FROM THE SICK ROOM OF
C. H. SPURGEON.
JANUARY 12, 1879.
"But Trophimus have I left at Miletum sick." 2 Timothy 4:20.
THESE are among the last words of Paul the Apostle, for we find them in
the closing verses of the last of his Epistles. The chapter reminds us
of a dying man's final adieu to his best friend, in the course of which
he calls to mind the associates of his life. Among his memories of love
we find Paul recollecting Trophimus who had frequently shared with him
the perils of rivers and perils of robbers which so largely attended
the Apostle's career. He had left the good man ill at Miletum and as
Timothy at Ephesus was within an easy journey of him, there was no need
to add a hint that he should visit him, for he would be sure to do it.
The love of Jesus works great tenderness and unity in the hearts of His
disciples. The overflow of our Lord's great soul has saturated all His
true followers with brotherly affection–because Jesus has loved Paul,
Paul loves Timothy and Timothy must love Trophimus. From this love
there arises communion of feeling so that in sympathy they share each
other's joys and griefs. When one member rejoices, the body
rejoices–and when one member suffers the whole body suffers with it.
Trophimus is sick and Paul cannot forget him, though he, himself,
expects in a few weeks to die a martyr's death! Neither would he have
Timothy ignorant of the fact, though twice, within a few verses, he
hurries him to come to Rome, saying, "Do your diligence to come shortly
unto me."
If Timothy could not personally visit the sick friend, yet it was well
that he should know of his affliction, for he would then remember him
in his prayers. "Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God."
Let us remember those who are one with us in Christ and especially let
us bear on our hearts all those who are afflicted in mind, body, or
estate. If we have had to leave Trophimus at Miletum, or at Brighton,
or at Ventnor, let us leave our heart's love with him. And if we hear
that another Trophimus lies sick not far from our own home, let us
accept the information as in itself a sufficient summons to minister to
the afflicted friend.
May holy sympathy pervade all our souls, for however active and zealous
we may be, we have not yet reached a perfect character unless we are
full of compassion, tender-hearted and considerate of the sorrowful,
for this is the mind of Christ. Simple as the statement of our text
certainly is, it is found in an Inspired Book and it is, therefore,
more than an ordinary note in a common letter. Like another verse of
the same chapter, "The cloak that I left at Troas with Carpus, when you
come, bring with you, and the books, but especially the parchments,"
has been judged to be beneath the dignity of Inspiration, we think not
so. The God who counts the hairs of our heads in Providence may well
mention His sick servant on the pages of Inspiration!
Instead of quibbling at the littleness of the recorded fact, let us
admire "the love of the Spirit" who, while He lifts Ezekiel and Daniel
above the spheres and raises the language of David and Isaiah to the
utmost pitch of poetry and eloquence, yet deigns to breathe in such a
line as this–"Trophimus have I left at Miletum sick." Can we learn
anything more from this plain line of Apostolic penmanship? Let us see.
If the same Divine Spirit who Inspired it, will shine upon it, we shall
not read it in vain!
I. From the fact that Paul left Trophimus sick at Miletum we learn that
IT IS THE WILL OF GOD THAT SOME GOOD MEN SHOULD BE IN ILL HEALTH.
Whatever the malady may have been which affected Trophimus, Paul could
certainly have healed him if the Divine Spirit had permitted the use of
his miraculous powers to that end. He had raised up Eutychus from death
and he had given back the use of his limbs to the cripple at Lystra. We
feel, therefore, fully assured that had God allowed the Apostle so to
use his healing energy, Trophimus would have left his bed and continued
his journey to Rome.
Not so, however, had the Lord willed. The good fruit-bearing vine must
be pruned and Trophimus must suffer– there were ends to be answered by
his weakness which could not be compassed by his health. Instantaneous
restoration could have been given, but it was withheld under Divine
direction. This doctrine leads us away from the vain idea of chance. We
are not wounded by arrows shot at a venture, but we smart by the
determinate counsel of Heaven! An overruling hand is everywhere
present, preventing or permitting ill and no one shaft of disease is
ever let fly by stealth from the bow of death! If someone must be ill,
it was a wise Providence which selected Trophimus, for it was better
for him to be ill than Titus, or Tychicus, or Timothy.
It was well, too, that he happened to be ill at Miletum near to his own
native city, Ephesus. We cannot always see the hand of God in
Providence, but we may always be sure that it is there. If not a
sparrow lights on the ground without our Father, surely not a child of
the Divine family is laid low without His sacred will! Chance is a
heathenish idea which cannot live in the Presence of an everywhere
present, living and working God! Away with it from every Christian
mind! It is dishonoring to the Lord and grievous to ourselves!
This also delivers us from regarding affliction as being always brought
upon men by their personal sin. Many a sickness has been the direct
result of intemperance, or some other form of wickedness–but here is a
worthy, well-approved Brother laid aside and left on the road through a
malady for which he is not blamed in any measure. It is too common,
nowadays, for men to be of a hard and cruel spirit and ascribe the
illnesses, even, of those who are true children of God to some fault in
their habits of life. We wonder how they would like to be dealt with in
this manner if they were suffering and could wash their hands in
innocence in reference to their daily lives?
In our Lord's day they told Him, "Lord, he whom You love is sick." And
Solomon, long before that time, wrote, "Whom the Lord loves He
corrects; even as a father the son in whom he delights." This was a
much better, more humane and more truthful speech than the frozen
philosophy of modern times which traces each man's sickness to his own
violation of natural law and, instead of pouring in the balm of
consolation, pours out the sulfuric acid of slanderous insinuation! Let
the afflicted examine himself to see if the rod is not sent to correct
some secret evil and let him diligently consider where he may
amend–but far be it from us to stand at his bedside like judges or
lictors and look upon our friend as an offender as well as a sufferer!
Such brutality may be left to the philosophers, but it would ill become
the sons of God! We may not think a shade the less of Trophimus because
he is sick at Miletum. He is probably a far better man than any of us
and perhaps for that very reason he is more tried. There is gold in him
which pays for putting into the crucible–he bears such rich fruit that
he is worth pruning–he is a diamond of so pure a water that he will
repay the lapidary's toil. This may not be quite so true of any of us
and, therefore, we escape his sharper trials. Let us, as James says,
"count them happy that endure," and like David, say, "Blessed is the
man whom You chasten, O Lord, and teach him out of Your Law."
What do the Scriptures say? –"For whom the Lord loves, He chastens and
scourges every son whom He receives. If you endure chastening, God
deals with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father
chastens not?" Lazarus of Bethany, Dorcas, Epaphroditus and Trophimus
are a few of that great host of sick folk whom the Lord loves in their
sicknesses, for whom the promise was written, "The Lord will strengthen
him upon the bed of languishing: You will make all his bed in his
sickness."
II. We have only strength and space for mere hints and so we notice,
secondly, that GOOD MEN MAY BE LAID
ASIDE WHEN THEY SEEM TO BE MOST NEEDED–as Trophimus was when the aged
Apostle had but a scanty
escort and required his aid. Paul needed him, badly enough, soon after
he had been obliged to leave him at Miletum, for he writes sorrowfully,
"Demas has forsaken me, having loved this present world, and is
departed unto Thessalonica; Crescens to Galatia, Titus unto Dalmatia.
Only Luke is with me." "And Tychicus have I sent to Ephesus." How glad
he would have been with Trophimus, for we see how he begs Timothy to
come with all speed and to bring Mark, whose service he greatly needed
with him.
Yet not even for Paul's sake can Trophimus be suddenly raised up! His
Lord sees it to be necessary that he should feel the heat of the
furnace and into the crucible he must go. We think that the Church
cannot spare the earnest minister, the indefatigable missionary, the
faithful deacon, the tender teacher–but God thinks not so! No one is
indispensable in the household of God! He can do His own work not only
without Trophimus, but even without Paul! Yes, we go further–it
sometimes happens that the work of the Lord is quickened by the decease
of one upon whom it seemed to depend! When a
broad, far-spreading tree is cut down, many smaller trees which were
dwarfed and stunted while it stood, suddenly shoot up into vigorous
growth–even so, one good man may do much and yet, when he is removed,
others may do more!
Temporary illnesses of great workers may call to the front those who
would otherwise, from modesty, have remained in the rear–and the
result may be a great gain. Poor Trophimus had, in his healthier days,
been the innocent cause of bringing Paul into a world of trouble, for
we read in Acts 21:27 that a tumult was made by the Jews because they
imagined that Paul had brought Trophimus into the Temple and so had
defiled it. Now, when he could have been of service, he is sick and, no
doubt, it was a great grief to him that it should be so. Yet for him,
as oftentimes for us, there was no alternative but to submit himself
under the hand of God and feel that the Lord is always right.
Why do we not yield at once? Why do we chomp the bit and paw the
ground, restless to be on the road? If our Lord bids us stand still,
can we not be quiet? Active spirits are apt to become restive spirits
when under the restraining hand– energy soon sours into rebellion and
we quarrel with God because we are not allowed to glorify Him in our
own way–a foolish form of contest which at bottom means that we have a
will of our own and will only serve God upon condition of having it
indulged!
Brothers and Sisters, he who writes these lines knows what he writes
and this is the verdict of his experience–God's work needs us far less
than we imagine and God would have us aware of this fact, for He will
not give His Glory to human instruments any more than He will allow His
praise to be bestowed on graven images!
III. Our text clearly shows us that GOOD MEN WOULD HAVE THE LORD'S WORK
GO ON WHATEVER BECOMES OF THEM. Paul did not desert Trophimus, but left
him, because a higher call summoned him to Rome. Trophimus, we may be
sure, did not wish to delay the great Apostle, but was content to be
left. No doubt they both felt the separation but, like true soldiers of
Christ, they endured hardness and, for the sake of the cause, parted
company for a while. It would be a great grief to a true-hearted worker
if he knew that any fellow-laborer slackened his pace for his sake. The
sick in an army of an earthly monarch are necessarily an impediment,
but it need not be so in the army of the King of kings!
Spiritual sickness is a sore hindrance, but sickness of body should not
delay the host. If we cannot preach we can pray. If one work is out of
our reach, we can try another and if we can do nothing, our inability
should serve as a call to the vigorous to be doing all the more!
Trophimus is sick, then let Timothy be the more energetic! Trophimus
cannot attend the Apostle, then let Timothy be the more diligent to
come before winter! Thus, by acting as an incentive, the lack of one
man's service may produce tenfold more in others who are awakened to
extra exertions.
Brethren, it will be the sweetest alleviation to the pains of a sick
pastor if he sees you each and all nerved to special diligence. His
enforced rest will be the better enjoyed if he knows that the Church of
God is not a sufferer because of it. And his whole mind and spirit will
minister to the health of his body if he sees the fruit of the Spirit
of God in all of you, keeping you faithful and zealous. Will you not
see to this for Jesus' sake?
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The Rider on the White Horse and the Armies with Him