that Timothy had was not just a marketing campaign. He didn’t have to put on a good face and pretend to be good. He authentically, genuinely had a good reputation with everyone who knew him firsthand. Those who were closest to him knew what kind of man he was.

Timothy was trustworthy Phil 2:19 “But I trust in the Lord Jesus to send Timotheus shortly unto you, that I also may be of good comfort, when I know your state.”

Timothy was likeminded with Paul Phil 2:20 “For I have no man likeminded, who will naturally care for your state.”

Timothy was compassionate Phil 2:20 “For I have no man likeminded, who will naturally care for your state.”

Timothy was humble Phil 2:21 “For all seek their own, not the things which are Jesus Christ’s.” But

Timothy was a servant Phil 2:22 “But ye know the proof of him, that, as a son with the father, he hath served with me in the gospel.”

Timothy’s reputation was not just known by those who knew him best but by the other churches in the area. I think there is an indication that Timothy was a servant to any Christian he came across. They all knew him. Even people who were not in his home church of Lystra.

Timothy was willing to give up his rights for the ministry.

Acts 16:3 “Him would Paul have to go forth with him; and took and circumcised him because of the Jews which were in those quarters: for they knew all that his father was a Greek.”

Coming off of the great debates in Acts 15 about circumcision, this verse may seem a little weird. Why is Paul circumcising Timothy when he just argued that circumcision was not necessary for the Christian? Paul was not contradicting what he had just said in Acts 15 because Timothy is a special case. Timothy was half Jew and half Gentile; so in order to not have any arguments among the Jews, he had timothy circumcised. Technically, according to Jewish tradition any child born in a mixed marriage is Jewish as long as the mother was Jewish. The problem is that he had never been circumcised so Jews would have viewed him as an apostate Jew.

The principle that Paul is operating off of is found in 1 Cor 9:19-23 “For though I be free from all men, yet have I made myself servant unto all, that I might gain the more. And unto the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might gain the Jews; to them that are under the law, as under the law, that I might gain them that are under the law; To them that are without law, as without law, (being not without law to God, but under the law to Christ,) that I might gain them that are without law. To the weak became I as weak, that I might gain the weak: I am made all things to all men, that I might by all means save some. And this I do for the gospel’s sake, that I might be partaker thereof with you.”

Paul did not want anything to be a hinderance to giving the gospel to the Jews. I think of an example from missionary history. Hudson Taylor when he first went to China was thrust into an already established missionary culture in China. The missionaries all stayed in the big cities on the coastal regions and never went into the interior. They would come and set up a mission and live like British people living in China. Hudson Taylor following the example of Paul in this passage adopted Chinese dress and the traditional hair style. From here he launched into the interior of China to lead one of the greatest missionary movements in history. Before WWII. China was on the verge of becoming a Christian nation and even had a Christian ruler until the Communists took over.

This action by Paul was not a contradiction but a measure of accommodation for the sake of the gospel.

What strikes me most about this text is that we do not have any argument from Timothy. Timothy could have demanded his rights, said that he didn’t need to give in to the pressures of the Jews; but if he had, he wouldn’t have been able to be used as much. There are many things in life that God may ask us to give up to serve him that He may not ask others to give up. There might be things we think we have a right to like the right of privacy, to eat food we enjoy, to have air conditioning, the right to my own time, the right of a normal romance, the right of my health, the right of running my own life. Timothy was willing to give up his rights to serve God. He didn’t have to get circumcised.

Conclusion

Timothy sets a good example for us to strive to be like and shows us that no matter what is I have been through those things don’t have to hold me back from serving God. This morning, I want to ask are you the type of young man or woman that God could use? If you are saying Pastor Shirk, I want to be used by God but I don’t know how? would you please raise your hand. I never want to assume that every one that comes in these doors whether this is your first time or your 100th time; I never want to assume everyone here has had their sins forgiven and is saved. If you have never come to Jesus by faith to receive forgiveness of your sins, will you raise your hand this morning. By raising your hand, you are saying Pastor Shirk I need to be saved. If you raised your hand to either of these questions, I would like to invite you to come down and talk to either myself or one of our counselors this morning. As the piano play, please come.