The document discusses the assurance found in faith as exemplified by the Apostle Paul in 2 Timothy 1:12, emphasizing his firm belief in Christ's ability to safeguard his soul. It critiques modern doubt and highlights the contrast between that uncertainty and Paul's confident declaration of faith. The text encourages readers to commit their lives and concerns to Christ, asserting that he is capable of preserving them until the final day of reckoning.

1. JESUS WAS THE SOURCEOF SECURITY
EDITED BY GLENN PEASE
2 Timothy 1:12 12Thatis why I am suffering as I am.
Yet this is no cause for shame, becauseI know whom I
have believed, and am convincedthat he is able to
guard what I have entrusted to him until that day.
Assured Security In Christ BY SPURGEON
“I know Whom I have believed, and am persuaded that He is able to
keepthat which I have committed unto Him againstthat day.”
2 Timothy 1:12
IN the style of these Apostolic words there is a positiveness most refreshing in
this age of doubt. In certain circles ofsocietyit is rare nowadays to meet with
anybody who believes anything. It is the philosophical, the right, the
fashionable thing, nowadays, to doubt everything which is generallyreceived.
Indeed, those who have any creedwhatever are by the liberal schoolsetdown
as old-fashioned dogmatists, persons ofshallow minds, deficient in intellect,
and far behind their age. The greatmen, the men of thought, the men of high
culture and refined taste considerit wisdom to castsuspicionupon Revelation,
and sneerat all definiteness of belief.
“Ifs” and “buts,” and “perhaps” are the supreme delight of this period. What
wonder if men find everything uncertain–when they refuse to bow their
intellects to the declarations ofthe God of Truth? Note then, with admiration,
the refreshing and even startling positiveness ofthe Apostle–“Iknow,” says
he. And that is not enough–“Iam persuaded.” He speaks like one who cannot
tolerate a doubt. There is no question about whether he has believed or not. “I
know Whom I have believed.” There is no question as to whether he was right

2. in so believing. “I am persuaded that He is able to keepthat which I have
committed to Him.” There is no suspicionas to the future. He is as positive for
years to come as he is for this presentmoment. “He is able to keepthat which
I have committed to Him againstthat day.”
Now there is a positiveness which is very disgusting–whenit is nothing but the
fruit of ignorance and is unattended with anything like thoughtfulness. But in
the Apostle’s case, his confidence is founded not on ignorance, but on
knowledge. “Iknow,” says he. There are certain things which he has clearly
ascertained, whichhe knows to be fact. And his confidence is grounded on
these ascertainedTruths of God. His confidence, moreover, was not the fruit
of thoughtlessness,for he adds, “I am persuaded.” As though he had reasoned
the matter out and had been persuaded into it–had meditated long upon it,
and turned it over–and the force of Truth had quite convinced him, so that he
stoodpersuaded.
Where positiveness is the result of knowledge andof meditation, it becomes
sublime, as it was in the Apostle’s case. And being sublime it becomes
influential. In this case it certainly must have been influential over the heart of
Timothy, and over the minds of the tens of thousands who have, during these
nineteen centuries, perused this Epistle. It encouragesthe timid when they see
others preserved. It confirms the wavering when they see others steadfast. The
greatApostle’s words, ringing out with trumpet tone this morning, “I know,
and I am persuaded,” cannot but help to cheer many of us in our difficulties
and anxieties. May the Holy Spirit cause us not only to admire the faith of
Paul, but to imitate it, and to attain to the same confidence!
Some speak confidently because they are not confident. How often have we
observedthat brag and bluster are only the outward manifestations of inward
trembling? They are but concealments adoptedto covercowardice!As the
schoolboy, passing through the Churchyard, whistles to keephis courage up,
so some people talk very positively because they are not positive. They make a
pompous parade of faith because they desire to sustainthe presumption
which, as being their only comfort, is exceedinglydear to them.
Now in the Apostle’s case, everysyllable he speaks has beneathit a most real
weight of confidence which the strongestexpressions couldnot exaggerate.
Sitting there in the dungeon, a prisoner for Christ, abhorred by his
countrymen, despisedby the learned, and ridiculed by the rude, Paul
confronted the whole world with a holy boldness which knew no quailing. A
boldness resulting from the deep conviction of his spirit. You may take these
words and put what emphasis you can upon eachone of them, for they are the
truthful utterance of a thoroughly earnestand brave spirit. May we enjoy

3. such a confidence ourselves, and then we need not hesitate to declare it–for
our testimony will glorify God and bring consolationto others.
This morning for our instruction, as the Holy Spirit may help us, we shall first
considerthe matter in question, that which Paul had committed to Christ.
Secondly, the factbeyond all question, namely, that Christ was able to keep
him. Thirdly, the assuranceofthat fact, or how the Apostle was able to say, “I
know and am persuaded.” And fourthly, the influence of that assurance when
it rules in the heart.
1. First, then, dear Friends, let us speak fora few minutes upon THE
MATTER IN QUESTION.
That matter was, first of all, the Apostle’s deposit of all his interests and
concerns into the hands of God in Christ. Some have said that what Paul here
speaks ofwas his ministry. But there are many reasons forconcluding that
this is a mistake. A greatarray of expositors, at the head of whom we would
mention Calvin, think that the sole treasure which Paul deposited in the hands
of God was his eternal salvation. We do not doubt that this was the grandest
portion of the priceless deposit–butwe also think that as the connectiondoes
not limit the sense, it cannot be restrictedor confined to any one thing. It
seems to us that all the Apostle’s temporal and eternal interests were, by an
act of faith, committed into the hands of God in Christ Jesus.
To the Lord’s gracious keeping the Apostle committed his body. He had
suffered much in that frail tabernacle–shipwrecks, perils, hunger, cold,
nakedness, imprisonments, beatings with rods and stoning had all spent their
fury upon him. He expectedbefore long that his mortal frame would become
the prey of Nero’s cruelty. None could tell what would then happen to him–
whether he should be burned alive to light up Nero’s gardens, be torn to
pieces by wild beasts to make a Romanholiday–or become the victim of the
headsman’s sword. But in whateverway he might be called to offer up himself
a sacrifice to God, he committed his body to the keeping of Him who is the
Resurrectionand the Life.
He was persuaded that in the day of the Lord’s appearing he would rise again,
his body having suffered no loss through torture or dismemberment. He
lookedfor a joyful resurrection and askedno better embalming for his corpse
than the powerof Christ would ensure it.
He gave over to Christ at that hour his characterand reputation. A Christian
minister must expect to lose his reputation among men. He must be willing to
suffer every reproachfor Christ’s sake. But he may rest assuredthat he will
never lose his realhonor if it is riskedfor the Truth’s sake and placed in the

4. Redeemer’s hands. The day shall declare the excellence ofthe upright, for it
will revealall that was hidden and bring to light that which was concealed.
There will be a resurrection of characters as wellas persons. Every reputation
that has been obscuredby clouds of reproachfor Christ’s sake shallbe
rendered glorious when the righteous shall shine forth as the sun in the
kingdom of their Father. Let the wickedsaywhat they will of me, said the
Apostle, I commit my characterto the Judge of the quick and the dead.
So also his whole lifework he delivered into the hands of God. Men said, no
doubt, that Paul had made a greatmistake. In the eyes of the worldly wise he
must have seemedaltogethermad. What eminence awaitedhim had he
become a rabbi! He might have lived respectedand honored among his
countrymen as a Pharisee. Or if he had preferred to follow the Grecian
philosophies, a man with such strength of mind might have rivaled Socrates or
Plato!But instead, he chose to unite himself with a band of men commonly
reputed to be ignorant fanatics who turned the world upside down. Ah, well,
says Paul, I leave the reward and fruit of my life entirely with my Lord, for
He will at last justify my choice of service beneaththe banner of His Son. And
then the assembleduniverse shall know that I was no mistaken zealotfor a
senseless cause.
So did the Apostle resign to the hands of God in Christ his soul, whateverits
jeopardy from surrounding temptations. However greatthe corruptions that
were within it, and the dangers that were without, he felt safe in the great
Surety’s hands. He made over to the Divine Trustee all his mental powers,
faculties, passions, instincts, desires and ambitions. He gave his whole nature
up to the Christ of God to preserve it in holiness through the whole of life.
And right well did his life-course justify his faith.
He gave that soul up to be kept in the hour of death, then to be strengthened,
sustained, consoled, upheld, and guided through the tracks unknown–up
through the mysterious and unseen–to the Throne of God, even the Father. He
resignedhis spirit to Christ, that it might be presentedwithout spot or
wrinkle or any such thing in the Last GreatDay. He did, in fact, make a full
deposit of all that he was, and all that he had, and all that concernedhim, into
the keeping of God in Christ, to find in his God a faithful Guardian, a sure
Defenderand a safe Keeper. This was the matter, then, about which the
Apostle was concerned.
But next to this, the matter in question concernedthe Lord’s ability to make
goodthis guardianship. The Apostle did not doubt that Christ had accepted
the office of Keeper of that which he had committed to Him. The question was
never about Christ’s faithfulness to that trust. The Apostle does not even say

5. that he was confident that Jesus would be faithful. He felt that assertionto be
superfluous. There was no question about Christ’s willingness to keepthe soul
committed to Him–such a statementPaul felt it unnecessaryto make. But the
question with many was concerning the powerof the once crucified Redeemer
to keepthat which was committed to Him.
Oh, said the Apostle, I know and am persuadedthat He is able to do that.
Mark, my dear Friends, that the question is not about the Apostle’s powerto
keephimself. That question he does not raise. Many of you have been troubled
as to whether you are able to endure temptation. You need not debate the
subject. It is clearthat apart from Christ you are quite unable to persevere to
the end. Answer that question with a decided negative at once, and never raise
it again. The enquiry was not whether the Apostle would be found meritorious
in his own righteousness inthe Day of Judgment, for he had long ago castthat
righteousness aside.
He does not raise that point. The grand question is this, “Is Jesus able to keep
me?” Stand to that, my Brethren, and your doubts and fears will sooncome to
an end. Concerning your own poweror merit, write, “despair,” straightway
upon its forehead. Let the creature be regardedas utterly dead and corrupt,
and then lean on that arm, the sinews of which shall never shrink. And cast
your full weightupon that Omnipotence which bears up the pillars of the
universe. There is the point–keepto it, and you will not lose your joy. You
have committed yourself to Christ. The greatquestion now is not about what
you cando, but about what Jesus is able to do. And rest assuredthat He is
able to keepthat which you have committed to Him.
The Apostle further carries our thoughts on to a certainset period–the
keeping of the soul unto what he calls “that day.” I suppose he calls it, “that
day,” because it was the day most ardently expectedand commonly spokenof
by Christians. It was so usual a topic of conversationto speak of Christ’s
coming and of the results of it, that the Apostle does not say, “the advent,” he
simply says, “thatday.” That day with which Believers are more familiar than
with any other day beside. That day, the day of death if you will, when the
soul appears before its God. The Day of Judgment, if you please–thatday
when the books shallbe openedand the recordshall be read.
That day, the winding up of all, the sealing of destiny, the manifestation of the
eternal fate of eachone of us. That day for which all other days were made.
Christ Jesus is able to keepus againstthat day. That is to say, He is able to
place us, then, at the right hand of God, to setour feet upon the Rock when
others sink into the pit that is bottomless. To crownus when others shall be
accursed. To bring us to eternal joy when sinners shall be castinto Hell.

6. Here was the matter of consideration–canthe GreatShepherd of souls
preserve His flock? Ah, Brethren, if you have never searchedinto that
question, I should not wonder but what you will! When you are very low and
weak, and heart and flesh are failing. When sicknessbrings you to the borders
of the grave and you gaze into eternity, the enquiry will come to any
thoughtful man–Is this confidence of mine in the Christ of God warranted?
Will He be able in this lastarticle, when my spirit shivers in its unclothing,
will He be able to help me now?
And in the more dreadful hour, when the trumpet pealshall awake the dead,
shall I, indeed, find the Great Sin Bearerable to stand for me? Having no
merit of my own, will His merit suffice? From ten thousand sins will His
blood, alone, cleanse me? Nothing can ever equal this matter in importance. It
is one of most pressing urgency of consideration.
II. It is a happy circumstance that we can turn from it to our secondpoint, to
dwell for a while upon THE FACT BEYOND ALL QUESTION, namely, that
God in Christ is able to keepthat which we have committed to Him.
The Apostle’s confidence was that Christ was an able Guardian. So he meant,
first, that Jesus is able to keepthe soul from falling into damning sin. I
suppose this is one of the greatestfears that has ever troubled the true
Believer. Have you everprayed that you might rather die than turn aside
from Christ? I know I have, and I have sung bitterly in my soul that verse–
“Ah, Lord! With such a heart as mine,
Unless You hold me fast,
I feel I must, I shall decline,
Now, troubled Christian, remember that your Lord is able to keepyou under
every possible form of temptation. “Ah,” you say, “the Apostle Paul had not
the trials I have. I think he had. But if he had not, Jesus had. And Christ has
ability to keepyou under them. Do I hear one say, "I am the only one of my
household that has been calledby Grace, and they all oppose me. I am a lonely
one in my father’s house”? Now, Paulwas preciselyin your condition. He was
a Hebrew of the Hebrews, and he was regardedby his people with the most
extreme hate because he had come out from among them to follow the
Crucified One.
Yet Paul felt that God was able to keephim, and you may depend upon it–
though father and mother forsake,and brothers and sisters scoff–He whom
you trust will keepyou also firm in the faith. “Ah,” says another, “but you do
not know what it is to strive with the prejudices of an education hostile to the
faith of Jesus. When I seek to grow in Grace, the things I learned in my

7. childhood force themselves upon me and hinder me.” And was not the Apostle
in this case?As touching the Law he had been a Pharisee, educatedin the
strictestsect, brought up in traditions that were opposedto the faith of Christ.
And yet the Lord kept him faithful even to the end.
None of his old prejudices were able so much as to make him obscure the
simplicity of the Gospelof Christ. God is able to keep you, also, despite your
previous prejudices. “Ah,” says one, “but I am the subjectof many skeptical
thoughts. I often suffer from doubts of the most subtle order.” Do you think
that the Apostle never knew this trial? He was no strangerto the Greek
philosophy, which consistedofa bundle of questions and skepticisms. He must
have experiencedthose temptations which are common to thoughtful minds.
And yet he said, “I know that He is able to keepme.” Believe me, then, the
Lord Jesus is equally able to keepyou.
“Yes,” says another, “but I have so many temptations in the world. If I were
not a Christian, I should prosper much better. I have openings now before me
by which I might soonobtain a competence, andperhaps wealth, if I were not
checkedby conscience.”Do you forget that the Apostle was in like case?What
might he not have had? A man of his condition in life–his birth and parentage
being altogetheradvantageous–aman of his powers of mind and of his great
energy! He might have seizedupon any attractive position. But those things
which were gain for him, he counted loss for Christ’s sake. And he was willing
to be less than nothing, because the power of Divine Grace kepthim true to
his profession.
But you tell me you are very poor, and that poverty is a severe trial. Brothers
and Sisters, you are not so poor as Paul. I suppose a few needles for his tent-
making, an old cloak, anda few parchments made up all his wealth. A man
without a home, a man without a single foot of land to call his own, was this
Apostle. But poverty and want could not subdue him–Christ was able to keep
him even then. “Ah,” you say, “but he had not my strong passions and
corruptions.” Mostsurely he had them all, for we hear him cry, “I find, then,
a Law, that when I would do good, evil is present with me. For I delight in the
Law of God after the inward man: but I see another Law in my members,
warring againstthe Law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the
Law of sin which is in my members. O wretched man that I am! Who shall
deliver me from the body of this death?”
He was tempted as you are, yet he knew that Christ was able to keephim. O
trembling Christian, never doubt this soul-cheering fact–thatyour loving
Savior is able to keepyou. But the Apostle did not merely trust Christ thus to
keephim from sin–he relied upon the same arm to preserve him from despair.

8. He was always battling with the world. There were times when he had no
helper. The Brethren often proved false, and those that were true were
frequently timid. He was left in the world like a solitary sheepsurrounded
with wolves. But Paul was not faint-hearted. He had his fears, for he was
mortal–he rose superior to them, for he was Divinely sustained. What a front
he always maintains! Nero may rise before him–a horrible monster for a man
even to dream of–but Paul’s courage does notgive way.
A Jewishmob may surround him, they may drag him out of the city–but
Paul’s mind is calm and composed. He may be laid in the stocks afterhaving
been scourged, but his heart finds congenialutterance in a song rather than a
groan. He is always brave, always unconquerable, confident of victory. He
believed that God would keephim, and he was kept. And you, my Brothers
and Sisters, though your life may be a very severe conflictand you sometimes
think you will give it up in despair–younever shall relinquish the sacred
conflict. He that has borne you onwardto this day will bear you through, and
will make you more than conqueror, for He is able to keepyou from fainting
and despair.
Doubtless, the Apostle meant, too, that Christ was able to keephim from the
powerof death. Beloved, this is greatcomfort to us who so soonshall die. To
the Apostle, death was a very present thing. “I die daily,” saidhe. Yet was he
well assuredthat death would be gain rather than loss to him, for he was
certain that Christ would so order all things that death should be but like an
angelto admit him into everlasting life. Be certain of this, too, for He who is
the Resurrectionand the Life will not desert you. Do not, my Brothers and
Sisters, fall under bondage through fear of death, for the living Savioris able
to keepyou, and He will.
Do not, I pray, look too much at the pains, groans, and dying strife. Look
rather to that kind Friend, who, having endured the agonies ofdeath before
you, can sympathize with your sufferings, and who, as He ever lives, can
render you available assistance. Castthis care on Him, and fear no more to
die than you fear to go to your bed when night comes.
The Apostle is also certainthat Christ is able to preserve his soul in another
world. Little is revealedin Scripture by way of detailed descriptionof that
other world. Imagination may be indulged, but little can be proved. The spirit
returns to God who gave it, this we know. And in the instant after death the
righteous soul is in Paradise with Christ. This, too, is clear. Yet whether we
know the details or not, we are assuredthat the soul is safe with Christ.
Whateverdanger from evil spirits may await us on our journey from this

9. planet up to the dwelling place of God. Whateverthere may be of conflict in
the lastmoment, Jesus is able to keepthat which we have committed to Him.
If I had to keepmyself, I might, indeed, tremble with alarm at the prospectof
the unknown region. But He that is the Lord of death and of Hell, and has the
keys of Heaven, cansurely keepmy soul on that dread voyage acrossa
trackless sea. It is all well. It must be well with the righteous–evenin the land
of death–for our Lord’s dominion reaches eventhere–and being in His
dominions we are safe. Paulbelieved, lastly, that Christ was able to preserve
his body. Remember my statementthat Paul committed all that he had, and
was, to God in Christ?
We must not despise this body. It is the germ of the body in which we are to
dwell forever. It shall be raised from corruption into incorruption, but it is the
same body. Developedfrom weaknessinto power, from dishonor into glory, it
never loses its identity. The marvel of the resurrection will not fail of
accomplishment. It may seeman impossibility that the body which has rotted
in the tomb, and, perhaps been scatteredin dust overthe face of the soil–
which has been absorbedby vegetables,which has been digestedby animals,
which has passedthrough countless circles ofchange–shouldbe raisedagain.
Yet impossible as it seems, the Lord Jesus Christ will perform it.
It must be as easyto constructa secondtime as to create out of nothing at the
first. Look at creationand see that nothing is impossible with God. Think of
the Word, without whom was not anything made that was made, and
straightwayyou will talk no longerof difficulties. With man it may be
impossible, but with God all things are possible. In your entirety, my
Brethren, in the integrity of your manhood, spirit, soul, and body–all that is
essentialto your nature, to its happiness, to its perfection. Every part of you
and every powerof you–you having placed all in the hands of Christ–shallbe
kept until that day, when in His image you shall stand, and prove in your own
persons the power which in your faith you do, this day, devoutly trust.
III. We shall, in the third place, pass on to notice THE ASSURANCE OF
THAT FACT, or how the Apostle Paul attained to it.
“I cannot talk like that,” says one. “I cannotsay, ‘I know, and I am
persuaded,’ I am very thankful that I can say, I hope, I trust, I think.” Dear
Friends, in order to help you to advance, we will notice how the Apostle Paul
attained to such assurance. One main help to him was the habit, as seenin this
text, of always making faith the most prominent point of consideration. Faith
is twice mentioned in the few lines before us. “I know Whom I have believed,
and am persuaded that He is able to keepthat which I have committed to

10. Him.” Paul knew what faith was, namely, a committal of his precious things
into the custody of Christ.
He does not say, “I have servedChrist.” No. He does not say, “I am growing
like Christ, therefore I am persuadedI shall be kept.” No. He makes most
prominent in his thought the fact that he believed, and so had committed
himself to Christ. I would to God, dear Friends, that you who are subject to
doubts and fears, instead of raking about in your hearts to find evidences and
marks of growthin Grace and likeness to Christ, and so on, would first make
an investigation concerning a point which is far more vital–namely this–have
you believed?
Dearanxious Heart, begin your searchon this point. Do you commit yourself
to Christ? If you do, what though marks should be few and evidences for
awhile should be obscure, he that believes on Him has everlasting life. He that
believes and is baptized shall be saved. The evidences will come, the marks
will be clearedin due time. But all the marks and evidences betweenhere and
Heaven are not worth a single farthing to a soul when it comes to actual
conflict with death and Hell.
Then it must be simple faith that wins the day. Those other things are good
enough in brighter times. But if it is a question whether you are safe or not,
you must come to this, “I have restedwith all my heart on Him that came into
the world to save sinners, and though I am the very chief of sinners, I believe
He is able to save me.” You will getto assurance if you keepclearabout your
faith.
The next help to assurance,as I gather from the text, is this. The Apostle
maintained most clearly his view of a personalChrist. Observe how three
times he mentioned his Lord. “I know Whom I have believed, and am
persuaded that He is able to keepthat which I have committed to Him.” He
does not say, “I know the doctrines I believe.” Surely he did, but this was not
the main point. He does not say, “I am certainabout the form of sound Words
which I hold.” He was certainenough about that, but it was not his
foundation. No mere doctrines can ever be the stay of the soul. What can a
dogma do? What cana creed do?
Brethren, these are like medicines–youneed a hand to give them to you. You
want the physician to administer them to you–otherwise you may die with all
these precious medicines close athand. We want a personto trust. There is no
Christianity to my mind so vital, so influential, so true, so real, as the
Christianity which deals with the Personof the living Redeemer. I know Him,
I know He is God, I know that He is mine. I trust not merely in His teaching,

11. but in Him. Noton His laws, rules, or teachings am I depending so much as on
Himself, as a Person. DearBrothers and Sisters, is that what you are doing
now?
Have you put your soulinto the keeping of that blessedMan who is also God?
He who sits at the right hand of the Father? Can you come in faith to His feet
and kiss the prints of the nails? Can you look up into His dear face and say,
“Ah, Sonof God, I rely upon the powerof Your arms, on the preciousness of
Your blood, on the love of Your heart, on the prevalence of Your plea, on the
certainty of Your promises, on the immutability of Your Character. I reston
You, and on You alone”? Youwill get assurancereadily enough, now. But if
you begin to fritter awayyour realization of the Personof Christ and live
merely on dogmas and doctrines, you will be far removed from real
assurance.
Brothers and Sisters, the Apostle attained this full assurance through growing
knowledge. He did not say, “I am persuaded that Christ will save me, apart
from anything I know about Him.” But he begins by saying, “I know.” Let no
Christian among us neglect the means provided for obtaining a fuller
knowledge ofthe GospelofChrist. I would that this age produced more
thoughtful and studious Christians. I am afraid that apart from what many of
you gatherfrom the sermon, or from the reading of the Scriptures in public,
you do not learn much from the Word of God, or from those innumerable
instructive books which godly men have bequeathed to us.
Men are studious in various schools andcollegesin order to obtain knowledge
of the classicsandmathematics. But should we not be even more diligent that
we may know Christ? That we may study Him, and all about Him–and no
longerbe children, but in knowledge may be men? Many of the fears of
Christians would be driven awayif they knew more. Ignorance is not bliss in
Christianity, but misery. Knowledge sanctifiedand attended by the Presence
of the Holy Spirit is as wings by which we may rise out of the mists and
darkness into the light of fall assurance. The knowledge ofChrist is the most
excellentof sciences.Seekto be masters of it, and you are on the road to full
assurance.
Once, again, the Apostle, it appears from the text, gained his assurance from
close considerationas wellas from knowledge. “Iknow and am persuaded.”
As I have already said, persuasionis the result of argument. The Apostle had
turned this matter over in his mind. He had meditated on the pros and cons.
He had carefully weighedeachdifficulty, and he felt the preponderating force
of Truth sweptevery difficulty out of the way. O Christian, if you made your
mind more familiar with Divine Truth, you would, under the guidance of the

12. Holy Spirit, have much more assurance!I believe it is the doctrine which we
have leaststudied in the Word which gives us the most trouble in our minds.
Searchit out and look.
The divisions among Christians, nowadays, are not so much the result of real
differences of opinion as of want of accurate thought. I believe we are getting
closerand closerin our theology, and that on the whole, at leastamong the
Nonconforming Churches of England, very much the same theologyis
preachedby all evangelicalministers. But some are not careful of their terms
and words, and use them incorrectly. And so they seemto preach wrong
doctrines when in their hearts they mean rightly enough. Maywe come to be
more thoughtful, eachof us, for a thousand benefits would flow from there.
Thinking of the Deity of Christ, considering of the veracity of the Divine
promises, meditating upon the foundations of the Everlasting Covenant,
revolving in our minds what Christ has done for us–we should come at last, by
the Spirit’s teaching–to be fully persuadedof the power of Christ to keepthe
sacredcharge which we have given to Him. Doubts and fears would vanish
like clouds before the wind. How many Christians are like the miser who
never feels sure about the safetyof his money, even though he has lockedup
the iron safe and securedthe room in which he keeps it–andlockedup the
house–andbolted and barred every door?
In the dead of night he thinks he hears a footstep, and tremblingly he goes
down to inspect his strong-room. Having searchedthe room and testedall the
iron bars in the windows, and discoveredno thief, he fears that the robber
may have come and gone, and stolen his precious charge. So he opens the door
of his iron safe. He looks and pries, he finds his bag of gold all safe, and those
deeds, those bonds–they are safe, too. He puts them away, shuts the door,
locks it, bolts and bars the room in which is the safe and all its contents. But
even as he goes to bed he fancies that a thief has just now brokenin! So he
scarcelyeverenjoys sound, refreshing sleep.
The safetyof the Christian’s treasure is of quite another sort. His soul is not
under bolt and bar, or under lock and keyof his own securing. He has
transferred his all to the King eternal, immortal, invisible–the only wise God,
our Savior–andsuch is his security that he enjoys the sleepof the Beloved,
calmly resting, for all is well. If Jesus couldfail us, we might wear sackcloth
forever! But while He is Immutable in His love and Omnipotent in his power,
we may put on the garments of praise. Believing as we do that eternal love
neither can, nor will desert a soul that reposes in its might, we triumph in
heart and find glory begun below.

13. IV. Now to close. Whatis THE INFLUENCE OF THIS ASSURANCE when it
penetrates the mind? As time fails me, I shall but saythat, as in the Apostle’s
case, it enables us to bear all the disgrace whichwe may incur in serving the
Lord. They said Paul was a fool. “Well,” replied the Apostle, “I am not
ashamed, for I know Whom I have believed. I am willing to be thought a
fool.” The ungodly may laugh at us now, but their laughs will soonbe over,
and he will laugh that wins forever.
Feelperfectly confident that all is safe and you can let the world grin at you
till its face aches. Whatdoes it matter what mortals think? What difference
does it make what the whole universe thinks if our souls are beloved of God?
You will, my dear Friends, as you live in full assurance ofGod’s love, grow
quite indifferent to the opinions of the carnal. You will go about your
heavenly service with an eye only to your Master’s will–andthe judgment of
such as cavil and carp will seemto you to be too inconsiderable to be worth a
thought.
If you doubt and fear, you will be hard put to it. But if you are serenely
confident that He is able to keepyou, you will dare the thickestof the fray–
fearless becauseyour armor is of God. Assurance will give you a serenity
within which will qualify you for doing much service. A man who is always
worrying about his own soul’s salvation canhave little energy with which to
serve his Lord. But when the soul knows the meaning of Christ’s words, “It is
finished,” it turns all its strength into the channels of service out of love to
such a blessedSavior.
O you that doubt, and therefore fret and care, and ask the question, “Do I
love the Lord or not? Am I His or am I not?”–how I wish this suspense were
over with you! O you who feardaily, lest, after all, you will be castaways–you
lose your strength for serving your God! When you are sure that He is able to
keepwhat you have committed to Him, then your whole manhood, excitedby
gratitude, spends itself and is spent in your Master’s cause. Godmake you
men to the fullness of vigor by giving you a fullness of assurance.
Those who are unsaved in this place may well envy those who are. That which
attractedme to Christ–I have not heard of others brought in this way, but this
brought me to Christ mainly–was the doctrine of the safetyof the saints. I fell
in love with the Gospelthrough that Truth. What, I thought, are those who
trust in Jesus safe? Shallthey never perish and shall none pluck them out of
Christ’s hands? Everybody esteems safety. One would not insure his life
where he thought there was a doubt as to the safetyof the insurance. Feeling
that there was perfectsafety if I gave myself up to the Redeemer, I did so. And
I entertain no regrets to this day that I committed my soul to Him.

14. Young people, you cannotdo better than early in life entrust your future with
the Lord Jesus. Manychildren at home appear to be very excellent. Many
lads, before they leave their father’s house, are amiable and commendable in
character. But this is a rough world–and it soonspoils the Graces thathave
been nurtured in the conservatoryof the home. Goodboys very often turn out
very bad men. And girls who were so lovely and pure at home have been
known to become very wickedwomen.
O children, your characters will be safe if you trust them with Jesus!I do not
say you will be rich if you trust Christ, nor that you will prosper after the
manner of men. But I do saythat you shall be happy in the bestsense of that
word, and that your holiness shall be preservedthrough trusting yourself with
Jesus. I pray that you may be led to desire this, especiallyany of you who are
leaving your father’s house, or are setting up in business on your own account.
Commit yourselves to God!
This first Sunday of a new year. What time more suitable for beginning
aright? O may the Holy Spirit softly whisper in your ears reasons that shall
persuade you to give yourselves to Christ! I sayagain, my testimony is that
you cannotdo a wiseror a better thing. Oh, the happiness my soul has known
in resting on my Lord! I wish you knew it. I would not ceaseto be a Christian
if I might be made a king or an angel. No charactercanbe to me so suitable or
so happy as that of a humble dependant upon the faithful love of my
redeeming Lord.
O come and trust Him, dear young Friends! You older ones–do you need that
I should speak to you, when you are getting so near your grave? You are now
out of Christ–how soonmay you be in Hell? You younger ones, I say, embrace
this flying hour and let this be the day of which you shall sing in after years –
“It is done! The greattransaction’s done!
I am my Lord’s, and He is mine–
He drew me, and by His Grace I followedon,
Charmed to confess the voice Divine.
High Heaven, that heard the solemn vow,
That vow renewedshall daily hear–
Till in life’s latesthour I bow,
And bless in death a bond so dear.”
BIBLEHUB RESOURCES

15. The Grounds Of His Joyful Confidence Under All His Sufferings
2 Timothy 1:12
T. Croskery
I. HIS APOSTLESHIP WAS THE CAUSE OF HIS SUFFERINGS. "For
which cause I also am suffering these things" - imprisonment, solitude, the
hatred of Jew and Gentile. He estrangedthe Jews by preaching the gospel
to the Gentiles, and he offended the Gentiles by denouncing their idolatries
and undermining their lucrative superstitions.
II. HE OWNS NO SHAME IN THE GOSPEL. It may be an offence to the
Greek and a stumbling block to the Jew;but he is not ashamedof it,
because he is not ashamed:
1. Of its Author.
2. Of its truths and ordinances.
3. Of his ownfaith in it.
4. Of his sufferings for it.
III. THE REASON WHY HE IS NOT ASHAMED OF THE GOSPEL.
"ForI know whom. I have trusted, and am persuaded that he is able to
keepmy deposittill that day."
1. He knows his Redeemerthrough faith and love and experience. It is
"eternallife" to know him (John 17:3). It is not that he merely knows of
him, but he knows him - what he is, what he can do, what he has promised
to do - and therefore he can trust him.
2. His trust is in a knownPerson.
(1) The apostle would have been very foolish to trust an unknown person.
We distrust strangers. We will only entrust that which is dear to us - our
children or our money - to those known to us.
(2) There are foolish people who think it a wiser, as well as a more
meritorious thing, to believe without knowledge;like the Spanish Jesuit
who said, "I believe in this doctrine, not in spite of its impossibility, but
because it is impossible." The apostle held a very different view.
(3) There are some people of whom we may say that the mere they are
known the less are they trusted. A fuller experience discovers flaws in their
characterforbidding confidence. But our Saviour is One who is trusted the
more he is known, in all the various circumstances ofhuman life.

16. 3. The apostle has placedhis soul, as a precious deposit, in the hands of
Christ, with the assurance ofits perfectsafety. "I am persuaded that he is
able to keepmy deposittill that day." Severalcircumstances enhance the
significance ofthis act of the apostle.
(1) The value of the deposit. What can be more precious than the soul?
(Mark 8:37).
(2) The danger of its loss. The soul is a lostthing, and but for grace
eternally so.
(3) The sinner feels the deposit is not safe with himself. Man cannot, any
more than man's brother, save his own soul.
(4) Who will take charge of this deposit? Many shrink from responsibility
in cases ofa difficult and delicate nature. But Jesus Christ has undertaken
for us; he will take us completely in charge;he will keepour deposit till the
day of judgment.
(5) Mark the limit of time as to the safetyof the deposit - "till that day." No
day short of that - not even the day of death; for the completedglory is
reservedfor the day of judgment. That will be the day for the bestowalof
the crownof life.
4. Mark the assuranceofthe apostle as to the safetyof his deposit. "I am
persuaded that he is able to keepmy deposit." This shows
(1) that assurance is a possible attainment (1 John 5:13);
(2) that it is a cheering and sustaining experience. - T.C.
Biblical Illustrator

17. I also suffer these things.
2 Timothy 1:12
Pride in the profane causethgoodmen to suffer for well-doing
Jr. Barlow, D. D.
The Pharisees were zealousforthe law and ceremonies,and Paul preached
the gospel, calledthem beggarlyand impotent rudiments; told that if they
were circumcisedChrist profited them nothing. Why, this so took down the
pride of man, that he should not be justified by his own works, but by
another's, that Paul was persecuted, and hardly intreated of his own
countrymen. If a skilful tailor take measure of a crookedand misshapen
person, and fit the garment proportionable to the pattern, a proud piece of
flesh will pout, swell, and wrangle with the workmen; so let the ministers
and men of God do good, divide the Word aright, high and lofty spirits will
be muttering, for they cannot endure the light, or to be told of their
deformities. Thus Paul was reputed aa enemy for telling them the truth. A
counterfeit and false glass is the fittest for old, withered, and wrinkled
curtizans to view themselves in; for if it should show them their right
shapes, all things to nothing, they split it againstthe walls.
(Jr. Barlow, D. D.)
For I know whom I have believed
The foundation of the Christian's hope
E. Cooper.
I. ONE GROUND OF THE APOSTLE'S ASSURANCE WAS A
PERSUASION THAT CHRIST IS ABLE TO KEEP THE SOULS
COMMITTEDUNTO HIM.
1. It is implied that Christ is able to bring the soul into a state of salvation.
2. This persuasionof the apostle implied that Christ is able also to preserve
the soulin a state of salvation. He added, as the other ground of his
assurance —
II. A CONSCIOUSNESS THAT HE HAD HIMSELF COMMITTED
UNTO CHRIST HIS OWN SOUL. However firmly he might be persuaded
of Christ's ability to save the souls committed to Him, he yet could not be
assuredthat He would save his soul unless he felt conscious ofthe fact, that
it was really committed unto Him. Let us now see what things this
consciousnessalso implied.

18. 1. It implied that he had knowinglygiven up all thoughts and hopes of
saving himself by his own merits and doings.
2. It was further implied in it, that he now knowingly placedall his hopes
and dependence on the sacrifice and mediation of Jesus Christ alone.
3. But it was also implied in it that, from the time in which he had thus
renounced his own righteousness, andby faith had hoped in the
righteousness ofChrist, he had lived and actedconsistentlywith such a
faith and hope.
(E. Cooper.)
The Christian's confidence in Christ
W. B. Collyer, D. D.
The faith of the Christian is here seen.
I. In its OBJECT "Iknow whom I have believed."
II. In its CHARACTER. It is seenin many noble qualities and bearings,
inseparably connectedwith eachother in the triumphant professionmade
by the apostle.
1. Knowledge is here the foundation of faith "I know whom I have
believed." Yes, he knew by irresistible demonstration — such as extracted
the venom of his heart againstJesus ofNazareth, and filled it with
inextinguishable love and fervent devotedness to Him.
2. As knowledge is the foundation of faith, so faith is the reposing of an
absolute trust — "I am persuaded that He is able to keepthat which I have
committed to Him."
III. In its CONSUMMATION — "againstthat day." There is to be a
consummation — when we shall receive "the end of our faith, even the
salvationof our soul." The province of faith is but for a season, and it shall
give place to the vision and fruition of God.
(W. B. Collyer, D. D.)
The internal evidence of experience
H. W. McGrath, M. A.
The evidences for revelationhave been commonly divided under two
heads, external and internal. Under the head of external evidence, we may

19. class allthose proofs, which, though relating to what is found in the
Scriptures, are nevertheless exteriorto the Word of God; such, for
instance, as the authenticity of the Books ofScripture, and the genuineness
of their authorship, the miracles by which the truths that the apostles
delivered were attested, and the sufferings and persecutionwhich they
underwent. But then the internal evidence is not less important. We might,
first, take the internal evidence of Scripture which we gatherfrom the
Word of God itself — the harmony of one portion of it with another, and
the circumstance that in our investigationof its bright and blessedpages,
they seemat once to commend themselves, as what we might expect to
come from the God of truth. And then there is the internal evidence, which
may be gatheredfrom the Christian's own experience — the attestation, so
to speak, of a Christian's own experience to the truths which he finds
revealedin the Scriptures of God. Now we believe that it is to evidence
partaking of this characterthat the apostle alludes in our text. There was
no confounding of his principles; there was no putting down of the truth
which he maintained; nothing was able to terrify him out of what he had
embracedas the truth of God. "ForI know whom I have believed, and am
persuaded that He is able to keepthat which I have committed unto Him
againstthat day." Now this class ofevidence, we believe, will, more or less,
be the evidence of every believer in the Lord Jesus.
I. The first point which is presentedfor our considerationis THAT THE
APOSTLE BELIEVED THE GOSPEL. This is the first actof the sinner
with respectto Jesus.
II. But the believer goes further. He does not rest with dependence upon
the promise, that the Lord will be with him unto the end of the world; but
he is assuredof this, because he finds THAT SO FAR AS HE HAD
TRUSTED THE PROMISE, GOD HAS ACTUALLY BEEN WITH HIM.
He has found Him true to His word by positive experience.
III. THE CONFIDENCE WHICH PAUL HAD IN THE FUTURE
GATHERED FROM HIS EXPERIENCE OF THE PAST.
(H. W. McGrath, M. A.)
The believer's confidence in the prospectof eternity
W. Jay.
I. THE AWFUL PERIOD. It is not mentioned by name; but the apostle
only calls it "that day." What day? The day of death, when "the dust

20. returns to the earth as it was, and the spirit returns unto God who gave
it"? Or the day of judgment? Doubtless the day of judgment. This is often
in the Scripture called "that day," in order to show us that it is a very
important, a very remarkable, a very distinguished day.
II. WHAT THE APOSTLE DID in the prospectof this period. He
depositedsomething in the Redeemer's hands; "that which I have
committed unto Him againstthat day." What, now, was this deposit? You
evidently see it was something personal, in which he actedas a believer.
And it is not necessary, as far as I know, to exclude anything from the
transaction;but principally we are to understand the eternal concerns of
his soul. And if this required any confirmation, it may be derived from the
example of poor Stephen, who, when he was dying, said, "Lord Jesus
receive my spirit" — and from the experience ofDavid, who in an hour of
danger said, "Into Thy hand I commit my spirit; Thou hast redeemed me,
O Lord God of truth!" It means, therefore, simply believing. The apostle's
representationof faith here will remind us of severalthings.
1. The committing our eternal all into His bands implies conviction. The
man before was deluded by error and blinded by ignorance;but now "the
eyes of his understanding" are opened.
(1)Now he is convinced of the value of his soul.
(2)He is now convinced of the dangerof the soul.
(3)And now, too, he is convinced of his inability to save his soul.
2. And this act implies also a concernfor its security and welfare.
3. The act of committing the soul to Christ also implies application to the
Redeemerfor the purpose of salvation.
4. It implies submission,
III. THE SATISFACTION FELT in the review of the transaction.
1. You see whatthe satisfactionis derived from: and, generally considered,
you observe that it takes in the apostle's acquaintance with the great
Depositoryhimself — "I know whom I have believed."
2. You have seenthe satisfactiongenerallyexpressed;but here is a
particular reference with regardto it. "And I am persuaded," says he,
"that He is able to keepthat which I have committed unto Him againstthat
day."
(W. Jay.)

21. Acquaintance with Christ the Christian's strength
G. Jeans, M. A.
Since the same source from whence Paul had all his high attainments is as
open in all its fulness to eachof us, as it was to him, let us considerthe way
in which that inexhaustible fountain was made available to him to draw
supplies according to all his need, whether for support under the
discouragementofhis trials, or for direction under the perplexity of his
difficulties. One word of the text will open the whole of this to us: "I
know";— "I know whom I have believed," says he. Knowledge was the
substance of his power. Nay, then, says the unlearned Christian, it is too
difficult for me. Such knowledge is too wonderful and excellent. It is high, I
cannot attain unto it. It is not for me. How discouraging!will the poor and
busy man say. I have neither the leisure nor the means and opportunity of
gaining it. How heartless the attempt, then, will the weak-mindedand
humble Christian say, consciousofhis weakness. How canI ever hope to
reacheven a measure of that, when I feel my weaknessand inability every
step I take. But to the most unlearned, to the busiest, to the most
feebleminded, I say, that this knowledge and all the power it contains is for
you. Mark the text. The apostle does not say, I know the support I shall
receive, or the direction that will be given me, for I am wise and
experienced, but, "I know whom I have believed." His knowledge was not
of things, but of a person, and that but one.
I. Here is mentioned HIS KNOWLEDGE OF THE TRUSTEE. Letus
considersome particulars of the more obvious but important kind, wherein
the apostle knew, and we should know Him.
1. He knew that He was faithful, therefore he believed Him.
2. He knew Him to be able.
3. He knew Him to be willing.
4. He knew Him to be all-wise, both to see his trouble, and the best way to
get him out of it.
5. Nay, though clouds and darkness surrounded him, Paul staggerednot at
this, for he knew the ways of the Lord, that this is His method of dealing
with His children. In a word he knew Him to be the sum of all happiness,
the source ofall strength, the pledge and faithfulness of all the promises,
the depositoryof all power, the ruler of all events, the head over all things
to His people, the Saviour both of soul and body.

22. II. WHAT WAS IT THAT THE APOSTLE COMMITTEDTO HIM?
What was that deposit (as it is in the original), he was persuaded He was
able to keep? I answerin one word, his treasure. But that would assume
many forms under different circumstances.
1. When the guilt of sin would come upon his conscience,it would be the
salvationof his soul.
2. When the powerof temptation would come over him, it would be his
integrity in serving God.
3. When personaldangers surrounded him, and left him no way of escape,
it would be his self-preservation.
4. When assailedby the malicious insinuations of false apostles, andattacks
upon his motives, as at Corinth, it would be his character.
5. When he heard of the entering in of grievous wolves into the flock he had
fed so carefully, it would be the care of all the churches. Whatever it was,
in short, that at the moment most occupiedhis thoughts and attention, that
was what he had depositedfor safe-keeping in the hands of Christ, and
which he was persuadedHe was able to keepagainstall assaults until that
day, when the secrets ofall hearts shall be revealed, and every man shall
have his praise of God.
(G. Jeans, M. A.)
Grounds of confidence in the Saviour's ability
R. Hall, M. A.
We have here a strong expressionof his confidence in the Saviour: let us
consider, first, the nature, and then the ground of this confidence.
I. ITS NATURE. Some suppose the deposit, which the apostle mentions as
committed to him, to denote the gospeltrust in general:and this view is
favoured by the similar expressionin the context, "that goodthing, which
was committed to thee, keep — hold fastthe form of sound words." But it
seems more probable that he refers in the text to the interestof his
salvation, the trust of his whole being, his body, soul, and spirit, which he
had confidently committed to Christ, as Him who had "abolisheddeath,
and brought life and immortality to light." In the near view of martyrdom,
dissolution, and eternity, his confidence remained unshaken. This is a trust
unfit to be reposedin any createdarm. No potentate canhold back his own
spirit, much less another's, a moment from death no angelcould under

23. take such a trust; he would abjure it. Some portion of our interests we
commit to others, but never think of committing our whole spirit to a
creature. Hence we infer that Jesus Christ is truly God: else it were highly
improper, and indeed accursed, thus to trust Him.
II. THE GROUNDS ON WHICH THE APOSTLE TRUSTS THE
SAVIOUR. He saw that in His characterwhich warranted such confidence,
and he had a conviction of His ability. There was some peculiarity in Paul's
case, to which we may advert, but which we need not anxiously separate
from the generalcase ofChristians.
1. The first ground, peculiar to Paul, is his vision of Christ at Damascus:
this penetratedhim with reverence and attachment for the glorious person
then revealed:his heart was melted like wax, and he cried, "Lord, what
wilt Thou have me to do?"
2. He was confirmed in his trust by his subsequent experience of the favour
and powerof Christ. His eyes were opened by Ananias at Christ's
command. Miraculous powers of greatvariety were conferredon himself;
so that he did perhaps even greaterwonders than Christ had done. He was
inspired to preach with powerand boldness: "the power of Christ rested
on him." In his soul such a renovation took place, as only Divine power
could have effected:he was purified with humility and enlarged with love;
his prospects were extendedfar beyond time: and all this was the effectof
Christ's ascension, and His gift of the Holy Spirit.
3. Jesus Christhad wrought the greatsalvation, and reconciledit with all
the attributes of God.
4. The rank which Jesus Christ holds in heaven assures us that He "is able
to keepthat which is committed to Him."
5. As Jesus Christ is the appointed Judge of all, so eternal life is at His
disposalin His judicial character.
(R. Hall, M. A.)
A funeral sermon
J. E. Good.
I. THE SACRED DEPOSIT WHICH THE APOSTLE HAD MADE. All
that concernedhis soul, his hopes and his desires, his deliverance from
guilt, and the enjoyment of the eternal favour of his God, comprised the

24. whole amount of that deposit he had committed to the custody of his
Redeemer. Now this transactionintimates —
1. The perfect consciousnessofa separate and immortal existence.
2. A deep sense ofthe supreme value of the soul.
3. A powerful conviction of the awful nature of death.
II. THE HIGH SATISFACTION HE FELT WITH REGARD TO ITS
SAFETY.
1. He knew Him in the power of His arm.
2. He knew Him in His sacredrelation to the Church, as Prophet, Priest,
and King.
3. He knew Him, in all the promises of His Word.
4. This persuasionwas founded upon the certain return of the Saviour as
the Judge of all. Hence he speaks ofhis soul being kept in safetyagainst
that day.
(J. E. Good.)
The confidence of St. Paul
C. J. Hoore, M. A.
I. HIS KNOWLEDGE EXPRESSED — he knew whom he believed. It was
not in himself he trusted, nor on his own foundation that he built; he
stakednothing on his own reasonor imagination or self-begottenopinions;
nor had he any reliance on his own merits, or a high notion of the worth of
his exertions, evenfor the cause ofhis fellow-creatures, orfor the glory of
God. It was not the world or the world's opinion that he trusted or
followed, or any human judgment or conclusionthat he rested upon, as
apart from God's revelation.
1. He knew Him as the revealedSaviour spokenof and promised from age
to age.
2. He knew Him as the Almighty Saviour, the eternalSon of the Father,
fully sufficient for the wants of fallen man, and entirely adapted to the very
work of redemption which He came from heavento fulfil.
3. And he knew and believed this on the personalexperience of that power
in his own heart; the presence ofthe Spirit of Christ in his own soul, having
already revived and quickened him from the death of his former corrupt
and blinded state.

25. II. THE TRUST he reposedin the objectof his faith — "I am persuaded
that He is able to keepthat which I have committed to Him againstthat
day." There was a persuasion, or, as the original describes it, a full reliance
and settledrepose in his mind on the objectof his faith — the Saviour
whom he believed. It is perhaps here a question, whether the apostle meant
to say in these words, that Christ could and would keepthat which he had
committed to Christ; or, that which Christ had committed to him.
Doubtless there is an interchange, as it were, an intercommunion between
Christ and the soul of the believer; so that something is committed from
Christ to the soul of His servant, and something also committed from the
soul to Christ; and both are kept by the power of Christ alone. Christ
committed His truth, His word, His gospelto the apostle, to be receivedin
the heart and proclaimedthroughout the world; and the apostle committed
himself, his all, to Christ. By His grace alone couldthe purity and
perpetuity of Divine truth be upheld in the world; and by His Spirit alone
could the apostle be himself upheld amidst the shocksoftemptation and
the inroads of time and the world, and conductedsurely forward unto that
day. It was in the former sense perhaps that, in a following verse, the
apostle said to Timothy — "That goodthing which was committed to thee,
keepby the Holy Ghostwhich dwelleth in us." But take the text rather in
the view given to us by our own translation, and we shall find that apostle
had been persuaded, and not in vain, to entrust to Christ and His grace, his
credit, his peace, his soul for ever.
1. His credit. He had to go forth truly, to Jew and Gentile, to preach what
might seema new religion — the one truth of God, hidden from ages and
generations, andnew made manifest by the gospel;and he had to pledge
himself that it was true, and worthy their acceptance.He was persuaded
Christ could keepthe word he had given, and fulfil the promises he had
made,
2. He committed to Christ his peace. Peace,suchas the world valued and
sought after, the apostle was not very likely ever to ensure: he had to meet
danger and want, to face enemies and bear insult. Happiness under such
circumstances must have been very different from what the world calls
happiness: but it was not the less so for that, nor could he the less
confidently trust his inward peace and even outward circumstances to Him
who judged and maintained his cause, andwho had said "PeaceI leave
with you; not as the world giveth give I unto you."

26. 3. To Him, in fine, the apostle committed, doubtless, his soul, his all, for
time and eternity. He actedhere in the full spirit of his fellow-apostle St.
Peter(1 Peter 4:19).
(C. J. Hoore, M. A.)
Faith illustrated
C. H. Spurgeon.
I. THE GRANDESTACTION OF THE CHRISTIAN'S LIFE. The apostle
says, he committed himself into the hands of Christ. I saw the other day a
remarkable picture, which I shall use as an illustration of the way of
salvationby faith in Jesus. An offender had committed a crime for which
he must die, but it was in the olden time when churches were consideredto
be sanctuaries in which criminals might hide themselves and so escape. See
the transgressor — he rushes towards the church, the guards pursue him
with their drawn swords, allathirst for his blood, they pursue him even to
the church door. He rushes up the steps, and just as they are about to
overtake him and hew him in pieces onthe threshold of the church, out
comes the bishop, and holding up the crucifix he cries, "Back,back!stain
not the precincts of God's house with blood! stand back!" and the guards
at once respectthe emblem and stand back, while the poor fugitive hides
himself behind the robes of the priest. It is even so with Christ. The guilty
sinner flies to the cross — flies straight awayto Jesus, andthough Justice
pursues him, Christ lifts up His wounded hands and cries to Justice,
"Stand back!stand back! I shelterthis sinner; in the secretplace of My
tabernacle do I hide him; I will not suffer him to perish, for he puts his
trust in Me." The apostle meant that he did make a full and free surrender
of himself to Christ, to be Christ's property, and Christ's servantfor ever.
I must add, however, that this actof faith must not be performed once
only, but it must be continued as long as you live. As long as you live you
must have no other confidence but "Jesus only." You may take Him now
to-day, to have and to hold through life and in death, in tempest and in
sunshine, in poverty and in wealth, never to part or sunder from Him. You
must take Him to be your only prop, your only pillar from this day forth
and for ever.
II. THE JUSTIFICATION OF THIS GRAND ACT OF TRUST.
Confidence is sometimes folly; trusting in man is always so. When I exhort
you, then, to put your entire confidence in Christ, am I justified in so
doing? "I have not trusted to an unknown and untried pretender. I have

27. not relied upon one whose characterI could suspect. I have confidence in
one whose power, whose willingness, whoselove, whose truthfulness I
know. I know whom I have believed." Paul not only knew these things by
faith, but he knew much of them by experience. Our knowledge ofChrist is
somewhatlike climbing one of our Welsh mountains. When you are at the
base you see but little; the mountain itself appears to be but one half as
high as it really is. Confined in a little valley you discoverscarcelyanything
but the rippling brooks as they descendinto the stream at the base of the
mountain. Climb the first rising knoll, and the valley lengthens and widens
beneath your feet. Go up higher, and higher still, till you stand upon the
summit of one of the greatroots that start out as spurs from the sides of the
mountain, you see the country for sonic four or five miles round, and you
are delighted with the widening prospect. But go onward, and onward, and
onward, and how the scene enlarges, till at last, when you are on the
summit, and look east, west, north, and south, you see almostall England
lying before you. Yonder is a forestin some distant country, perhaps two
hundred miles away, and yonder the sea, and there a shining river and the
smoking chimneys of a manufacturing town, or there the masts of the ships
in some well-knownport. All these things please and delight you, and you
say, "I could not have imagined that so much could be seenat this
elevation." Now, the Christian life is of the same order. When we first
believe in Christ we see but little of Him. The higher we climb the more we
discoverof His excellenciesand His beauties. But who has ever gained the
summit? Paul now grown old, sitting, grey hair'd, shivering in a dungeon
in Rome — he could say, with greaterpowerthan we can, "I know whom I
have believed!" — for eachexperience had been like the climbing of a hill,
eachtrial had been like the ascending to another summit, and his death
seemedlike the gaining of the very top of the mountain from which he
could see the whole of the faithfulness and the love of Him to whom he had
committed his soul.
III. THE APOSTLE'S CONFIDENCE. "Iam persuaded that He is able to
keepthat which I have committed to Him." See this man. He is sure he
shall be saved. But why? Paul! art thou sure that thou canstkeepthyself?
"No," says he, "I have nothing to do with that": and yet thou art sure of
thy salvation!"Yes," saithhe, "I am!" How is it, then? "Why, I am
persuaded that He is able to keepme. Christ, to whom I commit myself, I
know hath power enough to hold me to the end." Martin Luther was bold
enough to exclaim, "Let Him that died for my soul, see to the salvationof
it."

28. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
Assurance
J. Irons.
I. THE OBJECTOF FAITH — "I know whom I have believed." Well,
now, whom have you believed? Have you believed Juggernaut? Have you
believed the Hindoo Brahmins? The glorious covenantHead of His Church
— I have believed Him. "He that believeth on the Son of God hath
everlasting life; and he that believeth not hath not life." Where there is no
believing of a saving description upon the Personof the Lord Jesus Christ,
there is no salvation. It is in vain to tell me of all the excellenciesofthe
creature, of all the attainments of moral philosophy, and of all the pride of
superstition, it only just makes a pious road to hell for those who pretend
to pursue it. There is no such thing as salvation, no such thing as safety, for
time or for eternity, but by believing on the Sonof God. "I know." I
beseechyou to mark the positive nature of the assertion. It is not, "I hope,
or trust"; it is not, "I can, or shall, or may, believe in Him"; but, "I know
whom I have believed." I do not like anything less than "I know," even in
things temporal. If I were to ask my servant whether such and such a
matter is safe, orright, or done properly, and I were to receive for an
answer, "I think so," or "Probablyit may be so";"Do not tell me that," I
should say, perhaps somewhatangrily; "Do you know it? is it really so?"
Surely, then, if I should require this in temporal matters, what should I
look for in things spiritual You tell me God is merciful, and I shall do as
well as others in the end. "I know whom I have believed." The question
might be put to the persons who make such an assertion, "Whatdo you
know of Him?" "Well, I will tell you. I know very well that He is truly,
properly, essentially, eternallyGod. I know enough of Him to be quite sure
that He is truly, and properly, and sinlesslyman. I know for certain of
Him, that He is, in His complex character, as Godand man, Mediator,
Surety, Daysman for His Church, in officialstanding." Do you know all
this? Do you know Him personally? Canyou say, "I know that in His office
He has accomplishedall that is requisite for the salvation of His Church."
Look at the word "believe" before we quit this part of our subject. "I know
whom I have believed." What is believing? In the margin of our Bible we
read "trusted." Well, believing is trusting, and trusting is believing.
II. THE NATURE OF FAITH'S ACTINGS — "that which I have
committed to Him." There is something about this which enters at once

29. into the daily experience of a child of God, and I think if it were more
extensively practisedin our experience, we should be happier Christians —
the committing of everything to Him. I have committed to Him my soul's
concerns;I have committed to Him the affairs of time; and I committed to
Him His visible Church, which neither legislators normonarchs care
anything about, but to distract and to destroy. Look at these things for a
few moments. I have committed to Him my soul's concerns. And these are
of two descriptions;my soul's concerns for security, salvation, eternallife;
and my soul's concerns in regard to spiritual existence, and spiritual
prosperity, in my way to glory. I commit both to Him. Now the nature of
faith's actings is to commit all to Jesus, in both these respects. If the filthy
effluvia of human nature's risings annoy me, I shall cry, "Lord, subdue all
my iniquity." I commit them all to Him; cannot do anything without Him,
and I am sure it is no goodtalking about it. "Lord, conquer my depravity.
Lord, fulfil Thy promises, that 'sin shall not have dominion.'" Then go on
to mark, that it is faith's province to commit the affairs of this life to Him.
They are not too little, they are not too mean for Him to notice, nor for
Him to manage, and it may be viewed as the peculiar privilege of the
Christian to carry to the throne of grace, and commit to Christ, every
arrangementHe may make, every bargain into which He may enter, every
associationHe may form, and every companion He may choose. So with all
His successes— to commit them all to Him, remembering that it is He who
giveth power to get wealth. So, again, with regardto lossesand crosses,
painful events.
III. THE EXPECTATION OF FAITH. "He is able to keep"it; and that is
the point which fixes upon my attention. BlessingsonHis name, that He is
as willing as He is able! He is interested in it. But this statement implies
greatdanger or difficulty, or the Divine keeping would not be necessary. It
implies that our beloved Zion is surrounded with every descriptionof
enemies and dangers, or it would not be said that it needs Divine keeping.
Moreover, there seems in this expectationof faith enough to nourish
assurance itself. "He is able to keepthat which I have committed to Him."
Well, then, assurance may lift up its head, and say, "If it be the soul's
concerns, I have nothing to doubt — I trust it all in His hands. If it be the
affairs of my family, or my business, I have nothing to harass me
concerning them." One word more. "Againstthat day." We might mention
the day of the termination of that trouble, the day of the accomplishmentof
that desire, the day of the consummation of a certain purpose or scheme in
God's providence, relative to our spiritual or temporal affairs; but I must

30. hasten to that day the apostle had immediately in view, "that day" when
Christ shall claim His own; "that day" when all the electionof grace shall
appear before Him, and be presentedto the Father "a perfect Church,
without spot or wrinkle, or any such thing."
(J. Irons.)
The grounds of the believer's confidence
D. Moore, M. A.
What a noble picture have we here! Elsewhere we are told that the apostle
was "in presence weak, andin speechcontemptible"; but he does not
appear so now. We see in him a courage andcalmness more than human.
"What though my departure from this world be marked by infamy, and
violence, and scorn — what though friends forsake,and the world revile,
and foes pursue me with unresting hatred, I have one treasure of which
they cannot rob me, one refuge to which I can always fly, one Friend who
'having loved me, will love me unto the end.'"
I. THE TERMS IN WHICH THE APOSTLE MAKES THIS NOBLE
DECLARATION OF HIS CONFIDENCE.The apostle does not say, "what
I have believed," as if his hope stoodin his creed, which might be very
exact— or in his Church, which might be Very true — or in his labours,
which were incessantand self-denying — or in his life, which was without
reproachand blameless;but he says, "The proper objectof my confidence
is a Person;my religionconsists in having found a Friend — A Friend with
whom all my interests for time and for eternity may be entrusted. I cleave
to a living, infallible, Divine Protector. 'I know whom I have believed.'"
The expression, as you perceive, is in true keeping with the entire spirit of
New Testamenttheology. When a sinner awakesto the first sight of his
danger, the first words to be addressedto him are, "Believe onthe Lord
Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved." This is a principle of the Divine
procedure which would commend itself were it only for its beautiful and
pure simplicity. When pressedwith the terrors of a guilty conscience, when
despair and fearseemto be coming in upon me like a flood, I want
something to fly to at once;I want to he directed immediately to an altar of
safety. Tell me not of things to be believed, or learned, or sought for, or
done, but tell me of one simple actwhich shall bring me within reachof
mercy. Do not lose time in considering how "life and immortality are to be
brought to light" — take Him as "the life." A convincedsinner cannotdo
better than embrace a theology of one article — "I know whom I bare

31. believed." Again, let us look at the word "believed." In the writings of St.
Paul the expressionstands for the highest form of moral persuasion. It
implies the strength of an all-pervading practicalconviction — the
reposing of a loving, perfect, and confiding trust. The advance of this upon
a mere intellectual faith you will perceive — for not only is it believed that
Christ came for man's salvation, but that this salvationhas become
individually applied to ourselves. "I know whom I have believed." My faith
rests upon my knowledge,just as my knowledge reactsupon my faith. I am
not making a plunge into eternity in the dark. I have lookedto the
soundness of my Rock to see whetherit will bear me; I have "tastedthat
the Lord is gracious,"and therefore am "confidentof this very thing, that
He that hath begun a goodwork in me, will perform it unto the day of
Christ." The word points out to us the dangerof taking our religion on
trust; the duty of subjecting our opinions to a diligent and inquiring
search. An uninvestigated faith cannever be a happy faith. Christ's work
for us must be believed, but Christ's work in us must be proved. Let us
take the next words, showing to us the nature of the Christian's deposit —
"I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that He is able to keep
that which I have committed unto Him againstthat day." To the trust here
spokenof we can place no limit. How greatthe privilege of having this
treasure lockedup in safe Custody, feeling that whatever else is taken from
us, our souls are enclosedin the sanctuary of heaven — that our Jesus puts
His hand upon these and says, "Thesesouls are Mine" — "Mine to be
kept, Mine to be watchedover, Mine to be purged from all dross and
defilement, and to be rendered back eachto his own," at that day!" And
the apostle mentions this day, in preference to the day of his death, because
although the earlierperiod would abundantly vindicate the Saviour's
faithfulness, yet the other is the day when Christ shall formally give up His
greattrust — when, in the presence of all the intelligences ofheaven, He
shall show how carefully He has watchedover souls, through the conflicts
of life, through the terrors of death, through the tong repose of the grave,
now to hold them up as His jewels, andreward, and crownat "that day."
II. THE GROUNDS ON WHICH THE APOSTLE RESTS HIS
CONFIDENCE.These,as we should suppose, must consistin the personal
qualifications of Him who was the subject of such trust, in the attributes of
His holy nature, in the efficacyof His atoning work, in the virtue of His
meritorious obedience, in the continued exertions of His resumed Divinity
now that He is seatedat the right hand of God. Thus, let us look at the
attributes of His nature — at His power, for example; does He not say, "All

32. things are delivered into My hand"; "allpower is given unto Me in heaven
and in earth"; "I open, and no man shutteth; I shut, and no man openeth!"
Who, then, can harm us, if we have securedsuch a Friend as this? But,
further, we know Paul would have a ground of persuasionin the work of
Christ, in the sufficiency of His obedience, in the infinite reach of His
atonement. The apostle was one who felt painfully the greatnessofhis own
deficiencies. His language everwas "'In the Lord Jehovahhave I
righteousness andstrength' My only trust is 'that I may be found in Him.'"
But once more, the apostle would find a comforting ground of persuasion
in the thought that the Saviour in whom he believed, lived for ever. It is a
sad reflectionwith regard to our earthly friends, that howevercherished or
howevertried, death will soontake them away.
(D. Moore, M. A.)
A safe deposit
S. Martin.
We sometimes believe in men whom we do not know. We think we know
them; but we are mistaken. We may inquire; we may observe;we may ask
for testimony and receive it: we may even put men to severe test:still we
are sometimes mistakenand deceived, and we have to confess,"Idid not
know the man whom I trusted." The case presentedby the text is the
opposite of that. In this instance we have trust leading to increasedand
enlargedknowledge — knowledge strengthening trust, and both producing
the expressionoffull assurance. Youobserve that the language of the text
is somewhatmetaphorical. We have certain facts in the Christian life put
before us here under the figure of a deposit — A depositor— A depositary,
and the confidence of the depositor.
I. WHAT IS THIS DEPOSIT?Was it the soulof the writer? Was it the
well-being of Paul in his persecution, the getting good out of his sorrow (1
Peter4:19). Was it the work of his salvation — that work to which he
himself refers, when, addressing some of his converts, he says, "He which
hath begun a good work in you will perform it"? Was it his future crown
— the crownof righteousness?Was it his converts, for whom he was
perpetually praying? Was it his apostolate?Was it the welfare of the
Churches? Was it the truth, and the proclamationof the truth? The great
care of a man on a dying bed is himself, and this should be our greatcare
in life; yet to take charge ofhimself no man is capable. Whatevercapacity
a man may have had, or human nature may have had before the fall, the

33. loss of capacitywhich sinfulness and transgressionhave occasionedis
immense; and there is a fearful loss of position. The soul is guilty, and
needs pardon, righteousness,and restoration. The spirit is polluted, and it
is dark, dim, dull, and deathly, through its pollution — it wants light and
life. A physician is needed to whom this soul, consciousofits guilt and of
the disease ofsin, may commit itself. A priest is needed, who can undertake
the work of atonement; and an advocate, who can make intercession. Such
an advocate, sucha priest, such a physician, Paul had found in Jesus
Christ; and to Him, who unites in His ownperson all that a sinner needs to
find in a Saviour, Paul had given up himself.
II. THE DEPOSITOR. This is Saul of Tarsus. Did Gamalielteachhim
this? Some of Gamaliel's strongestandmost prominent lessons were self-
reliance. The tendency of his teaching was to lead the young Saul to depend
upon himself, and he had, as we know, from the story of his life, an
immense amount of self-confidence. There is nothing committed to God to
keep— the man only talks of his ownvirtues and gooddeeds, comparing
himself with another. This is not Saul the Pharisee, itis Saul the Christian.
It is Saul, but it is Saul born again, it is Saul born from above, it is Saul a
new creation, old things have passedaway, behold all things have become
new! New, this confidence in another; old, that self-confidence."Ican take
care of myself," would have been his language a few years ago;"my
prayers and alms-giving, and goodworks will save me," he would then
have said; now, he is entirely changed, and he represents the state of his
heart in writing, "I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that He
is able to keepthat which I have committed unto Him againstthat day."
Saul of Tarsus took charge of himself, but Saul the Christian committed
himself to another. And who is that other?
III. THE DEPOSITARY. DoesPaulhere refer to God, whose name he
mentions in the eighth verse, or to our Saviour, Jesus Christ, whom he
introduces to us in the tenth verse? We think he refers to our Saviour,
Jesus Christ — not, of course, that we can separate Godand our Saviour,
Jesus Christ — because "Godis in Christ, reconciling the world unto
Himself." The depositary, mark, is Christ; the anointed Keeperof souls;
one upon whom the unction of the Holy Ghostwas poured out without
measure, that He might take charge of souls;Christ — observe, Jesus
Christ, the divine and devoted Keeper of souls. Now, to "JesusChrist, our
Saviour, who hath abolished death, and brought life and immortality to
light"; to the "Word made flesh," "God manifest in flesh," "Godover all
blessedfor evermore," to Him did Paul commit himself. It is in vain that

34. you try to mingle these things — taking the responsibility of life upon your
shoulders and committing yourself to another. You cannot do this; you
must either madly and vainly try to bear the burden alone, or you must
commit the whole to your Saviour, and all then that you are responsible for
is, doing what He tells you, and not doing that which He forbids you. But,
as to the charge, the charge is His; and as to the responsibility, the
responsibility is His; and as to the care, all the care is His. Is there any
danger of your abusing these truths? Is it possible that any of you cansay,
"Well, if this be the case, Ihave certainly askedChrist to take the charge of
my soul, and I may be as careless as Iplease." Whenyou put yourself into
the hands of a physician, you feel that you are accountable for obedience to
his instructions, and that his resources are made available to you just as
you are submissive to his treatment. Just so with our Saviour Jesus Christ.
IV. THE CONFIDENCE OF THE DEPOSITOR. "Iknow whom I have
believed, and am persuaded that He is able to keepthat which I have
committed unto Him againstthat day." The confidence of Paul relates to
four objects: —
1. The generalcharacterof the depositary. "I know what He is, and what
He can do; I see and I appreciate all the attributes of His nature; I know
that He has an eye that never slumbers nor sleeps, anarm that is never
weary, a working hand that is stretched out still, a heart of love — the
extent and energy of which surpass knowledge.
2. Then it rests in the ability of the depositary with respectto this
particular trust. "He is able to keep" — ABLE to keep. Few men had so
seenthe dangers of this world as Paul. God keeps some souls in a blissful,
childish ignorance of their dangers, and they go through life with an
amount of simplicity which is extraordinary, and which we cannot account
for exceptupon the principle that God does literally hide them as in His
pavilion. But there are others whose spiritual senses are so quickened, that
they see almostevery thing relating to their religious life — at leastthe
many of the spiritual and evil influences to which they are exposed.
3. This confidence relates to the continuousness ofthe presentassurance.
"He is able to keepthat which I have committed to Him againstthat day."
The fires of that day shall burn the wood, hay, stubble, and shall develop in
grand contrastthe gold, and the silver, and the precious stones. "Against
that day. 'He is able to keepthat which I have committed to Him.' He
knows what the test of that day will be, and againstthat day He is able to
guard my trust, and nothing that I have committed to His hands, shall even
in that day be lost."

35. 4. Further, you observe, the apostle rests very much in the accuracy, and in
the soundness ofhis own experience. "I know," he says, "whom I have
believed." And how did he know? Did he know through having received
the testimony of the prophets, who all bore witness to the Saviour? Did he
know simply through having listenedto Christian teaching, or to the
teaching of such an one as Ananias? No; from these sources he did derive
information, but he knew through following Christ, that He was able to
keepthat which he had committed to Him — he knew through taking
advantage of Christ, that He was able — just as you know what a physician
can do, by his attendance at your sick bed, or as you may know what a
legaladviser is able to do, by the counselhe gives you in some time of
temporal perplexity, or just as you may know a friend by his aid in the
hour of adversity. He had, againand again, put Jesus Christ to the proof,
and the proof had shown that not even God's words had fully describedthe
Saviour.
(S. Martin.)
Christian confidence
C. Molyneux, B. A.
Let us look, first of all, at this persuasion, which I want you to be the
subject of; and then we will see the ground on which it rested;and then the
consequencesofwhich it was productive.
1. "I am persuadedthat He is able to keepthat which I have committed
unto Him againstthat day." You see, it amounts to a perfectpersuasionof
security here; here is absolute safety, and the experience ofit. The word
"persuaded" is as strong as possible. It was the deep inwrought conviction
of his soul; it was not liable to be disturbed; it was a settledfact, as you
dispose of a thing, and say, That is done, it is settled. It was the persuasion
of his mind, that all was safe for eternity. Observe the remarkable use in
this text of the word that by the apostle, which is very instructive. He says,
"I am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I have committed unto
Him againstthat day." He uses the word, you see, twice, with no
antecedentin either case exactly, and no specific objectmentioned to which
it refers. There is something very striking about that. He takes for granted,
that all will understand it; that no mistake can possibly exist about it; that
no man will read the verse, and not at once interpret to what the word
"that" refers in both instances. "Keepthat!" Why, no child here doubts
what he means. "My soul." "Againstthat day!" No child candoubt what

36. day — the greatday of His own coming. They are the two things in
comparisonwith which everything else sinks into absolute, utter
insignificance. The beauty of this passage, Ithink, is in that word
"commit." As expressive and explanatory of the meaning of the word faith,
I do not know any more beautiful term. People seemat a less to understand
what is meant at last by faith. The best interpretation, I think, is to be
found in the idea which that word "commit" conveys. You commit your
goods to a personyou can trust; you commit your body, your life, all you
have got, exactly in proportion as you have grounds for trusting a man —
your welfare, your character, your reputation, your honour. You say, "I
can leave my honour in your hands." That is exactly the meaning of the
word here: "I have committed." There is something very beautiful in it,
and it seems practicallyto be this. I have put the matter out of my hands
into His." Now, I wish you would quietly enter into that idea, and
thoroughly understand it. I do not know anything that could positively give
real comfort to a man, like the certainty that he has put his soul's interests
out of his own hands into safe keeping. I think this word "commit" implies
not only the apostle's sense ofthe value of the soul, but a man's practical
inability to keephis own soul. Why do you commit your property to some
one to keep? Because youfeel that you cannot keepit yourself, for some
reason— never mind what. Why do you commit your health into the
hands of a physician? Because youfeel that you cannot cure yourself. And
so on with regardto anything else. You commit your child to an instructor,
because you feelthat you have more confidence in the instructor. So that
the factof committing anything to another supposes some inability on our
part to do the thing. Just so with the soul. I dwell on that with unspeakable
comfort. There is a relief to my soul in this idea, that with its tremendous
responsibilities, with the awful destinies before it, I canhand it over into
Jesus Christ's keeping, and that He will keepthat which I commit unto
Him.
2. But on what ground did the apostle arrive at this supposition — because
there must be some ground for it? For instance:if I were to sayto you to-
morrow, "Go and commit your property and your interests into the hands
of some man," you would say, "Why that man? On what grounds? I know
nothing about that man." But if I were to say, "That man that you know
thoroughly well," and you were thoroughly alive to his capability and
power, what would you say? You would say, "Yes, I know whom you call
upon me to believe; I am persuaded that he is able to keepthat, if I do
commit it to him." You see, it would altogetherdepend upon the

37. knowledge youhave of the man. So Paul says here: "I know whom I
believe; therefore I am persuadedthat He is able to keepthat which I have
committed unto Him againstthat day." Now, then, what do we know about
Him? What kind of knowledge is it that would warrant Paul, or that will
warrant you and me, that we can commit all to Jesus Christ? There might
be, of course, endless particulars specified. This is the reasonwhy I call
upon you so much to study the whole work and characterofChrist. It is,
depend upon it, being thoroughly acquainted with the work of Jesus
Christ, it is having an intelligent understanding of all that He has done,
that gives this kind of unqualified assurance andhappy confidence.
Therefore we read, "This is eternal life, to know Thee." It is not just a sort
of glimpse; it is not merely saying, "I believed Christ died"; but it is
understanding and knowing these things. I often tell you, and I am
persuaded of it, that throughout eternity our study will be the cross of
Christ. "Againstthat day" — that is, right on from the present moment till
that day comes. You will observe, that implies the state after death, as well
as our present state. I have nothing to suffer in the intermediate state — no
purgatory — no difficulties of any kind. He has kept me through life; He
will keepme afterwards, for He will keepthat which I have committed
unto Him to that day. It runs on from the moment a man commits his soul
to Christ. The expressionis very striking here. It seems to teachus, and to
prove by implication, that after that day there is no danger. Then security
will not be a matter merely of promise, but of circumstances.WhenI am
perfectedin body and soul, where will be my danger? When I am in
mansions where there is a gulf betwixt the mansions and hell where Satan
is, and he cannot ferry it, all will be perfectly safe. Therefore we are to be
as pillars in the temple of God, and to go no more out for ever.
3. Now, then, what was the consequence ofit? "I am not ashamed." Why
was he not ashamed? Because he was the subject of that glorious
persuasionthat all was safe. And I want you to believe, that there is the
closestconnectionbetweenboldness in a Christian's careerand assurance
in a Christian's heart; that no man will take the walk of a Christian, and
occupy the path as he ought to do, boldly and consistentlyand in a
straightforwardway, unless he feels that all is safe with regardto his
everlasting state. He says, "Forwhich cause I suffer." Forwhat cause?
Because"Iam appointed a preacher, and an apostle, and a teacherof the
Gentiles;for the which cause I suffer." When Paul was first brought to
God, what did the Lord say about him? He said, "I will show him how
greatthings he must suffer for My name's sake." Itis very remarkable, He

38. did not say, "I will show him what greatthings he shall do," but "what
greatthings he shall suffer." If we are consistentfollowers ofGod, we must
be sufferers. Having alluded to his sufferings, he says, "I suffer"; but he
adds, "I am not ashamed." "I stand manfully forward and confess Him."
Now, what is the ground? I have alreadymentioned it. It is because ofthat
persuasion. That is the antidote.
(C. Molyneux, B. A.)
The use and abuse of dogma
D. J. Vaughan, M. A.
A goodman at the present day, writing a letter, with death staring him in
the face, to an intimate friend, would be likely to write, not, "I know whom
I have believed," but, "I know what I have believed." It comes more
natural to us to express our religious convictions so — to think more of the
"what" than of the "whom" — to cling rather to the creed, or doctrinal
system, than to the Living Person, to whom systemand creedbear witness.
Of course, the doctrinal system implies the Living Person;but the system is
nearer to our thoughts than the Person. With St. Paul it was otherwise. To
him the Living Person— God our Father, Jesus Christ our Lord and
Saviour — was everything, was all in all; the system was nothing — nay,
we may say, had no existence. Therefore itis, that, in view of death and
judgment, and all that is most trying to human faith and courage, he
writes, "NeverthelessI am not ashamed" — I feelno fear for I know whom
I have believed, and am persuaded that He is able to keepthat which I
have committed to Him againstthat day." Now this is a matter which both
requires and deserves the most carefulelucidation. It has a very important
hearing upon present difficulties and pressing questions of the day. St. Paul
was trained up, as a boy and a young man, m an elaborate religious system,
of which the Scribes were the expositors, and the Pharisees the devoted
adherents. He was at one time, as he tells us, an enthusiastic votary of finis
system himself. But the moment came at lastwhen he found himself
compelled to renounce this systemutterly, to casthimself at the foot of the
cross, and to consecrate his whole life to the love and the service of Jesus
Christ. From that moment Christ was everything to him. Strictly speaking,
he no longerhad anything that could be calleda religious system. All was
Christ. Take one or two of his most expressive phrases, and you will feel
how true this is: "To me to live is Christ." "I am crucified with Christ, and
it is no longerI that live, but Christ liveth in me." We, too, have been

39. trained up, more or less carefully, in an elaborate religious system. Must
we break with this system, as St. Paul broke with the religious system in
which he had been educated, in order to find, as he found Christ? Must we
learn to say with him, in the sense in which he said it, "What things were
gain to me, these I counted loss for Christ"? Or is it given to us to travel by
a road which was denied to him — to preserve unbroken the continuity of
religious thought. Here we are in fact touching what I have calledone of
the most pressing questions of the day, the use and abuse of dogma. And
here we find ourselves in presence oftwo conflicting tendencies — two
tendencies which run absolutelycounter, the one to the other; one, an
impatience, a fierce intolerance of dogma; the other, an equally fierce
insistance upon dogma, as almost the one thing needful for these latter
days, and the sole antidote for their disorders. You know the battle-cries of
the two contending parties; one, demanding definite, distinctive, dogmatic,
Church teaching;the other, demanding not dogma, but religion. Observe,
then, first of all, that it is impossible for us to put ourselves exactlyin St.
Paul's position, or to getat his result preciselyin his way. Eighteen
centuries lie betweenus and him — eighteencenturies of controversy, of
division, of development. Dogma is an inevitable growthof time, as every
one may learn from his own experience. The opinions of any person who
thinks at all, and in proportion as he thinks, pass with lapse of time out of a
semi-fluid state into one that is fixed and solid. Such conclusions are to the
individual thinker what dogmas are to the Christian Church. St. Paul had
never formulated to himself the dogma of the Trinity in Unity: but in the
lapse of centuries that dogma became a necessityofChristian thought. But
then, this development of dogma — necessaryas it is, beneficial as it may
be — must never be confounded with the reality of spiritual worship — the
worship of the Fatherin spirit and in truth. It moves along a lowerlevel
altogether— the level of the understanding, not of the spirit or of the soul.
Herein lies the peril of that vehement insistance upon dogmatic teaching,
which is so common in these days. Unless it be most carefully guarded, it
leads straight to the conclusionthat to hold the right dogmas is to be in the
way of life. The light of life, the light which quickens, the light which is life,
can be ours only on condition that we follow Christ. Dogmatic
developments, then, are one thing; the religious or spiritual life of the soul
is another thing. And the former may, certainly, be so handled and used, as
to give no help to the latter. Yet there is, undoubtedly, a relation between
the two;and the former may be made to minister to the latter, it we will.
And the question is, What is this relation? and, How may the dogmatic
development be made subservient to the spiritual life? Christ says, "I am

40. come that they might have life, and that they might have it more
abundantly." Life, eternallife, salvation, redemption, righteousness:such
words as these express the first and the last thought of the gospelof Christ,
the aim of which is ever to touch and quicken and heal the souls of men.
First in the historicalorder, and first in the order of thought, comes the
spiritual reality, "the word of life"; afterwards the dogmatic form and
framework. The latter is, as it were, the body, of which the former is the
soul. The words of Jesus are, as we should expectthey would be, the purest
conceivable expressionofspiritual truth, with the slightestpossible
admixture of anything extraneous and unessential. Forthis very reasonit
is often exceedinglydifficult to grasp their import — always quite
impossible to exhaust their fulness. When we pass from the words of Jesus
to the words of His apostles, we trace the first beginnings of that inevitable
actionof the human intellect upon spiritual truth, of which the growth of
dogma is the result. It could not be other wise. The disciple could not be
altogetheras the Master. But though we may thus trace in the Epistles of
the New Testamentthe development of the first "organic filaments," out of
which in time would be constructedthe full-grown body of Christian
dogma — the shooting of the little spikes of ice acrossthe waters oflife and
salvation, which would eventually lead on to the fixity and rigidity of the
whole; — yet are they so full of light, from proximity to the Fountain of all
light, that the spiritual always predominates over the intellectual, and the
spiritual elements of their teaching are visible on the surface, orscarcely
below the surface, of the words in which it is couched. But, as time went on,
the intellectualform began more and more to predominate overthe
spiritual substance;until, at last, it has come to be often no slight task to
disentangle the one from the other, and so to getat that which is spiritual;
and which, being spiritual, can be made food and refreshment and life to
the soul. So far we have been dealing with the questions:"What is the
relation of dogma to religion?" and "How may the dogmatic development
be made to minister to the religious life?" And our answerto these
questions may be summed up thus: Christ's own words, first and before
all, go straight to the springs of the religious life, that is, the life of faith and
hope and love, of aspirationand endeavour; and, after these, the words of
His apostles. Christiandogma grows out of the unavoidable action of the
human intellect upon these words, and upon the thoughts which they
express. In order to minister to the soul's true life, such dogma must be
translated back, by the aid of the Holy Scriptures, into the spiritual
elements out of which it has sprung. When it becomes the question of the
truth or falsehoodof any particular dogmatic develop ment, the testing

41. process with reference to it will take two forms. We shall ascertain
whether, or no, it can be resolvedor translated back into any spiritual
elements — into any rays of that light, of which it is said, "I am the light of
the world." And, again, we shall ascertain, if possible, what are its direct
effects upon human conduct and character. Does ittend, or not, to produce
that new life, of which Jesus Christis the pattern? If it does;then,
unquestionably, there are in it rays of the true light, though mixed, it may
be, with much error, and crossedby many bands of darkness. It must be
our endeavourto disengagethe rays of light from the darkness which
accompanies them. Eachgenerationof Christendom in turn has seen
something of those riches, which was hidden from others. No one
generationhas yet seenthe whole. Now, that this should be so, has many
lessons forus; one or two of which we will set down, and so bring our
subject to a conclusion. Firstof all, it devolves upon eachgeneration in
turn a grave responsibility; for eachin turn may be put to the necessityof
revising the work of its predecessors — such revision being rendered
necessaryby the peculiar circumstances ofthe generationin and for which
the work is done. And whilst saying this, and claiming this our lawful
liberty, we canalso do full justice to the generations whichhave preceded
us, and recognisethe immense debt of gratitude which we owe to them.
They have registered, for their own benefit and for ours, that aspect of the
"unsearchable riches," whichit was given to them to see. Every succeeding
generationis bound to take full and reverent accountof the labours of its
predecessors,onpain of forfeiting something — some aspectof truth —
which it would be most perilous and damaging to lose. And this, lastof all,
teaches us a much-needed lessonofhumility, charity, and tolerance.
(D. J. Vaughan, M. A.)
Faith
E. Bersier, D. D.
In analysing those words I find three distinct ideas: — The faith of St. Paul
expressedby the words, "I have believed";the objectof his faith which he
recalls by saying whom he has believed; the certainty of his faith marked
with so much strength and serenity by this expression, "I know whom I
have believed."
I. WHAT IS FAITH? Consult, on this subjectthe most widely spread
opinion of this time and country. You will be told that faith is an act of
intellectual submission by which man accepts as certainthe teachings of

42. religious authority. Faith would thus be to the intellectual sphere what
obedience is to the practical. This idea early appears in the Church with
the decline of Christian spirituality. Faith being thus understood, it
resulted that the more numerous were the articles of faith which the
believer admitted the strongerseemedhis faith, and that the more difficult
those articles were to admit it was the more meritorious. According to this
way of seeing, he would be pre-eminently the man of faith who, refusing to
know anything, to wish anything, to judge anything of himself, could say,
"I believe what the Church believes," andhe would have no other rule but
absolute submission, without reserve, to the authority speaking by the
voice of his spiritual director. I ask you if you there recognise the teaching
of Scripture, if that is the idea which it gives us of faith? You have read
those admirable pages in which the author of the Epistle to the Hebrews
passes in review all the believers of the ancient covenant, all those men of
whom the world was not worthy. Now, in all those examples, is faith ever
presentedto you as an abdication of the intelligence, as the passive
acceptationofa certain number of truths? Never. I know, however, and
God preserve me from forgetting, that there is an element of submission
and of obedience in faith, but at the same time I affirm that all of faith is
not included therein. Faith, according to Scripture, is the impulse of the
soul grasping the invisible God, and, in its highest sense, the faith which
saves is the impulse of the trusting soulapprehending in Jesus Christ the
Saviour and the Son of God. Why talk to us of abdication? In the impulse
of faith there is all the soul — the soul that loves and thinks, the soulwith
all its spiritual energies. It is said to us, one must be weak in order to
believe. Are you quite sure? Take, if you will, one of the most elementary
acts of faith, such as every honest man has performed in his life. Before you
is easyenjoyment, but selfish and guilty; it is the pleasure which attracts
you — go on, it is yours. But, just on the point of yielding, the cry of your
consciencerouses you, you recoveryourself and you assertyour duty...
What are you doing then? An actof faith, for you assertthe invisible; for
duty neither is weighednor is touched, for, to him who denies it, there is no
demonstration that canprove it. Well! is that always an easyvictory? Is it
promised to the feeble? Is it necessaryto abdicate to obtain it? In this
example faith is not raisedabove moral evidence;but do you penetrate
beyond, into the sphere of spiritual realities? Imagine a life entirely filled
with the thoughts of God, entirely illuminated with His light, wholly
inspired with His love, in one word, the life of St. Paul; when you
contemplate it, are you not struck by the heroism it contains? Is there in
the faith which is the moving spring of it only a passive submission, an

43. intellectual belief in a certain number of truths? No; in this assertionofthe
invisible world there is a force and a greatnesswhich lays hold on you;
never, perhaps, does the human soul wrestfrom you a sincereradmiration
than when you see it taking flight into the unknown, with no other support
than its faith in the living God. In showing what it is we also answerthose
who say, "Of what goodis faith?"
II. WHOM SHALT I BELIEVE? To this question I reply with St. Paul,
Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ? and why? To believe, I have said, is to trust.
The question is to know to where I shall trust the destinies of my soul. It is
my whole future which I am to suspend on the word of a man; it is the
inmost life of my heart, it is my eternalhopes. And if I am deceived, if it is
found that I have built on the sand, if one day all this inward edifice of my
life should fall to pieces!We must see clearlyhere. No illusion, no over-
exciting of the imagination, no effervescence.Why? I will try and say it
againin a few words. I will repeatwhat those millions of adorers, for
eighteencenturies, have confessed, who have been able to say with St. Paul,
"I know whom I have believed." Whom shall I believe? I have saidit in the
depth of my darkness, and have seenrising up before me the Son of Man.
Alone amongstall He said, "I know whence I come, and I know whither I
go." Alone, without hesitation, with sovereignauthority, He showedthe
way which leads to God. He spoke ofheaven as one who descendedfrom it.
Everywhere and always He gave Himself out to be the Sent of the Father,
His only Son, the Masterof souls. I have listened to His voice, it had a
strange accentwhich recalledno other human voice;beautiful with a
simplicity which nothing approaches, it exerciseda powerto which nothing
can be compared. What gave it that power? It was not reasoning, nor
human eloquence, but the radiance of truth penetrating the heart and
conscience;in listening to it, I felt my heart takenpossessionof; I yielded to
that authority so strong and sweet;in proportion as He spoke it seemedas
if heaven opened and displayed itself to my eyes;I beheld God as He is, I
saw man as he ought to be. An irresistible adhesionto that teaching rose
from my heart to my lips, and with Simon PeterI cried" To whom shall we
go? Thou hast the words of eternal life." Was it only my soul which
vibrated at that speech? I looked, and, around me, hanging on the lips of
Christ, I saw an ever-growing multitude assembledfrom all places, coming
out from all conditions on the earth; there were poor and rich, ignorant
and wise, children and old men, pure spirits and defiled spirits, and, like
me, all were impressedwith that word, all found, as I did, light, certainty,
and peace. CanI let my whole destiny depend on a word of man, and have

44. I not the right to ask Him who thus leads me on in His steps what entitles
Him to my confidence, and how He can prove to me that He comes from
God? "O Thou who callestThyselfthe witness of God, Thou who speakest
of heaven as if it had been Thy dwelling-place, Thou who enlightenestthe
mystery of death to our gaze, Thou who pardonest sin, show us that Thou
art He who should come." JesusChristhas replied to this demand of our
soul. We ask Him if He comes from God, and He has done before us the
works of God; I do not speak ofHis miracles, although they are still
unexplained in their simple grandeur, in their sublime spirituality, in that
indescribable truth which marks them with an inimitable seal. Jesus has
done more than miracles, He has revealedGod in His person; He has given
the proof of His Divine mission in His life. It is holiness before which
conscienceperceivesitselfaccusedand judged. The more I contemplate it,
the more I experience a feeling of adoration and of deep humiliation; and
when at last men come and try to explain this life, and to show me in it an
invention of mankind, I protest, I feelthat the explanations are miserable, I
feel that the reality breaks all that framework. Then, by an irresistible
logic, I feelthat if Christ is holy, He must have spokentruly, and ought to
be believed. Is that all? Yes, if I only needed light and certainty; but there
is a still deeper, more ardent, more irresistible instinct in my soul: I feel
myself guilty, I thirst for pardon and for salvation. St. Paul felt himself a
sinner, condemned by his conscience;he sought salvationin his works, he
was exhaustedin that sorrowful strife; he found salvationonly on the cross.
There he saw, according to his own words, the Just One offering Himself
for the unjust; the Holy One bearing the curse of the sinner. In that
redeeming sacrifice, St. Paulfound assuagementfor his conscience;the
love of God as he recognisedit in Jesus Christpenetrated his heart and
life; is it not that which overflows in all his epistles, in all his apostolate?Is
it not that which inspires, which inflames all his life? Is it not that which
dictated to him these words, "I know whom I have believed"? It is also that
which makes the foundation of Christian faith; it is that which millions of
souls, led, like Paul, to the foot of the cross by their feeling of misery, have
found in Jesus Christ; it is that which has transformed them, takenthem
out of themselves, conqueredfor ever by Jesus Christ.
III. THE CERTAINTYOF FAITH! Do not these words rouse a painful
sentiment in you? No one will contradictme if I affirm, that there is in our
epocha kind of instinctive neglectof all that is firm and exactin points of
belief and Christian life. Let us examine it. We are passing through a time
of grave crisis where all the elements of our religious faith are submitted to

45. the most penetrating analysis, and whatevermay be our degree of culture
we cannot escape from it. So, something analogous to the artistic sentiment
is made for the religious sentiment. In music, for example, no one,
assuredly, preoccupies himself with truth. The most varied, the most
opposedstyles are allowed, provided that some inspiration and some genius
are felt in them. One day, people will applaud a sombre and dreamy
symphony; others will prefer a compositionbrilliant with force and
brightness; others, again, the softenedcharm of a melody full of grace:as
many various tastes as art can satisfy. Now, it is just so that to-day it is
claimed religion should be treated. It is wished that man should be
religious;it is saidthat he who is not so is destitute of one sense, as he to
whom painting or music is a matter of indifference; but this religious sense
should, it is said, seek its satisfactionthere where it finds it. To some a
stately worship is necessary, to others an austere worship; to some the
gentleness ofan indulgent God, to others the holiness of the God of the
Bible; to some an entirely moral religion, to others dogmas and curious
mysteries. Do I need to ask, whatbecomes with that manner of looking, of
the certainty of faith and religious truth? Hence that sadsight of souls
always seeking andnever reaching to the possessionoftruth, always in
quest of religious emotions, but incapable of affirming their faith, and,
above all, of changing their life. Nothing is more contrary to St. Paul's
certitude, to that firm assurance whichmakes him say, "I know whom I
have believed." Can we be astonishedthat such a religion should be
without real force and without real action? It could not be otherwise. It
might be able, I acknowledge, to produce fleeting movements, vivid
emotions, and sincere outbursts, but lasting effects never. I affirm, first,
that it will convertnobody. And why? Becauseconversionis the most deep-
seatedChange in the affections and life of man, and he will never exchange
the knownfor the unknown, real life with its passions, its pleasures,
howeversenseless theyappear, for the pale and cola abstractions of a belief
with no precise objectand for the worship of a vague and problematic
God. To fight againstpassions and lusts and refuse the compensationof
satisfiedpride, to bend the will, to conquer the flesh, and to submit life to
the austere discipline of obedience, that is a work which a vague, indecisive
religion will never accomplish. Without religious certainty there is no
holiness and, I add also, no consolation. Letus also add that a religion
without a certainty is a religion without action, without progressive force.
How can it advance? Will it lay the foundations of lasting works, will it
know how to conquer, will it send its missionaries afar? Missionaries, and
why? Is it with vague reveries and floating opinions that they set out, like

46. the apostles, to conquerthe world? The life of St. Paul is the best
explanation of his faith. Supported by his example, and by the experience
of all Christians, I would say to you, "Do you wish to possess thatstrong
immovable faith which alone can sustain and console?Fulfil the works of
faith. Serve the truth, and the truth shall illuminate you; follow Jesus
Christ, and you will believe in Christ." "There is no royal road to science,"
said an ancient philosopher to a prince who was irritated at finding study
so difficult; so in my turn I would say, "There is no demonstration of
Christianity, no apologywhich dispenses with obeying the truth, and with
passing through humiliation and inward renunciation, without which faith
is only a vain theory." The best proof of the truth of Christianity will
always be a proof of experience;nothing will outvalue that irrefutable
argument of St. Paul.
(E. Bersier, D. D.)
Assured security in Christ
C. H. Spurgeon.
In the style of these apostolic words there is a positiveness mostrefreshing
in this age of doubt. "I know," says he. And that is not enough — "I am
persuaded." He speaks like one who cannot tolerate a doubt. There is no
question about whether he has believed or not. "I know whom I have
believed." There is no question as to whether he was right in so believing.
"I am persuaded that he is able to keepthat which I have committed to
Him." There is no suspicionas to the future; he is as positive for years to
come as he is for this present moment. "He is able to keepthat which I
have committed to Him againstthat day." Where positiveness is the result
of knowledge and of meditation, it becomes sublime, as it was in the
apostle's case;and being sublime it becomes influential; in this case, it
certainly must have been influential over the heart of Timothy, and over
the minds of the tens of thousands who have during these nineteen
centuries perused this epistle. It encourages the timid when they see others
preserved; it confirms the wavering when they see others steadfast. The
apostle's confidence was thatChrist was an able guardian.
1. So he meant that Jesus is able to keepthe soul from falling into damning
sin.
2. But the apostle did not merely trust Christ thus to keephim from sin, he
relied upon the same arm to preserve him from despair.

47. 3. Doubtless the apostle meant, too, that Christ was able to keephim from
the powerof death.
4. The apostle is also certain that Christ is able to preserve his soul in
another world.
5. Paul believed, lastly, that Christ was able to preserve his body. "I cannot
talk like that," saith one; "I cannotsay, 'I know and I am persuaded,' I am
very thankful that I can say, I hope, I trust, I think.'"In order to help you
to advance, we will notice how the apostle Paul attained to such assurance.
1. One main help to him was his habit, as seenin this text, of always
making faith the most prominent point of consideration. Faithis twice
mentioned in the few lines before us. "I know whom I have believed, and
am persuadedthat He is able to keepthat which I have committed to
Him." Paul knew what faith was, namely, a committal of his precious
things into the custody of Christ. He does not say, "I have servedChrist."
No; he does not say, "I am growing like Christ, therefore I am persuaded I
shall be kept." No; he makes most prominent in his thought the fact that he
believed, and so had committed himself to Christ.
2. The next help to assurance, as I gatherfrom the text, is this; the apostle
maintained most clearly his view of a personalChrist. Observe how three
times he mentioned his Lord. "I know whom I have believed, and am
persuaded that He is able to keepthat which I have committed to Him." He
does not say, "I know the doctrines I believe." Surely he did, but this was
not the main point. No mere doctrines can ever be the stayof the soul.
What can a dogma do? These are like medicines, but you need a hand to
give you them; you want the physician to administer them to you;
otherwise you may die with all these precious medicines close athand. We
want a person to trust to.
3. The apostle attained this full assurancethrough growing knowledge. He
did not say "I am persuadedthat Christ will save me, apart from anything
I know about Him"; but he begins by saying, "I know." Let no Christian
among us neglectthe means provided for obtaining a fuller knowledge of
the gospelofChrist. I would that this age produced more thoughtful and
studious Christians.
4. Once, again, the apostle, it appears from the text, gained his assurance
from close considerationas wellas from knowledge. "Iknow and am
persuaded." As I have already said, persuasionis the result of argument.
The apostle had turned this matter over in his mind; he had meditated on
the pros and cons;he had carefully weighedeachdifficulty, and he felt the

48. preponderating force of truth which swepteachdifficulty nut of the way.
How many Christians are like the miser who never feels sure about the
safetyof his money, even though he has lockedup the iron safe, and
securedthe room in which he keeps it, and lockedup the house, and bolted
and barred every door! In the dead of night he thinks he hears a footstep,
and tremblingly he goes downto inspecthis strong-room. Having searched
the room, and tested all the iron bars in the window, and discoveredno
thief, he fears that the robber may have come and gone, and stolen his
precious charge. So he opens the door of his iron safe, he looks and pries,
he finds his bag of gold all safe. and those deeds, those bonds, they are safe
too. He puts them away, shuts the door, locks it, bolts and bars the room in
which is the safe and all its contents; but even as he goes to bed, he fancies
that a thief has just now broken in. So he scarcelyeverenjoys sound,
refreshing sleep. The safety of the Christian's treasure is of quite another
sort. His soul, not under bolt and bar, or under lock and key of his own
securing, but he has transferred his all to the King eternal, immortal,
invisible, the only wise God, our Saviour — and such is his security that he
enjoys the sleepof the beloved, calmly resting, for all is welt. Now to close,
what is the influence of this assurance whenit penetrates the mind? It
enables us to bear all the obloquy which we may incur in serving the Lord.
They said Paul was a fool. "Well," replied the apostle, "I am not ashamed,
for I know whom I have believed; I am willing to be thought a fool."
(C. H. Spurgeon.)
Assurance
W. Hay Aitken, M. A.
It surely is evident that while justification is all that is necessaryfor safety,
an assuredknowledge ofour justification on our own part must be
necessaryto give us the comfort and the joy of safety. Further, it is clear
that the characterof all our subsequent experiences must very largely
depend upon such an assuredknowledge;for I cannotfeel, or speak, oract
as a justified man unless I not only am justified, but know that I am
justified. Norcan I claim my proper privileges, and enjoy the blessed
results of my new relationship with God, unless I know certainly that this
relationship exists. For our position is, that, though it be possible that you
may be safe in God's sight, and yet not be safe in your own, you cannot
lead the life that God intends you to lead unless you know of this your
safety. First, you cannot draw near to Him with the filial confidence which

49. should characterisealltrue Christian experience, and enter into the closest
relations of true and trustful love. Next, you cannotlearn from the happy
results of this first act of faith the greatlife-lessonof faith. Then again you
lose those mighty motives of grateful, joyous love which should be the
incentives to a truly spiritual life, and instead of these there is certain to be
an element of servile bondage even in your very devotion, and you must
forfeit the glorious liberty of the child of God; and last, but not least, there
can be no power in your testimony; for how can you induce others to
accepta benefit of the personaleffects of which you yourself know
nothing? If your religion leaves you only in a state of uncertainty, how is it
ever likely that you will have weight with others in inducing them to turn
their backs upon those "pleasures ofsin for a season" which, although they
may be fleeting and unsatisfactory, are nevertheless a certainty while they
do last. On the other side, let me point out that this knowledge ofsalvation
is the effectand not the condition of justification. It would be absurd to
teachthat men are justified by knowing that they are justified. Of course
they can only know it when it has happened, and to make such knowledge
the condition of justification would involve a palpable contradiction.
Indeed it would be equivalent to saying you must believe what is false in
order to make it true. Look at these words of St. Paul; they sound bold and
strong; yet just reflectfor a moment. Would anything less than such a
confidence as is indicated here have been sufficient to enable him to lead
the life that he did? Would he ever have been fit for his life's work if his
assurance ofhis own personalrelations with God through Christ had been
more dubious, and his standing more precarious? Would anything less
than this settledconviction have enabled him fearlesslyto face all the odds
that were againsthim, and have borne him on through many a shock of
battle towards the victor's crown? But now let us look more closelyinto
this pregnant saying, and endeavour to analyse its meaning. On looking
carefully at the words you will find that in stating one thing St. Paul really
states three. FIRST, HE TELLS US THAT HE HAS ASSUMED A
DISTINCT MORALATTITUDE, AN ATTITUDE OF TRUST
TOWARDS A PARTICULAR PERSON. NEXT, THAT THE
ASSUMPTION AND MAINTENANCE OF THIS ATTITUDE IS WITH
HIM A MATTER OF PERSONALCONSCIOUSNESS;AND NEXT,
THAT HE IS ACQUAINTED WITH AND THOROUGHLY SATISFIED
WITH THE CHARACTER OF THE PERSON THUS TRUSTED. Let us
considereachof these statements severally; and turning to the first, we
notice that St. Paul represents his confidence as being reposednot in a
doctrine, or a fact, but a person. "I know whom I have believed." Many go

50. wrong here. I have heard some speak as if we were to be justified by
believing in the doctrine of justification by faith. Let me sayto such what
common-sense shouldhave let them to conclude without its being necessary
to say it, that we are no more justified by believing in the doctrine of
justification by faith than we are carriedfrom London to Edinburgh by
believing in the expansive force of steam. Knowledge of the laws of the
expansion of vapour may induce me to enter a railway train, and similarly,
knowledge ofthe doctrine of justification may induce me to trust myself to
Him who justifies; but I am no more justified by believing this doctrine
than I am transported from place to place by believing in the laws of
dynamics. Others seemto believe that our faith is to be reposedupon the
doctrine of the Atonement, and not a few upon certainparticular theories
which are supposedto attachto that doctrine. But surely it is clearthat our
views of doctrine may be never so orthodox and correct, and yet our hearts
may not have found rest in Him to whom the doctrine witnesses.Once
again, some seemto regard our salvationas dependent upon belief in a
fact; but surely it is possible to acceptthe fact, and yet come no nearerto
Him who was the principal actor in that fact. Faith rests on a person, not a
doctrine, or a fact; but when we believe in the person, this undoubtedly
involves faith in the doctrine (so far as it is necessaryforus to understand
it) and in the fact. For if I believe in Jesus Christ, I believe in Him as God's
express provision to meet the case offallen humanity, and this involves the
doctrine. Once again, if I believe in Christ, I believe in Him as having
accomplishedall that was necessaryto meet the case offallen humanity,
and this involves the fact. The doctrine and the factboth meet in Him; but
apart from Him neither is of any real spiritual value to me. Nay, I will go
so far as to say that my apprehension of the doctrine, and even of the fact,
may be very inadequate and incomplete, yet if with all my heart I rest upon
the person, my confidence can never be disappointed. Now let us consider
this statementthat St. Paul makes as to his moral attitude towards Christ.
He tells us that he knows whom he has believed. The phrase is especially
deserving of attention, and yet, curiously enough, it is generallymisquoted.
How commonly do we hearit quoted as if the words were, "I know in
whom I have believed." I fear that the frequency of the misquotation arises
from the factthat men do not clearly discernthe point to which the words
of the apostle as they stand were speciallydesignedto bearwitness. The
phrase, as St. Paul wrote it, points to a distinctly personalrelation, and the
words might, with strict accuracy, be rendered, "I know whom I have
trusted." The words, as they are misquoted, may be destitute of this
clement of personalrelation altogether. If I were to affirm of some

51. distinguished commercialhouse in this city that I believed in it, that would
not necessarilymean that I had left all my money in its hands. If I were to
say that I believed in a well-knownphysician, that would not lead you to
conclude that he had cured, or even that I had applied to him to cure, any
disease from which I might be suffering. But if I stated that I had trusted
that firm or that physician, then you would know that a certain actual
personalrelation was establishedbetweenme and the man or the company
of men of whom I thus spoke. How many there are who believe in Christ
just as we believe in a bank where we have no account, or a physician
whose skillwe have never proved, and our belief does us as much goodin
the one case as in the other. But perhaps the true characterof trust is, if
possible, still more strikingly brought out by the word which St. Paul here
employs in the original Greek. It is the word that would be used by any
Greek to indicate the sum of money deposited, in trust, in the hands of a
commercialagent, or, as we should say, a banker; in fact, the words used
here simply mean "my deposit." If you carry about a largo sum of money
on your person, or if you keepit in your house, you run a certainrisk of
losing it. In order to ensure the safetyof your property you make it over
into the hands of a banker; and if you have perfectconfidence in the firm
to which you commit it, you no longer have an anxious thought about it.
There it is safe in the bank. Even so there had come a time when St. Paul's
eyes were opened to find that he was in danger of losing that beside which
all worldly wealth is a mere trifle — his own soul; for what indeed "is a
man profited, if he gain the whole world and lose his own soul?" Nay, it
was not only that his soulwas in danger amongstthe robbers, it was
actually forfeited to the destroyer, and then it was that, in his helpless
despair, he made it over into another's hands — that other who had a right
to preserve it and keepit alive, because He had ransomed it from the
destroyer, and from that time forward there he had left it safe and secure,
because He to whom he had entrusted it was trustworthy. Now have you
done the same? Have you not only believed in Jesus, but have you trusted
Him? Then this must lead us to the secondof the three things that we saw
St. Paul here affirms. Evidently St. Paul knew, and was perfectly sure, of
his ownmoral attitude towards God; and here he explicitly asserts that his
faith was a matter of distinct moral consciousness,for "I know whom I
have believed" certainly contains within itself "I know that I have
believed." Now turn this over in your mind. Surely it is reasonable enough
when we come to think of it; for if we have something weighing on our
minds that seems a thing of greatimportance, surely if we make it over into
the hands of another, and leave it with him, we canhardly fail to be

52. conscious ofhaving done so. The question sometimes may be asked — and
indeed it often is asked — "How am I to know that I have believed?" I
confess that it is not easyto answer suchan inquiry; but there are a good
many similar questions which it would be equally hard to answerif people
ever askedthem, which, however, as a matter of fact, they never do. If I
were to ask you to-night, "How do you know that you hear me speaking to
you?" the only answeryou could return would be — one that may sound
very unphilosophical, but for all that one that is perfectly sufficient —
"Because Ido." If you answer, "Ah! but then that is a matter of sense,"I
reply, "Yes, but is it otherwise with matters that don't belong to the region
of sense-perceptionat all?" If I were to ask you, "How do you know that
you remember, or that you imagine, or that you think, or that you perform
any mental process?"your answermust still be, "BecauseI do." You do
not feeleither able or desirous to give any further proof of these
experiences;it is enough that they are experiences — matters of direct
consciousness. Butwe need not in order to illustrate this point go beyond
this question that we are at present considering. You ask, "How may I
know that I believe?" This question sounds to you reasonable whenyou are
speaking ofChrist as the objectof faith. Does it sound equally reasonable
when you speak in the same terms of your fellow-man? How do you know,
my dear child, that you believe in your own mother? How do you know,
you, my brother, who are engagedin commerce, that you believe in your
own banker? You can only answerin eachcase, "Because Ido"; but surely
that answeris sufficient, and you do not feel seriouslyexercisedabout the
reality of your confidence, becauseyou have no other proof of it excepting
an appeal to your own personalconsciousness. Letus now notice, further,
that he knew well, and was perfectly satisfiedwith, the characterofthe
person whom he did believe. Herein lay the secretof his calm, the full
assurance ofhis faith. You may have your money invested in a concern
which, on the whole, you regardas a safe and satis factory one, yet when
panics are prevailing in the city, and well-knownhouses are failing, you
may be conscious ofsome little anxiety, some passing misgiving. You have
faith in the firm, but perhaps not full assurance offaith. It is otherwise
with the money that you have invested in the funds of the nation; that must
be safe as long as GreatBritain holds her place amongstthe nations of the
world. Clearly our sense of comfort in trusting, our full assurance of
confidence lies in our knowledge of, and is developedby, our contemplation
of the objectupon which our trust is reposed— if indeed that object be
worthy of it — and feelings of peace and calm will necessarilyflow from
this.

53. (W. Hay Aitken, M. A.)
I know whom I have believed
C. H. Parkhurst.
"Whom" Paul says. Quite another thing from "what." "I know what I
have believed"; that is good. "I know whom I have believed"; that is better
— best. Such believing has easilyits advantages,severalofthem. When the
thing we believe is a person, our believing, creed, becomes simple and
coherent;the lines of our thinking all gather at a point, our creedis made
one, like grapes growing in one clusterfrom one stem. I am interested on
occasionto ask Christian people what their Christian belief is. It is
instructive to note the wide divergence of answer. One believes one thing,
another, anotherthing. "I know whom I have believed." To be a Christian
is to believe in Christ. And what is it to believe in Christ? We reachtoo
high for our answers;necessarytruth grows on low branches. The boy says
— "I believe in my father." All is told that needs to be told. Another thing
about this creedwith a person in it is, that it gives something for all our
faculties to do. "I know what I believe." Such a creedis only intellectual; it
is an affair of thinking, reasoning, inference. Theologicalthought and
discussionworks so far only on the same lines as scientific. Mind only
works;no heart, nothing volitional. A creedthat gathers directly about
person yields keenthinking, but yields much beside. It starts feeling, sets
the affections in play, draws out the will and puts it to work. We eachof us
have one or more men that we believe in, with all our mind, heart and
strength — men that are so far forth our creed; and they stir and stimulate
us in every way, clearing our ideas, to be sure, but firing our hearts and
making our resolutions sinewyand nervy. Christ made Paula man of
profound thinking, but a man of fervid passionand giant purpose — gave
every faculty in him something to do. He was greatall over. A third and
consequentadvantage in a personalcreedis that it is the only kind that can
produce effects, and work within us substantial alteration. I am not
criticising creeds. It is an excellentthing to know what we believe, and to
be able with concisenessand effectto state it. Paul does not say1 know
what I believe, but I know whom I believe, which goes wider and higher.
Such a creedis not one that Paul holds, but one that holds Paul, and can do
something with him therefore. No quantity of correctidea about the sun
can take the place of standing and living where the sun shines; and
standing and living where the sun shines will save from fatal results a vast
amount of incorrectideas about the sun. Beliefin person works back upon

54. me as an energy, alters me, builds me up or tears me down — at any rate
never leaves me alone; it works as gravity does among the stars; keeps
everything on the move. Such belief is not mental attitude, but moral
appropriation; it is the bee clinging to the clover-blossomand sucking out
the sweet. It is regulative and constructive. We are determined by thee
person we believe in. Beliefmakes him my possession. Beliefbreaks down
his walls and widens him out till he contains me. His thoughts reappear as
my thoughts; his ways, manners, feelings, hopes, impulses, motives, become
mine. I know whom I have believed. We make our ordinary creeds, and
revise and amend and repealthem. Personalcreeds make us, and revise,
amend and repeal us. No picture of a friend canbe accurate enoughto
begin to take the friend's place or do the friend's work. No idea of a person
can ever be enough like the person to serve as substitute. Knowing what
God is to perfection would never become the equivalent of knowing God. If
we bring this to the level of common life, its workings are simple and
manifest. It is in the home. The mother is the child's first creed. He believes
in her .before he believes what she says, and it is by his belief in her that he
grows and ripens. If we cannot tell it all out in words what this believing in
a mother or father means, we feel the meaning of it, and the deep sense is
worth more than the wordy paragraph, any time. Education is an affair of
person — person meeting person. Pupils do not become wise by being told
things. Wisdom is not the accumulationof specific cognitions. It is men that
educate. Personis the true schoolmaster. Evenan encyclopaedia does not
become an educatorby being dressedin gentlemen's clothes. What best
helps a boy to become a man is to have somebody to look up to; which is
like our text — "I know whom I have believed." And out on the broader
fields of socialand national life we encounterthe same principle over
again. The present wealthof a people depends largely upon its commerce
and productive industries. The stability of a people and its promise for the
future, depends quite as much upon the quality of the men upon whom the
masses allow their regards to fix and their loyalty to fasten. "I know whom
I have believed." And believing in Christ in this way to begin with, issued
in Paul's believing a host of particular facts in regardto Christ, and Paul's
theologyis his blossomedpiety. No amount of faith in Christ's words will
add up into faith in Him. You must have noticed bow full all Christ's
teachings are of the personalpronoun "I." Paul's Christianity beganon the
road to Damascus. The only man that can truly inform me is the man that
can form himself in me; that is what information means — immensely
personalagain, you see, as everything of much accountis. And it is so
everywhere. Religious matters, in this respect, step in the same ranks with

55. other matters. The grandestconvictions that we receive from other people
are not constructedin us by their logic, but createdin us by their personal
inspiration. The gospelis not the Divine book, but the Divine Man, and a
greatmany miniature copies of that gospelare around us, working still
effects along personallines. We make Christianity hard by crumbling it up
into impersonal propositions. It is no part of our genius to like a truth
apart from its flesh and blood incarnation in some live man. It is a hard
and awkwardthing for me to believe in the doctrine of the immortality of
the soul, for instance. I do not like the doctrine; my intellect abhors it. No
logic could persuade me of its truth, and I should never think of trying to
syllogise anybody else into a possessionof it. But my father is immortal and
I know it. Your mother is immortal, and you cannotstart in your mind a
suspicionto the contrary. From all this we gatherthat a man who gets
calledan unbeliever, and even calls himself such, may believe a greatdeal
more than he suspects. Unconscious orthodoxyis a factor of the times that
needs to be takeninto earnestaccount. There are quantities of unutilised
and unsuspectedfaith. You do not believe in immortality. Did you ever see
anybody that you had some little idea had about him something or other
that death could not touch? Let alone the abstractand come close to the
concrete and personal, and let it work. You rejectthe doctrine of a change
of heart; and it is a doctrine repugnant to our natures and a conundrum to
our intelligence. Did you ever see anybody who stopped being what he had
been and commencedbeing what he had not been? If you find it hard work
to square your opinions with the catechism, see whetheryou do not draw
into a little closercoincidencewith men and womenwhose lives
transparently embody the gospel, and then draw your inference. To
another class ofuncertain hearers I want to add, Do not try to getyour
religious ideas all arrangedand your doctrinal notions balanced. There is a
greatdeal of that kind that is best takencare of when it is left to take care
of itself. There is no advantage in borrowing some one's else opinion and
no use in hurrying your ownopinion. Beginwith what is personal, as he
did — "I know whom I have believed." Try to know the Lord. Draw nigh
to God and He will draw nigh to you. "The fear of the Lord is the
beginning of knowledge."There is no other way of beginning to be a
Christian but the old way — "Come unto Me." And you and I, fellow
Christians, owe it to these unsettled people among us and about us to help
them to strong anchorage upon Christ; and our qualifications for the work
will be our own thorough rest in and establishmentupon Christ and an
ineffable commixture of love and tact, and fact considerednot as a natural
talent, but as a heavenly grace. In our relations to these people, there is

56. another thing fur us to remember of a more positive character, which is, as
we have seen, that there is nothing that tells upon men and their
convictions like life. Men believe in the personal. Truth pure and simple
goes but a little way, except as it is lived. Abstractions are not current
outside of the schools.The best preaching of a change of heart is a heart
that is changed. These people are not going to he touched by anything that
has not breath and a pulse. Living is the best teaching. So that if you and I
are going to help these people to be conscious andpronounced Christians,
we are not going to accomplishit by merely telling them about Christ and
compounding before them feeble dilutions of Divine biography, but by
being ourselves so personally chargedwith the personalSpirit of God in
Christ that in our words they shall hear Him, in our love they shall feel
Him, in our behaviour they shall be witnesses ofHim, and in this way He
become to them the Way, Truth and Life, all-invigorating power, all-
comprehensive creed.
(C. H. Parkhurst.)
Nothing to hold by
Anon.
An infidel was dying, and his infidelity beginning to give way, was rallied
by. his friends, who surrounded his dying bed. "Hold out," they all cried,
"don't give way." "Ah!" said the dying man, "I would hold out if I had
anything to hold by, but what have I?"
(Anon.)
Confidence in Christ
B. D. Johns.
I. THE CHRISTIAN HAS IN HIS POSSESSION A TREASURE.
1. It is his greatesttreasure.
2. At his owndisposal.
3. Involves his whole welfare for ever.
II. THE CHRISTIAN HAS ENTRUSTED HIS TREASURE TO THE
PROTECTION OF CHRIST.
1. It is in danger of being lost.
2. Man cannotsecure its safetyhimself.

57. 3. Christ is the only Preserver.
III. THE CHRISTIAN HAS ENTRUSTEDHIS TREASURE TO CHRIST
WITH UNBOUNDED CONFIDENCE. Becauseofhis faith in Christ's —
1. Power.
2. Promises.
3. Prestige.
IV. THE CHRISTIAN'S CONSCIOUSNESSOF THE SAFETY OF HIS
TREASURE IN CHRIST, IS A SOURCE OF GREAT PEACE IN THE
TROUBLES OF LIFE.
1. Becausethe greatestinterestis secured.
2. Becausetrials will farther this interest.
3. Becausetrials will soonend.
(B. D. Johns.)
Knowledge conducive of assurance
J. Barlow, D. D.
This must move us all to get knowledge ofGod, if we would have faith in
Him, yea, the best must grow herein; for the better we know Him the more
confidently shall we believe in Him. For it is so in all other things. When I
know the firmness of the land I will the better rest my footon it; the
strength of my staff, the rather lean my whole body upon it, and the
faithfulness of a friend, put and repose my confidence in him. And we must
know God. First, in His power, how that He is able to do whatsoeverHe
will. This confirmed Abraham's faith, and moved him to offer his son.
Secondly, we must know Him in His truth and justice. Thirdly, we are to
know God in His stability. How that time changethnot His nature, neither
altereth His purpose. Fourthly, we are to understand that God is Sovereign
Lord, that there is none higher than He; for if we should trust in an
inferior we might be deceived. Fifthly, We must know God in Christ.
(J. Barlow, D. D.)
It's all real
Sword and Trowel.

58. A Bible class convert, who subsequently became a teacher, accidentally
injured himself through lifting a heavy weight, and his sufferings in
consequence were verysevere. Yet, notwithstanding his pain and poverty,
he was extremely happy, and clung to Christ with a triumphant faith. This
poor fellow's dying testimony was very striking, and one of his last desires
has never been forgotten. When just about crossing the river of death, he
broke out into this expression, "Oh, Mr. Orsman, I would like to getwell
again, if only for one day, just to go round to my old companions, and tell
them it's all real."
(Sword and Trowel.)
The love of Christ strongerthan the terrors of death
T.Brown, M. A.
At the conclusionof an evening service in a fishing village, a young man
stoodup, and with greatearnestnessbeganto address his fellows. He said,
"You all remember Johnnie Greengrass?"There was a murmur of assent
all over the gathering. "You know that he was drowned lastyear. I was his
comrade on board our boat. As we were changing the vessel's course one
night, off the Old Head of Kinsale, he was struck by the lowerpart of the
mainsail and sweptoverboard. He was a goodswimmer, but had been so
disabled by the blow that he could only struggle in the water. We made all
haste to try and save him. Before we got seatedin the punt, we heard
Johnnie's voice, over the waves beyond the stern, singing the lastline of his
favourite hymn, "If ever I loved Thee, my Jesus, 'tis now.'We made every
effort to find him, but in vain. He was drowned; but the last words which
we had heard from his lips assuredus that the love of Christ had proved
stronger'than the terrors of death. He knew that neither death nor life
could separate him from the love of Christ, and so he sank beneath the
waves, singing, 'If ever I loved Thee, my Jesus, 'tis now.'"
(T.Brown, M. A.)
Venturing on Christ
The Rev. Dr. Simpson was for many years tutor in the college atHoxton,
and while he stood very low in his own esteem, he ranked high in that of
others. After a long life spent in the service of Christ, he approachedhis
latter end with holy joy. Among other ex pressions which indicated his love
to the Redeemer, and his interest in the favour of God, he spoke with

59. disapprobation of a phrase often used by some pious people, "Venturing on
Christ." "When," saidhe, "I considerthe infinite dignity and all-
sufficiency of Christ, I am ashamedto talk of venturing on Him. Oh, had I
ten thousand souls, I would, at this moment, castthem all into His hands
with the utmost confidence." A few hours before his dissolution, he
addressedhimself to the last enemy, in a strain like that of the apostle,
when he exclaimed, "O death, where is thy sting?" Displaying his
characteristic fervour, as though he saw the tyrant approaching, he said,
"What art thou? I am not afraid of thee. Thou art a vanquished enemy
through the blood of the Cross."
Trusting Christ entirely
H. W. Childs.
I have sometimes used the following experience as an illustration of
salvation. For fifteen years I lived by the seaside, andwas a frequent
bather, and yet never learned to swim. I would persist in keeping one foot
upon the bottom, for then I felt safe. But one day, in a rough sea, a great
wave fairly picked me off my feet, and I struck out for dear life. I awoke to
the factthat I could swim, that the waves wouldbear me up if I trusted
them entirely, and I no longerclung to my own way of self-help. Even so
does Christ save. How often the trying to help one's self keeps from peace
and rest! and when the soul first abandons all to Christ, ventures wholly on
Him, that soul finds, to its own astonishment, that Christ indeed bears up
and saves him.
(H. W. Childs.)
Jesus sufficient
T. Spurgeon.
An old lady who lately died in Melbourne said to her minister, "Do you
think my faith will hold out?" "Well, I don't know much about that,"
replied the man of God, "but I am sure that Jesus Christ will hold out, and
that is enough for you. 'Looking,'not to our faith, but 'unto Jesus.'"
(T. Spurgeon.)
The safetyof believers
D. Black.

60. I. THE GROUNDS UPON WHICH THIS COMFORTABLE
PERSUASION IS BUILT.
II. THE MANNER IN WHICH THIS PEBSUASION IS PRODUCED
AND PROMOTEDIN THE SOULS OF TRUE BELIEVERS.
1. The knowledge ofChrist, which is necessaryto produce and promote the
comfortable persuasionexpressedin the text, is partly derived from
testimony.(1) God the Father has in all ages borne witness to the power and
faithfulness of His own beloved Son, our blessedSaviour. This He did of
old time by visions and voices, by prophecies and typical ordinances.(2)
Christ Himself likewise thus testifies concerning His ownpower and
readiness to save (Matthew 11:28).(3)Nor must the testimony of the Holy
Spirit be forgotten. "It is the Spirit that beareth witness, because the Spirit
is truth."(4) All the saints who lived in former times, the whole company of
the faithful, all the patriarchs and prophets, the apostles and martyrs, bear
testimony to this interesting fact. They all died in the faith of its comforting
truth.(5) Our fellow-Christians, likewise, in the present day, may be
produced as witnessesto the powerand faithfulness of the Redeemer. They
live in different and distant places;their cases are various, and their
attainments unequal; but they all will unite in declaring that eversince
they were enabled to commit their souls to Christ, they have found a peace
and joy to which they were strangers before, and that not one word of all
that He hath spokenhath failed to be accomplished.
2. That this knowledge is likewise in part derived from the believer's own
experience (see John 4:42).Concluding reflections:
1. How much are they to be pitied, who have no interest in the Saviour,
who have never been thoroughly convinced of their wretchedcondition as
sinners, and who, consequently, have not committed the momentous
concerns oftheir souls into the hands of Christ.
2. That we may abound more and more in this hope, through the power of
the Holy Ghost, let us study to grow in grace, and in the knowledge ofour
Lord Jesus Christ.
3. Have we committed our immortal interests into the hands of Christ, and
shall we not trust Him with all our lesserconcerns?
4. Let us look forward with believing expectationto the day when it will
appear with Divine evidence, how faithfully Jesus has kept all that has been
committed unto Him.
(D. Black.)

61. Nothing betweenthe souland its Saviour
When Dr. Alexander, one of the professors oftheologyin Princeton
University, was dying, he was visited by a former student. After briefly
exchanging two or three questions as to health, the dying divine requested
his old disciple to recite a verse of the Bible to be a comfort to him in his
death struggles. After a moment's reflectionthe student repeatedfrom
memory that verse — "I know in whom I have believed, and that He is able
to keepthat which I have committed unto Him unto that day." "No, no,"
replied the dying saint, "that is not the verse:it is not 'I know in whom I
have believed.' but 'I know whom I have believed.' I cannot allow the little
word 'in' to intervene betweenme and my Saviour to-day, I cannot allow
the smallestword in the Englishlanguage to go betweenme and my
Saviour in the floods of Jordan."
The folly of not trusting Christ
I was busy at work during the deep, still hush of a hot July noon, when my
attention was suddenly drawn to a fluttering sound in the room where I
was sitting. A little bird from the neighbouring woods had entered by the
open window, and was dashing wildly to and fro in its frantic efforts to
escape again. Idid not move at first, unwilling to increase its alarm, and
hoping it would soonfind its way out. But when after a little I again looked
up, I saw that the little creature was circling round and round in desperate
alarm; and, moreover, that the low, whitewashedceiling was being
streakedall overwith blood from its poor head, which it grazed incessantly
in its endeavours to getfarther awayfrom me. I thought it was time for me
now to come to its help, but all my endeavours only made matters worse.
The more I tried to aid its escape, the more blindly and swiftly did it dash
itself againstthe walls and ceiling. I could but sit down and wait till it fell
helpless and exhaustedat my feet. The water stoodin my eyes as I took it
up and laid it in a safe place, from which, when recovered, it could fly
safelyaway. "Poorfoolishthing," I said, "how much alarm and suffering
you would have been spared could you only have trusted me, and suffered
me to setyou at liberty long ago. But you have been to me a lively picture
of the way in which we sinners of mankind treat a loving and
compassionateSaviour."
God a goodKeeper

62. God hath all the properties of a goodkeeper. First, He is wise. Secondly,
powerful. Thirdly, watchful. Fourthly, faithful. He hath given laws to be
faithful, and then shall not He?
The certainty of salvation
J. Barlow, D. D.
When the soul is settledthat person will be resolute in every goodcourse. A
faint-hearted soldier, were he resolvedbeforehand that he should escape
death and danger, conquer his foes, and win the field, would he not put on
his armour, gird his sword upon his thigh, and march furiously againsthis
adversaries? And shall not then the Christian soldier, who is persuaded of
victory, to have the spoil, and possess a crown of righteousness andglory,
go on with an undaunted courage in the face of the devil, death, and hell?
This doctrine reproveth those that for the most part never mind this duty.
We see many who settle their houses on a goodfoundation, establishtheir
trees that the wind shake them not, and by a staff to underprop their feeble
bodies that they catchnot a fall, the which we in its kind commend. But
how few spend any time to have their souls settled in the certainty of
salvation.
(J. Barlow, D. D.)
Faith and feeling
T. de Witt Talmage.
Dr. Archibald Alexander, eminent for learning and for consecration, when
askedby one of his students at Princeton whether he always had full
assurance offaith, replied, "Yes, exceptwhen the wind blows from the
east."
(T. de Witt Talmage.)
Christian faith
H. Bushnell.
Christian faith is the faith of a transaction; it is not the committing of one's
thought in assentto a preposition, but it is the trusting of one's being to
another Being, there to be rested, kept, guided, moulded, governed, and
possessedfor ever.

63. (H. Bushnell.)
Christian faith
J. Ruskin.
is a grand cathedralwith divinely-pictured windows. Standing without,
you see no glory, nor can possibly imagine any. Nothing is visible but the
merest outline of dusky shapes. Standing within, all is clearand defined,
every ray of light reveals an array of unspeakable splendours.
(J. Ruskin.)
Faith a personalrelation to Christ
A. Maclaren, D. D.
If the objectof faith were certain truths, the assentofthe understanding
would be enough. If the objectof faith were unseenthings, the confident
persuasionof them would be sufficient. If the objectof faith were promises
of future good, the hope rising to certainty of the possessionof these would
be sufficient. But if the objectbe more than truths, more than unseen
realities, more than promises;if the objectbe a living Person, then there
follows inseparably this, that faith is not merely the assentof the
understanding, that faith is not merely the persuasionof the reality of
unseen things, that faith is not merely the confident expectationof future
good;but that faith is the personal relation of him that believes to the
living Personits object, the relation which is expressednot more clearly,
but perhaps a little more forcibly to us by substituting another word, and
saying, Faith is trust.
(A. Maclaren, D. D.)
Trust in Christ supported by cumulative evidence
H. Wace, D. D.
I do not pretend to have a scientific knowledge ofDivine things, or to rest
my convictions upon a scientific demonstration; but I canventure to say
that "I know whom I have believed." Such a belief will be supported by
collateralevidence, acquiring from age to age a cumulative and converging
force;but its essentialvirtue will in all ages be derived from the vital
sources ofpersonallove and trust.

64. (H. Wace, D. D.)
Characterentrusted to God
When John Wesleywas going overall the country proclaiming a crucified
Saviour for sinners, the magazines and papers of the day slandered him as
those of our day do God's servants still, in one paper there was an article so
abusive and slanderous that a friend determined to contradict it. He laid
the article and its reply before Wesley, who said, "WhenI gave my soul to
Jesus, I gave Him my characterto keepas well. I have to do my work and
have no time to attend to it." Christians who are doing the Lord's work
should go on with it, leaving themselves and their characterin His hands.
The soul entrusted to Christ
Richard Newton.
St. Paul says, "that which I have committed unto Him." This meant his
soul. Suppose you have a precious jewel worth fifty or a hundred thousand
dollars. It is so valuable that you are afraid you may lose it, or that some
one may stealit from you. And suppose you have a friend who has a safe
that is fire-proof and robber-proof. You take your jewelto this friend, and
say to him: "Pleasetake charge ofthis jewel, and keepit for me in your
fire-proof." He takes it and locks it up there. And now you feel comfortable
about that jewel. You know your friend is faithful, and your jewelis safe.
Yen do not worry about it any more. You are ready to say about your jewel
what St. Paul said about his soul, because you feel sure that it is safe.
(Richard Newton.)
Knowing Christ
J. Vaughan, M. A.
There are two ways in which we are used to know persons. Sometimes it
means to know them through some other person. Sometimes it means to
know them ourselves. There is evidently a world-wide difference between
the two. Let me illustrate it thus: We all know our Sovereign, her
character, her state, her prerogative, her powers. But very few know the
Queen. Yet it is very evident that those who have been admitted to her
presence, and who have actuallyspokenand conversedin friendship with
her, will have very different feelings towards her, and repose in her, and

65. that their whole hearts will go out to her immensely more than those who
know her only at a distance, and through the ordinary public channels. It
is so with Christ. Some of you know Christ by the education of your
childhood; some by the testimony of others;some by the reading of your
Bible. Others have felt His presence. Theyhave communed with Him. They
have presentedpetitions, and they have had their answers from Himself.
They have laid burdens at His feet, and He has takenthem up. He has
acceptedtheir little gifts and smiled at their small services. Theyhave
proved Him. Isn't He another Being, isn't He another Christ to that man?
They know Him. And what do they know of Thee, O blessedJesus?They
know Thee as the most loving and the loveliestof all — all grace, full of
tenderness and sympathy, stooping to the meanest, and kind to the very
worst. Our Brother, our Light, our Life, our Joy — who has taken awayall
our sins and carried all our load. That knowledge canneverbegin but in
one way — by a certain inner life, by a walk of holiness, by the teaching of
sorrow, in the schoolof discipline, from heavy leanings, by acts of self-
abandonment, by goings down into the dust, by the grand influence of the
Spirit, by Jesus revealing Himself. But once known — and from that
moment it will be as hard not to trust as it is now difficult to do; as
impossible for the heart to doubt as it is to that poor, prone heart now to
question everything. If you really know, you cannot help believing. "If thou
knewestthe gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, 'Give Me to drink,'
thou wouldesthave askedof Him, and He would have given thee living
water." But there is a truth in St. Paul's words which I am very anxious to
press upon you. See where the greatapostle, the agedbeliever, the ripe
saint, found all his argument and all his stand, as it were. Not — and if any
man might he might — not in anything which had been workedby him;
not in anything in him; not in his acts;not in his feelings;not in his faith;
not in his conversion, howeverremarkable;not in his sanctification,
howevercomplete; but simply and absolutelyand only in God. "I know"
— as if he caredto know nothing else, allother knowledge being
unsatisfactoryor worse — "I know Him whom I have trusted."' It may
seema strange thing to say, but it is really easierto know Godthan it is to
know ourselves. It is remarkable that the Bible tells us a greatdeal more
about God than it does about our own hearts. The greatend of reading the
Bible is to know God.
(J. Vaughan, M. A.)
Confidence and concern

66. C. H. Spurgeon.
I. First, observe WHAT PAUL HAD DONE.
1. He had trusted a person — "I know whom I have believed."
2. Paul had gone farther, and had practically carried out his confidence,
for he had depositedeverything with this person. A poor idiot, who had
been instructed by an earnestChristian man, somewhatalarmed him by a
strange remark, for he feared that all his teaching had been in vain. He
said to this poor creature, "You know that you have a soul, John?" "No,"
said he, "I have no soul." "No soul!" thought the teacher, "this is dreadful
ignorance." All his fears were rolled awaywhen his half-witted pupil
added, "I had a soul once, and I lost it, and Jesus found it; and so I have let
Him keepit."
II. The next thing is, WHAT DID PAUL KNOW? He tells us plainly, "I
know whom I have believed."
1. We are to understand by this that Paul lookedsteadily at the object of
his confidence, and knew that he relied upon Godin Christ Jesus. He did
not restin a vague hope that he would be saved; nor in an indefinite
reliance upon the Christian religion; nor in a sanguine expectationthat all
things would, somehow, turn out right at the end. He did not hold the
theory of our modern divines, that our Lord Jesus Christ did something or
other, which, in one way or another, is more or less remotely connected
with the forgiveness ofsin; but he knew the Lord Jesus Christ as a person,
and he deliberately placed himself in His keeping, knowing Him to be the
Saviour.
2. Paul also knew the characterof Jesus whom he trusted. His perfect
characterabundantly justified the apostle's implicit trust. Paul could have
said, "I know that I trust in One who is no mere man, but very God of very
God. I have not put my soul into the keeping of a priest, like unto the sons
of Aaron, who must die; but I have restedmyself in One whose priesthood
is according to the law of an endless life — A Priestfor ever after the order
of Melchizedek. He upon whom I confide is He without whom was not
anything made that was made, who sustainethall things by the Word of
His power, and who at His coming shall shake both the heavens and the
earth, for all fulness of Divine energy dwells in Him."
3. But how did Paul come to know Christ? Every page of Scripture, as the
apostle perused it, revealedJesus to him. This book is a royal pavilion,
within which the Prince of peace is to be met with by believers who look for
Him. In this celestialmirror Jesus is reflected. Paulalso knew Jesus in

67. another way than this. He had personal acquaintance with Him; he knew
Him as "the Lord Jesus, who appearedunto him in the way." He knew the
Lord also by practical experience and trial of Him. Paul had testedJesus
amidst furious mobs, when stones fell about him, and in prison, when the
death-damp chilled him to the bone. He had known Christ far out at sea,
when Euroclydon drove him up and down in the Adriatic; and he had
known Christ when the rough blasts of unbrotherly suspicionhad beaten
upon him on the land. All that he knew increasedhis confidence. He knew
the Lord Jesus becauseHe had delivered him out of the mouth of the lion.
III. Thirdly, let us inquire — WHAT WAS THE APOSTLE PERSUADED
OF?
1. Implicitly Paul declares his faith in our Lord's willingness and
faithfulness.
2. But the point which the apostle expresslymentions is the power of Christ
— "I am persuaded that He is able." He that goes onboard a great
Atlantic liner does not say, "I venture the weightof my body upon this
vessel. I trust it to bear my ponderous frame." Yet your body is more of a
load to the vesselthan your soul is to the Lord Jesus. Did you ever hear of
the gnat on the horn of the ex which feared that it might be an
inconvenience to the huge creature? Oh, friend! you are but a gnat in
comparisonwith the Lord Jesus, nay, you are not so heavy to the ascended
Saviour as the gnat to the ox. You were a weight to Him once, but having
borne that load once for all, your salvationis no burden to Him now. Well
may you say, "I am persuadedthat He is able to keepthat which I have
committed unto Him."
3. What was this which Paul had committed to Christ? He committed to
Him everything that he had for time and for eternity; his body, his soul, his
spirit; all fears, cares, dangers,sins, doubts, hopes, joys: he just made a
cleanremoval of his all from himself to his Lord. Those ofyou who are
acquainted with the original will follow me while I forge a link betweenmy
third division and my fourth. If I were to read the text thus it would be
quite correct — "I am persuaded that He is able to keepmy deposit against
that day." Here we have a glimpse of a secondmeaning. If you have the
RevisedVersion, you will find in the margin "that which He has committed
to me"; and the original allows us to read the verse whichever way we
choose — "He is able to keepthat which I have committed unto Him" —
or "that which He has committed unto me." This last expression, though I
could not endorse it as giving the full sense ofthe text, does seemto me to
be a part of its meaning. It is noteworthy that, in the fourteenth verse, the

68. original has the same phrase as in this verse. It runs thus — "That good
deposit guard by the Holy Ghost which dwelleth in us." Inasmuch as the
words are the same — the apostle speaking of"my deposit" in the twelfth
verse, and in the fourteenth verse speaking of "that gooddeposit" — I
cannot help thinking that one thought dominated his mind. His soul and
the gospelwere so united as to be in his thought but one deposit; and this
he believed that Jesus was able to keep. He seemedto say, "I have
preachedthe gospelwhich was committed to my trust; and now, for having
preachedit, I am put in prison, and am likely to die; but the gospelis safe
in better hands than mine." The demon of distrust might have whispered
to him, "Paul, you are now silenced, and your gospelwill be silencedwith
you; the Church will die out; truth will become extinct." "No, no," saith
Paul, "I am not ashamed; for I know that He is able to guard my deposit
againstthat day."
IV. This leads me on to this fourth point — WHAT THE APOSTLE WAS
CONCERNEDABOUT. The matter about which he was concernedwas
this depositof his — this everlasting gospelof the blessedGod. He
expresses his concernin the following words — "Hold fast the form of
sound words, which thou hast heard of me, in faith and love which is in
Christ Jesus. Thatgoodthing which was committed unto thee keepby the
Holy Ghostwhich dwelleth in us."
1. He is concernedfor the steadfastness ofTimothy, and as I think for that
of all young Christians, and especiallyof all young preachers. Whatdoes
he say? "Hold fastthe form of sound words." I hear an objectormurmur,
"There is not much in words, surely." Sometimes there is very much in
words. Vital truth may hinge upon a single word. The whole Church of
Christ once fought a tremendous battle over a syllable; but it was
necessaryto fight it for the conservationofthe truth. When people rail at
creeds as having no vitality, I suppose that I hear one saythat there is no
life in egg-shells.Justso;there is no life in egg-shells,they are just so much
lime, void of sensation. "Pray, my dear sir, do not put yourself out to
defend a mere shell." Truly, goodfriend, I am no trifler, nor so litigious as
to fight for a mere shell. But hearken! I have discoveredthat when you
break egg-shells you spoil eggs;and I have learned that eggs do not hatch
and produce life when shells are cracked.
2. The apostle was anxious, not only that the men should stand, but that the
everlasting gospelitselfshould be guarded. "Thatgood thing which was
committed unto thee keepby the Holy Ghostwhich dwelleth in us." It were
better for us that the sun were quenched than that the gospelwere gone. I

69. believe that the moralities, the liberties, and peradventure the very
existence ofa nation depend upon the proclamationof the gospelin its
midst. How are we to keepthe faith? There is only one way. It is of little
use trying to guard the gospelby writing it down in a trust-deed; it is of
small service to ask men to subscribe to a creed: we must go to work in a
more effectualway. How is the gospelto be guarded? "By the Holy Ghost
which dwelleth in us." If the Holy Spirit dwells in you, and you obey His
monitions, and are moulded by His influences, and exhibit the result of His
work in the holiness of your lives, then the faith will be kept. A holy people
are the true body-guard of the gospel.
(C. H. Spurgeon.)
COMMENTARIES
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers
(12) Forthe which cause I also suffer these things.—Becausehe had been
the teacherand apostle, had all these sufferings—the prison, the chains, the
solitude, the hate of so many—come upon him. There was no need to refer
to them more particularly. Timothy knew wellwhat he was then
undergoing. The reasonof the Apostle’s touching at all upon himself and
his fortunes will appear in the next clause, when, from the depths, as it
would seem, of human misfortune, he triumphantly rehearseshis sure
grounds of confidence. Timothy was dispirited, castdown, sorrowful. He
need not be. When tempted to despair, let him think of his old masterand
friend, Paul the Apostle, who rejoicedin the midst of the greatest
sufferings, knowing that these were the sure earthly guerdon of the most
devoted work, but that there was One, in whom he believed, able and, at
the same time, willing to save him for yet higher and grander things.
Nevertheless Iam not ashamed.—Notashamedofthe suffering I am now
enduring for the cause of the Lord. He then, by showing the grounds of his
joyful hope, proceeds to show how men can rise to the same lofty heights of
independence to which he had risen, whence they can look down with
indifference on all human opinion and human reward and regard.
For I know whom I have believed.—Betterrendered, whom I have trusted;
yea, and still trust. “Whom” here refers to God the Father.

70. That which I have committed unto him.—More exactly, my deposit.
Considerable diversity of opinion has existed among commentators of all
ages as to the exactmeaning which should be assignedto the words “my
deposit.” Let us glance back at what has gone before. St. Paul, the forsaken
prisoner, looking for death, has been bidding his younger comrade never to
let his heart sink or his spirit grow faint when oncoming dangers threaten
to crush him; for, he says, you know me and my seemingly ruined fortunes
and blasted hopes. Friendless and alone, you know, I am awaiting death
(2Timothy 4:6); and yet, in spite of all this crushing weight of sorrow,
which has come on me because I am a Christian, yet am I not ashamed, for
I know whom I have trusted—I know His sovereignpowerto whom I have
committed “my deposit.” He, I know, can keepit safe againstthat day. St.
Paul had intrusted his deathless soulto the keeping of his Heavenly Father,
and having done this, serene and joyful he waitedfor the end. His disciple
Timothy must do the same.
“Thatwhich I have committed unto Him, my deposit,” signified a most
precious treasure committed by St. Paul to his God. The language and
imagery was probably takenby the Apostle from one of those Hebrew
Psalms he knew so well(Psalm 31:5)—“Into thy hand I commend my
spirit,” rendered in the LXX. version (Psalm30:5), “I will commit”
(parathēsomai). In Josephus, a writer of the same age, the soul is especially
termed a parakatatheke—deposit. The passageis one in which he is
speaking againstsuicide (B. J. iii. 8, 5). Philo, also, who may almost be
termed a contemporaryof St. Paul, uses the very same expression, and also
calls the soul“a deposit” (p. 499, ed. Richter). Both passagesare quoted at
length by Alford, who, however, comes to a slightly different conclusion.
Against that day.—The day of the coming of Christ—“that day when I (the
Lord of Hosts) make up my jewels.” He will keepmy soul—“my deposit”—
safe againstthat day when the crownof life will be given to all that love His
appearing.
MacLaren's Expositions
2 Timothy
A QUIET HEART

71. 2 Timothy 1:12THERE is some ambiguity in the original words of this text,
lying in that clause which is translated in our Bibles - both Authorised and
Revised- ‘that which I have committed unto Him.’ The margin of the
RevisedVersion gives as an alternative reading, ‘that which He hath
committed unto me.’ To a mere English readerit may be a puzzle how any
words whatever could be susceptible of these two different interpretations.
But the mystery is solved by the additional note which the same Revised
Version gives, which tells us that the Greek is ‘ my deposit,’or I might add
another synonymous word, ‘my trust.’
Now you cansee that ‘my trust’ may mean either something with which I
trust another, or something with which another trusts me. So the
possibility of either rendering arises. It is somewhatdifficult to decide
betweenthe two. I do not purpose to trouble you with reasons formy
preference here. Suffice it to say that, whilst there are strong arguments in
favour of the reading ‘that which He has committed unto me,’ I am
inclined to think that the congruity of the whole representation, and
especiallythe thought that this ‘trust,’ whateverit is, is something which
God has to keep, rather than which Paul has to keep, shuts us up to the
adoption of the rendering which stands in our Bibles.
Adopting it, therefore, though with some hesitation, the next question
arises, Whatis it that Paul committed to God? The answerto that is,
himself, in all his complex being, with all his fears and anxieties, during the
whole duration of his existence. He has done what anotherApostle exhorts
us to do, ‘committed the keeping of his soul to Him in well-doing, as unto a
faithful Creator.’Now that was a long past act at the time when Paul wrote
this letter. And here he looks back upon life, and sees that all the
experiences through which he has passedhave but confirmed the faith
which he restedin God before the experiences, and that, with the axe and
the block almostin sight, he is neither ashamedof his faith, nor dissatisfied
with what it has brought him.
I. Notice, then, in the first place, ‘the deposit’ of faith.
You observe that the two clauses ofmy text refer to the same act, which in
the one is described as ‘In whom I have trusted’; and in the other as

72. ‘committing something to Him.’ The metaphor is a plain enough one. A
man has some rich treasure. He is afraid of losing it, he is doubtful of his
own powerto keepit; he looks about for some reliable person and trusted
hands, and he deposits it there. That is about as gooda description of what
the New Testamentmeans by ‘ faith’ as you will getanywhere.
You and I have one treasure, whateverelse we may have or not have; and
that is ourselves. The most precious of our possessions is our own
individual being.
We cannot‘keep’ that. There are dangers all round us. We are like men
travelling in a land full of pickpockets andhighwaymen, laden with gold
and precious stones. On every side there are enemies that seek to rob us of
that which is our true treasure - our ownsouls. We cannotkeepourselves.
Slippery paths and weak feetgo ill together. The tow in our hearts, and the
fiery sparks of temptation that are flying all round about us, are sure to
come togetherand make a blaze. We shall certainly come to ruin if we seek
to get through life, to do its work, to face its difficulties, to cope with its
struggles, to master its temptations, in our own poor, puny strength. So we
must look for trusty hands and lodge our treasure there, where it is safe.
And how am I to do that? By humble dependence upon God revealed, for
our faith’s feeble fingers to grasp, in the person and work of His dear Son,
who has died on the Cross for us all; by constantrealisationof His divine
presence and implicit reliance on the realities of His sustaining hand in all
our difficulties, and His shielding protectionin all our struggles, andHis
sanctifying spirit in all our conflicts with evil. And not only by the
realisationof His presence and of our dependence upon Him, nor only by
the consciousness ofour own insufficiency, and the departing from all self-
reliance, but as an essentialpart of our committing ourselves to God, by
bringing our wills into harmony with His will. To commit includes to
submit.
‘And, oh, brother! if thus knowing your weakness, youwill turn to Him for
strength, if the language of your hearts be
‘Myself I cannotsave,

73. Myself I cannotkeep,
But strength in Thee I surely have,
Whose eyelids never sleep.’
And if thus, hanging upon Him, you believe that when you fling yourself
into necessarytemptations, and cope with appointed heavy tasks, and
receive on your hearts the full blow of sent sorrows, He will strengthenyou
and hold you up; and if with all your hearts you bow, and you say,’Lord!
keeping me is Thy business far more than mine; into Thy hands I commit
my spirit,’ be sure that your trust will not be disappointed.
Notice, further, about this depositof faith, how Paul has no doubt that he
has made it, and is not at all afraid to say that he has. Ay! there are plenty
of you professing Christians who have never got the length which all
Christian people should arrive at, of a calm certainty in the reality of your
own faith. Do you feel, my brother, that there is no doubt about it, that you
are trusting upon Jesus Christ? If you do, well; if the life confirms the
confidence. But whilst the deepenedcertitude of professing Christians as to
the reality of their own faith is much to be desired, there is also much to be
dreaded the easy-going assurancewhicha greatmany people who call
themselves Christians have of the reality of their trust, though it neither
bows their wills to God’s purposes, nor makes them calm and happy in the
assurance ofHis presence. The question for us all is, have we the right to
say ‘I have committed myself to Him’? If you have not, you have missed
the blessednessoflife, and will never carry your treasure safelythrough
the hordes of robbers that lurk upon the road, but some day you will be
found there, lying beggared, bleeding, bruised. May it be that you are
found there before the end, by the merciful Samaritan who alone canbind
up and lead to safety.
II. Now note, secondly, the serenity of faith.

74. What a grand picture of a peacefulheart comes out of this letter, and its
companion one to the same friend, written a little before, but under
substantially the same circumstances!They are both full of
autobiographicaldetails, on which some critics look with suspicion, but
which seemto me to bear upon their very front the token of their own
genuineness.
And what a picture it is that they give! He is ‘Paul the aged’; old, if not in
years - and he probably was not an old man by years - yet old in thought
and care and hardships and toils. He is a prisoner, and the compulsory
cessationofactivity, when so much was to be done, might well have fretted
a less eagerspirit than that which burned in his puny frame. He is alone,
but for one faithful friend; and the bitterness of his solitude is increasedby
the apostasyofsome and the negligence ofmany. He is poor and thinly
clad; and he wants his one cloak ‘before winter.’ He has been before the
emperor once, and though he ‘was delivered from the mouth of the lion’
then, he knows that he cannotexpect to put his head into the lion’s mouth a
secondtime with impunity, and that his course is run. He has made but a
poor thing of life; he has disappointed all the hopes that were formed of the
brilliant young disciple of Gamaliel, who was bidding fair to be the
hammer of these heretical Christians. And yet there is no tremor nor
despondencyin this, his swan-song.It goes up in a clearburst of joyful
music. It is the same spirit as that of the Psalmist:‘There be many that say,
Who will show us any good? Lord, lift Thou up the light of Thy
countenance upon us.’ And serenelyhe sits there, in the midst of dangers,
disappointments, difficulties, and struggles, with a life behind him stuffed
full of thorns and hard work and many a care, and close before him the
martyr’s death, yet he says, with a flash of legitimate pride, ‘I am not
ashamed, for I know whom I have trusted, and that He is able to keepthat
which I have committed unto Him againstthat day.’
My brother, you must have Paul’s faith if you are to have Paul’s serenity.
A quiet committal of yourself to God, in all the ways in which I have
already describedthat committal as carried out, is the only thing which
will give us quiet hearts, amidst the dangers and disappointments and
difficulties and conflicts which we have all to encounter in this world. That

75. trust in Him will bring, in the measure of its own depth and constancy, a
proportionately deep and constantcalm in our hearts.
For even though my faith brought me nothing from God, the very factthat
I have rolled my care off my shoulders on to His, though I had made a
mistake in doing it, would bring me tranquillity, as long as I believed that
the burden was on His shoulders and not on mine. Trust is always quiet.
When I can say, ‘I am not the master of the caravan, and it is no part of my
business to settle the route, I have no responsibility for providing food, or
watching, or anything else. All my business is to obey orders, and to take
the stepnearestme and wait for the light,’ then I can be very quiet
whatevercomes. And if I have castmy burden upon the Lord, I am not
delivered from responsibility, but I am delivered from harassment. I have
still tasks and duties, but they are all different when I think of them as His
appointing. I have still difficulties and dangers, but I can meet them all
with a new peacefulnessif I say, ‘God is Masterhere, and I am in His
hands, and He will do what He likes with me.’ That is not the abnegationof
will, it is the vitalising of will And no man is ever so strong as the man who
feels ‘it is God’s business to take care of me; it is my business to do what
He tells me.’
That, dear friends, is the only armour that will resistthe cuts and blows
that are sure to be aimed at you. What sort of armour do you wear? Is it of
pasteboardpainted to look like steel, like the breastplates andhelmets of
actors upon the stage in a theatre? A greatdeal of our armour is. Do you
get rid of all that make-believe, and put on the breastplate of righteousness,
and for a helmet the hope of salvation, and, above all, take the shield of
faith; and trust in the Lord whate’erbetide, and you will stand againstall
assaults. Paul’s faith is the only recipe for securing Paul’s serenity.
And then, further, note how this same quiet committal of himself into the
loving hands of his Father - whom he had learned to know because he had
learned to trust His Son - is not only the armour againstall the dangers
and difficulties in life, but is also the secretof serene gazing into the eyes of
close death. Paul knew that his days were nearly at an end; he was under
no illusions as to that, for you remember the grand burst of confidence,
even grander than this of my text, in this same letter, with which he seems
to greetthe coming of the end, and exclaims, with a kind of Hallelujah! in

76. his tone, ‘I have fought a goodfight, I have finished my course, I have kept
the faith. And there is nothing left for me now, now when the struggles are
over and the heat and dust of the arena are behind me, but, panting and
victorious, to receive the crown.’He knows that death is sure and near;
and yet in this same letter he says, ‘I was delivered out of the mouth of the
lion, and the Lord shall deliver me from every evil work, and save me into
His everlasting kingdom.’ Did he, then, expectto escape fromthe
headsman’s block? Was he beginning to falter in his belief that martyrdom
was certain? By no means. The martyrdom was the deliverance. The
striking off of his head by the sharp axe was the ‘saving of him into the
everlasting kingdom.’ His faith, grasping Jesus Christ, who abolished
death, changes the whole aspectof death to him; and instead of ,a terror it
becomes God’s angelthat will come to the prisoner and touch him, and say,
‘Arise!’ and the fetters will fall from off his feet, and the angelwill lead
him through ‘the gate that opens of its own accord,’and presently he will
find himself in the city. That is to say, true confidence in God revealedin
Jesus Christ is the armour, not only againstthe ills of life, but againstthe
inevitable ill of death. It changes the whole aspectof the ‘shadow feared of
man’
Now I know that there is a danger in urging the reception of the gospelof
Jesus Christ on the ground of its preparing us for death. And I know that
the main reasons forbeing Christians would continue in full force if there
were no death; but I know also that we are all of us far too apt to ignore
that grim certainty that lies gaping for us, somewhere onthe road. And if
we have certainly to go down into the common darkness, and to tread with
our feetthe path that all but two of God’s favourites have trod, it is as well
to look the factin the face, and be ready. I do not want to frighten any man
into being a Christian, but I do beseecheachofyou, brethren, to lay to
heart that you will have to grapple with that last enemy, and I ask you, as
you love your ownsouls, to make honestwork of this question, Am I ready
for that summons when it comes, becauseI have committed my soul, body,
and spirit into His hands, and I can quietly say, ‘ Thou wilt not leave my
soul in the grave, nor wilt Thou suffer Thy servant to see corruption’?
Paul’s faith made him serene in life and victorious over death; and it will
do the same for you.

77. III. So note, further, the experience of faith.
In the first clause ofour text the Apostle says: - ‘I know whom I have
trusted.’ And it is because he knows Him that therefore he is persuaded
that ‘He is able to keep.’
How did Paul know Him? By experience. Bythe experience of his daily life.
By all these years of trial and yet of blessednessthrough which he had
passed;by all the revelations that had been made to his waiting heart as
the consequenceand as the reward of the humble faith that restedupon
God. And so the whole past had confirmed to him the initial confidence
which knit him to Jesus Christ.
If you want to know the worth of Christian faith, exercise it. We must
trust, to begin with, before experience. But the faith that is built upon a
lifetime is a far stronger thing than the tremulous faith that, out of
darkness, stretchesa groping hand, and for the first time lays hold upon
God’s outstretched hand. We hope then, we tremblingly trust, we believe
on the authority of His word. But after years have passed, we cansay, ‘We
have heard Him ourselves, and we know that this is the Christ, the Saviour
of the world.’
Further, none who truly commit themselves to God ever regret it. Is there
anything else of which you can say that? Is there any other sort of life that
never turns out a disappointment and bitterness and ashes in the mouth of
the man that feeds upon it? And is it not something of an evidence of the
reality of, the Christian’s faith that millions of men are able to stand up
and say,’Lo! we have put our confidence in Him and we are not ashamed?’
‘This poor man cried and the Lord heard him, and delivered him out of all
his troubles. They lookedunto God and were lightened, and their faces
were not ashamed.’You cannotshare in the conviction, the issue of
experience which a Christian man has, if you are not a Christian. My
inward evidence of the reality of the Gospeltruth, which I have won
because I trusted Him when I had not the experience, cannotbe shared
with anybody besides. You must ‘taste’before you ‘see that the Lord is
good’But the factthat there is such a conviction, and the fact that there is
nothing on the other side of the sheetto contradict it, ought to weigh

78. something in the scale. Try Him and trust Him, and your experience will
be, as that of all who have trusted Him has been, ‘that this hope maketh
not ashamed.’
IV. Lastly, note here the goalof faith.
‘Against that day.’ The Apostle has many allusions to that day in this final
letter. It was evidently, as was natural under the circumstances,much in
his mind. And the tone of the allusions is remarkable. Rememberwhat
Paul believed that day was - a day when he ‘and all men would stand
before the judgment’ bar of an omniscient and all-righteous, Divine Judge,
to receive ‘the deeds done in the body.’ A solemn thought and a firm
conviction, and a profound impression as to that day, were in his mind.
And in the face of all this, he says, ‘I know that He will keepthis poor soul
of mine againstthat day.’
Ah, my brother! it is easyfor you to shuffle out of your thoughts the
judgment-seat before which we must all stand, and so to be quiet. It is easy
for you to question, in a so-calledintellectualscepticism, the New
Testamentrevelations as to the future, and so to be quiet. It is easyfor you
to persuade yourselves ofthe application there of another standard of
judgment than that which Scripture reveals, and to say, ‘If I have done my
best God will not be hard upon me,’ and so to be quiet. But, supposing that
that certain tribunal blazed upon you; supposing that you could not get rid
of the thought that you were to stand there, and supposing that you
realised, further, the rigidity of that judgment, and how it penetrates to the
discerning of the thoughts and intents of the heart, would you be quiet
then? Should you be quiet then?
This man was. How? Why? Because, in patient trust, he had put his soul
into God’s hands, and a lifetime had taught him that his trust was not in
vain.
If you want like peace in life, like victory in death, like boldness in the Day
of Judgment, oh, dearfriend! - friend though unknown - let me plead with
you to seek it where Paul found it, and where you will find it, in simple
faith on God manifest in His Son.

79. Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary
1:6-14 God has not given us the spirit of fear, but the spirit of power, of
courage and resolution, to meet difficulties and dangers;the spirit of love
to him, which will carry us through opposition. And the spirit of a sound
mind, quietness of mind. The Holy Spirit is not the author of a timid or
cowardlydisposition, or of slavish fears. We are likely to bear afflictions
well, when we have strength and powerfrom Godto enable us to bear
them. As is usual with Paul, when he mentions Christ and his redemption,
he enlarges upon them; so full was he of that which is all our salvation, and
ought to be all our desire. The callof the gospelis a holy call, making holy.
Salvationis of free grace. This is said to be given us before the world
began, that is, in the purpose of God from all eternity; in Christ Jesus, for
all the gifts that come from God to sinful man, come in and through Christ
Jesus alone. And as there is so cleara prospectof eternal happiness by
faith in Him, who is the Resurrectionand the Life, let us give more
diligence in making his salvationsure to our souls. Those who cleave to the
gospel, neednot be ashamed, the cause will bear them out; but those who
oppose it, shall be ashamed. The apostle had trusted his life, his soul, and
eternal interests, to the Lord Jesus. No one else could deliver and secure his
soul through the trials of life and death. There is a day coming, when our
souls will be inquired after. Thou hadst a soulcommitted to thee; how was
it employed? in the service of sin, or in the service of Christ? The hope of
the lowestrealChristian rests on the same foundation as that of the great
apostle. He also has learned the value and the danger of his soul; he also
has believed in Christ; and the change wrought in his soul, convinces the
believer that the Lord Jesus will keephim to his heavenly kingdom. Paul
exhorts Timothy to hold fast the Holy Scriptures, the substance of solid
gospeltruth in them. It is not enoughto assentto the sound words, but we
must love them. The Christian doctrine is a trust committed to us; it is of
unspeakable value in itself, and will be of unspeakable advantage to us. It
is committed to us, to be preservedpure and entire, yet we must not think
to keepit by our own strength, but by the powerof the Holy Spirit dwelling
in us; and it will not be gained by those who trust in their own hearts, and
lean to their own understandings.
Barnes'Notes on the Bible
For the which cause I also suffer these things - That is, I suffer on account
of my purpose to carry the gospelto the Gentiles;see the notes at
Colossians 1:24.
Nevertheless Iam not ashamed - compare the notes at Romans 1:16.

80. For I know whom I have believed - Margin, "trusted." The idea is, that he
understood the characterofthat Redeemerto whom he had committed his
eternal interests, and knew that he had no reasonto be ashamedof
confiding in him. He was able to keepall that he had intrusted to his care,
and would not suffer him to be lost;see Isaiah28:16.
And am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed
unto him - That is, the soul, with all its immortal interests. A man has
nothing of higher value to intrust to another than the interests of his soul,
and there is no other actof confidence like that in which he intrusts the
keeping of that soul to the Sonof God. Hence, learn:
(1) that religion consists in committing the soul to the care of the Lord
Jesus;because:
(a) We feel that we cannot secure the soul's salvationourselves.
(b) The soul is by nature in danger.
(c) If not savedby him, the soul will not be saved at all.
(2) that the soul is a greatand invaluable treasure which is committed to
him.
(a) No higher treasure canbe committed to another;
(b) In connectionwith that the whole question of our happiness on earth
and in heaven is entrusted to him, and all depends on his fidelity.
(3) it is done by the true Christian with the most entire confidence, so that
the mind is at rest. The grounds of this confidence are:
(a) what is said of the mighty powerof the Saviour;
(b) his promises that he will keepall who confide in him (compare the notes
at John 10:27-29;
continued...
Jamieson-Fausset-BrownBible Commentary
12. For the which cause—Forthe Gospelcause ofwhich I was appointed a
preacher(2Ti 1:10, 11).
I also suffer—besides my active work as a missionary. Ellicotttranslates,
"I suffer even these things"; the sufferings attendant on my being a
prisoner (2Ti 1:8, 15).
I am not ashamed—neitherbe thou (2Ti 1:8).
for—Confidence as to the future drives away shame [Bengel].

81. I know—thoughthe world knows Him not (Joh 10:14;17:25).
whom—I know what a faithful, promise-keeping God He is (2Ti 2:13). It is
not, I know how I have believed, but, I know WHOM I have believed; a
feeble faith may claspa strong Saviour.
believed—rather, "trusted"; carrying out the metaphor of a depositor
depositing his pledge with one whom he trusts.
am persuaded—(Ro 8:38).
he is able—in spite of so many foes around me.
that which I have committed unto him—Greek, "my deposit";the body,
soul, and spirit, which I have depositedin God's safe keeping (1Th5:23;
1Pe 4:19). So Christ Himself in dying (Lu 23:46). "Goddeposits with us His
word; we deposit with Godour spirit" [Grotius]. There is one deposit (His
revelation) committed by God to us, which we ought to keep(2Ti 1:13, 14)
and transmit to others (2Ti2:2); there is another committed by God to us,
which we should commit to His keeping, namely, ourselves and our
heavenly portion.
that day—the day of His appearing (2Ti 1:18; 2Ti 4:8).
Matthew Poole's Commentary
For the which cause I also suffer these things; for the preaching and
publishing of which gospel, or for the teaching of the Gentiles, I suffer
these things, being accusedby the Jews as a seditious person stirring up the
people, and by them delivered to the Romans, and by them imprisoned.
Nevertheless Iam not ashamed; yet I am not ashamed of my chains.
For I know whom I have believed, I have committed myself to God,
and am persuaded that he is able to keepthat which I have committed unto
him againstthat day; and I am out of doubt concerning God’s ability to
keepuntil the day of judgment my soul, or my whole concerns both for this
life and another, which I have by faith committed to him. Some, by that
which I have committed unto him, in this text, understand the church or
body of believers; others understand the fruit and rewardof his labours
and suffering. Mr. Calvin would have life eternalhere meant; our eternal
salvationis in Christ’s keeping. I rather incline to the first notion; so it

82. agreethwith 1 Peter4:19. Godcommits his gospelto our trust who are
ministers, 1 Timothy 6:20; we, according to the phrase of Scripture, are
said to commit our souls to him, Luke 23:46 Acts 7:59. I am, saith Paul,
unconcernedas to my sufferings, I have intrusted God with all my
coucerns in order to this life and that which is to come, and I know he is
able to secure them.
Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible
For the which cause I also suffer these things,.... The present imprisonment
and bonds in which he now was;these, with all the indignities, reproaches,
distresses,and persecutions, came upon him, for the sake ofhis being a
preacherof the Gospel;and particularly for his being a teacherof the
Gentiles:the Jews hatedhim, and persecutedhim, because he preachedthe
Gospel, and the more because he preachedit to the Gentiles, that they
might be saved;and the unbelieving Gentiles were stirred up againsthim,
for introducing a new religion among them, to the destructionof their
idolatry and superstition; and the sufferings which he endured were many;
and he was appointed to them, as well as to the Gospel, whichhe preached.
Nevertheless Iam not ashamed; neither of the Gospel, and the truths and
ordinances of it, for which he suffered; but he continued to own and
confess it constantly, and to preach it boldly; none of these things moved
him from it: nor of the sufferings he endured, for the sake of it; since they
were not for murder, or theft, or sedition, or any enormity whatever, but in
a goodcause;wherefore he was so far from being ashamed of them, that he
took pleasure in them, and gloried of them. Norwas he ashamed of Christ,
whose Gospelhe preached, and for whom he suffered; nor of his faith and
hope in him. Forit follows,
for I know whom I have believed. A spiritual knowledge ofChrist is
necessaryto faith in him: an unknown Christ cannot be the objectof faith,
though an unseen Christ, as to bodily sight, may be, and is. Knowledge and
faith go together: they that truly know Christ, believe in him, and the more
they know him, the more strongly do they believe in him: such who
spiritually and savingly know Christ, have seenthe glories of his person,
and the fulness of his grace;and they approve of him, as their Saviour,
being every way suitable to them, and disapprove of all others;they love
him above all others, and with all their hearts; and they put their trust in
him, and trust him with all they have; and they know whom they trust,
what an able, willing, suitable, and complete Saviour he is. This knowledge
which they have of him, is not from themselves, but from the Father, who
reveals him to them, and in them; and from himself, who gives them an

83. understanding that they may know him; and from the spirit of wisdom and
revelation in the knowledge ofhim: and be it more or less, it is practical,
and leads to the discharge ofduty, from a principle of love to Christ; and is
of a soul humbling nature, and appropriates Christ to a man's self; and has
always some degree of certainty in it; and though it is imperfect, it is
progressive;and the leastmeasure of it is saving, and has eternallife
connectedwith it: and that faith which accompaniesit, and terminates on
the objectknown, is the grace, by which a man sees Christin the riches of
his grace;goes to him in a sense of need of him; lays hold upon him as a
Saviour; receives and embraces him; commits its all unto him; trusts him
with all; leans and lives upon him, and walks on in him till it receives the
end of faith, even eternalsalvation.
And I am persuaded that he is able to keepthat which I have committed
unto him againstthat day. By that which he had committed to him is
meant, not the greattreasure of his labours and sufferings for Christ, as if
he had deposited these in Christ's hands, in order to be brought forth at
the greatday of accountto his advantage;for though his labours and
sufferings were many, yet he always ascribedthe strength by which he
endured them to the grace ofGod; and he knew they were not worthy to be
compared, nor made mention of, with the glory that was to be revealedin
him. Rather this may be understood of the souls of those he had been
instrumental in the converting of, whom he had commended to Christ,
hoping to meet them as his joy and crown of rejoicing another day; though
it seems bestof all to interpret it either of his natural life, the care of which
he had committed to Christ, and which he knew he was able to preserve,
and would preserve for usefulness until the day appointed for his death; or
rather his precious and immortal soul, and the eternal welfare and
salvationof it: and the act of committing it to Christ, designs his giving
himself to him, leaving himself with him, trusting in him for eternal life
and salvation, believing he was able to save him to the uttermost; even unto
the day of death, when he hoped to be with him, which is far better than to
be in this world; and unto the day of the resurrection, when both soul and
body will be glorified with him; and to the day of judgment, when the
crownof righteousness willbe receivedfrom his hands. And what might
induce the apostle, and so any other believer, to conclude the ability of
Christ to keepthe souls of those that are committed to him, are, his proper
deity, he having all the fulness of the Godhead, or the perfections of deity
dwelling in him; his being the Creatorand upholder of all things; his
having accomplishedthe greatwork of redemption and salvation, by his

84. own arm; his mediatorial fulness of grace and power; and his being trusted
by his Father with all the persons, grace, and glory of the elect, to whom he
has been faithful. And now the considerationofall this, as it was a support
to the apostle, under all his afflictions, and sufferings for the Gospel, and in
a view of death itself, so it may be, as it often has been, a relief to believers,
under all the sorrows of this life, and in a prospectof death and eternity.
Philo the Jew (b) speaks in like manner as the apostle here of , "the
depositum of the soul": though he knew not where to commit it for safety,
as the apostle did, and every true believer does.
(b) Quis rer. Divin. Haeres. p. 498, 499.
Geneva Study Bible
{6} Forthe which cause I also suffer these things: {7} nevertheless I am not
ashamed:for I know whom I have believed, and am persuadedthat he is
able to keepthat which I have committed unto him againstthat day.
(6) He confirms his apostleshipby a strange argument, that is, because the
world could not abide it, and therefore it persecutedhim that preachedit.
(7) By setting his own example before us, he shows us how it may be, that
we will not be ashamedof the cross ofChrist, that is, if we are sure that
God both can and will keepthe salvationwhich he has as it were laid up in
store by himself for us againstthat day.
EXEGETICAL(ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)
Meyer's NT Commentary
2 Timothy 1:12. Διʼ ἣν αἰτίαν(see on 2 Timothy 1:6) refers to what
immediately precedes:“therefore, becauseI am appointed apostle.”
καὶ ταῦτα πάσχω] goes back to 2 Timothy 1:8. Και expressesthe relation
corresponding to what was said in 2 Timothy 1:11.
ἀλλʼ οὐκ ἐπαισχύνομαι]viz. of the sufferings; said in reference to μὴ οὖν
ἐπαισχυνθῇς in 2 Timothy 1:8. Imprisonment is to me not a disgrace, but a
καύχημα;comp. Romans 5:3; Colossians1:24. The apostle thereby
declares that his suffering does not prevent him from preaching the
μαρτύριοντοῦ κυρίου (2 Timothy 1:8) as a κήρυξκ.τ.λ. The reasonis given
in the next words:οἶδα γὰρ ᾧ πεπίστευκα. Heydenreich inaccurately:“I
know Him on whom I have trusted;” de Wette rightly: “I know on whom I
have setmy trust.”

85. This is defined more preciselyby: καὶ πέπεισμαι, ὅτι δυνατός ἐστι κ.τ.λ.,
which words are closelyconnectedwith those previous, in the sense:I
know, that He in whom I trust is mighty, etc.
The confidence that God can keepHis παραθήκη, is the reasonof his οὐκ
ἐπαισχύνεσθαι. With οἶδα … καὶ πέπεισμαι, comp. Romans 14:14;with on
ὅτι δυν. ἐστι, comp. Romans 11:23; Romans 14:4; 2 Corinthians 9:8.
On the meaning of τὴν παραθήκην(Rec. παρακαταθήκην)μου, expositors
have spokenvery arbitrarily. Theodoretsays:παρακαταθήκην, ἢ τὴν
πίστιν φησὶ καὶ τὸ κήρυγμα, ἢ τοὺς πιστοὺς, οὓς παρέθετο αὐτῷ ὁ Χριστὸς
ἢ οὓς αὐτὸς παρέθετο τῷ κυρίῳ, ἢ παρακαταθήκηνλέγει τὴν ἀντιμισθίαν.
The same substantive occurs againat 2 Timothy 1:13; so, too, at 1 Timothy
6:20.
It is hardly possible to imagine that Paul in 2 Timothy 1:14 should have
meant something else by παραθήκη than he means here; all the less that he
connects the same verb with it in both passages.Thoughhere we have μου,
and God is the subject, still the supposition is not thereby justified.[16] The
genitive ΜΟΥ may either be subjective or objective. In the former case, Ἡ
ΠΑΡΑΘ. ΜΟΥ is something which Paul has entrusted or commended to
God; in the latter, something which God has entrusted to Paul, or laid
aside for him (a depositdestined for him). With the former view Hofmann
understands by ΠΑΡΑΘΉΚΗ the apostle’s soulwhich he has commended
to God; but there is nothing in the context to indicate this. Hofmann
appeals to Psalm 31:6; but againstthis it is to be observedthat nothing can
justify him in supplying the idea of “soul” with the simple word παραθήκη.
With the latter view of the genitive, Wiesingerunderstands by it the ΖΩῊ
ΚΑῚ ἈΦΘΑΡΣΊΑ (2 Timothy 4:8 : Ὁ ΔΙΚΑΙΟΣΎΝΗς ΣΤΈΦΑΝΟς)
already mentioned; so, too, Plitt; van Oosterzee,too, agreeswith this view,
though he, without goodgrounds, explains ΜΟΥ as a subjective genitive.
Against this interpretation there is the fact that with the sentence ΕἸς Ὃ
ἘΤΈΘΗΝ the apostle’s thought has already turned from the ΖΩῊ ΚΑῚ

86. ἈΦΘΑΡΣΊΑ to his ΔΙΑΚΟΝΊΑ. The following interpretation suits best
with the context:for what other reasoncould there be for the apostle’s
ΟὐΚ ἘΠΑΙΣΧΎΝΟΜΑΙ than the confidence that God would keepthe
ΔΙΑΚΟΝΊΑ in which, or for whose sake,he had to suffer, would keepit so
that it would not be injured by his suffering.
It is less suitable to understand by the ΠΑΡΑΘΉΚΗ the gospel, because
the ΜΟΥ, pointing to something entrusted to the apostle personally, does
not agree with this. By adding ΕἸς ἘΚΕΊΝΗΝ ΤῊΝ ἩΜΈΡΑΝ, the
apostle sets forth that the ΠΑΡΑΘΉΚΗ is not only kept “till that day”
(Heydenreich, Wiesinger, Otto[17]), but “for that day,” i.e. that it may be
then manifested in its uninjured splendour. The phrase ἐκείνη ἡ ἡμέρα is
equivalent to ἡ ἡμέρα τοῦ Χριστοῦ, “the day of Christ’s secondcoming”;it
is found also in 2 Timothy 1:18; 2 Timothy 4:8, 2 Thessalonians1:10, and
more frequently in the Gospels. Onthe meaning of the preposition εἰς,
comp. Meyeron Php 1:10.
[16] Wiesingeradduces three counter-reasons—(1)in ver. 14 φυλάσσειν is
representedas Timothy’s business, here as God’s; (2) in ver. 14 παραθήκη
refers to the doctrine, here it is representedas a personalpossession;(3) in
ver. 14 he is discussing the right behaviour for Timothy, here the
confidence in the right behaviour. But againstthe first reason, it is to be
observedthat φυλάσσειν of every gift of grace is the business both of God
and of the man to whom it is entrusted; in ver. 11 it is expresslysaid, διὰ
πνεύματος ἁγίου. Againstthe secondreason, itmay be urged that to
interpret παραθήκη of doctrine in ver. 14 is at leastdoubtful; but even if it
were correct, still the gospel, too, might be regardedas something given
personally to the apostle;comp. 1 Timothy 1:11 : τὸ εὐαγγέλιον… ὁ
ἐπιστεύθην ἐγώ; Romans 2:16 : to τὸ εὐαγγέλίονμου. Againstthe third
reason, it may be saidthat no one can really keepthe blessing entrusted to
him without having confidence that God keeps it for him, and no one can
have this confidence without himself preserving the blessing (διὰ πν.
ἁγίου).
[17] Otto wrongly uses this passage to support his assertionthat in this
epistle “there is no trace to be found of forebodings and expectations of
death.” He says:“If Paul has confidence in the Lord, that he canmaintain
for him the παραθήκη till the παρουσία, he must also have hoped that his

87. official work would not be interrupted by his bodily death, since the apostle
in it does not in any way express the hope that God would maintain for him
his officialwork till the day of Christ.” The “forhim” is arbitrarily
imported, and φυλάσσειν does not mean “maintain.”
Expositor's Greek Testament
2 Timothy 1:12. διʼ ἣν αἰτίαν:i.e., because I am a preacherof the Gospel.
Cf. Galatians 5:11.
οὐκ ἐπαισχύνομαι:Non confundor. I am not disappointed of my hope, as in
ref.
πεπίστευκα … πέπεισμαι: The perfects have their usual force. For
πέπεισμαι see Romans 8:38 and note on 2 Timothy 1:5.
τὴν παραθήκηνμου is best takenas that which I have depositedfor safe
keeping. Cf. the story of St. John and the robber from Clem. Alex. Quis
Dives, § 42, quoted by Eus. H. E. iii. 23, τὴν παρακαταθήκηνἀπόδος ἡμῖν.
Here it means “my soul” or “myself,” cf. Psalms 30 (31):6, εἰς χεῖράς σου
παραθήσομαι τὸ πνεῦμά μου, Luke 23:46, 1 Peter4:19, 1 Thessalonians
5:23. This explanation of παραθήκηνharmonises bestwith ἐπαισχύνομαι,
πεπίστευκα, and φυλάξαι. The whole verse has a purely personalreference.
Nothing but a desire to give παραθήκη the same meaning whereverit
occurs (1 Timothy 6:20, q.v.; 2 Timothy 1:14) could have made Chrys.
explain it here as “the faith, the preaching of the Gospel”. So R.V.m., that
which he hath committed unto me. “Paulus, decessuiproximus, duo
deposita habebat: alterum Domino, alterum Timotheo committendum,”
Bengel. This exegesis compels us to refer ὧ to God the Father.
εἰς ἐκείνην τὴν ἡμέραν:The day of judgment and award, 1 Corinthians
3:13.
Cambridge Bible for Schools andColleges
12. For the which cause I also suffer these things] R.V. places ‘also’after
‘suffer’ that the emphasis may belong as much to ‘these things’ as to
‘suffer’ according to the order of the Greek;and substitutes yet for
‘nevertheless,’which is too emphatic for the Greek word.

88. am not ashamed] The reference to 2 Timothy 1:8 is obvious, as ‘these
things’ are the chains and dungeon of ‘the Lord’s prisoner.’ Cf. Romans
1:16.
I know whom I have believed] Rather with R.V. him whom, because it is
the relative not the interrogative pronoun that is used.
to keepthat which I have committed unto him] R.V. places in the margin
the alternative sense, according to its rule when the balance of authority is
nearly even, ‘that which he hath committed unto me’; and gives the literal
Greek ‘my deposit.’ The genitive of the personal pronoun rendered ‘my’
may be either subjective here or objective; hence the uncertainty, which
the contextdoes not clearup entirely. On the whole, looking to the
specialityof the phrase and its use in 1 Timothy 6:20, and below 2 Timothy
1:14 of Timothy’s guarding of the sound doctrine handed on to him, and
here only besides,—itseems mostprobable that St Paul is adopting, to
describe God’s commission to him, the same words in which he describes
the same commissionto Timothy. And by a change very characteristic ofSt
Paul, when we might have expectedthe phrase to run ‘am persuadedthat I
shall be enabled to guard’ it is made to run ‘am persuaded that he is able
to guard.’ Cf. ‘yet not I, but Christ liveth in me’ Galatians 2:20. The
guarding, thus, is exactlythe same, viz. God’s, in the 14th verse, ‘guard
through the Holy Ghostwhich dwelleth in us.’ Compare Romans 7:24-25
with Romans 8:9. See note on 1 Timothy 6:20, for a fuller accountof the
‘deposit’ itself, as the commissionto hand on sound doctrine. If at the end
of the first epistle this had become the Apostle’s chief absorbing anxiety,
much more is it so now, in the very hour of his departure.
againstthat day] With a view to, in readiness for, that day; cf. Judges 6,
‘angels … he hath kept … unto the judgment of the great day.’
Bengel's Gnomen
2 Timothy 1:12. Ταῦτα πάσχω, I suffer these things) These adversities
happen to me.—γὰρ, for) Confidence as to the future drives away shame.—
ᾧ) He says ᾧ, not τίνι. I know Him, in whom I have placedmy faith,
although the world knows Him not.—πεπίστευκα)I have believed, and
committed to Him my deposit. Here the faithfulness of God is intended;
comp. ch. 2 Timothy 2:13 : His poweralso is presently afterwards

89. mentioned [He is able],—πέπεισμαι, I am persuaded) Romans 8:38.—
δυνατὸς, able)againstso many enemies.—τὴνπαραθήκην, my deposit)
There is one deposit which, committed to us by God, we ought to keep, 2
Timothy 1:13; comp. ch. 2 Timothy 2:2, παράθου, commit: there is another
which, committed to God by us, and mentioned in this verse, He keeps;and
this is indeed our soul, 1 Peter4:19; comp. Luke 23:46, that is, ourselves
and our heavenly portion. Paul, with death immediately before him, had
two deposits, one to be committed to the Lord, and another to Timothy.—
φυλάξαι, to keep)even in death.—ἐκείνην, that) 2 Timothy 1:18, ch. 2
Timothy 4:8.
Pulpit Commentary
Verse 12. - Suffer also for also suffer, A.V.; yet for nevertheless, A.V.; him
whom for whom, A.V.; guard for keep, A.V. For the which cause (ver. 6,
note) I suffer also. The apostle adds the weight of his own example to the
preceding exhortation. What he was exhorting Timothy to do he was
actually doing himself, without any wavering or hesitationor misgiving as
to the result. I know him whom I have believed, and I am persuaded that
he is able to guard that which I have committed unto him. The ground of
the apostle's confidence,evenin the hour of extreme peril, was his perfect
trust in the faithfulness of God. This he expresses in a metaphor drawn
from the common actionof one person entrusting another with some
precious deposit, to be kept for a time and restoredwhole and uninjured.
All the words in the sentence are part of this metaphor. The verb
πεπίστευκα must be takenin the sense of"entrusting" (curae ac fidei
alicujus committo), as Luke 16:11. So πιστευθῆναι τὸ εὐαγγέλιον, "to be
entrusted with the gospel" (1 Thessalonians 2:4); οἰκονομίανπεπιστεῦμαι,
"I am entrusted with a dispensation" (1 Corinthians 9:17; see Wisd. 14:5,
etc.). And so in classicalGreek, πιστεύειντινί τι means "to entrust
something to another" to take care of for you. Here, then, St. Paul says (not
as in the R.V., "I know him whom I have believed," which is quite
inadmissible, but), "I know whom I have trusted [i.e. in whom I have
placed confidence, and to whom I have committed the keeping of my
deposit], and I am persuaded that he is able to keepthat which I have
entrusted to him (τὴν παραθήκηνμου)unto that day." The παραθηκή is
the thing which Paul entrusted to his faithful guardian, one who he knew
would never betray the trust, but would restore it to him safe and sound at
the day of Christ. What the παραθήκη was maybe difficult to express in
any one word, but it comprised himself, his life, his whole treasure, his
salvation, his joy, his eternal happiness - all for the sake ofwhich he risked

90. life and limb in this world, content to lose sight of them for a while,
knowing that he should receive them all from the hands of God in the day
of Christ. All thus hangs perfectly together. There canbe no reasonable
doubt that παραθήκηνμου means, "my deposit" - that which I have
depositedwith him. Neither is there the slightest difficulty in the different
applications of the same metaphor in ver. 14 and in 1 Timothy 6:20. For it
is as true that God entrusts to his faithful servants the deposit of the faith,
to be kept by them with jealous fidelity, as it is that his servants entrust to
him the keeping of their souls, as knowing him to be faithful.
Vincent's Word Studies
I am not ashamed
Comp. 2 Timothy 1:8, and Romans 1:16.
Whom I have believed (ᾧ πεπίστευκα)
Or, in whom I have put my trust. See on John 1:12; see on John 2:22; see
on Romans 4:5.
Able (δυνατός)
Often used with a strongermeaning, as 1 Corinthians 1:26, mighty; Acts
25:5, οἱδυνατοὶ the chief men: as a designationof God, ὁ δυνατός the
mighty one, Luke 1:49 : of preeminent ability or powerin something, as of
Jesus, δυνατός ἐν ἔργῳ καὶ λόγῳ mighty in deed and word, Luke 24:19 : of
spiritual agencies,"The weapons ofour warfare are δυνατὰ mighty," etc.,
2 Corinthians 10:4. Very often in lxx.
That which I have committed (τὴν παραθήκηνμου)
More correctly, that which has been committed unto me: my sacredtrust.
The meaning of the passageis that Paul is convincedthat God is strong to
enable him to be faithful to his apostolic calling, in spite of the sufferings
which attend it, until the day when he shall be summoned to render his
final account. The παραθήκη or thing committed to him was the same as
that which he had committed to Timothy that; he might teachothers (1
Timothy 6:20). It was the form of sound words (2 Timothy 1:13); that
which Timothy had heard from Paul (2 Timothy 2:2); that fair deposit(2
Timothy 1:14). It was the gospelto which Paul had been appointed (2
Timothy 1:11); which had been intrusted to him (1 Timothy 1:11; Titus
1:3; comp. 1 Corinthians 9:17; Galatians 2:7; 1 Thessalonians2:4). The
verb παρατιθέναι to commit to one's charge is a favorite with Luke. See
Luke 12:48; Acts 20:32. Sums depositedwith a Bishop for the use of the
church were calledπαραθῆκαι τῆς ἐκκλησίας trust-funds of the church. In

91. the Epistle of the pseudo-Ignatius to Hero (vii.) we read: "Keepmy deposit
(παραθήκην) which I and Christ have committed (παρθέμεθα) to you. I
commit (παρατίθημι) to you the church of the Antiochenes."
That day (ἐκείνην τὴν ἡμέραν)
The day of Christ's secondappearing. See on 1 Thessalonians 5:2. In this
sense the phrase occurs in the N.T. Epistles only 2 Timothy 1:18; 2
Timothy 4:8; 2 Thessalonians 1:10;but often in the Gospels, as Matthew
7:22; Matthew 26:29; Mark 13:32, etc. The day of the Lord's appearing is
designatedby Paul as ἡ ἡμέρα, absolutely, the day, Romans 13:12;1
Corinthians 3:13; 1 Thessalonians5:4 : ἡμέρα τοῦ κυρίου the day of the
Lord, 1 Corinthians 1:8; 2 Corinthians 1:14; 1 Thessalonians 5:2; 2
Thessalonians 2:2 : the day of Jesus Christor Christ, Philippians 1:6,
Philippians 1:10; Philippians 2:16: the day when God shall judge, Romans
2:16 : the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God,
Romans 2:5 : the day of redemption, Ephesians 4:30.
PRECEPTAUSTIN RESOURCES
BRUCE HURT MD
2 Timothy 1:12 For this reasonI also suffer (1SPAI) these things, but I am
not ashamed(1SPPI);for I know (1SRAI) whom I have believed (1SRAI),
and I am convinced (1SRPI)that He is (3SPAI) able to guard (AAN) what I
have entrusted to Him until that day. (NASB: Lockman)
Greek:di' en aitian kaitauta pascho, (1SPAI)all' ouk epaischunomai,
(1SPPI)oida (1SRAI) gar o pepisteuka, (1SRAI)kai pepeismai(1SRPI)
hoti dunatos estin (3SPAI) ten parathekenmou phulaxai (AAN) eis ekeinen
ten hemeran.
BBE:And for which I undergo these things: but I have no feeling of shame.
For I have knowledge ofhim in whom I have faith, and I am certain that he
is able to keepthat which I have given into his care till that day.

92. GWT: Forthis reasonI suffer as I do. However, I'm not ashamed. I know
whom I trust. I'm convincedthat he is able to protectwhat he had
entrusted to me until that day. (GWT)
ICB: And I suffer now because I tell the GoodNews. But I am not
ashamed. I know Jesus, the One I have believed in. And I am sure that he is
able to protect what he has trusted me with until that Day. (ICB: Nelson)
KJV: For the which cause I also suffer these things: nevertheless I am not
ashamed:for I know whom I have believed, and am persuadedthat he is
able to keepthat which I have committed unto him againstthat day.
MLB: Therefore I suffer in this way; but I am not ashamed, for I know
whom I have believed and am convincedthat He is able to guard safely my
deposit, entrusted to Him againstthat Day.
NLT: And that is why I am suffering here in prison. But I am not ashamed
of it, for I know the one in whom I trust, and I am sure that he is able to
guard what I have entrusted to him until the day of his return. (NLT -
Tyndale House)
Phillips: and it is for this Gospelthat I am now suffering these things. Yet I
am not in the leastashamed. For I know the one in whom I have placedmy
confidence, and I am perfectly certain that the work he has committed to
me is safe in his hands until that day. (Phillips: Touchstone)
Weymouth: That indeed is the reasonwhy I suffer as I do. But I am not
ashamed, for I know in whom my trust reposes, andI am confident that He
has it in His powerto keepwhat I have entrusted to Him safe until that
day.
Wuest: on which accountI am also suffering these things. But I am not
ashamed, for I know with an absolute knowledge the One in whom I have
permanently placed my trust, and have come to a settled persuasionthat
He is of powerto guard that which has been committed as a trust to me
[his Christian service]with reference to that day.
Young's Literal: for which cause also these things I suffer, but I am not
ashamed, for I have known in whom I have believed, and have been
persuaded that he is able that which I have committed to him to guard -- to
that day.
FOR THIS REASON I ALSO SUFFER THESE THINGS:di en aitian kai
tauta pascho (1SPAI):

93. 2Ti 1:8; 2:9; 3:10, 11;3:12 4:16; 4:17 Acts 9:16; 13:46;13:50 14:5,6;21:27,
28, 29, 30, 31; Acts 22:21, 22, 23, 24;Eph 3:1, 2,3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8; 1Thes 2:16
2 Timothy 1 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries
For this reason- Always pause and ponder this important phrase, stopping
long enough to ask at leastthe simple question "What reason?"Asking will
usually force you to examine the immediate context. What is Paul
preaching and teaching about? Why is he suffering? What might
potentially happen to me when I begin to take a stand for the Gospel?
Forewarnedis forearmed! (cp 1Cor15:58, 1Ti6:12)
Suffer (3958)(pascho)means to be affectedby something (in this case evil)
from without. It means to undergo something;to experience a sensation, to
experience an impression from an outside source, to undergo an experience
(usually difficult) and normally with the implication of physical or
psychologicalsuffering.
Pascho - 42 times in the NT -
Mt. 16:21; 17:12, 15;27:19; Mk. 5:26; 8:31; 9:12; Lk. 9:22; 13:2; 17:25;
22:15;24:26, 46; Acts 1:3; 3:18; 9:16; 17:3; 28:5; 1 Co. 12:26; 2 Co. 1:6;
Gal. 3:4; Phil. 1:29; 1 Thess. 2:14;2 Thess. 1:5; 2 Tim. 1:12; Heb. 2:18; 5:8;
9:26; 13:12; 1 Pet. 2:19ff, 23;3:14, 17f; 4:1, 15, 19; 5:10; Rev. 2:10
Pascho is in the presenttense indicating that Paul's experience of suffering
was a continual action going on in the present (2Ti 3:12-note).
Paul was not asking Timothy to do anything he had not done.
Dwight Edwards makes an excellentpracticalpoint "The waywe cross the
dark valleys of undeserved suffering will determine whether we end up as
holy or bitter individuals. Undeserved suffering will drive us into one of
these two camps; either it will purify our faith so that we become
increasinglyholy or it will erode our confidence in God so that w e become

94. increasinglybitter. (Heb 12:11-15-see notes Hebrews 12:11;12:12; 12:13;
12:14;12:15) We see in this passagehow Paul respondedto his undeserved
suffering...This suffering had not diminished his confidence in God, in fact
it was strong as ever". (2 Timothy: Call to Completion)
These things (tauta) - Paul does not enumerate here but in the context of
this letter some of these things would include imprisonment and all that is
entailed as well as the painful factthat "all in Asia turned awayfrom" him
(2Ti 1:15 [note], cf 2Cor11:23, 24, 25f). He had experiencedthe suffering
of one was abandoned and undoubtedly was lonely (cf his plea for Timothy
to "make every effort to come" 2Ti4:9-note, 2Ti 4:21-note)
Paul had a proper perspective on suffering writing "I rejoice in my
sufferings for your (the Colossiansaints)sake."(Col1:24-note)This
sounds somewhatlike James 1:2-3-note.
BUT I AM NOT ASHAMED: all ouk epaischunomai(1SPPI):
2 Ti 1:8 1:16, 2:12 Ro 1:16, 1Pe 4:16)
2 Timothy 1 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries
Still I am not ashamed(Amp)
yet I am not in the leastashamed (Phillips)
but I have no feeling of shame (BBE)
But I am not ashamed. I know Jesus, the One I have believed in (ICB).
But - Introduces a striking contrast - suffering but unashamed. This is not
humanly possible but reflects Paul's having learned the principle of
Christ's sufficiency for his human weaknesses (see2Co 12:9-note, 2Co
12:10-note)
Not (3756)(ouk)is as absolute negative. In no way was Paul ashamed.

95. Ashamed (1870)(epaischunomaifrom epi = upon or intensifies meaning of
+ aischunomai from aischos = disfigurement & then disgrace)means to
experience a painful feeling or sense of loss of status because ofsome
particular event or activity. It describes one's consciousnessofguilt or of
exposure or the fear of embarrassmentthat one's expectations may prove
false.
Epaischunomai - 11 times in the NT - Mk. 8:38; Lk. 9:26; Ro 1:16; 6:21;
2Ti 1:8, 12, 16;Heb. 2:11; 11:16
Epaischunomaiis associatedwith being afraid, feeling shame which
prevents one from doing something, a reluctance to say or do something
because offear of humiliation, experiencing a lack of courage to stand up
for something or feeling shame because ofwhat has been done.
Marvin Vincent - The feeling expressedby (epaischunomai)has reference
to incurring dishonor or shame in the eyes of men. It is “the grief a man
conceives fromhis own imperfections consideredwith relation to the world
taking notice of them; grief upon the sense of disesteem” (“South, ” cit. by
Trench). Hence it does not spring out of a reverence for right in itself, but
from fear of the knowledge andopinion of men." (2 Timothy 1
Commentary - Vincent's Word Studies)
Isaiahrecords a prophecy concerning the Messiah, writing "Forthe Lord
GOD helps Me, therefore, I am not disgraced. Therefore,I have setMy
face like flint, and I know that I shall not be ashamed." (Isa 50:7)
Paul likewise is convinced that God is strong to enable him to be faithful to
his apostolic calling, in spite of the sufferings which attend it, until the day
when he shall be summoned to render his final account. Paul had "learned
the secretofbeing filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and
suffering need" (Php 4:12-note)and that "secret"was the Personof
Christ, Who enabled Paul to exclaim "I cando (my responsibility) all
things through Him who strengthens me (God's sovereignty - His provision
= the indwelling Spirit)." (Php 4:13-note)

96. Paul's abiding knowledge ofthe Personof Jesus removedall sense of
shame. From a Roman prison Paul wrote to his beloved brethren at
Philippi reminding them (quoting from the NLT):
"I live in eagerexpectationand hope that I will never do anything that
causes me shame, but that I will always be bold for Christ, as I have been
in the past, and that my life will always honor Christ, whether I live or I
die." (Phil 1:20-note)
Vine - "Paul’s example of freedom from shame was intended as an
incentive to his younger fellow missionary to show the same confidence and
endurance. He who is conscious ofpleasing Godhas no reasonfor feelings
of shame through experiencing any form of suffering in consequence.
Faithfulness to God frees the believer from bondage to human opinion,
regard, and reward." (Vine, W. Collectedwritings of W. E. Vine.
Nashville: Thomas Nelson)
I KNOW WHOM I HAVE BELIEVED: oida (1SRAI) garo pepisteuka
(1SRAI):
Click Fanny Crosby's hymn ’Tis Summer in My Heart
2 Timothy 1 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries
adhered to and trusted in and relied on (Amp)
in Whom I have put my trust (ISV)
in Whom my trust reposes (WNT)
for I know Him in whom I have trusted and still am trusting, and I became
convinced and still am convincedthat He is able to guard my deposituntil
that day.” (Literal translation bringing out the verb tenses - StevenCole)
Know (1492)(eido/oida) is the Greek verb that signifies absolute, beyond a
doubt knowledge. This knowledge is not personalknowledge gainedby
experience, but knowledge ofa PersonWho he had found absolutely
dependable in any circumstance. His personalknowledge ofJesus as the
One in Whom he had learned to trust, imparted the absolute assuranceof

97. His unfailing faithfulness. Ultimately this knowledge is dispensedby the
Spirit Who opens the eyes of our heart to know Jesus and be assuredthat
He is the Messiah.
Spurgeonwrites that Paul's text...
THE text is wholly takenup with three things; namely, with knowing, with
believing, and with the person who is known and believed; and upon both
the knowing and the believing Paul is very decided. He puts in no “if,” no
word of change;he does not say, “I hope so,” or“I trust so,” but “I know I
have believed, and I know whom I have believed.”
It is all assurance,and not a shadow of doubt. Let us imitate the apostle, or
ask for grace to be able to imitate him, that we may shake off the dubious
phraseologywhich is so common among Christians nowadays, and may be
able to speak with apostolic confidence upon, a matter upon which we
ought to be confident if anywhere at all, namely, our own salvation...
“I know,” saith the apostle, — not “what“ — but “whom I have believed.”
He does not say, “I know the catechismwhich I have believed,” nor “I
know the Institutes of Calvin,” nor “I know the body and systemof
theology”;but, “I know whom I have believed.” Both the knowing and the
believing center round the wondrous person who for our sakes lefthis
starry throne and became a man; knowing whom, is a saving knowledge,
and trusting whom, is saving trust, but of which, all other knowing and
believing falls short. (see full sermon 2 Timothy 1:12 Knowing and
Believing)
“He is able, he is willing:
Doubt no more.”
Believed(4100)(pisteuo from pistis; pistos; relatedstudies the faith, the
obedience of faith) means to considersomething to be true and therefore
worthy of one’s trust. To acceptas true, genuine, or real. To have a firm
conviction as to the goodness, efficacy, orability of something or someone.
To consider to be true. To acceptthe word or evidence of.

98. Using the perfect tense Paul is saying "I first trusted Jesus on the
Damascus Roadand I still trust Him with my eternalpresent and eternal
future."
Paul had permanently put his trust and confidence ("convinced" below is
also perfecttense) in Christ Jesus and still trusted Him even as the shadow
of death loomedover him. This speaks ofPaul's trust as permanent and
abiding.
Wuest paraphrases the idea of the perfect tense - I have believed with the
present result that my faith is a firmly settled one.” It is like hammering a
nail through a board and clinching it on the other side. It is there to stay.
So, Paul’s faith was placedpermanently in the God whom he knew, which
faith was immovable."
Note how Paul puts it: “I know Whom I have believed. He doesn’t say "I
know what I have believed,” though that would be true. And he doesn’t
say, “I know how much I have believed,” even though that is also true. And
he doesn’t say, “I know when I believed,” which he could well have said.
And he doesn’t say, “I know why I have believed,” even though that would
be true as well.
Hiebert - "Paultestifies personally to that which he has askedof Timothy
(v8) and explains that the secretof his attitude is a Person. It is his abiding
knowledge ofthis Personthat removes all sense ofshame. The world may
regard his faith in a crucified Jesus a thing of folly and a just cause for
shame, but his personal relations with this Personprevent any such feeling.
This Personwill never put him to shame. He has permanently put his trust
and confidence in Him (perfect tense), has been trusting Him all along, and
is trusting Him now in the face of impending death. It is his settled, fixed
assurance "thathe is able to guard that which I have committed to Him."
The Greek is literally, "that he is able to guard my deposit." He has
unshakenconfidence in His ability to do what he trusts Him to do. He is
able effectively"to guard my deposit.." (2 Timothy by D. Edmond Hiebert)
As Spurgeon puts it, it is as if Paul says, "I know the Personinto whose
hand I have committed my present condition, and my eternaldestiny. I

99. know Who he is, and I therefore, without any hesitation, leave myself in
His hands. It is the beginning of spiritual life to believe Jesus Christ."
Spurgeongoes on to add that "Jesus wasa distinct Personto the apostle, so
real as to be knownto him as a man knows a friend. Paul knew nobody else
so well as he knew his Lord.”
If you are trying to keepyour own soul, you are in serious trouble and will
be rudely surprised one day. You cannot keepyourself safe. Your only
hope is to entrust all that you are and have to Jesus. Layit all at his feet
and you will be safe.
MacArthur adds that Paul's "confidence did not come from a creedor a
theologicalsystemor a denomination or an ordination. It came solelyfrom
a close, unbrokenrelationship with God, to whom he unreservedly gave his
life, going about his divine mission with no concernfor his own welfare,
safety, or life.
Gill adds that "A spiritual knowledge ofChrist is necessaryto faith in
Him: an unknown Christ cannot be the objectof faith... Knowledge and
faith go together: they that truly know Christ, believe in Him, and the
more they know Him, the more strongly do they believe in Him... and they
know... whatan able, willing, suitable, and complete Saviour He is. This
knowledge whichthey have of him... is practical, and leads to the discharge
of duty, from a principle of love to Christ.
I Know Whom I Have Believed
Daniel Whittle
I know not why God’s wondrous grace
To me He hath made known,
Nor why, unworthy, Christ in love
Redeemedme for His own.
Refrain
But I know Whom I have believèd,

100. And am persuaded that He is able
To keepthat which I’ve committed
Unto Him againstthat day.
I know not how this saving faith
To me He did impart,
Nor how believing in His Word
Wrought peace within my heart.
Refrain
I know not how the Spirit moves,
Convincing us of sin,
Revealing Jesus through the Word,
Creating faith in Him.
Refrain
I know not what of goodor ill
May be reservedfor me,
Of weary ways or golden days,
Before His face I see.
Refrain
I know not when my Lord may come,
At night or noonday fair,
Nor if I walk the vale with Him,
Or meet Him in the air.
Refrain
AND I AM CONVINCED THAT: kaipepeismai (1SRPI)hoti:

101. Ro 8:38
2 Timothy 1 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries
I am sure (NCV)
I am positively persuaded (Amp)
I am absolutelysure (Williams)
I am thoroughly persuaded (Centenary)
I am convinced(3982)(peitho) means literally to persuade or induce by
words to believe (Acts 19:26, Mt 27:20, Ro 14:14). Peitho is a strong verb
which which conveys the ideas of confidence, reliance, andhope.
Peitho - 52 times in the NT -
Mt 27:20, 43;28:14;Lk. 11:22;16:31; 18:9; 20:6; Acts 5:36, 37, 39; 12:20;
13:43;14:19; 17:4; 18:4; 19:8, 26;21:14; 23:21;26:26, 28; 27:11;28:23, 24;
Ro 2:8, 19;8:38; 14:14; 15:14;2Co. 1:9; 2:3; 5:11; 10:7; Gal. 1:10; 5:7, 10;
Php 1:6, 14, 25; 2:24; 3:3, 4; 2Th 3:4; 2Ti 1:5, 12;Philemon 1:21; Heb 2:13;
6:9; 13:17, 18;Jas 3:3; 1Jn. 3:19
The use of the perfect tense indicates that Paul became convincedwhen he
was savedby Christ and he remained convinced of His saving and keeping
power. Paul had a settled, fixed assurance that Christ was "able". Wuest
adds that "Paulhad come to a settled persuasionregarding the matter and
was fixed in an immovable position. You could not budge him."
Paul trusted his absolute security in God. He had been through years of
relentless temptations, trials and testing, opportunities and hardships. He
had seenthe power of God at work again and again, both in him and
around him. Are you convincedJesus is able to guard you?
In Romans 8 Paul was likewise convincedwriting...

102. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor
principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers (Ro 8:38-
note)
HE IS ABLE TO GUARD: dunatos estin (3SPAI) phulaxai (AAN)
2 Timothy 1 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries
OUR GOD
IS ABLE!
He is able to safeguard(NJB)
He is able to guard safely(Berkley)
able to protect (GWT)
able to keepsafe (TEV)
Able (1415)(dunatos from dunamai = referring to powerone has by virtue
of inherent ability and resources;see study of dunamis) means powerful,
able, strong. Able describes that which has sufficient or necessarypower,
means, skill, or resources to accomplishan objective. Thus dunatos
describes one who is powerful enough, who has the ability to perform the
function in this case ofguarding Paul's "deposit".
TDNT notes that all words deriving from the stem duna- have the basic
meaning of “being able,” of “capacity” in virtue of an ability) pertains to
being capable, able (having the ability to perform some function; having
sufficient power, skill, or resources to accomplishan objective), adept
(highly skilledor well-trained implying aptitude as well as proficiency) or
competent (being what is necessary;having requisite or adequate ability or
qualities).
See encouraging study on the greattruth that our GOD IS ABLE.
Dunatos - 32 uses in NT

103. Matt. 19:26;24:24; 26:39;Mk. 9:23; 10:27;13:22; 14:35f;Lk. 1:49; 14:31;
18:27;24:19; Acts 2:24; 7:22; 11:17; 18:24;20:16;25:5; Rom. 4:21; 9:22;
11:23;12:18; 15:1; 1 Co. 1:26; 2 Co. 10:4; 12:10;13:9; Gal. 4:15; 2 Tim.
1:12; Titus 1:9; Heb. 11:19;Jas. 3:2
Paul like Abraham was "fully assured(plerophoreo) that what (God) had
promised, He was able (dunatos) also to perform." (Ro 4:21-note)
Luke uses dunatos to describe God as the "Mighty One" (Lk 1:49).
Paul writes to the Corinthians that God is "able (dunatos) to make all
grace abound to you, that always having all sufficiency in everything, you
may have an abundance for every gooddeed." (2Cor9:8) (Notice the
repetition of the adjective "pas" = all, every!)
Would that we all knew the "Mighty One" with such a confidence.
Paul understood the truth that the Lord God was "laying in Zion a stone, a
testedstone, a costlycornerstone for the foundation, firmly placed. He who
believes in it will not be disturbed. (Lxx = "ashamed")" (Isaiah28:16)
Guard (5442)(phulasso from phulax = watchman)means not simply to
keepas a possession, but to keepsecure and was a military term that
denotes the activity or office of a watchman whose job it was “to protect”
those who are asleepfrom harm during the night. The soldier on watch
was accountable with his own life to protect that which was entrusted to his
care.
Phulasso - 31 uses in the NT - NAS = abstain(1), guard(8), guarded(1),
guarding(1), guards(1), keep(5), keeping(2), keeps(1), kept(4), keptunder
guard(1), maintain(1), observe(2), preserved(1), protect(1), watchin

104. Mt 19:20;Mk. 10:20; Lk. 2:8; 8:29; 11:21, 28;12:15; 18:21;Jn. 12:25, 47;
17:12;Acts 7:53; 12:4; 16:4; 21:24f;22:20; 23:35;28:16; Ro 2:26; Gal.
6:13; 2Th 3:3; 1Ti5:21; 6:20; 2Ti1:12, 14;4:15; 2Pe 2:5; 3:17; 1Jn 5:21;
Jude 1:24. g(1).
Phulasso refers specificallyto deliberate and conscious watching, being on
the alert, carrying out "sentinel" functions, to guard (one assignedto
protect or oversee another)or to protect by taking careful measures. What
a word picture of our ever alert, all powerful "Sentinel" Christ Jesus Who
is MIGHTY enoughto guard againstrobbery or preserve from loss.
Jesus in His greatprayer to His Fathersaid "While I was with them...I
guarded (phulasso) them and not one of them perished but the sonof
perdition...." (John 17:12)
Paul reminded the afflicted saints at Thessalonicathat "the Lord is faithful
and He will strengthen and protect(phulasso) you from the evil one."
(2Thes 3:3)
Jude uses phulasso to describe "Him Who is able to keep(us) from
stumbling." (Jude 1:24-note).
WHAT I HAVE ENTRUSTED TO HIM: ten parathekenmou:
2 Timothy 1 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries
Martin Luther - I have had many things in my hands and have lost them
all. But whateverI have been able to place in God's hands I still possess.
Peterhas a parallel thought writing "Therefore, those also who suffer
according to the will of God shall entrust their souls to a faithful Creatorin
doing what is right. (1Pe 4:19-note)

105. Note that there are 2 ways this phrase can be translated: This could refer
to what Paul entrusted to God or alternatively could refer to what God had
entrusted to Paul's care (eg, the gospel).
The NASB and the following versions translate this sectionwith emphasis
on Paul entrusting to God --
what I have entrusted to Him (NIV)
that which I have committed to Him (YLT)
what I have committed to Him (NKJV)
the depositI have entrusted to Him (Darby)
to keepthat which I have given into His care (BBE).
The following versions by contrasttranslate the phrase with the emphasis
on what God entrusted to Paul --
what He had entrusted to me (GWT)
what has been entrusted to me (ESV, JNT)
what He has entrusted to me (TEV)
the work He has committed to me (Phillips)
that which has been committed as a trust to me (Wuest).
The Amplified version is interesting as it includes both views in its
translation --
that which has been entrusted to me and which I have committed to Him
(Amp).
Hiebert has an excellentsummary writing that "the former view...regards
the depositvariously as Paul's soul, his salvation or his final reward. Thus
viewed, God is pictured as the Trustee with Whom he has depositedfor
safekeeping his temporal and eternalwelfare. This truth provides
wondrous comfortto the tried and testedservant of the Lord. The majority

106. of Greek expositors... have held that the "deposit" is best explained
here...in the sense ofthe Christian message withwhich Paul himself has
been entrusted. The word (paratheke)occurs only in (1Ti 6:20), here and
in (2Ti 1:14 [note]) following. In the other two passagesthe word clearly
expresses whatis committed by God to a personand for which he is
answerable to God. This factmakes it probable that Paul, in the absence of
any indication otherwise, uses it in the same sense here...Thus viewedthe
meaning is that the precious deposit of the Gospel, which God has
entrusted to Paul, God will not in these difficult times allow to be lost. In
view of his impending martyrdom and the devastating persecutions ofthe
Church which appear inevitable (2Ti 3:12 [note]) Paul is confident that the
all powerful Guardian and Protector, Whom he has learnedto trust
implicitly, will Himself safeguardthe messagewhichHe has given. We let
"the deposit" mean the Gospelwhich has been entrusted to him, yet this
assurance ultimately includes himself, his all, since the preaching of that
Gospelwas his very life." (SecondTimothy- Everyman's Bible
Commentary)
Robertsonfavors the former translation and so says "Literally, “my
deposit,” as in a bank, the bank of heaven which no burglar can break (Mt
6:19-note)."
Entrusted (3866)(paratheke from paratithemi from para = beside +
tithemi = place)literally denotes “a putting with,” and so refers to a deposit
(anything entrusted to the care of another for safekeeping), a trust, or
something consignedorcommitted to another's charge for faithful keeping.
This practice was common in days when there were no banks. The picture
Paul is painting is drawn from this practice of one persontrusting another
with some precious deposit, to be kept for a time and then restoredintact.
Paratheke is used only three times in Scripture and eachtime in
combination with the Greek wordphulasso (translatedguard or keep): 1Ti
6:20 2Ti 1:12, 2Ti 1:14
In his first epistle Paul used the same combination of phulasso and
paratheke in his exhortation to Timothy....

107. O Timothy, guard what has been entrusted to (paratheke)you, avoiding
(ektrepo = present tense = continually turning away from, shunning,
avoiding meeting or associating with because false doctrine is like a deadly,
highly contagious plague)worldly (bebelos = originally referred to
everything outside the sacredgrounds of a Greek temple = describes what
is outside the realm of truth, and hence unholy and profane = same word in
2Ti 2:16-note)and empty chatter and the opposing arguments (antithesis, a
technicalterm used in rhetoric for a counter proposition in a debate.
Timothy was to avoid the pseudo-intellectualarguments of those who
merely wantedto attack Scripture for their talk “will spread like
gangrene” 2Ti2:17-note)of what is falsely called“knowledge”—which
some have professedand thus gone astray from ( missedthe mark
concerning)the faith. Grace be with you." (1Ti 6:20, 21)
The third use of paratheke is found in this same chapter "Guard (aorist
imperative), through the Holy Spirit who dwells in us, the treasure which
has been entrusted to you. (2Ti 1:14-note)
Paratheke refers to something entrusted to another for faithful keeping or
depositedfor protection.
William Barclayexplains that paratheke...
means a depositwhich has been entrusted to a banker or someone else for
safe-keeping. It is essentiallysomething which must be handed back or
handed on absolutely unchanged. That is to saythe stress is on
orthodoxy...It is the word for money deposited with a banker or with a
friend. When such money was in time demanded back, it was a sacredduty
to hand it back entire. Sometimes children were called a paratheke, a
sacredtrust. If the gods gave a man a child, it was his duty to present that
child trained and equipped to the gods.
Barclaygoes onto quote
St. Vincent of Lerins: “Whatis meant by the deposit? (paratheke). That
which is committed to thee, not that which is invented by thee; that which

108. thou hast received, not that which thou hast devised; a thing not of wit, but
of learning; not of private assumption, but of public tradition; a thing
brought to thee, not brought forth of thee; wherein thou must not be an
author, but a keeper;not a leader, but a follower. Keep the deposit.
Preserve the talent of the faith safe and undiminished; let that which is
committed to thee remain with thee, and that deliver. Thou hast received
gold, render gold.”
Finally Barclayadds that
A man does well to remember that his duty is not only to himself, but also
to his children and his children’s children. If in our day the Church were to
become enfeebled;if the Christian ethic were to be more and more
submerged in the world; if the Christian faith were to be twisted and
distorted; it would not only be we who were the losers, those ofgenerations
still to come would be robbed of something infinitely precious. We are not
only the possessorsbut also the trustees of the faith. That which we have
received, we must also hand on." (2 Timothy 1 Commentary - William
Barclay's Daily Study Bible) (Bolding added)
Paratheke was a secularlegalterm describing something placed on trust in
another's keeping.
TDNT adds that paratheke referred to "a trust agreement" and a "legal
device whereby an objectcan be entrusted to another’s keeping for a
specific period. This objectwas to be kept free, unused and undamaged
until restoration. The trustworthiness of the trustee was thus most
important. (Kittel, G., Friedrich, G., & Bromiley, G. W. Theological
Dictionary of the New Testament. Eerdmans)
Vincent notes that "sums deposited with a Bishop for the use of the church
were calledtrust-funds (paratheke)of the church.
J. N. D. Kelly comments concerning paratheke that this truth "is not
something which the church’s minister works out for himself or is entitled

109. to add to; it is a divine revelation which has been committed to his care,
and which it is his bounden duty to pass on unimpaired to others."
William Barclayhas an illustration of paratheke that helps understand
how this specific word must have had such a profound impact on
Timothy...
A man might deposit something with a friend to be kept for his children or
his loved ones;he might deposithis valuables in a temple for safe keeping,
for the temples were the banks of the ancient world. In eachcase the thing
depositedwas a parathēkē. In the ancient world there was no more sacred
duty than the safe-guarding ofsuch a deposit and the returning of it when
in due time it was claimed. There was a famous Greek story which told just
how sacredsucha trust was (Herodotus 6:89; Juvenal: Satires, 13:199–
208). The Spartans were famous for their strict honour and honesty. A
certain man of Miletus came to a certain Glaucus of Sparta. He said that he
had heard such greatreports of the honesty of the Spartans that he had
turned half his possessionsinto money and wished to deposit that money
with Glaucus, until he or his heirs should claim it again. Certain symbols
were given and receivedwhich would identify the rightful claimant when
he should make his claim. The years passedon; the man of Miletus died;
his sons came to Sparta to see Glaucus, producedthe identifying tallies and
askedfor the return of the depositedmoney. But Glaucus claimed that he
had no memory of ever receiving it. The sons from Miletus went
sorrowfully away;but Glaucus went to the famous oracle atDelphi to see
whether he should admit the trust or, as Greek law entitled him to do,
should swearthat he knew nothing about it. The oracle answered:
“Bestfor the present it were, O Glaucus, to do as thou wishest,
Swearing an oath to prevail, and so to make prize of the money.
Swearthen—death is the lot even of those who never swearfalsely.
Yet hath the Oath—goda son who is nameless, footlessandhandless;
Mighty in strength he approaches to vengeance,and whelms in destruction
All who belong to the race, or the house of the man who is perjured.
But oath-keeping men leave behind them a flourishing off-spring.”
Glaucus understood; the oracle was telling him that if he wished for
momentary profit, he should deny the trust, but such a denial would

110. inevitably bring eternalloss. He besought the oracle to pardon his
question; but the answerwas that to have tempted the godwas as bad as to
have done the deed. He sent for the sons of the man of Miletus and restored
the money. Herodotus goes on:“Glaucus at this present time has not a
single descendant;nor is there any family knownas his; root and branch
has he been removed from Sparta. It is a goodthing therefore, when a
pledge has been left with one, not even in thought to doubt about restoring
it.” To the Greeks a paratheke was completelysacred." (DailyStudy Bible)
(Bolding added)
The root verb paratithemi is used in the Septuagintin Ps 31:5 where the
David puts himself under (entrusts himself to) God’s protection writing...
Into Thy hand I commit (paratithemi) my spirit. Thou hast ransomedme,
O LORD, God of truth. (Psalm 31:5) (See Spurgeon's Note)
Our Lord Jesus quotes first half of this verse from the cross
crying out with a loud voice, said, “Father, into Thy hands I commit
(paratithemi - entrust) My spirit." And having saidthis, He breathed His
last. (Luke 23:46)
Does not this use of the relatedverb paratithemi give you a added sense of
the meaning of the noun paratheke and why Paul was able to triumphantly
withstand suffering for his Lord. It is also interesting that church history
reveals that many martyrs have also quoted this verse from Psalm 31:5 at
the moment of execution. Such confidence at the point of death reveals
tremendous trust in the Lord.
F B Meyer (in Our Daily Homily) writes that...
There is a double deposit here, and the comparisoncomes out clearand
marked in the Greek. Whenwe give our most precious treasure into the
custodianship of Jesus, He turns to honor us by entrusting His own
treasure to our care. Oh that we might be as eagerto keepthat which He

111. entrusts to us, as He is that which we entrust to Him; so that He might be
able to say of us, "I know them in whom I have trusted, and am persuaded
that they will never fail to do whateverneeds to be done for My honor and
glory."
Our deposit with Christ. - What is the true policy of life? How can I best
spend these few years to the best advantage? Whatis there beyond, and
beyond? Such questions come to all earnestsouls, and greatlytrouble
them, till they entrust the keeping of their souls and the direction of their
lives into the hands of the faithful Saviour. We feelsure that He has the
words of eternallife, and that all poweris given to Him in heavenand on
earth. At first there is something of a venture - we trust Him; next, there is
the knowledge whichcomes from experience - we know Him; lastly, there
is strong confidence - we are persuaded that He is able.
Christ's deposit with us. - And what is this? 1Ti6:20, 1Ti 4:16, suggests the
answer. To every believer Jesus hands the custody of His honor, His
Gospel, His Father's glory, His holy day, the ordinances which He
bequeathed to the Church. As Ezra chargedthe priests to bear safely
through the desertmarch the sacredvessels,so our Captain charges us,
and throughout the whole Bible rings the injunction: "Be ye clean, ye that
bear the vesselsofthe Lord."
ILLUSTRATION: Steven Cole tells this story...
I read once about a family that put their elderly grandmother on a plane
for her first flight. She wasn’ttoo sure about this mode of transportation,
but she grudgingly went along with it. When she returned, some of the
family members couldn’t help playfully asking, “Grannie, did the plane
hold you up okay?” She reluctantly admitted that it did, but then added,
“But I never put my full weight down on it.”
Trusting Christ as your Savior means getting on board and putting your
full weightdown on Him. You let go of any notion that you can do anything
to save yourself. You abandon any trust in your goodworks. You rely on
Christ and His shed blood as the only acceptable payment for your sins.
That is the starting point of banking with God.
Someone may wonder, “If I deposit all of my life with Christ, does that
mean that I have to be a missionaryin Africa?” The answeris, maybe,
maybe not. It does mean that you must be willing to be a missionary in

112. Africa if the Lord calls you to do that. Trusting Christ means that you trust
that He is good and that He knows whatis best for your life. If He wants
you to be a missionary in Africa, you’d be miserable to be a successful
stockbrokeron Wall Street. You’ve got to trust Him for that. You hand
Him a blank check for all of your life and He fills in the details. (Banking
with God)
Christ Is Able! - Only when we fully trust someone will we commit
ourselves to that person. Such complete trust is depicted in the following
story.
A crowd gazedin awe as a tightrope walkerinched his way across Niagara
Falls. The people cheeredwhen he accomplishedthe feat.
Then he turned to a man and said, "Do you think I could carry someone
across?""Sure," the man replied.
"Let's go then!" "No thanks!" the man exclaimed. So the tightroper asked
another man, "Whatabout you? Will you trust me?" "Yes, I will," he said.
That man climbed onto his shoulders, and with the waterroaring below
they reachedthe other side.
Hidden in this story is a spiritual challenge eachof us must face. Our
sinfulness is a yawning chasmbetweenus and God, and we are unable to
cross it. Only Jesus is able to bring us safelyto the other side. But we must
repent and trust Him with our lives. The apostle Paul confidently wrote, "I
know whom I have believed and am persuaded that He is able to keepwhat
I have committed to Him until that Day" (2Ti. 1:12).
Are you trying on your own to cross the chasm of sin that separates you
from God? It's impossible. Put your trust in Christ, for He alone is able to
bring you to God. —Joanie Yoder(Our Daily Bread, Copyright RBC

113. Ministries, Grand Rapids, MI. Reprinted by permission. All rights
reserved)
My hope is built on nothing less
Than Jesus'blood and righteousness;
I dare not trust the sweetestframe,
But wholly lean on Jesus'name. --Mote
Christ is the bridge over the chasm of sin.
TO HIM UNTIL THAT DAY: eis ekeinenten hemeran:
2 Timothy 1 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries
That day (same phrase in 2Ti 1:18, 4:8) - This begs the question "What
day?" For Paul it would be the day he would see Jesus, eitherby Jesus
coming for Paul (see harpazo - the Rapture) or by Paul going to Jesus
(falling asleepin Jesus). The early saints lived with an awarenessof
imminency of that day, and this was so well knownto them that they did
not even need to identify it. That Daywas enough
Mostexpositors favor that day in contexthas reference to the Second
Coming of the Lord, when the church will be raptured and then experience
the Judgment (bema) Seatof Christ (see 2Co 5:10-note, cf Ro 14:10-note)
where "eachman's work will become evident; for the day will show it,
because it is to be revealedwith fire and the fire itself will test the quality
of eachman's work. If any man's work which he has built upon it remains,
he shall receive a reward. If any man's work is burned up, he shall suffer
loss;but he himself shall be saved, yet so as through fire. (1Cor 3:13, 14,
15)
Comparisonwith the other two uses of that day in 2 Timothy would
support this interpretation. Remember that the best commentary on

114. Scripture is always Scripture (See topic - Compare Scripture with
Scripture).
the Lord grant to him (Onesiphorus) to find mercy from the Lord on that
day-- and you know very well what services he rendered at Ephesus. (2Ti
1:18-note)
Thomas Constable commenting on 2Timothy 1:18 writes that "Paulwished
the Lord would show Onesiphorus “mercy” at the judgment seatof Christ
[cf. “that day” in 2Ti 1:12]. Paul seems to have been envisioning a scene in
which all his unfaithful brethren would stand before the Lord,
Onesiphorus among them, namely Christ’s judgment seat. Godwould
express displeasure with the failure of the others, but Onesiphorus would
escape thatshame (cf. 1John2:28). (2 Timothy)
in the future there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, whichthe
Lord, the righteous Judge, will awardto me on that day; and not only to
me, but also to all who have loved His appearing. (see note 2 Timothy 4:8)
Barnes has an interesting, convicting thought on that day - It seems to have
been so much the object of thought and conversationamong the early
Christians, that the apostle supposedthat he would be understood by
merely referring to it as that day; that is, the day which they were always
preaching about, and talking about, and thinking about.
Steven Cole explains until that day as Paul's reference to "the day of
judgment, when all accounts will be squared awaybefore God. If this life is
all that there is, then we live in a cruel and unfair world. Here is a godly,
self-sacrificing apostle in a dungeon while a perverted lunatic revels in
luxury and debauchery as he rules the RomanEmpire. Paul was executed
while Nero kept on partying. That was not fair! But, that day is coming.
When he was preaching to the intellectuals in Athens, Paul proclaimed
(Acts 17:31) that God “has fixed a day in which He will judge the world in
righteousness through a Man whom He has appointed, having furnished
proof to all men by raising Him from the dead.” If Jesus is risen, then that
day is coming. No one will get awaywith anything. All wrongs will be
brought to light and punished. All who have trusted in Christ will not face
judgment, but will “standin the presence ofHis glory blameless with great
joy” (Jude 24). In light of eternity, it is a secure and wise investment to

115. deposit your life with Jesus Christ. Have you made that depositwith your
life? That’s where you begin. You commit everything that you are and
have to Christ, convinced that He is able to guard your deposit until that
day. (Banking with God)
The reality (and certainty) of that day that should motivate eachof us to
discipline ourselves for godliness, evenlaboring and striving toward that
worthy goal(1Ti4:7, 8, 9, 10-see notes 1Ti4:7; 4:8; 4:9; 4:10). In light of
that day we should seek to cleanse ourselvesfrom "all defilement of the
flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God? (2Cor 7:1-note, cf
1Jn 3:2, 3:3)
Tozer- Before the judgment seatof Christ my service will not be judged by
how much I have done but by how much of me there is in it.
When Sir James Simpson, the discovererof chloroform, was on his
deathbed, a friend askedhim, “Sir, what are your speculations?” Simpson
replied: “Speculations!I have no speculations!‘For I know whom I have
believed, and am persuaded that He is able to keepthat which I have
committed unto Him againstthat day.”
How wonderful that the last words on his life were a recollectionofthe
keeping powerof our Mighty Savior. I pray it be likewise with us all dear
reader.
Being Unashamed of Our Faith (2 Timothy 1:8-14)
RelatedMedia
So do not be ashamedof the testimony about our Lord or of me, a prisoner
for his sake, but by God’s power acceptyour share of suffering for the
gospel. He is the one who savedus and called us with a holy calling, not
basedon our works but on his own purpose and grace, grantedto us in
Christ Jesus before time began, but now made visible through the

116. appearing of our SaviorChrist Jesus. He has brokenthe powerof death
and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel!Forthis
gospelI was appointed a preacherand apostle and teacher. Becauseofthis,
in fact, I suffer as I do. But I am not ashamed, because I know the one in
whom my faith is set and I am convincedthat he is able to protect what has
been entrusted to me until that day. Hold to the standard of sound words
that you heard from me and do so with the faith and love that are in Christ
Jesus. Protectthatgood thing entrusted to you, through the Holy Spirit
who lives within us.
2 Timothy 1:8–14 (NET)
How can we be unashamed of our faith in Christ?
When Paul wrote this letter, the persecutionof Christians was widespread.
They were mockedfor their morality and for believing in a crucified man.
They were imprisoned and killed for their beliefs. Paul himself was in
prison awaiting a death sentence.
In 2 Timothy 1:8, Paul urges Timothy to be unashamed of Christ, Paul and
his sufferings, and the gospel, and to join with him in suffering for the
faith. Everyone in Asia had already desertedPaul (v. 15). To be associated
with the apostle couldlead to further persecution—so many denied him.
Temptations to shame are still prominent today. In fact, all of us have
probably felt shame about Christ, other believers, or God’s Word at some
point. It may be shame about Scriptures’ teachings on homosexuality,
abortion, or creation. With the growing antagonismon these topics, many
feel a greatsocialpressure to compromise biblical views. Proverbs 29:25
says the “fear of people becomes a snare.” Fear(or shame) traps and stops
believers from progressing spiritually. Forsome, it ultimately pulls them
awayfrom Christ; Matthew 13:21 describes how some will fall away
because oftrouble or persecutionover the Word.
The fact that believers are vulnerable to shame is implied by Christ’s
declarationin Mark 8:38: “Forif anyone is ashamedof me and my words
in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will also be
ashamedof him when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy
angels.” To truly follow Christ, we must be unashamed of him and his
teachings. Those who are ashamed, Christ will be ashamed of them at his
coming. Most likely this means that their shame will prove their lack of
true salvation. In Matthew 7:22-23, many professing believers in the last
days will declare, “Lord, Lord,” and Christ will reply, “I never knew you.”

117. This call to be unashamed is especiallyimportant as Christ taught that
persecutiontowards believers would increase in the last days. Believers will
be hated by all nations because ofChrist and consequentlymany will fall
away(Matt 24:9-13). Certainly, we cansee this growing animosity
happening around the world.
How can we be unashamed of our faith in an antagonistic world? In 2
Timothy 1:8-14, Paul encouragesTimothy, and us, to be unashamed of our
faith.
Big Question:According to 2 Timothy 1:8-14, how can believers be
unashamed of their faith in a world that is antagonistic towards Christ, his
people, and his words?
To Be Unashamed, We Must Be Empoweredby God’s Spirit
So do not be ashamedof the testimony about our Lord or of me, a prisoner
for his sake, but by God’s power acceptyour share of suffering for the
gospel.
2 Timothy 1:8
The conjunction “So” canbe translated “Therefore”—referring back to
the believer’s divine resources giventhrough the Spirit, as mentioned in
the preceding verse. There, Paul says, “ForGoddid not give us a Spirit of
fear but of powerand love and self-control” (2 Tim 1:7). The Spirit gives us
powerto be bold with our words, to love those who mock and persecute us,
and to discipline our lives unto holiness. We have the same Spirit that filled
Christ from the womb, anointed him at his baptism, led him into the
wilderness to be tempted by the devil, filled him with powerafter forty
days of fasting, and workedmiracles through him. It’s the same Spirit that
enabled him to suffer persecutionand die on the cross. Throughthe Spirit,
we can stand againsttemptation and persecution.
Paul says because you have the Spirit, you must not give up, quit, or quiet
your witness. The Spirit of God will empower you. Certainly, we see this
throughout the book of Acts. Acts 4:31 says, “When they had prayed, the
place where they were assembledtogetherwas shaken, and they were all
filled with the Holy Spirit and beganto speak the word of God
courageously.” In Acts 7, the Spirit enabled Stephen to speak boldly and
die as the church’s first martyr.
Warren Wiersbe tells the story of an imprisoned Christian about to be
burned at the stake. He was afraid that he could not endure the suffering
and that he would deny Christ. Wiersbe shares:

118. One night, he experimented with pain by putting his little finger into the
candle flame. It hurt, and he immediately withdrew it. “I will disgrace my
Lord,” he said to himself. “I cannot bear the pain.” But when the hour
came for him to die, he praised God and gave a noble witness for Jesus
Christ. God gave him the power when he needed it, and not before.1
Are you allowing the Spirit to empoweryou to stand firm in a contentious
and ungodly world? He does this as we abide in him through God’s Word,
worship, prayer, and obedience (Gal5:16).
Application Question: In what ways have you seenthe persecutionof
Christians or their beliefs increase?
To Be Unashamed, We Must Accept Suffering as from the Lord
So do not be ashamedof the testimony about our Lord or of me, a prisoner
for his sake, but by God’s power acceptyour share of suffering for the
gospel.
2 Timothy 1:8
It must be noted that Paul does not call himself a prisoner of Rome but a
prisoner for Christ’s sake. Paulsaw his imprisonment as under God’s
sovereigncontrol. Rome could do nothing apart from God’s permission.
This was similar to Christ’s declarationto Pilate, when he said that Pilate
could have no powerover him unless it had been given from above (John
19:11). He saw his suffering as part of God’s sovereignplan.
For another example, considerDavid’s response to his mighty men who
wanted to kill Shimei for cursing David, after he lost the kingdom to
Absalom. “What do we have in common, you sons of Zeruiah? If he curses
because the Lord has said to him, ‘Curse David!’, who can sayto him,
‘Why have you done this?’” (2 Sam 16:10). David saw God as in controlof
even this cursing, which enabled him to endure it faithfully without shame,
and this is true for us as well. If we only see Satan, evil people, or a corrupt
government, then we won’t faithfully endure. We may become
overwhelmed with anger, remorse, fear, or shame—notallowing us to
endure the trial faithfully.
To be unashamed, we must acceptsuffering as from the Lord. This means
our sufferings are not random but purposeful—coming from the gracious
hand of our God. Philippians 1:29 says, “Forit has been granted to you not
only to believe in Christ but also to suffer for him.” The word “granted”
can also be translated“graced.” In the same way that faith is a gracious

119. gift from God (Eph 2:8-9) so is suffering. It makes us depend on God more
and grow in our faith (Rom 5:3-4, James 1:2-3).30
Are you recognizing God’s hand over the difficulties of life, including
persecution? Thatis how Paul, Jesus, and David endured suffering without
shame or some other ungodly response.
Application Question: Why is it important to see Godas sovereignover
evil, including persecution? In what other Scriptures do we see this reality
taught (cf. Heb 10:32-34, 12:6-7)? How does this encourage you?
To Be Unashamed, We Must Remember That Others Are Suffering as well
So do not be ashamedof the testimony about our Lord or of me, a prisoner
for his sake, but by God’s power acceptyour share of suffering for the
gospel.
2 Timothy 1:8
After Paul mentions his imprisonment, he calls Timothy to accepthis share
of suffering for the gospel(v. 8). Paul’s mention of his suffering was meant
to encourage Timothy to also willingly acceptsuffering. This is true for us
as well. Our sufferings are not unique to us; they are also experiencedby
Christians throughout the world—many times in a greaterway than us.
Have we been rejectedby friends for the faith? Have we lostfamily? Have
we been mocked? This is not uncommon. For many throughout the world,
being a Christian means to be skipped over for a promotion, to lose a job,
to have one’s possessions taken, to be imprisoned, or even to lose one’s life.
Over 400 Christians die for the faith every day. This reality must
encourage us to be faithful and willing to join in with their sufferings.
First Corinthians 10:13 says,
No trial has overtakenyou that is not facedby others. And Godis faithful:
He will not let you be tried beyond what you are able to bear, but with the
trial will also provide a way out so that you may be able to endure it.
First Peter5:8–9 says,
Be sober and alert. Your enemy the devil, like a roaring lion, is on the
prowl looking for someone to devour. Resisthim, strong in your faith,
because you know that your brothers and sisters throughout the world are
enduring the same kinds of suffering.
Peterreasons that we should resistthe devil “because” we know that other
believers are going through the same sufferings. Remembering this should
encourage us to suffer and not be ashamed.

120. Being Transparent and Vulnerable
As a further application, this reality reminds us of the importance of being
transparent and vulnerable. One result of the fall was a lack of
transparency. After Adam and Eve sinned, they hid from one another and
God. Now mankind has a tendency to hide their sin or struggles out of
shame. However, many times we need to share our struggles, not only so
we can get help but so we can help others. In 2 Corinthians 1:6, Paul said:
“But if we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation; if we are
comforted, it is for your comfort that you experience in your patient
endurance of the same sufferings that we also suffer.” When others hear
about our struggles, often, it encouragesthem to be faithful in their own.
Are you being vulnerable with others? Or do you keepyour trials and
struggles to yourself? It’s important for you to share, not just to get help,
but also to help others endure.
Application Question: Does the fact that others are suffering for Christ
motivate you to be faithful? Why or why not? Why is it important to share
our struggles with others?
To Be Unashamed, We Must Remember the Greatness ofthe Gospel
He is the one who savedus and calledus with a holy calling, not basedon
our works but on his own purpose and grace, grantedto us in Christ Jesus
before time began, but now made visible through the appearing of our
Savior Christ Jesus. He has broken the power of death and brought life
and immortality to light through the gospel!
2 Timothy 1:9-10
Paul reminds Timothy of the greatness ofthe gospelin order to encourage
him to suffer for it. This thought is similar to Romans 1:16 where Paul
said, “ForI am not ashamedof the gospel, forit is God’s powerfor
salvationto everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.”
The gospelis so wonderful that we should never be afraid to share it or
explain it to others. We should never try to change it, manipulate it, or hide
it. It is too great!
ObservationQuestion: What aspects ofthe gospel’s greatnessdoes Paul
focus on in 2 Timothy 1:9-10?
1. The gospelis greatbecause it is the messageofsalvation.
Paul states that God “savedus” (v. 9). Savedus from what? Through the
gospelwe are savedfrom eternal death—meaning eternal punishment in
hell. We are also savedfrom slaveryto sin, the world, and Satan. We are

121. now slaves ofChrist and righteousness.The gospelis the messageof
salvation. Thank you, Lord!
2. The gospelis greatbecause it calls us to holiness.
Paul said we were “called” with a “holy calling” (v. 9). Sometimes with the
gospel, we only focus on what we’ve been saved from and not saved to.
Ephesians 2:10 says, “Forwe are his workmanship, having been createdin
Christ Jesus forgoodworks that Godprepared beforehand so we may do
them.” God has calledus to holiness—a life of righteous deeds done in the
name of Christ to build God’s kingdom. In 1 Thessalonians4:7, Paul said,
“ForGod did not call us to impurity but in holiness.”
3. The gospelis greatbecause it demonstrates God’s grace.
Paul says, “notbased on our works but on his own purpose and grace,
granted to us in Christ Jesus before time began, but now made visible
through the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus” (v. 9). All other religions
say, “Do!” Man is savedby good works—giving, going to church, serving
the poor, etc. However, the gospelsays, “Done!” Christdid everything, and
we can do nothing to be savedexcept believe (John 3:16). The fact that we
can do nothing for our salvationis reiteratedby the fact this grace was
given to us before time began. Ephesians 1:4-5 says, “Forhe chose us in
Christ before the foundation of the world that we may be holy and
unblemished in his sight in love. He did this by predestining us to adoption
as his sons through Jesus Christ, according to the pleasure of his will.”
4. The gospelis greatbecause it was revealedthrough the historicalperson
of Jesus.
In referring to our calling to salvation before time, Paul said, “but now
made visible through the appearing of our SaviorChrist Jesus” (v. 10).
This gospelwas fully revealed2000 years ago whenthe Son of God came to
the earth as a baby. He lived a perfect life, died on the cross for our sins,
and resurrectedfrom the dead. This gospelis a historicalreality; it is not a
myth. We have more historicalproof of Christ’s resurrection than for the
life of Julius Caesar.
5. The gospelis greatbecause it tells us about the destruction of death.
Paul said that Christ “broke” the powerof death (v. 10). Other versions
say Christ “destroyed” or “abolished” death(v. 10). How did Christ
destroy death? Obviously, people still die today including Christians.
MacArthur’s comments are helpful:

122. Katargeō (abolish) literally means to render inoperative. It is not that
death no longerexists or that believers are promised escape fromit, unless
they are raptured. But for believers, death is no longer a threat, no longer
an enemy, no longerthe end.2
For Christians, death has lost its sting (1 Cor 15:55); it is calledgain (Phil
1:21). It is simply putting off our temporary tent to go to our eternalhome
(2 Cor 5:1). To be absent from the body means to be presentwith the Lord
(2 Cor 5:8). Christ, through his death, delivered believers from the fear of
death (Heb 2:15) and broke the power of death over us. Now death is just a
passing through. This is an amazing gospel!
6. The gospelis greatbecause it is the messageoflife and immortality.
Some see “life” and “immortality” as synonymous—referring to eternallife
in heaven with God and Christ. However, it possibly refers to abundant
“life” on the earth and “immortality” in heaven. Christ said, “I came that
you might have life and life more abundantly” (John 10:10, paraphrase).
This includes knowing God (John 17:3) and having his peace in all
situations (John 14:27).
When Christ came, he brought to “light” life and immortality—meaning
this wasn’tfully understood in the Old Testament. Theyknew of heaven
and the place of the dead, but not in the clarity that we understand it now.
In the Old Testament, these realities were in the shadows, but in the New
Testamentthey were brought into the light. The gospelteaches about
abundant life on earth and eternal life in heaven.
One of the reasons thatwe should be unashamed of our faith, in an
antagonistic world, is because ofhow wonderful the gospelis. It is the
messageofsalvation, holiness, grace, Jesus, the destruction of death, and
the offer of life and immortality.
Application Question: Why is the gospelneededfor believers to continually
hear and not just unbelievers? How does the gospelencourageyou to be
unashamed?
To Be Unashamed, We Must Remember Our Duty to Share the Gospel
For this gospelI was appointed a preacherand apostle and teacher.
Becauseofthis, in fact, I suffer as I do. But I am not ashamed, because I
know the one in whom my faith is setand I am convincedthat he is able to
protect what has been entrusted to me until that day.
2 Timothy 1:11-12

123. Paul shares how God uniquely calledhim to proclaim the gospelas a
herald (or preacher), an apostle, and a teacher. This description of Paul’s
divine duty was a reminder to both Timothy and us of our duty to
faithfully proclaim the gospel. If we don’t share it, nobody else will. Stott
said this about Paul’s various roles in relation to the gospel:
Perhaps we can relate the three offices of ‘apostle’, ‘preacher’and
‘teacher’by saying that the apostles formulatedthe gospel, preachers
proclaim it like heralds, and teachers instruct people systematicallyin its
doctrines and in its ethicalimplications.3
Heralds were sent by a king to proclaim his message withhis authority. We
do the same every time we share the gospel. As teachers, we explain the
applications and implications of the gospel. We may not be apostles, inthat
we are not a part of the historical group who saw the resurrectedChrist
and proclaimed his resurrectionwith signs and wonders (cf. 1 Cor 15:7-9, 2
Cor 12:12);however, the word “apostle” literallymeans “sentone”, and
we’ve all been sent by our Lord to proclaim the gospel. In the Great
Commission, Christ said:
“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go
and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father
and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to obey everything I have
commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the
age.”
Matthew 28:18-20
We must be unashamed of our faith because it is our duty to proclaim it. If
we don’t proclaim it, nobody else will. We are heralds, teachers, and “sent
ones.” Christsends us out like sheep among wolves (Matt 10:16), and yet
we must faithfully discharge our duty.
Application Question: Why is the gospelso offensive to people? What is
your experience with sharing the gospel?
To Be Unashamed, We Must Invest in God
Becauseofthis, in fact, I suffer as I do. But I am not ashamed, because I
know the one in whom my faith is setand I am convincedthat he is able to
protect what has been entrusted to me until that day.
2 Timothy 1:12
Paul said that his suffering for the gospelwas no cause for shame because
he knew that God was able to protect what he had entrusted with him until
that day—the day of Christ’s coming. The word “know” Pauluses “carries

124. the idea of knowing with certainty.”4 The word “entrusted” can be
translated “deposited.” It was a banking term. Paul knew with certainty
that God was the best person to trust and invest in. He therefore would
never suffer ultimate loss or shame, and neither will we.
Interpretation Question:What had Paul entrusted with God and why?
It could refer to severalthings:
1. Paul had entrusted his life with God.
When people put money in a bank, their hope is to not only protect the
money but also to make a profit. Paul may be referring to that here. Christ
was the best person to entrust his life with. Yes, other places were saferin
one sense, but by investing in Christ, he would experience God’s best. Even
if he died, God would resurrect him. If he didn’t die, God would continue
to use his life. Forthese reasons, Paulcould say, “Forto me, living is Christ
and dying is gain” (Phil 1:21). To live means to serve and know Christ and
to die is to serve and know him more. It is gain.
This is true for us as well. There is nothing better than living for Christ
even if it leads to persecutionand earthly loss. Godis able to make up that
loss either on earth or in heaven. The wisely invested life will be a life full
of earthly and heavenly rewards.
Christ saidthis to Peterwho wondered what the disciples would receive for
leaving all to follow Christ. In Mark 10:29–30, Christreplied,
”I tell you the truth, there is no one who has left home or brothers or
sisters or mother or father or children or fields for my sake and for the
sake ofthe gospelwho will not receive in this age a hundred times as
much—homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children, fields, all with
persecutions—andin the age to come, eternallife.
The reward for investing our lives in Christ includes open homes, new
family members, new lands to serve, persecution, and eternal life. But with
these persecutions for the faith, there will be great heavenly rewardas
taught in the Beatitudes (Matt 5:10-12).
2. Paul had entrusted his work with God.
Obviously, Paul had given his life to preaching and teaching the gospel,
founding churches, disciplining believers, and correcting false teachers.
However, none of this work would be loss. Evenwhen the gospelwas
rejected, false teaching prospered, and persecutions came, he could trust
the fruit of his ministry to God. In 1 Corinthians 3:6, Paul said, “I planted,

125. Apollos watered, but God causedit to grow.” Fruitfulness comes from
God.
We canentrust our work to the Lord as well. He will draw people to
himself in his time, set them free from strongholds, and deliver them from
spiritual lethargy. God makes things grow. Therefore, we should not be
ashamedwhen things seemfruitless. When Christ died, there were only
120 devoted followers waiting and praying in a room. However, afterthe
Spirit fell at Pentecost,3000 repentedand were saved. We must deposit our
work in the bank of Christ and leave the results to God.
There is no need to be ashamed of our investment in the Lord. If we give
our life and work to the Lord, he will maximize them. We will be rewarded
both on earth and heaven. He will produce fruit for his name’s sake.
3. Paul had entrusted the gospelwith God.
Some believe that Paul was referring specificallyto the gospel. In 2
Timothy 1:14, Paul challenges Timothy, “Protectthat goodthing entrusted
to you, through the Holy Spirit who lives within us.” Paul sought to guard
and protectthe gospel, and he challengedTimothy to continue that work.
However, even if it was God’s will for Paul and Timothy to die because of
persecution, the gospelwould still go forward. God was trustworthy (v. 12).
And certainly, we see this fruit today. The Roman Empire that killed Paul
disintegrated, but the gospeldidn’t, and it never will. It is still moving
triumphantly throughout the earth today. Though eachof our lives will one
day end (at leastin its present state), the messagewe share is eternaland
will never cease.
William MacDonaldsaidthis about the various views concerning the
“deposit”:
Perhaps it is best to take the expressionin its broadestsense. Paulwas
persuaded that his entire case was in the best of hands. Even as he faced
death, he had no misgivings. Jesus Christ was his Almighty Lord, and with
Him there could be no defeator failure. There was nothing to worry about.
Paul’s salvation was sure, and so was the ultimate success ofhis service for
Christ here on earth.5
Have you invested your life, your work, and the gospelin God’s hands? If
so, God will use your investment for his glory. In God’s eyes, it is the
invested life that is the successfullife.

126. Application Question: What keeps people from fully investing their lives
with God? Was there a certain point in your life when you decided to go
“all in” with God? Describe that time and the effects ofthat decision.
To Be Unashamed, We Must Keep Sound Teaching
Hold to the standard of sound words that you heard from me and do so
with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. Protectthat goodthing
entrusted to you, through the Holy Spirit who lives within us.
2 Timothy 1:13-14
Finally, Paul instructs Timothy to “hold” to sound words (or teaching)
with faith and love. It can also be translated “hold fast” or “keep.” The
word “sound” means “healthy.” We must hold fastto healthy teaching, as
it’s possible to lose it or allow it to be corrupted. We must guard it as a
deposit with the help of the Holy Spirit. In Matthew 5:19, Christ said that
those who disobeyed his teaching and taught others to disobey it would
ultimately be calledleastin the kingdom of heaven. Believing and teaching
unhealthy doctrine ultimately leads to shame before Godand others.
Therefore, to be unashamed on earth and in heaven, we must keepsound
teaching.
Interpretation Question:What does Paulmean by challenging Timothy to
keepthe pattern of sound teaching?
1. To keepsound teaching, we must understand it through disciplined
study.
In 2 Timothy 2:15, Paul says, “Make everyeffort to present yourself before
God as a proven workerwho does not need to be ashamed, teaching the
messageoftruth accurately.” Manywho profess Christ don’t really know
what God’s Word teaches. Forothers, they are lazy in their study and
therefore mishandle God’s Word—causing others to stumble. This will
lead to shame before others and ultimately God.
If we are going to be unashamed, we must understand God’s Word
through disciplined study.
2. To keepsound teaching, we must obey it.
One of the main reasons people are ashamedof God and his words is
because they don’t obey them. They feel hypocritical, and are often viewed
as such, because their lifestyle doesn’t match their professedbelief. If we
are to be unashamed, we must practice what God’s Word says.
3. To keepsound teaching, we must test all teaching againstGod’s Word.

127. Paul told Timothy to keepPaul’s instruction as “the standard of sound
words” (v. 13). The Greek wordfor “standard,” or it can be translated
“pattern,” was used of “a writer’s outline or an artist’s rough sketch,
which set the guidelines and standards for the finished work. The
Christian’s standard is God’s Word, which encompassesthe sound words”
which Paul taught.6 God’s Word equips the man of God for all
righteousness (2 Tim 3:17). Therefore, we should testparenting strategies,
marriage customs, work norms, and cultural expectations againstit—less
we be led astray. In addition, we must test all teaching in the church
againstGod’s Word. In Acts 17:11 (ESV), the Bereans were called“noble”
because they testedPaul’s teachings againstScripture day and night. We
must do the same. This will protectus from being ashamedabout accepting
unhealthy teaching, promoting it, or living it out.
4. To keepsound teaching, we must demonstrate faith and love.
Paul says to keepthe pattern of sound teaching with “faith” and “love” (v.
13). “Faith” means both to believe God’s Word and to be faithful to it.
“Love” means that we must love God’s Word. David said, “O, how I love
your law!
All day long I meditate on it” (Psalm 119:97). FirstPeter2:2 says that we
must “yearn” for it like infants yearn for milk. If we love it, then we’ll
study it, meditate on it, and share it. In addition, we must speak the truth
to others in love (Eph 4:15). If we have faith without love, we become harsh
Pharisees.But if we have love and no faith, then we become antinomians—
touting freedom to sin.
Are you keeping the standard with faith and love?
5. To keepsound teaching, we must protect it.
When Paul says to “protectthat goodthing entrusted to you” (v. 14), he
further clarifies what it means to “hold” or “keep” the standard of sound
teaching (v. 13). Since false teaching abounds around the world, as it did in
Ephesus, we must contend for the truth by exposing bad doctrine in order
to protect others from it. By doing this, we protect sound doctrine from
either decay or being lost. In addition, we protect sound teaching by
sharing it with others, so they can obey it and also be kept from lies.
6. To keepsound teaching, we must rely on the Holy Spirit.
In verse 14, Paul adds that we must protect sound teaching “through the
Holy Spirit who lives within us.” Only God’s Spirit can enable us to keep
the pattern of sound words. We must depend on the Holy Spirit through

128. prayer and a deepening relationship with Christ and his body. Like David,
we must cry out for God to turn our eyes from worthless things and to
preserve us by God’s Word (Psalm119:37). We must rely on the Holy
Spirit to help us discern what is false (1 John 2:27). We must rely on him to
enable us to teachGod’s Word and correctmisinterpretations of it.
Are you keeping the pattern of sound teaching? Only by keeping God’s
Word can we be unashamed before God and others. To acceptand
promote what is false always leads to shame.
Application Question: Why is it so difficult to keepthe pattern of sound
teaching in our lives, churches, and Christian organizations? How have
you seenthis pattern lost in many of our churches and Christian
organizations? How do you feel God is calling you specificallyto contribute
to keeping the standard of sound teaching?
Conclusion
How can we be unashamed of our faith in a world that is increasingly
antagonistic to Christ, his people, and his Word?
To Be Unashamed, We Must Be Empoweredby God’s Spirit
To Be Unashamed, We Must Accept Suffering as from the Lord
To Be Unashamed, We Must Remember That Others Are Suffering as well
To Be Unashamed, We Must Remember the Greatness ofthe Gospel
To Be Unashamed, We Must Remember Our Duty to Share the Gospel
To Be Unashamed, We Must Invest in God
To Be Unashamed, We Must Keep Sound Teaching
Copyright © 2017, 2018(2nd Edition) GregoryBrown
Unless otherwise noted, the primary Scriptures used are takenfrom the
NET Bible ® copyright © 1996-2016by Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. All
rights reserved.
Holy Bible, New International Version ®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978,
1984 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reservedworldwide.
Scripture quotations marked (ESV) are from The Holy Bible, English
Standard Version® (ESV®) Copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing
ministry of Good News Publishers. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are takenfrom the Holy Bible, New
Living Translation, Copyright © 1996, 2004,2007by Tyndale House

129. Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol
Stream, Illinois 60188.All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations marked (NASB) are takenfrom the New American
Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1962,1963, 1968, 1971,1972, 1973,
1975, 1977, and1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.
Scripture quotations marked (KJV) are from the King James Versionof
the Bible.
All emphases in Scripture quotations and commentary have been added.
BTG Publishing all rights reserved.
1 Wiersbe, W. W. (1996). The Bible expositioncommentary (Vol. 2, pp.
241–242). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.
2 MacArthur, J. F., Jr. (1995). 2 Timothy (p. 22). Chicago:Moody Press.
3 Stott, J. R. W. (1973). Guard the Gospelthe messageof2 Timothy (p. 41).
Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.
4 MacArthur, J. F., Jr. (1995). 2 Timothy (p. 25). Chicago:Moody Press.
5 MacDonald, W. (1995). Believer’s Bible Commentary: Old and New
Testaments. (A. Farstad, Ed.) (p. 2112). Nashville:Thomas Nelson.
6 MacArthur, J. F., Jr. (1995). 2 Timothy (p. 29). Chicago:Moody Press.
GREGORYBROWN
CALVIN
Verse 12
12Forwhich cause also I suffer these things It is well knownthat the rage
of the Jews was kindledagainstPaul, for this reasonmore than any other,
that he made the gospelcommon to the Gentiles. Yet the phrase for which
cause relates to the whole verse, and therefore must not be limited to the
last clause about“the Gentiles.”
But I am not ashamedThat the prison in which he was bound might not in
any degree lessenhis authority, he contends, on the contrary, by two
arguments. First, he shows that the cause, far from being disgraceful, was

130. even honorable to him; for he was a prisoner, not on accountof any evil
deed, but because he obeyedGod who calledhim. It is an inconceivable
consolation, whenwe are able to bring a goodconsciencein opposition to
the unjust judgments of men. Secondly, from the hope of a prosperous
issue he argues that there is nothing disgracefulin his imprisonment. He
who shall avail himself of this defense will be able to overcome any
temptations, howevergreatthey may be. And when he says, that he “is not
ashamed,” he stimulates others, by his example, to have the same courage.
For I know whom I have believed This is the only place of refuge, to which
all believers ought to resort, whenever the world reckons them to be
condemned and ruined men; namely, to reckonit enough that God
approves of them; for what would be the result, if they depended on men?
And hence we ought to infer how widely faith differs from opinion;
because, whenPaul says, “I know whom I have believed,” he means that it
is not enough if you believe, unless you have the testimony of God, and
unless you have full certainty of it. Faith, therefore, neither leans on the
authority of men, nor rests on God, in such a manner as to hesitate, but
must be joined with knowledge;otherwise it would not be sufficiently
strong againstthe innumerable assaults ofSatan. He who with Paul enjoys
this knowledge,will know, by experience, that, on good grounds, our faith
is called
“the victory that overcomeththe world,” (1 John 5:4)
and that on goodgrounds, it was saidby Christ,
“The gates ofhell shall not prevail againstit.”
(Matthew 16:18.)
Amidst every storm and tempest, that man will enjoy undisturbed repose,
who has a settledconviction that God,
“who cannot lie,” (Titus 1:2)
or deceive, hath spoken, and will undoubtedly perform what he hath
promised. On the other hand, he who has not this truth sealedonhis heart,
will be continually shakenhither and thither like a reed.
This passageis highly worthy of attention; because it expresses admirably
the powerof faith, when it shows that, even in desperate affairs, we ought
to give to God such glory as not to doubt that he will be true and faithful;
and when it likewise shows thatwe ought to rely on the word as fully as if
God had manifested himself to us from heaven; for he who has not this
conviction understands nothing. Let us always remember that Paul does

131. not pursue philosophical speculations in the shade, but, having the reality
before his eyes, solemnly declares, how highly valuable is a confident hope
of eternal life.
And am persuaded that he is able Because the powerand greatness of
dangers often fill us with dismay, or at leasttempt our hearts to distrust,
for this reasonwe must defend ourselves with this shield, that there is
sufficient protection in the powerof God. In like manner Christ, when he
bids us cherish confident hope, employs this argument,
“The Father, who gave you to me, is greaterthan all,”
(John 10:29)
by which he means, that we are out of danger, seeing that the Lord, who
hath takenus under his protection, is abundantly powerful to put down all
opposition. True, Satandoes not venture to suggestthis thought in a direct
form, that Godcannot fulfill, or is prevented from fulfilling, what he has
promised, (for our senses are shockedby so gross a blasphemy against
God,) but, by preoccupying our eyes and understandings, he takes away
from us all sense ofthe powerof God. The heart must therefore be well
purified, in order that it may not only taste that power, but may retain the
taste of it amidst temptations of every kind.
Now, wheneverPaul speaks ofthe power of God, understand by it what
may be called his actual or ( ἐνεργουμένμν) “effectual” power, as he calls it
elsewhere.(Colossians1:29)Faith always connects the powerof God with
the word, which it does not imagine to be at a distance, but, having
inwardly conceivedit, possessesand retains it. Thus it is said of Abraham:
“He did not hesitate or dispute, but gave glory to God, being fully
convinced that what he had promised he was able also to perform,”
(Romans 4:20.)
What I have intrusted to him Observe that he employs this phrase to
denote eternallife; for hence we conclude, that our salvationis in the hand
of God, in the same manner as there are in the hand of a depository those
things which we deliver to him to keep, relying on his fidelity. If our
salvationdepended on ourselves, (147)to how many dangers would it be
continually exposed? But now it is well that, having been committed to
such a guardian, it is out of all danger.

132. ALAN CARR
2 Tim. 1:12 CAN GOD REALLY KEEP YOU SAVED?
Intro: In this verse, the Apostle Paul makes a bold statement concerning
his salvation. He tells us that he is confident that his salvationis eternal in
nature. But, is it really? Is salvationsomething we can count on, or is it
something we must simply hope will work out for us in the end? Can a
Christian truly have absolute assurancethat he or she is saved? And, can
the Christian be sure that he or she will never be lostagain? Is there
anything you or I could do that would cause Jesus to take awayour
salvation? Is it possible for us to decide that we didn't want to be a
Christian anymore and lose it that way? What I am asking is canGod
really keepyou saved?
Mostpeople would say "No!" Mostdenominations hold a view that says
man can, by the exercise ofhis own free will turn from God to sin at any
time and be lost. This is the view held by the Methodists, Wesleyans, Free
Will Baptists, Lutherans, Episcopalians, mostholiness and charismatic
groups, and the Anglican Church. In other words, the majority of
Protestantdenominations believe that it is possible for a personto be lost
after they have come to Jesus Christ for salvation. This view is calledthe
Arminian view of salvation. It teaches thatman's free will allows him the
right to choose betweensalvationand sin at his own choice. This view of
salvationis based in a faulty understanding of the Bible and of salvation
itself. Slipshod theologyis the root of the Arminian point of view!
We Baptists, on the other hand, believe that once salvationhas been
granted by God, salvationcan never be taken away. We hold that once a
person has been saved by grace, they are forever savedand nothing will
ever be able to change that fact! We believe that man is savedby the
exercise ofhis free will, but that at the moment of salvation, the believer is
instantly and eternally changedand adopted in to the family of God. We
believe that the believer is declaredrighteous through justification and that
eternal life is a present possession. We hold that it is impossible for a born
againone to ever be lost, or to ever go to hell.
Now, who is right? Can salvationbe lostas the majority of the church
world teaches? Or, is salvationan eternal gift that cannever be taken
back? I believe that Paul clears up the issue in this verse. Please allow me
to take this one verse this morning, as wellas some supporting texts, and

133. answerthe question, "CanGod Really Keep You Saved?" Bythe way, my
answerat the outsetis "GodCan!" Hopefully, we will all be of the same
mind by the conclusionof the message.
I. PAUL'S CONVERSION
A. Involved A Person- Paul says he knows in "Whom" he had believed.
When Paul was savedon the way to Damascus, his conversionwas the
direct result of meeting a person, Acts 9:4-6. Paul was a highly educated
man, Acts 22:3, and he was a holy man when his life was comparedwith
the requirements of the Law, Phil. 3:6. But, his salvationcould never be
earned with such things. It took a personalrelationship with the Lord
Jesus Christ to bring about Paul's salvation.
(Ill. This is the way conversionhappens for every person who ever gets
saved. No one ever earns their salvation by goodworks, Eph. 2:8-9, neither
can it be brought about by learning a bunch of Bible verses or church
teachings. Salvationis the result of a personalrelationship with the Lord
Jesus Christ - Acts 4:12; 1 John 5:12. No amount of goodness oreducation
will ever produce salvation. It is always and only the result of meeting
Jesus Christ in a personalway.)
B. Involved A Plan - Notice that Paul says that his conversionwas the
result of "belief." Salvationcannotbe workedup or prayed down. It can
only be accomplishedthrough simple faith. Notice what the Bible says
about the means and manner of salvation - John 3:16; Rom. 10:9; John
3:36. Salvationcan only be yours through faith in Jesus Christ.
(Ill. What is faith? The word faith is defined as "complete confidence, trust
or reliance." Faith, in regard to God, means having total trust in Jesus
Christ for the salvationof one's soul. It mean trusting Jesus, Him alone,
and Him completelyfor salvation. Faith is absolutely essentialfor
salvation. Faith also implies letting go of one's self-effort. Being saved
means that we are to trust Jesus Christand Him alone for the salvation of
our souls. It is always basedon absolute belief.)
C. Involved A Permanence - Notice the use of the words "I have believed."
In the Greek, this verb is in the PerfectTense. This means that it is an
actionthat has been completed in the past, once and for all, not needing to
be repeated ever. Paul is saying that when he placed his faith in Jesus
Christ, it was a one time for all time action. He says that what was
accomplishedthen was also finished then. Paul knows that his salvationis a
permanent thing. It never needs to be redone and will last forever.

134. (Ill. The same is true for the salvationyou and I enjoy through Jesus
Christ. When you come to Jesus, the work He does in you is a permanent
work. It will never have to be repeated. In fact, it cannot be repeated. If
salvationwere ever lost, it could never be redone until Jesus came, was
virgin born, died on the cross and rose againfrom the dead, Heb. 6:4-6.)
I. Paul's Conversion
(Ill. Some may wonder why I have given the plan of salvationin a message
about eternal security. The reasonis simple! You must be savedbefore you
can be confident of salvation. After telling us about his salvation, Paul
shares with us why he has the confidence in Christ he does.)
II. PAUL'S CONFIDENCE
A. BasedIn The PersonOf God - Paul says this, "I know in Whom I have
believed." The word know means to "know by personalexperience." Paul
is telling us that he has the confidence he does in the Lord because he
knows the Lord. He has experiencedGod's powerfirst hand and he knows
what God can do.
(Ill. People who have assurance ofsalvationhave a strong personalfaith in
God. They believe in a God who is all-powerful. One who does what He has
promised and One who is able to bring about salvation. Those who doubt
whether or not God can save them and keepthem saved often have an
imperfect view of who God is. Who is God to you? Is He an all-powerful,
able being who does what He says perfectly, or is He weak, imperfectand
unable to do what He has saidHe would do? You can choose,but I'll take a
powerful God any day!)
B. BasedIn The PowerOf God - Next Paul reminds us that God is "able".
This word simply means that God has the power to do a thing. Paul tells us
that his salvation, and our as well, is basedin the powerof God. Petertells
us that we are "kept by the power of God", 1 Pet. 1:5. In simple terms, our
salvationis only as strong as God's powerto keepus saved. The bottom
line is this, if our salvationdepends on anything less than the power of
God, then we are all hopelesslylost. If those who teachthat a clean, holy
live is essentialto maintaining one's state of salvation, then we are all going
to Hell. If, however, salvationis maintained by the powerof God alone,
then we have nothing to fear. After all, we serve a God Who is infinitely
powerful. (Isa. 26:4; Luke 1:37)
C. BasedIn The Promises Of God - Paul tells us that he is "persuaded"
about God's ability to preserve the soul. Paul's confidence is not a blind
leap into the dark, but it is a confidence basedsquarely upon the precious

135. promises of God. Notice the promises related to salvation that you and I
can take to the bank.
1. Salvationis by grace, notworks - Eph. 2:8-9.
2. Everlasting means exactly what it says - John 6:47; John 3:16.
3. Everlasting life is a present possession - John 3:36.
4. Salvationis Christ's gift and will never be revoked - John 10:28.
5. Nothing canremove us from His hand - John 10:28-29.
6. The believer is no longercondemned - Rom. 8:1; John 5:24.
7. Sin is not chargedto the believer - Rom. 4:5-8.
8. Nothing canseparate the believer from the love of God - Rom. 8:38-39.
9. The believer will never be castout - John 6:37.
10. The believer has been born again and cannotbe unborn - John 3:3; 5-7.
11. The believer is calleda child of Godand the father child relationship is
one that cannotbe ended - 1 John 3:2.
(Ill. In the simplest of terms, Paul is telling us that he knows beyond a
shadow of a doubt that God can save the soul and that He can keepthe
born againone saved. My friend, do you share the same confidence held by
Paul? Are you settledin the knowledge that Jesus Christsaves sinners?)
I. Paul's Conversion
II. Paul's Confidence
III. PAUL'S COMMITMENT
A. He Committed His Soul - Paul was trusting Jesus with his eternal soul. I
believe that this is the "that" he was speaking ofin this verse. So are you
and I! We need to be as confident in our salvationas Paul was in his, and
we can be if we are willing to take the Lord at His word and acceptthat
fact that He saves and keeps those who come to Him by faith.
B. He Committed His Service - Paul had given his life, after salvation, to
doing what the Lord wanted him to do. Paul's total surrender was basedin
the knowledge thatthe Lord had savedhim with a perfectsalvation that
would last for all eternity. Such a gift demands such a surrender! (Ill. This
is the principle taught in 1 John 4:19.) My friends, we are wasting our time
serving the Lord if we are not kept by His power. It is true that His life is
the bestlife, however, as Paul said, "If in this life only we have hope in

136. Christ, we are of all men most miserable.", 1 Cor. 15:19. On the contrary,
we serve and love Him because ofthat which He has done on our behalf!
C. He Committed His Salvation- As this verse closes, Paulspeaksof"that
day." He is writing about the day when he must leave this world and face
the Lord in judgment. He knows that when that day comes, he had better
be found in Christ. For to be found in the flesh and in the substance of the
natural man is to invite certain damnation. Paul knew that when "that
day" came he would be found in Jesus, regardlessofwhat happened down
here in this life, Phil. 3:9.
(Ill. I am glad that I have that same confidence this morning. My salvation
does not, nor has it ever depended on me or what I can do. My salvation
depends totally upon the Lord Jesus Christ and what He is able to do
through His limitless power.)
Conc:My friends, there is no way I can presenta complete discussionon a
topic this deep in the allottedtime we have we have together. However, I
want every person who comes to this church to know that there is a great
big God in Heaven who keeps every saint He saves. He is able and He will
get us home in one piece, 1 Thes. 5:23.
As we close this messagethis morning, I want to ask you a very simple
question, "Have you ever been saved?" If you answeris no, then I want to
remind you that God loves you and has made a way for you to be saved. If
you would like to get the matter of your salvationsquared awaythis
morning, then this altar is open for you.
If you are saved, I want you to know that Godwill take you safelyhome to
Heaven when you leave this world. Irregardless ofwhat the devil, the
world or the flesh does, God is still able to save to the uttermost, Heb. 7:25.
As we close, letme remind you that what He has started, He will finish,
Phil. 1:6.
STEVEN COLE
Banking with God (2 Timothy 1:12-14)
RelatedMedia

137. 00:00
00:00
Our subject today is “Banking with God.” I’m not talking about your
money, but something far more important—your life. Eachof us is
investing our lives in something. It may be a career. It may be building a
solid marriage and rearing our children in the Lord. But we all are allotted

138. a certain number of days. We spend them doing something. The sum total
of how we spend our days amounts to the investment of our lives.
My next birthday is already scaring me, even though it is still more than six
months away. I will turn 60. For those of you who are younger, that sounds
ancient—way, wayoff in the distant future. But let me assure you, it comes
around very quickly! You find yourself looking in the mirror at this face
that isn’t so young any more, wondering, “Where did the time go?”
Whateveryour age, you need to think carefully about how to invest wisely
the few short years that the Lord gives you. Jesus askedthe vital question
(Mark 8:36), “Forwhat does it profit a man to gain the whole world, and
forfeit his soul?”
When it comes to investing money, most of us are pretty careful. If you’re
like me, you don’t have more money than you know what to do with, and
so you’re cautious about entrusting it to an unknown person or company
that promises you a profit. But, it’s amazing that while people are careful
about investing their money, they are often very haphazard about investing
their lives. They waste gobs oftime. Without thinking, people devote their
lives to pursuing fleeting pleasures and possessions.But they give little
thought to investing their lives with God, who gives “solidjoys and lasting
treasure” (John Newton, “Glorious Things of Thee are Spoken”). Jesus
referred to this as storing up treasure for yourself, but not being rich
toward God (Luke 12:21).
In our text, Paul gives us a guaranteedplan for successfulbanking with
God. Here is a man who, if you look at his outward circumstances, has
every reasonto anxious and uncertain about his life. His life is basically
over. He is in a dungeon in Rome, awaiting executionfrom the evil tyrant,
Nero. He was destitute. He didn’t even have a coatto keephim warm. He
was not a world-renowned best-selling author and conference speaker. At
this point, he didn’t know, as one author put it, that centuries later men
would name their sons Paul and their dogs Nero. He was just a lonely old
man, chained to a Roman guard, with many reasons fordisappointment.
So as he awaiteddeath, Paul had every reasonto say, “I’m not so sure
about the way I’ve lived my life. I’m not going to advise others to follow my
example.” And yet he exudes confident assurance in God and exhorts
Timothy to follow his example. This man has something to tell us about
investing our lives successfully!Paul shows us that there are two sides to
successfulbanking with God:

139. To invest your life successfully, deposit it with Christ and guard His
deposit with you.
Entrust everything that you are and have to God for safekeeping. And,
God entrusts something with you for safekeeping.
1. To invest your life successfully, deposit it with Christ (1:12).
You can dream about and study investments all you like, but the bottom
line is when you actually depositsome of your hard-earned cashwith the
investment firm. Until that transactiontakes place, all of your knowledge
and interest in the subject count for nothing. If the investment shoots up in
value, it won’t benefit you at all unless you’re actually invested in it.
In a similar way, you must personally commit your life to Jesus Christ.
Paul writes (1:12), “Forthis reason[the gospelthat had laid hold of him,
vv. 9-11]I also suffer these things, but I am not ashamed; for I know whom
I have believed and I am convinced that He is able to guard what I have
entrusted to Him [lit., “my deposit”] until that day.” The Greek word for
“deposit” was usedof leaving your valuables in the care of a trusted friend
to guard while you were away. Until you deposit your life with Christ, all of
your knowledge aboutGod and interest in spiritual things amount to
nothing. You must make the deposit before the investment can begin to
benefit you. So a crucial question is, “How do I depositmy life with
Christ?”
A. Depositing your life with Christ involves knowledge andtrust.
Paul says that he knew whom he had believed. As I said lastweek, it’s
significant that Paul does not say, “I know what I have believed” (although
he did), but rather, “I know whom I have believed.” There is a vast
difference betweenknowing about Christ and knowing Christ personally.
Of course, you cannot know Christ personallyuntil you first know about
Him. You must hear about Christ and the facts of the gospelas revealedin
the Bible, and you must believe that those facts are true. But true
Christianity involves entering into and maintaining a personalrelationship
with Him, where you grow to know Him more and more. As your
knowledge ofChrist grows, your trust in Him grows.
Trust is at the heart of the banking industry. You don’t take your money to
a guy in a trailer with a homemade sign that reads, “FastEddie’s Bank”!
Mostof us go to a bank with an establishedname, in a decent-looking
building, where we hand over our check to a respectable-looking teller. If
all of the tellers lookedlike guys who were scrounging for drug money, we
might decide to bank elsewhere!To deposit money in a bank requires trust.

140. In the same way, it takes trust to deposit your life with Jesus Christ. When
you trust in Christ to save you, you are admitting, “I cannotsave myself by
my ownefforts or goodworks. Although I am a sinner, I am confident that
Jesus Christ cansave me. I am entrusting my eternal destiny to Him. I am
taking Godat His Word by believing that Christ will do what He promised,
namely, to give eternal life to every person who believes in Him.”
Until you have made that basic transaction, you do not have eternal life
and you do not have a relationship with Christ. It is not too strong to say
that until you have depositedyour life with God, you’re wasting your life.
Some thirty years before writing this letter to Timothy, Paul had made that
deposit on the Damascus Road. At that time, he let go of all that he had
been trusting in for standing with God in exchange for the surpassing value
of knowing Jesus Christ his Lord (Phil. 3:7-10).
Some may ask, “CanI entrust part of my life with Christ now, and if things
go well, I’ll give Him the restlater?” Or, as it’s usually phrased, “CanI
acceptJesus as my Savior, but wait to make Him my Lord?” The Bible is
clearthat trusting Christ with your eternal destiny is an all or nothing
deal. You entrust to Him all of yourself that you are aware of. Over time,
He will reveal to you other areas that you have not yielded that you were
not aware ofat first. But you are not truly trusting in Christ if you’re
knowingly holding back part of your life from Him. To trust in Him for
eternal life is to depositall of your life with Him.
I read once about a family that put their elderly grandmother on a plane
for her first flight. She wasn’ttoo sure about this mode of transportation,
but she grudgingly went along with it. When she returned, some of the
family members couldn’t help playfully asking, “Grannie, did the plane
hold you up okay?” She reluctantly admitted that it did, but then added,
“But I never put my full weight down on it.”
Trusting Christ as your Savior means getting on board and putting your
full weightdown on Him. You let go of any notion that you can do anything
to save yourself. You abandon any trust in your goodworks. You rely on
Christ and His shed blood as the only acceptable payment for your sins.
That is the starting point of banking with God.
Someone may wonder, “If I deposit all of my life with Christ, does that
mean that I have to be a missionaryin Africa?” The answeris, maybe,
maybe not. It does mean that you must be willing to be a missionary in
Africa if the Lord calls you to do that. Trusting Christ means that you trust
that He is good and that He knows whatis best for your life. If He wants

141. you to be a missionary in Africa, you’d be miserable to be a successful
stockbrokeron Wall Street. You’ve got to trust Him for that. You hand
Him a blank check for all of your life and He fills in the details.
“But,” you may ask, “willmy depositbe secure?”
B. Depositing your life with Christ is secure becauseHe is trustworthy and
able to guard it.
A literal translationof verse 12b, bringing out the tenses of the Greek
verbs, is, “for I know Him in whom I have trusted and still am trusting,
and I became convincedand still am convinced that He is able to guard my
deposit until that day.” Paul’s firm and abiding assurance restedon his
personalknowledge ofthe Lord Jesus Christ. Paul knew that Christ is
completely trustworthy.
That knowledge grows overtime, but personal knowledge ofJesus Christis
the keyto assurance, becauseyoudiscoverthat He is totally trustworthy
and is fully capable of fulfilling His promises. “He is able!” If He’s not able,
you shouldn’t trust Him. But He has never failed any investor who has
entrusted his soul to Him. Here is His promise (John 10:27-28):“My sheep
hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; and I give eternallife
to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My
hand.” That’s a secure investment!
But you still may wonder, “Is my investment wise? Will it bring me an
adequate return?”
C. Depositing your life with Christ is wise because it is to bank on eternity.
Paul says (1:12b), “He is able to guard what I have entrusted to Him until
that day.” He is referring to the day of judgment, when all accounts will be
squared awaybefore God. If this life is all that there is, then we live in a
cruel and unfair world. Here is a godly, self-sacrificing apostlein a
dungeon while a perverted lunatic revels in luxury and debauchery as he
rules the RomanEmpire. Paul was executedwhile Nero kept on partying.
That was not fair!
But, that day is coming. When he was preaching to the intellectuals in
Athens, Paul proclaimed (Acts 17:31) that God “has fixed a day in which
He will judge the world in righteousness througha Man whom He has
appointed, having furnished proof to all men by raising Him from the
dead.” If Jesus is risen, then that day is coming. No one will get awaywith
anything. All wrongs will be brought to light and punished. All who have
trusted in Christ will not face judgment, but will “stand in the presence of

142. His glory blameless with greatjoy” (Jude 24). In light of eternity, it is a
secure and wise investment to deposit your life with Jesus Christ.
Have you made that deposit with your life? That’s where you begin. You
commit everything that you are and have to Christ, convincedthat He is
able to guard your deposituntil that day. But, there is another side to
banking with God.
2. To invest your life successfully, you must guard Christ’s deposit with
you (1:13-14).
Paul exhorts Timothy (1:14), “Guard, through the Holy Spirit who dwells
in us, the treasure [lit., “the gooddeposit”]which has been entrusted to
you.” When you entrust your life to Jesus Christ, He entrusts His good(the
Greek word means “morally excellent,” or “beautiful”) deposit with you.
Paul is referring to the gospel, which includes the whole body of Christian
truth about the person and work of Jesus Christ.
While the gospelis containedin the written Word, the Bible, at the same
time it is preserved and communicated in and through the lives of God’s
people. Many people never read the Bible, but they read your life. You are
to personify the goodnews of Jesus Christin what you believe and how you
live. While in verse 12 the emphasis is on whom you believe, in verses 13 &
14 the emphasis is on what you believe. Satanis relentless in attacking the
truth of the gospel, because“itis the power of God for salvation to
everyone who believes” (Rom. 1:16). You must guard that deposit. How do
you do that? Three ways:
A. You guard the depositby holding to sound doctrine.
“Retain” (1:13) means to have or hold in one’s charge for safekeeping. It
was used of Judas having the money-box (John 12:6; 13:29). “Standard”
refers to a pattern or example. Thus Paul is telling Timothy that he must
hold to the pattern or blueprint of sound doctrine that Paul had laid out.
Becausesounddoctrine, especiallyon core issues, suchas the gospel, is
always under enemy attack, we must guard it and fight for it as if we were
guarding a precious treasure.
Obviously, there are many doctrinal disputes among those professing to
know Christ. How do you determine what sound doctrine is? More could
be said, but there are two clues in our text:
(1). Sound doctrine leads to spiritual health.
“Sound” means “healthy” (we getour word “hygienic” from it). Sound
doctrine is teaching that leads to genuine spiritual health. It results in

143. people being truly born againand growing to maturity in Christ. In
Ephesians 4, Paul talks about pastor-teachersequipping the saints. The
goalof their teaching is (4:13) that “we all attain to the unity of the faith,
and of the knowledge ofthe Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure
of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ.” He goes onto talk
about not being tossedaround by every wind of doctrine.
In our day, doctrine has become a dirty word. The sloganis, “Doctrine is
divisive. Jesus saidthat the world would know we’re Christians by our
love, not by our doctrine. So let’s set aside our differences and come
togetherin the areas where we agree.”Thatmay be fine if we’re talking
about doctrines that are peripheral to the gospel. Butif we setaside the
essentials ofthe gospel, we have failed to guard the gooddeposit that God
entrusted to us.
(2). Sound doctrine is apostolic doctrine.
Paul tells Timothy to retain the standard of sound words “whichyou have
heard from me.” Paul was an apostle in a sense that no one today can be.
He had seenthe risen Lord and he was entrusted with authority from
Christ to build the church (1 Cor. 9:1; 2 Cor. 13:10; Eph. 2:20). His
writings are inspired Scripture (2 Pet. 3:15-16). The New Testament
contains apostolic doctrine.
To find out if a teaching is sound, go to the New Testamentand compare
Scripture with Scripture. Be careful, because Satanknows Scripture, too,
and he is subtle in lifting verses out of context, or emphasizing one verse
while neglecting another. Systematic theologyis the process offitting all of
the relevant verses ofScripture togetherinto a unified whole. If any despise
theologyas an academic exercise, I would point out that we all are
theologians, becausewe alltry to fit the Scriptures together. If you despise
theology, I would venture that you are a sloppy theologianand you’re not
retaining the standard of sound doctrine that Paul handed down to us in
the New Testament. We all are chargedto guard the depositof biblical
truth by holding to sound doctrine.
B. You guard the depositby living a godly life.
Timothy was to retain the standard of sound words “in the faith and love
which are in Christ Jesus.”In other words, holding to sound doctrine is not
enough. How you hold to sound doctrine matters greatly!
First, you must hold to sound doctrine in the faith that is in Christ Jesus.
You must truly believe what the Bible teaches,to the degree that it filters
down into your everyday life. Jesus said(Luke 6:46), “Why do you call Me,

144. ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say?” Genuine faith always results in
obedience to Christ.
Second, you must hold to sound doctrine in the love that is in Christ Jesus.
Biblical love is not syrupy sentiment, but rather a commitment to seek the
highest goodof the one loved. It is not mere words, but also gooddeeds (1
John 3:18). I have known men who hold to sound doctrine, but they do not
hold it in genuine love towards others. Rather, they use their knowledge of
the truth to prove that they are right and to put down those who are
wrong. That is just pride, not love. But, as Paul says (2 Tim. 2:24-25), we
must not be quarrelsome, but kind, patient, and gentle towards those who
do not know the truth.
How do we guard the deposit of sound doctrine in true godliness? Paul
answers,
C. You guard the depositthrough the indwelling Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit is the third person of the Trinity. He is given to every
believer at the moment of salvation(Rom. 8:9; 1 Cor. 12:13). He is directly
involved in both aspects ofguarding the deposit of the gospel, namely,
holding to sound doctrine and living a godly life.
(1). The Holy Spirit is the divine interpreter of sound doctrine.
Jesus promised the apostles (John14:26) that “the Holy Spirit, whom the
Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things….” John later
wrote to a church that was wrackedwith confusionbecause of false
teachers (1 John 2:27), “As for you, the anointing which you receivedfrom
Him abides in you, and you have no need for anyone to teachyou; but as
His anointing teaches you about all things, and is true and is not a lie, and
just as it has taught you, you abide in Him.”
John was not dispensing with the need for human teachers, in that he
himself was at that moment teaching them! Rather, he was writing against
the Gnostic false teachers,who claimed that you had to go through them to
understand the secrettruths about God. John was affirming the ability of
believers, indwelled by the Spirit, to interpret the Word of God. As we
depend on the Holy Spirit and diligently study the Scriptures, He will
enable us to guard the treasure of the gospelthat is always under attack.
(2). The Holy Spirit is the divine enabler for a godly life.
As we saw, we guard the depositof the gospelby living in the faith and love
that are in Christ Jesus. If we walk in daily dependence on the Holy Spirit,
we will not carry out the deeds of the flesh (Gal. 5:16-21), but will instead

145. produce the fruit of the Spirit (5:22-23):“love, joy, peace, patience,
kindness, goodness,faithfulness, gentleness, self-control….” Walking in
dependence on the Holy Spirit enables our lives to back up the gospel, so
that we will guard that gooddeposit that God has entrusted to us.
Conclusion
In one of his books, WatchmanNee points out that a person will walk
differently when he has a treasure in his pocket. If you’re walking down
the streetand only have a quarter in your pocket, you aren’t very
concernedabout losing it. But if you’re given $10,000and told to guard it
in your pocketas you go from one place to another, you’ll walk a bit
differently than if you only have a quarter. You’ll be carefulnot to go to
certain places, where you could get mugged. There are certain things that
you just won’t do, for fear of losing that treasure.
If you have depositedyour life with Jesus Christ, then He has deposited the
precious treasure of the gospelwith you. He asks you to guard it by holding
to sound doctrine and by godly living. To be apathetic about growing in
sound doctrine or to be careless abouthow you live as a believer is not to
guard the treasure. Walk carefully! Invest your life wisely, which means,
invest wisely how you spend eachday. To invest your life successfully,
deposit it with Christ and guard His deposit with you.
Application Questions
Some argue that Mark 8:34-38 refers to discipleship, not to salvation. Why
is this not valid? What are the implications?
Does doctrine divide or unite (Eph. 4:13)? When should we divide over
doctrinal differences?
The Catholic Church argues that individual believers do not have the right
to private interpretation of Scripture, which is reserved for the Church.
How would you answerthis claim?
Why must sound doctrine always be held “in the faith and love which are
in Christ Jesus”?Whathappens when it is not?
Copyright, Steven J. Cole, 2006,All Rights Reserved.
Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture Quotations are from the New
American Standard Bible, Updated Edition © The Lockman Foundation
From the series:2 Timothy
PREVIOUS PAGE | NEXT PAGE
RelatedTopics:Theology

146. Top Gut DoctorWarns:"Throw Out This Vegetable Immediately"
One Vegetable ThatLiterally Destroys You From The Inside
Ad By Wellnessguide2020
See More
Report Inappropriate Ad
Steven J. Cole
ONCE SAVED ALWAYS SAFE
Dr. W. A. Criswell
John 10:27-30
9-05-82 10:50 a.m.
And welcome the greatmultitudes who are sharing this hour on radio and
on television. This is the pastorof the First Baptist Church in Dallas
delivering the messagein the doctrinal series on soteriology, onsalvation.
And the message is entitled Once SavedAlways Safe. It is a message
concerning the eternal security of the believer. And you read my text a
moment ago in John 10, verses 27 to 30:
My sheephear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me:
And I give unto them eternallife—
just how long is that?
I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never, ever perish,
neither shall anyone pluck them out of My hand. My Father, who gave
them Me, is greaterthan all; and no one is able to pluck them out of My
Father’s hand. I and My Father are one.

147. [John 10:27-30]
The eternalsecurity of the believer; what do you mean by saved? If we are
saved, we are safe in Christ. By being saved, we refer to that one who has
been joined to the Lord by faith, and is a member of the body of Christ.
First Corinthians 12:13, “By one Spirit are we all joined, are we all
baptized into the body of Christ.” It is a strange and hereticaland
erroneous doctrine to think that the Holy Spirit joins us to the body of
Christ and then we canbe unjoined and then joined againand unjoined
and joined again. Take my hand off, put it back on; take my foot off, put it
back on. There’s no such doctrine as that in the Word of God. By one
Spirit are we all joined to the body of Christ [1 Corinthians 12:13].
And we are going to heaven to be with Him. We belong to Him. We are
members of His body. By being saved, we mean we’re going to be with
Jesus in heaven [John 14:3]. If we fall into hell, we’re not saved. By being
saved, we belong to Christ. We are a member of His body, and we’re going
to be with Him world without end, eternally [1 Thessalonians 4:17]. It is
one thing to join a church; it is another thing to be joined to Christ. It may
be one thing to have your name on a church roll; it’s another thing to have
you name in the Lamb’s Book ofLife in heaven [Revelation20:12, 15,
21:27]. And those who are saved, who are joined to Christ, are safe
forever; the eternalsecurity of the believer [John 10:27-28 .
Now there are five great reasons outof the Word of God to give us
assurance who have found refuge in Jesus Christ, that when we are saved
we are safe, savedforever. Number one: we have the assurance ofour
eternal security in salvationbecause ofthe Word and promise of God.
That Word of the Lord is immutable and unchanging [Psalm 119:89]. It is
like God Himself yesterday, today, and forever; the same [Hebrews 13:8].
Not having length of time to speak of other passages, letus just quote some
of the promises of God in the Book ofJohn alone.
John 1:12-13:“But unto them that receivedHim, to them gave He the right
to become the children of God, even to them that trust in His name: who
were born, not of blood, nor the will of the flesh, nor the will of man, but of
God.
John 3:16, a verse all of us memorized as children: “He so loved us He sent
Jesus to die for us, that whosoeverlooks to Him, believes in Him, trusts in
Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”

148. John 5:24: “Verily, verily, truly, truly I say unto you, he that heareth My
Word, and believeth on Him that sent Me, hath everlasting life, and shall
not come into condemnation; but is passedout of death into life.”
John 6:37: “He that cometh unto Me, I will in no wise castout.”
And this greattext in John chapter 10:“I give unto them eternallife; and
they shall never, ever perish” [John 10:28].
The immutable, and unchanging, and eternal, everlastinglytrue Word of
God [Psalm 119:89];nor does my timorous trepidation nullify, disannul,
interdict that eternal promise of God.
In Exodus 12, verse 13, God said to the children of Israel: “This night the
death angelwill pass over, but when I see the blood on the lintel, on the
doorpost, in the form of a cross, whenI see the blood, I will pass over you.
And there will not be death and condemnation visit that home” [Exodus
12:13, 23]. Being human, I would suppose that those Israelites that
awesome andterrible night, sitting in the house under the blood, were just
as we would have been—full of trepidation, and fear, and fright, “What
will happen?” I can imagine one of them saying, “I’m scared.” Ican
imagine another one of them saying, “I’m uneasy.” And I can think of
another one saying, “I just wonder if it will work?” However, the family
members were inside that house, if they were under the blood, God did not
say “Whenyou see the blood, you may pass over.” Godsaid, “WhenI see
the blood, I will pass over you” [Exodus 12:13]. Our security lies not in the
boldness or the courageousness ofmy faith; it lies in the faithfulness of
God. And whether my faith is weak, and tremulous, and trembling, and
hesitant, or whether my faith is bold and courageous;whether it is one or
the other, I am savedbecause ofHis faithfulness. His promise is
immutable and unchanging [2 Timothy 2:13].
Did you hear about that hunter in the North Canadian woods? In the
wintertime came to a frozen stream. He put his gun over his shoulder and
lest he fall through the broken ice, not knowing the depth of it being
frozen, he began cautiously and timidly to crawl on his hands and feet.
And when he got out in the middle of that frozen stream, he heard a roar
back of him. And on his hands and knees he turned to see. And there was
a lumberjack, big fellow driving a big team of horses, had a big wagon
loaded with enormous logs. And he roared down that mountainside and
came to that frozen streamand drove across it furiously. And that hunter,
timidly on his hands and his knees, lookedup and across atthat big team
and the wagonand the big load of logs. Bothof them safe alike;one so

149. timidly crawling and the other roaring across with a heavy wagonload of
logs;that’s God. HoweverI may be hesitant, and weak, and trembling, or
howeverI might be bold and courageous in the faith—whether I am one or
the other—I am saved in Him [Ephesians 1:7]; His immutable and
unchanging Word [2 Timothy 2:13].
Number two: if I am saved, I am safe because ofthe finished work of
Christ. In the Gospelof John 19:30 we are told the Lord on the cross
bowed His head and cried, saying, “It is finished,” and gave up the ghost.
What did He mean by saying, “It is finished”? [John 19:30]. He referred to
the work that He came to do in the earth: to save us from our sins [Luke
19:10], to make atonementfor our souls [Hebrews 10:5-14], to make open a
door for us into heaven[John 10:7, 9], and to secure for us an eternal
salvation[John 10:27-30]. And that work of our Lord of atoning love, and
mercy, and grace is forever complete [Romans 5:11; Hebrews 2:17]. It is
perfect, it is finished, I can add nothing to it, take nothing awayfrom it. It
is absolutely, certainly, perfectly, beautifully, preciously, everlastingly
done. “It is finished” [John 19:30]. And for me to try to add to that
perfect atoning work of our Lord, is for me to blemish what Christ has
done. I can think of a man standing before one of the beautiful pictures,
paintings of Raphaelsuch as the Sistine Madonna, and as he looks atit he
says, “Bring me a paint and brush. I’m going to add to, I’m going to
improve upon this marvelous painting of Raphael.”
I made a journey one time to Dresden, EastGermany; one of the reasons to
look upon that painting. Raphaelwas one of the sweetestspirits who ever
lived, one of the finest painters God ever made. And for me to say, “Bring
me a paint brush, and I’m going to daub it on that beautiful painting, I’m
going to improve on it,” is unthinkable! It’s an insult! Be the same wayif I
were to say to a man, “Bring me a hammer and a chisel;you see this
magnificent Pieta in the Vatican, made by Michelangelo, orthis statue in
marble that he carvedof Moses? Bring me a hammer and chisel;I’m
going to improve upon the work of Michelangelo.” Itis unthinkable! It is
thus in the atoning grace ofour Lord Jesus Christ; that work is perfectly,
splendidly, certainly, completely, everlastinglydone! “It is finished!”
[John 19:30]. I don’t add to it. All I can do is to receive that gift of
atonement and salvation from His gracious hands. I take it as a gift,
complete finished, perfect.
I want to say a word about a word that Paul uses to describe that. Paul
says in Ephesians 2:8-9: “Forby grace are ye savedthrough faith,” the
channel to us mediated to us through faith. “Forby grace are ye saved

150. through faith; and that not of yourselves:it is a gift of God: not of works,
lest any man should boast” [Ephesians 2:8-9]. May I speak of that little
word, boast? Lestany man should glory, lest any man should say, “I did
it,” boast, “I won my salvation, I merited it. I workedfor it, boast”
[Ephesians 2:9].
It’s like this. Suppose a man were to come to me and say, “I have a five
thousand dollar diamond ring. I give it to you.” And I reply to him, “Oh,
no sir, you don’t give it to me, I will buy it from you. I’ll give you five
dollars for it.” And I buy it from him for five dollars, and I go home, and I
boast;saying, “Look whatI did. I bought this five thousand dollar ring for
five dollars.” Boast, “Look whatI did!” That is identical to what Paul is
saying. Our salvationis a gift [Ephesians 2:8], and we don’t buy it; neither
with works [Ephesians 2:9], or merit, or worth, or money, or anything else,
it is a gift to us. And when we get to heaven, there are no self-laudatory
words that you’ll hear sung in the presence of the angels of God. Every
word will be a praise to the Lord Jesus, “Unto Him who loved us, and
washedus from our sins in His ownblood . . . To Him be glory, and honor,
and dominion, and powerforever and ever. Amen” [Revelation1:5-6]. It is
a gift of God. Finished, complete, perfectly, and certainly, and beautifully,
and everlastinglydone. My salvationis something God gives me, mediated
through faith, through acceptance[Ephesians 2:8-9].
Number three: why the assurance ofour salvation? Three, because ofour
confidence in God’s Son and our Savior, because ofthe confidence we can
have in Him. Let me read a piece of a verse in 2 Timothy 1:12, “ForI
know whom I have believed, and am persuadedthat He is able to keepthat
which I have committed unto Him againstthat day,” the great final
judgment day of Almighty God. “ForI know whom I have believed,” isn’t
that a wonderful thing for a man to know the Lord Jesus? “ForI know
whom I have believed,” and the more I know about Jesus, the more
assurance andthe more certainty that I have [2 Timothy 1:12].
To know the Lord Jesus is like rising on eagles wings out of the midst of the
darkness and doubt of this world and rising in the very presence ofGod. It
is because I know so little about the Lord that sometimes I’m filled with
doubt and hesitancy. But the more I know about Him, the more certainty
comes into my soul. As we sing sometimes, “More, more about Jesus, more
of His saving grace to see, more of His love who died for me.” [“More
About Jesus Would I know”;Eliza E. Hewitt, 1851-1920]
“ForI know, I know whom I have believed,” in this little piece of a verse in
2 Timothy 1:12, three times does he refer to Jesus my Lord, “ForI know

151. whom I have believed and am persuadedthat He,” the secondtime, “is able
to keepthat which I have committed unto Him,” the third time, “against
that final day. I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded, that He is
able to guard that which I have committed unto Him againstthat great
judgment day” [2 Timothy 1:12].
We have not trusted a system or institutions; we have trusted a Savior, the
Lord Jesus Christ. We have not trusted a speculationor a hypothesis; we
have trusted a glorious Lord! We have not trusted some hypothetical,
hierarchicalpower; we have given our lives in trust to a Somebody; the
Lord Jesus. “ForI know whom I have believed.”
We have not even trusted rules or teachings or even examples in Him; we
have trusted Him Himself. Not “what,” not a system, not an institution,
not a speculation, not a hypothesis—nota “what” but a whom—we have
trusted Him.
John Oxenham wrote:
Not what, but WHOM, I have believed
That, In my darkesthour of need,
Hath comfort that no mortal creed
To mortal man can give;–
Not what, but WHOM!
Not what I do believe but…Whom.
WHO walks beside me in the gloom?
WHO shares the burden wearisome?
WHO all the dim way doth illume,
Who bids me look beyond the tomb
The largerlife to live?–
Not what I do believe,
But WHOM!
Not what,
But WHOM!
[“Credo”;John Oxenham]
Our salvationdepends not upon a system; it depends upon a Somebody;
the Lord Jesus Christ.

152. There was a neophyte, a young preacherquoting a verse to an old saint
who was dying. And he quoted it like this, “ForI know in whom I have
believed,” and the old saint touched his arm and said, “Son, waita minute.
I won’t even have a preposition betweenme and my Lord, not in whom,
but whom I have believed—a Somebody, Jesus.” Willyou notice the
dogmatism, the positive dogmatism of the apostle Paul, “I know, and I am
persuaded” [2 Timothy 1:12]. Isn’t it refreshing today to hear a man say
that, “I know, and I am persuaded?” We live in a criticaland cynical and
skepticalworld. It is a virtue not to believe anything, and it is the blackest
of sins to be dogmatic. Isn’t it refreshing to hear a man who believes
something, who has heard something, who has seensomething, who has
given himself to something? “I know whom I have believed, and I am
persuaded” [2 Timothy 1:12]. That’s the peroration that ends the glorious
eighth chapter of the Book of Romans:
For I am persuaded, I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor
angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor
height, nor depth, nor any other creation, shall be able to separate us from
the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
[Romans 8:38-39]
I know whom I have believed, and I am persuadedin Him! [2 Timothy
1:12].
You notice another thing here, “I know whom I have believed, and I am
persuaded that He is able,” to guard that literally, “to keepthat which I
have committed unto Him” [2 Timothy 1:12]. Those words, “whichI have
committed unto Him” is a translation of one word parathēkē, parathēke.
Parathēkē is a deposit, such as you would go to a bank, and you deposit
something in the bank for the bank to guard and to keep it safe. That
sacred, holy deposit—that parathēkē—Ihave given in the hands of Jesus
Christ. What is that parathēkē? He’s referring to his life. He’s referring
to his soul. He’s referring to his destiny. He’s referring to the great
judgment day, “I know whom I have believed, and I am persuadedthat He
is able to keepthat which I have committed unto Him,” that deposit of my
soul and life [2 Timothy 1:12].
For I can’t keepmyself, I’m no equal for the ravaging days that bow my
head in age. I’m no equal in the day that death comes and knocks atmy
door. I’m no equal for the grave and much less when I stand at the
judgment bar of Almighty God [1 Peter4:5]. I falter and fail; Somebody

153. must stand for me. I know whom, and He is able! It’s Jesus [2 Timothy
1:12].
And you know for Satan to get me, first of all, he has to overcome all of the
guardian angels of God in this earth. The Bible says eachone of us has a
guardian angel [Matthew 18:10]. He has to overcome that host of guardian
angels in this earth. Then for Satanto get me, he must climb, he must scale
the ramparts of heaven. Thenhe must overrun the great myriads of angels
in heaven that serve our living Lord. Then, having overcome them, he
must reachhis felonious hands into the bosom of God the Father and tear
me out! My brother, the twelfth chapter of the Book ofRevelationsays
that battle is already fought; it’s already won. And guess who wins? It’s
our Lord, and Michael, and His archangels [Revelation12:7-9]. I am saved
and safe because ofthe confidence we have in Him. “I know whom I have
believed, and am persuaded that He is able to keepthat which I have
committed unto Him againstthat day [2 Timothy 1:12].
Number four: why our assurance ofan eternal salvation? Becauseofwhat
Jesus is doing today. Where is He? He is in heaven at the right hand of the
throne of God [Hebrews 8:1, 12:2]. And what is He doing? He is seeing
the security of our salvation, that we getthere, that we not fall or fail but
that we be there [Romans 8:34; Hebrews 7:25].
In Romans 5:10: “For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciledto
God by the death of His Son, much more, being reconciled, shallwe be
savedby His life.” What does Paul mean when he says, “Muchmore then,
being reconciled, we shall be saved by His life”? What he’s saying is that
on the cross He made a perfectatonement for our sins [John 19:30;
Hebrews 2:17]. And now in heavenliving, living, He has the power to see
to it that we not fail in our pilgrim way. We’re going to be there. He is
going to see to it.
You remember Hebrews 7:25: “Wherefore He is able to save us to the
uttermost.” We have who have come by faith unto God through Him; able
to save to the uttermost! There’s no limit to the able, omnipotent, mighty
powerof Jesus Christto save and to keepus.
In the first chapter of the Revelation, John, looking upon the risen glorified
Lord, fell down at His feetas one dead [Revelation1:17]. And as He had so
often in the days of His flesh, the Lord put His right hand on the shoulder
of His sainted apostle Johnand said: “Fearnot, fear not, do not tremble,
do not be afraid. I am Alpha and Omega, the First and the Last, the
Beginning and the Ending; I am He that liveth and was dead; and, behold,

154. I am alive forevermore;and I, I have the keys of Hell and of Death”
[Revelation1:17-18].
“Do not be afraid. This whole universe and its destiny and history is in My
hands. I have the keys of Hell and of Death. Do not be afraid.” That’s
what Jesus is doing now. “I am He that was dead and am alive
forevermore, and I have the keys” [Revelation1:17-18]. He lives that we
might be savedforever [John 10:27-30;Hebrews 7:25].
And a fifth and a lastreasonfor the security of the believer; if we are
saved, we are forever safe. A fifth reason:because ofthe realistic and
confirming experience of our Christian life. I’m not speaking of some
esoteric, farout, strange doctrine of theology. I am speaking of the
everyday experience of the child of God; our Christian testimony, our
Christian experience.
The apostle Paulsaid in Romans 8:15: “Godhas given us His Spirit.” He
has poured out His Spirit in our hearts. “Wherebywe cry Abba, Father.
And His Spirit bears witness with our spirit that we are the children of
God” [Romans 8:15-16].
The Holy Spirit of God in our hearts, and we feelHis presence. It’s never
the same again. There’s something deep in our hearts that God has placed
there. It never goes away. It’s always present.
There was a Louisiana farmer that captured a wild mallard duck and
stakedit out on the pond on his farm. And there that big mighty mallard
swamaround and around with those domestic ducks. Staked, cordedto
the pond. When the springtime came and those greatmallards began to
rise from the swamps of Louisiana in their V’s to head north, rising in the
sky, they lookeddown and saw that mallard swimming on the pond. And
they calledto that mallard from the sky. And he lifted up his head and
lifted up his eyes and lifted up his ears. And hearing that call, he raised his
greatwings to rise to meet them. But he was held down by the cord that
stakedhim to the pond. Those greatmallards circled round and round
and calledto that mallard in the pond, and againand againhe spread his
wings and with mighty lurches soughtto join them in the sky, and was each
time pulled down by the cord and the stake. As they calledto him from the
sky, in one last valiant attempt, he spreadhis greatwings and with a
mighty lurch, he broke the cord and joined those mighty mallards in the
sky.
You’re like that. If God has ever savedyou, if you’ve everhad an
experience of grace, waydown deep on the inside of you there’s the Spirit

155. of God that answers the callfrom the sky. That’s why I wanted you to
listen to the testimony of that boy Dave Griffith, converted, savedas a
teenager. In sin and sex and drugs in the world, and then to hear him say,
“But down deep, I was miserable. I was unhappy.” And he had his big
bonfire, burned up ten thousand dollars’worth of rock ‘n’ roll records.
They had a revival meeting upstairs in the family home and is now telling
people what Jesus has done for him.
The Spirit in your heart, you never get awayfrom it, never. If you’re
saved, the confirming witness of the Spirit of God is always in your heart.
You never escape it, never flee from it. It’s always there. You carry it with
you.
The unregenerate falling awayof Judas [Matthew 26:14-16, 47-50], and
Ananias [Acts 5:1-5; 2 Timothy 4:10]; a Demas;but the regenerate always
come back. A Simon Peterwith many tears, “Lord, Lord” [John 21:15-
17]; a David, “The sacrifices ofGodare a broken spirit: a broken and a
contrite spirit, O Lord, Thou will not despise” [Psalm51:17]; or like the
prodigal, “I will arise and go back to my father at home. I don’t belong
here in the hog pen. I don’t belong here eating husks. I belong in my
father’s house. I’m a child of the King” [Luke 15:16-21]. That’s whatGod
has done for us. And if you’ve ever been saved, if you’ve ever known the
Lord, that witness is in your heart and you’ll never escape it.
Oh, the grace, andthe mercy, and the goodness Godhath extended to us!
In the nail-pierced hands, in the atoning blood, in the everlasting covenant
of Jesus our Lord; man, that’s something to shout about, to sing about, to
praise God about, to be glad in forever and ever, and that’s what we’re
going to do in heaven. Going to thank Him and praise Him, sing about
Him, adore Him, worship Him world without end forever and ever, amen.
May we stand together?
Our Lord, who couldn’t but shout, and sing, and lift voice and heart and
hands in praise to God for His wonderful goodness to us? When we were
sinners and enemies of God, He reconciledus up [Romans 5:10]. He
reconciledus to God as children born again, changed, a new creation
fashionedafter the glorious similitude of our risen Lord [2 Corinthians
5:17-18]. And now Lord, the restof our lives we just praise Thee, and
thank Thee, and love Thee, and serve Thee, and adore Thee, and worship
Thee because ofthe wonderful good thing God hath done for us in sending
Jesus to save us [John 3:16-17].

156. Oh, glory to Him! “Worthy is the Lamb that was slainto receive honor,
and glory, and riches, and dominion, and power. For He hath redeemed us
by His blood out of every nation, and tribe, and family under the sun, and
hath made us kings and priests to our God” [Revelation5:9-12]. Oh, bless
His name, bless His name! That we are in the hollow of His hands, we’re in
the bosomof the Father, we are kept safe because ofthe loving grace of
Jesus our Lord [Ephesians 2:8-9]. Oh, bless His name, bless His name,
bless His wonderful name!
And while our people bow in the presence ofJesus, and praise His name,
and pray for you, a family you, a couple you, or just one somebody you,
“Pastor, Godhas spokento me today, and we’re answering with our lives.”
In the balcony round, down one of those stairways, and there’s time and to
spare. In the press of people on this lowerfloor, down one of these aisles,
“Pastor, the Lord has spokento us, and we’re coming.” Mayangels attend
you in the wayas you answerwith your life. And blessedJesus, thank
Thee for the sweetharvestYou give us, in Thy saving and keeping name,
amen. While we sing our song, while we pray and wait, welcome, welcome.
Amen!
NOT "WHAT" BUT "WHOM"
Dr. W. A. Criswell
2 Timothy 1:12
9-21-58 7:30 p.m.
I have a wonderful, wonderful text tonight. SecondTimothy 1:12:
"NeverthelessI am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed and am
persuaded that He is able to keepthat which I have committed unto Him
againstthat Day."
That’s a refreshing kind of a text: not, "I think, I suppose, I guess, maybe."
"I know, and I am persuaded" [2 Timothy 1:12].
In that first Christian century, the Gnostics, the Sophists were everywhere
saying they knew everything; and wherever they were, the agnosticswere

157. right behind them avowing they knew nothing. And the spirit of
agnosticismis one of boasting over their ignorance and uncertainty and
doubt.
We live in an age like that today. These scientific approaches have placeda
premium upon doubt and uncertainty. Uncertainty is a virtue, and
dogmatism is the blackestofsins. We’re not to believe anything – not
according to this critical and cynical age. There is a dogmatism that is
born of ignorance and stupidity. It has no relation to experience or
thoughtfulness.
But the knowledge that Paul avows here and the persuasionof which he
speaks here is not born of ignorance. It is born of deep experience. This is
the man who’s inured in a dungeon [Acts 16:23-24]. He has been the object
of violent hands [Acts 14:19] and riot [Acts 19:30-40]. He has been wasted
in life, beat, imprisoned [2 Corinthians 11:23-27], ridiculed by Sophists
[Acts 17:18, 32], denied by his own countrymen, forsaken. It says here only
Luke’s with him, just one [2 Timothy 4:11] – forsakenby his own brethren
[2 Timothy 4:16]. And yet this is the man who in prison, and before riotous
mobs, and before those who ridiculed and scorned, before false brethren –
this is the man who stands up before the entire world with deep conviction
and with boldness of assertionand affirmation – with an, "I know, and I
am persuaded" [2 Timothy 1:12].
Now, we begin by what he is talking about – the subject of his sentence.
He’s talking about "that Day" – that day. That’s a strange thing, "that
Day." "ThatDay" could refer to any day. "ThatDay" [2 Timothy 1:12].
What is there specific about "that Day"?
If you don’t know, it’s because we do not share in apostolic Christianity.
To the early Christian, there was just one day – that day for which all
other days were made, that day towardwhich all destiny and life were
tending and moving. The reference is to that day when Christ Jesus our
Lord shall visibly and personallyintervene and interpose in human
history. They never said here in the Bible, "the advent," or "the
judgment," or "the secondcoming." Theynever referred to it like that.
But they spoke ofit so constantlyand referred to it so incessantlythat it
came to be knownas "that Day." Pauluses the expressionmany times –
"that Day." It is the greatday of Christ when His people shall stand
before Him [2 Corinthians 5:10]. It is the greatday of the Lord when the
wickedshall be judged and the vials of wrath shall be poured out upon the
earth [2 Thessalonians 1:7-8;Revelation16:1-21]– "that Day."

158. Now he says that he has committed something to Jesus against"thatDay."
So what is he talking about when he speaks ofhis committal: "that which I
have committed unto Him"? [2 Timothy 1:12] He is referring there to all
of the interests and concerns ofthis life, of the life that is to come, of time
and of destiny. "I have deposited – committed, deposited in His hands – all
the matters of life, all the matters of time, all the matters of eternity."
Paul means by that, "I have committed to Him my soul’s eternal
salvation." He means, "I have committed to Him all of the sins and faults
and failures of the past. God hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all"
[Isaiah 53:6]. Paul means, "I have referred to Him the entire fruit and
issue of my life, all its reward and meaning." Could have been an eminent
rabbi, could have written literature beyond what Plato or Aristotle did pen,
but he suffered, lived a life of sorrow and heartache leaving the issue and
the rewardto God: "I have committed it unto Him" [2 Timothy 1:12].
And he has committed unto Christ this coming execution – the specterof
Nero rising before him, a certain death and dissolution immediately
pressedupon him. "I have committed unto Him who is the resurrection
and the life [John 11:25] my coming departure and death, committed unto
Him every concernand every interest in life. I have placed it in His hands
againstthat Day."
Now the wonderful assurance ofthe apostle as he speaks ofHim who is
able to guard – translatedhere "keep" – that commitment: "ForI know
whom I have believed, and am persuaded that He is able to guard" – to
keep– "that which I have committed unto Him againstthat Day" [2
Timothy 1:12].
In an olden time, they didn’t have a bank, and when a man hoarded gold
and miserly kept it, he had to hide it away. And a miser, counting his bags
of gold, storedthem in the safe, barred the windows, bolted the doors.
When he went up to bed, fancy he’d hear the stepand the footstepand the
approachof a thief, go down into that barred room, try all the windows,
open the door, look to see where the thief had approached. And thinking
he might have come and gone, openhis safe, count his bags of gold, put
them back, lock the safe, lock the door, test the bars, go back up to his
room, go to bed. Then fancy he hears the thief coming even now after he
has left. And he lives in misery.
How parabolic of us! Having committed to Jesus oursoul and our life and
our destiny, we wonderand we’re fearful and timid and sweptwith doubts
and forebodings. How will it be to die? How will it be to be buried? How

159. will it be, that awful eternity beyond? And am I saved? Have I repented
right? Have I believed right? Have I trusted right? Am I born again?
Am I regenerated? Is it well with me? Is it right with me? Is it safe with
me? And our lives are like the life of a miser who worries and is fearful
about his treasuredbags of gold.
Oh, my brother! How different this wonderful assurance ofthe Apostle
Paul: "I have committed to Him againstthat day all of the treasures ofmy
soul and my life, and I know and am persuadedthat He is able to keepthat
charge." Do you think so? Is He a greatguardian? Is His guardianship
invincible? Is the greatShepherd of the flock able to preserve His sheep?
Will He present us faultless without blame in that final greatday of the
Lord? Will He lose us? Will some of us fall by the way? Will some of us
ultimately be lost? Is He able to keepus all? Is He? Is He?
Why, man, for Satanto pull out of God’s hand even one of His sheep, he
first, with his hosts, would have to overwhelmand overrun and overturn
the armies of God in this earth. Then he’d have to climb and scale the
battlements of heaven and there put the bright angels who, by the myriads,
serve God day and night, and then thrust forth his felonious hands into the
heart and bosom of God and tear us out of the very soul and heart and love
of God Himself! Could Satan do that? Could he? "I know whom I have
believed and am persuaded He’s able to keepthat which I have committed
unto Him againstthat Day" [2 Timothy 1:12] – able to keepPaul in his
present life and in that present ministry, going back as Paul stood or sat
and wrote the sentence, able to keep us in this life.
Paul was a sheepsurrounded by ravening wolves, but his life is immortal
until his work is done. I think all of us ought to be persuaded of that. Until
God has, through me, finished the work assignedto me, I cannotbe
destroyed. I cannotdie. Don’t go down the road fearful and anxious.
Don’t face any day with fearand foreboding. Until your work is finished
and until your task is done, your life cannot be touched by Satan. It is
immortal.
God has a work for us to do in the earth, and when the work is done, and
when the task is finished, to be calledup for our greatreward is the great
desire and hope and vision and aspiration of life. But until that task is
done, no power in heaven, in hell, or in earth cantouch us or destroy us!
We are immortal until our task is finished.
Paul, placedin a dungeon, surrounded on every side by enemies with the
specterof Nero rising before him, Paul says, "But the Word of God is not

160. bound." Paul says, "The light can never be put out, and my life is in His
hands and He is able to keepme." Paul believed he would be kept, and he
was kept. We are not to live in fear and in dread and in foreboding.
God help me if ever I tremble before any day or any hour. Shall it be a
dread disease that cuts me down? Shall it be a terrible accidentthat takes
my life? Shall it be the senility of old age when my mind is gone and my
body decays? I do not know. It is not for me to say. Godhath committed
to eachone of us a task, and until that task is done, our lives are immortal,
committed unto Him, and He is able to keep.
He was talking about the resurrection. To a Christian – to us – the
miracle, the wonder, the glory of the resurrectionshall not fail. I do not
deny that these Sophists and Sadducees andridiculers and scorners and
scoffers make fun of such a hope [Acts 17:32].
My body, truly, may be blown as dust over the face of the soil. It may be
absorbedinto the vegetationof the earth. It may be eatenand digestedby
animals. It may go through a thousand cycles, but the power of God who
createdus in the first place can recreate us in the secondplace [Psalm
139:14;Philippians 3:21]. One miracle: the wonder of it, the amazement of
it, is as glorious and incomparable and inexplicable as the other. They’re
both alike, both alike. And the Lord God hath promised that though we
fall into the dust of ground or be buried in the depths of the sea, yet shall
we live in His sight. "I know that my Redeemerliveth . . . and though
through my skinworms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God,
whom I shall see for myself . . . and not another" [from Job 19:25-27].
We shall stand and live in His presence. He is able to keep. And of course,
he was speaking of the glorious life and reward in the world that is yet to
come [2 Timothy 4:8]. He hath the powerto place us at God’s right hand
[Colossians3:1-4]. He hath the powerto put our feetupon a rock [Psalm
40:2]. He hath the powerto crown us when others are accursed[Matthew
25:14-30], to imparadise us when others are sent into separationand
everlasting darkness [Matthew 25:31-46]. "Iknow, I am persuaded that
He’s able to keepthat which I have committed unto Him againstthat day"
[2 Timothy 1:12]. Whateverthe vicissitude, whatever the exigency,
whateverthe fortune, whatever the fate, God is able and He will not fail
[John 10:27-30].
Now Paul has a wonderful basis for that assurance:"I know whom I have
believed and am persuaded that He is able to keepthat which I have

161. committed unto Him" [2 Timothy 1:12]. Three times does he mention our
Lord in that little sentence, three times.
Paul is now an old man. He refers to himself as "Paul, the aged"
[Philemon 1:9]. When he writes this epistle, he is preparing for
martyrdom [2 Timothy 4:6-7]. He looks back onthe years and the years
and the years of his life and service and ministry – his discipleship which
he receivedfrom the hands of Jesus [Acts 9:3-18; Galatians 1:15-18]. And
it’s an old man who writes after meditation and reflection and long
experience when he says, "I know and I am persuaded" [2 Timothy 1:12].
Then how and why? What is the basis of his knowledge andhis
persuasion? It lies in Him: "I know whom." And three times does he
mention Him: "I know whom . . . I am persuadedthat He is able to keep
that which I have committed unto Him" [2 Timothy 1:12].
The basis of his hope and his faith, his persuasionand his knowledge, is in
Christ, the Lord Himself. He hasn’t trusted an abstraction. He hasn’t laid
down his head on a pillow of speculation. He doesn’teven say, "I know
and am persuaded because ofthe doctrines, or the creeds, orthe words of
the language. Iknow because I have the form of sound words, or I know
because I have learned the doctrine." Doctrines don’t save us. Creeds
don’t deliver us. Theologydoesn’tsave us. Our hope, and our faith, and
our persuasion, and our gnosis is bound and grounded and founded upon
the whole person of our Lord Himself. Not what, but whom. "I know
whom," not what! I found the little poem that so beautifully says that:
Not what, but WHOM, I do believe,
That, in my darkesthour of need,
Hath comfort that no mortal creed
To mortal man can give;–
Not what, but WHOM!
For Christ is more than all the creeds,
And His full life of gentle deeds
Shall all the creeds outlive.
Not what but Whom.
Not what I do believe, but WHOM!
WHO walks beside me in the gloom?

162. WHO shares the burden wearisome?
WHO all the dim way death doth illume,
And bids us look beyond the tomb
The largerlife to live?–
Not what I do believe,
But WHOM!
Not what,
But WHOM!
[John Oxenham, "Credo," in Bees in Amber: A Little Book ofThoughtful
Verse, 1917]
Oh, I like that! One of these young neophytes, one of these little
theologues, wasseatedby the side of an old dying saint to comfort him in
his translation. And the young neophyte quoted that Scripture and saidit
like this, "ForI know in whom I have believed." And the old saint raised
an emaciatedhand, and said, "No, my boy, no – not even a preposition
betweenmy souland my Savior. ‘I know whom I have believed.’" Notthe
doctrine, not the creed, not the law, not the language, not the form, but the
person, the whole Savior: "I know whom I have believed" [2 Timothy
1:12].
There are two kinds of knowledge, academic and experiential. Academic
knowledge is the knowledge ofcalculus, mathematics, geology, astronomy,
anthropology – all of the sciences:the atoms and how they behave; Mount
Everestand how high it is and how big and how cold. Academic
knowledge:these things we know.
There is anotherkind of knowledge:a saving knowledge, a personal
knowledge, a knowledge thatcomes by experience, committal, and faith,
and love, and prayer, and devotion, and discipleship. "I know whom I
have believed and am persuaded that He is able" [2 Timothy 1:12]. That is
an experiential knowledge, a saving knowledge, a personalknowledge. I
know Him in the forgiveness ofsins [Colossians2:13]. I know Him in the
fellowship of communion and prayer [Philippians 4:6-7]. I know Him, the
God of all comfort[2 Corinthians 1:3-4]. I know Him, the Saviorof the
soul [1 Thessalonians5:23;Hebrews 6:19-20]. This knowledge and this

163. persuasionis not built upon credulity, or superstition, or blindness. It is
built upon a life of greatcommittal and devotion.
A feather in the wind, blown here and yon, has no life in itself; and when
the gale has spent, it falls to ground. That is the religion of speculation, of
metaphysics, of philosophy, of the natural man.
But the eagle, howeverthe wind blows, rises on wings of power, lives in the
face of the sun. That is the religion of experience, oftruth, and of Christ;
and that is the greatpersuasionof our apostle Paul: "I know – I know, and
I am persuaded. I know whom I have believed and am persuaded. I have
believed; therefore, I am persuaded" [from 2 Timothy 1:12] – not, "I have
followedChrist and am persuaded. I have tried to be like Him and am
persuaded. I have attained into all of those objectives that are Christly and
heavenly and divine, and I am persuaded." No. "I have believed. I have
committed, and I am persuaded" [from 2 Timothy 1:12].
I am persuadedthat neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities
nor powers, nor things present nor things to come,
Nor height nor depth,nor any other creation, shall be able to separate us
from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
[Romans 8:38-39]
"I have believed; therefore, I am persuaded."
The greatfoundation of our religion and of our faith is never in ourselves.
It’s in Him. To look on the inside is to look to despair, to futility, and
frustration, and vanity, and death, and nothingness. But to lift up your
eyes and look to Him is to be persuaded that He is able. Look, my brother,
look and live [Numbers 21:6-9]. "As Moses liftedup the serpent in the
wilderness, evenso must the Son of man be lifted up, up, up, that
whosoeverbelievethin Him may be persuaded" [from John 3:14-15 and 2
Timothy 1:12].
Would you look unto Him and live? Notto the doctrine. Notto the creed.
Not to the church. Notto the ordinance. Not to the preacher. Looking to
Jesus, look and live.
In this balcony around, trusting Jesus as Savior, would you come? In the
press of people on this lowerfloor, from side to side, somebodyyou, give
his heart to Jesus. Wouldyou come? Downthese stairwells, front and

164. back, into these aisles, from side to side. While we make appeal, while we
sing the song, would you come and stand by me? "Tonight, I give my heart
to God. In tokenthereof, I give you my hand." Is there a family, you, to
come into the church, one somebody, you, to whom God makes appeal?
Would you take the Lord, look to Him, trust in Him, believe in Him and
make it now? "Here I come, pastor, and here I am," while we stand and
while we sing.
An Expositionof SecondTimothy: 2 Timothy 1: 12-18
By Edward Dennett
In the preceding verse the Apostle explains that he had been appointed
(not of man, as he informs the Galatians, neither by man, but by Jesus
Christ and God the Father, who raisedHim from the dead) as the herald
and apostle of the gospel;and now he speaks ofthe consequencesofhis
mission as to himself, togetherwith his sustainment and consolation:"For
the which cause I also suffer these things: nevertheless I am not ashamed;
for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that He is able to keep
that which I have committed unto Him againstthat day." His present
sufferings were those resulting from his captivity (v. 8), and from the
opposition now everywhere encounteredby the gospel, as also from being
desertedby so many professedbelievers, and perhaps teachers (v. 15). And
he regards these sufferings as flowing out from the position he occupiedin
reference to the gospel(chap. 2: 9) ; that is to say, the faithful prosecution
of his mission entailed upon him these sorrows andpersecutions.
Nor could it be otherwise at such a moment, nor indeed at any moment.
For wherevera servant of the Lord seeksto serve Him alone, and to cling
to His Word in spite of all opposition, againstthat man will be arrayed all
the forces ofthe enemy. It was so with Paul, so that (as he tells us in the
next chapter) he suffered trouble in the work of the gospelas an evildoer,
even unto bonds, therein following, if at a distance, the footsteps of his
Master, who suffered unto death, and that the death of the cross, because
of His fidelity, perfect fidelity, as God's witness on the earth.
But if the Apostle was in his service encompassedby suffering, he knew
where to turn for comfort and strength. On man's part it was trouble and

165. persecution, but when he lookedup, all was assurance andconfidence;and
hence he could say, "NeverthelessI am not ashamed;for I know whom I
have believed"; and he could leave himself and his circumstances entirely
in His hands. Moreover, man was powerless as to the eternal issue before
his soul. He might apparently succeedin hindering the testimony by
shutting up the Apostle in prison; he might, as the tool of Satan, drive away
many of his companions;he might even be permitted to make a martyr of
Paul; but if so, he would have to learn that he had but been yokedto the
chariot wheels of God's purposes, and that he had not been able to touch
that which was most precious as to Paul, so also to Christ. Man may kill the
body, but can do no more; and knowing this, the Apostle was confident
that the Lord could and would keepthat which he had committed unto
Him againstthat day - the day when all things will be made manifest, when
the Lord will come to be glorified in His saints, and to be admired in all
them that have believed. It is to that period the Apostle looks;and
meanwhile he was able to trust the Lord, not only for his own salvationand
eternal happiness, but also for the recompense of his service. The enemy
could do nothing with such a man, because his hopes and joys were outside
of the scene through which he moved.
Having given the ground of his own confidence in the midst of his
present circumstances, he turns againto exhortation. "Hold fast the form
of sound words, which thou hast heard of me, in faith and love which is in
Christ Jesus. Thatgoodthing which was committed unto thee keepby the
Holy Ghostwhich dwelleth in us." vv. 13, 14. These are very important
exhortations, and require carefulattention. The form of sound words is
rather an outline - an outline of the truth in the inspired words which
Timothy had heard from the Apostle. Elsewhere Paulaffirms that his
teaching was "not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which
[in the words which] the Holy Ghostteacheth" (1 Cor. 2: 13). He thus
claimed inspiration, not only for the matter, but also for the words in
which his apostolic communications were made; and hence it is, as another
has said, that we are never sure we have the truth unless we have the very
language which contains it.
In a day when rationalism and infidelity (both springing from the same
root, the latter being but the full development of man's reason)are seeking
to pervert the foundations of God's revelation to man in the Scriptures, it is
necessaryto reassertthe truth which the Apostle affirms; for the infallible

166. certainty of the Word of God is the only rock on which the soul can
securelyrepose amid the changing sea ofthe speculations ofman's
wandering mind.
It is for this reasonthat Paul exhorts Timothy to have an outline of
Scripture teaching in inspired words, that he might ever be prepared to
authoritatively instruct the enquirer, or to confute the adversary. The
difference betweenthis that Paul pressedon Timothy and creedlies in this:
Timothy's outline was to be in divine words, whereas the creeds of
Christendom are expressedin human language;and on this very account
they fail, even when "orthodox," to express the full truth of revelation.
Timothy's outline was inspired without any human admixture; the creeds
are composedby human minds, taking Scripture, as far as their authors
understood it, as the basis, and given in the words of man's wisdom.
Paul had taught Timothy, as already said, in divine words; and these
words were to be used by him in the way directed, forming a compendium
in scriptural language ofChristian doctrine, as there were but few New
Testamentscriptures at that time in existence. Timothy then was to have
and to hold fast the form of sound words; but if he was enjoined to do this,
the manner in which it was to be done is also given. It was to be "in faith
and love which is in Christ Jesus."Dissociateeventhe truth from Christ,
and it will become a dead thing; use it apart from faith and love, and it will
be a powerless weapon.
The Apostle therefore guards his "son" Timothy in his service by
reminding him of his need of using nothing but the truth in his conflicts, of
holding the truth in the living activities of his soul, and as flowing from and
being the expressionof the glory of Christ. Faith comes by hearing the
Word; but if it is produced by it, in its presentationof a God of grace in
and through the Lord Jesus Christ, it leads back to it, not only as the
foundation on which it is based, but also as containing the sources ofall
divine knowledge. Faith, moreover, in attaching itself to its object, Christ,
as revealedin the Scriptures, works by love, or rather, apprehending the
divine and infinite love unfolded in Christ; love also is immediately
begottenin the soul, for we love Him who first loved us. And faith and love
are necessarilyin Christ Jesus -- in Him, for He is the source, Object, and
sphere of both alike. (Compare 1 Tim. 1: 14.)
If Timothy was to hold fast the objective truth, there was also another
thing he was to keep;namely, "that goodthing . . . committed unto thee."
In verse 12 the Apostle had said that he was persuadedthat the One whom
he had believed was able to keepthat which he had committed to Him

167. againstthat day. Literally, it is "my deposit";and in verse 14 the rendering
should be "the gooddeposit keep," etc. If on the one hand we have a
"deposit" (all our hopes of glory) with Christ, He on the other hand
entrusts His servants with a deposit. The question then is, What is this
gooddeposit? It cannot be eternal life, or salvation; for the keeping of this
belongs to Christ Himself, and hence it is probably the truth - the truth as
committed to the stewardshipof His servants -- to be maintained by them
in all fidelity while serving in the prospectof that day. (Compare 1 Tim. 6:
13, 14.)
Timothy's gift was also a deposit, and that, as we have seen, he was to
hold and use in the service of his Master;but the connectionhere points
rather to the interpretation we have given. And, indeed, unless we guard,
and carefully guard, the truth in our own souls, we shall never be able to
use it rightly in service. It is thus the first thing, in connectionwith the
whole armour of God, that the loins should be girt about with truth (Eph.
4). If, therefore, we would be faithful witnessesfor Christ in a day of
declension, the truth must first have its rightful place over our own hearts
and consciences, andmust be jealouslywatchedover and guarded if the
witness-bearing is to be continued. The Apostle reminds Timothy that the
only powerfor this is the Holy Ghost, and also that he already possessed
that power. "Keep," he says, "by the Holy Ghostwhich dwells in us, the
gooddeposit" (J.N.D. Trans.). It is wellto remember that if the Lord send
us on any service, or if He setus for the defence of the truth in a day of
difficulty, He has given us a powerthat is equal to all the demands that can
be made upon us. We are too often occupiedwith the sense of our own
feebleness, insteadofwith the powerpossessedthrough the indwelling of
the Holy Spirit.
The Apostle turns againto his own circumstances;but if he does so, it is
but to bring out into bright relief the contrastbetweenunfaithfulness and
fidelity, as also to teachus how precious the latter is to God. First, we have
the dark side: "This thou knowest, that all they which are in Asia be
turned awayfrom me; of whom are Phygellus and Hermogenes." v. 15. It
was through Paul's preaching that "allthey which dwelt in Asia heard the
word of the Lord Jesus, both Jews and Greeks"(Acts 19: 10); and thus
they were, in no small degree, his debtors. But now, togetherwith the aged
and devoted Apostle's being in prison, they had lost their first love; the
fervency of their zeal had cooled, and they had become ashamedof God's
chosenvesselofthe truth. It was not that they were not really Christians,
nor, perhaps, that they had become openbacksliders, much less apostates;

168. but they were not prepared to suffer from identification with the rejected
servant. They had undoubtedly fallen in with the course of this age, and
would thus be tempted to regard Paul as an extreme man, as too exclusive,
as an enthusiast, as one who imperiled the progress ofChristianity by his
fanaticism. They thus turned awayfrom him, seeking smootherpaths,
where the cross would be lighter.
Two names of those who forsook Paulare given -- Phygellus and
Hermogenes -- and the factthat their names are given shows that they were
well known, probably leaders among the saints -- those, therefore, who
would lend a sanctionto this unfaithful course. It may be that the teaching
of these men had adapted itself to the currents of the moment; for the
tendencies of any age always find expressionthrough some who claim the
place of teachers. Be this as it may, it was a sad spectacle-- public
Christianity, that is, the outward form of it in this world, severing itself
from the chosenvesselofthe truth! On the other hand, there is no grander
sight than that of Paul -- deserted, alone, in captivity -- retaining through
grace his confidence in the Lord, and in the truth committed to his charge.
If faint, he was still pursuing; and if he were weary in his lonely conflict,
his hand still clave to his sword (see 2 Sam. 23: 10).
There was one ray of light amid the gloom of the moment, one rill of
consolationflowing into the heart of the Apostle from the heart of God,
through His servantOnesiphorus. This godly man, so far from being
ashamedof Paul or his chain, being in Rome, soughthim out very
diligently, and restednot until he had found him, and was usedof the Lord
to minister refreshment to the captive Apostle. Precious privilege
vouchsafedto Onesiphorus! Precious also to the weary soul of Paul were
these cups of cold water which Onesiphorus put to his thirsty lips! And the
Lord saw this blessedservice, andesteemedit as rendered unto Himself. "I
was in prison, and ye came unto Me" (Matt. 25: 36).
The gratitude of the Apostle's heart turned into a prayer for
Onesiphorus. "The Lord give mercy unto the house of Onesiphorus;for he
oft refreshed me, and was not ashamedof my chain: but when he was in
Rome, he sought me out very diligently, and found me. The Lord grant
unto him that he may find mercy of the Lord in that day: and in how many
things he ministered unto me at Ephesus, thou knowestvery well." vv. 16-
18.
The Apostle's prayer embraces a present and a future blessing. He
desires presentmercy for the house of Onesiphorus;that is, he prays for
the members of Onesiphorus' family, of his householdindeed, and also that

169. the Lord would grant Onesiphorus himself to find mercy from "the Lord
in that day." "Thatday" refers to the Lord's appearing (see v. 12), when
He will display His own in glory, and when the recompense, in grace, of
eachof His servants will likewise be exhibited. Onesiphorus had already
been the objectof mercy in his salvation; but, as passing through the
wilderness, he was "looking forthe mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto
eternal life" (Jude 21). And it is this, mercy in its full fruit and
consummation, that Paul prays he may find in that day.
The closing statementshows that it was not the first time Onesiphorus
had been of service to Paul. In Ephesus too he had ministered in many
things to the Apostle, and the Spirit of God has causedit to be recorded
here, as it is also recordedin heaven, to teachus that He marks and
appreciates the slightestkindness shownto His servants in the name of the
Lord Jesus Christ.
Back to Edward Dennett index.
Not Ashamed and Holding Fast
Series:2 Timothy
Sermon by J. Ligon Duncan on Mar 13, 2005
2 Timothy 1:12-18
Play
Mute
Loaded: 0%
Progress:0%
Remaining Time
-0:00
DownloadAudio
Print

170. The Lord's Day Morning
March 13, 2005
II Timothy 1:12-18
“NotAshamed and Holding Fast”
Dr. J. Ligon Duncan III
Amen. It's inspiring to think that Christians have been using those words
for 900 years to express their praise to the Lord Jesus Christ, and that the
words that we had the privilege to hear read and which we sung back to
God have been used by believers for 3,000 years to express their praise to
God.
If you have your Bibles, I invite you to turn with me to II Timothy, chapter
one, as we continue our way through this last of Paul's letters. Paul is in
prison. He is awaiting what will eventually be his death by executionfor his
fidelity to God, to Christ and to the gospel. And he is writing his beloved
son in the Lord, Timothy–and this pastLord's Day you had the privilege of
working with Derek through that glorious passage inchapter one, verses 8
to 11.
Let me just remind you what Paulis doing there, not only in verses 8 to 11,
but all the wayto verse 12, which is the first verse of the passagethatwe’ll
considertoday. Paul is telling you why he is able to endure hardship and
trials and suffering for the Lord, and to endure them without shame,
without embarrassment;without any sense that the Lord has let him down,
without any sense that the Lord has not gotHis eye upon him; without any
sense that something's wrong with his ministry. How is he able to do that?
He's telling you in verses 8 to 12, and of course it culminates with this
glorious expressionof his confidence in Jesus Christ, and that's exactly
where we're going to start today.
Let me outline the passage foryou. Verses 12 to 18 [have] five parts to it.
Now, we're going to have six points in the message, if we get to them! But
that is because I want to look at the fifth point of Paul's argument twice,
from a slightly different direction.
First, look at chapter 1, verse 12. Here Paul is speaking to us about our
confidence in Christ as a source that enables us to endure suffering and
hardship in the Christian life.
Secondly, if you’ll look at verse 13, Paul speaks ofthe importance of
fidelity to truth. Here he is reminding us of the importance of Christians

171. holding fast to the truth of God's word, to the faithful preaching of the
apostles.
Thirdly, if you look at verse 14, he speaks ofour responsibility to be active
in the care (or the protection, or the guarding) of the gospelmessage.
Fourth, if you look at verse 15, he actually prepares us to experience
disappointment in the Christian life from the Christian church. Now, that's
an extraordinary thing, but we’ll see how he does that as we study the
passagetoday.
And then fifthly, if you’ll look at verses 16-18,he pronounces a divine
benediction on a believer who has encouragedhim. And in so doing, he
reminds us of the Lord's promise of blessing on all those who encourage
His disciples, His followers, His servants.
Now let's flip that around and look at it from the other side. Why is Paul
telling Timothy about the example of this one man who was a standout in
encouraging him when everybody else abandoned him? Becausehe wants
Timothy to imitate him; because he wants the Ephesian church to imitate
that Christian; because he wants First PresbyterianChurch of Jacksonto
imitate that Christian. And so, that's my sixth point: we ought to aim to
imitate this biblical encourager.
Now, with that having been said, let's look to God's word in II Timothy,
chapter one, beginning at verse 12. Before we read God's word and hear it
proclaimed, let's look to Godin prayer and ask for His blessing.
Our Lord and our God, we bless Your name, for Your word, it is truth; it
is a lamp to our feet and a light to our way. You intend to build us up and
equip us for every goodwork. Your word is inspired: every word of it is
God-breathed. Every word of it is without error. Every word of it is the
final rule of our faith and life. So we pray by Your Spirit that You would
open our eyes to behold wonderful truth from Your word, and live that
truth in Jesus'name. Amen.
Hear God's word:
“Forthis reasonI also suffer these things, but I am not ashamed; for I
know whom I have believed and I am convinced that He is able to guard
what I have entrusted to Him until that day. Retainthe standard of sound
words which you have heard from me, in the faith and love which are in
Christ Jesus. Guardthrough the Holy Spirit who dwells in us, the treasure
which has been entrusted to you.

172. “You are aware ofthe fact that all who are Asia turned awayfrom me,
among whom are Phygelus and Hermogenes. The Lord grant mercy to the
house of Onesiphorus for he often refreshedme, and was not ashamedof
my chains;but when he was in Rome, he eagerly searchedforme, and
found me–the Lord grant to him to find mercy from the Lord on that day–
and you know very well what services he rendered at Ephesus.”
Amen. And thus ends this reading of God's holy, inspired, and inerrant
word. May He write its eternal truth upon our hearts.
What is Paul doing in this passagewith these six exhortations that we're
going to look at? What is Paul doing? Well, I’ll tell you what he's doing:
he's giving you and me marching orders for how to live and minister in a
fallen world and in an imperfect church.
The Apostle Paul had to suffer hardship and trials, and endure many
persecutions from the unbelieving world. His eyes were wide open to how
the world can oppose and persecute and undermine Christians in the living
of the Christian life, and so he is concernedto encourage Timothy to be
ready to endure in this fallen world.
But that's not all. Paul knew that there are disappointments awaiting us in
life and ministry even in the Christian church. Christians canlet us down.
And so he is not only concernedthat Timothy (and you and me) would
understand that this fallen world has challenges to our faithfulness, to our
continuing to have confidence in God, but even our experience in the life of
the church has its own challenges. And so he's giving us marching orders
for how to serve God in a fallen world and an imperfect church. And here
are six things that he says to Timothy and to you and me.
I. Your confidence is found only in Jesus Christ.
And the first thing is this: your confidence must be in Jesus Christ. Don't
you love this verse? Formany of you this is a life-verse. It's one of your
very favorite verses, and perhaps you memorized it many years ago in
Sunday Schoolor in VacationBible School.
“Forthis reasonI also suffer these things, but I am not ashamed; for I
know whom I have believed and I am convinced that He is able to guard
that which I have entrusted to Him until that day.”
Paul is saying, ‘My only confidence is in Jesus Christ.’
You know, if Paul's confidence in life and ministry had been based on his
circumstances, his confidence would have been up and down like a roller

173. coaster. One day — conversions;one day, many Christians being discipled
and matured in the faith; the next day being heckledby pagans, rejectedin
his teaching;one day being receivedinto the houses of Christians in a
strange land; the next day, being beaten by the natives of a city for his
proclamation of the gospel. If his confidence had been basedupon his
circumstance, it would have been a very dodgy thing indeed! And the
Apostle Paul is saying, ‘That's not where my confidence is. My confidence
is in Jesus Christ, and so it never wavers.’
Take your hymnals out and look at hymn No. 705. Again, this is a hymn
that you have knownfor many years and sung countless times–but have
you ever paid attention to the words? Look at the five stanzas of 705:I
Know Whom I Have Believed. Notice that this hymn writer, Daniel
Whittle, overa hundred years ago has given us words in which he tells you
seventhings that he doesn't know. You remember the song from the Fifties
or Sixties, Don't Know Much About (Geography, History, etc)? Well, this
is a Christian versionof that song! I don't know much about this, I don't
know much about that, but this I do know...andhe tells you seven things
that he doesn't know much about.
Look at the first stanza: “I know not why God's wondrous grace to me He
hath made known...” I don't know why Godhas set His love upon me.
There's nothing in me to deserve that. I don't know why He, in His mercy,
has savedme. It's a mystery to me, he's saying. I don't know why that is.
And he continues in the first stanza: “...norwhy, unworthy, Christ in love
redeemedme for His own.” In other words, I don't know why, though I am
unworthy, the priceless, worthygift of Jesus Christ was given in order to
buy me back, in order to redeem me, in order to restore me to God's
family. I don't know that!
Look at the next stanza: “I know not how this saving faith to me He did
impart....” In other words, I don't know how it was that God brought me to
faith in Christ. I don't know how He did that. I know the Holy Spirit did
that, but I don't know how the Holy Spirit did that.
And then he goes on: “...norhow believing in His word wrought peace
within my heart.” In other words, I don't know how it is that believing
what God says in His gospeland His word gives you assurance andpeace. I
don't know how that works. It does. I've experiencedit. He's given me
peace in my heart because I believe in His word, but I don't understand
how that works.

174. Notice what he goes onto say: “I know not how the Spirit moves,
convincing men of sin; revealing Jesus through the word, creating faith in
Him.” In other words, how the Holy Spirit works in our hearts–it's a
mystery to me. I don't know how He does that.
But he doesn't stop there. Look, sixthly: he says, “Iknow not what of good
or ill may be reservedfor me, of wearyways or goldendays before His face
I see.” In other words, I don't know what's coming. Tomorrow may have
blessings galore. Tomorrowmay have sorrows galore.I don't know the
future. It's a mystery to me.
And then, finally he says: “I know not when my Lord may come, at night
or noonday fair; nor if I’ll walk the vale with Him or meet Him in the air.”
In other words, I don't know when the SecondComing of Christ is. I don't
know when that's going to be. and I don't know whether I'm going to be
alive or whether I’ll have already gone home to be with Him before He
comes to bring all His people home to glory. I don't know whether I’ll walk
with Him through the vale...in other words, I don't know whether my Lord
will walk with me through the valley of the shadow of death until in my
soul I'm with Him in heaven; or, I don't know whether I’ll be alive and the
Lord will come, and the shout of the trumpet will be there, and I’ll be
caught up in the air with His people to reign forever.
But, he says, this I do know. I don't know any of those things...andin the
refrain, five times over you sing it:
“I know Whom I have believed, and [I am convinced]...ampersuaded that
He is able to keepthat which I've committed to Him againstthis day.”
And that is exactly what Paul is saying here: ‘I don't know a lot of that
other. I don't know what the future holds. I don't know what the response
to my ministry is going to be. I don't know what struggles or trials or
hardships I'm going to face. I don't know what sufferings I'm going to have
to endure...’ (although we already have a pretty goodcatalogue ofhis
sufferings recordedfor us in Scripture). But he does say this: ‘This I do
know:I know Jesus, andI know that He is able to keepHis promise to me.
I know He is able to deliver on the commitment that He has made to me. I
don't know these other things, but these things I know: I know Jesus, andI
know He's able to deliver on His promises.’
And Paul is saying to Timothy and he's saying to the Ephesians, and he's
saying to you and me: ‘You need to make sure that your confidence is in
Jesus Christ.’

175. I love what J. A. Alexander's wife said about J. A. Alexander, the great
Princetontheologianof the nineteenth century. There was a translation in
his time that inserted the little preposition in between... “Iknow in Whom I
have believed”... and he had marked that out in his manuscript. And she
said, “Myhusband was not willing that so much as a preposition would
separate his soulfrom his Savior.” And that's how you and I need to be, my
friends. Our confidence needs to be in Jesus. If it's not, it's going to wax
and wane. It's going to go up and down, and we're going to be tossedabout
by every wind.
Now, that's the first thing that Paul tells us: that our confidence is found in
Jesus Christ. And that's so necessaryfor life in a fallen world, because we
don't know what tomorrow will bring; but this we do know:we know
Christ, and we know He's able. He's able to make us to stand on the last
day. The only way that you canreally make it through the trials of this life
without becoming bitter, without becoming cynical, without becoming
jaded, is to make sure that your confidence is in Jesus Christ; because if it's
anywhere else, your trust is going to be so crushed that you will become
bitter and cynical, and you’ll become jaded, and you’ll become hard. But if
your confidence is in Christ, it will be never be disappointed. And that's
what Paul is saying. ‘Timothy,’ he's saying, ‘First PresbyterianChurch —
Jackson, put your confidence in Jesus Christ, and let go everything else.’
That's the first thing.
II. Hold fast to biblical/apostolic doctrine/teaching/language, anddo so in
word and life.
The secondthing, you’ll see in verse 13. Here he calls us to fidelity to truth.
‘Hold fast to biblical, apostolic doctrine and teaching and language...’and
then he adds, ‘...and do it in word and in life.’ Listen to what he says:
“Retainthe standard of sound words which you have heard from me, in
the faith and love which are in Christ Jesus.”Paulis calling on Timothy
and he's calling on us to hold fast to sound, biblical teaching, and even to
the words that the apostles have given us in that teaching, because that
teaching has been given to us by inspiration. It's the very word of God that
we're looking at this morning, and it's the very word of God that we're
studying today, and every word is inspired and every word is profitable.
And we're to hold to that word: we're to hold to sound, biblical doctrine
and teaching and preaching.
And my friends, that's so hard to do. We live in a relativistic age, an age
that doesn't believe in truth. There are many of your friends who really
esteemyou, but who think you are nuts to believe that the Bible is the word

176. of God. They really do love you, they just can't figure out how an
intelligent personlike you could possibly believe that this is the word of
God.
So, you know what? Paul was writing to Timothy and to the Ephesians in a
relativistic world. They didn't believe in absolute truth in the
Mediterraneanworld in the time of Jesus Christ. That was one thing that
was so offensive about Paul's teaching:he came along and he said, ‘By the
way, all that stuff that you believe... it's all wrong. The only truth is in
Jesus Christ, the only name under heavenby which a man can be saved.’
And so Paul is saying, ‘Timothy, hold on to the truth.’ But don't you love
the wayhe puts it? “Retainthe standard of sound words in the faith and
love which are in Christ Jesus.”In other words, he's saying, ‘I don't want
you to simply acceptthe theorems and the formulations of biblical truth as
if they are theoreticallytrue. I want you to live those truths out in your
lives. I want those truths to work out in your faith and love.
You know, it is possible to be a Presbyterian, to be Reformed, to be a
Calvinist, and to very effectivelyargue for the sovereigntyof God in
salvation...thatit takes God's divine grace to change a sinner; and it is
possible to be very irritated with your Arminian friends that they don't
understand what the Bible teaches onthat; and it is possible to believe that
and to believe it correctly, and yet, for God's grace to you not to have
workedforth in a merciful heart yourself towards others. And those who
truly understand God's sovereigngrace to them are people who are
gracious to other people, and merciful to other people, because they know
the mercy that has been shownto them undeservedly.
And so the Apostle Paul is concernednot simply that we know in the
abstractthe truth of God's word, but that the truth of God is workedout in
our experience and in our life, in our faith and our love. The truth will go
bad on you, unless you turn it into prayer and turn it into practice;unless
it is changing the way you think and relate to God, the way you think of
yourself and the way that you show the love of God to your brothers and
sisters in Christ and to all mankind. God's mercy changes us, and so a real
knowledge ofthe truth of God always has a corresponding impact on our
experience and on our living. And so the Apostle Paul tells us to hold
fast...to fidelity to that truth. And that's, again, a hard thing to do in our
day, because we don't believe in truth.
One of my dear friends at his inaugural address to a major theological
seminary preached this message:“Don'tjust do something, stand there!”

177. His point was this: that unless we stand on the truth of God's word, it
doesn't matter what we do–it’ll be wrong. And so the beginning of doing
something for God is to stand on His truth, to embrace that truth with your
head, with your heart, with your life. And that's what Paul is exhorting us
to do here.
III. Guard the gospelmessage, by the Holy Spirit.
But thirdly, if you look at verse 14, he calls you and me to an active care or
protection of that truth. He calls Timothy to guard the gospelmessage
through the Holy Spirit. Listen to his words: “Guardthrough the Holy
Spirit who dwells in us, the treasure which has been entrusted to you.”
Now, many goodcommentators think that what is being spokenof there is
not the gospelmessageitself, but Timothy's ministry. That's a treasure,
that's a gift that God has given to him, and Timothy's own giftings and
abilities for that ministry. And that's a perfectly acceptable interpretation,
but I suspectthat what is being talkedabout in this treasure is in fact the
gospelmessage,becauseofwhat Paul has just said. We are to retain the
truth. We’re to hold fast to the truth. And then he turns around and he
says, “Guardthrough the Holy Spirit the treasure....”The truth is the
treasure:the gospeltruth, the gospelmessage–that'sthe treasure. And
what Paul is saying to Timothy is this: ‘You will have to be reliant upon the
Holy Spirit if you are going to continue to be faithful to the truth, if you’re
going to continue to guard the truth.’
How many of us would ever think, ‘Oh, yes, I could defectfrom the truth. I
could slip into false belief. I could embrace false teaching.’I've never met
anybody who thought that they could– and that's precisely when you’re in
danger. And Paul is saying to Timothy, ‘It will be your dependence upon
the Holy Spirit that will enable you to take care of the truth in your own
life.’
One of my dearestfriends growing up, grew up in a faithful Baptist church
where the Bible was preached, where salvation in Christ was proclaimed;
and from a very early age, he wantedto go into the ministry. And he went
through school, and he went through seminary, and he embraced unbelief.
And he is out on the mission field spreading unbelief. And if you had told
him at the age of14 that he would defect from the truth, he would have
denied it to your face!None of us think we're going to defectfrom the
truth, and Paul says, ‘Timothy, take care of that truth; guard that treasure
by the Holy Spirit.’

178. If truth is to be guarded, it will be done so in our reliance on the Spirit of
God Himself. We can neither keepour minds sound in the faith as to the
doctrine of the faith, nor our souls steady in the exercises offaith and love,
without the help of the Holy Spirit. And so we must be consciously
dependent upon Him in prayer, as we embrace the truth.
But there's more.
IV. Faithfulness to the Lord does not guarantee human loyalty to us.
Look at verse 15. Here Paul is preparing us for disappointment in the
church. It's a sad, sad sentence, isn't it? — “You are aware of the fact that
all who are in Asia turned awayfrom me, among whom are Phygelus and
Hermogenes.” Yousee, Paulis saying, ‘Timothy, being faithful to the Lord
doesn't guarantee human loyalty to us. Being faithful to the Lord doesn't
mean that God's people won't disappoint you or let you down.’
Paul had sharedthe gospelwith Asia before any of the other apostles.
While they were back in Jerusalemevangelizing Jews, he was out
evangelizing Jews and Gentiles all over the Roman Empire. He had risked
his life, he had shed his blood to bring the gospelto Jewishand Gentile
Christians in Asia Minor; and in his hour of trial, when he was thrown in
prison, he tells us just about all of them turned their back on him.
And you canunderstand why. For them to go associate withPaul would
have been to risk their own lives; to identify themselves as a Christian, a
followerof an illegalreligion, a superstition–itwould have endangered
their lives, their families, their livelihood. It would have invited
persecution. And so in his hour of need, this man who had evangelizedAsia
is abandoned by the very Christians whom he had been the human
instrument of God the Holy Spirit to lead them to Christ.
Now, my friends, that could have made Paul bitter and cynical. It could
have made him to question God and Christ, and the gospeland the church.
And you know what's beautiful? It doesn't. And the very reasonhe records
it here is to say, ‘Timothy, don't think that serving God's people will mean
that they will not let you down and will not support you.’
And my friends, that is such an important lessonfor all of us to learn
today. And one of the things I hate most about letting you down is not only
my sinful pride–it's so hard to repent, it's so hard to face up to my own
failures...it's so embarrassing to have to admit that to you–but it's also
because I genuinely love you, that I don't want to let you down. I don't
want to fail in my ministry to you. But you know what? I do! I fail in my

179. ministry all the time! I disappoint some of you. Now, mostof you are too
kind to tell me, but I hear it. And it kills me to disappoint you.
And you know what? You disappoint one another, too. Now, there are
times of need in our lives when you think, ‘You know, the elders really let
me down on this. My friends in Sunday Schoolclass, theyreally let me
down on this.’ And I've known many a Christian to grow up professing
Christ, living in the church, and they come to a crisis point in life and the
church lets them down, and you know what? They leave the church,
because they've been so bruised, so wounded, so let down, so disappointed
by Christians.
Isn't it glorious that Paul says to Timothy, ‘Timothy, don't be surprised by
that: expect it!’
And I want to say, my friends, we have so little suffering and hardship to
endure here in the American church, in the Westernchurch. We have so
many blessings, so much affluence, so much ease, so much peace, so much
freedom, that we rarely get to enter into the sufferings and hardships of
our friends in Africa and in Asia, where by the thousands day by day they
are laying down their lives because they believe in Jesus Christ. And so I
want to tell you this: since our trials are so meagerin comparisonto theirs,
when you’re wounded by one of your fellow believers, or even by one of
your ministers in the church, take that as your opportunity to endure
hardship and disappointment for the Savior. Becausewhenthe Apostle
Paul had the experience of being abandonedby those very converts that he
had led to the Lord in Asia, you know what? All he was experiencing is
what Jesus experiencedfrom His own beloved disciples...because Matthew
tells us it was not only Judas that betrayed Christ, and it was not only
Peterwho denied Christ, but that all the disciples fled from Him in His
hour of need.
And when you’re disappointed by the church, praise God and remember
that you serve not in a perfectchurch, but an imperfect church; and it's
going to be imperfect until He comes againand makes us perfect! There's
never been a perfect church in the world in 2000 years, and when you
experience the disappointment of living with sinners–redeemedsinners, to
be sure, but sinners–justremember, you have an opportunity to experience
what your Savior experiencedfrom you, and endure it, and don't become
cynical and bitter and disappointed.
And don't turn your back on the people of God. Isn't it beautiful that Paul
gives his life for these people, and they let him down, and he keeps on

180. giving his life for these people? Isn't that beautiful? Isn't that how you
want to relate to one another?
Now, that's not an excuse, I want to say very quickly, for the ministers of
this church not to do our job. Farfrom it. It would be a wickedsin for me
to use that as an excuse not to serve you as we ought. But when you do
experience disappointment from us or from one another, rejoice that you
have the privilege of enduring exactly what Paul experiencedfrom God's
people, and exactly what Jesus experienced.
V. The Lord shows mercy on those who encourage His servants.
But there's a fifth thing. Look at verses 16 to 18. Here Paul pronounces a
divine blessing on this man, Onesiphorus, who has ministered to him. Out
of all those Christians in Asia who had abandoned Paul, not Onesiphorus!
No, when he comes to Rome–maybe he came to Rome on business–what
does he do? Does he try and stay as far away as possible from the Apostle
Paul so that he doesn't get in trouble for being a Christian? No! He
searchesall over the city until he finds Paul in prison, and he goes to him
and he ministers to him. And Paul records his name: “He often refreshed
me, and he was not ashamedof my chains....He eagerlysearchedforme,
and he found me.”
And you know what the Apostle says? “The Lord grant to him to find
mercy from the Lord on that day” —meaning the Judgment Day. In other
words, ‘Lord God, when the greatJudgment Daycomes and the books are
open, and the pronouncement is given, when that man stands up before
You, You bless him, because he encouragedme when everybody had left
me!’
And I want to tell you, what Paul is saying there is not so surprising. I
mean, you could be saying, ‘Paul, who are you to tell God what He ought to
do for someone just for encouraging you, on the last day?’ Well, I’ll tell
you who Paul was:he was an apostle, but he also knew his Bible. And the
Lord Jesus Christ once said, ‘If you even give a cup of water to My
followers, to My disciples, to My servants, I tell you I will not forgetit on
the lastday!’ You see, Paulis just saying, ‘Lord God, fulfill what Jesus said
He would do: that everyone who encourages the servants of the Lord will
not do it without reward before Your throne on the last day.’
Isn't it precious that Jesus won't overlook the smallestkindness you extend
to the people of God, and to the servants of God?
Now I want to quickly say, this is not a sermon in which I am secretly
trying to getyou to encourage me more. Even though Paul is talking about

181. encouraging ministers of the word, let me say I am encouragedby you
more than I deserve. Let me saythat very quickly! But you know what,
brothers and sisters? It would greatly encourage me if you would go out of
your way to encourage the other ministers and elders and deacons ofthis
church, and the womenwho serve in the Women In the Church, and one
another. Wouldn't it be a glorious thing for people in Jacksonto say, ‘You
know, those Presbyterians over there at First Pres, they’re a strange
lot...but you know, they’re encouraging!And when people are going
through hard times, and suffering and hardships, they don't sit in
judgment on them. They come alongside them and they encourage them.
They’re there, giving cups of cold water to one another.’ What a blessing
that would be, for that to be our testimony!
VI. Follow the example of the encouragers.
And you see, that's the sixth thing that I want to get to, because Paulhere
shares this example preciselybecause he wants to urge us to be biblical
encouragers.See,the apostle, this greatapostle, needs and appreciates such
support and encouragementgivento him in dire straits, and so he gives
this example to Timothy. And he says, ‘Timothy, you be an encouragerlike
this, and make sure your elders are encouragers like this, and make sure
your congregationis filled with encouragementlike this.’ My friends, this
is not something that happens because you’re a nice person. This is
something that happens because ofGod's grace and because ofyour desire
to follow the Bible.
And you have to know one another before you can encourage one another.
You have to know what one another is going through. You have to know
the trials and the losses andcrossesoflife before you canreally be this kind
of encourager. Letme encourage youto aim to know one another, and to
always be learning more, knowing more in our flock, and giving ourselves
to encouraging one another. Be able to say, ‘Dearsister, I know that in that
relationship, you sharing the gospelwith your sister causedher to hate you.
And I want to tell you that it is a rebuke to me that you would be so brave
as to share the gospelwith your sisterdespite the fact that you knew it was
going to create family problems.’ Christian, do you realize how
encouraging it would be to a Christian to hear those words from another
believer in this church? ‘Oh, brother, I know that in that business deal you
were done wrong. You were clearly done wrong, and I just want to saythat
watching the way that you responded to that as a Christian, it was a
humbling thing to me.’ Or, ‘I just want to sayto you, I admire the way that
you’re faithful to prayer, to pray for the ministry of the church.’ Or,

182. ‘Brother, I know that you sacrifice in order to give to missions, and I want
to tell you that it makes me want to give to missions, to see the way that you
are faithful in your own life to sacrifice to give to missions.’
Oh, my friends, we ought to be a fellowshipof encouragement–notbecause
we're positive thinkers or committed to political correctness,but because
we're committed to biblical principles. That's what Paul is saying. You
want to get through this life? You want to endure without becoming bitter
and cynical? Disappointed, because you live in a fallen world and you serve
in an imperfect church? Have your confidence in Christ, Christ alone.
Hold fast to biblical teaching, and live it in your life. Guard that truth in
dependence upon the Holy Spirit. Expectthe church to let you down. And
be an encouragementto other people. Paul needed it. We certainly do.
Let's pray
Our Lord and our God, bless Your word. Use it in our hearts and lives.
Change us by it. In Jesus'name. Amen.
God's grace be with you. Amen.
Rev. David Holwick
First Baptist Church
WestLafayette, Ohio
January 11, 1987
I Am NotAshamed
2 Timothy 1:8-12, NIV
"So do not be ashamedto testify about our Lord, or ashamedof me his
prisoner."

183. Shame - what does it bring to mind? - Being associatedwith something
that makes you look bad. If you are a leading member of the community,
you do not want to be caught red-handed with a "lady of the evening."
You may like that kind of company but you would be ashamedto be
associatedwith her in public. It does not fit the image we want to project
about ourselves.
Believe it or not, I think the same principle is true for Christians. We want
to be savedbut we do not want to be associatedwith Christianity.
Something about it shames us.
This is nothing new. It has always been a strong temptation for believers.
If Timothy had not felt it, Paul would not have to warn him about it. I
think Paul himself was tempted by shame. If he had never felt, it, he would
not have had to state so strongly in Romans 1:16, "I am not ashamed of the
gospel, becauseit is the powerof Godfor the salvationof everyone who
believes
Shame is such a widespreadtemptation even Jesus had to warn about it.
Turn to Mark 8:38, where Jesus says:
"If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful
generation, the Son of Man will be ashamedof him when he comes in his
Father's glory with the holy angels."
There are three main ways Christians like Timothy are tempted to feel
ashamed:
1. ASHAMED OF JESUS
They may feel ashamedabout Jesus himself. In a country that worships
Rambo, the man from Galilee seems like a wimp. Maybe it is those Sunday
Schoolpictures we grew up with which present Jesus as soft, effeminate
and non-threatening. The reality is that Jesus was a very fiery prophet,

184. much like John the Baptist. He attracted vastcrowds - and deadly enemies
- because ofhis power, not because ofhis "deepblue eyes." If you do not
want to be associatedwith Jesus because youthink he is a sissy, you do not
know the real Jesus.
2. ASHAMED OF THE GOSPEL
A secondtemptation is to feel ashamedof Jesus'message,the gospel. That
is really what Paul is warning Timothy about. Why would we be ashamed
of the gospel? There are severalpossibilities. Forone thing, it is ancient
history. Practices thatJesus calls sin are boastedabout today. We have
evolved beyond the old-fashioned morality of the Bible. Some Christmas
solve the problem by eliminating the do's and don'ts. The gospelbecomes
whateveryou want it to be.
I think most Christians have the opposite problem. They are not ashamed
because the gospelis too old-fashioned- they are ashamedbecause it is too
up-to-date. The morality of the Bible is true and they hate to admit they
are not living up to it. Most non-Christians have a fair idea of what Jesus
stands for. They know how believers are supposed to live. And they know
how you live. Non-Christians know that the Bible is againstfoul language
and dirty jokes. If you use that kind of language and those jokes because
you like the attention they bring you, you will not do much witnessing to
those people. You could of course - anyone canexplain the points of
salvation. But you will not because it will shame you. Even non-Christians
expectconsistency. If you cannotlive the gospelyou are not going to stand
up for it.
Of course it does not have to go this way. You can be proud of the gospel,
and give up sin. Don't deceive yourself into thinking that that is
impossible. People are not expecting you to be perfect. They just expect
you to be motivated by Jesus and his teachings, and not afraid to be
different.
What is a real Christian like? There are the things you should not do: A
Christian should not have a need for alcoholor illegal drugs. People take

185. these to fit in with the crowd. A few may use them secretly, but very few.
Genuine Christians getall the stimulation they need from God.
There is also a positive side to being a Christian. Instead of stabbing
people in the back, they go the extra mile for them. Christians have
control over their desires and attitudes. They actthe same way no matter
who they are with. Such Christians have no need to be ashamed. Non-
believers will respectyou for such consistency(as long as you do not push it
too hard on them). Perhaps that is the main reasonChristians do not
witness - it is not a lack of knowledge ofhow to do it, but a fear of
rejection. We prefer the praise of men to the praise of God.
3. ASHAMED OF HIS PEOPLE
We may be tempted to be ashamed of Jesus. Orashamedof his message.
The third temptation is to be ashamed of his people. It is possible to be
proud of Christ but embarrassedto associate with his followers. Other
Christians were doing this to Paul. Because he was a prisoner, all the other
believers were pulling awayfrom him.
We all have the temptation to hang around successfulpeople, people who
make us look good. And some Christians do not fit in this category. They
may have lots of problems that require help and understand. They have
nothing to offer you in return. Churches are filled with such people. Do
you ignore them, or reach out to them? Being friendly to your friends does
not make this a friendly church. It requires dealing with everyone as a
brother or sister.
The Apostle Paul was not ashamedof Jesus, his gospel, orhis people. He
may have been tempted to do so, but he did not give in. The reasonhe did
not give in to shame was because he knew the gospel.
Christians do not play fastand loose with sex. It is not just recreation.
The consequences ofsexbind you to the other person. If you are only
using them, it will catchup with you. Many Christians have forfeited their

186. testimony for Jesus becausethey let their hormones getthe best of them.
He knew what it really was about.
A greatweaknessamong Christians is we have a wishy-washyview of
salvation. It is often boiled down to this: We should acceptJesus as our
Savior so we will go to heavenwhen we die. This is true, but you cango a
whole lot deeper. This is exactlywhat Paul does in this passage.
Look at verse 10:"God...has savedus." Goddoes it. Salvationis not a
form of pop-psychology where you develop by believing in your own
powers. Salvationis the working of a greaterpower: God in your life. And
it works now. Notice the words, "has saved." If you are a Christian, you
possesssalvationright now. Heavenis just the icing.
Paul continues: God calls us to a holy life. God does his part but you will
change as a result. Salvationis much more than forgiveness. There should
be a difference in the way you live and it is something you must work at.
But "doing good" does not save you. Good deeds follow salvation but does
not cause it or earn it. As Paul says in verse 9, it is not because ofanything
we have done but because ofGod's own purpose and grace.
God alone can save. He does it out of his grace which is rootedin his love
and accomplishedthrough Jesus Christ before the beginning of time itself.
Jesus on the cross was not a lastminute plan. It was thought up before Eve
bit her apple. Predestinationraises lots of interesting questions but it is not
meant for speculation. It is intended to make us humble and thankful
before God. He saves us because he loves us, not because we are worthy.
We canonly come to God with empty hands.
Verse 10 brings us to the climax - Jesus Christcame and brought salvation
to light. This is the gospelPaul was appointed to preach. It is the same
gospeleachof you is supposedto share with your family, friends and
neighbors by witnessing. (Unless of course you are ashamed...)
Paul believed in the gospelso deeply he was willing to suffer for it, and
preach it. He knew it was true because he was committed to the one who

187. was behind it. God is able to keephis promises. He will keepthem until
"that day" - the SecondComing of Jesus in his glory.
Do you believe God cankeephis promises to you? Do you belong to his
eternal, divine plan? Do you personally know the one you have believed
in? Are you living it and witnessing about it?
Rev. David Holwick V
First Baptist Church
Ledgewood, New Jersey
June 27, 2010
2 Timothy 1:8-12
UNASHAMED
I. America is not very goodat shame.
A. Bostonis trying, though.
In an unusual move this month, Bostonpolice releaseda flyer
with mugshots of 10 young men.
On top it says, "These individuals are known to associatewith
known criminals and gang members."
If you recognize them, you are supposed to call the police.
The flyer was in response to the killing of a 14-year-oldboy
by gang members.
What is interesting about the flyer is that the photos must

188. have been takenat a police station, but no names are listed.
The reasonis that none of them have been chargedwith a crime,
at leastnot yet.
It is hoped that the shame of having grandma recognize you on
a wanted posterwill make you want to turn your life around.
The reactionin the neighborhoodis that it is more likely
the youths will feel proud for being associatedwith gangs.
#62860
B. Can we learn from Asia?
Asians are really into the conceptof shame.
About ten years ago, the top executive of Korea's Hyundai
corporationwas accusedoffunneling $100 million to North
Korea so they would attend a summit he was hosting.
The bribe was uncoveredand he was askedto testify about it.
His response was to jump out of his 12th-floor office window.
His suicide note just said, "This unwise man did an unwise
thing. Everything is my fault." #62859
C. Perhaps we are goodat shame, but in the wrong way.
1) Instead of ashamedof bad things, maybe we are ashamed
of goodthings.
2) Paul apparently facedthis with Timothy.
a) Three times the issue of shame is raised.
b) The implication is that Timothy was weak in these
areas, or could be.

189. D. God cansee us through.
1) In spite of our personallimitations and life's
difficulties, Christians have something special.
2) OswaldChambers - "All through history God has chosenand
used nobodies, because their unusual dependence on him
made possible the unique display of his powerand
grace."
3) God can use nobodies like Timothy - and us.
a) But we must be aware of three areas where we may fail.
II. Ashamed of the gospel.
A. This was Paul's main focus with Timothy.
B. The world's problems with the gospel.
1) It is ancient history.
a) We don't go to work in bathrobes anymore.
b) How canthis dusty story apply to me?
2) It seems unfair.
a) A religion requiring goodworks makes more sense.
b) But as Paul puts it in verse 9, salvationis not from
anything we have done, but from what God has done
for us.
3) It doesn't seemto work.
C. The gospel's answers.
1) It is current, not ancient.
a) It describes the modern condition quite well.
b) Maybe too well - our favorite sins are condemned.
1> His teaching on sexand money and commitment
are uncompromising.

190. A> We would rather be left alone.
B> We certainly don't want someone telling us
we must repent.
2> We are not savedby being holy, but we are saved
to become holy. 1:9
c) Perhaps this is why Christians are ashamedof it.
1> If we share it with other people, they will point
out where we fall short as well.
2> We often don't witness, not from lack of knowledge
but from fear of exposure and rejection.
2) It is unfair - and we should praise God for it.
a) A greatmystery is that the gospelwas planned out
before the universe was created. 1:9
b) It also points forward to eternity.
1> Only through Jesus is death defeated.
3) It can work - if people apply it.
III. Ashamed of his people.
A. Some were ashamedof Paul's imprisonment. 1:8
1) They probably had a "health & wealth" theology - Paul's
troubles were a sign that God wasn't happy with him.
2) Paul saw his trouble as a sign that God was going to shine
through him.
a) He admitted he was a prisoner - but not a prisoner
of Rome. He was a prisoner of his Lord Jesus.
b) Paul knew that his suffering would revealGod's power
through him to other people.
c) OswaldChambers has a goodcomment on this as well:
"Christians do not choose to suffer, but choose to do
God's will even if it means suffering."

191. #29004
B. It is not uncommon to be ashamedof other believers.
1) We are not as successfulor beautiful or smart as other
groups.
2) But the glory of the gospelis that God cantake these
lumps of clay and do great things with us.
IV. Ashamed of Jesus.
A. Jesus seems pretty wimpy to our culture.
1) We prefer Rockyand Rambo and John Wayne.
2) Jesus preaches love and peace and is soft.
B. But Jesus was a fiery prophet.
1) His messageparalleledthat of John the Baptist.
2) There was joy in his ministry, but also harsh words.
3) Especiallyfor "religious" people who were hypocrites.
C. Jesus gave his disciples this warning in Mark 8:38 -
"If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous
generation, the Sonof Man will be ashamedof him...."
1) What will Jesus do with you?
2) Do you admit to people that you believe in him?
3) Do you admit it even when they are critical and hostile?
a) It is easyto love Jesus in church.
b) It is harder out in the world.
V. Paul was not ashamed.

192. A. He knew the one he believed in.
1) In spite of his suffering, he knew that God had better
things in store for him.
2) When you know the real God, you can have confidence no
matter what happens to you.
Probably the greatestexperimental scientistof all time was
MichaelFaraday.
An article by Sir John Thomas arguedthat if MichaelFaraday
had been living in the era of the Nobelprize, he would
have been worthy of at leasteight of them.
Faradaydiscoveredthe conceptof the electromagneticfield
and laid the foundation for modern electric motor technology.
In 1867, Faradaywas closeto death.
A friend and well-wishercame by and said, "Sir Michael, what
speculations have you now?"
This friend was trying to introduce some levity into the
situation.
Faraday's careerhadconsistedof making speculations about
science andthen dashing into a laboratory to either prove
or disprove them.
It was a reasonable thing to say.
But Faraday took it very seriously.
He replied:
Speculations, man, I have none.

193. I have certainties.
I thank God that I don't rest my dying head upon
speculations for
"I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that he is
able to keepthat which I've committed
unto him againstthat day."
#13698
B. Who do you believe in?
1) Do you have certainties like Faradaydid?
2) Or is your faith rather bland?
A few years ago, someone wrote this:
I am a part of the fellowship of the unashamed.
I have the Holy Spirit Power.
The die has been cast.
I have stepped over the line.
The decisionhas been made.
I am a disciple of Jesus Christ.
I won't look back, let up, slow down, back away, or be still.
My past is redeemed,
my presentmakes sense,
and my future is secure.
I no longer need preeminence, prosperity, position, promotions,
plaudits, or popularity.
I now live by presence, learnby faith, love by patience,
lift by prayer, and labor by power.

194. My pace is set, my gait is fast, my goalis Heaven,
my road is narrow, my way is rough, my companions few,
my Guide is reliable, my mission is clear.
I cannot be bought, compromised, deterred, lured away, turned back,
diluted, or delayed.
I won't give up, back up, let up, or shut up
until I've preachedup, prayed up, paid up, stored up,
and stayedup for the cause ofChrist.
I am a disciple of Jesus Christ.
I must go until He returns,
give until I drop,
preach until all know,
and work until He comes.
And when He comes to get His own, He will have no problem
recognizing me.
My colors will be clearfor "I am not ashamedof the Gospel,
because it is the powerof God for the salvation of everyone
who believes." (Romans 1:16)
#24111
========================================================
=================
SOURCES FOR ILLUSTRATIONS USED IN THIS SERMON:
#13698 "Resting OnCertainties," by W. W. Clay, from his "Choice
Illustrations," page 63. Fredericksburg Collection.

195. #24111 "Fellowshipof the Unashamed," by Dr. Bob Moorehead. Abe
Kudra
Collection. [The author of this illustration is in dispute.
See the Kerux database for more information]
#29004 "The Sacramentof the Saint," by OswaldChambers. Abe Kudra
Collection. [The wording here is slightly different from
Kudra's version]
#62859 "How Asians Handle Shame," by Rev. Simon Scott, Kerux sermon
#20599, January11, 2004.
#62860 "WantedPosters," by Rev. David Holwick, adaptedfrom various
media sources including <http://weblogs.baltimoresun.com/
~/news/crime/blog/2010/06/boston_police_release_flier_to.html>
These and 35,000others are part of the Kerux database that can be
downloaded, absolutelyfree, at http://www.holwick.com/database.html
========================================================
=================
GUY H. KING
CHRISTIAN LITERATURE CRUSADE Fort Washington, Pennsylvania
CHAPTER THREE
THE PASSING DAYS TILL THE PERFECT DAY
II Timothy 1:8-12
8 Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me
his prisoner: but be thou partakerof the afflictions of the gospelaccording

196. to the powerof God; 9 Who hath savedus, and calledus with an holy
calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and
grace which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began, 10 But is
now made manifest by the appearing of our Saviour Jesus Christ, who hath
abolisheddeath, and hath brought life and immortality to light through the
gospel:11 Whereunto I am appointed a preacher, and an apostle, and a
teacherof the Gentiles. 12 Forthe which cause I also suffer these things:
nevertheless I am not ashamed: for I know whom I have believed, and am
persuaded that he is able to keepthat which I have committed unto him
againstthat day.
"AGAINST that day" - how characteristic ofthe apostle is that phrase.
The thought was constantlyat the back of his mind.
As you read his correspondence, younote how frequently it crops up -
sometimes he deals with it specifically, sometimes it just slips out. In this
short Epistle he has three references to the matter: here at 1:12, at 1:18,
and at 4:8. So, for him, the passing days are shaped and colouredby the
thought of the coming perfect day. In view of this latter, he would counsel
his young son in the faith to be
NOT ASHAMED
"Be not... ashamed", he says in verse 8; and because, as we saw lasttime,
he always practices whathe preaches, he says, "I am not ashamed," in
verse 12. After all, what is there to be ashamed about in being a Christian -
exceptit be that one is such a poor Christian. In very truth, it is a
matchless honour to be a Christian.
In one of the Italian wars of many years ago, the recruiting band was
marching through the villages gathering young volunteers as it went, who
brought their weapon, a gun, a sword, from their houses, and fell in at the
tail end of the procession. At one place an old woman, stirred by
the martial music, went hurriedly back into her house: she had no sword,
no gun, but she had a broomstick - and with that at the "slopearms,"she
joined the march. How her fellow-villagers laughed!What could the silly
old womando for the war? She hurled at them her spirited reply - "I don't
care so long as you know whose side I'm on".
I hope that story is true, for the actionwas fine! Even if we have nothing
but a broomstick to contribute to the Cause, let us bring that, and see that
there is no question of our allegiance,that all may know that we are
undoubtedly and unashamedly His. As for Timothy:

197. (a) Shall he be ashamed of the Masterhe served? "Be not thou therefore
ashamedof the testimony of our Lord". There is, as here
(i) Our testimony of Him. In these days He is "despisedand rejectedof
men," but in "that Day" He shall be crowned.
How easyit will be to honour Him then; but how infinitely more worth
while to honour Him now, in the days of His rejection.
Have you not some testimony to give concerning Him? Does He mean to
you something that you long to share with others? Is He not a Saviour so
complete, a Masterso amazing, a Friend so altogetherwonderful? Tell out,
not something that you have read in a book, but what you yourself have
experiencedof Him in your ownheart: this, and this, and this, I have found
Him to be. On the other hand, there is
(ii) His testimony concerning us. To give our testimony in these days will
lead us on to receive His testimony in that day! "Whosoevertherefore shall
confess Me before men, him will confess also before My Fatherwhich is in
Heaven . . . . Whosoevertherefore shallbe ashamedof Me and of My
words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him also shall the Son of
Man be ashamed, when He cometh in the glory of His Father," Matthew
10:32;Mark 8:38.
Such is His own assurance.We do not forgetthat we may actually have
some testimony from Him even now. You remember old Enoch, of whom
Hebrews 11:5 tells us that "before his translation, he had this testimony,
that he pleasedGod". It was on this verse that dear Taylor Smith used so
often mysteriously to challenge people:"Have you the testimony?"
For oneself, one feels one can only turn the question into a prayer!
"Ashamed of JESUS!that dear Friend On whom my hopes of Heaven
depend! No, when I blush, be this my shame, That I no more revere His
Name.
And, oh, may this my glory be, That CHRIST is not ashamedof me."
Well then,
(b) Shall he be ashamed of the Man he loved? "Norof me His prisoner".
Time was when Timothy held Paul as his hero, as well as his father in the
faith, when he was proud beyond words to be seenin his company, to be
counted amongsthis helpers - has all that to be alterednow that his friend
has been thrown into prison, and is under socialdisgrace? No, no, a
thousand times, No.

198. Apart altogetherfrom the spiritual bond, and the mutual affection,
betweenthem, this Paul who is so dishonoured now by men will in that Day
be seento be held in high honour in Heaven - shall Timothy, then, be
ashamedof one "whom the King delighteth to honour"? Esther6:6.
But let us pursue the thought, for a moment, in a different direction. There
is, I think, sometimes a subtle temptation to despise some of our fellow
believers - those of a lower socialscale, those whose mentaldevelopment
has been sadly arrested, those who are not as "out-and-out" for the LORD
as we fondly imagine ourselves to be, those who are physically maladjusted.
I often think that some of these humbler, or afflicted, brethren are going to
have a high place hereafter, and perhaps we shall feel happier in that day if
we have not been ashamedof them in these days.
But to go back to the prisoner - how greata privilege shall we count it to
have been the companions of GOD's prisoners:a Samuel Rutherford, a
John Bunyan, a Niemoller, a Paul. I am quite sure that, whateverelse may
happen, Timothy will never be ashamed of his greatleader, in prison or out
of it. Paul, you need have no anxiety on that score!
Then
(c) Shall he be ashamedof the Message he bore? Needhe blush to think
that he should ever have preachedsuch things? His message is here
declaredto be a "gospel"- a GoodNews, not as the late Prebendary
Websterwould have said, "goodadvice"!We have had more than enough
of this latter commodity from our pulpits; what people want is goodnews,
the GoodNews.
But remember this begins with BadNews - the pronouncement of our
guilty sinnership precedes the announcement of His gracious Saviourhood.
Note in our passage:
(i) How the Gospelis described. First, it is neatly connectedwith "power".
That is why Paul himself was so proud of it, as he explains in Romans 1:16,
"I am not ashamed of the GospelofChrist: for it is the power of God unto
salvationto every one that believeth" - the word he uses for" power" is
that from which the English word "dynamite" comes:the dynamite of man
is unto destruction, but the dynamite of GOD is unto salvation. How
immensely powerful is this Gospel. If sometimes we miss the old power
nowadays, that is not because the strength is no longerthere in the Gospel,
but that we have lost the knowledge ofhow to use it - afraid of handling the
dynamite, we have takento use softsoapinstead.

199. Next, we observe that through this GospelHe "hath savedus" - grand old
word, though so shabbily treated to-day. It includes three things of course.
As to the guilt and penalty of sin, "ye are [have been] saved," as in
Ephesians 2:5, and here: it is all over and done with - you are once and for
all, and for ever, released;as to the power and habit of sin, the word
speaks, as in I
Corinthians 1:18, of "us which are saved" as a matter of everyday
practicalexperience of the powerof GOD; as to the ultimate connection
with sin, we shall be saved, in which sense, "now is our salvation nearer
than when we believed," as Romans 13:11 tells us: we hasten on towards
sin's complete and final expulsion. What a salvation; and what a gospel!
Who is going to be ashamedof it?
Further, this Gospelbrings no merely negative blessing:its positive side is
that, in it, we are "called... withan holy calling" - if, as Christians, we are
failing to live a positively holy life, we are gravely disappointing one of the
primal reasons ofour redemption, namely, that we should be "conformed
to the image of His Son", as Romans 8:29 makes plain.
How sadly blameworthy are some of us believers in this connection:how
little "like Him" we are. In the PerfectDaywe shall be perfectly "like
Him," says I John 3:2: oh, that in the Passing Days we might be more so!
Lastly, this description of the Gospelcommitted to Timothy - and to Paul,
and to us - makes it quite clearthat its blessing comes "not according to
our works, but according to His own purpose and grace". There is still a
multitude of people, even many church people, who think that acceptance
with GOD is securedby their ownmerit, that entrance to Heavenis gained
by their own goodworks. How insistently does the New Testamentcombat
that self-flattering idea!
Although salvation is "unto goodworks" - that is, it commits its recipients
to a subsequent practicalChristianity yet - it is not "ofworks" - that is, our
works cannotwin it. His finished Work for us must first be accepted"by
faith," and then our continual works for Him must follow, as the mark of
our gratitude and the fruit of our love. Such is the teaching, not of this
present poor scribe, but of the inspired writer of Ephesians 2:8-10. All
comes of "His own purpose and grace":because ofHis infinite grace, He
conceivedthe loving purpose of our salvation. When did He come by that
purpose? Let us dare to take just a few steps into that realm of mystery,
and note

200. (ii) How the Gospelis prepared. "Before the world began," says our verse
9. It was not a sudden whim of the Almighty: it was "preparedbefore the
face (perhaps here = the existence)of all people", sang old Simeon, in Luke
2:31. Before the sin happened, before the sinner came, before the sinner's
world was - the salvationplan was drawn up ready.
The Lamb, Who is the Plan, "was foreordainedbefore the foundation of
the world," Peterwas allowedto revealto us, in I Peter1:20. That word
"foundation" means "the architect's plan". He has the conceptionof his
house in his mind; then he sets about drawing his plans. With his thoughts
upon what will be the needs of those who will come to inhabit it, he puts in
this and that - kitchen, bedrooms, coalcellar, bathroom, study, lounge, and
so on. Our word suggests to us the Architect of the Universe, first
conceiving, and then planning, this World - House for the habitation of
men. All the while, His mind will be dwelling upon what will be their need.
He sees them in His mind, as if they were already here in occupationof the
house. "According to the foreknowledge,"as I Peter1:2 has it. The
Architect knows that the chief need will be for the provision of a way of
dealing with sin - so it is put down in the Plan. Even before the emergency
of sin, there is the emergence ofgrace. In the course of time the Plan was
put into
effectand, as our passagesays,"is now made manifest by the appearing of
our Saviour Jesus Christ." Hebrews 9:24 ff speaks ofthree appearancesof
Him - "He [hath] appearedto put away sin by the sacrifice ofHimself"; He
has gone back into Heaven"now to appear in the presence of God for us";
and "He [shall] appear the secondtime . . . unto salvation".
It is, of course, the first of these that the passage we are studying refers to,
the time when He was "manifested" in the unfolding of history as the
Eternal and Almighty Plan of Salvation.
See here further:
(iii) How the Gospelis exemplified - that is, how one example is given of the
mighty things that the Gospelgives us to declare:the way in which He
deals with death. That is, in Romans 6:23, describedas "the wages ofsin";
so that it would seemthat, if He deals completely with sin, it must somehow
affectthe fact of death.
Two things are indicated: again, the one negative, and the other positive.
First, then, He hath "abolisheddeath". Hebrews 2:14 says that "through
death He might destroy him that had the powerof death, that is, the devil".
Abolish, destroy- it is the same word in the Greek;and its real meaning is,

201. not to do awaywith altogether, but to render harmless, as you might take
the pin out of an unexploded bomb, to make it of none effect, to rob it
(death) of its sting, so that I Corinthians 15:55 can say, "O death, where is
thy sting?"
In the PerfectDay, death shall, like sin, its foul parent, be utterly, finally,
done away;but meanwhile, even in these Passing Days, it is, for the
believer, robbed of its sting, and need no longerbe feared. Also, to speak
positively, He "hath brought life and immortality to light through the
Gospel" - Dr. Handley Moule considers the phrase, "brought out into the
light": it was once so dim, but now so different.
It is interesting to reflect that some kind of belief in an after life is found in
every race of men throughout the world: often it is very crude, but it is
there.
That explains the curious burial customs among some people - for instance,
the burying of furniture, of a wife, of a horse, even of food, to meet their
presumed need beyond the tomb. But it is all so dim. When you come to the
Old Testament, you find many references, yeteven there we are still
moving in the dusk.
Then, the Saviour is "manifested":He dies, is buried, and is raised by
GOD;and in that glorious resurrectionthe blessedfact of blissful
immortality is "brought out into the light". Gatherup all we have said
about it: what a Gospelit is that is committed to Timothy - and to us. Who
will be ashamedof it, or of Him, or of His people?
Two ways run throughout this life, as the Mastershows us in Matthew
7:13-14. On the one are so few, and they have had to come down so low in
humbling themselves, and their lives must be lived in narrow fashions. Do
they sometimes have a certainfog of shame in themselves, whenthey look
across upon that other way, with the greatcrowds that press through the
wide-openedgate, and that enjoy such seeming freedom and liberty?
The MasterHimself did not hide from would-be followers that the
company they sought was a "little flock", Luke 12:32; but He hastenedto
add that it was the "Father's goodpleasure to give you the kingdom". Let
them not dwell overmuch upon the situation in the passing days, but view it
all in the light of the perfect day. Whither goes that crowdedroad, and
whither that sparse way? The one to Destruction;the other to Life. Oh,
where is shame? Let the believer rather lift up his head in proper pride -
not in his own merit, not in his own achievement, but to the gracegiven,

202. God-given, privilege that has placed him amid the glorious company of
GOD's elect.
Paul, in the storm, confessesGOD, "whose Iam and whom I serve," Acts
27:23 - and verily, they are the words of the proudest man on board.
Captain Julius is proud, for he belongs to Imperial Rome, and serves the
greatEmperor yet - even he is not so conscious ofdignity and privilege as
this prisoner of his; so humble in himself, so proud in GOD!We have been
far too long on this first aspectof our subject: we must hurry on to observe
another direction for life lived "againstthat day" - we should be
NOT ASLEEP
You remember how the LORD warns His disciples, in Mark 13:36, "lest
coming suddenly He find you sleeping".
Paul now offers himself and his experience as a guiding illustration to his
spiritual son and successor.
(a) He had a work to do. He speaks of"the gospel, whereunto I am
appointed," or, as he puts it in Romans 1:1, he is "separatedunto the
gospel". Having, for himself, acceptedthe gospel, he was thenceforth, in
some sense, committed to the service of the Gospel;but he was not peculiar
in that: every Christian is, "By RoyalAppointment," in the King's Service.
"To every man his work," Mark 13:34:this for you, that for me;
something for each.
"Thatday" must not catchus unawares, slothful, slumbering.
One of our hymnaries has a hymn, "Work, for the night is coming". The
very next one is "Work, for the Day is coming". Well, either way, Work!
Then the apostle is our example in that:
(b) He had a zeal for it. He did not do his work because he supposedhe
ought to, or because he must: quite obviously he revelled in it, and never
dreamed of slackening up. He was always atit- "a preacher, and an
apostle, and a teacherof the Gentiles":
- preaching is public ministry; - teaching is private ministry; - apostolising
is peripatetic ministry.
What an impression we getof ceaseless, andtireless, activity. How utterly
amazed this zealous warriorwould be at those arm-chair Christians that
are all too frequently to be found in our ranks. Don't you think that
enthusiasm in Christian service is a quality that is becoming more
rare amongstus?

203. Well, the next thing Paul lets slip about himself is, that
(c) He had a price to pay. "Forthe which cause I also suffer these things".
When I find myself becoming more than usually religiously comfortable, I
turn up the passage, II Corinthians 11:2328, where Pauldetails some of the
things he endured for CHRIST. Very rarely can I read those verses
without being greatly moved, and deeply shamed. My friends, it costs
something to be the type of Christian workerPaul was.
Whether you will be calledto suffer physically or not, I cannot tell; but I
am sure that you will be challengedto an expenditure of time, money,
energy, thought, ambition, self. Paul does not want Timothy to forget that
all-out Christian service involves a big price. Indeed, could he ever forget
it, if, as is not unlikely, he saw Paul's mangled, tortured, and supposedly
dead body on the roadside by the gates of Lystra, as is described in Acts
14:19.
Ah, but you see
(d) He had a goalin view. Do you remember how he describes it in Romans
8:18, "I reckonthat the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be
compared with the glory which shall be revealed". There, you see, is his
secret.
It was the thought of the PerfectDay that enabledhim to endure the
hardships of the Passing Days. In the light of "that Day", he was:
(i) eagerto serve, and (ii) ready to suffer.
His goalbrightens even his jail. Keep your eye on that Day, Timothy - and
you, my reader; and I, your scribe.
Now let us go on to considerone further characteristic that our apostle
would emphasise in view of this upward look, this onwardlook: we must
needs take care to be
NOT ADRIFT
In Timothy's day there would be many temptations to drift, and there
would be many such also in our day - a danger of cutting adrift from the
old moorings;a danger lest the tempestuous circumstances ofour
experience may loosenour hold upon the old realities;a danger of drifting
into calmerbut illegitimate waters to escape the buffetings of a more
adventurous Christian life; a danger of letting go the old anchors that once
held us to the faith.

204. Such things have happened to Christians before now; but Paul prefers to
remind Timothy of the other side of the matter, and still using his own
experience as an example, he says that:
(a) The believer is kept. This is one of those things about which he is
"persuaded". There are things about which it is legitimate for different
persons to have contrary views; and the
university-trained scholarin Paul would make him the very last one to
deny the right of difference of opinion in all such things. But on some
points he was magnificently dogmatic. Things revealedadmit of no
question.
In free and easydays, when, in the religious sphere, it is almosta crime
againstgoodtaste to profess to be quite sure about anything, Paul's
forthright dogmatismhas a tonic quality - "though we, or an angelfrom
Heaven, preachany other gospelunto you than that which we have
preachedunto you, let him be accursed", (Galatians1:8); there's iron in
that. I suspectour blood needs a course of iron just now. Even the gentle
John is equally certain when occasiondemands; "we know" is one of the
characteristicsofhis First Epistle, which, incidentally, was written in order
"that ye may know" (5:13) - it is, to him, not enough to think, or to hope;
he bids us restupon GOD's Word, and then and thus to know for sure.
Well, after that long preamble, one of the matters about which Paul was
quite certain was that GOD is "able to keep" those whom He has proved
Himself "able to save". The storms of life might strain his cordage, andtug
at his anchor, but the believer need not getadrift, because GOD canhold
him stedfastand sure. But only if:
(b) The believer is committed - "that which I have committed unto Him" is
the condition, and limit, of His keeping power.
When going to stay at hotels, you have often seenby the receptiondesk a
notice to the effectthat "The Managementwill not be responsible for the
safetyof any valuables unless they are placedin the custody of the Hotel
safe". The safe is "able to keep", but only if the valuables are committed
unto it.
In this latter event, they are kept safe until that day when they are wanted.
Oh, restful, steadying, thought: that if we commit ourselves to Him, He will
keepus gloriously safe "againstthat Day" when He shall take up as well as
"make up [HIS] jewels", Malachi3:17.

205. About this committing to Him, Dr. Alexander Maclarensays, "The
metaphor is a plain enough one. A man has some rich treasure. He is afraid
of losing it, he is doubtful of his own powerof keeping it. He looks about
for some reliable person and trusted hands, and he deposits it there". And
who is infallibly trustworthy but He?
Now, the reasonfor this complete assurance exists only in the factthat:
(c) The believer is acquainted - "I know Whom I have believed": the rest
naturally follows.
It cannot always be said that the believer knows What, or knows When, or
knows Where, or knows Which, or knows Whether, or knows Whither, or
knows Why - but he knows Whom! That is the essential, andthe supreme,
knowledge. Youwill remember another apostle's farewellmessage, to his
friends, "Grow in . . . the knowledge ofour Lord and Saviour Jesus
Christ," II Peter3:18.
We should all of us progress from our first Introduction to Him, through
all the Intermediate stages, towards thatIntimacy with Him, which He so
graciously, and so wondrously, allows.
When Ned Weeks, the cobbler evangelist, who did such a remarkable work
for GOD in Northampton, came to die, he was accordeda greatfuneral.
In a public house on the line of route, by way of explaining to the others the
reasonfor the crowds and the kind of man Ned was, one of the men said,
"He was wonderful thick with the Almighty". It reminds one of Enoch,
who, amid all the difficulties of his family and public life, and in face of all
the opposite factors at which Jude 15 hints, "walkedwith God," until the
day when, as a little child explained, "They went so far that GOD said, 'It's
getting rather late, you had better come home with Me'."
To know Him is to want to commit ourselves entirely to Him. and to be
thoroughly persuaded that He is quite well able to keepthat deposit safe
"againstthat Day".
Yes "that Day" has been at the back of all our thinking in this section. Paul
would counselus to have the thought both in the backgroundand in the
foreground. He says as much to his other young helper, Titus, when writing
(2:12-13)that "we should live . . . looking". Do you know what it means to
live through the passing days with an eye on the perfect day? If you went to
boarding schoolperhaps you would understand; for amongsttheir
denizens you would often discover those who kept somewhere a mysterious

206. piece of paper, on which was written just a series of numbers - say, 50, 49,
48, 47, and so on.
It was "Days till the Holidays"; as eachnight came, a day was scored
through - so the happy Day of release colouredallthe varied days of term;
they "lived . . . looking".
And what of those wounded prisoners of war who recently were told they
were to be brought Home? Eachday since has been one day nearer the
Day; that has helped them with the difficulties of the passing days; they
have "lived . . . looking". It is our wisdom, our joy, our inspiration, our
comfort, to look at everything in life as up "againstthat Day". George
Meredith speaks somewhereofwhat he calls "the rapture of the forward
view".
He was not thinking of our present theme; but his words may well abide
with us as we close this study.
PAUL E KRETZMANN
Verses 8-14
An Admonition to Steadfastness.
v. 8. Be not thou, therefore, ashamedof the testimony of our Lord, nor of
me, His prisoner; but be thou partakerof the afflictions of the Gospel
according to the power of God,
v. 9. who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to
our works, but according to His own purpose and grace, whichwas given
us in Christ Jesus before the world began,
v. 10. but now is made manifest by the appearing of our Savior Jesus
Christ, who hath abolisheddeath, and hath brought life and immortality to
light through the Gospel;
v. 11. whereunto I am appointed a preacherand an apostle and a teacher
of the Gentiles.
v. 12. Forthe which cause I also suffer these things. Nevertheless Iam not
ashamed;for I know whom I have believed, and am persuadedthat He is
able to keepthat which I have committed unto Him againstthat day.

207. v. 13. Hold fast the form of sound words which thou hast heard of me, in
faith and love which is in Christ Jesus.
v. 14. that goodthing which was committed unto thee keepby the Holy
Ghost, which dwelleth in us.
The knowledge ofGod's love in Christ Jesus and the gift of God's grace are
the fundamental factors in the work of Timothy; they obligatedhim to
show all staunchness in confessing Christ, in defending the faith. This
thought St. Paul brings out with fine tact: Do not, then, be ashamed of the
testimony of our Lord nor of me, His prisoner, but join me in suffering for
the Gospelaccording to the powerof God. Timothy should not dread nor
fear the dishonor and disgrace which his confessing ofChrist was sure to
bring upon him; he should not flee from the lot which is inevitable to the
followers of Christ. See Rom_1:16;Mar_8:38;Heb_11:26. The apostle calls
the entire preaching of the New Testamentthe testimony of Christ, because
Christ is the content of the entire doctrine of salvation; His personand
work should be proclaimed from every pulpit that bears the name
Christian; the message ofthe Gospelis that of eternal life, because it
testifies of Christ, Joh_5:39;1Co_1:6. Justbecause everypersonthat
openly professedhis allegianceto the so-calledsectofthe Christians had to
expectpersecutionand dishonor to strike him, therefore Timothy was not
to be ashamedof his confession. But this attitude included yet another
point. Timothy might be inclined to withdraw from Paul in the latter's
present unfortunate situation. The apostle, however, was notlanguishing in
prison on accountof any crime committed by him. He was a prisoner of the
Lord; for the sake of Jesus whomhe had so freely and gladly confessed
before men he had been imprisoned. His fetters thus were his badge of
honor, and Timothy was to acknowledge them as such. Instead of being
ashamedof Jesus and of Paul, His apostle, now bound for His sake,
Timothy should rather join him in suffering for the Gospel. Should the
same fate strike him which had come upon his beloved teacher, Timothy
should not hesitate for a moment in showing his willingness to bear the
yoke of his Lord. So much he could do, not, indeed, by his own reasonand
strength, but in accordancewith, in the measure of, the powerof God in
him. Christ, the Lord of His Church, always imparts that amount of
strength which is necessary for bearing sufferings for His sake.
If there is any thought which, above all others, ought to make us willing to
suffer persecutions for the sake ofour Lord, it is that of our redemption in
Christ: Who has saved us and calledus with a holy calling, not according
to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace, whichwas

208. given us in Christ Jesus before the time of this world. The apostle uses the
strongestargument at his disposal for impressing upon Timothy and every
Christian the necessityof remaining steadfastin the confessionofChrist
unto the end. It is God that savedus, that is our Savior; the salvation is
complete, ready before the eyes and hearts of all men. And so far as its
application to the believers is concerned, the apostle says that God has
calledus, He has extended to us the invitation to acceptthe reconciliation
made for all men. This invitation was a holy call, for it was issuedby the
holy God, applied by the Holy Ghost, and has for its purpose a life of
consecration. In no manner does the merit of man come into consideration
in this call, for it was not extended to us because ofour works. Goddid not
look upon any man with the intention of finding something in his character
or attitude which would make him more willing to acceptthe proffered
grace. At the same time, however, He did not issue an absolute call, simply
on the basis of the majesty of His divine will. He calledmen rather
according to His own purpose and grace. It was God's own free counsel
and intention, a counselof grace, ofHis free love and favor, whose
revelation took place in Christ Jesus. Before the foundations of the world
were laid, before God had createda single human being, His gracious
counselof love was formulated, which resulted in our call, by virtue of
which we should be His own and live with Him world without end. In
Christ Jesus His grace was given us, for His redemption earnedit for us.
The grace ofGod in Christ Jesus was thus present and ready from eternity.
Then, in the fullness of time, God made knownHis grace to mankind: But
now manifested through the appearance ofour Savior Christ Jesus, when
He rendered death ineffectual, but brought life and immortality to light
through the Gospel. The grace whichwas planned and prepared in Christ
Jesus was made manifest, not by a mere teaching or preaching, but by a
bodily manifestation which could be conceivedof by the senses,Joh_1:14.
Through the entire life, suffering, and death of Christ the grace ofGod has
been made manifest. In this way God's grace was brought to the attention
of men in bodily, visible form, in the shape of the Redeemer, who was their
brother according to the flesh. His manifestationculminated in His
rendering death helpless, in taking awaythe powerfrom temporal death,
thus making it a mere figurehead, 1Co_15:55-57, Since death, in its true
essence, signifies a separationfrom God and from the life in God, therefore
it has lostits terrors for the believers. Death canno longerconquer us, who
are in Christ Jesus. Insteadof that, life and immortality are our lot
through the work of our Savior. We have reenteredthe fellowship of life

209. with God; the true life in and with God lies before us in immeasurable
fullness. The original blessedcondition of Paradise has now again been
made possible;the life in and with Godshows itself in immortality, in
incorruption. Salvationwith all the glories of heaven is ours; it is no longer
hidden from our eyes, but is setbefore us in the brightest, clearestlight
through the Gospel;for this is the message ofthe completed redemption, of
the revelationof life without end. Such is the blessedglory of the Gospel, as
the apostle has briefly summarized it here for Timothy as wellas for the
Christians of all times.
In bringing out his connectionwith the Gospel, the apostle now incidentally
gives a reasonwhy Timothy should not be ashamed of him: To which I
have been appointed herald and apostle and teacher. Every word used by
the apostle brings out a certain phase of his work. He is a herald, a
proclaimer of the greatand wonderful works of God. Not only the
foundation of a proper Christian understanding should be laid by his
preaching, but the Christians should also grow in knowledge oftheir Lord
Jesus Christ by the same method. He is an apostle;he belongs to the
number of men who for all times were to be the teachers ofthe New
TestamentChurch. And finally, Paul was a teacher, as all true ministers
should be, his specialfield being that of the Gentiles. He did not operate
with the excellenciesofman's wisdom, but taught the mystery of the
kingdom of God, both publicly and privately. How could Timothy, under
the circumstances,feelashamedof his teacher?
But the sufferings of Paul also should not provoke this feeling of shame in
him: For which reasonalso I suffer these things, but am not ashamed. In
the ministry, in the office which God entrusted to him, with every mark of
distinction, the enmity of the world had struck him; he had been subjected
to misery, persecution, imprisonment. Since, however, these sufferings are
to be expectedin the regulardischarge of the holy office, he does not in any
way look upon them as a disgrace. To suffer for the sake ofChrist is not a
dishonor, but an honor. For this reasonthe apostle is able to write in the
joyful confidence of faith: ForI know in whom my faith rests, and I am
persuaded that He is able to keepthat which I have entrusted to Him until
that day. Every word here is an expressionof firm trust in God. He does
not rely upon his feelings, upon his own ideas and notions; his knowledge is
basedupon the Word and cannot therefore be shaken. He has gained a
conviction which is more certain than all asseverationsofmere men: he has
the promise of God in His infallible Word. For the apostle has entrusted
the salvationof his soulto the heavenly Father, and his faith has the

210. conviction basedupon His Word that the precious treasure is safe in His
hands, Joh_10:28. ForGodis able, fully competent, to guard this
inestimable blessing. We are kept by the powerof God through faith unto
salvation, 1Pe_1:5.
The admonition, then, follows as a matter of course:The example of
wholesome words hold fast which thou hast heard from me, in faith as well
as in love which is in Christ Jesus. The personalexample of Paul was an
important factorin his work;what he had done and said should be a type
for Timothy to follow. It seems that he has reference to some summary or
outline of the Gospel-truth which he had transmitted to his pupil, a
teaching of wholesome words, entirely free from the morbid outgrowths
which the errorists showed. This summary of doctrine Timothy was to use
in faith and love in Christ Jesus. Having the convictionof faith that the
Gospelas taught by Paul was the truth, he would not suffer himself to
become apostate to that truth. Having true, cordial love towardChrist in
his heart, he would know that every defection from the truth committed to
his charge would deeply grieve his Savior. A simple adherence to the words
of Scripture is the safestwayto avoid most of the difficulties with which
sectarians are always grappling;for it is only when a person goes beyond
the words of divine revelationthat he meets with contradictions or
apparently incompatible statements.
In connectionwith this thought the apostle once more urges his pupil; The
excellentdeposit guard through the Holy Spirit, that dwells in us. Having
just admonished Timothy to adhere to the form of sound doctrine for his
own person, Paul now drives home the other truth, namely, that this
precious deposit of the pure truth must be guarded againstall
contamination. In his own power, by his own reasonand strength, it is true
that no pastor is able to defend and guard the doctrine of Christ against
the various attacks that are made againstit, againstthe suspicions that are
being spread concerning it. If a man studies the Bible just as he does any
other book, if he believes that the application of mere worldly wisdom will
suffice for its defense, he will soonfind out just how badly in error he was
with his ideas. The precious blessing of evangelicaltruth can be kept safe
only through the Holy Ghost. Even in Baptism this Spirit has made His
abode in us, and He will continue to use our hearts as His shrine as long as
we continue in the words of our Savior. What comfort for the simple,
faithful minister of the Word!

211. JOHN MACARTHUR
Not Being Ashamed of Christ, Part 3
Sermons 2 Timothy 1:11–18 55-4 Jun14, 1987
Play Audio
Add to Playlist
A + A - Reset
This morning let’s open our Bibles to our study of 2 Timothy verses 6
through 8 in chapter 1, the very first chapter of 2 Timothy. We’re really
just getting started in completing this first chapter which is, in many ways,
introductory.
I would remind you that at the writing of this, the apostle Paul is facing
death. He is looking, as it were, down the barrel of the gun that will take
his life – or rather at the blade of the axe that will severhis head. He
realizes it is only a brief time. In chapter 4, he said, I am ready to be
offered, and the time of my departure has arrived. He is at the very end.
He is in a dungeon in Rome. The ministry that God had given to him has
been completed. He has finished the course. He has kept the faith. He
awaits his reward.
But before he exits this world, having fulfilled faithfully that which God
commissionedhim to do, he writes this letter to his beloved son in the faith
to encourage Timothy to carry on. Timothy, as we have been learning, was
a bit on the timid or meek side, tended to be easilyintimidated by those
who were opposing him, whether in the church or outside the church, and
perhaps was in a time at the very writing of this epistle, when he
desperatelyneeded to be strengthened and called to courage.
So, it is important for Paul, as he is ready to give his life for Christ, to call
on Timothy to carry on the work. The strength of Timothy’s testimony
could be that which impacted so many, many, many other people –
positively or negatively.
Now, as we have learned, as Paul writes this epistle, its intention is to
strengthen him. That’s kind of the key, and it is in chapter 2, verse 1, that

212. Paul says that, “Be strong in the Lord,” which may be the focalpoint of all
that he says. But here in chapter1, before he gets into specific exhortations
as to how Timothy is to carry on the work, he calls for Timothy to have the
right attitude. Underlying what he does is the way he feels and how he
thinks. And the attitude that Paul knows Timothy must have is an attitude
of greatcourage.
And so, here in verses 6 to 18, three times there is mentioned the idea of not
being ashamedof Christ – once in verse 8, once in verse 12, and once in
verse 16. And that’s the theme here, “Timothy, you cannotbe ashamed of
Christ. If you’re going to be effective, you have to be bold. You have to be
courageous. Youhave to take your stand, and then you will influence
others, and then you will advance the kingdom.”
I was reading this week about the Boxer Rebellionyears ago in China. And
the rebels captured one of the mission stations, and they sealedoff every
exit to the mission station exceptone gate which they left open. They took a
cross, and they put the cross downin the dirt in the center of that gate, and
they said to all of the missionaries and all of the students that were there,
for it was some kind of a mission school, that they were to walk out that
gate, and if they would trample the cross under their feet, they would go
free.
And the record states that the first sevenstudents trampled the cross under
their feet and were allowedto go free. The eighth student was a young girl
who came to the cross, kneltdown, prayed for strength, stoodup, walked
around the cross right into the firing squad. Ninety-two of the remaining
students, which was all that were left, did the same thing and walkedto
their death rather than deny Christ and trample His cross. The strength
infused into the 92 from the strength of the 1 girl. What a tremendous
lessonthat is in the possibility of the impact of a courageous life.
And as you and I live courageouslyforthe cause ofChrist, as we live
unashamedly for the cause ofChrist, we have a tremendous impact. And
that’s what Paul wants Timothy to have. He’s calling for a level of
commitment that says, “I really don’t care what the world has to say; I
know what I’m mandated to be and do, and that’s what I’ll be, and that’s
what I’ll do. I will boldly stand for Christ.
It wasn’t easyfor Timothy, because there was internal pressure in the
church at Ephesus where Timothy was laboring. The church had gone
corrupt, it had bad leaders, and it was full of sin. Not only that, there was
persecutioncoming on the outside because Nero had blamed the Christians

213. for burning Rome, and that persecution had ended up in Paul being
incarcerated, and Timothy knew, because ofhis associationto Paul, that he
was also vulnerable. And so, Paul writes to strengthen this young man in
his mid-30s and strengthen him in the faith so that he can carry on the
work.
Now, we’ve already learned that their first – the first four elements that
Paul talks about to strengthenhim are very, very important. The first
thing he says, in verse 6, is to renew your gift. And, “Forthis reason, I
remind you” – the reasonbeing because ofyour true faith, that you’re a
genuine believer – “I remind you to kindle afresh the gift of God which is
in you through the laying on of my hands.” Every true Christian has a gift.
Paul says, “Timothy, you have a spiritual gift. You have a capacity
energizedby the Holy Spirit to preach, teach, lead, evangelize. You can’t
let that fall into disuse. Fan the flame; don’t let it die. Kindle it afresh;
renew your gift.”
And I’ve been saying to you that courage initially, in ministry, rises out of a
sense ofgiftedness. I canbe bold and unashamed and courageouswhenI
know that I’m doing what God has gifted me to do.
Now, if I was trying to do something that I had no aptitude or skill to do, I
might well be embarrassedto do it. But why would I be embarrassedto do
that which God has designed/giftedme to do?
Courage, then, rises initially out of a sense of giftedness, that I have been
enabled by the Holy Spirit, infused with a spiritual gift for the purpose of
ministry in the name of Christ and for the advancementof His kingdom.
And if I know that I’m divinely prepared and enabled to serve Christ, and
to proclaim His name, and to representHim, and to build His body, then I
have to do what I was designedto do.
And frankly, if I don’t do that, I have violated the very reasonfor my
existence. Notto use my spiritual gift is to place myself in a mode where I
might as wellbe dead as far as usefulness to the church or the kingdom. If I
am not doing what God designedme to do, if I’m trying to preserve my life
so I say, “I don’t want to do that; I might lose my life,” and then I do with
my life something that God never designedfor me to do, I might as well
lose my life. Betterthat you should do what you’re designedto do and lose
your life than save your life by not doing what you were designedto do,
what gain is there in that?
So, the sense ofgiftedness is where he starts with Timothy. “You’ve been
given a gift. That gift has been affirmed to you by prophecy, by the laying

214. on of my hands, by the laying on of the hands of the elders of your own
church. You know what it is; you know what you’re to do. Now, geton
with it and do it with greatcourage because Godhas designedyou to be
able to do it.
Secondly, consideryour resources.If you’re timid, he says in verse 7, “God
has not given us a spirit of timidity.” If you are unashamed – if you are,
rather, ashamed, or if you are weak, orif you are a bit intimidated, if you
are cowardly, you didn’t getit from God. “What God has given you
already” – you have it – “is power, love, and discipline.” Powerbecause
Jesus said, “You will receive powerafter the Holy Spirit has come upon
you,” Acts 1:8. Every believer has the Spirit; every believer has power.
Not only that, Romans 5:5 says, “The love of God is shed abroadin your
hearts.” You have that love. Furthermore, “The fruit of the Spirit is self-
control” - or discipline, Galatians 5:23. You have power; you have love;
you have discipline. You have the power to minister effectively. You have
the love of God and the love of men that draws you into ministry, and you
have the ability in the Holy Spirit to constructyour life, order your life,
prioritize your life to get the maximum effect. Those are your divine
resources.“So, Timothy, renew your gift” – that is take a goodhard look at
what you’ve designed– been designedto do, and considerthe resources
God has given you in which to do that.
Thirdly, and this is very important, acceptyour suffering. Verse 8,
“Therefore, do not be ashamedof the testimony of our Lord or of me His
prisoner, but join with me in suffering for the gospel.” Anticipate it. Expect
it. If you buy into the health, wealth, prosperity lie, if you buy into what
really is a satanic messagethat Jesus wants you only happy, only content,
only fully well-heeled, prosperous, healthy, no problems, cashing in on
every possible goody that you could ever imagine, if you buy into that
theology, then you start to suffer, something’s going to go wrong at the
very core of your life because it’ll be totally contrary to what you expected
from God.
But you need to anticipate suffering. You need to anticipate opposition.
You need to anticipate that the truth of God, thrown in to the midst of an
ungodly world, is going to geta negative reaction. Opposition is inevitable.
It goes with ministry. Loyalty to the gospelmeans conflict with Christ-
rejecters. Learnto expect it. In fact, I’ve learned to expect it as a
confirmation that I’m doing the right thing; that’s part of it.

215. Fourthly we saw, “Rememberyour God.” Verse 8 he speaks ofthe power
of God and then defines that power of God as demonstrated in its greatness
in salvation, the saving work, “who has savedus” - it took greatpowerto
do that, save us from hell, and death, and sin, and Satan – “and has called
us into a holy calling” – that is not only saved us but made us holy who
were unholy. And he did it all. And this is the thing you want to underline –
“not according to our works, but according to His ownpurpose and grace
which was granted us in Christ Jesus from all eternity.”
Now, let me give you the perspective. Wayback – literally “from before
eternal times” the Greek says – God purposed in His own mind, by grace,
to save us in Christ and make us holy, and He did the whole thing,
beginning to end, not according to our – what? – works.
Now, getthe picture. He did it all without us; that’s the idea. He did it all
without us. And then He revealedit in verse 10. He now has revealedit by
the appearing of our Savior Jesus Christ; that is His appearing in
resurrection. He did the whole saving work by His own plan, through His
own Son. He savedus, He made us holy, He gave us life, and He planned it
all and did it all without us. And what Paul is saying is, “Rememberyour
God, the God who savedyou without your help, will also be able to
preserve you without your help so you don’t have to orchestrate your life
for its own protection. Do you understand that? Boy, that’s a tremendous
truth. I don’t have to spend my time trying to designa comfortable life
because I’m responsible to protect myself. “Rememberyour God,” he says.
And you remember in 1 Peter4:19, “Therefore, letthose also who suffer
according to the will of God entrust their souls to a faithful Creator.” Give
yourself to God. You remember, in the fiery furnace, the friends of Daniel
said, “You canthrow us in the fiery furnace, but our God will deliver us,”
Daniel 3:15 to 17.
The apostle Paul, writing to the Philippians, said, “I can do all things
through Christ who strengthens me.” Remember your God. If you
approachministry that way, you approachit in a way that’s going to give
you courage. Yourenew your gift. You consideryour resources.You
acceptsuffering as inevitable, and you remember that God, who from
eternity past, planned the plan of redemption, brought it to appearing in
Jesus Christ, saved you, made you holy, gave you life - that same God is
your God. So, remember the powerof God.
Now, let’s look at the last four. Number five in our list, realize your duty.
Realize your duty. Paul then transitions in verse 11, in this rather personal

216. sectionhere, to a look at his own life and ministry, “for which” – referring
back to the gospel – “the gospelfor which I was appointed a preacherand
an apostle and a teacher. Forthis reasonI also suffer these things” – now,
we’ll stop at that point.
Paul says, “Becauseofthe gospel, I” – that’s in the emphatic position in the
Greek – “I myself was appointed by God” – etethēn, literally given a divine
commission. Paul, on the Damascus Road, was commissionedby God. He
was chosenas a vesselunto God. Ananias gotthe word from the Lord and
passedit onto Paul in Acts 9. He was chosenas a vesselby God to serve in
preaching the gospel. He says in Acts 20, “I do not considermy life dear to
myself. I only want to finish the work the Lord has given me, namely
preaching the gospel. I’m not into self preservation; I’m into duty. I’m into
duty. I have been calledand commissioned, just like the apostles.” Jesus
had said to them, “Go into all the world and make disciples.” So to Paul,
Jesus, onthe Damascus Road, said, “You’re a chosenvessel. Go and
preach My name.” And this He spoke concerning the things that Paul
would suffer in that preaching.
In Colossians1:23, he said, “I was made a minister. I didn’t choose it; I
was made a minister.” In 1 Corinthians 9, he said, “Don’t commend me; I
didn’t choose to do this. If I do it, I do it because Godcompelledme. Woe is
unto me if I don’t do it. So, don’t honor me; pray for me. I didn’t choose to
do it, and I’m in greattrouble if I don’t do it right.”
“I have this tremendous fear,” he says in 1 Corinthians 9:27, “that I might
be a castaway, uselessto God because ofsome sin. I’m in duty to serve Him
with my whole heart.”
So, Paul had a greatsense ofduty. Now, what specificallywas his duty?
Well, he was appointed a preacher. That talks about function. That means
a proclaimer, a herald, one who announces publically a message. Secondly,
an apostle. That speaks ofhis authority. As an apostle, he was chosen
directly by Jesus Christ, and he had a divine commission. “So, I am a
divinely commissionedand sent preacher.”
Thirdly, a teacherspeaksofhis content. Preacheris function, apostle is
authority, and teacheris content. To teach – that is to disseminate the truth
of God. That’s how he sees himself. You ask Paulto identify himself, he
says, “I have been sent as an apostle under authority to communicate the
truth of God through proclamation. That’s his calling. “That’s my duty,”
he says. “And for this reason” – verse 12 – “for this reasonI also suffer.”
For what reason, Paul? “Fordoing my duty. I suffer because I preach. I

217. suffer because I preach truth. I suffer because I claimed to be the
representative of God, who preaches truth. That’s why I suffer.”
“I bear in my body” – Galatians 6 – “the marks of Christ.” In other words,
“They’re whipping me because I’m so identified with Christ. They would
rather whip Christ, but he’s not around, so they whip me instead.”
“I suffer all these things,” he says, “forthe sake ofthe gospel. That’s the
reasonI suffer imprisonment. That’s the reasonI have been shipwrecked.
That’s the reasonI have been stoned. That’s the reasonI have been beaten
with whips and beaten with rods,” and all that chronicle of things he gives
in 2 Corinthians chapter 11. “That’s the reasonI’m in jail right now. I’m
in a dungeon, a stinking, smelly hole in the ground. I’m here; I’m suffering
because ofmy duty, my commission.” And he loved it, though it brought
him greatpain. It’s a - it’s a bittersweetthing.
John had the same experience in Revelationwhenhe ate the little book,
and it was sweetin his mouth and bitter in his belly. There’s a bittersweet
thing in ministry.
Spurgeonreally put his finger on it beautifully when he wrote, “A man
shall carry a bucket of wateron his head and be very tired with the
burden. But that same man, when he dives into the sea, shallhave a
thousand buckets on his head without perceiving their weight, because he
is in the element, and the element entirely surrounds him. The duties of
holiness are very irksome to men who are not in the element of holiness,
but when once those men are castinto the element of grace, then they bear
ten times more and feelno weightbut are refreshedthereby with joy
unspeakable.”
That’s a beautiful thought. Ministry and duty can be a tremendous burden
if you’re not in the element of holiness. But once you get in the very
element of ministry, and duty, and holiness, and grace, andyou begin to
function as a way of life, then no single duty is a burden at all; it is a joy
unspeakable.
Someone saidto me yesterday, “How do you do it? How do you keep
sustaining sermonafter sermon, two sermons a week, andwriting? And
how do you do that week afterweek, yearafter year? That seems to me to
be an overwhelming duty.”
I didn’t know how to answerthat, because to me it is not a burden. I don’t
sense it as a burden.

218. People say, “Well, that’s like writing two major term papers every week,
and then having them scrutinized by 6,000 people onSunday morning, and
another 2,000 or3,000 Sundaynight, and thousands all over the world on
tape. How do you do that? Isn’t that a burden?”
That has never been a burden to me; that is a joy to me because I am in the
element of doing what Godhas designedfor me to do, and it bears no
weight upon me. What is the burden to me is my sin and my weakness,not
my duty. You know, duty can be the greatestjoyor the deepestpain, and
I’ll tell you how. You do it, and it provides the greatestjoy. You don’t do it,
and it provides the deepestpain. Duty undone is a killer. There are men
whose lives are a shatteredpot, as it were, or a vase simply because of duty
undone. They’ve disintegrated. They’ve come to pieces. There is no evil
that can bring such great retribution to the mind of man as the evil of a
duty undone. There is no joy that is greaterthan a duty fulfilled.
And I pray that God will give us the grace to do our duty. Paul says,
“Look, I suffer these things because I was appointed to do this.” Very
much like the gift point in verse 6, we have a duty. We are bound to do this.
There is not a decisionto be made. We are compelledto do it. So, that’s a
very important thing. Understand your duty.
Number six – and we getinto a beautiful truth here – trust your security,
verse 12. Trust you security. Look at this; “But I am not ashamed, even
though I suffer” -why? - “for I know – I know” – let’s stop there for a
minute. “I know” is oida. Along with ginōskō, it has the idea of knowing
something because youhave perceived it with your senses andcome to the
conclusionthat it’s true. And he’s kind of summing up his testimony here.
“Others may be ashamed; I’m not ashamed. Others may want to deny
Christ; I won’t. Others may want to be cowards;I won’t. Others may
defect; I won’t. Why? For I know” – in other words, “I personally have
come to grasp something.” What is it? “Whom I have believed.” And
whom had he believed? The Lord.
He says, “I know firsthand and personallythe Lord. I can’t bail out. Too
much intimacy. My faith is a fully settledfaith in the one I have personally
experienced.” Literally, “in whom I have believed” is a perfect tense verb
which means in the past he did it with continuing results. “I continue to
believe in the one I have already believed in. My faith is in the Lord.” This
could refer to God, revealedin Christ. It canrefer to the Savior Christ
Jesus mentioned in verse 10. I really think it’s just general, for specific
reasons;it refers to both. The Lord. The Lord God and the Lord Christ.

219. Literally, “I know, by personal experience and observation, the one whom
I have trusted.”
Please notice it’s not in what I have believed, it’s in whom I have believed.
The thing that sustainedhim in suffering was not his theology; it was his
God. Do you understand the difference? The things that sustained him in
trials was not doctrine but fellowship. Basic.
So, he says, “I know whom I have believed. And because Iknow Him” –
follow the verse – “I am convinced” – beautiful word, wonderful thought –
“I am persuaded; I am utterly confident that He is able” – dunatos –
“powerful enough” – powerful enough – “to guard” – that’s a military
term; it literally means to guard – “to guard what I have entrusted” –
that’s one word – parathēkē, the deposit. The deposit.
Now, let me give you the big picture. Paul says, “Iminister unashamedly. I
suffer unashamedly because I trust my security. Nothing can take me out
of the hand of God. Nothing canpull me out of the love of Christ. I know
that. I know by personalexperience.” You remember this is the end of his
life. “I have been through years and years of trials, and years and years of
tests, and years and years of struggles. I have seenthe power of God again
and againand again. I have seenHim heal. I have seenHim save. I have
seenHim do providentially things that had no other explanation than the
invasion of God. I have seenit all. I have seenwalkedwith Him. I have seen
the living Christ three times” – in personalexperience he had. He had
ascendedinto the third heaven and seenthings too wonderful to speak. He
knew God. He knew Him intimately, personally, by experience and
observation.
“And knowing Him in that way, I am absolutely convinced that He will
guard my deposit.” And what was the deposit? His life. His life. His soul.
His ministry. His time. His eternity. Everything he was. “I don’t have any
fear because I trust my security.” Boy, what a way to live; I just give my
life to God and go on about my business. That’s the confidence that you
have to have. “I made a deposit with God.” What did you deposit? “Paul. I
depositedPaul. I said, ‘Here, God, here’s Paul. Have him. I no longer count
him dear to my life or to myself; I’m not interestedin preservation; I’m
interestedin duty. He’s Yours, take care of it. When You want him to go,
he goes.”
So, his confidence didn’t come from a creed. It didn’t come from a
theology. It didn’t come from an association, didn’t come from a
denomination, didn’t come from an ordination. It didn’t come from

220. anything other than a personal, intimate, firsthand relationship with the
living God whom he so implicitly trusted that he gave Him his life and went
on about his business.
In fact, I personallybelieve that he wished the Lord would hurry up His
death timetable. I think he kind of felt in his heart that he was sortof
overstaying in this world. He was ready to be offered. He says that in
chapter 4.
So, he says, “I trust my security. He’ll be able to keepme” – now notice this
marvelous truth, the end of verse 12 – “until that day.” What day? What
day is that day? Look at verse 18, “The Lord grant to him to find mercy
from the Lord on that day” – what day is that day? Chapter 4, verse 8, “In
the future, there is laid up for me the crownof righteousness whichthe
Lord, the righteous Judge will awardto me on” – what? – “that day; and
not to me but also to all who have loved His appearing.” All believers. All
believers are going to have a day when they receive the crown of
righteousness onthat day. What day is that? That’s the day when the Lord
comes to rewardHis Church. That day. The day of rewards. The day of the
Judgment Seatof Christ. Romans 14:10 talks about the Judgment Seatof
Christ. SecondCorinthians 5:9 and 10 talks about the Judgment Seatof
Christ. There’s coming a day when Jesus will come to reward us.
Revelation22:12, “Behold, I come quickly, and my reward is with Me to
give to every man according as his works shallbe.”
So, the Lord Jesus, I believe, takes the Church up in the rapture, and right
after that, we come to what’s calledthe bema, and we receive rewards.
That’s what Paul is saying, “I know that the Lord is able to hold onto my
life until I stand that day to receive my eternalreward.” That’s confidence,
isn’t it? “I trust my security. I don’t need to preserve my life. I believe in
Him who is able to keepme from falling and present me blameless before
His throne,” Jude 24 says.
“I believe in the God out of whose hands I can never be plucked,” John 10.
“I believe in the words of Jesus that, “All that the Father gives to Me shall
come to Me, and I have lost none of them, but will raise Him up at the last
day.”
Paul is saying, “I’m going to go and give my life and abandon my life to the
cause ofChrist because I trust my security. And my securityis the Lord
Himself.”
So, what is there to preserve? DoesHe need me to do that? Does He need
me to make sure everything works out right? No, we have supreme

221. assurance. Oh, what a marvelous thing. Just imagine if that one doctrine
wasn’t true. Just imagine if everything in the gospelwas true exceptthe
fact that the Lord kept you saved. How would you like that? What a
horrible, horrible, fearful omissionthat would be. But you can trust your
life to the Lord. And not all the demons in hell cantouch you. Greattruth.
So, you want to be courageous?Renew yourgift, consideryour resources,
acceptyour suffering, remember your God, realize your duty, and trust
your security.
Number 7, affirm your doctrine. Affirm your doctrine. Boy, this is so
important. He says to Timothy, “Look, now retain the standard of sound
words which you have heard from me, in the faith and love which are in
Christ Jesus. Guard, through the Holy Spirit who dwells in us, the treasure
which has been entrusted to you.”
He just talked about – Paul just talkedabout his life being entrusted to
God. Now he talks about God entrusting the treasure to Timothy. It goes
both ways. What’s he talking about? He’s talking about doctrine. Go back
to verse 13, “retain” means to hold tightly or firmly, to grasp. Hold tightly
to the standard – hupotupōsis. It means the structure, the outline, the
model, the pattern of sound words – healthy, wholesome, life-giving words.
True doctrine. Truth. That term is used in 1 Timothy. The strength of
calling this young man to hold to truth and sound doctrine; so much at the
heart of everything that Paul instructed him.
In fact, do you remember that we said at the close of the first epistle – look
at it there, chapter 6, verse 20 – when we were studying this, “O Timothy,
guard what has been entrusted to you.” And what was entrusted to him?
The truth. Sound doctrine. Sound doctrine.
Let me put it to you very simply, folks. The reasonmostpeople don’t have
the courage oftheir convictions is because they don’t have convictions.
Before you can put your life on the line for what you believe, you have to
believe it.
And I was on a radio talk show this last week, andI said, “You know what
I believe is plaguing America” – they were asking about what I thought
was tragic about the PTL scandal, and I said, “Whatis tragic, in my mind,
is the abysmal mistreatment of the Word of God. But the factthat the
Church and so many people who callthemselves Christians weren’t
particularly concernedabout this until it finally exploded.”
In other words, people are all, in the name of love, wanting to acceptany
kind of theologythat allows for anything. And the reasonwe don’t have the

222. courage ofour convictions is because we don’t have the convictions to start
with.
So, he is saying, “Guard the truth” – verse 14 – “retain the standard of
sound, wholesome, life-giving words. Be committed to the proper
theologicalstructure, the proper interpretation of Scripture, the proper
outline of the truth that produces spiritual growth, spiritual maturity; have
a theology.”
We live in a time in the Christian Church when the Church is atheological.
In fact, if you hold firmly strong doctrine, people think you’re unloving
and antagonistic. And sermonettes forChristianettes and pious platitudes
and atheologicalkind of sort of pabulum stuff that’s being passedoff as
Bible teaching is woefully lacking in building backbone into Christian
people, because it has no sense of conviction. People want to hear fair
speechesand words that tickle their ears and make them feel goodabout
themselves.
So, he says, “Hold to the truth.” And, beloved, I’m just telling you this,
part of courage in ministry comes because youhave such strong
convictions. People with strong convictions tend to be bold. But notice the
balance of it in verse 13. “While you’re retaining this structure and pattern
of sound words which you have heard from me” – that’s the apostolic
doctrine that Paul had passedto Timothy under the inspiration of the
Spirit of God, he says, “The things that you have heard that you’re holding
onto retain in the faith and love which are in Christ Jesus.”
What does he mean by that? He means you hold them first with the right
attitude toward God; that is trustingly in faith. Don’t hold your theology
with doubt; hold your theologywith faith. Don’t have a theologythat is a
theologyof doubt, “Well, I think I know what I believe, but I’m not sure. I
was sure a few weeks ago,before I read this; now I don’t know if I know
anymore.”
Don’t hold your theologyin doubt, hold it in faith and hold it in love.
“Speak the truth in love,” it says in Ephesians 4:15. Speak the truth in love.
So, you hold it in faith, not wavering. As James says, “Ifanybody wavers,
he’s like a man who’s tossedand driven by the sea” – unstable soul. Don’t
be like that. Don’t have doubt. Be assuredthat what you believe is true.
Don’t have a doubting orthodoxy, and don’t have dead orthodoxy, a
loveless, cold, insensitive orthodoxy.

223. So, retain it, but hold it with faith toward God and love toward man, and
that way you’ll be doing it in the Spirit of Christ Jesus, who provides that
faith and provides that love.
And then, verse 14, he says the same thing another way, “Guard” – keep
safe it means, preserve from corruption or destruction. He sees Timothy as
a defender of the faith. “Guard, through the Holy Spirit who dwell in us” –
Romans 8:9 says that every Christian has the Holy Spirit. “If any man
have not the Holy Spirit, he’s none of His.” So, everyone has the Holy
Spirit who knows Christ. And he says, “The Spirit is in us. Then through
His powerguard” – what? – “the treasure” – that’s that parathēkē –
“which has been entrusted to you.” And what is this treasure? Truth. The
Word of God.
I said this when we studied 1 Timothy 6:20 and 21, we are, as a church, the
guardians of the truth. That’s our primary function. We are to guard the
truth. We are to secure the truth. We are to hold to the truth.
I said yesterday, at a meeting we had at the college, to some people who
were visiting, “The primary role of this institution is the same as it is the
church. That is to guard the truth, to raise up a generationof young men
and women who will hold to the truth, who will retain the truth, who will
pass the truth on. That’s the issue. What a challenge.
Now, the deposit of my life with God is secure. How secure is the depositof
God’s Word with me? Boy, I tell you those people who defect, those
collegesand seminaries and churches and so forth that deviate from the
Word of God will indeed have a day of accounting to face, because they
have done the one thing that God warned not to do, and that is they have
failed to retain the truth. They have failed to guard the truth. The treasure,
the depositthat was entrusted to you.
God has entrusted His Word to me. This is the most solemn responsibility
that I have in my life. And I have a solemnresponsibility for the trust of
my wonderful wife. I have a solemnresponsibility for the trust of my dear
children, but they combined do not come to the level of the trust that I have
to maintain the integrity of the Word of God. That’s the most sacredtrust I
have. I am, more than anything, a guardian of the truth - and so are you;
all of us are.
So, he says, “Look, Timothy, hold onto your sound doctrine.” If you’re
going to have courage,you have to have convictions to have courage about.
And you ought to thank God if you have a solid conviction in your heart
about the truths of God’s Word. You’re rare. You know that? You’re a

224. rare person. In fact, when your other Christian relatives come to visit, you
may even have arguments because youbelieve some things so strongly that
they don’t believe. And they vacillate, but you don’t. Thank God that you
have a strong understanding of Scripture and stand for your convictions.
And hold your doctrine in faith toward God not doubting, and in love
toward men not abusing.
So, how do you avoid being ashamedof Christ? Renew your gift, consider
your resources,acceptyour suffering, remember your God, realize your
duty, trust your Savior, affirm your doctrine, and lastly, choose your
associates.Boy, this is so important. I couldn’t figure out how this last
sectionfit in, and I was going over it, and over it, and over it in my little
study, and I just didn’t see how it all fit in.
And all of a sudden, it just hit me like a bolt, “I know how this fits in.” He’s
throwing in this little deal at the end here to crystallize into two groups
those that are ashamedand those that aren’t.
You say, “I read that once and that was obvious to me.”
Well, I’m a little thick. It took me about a whole afternoon to land on that
one. And that’s what he’s saying, “Chooseyour associates.” Paulsaidin 1
Corinthians 15:33, “Badcompany corrupts goodmorals.” Who you run
around with is very important. You getaround courageous people and
guess what? You start feeling courageous. You getaround weak, spineless
people, and you’ll begin to feellike they feel.
One’s boldness and one’s courage has a lot to do with one’s associates. And
so, he gives two options. Group one, verse 15, “You are aware of the fact
that all” – boy, what a word – “all who are in Asia” – Asia Minor where
Ephesus was a leading city – “turned away from me, among whom are
Phygelus and Hermogenes.” You’re aware. Why was Timothy aware?
Becausethese people were in Asia where Timothy had been for several
years, ministering in Ephesus. “You’re aware that when I was taken
prisoner, and the persecutioncame againstthe Christians, that all those
people who are in that area of Asia Minor turned awayfrom me. They
didn’t want anything to do with me; they were ashamedof me, because
once I became a prisoner, they didn’t want to be identified with me at all
because they fearedthat they, too, would be imprisoned.” That’s what he
means when he says, “Don’tbe ashamedof the Lord or of me His
prisoner.”

225. You see, being identified with Paul was a dead giveawayaboutwhat you
believed. And if they had put Paul in prison, there was every reasonto put
you in prison if you were associatedwith Paul.
And so, what happened in Asia Minor was many of the teachers and those
who had gone along with Paul, as soonas Paul was incarcerated, clammed
up, wanted nothing to do with Paul and wanted no one to know they had
anything to do with Paul. They were very much like Peter, standing by the
fireside at the trial of Christ, saying, “I never knew the man,” and cursing
with an oath. They were ashamed. They were cowardly, trying to protect
themselves.
And he says, “All who are in Asia repudiated” – or literally desertedme;
that’s the Greek word in its literal sense – “desertedme.” I’ll tell you the
pain of ministry: disloyalpeople, who when the going gets difficult
disappear very fast and getcritical and start picking at you. The people
that you have spent your life feeding and nurturing and – that’s a
heartbreaker, and it’s a heartbreakerfor Paul and for anyone. They
weren’t even willing to identify with Paul at all, though they had gained
everything he had to give. They had literally taken his life. He had spent
himself to get them the message ofChrist, to save them. He’d given himself
to teachthem. He had carried the burden of their defections and their
spiritual failures, and longed, as a woman bringing birth to a child, that
Christ would be formed in them, and here they are, denying they even
know the man. Sad. No wonder he was lonely, as verse 4 of chapter 1
indicates, sitting in that dungeon.
And so, he says to Timothy, “You’re aware of the fact” – not speculation,
but the fact – “that all who are in Asia turned awayfrom me” – and then
he names two, Phygelus and Hermogenes. We don’t know anything about
them, but Paul certainly didn’t sweepthis under the rug. I mean he tells
the whole wide world, for every generationyet to come, that these two guys
were well-knowndefectors. Maybe they were leaders, pastors, elders in one
of the churches in Asia Minor, maybe even in Ephesus. Maybe they went
around saying how much they were enchanted with the proclamationof the
gospel. Maybe they soughtto do that, but once the persecutionstarted, they
were not interestedin being identified with Paul at all.
Paul doesn’t let them off the hook He doesn’t, in the name of quote-
unquote love slide it under the carpetand deny it. He articulates their
names for the whole wide world to hear, because they are defectors. He
doesn’t have some loving obligation to hide that. In fact, in his own
teaching in 1 Timothy, he said, “The elders that sin, rebuke before” –

226. what? – “all, that others may fear.” It may well be that these were two
elders. Let the church know who they are. Let the church know of their
spiritual defectionand cowardice. “Iwant to label that group – that
ashamedgroup, that cowardlygroup, that defectorgroup.”
“So, Timothy, if that’s your group, then go on over to that group of the
Phygelus/Hermogenesassociation. That’s the Hall of Shame, not the Hall
of Fame. That’s for people who deny Christ. Choose your group, Timothy.
Choose your group.”
Do you ever think about that? The wayyou live your Christian life
identifies with a whole wide group of people who choose to live that way. I
don’t know what group you want to be in. I’d sort of like to identify with
the Hebrews 11 group if I had my choice. Orwith the group that Paul was
in; I’d like to be in that group. Or the group that the greatmissionaries
and faithful saints of God through the centuries are in, that’s the group I’d
like to be identified with. So choose yourgroup.
And then in verse 16, “The Lord” – here’s the secondgroup – “The Lord
grant mercy to the household of Onesiphorus, for he often refreshed me
and was not ashamedof my chains; but when he was in Rome, he eagerly
searchedfor me and found me. The Lord grant to him to find mercy from
the Lord on that day” – that’s that day of rewards, that day when we see
the Lord Jesus – “and you know very well what services he rendered at
Ephesus.”
Now he identifies another guy that Timothy knows. Timothy knew
Phygelus and Hermogenes;otherwise Paulwould have explained who they
were. Likely they were elders in the church. He also knew Onesiphorus,
and his whole householdwere godly people. The gospelhad come to that
household, and the whole family had embraced Christ and no doubt
deserve commendation because oftheir love.
In fact, in chapter 4, verse 19, he encourages Timothy to greetthe
household of Onesiphorus. So, they lived in Ephesus. They weren’t
ashamedof Paul. And he says, “In that day, when they face Jesus Christ, I
pray that he’ll give them mercy” - that he’ll give them reward in, in other
words, because they were never ashamedof me.
It says, in verse 16, “He often refreshedme” – often – often, eagerto come
alongside the inspired apostle, eagerto provide some encouraging personal
ministry, not fearing the identification or associationat all. He was not
even ashamedof his chains. Literally that means handcuffs or manacles,
but it broadens to mean his imprisonment in general. This didn’t deter the

227. man. In fact, “when he came to Rome, he searchedeagerlyfor me till he
found me.” He searchedall over the city trying to find where he was and
found him in that dungeon. He had lived in Ephesus and come to Rome,
maybe on business or maybe specificallyto minister to Paul. He pursued
the locationof Paul, and he was a man who was unashamed.
And so, he says also, in the end of verse 18, “You know very well what
services he rendered at Ephesus. You know his ministry there.” He
probably was very well – could be an elder or a pastor also. And you know
the kind of service he did there. You know the kind of man he is. And the
implication of these two groups – and he never does say to Timothy, “What
group do you want to be in?” He doesn’tneed to. He just divides so clearly,
and you sayto yourself, “Boy, I want to be like Onesiphorus; I don’t want
to be like Phygelus and Hermogenes.”
Choose your associates,folks. You want to be among the courageous who
name the name of Christ and pay the price, or do you want to be among
the cowards who deny Him? It’s your choice. Do you want to be with those
who are loyal, courageous, steadfast, faithful, bold, unashamed? Those who
renew their spiritual gift in usefulness? Those who understand their
spiritual resources forany situation? Those who acceptand anticipate the
possibility and reality of suffering? Those who remember the power of
their God and His great grace?Those who recognize their duty, those who
totally trust their life into the hands of their Savior and are secure? Those
who live to defend the truth? If you do, then choose your group. Your
group is the household of Onesiphorus. That’s your group.
See, courage is demanded of any servant of God. Moralcourage and
sometimes even physical courage. MartinLuther – and I’ll bring our
messageto a conclusionwith this account – Martin Luther, the great
instrument of God in the Reformation, in the 1500s, possessedthis
tremendous quality of courage. He stoodagainstthe whole Roman Catholic
system. In fact, the whole political system which was embracedin
Catholicism. It has been assertedthathe was perhaps as fearless a man as
ever has lived.
When he setout on his momentous journey to the city of Worms, he said,
“You can expectfrom me everything exceptfear or recantation.” You can
expectfrom me everything exceptfear or recantation. Then he said, “I
shall not flea, much less recant.” They wantedhim to deny salvation by
grace through faith.

228. “His friends, warning him,” writes the biographer, “ofthe grave dangers
he faced, sought to dissuade him. But Luther would not be dissuaded. ‘Not
go to Worms?’he said. ‘I shall go to Worms, though there were as many
devils as tiles on the roofs.’
“And when Luther appeared before the emperor, he was calledon to
recant. They insisted that he should say, in a word, whether he would
recantor no. ‘Unless convincedby the Holy Scripture or by clearreasons
from other sources, I cannotrecant,’ he declared. ‘To councils or pope I
cannot defer, for they have often erred. My conscience is a prisoner to
God’s Word.’
“When againgiven an opportunity to recant, he folded his hands, ‘Here I
stand. I can do no other, God help me.’ Recalling that incident, Luther
describedhis feelings, ‘I was afraid of nothing. God canmake one so
desperatelybold.’”
Wonderful testimony. How is it that we can be desperatelybold? Listen to
this testimony. SecondChronicles chapter32, the people of Judah facedthe
enemy of Assyria. Listen to this; here comes the exhortation. It’s
wonderful; this is it, from Hezekiahthe king, “Be strong and courageous,
do not fear or be dismayed because ofthe king of Assyria, nor because of
all the multitudes which is with him” – then this – “for the one with us is
greaterthan the one with them. With him is only an arm of flesh, but with
us is the Lord our God to help us and to fight our battles.” Tremendous
confidence. Tremendous courage whenwe understand who He is who has
equipped us and is with us. Let’s bow in prayer.
Gracious Father, how thankful we are for the exhilarating powerof this
passagethat comes and breaks on our hearts, flooding us with a new sense
of devotion, a new encouragementto be bold for the sake ofChrist. Oh,
help us, Lord, not to preserve our own lives, but to give ourselves away.
Under proper motivation and with a pervasive attitude of courage, may we
go forth in the name of Christ confident – confident that what we have
committed into Your care is safe until the day we see Jesus – that day to
receive the reward for our service done.
Father, I pray that every one of us will renew that commitment in our
hearts for the Savior’s glory, amen.

229. ALEXANDER MACLAREN
A QUIET HEART
2 Timothy 1:12
‘... I know whom I have believed, and am persuadedthat He is able to keep
that which I have committed unto Wire againstthat day.’ — 2 Timothy
1:12.
THERE is some ambiguity in the original words of this text, lying in that
clause which is translated in our Bibles — both Authorised and Revised —
‘that which I have committed unto Him.’ The margin of the Revised
Version gives as an alternative reading, ‘that which He hath committed
unto me.’ To a mere English readerit may be a puzzle how any words
whatevercould be susceptible of these two different interpretations. But
the mystery is solvedby the additional note which the same Revised
Version gives, which tells us that the Greek is ‘ my deposit,’or I might add
another synonymous word, ‘my trust.’
Now you cansee that ‘my trust’ may mean either something with which I
trust another, or something with which another trusts me. So the
possibility of either rendering arises. It is somewhatdifficult to decide
betweenthe two. I do not purpose to trouble you with reasons formy
preference here. Suffice it to say that, whilst there are strong arguments in
favour of the reading ‘that which He has committed unto me,’ I am
inclined to think that the congruity of the whole representation, and
especiallythe thought that this ‘trust,’ whateverit is, is something which
God has to keep, rather than which Paul has to keep, shuts us up to the
adoption of the rendering which stands in our Bibles.
Adopting it, therefore, though with some hesitation, the next question
arises, Whatis it that Paul committed to God? The answerto that is,
himself, in all his complex being, with all his fears and anxieties, during the
whole duration of his existence. He has done what anotherApostle exhorts
us to do, ‘committed the keeping of his soul to Him in well-doing, as unto a
faithful Creator.’Now that was a long past act at the time when Paul wrote
this letter. And here he looks back upon life, and sees that all the
experiences through which he has passedhave but confirmed the faith
which he restedin God before the experiences, and that, with the axe and
the block almostin sight, he is neither ashamedof his faith, nor dissatisfied
with what it has brought him.
I. Notice, then, in the first place, ‘the deposit’ of faith.

230. You observe that the two clauses ofmy text refer to the same act, which in
the one is described as ‘In whom I have trusted’; and in the other as
‘committing something to Him.’ The metaphor is a plain enough one. A
man has some rich treasure. He is afraid of losing it, he is doubtful of his
own powerto keepit; he looks about for some reliable person and trusted
hands, and he deposits it there. That is about as gooda description of what
the New Testamentmeans by ‘ faith’ as you will getanywhere.
You and I have one treasure, whateverelse we may have or not have; and
that is ourselves. The most precious of our possessions is our own
individual being.
We cannot‘keep’ that. There are dangers all round us. We are like men
travelling in a land full of pickpockets andhighwaymen, laden with gold
and precious stones. On every side there are enemies that seek to rob us of
that which is our true treasure — our own souls. We cannot keep
ourselves. Slippery paths and weak feetgo ill together. The tow in our
hearts, and the fiery sparks of temptation that are flying all round about
us, are sure to come togetherand make a blaze. We shall certainly come to
ruin if we seek to getthrough life, to do its work, to face its difficulties, to
cope with its struggles, to master its temptations, in our own poor, puny
strength. So we must look for trusty hands and lodge our treasure there,
where it is safe.
And how am I to do that? By humble dependence upon God revealed, for
our faith’s feeble fingers to grasp, in the person and work of His dear Son,
who has died on the Cross for us all; by constantrealisationof His divine
presence and implicit reliance on the realities of His sustaining hand in all
our difficulties, and His shielding protectionin all our struggles, andHis
sanctifying spirit in all our conflicts with evil. And not only by the
realisationof His presence and of our dependence upon Him, nor only by
the consciousness ofour own insufficiency, and the departing from all self-
reliance, but as an essentialpart of our committing ourselves to God, by
bringing our wills into harmony with His will. To commit includes to
submit.
‘And, oh, brother! if thus knowing your weakness, youwill turn to Him for
strength, if the language of your hearts be
‘Myself I cannotsave,
Myself I cannotkeep,
But strength in Thee I surely have,

231. Whose eyelids never sleep.’
And if thus, hanging upon Him, you believe that when you fling yourself
into necessarytemptations, and cope with appointed heavy tasks, and
receive on your hearts the full blow of sent sorrows, He will strengthenyou
and hold you up; and if with all your hearts you bow, and you say,’Lord!
keeping me is Thy business far more than mine; into Thy hands I commit
my spirit,’ be sure that your trust will not be disappointed.
Notice, further, about this depositof faith, how Paul has no doubt that he
has made it, and is not at all afraid to say that he has. Ay! there are plenty
of you professing Christians who have never got the length which all
Christian people should arrive at, of a calm certainty in the reality of your
own faith. Do you feel, my brother, that there is no doubt about it, that you
are trusting upon Jesus Christ? If you do, well; if the life confirms the
confidence. But whilst the deepenedcertitude of professing Christians as to
the reality of their own faith is much to be desired, there is also much to be
dreaded the easy-going assurancewhicha greatmany people who call
themselves Christians have of the reality of their trust, though it neither
bows their wills to God’s purposes, nor makes them calm and happy in the
assurance ofHis presence. The question for us all is, have we the right to
say ‘I have committed myself to Him’? If you have not, you have missed
the blessednessoflife, and will never carry your treasure safelythrough
the hordes of robbers that lurk upon the road, but some day you will be
found there, lying beggared, bleeding, bruised. May it be that you are
found there before the end, by the merciful Samaritan who alone canbind
up and lead to safety.
IX. Now note, secondly, the serenity of faith.
What a grand picture of a peacefulheart comes out of this letter, and its
companion one to the same friend, written a little before, but under
substantially the same circumstances!They are both full of
autobiographicaldetails, on which some critics look with suspicion, but
which seemto me to bear upon their very front the token of their own
genuineness.
And what a picture it is that they give! He is ‘Paul the aged’; old, if not in
years — and he probably was not an old man by years — yet old in
thought and care and hardships and toils. He is a prisoner, and the
compulsory cessationof activity, when so much was to be done, might well
have fretted a less eagerspirit than that which burned in his puny frame.
He is alone, but for one faithful friend; and the bitterness of his solitude is

232. increasedby the apostasyof some and the negligence ofmany. He is poor
and thinly clad; and he wants his one cloak ‘before winter.’ He has been
before the emperor once, and though he ‘was delivered from the mouth of
the lion’ then, he knows that he cannot expectto put his head into the lion’s
mouth a secondtime with impunity, and that his course is run. He has
made but a poor thing of life; he has disappointed all the hopes that were
formed of the brilliant young disciple of Gamaliel, who was bidding fair to
be the hammer of these hereticalChristians. And yet there is no tremor
nor despondencyin this, his swan-song. It goes up in a clearburst of joyful
music. It is the same spirit as that of the Psalmist:‘There be many that say,
Who will show us any good? Lord, lift Thou up the light of Thy
countenance upon us.’ And serenelyhe sits there, in the midst of dangers,
disappointments, difficulties, and struggles, with a life behind him stuffed
full of thorns and hard work and many a care, and close before him the
martyr’s death, yet he says, with a flash of legitimate pride, ‘I am not
ashamed, for I know whom I have trusted, and that He is able to keepthat
which I have committed unto Him againstthat day.’
My brother, you must have Paul’s faith if you are to have Paul’s serenity.
A quiet committal of yourself to God, in all the ways in which I have
already describedthat committal as carried out, is the only thing which
will give us quiet hearts, amidst the dangers and disappointments and
difficulties and conflicts which we have all to encounter in this world. That
trust in Him will bring, in the measure of its own depth and constancy, a
proportionately deep and constantcalm in our hearts.
For even though my faith brought me nothing from God, the very factthat
I have rolled my care off my shoulders on to His, though I had made a
mistake in doing it, would bring me tranquillity, as long as I believed that
the burden was on His shoulders and not on mine. Trust is always quiet.
When I can say, ‘I am not the master of the caravan, and it is no part of my
business to settle the route, I have no responsibility for providing food, or
watching, or anything else. All my business is to obey orders, and to take
the stepnearestme and wait for the light,’ then I can be very quiet
whatevercomes. And if I have castmy burden upon the Lord, I am not
delivered from responsibility, but I am delivered from harassment. I have
still tasks and duties, but they are all different when I think of them as His
appointing. I have still difficulties and dangers, but I can meet them all
with a new peacefulnessif I say, ‘God is Masterhere, and I am in His
hands, and He will do what He likes with me.’ That is not the abnegationof
will, it is the vitalising of will And no man is ever so strong as the man who

233. feels ‘it is God’s business to take care of me; it is my business to do what
He tells me.’
That, dear friends, is the only armour that will resistthe cuts and blows
that are sure to be aimed at you. What sort of armour do you wear? Is it of
pasteboardpainted to look like steel, like the breastplates andhelmets of
actors upon the stage in a theatre? A greatdeal of our armour is. Do you
get rid of all that make-believe, and put on the breastplate of righteousness,
and for a helmet the hope of salvation, and, above all, take the shield of
faith; and trust in the Lord whate’erbetide, and you will stand againstall
assaults. Paul’s faith is the only recipe for securing Paul’s serenity.
And then, further, note how this same quiet committal of himself into the
loving hands of his Father — whom he had learned to know because he
had learned to trust His Son — is not only the armour againstall the
dangers and difficulties in life, but is also the secretof serene gazing into
the eyes of close death. Paul knew that his days were nearly at an end; he
was under no illusions as to that, for you remember the grand burst of
confidence, evengrander than this of my text, in this same letter, with
which he seems to greetthe coming of the end, and exclaims, with a kind of
Hallelujah! in his tone, ‘I have fought a goodfight, I have finished my
course, I have kept the faith. And there is nothing left for me now, now
when the struggles are over and the heat and dust of the arena are behind
me, but, panting and victorious, to receive the crown.’He knows that death
is sure and near; and yet in this same letter he says, ‘I was delivered out of
the mouth of the lion, and the Lord shall deliver me from every evil work,
and save me into His everlasting kingdom.’ Did he, then, expectto escape
from the headsman’s block? Was he beginning to falter in his belief that
martyrdom was certain? By no means. The martyrdom was the
deliverance. The striking off of his head by the sharp axe was the ‘saving of
him into the everlasting kingdom.’ His faith, grasping Jesus Christ, who
abolisheddeath, changes the whole aspectof death to him; and instead of ,a
terror it becomes God’s angelthat will come to the prisoner and touch him,
and say, ‘Arise!’ and the fetters will fall from off his feet, and the angelwill
lead him through ‘the gate that opens of its own accord,’and presently he
will find himself in the city. That is to say, true confidence in God revealed
in Jesus Christ is the armour, not only againstthe ills of life, but against
the inevitable ill of death. It changes the whole aspectofthe ‘shadow feared
of man’
Now I know that there is a danger in urging the reception of the gospelof
Jesus Christ on the ground of its preparing us for death. And I know that

234. the main reasons forbeing Christians would continue in full force if there
were no death; but I know also that we are all of us far too apt to ignore
that grim certainty that lies gaping for us, somewhere onthe road. And if
we have certainly to go down into the common darkness, and to tread with
our feetthe path that all but two of God’s favourites have trod, it is as well
to look the factin the face, and be ready. I do not want to frighten any man
into being a Christian, but I do beseecheachofyou, brethren, to lay to
heart that you will have to grapple with that last enemy, and I ask you, as
you love your ownsouls, to make honestwork of this question, Am I ready
for that summons when it comes, becauseI have committed my soul, body,
and spirit into His hands, and I can quietly say, ‘ Thou wilt not leave my
soul in the grave, nor wilt Thou suffer Thy servant to see corruption’?
Paul’s faith made him serene in life and victorious over death; and it will
do the same for you.
III. So note, further, the experience of faith.
In the first clause ofour text the Apostle says: — ‘I know whom I have
trusted.’ And it is because he knows Him that therefore he is persuaded
that ‘He is able to keep.’
How did Paul know Him? By experience. Bythe experience of his daily life.
By all these years of trial and yet of blessednessthrough which he had
passed;by all the revelations that had been made to his waiting heart as
the consequenceand as the reward of the humble faith that restedupon
God. And so the whole past had confirmed to him the initial confidence
which knit him to Jesus Christ.
If you want to know the worth of Christian faith, exercise it. We must
trust, to begin with, before experience. But the faith that is built upon a
lifetime is a far stronger thing than the tremulous faith that, out of
darkness, stretchesa groping hand, and for the first time lays hold upon
God’s outstretched hand. We hope then, we tremblingly trust, we believe
on the authority of His word. But after years have passed, we cansay, ‘We
have heard Him ourselves, and we know that this is the Christ, the Saviour
of the world.’
Further, none who truly commit themselves to God ever regret it. Is there
anything else of which you can say that? Is there any other sort of life that
never turns out a disappointment and bitterness and ashes in the mouth of
the man that feeds upon it? And is it not something of an evidence of the
reality of, the Christian’s faith that millions of men are able to stand up
and say,’Lo! we have put our confidence in Him and we are not ashamed?’

235. ‘This poor man cried and the Lord heard him, and delivered him out of all
his troubles. They lookedunto God and were lightened, and their faces
were not ashamed.’You cannotshare in the conviction, the issue of
experience which a Christian man has, if you are not a Christian. My
inward evidence of the reality of the Gospeltruth, which I have won
because I trusted Him when I had not the experience, cannotbe shared
with anybody besides. You must ‘taste’before you ‘see that the Lord is
good’But the factthat there is such a conviction, and the fact that there is
nothing on the other side of the sheetto contradict it, ought to weigh
something in the scale. Try Him and trust Him, and your experience will
be, as that of all who have trusted Him has been, ‘that this hope maketh
not ashamed.’
IV. Lastly, note here the goalof faith.
‘Against that day.’ The Apostle has many allusions to that day in this final
letter. It was evidently, as was natural under the circumstances,much in
his mind. And the tone of the allusions is remarkable. Rememberwhat
Paul believed that day was — a day when he ‘and all men would stand
before the judgment’ bar of an omniscient and all-righteous, Divine Judge,
to receive ‘the deeds done in the body.’ A solemn thought and a firm
conviction, and a profound impression as to that day, were in his mind.
And in the face of all this, he says, ‘I know that He will keepthis poor soul
of mine againstthat day.’
Ah, my brother! it is easyfor you to shuffle out of your thoughts the
judgment-seat before which we must all stand, and so to be quiet. It is easy
for you to question, in a so-calledintellectualscepticism, the New
Testamentrevelations as to the future, and so to be quiet. It is easyfor you
to persuade yourselves ofthe application there of another standard of
judgment than that which Scripture reveals, and to say, ‘If I have done my
best God will not be hard upon me,’ and so to be quiet. But, supposing that
that certain tribunal blazed upon you; supposing that you could not get rid
of the thought that you were to stand there, and supposing that you
realised, further, the rigidity of that judgment, and how it penetrates to the
discerning of the thoughts and intents of the heart, would you be quiet
then? Should you be quiet then?
This man was. How? Why? Because, in patient trust, he had put his soul
into God’s hands, and a lifetime had taught him that his trust was not in
vain.

236. If you want like peace in life, like victory in death, like boldness in the Day
of Judgment, oh, dearfriend! — friend though unknown — let me plead
with you to seek it where Paul found it, and where you will find it, in
simple faith on God manifest in His Son.
*********************************************************
‘SOUND WORDS’
2 Timothy 1:12
Hold fast the form of sound words, which thou hut heard of me, in faith
and love which is in Christ Jesus.’ — 2 Timothy 1:12.
ANY greatauthor or artist passes, in the course of his work, from one
manner to another; so that a person familiar with him candate pretty
accuratelyhis books or pictures as being in his ‘earlier’ or ‘later’ style So
there is nothing surprising in the factthat there are greatdifferences
betweenPaul’s last writings and his previous ones. The surprising thing
would have been if there had not been such differences. The peculiarities of
the so-calledthree pastoralEpistles (the two to Timothy, and the one to
Titus) are not greaterthan can fairly be accountedfor by advancing years,
changedcircumstances, andthe emergence ofnew difficulties and enemies.
Amongst them there are certain expressions, veryfrequent in these letters
and wholly unknown in any of Paul’s other work. These have been
pounced upon as disproving the genuineness ofthese letters, hut they only
do so if you assume that a man, when he gets old, must never use any
words that he did not use when he was young, whatevernew ideas may
have come to him. Now, in this text of mine is one of these phrases peculiar
to these later letters — ‘sound words.’That phrase and its parallel one,
‘sound doctrine,’ occurin all some half-dozen times in these letters, and
never anywhere else. The expression has become very common among us.
It is more often used than understood; and the popular interpretation of it
hides its realmeaning and obscures the very important lessons whichare
to be drawn from the true understanding of it, lessons which, I take leave
to think, modern Christianity stands very sorelyin need of. I desire now to
try to unfold the thoughts and lessons con-rainedin this phrase.
I. What does Paul mean by a ‘form of sound words’? I begin the answerby
saying that he does not mean a doctrinal formula. The word here rendered
‘form’ is the same which he employs in the first of the letters to Timothy,
when he speaksofhimself and his own conversionas being ‘a pattern to
them that should hereafterbelieve.’The notion intended here is not a cut-
and-dried creed, but a body of teaching winch will not be compressed

237. within the limits of an iron form, but will be a pattern for the lives of the
men to whom it is given. The RevisedVersion has ‘the pattern; and not
‘the form.’ I take leave to think that there were no creeds in the
apostolic time, and that the Church would probably have had a firmer
graspof God’s truth if there had never been any. At all events the idea of a
cast-ironcreed, into which the whole magnificence of the Christian faith is
crushed, is by no means Paul’s idea in the word here. Then, with regardto
the other part of the phrase — ‘sound words’ — we all know how that is
generallyunderstood by people. Words are supposedto be ‘sound,’ when
they are in conformity with the creedof the critic. A sound High
Churchman is an entirely different personfrom a sound Nonconformist.
Puritan and Sacramentariandiffer with regard to the standard which they
setup, but they use the word in the same way, to express theological
statements in conformity with that standard. And we all know how harshly
the judgment is sometimes made, and how easyit is to damn a man by a
solemn shake ofthe head or a shrug of the shoulders, and the question
whether he is ‘sound.’
Now, all that is cleanawayfrom the apostolic notion of the word in
question. If we turn to the other form of this phrase, which occurs
frequently in these letters, ‘sound doctrine,’ there is another remark to be
made. ‘Doctrine’ conveys to the ordinary reader the notion of an abstract,
dry, theologicalstatementof some truth. Now, what the Apostle means is
not ‘doctrine’ so much as ‘teaching’; and if you will substitute ‘teaching’
for ‘doctrine’ you getmuch nearerhis thought just as you will get nearerit
if for ‘sound,’ with its meaning of conformity to a thee-logicalstandard,
you substitute what the word really means, ‘healthy,’ wholesome, health-
giving, healing. All these ideas run into eachother. That which is in itself
healthy is health-giving as food, and as a medicine is healing. The Apostle
is not describing the teaching that he had given to Timothy by its
conformity with any standard, but is pointing to its essentialnature as
being wholesome, soundin a physical sense;and to its effectas being
healthy and health-giving. Keep hold of that thought and the whole aspect
of this saying changes at once.
There is only one other point that I would suggestin this first part of my
sermon, as to the Apostolic meaning of these words, and it is this: ‘healing’
and ‘holy’ are etymologicallyconnected, they tell us. The healing
properties of the teaching to which Paul refers are to be found entirely in
this — its tendency to make men better, to produce a purer morality, a
loftier goodness, a more unselfish love, and so to bring harmony and health

238. into the diseasednature. The one healing for a man is to be holy; and, says
Paul, the way to be holy is to keepa firm hold of that body of teaching
which I have presented.
Now, that this tendency to produce nobler manners and purer conduct and
holier characteris the true meaning of the word ‘ sound’ here, and not ‘
orthodox’ as we generally take it, will be quite clear, I think, if you will
notice how, in another part of these same letters, the Apostle gives a long
catalogue ofthe things which are contrary to the health-giving doctrine. If
the ordinary notion of the expressionwere correct, that catalogue oughtto
be a list of heresies. Butwhat is it? A black list of vices — ‘deceivers,’
‘ungodly, sinners, ‘unholy,’ profane,’ ‘murderers,’ ‘man-slayers,’
‘whoremongers,’‘man-stealers,’‘liars,’‘perjured’ persons. Notone of
these refers to aberrationof opinion; all of them point to divergences of
conduct, and these are the things that are contrary to the healing doctrine.
But they are not contrary, often, to sound orthodoxy. For there have been a
greatmany imitators of that king of France, who carried little leaden
images of saints and the Virgin in his hat and the devil in his heart. ‘The
form of sound words’is the pattern of healing teaching, which proves itself
healing because it makes holy. Now, that is my first question answered.
II. Where Paul thought these healing words were to be found.
He had no doubt whateveras to that. They were in the message thathe
preachedof Jesus Christand His salvation. There and there only, in his
estimation and inspired teaching, are such words to be found. The truth of
Christ, His incarnation, His sacrifice, His resurrection, His ascension, the
gift of His Divine Spirit, with all the mighty truths on which these great
facts rest, and all which flow from these greatfacts, these, in the aggregate,
are the health-giving words for the sicklyworld.
Now, historically, it is proved to Be so. I do not need to defend, as if it were
in full conformity with the dictates and principles of Christianity, the life
and practice of any generationof Christian people. But this I do venture to
say, that the world has been slowlylifted, all through the generations, by
the influence, direct and indirect, of the greattruths of Christianity, and
that today the very men who, in the name of certain large principles which
they have learned from the gospel, are desirous of brushing aside the old-
fashionedgospel, are kicking down the ladder by which they climbed, and
that, with all the imperfections, for which we have to take shame to
ourselves before God, still the reflectionof the perfectImago which is east
into the world from the mirror of the collective

239. Christian conduct and character, though it be distorted by many a flaw in
the glass, andimperfect by reasonof many a piece of the reflecting medium
having dropped away, is still the fairest embodiment of characterthat the
world has ever seen. Why, what is the meaning of the sarcasms thatwe
have all heard, till we are weariedof them, about ‘the Nonconformist
conscience’? The adjective is wrong; it should be ‘the Christian
conscience.’Butwith that correctionI claim the sarcasms as unconscious
testimony to the fact that the Christian ideal of characterand conduct set
forth, and approximately realised, by religious people, is far above the
average morality of even a so-calledChristian nation. And all that is duo to
the ‘pattern of health-giving words.’
Now, the historical confirmation of Paul’s claim that these health-giving
words were to be found in his gospelis no more than is to be expected, if we
look at the contents of that gospelto which he thus appeals. Forthere never
has been such an instrument for regenerating individuals and societyas lies
in the truths of Christianity, firmly graspedand honestly workedout.
Their healing power comes, first, from their giving the sense of pardon and
acceptance. Brethren, there is nothing, as I humbly venture to affirm, that
will go down to the fountain and origin of all the ills of man, exceptthat
teaching ‘God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing
unto them their trespasses.’Thatreality of guilt, that schism and alienation
betweenman and God, must be dealt with first before you can produce
high morality. Unless you deal with that centraldisease you do very little.
Something you do; but the canceris deep-seated, andthe world’s remedies
for it may cure pimples on the surface, but are powerless to extirpate the
malignant tumour that has laid hold of the vitals. You must begin by
dealing with the disease ofsin, not only in its aspectas habit, but in its
consequence ofguilt and responsibility and separationfrom God, before
you canbring health to the sick man.
And then, beyond that, I need not remind you of how a higher and more
wholesome morality is made possible by these health-giving words,
inasmuch as they setforth for us the perfectexample of Jesus Christ,
inasmuch as they bring into operationlove, the mightiest of all powers to
mould a life, inasmuch as they open up for us, far more solemnly and
certainly than ever else has been revealed, the solemnthought of judgment,
and of every man giving accountof himself to God, and the assurance that
‘whatsoevera man sowethhere, that,’ a thousand-fold increasedin the
crop, ‘shall he also reap’ in the eternities. In addition to the example of
perfection in the beloved Christ, the mighty motive of love, the solemn

240. urgency of judgment and retribution, the health-giving words bring to us
the assuranceofa divine powerdwelling within us, to lift us to heights of
purity and goodness to which our unaided feet cannever, never climb. And
for all these reasons the message ofChrist’s incarnation and death is the
health-giving word for the world.
But, further, let me remind you that, according to the apostolic teaching,
these healing and health-giving effects will not be produced exceptby that
gospel. Some of you, perhaps, may have listened to the first part of my
sermon with approbation, because it seemedto fit in with the general
disparagementof doctrine prevalent in this day. Will you listen to this part
too? I venture to assertthat, although there are many men apart from
Christ who have as cleara conceptionof what they ought to be and to do as
any Christian, and some men apart from Christ who do aim after high and
pure, noble lives, not altogetherunsuccessfully, yet on the whole, on the
wide scale, and in the long-run, if you change the ‘pattern of health-giving
words’ you lower the health of the world. It seems to me that this
generationis an object-lessonin that matter. Why is it that these two things
are running side by side in the literature of these closing years of the
century — viz., a rejectionof the plain laws of morality, especiallyin
regard of the relations of the sexes, and a rejectionof the old-fashioned
gospelof Jesus Christ? I venture to think that the two things stand to each
other very largely in the relationof cause and effect, and that, if you want
to bring back the world to Puritan morality, you will have to go back in the
main to Puritan theology. I do not mean to insist upon any pinning of faith
to any theologicalsystem, but this I am bound to say, and I beseechyou to
consider, that if you strike out from the ‘pattern of health-giving words’
the truth of the Incarnation, the sacrifice onthe Cross, the Resurrection,
the Ascension, and the gift of the Spirit, the ‘health-giving words’that you
have left are not enough to give health to a fly.
III. Lastly, notice what Paul would have us do with these’health-giving
words.’
‘Hold fast the form.., in faith and love, which is in Christ Jesus.’ Now that
exhortation includes three things. Your time will not allow me to do more
than just touch them. First it applies to the understanding. ‘Hold fast the
teaching’by letting it occupy your minds Brethren, I am unwillingly bound
to acknowledgemy suspicion that a very large number of Christian people
scarcelyeveroccupy their thoughts with the facts and principles of the
gospel, and that they have no firm and intelligent grasp of these, either
singly or in their connection. I would plead for less newspaperand more

241. Bible; for less novel and more gospel. I know how hard it is for busy men to
have spare energy for anything beyond their business and the necessary
claims of society, but I would even venture to advise a little less ofwhat is
calledChristian work, in order to get a little more Christian knowledge.
‘Come ye yourselves apart into a solitaryplace,’said the Master;and all
busy workers needthat. ‘Hold fast the health-giving words’by meditation,
a lost art among so many Christians.
The exhortation applies next to the heart. ‘Hold in faith and love.’ If that
notion of the expression, which I have been trying to combat, were the
correctone, there would be no need for anything beyond familiarising the
understanding with the bearings of the doctrinal truths. But Paulsees need
for a greatdeal more. The understanding brings to the emotions that on
which they fasten and feed. Faith — which is more than credence, being an
act of the will — casts itselfon the truth believed, or rather on the Person
revealedin the truth; and love, kindled by faith, and flowing out in grateful
response, and self-abandonment, are as needful as orthodox belief, in order
to hold fast the health-giving words.
The exhortation applies, finally, to Characterand conduct. Emotion, even
when it takes the shape of faith and love, is as little the end of God’s
revelation as is knowledge. He makes Himself known to us in all the
greatness ofHis grace and love in Jesus Christ, not that we may know, and
there an end, nor even that knowing, we may feel, and there an end, though
a greatmany emotional Christians seemto think that is all; but that
knowing, we may feel, and knowing and feeling, we may be and do what He
would have us do and be. We have the greatriver flowing past our doors. It
is not only intended that we should fill our cisterns by knowledge, noronly
bathe our parched lips by faith and love, but that we should use it to drive
all the wheels of the mill of life. Nothe that understands, nor he that glows,
but he that does, is the man who holds fast the pattern of sound health-
giving words.
The world is like that five-porched pool in which were gathereda great
multitude of sick folks. Its name is the ‘House of Mercy,’for so Bethesda
means, tragically as the title seems to be contradictedby the condition of
the cripples and diseasedlying there. But this fountain once moved gushes
up for ever; and whosoeverwillmay step into it, and immediately be made
whole of whatsoeverdisease he has.

242. Two Safe Deposits
2 Timothy 1:11-14
P. G. Mathew | Sunday, October25, 2015
Copyright © 2015, P. G. Mathew
In 2 Timothy 1:9–10, we were given a summary of the gospel. Whatis the
gospel? It is that Jesus Christ, by his life and death, destroyedour death,
and brought to light for us life and immortality. On the basis of this reality,
we can believe on the Lord Jesus Christ for our eternalsalvation.
Therefore, we canbe unashamed and fearless ofall trials, persecutions,
and even death for proclaiming this gospel. This is true of all true believers
in Jesus Christ.
When anyone trusts in Jesus, he is making a deposit with the mighty risen
Christ—the deposit of his very life—so that he may keepit forever safely.
In turn, God in Christ deposits with us his precious gospel, so that we may
proclaim it and guard it by the powerof the Holy Spirit. In fact, the second
deposit, the gospel, leads us to the first deposit of our life to Christ to keep
it forever. SecondTimothy 1:11–14 speaksofboth of these precious
deposits.
Have you trusted in our Savior, Jesus Christ? If so, you have nothing to
fear. Your future is clearand glorious. You are redeemed forever. You are
in Christ, who is given all authority in heavenand on earth.
Thank God for the gospel!God appointed Paul, a former persecutorof the
church, to be a preacherand an apostle and a teacherof this glorious
gospel. Of him we read in Acts 9:15, “The Lord said to Ananias, ‘Go! This
man [Paul] is my choseninstrument to carry my name before the Gentiles
and their kings and before the people of Israel.’” Paulintroduced himself
to the Galatians as “Paul, an apostle—sentnot from men nor by man, but
by Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raisedhim from the dead” (Gal.
1:1).
Jesus Christ also appointed pastors and teachers in his church: “It was he
who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists,
and some to be pastors and teachers” (Eph. 4:11). We read about this also
in Acts 20:28 in Paul’s exhortation to the Ephesianelders: “Keepwatch

243. over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has [appointed]
you overseers.”
My authority as a pastor comes first from God to speak to you. I am not
speaking my words;it is the word of God coming to you in God’s
ordination. The authority of the apostle is the authority of God himself.
Paul Was Appointed a Preacher
Paul begins, “And of this gospelI was appointed a herald” (v. 11). The first
point Paul makes is that God appointed him to be a preacher. The Greek
word is kêrux, preacher. We find this statement also in 1 Timothy 2:7:
“Forthis purpose I was appointed a herald.”
As a preacher, Paul was to live out and proclaim the gospelto the whole
world in the power of the Holy Spirit. This instruction is for all God’s
ministers. Elsewhere Paultold Timothy, “Be diligent in these matters; give
yourself wholly to them, so that everyone may see your progress. Watch
your life and doctrine closely. Perseverein them, because if you do, you
will save both yourself and your hearers” (1 Tim. 4:15–16).
The gospelreveals eternallife to dying sinners. That is why we must
preach the gospel. We do not preach philosophy, science, oridols of gold
and silver or anything else in this world, because none of these cansave us
from death. So Paul writes, “Preachthe Word; be prepared in seasonand
out of season;correct, rebuke and encourage—withgreatpatience and
careful instruction” (2 Tim. 4:2). He also says, “Ibecame a servant of this
gospelby the gift of God’s grace givenme through the working of his
power. Although I am less than the leastof all God’s people, this grace was
given me: to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ”
(Eph. 3:7–8).
Paul explains how the gospelsaves us: “‘Everyone who calls on the name of
the Lord will be saved.’How, then, can they call on the one they have not
believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not
heard? And how canthey hear without someone preaching to them? And
how can they preach unless they are sent?” (Rom. 10:13–15). The preacher
must be sent by God to preachthe gospel. And we must hear the gospel,
believe the gospel, and call upon the name of the Lord, and be saved
forever.

244. Money cannotsave us. Philosophy cannot save us. No earthly powercan
save us. Jesus Christ alone saves us. He clothes with salvationthose who
are humble and believing. He will never save an arrogantperson.
A preachermust proclaim clearlyand loudly the news from the palace of
King Jesus:“Hearye! Hear ye! Jesus saves sinners. Jesusdied for our sins
and was raisedfor our justification. Repent and believe on the Lord Jesus
Christ that you may be saved.”
Jesus told his disciples, “You will receive powerwhen the Holy Spirit
comes on you; and you will be my witnesses inJerusalem, and in all Judea
and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8). Paul declares, “Iam
not ashamedof the gospel, becauseit is the power of God for the salvation
of everyone who believes:first for the Jew, then for the Gentile” (Rom.
1:16).
The gospelis the powerof God for salvationof everyone who believes.
Why, then, are most people not saved? It is because they will not believe.
They are wickedand arrogant. In fact, some even call themselves gods. But
it is God, not anyone else, who gives us life. So we must declare and
proclaim the God triune. There is no other God besides him.
Paul Was Appointed an Apostle
Then Paul says, “I was appointed . . . an apostle” (v. 11). Paul was
appointed by the risen Christ to formulate the gospeland speak for Christ.
He was given the powerof attorney. So he speaks and writes and acts in
behalf of Jesus Christ.
In Acts 9, we read that Paul was arrestedby the risen Christ on the road to
Damascus. He cried out, “Who are you, Lord?” The Lord replied, “I am
Jesus, whomyou are persecuting. . . . Now get up and go into the city, and
you will be told what you must do” (Acts 9:5–6).
Paul was appointed directly by Christ. To the Corinthian church he writes,
“Am I not free? Am I not an apostle? Have I not seenJesus our Lord? Are
you not the result of my work in the Lord?” (1 Cor. 9:1). Elsewhere he
speaks aboutthe gospelthat was entrusted to him: “the glorious gospelof
the blessedGod, which he entrusted to me. I thank Christ Jesus our Lord,
who has given me strength, that he consideredme faithful, appointing me
to his service” (1 Tim. 1:11–12). This is also true of a pastor, who is
appointed by Christ and appointed by the Holy Spirit for our benefit.
Paul Was Appointed a Teacher

245. Next, Paul says he was appointed as a teacher. He is speaking abouta
teacherwho will instruct people in the gospeldoctrine and ethics. In Acts
2:42 we read that the early disciples “devotedthemselves to the apostles’
teaching.” The apostles’teaching is not philosophy concoctedby man. The
gospelis God’s revelation to men so that they may be saved.
In Acts 11, we read that Barnabas wentto Tarsus to look for Saul. When
he found him, “he brought him to Antioch. So for a whole year Barnabas
and Saul met with the church and taught greatnumbers of people” (Acts
11:25–26).
A goodteacherwill also entrust the gospelto reliable men who, in turn, are
qualified to teach others until the end of time. For example, in this church
we have many qualified pious and learned teachers, by the grace ofGod. In
fact, it is the duty of the church to train pastors and teachers forthe gospel
ministry. It is not the duty of a seminary or an institute. So Paul instructed
Timothy, “You then, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.
And the things you have heard me sayin the presence ofmany witnesses
entrust to reliable men who will also be qualified to teachothers” (2 Tim.
2:1–2).
A teachermust be Spirit-filled and word-filled. Such a man will teach the
word of God with absolute authority. Paul told the young, timid, Timothy,
“Command and teachthese things” (1 Tim. 4:11). Where did Timothy get
the authority to command? From God himself. Elsewhere,Paultold
Timothy to not let anyone despise him (1 Tim. 4:12). If a person despises
the authority of God, he will despise the pastor. But such a person will
never embrace the gospelthat comes to save him.
Paul’s appointment as preacher, apostle, and teacherwas also an
appointment to suffer for the gospel. Jesus toldAnanias, “I will show
[Paul] how much he must suffer for my name” (Acts 9:16). In Acts 16, we
read that after Paul and Silas “had been severelyflogged, they were
thrown into prison” (Acts 16:23).
In 2 Corinthians 11, Paul gives more details of his sufferings:
Are they servants of Christ? (I am out of my mind to talk like this.) I am
more. I have workedmuch harder, been in prison more frequently, been
floggedmore severely, and been exposedto death againand again. Five
times I receivedfrom the Jews the forty lashes minus one. Three times I
was beatenwith rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, I
spent a night and a day in the open sea, I have been constantly on the

246. move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger
from my own countrymen, in dangerfrom Gentiles; in danger in the city,
in danger in the country, in dangerat sea;and in danger from false
brothers. I have labored and toiled and have often gone without sleep;I
have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food; I have
been cold and naked. (2 Cor. 11:23–27)
A true pastor is calledto suffer. Unbelievers and even some believers may
hate him. But Jesus said, “Woe unto you if people speak wellof you” (Luke
6:26). People will speak wellof us if we do not preach the gospelto them.
And Peterwrites, “If you suffer as a Christian, do not be ashamed, but
praise God that you bear his name” (1 Pet. 4:16). If we want to be
Christians, Christ will save us, but he will also ordain us to suffer for the
gospel.
No one should become a pastorand teacherunless God has calledhim.
Paul suffered continually until his martyrdom. He was beheadedbecause
he preached the gospel. The gospeloffends sinners who are Lilliputians,
little nothings, who maintain that they are righteous and have no need for
Jesus Christ.
Paul was not ashamed of the gospel, which is the testimony concerning our
Lord (2 Tim. 1:8). He said, “I am not ashamedof the gospelbecause it
alone is the powerof God unto salvationto everyone who believes.” The
gospeldoes not save anyone who will not believe. Faith is the instrumental
cause ofour salvation. The meritorious cause is the righteousness ofJesus
Christ.
Thus, Paul was exhorting Timothy to not be ashamed of the gospel. He
testified that Onesiphorus was not ashamedof Paul’s chains. Paul was
Christ’s apostle and prisoner, kept in a dungeon, in chains, because he
preachedthe gospel.
We are proud of the gospel, for it is the only remedy for a dying, hell-
bound sinner. We ought to be very proud to share the gospel, foroutside of
Christ there is no salvation.
Paul suffered much for the gospel, yet he was not afraid or ashamed. Why?
Because, he said elsewhere,“Ihave been crucified with Christ and I no
longerlive, but Christ lives in me. (PGM) The life I live in the body, I live
by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself up for me” (Gal.
2:20). Paul also wrote, “I eagerlyexpectand hope that I will in no way be
ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will
be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death” (Phil. 1:20). This

247. demonstrates a clearunderstanding of the gospel. We do not serve Jesus
Christ to make more money or to become famous. Our happiness is bound
up with Christ in us, the hope of glory.
Are you ashamed of the gospel? If you are, consider the words of Jesus
himself: “If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and
sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in
his Father’s glory with the holy angels” (Mark 8:38).
Paul Knew Whom He Believed
Why was Paul not ashamed of the gospel? Because,he said, “I know him,”
(i.e., Jesus Christ). What does it mean to know Christ? It means that Paul
had experimental, relationalknowledge ofJesus Christ and God the
Father. And not only did he have information about Christ, but he knew
him personally. Paul trusted Christ as his Savior and Lord, as the one who
loved him and died for him. Christianity is a personallove relationship
with Jesus Christ, based on the knowledge ofthe gospel. We love him
because he first loved us.
This idea of knowing as loving is found in John 17:3. Jesus said, “Now this
is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus
Christ, whom you have sent.” Paul knew him who foreknew him.
Foreknew means forelovedfrom eternity.
Do you know Jesus in this way? Do you love Jesus? Paulsays also that he
believed in Christ in the past, and he was believing in him even as he was
about to be killed. In Greek, it is in the perfect tense (“I believed in the
past; I believe in him now; I believe in him forever”).
Additionally, Paul said that he was fully convincedbeyond a shadow of
doubt of one thing. What was he convincedof? That Jesus Christis
almighty to safely keep, to protect, to preserve, and to guard what he
depositedwith him, that is, his life. As Paul says in Romans 8:38–39, “ForI
am convincedthat neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons,
neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor
depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the
love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
When Paul believed in Jesus ofNazareth, he entrusted to him his precious
life for safekeeping forever. In ancient times, when a man would go on long
journey, he would deposit with a friend his most precious possessions. The

248. friend would keepthat depositsafe and deliver it back to the depositor
when he returned from his journey.
The emphasis in this analogyis on the goodfaith and fidelity of the
depository. Our depository is the infinite, self-existing, self-sufficient
eternal God, the Creatorof all the universe, and the Redeemerof his
people. It is the triune God, who is truth, who is faithful, and who cannot
lie. So Paul was trusting God to give back to him his life, in spite of his
impending death. He knew that by faith in Jesus, we have already crossed
over from death into life, never to go back. Jesus said, “Whoeverlives and
believes in me shall never die” (John 11:26).
Paul trusted God and was fully convinced, first, that God was almighty to
do this. He is dunatos, mighty. He has dunamis, great power. Elsewhere
Paul wrote, “I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in
order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of
his glorious inheritance in the saints, and his incomparably greatpower for
us who believe. That poweris like the working of his mighty strength,
which he exerted in Christ when he raisedhim from the dead and seated
him at his right hand in the heavenly realms” (Eph. 1:18–20). OurGod is
almighty. He spoke, and the universe came into existence. Butthe costfor
our redemption was to send his Son to come and live, and die and be raised
up. The sovereignGodis almighty to do this, and he never changes. He is
infinite, and he is personal.
Second, Paulknew that God was able to guard his deposit without any
harm. God is the safestdepositoryin the universe. Yet he is not part of the
universe. Jesus said, “I give them eternallife, and they shall never perish;
no one can snatchthem out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to
me, is greaterthan all; no one cansnatch them out of my Father’s hand”
(John 10:28–29). This is security, a safe deposit. We are kept safe forever
by God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.
When Jesus died, he committed his life to Godthe Father: “Jesus called
out with a loud voice, ‘Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.’ When
he had said this, he breathed his last” (Luke 23:46). And on the third day,
God raisedhim from the dead.
Stephen also entrusted himself to God. He was stoned to death. But before
he died, “while they were stoning him, Stephen prayed, ‘Lord Jesus,
receive my spirit’” (Acts 7:59). That is what we are to do also. Peterwrites,
“Those who suffer according to God’s will should commit themselves to
their faithful Creator” (1 Pet. 4:19). Why should they do this? Paul gives

249. the reason:“The Lord is faithful, and he will strengthen and protectyou
from the evil one” (2 Thess. 3:3).
He will keepour lives againstthe day of judgment when he will justify us.
He himself spoke of this: “Thenthe King will sayto those on his right,
‘Come, you who are blessedby my Father; take your inheritance, the
kingdom prepared for you since the creationof the world. . . . Then [the
wicked]will go awayto eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal
life” (Matt. 25:34, 46). Jesus Christ justified us, and he will justify us on the
day of judgment.
Guard the Gospel
Finally, Paul exhorts Timothy to guard the gospeldeposit(vv. 13–14). He
must hold on to the gospelhe heard from the apostle. Timothy cannot
formulate the gospel, becausehe is not an apostle. But he must guard the
gospeldepositentrusted to him by Christ and Paul.
First, Paul says that Timothy must hold on to the standard, the sound
words he heard from the apostle. The gospelis a saving gospel. The word
“sound” means health-giving. It is a health-giving gospel. It gives life to the
dead, just as the words of Jesus instantly raised the dead Lazarus from the
tomb. When we hear the gospel, Godraises us up from the dead. Because
of his greatlove and rich mercy, God made us alive togetherwith Christ
(Eph. 2:4–5).
The gospelheals sin-sick souls. Paulwrites, “[A pastor] must hold firmly to
the trustworthy messageas it has been taught, so that he can encourage
others by sound doctrine and refute those who oppose it” (Titus 1:9). He
also says, “I praise you for remembering me in everything and for holding
to the teachings, just as I passedthem on to you” (1 Cor. 11:2).
We have no right to change the gospel. We have no right to add to, subtract
from, or misinterpret the gospel, oronly preach from selective texts. We
must preach the whole gospel(Acts 20:27) and oppose all heresies and
heretics.
In 2 Timothy 2 Paul says that there were people who denied the
resurrectionitself. We oppose the heresyof liberalism, which says that
Jesus was just a man like us—a nice man, a moral man, but not perfect
God and perfect man, who died for our sins upon the cross. Liberal
churches will never preach Jesus Christ in terms of his person and work.

250. But there is also the heresy of antinomianism. Those who promote it are
damned because they are preaching a different Jesus, a different gospel,
and a different Spirit. Such people say, “Jesus savedus so that we cansin
more. Don’t you like to sin? Well, if you just believe in Jesus, youcan sin
all you want.”
Many modern seminaries, even Reformedseminaries, are embracing the
antinomian heresy as taught by people like Meredith Kline, Michael
Horton, Steve Brown, Tullian Tchividjian, Charles Ryrie, and Zane
Hodges. Their messageis that a persondoes not have to obey God. People
young and old love this idea, but it will send them to hell itself. Jesus
Christ, through the apostle, pronouncedanathema upon those who teach
this type of heresy.
Paul spoke about this: “The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will
abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by
demons. Such teachings come through hypocritical liars, whose consciences
have been searedas with a hot iron” (1 Tim. 4:1–2). He also said, “But
mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. . . . [People will be]
treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers ofpleasure rather than lovers of God—
having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with
them” (2 Tim. 3:1, 4–5). He also writes, “Forthe time will come when men
will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they
will gatheraround them a greatnumber of teachers to saywhat their
itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears awayfrom the truth
and turn aside to myths” (2 Tim. 4:3–4).
We must preachthe gospelwith all authority, which is what we do in this
church. We do not entertain dying sinners. We preachthe gospelto them,
and God raises them from the dead, so that they may live for God’s glory
and for their own eternal happiness. It matters what we preach, what we
believe, and how we live. Timothy is to hold on to the apostolic gospelby
trusting the gospeland living out the gospelin love.
Everything we need to glorify God we receive from Jesus Christ. He said,
“I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him,
he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing” (John 15:5).
He gives us grace to do what he wants us to do, to live a successfullife. Life
is found in Jesus (2 Tim. 1:1). Faith and love is found in Jesus (2 Tim.
1:13). Grace is found in Jesus (2 Tim. 2:1). Salvation is found in Jesus (2
Tim. 2:10). Everything we need is found in him. From Christ the vine, we
receive everything we need to bear fruit, more fruit, and much fruit for the
glory of God the Father. We are in Christ, and we receive all from Christ.

251. So Paul tells Timothy, “Guard the gooddeposit.” He must guard it against
those who would corrupt and destroy the gospel. Butall such heretics are
demon-possessed. The devil lies and contradicts the Bible. But he will not
succeed. The gates ofhell shall never prevail againstChrist’s church,
which he is building upon the sure foundation of the gospel. Paulwrites,
“Nevertheless, God’s solidfoundation stands firm, sealedwith this
inscription: ‘The Lord knows [that means the Lord loves]those who are
his,’ and, ‘Everyone who confessesthe name of the Lord must turn away
from wickedness’” (2 Tim. 2:19). Is that antinomianism?
We must defend the gospel, preachthe gospel, live the gospel, teachthe
gospel, and pass the gospelon to future generations. We may even die for
the gospel. This is the duty of all God’s people, especiallyofpastors and
teachers. It would be easierto conform to antinomianism, but we must not
do it.
How can we who are weak in ourselves keepthis deposit of the gospel?
How can we guard the gospeldepositof Christ, which Christ entrusted to
us? Paul says we can do so through the Holy Spirit, who permanently
dwells in us. He rules us, guides us, comforts us, enlightens us through the
Scriptures, and empowers us. Thus, we can do all things through him who
gives us strength to resistthe devil, to obey our Lord Jesus Christ, to guard
the deposit, and, finally, to die in faith in Jesus Christ.
The Bible clearly tells us that the Holy Spirit dwells in us. God dwells in us.
The word dwells in us, and faith dwells in us. Everything we need is in us in
Jesus Christ. Jesus lived and died the propitiatory death on the cross and
was raisedfrom the dead by the powerof the Holy Spirit. And so we canbe
faithful to the gospeldepositby the powerof the infinite God, the Holy
Spirit, who is our resident boss. Our bodies are the temple of the Holy
Spirit. Therefore, we must glorify God with our bodies. When we are
alone, we must understand that we are never truly alone if we are
Christians.
Conclusion
There are two safe deposits, both kept by God Almighty. He keeps our lives
safe, and he keeps the gospelpure through his holy church, by the powerof
the Holy Spirit, who dwells in us.
In Acts 16, we read that the Philippian jailer was convictedof his sins and
cried out in the middle of the night, “Whatmust I do to be saved?” The

252. simple answercame:“Believe onthe Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be
saved, and your entire family shall be saved.”
God’s gospelwill never vanish from the earth. When we think the church
is dying, God will pour out his Spirit and revive her by renewing interest in
the gospel. Study the true revival of the greatProtestantReformation.
Therefore, let us pray for revival of true Christianity in our times. Let us
say, Revive me, O Lord. Revive my family. Revive my church. Revive
God’s holy universal apostolic church throughout the whole world. May
there be a great outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Let there be a greathunger
for the bread of the gospel, so that the revived church may influence the
culture and nations for the good, that godliness may increase and
wickednessdecrease.
The gospelis the only hope of the whole world. May our triune God begin
to revive us even this day.
Copyright © 2015, P. G. Mathew