The apostle Paul, jailed in Rome, has much to teach us about how to stand bold faced and ready to be vessels for Christ to work out His victory in times that seem difficult to us.
2 Ti 1:5–14
I am reminded of your sincere faith… that dwells in you … For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you … for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control. Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord, nor of me his prisoner, but share in suffering for the gospel by the power of God, who saved us and called us to a holy calling… because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began…and which now has been manifested through the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel, for which I was appointed a preacher and apostle and teacher, which is why I suffer as I do. But I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed, and I am convinced that he is able to guard until that day what has been entrusted to me. Follow the pattern of the sound words that you have heard from me, in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. By the Holy Spirit who dwells within us, guard the good deposit entrusted to you
Because of the faith that IS ALREADY IN YOU
Having been saved, with the Spirit of God now dwelling within us as our fountain of life, through the mechanism of faith which He gave us, makes all the divine empowerment and the things spoke of in this passage possible
FAN INTO FLAME YOUR GIFT
And now, because of that, we are called to act.
We must do something specific: we must fan into flame His gift
We must direct oxygen towards the burning embers of His gift so that they spring up into the powerful source of light He intended it to be, regardless of the smallness of the flames at present.
Which IS IN YOU
This gift is ALREADY in you. Do not concentrate on new gifts, gifts you don't yet have and want to have or think you need to have. Start with the gifts you ALREADY have. Fan those into flame
And what is this Oxygen? It is the thing with which the gift reacts to result in the energy and power and light the flames produce. And that is the Holy Spirit ministering to others through you, according to the gifts He has given you.
Therefore, position yourself to be used by the Lord for His purposes with His gift, and then let Holy Spirit produce combustion!
FOR
Why should you decisively act in this way? Why stir up a roaring flame?
Because of what follows…
God gave us NOT a spirit of fear
Because the spirit in us is not our own, it is from God. It is the spirit He placed in us, empowered by HIS OWN Spirit (Ezek 36:27-28)
And His Spirit FEARS NOT
Therefore, do not fear anything
Do not fear consequences
Do not fear the devil
Do not fear death
Do not fear suffering
Do not FEAR
Simply exercise the gift that is in you, as an instrument of God's grace
... BUT of power, and love and self control
As you abide in His spirit, in the truth of who you are, manifest the life of God by the power of Holy Spirit: power, love and self control
THEREFORE
Because of what God has done, because of the Spirit He has given you…
DON'T BE ASHAMED of the gospel
NEVER allow shame of the gospel to have a place in your life, but be bold and unashamed as a recipient and participant in the grace of the Lord's gospel
ABOUT OUR LORD
And do not be ashamed of JESUS, His name, Him as your Lord.
Do not let what other people think - of your love of our Lord, and taking His name, and devotion to Him - make you ashamed. Implied is the fact that you will be tempted to be ashamed. That is because of what the world thinks of our Lord. The spirit of this world is antichrist and hates our Lord. They will mock and ridicule His followers
Do not be ashamed. Be an unashamed follower of Christ
NOR ME His prisoner
And do not be ashamed of your persecuted brothers and sisters, shamed, cancelled, labelled for Christ's sake
BUT
Instead…
SHARE in suffering
Side with them, support them, openly, even at great personal cost, as this is sharing in the sufferings of Christ
For the gospel
Do it for the sake of Christ's mission, His message, to bring salvation to the nations. Do not allow yourself to be a lamp under the lampstand, but rather shine openly the light of Christ…
By the power of God
BY the power of God, because HE IS DOING IT, and will do it in and through you
Who… called us to a holy calling
To this we are called, by God Himself. It is His will, and we are called to walk in it
because of his own purpose and grace
which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began
which now has been manifested through the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus
who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel
the gospel, for which I was appointed a preacher and apostle and teacher, which is why I suffer as I do
the calling is accompanied by the suffering
The calling to preach and teach the gospel is front line warfare and will be met with fierce resistance and warfare.
Praise God He has already won, the victory is past tense. Only its outworking lies ahead
But I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed
Despite circumstances (prison, defamation, prosecution, punishment, public shaming) that would naturally produce shame and being ashamed of the apparently weak and powerless Christ (circumstances would seem to imply), we must live free of the oppression of shame, overcoming by the simple reality of Christ, by focusing our hearts on Him, the One who called us, the One we love and serve and trust.
We must walk by faith and not by sight, because by the eyes of faith all we can see is His glory and victory and our blessing and reward
and I am convinced that he is able to guard until that day what has been entrusted to me
In this is freedom and hope, because when (in our hearts and minds) all things are on His shoulders, not ours, and in His hands, not ours, then we KNOW that all things He has entrusted to us (our mission, our loved ones, our faith, our very own lives) are perfectly safe despite our condition
Follow the pattern of the sound words that you have heard from me, in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus
SO THEN:
We are to pattern our lives on this: His words.
These words draw from the fountain of Christ, and therefore they are true, sound, reliable, strong. Unlike the words buzzing around in the culture - false and misleading words, the wine of Babylon - His words are truly SOUND.
By the Holy Spirit who dwells within us
And for this next crucial instruction to guard and defend your life, as with all the others, know this: it can only be done BY THE SPIRIT who dwells within us
OH THE WONDER of the Holy Spirit dwelling within us. Christ Himself, who will never leave us or forsake us, ever. Who will lead us into all truth, who is the power of God's life within us, who overcomes the world in and through us… oh the WONDER of His active ministry in and through me NOW, and always, by His boundless might enabling God's very best purposes for my life as I walk with and in Him.
Abba Father, by Your Spirit have all of my life; let Your Spirit guide and lead and empower me in Your path and accomplish Your purposes
guard the good deposit entrusted to you
By that reality, do this: GUARD the good deposit entrusted to you
Fiercely defend it from theft by the wicked one and this Babylon in which we live
And what is that good deposit? It is what we have mentioned above
It is the power of faith you have been given, by which you access and live in all the reality of the Kingdom of God
It is the gift that is within you
It is the gospel of Christ
It is the sound words - of scripture and instruction in the gospel - that you have heard
It is the faith and love that are in Christ
It is the Holy Spirit dwelling within us
All of which may be summed up as: The Kingdom of faith, which is all the realities of Christ's lordship, the reality of which you live in by your faith.
Guard it. Guard your faith. Guard your living in the Kingdom, under the King. Guard His good Lordship of your life. Guard the treasures of His Presence, direction, leading, teaching, and enablement
This has been given and entrusted TO YOU.
So guard it.
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