SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 12/30/2024 10:13 AM
My Worship Time Focus:
PT-2 “Choose Your Associates”
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference:
2 Tim. 1:15-18
Message of the verses: “15 You are aware of
the fact that all who are in Asia turned away from me, among whom are Phygelus
and Hermogenes. 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.”
It is my desire to finish the eight means for
guarding against being ashamed of Christ in my SD for today, and with that
finish the second chapter looking at MacArthur’s commentary. This will also finish the work on the first
chapter of 2 Timothy.
Now the first group Paul mentions included all who are in Asia [who] turned away from me, [Paul]. This group were ashamed of Paul because they
were ashamed of the gospel that he preached and defended, and the truth is that
they became even more ashamed and fearful when Paul was put in prison for the
faith. I suppose there fear was that if
they associated with Paul that they would end up like Paul, and be put in
prison. “8 Therefore do not be ashamed
of the testimony of our Lord or of me His prisoner, but join with me in
suffering for the gospel according to the power of God,” (2 Tim.
1:8). Timothy was aware of [that] fact, and
the reason was because he had been pasturing for some years in Ephesus, a city
in the Roman providence of Asia. Once
Paul was imprisoned, many of the men who had been with him, and this included all who are [were] in Asia, were afraid of being found
guilty by association. It was because there first priority was
self-preservation, that they had nothing more to do with Paul, who not only had
ministered with them but to them.
John
MacArthur writes “To be rejected by the world, is not pleasant, but to be
deserted by fellow workers in the service of Christ is particularly
painful. To have those you have spent
your life spiritually nurturing turn away from you, and sometimes even against
you, is heartbreaking in the extreme.”
(My thoughts are that this has happened to John MacArthur a number of
times, and I sense that from listening to many of his sermons.)
There was a time in the life of the
Apostle Paul that he died to himself and began to daily live for the cause of
Christ and so when he went through the ups and downs of the ministry it was
done for the cause of Christ and he accepted it because he in effect was living
for the cause of Christ. Paul in doing
that had given himself without reservation to those men from Asia. Like the Galatian believers, they were Paul’s
spiritual children, with whom he would be in ‘labor until Christ [was] formed
in’ them (Gal. 4:19). So it was no
wonder that he expressed at the beginning of this second epistle his deep
longing to see Timohty, one of the few who had not deserted him “longing to see
you, even as I recall your tears, so that I may be filled with joy” (2 Tim.
1:4).
MacArthur writes “Among the deserters were Phygelus
and Hermogenes, about whom we know nothing but their cowardice. Because Paul says nothing more to identify
them, we can assume they were known to Timothy.
And because he bothers to name them specifically out of the many others,
it seems likely that they were well known in Asia, that they were close to
Paul, and that they were leaders who had shown promise. They probably would have been the last ones
to be suspected of cowardice, ingratitude, and being ashamed of Christ and of
Paul.
“Although Paul no doubt continued to
love those men who proved they did not love him, his love would not allow him
to hide their defection. ‘Those whom the
Lord loves He disciplines, and He scourges every son whom He receives’ (Heb.
12:6). Likewise, the Lord’s people are
to discipline those among them who are immoral and unfaithful. Even elders who ‘continue to sin’ are to be
rebuked ‘in the presence of all, so that the rest also may be fearful of
sinning’ (1 Timothy 5:20).”
That concludes the first group and the second group
Paul mentions stands in stark contrast to the group from Asia. Paul ended that first group by naming names,
and he begins this commendation also by naming a name. Paul prays, The Lord grant mercy to the house
of Onesiphorus, who like Phygelus and Hermogenes, were known to Timothy. Not it is because Paul asks Timothy to greet
them as seen in (4:19), this family obviously lived in or near Ephesus.
MacArthur explains the relationship that Paul had with
these men: Onesiphorus had befriended
Paul while he was in prison. He often
refreshed Paul and was not afraid of his chains, that is, of his being a
prisoner. He regularly visited the aging
apostle and ministered to his needs, without fear and without shame. When this friend first come to Rome, perhaps
on business, he eagerly searched for Paul until he found him, suggesting that
the search involved considerable time, effort, and possibly danger.
“Now it was in deep gratitude, Paul again prays that the
Lord [would] grant to him to find mercy from the Lord on that day, the same day
of believer’s judgment for works he mentioned in verse 12 and refers to again
in 4:9. Onesiphorus’s devotion to Paul
had begun many years earlier. He had
proved his courage and faithfulness by the service he rendered at Ephesus, when
the apostle ministered there.
“Like Onesiphorus, Martin Luther, the leading instrument
of God in the Reformation, possessed such godly courage in great
abundance. One biographer, Roland
Bainton, writes of him: ‘Luther had set
his face to go to Jerusalem and would not be turned aside. He would enter Worms though there were as
many devils as tiles on the roofs..He disregarded all human considerations and
threw himself utterly upon God’ (Here I
Stand: A Life of Martin Luther [New
York: Abingdon, 1950]. 181).”
Spiritual meaning for my life today: Jesus said
right before His crucifixion that it was good that He go away, and the reason
for that statement was that Jesus could only be in one spot while He ministered
on planet earth, and once He went back to heaven the church would be made up of
many believers doing the work of the Lord.
Paul certainly was one of those who gave himself totally to the Lord to
do His work and there was no fear in him even though he suffered much for the
cause of Christ.
My Steps of Faith for Today: I
do not want to fear anything but the Lord for He is always with me to
strengthen and comfort me.
12/30/2024 11:04 AM
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