Throughout the centuries God’s work has been done by men and women who stood steadfast in their hours of trial. It would have been convenient for them to have compromised, but they stood firm. Paul was such a man, and he encouraged Timothy to follow his example in a twofold loyalty.
Be loyal to God’s Word (vv. 13–14). God had given the deposit of spiritual truth to Paul (1 Tim. 1:11), and he had given it to Timothy (1 Tim. 6:20). It was now Timothy’s solemn responsibility to “hold fast” (2 Tim. 1:13) and “guard” (2 Tim. 1: niv) the precious deposit of Christian truth, and to pass it along to others (2 Tim. 2:2).
The word form (2 Tim. 1:13) means “a pattern, an architect’s sketch.” There was a definite outline of doctrine in the early church, a standard by which teaching was tested. If Timothy changed this outline or abandoned it, then he would have nothing by which to test other teachers and preachers. We today need to hold fast to what Paul taught for the same reason.
However, note that Timothy’s orthodoxy was to be tempered with “faith and love.” “Speaking the truth in love” (Eph. 4:15) is the divine pattern. How easy it is to become pugnacious in our desire to defend the faith, or a witch-hunter who creates problems.
It was the Holy Spirit who committed the truth to Timothy, and He would help him guard it. Apart from the ministry of the Spirit, we are in the dark when it comes to understanding the Word of God. It is He who must teach us (John 16:13) and enable us to guard the truth and share it with others.
From the beginning of human history, Satan has opposed God’s Word. “Yea, hath God said?” was Satan’s first word to mankind (Gen. 3:1), and he continues to ask that question. Throughout the history of the church, the Word of God has been attacked, often by people within the church, yet it still stands today. Why? Because dedicated men and women have (like Paul and Timothy) guarded the deposit and faithfully handed it to a new generation of Christians. When a church or any other Christian organization goes liberal, it usually starts with a weakening of their leaders’ convictions about the Word of God.
Be loyal to God’s servant (vv. 15–18). The province of Asia in that day comprised the Roman districts of Lydia, Mysia, Caria, and Phrygia. Paul was forbidden to minister in this area on his second missionary journey (Acts 16:6), but on his third journey, he stayed nearly three years in Ephesus, the capital of Asia, and evangelized the entire area (Acts 19; 20:31). The seven churches of Asia were all in this area (Rev. 1:4, 11).
We do not know who Phygelus and Hermogenes (2 Tim. 1:15) were. It is likely that they were leaders in the church who opposed Paul and would not come to his defense in Rome. You would think that the Asian believers would have stood by Paul, but, instead, they were ashamed of him and at the same time (whether they knew it or not) ashamed of Christ (see 2 Tim. 4:16).
It was certainly a dark hour for Paul. Demas had forsaken him (2 Tim. 4:10). His other associates had been sent to distant places of ministry. False doctrines were spreading in the church (2 Tim. 2:17–18). How Paul would have loved to be free to preach the Word and defend the faith—but he was in a Roman prison. It was up to Timothy to get the job done.
But there was one man who dared to leave Ephesus and come to Rome to assist Paul—Onesiphorus. His name means “profit-bearing,” and he certainly was a profitable friend to Paul. It is possible that he was a deacon in the church at Ephesus (“ministered” in 2 Tim. 1: comes from the word that gives us “deacon”). During Paul’s ministry at Ephesus, Onesiphorus was a faithful minister, along with his household. Since Timothy had pastored the Ephesian church, he would know this choice saint.
Let me add here that every pastor is thankful for those faithful members who assist him in the work of the Lord. My wife and I have found choice saints in each of the three churches we have served—people whose homes were open to us (and they didn’t tell the whole church we were there!), whose hearts felt our burdens and needs, and whose prayers sustained us in difficult times. These believers minister behind the scenes, but the Lord will reward them openly “in that day” (2 Tim. 1:18).
Onesiphorus traveled from Ephesus to Rome and diligently looked for Paul so he might minister to the prisoner’s needs. It seemed difficult for him to find his former pastor (2 Tim. 1:17). Perhaps some of the Roman Christians were still opposed to Paul as they had been during his first imprisonment (see Phil. 1:12–17). Perhaps the Roman officials were not cooperative and did not want their choice prisoner to receive any help. In his first imprisonment, Paul was in his own house (Acts 28:30), but now he was in a Roman prison under careful guard.
But Onesiphorus persisted! He located Paul and risked his own life to stand with him and assist him. Some students believe that Onesiphorus was also arrested and possibly executed. They base this on the fact that Paul greeted the “household of Onesiphorus” in 2 Timothy 4:19, but not the man himself. Also, Paul asked for present mercies for the household, but future mercies for Onesiphorus (2 Tim. 1:16, 18).
But the problem is this: If Onesiphorus was dead, then Paul prayed for the dead (2 Tim. 1:18), and we have no authorization in the Bible to pray for the dead.
We have no proof that Onesiphorus was dead when Paul wrote this letter. The fact that Paul asked God to bless the man’s household, but that he did not mention the man, simply means that at the time Onesiphorus was not with his household. “When he was in Rome” (2 Tim. 1:17) suggests that, at that writing, Onesiphorus was not in Rome.
Therefore, he was somewhere between Rome and Ephesus, so Paul prayed for him and his household. There was no need to greet Onesiphorus, for Paul had just spent much time with him, so Paul only greeted his household.
Onesiphorus was not ashamed of Paul’s chain. The apostle was manacled to a Roman soldier twenty-four hours a day. Onesiphorus could have invented many excuses for staying in Ephesus. But instead he made the dangerous journey to Rome and ministered to Paul. “He often refreshed me” was Paul’s description of this man’s ministry. The Greek word means “to cool again.” “Bracing me like fresh air” is the way the Amplified Bible translated it. How we thank God for Christians who are “a breath of fresh air” in our hours of trial!
Were it not for Paul’s letter, we would never know that Onesiphorus had served Paul and the church. But the Lord knew and will reward him “on that day.”
The essentials for a successful ministry have not changed: courageous enthusiasm, shameless suffering, and spiritual loyalty.