Part II

PROMISE OF LIFE IN CHRIST JESUS

Amazing that a man sentenced to die would start off talking about LIFE! But Paul knew his source of life: "the promise life which is in Christ Jesus." The person of Lord Jesus Christ is our hope! He is our promise of life!

DON'T BE AFRAID; DON'T BE ASHAMED

Two of the greatest tools of the enemy, used against Timothy, were fear (1:7) and shame (1:8). This was brought to the forefront in Timothy's life because of the situation that Paul found himself in – in prison.

"The Apostle was now living for the most part in loneliness and rejection. Imprisonment for the truth evidently carried with it a social stigma and the danger of giving a public witness to the religion that was now illicit, made the possibility of shame a real one" (Stuart Allen, Letters From Prison).

The enemy still uses these fear and shame, among his greatest resources. How many believers have been silenced and their lives of non-effect by these oppressions. These are mental war games from the hand of the adversary (c.f. II Corinthians 10:4-5). But Paul reminds Timothy that he as been given divine power and love, and a sound mind.

Timothy may have been on the verge of a "nervous breakdown," of "losing his mind," so intense was the pressure upon him. But he did not need a psychologist to get through this sorrow, timidity, depression, and despair. God had already given him all the provision he needed – a sound mind (1:7).

ASHAMED

Timothy was exhorted not to be ashamed (1:8)

Paul was not ashamed (1:12)

The house of Onesiphorus was not ashamed (1:16)

NOT ASHAMED OF PAUL

To be ashamed of Paul is to be ashamed of the Lord! Paul is God's divinely appointed representative and spokesman for the body of Christ in the dispensation of grace, just as Moses had been for Israel under the law. Paul is the apostle to the Gentiles (Romans 11:13). Paul encourages Timothy not to be ashamed of him, even though he was in prison as an evil doer (1:8, 2:9).

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