Daily Devotional

A Ministry of the Kerwin Baptist Church

December 31, 2018

by Pastor Hawtree

I AM PERSUADED THAT HE IS ABLE:

TO RESTORE MY BOLDNESS (part 1)

II Timothy 1:8 Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner: but be thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the power of God;…….12 For the which cause I also suffer these things: 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

“BE NOT…..ASHAMED”
Paul encourages Timothy to have boldness. He tells Timothy not to be ashamed of a few things. He says do not be ashamed of:

  1. THE MESSAGE OF GOD
    This word “testimony” means something evidential, evidence given or witness. This simply means God’s Word. It is the evidence that has been written down.

• Psalm 119:31 I have stuck unto thy testimonies: O LORD, put me not to shame
• Psalm 119:24 Thy testimonies also are my delight and my counsellors.

  • John 3:31 He that cometh from above is above all: he that is of the earth is earthly, and speaketh of the earth: he that cometh from heaven is above all. 32 And what he hath seen and heard, that he testifieth; and no man receiveth his testimony. 33 He that hath received his testimony hath set to his seal that God is true.

‘Timothy, do not ever be ashamed of God’s Word.’ May each of us take that advice. God’s Word was not popular in Jesus’ day, and it is not popular in our day. Oh, there are certain little phrases and verses here and there that end up on signs, quotes, and billboards. The world is ok with a small portion of God’s Word, but they hate the rest of it. They like it if they can take it out of context and conveniently fit it into their humanistic philosophy. But if someone arises and boldly shares the unedited, uninhibited truth of God’s Word, they quickly scorn, bash, and seek to assassinate it quickly. Do not claim that Jesus is the only way to salvation. Do not claim that God hates sin. Do not dare teach any of the passages that teach separation from the world. The church even gets upset with that one.

Either we accept all of God’s Word, or none of it. Either we believe it all or we don’t at all. If you doubt God’s Word, you doubt God. To doubt one thing about the Lord is to put a doubt in your mind about everything of the Lord. You see, if I doubt the Word of God, that means I doubt the claim that God is able. Let me put it this way, in this passage, you and I will not believe verse twelve if we do not practice verse eight. If I am ashamed of His Word, then I am not persuaded that He is able. “Be not ashamed of the testimony of our Lord.”