I Know Him. (Him)

I Know Him! April 13,08

2 Timothy 1:12

In both of those verses the Apostle Paul uses a very special Greek word,

and the word means "a treasure or a deposit left with someone you trust completely."

There were no banks back in Paul’s day where you could deposit your money & keep it safe.

So what did you do with your wealth when you went on a journey?

Then again, if you were to die, who could you trust to be the executor of your

estate?

How could you be sure that your family would receive what was rightly

theirs?

The person you ask to take care of your possessions must be someone you

know very well, & in whom you trusted completely.

And that is what Paul is saying that Jesus is in this verse when he said, "I

know whom I have believed & I am convinced that He is able to keep that which I

have entrusted to Him until that day."

I. "I KNOW HIM!"

Paul is not saying, "I know about Him as an historic figure," or, "I know about Him as a name that appears in the books."

But rather, "I know Him as my Savior, as my friend. I know Him as one who walks beside me & guides me. I know Jesus, & I know He is able to keep that which I have entrusted to Him."

I am sure that as Paul wrote these words he must have thought back over his life

and of all the terrible things that he had done when he had persecuted the church

as he persecuted the Christians who were a part of that church. But then he

met Jesus on the road to Damascus and from that moment on his life was never the same again. Where once he had imprisoned Christians, now as a Christian he was in prison.

Sitting there in that prison cell in Rome, Paul must have remembered all the

horrible things that had happened to him - the suffering he had endured - the

times that he had been arrested & beaten - the times he had been left for dead -

the times he was hungry & cold & lonely.

Yet, when compared to the joy that was his because of his friendship with Christ

it was worth it all. So he writes, "I know Jesus Christ & I want you to know Him, too!"

You see, the greatest news is not that Paul knows Christ - or that John knows

Christ - or that Peter knows Christ - but that we can know Jesus Christ, too.

That is the greatest news of all.

II. "I KNOW THAT HE IS ABLE"

The 2nd thing we see in this text is the power of Christ….I know that He is able."

Those are great words. "Christ is able." Think of the might of Christ and think of all of the things which Almighty God can do.

He is able to create…. John 1:3

He created this world and this universe and everything in it. He created it out of nothing.

Man has built magnificent cities, but we have built everything out of existing

materials, and one day everything we have built will return to dust.

But the greatest news is not that God is able to create, but that He is able to recreate us.

He created man, but what God created, Satan sought to destroy. Satan tempted man, and man gave in to that temptation and sinned - separating himself from God. So God sent Jesus, and Jesus is able to recreate us - to cleanse us from all sin & bring us back to

God. He is able!

The 1st Century world marveled at the attitude that the Christians had about

death. They couldn’t understand how Christians could rejoice when one of their number died. But we are told that we can rejoice because Jesus has won the victory over sin & death.

The missionary who’s husband and daughter died in a drowning accident and as four bodies laid on the shore and a crowd gathered she told them about where she knew that her love ones where, she went back to the mission field three months later.

III. "TO KEEP THAT WHICH I HAVE ENTRUSTED TO HIM"

Paul goes on to say, "I know that He is able to keep that which I have entrusted

to Him." What had Paul entrusted to Christ?

Obviously, he had entrusted his life. He had committed his body and his soul completely to Jesus.

The Bible teaches us that our eternal spirit is worth more than anything else in

all the world - more than silver or gold or anything else.

It is the most valuable possession we have, and Paul says, "I have entrusted that valuable