Fair-Weather Friends and a Fierce Loyalty: Text: 2 Timothy 1:15-18
Introduction: The Great Sifting
The Christian life is not a playground; it is a battlefield. And on every battlefield, there comes a time of sifting. The noise, the smoke, the pressure, the danger, it all serves to separate the true soldiers from the pretenders. When the cost of discipleship is low, the crowds are large. But when the price is ratcheted up, when following Christ means associating with a man in chains, a man the world has condemned as a criminal, you quickly find out who is with you for the loaves and fishes and who is with you for the Lord Jesus Christ.
Paul, writing from a Roman prison, is experiencing this sifting in the most personal and painful way. He is not writing abstract theology here. This is raw, this is real. He is naming names. He is drawing a sharp, bright line between two kinds of people who profess the faith: those who are governed by the fear of man, and those who are governed by the fear of God. He presents Timothy with two case studies, one negative and one positive. On the one hand, we have the great Asian apostasy, a mass desertion headlined by two men, Phygelus and Hermogenes. On the other hand, we have the striking, refreshing loyalty of one man, Onesiphorus.
This passage is a bucket of cold water for a church that has grown comfortable and sentimental. We like to think of the Christian life as one of unbroken fellowship and universal support. But Paul is reminding Timothy, and us, that seasons of abandonment are part of the normal Christian experience. Jesus Himself was abandoned by all His disciples in His hour of greatest need. "A servant is not greater than his master." If they did it to the green tree, what will they do to the dry? This text forces us to ask ourselves a hard question: When the pressure is on, when faithfulness becomes costly, when standing with Christ means standing with His maligned and imprisoned servants, which list will our names be on? Will we be a Phygelus, or an Onesiphorus?
This is not just a history lesson. It is a diagnostic tool for the church in every age. It teaches us about the nature of true loyalty, the poison of shame, and the sweet, refreshing mercy that God pours out on those who honor Him by honoring His people.
The Text
You are aware of this: that all who are in Asia turned away from me, among whom are Phygelus and Hermogenes.
The Lord give mercy to the house of Onesiphorus, for he often refreshed me and was not ashamed of my chains,
but when he was in Rome, he eagerly searched for me and found me,
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.
(2 Timothy 1:15-18 LSB)
The Painful Desertion (v. 15)
Paul begins with a blunt and sorrowful report.
"You are aware of this: that all who are in Asia turned away from me, among whom are Phygelus and Hermogenes." (2 Timothy 1:15)
Paul tells Timothy, "You are aware of this." This was not secret intelligence; it was public knowledge, a widespread and scandalous defection. The phrase "all who are in Asia" is likely a form of hyperbole, meaning the vast majority, or the leadership of the churches in the Roman province of Asia. This was the very region where Paul had labored for years, Ephesus being its capital. These were not strangers; they were converts, friends, and fellow laborers. They had seen the power of God work through Paul. And yet, when he was arrested and imprisoned, they "turned away."
What does it mean that they turned away from him? In the context of this letter, where Paul has been urging Timothy not to be ashamed of him or his chains, it means they disassociated from him. They wanted nothing to do with a condemned man. To stand with Paul was to risk their own safety, their reputation, their comfort. So they cut him off. But we must see this for what it is. To turn away from Paul, the apostle of Jesus Christ, because of his suffering for the gospel, is to turn away from the gospel itself. It is to be ashamed of the testimony of the Lord. This was not a personal squabble; it was a theological and covenantal betrayal.
He then names two men: Phygelus and Hermogenes. We know nothing else about them, but their names are now eternally preserved in Scripture as a warning. They were likely prominent men, leaders of this cowardly faction. By naming them, Paul is not being petty. He is practicing church discipline on an apostolic scale. He is marking those who cause divisions and offenses contrary to the doctrine they had learned (Romans 16:17). He is putting up a spiritual warning sign for Timothy and for the whole church: "Do not be like these men. Their path is the path of shame and apostasy." Their love for Christ was a mile wide and an inch deep. As soon as the sun of persecution came out, they withered.
The Refreshing Saint (v. 16-17)
In stark and beautiful contrast to the cowardice of the many, Paul presents the courage of one.
"The Lord give mercy to the house of Onesiphorus, for he often refreshed me and was not ashamed of my chains, but when he was in Rome, he eagerly searched for me and found me, " (2 Timothy 1:16-17)
Notice that Paul's first thought is a prayer of blessing. "The Lord give mercy to the house of Onesiphorus." This man's faithfulness was so profound that it overflowed into a blessing on his entire household. This is covenantal thinking. The faithfulness of a household head brings blessing to all under his care. Many have speculated that Onesiphorus might have been dead at this point, since Paul prays for his household and then for him "on that day." While possible, it's not necessary. It is more likely that Onesiphorus was still in Rome, away from his family in Ephesus, and Paul prays for them both separately.
Paul gives three marks of this man's remarkable loyalty. First, "he often refreshed me." The word means to cool down, to give relief. Paul is in a miserable Roman prison, abandoned and awaiting death. Onesiphorus came, and came often, bringing comfort, encouragement, and likely material aid. He was a breath of fresh air in a suffocating dungeon. He didn't just send a card; he showed up.
Second, and crucially, he "was not ashamed of my chains." Shame is a powerful weapon of the enemy. The world heaps shame on the faithful to get them to shut up and sit down. Phygelus and Hermogenes succumbed to it. Onesiphorus defied it. He saw Paul's chains not as a mark of criminality, but as a badge of honor for Christ. He understood that these were the chains of the gospel. To be unashamed of Paul's chains was to be unashamed of the cross of Christ.
Third, "he eagerly searched for me and found me." This was not a casual visit. Paul was likely hard to find, lost in the labyrinthine Roman prison system. To even ask for a specific Christian prisoner by name was to identify yourself as a sympathizer, putting a target on your own back. But Onesiphorus was not deterred. He searched "eagerly," diligently, until he found his brother. This is active, risk-taking, sacrificial love. This is what true Christian fellowship looks like when the chips are down.
The Final Reward (v. 18)
Paul concludes his tribute to Onesiphorus with another prayer, this one looking to the final judgment.
"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." (2 Timothy 1:18)
This is a striking prayer. Paul prays that Onesiphorus, this merciful man, would "find mercy from the Lord on that day." "That day" is the day of judgment, the day of Christ's return. This is the biblical principle that Jesus taught: "Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy" (Matthew 5:7). The mercy that Onesiphorus showed to Paul is the evidence that he has already received the ultimate mercy of salvation in Christ. And because he has been merciful, he will receive a reward of mercy on the last day.
This is not about earning salvation. Onesiphorus is not saved by his good works. He is saved by grace, through faith. But his faith is a working faith. His mercy to Paul is the fruit of God's mercy to him. And God, in His glorious grace, is pleased to reward the fruit that His own grace has produced in us. When God crowns our good works, He is crowning His own gifts. Paul's prayer is that on the day when all deeds are made manifest, the Lord Jesus will look at Onesiphorus and declare before the Father and the holy angels, "This man stood with my servant when it was costly. He was not ashamed of Me. Well done, good and faithful servant."
Paul finishes by reminding Timothy of this man's track record. "You know very well what services he rendered at Ephesus." This wasn't a one-time fluke. Onesiphorus had a pattern of faithful, helpful service. His loyalty in Rome was consistent with his character in Ephesus. He was a true friend of the gospel, a true brother in Christ, through and through.
Conclusion: A Time to Choose
So Paul lays it out for Timothy. Here are two paths, two examples. The path of Phygelus and Hermogenes is the broad road of compromise, of man-pleasing, of being ashamed of Jesus and His people. It is the way of self-preservation that leads to destruction. The path of Onesiphorus is the narrow road of costly loyalty, of courage, of refreshing the saints, and of being unashamed of the chains of the gospel. It is the way of self-denial that leads to life and eternal reward.
Every Christian, every church, stands at this crossroads. We live in a culture that is increasingly hostile to the gospel. The pressure to be ashamed is mounting. The temptation to quietly disassociate from the more "controversial" aspects of our faith, or from brothers and sisters who are under fire, is immense. We are being tempted to become a church full of Phygelans.
But God is calling us to be a church of Onesiphorans. He is calling us to be a people who are not ashamed of the gospel, who are not ashamed of our brothers in chains, and who will eagerly seek out and refresh those who are suffering for the name of Christ. This is not a call to be obnoxious or needlessly provocative. It is a call to steadfast, loyal, cheerful courage.
When a brother is slandered for his biblical stance on sexuality, do you quietly back away, or do you stand with him? When a Christian institution is targeted by the state, do you look for an exit, or do you link arms? When the world calls a faithful pastor a bigot and a hater, do you blush and change the subject, or do you say, "He is my brother, and I am not ashamed of him"?
May God have mercy on us. May He forgive us for our cowardice and our compromises. And may He grant us the grace to be like Onesiphorus, so that on that great day, we too may find mercy from the Lord.