Living life as a Prisoner of Jesus Christ

 

2 Timothy 1: 8-12

What insight!  It always amazes me that the key to living the Christ life is found when we ask the Holy Spirit to open our eyes to the verses and then to show us how to let Jesus do it all for us.  Verse seven that we addressed yesterday is the key to having a testimony like the apostle Paul’s.  It was Christ’s Spirit living in Paul, and Paul’s willingness to obey and follow the leadership of the Spirit, which is “power and love and self-control.”  So with that backdrop, shall we look into a life that is under the authority of the Holy Spirit?  And remember it required Paul to “faith it,” and Paul was very clear in Romans 14:23, that if you have doubts, wait, then ask for directions.

So as we pick-up in verse 8, “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” Life is so much how we look at the situation or the circumstance, and at the writing of this letter Paul is in prison in Rome, but he is not a Roman prisoner, he is there because of his willingness to serve Jesus Christ by his own testimony, a prisoner of Jesus Christ.  And how does he tell us to share?  In suffering for the gospel, but not in your ability but by the power of God.  Has anyone at your local church put out a signup sheet for suffering for the gospel, if so, I am willing to bet the form it still blank.  But in no way, or at any time, is Paul stating that he is doing this in his ability, but by the Spirit’s power.

Going back to 2 Timothy 1:9, “Who saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began.”  He saved us, (we did not have one thing to do with it) and He called us to a holy calling.  This week, I read and kept this insight from Os Hillman, and I quote: “However, there is often an unspoken hierarchy that positions clergy (missionaries and evangelists, pastors and clergy) at the top, and occupations such as of the "helping professions" (doctors and nurses, teachers and educators, social workers) next, and "secular" workers (business executives, salespeople, factory laborers, and farmers) at the bottom.
So what determines the spiritual value of a job?  How does God assign significance? The hierarchy assumes sacred and secular distinctions, and assigns priority to the sacred.  But does God view vocations that way?  No, He does not.”  It matters not what God’s holy calling is for you, Housewife, Plumber, or President of the United Sates, it is your place in God’s plan to share Christ with a world in darkness, it is a holy calling, and it was assigned before the ages began.
Picking up in verse 10 -12, “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.”  I’ve told my wife often, that I could make some claim about a goat, and take it through downtown San Antonio, and in less than two hours I would have a group of people following the goat.  Yes, we live in a culture that is in search of a provider, protector or one might say, a savior.  Many in the church are religious, but few can say as Paul has; “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.”  Jesus abolished death and gives life, who else can make that claim?  I am in full agreement with Paul, I also am trusting Jesus to guard all that He has promised till that Day.
From the Back Porch,
Bob Rice