2 Timothy 1:7-8 - GNVT
7 For God hath not given to us the Spirit of fear, but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. 8 Be not therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, neither of me his prisoner: but be partaker of the afflictions of the Gospel according to the power of God,
Lord, help me to understand Your word this morning – amenBrethren:
After the first six verses of thankfulness, and remembrance in prayers Paul proceeds to begin his epistle to to Timothy. He sayest unto Timothy that first, God has not placed in him fear, but of power. Secondly, he sayest, that Timothy, should not be ashamed of the Gospel, but instead to embrace it, and the afflictions that come with it. For it is a Gospel of Christ and is of truth and power. It is a symbol of the Cross, as it is a truth that the ungodly will not and cannot ever understand.
R.P. Woitowitz Sr.
“The rekindling of a gift needs constant use of the Word of God and fellowship with the Lord, as well as a prayerful exercise of the gift itself. And the Spirit given of God to minister is not a spirit of fear, or cowardice, fearing men and conditions, but a spirit of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. Therefore he was not to be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, which men began to reject, nor of him, who was now the prisoner of the Lord. It was Timothy’s blessed calling and privilege to be a partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the power of God. He was not to shrink from the reproach and difficulties which then set in, but to endure it all, enabled by His gracious power. The gospel may be rejected and despised, so that the enemy seemingly is victorious, but finally the Lord and His truth will have the complete victory. The believer knows this amidst all present difficulties and discouragements, for God “hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus.”
Arno Clemens Gaebelein
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