In 2 Timothy 4:18a Paul says, “The Lord will deliver me from every evil work, and will save me unto His heavenly kingdom.” Here “every evil work” denotes persecution. Paul suffered many persecutions, and he regarded those persecutions as evil works. However, Paul had the assurance that the Lord Jesus would deliver him from every persecution, from every evil work.
Furthermore, Paul was assured that the Lord would save him “unto His heavenly kingdom.” The heavenly kingdom is the kingdom of our Father (Matt. 13:43), the kingdom of the Father (Matt. 26:29), the kingdom of Christ and of God (Eph. 5:5), and the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ (2 Pet. 1:11), which will be a reward to the overcoming saints. It equals the crown of righteousness in 2 Timothy 4:8, and it is an incentive to the believers to run the heavenly course. Paul had the assurance to make the triumphant declaration that he would be saved into this heavenly kingdom.
Since Paul was martyred and martyrdom is certainly an evil work, we may wonder whether the Lord actually delivered Paul from every evil work. Yes, Paul was delivered from every evil work, including the evil work of martyrdom. Martyrdom ushered Paul into the heavenly kingdom, and this ushering into the heavenly kingdom was a deliverance. The deliverance Paul enjoyed from his martyrdom was the entering into the heavenly kingdom. Hence, martyrdom for Paul was a deliverance. Likewise, the sufferings through which we pass are also a deliverance in that suffering delivers us into something higher.
On the one hand, Paul was assured that the Lord would deliver him from every evil work. On the other hand, he was ready for martyrdom. This is indicated by 2 Timothy 4:6: “I am already being poured out, and the time of my departure is at hand.” To Paul, his martyrdom was a deliverance, for it ushered him into the heavenly kingdom, and in his martyrdom he experienced the divine dispensing. At no other time does the Lord dispense Himself into His believers as much as when they are martyred. Whenever a believer is being martyred out of love for the Lord, the Lord infuses, dispenses, all His riches into such a martyred one.
Christ lives in the believers for them to enjoy His sufficient grace and His power to tabernacle over them. This was Paul’s experience in 2 Corinthians 12. Paul suffered from a “thorn in the flesh” (v. 7), and he entreated the Lord three times that it might depart from him (v. 8). However, the Lord said to him, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is perfected in weakness” (v. 9). Accepting the Lord’s word, Paul could say, “Most gladly therefore will I rather boast in my weaknesses, that the power of Christ might tabernacle over me” (v. 9). Instead of removing the thorn, the Lord supplied Paul with the sufficient grace to enable him to endure the suffering. Then in Paul’s experience this grace became the power that is made perfect in weakness.
The grace mentioned in 2 Corinthians 12:9 is not something done by the Lord or given by the Lord. It is the Lord Himself within us, supporting us, energizing us, and strengthening us to meet the situation. This is a living grace, a real grace, and it is nothing less than Christ as the embodiment of the processed Triune God dispensed into our being for our enjoyment in our experience. Therefore, we need to learn not to expect to receive something outwardly or to have something done by the Lord for us, but expect simply to enjoy the Lord Himself as grace.
The Greek word translated “tabernacle” in 2 Corinthians 12:9 is episkenoo, a compound verb composed of epi and skenoo. Skenoo, meaning to dwell in a tent, is used in John 1:14 and Revelation 21:3. Episkenoo here means to fix a tent or a habitation upon. It portrays how the power of Christ, even Christ Himself, dwells upon us as a tent spread over us, overshadowing us in our weaknesses.
Sufferings and trials are often the Lord’s ordination for us so that, through the divine dispensing, we may experience Christ as grace and power. In his experience Paul realized that the Lord’s grace became power spread over him like a tent. Hence, this grace-power became a dwelling place for Paul in his sufferings. As Paul was suffering, he could dwell in the tabernacle spread over him. This tabernacle, this tent, sustained him, supported him, maintained him, and kept him.
To show forth the perfectness of Christ’s power, our weakness is needed. For this reason, Paul would most gladly boast in his weaknesses, that the power of Christ might tabernacle over him. Grace is the supply, and power is the strength, the ability, of grace. Both are actually the resurrected Christ Himself, who is now the life-giving Spirit dwelling in us for our enjoyment.
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