Transcribed excerpt from…
2 Timothy
1:11
Whereunto I am
appointed a preacher, and an apostle, and a teacher of the Gentiles.
Paul reminds Timothy of his
apostleship and ministry:
2 Timothy 3:10-12
But thou
hast fully known my doctrine, manner of life, purpose, faith, longsuffering,
charity, patience,
Persecutions,
afflictions, which came unto me at Antioch, at Iconium, at Lystra; what
persecutions I endured: but out of them all the Lord delivered me.
The first thing you need to know is
Paul’s grace doctrine and know it
fully. You need to be studying Paul’s
epistles. You want your mind to be
filled with this information [Phil
4:8].
Then God will give you understanding of the rest of scripture [2
Tim 2:7], but you need to know as much of
the grace message in Romans through Philemon as possible. You can study on your
own and if you have questions, let’s do it together.
Timothy fully knew not only Paul’s
doctrine, but also his manner of life. Timothy watched the apostle Paul as they
ministered together. He was with him
from beginning to end (Acts 16).
Paul’s purpose was the grace
ministry, the mystery of Christ [Acts
20:24; Rom.
16:25; Colossians
4:3-4].
That is our purpose too.
2
Corinthians 5:20
Now then we are
ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in
Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God.
Paul believed the doctrine that God
gave him and as a result, he suffered for his faith.
1 Timothy
1:16
Howbeit for this cause
I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might shew forth all longsuffering,
for a pattern to them which should hereafter believe on him to life
everlasting.
Paul served others with an attitude
of love (charity) and he endured the afflictions that came because of his
ministry with patience, as he was our ensample
in all things [2
Thess 3:9].
Acts 20:23
Save that the Holy
Ghost witnesseth in every city, saying that bonds and afflictions abide me.
Romans
8:18
For I reckon that the sufferings
of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which
shall be revealed in us.
At some point we are all going to
get sick or injured. We will all have
emotional issues and spiritual problems.
Someone in our family won’t receive the truth and it will hurt us
spiritually and emotionally. Sooner or
later we will all suffer. We differ from
our denominational brethren and the world because we know why.
Romans
8:18-23
For I reckon that the
sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory
which shall be revealed in us. For
the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the
sons of God. For the creature was made
subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the
same in hope, Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the
bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groaneth
and travaileth in pain together until now.
And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the
Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption,
to wit, the redemption of our body.
There is a curse on creation and the
curse is random.
Ecclesiastes
9:11b
but time and chance
happeneth to them all.
Both believers and unbelievers
suffer the same things. What can we do? What we should do? We are to listen to Paul and understand [2 Tim 2:7 KJB] that it
is a part of life. Do we stay in the
sufferings? No, we use them.
Romans
5:2-4
By whom also we have
access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the
glory of God. And not only so, but we
glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh
patience; And patience, experience; and experience, hope:
We
can take the hard times and use them for God’s good and ours. That’s what Paul is saying. That is patience.
While patience has to do with troubles that come our
way in life, persecutions come from people.
2
Corinthians 12:7
And lest I should be
exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations, there was given
to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I
should be exalted above measure.
The lost are not persecuted for their faith. They don’t have faith. They’re just going along with the crowd. That includes most of our Christian brethren
because they don’t rightly divide the word.
Who then is persecuted? Grace
believers! We who are rejected by our
own brethren in the body of Christ because we follow the apostle Paul as he
follows the Lord [1
Cor. 4:15-16; Cor. 11:1; Phil. 3:17].
Afflictions are physical things that happened to
Paul. He was beaten [2
Cor. 6:4-5; 11:23-27]. His physical body was
affected. Paul says that he too
suffered unto death and God delivered him.
I am convinced that Paul is not only talking about the
end of the dispensation of grace and the suffering that comes along with it,
but he is actually dealing with physical death.
I am so convinced that when Paul brings that up he is talking about his
stoning.
Acts 14:19-20
And there came thither
certain Jews from Antioch and Iconium, who persuaded the people, and having stoned
Paul, drew him out of the city, supposing he had been dead. Howbeit, as the disciples stood round about
him, he rose up, and came into the city: and the next day he departed
with Barnabas to Derbe.
He is saying to Timothy, “Don’t you remember when I was stoned to death? They threw me out of the city and right in
front of the disciples God raised me from the dead.”
God
may not deliver you and me the way he did Paul who had a special ministry to fulfill,
but when we die we have a surety.
1
Thessalonians 4:14
For if we believe that
Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God
bring with him.
We
will rise from the dead. There is a hope
of resurrection. Paul is saying that God
raised him from the dead and he can deliver you out of your persecution and
affliction too.
2 Timothy 3:12
Yea, and [Some? No!] all that will live godly in Christ
Jesus [if you chose to live
godly in Christ Jesus] shall suffer persecution.
This
is godly suffering. Understand that
people do not like you because you believe this Pauline grace message. I came to that conclusion a long time ago
when I was very zealous about sharing it and I was continually rejected. I thought Why wouldn’t every saint want to understand
it? But I realized that people just
don’t want truth.
I have
learned that when God’s truth rubs me the wrong way I just say, “I’m wrong; you’re right, God. Let’s get on with it.” Who would want to fight against God? That’s ridiculous.
Acts 9:5b
…it is hard for thee to
kick against the pricks.
God’s word is right, so change your
thinking to be in agreement with what he says.
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