by Robert F. Turner<\/p>\n
Paul was set upon by a mob and then dragged from their hands by the police. Falsely charged, he spent two years in Jewish prisons and was then sent to Rome to appear before Caesar. His traveling days ended, and threatened with death by savage beasts (II Timothy 4:17), we could understand his being depressed and feeling “all is lost.”\u00a0\u00a0 Instead, he wrote to the Philippians, “the things which happened unto me have fallen out rather unto the furtherance of the gospel<\/em>”\u00a0(II Timothy 1:12-21). He could write, “I rejoice!”<\/p>\n Discounting his personal discomforts, he saw the good side of the bad – saw victory in defeat. I know his selflessness, his trust in the Lord, is the key. “For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.<\/em>” Paul had to learn this attitude, but I am impressed that he learned it so well it seems to have become a part of him. He “learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content<\/em>” (II Timothy 4:11); and this kind of thinking spawned hope instead of despair. Throw mud at Paul and he made bricks of it and built a house. Send him a lemon, and he would enjoy the lemonade and thank you for them. It is hard to defeat a person with such an attitude as that.<\/p>\n We do not refer to an artificial Pollyannish attitude, out of touch with reality. Paul sought relief from his “thorn in the flesh<\/em>”\u00a0(II Corinthians 12:8), but, when this was denied him, he could “glory in my infirmities,<\/em>” making the most of them in defending his apostleship\u00a0(II Corinthians 12:7-11). He did not enjoy being forsaken by his brethren any more than do we, but he could “pray God that it may not be laid to their charge<\/em>”\u00a0(II Timothy 4:16-17). He was confident that the Lord would save him.<\/p>\n Nor is this simply the\u00a0self<\/strong>-reliance, “indomitable ego” that is so highly recommended by psychotherapists. Human philosophies “plugin” to no higher source than man himself, and, when society fails (as it does repeatedly), the individual despairs – sometimes ends it all in suicide. But the “look up” attitude of a true believer in God removes the fear of the future, his soul is anchored (Hebrews 6:18-20), and he “shall not be moved<\/em>.” As one rancher friend of mine put it: “Things are going to pick up!”<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" by Robert F. Turner Paul was set upon by a mob and then dragged from their hands by the police. Falsely charged, he spent two years in Jewish prisons and was then sent to Rome to appear before Caesar. His traveling days ended, and threatened with death by savage beasts (II Timothy 4:17), we could…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[1282],"class_list":["post-50613","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-perseverance"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":57790,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-last-fight\/","url_meta":{"origin":50613,"position":0},"title":"The Last Fight","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 9, 2005","format":false,"excerpt":"by Robert F. Turner via Plain Talk, January 1971 On the ruins of a theater in Ephesus, there is a memorial to an athlete of the 2nd century A.D. which reads: \"He fought three fights, and twice was crowned.\" Watch out for that last step! You see, those \"athletes\" fought\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2005\/01\/EphesusTheatre-300x225.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":59914,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/take-heed-unto-thyself-and-unto-the-doctrine\/","url_meta":{"origin":50613,"position":1},"title":"Take Heed Unto Thyself and Unto the Doctrine","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 14, 2004","format":false,"excerpt":"by Homer Hailey via The Preceptor, Vol. 1, No. 11, Sept. 1952. \"Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine, continue in them: for in doing this though shalt both save thyself and them that hear thee\" (I Timothy 4:16). These words are from the pen of Paul to the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":60591,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/vessels-unto-honor-and-vessels-unto-dishonor\/","url_meta":{"origin":50613,"position":2},"title":"Vessels Unto Honor and Vessels Unto Dishonor","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 30, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"by L.A. Stauffer via Son Rays, Vol. 30, No. 23, Sept. 7 2008 Paul writes to the young preacher, Timothy, and urges him to flee immorality so that he might be a \"vessel unto honor.\" His reference is to Timothy's person or body and how he should engage in honorable\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":63239,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/pauls-imprisonment\/","url_meta":{"origin":50613,"position":3},"title":"Paul’s Imprisonment","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 10, 2005","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Philippians 2:17-30 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0We all have a tendency to make assumptions about what does not appear \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Those assumptions help us to organize what we do know \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0We do this whether we are trying to determine why someone walked by without saying \u201cHi!\u201d or when we\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Sermon"","block_context":{"text":"Sermon","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/sermon\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":58617,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/pauls-sons\/","url_meta":{"origin":50613,"position":4},"title":"Paul’s Sons","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 1, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"by Earl Robertson via\u00a0Biblical Insights, Vol. 8, No. 6, June 2008. The relationship of Timothy and Titus to Paul as sons is spiritual, legitimate, and true -- \"legitimately born, not spurious,\" says Thayer, pg. 119. They were true sons. Paul said Timothy was \"a true child in the faith,\" showing\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":51921,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-last-years-of-pauls-life\/","url_meta":{"origin":50613,"position":5},"title":"The Last Years of Paul’s Life","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 19, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Philippians 2:17-30 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Paul had written the Roman brethren that he would like to go to Spain after seeing them - Romans 15:23-25, 28 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Things didn\u2019t go quite as Paul planned. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0After going to Jerusalem, he was arrested, but he did go to Rome \u2013\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50613","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=50613"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50613\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=50613"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=50613"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=50613"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}