Wednesday, August 12, 2009

2nd Timothy study, Part 17

Wow! Part 17 already! I hope y'all are havin' a good hump day! lol. You know, the middle of the week. :P Remember to pray!

10. But thou hast fully known my doctrine, manner of life, purpose, faith, longsuffering, charity, patience,

11. 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.

12. Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.

13. But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived.

In these verses Paul is telling us and Timothy the "duties and qualities of an apostle." (Barclay commentary). Like before, I am going to make a list and go from there. :D

The first thing that Paul writes is that "thou hast fully known my..." Or, "You have been my disciple in my..." So, I think, that Paul is saying that not only has he done these things, but Timothy has done/tried to do these things in copying Paul, in mirroring what he is doing. Timothy is his disciple or student. He looks up to Paul like a father. He copies what he does because he wants to be like him.

Here are the things that Paul tells Timothy that he has "fully known" of him.
  • doctrine
  • manner of life
  • purpose
  • faith
  • longsuffering
  • charity (or love)
  • patience
  • persecutions
  • afflictions
The first one is "doctrine" or "teaching." A good teacher teaches what he/she thinks is right, correct? Unless, of course, it is a Creation-believing person teaching in a public school that doesn't want to lose their job. Paul taught certain things. He believed certain things. He taught Timothy about Jesus, and God, how to preach, etc. Paul believed that Timothy would teach people what he had been taught by him.

Next is, "manner of life" or "training." Everyone has a different way of living, you know what I mean. No one mirrors another person exactly, no matter how hard they try, you can't. We are all different. We all have different wants, and beliefs. Paul taught Timothy what he believed, just like the first one we talked about. But Timothy also watched Paul, I think. I think that Timothy wanted to be like Paul. Who wouldn't? He was a great apostle of Christ! Paul also taught Timothy to be a teacher, a trainer. He trained him so that he could train others to be Christian leaders.

The next one is, "Purpose." Most everyone have a purpose in life, right? Everyone, at one time or another, finds out what they think they want to do for their career. For Christians, they finally see what God has called them to be and do with the life that He has given them! It is so peaceful to know what you are going to be "when you grow up." Even though you can't see around every corner, you have a glimpse of what your future could hold. Paul had a purpose. He knew that God called him to be an apostle, and to teach others about Jesus Christ. He knew (as we will see later) that he would be persecuted, but he knew that God was in control, all we have to do is rest on Him. Easy to say, right? But, is it easy to do?

The fourth one is "faith." This is a very important one. One must have faith in God, one must put his full trust in God. And why not? God has never lied, never broken any promises, knows everything, and made you! So, if you could put your trust in one thing/person alone, what would it be? Mine would be God. He never fails to do anything! He is the most exact, perfect, true, faithful, loving, just, etc. that anyone could ever be and beyond! Amazing! Paul had faith in God, he trusted Him completely with his life. Even in the face of persecution, Paul did not deny God, he knew the truth, and he was not going to deny it. Timothy wanted faith like that, I think. He wanted to trust God as much as Paul did. I do too! But it is hard to simply say, "I put everything in your hands."

The next one is, "longsuffering" or "endurance." Paul endured many, many hardships. He endured very cruel persecutions. He also tried to teach Timothy to do that as well, he wanted him not to give up or deny God when difficulties came. He tells us to "be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power," which is the beginning of the Full Armor of God found in Ephesians 6:10-20. A Christian must endure hard things for the sake of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Next is, "charity" or "love." A Christian must have love for three different groups. The first is God. A Christian must love God so much that he is willing to die for Him. That takes an amazing amount of love and devotion. The second one is love for other Christians. We must love and care for our brothers and sisters in Christ. We must love each other so much that we are willing to spend our time helping other believers in times of difficulty. The third one is love toward non-believers, which can also count as our enemies in some circumstances. We must love them so much that we empathize with them, and try to lead them to Christ.

The seventh one is, "patience." A Christian must, must, must be patient! We can't fly into tempers, and think that things will happen all at once. God has His own timing, and we must trust God that He knows what is best. We must be patient with all people, not just other Christians. When ministering to someone, we don't know if we are planting a seed, watering it, weeding it, or what. We might not even know if they became a Christian until we get to heaven! We must have a great amount of patience.

The next one is, "persecutions." Paul is such a great example of a Christian dealing with persecutions. Remember when Paul and Silas were put into prison together? What did they do? They sang! They worshiped God Almighty! They didn't sit around and sulk because they were in jail, they thanked God! They saw how wonderfully forgiving God is not to have them killed instead of put into prison! A Christian will be persecuted; all will. It doesn't matter where you live, what you wear, eat, sleep, and think. Every Christian will be persecuted in some way or another. But we must not deny God, no matter how difficult it gets, God loves us very much, and will help us through, if we trust Him.

Next is, "afflictions." Things that people suffer because of another. The Israelites were "afflicted" by Pharaoh because he made them slaves. We as Christians will be afflicted. Paul was stoned a bunch of times. Three I think. And yet he was still faithful to God, and did not deny Him who sits on the Throne of Heaven.

I'm sorry y'all, we are having company tonight, so I have to go. I will complete these verses tomorrow if I have the time. God bless!

In Him,
Buttercup <3

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