Steve DeWitt 11/9/21 Steve DeWitt 11/9/21

Multiply Thyself

By Steve DeWitt

Timothy’s mother was Jewish, his father was a Greek. Immediately, Timothy looks like an unlikely candidate for someone to multiply into. First, his parents’ marriage was outside Old Testament law. In that day, to minister the gospel to Jews meant that you had to be in basic compliance with Old Testament law. Timothy had not been circumcised and the fact that he had a Greek father was common knowledge. Further, he was the son of a woman who married a Gentile.

By Steve DeWitt

Click the picture to listen to Part 1 of the two part message by Pastor Steve.

““Paul came also to Derbe and to Lystra. A disciple was there, named Timothy, the son of a Jewish woman who was a believer, but his father was a Greek. He was well spoken of by the brothers at Lystra and Iconium. Paul wanted Timothy to accompany him, and he took him and circumcised him because of the Jews who were in those places, for they all knew that his father was a Greek.” (Acts 16:1-3 ESV)

It would have been easy for Paul to say, Too much baggage. I’ll pass and look for someone more perfect. He didn’t – for the same reason that Samuel had to pass on all David’s brothers and learn that God looks at the heart. Paul was a multiplier and multipliers can see past the exterior to the heart. How did Paul multiply himself in Timothy?

Instruction

Paul taught Timothy. As they walked and travelled, he taught him. There’s no better example of this than the letters we call 1 and 2 Timothy. They are filled with practical pastoral exhortations. Do this. Don’t do that. Remember this. Don’t forget that. There was no doubt who the teacher was and who the student was.

By the way, this says a lot about Timothy. To be a Timothy you have to have a learner’s spirit and he did this with a man whose weaknesses he knew all too well by living with him. Yet, Timothy was a learner. An apprentice. Multiplication requires teachers with a willingness to share and students with a willingness to learn.

This is an interesting concept, but I don’t know what my part is in this. Every one of us ought to be a multiplier. Think of all the opportunities you have. Men, if you are a husband, talk to other men who are about to become husbands. Help them understand all the blessings of welcoming a woman into their life. I’m all ears right now. Or how about teaching the younger men about what it means to be a man? Is that needed in our culture today? How are young men going to learn to be masculine, spiritual men? As J.C. Ryle says in his book, Thoughts to Young Men, “Young men become mature men by standing next to them.”

And ladies, the same goes for you. Older women should be teaching the younger women. That’s another biblical principle. There’s a Barnabas kind of spirit in a church that is healthy where I am willingly looking for opportunities and people to bless. It’s not like “Hey, I’m Paul, you want to be my Timothy?” Don’t do that. Just be yourself and build relationships with people where you can possibly invest in them.

Opportunities

As they went on their way through the cities, they delivered to them for observance the decisions that had been reached by the apostles and elders who were in Jerusalem. So the churches were strengthened in the faith, and they increased in numbers daily. (Acts 16:4ff.)

I wouldn’t make too much of a pronoun but notice that it says, they delivered to them the decisions. No doubt Paul took the lead. But “they” hints at this point. Timothy was given opportunities to do ministry. How do Timothys become Pauls? By watching and learning and having opportunities to serve under the watchful eye of the multiplier. Can you hear Paul and Timothy debriefing? Timothy says, “How did you think I conducted myself in Lystra?” (learner’s spirit) Paul says, “Well, I think….”

A huge part of multiplying ourselves is giving others opportunity. Clearly, there was a period of time where they served together. They ministered together in Galatia, Mysia, Troas, Phillippi and Berea. (Acts 16-17) Then they get to Athens and here’s a key moment: Paul sends Timothy on his own to Thessalonica. Now Timothy was flying solo on a project. Later they were together again, but Timothy continues to take on more responsibility. Later he would be in Corinth and Ephesus and he was sent into Macedonia. You don’t need to know the geography; what do you hear? Paul brought him along with increased opportunity and responsibility.

Affirmation

My true child in the faith. (1 Timothy 1:2)
My beloved child. (2 Timothy 1:2)
I thank God whom I serve, as did my ancestors, with a clear conscience, as I remember you constantly in my prayers night and day. (2 Timothy 1:3)

Timothy knew that in Paul he had someone who was totally for him. The language here may make some of us men a little uncomfortable. I think this is the most important part of multiplication and one we have to get right. There is a reason the Son of Encouragement, Barnabas, goes down as one of the great multipliers. Encouragement and personal affirmation of love is what ultimately does the multiplying. We all know this. When we think of the people who have made the most positive difference in our lives, not one of them failed to encourage us and make it clear that they believed in us.

Healthy churches multiply themselves and healthy Christians do as well. God has called all of us to make disciples, to multiply what we have received from Christ through the gospel by the Spirit into others. This will happen as we identify our Timothys, instruct them, give them opportunities, and affirm to them that we love them.

© 2021 by Steve DeWitt. You are permitted and encouraged to reproduce and distribute this material in any format provided that: (1) you credit the author, (2) any modifications are clearly marked, (3) you do not charge a fee beyond the cost of reproduction, (4) you include The Journey (theJourney.fm) or Bethel Church (www.bethelweb.org) website address on the copied resource.

Steve DeWitt is senior pastor of Bethel Church in Northwest Indiana, Founder and Teaching Pastor for the media/radio ministry The Journey, and a Council member of The Gospel Coalition. He is also the author of Eyes Wide Open: Enjoying God in Everything. He and his wife, Jennifer, have two girls.

Steve DeWitt 11/9/21 Steve DeWitt 11/9/21

The Spirit Empowers us for Gospel Witness

By Steve DeWitt

Jesus’ disciples were filled with the Spirit at Pentecost. (Acts 2:4) Peter was filled with the Spirit in his response to the Jewish leaders. (Acts 4:8) In Acts 4:31, after prayer, the disciples were filled with the Spirit and emboldened in their witness, “And when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness.” And Paul was filled with the Spirit prior to speaking against Sergius. (Acts 13:9)

By Steve DeWitt

Jesus’ disciples were filled with the Spirit at Pentecost. (Acts 2:4)

Peter was filled with the Spirit in his response to the Jewish leaders. (Acts 4:8) In Acts 4:31, after prayer, the disciples were filled with the Spirit and emboldened in their witness, “And when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness.” And Paul was filled with the Spirit prior to speaking against Sergius. (Acts 13:9)

In each case, it describes empowerment by the Spirit as the “filling of the Spirit.” This is an often misunderstood term because it sounds like we are getting more of the Spirit somehow, like we are a jar and he is “filling” it.

The idea of the Greek word is completeness (πληρου̂σθε). “To be full with nothing left; to have something entirely.” “Fill” would seem to indicate that when we are filled that we have more of the Holy Spirit than when we are not filled. Or that we can be half full or three quarters full. The Holy Spirit is not a liquid; he is a person. Filling doesn’t mean that he gives us more of himself or that we have more of the Spirit. If we are a Christian, we have all of the Spirit. He indwells us at the moment of our regeneration. The issue with filling is not how much of him do we have, but how much of us does he have?

How can we be “filled” so that we can be empowered? As we surrender our natural fears of men and their opinions to God’s will, our will becomes increasingly aligned with God’s will and the Spirit enables us to speak or love in ways that our natural selves could not do. It is supernatural in the sense that the Spirit is enabling and blessing the service of a sinner. His presence in us means that power is always available. The more we seek God’s purposes to be accomplished and the more his mission values shape our desires, the more control the Spirit exerts in us and the more control he exerts, the more power and blessing he produces.

“The Christian’s life in all its aspects – intellectual and ethical, devotion and relational, upsurging in worship and outgoing in witness is supernatural; only the Spirit can initiate and sustain it. So apart from him, not only will there be no lively believers and no lively congregations, there will be no believers and no congregations at all.” (JI Packer)

Presence and power. His presence in us means his power through us; filling is not a one-time thing but rather an ongoing pursuit. I try and pray regularly for the Holy Spirit to fill me. I want that and I need that. I have his presence. I need his power. All Christians do.