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He Has Promised Us Long Life
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He got to thinking about that, and he said, “You need me.” Verse 25 continues, “And having this
confidence, I know that I shall abide and continue with you all for your furtherance and joy of
faith.” We have record of when he decides that he is not going to go right now, that he is going
to stay.
There are all kind of theologians who would say, “Paul, that’s not up to you. That’s not your
choice,” but they’re ignoring the Bible. I accept this.
You and I have a choice. We can go early or we can stay. We have a choice.
“What if they tell me I’m terminal and I have to die in three months?” You have a choice. People
will tell you that you don’t have a choice, but the Bible says you have a choice.
There’s nothing bigger than God. You have a choice.
This sister who I talked about earlier was older, and everyone had given up on her. They said if
one thing didn’t kill her, these other two things would. But she got a hold of Psalm 91:16. I’ll
never forget it. That’s why I’m telling you about it. I saw that glimmer in her eye. She probably
thought, “You little rascal,” because I had asked her, “Are you sure that there’s not something
else you want to do? Are you sure you’re satisfied?”
She looked at me like, “Well…” And I knew it—I knew it was turning at that moment. Sure
enough, even though she had been hemorrhaging, and they were feeding her through IV’s, and
she couldn’t eat and was bedfast, I’m telling you, in a matter of days, the woman was at home
eating by herself. She stood up in church just a week after that testifying before everyone,
shouting! Can you imagine? Oh, everyone shouted, and I’ll tell you what: I was hooked. I was
standing there like the cat that got the canary. I was thinking, “I knew it worked! I knew it did!”
And I’m
still
excited about it, because we just keep seeing it work.
Paul made his choice. He said, “I’d like to leave and go to be with the Lord, it’s far better than
being here, but to stay in the flesh is needful for you. You need me to help you. So having this
confidence, I’m going to stay.”
That is love, isn’t it? That’s love to stay through the pain, through the attacks, through the
discomfort, and through everything that goes with aging and say, “Yes, but I’m not leaving until
I’m through.” And he stayed.
Now we will look at the results of Paul’s choice. In 2 Timothy 4:5, he said, “But watch thou in
all things, endure afflictions…” Will that always be easy? No, but you can do it. You can do all
things through Christ.
“Endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist…” He is talking to Timothy, his son in the
faith. He’s preaching and stirring him up. He said, “Make full proof of thy ministry.” That means
“accomplish it entirely.”