Click her for the 2 Timothy 1:11-12 PODCAST
11 And of this gospel I was appointed a herald and an apostle and a teacher. 12 That is why I am suffering as I am. Yet this is no cause for shame, because I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him until that day. ~ 2 Timothy 1:11-12
Faithful til the end is the overarching theme of 2 Timothy. Faithful, as we considered yesterday, is to be full of faith which always has a forward lean to it. Our problem with this is: we do not do well with trusting, especially if those whom we should have been able to trust were not all that faithful to us when we were in our formative years.
I have a dog that my son and daughter-in-law rescued out of a park near downtown Columbia. Although, for two years now, I have been nothing but loving to Millie, she sometimes struggles with trusting me. When we brought her home with us, she was five months old. I've often wondered, "What happened in her life in those first five months that makes her struggle with trusting me?" You see this truth is not only true for dogs, it is true for us.
Another problem that we have with faith is we do not know what tomorrow will bring. But, we can trust the God of the Bible who has always been faithful to His promises. Of course, we must give Him time to bring about His promises and His timetable is not on par with ours. Corrie ten Boom said it well when she said, "Never be afraid to trust an unknown future to a known God."
Today's text begins with, "And of this gospel I was appointed a herald." The focus of all things must be the gospel which includes the utter helplessness of man, the coming of the Savior, His death, burial and resurrection. And, most importantly, that we believe it, that we trust in His gospel. And, for fallen people, trusting is a very hard thing to do.
Think of the Apostle Paul as he wrote this, he was a prisoner in a Roman dungeon. This is where the gospel led him and he was not daunted in his faith. Why? Because through the darkness a light shined forth which never stopped lighting. He was strategically abandoned by all who had helped him to that point. I say strategically because we will never be convince that the Lord Jesus is all we need until He is all we have.
The Apostle Paul was appointed, as we all are. You and I are appointed to the advancement of the gospel in one sphere or another. As the Apostle Paul was called to be a herald, so are you and I. And, I might add, people are convince more by our deeds than they are by our words. We must keep the message simple. We must focus on the gospel and share it consistently and all the rest, God will see fit to teach. He may use you and me to do the further teaching, but we must be patient to give people the time to process the gospel first.
In v.12 we read, "That is why I am suffering as I am. Yet this is no cause for shame, because I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him until that day."
Paul's confidence was in Christ because he knew His faithfulness. Notice his emphasis on the person of Christ: “I know whom I have believed.” As you probably already know, Paul went through hell on earth to garner such confidence in the Savior. This is how it works in a fallen world. And, we have to trust that even the bad stuff is used of God for our good. Our problem is our definition of what is good. If we allow God to define things for us, we will have a biblical understanding of what is good.
Salvation is not the result of believing certain doctrines, though doctrines are important. A sinner is saved because he believes in a Person—Jesus Christ the Savior. Paul had deposited his soul in the care and keeping of the Savior, and Paul was sure that Jesus Christ would faithfully guard that deposit.
In these difficult days that we live in, it is important that we stand true to Christ and be willing to suffer for Him. We may not be put into prison, as was Paul, but we will suffer in other ways: the loss of friends, being bypassed for a promotion, loss of customers, being snubbed by people, and so forth.
Our text for today ends with, "and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him until that day." Paul had sunk to the lowest lows, yet he was at the highest heights regarding his faith, his heart's ability to see God. It is at rock bottom that we realize the bed-rock nature of our God's faithfulness. The key is that we learn to use the unwanteds of life as a means to knowing the Lord Jesus. This is what it means to "entrust" it to Him. Taking all of our stuff, both good and bad, and giving it to Him, and trusting Him with the outcome. And, God writes a far better story than we.
