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
possession to Jesus, and He is able to keep it safe & sound & to protect it from
all the temptations of the world and to keep it all the way through eternity."
He is also able to keep track of all that we have done.
Remember when Mary came to Jesus & broke the alabaster vial & anointed Jesus with that expensive ointment? Remember how upset Judas was? He said, "What a tremendous waste. This should have been sold & the money used to buy food for the poor. But this woman wasted it all."
But Jesus didn’t think it was wasted. In fact, he commended her for what she had
done. He said, "You have prepared me for my burial." Then He said something very important, "This will be a memorial to her for all time."
God is keeping record, and every good thing that we do for someone else - every
time we were the good Samaritan and cared for our brother along the way - every
time we took a cup of cold water to someone who was thirsty - every time we
clothed the naked and fed the hungry - every time we witnessed to the lost and
brought them to Christ - and every time someone has done something nice for us…somewhere, somehow, God is keeping record, and He will never, ever forget the good things that we have done for Him.
IV. "UNTIL THAT DAY"
Paul 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."
Paul is obviously referring to that day when all of the people of the world will stand before the judgment throne of God. He is referring to that time when the sheep will be separated from the goats, and some will pass to the left and some will pass to the right.
Are you ready for that day?
