2 Timothy 1.18-Paul's Spirit Inspired Desire the Lord Would Reward Onesiphorus at the Bema Seat For His Service
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Tuesday March 24, 2015
Second Timothy: Second Timothy 1:18-Paul’s Spirit Inspired Desire the Lord Would Reward Onesiphorus at the Bema Seat For His Service
Lesson # 24
2 Timothy 1:16 The Lord grant mercy to the house of Onesiphorus, for he often refreshed me and was not ashamed of my chains 17 but when he was in Rome, he eagerly searched for me and found me-18 the Lord grant to him to find mercy from the Lord on that day—and you know very well what services he rendered at Ephesus. (NASB95)
The apostle Paul is employing the figure of “asyndeton” in order to emphasize with Timothy the sincerity of his Spirit inspired desire that the Lord would grant compassion to Onesiphorus when he appears at the Bema Seat.
“The Lord” is the noun kurios (κύριος), which is used with reference to Jesus Christ since the word is ascribe to him by Paul in Second Timothy 1:2, 8 and 16.
“Grant to him” is composed of the following: (1) verb didōmi (δίδωμι), “grant” (2) intensive personal pronoun autos (αὐτός), “him.”
The verb didomi means “to bestow” in the sense of conveying as a gift which indicates that Paul’s Spirit inspired desire was that the Lord Jesus Christ would “bestow” compassion upon Onesiphorus in the sense that the Lord would reward him at the Bema Seat.
The optative mood of the verb didomi is a voluntative optative expressing Paul’s Spirit inspired desire that the Lord Jesus Christ would bestow compassion upon Onesiphorus from the Father at the Bema Seat.
The intensive personal pronoun autos means “him” referring of course to Onesiphorus.
“To find mercy” is composed of the following: (1) verb heuriskō (εὑρίσκω), “to find” (5) noun eleos (ἒλεος), “mercy.”
The verb heuriskō means “to experience” a state or condition indicating that Paul’s Spirit inspired desire is that the Lord would bestow compassion upon Onesiphorus from the Father at the Bema Seat.
The noun eleos means “compassion” in the sense that Paul’s Spirit inspired desire is that the Lord would bestow compassion upon Onesiphorus from the Father at the Bema Seat because he extended compassion to him during his imprisonment and was unashamed of his imprisonment.
“From the Lord” is composed of the following: (1) preposition para (παρά), “from” (7) noun kurios (κύριος), “the Lord.”
Once again, we have the noun kurios but this time its referent is the Father since the word appears earlier in the sentence for the Lord Jesus Christ who will conduct the Bema Seat Evaluation of the church immediately after the rapture or resurrection of the church.
Thus, the idea is that this compassion being extended to Onesiphorus at the Bema Seat from the Father through the Lord Jesus Christ.
Therefore, this prepositional phrase is indicating that the merits of the person and work of Jesus Christ on the cross makes it possible for Onesiphorus to receive compassion at the Bema Seat from the Lord Jesus Christ.
The noun is the object of the preposition para which means “from” since it functions as a marker of the point from which an action originates.
Therefore, it indicates that this compassion being bestowed upon Onesiphorus would originate from the Father but would be given to him through the Lord Jesus Christ since Onesiphorus has a relationship with the former through the merits of the person and work of the latter.
“On that day” refers to the day Onesiphorus stands before the Lord at the Bema Seat and would indicate that the apostle Paul’s Spirit inspired desire is that the Lord Jesus Christ would bestow compassion upon Onesiphorus from the Father on the day he stands before the Lord Jesus Christ at the Bema Seat.
“And you know very well what services he rendered at Ephesus” advances upon and intensifies Paul’s statement in verse 16 that Onesiphorus’ household often encouraged him and Onesiphorus never permitted himself to be ashamed of his imprisonment.
Therefore, the advancement and intensification is Onesiphorus not only served Paul but served the church at Ephesus.
“You know very well” is composed of the following: (1) adverb of degree beltion (βέλτιον), “very well” (7) personal pronoun su (σύ), “you” (8) verb ginosko (γινώσκω), “know.”
The personal pronoun su means “you” referring of course to Timothy and emphasizes Timothy’s knowledge of the service rendered by Onesiphorus on behalf of the church in Ephesus in contrast to the body of Christ who were not aware of all the ways in which this man served.
The verb ginosko refers to an objective experiential knowledge of Onesiphorus in the sense that Timothy was not only objectively aware of this man through observing him in Ephesus as he served the body of Christ but he also experienced first-hand this service in that Onesiphorus served him.
So the word speaks of Timothy having first-hand knowledge of Onesiphorus serving the body of Christ at Ephesus since he was stationed in that city.
The adverb of degree beltion means that Timothy knew better than anyone how Onesiphorus served the body of Christ at Ephesus since Paul placed Timothy as his delegate to that church.
Thus, Paul is saying that Timothy knew first-hand better than anyone how Onesiphorus served the church at Ephesus
“What services he rendered” is composed of the following: (1) correlative pronoun hosos (ὅσος), “what” verb diakoneō (διακονέω), “services he rendered.”
The correlative pronoun hosos is in the plural and means “how many ways” since it pertains to a comparative quantity of events and here it speaks of “how many ways” Onesiphorus served the body of Christ at Ephesus.
The verb diakoneō means “to render service or assistance on behalf of another” and is used of course of Onesiphorus serving or rendering assistance to the church at Ephesus.
“At Ephesus” is referring to a seaport in the western part of the Roman province of Asia.
Second Timothy 1:16 May the Lord extend compassion to Onesiphorus’ household because he often encouraged me and in addition he never permitted himself to be ashamed of my imprisonment. 17 But rather when he entered into Rome, he diligently searched for me so that he found me. 18 May the Lord bestow upon him compassion from the Lord on that day. Indeed, you know first-hand better than anyone how many ways he served at Ephesus. (My translation)
The apostle Paul is emphasizing with Timothy the sincerity of his Spirit inspired desire that the Lord would bestow upon Onesiphorus compassion from the Father when he appears at the Bema Seat.
Of course, Paul expressed this same desire in verse 16 but with an addition and a subtraction.
Here in verse 18, Paul omits mentioned of the household of Onesiphorus.
Also unlike verse 16, here in verse 18, Paul makes reference to the Father who he ascribes the title “Lord.”
Therefore, the repetition and the figure of asyndeton here in verse 18 emphasize that this desire is sincere and is expressing Paul’s great appreciation for Onesiphorus extending compassion to him while he was imprisoned in Rome.
So verse 18 is Paul’s Spirit inspired desire that the Lord Jesus Christ would bestow compassion upon Onesiphorus in the sense that He would reward him at the Bema Seat.
As was the case in Second Timothy 1:16, the apostle Paul here in Second Timothy 1:18 is communicating to Timothy one of the prayers that he would offer up to the Father for Onesiphorus and his household.
Those Christians who mistreated Paul by deserting him during his imprisonment will receive no compassion from the Lord in the sense that they will all receive a severe rebuke from Him at the Bema Seat for their lack of compassion toward the apostle during his imprisonment.
On the other hand, Onesiphorus and his family would all receive compassion from the Lord at the Bema Seat in the sense that they will receive a commendation from the Lord and rewards for this compassionate treatment of the apostle during his second and final Roman imprisonment.
“On that day” refers to the day when Onesiphorus stands before the Lord Jesus Christ at the Bema Seat.
Then, in Second Timothy 1:18, the apostle Paul advances upon and intensifies his previous statement in verse 16 that Onesiphorus’ household often encouraged him and Onesiphorus never permitted himself to be ashamed of his imprisonment.
Paul states that Timothy knew first-hand better than anyone in Ephesus how many ways Onesiphorus served the body of Christ at Ephesus which was the place where Timothy was stationed when Paul wrote this epistle.
Timothy was not only objectively aware of this man’s service through observing him as he served the body of Christ but he also experienced first-hand this service in that Onesiphorus served him.
Therefore, in this emphatic clause we can see that Paul was acknowledging that Onesiphorus was obeying the Lord Jesus Christ’s command and his apostolic command to serve the body of Christ.
This man had a servant mentality like Paul and the Lord Himself which is the greatest compliment he could pay to him as a Christian.
Paul is also acknowledging the fact that Onesiphorus was obeying the Lord’s command to love one another which the apostle communicated to all the churches since one cannot serve in a manner that is pleasing to the Father if one is not obeying this command.