May the Lord be pleased to bless
us together this evening as we meditate in his word. Let us
turn to the second epistle of Paul to Timothy, the first chapter,
and we'll read verse 12. The second epistle of Paul to
Timothy, the first chapter, and reading verse 12. 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 against that day. The Apostle Paul was, of course,
in prison when he wrote this letter to Timothy. And if we
try and imagine being in a prison and yet being able to write such
wonderful words of encouragement to his son in the faith, Timothy,
there was no complaints. He was happy to accept the blessings
and the favours which God had granted to him, and therefore
to be content in his lot. It's a good thing, isn't it,
in this day and age, if we realise how these letters were written,
under natural discomfiture, and yet for the honour and glory
of God. And so here the apostle tells
us for the which cause I also suffer. And the cause was, of
course, that he had been a preacher of the gospel, that he declared
the unsearchable riches of Christ. And that's why the apostle was
in prison. We should realise that still
today, there are many people through the world who are in
prison for preaching the gospel. Many have been executed for preaching
the gospel. So we today in our nation are
wonderfully blessed with relative peace with regard to these wonderful
favours. The Apostle tells us, he says,
about himself, who hath saved us and called us with a 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. That's a very great verse, a
wonderful statement to realize here the sovereignty of God and
the Apostle is very clear in what he says. And just to read
the last part of that verse, but according to his own purpose
and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world
began. That's a truth which is hard,
of course, for our natural intellect to absorb. But it's good if we
receive that grace of God to receive such a truth, to realise
that before the world was formed, Before the universe was created,
the Lord in his sovereign mercy and goodness chose a people who
would in due time show forth his praise. And what a wonderful
blessing that is if you and I are counted amongst those who are
favoured to know or come to know the Saviour, as our Saviour,
that one who has redeemed us from all our sins, and to praise
and glorify our God for his wonderful plan of salvation. And so we
read here, according to his own purpose and grace, which has
given us In Christ, Jesus, before the world began, but is now made
manifest by the appearing of our Saviour Jesus Christ, who
has abolished death and has brought life and immortality to light
through the Gospel, whereunto I am appointed a preacher and
an apostle and a teacher of the Gentiles. It is good, I often think, and
I often said, that the Apostle, by the grace of God, was an honest
man. And he didn't pretend not to
know when he did know. there seems to be about, and
there has been for years, people who kind of pretend not to know
that they possess the grace of God, when in reality they do. It's really denying what God
has done. And that's a very sad and terrible
thing. what a good thing it is to have
that grace like the apostles blessed with to be honest and
indeed as we have in this 12th verse we see his honesty coming
forth he tells us for the witch cause the things i refer to 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 against that day. Well, for all of us here tonight,
it will be a great blessing if we are not ashamed of the Gospel
of Christ. Indeed, the Apostle, when he
wrote to the Church of Rome, and in the first chapter of that
epistle, he says in verse 16, for I am not ashamed of the Gospel
of Christ. And he tells us a reason, and
it's a beautiful reason, for it is power of God unto salvation
to everyone that believeth, to the Jew first and also to the
Greek. Well, what a blessing for you
and me tonight if we can agree with what the Apostle has written
here. For his honour, the honour of
our God, And to be able to humbly say, for I am not ashamed of
the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation
to me. The Lord has made the blessed gospel of Christ
the power of God. And how dare I be ashamed of
such a wonderful and glorious gospel. I guess most of us are
familiar with that very beautiful hymn, 427, where the question
is asked, Jesus, and shall it ever be, a mortal man ashamed
of thee? Well, again, The Lord knows whether
we have been ashamed of the Saviour, ashamed of confessing that He
is our Saviour. Perhaps you may say, well, I've
never actually done that. Well, let me put it a different
way. Have you been in a company and you've been ashamed to confess
what you believe? you've changed the conversation.
You've talked about something different so that people don't
realise the potential impact such conversation would have. Well, the hymn writer says, ashamed
of thee whom angels praise, whose glories shine to endless days. And he says, ashamed of Jesus,
Soon afar, let evening blush to own a star, he sheds his beams
of light divine over this benighted soul of mine. Now all of us were
born in darkness, we were all born with a benighted soul, but
what a wonderful blessing if the glorious light of the Gospel
has shone into our hearts, so that we do have a good hope,
through grace, that it is well with our soul. Well, what a mercy,
if we know something of that. And the hymn writer goes, and
we won't read it all, the hymn, but just the fourth verse. Ashamed
of Jesus, that dear friend. Well, do we count Jesus as a
friend? Do we count him as a dear friend? On whom my hopes of heaven depend? There can be no hope in anyone
else. And so tonight, what a mercy
if we can say on whom my hopes of heaven depend. No, when I
blush, be this my shame that I no more revere his name. Well, the Apostle Paul was one
of those who was not ashamed of his saviour, the Lord Jesus
Christ. and so he's able to declare I
am not ashamed and he says it in this way nevertheless I am
not ashamed well can we say that tonight? can we join hands with
the Apostle? can we realise what a wonderful
blessing it is to have a saviour one who has saved our souls one
who has redeemed us from all our sin, freely loved us, loved
us as we've commented from all eternity. Well, great is the
mystery of godliness. So it is. Realise the wonder
of the love of Christ. And so, for the which cause I
also suffer these things. The Apostle had a life of suffering. You may say, well I don't have
any suffering. It may be because you've been
ashamed of the Saviour. And therefore there's been no
difficulty, been opposition, because you've gone away, gone
along with the world and all their situation. You've never
confessed where you stand, who you are. You never have said
that you are born of the price, the price, the blood of the Saviour. Well, says the Apostle here then,
for the which cause I also suffer these things and nevertheless
I am not ashamed. Well, what a blessing then tonight,
if we can join with the Apostle and be able to say, I am not
ashamed, and perhaps you have been ashamed. Well, may you be
able to desire that from this day forward, you will not be
ashamed. Be able then to honestly say,
I am not ashamed. And the Apostle gives us a very
wonderful reason. for I know whom I have believed. You see the Apostle didn't just
make a statement but he qualified it. And it's good for us tonight
to be able to qualify the reason why we are not ashamed. To know
that it is for I know whom I have believed. Well the apostle had
the evidence of the life of God in his soul. Now what a mercy
tonight if you and I have the evidence of the life of God in
our soul. Now only you can answer that
question. We each have to stand before
God. We each have to have dealings with God. But how important it
is that each one of us has the evidence that we do believe. And we will have the evidence
that we do believe if the Lord has come to us and brought us
to some understanding that we stand before God as a guilty,
hell-deserving sinner. That's not a very comfortable
place to be in, but it is a place which is brought about by the
work of the Holy Spirit. And so as we consider tonight
as a beginning to be able to come and say, well, by the grace
of God, and it is always by the grace of God that I have believed
because the Lord has shown me something of the evil in my heart,
something of the wickedness there, something of the opposition to
God, something of the way I've walked or perhaps are walking
contrary to the way of God, contrary to the way set before us in the
word of God. Well, what a blessing it is if
the Holy Spirit, therefore, has brought us to that position.
And it really comes down to those words that the Apostle addressed
the Ephesians in the second chapter. And he said, And you hath he
quickened who were dead. And the reason I say that is
because somebody who is dead knows nothing at all. but something
which spiritual life does know. And therefore what a good thing
if tonight you can trace out in your life the work of the
Spirit in convincing and convicting you of your sins so you stand
guilty before a holy God. And you have to say, well, I
bring nothing. All my works are of no value. They're all sinful things and
that's why, as the Apostle goes on in that second chapter, comes
down to the eighth verse and he says, It is the gift of God, not of
works, lest any man should boast. You see, you and I would not
be able to put our hand up and say, well, of course, I did this
and I did that. If you and I do that, we will
take away from God's glory. God is a jealous God and he will
have the glory. So what a blessing tonight if
we realised the wonderful favour and be able to recognise what
the Apostle says, and you hath, he quickened, or you hath, he
made alive. And there, I realise now that
by the grace of God, He has made me spiritually alive to realise
what a sinner I am. And when the Holy Spirit works,
my friends, He works to convince us. And we don't say, well, of
course, I think I might be a little sinner. I might have made one
or two little mistakes in my life. When the Holy Spirit convinces
us, we come and fall down before God. And perhaps we feel indeed
like the Apostle Paul, the sinner, the greatest sinner, not the
smallest sinner. And you won't look around and
say, well, that person's worse than me, or that woman's worse
than me. You won't be in that category.
You'll be looking at yourself. And what you will be doing is
crying for mercy. to God crying for mercy what
a blessing that will be if you can trace that out in your life
a call for mercy well God knows whether you've prayed that prayer
I don't know you may have just muttered words like it but if
it's come from the heart it's because you have a real spiritual
need it's because you need mercy And you need to know the Saviour.
And you need to know the Lord Jesus as your Saviour. For I
know whom I have believed. And then to be brought to that
position, to know whom I have believed, who we
have believed in, And that is, of course, none other than the
Lord Jesus Christ. You may have read much about
the Lord Jesus Christ. You may have a good natural knowledge
of the history of the Lord Jesus Christ. But the vital thing is
that you need to know in a personal way that the Lord Jesus Christ
died upon that cross at Calvary to take away all your sin, so
that you are able to say, I'm clean, just God, I'm clean. Yes, all your sins washed away
in the precious blood of Jesus. Then you see the life of Jesus
from the birth to his death and his resurrection will mean something
to you. And you'll rejoice and praise
God for it, that there is such a Saviour. And to think that
that Saviour, the Lord Jesus, came into this world to redeem
your soul, to redeem my soul. Let's be very clear. Real religion
is personal. Each one has a personal relationship
to Almighty God. Each one will come before God
as a guilty sinner. Each one will be directed to
the Saviour as their glorious salvation. Well, what a mercy
it is then, if the Holy Spirit has taught us. It's the work
of the Spirit of God. And it's not of our work, it's
the work of God. And to think, it's really beyond
our comprehension, to think that Almighty God should have singled
us out as individuals to redeem our soul, to call us by his grace,
to bless us with his wonderful mercy. The apostle, when he wrote
the next letter in the Bible to Titus, and the first few verses,
he tells us, Paul, a servant of God, an apostle of Jesus Christ,
according to the faith of God's elect, and the acknowledging
of the truth, which is after godliness, in hope of eternal
life, which God that cannot lie promised before the world began,
but hath in due times manifested his word through preaching. So never despise the preaching
of the gospel. It is the ordained way that God
has ordained to be made a blessing to the church of God. Well, the
apostle Paul here, tells us very clearly that he was a servant
of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ. according to the faith
of God's elect. God had given him faith to believe
and to believe in that good hope of eternal life. Well, the Apostle
Paul has left behind a good testimony. We know, of course, his conversion,
which we can read of in the Acts of the Apostles, how he went
about doing everything contrary to the life of a true Christian,
but God had mercy upon him. And God changed the life of the
Apostle Paul. And my friends, God changes the
life of every true believer. Because they possess their old
nature in which they were born, and they possess a God-given
nature a wonderful blessing and a wonderful favour to receive
from Almighty God. Well, may you and I then have
the evidence of it and therefore be able to join with the Apostle
Paul and say, for I know whom I have believed. Sometimes people
are fearful. of in actual fact saying such
things. And I'm very sure that it is
a big snare. The devil will tell you, you
can't say that. But don't forget the devil always
has been, always will be a liar. And if God has blessed you with
the life of God in your soul along the lines that I've been
speaking about tonight. You therefore have the evidence
that God has blessed you and therefore that you do believe
and you should not deny it. Some people think it's a mark
of grace, pretending they don't know. Well, it's very hypocritical,
and it's very evil, and it's very wrong, and it's very God
dishonouring. You see, if God has done anything
for your soul, Never dishonour that great and glorious Saviour
who died upon Calvary's cross in order that you might receive
the gift of eternal life. Well, says the Apostle Paul,
I know whom I have believed. Well, I hope tonight, by the
grace of God, and you won't claim any virtue yourselves, But it
would be a wonderful thing tonight if as you examine your life and
you can find there the blessed work of the Spirit and be able
therefore to humbly say, whom I know, whom I have believed. Don't let the devil overthrow
the work of God. My friends, and don't forget,
the Bible tells us so very clearly, those that honour me, I will
honour, and those that despise me will be lightly esteemed. Many people have despised the
great and glorious work of God. Well, my friends, may we not,
but may we acknowledge that it is the Lord who has blessed us
and has worked in our hearts and indeed in our souls. Again, to realise that the Apostle
has written, he wrote to the Ephesians and in the first chapter
he speaks to us about this calling and he speaks to us in this way,
the fourth verse. according as he hath chosen us
in him before the foundation of the world, that we should
be holy and without blame before him in love, having predestinated
us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ in himself, according
to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of the glory of
His grace, wherein He hath made us accepted in the Beloved. The next verse says, in whom
we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins
according to the riches of His grace, wherein He hath abounded
toward us in all wisdom and prudence. Well, we could read on, but my
friends, there are wonderful truths And it explains to us
very clearly the grace of God, the free unmerited favour. And so what a blessing it is
for us tonight if we're able to discern the work of God in
our souls. Many things are important. But Jesus said, one thing is
needful. My friends, in our lives you
may think many things are so needful, but remember one thing
is needful, and that is to know that Jesus has died to atone
for our sins. You may remember that that was
a word spoken to Martha with regard to her sister Mary, who
was sat at Jesus' feet. And Martha was busy arranging
the food and she complained to Jesus. And Jesus spoke to her
and said, one thing is needful. And Mary hath chosen that good
part which shall not be taken away from her. Let us all remember
tonight that our life on this earth is very short. Eternity
is before us. What a blessing it is therefore
if we have this wonderful blessing of the evidence of the life of
God in our soul that we are able to say, I know whom I have believed. And the Apostle then goes on
to say, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which
I have committed unto him against that day. He was persuaded. It's a good thing, isn't it,
in our lives, if you and I are persuaded, the things of God,
that they are true, that they are completely true. There's
no error in the things of God. And those things which are recorded
in the Bible are for our instruction. for our direction, for our encouragement and persuaded. You see, he had
believed and he's joined to this belief and is persuaded. What a good thing tonight if
we are persuaded. with reference to the things
of God, persuaded with regard to the work of God in our souls. Sometimes we need, perhaps, to
examine ourselves carefully. The Word of God encourages us
to examine ourselves as to whether we are in the faith or not. We don't have to be examined
by other people. We can examine ourself. And that's
a great blessing because you see, you and I can be very honest
to our God. And we can speak to God as our
friend and ask the Lord to show us that we are truly one of those
who does believe because of the work of God in our souls sometimes people I believe act
with mock humility and pretend they don't really know well if
that is so the question needs to be put to them or ask ourselves
the question Dare we deny that the Lord has not done anything
for us? Anything for us? Can we deny it? Stand and say,
well, I'm convinced that God has done nothing for me. Or do we have to say, well, I
hope the Lord has done something for me. And this is the evidence
of it. And may that be a time of encouragement
and a time of strengthening to your faith to believe that what
the Lord has done is his work. One very clear evidence of God's
work is this. if God has done that for you
and me which we could not do for ourselves. He's done that for you and me
which we could not have done for ourselves. And you can trace
that back to perhaps a beginning. A beginning when God brought
into your heart a concern about the state of your soul. Well, if that is so, you see,
you dare not deny that there has been a beginning. Don't throw away small things. My friends, a little the righteous
man hath is better than the treasures of many wicked. So what a mercy,
if that is so, tonight. You know, we have a wonderful
prayer in the Bible, I mentioned this morning, didn't I, about
Daniel's prayer. Well, there is, of course, a
greater prayer, and that is the prayer in the Gospel of John,
and it's the 17th of John, and it's the prayer of the Lord Jesus
Christ to his father, just a short time before he was to be crucified. And this is what the Saviour
says. And now, fifth verse, And now,
O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self, with the glory
which I had with thee before the world was. I have manifested
thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world. You see, the Lord manifests himself
to his people. What a blessing, therefore, if
you and I can find an evidence of that in our hearts. Unto the men which thou gavest
me out of the world, thine they were, and thou gavest them me,
and they have kept thy word. Now they have known that all
things whatsoever thou hast given me are of thee. For I have given
unto them the words which thou gavest me, and they have received
them, and have known surely that I came out from thee, and that
they have believed, thou didst send me. Well, you see what a
blessing it is tonight if we have received God's word into
our hearts. It'll be a great blessing, won't
it? For I know whom I have believed, and I'm persuaded. Don't let
the devil persuade you in an opposite way. He's very keen
to turn all God's people away from believing the truth of God. But my friends, may you and I
be able to resist the devil, that he may flee from us and
be persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed
unto him against that day. And then just the next verse
says this. Hold fast the form of sound words. If the Lord has done anything
for us, for you and me, let us hold it fast. Don't throw it
away. Hold fast the form of sound words
which thou hast heard of me in faith and love. which is in Christ
Jesus. Everything is centred in what
Christ has done. And if it's the work of the blessed
Holy Spirit, you will be led gloriously to Calvary. And there by faith you will see
the suffering Saviour suffering upon the cross at Calvary, dying
on the cross at Calvary in order to redeem your soul. You know the result will be,
you will have to say before the cross,
what a saviour, what a saviour who loved me so much, that he's
given his life, he's died in agony, that sin atoning death,
in order to save my soul. What a saviour. No wonder, is
it, that the apostle was able to say, 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 against that day. Amen.