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7.14.21 MOC Session #5 Brian Bowen · HBCWestminster

• 0:00
  Hey, you ever feel like what you're doing in your life doesn't really matter? I mean, do you feel underappreciated? Is that a little too loud? A little too loud? Okay. Or that maybe your efforts go unnoticed. Maybe you're unsure of what your role in the church is actually supposed to be. Or maybe you're struggling with discerning just what spiritual gift or gifts God has given you. Now, some of this may sound familiar because, you know.
• 0:29
  One of last week's discussion questions actually addressed these things. And I know the guys at our table, we had a really, really good discussion about it, and I'm pretty sure all of you did as well. And I know our brother John, he challenged us. He challenged us with his message last week, which was, I mean, it was just fantastic, wasn't it? I mean, I was very, very blessed by that. So thank you, John. Really appreciate that.
• 0:56
  And like John, I too was wondering if I had done something to offend Pastor Nathan. Because when I learned that I would be teaching on the man whose name is Tychicus, a name that I butchered many times over before I actually got it right, a certain uneasiness kind of began to well up in me. And so when I turned to 2 Timothy 4, verse 12, my uneasiness was validated because...
• 1:25
  This is what it reads. Tychicus I have sent to Ephesus. That's it. That's it. No, it doesn't talk about our friend Tych. So now I realize, you know, well, Nathan, he provided me another verse. So I'm going to go to Titus chapter 3, verse 12, which reads, When I send Artemis or Tychicus to you, do your best to come to me at Nicopolis, for I've decided to spend the winter there. Well, that helped. I don't know.
• 2:02
  But all joking aside, when we read through the pages of the New Testament, we find all kinds of names. Names that we may gloss over without a second thought. Names that are difficult to pronounce. Names that are just names. But are they just names? No, they're not. These were real people with real lives, real thoughts.
• 2:29
  Real struggles and real purpose. Antiochus, as obscure as he may seem at first glance, was as real as any other human being that has walked or will walk this earth. And while we may not know all the details about what his life looked like, we do know this, that he was a beloved brother, a faithful minister, and a fellow servant in the Lord as Colossians chapter 4 verse 7 tells us.
• 2:58
  So let's take a look at this man, Tychicus. But before we do, would you pray with me, please? Oh, gracious God, we are just so thankful to be here tonight. King Jesus, would you just show us the way tonight? And Holy Spirit, I do ask for your presence tonight that you would be in the room with us, make us attentive, challenge us where we need to be challenged, lift us up where we need to be lifted up, and just show us the truth through your word, God. In your name we pray, amen.
• 3:29
  Okay, so we can find the first mention of Tychicus actually in Acts 20, who along with some others accompanied Paul on his many travels. And it's important to note that not only was Tychicus with Paul in the early days of his travels, but he was also with him toward the end of his ministry, as we find in Paul's second letter to Timothy, which is most likely the last epistle that Paul wrote before his death.
• 3:55
  So, Tychicus was with Paul from pretty much the beginning of his ministry all the way to the end. And if that's not faithfulness, I don't know what is. And not only was he faithful to Paul and his ministry, but he was also faithful to the overarching ministry of God, the advance of the gospel. We find in Ephesians chapter 6, verses 21 and 22, that Paul had so much confidence in Tychicus that he entrusted to him the preaching of the gospel.
• 4:26
  Ephesians chapter 6 reads, So that you also may know how I am and what I am doing, Tychicus, the beloved brother and faithful minister in the Lord, will tell you everything. I have sent him to you for this very purpose, that you may know how we are, and that he may encourage your hearts. I mean, did you catch that in there? Yes. Part of Tychicus' responsibility was to relay to the Ephesians how Paul was doing and to encourage them.
• 4:55
  But also in verse 21, it says that Tychicus, the beloved brother and faithful minister in the Lord, will tell you everything. Tell them everything. Well, what's everything? Have to believe that the gospel would have been included in everything. You see, Tychicus could, you know, he could be considered the mailman of his time. He carried the letters to the Ephesians, the Colossians, to Philemon, and possibly even the second epistle of Paul to Timothy.
• 5:23
  So if he's carrying these letters, who is reading them to the people? Who is answering all of their questions? Who is articulating to these new believers the truth and redemptive power of the gospel? Quite possibly it could have been Tychicus, the faithful minister, as the word says. And I know we have at least a couple of retired mailmen here, Tom and Bob. So when I think about a mailman, the following qualities come to mind.
• 5:55
  You ready for this? I know you're on the edge of your seat. Mobility. No, because the mail has to be physically delivered. One must be willing to travel even over the course of great distances. Flexibility. How does the United States post office motto go? Tom, Bob? No, it's not the motto? I googled that!
• 6:21
  Come on, I googled that. Neither snow, nor rain, nor heat, nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds. So forgive me if it's not the motto, but it sounds pretty good. I don't know. Blame Google. It was on the official site, so I don't know. But yeah, one must be flexible in order to complete their mission. Humility. One must be able to take orders, be told where to go and when.
• 6:51
  There's a certain route to travel and a certain time frame in which to complete it. And integrity, the information contained in letters and packages are to be handled with the utmost care and respect. The content must not be compromised and thus integrity is paramount in the character of a mailman. He must be ready to serve. He must have the heart of a servant.
• 7:19
  And of course, in Tychicus' case, as it is in ours as well, the Lord, it is the Lord. He is serving. Not anyone else. There are so many unsung heroes of the New Testament. And Tychicus is certainly one of these unsung heroes. And God was involved in each of their lives. His plans and his purposes, they were there for each of them. And they're found there for you and me as well. And you see, don't think for a moment that just because you're not...
• 7:50
  Like preaching from the pulpit or maybe the head of some ministry or a leader in some missions trip. Don't think for a moment that God is not working in your life because he is. His plans and his purposes are being laid out right now for you. And I catch myself thinking in this way at times. Like, God, aren't you going to do something big in my life? Don't you want me to change the world, God?
• 8:16
  Just like when the Lord asked in Isaiah chapter 6 verse 8, Whom shall I send and who will go forth? And Isaiah replied, Here am I, send me. And I too ask the same question, but sometimes I ask it with this grandiose vision of what it looks like in my mind's eye. Did you hear that? My mind's eye, not God's. You see, if we stop for a moment and really take in the station in our lives in which God has placed us, I truly believe that we will see exactly how He wants to use us.
• 8:45
  And it's not always what we think it should be or what we want it to be. English author George Eliot said this. He said, for the growing good of the world is partly dependent on unhistoric acts. And that things are not so ill with you and me as they might have been is half owing to the number who lived faithfully a hidden life and rest in unvisited tombs. In other words, in some capacity, we owe our freedoms.
• 9:18
  In our comforts, in the way of life, to people we don't even know. I mean, faithful people that have sacrificed on our behalf. People whose selfless acts will never be known to us. Brothers on the outside, we may look like we lead faithful public lives. That's easy to do. But what about our private lives, our hidden lives, the walls within the walls of our homes? Are we living faithful private lives too?
• 9:50
  Pastor Alistair Begg said this. He said, the measure of our lives, according to scriptures, is not success, but it's in faithfulness. Not in success, but it's in faithfulness. So Tychicus, we have no details on his successes, his adventures, his accomplishments, but what we do have is the measure of his character. The measure of his faithfulness.
• 10:19
  the beloved brother, faithful minister, and fellow servant in the Lord. So remember that one verse, that one sentence, the one that I kind of rolled my eyes at when I first read it to myself. I'm like, okay, Tychicus, I have sent to Ephesus. I'm like, is that really what I have to work with here? I mean, you ever wonder what some of the conversations between Paul and his buddies were like? I'm like, what do they have in common?
• 10:49
  We may never know some of the details about that, this side of heaven, but what we do know about the friendship between these two men, Paul and Tychicus, is that we know they were united in the gospel. They were united in Christ. And so imagine with me for a moment the days leading up to Paul sending Tychicus with his letter in hand to Ephesus. Now what we know of Paul during this time in his ministry, he was in prison in Rome.
• 11:20
  But he was not housed as a common criminal. He was actually permitted to live in his own rented place. He's still bound with a chain and in the company of guards. We find it in Acts chapter 28, verse 16 and verse 30.
• 11:40
  Verse 30 says, he lived there, speaking of Rome, for two whole years at his own expense and welcomed all who came to him, proclaiming the kingdom of God and teaching about the Lord Jesus Christ with all boldness and without hindrance. So I can only imagine that he and Tychicus could meet together without much resistance. And now again, imagine with me these two men, perhaps sitting together by the light of an oil lamp in the late hours of the evening, reading this letter together.
• 12:09
  the epistle to the Ephesians, and Paul turns to Tychicus and asks, hey brother, would you listen to this part for me? I just want to make sure I've got it right. And so Paul, he picks up his scroll, and he starts reading what we now know is chapter 2 of Ephesians, and he reads, and you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked.
• 12:34
  following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience, among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind, in that famous but God, being rich in mercy because of the great love with which he loved us.
• 13:02
  even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ. By grace, you have been saved. And so Paul stops for a moment, and he says, Tychicus, my beloved brother, faithful minister and fellow servant in the Lord, Tychicus, do you realize the truth of what we just read? We were so lost, Tychicus, so, so lost.
• 13:33
  We were walking in sin, walking in darkness, following the passions of this world. But God, our God, who loves us so much, gave His only Son that we can be alive together with Him in eternity. Oh, Tychicus, we simply don't deserve this. Our sins are many, and yet God's mercy and grace are so much more. Jesus, oh precious Jesus, He chose us in Him, in Christ, before the foundation of the world.
• 14:01
  In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses according to the riches of his grace which he lavished upon us. This is in Ephesians 1. In him we may live a new life, an abundant life, a life of meaning and purpose, Tychicus. I love you, brother. I love you and I need your help. Would you be willing to carry this letter, this letter of hope, encouragement and truth, would you be willing to carry this to Ephesus?
• 14:31
  And I can imagine at that point, maybe some butterflies are just kind of welling up in the pit of Tychicus' stomach. And without hesitation, though, he replied, you bet, brother, it would be an honor. Father God, thank you so much for your word. We know your will is found in your word, God. And we just, all of us here, we seek your will. Would you show us your will? Holy Spirit, just do that for us. And I thank you for these men, each and every one of them. Just pray that the message that was delivered tonight.
• 15:02
  through me, from you, would touch us in ways that would just spur us up to apply this in our lives, in our homes, in the church, in the community, in our workplace. Yeah, Holy Spirit, God, we love you so much, and we thank you for this time together. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.