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Good morning my “Walking with Jesus” friends, this weekend we begin a new month together. February 2020! Do you wonder what God might have in His heart and mind for you in the next 28 days?
What are the things in your life which you guard carefully? Maybe some precious artifacts or irreplaceable pictures or documents from your past? Maybe passcodes to your investments? Maybe memories or even secrets from your life journey?
We’ve joined Timothy as he is reading a new letter he has just received from his mentor Paul, whom he has learned has been re-imprisoned in Rome. Suddenly Timothy notices that three times in a few sentences, Paul uses this word “guard” when speaking of precious things. Let’s take a closer look: “I am not ashamed, because I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that He is able to guard what I have entrusted to Him for that day.” This is verse 12 of chapter 1 of 2nd Timothy, and Paul is speaking of his unwavering confidence in the One who changed his life and for whom Paul was imprisoned… Jesus Christ. So as you look at that statement, what do you suppose Paul was talking about? What had Paul entrusted to Jesus that Paul was confident Jesus would guard for Him, and what day is “that day”?
If you look closely at the context, Paul is telling Timothy that he is honored to have been entrusted with the Gospel by Jesus Himself, and that he has faithfully sought to proclaim and teach it, and that is why he is once again imprisoned. Paul wants Timothy to know he entrusted his very life, every day, every hour, every circumstance to the care of Jesus and so whatever has happened to him, even the difficult things, he is confident Jesus is fully aware and has allowed it, for both Paul’s continued refinement as a follower of Jesus and for the spread of the Gospel (Phil. 3:7-14).
But I see more here. I see Paul is saying he has entrusted his salvation to Jesus and he is confident that whatever happens to him here on earth, his salvation is secure in Jesus and when he dies he will be immediately in God’s presence. We’ll see this even more emphatically in chapter 4:7,8!
Why, we might ask, would Paul be concerned about the security of his salvation and his eternal destiny at this time, considering all that he’s been through and the confidence with which he has written and preached for so many years? Well, look ahead just a bit to verse 15. Paul tells Timothy something heartbreaking…“You know that everyone in the province of Asia has deserted me, including Phygelus and Hermogenes.” Have you ever been ‘deserted’ or abandoned? It’s one of the most desperate feelings of despair a human being can experience.
We don’t know much about these two guys, but look ahead for a moment to chapter 4 where Paul continues in vs. 9: “Do your best to come to me quickly, for Demas, because he loved the world, has deserted me and has gone to Thessalonica. Crescens has gone to Galatia, and Titus to Dalmatia. Only Luke is with me…” Do you hear the pain in Paul’s words? Each of these people Paul mentions were special friends, some who had traveled a great deal with Paul. He had led most of them to Jesus and discipled them. But now Paul was alone, in prison, in Rome, with only Dr. Luke visiting him.
Deserted, abandoned, can you imagine the feelings of rejection which haunt Paul? Have you ever been in this dark emotional place? In this moment I suspect Paul began to wonder… will Jesus desert me, will God abandon me also here in this Roman prison? What have I done to deserve the abandonment of my friends and fellow Christ followers?
This is a fundamental question for every Christian of all times in all places? Will Jesus abandon me or am I safe in His care? Is my salvation safe and secure, will HE guard it? So now we see why Paul wrote this: ….I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that He is able to guard that which I have entrusted to Him for that day.” Paul had believed Jesus is who He claims to be, God incarnate. Paul believed Jesus’ teachings, and Paul believed Jesus for his salvation.
Paul is confident God had accomplished in Paul all the aspects of his complete salvation… he wrote about it often in his letters! Paul was confident he had been redeemed by Jesus’ full payment of Paul’s sin debt (Romans 3:24,25); Paul is confident he’s forgiven of his sin (Ephesians 1:7); Paul is confident he’s reconciled by Jesus to God the Father (Colossians 1:21,22) and cleansed from his sin; Paul is confident he’s been declared justified by Holy God (Romans 5); Paul has been adopted by God as his son (Romans 8:14-17); Paul is a new creation in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17) because the Holy Spirit has regenerated him (John 3:3-7); and Paul has been baptized by the Holy Spirit into unbreakable union with Jesus Christ (Romans 6:1-5; Acts 1:5).
Paul believed strongly the words I ended with yesterday in John 6:37-40 where Jesus promised He would loose none of those the Father had given to Him, nor would He ever drive away any who came to Him, and He, Jesus, would take personal responsibility to ‘raise up at the last day all who have trusted in Him’. I take that to mean Jesus will take personal responsibility to assure that every genuine believer in Jesus Christ will be personally escorted to heaven by Jesus at their last day, the time of their death. All of that is what Paul has entrusted to Jesus to guard for Him until his last day came.
That is why, as we will read in a few days, Paul’s closing statement is so strong in 4:7,8 “…the time has come for my departure. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day – and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for His appearing.” Do you hear his confidence friends? He has entrusted his salvation and his eternal destiny to Jesus and he is confident Jesus will guard it safely and thus Paul is fully confident of what awaits him in heaven.
You see my friends, the key to all this is simple: Because God accomplishes EVERY aspect of our salvation, it is safe with Him. If our salvation depended on us or if it was not fully safe in God’s hands unless we did certain things, then because we are unreliable human beings we would continually be living in fear that our salvation is not safe and secure.
But friends, our ONLY contribution to our salvation are these things:
1. I must CONFESS (agree with God) that I am a sinner and cannot save myself and I need a Savior. (1 John 1:9)
2. I must BELIEVE Jesus Christ is God and therefore He is able to save me. (John 3:16-18)
3. I REPENT…I turn away from my self-reliance and my sin and I turn TO God for His help (Luke 13:3; Acts 2:38)
4. I TRUST (Faith) only in Jesus Christ, and His death and resurrection as payment in full for my sin debt, (1 John 2:2) and I TRUST God to do all the work of my salvation. (Ephesians 2:8,9)
Now we see why Paul’s next statement to Timothy is so important in verse 13 “What you heard from me, keep as the pattern of sound teaching, with faith and love in Christ Jesus.” Repeatedly Paul taught Timothy, Titus, and all who would hear him, that it was essential to guard the purity of the Gospel. Don’t dilute God’s truth, don’t distort it, don’t manipulate it… guard it and be sure as it is passed from one generation to another, it retains its truthfulness and its clarity!
Paul continues in verse 14 “Guard the good deposit that was entrusted to you – guard it with the help of the Holy Spirit who lives in us.” There it is… three times in two verses, Paul challenges Timothy with the word “guard“. The first time Paul was confident Jesus was guarding all that Paul entrusted to Him, including His salvation! These next two times, Paul is challenging Timothy to ‘guard’ that which has been entrusted to him and to do so with the help of the Holy Spirit. If you look back to the end of Paul’s first letter to Timothy Paul said it there too… “Timothy, guard what has been entrusted to your care…” (1 Timothy 6:20)So what is it Timothy was to guard? And what are you and I supposed to guard carefully? And why is it so important?
My friends, I believe it is these three things at least. . .
First, guard God’s truth! Timothy lived in a world of great debate and disagreement regarding what is truth about God, about humanity, about how to have a relationship with God and even about life after death. Our world has only become MORE confusing. God’s truth is pushed aside in every society of the world. It is absolutely essential that God’s people know, hold tightly, and guard God’s Truth! Jesus said “If you hold to My teachings you are really My disciples. Then you will know the truth and the truth will set you free.” (John 8:31,32) This is a main reason I’m investing hours every day trying to help you know and guard God’s truth in your lives! Psalm 119 is 176 verses which all speak of the vital importance of God’s truth to our lives.
Second, guard the work of God in our lives! Repeatedly Paul had urged Timothy to ‘fan into flame’ what God was doing in Timothy, as the Holy Spirit continued teaching Timothy, refining him, nurturing his spiritual development. This is vital for all of us friends. Just like our physical health, if we don’t take care of it, we will grow ill and die. If we don’t nurture our spiritual lives, we’ll become spiritually apathetic, and even anemic. We’ve all seen people who at one time were spiritually vibrant, but over time they lost their passion and floundered spiritually.
Thirdly, guard the journey. I call this time we spend together “Walking with Jesus”. You and I are invited by God to ‘walk with Jesus’ every hour of every day for the rest of our lives. It’s a journey, and all through the Bible we see how many people have done so before us. As we ‘walk with Jesus’ He leads us to involvement with Him in what God is attempting to accomplish in our world during our lifetime. The closer you walk with Jesus, the more alert you’ll be to how He wants to involve you, every day, in what God is doing where-ever you are in the world that day! Now think about the excitement of that type of living. That’s what Paul meant when he said “We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making His appeal through us.” (2 Cor. 5:20) So guard carefully the privilege of being an Ambassador of Jesus Christ, everyday!
Oh Lord Jesus we thank you for all You led Paul to write to Timothy, penetrate our hearts deeply with them…
Have a comment or question about today’s chapter? I’m ready to hear from you, contact me here.
Pastor Doug Anderson 262.441.8785
“Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, with our eyes fixed on Jesus…” (Heb. 12:1,2)
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