At my first defense no one stood with me, but all forsook me. May it not be charged against them. But the Lord stood with me and strengthened me, so that the message might be preached fully through me, and that all the Gentiles might hear. Also I was delivered out of the mouth of the lion.  

II Timothy 4:16-17 

At my first defense no one stood with me, but all forsook me. May it not be charged against them. But the Lord stood with me and strengthened me, so that the message might be preached fully through me, and that all the Gentiles might hear. Also I was delivered out of the mouth of the lion.  

II Timothy 4:16-17 

Paul experienced the comfort of God in hard circumstances. The book from which our text derives is, in many ways, his last will and testament. He is writing to Timothy, his son in the faith. Paul is quite forthright about his impending execution. He evidences no regret or second thoughts about what brought him to prison. He had faithfully proclaimed Christ. It was for that reason he was in prison. He had offered his defense of the faith and said, ‘at my first defense no one stood with me, but all forsook me.’ Paul suffered the affliction of standing alone for the truth of Christ. How did Christ deal with this social affliction? Paul says, ‘But the Lord stood with me and strengthened me.’ This takes us back to the statement we have been considering from II Corinthians which tells us that God, ‘comforts us in all our tribulation.’ Paul’s experience was that Christ stood with him when one else would. Thus, we see a practical instance of the Corinthians statement coming to pass in Paul’s experience. If Christ is ours, we have every reason to hope He will do for us what He did for Paul. 

Our Great God and our Savior, 
we rejoice that You are with us, 
even when others forsake us. 
We praise You that You have promised 
to never leave us.  

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning

And the Lord will deliver me from every evil work and preserve me for His heavenly kingdom. To Him be glory forever and ever. Amen! 

II Timothy 4:18 

The word, Amen, is the affirmation of faith. As Paul comes to the conclusion of his expression of confidence in Christ to deliver him from every evil work and to preserve him for His heavenly kingdom, he adds the word, Amen. This is the seal which we set in faith upon the promises of God. God has said it; that settles it; we believe it. God has chosen us in Christ before the world began, Amen. He has predestinated us unto the adoption of children, Amen. He has sent Christ into the world to satisfy the demands of the law in precept and in penalty, Amen. He has sent the Holy Spirit to regenerate us, to bring us to repentance and to give us faith, Amen. He is sanctifying us by renewing us in the whole person after the image of Christ, and enabling us to die more and more unto sin and to live unto righteousness, Amen. He will deliver us from every evil work and preserve us for His heavenly kingdom, Amen. To all that God has done, is doing, and will yet do, we add this affirmation of faith, Amen. As this year moves on, we will behold the workings of God to show us Christ. We will see Him do exceeding abundantly above all that we can ask or think. Our testimony is, Amen. 

Our Wise and Wonderful God, 
we rejoice that You do all things well. 
We praise You that as we behold Your works 
day-by-day, we may utter this affirmation of faith:  
Amen, Lord make it so. 

Tomm Tice
Where The Bush is Burning

And the Lord will deliver me from every evil work and preserve me for His heavenly kingdom. To Him be glory forever and ever. Amen! 

II Timothy 4:18 

Christ is King. He affirmed it before Pilate, and proved it on a host of other occasions in numerous ways. According to Paul, He will ‘judge the living and the dead at His appearing and His kingdom.’ This takes our thoughts back to Matthew 25 where Christ describes the last judgment by saying, ‘When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory. All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats.’ Paul declares as much in II Corinthians 5:10 when he says, ‘for we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ.’ How could Paul, writing in our text, say with such confidence, that Christ would ‘preserve me for His heavenly kingdom?’ He indicates where his confidence originated in the first chapter of II Timothy when he says, ‘for I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that He is able to keep what I have committed to Him until that day.’ Paul’s confidence was in Christ to preserve him to His heavenly kingdom. Paul’s source of confidence is our source of confidence as well. We know Whom we have believed and are persuaded that He is able to keep that which we have committed unto Him until the day when we see Him face-to-face. We rest in Christ, believe in Christ, look to Christ, depend on Christ and hope in Christ, He is able to preserve us unto His heavenly kingdom. We rest upon His merits, His blood, and His righteousness. Christ is all we need. 

Our Glorious, Living Christ, 
we rejoice that You are King of kings and Lord of lords. 
We praise You that You will continue to reign 
until all of Your enemies become Your footstool. 

Tomm Tice
Where The Bush is Burning

And the Lord will deliver me from every evil work and preserve me for His heavenly kingdom. To Him be glory forever and ever. Amen! 

II Timothy 4:18 

Christ is the Great Deliverer of His people. Where do we arrive if we consider this statement in the broadest context? Paul was writing from a prison cell in Rome. He was facing execution as a matter of fact, in just a matter of time. How could he say, ‘the Lord will deliver me from every evil work?’ Most particularly, he could speak of his suffering persecution and imprisonment as evil works done against him. His only crime was the proclamation of Christ. He could further consider that execution would be an evil work which would only add insult to injury. Yet Paul looks above and beyond these to Christ and says, ‘the Lord will deliver me from every evil work.’ We may consider that throughout the history of the people of God, Christ has delivered His people from evil works of every stripe and variety, not the least of which are those we ourselves do, which have profoundly disastrous effects upon us. Christ must deliver us from every evil work regardless of its’ origin. As Paul looked ahead to his own future, he did so with confidence in Christ. For now, we can only begin to understand the many ways He delivers us. We remember the words of Christ to Peter, ‘what I do you do not understand now, but you shall understand later.’ 

Our All-Wise God, 
we rejoice that You know best how to deliver us 
from every evil work. 
We praise You that day-by-day, 
You work in our lives to bring us step-by-step 
toward a complete deliverance.