Trusting God: Storm Preparations (2 Timothy 1:12)
In Skydome one time when they began to close the roof. It was fascinating. In fact, it was more
interesting than the game. About 30,000 of us all watching this great big cover slowly come
over our heads. All knew why it was closing. There was a rain storm approaching.
Now the Skydome has what it takes to get through the severest storms. The game goes on no
matter how rough the storm is. That doesn't mean that the Skydome escapes the storm. It just
means that its is able to defend itself against it. See the difference? That's what we need, we
can't escape the storms, but we do need to prepare to defend ourselves from them. I remember
when the Skydome was first built. Open. For some reason they didn't give the order to close it
when the rain came. Result was that the inside got wet as the cover came over. Sadly, we are
like that. We have a shelter, a cover, but we wait until we are in the storm before we apply it.
Today, we are going to talk about "Storm Preparations". It is a follow-up sermon on Psalm 91.
Remember that was called "Its the Shelter that Counts." I'm going to speak on it because storms
are a fact of everybody's life. If it's calm now, you can be sure that somewhere up ahead there's a
storm. The question is, are you ready for the time when things start spinning out of control
around you and inside of you? Since we know we have to make it through heavy weather, we
need to know we've got what it takes to make it through the crises that have sunk so many other
people.
I was talking to my friend Bill Hakett a few days ago. He's had his second heart operation. A
Quadruple bi-pass. He said his legs are cut to ribbons. But I'll tell you, it is a pleasure to talk
with that guy. I would rather talk with him about the tragedy of his heart problems, than talk to
business people about how successful they are. He is just so positive, he's generous, he's joyful,
he's encouraging. You know what makes the difference in his life - Christ. He knows Christ, and
he knows that his soul is safe. He is like the Christian who was dying with cancer, he said,
"Rom, you don't handle it well when you try to handle it without a Saviour." And that's the
difference - the Saviour difference, the Jesus difference.
You see, all approaches to life work when things are going well, but the test is the storm
represented by words like cancer, bankruptcy, fired, divorce, terminal. Even smaller storms can
drive us to the edge, and sometimes over, unless we've committed ourselves completely to this
awesome Saviour named Jesus. He loves you unconditionally. He proved that when He died on
that cross for the very sins you've done against Him. He's willing to put your life in His eternal
keeping and give you eternal life beginning the day you entrust yourself totally to Him.
Today I am going to talk about entrusting ourselves totally to Jesus Christ.
We will see that a study of the confidence expressed by the apostle Paul in 2 Tim 1:12 will help
us to understand what it means to entrust ourselves totally to the Lord.
1. Notice that Paul had totally entrusted himself to the Lord because knew
something - "Whom he had believed"
a. The first key to preparation is knowledge. We must know something/one.
This is knowledge in the biblical sense. Adam knew his wife Eve.
Intimate, loving, confident knowledge.
b. He knew Jesus as the revealed Messiah. - Almighty Saviour. - as the
eternal son of God. -as the redeemer who payed full ransom price. -what
Christ had done in his own life/ turned him around. Persecutor to a
propagator.
c. Did not know some vague religious teaching
d. Knowing is essential. Suppose coming in my car, and you asked are the
brakes safe, and I said, I think so, I hope so, maybe" Would you ride with
me? Of course not. You would want to know so, and then you could
know so too. If we only think Jesus is able, hope he is able. Better make
sure he is able to deliver the goods. Then we can say, "I know"
e. Knowing Christ does not mean knowing the Bible, but knowing Christ
does mean you will know the Bible. I remember I used to have a penpal -
a female. We spoiled that relationship the day we met. We were both
disappointed. I knew her letters, but I didn't know her. But if I had known
her first, and loved her first, what a difference her letters would have
made to me.
f. SS "What does it mean to know Christ?" It means to know that he loves
us. That's it. Not that we love Christ, but that he loves us. If we can get
to this first stage the rest comes easy.
g. We could invent a saying here, "We come into Christ known by Him, and
the longer we stay in Christ the more we know him." Like scaling a
mountain, the closer you get to the summit, the greater your knowledge of
the land. Ray was telling me, if you ever get lost in a forest, the only thing
you have to do, is climb a tall tree, and have a look around. It will tell you
where you are. Well, that's what we must do. We must climb up to the
summit of Jesus Christ. The higher we go the more we will know.
h. This is where Scripture comes in, and brings us to the next point.
2. Notice Paul had totally entrusted himself to the Lord because knew that Christ
could do something - "Able to guard."
a. Same as saying that you convinced that the Skydome can shelter you from
the rain. Same kind of confidence.
b. Or. that you are convinced that a jumbo jet can lift off even with your
ponderous weight aboard.
c. I am certain that this ocean going liner will not sink if I go on board.
d. Christianity is not a religion; it is a force field.
e. We Christians should take some things for granted. One of those things is
that Christ is able to guard even us. Paul was convinced of it, and so
should we be. Seen those mounties on guard, never move. That's the idea
here. He is there at all times and will never be distracted from his
mission.
f. Think of it. What do you do with your more precious things. You place
them in the bank. Children you never let them out of your sight. If you
do, you make sure there is some one to guard them. We call them baby-
sitters. But it is the same idea. Now that is what Paul did with his soul.
We need to do the same, we must place it under guard. We must ensure
that it is safe.
3. Notice Paul had totally entrusted himself to the Lord because knew what he had
committed to Christ
a. What did Paul commit to him.
i. His very being, body, soul and spirit; all fears, cares, dangers, sins
doubts, hopes joys. . All his concerns. 1 Thes 5:23.
ii. You will remember that Christ committed his spirit into the hand
of God as he died on the cross. Same.
b. First, he is able to guard our bodies. Look at Paul in prison, beaten black
and blue, about to have his head cut off, but he knew that Christ would
raise that old body up again. When we place things in the recycle box, we
do it because we expect it to be recycled. Just so. God will recycle these
old bodies, because we know that Christ is able to guard them until that
day.
Able to guard our soul. All your mental, emotional, and spiritual powers - your
whole personality. You as a person will be preserved, but without sin.
Irradiation. They preserve food now, by radiating it and killing all the bacteria
that leads to decay. We entrust our spirit into the hands of Christ.
c. Notice Paul does not say that he will guard himself. he doesn't even raise
the question. It probably never occurred to him. Many of us are troubled.
Will I be able to endure temptation? Will I be able to hold on til the end?
Don't even think about that, the question is not "Am I able to do this or
that?" The question we need to answer is, Is Jesus able to guard me?" We
are like children saying, Am I able to pay for the mortgage? The question
is, Is my dad able to pay the mortgage?
d. Susan took her little Steve to the doctor because he had an ear infection. "I
think we should start him on an antibiotic, the doctor said. Is he allergic to
anything?"
"He's never had to have an antibiotic before, so I'M not aware of anything," Susan
replied. "But I'm allergic to sulfa and erythromycin, so we should probably avoid
those..."
The doctor turned to look at her with a twinkle in his eye. She was puzzled,
wondering what she had said that made him look at her that way. After a moment,
she realized what she had said and the doctor said gently, "Told you so."
She thought back to the first time that she had brought Steve in for a check-up.
Susan and her husband had adopted him as an infant, and Susan had confessed
that she worried if she would ever get past thinking that Steve was somebody
elseÆs child. The doctor had confidently assured her that it would take time, but
eventually she would accept Steve as her own.
This incident proved him right. Susan had assumed that her allergies would have
been passed to her son. Steve was hers.
That's the way that God accepts us.
That's the way that we are to accept one another!
e. Child. Do you have a souls son? No, I have no soul. Oh, Boy, what have
they been teaching these children. What do you mean you have no soul? I
have given my soul Jesus, and I am trusting him to keep it safe for me.
4. Notice Paul had totally entrusted himself to the Lord because he knew there was
something coming that he needed to be prepared for - "That Day"
a. Very emphatic. It is a day that will definitely come. He expects it. 4:8:
The day of death. The day of Judgement. The day of Christ's return. The
last day.
b. Storm coming. Close the roof. Batten down the hatches.
c. A day that must arrive. A day that we cannot escape. No-one has missed
that day. It comes to us all. One day our day will come.
d. Jesus is the one who can guard us on that day.
e. This is like God's weather forecast. There is a stormy day coming. Take
shelter.
f. Ch once asked, "Are you ready for that day?" No, but my Saviour is."
g. Ever waited for a date? We have a date with the Lord. Our problem is
that that day is approaching. The solution is to make a date with Jesus for
that day. Put it in your calender.
h. Rev 6:7 asks a question about that day, "who shall stand?" Well, Scripture
answers that question for us it says Rev 7:9-11.
Conclusion
Now if we know the Lord Jesus Christ, and if we are convinced that he is an able guard,
and it we have truly committed our souls, or spirit into his care, then, we are ready for the
approach of every stormy day that this life can throw at us even the very last day. Paul knew it.
This is a man who lived through imprisonment, disability, injustices, assassination attempts. The
man was unsinkable because he was prepared for any storm. Now Paul is so confident because
he is talking about a deep personal relationship with Jesus Christ, the only man in history
powerful enough to beat death and blow the doors off His grave. Paul says, "I'm convinced that
He is able to guard what's important to me." The ultimate security in life is knowing you belong
to Jesus.
You say, Well why do we need to be so sure of our salvation? Well, the reason is in the
first word of the second sentence of this verse "shame". If we are not confident of our
relationship to Christ, and our absolute security in Him, we will not be able to bear the shame of
belonging to him. They said Paul was a fool. Did you know that? They sure did. And if you
have ever been laughed at for being a Christian you will know how hard it is to take. Feel
perfectly confident that all is safe, and you can let the world grin at you until its face aches.
What does it matter what dying people think? As long as we know that God loves us, who cares
if the world hates us?
Remember, last sermon we spoke of the 3 pigs. Pointed out how it is the shelter that
counts. Brick, not straw or wood. Well, there is another part of that story that we missed out,
and that is when the building first began, the first two pigs laughed at the third pig for taking so
much time building his brick house. That is how it is with the world. They laugh at us for
entrusting our immortal souls to Christ. But, believe me, there will be no laughing when that
day comes. I'll tell you, on that day I would rather be a fool in a rock shelter, than a wiseman in
a house of straw.
It is this assurance that will make us brave and determined to serve Christ here
and now. Look what Paul says at the beginning of the verse 12a. Suffer. Look at verse 8, 9. If
we are to bear testimony of Christ, we must be convinced that he will not fail us.
Let the rain come, guys, we are in the Skydome!!! That is nothing that we should be
ashamed of.