Title: Podium and Loyalty
Contents
“You know the training of Timothy, that he labored with me for the gospel as a child does a father” (Philippians 2:22).
1. Text commentary
2. Podium and Confusion: Confusion of mind/thoughts/emotions
Refinement comes through trials and many sufferings, and when we experience trials and tribulations, confusion inevitably comes to us. Therefore, the pulpit always brings confusion to those who receive it, even temporarily.
1) Loss of heart: When we are in grace, our hearts are in order, so that we can focus on God and dwell in the peace that comes from our relationship with God. However, when we are faced with tribulations and trials, our peace of mind is broken and our minds are scattered, so we cannot concentrate on prayer and experience the truth. It is very difficult to focus on what God has given us at this time.
2) Confusion of thought: In Psalm 73, when the poet who feared and loved God sees the wicked prosper and hears God's word rebuking him every morning, he asks if God is really just or whether God really loves me. I was thrown into confusion of thoughts. Like poets, when we are in tribulation and trials, we fall into the confusion of thinking, “Could it be?” about things that we previously thought were obviously wrong, and we move forward with a life of living according to our desires with boldness.
3) Ups and downs of emotions: During tribulation and trials, our emotions also become confused. So, at times, there is a decision to live by faith alone and not to betray the Lord in the midst of this refinement, but at some point, the heart of that decision melts like water, and I doubt whether God really loves me and my heart rushes to desire. . In this way, when you are in tribulation, your emotions become so intense that you cannot believe in yourself.
3. Mission and sense of duty
1) Believers and Missions: Believers have big and small missions entrusted to them by God. Even though we are saved, if we do not realize our mission and live a life that is heart-fluttering in that mission, we are Christians who have not found the purpose of life. When we carry out our mission, God fulfills His will through us, and through it, we clearly understand the purpose of our life.
2) Mission and sense of duty: However, when we strive for a life of sanctification and live for God who has given us a mission, it becomes full and disappears when we do not. And the way to live with a sense of mission is to experience the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ in the present. The sense of mission comes through our experience of Christ Jesus. Therefore, a sense of duty that does not come from experiencing Christ personally does not come from God. (eg Paul the apostle before meeting Jesus Christ at Damascus).
4. Loyalty during refinement: “He labored with me for the gospel as a child does to a father.”
However, in the midst of tribulation and trials, when our hearts and minds are confused and our emotions are ups and downs, we cannot serve the mission God has entrusted to us with all our heart. However, in order for the refinement to be truly effective, one must remain faithful and faithful even when receiving the refinement. Faith gazes at its mission even when tribulation and trials come, and holds itself tight so that it does not give up its mission even when suffering shakes it.
Timothy was recognized by the Apostle Paul because he was a man who was faithful even in the midst of refinement. Many of Paul's followers in the time of tribulation, each seeking their own, not those of Christ Jesus (v. 22), not Timothy. So Paul praised Timothy, saying, “You know the training of Timothy, that he labored with me for the gospel as a child does a father.” Timothy preached the gospel to him and served Paul, who raised him like his father, and spared no effort in his life for the gospel, the only goal of his life. Because of that, the tribulations and trials he suffered became the refinement that made him more pure and perfect.
5. Application and conclusion (those who seek the work of Christ): To refine us, the Lord gives us trials and tribulations. And sometimes the confusion and trials are so great that our thoughts and minds are confused, and our emotions are so ups and downs that we can't help it. However, we must remember that this is the time to look to Jesus Christ, follow Jesus' example, seek Christ's work, and be faithful to our mission. 2004-06-27 Title:
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