Thursday, March 3, 2016

The Lord Shall Deliver and Preserve 2 Timothy 4:18


Though everyone abandoned Paul at his first “answer” to the charges brought against him, “The Lord stood with” him and “strengthened” him. Because of this Paul declared, “that by” him “the preaching might be fully known, and that all the Gentiles might hear” “and” he “was delivered out of the mouth of the lion”. In chapter four and verse eighteen of this final letter to Timothy, Paul continued his thought by adding how the Lord would “deliver” and “preserve” him where we read:

And the Lord shall deliver me from every evil work, and will preserve me unto his heavenly kingdom: to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.

The verse begins, “And the Lord shall deliver me from every evil work,...” Paul began with the word, “And” which demonstrated his continuance of thought and went on to write, “the Lord” who is “he to whom a person or thing belongs, about which he has power of deciding; master and the title of honor expressive of respect and reverence which is given to God, the Messiah” “shall deliver me” or “rescue Paul” “from every” which means “each, any, all, the whole and everyone” “evil work” or “bad labor, hardship, business, employment, occupation or condition”. Paul was assured whatever his conditions were going to be, the Lord would “rescue” him from them all.

The verse continues, “...and will preserve me unto his heavenly kingdom:” Paul went on to add, “and will preserve me” which means “save, keep safe and sound, rescue from danger or destruction” “unto his heavenly” or “existing in heaven and of heavenly origin or nature” “kingdom” which refers to “royal power, kingship, dominion or rule”. Paul knew “the Lord” would “keep” him “safe and sound” until the time when He would call him to be in the “heavenly kingdom”.

Finally the verse says, “to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.” Paul continued with a praise, “to whom” which refers to “the Lord Jesus” “be glory” which means “splendor, brightness, majesty, magnificence, excellence, preeminence, dignity and grace” “forever and ever” which in Greek is “aiōn aiōn” and means “an unbroken age, perpetuity of time and eternity”. Paul ended this verse with the word, “Amen” which means “firm, so it is and so be it” and was a declarative statement of the authority and solidity of his praise.

When we meditate upon Paul's words, we can understand the close relationship Paul had with the Lord Jesus. We find his confidence in “the Lord's” presence enviable as he declared with purpose his resolve that no matter what he faced, “the Lord” would not only “deliver” him, but would also “preserve” him until the time He took Paul to His heavenly kingdom. Are we as confident as Paul and assured“the Lord” is standing with us in our deepest and darkest hour? Are we certain of his deliverance and preservation in these times? Perhaps we should join Paul in his praise of the Lord, give Him “glory for ever and ever” and ask that He put within us the same spirit and confidence of Paul who knew “the Lord” so well, that nowhere in the world would he ever know what it was like to be completely alone.

Next time Paul begins some final greetings, so read ahead, and we shall join together then.

Until tomorrow…there is more…

Look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, and the new devotional “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com ; http://www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at http://www.mrzlc.com/bookstore.




No comments:

Post a Comment