The Apostle Paul was no ivory tower theologian.
He knew what it was to live the academic life, for sure
But he knew what it was to mix it with the masses in the political and spiritual hotspots of the pagan Roman Empire, so he knew what it was to put political, business and religious noses out of joint. Repeatedly for him, faithfulness to his calling in the service of God got him into pretty hot water.
And yet in our Verse for the Day Paul writes to Timothy:
“The Lord will deliver me from every evil deed
and will bring me safely into his heavenly kingdom.
To him be glory for ever and ever!
Amen.”
2 Timothy 4:18
There seems to be a contradiction here, at first ...
Proven by peril
In fact, Paul's view seems to have been that it was his experience of hardship and hostility from God's opponents that authenticated his ministry, and not so much his training as a Pharisee and a proper robed scribe at the feet of the greatest Jewish theologian of that time ... Gamaliel the Great.
He writes to the people at Corinth who challenged the authenticity of his apostleship in these terms:
“Are they servants of Christ? (I am out of my mind to talk like this.)
I am more.
I have
- worked much harder,
- been in prison more frequently,
- been flogged more severely,
- and been exposed to death again and again.
Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one.
Three times I was beaten with rods,
once I was pelted with stones,
three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea,
I have been constantly on the move.
I have been
- In danger from rivers,
- in danger from bandits,
- in danger from my fellow Jews,
- in danger from Gentiles;
- in danger in the city,
- in danger in the country,
- in danger at sea;
- and in danger from false believers.
I have laboured and toiled and have often gone without sleep;
I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food;
I have been cold and naked.”
2 Corinthians 11:23-27
https://www.bible.com/113/2co.11.23-27.nivuk
To some of us, that might not sound very safe
But there was even more.
Ephesus in particular had been particularly dodgy.
Paul had already written to the Corinthians in 1 Corinthians 15 about some other very scary stuff that had gone on in his life there:
“I face death every day – yes, just as surely as I boast about you
in Christ Jesus our Lord.
If the dead are not raised, ‘Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.’”
1 Corinthians 15:31-32
https://www.bible.com/113/1co.15.31-32.nivuk
(Did you notice how he just slipped in a reference there about having to fight wild beasts at Ephesus?!)
And yet, in what he seems to think was a time when his mortal life was ebbing out Paul wrote to Timothy (probably his most loyal friend and companion in Christian ministry who was himself at that time serving in dodgy Ephesus) ... and when he wrote he did so in these utterly confident terms:
“The Lord will deliver me from every evil deed
and will bring me safely into his heavenly kingdom.
To him be glory for ever and ever!
Amen.”
2 Timothy 4:18
https://www.bible.com/107/2ti.4.18.net
The Point
Your perception of how safe you truly are will always depend on your definition and experience of what's 'safe'.
I don't feel particularly secure about jumping out of a perfectively serviceable aircraft, but some people feel totally safe doing it.
It depends on what you believe to be 'safety', you see?
Paul expected a world in rebellion against God to be hard on the Lord's human messengers, and his definition of being safe was being brought safely out of this world and into God's Heavenly Kingdom ... not securing material and leisurely comfort in a long, peaceful, affluent earthly life. For Paul that would be an appearance of peace when really there was NO peace.
Paul saw the only place of peace, joy and safety he'd know was the Kingdom of God ... Heavenly Glory.
Ultimately compromising our loyalty to God is the only way you can set about achieving the other sort of 'safe' life in this world ... and Paul reckoned that was the sort that cannot last.
The Takeaway
The safe life for the Christian is the life that is hidden with Christ in God.
Where our 'treasure' is, will be where our heart is also, and where our heart is determines what we live for.
And by one of the definitions we've looked at, the Christian life here does not look very safe.
But if our hearts are set on Heaven and Glory, then the Christian is eternally safe ... and the words of our Verse for the Day today all apply.
To me, this sounds look a good place to be:
The Lord will deliver me from every evil deed
and will bring me safely into his heavenly kingdom.
To him be glory for ever and ever!
Amen.”
2 Timothy 4:18
To me, that looks like the good place to be.
What do YOU think?
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