I Know Him!

MELVIN M. NEWLAND, MINISTER

RIDGE CHAPEL, KANSAS, OK

(REVISED: 2019)

TEXT: 2 Timothy 1:12,14; Matthew 25:33-40

ILL. There once was a radio program whose announcer would proclaim, "People do the craziest things!" Whether from carelessness or stupidity, some things people do or say seem to make no sense at all.

For example, years ago the telephone company in Sacramento, CA., opened up a Service Center where customers could call in to report troubles on their line, request repairs, or order new equipment. But there was a problem. When it opened, the Service Center had an unlisted telephone number.

And in Springfield, IL, a funeral director was amazed to hear a salesman criticize a competitor's coffins. He said, "Our coffins are lined with real silk. But their coffins are lined with synthetic materials which may cause skin irritations."

You see, people do & say strange & foolish things! But I'm convinced there is nothing as foolish as some of the reasons people give for their lack of commitment to Jesus.

In 2 Timothy 1:12 the apostle Paul tells us why he is committed to Jesus, "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."

Then just two verses later, Paul tells the young preacher, Timothy, "Guard the treasure that was entrusted to you." (2 Timothy 1:14)

In both of those verses the word "entrusted" that Paul uses is a special Greek word, "paratheke", which means "leaving a treasure or a deposit with someone you trust completely."

There were no banks 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? And if you were to die, who could you trust to be the executor of your estate?

The person you ask to take care of your possessions must be someone you know very well, & whom you trust completely. And that is what Paul is saying Jesus is 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!"

A. When Paul said, "I know Him!" he 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 personally as my Savior, my friend. I know Jesus, & I know “He is able to keep that which I have entrusted to Him.”

I imagine that as Paul wrote those words he must have thought back over his life & the terrible things he had done when he had persecuted the church.

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

Sitting in that Roman prison cell, Paul must also have recalled all the suffering he had endured ? the times he was hungry & cold & lonely, & the times he had been arrested, beaten, & left for dead.

Yet, when compared to the joy that was his because of Jesus ? it was worth it all. So he writes, "I know Jesus, & I want you to know Him, too!"

B. You see, the greatest news is not that Paul knew Jesus ? but that we can know Jesus, too.

We are told that when we accept Him as our Savior, repenting of our sins & are baptized into Him, that He forgives & forgets our sins & washes our guilt away.

When we keep His commandments we show our love for Him, & He becomes the Lord of our lives. We receive the gift of His Spirit who lives within us & gives us guidance & strength for every day.

ILL. Horace Bushnell was a preacher in Hartford, Conn. for 47 years. He was an invalid most of his life, but God used him in a great way to preach the good news of Jesus as Savior & Lord.

In the last sermon he ever preached he said, "I know Jesus better than I know any man in Hartford." What a wonderful thing to be able to say! "I know Jesus!"

Do you know Him? Can you stand with Paul & John & Peter & all the others who have walked the corridors of time in the army of God & say, "I know Jesus?" Oh, I hope you can!

II. "I KNOW THAT HE IS ABLE"

The 2nd thing we see in this verse is His power. "I know Him," Paul said, "& I know that He is able." Think of all the things which He can do.