Defines the "man of God" by examining the characteristics of biblical figures like Moses, Samuel, Elijah, and Elisha, and then applying these to Timothy. Moses exemplified meekness, Samuel practical godliness, Elijah physical courage, and Elisha a gentle ministry, qualities that Paul saw reflected in Timothy. The sermon further elaborates on Timothy's role as a "man of God" through four aspects found in 2 Timothy: a banker guarding his trust (the gospel and truth), a bondservant enduring tests (soldier, athlete, farmer, workman, vessel), a Bible student and teacher treasuring God's Word, and a beloved fellow servant. Ultimately, the sermon calls believers to aspire to be "holy men of God" by faithfully guarding and propagating the truth until Christ's return.
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Shall we read together, please, in Second Timothy chapter three? Second Timothy chapter three, and we'll commence to read the first thirteen. What evil manly seducer shall wax worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived. but continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them, 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.
All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works. I charge thee, therefore, before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quicken the dead of his appearing, and his kingdom, preach the word. May God add his blessing to the reading of his precious word. The subject of our being today has been the man of God. When I heard about the subject, I took the concordance and tried to trace every occurrence in the Old and New Testament where we find the word mention.
I find that the word man of God occurs about fifty-seven times in the Bible. So most of these occurrences are in the Old Testament. And if you look at them carefully and look at the context where you find them, you'll find that they're associated with seven men. Now, some of them are anonymous, but they're full, outstanding men in the Old Testament scriptures who are called a man of God. Now, the first one is Moses. You remember in the title to the Ninth Psalm, where he that composition was by Moses, the man of God. Twice over in Scripture we read that Moses was a man of God.
Four times we find it in connection with Samuel. And he was an outstanding man characterized by godliness. Again Elijah is called a man of God. I think there are about five different times where it is associated with his name. But the outstanding man of the Old Testament that's called a man of God is Elisha. And I'm awfully glad that her beloved brother spoke about that this morning. I have an idea. I'd like to speak about it this evening. I'm not going to do that except to mention the twenty-nine times. In association with Elisha, we find the term the man of God.
Are these four individuals, I think there's some outstanding characteristic connected with each one. If anyone were to say, what's the outstanding characteristic of Moses that made him a man of God, I would say it was meekness. He was the meekest man in all the earth. Now, meekness does not mean to say that he was a weak man, but he was a weak man. He was a weak man. And I think that the outstanding characteristic of Moses as a man of God was is meek and glory character. Now, the second man is Samuel. And again, if we look at his character and what is said about him in the Old Testament, I think it was practical godliness.
in connection with Samuel. And then when we look at Elisha, Elisha is a gentle ministry that reminds us so much of the ministry of the Lord Jesus. There are three things that characterize this ministry. And the first was salt. And the second was meal. And the fourth is oil. And the something about Elisha that reminds us so much of the gentle ministry of the Lord Jesus. Now the fourth man was Elijah, and Elijah was characterized by physical courage. Now if you take these four characteristics, the meekness of Moses, and the godliness of Samuel, and the physical courage of Elijah, and the gentle ministry of Elisha, and put them together, I was the guest.
that this is what characterized the only man in the New Testament who is called a man of God. That is Timothy. I think he was a meek man. I also think he was a godly man. I think he was characterized by physical courage. And fourthly, he was characterized by that gentle ministry that we find so much in the life of Elisha. So I think that he is the contestant of these four qualifications that characterize a man in the Old Testament. I noticed too while our brother was speaking that the only time in the Bible where we find the term holy connected with this title is in connection with Elisha.
He was a holy man of God. Not just a man of God, but a holy man of God. And I think that that is absolutely delightful. I want to spend just a few minutes at the close of our meeting today in thinking about Timothy as a man of God and what made him such. The second principle of Timothy is Paul's final writing. Paul is advising him on counseling him for the last time. It has been said that in First Timothy it is the heart of God. And the second pastoral epistle is the epistle of Titus. And there it is the grace of God.
But I think the title that you could put over second Timothy is the man of God. And there are four things that characterize Timothy as a man of God. And we find one in each of the four chapters in this lovely little epistle. Now, just to summarize them at the beginning. In chapter one, we find that the man of God is a banker. read twice here about a good deposit. I want to look at that in a moment or two. But there we find the man of God is a banker and his trust, the trust that has been committed to him. In chapter two, he's called a bond servant. And there are five word pictures concerning the man of God as a bond servant, the bond servant and his tenth.
We want to look again at that in a moment or two. Now, in chapter three... We find that the man of God is a Bible student, and a Bible teacher, and the wonderful treasure that God has given to him. There are four things we adhere about the Word of God in relation to the man of God that we want to look at. And then finally, in Chapter Four, the man of God is a beloved fellow servant. and the tender farewell that we get here in that one that he had served with so long and so faithfully the Apostle Paul. Now let's think of these four things connected with the man of God.
I believe that these are the things that made him a man of God. Paul is giving him his last counsel, his last advice. And in chapter one, at the end of that chapter, he speaks about a good deposit. The idea is a banker and something that has been invested. My Paul, first of all, speaks about himself. He says, I know him in whom I have believed, and I'm persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day. Now, that word committed is the word for the good deposit.
Paul here at the end of his life is as I know him, in whom I have believed, and I am persuaded that he is able to guard that which I have invested with him against that day. Now we know perfectly well it wasn't anything material. At the end of this lovely epistle, he speaks about an old cloak. He speaks about some books and parchments that he had, and certainly it wasn't anything material. But right at the commencement of the life of the Apostle Paul, he had made an advancement. He had made a deposit, and that deposit was in heaven's thanks. Now after speaking about that investment, that deposit that he had made, then he turns to Timothy.
And he says, that good thing which has been committed unto thee, guard by the Holy Ghost, which has been committed to us. You know, here again is a deposit that has been committed to Timothy. We know that when the person puts money on the bank, usually the banker will take that money and reinvest it and put it into the highest rate of interest. At the present time, it's quite a common thing for people that have some money and a savings account to buy these six-month certificates and they get anywhere between fourteen and sixteen percent on the investment that they make. But in Heaven's Bank, in Heaven's Bank is a far, far more great rate of interest.
than any bank down here. So Paul is speaking to Timothy using the illustration of banking. And he said, something has been committed to you. And he said, guard by the Holy Ghost. Now that term for guard, it means a military, it's a military term. That means a century. A man who has a weapon and he's guarding that deposit that has been committed. Very often on the bank you'll find a brink's truck outside on its taking care of someone who is inside that bank. And this is the idea that we get in chapter one. Something has been committed to Timothy.
And he is told, just like a soldier, or like a security guard, to guard that which has been committed to him until that day. I would like to ask you, what is that deposit that has been made to God's service, to the man of God? Well, first of all, Paul, in speaking about himself, he speaks about the gospel of the glory of the Blessed God. And my beloved friends here this afternoon, let me say that there's one great deposit that has been given to you, to me, and that is the responsibility to preach the gospel of the God's grace. One thing that's getting very, very rare at the present time among our assemblies are men that are able to preach.
the gospel. Sometimes in her gospel meetings, and by the way, the Son would say that after all, the assembly is not the place for preaching the gospel. It is outside. Well, there may be a certain amount of truth in that, but I pity the assembly today that is no interest in the spread of the gospel. It is a deposit. It is an investment that God has made to you and to me, and it will expect us to guard it. And Paul, he said, that one thing that he had and that he was darling was the faith that committed to him was the gospel of the glory of the Blessed God. Now, only the pastoral epistles, there are two words that are here quite frequently.
One is the faith, and the other is the truth. The word, the faith, that great deposit of Christian doctrine, fundamental teaching, it occurs twelve times in the pastoral epistles. And the truth, again, occurs about twelve times. And here again is something that has been committed to you and to me. If we want to call ourselves men of God, the first thing, I believe that we should be very careful to hold and to guard. Just like a security guard is the truth and also the faith.
These are things that are being attacked today. I don't need to tell you that. But at every hand we find the truth of God and the faith. fundamental teaching concerning the person of Christ, the inerrancy of Holy Scripture and matters of this kind are being detected at the present time. God has committed to yield to me a deposit, and he will expect that we are faithful in guarding it and propagating it until Jesus comes. Now the Apostle Paul, not only does he speak of this deposit being committed to Timothy, but Timothy, he passes it on in chapter two. And he said, speaking there about faithful men.
who shall be able to teach others also. On this deposit, this investment that God had made with him is passing it on to faithful men who will be able to teach others also. This is the New Testament apostolic succession. First of all, the Apostle Paul, and then his dear fellow servant, Timothy. And then, thirdly, we get here, faithful man, who will be able to teach others also. So the man of God, in chapter one, is a banker and his trust. And we're told to faithfully guard it until grace shall come.
I have been reading recently the Book of Ezra. And you remember when Ezra left Jerusalem to come back again to the land, those beautiful vests in the temple that had been guarded for many, many years. You remember that they were with and they were listed. and they were evaluated. And after that long journey, when they finally arrived in Jerusalem, again, those beautiful treasures connected with the temple, they were weighed and they were evaluated, just to see that everything was intact. And all may God help us, not only as individuals, but as assemblies of God's temple, that the on the truth.
These great New Testament truths concerning the person of Christ on fundamental doctrine that there will be intact when Jesus comes. So in chapter one, he is a banker under his trust. Now in chapter two, this well-known passage, he's called a bondservant. You remember at the beginning, he's called a son. Paul calls him my son Timothy, my genuine son. And at the end, he's called a boncer. But in between, there are five great word pictures. All of us that study the New Testament and listen to the exposition of it, we have heard this chapter expounded again and again.
But these five great word pictures that describe the man of God, first of all, he's a soldier. And then secondly, he's an athlete, Thirdly, he's a farmer. And fourthly, he's a workman. And then we read about him being a vessel in a great house. Now, connected to these five great word pictures, there is a test. The soldier has to be very careful that he doesn't get mixed up in the things of this life. He has taken the oath, and he becomes a soldier, and he's not a soldier on parade. He's not a soldier in peacetime, but he's a soldier in wartime.
And he's in battle dress. And it indicates the ministry of conflict of every servant of God. And he's told that he must not allow himself to be entangled with the things of this life. You know, this afternoon the question was asked about politics and whether a Christian should be involved in it. You know, there's something far, far more valuable than that today. I believe that every true believer today, instead of being mixed up in the politics of this world, they should be mixed up in the politics of heaven. We're members of a commonwealth. And thank God we've been lifted out of this world.
and sends back into it as ambassadors in this world, and we have a function to perform. That function is to represent a heavenly court, to preach the word of God, and to minister it among God's people unto a perishing world. So he is a soldier. And then second, he's an athlete, and there are certain rules and regulations that he has to observe. We all know that anyone who is an athlete, he has to be very careful about his diet. He has to be very careful about the rules of the contest in which he is engaged. If he breaks those rules, he is disqualified. And so the second test is that we must observe the rules.
My beloved friends, in the Word of God, we find the rules laid down for us very, very clearly. The regulations... in connection with the work of God. We find that the Acts of the Apostles, the handbook for the servant of God, how the work of God should be carried out. It must be along the lines, lead God and God's word. If he does not observe those rules, he could be disqualified in getting the prize at the end of the contest. And then the farmer. The farmer must work before the Canaanite harvest. I know that in her authorized version, it's a little difficult to understand the passage.
But I think that the plain meaning is that a farmer, he has to toil on labor before there can be any result of the work that he is doing. No lazy man can be a farmer. It's not a forty-hour week. It's a seven-day week. And anyone that knows anything at all about farming, and especially connected with cattle or raising stock, they know it's a seventy-a-week job. He must toil. He must labor before there can be any result, before there can be a harvest. And then the fourth thing is he must be a workman that needs not be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.
the servant of God, the man of God, always. He must be a dispensationalist. He must recognize the difference between the different dispensations, and he rightly divides the word of truth and not get mixed up and confused in the interpretation of the word of God. And then finally, a vessel. Oh, and a great house, there are vessels of gold and silver and wood and clay. It's not so much of importance the materials of the vessel. but it should be a clean vessel. It should be a holy vessel. A vessel that's clean are made for the master's use. So in chapter two, the man of God and his test.
And in chapter three, the man of God is a student, a Bible student. And there are four things he has said about the Word of God. Did you ever notice in the chapter, there are three terms that are used about certain people. We read about evil men. And by the way, in each one of the chapters in Second Timothy, there are two of them. There are a couple of them in each chapter. Evil men. And then we read about silly women. You know, thank God for good women. I think the most beautiful thing in the world is a good woman. The most beautiful thing.
And I think one of the most simple things in the world is a silly woman. And I think the most dangerous thing in the world is a bad woman. But here we get evil men and silly women, but in contrast with that we get the mind of God at the end of the chapter. Under four things said here about the word of God in relation to the mind of God. First of all, in relation to salvation. We're told that from a child he knew the Holy Scriptures, that we're able to make them wise on the salvation through faith, which is in Christ Jesus. The Word of God is salvation. That is the agency that God uses.
And then secondly, the Word of God and its inspiration, all Scripture is given by inspiration of God. the Word of God and its inspiration. I don't need to tell anyone here this afternoon that this is under attack today, the inerrancy of Holy Scripture. Possibly most of us have read Harold Lindsell's book, The Battles of the Bible. Oh, the battle is on. But we do thank God that we have a book. We have the Word of God here in which we can put complete confidence. What is in the original documents? And we find God we have the word on which we can place our two feet, and on which we can have complete full confidence in the complete inerrancy, on inspiration of God's word.
It is God-breathed. And then thirdly, in its exposition, it's profitable for doctrine. Where do you get that? In the Epistle to the Romans. It's profitable for approval. Where do you get that? in the epistle to the Galatians. It's profitable also for correction. Where do you get that? The first epistle to the Corinthians, and it's profitable for instruction and righteousness. Where do you get that? You get that in the epistle to the Ephesians, the expository ministry of God's Word. My beloved brethren, Here this afternoon, just let me say this.
I want to conclude as fast as I can. But one of the greatest needs today is for men who give themselves to the expository ministry of God's Word. And the only way to do it is to give your life to the careful, systematic, consecutive study of the Word of God. Here we get the Bible student and the Bible teacher... and his treasure, God's precious word. And then the word, the exhortation that Paul gives to Timothy, preach the word, preach the word, preach the word. This is what God has promised to bless. So in looking at these different chapters, what we find here connected with Timothy, he's a banker on his trust.
Secondly, he's a bond servant on his test. And here he is a Bible student and a Bible teacher and his trader. And finally at the end, he is a beloved fellow worker and a tender farewell with a man that he had worked with so long and so faithfully, possibly a period of about twenty years in chapter four. Oh, as we look at this chapter, many, many times I have looked at it. and thought about that last experience of God's dear servant in prison in Rome in the Lamartine prison. And you remember what he said to Timothy. He said, Timothy, do thy diligence to come.
And he said, come quickly, come before we wait. Oh, he says, Timothy, I want that cloak. I want something for my body. And he said, I want something for my mind. He said, when you come, bring the books and parchment. But he said, oh, Timothy, he said, I want you. And I believe that this is one of the most delightful and one of the most beautiful pictures of a servant with a fellow servant. Timothy was the older man. He said, Timothy, oh, bring the cloak for my body. Bring the books for my mind. But Timothy, he said, I want you. Now I think that these are the things that made Timothy a man of God.
First of all, the man of God. in association with the Word of God, put the two together on these different pictures, these word pictures, in Second Timothy, and I believe it will lay the foundation of revolutionizing the life of every one of us here this afternoon. Just let me tell an incident in closing. Some years ago, I was over in Brazil. I was invited over there for ministry meetings. the fact that we have spent the most of our life preaching in the Portuguese language, it meant that that was not a problem. I've been over there in Brazil three different times. I was in a place called Karangola. In Karangola, I understood that Mr.
Haralsingen, a dear servant of God, had lived in that place for about three years carrying on a Bible school. I went to a little home, a very humble place in Carangola. I knocked the door. There was a Brazilian lady came to the door, very modest place, and I said, is this the place where Mr. Harald St. John lived? Oh, yes, she said it is. And the term she used, she said, do you know him? I said, yes. And the term that she used is that holy man of God. And in Portuguese, the way it goes is, a Kel Oman, Santa de Deus. She said, did you know him?
I said, I certainly did. I was young at the time, but that man did a tremendous impression upon my mind. She said, would you like to come in and see the place where he lived? She opened the door and she brought me in. A very, very modest place. A little kitchen there, a few bricks. And on top of the bricks, There was a piece of iron, sheet iron on top. And that was where he did his cooking. There were a couple of sticks stuck in the wall. And the little board on top of that said, That's the place where he kept his books. And he lived here for three years. And she said, If ever I met a man, that was the holy man of God. It was that dear man. Said, you know him?
I said, I did, and he has made a permanent impression upon my life. A kill all man, Santo Fideos. He's the only man that I've ever heard called a holy man of God. And I think Mr. Singon was that. My beloved brother, in closing, let me say this. Whatever is left of life until Jesus comes, let us make it our ambition to be a holy man of God until he comes and takes us home for his name's sake.