Three Mighty Models of Manhood (Part 2)

Last week I asked the question, what is a man? I made the point that there is a male identity crisis in our culture.
What is a man? Is it Charlie Sheen who boasts to have had sex with over 5,000 women? (Would you support this man by watching his show, Spin City?) Is it David Crosby, who is the sperm doner for Melissa Etheridge’s and her woman lover Julie Cypher children? How about Mike Tyson who said recently that if he wasn’t on Loloft he would be killing nearly everyone in sight! What is a man? We are living in a day of great misunderstanding of manhood. Look at the President in our White House who does not know what the definition of “IS,” is, or what defines SEX. My friends, these are dangerous days to grow up in and there are many land mines that we can walk on that can easily destroy us in a moment of time.
Last week we did part one of this message, and we covered these three points relating to Paul and Timothy:
Joyful Consecration
Pure Christ-centeredness
Unselfish Compassion
Let's uncover three more traits of mighty men from the lives of Timothy and Epaphroditus:
4. Tested Character,
Timothy’s character was proven and found reliable, tried and true. Timothy was a man of Genuine Integrity, v.22.
Phil. 2:22, Ye know the proof of him, that, as a son with the father, he hath served with me in the gospel.
Timothy had been put to the test and he was proven true. He was a man of tested character and sincere integrity. The word PROOF has the idea of tested through trial.
You see, if the gold is going to be pure, it must pass through the fire. If the fruit tree is going to bear fruit, it must be pruned and cut. We are anxious to be successful, but are we willing to be tested? We are anxious to be fruitful, but are we willing to be pruned and pass through the fire?
Romans 5:3,4; We glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; and patience, experience; and experience, hope.
The word “experience” is the same as “proof.” Timothy had experienced tribulations that built patience that resulted in PROVEN CHARACTER. That proven character, that experience, gave him hope, and the hope gave him boldness in his faith!
Success over the long haul is not built on IMAGE but INTEGRITY and character. Is your private life consistent with your public image? A real man is not one way in public and another in private; not one thing at church and another thing at home. A real man is consistent and not a hypocrite and has a character that has been tested.
Prov.10:9, He that walketh uprightly walketh surely: but he that perverteth his ways shall be known.
Timothy proved his character in two ways:
? HE SUBMITS, Paul says, as a son with a father…
? He SERVES: he served in the Gospel.
The person of integrity is a humble, submissive servant. I like what Warren Wiersbe says, “The submissive mind is not the product of an hour’s sermon, or a week’s seminar, or even a year’s service. The submissive mind grows in us as, like Timothy, we yield to the Lord and seek to serve others.”
We should be willing to submit to others and serve for the sake of the Good News, the Gospel.
There comes a day in all of our lives when our character will be tested. What we are will come out. We must have a heart of character so that we will demonstrate honesty, integrity, and truth in our daily lives.
Illus.: I read recently about Thomas Druce, a State Representative in Pennsylvania. On July 27, 1999 he hit and killed a man named Kenneth Cains, in Harrisburg, PA in a hit and run accident. He been at a party, may have been drunk, and was with a woman who was not his wife. The next day he submit a false claim to his insurance company saying he had an accident on the PA turnpike, to give himself an allibi that he was not in Harrisburg. Just a few days later, on August 3, he signed a new lease on another car. He was trying to get as far away from the murder vehicle as possible. He thought the coast was clear, but in late December, early January, the police receive a tip that Cains was killed by a car driven by Druce and on January 18th, they find the old Cherokee Druce was driving when he killed Cains and it was found to have the blood, skin, and hair, and fabric from Cains. At first Druce pleaded innocent, but this past week, on Sept. 11th, he pleaded guilty to charges of leaving the scene of a fatal accident, insurance fraud, and tampering with evidence.
My friends, we need me who will be of sure character.
5. Willing Cooperation, v.25
Epaphroditus, whose name means “charming,” worked with Paul. He cooperated with others in the cause of Christ. He was not out for his selfish cause, or secondary causes, but God’s sovereign cause.
The Christian life is a FAMILY life, we must LIVE TOGETHER. Paul calls Epaphroditus his brother. A family provides protection and identity to every child. We are children of God and members of the same family! We are brothers and sisters in Christ. We are children of God and members one of another. We are a part of the “household of God” (Eph.2:19). Galatians 6:10 says we are a part of the “household of faith.” Sometimes family members disagree, but family members work things out and still love one another, protect one another, and look out for one another.
We are in the same FELLOWSHIP, we must WORK TOGETHER and we have a common job. We have a work to do. We are citizens of the same kingdom and we are workers together of the same company, God’s Church. We have fellowship one with another because the blood of Jesus Christ his son cleanseth us from all sin. You should love your Lord and love what He loves. Do you know what Jesus loves? His church! I find people are so quick to leave a church. Why is that? They are not loving the church.
We are in the same FIGHT, we must fight TOGETHER for we are all fighting the Devil, this world system, and even against our own flesh. We must realize that we must contend for the faith. We must fight against the enemies of the Gospel and fight for our Savior and His cause. We have a conflict to engage in.
We are in the same family, we have the same cause, and we are engaged in the same conflict. We are not fighting against one another! Put down your weapons against the people of God and let’s fight against the enemy!
A cooperative person does not always get his way. He is willing to do what others may not want to do. HE does not have his own agenda. These words emphasize to us the balance of Ephaproditus’ life. He was not so into fellowship that he forgot he was in a fight. He was not always fighting because he realized he was in a family and had responsibilities within the family of God.
Joyful Consecration Pure Christ-centeredness Unselfish Compassion Proven Character Willing Cooperation
6. Undaunted Courage, v.26-30
Paul is in the Roman prison, and Epaphroditus took the offering from the Philippians and travels 800 miles by foot and when he got to Rome he was almost dead with sickness.
Men, we must struggle against the weakness of our flesh. Real manhood does not give in to the flesh, real men realize their flesh is weak, but God can heal us and make us strong.
? Physically, he was SICK.
This word for sick is used for Dorcas (Acts 9:37) and Lazarus (John 11:4) and they both died! It is also used of some in the Bible who were sick and became healed (Acts 19:12) like the impotent man at the Pool of Bethesda. Ephaphroditus got a major illness. He courageously put the cause of Christ before comfort. He put service about self, and sacrifice above his own security. He was a man with the mind of Christ for he thought on the things of others (Phil.2:4).
? Emotionally, he was DISTRESSED, but not for himself.
When he was sick in Rome he was more concerned about how the people of Philippi would take his sickness than he was concerned over his own sickness, v.26. The phrase “full of heaviness” is a very strong word that means he was bewildered and deeply troubled. This was used in the New Testament only to describe the heavy distress that Jesus experienced in the Garden of Gethsemane.
Matt.26:37 Jesus…”began to be sorrowful and very heavy.” Mark 14:33 Jesus was “sore amazed, and very heavy.”
? Spiritually, he was a RISKTAKER
He was a spiritual risk-taker, he laid down his life for the cause of Christ, not regarding his life is literally the idea of risking his life for Christ. He is in a small brotherhood of believers; those who dared all for Jesus Christ.
Not regarding his life is a great little phrase in the original language for it paints so many pictures for us. Like a gambler, he exposed himself to danger in a very high risk situation. Like a fighter, for the sake of the Gospel, he exposed himself to danger in the arena. Like a friend, he took up the cause of his friends to represent their cause.
Do you know that it is in the human spirit to gamble. Everyone likes to gamble, but not everyone gambles on the right things. We should be willing to risk our lives for the SOVEREIGN cause of Jesus Christ!
Paul says, hold him in the highest honor. That is a real man, a man of God. You see, there are many who are not willing to do the work of Christ without regard for their own life. Epaphroditus was willing to step up to the plate because others were not willing to risk their lives. He voluntarily gave himself as a living sacrifice. The only problem with a living sacrifice is we can crawl off the altar. On Sunday we sing, Onward Christian Soldiers and on Monday we go AWOL.
Paul and Barnabas, Acts 15:26, Men that have hazarded their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Aquilla and his wife Pricilla, Romans 16:4, Who have for my life laid down their own necks: unto him not only I give thanks, but also all the churches of the Gentiles.
Believers saved during the Tribulation, Rev.12:11, And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.
I know a lot of men who are great starters. They start out great but they are not willing to pay the price of holiness, the price of patience, the price of sickness. John Mark was such a man who went out on that first missionary journey but he turned back and “departed from them and went not with them to the work.” (Acts 15:38) Or Demas who forsook Paul, “having loved this present world.” 2 Tim.4:10 Or others who get involved in the work of the Lord with the motives of Diotrophes, “who loveth to have the preeminence among them.” 3 John 9
This city is full of people who have taken huge risks. Some have risked their fortunes to come to make it in Broadway or movie fame and many others risk their money on Wall Street. But what if a person spends their last penny to come to NYC and then makes it famous in Theatre. What does it really matter at the end of life? What does it matter if someone puts their last penny on a Tech Stock and they strike it rich? What does it matter in the end of life if life is not first lived for the cause of Christ?
There is no greater risk to take, no greater adventure to make than a life lived for Jesus Christ.
Mark 8:34,35 Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it, but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel’s, the same shall save it. For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?
Do you want to live? Then go for broke for Jesus Christ! Lay it on the line for Christ and you will know what it is to really live.
Illus. David Livingstone: He heard Robert Moffat give a message on the need to get the Gospel to Africa. “I have sometimes seen, in the morning sun, the smoke of a thousand villages where no missionary has ever been.”
When Livingstone was in Mabotsa, lions were terrifying the villagers. Livingstone knew that if he could kill one of the lions, the others would flee. So, taking his gun and telling the people to bring their spears, he led the villagers on a lion hunt in which he almost lost his life. He saw an enormous lion and fired both barrels. While reloading, the lion suddenly sprang toward him. He said of the attack, “The lion caught me by the shoulder and we both came to the ground together. Growling horribly, he shook me as a terrier dog does a rat.” Seeing several natives approaching to attack him, the lion sprang on two others, biting one in the thigh and the other in the shoulder. At that moment, the bullets in the great beast took effect and he fell dead. Livingstone had 11 toothmarks as permanent scarsand the bone at the top of his left arm was crushed. While his arm was healing, however, he met Robert Moffat’s oldest daughter, Mary, and they fell in love and were married. Livingstone traveled thousands of miles, suffered over 30 attacks of fever or malaria, and suffered other things, yet he said, “Cannot the love of Christ carry the missionary where the slave trade carries the trader?”
One day at the end of his life, broken with disease, Livingstone was praying. Very early in the morning, a man came to see the “Great White Doctor” so that he could visit their village, but the man keeping watch said, “The White Doctor is ill. Besides, he is praying to his God and must not be disturbed.” After a while, other men came to see the Great missionary, but the watcher again said, “He is praying beside his cot. Let us not disturb him now. Just at dawn another delegation arrived to see Dr. Livingstone. Looking into the hut, the watcher of Livingstone’s hut , seeing his him still on his knees, went into his tent and realized that his soul had departed. He died in the act of prayer, and his last words were words of prayer!
What a man of courage! Consecration! Christ-centeredness! Compassion! Character! Cooperation!
Beloved, God wants our local church to make a difference. You say, Oh, our church is not big enough to make a difference. WHAT? The size of our church has no bearing on the size of our influence. It is not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, saith the Lord. We will make a difference when we are filled with the Spirit and walking in the Spirit. You say, we don’t have a building, so we cannot influence others for God in our city.
In Ephesus, Paul started with about 12 men in a rented meeting place and all Asia heard the word of the Lord Jesus. God can use us here for that purpose.