Welcome back to Tabernacle Tidbit. And today we are in 2 Timothy chapter one and verse number eight.
The Apostle Paul kind of gave his introduction to Timothy and said, Hey, it's me. I'm praying for you. I love you.
I know that you have like the real deal kind of faith in you that was passed down from your grandmother and your mother. And so I want to encourage you, like don't give up on preaching.
Don't give up that gift of shepherding others and declaring the Word to them. That gift that was recognized by others and by me. And I commissioned you for that purpose that you would go and do that same type of thing that we did together.
That you would do it there in that city of Ephesus. And he tells him that God hasn't given him a spirit of fear, of timidity, but instead he's given him the Holy Spirit, which gives us power, who gives us love and who gives us a sound mind.
So today in verse number eight, he says, Don't be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord or of me as prisoner. Instead, share in suffering for the gospel, relying on the power of God. He gives him here kind of two big things.
Number one, don't be ashamed. And then secondly, share in suffering. So we'll look at that first one first.
Don't be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord. Jesus died a ignoble death. He died in a way that was shameful.
It would be like, you know, today, man, it's not a great one-to-one.
But if someone gets the electric chair today, or maybe in the previous couple of centuries, if someone died by the guillotine, or a couple hundred years ago, died by being burned at the stake, it was a very shameful thing to experience.
People would ask, well, what in the world did that person do that that was the punishment that they got for their crimes?
And so even as Timothy would declare that there was a king, a risen Lord and Savior that had died in our place for our sins and that he was crucified, people would have a lot of questions. They would deride it.
They would say, much like people today, if God really did come down to earth, then then he couldn't die. How could God die or how could a man be God? Or they would say, you know, what kind of God would allow himself to be treated that way by others?
And so Paul is encouraging Timothy, don't be ashamed about Jesus.
That is a truth that certainly we need in our everyday life, that though people might mock and scorn, that they might think that religion is just a crutch, they think that maybe the only reason people would believe in religion is so they don't get
punished or something like that. We ought not to have shame when thinking and talking about our Savior. And others might view him as a shameful God to follow, but that's not who he is to us. He is precious.
And Paul extends that, so don't be ashamed about Jesus. Don't be ashamed about me, his prisoner.
When people might ask about Paul, those that would interact with Timothy, that had known Paul from before, it could be shameful to say, oh yeah, my mentor is arrested and imprisoned. And there would be a thought of, well, what in the world did he do?
And that there would be a gratitude for Paul and a respect for Paul, that there wouldn't be shame about him. And we ought not to have shame for our brothers and sisters that are suffering for the Lord.
And I can think of one company, The Voice of the Martyrs, The Voice of the Martyrs, that does some incredible work in highlighting the suffering of our brothers and sisters all across the globe.
Would invite you to look at some of their materials, look at their website to be able to hear how you can specifically pray for those that are undergoing heavy persecution for the sake of Jesus, just as Paul was here in these verses.
Then the end part of the verse, don't be ashamed of the Lord or of me. He says instead, share in suffering for the gospel, relying on the power of God. That is joining in with Paul, he says, in suffering for the gospel.
When we think about our Christian lives, often we want the path of least resistance. We want, you know, a comfy chair at church. We want all of our favorite songs.
We want the kind of message that we want to hear, delivered in the style, that we want to hear it. We want to only interact with those people that we just, you know, get along really nicely already with.
And yet, Jesus calls us not to share in comfort for the gospel, but to share in suffering. When was the last time that you living and loving for Jesus cost you something personally?
Here Paul is saying, you can live your life in such a way that you avoid suffering for the gospel. He says, but you are called to lay down your life for the sake of Jesus and rely on God's power.
Just suffering isn't a worthwhile thing, but suffering for the gospel while relying on God's power makes our suffering worthwhile. And it means that when we get to the end of our life, we hear that, well done, thou good and faithful servant.
What will be God's reply to you? Will you be ashamed of him? Or will you choose to share in suffering for him relying on his power?
Thanks for tuning in. Have a great day.
