FBC Morning Light – August 15, 2022

The Heartache and Joy of Ministry

Well, a good Monday morning to you. Hope you had a wonderful weekend and were able to get together with God's people yesterday, worship the Lord together in God's house, learn something from Him, from His Word, and learn something about Him and what He's like and what He likes, and perhaps that has helped you to grow a little bit in grace and knowledge of Christ.

I trust that's the case. Well, today we're in the book of 2 Timothy, starting the first chapter of that book in our Bible reading today, and there's a couple of verses in this passage that highlight one of the contrasts of serving in the ministry.

There are both joys and heartaches in the work of the ministry, and Paul refers to one of the heartaches in verse 15, where he says to Timothy—now, Timothy is a young pastor, and he's serving in the city of Ephesus—and he says, This you know, that all those in Asia have turned away from me, among whom are figellists and Hermogenes.

What a sad thing for Paul. He served faithfully, he worked diligently, he was used of the Lord to bring many people to Christ, but there were some—and he speaks hyperbolically, if you will—saying, All those in Asia have turned away from me.

I'm not exactly sure what he means by that. Certainly it's not every single person, but undoubtedly he's indicating that there's been a great departure from the faith, and probably led by these two individuals, Hermogenes and figellists.

This often happens in the work of the ministry. A guy or two get a little following in a church or in a work, and gather people around them, and they start to undermine the pastor, the leadership of the church, speak ill of it, suggest there's a better way.

Kind of like Absalom, what Absalom did against David in the Old Testament. Before you know it, there's just a whole scale turning away from the one who's been serving them for perhaps a number of years, and teaching the Word, and ministering to them, and serving them in perfection.

Absolutely not. But nevertheless, faithful in that work. And yet, they turn away. They turn away. I can tell you, that is a great heartache in the ministry when that happens. But the next verse, Paul highlights the contrasting joy in the ministry.

Refreshing a Faithful Minister

He says, the Lord grant mercy to the household of Onesiphorus, for he had often refreshed me and was not ashamed of my chain. What Paul is saying here is, Paul's writing Timothy from house arrest, so he's in bonds, he's chained, and there is this individual, Onesiphorus, and his entire household, and they had great compassion for Paul.

They cared about what Paul was going through, and served him, and ministered to him, appreciated him, and there again, that's one of the realities of the ministry. There are some people who come to not like the minister, the pastor, and not like what he's teaching, not like his style of ministry, whatever, and they turn away.

But at the same time, there are others, like Onesiphorus, who recognize what's going on, they recognize the growth that's taking place in their lives, they appreciate the impact and the influence of a faithful ministry in their own lives personally, and in their family.

Here's Onesiphorus, his whole household is getting involved in helping out and ministering to Paul, the one who's ministered to them. That's a great joy, when that's experienced in the ministry. I just want to challenge us today to really give some thought to the kind of impact that we're making among those whom we have influence.

Are we showing appreciation for the ministry, for the work of the ministry, for those who labor to teach the Word and to preach the Word, or do we allow their imperfections to grate on us, to be like a burr in the saddle, and sow some discord, cause people to turn away?

Or are we like Onesiphorus, appreciative and grateful, and doing what we can to be a help and a blessing to those who are a help and a blessing to us? Well, I thank the Lord for the place where I serve, and I thank the Lord for the people in the ministry at Faith Baptist, and just what a joy they are, because they do have that kind of Onesiphorus kind of heart, and we're so grateful for that.

But there's always the potential for a Fagellus and Hermogenes to rise up. Let's be sure that we're not in that camp. All right, Father in Heaven, thank you for this reminder from Paul's own experience, as he wrote to Timothy, that there are some who can be a great source of joy, and others who can be a great source of heartache.

Bringing Joy to Those Who Serve Faithfully

May we be people who bring joy to those who serve you faithfully, and we pray this in Jesus' name, and for his sake, amen. All right, well, I hope your week gets off to a good start, and I trust the Lord will bless you in this day today.

Have a good day.