I really believe that my message
this morning will be used of the Lord God to help some people
who are interested in a saving faith in Jesus Christ. That's
my subject, saving faith, or let's give it this title, I Know
Whom I Have Believed. All faith is not saving faith.
of religion are not genuine. Our Master said, Not every one
that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter the kingdom of God.
He said, Many will say unto me in that day, Lord, have we not
preached in your name, and cast out devils in your name, and
done many wonderful works in your name? And I will profess
unto them, I never knew you. Depart from me, ye that work
iniquity. We are exhorted to examine ourselves,
whether we be in the faith. No, you're not your own self,
Paul said, how that Christ is in you except you be a reprobate.
Examine yourself. So this is an important subject
with which I'm dealing today, saving faith, saving faith, saving
interest in Christ. And I'm turning to 2 Timothy
1.12, 2 Timothy 1.12, in which Paul wrote, For the witch calls,
I also suffer these things. Nevertheless, I'm not ashamed.
For I know whom I have believed, and I am persuaded that he is
able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that
day." Now, Paul was in prison when he wrote these words. This
is one of his last epistles. He was in prison and wrote this
epistle to young Timothy. Paul was chained to a soldier.
He was awaiting execution for preaching the gospel. Besides
all this, he was lonely because he had been forsaken and deserted
by many, most whom he believed to be his friends. He said, You
know, Timothy, that all that are in Asia are turned against
me. He said in 2 Timothy 4, 10, Demas
hath forsaken me, having loved this present world. Only Luke
is with me. He said in 2 Timothy 4.16, at my first trial, no man
stood with me. No man. All were offended. All
forsook me. So here's this old apostle, preacher
of the gospel, sitting in a prison cell in Rome, awaiting execution,
deserted by friends. Only Luke is with me, writing
to a young preacher, a young preacher named Timothy. And at
the beginning of this epistle, He exhorts Timothy to several
things. First of all, he said, Timothy,
don't be ashamed of the gospel. Be gospel. Don't be ashamed. He said, do not be ashamed of
the testimony of our Lord. Now, that's the gospel. What
is the testimony of our Lord? Well, it's the gospel of our
Lord. Paul said, I'm not ashamed of the gospel of Christ. It's
the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believe it,
to the Jew first and also to the Greek. He said, whosoever
believeth shall not be ashamed. I'm asked to say, if you're ashamed
of me and of my words, of me and my words, before this sinful
and adulterous generation, I'll be ashamed of you when I come
in the glory of my holy angel. So that's the first thing Paul
says to this young man, don't be ashamed of the gospel. And
then he adds in verse 8, 2 Timothy 1, don't be ashamed of those
who preach the gospel. Many people are. Or they'll drag
on dead prophets. but to crucify living prophets.
They'll brag on Luther and Calvin and Zwingli and Huss and Whitfield
and Knox and all these fellows and Spurgeon. But men who preach
what those men preach, men today, well, they have no use for them.
They don't want to be identified with them. It's just not in their
nature to be identified with a hated gospel. I read the story
of an old Puritan who was on trial for his life for believing
and preaching the gospel before a religious judge. And he didn't
answer the judge's questions, and he wouldn't recant on these
particular points. And the judge looked at him amazed,
and he said, Man, don't you know I have the power to release you?
I have the power. It's in my power to set you free. And the old preacher said, I
know it's in your power, but it's just not in your nature.
And that's our problem. It's the nature. That's our problem.
And here Paul says, Timothy, don't be ashamed of the gospel.
And don't be ashamed of people who preach it. And that takes
a regenerated heart. A man's just not going forth
into the battle till he's got a cause. A man's not going forth
into the fire till he's got a cause. If his baby's in the burning
building, he'll go after it. And that's what I'm saying. It's
in the nature. That's where the whole problem
is. And then the third thing, he says, Timothy, don't be ashamed
of the gospel and don't be ashamed of people who preach it. Stand
with them. Don't be unequally yoked together with unbelievers.
What fellowship does light have with darkness? I don't see how
some of you can church where you church. There's no gospel
preach. There's no glory given to God.
There's no worship, fun and games, competition, social clubs. And you say, well, I've always
gone there. My mother and daddy went there.
I helped build that old building. Better burn it down and move
out and go where the gospels preach. What fellowship does
Baal have with Christ? false God with the living God,
darkness with light. Don't you be ashamed of those
who are preaching the gospel. You better be identified with
them. If you're going to spend eternity in glory with them,
it'd be a good idea to get acquainted with them and their Lord down
here. Here's the third thing he said, Timothy, you be ready
yourself to share in the afflictions of the gospel because you're
going to be called upon to suffer for my sake. Be ready to pay
whatever price you have to pay to be true to Christ. Now, that's
always been so. The Scripture said, all who will
live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. Not some,
all. In this world, my Lord said,
you shall have tribulation. He said, I didn't come to bring
peace. We have a peace in our hearts. We have peace with God.
We have peace among believers. But there's no peace in this
world. I came to bring a sword, Christ said. So those are three
things he said to Timothy about the gospel. Don't be ashamed
of it. It's the testimony of our Lord. Don't be ashamed of
those whom he had commissioned and sent to preach it. And you
get ready yourself to pay the price and to suffer the afflictions
with God's people. Well, Moses chose to do that.
Rather than to live in the luxury and riches of Egypt, he chose
to suffer the afflictions of Jesus Christ and be identified
with God's people. And then in verse 9 and 10 of
this chapter, Paul identifies this gospel of which he's not
ashamed. This gospel that he exhorts Timothy
to preach. Preach the word. He identifies
this gospel for which he was persecuted. the gospel that he
commits to faithful men. Look hard at it. Look at verse
9. What is this gospel? Well, he says in verse 9, it's
the work of God for us and not our work for God. It's the work
of God for us and in us. Look at verse 9. He says, Who
hath saved us and called us with a holy call. Who saved us? He
saved us. He saved us. There was a dear
old lady who lived next door to Dr. Gamble down in Texas years
ago, years and years ago. And he was out in his fire garden
one day, and she went over to visit with him, and she said
to him, said, Dr. Gamble, said, you're a Baptist
preacher, aren't you? He said, yes, ma'am. She said,
you Baptists believe in election, don't you? He said, yes, ma'am.
She said, why don't you explain it to me? He said, explain election
to you? She said, yes, sir, wish you
would. He said, well, are you saved? She said, yes, sir. He
said, who saved you? Well, she said, God did. Well,
he said, was it an accident, or did God save you on purpose?
She said, He saved me on purpose. He said, that's a lecture. Everything
God does, he does on purpose. He saved us. He called us. He justified us. He redeemed
us. And he glorified us. It's all
of God. It's not I, I, I. It's he, he, he. That's this
message of salvation. It's salvations of the Lord.
It is he that has made us and not we ourselves. Our Lord said,
as many as received Christ, to them gave he power to become
the sons of God, who were born, not of blood, not of fleshly
inheritance, not of the will of man, not of the will of the
flesh, but of God. We're born of God. The salvation
of the righteous is of God, and of him only. Of his will, his
own will, begat he us. He said, I'll be merciful to
whom I will be merciful. I'll be gracious to whom I will
be gracious. So then, it's not of him that
willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy.
So he says this first to Timothy, he said, he saved us. What's
your testimony? What you've done for God, or
what God's done for you? Well, Paul says here, this gospel of
which he's not ashamed, and for which he suffered and died, is
the gospel that God saved us. And God called us with a holy
calling. Now what's the next point? Not
according to our works. It's not of works lest any man
should boast. Our salvation is not something we've done for
God, but something God has done for us. You see, God owes us
nothing but condemnation. Salvation is a gift of God. It's
his gift, his free gift, his full gift, his own gift, his
eternal gift. Our righteousness is a filthy
rag. I wish I could get that across to myself and to you. That when we've done everything
we ought to have done, and we haven't done that, we are in
profitable service. Even our righteousnesses are
filthy rags in God's sight because there's no perfection in them.
Anything that's not perfect is defiled in God's sight. Anything
that's not absolutely holy is defiled. And so we've got to
have a righteousness that exceeds the very best that a man can
produce. Man's best state is altogether vanity. One old Puritan
said, our repentance needs to be repented of. Our tears need
to be washed in the blood of Christ. Even our gifts and prayers
have too much self and sin in them for God to accept them apart
from Christ's sacrifice. So it's not of works. It's not
of works. It's not of works, lest any man
should boast. He saved us and called us, not
according to our works, but according to his mercy, according to his
grace. Watch this. And this salvation
is an eternal gift. It's according to his grace that
was given to us in Christ. When? Before the world began.
Let me ask you three questions. Would you tarry a moment and
don't get too upset and just deal with these three questions?
Very simple questions. That's what we need, more simplicity
in our preaching. We need more sincerity and simplicity. Let me ask you this. Did you
choose God or did he choose you? Well, you have to answer, he
chose me. Christ said to the disciples, you didn't choose
me, I chose you. Chosen in Christ. Here's the
second question. When did God choose you? When? Somebody says, when I believed. Now, is that what the Bible says?
You know that's not what Scripture teaches. The Scripture says we're
chosen in Christ before the world began. Before the foundation
of the world. It says that a half a dozen times.
Oh, here's the third question. Why did God choose you? He's
passed by even the fallen angels. He's passed by the Babylonians,
the Medes and Persians. He's passed by the Gentiles for
thousands of years. He's passed by many in many countries
today and chose you. Why? You were better, smarter,
holier, more righteous, huh? Scripture says none good, none
that seeketh after God, none that understands it, altogether
become unprofitable. Why did God choose you? Read
the Bible. According to the good pleasure
of his own will. Christ said, Father, you have
heard these things from the wise and prudent and revealed them
to babes. God had chosen the foolish things to confound the
wise. God had chosen the base things
and the despised and the things which are not to bring to naught
the things that are, that no flesh should glory in his sight.
What am I saying? I'm saying that salvation is
of the Lord. It's not according to our works,
not according to our merit, not according to what we deserve.
It's according to his grace, his mercy, which was given to
us in Jesus Christ, through Jesus Christ, for the glory of Jesus
Christ, before this world ever had a being, before it ever had
a beginning. That's what this book says. Now,
you can follow Sears and Roebuck's catalog or Paul Richards' almanac
if you want to, for your religion. But what this book says, that
whom he foreknew, he predestinated, whom he predestinated, he called,
whom he called, he justified, and whom he justified, he glorified,
what shall we say to these things? Well, I'll tell you what I say,
Paul said, if God be for me, who can be against me? And then
the next point he brings out is the gospel of divine visitation.
He says here, it is now made manifest. It was in prophecy
and picture for hundreds of years. It's now made manifest by the
appearing of our Savior, Jesus Christ. When Jesus Christ came
into this world, he manifested everything that God purposed,
everything that God planned, everything that God ordained.
The Bible talks about three appearances of Christ in reference to the
believer, all in Hebrews 9. It says he appeared to put away
sin by the sacrifice of himself. It says in verse 24, Hebrews
9, he now appears in heaven, interceding for us. It says in
verse 28, chapter 9, Hebrews, he will appear again the second
time without sin unto salvation. He's the Alpha and Omega. He's
the author and finisher of our faith. He's the beginning and
the end. And then in the next place, verse
10, he says this is the gospel of an effectual work. God Almighty
had 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 before the foundation of the world,
but is now made manifest in these last days for you, to you, by
Jesus Christ, who hath abolished death," he's put it away, and
brought to life and immortality to light through the gospel. He cried from the cross, it's
finished. The law is honored. Justice is satisfied, redemption
is complete, the atonement has been made. He has done the great
transactions done. I am thy Lord's and he is mine.
He drew me and I followed on, charmed to confess his voice
divine. Now verse 11, Paul says, I've
been appointed by God and sent by God as a preacher of this
gospel. I'm a preacher of this gospel.
I'm not a preacher of church truth, I'm a preacher of God's
gospel. God didn't send me to baptize, he said, and to carry
out all the ordinances, although they're important. He sent me
to preach the gospel, to be true to his word and true to the souls
of men and true to my calling. And in spite of the persecution,
he said, in spite of the rejection, in spite of the denial, in spite
of the suffering, in spite of death, I am not ashamed. I am not ashamed." You see, that's
what led up to this whole statement in 2 Timothy 1.12. Nevertheless,
I'm not ashamed. I'm not ashamed. Now, three things
I'll give you in closing. He said, I'm not ashamed. I know
whom I have believed. And I am persuaded that he's
able to keep that which I've committed to him against that
day. What did Paul know? What was Paul persuaded up. And what had Paul done? Let's
look at it. First of all, what he knew. He
said, I know whom. I know whom I have believed. He didn't say, I know what I
believe. You ever hear people say, well, I know what I believe.
They sure like to argue about it, too. But Paul didn't say,
I know what I believe. I'm sure he did know what he
believed. But he believed a whom, not a
what. I know whom I have believed.
There's a difference. He didn't say, I know when I believe. I'm
sure he knew when he believed, but that's not what he said.
A lot of people can take you to the day and the hour and the
place and the experience and the feeling, and if that thing
ever disappears, they're done for. But Paul said, I know whom. I'm not particularly interested
in when God saved you as I am in if God saved you, or if you
did it yourself, or some preacher did it, or some high-pressure
evangelist did it. or you just got caught up in
the emotion, the psychology of the hour, and walked down the
aisle and shook somebody's hand, and your heart's as empty as
that profession was. It's not I know when, it's I
know whom. Paul didn't say, well, I know a lot about the Bible.
I've run into people who say that all the time. They like
to trick the preacher. They like to find some misquotes,
you know. He's quoting the Bible and he
misquotes a verse here, you know, and they say, you misquoted that.
I know my Bible. Well, do you know him of whom
it's written? Do you know him who is the song of songs, the
bright and morning star, the lily of the valley, the rose
of Sharon, the first of ten thousand? Do you know him? I know whom
I have believed. The gospel is a person. It's
a person. It's not a fact. It's not a creed. It's not a catechism. It's not
an orthodoxy. It's not an ordinance. It's not
a law. It's a person, a living person. I know whom I have believed. I know he's their God of their
God. God was in Christ. reconciling the world unto himself.
He said, I and my Father are one. Philip said, Show us the
Father. He said, He that hath seen me hath seen my Father.
I know that he came to save sinners. He said, I came to seek and to
save the lost. Paul said, This is a faithful
saying. It's worthy of acceptation by
all men, under all conditions, that Christ Jesus came into the
world to save sinners, of whom I am chief. I know he's my representative. In Adam all die, and Christ's
were made alive. By one man's disobedience, the
many were made sinners. By the obedience of one, many
were made righteous. He's my representative. I know
he was without sin. God said, This is my beloved
son. Hear ye him. I'm pleased with him. I know
he died to redeem sinners. Peter said, for as much as you
know you were not redeemed with corruptible things such as silver
and gold from your vain conversation received by tradition from your
fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ as of a lamb
without blemish and without spot. I know that. I know whom I have
believed. I know he arose from the dead.
I know he ascended to heaven. I know he sat down at the right
hand of God, and I know he'll come again. He's not a myth.
He's not a historical character. He's not an influence. He is
a living Lord. And I don't care to cross around
in my pocket to remind me that he's still alive either. And
I don't have a statue before whom I bow. I worship and adore
a living Lord who reigns in heaven and who reigns on earth and who
reigns in the hearts of his people. He's as real and as personal
as your own heart and your own spirit. That's what Paul knew. I know whom I have believed.
Well, Paul was persuaded of something, too. He said, I'm not ashamed.
I know whom I have believed, and I'm persuaded that he's able
to keep that which I've committed to him against that day. The
two requirements. The two requirements of one who
would discharge another's debt. Two requirements. You know what
they are? They're two requirements of one who would discharge another's
debt. He must be able and willing,
or willing and able. There are a lot of people who'd
be willing to bail you out, but they're not able. There are a
lot of people who are able who are not willing. If a man's going
to discharge another's debt, he's got to be willing and able.
Christ discharges our debts because he's willing. He said, no man
takes my life from me. I lay it down. The perfect Savior,
the perfect substitute, the perfect sacrifice came willingly to bear
our sins. Having loved his own, he loved
them to the end, even to the cross of Calvary. He's willing.
God so loved that he gave his son. And his son so loved that
he came. And he's willing. But my friend,
here's the second requirement. He's got to be able. And Paul
said, I'm persuaded he's able. He's able to honor the law, having
fulfilled it. He's able to satisfy justice,
having died under its curse. And he's able, watch this now,
four things. You listening? First of all, he's able to do
all that he promised. That was the basis of Abraham's
faith, Romans 4, 21. Abraham believed that God was
able to do all that he promised. All that he promised. Secondly,
he's able, Paul said in Hebrews 7.25, to save to the uttermost,
to the uttermost, them that come to God by him. I don't care how
far down into sin you've gone, how black your past or present.
I don't care what you've done. God's able He delights to show
mercy. He said, I came to call sinners,
not the righteous. I have no message for the goody-goody,
self-righteous, pious hypocrites of this world. I got a message
for sinners. If you're a sinner, I can tell
you about a Savior who's able to save to the gutter most them
that come to God by Him. Why is He able? Well, He's the
Father's choice. He's the Father's choice. Secondly, He's the God-man. God was in Christ. Thirdly, He
paid the debt. in whom we have redemption, the
forgiveness of sin through his blood. He arose and is just one
mediator at God's right hand, just one, the Father's choice
who came to the earth and died on the cross, and beared and
rose again, and he's the one that's seated, and he's the one
in whom all fullness is vested in Christ. So that's the reason
he's able. And Jude says he's able to keep us from falling
and to present us faultless in his presence, with exceeding
joy. And then he's able to raise our
vile bodies and make them like his own. Paul said in Philippians
3, he's able. Who's going to raise you from
the dead? You trust in your priest or your preacher? Did he raise
you from the dead? He can't raise himself. We've
got to be raised by the same power that raised Christ from
the dead. Oh, Paul went on in Romans 8. I'm persuaded. I'm
persuaded. I like this passage so much.
There was a young man dying in a hospital, and a preacher came
by to see him. And he shook his hand and said,
What denomination are you? He said, I'm just a believer.
And I mean, the preacher said, what's your persuasion? The old
man said, I'm persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor
angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to
come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature shall
be able to separate me from the love of God which is in Jesus
Christ my Lord. That, preacher, is my persuasion.
And that was Paul's persuasion. He's able. He's able. And then
what Paul had done. Paul said, I have committed it
to him. He's able to keep that which
I've committed to him. Sitting there in prison, sitting
there in prison, old and alone, awaiting death, forsaken by all
but God, believed to be crazy by the authorities. That's right.
They said much learning, Paul, has made you mad. Ridiculed by
the multitude, forgotten by his friends, Paul confronts the whole
world with a whole boldness. And he said, nevertheless, I'm
not ashamed. I know whom I have believed.
And I am persuaded that he and he alone is able to keep that
which I've committed to him. What you commit to Christ, Paul,
my soul, my life, my possessions, my hope, my body, all belong
to him. My sins, oh, the bliss of that
glorious thought, my sins, not in part, but the whole, are nailed
to his cross and I bear them no more. Praise the Lord, it's
well with my soul. I've committed it to him. One
more word and I'll quit. Against that day. That day. It's going to dawn
for you and for me pretty soon. What day are we talking about?
The day of death. That's the day we're talking
about. The day of resurrection, first or the second. The day
of judgment and the day which begins an endless eternity. Now there are four words that
are important to you and to me. There are four things I'm going
to be involved in. I've got a life to live. I'm
already living, and I've got a death to die, as sure as God's
in heaven. And I've got a judgment to face,
and I've got an eternity to spend. And that's the reason I believe
I can say with Paul, I've committed it all to Christ. A life to live
in him, resurrection in him, judgment borne by him, eternity
with him.