Timothy's Purpose

272 - Today's Prime Time Devo comes from 2Ti 3:10 But you have carefully followed my doctrine, manner of life, purpose, ( 2 Tim 3:10) Last time we talked about Paul's purpose which was made crystal clear to him by His face to face meeting with Jesus. But how about Timothy's purpose? How about yours? Let's look today at Timothy's purpose. Although he had no face to face encounter with Jesus to spell out his purpose in the church, he had many face to face encounters with Paul....who did. Perhaps the best way to describe Timothy's purpose would be to say he was like a relay runner, taking the baton from Paul and handing it off to future generations of leaders in the Christian church. His purpose was put in writing for all to see! Paul wrote in 2Ti 2:2 And the things that you have heard from me among many witnesses, commit these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also. In one sense, his purpose was to tag along with Paul on his missionary journeys and learn to emulate Paul, because he would be the Paul of the next generation! He traveled with Paul and at times was sent by Paul to other churches to encourage and guide them in the ways of Christ handed down to the Apostles and Paul. But Timothy's purpose took the spread of Christianity and the planting of churches to the next level. Paul's letters to Timothy gave him specific instructions on how to run the church in regards to the care of the flock, including the qualifications for leaders, the conduct of the members and ministers, the administration of the church, the order in which the church should be conducted, and how to deal with the false teachers that would surely arise in the church. All this put in black and white for Timothy and for our church leaders of today. His purpose made clear as the Holy Spirit moved Paul to write these letters with these instructions. It would be wise for all of us to review these instructions for our churches today, it seems they would help us remember our own purposes as a church. Timothy didn't have to guess about His purpose. It was there for him written in ink by the Apostle Paul who was guided by Jesus and the Holy Spirit. Do we have to guess about our own individual purposes? We'll address that question next time.