3 of Paul's 4 companions deserted him.
Mark 14:50 reveals the same thing happened to Jesus.
We can learn two things about deserters from Paul and Jesus:
1) We are deserters - we are all capable of deserting Jesus.
2) We will be deserted - it will happen, so don't be disappointed.
Disappointment is the gap between expectation and reality.
Paul explains why they left - "they loved the present world...."
They were a lot like Baruch who would rather have preferement in the world than suffering alongside Jeremiah (Jeremiah 45:5).
Suffering is a choice - these men chose not to suffer.......and their names made it into the Bible, although not in a good light.
How did Paul respond? Verse 16-17:
He said the same thing Jesus said when He was being crucified, "Father forgive them..."
Paul knew he was no better in possibility than the worst deserter was in actuality.
If we remember that we are deserters as well we will see them just as Paul saw his companions.
This mindset gave Paul "eyes to see" Christ standing there with him.
God gives us eyes to see as we surrender everything to Him and be willing to endure His sufferings.
Mark 14:51-52 - Mark deserted Jesus too, but in 2 Timothy 4:11 We see Mark being useful to Paul and NOT deserting Paul! Amazing transformation.
2 Timothy 4:9-11, 16-17 (10/30/14)
Deserters
October 30, 2014 • Benham Brothers
2 Timothy 1:1-18 (10/22/15)
October 22, 2015 • Benham Brothers
• Paul was set for execution and almost all his friends had deserted him. • So what did Paul do in his last days? He didn’t sulk - he didn’t play bridge and golf in Florida. • He poured into Timothy. • In this chapter he encourages Timothy with three essentials for success: • 1) Courageous enthusiasm (vs 1-7) - Christianity was not the for the faint of heart. • He was to fan into flame the gift that was in him (vs 6-7) - this means being where Satan would try to blow your light out. • 2) Shameless suffering (vs 8-12) - he needed to be ready to embrace suffering. • 3) Spiritual loyalty (vs 13-18) - he needed to maintain reverence to God’s Word and not concern himself with relevance to culture.
2 Timothy 1:4-5 (10/22/20)
October 22, 2020 • Benham Brothers
* The best job of all is raising up kids who love Jesus. * Nobody can do that job for your kids better than you. * Anyone can replace you at a meeting, but nobody can at the ballgame. * Paul was Timothy’s mentor, but the spark of Tim’s faith came from his mom and grandma. * Vs 4-5 - they didn’t have a book or blog or on the speaking circuit, but they were faithful to raise a young boy who would turn the world upside down for Christ. * A river touches places its source knows nothing of. * Tim’s mom was faithful when nobody was watching. * Much like the mom who packed the lunch for the kid who’s lunch Jesus used to feed the 5,000. * My mom did the same thing. * Anyone could’ve spoken at a conference or written a book I read, but only one person could’ve walked my lunch up to me at school - and she was faithful to do just that. * As a parent, what do you do? * Run at the pace of your people. * Whatever the pace is in your kids’ lives, wrap your life around that.
2 Timothy 1:7 (10/18/18)
October 18, 2018 • Benham Brothers
* Darkness isn’t a thing. It’s simply the absence of light. * We have flash lights, not flash darks. * Fear is not a thing. It’s simply the absence of power, love, and a sound mind. * When we’re not living by the power of the Holy Spirit with a love for people and a sound mind bent on truth then fear will fill the void. * God made our spirits fully capable of power and love, but we have to walk in it by having a sound mind. * So what do we do to keep fear out? * We renew our minds in God’s truth, fueled by our love for Him and others, so that we can walk in power against the threats of the enemy. * Power, love, sound mind.