Ministries that Matter: Service in the Shadows

 

COLERAINE EVANGELICAL CHURCH

SERMON NOTES SUNDAY 1 NOVEMBER 2026 – PASTOR HENRY CASKEY

2 Timothy 1 verses 8 to 18

The Apostle Paul here was writing to the young man Timothy. Paul is in a prison house. He's writing to Timothy. Timothy is going to take up the mantle and he's going to go forth to preach the gospel. And so Paul is writing to give him a little bit of instructions. Then as we come to the close of the chapter here, we find that Paul takes up another name and he speaks to Timothy in a very endearing way about this person.

There are many notable characters in the scriptures. Those notable characters that we often turn to just to read about them and study them in our own times. And we turn to them time after time. We think of Abraham whenever he got that call of God to bring them out of the land of the Chaldees. My, his ear was tuned in to God's word. That's a tremendous thing because there he was living in an idolatrous society if you like. But yet this was a man who had an ear for God. And you know in these days in which we're living, we need to have that ear for God, we need to be listening to God's word. We need to be listening for his direction. We need to be listening to what he has to say for us in these days. I think of Moses. Do you remember how Moses was born into that little humble Hebrew family? And there he found himself being reared in the palace of Pharaoh. Do you remember there how he was led then out into the wilderness and how he spent 40 years in the wilderness and at that little burning bush on that particular day he was challenged by God? God had a great purpose for him. He was to go down into Egypt. He was to bring the people the children of Israel out of Egypt from the under the bondage that they felt there. So we study these men. We think of the prophets like Elijah and Elisha and how the mighty deeds that they did through the Old Testament scriptures. We come to the New Testament. We think of the likes of John the Baptist, the forerunner of the Lord Jesus Christ. We think of this man that we're reading about here, the apostle Paul. And so, these are all great and notable characters, and they're characters that we know well and we are able to name them. But you know, there's one character here, and it's to him that I want to turn to this morning just for a moment or two because I believe there's a character here that every fellowship really needs and needs perhaps many of them. We read about him here in in in the verse 16 Onesiphorus. We read about the type of character that he was. He's maybe not so well known. The name maybe just doesn't come to you day and day. It maybe just doesn't roll off the tongue like the others do.

The first thing I want to think of - see the concerns that this man had. Paul is writing to Timothy here and he's speaking about a situation that he finds himself in here. You might say Paul was in a bad place. Paul is in a Roman prison here, but more than that, look how he feels in verse number 15. It says, "Thou knowest that all they which are in Asia be turned away from me." That's the place that Paul finds himself and he's in a Roman prison. Yes. But he feels now that everybody has turned away from him. No other names are given here. These two seem to be the ring leaders. Phygellus and Hermogenes. They seem to be the ring leaders here. These two seem to be the worst. They are named here. Is the reason that they're named here? Maybe Paul thought more of them. Maybe Paul felt that these were two men had his back so to speak. Maybe Paul thought what you could go to at any time and find help with them and find comfort with them and find encouragement with them. But here they seem to have turned their backs and turned away. And Paul seems to have felt that everyone has turned away. Some of the commentators seem to think, well, Paul didn't mean all had turned away from him, but he meant those who he thought would have stood by him had turned away from him. And that's how Paul's feeling here at this moment in time. And that's what brings this man's name to him, Onesiphorus. That's why he's commending him now to Timothy. He wants to speak a word or two here about this man. And it's good for us to look at him here this morning. The concerns that this man had. This man had a concern in his heart for the apostle Paul. He was thinking about him and he had a concern for him. Perhaps maybe we can feel like that at times, don't we? Maybe we feel sometimes just the way the apostle Paul felt in this Roman prison. Maybe feeling that he's on his own. Maybe you feel that you're on your own this morning. Maybe you feel that others have let you down. Maybe you feel that others have failed you. Maybe you thought to yourself, "Well, someone should have stood up for me, but nobody has done that." And maybe like Paul, that's where you feel today. You're feeling that somebody should have stepped up and got behind you and supported you and said something, but they didn't do that. Paul is maybe speaking not just so much of this particular time, but he's maybe speaking about a time before that. Maybe he's alluding to a time in the past in Ephesus when he wrote to Timothy in chapter 4 in the verse 16. He says, "At my  first answer, no man stood with me. But all men," he's back to this again. He says, "But all men forsook me." That's a terrible state to be in, isn't it? To feel that you haven't anyone. Do you remember the psalmist said one day? He said he looked on his left hand then on his right hand and said, "No man cared for my soul." That's the way the psalmist felt. He says, "No man cared for my soul." Didn't matter where he was at, no man cared for him. But you know, at such a time here, the apostle Paul was encouraged because we read in 2 Timothy 4 and verse 17, after thinking that all had forsaken him, here's what Paul says. He says, "Notwithstanding, the Lord stood with me. The Lord stood with me and he strengthened me that by me the preaching might be fully known." You see, what was Paul saying? The Lord never lets us down. He never fails us. Paul was standing there before Nero, if you like, and my he looked around about him and he thought to himself, "Oh, someone will stand up and give a word of testimony for me." He looked to someone else, but they weren't there either. He says, "They've all forsaken me." But then he realized, but he says, "The Lord didn't forsake me. The Lord stood with me. The Lord strengthened me." And that's what we find, isn't it? Maybe sometimes when you go to the doctors and you get an examination and maybe it is not the word that you wanted to get and you have to come home and you have to break that news and there you're sitting in the corner and somehow you feel you're so isolated. The Lord stood by me, Paul says. And those are the times when the Lord stands by. Those times of difficulty, those times of trouble. Do you remember Daniel whenever he was cast into the lion's den? Do you remember how he was sitting praying? This is the very trap that the governors and the politicians and the rulers set for Daniel. They couldn't find anything against him, his character or anything else against him. And so they decided the only way that we'd get this this man is through his faith in God. And sure enough, by the end of the king and they said to the king, "Let's make a ruling that no one is allowed to pray to any other god except the king." See, they knew that Daniel wouldn't stand for that.

And so when they went into Daniel's room, what did they find? They found Daniel sitting on his knees praying. They lifted him. They arrested him. They took him to the king. They asked “did we not make a ruling on this?” And the king says, "Yes, we did.” It might have grieved the king, but he had to go through with it." And Daniel was taken and he was cast into the lion's den. But can you imagine Daniel for a moment or two? Can you imagine him just being lifted from that bedroom and taken there to the king and then been taken down to the lion's den. Maybe every step of the way he was waiting for the Lord to step in. But when the stone was rolled back and Daniel was dropped in, what did he find? He found it was there that the Lord stepped in. The Lord stepped in and he closed the lion's mouth at that very moment in time. Sometimes we have prayed on many occasions “Lord would you step in” and it doesn't happen but when you're right there in the very thick of the darkness that's when the Lord steps in to help out. Paul found that. Paul is pointing now to this man Onesiphorus. It's as if as Paul is saying to Timothy, he says, "Do you remember him whenever we were in Ephesus? Do you remember how he ministered to us in Ephesus?" Well, you know, he's still like that today. And he's writing here about him. This this man was often coming to the visit him. Look at verse number 18 "The Lord grant unto him that he may find mercy of the Lord in that day. And in how many things he ministered unto me at Ephesus, thou knowest very well." Oh, this was a man of character. This man had a great concern. He didn't desert the apostle Paul in times of trouble. He was on his mind all the time. He was thinking of the apostle Paul. Then in verse number 17, it tells us "But when he was in Rome, he sought me out." Imagine Paul's feeling here. He's in a prison house and all men have forsaken me and then the prison door opens up and who steps in but this man Onesiphorus. He was so concerned about the Apostle Paul. You know, to me that's a great challenge this morning. Have I got that concern? Have you got that concern?  Maybe someone who used to frequent the church. Maybe someone who came along to the church faithfully and well and they've dropped off. Do we need to go and look for them again? Do we need to go and throw an arm around their shoulder? Do we need to go and apologize about something? Do we need to go and say, "I'm sorry here." Maybe sometimes that's what the Lord calls us to do. We need that concern for others. Concerned to think about them, concerned to pray for them, to let them know that they're in our thoughts. The concern this man had.

I want you to notice something else about this man. I want you to notice the challenge of this man, you see. The concern he had is now replaced by a challenge. This man is now saying to himself, "Well, what can I do about it?” Perhaps he hasn't heard of the apostle Paul for some time. Perhaps the apostle Paul is, if you like, has dropped off the radar. He's lost touch with him. He's lost contact with them. The last he heard was that he was down in Rome. And the last he heard that he was in a spot of trouble. And the last he heard maybe that he was in a prison house. But what about the challenge? The challenge comes this morning. What do we do about it? You see, you and I could sit here and we could be concerned about people, but what about the challenge? Are we ready to say to the Lord here this morning, Lord, is there something that I can do about this situation? Is there something that you can lead me to do to bring good out of this situation? I think of in Acts chapter 18. Do you remember whenever the apostle Paul comes to Corinth and there he meets a couple and they had to flee from their home. Do you remember Aquilla and Priscilla? They had to flee from their own their home under persecution and they came down to Corinth. They are just I suppose if you like, getting on with life but they weren't thinking about themselves, they weren't thinking about hard dumb by they were, no. The apostle Paul comes to Corinth and they're concerned about him. They are concerned about this evangelist that's come to Corinth to preach the word of God. But not only were they concerned, they were challenged because what can we do about this? How's he going to fend for himself? Where's he going to live? What's he going to do? And what did they do? They brought them into their own home. They shared their home with them. They shared their employment with them because the apostle Paul worked with them in those days. You see how they were so concerned but the concern came to a challenge. And we can be concerned. You see, Onesiphorus was concerned. Perhaps he hadn't heard from the apostle Paul for a while. But when this man now came to Rome, maybe he was in Rome on business. It tells us here in verse17, “but when he was in Rome”. That's where Paul was. He was in a prison house. He says, "When Onesiphorus was in Rome." He wasn't so busy that he couldn't look up Paul. And sometimes we can be so busy, can't we? But can we be so busy as not to look up people and seek people out? You see this man realized that he had an opportunity. He maybe came down to Rome on business. Maybe he was down visiting relatives. It doesn't tell us that. Paul just simply says, "When this man was in Rome.” What did he do? He looked me up. “He sought me out very diligently.” This man realized that he had an opportunity to do something for the Apostle Paul. You know, God saves us but what can we do this morning? What task can we do this morning? Do we use our opportunities? Have we wasted opportunities in this past week? Maybe God has brought someone to our mind this past week. Maybe God has brought into our thoughts someone that we used to know, but we have left that undone this morning. We didn't go to them. You know, it's one thing to sit in the prayer meeting and to pray about people, about the situation they are in. That's concern but then the challenge is in that same prayer to be saying to the Lord, “Lord, what can I do about it?” Can you lead me into a situation where I can help? Are we concerned enough? Are we challenged enough to reach out and just to make that little bit of an effort? It's not to preach a sermon. You have a word of testimony. It can be a very simple task. Matthew 20 verses 24 and 25 talks about the judging of the nations. You remember how the Lord Jesus Christ spoke to them? Remember he had the goats and he had the sheep. And you remember how he said there “I was a stranger and you didn't take me in, you left me out.” He says, "I was hungry and you didn't give me anything to eat." He says, "I was thirsty and you didn't give me anything to drink." He says, "I was in the prison and you didn't visit me." And the reply comes back “Lord, when did we see you in prison? When did we see you a stranger and leave you at the street? When did we see you hungry?” And the Lord says, "To the least of my followers, to the least of my disciples you didn't do it to them. You didn't do it to me." And then he turned to the sheep. He was welcoming them into the kingdom. He says, "You know, I was a stranger and you took me in." He says, "I was hungry and you fed me." He says, "I was thirsty and you gave me to drink." He says, "I was in prison and you came there and you visited me." And they were so surprised. They said, "Lord, when did we do all that?" He says, "Every time you did it to the least of one of my followers, you did it to me." But you remember how he said, "A cup of cold water given in my name shall not lose its reward." It's not always the big things, you know. It's not always the great things. What can I do? Is there something simple that I can do just for that person down the street? Just for that person around the corner, just for that person who used to sit in the prayer meeting? Just for that person who used to sit in front of me on a Sunday morning and they're no longer here now. Lord, what can I do about that?” Is there something that you have me to do? You see, that's the challenge. That's more than a concern now. That's the challenge this morning. You know, Bartimaeus that blind man in Jericho, he sat just on the highway begging. Sitting with his little bowl every day begging. The people walked past and the dust came into his face. He's sitting there. Such a pitiful sight. And then one day he hears the commotion just up the street but he can't see what's happening. He can hear it. And there's something different about this day. He cries out "What meaneth the noise?" And someone come over to him and says, "Bartimaeus, it's Jesus that's passing this way. He's on this route.” Imagine that person. He took time to come to this old beggar sitting in the street and to tell him the most wonderful news that ever would come to his ears. He says, "Jesus of Nazareth, he's on this route. He's coming right past you." That man, that woman, whoever it was, took time to come to Bartimaeus and to do that. It wasn't much. Sure, it wasn't. I think of the woman with the issue of blood and there for 12 years she suffered. For 12 years she suffered with every doctor and every physician that she could manage to find but they could do nothing for her whatsoever. And for 12 years she suffered. She was a total outcast. She was in poverty. She spent everything that she had but she was nothing better. And then she heard of Jesus. I wonder who told her? Just a simple little word. Maybe someone said to her, "You know, I've heard that he has done this for somebody. Why not come along?" And there she come in the street one day where Jesus was and the crowd was there, but she pushed through and she just touched the hem of his garment and right away she was healed of that plague. I wonder who told her, who spoke to her about Jesus?

I see something else about this this man. - I see something of the continuance of him. Look what it says in verse number 17 ”But when he was in Rome, he sought me out very diligently.” The interpretation of the word “diligently” is eagerly. He searched me out eagerly. Now according to some of the commentators there were many prisons in Rome at this particular time. Can you imagine Paul been locked up in one of them? And don't forget what he has already said. “All men have forsaken me.” I wonder why they forsook him. Maybe perhaps they didn't like the stand that he was taking. Maybe they thought that his preaching was getting people in high places annoyed and they were afraid of being arrested. So they took a step back from the apostle Paul. They weren't just as to the forefront now and they stepped back from him. I couldn't  imagine that they're too eagerly coming forward to give this man any help as to where Paul was because they wouldn't have wanted anything to do with him. Onesiphorus had to go around the prisons. He had to go around the streets, if you like. It is going to take a continuous search. This wasn't just a one off here. He was going to have to keep at it. He was going to have to keep looking and keep pressing on and keep working. This man had to patiently tramp around the streets just inquiring perhaps in every prison and no doubt he was misled from time to time. I would think that about the guards at the prisons because I'm sure those guards at the prison, they would have expected maybe something in a financial reward just for any information they could give about the apostle Paul. I'm sure he was maybe misled from time to time. Maybe some maybe some guard would have said, "No, he's not in this prison. He's in the other one." And off he would go again to another prison. He would knock the door and ask “do you have this man” and the reply would come back “no we don't have him here.” No doubt this man had to continue tramping the streets. He would not give up. He continued on walking. He continued on searching. He continued on knocking. He continued on asking. He wasn't going to give up. We need that spirit, don't we? You and I need that. We need that spirit of continuance. That whenever we look into our family circles, that no matter how often we have invited them to meetings, how often we have sat and prayed for them, done so much for them and yet somehow we don't see any change. We need to keep at it. We need to continue. I'm sure prisons weren't a very healthy place to be visiting either. These guards would have been ruthless men, but we've got to keep at it. Just like Onesiphorus. He wasn't going to give in whatsoever. Do you remember how the Lord Jesus Christ spoke in Luke's gospel chapter 18? Can you imagine there that widow woman coming and who's she coming to? The Lord says she's coming to an unjust judge. He's going around the circuit and he's sorting out whatever bits of difficulty and problems there are. This lady comes with a problem and  somehow the unjust judge doesn't want to be bothered with it. But there she is time and time and time again, right where he sees her. And you remember what he says? He says, "Lest she weary me, I'll give in." But you remember the Lord says, "We don't come to an unjust judge." When you and I bow our knees to pray, when you and I lift up our loved ones to God this morning, we don't come to an unjust judge. We come to a loving heavenly Father who's waiting to hear our prayers and to answer them. Not sometimes in the way that we expected, but he answers prayer

The comfort here that he brought. You can almost feel the apostle Paul's heart here. He's speaking here to Timothy. "Timothy, you know the situation I'm in. I'm in prison here. You know the situation that the everyone has forsaken me. Everyone has turned away from me. But the other day, the prison door opened up and who was there? It was only Onesiphorus and he was allowed in to speak to me. And the encouragement that that brought me …” Do you remember the apostle Paul on one occasion he was concerned about the church in Corinth and we read 2 Corinthians 7 verse 6 “nevertheless God that comforts those that are cast down, comforted us by the coming of Titus.” Sometimes someone comes to our home and they sit down with us and they talk to us for a while and have a cup of tea or a cup of coffee or whatever the case may be. And, you know, they go away and you think to yourself, "Wasn't that wonderful? That was just a real a real lovely thing." I believe that's how Paul was feeling. He came in and he spoke to Paul. That's just what Paul needed. Maybe there's someone this week and perhaps they are not going to see too many this week. And maybe just for you to knock the door and to go in and sit with them for a while - maybe that's all they're looking for. Maybe that would bring great joy to them. It's a challenge, isn't it? The comfort that was brought to this man. Can you imagine the comfort that was brought to the widows in Tabitha's day? She had passed away and she was laid out upon the bed and the widows were all gathered around and they're all standing with the garments that this dear lady had prepared for them whenever she was living.  Maybe she felt it wasn't that much. But I tell you, it must have been a great deal to those widow women because there they were when she had passed away, standing around and the evidence of this woman's life was in their hands. The comfort that she brought. What about you and me today? Every fellowship needs an Onesiphorus. Every fellowship maybe needs one or two of them with those concerns, with that challenge, with that continuing spirit in their heart, with that comfort that they bring because they're not coming on their own. They are coming in the power of the Holy Spirit. And that's what we need this morning. Are we ready this morning? Are we ready to say, "Here  I am Lord." Not just to leave the building. Not just to say it was a good meeting, but to be ready this morning to say, "Lord, here am I. This is the morning that I've been challenged. This is the morning that I want to surrender my life, my all to you this morning.”