{"id":31417,"date":"2022-09-10T15:29:35","date_gmt":"2022-09-10T20:29:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/what-we-can-learn-from-the-apostle-paul-about-our-current-situation\/"},"modified":"2022-09-10T15:29:35","modified_gmt":"2022-09-10T20:29:35","slug":"what-we-can-learn-from-the-apostle-paul-about-our-current-situation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/what-we-can-learn-from-the-apostle-paul-about-our-current-situation\/","title":{"rendered":"What We Can Learn From the Apostle Paul About Our Current Situation"},"content":{"rendered":"
Lucas Favre photo – Unsplash <\/p>\n

By Matt Henslee<\/em><\/p>\n

Amid this season of COVID-19, at Mayhill Baptist, we\u2019ve been making our way through 2 Timothy, a journey we started in January. <\/p>\n

This past Sunday, we landed on 2 Timothy 4:6-8 for a drive-in service complete with a baptism, wind rivaling that of Acts 2:2, and yet another sunburn because I continue to forget to wear sunscreen.<\/p>\n

Paul’s Perspective in Trying Times<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Nevertheless, something struck me as I was making my way through verses 7 and 8, in particular. Take a look:<\/p>\n

I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. There is reserved for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give me on that day, and not only to me, but to all those who have loved his appearing.<\/p>\n

In the context here, Paul is languishing in a cold, dark cell in Rome. His death is imminent, his friends have departed, and his enemies are ripping apart his work throughout Ephesus.<\/p>\n

And yet, Paul doesn\u2019t spill much ink on his present circumstances (2 Timothy 4:6), he immediately sends our eyes to his past (2 Timothy 4:7) before sending them to his future (2 Timothy 4:8) fast enough to give us whiplash.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

Paul’s Perspective for Pastors<\/strong><\/h3>\n

As I was preaching this sermon (to an iPhone-turned-sideways on a music stand sitting on top of our Lord\u2019s Supper table about six feet in front of my pulpit in an empty sanctuary) for those unable to come to our drive-in, his perspective brought conviction on this pastor.<\/p>\n

Paul\u2019s past had some incredible highs and a seemingly incalculable list of lows. He\u2019d been beaten, battered, shipwrecked, deserted by friends, and much more. <\/p>\n

And what does he have to show for all of his faithfulness in proclaiming the Gospel? An empty cell and a death sentence.<\/p>\n

However, it\u2019s from that cell he pens these soaring thoughts on his past and future as he sees the Lord\u2019s gracious hand over it all. <\/p>\n

He says, \u201cI fought the good fight, I finished the race,\u201d and no one can deny that. Everything God put in front of him, by God\u2019s grace, he did it.<\/p>\n

Paul’s Example for Everyone<\/strong><\/h3>\n

It’s worth thinking specifically about that: Paul fought his<\/em> fight; he ran his<\/em> race.<\/p>\n

In other words, in God\u2019s infinite wisdom, has given each of us a course unique to all of us. <\/p>\n

You don\u2019t run my course. I don\u2019t run your course. We don\u2019t run Paul\u2019s course. We run the course God laid out for us from before there was time.<\/p>\n

Some courses may be relatively straight, while others have more twists and turns than a roller coaster. Some courses seem to a never-ending climb uphill, while others are as flat as the plains of Texas. <\/p>\n

Amid them all, they seem long\u2014yet they\u2019re often over before we know it.<\/p>\n

Our current situation might be similar, but what brought us to and what’ll greet us after COVID-19 will be remarkably dissimilar. <\/p>\n

The key before this season is the key in this season and will be the key after this season: Keep the faith.<\/p>\n

Paul’s Promise is our Promise<\/strong><\/h3>\n

And while our courses will be different, our finish line is the same, which we see in verse 8:<\/p>\n

There is reserved for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give me on that day, and not only to me, but to all those who have loved his appearing.<\/p>\n

Paul fought his<\/em> fight. He ran his<\/em> race. I fight my<\/em> fight. I run my<\/em> race. You fight your<\/em> fight. You run your<\/em> race. <\/p>\n

And as we keep the faith now and through the end, there\u2019s a crown of righteousness waiting on us after we breathe our last.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s no way to know precisely where we\u2019re at on the course God has marked out for us, but what a victory we\u2019ll have to declare, \u201cI\u2019ve finished!\u201d <\/p>\n

What satisfaction there\u2019ll be to declare, \u201cI\u2019ve kept the faith.\u201d<\/p>\n

The words of 2 Timothy 4:6-8 no doubt lit a fire under Timothy, and they lit a fire under me. <\/p>\n

My prayer that this simple word of encouragement will help you stay on your<\/em> course, to stay in your<\/em> fight, and to keep the faith in these uncertain times.<\/p>\n

MATT HENSLEE (<\/strong>@mhenslee)<\/strong> is managing editor of <\/em>Lifeway Pastors and coauthor of the book Replanting Rural Churches. He is the husband of Rebecca, father of four princesses, pastor of Mayhill Baptist Church in Mayhill, New Mexico, and a D.Min student at the Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p>\n

\n
Dig Deeper at Lifeway.com<\/div>\n
\n
<\/div>\n
\n

Moments ’til Midnight: The Final Thoughts of a Wandering Pilgrim<\/h2>\n

Brent Crowe<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n
See also  The Group Most Likely to Still Be Missing From Your Church<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

FIND OUT MORE <\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Related posts:<\/h3>\n
What Do Pastors Believe About the End Times? What Do Pastors Believe About the Book of Revelation? 3 Ways to Reach Non-Religious People in Your Community <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Lucas Favre photo – Unsplash By Matt Henslee Amid this season of COVID-19, at Mayhill Baptist, we\u2019ve been making our way through 2 Timothy, a journey we started in January. This past Sunday, we landed on 2 Timothy 4:6-8 for a drive-in service complete with a baptism, wind rivaling that of Acts 2:2, and yet … Continue reading “What We Can Learn From the Apostle Paul About Our Current Situation”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-31417","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sermons"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31417","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31417"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31417\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31417"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31417"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31417"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}