II Timothy 1:7 For God hath not give us the spirit of fear; but of power and of love, and of a sound mind
Did your dad ever embarrass you when you were growing up? Maybe you are growing up right now and your dad has embarrassed you recently. Have your children ever embarrassed you? Perhaps that has happened. Has God ever embarrassed you? Have you ever been embarrassed that God is not with the prevailing attitude of the culture in which you live?
You know, Timothy was a young man who was in danger of being ashamed of both his spiritual father, the Apostle Paul, and of God Himself. In II Timothy 1:2 Paul calls Timothy “my dearly beloved son.” Paul was not physically Timothy’s father, but he was his father in the faith. He had brought him to Christ. Paul says in verse 7, “For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. Be not therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me as prisoner: but be thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the power of God.”
In Paul’s day there were many “whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame.” There are people whose appetites are the only god they know and literally find a reason to brag or boast in the shameful things they do. You are either going to be ashamed of sin or of God. You are either going to seek to be approved by men or approved by God. We cannot have it both ways. A greater day is coming and a greater judge is coming.
Look back in history and think about the Nuremberg Trials where Nazis were tried and hung or imprisoned. Many of them said, as tyrants have said the world over, “We were just following commands.” In 1939 what was accepted, safe, and in the majority became defeated and punished at the Nuremberg Trials. Friend, whatever the culture, the majority, or the mob says right now, there is coming a day where there is a bigger picture.
Confidence is seeing the bigger picture. “For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.” If someone is off his rocker and invokes God, that is not God. That is a guy who is off his rocker and tainting God with what he is saying. So, I am to have love, power, and a sound mind that comes from God and not be ashamed. Paul says in verse 12, “Nevertheless I am not ashamed: for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day.” Confidence is seeing the bigger picture.
First, it is seeing an eternal day. “That day” is eternal. Paul says He “is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day.” In verse 16 Paul talks about a man named Onesiphorus who was not ashamed of Paul even when he was in prison, but actively sought him out to be a help to him. Paul says of this man, “The Lord grant unto him that he may find mercy of the Lord in that day.” We are talking about the fact that today is not all there is. There is coming an eternal day. In II Corinthians 4:17 it says, “For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.”
Take a historical figure like Abraham Lincoln. Is he good or bad, accepted or rejected? He has had two or three different iterations since his death. Was Abraham Lincoln safe to like in 1864? No, he was not popular in 1864, even in the North. What about in 1964? Well, at that time he was widely accepted and acknowledged as the leader that he was. What about now in 2023? Is he applauded or abhorred? Well, there are a lot of people who are rejecting him again. Talk about fickle. We are a fickle people. Confidence is seeing the bigger picture. If I am just living for here and now, it is so transient. We will change our minds again tomorrow. There is coming an eternal day.
Second, this judge is absolute. Confidence is realizing that today is not all there is and the people who judge me on Twitter are not the ultimate judges. That ultimate Judge is the Creator, Sustainer, and the Judge. In verse 1 Paul says, “Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, according to the promise of life.” He is saying, “My life is of God and my calling is of God. What I am doing is the will of God.” That is why he tells Timothy is verses 13-14, “Hold fast the form of sound words, which thou hast heard of me…that good thing which was committed unto thee…” There is coming a day when you will be judged by how you have kept your stewardship.
II Timothy 2:15 says, “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed.” He is not talking about shame before peers, but shame before the ultimate Judge. In II Timothy 4:1 Paul says, “I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick [living] and the dead.” There is coming a day when there will be an absolute judge.
Are you focusing on an eternal day and an absolute Judge today when you are dealing with the here and now? You can live a life of power, love, and a sound mind, but that is the power of God, the grace of Jesus, and the confidence that comes from seeing a bigger picture than right here and right now.