2 Timothy 1:8 KJV
Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner: but be thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the power of God;
The word ashamed here means "to impose disgrace." It would not have been impossible but that the lost world thought of Christianity as a disgrace.
The believers were hated and hunted down
The majority of the wealthy, worldly wise, and powerful rejected the gospel, in fact
The believers themselves were only a mere handful of people in comparison to the populations of the world.
The world would have considered the Christian movement a disgrace by worldly standards.
So Paul encouraged Timothy not to be ashamed
Paul exhorted Timothy not to be ashamed of the Testimony of the Lord
Jesus Christ came, not as a world conqueror but as a lowly babe in the manger.
In His life He had no place to lay His head. and
He suffered a humiliating death at a young age.
But His gospel message is pure and powerful. It changes the eternal destiny of immortal souls. There is nothing in the testimony of Christ to be ashamed of.
Paul then urged Timothy not to be ashamed of the prison experiences of himself.
Paul had gone from an "up and coming" in the Jew's religion to an itinerant preacher who wasn't even very well received of other Christians and finally a prisoner sentenced to death for his message. On the human level Paul's experience would not appear to be one we would desire to follow. But Paul's life wasn't lived on the human level. His treasures were of a different sort. While Paul died an ignoble death in his day, his message is impacting lives 2000 years later. That is nothing to be ashamed of.
Finally Paul charged Timothy that he should partake in these same afflictions which were first seen in Christ and then in Paul.
It's not a message most will comprehend. Those who are not saved could never understand why a believer would choose a life of affliction. The majority of professing Christians would never consider partaking in the afflictions of the gospel. But those who will enter into these afflictions will find the power of God more than capable of sustaining them.
Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner: but be thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the power of God;
The word ashamed here means "to impose disgrace." It would not have been impossible but that the lost world thought of Christianity as a disgrace.
The believers were hated and hunted down
The majority of the wealthy, worldly wise, and powerful rejected the gospel, in fact
The believers themselves were only a mere handful of people in comparison to the populations of the world.
The world would have considered the Christian movement a disgrace by worldly standards.
So Paul encouraged Timothy not to be ashamed
Paul exhorted Timothy not to be ashamed of the Testimony of the Lord
Jesus Christ came, not as a world conqueror but as a lowly babe in the manger.
In His life He had no place to lay His head. and
He suffered a humiliating death at a young age.
But His gospel message is pure and powerful. It changes the eternal destiny of immortal souls. There is nothing in the testimony of Christ to be ashamed of.
Paul then urged Timothy not to be ashamed of the prison experiences of himself.
Paul had gone from an "up and coming" in the Jew's religion to an itinerant preacher who wasn't even very well received of other Christians and finally a prisoner sentenced to death for his message. On the human level Paul's experience would not appear to be one we would desire to follow. But Paul's life wasn't lived on the human level. His treasures were of a different sort. While Paul died an ignoble death in his day, his message is impacting lives 2000 years later. That is nothing to be ashamed of.
Finally Paul charged Timothy that he should partake in these same afflictions which were first seen in Christ and then in Paul.
It's not a message most will comprehend. Those who are not saved could never understand why a believer would choose a life of affliction. The majority of professing Christians would never consider partaking in the afflictions of the gospel. But those who will enter into these afflictions will find the power of God more than capable of sustaining them.
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