Las Vegas, Nevada Church
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 Survey of the Letters of Paul:  2 Timothy 3:12  
  
                                                                                                                                                                                    
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2 Timothy 3:12
Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.
 
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before doing a study on any single verse, read all the verses from the beginning of the chapter to this point and maybe a verse or two beyond. Do this so you have the verse in context before you begin. click here
This section consists of four verses.

2 Timothy 3:10-13
10 But thou hast fully known my doctrine, manner of life, purpose, faith, longsuffering, charity, patience,
11 Persecutions, afflictions, which came unto me at Antioch, at Iconium, at Lystra; what persecutions I endured: but out of them all the Lord delivered me.
12 Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.
13 But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived.

We generally begin with the Barclay on this set of verses.  However it is rather long and I do not want to repeat it verbally for all four verses, so I am placing it here and picking it up below in the text.  Scroll down to the Instruction: "CONTINUE HERE." [click on the link]

THE DUTIES AND THE QUALITIES OF AN APOSTLE
2 Timothy 3:10–13

Verses 10-13 paraphrased:
But you have been my disciple in my teaching, my training, my aim in life, my faith, my patience, my love, my endurance, my persecutions, my sufferings, in what happened to me at Antioch, at Iconium, at Lystra, in the persecutions which I underwent; and the Lord rescued me from them all. And those who wish to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, while evil men and impostors will go from bad to worse, deceived themselves and deceiving others.

PAUL contrasts the conduct of Timothy, his loyal disciple, with the conduct of the heretics who were doing their utmost to wreck the Church. The word we have translated as to be a disciple includes so much that is beyond translation in any single English word. It is the Greek parakolouthein and literally means to follow alongside, but it is used with a magnificent breadth of meaning. It means to follow someone physically, to stick by that person through thick and thin. It means to follow someone mentally, to attend diligently to that person’s teaching and fully to understand the meaning of what is being said. It means to follow someone spiritually, not only to understand what is being said, but also to carry out that person’s ideas and become everything that that person would want us to be. Parakolouthein is indeed the word for the disciple, for it includes the unwavering loyalty of the true comrade, the full understanding of the true scholar and the complete obedience of the dedicated servant. Paul goes on to list the things in which Timothy has been his disciple; and the interest of that list is that it consists of the strands out of which the life and work of an apostle are woven. In it, we find the duties, the qualities and the experiences of an apostle.

First, there are the duties of an apostle. There is teaching. We cannot teach what we do not know, and therefore before we can teach Christ to others we must know him for ourselves. When the father of the Scottish historian and essayist Thomas Carlyle was discussing the kind of minister his parish needed, he said: ‘What this parish needs is a man who knows Christ other than at second hand.’ Real teaching always comes out of real experience. There is training. The Christian life does not consist only in knowing something; it consists even more in being something. The task of the apostle is not only to tell men and women the truth; it is also to help them do it. The true leader gives training in living.

Second, there are the qualities of the apostle. First and foremost, he has an aim in life. Two men were talking about a great satirist who had been filled with serious moral resolve. ‘He kicked the world about,’ said one, ‘as if it had been a football.’ ‘True,’ said the other, ‘but he kicked it to a goal.’ As individuals, we should sometimes ask ourselves: what is our aim in life? As teachers, we should sometimes ask ourselves: what am I trying to do with these people whom teach? Once Agesilaus, the king of Sparta, was asked: ‘What shall we teach our boys?’ His answer was: ‘That which will be most useful to them when they are men.’ Is it knowledge, or is it life, that we are trying to transmit?

As members of the Church, we should sometimes ask ourselves: what are we trying to do in it? It is not enough to be satisfied when a church is humming like a dynamo and every night in the week has its own crowded organization. We should be asking: what, if any, is the unifying purpose which binds all this activity together? In all life, there is nothing so creative of really productive effort as a clear sense of purpose.

Paul goes on to other qualities of an apostle. There is faith, complete belief that God’s commands are binding and that his promises are true. There is patience. The word here is makrothumia; and makrothumia, as the Greeks used it, usually meant patience with people. It is the ability not to lose patience when people are foolish, not to grow irritable when they seem unteachable. It is the ability to accept the folly, the perversity, the blindness and the ingratitude of others and still to remain gracious, and still to labor on. There is love. This is God’s attitude to us. It is the attitude which puts up with everything we can do and refuses to be either angry or embittered, and which will never seek anything but our highest good. To love others is to forgive them and care for them as God Forgives and cares - and it is only God who can enable us to do that.

PAUL completes the story of the things in which Timothy has shared and must share with him, by speaking of the experiences of an apostle; and he prefaces that list of experiences by setting down the quality of endurance. The Greek is hupomone¯, which means not a passive sitting down and bearing things but a triumphant facing of them so that even out of evil there can come good. It describes not the spirit which accepts life but the spirit which takes control of it.

And that quality of conquering endurance is necessary, because persecution is an essential part of the experience of an apostle. Paul cites three instances when he had to suffer for Christ. He was driven from Antioch in Pisidia (Acts 13:50), he had to flee from Iconium to avoid lynching (Acts 14:5–6), and in Lystra he was stoned and left for dead (Acts 14:19). It is true that these things happened before the young Timothy had definitely entered on the Christian way; but they all happened in his home district, and he may well have been an eyewitness to them. It may well be a proof of Timothy’s courage and consecration that he had seen very clearly what could happen to an apostle and still had not hesitated to throw in his lot with Paul.

It is Paul’s conviction that the real follower of Christ cannot escape persecution. When trouble fell on the Thessalonians, Paul wrote to them: ‘When we were with you, we told you beforehand that we were to suffer persecution; so it turned out, as you know’ (1 Thessalonians 3:4). It is as if he said to them: ‘You have been well warned.’ He returned after the first missionary journey to visit the churches he had founded, where ‘they strengthened the souls of the disciples, and encouraged them to continue in the faith, saying “It is through many persecutions that we must enter the kingdom of God”’ (Acts 14:22). The kingdom had its price. And Jesus himself had said: ‘Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake’ (Matthew 5:10). Anyone who proposes to accept a set of standards quite different from the world’s is bound to encounter trouble. For anyone who proposes to introduce into life a loyalty which surpasses all earthly loyalties, there are bound to be clashes. And that is precisely what Christianity demands that we should do.

[CONTINUE HERE in the audio]

Persecution and hardships will come; but of two things Paul is sure.

He is sure that God will rescue those who put their faith in him. He is sure that in the long run it is better to suffer with God and the right than to prosper with the world and the wrong. Certain of the temporary persecution, he is equally certain of the ultimate glory.

He is sure that the ungodly will go from bad to worse and that there is literally no future for those who refuse to accept the way of God.

This is an important bit of commentary so let us do a recap:

1] The word disciple is the Greek word parakolouthein [para-ko-lou-thein] means:

a) to follow someone [the apostle/teacher] physically.
b) to follow the apostle/teacher mentally
c) to attend diligently to the apostle/teacher's teaching.
d) to fully understand the meaning of what is being said by the apostle/teacher.
e) to follow the apostle/teacher spiritually.

2] To be a disciple of Christ is to have unwavering loyalty. It is to fully understand Him. It is being in complete obedience to Him.

3] Firstfruits cannot teach what they do not know. Before we can be examples of Christ, we must know Him.

4] Being a firstfruit is not knowing something, it is being something.

5] Apostles, ministers and teachers not only tell firstfruits the truth, they help and encourage them to do it. They give training in living.

6] Teachers teach more than knowledge. They teach life.

7] The entire congregation must have a clear sense of purpose.

8] Apostles, ministers and teachers [and all firstfruits] must have:

---faith
---belief that God's commands are binding.
---belief that God's promises are true.
---ability not to lose patience when people are foolish.
---ability to accept the folly, the perversity, the blindness and the ingratitude of others and still to remain gracious, and still to labour on.
---love
---endurance. Triumphantly facing the hardships of being a disciple of Christ.
---a spirit that does not just accept life but takes control of it. This is a "conquering endurance."

9] Paul had the quality of conquering endurance. He speaks of them in verse 11 [Antioch, Iconium and Lystra].

10] A real follower of Christ cannot escape persecution.

Acts 14:22
Confirming the souls of the disciples, and exhorting them to continue in the faith, and that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God.

Matthew 5:10
Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

11] Firstfruits accept a set of standards quite different from the world. Trouble will be encountered because they do.

12] Firstfruits have a loyalty that surpasses all earthly loyalties.

13] God will rescue those who put their faith in Him. Firstfruits are certain of ultimate glory.

14] Firstfruits know that the ungodly will go from bad to worse.

Now to the other commentaries.  As usual, we will begin with the general commentaries and go to the specific.

Let us begin in the Matthew Henry Main, which is a long commentary piece on verses 10-17. We are about to jump in where verse 12 is discussed.

All that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution: not always alike; at that time those who professed the faith of Christ were more exposed to persecution than at other times; but at all times, more or less, those who will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. They must expect to be despised, and that their religion will stand in the way of their preferment; those who will live godly must expect it, especially those who will live godly in Christ Jesus, that is, according to the strict rules of the Christian religion, those who will wear the livery and bear the name of the crucified Redeemer. All who will show their religion in their conversation, who will not only be godly, but live godly, let them expect persecution, especially when they are resolute in it. Observe,

(1.) The apostle's life was very exemplary for three things: for his doctrine, which was according to the will of God; for his life, which was agreeable to his doctrine; and for his persecutions and sufferings.

(2.) Though his life was a life of great usefulness, yet it was a life of great sufferings; and none, I believe, came nearer to their great Master for eminent services and great sufferings than Paul: he suffered almost in every place; the Holy Ghost [Spirit] witnessed that bonds and afflictions did abide him, Acts 20:23. Here he mentions his persecutions and afflictions at Antioch, at Iconium, at Lystra, besides what he suffered elsewhere.

Quoted verse:
Acts 20:23
Save that the Holy Ghost [Spirit] witnesseth in every city, saying that bonds and afflictions abide me.

Note: "abide me" here is shown in many biblical margins and in commentaries to mean that Paul is acknowledging that persecutions wait for him and that he must expect to suffer them.

(3.) The apostle mentions the Lord's delivering him out of them all, for Timothy's and our encouragement under sufferings.

(4.) We have the practice and treatment of true Christians: they live godly in Jesus Christ - this is their practice; and they shall suffer persecution - this is the usage they must expect in this world. ~Matthew Henry Main

Now to the Matthew Henry Concise:

Let them not think that Paul left Asia for fear of persecution; he was in full expectation of trouble, yet resolved to go on, well assured that it was by Divine direction. Thanks be to God that we know not the things which shall befall us during the year, the week, the day which has begun. It is enough for the child of God to know that his strength shall be equal to his day. He knows not, he would not know, what the day before him shall bring forth. The powerful influences of the Holy Spirit bind the true Christian to his duty. Even when he expects persecution and affliction, the love of Christ constrains him to proceed. None of these things moved Paul from his work; they did not deprive him of his comfort. It is the business of our life to provide for a joyful death. ~Matthew Henry Concise

Now some things from the Biblical Illustrator:

A good man a miracle of preservation
It is a miracle of mercy to consider how the lily subsists in the midst of so many briars and thorns, how the Lord’s wheat grows in the midst of so many tares, how His doves live in the midst of so many birds of prey, and His lambs in the midst of so many roaring lions. Were not the Almighty her defense, those bands of ungodliness would soon destroy her. ~Biblical Illustrator

God honoured by His suffering servants
Hereby we honour God, and so bring honour to ourselves. God hath much honour by His suffering servants, when out of love to Him they can sacrifice their lives and estates for Him. God glories in such; as He suffers in their sufferings so He triumphs in their conquests. ~Biblical Illustrator

The good man happy in adversity, the bad man miserable in prosperity
See the happiness of a child of God. Take him at worst, and he is better than a wicked man at best. The one in prosperity hath no joy, the other in adversity is full of joy. ~Biblical Illustrator

Brave martyrdom
At Perth, in 1554, there were three male prisoners and one woman—Helen Stirk [who had a young child with her]—put to death for their adherence to the gospel of Jesus. The latter was taken to see her husband suffer before she followed him. They embraced under the gallows. “Husband,” she said, “we have lived together many joyful days; but this day in which we must die ought to be most joyful to us both, because we must have joy for ever. Therefore I will not bid you good-night. Certainly we shall meet again in the Kingdom of [God]” The executioners seized their prey, and she, too, was then led away to be drowned. When she reached the water’s edge she gave the child to a nurse, she was hurled in, and the justice of the Church was satisfied. ~Biblical Illustrator

Now to the specific commentaries:

Most commentaries have this as one statement. The John Gill handles "shall suffer persecution" as a separate phrase.

We will begin with the Barnes Notes. This commentary really gets into the verse:

Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution - Paul takes occasion from the reference to his own persecutions, to say that his case was not unique. It was the common lot of all who endeavored to serve their Redeemer faithfully; and Timothy himself, therefore, must not hope to escape from it. The apostle had a particular reference, doubtless, to his own times; but he has put his remark into the most general form, as applicable to all periods. It is undoubtedly true at all times, and will ever be, that they who are devoted Christians - who live as the Saviour did - and who carry out his principles always, will experience some form of persecution. The “essence” of persecution consists in “subjecting a person to injury or disadvantage on account of his opinions.” It is something more than meeting his opinions by argument, which is always right and proper; it is inflicting some injury on him; depriving him of some privilege, or right; subjecting him to some disadvantage, or placing him in less favorable circumstances, on account of his sentiments.

This may be either an injury done to his feelings, his family, his reputation, his property, his liberty, his influence; it may be by depriving him of an office which he held, or preventing him from obtaining one to which he is eligible; it may be by subjecting him to fine or imprisonment, to banishment, torture, or death. If, in any manner, or in any way, he is subjected to disadvantage on account of his religious opinions, and deprived of any immunities and rights to which he would be otherwise entitled, this is persecution. Now, it is doubtless as true as it ever was, that a man who will live as the Saviour did, will, like him, be subjected to some such injury or disadvantage. On account of his opinions, he may be held up to ridicule, or treated with neglect, or excluded from society to which his attainments and manners would otherwise introduce him, or shunned by those who might otherwise value his friendship. These things may be expected in the best times, and under the most favorable circumstances; and it is known that a large part of the history of the world, in its relation to the church, is nothing more than a history of persecution. It follows from this:

(1) that they who make a profession of religion, should come prepared to be persecuted. It should be considered as one of the proper qualifications for membership in the church, to be willing to bear persecution, and to resolve not to shrink from any duty in order to avoid it.

(2) they who are persecuted for their opinions, should consider that this may be one evidence that they have the spirit of Christ, and are his true friends. They should remember that, in this respect, they are treated as the Master was, and are in the goodly company of the prophets, apostles, and martyrs; for they were all persecuted. Yet,

(3) if we are persecuted, we should carefully inquire, before we avail ourselves of this consolation, whether we are persecuted because we “live godly in Christ Jesus,” or for some other reason. A man may embrace some absurd opinion, and call it religion; he may adopt some mode of dress irresistibly ludicrous, from the mere love of singularity, and may call it “conscience;” or he may be boorish in his manners, and uncivil in his deportment, outraging all the laws of social life, and may call this “deadness to the world;” and for these, and similar things, he may be contemned [kuh n-tem-ed], ridiculed, and despised. But let him not infer, “therefore,” that he is to be enrolled among the martyrs, and that he is certainly a real Christian. That persecution which will properly furnish any evidence that we are the friends of Christ, must be only that which is “for righteousness sake” Matthew 5:10, and must be brought upon us in an honest effort to obey the commands of God.

Quoted verse:
Matthew 5:10
Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

(4) let those who have never been persecuted in any way, inquire whether it is not an evidence that they have no religion. If they had been more faithful, and more like their Master, would they have always escaped? And may not their freedom from it prove that they have surrendered the principles of their religion, where they should have stood firm, though the world were arrayed against them? It is easy for a professed Christian to avoid persecution, if he yields every point in which religion is opposed to the world. But let not a man who will do this, suppose that he has any claim to be numbered among the martyrs, or even entitled to the Christian name. ~Barnes Notes

Now the Adam Clarke:

All that will live godly - So opposite to the spirit and practice of the world is the whole of Christianity, that he who gives himself entirely up to God, making the Holy Scriptures the rule of his words and actions, will be less or more reviled and persecuted. “If religion gives no quarter to vice, the vicious will give no quarter to religion and its professors.” ~Adam Clarke

Now the John Gill:

Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus - All that live according to the will of God revealed in his word; and to the glory of God, as the end of all their actions; and which the grace of God in the Gospel, and in their own hearts, teaches them; and who have the principles of a godly life from Christ, and derive the fresh supplies of grace and life from him, to maintain it; in whom their life is hid, and who live by faith upon him; all such that live, and that will live so, are desirous of living after this manner; in whom God has wrought in them both to will and to do, and are concerned when it is otherwise with them: these

Shall suffer persecution - it is the will of God, and the appointment of heaven; Christ has foretold it, that so it shall be; and he the head has suffered it himself, and it is necessary that his members should, that they may be conformed unto him; it is the way Christ himself went to glory, and through many tribulations his people must enter the kingdom; and this is the common lot and certain case of all the saints, in one shape or another; for though all do not suffer confiscation of goods, beating, scourging, imprisonment, or a violent death; yet all are more or less afflicted and distressed by wicked men, and are subject to their reproaches and revilings, which are a branch of persecution; and that for professing Christ, and living a godly life in him and under his influence: and since such suffer as Christians, and not as evildoers; and this is the common condition of the people of God, in this world, it should not be thought strange, but be cheerfully endured; to encourage to which is the apostle's view in this passage. ~John Gill

Scripture referred to:
Acts 14:22
Confirming the souls of the disciples, and exhorting them to continue in the faith, and that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God.

Some quotes on suffering persecution:

“When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die.”

"Tolerance implies no lack of commitment to one's own beliefs. Rather it condemns the oppression or persecution of others." ~John F. Kennedy

"You should read history and look at ostracism, persecution, martyrdom, and that kind of thing. They always happen to the best men, you know."

Take another look at our scripture:

2 Timothy 3:12
Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.

Who will suffer persecution? Answer: Those that will live godly in Christ Jesus.

This is the lesson of verse 12.



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