PT-5 "Introduction to 2 Timothy 2:8-13"

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 1/24/2025 10:32 AM

 

My Worship Time                                              Focus:  PT-5 “Introduction to 2 Timothy 2:8-13”

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                Reference:  2 Timothy 2:8-13

 

            Message of the verses:  “8 Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, descendant of David, according to my gospel, 9 for which I suffer hardship even to imprisonment as a criminal; but the word of God is not imprisoned. 10 For this reason I endure all things for the sake of those who are chosen, so that they also may obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus and with it eternal glory. 11 It is a trustworthy statement: For if we died with Him, we will also live with Him; 12 If we endure, we will also reign with Him; If we deny Him, He also will deny us; 13  If we are faithless, He remains faithful, for He cannot deny Himself.”

 

            I think that I can finish this introduction this morning as it has taken more time than I thought to get through it, but one thing that I do when studying the Bible is to take my time as a friend of mine who is not with the Lord said to keep looking for those gold nuggets when you study the Bible.  I really miss writing to him as he lived in Brazil most all his life as a missionary.

 

            It is in   2 Timothy 2:8-13, the verses we are looking at that Paul assures this young pastor that, nevertheless, there is more than reason enough for him, and all Christians, to willingly suffer for Christ, to put everything in this life on the line for the cause of Christ.  MacArthur adds “No sacrifice—mockery, alienation, rejection, desertion, imprisonment, or even death—is to high a price to pay.  The importance and the rewards of a faithful life and ministry, not to mention the honor and the glory of the Lord we trust and serve, far outweigh any personal sacrifice that our trust and service may incite.

 

            “Less than ten years earlier, Paul had written the church of Rome,”

 

35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? 36 As it is written, "For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered." 37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom. 8:35-39 ESV).

 

            These verses that Paul wrote shows the confidence that he had and the apostle could say:  “Therefore I am well content with weakness, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ’s sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong” (2 Cor. 12:10). 

 

            I have mentioned that this was Paul’s last inspired letter that he wrote in his life as Paul knew he was near the end.  “The time of my departure has come,” Paul said.  I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith” (1 Tim. 4:6-7).  Now Timothy understood quite well that if he ministered as courageously and faithfully as Paul he might also suffer as severely as Paul. 

 

            I get this brief article from my cell phone on how Timothy died.  “According to Christian tradition, Paul’s ‘son in the Lord,’ Timothy, was martyred for his faith, likely by being stoned by a mob of pagans in Ephesus while attempting to preach against the worship of the goddess Artemis (Dina).”  Now the article below this one states that “The Apostle Paul appointed Saint Timothy as Bishop of Ephesus, where the saint remained for fifteen years.  Finally, when Saint Paul was in prison and awaiting martyrdom, he summoned his faith friend, Saint Timothy, for a last farewell (2 Tim. 4:9).  Saint Timothy ended his life as a martyr.”

 

            MacArthur continues “The apostle therefore entreats Timothy to have the same unshakeable confidence in Christ and the same unqualified willingness to suffer for His sake that had sustained him throughout his own productive but pain-filled years and that enabled him to ‘have fought the good fight’ and to ‘have kept the faith,’ even when facing the most threatening enemies.”

 

            MacArthur goes on to finish this introduction:  “Paul may have anticipated questions that would come to Timothy’s mind after the admonitions of 2:1-6.  ‘Why should I be a faithful teacher of teachers?’  he may have wondered.  ‘Why should I suffer hardship like a soldier, compete to win like an athlete, and toil hard like a farmer?’

 

            “Whatever Timothy may have been thinking, the apostle offers four powerful motives for faithfulness.  He calls him to remember the preeminence of the Lord (v. 8), the power of the Word (v. 9), the purpose of the work (v. 10), and the promise of the reward (vv. 11-13).”

 

Spiritual meaning for my life today:  Reading about suffering and even dying for the cause of Christ has been on my mind ever since I began studying 2 Timothy.  Trusting the Lord, knowing that He knows best for my life, and being filled with the Holy Spirit seems to be what I am learning about this.

 

My Steps of Faith for Today:  Trust the Lord in everything that I do and stay close to the Lord who gave up His life for me.

 

1/24/2025 11:12 AM