FAITHFULNESS SEEN IN ONESIPHORUS
I would like to speak about features that are expressed in Onesiphorus. I was encouraged by what our brother has brought before us today as to the place that the Lord Jesus took, and the place that He will be given, and the place that He has won, because my thought as to this meeting is to speak about features among believers that would give the Lord His true place now in the affections of His people.
The brethren are well acquainted with the circumstances in which this epistle to Timothy was written. It was a day of breakdown. When Paul wrote his epistle to the Corinthians, he could write it to “the assembly of God which is in Corinth” (1 Cor.1:2), and it would have been clear at that time where a letter addressed in this way was to be brought. We are no longer in that day. That day, a day when every believer in a place came together in the same place, had already passed when Paul wrote this epistle to Timothy. But my impression is that, in a broken day, in the day of the “great house” as is brought out in the later chapter (see 2 Tim.2:20), and the mixture that has come into Christendom, with vessels to honour and to dishonour, in such a day the place that the Lord is to have remains unchanged. He still desires the same place, as the Object of our hearts and consequently as the One to whose interests we are devoted, and that place still belongs to Him.
My impression is that the features seen in Onesiphorus are gathered up in the second chapter, where Timothy is told to entrust what he had learned from Paul to “faithful men” (v.2). It seems that that was the great characteristic that was required, and is required, in a day of public breakdown. The feature required pre-eminently in those who will carry forward what answers to the heart of Christ is faithfulness. I want to suggest that the four things that are said of Onesiphorus might relate to four features in which faithfulness is to be expressed in the present day. In the scripture we have read, the four things that Paul says of Onesiphorus are that he: “has often refreshed me”; “has not been ashamed of my chain”; “sought me out very diligently, and found me”; and rendered service at Ephesus.
Of course, all true faithfulness has its source in one place. We began with the hymn that speaks of one who was:
‘Faithful amidst unfaithfulness
‘Mid darkness only light’ (Hymn 230)
He was the One who was always faithful to the Father when He was here: “I do always the things that are pleasing to him”, John 8:29. And not only when He was here, because this epistle goes on to say, “if we are unfaithful, he abides faithful”, 2 Tim.2:13. He is always the faithful Man. If any feature of faithfulness comes into expression in us, it is derived from Him, and I think it is learned through occupation with Him. He was and is ever faithful, and being formed after Him prepares believers to be for Him in the scene of His rejection.
It has been remarked that perhaps Onesiphorus was no longer in the body when this epistle was written. You will note that it says, “the Lord grant to him to find mercy from the Lord in that day”. Paul’s desire was that the house of Onesiphorus would find mercy in the present time: “the Lord grant mercy to the house of Onesiphorus”, but Onesiphorus himself was to find mercy from the Lord “in that day”. In the passage we read in chapter 4, reference is made to saluting the house of Onesiphorus. I would suggest that if we desire to be faithful, we are in a sense proving that we are of the house of Onesiphorus. His testimony may already have been complete when Paul wrote, commending the brother in this beautiful way, but the features that were seen in him are to continue through to the end of this dispensation, and thus “the house of Onesiphorus” is saluted at the end of the epistle. That suggests that these features are to be continued, and the exercise for us would be to be formed in them.
I was struck to see at the back of this hall a case full of medals, and one of them is the Distinguished Service Order. It has been said that Paul, in writing as he does, was giving Onesiphorus the Distinguished Service Order1 in this passage. I looked up what the Distinguished Service Order medal is awarded for. It said, ‘For distinguished service in active operations against the enemy’. That really sums up my exercise, that we should be active in faithfulness against the artifices of the enemy and on behalf of Christ in the scene of His absence, as Onesiphorus was.
Before going on to the four specific features that we see in Onesiphorus, it is worth remarking that all four are things that he did. It is not exactly in the things that he held to be true, nor is it exactly in the things that he believed, but it is what he did. It reminds me of something very testing that I read recently; Mr Raven said that ‘We do not maintain the truth merely by clinging tenaciously to the terms of the truth, but by being ourselves the exponents of the truth’.2 The faithfulness of Onesiphorus was not seen in what he claimed to be true, but in what he did. Perhaps we might be exercised to be in activity for Christ, so that He might have the place that belongs to Him.
The first thing that Paul says about Onesiphorus is that “he has often refreshed me”. Paul’s ministry has particularly in mind what we often refer to as the heavenly side of the truth, that believers might enter into the heavenly portion that is theirs. We remember the exhortation to the Colossians, to “seek the things which are above, where the Christ is” and to “have your mind on the things that are above”, Col.3:1,2. It relates to the link between the body here on earth and the Head in heaven. The saints do not belong here. If we have a desire, as there evidently was with the apostle Paul, to enjoy and to be living in the gain of what is heavenly, then we will find the earth a weary place. The earth was a weary place for the Lord Jesus. We read the scripture today as to the Lord being wearied with the way He had come (see John 4:6); wearied, I think, because He drew nothing from the scene through which He passed, and also – particularly for Him – because of the service which He was engaged in; wearied because there was nothing of this scene to sustain Him. And, of course, the Father answered that by bringing the woman to the well (see vv.7-30), and that refreshed the heart of Christ. If we find the weariness of the way, particularly in a day of small things, we can be like Onesiphorus who refreshed his brethren.
I have often thought that the scripture where the Lord says that someone giving a cup of cold water shall in no wise lose his reward (see Matt.10:42) brings out that the smallest thing done for the Lord is valued more than we can think. But I would suggest that to give a cup of cold water to refresh those that are His for the journey, for the pilgrimage, to refresh the saints in the weariness of the way as Onesiphorus did for Paul, is not a small thing. Refreshment is imparted by bringing in Christ. Nothing refreshes the heart of the believer like an impression of Him. In the Old Testament it is said of Him, “that I should know how to succour by a word him that is weary”, Isa.50:4. It is the Lord Jesus Himself who does that, but it was Onesiphorus who brought the word to Paul. The Lord knows how to succour by a word him that is weary; Onesiphorus was available to bring that word to Paul.
We read recently of the young Egyptian who was a servant of the Amalekite, and “they gave him water to drink, and gave him a piece of fig-cake and two raisin-cakes, and he ate, and his spirit came again to him”, 1 Sam.30:11,12. He revived, and that was a result of eating the fig-cakes and the raisin-cakes, speaking of what was stored up, just as Onesiphorus stored up impressions of Christ so he could bring in refreshment. This epistle begins: “Paul, apostle of Jesus Christ by God’s will, according to promise of life, the life which is in Christ Jesus” (chap.1:1). The refreshment restores the enjoyment of life. Think of the conditions that Paul was in, in the prison and bound with a chain. But Onesiphorus refreshed Paul, and furthermore he did it often. That is a further test. We may be exercised to do something once, but we need to be maintained in these things. As another has said, continuance is the proof of reality3. It necessitates a living link with the Lord Jesus. If this is to be done often, it cannot be done as a passing thing. Perhaps a particular impression may come to us, but then weeks go by and communion is not enjoyed in the same way. We find the ability to bring in refreshment is not there in the same way. But Onesiphorus often refreshed Paul.
The second feature is that he was not ashamed of Paul’s chain. We know that faithfulness will always result in reproach. If it did for Christ, why would we expect that it would not for us? His faithfulness in this scene brought Him into reproach. It could be said of Him prophetically, “the reproaches of them that reproach thee have fallen upon me”, Ps.69:9. In the day in which we are, there is a special reproach attached to Paul’s ministry. Earlier, Paul writes to Timothy, “be not therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner”, 2 Tim.1:8. It is striking how, throughout this epistle, the turning away seems to have been a turning away from Paul and his ministry. That is really what marks the public, professing church. There are elements of what is right that are held, but Paul’s ministry is in reproach. He says “Phygellus and Hermogenes, have turned away from me” (2 Tim.1:15), and later, “Demas has forsaken me” (chap.4:10); then “Alexander the smith did many evil things against me” (v.14). It has been suggested that Demas, when he forsook the apostle Paul, perhaps went away preaching.4 It does not say that he went away into the world, but he forsook Paul. He went away from that heavenly side of the truth, what was brought out in the elect vessel (see Acts 9:15).
We have been reading in Galatians, and what comes out in that epistle is that Paul conveyed what came directly from the Lord. He could say as to the glad tidings that he announced, that “neither did I receive them from man, neither was I taught them, but by revelation of Jesus Christ”, Gal.1:12. There are things in Paul’s ministry that find no place in the professing church. Think of the order that is proper to the assembly of God, or the order that is proper to the households of saints; the need for separation from iniquity – all these fundamental things that are needed to maintain and protect the service of God. We have been reading in Nehemiah about the building of the wall, noticing that the fellowship protects what is for the pleasure of God and what answers to the heart of Christ; all of this is brought out in Paul’s ministry. Speaking of Nehemiah reminds me of a beautiful verse in that book: “for the people had a mind to work” (chap.4:6). The translator’s note says that ‘mind’ is literally ‘heart’. I think that Onesiphorus was one who had a mind and a heart for the work.
But if Paul is in reproach, it means that it takes courage to maintain the truth that has been brought out through Paul. Onesiphorus was not ashamed of Paul’s chain. If we want to be maintained in the heavenly side of the truth, if we want to be maintained in the truth of the body, and what is proper to and what protects the service of God, I believe we will find that there is a special reproach attached to that and it therefore requires courage. I believe that is one of the features of faithfulness: Onesiphorus had courage. This was in a day when Paul could say that all in Asia had turned away from him (2 Tim.1:15), but there was one man here who sought out Paul where he was in the prison with his chain.
This leads to the third feature. Paul says, “being in Rome, sought me out very diligently, and found me”. It has been noted that at the time Paul wrote this, there was quite a large company of believers in Rome – the product, I suppose, of Paul’s gospel, seen in his epistle, bringing out the truth of justification by faith. Onesiphorus came to Rome and it would appear that the Roman brethren did not know where Paul was, because he had to seek him out very diligently5. You might think of Onesiphorus going from street to street, looking for Paul. There is a further test here, that of being in activity. I have no doubt that the brethren in Rome would have attested to the truth of Paul’s ministry, but it appears that they did not know where he was. In another locality, Laodicea, they had perhaps all the ministry on their bookshelves, and even in their meetings they might have spoken over the precious truths that appear in the epistles, but the Lord’s address to them in Revelation (chap.3:14-22) indicates that it had no bearing on their lives, on their walk. What a test that is, because we talk of very wonderful things in our times together, but what is the effect on our lives? A brother once said that if Christianity is not practical, it is not anything.
I think in a day when Paul’s ministry is despised, when it is in reproach, an important feature of faithfulness is that it requires diligence to seek out the truth. It would mean having our minds on the things that are above, to be formed after Christ. That is what Paul’s ministry in Ephesus goes on to, that the new man might be put on (Eph.4:24). It requires that we seek out the truth diligently, and not only that, that we are to persevere in it, because it says, he “found me”. Onesiphorus found Paul. It is not just that we are to be diligent in seeking, but we are to find these heavenly things. We are not to stop seeking until we have found. We are to be in activity in relation to understanding and holding these things.
Then it says, “how much service he rendered in Ephesus, thou knowest best”. I do not know if Onesiphorus was a local brother in Ephesus. This reference might suggest that he was, but in any case he had been there and had rendered service there. I would like to apply that by suggesting that someone who renders service in Ephesus is one who desires that the brethren should be maintained at the height of their calling. It was not that he was just seeking these things out for himself, but he was one who desired that the saints would enter into the most exalted aspects of the truth. Ephesians refers to having been made to “sit down together in the heavenlies in Christ Jesus” (chap.2:6). At the end of chapter 3 we have Paul’s prayer, desiring that the brethren in Ephesus should be “fully able to apprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and depth and height; and to know the love of the Christ which surpasses knowledge” (vv.18,19). If we think of Onesiphorus as one who rendered service in Ephesus, he was working so that Paul’s prayer might be answered. He was practically seeking, as drawing upon the Spirit’s power, that the height of the truth available to the saints might be maintained. We enter into our inheritance, that heavenly inheritance that is spoken about in Ephesians (see Eph.1:11), and as we do so, as has often been said, God enters into His inheritance (see Eph.1:18). The Lord Jesus has His place when we take up our place. I think that Onesiphorus was active in Ephesus: “how much service he rendered in Ephesus, thou knowest best”. He was active in Ephesus in order that this prayer of Paul, as to apprehending the breadth and length and depth and height, might be answered.
Then we get the exhortation of Paul: “I, the prisoner in the Lord, exhort you therefore to walk worthy of the calling wherewith ye have been called”, Eph.4:1. Then it goes on to speak of “using diligence to keep the unity of the Spirit in the uniting bond of peace” (v.3). Onesiphorus was one who laboured that that might be true in Ephesus. Perhaps it is something that I should be more exercised to do in my local meeting. I feel tested as to that because I do not think we can be used to bring others into their inheritance if we are not in the gain of it ourselves. It would raise the question with me as to how much I am in the gain of my heavenly inheritance, how much I am in the present enjoyment of it. It has struck me what is said about the two and a half tribes who did not go into the land but settled on the wilderness side of Jordan (see Num.32), that when there was a time of conflict, they went and fought alongside the other tribes, fought for them. They fought for the land, but they did not want to live there. It is quite a test as to where I find my rest. When the labours of the day are past, when I come home from the weeknight meeting, where am I finding my rest? Am I living in the land, and am I exercised, as Onesiphorus clearly was, that those with whom I walk are living there too?
Those are the simple impressions I had as to the way that Onesiphorus was active in faithfulness, which are characteristics of faithfulness now. He was able to refresh others – he did it often; he was not ashamed of Paul’s chain; he had the courage to bear the reproach; he showed diligence and perseverance in seeking out the truth; and he rendered service in Ephesus – he had a desire that the saints should be maintained at the height of their calling.
Now I wanted to point to this reference to the house of Onesiphorus and to Onesiphorus himself, where it speaks of finding mercy. My simple impression as to this is that if we seek to be faithful in the way that Onesiphorus was, and to bear burdens in the way that he did – because it is a difficult pathway – we will prove that God’s mercy was sufficient for it all. “The Lord grant to him to find mercy from the Lord in that day”: that is not of course Onesiphorus becoming a beneficiary of divine mercy in a day to come – evidently he already was – but what we will find at the judgment seat of Christ is that it was His mercy and His grace that were sufficient for all that was required. Perhaps Onesiphorus’s Distinguished Service Order was awarded posthumously, but it is available to all those of the house of Onesiphorus, it is available to those who desire to be active in relation to maintaining what is for the heart of Christ, maintaining the true place that He should have in the affections of His own.
The poet wrote:
‘Go on! Go on! there’s all eternity to rest in,
And far too few are on the ‘active service’ list!
No labour for the Lord is risky to invest in,
But nothing will make up should His ‘Well done’
be missed.’6
I trust these simple impressions will be an encouragement to us. Everything is available from the divine side to maintain us in these features of faithfulness, if I have the desire to go in for them. The Spirit is available. Paul says to Timothy, “Keep, by the Holy Spirit which dwells in us, the good deposit entrusted”, 2 Tim.1:14. We are not required to rely, thanks be to God, on our own power: the power is available from above and if we seek to be serviceable we will prove in that day to come that mercy was sufficient for it all.
May we be helped in these things and may we be encouraged by them, and may the Lord have a greater portion from each one of us at the present time, for God’s glory, for His name’s sake.
Address in Stawell, Australia
4 November 2022
Glen Barlow