Ready to Suffer
by Hugh DeLong
“For this reason I also suffer these things, but I am not ashamed; for I know whom I have believed and I am convinced that He is able to guard what I have entrusted to Him until that day” (II Timothy 1:12)
Why Suffer as Paul Did?
After his time of denying Jesus and persecuting the church, he was converted. Such ended up being a complete turnaround, and "he now preached the very faith he had persecuted." This brought on his consistent opposition by unbelievers – both Jewish and Gentile, and has continued for 30+ years when he wrote this letter. Why?
- He believed and trusted. Note both words are used here! Hence:
- He knows whom he had put such trust in. This was not a philosophical concept; it was Jesus, God manifest in the flesh, the Son of God who died and was raised, the one who appeared to him on the way to Damascus.
- He was convinced – not just that Jesus was the Son of God, but that He knows, cares, and has promised He will be with us (cp. Matthew 28:18-20 again)!
- Thus, he was not ashamed. He told everyone! He spoke to the common man in the marketplace, the leaders of the Jewish people, and even the political leaders of the Empire.
And, Jesus had informed him that he would suffer! (cp. again Acts 9:16).
The question that has been asked and studied many times over: Why did Paul make this drastic change in his life? This is one of the great ‘evidences’ for the validity not of a religious philosophy, but that Jesus is all He claimed to be! Now, at the end of his life, he writes not to complain about his situation, but to encourage Timothy to follow in his steps. And thus to encourage us to do the same. Are you faithfully serving our Lord?
