Daily Devotions
2 Timothy
"For this reason I also suffer these things..."
Text: 2 Timothy 1:12
TEACHING ABOUT SUFFERING FOR OUR FAITH
It was the Lord Jesus Christ Himself who taught His disciples that they must be prepared for suffering. He personally exemplified what He taught about suffering.
1. Began teaching about suffering (Matthew 16:21; Mark 8:31; Luke 9:22)
2. Challenging the disciples to take up their cross and follow Him (Matthew 16:24; Mark 8:34; Luke 9:23)
3. The suffering of the Lord Jesus (Matthew 26-27; Mark 14-15; Luke 22-23; John 19-20)
The teaching about suffering was difficult to comprehend and accept. But with time the disciples learned how to identify with the sufferings of the Lord Jesus personally.
EXPERIENCING SUFFERING
The apostles of the Lord Jesus were not spared suffering. The church in the first century began to experience suffering (Acts 8:1). People were imprisoned and even killed. The true-hearted endured suffering as part and parcel of their faith in the Lord (Philippians 1:29).
The apostle Paul wrote to Timothy to encourage him to learn how to endure suffering. He wrote out of deep personal experience of much suffering for the sake of the gospel.
“For this reason I also suffer these things;
nevertheless I am not ashamed, for I know whom
I have believed and am persuaded that He is able
to keep what I have committed to Him until that Day.”
2 Timothy 1:12
1. “For this reason I also suffer these things”
a) Paul’s sufferings were many (2 Corinthians 11:23-28).
b) He suffered for a cause he believed in with all his heart.
2. “Nevertheless I am not ashamed”
a) There were no regrets.
b) There was no shame felt.
3. “I know whom I have believed”
a) Such was Paul’s clarity of faith.
b) Such was his certainty of faith.