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Again, at Antioch, the first great foreshadowing of the crisis of Acts 28: was
given:
"Beware therefore, lest that come upon you, which was spoken of in the prophets
. . . . . lo, we turn to the Gentiles" (Acts 13: 40-46).
Acts 28: is the dispensational boundary, and at the setting aside of Israel, the
mystery was made manifest; Timothy is urged to keep this well in mind. Not only is the
doctrine of Paul's early ministry thus brought to mind, but also the persecutions and the
sufferings that he had been called upon to endure. Paul does not hide from Timothy that
the ministry to which he was called involved suffering.
"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" (II Tim. 1: 8).
On either side of this exhortation is the Divine enstrengthening:
"For God hath not given us the spirit of fear but of POWER . . . . . according to the
POWER of God" (II Tim. 1: 7, 8).
In the last chapter of this epistle, the apostle refers to his own distresses:
"At my first answer no man stood with me" (II Tim. 4: 16).
This however, is immediately followed by the triumphant:
"Notwithstanding the Lord stood with me, and strengthened me; that by me the
preaching might be fully known, and that all the Gentiles might hear: and I was delivered
out of the mouth of the lion. 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" (II Tim. 4: 17, 18).
So, although Timothy would remember the tumult at Antioch (Acts 13: 45-50), the
assault at Iconium (Acts 14: 1-5) and the stoning at Lystra (19), he is exhorted by the
apostle to remember also the fact that:
"Out of them all the Lord delivered me" (II Tim. 3: 11).
Here, we must stay, although the complete statement has not been surveyed. Let us
ponder these words of the apostle as written to ourselves. Let us not minimize the
persecuting spirit of the enemy of truth, let us not think that we shall be exempt, but
nevertheless let us enter into the spirit of this unashamed apostle and be able to say with
him:
"He hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. So that we may boldly say,
The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me" (Heb. 13: 5, 6).